The Missionary Review of the World — August 1891
THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XIV. No. S.-Old Series.–AUGUST.–voL. IV. No. S.-New Series.
THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS.-NO. XX.
[EDITORIAL, A. T. P.] THE DAY-DAWN AT THE HAWAIIAN GROUP.-II.
IN 1808, thirty years after the diticovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain Cook, a lad was brought to the United States by a shipmaster of New Haven.
His name was Obookiah, and he had been trained by his uncle, a pagan priest, to the practice of idolatry. On the eastern shore of Kealakekua Bay, opposite where Cook was slain, may yet be seen, rising above the ruins of a small heathen temple, a cocoanut tree planted by that boy when as yet he had never heard of J esns.
Obookiah was intelligent, and not long after his arrival at the City of Elms, Mr. Edwin W. Dwight, passing the college buildings, saw him seated on the doorsteps weeping because the treasures of learning, so freely opened to others, were 10ckAd to him. Sympathy led Mr. Dwight to become his instructor, and he was the instrument in his conversion. The next year Samuel J. Mills, the father of modern American missions, wrote to Gordon Hall, from New Haven, suggesting a mission to the Sandwich Islands. Eight years latAr a foreign missionary school was established at Cornwall, Conn., of which Mr. Dwight was the first teacher; and fiye 'It the ten earliest pupils were Hawaiians. Obookiah, while being taught here, died in 1818, aged 26, and that which seemed a sad blow to the prospective missionary work among his countrymen God nsed as the means of awakening greater interest by the published account of his life and death. Hiram Bingham, a student at Andover, offered to go as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, and found in Asa Thurston, a classmate, a worthy colleagne. These two men were ordained as evangelists, and on October 15th, 1819, in the Park Street Church, Boston, a mission to the IIawaiian Islands was organized with the following members: Messrs. Bingham and Thurston, ministers, with their wives; Messrs. Whitney and Ruggles, teachers j Thomas Holman, physician; Elisha Loomis, printer; Daniel Chamberlain, farmer, with their wives, and three Hawaiian young men from the Cornwall Missionary School. These seventeen went forth, having among themselves the essential elements for creating a Christian civilization upon pagan shores, for they represented the Gospel, the common school, the printingpress, the medicine chest, and the implements of agriculture.
They set sail from Boston Octobel' 23d, 1819, and reached the Hawaiian coast March 31st, 1820, after somewhat more than five months. They had expected a long, hard struggle with paganism, with its human sacrifices, bloody rites, and deep-rooted prejudices.
But God had prepared their way. Only ten months before, Kamehameha I. had died, and, strange to say, forbidden human sacrifices during his illness or in connection with his obsequies; and so the people offered three hundred dogs instead. This first blow at the idolatrous customs of the people had been dealt by a professed idolatcr! Liholiho, his son, succeedcd, Kaahumanu, the king's widow, sharing the government during life. The king's mother, Keopuolani, saw foreigners violating the sacred r'lles of the tabu system with impunity, and even the natives, when intoxicated, trampling heedlessly upon them, and yet no divine wrath pursued the violators; and satisfied that her fears were groundless, she herself dared to break over the sacred limits and eat with her son. Such an example would naturally find followers; other chiefs, and finally the king, yielded, and then began a ruthless disregard of these tyrannical caste restraints. They saw that the gods did not punish their profaning of sacred laws, and naturally concluded that their gods were but the creatures of their superstitions j and thus the chiefs actually led in a revolt against the national religion, ordering the tabu system to be disregarded and the idols burned and temples razed. Stranger still, the high-priest resigned his office, and " first applied the torch to this Hawaiian structure of an idolatrous faith !" He was Joined by many of the lower pries~hood, so that, before the arrival of the missionaries, idolatry was abolished by law, and heathen temples were laid in ashes. Perhaps for the first time in human history idolatry threw down its own altars, and a nation was without a religion. Moreover, in the civil war that had followed this abolition of the national religion, God had given victory to the king, and thus established the new order. The newly arrived missionaries found the old religion abolished, but no desire for a new faith. The king objected to giving up his polygamy, and feared the effect of an American mission on his political relations. The old high-priest, however, favored the missionaries, and the king's mother counselled toleration j and, after twelve days, royal consent being given for them to reside on the islands for a year, they disembarked, April 12th, 1820. Part of them were ordered to Kailau and part to Honolulu. Mr. and Mrs. Thurston and Dr. and Mrs. Holman for a time abode in one small thatched hut assigned by the king, which was less than four feet high at the foot of the rafters, and had neither floor nor ceiling, windows nor furniture, in the centre of a noisy, filthy village! Those at Honolulu likewise found themselves destitute of common comforts j but, as God's providence dispersed them among the people, they went without fear, and were kept from all evil. The king, his brother, his wives, and other prominent persons became their pupils. After two years the printing-press was called into use in re- ducing the language to a printed form. The Hawaiian tongue having but twelve letters-seven consonants and five vowels, every letter having bu~ one sound, and every syllable ending with a vowel-it was easy for the na- tives to learn' to read and write, and a large portion of them made rapid progress. Thus a foundation was laid for introducing the Bible in the na- tive tongue. Unfriendly foreigners represented the missionaries as politi- cal spies, and that their presence would be offensive to the English king, who bore to the Hawaiians the relation of protector, and declared that the missionaries at the Society Islands had robbed and enslaved the people j but these falsehoods were exposed at the very crisis, when the king threat- ened to banish the missionaries. An English vessel, touching at the Hawaiian port in 1822, had on boardfrom the Society Islands two chiefs on their way to the Marquesas group as missionaries, and had also on board a deputation of English gentlemen, who had been "isiting the islands on a missionary tour; and so the exact means were suddenly supplied to expose the false statements made by the enemies of the missionaries. Who could so well tell the true influence of missions in the Society Islands as the two converted chiefs! and who represent the feeling of the English Gov~ ernment so well as these men from British shores! God thus directly interposed at this juncture! Meanwhile, the wife of the late king made a tour of the i:>lands, searching out and destroying idols. Hymns were written in the native tongue; in 1823, twenty-four chiefs, male and female, were learning to read and write, and the missionary band was reinforced. The same year Keopuolani died, the first convert, baptized. In this daughter of a kingly race, wife of a king lJ,nd mother of two other kings, the Sandwich Island church began visibly to exist. She forbade the customary heathen abominations to be practised at her death, and from that day dates their permanent decline. Liholiho, in this same memorable year, visited America and England with his wife and two chiefs. The whole party were attacked with the measles in England, and the king and queen died. Liholiho had already, before leaving home, declared his belief in Christianity, attended public worship, and urged it on his people. At his death the favorite wife of his father became regent, and gave emphatic support to the Gospel and schools. Kapiolani, a female chief, made a journey to the great crater of Kilauea, where the great goddess Pele was said to dwell, and there purposely set at naught the power and wrath of the supposed deity to show the people their superstitious folly.
At the time of the visit of Lord Byron, in the British frigate which brought the royal remains, the government had begun to assume a Christian character, and the council formally acknowledged the authority of the Christian religion. Efforts were made, with royal sanction, to prevent murder, theft, infanticide, Sabbath desecration, licentiousness,. and drunkenness; and Kauikeaouli, the heir to the throne, now nine years old, was put under the instruction of the missionaries, that he might shun the errors of his deceased brother! A little more than five years after the first missionaries came, Kaahumanu, the regent, and nine chiefs were received into the church, and afterward died in the faith-a rare instance of a pagan govern- ment embracing the Gospel in advance of the people! Yet there was never a formal nnion of Church and State, but only concurrent action.
At Kawaihae 10,000 natives assembled, in 1826, to hear the Gospel. Governor Adams, the same year, built at Kailua a rude house of worship holding 5000 people, and at its dedication the rulers of the nation pledged it to Christianity. Schools were already in every district of the islands, with 400 teachers and 25,000 pupils, mostly adults. Such marvels had God wrought in six years!
At the regent's request, a second reinforcement was sent out in 1828, and another house of worship built at Honolulu. Another prominent chief, Kalanimokll, died in 1827 a triumphant Christian death, and during the three succeeding years, Governor Adams and other persons of great influence joined the church.
In 1832 Kaahumanu died, universally lamented, and the young prince of eeventeen, on assnming the sceptre, replied to the godless chiefs who sought to turn him against Christianity, " The Kingdom of God is strong!"
It bas sometimes been said, " Civilization first, Christianity afterward. " But on these islands Christianity far outran civilization. In 1836 the young king and chiefs applied to America for a carpenter, tailor, mason, shoemaker, wheelwright, paper-maker, type-founaer, agriculturists skilled in raising sugar-cane, cotton, silk, etc., cloth manufacturers and machinemakers; but already for ten years the Christian religion had been espoused by the government.
Rev. Mr. Richards was released from the service of the Board to act as Minister of Instruction, and Rev. Dr. Armstrong became Overseer of Schools. Dr. Judd, a physician, also retired from the missionary service to aid in administering the goverument finances, and it was he who, during the strange usurpation of the government by Lord Paulet in 1843, withdrew the national records to the royal tomb; and there, with the dust of dead sovereigns around him, using the sarcophagus of Kaahumanu as a table, for weeks he passed his nights in labors for the Hawaiian Government and people! To such aid and counsel of pious men, in secular affairs, the Hawaiians owe their progress and civilization.
As early as 1825 the spirit of God had begun to work conspicuously upon the Hawaiian people. In not less than fifty families in Lahaina morning and evening prayer ascended to God, and the number daily increased. Mr. Richards was interrupted every hour by calls from earnest inquirers. He woke in the morning to fi~d people waiting at the door; during the day the house was never empty, and even up to midnight there were those who came to ask the great questions of the soul! Six months before, he says that he wOl~ld have been satisfied if assured of such results aftflr the lapse of a whole generation! In 1835, when as yet the missions had been established barely fifteen years, the American Board felt their work to be fast drawing toward its elOISe. They looked forward to the Christianization of these islands as a glorious example and proof of the Gospel's power and as the greatest incen- tive to missionary zeal, but they dared not look for this result in less than a half century.
In hope to hasten this consummation, it was determined to concentrate efforts for a time upon this field, and in 1836 thirty-two additional laborers were sent out, and had scarce been distributed over the islands and begun to use the strange dialect, when a wave of spiritual influence, like the billows of the sea, swept over the islands, bore before it all traces of idols and idol temples, and left the Hawaiian people virtually cleansed of their pagan superstitions.
The first sound of its approach was heard in the general meetings of the missionaries in 1836-37, in resolute, importunate pleading for the conversion not of these islands only, but of the whole world j and a printed appeal to the churches of the United States was sent forth from the mission press.
Among the natives this great work of reformation began in 1838 at Waimea and at nearly all the stations on Hawaii, as also on Maui, Oahu, and Kaui. The power of the work left no doubt whose work it was! Dull and stupid, imbecile and ignorant pagans began to think and feel; grovelling, vile, and wretchod slaves of lust and passion began to aspire after holiness and rise out of their dust and degradation j hard and insensate consciences began to suffer pangs of sorrow for sin, and manifest the quickening of a sense of duty, and proved a' force at work, higher in source, deeper in reach, than any that man can wield! The islands became vocal with the cries of penitence and prayer! Crowds flocked to hear the Word. Intoxication became rare, Sabbath observance well-nigh universal, and family worship common, even among those who had not as yet publicly professed faith in Jesus !
In 1839, May lOth, the whole Bible was given to the people in their own tongue, and the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures greatly promoted the work of evangelization. Three years afterward the number of professing Christians had reached 19,210, nearly sixteen times greater than five years before. In one year more there were 23 churches, with an average membership of over one thousand! and during this season of extraordinary interest, the congregations at Ewa, Honolulu, Wailuku, and Hilo numbered from 2500 to 6000. From 1838 to 1841, 8000 were added to the church, from the districts of Hilo and Puna whose whole population was but 14,000. Mr. Coan admitted 5000 in one year and 1700 in one day; and only after eareful inquiry into each individual case.
When before did a half century produce such changes! They were idolaters of the grosser sort j human sacrifices were common; they worshipped the great volcano, had their Poison God and War God, and Tiari, with inferior deities and licentious revels. They lived under a tyrannical tabu system, were sunk in ignorance, without a literature or even a grammar in their own tongue, or a knowledge of the simplest principles of arithmetic. They were savages of the lowest sort, living in grass huts, almost naked, without the arts or sciences j superstition was their religion, absurd fancies had all the power of facts, and they lived in fear of their own thoughts. Government was the strong oppressing the weak, and subjection was slavery.
Shameless nakedness has disappeared j the people are decently clad j respect is paid to the natural, social and domestic relations, and wholesome statutes with appropriate sanctions sway the people.
Forty years ago it had become rare to see a drunken native! and the average morality and practical religion was as high as in any other nation. The arts of civilized life were practised j the laws protected and encouraged virtue.
Thirty years ago R. H. Dana, Esq., wrote to the New York Tribune: " The missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M. have, in less than forty years, taught this whole people to read, write, cipher, and sew j given them an alphabet, grammar, and dictionary j preserved their language from extinction, given it a literature, and translated into it the Bible and works of devotion, science, and entertainment, etc. j have established schools, reared up native teachers, so that the proportion of the inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in New England. Whereas they found these people halfnaked savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs, and abandoned to sensuality, we see them decently eIothed, recognizing the law of marriage, knowing something of accounts, going to school and public worship with more regularity than people do at home, and the more elevated part of them aiding to conduct the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the local magistracies!
"In every district are free schools for natives, where they are taught by native teachers reading, writing, singing by note, arithmetic, grammar, and geography. At Lahainaluna is the normal school for natives, in which the best scholars from the district schools are carried to an advanced stage of education, or fitted for teachers. At Punahou is the college, now having 70 students, and the examinations in Greek, Latin, and mathematics, which I attendcd, were particularly satisfactory. In no place that I havc visited are the rules which control vice and regulate amusements so strict, so reasonable, and so fairly enforced. A man may travel in the interior alone, unarmed, eYen through wildest spots. I found no hut without its Bible and hymn-book in the native tongue, and the practice of family prayer and grace before meat."
When Rev. Dr. Anderson visited the missions, in 1863, he bore witness that the government rests upon an avowedly Christian basis, and the Magna Charta of the kingdom is worthy of any government on earth, re6ognizing, since 1840, three grand divisions of a civilized monarchy: king, legislature, judges j and going beyond our own in declaring that no law &hall be enacted at variance with the letter or general spirit of the Word of God. In 1846 the religion of Christ was established as the national religion, and freedom of conscience in faith and worship, Sabbath observance, etc., were guarded from invasion.
These people have from the first profited by a literature in their native language, learning to read and write, and evincing capacity for literary culture not only by eagerness to read, but by original contributions to the press, and by grappling successfully with the problems of arithmetic, algebra, surveying, geography, etc.
From the beginning the Bible has been a text-book in morals and religion.
How can such results be regarded with indifference ~ An organized Christian government, with a constitution and laws accordant with the Word of God j nearly onethird of the whole population numbered among the members of Protestant churches j native education provided for by the government j houses' for worship everywhere built, and regular service maintained-in a word, all the requisite machinery for healthful, intel~ lectual, social, and spiritual development, and all this as the fruit of less than forty years of toil !
Well has it been said that, as to the progress of this nation in Christian civilization, the history of the Christian church and of nations affords nothing equal to it.
A CALL TO NEW PRAYER AND EFFORT.
A MEMORIAL from the Presbytery of Los Angeles, California, was sent to the late Presbyterian General Assembly at Detroit, asking for the issue of a Pastoral Letter, addressed to the churches, and calling upon pastors and people to make the coming ecclesiastical year-the year 1891-92-a year of specific, continuous, prayerful, and hearty endeavor for the salvation of souls. Though this is always the chief business of the Church of Christ, the General Assembly is entreated to give special emphasis to the enforcement of this duty now. Facts and figures are given to show how vast is the work before the Church, and how inadequate are the efforts to overtake this work. The memorial urges the need of a great, powerful, all-pervading Revival of Religion, which is to be looked for only through the "ministry of personal, systematic, untmimf!us work for souls."
When such a story as this of the Hawaiian Islands is before us, and similar marvels of grace in modern missions, one is disposed to ask, What is to pre'ent such mighty works in our day, and in every part of the habitable globe ~ Surely God's arm is not shortened, nor is His power straitened. We are straitened in ourselves. Let unbelief, prayerlessness, and selfishness be put away, and mighty prayer go up to God.-EDITOR.
PRAYER ANSWERED IN MISSIONARY WORK
PRAYER ANSWERED IN CONNECTION WITH MISSIONARY WORK.
BY MISS HELEN L. BURNET, NEW YORK CITY.
THE explicit declaration of Scripture that God i3 the Hearer and the Answerer of prayer. coupled with the experience of " those who humbly try to do His will," brings rest to the trusting heart, although this subject is hedged about with philosophical doubts and difficulties whioh reason cannot fathom nor wisdom solve.
In addition to instances already published in these pages, the following cases of great emergency in which the faithfulness of our prayer-hearing God has been put to the test by His people will tend to confirm the faith of every devout Christian reader : 1. Dr. Chamberlain, a veteran of the Areot Mission in India, relates that while on an extended missionary tour, he found himself overtaken by the rainy season on the outskirts of the jungle, where the ground was covered with water, and where lurked fever and man-eating tigers, from fear of which his guard of coolies soon ran away. With difficulty he procured mother escort for sixty mi:es, where he expected to find a boat which would float him down the river. "Above the cataract not a boat could be found, and the river had overflowed its banks. All day they waded in the jungle under alternations of heavy showers and a boiling, sickening sun. Toward evening nothing but water, and endless stretehe!1, of it, appeared, and not even a hillock on which they could spread their tents for the night!
" Must he and his band perish ~ In this extremity, the doctor, on the back of his horse, prayed to his covenant God for help as His ser"ant, and in obedience to whose call he had come to India to preach the Gospel. Immediately an answer came, distinctly pronounced in the ear of his soul, , Turn to your left, go to the river, aud you will find that which you need I ' "
Twice he consulted his guides, who assured him that rescue from that quarter was impossible. But a second and a third time the voice came with the same explicit direction. " Then, as master in command of the company, he gave the order to turn to the left, and, coming to the river-what did he see ~ The very thing he needed most-a large flat boat, and in it two boatmen, who, mistaking him for an English officer, began to apologize for the boat's appearance in such a strange spot. They said the flood in the river had loosened the boat from its moorings, and that the' devil himself seemed to be in the boat,' for, despite their efforts to the contrary, it persisted in floating to the spot where it was found."
Dr. Chamberlain, armed with authority from the English Government, took possession of the boat, which he found just broad enough to allow the spreading of his tent, under which they safely rested that night undisturbed by the hungry tigers, who were heard howling in the jungle. The next morning they began floating down the river, and continued fioating till they came to the next cataract, where they found another boat, and with it relief from all anxiety.
2. Aniwa, in the New Hebrides, is a coral island on which there are no streams, lakes or springs, rain water being the sole dependence of the people. One morning their missionary, Rev. John G. Paton, said to one of the chiefs, '" I am going to sink a well deep down into the earth to see if our God will send us fresh water up from below.' They looked at him in astonishment, and said, in a tone of sympathy approaching to pity, , 0 Missi! wait till the rain comes down, and we will save all we possibly can for you. Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our island to send up showers of rain from below ~' But, " he writes, " I started on my hazardou!! job, selecting a spot where my prospective well might be useful to all. I began to dig with pick, and spade, and bucket, an American axe for a hammer and crowbar, and a ladder for service by and by. The good old chief now told off his men in relays to watch me, lest I should attempt to take my own life, saying, 'Poor Missi ! That's the way with all who go mad! ' "
Becoming exhausted under that tropical sun, he for a time secured the aid of the natives, by the promisc of English fish-hooks, in taking out buckets of earth, although, he continues, "the shaft seemed to lower very slowly, and my fish-hooks were disappearing very quickly. I was thankful one evening to find that we had cleared more than twelve feet deep, when, 10 ! next morning one side had rushed in, and our work was all undone. The old chief and his best men remonstrated with me very gravely, assuring me for the fiftieth time that rain would never be seen coming up through the earth on Aniwa! 'You are making your own grave, Missi, and you will make ours, too, for when the man-of-war ship comes, and we tell the captain that you are buried in the well, he will think that it was our work and will kill us.''' Mr. Paton quieted these fears, and constructed a sort of derrick, so that, with pulley and block, the bucket could be lifted from the bottom of the well. But not a native would enter that hole. Day after day, digging with his own hands till he was fairly exhausted, he reached the depth of about thirty feet. He says that the phrase, " Living water, living water," kept chiming through his soul like music from God as he dug and hammered away. At this depth the earth began to be very damp, aud he believed that he was nearing water, but he had coustant fear that it would be salt water. One evening he said to the old chief, "I think that Jehovah God will give us water to-morrow from that hole." The chief said, "No, Missi j you will never see rain coming up from the earth on this islanrl. 'Ve expect daily, if you reach water, ta see you drop through into the sea, and the sharks will eat you. That will be the end of it j death to you, and danger to us all. " "I still answered, 'Come to-morrow. I hope and believe that Jehovah God will send you the rain-water up through the earth.' At the moment I knew that I was risking much, and probably incurring sorrowful consequences had no water been given; but I had faith that the Lord was leading me on, and I knew that I sought His glory, not my own. Next morning I went down again at daybreak and sunk a narrow hole in the centre. about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with uncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb when the water rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was, I eagerly tasted it, and the 'tinny' dropped from my hand with sheer joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy bottom to praise the Lord. 11; was water! It was fresh water! It was living water from Jehovah's well. True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to speak of; and no spring in the desert cooling the parched lips of a fevered pilgrim ever appeared more worthy of being called a well of God than did that water to me. The chiefs had assembled with their men near by. They waited on in eager expectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites coming round, while Moses struck the rock and called for water. By-and-by, when I had praised the Lord and my excitement was a little calmed, I filled a jug which I had taken down empty in the sight of them ali, and ascending to the top, called for them to come and sec the rain which Jehovah God had given us through the well. They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in superstitious fear. The old chief shook it to see if it would spill, and then touche4 it. At last he tasted it, rolling it in his mouth with joy for a momp.nt; he swallowed it and shouted, 'Rain! Rain! But how did you get it ? ' I repeated, 'Jehovah, my God, gave it out of his own earth in answer to our labors and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves.'
" And then they went and saw, and marvelled and gave praise to God, and company after company returned to the spot loaded with their gods of wood and stone and piled them in heaps amid the tears and sobs of some and the shouts of others, in which was heard the oft-repeated word, , Jehovah, Jehovah.'
"The old chief said, ' Missi, I think I could help you next Sabbath. Will you let me preach a sermon on the well ?' 'Yes,' I at once replied, , if you will try to bring all the people to hear you.'
" , Missi, I will try,' he eagerly promised. And preach he did a rousing sermon, closing with these words, 'The Jehovah God has sent us rain from tbe earth. Why should He not also send His Son from heaven? Namakei stands up for Jehovah!' In those intensely exciting days we sat still and saw the salvation of the Lord. "-From Autobiography of Rev. John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides.
3. "One evening, after commending ourselves, our friends, and the mission to God, I went outside my house, and right under my window was a tiger about twelve feet off. My first thought was to turn and fiee, but fearing that he would jump on my back and shake me by the neck, as the cat does the rat, till I was dead, and seeing that I was too near to fiee, I resolved to walk straight np to him, and begged Jesus to go with me and preserve me. What a blessed thing that my soul was in my Saviour's keeping! On the veranda was lying my Scotch dog, who rushed at him and barked furiously. The tiger had never seen impudence like this. He had taken his prey from his youth, and had always seen dogs taking to their heels much faster than he cared for. He snarled at us and went a few steps on one side, and I made a shave between the wall and the tiger, praying all the time. I expected every moment that he would paw me, but after walking twenty yards I realized that I was safe and thanked God, and ml dog, saved also, was barking at the far-off tiger. "-Rev. .A.
Haegert, in the Missionary. 4. In 1885 the work of the Church Missionary Society, London, Eng- land, having greatly increased, a special day was appointed to pray for workers. The evening previous more than one hundred graduates of the University Church assembled who desired" to dedicate themselves to foreign missionary work, ready to go at the command of the Master when their studies were completed. Thus the meeting which had been called for prayer became a meeting for thanksgiving." "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isa. 65 : 24).
5. In 1872 a missionary in the city of Cadereita, Mexico, made it a special subject of prayer that the Lord would open the way for the return of himself, his wife and child to the States for a little season, the circumstances seeming to indicate this as a duty. The needed means were provided, but the country was in a state of revolution, and his friends tried to dissuade him from going, as General Cortinas would probably cross their path, who was a murrlerous man and regarded as having a special hatred for Americans. He determined to go forward, however, trusting to Divine protection, and they started for Matemoras, some three hundred miles distant, two hired men and their wives accompanying them, the brethren " promising to pray daily for their safety." "The third morning, after commending ourselves as usual into the care of our covenant-keeping God," he relates, " we started on our journey, and soon espied the troops of General Cortinas two miles distant marching toward us. We again all looked to God for protection, then went on until we met the advanced guard, who commanded us to halt and wait until the general came up.
" Riding up to our company with the usual salutation, he asked whence we came and whither we were going; he then asked the news from Nueva Leon. After replying to his question, the missionary inquired if the road was safe between his party and Matamoras. He replied, ' Perfectly; you can go on without any fear, and as safely as you would in your own country;' then, bidding us good-morning, he rode on, not even inquiring about or examining any of our baggage. " Upon reaching Brownville, Texas, friends pronounced the conduct of General Cortinas as truly a miracle, for they " could not have believed him capable of such kindness to Americans so in his power."
6. A missionary of the Amcrican Board among the Maharattas in India once wrote thus: "The first Monday in January, 1833, I shall ever remember. At our morning prayers, in the native language, three strangers were present who said they had come to inquire'about the' new way.' At ten 0'clock Babajee returned from his morning visit to the poorhouse in an ecstasy of joy, saying, 'The poor people all come about me inquiring, " What shall we do g" , I appointed a meeting of inquiry at three o'clock to-day, and to my joy and surpl:ise there were sixteen present. A heavenly influence, I am persuaded, was with us. Our Christian friends in America must be praying for us." Although unknown to the missionary, that very day" had been set apart by the General Assembly in the United States and by other bodies of Christians as a day of fasting and of prayer for the heathen world."
7. A friend of the Rev. Benjamin Slight, of the Methodist Church, while journeying as a missionary in Africa" came to a fork in the road, one branch going round a hill, the other np the hiII." Hesitating which to take, he besought the Lord to give him direction. He was decidedly inclined after prayer to take the up-hill road.
Reaching the summit, he saw clearly on the rejected path several large lions. Making a memorandum of this remarkable escape from certain death, he had occasion on his return to England to refer to it, and learned that on this very day his friend was so impressed with the thought that danger threatened his missionary brother that he had" made him a subject of earnest intercession. "
8. Many years ago, in a New England village, the widowed mother of a large family in narrow circumstances was called upon for a contribution for missIOnary purposes. She went about sad-hearted all day because she had so little to give in aid of a cause so near her heart. Calling her children together for family worship, she brought her burden to the Lord, and prayed that He would accept one of her children for such glorious work. A daughter was much impressed by this prayer of consecration. This daughter afterward became Mrs. Wilder, a missionary to India, wife of the late editor of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW, and in her old age and widowhood she returned to India with her young daughter to labor on till life shall end among the people of her love, soon to be followed by her son, who has also given himself wholly to the work.
9. It is related that Dr. Adoniram Judson, while laboring as a mission- ·ary to the heathen, felt a strong desire to do something for the salvation of the children of Abraham according to the flesh. But it seemed that his desire was not to be gratified. During a long course of years, even to the closing fortnight of his life, in his last sickness, Dr. Judson lamented that all his efforts in behalf of the Jews had been a failure. He was departing from the world saddened with that thought. Then, at last came a gleam of light which thrilled his heart with grateful joy. Mrs. Judson was sitting by his side while he was in a state of great languor, with a copy of the Watchman and Reflector in her hand. She read to her husband one of Dr. Hague's letters from Constantinople. The letter contained some items of information which filled him with wonder.
Ata meeting of missionaries at Constantinople, Mr. SchaufHer stated that a little book had been published in Germany, giving an account of Dr. Judson's life and labors; that it had fallen into the hands of some Jews, and had been the means of their conversion; that a Jew had translated it for a community of Jews on the borders of the Euxine, and that a message had arrived in Constantinople, asking that a teacher might be sent to show them the way of life.
When Dr. Judson heard this, his eyes were filled with tears, a look of almost unearthly solemnity came over him, and clinging fast to his wife's hand, as if to assure himself of being really in the world, he said: " Love, this frightens me. I do not know what to make of it." " To make of what 1" said Mrs. Judson. " Why, what you have just been reading. I never was so deeply interested in any object; I never prayed so sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came-at some time-no matter how distant the day-somehow, in Borne shape, probably the last I should have devised, it came !" What a testimony was that! It lingered on the lips of the dying Judson; it was embalmed with grateful tears, and is worthy to be translated as a legacy to the coming generation. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. Pray and wait. The answer to all true prayer will come. In Judson's case, the news of the answer came before he died, but it was answered long before. So we may know the results of prayers and toils even while we sojourn here; but if not, what sweet surprises shall await us in the great beyond !-JVorthwestern Christian Advocate. Queen Mary trembled at the vrayers of John Knox. What a quaking in the kingdom of darkness would come if our great sisterhood of churches would band together to fathom the meaning of that glorious promise, " All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive !"
The conviction grows upon us that upon a revival of the praying spirit everything else depend!! in the further prosecution of missions. Hence we give space to the testimonies of a prayer-hearing God. vYe hope to publish still other papers, from time to time, which put on permanent record the remarkable interpositions of God in the critical and pivotal periods of missionary work. These proofs are countless, but they are scattered through various biographies and narratives, and hence lose their cumulative force. In these pages we hope to gather them, and thus give them fuller opportunity to impress the hearts of our readers with their joint testimony. To know and feel that God is a present living and faithful God, that Christ is with us on the battle-field as He is with the Father on the throne-who shall say what new energy and power would come into all work for God if this conviction could once more become the ruling thought of the Church in her work for souls !-[EDITOR.]
"A FEW PAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS."
"A FEW PAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE HUGUE- NOTS,"* BY EUGENE BERSlER.
BY ALICE BERTRAND.
THERE is hardly a more melancholy definition of death than thls expression of the Psalmist, The land of forgetfulness. Few of us aspire to a posthumous glory but whose heart does not yearn for a kindly remembrance ~ We are then happy to think that the memory of Eugene Bersier seems as yet far from sinking into oblivion. A full year has elapsed since his death, and never, perhaps, has he been more present in the hearts and thoughts of all.
On the mournful anniversary of November 19th a crowd filled the Etoile Church and, moved to tears, assisted at the inauguration of a black marble slab which had been placed under the pulpit" in memory of thE) first pastor and founder of this church."
Almost at the same time a little black and gray volume appeared in the windows of all Protestant booksellers-and very soon disappeared, too. The friends of the regretted preacher had gathered together a few lectures delivered by M. Bersier on different occasions and entitled them, " A Few Pages from the History of the Huguenots."
The Huguenots! Eugene Bersier, in relating their sufferings, was not only accomplishing a useful task, he was almost performing a filial duty. This descendant of French refugees, though born in a land of exile, was proud to feel the blood of martyrs still running in his veins. But, recalling the tortures of his ancestors, there was no bitterness in his heart. He loved his country too dearly to bear her any resentment. And if a word were needed to give the substance of this book-and perhaps of the whole life of M. Bersier-no better could be chosen ~han this motto : Faith and patriotism.
M. Bersier's favorite hero was Admiral Coligny, undoubtedly because he thought with the historians, Michelet and Henri Martin, "that Coligny was the best Huguenot and the best Fren~hman of his time." He commenced a history of Coligny of which, unfortunately, we have only the first volume. But this was not enough. M. Bersier, thinking of the statues of poets and orators which crowd the squares of Paris, resolved that Protestantism should be represented in this army of the illustrious dead. , And Coligny was destined to stand up once more for his religion before the people of Paris.
It was precisely to defray a part of the expenses occasioned by the erection of this statue that M. Bersier delivered a remarkable lecture on Coligny in many towns of France and of foreign couutries.
An analysis, somewhat complete, of this conference would either be too long or too dry. But a few facts will suffice to throw some light on the noble figure of the admiral.
• Paris, Fischbacher, 0telques pages deB l'histrnre' de Huguenots, par Eug. Bersier, with a remarkable preface by Professor Sabatier. Gaspard de Coligny was born (1519} at Chatillon, in the green valleys of western France. He was brought up in that solitary castle by his pious widow mother, who had quitted the brilliant court of the Valois to devote herself to the education of her three sons.
Gaspard was, from his youth, eminently qualified to be a soldier. He had nothing, truly, of the knightly valor of a Due de Guise, but his strength of character, his indomitable perseverance and, above all, his unselfish patriotism, were unparalleled. But alas! fortmie had few smiles for him.
" Gentlemen," said M. Bersier, in opening his lecture, " I am about to relate the history of a vanquished soldier."
His two great deeds were two failures. IIis plan-wonderful for the age -of establishing a Huguenot colony in Florida wretchedly failed. The Huguenots were murdered by a band of Spaniards, who hung them on the neighboring trees, with this inscription, " Not because they are French- men, but because they are heretics. ,.
The defence of St. Quentin was more glorious. The north of France was threatened by an invasion of Spaniards, directed by the" iron-headed general," Philibert-Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy. Coligny, though sure of being defeated, went to the little town of St. Quentin to oblige the Spanish general to besiege it. On the duration of the siege depended the salvation of France. Coligny knew it, and resisted heroically. The town was taken by the Spaniards, and Coligny sent to jail; but the French king had had the time to assemble the troops and to protect Paris. Yes," we feel that some defeats are more glorious than victories, and that true heroism is sacrifice. "
But the bitter cup had to be drained to the dregs. Coligny heard, in his dreary captivity, that the Duke of Guise, haviug possessed himself of the admiral's own plans, had taken the town by surprise, to the enthusiastic admiration of France. " God, in chastising Coligny, had, as Calvin said, called him aside, that he should better listen to the heavenly Voice." The admiral's brother, a prisoner like himself, had sent him a copy of the Holy Scriptures, which Coligny studied with the greatest care. He then began to correspond with Calvin, and soon after his release he openly entered the: ranks of the Huguenots. .
M. Bersier, who had shown the patriotism and courage of the Frencn soldier, dwelt here on the simple faith and the austere piety of the Christian. It would have been interesting to have followed him in that beautiful castle of Chatillon, ornamented with the sculptures of Goujon and the paintings of Primatice, and which is now, alas! little more than a heap of ruins. It was there that, under the superintendence of a learned and pious tutor, the young Colignys received a sound classical education, for their father, says M. Bonnet, the Protestant historian, hated ignorance almost as .
bitterly as he did ungodliness. Every morning and evening the children and servants gathered in the great hall to hear the family prayers said by the chaplain, or, in his absence, by the admiral himself. But whereas, peace and happiness were reigning there, on the other side of France, in the village of Vassy, a hundred Huguenots had been murdered while they were singing their psalms in a barn.
This news caused an immense sensation. What could the Huguenots do 7 Clamor for justice 1 Alas! the government was openly with the murderers. The Protestants had no choice left, except death or fighting. " Ought not religious liberty to be defended as other liberty is 7"
However, such a decision could not be lightly taken, and we fully understand the hesitation that tortured the admiral's noble mind.
One night Coligny, who was awake, heard the sobs of his wife, the Lady Charlotte de Laval. "I regret," said she, " to disturb your rest. But think, my lord, that while we are reposing here in luxury, the bodies of our brethren, our own flesh and blood, are lying in prisons, or in the fields, at the mercy of dogs and ravens. I tremble to think that your prudence may be worldly. Oh! my lord, the blood of our dead weighs heavily on my soul !"
Coligny explained to her the difficulties of civil war, and added, "Put your hand on your heart, and think if you would have the courage to endure flight, exile, shame, and hunger not only for yourself, but, what is worse, for your children; if you will suffer death by,the hand of the public executioner, after having seen your husband exposed to the mockery of the rabble, and your children servants to your bitterest enemies. I give you three weeks to decide, and if your heart is strong enough to bear all this, then will I go and die with you and with your friends. "
Charlotte de Laval answered with these sublime words: "My lord, these three weeks are over !"
Death was merciful to the heroic woman ; it spared her most of the calamities of the civil war, and the direst of them all, the murder of her beloved lord.
The Protestant nobility had been invited to meet in Paris, on the occasion of the wedding of Margaret, Charles IX.' s own sister, with their prince, young Henri de Navarre, who became afterward King Henry IV. Coligny had joined them. But it is not only in poetry that a dagger is hidden in the jewel casket of a bride. This maniage was but a snare to entrap the Huguenots.
A few days after the religiotls ceremony, the bell of the Church St. Germain l'Auxerrois rang for the massacre of the Huguenots. It was about two o'clock in the morning. Coligny, hearing a great noise and cries in the house, understood at once that his last hour had come. "Monsieur Merlin," said he calmly to his chaplain, "will you pray with me~" Then -he begged his friends to leave him and save their own lives, for he was too ill and weak to escape. The murderers soon rushed into his room. "Art thou the admiral ~" cried one of them, called Besme. ., Young man," answered Coligny, "how-dare you attack an old and wounded man 7 However," added he, with resignation, "you will not much shorten my life." BesUle, swearing fearfully, pierced him through with a spear. The body of the admiral was then thr.own out of the window. Henri de Guise turned it over disdainfully with his foot.
]?ut, thanks to M. Bersier, France has now, in a certain measure, atoned for this oqious crime. A beautiful statue of the admiral, which M. Bersier had the happiness of inaugurating some months before his death, now adorns the Oratoire Church, on the side toward the Rue de Rivoli. Coligny stands in a proud attitude, one hand placed on his heart, the other grasping his sword.
M. Bersier read, on that occasion, a speech which might, ioo, be r.om- pared to an antique statue for the perfection of its form, with something, if I may say so, of the coldness of thc marble. Tuese were the concluding words of his speech: "It is worthy of a great nation to honor those who have served her, as Coligny has, with this noble aim : The glory of God and the public welfare !"
The following lecture is a description of the intellectual candition of the French Reformed Church in the seventeenth century. With patriotic pride, M. Bersier enumerates our glorious Protestant academies of Nimes, Sedan, Caen, and Saumur, where Dubose was professor, that same Dubose of whom Louis XIV. once said, "I have heard to-day the best orator of my kingdom." And the illustrious pastors of Charenton, Daille, and Claude, the worthy rival of Bossuet in theological controversy. . . . But why are they so little known 1 It is not because of their lack of learning. Professor Samuel Petit, listening accidentally to a rabbi's attacks on Christianity, retorted on the spot by an extemporary Hebrew speech. It is more probably on account of their heavy and somewhat provincial style, bnt, above all, it is because they were too conHcientious to be very fashionable.
The Protestant erudition proved to be favorable to Catholic theology. Thanks to frequent controversies, the Scriptures were attentively studied, stupid legends became discredited, and a great reform of the doctrines and of the morals of the Gallican Church was at hand.
But the Revocation, like a deadly wind, soon blasted these fair promises of a rich harvest.
The 18th of October, 1685, Louis XIV., incited by the clergy, as,M. Bersier has proved once more, revoked the famous Edict of Nantes, which granted to Huguenots the free profession of their faith. This revocation had been prepared by petty cavillings whic~ deprived Protestants of many legal rights, and now this last safe-warrant was taken from them.
H the Roman Church did not lay claim to infallibility, she would feel a pang at the thought of the persecutions of the seventeenth century, for she then not only tortured the body of the heretic, but attempted to disunite his family and to destroy his conscience.
We know what the Protestant homes were, for historians have told us of the austere piety of the wife and of the mother, of the authority of the father, a priest in his own house. • •• Now, a troop of drunken soldiers invaded this holy of holies, insulted the women, and tortured children be- fore the eyes of their mothers.
Poor mothers! a decree was issued at that time, which authorized the legal kidnapping of children, that they might be brought up in the Cath- olic belief. .
But some persons think that, at least, the inmost recesses of the con- science were respected during these persecutions. The facts prove too clearly, alas! the worthlessness of this opinion.
" What can we say," writes M. Bersier, " of these peasants of Saintonge, forced by the swords of dragoons into Catholic churches, to receive there what was told them to be, the holy body of the Lord? Horror-stricken, they spat it out of their mouths, as soon as they were unobserved. . • .
Do not be mistaken, this is the greatest of all crimes, the attempted mur- der of the soul !"
But no one-the victims excepted-dared to protest publicly against those iniquities. Nothing bnt praises were to be heard. The greatest orators, Bossuet (who calls Louis another Constantine), Massillon, thc mystic Fenelon himself, La Bruyere, the moralist; La Fontaine, the poet- all congratulate the king of having accomplished such a great deed. The women are not more tender-hearted. Witty Mme. de Sevigne gayly writes, "The dragoons have been such very good missionaries j" and Mme. de Maintenon, the granddaughter of the noble Huguenot d' Aubigne, is not ashamed to affirm "that it will soon be quite ridiculous to profess that religion. "
" This universal approbation is certainly one of the scandals of history. ,.
But is there not a compensation for us in the praises given to our Hugue- not refugees by foreigners 1 " Oh!" writes M. Bersier, in a page which is one of the most eloquent of our Protestant literature, " they must allow us to exclaim in the bitterness of our hearts, It is no consolation for us !
We know that France has received a deep wonnd, out of which a large stream of blood has flowed. . . . Aud we needed these lost riches! these severe virtues! Tenacity in trial, respect of liberty, austerity iu conduct- all those traits are now missing in our national character.- " We have often lamented it in many a terrible crisis, in many a battle that our people fought to conquer their rights and their liberties. In these dark hours we look for our absent ones, we call to our dead, and, as Augustus to Varus, we cry to him who exiled our fathers, ' 0 king, give us back our legions!' "
These legions were not, according to an opinion generally accredited, an army of noblemen. M. Bersier, in a most interesting essay on " The French Refugees and Their Trades," has victoriously proved that, as Coligny used to say, "The little ones are before us in the kingdom of heaven."
Thanks to their rare holidays, to the practice of lending money on in- terest, and, above all, to their intelligence and industry, they soon became the first manufacturers of France. Their cloths, made at Sedan or Elbenf, their Lyons silks, their Angouleme paper, etc., were universally appreciated. And the Caudebcc hats were quite a celebrity. The cardinals themselves, in spite of their dislike for heretics, would wear no others.
The Revocation was the death-blow of all this prosperity. But Huguenots were not men to be easily disheartened. Facing the greatest dangers, they fled from their ungrateful mother-country. Whole families sailed on the ocean in a small boat; men and women hid in empty wine-casks; little children-Bonnet, the future founder of New Rochelle, was one of themcrept into vegetable baskets, at the risk of being wounded by the dragoons' long lances. Most of them reached the hospitable lands of Switzerland, England, and Holland. These strangers, moved by a noble pity, did their best to assuage the sufferings of their martyr brethren. And a great reward was in store for them.
Thanks to the Huguenots, Geneva was endowed with its now worldfamed watch-making. But the "Ark" of the refugees was Holland. They were in such a wretched state when they arrived there that most of them had no other food than the snails which they picked up in the woods. However, before many years had eJapsed, they had founded the famous mannfactories of paper and of that yellow velvet known as Utrecht velvet. And England! I am sorry for Albion's pride, but the list of her debts to the refngees is far from being a short one j it is sufficient to mention Sheffield cutlery. Irish lace, mutual help societies, etc. We might note also that a great many members of the House of Lords and the qneen, Victoria herself, are of Huguenot origin. Of Huguenot origin, too, alas! the famous ox-tail soup. They were such very good housewives, these poor Huguenot ladies, they knew how to make use of everything, and when the butchers threw away the tails of oxen, they bought them and made this soup, which all loyal Britons believe to be a national dish.
These discoveries may be a little hurtful to national pride, but, seriously speaking, are they not, as M. Bersier observes, far more painful for our own patriotism? And when we remember that we have wantonly despised these treasures, it is sometimes rather hard to find comfort in saying, " Our Huguenots have well deserved the gratitude of mankind."
But all the Huguenots could not flee. The rich only-rich in money, heroism, or health-could face such perils. What became of the others ~ Ah! this is the dreary story of the Church of the Desert, of nightly assemblies -held in the woods, of pastors sent to the rack, of women shut up for life in the Tower of Constance. Persecutions slackened little by little, but in the middle of the eighteenth century Protestant marriages were as yet illegal; the austere Hnguenot lady was considered no better than a mistress, and her children were bastards, incapable of inheriting their father's fortune.
M. Bersier enumerates the efforts made to obtain, at least, the legal marriage of Huguenots. Rousseau, alleging his bad health, civilly refused to lend a helping hand to his brethren. But Voltaire roused Europe to
LETTER FROM MRS. HELEN W. GIBSON
indignation about the unjust sentence of the Protestant Cal as. It was not, however, without many difficulties that the Toleration Edict of 1787 was issued. It granted to Protestants legal birth, marriage, and burial, and the right of trading in the kingdom. Two years later, under the Revolution, they enjoyed at last the benefits of a full liberty.
The best conclusion of this volume is in the words of M. Bersier on the Revolution, but which might apply still better to the history of the Huguenots, " We must pity them who have not learned in those tragic scenes the respect of the human soul and the hatred of all religious oppression."
MRS. HELEN W. GIBSON, of Pari.s, writes as to " a call from over the sea :" "all true followers of Christ are missionaries, and devote their lives (in one form or another) to carrying the glad tidings of salvation, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, to those that are ' without.' These outsiders are found crowding the boulevards of Paris, as well as turning off prayers by machinery in China; they are found wallowing in the slums of our civilized cities, as well as vegetating in the wilds of Africa. Wherever exists a soul ' without hope and without God in the world,' there is a mission field for the Christian worker. The' all the world' of Christ includes the places nearest home, as well as the far distant 'regions beyond. I How many in civilized France are bowing down to stocks and stones! After having during several years burnt, broken, and thrown away the relics of their 'former ignorance' given to us by our converts, we are just now beginning to form them into a little museum. The people cling to such' heips' only until they get the real thing in their hearts; they then feel them to be 'hindrances,' and hasten to put them away.
" God has greatly blessed our mission work lately, especially in Paris and its suburbs. The old Methodist mode of after-meetings and direct personal dealing with the people is employed, and with marked success. We have no parti pris as regards these meetings, otherwise they might become formal and defeat their own end. We sometimes close up with the first service, but always try to lay hold of the people as they leave, and get one here and there into a corner (in a double sense)! Then, if we find, as we often do, that the Spirit of God has been beforehand with us ih preparing the way, we are soon down on our knees together.
" When the people give evidence of sound conversion to God, or even when they seem to be sincerely seeking, we invite them to the classmeeting held in connection with each hall, where they are further instructed in the Bible and helped by the i~terchange of experience, and last, not least, taught to give systematically. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered to the members every month in the various halls, and is always a time of blessing. These dear French converts live well; many of them have the old Huguenot spirit of endurance. They stand not only open persecution, but the annoying pin-pricks of domestic taunts /lnd mockings; and they die well; one of our members has just gone home proclaiming her joyful faith in Christ as the only Mediator, though the priest stood by her bedside cursing her, and telling her she was damnee and' going to hell!' Two young men, also, saved at the eleventh hour through the visits of another of our converts (himself a bigoted Romanist up to last November), have just died exulting in Christ, but followed to the last by the threats of the priests. The work is precious in France. I wonder when I look at the recent successes of our little mission, which has been hitherto almost unknown outside of English Methodism. We are a mere handful of workers, and most of our helpers are ignorant and milearned men and women; but they are full of faith and the Holy Ghost, such agents as God can best use, and He opens doors before them everywhere. The fact is that every human heart is craving for God in Christ, but His professed disciples show Him up so poorly that the weary seekers turn disappointedly to the world. If we Christians would best see our duty and then tarry on our knees till we receive the power from on high to do it, there would soon be a universal revival.
"There is no room for details in a short article. Let our American friends come and see and hear for themselves! Let them listen to the glowing testimonies and the fervent prayers of men and women who a fe". months or. weeks ago were, some of them, on the brink of suicide, and all of them either defying God altogether, or mumbling over their beads to the Virgin! I earnestly beg that visitors to Paris from all churchesfor surely we may make common cause against the errors of Romewill call at our headquarters, 4 Rue Roquepine, and ask to see my husband, Rev. William Gibson, conductor of the mission, who has his bureau there. We need sympathy, and we need practical help beyond what our own. people can give. The conversion of Romanists appeals equally to all churches and to all Protestant countries. May God awaken an effectual response !"
Rev. Dr. Gibson supplies to us the following further facts as to Methodist Evangelization in France among Roman Catholics : " The. Methodist Evangelistic Mission in France, under the direction of the British Conference, consists of Ii stations: 8 in and around Paris. 2 at Rouen, 2 at Havre, 1 at EIbeuf, and 1 at St. Servan.
"During the last three or four years the work has made great progress, and some of the stations have been marvellously blessed. The methods employed are: Lively popular Gospel meetings, followed by aftermeetings, in which the people are spoken with personally on the subject of their salvation; women's and children's meetings; and the Methodist , class,' in which the converts are trained and led on higher. All these meetings are aided and followed up by assiduous visiting and tract distribntion. Our journal, La Bonne Nouvelle, of which we distribute about 10,000 monthly, is of great help to us.
"The mission costs yearly $11,000, of which $5000 is ' granted' by
NEWS FROM CONGO AND ANGOLA
the Wesleyan Missionary Committee of London, and the remaining $6000 is provided (mainly collected in England) by myself. The substantial premises in Rouen, which have cost £4000 for the building and £2000 for the ground, are composed of a large shop on the ground ftoor, the rental of which will, with the collections, make the station self-supporting j a handsome hall for public services, good reading-rooms for French and English sailors, and ministers' and evangelists' houses.
" About £1000 had already been collected in January, 1871, and the debt on the ground can be paid off by yearly instalments; but for the remaining £3000 I am personally responsible, and it is in a great measure the pressure of this burden which brought me to America. The work is, as far as possible, to be made self-supporting. A missionary restaurant has been opened in connection with our principal hall in Paris, and promises to be a help financially as well as spiritually to the station. I believe that France is on the eve of a revival. Already we have felt the first drops of the showe,r in the numerous and satisfactory conversions from Romanism to Christ that we have seen with our own eyes. Methodism suits the French temperament. Our converts are prompt and fearless in their testimonies, delight in prayer and praise meetings, and soon become active workers according to their light and opportunity. Two of our evangelists were brought to God in the mission.
, , We are in urgent need now of generous help for Rouen, as well as fOf many other objects less costly but equally important. We also earnestly request yearly subscriptions toward the support and extension of the work. Doors are opening all around us j France is craving for the Gospel as perhaps never before since the days of the persecutions; her fields are white unto the harvest j disgust of snperstition is hurrying her along toward atheism; nothing can save her but the pure Gospel of the grace of God, preached and applied to the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost."
NEWS FROM CONGO AND ANGOLA.
From Banana, mouth of Congo, April 14th, Bishop William Taylor writes: " Last night I slept aboard our steamer, the' Anne Taylor.' No snch cabins on any other river steamer on the Congo. This steamer will be the best and cheapest sanitarium for Congo workers this side of Europe or America. She has made one trip to Boma and return. We go on to Angola in the Gaboon. I will visit our mission stations in that province, and hope to return in five or six weeks to open new fields in the North Congo region.
" We anchored at St. Paul de Loanda, Angola, April 16th. Rev. A. E. Withey, our presiding elder for Angola district, came aboard and remained all night. He is looking well, and reports general good health among our people and prosperity in their work, including abundant selfsupport in all our Angola stations.
"Thursday, P.M., April 17th, arrived at the Missio 'Americana. Brother Burling and family all well."
THE GOSPEL IN BPAIN
THE GOSPEL IN SPAIN.
* BY J. E. BADGETT MEAKIN.
I.-INTRODUCTORY.
SPAIN! What an array of historic associations is brought before the mind in dwelling upon the connection of this stronghold of popery with the light of the Gospel, and how black they look! Instinctively one thin;s je, of the fiendish Inquisition, of the brutalities of the autos de and of the more recent but no less determined efforts of the priestcraft to stifle the voice of protest which has earned for us our distinctive title of Protestants. In the study of the blood-stained pages of her past history one is apt to think that in this day of progress and religious freedom, Spain has marched forward with her compeers, and that now her spiritual condition must be more or less that of other countries equally advanced in civilization. But this is not. the case, and the only vital difference between religious Spain to-day and the religious Spain of three centuries ago is the lack of sufficient temporal power to carry out all it could wish.
For some time past the country has been split up into two pretty sharply divided parties, the priest-ridden monarchists and the atheistical republicans. It is the history of France and of Italy repeating itself. The one party, ever on the decrease, includes most of the wealth and political influence of the kingdom, and the other comprises a large proportion of the poorer classes, and those who may be fitly described as " Adullam- ites. "t The vast majority of these, disgusted with the inherent rotten- ness of the phase of Christianity presented to them by the Church of Rome, have rejected religion entirely. Even among the ranks of the first party are numbered thousands whose only ties are those of position and politics, and whose religious opinions only remain unchanged on account of their indistinctness. If they think at all, the result is almost inevitable. They either turn to the truth in the measure in which it has been ~evealed to them-by human agency or not-or they lapse into the condition of infidelity so prevalent around them.
Between these two, which are no less than manifestations of the crumbling to pieces of the State religion, there is an open door for the Gospel. It is true that the task of entering it is one of difficulties and discouragements, but " if God be for us, who can be against us ~" Would to God that there were this day more laborers in this vineyard, for the harvest truly is plenteous, and ripe withal. Here and there, scattered up and down the Peninsula, are bright and shining lights to guide the wanderer home, but oh, how few and far between in comparison with the need for them!
Having just concluded a five-weeks' tour through Spain, from Cadiz to * For some years editor of The Times qf Morocco.
t .. Every one that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented" (1 Sam. 22 : 1, 2). France via Barcelona, during which I have visited all the mission stations I could bring within my course, I"will endeavor to give some idea of what is being done, and what opportunities this country offers for Christian effort. After what I have said, there is no further need to dwell upon the need, and our marching orders are to "all the world." I may mention that a knowledge of the lang.uage of the country, and a previous residence of some years among Spaniards, have placed me on a better footing than the majority of travellers to judge of the state of the country and the value of what is being done, while it also enabled me to gain some personal experience from attempts to make known the Good News on my way.
n.-THE AGENCIES AT WORK.
At present there are no less than tweh-e foreign societies more or less engaged in work in Spain and the Balearic Islands, mustering among them some eighty preaching places, while there are about forty more managed independently of any society. Owing to the number of agencies at work, exact statistics are very difficult to obtain, especially in connection with the independent workers, who, it will be seen, occupy about a third of the field.
The eighty stations were thus distributed when the last general survey * of the work was made two years ago, and since then very little change has taken ~lace, insufficient to warrant the labor of going over that task again.
" ~ ~wl . OIl~ '§w w ~~ ~~ zj C2'5 :a~ QJ ~s"~ ~g s'5 " i " " ~]I "" ~ """"~A:;bll ~:l ~~ 0 A'5 E-< oj p.. oj 00 "".El 0 "'" ~ w'" ""E-< > p.. f"1 ::;J P'Ih :§ 00'" 0 — — — — — – — – – – –1– – AmerlcanCongregationalists 14 8 3 1250 413 14 4 11 262 215 13 20 466 American Baptists …….•.. 5 2 3 155 34 2 2 6 6 158 58 English Wesleyans ……•.. 20 6 9 1540 269 17 12 13 306 299 11 30 387 Church of England..•.•••.. 15 6 3 1884 1194 13 6 8 236 292 1 1 30 Scotch Presbyterians ..•••.• 4 4 1 290 284 8 4 4 256 118 6 25 276 Irish Presbbterians ……… 4 4 1 108 22 4 3 2 111 52 3 7 60 Dntch Pres yterians….••.. 3 3 127 67 5 3 2 75 68 2 7 165 Swiss Presbyterians …….. 6 .. 2 3 223 1922 9 5 6 120 104 11 23 310 German …. …………. 2 60 80 6 6 3 184 56 2 11 168 ~~~~~~-~~~~~l i~rl's~~~: 3 8 1425 154 7 3 4 118 92 3 5 91 2 1 27 15 E~IiSh Congregationalists. 1 2 4 '57 70 30 321 60 ll~ 2 – In ependent ……………. 35t 12 11 20351688 23 11 24 759 784 -2-0 -4-4 100.1 – – – — Totals ………. 114 54 35 9194 3442 111 61 78 2545 2095 80 183 3231 The general position may be briefly summarized thus: preaching places, 114 j t pastors, 54 j evangelists, 35 j attendants at divine worship, 9194 j eommunicants, 3442 j day-schools, III j day-school teachers, male, 61 ; day-school teachers, female, 78 j boys on the lists, 2545 j girls on the lists, 2095 j Sunday-schools, 80; Sunday.school teachers, 183; Sundayschool children, 323l.
The above figures are those which each pastor or evangelist supplied, and therefore rest on their authority. With reference to the number of * By the Rev. J. W. Brown, of Barcelona, to whom I am indebted for these figures.
t There are a few more of whicb no statistics were obtainable. commuuicants of the Church of England Mission, which is known in Spain as the Reformed Church, it should be mentioned that little care is taken in granting admittance to this church, as evidence of the New Birth is not consiaered necessary. 'l'hen again, though the numbers of school children in all cases are those on the lists, the average attendance is from three fourths to four fifths of this number. The average number of attendants at the services, too, is to a large extent conjectural.
In addition to these agencies, the British and Foreign Bible Society has a representative at Madrid, in charge of a central depot, with a body of colporteurs in various parts of the country, as also has the American Board.
The Religious Tract Society of London, too, has a branch in Madrid, with a committee of the leading workers of each mission, and a depot from which are issued periodically a vast number of most excellent tracts, booklets, and periodicals suited to meet the objections of Romanists and infidels. In addition to these there are published, in one place or another, one weekly, two fortnightly, and two monthly periodicals, devoted to Christian enterprise and the spread of Gospel truth, in Spanish.
I1I.""':"THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORK.
If my readers will open the map of Spain, they will have no difficulty in following me in an imaginary trip through the country, calling at all the principal mission stations, for I will commence with the northwest corner and take them in order as they come.
The province of GALICIA is almost entirely occupied by workers belonging to the Brethren community. At Ooruiia Mrs. ChAsterman, at Vigo Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle, at Marin Mr. Blamire, are all carrying on an earnest warfare for the truth, with out-stations at six minor towns, in all of which blessing has been received. There are schools for children of both sexes at Marin and Coruna. The only other station in this province is that of the Scotch National Bible Society, at Ferrol.
In ASTURIAS the only evangelical chapel and schools are at Besullo, under the direction of M. Fliedner, of Madrid, while there is work carried on at three smaller centres.
LEON, as a larger province, has more to show. The Reformed Church is here to the fore, with chapels at Salamanca and Villaescusa, in the charge respectively of Senors Antonio Garcia and Regaliza, who engage also in work of more or less importance in eleven neighboring villages. At Villaescusa the result of the work has been greatly exaggerated in some reports, but it is fairly prosperous, and a small church is being erected. In this province are also two out-stations maintained by Mr. Hoyle.
Several bodies are at work in the next province, OLD CASTILE. At Santander, on the sea-coast, is a station of the American Board, under a Spanish pastor, Don Enrique de Tienda, with chapel and schools. Owing to the efforts of the Romanists, during the sixteen years that this church has been in existence it has had to move seven times in search of a meeting-place, and was once nearly two years houseless. This is an in- stance of what goes on in most parts where the work is prospering, and the churches own no property of their own, showing how important it is that this need should be provided for. This mission has other stations at Logroiio, Pradejon, and Roa. At the first-named place Don Angel Dijon is pastl>r; a worthy old saint who founded the church at Saragossa was long in charge here, but has at length retired to the south to end his days with his family. At Pradejon, for the past year or two, opposition has been more than usually intense, owing to the arrival of a stern and bigot- ed parish priest. Nevertheless, progress is steadily made. Owing to lack of workers, this is in the same charge as the one previously men- tioned. Roa is able to boast of a purchased place of worship for the Protestants, but as yet it has no fixed pastor, and remains in the care of the evangelist from Pamplona, through whose means its church was founded. Mission work is also carried on at Oaniego.
The Reformed Church has a chapel at Valladolid, ministered to by Sr. Martinez, with mission work in six or seven villages round, and an out- station at Palencia. For many years a most valuable work was done here by Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, independent workers, who have now removed to Murcia to open a new station, leaving Mr. Macarthy here in charge of their chapel and schools.
In the little province of BISCAY is the head station of the American Board, at San Sebastian, nnder the direction of the Rev. W. H. Gulick, with a chapel and schools, one of the latter for the preparation of female teachers, superintended by Mrs. Gulick, being a most important work. In all there are about a hundred and twenty day. scholars and thirty boarders. There is another chapel at Sestao, and a mission at the mines of Triano.
The important town of Bilbao would seem wholly given up to Roman- ism, for though it is full of priests and nuns, and a vast amount of money is ever ready to add to its numerous Mary-temples, Jesuitical convents, etc., the Protestants have for two years been unable to secure premises for public worship. Is it not a disgrace and a shame to our wealthy Christians . that they are not forthwith supplied with funds to purchase a site and build 1 The work here is sustained by the Evangelical Continental So- ciety of London, but under the superintendence of Mr. Gulick. There is also here a mission for sailors of all nations.
The only miilsion station in NAVARRE is that at Pamplona, where a lit- tle group of faithful ones has existed for several years, often without the presence of a pastor, who is now maintained by the American Board.
In ARRAGON the same mission has a pastor, the Rev. Carlos Aranjo, with chapel and schools, at the idolatrous town of Saragossa, and an in- teresting out-station at Tauste. Mr. Armstrong had formerly a chapel here, but this has recently been given up.
The next province, CATALONIA, has a most flourishing work at Barcelana, one of the earliest attempted in Spain. Here several bodies are engaged. The Brethren are represented by Mr. Henry Payne, who, with Mrs. Payne, has labored here for nearly twenty years. Under their care are three chapels, each having its schools for girls and boys, which are supported through Mr. Muller, of Bristol. They have gathered around them quite a large number of souls plucked from the fire of Rome, and their schools are well attended. The Wesleyan Methodists have long been represented here by Mr. Simpson, who has, however, been for a year or two laid by in England, and his post ably filled by the Rev. W. J. Brown. Here, too, are good congregations and excellent schools, five of the former and three of the latter, with four out-stations. The Swiss Presbyterians have also their representative here, M. Empaytaz, who has grown gray in the work. Under his direction are chapel and schools in the town, four other chapels and schools in other localities, and three out-stations, two with schools. The Swedish Baptists support Mr. Lund, who has here a chapel and schools, and one out-station. Another important institution in Barcelona is a Protestant hospital, managed by a committee formed of the gentlemen named. This meets a deeply felt want, and is a work which should have the fullest sympathy. There is also a B1ble and tract depot here. Apart from the Spanish work there is an English chapel, and work among the Swedish and Norwegian sailors.
From various causes the work at this, the second city of Spain, has been proportionally more successful, perhaps, than anywhere else in the country. I was delighted to see the well.managed schools and earnest services, and the good attendance at lectures which I was asked to give in Spanish at two of the chapels. As I had visited nearly all the chapels and schools, I was able to form some idea as to their actual condition better than by the comparison of reports.
Near the famous shrine at Montserrat, the Reformed Church has a station at Monistrol and another at St. Vincente de Castellet, with chapels and schools at both places, and four out-stations.
At Figueras, farther north, is an independent mission carried on by the Rev. and Mrs. Lopez y Rodriguez, the latter being English. They are assisted by several English ladies and two brothers of Sr. Lopez, carrying . on work in quite a number of villages round. The American Board has also an evangelist and school at Figueras, and another at La Escala. An independent work at Villafranca concludes the list in this province.
In Y ALENCIA and MURCIA there are chapels and schools at the town of Valencia and at Carthagena, the one under the Swedish Baptists and the other under the Swiss Presbyterians. As already mentioned, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong are just now occupied in commencing work at the port of Aguilas. The only other work is at Sagunto, an out-station.
In the province of NEW CASTILE there is but one mission ceatre, except in Madrid, though here several agencies are busy. In the capital, again, the Brethren are to the fore with a chapel and three schools supported through Mr. Miiller, all excellently managed, and giving evidence of real spiritual blessing. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Fenn have charge of it, and have labored at Barcelona and here some twenty-one years. They are assisted by several English ladies. At· YunC08 they have an out-station, with schools, but work in the villages round the capital has all along proved very hard and unencouraging. The Reformed Church in Madrid is represented by the Rev. J. B. Cabrera, the bishop-elect, who has a chapel and a mission room with three schools. A church is about to be built for this congregation with funds from England, by which also the pastors and 8chool1l are supported. The Scotch Presbyterians had formerly a good deal of work here, but latterly they have been abandoning it piecemeal. The only remnant here is a good congregation, with schools, eloquently addressed at their services by the Rev. Sr. Tornos, and under the superintendence of the Rev. John Jameson, once supported by this Society, but now British and Foreign Bible Society agent. They have also an outstation at },{ocejon, with a bOYI:!' school. The Wesleyans have a chapel and a boys' school in Madrid under the superintendence, just now, of the Rev. J. W. Lord, but the work having suffered recently from various causes, has not come into Mr. Lord's hands in a flourishing condition. The remaining mission here is a German one, that of the Rev. F. Fliedner, assisted by a preacher, Sr. Vargas. He has a chapel and schools, with a small orphanage, accommodation for a few boarders, and a "sick bay" over them, as also a cottage near the Escorial as a country branch. Mr. Fliedner likewise directs the Protestant book-shop and tract-depository, and is honorary chaplain to the German Embassy. There is, too, an embryo Young Men's Christian Association here, which is at present in but a crnde state, though it should develop. For English-speaking people, there are formal services in connection with the British Embassy. The only other station in this province is at· Criptana, where Mr. George Lawrence is at work, with his three daughters, in chapel and schools j they are independent workers.
Sad to say, the adjoining province of ESTREMADURA is totally without evangelistic work, and only that of ANIULUCIA remains to be noticed. The Edinburgh "Spanish Evangelization Society" has several stations here, under the superintendence of the Rev. ·William Moore, M. A., at Puerto Santa Maria, close to Cadiz, where they have a school for the training of young Spanish converts for evangelists and pastors. This again is a most important branch of the work, as no one can reach people like their own countrymen when properly prepared. At Cadiz itself this society has a chapel and schools under the care of Don Rafael Bianco, with an outstation at Pto. Real. At Huelva the English residents set an excellent example by supporting a boys' school, which is under the same superintendence, the Rev. Antonio Jimenez being pastor. They have here also girls' and infants' schools. At Seville the Rev. Sr. Barroso has a small chapel alild schools under the same auspices, while the remaining station is at the village of Escornaz, near Granada, where there is a chapel and school. One or two out-stations are under the same society, which allo supporto the Rev. John Murray at Granada. The Irish Presbyterians have here taken over the work of their Scotch brethren, who had grown disheartened, and now maintain a mission in Jerez, where they have a wellbuilt chapel and schools, under the Rev. Jose Viliasid, and a chapel and schools at San Fernando, on the other side of Cadiz. Friends in Amsterdam support the Rev. Camilo Calamita at Utrera (chapel and schools) j the Rev. C. Carrefio at Oordova (ditto), and Sr. J. Alhama at Gmnada (chapel only). At Malaga Sr. Manuel Carrasco has a chapel and schools where good work is being done, and there is another independent worker. The Reformed Church supports the Rev. Jose Vila in this town, with chapel and schools, and in Seville the Revs. V. Baquero and Palomares, with built churches formerly belonging to monasteries, and schools, with an outstation at Triana. Farther north, at Sinares, Mr. Wigstone, of the Brethren, works both in Spanish and English, and at Algeciras, opposite Gibraltar, a new work was begun nearly a year ago, under the direction of an independent worker, Mr. Simpson, aided by several ladies. There are two more out-stations in this province.
IV.-CONCLUDING REMARKS.
This brings to an end the list of mission cent~es in the whole kingdom, and the reader will not have failed to note how far they are from supplying its great need for the Gospel. As forming part of the same domains, the Balearic Isles should not go unmentioned, for here a good work is going steadily forward under the Rev. F. G. Smith, Wesleyan minister at Mahon, who has nine chapels and five schools in his charge. At Gibraltar, too, there is work doing among the Spaniards, though on a small scale, by various laborers too much engaged in English work to spare much time for it. Just over the straits, on the Morocco coast, is a work among the Spanish colony at Tangier, which promises well. Mr. H. N. Patrick and two or three ladies, all under the North Africa Mission, are laboring there, and have a Gospel coffee hall, with services and night schools.
It will be understood, in the above brief sketch, that except when a " built church" is specified, the chapel and schools usually consist of one or more rooms in a private house, or of a store, the same apartment in many cases serving for both purposes. This is a very great dra.wback, as it is not allowed in Spain to put np any sign outside to denote an evangelical place of worship, and only special edifices will attract outsiders, unless they hear the singing as they pass. Then again, a large proportion of the people consider the present places" hardly respectable," who would be quite willing to enter a " regular church. "
Space will not permit of my discussing fully the various methods of work employed in Spain, or of the causes which concur to retard the spread of Gospel truth which it might lie in the power of those engaged to mini-.
PLANTING CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY
mize or, in some cases, to remove. Though the vi8ible resnlts of the twenty years of toil which have been spent upon the country since its doors were opened to the Gospel are still small, this must not be made an excnse for staying our hand. We have sent but one company of soldiers to stay the on-rush of a mighty host. How can we wonder that they can do little else than keep their ground ~ Where one of the enemy falls there are ten to to rush in. If we want !lee results, let us send our thousand devoted men and woman to Spain not unprepared, but equipped with some knowledge of the language if possible. Let us not leave them struggling for lack of funds, but empty our full coffers and lay them at Jesus' feet. Let us break our pots of ointment and devote our strength to using in His service what is of greatest earthly value. How many who read this will accept the call and say, " Lord, here am I, send ME" !
PROTESTANTISM IN BELGIUM.
BY MARGUERITE DE LAVELEYE, SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER AT LIEGE.
Two Belgian monks, Henri VillS and Jean Esch, were burned alive in Brussels in 1523. These were the first Protestant martyrs in the Netherlands. The Spanish Inquisition continued its bloody persecutions till the Reformation was completely suppressed. During more than two centuries Belgium was thoroughly dominated by the Romish Church. In 1848 a society named Eglise Missionnaire BeIge was constituted at Brussels for the spreading of the Gospel.
This society comprises now 27 churches and missions in full activity in 170 communes composed o£ 7000 members, 420 only of Protestant origin. Thirty-eight clergymen and Bible-teachers preach the Gospel in private houses, churchyards, and in public, presiding as well over Sunday services and Bible classes.
The Belgian missionary church might rapidly extend its blessed work if it was not constantly prevented by the insufficiency of its means. It requires about 140,000 francs yearly, and as nearly all its members are poor workmen, the receipts are always much below the expenses, not to mention the requirements of the new missionary stations. In January, 1890, the deficit reached 45,000 francs, and the missionary society will have to diminish its activity without fresh help.
We therefore appeal to all those who take an interest in the promotion of evangelization on the Continent that they may" come over to help us. " The treasurer of the Belgian Missionary Church is M. Kennedy Anet, 123 Chaussee d'Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium.
PLANTING CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY.
BY REV. HENRY GRACEY, GANANOQUE, CANADA.
IN contemplating the spread of Christianity in the seventh and eighth centuries among the barbarous peoples dwelling in the north and northeastern districts of Europe, one cannot but admire the energy, zeal, and courage shown by many of the missionaries. Their methods cannot always be commended, nor can all their doctriues be approved; still we must admire their fervor and glowing devotion. And our modern missionaries might find not a few things worthy of imitation in the conduct and character of those early heralds of Christianity. The tribes or peoples which inhabited at that time that part of Europe now known as Germany were fierce, warlike, and barbarous; and the first missionaries who went among them did so at no little inconvenience, and some of them at imminent risk of thcir lives.
We read of several attempts made by zealous missionaries to get a foothold among the tribes on the eastern borders of the kingdom of the Franks; but they met with comparatively little success. About the middle of the seventh century one Amandus, a bishop alDong the Franks, extended his labors to the Frieslanders, a fierce and powerful tribe occllpying part of what is now called the Netherlands, and also certain districts in Germany. Unable to subdue the barbarism and idolatry of the people, he procured an order from the Frankish king, Dagobert, by which all might be compelled to submit to baptism; but in trying to carry out this violent measure he raised such a storm of indignation against himself that he was in danger of losing his life. He was, however, a man of resources. By acts of benevolence, by redeeming captives, and by pretended miracles, he managed to recover his lost ground, and to persuade some of the people to destroy their idols and embrace Christianity. Another Frankish bishop who did something for the spread of the Gospel among the German tribes was one Eligius. He had been a goldsmith by trade, and was rich, benevolent, and very devout. "'hen engaged in his trade he spent large sums of money in the interests of Christianity. A favorite plan with him was to redeem captives, which he did in large numbers-sometimes as many as one hundred in one transaction-and after giving them some knowledge of the Gospel he would send them back to their homes, from which, hy the fortunes of war, they had been carried off. In 641 this pious and worthy man was appointed bishop of Tournay and Noyon, and during 18 years he continued to carryon missionary work in the neighboring territory. He was noted as much for his liberal and evangelical views as for his piety and generosity.
But the most extensive mission work among the German tribes in this seventh century was done by missionaries from Ireland. At this time the zeal, learning, and devotion of the Irish Church had attracted considerable attention. The religious schools there were noted for their many excellencies and their numerous students. The monasteries were said to be crowded in the fifth and sixth centuries with pious monks willing to engage in enterprises of Christian activity.
The first of these of whom we have information as undertaking mis- sionary work WaS one Columban, near the end of the sixth century. His method was very practical. Born in the province of Leinster, he was ed~ ucated in the famous monastery of Bangor. At the age of 30 he felt im- pelled to enter a larger field of usefulness than seemed open to him in Ireland, and taking twelve young men with him, he crossed over to the Frankish kingdom. Christianity had been established there. Still, find- ing a great deal to be done, and being entreated to remain within the king- dom of the Franks, he did so. His aim was to make his colony of monks support themselves by their own labor, and while doing so they could set an example of industry to the natives around them, teach them some of the arts of husbandry, and also the truths of the Gospel. Accordingly a suitable spot was selected at a place called Anegrey; a humble lodging was built as a monastery, and the forest was cleared by the labors of his monks. At first they had great hardships, and were reduced to the greatest straits for the very necessaries of life. But Columban was a man of great determination and courage, and his influence over his followers was lIuch that even in the greatest difficulties he was able to cheer them, and induce them to persevere. After a time the method and discipline of Columban became very popular, and families of every rank committed their sons to him for education; and so numerous did his monks become that he established several monasteries. Hard work was a prominent feature in his discipline.
But he had other difficultIes to contend with than the poverty and privation met with in planting his mission. His severity of discipline and the strictness of his morals were unpopular with the worldly and dissolute, and he became an object of dislike to many in high places. Then there was another cause of trouble. The usages of the Irish Church did not harmonize with those established in the Frankish kingdom. The most prominent di"ergence was in respect to the Easter observance. The feeling at that time was running strongly in favor of entire u",iformity in the Church. The popes Gregory the Great and Boniface IV. both pressed this matter very resolutely, and Columban was urged to yield and give up his practices imported from Ireland. This he could by no means be per~ suaded to do. And to the Pope Boniface IV., as also to the Frankish bishops, he wrote very earnestly, counselling unity in essentials, while divergence was permitted in such matters as were complained of. He disclaimed any intention of trying to change the customs of the Frankish Church. He only wanted liberty to follow his own methods in his own monasteries in the wilderness; and he intimated pretty plainly to the Frankish bishops that there were other matters of reform of more importance to which they might with profit to themselves and their flocks tum their attention. His appeal did not meet with their approval. A synod was called in 602 to deliherate on the matter. What the immediate result of the synod's deliberations. were does not appear; but shortly afterward a feeling of hostility to Columban sprang up in the Burgundian Court, within whose territory three of his monasteries lay, which became S'J strong that he was forced to yield to it and retire. An order was issued that he should be seut back to Ireland. This, however, was not carried OUL; but, on the invitation of the Frankish king, he removed to a place within the territory of Zurich, intending to carryon a mission to the Alemanui and Suevi, who dwelt in this district. But his zeal deprived him of the opportunity; for, unable to restrain his indignation against gross idolatry, he indisereetly set fire to and destroyed a heathen temple. This rash act raised such a strong feeling against him among the savage natives that he was forced to seek refuge in flight. The result was he forsook this region altogether, retired to Italy, and founded, near Pavia, the monastery of Bobbio. One Gallus, a disciple of his, resolved, however, to remain and continue the work. Following the method pursued by Columban, he selected a suitable spot in the forest, and gathering to him some monks, he set about clearing the forest and cultivating the soil, aiming in this at two things: First, he wished to secure a living for his missionaries, and second, to set un example of cultivating the soil that might be followed by the people. While engaged in these works of husbandry, however, he preached the Gospel. He described to the people God's plan for saving men, and told them that he and his associates were messengers sent to tell them about this great matter. He carefully pointed out to them the sins they were to avoid, reminding them of the judgment of God in time and eternity. By those means Gallus became very influential in the neighborhood, and established a great reputation for sanctity.
But other missionaries, resolved to engage in the same work, also came over from Ircland. In the seventh century it was a common thing for young men to go over from England for the purpose of leading a spiritual life among the monks of Ireland, or to gather learning in their schools. Such visitors were readily welcomed by the Irish Church.
Among these was a young man named Egbert, who, in a time of very severe illness, made a YOW that if spared he would devote his life to work among the heathen. Having recovered, he made arrangements to carry out his vow, and several others of kindred spirit resolved to join him in the work. For reasons that do not appear, Egbert, who originated the mission, did not go with it j but the others carried it out. One Wigbert became the leader j and the northern part of Germany, adjacent to the German ocean, was the field selected. But, on account of the determined and Ditter hostility of Radbod, a powerful native king, little was accomplished, and eventually the mission was given up. This failure, however, did not discourage, and shortly after the same enterprise was undertaken by another man from the same school. A young Englishman, named Willibrord, when about the age of twenty visited Ireland and spent twelve years in study there. After that, moved by the missionary spirit, he set out to prosecute a mission among the Germans where his countrymen had failed. By this time Pepin had subdued part of Friesland, and was able to give some protection to the missionary. Willibrord took twelve compan-
CHILDREN OF FOREIGN MISSIO!iAIUEIl
ions with him, and for more than thirty years he continued his labors amid distressing privations, and in the face of many great dangers and difficulties. King Radbod continued his implacable enemy j but although he threw many difficulties in the way of the missionary, he failed to dislodge him as he had dislodged his predecessors. A characteristic story is told of this king which illustrates his haughty spirit and the strong doctrinal convictions of the missionary. It is said that on one occasion the king presented himself to Willibrord for baptism j but before submitting to the ordinance he wanted to know whether the kings, his ancestors, were in heaven, and whether he might hope to meet them there if he were baptized and went to heaven himself. This question presented no difficulty to the missionary, who at once told him his ancestors were certainly all in hell, as they had died unbaptized. "What business have I, then," said Radbod, "with a few poor people in heaven 1 I prefer to abide in the religion of my fathers." And so he did; he could never again be induced to entertain the doctrines of the missionary.
Throughout the seventh century missionary work in Germany was carried on in a desultory fashion. There were a number of independent laborers, characterized by great zeal and self. denying devotion, yet having no bond of union and no common centre, nor, indeed, any means of sympathizing with and helping each other. There being no central authority, there was no organization, and the different missionaries labored under great disadvantages. And not only did these earnest men lack the stimulus of mutual encouragement, they lacked the help of material support and backing. They often found themselves without supplies in the midst of savage enemies. It can hardly be wondered at that in such circumstances, while many devoted men had engaged in the work there were no results that made a deep impression in respect to the conquests of Christianity. Yet the labors and instructions of these piom! men from Ireland, continued with varying snccess through the seventh century, prepared the way for the work of Boniface in the beginning of the eighth century, who has been called the Apostle of Germany; and to them belongs the credit of in~ augurating that great missionary enterprise and sowing the seed, while the harvest and the glory fell to Boniface.
CHILDREN OF FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.
BY A MISSIONARY.
One of the difficult questions foreign missionaries have to decide has reference to their own children. Climate, want of proper schools, and other canses compel them to pursue one of the following courses: they must either send or take their children home a.nd leave them to the care of others, or abandon their work at a time when best fitted for it, and when it may be most needed. This necessity is one of the severest trials mis- ~j.ollaries have to meet, and calls for strong faith and earnest prayer, It is difficult to see how the work can go on with efficiency if, as a general rule, missionary parents must permanently leave it when it becomes necessary for their children to leave the country where it is done. But is this necessary ~ May not these parents, having cons~crated their children to Christ, leave them, for His sake, to the care of others ~ Evidence of special care bestowed by the Master upon such children has not been wanting, as may be found, it is believed, in the following communication.
The writer has the names of all missionaries sent by the American Board to its different missions in India and Ceylon previous to 1874. And though he has not the names of all their children, he has known many of them, and had the means of learning much respccting the history of others.
While he was himself connected with one of these missions for nearly forty years, it was the practice in each for its members to observe a season of special prayer for their children at a particular time each week. How far the facts here given are the result of this concert of prayer cannot be told. But they are interesting and encouraging.
The following statement, though not claiming to be complete, is the result of careful notice, and is certainly within the truth. Of the sons of missionaries sent by the Board to India and Ceylon before 1874, twentyeight became foreign missionaries, seventeen clergymen in this coun'ry, and seven physicians. Fourteen, after graduating at college, became teachers, or engaged in other useful employment, and eleven are known to have become useful men without a collegiate education. One lost his life in the Union Army during the Civil War. Two died in college, and one soon after graduating. One was pursuing his studies in college a year ago, and three in theological seminaries.
Of the danghters of missionaries mentioned above, twenty-seven, as is known, became missionaries or the wives of missionaries, arid eleven others married clergymen or educated men in other professions. Ten, after completing their education, engaged in teaching or other useful employment, and three, not graduating at public school!'!, became uscful as Christian wives and mothers. One had just entered the institution at South Hadley a year ago, one was in her last year of study preparatory to Wellesley College, one was in an academy iu Massachusetts, and one in a normal school in New Yqrk City.
The following account is confined to the children of a single company of missionaries who went out in the same ship. The company consisted of four men, with their wives, and an unmarried lady. About two years later the young lady was married to a missionary. Fifteen sons and eleven daughters born to this company lived to adult age: All but two or three were sent or carried home by their parents and left in the care of others. These would have been thus left had not their parents been prevented by other causes from" returning to their work in accordance with their earnest wishes. All early became members of the church. Ten of the sons graduated at college. . Six of these became ministers, of whom three went abroaJ. as foreign missionaries, and another would have gone but for the failure of his health. Two engaged in journalism. One studied medicine, and settled as a physician in New York City. One, ha,'wg taught for five years in a college in India, ill now studying in a theological seminary in the United States. Of the other five, one died while a senior in college. One. having graduated at a medical college, is a practising physician in Massachnsetts. One, an eldcr in a Presbyterian church, is a journalist in one of the principal cities of the Northwest. The two others, in useful callings, are active workers in the Sunday-school. Of the eleven daughters, two, after several years' work in a foreign mission, became the wives of missionaries. One graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary, and went to Ceylon as a missionary. One, after graduating at the same school, engaged in teaching in New York City. One died not long after her marriage to an educated Christian man. One, graduated at a normal school in Massachusetts, taught five ycars, and married the pastor of an important church. One, having received an education in other schools of high standing, graduated at the vYornan's Medichl College, in Philadelphia. One graduated at W cHesley College. taught six or seven years, and is now giving assistance in missionary work in Spain. The other three are all useful as intelligent Christian wives and mothers. These accounts are given with the hope of affording encouragement .to missionaries called for the sake of Christ to put their children from them, and to those who give them sympathy and help. Does not the Lord care for such children?
DECEMBER, 1890.
THE ANATOMY OF NATIONAL LIFE.-In a recent lecture on " Oriental Thought," Professor E. P. Thwing, M.D., of Brooklyn, Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, drew attention to the initial elements, the physical fa!tors revealed in the geographical position of a continent, its climate, scenery, and soil. He quoted the remark of Dr. Coan, of the Sandwich Islands, that the Gulf Stream gave Europe its ,present civilization, and the occlusion of the Pacific at Behring Strait made Polynesia what it is. Volcanoes and seismic disturbances and typhoons, are related, he said, to the abnormal development of the imagination, and the thanatophidia of the East to demonology. Thermal extremes produce indu8trial and so moral instability. The study of physical geography and ancillary themes is fundamental. Only by a patient analysis is a true synthesis and so a rational science gained of human ciyilization. Buckle drew notice to this method thirty years ago, but modern research hal> illuminated the subject and emphasized its importance to every student of ethnology.
ISIDOlt LOEWENTHAl•
ISIDOR' LOEWENTHAL.
BY ROBERT MORRISON, FULTON, MO.
In the Youth's Companion of April 23d ult. there is a quotation from a book entitled" Stories from th,e Battle Smoke," as follows: " A missio~ary to India was shot, as he sat in his veranda in the dusk (If the evening, by bis own chowkeydar, or watchman, whether intent iollally or hy accident will never be known. Near a public road stands hi~ solitary grave. On the stone at the head is the inscription: SACRED TO THE MEMORY of the REV. – – SONNENTIIAL.
J[e tran8lated the Script7£res in the Afghan tongue, and wa.~ I1hot by his own chowkeydar.
, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' "
The above epitaph recalls a flood of memories of the years gone by. The real name of the missionary refeITed to above is Isidor Loewenthal.
God's dealings with him were so strange that a sketch of his history . ,,,n hardly fail to interest God's people of the present day.
lIe was born in Posen, Prussian Poland, A.D. 1826. His parents were .rews. His father knew but little and cared less about religion. His mother was a devoted follower of the traditions of the rabbis. She, however, endeavored to instruct her children in the principles of morality. These parents were in moderate worldly circumstances, and with eight children to rear and educate, of whom Isidor was the eldest, they were unable to give them a liberal or university education. They however did what they could, and did that fairly well.
Our young schoiar was sent to a Jewish school to learn some of the first principles of science, and to repeat prayers of whose meaning he knew nothing. There was no attempt to explain their significance or interest him about such matters more than would have been done to a pet parrot.
By and by he was sent to " a Christian school" -so, at least, in name. There religion, as the teachers understood it, was taught as an accomplishment to fit one for general society or for office in the government, and, of course, was taught in a very lifeless sort of way. There were 01]. this subject two recitations a week, and attendance thereon was optional. The Greek language was in the course, but no hint was ever given that the New Testament was written in that tongue. Hebrew was taught, and Isaiah was read and pronounced by the professor to be nearly equal in beauty and snblimity to Homer. Snch Jews as Philo, Spinoza, and Mendelssohn were commended in contrast to such Christians as Voltaire, Rousseau, Rume, and Bolingbroke. Milton and Locke were called fanatics, and while the learning and genius of Newton were admired, he was pitied because unable to free himself" from the common superstition of the greater part of mankind."
Being unable further to pursue his studies, young Loewenthal became clerk for a merchant; but selling goods was not to his taste. To be among books was his delight. He was a born student. Having no other work, however, open before him, he kept on with his clerkship, and becoming acquainted with some young men about his own age who were radicals in politics, met with them secretly for the discussion of political questions. At such times essays and poetry of their own composition were often read. One of these pieces Mr. Loewenthal was indiscreet enough to publish. Because it criticised the government, he indirectly learned that his arrest had been determined on. He knew the horrors of such a risk as that. This was but two years before the great upheaval on the Oontinent, of 1848. With haste he fled to Hamburg, and with a good deal of trouble secured a passport to New York, whither, in a short time, he arrived, a stranger in a strange land, with but a poor knowled,e of English. He had but little money left, and he hnnted for work very earnestly in New York and Philadelphia, but failed entirely. He then struck out to get work in the country, but failed there too. In despair, he invested -all he had in a small basketful of notions, and began the life of a peddler.
In Novemher, 1846, when but a little over twenty years old, he ealled one forenoon at the house of Rev. S. M. Gayley, near Wilmington, Del., drenched with rain and suffering with cold; he was invited to the fire and to stop for dinner. After dinner, when he had disposed of some of his wares to Mrs. Gayley, he rose to depart, but the kind preacher, noticing how thinly clad the young stranger was, invited him to halt for the night, which he readily did.
Upon inquiry he found, to his surprise, that the young peddler had studied some philosophy and seience, and was master Qf the Hebrew and several modern languages. The preacher became very much interested in his guest, and persuaded him to stay with him until he eould see if some more suitable employment eould be found for him. This he soon seeured in having a elass formed for him in modern languages in Lafayette College, at Easton, Pa., and which he took charge of January lst, 1847. The few weeks, however, that he spent at the house of his benefactor were eventful times to him. Writing to Mr. Gayley some time afterward, lle says: "It was at your house, by your earnest prayers (at family worship), to which I first went half from curiosity, half from politeness, by your humble supplications, that I was first awakened to apprehend my danger, to consider that I had an immortal soul. I began to open the Bible. I was astonished. I waited with eagerness morning and evening for the summons to family worship to hear you pray. I was more and more convinced I was on the wrong path." During the young professor's absence at col-
tsmon
lege, Mr. Gayley followed him with kindly religious counRel, which, though a bow at a venture, proved under God to be the right things said at the right time, and in the autumn following Mr. Gayley baptized him as a member of the Presbyterian Church.
In the fall term of 1847 Mr. Loewenthal entered the senior class in Lafay- ette, and graduated in the June following. Shortly after graduating the Rev. Samuel Miller offered him the position of a teacher in the collegiate school at Mount Holly, N. J. This he accepted and retained for three years, when he entered the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he took a full course and graduated with great credit in 1854. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. While in the seminary he taught classes in the modern languages in the college of New Jersey. He was an early riser and a tireless worker. As a linguist he had few equals and, per- haps, no superior, considering his age. He was a thorough student, at the same time, in mathematic1l and philosophy. There were plenty of open- ings gladly awaiting such qualifications as he had, hut he cheerfully offered himself to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church to go to the Gentiles of India, and was accepted and sailed for his field in August, 1855.
The Society of Inquiry of the seminary selected him as essayist for 1854, and his subject was India as a Missionary Field. The prouuction was one of great merit, and was soon after published in the Princeton Review.
He was below middle size in stature, but lithe and wiry. He had a large hooked nose, a fine black eye, and raven black hair. He was a quiet, modest man, and a man of thorougll consecration. All his powers were cheerfully laid at the foot of the cross.
At Peshawer, the advanced station of missionary enterprise in Afghanis,…, tan at that time, he landed in 1855. He was the pioneer there and alone, but he addressed himself in earnest to the acquisition of that difficult language, the Pushtoo.
Nine years of patient, hard labor passed, and he was able to preach in Pushtoo, Persian, Cashmere, Hindustanee, Arabic, and, in fact, in all the languages and dialects of that polyglot region which he had chosen as his field of labor. Besides this he had just completed a translation of the New Testament in Pushtoo, and was about to begin work on the Old Testament when his earthly work suddenly came to an end.
When in the seminary he was subject to terrible headaches, which caused him to rush out very early in the morning to take an airing, and Rome of the theologues who rose betimes in the mornings used to see him coming back from a walk of two or three miles just as they first looked out. One morning in July. 1864, about daylight he was shot by his own watchman, who said he thought it was a thie;: 'Vhether what he said was true, or whether he was paid to kill one who was hated and feared, as did some men of Asia who were not ahle to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which Stephen spoke to thEm, will not likely be known on this side of eternity.
ISIDOR LOEWENTIIAL
Tt is hardly probable that that was the first time in all those years that Mr. Loewenthal had come home at that hour and in that way!
To human view it seems mysterious that one so gifted, so eminently fitted for such a field and on the ground and anxious to work, should be cut down. So, however, was it with another grand servant of Christ and misEionary to India, Henry Jl,Iartyn. Both were men of wonderful intellect and rare scholarship, especially in the line of language; and eaeh gave a final work of a New Testament of his own translation-the one to Persia, the other to Afghanistan. Each died young and alone in differents parts of the field, but Tocat and Peshawer are drawing nearer to each other, and hosts of pious dead will soon surround the graves of these young, brave, lonely pioneers.
From Chefoo, China, Mr. G. P. Bostick writes, April lOth, 1891 : " Rev. B. C. Henry says, , The Chinese dress too often means a Chinese house pure and simple, and native furniture, native utensils and native food.' This statement is unjust to a large number of missionaries who wear the dress,· which no more means, in itself, the other things specified than wearing a Prince Albert coat in New York City necessarily means a brown-stone front with all attending luxuries, or a plain dress, squalid poverty. Many who wear the dress live in good foreign style otherwise, and some of them under the same board with Mr. Henry. The C. 1. M. policy is economy, whether you wear the dress or not. I know some of them in foreign dress who live harder than some others who wear the Chinese dress. I know not how to account for Brother Henry's statement, unless he has not mingled with those who wear the dress. " I also read recently something like this, 'If you are shaking in yonr faith and tend to looseness of views, throw yourself into the mission on a foreign field and it will eure you.' Some haye tried this, resulting in their finally giving up the Bible, religion, and God. Work at home might have the desired effect. But for heathen lands we need men well grounded in the faith at all points; others, if not entirely thrown off, will get looser, and teach loose views to others. Faith of all workers on foreign fields will be thoroughly tried, and needs an immovable foundation. " I read also recently an appeal for sending out mechanics as missionaries, to establish all kinds of shops for the natives. In this part of China there is danger of burying the Gospel beneath the accompanying civilizing agencie~, so that God's power unto salvation will not be seen. My vote is, first and last and all the time, for men and women to preach the Gospel, pure and simple, and depend on God for results; already too much time and money are expended in heathen lands on thc side issues. " Amid the many societies undertaking to do the work of the churches, would it not be well to consider how much stress is to be put upon the individual Church-Christ's organization g"
EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN l'EitIODICALB
EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FORELGN PERIODICALS.
BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.
-The Annual Report of the National Bible Society of Scotland has a very "aluable letter respecting the state of France from Mr. Charles Faulk- ner, " whose long residence in that country, and careful study of events in it, entitle him to be heard on such a question" : " Pius IX. himself never made a greater mistake, and that is saying a great deal, than when he dro"e Jules Simon, one of the fairest, most moderate, and most religiously disposed men in France, from power; and he who would form a just estimate of the acts of the French Govern- ment in relation to the Church, is bound to take the 16th of May, 1877, into account. Passion is an evil counsellor, and the systematic persecution that followed was a great mistake; but the Church only reaped what she had sown. She had tried to strangle the Republic."
Mr. Faulkner then describes all the familiar outbursts of passionate hostility to clericalism, aud, in the train of that, to religion itself, and adds, "In all these respects there is a great change. The government is no longer professedly hostile to the Church, and makes an effort even to be fair, and this is true notwithstanding many seeming exceptions. The programme of an anarchical socialist meeting no longer of necessity in- cludes blasphemy. The administration has ceased, at least openly, to persecute. Priests are no longer eaten every day by the extreme Radical journals. Civil funerals are a diminishing quantity." Notwithstanding various measures bearing hard upon the re"enues and exemptions of tho clergy, Mr. Faulkner says that "there is reason to think that the re- ligious influence of the Church is greater now than it was when the Pope drove Jules Simon from power. In the matter of education she has estab- lished free schools, both primary and secondary, which, her opponents being judges, are a great success. In other departments of work there is the same energy, and it seems possible that the latest attempts to cripple her may have the opposite effect." The Jesuits having been greatly disabled, it should seem as if this revival was measurably independent of them, and guided rather by the deeper religion and stricter ethics of the Dominicans. This, however, is an uncertain guess of my own.
"The same is true of the Reformed Church of France. • .. Ten years ago, a few leading men determined to seek the reorganization of the Church by means of non-official synods, both provincial and general. The attempt was regarded by many with fear and trembling, but it has suc- ceeded beyond expectation, and three fourths of the churches are now formally connected with this revived organization, and the Church, as a whole, is throbbing with organic life as she has not done since the dark days of Louis XIV:'
Mr. Faulkner says, moreover, as fully attested by men of all schools, that" the educated French mind is in a marked degree turning its atten- tion to religious subjects, and that in no hostile spirit; indeed, one of the extreme Radical papers complained the other day that among periodicals such as the Revue des Deux ]tfondes there was not one that treated scepticism with due respect."
Is French Catholicism competent to detach itself from its accretions of superstition ~ It should seem not impossible, since, as Pere Hyacinthe attests, the doctrine of Transubstantiation has been there spiritualized to a degree which seeIllS to leave it hardly distinguishable from Calvin's own teaching, except that the presence of Christ is assumed as existing ante usum. The coarse medireval conceptions of t.he Roman Catechism in this Pl!rticular have never found much acceptance in France.
-The Societe des Missions EvangUiques mourns the loss of M. Eugene Casalis, the eminent founder, with M. Arbousset, of the admirable Lessuto .(or, as we sl,ould say, Basuto) Mission, in South Africa. He died March 9th, at the age of 79 years. M. Eugene Casalis, after his return from Africa, was director aud then honorary director of the mission house. The remembrances of the reawakening of French Protestantism, and of its first development of zeal for the extension of the Kingdom of God in the world at large, were peculiarly embodied in him. His missionary character, profoundly Christian, is described as being peculiarly French, marked by that pervasive sympathy and ready flexibility which distinguished St. Paul, and is a special French characteristic. He was distinguished also for his unmoved adherence to the central missionary idea, the salvation of men and the advancement of the kingdom of God, resolutely putting and keeping all the distracting invitations of science, civilization, national interests in their thoroughly subordinate place, " sacrificing, at need, everything which, in our hands, might become an obstacle instead of remaining a lIimple means."
Various children and grandchildren of M. CaRalis have been or are now his successors in Basutoland.
-The April number of the Presbyterian :Jfessenger, of the Presbyterian Church of England, has a letter from a Chinese graduate addressed to W. Faber, which is interesting, though certainly amusing, as showing the enormous over-valuation of mere literature which is characteristic of China, as, in a less degree, it has until lately prevailed in Europe. Says the worthy gentleman, "The excellent men who undertalw to propagate Christianity and are zealous for the salvation of the world have themselves, of course, good methods as well as beautiful intentions; and assuredly they are not waiting for any prosing of mine on the subject. Still, since Jesus, in revealing the truth of God, has eyen sacrificed Himself to save all mankind of all generations, with a tender commiseration which might move to gratitude even the creatures we eat, why is it that to this day so few in China follow Him ~ ". . . Good medicine is that which cures disease, but good medicine is, for the most part, not palatable, and people are apt to loathe it. If you can by any means make medicine smell fragrant and taste sweet, your use of it in the curing of the disease will be marvellously facilitated and quickened. The doctrine of Jesus is indeed beautiful and is indeed good; but much of the translations of it are inelegant and crabbed, and scholars despise it. If you could by any means impart to the translations a just amount of grammar there would be a rush of believers, and no holding of them back. I would, therefore, advise that the Old Testament be translated on the model of the earliest literature of China (that of the Three Dynasties), that the New Testament be translated on the model of the Han Wei and Tsin writings, that hymns be translated in imitation of our elegant praise songs and ceremonial chants, and that Christian literature generally be rendered in the style of the best masters of Pang (A,D.600-900)."
That translations and hymns should be thoroughly Chinese in form and genius is an altogether reasonable requirement. 'But assuredly the Greek New Testament is not written with any care to make it Attic. To some who complained that Salva tor was not classical, Augustine nobly replied, "Christ made it classical when He came into the world." But the letter, as a whole, which is long, is exceedingly good. The graduate points out how the charge brought against Christianity of neglecting an- cestral honor might be met by tracts showing the thousand ways in which, in Christendom, wealth is diverted from ceremonial wastefulness before the dead to a thousand forms of beneficence, public and private, toward the Jiving." Again, all that can be found in Chinese books which is in harmony with the doctrines of Jesus should be collected into a volume for distribution and for use in preaching." The author says, after speaking of the former prevalence of Buddhism, utterly foreign to Confucianism, " That the religion of Jesus should not mightily prevail in China is a thing totally unprecedented. For myself, I barely know the English alphabet, and have no acquaintance with European literature. Hitherto mathematical and mechanical studies have absorbed my attention and dragged me down, so that I dare not hope to achieve anything in the way of illustrating loftier themes. But I cannot help wiping my eyes in tlager expectation of a glorious moral advance and uplifting."
-The Messenger, speaking of the opium traffic, says, "With the great problems staring us in the face of the future of the Chinese race and of the Russian Empire, in both of which we are deeply concerned, surely it is time for us to set our house in order and get rid of the accursed thing. If we do this in the fear of God it will be the surest safeguard should the day of evil come."
– The Ohinese Recorder for March says, " There is an idea prevalent among foreigners that China can make no advance because she is unwilling to become westernized. If these Asiatics would only array themselves in broadcloth or tweed, and throw aside their strauge tongue and ancient literature for our classic English; or if they could be induced to ape our customs, buy our general merchandise to the exclusion of their own, and submit at once and utterly to the demands of the Westorn diplomat-then we might look for progress. But the fact should be emphasized that China's conservatism has an importance at least in potentia; and what- ever of value in our civilization and whatever of truth in our religion comes at length into her possession will be held with invincible tenacity."
-North Africa mentions t.hat a Shereef not far from Cape Juby, West Africa, has sent for" books and information about the religion of Je~us, the Son of Mary." Mr. W. Summers was expecting to visit him.
-North Africa gives an account of the baptism of EI Hansalee, a Moslem" saint" of Morocco, which reminds one of Simon Magus. He had long vainly striven to reconcile two hostile villages. At laRt the reconciliation was achieved by 1 simple Christian believer. EI Hansal!'!', finding that his power came from his faith in the Messiah, was baptized, but scarcely disguises the fact that it is in the hope of gaining, like Simon Magus, a new degree of " power."
-A Moslem .woman in Morocco,becoming a Christian, besought her husband with an honest but exaggerated zeal to divorce her, which he did, , though very unwillingly. She since supports herself by sewing. A Chris- tian desired to marry her, but desisted from his suit on learning that Christ forbids marriage with a divorced woman. Her husband still wishes her to return, and it is a wonder that her instructors do not refer her to St. Paul's teachings. It seems, strange as it is, that in Mohammedan Morocco Moslems are free to change their religion.
-It seems that there are various sects in North Africa which are almost or quite purely Unitarian, paying little or no attention to any historical claims of Mohammed, hardly as much as our Unitarians of the left pay to the claims of Christ. They will probably be found the least hopeful objects of Christian missions.
-The Calwer Missionsblatt for April, 1891, mentions that all the churches nnder the sway of the King Kscholokol, brother and successor of Sekukuni, have seceded from the Berlin Missionary Society, to set up an independent Basuto Church. The movement is headed by Herr Winter, a nnivcrsity man and a son-in-law of the director of the Society.
-The Mission Record of the Church of Scotland asks, "Is it possible to find healthy sites in Central Africa? On the low belt of country near the c9ast, along the banks of the great water-ways, or on the shores of the inland lakes, such places are rare, if they can be found at all. But on the great central plateaux above the level pf two thousand feet there are large districts where Europeans can enjoy health as good as it is possible to secure within the tropics. Such districts are de!jtined to be the great saving centres of Africa. As examples of such regions one thinks of the Shire Hills, the Lomwe Hills, the Angoni country west of Nyassa, and the lofty table-land lying between lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika. From these centres, when once missionary societies see the reasonableness of such a method, the Gospel of Christ will be carried all round until mission meets mission, with a network of workers allover the continent. The low-lying malarious districts, where no European can live or work, must be won by the native African Church, born and nurtured on these hill regions of Africa, and sent out in its manhood to win the rest of the Dark Continent for Christ. "
-It is known, bllt seldom fnlly apprehended, that the great bulk of the· people of Africa so"uth of the equator, belonging as they do to the Bantu race, are not negroes, though they may not inappropriately be called negroids. A traveller, quoted in the Missionary Record of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, says: "The Bantu is a fine, tall, upright man, with delicately small hands and well-shaped feet, high, thin nose, beard and mustache. They are not black, but generally of a warm chocolate. Some of the men are perfect Greek statues as regards the splendid development and poise of figure. They have pleasing faces because of the perfect good humor that'enlivens their features." One tribe, to the south of Stanley Pool, are described as having not a stupid face among them. The noble heads of the.men make thenl appear as if they were all "members of Parliament." Like the negroes, they are born orators, but apparently on a higher range. ,. A sermon that I heard from one of them," says a missionary, " was as fine as ever I heard in Europe or America, nut only in point of delivery, but in its clearness of reasoning, and in its profound perception of spiritual truth."
-The Moravian Missionsblatt, speaking of the Cafl're tribe of the l'embus, remarks discriminatingly: " The heathen is, on the one hand, not the devilish abomination into which sometimes he is disfigurEd in all good faith, out of pure ignorance, by those who in Christendom, so to speak, beg from door to door for pity on him. No; he has also redeeming traits, clearly discernible traces, though sadly marred and discontinuous, of the original imprint of God's similitude. But, on the other hand, assuredly he is far from being that uncorrupted, harmless child of nature that dimly dreaming worshippers of man would make him out to be. No j his true portrait does not merely include individual shadows and unclean disfiguring spots, Lut the whole foundation of his moral being is awry, untrne, impure, and unholy, plainly attesting his indispensable need of the redemption in Christ, that only through the energy of grace and the inner transformation wrought thereby can he be restored to his true temporal and eternal destiny. "
-The Rev. E. C. Gordon, in the April Intelligencer, gives a dismal picture of the devastations wrought in Uganda by the wars of succession. " When I read in the papers, of Buganda being a garden, and its population 2,000,000, I see what Buganda once was, not what it is now. It is very difficult to judge of numbers j still I do not fancy more than 10,000 fighting men could be found in the whole land."
-Bishop Smythies, before returning to Africa, was presented to the Emperor William. The latter remarked significantly, "The Mohammedan religion is a very simple one, and takes great hold on those who profess it. Surely in the face of it there is great necessity for Christian missionaries to act unitedly."
-The French missionaries of Lessuto are devoting special attention, by large ~ssemblies and otherwise, to the spiritual unification of their work, being convinced "that to have in a heathen country a church strong, compact, zealous, and pure is the best means of presenting to unbelievers the Gospel, with its most attractive and most convincing fruits."
M. Vollet, of the Zambesi Mission, has attended these reunions, and takes back with him Pauluse, a native Basuto evangelist, and his wife, to labor among the Barotsis.
-M. Boegner, Director of the Paris Maison des .Missions, well sums· up the difficulties of Northwestern Africa, "These African churches give you the impression of vaHt caldrons in ebullition j everything there is in fermentation, in conflict j good, evil, the influences of race, of environ- ment, and, above all, of Christianity. We have to belicve, to hope that this last will carry the day and bring forth noble fruits in the moral life, as it already does in the domain of religious feeling. The former are not lacking, but are behindhand. This is the characteristic trait of these churcl~cs: a retardation of character compared with sentiment and the manifestations of this sentiment. " – -Blantyre has had stroke upon stroke in the deaths of Dr. Bowie, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, and the pioneer, the Rev. Robert Cleland. "But though the workman dies, the work goes on." A pastor and a physician in Scotland have already offered. The Free Church, which has already eleven missionaries on the banks of Lake Nyassa, sends out five mOle this spring. Adding the Moravian Mission and the Berlin Mission, about to be established here, Lake Nyassa will become an eminent centre of Christian effort in Africa, hesides the close connection of friendship hetween Blantyre and the Universities' Mission. As says the Journal des Missions, their numerousness is an added element of success. "Into these mUIder- OUB climatcs men should go in numbers, or remain away." _co As was to be foreseen," remarks M. Kruger, in the April J01J,rnal, " the great partition of AfriM in 1890 has given a new impulse to the zeal of the Christ.ian Church for the advancement of the kingdom of God in the Dark Continent. This fact attests anew that Christian missions do not hover in the ether of a faith detached and isolated from everything which agitates and interests mankind at large; they cling, by their natural fibres, to all the preoccupations of their time, to the character of the race, of the people, of the church which maintains them. But a supernatural principle, the Spirit of God, governs Christian missions, predominates over every other motive, and keeps in view, without suffering itself to be divested from it, the propagation of the Church of Jesus Christ."
-After thirty-six years of labor, the London missionaries have baptized a man and a woman, the first two converts of the terrible Matebeles, between the Zambesi and the Limpopo. Hitherto, whenever promising dispositions appeared in any way under the long tyranny of Mselekazi, the man disappeared. A second tyrant has sncceeded, but apparently somewhat less implacable.
-C. Busse, in the April Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrijt, says of Mackay, " Although he was not an ordained clergyman, his deeply rooted piety, his burning missionary zeal, his many-sided cultivation, his splendid adaptability, his inexhaustible energy, his blessed activity, and his childlike humility have given posterity the right to number him among the greatest missionaries-to set him by the side of his great. countryman, Livingstone."
-The Zeitschrijt just.ly designates the French mission on the Zambesi as " one of the most heroic of our day." It is, though now entirely diiltinct, an offshoot of the Lessuto (BaRuto) Mission. having been founded seven years ag-o "by the valiant COILLARD and his courageous wife." "The difficulties of this remote mission are enormous: a savage people, despotic princes, crnel manners, unbroken power of abject heathen superstition, frequent wars, a dangerous climate, a fearfully oppressive isolation -verily here is the patience and faith of the saints." Their firstling, Nguana Ngombe. gives them infinite comfort. The king's son, Litia, seems likely to be the second. Lewanika himself is thoroughly friendly, upholds the Sabbath and temperance, begins to be ashamed of plundering forays and of the cruelties of his old time, though he shows no signs of a renovated heart. Few missions, for their intrinsic interest, deserve more attention or sympathy of prayer."
-King Kharna, who has transferred his capital to the 20,000 strong town of Phalapye, at once proceeded to build a church for 3000 hearers, to which his subjects contributed about $13,000. This well-ordered Christian government, it is to be hoped, may survive the impact of white seekell! of land and gold. Khama is a convert of the London Missionary Society.
-The Basel Mission in Cameroon (West Africa) in 1890 lost four laborers by death, while the superintendent was obliged to return for awhile to Europe. Nevertheless, says the Zeitschrijt, a series of joyful expcrieneps hal:' in a measure given compensation, and awakens excellent hope for the future. The mission has grown both in influence and extent. A number of out-stations have been added to the four main stations, while " from almost all the towns of tue country men resort to us to learn about , God's matters.'" In many places there are formed societies of "men of God"-i.e., seekers for the truth. More than twenty native hclpers, a number being of marked capacity, assist the missionaries.
-The sad experiences which the Church Missionary Society has had with its mission on the Niger have led it to decide on supplying hereafter the principal stations with Englishmen, to whose oversight the colored clergy lire to be submittcd. The aged Bishop Crowthcr, remarks the Zeitschrift, seems thereby to become rather ornamental than effective. No charge lies against him, however, except too easy a discipline, and the 8US- pension of his 80n, Archdeacon Crowther, has been annulled by the Society. The Zeitschrift well says, "Go forward in the use of native helpers, but make haste slowly."
-The Allgemeine Missions·Zeitschrijt for April says, "In reatling the books of modern African travellers and contrasting them with Livingstone's journals, we cannot avoid a feeling of sadness on a double account: first, that they have not kept their hands frce from the shedding of hnman blood, and then, that in their reckoning, modesty does not appear to count for a virtue. "
-Tho colonial politicians of Germany seem to have concluded an alliance offensive and defensive with Roman Catholic missions, which lend themselves very easily to political schemings. Of this the hard-hearted and almost wantonly mnrderous Dr. Peters is a notorious example. lIe boasts of having persuaded Mwanga to ordain" that Mohammedanism should be absolutely forbidden, and made subject to the punishment of death 1"
-Stanley is said to be sufficiently open to blame for recklessness of human life; but Peters actually taunts him with cowardice, because he not unfrequently, in order to spare bloodshed, preferred circuits, and sometimes paid toll, etc. 1 Any way seems to be the object of contempt to Dr. Peters which is not cloven right through human bodies. Have the Germans reverted to the heathenism of thAir ancestors? But against all this cruelty the leading missionary magazine of Germany, with the missionary magazines generally, raises an unfailing protest.
The Ohurch Missionary lntelligencer for April remarks, " Although the name of the United States does not appear among the Powers whose , spheres of influence' and protectorates arc being so carefully marked out upon the map of Africa, the American' sphere of mis.~ionary influence' is neither small nor unimportant. On the north, in Egypt, the United Presbyterian Church has a vigorous mission, with over thirty·five missionaries from America, and over 3000 communicants in their churches. Their educational work is far advanced, and in the regions about Cairo and As~iout Christian enterprises are successfully prosecuted. Down the west coast, at Mendi, there is an American mission, while in the Republic of Liberia (whatever its shortcomings may be), the Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, and American Presbyterian churches are all hard at work. At Muhlenberg, on the St. Paul River, the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod has a prosperous work, while the Presbyterian Board is located at the Gaboon and Corisco. On the Congo the American Baptigts find a congenial field of labor, while on the Lower River and in Angola, Bishop Taylor is established. To the south of Angola lies the West Central Africa Mission of the American Board, which after only ten years of labor gives promise of great efficiency. The work of the same Board in Natal, where it has been established for fifty.five years, is well known. I~ has now sixteen churches wIth nearly 1200 members. To the north of Natal again the Board has its East Central African Mission, near. Inhambane, whence it is purposed to push forward into the interior. There are in all nine American missionary boards laboring' for the redemption of the Dark Continent, with 204 missionaries, 359 stations, and an annual expenditure exceeding $237,000."
-Th~ Burma Bible and Tract Society, in its Annual Report for 1890, says, "How every true heart is pained at the thought that the two great English speaking nations that are doing so much to bless heathen lands, are at the same time doing so much to curse them! Oh, that they would cease to do evil, and learn to do well! Then would they bless only, and not curRe ; and in blessing they wonU be blessed. But in cursing, they shall certainly be cursed. The God of the terrible Civil War in the United States, and of the Indian Mutiny, is unchangeable and cternal." ~Te notice that Sir Charles II. T. Crosthwaite, Chief Commissioner for Burma, is President of the Society.
-The Indian Witness statell that the Viceroy, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and Lady Lansdowne, have taken particular pains to manifest, by personal attendance and otherwise, their interest in Dr. Pentecost's labors.
-Bishop Thoburn, quoted by the Bombay Gum'dian, avows that there is one Hindu notion to which he is a good deal of a convert-namely, that there is religious merit in planting a tree. "In India it certainly ought to be everyone's aim to plant as many trees as possible, in every place where they can have a chance of taking root and growing, either to yield fruit or shade to generations yet unborn. Every missionary should see that his compound is well planted with trees; and there are hundreds upon hundreds of small plots of ground under the control of missionaries in villages and country places where valuable trees might easily be planted and cared for. "
-Here is a pleasing piece of information from Kaukab i Hind (Star of India), "During the past year the profit on opium for the Government of India fell much below the estimate, and for several years the cultivation of opium in Cawnpore District has been a losing business, and consequently the offices have been closed and the buildings will soon be sold."
-The Harvest Field, published by the Methodist Episcopal brethren of Madras, opens, in its March number, with a paper by the Rev. G. Pittendrigh, on the New Testament place of preaChing in the New Testament as a means of propagation of the Gospel. The author, before taking this up, lays strong and, as it appears to us, just emphasis on the entire flexibility of methods allowed by the New Testament, so that the object is the same, and of course that possible aberrations are continually checked by a Christian instinct kept fresh from the New Testament. He signifies that to worship the mere Jetter of "apostolic methods" is something that is thoroughly unapostolic. The Lord God of the prophets and apostles is still with His people. And lie who gave wisdom to Paul to work in the Jewish and Roman world will not withhold it from Paul's successors, who are called to work in the Indian world. New Testament method, are often inapplicable in new conditions; New Testament principles are always supreme.
Mr. Pittendrigh believes that educational and medical agencies in India are largely leavening the Indian mind, and preparing a class a good deal like the imperfec.:,t proselytes of the Empire, among whom, in the fulness of time, as among them the word of preaching will run like fire among dry grass.
-The Harvest Field says of this REVIEW, "The tone of the magazine is healthy. the articles readable, the information generally fresh, and it is unquestionably the best missionary magazine."
-Mr. Whitton, writing in the Helpmeet, the women's organ in connection with the Free Church of Scotland, says, "You will have heard of the bill at present before ·the Viceroy's Council to raise the age of consent ftom ten to twelve. I am sorry to see that the Calcutta native press are almost universally against this change. Calcutta is gaining an unenviable notoriety by its resistance to all reforms. I hope the government will stand firm, and that the bill will soon become law. The law will do good in many ways. Among others~ it WIll tend to keep girls longer at school, and so help on the great cause of female education."
-The Rev. William Stevenson, of the Free Church, says, "Every Hindu girl of respectable family must be married, not merely as soon as she reaches maturity, but long before it, while she is still a mere infant.
The higher the caste, the earlier does tyrannous custom demand the cele- bration of the ceremony. The origin of this extraordinary system is attributed to the old times of disorder and insecurity, when there was no safety even for little girls, save under the legal protection of a husband.
However the custom may bave first originated, it was established at a very early period in the history of Hinduism, on a more sacred foundation.
It was declared to be a divine ordinance and incorporated with the most hallowed rites of their religion. The dogma that underlies this iustitution, as well as the other outstanding institutions regarding women in India- their seclusion within the zenana and perpetual widowhood- is the thorough and irredeemable depravity of woman's nature. Hinduism first publishes the grossest libel on woman, and then treats her as if it were true. It de- clares her utterly incapable of freedom, and then enslaves her. Notbing is too bad to expect of women, and accordingly the only guarantee for the purity and respectability of the family is the maintenance of a system which marries them as infants, secludes them 'as wives, and practically entombs them as widows. And this system is guarded in every part of it by the most sacred sanctions of religion.
"Strange as it may appear, the women who suffer are themselves the main upholders of the corrupt idolatrous system that enslaves them. They hug their own chains, and bind even the men in the same bondage. But it is because they do not know any better. Their life is entirely centred in the home, and all the reverent instincts of their heart cling to the sacred traditions of their caste. To them, hid in their prison houses, Christianity is invested with all the terrors of the unknown. But let its pure and gra- cious light shine in upon them, let them see their own dark customs in the brightness of its beams, and their hearts will respond, their consciences will spring into activity, and the woman's influence, which is ever the subtlest, most penetrating, and, therefore, most powerful force for'the elevation of society, will erelong dissolve the ancient system of corruption and cruelty.
For this let us labor and pray." , -The Marchioness of Dufferin, whose husband has been Viceroy of India, says, as quoted in the Church of Scotland Mission Record, "In Oriental countries generally emancipation from the strict rules of the purdah, and the education of women, are apt to mean dissipation and French novels; but in India tbey seem really to lead to a bigher life. The educated Indian ladies I bave met retain all the remarkably feminine character of their race; they lose none of tbe modesty of their demeanor, and I have never seen a sign nor have I ever heard the faintest whisper of any levity of their conduct."
-The Mission Field says that a native Christian, who had been very unwilling to make the customary annual offerings, but had done »0, paid the next year three or four times as much as was looked for as bis tithe on plantain cultivation. "I have realized," said he, " the blessing of making God my partner."
-The late Bishop Sargent's venerable coadjutor in the fruitful field of Tinnevelly, the eminent Bishop Caldwell, wbo bas so long worked for Christ there, in connection with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, as Bishop Sargent in connection with the Churcb Missionary Society, has at last felt constrained by the burden of age to lay down his episcopal cbarge. Both these bishops have been, in form, coadjutors to the Bishop of Madras, but each has in fact had a distinct episcopate over the converts of his own society.
-The Ohurch Missionary Intelligencerfor April, 1891, has a profoundly interesting article by the Rev. G. Ensor, explaining more thoroughly than anything we had seen before the slow but irresistible advance of Brahmanism, and the gradual way in which, in a large part of India (especially in the Ganges valley), it has so interwoven itself with" the kindred points of heaven and home," tbat the influence of the medireval priesthood of the west, though supplying to Mr. Ensor various illustrations of startling force, appears in the comparison a light and shallow thing. Anyone that will read this article on the Sanctions of Sapinda will rather wonder that Chris- tianity has made so many converts in India than that it has made no more. That the fortress has not been found altogether impregnable seems to have been largely owing to the fact that the Dravidian South has never yielded to the full force of Brahmanic pretensions. And the Aryan current, in sweeping over the Punjab, had not yet developed its sacerdotal strength. But between the Five Rivers, the Eastern Sea, and the Vinethya Mountains . there was seen in full force that junction of the king and the priest, out· giving in fact the proud theories of Boniface VII!., and of which Sir Henry Sumner Maine says (as quoted by Mr. Ensor), "A more awful tyranny never existed than this which proceeded from the union of physical, intel- lectual, and spiritual ascendency." And though the teeth of the lion have been drawn by the island conquerors, yet the terror of a hundred genera- tions of subjection still weighs the people down.
It should appear that, by a canonical though neglected doctrines of Hin- duism, referred to in a government decision quoted in the Bombay Guardian, native Christians ought to be accounted equal to Brahmans. The Shastras, it seems, declare that the caste of the monarch, be it what it may, is always equal to the highest!
-The fluctuations and gradual advance of an Indian mission are in- terestingly illustrated in the table of average annual increase of communi- +, +, +, cants in the Ahmednagar Mission of A. B. C. F. M. during twelve quinquen- nial periods, beginning with 1831. It is as follows: 3 3 1'1 +, +, +, H t, 1'1 74 51 42 +, 92, l46, 149, 171 -r. .
1891]. INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
BDITED A!{D CONDUCTED BY BEV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.
The Internationa.l Missionary Union-Eighth Annual Meeting, [J. T. G.] It was a great meeting-that of the ble of covering with its spacious verano International Missionary Union at Clif- das a thousand persons. There must ton Springs, N. Y., from .June 10th to have been that number seated in the 17th. Many things which have inter- audience the evening it was dedicated by ested the cider members of the Union the President of the Missionary Union, took on more satisfactory and definite when the beautiful service which had'" form. The Union has from its begin- been arranged was presided over by ning been" on wheels." These were that widely known and everywhere loved taken off, probably never to be used servant of all who come near him, Rev. again. The Union has determined to L. Bodwell, chaplain of the Sanitarium. meet always at Clifton Springs, and al- We will not try to describe the taberwayson the second Wednesday of June. nacle itself. It is not like the taber- One object of this is, that persons may nacle of old, but no architect gave the know without notification, in making pattern, and yet it is perfectly adapted their alTangements for returning from for all the purposes for which it was de· their foreign fields, where and when they signed. A double ·roof secures ventilaare to meet with this grand body of their tion when the glass doors are closed on fellow-laborers from all quarters of the account of chilly weather, and the tranglobe, for a week's consultation, devo- soms further this object. All can be tion, and fellowship. It is well to say thrown open, and the freest circulation now to all missionaries abroad that they of air secured as needed. Members of need not wait for invitations to the the Union in every land will rejoice, and meeting. Service in foreign fields con- all missionaries will recognize with gladstitutes any person a member of the ness that there is here a great centre Union on signing the Constitution. where the entire mi,ssionary force is They should come without ceremony. afresh made to feel that they have a but not without notification to the Presi- home. dent or Secretary, unless that is really unavoidable. The number of missionaries in at- tendance this year was slightly in ad· There were advantages attached to the vance of any former year. Ninety·two .. movable feast," but there are greater missionaries who had rendered an aggrein the settled life of the Union, as things gate of perhaps twelve hundred years are possible that were not under the old of service in connection with the sevplan. But how has all become possi. eral societies were present. They came ble? Just this way. Dr. Henry Foster from fields stretching from Hudson's has loved the Union and built them a Bay to Buenos Ayres, and from the tabernacle and asked them to be his great wall of China to the Sandwich guests always. That seemed wonder- Islands; from the Bosphorus to Ispafully in the order of God's Providence. han, and from Africa on the Zambesi, and the union accepted the proposal the Gaboon, and the Kongo, and the with more gratitude than often gets form Cape of Good Hope. It was a polyglot in words. The tabernacle itself was crowd. speaking, singing, and writing formally tendered on the evening of its more languages than could perhaps be dedication, Jnne 9th, and the action of spoken by any philological society in the Union formally announced to the the)and. if not more dialects than any public with grateful phrase to Dr. Fos_ learned society ever used in assembly. ter at the closing session of the meeting. It represented very widely all depart- And what a beautiful edifice it is! capa· ments and branches of the General Church of the United States and Cana- others we have no room to write. da, and even took its members from Neither can we do more than mention the English Presbyterian, and the Free the excellent symposiums of the ladies' Church of Sootiand, in its noble repre- meetings, in which vast stores of insentative, Rev. Dr. Narain Sheshadri, formation were disclosed, and much of Bombay. 'l'hey only tarry. Three heroic work reported. We may furnish fourths of the number are expecting just one illustration of the work which to return to service in the foreign field, these and other missionary ladies have and to do yet more to hasten the con- done beyond their usual lines: version of the benighted peoples of the 1Imh. There were two new missionaries ,Mrs. Mix, of the Baptist mission in who had just been appointed by their Burma, took the manuscript of the Sh~n boards to enter upon foreign service. Bible, beginning with the New Testa- ment, and gave it a careful reading after The papers which were read were of it had been compared with Dr. Cusha high order. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin pre- ing's own copy, and was supposed to be sented two, one on "Proportion and perfect, and before it was sent to the Harmony in Missionary Work," and printer. She found many mistakes to one in connection with the able sym- correct, and frequently found places that. posium presented one day by Dr. Kel- she wished to change in expression. logg, of Toronto, Dr. Hamlin, and Mr. Dr. Cushing accepted and incorporated William E. Blaokstone, of Chicago, on many of her suggestions. the Jews. That was in every way a remarkable discussion. Sometimes she took charge of the printing for a short time and gave Dr. Among the papers was one by Dr. Cushing a chance to take a much-needed George W. Wood, giving some special change. When she had finished the features of the History of the American reading of the, New Testament and be. Board; one by Rev. J. Taylor Hamil- gan on the Old Testament, Dr. Cushing ton, Secretary of the Moravian Millsion- said he had no time to look at the arySociety, on the Leper Hospital at "copy" and she must compare it with Jerusalem; one from Professor Gil- his and make it ready for the printer. more, of Rangoon: on the New Tide of This she did with about half of the Old I=igration into Burma, and its Bear- Testament before leaving for Amerioa. ing on the Future of Missions in South- During her stay here she has underwestern Asia; one on the Present taken the reading of the stereotyped Movement among the Pariahs of South- proof.sheets of the Shan Bible in order ern India, in Relation to the Christiani. to make it as perfect as possible, and zation of the Country, by Rev. Dr. has read all of the New Testament and John McLaurin, for many years a mis- more than half of the Old Testament, sionary in India, now Secretary of the the reading of which she expects to Baptist Missionary Society of Ontario finish. and Quebec. This paper contained most fundamental theories of mission- The discussions on how to increase ary development, and awakened great the intelligent interest in missions in interest and discussion, receiving most the home church was opened by Dr. hearty endorsement. The Rev. J. M. Nevius, in reporting the Students'Vol- Allis, D.D., of Chili, furnished a good unteer Meeting at Cleveland, and speakpaper on Missions to tbe Iberian Peo. ing on the Movement in general. The pIes. Rev. Dr. Happer, of Canton, and consideration of this subject was broad- Rev. Dr. Shedd, of Persia, also sent ex- ened into a general conversation on cellent papers. ways of stirring up the churches, the young people as represented in Young Of the many able addresses by such Men's Christian Associations, Christian men as Drs. Nevius, Jessup, Chamber- Endeavor Societies, and similar organi. lain, Kellogg, Hamlin, Sheshadri, and zations. The platform meetings were of a high order, not one dull nor tame Kelsey, M.D., Japan; 1883, Rev. W. C. Longden, China; 1883, Mrs. W. C. Longspeech being made in all the week. den, China; 1847-54, Mrs. D. D. Lore, Argentina; 1879, Mrs. A. W. Marling, The following officers were elected for W. Africa; – – , Rev. J. McGuire, India; 1870, Rev. J. T. McMahon, the coming year: President, J. T. India; 1851-76, Mrs. L. W. Mellen, Natal; 1879, Mrs. B. ,T. Mix, Burma; Gracey, D.D., Rochester, N. Y.; Vice- 1873-83,Rev. James Mudge, D. D., India ; 1868, Miss Isabella A. Nassau, W. Africa; Presidents, Cyrus Hamlin, D.D., S. L. 1881, Rev. F. L. Neeld, India; 1881, Mrs. F. L. Neeld, India; 1853, J. L. Bald.win, D.D., M. H. Bixbee, D.D.; Nevius, D.D., N. China; 1853, Mrs. J. L. Nevins, N. China; 1876, Rev. A. A. Secretary, Rev. William H. Belden, Newhall, India; 1879, Miss Ella J. New- ton, China; 1882, Miss Mary W. Niles, Bristol, Conn.; Associate Secretary, Mrs. M.D., China; 1872-89, Rev. Albert Nor- Dr. C. C. Thayer; Treasurer, Rev. James ton, India; 1883-88, Miss A. E. Ottaway, Mudge, D.D., Clinton, Mass.; Librarian, Guatemala; 1880, Miss F. E. Palmer, C. C. Thayer, M.D., Clifton Springs, Burma; 1866-86, Rev. H. T. Perry, Tur- N. Y.; .Executive Committee, Rev. E. P. key; 1884, Miss Fidelia Phelps, S. Africa; Dunlap, Rev. J. A. Davis, D.D., Re,.. 1878, Miss Harriet P. Phillips, India; M. H. Houston, D.D., John McLaurin, 1882, F. D. Phinney, Burma; 1879, Rev. D.D., C. W. Cushing, D.D., Mrs. O. L. N. J. Plumb, China; 1878-80, Miss Mary George, Rev. Henry T. Perry. Priest, Japan; 1880, Rev. E. H. Rich- ards, Zambesi, Africa, and Upper Kon. A farewell meeting was had the last go ; 1878, Rev. W. H. Roberts, Burma; evening to bid God-speed to the large 1878, Mrs. W. H. Roberts, Burma; number of the misRionaries present who 1885, Miss Eva L. Rolman, Japan; expect to return to their fields before the 1884, R9v. W. B. 8cranton, M.D., next annual meeting. The Secretary, Korea ; 1884. Mrs. Mary F. Scranton, Rev. Mr. Belden, having been detained Korea; 1883, Susan A. Searles, Japan; by illness, the Rev. James Mudge, D.D., 1869, Rev. D. Z. Sheffield, N. China; served in his stead during the week with –, Rev. Narain Sheshadri, D.D., marked efficiency. India; 1886, Miss L. B. Smith, Japan; 1870, Miss Fannie J. Sparkes, India; The following missionaries were present: 1874-78, Mrs. S. C. Adams, Ja· • David Stevensoii., M.D., China; pan; 1874, Thomas Barclay, Formosa; 1874, Mids Mary E. Tulmage, China; 1886-87, Mrs. G. A. Bond, Singapore; 1874, Miss K. M. Talmage, China; 1864, Mrs. T. W. Burkholder, India; 1868-73, Rev. C. C. Thayer, Turkey; 1853-83, Mrs. Albert Bushnell, West 1868-73, Mrs. Mary F. Thayer, Turkey; Africa; 1862, Rev. G. W. Chamberlain, 1883, Mrs. M. T_ True, Japan; 1871, Rev. Brazil; 1862, Mrs. G. W. Chamberlain, L. M Vernon, D.D., Italy; 1867, Miss Brazil; 1879, Miss L. B. Chamberlain, Isabella Wat8on, Bllrma; 1872-90, Mrs. Turkey; 1884, Rev. Charles T. Cocking, Rev. J. E. Walker, China; 1882, Rev. Japan; 1884, Mrs. Oharles T. Cocking, G. L. Wharton, India; 1880, Rev. W. Japan; 1879, Miss A. M. Oolby, Japan; J. White, China; 1880, Mrs. W. J. 1878, Miss Edna S. Cole, Siam; 1882-86, White, China; 1849-89, Mrs. A. T. Mrs. S. Cross, Siam; 1878-79, C. W. Cush- Wilder, Natal; 1880-90, Rev. O. W. ing, D.D., Italy; 1881, F. W. Damon, Willits, China; 1838-86, Rev. G. W. Hawaiian Islands; 1884, Mrs. F. W. Wood. D.D.. Turkey, and Mrs. G. W. Damon, Hawaiian Islands; 1875, Rev. Wood; 1881-89, Miss M. P. Wright, E. P. Dunlap, Siam; 1882, Miss Anna Turkey; 1862-68, Rev. Egerton R. S. Geisinger, India; 1874, Mrs. O. L. Young, Hudson Bay, and Mrs. Egerton George, Burma; 1861-68, Rev. J. T. R. Young. Gracey, D.D., India; 1861-68, Mrs. J. T. Gracey, India; 1881, Rev. G. H. SUMMARY Oll' MISSIONAllIES PRESENT. Gutterson, India; 1874, Rev. J. G. Hall, Mexico; 1837-77, Rev. Cyrus By Fields: India, 16; China, 15; Hamlin, D.D., Turkey; 1883, Miss M. L. Hammond, Guatemala; 1866, Japan, 12; Turkey, 7; Persia, 1; :Rev. V. C. Hart, China; 1864, Rev. A. Africa, 7; Burma, 7 ; Siam, 5 ; Korea, Hartmann, Australia, and Delaware Ind- 3 ; South America, 3 ; Central America, ians ; 1864, Mrs. Mary Hartmann, Aus- 2; N. W. America, 2; Australia, 2; tralia and Delaware Indians; 1879-89, Miss Mary E. Hartwell, Siam; 1879, Miss Italy, 2 ; MeXiCO, 2 ; Syria, 2 ; Hawaiian Ada Haven, N. China; 1881, Rev. J. W. Islands, 2 ; Syria, 2 ; Mr.laysia, 1. To- Hawkes, Persia; 1846-76, Rev. S. R. tal missionaries, 91 ; newly appointed House, M.D., Siam; 1881, l'[iss oJ. H. Honston, Mexico; 1887-89, Miss Meta missionaries, 2 ; grand total, 98. Howard, M.D., Korea; 1862, Rev. Samuel Jessup, D.D.,Syria; 1862, Mrs. AnnieE. Jessup, Syria; 1864-76, Rev. S. H. Kellogg, D,D•• N. India; 1878, Miss Adaline Action had by the L M. U. on Public in that country, so vast in possessions Affairs. and so rich in promise.
TEE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT'S PAT- American Relations with Ohina.
RONAGE OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIO Viewing the Chinese as a civilized though heathen people inhabiting a ABROAD. country in climate, soil, and many geo. graphical peculiarities like our own, The International Missionary Union with a population six times greater than would express its regret and amazement ours, with a power for muscular effort at the act of our Government through and endurance inferior to no nation on the Secretary of State, by which the earth -our neighbors on our Pacific Government has been committed to the shore-we lament the unjust and cruel policy of undertaking to increase the and, to us, disgraceful treatment which sale of the products of our breweries they have received at our hands. by officially introducing and commanding them to the favorable notice of the We view it as being unwise as well people of Mexico and other adjacent as unjust to provoke hostility and recountries. taliation from the greatest empire of the East, now rapidly adding the ele- It can scarcely be conceivable that ments of power in Western civilization the intelligent officers of the Govern- to-her own mighty system. It will be ment are ignorant of the fact that such to the great injury of oUr commerce, and action puts a serious obstacle in the other nations will reap the advantages way of the work of missionaries who that naturally belong to us. are laboring in those countries, since there is no greater hindrance to the Our very greatly extended and rapprogress of Christian work than the idly increasing Missionary interests defree use of intoxicating drink. serve the attention of our Government as well as our commerce, and our Gov- We therefore, as a convention of ernment has no right to break them up, missionaries, most earnestly beg that to the grief of many millions of Chrisour Government will adopt such meas- tians of all denominations in the United ures as will fully counteract the influ- States. ence of this most unfortunate transaction. We therefore, the missionaries of the International (and Interdenominational) The Brussels Treaty. Missionary Union, in Annual Meeting assembled at Clifton Springs, N. Y., do This Union is not undmindful that earnestly req]1est all our Missionary Secgreat interest has been awakened by the retaries in the United States of America fact that the United States Senate did to petition the Government at Washingnot see fit to declare in favor of uniting ton to redress the wrongs inflicted upon with other powers in Europe in what the Chinese, and to establish and seek to is known as the Brussels Treaty, the foster the most friendly relations with ostensible aim of which is to secure our great neighbor. the abolition of slavery, the suppression of the rum traffic, and the indis- Appeal to the Ohnrches. criminate sale of fire-arms in Africa. The International Missionary Union, to While we do not assume to be in possession of all the facts which would en- the Ohurches which they representable us to judge accurately of all the political bearings of this subject, we sin- GREETING: cerely hope that some adjustment may be made which will secure the full moral We, members of the International effect of the Government's participation Missionary Union. on behalf of the sevin the suppression of these evils, which eral missionary fields from which we are such deadl'y foes to all real progress have come, and in the name of our sociations and Christian Endeavor Sobrethren now laboring in those fields, cietie8, and similar organizations, and and of our former associates who have we would urge all Christians to unite fallen at their posts j and, above ali, in with us in the prayer that these organithe name of our blessed Lord, who has zations may be still more abundantly commissioned the Church to disciple blessed and used of God for the adall nations, make this appeal to the vancement of His cause in the future. churches which we represent. Finally, with a full conviction and We have fallen upon a time of great realization of the utter uselessnesfl of all privileges and responsibilities. The human efforts and pecuniary gifts, prayer of the Church that God would without God's presence and aid, we open the world t'1 Christian effort im- would call upon God's people to unite plied a pledge and promise on the part in earnest prayer, that the Holy Spirit of the Church to perform her duties as may be poured out on all nations; the way might be opened. that the Lord of the harvest may choose and send forth from Christian lands, At the present time world-wide op- and from converts in unevangelized portunities, and the possession by the lands, many laborers into His harvest, Church of men and means adequate to and that Bis kingdom may come alld world·wide efforts, give to our Lord's His " will be done on ea.rth a.s it is in command to evangelize the nations an heaven." emphasis and urgency hitherto unparalleled. Ordinary consistency and sin- The Outlook. cerity as well as loyalty to Christ, gratitude for our distinguishing mercies, Rev. J. L. Phillips, M.D.. recently compassion for the many millions of appointed Secretary of the Sunday- God's lost children, a sense of personal School Union of India, said: .. Reachindebtedness to them, and the fear of ing Bombay November 30th, 1890, I increasing God's displeasure and the began a Sunday-school tour of India, withdrawal of His spirit from our home and during these five months have churches by neglect or delay in the dis- travelled more than 9000 miles. India charge of present duty, conspire to never presented so many open doors as awaken us to immediate action, and now, and we could find places for thousuch action as shall b'e in some good sands of Sunday-school teachers within degree commensurate with our obliga- a week if we had them. Missionaries tions. of all sects and nationalities are giving our Sunday-School Mission a very We therefore request and beseech hearty welcome. Auxiliary Sundayall pastors and teachers to seek by the school unions have now been organized prayerful study of God's Word, and a in Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Punjab, and familiar acquaintance with the condi- Burma, and before long we hope the tion and needs of heathen nations, to Northwest Provinces, Rajputana, Cenknow more of God's will, and our duty tral India, and Ceylon will be similarly with reference to the world's evangeli- organized. At an annual meeting of zation, and to teach those under their the India Sunday-School Union, held influence the relations to the whole here in Calcutta last December, we world which are necessarily implied in started a Sunday-school journal in Eng- Christian discipleship, and the privi- lish for all India, which is being very leges and duties growing out of those kindly received and will' prove a stron~ relations. bond of union between workers in dis- tant parts. We recognize with devout gratitude to God the work for foreign missions " On returning to my own dear India which has been accomplished by Wom- I find II. very hopeful feeling among IUl'S Missionary Societies, the Students' Movement, Young Men's Christian Asmissionaries generally. The Lord is slave trade of East Africa, though dreadworking wonderfully in this land, and ful, does no~ kill souls, and the nations we look for larger ingatherings. The will soon stop it (not by Cardinal Lavinext Decennial Missionary Conference gerie's society-I distrus~ him; I do not will be held at Bombay at the end of favor his method). In my speaking 1892, and plans are already being made thus (comparatively) lightly of slavery, for it." no one who is acquainted with my poli- tics will misjudge me. But the rum -Rev. Dr. H. N. Barnum wrote from trade kills soul and body and all the Harpoot, Turkey: "I have not the time nations are guilty, America among the to speak of the work here, except to rest, Germany about the worst. HollIay in a general way that it is encour- land, the last to lately assent to a high aging; that prejudices are overcome, custom duty on liquors in the Kongo, and doors are opening much faster than does not, I think, deserve much praise. we can enter them. The greatest source Now the Kongo nation have learned to of discouragement now is the failure of like rum, they will have it at any cost. the home churches to appreciate the The only safety for the nation of Africa emergencies of the foreign field. The is prohibition. I am not radical on the rallying cry of the Student Volunteers, temperance question. I am unable to • The evangelization of the world dur- stand with the per se brethren. Pracing the present generation,' is the true tically I am a total abstainer, under one. Were the whole Church of Christ Paul's • weak brother' decision. It is aroused with this as her motto, she one of the regrets to me in the pending would be irresistible. It seems to me transfer of our African stations situated that the first, the most pressing need on French soil (Gaboon and Ogove) to now, is that the home Church be awa- the Paris Evangelical Society, that our kened to such a sense of personal re- natives will see the lower standard our sponsibility as shall lead ChrisUans to French brethren hold on temperance enter heart and soul into the work of and Sabbath observance. I beg to say giving the Gospel to the unevangelized we are not deserting our native churches nations at the earliest possible moment. simply because we are wearied with ab- We have prayed for open doors; the surd French colonial regulations, but prayer has been answered. 'Ve have because French pIIStors, as Frenchmen, prayed for re.enforcements, and they will be better able to save our native are coming six thousand strong. But Christians from often cruel injustice; how can they preach, except they be our appeals have little effect. The losent? How can they be sent, if their cal governors are vexed with our Engcoming involves the dismissal of native lish language, and think that we love laborers? This will be the result with- England more than we do France." out an increase of funds. Tbe silver and the gold which are the Lord's is Pressing Needs. kept back by His servants; it does not find its way into His treasury." REV. J. H. SHEDD, D.D., OBOOMIAH, PERIlIA.
-Rev. R. H. Nassau, M.D., of West [Among the excellent communica- Africa, sending salutations, wrote: tions to the International Missionary ., Were I with you I could tel you what Union, at its meeting at Clifton Springs, I would talk about ad fatigandum, THE was the following from Dr. Shedd :] AFRICAN LIQUOR TRADE. African domestic slavery is a very mild thing; it " It seems to me, if permitted to SAY corresponds in its deprivation of liberty a word to the Union, my first plea would to unrequited service to our criminals be in behalf of the missionaries in the in prison labor; and even the export work and the supply. I cannot say as to other fields, but in Persia the percentage of mIssIonaries, especially of the need the patient continuance in well- unmarried ladies, who are compelled doing that can even wait for results in to give up the work in a short time such a field as ours! God has sent very after they come out, is very large. The eminent missionaries into Persia, and young,man or woman in America joins noble men and women are coming still, the ranks of missionary volunteers, and but it is a subject that the International it seems that the great question is set- Union DIay well consider again and tled. But facts show that the real cru- again, and emphasize the qualities needed cial period is the first three years on in missionaries, and how our Boards are the field. Many break down in health to get the right men and women, and how or yield to discouragement before they see that each one is in the right place. I have acquired the language or know the am sure you will .pray earnestly for all joys and rewards of the work. in the field. You can realize, as those who have not tried it do not, the strain e. We are very isolated here in Persia and trial, the temptation to despond- -one thousand miles inland from Oon- ency and irritability and dissatisfacstantinople-three or four weeks' travel tion, and the danger of losing faith and to the nearest railroad or seaport_ The courage, and of failure of health and climate is not tropical, but it iii malari- hope-how helpless unless sustainell ous and most of the year very dry, and by the great affection for Christ and by the altitude on the plateau of Persia the power of God through His blessed is four thousand or five thousand feet. Spirit. These hard fields of Islam Our mission station is just now in must have patient, it may be long lagreat need of two single ladies to work bor. They are strongholds, and cannot in our girls' school. Our college in- be captured by a crusade of ill-prepared dustrial departmant seeks in vain, from though zealous missionaries, but by the thousands of volunteers, for the only the fullest offering of ability and right man to act as superintendent. devotion united. Consecrated artisans like Mackay, of Uganda, seem to be scarce in America. " Another phase of the subject is the The words of our Lord are often our relation of young men educated in prayer, 'That the Lord of the harvest America, but natives of the East, to the will send forth laborers into His har- Boards and Missions. Our station has vest.' The need is great of God-sent a large constituency of young men who laborers, who are called as Paul and Bar- have gone or are anxious to go to nabas were, and who shall be called by America. Some twenty of them are the Church, after full trial, beloved now in America, and hoping to come men who have hazarded their lives for back in some capacity to their native the name of our Lord .Tesus Ohrist- land. I send a paper prepared· by our I hazarded,' have given up, placed their station on the subject, which if you lives in a sense out of their own power, have time is well worth considering in fully surrendered all to Christ. Equally its bearing on all fields. important are other New Testament qualities of the true ambassador to the "My second plea to the brethren of unevangelized, such as Jives compleled the Union would be, I think, in behalf in Christ (Col. ii. 10), lives' fully dis- of the native church in our field. This ciplined, or self-control, self.mastery, was presented fully two years agothe temperance of the New Testament, what has been done for the Nestorian and oontentment or self·contained power people and the reformation going forto meet varied difficulties and emer- ward among them. The young misgencies and not become helpless as the sionary is sent out by the home dangers and trials increase, but such as churches. He considers himself as ca.n win their own way and help others their ambassador, and goes back after a to do the same. How much, too, we time to rehearse all that God has done with him, and how he has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. But as held last Sunday, and it was a memoratime goes on and he becomes an old ble day-the communion Sabbath in missionary the relations are changed. more than twenty of our churches, and He is identified with the peopJe and nearly one hundred and fifty new mem-. church of his field, and is one in his bers received to full fellowship. I can interests with his brethren and sisters well recall the time when all the conand sons and daughters in the faith. verts came together in a single com- Thus in my own case. My church reo pany, but now the bands of believers lations are all here. The Iittle com· are two hundred miles to the west of U8 pany of communicants of thirty.two and still farther east. The outlook for years ago, when I entered on this work, the future is hopeful of rapid growth, have increased tenfold. Our evangeli· if we fail not in well.doing. cal Knooshya or synod (which uses the Aramaic or Syriac language, spoken by " The question of steady supplies to Christ and the apostles) now numbers meet the expansion of this work in co- 42 presbyters, 26 preaching deacons, 19 operation with the native church is allicentiates on trial, 90 elders in the ways with us. For example, in church churches, 91 deaconesses in the building there are twenty places in churches, and about 2000 other memo need, and for this year our two thirds bers, a total of over 2250 in full com· of the funds should be at least $1000 ; munion. This is a little company, but but the board can only say, • Alas! this it is big in its relations to the broad work must wait.' We have at our station field of millions of souls about us that the college and female seminary, with need a Saviour. Last fall I was chosen a united attendance of over 300 in the the moderator or president of the graded departments; 9 are in theology, Knooshya for three years. This means 6 i:a medicine, 50 in the college course, more than simply to preside at the 50 more in the seminary course, etc., meetings. It is an executive office to down to the lowest preparatory. Gardensee that the ecclesiastical affairs move ing, carpentering, sewing, housekeepon smoothly, and that the work of the ing, etc., are going on beside the medi- Church in its boards and missions and cal work. The press, with its monthly pastorates is carried out. At first it paper, school books, and Christian literseemed too great a responsibility to ature needs about $1000 a year to help add to my already full duties, but the it do its work; our church and evangegreat need and possibility of helping listic work some $4000 ; our educational our Church in flO many ways led me to work, $2000 for college ani seminary, accept. Now the words of the apostle, and $1200 for over a hundred other • The Ilare of all the churches,' have an schools; as much more for the hospital, emphatic ~eaning, and lead me to ask that has an aggregate of several thouyour special supplications for our native sand out-door patients and several hunministry and for the whole household dred indoor patients in the year. The of faith. Our Church has many ob- missionaries to keep all this work and stacles in its way, some within Rnd the woman's work over the field besides Bome without, in these lands of intoler- in motion, are now but four families and Illce and anti·Christian influence. The four single ladies. Outside of mission winter and spring just passed have salaries the native church supplies brought some signal blessings. System- about one quarter of the expense, and atic labors, in which missionaries and our mission three.quarters. When the native brethren worked side by side, word of retrenchment comes, • Cut have gone forward in many congrega- down 20 per cent or even 10 per cent,' tions, and always with more or less of we have a serious time, ani! pray more the power of the Holy Spirit. The earnestly that God would put it into Feast of the Resurrection (0. S.) was the hearts of His people to give us just enough steady supply to help on our work in co·operation with the native A NeN Churoh Edifioe at Constantinople. church, without these annual embarrassments and discouragements to us and Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, now mOle than to them as well. But the work goes on fourscore years of age, does not " die notwithstanding, and I ask again your at the top." He is one of the most prayers for our beloved native church vigorous thinkers of the age. But we and people. supposed his well-earned retirement was not to be disturbed; but he is earnestly " r meant to add a third plea for our at work trying to raise funds for a new church at Perea, Constantinople. He needy field of Persia. and Kurdistan. says: In its Christian population in many places it is ripe for the harvest. In " The building is designed for a place the tenfold larger field of Moslem and of worship, and for a church home for anti·Christian sects our native brethren the first Armenian or native Protestant say the spots of harvest are appearing. Church ever formed in the Turkish Em- In places the way is open. In places pire (1846), and for other uses which the way is strongly barred against Chris- will be mentioned. tian influence. One most interesting feature in our work the past year is the .. The history of the many efforts and spirit of a number of young men who failures for a church building cannot be are volunteer workers. Without asking here given, but the set time seems now any help they go from place to place to have come, after forty'. five years' wanpreaching Christ, both to Christians and dering in the wilderness, to cross over Moslems. They find the hearing ear, into the promised land. and are full of faith in the power of the truth and the working of the Spirit. I "This church building will be a hope, if spared till next year, to report monumental church in history. It will more fully of this part of our tield and commemorate the signal and singular work." triumph of God's providence over the well-planned measures of the Czar of -Rev. G. S. Wilder, of South Africa, Russia, to efface the Pl"otestant movewrote to the missionaries at Clifton ment from the empire, and at the close Springs: "I hope some member of the of 1845, the Emperor Nicholas, having Conference will think to submit, and obtained the most exact information of the Conference judge wise to pass, a the progress of the work and of the fail. resolution urging upon our next Con- ure of previous persecutions, advised gress the advisability of its reconsidering the Catholicos ofEtchmiadzin, the titular its late hasty action, whereby it refused head of the Armenian Church, to put to unite with the other powers in the forth his entire ecclesiastical power to convention to suppress the slave trade, efface this disturbing element forever to regulate the sale of fire-arms, and from the empire. the supply of liquor in Africa. Before the last Congress adjourned an honor- " Acting through the Armenian patriable member giwe motion to reconsider. arch and primates at Constantinople, However, it is not at all certain that sustained by the secret influence of the Congress will be ready to reconsider its Russian embassy, the ' Great Anathe. action. It seems to me that all mis- ma' was thundered forth, which de. sionary and religious conventions should prived every evangelical of not only his pass resolutions in strong terms on this spiritual but civil rights. They were subject, and if possible bring our Can. thrust out like Turkish dogs into the gressmen into the light before they streets. Sir Stratford Canning (after.. meet in December next." ward Lord Stratford de Redcliffe) im. mediately took up their case with that firmness, wisdom, prophetic insight, and unconquerable will which haVE) made his name immortal. Ho com· pelled the Sultan, despite all the dip. lomacy of .Russia, Austria, and France, pUblications, but that for the last twenty to organize Protestantism as one of the years her sight had not permitted her legalized religions of the empire. The to do this kind of work."-J. T. G. story is magnificent, but cannot here be narrated. The great emperor was foiled, -Mrs. Gracey. who prepared the artiand most singularly defeated. cle on the Women's Missionary SOCieties, has received the following from Mrs. " Under the new and surprising char- L. R. Keister, editor of the Woman'8 ter of freedom the first native Evan- Evangel, the organ of the Woman's Misgelical Church was formed July 1st, sionary Association of the United 1846. Instead of annihilation there was Brethren: life, there was joy, freedom, wonder, thanksgiving, triumph. What had God " In the May number of THE MISwrought! SIONARY REVIEW you have us reported as collecting during the year $4567. The " From this beginning more than 150 correct figures, as given in the June churches have been formed in the em· Evangel, are $14,567, a difference of pire-1I5 under the American Board- $10,000, probably caused by the accibut in this work the American and Pres- dental dropping of one figure by the byterian Boards were one; and yet this compositor. " first, this mother of all the churches, has no home of her own to this day, and This is the true explanation; but the no visible proof of her existence and his- result is a very great depreciation of the tory. That it has held together for forty- noble work of these good women. Let five years in a nomadic state shows a all persons who make up tables, or otherlife of inextinguishable vitality. wise study the figures, take note of this correction. It seems as if the Church .. It will cheer the whole Protestant on earth was like the Church in heaven, body throughout. It will prove to all in one respect at least, it is a company the world at that central point that the that no man can number, at least not Protestant Church has a permanent and exactIy.-J. T. G. solid existence, which to this day many affect to doubt because its first organ- -It really seems amusing to mark ized body has no sacred temple. the sensitiveness of the English over the wounding of the sensibilities of Moham. " It will be a place of worship for as medans in India by the introduction of many languages as can find a suitable Mahomet into a play in Great Britain.- time on the Sabbath-the Armenian, J. T. G. Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, English. It is a polyglot capital, and religion takes in all the languages.
.. The native church in its poverty has done nobly in pledging $11,000. "- J. T. G.
-Bishop Thoburn, who has recently -On the 17th of February last the been in Rangoon, Burma, says: largest missionary party ever landed in China arrived at Shanghai from San ,. I enjoyed the delightful privilege a Francisco. It was composed of thirtyfew days ago of calling upou Mrs. Ben- five men and women, who were to be nett, of the Baptist Mission, now in her followed the next week by ten or fifteen eighty-third year and in the Hixty-first more, the whole being a party of misyear of her residence in India. She sionaries sent from the United States seemed to be in excellent health, cheer- by the Scandinavian churches of this ful and hopeful. She remarked that for country to labor in Hudson Taylor's twenty years she had worked every day China Inland Mission. correcting proof of Karel! or Burmese
EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS
1II.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
The success of the MISSIONAlIY REVIEW on the mission field, or preparing for it, seems now to be assured. For the past who are unable to pay for the REVIEW.
three years the cost of production has We take pleasure in a public and for- been scarcely covered by the subscrip- mal acknowledgment of our indebted- tion list, notwithstanding the fact that ness to many subscribers who ha'l"e, of at least one of the editors, and he the their own accord, undertaken to induce one who furnished or provided nearly others to subscribe, and some of whom all of the literary matter for its pages, have sent us as' many as a score of did his work almost gratuitously, for the names. Acknowledgments are likewise sake of securing the permanent estab- due to others who have encouraged our lishment of a much-needed review of efforts by helpful, stimulating, and sug- missions that should be independent in gestive words, sometimes of approbation utterance, undenominational in char- and sometimes of advice and kindly acter, world-wide in scope, and cosmo- criticism. We have scarcely ever re- politan in sympathy. ceived a letter of causeless complaint or After more than three years Bnd a half unjust and harsh censure; and when since the REVIEW took its present form, one such has come to our table it has the income of this REVIEW begins to as- been buried under a pile offraternal and sure the publishers that the large amount appreciative commendations.
of money embarked in this enterprise is Just now we have been particularly likely to be returned through the increas- gladdened by receiving the sum of ing number of patrons who give these $207.80 in ope gift, to be applied to fur- pages a welcome to their homes and nishing the student volunteers and sim- hearts. To establish a first-class month- ilar intending missionaries with copies ly magazine of misRions ; to secure con- of the REVIEW. This is the largest sin- tributors to its pages of the highest gle contribution ever received by us for ability, accuracy, and authority from all this purpose. It has been our prayer quarters of the globe; to get an eqitorial that we might be able to put a copy into staff representing the great leading de- the hands of every student preparing for nominations, and a large corps of edi- the mission field at home and abroad.
torial correspondents scattered through We have from the first offered to send a all lands ; to command the support and copy for one year to some such person approval of the most intelligent and now preparing for the work, for every consecrated friends of missions; and dollar sent to us, paying from our own withal to undertake to compensate, even pockets the lacking sum to cover cost on an economical basis, those who write of production. But the aggregate 8um articles for its columns, was no small received to be applied to this object has venture, as we can attest, and it is with been comparatively small and inade- no little gratitude to God and the friends quate. The" friend" above referred to of missions that we now find the scale desired to go to the foreign field, but be- turning favorably toward self-support. ing providentially constrained to "abide Our readers have always outnumbered, by the stuff" instead of going into the four to one, our list of subscribers. Often battle, he sends this generous donation.
times one copy has found interested He will thus be the mesns of supplying perusal on the part of an entire family, the REVIEW to 208 persons not now re- or even larger circle of students in col- ceiving it. This fund we should like to leges or seminaries. With no little joy see increased to at least $1000 a year, as the editor-in-chief found one of the most we could well invest it in furnishing free busy and wealthy men of Chicago read- copies to students whose limited means ing aloud from its pages to his whole hinder them from paying even their cost.
household on a Sabbath afternoon; and H may not be amiss to add that ar- he informed me that he found no better rangements have now been made to have reading for such times, and that his a regular resume in these pages of the whole family regarded it as a privilege work of the foreign missionary societies to hear him read the REVIEW aloud. One of Great Britain. We hope soon to se- man in Montrose, Scotland, in his zeal cure equally satisfactory reports of the for the wide perusal of these pages, doings of all continental societies.
sends his copy every month to fifteen There is no design to be partial to any other persons, who otherwise would not missionary organization, field, or work, see them. Beside this fact of the com- or to treat otherwise than fairly every paratively limited Jist of subscribers, we brallch of the Christian Church. But have been at a disadvantage, pecuniarily, to present each month within the thirty in furnishing copies free of charge. or less pages assigned to the Department ot than cost, to the volunteers and others Missionary Intelligence a proper account of the work of some three huudred mis. ously blenderl, which the Alliance forms !lioniry organizations, though only in as a sign of peace, the brilliant French outline, requires unusualfacilitiesfor ac· colors should not be lacking. The cess to theirreports, and uncommon abil. presence of a goodly number of breth· ity for classification and condensation. ren from France and Switzerland was desired, and your attendance is a good Much of the missionary" news" in. omen for our meeting. evitably gets stale before it comes before the readers' eves. The weekly religious " Honored and dear Brethren of Hoi. press, not to say the daily newspaper, land, which was also, and in fact pre. easily anticipates us, as we appear but eminently, a refuge of the Reformation, once a month, and it requires at least with whom could we group you? In ten days after the matter is in the print. everything you are yourselves, only er's hands to set up, correct, electrotype, yourselves. Therefore we, specially do tbe press work and binding and salute you. The absolute tenacity of mailing. But with God's help and our the ancient faith is still seen in your readers' indulgent sympathy, we shall Protestantism, while at the same time aim to make this REVIEW more and more we behold the extreme daring of modern the indispensable inspiration to all in. thought. You bring to the Alliance the telligent and aggressive missionary work benefit of two extremes, namely conat home and abroad. stancy of faith and freedom of thought, both so dear to us all, and so needful This number being especially devoted for the times. to papal Europe, we pu· here for per. manent record the admirable address of "Honored and dear Breth.ren of th.e the President of the Florentine Com. mittee on the reception of the Evan. German tongue, one of the richest of langelical Alliance at the Ninth Universal guages, in which the Gospel resounds Conf(;renoe in Florence in April last: with such force, and yet with such sweet· ness, in consequence of the Reformation ., Honored and dear Brethren: It is an of your Luther, who by the power of his event, a benediction, a festa for the speech was a true king without a crown, Evangelical of Italy, tbis solemn reunion you form a vast group comprehending of distinguished co-religionists from in language and doctrine brethren of every land, froIil Greece, Turkey, Egypt, various countries to the South, to the India, Australia, Austria, Germany, Rus. North and to the West of Germany. sia, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, Britain, North America and "Your thought is as rich and com· Canada. plex as your language, and your immense periods. In your books and your Uni. .. 01 611'0 T~~ ITaAia~ a<J1rlii;ovTal VflU.~ : versities we all drink at the fountain of Those of Italy Salute you, and heartily bid your profound knowledge. you all welcome. "Religic.n among you blossoms and "Languages distinguish us, but they abounds not less in erudite theology do not divide us ; rather they unite us, than in poetry and music, which pro. forming special groups. Permit us to ceed from the heart and rise sublime. place together the delegates of countries where the same language is spoken, and " Your good part, which shall not be to address to each group a few words: taken from you, consists in heart, in sentiment, im GemiUhe, and it is this "Honored and dear Brethren of the that brings a blessing and is your most French tongue, in you we salute, 011 the precious gift to our Alliance. one hand. the descendants of the heroes of the Reformation, who with unheard. •• Honored and dear Brethren of the Enrl· of constancy have fought and suffered lish language, you COIlle from all parts for the cause of "the Gospel; and, on of the world; your group comprises the the other hand, the sons of generous Globe, now made small by your active Switzerland, refuge of the persecuted enterprise. You cover the earth with and bulwark of liberty, who received Bibles, translated and printed in all with equal affection the emigrants of languages, and sow the seed of the King. France and of Italy. dom of God among all nations.
"The Reformation did not become " You have mllltiplied denominations. national in France, but its effect has pushed individualism to extremes, and been universaL It founded the rights of man with respect to his fellow·man and shown a divided Protestantism; yet, on to the State on the Sovereignty of God. the othel' hand, you seek after anrl mani· fest unity through the Evangelical Alli. .. That principle, still worthily repre. ance, of which you al'e the strenuous sented by you, is essential to Protestant. and constant promoters. Unity through ism, and necessary to the Alliance. In liberty, this is God's way, and it is also the rainbow of variollii tints harmoni. the way of the Alliance, of which you are the advance-guard.
" And those of us who are but small minorities in the midst of catholics, both strive to attain. But these principles Roman and Greek. and likewise in the of Evangelical Protestantism, and these midst of Turks and Heathen, brethren only are universal, truly catholic, comof Italy and Spain, of Belgium, of mon to Christianity, which holds the Greece, of Turkey, and of other coun- Lord Jesus Christ as the only MaBter. tries, we are all born in the arms of the Mediator and Saviour; and these ends Alliance; we too are welcomed here, so are all included in the universal applimuch so that on this occasion we the cation of that supreme precept of the last have become the first. Law and the Prophets, which suffices to establish and maintain the best rela· " Honored and dear Brethren, we have tions between man and man, between not yet in Florence a temple large family and family, between chureh and enough to enable us to receive you in a church, between nation and nation: consecrated place. Not unfrequently a , Whatsoever ye would that men should temple is transformed into a theatre; do unto you, do you even so unto them. for a few days let us prove that a thea- for this is the Law and the Prophets.' tre may become a temple. We begin by reading from God's Word, Matt. xvii. 1-5. "' Protestantism, founded upon tho Holy Scriptures, rule of faith and life, " Our earnest desire and prayer, be- has various forms, among which each loved brethren, is that by the presence one may find freedom and a suitable of the Lord, by the Spirit of grace by sphere of action, and it has no need to the joy of fraternal communion, you be transformed or reformed; it needs may feel that it is indeed good to be only to be transfigured, so that the glory here, that you wonld even pitch yonr of Christ may shine through all these tents and abide with us, that no one various forms in justice, truth and holiwill regret having come. ness. Thus unity is manifested in diver- sity. Thus the ideal is realized, and "' Is there less of blessing here than the Kingdom of Heal'iln is advanced. upon the Mount, whence the disciples were loath to descend? Nay, there is " May these reunions strengthen our cven more and better. Lifted up on ties, leave among r's blessed traces, and high infinitely above all, behold the Mas- give fresh power to the Gospel everyter, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His pres- where, among all the churches, and in ent glory, His eternal glory, of which that which shone forth on the Monnt all lands. was but a symbol, a momentary sign. "Is it really in Itily, in Florence, only "On the right, and on the left, be- a few steps from Savonarola's wool1-pile hold Moses and Elijah, the Law and the and the Bargello, that we are assembled Prophets, which testify of Him, and re- for this work of liberty and faith? Is it mind us of the Golden Rule, to do unto really in Florence, where the Madiai for others as we would that they should do the sake of the Gospel, in August of the unto us. Below, the disciples looking year 1851. were arrested, and in June of up humble, attentive, ecstatic, repre- 1852 condemned for years to the galleys; sent the attitude that becomes us in the where an honored deputation of the presence of our Lord Ilnd His HolyWord. Evangelical Alliance came to implore from the Grand Duke their liberation, " The souls of the three disciples ex- and could not obtain an official henring ; ulted at the sight of the glorious specta- is it on this very spot that we open this cle. Here we are, hundreds of disci- free Conference of Evangelicals of all ples, representatives of thousands Ilnd nations? Scarcely can we believe our millions, who, from all parts of the eyes. Never did Italy in the times of World, look up with us to Jesus Christ. her republics, never did this classic Joyful day! Glorious spectacle! Should land, never did Florence, tbe most libnot our souls rejoice? eral and the most cultured city of Italy, ever enjoy religious liberty, the highest "In the Transfiguration beheld by and the holiest form of liberty, until tho the first disciples, we see the ideal, into entire nation rallied around the house which the sad reality ought to be trans- of Savoy, which with firm hand held formed, into which it has already in part been transformed; the ideal which is the sceptre of i ustice. gradually being realized by the fulfilment of the V'w and the Prophets, by " Hence we could not inaugurate the the Gospel of Christ, who with righteous- present Congress, which to the eyes of ness 8S white as the light clothes every all is a great event in the cause of libsoul that calls upon Him. erty, and to our e:res greater still for the " The Evangelical Alliance in its sol- Gospel, without heartily exclaiming: emn assemblies represents that ideal, , B:GESSINGS FOREVER REST UPON and by its labors seeks its realization. THE HOUSE OF SAVOY AS IT NOW " The Alliance has principles which it Jll~st maintain, and !)Jlds whieh it mllst REIGNS AT ROME !' "l'AOLQ GE}Cr.roN4T, P.D."
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
IV.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
Italy, France, Spain-Papal Eurape.
[EDITOBllL.-A. T. P.] -Papal Europe embraces about 150,- independence, declaring to all offers of 000,000 of Roman Catholics, who con- outside help, "L' ltalia fard da se," in stitute, in all Germany. over 52 per cent plain worda, "Italy is able to take care of the population; in Bavaria, 71 per of herself."
cent; in Austria, 76; in Ireland, 82; The year 1848 was a year of earth- in France, 96; in Belgium, over 99; quake in Europe, but it broke the bonds and in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, twenty of Italy. Liberty awoke, and Sardinia years ago, almost the entire body of became the asylum of such heroes as people. While geographically Protes- Gioberti, Tommaseo, Manin, and even tantism is dominant in the north and the Vaudois martyr saints were preach- northwest, and the Greek Church in the ing at Turin. The Act of Emancipation east and southeast, Romanism holds came in 1848. Ten years later and sway in the south and southwest. It is more thrones fell, and 6,000,000 more also to be noted that the principal re- Italians found the joy of freedom; cen- ligious faiths thus correspond not only tral Italy began to rise into the at- with certain geographical limits, but mosphere of liberty. In the town of with certain race features. While the Aoste, at the descent from Great St. Ber- German races are mostly Protestant nard, a memorial of persecution be- and the Sla~ic mostly Greek, the Latin came a monument of emancipation.
are mostly Roman Catholic. When Calvin crossed the Alps to bear Our space forbids that we should do the cross into the land of the crucifix, more than throw out a few outline facts he set up his standard in the Cite and hints, especially as to the condition D'Aoste, and for a time lived there.
of Italy and France. But afterward he fled for his life, and 'Ihe history of Italy and France for his flight was kept in remembrance by the past seventy-five years has been full the enemies of the archheretic, who set of interest. Victor Emanuel I., by the up a column opposite his hired house.
treaty oj Vien-1a in 1815, was restored When the Waldensians gathered the to his kingdom of Sardinia, and six converts into a house of prayer, they years later was succeeded by that stupid observed-what they had not before per- monarch, Charles Felix. Then the very ceived-that directly opposite to the word" liberty" was proscribed in Italy, memorial column that told of the and Alfieri's tragedies could not appear Romish persecutions of three hundred on the stage, lest that Italian Shake- years before, they had set up the cross speare should kindle a new fire of love of Christ, and were preaching the apos- for freedom. It was a double despot- tolic gospel! From that year (1858) ism of kingcraft and priestcraft. A Italy's progress has been upward. Vic- book was a rarity; a Bible or testament tor Emanuel recognizeq the rights of was seized even from a traveller's conscience, and defended them against satchel, and the Inde:c Expurgatoriu8 it- interference by magistrates or ecclesias- self was forbidden, lest people should tics. Baron Ricasoli supported religious desire books because forbidden. equality. Count Cavour, whose public Charles Albert succeeded to the life reached from his eighteenth year to throne, and in 1847 left to his country his death at fifty-one, as soldier, jour- the statute or constitution, to which his nalist, deputy, minister of agriculture son, Victor Emanuel II., faithfully ad- and commerce, of marine, of finance, hered. In the revolution of 1848 Charles as premier, directed as well as originat- Albert became the champion of Italian ed the Sardinian policy, improvedfinan· cial conditions, introduced free trade, being enlightened. The day has dawned consolidated constitutionalism, weak- on fair Italy.
ened clericalism, and achieved eminence The Waldensian Synod multiply their in Italian history as .. the pure-hearted, missions, evangelists, and colporteurs, broad-minded, sagacious leader in the and could they have the money they field of diplomacy and statesmanship need, might plant one hundred centres for the reviving and reunited Italy." of gospel work where they now have As Dr. Richard Burgess finely said,* five. The Israel of the Alps desire to .. The polluted streams of an idolatrous take possession of all Italy, from tho religion had, like burning lava, pro- Alps to the sea.
duced moral devastation in Italy among The changes taking place before OUl"
twenty generations." eyes we do not appreciate, The travel- Some hope for Italy came with the ler in Italy in 1850 passed through the revolutions of 1848-58. Liberty of con- dominions of nine enthroned rulers be_ science, worship, speech, was pro- tween the mountains and the southern claimed from the Alps to the Straits of cape. Now the Pope whines because Messina when Italy became united and he is " imprisoned in the Vatican," and free. But the spirit of Romanism and Humbert rules Italy. Temporal domin- Jesuitism is not dead. Pope Gregory ion is gone and gone forever, notwith- XVI. and Pius IX. after him pro- standing frantic efforts to recover it; nounced liberty of conscience a dream, and if th9 common school and an open a delirium, and liberty of speech and Bible continue, the Pope will lose hi!!
press the mother of all heresies. Never- spiritual sceptre too, or radical reforma.
theless, the triumphs of freedom move tions must take place in the papal on. At Perugia, at Turin, at Naples, at church.
Florence, at Rome itself, have been Meanwhile we call attention onCQ printed attacks upon the Church of more to the fact that since Luther Rome, her priests, her saint worship, nailed up his theses, the balance at masses for the dead, papal bulls, etc., power has been transferred from papal as bold as the utterances of Gioberti or to Protestant Europe by sheer infertility- Tommaseo. To-day, where forty years of papal communities in offspring.
ago no Protestant worship would be The revelations as to France's decline.
allowed, there are thirty pht.ces within in population, which threatens soon to sight of St. Peter's dome, where Prot- take the appalling form of there being; estants worship and preach unhindered; more deaths than births, are made still.
and Siguor Arrighi predicts that before more startling when a comparison is; long the Evangelical Alliance, that met made of France's relative position in in May last at Florence, may yet short- the past. A century ago France had a lyassemble in St. Peter's, and Bend its population of 26,000,000; Russia had delegatus to lodge in the Vatican. only 25,000.000; Austria, 17,000,000; A few years ago the Bible was hunted Prussia, 15,000,000 ; and England 12,.
by spies from the Alps to the GuU of 000,000. To-day Russia possesses 90,- Tarentum; now it is freely bought and 000,000 inhabitants; Germany, 46,000,.
read, and was printed by sections in a 000; Austria. 38,000,000; and France.
daily paper. Signor Capellini's Sol- 36,000,000. The birth-rate is 6.7 pel'
diers' Church sends out hundreds of 1000 in Italy, 10 in Germany, 12.9 m converted cadets every year into the Russia, and 13.7 in England, and it does homes of Italy after the military service not exceed 1.19 in France.
is fulfilled. An ignorunt people is being Austria has been shorn of much of educated – a superstitious people is her strength, and she no longer COD- trois or leads the great German Empire.
Poland haR disappeared from the roll of .. Exeter Hall Lectures, 1865. nations. England, then so feeble, has spread over 1Il1 lands. Prussia has be- ligions orders-an army of at least come a giant, and Russia, then un· 123,131." This vast host moved obediknown, is in numbers almost equal to ent to the supreme pontiff sooner than the whole of papal Europe. Rome, the h the word of the king, or even the seat of ecclesiastical power, is now the written Word of God. capital of an united and free Italy, over which the Pope has no political control. The traveller in Italy and France and These wonderful changes have in no way Spain observes that papacy has now lit· strengthened the papacy or enlarged its tie hold on the more intelligent part of influence among the nations of the the people, especially in France. A earth. It has been weakened by each. man may go to his first communion, but The very efforts put forth to augment he seldom enters a church or the con· its sway have in the divine orderings fessional, or sees the priest until per. enfeebled it. haps he gets extreme unction on his death·bed. France is no longer Roman Protestantism has not only grown Catholic-France is without a faith! politically, but numerically in Europe. Spain is scarcely Roman Catholic- Compare Spain and Great Britain. At Spain is dead of spiritual torpor and the Reformation the one was greatly sloth. There is not energy enough to 'superior to the other in numbers and breed another Torquemada. In that political influence. Now Spain has just Land of the Inquisition, where in 36 about one half the popUlation of Great years, from 1480 to 1517,13,Q.00 persons Britain, while in this period the latter were burned alive, 8700 burned in effigy, has peopled Australia, New Zealand, and 169,423 variously pnnished. you United States, and other countries. may now buy a Bible on the street cor· During the last fifty years, England has ner! increased her population 119 ; Prussia, 72; Austria, 27; and France, 12 per Dr. John Cumming used to say that cent. This difference led a French it is essentially popish to sacrifice truth Roman Catholic to write, a few years to uniformity, to make men tell lies, and ago, as he called attention to it : "On then hide reality in order to keep np comparing the respective progress made the appearance of unbroken nnity with since 1814 by non·Catholic Christian a central regulating power -like atnation3 with the advancement of power tempting to make clocks strike everyattained by Cath~lic nations, one is where the noon honr when the great struck with astonishment at the dispro- pontiff at Greenwich signals the merid· portion. • . . Unquestionably since ian, although the earth does take 1789 the balance of power between twenty.fol'lr hours to move ronnd, and Catholic civilization and non·Catholic any spot fi$teen degrees away from civilization has been reversed." Greenwich must be an honr away in time. The relative growth of Protestantism is much greater than that of Romanism. Every year in the church hf Ara In 1825 the Protestant population stood Cee/i, at Rome, takes place a, sort of to the Roman Catholic as 3 to 13 ; now child's religious filte. A chapel is ar· it is as 1 to 2. ranged as a stall, in which are wax fig- ures of the Holy Family and the beaRhl Dr. Burgess called attention a qnarter about them, etc. Decoration and wax of a century ago to the vast hierarchy of tapers abonnd, and hundreds of chilwhich the Pope was the head. "A dren are brought there to adore the string pulled at Rome moved the follow· B,lmbino, or wax image of the Holy ing puppets: 6 cardinals, 15 arch. Child. All day long, too, little folks bishops, 69 bishops. 158 vicarR.general, are set up on a pulpit, one ata time, to 660 canons, 3396 higher clergy, 39,630 speak their little speeches in honor of priests, 3000 seminarists preparing for the sacred doll. prie"thood, and 50,000 members of re- This wax baby is a " miracle work. er;" and when anyone is ill who can otherwise of Lord Archibald's asser· afford so costly a. doctor, this figure is tion. Bent for, and by the monks brought with all solemn formality, followed by Here are two extracts from .. The a bill for the visit the next day. Since Glories of Mary," a work heartily com· a woman attempted to pass off a new mended by Cardinal Manning, and wax doll for the old one, the Bambino stamped by papal infallibility: is suffered to go out only in his own carriage with guards. "0 Lady in Heaven, we have but one advocate, and that is thyself." I think it was about thirty-two or thirty-three years ago, when the tax put "Thou, 0 Mother of God, art om· upon bread, in the Eternal City, excited nipotent to save sinners." the indignation of the Bambino, and on the principle that even the" stones cry Rev. Frank H. White well says, "In out," he lifted up his voice, and in an view not only of the blasphemies poured awfully solemn way enjoined on the forth by the Church of Rome on this government to remove the bread tax. subject, but also of the incl'easing ten· One wonld think he had got hold of a dency in the Church of England to an copy of Adam Smith's ,( Wealth of Na- idolatrous exaltation of the Virgin, it tions." His utterances caused, of would be well if this tract were more course, a serious stir; and a day or two widely circulated." after, in order to emphasize the warning, the wax doll again spoke. The Dr. George W. Chamberlain, of San government proposed to be supreme, Paulo, Bra:<il, likewise testifies that in and to hold even the Bambino in sub. Brazil St. Joseph is held as of practically jection ; and so the police informed the higher rank than the Virgin Mary or monks who take care of the Bambino Jesus, inasmuch as " she,like an obedithat no such miracle must henceforth be ent wife, submits to her husband; and allowed-it might create a revolution. Jesus, like an obedient Son, submits to Once again the baby spoke, and this her ;" and such was the public teachtime· the message was peremptory and ing of the archbishop in Rio Janeiro final. The head of police sent at once when he returned from the festival of to infonn the monks that if the doll the" Immaculate Conception." opened its head once more, they would be turned out of their situation as Those who think Roman Catholic nurses; and remarkable as' it mayap. lands need no missionaries should read pear, the Bambino's mirq,eulous utterances the letter which appeared in the New ceased from that very day I York Trib'tme,* written from Siena, where dwelt the famous "Saint" Cath. As to Rome and Mariolatry, Lord arine. If the Roman religion was the Archibald Douglas, in his pamphlet en- same then as now, it passes comprehentitled « A Voice of One Crying in the sion how its practice could make her Desert," declares that .( the Roman " holy." Catholic Church upholds the Bible in its entirety," and" hates" priestcraft "I stepped into a church where mass and Mariolatry. was being celebrated. There were fif- teen priests in the chancel and three If our readers will look at the four. persons in the congregation. 'fhe acopage leaflet "most respectfully ad. lyte who rang the bell appeared to neg. dressed to all sincere Roman Catho- lect his duty, for the celebrant turned lics," entitled .. Which is Right-the and shook his fist at him. The boy re- Ch1IrCh of Rome or the Word of God?" taliated, after the priest went to the published by the Irish Church Mis. altar, by running his tongue out at him, Flion, 12 D'Olier Street, Dublin, all can which seemed to give convulsions of then judge for themselves the truth or quiet laughter to the priests near the altar who sang the responses. A French lady came 'Up to me and expressed her indignation. and said that there was no religion in this country. I assured her • September 7, 1890. that our Irish and American Catholics As to the l'[cAlJ missions in France, 'Would not tolerate any such irreverence in church. She answered that nllither they are remarkable for their number 'Would the French, and that here many and influence. They are spreading all of the educated people were infidels be. over France. and are the most powerful cause of the irreverence of the priests. Protestant influence of modern times in Yet the Italians pay an immense price for their religion. that RepUblic. Some trace this movement to that " In France, where there are 35,000,000 inhabitants, there are 60,000 priests, bold enthusiast, Napoleon Roussel, who, paid wholly, or in part, by the govern- in about 1830, scattered the fire of a ment. In Italy, with 29,000,000 inhabitants, there are 250,000 priests. In true religious zeal. Roussel came of e. France there is a priest for every 58;j of noble stock of Protestant martyrs. At the population, and in Italy one for twenty-five he was spiritually aroused every 116. More than one of our Roman by the great revival then spreading over Catholic churches in New York have 10,000 parishioners of all ages. Such all Switzerland and France under the parishes, according to the Italian ratio, leadership of Robert Haldane and would be obliged to maintain 86 priests. others. Roussel had been a close stu- Siena has 62 churches for 23,000 inhab- dent from his youth, and was quite itants. familiar with the whole religious status of Europe, and especially of France. " I went to the cathedral t""qee the festivities of the Assumption, said to ex- oeed in pomp those of any other festi- When, therefore, set on fire by the Holy val. The cardinal was seated on his Spirit, he was soon zeady by his scholar- – throne, lind they were robing him for ly education and theological training to the oelebration. A little ohild was seat- stand forth as a target for the Roman ed on the floor playing with a doll and singing to himself. There is oeaseless Church. He feared nothing, shrank movement of people, and everybody is from nothing. and went through France talking, so that you hear nothing from as a firebrand. His preliminary work the chancel. There are many priests was done in PariR, as editor of a in the congregation and some monks.
On the right of the chancel is a high religio-political paper. But PariR and platform for the orchestra, and the cele- the editorial chair could not long hold brated tenor and soprano of the city are him. Where there was the greatest to sing. The orchestra begins. It sounds persecution and the greatest call for like a military march, and gives a crescen- do to the conversation about me. The hard work there was Rouosel, till finally tenor is fine. When will this ceaseless clatter of talk and movement end? Is in 1847, returning to Paris, he estabnobody going to pray or pay any atten. lished a school for the instruction of tion to the celebration? Occasionally Protestants for the ministry and for some one bows for a moment toward mlssIOnaries. Out of this grew many St. Catharine's chancel and then rises small churches in and out of Paris. and salutes some friend with lond talk. But the revolution of 1848 seriously em- This continues throughout. 1t did not b:llT8SSed his efforts, and finally Napostop when the Host was elevated! At the moment a lady in front of me was pre- leon III. arbitrarily prohihited his senting a gentleman to a friend with great clatter. A few were kneeling on noble work. Seed, however, had been my left. I heard laughter on my right, sown which sprang up later as the McAll and turned to aee what occasioned it at Missions. There are now more than such a solemn time. A priest and a 130 of these in France, each the nucleus young man were playfully contending for a chair that a lady had just left. of saving power for the multitude. n The music was finely rendered. The is now eibhteen years since this Inove· orchestra and the two soloists did most ment became a vital power. For the last of it. The chorus parts were weak. few years it seems to be setting all There was no preaching. But after the cardinal had been unrobed and gone France in a blaze. Each mission is a out, I did not feel that I had been in a radiating point of such extensive work place of worship, but that I had seen a and numerous bands that make the spectacle unsurpassed in scenic splen. number of meeting-places and street dor in a place that the artists had abandoned for 600 years." services almost innumerable.
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
Organized Missionary Work and Statistics. Edited by Rev. D. L. Leonard, Bellevue, O.
-The population of Europe may be -From the organization, in 1848, of set down in round numbers as 350,- ' a society called ,. Eglise Missionnaire 000,000, and is divided religiously about Beige" at Brussels, there have sprung as follows: Roman Catholics, 165,000,- up 27 active churches and missions 000; Protestants, 90,000,000 ; members with 7000 members, the greater part of of Oriental' churches, 85,000,000, and whom are converts from the Romish about 5,000,000 each of Jews and Mo- Church. There are 38 preachers who hammedans. Italy with 31,000,000 as are spreading the Gospel throughout well as Spain and Portugal with 25,- the country. The yearly expense of 000,000 are almost wholly Catholic. this work-about $27,000-exceeds the Belgium with 6,000,000 is papal about receipts, which come mainly from per- twelve to one. In France out of 39,- sons of limited means, and outside help 000.000 less than a million are Protes- is being solicited.
tants. Austria contains some 37,000,000 -The Free Church of Italy recently inhabitants, of whom 12,000,000 are held its annual convention, 37 delegates non-Catholic. In Switzerland nearly representing 40 congregations and 7 two thirds of the 3,000,000 accept the stations being present. There were Reformed faith. The German Empire reports of progress from nearly all holds 30,250,000 Protestants in a total places. The convention decided upon of 48,000,000. Denmark, Sweden, Nor- the name of .. Evangelical Church of way and the Netherlands, with a com- Italy" as their official title in the future_ bined population of 13,;;00,000, are al- Among tho representatives of other most solid against the papacy, the latter Protestant bodies present were two being overwhelmingly Presbyterian, from the Waldensian churches, who and the others Lutheran. Great Britain declared that their communion still and Ireland are Protestant by 29,620,- cherished the hope of being able to 000 against 5,640,000. Of the Catho- unite with the Free Church. lics 1,370,000 are found in England and Wales, and but 330,000 in Scotland. -In 1850 the Oatholic Church in In Ireland are found 1,155,000 Protes- Denmark had 3 missionaries, 2 stations, tants and about 4,000,000 Catholics. and 300 members. Now it is repre- Russia and Greece have a population sented by one apostolic prefect, 37 of 100,000,000, of which two thirds be_ missionaries, 14 stations, 3700 mem- long to the Greek Church. Moham- bers, and more than 150 members of medans comprise about one half of religious orders. In 1856 there were Turkey's 5,000,000. no Oatholic churches in the kingdom; -The Catholic missions in Bengal now there are 10 churches, 6 publio under the conduct of the Belgian Jesu- and 6 private 'chapels, a Jesuit college, its have been very successful. Com- and a high school for boys. Nowhere mencing in 1881, the first year for in the world are the spiritual interests which we have exact figures, we find of Catholics so well provided for, there the converts amounted to 16,149. In being a clerical representative for every 1886 their numbers had increased to 18 members and a church for each 168.
20,000, and in 1888 these had advanced -·According to the latest synodical to 53,281. In 1881 baptisms num- reports the Waldensians have, outside bered 378, in 1886 they had increased of the hiBtorio valleys, 44 congregations to 3274, while in 1888 .they reached the and 36 pastors. In addition to these total of 35,000. there are 46 preaching places. The regular pastors are Ilided by 20 evan· 000. Mr. MUller planned to go out as gelists, 68 teachers, and 14 colporteurs. a missionary to India, but insuperable The total number of communicants is obstacles prevented. But, remaining 4266, an increase of 192 in the last at home, he has been able to raiSe anlI tweh'e months. 'l'he reports complain distribute for missions $1,116,800. that Catholic parents send their children to the elementary classes of the -The Denmark societies in 1888 con- Waldensians, but withdraw them as tributed to foreign missions $33,422.64. soon as they are old enough to partici- The Danish Government has a mission pate in the religious instruction of the in Greenland with 6 stations and 6 orschools. dained toilers, and the Danish Mission. ary Society has 7 ordained men in -The Methodist Episcopal Church India. has 6 missionaries in Italy and 24 native preachers, and a church member- -In 1889 the Netherlands Reformed ship of 743 with 198 probationeril in Society had in Java 60 churches with addition. The Southern Baptists oc- 5937 members distributed throngh 397 (lUPY 12 stations with 15 ordained mis- villages, and last year the number had sionaries, and have gathered 272 into increased to 70 churches, 6794 memo churches. The American Board sent bers, in 411 villages. The contribu. its first representatives to Austria in tions of 18 Netherlands societies to for· 1872, and now sustains 2 with 17 native eign missions amounted to 315,134 helpers. The 3 churches have a total gulden ($137,319). of 364 members, and the schools have 104 pupils. -The Protestants of Germany and Germau Switzerland are said to con· -No less than 15 Protestant societies tribute for foreign missions at the rate are at work in Spain, occupying 115 of but 12 centimes each, and those of houses or rooms as chapels and school France but 45 centimes. Now the buildings. The American Board has 3 centime is only the one hundredth part missionaries and 33 native helpers, 18 of a franc, or the fifth of a cent! churches with 349 members, and 604 pupils in schools. The American Bap- -The Society for the Propa~ation of tists in Spain and France together have the Gospel held its 190th annual meet- 18 missionaries and 13 churches, with a ing May 7th. The receipts reported for membership of 900. the year were £164,382, an increase of £26,000 over the previous year. As a -In nineteen years the Protestant consequence, the Society had enlarged churches of the United Kingdom con- its work, especially in New Guinea and tributed to foreign missions £21,166,- Korea. The number of ordained mis- 164. During the last half of the period sionaries, including eight bishops, on the gifts were greater than during the the Society's lists was 660-in Asia, first half by £665,315. The increase 220 ; in Africa, 142; in Australia and was 64 per cent on the part of the the Pacific, 17 ; in North America, 215 ; Church of England, and on the part of in the West Indies, 34; and 32 in Eu. the Dissenting churches was 24 per rope. Of these 127 were natives laborcent. ing in Asia and 29 in Africa. There were also in the various missions about -George MUller has under his care 2300 lay teachers, 2600 students in the 75 schools, of which 13 are in Spain, Society'S colleges, and 38,000 children 2 in Italy, 2 in the East Indies, and 7 in the mission schools in Asia and in the English colonies. In May of Africa. The Bishop of Calcutta in an last year these schools contained 6250 address called attention to the very im· pupils, and the total number since the portant position of India as resulting first one was opened in 1834 was 112,. from the fact that her popUlation were ~37, The expenses have been $489,- spreading so widely over the globe. In -The Wesleyans of Great Britain the West Indies there were 280,000; in have a membership of 424,303. The Mauritius, 2<15,000 out of 500,000 in. total receipts of their missionary sohabitants were from India, and South ciety for 1890 were £122,072, and the Africa was swti.rming with them. expenditures were greater by £10,813. Missions are sustained in EU1'ope, India, -The Anglican missions (Church China, West Africa. the Transvaal, eto. Missionary Society and Society for the The principal stations number 363 with Propagation of the Gospel) in the Tin. 1572 chapels and other preaching Develly district, South India, in 1888-89 places, 338 missionaries and assistant covered 1636 villages, with 113 Dative missionaries, ann 2163 other paid clergy; tho schools contained 23,52<1 agents, 34,722 church members, and pupils; the churches, 20,024 communi. 5250 probationers, and 65,803 in Sabcants, with 18,396 catechumens, 77,171 bath and day schools. baptized persons, and 95,567 adherents.
-The latest report concerning the reo -The. Society of Friends in England lci~"vieoruss condition o f the Fiji group and America, though numbering but the year 1889. The total area is 1u0p0~0a0r0d oontribute to foreign missions about the sa.me as that of the State of of $90,000 annually. A begin_ Massachusetts. There is a European ning was not made until 1866, and since population of about 2000, whilo tho na· then representatives have been sent to tives, including other Polynesians ancl Syria, India. China, Madagascar, Mexi.
Indian emigrants, number 123,000. Of co, and the American Indians. Their this native population, 103,775 worship Woman's Foreign Missionary Union in the churches of the Wesleyan mis- raised $23,164 last year. Though effi- sion, while 10,302 attend Roman Catho- cient work is done in other fields, yet lic churches. The Wesleyan mission Madaoascar has been the scene of their has 10 European missionaries and 72 great:st successes. Entering the island native ministers, 49 catechists, 1838 in 1868, they now have 18 missionaries, local preachers, and 1095 teachers; 40 native pRstors, and 37(1 other native these laboring in connectbn with 909 assistants. 130 churches with 4000 mem- churches and 414 other preaching bers and 40,000 adherents, lind 132 places. In the schools of the WeslAyan schools with 14,600 scholars. Special mission are .ro,667 children. The Ro· emphasis is laid upon educational work, man Catholic mission has 18 European and they are gen~rous contributors to ministers, with 148 Dative teachers, and the funds of the missions of other 76 native churches and chapels. Aside churches.
from the 18 Roman CatholIc priests -This table gives a partial statement of the work of 18 German missionary there are 3 lay Europeans and 14 female societies as it stood at the close of 1888.
Europeans.
SOCIETIES. MiE'sion- Co~~~.ni. Adherents. Receipts. aries.
—-·———–·i–·– —- —- —– Moravian Chnreh ………….. …….. .•.. 1IM03 3101..509812 2827,,216832 $18607.412280 Basel Society…………….. ………… 75 10.735 35.7"01 79,120 Rhenish Society … : . . . •. .• …….. …… 0 0 0 ' 5 068 38 461 HermannBburg SOcIety…. ..•. ……….• 71 (1)7. .. . 61'""" 2616 170,.0358;4) 2113..191422 ~2,8.71"!)'8"1 Berlin Society……………….. …. … 12 000 c 36 000 Leipsic Society- . . . . . •. . . .. ……………. ou NG~~~~eG':rSmoacnIestoyci~iy:':: :::.-:::::::.:::: 1118 c., . '71707 1213',,010046 SchleBwig·HoIBt~in. Society…. ……….. ~~ 408 Nine smaller sOcIetIes…. …….. .. …… 200 660 30,993 ________ – I 89,452 – – 5 6 1 Totals ………………………… 232,714 $599,677 =firlrlng 1890 there were built in the contributions are $53,351,103. He United States 8500 churches; ministers also concludes that the other evangeli. to the number of 4~00 were ordained, cal denominations just about double anI a membership, in all denomina. these figures, and hence these and tions, of 1,090,000 added. those together number 13,000,000, and have.invested for the maintenance and -It is computed that the English spread of the Gospel $800,839,154. If tongue is now spoken by nearly twice the same rule be applied to the annual as many people as any other European contributions they would aggregate language. The estimated ligures are: $106,702,206. English, 125,000,000 ; Russian and Ger· man, 70,000,000 each; French, 50,000,. – World· Wide Missions sends out a 000; Spanish, 40,000,000; Italian, ringing caIl to the Metbodist Episcopal 30,000.000; Portuguese, 13,000,000• Chnrch for a grand, general uprising . At the beginning of the century Eng. under the head of Financial Possibili. lish stood only fifth, being exceeded by ties, and with One Penny a Day as the French, Russian, German and Spanish. watchword. bespeaks the speedy ap- pearance of a second Wesley to inaugu. ~Well might Dr. R. S. Storrs say, in rate the revolution, to trans{orDl the a recent number of the Sunday.School scheme into solid fact, and presents nmes, .. It is something that Ameri. some astounding figures which would can missions alone now occupy more result, such as $3,UOO,000 for mis. than 4000 stations in unevangelized sions, $1,000,000 for evangelistic work lands, with 2350 missionaries Rtmt from in cities, $750,000 for Freedmen's Aid, this country and more than 10,000 nil.· $400,000 for the Women's Foreign Mis. tive helpers; that there are at these sionary Society, etc. The total, $10,- stations more than 2700 churches, with 000,000, though so great, is yet a smaIl nearly 237,000 communicants, of whom one for the vast Methodist host, num· 26,000 were added last year; and that bering 2,783,967. $4,000,000 are contributed annually in our country to carryon the work. It -At the 75th anniversary of the is something, certainly. that all Protes- American Bible Society the last year's tant missionary societies have now 46,- receipts were reported as $512,388.18, 000 missionaries and helpers in the and the issnes of Bibles, Testaments, field, ministering to nearly 700,000 and portions as 1,497,637, of whiah oommunicants and to more than 3,000" 524,096 were for circulation in foreign 000 of adherents to Christianity, and ex· lanrls. Sinae 1816 over $20,000,000 pending every year at least $12,000,000 have been received, and with these in the distant and costly work." 54,000,000 copies of the Sariptures have been printed and distributed. The -Mr. Charles A. J. Marsh, of Minne. legacies of the first quarter century apolis, has gathered with great oare reached $109,504.57, and grew to $3,204" Bome interesting statistics relating to 460.68 in the third quarter, and the the money investments made in behalf churoh coIlections inoreased from of the Lord's kingdom by four of the e28,938.04 to $353,307.29. leading denominations of this country, the Methodist!! (North), Baptists, Pres· -The reoeipts of the Southern Bap. byterians (North), and Congregational. tist Convention for last year were $113,- ists. He finds that they have 67,274 522.37. Its missions are found in Afri. churches with a membership (,January cB, China, Japan, Haly, Bral'lil, and 1st, 1891) of 6,500,000 ; that they hold Mexico. The principal stations are property worth $359,828,994, with en· 38. The miRsionary foroe numbers 86, dowments (,f colleges, eto., amounting with 23 ordained and 53 unordained na. to $40,590,000, or a total of $400,419,. tive assistants. Into the 67 churohes 577 thus invested, and that their a.nnual 2377 have been gathered, 'and 361 were received in 1890. The church-mem- reassuring. The cruel King Mwanga, bers in China are 790, and 98 were now restor~d to his throne, is evidently added last year. forgetful of all his pledges to be a bet- -The American Presbyterian Church ter sovereign. He is also being mahas in its Clanton mission 35 mission- nipUlated by the French priests_ The aries from the United States, and 3 or- little band of Protestant missionaries dained and 94 unordained native assist- which are striving to carry on the work ants; 10 churches with 690 members, of the noble and lamented Mackay have of whom 95 were added last year; 3 a friend in the Prime-Minister, but the boarding schools with 231 pupils, and outlook is grave with such a selfish and 3a day with 864 pupils. The medical revengeful man on the throne as· work of the mission is set forth by 63,- Mwanga. Meanwbile this fair province 785 visits to out-patients and 3489 sur- in the heart of Africa suffers in every gical operations. part because of the bloodshed and deso- lating warfare of recent years. -The Marathi mission, India, of the American Board, covers 17,000 square From Uganda, Africa, letters are miles, embraces Bombay, Ahmadnagar, printed in England showing that there and 8 other cities, besides 3600 villages, is a genuine progress in all Christian and a population of 3,286,889, of whom enterprises. The peril from persecu- 285,000 are Mohammedan. This field tion has entirely ceased, but peril of an is held by 33 missionaries, 18 native exactly opposite character has arisen on pastors, and 19 native preachers. The account of the outward advancement 35 ohurohes have 2306 members, of of the Christians, who are becoming whom two thirds have been received rich and powerful. during the last ten years, and 215 last year. The schools number 200 and the American Indians.-Many methods pupils 3382. In the hospitals 12,289 have been devised for raising money have been trealed. The native oontri- for benevolent purposes, but some IndbU'tions were $1617 in 1890, ian boys in the Northwest have hit upon the newest plan. They were very poor, but wished to pllt some money in the collection. They saw a premium offered Monthly Bulletin for killing gophers. The gopher is a mischievous little animal, devouring a A£riclI..-Since the partition of Africa large amount of wheat, com, and other the governments of England, Germany, grain every year. The farmers pay two Italy, and Portugal have made an agree- cents for each dead gopher_ The proof ment for the reciprocal protection of that the gopher has been killed is his their missionaries in the Dark Conti- tail. Now these little Indian boys had nent. Armed with a passport from the been so interested in the story told of government to which they belong, the the work being done by the Snnday_ missionaries will enjoy the proteotion school Society that they spent their of each of these powers, Saturday afternoon holiday lnaring gophers_ They brought the tails in the One of the methods which Bishop envelopes of the Society as their oon- Taylor is said to be employing to some tribution. elltent in carrying on bis work in Africa is unique in the elltreme, Young negro girls are purchased, the market price Brazil. – The Methodist Episcopal being $30 a girL When introduced into Mission in Rio Grande do SuI, Brazil, the mission schools their families and is finding speoial opportunities for friends have no further claim on them, work among the immigrants that come and Chri!ltian influences can be brought pouring in in hundreds. While the to bear on them much more effectively. work at the capital is conducted in Latest tidings from Uganda are not Portuguese, that in the colonies is in Italian, and is under the care of a na- Peking; Methodist Church, North, at tive of Italy. In two of these colonies Nanking; Methodist Church, North, at there are organized churches which have Fuhchan ; Presbyterian ()hurch, North, secured ground. (Jut timber, and securcd at Shantung; Presbyterian Church, material for chapels. North, at Canton.
It is said that the Catholics of Brazil Dr. Judson Smith SBYS: " The Chi. have been very much opposed to the nese are manifestly the governing race provision of the Constitution of the of Eastern and Central Asia, They evi- Republic, which deprives pdesta und dently hold the key to the future of al. employes of the Church of the right to most one half the unevangelized people vote, and also debars priests from be- of the globe; so long as they remain coming members of Congreas. It is without the Gospel. the great bulk of understood that the reason this pro- Asia will be pagan; when they are evan. vision was inserted was that the officers gelized, the continent will be Christian of the Church really held their allegi. and the world will be won." unce to their spiritual superiors us stronger than their allegiance to the There is need for yet more mission- State, and therefore are not such true aries. Kweischow and Kan-suh each citizens of the Republic as would entitle has only three missionaries for 3,000,000 them to a voice in its governments. people. ShenBi has ten lllissionarie';l This provision, however, has been Bome- for 10.000,000, Yun-nan has four miswhat modified. sionBries for 6,000,000.
Brazil, with its fourteen millions, is Dr. Happer writes from Canton, far behind the age in education. With China : "I am preparing to take my ninety-nine per cent of its population fourth and last departure from China. rated as Roman Catholics, it reports It is a terrible work to tear up the eighty-four per cent as illiterates. The roots that have been growing deeper priests have not taught the people mo- and deeper for forty-seven years. But rality, and they in their blindness and as the Lord has laid thc necessity upon ignorance have followed their leaders. me, I can only say, in humble gratitude But a reaction has come, and they are for the privilege of laboring so long in seeking light and life. The Presbyte. this populous land, Thy will be done. rians lire making an earnest effort to When the gracious Lord called me to put upon a good foundation a thor- return to Amel'ica, in former yeBrs, Hd oughly equipped Christian university. each time gave me the privilego of working there, I trust and pray He Canada.-Two Chinamen were re- may give me the privilege of working cently received into the membership of still in some quiet way, as my strength the Church of Christ in Knox Chnrch, may enabl" me to do. I am sending Winnipeg. They had both been under my books home, and hope to resume Christian instruction for several years my studies and use my pan, or do what and had given good evidence both of my hand may find to do." their acquaintance with the great truths of the Gospel and of their desire to Egypt.-M:r. L. D. Wishard, who is lead a Christian life. travelling in the East in the interests of the Young Men's Christian As- China.-The condition of Christian sociation, was recently in Cairo, Egypt., education in China is encouraging. Be- and the United Presbyterian missionsides the Imperial University at Peking, aries there tried the experiment of of which Dr. W. A. p, Martin is presi- advertising a lecture on the relations dent, there are no less than seven other of Christianity to American civilization, colleges-viz., St. John's Episcopal, at The result was an audience of above Shanghai; Southern Methodist, Bt three hundred young men, who listened ShBnghai; Methodist Church, North, Bt attentively. although the lecture was in- terpreted. This is most gratifying in a city like Cairo. Many of the young helpmate, that a woman's condition, men were Moslems. whether as wife or widow, can become more honorable and more worthy of reo The Rev. William Harvey, for many spect." Lady Dufferin gives the opinyears a faithful missionary of the ion that the velY best way in which we United Presbyterian Church in Egypt, can help our Indian sisters is by sup. is at present in this country for a brief plying them with medical relief: 1. visit. He is continually engaged, how- Because it aims at diminishing suffering ever, in making missionary ad(hesses, and at saving life. 2. Because education and will return to Egypt during the and general enlightenment must follow present year. He is at Monmouth, lll. in its train. 3. Because it encourages and inculcates respect and considera- Formosa.-The Rev. Mr. Mackay tion for women. 4. Because it brings has recently written from the island of cultivation and learning in contact with Formosa, to the Canadian Presbyte- the Zenana; and 5. Because in medi. rian Mission with which he is connect. cine and nursing Indian women will ed, concerning an extraordinary turning find professions in the exercise of from idols on the part of the people of which widows, deprived 8S they are of Ka-le-oan, a village, or rather a con- home and family ties, may fill their geries of villages, recently visited by lives with all the interest, occupation, him. A native assistant had com- and honor so sadly wanting in their mtlnced work in that district, but Mr. present state, Mackay had been hindered from going there, though he had had the matter in The census of India, recently com· mind for a dozen years. On his recent pleted, shows that the tolal popUlation visit he found many of the people hav- is now 285,000,000, an increase of 30,- ing a clear idea of Gospel truth, while 090,000 in the last decade. Of this inall of them were wearied of idol wor- crease 3,000,000 is due to accessions of ship. The three main facts in the case territory by conquest. It is calculated Mr. Mackay states thus: 1. Nearly five that the population of India is about a hundred idolaters cleaned their houses fifth of the whole human race. of idols in our presence. 2. ~'hey declared themselves anxious to worship The comments of the Calcutta press the Lord, the Redeemer. 3. They gave on Dr. Pentecost's evangelistic work in a temple built for idols as a house of India are full of appreciation. The worship for the living and true God. editor of the Statesman of that city, and also the missionaries of different de- The Rev. Mr. Jamieson, of the Canada nominations, unite in saying that few Presbyterian Mission in Formosa, died preachers if any have produced such recently at Tamsui, He was a native a profound impression for good upon of Scotland, and went to Formosa in all classes of people, including the 1883. lIe was a devoted missionary, European residents, as Dr. Pentecost. and his death is a sore loss to the work. A society has been formed in Eng- India.-Lady Dufferin, writing in Jand called "The India Widows' the Nineteenth Century on "The Women Union. .. It is an organization of Chrisof India," expresses the fear that their tian women for the purpose of improvsocial condition cannot be modified to ing the condition of Hindu and Mohamany great degree by legislation or by medan widows in India. The membErS outward reforms. She says: "It is are widows only, but any Christian only by the education and elevation of woman may becom!' an associate memwomen that any change can come OVEr ber. They pledge themselves to pray the feeling of the people with regard to that God will break the yoke and set marriage, and it is only when public the captive free. They raise money to opinion ceases to regard her as a chat. be expended in training widows to usetel, and begins to recognize her as a ful industries, and they gather and diffuse information with regard to the people. Nearly ten dollars was saved condition of the widows. in this way.
Dr. George F. Pentecost. who went North Sea."'-The Sailors' Magazine to India last fllli on an evangelistic mis- sllys : "One hundred thonsand dollars sion, took Mr. and ~s. George C. Steb- were contributed in England last year bins with him to lead the singing. to sustain missionary operations on the After laboring a few weeks in Calcutta North Sea among English deep-sea among the Europeans, it was decided fishermen. Ten fully equipped evanto turn to the ed ucated nati ves, and the gelizing vessels, three of which are hossingers left Dr. Pentecost and accom· pital ships, are employed in the work. panied Bishop Thoburn in a visit One of the fishermen" greatly moved by through the country, travelling several the earnestness of a woman missionary, thousand miles and singing in all the expressed his B1lfprise and gratitude principal cities of the Empire. On that she' had come out to do us North their way home they will stop in Egypt, Sea dogs good.•• , P4lestine. Italy, Germany, and England, reaching homo by midsummer. Palestine.-A Scotch missionary at Tiberias says that whereas almost every The New York Evangelist, in a brief Jew in Sated and Tiberias understands paragraph on ,. Hinduism and the Signs Arabic, not more than twenty or thirty. of the Times," says: "An encourage- out of five or six thousand understand ment to missionary effort is found in Judeo·Spanish, and a preacher in that tb.e increasing number of Somaies and language would in truth be "a voice Congresses for securing healthy reforms crying in the wilderness." Two of the in the social life of the Hindus, and in missionaries there are prepared to the preceding changes which made pos- "quote Hebrew" and to conduct sersible the establishment of those asso- vices in it whenever that is seen to be ciations. The time has now come when necessary. To hold Hebrew services Hinduism finds fulfilled in its history would, he insists, be absurd, as the the prophecy of the Christ, 'A man's Jews do not use the language, and very foes shall be they of his own house- many do not understand it. The mishold.' Its most decided and efficient sionaries have thought it wise to conantagonists are the converts from its verse with the Jew'! in the ordinary ranks to Christianity. Under the in- language of every·day life-i.e., with creasing number of these, and of others the Sephardim in Arabic and with the who, while abjuring Hinduism as the Ashkenazim in Jargon, but to preach result of Christian labors and influAnces, only in the language that all could unare not yet fully prepared to embrace derstand. Christianity. Hindu society is comiug to understand its needed reformations; The many recent movements among the Hindu conscience is awaking from the Jews cannot but attract attention. its long slumber; child marriages and Among others it is announced that an the rigid enforcement of caste rules association for the colonization of Palwill be things of the past within the estine has been successfully established lifetime of mllny now living, and the by the Hebrew Workingmen's Club. of end of Hinduism will not be long de- London, which is situated in Whitelayed." chapel, one of the most densely popu- lated districts of the metropolis, where Japan.-It is reported that when the thousands of Hebrews carry on their people in Kobe, Japan, were suffering occupations. The association is sendgreat want, several starving to death, ing shiploads of poor Hebrews from the students of the Kobe Girls' Scho<>l London to Palestine, and will provide for three weeks ate nothing for break- them with funds with which to purfast but rice and pickles, that they chase land and start a home. might save something to give to poor Patagonia.-There has been little into th~ mission field in a place where mission work accomplished in Pata· they can live a community life and work gonia, but the Roman Catholics have a together. They take no vows or permission centre at Viedma, in the south- manent pledges, and receive merely ern part of the country. ~hey have what is necessary for their support. twelve colleges with 5000 students, and The offer has been accepted, and four an industrial school with thirty appren· men are ready to go. The field of thtlir tices of carpenters, blacksmiths, boot- missionary work will be Chota Nagpore, makers, tinkers, and tailors. They a district in India, lying twenty-five have also a dispensary and the only miles west of Calcutta, about as large hospital in the territory. as all England, and containing peoples speaking twenty different languages. Russia.-The persecution that the poor Christians in Southern and Cen- " Missionary teas" have become poptral Russia are suffering should excite ular, and are found a means of drawing wide sympathy. The name " Stundist" larger numbers of people together to was given to them originally on account gain intelligence of missions. and thus of their meeting for an hour for reading increase the interest. The English the Word of God. The first who did have long availed themselves of this so were emigrants from South Germany, means of making meetings of all kinds who called their meeting from the Ger- more popular. The trouble of preparman word sluMe, for hour. Although ing the very slight refreshments is a the persecution has hardly had a par- mere nothing compared with the results allel in Europe since the Reformation, in awakened interest by the good feelthe adherents of this movement are in- ing engendered by the simple breaking creasing rapidly, now numbering many of bread together. thousands. The" Brotherhood of the Sea" is the Spain.-There is news of a triumph name of a new society of two hundred for the cause of mission work from a Norwegian sea captains, who have town in Spain-Rosas-where the peo- pledged themselves to have regular reple elected the Protestant pastor mayor; ligious services on board their ships, and when, on account of the pressure and to conduct everything there and on of his own work, he was obliged to re- shore in the fear of God. fuse the office, his brother; an evangelist, was accorded the honor. The American Board has given out a summary of the results of Protestant Turkey.-The ravages of the cholera missions in recent years: In Japan the in Central Turkey, though extensive twenty-seven Protestant missions have among the Moslems, have not greatly a total adult native membership of affected the Protestants. In noting 28,977. About 5000 members were this fallt a Moslem official exclaims: added to the church rolls during the " How is this, 0 Christians! has God past year. Of the 300 members of the spread a tent over you, out of all the new Japanese Parliament which was people of this city, to preserve you elected last July, twelve are professedly from death ?" Christians. There are about 527 Prot- estant missions in Japan, the first ar- General.-A new missionary move- riving in that country less than twentyment has been inaugurated within the two years ago. In China there are 1295 walls of the University of Dublin, in Protestant missionaries, while the num_ connection with the Society for the ber of adult native communicants is Propagation of the Gospel. A number 37,287. In India and Ceylon the re- sults are the most satisfactory of all, the at young men have approached the Uni- nativA Christians in the schools alone numbering 74,386, though the number versity Auxiliary Committee of the So- of missionaries is less than 300. A ciety, intimating their desire to go forth summary of the number of missionaries to Christian intelligence an aggregate in foreign countries supported by Prot- of not much less than 600,000 children estant societies in the United States, and youth. together with the number of churches, native communioants and contributions The receipts of the Presbyterian for the year 1890, shows the following Woman's Board of the Northwest for totals: 2350 missionaries, 2721 churches, the year recently closed reached the 236,187 native communicants, of whom handsome total of $91,069.70, which 25,963 were added in 1890; $524,217 was made up as follows: Cash from contributed by natives, and $3,977.701 auxiliaries, bands, and Sabbath-schools, contributed in the United States. $77,018,69; legacies, $12,581.96; in- come from real estate, $954.89; mis- According to the American Baptist cellaneous, $199.86 ; with balance from Year Book for 1891, the Regular Bap- previous year, $314.30. tists have in the United States 1382 associations, 34,780 churches, with a mem- Some very humble CJ;1ristians make bership of 3,164,227, an increase for the noble confessions of Christ and become year of upward of 94,000 members. most efJ'ective missionaries. He was only a cabman who died the other day The annual meeting of the Woman's in Edinburgh, but he did not consider Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres- his vocation bcompatible with the serbyterian Chnrch was held recently at vice of his Master. His cab bore the inscription, " What think ye of Christ ?" Auhurn, N. Y., with an attendance of and in the hayloft of his stable he used to hold meeHngs for prayer and testimore t1:an two hundred missionaries, mony. His mates called him" Holy delegates, and visitors. The reports Peter." It was the kind of holiness showed sixty-four missionaries and which attracts and does not repel. He twenty-six Bible readers in the employ " reached th/l masses" withont making of the Board in Africa, South America, any fuss about it. Mexico, China, Japan, India, Korea, Siam, Persia, Syria, and among the Christian Endeavor.-The plan of North American Indians. The receipts attempting to raise a half million dolwere $67,000, an advance on the pre- lars yearly for missionary work through vious year of $10,000. The employ- Christian Endeavor SocietieR, each ment of female physicians was specially member giving two cents a week, is mentioned, and regret expressed at the meeting with greRt success. One hunnecessity, through lack of funds, of dred and fifty societies report 5000 closing a hospital in Persia. names-that means $5000 ; which sum will support seventy first-class native Some one states St. Paul's missionary preachers in India and China. creed thus: 1. I believe that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord A son of a Modoc chief is the presishall be saved. 2. I believe that no dent of the Christian Endeavor Society heathen will call on Him in whom he in Yainax Indian School, Bly, Ore. has not believed. 3. I believe that in order for the heathen to believe the Henry M. Stanley tells that oncey Gospel they must hear the Gospel. 4. in the heart of Dark Africa, a native I believe that the heathen will n(Ver was dragged before him by some of his hear the Gospel till a preacher preaches followers for stealing a gun. Stanley it to them. 5. I believe that a preacher, looked at the gun; it clearly belonged in order to preach to the heathen, must to his expedition. The poor man who be sent to them. This creed is found had it was frightened at the mention of in Rom. 10 : 13-15. Stanley's name, and could hardly 'find his voice or say a word, only, " I am a The sohools Bustained by the various son of God, I would not steal!" This American missionary societies contain almost 175,000 pupils, and the 12,000 Protestant missbn schools are training he repeated again and again. It was have given cause for offence quite apart all he could say. from their being Christians. It is so hard ever to get at the truth underlying Stanley was interested, and it dawned apparent facts. Anyhow we often talk on him that this man was probably one as if there were no more martyrs. Are of the converts of some of the mission. not these poor people hungering on the aries laboring in that region, and he mountains, almost within sight of their accordingly gave him the gen, and 0.1. old homes, martyrs in the truest sense? lowed him to go, while they pursued There are very many Roman Catholics their way. here, and fuey seem to be a power in the land, which in itself must be an At the next station where they stopped offence. But other Christian bodies they found the gun waiting for them. seem making good helldway."-China It appeared that the gun had probably Mail, April, 7th, 1891, Hong Kong Pape1·. been lost. This man had found it, and when he was set free he at once went The Christia~ at Work will pay a with it to the missionary for instruc· liberal sum for information giving the tions, and by his directions it was sent names of the United States senators where Stanley would get it. who voted against the ratification of the Brussels Treaty formed for the sup. But what a light must have touched pression of the African slave trade, the that darkened son of Africa, who, abolition of the rum traffic, anu for. though brought up in all vileness and bidding the selling of fire-arms to the theft and sin, had come to realize the natives. glorious dignity of a divine paternity, and say, " I AM A SON OF GOD; I WOULD A missionary from China says" that NOT STEAL !" if there is anything which lays hold on the poor people there, it is the simple A Chungking correspondent of the story of the crucifixion of our Lord North Carolina Daily News writes: Jesus Christ. It is not the morality, or " When not schwa-ing, the people here the miracles of the Gospel, or even the seem by preference to go in for a little wonderful saying and speeches of our bit of persecution. Last July only Lord Jesus Christ, but the old story of sixty miles from Chungking, Pere Pons, the cross, of the blood, of the sacrific!", one of the Roman Catholic Fathel's of the satisfaction of Christ in dying here, was suddenly warned to fly, He for sinners on the tree-that is the could not believe it, But, happily for power for good in touching the heart him, he did fly when he heard the guns and awakening the conscience." firing. The mob had risen, and eight Chinese were killed, and their bodies The Scotch missionaries in the burned in the fire of their burning Punjab of Indio. rejoice over a rich har. houses, The others fled, and some vest of souls. At the station of Sialkot 2000 native Christians are still starving they baptized thirty converts four years upon the mountains but for the help ago; but last year the number was 0.1. sent to them from time to time, What ready eight hundred, and the blessed makes it specially hard upon the poor work is going on increasingly. people is they had just got in their crops. The Chinese authorities have The Baptist Missionary Union sent to punish the offenders, and it sends out this year the largest number seems one or two poor people have been of missionaries ever sent in a ~ingle pnnished, but not the ringleaders, so year. Forty-four of the sixty are newly the poor refugees dare not return. appointed. It is wort.h noticing that The Chinese authorities say they dare the largest band-eighteen-go to Bur. not do more, because the whole district mah, that field where Baptist effort has is incensed against the Christians. been so greatly blessed from the begin. This may be only an excuse. On the other hand, the Roman Catholics may' ning. Ten go to the Teloogoos of India, .. It is with missionary work a8 with eight to Assam, and the remainder are everything else. ThQse who know lit- scattered in China, Japan, and Africa. tle, care little and give little. Those who know most are most interested, and Missions and Commerce.-At one give liberally." time it was thought that the money given to the cause of missions was At a recent missionary meeting of wasted. No intelligent man thinks so the Reformed Church at Saugerties, Mr. now. England gives more for missions Scoville said: " We hear the complaint than all the rest of the world combined, of draining a country or community of but English commerce has gained ten needed funds. Listen to the telephone pounds for every pound England has of the ages, ' Why was not this ointinvested in missions. Christianity and ment sold for three hundred pence and commerce go hand in hand. The Gos- given to the poor?' Would it have pel is God's power to save from sin, and been? The blessing of missions is from all the imbruting and degrading that it is the work of the Church. consequences of sin. The Gospel un- Why was it not completed before this derlies our commerce and our civiliza- age? Because this age needs to do it. tion as a root underlies a plant. – A. Missions now are a test of Christian McLean, D.D. character. The Church needs a touch of heroism in it. Is the cross an orna- There are, so it is said, five hundred ment ot the declaration of a princimillionaires in New York, lIome of them ple ?" worth from one hundred to three hundred millions of dollars. We suppose A Japanese converted to Christ these men are-Buddhists! seems at once to betake himself to the labor of teaching the truth to his During the last four years seventy- friends at home and at a distance, and nine English university men have be- thus is the way prepared for the mincome missionaries. ister of Christ. No wonder that with such preparatory service the truth is •• You wish to teach our women to running in that land, and being gloriread, do you?" scornfully said an offi- fied. cial of the Hindus to a missionary from America, and added, .. Next you will There are those who wish to be seek permission to teach our cows!" Christians in secret, and those even in But what good has come to the Hindu lands where it is deemed no reproach by his supreme selfishness toward to follow Christ. But we hear of a mother and sister, daughter and wife? Japanese workman, who was necessarily He has not progressed one inch in thou- away from his shop most of the day, sands of years except as men who look who put the following notice on the upon women as their equals have placed door: .. I am a Christian; and if any in his un~killed hands the inventions of one likes to go in and read my Good Occidental civilization and taught him Book while I am out, he may. Buddhour ideas of literature and law, of art ist priests need not come here. I do and commerce. He has not risen one not want them any more." hair in the scale of being except as our missionaries have brought to him that There is but one lake on the surface Gospel which says, .. There shall be no of the globe from which there is no more curse, for the former things are outlet, and that is the Dead Sea, which passed away," and which restores the receives much, but gives nothing. joint headship set forth in the Divine Such a lake is a perfect illustrfltion of a words: " Let us make man in our im_ church all whose efforts termi nato upon age after our likeness, and let them have itself. Around it there will be desodominion," lation, and in it there will be no life.- William M. Taylor, D.D.
The Missionary Review of the World — September 1890
THE MISSION IN BASUTO LAND
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XIII. No.9.-0Id Series·–SEPTEMBER.–voL. III. No. 9.-New Series.
I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.
THE MISSION IN BASUTO LAND.
BY REV. ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.
The Christian Church owes this singularly interesting mission in South Africa to the Paris Missionary Society, which was founded in 1822 by some of the most prominent men in the French Reformed Church, whose names are yet fragrant in the memory of multitudes in other lands besides their own. Those men of God appear to have inherited much of the holy intrepidity and zeal of their Huguenot ancestors, for, in the midst of conscious weakness, one of their earliest acts after emerging from the fires of persecution and the tempests of revolution, was to unite in forming themselves into a missionary society and to claim an honorable share in that grandest of all enter- prises, the bringing about of the conquest of the world for Christ.
Basnto Land is a native territory lying between Cape Colony, the Orange Free State and Natal. The Orange river is the southern boundary, and the less important Caledon flows through its centre. It is a mountain land with deep valleys, many of which are gladdened and fertilized by refreshing streams which shed verdure and floml beauty upon their banks. In later times it has been placed under a British protectorate, which affords greater liberty and safety to the missionary, and gives to those mission churches which owe theil' birth and maintenance to French Protestants some claim upon British liberality. An eadier mission had already been established in another part of South Africa by the Paris Missionary Society, and had gatlwred its first fruits in converts and churches; but even this mission to Basnto Land dates back to a period many years before the names of Moffat and Livingstone had become household words in all the languages of Christendom and in all the churches of the saints.
The founder of the Basuto Mission was Eugene Casalis, who had associated with him from the beginning two fellow-workers of congenial spirit and of varied gifts, which greatly increased their usefulness. He who had been the honored founder of the mission has also lived to be its historian in a volume which has recently been translated into the English tongue, and which, in its picturesque descriptions, its narratives of thrilling adventures, and its style sparkling with vivacity, as well as in its more solid qualities of devout thought and burning zeal, and "common sense which is not common," tracin!; all the while the growth of one of the most successful Christian mis! sions in modern times, keeps the reader under a pleasing fascination to its close. ,,y e intend in this paper to present some notices of ):lis earlier years, prior as well as preparatory to his entering on his consecrated and greatly honored missionary life. Our facts shall, of course, be principally gathered from his own souvenirs.
Eugene Casalis was born November 21, 1812, at Orthes, a town in' the Department of the Lower Pyrenees, about thirty miles from Bayonne. His parents wet'e pious Protestants, of good social position, who could look back through generations of Huguenot ancestors, some of whom had bravely suffered for the faith. The boy thus received the priceless benefit of a godly upbringing, even those cherished ancestral traditions of faithful suffering for Christ mingling with and favorably influencing his thoughts. Weare led to conclude that there was something rather stiffened and stereotyped about the religions life of the worthy parents, and that it was in some measure deficient in warmth and joy. This made the youth welcome with keen relish the hymns of the saintly Cresar Malan, with their gladsome notes of faith and hope, which had begun to find their way from Geneva to those parts of France in which the faith of the Reformed Church prevailed. This good influence was increased by the appearance in that staid Protestant community of M. Pyt from Bayonne, a pastor and evangelist of much fervor and eloquence, who was received at the first with some suspicion by the sterner natures, but whose warmth and zeal in no long time overoome all opposition, while great numbers were attracted towards him who were passing from youth into early manhood. Eugene was among the first to sit at his feet and drink in his words of holy wisdom. It was natural that such an eager listener should soon attract the notice of the earnest evangelist, who was interested by his promising gifts and apparent buddings of grace, and at length, with the consent of his parents, he returned with the young pastor to Bayonne, where, under his daily supervisiOl" he was to receive a higher education in which the Christian element should be supreme. Gradually, under the evangelist's watchful eye, Eugene's hopeful symptoms ripened into decision; he not only embraced him. as a Christian brother, but discovered in his conversation and action qualities and desires which seemed to mark him as a missionary to the heathen. The finger of Providence had begun to point to the far off land.
This led to another important step, in the transference of Eugene to the Mission House of the Paris Missionary Society in Paris, where hopeful young men, while undergoing a period of probation, were meanwhile under systematic training for the work of a missionary to some dark region of heathendom. It was a wise and happy arrangement for youths, in whose hearts the Spirit of God had kindled a holy ·enthusiasm for the missionary enterprise, to be placed, for a series of years, under the direction and superintend~nce of such master spirits as Grandpierre and Audeber and Frederick Monod, of more than one .of whom we can write with the recollection of personal friendship, who combined, in a remarkable degree, the gift of eloquence with glowing zeal, geniality of spirit, and practical wisdom. There was labor in the mission house without weariness. Every hour had its a prescribed work. Exegetical theology held large place in the ·curriculum of study, for men such as Monod had sat at the feet of Robert Haldane at Geneva, and had learned from his instruction and example the divine art of bringing out the mind of God from a pas- sage of scripture, and to regard this as the highest function of a min- ister of Christ.
The young neophytes were also introduced to some knowledge of those sciences which might be turned to practical account on the mission field. Some of their hours were also spent outside the mis- 'sion house, in visiting the sick and the poor, in experiments in evangelism-as birds learning. the use of their wings-and in acting as hands and helps in the distribution of charity. As months and years rolled on in these congenial services, the thoughts of Eugene Casalis wandered more and more to Africa and its dark millions; he became impatient to go forth and share the toils and conflicts of the mission field. It is possible for the mower to spend too much time in sharp- ening his scythe. The unanimous voice of the directorate in the mission house at length said to him, "Go." It was a welcome sound,' as that of the trumpet to the war horse. On October 18, 1832, he was solemnly ordained by assembled presbyters to the office of a minister and missionary of Jesus Christ, his friend and pastor, M. Pyt, who had foreseen and foretold his destiny, and left on him the ·deep impress of his own noble character, fitly presiding at the laying ·on of hands.
A few weeks were spent by him in a visit to his parents in the old home at Orthes, there being a wise aITangement, however, that their intercourse should not be darkened by allusions to his departure till the hour for farewell was near at hand, for so strong was the impres- .sion in those earlier days that the separation would be for life, that the "A1( ;evoir" was usually pronounced with the finger pointed to heaven, as if there must be the next place of meeting. We give a few :sentences of the young missionary's own account of his parting, in which the self-denial and bravery of his venerable mother shines nobly out: "The horses were brought before the door of our house at four o'clock in the morning. After a prayer, mingled with sobs, there began a scene which I can only compare to that of the supreme separation at the moment of death. My father, my brother, my sisters were overwhelmed. My mother alone had power to speak. Seeing I was overcome, she cried, 'Courage, my son, it is for yonI' God. Go without regret; commit yourself to Him. I know that He will take care of you.' "
On November 11, 1832, Eugene Casalis sailed from London for South Africa, the appointed scene of his mission, having associated with him M. Arbousset, a young minister like-minded with himself in his French vivacity and spirit of perseveringendllrance, and Gosselin, a Christian artizan without culture, but to whom educated men delighted to listen because of his practical sagacity and openhearted piety, and who was to prove himself a priceless· acquisition. After a few days of sickness, these young heralds sought to increase thcir equipment for their sacred work by reading and study, mingled with much prayer and with hymn-singing, in which they remembered the example of Christian David and his two Moravian brethren, a. century before, sailing to Greenland and standing at nightfall on the stern of the vessel and singing those hymns which once had echoed on Moravian hills. But these congenial exercises were disturbed by more than rude adventure-a great deal more pleasa~t in the retro, spect than in the experience. For several days their too small and overladen schooner was visited by a tremendous storm, which swept the deck of its hencoops and bulwarks and every other movable thing, and drove thA vessel far out of its course. At a later period in their voyage, when they were away out of the usual sea-path and in unkuown waters, a pirate ship hovered near them and its ruffian crew were only at length scared away by the bustle of preparation and the signs of defiance which they saw in their coveted prize. And even when they were within sight of the harbor of Cape Town, and could hear the sonnd of the lowing of oxen and the crowing of cocks, and the vessel had begun to graze on some sunken rocks, it was only as if by a hair's-breadth they escaped shipwreck. It was with hearts overflowing with thankfulness that they trod at length on the soil of Africa, and saw the noble form and heard the cheering welcome of Dr. Philip, the superintendent of the missions of the London Missionary Society in the Cape Coiony, whose heart and home were open to missionaries of every name alld from every land, whether going forth to work or returning after years of earnest. toil to a season of wellmerited and needed r('~t.
But what was the astonishment of Casalis and his associates to be told, when the unwelcome news could no longer be withheld from them, that the misRion which they had come to reinforce and enlarge had, during the very time when they were at sea, been broken up and ruined! A period of despondency followed, in which everything seemed to be covered with mystery and gloom. Table Mountain, with its dark summit rising before them 5,000 feet high, appeared to represent the impassable barrier which rose between them and the enterprise about which they had been dreaming such fond dreams. They did not all at once see that God had another plan for them which was betttr than theirs, and that, instead of building on another man's foundation, they were destined to found a new mission in a region whose very name was yet unknown to them-where the foot of European had never trodden; and that within little more than one generation hundreds of thousands would be gathered by them and their fellow-workers into the fold of Christ. But their depression of SpIrIt was temporary. Even their youth and sanguine temperament, with the counsel and good cheer of the Christian circle which surrounded them, did much to lighten their burden, while believing prayer was the most powerful factor of all, and in no very long time they were able to say, "'Vho art thou, 0 great mountain? Before our Zerubbabel-a plain." Short visits to some of the mission stations which were within convenient reach of Cape Town strengthened their missionary impulses, and within a few weeks they were busy with preparations for a long journey into the interior, not doubting that an unseen heavenly guide would make their way plain before them, and in due time point out to them the chosen sphere of their life work. Large wagons were provided, especially one which for weeks to come was to be the habitation and conveyance of the missionaries. There were many teams of oxen which were to draw the lumbering vehicles along the desert path, with skilled teamsters and a band of Christian Hottentots for servants, and every necessary thing in the form of food and clothing, and guns and powder, and corn and flower seeds, and medicine and books, was stored in the wagons' capacious folds. We imagine them ploughing their way, sometimes through loose sand, and at other times over solid ground carpeted by the beautiful mimosa flower and heaths. The farmsteads of colonists, widely separated from each other, were at rare intervals seen in the distance; and startled flocks of antelopes and ostriches fled at their approach. There was a strong Christian element in this mingled company, so that the teamsters and Hottentot servants most willingly joined in the never-failing evening worship. M. Casalis mentions again and again the remarkable gift of singing possessed by the Hot… tentots: "The women have voices of an incomparable range of flexibility, and in the tenor or bass, which the men render in perfect harmony, there is an element of veiled emotion which profoundly moves the heart." This, no doubt, added to the attraction of the family worship in the desert with which the evenings were closed. Another custom of those dark-hued attendants greatly interested the good missionaTies: two hours before daybreak it was their uniform practice to rise and each one for himRelf to pray, and then to return to rest-all this for the purpose of securing themselves against hurry or disturbance in their simple devotions. 'Within twelve days they reached the Orange river, which at the place of crossing was a thous- and feet broad and at least five feet deep. It was with almost in- credible difficulty, and only after doubling the number of their teams of oxen, that they succeeded in crossing the great river. Here was another landmark which they had reached, for they were now outside the boundaries of civilized government, and had entered upon the region of heathenism, whose thick darkness was scarcely mitigated by one ray of Christian light.
A few hours' travel from the river's brink brought the missionar- ies and their company to Philippolis, a little embryo town which was to be prominent in their recollection ever afterwards, because it was the place where Providence would begin to unveil to them their future, and, as it were, lead them visibly by the hand to the seene of their life-ministry which he had chosen for them. The sealed letters were now to be opened. It happened in this wise. They had not been many hours in Philippolis when they were accosted by a mulatto, farmer, Adam Krotz, who eked out his regular income, and at the same time gratified his passion for adventure, by the hunting of antelopes, taking long detours over hundreds of miles. On learning who these strangers were, and what was their errand, his countenance brightened with a new interest. He told them of Basuto Land, of its king, whom he had met with not long before in one of his hunting excursions, who had a strong desire to have missionaries sent into his country, and had even drawn from Krotz a promise that if ever such men came in his way he would use all his influence and persuasion to induce them to choose his country as the scene of their sacred toils. Krotz added that he was truly glad to fulfil his engagement to the great Basuto chief, and promised that, on condition of their accompanying him on the hunting expedition on which he was about to enter, he would both be their guide and protector on the journey, and prepare their way by sending friendly messengers before them. The astonished missionaries distinctly read in all this the finger of God, and were ready to say with Eliezer of Damascus, "I being in the way,. the Lord led me," and though the time of their journeyings was ·likely to be lengthened by such an arrangement, they yielded to this. inconvenience for the sake of the greater benefit they would derive from this man's knowledge, friendship and guidance.
Certainly, if the patience of these devoted missionaries was sorely tried before their guide and counseller had secured his complement of meat, dried skins and horns, they had abundant opportunity of improving their knowledge of natural history; for, in additiop to the gentle antelope, the whole hunting ground which they were traversing abounded with baboons and panthers and lions and other beasts of prey. At length deliverance came, and at the end of four weeks of waiting they had crossed the boundaries of Basuto Land. The good men could not help smiling as they. remembered how, in the maps which they had bought in Paris, the whole of this region had been marked as sandy and level, for they had not travelled many miles inward when they found themselves standing at the foot of a moun- tain several thousand feet in height. As. they journeyed onward, a local chief having been apprised of their approach sent theIl down from his mountain fastness a present of milk and boiled maize, which they hailed as a token for good. Meanwhile, messengers were sent forward by the indefatigable Krotz, to inform the king of their movements and to bespeak his royal welcome. As they proceeded on their journey, they were struck with the unmistakable signs of recent battles which appeared in many places-in broken walls, and ruined villages, and desolated gardens, and battle-fields strewn with remnants of the dead. Already we may imagine the prayer to have ascended from their full hearts that their mission might be blessed as the messengers of the Prince of Peace.
On reaching the foot of the mountain on which stood the palace of King Moshesh,they scarcely had time to unyoke their wearied oxen and to pitch their tent, when the king's sons appeared scampering on horses at full speed to convey the salutations of their royal father. Early on the following day the missionaries ascended the mountain by a precipitous and winding path to return the monarch's s!1lutations. 'l'hey were received in a spacious court, enclosed by lofty palisades, into which Moshesh descended from his palace accompanied by his queen and their one little boy, whom they both fondly caressed. We give M. Casali's first impressions of the Basuto king in ~is own words: "The chief bent upon me a look at once majestic and benevolent. His profile, much more aquiline than that of the generality of his subjects, his well-developed forehead, the fulness and regularity of his features, his eyes a little weary, as it se~med, but full of intelligence and softness, made a deep impression on me. I felt at once that I had to do with a superior man, trained to think, to command others, and, above all, to 'command himself. After we had looked an instant at each other in sitence, he rose and said, 'Lumela, lilchoa' (Welcome, white man), and I replied by holding out my hand to him, which he took without hesitation." The king's looks expressed even more kindness than his words.
On the next day the king, attended by some of his chiefs, came down from his mountain to dine with the strangers. It must be acknowledged that the contents of their larder did not supply "a dainty dish to set before a king." But the time was 'urgent, and nothing could be done or even attempted until they knew more of the ruler's mind. With Krotz as his interpreter, the missionary explained to. the king the end of their mission, in promoting the religious as well as the material good of his people, and asked for his protection and help in
WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN
their enterprise of love. The answer was, in some respects, wonderful, as coming from a heathen king who knew nothing of Christianity except what he had vaguely heard of its beneficent effects, and would have graced the lips even of a Christian monarch: "~ly heart is white with joy," replied the chief. "Your words are great ~nd good. It is enough for me to see your clothing, your arms, and the rolling houses in which you travel, to understand how much intelligence and strength you have. You see our desolation. The country was full of inhabitants. 'Val's have devastated it. Multitudes have perished; others are refugees in foreign lands. I remain almost alone on this rock. I have been told that you can help us. You promise to do it. That is enough. It is all I want to know. Remain with us. You will instruct us. 'Ve will do all you wish. The country is at your disposal. 'Ve can go through it together and you shall choose the place 'which will best suit you."
Here was the charter of their liberty and privilege given without parchment, or signature, or seal, but never violated in one iota by the king'..:; acts. A great and effectual door was opened before those men of God, and they were not slow to enter in. But we must reserve for another paper some notices of the first years of these devoted laborers, of their principles and methods of actions, and of the glorious and ever-increasing fruits which crowned their ministries of faith and love and patience during the next fifty years.
WOMAN'S 'YORK FOR WOMAN.
BY 1<'. I". ELI~I~WOOD, D.D., NE'V YORK.
The New Testament sounded the key-note of woman's emancipation from the tyranny of old custom!';, and welcomed her to a share in the active service of redemption. The old dispensation had given a promise which cheered evelT Hebrew mother's heart with hope, and llere and there, as in the sto~ies ~f Hannah and Ruth and Esther, appeared beautiful illustrations of what woman's influence might accomplish in the world. But outside of the Jewish Church, the worst elemcnt in the darkness of heathenism was the oppression of the female sex.
The very fact that woman was specially honored in the advent of the Messiah seemed to presage a new and more ample sphere for her influence. The two sisters at Bethany, instead of being hidden away like the inmates of a lHoslem harem and forbidden to share the blessings of the Saviour's visits, seem to havc had the same intimate acquaintan~e and friendship with their brother's guest that would be accorded to the wives or sisters of a modern Christian home. Dorcas was as free and as efficient iIi her Christian aetivities as any modern president of an orphan asylum or a woman's home. Priscilla taught theology when crude and uninstructed young missionaries needed further training; and of all the men and women in the church in Cenchrea, Phrebe alone was immortalized by her Chris- tian service.
It must have been a matter of disappointment to Paul, when he crossed the Hellespont and entered Philippi, that he did not receive a welcome from that "man of Macedonia" whom he had seen in his VISIOn. But the only welcome he found was in a woman's prayer- meeting by the river side, and Lydia, a woman of affairs and of ag- gressive Christian influence, became his hostess and his chief patron.
As for the men of Macedonia, his first encounter was with a sordid syndicate who were making merchandise of the wild vagaries of a de- mented girl. She had been restored ana cOllverted and their business was ruined, and in consequence Paul was mobbed. The last chapter ·of the Epistle to the Romans shows how extensive and how free was woman's work in the church at Rome.
In the days of martyrdom woman bore her part in heroic courage and in suffering unto death. In Carthage and in Rome, in far off France, and wherever the long struggle of Christianity with heathen- ism was waged, the delicate forms of women and of girls were tor- tured and mangled for their faith. In hundreds of instances also woman, who in the bloody invasions of savage tribes was spared from carnage only to be borne into slavery, became a herald of the Cross. Even in the courts of savage kings we find her the centre and source of gospel light. The conversion of Vladimir of Russia through his Byzantine wife was a case in point.
In no country has woman's early influence in the propagation of the faith been more remarkable than in France and Britain. Clovis on the eve of. battle vowed that if victory should be given him he would thereafter worship the God of his Christian wife, Clotilda. Tl~e victory was won and in pursuance of his vow he was baptized with three thousand of his court and his army. It has been truly said that not merely Clovis and his army were baptized, but a great empire and the whole civilization and destiny of Western Europe.
When the rude Saxons of Britain were to be reclaimed, and that Christianity which their savagery had well-nigh trodden out on the shores of Kent was to be restored, the way was opened by a Chris- tian princess of Burgundy, who in her marriage to the King of Kent had stipulated that she should be free to worship the true God and His Christ. Canterbury was really founded by Queen Bertha, who prepared the way for Augustine and his monks.
In the modern movement of Christian benevolence the women of the Roman Catholic Church were earlier in the field than those of the Protestant churches, but they worked under the rules and restrictions of conventual orders. It is quite to the credit of Rornanism that its ,sisterhoods have in modern times been mobilized for active service at home and abroad. Though the missionary idea in the Roman Catholic Church is that of a celibate priest, yet the Sisters of Charity go in groups to all lands, and their hospitals and orphanages rise up as- by magic wherever human suffering is found. Only praise and com- mendation can be given to the self.denying devotion with which this' noble work is done.
But a far better development of woman's work in missions and in all benevolence is that which has been shown in Protestant Christen- dom within the last quarter of a century-better, first, because it is freeer; second, because it aims at the subsidizing, not of a professional class, but of all Christian womanhood for the work of Christ; and third, because the example and influence of the married and unmar- ried women of Protestant missions are more positive than that of iso- lated sistel'hoods. 'fhey illustrate the home-of which China and India know nothing-instead of the convent, which Buddhism already has; and they give stronger emphasis to the freedom which all women should claim.
It may be said that on the home side the woman's work of Pro- testantism does not in fact subsidize all the talent and moral power of Christian womanhood in the Church. This is, indeed, too true, but its tendency is in that direction; that is its ideal and its aim, and in no other one enterprise has so large a portion of its membership, male or female, been enlisted as in woman's missionary work. We have observed the growth and operations of women's foreign missionary societies. for the last twenty years, and have been more and more impressed by their stability in organization and their advance in efficiency and power.
In all Protestant churches the impulse is one and universal. Sus- picions, doubts, and fears which conservative men entertained at the outset have disappeared. No denomination would think of dispensing with this potent auxiliary force. It were difficult ~o say whether its success abroad, great as it is, or its reflex power at home, has been the greater.
The late Dr. Mullens, of the I,ondon Missionary Society, main- tained that, as a uniform law, home charities of every kind had grown out of the broader and deeper movements that had been stirred by . the spectacle of woman's debasement in heathen lands. He traced nearly all the societies for evangelization in Great Britain to the antecedent impulse which arose about the beginning of the century to give the gospel to distant lands.
'Vhatever may have been the facts in England, it is certain that the great tide of sympathy which first sprang up in the hearts. of American women for their enslaved sisters in the zenanas of India has inured to the good of our own frontier settlements and of the freedmen in the South. The women of the churches never before so fully realized their power or were so disposed to use it in all earnest service for Christ and humanity.
The movement was timely for more reasons than one. (1.) It arose at a time when the zenana system had begun to be questioned, and teachers were demanded to instruct ignorant and neglected wives. The door opened just as the messengers arose-as in the case of Cornelius and Peter. (2.) The movement was called for at a time when the women of America had just learned something of their united strength in their efforts for the relief of our wounded soldiers. (3.) This work in foreign missions came forward at a time when there were many bereft and bleeding hearts which needed the care, and through care the solace, which the service of the Great Sympathizer so often presents. From its very beginning it has proved a resource to many a widowed soul who in deep sorrow was wondering for what object her life was still prolonged. (4.) The movement came at a time when, in the North at least, American womanhood was beginning to feel the influence of an unexampled reign of wealth and luxury. Steadily for the last twenty-five years money has been growing in social power, and more and more asserting itself as an aim in life. Old standards of estimate-knowledge, culture, characterhave lost ground before the influence of the" gold basis," and the temptation to worldliness and display has been greater than in any previous period of our history, or, perhaps, any history. The" social c,olumns" of the secular press have fed the flame of this craze for wealth, and certain classes of magftzines have made it a special aim to cater to the unwomanly ambition for money. Some months ago one of our popular montl)lies gave the public an article on "The Rich Women of America." Several portraits were given, with the names. Some were marriageable young heiresses! It is vulgar enough for men to parade their money-bags or have others do it for them, but to drag down woman from the purity and dignity of her true character and place her in the arena for such a show, and especially to advertise heiresses, is demoralizing alike to womanhood and to manhood, and seems to point already to social and national decay.
Fortunately the counter-movement in behalf of missions and other forms of Christian benevolence has in many cases interposed a wholesome check to this unhallowed ambition. Side by side with this rush of worldliness and display, and often across its current, there has gone forth an influence that was elevating and ennobling. There are multitudes, even among the wealthy, who have learned that there is something higher than empty display, and who have instilled into the minds 6f their daughters aspirations for practical sympathy with the wants and woes of the world. In many a family of wealth the counterbalancing influence of the missionary interest has been welcomed as a safeguard. With it has come a wide range of information concerning lands and peoples and institutions which would not otherwise have been gained. If nothing else had resulted from woman's work in missions, its educational influence in families, the better impulses with which it has enriched and ennobled womanhood, the widespread altru- istic spirit which now shows itself in Zenana bands, Christian Endeavor Societies, or among the Daughters of the King, would repay a hundred fold all that has been expended.
N or has its influence been confined to the female sex. The prayers which have been offered for nearly a generation in Christian homes, the increased intelligence, the glow of ennobling enthusiasm, have affected sons as well as daughters. What wonder that there are thousands of young men now rising up and offering themselves for the mission fields! Recently, when the brave and dauntless Mackay fell at his post in the Uganda lVIission, and the sudden call came to England for others to take his place, nine volunteers at once presented themselves.
On the foreign field t.he supplement of this home interest is found in hundreds and even thousands of women, married or unmarried, who in school or .zenana work, in the hospital and the dispensary, are exerting a quiet but N,tent influence which no computation can measure. It comes not" with observation." The change wrought in the surrounding community is one thing accomplished. It gradually refutes and destroys the Oriental theories of woman's sphere. The conscious dignity of woman appearing in utmost freedom in the home, in the school, or worshipping in the mixed assembly, breaks down old prejudice, and rebukes the blind cOllceit of men who, in enslaving woman, have blighted their own happiness and destroyed the welfare of their families.
But the most important factor in this regeneration is the training of thousands of the young to ideas and usages and degrees of inte1ligence which are at war with the' old customs and superstitions. The simple truth is that in countries like India and Japan the sentiment of the best classes is already revolutionized, the miraculous victory is already won. The only difficulty is that those who are convinced are loth to acknowledge the sources of the new influence. They are jealous of the foreigner and of his foreign creed. They are slow to acknowledge the defeat of their ancient faith and customs. They would like to adopt the new cult, but with their own ancient labels. But intelligence in woman they are beginning to prize.
Two or three years ago, when four Hindu girls graduated with full honors at Calcutta University, they were publicly applauded by high Goyernment officials, and the fact was pointed out that the upper strata of Hindu society were being transformed by the influence of just such events. This is precisely the meaning of the ready and eager patronage which is given by high Brahman families to the 8cho010f
1890.j THE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS
Ramabai in Bombay. And the same thing is illustrated in the female seminary with four hundred high caste girls, which is carried on under the patronage of the Maha Rani of Mysore. India, in her pride, is not yet ready to acknowledge that the new order of things has sprung from the influence of missionaries and of other Christian women, but God knoweth His own, and the benign influences which have been exerted quietly, as the falling of the raindrop and the snow-flake shall not return unto Him void, but shall accomplish' that whereunto He hath sent them.
'l'HE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] Eliminate God from missions and yon have nothing left but a llUman enterprise; all the grandeur and glory are gone; for the one supreme charm and fascination of this work is that, in idea and plan, in origin and progress, it is divine.
Nothing is more noticeable than the peculiar emphasis laid upon the supernatural factor in worId-wide missions thi'oughout the scripture. We say throughout, for, in Old Testament and New 'l'estament alike, the conception of world-wide missions may be found. The idea was not novel, even at the outset of Christian history. In the prophe- Cies and prayers of holy men of old,whether in the.De Profundis and Miserere of pathetic lamentation and warning, or the In Excelsis of exultant praise and promise, like the deep undertone of mighty waters, we hear the wondrons intimation of a coming day when the kingdoms of the world shall become the one kingdom of the Messiah. As far back as the opening of Genesis, the first promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, is generic. It is a promise for the race of man as such. Satan had bruised the heel of the Adamic race and in the person of the second Adam that race was to bruise the serpent's head. Abraham was the great father of an elect family, yet, as the second great period of Messianic promise opens in his call and separation, we hear again the prophecy of a universal blessillg: "In Thee shall all the families ofthe earth be blessed." Further on, as we pass from one epoch to another, we never fail to find this world-wide blessing emphasized. The Psalmist, breathing a prayer of profounder meaning than he knew, pleads that the whole earth may be filled with God's glory, and predicts that all nations shall call Him blessed. Prophets tal{e up the strain, and foretell a day when "in every place incense shall be offered unto His name, and a pure offering;" when Messianic blessings shall be as widespread as the wings of the day, which touch, as those of the cherubim touched the walls of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, the remotest east and west, from the rising to the setting of the SUIl.
In that great Messianic and missionary Psalm (lxxii.), whose full radiance is only manifest, like a jeweled cavern, when the "Light of the World" is set in it to interpret its hidden beauties, there occurs a most significant doxology: "Blessed be Jehovah God, The God of Israel, WHO ONLY DOETH WONDROU,S TIDNGS!"
The connection associates .this doxology, by an obvious link, with the body of the Psalm, as though the inspired singer, who foretells this supernal glory of the Messiah's coming and world-wide reign, foresees that all this can be brought about only by the wonder-working God to whom nothing is impossible. The Holy Ghost, moving in the soul, inspires this outburst of adoring praise as a tribute to the grand truth and fact that no future historic development is to display God's power so unmistakably as the history of Christian missions. And so it is. Looking back now over a century of modern missions, the century of organized effort to spread the good tidings everywhere, we can only exclaim, "What hath GOD wrought !" Even sceptical disciples have been c9nstrained to say, like Pharaoh's magicians, "Truly this is the finger of God!"
It may be profitable to trace this supernaturalisn;t a little in detail. The thirteenth chapter of the Acts opens with a divine call to the laborers. As the prophets and teachers in the Antiochan Church were leading the church in holy ministrations and fasting, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." This is the first step in organized foreign missions. Let us remember that the initial foreign mission tour'was undertaken at the special command of the Holy Spirit. However the Church may have separated these two original foreign missionaries and sent them forth, they are expressly declared to have been separated and sent forth by the Holy Ghost. Here, then, is the supernatural factor as the basis of mission work. God, by the Holy Ghost, calls, appoints, anoints and thrusts forth into the harvest field His chosen workmen.
Now observe that, when from this tour which begins and ends at Antioch, they returned, they "gathered the church together," and "rehearsed all that GOD had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles" (xiv. 27). Subsequently, Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem to the first Church council. Being brought on their way by the Church, they pass through Phenicia and Samaria, "declaring the conversion of the Gentiles," magnifying the divine power and grace. Then when they are at J erusalem they declare unto the Church with the apostles and elders "all that God had done with them." Peter, in his address, magnifies God. It is He who .made choice of Peter as the apostle of the keys to open -the doors of the Kingdom to Jew and Gentile. It is He who chose disciples from among the Gentiles, granted them repentance, and put no -difference between them and Jews, purifying their hearts by faith. And when Barnabas and Paul again address the people, a deep hush of silence shuts the multitude in like a canopy, as with awe they give audience, while these missionaries deelare "what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them."
How could there be any more express, explicit, emphatic recognition of the supernatural factor of missions? Here is no parading of .church life, of organization, method, human power, gifts, learning, tact, or even devotion and self-sacrifice. God alone is put before us. He fills the whole horizon. If, in the course of this mission tour, any man has been visible or prominent, now that they have "come down from the mountain," they see "no man save Jesus only." The Holy Spirit calls, separates, sends forth the workers; God opens the door of access to the nations, and then opens the door of their hearts to faith. He bears them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, and purifying their hearts; and, in a word, the whole story of this mission tour is one of miracles and wonders which God has wrought. "They _went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."
That short history is the perpetual type and prophecy of worldwide missions. They are to be carried on solely in dependence on God. We are to depend on Him to select and separate unto the work His chosen servants. We are to depend on Him to open the doors of access and approach to the nations. Weare to rely on Him to attend the word spoken with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. We must depend on Him to convert men. We may evangelize, but we cannot by all our ~fforts secure one convert. From fil:st to last the whole work must be of God, and only as He is in it and through it can it be saved from disastrous failure.
vVhen we open the New Testament, and read the last command of Christ, we find the commision of the Church prefaced and followed by a remarkable and significant declaration and an equally remarkable and significant promise: "All power is given unto Me In Heaven and in earth.
Go YE THEREFORE AND DISCIPLE ALL NATIONS.
And lof I am with you alway, Even unto the end of the world."
Is it any accident that this command is buttressed, front and rear, by such divine endouragements? First our Lord declares His own omnipotence; then His omnipresence; and between these He puts the great commission of the Church. What means this but that His righteousness shall go before us, and His glory shall be our rere-ward when we dare in His name to do our duty to a dying world, and march forth to subdue that world unto Him! 'fhe Acts of the Apostles is the historic illustration of the duty undertaken and of the promise enjoyed. Here the philosophy of missions teaches by examples. From first to last this book is the record of His working who only doeth wondrous things. Here is a period of history covering about thirty or forty yean;, the average lifetime of a generation, as if to show us what one generation of disciples can do toward a world's evangelization when the all-powerful captain oJ the Lord's host leads, and His "everywhere" and" alway" presence is their confidence and support.
The book opens with Pentecost-a miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit which in a moment removes the impassable barrier of unknown languages and enable!:! each man to hear in his own tongue the wonderful works of God. If Babel's confusion of tongues was a miracle, surely the reversal of Babel-the resolving of that confusion into order-is a counter miracle, and the record of that wonder working of God at the very beginning of that book is highly significant. The book of the Acts stands in the New Testament as the book of Joshua does in the Old. The latter is the account of the wars of Israel against the Canaanites; the former of the wars of the Church against the enemies of God; and in both the introduction is the record of a stupendous miracle. Jericho's walls fall without a blow struck or an engine of war employed; on the day of Pentecost the walls of strange speech instantaneously fall, and make representatives of the farthest cardinal points at once open to the message of the gospel. Can any thoughtful reader overlook the purport and purpose of that miracle? It stands at the very door of the history, like a sentinel at a gate, or a signal flag flying from a turret. It is the interpreter of the whole Book. The Acts of t,he Apostles are the acts of the Holy Ghost-of Jesus by the Holy Ghost. He is displaying that omnipotence and exhibiting that omnipresence, and the perpetuity of that power and presence is to be the warrant for the perpetuity of Christian missions and the inspiration and encouragement of them.
With profound and solemn conviction we record once more our testimony, after more than a quarter of a century of the study of missionary history and biography, that only from a divine point of view can the mystery of missions be interpreted 01' the significance of missions be appreciated. Higher up than the level of the most selfdenying heroism must we get to command this true horizon; and our constant effort with tongue and pen is to awaken and arouse sluggish believers to behold this march of God and fall into line under His leadership and take up the march with Him.
What He did in the times of the Acts He has been doing in later years. How did modern missions begin as a general movement in the Church? God separated and sent forth such men as Pluts,hau and John Eliot, Schwartz and Kiernander, Ziegenbalg and Zinzendorf~ William Carey and John Williams. Take William Carey as an example. That man can be accounted for only as a miracle of grace. No figure in missions more prominently stands out as the product of divine power. In the eighteenth century evangelical religion in America and in Europe lay dying, like a famished traveler. In France the Huguenots had been either massacred or driven out; in Germany and Holland the Reformed Church was already deformed by Rational- ism; in Britain Ritualism and Moderatism, Arianism and Socinianism, Antinomianism and hyper-Calvinism reduced religious life to a name. In some parts piety was an organized hypocrisy or an empty pretense. Just at this time, 1761, a humble weaver of Paulerspury, who with the loom united the offices of schoolmaster and parish clerk, had a son born to him. ;His boyhood was without special promise. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a Hackleton shoemaker, and entered upon the career of a simple tradesman. But God had chosen that "cobbler" to be the Paul of the new century of missions. He was converted and joined the Baptists at eighteen, and eight years later was ordained as a minister of the gospel.
There was nothing in the" environment" or " heredity" of that young shoemaker to hint his career as a missionary. That was not a mIsSIOnary age. He breathed no missionary atmosphere. The Church at that time denied her obligation to the lost race of man as well as neglected her duty. A distinguished clergyman of the Church of England chose the keenest darts in his quiver of sarcasm and wit to· shoot at the cobbler who proposed to convert the world. His own brethren treated his project with contemptuous indifference orpatronizing pity. And yet from the hour of his conversion there was lit in bis soul a strange flame of desire and purpose to preach the gospel in the regions beyond, for which we can account only by a coal from off a celestial altar.
Behold him, poor, obscure, unlearned, pegging away at a boot, while his eyes wander to an open book in which he is reading of faroff peoples, still farther off from God. See him making a rude m~p of brown paper or sole leather, drawing with cobbler's ink a rough outline of the world and filling it" in with such items of information as he can obtain about the populations and religions of the world, and, by shading the various countries, indicating the comparative degradation and destit.ution of their inhabitants. He was heaping fuel of facts on the flame of his zeal until the fire spread to a conflagration and consumed him as it consumed his Master before him. 1784 comes, and under his leadership the" monthly concert of prayer for the world's conversion" begins. Now, for the first time since the days of Pentecost, the Church organizes prayer to God for world-wide missions. From tile fires kindled in William Carey's soul God lights new flames on church altars until they spread over the whole of evangelical Christendom, and on the first Monday of the month there is a ring of prayer girdling the globe!
The next great step is the formation of a missionary society at Kettering in 1792. That same William Carey is again chosen to lead the way. It is this sanctified shoemaker who teaches a lethargic Church to "attempt great things for God and to expect great things from God." Twelve obscure Baptists withdraw to the parlor of the W allis house at Kettering on that 2d of October and draw up a com- pact to organize a society to send the gospel to the heathen. They erect a humble missionary treasury and put in it a trifling sum of thirteen pounds and a half crown sterling; and thus again William Carey is thrust forward by God to lead the Church to organize mis- sions. To-day R. M. Cust, Esq., tells us that there are approaching 250 missionary societies, belting the globe, with almost 7,000 mission- aries from Europe and America, and nearly five times as many who, from converted heathen, Moslem and pagan disciples, have joined them in the work of proclaiming a gORpel of salvation to the lost. To·day the missionary treasuries receive and disburse annually an aggregate sum of over two hundred thousand times the amount laid on the altar of missions on that day in 1792, and all this increase within less than a century!
In 1793 William Carey himself goes forth to India, leading now not in prayer and organization only, but in actual missionary activity -in self giving. He becomes England's first foreign missionary. The Lord of the harvest thrusts forth into His harvest the man of Paulerspury whom He has lleparated unto the work. For a hundred years his example has been the incentive and the inspiration to similar consecration. Thc aggregate number of foreign missionaries who have since 1792 gone into the field is known only to God. No one man has probably the data from which to give that sublime list of men and women who have fallen asleep, or are still living, and who belong to that sacred host; but we believe if that entire roll of living and of dead could be called it would be found to number not less than 25,000! Can any believer look at this missionary century and doubt that this whole work is God's work, who alone d()eth wondrous things?
We have no space, here and now, to carryon this presentation of the supernatural factor in missions. But, were there space and time at command, we should pursue the theme with enthusiasm through volumes.' For the encouragment of others who may be disposed to follow the subject into its fascinating ramifications it may be well to sketch a few of the directions into which the subject branches out, as we think of the divine presence and power in the missions of the Church.
There are two great branches of the theme. First of all, Christ's personal promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," and secondly, what He calls the" Promise of the Father," viz.: "Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you." Between these we are manifestly to distinguish. His own promise is one of His personal, perpetual presence everywhere-at the head of His missionary host, as the general-in-chief at the head of his columns. The angel of the Lord's presence is again acting as Captain of the Lord's host. Such an omni- present, omnipotent chief will of course manifest his invisible pres- ence in three ways: g~tiding, guarding and governing. We are justi- fied in expecting, if the Lord Jesus is at the head of the army of mis- sionaries, that all the movements of the host will be directed by divine wisdom. We shall expect to see a divine strategy exhibited in the whole plan of the campaign; to see movements all along the lines- piercing the enemy's centre, turning his staggering wings-now a flank movement; again a surprise in some new quarter; here a fortress taken, and there a rapid advance made into the very heart of his terri- tory. If Christ be at the head of the host we shall not be suprised to see Him exercising His protecting power as well as His directing wisdom. Especially in the crises of His kingdom He will turn the tide of battle in the very gate. When kings conspire to overthrow His Church and to burst His bands of control asunder; when around His elect band that dare for His sake the fight of the few against the many, the powers of darkness gather, He will interpose to defeat their counsels and bring their devices to naught. Has it been so in the history of missions? Look at the little band who have gone to cannibal islands, into the midst of savages, into the heart of hostile kingdoms surrounded by malignant foes. How wonderfully have they been preserved! Many have fallen because their blood was to be the seed of new churches, and their martyr testimony was needful as a witness for Christ. But who is He that sends forth His great army of locusts, who despatches famine, pestilence, drought to act as His evangelists and prepare the way of the Lord? Who is He that, when Sultan Mahmud had ordered the expulsion of all missionaries from the Turkish empire in 1839, sent death to cut off the tyrant and annul his decree; and who, when the King of Siam, twelve years later, plotted to dislodge all the missionaries from his kingdom, again sent the angel of His wrath to break the conspiring monarch as with a rod of iron and dash him in pieces like a potter's vessel!
Has the Captain of the Lord's host manifested Himself as the governing, controlling power behind missions? To answer this question we must command a wide prospect. The whole century has been full of new developments, which have been so much beyond all human devising as to present a series of surprises to the Church herself. God saw that, in order to the success of missions, there must be an awakened Church, an organized plan, a consecrated band, systematic giving, women associated, children devoted, new enterprise. a return to apostolic faith, covenant prayer and world-wide effort. And right along these lines has the Captain of the Lord's host been exercising His providential oversight. As a new emergency has. arisen a new interposition has been evident. The Church has found in every crisis a higher hand controlling. From every period of despondency or discouragement the faithful few who enter into the secret place have risen to new endeavor and in!lpiration by " beholding the works of the Lord."
But what shall we say of the Promise of the Father'! That again manifestly involves three things, for the work of the Holy Ghost is. seen in salvation, sanctification and service. If the promise of the Father has been falfiUed we shall find throughout the history of mis– sions that God has been exhibiting His grace as He has also His. proviilence. He has separated' and sent forth servants, then He has. accompanied their work with saving power, and, from the converts gathered, again sanctified and separated new workmen for His king– dom.
How has it been? Marvellous as have been the interpositions of Providence, the signs of the Captain of the Lord's h<lst, guarding, guiding, governing-still more wonderful have been the interpositions of grace-appointing and anointing workmen, subduing and saving souls, and reforming and transforming entire communities. Here our pen halts-in the very perplexity of the exuberant abundance of matter that claims at least a passing reference. Again we say, the whole story of modern missions is a new book of the Acts of the Apostles; and there was not a sign, wonder, miracle of grace in the apostolic. age of missions which in its measure is not characteristic of the moile1'n missionary age! From the time that William Carey went to India, Adoniram Judson to Burmah, Robert Morrison to China, J ustin Perkins to Persia, Robert Moffatt to Africa, Nott to Tahiti, Dober' to the West Indies, Eliot to the North American Indians, there have been, in one grand series, miracles of grace among the highest and the lowest alike. Sometimes a thousand have been born in a day;_ sometimes whole communities and even nations transformed; sometimes Christianity has become the law of the land, and idols, once in every house, have not been found even as curios and relics! Theadamant wall of caste, the iron wheel of transmigration, the brazen fetters of Moslem bigotry, the hopeless thraldom of Fetichism, have alike proved powerless to oppose the simple gospel of Christ. The investigator may follow any devoted missionary of the century intoany field of labor, however unpromising, and he will find that instead of the thorn has come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier has. come up the myrtle-tree; and this displacement of noxious and vicious growths in the soil of society by beautiful and fragrant trees and plants which show the "planting of the Lord" becomes, when
1890.J MORMON PROSELYTISM
other signs fail that had a temporary.purpose, "ttOD'S ll:VERLASTING SIGN THAT SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF."
That sign has been found and will be found wherever the gospel is faithfully proclaimed 1;0 the lost. And ~n this day the wilderness and solitary place are to be made glad and blossom as the rose. The field is the world-the seed is the Word of God; the seed is also the children of the kingdom. The Church has only to go throughout the field and sow both the seed of the Word and the seed of holy lives, and we may calmly and confidently leave the result with Him, who, whatever agencies He may employ, is, after all, the Husbandman, and the harvest will never fail. Even the apparent scarcity of the seed and the vastness of the field need not discourage us. He knows how to make the seed bring forth thirty, sixty and even a hundred fold. Missionary histor¥ both demonstrates and illustrates how the most desperately hopeless fields, with the most inadequate force of workmen and supply of material, have yielded the most amazing harvest and- often with such rapidity that the plowman is overtaken by the reaper. Are we yearning for new signs of God's presence and power in human affairs? Here is the grand sphere for such manifestations. He is ready, willing, rich in grace. All we have to do is to go everywhere-break up the fallow ground, scatter the seed of the Kingdom, in faith, in prayer, in tears, in hope; and heavenly dews and showers, with the beams of the Sun of Right~ousness, will make sure the fruits of a divine husbandry!
MORMON PROSELYTISM. BY REV. D. L. LEONARD, BELLEVUE, OHIO. To some it may seem an unwarrantable proceeding, an act bordering upon the profane, to use the pages of 'l'HE MISSIONARY REVIEW to set forth the methods and the achievements of the Mormon propaganda. And, indeed, it is setting such matters in far better company than they deserve. But facts are stubborn things, and certain facts, though unpalatable, we are in duty bound to consider. Fas est ob hoste aoce'l'i. 'fhen no feature of Mormonism is more characteristic. Not to understand its aims and modes of working in this particular is to omit from the great tragedy the part of Hamlet. Besides, taking note of the aggressive campaigns of the elders-so many, so difficult, so full of hardship and peril, we shall be persuaded that thpy are not wholly false-hearted and deceivers, but possessed of large measures of sincerity and zeal, and we can also more readily understand how this sect, so mongrel and outlandish, so fraught with folly, and so stained with serious offences agaim;t the moral law, has so marvellously spread and endured. But more than this, we are to consider one of the most startling and most forbidding religious phenomena in the civilized world in the current centu~. Beyond question the Latter-day Church has sent out more missionaries and made more converts in proportion to the number of its adherents than any other, in this respect far surpassing even the Moravian Church, whose name is a synonym for evangelizing zeal. Nothing less than world-wide dominion was in the eye of Joseph Smith from the start.
The church was organized in April of 1830, and in October four of the neophytes were commissioned to carry the infant gospel from New York to the Indians upon the extreme Western frontier, while in June following thirty took their journey towards the same remote region. In 1831 about as many more were named "by revelation" to make a preaching tour from Ohio to the Eastern, Southern and Western "countries" in part, while the rest were to "ask the Comforter" whither they should bend their steps.
. In 1837 in all 139 took the field, of whom 109 starting together were divided into eight companies, and were ordered to travel towards as many principal points of the compass. In 1844 every ·Congressional district in the Union was visited and canvassed by its share of a troop numbering in all 334. In 1852 Salt Lake witnessed the departure at one time of 109 missionaries destined to seventeen countries, and most of them in the Old World. In 1857 no less than 350 left the Great Basin, while for two decades about 200 was the annual average. For years together upwards of 400 were kept constantly abroad, and in all from the beginning not far from 5,000 American elders have been chosen and sent forth, with enough of native auxiliaries to raise the average to 100 a year.
As to results, within a few weeks of the organization of the church in Seneca County, N. Y., a branch was formed in Broome County, 100 miles away, and before the end of the year another in Ohio, and by midsummer of the year after scores of saints ate found in Western Missouri, while at the end of the year converts were abundant in several counties of the Western Reserve, and Cincinnati was blessed with a flourishing branch. Within three years Canada had heard the message, and every State from Maine to Mississippi.
In 1837 emissaries of Smith crossed the Atlantic and opened a door great and effectual in England, and a little later they pushed on to Wales, Scotland, Ireland, to the East Indies, to Australia. In 1840 two doughty crusaders set their faces towards Palestine; while in 1844 the Society Islands, lying in the Central Pacific, were invaded. The year befote his death the "prophet" declared, "I go in for preparing for a mission through the United States, and from Maine to England and to all the countries we wish. If I live I'll take the elders through and make just as big a wake as God Almighty will let me. We must send kings and governors to Nauvoo, and we will do it !"
In 1848 the tide of conquest reached France; Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and the Sandwich Islands in 1850; Germany, Norway, Iceland and Chili in 1851; the Crimea, Burmah and the Cape of Good Hope in 1853; the West Indies, Ceylon and China in 1853; and Turkey and Siam in 1.854, etc. Aggressive faith and zeal had now reached their climax, but all this had come to pass within twenty-five years from the first baptism.
At the close of the first twelvemonth the membership had risen from six to 1,000, eight years later 25,000 saints could be counted, and six years later still, Joseph claimed 150,000 adherents. In Britain for a season baptisms were by the wholesale-entire churches surrendered, preachers and all, and during a period of nearly ten years the annual average of conversions there was upwards of 7,000. After a large emigration to Utah the British church numbered 33,000 in 1852, and the sum of those led captive from first to last can hardly be placed at less than 150,000. In Scandinavian countries the baptisms rose at one time to 2,000 a year, and reach in all about 50,000. An enthusiastic Mormon historian makes the preposterous claim of a round million brought by the elders into the citizenship of Joseph's kingdom! But if his estimate is too large by one half, the results of their labor are sufficiently astounding.
And all the more when we remember that it is their business not only to capture but to deliver the prey at the church headquarters. The undertaking was a bold one when the transfer was but from the Atlantic seaboard to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois. It became tenfold greater when an ocean and a continent must needs be crossed, including the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Thousands reached ZiQll via New Orleans and the Mississippi and the Missouri to Council Bluffs, and from thence 1,000 miles by wagon or on foot. But such was the grip of religious fear and hope (coupled with the promise of land without cost, and other material benefits) that at least 90,000 have made the long journey from Europe. rrhe high-water mark of emigration was reached in 1856, when 5,000 or more in a single season ascended the Platte and found their way through South Pass into the valley.
A variety of other features characterizing Mormon missions may be summed up in t¥ statement that from the beginning these hierarchs have affected to follow to the very letter all manner of New Testament precept and precedent, and in particular such as are found in our Lord's instructions to the Twelve and the Seventy. It is in this spiritual obedience that the church has always maintained a "quorum" of the twelve apostles, and also an ever-increasing number of seventies, constituting an order in the priesthood, and from which missionaries are commonly s~lected. The idea was reached at an early day that no saint lived for himself, that "the kingdom" had the first and supreme claim, that salvation was largply for the !'lake of service, and that all personal or family considerations must be kept in strict subordination. Every adherent is to hold himself subject to call from the church authorities, and must go wherever sent. To re- fuse is to lose caste and to make one's self an object of suspicion. And thousands have held themselves as passive in the hands of their leaders as ever did any member of the Society of Jesus. The first fashion was to call for volunteers, but little by little a system of drafting was substituted. The number desired is apportioned out among the sev- eral communities, the selection is made by the local authorities, and the names are sent on to the chiefs. If satisfactory these are read off at general conference, and "sustained" by popular vote.
"Without purse or scrip" has ever been the great commandment.
Each one goes at his own charges, and .no matter how great the dam- age to business may be. To pay salaries would be to wickedly imi- tate the ways of the false churches with their "hireling clergy." Let the elder get to his field as best he can. The first seven that crossed the ocean landed at Liverpool without a farthing. Of course they depended wholly for food and shelter upon the people among whom they labored, and in early times great hardships were often endured.
Then, seldom does a saint take a mission alone, but at least two travel and toil together, Still further as of necessity, in strict duty bound, the sick are healed with prayer and oil, and the devils are cast out as an every-day performance, and occasionally the dead are raised.
"These signs shall follow them that believe," is a prophecy whose fulfilment no good Mormon will suffer to fail. Marvels in every way to match the best of monkish legends are on record, such as healing 406 Zunis sick with small-pox by the laying on of hands, and the cast- iug out of 319 devils in Wales, all in one day and by one elder, and in lots of from three to thirty-seven at a time! Also, if their message was not received, woe was duly pronounced. As far back as 1833, one ·Whitney hurled maledictions against guilty Albany, Boston and New York, which latter city was well-ni.gh destroyed by fire only two years after. Shaking off the dust from the feet as a testimony was for a time in vogue, or sometimes it was washing the feet, but soon it was found wise to do this in secret places lest wrath be stirred up.
Mindful of the same injunction nneovtertoknreosw•t inwgiltyh being merely "harmless as -doves," the elders have cast pearls be- fore swine, or offered the strong meat of the gospel to toothless babes.
On the contrary, they have always and most carefully suppressed un- palatable, though fundamental, matters of faith and practice.
Thus was it with polygamy for more than ten years after hundreds had accepted, in very deed. On one occasion the prophet sent out 380 elders to testify far and wide that such a thing had never been heard of in the church. No Jesuit in his best estate was ever ready to lie more shamelessly and withaut limit for the advantage of his order. As an alleged further following of the New Testament, learning has never been held in high esteem as a needed part of preparation for heralding the Mormon gospel. The great business was to "give testimony" to the truth. This in the form of bold, positive assertions was all-sufficient, though proof texts are handled in a fashion fearful .and wonderful. The elders are not chosen because of any intellectual gifts. Most are unlettered, and many are also youthful. But let it not therefore be imagined that they are suffered to depart unprovided with weapons, both defensive and offensive, or untrained in their use. Every boy is a potential missionary, and is regarded as such in the Sunday-school and in the various quorums of the priesthood through which he passes. Presently he has by heart the tenets of the church, the choice texts and arguments for and against, and he is called to use them frequently in public in the presence of his friends. His piece is :not lengthy, he learns it perfectly and can produce it with vigor on short notice.
Strangest feature of all, and certainly a wide departure from even the letter of the gospel, piety is not deemed essential, the moral cha1'- .acter of the messenger is not much taken into account. So there is no .sort of scruple about appointing those whose graces are far below the average. They are called and sent to give them a chance to see the world and to test their courage and skill facing the foe, to deliver them from evil associations and habits, and even to punish them for transgression against church rule. One saint, a saloon keeper, was "'sustained" to go forth and tell of Joseph and the Book, but before the police were advised of the fact he had been arrested for selling liquor on Sunday.
It was a favorite practice with Brigham Young to take revenge upon any who were proud or stubborn, or in any way troublesome, t to break their fortunes and place them where they could do no harm, by sending them to distant and de~olate regions. That is, to remain lllltil penitent, at least until called home; for the traveling elders never go forth for life, but only for a single campaign of a few months ~r years. At first, when the distance to be gone over was not great, there was a continual going and coming. Next the fashion was to make -a summer campaign and spend the winter months studying in the Kirtland "School of the Prophets." Later still, when Salt Lake had become Zion's seat, and a broad stretch of mountain and desert must be crossed, and foreign lands were to be possessed, the rule was fixed -of choosing at the great April Conference, and for a period varying .according to circumstances from one to three years.
And it is worth noting that if this system of limited terms of service, coupled with constant change of men, results in defective work, through the crudeness and inexperienc~ of the toilers, the great advantage ensues as an offset that the tug of spreading the kingdom is distributed to a much larger number, who receive the benefit of exercise and experience, and are commonly bound closer to their faith, while deep interest in missions is easily maintained at home. Every community contains several who have been abroad; one or more have recently taken their departure and presently will return to tell the thrilling story of their adventures.
We have seen that the Mormon elder is expected not only to baptize, but also to bring home his trophies. And a few words concerning the gathering should be added. It was found soon after the Great Basin was reached that Europe was so remote and the difflculties so appalling of a journey from thence, that something potent in the way of impulse must be supplied 01' else the" valleys of the mountains" would never become the abode of the saints. And so the Perpetual Emigration Fund Society was contrived, which ever since 1849 has loaned or given pecuniary assistance to tens of thousands of the indigent. Companies of emigrants have been organized and led through all the long and perilous journey by those who had influence and knew the way. Vessels were chartered, and in later years emigrant trains. upon the railroads, and so the cheapest possible rates were secured. Fifty dollars would pay the passage from Liverpool to Council Bluffs. And then both the spiritual and the carnal were appealed to stimulate the faithful to transfer themselves to Utah. They were to press on at once, not only for heaven, but also for Salt Lake as a· very important station on the road. And success for a season was well-nigh overwhelming. So many ·would flock to Zion that the utmost of available ways and means proved insufficient. And then it was that Brigham in the plentitude of his wisdom hit upon his famous" hand-cart scheme," and announced it as of origin celestial. The saints were to dispense with wagons and almost all worldly goods, and to trudge the entire 1,000 miles from the Missouri, male and female, old and young, and, moreover, each one push before him a cart loaded down with about eighty pounds of baggage, food, etc. The storms should not harm them, their garments should not wax old,. the feeblest should renew his strength, etc. But, alas, the outcome was different. Mishap followed blunder in long succession. Frost. and hunger together beset the poor wretches in the mountains, and scores perished and their bodies became food for wolves.
Even the failures met with by :Mormon missionaries, the limitations which. beset the progress of that church, barriers to its spread found to be impassable, are full of instruction to the student of missions. As the first suggestive fact of this kind, in every case the elders have made their achievements by working up a "boom." Or, the uniform course of things was as follows: Under their preaching a tide of interest would set in, would rise presently to a flood, and then was certain to subside never to lift its front again. Examples are abundant. In Ohio the craze lasted about eight years, reaching a culmination in 1836. Throughout New England and the Middle States conversions were multitudinous from 1830 to 1844, bVt then by the scandal concerning polygamy cea~ed at once and forev'r. In Britain 1840-55 was the period of growth, for the" sealing" prac- tice was long successfully concealed from the saints over the sea, but from the day when, in Brigham's happy phrase, "the cat was let out of the bag," baptism!'! began steadily to diminish. Scandinavian coun- tries were the fruitful field from 1850 to 1870, but since have fallen off at least three-fourths. During the entire period of the operation of the Edmunds law f~wer converts have found their way to Salt Lake than formerly crossed the plains in a single year. Only a few hard-earned gleanings are now gathered in Europe, the Maories of New Zealand have not yet made discovery of the imposture, nor the illiterate mountain whites of the Southern States.
Originally it was understood that the Indians (Lamanites) were to be gathered in by the wholesale. These were the degenerate descendants of certain ancient saints who apostatised, and as a punishment their skins were changed from white to copper color, but brought back to the faith by Joseph's elders, they were again to become "a fair and delightsome people." But, alas, only an inconsiderable number have become the" battle-axes of the Lord." The conversion of the Jews was also to be a leading specialty. The Book of Mormon told of two old-time migrations from Palestine to America. It was learned by revelation that the ten tribes were not lost, but only hidden behind huge ice barriers at the North and busy amassing riches. In due season, said barriers melting, they were to migrate to the Missouri Zion and share their wealth with their brethren. For also it had been ascertained that in the veins of wellnigh every elder of note flowed the pure blood of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, or other of- the sons of Jacob, while every bishop was" a literal descendant of Aaron!" Therefore several expectant delegations were sent to the Holy Land to reconsecrate it and to make ready fo.r the return. Proclamations were sent out to the Hebrews that the set time had come, but for some reason, to this day and to a man, they have remained unbelieving, stiff-necked and uncircumcised _in heart and ears.
The assault upon the ramparts of heathendom was withheld to a date unaccountably and culpably late. Not much was attempted until the fifties were well advanced. But then, as if expecting that polygamy would supply an excellent point d'appui, and to make up for lost time, a cloud of elders went abroad and great things were planned. It was expected that the gift of tongues would give immediate command of every language, and by the ten thousand pagans would bow the knee to Brigham. But not so; the French authorities soon drove his recruiting officers from the Society Islands. In China the Tai-Ping rebellion engrossed the entire attention of the Celes- tials. From Hindostan went home most lamentable accounts of the measureless and unutterable stupidity and depravity of the natives. No' 'honest in heart" could be found. Even the Turks could not be woed and won by the principle of "celestial marriage." And so it was everywhere. As for the 200,000,000 of Africa, and the represen- tatives of the same race in the United States, Mormonism has no mission to them. The negro may be baptized if he seeks such salva- tion, but may not under any considerations be admitted to the pri~st hood, or receive the "endowment." For it appears that all black bodies are inhabited by spirits who, in that great war in heaven, took sides neither for nor against Jehovah but were neutral in the strife. So the curse is on them, and the church is bound to see that it is not removed.
Attempts to make converts in Catholic countries have been uni- formly and everywhere as discouraging. In Ireland the preachers have never had more than their labor for their pains. A Latter-day son of St. Patrick is as rare as a white blackbird or a dodo.
Once upon a time a little company just from Salt Lake, and with an apostle at their head, climbed a high mountain in Italy, named it Mount Brigham, formed a branch and consecrated the land to the gospel, but nothing came of it. In France, a paper, "Etoile du IJe8~ eret," was started, the Book of Mormon was translated, and a great public discussion was held at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, and that was all. The elders were expelled from Austria, etc., etc., etc.
After years of assiduous angling it has been settled definitively that Utah has no bait with which Papists can be caught, and the the- ocracy aceept~ the situation and wisely transfers the fishers to other waters. It is only in Protestant lands that trophies can be won, where conscience is free and the Bible is held in honor. And there only from among certain classes. The ignorant are won, the credu- lous, those ravenous for marvels, and such as by some hocus-pocus would be saved. "The Lord's queer people" likewise, and his "silly people." Religious cranks of all kinds, the uneasy and the unstable. And worse, the self-seeking and crafty, who, to serve their own lusts and eager for the spoils, scruple not to deceive and then to fleece the multitude.
The final phenomenon, and as striking as any other, relates to the infinite ease with which the :Mormon faith may be put off, or to the frequent and wholesale apostasies with which the career of the church , has been attended. A large majority of those who have received the message and been baptized, after a season of great fervor and zeal, nave sooner or later lost their enthusiasm and gone back to their for- mer state, or too often to something far worse. An experienced
THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE HELD AT SHANGHAI, CHINA
elder of long standing declares that not one in twenty holds out to the end of life. Of the eleven witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon nine denied the faith, and of the first twelve apostles all but two lifted up the heel against Joseph.
In 1838 in both Ohio and Missouri occurred a fearful sloughing- off, and another in Utah in 1869. In the Scandinavian mission 1850- 82 out of 35,489 baptized 11,620 were cut off before emigration. In Great Britain from June of 1849 to December of 1854 the baptisms were 34,592, and the excommunications were 15,587, and in the latter portion of the period the losses equaled two-thirds of the gains. Of the 150,000 claimed for the church at the date of the prophet's death less than 25,000 ever set foot in Salt Lake, while the residue, having had their fill of priesthood and revelation, and of wonders and glories in general, scattered and were heard of as saints no more..
; THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE HELD AT SHANGHAI, CHINA, MAY 7, 1890.
BY REV. FRED S. CURTIS, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN.
To sum up in a few pages the doings of this Conference would be no easy task. Its 430 members represented not only all parts of China, including distant points in the interior, which it requires over two and a half months of constant travel to reach, but also Siam, Burmah, Korea, and Japan. We present a summary of the more prominent practical results of the meeting: I. A more comprehensive view of the work as a whole,with a mutual appreciation of the various methods employed. The most important facts in regard to the various lines of .work pursued throughout the Empire were focalized. It was possible thus to get a better view of the work as a whole than by years of travel and residence by individual missionaries. The free and harmonious comparison of views on the part of one-third of the missionaries of China brought the entire work into one grand survey. A more thorough understanding and a deeper feeling of sympathy was the result.
The purely evangelistic work was emphasized throughout-the duty of giving the gospel to the present generation. That a sufficient number of ordained men cannot be obtained for this purpose, was made the reason for an appeal for lay workers.
Great stress was also laid upon the work of teaching, and it was urged that the educational work be pushed, especially the training of native helpers. The hospital and dispensary work made a fine showing. A single fact by way of illustration: Dr. Kerr, of Canton, in the past 36 years, has treated 521,000 patients, written 27 volumes on medicine and surgery, and trained 100 medical assistants. Woman's work was also given a prominent place, one day being set apart for the consideration of the subject. The following summary of statistics was presented: Foreign missionaries.-Men, 589; wives, 390; single women, 316. Total, 1,295. Native helpers.-Ordained ministers, 209; unordained,l,260; female helpers, 180. Medical work.-Hospitals, 61' dispensaries, 43; patients (during 1889), 348,439. Churches.-Organized Churches, 520; wholly self-supporting, 94; half self-supporting, 22; quarter self-supporting, 27. Bible distribution (1889).-Bibles, 1,454; New Testaments, 22,402; portions, 642,131. Total, 665,987. Communicants, 37,287. Pupils in schools, 16,816. Contributions by native Christians, $36,884.54.
II. A second result was a more thorough understanding of the obstacles to the spread of the gospel in China. Of these, two received the most attention: "The Opium Habit" and "Ancestral Worship."
1. The Opium Habit. Such facts as the following were presented: The introduction of the d~g preceded that of Christianity by a short time, and it has become not only China's greatest curse, but one of the most serious obstacles to the gospel. It is impossible to exaggerate the evils resnlting from the smoking of opium. It causes the rapid deterioration of health, especially the 10Sd of muscular power, shortens life and undermines the whole constitution. The ease with which opium is everywhere procurable, and the facility and certainty with which it may be used for self-destruction, have largely increased the number of suicides. The Chinese, with their revengeful spirit, often for a trival cause commit suicide, regarding this as the most awful re- venge they can take, believing that the spirit of the dead person may continu- ally injure the living.
Opium smoking is spreading more and more. It is no longer looked upon with shame. Legalization has increased its consumption. At first the Chinese made a tremendous effort to stamp out the vice, and refused revenue. Their want of success must be laid to the account of Great Britain. This gigantic €vil now pervades all classes; high and low, rich and poor-Chinese, Manchus, Mongols and Koreans. The estimate for the whole empire is said to be, of the coolie class, four-tenths; of the merchant class, six-tenths; of the official class, three-tenths. The father of the present emperor has contracted the habit within the past two years. During an illness he was advised to try smoking the drug. The result is that the vice has become rooted, and although he be- wails the bad example he is showing to tIie royal family, and especially to his son, the emperor, he thinks he cannot give it up.
This habit so blunts the moral sensibilitv that the Chinese themselves will not trust a smoker and will but rarely employ him. To satisfy his craving the habitue will steal,will sell his wife and children, and even starve himself. The will becomes weakened, if not paralyzed. The government and people, smokers and non-smokers alike, regard it as a vice and a curse, their greatest plague. Not a word is ever spoken in its defence. It would be next to impossible now for the Government to eradicate the evil even if England were to cease her own importation. The poppy is now extensively cultivated in China; the officials use it, and the smokers would get it in some way.
Of course such a habit is a stupendous obstacle to the spread of the gospel in China. The only way to reach the heart of an opium smoker is first to rid him of his pipe. Hence many opium refuges have been opened by mis- sionaries, many cases have been treated in the hospitals, and the .native Christ- ians have done what they could to help. Much good has thus been accom- plished. In connection with this subject, however, one serious fact was brought to light at the conference. Many physicians, missionaries and native Christians, have been unwittingly selling and distributing so-called anti-opium pills, con- taining morphia, which have often resulted in the substitution of one form of -opium for another. This was regarded with such seriousness by the Medical Missionary Association that the matter was, at the recommendation of this Association, especially mentioned in the report of the Committee on Opium.
The entire report is.as follows: .
" }Vhereas, this Conference regards the rapid extension of the growth of native opium in addition to the use of the imported drug with profund alarm; and whereas, the consequent vast increase of the opium habit demands our most serious and unremitting consideration, therefore we resolve: "1. That we, as a Conference, re-affirm and maintain ·our attitude of unflinching opposition to the opium traffic. .
"2. That we recommend all Christians in China to use every endeavor to arouse public opinion against the spread of this evil, and to devise means to secure, as far as may be, its final suppression.
"3. That we advise the formation of a Chinese Anti-Opium Society, with branches at all mission stations.
"4. That we find this increase is largely owing to the indiscriminate sale, and consequent abuse, of so-called anti-opium medicines, and that we now, on the suggestion of the Medical Missionary Association of China, urge all missionaries to discourage, and as far as possible to prevent, the sale of such anti-opium medicines as contain opium or any of its alkaloids. "5. That we earnestly impress upon all Ohristian churches throughout the world the duty of u"iting in fervent prayer to God that He will in His wise providence direct His people to such measures as will lead to the restriction and final abolition of tbis great evil.
,. 6. That we deeply sympathize with the efforts of the societies of Great Britain and else- where for the suppression of the opium trade, and recommend them to continue and increase the agitation for the suppression of the growth and saJe of opiilm."
2. As to the question of Ancestral Worship the facts were brought out that it is a colossal system, firmly rooted. Touching this system we touch the foun- dation-stones of the Chinese empire. It is evident that the worship of ances- tors was practiced at the dawn of Chinese history, and was even then a well- developed cult. Ancestors were believed to be in existence and able to hear. The 242 emperors have each been associated with Shang-ti, or heaven. The ancestral tablet was in use as early as 1766 B. C. Every Chinaman is supposed to have three souls. At his death one of these goes to heaven, one remains in his tomb and one enters the ancestral tablet.
The question was raised in the Conference, and discussed with much warmth, whether it would not be possibl/il to tolerate such rites connected with ancestral reverence as were not idolatrous or superstitious. A very small minority- "Some four or five per cent. of the members of the Conference-were inclined to emphasize strongly the good points of the system, urging that it had incul- cated the virtue of filial piety, had consolidated and perpetuated the empire, .and had tended to keep up the purit! and morality of the family and of the classics.
On the other hand it was clearly shown that it is nine-tenths idolatry; that divine attributes are ascribed to the dead, and that the element of filial piety is in a large measure a slavish fear of ghosts. There are temples where" those spirits of ancestors who have no descendants" are propitiated by the multitudes purely out of fear.
More than this, the universal testimony of the converts is that it is impossi- "ble to practice any of the forms connected with this system without committing the sin of idolatry.
The strong and almost unanimous feeling of the Conference seemed tg be that we have no right to permit any of these forms, but should advise the con- verts to show their filial devotion by more attention to the funeral services of the Christian Church, to the care of the graves and such matters. This advice is most needful since the native Christians are apt to go to the opposite extreme of neglect.
IlL-As a third result may be named: A closer union of the entire mis- 8ionary body in Ohina. Notwithstanding the large number of representatives of different nationalities, various denominations and diverse preferences as to methods of work, a remarkable spirit of unanimity and brotherly love pervaded the Conference. In order to maintain and perpetuate the benefits of the gathering, it was resolved: 1. That members of the Conference and all other missionaries in China set apart a portion of every Satnrday evening as a time of special prayer for each other's success in bringing souls to Christ and that they may be united still more closely in the unity of the Spirit and the bonds of love.
2. That a Committee of Correspondence, consisting of seven members residing in Shanghai, be ejected by the Conference, whose duty it shall be to communicate with the missionaries on all subjects of common interest, to collect and publi~h missionary information and statistics, and to seek the views of the missionaries in all parts of the common field on any subject where they may think united action desirable.
3. That the missionaries in the various missionary centres, who have not yet done so, unite in local conferences or associations, and that each of these bodies select one of their number to correspond with the Shanghai Committee and to act in conjunction with them in carrying out the work above assigned them. 4. That the Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal and Tke Messenger be adopted as. the organs of this committee.
In regard to comity and division of the field the Conference advised: 1. The common occupation of large cities as bases of action. 2. That societies go into unoccupied districts with a view to the speedy occupation of the whole field. 3. In case of disagreement in regard to the occupation of the field that the matter be referred for arbitration to disinterested persons. A strong desire was apparent on the part of several denominations to unite their different branches organically in spite of the difficulties of distance and dialect. The various branches of the Methodist body, represented by 71 members, held a meeting and appointed a committee to consider plans for closer union. A Presbyterian gathering was also held; more than 100 were present. Seven branches of this church were represented. Of these, two, on account of the difficulties of language and travel, thought organic union impracticable; but the remaining five, which are located nearer each other, agreed to recommend steps looking to organic union between these bodies. It was agreed that a constitution be drafted, based upon the constitutions. of the Presbyterian churches of Europe and America, taking for doctrinal basis the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds and the Westminster Confession. Itwas also recommended that all Presbyteries should form one Synod, meeting, for the present, once in five years. There was also union along literary lines. In view of the lack of knowledge on the part of many missionaries of the existing Christian literature in Chinese, and the great waste of time and labor resulting from this ignorance. it was resolved to appoint a permanent committee to collect information and prepare a classified catalogue with a brief description of books and tracts, to gather and publish information in regard to books in preparation, and to secure writers who shall supply the more pressing wants in any department of Christian literature. Missionaries contemplating literary work were recommended to communicate with the committee before beginning such work. It was voted that a general depot for the storage and sale of all books in the classified catalogue be established at Shanghai, with book rooms at other important centres. IV. Perhaps the most important work of the Conference was union in regard to a new version of the JVord of God. There are in use at present some half-dozen different translations of the Bible, which causes much trouble. Before the meeting of Conference there was little hope of agreement on a standard text, owing to the preference of different missions for the texts of their own translations; alio to the difference of opinion in regard to the translation of such terms as God, spirit, and baptize. However,with the blessing of God, separate committees were able to present, reports which were unanimously adopted by the Conference. By their recommendation three committees were empowered to select three corps of revisers, one to prepare a new version of the higher classical, one of the simple classical, and one of the Mandarin.* In order to secure one B~Dle in three forms, all the revisers are to act in conjunction. That such a satisfactory plan could be agreed upon, was regarded by some who knew the difficulties in the way as a great triumph of the Spirit of God. When the united report was brought in, inspired gratitude to God for the immediate prospect of one Bible for all China, the entire Conference rose, and, led by the chairman, united in singing, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."
In its direct bearing upon the churches at home no greater work was done .. The Mandarin is the language of the officials throughout the empire, also that of the common people of uearlyall of North, West and Central China. by the Conference than the framing of the following four appeals for help: One for ordained men, one for unordained, one for womEn, and one summing up the other three in a call for ONE THOUSAND MEN WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THIS TIME! God grant that the call may be heard!
I.-AN APPEAL FOR ORDAINED MISSIONARIES, ETC.
TO ALL OUR HOME CHURCHES.
GREETING:-Realizing as never before the magnitude of China and the utter inadequacy of our present numbers for the speedy carrying into execution of our Lord's command, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature;" therefore, Resolved, that we, the four hundred and thirty members of the Missionary Conference now in session at Shanghai, earnestly and unanimously appeal to you to send out speedily as many hundreds as can possibly be secured oj wellqualified ordained men.
The whole of China is now open to missionary effort and needs a large number of men of prayer, of patience, endurance and of common sense-men full of the Holy Ghost and of faith in the gospel as "the power of God unto salvation."
The missionary here encounters hoary and subtle superstitions, a most difficult language, a people of vigorous intellect, with a vast literature and an elaborate educational system. There is need, therefore, of men of commanding practical and intellectual as well as spiritual endowments-men who shall be able to engage in and direct the work of evangelization, to educate, train and induct into their work a native pastorate, to fonnd and conduct educational institutions, and to provide a general theological, scientific and periodical literature.
Seeing, as we do, the utter destitution and helplessness of these millions still" having no hope and without God in the world," we appeal to young men to give themselves to t~ work. We believe that the great question with each of you should be, not" Why shouljl I go?" but" Why should I not go?"
We recommend that the men be sent under the regularly constituted missionary societies of the various denominations, and that these societies search out suitable men before they are committed to the home work.
With the highest appreciation of the claims of the home churches, we still urge young pastors to consider whether the places of some of them might not be filled by men who cannot come to the mission field, while they might bring their experience to spheres of work in China which must otherwise be left wholly unoccupied.
We call upon individual congregations to greatly increase their contributions for the support of one or more of these men.
We urge Christian men of wealth to prayerfully consider the duty and privilege of giving themselves personally to this work, or of supporting their representatives.
Finally, we shall not cease to pray the Lord of the harvest to move you mightily by His Holy Spirit in behalf of this vast and ripening field.
IT.-APPEAL FOR LAY MISSIONARIES.
This Conference, while strongly urging upon the home churches the susten- tation and continued increase of the staff of thoroughly trained and fully quali- fied ordained missionaries and the further development of native agenCIes in every branch of Christian work, is still so profoundly impressed with the mani- fold needs of this vast country, that it would present a direct appeal to the laity of the home churches for lay missionaries; and in doing so would place before them some of the departments of service in which their helpis more especially needed. .
Beginning with the highest service, and touching the deepest need of the country, they would point to the many millions of our fellow-men who have never heard the gospel of the grace of God; and to some millions more, who, though they have possessed themselves of some portion of His Word, still fail to comprehend its meaning for want of some one to guide them in their study of it; and they would urge the claimsof these unevangelized millions on the youth of the home churches, and would emphasize the nobility of the service which a Christian evangelist may thus render to the Lord in China.
The country long closed is open. The people, if not decidedly friendly, are not hostile. The work of the Bible colporteur has prepared the way. The promise of ingathering is yearly brightening, but the laborers are few; and with the abundance of Christian workers in the home lands, surely hundreds or even thousands might be found to hasten on the evangelization of this empire by their personal effort and consecration.
Passing now to the intellectual req,uirements of China, we rejoice to record the progress of missionary education LD the East during recent years; but are admonished by the fact that purely secular instruction so largely tinges the educational movements both of Christian and heathen governments; and in fact we hear a loud call to the Christian Church to supply in larger numbers Christian educationalists for China. The intellectual renaissance of the empire is just commencing, there is an incipient cry for western culture; and the re- sponse which the Christian Church may make to this cry will, to no inconsider- able extent, decide the course which the education of the country will take in the future. .
With Christian men in the chairs of the colleges of China, what may we not expect from so powerful an auxiliary in the evangelization of the empire?
University men may find here at no distant period some of the most influen- tial posts in the mission field; and we would earnestly invite all Buch Christian 'Co-workers to weigh over with all seriousness the question whether they may not more effectively serve their generation in China than in the home lands.
But besides the intellectual need of the country, there is also the chronic and otten dire necessity of phYBical distress. The masses of the people are poor. Physical Buffering meets us at every turn. Medical Bcience is almost unknown. Charitable institutions, though established both by the government and by private effort, fail to compass the need of the masses. Flood and famine slay their thousands; and yet the wealth of the world is in Christian hands, and might by judicious distribution both save the lives of thousands yearly and give completer expression to the Life we preach. On behalf of these destitute masses, therefore, we earnestly plead with the men of wealth in the home churches that they will consider the claims of these Buffering ones, and not only by their gifts and prayers will largely aid the reinforcement of the noble staff of medical missionaries already in the field, but will give them- selves in larger numbers to benevolent enterprises abroad. The blind, the aged, the orphan and the destitute mutely plead for Christian compassion, and the Lord Himelf has said, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me."
Weappeal,then, to our lay brethren in the home churches, to men of sterling piety, and of strong common sense, that they would lay to heart the needs of this vast empire-its spiritual destitution, its stunted education, its physical distress, and that they would.solemnly ask themselves whether for the greater glory of God they are not called to meet this pressing need, and to devote them- selves, their service and their wealth to this missionary enterprise in China.
We would offer to them a most hearty welcome to our ranks, and would as- sure them that, whether they come out as ordained 01' as lay workers, this welcome will be equally cordial; and in conclusion, we would earnestly pray that this appeal may be brought home to the hearts of many by the power of the Divine Spirit. (Signed) J. L. NEVIUS, } Ch . a~rmen. DAVID HILL, IlL-AN APPEAL FROM MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED LADIES, MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE.
To the Christian Women of the British Empire, the United States, Germany and all other Protestant Countries-Greeting: We, the women of the Missionary Conference now assembled in Shanghai, come to you, our sisters in Christ, with an urgent appeal in behalf of the one hundred millions of women and children of China who" sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
The work of women in China has been prosecuted at the oldest stations for about fifty years, at first chiefly by the wives of missionaries, but in later years single ladies have largely augmented this working force. There are now ladies engaged in educational, medical and evangelistic work in China. Much has been done by them, many lives have been uplifted from the degradation of idolatry and sin, many sad hearts comforted, many darkened minds enlightened, and much solid good effected. But our hearts are burdened to-day with love and pity for the millions of women around us, our sisters for whom Christ died, still unreached by the sound of the gospel. Beloved sisters, if you could see j;heir sordid misery, their hopeless,.loveless lives, their ignorance and sinfulnesS, as we see them, mere human pity would move you to do something for their upliftin~. But there is a stronger motive that should impel you to stretch out a hel.{>mg hand, and that we plead-the .constraining love of Christ. We, who are m the midst of this darkness that -can be felt, send our voices across the ocean to you, our sisters, and beseech you by th~ grace of Christ our Saviour that you come at Olice to our help. .
Four kinds of work are open to us: 1. There is school work in connection with our various missions which in many cases the men have handed over to the women in order that they them- .selves may be free to engage more directly in evangelistic work. 2. There is a work to be done for the sick and suffering women of China, l.n hOspitals, dispensaries and homes, for which skillful physicians are needed. Most of this work can be better done by women than by men, and much of it can be done only by women. 3. There is work for us in the families of the Church. There are converted mothers and daughters who need to be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly, and to be trained in whatever is necessary for their fnIl development into lively members of the great household of faith. 4. There is a work of evangelization among women, similar to that being done by men among the people at large. It is not claimed that the evangelization of women cannot be done at all by men-but that there is more of it than men can do, there is much of it that will never be done unless women do it, and much that men cannot do as well as women can. There is nothing in this kind of work transcending the recognized scriptural sphere of women. Women received from the Lord Himself upon the very morniug of the resurrection their commission to tell the blessed story of a risen Saviour. What they did then we may continue to do now. But you will ask, " Who are needed for this work? " Knowing the conditions of life and work in China, we would answer that: 1. They should be women of sound health, of good ability and good common sense, also well educated-though not necessarily of the hignest education-apt to teach, kind and forbearing in disposition, so that they may live and work harmoniously with their associates, and win the hearts of the Chinese. Above' all, they should be women who have given themselves wholly to the 'Lord's work and are prepared to bear hardship and exercise constant self-denial for Christ's sake.
2. It is desirable that they should pursue a systematic course of Bible study before coming to China, and have some experience in Christian work at home.
Further, we would suggest that they should labor in connection with established missions in order that the good results of their work may be preserved, and that they may have, when needed, the assistance and. protection of their brother missionaries.
Open doors are all around us, and though idolatry lifts a hoary head, and ancestral worship binds the people as with chains of adamant, yet with God "all things are possible," and mountains of difficulty melt like snowflakes before the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, God is on the side of His own glorious, life-giving Word; we ask you to come in the power of consecration and faith, with sober expectations and readiness to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus, and take your share in the most glorious war that was ever waged on earth-the war against the powers ·of darkness and sin, assured that God will accomplish His own purposes of love and grace to China, and will permit you, if you listen to this call, to be His fellow-workers in "binding up the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
That the holy and loving Spirit of God may incline your hearts to respond to His call is our earnest prayer.
Signed on behalf of the two hundred and four ladies assembled in Confer- .ence at Shanghai.
Mrs. Mary Lees, London Mission SOciety. Mrs. A. Elwin, Church Mission Society. Miss C. M. Ricketts, English Presbyterian Mission. Mrs. J. R. Watson, English Baptist lIission. Miss L. S. Sugden, M.D., Wesleyan Mission. Miss I. Newcombe, Church of England Zenana Mission. Mrs. E. Tomalin, China Inland Mission.
Mrs. John Ross, U. P. Church of Scotland.
Mrs. W. E. Soothill, United Methodist Free Church. Mrs. T. C. Fulton, Irish Presbyterian Church.
DR. HA.PPER ON THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE
Mrs. Arthur H. Smith, American Board. Mrs: J. M. Foster, Baptist Missionary Union. Mrs. C. W. Mateer, American Presbyterian Mission (North). Miss L. H. Hoag, M.D., Methodist Episcopal Mission (North). Miss E. ]'. Swinney, M.D., Seventh Day Baptist Mission. Mrs. Eliza M. Yates, Southern Baptist Mission. Miss Laura A. Haygood, Methodist Episcopal Mission (South). Miss K. M. Talmage, American Reformed Mission. Miss R. E. Reifsnyder, M.D., Woman's Union Mission. Mrs. J. L. Stuart, American Presbyterian Mission (South).
N.-AN APPEAL TO ALL PROTEST~'<'NT CHURCHES OF CHRISTIAN LANDS.
DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIsT,-We, the General Conference of Protestant Missionaries in China, having just made a special appeal to you for a largel;}' increased force of ordained missionaries to preach the gospel throughout the length and breadth of this great land, to plant churches, to educate native ministers and helpers, to create a ChrisQan lIterature, and in general to engage in and direct the supreme work of Christian evangelization; and having also just made a special appeal to you for a largely increased force of unordained men, evangelists, teachers and physicians, to travel far and wide distributing books and preaching to the masses, to lend a strong helping hand in the great work of Christian education, and to exhibit to China the benevolent side of Christianity in the work of healing the sick: Therefore, we do' now appeal to you, the Protestant churches of Christi.an lands, to send to China in response to these calls ONE THOUSAND MEN WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THIS TmE.
We make this appeal in behalf of three hundred millions of unevangelized heathen; we make it with all the earnestness of our whole hearts, as men over- whelmed with the magnitude and responsibility of the work before us; we make it with unwavering faith in the power of a risen Saviour to call men into His vineyard, and to open the hearts of those who are His stewards to send out and support them, and we shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He.
will do this thing, and that our eyes may see it. On behalf of the Conference, Chairmen J REV. J L. NEVIUS, D.D. 1REV. D. HILL. REV. J. HUDSON TAYLOR. l Permanent CommitteeREV. WM.AsHMORE, D.D. REY. H. CORBETT, D.D. REV. C. W. MATEER, D.D., LL. D. REV. C. F. REID.
DR. HAPPER ON THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE.
[We regard this large and representative Conference of misssionaries of sufficient interest to our readers, in its character, in its harmonious action, and in its loud and thrilling appeals to the Church universal, to fully warrant us in gi~ing additional space to it. And who more worthy to fill that space than the beloved brother who w.ent to China in 1844, and is now the "oldest mis· sionary" resident in the empire, and who can appreciate the marvellous contrast then and now as we cannot, and who, from the high tower of the Presidency of the Christian College of China, is now permitted to survey the future in the light of the past? We introduce his "obser- vations and statements" respecting the Conferenct', with his private note, because of the facts stated in it, and the earnest words by which he seeks to emphasize the action and the appeals of this memorable body.-J. M. S.] Canton, China, June 2d, 1890.
My DEAR DR. SHERWOOWD,-I am fully aware that your columns will be greatly taxed with the details of the Shanghai Conference. I have thought, however, that some general remarks might find a place-some observations and statements of the "oldest missionary in China." There is not a single missionary resident in China that was here when I arrived in 1844. There are three still in China that arrived in 1847. You can easily understand what a contrast it is now to what it was when I arrived. These considerations may add some force to the call for more missionaries. The plea for the several classes of missionaries will stand on their several requirements, as the call for medical missionaries, for laymen, single ladies and ordained men. But let the bugle-call go forth for one thousand missionaries within five years. Let it ring in the ears of the Church. Help them to carry it to the throne of grace. Let them ponder it in their closets and around the family altar. Let the youth hear it in the schOOls, in the academies, in the colleges and in the universities, and in the theological seminaries: "One thousand missionaries for China in five years." Keep this line in your columns every month, till the Church is aroused with the trumpet-call, and arouses itself to good earnest work and consecration and giving; and above all, may God by His Spirit accompany this call to the hearts of those He would call to have a share in this blessed work for the Master. With much esteem and regard, A. P. HAPPER.
As you will receive the full report of the proceedings of the General Conference in Shanghai from others, I will only give some general impressions and statements in regard to it. 1 may say the Conference was a great and blessed success. It far exceeded in the number of members, in the spirit of harmony and co-operation, and in practical results arrived at, all that the most sanguine friends of holding it had hoped for. The very first meeting of the assembly left upon the minds of all in attendance the impression that the Spirit of God was in our midst. This sense of the presence and power of the Holy Ghost increased and deepened each successive day till the last.
We may remark that there has been only one conference on the foreign field where the attendance of missionaries was larger than it was in Shanghai. At the General Decennial Conference in India in 1882, there were 500 in attendence; at Shanghai there were 432 names enrolled. If we consider the fact that there was a greater number of missionaries then laboring in India than there are now in China, that the distances are not so great in India as in China, and that the facilities and cheapness of travel are greater in India than they are in China, it is a matter of special gratitude that the attendance at Shanghai was so large. It manifests that there was a very great interest felt in the Conference when, notwithstanding the distances and the expense of travel, so many assembled to spend a season in special conference and prayer for the conversion of China.
I feel that I express the feelings of all who had the privilege of attending these meetings that they consider it a matter of. very special gratitude and thanksgiving that they were privileged to attend these solemn and delightful conventions of God's people.
There are some things that may be specially considered. During the last forty years there has been a diversity of views among the missionaries, which has led to the use of different versions of the Bible. These versions have differed not only in style but to some extent in meaning. Plans were arranged and agreed upon to prepare a standard version of the Bible to be used by aU the missionaries. This version is to be prepared in three styles-the high classical style, the simple book style, and the Mandarin colloquial style-so as to be suited to all classes of the people; but the meaning is to be the same in all the styles. Thus the division of forty years is healed, to the praise of God's grace.
It has long been felt that something was needed to help the people generally to read the Christian Scriptures intelligibly. This they were not able to do because of their ignorance of the history, the manners and customs of the Jews, ·and of the geography and religion of Judea. The Conference was able, after much consulting and prayer, to adopt a plan for the preparation of an annotated Bible which will give an explanation of names of persons and places, of countries and manners and modes of worship, which are so often referred to in the sacred text. The new version will be used when these annotations are printed in a complete volume.
Thus one great work of the Conference was to arrange plans for giving the Word of God to this multitudinous people in the form which will help them to understand its precious doctrines and the way of salvation as made known in it.
It was most interesting to sit from day to day in this company of missionaries and hear their testimonies to the goodness of God and their experience in the work. There were present persons of every age and sex. The men of gray beards and the youth-men and maidens-just commencing their life- work were there. There were those who were engaged in every kind of mis- sionary work-the preachers, the teachers, the colporteurs, the students, the translators and writers of books, the medical missionaries and the visitors from house to house. They came from far in the interior and from the coast ports. They had every variety of experience-of disappointment and success, of sick- ness and health, of danger and safety, of opposition and of quiet, undisturbed work; and they all wore the same joyful and hopeful expression of counte- nance and joined in singing the same songs of thanksgiving and praise. They all said "The Lord is our helper," "The Lord is our shield and our buckler," "Rejoice and be glad in the Lord," "In the name of the Lord we lift our ban- ners." Not a despondent word or utterance was heard in all those days.
After these forty years of experience of missionary labors and trials, con- flicts and hindrances, hear them as they unite, as with one voice and·heart, in the appeal to Christendom to send forth one tlwusand missionaries in the next five years. Will the Israel of God hear this call from the men and women who. are in the forefront of the battle-who, with full knowledge of the sacrifices, labors and toils which the service demands, send forth this call to their fellow- Christians of all lands, saying, "This is a great warfare in which we are ~n gaged. Our numbers are utterly insufficient for the great work before us. Send us men; send us strong, able, mighty men. Send us medical men and women. Send us those who can 'endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christl' Send us those who will have the spirit of love and compassion to win souls for Christ. Send us men and women full of faith and the Holy Ghost."
Blood-bought followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, will you hear this call of 430 of your fellow-Christians, who represent the 1,285 Christian workers in China, saying, "Come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty!" All can have a part. All can do something. Some can furnish the means to send forth the laborers. All can pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers unto the great harvest in China, with its 350 millions of people. Parents can encourage their sons and daughters to give themselves to the blessed work of faith and toil. Young men and women in Christian homes, in our colleges and universities, will there not be one glorious response from many hearts under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus, saying, "Here are we; send us! We long to have a part in the laborsandpatienee of the kingdom of God."
As I sat in the midst of that assembly, which filled the whole house in which we assembled, and looked back over the forty-six years of my missionary experience, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude for what mine eyes have seen of God's wondrous work in this land. I had seen the day of small things. At the time of my arrival in China, in. 1844, there were some thirty missionaries rflsident at four cities and the British possession of Hong Kong. There were some six native converts and two native ·assistants. Now" the little one has become a thousand and the small one a strong nation. " Scattered abroad in all parts of this widely-extended land 1,285 missionaries are making known the glorious gospel of the blessed God. They are assisted by 209 ordained native ministers and 1,260 unordained native helpers. There are 520 organized churches, with 37,287 members gathered into them professing the gospel; 16,816 pupils are gathered into Christian schools, where they are instructed in the knowledge and love of God. How thankfully I exclaimed, "Behold what God hath wrought!"
As I cast my thoughts on the future I could only think, "What will be
TRANSLATIONS FROM .FOREIGN MISSIONARY PERIODICALS
seen by those who are privileged to see the results of another forty years of missionary work in China?" The workers continue the work with wonderful facilities and opportunities of. every kind. They may expect a yet more abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God. As I stood before that large company of brethren and sisters, and looked into their earnest faces, and saw their countenances beaming with joy and anticipated success, I could only say, "God bless you;" "The Lord be with you;" " The Lord give you to see the glorious triumphs of His grace." For" this handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon." The deep feeling of my heart was and is, " Oh, that I were young again to commence work in China with all these favoring circumstances and this strong band of workers and the mighty outpouring of God's Spirit."
In this review of the work and the results of labor in China, I could not but recall the scenes of labor and trial, the disappointed hopes and expectations, that have been met with by the many dear friends and fellow-laborers ;who have finished their toils and labors and gone to their glorious reward and to receive their crown of life and the welcome plaudit "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord." Some of them finished their course in early youth; some fell while still in the full strength of middle age: and some when they had filled up the measure of three-score years in labors for Christ. But they all have gone to their glorious reward and to unite with "that multitude which no man can number, gathered out of every nation and every people," to cast their crowns at the feet of their adorable Redeemer, and to cry" 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to be exalted thus!" While recalling those loved departed ones how blessed is the assurance that for such" to die is gain "-infinite gain-however great the loss may be to the Church on earth.
The Church may well count the cost of winning China for Christ. This populous empire will not be converted to Christ" except by much prayer and fasting." It will cost the sacrifice of many more lives and the expenditure of much labor and toil and sacrifice and money. It is a stronghold of the powers of darkness. But our encouragement is this: "Greater are they that are with us than they that are against us." " It is not by might, nor by power, but my Spirit, saith the Lord."
Let parents then rejoice to consecrate to this service the choicest of their sons and daughters. Count it all joy when you hear of conflict and trial on the high places of the field. Rejoice when any shall be honored to receive the martyr's crown. "Go forth in the strength of the Lord." "Trust in the mighty God of Jacob." Follow where the great Captain of our Salvation leads His people to the redemption of a lost world, and "Sure as God's truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven."
TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY PERIODICALS.
BY REV. CHARLES C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.
[INTRoDUCTOY NOTE.-Dear Dr. Sherwood: One of the brethren connected with the Jout"nal des Missions Evangeliques, in a very courteous and brotherly letter, has taken exception to my comparison of French Protestants with German Protestants, as less courageous in criticism of the colouial acts of their Government. He points out that, so small a minority as they are against a hostile majority, a certain degree of circumspection may well be pardoned them, and that while Saxons may charge them with Gallic arrogance, Frenchmen charge them with being sold to the Protestant England and Germany. He assures me, moreover, that various Protestant publications of France which I do not see have expressed themselves energetically concerning French aggressions upon English missions in the South Seas. I am sorry if I have given any just occasion to my Reformed brethren ir: France to complain that I do not sufficiently distinguish them from their Ultramontane and atheistic countrymen, under whom the wise providence of God permits them at present to be constrained. May en- largement come to them soon, by such a blessing on the P.rotestants and Reformed Catholics of France as shall bring this great nation into line with our noblest e/l'orts.-CHARLES C. STARBUCK.] The Dansk Missionsblad for December, 1889, speaking of the first mission- ary account rendered by Paul and Barnabas to the Church of Antioch, "how God had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith," remarks: "When we also look out over the missionary field and observe what comes to pass in east and west and south, in China and India and Africa, we, too, may say the same as Paul and Barnabas, when they returned from the first mis- sionary journey: God hath opened to the Gentiles a door of faith. This is the great alteration, which has come to pass in the last generation, that where there previously were locked doors there are now opened doors for the mes- sengers of the gospel. And we know also that missions are God's work by the fact that God is now opening the door of the world so that missions may be carried on. The work can only be done bysuch men as the Lord calls and qualifies, and in those places where God opens the door for the Word. Weare absolutely not to decide where missions are to be carried on, but to observe where the Lord points out the way. And as there is a sinful indifference to the holy work of missions, so there is also a sinful impatience that will insist on going whither the Lord has not sent His messengers, and has n0t pointed out the way by opening the door. Many noble powers have been sacrificed, many a self-sacrificing effort has been wasted. because Christians would insist on in- truding where the Lord had not opened the door.
" . . . When the first missionary who brought the pure gospel to India, Bartholomew Ziezenbalg, was sent out from Denmark, the voyage from Copen- haben to Tranquebert took up forty weeks. Now it requires forty days. Letters now go from London to Calcutta in from twenty-one to twenty-eight days. Formerly they could be sent, by sailing ship, once in a summer; and if the summer passed without an opportunity, or the ship was wrecked, two or three years might pass before the missionaries had answers to their letters. And what such difficulty of communication signified Ziegenbalg experienced when he had incurred the Danish governor's enmity. All King Frederick the Fourth's personal regard and sincere assurances of protection did not secure him from lyinf half a year in prison in the distant dependency. Nor was he released unti he had signed an agreement that he would make no complaint to the King. And if we turn to the West, as late as 1841, a missionary went from England to Canada. in order from there to reach his station in the interior of British America. But he found no opportunity in Canada and was obliged to return to England, and from there, the next summer, to go around by the glacial waters of the North Atlantic and Hudson'" Bay to York, and from there by boat, to journey up the river 170 miles to Winnipeg. At present a railway journey of two or three days from Canada to Winnipeg accomplishes what then required that long and terrible circuit. And when, three years ago, this same missionary died at his station, his death was known the next day by telegraph in England."
-The BlarI's brief statement of the Lakes missions in Africa may serve afresh to remind us that, according to the law of missionary beginnings, these have not been working fruitlessly-44 stations, 121 missionaries, 1,800 baptisms.
-India has become almost wholly British, but the missionary interests of Denmark are still confined to it. Their two fields are: the Tamils in South India; the Santals in Northeast India. Danes were the first Protestant mis- sionaries in India, and Danes received, sheltered and befriended -the first Eng- lish missionaries in India against the persecutions of their own countrymen.
All, therefore, that has been done by Englishmen and Americans for the cause of Christ in India owes a tribute of acknowledgment to our Danish kindred.
And, so far as we can call to mind, the first Protestant king who was, dis- tinctly and definitely, a nursing father of Christian missions, was the King of Denmark.
-In reference to India, however, the Blad remarks,that although the coun- try (excepting here and there some native State) has been unlocked since 1813, the home has only been unlocked since the Zenana Mission was formed, above all, among the Hindus proper, the Aryans of the northern plains. The Tamils of the south, though Hinduized, are not Hindus in race, and do not seclude their women very jealously, nor do the aboriginal hill-tribe of the Santals.
M. Coillard, whom, with all the French missionaries on the Zambesi, the heathen king Lewanika, of the Barotsis, greatly reverences, writes: " While I intercede with God for this bloodthirsty people, it is also my duty to testify publicly against a warlike undertaking which Lewanika himself had called an expedition for plunder, and so I do. No one shall be allowed to mis- understand our position in this matter. Lewanika, full of attention to his mis- sionaries. had sent to our brethren and sisters at Sherheke six head of the cattle won by the foray, and had courteously designated two of them as being ex- pressly intended for' his daughter,' Madame Jeanmairet. M. Jeanmairet, how- ever, in a letter, in which he warmly expressed his gratitude, set forth to the king, with courteous dignity, the reasons why neither he nor his fellow-laborers could accept any part of this booty. Can it be that Lewanika had expected this refusal? At all events he contented himself with the answer, 'I under- stand. But then what have the Barotsis, anyhow, which they have not ac- quired by plunder?'"
-The atheism of nominal Christians and Christian governments in heathen <countries appears to have reached its extreme in the Dutch East Indies. What the Macedonier says, however, in the following extract, is sufficientlyapplicable to other nations: "The governor of the Island of Cyprus, Sergins Paulus, an intelligent and thoughtful man, was very desirous to hear the new message of the gospel from the apostles. But there was found at his court a Jew, Barjesus by name, who also flaunted the Arabian appellation of Elymas, i.e., the Wise, the Magus, and who sought to hold back the pro-consul from the faith. Him- self unwilling to enter, he wished also to bar the entrance against others. And when our ~'eaders consider that Elymas was not a heathen but a descendant of the chosen people, who, just like Barnabas and Saul themselves, had been circumcised the eighth day, it will then be superfluous to remark, that we must look for the sin of Elymas not only among heathens and Mohammedans, but also, and indeed chiefly, among such as with us bear the name of Christ, and just like ourselves have been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. " And inasmuch as we meet with the sin of Elymas in a Jew in a heathen island, I venture to express it as my conviction, that the sin of Elymas finds a far more fruitful soil in our East In~ian colonies than in a Christian society. The opposition which we missionaries experience from our countrymen in our colonies may, in form and manifestation, be somewhat different from that which the apostle Paul experienced from Elymas in heathen Cyprus, but in essence it is one. It is.the sin of Elymas-personal unwillingness to enter in and solicitude to hold others back from entering in. And as with Paul, so with us; it meets each of us at the beginning of his missionary life, and in some form or other accompanies him to its close.
. "If European colonists or officials had been Christians in truth, and had let their light shine before men, they would then have been a bridge jor, whereas now they are too often a dam against, the diffusion of Christianity. They do this, it is true, more negatively than, like Elymas, positively, but with a like temper and a like result. They poison the whole atmosphere of influence by their indifferent, ungodly and immoral lives. It is no wonder, therefore, that we missionaries, even with the most strenuous exertion, do not succeed in establishing flourishing native churches in places where there are many Euro- peans."
-It appears that in the Dutch East Indies most of the whites have actually sunk to the level of heathen superstition, making offerings to propitiate evit spirits, and avoiding anxiously the spots which the natives declare to be haunted by them. Having no faith in Christ, they, like the same class among us, easily b~ome worshippers of ghosts. "ContelTIning the miracles of the gospel, as something too childish for the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, they have fallen back into the very darkness of heathenism. If a missionary talks with a Javanese or a Chinese about the Christian religion, he may expect to be asked, 'Have the Hollanders also a religion?' Verily, the Elymas of the nine– teenth century is no less a child of the devil than the Elymas of the apostolic age."
-The despotic prohibition, by the Russian Government, of every manner of- missionary activity, abroad or at home, of the Protestant churches of Russia, cuts off about $8,000 annually from the revenues of the Leipsic Society, an important amount for a continental society. The rising missions of the Finnish Church are not smitten by this blow, as Finland is not a part of Russia, but a grand duchy of which the Czar is grand duke. It has a constitutional govern- ment and a legislature; Swedish, not Russian, is the official language; the Lutheran is the established Church. This prohibition, therefore, does not apply to Finland, but applies to all the rest of the Czar's dominions, at least throughout the Russias. The Allgemeine Missivns-Zeitschrift well !lays: "But all un– righteousness cry to God, and at last comes His hour to set them home. Mean- while, may He grant to the oppressed the courage of confessors, faithfulness to· their faith, perseverance in prayer and patience." .
Persecution along the Baltic and fiendish cruelty in Siberia-the orthodox Czar seems to be doing his best to render antichristsuperfluous by anticipating- him.
-The German Government has given a singular statement, namely, that in its East African possessions it does not undertake to protect either whites or' natives against the attacks of natives, but merely against encroachments of other Colonial Powers! The German dominion in East Africa, according to the showing of the German missionaries, appears as yet to have wrought a great deal of harm and very little good to missions. The German missionaries who are within the English" sphere of influence" express a lively satisfaction in their good fortune.
-The Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift remarks that in the present inflamed condition of the native mind in East Africa it ought to be regarded as success enough that none of the stations have been destroyed except Pugu, German Catholic, and Dar es Salam, German Protestant. Besides the hatred borne to· these as being German, they had actually provoked q;estruction by consenting to receive great numbers of fugitive slaves without any adequate provision for their protection. "In the midst of all this tumult and battle-cry a work has been accomplished in stillness which is of the very greatest significance for the evangelization of East Africa: the translation of the whole Bible into Suahili;essentially the work of Bishop Steere and his Archdeacon Hodgson, of the Universities' Mission. "
-The BerlinSociety has in North Transvaal 11 stations, with 2,300 baptized Christians. There the recent discoveries of gold, with the rushing in of the whites~ are threatening a critical time. Pray that a new account of good destroyed may not be laid up against our race. In Transvaal the Berlin Society has in all 11,000,baptized Christians. The most important station is Botchabelo, with 2,310 baptized Christians. The law forbidding more than five native fam– ilies to reside on one estate has been suspended by the Transvaal go,ernment,. and it is to be hoped it will be repealed. It would be fatal to the missions in that Republic.
-The Hermannsburg Mission in Transvaal has in the last year baptized 1,390, raising the number of Bechuana converts to 13,969. In Zulu land the progress of the Hermannsburgers is much slower, the whole number of baptized con- verts here being now 1,618.
-The number of Basuto Christians in the French mission has lately risen from 6,000 to nearly 10,000. The station of Morija alone has received an ac- cession of 514 communicants. The scholars now number 5,314. The Industrial School has been so successful that at the Grahamstown Exposition the Basutos took the prize above all other South African tribes.
-Unhappily the Roman Catholic-we may here fairly say, the Romanist- counter-mission is more hostile than ever. "It patronizes all mannerof demor- alizing heathen customs, which the Protestant mission had 'proscribed' in its congregations, e. g., the purchase of wives. 'Weare, so to speak, assailed in our moral position.' … A continually recurring proof that Ultramontanism is ready to ally itself even with heathenism, if only it can harm the Evangelical Church. But it only harms itself and its own moral reputatiQn." This consideration makes it of vital significance whether here at home Romanism shall poison Catholicism, or Catholicism shall reduce Romanism to its lowest terms. The Baltimore archbishopric seems to stand for the latter effort; the New York archbishopric for the former.
-The Scandinavian Missionary Conference which was held in ChristiOOlia, Norway, last July, was largely attended, having 552 delegates in attendance- 105 Danish, 61 Swedish, and one Finnish, leaving, it appears, 386 for Norway. An animated description of it is given in the Dansk Missionsblad. The three Scandinavian kingdoms together send out over 100 missionaries, and contribute 1,000,000 crowns yearly, or about $250,000. The conflict of missionary effort is greatest in Sweden, where there are 9 societies, less in Denmark with 4, least in Norway with 2. As entire consolidation is not practicable, it was urged that. different Scandinavian societies, working in the same heathen country, shoul" at least strive after a common liturgy, Bible translation, etc. The next Scandinavian missionary conference is appointed to be in 1893 in Copenhagen.
-To us the name of "Hottentot" has by old habit come to signify the extreme of human degradation. But the Missions-Blatt of the Moravian Brethren for February gives a narrative which presents them, as Christians, in a very different light. It seems that in 1810, a. wealthy South African Boer, or farmer of Dutch descent, named Burgers, besides his extensive farms, bought at some distance frem them, in a mountain basin, a pasturing ground of a number of hundred acres which became his favorite resort, while his farms. were managed by his sons After nearly thirty years of pastoral contentment in this grassy and wellwatered valley, he found, in 1838, that he was likely soon to be left alone in it, as his slaves, whose hour of freedom dawned with the first of August in that year, had been so discouraged by him in their religious longings that they would be sure to leave him for some missionary station. He therefore took a great resolve. Surrendering his farms to his sons, he bequeathed his broad pasture-lands, or rather the usufruct of them, to six Hottentot slaves, on condition that they should care for him till his death. When the last of the six should be dead, the lands were to be divided among their children. They immediately established at Biirgerskloof a flourishing Moravian station named Goedvorwacht. But it was surrounded by wealthy Boers, worshippers of Mammon and enemies of Christ. These, conscious how plethoric their purses.
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
were and how lean those of the missionaries, waited grimly year after year, till the last of the six Hottentots, who had been so suddenly raised from the depths into the rank of landed proprietors, should have passed away, nothing doubting but that with their long purses they could then buy up Biirgerskloof from all competitors, and scatter all godliness to the winds. Year after year passed, and one after another of, the six dropped away, until the whole continuance of the station, as it appeared, hung on the life of one frail old Hottentot woman, fitly named Christiana. The hearts of the missionaries grew heavy. But for many years "many were engaged in building up an invisible wall of prayer around Biirgerskloof." At last, December 28, 1888, old Christiana fell asleep, 92 years old. There were now thirteen heirs, all poor Hottentots, some a good deal in debt, to whom the Boers around stood ready to pay twice, thrice, nay five times as much for the rich pasture land, with its plentiful springs, as the mission had any hope of raising. And the courts decided that if one of the thirteen insisted on it, the whole must be put up to auction, in which case the Boers were sure of the result. It must be remembered that the Moravians claim no authority over the property of their members. They can advise but they cannot control, either civilly or ecclesiastically. Not one of the thirteen, however, could be moved to sell the land to anyone ,except the mission, for the moderate sum of £750, which it could afford to give.
And thus Goedvorwacht,through Christ's providence and His humble people's faithfulness, fulfilled its name of Well-guarded, and Mammon retired discomfited. In the various transactions connected with the final settlement, involving the fate of two stations, the Brethren remark that the Hottentots have displayed a dignity, a self-restraint, a submission to Providence, a preference of spiritual to temporal interests, which places them not among the lowest but among the highest of their converts. They contrast their behavior, greatly to their advantage, with the noisy intractableness which the Eskimo Christians sometimes exhibit.
H.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions.
The following is an outline of the pledge. The pamphlet may be ob- Volunteer Pledge recently issued as tained of Walter J. Clarke, 50 East No.3 of Student Volunteer Series: 70th street, New York city, at three I.-The necessity for a pledge.-l. cents per copy; $1.50 per hundred, To secure decisions. 2. To secure de- prepaid. Mr. Robert P. Wilder has ,cisions early in the course of study. treated his subject in an exhaustive 3. To confirm those who have de- and masterful manner. His style is ·cided. 11.-What shall the pledge condensed,vigorous and pre-eminently be? IlL-The meaning of the pledge: clear. The little book is stamped by a " We are fully determined to become spirit of consecration and prayer. We foreign missionaries unless God block are reminded that "spiritual things the way." IV.-The use of the pledge. are spiritually discerned;" hence how V.-Who shall use the pledge? neccessary it is for one to be in prayer The necessity for understanding the to understand the messages which the pledge cannot be too strongly empha- Lord entrusts to some of His children.
sized. "It is the keystone to the arch The keynote of the Northfield Con- of the Student Volunteer Movement ference this year was struck early in for Foreign Missions." Volunteers the session. On Sunday, June 29, cannot be effective and successful Major Whittle preached on " Foreign .
workers, it may be fairly said, unless Missions." Scarcely a speaker during they understand an(~ hf'liE've in the the ten days which followed failed to recognize the fact that personal pernicious, and that those numbers responsibility in regard to the evan- already obtained (the 5,000) represent gelization of this blood-bought world only a small percentage of the men was the problem uppermost in the who intend actually to go into the minds of the majority of the men foreign work! Practical common present. Rev. George F. PenteCost, sense demands an estimate if our D.D., awakened interest in the pro- Lord's last command is to be obeyed posed" Siege of Bombay," an enter- in its entirety. Fellow-students, it is prise in which he will be assisted by our privilege to pray that men shall be men and women both from England faithful. We have a right, the conand America. Mr. D. L. Moody de- dition having been realized, to claim voted an hour one Sunday afternoon fulfillment of the promise:" Being to the subject of" Preparation," ad- confident of this very thing, that he dressed to missionary candidates. One which hath begun a good work in of the most vigorous and stirring ad- you will perform it until the day of dresses ever heard in Northfield was Jesus Christ." delivered on " Round Top" by Dr. A. T. Pierson. With great earnestness It is possible to evangelize the world and power he bore in upon the hearts in this generation. Let us work as of men his own deep conviction that though we believed it, absolutely sure the world can be evangelized in this that the endeavor is well pleasing to generation. our Lord and Master.
Alll)ther brief address is still ringing Foreign missionary meetings were in my ears, the substance of which held on Round Top Hill every other was as follows: "Fellows, we have no evening during the session. These record that a human being has ever meetings were conducted by Mr. Cosbeen converted save through the in- sam, who is successor to Mr. R. E. strumentality of some other individual. Speer, traveling secretary. On Wed- If this world is to have Christ preached nesday evening, July 9, a little meetto it missionaries must be, in a sense, ing of marked character was held on man-made missionaries. There are "Round Top." Mr. Dankowt was the about 85 volunteers here present and first speaker introduced-a gentleman 300 Christians on the grounds. Seize in charge of a medical school in New the opportunity! Strive by personal York city, established for the especial effort to persuade these 300 men to, benefit of men who intend to be forenter this missionary service. It is eign missionaries. He first called atnot hard to win men to this work. tention to the fact that many of the Let each volunteer' strive each day men and women who have gone into during this Conference to persuade a heathen lands have come back to study single man to enlist in foreign work." medicine. "It is barbarous," he went on to say, "that the Christian Church Has not this exhortation a possible should send out people to be removed wider application? Let us turn for a hundreds of miles, from medical assismoment from the Conference to a tance and without some knowledge of wider student body. On a conserva- surgery and medical practice." tive estimate there are 250 institutions, each one of which contains on an Mr. De Forrest, of Japan, underaverage 1() volunteers. Is it unreason- took to answer the question" What able to plead that each one of these 2,500 kind of men are wanted in Japan?" strived to secure each month (estimat- and said: "We don't want people ing nine college months in a year) a with quarrelsome dispositions; but we new volunteer: 10+250+9 recruits= do want men who can get along with 22,500 recruits. The objection is urged each other. We want men that can that this passion for mere numbers is love fellows with different color of skin. Furthermore, we want men with tact and discrimination; men held as he told about its geography who know when to talk about the and the people, "a little shorter in natural and when to talk about the stature than we are," those among .supernatural. " whom he intended to spend his life• He said: "Of the religion of these Mr. Laffin, who has already spent a people, Hinduism is like a glacier that little time in Africa, and who expects comes down the mountain and ab- to return, followed Mr. De Forrest. sorbs everything" in its way. Bud- His face was radiant and his manner dhism is beautiful externally. When touched by enthusiasm. "When men I contemplate this intricate and fasci- {)r women draw down their faces and nating system of religion I am retell me how sorry they are that I am minded of the appearance of the going to benighted Africa, I tell them beautiful wall about the city in which speedily, 'I don't want your sympa- I once lived-a wall pierced by winthy. Keep it.' No country in this dows and crowned by graceful minawide world is more receptive to the rets-and when the sunlight streamed gospel than Africa. I do not know a upon it it glowed and sparkled as village or a town where they won't re- though set with jewels; but underceive a missionary. One church of neath that wall, at its foundation, was 100 to 120 members supports six evan- rottenness, filth and decay." gelists. Can you equal that record in this country? With the native Afri- Spacewill not admitof telling about can God's Word settles any point of obstacles and triumphs of missionary dispute." life in India, nor of the crisis. No other man has been so thoroughly Mr. Griswold, who intends to go to identified with the missionary upris- Northern India, encouraged the men ing as Mr. Wilder-perhaps no other still remaining at home to shine as student in America is better known scholars, pointing to the great need, among Christians, and more deeply both in India and China, of men fitted loved. And so the personal farewell to train native teachers. words, simple and earnest, found a quick and glowing response in the When Mr. Griswold finished the hearts of men that night: "I want to twilight was deepening-it would soon see many here in India some day. be time for the eight o'clock bell to I want you to pray for me and my ring. Mr. Robert P. Wilder was an- dear India." The notes of the violin nounced"to say a few words in closing. could not have been sweeter or more " He expected to go out to India be- penetrating than these last words. fore another year had elapsed," he " Blest be the tie" . . . " Like to said. At his opening sentence every- that above." Never was the old body seemed to be listening expec- hymn sung with more spontaneity and tantly. It was very still: no sound spirit. was heard except the rising wind and the flap now and then in the breeze of MAX WOOD MOORHEAD. a map of Kolhapur which two friends Notes on India, by Rev. James Johnston, Bolton, England. -Indian Church Aid Association.- houses and engineering enterprises. This auxiliary, which aims at the The success of missionary work among Christianization of Englishmen resi- the natives depends largely on the lives dent in India, is growing in favor. It of Europeans living among them. is estimated that some 60,000 British Among the members of the Church of soldiers are stationed in different parts England in Great Britain the signifiof the empire, besictes large numbers cance of these claims is being reaof Englishmen engagep. in its civic ad- ized and enforced. One of the advoministration and in the commercial cates in Manchester Cathedral denied -that missionary propagation in India portance to the whole future of miswas a failure. It might be asserted sions." by travelers through districts where it was difficult to plant Christianity, – Female Education in India.-To -or where Englishmen congregated in read of an Indian princess enlarging large numbers, whose lives neutral- upon the advantages of education to. ,ized rather than sustained the mission- her less favored sex, is a notable sign ary's message. Upon Englishmen in of the times in Hindustan. Not long particular lay the solemn responsi- ago, in the ancient town of Gondal, in bilityof making reparation for the ne- the Bombay Presidency, at the Mongglect and failure of their fellow-coun- hiba School for Girls, her Highness trymen inpastyears to live and preach the Rani Nankooverba distributed the -Christ to India's idolatrous millions. prizes. The occasion was extra jubil- ant because an ex-student, Ladlubai, -DevelopmentofMedical Missions. a child of poverty-suffering parents, -Every year bears evidence to the ad- was first in the examination at the vance of medical missions among the Rajkote Female College, and had releading missionary societies which ceived an excellent appointment as supply an increasing number of nurses the head-mistress of the Porbandar and doctors. At the headquarters of Girls' School. This and similar matthe Zenana Medical College in London, ters gave the lady speakers some instudentsare trained, andsubsequently, spiring thoughts on the accompaniin connection with one or other of the ments and possibilities of education. great societies, proceed on service to "My sisters" were invited to let the the East. Two of the present students knowledge which they had obtained are Syrian girls, who, at the comple- teach them "how to win the husband's tion of their training, will return to heart, how to be always agreeable to their own land as the first Syrian his wishes, how to pa~ respects to the ladies to practice medicine. India, father-in-law and mother-in-law, as naturally, has most attention. The well as to the father and mother, how devoted Miss Hewlett, a fervent helper to behave towards juniors, elders, and on behalf of her Indian sisters at Am- equals, how to keep the house clean, ritsar, writes of its efficiency, and of how to acquire proficiency in cookery, Miss Bose, the first native Christian how to spend their leisure in reading, lady to be medically educated in Eng- sewing, 01' needlework." The Rani land, and now in charge of an exten- urged the benefits of higher education sive dispensary at Taran-Taran. From and the duty of parents teaching Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., whose free their daughters, and finally closing criticism of mission work created a with the exhortation that girls should storm some mgnths ago, comes an elo- know something of the women who quent tribute. He says: "I believe in many lands were renowned "for for medical work among Indian wo- knowledge and learning and for varimen the three great essentials are a ous virtues. Some are celebrated for knowledge of nursing, of dispensing, their scholarship; some for their purand of maternity. The lady who has_ ity of conduct; some for courage, formastered these things is fit for service titude, enterprise; some, again, for in India. I may tell you that it is modesty or presence of mind; some officially stated that one of the best for devotion to their husbands; while dispensaries in the northwest provin- some have been remarkable for their ces is under the charge of one of your piety; and others for their excellence former students. In whatever aspect in household management." I view the work of the Zenana Medical College, I become the more convinced Generous sympathy is asked for that it is of the highest value and im- ~nss Cornelia Sorabji, the Indian young lady whose university career at the Deccan College, Poona, was so tion of a woman's self-denying love, distinguished. At Somerville Hall in taking the medical supervision of she is now reading literature to ob- the Ambala 1sylum, which shows. tain the place at Oxford equivalent, marked improvement in the condition in the case of a woman, to a degree. of the patients since she accepted the Unable to meet her expenses during charge. the next two years' study at Oxford, her special friend, Lady Hobhouse, -Zenana Missions-English Wes- has opened a fund on her behalf. It leyan Women's Auxiliary.-In speak- is felt that in extending support to ing of "the condition of women in Miss Sorabji a powerful impetus will India," Mrs. Sutcliffe, an earnest be given to the cause of Indian edu- lady missionary, alluded to the cation, to which this gifted scholar 120,000,000 women of the country, purposes devoting herself on return- 40,000,000 of whom were in zenanas ing to her native land. and 21,000,000 widows. Of these latter 80,000 were children between the ages -Lepers in India.-For 15 years the of six and sixteen years. Methodist Edinburgh Mission to Lepers has been Women's Mission Work in India had combating the evils which attend this achieved much success since its originterrible scourge. Along with its pri- ation in 1858, though even to-day there mary work to evangelize. the agents is only one missionary to about each of the society have alleviated the mis- million of the population. It is aperies of the lepers. A bill has been parent that the foundations of heathdrafted especially affecting the va- enism were planted in the zenanas. grant classes. "Retreats" are proposed in which the sexes will be separated. -Church of England Zenana So- The society's secretary goes to India ciety.-At the annual meeting held in to make arrangements for the erection May it was reported that at home there of asylums for adults. These are sore- has been healthy development in the ly needed for the lepers' comfort and number of workers, while in the field the protection of the natives from the there are 114 missionaries, with 62 aswandering lepers who spread the dis- sistants, and 577 native Bible-women ease. In considering the world of woe and teachers. The deathof Dr. Fanny represented by 500,000 lepers, the Butler was mourned over. It is noted most sorrowful problem is the case of that everywhere there has been dethe children. A leading authority on voted labor and a call for medical the question, Dr. Monro, states, "Lep- mission work, while in school work rosy has never been proved to be and zenana visitation there has been transmitted without contact, is not distinct encouragement. In funds constantly transmitted even when there is deficit of £1,743, although the both parents are diseased, and seldom income-£25,817-is £951, in advance affects more than one child in a fam- of the highest amount previously reily." Sir Morell Mackenzie says that ceived. The increased expenditure, hereditary contamination has scarcely it is gratifying to know, has not been any existence. Nevertheless, as early in the home but in the foreign departas possible it is important to remove ment, the fact being that, while in children from the risk of contagion, the ten years of the society's 'existence and in this direction the Edinburgh the income has barely doubled, stasociety is exerting itself. It has tions have trebled and workers have one home and branches for the lit- quadrupled. A worker of seventeen tle ones in connection with its three years' serv~ce, Mrs. Ellwood, spoke asylums. Let the name of Miss Carle- of the great subjection of the ton, M. B., an American lady doctor, Hindu women, and only could be universally honored as an illustra- their Christianization be effected by women. Latterly, zenana work has made rapid strides. Everywhere the This fam.ous field, scattered .over the Khassia Hills and s.ometimes spoken .of toilers were welc.omed with .open as the Assam missi.on, is the crown .of the society's harvest abr.oad. N.o doors. Net l.ong since the native written language existed in Assam at the- inaugurati.on .of the missi.on. w.omen shrank fr.om their missi.onary Meanwhile, the missi.onaries have translated the scriptures into the sisters. Mrs. MacDonald, fr.om South- tongue .of the people. A m.onthly periodical was issued in the native ern India, referred in gl.owing terms speech fer the services.of the churches and musical classes .opened .on the to zenana devel.opments. The sowers, tonic sol-fa system, which the natives much appreciated. The Khassian English ladies, last year increased Missi.on was being strengthened in the directi.on.of medical attendance and fr.om 100 to 117, mere than 20 .of schools fer higher educati.on. By the celebration.of the jubilee.of this miswh.om were h.on.orary missi.onaries si.on in 1889, the collecti.ons had been augmented. Preaching stati.ons numwh.o did net take a single penny fr.om bered 163, candidates fer membership, 934; day sch.olars, 4,134. Reinf.orcethe funds. In the same period the ments are wanted fer Khassia Hills, Jaintia, and als.o fer Brittany. The Bible w.omen's 1'.011 had risen fr.om 139 m.ovement to raise £20,000 in celebrat- ing the jubilee.of the Welsh Calvinto 141, the missi.on h.ouses fr.om 2,275 istic F.oreign Missi.ons, fer the mere ef- fective pursuit .of missi.on w.ork and to3,321, schools fr.om 177 t.o 183, and training .of native missi.onaries, has resulted in half the am.ount being the sch.olars fr.om 6,686 to 7,411. raised and its probable full realizati.on next year,.on behalf .of which wide- Truly the zeal.of the society's w.orkers spread interest exists.
indicated real, her.oic, c.onsecrated de- v.otion.
-Welsh Calvinistic Methodist For- eign Missions.-Meeting in Liverpool in May, this sturdy branch .of the Church .of Christ was largely c.on- cerned with its f.oreign w.ork. Pass- ing fr.om its evangelical labors in Brittany, special attenti.on was cen- tered in the Indian missi.ons. By com- paring the figures with th.ose.of 1861, the f.oll.owing results were tabulated: Churches. Communicants. Congregations.
1861, 6 158 500 lSi1, 16 514 900 1881, 36 2,600 3,326 1889, 78 6,054 8,424 Africa. between England and Germany, and we hope that when a like arrangement is concluded be- THE ANGLO-GERMAN AGREEMENT. tween England and Portugal we shall have- [This is an event of great importsnce in its matters as satisfactorily settled on the coast; bearings on the future of Africa, especially in of Lake Nyassa. the matter of missions. At ilrst English sen· tlment severely criticised some of its provis- The boundary between the English and Gerions, especially the ceding of Heligoland to man "spheres of influence" is to be what is: Germany. But reilections and a full under- known as ''the Stevenson Road," and may bestanding of the details has wrought a change, indicated by a line drawn from the mouth of and the feeling now is one of satisfaction. The the Bokura river on the western shore of Lakepoint of greatest importance is the acknowl- Nyassa, to the mouth of the Kilambo river 011 edgment of the English protectorate over the south shore of Lake Tanganyika. Ger- Zanzibar and Pemba. For Zanzibar is not many is to retain the country north of the line, only the largest city on the African shores and to the Congo Free State, and along theof the Indian Ocean, and the headquarters of ilrstdegree of south latitude, a divergence of commerce, government, and language, butthe the boundary being conceded around the west– base of extensive mission work. As England ern shore of Nyanza, so as to include Mt. has always been foremost in putting down the M'Fumbiro in the British "sphere," and makeslave trade, the practical control of the policy the frontier agree, as nearly as possible, with. of the Zanzibar Government will greatly facilitate this part of her work. Looking at it, Stanley's treaties. therefore, from the missionary and philan- The all-importsnt feature of the adjustment thropic point of view, we have every reason to feel satisfied with the settlement arrived at Is that it throws almost the entire responsi- bility of the continuance of the slave trade 011 England and Germany. Zamibar Is a great. slave mart; England will now control the being made for the suppression of the island. Droves of slaves are annually driven maritime slave trade as well as for the from the great lakes across the equatorial extirpation of slavery itself."
regions to Gondokoro and down the river to The Universities' Mission, which has Khartoum and across to the Red Sea. Eng- made Zanzibar its headquarters, has land virtually assumes the responsibility of thus a firm basis for those operations this country. The roads across from Tangan- to which Bishop Steere consecrated a yika, Nyassa and Victoria Nyanza are also life of so much learning and devoted- highways of slave trade. Forthese Germany ness, and which are still so earnestly must now be responsible. The whole area followed up by Bishop Smythies. The blighted by the slave trade is now open to an mission will now hold' in favorable exercise of authority and vigilance on the part circumstances thi& important centre of these two great Powers which ought soon for Christian education and for the to suppress the awful traffic. training of teachers, catechists and the We quote from the July Church Missionarv native clergy. It is true the great out- l'ntelligencera lucid statement of the "agree- field of their mission work will be now ment" and its relations to the work of tho chiefly in territories under German .great English and Scottish missionary societies rule, but already the report is favor- in Africa.-J. M. S.] able as "to the steady administration This agreement is an important p0- of affairs by the German Government," litical event, and will, no doubt, be much discussed in that aspect, but so that "the spiritual work of the sothere are indications already that a final settlement on the lines proposed ciety is no longer disturbed by wars will be accepted cordially by the German and British nations. Our interest and rumors of wars." Under the Brithere is non-political, although at the same time, looking at the settlement ish flag German missions have greatly in its broad aspect, apart from party, it cannot but be a source of thankful- flourished in India, and especially in ness that these two great nations, the pillars of European Protestantism, South Africa, and there is every reason have found a satisfactory S91ution of questions of territory which might to hope that when the German rule have given rise to dispute and alienation. If they proceed in friendly ac- is firmly established the mission will cord, we have one of the best guarantees that the inner African slave trade enjoy security and friendly support. is doomed, and that the time is hastening on when civilization and Christi- The Church Missionary Society and anity will win the day in the Dark Continent. the London Missionary Society have We look at the details of the agree- also their stations in German terriment, and we give the first place here to the protectorate of Zanzibar. From tories, and they may anticipate the the German Official Gazette we learn that Germany assents to the assump- same friendly support under the Gertion by England of the protectorate over the Sultanate of Zanzibar. This man protectorate. The Church Mismust be regarded as no small concession on their part. Of course France sionary Society has also its special or some other Power may still do what it can to hinder this assumption. But grounds of thankfulness as regards here it is satisfactory to find Lord Salisbury speaking out quite decidedly this settlement. Its work will be in his despatch, June 14th: "England will further assume, with the consent chiefly under the British flag, and of the Sultan of Zanzibar (which has been given), the exclusive protectorate what a wide door opens before it! But over the Sultanate, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba_" "The it scarcely belongs to us here to enter direct control and extensive influence,"LordSalisburyadds,"which this on so wide a field. We may only noarrangement will confer upon Great Britain, will furnish a powerful as· tice how much Lord Salisbury's words sistance to the efforts whi0h a1"(, nnw suggest. "Upon the east coast the Gerinan Government has agreed to surrender all the territory it occupies or claIms north of the British sphere of influence. The whole territory up to the Juba, with a coast line of more than 200 miles, is under the British protectorate. The elrect of this ar- rangement will be that, except so far as the Congo State is concernpd, there will be no European competitor to between the first degree of south lati- tude and the borders of Egypt, along the whole of the country which lies to the south and west of the Italian pro- tectorate in Abyssinia and Galla Land." .
Another part of this Anglo-German agreement relates to Lake ~yassa and Nyassa Land. In these regions the Scottish missions have been laboring for years, and with conspicllous suc- cess. The Church of Scot land has its mission to the south of La ~.(> Nyassa, close to the Shire. It is a country of religiously in the balance, our protecfertility and of much promise, but it torate of Zanzibar is of vastly more does not enter into the agreement, as consequence to the interests of huthe British Government has here to manity and the cause of religion. come to a settlement, not with Germany but with Portugal. The subject J. E. C. {)f keenest dispute here betwixt England and Germany has been as to what STANLEY AND THE BRUSSELS CONFERENCE. is called the Stevenson Road. As to Lake Nyassa itself there has been less [We are glad to see that this intrepid exdifficulty; the eastern shore where the Universities'Missions are established plorer, who doubtless understands the present has been assigned to Germany; the westernshores, where the Free Church condition and needs of Africa better than any Missions have been successfullyestablished, are to remain British. The other living man, is in full accord with the Stevenson Road joins Lake Nyassa at its northern end to Lake Tanganyika conclusions of this important Congress, which .at its southern extremity. As to its being a road, if Mr. Johnson, Her has just closed its sessions, as to the remedy Majesty Consul's authority is to be ac- ·cepted, there can be no question. for the wholesale slaughter and devastation Some 52 miles from the northern end of Lake Nyassa have been carefully which is going on in the Dark Continent.- engineered; in fact in the construction two able engineen; were employed, J.M.S.] Christian men, and they laid down their lives in the work. Along this "There is only one remedy for these road a steamer was carried in pieces to wholesale de,astations of African ab- Lake Tanganyika and launched there origines, and that is the solemn combion its waters for the London Mission- nation of England, Germany, France, .ary Society. The Germans here ha,e Portugal, South and East Africa, and done nothing; were they to be allowed Congo State against the introduction to enter into the labors of these ener- of gunpowder intoany part of the congetic Scotchmen? It has been ar- tinent except for the use of their own ranged that it is not to be so. agents, soldiers and employes; or seiz- ing upon every tusk of ivory brought There are other parts of the agree- out, as there is nota single piece now-ament on which we can but barely days which has been gained lawfully. touch. There is undoubtedly a break Every tusk, piece and scrap in the between the territories under British possession of an Arab trader has been influence north and south, extending steeped and dyed in blood. ~very from 1 degree south latitude to Lake pound weight has cost the life of a Tanganyika. On its western extrem- man, woman, or child; for every five ity, this is so far diminished, however, pounds a hut has been burned; for the British sphere of influence extend- every two tusks a whole village has ing so far south as to include the been destroyed; every twenty tusks mountain M'Fumbiro (10,000 feet high). have been obtained at the price of a This is to make the frontier "coincide district, with all its people, villages as nearly as possible with the region and plantations. Whom, after all, covered by Mr. Stanley's treaties." It does this bloody seizure of ivory enhas been agreed that the passage here rich? Only a few dozens of half-castes, for British goods and British subjects Arab and negro, who, if due justice will be perfectly free and exempt from were dealt to them, should be made to transit duties. sweat out the remainder of their pi- raticaI.lives in the severest penal ser- There are two other points of agree- vitude. ment in the CO?1pact; Germany is to be allowed to extend its influence in "On arriving in civilization after South Africa to the 21st' degree of these terrible discoveries, I was t')ld longitude, in place of the 20th degree. of a crusade that had been preached Lord Salisbury is of opinion that Lake by Cardinal Lavigerie, and of a rising Ngami will remain still under the desire in Europe to effect a reform by British protectorate, as its longitude force of arms, in the old Crusader style, is believed to be 22 degrees. and to attack the Arabs and their fol- lowers in their strongholds in central Heligoland forms a part of this Africa. It is just such a scheme as Ang'')-German settlement. What its might have been expected from men -valuels politically, it is not our part to who applauded Gordon when he set estimate. But weighed morally and out with a white wand and six follow- ers to rescue all the garrisons of the Soudan, a task which 14,000 of his countrymen, under one of the most skillful English generals, would have found impossible at that date. The last thing I heard in connection with this mad project is that a band of one hundred Swedes, who have subscribed £25 each, are about to sail to some part of the east coast of Africa, and the fine cloth and fine beads they exproceed to Tanganyika to commence pected to receive for the food furostensibly the extirpation of the Arab nished were not forthcoming, and it slave trader, but in reality to commit seemed for a time improbable that suicide."-Scribner's Magazine. enough food could be got to send any to Nelson. By the 26th, however, "NELSON'S STARVATION CAMP." matters were arranged, and on that day Mr. Jephson,with forty Zanzibaris [The following passage from Stanley's book and thirty Manyema, set out to rescue Nelson, whose camp was reached on givesone of many vivid and thrilling pictures of the 29th. Pitiable, indeed, was the condition of things there. Of the fiftysuffering endured during this ever memorable two men left with Nelson, five only remained, of whom two were in a dyexpedition for the relief of Emin Pasha.-EDs.] ing state; all the rest had either de- serted or were dead. Nelson himself, "On the morning of October 6,.1887, having hardly left his tent on account it was evident that Captain Nelson of his badly ulcered feet during the and fifty·two of the black men were absence of Stanley, had lived chiefly wholly unable to travel further. It on fruits and fungi his two boys had was decided, therefore, to leave these brought in from day to day. Jephson in camp, while Stanley and the other found Nelson sitting near his tent, white and black men-211 in a11- worn and haggard looking, with deep went forward to try to find some food. lines about his eyes and mouth, and Nelson and his fifty·two men were left the latter could do nothing but sob and with hardly any food in a camp on a turn away and mutter somethingabout sandy terrace, encompassed by rocks being very weak. But Nelson recovered and hemmed in narrowly by dark slowly and has lived to rllturn." woods which rose from the river's edge to the height of 600 feet, on the Japan.-American visitors at the bank of the Drumiwi, there a writhing and tortuous stream, making an recent Paris Exposition were astonish. unceasing uproar, and with two cata- I'acts not far away, each rivalling the ed at the educational exhiLit from J aother's thunder. A gloomier spot for a camp could hardly have been se- pan; an exhibit which showed greater lected. Stanley, with his 211 men, started on October 7th. They made intelligence, more thorough methods, their way as well as they could at a funeral pace, marching sometimes and more progressive educational deonly four and a half miles a day, through woods with dense under- velopment in Japan than exist in this growth, living on the fungi and berries they could find, glad even to get country. The recent report of the Japnux vomica, suffering the pangs of unappeasable hunger, all frightfully anese Minister of Education, summarthin, though the whites not so much reduced as the colored men. They had ized by "the nation," is exceedingly occasionally to climb hills, which, in their enfeebled condition, causeli their interesting and significant. There are hearts to palpitate violently. Hunger, followed by despair, killed many of in the empire 10,862 school districts; the colored men. The night of the 17th was ushered in by a tempest the total population being 39,701,594, which threatened to uproot the forest and bear it to the distant west, ac- andthe children of school age numbercompanied by floods of rain and a severe cold temperature. The next day, ing 6,740,929. The empire employs however (the 18th), relief came. They reached a community of Manyema, 62,372 teachers, and there are at pres- Arabian ivory hunters, who had arrived five months before. Here, at ent enrolled in its various schools last, they had food; but alas! they had lost the power to digest it. 'Nature about 2,800,000 children. When the either furnishes a stomach and no food, or else furnishes a feast and robs great reform of Japanese institutions us of all appetite.' The party began to suffer from many illnesses, the was undertaken twenty years ago, the result of the food it had so long been unused to. The Manyema on the first principle of education was accepted day were very gracious and friendly, on the next day were less so, becllillire as the basis of all progress, and noth- ing has shQwn the capacity, intelli- gence, and adaptibilityof the Japan- ese mind more strikingly than the thoroughness, progressiveness, and fruitfulness of the educational system they adopted, and which has now be- come thoroughly seated in the respect and affection of the Japanese people. In addition to common schools in all
1890.J MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS
parts of the country, a seaside labora- piling an encyclopedia. Among the tory has been established on Yeddo teachers in the Japanese schools are Bay for the study of marine life. Ad- nearly two hundred Europeans; while vanced courses in art and science are among the men who have furnished text-books or have otherwise contrito be found in the university. High- buted to this remarkable educational progress are found the names of many class commercial schools, schools of Japanese who havestudied inour own fine art, schools of music, schools for schools and colleges. This record is a the deaf, dumb and blind, law courses notable one, both on account of the in German, French and English, completeness with which a very sulibraries and museums, all form a perior educational system has been part of this admirable system. The built up in Japan, and on account of Imperial University at Tokio numbers the promise for the future which it 864 students, and there is also in the contains. The Japanese are blillding same city a kind of Japanese academy, on a strong foundation. made up of eminent native scholars, who publish a magazine and are com- I1I.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD-FIELD.
Ohina. be full members of these. In all cases it shall be left to each individual foreign missionary PLAN OF THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN or minister to choose for himself one or other of these two relations, but during a temporary CHURCHES. sojourn at home he may resume full connec- tion with his former church court. A Conference on Union, composed of the representatives of seven Presbyterian II. The doctrinal basisof organlo union shall churches laboring in China, was convened be: (a). The Apostles' Creed. (b). The Nicene in Shanghai, China, May 12, 1890. At this Creed. (c). The Westminster Confession and Conference it was found that on account of Catechisms. the diversity of language and the difficulties of travel, the representatives of two churches m. Presbyteries sha.lJ be oomposed of the believed organic union impracticable. After the adjournment of this Conference an iu- missionaries, the pastors and the churches formal meeting of delegates, representing five occupying the same territory. These Presbydifferent Presbyterian missions, was held, at teries shall, for the present, constitute one which were present: Rev. A. P. Happer, D.D., Synod, which shall meet once in five years. Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. (North); Rev. John Ross, United Presbyterian Church of At a meeting of the full delegations. held at Scotland; Rev. T. C. Fulton, Irish Presbyteri- Shanghai, May 14th, it was resolved: an Church; Rev. John L. Stuart, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. (South); Rev. D. McGillivar- 1. "That Rev. Dr. Happer, Rev. J. Goforth, ay, Canadian Presbyterian Church (in Hon'an). Rev. J. Ross, Rev. John L. Stuart and Rev. T. C. Fulton be requested to present this basis of Dr. Rapper was called to the chair. It was union to their respective bodies for their aprecommended that steps be taken to form an proval, with a view to bringing the matter organic union between the churches here re- fully before the assemblies of 189~." presented and any others who may desire to join them. A plan of union, similar in some 2. "That these delegates intercommunicate respects to the one adopted by the Presbyteri- the action of the respective bodies as soon as an Churches in India, was proposed, and at a practicable. " subsequent meeting of the full delegations unanimously approved. Following is the plan: 3. "That these resolutions, with the whole action in the matter of organic union, be print- I. That a constitution be drafted for the ed for distribution among the delegates." Presbyterian Church in China, based upon the constitutions of the Presbyterian Churches in A. P. HAPPER, D.D., President. Europe and America. (a). That, if foreign S. I. WOODBRIDGE, Secretary. missionaries and ministers retain their connection with their home church courts, they shall Ohili, have no vote in the China church courts, but only the right to counsel and advise; but if [We give below a letter, addressed to Mrs. they sever their ecclesiastical connection with Dr. Asbury Lowrey, whose husband is one the home churchesand submit to the discipline of the vice·presidents of Bishop Taylor's Self· of the ecclesiastical courts in China, they shall Supporting Mission in South America, sent to us for publication.-Ens.] Santiago, May, 1890. Our Spanish work in Serena is progressing grandly under Dr. Canut; we have 40 probatloners and 300 In regular attendance at wor- Miss Rugg, late of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- ship, patto (yard or court) crowded with versity, writes: "This is work to be enjoyed people anxious to hear the Word of Life. for its own sake, imparting knowledge to Plenty of persecution; but no matter, that others-a.nd this we do for His sake,Who gives don't harm. Bless God for the awakening us such blessed saving knowledge of Himself. shown amongst this people I Oh, do buy us a I constantly feelthat my stay inIquiqueis one of great pleasure and profit. Thongh never esoo, lot on which to bulld a church. There is one wishing myself back home, my thoughts are often in that direction." for saleat another at $1,000; either would suit us, and for either we would be thankful. Faithfully yours, The $1,000 lot Is much the better suited for our purpose. Surely we should have one of these MRS. A. W. LA. FETRA. at once. India. Our Spanish work in Valparaiso in- creases in interest with astonishing rapidity; YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN A.SSOCIATION WORK, its needs are very great. In Valparaiso es- pecially we need a church and one of the best While the first chapter of this history may men in the Methodist Episcopal Church to to some seem only a common place record, supply English work there. Give us the church those who understand the situation sufficient- and the pastor and Methodism will take root ly to read between the lines wili see In it a there at once and flourish. deeper significance and the earnest of untold possibilities. Because this new departure in Communion wasadministered at Concepcion Madras will no doubt be repeated In many last Sabbath;. the church was full and several other cities of the Orient, the record may well joined the society; the Spirit of God was pres- be given more in detail. ent. Thereare now 100girls in the school here. In March, 1888, the Madras Missionary Con- Rev. James Benge, pastor of the church ference listened to a statement by Rev. Jacob· at Iquique, writes May 10, 1890: ()hamberlain, D. D., telling of the magnificent movement he had recently seen in progress. "We have here a properly organized church, among the young men of the United States. consisting of a pastor, a local preacher, a class and Canada for the salvation of their fellows, leader, eight members and six probationers, and of the young men of other lands. He sugall working together in harmony. Our class gested that thoroughly trained and experimeetings, prayer and Bible readings, are true enced leaders might be sent out and supportmeans of grace. Most of our members and ed by the American associations, to organize probationers are present at every meeting." the Christian young men and set them at work to reach their tellows by means of Dr. Hoover is wonderfully quick at acquir- Young Men's Christian Associations, whereing language. He superintends the meetings upon the conference unanimously took the of the native church, which has a dozen or following action: more members and probationers, among them a lad of 17 who has been educated in the "Considering that this Conference has on school and is 1Illed with a desire to serve God. many occasions called the attention of the He gives short addresses to the people. Dr. churches to the existence of a well prepared Hoover preaches in English, and a little in field among the educated non-Christian yonng Castilian; both English and Spanish congre- men of Madras, and begged them to send a gations are good, much interest being shown special agency to work it, it regards this proin religion. posal as a Providential response to their ap- peals, and it will gratefully welcome such Every form of religious literature we offer well qualified, thoroughly trainedagents as the the people is received with avidity and care- American Yo.ung Men's Christian Associafully read. Bible agents sell their books In tions propose to send, and it will give them large numbers; the people seem to crave God's its cordial sympathy and co-operation." Word and buy liberally. This means eulightenment. Responding to that action, I reached Madras on the 9th of January last, and was A few days ago we laid in the grave the body met by Mr. L. D. Wishard, who is visiting the of a lad, of Scotch family, who had been one students of the East as a representative of the· of our pupils. Dr. Hoover, with some 50 of College Young Men's Christian Associations the school boys, went in procession to the of Europe and America. Predisposed as we cemetery, where, during service, the boys sang were to Madras, by the action of the Mission- "Beautiful Home" by the last resting-place ary Conference and other Provideutial indicaof their companion. It was an unprecedented tions, that this was the likeliest point for event in the history of Terapaca, the sweet beginuing this work, we had, nevertheless, left voices singing tremblingly, while tear drops it an open question whether or not the time coursed down the faces of many native born. was yet ripe to organize here. The very day Chillans singing in English a song of Heaven of my arrival, a conference was held with the in a Chilian grave-yard marked an epoch in missiouaries, and, notwithstanding the colher history fragrant with promise for the fu- leges were all closed for the holidays, it was ture. Soon these boys will be Chilian men, decided to take advantage of Mr. Wishard's and the lessous of the grave and the hope beyond will never depart from their memories. presence to hold a Union meeting of ChrIs- reading-room, and actually increased in the tian young men in Memorial Hall, Saturday social room_ evening, January 18th. We held four preliminary meetings, explaining our purpose The membership has grown graduallyand making acquaintances. There were 800 February, 85; March, 85; April, 110; May, 125 present at the Union meeting, and it was -until now, early in June, we number 131, evident that the time had come to fully Inau- who have paid the annual fee in adgurate our work by and for the young men of vance. This includes not more than 100 Madras. sustainiug members, who contribute not less than 10 rupees each. Of the member- A voluntary commitee of management was ship, 48 are I' active," i. e., communicant constituted, consisting of five native Chris- members of Protestant churches, having tians, four Europeans and one Eurasian, seven the right to vote and hold office in the of the ten being laymen_ 11k W. Rierson Arbuthnot was elected president and Mr. J. association; 83 are I' associate" members, so L. Duffield, of the Bank of lIIadras, treasurer. An assistant secretary being required, Mr. J. that it is evident non-Christian young men are Gnanamuthu, a native Christian of Tinnevelly, being brought within the influence of the assojust graduated from the Christian College, at ciation. 84 are natives, 29 Eurasians, and 18 once entered upon these duties. Europeans, proving that it is possible to work on SO broad a basis, ignoring race prejudices, We got immediate possession of the most despite predictions to the contrary. The fureligible building in the city, already furnished ther fact that, of the 84 native members, 34 in part for our purposes. This building, "two are Hindus (of whom 16 are Brahmins) and 2 stories high, eighty feet by sixteen, with a Mohammedans, shows that the association shaded yard in front, centrally situated on the will bear heavily against the' caste barrier. Esplanade, overlooking the sea alongside of The occupations of our members are: Stuthe Christian College, within two minutes' dents, 48; teachers, 23; in Government posiwalk of the Church of Scotland College, five tions, 19; mechants, 6; clerks,10; railway serminutes from the Hindu College, and ten vice, 3; clergymen, 7; bankers, 2; catechists, minutes from the Medical College, is within 2; secretaries, 2; barristers-at-law, 2; physieasy access of several thousand students, cian, 1; unemployed, 3; unknown, 2. many of whom daily pass our doors. Important improvements were begun, renovating The privileges offered are not great as yet. the place, and improving the' ventilation. The reading-room is well supplied with Indian Down stairs a reading room, bath-room and aud foreign publications. The social room is kitchen. Upstairs a room, seating seventy- furnished with games, such as chess and five, was devoted to meetings and social pur- draughts. We have about 100 volumes for a. poses, adorned with pictures, curtains, etc., library; a taste for healthy literature will be and furnished with chess tables and checkers. cultivated, and the reading of young men be On this fioor there is also an office, where directed, if the library is SO enlarged that it meetings of the board and of the committees can be made circulating. We expect soon to are held. secure athletic grounds and to have a compe- tent instructor in the physical department, a. The formal" opening" was on the evening class in vocal music, and probably also an of March 7. Between five and six o'clock orchestra; but for lack of room we cannot there was a musical reception; the rooms meet the demand for other classes, especially thronged with members and friends. The in technical branches. public exercises were held in the evangelistic hall near by, which was crowded with the Since the middle of March Friday evenings young men of Madras, Christian and non- have been devoted to literary and social fea- Christian, Brahmin and Sudra, native and tures alternately. The social hour is spent Eurasian. It was gratifying to find so large a informally with music, recitations, games, number of young men who, f.hough without etc. Our course of lectures on literary and the pale of the Church, had been led thither scientific 8ubjects has become so popular that by conscious or unconscious interest in on one occasion 177 crowded into a room large Christian work designed to further the true enough for only half that number. progress of India. The Lord Bishop of Madras presided, and addresses were delivered Since January Saturday evening has been deby Dr. Miller, principal of the Christian Col- voted to a Bible class, preceded by a short servlege, and others. ice of song. The average attendauce has been 48, Hindus as well as Christians attending, and The attendance in our rooms has increased most of them bringing their own Bibles and steadily from the first, the daily average note-books. During the college vacation the the first week being 15, and in successive class is converted into a young men'8 gospel weeks, 31, 47, 51, 68, 94, 106, 102, 141. Even meeting, in which the members take part. during the hottest weather, many members being absent during the college vacation, the A Bible training class, composed of six attendance has decreased but little in the young men, pledged to invariable attendance and at least three hours' study a week, is being conducted through a systematic course, to prepare workers. At the close of every evening the members ently refused to do. Alone, with no defense of the reception committee conduct a brief save the feeble protest of his brother, he finalinformal service of prayer, to which those in ly consented to have the marks put on for the roomS are invited. fear they would kill him. He is keenly consci- ous of the shame which he feels he bears, and At our first quarterly members' meeting, 71 is more pronounced than before in his purpose being present, the reports from the various to follow Christ. Indeed he assures me now committees would have done credit to any that he is quite ready to be baptized. He needs similar association in the West. Most of the instruction, however, and our hope is that active members are at work on the com- other members of his family may join him ndttees. a little later. To become a Christian here means literally the loss of all things. Those 3,000 rupees, it was estimated, would be re- words in Mark xi:29·30 never meant so much quired for the expenses of this year, inclnding to me before as when this young man and I furnishing. We have already secured 2,500 in read them together: "There is no man that membership fees and annual subscriptions of hath left house or brethren or sisters or father sustaining members. and it is believed that or mother or wife or children or lands, for My the work will become locally self-supporting, sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an apart from the salary of the general sec- hundredfold-with persecutions-and in the retary. world to come eternal life." Food and water and fire are cut off from the man who dares to The building is already too small to accom- break caste. modate the growing membership,and the management feels the pressing need of another The young Brahmin convert who led our building adapted to the peculiar requirements Young Men's Meeting last week and made a of this four-fold work, and for the funds to ringing appealfor fearless confession of Christ build the association must look to generous at any cost, is regarded by his fl'iends as dead friends in America. and his funeral obsequies have actually been performed. When another of our active mem- The Young Men of India, our eight-page bers, one of my training class, was about to monthly paper, is bearing tidings of this work be baptized, poisoned food was sent him by through the land, and we are now in corres- his own mother. and the road near my bungapondence with twenty-two other associations low was thronged with a mob of 2,000 Hindus, in India. infuriated at the missionary who was to per- form the ceremony. What far-sighted wisdom Already "first fruits" are beginning to ap- Jesus displayed in appointing baptism as the pear; success is provoking opposition-a wel- sign and seal of complete separation from the come relief from death·like indifference. For dead past! example, a Hindu member who has attended evening prayers and my Bible-dass quite regu- Dr. Chamberlain did not exaggerate when larly has shown anxiety to know the truth, at Northfield, in the su=er of 1887, he deand seemS not far from the Kingdom. On a clared that this was "the opportunity of the Saturday evening, about two weeks ago, he ages" now presenting itself to the Young was waylaid and prevented from coming to our Men's Christian Association here in India. Young Men's Gospel Meeting. After being What is being done in Madras can be done struck he escaped, and went quietly home. A throughout India. Calls for experienced genfew days after he came to get an English Bible, eral secretaries have already come from Calsupplementing his Tamil New Testament cntta and Colombo and Allahabad, and other which he has been using for some time; he cities are making similar demands. But the also attended a native church with one of our pressing need of the hour is to establish per· active members. Then a rumor was started manently in a suitable building this growing at Ihis home that he was becoming a Chris· work that has begun so well in this strongtian, and persecution commenced. Last Sun- hold of Hinduism. We are praying for the day he went with his brother, according to needed funds. "The God of Heaven, He will custom, to his native village to attend a cere- prosper us; therefore we His servants will mony for a sister who had recently died. arise and build." Are ye who read this record Sixty or seventy relatives had gathered to to "have no portion nor right nor memoriar' perform Puja for the deceased, but when the among the fifty millions of young men of Intime came to eat they refused to take food dia-so many of whom have English education with our friend, because they said he was go- but are "without Christ, having no hope and ing to become a Christian. They insisted upon without God in the world 1" his shaving his head and putting on the castemark of his god which he had abandoned. He Yours in His name and theirs, was taken to the temple. Excitement ran high. They demanded that he take an oath DAVID MCCONAUGHY, Jr. not to become a Christian, which he persist-
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY REV. J. 'T. GRACEY, D.D.
Ohinese Education-Past and Present. China, when he stated that, as his victorious troops were returning to- BY REV. MARCUS L. TAFT, OF PEKING wards· the capital, they could fre- quently hear sounds from certain UNIVERSITY. buildings as of "the humming of bees." This poetical allusion would (Paper read before International Mis- be readily understood by any intelli- sionary Union, June, 1890.) gent Chinaman as meaning" students studying aloud "-a sure sign of peace " Formerly Confucius had young Hsiang Toh and prosperity. for his teacher; "Pai Chia Hsing," or "100 Sur- Even the sages of antiquity studied'with dili- names," is the title of the second book gence. which the youthful John Chinaman is required to memorize. This ex- ,Chao, a minister of State, read the Confncian plains why, although the popUlation Dialogues, of China amounts to hundreds of mil- lions, there are only 100 purely Chi- And he, too, though high in office, studied nese surnames, and, therefore, we in assiduously. this country so often see so many of the same name, as Chang, Lee and One copied lessons on reeds, another on slips Wang. of bamboo; Four other books, based upon the 'These, though without books, eagerly sought Confucian Classics, as well as the knowledge. famous " Four Books" and "Fine Classics," are, in due order, mastered (To vanquish sleep) one tied his head (by the by the patient, ambitious scholar. hair) to a beam, and another pierced his thigh with an awl; These Confucian Classics inculcate morality and teach jurisprudence. In 'Though destitute of instructors, these were comparison with the ancient writings laborious in study. of India, Greece and Rome they are remarkable in the absence of the One read by the glowworm's light, another by vulgar and obscene. Some of the reflection from snow; poetry is truly of a high order. Take an example of an ode, composed by 'These, though their families were poor, did Wan Wang, about 1,000 B. C" which not omit to study. may remind us of a more modern production on a smilar topic: .one carried faggots, and another tied his books to a cow's horn, "THE SWEET PE.AR TREE.
And, while thus engaged in labor, studied with (1.) " 0 I FeIl not that sweet pear tree I intensity. " See how its branches spread I Such are some of the inspiring senti- Spoil not its shade, ments in the" San Tzu Ching," the For Shao's chief laid universal primer, committed to memory by every Chinese lad who Beneath it his weary head, .enters upon the road of learning. Well do I remember the pardonable (2.) "0 I Clip not that sweet pear tree I pride of ;t certain Chinaman at Kiu Each twig and leaflet spare- Kiang, China, who brought his little brother before me to have me hear 'Tis sacred now him recite the" San Tzu Ching." Since the Lord of Shao, Being winter, the little urchin was clad in cumbrous, cotton-wadded When weary, rested him there.
clothing, and appeared hardly old (3.) " O! Touch not that sweet pear tree I ,enough to walk alone. Quickly facing Bend not a twig of it now; about, with his back towards me, and There, long ago, constantly swaying from side to side, As the stories show, this Chinese youngster glibly recited the entire" Trimetrical Classic." Oft haIted the Chief of Shao."
Another peculiarity in Chinese schools, besides" backing" and swaying during recitation, is stUdying aloud. It was to this universal practice that the late Viceroy, Tso, referred, a few years ago, in his report to the throne upon his repulse of the Russians from the northwest province of The familiar lines, " Woodman, These Governmental examinatione Spare that Tree," are thus, by this place a premium upon learning and Chinese poet, .anticipated by over furnish worthy incentives to every twenty-five centuries. aspiring youth to acquire an educa- Throughout China there is no sys- tion. Conceit, conservatism and cau- tem of public education. Many tion were legitimate results of this.
schools are started by wealthy parents contracted, antiquated curriculum of for their sons, and other pupils are stUdy. The ordinary Chinese scholar, allowed for a small sum to attend. with his enormous goggles and long Other schools are carried on by weH- finger-nails, indicative of leisure and to-do Chinese as meritorious deeds, for erudition, considers that he, like the which they will receive due credit in Pharisee of old, is the personification the world to come. of all wisdom. Their conceit is some- The attractive incentive.> to study thing prodigious. Nearly ten years.
are honor, office and immunity from ago, shortly after my arrival in China, corporal punishment,obtained through as I was studying with one of these> the civil servive examinations. DiS- literati as my teacher, we came to a.
trict, provincial and national exami- point where I could not comprehend nations, if successfully passed, open what he was trying to explain. Since the door to rank and office. Nearly he could speak no English and my all youths in the empire may compete knowledge of Chinese at that time> inthesepublicexaminations. Through- was very limited, he resorted to the out China there is no aristocracy of object method of instruction. He wealth, rank or caste. Only the aris- was endeavoring to explain the differ- tocracy of intellect prevails. The son ence between China and foreign coun- of a poor coolie as well as the son of tries. So he drew a large circle, and a rich mandarin may alike compete in inside wrote "Middle Kingdom"- this intellectual tournament. Who- one of the namE'S for China, and over'
ever succeeds, whether of a rich or the rim of this large circle he drew a poor lineage, may, provided he has very small circle, markingit " Outside the brains, attain a pqsition next to Countries;" His notion was that the emperor himself. This, in fact, is China, the;' Middle Kingdom," com- the ballot of the Chinese. This system prised all the best poI'tion of the· of competitiveexaminations, in opera- world, and over the bordt!r of this, tion during nearly thirteen centuries, where no one would live if he could has done more to maintain the integ- possibly help it-why, there were the rity of the ChinE'se empire than any United States, England, France, Ger- other factor, excepting, perhaps, filial many, Russia and all other foreign piety, to which God attached the first countries.
promise in the Decalouge. Conservatism is also a natural result.
Most remarkable has been the loyalty of their educational training. The of the Chinese literati. During that Chinese seem to think that whatever long and bloody Tai Ping Rebellion was good enough for their illus- " not one imperial official voluntarily trious sage, Confucius, who lived joined the Tai Pings, while hundreds about five centuries before Christ, is died resisting them" (v. Villiams' good enough for them to-day. To- "Middle Kingdom," Revised Edition, alter now what suited him then would Vol. I., p. 563). Compare such unani- be irreverence. As an instance of this.
mous loyalty of Chinese officials with look at the springless, seatless, rude some of the graduates of West Point cart of North China to-day. This and Annapolis during our late Civil conservatism especially manifests it- War, and the contrast will be more self against any innovation in morals evident. and religion. Hence the intense hostility towards the Christian religion on ous wealth, into the possession of a British Queen, who lives on a little the part of these same literati. island far away on the other side of the world. They do not at all desire Throughout the Chinese empire, these that a single square foot of Chinese soil shall be owned by any foreign literati, and not the Buddhist and Power. Therefore, eight years ago, on the introduction of the telegraph Taoist priests, have been the most via- into China, the Chinese would only em- ploy foreign experts from one of the lent opponents of Christianity. Ifany- smaller Powers of Europe, even Den- mark, so that every foreigner engaged one will take the trouble to investigate in the ereotion of the telegraph lines in China was a Dane. With reference the various riots in connection with to railroads a similar policy has been adopted. Syndicates in Great Britain, mission work which have occurred in France, Germany and the United States have sent their representatives widely separated sections of China, he to China in order obtain grantS for the construction of railroads. The will almost invariably find that these urbane Chinese mandarin received them very politely, but not the slight- Chinese literati have been the chief est concession would he grant any of them. After a brief interview, they instigators of these disturbances. They were ushered out of his presence and politely but plainly shown the way to· do not always show their hands. They their respective native lands.
usually stir up the lewd fellows of the China's enlightened statesmen want railroads, but only on the conbaser sort to perform this menial work dition that China shall control them. She may employ foreign engineers and for them, while they stand by and mechanics, but the railroad must be under her exclusive control. Such is. urge them on to their dastardly deeds.. their great caution, which, in some re- spects, rather deserves commendation Who, a few years ago, started the than condemnation.
riot in Chung-King, in West China, Notwithstanding this conceit, con- servatism, and caution, the shriek of when the Gamewells, Lewises and the locomotive and the glare of the electric light are causing these Chineseother missionaries with their families Rip Van Winkles to wake up from the slumber of centuries. Within three had their houses torn down by a mob, years modern science, mathematics, history and kindred studies have been and who, after an imprisonment of placed upon the list of examinatlOns. In the autumnal examinations of 1888 nearly two weeks, escaped at midnight in Peking, a further advance was· made. "For the first time in this exfrom the Ohinese yamen' Who, time amination a large premium was placed upon a knowledge of mathe– and again, have caused missionaries matics and Western sciences. Previ-· ous to the time for entering the lists, of the China Inland Mission to be proclamations were posted in the· driven by mobs out of their houses in Honan and Hunan? Who, in the lat- est instance of the kind, pulled that Baptist missionary out of his house in Shantung, "dragging him into the street by the hair of his head, tramp- ling him under their feet and leaving him there almost dead? Who were the instigators of all these and scores of similar riots in all parts of China?
No other auswer can be given than the Chinese literati. Such is their hostility developed out of their intense conservatism. • Again, excessive caution is another result of their educational system.
Since the influential officials have be- gun to investigate the history of for- eign nations, they are very cautious in making changes. Their leading statesmen are well posted concerning India. They know how India, after having been seized upon by Portugal and France, has at last come, with its enormous population and prodigigates, announcing that this much- ate at Edinburgh and ranked high sought-for honor would be bestowed as a physician at Canton; Hon. Yung upon five per cent. of those who Wing was the originator of the Chinshowed proficiency in these studies; ese Educational Commission to the whereas in the case of students from United States. Their headquarters the province at large, who, after the were at Hartford, Conn., but these order of the old regime, submitted to Chinese students, after a few years of examinations in the classics only, but study in New England, were sumone per cent. would receive the de- marily recalled to China. Now they gree." are filling influential positions in the Chinese army and navy, in the Since the iniquitious Opium War of telegraph offices, in the medical 1841-4.2, China, perceiving the superi- profession and in foreign consulates ority of Western science, has estab- and embassies. Tong King Sing is lished arsenals and technical schools president of the China Merchant for military and naval tactics, Steamship Company, and the leading medicine, telegraphy, and other director, withViceroy Li Hung Chang, Western sciences at Foochow, Shang- in the newly constructed railroad from hai, Nanking, and Tientsin, as well as the Kai-Ping coal mines to Tientsinthe Imperial College, Tung Wen about eighty miles in length. These Kuan, at Peking, where some 100 Chi- are some of the results of the "Morrinese students are prepared to act as son Educational Society," organized interpreters and consuls, under the before conservative China began to apefficient leadership of that eminent preciate and appropriate modern sci- American sinologue, Rev. W. A. P. ence from the West. Martin, D.D., LL.D. All of the Governmental institutions are secular, Since Morrison's day, Christian eduthe Bible and Christianity being rigor- cation in China, started by his wise ously excluded from the course of in- foresight, has made marvellous strides. .struction. Institutions, where only the vernacu- lar has been used in teaching West- Robert Morrison, the far-sighted ern learning, have been in successful and clear-headed pioneer of Protes- operation on many mission fields, tant missions in China, inaugurated notably atSwatow, Tungchowfu, and both educational and medical work, Tungcho in Chihli. Other Protestant as able auxiliaries in evangelizing that institutions oflearning have combined empire. In the light of recent events the study of English with Chinese, as the wisdom of his planning is most in the ChristianUniversity at Canton, manifest. For thorough mission-work, in the Foochow University, in the there should be an indissoluble union Shanghai College and in the Peking ·of body, mind and heart. Christianity University. must have possession of the whole man. In all these Christian schools, a great door and effectual is to- Dr. Morrison, clearly seeing this, day opportunely opened for the established both educational and medi- thinking classes of China. These cal auxiliaries for Chinese evangeliz- literati, recruited from all grades of ation many years before the Opium the Chinese population, have all along War. Also, antedating that epoch, been our most bitter opponents. Since there was organized in his honor' 'The the recent radical departure of the Morrison Educational Society," with Government in placing Western Dr. S. R. Brown as first instructor. If science upon the examination lists, Dr. Wang, Hon. Yung Wing and these ambitious scholars have ascer- Tong King Sing were the only pupils, tained that Christian Anglo-Chinese the work of that society was surely schools could provide them with the not in vain. Dr. Wang was agradueagerly desired Western science. They tainty the life beyond the grave. have loudly knocked at these Chris- Philosophers of all nations may surtian halls of learning, asking admis- mise and speculate, but, as Gibbon sion. All available room has been camlidly stated in his famous fifteenth quickly taken. At present, worthy chapter, "It was still necessary that applicants, willing to pay tuition and the doctrine of life and immortality, support themselves, especially at Pe- which had been dictated by nature, king, have had to be turned away, sim- approved by reason, and received by ply for lack of accommodation. superstition, should obtain the sanction of divine truth from the authority and Merely secular education will never example of Christ." rescue China from her heathenism and atheism. Allowing to Confucian- Clearly appreciating the present nism all the moral and political excel- educationalcrisis of missions in China, lence it deserves, there still remains contrasting the intense hostility to "an aching void." In it exists no Christian education in Turkey, and self-renunciating love, no forgive- remembering Christ's farewell comness of sin, and no hope of immor- mand, " Go, teach!" the faithful Protality. testant missionary in China to-day gladly employs Christian education as The negative maxim, "Whatsoever the right arm for evangelizing China's ye would not that men should do to millions. to you, do not do them," is sometimes called the Silver Rule of Confucius, in The Evolution of a Missionary Society. comparison with the positive law of love, the Golden Rule of Christ. One BY REV. JAMES MUDGE. is negative and passive; the other is positive and active. One is as the It has for some time seemed to me priest and Levite, who do no harm, that since the International Missionary but sympathetically pass by on the Union was also, in the most emphatic other side; the other is as the Good sense, interdenominational, it would Samaritan, who at the sight of the be highly fitting that there be presuffering traveler, at once dismounts, sented at its annual meetings a series binds up his wounds, places him upon of papers setting forth somewhat in his own beast of burden, and makes detail the internal organization of the arrangements for his comfort at the various societies, together with the inn. One is like the moonlight, sil- changes, if any, that have taken place very and clear, but cool and chilly; since their formation. Such a series The other is like the genial warm sun- would be especially timely just now shine, with its invigorating radiance in view of the fact that the oldest at noon-day. American society is casting about for the wisest method of so modifying her Once a disciple of Confucius came constitution as to bring herself more to this conservative sage and asked fully en rapport with her constituency. him concerning sin. The only conso- By way of a beginning in this direclation Confucius gave him was this: tion, and as affording in a compact " He who sins against heaven has no compass information not easily accesone to whom he can pray." At sible to all, I present the following another time a disciple of his inquired sketch of the manner in which the concerning the future life. Confu- missionary society of the Methodist cius replied, "If we know not the Episcopal Church has reached its present life how can we know the present position. future life?" Honest words, frankly spoken! No man, however wise in It has undergone what may not inthis world's wisdom, can, unaided by aptly, perhaps, be styled a process of divine revelation, describe with cer- evolution. Like Methodism itself it has gradually developed, adapting itself to circumstances and undergo- meeting. A committee from that ing a variety of changes, passing on meeting, composed of Nathan Bangs, from point to point as Providence ap- Freeborn Garrettson and Laban Clark, peared to direct and the wisdom of drew up its constitution, which was experience to dictate. It has not formally adopted at a large public probably yet attained in all respects gathering held in Forsyth street perfection's height, but in most par- church, April 5, 1819, and a full set of ticulars it affords an admirable ex- officers was elected. The ensuing ample of close approximation to the general conference sanctioned the ideal. scheme and recommended all other Previous to 1872 its membership, as Methodist missionary societies, nota- in so many other societies even at the bly the one at Philadelphia, which present day, rested on a purely finan- was of older date, to become auxiliary cial basis. The society up to that time to this at New York. But it was more consisted exclusively of life members, than twenty years before these two made such by the payment of twenty societies really united. Norw~ it till dollars. No others belonged. Twenty- 1836 that the missionary society be- five of these members constituted a came of sufficient,.importance to have quorum for the transaction of busi- a resident corresponding secretary ness. And at the annual meeting, of who should give his entire time to its such members as might choose to come service. Dr. Nathan Bangs was ap- together in the city of New York on pointed. He had from the beginning, the third Monday of November, there without salary orcompensation of any was chosen the full board of man- kind, conducted almost all its busi- agers in whom was vested the entire ness, writing every annual report but disposition of the affairs and property . one; and holding in himself the most of the society. Rather a loose arrange- of its life-blood. Dr. Bangs was ment it would seem. These managers chosen by the general conference, as consisted of thirty-two laymen, and, have been all subsequent correspond- after 1856, of no more than thirty-two ing secretaries, although, until the ministers, although before that all abolition of the old" society" in 1873, Qrdained ministers, both traveling and it went through the legal form of re- local, who were·members of the society electing them at its regular annual were also members of the board. This meeting. From 1836 to 1844 the cor- made it, by the necessities of the case, responding secretary had to be a mem- largely a local affair, and to some ex- ber of the New York Conference, tent, legally at least, independent of which was charged with his super- all church authority. Yet from the vision.
first its promoters earnestly endeavored In 1844 a very important step was to give it a connectional character, taken in the direction of generalizing and partly succeeded. They groped the management. It was in this year their way steadily toward the true that the church was divided into mis- theory and method, dropping off one sion districts, and there was formed erroneous feature after another, fol- from these the general missionary lowing the leadings of the Lord, and committee, appointed by the bishops, moving forward as fast, perhaps, as to whom was given a share in the the church in general was prepared to control, conjointly with the board.
accompany them, until they came at In 1856 the clerical managers were re- length to the fully developed system. stricted to thirty-two, and in 1872 was It is instructive and interesting to instituted the present arrangement, note the advances. whereby the general missionary com- This missionary society was clearly mittee is composed of one representa- the child of the New York preachers' tive from each of the mission districts, now fourteen, elected by the general States and foreign countries there conference, on nomination, by the shall be a missionary society, duly in- delegates of the annual conferences corporated according to law, and within each district respectively, alilo having its office in the city of New an equal number of persons selected York; said society being subject to by the board of managers from its such rules and regulations as the own sixty-four members, together general conference may from time to with the secretaries and treasurers of time prescribe." Singular as it may the society, and the whole Board of seem, this was the first issue of the Bishops. This action more than any Discipline, fifty-six years after the other gave the final death-blow to society had been endorsed by the the old society idea, and made the general conference, cOlltaining a direct missionary organization, as it ought authorization of its existence. No to be, an integral part of the work of previous Discipline has any mention the whole church. of the society, except two or three indirect references or allusions in Dr. Durbin, secretary from 1850 to paragraphs treating of other topics, 1872, had already seen the importance which shows emphatically in what a ,of emphasizing this side of the move- very miscellaneous manner the entire ment, and in the" Disciplinary Chap- legislation of the church on this ter on Missions," recast by him with a subject has been thrown together, large amount of new matter in 1852, and how fragmentarily it has arrived he had taken pains to place at the at its present excellent condition. head of all this highly significant sen- tence: "The support of missions is The most recent emendation of the committed to the churches, congrega- constitution, ordered by the General Conference of 1888, was in the same as tions and societies such." In other line with all the previous changes, and provides for the still further emwords, the cause was not to be re- phasizing of the connectional, as opgarded as the concern simply of such posed to the local, character of the separate members of the church as institution, by prescribing that the might choose to bind themselves annual meeting of the General Comtogether in local auxiliaries, which at mittee shall be hereafter no longer the first, and for a long while, were confined to New York but shall be regarded as the principal feeders held at least three times out of four in Df the society, nor of such as were other cities. able and willing to contribute twenty dollars at one time, but every church It would seem now that there is member throughout the nation or the nothing left of the society or local world was by the very fact of his idea beyond the mere name and the membership pledged to contribute restrictions imposed by the necessity and co-operate according to his ability, of having a charter from some specinor did he need to be further enrolled fic State Legislature in order to hold in any distinct way to make this property, as well as the necessity of having headquarters where certain pledge more binding. And all the matters of business can be attended pastors were, as such special agents of to. This missionary society, still so- .the cause, charged with collecting called for convenience sake, is now funds for its furtherance and in every simply and solely the whole church way advancing its interests. itself acting in its corporate capacity for the establishment and support of The missionary section of the Disci- missions. It is not an outside organizpline was again entirely recast in ation allied to the church, but distinct 1876, with a number of new para- from it. Rather is it tpe right arm of graphs, of which the following 'Stands first: "For the better prosecution of missionary work in the United
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
the body. holding most vital connec- and sovereignly regulates all its aftion with every other part, receiving fairs. The bishops appoint all the its full share of the life blood and con- missionaries. The general committee, tributing its full share to the welfare meeting annually, selects the mission of the whole. The missionary society fields and allots the money, and the is only one of the names of the church, board of managers, meeting monthly, and every member of the latter, from looks after the details, while the secthe senior bishop to the youngest pro- retaries conduct the correspondence bationer, is also a member of the and set in motion all possible agencies former, having some part to fill in its for filling the treasury. So there is at maintenance. The General Confer- last provided here an agency of marence, the highest authority, the one vellous completeness for the purpose body which speaks for the entire in hand-a system of wheels and pulchurch the world around, elects its lies and bands in which strength is secretaries and treasurers and presi- combined with elasticity, and which dents, appoints its managers and gen- moves with a smoothness and effieral committee, revises its constitution ciency leaving little to be desired.
V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY SECRETARY F. F. ELLINWOOD, D.D.
The Situa.tion in Ja.pan and Korea. decades-the average force for that time having been small. But that I.-JAPAN.
The statistical report of Protestant which may be tabulated in figures is missions in Japan for the year 1889, but a small part of what has been ac- published by Rev. Henry Loomis, complished in Japan. The beginnings agent of the American Bible Society, which have been made point to is full of suggestions. Its general in- broader future results. Everything dications of success are remarkable. in such a work is of the nature of Only fifteen years ago the member- seeds. Forces are set in motion which ship of the churches were buta hand- will continue to act for generations.
ful. The missionary boards scarcely What if foreigners should now be took the pains to publish any statis- wholly excluded, as were the Portu- tics. It was the day of small things. guese missionaries two centuries ago? It is almost startling, therefore, to Is Christianity planted and rooted SO find now a total membership in the firmly that it would survive and Protestant mission churches of 31,181, prosper if the Japanese churches with 274 organized churches, 153 of were left to themselves? Judging which are wholly and 151 partially from the history of Protestant mis- self-supporting. Thereare 135 ordained . sions in Tahite and Madagascar, we native ministers and 409 unordained may safely conclude that the work preachers and helpers. There are 350 accomplished in Japan is a perma- Sabbath schools with 21,597 pupils, nent and enduring power in the land.
and 17 theological schools with 275 And it is from this point of view students. The contributions of the that we may perhapsgainthe strongest churches during the year 1889 amount- impression of the value of the work of ed to $53,503.13. The number of mis- twenty-five years. Over against the sionary organizations represented in work of less than a generation, there this work is 29, and the number of must be set down to the credit side foreign missionaries is—{)f men, 200; the endless development and the im- of unmarried female missionaries, 171; measurable fruitage of many genera- with a total, including wives, of 527. tions to come.
Such is the force now engaged and Of course missionary influence canthe result shown is the work of two not claim all that has been done in the transformation of Japan. Com- in place here as we contemplate the merce has done much, and "he general situation. It has been too government and people have until common, though on slight grounds, to now seemed almost eager to learn the consider Sintoism* as dead and out of ways of our Western civilization, in- the question. But intelligent Japcluding education. But the missionary anese, even some of those most work has contributed that best of all friendly to Christian progress, look elements, the ethical and the domestic. upon Sintoism as constituting a It has changed especially the whole greater obstacle to Christianity than status and outlook of Japanese woman- Buddhism, though its influence is less hood, and that includes also the out- conspicuous and obstructive. Sintolook of the future state. ism is the old national religion; it is a development of that nature worship But there is another lesson which which has been so common in the the statistics of Mr. Loomis present. early experience of many races. There has been evidently some reaction. There has not been as large a Sintoism recognizes one Supreme growth in 1889 as in other recent years. God, who is unknown to men, but We were prepared for this, for all from whom all things have sprung. sources of information have revealed From him eight subordinate divinities the fact of political jealousy connect- emanated, of whom the most impor_ ed with the question of the revision tant were Isename and Isenangi, male of treaties. There has sprung up a and female, the progenitors of manparty which is opposed to foreigners kind. and foreign influence. It embraces many of the young and vigorous ele- These related deities, standingon the mentsof Japanese society. There has ramparts of heaven, reached down to in consequence been less readiness to earth with a long spear and stirred listen to the gospel, and the religious the depths of the ocean, and as they movement generally has felt the in- withdrew the spear there dripped from fiuence. Missionaries are consequently its point a peculiar substance from filled with no little anxiety, though which grew the islands of Japan, and generally they are hoping that the re- which had in it "the prophecy and action is only temporary. potency of all life," animal and vege- table. It was Huxley's protoplasm It isa fitting opportunity, now that turned to' practical account. From the work has slackened speed, to re- the two deities sprang a beautiful view the whole situation. What is daughter, the goddess of the sun, and the religious condition of Japan to- she became the mother of the day? What remaining strength have Mikados. the old faiths? Are they likely to abide, or will the future conflict lie It is claimed tha~ there has never between Christianity and some new been a break in this royal and divine form of belief or unbelief? Really succession, and that for 2600 years it there are four religions still contend- can be clearly traced. Many imporing for supremacy – Sintoism, Bud- tant results have sprung from this dhism,Confucianism and Christiar:ity, sun myth. It has conduced greatly to say nothing of those new types of to the loyalty of the Japanese toward thought which are the result of their sovereign. Only in three unsucconflict or compromise, and which cessful instances have attempts ever generally savor of general dissent and been made to dethrone a Mikado, negation. though changes in the dynasties of the Shoguns, or temporal rulers, have SINTOISM. • Some writers use the simple term Sintoo, A moment's consideration of the bnt Sintoism is employed by some native old faiths and their present status is writers. been frequent enough. The myth of neighbor, considered the universe as the sun goddess has also had a general- eternal, subject only to development ly favorable influence on the con- by natural growth or by generation. dition of women. The chief deity Though the Japanese, unlike the Inof Sintoists is a female. The most dian faith, recognized the existence gorgeous temple in Japan is the Sin- of a supreme deity from whom the to temple, reared to the sun goddess two divine progenitors emanated, yet in the Province of Ise. She is regard- it made no practical account of him. ed as the giver of all life in nature, He was never worshipped. and therefore the goddess of spring and of harvests. In the springtime festi- The two systems appear to have exvals and processions are instituted in ercised a degree of mutual toleration, her honor. and both adm~tted the claims of Confu- cianism, which in Japan, as in China Of the long succession of sovereigns and Korea, became largely the faith nine have been women. Naturally, or cult of the intellectual classes. The therefore, the female sex escapes favorite illustration by which this the degrading estimate which obtains tolerantspirit was expressed ran thus: in most Asiatic countries. Women There are many paths which lead to are not secluded as in China or India, the top of Fusyama, each approaching and there is in Japan something from a different side, but when they which approximates to our ideas at reach the summit, they all alike home. command a view of the world.
A religion which is so strarigely In some respects Sintoism and naturalistic might be expected to be Buddhism rendered to each other a weak on its ethical side. It is not a mutual service. The former, like creed of strong moral power. There other systems of sun worship, develis less ~f "thou shalt" and "thou oped a great aversion to death and shalt not" than in most faiths. The corruption. As with the followers of sexual relations, especially among the Zoroaster, so with all Sintoists, the rural populations, are lax and the pro- contact of the dead was considered test of conscience is feeble. Yet in polluting. And there was but slight the common ethics of life in all that attention given to the hereafter. concerns mutual rights, Sintoism presents a better record than many Buddhism, on the other hand, magsystems of more rigid law. It is nified the issues of the future. It was always the sin that breaks over a more sombre in spirit and looked upon strong moral code that becomes the death as only a transition to oth&r most heinous. Sint6ism has no forms of life. But on the other hand positively corrupting doctrines or Buddhism held an awkward relation ceremonies like those of Hinduism or to marriage. Itwasessentiallyopposed the old Baal worship. It has no vile to the reproduction of life. Its celiand demoralizing promises like that bate priesthood were out of place at of the Mohammedan's heaven. It has the marriage feast, whileSinto priests, DO legends of vicious conduct in its themselves fathers of families, were in gods as have most heathen systems, full sympathy with it. ancient and modern. For a thousand years, therefore, BUDDHISM. marriages were under the direction of Sinto priests, while the Buddhist Buddhism entered Japan about 552 bonzes officiated at the funerals. The A. D., and from that time interesting arrangement was finally broken off changes occurred mutually between it through the jealousy of the Governand the Japanese faith. The two sys- ment. As with the Church of Rome, tems were alike in dispensing with a so with the· Buddhist Sangha: the Creator. Sintoism, as well as its new power over the dying and the dead and the issues of the world to come The Japanese Government from was found to be a formidable factor time to time canonizes the great men in the State. who in their lives have been public benefactors, and thenceforth they are It must be ,"mfessed that thE' line of enshrined. Every prefecture. in the cleavage between the two systems is empire has its Sinto temple. The still very difficult to trace, as the great system seems entrenched in the mass of the people are practically both national life however little of aggres- Sintoists and Buddhists. The latter siveness it may manifest as a religion. <:ult, by its stronger intellectual character, has accomplished more for Buddhism of the old stamp can education and for all the elements of scarcely retain its power, but it never an advancing civilization than the old cares to retain any particular type. faith. It has also introduced moral It has ul'l.dergone many changes in the precepts of a more positive character past centuries and is ready for many than the simpler nature worship had more. It is the most flexible and adever inculcated. Modern Japan as it justable of all systems. It is divided stood at the time of Commodore into twelve distinct sects as it nowex- Perry's expedition was greatly in- ists in Japan. What new attitude it debted to Buddhism, and it owed much will assume in the new ordeal to which also to the teachings of Confucius, the full blaze of Christian truth is which with the introduction of the subjecting it remains to be seen. Chinese language had gained a strong German philosophy, Indiantheosophy, foothold. Both of these systems are and American Unitarianism are doing :still active and aggressive in their what they can to keep it in good heart influence, though lacking the one ele- agaiust the incursion of the" Western ment of strength which Sintoism religion" which missionaries are strivenjoys in its alliance with the Govern- ing to introduce. ment. When the present Mikado assumed full power he proclaimed the What, then, is the outlook? The Sinto faith as the religion of the foes of Christianity love to dwell State. upon what they call the small and in- effectual efforts and smaller success of Well he might, for he had witnessed our Christian propagandism, and they a manifestation of its power as a sup- point in contrast to the widespread porter of his throne such as few conquests of Buddhism on the same sovereigns in the world's history have field fourteen hundred years ago. known. The voluntary surrender of But they forget that those conquests their power and their feudal estates by which we have se~n to have be~n only the daimios of all the provinces to one partial were the result of hundreds of ruler could only have been brought years of slow growth. We have been about by that reverence which the at work a quarter of a century, the sovereigns of Japan have so long re-' first decade of which showed little <:eived as the sons of the gods. fruit, and yet no other such trans- formation ever occurred even in a Moreover, the Sinto temples are century or in two centuries. The enshrined in the pride and reverence nation was never so awakened before, of the people as the resting-places of and it is not strange that some rethe national heroes. There are no action should have occurred and some idols there, but the images of the great real fear lest all trace of the past men of the past are legion. Bud- should be lost. dhism has adroitly followed this example, but the images are only bor- The fact that neither the Buddhist rowed and seem out of place. They nor the Confucian faith ever entirely properly belong to Sintoism and the won Japan after so many centuries of national system. experiment may properly raise the question whether even Christianity dynasty it has been under the ban of will take exclusive possession of the Governmental condemnation. It excountry. The idea that Japan or ists only by sufferance. Confucian- China or India will become exclusively ism has fared better among the lead- Christian in the near future seems ing classes, but its influence is greatly born rather of enthusiasm than of· a circumscribed. careful consideration of facts and indications. No _country is wholly Korea, as a country, has no religion Christian. The best are only prevail- except a crude mass of superstitionsingly Christian, and such Japan will spirit-worship or nature-worship, or be. But until the day comes in which the usual mixture of the two. Like infidel influences from so-called China and Japan, the country has had Christian countries shall cease to ob- an experience with Jesuit missions and struct the conversion of heathen races has driven them out with bloody perby positive efforts to corrupt and lead secutions-though a remnant of native astray we can only hope for a supreme Roman Catholic Christians has reand Qvermastering influence of the mained. The work of Protestant gospel. missions in Korea all lies within the last decade. It began on the North- The Government will perhaps cling west even before the seaports were to the alliance of the Sinto faith for opened by treaties with Western Powa time even after the light of civiliz- ers. Through the indefatigable labors ation has shown the absurdity of the of Rev. John Ross, a Scotch Presbyold myths. Buddhism will continue terian missionary at Moukden, North to find sympathy and support in the China, parts of the New Testament natural self-righteousness of many were translated into the Korean lanhuman hearts, and Confucianism, that guage and were borne over the borproverbially self – sufficient system der by his native helpers who pro– which has become so deeply rooted in ceeded southward even to Seoul, where all three of the great Mongolian races, they won a few converts. will perhaps be slow to yield its hold, but the sceptre of the cross will bear Then followed the medical work or supreme sway and will transform the Dr. H. W. Allen, of the American country more and more. Presbyterian Mission. He was soon followed by Dr. J. W. Heron*andRev. n.-KOREA. H. G. Underwood, of the same mis- sion, and by Messrs. Scranton, Appen- It seems natural to associate Japan zeller and others of the American with China and still more nearly with Methodist Episcopal Mission North. Korea. Both of these missions have been greatly strengthened and are realizing The Mongolian type of race renders an encouraging success. The Presthem essentially one. Between the byterian Church of Australia estabsprightliness and docility of the Japan- lished a mission a year and a half agoese and the extreme conservatism of under the direction of Mr. and Miss the Chinese the Koreans present a Davis. They gave great promise of medium character, as their country success, but the death of the brother holds a geographically intermediate and the consequent return home or position. the sister have left the mission in suspense. The Young Men's Christian Korea, in its existing religious posi- Association of Canada is about to send tion, is unlike either China or Japan. two missionaries to 'Korea during the Sintoism has never been introduced present season. there. The Taouism of China has made but a slight impression and that in a *Dr. Heron has recently died of dysentery. modified form. Buddhism was successfullyintroduced long ago, but during the whole period of the present
EDITORIAL NOTES ON CCRRENT TOPICS
VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
A general conference of all evangeli- of this REVIEW, who has been in Brit- ~al Christians is called to meet in Florence in 1891, immediately after ain for seven months on a tour of mis- Easter. The invitation is issued by the Italian Branch of the Evangelical sions among the churches, should un- Alliance, and is exceedingly tender in tone. One can realize how changed is dertake a similar campaign in this the aspect of affairs in Italy only by a tour in this wonderful land. The country. He has given his consent to people breathe freely now, with the Pope "a prisoner in the Vatican." How this arrangement and the details only vast the changes since Dr. Marsh was ~ompelled to leave his Bible outside remain to be settled. It is probable the walls before he could himself enter the Eternal City! We remember Sig. that he will accept the invitation of Arrighi's saying that he should not be surprised if he yet had the privilege the Presbyterian Board of Foreign of inviting the Evangelical Alliance to meet in Rome, and seeing the meet- Missions to give a series of addresses ings held in St. Peter's and the delegates lodged in the Vatican! Rome in the great centres East and West, was thought of for the coming meeting, but abandoned on purely pru- between October and meeting of the dential grounds. There are now about 30 places of Protestant worship next General Assembly. We beinside the city of the PopesI A. T. P. speak for Dr. Pierson in this expected The recent outrages at Zacatecas show that the Romish spirit of intoler- campaign the prayers of the readers ance is only slumbering, and that if the Papal Church dared all the hor- of the REVIEW. His aim will be to rors of the Inquisition would be revived. Father Hecker said in the put before the people the great facts Catholic World that heresy should be puuished, and that sins of heresy which are calculated to stimulate should be taken cognizance of in the department of thought. What does missionary zeal and awaken personal that mean but that to think differently from Rome is an offense that ought consecration of self, substance and to be dealt with by law and visited with penalty? Truly we are not so far children to the work of spreading the from the days of Cardinal Bellarmine who, on the basis of two texts, "Feed good news over the wide world. We My sheep," and "Rise, Peter, kill and eat," argued that these two texts prove know no one better fitted for such a the double duty of the Church to take care of disciples and burn heretics! mission. J. M. S. Why not carry such liberalism a step further, and prove that the Church It is another significant sign of the should eat the heretics she burns! times that in both China and Japan there should be the most prominent A.T.P. and promising movement toward the union of all evangelical Christians in It is proposed that one of the editors one body. The contrast is significant, that in Christendom there should be such a multiplication of sects, and on the field of missions such a drawing together and tendency to eliminate denominationalism altogether from the body of believers I -A trained teacher is wanted by the Reformed Church for Nagasaki, Japan, to take charge of the Steele Memorial School for Young Men. Here is an opportunity for some man of balanced judgment, learning, health, piety and a missionary spirit to impress himself upon a whole generation of Japanese youth. A similar man is needed in Amoy Mis- sion, China, and neither needs to be ordained. Where are our young men who, like Micawber, are waiting for something to turn up? Here are op- portunities for investment of mental and moral capital such as no previous hedge into the playground. This was generation ever presented. Think signal for a rude assault, in which what Paul would do if he had the stones and even knives came into play.
chance which this generation supplies But for the fact that it was discovered of expending his life for Christ and by the assailants that he WQ.S a teacher souls! Here are two nations, excelled in one of the schools his life might by none in the Orient for average have been sacrificed.
capacity and culture, waiting for the Meanwhile, in Utsunomiya, the right man to take the rudder and Buddhists had organized a society, guide the coming State. A. T. P. supported by the money of citizens -The outbreaks of personal violence not worthy of the highest esteem, in missionary fields of late are very hired a theatre and employed a lectur- significant. An attempt was made to er to abuse Christianity publicly.
murder Rev. D. W. Frazier, of the When a challenge to public discussion· Presbyterian Board, in Greenville, was wisely declined by the Christians West· Africa, but baffled by the fact about 300 men came from the theatI'e that he and his boys were armed. on Sunday evening, and not only in- Rev. Mr. Newby, in Monsterrade terrupted the service of worship but County, was shot and killed for the broke the windows and some of the sake of land he had bought and im- seats, and only the police prevented proved. At the same time Mr. Frazier further violence.
himself bears witness that the mission- All these are significant signs. We ary spirit has never risen to so high a read of the devil as coming down, Hood mark! "having great wrath because he At the same time the anti-foreign re- knoweth that he hath but a short action in Japan is creating alarm. On time." It would seem that Satan April 4th two armed, masked men begins to tremble for the stability of entered the house of Rev. T. A. Large, his kingdom in this world. Were of the Canada Methodist Mission in missions the failure some would make Tokio, and in attempting to drive out us think he would not trouble himself the intruders he received deadly much about them. Evidently Satan wounds and his wife was wounded in does not agree with some modern the face and had two fingers cut off. critics of missions.
011 the 14th of May Rev. J. Summers, But more than this, we think we of the Church of England, driving out see a decided sign of God's providence with his wife met the carriage of the in permitting these outrages. Mis- Empress Dowager of Japan. Because sions have been in danger of being he did not lift his hat in salute when Invested with a false" romance." On as yet the carriage was onlyapproach- one hand one would suppose from the ing. an advance guard struck off his halo with which heathenism is sur- hat with the butt of his lance. The rounded that the " Light of Asia" is "soshi," the "young America" of quite sufficient to illumine the world.
Japanese society, followed this assault And on the other, we fear that the by rude and irritating conduct in their necessity for the martyr spirit has in ~eal to defend the honor of the royal the eye of some disappeared in the family, and Mr. Summers has resolved rapid advances of modern civilization to return to England. The insult and culture. We have heard young seems purely gratuitous and inex- men exhorted to go· to these far-off cusable. Only three days later, at a lands on the ground that no such sel/- game of foot ball between the pupils denials are now required as once of two native schools, Dr. Imbrie, of were; 1;hat they would find all the the Presbyterian Mission, to avoid a comforts and luxuries of modern civili- roundabout walk stepped over a low zation surrounding them in these Oriental lands! We protest, that when is found in the dominions of the the martyr spirit is quenched the mis- greatest Protestant empire on the sionary spirit will be found to have globe! We record our solemn belief gone out in the same dying flame. Per- after much observation, that, notwith- haps the Lord sees that if missions are standing many precious Christian to have a new and great advance it truths held by the Papal Church, it must be over paths marked with harbors and fosters idolatrous worship blood. As persecutions have tested, of the Virgin and even of the sacra- sifted and purified the Church, so mental wafer. And where idolatry have the trials and risks of missionary prevails, under whatever guise, the life purged the missionary band of the Spirit of God has never yet been pres- chaff and dross of unconsecrated and ent to convert and sanctify. If idols unworthy workmen. Let us not be in are in the courts the Shekinah is not fear. It would not be surprising if in the temple. A. T. P.
the devil should be permitted to work -Recently we attended a simplecon- out his great wrath, and God should ference of believers at Niagara-on-the- make that wrath to praise Him in Lake, where for a week a few hun- raising the level of missionary devo- dred disciples who held the truth es- tion. The man or woman who is not pecially dear, and wished to study the ready to dare death for Jesus is not Bible in company, assembled. Never ready to use life for Him. The lions have we breathed an atmosphere so in the way that send Mr. Fainthearted full of God. In the closing three and Mr. Halfhearted back only em- hours, on Thursday, July 17, we heard bolden Faithful and Christian to brave three successive addresses from Dr.
danger for the Lord. A missionary W. G. Moorhead, on the" Millell'ial life that presents only worldly attrac- Age," from Dr. Nath. West, on tions and tempts worldly indulgences " Christ in the Apocalypse," and from produces a degenerate class of mis- Dr. Brookes, of St. Louis, on the sionaries. We shall have no more "Rewards of the Believer," which we Morrisons, Moifats, Livingstones, never heard surpassed or even Lindleys, Brainerds, Bushnells, Notts, equalled for scriptural quality and Hunts, Williams, Hanningtons, Jud- spiritual power. During seven days sons, McAlls, when there is no more we heard only the Word of God ex- need of self-denial for Christ, for self- panded, expounded and applied. No sacrifice is the mould of heroic souls. ad captandum speeches, no essays or The Lord has not left the work or the orations; no attempts at drawing a workmen yet, and if there be any new crowd; not a hint of the new theology trials and tests they will only make -the old-fashioned views of plenary the product purer and more perfect. inspiration, with every cardinal doc- A. T. P. trine as our fathers held them, with- Those who think that Roman Catho- out any attempt to accommodate lic communities need no Protestant them to the demands of modern cul- missionaries should read Rev. A. B. ture and science. It was refreshing Mackay's letter about the adoration of and invigorating; it was a tonic for " Corpus Christi" in Montreal! the soul. But the most noticeable Think of compelling people not only thing about it is that when the old- to halt while the procession was mov- fashioned Bible was so deeply rever- ing but to kneel in the presence of the enced and earnestly studied, the mis- "host!" What is this but the idolatry, sionary flame burned more brightly not of sun or moon-which are at least than we have ever seen it before in noble objects of admiration-but of a such a gathering. Such a spirit of mere piece of dough! And this forcible spontaneous giving was there ex- participationin iiolatrous ceremonials hibited that a few hundred people, mostly of very moderate means, vol- results, compare favorably with any untarily offered more than $4,000! other in the whole fil<ld. A. T. P.
Year before last that same little con- We desire to call attention to the ference gave $2,500 to Hudson Taylor National Missionary Conference to be for the China Inland Mission, and held at Indianapolis on September 3d furnished him some 13 missionaries and continue till the 9th. It is ex- besides! All from that small com- pected that there will be a large at- pany of disciples met for Bible study! tendance, particularly of the volun- Last year again about thesamesumwas teers for the work of foreign missions given, unsolicited, and now again this and of those who feel especially "in- year the voluntary offerings are nearly terested in giving the gospel to the double those of the previous years. whole world as speedily as possible."
Never have we seen in any similar There has been a marvellous quicken- assembly a like devotion to the old ing and extension of the missionary Bible, a like spirit of prayer, a like spirit in Kansas and other portions of spirit of missions, or a like spirit of the West during the past few months.
giving. And we asked ourselves as A great many missionaries have been we came away, whether a. revival of raised up already as the fruit of this the simple faith in the Word of God, revival. One company, as we have in place of modern "Progressive previously chronicled, has already Theology," "Second Probation," gone forth to plant a new mission in "Higher Criticism" and "Christian the Soudan, and another company, we Science" might not be the key to a understand, will join the pioneer band new zeal for missions, and a new the coming autumn. Doubtless this Pentecost of prayer, and a new spirit Conference will intensify this move- of large and abundant self-sacrifice? nlent. which has taken such powerful The more we see of Christian life the hol~ of the Young Men's Christian As- more do we feel confident that every sociations of several of the Western step away from a full faith in the States in particular, and will origin- plenary inspiration of the Word of ate and give shape to new and impor_ God is a step away from the Cross tant developments looking to the of Christ and from all which that speedy evangelization of the world.
Cross represents in the believer's life May the Holy Spirit of God baptize of devotion to the spread of the the Conference with a special effusion kingdom. A. T. P. and guide all its deliberations and doings! J.11. S.
-We note that Rev. Dr. Gulian The Shanghai Oonference. Lansing, of the United Presbyterian Church, after forty years of mission- "ONE THOllSAND MISSIONARIES FOR ary life in the Valley of the Nile, is now in this land for a rest. He is the CHINA IN FIVE YEARS!" father of Professor J. G. Lansing of the New Brunswick Theological Semi- This is a bugle-blast from tke nary. The fires that burn in the great Conference of Missionaries in father's heart have been kindled on the China which recently closed its sesson's altar, as is evident from the fact sions at Shanghai. We have elsewhere that he is at the bottom of a special given a pretty full account of its promission to the Arabs, and not only ceedings from the pens of two of its stimulates young men to devote them- members. It was, with one exception, selves to this work but,we understand, the largest gathering of missionaries proposes to lead the columns! The work that ever took place on the foreign of Dr. Lansing and his fellow-mission- field, numbering 432 members; and its aries in Egypt will, in character and whole proceedings were character- ized by a spirit of harmony, enlight- ened wisdom, a broad and compre- hensive policy, and bold and earnest aggressiveness never excelled by a in five years! It can be done-done similar assembly. It was a grand op- easily and without neglecting any portunity, and grandly did our mis- other field. Why, the China Inland sionary brethren improve it. The Mission alone-one of the new and Church may well be proud of such comparatively feeble organizations, representatives, and thank God for with no visible resources-resolved, in the harmony, the courage and the 1888, to send out to China, within one wisdom given them. year,100 missionai'ies, and then prayed the Lord for the men and the means, The Conference has now spoken to and both the men and the money came the Church at home-'-the Church forward. If that little band could universal-and spoken in no uncer- tain way. Its voice is like the voice send out and support 100 new mis- of many thunders. It met and calmly sionaries to China in one year, what and thoughtfully and solemnly dis- are 200 a year for the great British cussed, planned, prayed, resolved, and and American missionary societies made its four-fold appeal and ad- represented in the Shanghai Confer- journed. It did its duty in a great ence? If each would do its propor- emergency, at the flood-tide of vast op- tion, the work could be done with portunities-and did it nobly, grand- ly, in the fear of God and in faith in infinite ease. Note that "lay" as well the churches that sent them forth. as ordained missionaries are called Now the responsibility is laid upon the churches, whose servants and re- for. Surely our brethren in distant presentatives they are; will they respond as the occasion demands? Will China have not sent out their loud ap- they lay to heart these masterly and burdened "Appeals" which they have peals in vain. J. M. S. sent forth and give them practical effect? We repeat here the burning " What Ought we to do for Foreign .words of Dr. Happer, our editorial Missions?" is ably shown in a leaflet correspondent at Canton, and make we have received from thepen of Rev. them our own: T. G. Field, district secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union "Let the bugle-call go forth for one at Minneapolis. It is a plea for rethousand missionaries within five organizing the home department of years. Let it ring in the ears of the the work carried on by the Union. Church. Help them to carry it to the He contends that there is a great lack throne of grace. Let them ponder it of wise and efficient organization on in their closets and around the family the part of Baptists, and he finds in altar. Let the youth hear it in the schools, in the academies, in the col- this fact occasion for the following leges and in the universities, and in statement: the theological seminaries: 'One thousand missionaries for China in " On every hand we have been, we five years.' Keep this line in your are, outdone by Christians of other columns every month till the Church names. To look no farther, with selfis aroused with the trumpet-call, and reproaching gratitude behold the arouses itself to good earnest work Moravians, and weep. Or consider the and consecration and giving; and, enterprise and liberality of the Church above all, may God, by His Spirit, ac- of England, or of Presbyterian or company this call to the hearts of Congregational mission work. In those He would call to have a share in one thing Baptist missions do proporthis blessed work for the Master." tionately greatly excel, viz., in fruit- fulness of conversions. But is this A thousand missionaries for China ours, or is it God's gift to the obedi- ence of the few? The four leasing foreign mission societies of America spent last year over $2,500,000. Less than one-sixth of this was Baptist money. To these societies was given a report of 17,336 converts, of whom 6,093, or over one-third, were gathered intothe mission churches of ourUnion. With what feelings must we own that
ORGANIZED MISSION ARY WORK AND STATISTICS
for such blessing on such service we pansive, inadequate, outgrown system have contributed this year but twenty- five cents a member; that in a year of of administering foreign interests." the largest receipts ever known, the highest average per member, in any An over-conservative policy is not State, for the general work of the Union, is only sixty-five cents, while restricted to anyone society or church. in the lowest it is but eight cents. Nay, there is one grand exception. We deeply regret the present ten- California breaks the record with the splendid average of almost $2.16 per dency to start independent missions, member; but this is due to a noble contribution from one individual. but is it not in part the outcome and Twenty-five cents apiece and one ordained missionary abroad to 6,356 protest against a too narrow or rigid members at home, 01', counting wives and single women, about one mission- iron-cast policy not in harmony with ary to every 2,800 Baptists does not overstate the present practical guage the spirit and changed conditions of of our obedience to the parting injunction of Jesus. The fact is that the times? Secretary Field's views for several years we have made no adequate progress. We seem to be are commanding attention in his 'own nearly at a dead-point. The most of our missions are sorely taxed' to hold church, and they may do good in their own. Speedy reinforcement, requiring large increase of men and other mission circles. J. M. S. money, alone can enable them to maintain efficiency with vigor. . . . As to the prize offers of premiums Practically, we now struggle simply for articles on Prayer in connection to hold what our fathers acquired, with missions, the editors would save the Congo Mission, and thIS, too, further say that they have not thought at an hour when we, in every way, in it necessary to say that they will not numbers, intelligence, wealth, pros- consider themselves obligated to award perity, are blessed as never heretofore; any premiums if there shall not be a at an hour when" to earth's remotest sufficient 'I1,umber of competing and bound" every nation thrown wide satisfactory articles to make such open to approach is threatened with award justifiable and practicable. In the vices and atheism of the West, to such case all that we engage to do is add death unto death, instead of re- to return all such essays as cannot be ceiving the Bread of Life, and while made of use. And, secondly, the we, with all the equipment of divine articles should cover ground not algrace and modern civilization, fully ready covered by articles which have know the awful need of heathenism appeared in these columns. One letter' and our ability, under God, to minis- which we have received from a proter to it." posing competitor asks one of the editors to furnish certain details of He argues that it is not" the fault fact, which have already been pub- lished in the REVIEW. Of course we' of the Missionary Union, but rather shall insist that the instances given shall be culled by the writers from the inevitable outcome of onr denomi- material found outside our own pages., national growth constricted by an inex- A.T.P. J.M.S.
VII.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS.
Reformed Presbyterian «Jovenanter) From Contributions to missions.•••• 3,400 00 Ohurch in the United States. Synod's trustees ………. . 1,320 84'
Secretary: REV. R. M. SOMMERVILLE, D.D.,l26 Total….. .. ….. … .. ……….. $18,462 89 West 45th Street, New York. Expenditures.
REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 30, 1890. Balance from last account ………. $01,01485' For the missions…. • • …. …… . .. . 16,042 27 Receipt•. From congregations.. … ……….. $7,858 Zi' Total…………………….. $17,057 13 Balance to new account.. •.• • . . . . . . 1,405 76 .. Sabbath·scbools and mission- ary societies…………… . 2,804 07 Total.. ………………… ,_ •. $18,462 89 " Individuals and bequests .. , 4,07971 ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS.
There are no home expe~s, all the funds Amount In hand of being directly used on the field. Mission Treasurer STATISTICS. called In.. . . ….. .. 48,326 25 Deficit carried for- 3 missions (Latakiyeh, Larsees, Cyprus); missionaries, ordained, 4; lay, 1; missionaries' ward ………….. 60,2759.3 wives, 4; other ladies, 4; native ordained ministers, 4; other helpers, 34; stations and – – – – $158,602 18 out-stations, 8; organized churches, 3; total TotaL ………………….. $952,668 62 number of preaching-places, 11; communicants, 190; added during theyear, 12; schools, Expenditures. 25; pupils, 730. Amount cOl)tributed by na- Balance (Deficit) May 1, 1889 ….. $44,696 62 tive churches, $33.91. Appropriations for year ending May 1,1890: Board of Foreign Missions of the Africa…………. $31,155 02 811,245 69' Presbyterian Ohurch (North). China, Japan and 43,001 84 The Secretaries: 53 Fifth Avenue, New York, Korea ……… .. 248,57600 1,724 47 N.Y. India, Siam and. 52,000 00 REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY 1, 1890. Laos ………. .. 181,723 26 Receipts. Persia . . . . . . . . . . .. 76,872 89 Syria …………. . 60,733 64 From Churches…….. $291,719 86 Guatemala and " Woman's Bo'rds 280,285 51 Mexico ……… . 92,314 00 Sunday-schools. 36,062 56 South America .. 117,180 88 Papal Europe .•… 2,690 00 Legacies…….. 112,877 68 Individuals and Chinese and Indians in United States …………………. .. miscellaneous sources … … 73,120 83 Special ………………….. . Home Department•..•••..•….. $794,066 44 Balance to New Account: TotaL …………………. $952,66862 Amount withheld on acc't of changes in !lscal y~rs in vanous miSSIOns.. . $50,000 00 STATtSTtes.
Missionar'es Na ive ~00 "r~n",S-'0~"o. ~~ o"""~~ OJ' ',"c",6"~ ——- ~~6 :~Cg.S.~- 5~~ ga ~ ~ .:;; g ~ g~.8 _:.:SI rtl 'm0 ~• ~ ~~ ~~c~6o~~ ~o ~0 ~~CD Q3 .u"; ~ ! j ~ .:;;w . .4 !":l ~~=::=:-::-:- 217 910'9 '9 24171.398156ls 57981l,3121$ 504 China………… … . …. … " 13 48 68 12 61 226 45 4,084 446/'124 2,687 6 2,969 2,809 Japan……. …. ………… 1 5 21 47 3 43… 34 4,977 672 15 1,409 17…… 6,750' Korea ………. ……….. 1 1 3 5 2 .. …… 104 39.. ……………….. .. India… ………………. 3 10 37 71 4 33 174 4(?) 1,093 81 14 8,016… 4,590 82 Siam and Laos …………. 2 5 13 21 4 6 33 12 1,114 1711 21 f541 14 fi76 804 Persia……. ……… …… 2 6 14 35 5 89 170 27 2,269 141 147 3,069 18 5,210 2,200 24 Syria………………….. 1 5 14 1 39162 20 1,619 98 142 5,853 7 4,966 7,767· 1 Guatemala…………….. 1 11 2 4 …. ••• 1 1 . 4….. 1 38 2 50 15 Mexico …… …………… 1 5 7 11 …. 50 53 90 5,165 388142 1,358 15 1,795 3,627 South America…….. " …. 3 15 2-J 25 1 15 69 46 2,993 324 22 1,263 5 947 13,602 _.2 .:.:.:.:. .:.:.:. _ 92: 24;820 24;913 92 22,~15 .Total ;Foreign Lands…. 21 $37,660 Indian Tribes…………… 3 ,03 2,986 61 190 321411345 912 297 2,516/546 320 9 5 8 … 114 21 20 1,630 198 10 Chinese & Japanese in U. S. 1 ~ _~ ~ ~ 344 _.~ _~ .2~:: ~ _~ 3,711 Total. ……………… 25 lOti 199 336 411359943 320 26,794 2,753 583 26,348106 23,935 1$44,357 Board of Foreign Missions of the Expenditures. Presbyterian Ohurch (South) in the United States. Three Brazil Missions•…•.••••••.. $ 37,433 01 SeQretary: Rev. M. H. HOUSTON, D.D., Nash- China Missions………………. .. 17,928 82 ville, Tenn. Japan 13,132 44 REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 1, 1890. Receipts. Greek 2,722 65 Balance on Hand. . .. •• … ….. … $ 7,229 29 Italian 1,206 25· From Churches……………….. 47,459 63 Sabbath-schools.. . •. . . . . …. .. ….. 10,290 00 Indian 6,550 00- Missionary Societies.·……… ….. 25,422 03 Legacies……… …. ….. …….. 1,934 59 Mexican " 7,863 71 Individuals and Miscellaneous….. 10,948 89 Total for Missions………….. $ 86,836 92· General Expenses….. …….. ….. 7,989 42· Balance on Hand…. •.. . . . .. . . . . . . 8,457 59 Total……. .. ……. …. …… $103,283 93 Total. • .• …. ••. ………….. $103,283 93· STA.TISTICS. tions),8; other helpers-evangelists, 108; or- ganized churches, 43; other preaching places, o-g§ J 87; stations and ont-stations, 130; communi- 00 00 oll cants, 3,60'2; added during the year, 222; col- '0 leges and theological s"minaries, 4; pupils, § 41. Of other schools no accurate statistics are ~~, available.
i Sc:.e: ~ ~ o~" ~~o~j ~'"~~~~~f 'C 00 ~~ Reformed (Dutoh) Ohuroh in Amerioa. ] ,: 5 '8 -;;; iO' Secretary: REV. H. N. COBB, D.D., 26 Reade 5.; "~ ~>. •~::::s Street, New York.
'~~gOO.~~O~.O~ ~…S.. ~Iw~ ….. .~ r.tJ. w'O REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 30, 1890. §.S .S .s A JJ Receipts.
~:-8:.-s~ I:'-~s~~1:~d § .S Balance from last account. . . . . $971 69 -~ ~ ~O~ From churches ………. $54,76228 · – – – § -8§-:~[- -0 – " Sundar-schools, etc. 12,385 10 -8 – LegacIes, ."…… 8,965 64 Brazil… 30 10 10 5 10 601 100 224 165 $3,040 " Individuals……… 25,995 28 ChiRa .' 71011 .. 110 82 4' 240248 92 " lHisceIIaneous …•..• 14,981 84 Japan.. 12 7 8 5 2 567206 200 100 600 Greece. 41111 28 11 15.. . 130 – – – 117,090 14 Italy … 1 .. 2…. Mexico. 44 2 4 8 3 400 43 40 …… —- 250 150 875 Total …………………….. $118,061 83 Expenditures.
India: .Arcot Mission..••• $30,01327 China: Amoy Mission ••••……..• 21,008 46 Total Japan: North and South Missions .. 49,209 74 929 ;'03 $4,737 I Foreign. 983036 19,26 1,678 364 300 60 1,200 General mission expenses, ……… $100,231 47 Arcot Seminary Fund"……….. 105 00 IinndiIannds. Home expenses……………….. 6,276 75 Terriey Interest and loans (balance)…….. 9,422 03 (U. S.). 37 3 3 5 6 625 27 Total. 13.3 33 39 24,32 2,303 391 1,229 763 ,6,437 Balance to new account………… 2,026 58 —— 1 Total….. .. .. …… ……. …. $118,061 83 1 The work among the Indians will probably ~IHfl >'31l;'g[! be handed over to the Home Missionary ~I ~~-oo-TI~St~a~ti~o-ns-.—– Society during the current year, the Foreign Missionary Committee continuing to con- e….1 tribute somewhat towards its support for a ·term of years.
lOut – Stations and !:5!il i§l Preaching Places Presbyterian Ohuroh of England. 1~ Secretary: JOHN BELL, 13 Fenchurch Avenue, !ill 1 Ordained. ~ c£:)OHX) I I I ~ ~ eo eo Female. London, E. C., England. ~.
REPORT FOR YEAR ENDiNG DEC. 31, 1889. ~.
Receipts. I ILay. Il Balance from last account, ..•••• £4981211 ~ l':I~-q…. Congregational contributions… . 6,497 2 6 Edinburgh Committee …….. . 2,740 0 0 ~ ! dj00 …. 1 Ordained. Legacies. .. -. _.. .. .. . . . … .. 1,454 15 3 i I I ~ ~!:5~ Other Helpers, ~. Juvenile fund………………. . 1,785 3 8 Students' Missionary Society ..•. g: I !:5 oo!ill Churches. Donations, etc….. .. ……… . 348 6 6 Balance overdrawn, .•. " •••••••• 1,710 2 6 2,086 4 0 Total. ………………….. £17,070 7 4 ~8l~ 0.' to ,,"",,"' Expenditures. §ll 1 Communicants.
General mission charges…….. £15,767 1 11 ~ 1~g;:s51 Added. Home charges .. ……………. 848 17 6 Interest and amounts drawn on ac- ~ I … '" '" ·1""'S;-em—C-in-a-rI~·e-s.— count …………….. …….. 454 7 11 8 ~ ~1£ 1 Students.
Total…………….. . ….. :£17,070 7 4 e ITheological Stu- The total missionary income should in- ~eo~ dents. ·clude £2,608 15s 6d from the Woman's .Associ- 00 ~ 1 Day Schools. ,ation making (exclusive of the balances) £17,13958 11d. i : i Ii§ Scholars. Adding also the expenditures of the Woman's Association, £2,700 3s 3d, the total '" : …….. I Hospitals. ,expenditure is £19,770 lOs 7d. • ~~ .W . ~! STATISTICS. '""'I: I ~,p..: Patients Treated.
Missions, 6; ordained missionaries, 20; lay, §~ ~ Contributi~ns 13 (of whom 10 medical); miSSIOnaries' wives, from NatIve :21; other ladies, 16; native ordained ministers Ooo.~ (elltirely supported by their own congrega· djg;~ Churches.
PROGRESS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN
VIII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS MONTHLY BULLETIN.
Africa.-The Work in Abyssinia. The nouncing their allegiance to Portugal and are strong position Italy now occupies at Massaua joining Gungunyana. on the Red Sea, its military strength, its alliance with King Menelek, its rising colony at -The report of the Mackenzie Memorial Assab-alJ inspire the hope that Abyssinia and Mission to Zululand and the tribes towards the Zambesi river begins with mourning the the Galla country may be speedily opened up loss of its head, the late Dr. D. Mackenzie, to the gospel. The pastlabors of the C. M. S., Bishop of Zululand. The mission consists (in since 1830, in these regions are well known. addition to the Bishop) of 13 clergymen (two GoOOt, Krapf, Isenberg were among its faith- of them natives) and 22 lay helpers. The total ful agents; these were, however, gradually income from free contributions received during driven out through religious intrigue and the the year was a little over £1,200. violence of King Theodore. There remain, however, valuable translations, such as those -King Mwanga, of Uganda, Central in the Amharic, Tigre and Galla tongues; the Africa, who has heen twice dethroned and driven out of the country, has returned and is last the laborious work of Dr. Krapf. There again at the head of the kingdom. In a letter are still, also, fragments of missions among written to Cardinal Lavigerie he asks that the Falashas, in the Shoa country, and there is priests be sent to teach the religion of Christ the Swedish Mission at Massaua, etc., which in all the country of Uganda. General Gordon so generously supported. -The reports of the suffering from famine The Church of Rome is availing itself of the in the Soudan are appalling. The greatest opportunity. It is said that Russia also is to sufferers are the widows and children of the establish a consulate and to send a mission. men who have been killed during the many It is to be hoped that evangelical missions will conflicts which have raged in the interior. not be slow to avail themselves of this open Reports from Suakin are that not only all door. sorts of animals are eaten, but toot cannibal- ism has actually commenced. An appeal has -In response to a telegram from Mr. been made in England for these starving Douglas Hooper of Eastern Africa, received Soudanese. on a Monday in London and announced that evening in Exeter Hall, no less than nine vol- -The number of missionary stations in unteers presented themselves in thirty-six Africa now exceeds 500. There are 400,000 hours for work in that difficult field. Four converts and the number is increasing at the men were selected, and by the following rate of about 25,000 a year. Within five years Saturday evening actually started on their more than 200 natives have suffered martyrjourney via Marseilles. " This," says the dom for their faith. Indian Witness, "is a good answer to the charge that mission interest is dying out." -Rev. A. R. Tucker wits consecrated Bishop for Eastern Equatorial Africa on April -A Steamer for Victoria Nyanza. The 21, and left for Africa the same day. He has enthusiasm in England has led to the raising charge of the missions of the English Church of a .. Stanley Fund, " and Mr. Stanley himself Missionary Society in East Africa. A telehas made the suggestion as to its disposal- gram to the London Time" says that his party that it be devoted to the placing of a steamer are to start for the Nyanza the first week in on Victoria Nyanza. This lake is as large as July with Mr. Stokes' caravan. the whole of Scotland, and he states that a steamer upon it would be of immense service, China.-A Revival.-A great and mighty both for the use of the missionaries and as a door has been opened lately for the gospel in civilizing factor. He proposes that it should the Shantung Province, China. A revival be handed over either to the Church Mission- wave is passing over that section of the counary Society or to the Imperial British East try. The Rev. Robert M. Mateer, one of the African Company.-Missiona1'1/ Herald. laborers in that province, has been so dis- tressed by the great hunger of the people for -The Gaza Country. L'A/rique reports the gospel and the small number to feed them that a Portuguese expedition has been sent to that he has taken upon himself the support of the Gaza country, the region to which, as we ten native preachers ($50 a year each), three have recently reported, Gungunyana, the son girls' schools ($175 each), and one boys' of Umzila, has removed with all his people. school ($:lOO). He wrote to the pastor of This expedition is intended, by an effective Tabor Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, occupation, to enforce the claims of Portugal Rev. Willis B. Skillman, stating the above as the protectorate of Gazaland. A more re- facts and asking for a helping hand. The cent report by way of Lisbon, June 11, states pastor laid the matter before his Bi ble-class, that Gungunyana has joined the chief Bilene, composed of 35 young men, and the class made and, with a force of 50,000 men and women, the hearty response of $50, which means the has beaten Bifoana, the leading chieftain of support of a native pastor for a year. The in Portuguese territory. Other chiefs are re- same matter was brought to the attention of the Young Men's Prayer Meeting of the church, years and has come home to raise $15,000 for numbering 125 members. The boys' generous a printing plant in Calcutta. After describing response was over $60, which will support an- the country, with its population of 310,000,000, othernativepastor for a year andtheeducation he took up the culture and religion of the for one year of a boy in the loys' school. The people. Said he: "Calcutta has a student matter was also laid before the congregation. population of 15,000, and its college men are No collection was taken but simply the state- peers of their American brethren. From this ment made. The response was over $50. Can- cultivated class you can descend until you find not some other pastor be the means of bless· whole villages where no person can read a ing his people by asking them to help in this word of any language. To these degraded great work of Christ? classes the missionaries go or send native preachers who teach the alphabet by marking . -Shanghai Union Conference.-A Confer· in the sand with their fingers. With this beence on Union, composed of representatives ginning they teach them to read the Bible. " of seven Presbyterian churches laboring in Chica, met at Shanghai, May 15th. On ac- Cannibalsthe Bishop does not regard as the count of the diversity of language and the lowest class of men. He has seen men worse difficulties of travel the representatives of two than cannibals in New York and London. In of the churches deemed organic union impos- speaking of the work of the Young Men's sible. At a later meeting it was decided to Christian Association in Calcutta, he said take steps to form an organic union between that its representatives are undenominational the five other churches, and any others who and he wished them to remain so. When he may wish to join the union. A plan of union said that $30 would support one of the lowest similar to the one used by the churches in In- class of missions, for which he had men dia was adopted. A constitution is to be trained, Mr. Moody said that he wanted one of formed for the Presbyterian churches in China those missions and would contribute $30 for based upon those of the churches in Europe that purpose. About twenty minutes was and America. Its doctrinal basis is to be "The given up to receiving similar offers. College Apostles' Creed," the "Nicene Creed," and the after college responded. The Virginia delega- "Westminster Confession and Catechisms." tion and the University of Virginia each sub- The Presbyteries are to be composed of the scribed for a mission. "We think more of Virmissionaries, the pastors and the churches ginianow than we did in '61," said Mr. Moody, occupying the same territory. These Pres- and the applause stopped the contributions byteries are to constitute one Synod, meet- for a short time. Princet<>n, the University of ing once in five years. The uniting bodies are Pennsylvania, Harvard, Yale, and Johns-Hopthe Presbyterian Church (North), U. S. A.; kins were among the twenty or thirty instituthe Presbyterian Church (South), U. S. A.; tions which will share in this new phase of the United Presbyterian of Scotland, the Irish mission work in India. Presbyterian, and the Canadian Presbyterian churches. The two declining to unite are the -A meeting was held in Exeter Hall, on English Presbyterian and the Reformed Dntch May 2, to establish a London Auxiliary of the chnrches. The snmmary of statistics given Mission to Lepers in India. The secretary reat the Conference shows, Foreignmissionaries, ported that there are about 500,000 lepers in 1,295; native helpers, 1,&:19; churches, 520; India. The society utilizes existing agencies communicants, 37,287; pupils in schools, as much as possible. Addresses were given 16,916; contributions hy native Christians, by Mr. T. A. Denny and Rev. F. E. Wigram. $36,834. Italy.-The Waldensian Church of Italy, India.-"Our work in North India continues which has recently celebrated its two hnnto prosper. Brother Bare writes that no less dredth anniversary of the return of the exiled than 2,364 persons have been baptized in the Vaudois, gives evidence of continued life and Rohilkhund district since the annual statistici vigor. It reports 44 churches, 38 pastors, Z7 were made up at the close of last October. evangelists, including colporteurs, 6 Bible This covers a space of five months. Add to readers, 4,074 communicants and 469 catethese 400 baptisms in connection with Dr. chumens. Parker's evangelistic work, and 300 by Brother Osborne and others in the Rnski district, and Japan.-Murder of a Missionary. It was we have a total of more than 3,000. This sur· at first feared that the recent assassination of passes the sanguine expectations with which Rev. T. A. Large, of the Canadian Methodist we began the year, and our brethren are very Mission in Tokio, Japan, indicated a reaction naturally filled with joy and hope."-Bishop in the popular feeling about missionaries, and resulted from hatred to the foreign religious Thoburn. teacher. But the sad event proves to have -Bishop Thobnrn on India.–At Northfield, been the crime of robbers, who entered the missionary's bedroom to find the key of his Mass., in Mr. Moody's College Conference on safe, in which a considerable sum of money Missions, July 3d, Bishop Thoburn, of the happened to be deposited. Roused suddenly Methodist Episcopal Church, jnst returned from his sleep, and wholly unarmed, Mr. Large bravely expelled the masked intruders, from India spoke. He has been In India 31 but was meantime so cut and gashed by their from posts under the Government. The en- sharp Japanese swords that he fell dead at the forcement of the edicts will result in the ex- -feet of his wife, who had also been wounded pulsion of over one million Jews from the in the struggle. Earnest sympathy has been country." universally expressed with the widow by all the organ~ of the press, and universalindigna- Sweden.-The Annual Convention of the tion is felt against the cowardly criminals, Swedish Fatherland Missioi1 Society was re- who, if they can be captured, will be severely cently held in the Blasieholm Church, Stock- punished.-Misionary Herald. holm; 245 clerical and 216 lay delegates were present. The branch societies have, during -The native churches under the care of the the year, increased from 107 to 116; 18 travel- American Board's missionaries~in Japan, says ing missionaries and 187 colporteurs are em- the Congregationalist, organized half a dozen ployed. 762,000 copies of the Bible and other years ago a home missionary society. It devotional books were printed, and somewhat has flourished so well that the demands of the more than that number sold and distributed. work now justify the appointment of a paid Since its organization the society has pub- president, who will devote all his time to es- lished 22,700,280 copies of various religious tablishing new churches and strengthening books. The net profits of the pUblishing house those already existing. for the year are 11,890 crowns. 35 mission- aries are laboring in Eastern Africa, and 35 in Korea.-In regard to the progress in India. The expenditures for foreign missions missionary work, Dr. Underwood, of the were W3,525 crowns. The balance remaining Presbyterian Mission, writes to the Occident: in the foreign mission treasury is 105,282 "In the Presbyterian Church at the end of the crowns. The home mission fund shows a bal- first year our first convert had not been seen. ance of 36,666 crowns. We had come to sow seed,and had hardly dared expect to see fruits so soon. Japan hali to Miscellaneous.-A special committee of wait six or seven years for the flrst results. the English Wesleyan Missionary Society has In July of the second year, however, the Lord investigated and reported upon certain permitted us to see the flrst convert baptized. charges published in the Methodist Times re- At the end of the third year our numbers specting the alleged extravagance of Wes- were about twenty. Steadily they increased, leyan missionaries in India. The substance their interest grew, the members were zealous, of the report of the committee is that the and at the close of the next year there was a Wesleyan missionaries in India do not live in revival, and before the year ended the little luxury, that their stipends are not excessive bsnd was almost sixty. Another year of compared with those that are given to Wesleysteady progress was granted to us, and to-day an ministers in England, and that the attend- the company numbers over a hundred baptized ance of the missionaries at the levees of the Christians, besides over half as many more Viceroy does not involve pecuniary expense who have applied for baptism and profess nor hinder their work among the native poputhemselves Christians, but have been urged to lation. The committee find that the charges- acquaint themselves more fully with God's that the missionaries live in such a manner Word." and in such places as to alienate them from the natives-are not sustained. The result is a Palestine.-Bishop Blythe of Jerusalem complete exoneration of the missionaries. says there are now in Palestine double the number of Jews that returned from the Baby- -Up to July IS the number of appoint- 10nish captivity, and that the "latter rains" ment.s for missionary service in connection which had been withheld since the times of with the American Board, since the last annual _the exile, had been granted again during the meeting, was just sixty, 22 of them men and last two years,. 88 women.
Russia.-Persecution of the Jews.-Lon- -The statistics of the Christian Endeavor don, July 3O.-The Times says: "The Russian Societies, as presented at the international Government hasordered the application of the Convention at St. Louis, shows clearly the edicts of 1882 against the Jews. These edicts great advance this society has made. These have hitherto been held in abeyance. Accord- societies exist in every English-speaking land ing to these, Jews must henceforth reside in in the world, the total number being 11,013, certsin towns only. None will be permitted to with a membership of 66O,OOO-a gain of 3,341 own land or hire it for agricnltural purposes. societies and 185,000 members in eleven The order includes within its scope towns and months. hundreds of villages that have large Jewish -Arabic tracts for Mohammedan readers. At populations. No Jew will be allowed to hold the request of General Haig the Committee of shares in or work mines. The law limiting the Religions Tract Society (London) have the residence of Jews to sixteen provinces published a series of Arabic tracts, setting will be enforced. No Hebrew will be allowed forth, in progressive order, the main doctrines to enter the army, to practice medicine or of scripture, and leading up to that of the law, to be an engineer, or to enter any of the Atonement of the 'Lord Jesus Christ. other professiollll. They will also be debarred
INDEX OF CONTENTS OF THE SEPTEMBER NUMBER
INDEX OF CONTENTS SEPTEMBER NUMBE~.
PAGE PAGE. I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS…… 641-684 CHINA.-Proceedings of Shanghai Con- n.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLI- ference, 669; The Four Appeals of the GENCE~._ …. _._ … ___ …….. 684-693 Conference to the Churches, 673; Dr. Happer's Remarks on the Conference, m.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE._ 6934)96 676; Edit.orial Note on do., 712; Plan of Union of Presbyterian Churches, 693; IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT… 696-704 Editorial Note on,709; Chinese Educa- tion,697; A Great Revival,717; Shang- V.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS 704-708 hai Union Conference……………….. 712 English Wesleyan Missionary Society, VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT Report of Investigating Committee….. 719 Field, LeafietonBaptistMissions ………. 713 TOPICS __ ………….. 00. •• 709-713 "Hottentot," A Noble Example. ……. . 683· VII.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK INDIA.-Notes on various interests, AND STATISTICS.. . . . .•.• ••..•• 714-717 (translations), 680; Indian Church Aid Association, 686; Development of Medi- VIII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS: MONTH- cal Missions, 687; Female Education, LY BULLETIN ……………. 717-719 687; Lepers, 688; Zenana Missions, 688; Welsh Calvinistic Foreign Missions, 689; IX.-INDEX TO CONTENTS………… 720 Young Men's Christian Association Work, 694; Work Prospering, 718; Bishop Authors. Thoburnon India, 718; LondonAwdliary of the Mission to Lepers …………… 718' EDITORS. – A. T. Pierson. The Super- natural Factor in Missions, 653; Edi- ITALY.-Missionary Conference at Flor- torial Notes, 709; J. M. Sherwood, Edi- ence in 1891 ………………………… 718 torialNotes………………………… 712 JAPAN.-Educational Exhibit at Paris Curtis, Rev. Freq.. S., Account of the Exposition,692; The Situation in, by Dr. Shanghai Missionary Conference…..••• 669 Ellinwood, 704; Murder of Mr. Large, 718; Work of Home Missions…………. 719 Ellinwood, F. F., D.D., Woman's Work for Woman, 648; The Situation in Japan KOREA.-The Present Condition of and Korea ………………. _…….. 704 Things,708; Progress in Mission work .•• 717 Gracey, J. T., D.D., International Depart- Lansing, Dr. Gulian and hisSon…•……. 712 ment ……………………………. 697 Missionary Conferences-The Conference Happer, A. P., D.D., Comments on the of Believers at Niagara, 711; The Indian- Shanghai Conference .. …………… 676 apolis National Conference ………… 712 Mormon Proselytism.. .. …. • •…. .. …… 661 Johnston, Rev. James, Notes on India…. _ 686 Outbreaks of Personal Violence ..••……• 710 Pierson, Dr. A. T., A Proposed Campaign Leonard, Rev. D. L., Mormon Proselytism 661 in behalf of Presbyterian Board of For· eign Missions………………….. … 709 McConaughy, David, Jr., Y. M. C. A. Work Prize Offers …………………………. 714 in India…….. …. ……………….. 694 RUSSIA.-Persecution of the Jews …… 719 Moorhead, Max Wood, Student Volunteer Movement…………………………. 684 Mudge, Rev. James, The Evolution of a Missionary Society.. .. …. … .. …….. 701 Starbuck, Rev. Charles C., Translations from Foreign Missionary Periodicals…• 679 Taft, Rev. Marcus L., Chinese Education .. 697 SOUTH AMERICA.-Spanish Mission work in Chili, 693; Romish outbreaks in Thompson, Rev. Andrew, D.D., The Mis- Zacatecas…… ……………………. 709 sion in Basuto Land.. .. …. … .. ……. 641 SWEDEN.-.A.nnual Convention of the Countries and Subjects. Fatherland Missionary Society,719; Scan- dinavian Missionary Conference in AFRICA.-Dr. Thomson on the Mission Christiana…………………………. 683 in Basuto Land, 641; The Anglo-German Agreement 689; Stanley and the Brus- Statistics of Foreign Missions. sels Confererence, 691 ; Nelson's Starva- tion Camp, 692; The Work in Abyssinia. Reformed Presbyterian Church in the 717; Steamer on Victoria Nyanza, 717; United States. Report for 1889·90….. 714 TheGaza Country, 717; MacKenzie Me- morial Mission, 717; King Mwanga, 717; Presbyterian Church (North) Report for Soudan Famine, 717; Number of Stations 1889-90.. .. …. .. … ………………… 715 in Africa, 717; Bishop Tucker………. 717 Presbyterian Church (South) Report for Berlin Mission in Transvaal…… .. ……. 682 1889-90 …. …. . …………………… 715 Christian Endeavor Society, Statistics of. 719 Presbyterian Church of England. Report for 1889……………. ……… .. …. 716 COrpU8 Christi, Adoration of in Montreal. 711 Reformed (Dutch) Church in America. Report for 1889-90…. …….. …. ….. • 715