The Missionary Review of the World — May 1894
KINDNESS OF "THR CU"GRCH AT HOllE AND ABROAD."
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XVII. No. 5.-0ld &rieB.–MAY.–VOL. VII.' No. 5.-New SerIu.
THE TRUE CHARM AND POWER OF MISSIONS.
BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEl!'.
That which constitutes the value 'and virtue of incense is an invisible, impalpable, and subtle principle, called perfume or odor. A similar charm, supposed to invest acceptable offerings, gave them the name of "sweet savor offerings," and caused such expressions as the "savor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God," to be applied to unselfish service.
Comparison of many passages of Scripture will show that the essence of this acceptable savor is found in unselfishness, self-oblivion, or self loss. The savor of selfishness is offensive to God; and just as certain pungent, aromatic odors were supposed to overcome or annul the offensive smell of burning victims, the odor of a spirit that renounces all self-gain in an absorbing passion for His glory is represented as neutralizing what is distasteful to God, and so becomes the secret of all acceptable, sweet savor offerings.
Here lies, perhaps, the grandest of all arguments for missions-that they both demand and develop the highest self-oblivion. It is a peculiar mark of the incapacity of a worldly mind to appreciate spiritual truth and motive, that the very objections raised to missions, that commercially and selfishly they" do not pay," are in God's eyes the reasons for them. They make no appeal to the carnal, and hence evoke the nobler and more godlike principles within us.
The hope which inspires missionary effort is not the hope of seeing adequate results, such as in the material harvest of human enterprise justifies the sowing; God sometimes grants abundant returns, but not always, nor to the actual individual who has put forth the greatest measure of effort. The supreme hope of the true missionary is that he may witness for Christ to the unsaved so faithfully and fully that his Master at His coming may approve him with His own '~ Well done."
The hope thus set before us is so much above the sphere of time and
THE TRUE CHARM AND POWER OF MISSIONS
sense that it weans us from the world. It tends to make disciples unselfish and spiritual; to loosen the tie by which carnal objects are held, and make all else seem small in comparison with things to come. How can he who consistently studies for his Lord's approval lay up treasure here or plan for an easy life of selfishness? While preparing his soft nest the midnight cry may be heard. If the end of all things is at hand, what have we to do with treasures or pleasures, possessions or pursuits, which Christ's coming could interrupt, condemn, or bring to naught 1 If, step by step, human enterprise, worldly civilization, scholarly cultUl'e, or even churchly progress, can bring on the latter-day glory, we may have a pretext for building as though all we build were to last at least a thousand years ; but if all these things are to be dissolved and our best work brought speedily to the fiery ordeal, if only the gracious fruits of the spirit in our walking and working with God are to survive those trial fires, if all superficial success is then to appear as failure, let us spend our force and faculty upon what cannot be turned to ashes. And because, when this aim to be f.ound approved of the Lord at His coming really dominates the soul, we become uncarnaJ, unworldly, unselfish, it proves and approves itself as an aim inspired of God.
Here, then, is another vital link between spiritual life and the work of soul-saving. No form of service demands, for thorough doing, m'ore unworldly, unselfish devotion than missions. Much so-called "Christian work" is leavened with self-love, and may be prosecuted in the energy of the flesh, and perhaps its real inoontive may be found in the very worldly hope of rich returns and prompt payments in temporal advantage. The railway magnate may give large sums to build schools and churches in new settlements along the lines, and do it on commercial principles; for the church and school form a nucleus for population, and population means travel and transportation, and so revenue to the railway and larger dividends to stockholders. Much that we call "benevolence" is to God's eyes the cloak hiding the shrewd, calculating Shylock who has an eye to business.
The fact is itself an argument and an appeal that, so soon as the Lord's coming ceased to be felt to be imminent, and was projected indefinitely into the distance, the remarkable evangelism of primitive days which fed on this truth, declined and decayed, and has never been revived. It is but the few who flame with zeal for missions; the great body of professed disciples treat the work with apathetic indifference, or contend that it " does not pay!"
Cut to the core of this apathy, and you find simple selfishness. This carrying the Gospel to those in the far-off regions beyond is a work which in its very nature forbids us to expect any returns. These distant, destitute souls cannot recompense us ; we must wait for our recompense at the resurrection of the just, and at no point this side! The most frantic appeals for the perishing millions along the Congo, beneath the shadows of the Himalayas, or in the valleys of Korea, will be unheard and unheeded by those whose hearts are so electro-plated with greed that they have the ring of metal, and answer only to the touch of money. Of course missions do not pay, if "pay" means compensation to avarice, appetite, ambition, or any form of temporal self-interest and self-emolument. Missions are not a mint to coin sovereigns. Missions at home no doubt" pay." To evangelize London's millions applies healing salve to festering ulcers upon the body politic; to raise the condition of any great city guards the safety of our homes, life, liberty, property, temporal peace and prosperity, and pulls up anarchy by the roots. To evangelize the most remote districts of America's" great West" likewise" pays;" the returns are sure, though the harvest may take longer to ripen. Men who care nothing for the cross promote facilities for normal growth and healthy development in the remotest members because it helps the commonwealth; and it needs little thought to see that a thorn in the farthest extremities of the body inflicts such a pang on the whole body that the whole body stoops and bends, bringing every other member into service to pluck it out. And, therefore, city missions and all home work within our own borders appeal, more or less, to commercial enterprise and selfish instincts.
But mark the difference! A plea for South Sea cannibals or African Hottentots; for the half-idiotic Cretins of the Alps or half-brutal Maoris of New Zealand; for the stupid Esquimaux, or the stupefied opium smokers of China; for the chattering human baboons of Patagonia or the aboriginal barbarians of Australia; for the far:off Coreans or the exclusive Lama, worshippers of Thibet-an appeal for money and men to help uplift and save these needy souls has no hold or grip on selfish and unsanctified human nature. To give money for such a purpose is putting it into a bag with holes, never to see it again or any good from it. So, at least, say worldly-minded disciples.
We join no issue here. Missions to the heathen seldom do show adequate results in one generation. It is doubtful whether God means they shall. He puts before us this work as the most unselfish in which we can engage, and nearest in motive and spirit to that which brought our Redeemer to this earth. The spirit of missions is the Spirit of Christ because its essence is unselfishness; it gives to those from whom we cannot hope to receive, and bids to the feast those who cannot bid us again. Whoever by prevailing prayers, consecrated gifts, or personal work sets up the banner of the cross upon Satan's citadel, amid Brahmans and Bu:ddhists, Confucianists and" confusionists," Mohammedans and Jews, Parsees and Papists, fetish-worshippers and devil-worshippers, must, first of all, have the mind of Christ far enough to be emptied of self. He must humble himself and be obedient unto death; the carnal must die if the spiritual is to live,; the miser expires when the missionary is born; he who would save others, himself he cannot save.
It is utterly vain to try to prove to a selfish soul that it pays to give money, children, one's self, to bear the good news to the superstitious, degraded, half-imbecile pagan. Dr. Thomas Laurie's five hundred pages may. blaze with tributes to what missions have done for science-for geography, geology, meteorology, archreology, philology, ethnography; for natural, social, medical, and political science; for literature and culture, mechanic -arts and fine arts, history and poetry, commerce and common schools; nevertheless the more light you pour upon the selfish eye the more it contracts j and the carnal mind does not see that missions to the heathen are the most economical and practical investment for gold or lifeblood. To those who look from no loftier level than this world affords, it is worse than waste for heroic men and seraphic women to sacrifice themselves in such fashion, daring climate, disease, want, and even human brutes, to do their worst. Though a sweet savor of spikenard thus spreads amid the rank and rotten growths of paganism, yet the fair flask of costly alabaster is broken. Henry Martyn was a mistaken martyr. William Carey would better have stayed in Britain. Adoniram Jndson not only threw away in Burma his own precious life, but withdrew from civilization to a premature death three of the noblest women ever nurtured in refined society. Think of Harriet Newell dying on the Isle of France at twentyone, and Mrs. Grant in Persia at twenty-five j of John Williams beaten to death and eaten by Erromangan cannibals; of bishops Patteson and Hannington brutally assassinated; of Samuel J. Mills expiring on the sea in the service of Africa at thirty-five, and Nott broken like a reed in the first year of acclimation; of Levi Parsons' death at Alexandria, within two years, and Pliny Fisk wasting in Syria his splendid scholarship and wealth of languages, and, in two years more, following Parsons; of the young and brilliant astronomer Stoddard star-gazing in Persia, when he might have been the rival of La Place and Le Verrier r What if Morrison did give the Bible to China and Hepburn, t<1 Japan; if Livingstone did explore Africa, and Duff create high schools in India; if Peter Parker did push medical missions into China, and Clough gather the largest church in the world at Ongole ; if Eliza Agnew did become the mother of a thousand daughters at Oodooville, and Fidelia Fiske, at Ooroomiah; if Hogg and Lansing did make the Nile Valley bloom with plants of righteousness, and Cyrus Wheeler dot the Euphrates' banks with self-supporting churches; if William Duncan did bujld a Metlakahtla out of red Indians and Mason and Boardman organize the wild Karens into five hundred self.supporting parishes; if Mackay did celebrate his twelfth anniversary at Formosa with his twelve hundred converts, and Paton found Aniwa in barbarism, and in three years and a half left it a Christian island; what if the missionaries themselves, after a long period of trial, both of their powers and patience, cannot be drawn by any bait or driven by any terror from the work they love r To the worldly disciple the mission field is simply a necropolis, one vast sepulchre of blighted lives and buried hopes. The dust of nearly a thousand missionary martyn! enriches the soil of India alone. Hundreds have died on Africa's pestilential coast in process of acclimation. In the South Seas hundreds of saintly souls have given their bodies to be burned in cannibal ovens. " To what purpose is this waste 1"
Vainly does the selfishness that clutches the bag of temporal advantage wait for an answer. John may read the mystery ~here Judas cannot. The disciple who is not too far below the level of his Master finds enough explanation in his Master's example of uncompensated love and sacrifice. He remembers that it was One who at thirty-three laid down His life a sacrifice, who said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." These are what the Iron Duke called our" marching orders" j and if we fall in the unequal contest, we may at least have written above us a tribute like the famous inscription by which Simonides honored the Spartans who fell at Thermopylre : "Go, stranger, and declare to the Lacedremonians that we died here in obedience to their divine laws."
Because the blessed hope of our Lord's return has so refining an influence on character it is very mould and matrix of missions. Its whole tendency is to make us unselfish, to relax our grasp upon material treasures and carnal pleasures j to fashion us " not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." It makes all time seem short and the whole' world seem small j' dwarfs the present age. into insignificance and lifts the peaks of the age to come into loftier ~ltitudes, on a nearer horizon, in a clearer view. It so magnifies the approval of the coming Lord as to make present compensation for .service and sacrifice appear trifling.
In the seven Epistles to the Churches, which open the Apocalypse, our Lord uses His advent as a perpetual admonition and inspiration. The Ephesians could well bear, have patience and not faint j the Smyrnese endure the ten days of tribulation j the Pergamoans hold fast His name and not deny the faith j the Thyatirans resist Jezebel's seductions j the Sardians keep up their watch and keep their garments white j the Philadelphians keep the word of His patience, and the Laodiceans, from lukewarmness wax ardent and fervent, for the Lord's coming was always at hand, when all trials would cease and all triumphs be complete.
Mr. Moody well says, "When this truth really takes hold of a man the world loses its grip on him. Gas stocks and water stocks, and stocks in banks and railroads are of very much less consequence to him now. His heart is free when he looks for the blessed appearing and kingdom of the Lord." Our brother hits the nail on the head with the blows of his simple Saxon hammer. Worldwide missions meet in worldly minds two fatal objections: the world is too wide and self is too narrow. The cares of this world, the deceitfulness, of riches, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, choke all growth in the grace of selfoblivion. Work is waste unless it pays in current coin. Charity is mistaken sentiment unless it "begins at home" and stays there. Fields
JAINISM
near by sown with corn and cotton yield better, surer, quicker crops than fields far off, where Gospel seed brings such slow, slim, uncertain har· vests. Marble mansions on the stately avenues of a metropolis are better investments than mission churches, schools, and hospitals, that are chronic beggars, always in a strait betwixt two-whether to give up the ghost themselves or make others give them more money. Strange indeed that even selfish eyes cannot see that it is a living, growing boy that wears out his trousers and outgrows his jacket, and that it is a prosperous work which needs more room and more help! Strange indeed that we have not learned nature's own lesson that it is the most precious seed that takes the best soil, the most costly culture, and the longest season to bring to harvest.
JAINISM.
BY REV. JOHN ROBSON, D.D.
The seventh century before the Christian era seems to have been one of religious ferment, development, and change in India. .The Aryas, who had entered the land from the northwest, had established themselves as the dominant race, and looked down on the original inhabitants as socially and religiously inferior. The nature worship, which they had originally held in common with their kinsmen of Greece and Rome, and w-hich, in the worship of Varuna, * had attained the highest theological and ethical conception attained by any natural religion, had become miserably debased. A system of ritualism and magic had killed out the simple worship that had been paid of old. Those who guided it-the Brahmans or praying ones-had usurped the rights of worship which had originally belonged to all, claimed to be themselves gods, and therefore a race by themselves superior to all other men. This claim they had strengthened by giving religious sanction to divisions of classes inferior to them. Next to them came the Kshatriyas, the royal or warrior caste ; after them the Vaisyas, the mercantile and agricultural caste. These were the twice-born or superior castes, while underneath them the once-born Sudras wereslumped together as a fourth caste. Thus society had come to be divided into four castes, and observance of caste law had been elevated above observance of the moral law.
While this priestly and social tyranny was being developed, philosophic thought was being developed also, and it was seeking to explain the origin and nature of the universe and the condition and destiny of man. The tendency of thought was pantheistic, though it had not assumed so decided a bent as in modern Hinduism. The doctrine of transmigration of souls had established itself as the best solution of the inequalities of human life.
* God of heaven (ovp"….). Karma, or the power in the acts of one birth to determine the condition of future births, was coming to be looked on as the supreme power in life; and deliverance from these repeated births was coming to be looked on as the great aim of human effort. How to attain this was thc problem that was exercising the religious thought of the time. The Brahmans taught that it was to be attained by sacrifice, and by worshipping them and the gods ; but others taught that it was to be attained by right life, anti specially by renouncing thc world and living lives of thc severest absti. nence and self-denial.
Among those who helpcd to give practical definiteness to tllis teaching was Piirswaniith, king of Aswasena. According to tradition, he had lived about two hundred years before the time of which we are writing. He gave up his kingdom, lived a hermit life in the desert or in mountain caves, and took the name of Jina, or conquerer-i.e., conqueror of worldly lusts and ambitions. Large numbers followed him, and were hence called * J ainas or J ains. Much is not known of his teaching. It was from Mahavlra, who lived two hundred years later, in the seventh century B.C., that the religion took its definite form. He was of the same royal house as Parswaniith, and became a follower of his; but in one respect he went beyond his master. Parswanath had carried his asceticism so far as to have no covering but a piece of white cloth; Mahavira carried his to the point of dispensing with all covering whatever. He did not, however, carry all his coreligionists with him in this new departure. Hence two sects sprang up among them, the Swetambaras, or "clothed in white,"
and the Digambaras, or " clothed in space. "t In the form which Jainism finally assumed these two are considered the last of a series of twenty-four saints, or Jinas, who have at various times appeared on earth. The name usually given to them is Tirthankara. With the exception of the two last they seem to be mythical, though in the myths regarding the first of them, Rikhal Deva, there seem some traces of historical truth.
We shall understand the teaching of Jainism better if we compare it with that of Buddhism, which arose about the same time. According to the dates now generally received, Gautama, from whom Buddhism sprang, was a younger contemporary of Mahavrra. The Jains claim that he reo ceived his teaching from their sage, but of that there is no evidence. It is much more likely that they both worked independently on the thoughts that were then exercising men's minds. What they have in common is the ideas of the age and the instincts of human commience. In working these out they are wide as the poles asunder. At the same time it is not • In Sanskrit the modification of the original vowel in a holy being's name by "a" indicates a follower or worshipper. Thus we have l'ai.hnava, a worshipper of Vishna,. Saiva, a worshipper of Siva,. Bauddha, a follower of Buddha: and Jaina, a follower of Jina.
t This theoretical asceticism is not now, as far as I have been able to observe, carried ont by even the religio1}S men of the sect. impossible that Buddha may have reeeived an impulse from the older Jainism that had come from Parswanath. According to tradition, the incident that finally decided his eourse of action was the sight of an ascetic who had conquered the desires of the world and lived in holy meditation.
It is interesting to notice that all these reformers were of the royal, not of the Brahmanieal caste. It seems as though the old warlike spirit were ehafing at the dominance which the latter had attained in religion, and were determined to break its yoke. It is to be noticed that the hatred of the Brahmans is much more strongly and spitefully expressed in the early Jain than in the early Buddhist books, and this seems another indication of an earlier origin. * To institute a full comparison between the two sys&ms would swell this paper beyond all reasonable dimensions. We shall, therefore, confine ourselvelil to a few leading points. Both systems are atheistic in the sense of not admitting any deity above the general system of the universe. Buddhism in its first teaching carried this principle consistently out by making no provision for worship, while J ainism, as we shall see, made such a provision in its very inception.
The final goal of man Buddhism teaches to be annihilation j J ainism, a state of stable ineffable bliss. The Buddhist conception of Nirvana was not originally either annihilation or a state of absorption into the soul of the universe, but a state of deliverance from all desires leading to extinction of being. It has latterly come to mean rather a final state of existence, free from all disturbing influence and free from the conception of some of the earlier Jain books.
It is in the teaching with regard to the attainment of this end, however, that the similarities and divergences of the two systems are most marked. Both teach that it is to be obtained through the observance of the moral code, and this code is given in a negative and positive form.
The negative code of the two systems present little difference. J ainism forbids, first, killing j second, falsehood j third, stealing j fourth, adultery j fifth, worldly-mindedness.
Buddhism forbids, first, killing j second, stealing j third, adultery j fourth, falsehood j fifth, the use of strong drink.
It will be observed that the only important difference is in the fifth command. J ainism seems to take in the Rweep of the tenth command of the Mosaic decalogue j Buddhism seems to have the limit of a religious order rather than of a religion. But we must remember that this part of Buddha's law was only for the laity. It was a step to the higher law, designed specially for those who renounced the world and entered the priesth(»d-as all could who wished-through which alone Nirvana was to be attained.
* so in Europe the :61'st symptom 'of the reform movement was the bitter attacks on the Roman Catholic priests. On the positive side- Jainism enjoins, first, mercy to all animated beings j second, almsgiving; third, venerating the sages (tirthankaras) while living, and wor. shipping their images when dead; fourth, confession of faults j fifth, religious fasting. Buddhism enjoins, first, charity; second, purity; third, patience j fourth, courage j fifth, contemplation j sixth, science. On this side it will at once be seen what a great moral superiority belongs to Buddhism. The first of its commands includes the two first of the Jain table. On all the rest Jainism is silent, and their place is taken by certain rules for religious practices. These last have practically found a place in later Bllddhism, but it has a far broader ethical basis than Jainism, and is calculated to build up a far finer moral character. Having a moral basis, and throwing the celibate open to all ey'ually, Buddhism has thus emancipated itself from caste and local restriction and attained the elements of universality. Jainism, on the other hand, by making the reverencing and worshipping of the tirthankaras a term of its moral law, has limited itself to a narrow sect. It teaches, in fact~ that only those saints and their worshippers who happened to be on earih at the time of their final incarnation have entered the beatific state. The Kalpa Sutra, in giving the narrative of the various tirthankaras, is careful to state the number that entered hliss along with each by virtue of his merits. Thus, according to Jainism, the only hope for final salvation is being again on earth when the next tirthankara shall appear, and worshipping him so as to share his beatitude. It is thUs not surprising that, while .r Buddhism has come to be a world religion, ainism has continued to be one of the narrowest sects of India. But it is this very narrowness which has enabled it to maintain itself in India, while Buddhism has been expelled from that land. Hinduism found in the latter a rival which could not exist alongside of it, which must either expel it or be expelled. Therefore, when thoroughly aroused, it expelled it from the" land of the Aryas." It found Jainism a sect which could exist alongside of it or within it without causing it much danger, and so had no difficulty in tolerating it. Thus it is that Jainism is now the only survival of what we may call the Buddhism movement once so powerful in India, and by its environment it has come to be little more than the name of a caste of Hindus. It is confined, in fact, to some of the Vaisyu, or mercantile castes-Seths, or bankers and wholesale merchants, and Baniyas, or shopkeepers-who represent more than any other the religious vis inertia! of India.
The Jains at present number a little over one million four hundred thousand. They are found chiefly in Rajputana, Guzerat, and Western India. They are mostly enterprising men of business, and a great part of the wealth of the commnnity is in their hands. In some of the native States they have obtained considerable political power through their wealth. In Udaipur, the oldest and most honorable of the Hindu States, the office of prime minister is hereditary in one of their families. Generally under English rule they have a security and prosperity greater than they ever enjoyed before. The English Government tends to protect commerce and to enforce bargains and sales. The mercantile community take advantage of this, drive hard bargains with the agriculturists, an9- so are getting a great part of the land under their power. The English rule is therefore popular with them, but by the Rajputs-the warrior caste, the modern Kshatriyas-and others it is sneered at as a" baniya-raj," a shopkeeper's rule.
If we turn' to the development of religion among them, we see all the corruptions which human nature would naturally bring into Ruch a system as I have sketched above. They adhere strictly to certain minor moralities and neglect the weightier matters of the law. The solitary moral precept in their positive code illustrates the whole spirit of their religion, and, in fact, gives it its distinctive, outward character among the various religions of India. It enjoins mercy to all animated beings. Animated beings include insects as well as men j and in the eye of a Jain the life of a flea is as sacred as the life of a man, and its destruction as great a sin. Some of their sophistical devices to get quit of vermin are rather amusing, but hardly bear repetition. One great act of religious merit is to feed ants and such like. A single handful of rice wiII thus supply the daily wants of hundreds of lives, whereas if given to a man it would not supply a single meal for a single life. Then mercy is restricted to not taking life by violence j it does not require avoiding giving it pain. A Jain has no scruple in mercilessly overloading his bullock 01' his horse and urging it with goad or whip till it falls down from fatigue. When it is too old to be serviceable it is a sin, against the law of mercy, to put it out of pain by shooting it, but it is no want of mercy to withhold its food till it dies, when the owner will weep over its fate. Mercy, too, does not forbid leaving a fellow-being to perish if you do him no positive injury. Almsgiving is, of course, commanded, but that means giving to religious mendicants or devotees. That is an act of religious merit, but to give to a starving, low-caste man is a stupid waste of substance.
With regard to truthfulness, the Jains are much the same as the average Hindu. Lying is considered an essential for the trader, and he will bring any amount of lying to the striking of a bargain j* but when it is struck he wiII loyally adhere to it, and will not falsify his ledger. Their ideas of chastity are also those of the Hindus j but it says a great deal for their regard for women that they are the only caste in Rajputana in which the females are in excess of the males. t • When the English officer in charge of the native state of A1wur during the minority of the late ruler was carrying out some improvements, he directed a row of pipal trees to be planted in a new bazar. Now the pipal tree is considered an abode of the gods, and no Hindu dare tellHes under its shade. At once all the baniyas in the bazar rOBe in rebellion and insisted on the pipal trees bein!( taken away. " How can we trade, " they said, " if we are not allowed to lie 1"
t Among the Hindns and Mohammedans the males were about 12 per cent in excess of the females at last census. Among the Jains the females were 2kl per cent in excess of the males. The need for worship among the Jains finds satisfaction chiefly in the worship of the tirthankaras or of their religious guides. Pilgrimages to the shrines of the former are one of the principal religious acts. This would seem, indeed, to be the foundation of their systcm. Tirthankara means "author of a firth," or place of pilgrimage. It is true the J ains say that their tirth is a moral tirth. None the less are the shrines sacred to the various tirthankaras visited by numbers of pilgrims. That especially of Rikhab Dev, the first of the tirthankaras, in the midst of the wild hill country of the Bhils to the south of Udaipur, draws annually thousands of pilgrims from all parts of India.
There are two classes of priests among the Jains, the Dhundhias and the Jatis. The former, who include females as well as males, are wandering ascetics. They have not much learning; they maintain their sanctity by their great care not to destroy insect life. They have always a cloth over their mouth, lest any insect may be drawn in by the inhaling of the breath. They carry a broom to sweep the ground before they sit down, lest they should crush any animal. As may be supposed, their company is more sought by insects than by men, but they are considered very holy.
The Jatis are somewhat superior to these. They have each their temple and parish, and must be instructed in the Jain holy books. They are celibates, and maintain their order by adoption. They adopt sons from all castes, mostly from Rajputs and Brahmans. I have not met any that were originally J ains. They are supposed to carry out in their own persons the requirements of Jainism, while the laity worship them and bring them gifts, that they may benefit from their merit. The first native of India that I was privileged to receive into the Christian Church belonged to this class. He was originally a Rajput, had been sold by his parents to a Jati in a time of famine, had been educated by him as a disciple, and at his death inherited his money and the diocese in which he was the spiritual head. He had' been trained up to all the tricks of the priesthood, and gave me an insight into some of them, It is one of the rules of Jati life to drink only water that has been boiled, so as to avoid destroying insect life; but they may not boil it themselves or order it to be boiled, as that would be committing the same sin. So when he went to one of his villages he went to the first Jain house, and asked if they had any boiled water. If they had not, he went on to the others; and if he failed to get it anywhere, he came back to the first house. They would by that time have it boiled and cooled and ready for drinking. He had not told them to boil it, but they understood quite well what was expected. They, of course, incurred the sin of destroying the life in the water, but that did not matter for them, as they were laity. Their priest was preserved from sin, and they benefited from his merit.
Certain fasts are enjoined on the Jains, but these, too, are observed by proxy, the Jati fasting while his flock worship him and bring him gifts.
MALAYStA
The fast is observed in public, the Jati sitting on an elevated daiS in presence of his worshippers, so that there may be no doubt as to the reality of the fast, and giving additional potency to the function by reading aloud the sacred books. But a cloth must be over the mouth to prevent insects entering, and this cloth can be conveniently arranged to hang down over the knees while sitting. Under it a good dish of provisions can be concealed, which may be slipped into the mouth without the worshipper's notice. My informant told me that such a fast had been the occasion of a bitter quarrel with a brother J ati. They had agreed that they would each take a certain amount of confectionery during the fast. He found the amount agreed on rather too little, and was faint at the end; when he discovered that his companion had taken double the quantity, and came through the fast quite fresh. This he considered a breach of faith, which made him break with him altogether.
In the midst of all this his conscience was working. He found nothing in the Jain faith to satisfy his religious craving; he felt that the whole system of the priesthood was one of fraud and a hypocrisy. Often when the multitude was worshipping him he felt so wretched that he wished he were a dog, and was sometimes tempted to commit suicide. He sought a satisfaction for his cravings in one of the secret sects of Hinduism, but its moral character disgusted him. He came to hear of Jesus Christ, found in Him all that he wanted, and ended his days a zealous teacher of His faith.
He has had few followers as yet either from among the priesthood or the laity. Christian missions have hitherto made little impression on the J ains; but the moral and religious needs of human nature exist within them, and if Jesus Christ be faithfully preached to them, they will come at last to recognize Him as the only one who can satisfy them, the Holy One who can give salvation to all who believe in Him in every age.
MALAYSIA.
BY REV. W. F. OLDHAM, PITTSBURG, PA.
To the southeast of Asia, stretching from Siam to Australia and from the Indian Ocean to New Guinea, is a vast archipelago, presenting a most inviting study to the geographer and ethnologist and of increasing interest to the Christian missionary. Here are found such considerable islands as Sumatra, Java, Celebes, Gilolo, and continental Borneo.
Through this archipelago runs a line of fire. Up through Sumatra, running the length of the island, throngh Java, Borneo, the Celebes, the Philippines, and then on east through New Guinea and north through Japan. Along this line is a spine of volcanic peaks rising to great heights and liable at any time to active eruptions. On both sides of tuis line of fire the land is wonderfully productive, and large crops are raised of such rich tropical products as pepper, nutmegs, sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, gutta-percha, etc.
As a whole, the islands are exceedingly fertile and beautiful with a gorgeous beauty unknown outside the mid-tropics. The waters amid which they sit are mostly shallow, and the deep-green tints of the shallow ocean, the perennial verdure of the islands, the opaline tints on the lofty mountain-tops, and the glowing azure of the ofttimes cloudless sky present to the eye of the admiring traveller such a scheme of color as the earth can scarcely duplicate.
On these islands lives an estimated population of thirty-six millions of people. These are for the most part of two races, the Malay and the Papuan. The former, an Indo-Chinese, differentiated from the parent stock by centuries of residence in their island homes. In some respects inferior to their continental progenitors, in others they are superior. In the main truthful, brave, kind to their families, capable of friendship, though subject to terrific gusts of passion, and, when aroused, unreasonable and obstinate, the Malay race, in all its subdivisions, ought certainly attract more general attention from the Christian churches of England and America. A wave of Islamic conquest has swept over these islands during many centuries, and the large bulk of the Malay races own fealty to the Arabian prophet. The chief propagators of Islam have been the Arab traders, who, by marrying with the Malay chiefs' daughtexs and by superior commercial sagacity, obtain ascendancy in Malay communities. The Dutch officials, too, who rule the more populous islands of Malaysia, have too often been the friends and helpers of the Moslem propaganda. As it was in British India years ago, so it has been till recently in the Dutch East Indies. Godless men in the military and civil employ of the Government, disliking the Christian missionary's standard of morals, and preferring the looseness of Mohammedanism, have covertly, if not openly, thrown their influence on the side of the false prophet. As yet, however, of large sections of the Malay peoples it may be said they are but veneered with Mohammedanism. The old nature worship is yet strong with them; and I have seen in parts of Java, nominally Moslem women carrying offerings of flowers just as their heathen ancestors did. There has, however, of late years been a yery large increase in the number of Malay pilgrims to Mecca. The steamboat companies advertise widely, and the honor put upon the returned pilgrim or " Hadji" is such as to induce thousands to brave the perils and discomforts of the journey. The effect of this pilgrimage is, in the main, to deepen Moslem fervor. The pilgrims have suffered for their faith, and it becomes of larger worth. Their devotion brings them great honor in their own community, which is further reason why they should be devout. The Dutch Government begins to perceive that the deepening hold of Mohammedanis~ is likely to breed mischief. Whatever else the "Hadji" mayor may not learn on his pilgrimage, he does learn to hate the "Kafir," the unbelieving dog of a Christian. In the recent past a more active interest has been shown by Government officials at large in ihe efforts of the Christian mis:;:ionaries, while some of them, earnest, godly men themselves, are of great assistance to the Christian cause. The other race found in the archipelago is the "Papuan," from the Malay " papuwah-frizzled," referring to their" mop heads. " These are ocean negritoes, and differ markedly from the Malay in physical and mental characteristics. Physically the Papuan is not equal in prowess to the Malay, who has invariably driven him from the coast and the rivet banks to the interior high lands. Yet the Papuan is taller and more comely, and will ultimately probably leave the Malay behind, for he has more vital energy. Papuan slaves are often men of ability, and are pro. moted to high office. They have greater feeling for art than the Malays, and decorate their canoes, their houses, pots and pans, etc., with elaborate carvings in admirable taste. They have, unfortunately, a decided taste for human flesh j but from this they are being rapidly reclaimed, and they have the great excellence of being almost incapable of untruthfulness. Among these native peoples scattered all through the islands, and destined ultimately to greatly influence the archipelago, are thousands of Chinese. As a miner, as a cultivator, above all, as a petty tradesman, the almond-eyed stranger appears everywhere, and wherever he comes he easily secures a footing, and because of his superior industry and intelligence forges to the front. Any plan of evangelization of these islands which overlooks the Chinaman will be at fault. Law-abiding, orderloving, intelligent, the Chinese settlements throughout the archipelago should be seized as outposts in any wide scheme of Christian conquest.
The Dutch Government politically controls by far the largest part of the archipelago j and Dutch missions are, as we would expect, the most numerous and widely spread among the islands. The Church in Holland, however, has never risen to the height of the magnificent opportunity that God has laid at her doors. Indeed, God-given opportunities always far outrun the readiness of the Christian Church to use them j and the Dutch have been quite as responsive to the needs of the Indies as the British have been to those of the greater India they govern. The principal societies at work are: 1. The Netherlands Missionary Society, which began early in the century through its representatives Messrs. Kam, Buckner, and Supper. Kam, who first settled in Amboyna, was a notable man, and after valuable and heroic service he died in 1833. This society's usefulness lIas been much crippled by its defection from the evangelical faith. Rationalism, however it may commend itself to some of the scholars of the Church in Christian lands, never fails to throttle earnest mission enterprise. Happily a better state of things begins to appear j and men who are not Rcoffers at the "blood-theology" of evangelical Christians are putting new vigor into the society's missions. They number eighteen missionaries, with ten times as many native helpers, and twenty thousand converts. Next in numbers and importance among Dutch missions is : 2. The Dutch Reformed Missionary Society, which now numbers some six thousand converts. The notable thing about this mission is that it has gained its great conquests in the province of Djokjakarta, which was closed against missionaries. An elect lady, Mrs. Phillips, the wife of an official, converted, I was told, by reading an extract from one of Mr. Moody's addresses, threw herself into personal work for Christ among the natives around her j God blessed her testimony, and the result has been a great awakening and ingathering. Some of the dear brethren scarcely enjoy this attestation of the Holy Spirit to woman's effectiveness as a preacher j nevertheless, the Church in this unofficially evangelized province is the green spot in all Java.
3. The Dutch Missionary Society, with seven missionaries and some native helpers, is faithfully working among the Soudanese. Add to these several smaller societies. such as the Ermolo Missionary Society, the Java Comite, etc., and you have the entire force of Dutch missions at work in Malaysia. The show~ng is not reassuring. Vast populations are practically unreached. The activity of the Christian Church is far behind the Moslem propaganda, and Mohammedanism is fastening itself more deeply every year upon the people. The Dutch churches are doing what they can, but infected in part by rationalism, the wave of missionary enthusiasm does not rise very high j and though the Government in these later years is more sympathetic and helpful, there is loud and urgent call for other Christian bodies to go to the help of our Dutch brethren against Islam and nature worship in these populous islands.
Answering in part to this call, there are at work in the Netherlands Indies: l. The Rhenish Missionary Society, of Germany, with missionaries in Borneo (South), Sumatra, and Nias. The missions in the latter two islands are yery successful. Especially among the Battaks, old-time can· nibals, docs the Vord of God prevail.
2. The British Foreign and Bible Society. No words of mine can too highly praise the yigor and thoroughness with which this society, under the efficient direction of Mr. John Haffenden, is sowing these islands with God's Vord. Great revivals will surely come in the future, judging from the eagerness of the people to buy" gospels" and" portions" which, published in cheap and very portable form, tell in their own tongues to the various peoples of the archipelago the "wonderful things of God." The entire archipelago is traversed by these indefatigable colporteurs. Even into the Philippine Islands one of them penetrated, only to be driven away by the intolerant and unspeakably corrupt and evil liviI1g Spaniard Romish priests.
In North Borneo is Sarawak, the romantic kingdom of Rajah Brooke. Here is a splendid mission of the English Episcopal Church, led by the scholarly Bishop Hose. This mission, however, is confined to the Dyaks and Chinese, the king fearing trouble from the Malays should Christ be preached to them-an unworthy fear, from which may timo and the providence of God deliver all concerned! This English mission is found operating also in Labuan and in the Straits Settlements, which is an English colony.
Of all the missions in Malaysia the most successful seems to have been that conducted in the North Celebes region, where tens of thousands of islanders, before they were captured by the Mohammedan faith, came en masse into the Christian camp. They seem to have been received and baptized j but these tender though honest babes in the faith were not sufficiently carefully trained in the new faith, and seem to have taken on only such a veneer of Christianity as many of the Javanese have of Mohammedanism. Left to walk by themselves before they were able, many of them have lapsed. Some have gone to Islam j many live a low type of semi-Christian life. The Roman Catholics, ever on the alert to enter into other people's labors, have begun an active mission. The Netherlands Missionary Society is now endeavoring to repair the waste places. The Government, too, is growing helpful and sympathetic j but a great deal of work must be done over again before Minnehassa, the " pearl of missions," recovers the lustre of its early Christian days.
The American churches have done but little for Malaysia. India on the one side, and Japan r.,nd China on the other, have presented such populous continental areas that hitherto the efforts of American Christians have been but sparsely directed to this southeastern Asiatic archipelago.
While waiting for China to open, the American Board seems to have supported a few mission stations, but on the opening of the treaty ports in China these were abandoned, and the missionaries proceeded to China. Two young men, Henry Lyman and Munson, were sent to the Battaks of Sumatra. These pioneers were killed and eaten by the cannibal savages, and the project was abandoned. It is cheering to know that these same Battaks, since approached from the south by German missionaries, have largely yielded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The comparative spiritual destitution of this section of Asia was so impressed upon one of the churches of America-the Methodist Episcopal (North)-that in 1885 Bishop Hurst, then visiting India, appointed tM writer of this article missionary to Singapore. A mission on a selfsupporting basis was begun among the English-speaking people of Singapore, an island of great strategic and commercial importance. This island commands the Malacca Straits, and is the commercial entrepot of Southeastern Asia. It is one of the commercial navels of the world and floats the British flag. Its polyglot population of Malays, Tamils, Chinese, and Europeans is in close touch with all the surrounding islands, with China, with India, and with Europe. In the beautiful harbor of Singapore ride the ships of all the sea-going nations of the world. Chinese junks and Malay dhows jostle the ocean racers of England and France and Germany. A free port, knowing nothing of customs duties except on a very few articles, here come large cargoes of tobacco, hides, rice, tea, tin, rattan, coffee, india-rubber, and sugar. Commercial activity in foreign ports is usually accompanied by two things, moral laxity and mental alertness. The morals of Singapore are not high. The readiness of its people to receive new ideas is far beyond that usual in the East.
The American Methodist Mission, beginning work among the English.. speaking, founded a self-supporting English-speaking church. This church has never received a penny of support from without. Beginning with seventeen members, it now numbers over one hundred, and has given over a dozen mission workers to the varied enterprises that now cluster around it.
Parallel with the work in English has grown up a mission to the " Baba," or straits-born Chinese. These enlightened and progressive Chinamen, British subjects, seeing that the American missionary really desired to serve them, rallied around him, and were at the expense of providing for him school·houses and furniture at an expense of over $12,000. The English Governor, Sir Cecil Smith, of that class of enlightened rulers who have made the English name famous through Asia, quickly perceived the usefulness of the American educational missionary project ; and a large "Anglo-Chinese" school, numbering' from four to five hundred scholars, entirely self-supporting, is now located at Singapore. Another similar institution is fast growing up in Penang ; and through the prestige and kindly feeling generated by the schools our evangelistic missionaries are finding free access to the peoples around them. A medical mission, a Malay press, an orphanage, a Tamil church and school, and constant itinerant preaching among the Malays are all forms of activity in which the American missionaries are now engaged.
It would greatly help in the extension of God's kingdom among these most interesting races if some other branch of American Christians-say the Methodist Episcopal Church (South) or any other-would select some part of Sumatra, or, with the consent of the Dutch missionaries, some part of Java, or the Celebes, or East Borneo as a mission centre, and from there, in consultation with the Dutch and American brethren already on the field, project a wider and more insistent evangelism among these islanders. They will otherwise year by year be more firmly intrenched in Mohammedanism, with its inordinate conceit and intolerant and fierce bigotry. If anywhere in the mission world the King's business calls for haste it is in the fair and beautiful islands of Malaysia.
A MISSIONARY'S EXPERIENCE IN JAMAICA AND OLD QALABAR
A MISSIONARY'S EXPERIENCE IN JAMAICA AND OLD CALABAR.* BY REV. J. J. FULLER.
This is a jubilee meeting. Fifty years of Christian efforts; fifty years of Christian prayer; fifty years of Christian missions ; and fifty years of contact with young hearts and young minds-these have matured your insti- tution and kept it up until the present day. 'When I was told that this was your Jubilee, my mind went back to the fact that you and those that have gone before have had a hand in bringing about some of the great changes that have taken place in the countries of the world. Among the many nations and peoples with whom you have had to do or whom you have helped, . my nation and people, and my own native country, and Africa itself, have borne some of your good wishes, have seen some of your kindness, and have had some of your earnest prayer for the spread of the kingdom of Jesus Christ among them.
Fifty years shows a great difference in ~y own country, which is one of the British possessions in the West Indies-the island of Jamaica. Fifty years ago that land had, comparatively speaking, an unlettered people, just emerged, as it were, from the bondage of slavery. It was only then that schools were thrown open and that the children of the col- ored people of my home were permitted to take the Bible in their hands. It was not until slavery had been abolished that we were permitted to wor- I!hip God freely. Before then our fathers had to worship God in the dark night. They had to hide themselves in caves. They had to meet their missionaries on the banks of the rivers. They had to hide themselves in all sorts of corners in order to worship God. But by the efforts of mis- sions, and by your sending missionaries to heathen countries to preach the Gospel, you have not only benefited the peoples to whom you sent the Gos- pel, but the blessing has rebounded with tenfold force, and benefited Great Britain herself; because it was not until you sent missionaries that the awful deeds and cruelties of slavery were brought before the English pub- lic. And no sooner did England know what slavery meant and what sor- rows it caused, the families it scattered, the homes it broke up, and the way in which men were degraded and brutalized by it, than she at once put her shoulders to the wheel, and so the curse was removed from off the British standard.
I believe that it was in the year 1834 that Great Britain paid twenty millions of money for the abolition of slavery. The day when that Act was passed in England, the day on which it had the signature of the sovereign, • This remarkable address was delivered at the IlCtieth anniversary of St. Panl's Missionary 8oclety, In connection with the mercantile honse ofHltcheock, Williams & Co., London, England, January, 1893. Mr. Fnller is a native of .Jamaica, W. I., and was born in slavery, and has spent the latter part of hie liCe in Old aalabar. Bnt he wlll tell his own story.-ED. that very day I-then a boy-was one of those that were set at liberty. I was eight years old when England passed the Emancipation Act. I was there. I remember being carried by my mother to the office, so that my name might be registered. But it was in the year 1838 that the great day came j and I shall never forget it. Our parents had to serve a longer time than we did. It was only children of a certain age that were set at liberty when the Emancipation Act was passed in 1834. In the year 1838, on the 31st day of July, our missionaries-among them William Knibb and James Philippo-gathered the fathers and mothers together j and they thought that, if England had done such a great thing for us, we ought to give slavery a very respectable burial j and so we did. We had a firstrate mahogany coffin made j and, as some of our fathers were carpenters and cabinet-makers, they put all the polish they possibly could upon that coffin. It looked very respectable. And they had not only that, but a splendid grave, fit for a gentleman to lie in. We had all the implements of slavery-the whip, the torture iron, the branding iron, the handcuffs, a piece of the treadmill, the coarse frock, the coarse shirt, and the great hat (all things which were used ill slavery)-put into that coffin and screwed down as close as possible. At about half.past eleven o'clock, on the night of July 31st, there were fourteen thousand people and five thousand children gathered, and I was one of them. I remember that, as soon as the half hour came, the appointed signal was given all through the island, so that at that hour, I believe, every colored man that was to be found on the island of Jamaica was on his knees! And, as the clock began to strike the hour of twelve, William Knibb stood over the grave, and, at every stroke of the clock that sounded out the hour, he cried, " The monster is dying / The monster is dying / The monster is dying /" and when the clock struck the last stroke of the twelve, he cried, "THE MONSTER IS DEAD! BURY HIM!" We lowered that coffin into the grave, and that mass of human beings rose on their feet and sang the doxology : " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."
And I can remember looking into my mother's face and seeing tears rolling down her eyes, while I, as a child, looked up and thought what a happy time it must be. As soon as they had sat down, all of us children rose on our feet, and we sang a piece that had been taught us j and that piece was: .. Send the glad tidings over the sea, The chain is broke, the slave is free; Britannia's justice, wealth and might Have gained the negro's long-lost right."
We sang that song j and I rememher our marching, five hundred of us, to the Governor's house, where Sir Lionel Smith read the proclamation of freedom to all.
Now, it is more than fifty years ago since that happened j but, within that time, during the fifty years that have just passed, let me say that God in His own way has given testimony to the truth of His promise, that where the Gospel goes that Gospel will prove the power of God to salvation. We turn to our own country of Jamaica to-day, and we find that, within this half century, God has not only removed the curse of slavery, but we have become a Christian people with Christian institutions. Folly, superstition, idolatry, and witchcraft, in which our fathers believed, have all passed away j and to-day there is not to be found upon the whole island of Jamaica, taking all the different denominations that are therein, a single missionary church-all have become self-supporting and independent of missionary societies.
One could scarcely expect such a great change j but not only have we become a Christian nation, independent of missionaries societies, but we have been taught by the missionaries who came to our country that freely we have received and freely we ought to give. So, on the island of Jamaica to-day, we have an independent Baptist Missionary Society of our own not at all connected with the society in England, and which sends ilie Gospel to the heathen afar off. This is the result of one half century.
It was supposed, you know, that the black man had not got any brains. They say that our heads are too thick. Phrenologists have looked at our heads and said that there are too many bones there j but missionaries that have gone to our country have felt that it is a very good thing that we have had a thick head, because, if we had not-if we had your soft head -all the brains would go! You know, when you get to our country, the first thing that you want is a " helmet. " God has put our helmet on without giving us the trouble of making one. But our missionaries have found out that the black man lacks only opportunity and privileges. If you give him them, God can develop that man as well as any other.
Our missionaries, I say, have tried it. In the island of Jamaica to-day we have about two hundred and seventy Baptist churches. The Presbyterians have got their churches j the Church of England have got theirs j the Wesleyans have got theirs. Some of the two hundred and seventy Baptist churches seat two thousand people j and seventy of those churches are ministered to by young men, well qualified in our colleges, and who are now preaching the Gospel side by side with their European brethren. So much, friends, for the success of the Gospel in our land. Then we have Suuday-schools, high schools, grammar schools, and colleges of all the different universities. God has honored the men who went to our land and preached the Gospel, and given them encouragement by showing them that Africa, with all her supposed degradation and all her real degradation, is capable of receiving the Gospel j and if we give it to the Africans, He who said, "Go into all the world," has promised that He will be with His disciples.
I just say so much with regard to my own country j but I have myself been engaged in mission work for forty-five years. Some people say, " You do not look that yourself'" but I have had forty-five years' experience in a savage country. When the Baptist Missionary Society started their mission on the West Coast of Africa, my father was one of the first who went out to carry the Gospel to the land of our forefathers. Soon after he left I felt a determination also to join the mission and go out to Africa; and, in the year 1845, I landed on the 'West Coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea and in the Bight of Biafra. When we landed there was no Bible, no written language. None of the people had ever heard the name of Jesus Christ. The natives there were all savages, naked, degraded, and depraved. Everything that repelled the eye and sickened the heart presented itself before us as we landed. We saw human sacrifices. People say that the Africans are cruel. I have not read of any heathen countries where cruelty does not exist; but it is what they are taught. In Africa, when we got there, we found that the people believed in some future. What that future is they knew nothing of. Because of this belief not a king died but so many men and so many women were put into the grave with him. There was not anyone that died in that country without somebody being accused of being responsible for it, and they administered to the person poison for witchcraft. There was not an infant child whose mother died but the child was put alive into the coffin with its dead mother and buried. In one part of the country there was not a twin child born but the poor mother of the twins was flogged to death, and the children were put to death immediately, because the witch doctors said that they were cursed. The people believed this; and they had carried on such horrid customs for centuries. When we got there we found that this was the condition of the people. They were running about perfectly naked. They were without hope and without God in the world. Within a short period of the missions having been established among them the people had their language put into a written form, and they had the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, translated by Alfred Saker and by the Presbyterian missionaries. To-day we have men that have been trained there preaching the Gospel among their own people. We have churches formed, and we have schools that have been established. The people are being taught to read and write.
I remember the scene when we landed in Africa. I had scarcely been there a month before one of the kings of Calabar died. A horrid sight was brought before us in the many people that were put into his grave with him. The grandson of that king that died soon after we landed in Africa, is to-day one of the elders of a Presbyterian church; and if you go into his house you will find that every morning the open Bible is on his table aud he is conducting family worship. The old custom of burying the living with the dead is wiped out and gone. I remember going into t.he Cameroons, and after I had opened my window in the morning, looking across the river, I saw many canoes with people dressed up in all their war dresses, and their .spears and swords were brandished in the sun. They had their war caps upon their heads. I took my glass and looked, and I found that the decoration on the bows of all those canoes was nothing else but human heads. I went up to the chief and said to him, " What do you do this for 1" He looked at me very much astonished that I should ask him such a question. He said, "What 1" Pointing across the river, I said, "Look yonder." "Why 1" he said. " What about that 1" I said, "why do you do such cruel things 1 It is not right. " He said, "You people come into this country, and you live here, and you say that you are good people-and that is true enough-but do you tell me that, when I die, my sons arc to put me into an empty grave alone, and nobody with me 1" When I told him" Yes," he looked at me and said, "You are a fool." Then all his sons came up directly and said, " What is the matter, father 1" And he told them. He said, "This man, who has como to live in this country, says that when i die you boys will put me into an empty grave, alone, with "no one with me." And they looked at me and grinned their savage grin; and they turned away and said, " Father, do not believe him. He is a fool and he is' a foreigner. What does he know 1 Let him alone." I stand here to tell you that that same chief lived on until the old custom of burying people with the dead was completely abolished. In his town, about fifty yards from his own house, stood a little chapel, and the preacher in that chapel was none other than one of his sons, who was preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If God, in such a short time, can produce such a change, surely prayers for missions and for the extension of Christ's kingdom in the world have a proof that they are being answered by God, when we think of the present condition of the people, and think of what was their former condition, when we saw them in their degradation as naked savages. The other day I had a letter from the church in the Cameroons to say that they had built a chapel for themselves that will seat one thousand people, and that the membership of that one church had grown to seven hundred; that the people had collected for themselves among themselves no less than £999, and had established fifteen different stations in different parts of tho country since I left, in order to spread the Gospel among their own neighbors. I say that Africa, with all her degradation, and with all her ignorance, desires to have the Gospel; and if it is given to the people, they, of themselves, in their own country, will spread that Gospel if they only know and hear the truth preached to them. I believe that the time will come, and that the time is not far off, when Africa, with all her degradation and darkness, will rise. We remember. that fifty years ago, up the Congo River, no one had ever heard the Gospel, and we looked upon it as a hard soil to work; but to-day the Scripture is being translated into their own tongue, their young men are being taught to read the Bible, Christian churches are being formed, and some of the cruelties that the missionaries met when they landed first in the Congo are gradually being removed; so that the time will yet come when we shall see a great change in the work of God among the people in Africa. I remember standing at my door and seeing one of the chiefs coming across. As he was coming I looked at him. He was a great man, a man of position in his country; but the only covering that he had was the fibres of the plantain tree combed out and a great cap on his head with parrots' feathers. He had a great bullock horn across his breast, and he walked as stately as ever. Several of the princes were following him behind, all of them being dressed in the same way. I called to this man as he passed my door. I said, " Mikani," and he looked round, but he would not answer. I called again, but he wonld not answer. I called a third time, llnd one of his followers turn~d upon me and said, "What do you want?" "Why," I said, "I only want to speak to him. I want to ask him a question." The man said, "He will not answer you." "Why? What have I done?" He replied, " Why, the man has just been into his superstitions, and he has sworn that for nine days he will not speak to anybody except by signs. At the end of nine days he will go back to the place where he came from, and after that he will converse as of old." I thought it was of no use to trouble him any more, and I let him go. After the nine days were over I went .to his house. I saw him sitting at the door; and just as I got to his house I saw this bullock's horn that he had across his breast hanging across the threshold of his door. I looked at it, and then I looked at him and said, "Do you mean to tell me that. a big man like you, in such a position as you are, believes in such a foolish thing as that?" The man was rather insulted. "'Vhat do you mean?" he said. "Why," I said, " look at that thing. Do you mean to say that that thing has any power in it ?" I said, " Let me take my penknife and open it, and I will show you what is in it. " There was nothing in it but some red clay, parrots' feathers, dogs' teeth, pieces of the skins of animals, some of his own hair, and a little bit of his own toenail. I said, " I know what is in it. Do you mean to tell me that you believe in that stuff ?" He answered, " Believe it ? Yes. " He said, " If I have that thing hanging at my door no witch will dare to come into my house. If she comes, before she crosses the threshold of my door she will be dead." I said, "You do not believe that rubbish, do you ?" " -Well," he said, " I do. And that is why you missionaries all die. You come into this country, and the witches know that you have not anything to keep off the witchcraft, so they kill you ; but they will not come near me, because they know that I have got something to stop them. " Well, I made it my business to visit that man day after day and try to convince him, but it was no good. I could not do anything. Six months after that I was sitting in my little study room, and I heard the drum that tells of death. And I knew what it waS. When a chief dies the sound of that drum tells the tale, and the missionary has to be immediately on the move. I took my hat directly and started up and got to the chief's place. I said, " Mikani, who is dead?" He hung his head down for a minute, and then he said, " One of those princes that were with me on that day." "Why,"
THE REV. JOHN L. NEVIUS, D.D
I said, "you told me that the man that had got that thing would nbt die. Did not that prince wear one of these horns ?', " Yes." "Did he not have a cap~" "Yes. " "Did he not have that same horn~" " Yes." "Then, how is it," I said, "that he is dead?" And the poor fellow hung his head down for a moment. Then, lifting up his head, he looked full into my face for a few moments, and he was silent. Last of all I saw him stretch his hand, and he took hold of the horn as it hung across the door, and removed it from its place, and flung it across the road, and he said, " I will try yours." Where is he to-day, friends? Go to the Cameroons, and you will see a native minister there preaching the Gospel; but on the right hand of that native preacher, who is preaching the Gospel, sits a gray-headed man, and the very look of that man's face tells us of his inward happiness. That is the same man. He has tried and found that there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ. He is the head deacon of the church, and the membership is now about seven hundred. There is a congregation of perhaps a thousand gathering together there now. I remember that upon my landing in 1845 these people were rank savages and brutal in every act, and not only so, but they were naked savages; and to-day we see them clothed and in their right mind, and thc congregation with their dark faces and their bright eyes are worshipping the same Saviour that we love ; and when I see this I know that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will win its way wherever it goes.
Thus, friends, I think I have told you enough to Rhow you that your prayers have been answered and your efforts been accepted of God. I will only ask you to pray more and do as much as you can for Africa, for she has still got her millions that need the Gospel to-day.
THE REV. JOHN L. NEVIUS, D.D.
BY REV. GILBERT REID, WARSAW, N. Y.
On the death of the well-known and revered missionary, Dr. John L. Nevius, it may be profitable for his fellow-workers to pause for a moment and recount briefly the work which he has done. The worth of his work demands more than a passing reference. Though only in his sixty-seventh year, he was numbered among the veterans for the unusual amount of his mIssiOnary experience. He was drawing nigh to the round number of forty years in the missionary service, when he bowed his head as he sat talking in his study at his home in Chefoo, and yielded up his spirit to God who gave it. A gentle passing away, like a calm breath of a summer's breeze-a falling asleep.
Dr. Nevius is first to be remembered for his work in a literarY line.
DR. NEVIl:S ON A CHINESE ,"VHEELBARROW BEFORE HIS RESIDENCE AT CHEFOO. CHINA."
ltl94.) THE REV. Jo.HN L. NEVIUS, D.D
One o.f the mo.st po.pnlar and co.ncisely co.mprehensive boo.ks o.n China was o.ne which he wro.te early in his career, called" China and the Chinese," first published by the Harpers, and no.w issued by the Presbyterian Board o.f Publicatio.n. In Chinese the leading treatise o.n theology was prepared when he was a yo.ung missio.nary at Ningpo., and lacked o.nly the latter topics of systematic theo.lo.gy-a deficiency which he hoped to meet befo.re he clo.sed his labo.rs. Ano.ther bo.o.k in Chinese o.n "Entrance to. Truth" has been used fo.r many years no.t o.nly by o.ur o.wn Presbyterian Missio.n, but also. by the missio.uaries o.f o.ther societies, in the initiative rudimentary stages of Christian instructio.n. A very valuable pamphlet in English o.n " Metho.ds o.f Missio.n W o.rk" has been carefully studied fo.r its fairminded and bro.ad-minded investigatio.ns, based o.n tho.ro.ugh experience: Already we understand that parts o.f this are to. be reissued by the Bo.ard o.f Fo.reign Missio.ns as a guide, o.r at least a suggestio.n, to. o.ther fields o.f o.ur Church. One o.f the last results o.f his study was a bo.o.k o.n " Demo.niacal Po.ssessio.n," which, we understand, will so.o.n be published j and which, we kno.w, will present the mo.st co.mplete and careful examinatio.n o.f this very difficult pro.blem. Other literary effo.rts attest his ability j and we o.nly regret that he cDuld no.t live to. co.mplete the wo.rk, so dear to. his heart, o.f aiding in the revisio.n o.f the Mandarin version o.f the Scriptures. No. sentence o.f his, either in Chinese o.r English, was penned witho.ut tho.ught, and every tho.ught was actuated by a stro.ng desire to. be fair and .true.
Seco.ndly, let us no.tice his wo.rk as a Christian instructo.r. This he was rather than an educatio.nalist. The Bible was his text-bo.o.k, and no.ne o.f his teaching was secular. If he taught theo.lo.gy-and as such he was witho.ut a peer-it was always a biblical theo.lo.gy. Bo.th in the Ningpo. and Shantung missiDns he was frequently appo.inted to. train men fo.r the ministry j and many o.f o.ur best native pasto.rs rejo.ice to. call him "teacher." When in late years he fo.und himself surro.unded by a gro.wing evangelistic wo.rk, he set apart the summer and winter mo.nths to. special instructio.n, either o.f leading inquirers o.r o.f his cho.sen classleaders. I remember, during my first summer in China, as a guest at his ho.me, the large"number o.f callers fro.m amo.ng the fo.reign residents, so.me o.f who.m were" men Df the wo.rld," who. came to. see his class, and went away to. praise it and so. co.mmend the who.le missio.nary undertaking. This teaching idea he carried into. all o.f his evangelistic effo.rts, and every statio.n o.f Christian co.mmunicants and inquirers was a Sunday-scho.o.l, with every o.ne a teacher and every o.ne a scholar. He emphasized the wo.rds in the – Master's final co.mmissio.n, " teaching them Christ." This idea, clear and simple tho.ugh it be, has been made such by Dr. Nevius more than by any Dther man.
In connectio.n with this we no.te no.w his evangelistic wo.rk. By the pro.vidence o.f Go.d he wa.s led into a section o.f the co.untry fruitful o.f conversio.ns, nearly a week's jo.urney fro.m his ho.me at Chefo.o.. Hence his evangelism took the form of " country itinerations." During this period he was generally absent from home half of the year, more often in the spring and autumn months, but twice, at least, during the cold winter days, stopping at chilly Chinese inns, or riding from station to station of poor country Christians with the thermometer near to zero. It is impossible to outline this work, so carefully unfolded in his " Methods of Mission Work." Its chief feature was the effort to utilize every native, and then establish a church without the support of foreign funds. It was selfdevelopment and self-support, but always under the guidance of the Spirit, and by a study of the Bible. That work was practically transferred to others prior to his last return to the United States, and is now managed by native pastors or other of our missionaries, centred at the station of Wei-hien. Dr. Nevius built on no other man's foundation; and the foundation which he laid was strong and " in Jesus Christ."
One of the openings to this evangelistic work came through the relief rendered in the famine of 1879 and 1880. Not that those relieved became the inquirers, but that such a display of benevolence commended the Christianity which taught it, and broke down centuries of prejudice. In this famine-relief work Dr. Nevius was especially successful in the system adopted, and one which has guided others in similar work during later years. It was a system of common sense, kind to the needy, but guarding against tricks, deception, and confusion. Dr. Nevius was an exegete and a theologian. He was also level-headed, a man of affairs.
In this same practical line was his work of introducing foreign fruits into China. Agriculture was his recreation, but as such it was far other than mere playing. The result indicated the care, the wisdom, the patience, and the toil. Many a person has gone to view his garden in Chefoo who never cared for any other kind of missionary undertaking. In fact, this often annoyed and chagrined him, to have persons ignore all his efforts in evangelistic instruction, and compliment him as a fruit-raiser and horticulturist. Nevetheless, it shows that every faculty and knowledge can be made useful in the missionary work, not only as an amusement to one's self, but a benefit to others.
We will only notice one other feature of his work-viz., his success as an adviser and missionary speaker. We refer especially to his efforts in this country. Very few have excelled him in influendng young men to become missionaries; but never with the assertion, that it was another man's duty to be a foreign missionary. Anyone who desires to appreciate his candor, his breadth, his fairness, his judiciousness, should read his article in the MISSION ARY REVIEW of May, 1893. on " The Student V01unteel' Movement." We quote only one sentence: "I have been in the United States on furlough three times, and paid many visits to theological semin~ries, with a view to gaining recruits for foreign missions, but have never dared to use the least. pressure in urging a student to be a missionary. " As one who was led through him, first to think of the claims of
AFTER TWENTY YEARS. :J47
foreign missions, and then to decide to go as a missionary to China, I can testify 1.0 the truthfulness of this attitude of his. How helpful were his conferences with the students! How sympathetic his suggestions to the perplexed mind! And this same quality remained with him iu China, where all missionaries were glad to consult ]lim. If he had only been stronger physically, no better man could have been found to take the place of Dr. Arthur Mitchell as Secretary of the Board. But, alas! both of them are gone; and all through life we shall miss them, rejoicing only because we are not of those" who have no hope," trying to reverence their names by following more their fine Christian spirit.
AFTER TWENTY YEARS. * THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN 1873, 1883, 1893.
A few notes on the advances made in the last twenty years by the Church Missionary Society may be helpful to friends of missions in every land.
First, as to the number of missionaries. The subjoined table is indeed most significant : 1iJuropean M!'ssi07laries on the Roll: 1873. 1883. 1893.
Clergymen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 203 222 329 Laymen ……………………… 15 34 71 Women ……………………… 11 15 134 Total. ….. , ….. 229 271 534 Even excluding the women, the number has nearly doubled; t and it will be observed that while the increase in the first decade was only 19 clergymen and 19 laymen, the increase in the second decade was 107 clergy- men and 37 laymen. The proportion of university men has also greatly increased. In 1873 they numbered 44 ; in 1883, 65 ; and in 1893, 158.- The number of missionaries reported in May, 1873, as added to the roll in the preceding twelve months, was seven; in 1883, twenty-one; in 1893, eighty-nine. The 1873 Report mentions" 1 graduate from Cambridge accepted during the year;" the 1883 Report mentions 3 graduates accepted; the 1893 Report, 16 graduates.
The native clergy and teachers appear in the statistical tables as follows: 1873. 1883. 1893. Native clergy……………•….. 143 240 284 2,582 4,042 " lay teachers……..•••..•• 1,830 493 892 " female teachers ……….. . 375 Total………….. 2,348 3,315 5,218 * Reprinted from a Church Misslouary Society tract.
t The figures are for May last. The autumn reinforcements have made further large addltious. It will be seen that the increase in the native clergy has been slow of late. This is mainly due to the large number of deaths in the last decade ; but it is. true that the nnmerous ordinations in West Africa and South India in the former decade find no parallel in the latter. But the lay and female teachers have multiplied rapidly; and this little table will show some of our missionary brethren who have fancied that native agency was being neglected in favor of European agency, how little foundation there is for their fears.
The distribution of missionaries at the three periods is very interesting. In the following table we omit women, because we could not estimate the growth in the Indian staff without including the C. E. Z. M. S. aud I. F. N. S. : Distribution of .Hissionaries–Men only-Ordained and Unordained.
1873. 1883. 1893.
West Africa….. __ . …………… 17 10 18 East Africa………………. _… 1 22 37 Palestine, Persia, Egypt, etc.. . . . . . 9 14 23 North India (including Punjab and Sindh)…………………. 66 73 116 Western India………… ……. 12 10 13 South India…………………. 44 28 45 Ceylon………………………. 12 19 20 Mauritius, etc……………….. 6 4 5 China……………………….. 18 24 44 Japan… …………………… 2 9 24 New Zealand…………………. 17 18 15 Northwest America ………….. ,. 12 18 29 North Pacific………………… 2 7 11 TotaL ……………… 218 256 400 Of course the increase is most marked in those missions which were in their infancy in 1873, such as East Africa, Persia, Japan, and North Pacific. Putting them asidc, we find that of the older missions, West Africa and South India, though they have more men than ten years ago, have only returned to where they stood twenty years ago; that Western India, Mauritius, and New Zealand are about the same; and that the real increase has been in North India, Ceylon, China, and Northwest America.
At first sight one would expect that the doubling of the missionary staff would mean a doubling of the expenditure. But this is not the case. We should be very glad if it were. The amount expended per missionary means, a great deal more than the amount each missionary costs. The more efficient a missionary is the more will his work develop on all sides, and the more will money be needed. It is so at home. An active clergyman spends more in his parish than an inert one, because he does more. So in the mission field : the higher the expenditure per head rises, the better. But the reason why ithas not yet so risen in the C. M. S. missions is that the increase in the staff has been so recent and so rapid. Many of the missionaries are still in the language-learning stage, and cost little more than their small personal allowances. As they grow in efficiency the work will cost more, for it will mean native evangelists and Bible-women, schools, rest-houses for itinerating, medical appliances, and a host of other things.
There are, however, two other reasons why the total expenditure has not grown so fast as the staff. First, a good many of the recent additions are at their own charges. We have now 15 men and 53 women who are honorary, and 5 men and 9 women who are partly so, without counting those who are specially supported by individual friends of the society. Secondly, an increase in women costs less than an increase in men. A single woman's allowances are less than those of a single man, and less than half those of a married man.
Still the increase in the expenditure is large. The average of the four years preceding 1873 was £155,644. '" The average of the four years preceding 1883 was £202,200. The average of the four years preceding 1893 was £244,844. These figures include expenditure on special funds. The corresponding amount for last year, ending March 31st, 1893, reckoned in the same way, was £255,917. For the current year it is estimated to be £265,759, including only those special funds which directly aid the General Fund, such as the Extension Fund, the Mid-China Fund, etc. And the estimates lately passed for the year commencing next April amount, after allowing for considerable probable savings in various directions, to £274,955. , Thus we are spending now over £100,000 a year more than we spent twenty years ago. This is the kind of fact that makes one wonder. No one at that time, nor for years after, could have anticipated it. The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
Let us next look at the reports, and try and realize a little of the progress in the field in the twenty years.
Take India first. We do not expect to find in old and well-organized missions the startling progress displayed in newer fields. Yet the development of the India work in the twenty years is in many ways striking. In 1873 French had lately started the Lahore divinity school, the first of its kind in the country. Now we have divinity schools also at Calcutta, Allahabad, Poona, and Madras, besides the simpler institutions for training native agents in the southern missions which existed before. In 1873 the society's attention had not been specially drawn to the non-Aryan Hill tribes, although the Santal Mission was already bearing promising fruit. That mission has since been largely developed, and the Gond and Bheel missions have been established and converts been gathered in.
But the Punjab shows the most remarkable growth. In 1873 the society had only one medical missionary-in the Punjab or anywhere else- * Multiply these amounts br five to a.certain the llumber of dollars. indeed, not one when the Report was issued, for Dr. ElmsIie was dead and his successor had not yet gone out. Now the Punjab has 10 medical missionaries. In 1873 the staff for Amritsar consisted of 2 men, the Revs.
R. Clark and a. Hoernle, and Mr. Bateman alone was beginning to itinerate in the district. Now, for the same area of work, there are 15 men; and still more remarkable is the extension of woman's work under the C. E. Z. M. S. That society has now 33 ladies within that area, the oldest of whom had only just gone out in 1873, besides 9 single ladies connected with C. M. S. and all the wives. Batala, Tarn Taran, Ajnala, Jandiala, Fathgar, Narowal, Bahrwal, Clarkabad are all new names within the same district-i.e., the great plains surrounding Amritsar. The two great girls' boarding.schools at Amritsar, the boys' boarding-school at Batala, the splendid book-shop at Lahore-the two latter the result of Mr. Baring's liberality-are among the more conspicuous developments. Another generous benefactor, George Maxwell Gordon, had in 1873 but recently joined the Punjab Mission; and now, we have not only the bright memory of his example, but the Lahore divinity college chapel and the missions at Pind Dadan Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan as the fruit of his munificence ; while, partly owing to his inspiration, Sukkur and even far-off Quetta have been occupied.
South India does not show such developments as these, because it was more fully worked then; but 1873 was the year which saw the native Church in the C. M. S. district.s of Tinnevelly fairly started in selfadministration under Dr. (afterward Bishop) Sargent; and the Telugu Mission has spread in all directions since that year.
Five new dioceses have been established in India in the twenty years; and of the 7 bishops who have been consecrated for them, 4 have been C. M. S. missionaries-viz., French, Speechly, Hodges, Clifford, without counting Sargent, who was an assist.ant-bishop without a diocese.
We never rest our case upon statistical returns of converts and adherents, for they so inadequately represent the real progress achieved; but the fact that the native Christians connected with C. M. S. have risen 70 per cent in the twenty years-viz., from 69,000 to 117,000-is a fact whose significance is indisputable; while the native agents of all kinds have almost doubled in number, from 1600 to 3060.
Next look at China. In South China, in 1873, C. M. S. had 3 missionaries-viz., 1 at Hon Kong and 2 at Fuh·chow ; and there was 1 F. E. S. lady at each of those two cities. Now, several brethren, and sisters too, live in the interior of Fuh-Kien; widespread itineration has been organized in Kwan-tung; and Pakhoi has been occupied in a corner of China untouched by any other mission. C. M. S. has 20 men and 8 women on the South China staff, including 4 medical men; and the splendid band of 28 C. E. Z. M. S. women has developed the Fuh-Kien Mission in a wonderful way, not only since 1873, but since 1883. In 1873 C. M. S. had 26 native age~ts in South China, and less than 300 Christians. Now the agents are 268 and the Christian adherents over 10,000. Mid China does not show a growth equal to this j still, Mr. Hoare's college at Ningpo, Dr. Main's great mission hospital at Hang-chow, and the village work in the Chu-ki and Tai-chow districts are extensions worth notice j in addition to which there is Mr. Horsburgh's Interior Evangelistic Mission in the distant province of Sz-chuen. The development of woman's work also must not be omitted. In 1873, and again in 1883, C. M. S. had one single lady in Mid China j now it has 20. Again, up to just before 1873, China had had but one English Bishop. The consecration of a C. M. S. missionary, Bishop Russell, to the newly formed quasi-diocese of what was then called North China, is an item in the 1873 Report j and since then another C. M. S. man, Bishop Moule, has succeeded him in that portion of his sphere now called Mid China, while a third C. M. S. man, Bishop Burdon, presides over the southern diocese of Victoria, Hong Kong.
Pass over to Northwest America. In 1873 the consecration of Bishop Horden had just marked the first step in that development of the Church which has now carved eight dioceses out of the vast mother diocese of Rupert's Land; and a large part of this work has been distinctly the work of C. M. S., which almost entirely supports 4 of them and helps 3 others. The society's expenditure in those great territories has risen from £6000 to £16,000 ; and it is emphatically true of the many tribes and languages comprised in them-from the Crees and the Sioux right away to the Tukudh and the Eskimo-that " People and realms of every tongue Dwell on His love with sweetest song."
And this is without passing the Rocky Mountains. Cross them, and we come to a mission which then consisted of only Metlakahtla and Kincolith, but which since then has sent the Gospel to tribe after tribe of the interior, has established itself in the islands, has brought into the Christian Church the fiercest of all the races of that coast-the Hydahs of Queen Charlotte's Island-and now, despite many trials, presents, under Bishop Ridley'S wise and devoted leadership, a bright spectacle to all who love true and pure missionary work.
Weare now among the younger missions; and what shall we say of Japan ~ In 1873 the first English missionary in that wonderful land had just come home sick, and the second was alone at Nagasaki. It was in the Report of that year that the sudden burst of new civilization in Japan was recorded. The public edicts against Christianity which had adorned the Government notice·boards for two hundred and fifty years had just been withdrawn; and the expansion of the C. M. S. Mission from one man to five was resolved on. In 1883 the 5 men had increased to 9 men and a woman (as usual, not counting wives) ; and there were 350 converts. Ten years more and the staff had become 24 men and 19 single women; 7 Japanese had been ordained (in the C. M. S. ~Hssion alone, besides others) ; and the Christian adherents are 2450. Moreover, they have combined with the Christians attached to other Anglican missions, and have formed a real native Church with its own canons, etc. j and its total membership exceeds 4000. It was- in 1883 that the archbishop selected a C. M. S. missionary (Poole, of South India) to be the first English bishop in Japan; and in 1893 his successor, Bishop E. Bickersteth, has arranged for the appointment of two additional bishops, specially for portions of the C. M. S. field, and nominated by C. M. S.
Pass from the most radical and forward of non-Christian countries to the most conservative and stationary, and view the Mohammedan lands of the East. Persia, in 1873, was not recognized as a C. M. S. mission field at all j and although Dr. Bruce had been there three or four years, his name stiII remained on the Indian list. Not ti1l1876 was the Persia Mission formally adopted. The year 1883 saw an extension of its work in the occupation of Baghdad j and 1893.sees fresh and important plans formed for further development. Egypt is very far from being a stationary country since the British occupation; but that occupation began in the year reviewed in the 1883 Report, and it was in that very year that the new "Egypt Mission" first appeared on the society's list. Palestine, too, though stationary enough so far as its Moslem rulers are concerned, is now yielding to the forward movements of the day; and nowhere does a C. M. S. mission show more marked development than in that sacred land. In 1873 only Jerusalem and Nazareth were occupied by 2 ordained and 2 lay missionaries. Two years later, Bishop Gobat handed over to the society his stations and work; other extensions have followed; Jaffa, Gaza, Ramallah, Salt, Nablus, Acca, and Haifa were successively occupied; and now the 4 men have become 13 men and 22 single women. All our missions in Mohammedan lands received an impetus from the Mohammedan Conference arranged by General Lake at the C. M. House in 1875. They are striking examples of the society's new development in woman's work. No less than 30 ladies are now employed in them, whereas even in 1883 there was not one. So also with medical work. In 1873 there was no C. M. S. medical missionary in those countries; in 1883 only 1 ; in 1893, 4, and 2 more going out.
And what shall we say of Africa ~ Of West Africa we need not speak. Our recent extensions are not much more than revivals of developments begun at different times in past years, but checked by various difficulties. But East Africa is the most signal instance of unlooked-for progress in the whole period. In 1873 John Rebmann was alone, old and blind, at Rabai. There he was found by Sir Bartle Frere, who, on his return to England, came to C. M. S. in June of that year and urged the establishment of a freed slave settlement, to found which Mr. Salter Price went out in the foUowing year. But 1873 is still more memorable as the date of Livingstone's death, which instantly roused both England
THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER CONVENTION A.T DETROIT
and Scotland, and led to many African expeditions, both missionary and otherwise. Then, in 1875, came Mr. Stanley's challenge to Christendom to send a mission to Uganda. What need we say more ?-except that the one C. M. S. missionary of 1873 has multiplied to fifty in 1893.
Mter such a retrospect, the question is, .Are we to stand still! Surely the Divine Word to us is, Go forward,. and the promise, Oertainly I will be with thee.
THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER CONVENTION AT DETROIT.
BY D. L. PIERSON.
It is significant that the largest and most representative Student Convention ever held should be also the missionary gathering having the largest number of accredited delegates that ever met in America, or perhaps in the world. Ten years ago such a convention would not have been possible, but now by the Spirit working through men thoroughly on fire with missionary zeal, and by the organization of Volunteers, the flame has spread with marvellous rapidity all over our land, and one of the results is seen in this recent convention.
The history of the movement is too well known to need repetition here. The organization has outlived much unfavorable criticism, survived many perils, overcome many difficulties and much opposition, and continues to increase in numbers and effectiveness. And now, in its eighth year, this is probably the most effective agency for spreading, fostering, and utilizing the missionary spirit that anywhere exists.
The first Volunteer Convention met in Cleveland in 1891, and was one of extraordinary practical and spiritual power. It marked a crisis in the history of the" New Crusade." Before that time the mistakes natural to youth characterized the movement, and even friends regarded it with suspIClOn. Since then, however, its policy has been developed and the organization perfected, so that the Detroit Convention stands unique among missionary gatherings, and indicates a firmly established and undeniably successful enterprise. It was attended by more than double the number of students, from twice as many educational institutions, as at Cleveland. Conceive of twelve hundred young men and women, from nearly three hundred institutions of learning in the United States and Canada, representing the flower of our land, coming together for the purpose of considering the great question of the speedy evangelization of the world, and prayerfully to seek light as to their place in this great work, and preparation for it j and with them, to impart inspiration and guidance, gathered also the leaders of missionary enterprise from all· over the world, including fifty representatives of various missionary agencies, fifty returned foreign missionaries from almost every heathen, papal, and Moslem land, and many other missionary speakers and Christian workers-conceive of all these conditions, and a slight estimate may be formed of the forces pres- ent to make this convention a power in the heart and life of each delegate. Among the principal speakers were Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, Drs. Arthur T. Pierson and A. J. Gordon, Miss Geraldine Guinness, R. E. Speer, L. D. 'Wishard, and Dr. Judson Smith, besides mauy others, representing all varieties of experience and degrees of enthusiasm, from various lands and different departments of the work at home and abroad.
The method pursued in the convention was probably the only one feasi- ble for the presentation of the many phases and spheres of work under consideration. The mornings were given to the consideration of the organi- zation and its methods and the preparation of the volunteer, the afternoons to simultaneous sectional meetings for the discussion of different forms of mission work in various fields; and the evenings to the claims of mis- sions and the spiritual conditions of success. It being impracticable to give in these pages more than a brief and general glance, the reader must be referred for details to the printed verbatim report which ·is soon to be published.
One prominent characteristic of the convention was the spirit offervent prayer which pervaded the proceedings. Prayer opened, closed, and per- meated all the discussions and transactions, consequently it was an in- tensely spiritual convention, and the work of the Holy Spirit in separating and preparing His workmen was, of all things, made most emphatic. An- other featnre, closely allied to this, was the fact that Jesus Christ was ex- alted as Lord and Saviour. In His name were the delegates welcomed, and in His name urged to go forward conquering and to conquer, preach- ing His death and resurrection, living His life, and abiding in Him. Be- cause Christ was the unifying principle which made all hearts one, perfect harmony pre,-ailed throughout, although representatives from nearly forty denominations and missionary agencies, and missionaries young and old, and each having strong personality, were brought together on one common platform. Not a note of discord was heard from beginning to end. It was a magnificent demonstration of the true basis of Christian union, the living unity found in love and allegiance to one Lord, and in the contem- plation of the great work He has commanded.
THE PURPOSE AND WORK OF THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT was clearly defined and forcibly presented in a number of brief addresses, which served to remove the prejudice of ignorance, restore confidence, and commend the principles of the movement to the minds of all interested. The watch-cry of the Volunteers, "The evangelization of the world in this generation," the command of Christ, "Go make disciples of all the nations," and the mot- to of Neesima, " Let us advance upon our knees," were hung up in large letters before the assembly, servlDg to impress the eyes of those present as they have already moved the hearts of all Volunteers, expressing their desire, aim, and spirit.
The purpose of the movement, as stated by Mr. Mott in his masterly report of the Executive Committee, is to lead students to a thorough con- sideration of the claims of foreign missions upon them, to foster this pur- pose, to unite Volunteers in an aggressive movement, to maintain an intel- ligent interest at home, but especially to secure a sufficient number of qualified men and women for the work of evangelization of the world in this generation. The declaration card, reading, "It is my purpose, if God permit, to become a foreign missionary," forms a simple basis for membership and organization. One of the perils of the movement has come from the misuse and misinterpretation of this card. It is not a pledge, but the statement of a purpose toward the accomplishment of which men study and work, looking for God's continned guidance, and only changing their purpose as they more clearly see His will. Without this "declaration" there coulq be no firm basis for the movement. It leads to a definite decision, helps men to remain firm, and enables them to do more for missions during their preparation. Results show that a definite and early decision is best.
The work of the movement has been carried on in the educational schools of the United States and Canada by means of travelling and corresponding secretaries, etc.
Mr. D. W. Lyon gave as reasons why bands should be formed in every institution: (1) To give mutual stimulus to members; (2) to gather information j (3) to discuss reasons for going j (4) to secure power in united prayer. The bands also form a basis for enlisting new men, and hold ,important relations to the college, the movement, and the churches.
The results are seen (1) in the fact that the movement has now 32,000 members in 477 different institutions of the United States and Canada. It has also extended to Great Britain, where there are 700 Volunteers, and to Scandinavia and elsewhere. (2) In all of these places it has exerted a marked/influence in increasing the knowledge of missions, reacting beneficially upon other departments of religious study and work, and increasing the spirit of consecration. (3) It has been the means of increasing the number of those expecting to go abroad. (4) It has doubled contributions to missions in colleges and seminaries in the last three years. As a practical result 686 Volunteers are already in the field, and of the British V01unteers at least 90 per cent have sailed immediately on completing their course of study. More missionaries have sailed from America in the past two and one half years than in the preceding five and one half.
Among the points of policy emphasized by the Executive Committee were (1) efforts to establish the movement in new sections and among new classes of institutions, especially in young women's colleges; (2) more thorough supervision of work already begun; (3) more earnest, prayerful pressing of the claims of the unevangelized upon fellow-students j* (4) a more comprehensive course of study outlined; (5) increase in contributions; (6) keeping in closer touch with Volunteers already on the field, and (7) most of all, absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit for light and life.
The PREPARATION OF VOLUNTEERS was ably discussed and much valuable advice given. Dr. Judson Smith, of the American Board, emphasized thorough intellectual furnishing as essential to any great work. Education gives breadth and ability to use one's powcrs, training every faculty to its true end. The call for cultured as well as consecrated intellects is urgent. The missionaries must be able to master the language, to study the people among whom they labor, to organize churches and train native ministers and teachers, to give instruction in schools, colleges, and seminaries, and to translate the Bible and create a literature. All this demands mental training. Volunteers should not delay, nor unduly hasten to enter the field. Time to prepare is implied in the call. God wants our best. Dr. Geo. W. Knox added that a man who shirks work may be called to cobble shoes in the United States, but he is not called to cobble them in China, and that while God nses among the heathen the" foolishness of preaching," we are nowhere told to give them the preaching of foolish. ness.
The practical preparation was outlined by Rev. H. P. Beach, of Springfield, Mass. The Volunteer is to be " all things to all men." He advised him among other things (1) to become acquainted with the officers, polity and policy of his board; (2) to study his chosen field as to its strategic points, the climate, people, religions, the work accomplished, and the successes and failures as pictured in missionary biographies; (3) to know some· thing about keeping accounts, practical work of gardening. carpentry, etc.; (4,) to study the 1aws of health, dentistry, preparation of the dead for burial etc.; (5) to be able to use the camera, printing-press, and magic lantern, and know how to start industrial, normal, and kindergarten schools; (6) to study to be an organizer and pastor, but, above all, to be skilled in personal work. This last point was frequently urged by the missionariesthat the most effective way of winning souls is hand-to.hand, heart-toheart work, and they added that men should begin at home and not wait to reach the foreign field.
The spiritual preparation for the work was powerfully presented by J. Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission. He urged the students not to be dependent for a blessing upon any human agency, bnt to seek the filling which will surely be followed by an overflowing. To know God we must know His Word. Mr. Taylor testified that he had never put his trust in God's word and met with a disappointment. We must seek to be * Keith-Falconer said when about· to start for Arabia: "While vast continents are shrouded in almost ntter darkness, and hundreds of millions sn1!'er the horrors of heathenism and of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to .how that the circumstances In which God has placed you were meant by Him to keep you out of the foreign field." such men as God can use. Take time for communion with God. Do not wait till your concert is over before you tune the instruments. There was never but one life of perfect development-that of Christ, from the cradle to the cross j but all true Christian life now develops backward: it begins at the cross and moves toward the cradle, growing toward childlike trust, docility, and humility. Be insulated from the world if you would receive and retain God's electrifying power. One can- not go to a heathen land without growing either in grace or sinfulness. " Satan may hedge us about, but he can't roof us over"-cannot pre- vent our looking up. If any cloud comes between us and God, it is our own fault. No one need go to foreign lands to preach theism, ethics, or philosophy-these are already well developed-but we must go to preach Christ and Him crucified, and this we can do only after a personal knowl- edge of the glorified Son of God in our hearts j we must be able to give a reason for the faith that is in us deeper than any from apologetics j it must be from experience. Such were some of the golden thoughts expressed.
The PHASES OF WORK were discussed in sectional meetings by those who have had varied experience in many different lands. The evangelistic work was presented by H. N. Frost, of the China Inland Mission, Rev. Spencer "Walton, of South Africa, Rev. Gilbert Reid, of China, Rev. F. G. Co·an, of Persia, and others. To do this effectively the missionary should be " boiling over with the Spirit, and steeped in the Word." The best evangelists are those most filled with the love of Christ. This is far more necessary than a theological training. The most important work of the missionary is the training of native agents, and they make the best evangelists. For this work there should be a close spiritual contact between the native and the missionary, that the former may receive help in his difficulties and learn to know God's Word and be brought nearer to Him. In most countries itinerating can be done only part of the year. It is a method especially adapted to reach the lower classes and those occupying country districts. The missionary spirit of the past was marked by large expectancy, mobility of station, and absence of anxiety, and these should always mark the work of an evangelist. The true policy is to strike the great centres, and from there reach the outlying districts. Christ exemplified what a true Christian should be-a light-bearer, a life-giver, and an expression of Divine love. His law was diffusion, not concentration.
Educational work was treated of by Rev. Robert A. Hume and Dr. Boggs, of India, Dr. Wainwright, of Japan, Dr. Dennis, of Syria, and othcrs. The one end with all missionaries is to establish the Gospel in heathen hearts. Educational work is but one means to this end. Its object is to impart spiritual life and powe1·. Educational influence extends throughout the life of the pupil, it gives an opportuni~y for appeal to a bigoted and conservative community, forms a basis for occupation, makes a centre for Christian teaching, awakens interest in parents, and quickens a desire for better things in the heart of the pupil. It is a method for the rescue of the children from their degraded homes, and gives them intellectual and religious training. It also reveals the capacity of the pupil for other work, and develops the powers for distinctive service as missionary agents. It gives an opportunity for hand-to-hand contact with pupils regularly, as is impossible even in home work. A diseased and stunted mind is as much an object of sympathy as a diseased and stunted body. Objections to educational work come from the conviction of some that but few workers come from the schools. This is doubtless often due to the fact that the evangelizing idca is not kcpt foremost, and because, as is to be deplored, non-Christian and even heathen professors are in some instances employed in Christian schools. It was, however, stated that in some schools in China education draws men into the ministry, and in the American Board schools at least conversions are more numerous in proportion to the number who come in contact with the message in this way than through any other methods. Besides this, educational work improves the capacity of heathen languages to express God's truth, and it nproots heathen ideas and implants new ones. The problems of the work assume very different aspects in different countries, and the work meets with various successes according to the field, the methods, and the agents.
Medical work was discussed by J. Hndson Taylor, Dr. Dowkontt, and Rev. W. R. Lambuth. The great need for more physicians, both men and women, was shown from the vast populations, destitution of medical aid, prevalence of disease, and barbarous methods of treatment of the ill and the injured. Medical missions are also the great entering wedge of the Gospel in many places. They break down prejudice, and present Christianity in a concrete form. Dr. Dowkontt said: "Christ commands it, sympathy demands it, wisdom dictates it, and experience endorses it. " There is a special need of women physicians with hearts of love to minister to their wretched, degraded, and secluded sisters of China and India.
The WORK ON VARIOUS FIELDS was considered in simultaneous meetings. China was found to be pre-eminent in the mind of most of those present. About twenty missionaries were present from this field, and over half of those present, expecting to go out this year, expressed a wish or design to go there. The claims of this great land were presented by J. Hudson Taylor, Miss Geraldine Guinness, and others. While the population of the Chinese Empire is nearly seven times that of the United States, the number of Christian workers is only one ninetieth of those in this country. Fifty years ago the prayer was that God would open the doors; now it is that He will send more laborers. There are seventy aboriginal tribes who do not speak Chinese; the languages of only three of them have been reduced to writing. There is not one missionary for every five hundred towns in North and 'Western China. The number of opium smokers is variously estimated as from 2,000,000 to 20,000,000. The women especially call for the Gospel. According to Chinese superstitions eighteen hells are open to receive them, but it is only by living five hundred virtuous lives that one of them may be born as a little boy, and after many more trials be enabled t() reach the lowest of the nine heavens. As reasons for going to China Miss Guinness stated (1) that 1,000,000 die each month without God; (2) that 400,000,000 are living without Him, with no peace for the present or hope for the future, and (3) that Christ wants His disciples to take His place there as witnesses. When Christianized, China will be a great -evangelizing agency; the native convert makes a natural evangelist. There is great need for literary men and women to reach the 2,000,000 of the literary class and to educate the common people. The Chinese have a great desire to be educated by Vestern men, and much encouragement is given by those in authority. Vork is carried on by social intercourse among the higher classes and by street preaching, tract distribution, and personal work among other classes. The greatest obstacle is the prevailing superstition, but seed has been scattered in chapel, school, hospital, street, and home, and much has fallen ou good ground. There are now 50,000 converts and 150,000 adherents, with 550 churches, of which over 100 are self·supporting. The language has been greatly enriched in power to express Christian truth, and the number of missionaries has tripled in the last fifteen years. Past achievements are the guarantee for future success.
Missions in the Levant were discussed by Rev. G. A. Ford, of Syria., Rev. F. G. Coan, of Persia, Mr. Sampson, of Greece, and others. Dr. Dennis emphasized the past and present strategic importance of these lands. (1) They represent 100,000,000 souls who need to be won back to the true faith. (2) Moslems have always recognized and despised an apostate church-Jesus must be made beautiful in their eyes. (3) Capture Turkey and you capture the head of Islam. (4) Languages offer a great v(lhicle for the truth. Arabic alone reaches 40,000,000. (5) The Levant is the training ground for missionaries for the whole of the Orient. The political situation in Turkcy is the great obstacle to mission work. The population is heterogeneous and the government alien. Persecution of Christians is prevalent, partly because a change of religion means alienation from the State. The great need is for men of intellectual and spiritual power together with tact and breadth. There is a spirit of nnrest under the ecclesiastical yoke. In Persia, at least, work among the Mohammedans has met with some success. Five hundred villages were reached there last year, and many hundreds of Mohammedans are seeking Christ. Educational work, especially that among the women, is very important and effectual in Syria.
Japan was represented by George V. Knox, D.D., and others. There is a need for men trained in special lines for Japan; not conspicuous leaders or men with preconceived ideas of methods or sceptically inclined -men with ability to do both educational and evangelistic work. An exact knowledge of the language and people, their religious philosophy and characteristics is important. Trained natives are efficient, and must be allowed to lead when qualified. Woman's work is especially important for teaching and visiting in the homes. Women of Japan are very conservative, but the girls are impressible. The present crisis in Japan is due to two political factions-one seeking to make the Emperor responsible to the Diet, and the other desiring to keep the present constitution. The former faction has advocated treaty enforcement, compelling foreigners to reside only in treaty ports, as a means of bringing about treaty revision in favor of new tariff laws. At present the Liberal party (not advocating the enforcement of the treaty) is in the ascendancy.
Korea, as was stated by Rev. F. Ohlinger, is a land practically without a religion. In India religion rages like a fever, in China it is multiplied a~d is a problem of domestic economy, in Japan it is a fad, while in Korea it is an accident and has a holiday. There are only seven temples worthy the name in the country. Itinerating may be carried on nine months of the year.
The need of missions in Papal lanis is unquestioned. Papers were read on this subject by Rev. H. M. Lane, Rev. J. M. Lander, of Brazil, and others. Brazil is to-day about what it was in 1610, when the Jesuits sought to convert the people simply in order to control them. The priests are leaders in everything except morality, in which they and the people are shockingly deficient. Republicanism is the result of thirty years' teaching by missionaries, and its overthrow would mean the demolition of much of their work. The chief difficulties are found in ignorance, unconsciousness of sin, indifference, and dislike to change on the part of the people. Eighty-seven per cent of them can neither read nor write. The Bible has been a closed book to them. They are, as a rule, tender-hearted and bright, but weak, lazy, and untruthful, while the intelligent class are cynical and sceptical or agnostic. The hope of Brazil lies in the interior. Woman's work in the homes is to be emphasized, and there is great need of literary men to create and translate a literature. The best preparation for success among them is a study of the Roman Catholic Church.
Africa calls for evangelists, industrial laborers, and physicians. All the continent is under European control except Morocco. The chief difficulties arise from Moslem and papal influence, and the liquor and slave traffic. Forty-eight out of the two hundred Volunteers present at this conference expressed an intention to labor in the Dark Continent.
India was the subject of discussions led by Rev. Robert A. Hume, Dr. W. B. Boggs, Rev. R. Thackwell, Dr. A. T. Rose, of Burma, and others. The statement made at the Parliament of Religions, that the motto in which the Buddhist glories is, " The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man," was pronounced a prodigious mockery. Caste is the greatest enemy of brotherhood, and there is a marked tendency toward scepticism and a turning to the study of the early religions of the country. The best native workers are .from the depressed classes. India's greatest need is for zenana workers and medical missionaries, men and women. Twenty-five denominational conferences were held, also one of college professors for the purpose of discussing the question how to increase the missionary interests and assist the Volunteers in their several institutions. Sixty professors came together from forty colleges.
The EDUCATIONAL" EXHIBIT was prepared by J. E. Adams, of the Executive CommIttee, and was a very complete collection of maps, charts, books, periodicals, and tracts from this and other lands, and arranged topically as to fields, religions, phases of the work, and missionary societies.
Space forbids us to touch, in this paper, upon any of the admirable addresses delivered in the eveni~g sessions of the convention.
The final meeting was a fitting conclusion to a great convention. The question was, What would these twelve hundred Volunteers carry back to the two hundred thousand students whom they represented ~ The points emphasized as the substance of the teachings of the convention were to study, work, pray, give, and begin now. Fifty-two Volunteers declared their intention to enter the foreign field this year, going to China, Africa, India, Japan, Mexico, South America, Turkey, Siam, Korea, Alaska, and Jamaica. Some of the reasons for going were: "Because I can't stay away;" "Because God wants me there;" "Because more are ready to take my place here than there;" "Because I have given my life to Christ to be used where there is the greatest need;" "That I may not build on another man's foundation ;" " Because the need is greater than in my own State (Texas)." A cablegram was read from Messrs. Wilder and White, former secretaries of the Student Volunteers and now in India : "India needs to.day one thousand spirit-filled Volunteers."
Thus the Convention eame to a close-a great convention in numbers, speakers, interest, spirituality, impressiveness, and, we believe, in results. There may have been some mistakes; if so they were few and scarcely noticeable. Dr. Knox, of Japan, justly mentions one or two possible criticisms. "Only China of the great mission fields was fully brought to the attention of the hearers in addresses at the general meetings. The presence of J. Hudson Taylor and Miss Guinness no doubt largely accounts for this. Also there was not a clear and full presentation of the difficulties of the work. One fears great disappointment for many a Volunteer when he comes to learn that, after all, the chief obstacles to evangelization of the world in our generation are not numerical, but intellectual, moral, and spiritual." But the results of the convention must be far-reaching, lasting, and beneficial to the progress of missions, the student world, the Volunteer Movement, and the individuals who attended. At the farewell meeting thirty-one stated that they had come to a decision to enter the mission field, during the Convention. Doubtless there are many other resultR not so tangible, but quite as lasting and important. The Convention has had the effect of increasing general confidence in the Movement, and of creating a larger sympathy with it in the hearts of those in charge of missionary interests at home and abroad. There was a definiteness of purpose and a union of
'rtm BABIS OF PERSIA
hearts in loving allegiance to our Lord and Saviour which increased the spirit of prayer and consecration. There was nothing of fanaticism, no overheated excitement or undue, crude zeal, but deep sanctified earnestness considering questions of the greatest importance. The combination of intellect and spirituality, of experience and energy was calculated to insure the best results. All points to the fact that the missionary spirit is not dying out, but is widening and deepening, and is bringing more men and women face to face with their responsibility for serving their" own generation by the war of God."
THE BABIS OF PERSIA.
BY PROFJ:SSOR M. Y. DE GOEZE.
May 16th, 1892, was a day of much sorrow to many thousands of men in Persia. On that day " God, who had become man in the person of Behfw'allah, left his human body and returned to heaven, but not before he had exhorted the true believers to prepare themselves for a better life, by doing everything in their power to ennoble their fellow-men and make them happy." BeM is the Christ of the Babis, the new sect who believe that their religion is to supplant all others, and who, while they do not deny that Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed were great prophets, yet maintain that God has inaugurated a new era with the advent of Ali Mohammed and BeMo'allah. The Babis have their origin in the Persian belief that a new Imam would arise to bring peace to men. In the first half of the present century, a young Persian named Ali Mohammed became impressed with the idea that he was a second John the Baptist. He taught that another, stronger than he, would follow him; and his disciple, Beha, claimed that honor after Ali's death. The new sect has experienced all the horrors of martyrdom in a degree scarcely less violent than the early persecutions against the Christians; and they deserved it just as little. The Bayan, the Babis' Bible, does not interfere with any government; but it attacks beliefs held by all other religions. The Bayan says that there is no hell after death, but that unbelief is hell, and belief, Paradise. The Bayan also says that the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Koran all had a mission to perform; but, now, human intellect is able to receive a better religion. The ritualism of the Mohammedans has been largely changed. The kibla, or direction in which to turn during prayer, is abolished. A fast is, however, ordered in the last month of the year, exempting only travellers, children, and pregnant women.
One of the most notable reforms of the Babis is the higher status they confer on women. Their women may take part in festivities, and appear in public without their veils. Brotherly love, courtesy to inferiors, and charity, are insisted upon. Begging is strongly prohibited. The Babis hope for the inauguration of the millennium. But while the Western Utopians hope to attain this object through the State, the Bab looks to religious means. The Bayan is also very inimical to an ignorant, superstitious, and overbearing priesthood. Auricular confession is an abomination to the Bab, slavery is against God's will. Outward distinction in dress is not admissible. The most radical dogma of the Bayan is: " We know nothing whatever of our state after death, God alone knows it."- ])e Gids, Amsterdam.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
II."-:INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND CONDUCTED DY BEV. J. T. GBACEY, D.D.
How Pagan Rome Became Ohristian. gan and Christian Rome," * which casts Dr. George Smith, in his lectures at a great deal of light oil. the miSSionary * Rutgers College, just published, says: processes by which ancient Romc be- " The greatest event in the history of came Christian Rome. the world is the conversion to Christ of First of all, this volume casts new the Roman Empire. The revolution light on the order in which the influoccupied three centuries till it was com- ences of missionary effort affected sopleted – externally by the coup d' etat ciety. It has long been the custom to of Constantine; internally by the Nicene content oursel ves in foreign missionary work with beginning with the lower theology." Baumgarten says the history of the classes, and some people have come to world he.s had its foundations for the think that Christianity furnishes forces last eighteen hundred years on the Acts which must always make the" pot boil of the Apostles. The brief essay which from the bottom. .. We do not underbears the record of their " Acts" has rate this uplifting and humanizing been studied as affording models and power of the religion of Jesus on the precedents for missionary work. But lowly. Nor does Lanciani. He says, it is necessary to get all the incidental "That is certainly a noble picture information possible throwing light on which represents the new faith as the development of the Christian his- searching among the haunts of poverty tory and civilization, of which that and slavery, seeking to inspire faith, book furnishes the germ. Nor is it hope and charity in their occupants; always good to stick too closely to prece- to transform them from things into dents, even when they are apostolic. human beings; to make them believe It is sometimes better to strike out for in the happiness of a future life; to ourselves in a way indicated by our alleviate their present sufferings; to own environment. Macaulay said, redeem their children from shame and H The time has come to pay a decent, servitude; to proclaim them equal to honorable, and manly respect to our their masters." forefathers; not by doing as they did ·But it is doubtful if we have not under other circumstances, but by doing eliminated factors in the original exas they would have done under our cir- ample, which would suggest that from cumstances." It is possible, as we the start Christianity, in any land, think, to over·imitate apostolic pattern might expect to affect all orders of the in some things; and all the more cau- people simultaneously. Without negtion should be exercised because of the lecting the illiterate and humble, may difficulty of finding out just what apos- not missionaries expect to strike at the brain of heathendom first as well as tolic example was. This line of reflection is intensified by last? the flood of new commentary that We have all along known, from the comes with every day from all depart. persons named in Paul's epistles, what ments of human investigation. A prom- Lanciani states, that the" Gospel found inent illustration of it is before us in its way to the mansions of the masters' Rudolfo Lanciani's newest work, "Pa- nay, even to the palace of the Cresars. ,: But we come to find that the" discov- * "The Conversion of India from Pantamus eries lately made on this subject are to the Present Time, A.D. 193-1898." By George Smith, C.I.E., LL.D. New York, Chicago, and • "Pagan and Chri8tian Rome." By Rudolfo Toronto: Fleming B. Revell Company. A Lauclani. Boston and New York: Bonghton, notice of this book will appear hereafter, MUllin & Company, 1893. Profusely illustrated. startling, and constitute a new chapter been associated with perverted notions in the history of imperial Rome." We concerning religion, and others which find evidence of prominent persons con- have been associated at least with reo nected with important families of Rome ligious customs not involving error. It concerning which ecclesiastical records is widely known that at least one very have been silent. Relatives of the Fla. learned and devoted missionary in CI~ina vian emperors, not mentioned by any is of opinion that ancestor worship ecclesiastical writers, are among the may be elevated to teach the immortalconverts to Christianity named in the ity of the soul and preserved as deepenrecords of the Roman historians and ing the honor which the Bible says biographers, notably Flavius Clemens, should be paid to parents. and, thus Petronilla, and two Domitillre. The stripped of its idolatrous features. becase of Acilii Glabriones is mentioned come an ally of Christian morals. In by Suetonius and Tacitus, who say he the transformation of pagan into Chriswas a convert to Christ. That he was tian Rome it seeme that the Church acnot an indifferent person would appear cepted existing lites and customs when from the facts of his career. His fam- not offensive to her principles and moralily attained celebrity as early as B.C. ity. It was the custom, for instance. 191, when AcHius Glabrio conquered to keep the standard weights and measthe }Iacedonians at the battle of Ther- ures in the Roman temples. This inmopylre. When Pertinax was elected stitution of the ponderaria migrated emperor, he declared in the Senate that from the temple to the Church when the Acili Glabriones were" the noblest the temples were closed. A.D. 393. race in. the world." Manius Acilius, Thus, too, the custom of having baths who was consul with Trajan A.D. 91, in connection with the temples was was put to death by Domitian in 95 carried over to the churches. Senators for being a Christian. The names of and municipal magistrates administered many others, the flower of the Ro- justice in the classic Roman Curia, and man nobility, were found to have in 1130-85 they did the same in the been Christians. We have known churches. that heathenism, when pressed, seeks compromise with Christianity. Tiberius There were other customs and sym· sent a message to the Senate. asking bolic features which we would certainly that Christ bc included among the class among doubtful expedients for gods; and Lampridins says in his day imitation in foreign fields. Would we it is now come to be believed that the convert Orpheus wat.ching his flock into temples dedicated by Hadrian in every the Good Shepherd; or represent on the city to the ., unknown God" were de- church pavement, as Pius IX. did. voted to Christ; and that he was pre· Galenus and Hippokrates compounding vented from declaring them to be to medicines at Sienna ; or place Hercules Christ lest "the other temples might in ivory, as in St. Peter's; or set up be deserted and the entire population images of the sibyls, as the early Church turn Christian." All this goes to prove did, because of the popular notion that the influence which Christianity at an they had prophesied the coming of early date exercised over ruling and in- Christ? To us these have been trans· fluential classes of the Roman world; formed into mere mythical art or poetry, and it began to exercise this influence owing to the distance of the removal; at the beginning of its career, and main- and we ourselves in a poetic and artistic tained it steadily till its CUlmination way preserve customs and practices under Constantine. which are a survi val of classic idolatry.. There are customs which have outlived Another important question in mis- the suppression of pag!ln institutions. sionary circles is how far to conserve Italians still call Pentectlst Pasqua rosa, local and national customs which have and the Pope blesses the" golden rose" on Quadragesima Sunday; and in the is little doubt that we can turn into sixth century the Slavs celebrated Pen- tecost with the half-pagan and half-bar- new channels much that is national or barous rousalia. All these are easily traceable to the feast called Rosaria, racial; and we will have enough re- which the ancients celebrated at the sepulchres. There were, therefore, cus- form work to do when we confine our- toms and practices of the classical age so deep rooted that even after sixteen selves to essentials. The missionaries centuries they are noticeable in our modern Christian civilization. in India are making much of already- There is the other lesson of warning established usage in popular assemblies and failure. It has been said that ancient Rome had two populations of and holidays, wresting them out of the equal size, one alive and one of marble. The Roman Church did not abandon hands of the opposition and turning this custom of erecting statues; and hence we have them in so many Roman them to Christian ends. A.t any rate, Catholic churches to-day, with all the ex votos to which the ancient heathen whatever view we adopt there is much had grown accustomed. food for thought in the facts set forth Much else that was objectionable and that remains till now of saint wor_ by L'anciani as to the mild, impercep· ship is distinctly a survival of heathendom. We may well take warning lest tible changes wrought in three centuries the heathen shall make a large impression ou the new Church which we are which made Rome Christian instead of developing from their midst. pagan, or-shall we say it ?-has left But the marvel of the transformation remains as au encouragement amid all it half pagan till now. J. T. G. difficulties of our time. The Gospel that could couquer Rome can conquer Symposium.-J apan. any heathendom the world has seeu or will see. "Rome," according t::> an old REV. H. LOOMIS, ¥OKOHAMA.-The saying, .• contained as many churches condition of things in Japan is not as as there are days in the year," which bright as hitherto. The anti foreign Lanciani says was entirely too modest, agitation resulted in the dissolution of as there were certainly not less than a the Diet by the emperor; and it rethousand. A.nd these were transform- mains to be seen whether the country ed temples. "The experience gained will sustain the Government or not. through twenty-five years of active eKploration in ancient Rome, both above But we are not discouraged; and and below ground," says our author. some departments of the work are quite "enables me to state that every pagan hopeful. We are sure that this state of building which was capable of giving affairs will not be permaner:t, and that shelter to a congregation was trans- God will bless the labors of His servants formed, at one time or another, into a here in the future as He has in the past. church or chapel." REv. JAMES I.SEDER, TOKYo.-Chris- It is a practical question how far we tian work is being vigorously pushed shall conserve customs of the heathen forward. The work of the churches in society out of which we bring the new and about Tokyo, while encountering native Christian Church. With which considerable opposition and difficulties, of them can we make friends? There is nevertheless prospering moderately. From many points the Christian papers bring good tidings of renewed zeal and activity in the churches. Prayer-meet. ings are being more generally attended than for some time back. In most churches united and protracted efforts are being put forth by way ot revival meetings. Nor are these labors in vain in the Lord. One pastor writes of 22 probationers just received. Another reports 7 just baptized. Similar reports come from a number of other places. Only yesterday a missionary returned ferously cried out that, "It is against from a tour in Chiba ken, and tells the the Japanese Constitution and law to writer that he had just p1'eached in a preach Christianity." This caused a Buddhiat temple which is now without f~u:(luS uproar, and presently a 11uma priest. The idols were still in their 1(. f men, whose appearance was by accustomed place, but the people said 0). ~eans assuring, were making their the temple had been built for the wor- way through the crowd toward the ship of God; and as the Christian preachers. Being repeatedly urged by preachers said they would preach about the native pastor to follow him to the the true and living God, they should upper rooms of the house for safety, be heard. Afterward the people could they both made good their escape withchoose whom they would thereafter out injury. Threats of killing continued worship, God or Buddha. A goodly for some little time; but finally the disnumber attended and very respectfully turbers left, the meeting having been listened to the glorious Gospel. May completely broken up. Another misthe Spirit lead them to a right choice I sionary had an experience very similar Now and again we read of a new church only a short time ago, the persecutors. or chapel erected and dedicated to the saying they would not leave the place service of God. Sunday-school work as long as the" foreign enemy remained also is looking more and more hopeful, in the house." with increased attendance and interest_ Nor is the opposition confined to mis- A spirit of greater earnestness seems sionaries alone. Japanese are almost to be spreading among the churches. equally subject to them. In another But on the other side there is also a paper my eye just falls on the followspirit of greater opposition arising ing: "The Doshisha College had a among the Buddhists. Most likely they public meeting at the Gionza in Kyoto, would make no outcry nor bestir them- at which over 2000 persons attended. 'selves were not Christianity making de- After the meeting was closed at 9 A.M., cided inroads upon the religious terri- Otsuka Eitaro, a first-year student, was tory once all their own. InChiba ken a attacked by four men as he was going Swedish missionary, we hear, recently out. They inflicted slight wounds on ,uffered personal violence and inj ury his head, and fled when his companions at their hands. At another place the came to his assistance. The police Japanese pastor had given public notice have caught one of them, who is a Budof a Christian meeting for the evening, dhist priest. " and that a foreign missionary would speak. About 700 people gathered. In Tottori ken a native Christian Stirred up by priests, they began to preacher recently stirred up the people throw stones and other dangerous mis- considerably by declaring that "the siles, and would not allow the meeting will of God is above the law of. any to be held. The police appeared pow- earthly monarch." The incensed citi· erless. 'rhey advised the preacher to zens have appealed to the police. They dismiss the meeting; and as there seemed regard the Emperor of Japan as the no other way out, it was reluctantly "son of heaven;" hence to have done. uttered the foregoing sentence was greatly disrespectful if not disloyal to Less than a week ago & missionary the ruler of this land. For this very went out to Tanashi, a small town some reason the photograph of the emperor 25 miles from Tokyo, to fill a series of is nowhere on sale in the capital, as it appointments. An evening service had is regarded as wo sacred for publi<: been announced by the Japanese helper, gaze. Nor is this view held only by and he also spoke firilt. For about half the so·called lower classes; but to this an hour the large assembly' listened day it obtains among wealthy and eduquietly, until some Buddhist priest voci- cated people, being held either in sin. cere faith in the old superstitions or in understood Hotoke to mean Buddhism; insincerity. Missionaries cannot be too 7 boys attached the word to no reality ; careful how they speak even to Japanese 4 thought it meant the soul of man, Christians on the subject of their em- while 7 could make no reply.
peror. Still the truth may and must " .As to the third question, 25 believed be told, but always in love and to save. that man's soul lives after death, 81 be- Japan has made immense progress in lieved that death ends all, and 12 could.
matters of education during the past not answer. In answer to the fourth three decades. And yet the present question, 24 boys and 3 girls declared ignorance and indifference of the people, their belief in the existence of a soul, 5 so far as religious knowledge is con- of them basing their belief upon per- cerned, is a factor which enters very sonal experiences; but 48 boys and 14 largely into the causes retarding Chris- girls denied the existence of any souL tian progress in this land. The follow- Twenty-five others believed in the ex- ing from a recent paper gives some idea istence of a soul, but not in its immor- of the religious ideas of the children tality_ "
here: :M:ost interesting and important prac- "Mr. Togi, once an officer of the tical conclusions can be drawn from the Department of Education, now Super- above answers. It will be seen that intendent of the Higher School in Akita, nearly all these boys and girls still re- Il.ttempted to ascertain the religious gard their" imperial ancestors" as the ideas of the children of his school by a object of their worship and highest practical experiment. He chose 118 reverence. The large majority do not pupils, 19 of whom were girls, and the believe hi immortality, which has only average age of all about 14 years. To been brought to light through the Gos- these he propounded the following pel. Over half even deny the very ex- four questions: 1. What is Kami istence of the soul. The teachings of (God)? 2. What is Hotoke (a name giv- Buddhism are extremely vague. Most en to Buddha)? 3. What becomes of children (and adults may logically be man after death? 4. Is there a soul ? included) have little conception of a If so, what kind of a thing is it? future life or of future rewards and These questions awakened much seri- punishments for moral conduct in the ous thought; and he tabulates their present life. With such conceptions answers as follows: To the first ques- of liCe and its moral obligations in the tion, 82 boys and 15 girls replied, • By minds of the people, we can only won- Kami is meant our imperial ancestors der that the moral condition is no worse and benefactors reverenced by us.' Six than it really is. It will, moreover, be boys and 3 girls replied, • Kami is a seen that the work is still immeasurably spiritual Being outside of mankind; , great and the field "white unto the 1 girl, a Roman Catholic, added that harvest. " Christianity is here to stay 'He is the Creator of the universe.' and to conquer, and is gloriously march- One boy said that Kami meant • gohei ' ing forward ; but there are still " re- (a kind of paper cut in narrow strips gions beyond." May past success and and hung in temples to represent the Spirit and command of Christ arouse Kami). Three boys replied that there the Church to still greater achievements, is no Kami, while 8 gave unsatisfactory greater faith, greater self-sacrifice and answers. To the second question, 55 persevering prayer I boys and 16 girls replied, • All deceased persons are Hotoke.' Eleven boys and REv. DAVID S. SPENCER, NAGOYA.
1 girl said that by Hotoke they under- It is exceedingly interesting to note stood Shaka, Amida, and other virtuous the comments of the Buddhist press of sages who have influenced the spirits Japan since the conclusion of the of men. Seventeen boys and 1 girl World's Congress of Religions at Chicago. and in view of the rise of the reached its culmination. The movemixed residence question. ment toward Europeanization is sure to start again. With tha~, Christianity Buddhism is much divided. Some is again to go forward. We must be sects are at war within themselves, and on the alert. The nineteenth century others are at war with each other. They is going; what awaits us as the twentiare more completely divided and more eth opens ?" hostile to each other than is the Christian Church, in spite of their occasional The same magazine, in another slurs at Christianity because of its article, confesses that mixed residence numerous sects. They are clearly con- is sure to come. Scholars advise it, scious that the Buddhist forces are not business men need it. The only hope prepared to contend successfully with for Buddhism in such an event lies in Christianity, and various efforts at re- keeping aloof from politics and gi ving form appear. As these expressions of special attention to religious growth. Buddhist opinions to Buddhists must be or interest to all who are watching re- 2. The Dento speaks more hopefully ligious movements in Japan, I quote for Buddhism: "Many fear that with from some of these magazines as trans- mixed residence Buddhism will go unlated into the columns of the Japan der. But truth is conqueror at last. If Mail, making occasional comment: Christianity is truth it will conquer. The truth, however, is not in Chris- 1. The Bukkyo, an independent maga- tianity. Science shows that. Experience zine, has a leading article on "The makes that clear. Yet Christian meth- Necessary Work of Buddhists. " "The ods, some say, make Christianity forcountry is now afflicted with crime and midable, and the foreign religion is procalamities. Buddhists therefore should tected by foreign governments. But if be up and doing to help and to cure. our hundreds of thousands of priests are But more than this. Speculative Bud- faithful, what can the foreign preachers dhism, which has for a long time been in do? And the fOrty millions of the Japthe ascendant, must give way to prac- anese people are practically our defendtical forces. Christianity is beset on ers. The treaties must be revised_ all sides; Buddhism has the popular Let mixed residence come." Yes, we heart. Let it avail itself of this advan- reply, let it come. And with it must tage. Growing before all eyes is the come greatly increased advantages for question of mixed residence. [Allow- Christian work. While Buddhism is ing foreigners to reside in the interior well intrenched in some sections and by of the country. whereas up to this time no means dead, it will be found that it they have been compelled to reside only has already lost its power over the in the foreign concessions connected great masses of the forty millions of with the open ports, unless employed the Japanese, especially over the whole by Japanese.-D. S. S.] That is full younger class. Let the reader note also of momentous consequences. Mixed the coloring of nationalism in the above residence must come, sooner or later. quotation. Now, in our strength, is the time to prepare for this event. When foreigners S. The Nonin Shimpo is not so confiare admitted into all parts of the coun- dent of results as other representatives try. the ministers of Christianity will of the popular faith. It speculates enter with them and work freely. We upon the fate of Buddhism after the should be prepared to meet them. A incoming of foreigners after this mood : Christian reaction is sure to come. The "The first elIect will be Christian agformer extreme Europeanization of the gressiveness. The Japanese are povpeople has been checked. Conservatism erty-stricken as regards religious ideas. has been revived. But the endeavor Nine tenths of the people do not know to preserve national peculiarities has what Buddhism is. [And this after Japan has had about thirteen centuries' experience of Buddhism.-D. S. S.] because of personal immorality, etc.
At the beginning, with mixed residence The world moves I foreigners will prevail over WI. Bud- EVANGELUITIO WORK. dhism will decay and disappear. Of course con1lict is not desirable, but it REV. T. P. POATE, JAPAN.-I landed seems to be inevitable. Christian evan- in Japan in the fall of 1870. At that gelization means poison to the nation. time the work was carried on under Remember the ruin of Poland and of great disadvantages. The drag·net of Hawaii through Christian peoples." the Gospel could not be used; it was 4. The Kokkyo finds much fault with , fishing with the rod and line. But the recent Buddhistic methods. "Ancient period of sowing was now well.nigh ,customs have too much weight with done, and God drew near to His Church Buddhist associations. The habitual in blessing. It was, as is already reading of the ritual and Buddhistic known, during the week of prayer in Scriptures at religious gatherings wea- 1870 that this blessing came. The quick- ries the people. Popular addresses ened ear of faith heard the tinklings of should be substituted. Biographies the golden bells of the great High Priest of Buddha and of the founders of the who dwells unseen, yet not unknown, sects should be presented at the meet- within the veil. Over the meetings in ings. If the people will not come to the oHis sevenfold might brooded the won- temples, gather them if possible into drous Paraclete, and from rent hearts private houses and teach them there." came "that unimaginable groan, the It will be seen that this is simply im. birth.pang of souls born into the king- itating Christian methods. And they dom of light, that yearning known to go farther than this in some sections, all the people of God which finds its establishing Sunday·schools, gathering utterance in the cry, 'Lord, save souls, and teaching the young, and the poor or I die I '" Then the Spirit of God in night schools, organizing Young moved upon the hearts of the heathen Men's Christian Associations with Chris· who were present. and one after an- tianity left out. have popular preaching other confessed Christ. Yet more, for services, and take up a collection, as if the first time in the history of the em- they were really Methodists. This im. pire Japanese knelt in prayer to God itating process has been going on for that He would pour out on them and sometime. their race the Holy Ghost. These 5. The Daido Shimpo enters a strong meetings were carried on for several complaint that" the Buddhists always weeks, and out of them grew the First lag behind in social progress, when they Church of Yokohama, now numbering should be the leaders. A national reo about 800 members.
action is coming. Back of the present From this time the work grew apace.
anti·foreign nationalistic mood a great It was founded on and nourished by pro·foreign feeling is developing. Bud· the Word of God. In accordance with dhists should get their power well in the universal rule of Protestant mis- hand, because national secularization is sionaries, the Scriptures were translated near. " into Japanese. Two translations (in The prophecy of a retum of the pro- some respects 8. regrettable thing) were foreign feeling is not without founda· made-the one a Baptist;the other by a tion. committee. Each had its work. The It only remains to note the organiza- Baptist translation reached a class of tion, in one of the prefectures, of a large people unable to read the mixed charac- association for the purification of the ter of the committee's version, while priesthood. One of the recent acts of this was well suited to the wants of the this association was to decide that 220 great middle and upper classes. Out priests were unworthy of their position of the press poured in ever.increasing volume a stream of Christian literature God, and went north on January 10th, which was carried everywhere by col· 1880. A little church was soon gath· porteurs. The branches of the true ered, and as we lookeu on the blank, Vine shot forth and filled the land, and desolate heathenism of the place our the tender grapes gave a good smell. hearts were led out In prayer to God And the Lord of the vineyard sent forth for a hundred souls. That prayer has more laborers. I had been engaged in been answered well-nigh threefold. Our educational work for a number of Methodist brethren came in, and then years, in the employ of the imperial my dear brother Rev. E. Rothesay Mil· Government, when in 1875 I was led ler ; and though this be literally Rock into direct work for the Lord. The Province (Iwate ken), the power of the claims of that work grew more and more Spirit is making it into a fruitful field.
pressing, and at length, in 1879, I sev· In the spring of that same year I bap- ered my connection with the Govern· tized a man named Seino Tomonoshin ment and gave myself wholly to the at a place called Farukawa. He had preaching of the Word in connection been a hard drinker, a great sinner, but with the American Baptist Missionary on him came the Spirit of God, con- Union. vincing him of sin. He dared not sleep Shortly after there came a call from at night, fearing that he might wake up Morioka, a city 325 miles northeast of . in torment. The message of God's love, Tokyo. At that time the provinces of the of sin laid upon Jesus, of the blood that northeast were in almost utter darkness; cIeanseth from sin, came to him, and he no Protestant missionary was to be received it as a little child. His wife found in all that district, yet a certain saw the change in her husband, and she work had been done by members of the too believed. He wrote to me in Yoko· Greek Church. Among those brought hamil., and asked me to stop in Sendai, to Christ by their means was a young on my next trip, and baptize her. 150 man named KUdo. He was not, how· anxious was he that I should not fail ever, satisfied with this form of Chris· that he even telegraphed to me. Now, tianity. Though the Greek Church Sendai is the largest city of the north.
gives the Bible to its members and I had not thought it possible to open recommends them to study it, still work there, but God opened a wide and prayer for the dead, the invocation of effectual door. When I reached Sendai the saints, and a mass of superstitions Brother Seino at once sought me out; too numerous to mention disfigure the and I shall never forget how the tears faith. He came to Yokohama to study, came from his eyes and the joy that and there met with some of ollr believ· shone in his face. His wife was bap- ers, who taught him the way of God tized, and in the fall another church more perfectly. He learned with joy was organized in Sendai. The work that he needed not the intercession of grew rapidly, and I am afraid that I got the saints nor of the Virgin Mary, but proud. I said to myself, I shall have could come to God through the one the first self·supporting Baptist church; :Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus. Fail· and then there came trouble, division ing health compelled him to return and strife; and how sad that is! It home. He was attacked by consump· seemed as if all was going to pieces: tion and did not live many months, but but then I learned what the Puritans he tol:1 his friends of what he had called" the soul.fattening blessing of learned, and the result was, repeated fasting." We fasted and prayed, and letters to Dr. Brown asking for a teach· the Lord lifted upon us the light of His cr. Till my appointment there had countenance.
been no one to send, for the mission I went one day down to the river practically consisted of two ladies and rather sad at heart, and as I passed by Dr. Brown. I hailed the call as from a Shinto temple I noticed that some "matruri" or festival was going on. five ports were opened to foreign trade The priest was praying, and I caught in China, and nearly that time since ac- what sounded like my name. In J ap- tive Protestant missionary wl)rk was anese my name is Pato. I thought begun in the land. But the widespread that I must be mistaken, but on draw- riots throughout the empire during the ing nearer heard it again. Out rang in last year makes it necessary to consider sonorous tones, " Ama terasu no mi kami whether mission methods do not tequire yo, negawaku wa mi tsurugi wo motte fresh adaptation.
kam Eikokujui Poto to ni mono wo ha- " The genius of the Chinese people is rai tamaije;" which, being interpreted, pre-eminently to listen to their rulers, is, " 0 Goddess that dost illuminate the who are expected to take paternal in- heavens, with thine august sword drive terest in everything that pertains to their out that Englishman Poate. " You smile, welfare. If the rulers oppose Chris- and so did I; for my heart was glad. tianity. suspicions abound on every For whenever Satan rages God is side; if they approve, then all classes work.ing, and I knew of a surety that are stimulated to friendship and inquiry.
Emanuel, the Golden Prince, would " One immense hindrance to mission- come, riding in His chariots of salva- ary work in China is the hostile attitude tion, to the aid of His Church. I re- of the mandarins, the gentry and the turned to Yokohama. and one day a educated classes. For millenniums the telegram came from the church: Chinese have been taught to consider "Go Sei Rei. go kouri ni natta" (" On themselves vastly superior to every na- us hath the Holy Spirit descended"). tion under the sun; and as their educa- And when I visited that church next I tional curriculum to this day is still un- fonnd that it was even so. T hey had changed,there is springing up annually a waited on God in prayer, and lie had fresh crop of scholars in absolute igno- heard them. The spirit of envy and rance of the outside world, and with the hate had been cast out, and in its stead same intense pride and prejudice as of reigned the spirit of peace and love and old. For, centuries, too, the Chinese of a sound mind. Government has systematically opposed all intercourse with foreigners to the ut- most of their power, as they regard it Ohristian Work Among the Higher full of peril. OIasses of Ohins. ., Again, for many years, owing to the Twenty-nine missionaries in China, Taiping rebels having taken up a Chris- representing as many societies, sent out, tian name, the authorities of China in the form of a circular, some time since looked on Christian literature as only an Appeal for the Society for the Diffu- fit for wicked rebels, and therefore bc- sion of Christian Knowledge among the came still more hostile. In the course Chinese as an especial agency for reach· of years this feeling showed itself in all ing the higher classes in that country. the Government dispatches of manda- This society sustains two monthly mag- rins, high and low, where the vilest ru- azines in Chinese, one religious and one mors against Christians, however false general. Missionaries from different and malicious, were duly recorded, sel- parts of the empire contribute to the dom inquiring into their origin, their columns of these, and they are, together truth or their falsehood. Lately these an- with other literature, distributed from ti-foreign and anti-Christian references the civil service examination centres were collected from Government dis- and from other centres, to the number of patches and standard works-into which ten in each province. This committee they had also crept-and republished make the following, among other im- in a cheap form; and new publications,'
portant statements: based on these supposed facts, were ,," It is now exactly fifty years since issued to stir up the whole land against Christianity: thinking thereby to benefit "Meanwhile the natural increase of .the popUlation of China is at the rate their country. Such was the main and of about three millions annually. As scarcely any improved methods arc yet immediate cause of the riots, which last- introduced for the support of these Im- mense numbers, and as the Chinese ed, with some intervals. for more than a have not discovered how to produce means of support faster than the natural year. increase of popUlation, as Christian na- tions have done, they must either perish "During all this time it was useless or become every day more wretchedly poor even than they now are, and this for missionaries to approach the higher dire poverty leads to corruption and crime. In fact, the unemployed abound classes, so they have labored patiently throughout the land, to be swept away in periodic famines, while the vast naton among those that would hear them- ural resources of China remain unde- veloped. We must strive for the estabmostly the poor-and we are glad to lishment of righteousness and salvation in the land. Few of the Chinese know record 40,000 communicants among how this can be accomplished; but God has given us that. knowledge. We these. Had the higher classes been as must help them."
accessible, enlightened, and friendly as From the report just at hand we gather information to the effect that they are in Japan and in other mission they have established depots in Peking, Moukden, Tientsin, Shensi, Nanking, fields, we might reasonably expect pro- and Chefoo. They arranged last year to present to all the great mandarins of portionately a far greater number of the empire a copy of Dr. Faber's ~Teat work on" Civilization," in five Chmese Christians in China than there is, and volumes. They sent 60,000 copies of their pUblications to the ten maritime we should not have had the riots, which provinces. Not all of these were sold. The Chinese are poor, though many are have so greatly imperilled the mission rich. The poor have to pay 36 per cent to pawn-shops, and sometimes 100 per cause and excited fresh opposition where cent, to tide them over temporary dUn- culties. Thousands upon thousands colit had almost died away. lect in mat sheds at every great city H One great lesson of the riots is, that in the winter, in order to attend the free soup.kitchens,and this only means prac· the reformation of one class in a nation tically slow starvation. China thus caunot go on peaceably without simul- presents an amount of suffering which taneous enlightenment of the other class- far surpasses that of any other country. es, otherwise it must inevitably end in Most of this might be easily removed. persecution. riots, or revolution. There- It is the object of this ChristIan Knowlfore something must be done to prevent edge Society to try to help the Chinese further collision and disaster besides ap· to such knowledge as will result in the pealing to force. improved condition of the country. For wantof political insight, China has " True, the most prejudiced are more lost within thirty·five years, in northopposed to us than ever because of our east Manchuria, a country as large as increasing numbers, but many of the France; and in the south she has lost highest authorities are compelled to in- Burmah, and in Annam tributary States quire carefully into the matter, and larger than France. For lack of comthere is au increasing number growing mercial knowledge she has £80,000,000 friendly and anxious to know the whole less foreign trade than India, and even truth about our work. The emperor little Japan has trebled her foreign trade, and the highest authorities are begin- while China has only dOUbled hers. ning to learn that these anti·Christian rumors are false, and that Christians are The Secretary, Rev. Timothy Richgood people whose object is to benefit ards, Shanghai, will gladly furnish in· China and not to stir up rebellion aud formation on t.he prospects and plans strife. The edict and proclamations of this admirable organization. If it which have recently made their appear- shall accomplish a tithe as much as the ance are very satisfactory; though is- similar society has in India. it will be a sued under foreign pressure, they are great blessing. all valnable documents and point ill the right direction.
" The empire being at peace. foreigners are engaged to write books for them on all subjects. Its leading men are studying many questions of reform, and among these religion. It seems hardly possible to overestimate the stupendous importance of the present opportunity, when a fourth of the human race is compelled to meditate a change in its religious policy, with all that that involves! The hand of God is in the matter, showing clearly that past labor has not been in vain.
i894.j
IlI.-FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY.
Siam and Laos, Malaysia," Unoccupied Fields,t Buddhism.:f: . MISSION WORK AMONG THE LAO!!. not to be intimidated by his bonds. , Most of the obstacles since then have BY REV. DANIElL McGILVARY, D.D. been some petty annoyances to be ex· pected, and such as hav.e acted as a Chieng Mai, Lampoon, Lakawn, Praa, wholesome tonic. Nan, Chieng Hai, and Chieng Saan are the capitals of provinces of the same For long years only two ordained name in the north of the Kingdom of missionaries were in the field. In 1883 Siam, to which they are tributary. Rev. Dr. Peoples and others arrived, They occupy the valleys and plateaus followed ne:l!;t year by Rev. Chalmers of the upper tributaries of the Maa Martin. Since then the growth of the Nam, separated from the lower plain church has been remarkable for its by mountains and rapids. They are steady uniformity. For three years the governed by a line of native rulers who yearly accessions to the communion of receive their appointment and their in· the church was about ninety. For the signia of office from Bangkok. last seven successive years the acces- sions have been 110, 129, 180, 190, 241, Having first obtained consent of the 299, and 303 for 1893. Our present viceroy, permission to establish a mis· adult membership is 1586,. total bap. sion station in Chieng Mai was granted tized 2707. The mother church at by the Siamese Government, and the Chieng Mai has sent out eight colonies, mission was formally opened by the and still has an adult membership of writer and his family April 3d. 1867, 719, and Dr. Dennis in his latest work M.r. Wilson and family following in makes the Presbytery of North Laos 1868. The warm reception that the the banner presbytery in the General missionaries received from all classes, Assembly. Probably a greater promi. the baptism of the first convert, the nence has been given to the evangelistic bright prospects of the mission so soon work than in most missions, and in clouded by the changed attitude of the .this we have largely used the native viceroy and the martyrdom of Noi talent available. From the beginning Sunyah and Nan Chai, the tragic death of the mission the preaching and pas· of the viceroy soon after, the kindness toral work have been magnified. For of his successor, the present viceroy, a long time this was from necessity. counteracted by the hostile acts of his Our small force precluded some depart· brother, the second in command, lead· ments of mission work. What was be· ing to the appeal to Bangkok and the gun from necessity has been continued Royal Proclamation of Religious Toler· from conviction and experience of its ation from the young king in 1878, are success. We have endeavored to reach matters of history and need not be reo the present generation first; and no peated. The death of the brother soon subject has such constraining power after was another of the many Provi· over men who are conscious of their dential interpositions in behalf of the guilt and sin as the Cross of Christ. mission. The only case of persecution The Laos readily admit that there is no since then was the imprisonment for provision for pardon in Buddhism. eight months of a valued assistant un· "I would embrace any religion that der false charges, but really on account offers pardon for sin," said an officer of his religion. From his prison cell from ChiengToong. met on a late tour. he wrote consoling letters to his family From the first, too, it was evident * See pp. 332 and 884 (present. issue). that a large field for medical work was opened. The ordained ministers stood t See p. 877 (present issue). :I: See pp. 326 and 367 (present issue).
FIELD OF MON'l'HI,Y SURVEY
lI,ghast at the demand for foreign medi- Rev: Nan Tah. He is one of the most cine which they had created, but could learned men in Buddhistic literature, not supply. A missionary station is which gives him great influence among not complete without a physician. The hil:l people. In manner and tact he is healing of the body and the remedy for all that could be desired, instant in seathe soul, as in the Saviour's ministry, son and out of season, and is himself a have acted and reacted on each other. bright example of the power of the They are the counterpart and comple- Gospel which he preaches. ment of each other. When there is no physician the miuister has to become a Besides him the annual report for the quack and treat cases for which he is closing year mentions about thirty nanot qualified. When this work is turned tive ruling elders who have devoted over to an accomplished physician he much time to evangelistic work during can devote his energies to his own spe- the year. The report adds, " They go cial work. The consecrated physician before, we follow and reap the harcan easily combine the preaching of the vest." Besides the influence of these, Gospel with. the medical work. The the church is growing by the vitality in reverse is not always possible. Among its native members. Most of the male the IJaos the medical missionary has an members lead in public prayer, and ideal field for influence. The evangel- mauy of the women in their own prayeristic and the medical work combined meetings. Family prayer is generally have laid the broad foundation for all observed, and they do not hesitate to our other work, and given the solid urge the subject of religion on their basis on which it stands. In the pio- people. In all of the sub-stations naneer work in the broad field already tives lead the Sabbath worship. An opened and opening in the east and the officer from Lakawn, sixty-five miles to north, we must look to the consecrated the southeast, became a Christian-a physician to be preacher and healer. church was soon organized, and a call With his medicine and surgical case and made for a mission station, to which his Bible, he is welcome alike to the resi- Dr. and Mrs. Peoples and others since dences of chiefs and governors and to responded. When the station in Lamthe homes of the poor. The extent of poon was opened, one hundred and its inflnence may he seen by a single twenty members were already waiting statement. Dr. McKean, medical mis- to be dismissed to the church then orsionary in Chieng Mai, reports five thou- ganized. The churches in Chieng Saan sand cases treated last year at the sta- aud Chieng IIai and Papow and Chieng tion, and three thousand vaccinations, Dow, all in distant provinces, have thus bringing eight thousand souls un- grown up under native labor, with only der the direct influence of the Gospel. an annual visit from the missionary. In a tour of Iive months last year the They have called in vain for the settlewriter distributed cighty.eight ounces ment of a missionary. of quinine gratuitously, or otherwise, giving us a welcome in some places With the evangelistic and medical where the people would have been in- work as a basis, as soon as we had force different. We would emphasize the to open schools, Christian parents were fact that just now THREE MEDICAL MIS- waiting to put their children in them. SIONARIES are NEEDED for our IMME- The Girls' Boarding School was the DIATE WORK. Shall this appeal be first. It has had a succession of faithmade in vain? ful teachers. Under its present princi- pal, Miss Griffin, assisted by Miss Allie Special mention should be made of McGilvary, it has completed a prORperthe influence of our native Christians ous year. The Boys' Boarding School in advancing the work. First among was commenced later by Mr. Coilins, these is our native ordained minister, who is now assisted by Miss C. H. Mc- GUvary. One hundred and fifteen pupils were enrolled during the year. One of whom, a son-in·law of Nan Intab, of the most encouraging features of the first convert, was ordained. these schools Is that all the girls and nearly all the boys come from Ohris- To all of these schools we look for a tian families-not to learn English, generation of better educated Ohriswhich is not taught, bnt to receive a tians, and, above all, for a strong force Christian education. Most of the pu- of Christian ministers and workers to pils are either communicants or non- evangelize their own and neighboring communing members on entering, and tribes. The first duty of the foreign the communion roll is constantly en- missionary is to lay the foundations, larged from these schools, t~oenty-tl.ree translate t,he Scriptures, and give a having been added during the fall term. Christian litcrature, then to train work- The influence of the pupils reacts on ers and act as bishops in superintending the families and villages from which and directing the work. they come. A prosperous school at Lakawn, under Miss Fleeson and Mr. Our Sahbath-schools have one feature 'l'aylor, was commenced soon after the worthy of universal adoption. They station was established, and now a boys' embrace the old and the young, men school is in operation under Mr. Taylor, and women; in other words, the church who also superintends the Industrial and congregation studying the Scrip- School, leaving Dr. Peoples frec for tures. evangelistic work and the medical work in the absence of Dr. Briggs. Even A font of Laos type prepared by Dr. Utc last station at Lampoon has a good Peoples is a success, and the press in beginning in school work. Chieng l1ai under Mr. Collins is send- ing forth the printed Word of Gi>d. Last "nd not least, before we were The Gospel of Matthew revised, and ready for it, the evangelistic work had Acts translated, by Rev. E. B. McGilfurnished pupils for the Theological vary, have been published, and the Training School. Rev. Nan Tah was Gospel of John is now ready for the prepared for the ministry by the mem- press, while Mr. Wilson has translated bers of the Chieng Mai station in the in- the Psalms. The whole of the Scriptervals of other duties. A strong need tures are accessible to those who read had long been felt for an organized ef- Siamese, as most of Ollr Christians do. fort, and in Mr. Dodd, since joined by Mr. Irwin, the right men were found. Hitherto we have referred to the work Our ruling elders and others, who have in the Siamo-Laos States in the north of proved themselves efficient workers, Siam, which gave it the title of Nortlt have been encouraged to enter the Train- Laos Mission. Rccent explorations in ing School. It ha!! one feature of a the regions north of the Kingdom of model theological school. The teach- Siam have shown tbat the title NORTH ing is practical and biblical as well as Laos Mission is a misnomer. The easttheoretical, the Bible being the princi- ern and northeastern portion of British pal text-book. A portion of each day Burma and a large number of districts is devoted to evangelistic work, and on and towns subject to Yunnan, China, Sabbath the pnpils are sent out two by are inhabited by the Kerns and Lus, two, and the first school hour in the two large and numerous branches of week is devoted to hearing a report of the Laos family, who might be called their work, with criticisms and practical the Burmo and Chino-Laos. This is suggestions from teachers and feIIow- doubtless the original home of the pupils. Ttoenty-five were enrolled last whole Siamese and Laos family. These year, and at the last meeting of pres- tribes have retained more of their origbytery in December jive of the pupils inal characteristics, while the Siamese were licensed to preach the Gospel, one have developed a type of civilization of their own. A tour was taken the first flve months of 1893 by the Rev. Robert Irwin and thc writer, passing through the provinces of British Blll'Dla to the baptism of twenty·two, the first of the Sip Song Panna, a confederation of Lu Moosur race who had embraced the States under the jurisdiction of China. Gospel, was a red·letter dsy in my life. We visited about seventeen districts and Ch Boo Kaw, the first Moosur convert, towns, in all of which the Kern and Lu has since gone to his rest, exhorting his dialects of the Laos are spoken, and the people with his last breath to embrace written character is the same as that the Gospel. Besides the Moosurs, there used in our mission. The extent of the are the Kooies, the Kaws, the Maaos, race to the north, the large area in the Yows, the Ka Hoks, the Ka Lohs, which the Laos language is spoken, and the Lanteens, the Tai Luangs, the Ka the openness of the field were a revela- Moos, and Lemates and other tribes. tion to us. A missionary had never Like the Karens of Burma, but few of been in the region before, and the name these Hill tribes are Buddhists, and we of Christ was unknown. It is stating have reason to believe that many of the fact mildly when we say that we them are waiting for the Gospel. None were well received throughout the of them have written languages, and as whole region. We had a most cordial yet we have had to preach to them welcome from both rulers and people. through an interpreter in the Laos lan- guage, which most of the men under· The length of the tour precluded a stand but imperfectly. Their contiglong stay in each place, but we had uity to China has introduced the opium everywhere eager listeners to the Gos- vice among them, but they are hospitapel mesaage. Chieng Hoong, in north ble and industrious, and those not adlatitude 22°, the chief city of the Sip dicted to the use of opium are, for Song Punna, was the limit of the tour heathen tribes, moral. to the north. This confederation formerly paid tribute to Burma and China, The Presbyterian Mission of Siam and but the present Chow Fa of Chieng Laos together embrace the whole coun- Hoong was placed in authority by Yun- try from the Gulf of Siam to China, nan. The Laos race extended much and the Laos race alone must comprise further north and also east and west of three or four millions of people. How Chieng Hoong. There we crossed the shall that whole region be evangelized? Cambodia River and visited a number We need only the men and the means of towns to the east and south, and re- to occupy the whole field. crossed it at Chieng Lap. In two of the towns which we visited we were At the meeting of the Presbytery of invited to hold worship in the residence North Laos in 1892 a call was made for of the Chow Fa, where we found largv eighteen workers, not including those and attentive audiences. It was sad to needed for Nan and the Laos provinces leave so many places where they were and Hill tribes north of the Siamese disappointed at our short stay, and boundary. The Wood River Church, urged us to come again. Nebraska, has sent usfi'D6 workers, now on their way. Of these Mr. and Mrs. The length of this article, already too Shields will join Dr. and Mrs. Briggs long, allows the mention of only one at Praa, the new station opened by the other important fact. The whole re- famine. The other three, Rev. J. L. gion abounds in numerous Hill tribes Thomas, M.D., and wife, and Miss inhabiting the mountains on both sides Hatch,· and also Miss Wilson, go to of the Cambodia and its tributaries. Lakawn, and Mr. and Mrs. Phraner We have an interesting work already are waiting to establish a station in begun among the Yahoos or Moosurs. Chieng Hai when a physlcian can be Two of the most interesting months of obtained. my thirty.six years of mission life were spent in viaiting on foot the MQOSurs on MO'l'e than eighteen are still needed, of. the hills west of Chlt,ng Hai; and the whom at least three should be physi- cians, to occupy Rahang, a large town on the Southern Laos border and Nan all the men of His time and all other on the east, and the Burmo-Laos and times.
Chino-Laos and the Hill tribes in the Was Buddha His name?
north. For speedy and large returns No. It is the name of a state of for labor and means expended, it is mind.
doubtful whether a more promising Its signification ?
field is anywhere open to the Church. Illuminated ; or He who has perfect, We most earnestly request the prayers wisdom.
of the Church for laborers and success Did Buddha discover the cause of in giving them the Gospel. We would human misery ?
sound the Macedonian cry, " Come over At last He discovered it. As the and help us." Who will hear in it a light of the rising sun scatters the call, "The Lord hath need of thine" ? shades of night and reveals everything " The Lord hath need of THEE" ? to view, so the light of knowledge rose in His mind, and He saw clearly the Siam and Laos. Area 250,000 square causes of human suffering and the miles; population about 6,000,000, con- means of escaping them. sisting of one third Siamese, one third Laosians, and the remainder Chinese Did He have to make great efforts to and Malays. The prevailing religion is attain this knowledge? Buddhism. The Presbyterians (North) •have in the Laos country 10 ordained, 5 Yes; He had to conquer all the de- medical, 6 lady missionaries, and 1 or- fects, the desires, and the appetites dainednative; 8 churches and 1600 com- which deprive us of the sight of the municants ; and in the Siam Mission, 7 truth. ordained, 2 medical, 4 lady missionaries, and 1 native evangelist; 7 churches and What is the light which can disperse 330 communicants. The American Bap- our ignorance and drive away all tist Missionary Union also has a work troubles? in Bangkok chietly for the Chinese. The knowledge of the Four Noble Truths, as Buddha r:aIls them.
What are those truths? (1) That misery always accompanies existence; (2) that all modes of exist- ence result from passion or desire; (3) Unoccupied Pield8 will be the subject that there is no escape from existence of a paper in our June and July issues. except by destruction of desire; (4) the means of obtaining the destruction of desire.
Buddhi8m has been said to be the re- When we are in possession of the Four ligion of one third of the human race. Noble Truths, at what do we arrive?
Probably not over 100,000,000, how- At Nirvana.
ever, are in reality Buddhists. What is Nirvana?
The state of perfect repose, the ab- sence of desire, of illusion, of pain, the The following are some extracts from complete annulment of everything a Buddhist catechism: which constitutes physical man. Before What is a Buddhist? attaining Nirvana, man can be inces-'
He is one who professes to be a fol- santly born again; when he has attained lower of Our Lord Buddha. it he cannot be born again.
Was Buddha a God?
No. Buddhism aims at the destruction of Was He a man? sin as a disea.se and the practical ea;tinc- In form He was a man; but internally tion of the soul; Christianity compasses He was not like other men-that is, in the destruction of the disease and the mental and moral order He surpa~e~ 8alvation of the soul.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
What shall atone for sina of omis8'ion the population; and therefore any stateon the part of editors and compositors! ment of the number is only an CIItimate. In the February issue of this REVIEW, Rev. H. V. Noyes in 1889 published a page 136, second column, third para· paper in the Oltinese Recorder, January graph, the somewhat astounding state- and February numbers, on .. Mohamment is made, that" of the nineteen medans in China." He gives the numprovinces of China proper, only Hunan ber as 20,000,000. Two thirds of these and Kwang·se have permanent mission were stated to be in the Northwest and stations." One little word-" no"-be- Southwest Provinces. The number ing omitted before the words .. mission stated to be in these two provinces is stations" turns the sentence completely greater than the wltole popUlation of the round. It should have read, "Only provinces. After the protracted war Hunan and Kwang-se have no perma- that was there to suppress a Mohammenent mission stations." The next sen- dan rebellion, more than half of the poptence, which gives the needy popula. ulation were found to have perished durtion of these two provinces, shows that ing the twenty years of war. I think the previous sentence must be wrong; 15,000,00() a large estimate for the present but we confess the blunder without Mohammedan population in China. The being able to account for its escaping Chinese are Oonfuciani8t8 as a nation. three proof-readers! Canton, Swatow, When these false religions are vaunted Amoy, Tamsui and Taiwanfol) in For· by anti-Christians, I do not like to see mosa, Foo Chow, Shanghai, Hankow, any undue credit given to them." Ningpo, Cheefoo, Tientsin, Pekin, etc., are well-known permanent mission sta- The MiBBiona7'1J Herald hints that a tions. movement is on foot among Christian Endeavor Societies to hold missionary Dr. Happer, the veteran missionary extension courses, following the lines from China, kindly calls attention to a that IlSve been followed to eKtend the few points in which there is a difference advantages of the universities to the of opinion; also a few typographical public. Study and investigation of the errors in the February REVIEW. As claims of foreign missions, under God's we care for accuracy far more than our blessing, cannot fail to be of vast beneown" consistency," we give Dr. Hap- fit, commensurate to the importance of per's letter: the topic. We have often thought that a plan not unlike that of the" uni- .. On page 136 and second column, versity extension" courses might be second line, the number of missionaries pursued with immense profit. Courses is stated to be 500 instead of 1500. [Dr. of lectures by the prominent authorities Gilbert Reid, in" Peeps into China," on missions might be arranged in varipage 188, gives 490 male missionaries. ous accessible centres. There is no Manifestly an error, as the China Inland reason why such men as Drs. Ellin- Mission alone has 600.-ED.] These I wood, Clark, Baldwin, McCabe, Gorregard as mistakes of the printer. Let don, Mudge, Gracey; Bishops Baldwin me call your attention to two items of and Nicholson; returned missionaries, errors on points that are of special in- such as Drs. Dennis, Happer, Mackay, terest now-viz., as to the number of KnOK, Butler, Boggs, and others tempo- Mohammedans and Buddhists in China. rarily or permanently at home again- You state, on page 136, first column, in a word, every man and woman who the number of the former to be 30,000,- is competent to speak in behalf of mis- 000. This, I think, is too .large an estimate. There is no reliable census of 8ioll&-~hould not be heard, and in cir· dental expenses, the pastors using their cumstances the most favorable. A sin· own discretion in regard to an offering gle address at a distance involves poor Sabbath morning in their own churche9 economy of time; but a series of ad· for their own denominational boards. dresses at contiguous points, and arrang· ed foi at successive times, might bring The Hermit Nation-Thibet. untofd good at a very slight cost of money or energy. Why not have a On Tuesday afternoon, January 7th, bureau of missionary lectures? Not a 1890, during the Week of Prayer, I money·making scheme, but a provision made an address at Mildmay, in Lonfor extending the blessing of informa· don, on "Prayer as a Power in the tion suffused with spiritual power! Opening of Nations to the Gospel." I gave several illustrations, from Turkey. Apropos of this matter, we have be· Siam, Sandwich Islands, etc. I felt fore us a program of the Missionary moved to say to that very devout band Institute in connection with the Illinois of disciples there gathered, that it was Christian Endeavor Union. It may my conviction that there should be help others to give the following items definite, united, believing supplication of information: for the immediate opening of T hibet to the messengers of Christ: whereupon RULES OF THE EXTENSION COURSE. there was a season of prayer for this par· ticular object, and prayer of unusual 1. An application to the Christian power and earnestness. Endeavor State Superintendent of Mis· sions, signed by the presidents of all I have naturally watched with very Christian Endeavor societies in the special interest the subsequent developtown, with the approval of their pas· ments in Thibet. And now not only do tors, and a pledge of the active super- we find that that heroic woman, MIss vision of the course by the Endeavor Annie Taylor, has been penetrating the societies. Thibetan frontier~ from Sikkim, daring poison and assassination, but actually 2. Arrangements for a mass meeting reaching to within three days' journey of the evangelical churches each night of Lassa, the capital, and claiming for selected for the addresses. Sunday God every foot of ground her feet trod evenings are preferred, if possible. on! And now a Thibetan pioneer mis- sion is organized. Miss Taylor appears 3. Missionary sermons to be preached in Britain to secure a dozen men to go by the evangelical pastors each Sunday out to Darjeeling, India, and master the morning prior to the mass meetings. strange speech of the Lama worship· pers, so as to be ready to enter when 4. Arrangements for a Union confer· the two-leaved gates open. ence and prayer service for missionary workers on the afternoons prior to the Just now another link in the chain is mass meetings. supplied. God seems to be using the same means to open Thibet that He 5. Assurance of the active co-opera· used at Philippi's jail to open the door tion. of the missionary societies in the into Europe-the earthquake I We local churches. quote a recent account : 6. Payment of the travelling expenses, "The calamity which has befallen and free entertainment of the speakers. Thibet would seem to afford the oppor- tllnity which Christians have long 7. Ample notice through the local waited for. For years that country press both before and after the meet- haq been most jealously guarded against ings. the intrusion of even transient visit- ors. Only at long intervals, ann after 8. An invitation to all Christian En- great efforts, have travellers succeeded deavor Missionary societies and churches in the district to· send delegates to the meetings.
9. No collection to be made at the mass meetings, except for actual inci· in even passing through the country; Christian truth. FQr despite the pOltie and it has been utterly out of the ques- fancy which invests non·Christian re- ligious systems with an aureole of sanction to establish any missionary enter- tityand beauty, they have been weighed prise in it, though there have been prep- and found wanting in power to meet the deepest wants of mankind. Whatarations made to avail of the least ever their rightful place may have been opening. under Providence in the education of humanity; whatever the virtues they " Now comes the news that a great are calculated to promote among peoples earthquake has destroyed several Bud- in a certain stage of mental'or material dhist monasteries, causing large loss of development; however beautiful the theory, or elevated the ethics, which life, and the Grand Lama himself ap- some of them embody or enjoin-we cannot accept them as a substitute for pears to have perished in the catastro- Christianity or withhold its higher ligh~ from those who sit beneath their phe. This last occurrence can hardly shadow." fail to shake rudely the system of pure There is much curiosity felt to know Buddhism existing in Thibet, and to who the author of this article is.
prepare the way for the preaching of the Gospel.
.. The missiouaries who have long hovered upon the southwestern boun- dary of the country will hardly fail to avail themselves of such a providential opening. For this familiarity with the geography and local peCUliarities of the situation- in Thibet are essenthtl pre- requisites to a successful prosecution of the work, and we expect to hear that it has been entered upon at the earliest moment."
A late number of the London Quar- The monetary crisis imperils all misterly Review pays a remarkably generous sion work. The Presbyterian Board but just tribute to the work of foreign was threatened in March with a debt of missions. The anonymous writer claims $150,000. The Church Missionary Sothat philology, geography and ethnog- ciety was $175,000 behind. Mildmay raphy, comparative religion and cog- and the Y. M. C. A. of London each nate sciences have all been greatly in- $25,000 in debt. debted to those who have gone to bear the Gospel into the depths of continents That was a most notable conversion hitherto untrodden by Europeans, or to the ranks of the Salvation Army in into territories where death threatens the case of Prince Galitzin, of Russia. the intruder. After cordially conced- On a recent tour round the world in ing the material advantages of mission- the interests of the Imperial Geographary work, the writer adds: "It is too ical Society of St. Petersburg, he was late to speak of efforts as futile or fanatic in Washington in October, 1893, and which have literally girdled the globe there he attended a Salvation Army with a chain of missionary stations, and meeting; he was much impressed, and, those who now speak scornfully of mis- returning another evening, became It. sions are simply men behind their age." convert, and has since consecrated him- Then the grand opportunities for world- self and his life to the work of the wide missionary work are emphasized, Army. He prcposes to carryon Salvaand these remarkable words are added: tion Army work in Siberia, and has ., The heathen oracles are dumb, their gone to London to consult with Gentemples are decaying, their philosophies eral Booth with respect to his plans. are undermined, their creeds are honey- He is tall and stately, forty-five years com bed with distrust under the advance old, with refined features and expresof Western civilization, and the one sive eyes. He says, "I have given up supreme question is Whether their place my life to God and the Salvation Army. is to be filled by the adoption of an ag- I am so thankful that I have at last nostic morality or by the acceptance of found a use for myself and my income." Robert Louis Stevenson, writing from On the other hand, the editor has a the South Seas, says that he was preju- letter from a correspondent who in· diced against missions, but that his quires whether the REVIEW is only a prejudices have been annihilated. Pre8byterian organ! And he says that " Those who deblatterate against mis- a Wesleyan friend of his complains sions have only one thing to do, to come that "there is nothing in the REVIEW and see them on the spot." No fair- about the Methodists and their work."
minded man can see for himself the To show how groundless this com- work of the missionaries in foreign plaint is and how ignorantly it is made, lands and not come to the same conclu- we call attention to a letter of our val· sion. uable Methodi8t associate editor, Rev.
J. T. Gracey, D.D., to whom the com- Rev. Dr. F. F. Ellinwood, in a letter plaint was submitted. His reply may to the New York Wo1'ld, nailed to the at least serve to show what a Methodist doorpost the lies of a certain Dr. Ruel thinks of the undenominational charac- B. Karib, concerning the cost and char- ter of the REVIEW. He says: acter of Presbyterian missions in Per- " I have heard no intimation till now sia. He triumphantly exposes these as of any lack in the pan·denominational flagrant falsehoods, and reveals the character of the REVIEW. Methodists whole animus of their author, remind- certainly have no right to complain, ing us of the famous retort: "The nor have I ever had a hint that they allegation8 are fal8e, and the alligator did. I do recall no article ever sent by know8 it." He also says that other in- a Methodist that has not appeared in dependent testimony shows him a fraud. full, while many other contributions A native Persian, licentiate of Pittsburg have not been used on account of length Presbytery, present at the ministerial or for other reasons. Rev. Dr. S. L. gathering where Dr. Karib was "investi- Baldwin and Rev. Dr. Sutherland, gated," testified that for gross immoral- both secretaries of Methodist boards, ity he was driven out of Persia.- And furnished articles last year. Bishop so another assault on missions is traced Thoburn, of India, was a contributor; to an infernal source. so was Dr. C. W. Drees, Superintendent of Methodist Missions in South America. Mr. W. ~ Sherman, of Washington, Dr. O. W. Oushing reviewed Dr. But- Ind., sends to the 'Volunteer fund the ler's book on Mexico, both author and generous sum of $26.10, and accompa- reviewer being Methodists. Rev. O. P. nies it with a letter, in which he says, Hurd and Rev. H. C. Stuntz, both of .. My heart has been greatly gladdened India, are Methodists. My own brother, by the perusal of the January number a Methodist preacher, Consul at Fooof the REVIEW. Your bold and cour_ chow, China, and Mrs. Gracey furnished ageous words against the popular in- articles. The index of authors in the last iquities of these perilous times and in two volumes shows about one eighth behalf of the coming kingdom are es· Methodists. The April number, 1892, pecially exhilarating. I am exceed- International Department, was wholly ingly eager to have this thoroughly by Methodists and about Methodist misevangelical journal in thehands of many sions. Mr. HeU Ohatelain, one of our of the Lord's poor saints. Accordingly most learned contributors, was for a time I send you a draft on New York for connected with Bishop Taylor's West the volunteer fund." Our brother has African work, and Miss L. M. Latimer, our thanks for the donation, but even with Methodist work in Mexico. Rev. more for his helpful words of encour· James Mudge, D.D., served the same agement. This REVIEW aims to be denomination in India for ten years. absolutely faithful to the truth and the Hev. David S. Spencer, of Japan, Rev. kingdom of our Lord. J. E. Robinson, of India, both preRid. ing elders, have contributed to the last two volumes, 8S has Dr. Masters, of San Francisco, and Mr. Meakin, of the famed Budgett Methodist family of Wesleyans in England. Rev. John R. Hykes, Methodist missionary in Central China, now Bible Society's agent at Shanghai, furnished a ten-page article. I have not in this enumeration gone outside of the past two volumes. nor bought a large tract of land of the SuI· exhausted even these, nor referred to tan, near the Jordan, and intends to my own contributions and editorials. found there a large Jewish colony. Life and property in that region have Methodist missions have been kept as been more secure for the last fifteen years owing to the military station eswell to the front as Methodist authors tablished there by the government, elected in their contributions. If these which has also built a bridge over the Jordan to facilitate communication behave not been made strongly denomi·. tween Jerusalem and the valleys beyond the river, Whence the Holy City obtains national, it is doubtless because of t.he most of its cereals.
undenominational character of the mag- A curious relic of British mission azine. But this holds of other authors work exists in Russia, near Patigorsk, as well. Baptists (North, South, Cana- and within sight of the range of the Caucasus – viz., the little colony of dian), Reformed (Dutch), American Karras, an old mission station of the Free Church cf Scotland. At present Board, and other denominations are it is chiefly inhabited by Germans, and freely represented in our pages, not ex- the church services are held in that lanceptionally, but continually. And the guage. There are, however, still left a few children of the mission converts smaller societies have not been neg- who can speak English. Among the lected, nor have "independent" mis- community are persons of Circassian and Tartar blood, whose fathers were sionaries or societies, such as the China the fruit of the old mission. This col- Inland. In whatever else the REVIEW ony is independent of all ecclesiastical superiors, and is ruled in aocordance has succeeded or failed, it certainly has with the ordinances of the Free Church maintained its claim to be ecumenical of Scotland. The mission was origiin its character ; and it has reason to be nally commenced in the reign of Alexgrateful that not only so many denom- ander I., and suppressed in that of his inations have furnished its contributors, successor Nicholas. but also that theso repres~nt so many missionary sooieties in all parts of Amedoa, and several in Europe, while every section of the missionary world has taken part in the authorshIp of its pages. I am not writing a prospectus, but reviewing un fait accompli.
"Meeting, as I do, annually a hundred missionaries a year for a week at the Jnternattonal Missionary Union, f;:om all parts of the world and of all sooieties, and in constant correspondenco with missionaries of all shades of opinion to the ends of the earth, I think I have never heard from anyone of them a tint or suggestion that the REVIEW was not broadly charitable and fair. Whatever critioisms come do not touch the question of denominationalism."
For those who oare for a mathemati- The girls' seminary at Wellington, oal estimate, the following may be in- Capo Colony, has a faculty of twenty teresting : instructors, and numbers on its alumnre more than a thousand descendants of The late Rev. R. Steel, D.D., of Syd- English, Dutch, and French settlers. ney, New South Wales, estimates that, This school was founded some twenty in one hundred years, at a cost of $10,- years ago, is entirely self-supporting, 000,000, some threo hundred and fifty and its pupils have competed successislands have been evangelized, with fully at Cape Town in the university five. hundred thousand now in the and government examinations. Miss churches. This would be at the rate Abby Ferguson is the principal, and it of five thousand convertR a year, and at may be questioned whether a.ny one an expenditure of only $20 for eaoh agency is doing more for Africa's evansoul redeemed. gelization and enlightenment. The graduates of the school are scattered all A report is abroad that Baron Ed- ·over Africa south of the Soudan, as mond de Rothschild, whose presence at wives of missionaries, ministers, or Constantinople has been of material ad- merchants, or themselves teachers of vantage to his colonies in Palestine, has schools. We have always felt the warmest in- ly waited for. This story of faith, prayterest in the great work of the Euphrates er, heroic devotion, suff&ing almost to College at Harpoot, in Turkey in Asia, martyrdom with abounding joy in God, which has exercised so beneficent an in- is just what is needed for this degenerfiuence. ate day. It sounds like the Acts of the Apostles. We propose to make extracts Its field is all of Northeastern Turkey and further references to its contents in Asia to the Persian border and the from time to time. Meanwhile, let southeastern part of Russia; the terri- every man and woman who would. tory in which it is the only higher in- know more of a life hid in God and reetitution of learning, covering 200,000 vealing His power read these pages. square miles, with a population of T.b.ey will be read with tears of joy. 5,000,000, about one fourth of whom are Armenians. Of books which deserve mention, we call especial attention to Murdered Mill· The college seeks to give a compre- iIJ'TUJ, a very condensed and comprehenhensive, practical, Christian education sive plea for medical missions by George to its pupils, and to introduce the Gospel D. Dowkontt, M.D., of New York into the old Armenian Church, which is City. Within sev~nty-six pages here arousing to the importance of an edu- are compressed facts which might be cated and morally upright clergy. spread over volumes. Dr. Cuyler's keen pen furnishes a striking introduc- Rev. J. L. Barton, for eight years a tion. Dr. Dowkontt wastes no time in missionary in Turkey, now succeeds apologies, but enters in. media8 res. He Rev. C. H. Wheeler, D.O., as president. shows that the atrocious and absurd and cruel system of native medical treat- The McAll mission work in America ment in Africa, China, India, Siam, etc., has suffered a very great loss in the is virtual murder, and demands on death of Mrs. Frances Lea Chamber- every humane and Christian principle lain, who for so many years has been our prompt interposition. He shows intimately connected with this work. also the connection of medical work She died on February 16th, in Califor- with missions, and how it is the key to nia, where she had gone with her hus- many a difficult position. E'DfII'1Ibody band in pursuit of health. She was a ought to have this little book, published woman of remarkable character. Her at the office of the Medical Miasionary executive ability, wedded to a feminine Rewrd. 118 East Forty-fifth Street, sympathy and a fervent spirituality, New York. made a rare combination of gifts and graces. Her holy enthusiasm and con- The managing editor acknowledges secration had been the motive power of $5 "from a friend" in Chelsea, Mass.• the machinery of the auxiliary of which which will be devoted as desired, to the she was president; and when she was help of one who is seeking to enter the withdrawn, it seemed as though no one mission field. could take her place. Her husband has furnished a beautiful tribute to her, The Sabbath-school army in the in the shape of an account of her last United States claim 12,000,000 children, hours, and which appears in the McAll and half that number in Great Britain, Rewrd. She died beautifully, as she studying the same Bible lessons. In had lived. India, China, and even in Egypt, are fonnd 2,000,000 more who read the same Part 1. of The Story of the Ohina In- Bible verses weekly. land Missiun, by Miss M. Geraldine Guinness, and an introduction by J. Hudson Taylor, hJ!.S been issued by ~Iorgan & Scott,London ; and Part II. will be eager-
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLJGENCE
V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
EDITED BY BEV. D. L. LEONAlID.
Extraots and Translations from Foreign and teachings, but a confession of Periodioals. Christ the Saviour. The man confesses concerning himself that he is a sinner, BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, who feels hill need of a Redeemer; con- MASS. cerning Jesus Christ, that He is the only, all·sufficient Saviour, to whom one NETHERLAl!oo1)S INDIA. commits himself and trusts Him, whom one will serve, Him alone, Him en- -We in Christendom have become so tirely, through a life according to His very wise in the laws of nature that we Gospel. Missions do not aim, may not do not seem to have very much more aim, at the propagation of any particuse for the God of nature. Our God is ular church doctrines, but at the imvery apt to be either a helpless essence plantation in the convert's hearts.of an residing in things, with no power of act- active Christianity brought by Jesus ing with personal energy upon them, or and kept alive by Him."-Maededeelinelse a deistic mechanic who has framed Den '/Jan weDe bret NederlandBche Zendelthe world and stares at it from outside, inggenoot8chap (Reports from the Netherletting it go as it may after being once lands Missionary Association). wound up. But outside of our overdone wisdom, the Father is still wont to " The Bible at the Batavia Exhibition. reward the simplicity of faith with the -After a postponement of twelve days, fruits of faith. Herr CHRISTIANSEN, to prove the truth of the peculiar Indoof Sumatra, writes: "The Lord does Dutch proverb, 'Hast u lang eaam' not leave Himself without witness [Make haste slowly], the Exhibition was among our Christians, of which I could opened on August 12th at 11 A.M. by adduce various examples. One Sunday His Excellency, the Governor·General of I had preached upon James 5 : 14–16. Netherlands India, amid the pomp and Without any solicitation of mille the vanities that generally attend such occa· elders, the same evening, proceeded to sions. the home of a Christian child that was sick unto death. in order to bring the "The day was observed as a Bank message heard into practical applica- Holiday in the majority of the business tion. They moved the parents to con- houses, and everyone took the opporfess their sins, and prayed with them tunity to make the day as jovial as posfor the recovery of their child; and be- sible; but neither on this day nor since hold, in half an hour it was well. Nor have I noticed one man the worse for is this the only case among us, though drink, nor in any way behaving himit is the most striking. in which the self unseemly. The native industry prayer of faith has saved the sick after sheds, well filled with interesting modhope had expired."- Berichte der Rhein· els of their many ingenious inventions iachen MiaBionB- GeaelZschaft. -houses, tools, weapons, cooking uten- sils, clothing, etc.-form an attractive -" Missions form churches formed and interesting resort for foreigners; out of hc;iathens and Mohammedans. and the contents of the foreign indus- Whoever abaudons the heathen worship try sheds are inspected with wonder by received from his fathers, or turns away the natives and Chinese. from the false prophet, is received on confession into the Christian fellowship. " An interesting collection of the Holy Where missions are well understood and Scriptures, in more than forty languages intelligently guided this is no confession and dialects, testifies to the extensive of articles of belief or of distinctive ideas and most important work of the Brit-
EXTltACTS AND T:RANSLATIONB
ish and Foreign Bible Society in emanci- endeavors to argue away the truth of pating the souls of the enthralled mill- the divinity of Christ; the Bengalee ions 1ri these regions. It is the most approaches with bows and flattering important exhibit in the foreign indus· unction offered in broken Englis!J., in- try shed for the welfare of India's mill· spects the Bengalee Gospels, and quietly ions, and yet the most despised and sar- laying them aside, passes on with the castically criticised. promise to return another day; the Baba·Chinaman inspects, questions, " Situated in the midst of a sea of in- beats down the price, reads a chapter toxicating drinks, and facing the central or two, and out of 'kasihan' (compas- open space used as a drinking saloon, the sion) for the seller purchases one or two Bible stand is ' a light in a dark place.' copies; the Chinese immigrant (sin- On one side, facing the drink exhibits, keh) smiles and chatters, and if you are two cases filled with open Bibles in happen to mention the name of' Yaso' different languages, and in the centre a (Jesus), tells you that you speak Chinese missionary map of Netherlands India, very well, waves his hands in the air, with the stations or depots of the Brit· and again smiling, moves on clumsily ; ish and Foreign Bible Society marked the Frenchman. with his pseudo polite- with arrows; above this map, in letters ness, defends himself behind the pale six inches long, is the text, < The Word of Rome ; the psalm-loving Dutchman of the Lord endureth forever,' and un- seeks a psalm-book; the member of the derneath the map the text, ' Wine is a new school (Moderns) seeks the Old mocker, strong drink is raging; and Testament only; the unbeliever dis- , whosoever is deceived thereby is not parages the utility of Bible dissemina- wise,' both texts being in the Dutch tion, and obnoxiously cursing and jeer- language. Fronting the drinking saloon ing, orders a 'bittertje' (gin and bit- are two large book-cases, also filled up ters) from one of the waiters in the with open Bibles; and between these is drinking saloon opposite. a board twelve feet by fi ve covered with the Dutch national colors-orange, red, "Many other nationalities visit. the white and blue-and with the name of Bible stand, and it would tire the reader the society printed consecutively upon to relate all that happens from day to these colors in Dutch, English, German, day. About 30,000 tracts and booklets and French. In front of these are three have been given away at the Bible stand; tables cove:red with open Bibles in many and it is sad that no efforts are made languages, from among which ten to by the Dutch Chris~ians to reach the thirty Bibles, New Testaments, and thousands who attend this show. I can- portions are sold to different individuals not find a single person who is willing every day except Sundays. to help me distribute tracts; the gen- eral opinion that dominates the Chris- "It is very interesting to notice the tiana here is that it injures the European different characters that pass by, and pre8tige. This semi-Christianity has a to hear their peculiar remarks. The chilling influence upon the lives of the calm, grave, business-like Armenian unconverted thousands of Batavia, and comes and asks for the New Ararat consequently empty chairs are conspic- Armenian Bible, and handles every uous in the churches, and the Sunday portion of the Holy Scriptures with is the great feast day of the week and is great reverence; the superstitious, fanat- desecrated by 'corso-carnivals,' horse- ical Mohammedan, with his troubled races, horse and other cattle shows at the features, spits upon the ground, and Exhibition. etc. I do not wish to phari- will not touch the Book of the' Kafirs ; , saically judge our Dutch friends, but I the indifferent, joke-loving, superficial wish the readers of these lines to pray native makes the unanswerable defence, for' Java's million8.' "-A. W. HURST when asked to buy, 'Tidak ada duwit ' Bo:a.ur, in the J£alagBia J£688a(J6 (M. E.). (I have no money) ; the sarcastic Arab
&ENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
-What cowards European officials adulterated Christianity; nay, that in in the East Indies, British or Dutch, are the papacy we cannot fail to recognize apt to be when it comes to honoring a sort of anti-Christianity; that the their Christian profession in the face of modern Catholic missionary work espagans or Moslems I They are thus pecially presents itself as an antagonist earning the contempt of their subjects, of the pure Gospel, and that it is a duty who cannot understand how a man can to assume toward it not merely a defenprofess a religion and yet be ashamed sive but an aggressive attitude. The of it. The MaanillJericltt of the Nether- discussion of this question was of such lands Missionary Society, giving ac- a temper as might well have afforded count of Brother Wijngaarden's baptism the Catholics an example. 'l'here was of his first converts at Deli, remarks: nothing apparent like blind hostility or " To' Brother Wijngaarden's regret, the bitter hate, but a zealous endeavor to Controller, who was his guest. left Deli distinguish even in aduZterated Christhe day before the baptism, in order not tianity the Christianity. and in proselyto set an offieial stamp on the proceed- tizing energy the element of missionary ings by his presence. And yet by his zeal. At the same time it was clearly withdrawal he led the Battaks to sup- recognized that a friendship with Rome pose that something was going on which is impossible; that every compliance is he would Hever not see)' (1 use the interpreted as weakness, and every con- Dutch word here identical with our cession is sure to be abused. Accordfamiliar English word.) "Repeatedly ingly this was the conclusion: (1) public officers, higher and lower, have There must be no refusal to Catholic very cheerfully consented to be pres- missionaries. even when making aggresent at Mohammedan ceremonies! How sions upon a Protestant fiold, of the love much more rapid would be the advance due to all lllen; (2) but all intimacy of Christianity in our East Indies if- with them should be avoided; (3) not a while doing all honor to the religious foot of land should voluntarily be reneutrality which the State must of linquished to tbem; (4) but all permitcourse observe-the European officials ted means should be used to check their were at liberty to exhibit their personal advance; (5) and where possible the sympathy and were not ashamed of ground should be preoccupied. On the their Christian profession." whole, it is clear that here so much, not to say everything depends upon the THm CONTINENT. circumstances and the persons, that the truly evangelical missionary will ;not -At the Bremen Missionary Confer- bind himself to certain inflexible rules, ence, among other points, it was also but in each particular case will solicit discussed What attitude is to be as- wisdom and guidance from above_ sumed toward Roman Catholic mission- Would God we might do all this so aries. The excellent Cal~oer MonatBhliit- completely as to give every singleter remarks: .. There, also, there are minded, even if not every zealous two opposing views. The one begins Roman Catholic the impression that with this position: The Catholics, too, fundamentally there is a more genuinely are Christians; their baptism is recog- Christian and apostolic course of connized by us also; we cannot but rejoice duct pursued in the evangelical misover every heathen who becomes a Cath- sions than in his own !" olic; there are among the Catholic missionaries many sincere and self-sacrific- -The &enska Mi8siomfih'bundet (Swcing men. The conclusion is that we dish Missionary Union), the organ of should assume toward them as friendly the Waldenstrilmian free churches, has and respectful an attitude as possible. 43 missionary agents, almost double The other view emphasizes the position that of 1888. The income for 1892 was that the Roman Church presents an $82,000. The three stations on the
le84.] ENGLISH
Congo have increased to five, with sev· are carried on. Let the Congo sweep eral out-stations. "The stations are away one life after the other, the ranks equipped with a number of stone build- are ever filled afresh-nay, more workers ings; transportation is arranged for; offer than can be used. Multiplied as the training of the natives, younger and are the exertions and privations involved elder, to work has been taken in hand; in the calling, they do not deter; the schools are provided for both sexes, number of the missionaries keeps growchildren and adults. There are 193 ing. Although the missionaries of the school- children, 78 church – members. China Mission, the Holiness League, About a dozen native helpers are labor- and the Alliance Mission are sent out ing; an evangeliot training school has without any assurance of a fixed supbeen established in Diadia. which also port, receiving only so much as suffices gi ves them more general instruction of for the simplest necessities. yet one misa simple character. God's word is zeal· sionary–Carlson, of the Holiness League ously proclaimed at the principal and -whose heart has been pierced by the out·stations as well as in the neighbor. wretched lot of outcast Chinese, out of ing Villages. Translations are proceed. this saves enough to maintain an asying, and a native paper is issued."- lum, into which he transports them on Pastor BERLIN, in Allgemeim Mi88ions· his back. There is here a wealth of con- Zeitachrift· fidence and joy of faith which may well put many to shame. Obedience to the -The Union has also missions in Lord's will even to death, heedfulness Algiers, the Ural :Mountains, Caucasia. of the Lord's intimations and directions China, and is about establishing one in in great things and small. burning zeal Cashgar. It has abandoned its Persian for the salvation of souls, life in and mission, and has transferred that in from the Word of God, unwearied con- Alaska to American Swedes. The two tinuance in prayer and intercession- Swedish missionaries murdered in China here is the strength of these men and were of this society. women. They direct their eyes even to the ends of the earth; no work is too -The Swedish :Mission in China, great for them; no difficulty holds founded in 1887 by Eric Folke, has ad- them back; no danger intimidates vanced rapidly, favored by the peculiar them. Though a good dem of enthuinterest felt in Sweden for China. Its siastic extravagance may be interminincome in 1888 was $1392 ; in 1892 it gled with all this, there is yet abunwas $5832. It works in close union dance of holy fire glowing here ; and, with the China Inland Mission. therefore, we may well confide that these labors and sacrifices will also bring gain -Herr Berlin, after subjecting the for the kingdom of God. In missions, various Free Church missionary move- too, it is seen that God can overrule t.he ments of Sweden, with their slight errors of men, and turn into bl8ssing measure of organization at home and for the world what has been done for abroad and their comparative neglect of he ho nor of His name." preparation, to a temperate but searching criticism, nevertheless adds: "One English Notes. thing must not be overlooked in these forms of missionary activity. :Much as BY JAMES DOUGLAS, BRIXTON, LONDON. there is in them at variance with the plan of missions as hitherto developed (Jentral London Mission.-It is with among Germanic Christians [a term in- special pleasure we record the advance cluding Germans, Dutch, Scandinavi- of this enterprising mission which has ans, and Anglo-Saxons], yet it must be as its object the occupation of the Cenacknowledged with what personal de- tral Soudan. Three of the missionaries votion and enthusiasm, with what zeal are left at Gabes, where a new training and heroism of self-sacrifice these labors
MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
):lome has been opened, while six others united because equally baptized in the occupy the training home in Tripoli. .. One Spirit." What led to more than Mr. Hermann Harris, the Moses of the one fervent expression of thanksgiving expedition, left Gabes on January 17th was the cheering fact that from ¥ay for Kano, taking with him Mr. Dick. 1st, 1894, the residence of British sub- This journey is immense, and involves jects will be permitted at Yatung, in the passage across the Desert of Sahara Thibet, in accordance with the commer- to the populous negro kingdom of cial treaty newly passed between the Sokoto. Another detachment of this British-Indian Government and that mission contemplates reaching the cen· country, so long closed against the tre of the Soudan by way of the Niger. foreigner. The public meeting on the Mr. Holt has made the proposition, and evening of the same day was of a most two young men have offered to accom- enthusiastic description. Exeter Hall, pany him. The cost of carrying this if not packed, was almost filled. Miss scheme into effect is estimated at £400. Taylor gave a lengthened account of The intention is to start by way of the Lord's dealings with her, and ex- Lagos, and to pass through Ibadan, plained how the land of Thibet had been Oyo, !lorin, and Rabba, and thus to laid as a heavy burden from the Lord reach Sokoto, the largest of the negro on her heart. The meeting, While kingdoms of the Central Soudan. This deeply touched by the narrative of her mission is closely connected with the adventures in Thibet and the degree to Pentecostal League under the leadership which the element of personal danger of Mr. Reader Harris, the headquarters entered into it, were even more affected of which are Speke Hall, Battersea, by the honoring testimony which she London, S. W. I may add that the bore to the Lord's presence with her Pentecostal League is interdenomina- through all. No danger, or suffering, tional in its spirit and aim. or privation could even for the moment damp her joy or break her peace. In Persia.-It is reported that the work- Thibet, amid the absence of every outers among the Moslems in Persia are ward cOllfort, she carried heaven in her being much cheered; that the young own heart. Christians are showing increased zeal for the spread 0 f the Gospel, while the num- Five of the band-two from Scotland, ber of Mohammedan inquirers in regu- two from England, and one from Norlar attendance at the Persian services on way-gave brief, earnest testimonies, Sundays is sufficient to afford the mis- after which the whole band united in sionaries great thankfulness. singing" Anywhere with Jesus." Be- fore the meeting closed Pontso gave an The Thibetan Pioneer MilJJlion.-This address in the Thibetan tongue, which missionary bark may be said to have Miss Taylor interpreted. been formally launched on Friday, February 16th, 1894. In the afternoon North Africa Mi88ion.-This mission a gathering for prayer was held in the has wonderfully developed and sprcad smaller room of Exeter Hall, which was within a brief space, and much precious largely attended. All the members of seed has been sown for which only a the Thibetan band were there, along small return is apparent as yet. " Bewith Miss Annie R. Taylor and her fore the first missionaries landed in Al- Thibetan attendant Pontso. James giers in 1881 there were no Protestant Mathieson, Esq., presided, and Dr. missionaries or Bible agents to the Mo- Maxwell, a missionary veteran, said a hammedans or heathen from Egypt to few words of stimulating address. The the Atlantic, and from the Meditermeeting, however, mainly consisted of ranean to the Senegal, Lower Niger, a continuous stream of intercession, in and Congo, a district more than one .which brethren and sisters equally hundred times larger than England. Now there are nearly eighty missionaries of the North Africa Mission, besides suffice, though he had but a moderate several who have been initiated by it, force at his disposal, to check the horand who are working independently; rible operations of those slave raiders and several more sent out by societies who had desolated the heart of Central stirred up by hearing of North Africa's Africa during past ages. In the second needs and God's blessing on this mis- place, the possession of Uganda meant sion. Altogether, counting the agents the opening out of the Eastern Soudan. and colporteurs of the Bible Society, Bishop Tucker contested the idea that there are over 100 laborers for God, the Soudan could be penetrated from where, in 1881, there was not one among Suakim from the north-the true door the Moslems. ·The Gospel of John has was, in his view, through Uganda, and been translated into Kabyle, and the it was by this passage that the eighty Gospel of :M:atthew into Riffian by the millions of people living there would Bible Society ; other portions are trans- be reached, civilized, and brought unlated into Kabyle and are being print- der the influence of Christianity. ed. " Large tracts of country, however, in North Africa are still unevangelized_ Bulgaria. -While Bulgaria cannot be The vast Salwra, which has a few scat- described as an unoccupied field, its tered millions of Berber and Arab in- spiritual condition, according to Basil habitants, has no missionary. Egypt Keuseff, a native, now in missionary itself has 540 towns, with a population training in England, is deplorable. He of f~om 2000 to 40,000 each, without describes the Greek Church in Bulgaria any regular Gospel agency. "All that as "dead and indifferent ;" the clergy has been done is as nothing to what re- as "ignorant and immoral;" the inmains to be done before the peoples of telligent class as " sceptics and infidels." North Africa are evangelized." Mr. Keuseff recognizes the work done by American brethren in spreading Mr. Edward H. Glenny, the honor- Gospel truth among the people, and the able secretary of the above mission, has service rendered by the British and recently returned from a tour in Moroc- Foreign Bible Society's translation of co. He says, "The impression formed the Scriptures and by that society's colon my mind by visiting the cities and porteurs. But he feels that the great towns of El Koar, Fez, Mequinez, need demands an accession of help, and Larache, and Arzilla, and by travers- would be glad to hear from anyone ing 300 or 400 miles of country in North who would be willing to join him in Morocco, was to deepen my feeling of evangelizing that land. "The language the utter hopelessness in which the fol- of Bulgaria is phonetic and easy to lowers of the false prophet are sunk; a learn. The climate is one of the healthihopelessness which enters into every de- est in Europe." Besides, there is ., ampartment of life-religious, political, ple scope for all kinds of evangelistic and social; and yet when we compare work." Mr. Keuseff's address is Cliff our experiences with a few years ago, College, Curbar, Sheffield, England. how thankful we ought to be that the country is as open to the Gospel as it Priestly defectionfrom Rome in France. now is I" -We are somewhat startled to learn that at the present time there are, in all Bi8hop Tucker on Uganda.-In the parts of France, priests who have lost course of a recent address on Uganda, all confidence in the papacy, and desire delivered in Durham, Bishop Tucker, to step out into Gospel light and liberin regretting the death of Sir Gerald ty. Professor L. J. Bertrand, who is Portal, spoke of some of the resultant now staying at 21 Upper Woburn Place, advantages of Great Britain's possession London, W. C., is the director of a of Uganda. First of all, it meant free- work the object of which is to extend dom for the slave. The presence of a to all French priests wishing to leave British representative in Uganda would Rome a helping hand. Mr. Bertrand will never ask the Emperor of all the says, " There is at the present time a Russias where it may set its foot." great movement among the priests of France; and I have lettcrs from all -The latest and best estimates put parts, and even from Rome. jesuitically down the population of the world as defying me to gi ve names and addresses. 1,479,700,000. Of this horde 826,000,000 All the same, well-known priests, first live in Asia, 357,000,000 in Europe, canons, abbots, proCessors, and semina- 164,000,000 in Africa, and 122,000.000 in rists write to me, ,. Go on with your North and South America. In the face work. You have chosen the best way of these large figures, the population of for a religious reform, which we all the United States does not seem so imwant iu France. Put fire to the very mense after all. nest. As soon as you succeed you will seA that if we love and adore Christ we -Of the 1,480,000,000 of the earth's hate the Gltu1·c!t. But what can we do? inhabitants, the Emperor of China holds We know nothing of the world; we sway over 400,000,000; the Queen of are fit for nothing in the world; and England rules or protects 380,000,000 ; the Concordat says explicitly that a the Czar of Russia is dictator to 115,- Reman priest cannot be a Protestant 000.000; Francc, in the republic, dc· pastor without his B.A. degree and pendencies and sphercs of influence, four years at the Protestant theological has 70,000,000 subjects; the Emperor seminary! • .. Thousands of French of Germany, 55,000,000; the Sultan Roman priests would leave their Church of Turkey, 40,000,000; the Emperor to-morrow if they were not to be obliged of Japan, 40,000,000; and the King of to beg for their daily bread." With Spain, 27,000,000-two' thirds of the respect to Mr. Bertrand's work, known population of the globe under the govas the (]J}uvre des Pr6t1'es Gonvertis, it ernment of 5 rulers. should be noted that it does not exist for the benefit of unfrocked or disgraced -A Kentuckian who visited Korea priests, but for the guidance and help presented to the king a bottle of whiskey of such as, through compulsion of en- as a sample of the chief product of his lightened conviction, wish to leave the native State. Christian people in Ken- Church of Rome. tucky have since sent to the king a beautiful copy of the Bible to show that THE KINGDOM. the State has something better.
-" The universe is not quite com- -A miserly man, who insi~ted that plete without my work well done." he was a proportionate giver, explained later that he gave in proportion to the – The times are hard, but heathenism amount of religion he possessed. is harder. -General Sickels, speaking of the -Baptist tobacco costs more than disposition to denounce rich men as if Baptist missions.-The Kingdom. they were public enemies, says, "No- where in all the world have men of -Once upon a time, when at Con_ wealth done so much for religion, edustantinople, the Russian Minister Bou- cation, philanthropy, and patriotism tineff remarked with majesty, "Imight as in the United States." as well tell you now, Mr. Schauffier, that the Emperor, my master, will never -Upon the fly-leaf of a Bible was allow Protestantism to set its foot in written the following words: "Lay Turkey," he received this fully ade- any burden upon me, only sustain me ; quate reply, "Your excellency, the send me anywhere, only go with me ; kingdom of Christ, who is ~y Master, sever any tie but that one which binds me to Thy service and to Thy heart. "
– William Dulles, Jr., treasurer of the Presbyterian Board, printed this apt sentiment from Dr. Livingstone on manner, and general appearance were a financial statement recently sent out: true gentlemen." •• I will place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in rela- -The native account of the last martion to the kingdom of Christ. If any- tyrdom in Madagascar concludes with thing I have will advance the interests these touching words: "Then they of that kingdom, it shall be gi ven, or prayed, '0 Lord, receive our spirits, kept, as by giving or keeping it I shall for Thy love to us hath caused this to most promote the glory of Him to whom come to us ; and lay not this sin to their lowe all my hopes, both for time and charge.' Thus prayed they as long as eternity. May grace be given me to they had any life, and then they diedadhere to this." softly, gently; and there was at the time a rainbow in the heavens, which -In 1881 Dr. Southon, of Scotland, seemed to touch the place of the burnwas sent to Ujiji, Africa. On his way ing." there he passed through Urambo. The king sent for him, and showing a large -Dr, Hamlin, the veteran miBBionary, tumor on his arm, which, by pressing said recently, .. You take a poor, mil>- upon an important nerve, had caused erable beggar, as I have known some him much pain, asked, " Can you do instances-a beggar who has become anything for this?" The doctor re- converted, and apply to him that iron plied, "Yes, I can take it all away." system of tithing which the OrientsI "But will it not hurt a great deal 1" wol'ld loves and always has loved, perasked the king. "No," replied the haps always will love, and make that doctor, "I shall put you to sleep, and beggar, as the one condition of enjoywhen you awake all will be done." ing the privileges of the Gospel, give " Do it at once, then; I have not slept one tenth of what he begs, and as much for a long while." Afterward the king more as you can make him give, and in said, .. You must not leave us ever. a short time he will not be a beggar; Here is land, here is wood, here is every- in a short time he will support himself, thing, only do not leave us." and be in circumstances comparatively comfortable." -Rev. A. J. Wookey, of the London Missionary Society, in making the jour- -The Egyptian washes before he ney to his field at Lake Ngami, Central prays-he washes his feet, even; and Africa, tells how at one camping place every holy place has a provision of " a poor little old fellow turned up at water for the purpose. He washes his the wagon from the forest, from whence hands and his teeth before and after he he had heard the whips. One of his eats. So particular is he in this matter, ears had been cut off close to his head that when he cannot get waler for his by the Batauana. I gave him a bit of ablutions the sand of the desert is held meat of a koodoo which had been killed to be sanctified for the pmpose. The yesterday. He did not roast it as usual ordinary Egyptian child is not allowed at the fire, and when asked why, he said to pray or eat without first dabbling its that his wife was in the forest, and he hands in water. Yet it is allowed to would eat it with her in the evening. live for months without having its head His little woman, he called her. It and face, or its body generally, once did one good to find such thoughtful well washed with soap and water. love even in a poor waif of humanity such as he. " WOMAN'S WORK.
-" The intelligence and refinement of -Helping Hand gives this as an exthe Fijians surprised me," said a recent ample of the inhumanity of heathenism: traveller. "I saw men who in spirit, "Better raise her or not? What do you think?" The questioner was a Chinese farmer: we had been preach- own suffering and healing they got in· ing in his village, and he followed us struction, intnition, insight, inspira- away from the crowd to make this 1m- tion. It made them ministers. "
portant query. Farmers at home are -At least in some respects Africa sometimes in doubt in regard to animals would appear to be the paradise for a trifle deformed whether or not to raise women missionaries. For" nothing is them; but did you ever know a farmer feared from them, and they are allowed in America to go about asking advice to go in and out at their pleasure. Their on a point like this? "I have a female presence more than once has spared child and she has six toes on a foot; valuable lives to the Congo work. The many of the neighbors tell me I better missionaries in Africa count the work not raise her; her feet can never be of one woman worth that of twelve made to ·look well. What do you men, since they can go anywhere, even say?" The" neighbors" were many among the fiercest tribes. Their moof them Buddhists, who were earning tives are never questioned, and they are merit by vegetarianism, thus not caus· listened to with the greatest respect." ing the death of any animal; but their merciful creed had not included girl -Woman has a large sphere In China babies in the list of animals to be as well, for" It may be truthfully said, spared. I noticed a simIlar contrast a in general terms, that the salvation of few days ago. The body of an infant the women in all Oriental countries de·· floated by the boat, and some of the pends on the women of Christian lands. men thought it a huge joke, poked it This arises from the peculiar ideas of with a bamboo pole, and indulged in propriety and modesty prevalent, which heart-sickening merriment. forbid women holding any social inter- course with men who are not members -Mrs. Ballington Booth makes this of their own immediate families. Our declaration concerning the" slum bri- people, accustomed to free American gade" of the Salvation Army: ., These usages, do not realize how strict these girls do not go down among the poor ideas are. On one occasion Dr. Woods, for a few weeks or simply to study of Tsing Kiangpu, was called in a case them. They go for life. They ostra- of extreme need to see a woman with cize themselves from society. They disease of the feet. The first visit he scrub floors, they mind the children, paid, in order that he might make an they wash the dead, they go where the intelligent diagnosis, he was allowed police dare not go except in squads. to see his patient, feel her pulse, and The power of a great supernatural love, ask questions in the presence of the which God has planted in their hearts, family; but on his second visit what sustains them." was his surprise and amusement to see -" With Him the twelve and certain a foot thrust through a doorway, with women which had been healed of evil a curtain hanging down in front."
spirits and infirmities, . • • which min- -Mrs. Elizabeth W. Andrew and Dr.
istered to Him of their substance." Kate Bushnell have again sailed for "Healed to minister I These women India, Burmsh, China, and Japan, being had known they were sick, and came sent out by the Women's Christian with their record of suffering to Him. Temperance Union "to form local They knew they were sinners, and that unions, to strengthen and develop those no sanitary report on the state of their already existing, to set forth the plans hearts could fully describe the deep and purposes of the work by schools of and long-seated evil. They went to methods wherever opportunity offers, Him and were healed of evil spirits and and to preach the unsearchable riches infirmities. A wide area is covered by of Christ to the untaught and the un- that word • infirmities.' Through their saved." This statement appears in a recent drance, for the Moslems fail to dis- paper by Mrs. Kennedy, of the Presby- tinguish between our Christianity and terian Woman's Board, upon woman's theirs."
mission-" Go Tell": .. More than one -Twenty-five years ago the 'women half of the active laborers in the field of the Methodist Church organized for' are women; the exact figures being 214 world-wide work, raising only $4547 ministers; male lay missionaries, 42; during the first twelve months. Ten total, 256; women, 367. These last years later the income had climbed to are found on every field, dismayed by . $66,844; ten years later still to $225,- no danger, deterred by no hardship, 000, and last year to $277,304. The braving the rigors of northern winters totalfortwenty-five years is $3,139,757. or the baleful heat of torrid summers. So, why should not they celebrate, re- They have gone into homes and been joice, thank God, take courage, and welcomed where the feet of Christians push on with tenfold greater zeal? had never before been allowed to enter.
They are crowding to the front in rapidly increasing numbers. What, OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
think you, is the significance of the fact that of the 56 new missionaries sent to -It would be difficult to find so much the field last year, 16 were wives of Christian common sense packed into so missionaries, and 21 single women? brief a space as is contained in an ad- Surely the' Go tell' of the risen Saviour dress upon ., Necessary Practical Trainis bearing rich fruit in this our day and ing," given at the Detroit Student Vol- unteers Convention by Rev. H. P. generation. " Beach, of the Springfield, Mass., School -The Ladies' Kaffrarian Society is for Christian Workers. Would that an independent ally of the Scottish Free every young man and woman propos- Church foreign mission enterprise in ing to enter the foreign field might read South Africa. It has made the girls andheed I and young women of Kaffraria its special care, and has now 170 receiving -One department of the Epworth Christian training in its school at Em- League has a beautiful name, that of gwali. The society has also provided . " Mercy and help." What it stands for an assistant for Mrs. Forsyth at Upper is set forth by one chapter which " dur- ing the last year made 258 calls upon Xolobe. the sick, aged, and needy. A sewing -Miss Ella O. Kyle, missionary in society was formed, and garments were Egypt, recently received $500 from a made for a family of motherless chil- wealthy lady friend whom she met in dren, and also clothing for a child wishthis country last year, and will use the ing to attend Sunday-school. Watchers money in the mission school, where it were furnished for the sIck. An old will greatly assist the work.-Xenia lady who had no means of support was Gazette. aided by having her house rent paid, -The English Church Society has in eatables carried' to her, and her chores Palestine alone, and not including mis- done. A. pound social, in connection sionaries' wives, 21 women engaged in with Christian Endeavor, was given, its work. All these" encounter special the proceeds for the benefit of the poor."
difficulties, owing to the watchfulness -Hon. Chauncey M. Depew thus and suspicion of the Turkish officials ; tersely defines the functions of two) and the deeply interesting letters which Christian associations: "The Young reach us from time to time are mani- Men's Christian Association is the re- festly safer in manuscript than in type. cruiting station of the churches. The The condition of the women in the Society of Christian Endeavor-doing Eastern churches is also a terrible hin- the work in the interior 'of the church -is the citadel of the Christian camp and for that of 3 orphans in a Chrilltian inside the lines." school in China.
-Flower committees are good al- ways; but during these hard times jIotl'r UNITED STATES. committees are even better_ -The gifts of Endeavor societies to -Captain R. H. Pratt ranks with the the American Board and the Woman's late General Armstrong among the Board during 1893 amounted to $13,535. foremost friends and benefactors of the American Indian, and his Carlisle -The society of the church at Ocon- school, with its more than 600 Indian to, Wis_, has agreed to give at least $100 boys and girls, gathered from 56 tribes, for missions during the present year_ is no mean rival of Hampton. The in- Miss Reinhardt went out from this society to Mosul, Turkey, a few months dustrial feature holds a prominent place ago_ in the course of training ; the discipline -The Presbyterian Young People's partakes of a military character, and Society of Grand Island, Neb_, has the boys are dressed in cadet uniform. pledged $25 for the support of Miss Besides, good homes are found for them Julia Hatch, who went from this church in the region, chiefly upon the farms, to Siam_ The Juniors have also pledged where both sexes can learn English and $10. be taught to work. Last year 376 boys and 245 girls were out, and requests -The Young Ladies'Mission Band came in for twice the number. of Portland, Me., celebrated its decennial February 14th. Its membership is -Say not the negro is lacking in over 300, making it the largest junior intelligence, whcn, at the recent conferauxiliary in connection with th'l Wom- ence at Tuskegee, this declaration was an's Board. The band raised last year adopted: ., We believe education, prop- $601. a gain of nearly $100 over any erty, and practical religion will eventprevious year. During its brief hIs- ually give us every right and privilege tory 3 members have entered the ser- enjoyed by other citizens, and therefore vice of the Woman's Board, 2 (Mary that our interests can best be served by Morrill and Anna Gould) as missionaries bending all our energies to securing to North China, and Alice Kyle as a them rather than by dwelling on the member of the staff of workers at the past or' by fault-finding and complainrooms in Boston. ing. We desire to make the Tuskegee Negro Conference a gauge of our prog- -At Birmingham, England, a num- ress from year to year in these things ber of factory girls (members of the in the Black. Belt." Girls' Letter Guild) recently gave .a tea to 250 poor children, many of whom -The Germans in New York City were shoeless and stockingless. number 583,000; in Chicago, 406,000; in Philadelphia, 188,000 ; in St. Louis, -The Belfast, Ireland, Young Wom- 167,000; in Milwaukee, 135,000; in en's Christian Association Institute re- Cincinnati, 120,000 ; and in Cleveland, cently held its annual meeting, and a 103,000_ The total number of foreignmissionary statement was made; the born Germans in the United States is present position of affairs being 4 mem- 9,250,000.
bers in the foreign field-in China, India -Does Rome really want the whole and Africa-4 engaged in home mission earth and all that is therein? It looks work, 5 in training, and 1 in treaty_ that way; and this is a specimen of Over £215 was raised last year by the her greed: Forty-five of the 61 alder- members (58 of whom hold self-denial men in the Chicago City Council are boxes) which was sent direct for the Roman Catholics, as are also 90 per cent support of missionaries and candidates, of the police force; 80 per cent of the fire department; 67 per cent of the Ing Society within the last forty-two teachers in the public schools, while 80 years has ~ded in 49 States and Terriper cent of the pupils are Protestants. tories 2445 churches, and the amount expended is $1,892,918. For 429 par- -In Mr. Moody's Bible Institute, sonages the amount is $151,563. Chicago, the students enrolled in 1893 were: Women, 195; men, 381; tran- -St. Bartholomew's Church, New sients, 85. Denominations represented: York City, of which Dr. D. H. Greer is Women, 10; men, 35. Thirty-one rector, started a mission that proved to States of the United States, Canada, be successful, and Mr. Cornelius Van- Turkey, India. Japan, Scotland, Ire- derbilt bought thrce lots for $75,000 at land. England, Germany, Sweden, 205-209 East Forty-second Street, on Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Persia, which a building was erected by his Norway, Bohemia, West Indies, South mother, Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt, Africa, Hawaii, and New Zealand were at a cost of $225,000. Then Mr. Vanrepresented. 'fhe previous work of the derbilt presented a $10,000 pipe organ, attendants was: Pastorate, 24; evan- and the past year built on a lot directly gelistic, 13; licensed local preachers, east, that has been purchased and will exhorters, etc., 13; singers, 4; Young be added. In the basement are a res- Men's Christian Association secretaries, taurant, eight bath-tubs, andalaundry. 20 ; home and city missions, 11 ; foreign On the first floor a rescue mission hall missionary, 1 ; secular occupations, 111. holds over 1000 people under the direc- tion of Colonel H. H. Hadley. There -The New York Society for the Pre- is a medical clinic in connection with vention of Cruelty to Children cele- the parish house, a savings bank, boys' brated recently its anniversary. In his club, girls' club, carpenter shop in the annual report, President Gerry says: basement, cooking school, kindergarten, " Nineteen years have elapsed since the gymnasium, type-writing school, dressrescue of Mary Ellen from her cruel making school, and 3 Bible schools, stepmother caused the interference of 1 Bible club, and a summer garden on that great friend of humanity, Henry the roof of the building for amusement. Bergh, in behalf of an ill-treated little So here is a literal bee-hive containing girl. At his instance sprang up this about 5000 persons. institution. Not only was its influence felt in the Empire State, but east, south -The lIethodist Episcopal Church and west similar societies were formed, reports 221 male missionaries in the until to-day there is an unbroken chain foreign field, 205 assistant missionaries extending across this continent in every (of these 196 being wives of missiondirection, from ocean to ocean." Dur- aries), and 153 women sent and susing the years of its existence the society tained by the Woman's Board. The has investigated complaints involving distinct missions number 24, and 7 of the care and custody of 233,000 chil- them in Protestant Europe. The churchdren, over 27,000 convictions have been members are 69,887, and the probationers secured, and 40,660 children have been 49,400. Of these thousands India suprescued and relieved. plies 17,135 full members and 33,343 probationers; China, 6021 and 4684 ; -The Southern Baptist Convention South America. 1464 and 1158; and is embarrassed by an overabundance of Mexico, 1721 and 1364. Nearly 35,000 applicants for missionary work, and church-members are in Germany and says: "Our committee on new mis- Scandinavjan countries. sionaries has recommended 10 as suitable and worthy to be sent. The num- EUROPE. ber of those who apply is great. We ha'DIJ ceased to count them. " Great Britain.-The London Tele- graph. gives the amounts which have -The Congregational Church Buildbeen left by will to religious and Chltr. Huahine, Raiatea. and the neighboring itable purposes for six years. In 1888, islands, to the Paris Missions Evange- 1889 and 1890 these amounts aggregated liques. The latter now announce that about $5,000,000. In 1891, $6,000" the L. M. S. has made them a free gift 000; 1892 fell below the other years, of all the mission property on those reporting only $4,000,000 ; but in 1893 islands, charging only a small sum for the amount rose to $7,000,000. some furniture, which was the private property of their missionaries. – The National Bible Society employs 110 colporteurs in Japan in the sale of -Dr. McAll, who died in May last, the Scriptures. was the founder, and for many years pastor of London Road Chapel; and -The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society the members felt that a memorial of maintains 1000 stations, relieves annu- some description ought to be placed in ally about 10,000 sailors, fishermen and the chapel. Accordingly a committee their dependants, and since its organiza- was appointed, subscriptions were intion fifty-five years ago has given aid vited, and the sum of about £40 was to nearly 460,000 persons. During the soon collected. It was decided that the terrible gales of a few months since 143 memorial should take the form of a tabvessels, 911 men, and 993 widows and let. This is now in place, and on the orphans were helped at a cost of about centre panel is cut and gilded the in- £4000. scription: "To the honored memory of Robert Whitaker McAll, D.D., -During the year 1893 the S. P. G. F.L.S., first pastor of this church, board of examiners accepted the offers founder, and for twenty-one years diof 5 clergymen and 23 laymen for mis- rector of the Evangelical Mission in sion service. Of these, 13 were from Frauce, created by the French Govern- St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, ment Chevalier of tp-e Legion of Honor. 6 from Cambridge, 4 from Oxford, and Born 1821, died 1893. Co-worker 1 each from Trinity College, Dublin, and with God." the theological colleges at Dorchester, Salisbury, Warminster, and Lincoln. The Continent.-According to re- In addition to clergy accepted at home, cent statistics, the Roman Catholic 70 clergy, including 16 natives, were Church in Belgium has 229 cloisters placed on the list of the S. P. G. abroad; with 4775 monks, and 1546 nunneries 31 were added in Africa, 10 of whom with more than 25,000 sisters. In 1866. were natives. there were 178 cloisters with 2991 monks, and in 1880, 213 cloisters with 4120 -During the year 1893,63 new mis- monks. The number of nunneries in sionaries reached Shanghai, in connec- 1880 was 134:6 with 21,600 inmates; in tion with the China Inland Mission. 1866 it was 1144 with 15,000 nuns. The There arc others on the way, bringing rapid increase down to 1880 is largely the number up to 86, and at least 100 owing to the fact that the members of young men evangelists are still needed. the orders expelled from Germany went to Belgium, whence many returned to -The London City :Mission employs Germany since 1878. With these 30,000 482 missionaries, who visit systemati- monks and nuns, and a host of priests, cally all the year round among the poor etc., besides, this tiny corner of Europe and outcast. Last year 3,667,680 visits ought to blossom with piety and all man· were paid. The work is undenomina- ner of good works. tional. More than 500,000 men are regularly visited by the agents of this mis- -The Evangelical Society of Berne, sion. Switzerland, has just held its annual meeting. From the reports it appears -Some years ago the London Soci- that a good work is being done by a ety, on account of the vicious med- band of 27 ministers and evangelists, dling of the French Government, was obliged to make over its missions in who go about through the hills and with it is found nowadays the centre of mountains carrying the Gospel to those disturbance and peril as touching British who cannot go to church to hear. tule. For ten years a National Congress Eighty-five Young Men's Christian has met annually to discuss (for speech Associations and 80 Young Women's is free in the great peninsula) and to Christian Associations have been started formulate demands. The ·cost of the by the society, and a large number of standing army is much too great, the young men are being trained as evan· number of Indians in high civil offices gelists. is much too small, and proVincial coun- cils ought to be in which natives shall -The feeble Presbyterian churches have greater prominence, etc. And all in Spain were largely supported by a this desire and determination come as Mrs. Peddie, a Scotchwoman who has the fruit of the education in Western recently died. Speaking of what Prot- ideas bestowed by the British rulers. estantism owes to the discovery of the New World, somebody pertinently sug- -In Madras Presidency about 1000 gests: "Spain has been neglected by separate works came forth from the tourists and missionary societies. It press last year, in more than 20 lanwill not do to forget the debt we owe to guages. For the whole of India the Columbus and the land which sent him number was 7125. Of thesc 1580 were forth. The daughter-land and Church upon religious themes, 989 related to should not decline to share her purer language, 928 to poetry, 336 to science, faith and higher prosperity with the 252 to medicine, 225 to law, 203 to phifoster-mother. losophy, and 172 to history and biog. raphy. It should, however, be added -Hall Caine, in the Pall Man Maga- that a vast majority of these publications zine, says Russia's reasons for expelling consist of but a few pages, and are of the Jews are, first, religious; second, trifling value, if not really worse than national; and thirdly, and almostexc1u- worthless. sively, economic; for: 1. He is a voluntary alien-a Jew, not a Russian- -By the death of John Elphinston, separating himself by dress and custom of the Bombay Civil Service, for years from the people among whom he lives. Collector and magistrate of the Ahmad· 2. His personal character is revolting. nagar district, and of Sir Henry Ram- He is dirty, heartless and impure. 3. say, during forty-four years Commis- His religious character is hypocritical. sioner of Kumaon, in North India. we He uses his religion to hoodwink his are reminded of how much Christianity God and to deceive his sovereign. 4. owes to the lives and deeds of hundreds He is grossly ignorant and fanatical, and thousands of the representatives of and has resisted and misused all efforts the paramount government. Both were to educate him. 5. He is a bad soldier. devoted friends and most liberal sup- He fiees from military service. He joins porters of missions, the latter in partichimself to the Nihilists and other ene- ular being the real founder of work in mies of the government. 6. Above all, Almora, as well as for years by far the he is an immoral trader, a cheat, a base largest giver. usurer, a friend of the drink traffic, and he has one morale for his dealings with -Rev. D. S. Rivington tells how in, his Jewish brethren and another for his a remote village of Bombay he found in. dealings with Christians. a temple of Vishnu the tomb of a man who had died ten years previously, and ASIA. on the tomb, as an object oj worship, a large copy of the Bible in Canarese. A India.-Among both Hindus and Mo- stranger theological medley could not hammedans agitation for" home rule" well be conceived-a Christian tomb and is steadily increasing, and in connection a Bible enshrined in a Hindu temple, guarded by an image of Vishnu, and reopening and anniversary of the Tamil slong with the idol receiving the wor- church."
ship of Hindus I The Hindu has gen- -The Church Missionary Society erally so much religious sentiment that has 4 mission circles in South Indiahe is able to dispense with logic and viz., Madras, Ootacamund, Tinnevelly, consistency of faith as well.-Indian allU Telugu country; and these are Witnes8. looked after by 105 European and na- -An Indian magazine states that at tive clergymen. The number of Chris- Dewali, in the Punjab, gambling is re- tians who have been brought into the garded by the Hindus as a" religious fold is 58,000; and there are besides duty," and has been enjoined upon these over 8000 under instruction pre· them by the priests from time imme- paratory to baptism. The society has morial as a theological dogma, the idea in its schools over 22,000 children. The being that the souls of those who do not financial return shows that the native indulge in " jooa" will enter the bodies congregations gave during the year of donkeys. In the Occident the idea Rs. 38,000 to meet their congregational is mostly reversed; but to avoid calam- expenses, and for different religious and ity in the East "the simple-minded charitable objects.
Hindu, the few educated ones excluded, -Eighteen years ago there were but tries to play the destructive game as 2 Bible-women in the Neyoor District, much as possible, so that by accumulat- South Travancore. Later on a few ing the whole benefit derived from such Christian women would go out on Sun- playing he may be able to get rid of the days in couples to the nearer villages, donkey life in the world to come." fearing the scoffs and ridicule they knew -The Independent observes: "The they would meet with. Now there are banner Conference of the Methodist 25 who go forth Bingly day by day, and Episcopal Church in the number of are not only welcomed in the villages, SUll(tay-schools is not in the East. the but regret is expressed if for any reason West, or the South-not in this country they are kept away. Fourteen addiat all. It is the North India Confer- tional villages have been visited during ence. Those who think the Gospel has the past year, making a total of 61, and made little progress in India need to still the cry is, .. Come and teach us." rub their eyes and wake up to the In one house a mother and two daughfacts." The number of Sunday-schools ters said they had quite given up the in this Conference iii 518 ; of Christian worship of idols. In another, an old scholars, 9408; of non-Christian schol- woman, kissing the hand of the visitor ars, 11,921 ; or a total of 21,329. and looking earnestly into her face, re- peated with great fervor, "Jesns God, -The London Society has a woman my life, save me a poor sinner !"
.. who almost rivals the late Mrs. Doro- -This is the showing of the London thea Baker in the length of her service. Rociety for Travancore, from a com- Mrs. Addis and her husband founded parison of 1892 with 1893: Agency: the Coimbatore Mission in 1830. They Increase of 55 native agents, from 750 labored together till 1861, and then re- to 805. Evangelistic and pastoral de- tired to the hills, where he died in 1871. partment : Increase of 642 baptized, Since then she has sold over £10,000 from 23,654 to 24,296 ; increase of 2510 worth of goods sent from England to in entire Christian community, from aid various missions, and has collected 50,637 to 53,147 ; increase of 264 church- more than £1000 for the Bible Society. members, from 6466 to 6730. Educa- Last year, although she had reached the tional department: Increase of 49 great age of eighty-five years, she trav· schools, from 363 to 412; increase of elled down to Coimbatore to attend the 790 boys, from 12,209 to 12,999 i increase of 368 girls, from 4184 to 4552. memory of her father and of his father. Contributions of native Christians: It is a valuable lesson to the Chinese to Increase of Ra. 597, contributions, from tell them that all those buildings are Rs. 18,832 to Rs. 19,429. Medical mis- erected in memory of parents. They sion: Increase of 7031 cases, from 26,- seem to think that foreigners are de void 194 to 33,225. Press: Increase of 1075 of all tilial feelings because they do not pages printed, from 3,307,236 to 3,308,- worship at the graves. 311.
China.-Dr. Ashmore believes that AFRICA . .. the evangelization of the Chinese is more important than that of any other -A Baptist toiler on the Congo race; for as far as all human standards writes thus of trials endured: .. The are concerned they are so far beyond missionaries' houses at this place are any other heathen nation that there is poor, but better ones are in process of no comparison to be made… erection. My own little abode was 20 X 14, with mud walls and a thatched roof -The following proclamation was of grass. Even tlJis was not excluissued aWhile ago in the province of sively my own, for besides my two girls, Honan, China: .. Should anyone be- who lived with me, there were lizards. come bewitched by the foreign doc- centipedes, and other small creatures. trine8, and not be willing to sacrifice One Sunday morning, as I was dresseither to Confucius or to the spirits of ing, a snake fell from the roof down his ancestors, he must be severely dealt beside me, but no -harm was done." with by his clan. His name must be But she heeds not such trifles, for erased from the family regis.ter, and his " this is the scene where the Gospel of whole family driven from the province… our Lord Jesus Christ has triumphed, and in hundreds of huts, which are not -Rev. Arnold Foster recently found worthy of the name of homes, women, the following prayer po~ted on a house strong men, and children are rejoicing in Wuchang: "A young man named in Christ. The 24 schools and 5 churches Cheng Yu, living inside the Gate of Mil- are centres of light to the heathen, 10, itary Conquest, reverently implores the 15, 20, and 30 miles around in different God of Thunder to display his awful directions. Native evangelists and teachmajesty and to forgive the writer's sins ers are constantly winning souls, and of ignorance and to enlighten him as to often we have marvelled at their zeal, what they are ; he will then gladly obey courage, and fearlessness in the midst his parents and elders, and will be very of God's enemies, who persecute them careful of all kinds of grain. He now and plot against their lives." puts out this promise to reform. Will benevolent and right-minded people, -Out of 40 men and women sent to as they pass by, read this confession as Africa by the International Missionary a means to restoring the writer to health ? Alliance during the last flve years, 11 He offers his grateful thanks to all who have died. The tirst year of residence do so. .. It seems that this young man is most fatal. had some affection of the eyes which he believed was caused by some sin on his -Bishop Taylor has 43 white missionpart. He confesses he does not know aries at his .. self-supporting" stations what is the god of thunder whom he in Angola and the Congo Free State, toblindly adores. gether with quite a force of native evan- gelists and teachers. Twelve died at -When Mr. Whiteweight, of the their posts last year. English Baptist Mission, was home last year, he received about $16,000 from a -Lovedale Institution has an attend- Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, for school ance of '782 pupils of all grades. These building, chapel, etc. It was given in represent almost a score of tribes, and not a few come from regions hundreds .. large population roundabout makes it of miles away. This seat of learning a very favorable centre for missionary has a KafIir church, with 800 members, work.
whose pastor, Rev. Pambani J. Mzim- ba, " is a splendid specimen of what the THE ISLaNDS OF THE SEA. grace of God can achieve in the Afri- can race. " The congregation is almost -The Hon. C. R. Bishop has deeded entirely self-supporting, and out of its to the Kamehameha school in Honolulu poverty has undertaken to build a $10,- all his property on the island of Molokai. 000 house of worship, has raised $3000 The property includes 90,000 acres of from the field, and seeks the rest in land, stocked with cattle, horses and Scotland from friends of the Free sheep.. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop had pre- Church. viously given munificently to this insti- -The Rev. J. D. Hepburn, of the tution.
London Society, who died on the last -Not all of the heroes and heroines day of last year of malarial fever, was are of European stock. Mrs. L. Kaaiathe apostle of Khama's people, the wahia, the wife of Rev. S. Kauwealoha, Bamangwato. From 1870 till 1890 he both of them native Hawaiians, went labored uninterruptedly at Shoshong, with her husband in 1843 to the Marand when Khama moved his capital to quesas Islands as missionary under the Palapye, he went also, but retired, bro- Hawaiian Board to those cannibal ken down in health, in 1892. Not only islands, where she remained for forty was the conversion of the tribe largely years without ever returning to her nadue, under God, to him, but the new tive land. Part of the time she lived mission to Lake Ngami.owed its origin almost alone, separated from other misto his enterprise. sionary families. Her hands and her -The waters of Lake Nyassa are heart were occupied with labors for the ploughed by no less than 7 steamers, natives, by whom she was greatly honsome engaged in traffic, but mainly en- ored and loved.
gaged in the service of the King, carry- -In Fiji there is a circuit which has ing glad tidings to the benighted. 16 ministers, 310 local preachers, and -From OentraZ Africa we learn that upward of 7000 members, with 27,000 Baron Von Soden, the new Governor· adherents. Of the ministers, all but General of German East Africa, has one are natives, and the single European decreed •• that all missionary societies is quasi bishop of the populous diocese.
settled within the territories under Ger- New Hebrides.-Rev. J. W. Macken- man protection, without distinction of zie writes from Efate : •• Sabbath before nationality, shall enjoy exemption from last was a grand day here. 'l'he sacra- import duty and from the excise of con- ment of the Lord's Supper was dis- sumption for an amount not exceeding pensed, and 18 church-members sat £120 per annum. " down for the first time. The whole -The Universities Mission has opened number of communicants present was a new station in the Yao country, in 150.
P~rtuguese territory, at II place called -The West Indies include many Unangu, some 50 miles east of Lake islands under British, Dutch,and French Nyassa, and about 200 north of Blan- rule, and the republic of Hayti. The tyre. It is quite a large town, set on a total area is about 100,000 square miles, hill, with thousands of houses, many and the population 5,500,000, while 16 of them large and well built. The sta- societies are at- work with over 120 or- tion is expected, from its situation, to dained missionaries and 500 native help- prove exceptionally healthy, while the ers. The communicants number 75,000.
The Missionary Review of the World — October 1893
WORK IN MOSLEM OITIES
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XVI. No.lO.-Old Seria. – OCTOBER. – VOL. VI. No. lO.-NeIII &ria.
CHRISTIAN WORK IN MOSLEM CITIES.
BY REV. JAMES F. RIGGS, D.D.
The apostles began their work, as a rule, in large cities. In Palestine, Asia Minor, and in Greece the city was the focus of evangelistic effort. The radii might be many or few, long or short, but they had a common origin in the same municipal centre. In our modern work likewise we may wisely follow apostolic example in this great principle. The most important Moslem cities of Southwestern Asia are now occupied to some extent as " stations" of our American missions. A" station" is the residence of a missionary or of several together. Very little has yet been accomplished when we consider the vast multitude of souls outside of the truth, yet it is not strictly true to assert that nothing has been done for the followers of Mohammed. Even where no one has openly professed a change of relIgious views, the Moslem population do sh~re in a degree in the influences exerted over the whole empire. The Ottoman Empire is a strange conglomeration. It is a collection of extremes, a motley mixture, and that, too, of long standing, so that the most glaring incongruities are condoned as a matter of course because it was always so. Europe and Asia are in a perpetual joint session on the shores of the Bosphorus, ever learning and yet never able to come to any definite knowledge of the truth. The diverse elements in the population do not blend and combine as they do in a Christian country, but remain dissimilar, like gold and silver and copper coins in a purse. Turks and Armenians, Greeks and Jews, Bulgarians and Koords, all are distinct and, to some extent, hostile. Oriental civilization is not one complete organic system like our own, but consists of several fragments, each being a part of something long since shattered. This broken condition of society sets up additional barriers in the way of moral progress. Furthermore, the Oriental is accustomed to do many things in a way which is precisely opposite to our way. Thus -e.g., a carpenter in the East files the teeth of his saw in such a way as to give a set toward the handle; hence, in using the saw, he pulls it in toward himself, while we always push a saw, and file the teeth accordingly, to give a set away from the handle. Innumerable such points of difference exist and render Christian work: in Moslem cities extremely difficult. Barbarous races may very quickly learn to look up to the missionary as the representative of a culture unquestionably superior. But the Moslem has no idea of that sort. He despises the Christian religion as the acme of all that is absurd, and in his unitarian scheme of doctrine he challenges the highest intellectual qualities of the missionary. To convince a sincere Mohammedan that Jesus is the Saviour of all mankind is at once both an intellectual and a spiritual victory. We have a strong confidence in the truth and dignity of the Christian religion; ought we, then, to shrink from the stoutest foe 1 Nay, is not the very power and vitality of this great system in itself a. challenge? The Mohammedans cherish many notions which we cordially approve ; they recognize the supreme importance of many tenets which we hold. For example, they fully understand that piety or sanctity is entirely independent of external well-being. The most wretched-looking beggar in the streets may be holy. I have often seen pashas of Cabinet rank, in the streets of Constantinople, making the courteous salaam to a decrepit 'fakir or religious mendicant. Why do they do this 1 Aside from all question of popular effect, there is a genuine regard for a true, inner, spiritual life. Neither Arabs nor Turks are savages, and whatever faults or vices they may have, they cherish an unfaltering faith in religion as a living reality and a potent factor in life. On the other hand, they are sluggish in many ways, and it is not easy to make them see the value of that which is intangible. Sir Austin Layard toiled long with one of the pashas to int.erest him in astronomy. He gave glowing accounts of sun, moon, and stars, and especially he described the comets, with their strange mystery. When he paused at last, the pasha said: "Well, you say that the comet comes near and then goes away again. " "Yes, I said that," replied the Englishman. " Very well," retorted the' pasha," let it go!" Consider the difficulty of any effort to make such men see with the eyes of the Spirit. A sad, heavy-hearted materialism rules their Jives, and too often they sullenly reject the offer of Him who speaks from heaven. Even in such a case the soul may be reached by means of the Scriptures when oral appeals have been fruitless. The Bible has been translated and published in pure idiomatic Arabic and Turkish, and so the gates of the New Jerusalem are opened to a multitude. Few persons in a Christian land realize what a task it is to prepare a new version of the Scriptures. It is not enough to be pretty near the truth-the meaning must be exact. This is especially difficult in the Turkish language, where the structure of sentences is totally unlike anything in European languages. But this victory has been won at last, and we have the entire Bible in a version which can be understood by the most humble, yet one at which no native scholar would be displeased in point of style or idioms. The missionary can now press forward his work in those great cities with the best of all possible implements; he can fight the bat- tle of truth with the keenest of weapons.
To a very great degree popular dislike and suspicion has been over- come among the common people. There will always be enemies; but the mass of the population, both city and country, are friendly. Malignant opposition arises from the bitter hostility of individuals, often men whose evil purposes have been thwarted by the course of events, but rarely from the unwillingness of the people as a whole to listen to the Gospel. In many villages where the missionary was stoned years ago he is welcome now, and there is far more of a disposition to discuss calmly the points in debate. Our schools and colleges have exerted a considerable influence along this line, and the matter is now so well understood that it is taken for granted as a recognized factor in the life of the community. Thus, every man who sends his son to the Robert College, Constantinople, knows perfectly well that he is subjecting him there to a strong Protestant influence, and assents to this as a matter beyond question. The same thing for substance might be said of similar institutions at Aintab, Beirut, and other points. What does it signify ~ Just this: that Christian work in Moslem cities has a firm foothold ; that we have the confidence of thousands of the people; that we have the Bible and many other books; that a good beginning has been made in the line of a periodical Christian literature; and besides all this many hearts have been touched in homes where the martyr spirit has not yet developed to the point of public confession and the braving of obloquy for Jesus' sake. There is reason to believe that considerable numbers of Moslems are already Christians at heart, but wait till a more opportune moment for such action. If the course of events should be such as to provide a real protection for the convert, a great many would soon declare themselves in sympathy with evangelical truth.
For many centuries it was the standing rule of Islam that the person who abjured that faith was, ipso facto, doomed to die. This brutal law was carried out in all its literal barbarity many times, and it continued in force without question till the memorable summer of 1843. The death of a young Armenian in that year gave occasion to a sudden reversal of the policy S9 long in force. His name was Harootune, and he was by birth and education a Christian, a member of the Armenian Church. One unhappy day, in a state of partial intoxication, he stated his purpose to become a Moslem ; and this was heard by some Mohammedans, who noted it, and afterward insisted on the complete fulfilment of the promise so made. But Harootune, in his sober senses again, flatly refused to keep his word or to take any steps in the direction of such a change. After some further threats, and in spite of earnest remonstrance from several sources, the young man was publicly beheaded in the city of Constantinople at the end of the great bridge that spans the inner harbor. Upon this, the British Ambassador, Lord Stratford, took a bold stand, and demanded of the Turkish Government the absolute and unequivocal abrogation of the death penalty. The Turks resorted to their usual tactics of empty promises and cunning evasion, making general promises that every- thing should be wisely and properly done, etc.., but Lord Stratford was well aware of their tricks, and, besides, he was nobly sustained by the Cabinet in England and by popular .sentiment throughout Europe. So he bore down steadily on the Sultan, sweeping away one subterfuge after another, till one day, when all things were in readiness, the significant words" The apostate shall not be put to death" were written in Turkish by Mr. Alison, the interpreter of the British Embassy, and handed to the Sultan for his official signature. The pressure exerted by Lord Stratford was so firm that all tricks were futile j the imperial autograph was affixed to that singular paper, and so it became the law of the empire. It is very easy, however, for dishonest governors and corrupt courts to sentence a man to death, assigning as a reason the commission of some purely imag- inary crime. A better way still is simply to draft the unhappy man into the army and then to signify to tl;te officers of his regiment that he is to be treated with great severity. It is not long in such cases before the name disappears from the company register altogether. Army discipline is bad enough at best, and under circumstances like this it may become down- right torture, ending in death. Even in cases which are not pressed to the bitter end in this way a vast amount of wretchedness can be inflicted on a man who has displeased the local authorities or defied the public sentiment of his townsmen. Very much must be done before there will be genuine religious toleration or personal liberty in that part of the world.
The recent efforts to cripple the educational institutions at Marsovan are a good example of Turkish unfairness. The two native teachers who were convicted by barefaced forgery and perjury were not in themselves spe- cially obnoxious to the Turks, but the blow was aimed at them in order to injure the college and to distress the missionaries, who are really the per- sons attacked. This is now the weak point in our system. We can build a college j but if the native professors who are employed in the college are to be imprisoned, abused, and banished to remote points on frivolous charges, our work is at the mercy of our foes at any moment. This im- . portant point is to be noted, however. The eager effort of the hostile party to injure a Protestant college is in itself a tribute to the effective work done by the institution. The fury of attack is in reality a tribute, a confession. The Turks to-day practically acknowledge that American ideas are, pushing their way in the Ottoman Empire so fast and so wide that no force can arrest them short of violence and banishment. If the question be asked, therefore, what Christian work is now done in Moslem cities, we point in answer to the evident uneasiness of the Moslem authori- ties. Taking their testimony into account, we are justified in claiming that some very effective work has been wrought.
Nor is it only by the sale of the Scriptures and by our schools that we are doing this. We have also many opportunities to preach Christ direct-
THE ATTITUDE OF THE MOSLEM MIND TOWARD CHRISTI.A.NITY
ly to small groups of Mohammedans, two, three, or five in a shop or a private house. Let no one despise small audiences, for we have many biblical examples for our encouragement. The listener may receive seed into the very best heart soil, and it is impossible to foretell results. . It is among Mohammedans as it is in other lands, and human character shows the same gencral traits. Direct controversial attacks rarely accomplish much good, yet they may be a powerful means of religious education. The apparent alternation of victory and defeat may prove the express medium for a teaching that is divine. A single case may exemplify this: The book called" Mizan-ul-hak" (Balance of Truth), which was an elaborate discussion and comparison of Christianity and Islam j it was a fearless and a noble book, calculated to convince or else to enrage the reader. If the question be asked: "How much good did that book accomplish 1" we can only say on general principles that it must have been in many souls the beginning of honest religious thinking. It was to some weary hearts a distinct lightening of the burden, if not complete relief. We shall never know with mathematical precision just how much good each tract has done, but we have a firm confidence that He who bids the laborers toil in His vineyard will follow up their efforts with His blessing.
In those lands where Islam prevails there are peculiar obstacles to be surmounted j but it is a battle worthy of the effort, and there will be a triumph in which all Christendom may rejoice. Think of a government so sensitive as to prohibit the use of the word" union," even to speak of the union of two rivers j a government so abnormally cautious as to interdict the use of the word " star" because the Sultan spends a part of his time in the" Star Kiosk j" think of a ruler who claims to be " always victorious" in his official documents, and combine with this picture the notion of a complete and final victory like the revolution in the days of Constantine the Great !
Many of the tenets taught in the mosque are only the truths of Scripture dislocated and transposed. Let the points of revealed religion be stated afresh, let the sacred edifice be built up plumb, let the souls of men enter into the one only vital union with God, and then it will appear to Arab, Turk, and Christian alike that there is a treasure of lofty enthusiasm, not yet spent, waiting for the day of the right hand of the Most High. Nothing but victory can justify the battle, and nothing Lut a second Pentecost can make holy or justify this modern Babel of the great Moslem cities.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE MOSLEM MIND TOWARD CHRIS- TIANITY.
A previous question may at once suggest itself whether there is any unitary attitude of the Moslems with regard to Christianity. This singular faith embraces many nations in Asia and Mrica. They are different in race characteristics and in language. Millions in India live under the English Government, and millions in Java, Sumatra, and connected islands live under the government of Holland. There are great differences in these peoples, and the numerous conversions to Christ in India, China, and the Dutch islands prove that this invincible faith must bow before the cross. But while this paper refers chiefly to the Moslems of Turkey, that which may be called the Koranic attitude is common to all Moslems so far as they revere the Koran.
Space will not allow us to quote all the passages referring to Jesus and the Virgin Mary j but the following from the third Sura gives us a good idea of the spirit of the prophet : " When the angel said, ' 0, Mary, verily God sendeth thee good tidings, that thou shalt bear the Word proceeding from Himself. His name shall be Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, honorable in this world and in the world to come, and one of those who approach near to the presence of God. And He' (Jesus) 'shall speak unto men in His cradle and when He is grown j and He shall be one of the righteous.' She answered, ' Lord, how shall I have a son since a man hath not to~ched me g' The angel said: 'Lo, God createth that which He pleaseth. When He decreeth a thing He only saith unto it, "Be," and it is. God shall teach Him the Scripture and wisdom, and the law and the Gospel, and shall appoint Him His apostle to the children of Israel. And He' (Jesus) 'shall say, " Verily I come unto you with a sign from your Lord, for I will make before you of clay as it were the figure of a bird j then I will breathe thereon, and it shall become a bird by the permission of God j and I will heal him that hath been blind from his birth, and the leper, and I will raise the dead." . .. But when Jesus perceived their unbelief He said: "Who will be my helpers toward God~" And the apostles answered, "We will be the helpers of God. ,Ve believe in God, and do thou be as witness that we are true believers." , "
A great mass of similar matter might be quoted, some of it curious, some of it puerile, but all .showing the respect which Mohammed had for Christ and His mother and the apostles. Wherever the Koran is read and understood, a broad distinction is made between Christ and Christians. He is honored as one of the six apostles of God, and the Virgin Mother was born without taint of sin, and was one of the four perfect women. Christians have departed from Him, and will therefore be adjudged to hell ; but all who have been faithful to Him will be received into paradise at the resurrection.
A second point to be considered is the influence of tradition upon the Moslem mind. The Koran itself is but a very small part of the faith of Islam. One may study the Koran ever so profoundly, and he would get no better conception of Islam than he would of popery by studying the New Testament. The Koran is devoutly held as the sacred repository of all the fundamental principles of law, religion, morals, future awards, and even of science ; but it is a small book, not so large as the New Testament. It was found wholly inadequate to the wants of a government, and so the traditions of the verbal sayings of the prophet and of the first four caliphs were resorted to in order to explain and amplify the obscure and to supply what was wanted. This tradition became enormously voluminous. It often went far out of sight of the Koran, but it claimed all the authority of the Koran. Mehmet the Conqueror, who took Constantinople in 1453, endeavored, with but partial success, to condense and unify this vast mass of commentaries and contradictions. Two centuries later Solymon the Magnificent undertook the work in good earnest. He aimed to be the Justinian of Islam, and with good success. This resulting code is the condensation and unification of all accepted traditions. It is called the " Multeka ul Ubhurr" (the "Confluence of the Seas"). Islam is to be found in this great code rather than in the Koran.
'Vith regard to the honor paid to Christ and the Virgin Mary there is nothing adverse, only some strange and curious commentaries are added. But with regard to Christians the traditions have amplified the Koran beyond measure. Death to the apostate is declared to be an irreversible law. But in the Koran there is no passage that is clear on this point. In 1843 an Armenian-Hovakim-who had Islamized, "apostatized," and was executed in Constantinople, and a Greek for the same reason in Broosa. The English ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, made a most peremptory demand of the Sultan to officially renounce that law, and boldly maintained that it was not in the Koran. He carried his point, but so thoroughly has this principle, " Death to the apostate," incorporated itself into the Turkish mind and heart that what is not done openly will, in all cases, be done secretly.
European scholars were made acquainted with this Moslem code by M. D'Ohsson, the dragoman of the Dutch embassy at Constantinople. He was an Armenian by birth, but he became distinguished among all the learned Moslems for his profound knowledge of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian literature. By order of the King of Holland he made a translation of this great code into French, omitting parts that were repetitions, and freely condensing parts that were prolix. It is a curious combination of law, morals, and religion. It gives specific directions for the trial and execution of the renegade from the faith. He is to have three distinct offers of life if he will return to the faith, and time for reflection, after each offer, is to be given him. If he remains obdurate he is to be executed by strangu. lation, and then his head is to be cut off and placed under his arm. His body is thus to be exposed three days in the most public place.
This death penalty is the strongest defence of Islam, and under any Islamite government will never be given up. The convert must have a martyr's faith at his very first step in the Christian life. Quite a number of " inquirers" have disappeared, and no one knoweth their fate.
But in some respects the traditional law has amelbrated the condition of the subject, Christians or rayahs. It has declared them under the protection of law and their persons and properties safe. Their testimony in court is not to be taken against a Moslem, but Christians and Jews may testify in cases among themselves. No Christian expects justice in a Moslem court. If he has money, however, he may buy justice-or injustice j if he has not he wiII suffer the will of his adversaries. The general feeling of Moslems toward rayahs is one of indifference, or pity, or contempt, and if anything happens to inflame them it is one of hatred.
There are things continually occurring before the eyes of the Moslems which provoke these feelings. The religious honor paid to relics and pictures and the worship of the transubstantiated bread in the sacrament always stir the indignation of the Moslems, and the term" poot-perest" (idolater) is a common one of insult and opprobrium to a rayah Christian.
But while Moslems may curse Christians, they may not blaspheme the name of Christ. Hazaretli Isa, the adorable Jesus, is the name given Him. It is easy to see that a pure Christianity pervading the Turkish Empire would abolish one of the very strong defences of Islam. Often the Turks have shown special favor to Protestants because they were free from all idolatrous forms in worship.
We pass to a third point–the literary attitude of Islam toward Christianity. This has been one of great reserve. The Moslem authors have written chiefly of their own history, and they have issued numerous commentaries upon laws, customs, and traditions. When anything like argument against Christianity has been attempted it haR been uniformly against a false Christianity and against doctrines like those of transubstantiation, auricular confession, and priestly absolution, all which are condemned by reason. As there is no freedom of discussion, and the deluded Moslem never hears the other side, there is a stupid conviction that no answer can be given.
But there are some thoughtful men among the Moslems who know better, and who feel that there are strong points in Christianity and weak points in Islam which have not been duly considered. Missionaries occasionally meet with men who show that they have attentively studied the New Testament and have seen clearly how far the Oriental churches have departed therefrom. The fact that the New Testament in Turkish and Arabic is purchased as never before, proves a curiosity, at least, to get a new estimate of the Christian doctrine.
A fourth point to be considered is the diplomatic estimate of Christianity. We mean by this that which has come through the diplomatic relations of the Moslems with Christian governments.
Few influences have tended so directly to degrade Christianity in the view of the leading men of the Ottoman Empire as the Christian diplomacy of Europe. England, Russia, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Holland have magnificent embassies at Constantinople, with counsellors, secretaries, interpreters, and attaches. Each embassy is a princely court. " Besides these there is a score or more of embassies of secondary grade, among which is reckoned that of the United States. While there have been men of the highest moral character connected with these embassies, yet in general " wine and women" is their appropriate motto beyond any other place on the face of the earth where diplomacy is the regnant power. Under Louis Napoleon the French Embassy became so flagrantly and shamelessly dissolute that the bruit thereof reached Paris, and Napoleon telegraphed to his ambassador that the empire expected its embassy to be above reproach. It immediately became Puritanic for a time.
No immoralities of any Turkish pasha ever surpassed, and in many respects ever equalled, those of Sir Henry Bulwer, the English ambassador, who succeeded the noble Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. With his large salary, a constant influx of bribes, and many other auxiliary resources, he rarely paid his honest debts, and a bribe of ten thousand pounds sterling to himself and of one thousand to the Countess Justiniani, his chief mistress at the time, induced him to betray the interest of England and to use his influence as ambassador to promote the designs of the Pasha of Egypt. All these facts were known and were "public talk." Could a Moslem do less than despise a Christianity thus represented ~ Besides all this the policy of the" Great Powers" toward Turkey has been unprincipled and supremely selfish. Treaties have been broken as often as they became irksome, while. Turkey has been bound down hand and foot and has become utterly impoverished by following the lead of her Christian advisers.
The sum total of the moral influences of Christian embassies to the Ottoman Sultan has been extremely bad. It has made the morals of Christianity appear to the Moslems corrupt and detestable. Were Christian nations truly Christianized their influence would be irresistible.
The missionary work has to some extent undeceived the Moslem mind and has enabled many to see that there is another type of Christianity not represented in foreign embassies. This influence is wide though unacknowledged. The writer once accidentally heard two Turkish gentlemen, on board a steamer crowded with passengers, talking about absurd superstitions that had passed or were passing away. One of them said to the other that the educational work of the American missionaries had spread out through all the land and their books had gone everywhere, and he added: " We Moslems no longer think as we used to." Many others confess the change, but have no thought of its cause. The annual purchase of some thousands of copies of the New Testament in the Turkish language is a fact of considerable significance. Is it the grain of mustard seed which shall spring up in time and become a tree ~ But at the present time there arc .some very adverse influences working upon the Moslem mind. They may not all be known to us, but whatever they are they are persistent and efficient. The Turkish Government has assumed an attitude of hostility to all the missions and missionaries of the American Board and to all the native Protestants in the empire. It has been steadily increasing for some years, and evidently has for its object the utter effacement of our missionary work. At first view there seems to be no ground for the remarkable change. The Protestant religion is less offensive to the Moslem than the Oriental. There are no forms of worship that are idolatrous, and the Turks have often befriended the Protestant from mobs and from many other forms of persecution. Some new force has come in to cause this great change.
That which is apparent is a weak and wicked thing which has foundations out of sight. There is a secret organization of Armenians residing abroad, keeping their own precious bodies safe, having probably some affiliations with Armenians resident in Turkey, through whose agency incendiary bulletins have been placarded on all the school.houses, places of worship, and other buildings belonging to the native Protestants and the mIssIOnaries. The object is to excite the Moslems to such a general massacre that Europe will be compelled to interfere and procure freedom generally. If not, Russia will march right in and do it in the name of humanity. The whole thing is a Russian plot. She is skilful in this way of acting. Three very similar plots could be mentioned by which she accom- plished her purposes, but those who were her agents suffered. * She works in the dark. Her agents are innumerable, and most of them fancy they are pursuing their own ends when in reality their end is destruction ; but Russia accomplishes her object. In 1839 the great Russian ambassador, Boutineff, declared that the Emperor of Russia would never allow Protestantism to set its foot in Turkey. This policy has never changed. And there is reason for it. Russia intends to have possession of Asia Minor, where she will find some two or three millions of Armenians who will be of great value in peace and in war. She will pass them all, as she supposes, immediately into the Greek Church, and her young men will be enrolled in the army She does not want au stubborn Protestantism to * In the war of 1877-78 between Russia and Turkey, a revolutionary body of Russian-Bulgarians excited a "bogus" Insurrection in European Turkey for the expressed though concealed purpose of aro1lJling the Moslem population to a general massacre that would call for Russian Intervention. A few Turkish villages were burned and a few women and children were murdered; and the perpetrators beat a swift retreat and escaped, scattering copies of a plan for universal rising and throwing oft the yoke. The mixed Moslem population, composed of Turks, Chinganes, Pomw and Circassian refugees driven out of Russia, all, terriJied and enraged, sprung to arms, and fell npon a large Bulgarian village and destroyed it. They slaughtered between two and three thousand-all, Indeed, who did not escape by flight. This Willi called the" Bulgarian Horrors. " It was an atrocity perpetrated by a mixed mob. This (Russia's) plot succeeded perfectly. There cannot be fonnd any· thing In history to eqnal it. Her agents spread the news. The exciting cause was kept out of sight. Mr. Gladstone took up the horrid tale of 15,000 slaughtered, and rode into office upon the tremendous excitement. He justified Russia. He called the emperor the "divine flgure of the North." The world to this day has no history of that most successful and most atrocions plot. Russia has ad· mirable facilities for working up anything of that kind. She has two consuls in alllmportant places In Turkey-a commercial consul and a political one. Her work is always secret. She can in1lnence the Moslem mind just as she pleases. Gold is one of her powerful aids; death or Siberia to those who oppose or are IJUIJ'fl6Cted of opposing her plans. It is humiliating that our callow statesmen should be 80 foolish or so wicked as to form a treaty by which our freedom-loving country becomes a trap to catch escaped Russian patriots and deliver them over to this crnel and remorseiess power. resist her will and awaken foreign sympathies. The Armenians are befooled by Russia. Should they come under the power of Russia they will find her despotism more intolerable than the Turkish. Indeed, all those who live on the Russian border know it to be so. They rarely pass over to enjoy the blessings of Russian rule.
Russia has befooled the Turks as well as the Armenians. She points out to the Turks the dangers to their faith from Protestant missions, and the seditious character of their Armenian converts-the sedition being her own work. For the present Turkey is in the toils of Russia and will do her will. If England had her old-time watchfulness this would not be.
Russia knows perfectly well that our government will do nothing in the case except to gain some good fair promises, which will never be exacted. Our foreign policy, so far as missions are concerned, is very weak. It will not do to protect them, because a certain class of voters might be displeased. Our government is easily cajoled by Russia. It has been led into making a most disgraceful treaty for the giving up of criminals. We have no occasion to seek our criminals in Russia. But if any poor Russian patriot escapes to this country we will help Russia to get him, and will deliver him over to be tormented. That the greatest republic should join the greatest despotism in this unholy and cruel work is an abomination, standing where it ought not. The courts in Russia are just as corrupt as in Turkey, and in either country the government can easily manufacture both the crime and its evidence. To the burning disgrace of our government it has served notice upon the world that this country is no longer the refuge of the persecuted patriot, but it has become a trap to catch him and deliver him up to death.
Russian agents finding it easy to excite the Moslem mind against our missions, fanaticism and bigotry may be left to carryon the work. The friendly Moslems will for a time disappear, and to what extent the Turkish Government may go in its mad opposition is very uncertain. If our government would invite England and Germany to consider the present attitude of Turkey a remedy could easily be found, but that would offend Roman Catholics and cost votes. We cannot hope for such sublime virtue as would induce a man in government office to do anything that would cost his party a vote. This is the essential weakness and degradation of our government. An election to Congress seems to be an election to the degradation of subserviency to low partisan ends. The Turkish Minister at Washington keeps his master informed of the utter weakness of our foreign policy in relation to all missionary questions, and hence the outrages increase from year to year.
The omens are not good for the future. Christian missions in Turkey are called to severe sufferings and trial. Some way of deliverance will come. God does not forsake His people when He tries their faith, but that way is not apparent.
The future looks still darker for Islam. The only possible prosperity
MISSIONS IN TURKEY
for the great emp,ire is in a righteous government guarding the rights of the citizen without distinction of race or religion. Turkey must also put herself in such accord with Christian powers that they shall find no reason, when great national complications arise, to blot her out from existence.
She now defies Christianity, and will be called ultimately in the providence of God to bear the penalty. But the greatest problem of all is Russia.
That mighty empire is driven on in darkness by the fiend of conquest and military power. Combined Europe can resist her, no puwer can conquer her. We wait for a mighty angel to come down from heaven having a great chain in his hand in order to lay hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bind him a thousand years, that he should deceive and oppress the nations no more.
LEXINGTON. C. H.
MISSIONS IN TURKEY.* BY REV. HERMAN N. BARNUM, D.D., BARPOOT, TURKEY.
The missionary work which now extends to almost all parts of the Turkish Empire was commenced at Constantinople in 1831 by Dr. William Goodell, as a missionary of the American Board. In few countries have the principles of missionary comity been better observed. In Constantinople some English and Scotch societies have been at work, but in differellt lines from the missionaries of the American Board, and always preserving the most cordial relations with them. In other parts of the country disturbing elements have sometimes been introduced, but as a whole the American Board and its missionaries have had control of the evangelizing agencies, and have been free to manage them in their own way.
Few missionary fields present a greater variety of races and religions than Turkey.. It is customary to class the Nusairiyeh and Yezidus as Pagans. All the rest are theists, and even these hold to a sort of theism, but it is corrupted by other elements. Of Christian sects there are the Armenians, Bulgarians, Jacobites, Greeks, and Nestorians, and each of these sects has a papal branch, everyone distinct from all the rest. There is also a sprinkling of Latins, and there are many Jews. The Mohammedans constitute about four fifths of the population, and there are sects among them as well as among Christians. They have generally shown a large degree of toleration to all other religions which do not interfere with their own faith.
Before sending missionaries to Turkey the attention of the American Board had been drawn to the Armenians. Work was begun among them, and its greatest results have been achieved among them, although it has extended to the Bulgarians, Greeks, and Jacobites. The Armenians are an honest, sincere people ; they are allowed to read the Bible, and at that .. Syria, although polltically a part of Turkey, will not be considered In this article. time there was a spirit of inquiry and a desire for reform, whi<lh made them particularly accessible. For several years the hope was entertained by the missionaries and the converts that a reformation might be effected within the Armenian or Gregorian Church itself. Schools were opened, inquirers multiplied, and for a time even the Armenian patriarch himself expressed his satisfaction with the movement. It soon became apparent, however, that the ecclesiastics did not wish a genuine reform, and they inaugurated a violent persecution, which drove all the evangelicals out of the old church, and completed the organization of an evangelical church.
One hundred and twenty-five churches have now been organized, with a membership of about thirteen thousand. The first churches were naturally formed upon a Presbyterio-Congregational basis, after the polity of the missionaries who organized them; but as churches have multiplied no effort has been made by the missionaries to control their polity or to interfere with their perfect independence. They prefer to see them adopt the form that is the most natural expression of their religious life as it is modified by national characteristics. Some influential Protestants are of the opinion that an episcopal form-a modification of their ancient church government–is the best adapted to them as Orientals; but the large majority, having had an experience of self-government, are afraid of anything that resembles their former despotic system. The missionaries have held and still believe that the outcome of genuine missionary work is the organization of believers into self.supporting churches, having their own pastors, and that from the outset they should be independent of missionary control, and that the entire work should be committed to the churches as fast as they are able to assume it.
As to the general management of the missionary work during its present stage of development, after considerable discussion a plan was adopted by a general conference at Constantinople in 1883, and appr~ved by the Board, which provides that missionaries and natives are to share the responsibility equally. Whenever there is a di1ierence of opinion as to the use of missionary funds-a contingency which seldom arises-the missionary voice is to control. In everything else the responsibility is equal. This plan has worked well, and ought to have been adopted much earlier. Both parties have been benefited by this sharing of the work together, and it has been a gain to the work itself. It shows the people that the work is properly their own, and the missionaries are. merely their helpers; and it is a step preparatory to the transfer of the whole responsibility to the people.
From the beginning of this work in Turkey the supreme aim has been, not educational, but evangelistic. The Bible has been the baEis, and thE.' effort has been to put the Bible within the reach of every family in their own vernacular. In this endeavor we have always had the most generous and hearty co·.operation of the American and the British and Foreign Bible societies. A degree of education wan necessary in order to make the Bible available to the masses, for very few of the men and none of the women throughout the country knew how to read; so, wherever the missionary has gone, schools of a simple character have been opened, with the primary' object of enabling people to read the Bible. With the same object great efforts have been made to persuade adults to learn to read, and with the most gratifying results. Everybody who learns to read is sure to procure a Bible, or at least a New Testament. The missionary ladies experienced no little difficulty at first in persuading women to learn to read. Women were supposed to have inferior minds, and the art of reading was considered to be a prerogative of the male sex. Those who first made the attempt met opposition at home and ridicule abroad, but experience soon demonstrated the fact that a Bible in the hands of a woman gave her a new sense of personal dignity and worth, and by exalting her to a higher plane transformed her home. The ability to read is no longer a reproach to a woman, but those who cannot read are ashamed to confess their ignorance. No result of the missionary work thus far is more gratifying and more clearly proves its genuineness than the change wrought among the women, and through them upon their homes. The agency of the women's boards, in co-operation with the American Board, since their organization, twenty-five years ago, is one of the most potent factors in the regeneration of the land.
The training of men for the ministry is one of the first things to engage the missionary'S attention. From among his converts he selects those who are most apt to teach-young men of considerable maturity-and after a few months of study, mostly biblical, sends them out to teach and preach during the winter, to re.turn for further study during the summer months. These men become pioneers. The first pastors were from this class after a three or four years' training. With the advance of intelligence in t11e congregations, the course of theological study has advanced, and these early classes developed into regularly organized theological seminaries, of which there are five. The Eastern Turkey Mission has two, one being located at Mardin, in which the instruction is given in Arabic, that being the language of that part of the country.
Mter the foundations were fairly laid the character of the schools was improved. They have been graded and adapted to the growing intelligence of the people-the people assuming the responsibility, with some aid for a time from missionary fund". The schools are no longer a distinctively mIssIOnary agency. The Bible is daily taught in them, and it thus finds its way into many families, and aids in the work of evangelization, but that is not any longer the primary aim. They are adjusted to the needs of these new communities, and designed to prepare the young for the duties of life just as in Christian countries. In the four Turkish missions-European, Western, Central, and Eastern-there are about four hundred common schools with some sixteen thousand pupils.
The improvement of the common schools created the necessity for a few high schools at central points for the preparation of teachers and the giving of a preparatory training to some of the brightest youth looking to other professions. The development along this line has been such as to demand colleges for both sexes. Christian civilization requires educated leaders, and the desire to furnish such, along with the growing thirst among the people for higher education, has led to the opening of a male and a female college in each one of the four missions aside from Robert College, at Constantinople, which is an independent institution. Connected with these higher schools are twenty-four hundred pupils, of whom nearly eleven hundred are girls-a body of young people who are destined to be a blessing to the land. These schools have awakened an enthusiasm for education which has sometimes excited the fear that the evangelistic work might be o-ershadowed by it, but special pains are taken to keep the .Gospel everywhere at the front. The daily study of the Bible is a part of the programme of everyone of these schools from the highest to the lowest. An, education that is not thoroughly Christian is a doubtful benefit to the individual or the nation.
The changes, material and moral, which have been wrought in Turkey during the last sixty years have been many and significant. To claim them all as the -result of missions would not be honest. Something is due to the spirit of the age and to the influence of European civilization, which have helped to stir the sluggish Orient, although those influences are not always beneficial. It is easy to see, however, that all that is best in these developments is the direct fruit of the Gospel. It has awakened the mind, introduced Christian education, begotten enterprise, elevated woman, regenerated the home, sanctified the Sabbath, created a higher tone of busi· ness morality, and, in general, it has given an impulse to society in the direction of a higher civilization.
The missionary work ought to be in a condition to be transferred before many years to the native churches, but there are obstacles to the realization of this plan, some of which will be enumerated.
1. Independence requires leaders and administrators. There are some who are fitted to take the control of such a work, but they are few. The Protestant churches are doing a noble missionary work in Koordistan, but they have not yet gained tIle experience nor risen to the exigency of carrying forward the evangelical work of the country without help. There is also a strong tide of emigration to America, which takes some of the most energetic of our young men; and some of the ablest are drawn into business and into other professions. The whole number of missionaries is sixty-two males and one hundred and sixteen females. This number is likely to be diminished, and as fast as possible responsibility will be passed over to the churches and their leaders.
2. A hindrance of no small account is the poverty of the people. A preliminary to independence is self-support. In few fields has self-support had an earlier recognition or been more faithfully pressed. Not a few of the churches have attained to complete independence. The Protestants raise for all purposes nearly $60,000 annually, still the majority of the congregations are utterly unable to assume the entire support of their preachers and teachers. The country is poor. European armaments compel Turkey to maintain a large standing' army and an expensive navy.·; The expenses of the government are great, and taxation is extremely burdensome. Protestants have shown not a little enterprise, but it is difficult, to introduce any new industry. The Orient does not take readily to new things, and the Government does very little to help them forward, but, on the contrary, seeks help from them for the treasury.
3. The hope of a reformation in the Gregorian Church restrains many from joining the Protestant movement. The Bible has been widely circulated and read. Its truths are becoming well known, and while the rites of the Church are maintained, the errors and superstitions of former days are intellectually renounced. It is, perhaps, safe to say that the majority of the Armenians are orthodox in belief, and that is their snare. They are contented with a right belief. They say, "We no longer trust to rites and good works for salvation. Christ is the only Saviour. We believe as you do," etc. Many of the Protestants are too much of the same mind. Too many of them feel that this confession on the part of their Armenian neighbors is enough, therefore they do not labor for them. There is some reason to hope that a genuine reform may take place at some time in the Gregorian Church so deep and thorough that the Protestants may return to it, especially if the truth which is known and confessed shall be vivified by the Holy Spirit; but at present there is a spiro itual deadness which causes multitudes to be satisfied with a formal confession of the truth and a partial rectification of conduct.
4. Another serious obstacle is the attitude of the Government and its co-religionists. This is a point upon which, for obvious reasons, it is not expedient to speak very freely. For ·many years the Government was indifferent, and the Mohammedamt generally looked with a degree of favor upon Protestantism as an improvement upon any other Christian system with which they were acquainted. There is no more loyal class in the country than the Protestants, and governors of the provinces and other high officials have frequently acknowledged it; and they have said that the spread of Protestantism is a public benefit. Of late years, however, Protestant growth in intelligence and manhood has become an occasion for SUspICIon. Islam had its birth in the seventh century, and it retains the character of the country and the time of its birth, and it has come to look upon vital Christianity as a serious menace.
Despite these and many other hindrances such as are found in all missionary fields there can be no doubt of the genuineness of the Christianity which is now being revived in its ancient home. The truth has taken deep root. The leaven is widely spread, and it is silently doing its work. The Christian Church needs to have a deep sense of its own great privilege and opportunity, and to manifest it by more liberal gifts and more fervent prayer.
THE YEA.R IN JA.PAN. '737
THE YEAR IN JAPAN.
BY REV. GEORGE WILLIAM KNOX, D.D., TOKYO, IAPAN.
For the year past Japan has been at peace-nature, society, missions undisturbed by calamities and unexcited by great events. Without severe earthquakes, convulsions, or struggles, the quiet routine of common life, in contrast to other years, offers little material for reports. A few weeks ago, however, two dormant volcanoes exploded, giving evidence that the seismic forces are not yet extinct; and there have not been wanting indication that forces which may convulse society are only quiescent.
Politic8.-The long political struggle grows confused and tedious. In the winter the strife between Diet and Government, the representatives of the people and the ruling oligarchy, reached an acute stage. The end of parliamentary government-such measure as we have-seemed at hand, when the Emperor appeared, deUit ex machina. He told the Government to mend its ways, economize, and accept the reforms proposed by the Diet. The Diet he commanded to cease its encroachments upon the imperial prerogative and its unreasonable obstruction, and to adopt a policy of peace and work. Government and Diet bowed their acknowledgments, accepted the decision, and worked for the remaining days of the session in harmony, none able to determine who was victor. Parliamentary government has made distinct advance. The device was worthy the veteran statesman who planned it, and served his turn, but it cannot be repeated. The Emperor cannot enter often the domain of party politics, even as umpire.
Agriculture and Oommerce.-Seed.time and harvest have not failed; earth, air, and sea have brought forth abundantly after their kinds. New manufactures are introduced; railway and ship-building increase; foreign commerce advances with leaps and bounds, and never before was Japan so prosperous. But with increase of wealth comes increase of sorrow. The cost of living constantly increases, luxuries become necessaries, tho struggle for existence grows fiercer, and the old Japan, the lotus-eating Japan, fades away. We hear of " sweating," of cruelly long hours of work and cruelly small rates of pay, of a growing discontent and of strikes. One half comes to believe that modern civilization costs too much, and there is a growing, oppressive sense of weariness, of the monotony of life as we see Japan struggling with our selfsame problems and conditions.
Japanese and Foreigners.-Until Japan has its way in treaty revision this heading must be continued. And the trouble nowadays is that Japan does not know what it wants. The politicians cannot agree as to the bargain they would drive, nor as to who shall have the glory of settling this troublesome affair. As everyone knows, foreigners are confined by treaty to a limited area around seven open ports, and even in the open ports can hold real estate only in small districts c~lled " concessions." But years ago the Japanese began to give passports permitting travel" for healtli or scientific purposes." The objects specified were mere forms from the start, and foreigners traversed every part of the empire in pursuance of such objects as they pleased, and now tourists by thousands and residents by hundreds take passports as matter of course, almost forgetting that they are of grace. The Government further modified the strict reqnirements of the treaties. Foreigners in government employment were permitted to reside outside of the " concessions," and soon foreigners in the employment of individual Japanese. Whereupon any foreigner could live where he choose, and a Japanese employer was never wanting, one's own cook or other employe serving in double capacity if other arrangements failed.
The Missionary Oonscimce.-Certain missionaries had a hard time with conscience. They desired to go on preaching tours, but did not wish passports for" purposes of health;" and they wished to live in the interior, but did not fancy employment without wages and by individuals in their own pay. A few missionaries have held out all these years, never going on evangelistic tours and dwelling in the" concessions." But the " con· cessions" have missionaries to spare; and the majority live as " employes" in other parts of Japan, thus accepting the situation, and funy assured that conscience has nothing now to say.
. Government Oonsent.-And on the whole they make out their case. Not only has the Government treated its own requirements as empty forms, but the men who have ruled Japan, and whose interpretation was final, have assured us that the situation was understood, and that they had not the smallest objection. And when the local police have interfered with meetings, the central authorities have issued orders that the missionaries be protected. So, too, the Government itself has issued the permits for residence in the interior, and in some has stated that the employer pays no salary, and that the object is the teaching of religion. One step further has been tamen. When foreigners live permanently in the interior, they wish their own dwellings, as desirable houses are very few. And it has been as easy to own a house in the name of a Japanese as it is for Englishmen to own real estate in the name of Americans in the United States. The Government tacitly has permitted this, and government officials have loaned their names freely for the accommodation of foreign friends. Though conscience and the Government are silent, popular agitators find enough to say : "No wonder the treaties are not revised! The foreigners have all they want. They travel throughout the empire, buy the choice spots in our most famous resorts and build villages on mountains and by the seaside. Confine them to the ' concessions' and the ' treaty limits,' and they will soon come to terms." These men overlook three points: that Japanese politics, and not foreign obstinacy, prevent revision; that foreign governments are little influenced by the petty inconveniences of these communities in the Far East· and that foreigners are not made friendly by a restriction of their privileges. But the treatment of the Chinese in the United States does not incline one to sharp criticism of anti-foreign agitation in the East.
The Possible Results of the Agitation. -Probably the agitation will come to naught-possibly it may succeed. Should it succeed, foreign missionary operations will be contracted violently. The" concessions" have not room enough, nor the" treaty limits" work enough, for one half the missionaries here. And however improbable this result may be, it should be considered when schemes for large re-enforcements are broached. Our legal rights are of the narrowest; all else is of "mere good will," and the favors now enjoyed are attacked by political agitators.
Professor lnoue.-Leaving .these remote and problematical results we may study more palpable effects. Whatever anti-foreign feeling exists is accentuated, and so far forth the difficulties of the missionary increase. Christianity is no longer advocated as the" best religion" as in former years, nor are the native faiths longer despondent. Even Shinto has put itself forward as the special guardian of patriotism and loyalty, and makes much of the refusal of certain prominent Christians to do homage to the imperial photograph j and Buddhism has entered upon an active campaign, seeking to re-establish itself as the national religion. Even men who profess no faith find occasion of offence in Christianity, and this by no means because of the peculiar doctrines of the cross. Professor Inoue has distinguished himself by a violent attack upon our faith. He is of the staff of the Imperial University, and is known throughout Japan. He studied for several years in Germany, and has some knowledge of many things. He found Christianity to be injurious to patriotism and filial piety. He published his articles in seven leading journals and then in book-form, finding a multitude of readers in every part of the land. The Buddhists adopted the book at once and purchased many copies. Quite a literature has sprung up around this book. The Christian scholars (Japanese) were not slow in coming to the defence, and found many vulnerable points. In fact, Professor Inoue had been so hasty and had made so many blunders that he lost much influence and reputation. The leading journals recognized that he had the worst of it j and the professor himself pleaded for suspension of judgment until he could review his facts. The immediate result of this controversy has been to strengthen the Christians and to attract again popular attention to Christianity. It has shown the Japanese Christians to be fully able to hold their own against the strongest men wlo enter the lists. At the same time we are not to forget that this is only an episode, and that the conflict is great. Christianity is not to be borne to victory by a great popular movement, but is to win its way by its inherent truth and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Annual Meeting of the Oongregational Ohurches.-The annual meeting of the Congregational churches was held in Tokyo in April, and took advanced position as to the relations of the Japanese Christians to the mIssIonaries. The value of their labors in tho past was fully recognized and the desire expressed for their continuance. But many of the leaders advocated a most radical change. It was urged that the present relations emphasize the foreign element, and are a distinct element of weakness. The Church should become thoroughly Japanese. Everyexpression in the reports of the mission that seem to claim the results attained as its own should be expunged ; indeed, the mission should not issue a report at all, but the report should be the product of the Church. The mission as an organized body should cease to exist, the missionaries throwing in their lot with the Japanese, claiming no special rights or privileges, accepting such places as might be assigned them by the Church and serving on committees only as elected. The funds contributed in the United States should be given, not to the mission, but to the committees of the Church. To accomplish these results the form of government of the churches should be more centralized. This programme was advocated in the denominational press with fervor; but the annual meeting was not ready to go so far. It merely drew a plain line of distinction between independent and mission churches, giving the former, only, the right of membership in the annual meeting. The plan for the control of the missionaries was not even introduced, and had no chance of adoption, but a long step was taken in the direction of putting the strong churches and the strong men by themselves and leaving the weaker congregations to the foreigners and under a tacit reproach. No other mission in Japan, perhaps none in the world, has gone so far in the bestowal of full rights and dignities upon the native brethren as the mission of the A. B. C. F. M. All that can be implied by the word co-operation, all that is implied in dealing with the Japanese as brethren, has been adopted designedly. The mission has put its great school in Kyoto fully into Japanese control and gives large amounts of money to the Board of Missions of the churches. The result does not seem altogether satisfactory j and some outsiders think the policy of concession bas been carried too far.
Mission Polity.-Three forms of mission polity are proposed: Mission control, co-operation, Japanese control. Each has its advantages, its disadvantages, its advocates and its opponents. The first–mission controlhas attractions for many missionaries. It is simple, appears reasonable, in some circumstances may be strong, and in the beginning is inevitable. The missionary is at the head of the enterprise, and has the funds. While foreign money is used the foreigner must control, is the motto. The funds are entrusted to the missionary j he is responsible for their expenditure, and this responsibility he cannot give to another. Besides, the missionary by heredity, by education, by long experience is better able to direct and lead. When the native Christians by and by have gained a similar education and experience, above all, when they are able to pay for their churches, pastors, schools, and missions, they shall control and be welcome. And even now, so far as they pay, let them rule, and in purely ecclesiastical affairs they may decide, but must not touch the sacred pur~e strings. This polity insists too much on the purse, as if it were the efficient and all-important factor in the founding of the Church. It puts foreigner and mission to the front and gives the Church the air of an imported institution. In so far as the control is effective, it does make the Church foreign and affronts self-respecting and patriotic men. It often leads to great errors when foreign ideas and plans arc enforced. It causes friction endlessly, and subjects the missionary to constant and severe criticism. It obliges too large a proportion of the missionary force to tend tahles and argue accounts. It does nothing toward training the Church to undertake its full respousibility. It insists that the latest comer, if a foreigner, is more worthy of power than the most experienced native. It is possible only while the Church is weak or its members dependent, and its reward for self-support is entire freedom from missionary influence. The policy of co-operation would meet these disadvantages. It puts foreigner and native on a level. They are brethren in the Church and in the control of affairs. There is to be equality in position and in power. The Church contributes to its own support.and to the evangelIstic work; the mission contributes to the same end, and the common fund is administered by joint committees and boards. The full foreign representation is the guarantee to the Church in the United States that its funds are well employed; and the full Japanese representatIOn, that the native wishes, views and experience shall have full weight. The Church is trained to responsibility and to liberality. It is prepared for the day when it shall stand alone, while the foreigner enters into the Church life and has fair field for snch influence as his experience and qualities rightfully command. The policy has its difficulties. It demands mutual respect and self-respect. It is not easy for men of different races to co-operate. To submit to majority rule is difficult at home, it becomes still more so when the majority is of another race and color. Patience, mutual love, and confidence, a willingness to overlook small differences, to sacrifice minor points of opinion to larger and higher ends, the ability to see both sides of questions, and the resolute determination to put aside prejudice and suspicion are.requisite to success. As the missionary claims the longer Christian experience, and the richer, perhaps, it becomes him in fullest measure to manifest these gifts, the special graces of the Spirit who inspires the Church. The third theory makes the missionary an employe, unpaid, it is true, but none the less at the direction of the Japanese. They control and he obeys. He is to have no part in the direction of affairs, but must occupy the position of foreigners hired by the imperial Government. The theory is interesting as showing what demands are possible. Were it agreed to, missions would disband; half, perhaps more, of the force would be sent home, and the missionaries who should remain would be exceptional men of peculiar temperament. It is a demand in reality for the continuance of foreign funds and the withdrawal of foreign missionaries.
THE CHURCH OF ABYSSINIA
The Year's Work.-The work has gone on in quietness, with greater interest and greater gains than for several years. The churches have wholly emerged from the period of theological doubt and discussion and are more conservative than ever before. Evangelists, pastors and people are preaching the Gospel with renewed earnestness. If there is not to be a national movement comparable to that of a few years ago we may at least hope for constant and substantial progress.
The Self-support of the Ohurches.-Comparatively little advance has been made in self·support for some years. The reasons are obvious. Japan passed through a period of severe financial depresRion, and before it was gone came the anti-foreign reaction, and this was followed by a period of doubt and coldness in the Ohurch. It may b~, too, that the missionaries have lost their early zeal. There are indications, however, of reviving interest in this subject among Japanese and foreigners.
Dr. and Mrs. Hepburn.-From the beginning Dr. and Mrs. Hepburn have been our representative missionaries. They arrived in Japan in 1859, when it was first opened to foreigners, and when the way hither was still by sailing vessel around the Cape. They shared in all the difficulties of the early years. One young man took service in Dr. Hepburn'S household with intention to kill him, but was won from his purpose by the Christian life he saw. And thr6ugh all these years more precious than all else, than the abundant and successful labors as physician, lexicographer, translator, and evangelist, has been the constant manifestation of the Spirit of Christ. We may well rejoice that Dr. Hepburn has been the representative missionary to Japan. The final departure of Dr. and Mrs. Hepburn was the signal for an unparalleled demonstration from the whole community. These missionaries at least have won the respect and love of all, and all united in showing gratitude and esteem.
THE CHURCH OF ABYSSINIA.
BY PROFESSOR GEORGE H. SOHODDE, PH.D., COLUMBUS, O.
In these days, when the old question quid novi ex Africa is re-ecnoed In an entirely new sense, and the evangelization of the Dark Continent is the aim and ambition of aggressive Christian mission enterprise, it is of special interest to remember that there is yet one national Christian church in Africa, namely, the Abyssinian. Of all the remnants and reo mains of the once so powerful Christianity of the Oriental nation, and particularly of the African continent, of which St. Augustine, Cyprian, TertuIlian, aud others are historic monuments, the Abyssinian is the only one that has been able to maintain its national and characteristic individuality. Singularly enough, it has attracted but little attention on the part of Western Christianity; and the rejuvenation of the petrified formalism of the Abyssinian Church into a living and life-giving evangelical communion has among Protestants enlisted the energies of only a few English and German missionaries, and in recent times of a Swedish society. The Jesuits began work there already in the sixteenth century and managed even to set one of their own puppets on t,he throne j but a reaction came, and the expulsion of the Fathers followed, who were not admitted again until in recent years. According to the Catholic writer Munzenberger, himself a Jesuit, in his" Abyssinnien," there are now in that country thirty native Catholic priests, assisted by eleven priests of the Lazarist congregation under the direction of Bishop Crouzet. The principal station is at Keren. Here, too, there is a seminary with sixty pupils studying the Ethiopic and Latin languages together with theology. There are also in Abyssinia eight Catholic schools-six for boys and two for girls. Statistics of Protestant success are not obtainable, but progress has been made, and both the people and their church deserve much more attention on the part of Christian mission workers than they are receiving. This their character, history, and status abundantly demonstrate.
The Armenian, the Syrian, the Coptic, and other Oriental churches have almost been wiped out by the Moslem conquerors. The few thousands of Armenian Christians that are scattered through the Turkish and Persian .empires-the Copts in Egypt, the Thomas Christians in India-these and communions like these are the mere remains and ruins of former greatness and a sad reminder of what was lost to Christianity and civilization by the success of the Mohammedan propaganda of the sword and false doctrine. The Abyssinians, the modern representatives of the Ethiopians of history, are the only Eastern Christians that in their national existence have not been crushed by the Mohammedans. Against fearful odds the mountaineers of the " Switzerland of Africa," as Ethiopia is often called, maintained a struggle for life and death with the fanatical defenders of Islam. The latter were able to crowd back the Christians of Southeastern Europe to the very gates of Vienna, and the Christians of Southwestern Europe to the north and east of France, yet they could not wipe out the Abyssinians, which they have been trying to do for more than a thousand years. The latter still stand as the only non-barbarian people of the African continent that did not yield to the arms of the false prophet of Mecca.
This unique historical p~ominence is in accord with pedigree, origin, and character. In all these respects they are unlike the other peoples of the Dark Continent. They belong to the Semitic family of peoples, the same to which also the Jews, the Arabs, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and other nations who have been powerful factors aRd determining forces in the early history of the human race. In fact, they are the only member of this family that as a nation has adopted Christianity. It will ever remain one of the strange phenomena of history that Christianity sprang out of Semitic soil, but has found its greatest adherence among the Aryan peoples. The Syrians were Semitic, but Christianity was never their national religion. It thus became literally true that Shem has dwelled in the tents of Japhet j the spiritual inheritance of Shem has pased into the possession of -Japhet. The history of Abyssinia is almost entirely of a religious character. Of the times prior to the introduction of Christianity in the days of Athanasius but little is known. Only in recent times has a German traveller, Glaser, found in Southem Arabia a number ofinscriptions showing that in early times the Abyssinians were settled in that country. This perfectly agrees with the fact that the Abyssinian language is more closely allied to the Arabic than to any other branch of the Semitic tongues, and also with the tradition of the Abyssinians, who prefer to call themselves "Geez"-i.e., which means both" immigrants" and" free." In this way it can be seen that in reality the Abyssiniaus are not" Ethiopians" at all-e.g., they are not black. Calling the blacks of Africa" Ethiopians" is only another specimen of lucult a non lucendo. The Ethiopians being, with the exception of the Egyptians, the only African people known to the classical writers, the name was gradually applied to all the peoples of the African continent. In reality the Abyssinians are an Aryan people, as much so as the Greeks or Romans or the modern Europeans and Americans. They are coffee-colored, but in appearance and characteristic traits everywhere betray the Aryan.
The making of the Abyssinian nation is entirely the work of Christianity, and that, too, of Greek Christianity. It was not Greek culture or philosophy or civilization in themselves that in the fourth century brought the Ethiopians of antiquity on the stage of history. It was Greek Christianity that did this. Although geographically nearest to Egypt, that classic country has seldom had any influence for good on its southern neighbor. Of the venerable civilization of the land of Pharaoh, with its pyramids, temples, and cities, there is no sign to be found in the whole country of Abyssinia. The Christianization of this country almost at as early a date as it became the established religion of the Roman Empire has determined the whole history and national development of this people. Abyssinian history is really in sense and substance a chapter in Oriental church history, and a very interesting chapter at that. The religious element that began the process in the establishment of Ethiopia as a nation has been the controlling factor all along, and has been the decisive element in the national character. Divorced from religion, Abyssinia has never known any civilization or literature. Certain national peculiarities, such as the observance of the seventh as well as the first day of the week j the practice of circumcision as well as of baptism j long seasons of fasts j adherence to the laws of meats as found in the Old Testament law, as also the existence of a peculiar class of black Jews (the Falashas)-of whom there are about two hundred thousand in Abyssinia, but who at one time in the history of the people had managed to secure the throne, and who by descent actually belong to the Ethiopic race-all these things would point to a Jewish period before the Christian, in Abyssinia. But aside from the st~ut demals of the native writers, there are no positive evidences that these are more than national peculiarities, inheritances from the old Semitic family of peoples, as it is well known that some of these-such as the Sab. bath observance-was found also among non·Jewish Semites-e.g., the Babylonians.
The precise period of the introduction of Christianity into Abyssinia has also exerted a decisive influence on them and their history. It was the first century after Christianity had become the accepted religion of the empire, the age of controversies on theological and christological subjects. It was not yet the period when a highly developed culture and civilization went hand in hand with the new faith, when grand churches and basilicas were built, and when literature, the sciences, and the arts had adjusted themselves to the new state of affairs and had thrown off allegiance to the Greek and Roman ideals and had become imbued with the new spirit. Before that formative era of controversy was over Abyssinia had already severed its connection with the Greek Church and the Greek world of thought. The Synod of Chalcedon, in 451, condemned the monophysitic doctrines of the Egyptian churches, and with this act the Christian churches of that country and of Abyssinia withdrew from the Church at large. About two centuries later Mohammedanism conquered Egypt, and thus separated the Abyssinian people externally also from all the other nations with whom they had been in any connection or spiritual union.
These facts explain much that is seemingly enigmatical in the history and character of the Abyssinian Church. First, the self.imposed and then the enforced isolation of the peoples on account of that very thing which entered most largely into their national development, namely, their reo ligion, naturally made them all the more zealous in preserving at least the outward forms of their historic worship and Christianity. The conserva· tism, naturally so deeply implanted in the Semitic peoples, proved a most effective assistant and agent for the process of spiritual petrifaction. Ac· cordingly, we have in the Abyssinians of to-day virtually a petrified Greek Christianity of the fourth and the fifth centuries. The outward forms, litur· gies, dogmas, and ceremonies have been handed down from century to century uninfluenced by the development that has been going on in the civilized world and in the Church elsewhere during all these long years. The spiritual element in the religion of the Abyssinian Church is gone; it is now mere formalism. The hull and shell of Christianity is certainly there ; the kernel, the life has departed.
These facts furnish us with the data intelligently to judge of the mission problem and prospects presented by this unique people and Church. Naturally the former is not an easy one. The work to be done is to intro. duce into the forms of Christianity obtaining in Abyssinia the real spiro itual life of the Gospel. Protestant mission societies have felt this to be the case, and have labored in this direction as much as they could, but against terrible odds. Again and again have they been driven from the country by the "Christian" rulers of the land, because in the nature of' the case they were compelled to antagonize the claims, tenets, and teachings of the national Church. It will be remembered that the English campaign under Lord Napier in 1855 was to rescue the missionaries which had been imprisoned by that barbaric genius, King Theodorus II. The beginnings of Protestant work both among the Christian Abyssinians and among the Falashas dated from 1830, when the British Society sent out Samuel Gobat, who afterward became the famous Anglo-Prussian Bishop of Jerusalem, to labor in that historic land of Abyssinia. He was followed by Krapf and Isenberg, who did much to secure for Abyssinia an evangelical literature, disposing of more than eight thousand Bibles ltmong the people. These three are the leading names among the Protestant pioneers in this land, while others, such as Sterns, have ably assisted, the last-mentioned laboring almost exclusively among the Black Jews. The most successful among the succession of this first generation of Protestant missionaries was Martin Flad, who has been several times banished, and now, in nis extreme old age, lives in Wurtemberg, in Germany, still directing from there as much as possible the mission work among the native Falashas. Swedish gospel messengers have in recent years been admitted to this field by King Menelik under certain restrictions, but as yet they have not been able to report gi'eat progress. Several hundred Falasha converts have proved faithful to the Gospel preached to them by Flad and others, and now and then letters come to this venerable worker from the native helpers showing that in spite of persecutions they are still faithful to the Gos-' pel they have learnea to love. Within the Jast few years two most interesting and touching letters of this kind from the native helper, Michael Argavi, have been published in various mission journals, in which instances of fidelity to the faith once delivered to the saints are recorded that well-nigh equal those narrated in the books of the Maccabees.
Certainly people and prospects like these should prove peculiarly attractive to zealous mission workers. To rebuild on historic Christian ground the Church of God is an enterprise well worth the prayer and energy of evangelical Christendom. The Abyssinians are a noble people even in their present low religious and spiritual condition; but with a revived and life-giving Christianity they could become a power in the Dark Continent for the Gospel cause and a truly evangelical Christian Abyssinia, and become possibly the best basis of operation for the hosts of Christian workers going out conquering and to conquer throughout the length and breadth of Africa.
Dr. George E. Post suggests a providential purpose in the existence of the Coptic, Armenian, Nestorian. A.byssinian churches. Mohammedanism, like a vast arch, stretches from eastern China to western Africa; and the location of these remnants of ancient Oriental churches hints a Divine plan: that, revivified by the Holy Spirit, they shall help to permeate surrounding peoples with the gospel.-A. T. P.
THE EVANGELIZATION OJ<' ARABIA
THE EVANGELIZATION OF ARABIA.
BY REV. S. M. ZWEMER, BAHREIN ISLAND, ARABIA.
" And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are these aU thy children 1"-1 Sam. 16 : 11. " And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for as much as he also is a son of Abraham."-Luke 19: 6.
Arabia, like ancient Gaul, is divided into three parts, Petrea, Deserta, and Felix. As is the land, so has been its history. The caravan trade, which brought all the wealth of Ormuz and Ind to the marts of the West, left large blessing on the desert and made Arabia commercially happy, for, as Sprenger naively puts it, "The history of early commerce is the history of incense," and the land of incense was Arabia. When commerce left the land and chose the sea, the entire peninsula suffered and became, in a sense, deserta. And when Islam triumphed it petrified.
Christianity in Arabia has had only two short chapters; the first is completed, the second has not yet been written full. The first tells of a superstitious, almost pagan, form of Christianity in Yemen, before the advent of Mohammed. The second is the story of Christian missions in Arabia. The first is faithfully chronicled in that rare and interesting volume, Wright's" Essay on Early Christianity in Arabia" (1855). It is our purpose now to sketch the geography of Arabia in its relation to missions, give an outline of what has been done by missions, and present these facts as a plea.
Physical Arabia is as wonderful in its diversity as is the opinion of modern critics on the ethnology of its peoples. In the Far North and along the Mesopotamian valley there are vast fertile plains covered in winter with luxuriant grass, on which flocks of sheep pasture. Brilliant with flowers in spring, all dries dead when the rains cease; then, too, the nomads fold their tents and steal away. Central Arabia is a tableland two to four thousand feet above sea level, rocky and barren for the most part, and again adapted to pasture and hcrds or the date palm. The Western coast begins with lofty Sinai and extends to the volcanic rocks that give Aden strength. It is, however, low, hot, rainless, and, but for a few oases, nearly barren. The interior rises to become mountainous and desolate, as near Jiddah and Yenbo, or mountainous, well-watered, fertile, and densely populated, as in Asir and Yemen. At Jiddah the highest inland peaks are only two days' journey; from Hodeida it takes six days' climb for mules and ten for camels to reach Sanaa, the capital.
The Southern coast line resembles the Western, but is altogether more fcrtile ; from Aden to Makallah the country inland produces tobacco, coffee, and gums; from Shehr to Muscat the interior }s least known ; but Arabs from Sur tell me it is fertile and populous ; here was the Regio Libanotofera, the incense country of antiquity, and to-day the best maps even write Roba El Khaly (the empty place) to conceal ignorance! North of Muscat the coast stretches in rocky heights past Ras Mussendom, Katar, and the pearl islands of Bahrein. EI Hassa has low, moist ground where rice grows, hot springs, ancient ruins, and is altogether a remarkable province. From the mouth of the Tigris-Euphrates to the city of Bagdad the land is blessed with wealth of palms, barley, and wheat. Arabia is not wholly a desert, nor is it deserted. The exact population is unknown. Albrecht Jehm, the best authority I know, estimates as follows in his book, " Arabian seit hundert Jahren j" it will be noticed that he excludes the Euphrates valley in his summary : Yemen and Asir ……••••.•••••………. 2,252,000 Hadramaiit…•….•… , .•••••••••••.••… 1,550,000 Oman and Maskat.•.•••..•…•…•..•….. ] ,350,000 Bahrein, Katif … Nejd .. ,. ………… . 2,350,000 Hedjaz, Anaeze, Kasim, Jebel Shammar ..••.• 3,250,000 10,752,000 Arabia political is a problem on a chess-board waiting solution. The Wahabee game has been left unfinished, and others have tried their hand.
Sinai is Egyptian, and also the two hundred miles south of the Gulf of Abba. Hedjaz belongs to the Turk, and he also grasps (not holds) Yemen, Asir, El Hasa, and Irak. All the rest of Arabia yields neither I love, Qbedience, nor tribute to the Sublime Porte. The oppressed tribes of Upper Yemen were recently crushed into submission, but do not de- * spair of future revolution. El Hassa frets like an Arab steed under the yoke of taxation, and Mecca itself dictates at times to the power behind the throne in Constantinople. t The tribes near Aden and the entire South coast, including Muscat, are in one way or other under subsidy or " pro- tection" of the English, who rule the gulf and have a voice at Busrah and Bagdad. Wide, wild Nejd bends to the iron sceptre of that greatest Arab of our day, Ibn Rasheed, the Ameer of Jebel Shommar. For the rest, nomads roam the free desert, acknowledging no sultan save their sword; they hold the parliament of war or peace in the black tents of Kedar.
Thus, within the last fifty years have the schisms of Islam, the turmoil of nomad rebellion, and the diplomacy of English commerce burst the bar- riers of the land of Ishmacl for the all-conquering son of Isaac j the very cradle of Islam is almost unveiled for the herald of the cross.
The strategic points for mission effort in Arabia must, from the nature of the case, be first on the coast, and they are six cities-Jeddah, Aden, Makallah, Muscat, Bahrein, and Busrah. Each of these has special claims as being the trade centre of a province, and each has peculiar advantages and therefore special plea for mission effort.
Says Doughty, thun whom there is no better authority on Arabia • See an article by W. B. Hllrris In Blackw(J()d"g for February, 1893. t Snouck, .. Hurgronje'a Mekl<a," Vol. I., 1888. Deserta : "All Nejd Arabia east of Teyma appertains to the Persian Gulf traffic and not to Syria j and therefore the f01·eign color of Nejd is Mesopotamian. " This statement leaves no question as to the importance of Busrah as a mission headquarters aside from the demonstration of its claim by the possibility and progress of work recently inaugurated there. Bahrein is under English protection, has a large population peculiarly friendly to foreigners, and has the largest import trade in the gulf. Mus_ cat is the key to Oman and Makallah to Hadramaiit. Aden is English, and has long since taken commercial prestige away from dead Mocha and bed-ridden Hodeida. H anywhere, then here there should be a strong evangelical mission for Europeans and natives lest the moral corruption of a Port Said be paralleled. Jiddah is the port of Mecca, and (listen again to Doughty) "Jiddah is the staple town of African slavery for the Turkish Empire-Jiddah where are .Frankish conSUlS-OR ALL THE MOSLEMIN * ARE LIARS." The italics are his own, and the statement is true.
Such is Arabia, and such are its natural gateways for good or ill. Where have missionaries been 1 Where has the Gospel entered 1 Where has it found foothold 1 Too brief is the answer, yet not without interest.
Long had the Holy Spirit of missions brooded over the face of this deep before God said: "Let there be light." Long did neglected Ara- bia wait, but the hour of her redemption is drawing nigh. Space forbids to give data and facts at length. J The British and Foreign Bible Society had sent colporteurs to Jiddah and opened a depot at Aden j the Church Missionary Society proposed a mission to the latter place, and the Baptists (English) to Jiddah about 1884. t But before these proposals were carried out Ion Keith Falconer begin his pioneer mission at Sheikh Othman (1885). Why the Scotch nobleman chose this centre for the work, what he did and suffered, and how he entered into glory, every student of missions has read in his memorials by Robert Sinker [Cambridge, 6th edition, 1890]' It is true that a Roman Catholic mission was founded at Aden in 1840, but the Keith Falconer Mission of the Free Church of Scotland was the pioneer of Protestant effort. Dr. and Mrs. Harpur came to Aden for the Church Missionary Society in 1886, afterward moved to Dhala, and again to Hodeida, but were obliged to withdraw some time later. In 1856 Rev. A. Stern had made a missionary journey to Sanaa in behalf of the Jews j an American sea captain is said to have carried Scriptures to Muscat annually on his voyages, and there may have been scattered effort before that time. We speak of organized work.
The appeal of Mackay from Uganda for a mission to the Arabs of Muscat (1889), and General Haig's report of his journeys in Southern and Eastern Arabia (1887) were two trumpet-calls to duty. Thomas V.lpy French responded to the first, and that broken box of exceeding precious … Arabia Deserta," Vol. II., pp. 167.
t See General Haig's Report in (Jl!urch Mi88iQnary Intelligencer, 1884. ointment was fragrant from Muscat to the whole missionary world. It was not what he accomplished, but what he purposed, that made the late Bishop of Lahore the Henry Martyn of Arabia. From America, though the paper of General Haig was unknown there, came the reply to the other call for the evangelization of Arabia. And it was a providential coincidence that one of the missionaries from America to Arabia journeyed with Bishop French to Aden and met General Haig with him at Suakin. The Arabian Mission was organized in 1889 ; its plan and purpose the readers of the MISSIONARY REVIEW know. At present the mission has its headquarters at Busrah and an out-station at Bahrein; in both places there is a Bible and book depot j work is openly carried on for Moslems, and we number three ordained missionaries and three native helpers. At Sheikh Othman are Rev. and Mrs. Gardner and Dr. Young, with one native helper; the mission has a dispensary and a school has been opened. At Aden is the depositary of the Hible Society, and Rev. Friedrich Grote, of the German Lutheran Church, is at present, I believe, working independently among the Bedouin of Sinai. This makes a total of seven missionaries and four native helpers for the whole of Arabia. What are these among so many ~ The most of the great doors of entrance yet unentered; the vast interior unoccnpied; and ten millions of people, WHO ARE NOT INAO- CESSIBLE, utterly neglected by the vast majority of Ohristians who believe in missions-neglected in the concert of prayer and in the consecration of men and means. If to the seed of Isaac, "to the Jew first," then surely to that other son of Abraham not last and least.
Ar.abia pleads for itself. The leadings of God's providence are the promptings of His Spirit. Must we plead with the Church not to resist the Holy Ghost 1 Darkness needs not to be further demonstrated, it mud be dispelled. Misery is its own plea. A religion of Islam without a Gethsemane can never have an Easter morning. The cross of Christ is the missing link in the Moslem's creed. Arabia pleads for men to witness for Christ; men full of faith and of the Holy Ghost; men, like James Gilmour of Mongolia, who can stoop to conquer, and who deem suffering the highest service. "Given the right men, and Arabia may be won for Christ. Start with the wrong men, and little will be accomplished." The Arab is of noble race-Anglo-Saxon of the Orient and unconquered lord of the desert. It is not hard to love him for his own sake ; it is the highest happiness to love and labor and live with him for Christ's sake. COllE OVER AND HELP us !
EVANGELICAL RUSSIA.
BY REV. P. Z. EASTON, PRINOETON, N. J.
Kiev is the holy city of the Russian land. Thither flock from all parts of the empire thousands' and tens of thousands of pilgrims. Even from the far-off Pacific shore come those who have made the long and weary journey wholly on foot. What is the secret of this wonderful attraction 1 Churches there are many and great, upon some of which have been lavished the treasures of the State, but this is true in a still higher degree of Mos- cow and even of St. Petersburg. Of wonder-working pictures and tom.bs of saints there is also here no monopoly. That which sets Kiev apart from all other cities of the Russian land, that from which it derives its peculiar glory, is tnat it is the birthplace of Russian Christianity.. There first the people, sitting in darkness, saw a great light; here lived and died the early martyrs of the faith j here first Christianity became the religion of the State. Its stately piles, its pillars, walls, and vaults, floored with gold, derive all their significance from the great deeds that have been done, the great triumphs that have been won in the first century and a half of Russian history. In vain, however, shall we seek in these ancient halls for anything corresponding with that which is here commemorated. The gold has become dim and the most fine gold changed. As with the brazen serpent, so here the memorials of Divine grace have become the instruments of superstition, and that which began in the Spirit has ended in the flesh. Nevertheless, we need not be discouraged. The new millennial of Russian history has also its signs and wonders, its manifestations of Divine power and grace, no less, perhaps more wonderful than those which marked the beginning of its history. Nor have we in this case far to go from these memorials of past triumphs. In travelling through Russia one of the things which cannot fail to strike the traveller's eye is the mean appearance which the villages uniformly present. Rows of wooden huts on either side of a wide street, one building only-the village churchgiving evidence of architectural design, is the spectacle which stands out before us. Nevertheless, these wooden huts, mean though they be in outward appearance; bare as regards what we esteem the common comforts of life, are in many cases invested with a peculiar sacredness which would justify the declaration of the patriarch, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven;" places where the presence .of the living God is realized as it was realized in the times of the apostles. Here, almost in the shadow of the stately churches of Kiev, meet together, under cover of the night, little bands of believers, peasant congregations of men anq women clad in coarse raiment, with hands hardened by toil, who have consecrated themselves to the service of God and seek to know and to do His will. Pressed under terrible persecution, shut off from all human aid, they hunger and thirst after that communion with the living God which alone can satisfy them and enable them to bear up under the load. Js it any wonder that under such circumstances the veil is rent, that men press forward, like Hezekiah, even into the inner sanctuary, that God's Word becomes no mere book, but the very oracles of God ~ Wonderful is the history of these humble Christians. Thirty years ago they were but a handful. At the time of the emancipation of the serfs less, perhaps, in number than the apostles. From that time on, the work began to spread in the same way as that recorded in the first chapter of St. John. As Andrew found Peter, and Philip, Nathanael, so, too, did these humble disciples find first one and then another, to whom they com- municated the truth. The ones became twos, and so the work went on, until in fifteen years Southern, especially Southwestern, Russia became dotted over with Stundist congregations, until in thirty years the small handful has become a mighty host, two hundred and fifty thousand strong, whose shadow, like a mighty tree, already covers the land. Such, in a word, is the history of the Stundist movement. This, however, is but one branch. Farther to the east and southeast we come upon an older body- the Molochans-which dates back nearly a hundred and fifty years. Their history, too, is much like that of the'Stundists. They, too, have come up out of great tribulation, and have held on their way despite all the efforts of the Government to crush them. Nay, both in the case of Stundist and Molochan we must acknowledge that the Government unwittingly has by its severe persecution been of essential service in deepening and strength- ening their faith, and by banishing them to the Caucasus, Turkestan, and Siberia, has done much to sow the good seed of the kingdom to the farthest limits of the empire. Turning now to the north, to the gay capital of the land, we find since 1874, even in Cresar's household, a band of devoted evangelical Christians, few in number, but not devoid of influence even in the highest circles.
How many avowed Russian evangelicals there are, leaving out all for- ei~ elements, is a difficult question to answer. There are those who estimate them by the millions. Five hundred thousand, perhaps, would come nearer the truth of the matter. This, however, while embracing all avowed evangelicals, would come far short of giving us anything like an estimate of the evangelical element, including only those who have come out of the pale of the Establishment. The Pashkoffites, the third party to which I have referred above, have not yet, I believe, formally separated themselves from the Established or State Church. Connected with them are others who have never identified themselves with the evangelical movement, but who are in such sympathy with it that they stand ready to aid it, so far as they can do so without compromising their official positions. These, . however, are but few in number, however great their political influence. Not so when we turn our eyes in another direction. The evangelical movement is emphatically a Bible movement. That is one thing which we cannot too much emphasize. We may sum it up in one word. The common people have found their long-lost Bible and are feeding upon it. It has come to them as a new revelation, and taken hold of them in an extraordinary manner, to which we can find no parallel this side of the Puritan Reformation in Eugland. There romances rob a man of his sleep; there the Word of God does the same. In a land wh~re less than a hundred years ago the Bible was so scarce that all the people for seventy miles around blew where a copy was to be found, to-day the British and Foreign Bible Society alone sells five hundred thousand copies yearly of that Word in whole or in piut, and during the past eighty years has put in circulation no less than nine million volumes of the Word of God. Not, therefore, in Southern Russia alone, or in the settlements of those banished for their faith, but everywhere throughout the Russian realm are found students of the Word, whose numbers are not to be counted by thousands but by millions. Plain, simple men for the most part, gathering together in dirty tea houses and other such places, gladly they hear the sacred Word and wonder at its gracious promises. To its influence they surrender themselves heart and soul, all unconscious that, in so doing, they are assuming a position of antagonism to anything in the Established order. Drawing their spiritual life from the Word of God, they at the same time practise all the rites and ceremonies which are imposed upon them by ecclesiastical authority. This state of things may go on for many years in case no demand is made upon them to choose one or the other side; but the entrance of God's Word giveth light. There comes a time in the experience of many when the scales fall from their eyes, and they no longer see men as trees walking, but all things clearly; and then there comes either fornal separation or, what is equivalent thereto, a consciousness that they must find the spiritual nourishment which they need outside the ecclesiastical organization with which they are connected. We see, therefore, that the evangelical influence is working as a mighty force under the whole fabric of Russian society, preparing the way for great and sudden changes, like those which transform its ice-bound rivers and snow-covered fields into flowing streams and summer verdure.
Another significant fact in this connection is that the evangelical movement is not a modern movement, but goes back to the very fountain-head of Russian, and, what is more, of Slavic Christianity, whose history dates back more than a century before the time of Vladimir. Not Vladimir, but Cyril and' Methodius, carrying the Word of God to the Slavic tribes on the Danube, are the real founders both of Slavic and of Russian Christianity. Already (900 B. c.) we find the bishopric of Russia; before 945 some, even of the nobles, are subject to the faith; 955 Queen Olga is baptized at Constantinople. Vladimir, therefore, finds Christianity already established in Russia. He, like Constantine, makes it the religion of the State, extends the field of its operations, but at the same time externalizes and corrupts it, making it that extraordinary mixture of Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism which it remains till this day, and which is the chief stumbling-block in the way of the union of the Slavic race.
We have now to call attention to a fact of even greater significance. Russian orthodoxy has held the field for nine hundred years; has, as it claims-and we may allow the claim-preserved the nation from destruc_ tion at more than one crisis in its history. Nevertheless, there is one thing which it has not done, there is one thing which it has utterly failed to do-viz., to develop and elevate the Russian people. No better system
'754 D. L. :MOODY AND IDS WORK
could have been devised to keep the people iu bondage, blind, passive instruments in the hands of arbitrary power both in Church and State j but now that a new state of things has arisen, and the call is no longer for slaves but free men, its impotence is manifest in the eyes of all men. Despised on the one hand by the revolutionary element as an antiquated superstition, on the other it is utterly unable to protect its proteges from the new temptations to which they are exposed on all sides. Where, then, shall help be found ~ The answer is not far to seek. The problem has already been solved. Even the enemies of evangelical Christianity, those who would persecute it to the death, are obliged to bear witness to the spleudid results which it has already wrought out in every sphere of human activity, regenerating, purifying, and transforming the Russian character in a marvellous manner. The idle man has become industrious j the drunkard, temperate j the licentious, chaste j the liar, truthful j the thief, honest j the dull, heavy and stupid, quick and intelligent. Family dwelling and community all bear witness to the transforming influence. Never has there been a finer illustration of the saying of our Lord: "If, therefore, the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." There is no room for argument, there is absolute demonstration that evangelical Christianity is for Russia and the Russian land, and for the whole Slavic race as well, the one progressive element which can surely lead it to the goal of all its hopes and aspirations j and, when we consider what there is to be thus transformed, even in Russia alone, that Colossus of the North, with its enormous extent of territory, its more than one hundred millions of people, its undeveloped resources, its central position as regards the double ,continent of Asia-Europe, its influence upon all surrounding peoples, how should we not lift up our hearts in prayer to God that all this power, and wealth, and influence which now is and which is to be may be consecrated to the service of God and truth, may be no longer a source of terror and dread to Western Christendom, but of joy and rejoicing. vVe live in times when days are years and years are centuries. Already along the Oriental horizon are heard the rumblings of what may prove to be the gathering of another storm of Oriental fanaticism and fury more destructive than any which have preceded. Laugh if we will, yet nevertheless it is the fact that the Orient still believes that it is called to be the spiritual ruler of the world. Well would it be for Christendom if, in such a case, the mad fanaticism of the Dervish hordes of the East should find in a regenerated Russia a bulwark against which it would beat in vain.
D. L. MOODY AND HIS WORK.
BY REV. A. J. GORDON, D.D.
God chooses His own workers, and the prerogative of selecting them He never puts out of His own hands. While Moses is busy in getting the seventy appointed in the tabernacle, suddenly Eldad and Medad begin to prophesy in the camp. Thus, outside of ordination and beyond the cleri- cal inclosure, the voice of the Lord makes itself heard and Joshua protests in vain. So it is constantly under the old and new covenant alike-God puts His Spirit on whom He will and none can resist Him-.
Though Dwight L. Moody has been set apart by no council and has received no laying on of consecrating hands, he has yet exhibited such signs of an apostle that the whole Church of God has heard him gladly. How he began his Christian life and how he advanced step by step from the humblest to the highest Christian servIce is too well known to need rehearsing. Coming to Boston from his country home in Northfield to find employment, he was himself found by the Lord, and under the ministry of that gracious man of God, Dr. E. N. Kirk, he entered on his membership in the Christian Church. He was educated for the ministry by ministering in all ways and in all times to those needing help. We have heard him tell of his resolve, early made and persistently carried out, of allowing no day to pass without urging upon some soul the claims of Christ. Thus he learned to preach to the hundreds l>y preaching to the one. And no doubt much of the directness and point of his style is due to this habit of personal dealing WIth souls. In preaching it is easier to harangue a multitude than to hit a man. But he who knows how to do the latter has the highest qualification for doing the former. The personal preaching that has a "Thou art the man" at the point of every sermon needs only to be multiplied by one hundred or one thousand to become popular preaching of the best sort. This is the style of the eminent evangelist. ~ He deals with the personal conscience in the plaincst and most pungent Saxon, so that the common people Mar him gladly and the uncommon people do not fail to give him their ears. ;·.i Yet his power does not lie altogether in his words, but quite as much in his administrative energy. Robert Hall was a preacher of transcendent ,genius, often producing an impression upon his hearers quite unmatched. in the history of pulpit oratory. Yet the results of his ministry were comparatively meagre; he was a great preacher but not a great doer. On the contrary, John Wesley, by no means Hall's equal as a pulpit orator, because of his extraordinary executive gifts moved a whole generation with a new religious impulse. In like manner Spurgeon, by yoking a rare preaching talent with a not less remarkable working talent, and keeping the two constantly abreast, accomplished a ministry which for largeness of results and extent of influence has possibly no equal in recent centuries.
Mr. Moody is not an ordained minister, but he is more fortunate in being a preordained worker, as well as a foreordained preacher. A genius for bringing things to pass, a talent for organizing campaigns on a large scale, selecting co-workers with singular wisdom and placing them in the most advantageous positions-this is the notable thing which appears in the character and career of the evangelist. "The governor" is the name which we. constantly heard applied to the late pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, as he moved about among his congregation in London, a few years ago. The American evangelist easily wins for himself the title of "the general" among his fellow-laborers in the Gospel. He manages the campaign, not imperiously, mdeed, but with such Napoleonic command of the situation and such mastery of resources that all his co-laborers rejoice to yield him the pre-eminence.
We venture to say, indeed, that anyone who has been much at his headquarters will find here the greatest occasion for admiration. The number and extent of religious enterprises which he can keep in hand at once, the thoroughness with which he can command every detail, the inspiration and cheer which he can put into a great army of workers gathered about him-this we have observed with a surprise that increases every year.
And with all this there is another talent which we have learned to value more and more in public men-a grand talent for silence. It is a rare thing for one to be as effective in saying nothing as he is in speaking. When a friend of Von Moltke was asked the secret of that great general's success in managing men, he replied. " He knew how to hold his tongue in seven different languages." Blessed is the man who can refrain his lips from speaking injudiciously, and his mouth that it utter no hasty word. In dealing with co-laborers endowed with all sorts ,and sizes of tempers this is an indispensable requirement. To push on the work steadily meantime, giving offense to none and holding the forces in order and harmony, is a great achivement. It requires a wise silence as well as a positive utterance to do this successfully.
A mightily energetic man is here and a singularly prudent man, one who generates great force by his preaching and his personality, but who knows at the same time how to prevent hot boxes on his train of religious enterprises by avoiding friction, which imprudent speech always genders.
And versatility, as well as ability, is here supremely manifest. The evangelistic campaigns executed in Great Britain in three several periods and those carried on in various parts of America through many years would seem quite enough to tax the utmost energy of the evangelist. But as a kind of recreation and by-work he has planted and developed his schools, with some 700 boys and girls, at Mt. Hermon and at Northfield on either side of the Connecticut River. The educational opportunity which these schools afford, especially to those of limited means, and the religious spirit with which they inspire those coming to their instruction, make them a worthy life work for any man, but they are only a part of a combined and interrelated evangelical enterprise.
Weare writing this sketch from the Bible Institute in Chicago, originated and carried on for training Christian workers of all kinds and grades. " Is Moody among the educators 1" is the question we remember to have heard asked, with not a little incredulity, when this enterprise was begun. But a month's residence in the school and the daily lecturing to the classes has brought a real surprise. There are plain men-farmers, mechanics, and clerks-who have come to get what preparation they may for doing evangelistic service amid the vast destitution of the great West. By coupling daily study with daily practice in connection with large systems of city missions centering in the institute they get an admirable fitting for their work. But what has especially struck us has been the discovery of another class in this unique school. Ve have found theological students from many of the seminaries, college graduates and men with university degrees attending the biblical lectures and getting the experience in Chris- tian work which the institute affords. Ordained ministers, too, and mis- sionaries not a few from the foreign field are in attendance on the instruc- tion and mingling in the daily evangelistic toil. So that really, without intending it, Mr. Moody's Bible Institute is supplying a post-graduate course to many candidates for the regular ministry.
A man's work often furnishes the best character sketch of himself which can possibly be drawn. We therefore give an outline of Mr. Moody's summer campaign in Chicago as a kind of full-length portrait of the evangelist himself. Let the reader be reminded that it is· in the months of July and August, when many city pastors are summering, that this recreation scheme of Mr. Moody's is carried on after his hard year's campaign in England arid America.
Four of the largllst churches in different parts of the city are held for Sunday evenings and various week-evening services. Two theatres, the Empire and the Haymarket, located in crowded centres, are open on Sun- days and the former on every week night, and they are not infrequently filled to their utmost capacity while the Gospel is preached and sung. Five tents are pitched in localities where the unprivileged and non-churchgoing multitudes live. In these services are held nightly, and as we have visited them we have found them always filled with such, for the most part, as do not attend any place of Protestant worship. A hall in the heart of the city is kept open night after night, the services continuing far on to the morning hours, while earnest workers are busily fishing within and without for drunkards and harlots. Two gospel wagons are moving about dispensing the Word of Life to such as may be induced to stop and listen, and the workers estimate that a thousand or more are thus reached daily of those who would not enter a church or mission hall.
Daily lectures are given at the institute for the instruction in the Bible of the students, Christian workers, ministers, missionaries and others who wish to attend. The large hall in which these lectures are given, seating comfortably 350, is always filled. During July there were 38 preachers, evangelists and singers and other agents co-operating in the work, and their labors are supplemented by an endless variety of house-to-house and highway and hedge effort by the 250 students in residence in the institute. ~",'h, "We shall beat the World's Fair," said Mr. Moody, good naturedly, as .we arrived on the ground. With malice toward none and charity toward all, this is what he set out to do-viz., to furnish such gospel attractions, by supplementing the churches and co-operating with them, that the multitudes visiting the city might be kept in attendance on religious services on Sunday instead of attending the fair. So it has been. Mr. Moody estimates that from thirty to forty thousand people have been reached by his special Sunday evangelistic services. This with the six days' services foots up about one hundred thousand brought weekly within reach of the Gospel. The World's Fair has been closed on Sunday for want of attendance, but the religious services are daily growing. Every good opening for the Gospel is readily seized. When Forepaugh's great circus tent had been set up in the city Mr. Moody tried to secure it for Sunday. He was granted the use of it for a Sabbath morning service, but as the manager expected Sunday in Chicago to be a great harvest day he reserved the tent on the afternoon and evening for his own performances. Fifteen thousand people came to hear the simple Gospel preached and sung at the morning service. The circus, however, was so poorly attended in the afternoon and evening that Sunday exhibitions were soon abandoned. More than that, the manager said he had never been in the habit of giving performances on Sunday and should Rot attempt it again; and he offered, if Mr. Moody would appoint an evangelist to travel with him, to open his tent thereafter on Sundays for gospel meetings and be responsible for all expenses.
It was the same with the theatres. At first they declined to allow religious services on Sunday. Their performances on that day not having proved as successful as they anticipated, now Mr. Moody can hire almost anyone which he wishes to secure.
Eulogy and biographical encomiums upon living men are undesirable, and the writer has risked the displeasure of his· friend in putting so much into print concerning him. But we may hope that what we have written will awaken serious reflection in the minds of ministers and laymen alike concerning the problem of summer work and summer success for the Gospel in our great cities.
We may also hope that a stronger faith in the Divine administration and mighty efficiency of the Holy Ghost may be hereby inspired. We have no idea that the large and extensive religious enterprises which we havp, been describIng are due alone to the superior natural endowments of the evangelist. For years in his meetings and conferences we have heard him emphasize the presence and power of the Holy Ghost in the worker as the one and indispensable condition of success. It must be that where the Spirit has been so constantly recognized and honored He has been doing invisibly and irresistibly much of the great work which human judg- ment attributes to the man who is the chosen agent. * * In view of the permanent valne of this article, the editor has ventured to reprint It from PM Congrega6ionalist.
189S·1 A SUHMER TOUlt IN ASIA MINOR. '7119
A SUMMER TOUR IN ASIA MINOR.
Rev. H. S. Jenanyan wrote from Tarsous, Asia Minor, in October, 1892, giving a brief account of a tour in Cilicia and Cappadocia, covering a month's time. He says: Yerebakan is the place where I was sent as a preacher when only nine- teen years old, and the blessing of the Lord upon us bound me very closely to the people. At this time they were busy in their harvest fields, yet our daily evening services were fully attended, and even by Moslems. A Mohammedan who was working for a Protestant came first; next day he brought his wife ; and now the husband speaks of repentance and brings others to the services. One evening, the first to arrive at the place of meeting was our Moslem friend, who had just come direct from the field, sickle in hand, but on the way called three other Moslems from the housetop, who followed him. It was a great marvel to see how this man remembered the sermons and repeated them during the day to others in the harvest field, and through his instrumentality over forty Moslems came to the services, many of them repeatedly, and the truth made a great impression on the whole village. The little church of thirty-two communicants received a new impulse. At one communion service nearly three hundred were present j fourteen new members were added on confession of faith, and others are expected. Here our student, Samuel, is helping the Sunday-school and working with young people. The people would gladly take him for their preacher if we could spare him.
Several years ago, at the time of our previous visit, it was hard for a man to call himself Protestant in this village; there was great hostility, and they were and are notoriously immoral. At first we did not know where to go ; but hearing of our arrival, three families invited us to be their guests. 1Ve went to the house of one of our students named Krecor.
– out thirty gathered there, and after preaching they eagerly demanded e one to be their preacher and teacher, as no missionary work had ever been done there. The place is quite important, as the Government barracJrs are there.
At Hadjin, an old station of the American Board, there is an active church and pastor. The daily services were well attended, though many came in tired from their work. The meetings for children and young people were full of blessing. There was not much outward excitement, yet the truth sank deep in many hearts. Instead of the usual twenty or thirty for week-day services, some two hundred to four hundred came.
Shar had great historical importance as ancient Comona. It was perhaps a city of heathen temples, as shown by ruins, and now contains about one hundred and fifty Armenian houses. Here a sudden attack of pneumonia prostrated me one Sunday, and the nearest physician was five or six days' distant, and only simple village remedies could be found and applied. It was an anxious time for us all, yet God heard prayers and sent His healing touch to me. After recovery I was able to hold a few services. The next Sunday was a memorable day for us all. Many were impressed by their immediate need of salvation. There were earnest inquirers; fortyone men and thirty-five women offered prayers for themselves; the Holy Spirit no doubt led many to decide upon a new life.
In Azizie we spent nine days. It is a new city largely inhabited by Circassians, having about one hundred and fifty Armenian and Greek families. Our daily services were well attended, most of the hearers being non-Protestant. To the inquiry meetings many came, making public . confession of their needs and deciding for Jesus. The zeal of the pastor and his wife was marked j and we noticed very bright and interesting women among the hearers. In some prayer-meetings several Gregorian Armenian men and women earnestly prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
At Sivas, the capital of a large province with about sixty thousand inhabitants, notwithstanding the years of missionary effort, evangelical work has made slow progress. Some years since an Armenian Baptist coming here immersed many old Protestants, and started a new branch, thus almost equally dividing the thirty Protestant families. Would it not be better for a new denomination to begin work in unoccupied cities 1 For three weeks we had daily services in the Protestant chapel, which holds about 500 j every night the increasing congregation made the place more uncomfortable, and one Sabbath morning, while the church-building was filled to overflowing, I gave notice that a second preaching service would follow the first, for the hundreds waiting outside j the church was again filled j four fifths of these people were Gregorians, and there was real interest manifested. There was so much interest in the inqniry meetings that it was often eleven o'clock before closing. Whenever the people were invited to call for personal conversation I was overwhelmed by the members coming, their questions often being, "'What shall I do to be saved 1" " Can I, such a great sinner, be saved 1" "How can I be a better Christian 1" "How can I fulfil my responsibility to others 1" etc. We could expect such feelings from enlightened Protestants, but these were mostly new-comers. We had seasons of spiritual baptism, and such prayer-meetings that sect and sex were alike forgotten, and all unitedly poured out their hearts for Divine blessing j at times from forty to sixty men and women taking part.
The stay in Gemerek, though brief, was full of encouragements. Sabbath morning the congregation of men was so large we were obliged to appoint a special women's service-over six hundred men present j at noon about five hundred women crowded the church, with over one hundred men outside listening.
In this tour I preached seventy-five times, held forty-three inquiry and prayer-meetings: about seventy-eight hundred new persons heard the Word, four fifths of them being non-Protestants.
BUDDHIST PICTORIAL WHEEL' OF LIFE.-The wheel of life or cycle of existence is one of the most familiar frescoes that adorn the interior of Lamaic temples. It depicts in symbolical and realistic form the fundamental doctrine of metempsychosis. It consists of a large disk with two concentric circles, the circular form symbolizing the ceaseless round of worldly existence. The disk is held in the clutches of a monster who typifies the passionate clinging of worldly people to worldly matter. In the centre are symbolized the three Original Sins, and round the margin is the twelve-linked chain of causes of Re-birth, while the remainder of the disk is divided by radii into six compartments representing the six regions of Re-birth. In the upper part of the region representing hell is the Bardo, or state intermediate between death and the great judgment. Outside the disk, in the upper right-hand corner, is a figure of Buddha pointing to the moon (with a hare in it), and in the left-hand corner, a figure of Chenresl (Sanskrit, Avalokita), the patron god of Thibet incarnated in the Dalai Lama.-Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, March 25th.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT. '761
II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY MV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.
Education as a Missionary Agency. So far as education may be the work BY REV. ANDREW DOWSLEY, MISSION- of the missionary, it is secondary to ARY, INDIA·CHINA. that of, evangelization. The order is, first to evangelize and then to teach, That education is a missionary agency not vice versa. There should be good is asserted by some and denied by schools and colleges in connection with others. The dispute in reality is not all our missions, at least in India, and regarding the place and value of mis- in order that they shall be in a flourish- sion schools and colleges in missionary ing condition, there should be' good work, but regarding the place and sound teaching in them.
value of education or of institutions The eminent founder of mission where the objeqt in view is the educa- schools and colleges has, without proof, tion of the pupils. The former class been claimed as the founder of educa- rank as no unimportant missionary tional missions. Dr. Duff, however, agency, while with regard to the latter knew better than to put the" cart be- class grave doubts exist in the minds of fore the horse." What was the agency some as to their being entitled to be adopted by that great missionary fa- ranked at all as such. The command ther? In his mission field he was anx- and instructions of our Lord leave no ious to reach the youth of the better doubt as to the work of the Christian classes with the Gospel. He saw and missionary-it is not to educate the embraced his opportunity. They heathen in secular knowledge, but to wanted an education embracing Eng- do the work of an evangelist. It will, lish, so the missionary proceeded to however, be said that education is a open a school, saying to the Brahman means to that end, in as far as it gath- youth that he would give them as good ers and keeps students in mission an education as they would get in the schools and colleges, and thereby af- best seminaries in Europe, but that they fords the missionary an opportunity to must allow him to preach the Gospel reach them with the Gospel. That is to them. They accepted the conditions, quite correct, and is the reason why we took the offered education, and risked have mission schools. But if educa· the religion. What was the result?
tion, as sometimes happens, usurps the The Word of God grew, and souls were first place, so that the legitimate work converted. The missionary, while he of the missionary is in any way hin- gave the promised education, forgot dered, then it is an evil, and means not the real design of the school-viz., should forthwith be used to correct the to lead the pupils to Jesus.
same. It should be borne in mind Had this object never been lost sight that, although education is an element of there would not be any reason to-day in evangelization, yet evangelization is to turn our attention to this subject, not an element in education, just as nor would we hear of heathen students .. knowledge is an element of faith, declaring that they did not understand while faith, in its distinctive sense, is that the object in view was evangeliza- not an element of knowledge." The tion.
drawback and trouble regarding edu- It was, we believe, subsequent to the cational work in connection with Chris- rise of the uni versities in India that edu- tian missions has arisen, we believe, cation came to be looked upon by some through reversing the position assigned missionaries as a missionary agency.
to it originally in connection with mis· The Indian Government undertook to sionary work. provide education for India in government schools and colleges, and byaid- missionaries-Duff, Wilson. and An- ing educational work carried on in na- derson-were engaged in that kind of tive and in mission schools and colleges. work in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras?
Educational work in mission institu- They belonged to the class whose duty tions, receiving government aid, came and work is to seek for souls, be it in in consequence under government in- school, bazaar, or hospital, in order to spection. lead them to Jesus their Redeemer.
In the government institutions the Now it may be said in reply that that object in view is, of course, education. is all well enough, but is that not the Teachers and professors are there for object in view in all our missionary in- that purpose. Iu mission institutions, stitutions? Yes, it may be said in an- on the other hand, while the educa- swer, in all mi88ion institutions, but not tional work is faithfully attended to, in mere schools and colleges under the the object in view is the evangelization control of missions, supported by mis- of the heathen. Missionaries are there sion funds, and having missionaries as for that purpose, to the end that souls teachers and professors. Some think may be won for J csus. that there is too much reason to fear Gradually a keen competition be- that there are such schools and colleges tween schools and colleges, govern- in the mission field. Now between two ment and missionary, came to be mani- such classes of institutions there is a fested, particularly iu the efforts put great and wide gulf. The object in forth to pass students at the university view in the one is evangelization. while examinations. The educational work in the other it is apparently education.
in missionary institutions tended to Although education is not a mission- overshadow the religious. Missionaries ary agency, yet mission schools and connected therewith gradually came to colleges are entitled to be classed among be designated principals, teachers, or the best and most valuable agencies we professors. Missionaries found them- have, by and through which to reach selves at times hampered by reason of large numbers of the people of India being engaged in what was well-nigh with the Gospel.
purely secular work. Let us, then, take good care that they The institutions wherein education shall grow and develop as such. Let seemed to have gained an undue place all missions have their missionary insti- flourished, but gradually there came a tutions, not only for the education of dearth as regards spiritual results. No Christians, but also as a way and means wonder, when it is borne in mind that through which to preach Christ to questions in grammar and construction those who know Him not. It is far could be asked in the Bible hour, and better to have a real missionary institu· that even that hour itself could be tion, where work for the Master can be omitted under the plea of pressure of carried on, than to have an institution work in preparing the students for their with dOUble the number in attendance forthcoming examinations. and unnecessary drawbacks to evange- As time went on missionaries con- listic work.
nected with missionary institutions The missionaries connected with mis- came to be called and to call themselves sion institutions should not have their educational missionaries, or simply edu- whole time occupied in imparting secu- cationalists, and their work educational lar instruction. For the sake of getting work. and keeping a hold on the students, it In fact, it has been claimed, on be- would be well for them to give instruc- half of the so-called educational mis- tion in some secular branches. but not sionaries, that they are preparing the more than half of their time should be way for the evangelistic mISSIOnary. so occupied. The other half should be Is it to be believed that those great devoted to evangelistic work among the students in and out of school Method in Missions-An Irenio Survey. hours. It is, of course, a gain if the missionary, by giving one or two hours BY REV. JAMES S. DENNIS, D.D., BEIRUT, a day to secular work, can gaiu thereby two or three hours for evangelistic * SYRIA. work. The problem of method has given oc- It should, of course, be seen to that casion for prolonged and earnest disdevotional exercises are held daily not cussion, and has developed some cononly at the opening, but also in the sitierablc diversity of opinion among afternoon at the close of the day's work in the institution, and that these exer- the friends of missions. The promicises should never be allowed to become merely of a routine nature, but nent methods of conducting mission should always be conducted with an earnest desire and prayer for the quick- work may be included under five diviening influence of the Holy Spirit. There is a need be for the foregoing sions-the evangelistic, the eadnudcatthioenianl~ caution. the literary, the medical, Missionaries in India should not be dustria!. It should be noted carefully classed as evangelistic and educational missionaries. They are all one in aim here that this classification of methods and purpose. They are all evangelistic mUisionaries. Of course it is possible is with reference to the instrumentality for a missionary to go astray, or to have his ideas warped, or 0 turn aside rather than the aim proposed. The from being a missionary to become evangelistic method must not be remerely an educationalist in a school or college. garded as monopolizing the evangelistic aim, which should itself pervade all the The opposition on the part of not a few missionaries to "educational mis· other methods. In fact, it is the aim sions" is not, we believe, opposition to mission schools or even mission col- which should be the guiding and con· leges when the object in view, morning, noon, and night, is the salvation of trolling element in all missionary oper· souls; and there are such institutions in ations, and the absence of a Christian India. All schools and colleges connected with and controlled by mis- purpose and an evangelistic spirit in sions should be so many ways and any or these methods would be fatal to means of reaching the people with the Gospel. their usefulness as a true missionary What is needed in the mission field agency. On the other hand, so long among the heathen is not educationalists with schools using up mission funds haseatrht ecognovaelrsiiosn,Cahnrdistsiapniritiunasltreudcitfiiocna~ provided for the work of evangelization, bnt missionaries with mission tion, we will find in each of these methachoo18, doing therein and in connection therewith faithful work, along the lines ods a way of approach to this goal, and laid down by the great Master, whose commissioned servants they are, to each method will be useful in its own bear His name unto the ends of the earth, to the end that all peoples, na- way and place. Evangelistic preachtions, kindreds, and tongues may praise Him. ing is addressed chiefly to adult minds assembled for religious worship. Edu- cational teaching is addressed to the young, and may be made a most hope- ful and blessed instrument for bringing them early into the kingdom. Literary work is addressed to a more general constituency, and through the Bible * Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D., of Beirut, Syria, delivered a course of Lectures on Missions at Priuceton Theological Seminary early in 1893, which are about to appear in book form under the title of "Foreign Mission! After a Centnry." At onr reqnest the author furnishes us proof-sheets of parts of the VOlume, from which we select, by permission, this article. The lectures cover a large variety of " Present- Day Problems of Theory and Practice in Mis- sions." We will make other mention of it at an early date.-J. T. G. and religious books and tracts a far- one, and in the interest of practical reaching and powerful influence may Ohristianity. be exerted. Medical ministry reaches those in suffering and weakness, and The supreme purpose of missions is through it the Gospel of spiritual heal- to disseminate the Gospel and teach ing may be brought into close and vital men the way of life and obedience, and touch with the soul. Industrial agen- in the carrying out of this purpose the cies are useful where it is desirable to preaching of the Gospel is a method give practical education in the arts of which has been divinely ordered and labor, united with religious influences divinely blessed, and it must never be and instruction. underestimated or ignored; but preach- ing is manifestly not the only method It will be noted that the method is of reaching the conscience, instructing nothing if it is not dominated by the the mind, and moving the heart. It is spiritual aim. Evangelistic agencies not recognized as such here in our own may be formal and perfunctory; edu- land, where Ohristian instruction in cational agencies may be merely secu- Sabbath·schools and day schools and in lar; literary efforts may be subservient private classes is recognized and used, to mere intellectual culture; medical and where Ohristian literature has such work may be merely philanthropic; in- a wide, salutary, and beneficent infludustrial schools may have no higher ence, and where medical ministry is a mission than mere manual training. recognized department of Ohristian Under any of these conditions the dis- work. Why, then, should not these tinctively missionary character of these methods be sanctioned and approved in methods has been forfeited. the foreign mission fields? Education is important there, that the school may The discussion of this subject has be recognized and adopted as a religbeen marked by considerable misunder- ious rather than a secular institution; standing and misconception. The ex- that the Bible and the whole system of alted and exclusive place which some biblical truth may be brought into con· have been inclined to give to the preach- tact with young minds; that the seed ing of the Gospel, or the oral proclama- may be sown in the best soil ; that the tion and exposition of Divine truth be- influence of a heathen atmosphere and fore an audience, has been based largely the temptations of heathen surroundupon a mistaken conception of the ings may be anticipated by preliminary availability and usefulness of other training; that the spiritual nature may methods to accomplish precisely the be fortified against the assaults of Sasame end as that which the preacher of tan; that enlightened and educated the Gospel has in view-namely, the natives may be trained for mission serspiritual guidance and edificatiou of vice. It is a mistake even to limit the the soul. Under the impression that educational efforts of missions to the evangelism was neglected in the sphere children of native converts, as has of educational, literary, and medical sometimes been advocated, since our service, many zealous friends of mis- schools are often most efficient and valsions have advocated the exclusive uable agencies for rescuing heathen claim of strict evangelistic agencies to children from heathenism. It seems be ranked as the legitimate missionary hardly necessary to say that this plea method. A wiser and more discrimi- for education as a missionary method nating opinion is now almost univer- involves no exclusive or paramount sally accepted, and all these agencies claim of usefulness, and that it is a are recognized as having a useful func- plea for Ohristian education in distinction and a legitimate place in missions, tion from secular, and implies the emwith this important and vital provision ployment of Ohristian rather than heath- -namely, that the purpose should be en teachers. It is, in fact, simply an always and predominantly a spiritual extension of the whole idea of the Sab- start in a career of self-respecting use- bath-school in our home church to the fulness, with the Gospel planted in needs of our foreign mission field. The their hearts.
fact that the school is conducted every If we were called upon to place the day of the week, and that branches of emphasis upon anyone of these meth- secular education are taught in it, does ods, or to select one to the exclusion of not necessarily destroy its religious in- others, we could not hesitate to regard fluence and power, or interfere with its the preaching of the Gospel as entitled evangelistic purpose. to the supremacy; but where all these The same line of argument, did time methods are available and useful, there permit, might be pursued in connection is no necessity of confining our mis- with literary work. In this age of the sionary operations to any one. We world, when Christian missions enter a should rather make the best use of foreign field to carry the Gospel, it is them all by preaching, teaching, print- almost an inexcusable oversight to ig- ing, and living the one Gospel of truth nore the power of the press and the in- and light and knowledge and service.
fluence of literature. One of the first We may use all these methods as differ- steps.of a true missionary campaign is ent ways of drawing, attracting, win- the translation and distribution of the ning, persuading, helping, and compel- printed Bible, and this must be followed ling souls to come into the kingdom of by the creation of a Christian literature our Lord. Possibly different fields may in all its departments. Under the cir- call for different degrees of emphasis cumstances in which our missions are and prominence in the case of some one working, to neglect education and liter- of these methods of influence. It has ature is almost equivalent to acknowl- been found, for example, that medical edging that Christianity has no mes- work has been especially useful in sage to the human mind. Good service China, and educational work is just also has been done of late in several now at a premium among the low-caste mission fields by the use of the magic children of India and in the Turkish lantern as a popular method of educa- Empire. Could Christian missions tion. Sacred scenes upon the canvas have the opportunity to educate a gen- can be made the text for much Gospel eration of Moslem children, it would be instruction. a telling blow against the giant system The place of medical work, if done of Islam. Possibly the same field at a with Christian sympathy and tact, and certain stage of missionary effort may followed up with Christian instruction, indicate one method as more promising is vindicated both by the example of than another. Possibly the circum- Christ and by all experience. In the stances may be such in certain fields hands of lady physicians it is at present that some one of these methods may be practically the only method of reach- allowed to lapse so far as the foreign ing the women in many heathen com- missionary is concerned, because the munities. natives themselves are prepared to as- AI!, regards Industrial schools, they sume the responsibility in a satisfactory are, of course, limited to a narrow range way. However this may be, it has of missionary effort, but in some por- been, and is still, the almost universal tions of Africa, among simple and ig- practice of Christian missions to avail norant people, they have been found themselves of these various methods, eminently helpful in giving a direction and to make all subservient to the one to life, and opening up a sphere of use- great aim; and we cannot but believe fulness at the same time that they afford that it would have been a misguided an opportunity for religious instruction. policy, involving a disastrous mistake, They seem to rescue young lives from to have conducted our Protestant mis- inanity and Idleness, and give them a sions with special reference only to the needs of those adnlts who could be " On August 8th, 1892, the judge of, gathered together to listen to the preach- the Comarca of Setubal sent out a war- ing of the Gospel, and so ignore the rant for my arrest.
needs of the children, disregard the " After preaching the Gospel for two claims of the suffering, and fail to con- days at S<ltubal, I was on that day ap- sider the intellectual needs of the peo- proaching the station to take my train ple. And while it is true that in some to Lisbon, when the warrant was served sense all these methods may fail unless on me, and I was taken to jail.
they are inspired with the right aim " A few hours later I was conducted and receive the Divine blessing, it is, to court before the judge and the dele- on the other hand, true that in a very gate, who asked me, 'Do you know vital and precious sense they may all for what reason you were arrested?'
succeed if they are faithful to the su- , Yes,' I replied; 'for preaching the preme purpose, and conducted in a way Gospel.'
to secure the Divine recognition. "Then the accusation was read to me, and aftcr a few remarks I was The Gospel in Setubal, Portugal. asked what I had to say in my defence. BY HELl CHATELAIN, LATE U. S. CON- I replied that, without intending t.o,of. fend anybody, I had only made use of SULAR AGENT, LOANDA. a right given me by Article 145 of the In THE MISSIONARY REVIEW for Constitution, and especially by Matt.
May, p. 369, mention is made of a 28 : 19, 20 and Acts 4: 12, which I hopeful awakening at Setubal, South- read, and which the clerk took down.
ern Portugal, under the faithful minis- As to the dogmas of the Catholic tration of Rev. Manuel S. Carvalho. Church, I asked the judge and the dele- The opposition of the priests has con- gate to please point out which ones I tinued, but hitherto without success. had offended. They answered they In a letter just received, Senhor Car- could not tell, as they had never had valho says: time to study the Bible, and therefore " Soon after opening our Gospel hall knew nothing about it. At this I ex- the administrator of Sctubal ordered me pressed my sincere regret.
to close it, threatening me with legal " Then they tried in vain to intimi, proceedings in case I should not com- date me, as also to separate me from ply. This I refused to do, basing my the other prisoners. To these, about refusal on Article 145 of the National thirty in number, I again preached the Constitution. Gospel, as I had done two days pre- "While I was ministering to the vious, not knowing that I should so church at Portalegre, which is still de- soon be their fellow-prisoner.
prived of a pastor, I sent a brother to " Among them was a man who want- substitute me in 8etubal, and he was ed to commit suicide. On hearing the repeatedly advised that legal proceed- Word of God he promised not to think ings were instituted against me. any more of that. When, two days "On March 29th, 1892, two priests, later, I was released under bail, the with three women as witnesses, lodged other prisoners declared their accept, 11 complaint against me, demanding my ance of the Gospel, and I blessed the arrest for 'trying to propagate doc- Lord for enabling me to be His witness trines opposed to the Catholic dogmas among them.
as defined by the Church, and to con- " On December 18th Mr. Wright and vert people to the Protestant religion I preached the Gospel to a great con- by addressing them and distributing course of people and visited the jail, books and leaflets, which facts are pun- where I had left some leaflets. 'fhe ishable according to Article 130 of the prisoners said the priests had told them Penal Code.' that next Sunday they would drag them to mass by their ears; but that " • 6. That the Bible is the common when the Sunday came only two of the property of all mankind. and must be thirty·six prisoners consented to hear read or heard by every Christian, readthe Latin mass. Then a row had taken ing the very words of Father A.ntonio place between the priests and the pris- Pereira de Figueiredo in his preface to oners, the latter declaring that they the Authorized Version of the Bible. wanted tohear God's Word in their own language. T~ey listened with rapt at- " • 7. That the books called apocry· tention to the preaching of Mr. Wright. phal by St. Jerome do not properly be- long to the canon of the Bible.' " One year after the opening of our hall, on January 1st, 1893, eighteen per- .. Not a word was whispered while sons, in spite of the persecution, made all those passages were read. a public confession of their faith and were baptized. Three other converts •. The two priests, my accusers and could not attend because of sickness. my witnesses, being questioned by The audience which crowded the hall the judge and the delegate, confessed declared its willingness to follow Jesus that they had never heard me speak in whatever might befall, and twenty-two the meetings, but had been informed took part in the Lord's Supper which that I made salvation dependent only followed. on a full trust in God. They also owned that they could not specify "In the judgment of my case, which against which of the dogmas of the took place on February 9th, the Lord Church I had spokcn ; but that, being was pleased to give the victory to our a Protestant, I must needs have preachcause, and it was hailed by a crowd of ed heresies. people, more than one thousand persons being in ilie court hall. "Thereupon the judge declared me non·guilty, and the delegate forthwith "When I was asked to get a lawyer appealed to the higher court of the and to produce my witnesses, I an- Rela<;ao. Fortunately the latter only swered that my lawyer was in my hand, confirmed the sentence, praising the showing the Bible, and that my ac- impartiality of the judge. cusers would be my witnesses. As soon as I was asked to speak, I laid on the •. A. last appeal has belon made to the table a copy of our Bible and one of Supreme Corrt. the authorized Catholic version, and demanded a proof that our Bible is gar- " On April 8th we performed the first bled. As nobody would take the trouble evangelical marriage at Setubal; and to prove that, I proceeded to show, by on May 1st we opcned there an evanquotations from the authorized Catho- gelical school for poor children, fifteen lic version: registering on that day.
" , 1. That it was my duty to make " Another school has been opened at the Gospel known in Setubal, as some Portalegre by the Robinson family. of its inhabitants had asked me to do so (Matt. 28: 18-20; 1tiark 16 : 14, 15). "Allover the interior of Portugal which I have visited the doors are wide … 2. That religion is not a business open for the Gospel-but where are the workers to enter in ? (Matt. 10 : 8). " • 3. That Coosar can only claim "Brother Santos e Silva, of our church in Lisbon, first a pupil and then the what is Coosar's (Luke 20 : 25). leader of our Bible-class, is now at San " '4. That if my crime was purely Miguel (Azores), ministering to the church of that place. of a religious nature, its judgment did not pertain to Coosar's tribunal (Matt. .. The Jesuits have been trying hard 18: 15-17). to have their schools officially recog- nized, and they would have reached " • 5. That Christ is the corner-stone their end had not the Liberal members of the Church (Matt. 16 : 18). of Parliament strenuously protested.
" Weare preparing to ask the representative Rodrigues de Freitas, on be· of distributing Christian literature to half of the -non-Catholic churches of the heathen.
Portugal and the islands, to propose an The Rev. Professor Whitley addressamendment of Article 130 of the Penal ed the meeting on the influence which Code, so as to make it agree with the the home, the school, and the college Constitution, which promises freedom' exercised on missionary candidates, and'
of conscience and speech. urged that the providing of missionary "Owing to lack of means we are books, the constant reference of mis- obliged to suspend the publication of sionary labors, and the acquaintance of Voz do E1Jangelho." missionaries would do much to arouse a practical interest in mission work on the part of the children at home, the The First Missionary Oonference in Aus- boys at school, and the students at col- tralia. lege.
The first missionary conference ever Two gentlemen discussed the relation held in Australasia convened in Mel. of the Christian Endeavor movement bourne in June last. Sixty-four ad- to foreign missions.
dresses were delivered. Nineteen mis- Rev. S. Chapman told the story of sionary societies were represented. the introduction of Christianity into Many who are or had been missionaries China, alluding to its commencement took part in the proceedings. Rev. A. by the Nestorians eight centuries ago.
Hardie gave a detailed account of the Rev. Dr. Steele, our highly esteemed extent of missionary enterprise in Aus- corresponding editor for that quarter tralia, and Rev. M. Dyson argued that of the globe, is pastor of St. Stephen's the present time was specially favor- Church, Sydney, and has been promi able for advanced effort. The vener- nent in all the ecclesiastical movements able Dean of Melbourne showed the under the Southern Cross, Moderator state of the heathen world at the time of the Federal (Presbyterian) Assembly, of Christ's coming. He facetiously re- a voluminous author, and an extensive marked that personally he had not taken traveller. Of course he was responsi- much interest in missions prior to 1823. bly active in this Conference. He spoke Rev. W. T. Kelland spoke of the pres- on the work of missions in the South ent religious condition of the world. Seas, and showed how wonderful had Rev. D. M. Berry showed that the no· been the results in these beautiful isl- ble work of the pulpit was to be ex- ands. In 1836 the first missionaries tended to all lands. Rev. T. J. Malyon, went to Samoa, and now there were D.D., pointed out the extent to which 7300 communicants in the church, European literature had taken posses- 10,000 Sunday-school children, and sion of the foreign mission fields. He 30,000 people who could read and thought it an undoubted fact that the write. The people of the Savage and European languages and literature were Loyalty Islands had also become Chris- rapidly influencing the whole world, tianized. In Fiji, in the year 1835, the English holding a larger place than there was not a single Christian, in 1885 any other. They were opening the there was not a known Fijian heathen, way for the propagation of either truth and in the 80 islands comprising the or error on a boundless scale of magni- group all the people were Christian, tude. This propagation should be on There were now 104,000 church wor- the side of truth, and the subject de· shippers there, 28,000 communicants, manded the immediate and earnest at- and 40,000 Sunday-school scholars. Of tention of the greatest minds in the the New Hebrides, there were 30 islands Christian Church, and he thought the more or less permeated with the Gos- time was ripe for a Pan-Commission to pel, and in Melanesia there were 9000 be established to consider the matter Christians and 5000 pupils. In nearly all the islands the Bible had been trans- tributlon of tire-arms and strong drink, lated into the different languages used. earnestly prays that all civilized gov· ernments will interfere for the abolition The Rev. Joseph King spoke of the of the traffic in these articles. The work being done for heathen in or Conference also earnestly desires that within the Australasian territories, espe- steps may be taken for the administra· cially speaking of the work among the tion of even-handed justice throughout Kanakas of the sugar plantations of the islands of the Pacitlc." Queensland-a work that he said was being well done. Rev. F. F. Mairne [We compile the above from reports showed that Christ's Church was essen· in Australian papers, and wish we tially founded that throughout ~he might have found space for much fuller world the Gospel might be preached, summary.-J. T. G.) and the Rev. Allan Webb -dealt with modern missionary incidents as illus- Proposed II Foreign Missions OIub." trating the Acts of the Apostles. The disposition to pay greater atten- Under the general subject of the train- tion to the convenience and comfort of Ing of missionary candidates Rev. G. foreign missionaries while at home on G. Howden held that there were three furlough takes on more and more practi· distinct calls in the life of the mission· cal form. The London Missionary So· ary candidate: (1) the call to be a Chris- ciety has furnished houses for them at tian; (2) the call to consecrate one's self Catford, and will soon have others at to work for Christ, and (3) the call to a Clapham. North London. Brighton. and special field of labor. Bradford. A meeting of missionaries of this society recently neartily approved The Rey. B. Danks spoke on the sub- of this movement. ject of preaching, and referred to the difficulties which missionaries had to The Wesleyan Missionary Society has encounter in reproducing the Bible in projected a scheme which has been ex· the native vernacular. The difficulty tended to embrace all other missionary of getting people to understand Chris- organizations at their pleasure. called tian terms was amusingly illustrated a .. Foreign Missions Club." The ob· by the speaker. He said in overcom- jects of this are: 1. To provide a tem· ing these initial difficulties he was told porary home for missionaries prior to by a pundit, the teacher of the natives, their departure or on arrival from to whom he went to learn the language, abroad; 2. To assist them to obtain that the lines " Rock of Ages, cleft for suitable houses furnished at reasonable me, let me hide myself in thee," were rates while at home; 3. To render as. rendered in the tongue of the natives sistance in securing homes for children as .. All the old stones split in two, let to be educated in the absence of their me get under the corner of one." parents; 4. To act within limits as a commission agency for missionaries; The Conference adopted resolutions, 5. To provide a '1'endtz1l0'U8 where misin one of which it stated that it " views sionaries past and present may meet with deep concern the evils arising out and stay together; also that laymen of the consumption of opium in India visiting London may meet missionand China. It deeply laments the part aries. A letter from the Secretary, taken by the British and Indian Gov- Rev. George Patterson, '7 Victoria ernments in the manufacture and sale Square, Bristol, says at all times there of the drug, and earnestly prays that are in London a large number of forei8' legislation may speedily remove this missionaries. There are also many blot on the fame and history of the Em- generous supporters of missions who pire." would be glad to avail themselves of any opportunitr of increasing their Also it said: "Considering the in. knowledge of missionaries and their jury inflicted on the native races of work. All these possibilities of Chris· Africa and the South Seas by the dis- tian fellowship are at present lost for want of a common meeting place, and missionaries and their families arriving from abroad-often shattered by tropi· ca] life-have to be content with such comforts as they can tlnd at an hotel. Hence the scheme of a residential club which will be a home and a common says, are "honored as members of a meeting-place. respectable profession, flattered, re- spected, and enriched." " The proposal ori/dnated, as you will see, with a purely Wesleyan commit- LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE.-A college tee. I have been asked by many for the instruction of foreign missionwhether missionaries of other socie- aries in the elements of practical medities are admissible to membership. Of cine is proposed to be founded in the course they are. We give them a hearty East of London, wbich shall be known welcome. The wider and more catho- as" Livingstone College," the work to lic the club becomes, the better. Our be commenced October, 1893. It is plan is to meet the cost of premises by not proposed in this institution to premembers'subscriptions. For this pur· pare medical missionaries in any case, pose we shall need at the beginning but to furnish soma medical training about £500 a year, and more, we hope, for missionaries who are to occupy as the thing grows. At present we posts tar removed from qualified medihave secured considerably more 1han cal assistance. Severe mortality among half this. Then the rates charged for African missionaries. it is judged, has residence will be adjusted so as to been largely due to incompetent treatcover the cost of actual working. We ment of tropical fevers, owing to abare now in negotiation for excellent and sence of medical men and ignorance of most convenient premises, containing missionaries on these subjects. It is altogether about fifty rooms, and we well known, too, that all missionaries hope to open by September. If any of among heathen have frequently need your wealthy men or any society would of some practical elementary knowledge make a yearly donation to the club of, of medicine for tbe relief of sickness insay, twenty.five guineas, we should be cidentally tbrust in their wa/. In the glad to admit the missionaries of such "Livingstone College" the course of society while in England to all the study embraces anatomy, physiology, privileges of membership at members' materia medica, medicine, surgery, rates, and also to attend to any com· hygiene, and nursing, with special atmissions they have in this country." tention to diseases common to the trop- Other missionaries and visitors will be ics. The instruction is to be made inadmitted to residence for brief periods dividual when necessary so far as posat rates at least 30 per cent higher than sible. The period of study extends members'rates. over ten months. C. F. Harford-Bat- tersby, M.A., M.D., late C. M. S. mis- SOCIAL REFORM IN INDIA.-Moral re- sionary on tbe Niger, will be principal forms in India keep well at the front in of the college. His address is 51 Bow public thought. An important meet- Road, London, England. ing of the Hindu Social Reform Association recently adopted the following res- NOTEs.-Rev. C. C. Tracy writes us olutions: from Marsovan, Turkey, July 11th: "We are living over a sputtering vol- " 1. That the employment of Nautch cano; every hole and crack is a vent women at social entertainments has an for pent·up fires. We missionaries who unwholesome moral influence on so- for sixty years have taught obedience ciety at large as well as on individuals. to God, and to the powers ordained of 2. That it is desirable that public ex- Him, are accused of instigating rebelpression be given to this conviction lion. Our Antolia College is charged with a view to the discouragement of with the crime of mutiny. Two of its this practice. 3. That a memorial be professors are in prison condemned to addressed to the Viceroy and to the death. Its students are seized and im- Governor of Madras, praying them to prisoned going and coming.. The magdiscourage the objectionable practice of istrates and governors cannot be made employing Nautch women at social cn- to see how mistaken they are." tertainments, by refusing to attend entertainments at which such women are -Miss Isabella Watson, of Bassein, employed." . Burma, has favored us with .. cards" of her silver anniversary of toil in It is doubtful if there is anything in Burma. She arrived in Bassein ];lay India that tends to demoralize tbe peo- 31st, 1868. She has little idea what pIe equal to the employment of Nautch work she bas done, nor of the influence girls at all sorts of public and social to be exerted by the more than tbree gatherings. Even in connection with hundred girls now in her school. temple services these professional prostitutes are exalted into a religious order, and, as The Indian Methodist Times
DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR
III.-DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR.
CONDUCTED BY PBOFESSOB AMOS B. WELLS.
One of the most picturesque and dent of the Japanese United Society of pleasing incidents thus far in the his· Christian Endeavor that was there tory of the Christian Endeavor move- formed, and who, before the conven- ment was the first national Christian tion, was the national superintendent Endeavor convention in Japan, and the of Christian Endeavor societies, ap· formation of the Japanese United So- pointed by the United Society of the ciety of Christian Endeavor, which world, whose headquarters are at Bos- now takes its place side by side with ton.
similar national unions in England, The exercises of the convention in- Australia, and China. cluded addresses, prayer-meetings, re- The convention was held at the time ports from societies, social gatherings, of the world's Convention at Montreal, and a consecration meeting, as well as to which gathering the assembled Jap- the important business connected with anese sent a cablegram. By Novem- the formation of the United Society.
ber, 1892, only three societies of Chris· An impressive portion of the consecra- tian Endeavor had been formed in Ja- tion meeting was the reading of the pan. At the time of this first national Christian Endeavor pledge, the active convention thirty-six could be counted, members standing and bowing as- mustering over a thousand members. sent.
These societies are found in five de- The convention decided to start a nominations-the Congregational, Pres- monthly paper, to serve as the organ byterian, Methodist Episcopal, Meth- of the United Society, and to propagate odist Protestant, and Christian. Thus and strengthen the movement. This in Japan, as all over the world, Christian paper, it is hoped, will do for the Chris- Endeavor has strength to knit together tian Endeavor cause in Japan what The diverse bodies in Christian fellowship. Ohznese fllustrated News is doing for it This first convention of Japanese En- in China, The Golden Link in Austra- deavorers was held in Kobe, and was lia, The Ohristian Endeavour in Eng- an entire success. From Wakuya, six land, .and Der Mitarbeiter among the hundred miles north of Kobe, came the Germans of the United States.
delegates, and from Nagasaki, in Kiu- The constitution of the United So- shu, four hundred and fifty miles to the ciety provides for a consulting commit- south. These delegates represented tee, to aid the president. The commit- twenty-seven societies. Seven societies tee now elected consists of Rev. Y.
that could send no representatives sent Ishiwara, of Tokyo; Professor G.
reports instead. Only two societies Kashiwagi, of Kyoto; Rev. T. Oishi, failed to be brought in any way before of Osaka; Rev. T. Osada, of Kobe; the convention. What convention hall and Miss A. H. Bradshaw, of Sendai.
in the world could hold the delegates if Tokyo is to be headquarters. In com- all Endeavor societies were as zealous mon with the original United Society, as these of the Sunrise Kingdom? the Boston headquarters for the world, The two largest churches in Kobe this Japaliese United Society exercises housed the convention, and its sessions no authority over the individual soci- extended over two days. A leading eties, and levies no taxes. Everything spirit of the convention was that ear- 13 to be done of free will, and not of nest Christian worker, Rev. T. Harada. necessity. Assuredly the interest and of Tokyo, who has been elected presi- prayers of all Endeavorers, and of all who desire the spread of the Master's But the chief work of the Christian kingdom, will go out in behalf of this Endeavor Missionary Institute is the new and powerful instrument for the organizing of Missionary extension evangelization of Japan. courses. If the Endeavor societies of any town desire this course, they make In our own country one of the most fonnal application for it, the applicaremarkable of Christian Endeavor con· tion bearing the signatures of the pastributions to missionary activity is the tors of the evangelical churches of the rise and progress of the Christian En- place, in token of their approval, and deavor Missionary Institute, whose of their agreement to co·operate by headquarters are at Chicago. It started preaching a missionary sermon on the as a department of the enterprising Il- morning of each Sunday of the six linois Christian Endeavor Union, but through which the missionary extenit has already become almost if not sion course extends. quite national in the scope of its operations. In the afternoon is held a conference of all the missionary workers of the The secretaries of the many denomi- town, where instruction is given in national boards of missions located at methods of work, and where the scat- Chicago are giving cordial aid to the tered sparks are gathered into a fiery enterprise. They constitute its advisory coal. In the evening there is a misboard, and serve gladly and frequently sionary mass-meeting, which is adin Its missionary campaigns. The fac- dressed by one of the Institute speakulty of the Institute consists of Rev. ers. These addresses are given at in- John Henry Barrows, D.D., a Pres- tervals of a month. byterian trustee of the United Society of Christian Endeavor and chairman of No collections are taken at the meetthe World's Parliament of Religions; ings. Neither the speakers nor the offi- Rev. Howard B. Grose,.of the Univer- cers and faculty of the Institute receive sity of Chicago, a Baptist trustee of the a cent of pay, except that the local so- United Society; Rev. A. N. Hitchcock, cieties entertain the speakers and pay Ph.D., a secretary of the American their travelling expenses. The work Board; Rev. Thomas ¥arshall, D.D., of the Institute is rapidly extending. field secretary of the Presbyterian Already many Christian Endeavor Board of Foreign Missions; Rev. R. A. unions in Illinois are engaged in this Torrey, superintendent of the Chicago missionary extension movement, and Bible Institute; Rev. James Tompkins, courses have even been Rtarted in other D.D., superintendent of the Illinois States. Interdenominational in its Home Missionary Society; and Mr. L. range, strictly evangelical in its make- D. Wishard, of the Student Volunteer up, conservative in organization though Movement. aggressive in its plans, there is no rea- son why this Christian Endeavor mis- The Advisory Committee consists of sionary extension course may not bethe representatives of the boards named come a mighty factor in the winning of above, together with representatives of the world for Christ. other denominational boards. Meetings of the Institute are held in Chicago The same IlIinois Christian Endeavor every Friday night. During the Union that is carrying on the work World's Fair especial efforts are being above described, has organized a temmade to touch the visiting Endeavorers perance department, and now proposes with this fire of missionary fervor. a vigorous campaign of the State in the During September one hundred mis- interests of temperance. Mr. John G. sionary meetings are to be held, under Woolley, the powerful and masterly its auspices, in Chicago churches, either temperance orator, has been secured to simultaneously or as nearly as possible speak for three hundred nights in the at the same time. State. He will visit every county for at least one night, though the larger a young Christian took a step for· counties will claim him for more than ward in Christian expression and in· one night each. The sale of tickets, at fiuence. Queensland has held its sectwenty·five cents each, will be under· ond aunual convention. During the taken in each place by the local soci· past year the number of its societies eties. The money so obtained will be has increased more than fi vefold. South used to pay the debt that rests on Mr. Australia now has 204 societies, with a Woolley's asylum for drunkards that membership of 5500. Of the 81 sociwish to reform-" Rest Island," in eties that joined at the time of the reo Miunesota. The evenings are being cent convention, 50 were Methodist. rapidly taken up, and there is every A Church of England Endeavor society prospect of one of the most enthusiastic in New South Wales has three memo and widespread temperance campaigns bers who have been accepted for the ever inaugurated. mission field. Another' society in the same colony has been making special At the recent stirring convention held efforts to interest the employes of large by the Christian Endeavor Union of manufacturing establishments in the South Australia, one of the chief points vicinity by means of a social gathering emphasized was the decided utility of and supper, followed by a prayer ser· Senior societie!! of Christian Endeavor vice. -societies, that is, composed entirely of older Christians, in addition to the The Christian Endeavor exhibit at Young People's and Junior Endeavor the World's Fair is one of considerable societies. South Anstralia has more of interest, and should be visited by all such societies than any other part of Endeavorers. It is to be found in the the world, and is very enthusiastic in Liberal Arts Building, Section D, col· regard to them. Reports that reach us umn A 98, in the gallery. Liberal from these societies show that they take space is provided, and there is a fine up many and varied lines of work in show of Christian Endeavor literature, their committees. Besides, the testi· memorials of the history of the Society, mony of every pastor that has tried it portraits of its leaders in the different is that the formation of Senior societies denominations, a globe showing the results in quickening the church pray· distribution of the societies over the er.meetings, opening the mouths of world, the original constitution, the dumb Christians, energizing the inac· record book of the first society, the orig. tive, 'warming the church socially, and inal constitution and record book of the filling the pews on Sunday. Surely first Junior society, specimens of Christhese are all desirable changes 1 And tian Endeavor literature in Chinese, snrely, if there is ground for hope that Japanese, the various langnages of Senior Christian Endeavor will do all India, that of Madagascar, Armenian, this, the South Australian Union acted Spanish, French, German, Danish, wisely in dropping from its name the Dutch, etc., besides a striking collec· words, "Young People's," that the tion of mottoes and society badges from Senior societies might with consistency all over the world. The visitors' book be admitted. contains already many thousands of signatures of Endeavorers from all parts A few more Australian notes: A of the globe. It is especially interest· New South Wales society has formed a ing to "turn its pages and note how new committee, the .. Open·air Com· evenly the Endeavorers seem to be di· mittee," whose valiant purpose is to vided among the evangelical denomina· conduct an open· air Gospel meeting tions. In case of Sunday opening, it is every Sunday before church services. needless to say, this exhibit remains at A Victoria society lately had an "even- the Fair under protest. ing for begiuners," wherein many
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
The editor-in-chief having returned dents annually, a.n orphanage with five from an absence of nearly two years at hundred children, and all the various the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Lon- benevolent institutions dependent like don, now resumes, personally. his edi- these upon the Tabernacle and its sup- torial chair. That he has not been idle porters, they had a widc enough field or neglectful of the REVIEW during right about them. And yet, in connec- this unexpected and protracted sojourn tion with the last annual collection for in London, his numerous editorial con- world-wide missions, I witnessed some tributions have shown. But it was of the most apostolic giving ever seen manifestly impossible to have the same in these days. For four weeks gifts immediate oversight at three thousand came pouring in accompanied with let- miles' distance, or to supply matter for ters explaining the circumstances in publication with the promptness so de- which these acts of self-denial were un- sirable in these days, when news travels dertaken for Christ. These letters were by electricity, and so far outruns the 80 marvellously interesting and toUch- most punctual pen. ing that they were read by me at the This close communion with British prayer services-the namt;S being with- Christia.ns, in private and public, has holden-and it was like new chapters revealed among them a rare type of of the Acts. There were relics of de- consecration. Without disparagement parted children, heirlooms in the way of any other missionary body, the of family silver, sets of jewelry. little Church Missionary Society deserves to sums of money long savtd for special hold the pre-eminence. For a prevalent purposes-all sent in to me for the spirit of prayer, for the energy of faith, Lord's ·work. The value in pounds, for the zeal and enthusiasm which it shillings, and pence was very large, but exhibits, for the simplicity of its meth- nothing in comparison to the value of ods and apostolic fervor of its whole the spirit of consecration displayed.
tone and temper, no living organization It must be confessed, however, that, excels it. Though its constituency is in almost every department of Christian of the Anglican Church, the Society is benevolence, the work of God is crip- thoroughly evangelical, catholic, and pled for lack of money. It is melan- in the best sense liberal. It is not choly to see disciples of Christ living in wrapped in the cerements of the sepul- extravagance, while missions suffer at chre-fettered with the grave-clothes of every point from sheer poverty of re- a dead orthodoxy, or a devitalized cere- sources. There are single individuals monialism, or despiritualized secular- in Great Britain whose estates are so ism. Its revenue is very large, its immense that the care of them is op- corps of missionaries both numerous pressive. In some cases a Christian and devoted, and its records do honor woman, who is entirely alone in her to the cause and the Master. Had all widowhood, has four or five mansions, Episcopalians the baptism of its spirit, each a palace, with its vast environ- many disciples, now repelled, would be ments and its large body of retainers, drawn to them. and a closer fellowship all this vast expense from year to year would be inev.itable. going inevitably forward, while the In the great Tabernacle foreign mis- cause of Christ appeals for money to sions have never had perhaps the promi- bear to a dying world the bread of life I nence which would have been given to The editor purposes to increase the this branch of work if the home work value of the REVIEW in every practica- had not been so extensive. Mr. Spur- ble way. A series of illu8trated articles geon and his people naturally felt that, will be prepared for the new year by with a pastor's college and seventy stu- the most competent contributors, and neither pains nor cost spared to make The Young Women'8 Conference these pages worthy of their high mis- brought together over two hundred colsion in the promotion of the universal lege women, from thirty-one educational emancipation of mankind from spirit. institutions, societies, and associations ual ignorance and destitution. throughout the country. They came to study the Bible as the word of life During this last nine months of abo and the sword of the Spirit, and to consence in Britain, the editor delivered a fer under competent leaders as to the course of six missionary lectures on the objects and principles of practical Chris- Alexander Duff foundation, in Edin- tian work for and by young women in burgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, college and city. The mornings were and St. Andrews. The audiences were given to Bible study and conference, large, and the interest maintained and the evenings to platform meetings. steadily until the close of the course. D. W. Whittle, George C. Needham, To prepare these lectures for the press R. E. Speer, Mrs. Bainbridge, Mrs. A. and attend to their publication will be J. Gordon, and Miss Grace Dodge were the partial work of the present autumn. among the speakers. Mr. Moody arriv- Nowhere have I found so large and so ed before the close of the conference, enthusiastic audiences for missionary bringing new life and power from his addresses as in Scotland. Every foot campaign against evil in Chicago. of soil seems sacred to the memory of martyrs and missionaries. The World'8 Student '8 Convention opened June 31st, with over four hun- The Northfield Oonferenoos, dred students from fifty colleges and seminaries. They gathered for two Northfield has a world-wide fame, not weeks of Christian fellowship, during only as the home of D. L. Moody, but which the methods and benefits of as the annual gathering.place of Chris- Christian activity and Bible study were tians of every age and sect and nation. considered. Probably the days most There is unity in diversity-diversities memorable to all were those When of gifts, bnt the same spirit; differences Mr. Moody spoke on the Holy Spirit, of administrations, but the same Lord; and which culminated in II meeting for diversities of operation, but the same prayer on the mountain-side, where God, who worketh all in all." over three hundred students met with him to seek that gift of gifts for which The past summer has been especially so ardent" a desire had been created. rich in "showers of blessing" upon "Round Top" is a name now inseparathose who were present at the confer- ble from Northfield. From this grassy ences. Some speakers, advertised in knoll, while the evening sun was setcirculars, whose presence was eagerly ting. have been often heard the calIs of anticipated, were unable to be present; God for service at home and abroad, in but what seemed lacking in variety of city missions, the ministry, and Y. M. speakers and themes was more than O. A. work. To many this hilltop is compensated for by intensity of inter- the sacred spot where they first heard est. Each of the three conventions was and heeded this call of God to service. pervaded by a fervent spirit of prayer, Mr. Moody, Dr. Faunce, Dr. Purves, an earnest desire for the power of the Pasteur Monod, of Paris, Dr. Jacobus, Holy Ghost, and a deepened interest in R. E. Speer, and J. R. Mott were Bible study. Methods and results of among the speakers. Such conferences searching the Scriptures were dis- cannot fail to have a beneficialinfluence coursed upon with a view to getting a on the spiritual life and work both of firmer grasp upon the great fundament- the men who attend and of the colleges al teachings of the Word. represented. The OonfJocation oj Ohristian Worker8 is due the perpetuation of that mission, in August brought together men and and who has spent his life in service women from over land and sea, who there.
with" one accord" assembled for pray- In the afternoon Rev. Josiah Tyler er and conference. This was essen- told of the custoxns, traditions, and su- tially a teaching convention. Dr. Gor- perstitions among the Zulus of South don's explanation of the ages, as a key Africa. He pictured the methods of to the dispensations, has unlocked the work and the external and internal treasures of Scripture to many. The transformation of a native from pagan speakers took for granted that their to Christian. Dr. Reynolds followed hearers were students of the Bible, and with some words as to government op- this enabled them snccessfully to treat position in Turkey. Burma was repre· themes not often touched upon. sented by Rev. C. A.. Nichols, and the Missionary Day was memorable, as Mahratti Mission of India by Dr. Henry usual, for the concert of testimony as to Fairbank.
progress and needs of the Lord's work The evening was occupied by Wm.
in foreign lands. B. C. A.tterbury, }jI. Upcraft, of China; Rev. George E.
M.D., of China, spoke in behalf of the Post, M.D., of Syria; and H. C. Mabie, 400,000,000 of that benighted land. He D.D., Secretary of the Baptist Board.
emphasized medical missions as a means Dr. Upcraft spoke of the" emphasis of of exemplifying the active side of brotherhood" with the Chinese shown Christianity in its work for others-a in the interest, love, and contact of the side which false religions do not pre-. missionaries; of the" joy of Christian sent. Bodily disease opens the closed fellowship" experienced in daily life, odors of Chinese homes and of Chinese and in the celebration of the Lord's hearts to receive the Christian physician Supper with the native Christians; and and the Gospel which he brings. of the" encouragement of the outlook.II Rev, T. L. Gulick, of Spain, urged Dr. Post gave a vivid description of our debt to the large numbers of Span- what Islam is in its effects on individ- ish-speaking peoples of the globe, who uals and society. Islam expects to con- are in darkness almost as deep as that vert Christendom, and the best way to of heathendom. The light of the Gos- prevent it is for Christianity to convert pel has not shone in their hearts, for Islam. Work among }jloslem peoples is the Word of God is a closed book to difficult, but medical missions are much them. The priests destroy any copies blessed among them.
they can find. They burn the gold and Dr. Mabie closed the day by urging leave the dross of their literature. The Christians to go forward in faith, willing result is ignorance, superstition, idola- to become to a race what Christ was in try, and moral, intellectual, and physi- His humanity to the world-to renounce cal degradation. In spite of difficulties all and live among even the most de- and persecution, the work is going for- graded in order to uplift them and ward. There are to-day in Spain over place their feet upon the Rock.
ten thousand Protestants, most of them Among the material evidences 0.£ the from the poorer classes. There as else- presence of the Spirit at this confer- where it is hard for the rich to enter the ence was the donation of $10,000 to the kingdom. work under Mr. Moody in Chicago.
Rev. David Downie, of India, gave a The 1lnancial world has been in great most interesting account of the estab- straits, but God has opened the win- lishment and progress of the Lone Star dows of heaven, and poured out on Mission among the Telugus. The audi- Northfield a blessing, the influence of ence rose in a body to receive the vener- which will, we believe, be felt the able Dr. Jewett, to whom, under God, world over, D. L. P • •
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF lUSSIONS
v.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
Turkey j* Arabia jt Persia it Russia i§ Mohammedanism. I .
UNION OF MOSLEM CrrURCII AND STATE the sayings an,d doings of Jesus made by His companions." The number of IN TURKEY AND PERSIA. Mohammedan traditions grew to hun- dreds of thousands, and they were so BY REV. J. H. SHEDD, D.D., OROOMIA, incoherent that codification and selec- tion became absolutely necessary-six PERSIA. great books among the Sunnees two or three huudred years after Mohammed. The idea of theocratic rule, or at least The Sheohs have five books compiled a some form of Divinll authority, is wide- little later. To complete the code there spread in our race. 10 Japan the Em- is a third source of authority-viz., the peror is the descendant of the gods. In consensus of the great teachers; as China he is the Son of Heaven. The Christians would say, the unanimous Emperor of all the Russias places the consent of the Fathers of the Church. crown upon his own head and rules by This is ljma, ana a teacher competent Divine right, and is supreme in Church to make an ijma or authoritative interand State. The Pope presents himself pretation is a Mushtaheed. In the view as the Vicar of Jesus Christ, to be called of the Sunnees, the office of the Mush- " Our Lord" by the millions of Roman taheed ceased ages ago, while the Sheohs Catholics, and to rule, if he can, above believe that the Mushtaheeds are still all kings and governments. an order, and may pronounce authorita- ti ve opinions, but only in accord with The theory of government of a Mos- the Koran and Hadees. lem State is much the same as that of Russia and the Pope. Islam, as taught These are the foundations of law and by Mohammed and the Caliphs and jurisprudence in Moslem lands; not Imaums, is absolutely perfect as a po- the Koran alone, but the Koran suplitical as well as a religious system. plemented by accredited traditions of There must be the closest union of reo the words and example of Mohammed, ligion and government. The Koran in and these codified and explained by the the last years of Mohammcd's life be- great teachers. This is the Bhcriat or came a medium of military commands Biter, the Moslem law that embraces all and of general laws in all departments wisdom and knowledge, and binds every of a theocratic government. The ele- condition and rank. By the.Sher, kings ments of a code, both civil and criminal, rule and subjects are guided in every are laid down in imitation of the Mosaic conceivable circumstance of life, from laws. The needs of a rapidly growing the cradle to the grave. The Protesempire developed other sources of law tant accepts the Holy Scriptures as the in tradition, called by the Turks Bun- sufficient and only rule of faith and nat and by the Persians Hadees. It is practice. Thc 1Ioslem gives the Bher the belief of Moslems that :M:ohammed a broader range. It is the absolute rule was divinely guided in cvery word and in religion, ethics. civil government, act. The record of these, as given by and social life. The glory of the systhe companions of Mohammed, is the tem is that, not only is it perfect in Bunnat and Hadee..q. The Moslems often every principle, but in every detail. say to the missionaries: " Your Gospels are only Hadees-i.e., the record of The Christian faith has an ideal to be reached in the future, and has within * See also pp. 47 (Jan.), 122 (Feb.), 373 (May), itself the aspiration and spring of end- less progress. The Moslem faith has 609 (Aug.), 721, 732, 759, 762, 769, ';'83 (present long since gained the goal, the ne plus issue).
t See p. 54 (Jan.), 746 (present issue). ; See also p. 606 (Aug.), 783 (present issue). § See p. 298 (March), 750 (present issue). I See also p. 726 (present issue). ultra has been reached, and no change born with the system and never to be or improvement can be made in politics separated from it, are slavery, polygor laws, no expansion of the boundaries amy, the inferiority of women, the of thought is possible; not even criti- right of the man to divorce his wife at cism of the perfect code of the past can will, the subjection of Jews and Chrisbe permitted. tians, and war against all unbelievers. "When ye encounter the unbelievers The Theory of the Turks.-The bear- of the Koran, strike off their heads, ing of such a system upon a Moslem until ye have made a great slaughter Sunnee State, like Turkey or Morocco among them, and bind them in bonds." or Afghanistan, is obvious. Says one This and similar commands in the of the great Sunnee expounders: Koran and Sunnat inspire the fanatical "Authority becomes sacred because zeal of the faithful, and to-day good sanctioned by heaven. Despotism, be- Moslems look back to a golden age of ing the first form of consolidated po- conCtuest and slaughter. This fieree litical authority, is thus rendered un- fanatical intolerance of any other faith changeable and identical with govern- than Islam is an ever-present power in ment at large. Supreme government the Moslem State. The system domihas four stages: 1. When the absolute nates those who accept it. For a caliph prince (Mohammed) is among them, con- to account Moslems and Christians as centrating in his own person the four equal before the law would be to deny cardinal virtues, and this we call the the faith, and the State that should enreign of wisdom. 2. When the prince act such a law would cease to be a appears no longer neither do these vir- Moslem State. tues centre in any single person, but are found in four (the four first caliphs A comparison may be made with the and companions, Abu Bekr, Omer, Os- system of American slavery. There man, and Ali), who govern in concert were noble specimens of slaveholders, with each other as they were one, and who were kind, tolerant, benignant in this we call the reign of the pious. the treatment of their slaves, but they S. When none of these is found any were dominated by the system, and the longer, but a chief or caliph arises with essence of the system remained. un· a knowledge of the rules propounded changeable. "The irrepressible ·conby the previous ones, and with judg- fiict" continued till the slave rrlleceased_ ment enough to apply and explain The system could not be reformed. them, and this we call the reign of the Sunnat. 4. When these latter qualities Is not Turkey another" irrepressible are not to be found in a single person, conflict"? There have been kind, tolbut in a variety who govern in concert, erant rulers, but the government is desand this we call the reign of the Sun- potic by divinc authority, and is bound nat followers." by the Sher, which can never change. The very proposal of change or innova- Here is the theory of an unchange- tion is hateful and subversive in the able despotism that must exclude all eyes of caliph and Ulema. There are representative government and free in- no germs of freedom, no latent princiquiry_ The caliph must reign within ples of fraternity and etluality with the divine code, and the pride and those outside the faith of Islam, and no glory of the caliphate is that the code of will of the ruler can make the system Islam is complete and final in religion other than it is_ and politics. If it is not suited to this modern age, so much the worse for the .. Mohammed's trnth lay in a holy Jaw, age. In this case the mountain must Christ's in a sacred life; come to Mohammed. So while the world roUs on from change to change, Some of the features of Moslem law, And realms of thought expand, The letter stands without expanse or range, SUff as a dead man's hand." THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
In this inherent union of Church and The Practice in Turkey.-Can the State Guizot finds the causes of steril- theory be changed in practice 1 Mr.
Ity, immobility, and decay in Moslem Sell well says: "The question is not States. He says: whether Mohammed was a deceiver " The power of the Koran and of the or self·deceived, an apostle or an im- sword was in the same hands; and it postor, whether the Koran on the was this peculiarity which gave to Mos- whole is good or bad, but what Islam lem civilization the wretched character as a religious and political power has it bears. It was in their union of tem- become and is, and how it works." At poral and spiritual powers and the con- the Mildmay Conference, in 1888, Mr.
fusion which it created between moral Sell mentioned a new school of free authority and physical force that the thought. The Hon. Ameer Syed tyranny was born which seems inherent Akhmed, A.M., educated at Cambridge, in their civilization. This I believe is a leader. Some such man will rep- to be the principal cause of that station- resent Islam at Chicago at the Congress ary state into which it has everywhere of Religions, no doubt, and show that fallen. This did not at first appear. a growing number of cultured gentle- The union of military ardor and relig- men belong to this school and reject the ious zeal gave to the Saracen a prodig- stiff canon law and traditions, and ious power, and a splendor wanting in claim that Islam may adapt itself to the Germanic invasion." free government and free thought. It Under the impulse of this united mili- is enough to point out that such men tary ardor and religious zeal the tide of live under a Christian government, and conquest rolled. on till thousands of represent no following in purely Mos- cities, towns, and castles fell. It con- lem lands. They are better than their quered the fairest lands of Asia and creed. In fact, no caliph has ever been Africa, captured Constantinople, threat- able to break the fetters of his system.
ened Europe, till at last the Turks thun- .. The fifth caliph," says Muir, .. was dered' at the walls of Vienna. All this the famous Al Marnnn, who during was in the name of God, to the battle- twenty years countenanced with a cry, .. God is great." This tide of con- princely support the pursuits of litera- quest was rolled back by the greater ture. He was tolerant of the sect called power of Christendom, but the spirit the Rationalists, but he was intolerant remains. War is a sacred duty, and of all who opposed his theological tolerance of other faiths, except in ab- views, and went so far as to establish a ject submission, is a sin. '1'he issue is kind of inquisition, and visited with clear-cut. .. The Koran, tribute, or penalties all who dared to differ from the sword. Which condition do you him." A liberal, Uberty·loving caliph choose 1" could only work within his system. He The theory of Turldsh rule is rules his Moslem suhjects with all the strengthened by the fact that the Sultan divine authority of the Pope in the de- is caliph, pontiff, divinely appointed struction of heretics.
ruler, and commander of the faithful. After a thousand years longer of trial The caliph is both emperor and pope, and conflict Moslem governments every- and the clergy are the lawyers, and where are the same, despotic, intolerant, every judge has a religious function. and unchanging. The leopard has not Hence by the theory there can be no changed his spots. Turkey has yield- conllictof pope and emperor, of Church ed to stress of circumstances, and there and State. There is no action and re- have been treaties and firmans that pro- action, and the whole civil and military claimed religious toleration and started power of Turkey is controlled in the the theory of equal rights; but the interests of Islam. To do otherwise Sultan found that such divinity doth would be to subvert the State. hedge a caliph, and such fetters bind him, that all his reforms must cease. waste, the land denuded of its trees, This was made very plain in 1879, and one never passes many hours withwhen the proposal was made to the out hearing the bugle and the drum Moslem doctors to give the Sultan the and seeing the Army of Occupation. position of a constitutional sovereign. The decision reached was this: "The Pass the Persian line, and, except in law of the Sher does not authorize the districts of nomadic tribes, the villages caliph to place beside him a power su- smile with gardens and vineyards, not perior'to his own. The caliph ought a so,dier is seen for days, and the peoto reign alone and govern as master. ple seem to be at home. The Persian The ministers should never possess any is more civilized than the Turk, though authority beyond that of representa- the latter has the military forms of Eutives, always dependent and submis- rope. Both 'are Moslems, but are as sive. It would consequently be a sharply in conflict as Catholic and transgression of the unalterable princi· Orangeman in Ireland. The Turk pIes of the Sher, which should be the adores :Uohammed, and swears by him. guide of all the actions of the caliph, to The Persian adores Ali, and uncounted transfer the supreme power of the caliph times every day Ali's name is used in to any minister." reverence or prayer. For a Turk to express his disgust of a man's ignorance The present restrictions on Protes- or manners, he says he is Adjem, or Pertant missions in Turkey should not ex- sian. The Persian returns the complicite surprise. From the constitution of ment by calling such a person Toork. Islam there can be no hope of representative government or of free in- The annual passion play of the Perquiry. The only toleration possible is sians refers to historical facts that exthat subject Jewish and Christian races cite intense hatred of Omer and Osman may change their forms of faith, so as and other caliphs, whom the Turks rethey do not touch Islam. All may join gard as most holy men. Islam was the dominant faith, but no Moslem can split into hostile camps soon after Moleave his faith. It is a fallacy to ex- hammed died, and the war has never pect religious liberty. "Do men gather ceased. Ali, the cousin of Mohammed grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" and husband of his daughter Fatima, The hope of any reform in Turkey is regarded himself as the true successor vain. The only reform possible is the of the prophet, but he had to wait and severance of Church and State. chafe for many years before he was chosen caliph, and then his reign was The Theo'l'lI of Government in Per- cut short by his assassination. His son sia.-The Sheoh MosleIllS who rule in Hassan was poisoned, and Hussien, the Persia, as opposed to the Sunnee Mos- next son, was cut off in the most cruel lems in Turkey, offer a new inquiry. manner after heroic resistance on the It would seem that here a door is open to plains of Kerbela. The annual passion progress, for in very many ways the play commemorates these tragic events, Persian is the opposite of the Turk. and fires the Persian heart to regard all The Turk has made a military camp, Sunnees with hatred, and the Sultan as and that only, of the lands he rules. the greatest heretic of all. There is From the desert he came, and his in- little danger of alliance between Turkey stincts are to turn the fruitful field into and Persia so long as these religious desert. "Where the Turkish horse animosities continue. sets its hoof, the grass never grows." This is a Moslem proverb. Many dis- Upon the claims of Ali and his house tricts in Turkey have to-day the deso- grew up the doctrine of the Imaumat, late aspect of a subdued country. The or the divine rights of the ImauIllS. villages are often in ruins, the gardens This word means a leader or exemplar. Mohammed is called the Imaum, and the Sunnees apply the name especially to the first caliphs. The Sheohs give lawyers. The Sunnees can express no it a more exalted meaning. The doc· new opinion nor draw any new deduc- trine is that long before creation God tion, but are bound by the precedents separated a ray of light from His own and rules of the prophet and the first glory. This ray was preserved and four caliphs. The Sheohs, holding the entered the first of created beings, who doctrine of the Imaums, are less fet- was Mohammed. Hence the prophet, tered. Every city in Persia has its col- according to Sheoh tradition, said: lege of Mushtaheeds, and sometimes a .. The first thing created was my light new deduction can be drawn to meet a and my spirit. " This is called by all new emergency.
Moslems the Noor of Mohammed. This The ,theory of government in Persia light descended to Ali and from him to is found in the divine right of Ali and the Imaums, the divinely commissioned his descendants. The Sher or law of descendants of Ali. These alone are Persia is the Koran, and the authorized the lawful caliphs or successors of the code of traditions the Hadees. The prophet. rightful sovereign is the Imaum, who The Sheohs express this doctrine has a plenitude of divine authority_ thus: The Imaum is the descendant In his absence the reigning prince is of the prophet, adorned with all his ex- bound to conform to thc higher law and cellence. He is wiser than the wisest accept the Slwr as the cgnstitution of of the age, nobler than the noblest, his realm, and the Mushtaheeds as the holier than the holiest. He is free authoritative interpreters of the Sher.
from all sin, original or actual. For the preservation of the truth an infalli- The Practice of the Persian8.-The ble organ is necessary, and this is found religious head of the Sheoh faith is in the prophet, and after him in Ali, the chief Mushtaheed, who resides at for did not Ali possess ~he Noor of Mo- Samara, on the Tigris, near the shrines hammed, and did he not say in regard of Ali and Hussein. The scattered to this, " I am Mohammed, and Moham- divisions of the Sheohs in the Caucasus, med is me"? Did not this Nom' de- in parts of India and Arabia, and in scend to the other eleven Imaums till Persia here find a centre. The council the last, who was the Mahdi or guide? of the chief Mushtaheed is composed of He was born near Bagdad, A.H. 258, representative men from these several and is supposed to be still alive, though regions, who form also a college of car- hidden, and will reappear at the second dinals to elect a successor on his demise.
advent of Christ. '1'his doctrine of The present incumbent is Mirza Ali, of the Mahdi creates a great deal of un- Shiraz. He does not lay claim to be an rest and expectation. Says Sell: Imaum nor to inherit the power of the " When Islam entered on the tenth cen- last Imaum, though the title" Imaum turyof its existence there was through- of the Age" is sometimes used. He is out Persia and India a millennium supposed to be the wisest and best of movement. Men declared that the end the Mushtaheeds, and has the moral was drawing near, and various persons authority of a pope. Few have the arose to claim to be Al Mahdi." The privilege of seeing him. It is said that pretender in the Soudan is not a Sheoh, even the King of Persia was denied an and has assumed the title not as a de- audience some years ago, as the sanc- scendant of the Imaums in the Sheoh tityof the holy man might be corrupted sense, but he takes advantage of the by contact with earthly pomp and roy- ever-swelling tide of expectation in Is- alty. He is so holy that carpets are lam of some great change. spread from his door to the mosque or Another theory of Sheoh faith that to the palanquin or boat, as even the differs from that of the Sunnees relates touch of earth might be defiling to his to the Mushtaheeds, or authoritative holiness. His influence is remarkable, and his decree is as binding on all good support, as loyalty to the king is a 8heohs as a decree of the Pope is on all weaker sentiment among the masses good Catholics. He has a large school of cities and towns than zeal for their of young ecclesiastics, and every Mush- religion.
taheed .receives his credentials directly The chief priests and scribes and from the hands of this chief. His obe- Pharisees are continually stirring up dient servants therefore throughout trouble, and are kept in restraint only Persia are the Mushtaheeds and Mul-· by the fear of arrest and conveyance to labs, or lower order of ecclesiastics. Teheran.
Thus he has in control all the shrines The nearest parallel to the state of and holy places, he directs the passion affairs in Persia is perhaps found in play, and champions the cause of the Italy. There the established religion people against any unpopular governor is Catholicism, but the Pope at its head or civil innovation. The Mushtaheed claims a divine right above all kingly must sign all legal documents and give or parliamentary authority. Hence a the decisions in all important cases of sharp friction of the two powers and a Slier. possible result of separation of Church Over against this religious power is and State. In Persia the established the civiI. Over agaiust the Sher is the religion is the Sheoh form of Islam, and Uri, or civil law. The conflict of these the king wishes to sustain it, but wishes opposing forces is the special feature also to break the power of the ecclesias- of Persian politics to-day. tics in their claims to the divine ascend- The Shah of Persia claims no such ency of the 8716r and the chief 1t'Iush· divine right to rule as the Sultan of taheed. A year ago affairs came to a Turkey. In fact, might makes right. crisis. The Shah for some time has The dynasty of the Suffaveans, from been giving concessions to foreign com- A.D. 1500 to 1725, had at least the shad- panies for banks, roads, mines, and ow of divine right, for they were de- other innovations, supposing that his scendants of the prophet; hut the pres- throne could stand against any tumults ent dynasty has no such claim, and the raised by the priests of Islam. In Shah and his governors cordially op- granting a monopoly of the tobacco pose the ecclesiastics. The situation business to an English company, he ar- offers an interestiug problem, as there rayed against his policy the prejudices are possibilities of change not found in of the people and the interests of the any other Moslem State. The present tobacco dealers. The Mushtaheeds saw 8hah has three times made the tour of their opportunity. They quoted a de- Europe, and he would be glad to have liverance of Mohammed to the effect the benefits of civilization for his coun- that everyone is master of his own try. His conception, no doubt, is a property, and drew the inference that Russian one, to subordinate all religion compulsory sale to the English com- to the royal will. Without any careful pany was contrary to their Sher. The study of the causes of civilization, he excitement became intense, and both wishes to see his people improved, and parties used their influence to obtain a he issue!! royal edicts to that effect. decision from the chief Mushtaheed.
He is friendly to Christian missions to At last the decision came from Kerbela work for nominal Christians and Jews, in very shrewd but decided terms. It as the missionaries in one way abd an- did not condemn the past use of tobacco, other bring many benefits into the nor censure the government for grant- country. In the same unthinking and ing a monopoly, but issued an edict- uncertain way he has a strong dislike "To-day the use .of tobacco in every to Moslem ecclesiastics. They thwart form is forbidden by the Imaum of the his will, often set at defiance his direct Age. " All public uSe of the weed commands, and appeal to the people for ceased at once. Mullahs paraded the markets and broke every pipe they set are Armenians. To travel from one eyes on. The pious remarked that their end to the other of this college field re- desire for tobacco was entirely removed quires about twenty days, and from under the influence of the divinely side to side, fourteen. The language of guided decision. The result was that the college is Armenian, which is spoken decree after decree was posted from the by all of the Armenians of the above "Imaum of the Age" in the chief territory except the 100,000 in Koordis- cities, and riots increased until the Shah • tan, who are learning that language.
was beaten and the monopoly was with- As feeders for the college, there are drawn. now thirteen high schools and one hun- This sharp conflict is going on, and dred and fifty common schools among what shall be the end? Islam in Persia the Protestants, and many other schools is certainly weakened. Were not Rus- which have been organized under the sia on one side and Turkey on the other stimulus of Protestant education. Tho we might think the Shah and his gov- college already has pupils from and ernment would be strong enough to teachers and workers in most of the curb the Mullahs and loosen the yoke cities, besides many in smaller cities of religious intolerance. Certainly the and towns, as well as in all parts of the case is far removed from that of Tur- Turkish Empire.
key, where the hope of freedom of con- The aim is to give a comprehensive, science and inquiry is impossible, for practical, Christian education; the the Sultan is both emperor and caliph. graduates have won for themselves such In Persia there is a glimmer of hope reputation as teachers and laborers that that the conflict of religious and civil they are sought after by both Protes- powers may work out higher activity tant and non-Protestant> communities in and a freer life, and that the Shah may far greater numbers than the college even sever the union of Church and can supply. State and proclaim liberty of conscience to all his subjects; but this faltering The aim of the mission work is to inhope expires in the overshadowing in- troduce the Gospel into the old Armefluence of Russia. Persia is so near a nian Church, which is arousing to the dependency that it is vain to expect importance of an educated and morally any change in the feebler government upright clergy. It is the province of that is not authorized by the mighty the college to furnish educated leaders empire of the north. to help this people reform its old church, and to supplement the work of the mis- The missionary and the friend of sion in the evangelization of this nation. missions can see the clouds in the horizon of these Moslem lands. They must The college needs: also look above the clouds, and not 1. Gifts of money in large or small doubt the power nor the purpose of sums, so that those who have the col- Him who sits upon the throne. lege in charge can devote their undi- vided attention to the educational needs Euphra.tes College. of the institution. 2. Two professorships of $5000 each. All Northeastern Turkey in Asia, to B. Permanent scholarships of from the Persian border and the southeastern $100 to $200 dollars each to aid poor part of Russia, looks to Euphrates Col- but worthy pupils. lege for its higher education; the territory in which this college is is the only 4> Funds for an industrial or self-help higher institution of learning, covers department. 200,000 square miles, and is larger than all New England and the Middle Atlan- 5. Money for modernizing and refittic States; and has a population of ting the dormitories of both the male 5,000,000, about one fourth of whom and female departments.
6. Small sums for apparatus and li- brary, and for the general equipment of the college.
REV. C. H. WHEELER, D.D., PreBident, Harpoot, Turkey. J. W. DAVIS, ESQ., Treasurer, Sears Building, Boston.
MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
VI.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
EDITED BY REV. D. L. LEONARD.
Extracts and Transla.tions from Foreign certain what the causes are which have Periodica.ls. created such a lamentable condition in China, and td prevent similar ebulli- BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, tions in the future by as much as possi- .ble removing these causes. I desire, MASS. however. at the outset to disclaim any sympathy with the fierce denunciation CHINA. of the Chinese. which has been so gen· eral, and to deplore the desire for ven· -" The Chinese will likely be found geance so prevalent among the followers the equals of Western peoples in the of Him who left as the rule of our con· acquisition of knowledge, and their in- duct Matt. 5; 34-38. ~Ioreover, I can· feriors in analytical, logical, and syn- not be blind to the fact that we who are thetic powers, while in the matters of preaching Christ in China have incom· conscience, will, and motive there is so parably greater freedom of action than great a need of renovation and uplift- we should have in any Roman Catholic ing that it can only be supplied by a country; and that if in any Roman purer and diviner religion than they Catholic country, or indeed in any have yet known. "-Gltinese Recorder. Western land, the opinions and prej· udices of the people were as carelessly -The Reco?'der, speaking of Arch- trampled upon as they often are in deacon Moule's treatise on ancestral China, the rude though zealous preach. worship, remarks; .. Even the Specta- er would find it hard to escape serious tor thinks the writer' a little over-san- consequences. One thing which weighs guine in the hope that the rite may pos- seriously with me is that the people be· sibly be cleansed in time from the su- lieve all the wild stories current among perstitious practices with which it is at them about foreigners. I do not say present associated. ' the stories are true, or even that there is adequate reason given by foreigners " It may be well to explain here. and to cause the Chinese to believe them in conclusion, that the writer's opinions true; but they do believe them, and on this subject appear to be briefly as believing them, their conduct is not follows; 1. That ancestral worship, as difficult to understand.. You may at present observed, is, for the most therefore burn every pamphlet written part, gravely permeated by supersti- against the foreigner and his religion; tion, if not by idolatry, and that it forms you may imprison and bamboo every an impossible rite for a Christian to writer of every sentence inciting to out· practise; 2. That modern observances rage upon the foreigner; you may get . are largely of modern accretion; and the Chinese Government to levy a heavy that if no original of observance, quite tax on the neighborhood where any out· free from such a taint, can be found in rage has actually taken place ; you may history, yet that traces of 'a pure orig. make them pay tenfold for every dam· inal in thought can be detected in Chi· age done; but you do not touch the nese canonical literature; and 3. That root of the whole mischief. You are it may be possible, and if so surely it simply • sitting on the safety-valve;' will be highly desirable, to graft some and if your remedies go no further, solemn and worthy Christian observ- then I fear you are preparing for an ance on to this primitive stock, rescued outburst among the populace which and cleansed from the mist and mud of will be more drastic than anything that ages."
-" Now that the excitement of the anti-foreign agitation is over, it is the part of the judicious missionary to as-
EXTRACTS AND
has occurred. Why were the lessons the·" Chinese are not only treasonable,' of the Tien-tsin massacre not laid to but extremely tolerant, till the professed. heart by Christian men? Why should religion assumes, or is believed to asmissionaries incur the disgrace of hav- sume, a political aspect. It is, thereing to be lectured on the proper mode fore, of the utmost consequence that of treating the people by a statesman the missionary avoid everything calcuwhose time and thought are sufficiently lated to deepen in the Chinese mind the occupied by worldly and world-wide belief that he is a political agent. But affairs ? besides this most serious of all sources of mischief, there are other avoidable "It is, I think, important to know causes of hatred and distrust. that this anti-missionary or anti-foreign feeling did not always exist in China. " Whenever a riot occurs the infor- Without referring to the Polos, it is mation is forthcoming that some of the enough to know that in the Ming and principal literati in the neighborhood the beginning of the present dynasty have roused the passions of the otherthe talented Jesuit missionaries were wise friendly mob and become its leadnot only tolerated, but held in high es- ers. So great is the respect for literateem, both at court and in the prov- ture in China, that the literary men will inces; and at that time many of the long continue to be the leaders of the highest officials were converts. Why people. Are we on that account to asis it not so now? I admit that it is sume toward them an attitude of hoslargely owing to the humiliation of the tility ? How should we act toward Chinese by the armies of the West; but them to neutralize their power for evil, the process began long before. It orig- or even to gain them to our side? Some inated toward the end of the reign of missionaries believe that faithfulness to Kang-hi, and became manifest in the , the Truth' demands their uncomprobeginning of that of Yung-chung, when mising hostility to Confucian teaching, the Jesuits in Peking joined a plot to and they persistently attack Confucius supplant this emperor by a younger in public and in private. Supposing it brother. They had enemies before were actually true, as some of these that, becanse of their success and influ- people publicly tell the Chinese, that ence ; yet if envy begat foes, admiration , Confucius is in hell,' would it not be produced friends; but when the poli- wiser to retain to themselves their tics of China were actively interfered knowledge of the unseen world and the with the officials became of one mind unfathomable ways of God, rather than in opposing the foreigner. by blurting it out in the ears of those who revere Confucius to turn indiffer- "From that day to this the Chinese ence to the speaker to actual ha.tred of. have regarded the missionary as the him? Is it conceivable that any One is vanguard of foreign armies. It is need- foolish enough to suppose that the way less to dwell on the arguments they use to win to Christ is by rousing the acand the facts they add uce to prove this tive animosity of the hearer? Are position. I may mention that they such persons beyond learning the meanpoint to Cochin China and to Tonquin. ing of 1 Cor. 9: 19-23 ? Or do they sup- Enough that the belief is general. This pose Paul a poor, mean-spirited dreamis the real, though rarely the ostensible er, whose mode of preaching the Gosrea30n for the anti.foreign feeling so pel is to be avoided by those who court very prevalent among the official and and create danger, and then demand literary classes, who are, of course, vengeance? It is not, perhaps, surmost directly concerned. It is not, lct prising that men who in public' thank me once for all assert-it is not because God that they know nothing of philosowe are introducing another in addition phy' should act in this manner; but to their already numerous forms of re- it is matter of profound regret that the ligion. As far as religion is concerned,
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE. [October –
spirit and action of which I complain perate disCriminations. of Mr. Candlin, are not confined to such people. When of the Methodist New Connection. two years ago I believed it my duty to go into Moukden, then pronounced the AFRICA. city most hostile to foreigners of all Chinese cities, one objection constantly -" Captain Lugard, in his address brought against me from the outset before the Geographical Society, gave was that Christianity came as the en- a very seducing description of the inemy of their much-loved Confucius. terior of Africa. In place of wastes of This argument was, of course, brought sand in the higher plateaus, there is forward by and had much influence soft, springy turf like an English lawn; upon the literary classes. My reply to and for unknown shrubs and flowers, it was the opening of a day school there are familiar evergreen bushes, where the Four Books alone were forget-me-nots, and jessamine, not to taught, and into which not a scrap of speak of brambles and [Scottish 1] this- Christian literature did I allow for the tles. Rushing streams and sheltered first year. Next year the boys were bays and beautiful lakes are also to eager to learn Christian hymns, and be found, making such picturesque they and their parents desired to read glimpses of scenery as are to be seen in Christian books. A.t the end of two many parts of Scotland. It is evident years the school had to be closed, but that if suitable means of transit could it had served my purpose, and never be provided, our own superabundant since has the anti·Confucian argument population might find in these regions been brought against us. Nor have fresh opportunities for replenishing the the literary classes at any time display- earth." -Free Ohurch Monthly. ed that hostility which seems so prevalent throughout China. On the other -Oentral Africa expresses the conhand, I have found the classics of in- viction, grounded on good evidence, comparable value both in the convict- that the Germans are thoroughly in ing of sin, in the inculcation of duty, earnest in civilizing their new sphere. in upsetting idolatry, and in establishing our Christian ideas regarding the -" In the vast African zone extend- Omnipresence, the Almighty Power, ing from the Sahara to the northern and the universal care of the one living boundary of the Transvaal, the trade God. I have yet to learn of the man in alcohol is prohibited, or at least burwho has been converted to Christianity, dened with a progressive tax, according or even rendered friendly toward the to the Brussels Convention, signed by preacher by denunciation of Confucius. seventeen European powers. In Bel- Young converts are prone to run tilt gian Congo there was at the beginning against idolatry, but I have never yet a good movement. Mr. C. H. Harvey, heard a Chinaman who believed it ad- of the American Baptist Society, revisable or right to defame Confucius. marks that the gin trade recoiled before Such denunciations I consider as un- the heavy cxcisc; then the government Christian as they are unwise. They reduced the tax, so that an agency are, to say the least, utterly useless as a which had given up the brandy traffic converting agency. Why, then, seeing resumed it, and did a roaring business, they rouse and will continue to excite soon followed by all the others. They the hatred of the literary classes, should are, he says, gathering a harvest of gold missionaries not abandon this vicious at the expense of the ruined natIves. practice ?"- Rev_ J ORN ROBB, in altinese Is, then, the general act of the Brussels Rernrder (U. P. C. S.). Conference 'the senseless demonstra- tion of a glaring mockery?' as is asked Mr. Ross's remarks seem much in in Regions Beyond. Unhappily it may the same line with the wise and tem- be so. A few score thousand dollars go much farther in tbis world tban
EXTRACTS AND TRANSLA'l'IONS. " '187
J the philanthropy of congresses; this is the soul of his subjccts are in his hand. theory, that practice, which easily Despotism and slavery have moulded paralyzes the former. their spirits to such an es:tent that everyone's looks are fixed on the king, U Are we, then, to be silent? Cer- and no one is willing to appear as if tainly not. We ought to aim at arous- having the will to go beyond him, or ing public opinion against this shame- to separate himself from him in anyful traffic, and against many other thing ; and yet, for all this, the mission things; but what is public opinion? has done an admirable work; it is the A reed shaken by the wind, but, above most beautiful work that I have seen all, by the sounding and tremendous in Africa. I could spend hours in talkblast of material interest. What, at ing of it. You would hardly believe, bottom, is political policy and conquest for instance, how unbounded an influand colonial possession but organized ence M. Coillard exercises over the rapine? Every colonial agent is a born country, over the king. Doubtless the enemy of the aborigines. In the very latter does not give himself wholly to depth of his mind we should find, were this influence; he tears himself away it but naIvely and unconsciously, what from it, even now and then fights it M. Martini announces with frank down; but this of itself shows the asshamelessness: • The native offers him- cendency of the missionary." – Dr. self as an obstacle to the requirements JAMES JOHNSTON to the Oommittee of of our civilization; we must help him tlw Societe des Missions Evangeliques. to vanish off the earth, as has been done for the Redskins, by unceasing volleys -" The weak side of many religious of musketry and by a continuous stream works is found in the premature exacof alcohol.' tion of reports from the workers. The donors insist on being encouraged. A "The man whose eloquent voice Sunday-school, it may be, which has availed so much at the Brussels Con- given one shilling for missions, wishes ference, Monsignor Lavigerie, died in to know how many souls have been November last. Under his cardinal's gained through this one shilling. Your purple beat a generous heart. His ec- mission is not affiicted in this way. clesiastical education had force some- You do not receive triumphant reports. times to draw him into compromises Whatever your missionaries say of their with conscience, into duplicities, which work and its fruits, you may be assured Jesuitical morality excuses; neverthe- that it is always the minimum of that less it remains true that this prelate, which they could say; but their work Doctor of the Sorbonne, Primate of is none the less solid, founded on the Africa, has shown that what will al- rock. It does not strike the new, but most chiefly fascinate every genuine is like the submarine piles sustaining Christian, that which will fill him with the bridges of the Forth and of the the purest enthusiasm, that which will Tay, which form the most necessary transfigure him, is the evangelical apos- and most admirable part of those martolate in the midst of the heathen."- vellous constructions. But the day will Professor F. H. KRUGER, in Journal, come when this work will emerge from des Missions Evavgeliques. the bosom of the deep waters, and its greatness and its vitality will appear -" Would you know my opinion of by the magnificent fruits which it will the French Zambesi Mission? It is bear."-Dr. JAMES Jon~sTON to the carried on under conditions of extraor- Committee of the Paris Society. dinary difficulty. I had seen the American mission on the west side. There MADAGASCAR. men's consciences are free; on the Zambesi they are not. The king can -" A terrible diSaster has befallen stop everything; the life, the heart, Antananarivo, with its hundred thou·
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
Band inhabitants. Its food supply is banked road is flooded ; all the cottages to-day rotting beneath four feet of are deserted, the only sign of recent water. In the night of Monday last, habitation being sheafs of straw ranged while all Antananarivo was sleeping, at the foot of their walls, in often vain the river Ikopa burst its banks, and the effort to prevent the hungry waves va..~t Betsimitatatra plain is now a lake sucking away the foundations of houses stretching northward for many miles. which will, if they stand, presently It is no slight inundation, no few inches contain hungry denizens. Already of water from a pereolation of the river many of the people are feeling the hor- banks. It is a flood, a deluge that, with- rors of the situation. Like the birds of out the slightest indication of its com- the air, they are hovering at the watering, has raced down the broad bed of side to pick up each grain of rice that the Ikopa, overflowed its several chan- is washed ashore ; and in bottles they nels, swept over the sand-banks in its place their finds with the watchful care midst, filled its wide but generally dry with which gold-seekers treasure golden expanse, and then, ravening for an out- grains. Cold and callous, indeed, let, rose and rose until at the east of would be the eye and heart that could Ambokitrimanjaka, southwest of Am- view the scene and not see the forebodihady, some three hours' journey shadowing of what it means-a multifrom the capital, the waters have swept tude on the verge of starvation. Sir over the embankment, tore ever-widen- Robert Peel said, on his repeal of the ing breaches in its steep side, and pour- Corn Laws, that he would be content ed a tide impossible to stem into the to be credited wi.th no other fame than vast rice plain of Betsimitatatra. In that, for by that act he had given the the dead of night the flood swept 011- masses-bread. The spirit-love of the ward, sapping down cottages in its people-that thrilled Sir Robert Peel to rush, until when morning broke An- his great effort, actuates every action tananarivo on the westward side pre- of H. E., the Prime Minister. He acts sented the appearance of an island, with always so that the Malagasy may be waves billowing as far as the eye could benefited. Not once but many times, see. Nothing could be done; the dis- through the rain and bleak wind, he aster was complete. Had there been has hurried during the last week to warning of the coming of the flood, other districts where the rice crop is not had the work of destruction been even submerged, but where the embankthe work of hours, H. E., the Prime- ments need repair. With rallying cry Minister, would have placed himself at he has directed the work, and When the the head of the populace and, thrilling floods are over he purposes to endear them with his mighty energy, averted himself for all time to the Malagasy by the calamity. Had there been any op- organizing an act that will for many portunity the British community would, generations ensure the Malagasy their as they did in 1888, have taken coats staff of life. The embankments of the off :tnd labored with the multitude; Ikopa are, we understand, to bE' rebut there was not, and to-day what was paired in no superficial manner, but are a plain of rice rapidly becoming golden to be made enduring monuments of the in its hue is a sombre surge of yellow loving care of RANAVALOMANJAKA III. water. The yellow is there, but its and her Prime-Minister, Rainilaiarigleam has gone. Where the waving vony."-Madagascar News. rice-blades sung softly to the music of The Prime-Minister, it will be rethe breeze, only the splash of waves membered, is the husband of this queen, is heard as they leap exultantly over as he was of the last. the rice they are rolling into the earth. It is a piteous sight as one canoes across -Although there is no likelihood of that dreary waste of waters. The em- war in the immediate future, still, un-
ENGLISH NOTES. '789
less effort is made to obtain the redress its policy has not only been right but of the wrong that has been done Mada- righteous. Not only so, but by firmly gascar, a cruel struggle is, sooner or adhering to the principle that the later, before the Malagasy. Their faith weapons of the State may not be used in the Protestant faith will be destroy- in matters of conscience, it has prepared ed, but their love of their fatherland the way for the willing reception of the will be undying, altd the country will Gospel in the hearts and consciences of for years be the scene of ever-smoulder- the people of this land." In the judg- ing war. A nation may have its faith ment of this writer, the State in India destroyed, but the spirit of patriotism has been the handmaid of Christianity, never dies in a race that has become a and one of God's most powerful agents homogeneous nation. The armies of in furthering its cause. But waiving such a nation may be annihilated, its this point, two things, he alleges, are towns and villages burnt to the ground, sure: first, that the reign of the Lord its manhood scattered, but the spirit of Jesus Christ in India has begun and patriotism eludes the conqueror. To wlll be consummated; secondly, that mountain fastnesses it flies; in the im- every member of His Church is called penetrable jungle of forests that tower to join in the work.
erect in the fatherland when towns and Speaking of the encouragement to villages are prostrate it hides; in obey this call, Mr. Young says: "If swamps and valleys, where the foreign our faith is so weak as to demand the invader can find no foothold, it lurks; argument of statistics, it is not wanting.
and from one or more of these haunts it The popUlation of the Punjab in 1881 ever flits, will·o'-the-wisp-like, over the was nearly nineteen millions. In the country, harassing the foreigner and census of 1891 it was nearly twenty·one bringing him to his destruction. This millions, an increase of about 10 per cent is the prospect before Madagascar if the in the same time. The number of na- unholy compact between France and tive Christians in the former census re- England is not abrogated. A faith de- turns was 3599. It is now 18,375, an stroyed, a country devastated, and the increase of 400 per cent in the same hearts of a nation made desolate. Will time. Take the two rates of increase, not the British religious world speak write down on a sheet of paper for out in the name of humanity, and in every decade in the future the number the name of Europe's'honor I"-Mada- of the population and the number of the gascar News. native Christians represented by an in- crease of 10 per cent in the one case and English Notes. 400 per cent in the other, and you will find that in forty-five years from the BY REV. JAlIIES DOUGLAS. present time every soul in the PunjaB England'8 Work in India.-The will, at this rate, be a Christian I … Olturch Mi8sionary Intelligencer for Life in India is not worth living if we April opens with an able paper on live it to ourselves. But it is worth liv· "England's Work in India," by W. ing if we live it to Christ."
Mackworth Young, C. S. 1. Writing both as a civil servant of the Queen and The Ohina Inland Mi88ion.-The an· as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, Mr. nual meeting of this mission has just Mackworth Young endeavors to prove been held at the Conference Hall, Mild· that the Government in India has not may Park, and was largely attended.
been so antagonistic to Christian effort Mr. B. Broomhall made a brief state- among the native popUlation as is gen- ment as to the scope and progress of erally supposed. "Admitting," he says, the work. There are now 207 stations " some exceptions, which were usually and out-stations, 552 China Inland Mis· rectified shortly afterward, I believe that sion missionaries in all, and 3637 com·
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
municants. The income raised at home two hands to her ears, and in quaint, was £24,632, and in China and else- broken English, she said, 'No speak to where, £9860. The Rev. J. Hudson me. I been seen the Bleeding Lamb,' Taylor, speaKing of the year's returns, and she hastened to a little group of said: "There have been more converts huts, inhabited by heathen people from and more baptisms than in any previ- the mountains, there to tell the story of ous year, while at this moment there God's love in Jesus. If in this we see are about a thousand more candidates some sign of what the Spirit of God for baptism than at this time last year." can do through missions, we have also At the evening meeting Dr. Pierson an intimation of how missionaries are gave the closing address, his subject made. If out of this great meeting being testimony and judgment as based there is to be a flow of sympathy, of on the words of our Lord in lIatt. compassion, of substance, of service in 24: 14. the name of Christ toward the thousand millions of our human race who have The Rev. R. Wright Hay, of Dacca" not yet heard the Gospel, it must be by JJJa8t BengaZ.-This young missionary our having a new vision of Jesus Christ has won a high place in the esteem and as the 'Lamb of God which taketh affection of English Baptists. His re- away the sin of the world.' " cent address at Exeter Hall, on the Baptist missionary platform, will not soon Darkest Russia.-The paper bearing be forgotten. It was a voice of tender the above title is full of the saddest pleading, lit by poetic glow and hal- reading concerning the times in which lowed by a gracious spirit. We give we live. The main object of this peribut one passage from this heart-to-heart odical is to bring to the knowledge of speech, the opening words: "I cannot the civilized world "authentic facts forget the last time I stood here, it was relating to Russia's persecution of her as one who, by brief service of Jesus in subjects on account of their religIous Africa, had gained promotion to the belief." But much more than this encoveted privilege of being allowed in ters into the composition of this joursome measure to give voice to Africa's nal. The seamy side of Russian flnance great woes. And to·night, light from is mercilessly exposed. The worse than that dark land lingers in my men1ory, slavery of millions of her population is and the desire that some of it may break depicted in colors which, for humanity's out upon the hearts of others disposes sake, we trust are overdrawn. And me to relate to you an incident which what is more serious still, a sketch is given-authorities being quoted in exhas, in various applications, been a: tenso-of an agricultural blight which threatens, and that at no distant day, to means of grace to myself. One of the convert the fairest and most productive saintliest Christians that I have known provinces of Russia into a Sahara. was an aged Christian negress, whose Who can fail to have suggested to him, friendship I enjoyed on the shores of in a fact so portentous, the finger of Ambas Bay, at the base of the Cameroon God? The tillers of the soil are be- Mountains. In our little prayer-meet- coming paralyzed. It is, indeed, mys· ing there was no one who prayed with terious that the famous black loam greater fervor or with a more forcible country, which is the granary of Rususe of Scripture language than this aged sia, should in such a brief space of time sister. One evening, just after she had have taken on an entirely different comprayed, and with more than usual pow· plexion. "Many sources of moisture er, as we raised our heads we saw her are drying up completely and disaphurriedly moving toward the door of pearing, others are being choked up; the chapel, and when one of the little and, worse than all else, the fertile surcompany inquired why she was so hurriedly leaving the meeting, she put her face soil is being swept away from the summed up in the word prejudicesteppe with an ever-augmenting force, that prejudice which sees what it whereby the arms of rivers, the lakes, pleases, but cannot see what is plain." and every species of holloware filling with sand and other coarse alluvium." -Mulhall estimates that the civilized Some years ago the government at.- nations pay annually $13,700,000,000 tempted to palliate the evil by planting for food. By the side of this vast sum defensive trees before the soil became how infinitesimal is the amount excompletely denuded. " But, " cries pended to secure for the starving the the NO'D01Je Vremya, "no one concerns bread of life! himself in the least to delay the advance of the all-destroying oceans of -According to the latest statistics sand, to take measures against the there are in the world about 6000 lightdroughts and the resulting sterility." houses and 250 lightships. Of these It is further observed, in this most Europe has 3309, and the United States mournful record. that •• the effects of 1287, with 1369 post lights in addition the persecution of the Jews are reacting on the Western rivers; while all Asia most disastrously upon the economic has but 476, Oceanica, 319; Africa, condition of the whole population, 219; South America, 169; and the while the wanton reduction to beggary West Indies, 106. The lack of GoIfJHlZ of the most sober and successful farm- light is even more serious in the same ers, simply because they are Baptists, regions. If we call each mission stahas contributed to put back agriculture tion a lighthouse, there are some 12,000 at least twenty years." scattered here and there, though far apart, in the boundless area of pagan· THE WORLD AT LARGE. ism. Or, if we term each missionary of either sex sent forth from Christian -Certainly, Mr. Moody is no pessim- countries a light-bearer. there are only ist, for recently at Northfield he said: about 10,000 for the 1,000,000,000 of heathen. And how dense the darkas"I never was so hopeful for America ness! I am to-day." -As setting forth one form of mis- -Mrs. Bishop, who has travelled sionary activity, which has received a much in Oriental lands, affirms that most wondrous development during 500 Mohammedan missionaries go forth this century, these figures are instruc: from Cairo every year who are to be tlve and exhilarating. It is estimated found everywhere in the East. She that between the Christian era and the does not think that Mohammedanism Protestant Reformation, a period of can ever be successfully coped with. 1500 years, the Scriptures were transexcept by Christian converts who are lated into only 23 languages, of which fully Oriental in mental habit. 13 ere long died out. This was at the rate of only 1 version to over 66 years. ~Rev. Thomas P.Hughes, long a Between the Reformation and 1804, missionary on the Afghan frontier, when the British and Foreign Bible So· adopted the dress of the Afghan, and ciety was formed, about 300 years, 84 states this as the conclusion he has translations were made, an average of reached concerning one form of adapta- 1 to about 9 years. Between 1804 and tion to current custom: " Judging from 1890 the Word of God was published my own experience among an Oriental wholly or in part in 342 languages, or race for twenty years, it seems strange about 4 each year. In the decade 1881to me that missionaries in all lands do 91 the above-named society alone unnot adopt the dress of the people among dertook 50 translations, or 5 a year; whom they labor. There are a great and last year work was begun on no many arguments against it, but in my less than 9 new languagC'J. opinion they may be pretty well -And nere is a hint concerning an- -" This will do more for Christian- other most important phase of develop- ity than anything that has been done, ment in missionary work. At the first for our people know nothing of such conference held at Allahabad, in 1873, love as this," say the native Japanese of 136 members, natives numbered 28, Christians of a hospital that mission- and women numbered 0; at the sec· aries are erecting for lepers.
and, held at Calcutta, in 1883, in' a -The self.denying deeds of Sarah membership of 475 there were 46 no.· Hosmer, of Lowell, are worth telling tives and 181 women; and at the again and again for an example. Sha third, in Bombay last year, with 632 heard that a young man might be edumembers, there were 93 natives and 276 cated in the Nestorian mission seminary women. And, no doubt, in all the fu- for $50. Working in a factory, she ture more and more will women be saved this amount and sent it to Persia, found at the front in the fight, and the and a young man was educated as a work be transferred to native hands. preacher of Christ to his own people.
-All a route fr~m England to India She thought she would like to do it and Australia, though the Suez Canal again and again, and did it five times.
is not exactly in peril of being super- When more than sixty years of age, seded. it is to have a vigorous rival, living in an attic, she took in sewing and that in the shape of the Canadian until she had sent out the sixth preach.
Pacific Railway and a line of steamers cr. She was a missionary in the high.
to Japan, China, and beyond. The est sense.
distance is not much greater, and there is no danger of blockade in time of -The Chinese lepers of British Co· war. How astonishingly does steam lumbia, isolated on an island in the facilitate the triumph of the Gospel 1 Gulf of Georgia, have had no one to " The King's business requireth haste. " attend them, and have been left alone, with only the occasional visit of a phy.
-The numbers are suspiciously sician to relieve them. A young worn· "round," but are approximately cor- an of Vancouver, Lizzie Hausel, has rect, which allege that Queen Victoria heroically offered to devote herself to is now sovereign over 1 continent, 100 the care of these unfortunates. She peninsulas, 500 promontories, 1000 was rescued by the Salvation Army lakes, 2000 rivers, and 10,000 islands. some time ago from a degraded Ufe, -In a pUblication of the English and for two years has been a devoted Church Missionary Society it is stated trained nurse in cases of small-pox, etc. that "there are those who think it the Her decision to care for the lepers will highest honor to their family that it mean the sacrifice of the rest of her life.
should be represented in the mission -We are passing through days which field. One clergyman has given 4 sorely try the faith and patience of all daughters to India. Another band of lovers of missions. To the financial 4 sisters is in China. In two cases 3 and theological troubles are to be added brothers and a sister have gonc out. In the mischief-making of France, Ger- another case 3 brothers, all qualified many, and Spain in several fields, the medical men. Two branches of one tyrannical acts of Tltrkey several times family, comprising 18 brothers, sisters, repeated, the serious revulsion in Japan, and first cousins, are, or will shortly be and the riots in China leading to the represented in the field by 7 of them." murder of several missionaries, signs of And the United States has its families trouble in Korea, as well as the out· of Scudders, Gulicks, etc., who from break of fanatical violence between generation to generation maintain the Hindus and Mohammedans in Bom· glorious succession. bay, etc. But God reigns nevertheless,
GENERAL MISSIONARY
'793 the threatening clouds will pass, and – Not possessing the gift of tongues, out of evil good will issue. missionaries sometimes with the best of intentions preach queer doctrine. Thus -The English Wesleyans entered a missionary writes: .. One of our Sierra Leone in 1808, and in less than teachers startled us in our class·meeting 40 years some 55 missionaries had lost by saying he had not come to New their lives, but volunteers were never Guinea to seek kwekwe (frogs), but to lacking. The ruling spirit was well seek the souls of the heathen. He expressed by one of the number, who meant gwegwe (property)." And Prosaid: "The more I hear of the dangers fessor G. F. Wright, of Oberlin, premisand the difficulties of missionary life in ing that in Alaska there are no domes- Africa, the more anxious I am to go ;" tic animals, and that the so-called and when llis mother said to him, "If mountain sheep is a real goat, repeats you go to Africa, you will be the death the story told of the missionary's lack of me," he replied: "Oh, mother, if of success in translating the first verse you do not let me go, you will be the of the twenty-third Psalm. His interdeath of me." preter had no proper idea of either sheep or shepherd, and in rendering the phrase -When G. Wilmot Brooke andJ. A. "The Lord is my Shepherd," aston- Robinson were about to sail for Africa, ished his audience by translating it iJl 1890, to found a mission upon the " The Lord is an implacable mountain upper Niger, they entrusted their lives sheep-hunter. " to God in a way not so very common, even among missionaries, by signing WOMAN'S WORK. this 'paper : -A writer in the Advance relates. " As the missionaries enter the Mos- " The other day I asked a lady who is lem States under the necessity of vio- exceptional for her literary culture and lating the law of Islam, which forbids tastes what she had been reading during anyone to endeavor to turn Moslems to the summer. 'Really nothing,' she Christ, they could not under any cir- said, 'except the missionary papers. I cumstances ask for British intervention cannot find time for anything else.' to extricate them from the dangers And yet this 'nothing but missionary which they thus call down upon them- papers' had kept her in touch with the selves. But also for the sake of the na- world, had made her an interesting pertives who have to be urged to brave the son to talk with, although she was a wrath of men for Christ's sake, it is housekeeper with a large family, and necessary that the missionaries should with very little kitchen help. It had themselves take the lead in facing these kept her from becoming intellectually dangers; and should in every possible stupid with the monotony of daily way make it clear to all that they do toil. " not desire to shelter themselves, as British subjects, from the liabilities and -Mrs. Benton, in Helping Hand, is perils which would attach to Christian troubled to see" why Paul did not inconverts from Mohammedanism in the clude in his list of gifted workers, , col- Soudan. They will, therefore, volun- lectors.' We would read, 'He gave tarily lay aside all claim to protection some apostles, some prophets, some as British subjects, and place them- evangelists, some pastors, some teachselves, while outside British territory, ers, and 80me collectors, for the perfectunder the authority of the native rulers ; ing of the saints.' Paul always comand will endeavor jn every way to mends the collector, as also those who share with the people the difficulties are not slow in forwarding the collecand trials of their Mohammedan envi- tion. Indeed, Paul was an excellent ronment." collector himself. Then, as now, the disciples did not arrive at the perfect stature of men and women in Christ ment, until now 22 societies in Europe Jesus without the aid of the collector." and America are engaged.
-Secretary Wright, of the British -;Miss Mary W. Porter writes that and Foreign Bible Society, at the anni· the women of the United Presbyterian versary of the London Missionary So· Church presented last year as a thank· ciety, said he felt that the tremendous offering to the Lord $37.028, of which wealth of influence and power in wom· $10,000 went to foreign missions, $9000 an's work had hitherto been neglected. to home and Warm Spring Indian "In Damascus we men preach to the missions, and $7616 to missions among cheerless east wind of the Oriental ba· the freedmen. zaars. A woman will go with her smile, and this smile will be answered THE UNITED STATES. by a smile. We dare not smile. She goes with this access to all these little -General Grant said that one Indian springs of love and influence down war cost $6,000,000 and killed 6 Ind· among the people, into the homes, into ians. the seed place, where the good seed can be sown in the hearts of the wom· " Heaven," according to Red Cloud, en." "is a place where white men tell no lies. " -These figures relating to the gifts of women for missions last year are -The conversion of this republic to worth pondering. Mrs. L. M. Bain· the Moslem faith still continues. To bridge is the authority: Mr. Webb, the chief apostle, is joined an Egyptian of rank, one Abdurrhim Presbyterians (North)….. . $309,818 Effendi, and they propose to establish Methodists (North)…….. . 265,342 colonies of true believers in the South· Congregationalists…….. . 229,701 ern States, and as well to build mosques Baptists (North)………. . 155,552 in New York and other cities. The Union Missionary Society.. . 51,222 Egyptian above named expresses tum· EpiscopaL ………….. .. 35,484 self thus: Reformed Church……… . 29,635 "Mohammedanism is destined to be TotaL ………….. $1,076,754 the religion of all intelligent people, and the time to spread the prophet's -Woman's work in India has made doctrine is ripe. Calm, earnest discus· great progress. There are now 711 sions will work wonders, for Christianwomen-foreign and Eurasian-mis- ity is evidently a failure. Christians sionaries in India. These have access are not sincere, but the Moslems are as to 40,513 zenanas, and have 62,414 girl devout now as they were in the days of pupils in the mission schools. There· Mohammed. In Europe the Moslem fore, well may the Brahmans begin to faith is making great strides, and in tremble for the result. America progress is rapid, though not dreamed of by those unacquainted with -These are the bottom facts as to the subject." zenana work, coming direct from Miss R. A. Webb, Secretary of the Society -Two more devoted men, whose for Promoting Female Education in the names will not soon be forgotten, have East. The beginning was as far back ceased from their toils on earth: Rev. as 1835, when a missionary of that so· E. P. Thwing, who only a few months ciety, Miss Wakefield, obtained access ago had gone to China, at his own to two or three zenanas in Calcutta, and charges, to establish a hospital for the others followed, until in 1843 a wom- insane, and Rev. Jeremiah Porter, in an was sent out for this special purpose. labors most varied and abundant as Mrs. Mullen's work came later. After home missionary for 62 years, or ever the Mutiny of 1857 came great enlarge· since 1831. Among the rest, the latter was the pioneer minister in Chicago, reaching that place in 1833, when it tumn; 40 of them from Atlantic and was but a village of 300 inhabitants. 30 from Pacific ports. Several impor- tant advance stations have been plant· -The University of Chicago con- ed. Twenty.seven new mission houses ferred its first degree of Ph.D. upon a are building. One new centre of oper· Japanese, who is to be Professor of Old ations-namely, the Central China Mis- Testament Literatur~ in a Methodist col- sion, with headquarters at or near Hanlege at Tokio. This is a significant kow-has been projected, and 2 mis· fact. When Harvard conferred its first sionary families are on their way to degree, or when John Wesley was work it." founding a great sect, what did the world know of Japan ?-British Weekly. -The Episcopalians are about to re- joice over the occupation of a Church -The year book of the Young Men's Missions House. The cost of the Christian Associations of North Ameri- ground, $175,000, and the amount of ca, for 1893, has been issued. The $170,000 toward the erection of the number of associations is now 1439, building have been received. There with an aggregate membership of 245,- will still be required $70,000 for the 809. These associations own buildings completion of the building free from valued at $12,591,000. Their total net debt. property is valued at $14,208,043-more than $1,500,000 more than the year be- An urgent call is issued for $20,000 fore. to help on the work among the freed- men, coupled with this statement: -Few things to be found in Chicago " We have 137 mission stations served this year are more remarkable than Mr. by 60 white and 47 colored ministers. Moody's six·months' Gospel campaign. We have 6399 communicants, 95 church Through the entire season the work has buildings, 52 schools, 4 hospitals, 1 been pushed. From 200 to 300 work- church home, 125 Sunday·schools with ers have been employed, holding ser· 10,000 scholars, 61 day·schools with vices all over the city in tents, halls, 4734 pupils, 3 normal and divinity theatres, and churches, at the rate of schools with 160 normal and 31 divin- 120 a week, exclusive of meetings for ity students. The colored people paid prayer and counsel. All·day services $22,509 toward these objects." were held several times with astonishing attendance and interest. -The Presbyterian Church, South, with a membership of 188,546, gave to ~ -This is but a part of the year's foreign missions last year $120,954, and story which the Baptists can tell: "A for all forms of religious work $1,943,- great and notable advance has been 580. made. The increase of cash contributions from our churches alone (includ- -The General Synod of the German ing that secured by the woman's soci- Reformed Church is pledged to raise eties) amounts to over $360,000. Since $40,000 for foreign missions for the curthe centenary proposal was made we rent year. A flourishing mission is sushave also recruited not far from 100 tained in Japan containing 12 churches, new missionaries, counting both men of which 5 are self-sustaining, with a and women. We have sent 37, male membership of 1842, an increase of 109 and female, workers to the Telugus. within a year. The native ministers We are sending 14 new workers to number 9 ; unordained evangelists, 16 ; Western China; about as many more and theological students, 21. A girls' to other parts of China, and many school has 45 pupils, and 976 are in others to Assam, Burma, and Africa. Sunday.schools. The preaching sta- About 90 missionaries in al1-70 of tions are 37. them new workers-go out this au- -The Roman Catholics are not alto- gether impervious to modern influences, and are able to learn even from the of baptisms was 7806. In the day- Protestant foe. Last year a summer schools are 8871 pupils. In Sumatra school, a quasi Chautauqua, was start- the chief struggle is with ·Mohamme- ed, and was held again this year, hav- danism instead of heathenism.
ing a permanent home secured near -The Ninth Continental Conference Plattsburgh, N. Y., by the gift of 450 met in Bremen recently; representing acres on the shore of Lake Champlain. 14 German, 2 Dutch, and 1 Danish so- EUROPE. cieties. For three days practical topics of common interest were discussed. Great Britain.-The recent action.of Parliament in providing for the appoint- -The figures below give the number ment of a commission to investigate the of baptisms reported in 1891-92 by 9 whole matter of Indian opium; together German societies: with the action of the Government of Burma forbidding the use or possession Hermannsburg ………….. _. 2380 of opium by any native in Lower Neukirchen (Java) ..•………. 76 Burma, are hopeful signs that the abate- North G:erman (West Africa) .. , 91 ment of a blighting curse is not far Gossner's Mission ….. _……. . 1500 Leipsic (Tamilland)……….. . 380 away. Basel Society ………… , …. . 1253 .-General Booth carries on his mis- Berlin ……..•……… 2012 sions at comparatively sniall cost. The officers who work among the Zulus are Barmen" …………….. . 3546 Moravian (including children).. . 13,336 said to get 60 cents per week as salary, Total. ……………… 24,574 besides cornmeal for breakfast, rice for -In a paper on the" Religious Condinner, with an occasional bucket of dition of Italy," Dr. Murray Mitchell molasses thrown in. The latter costs .gives a statistical table, prepared by 12 cents at the sugar-mill. Rev. Dr. G. Gray, of Rome, showing ~It is announced that the Mildmay the membership of the chief evangeli- Mission to the Jews is about to receive cal missions in Italy for the years 1888 some £25,000 from a bequest, and that and 1893. The summary is as follows : this sum will be expended in distribut- 1888. 1893.
ing New Testaments and Christian liter- Waldensian Church… . 4,074 4,737 ature to Jews all the world over. Free Church……… . 1,522 1,631 -The income of the Scottish United Wesleyan Methodist … . 1,360 1,341 Presbyterian Church was $200,660 last Methodist EpiscopaL .. 920 965 year, and work was sustained in Jamai- Baptist churches …… . ~75 ca, Trinidad, Old Calabar, Kaffraria, 1,050 India, China, and Japan. The missionary force consists of 130 fully train- In the Methodist Episcopal mission ed agents, 63 being ordained Europeans there are 241 probationers in addition to the 965 members in full connection. In 1888 there were 174 probationers.
and 20 ordained natives, and 28 zenana ASIA. workers. The membership of the mis- sion churches is 17,414, an increase of Turkey.-A few native churches are 885 in a year. becoming self-supporting in spite of The Continent.-The Rhenish So- the general poverty, among which are ciety is at work in Africa, China, the Tarsus and Mardin: and the schools Dutch East Indies, and New Guinea. are forging along in the same direction.
The income was $97,582 in 1892. The -A recent letter from Mr. Wheeler, number of native Christians is 47,436, President of Euphrates College, reports of communicants 14,295, of whom 680 that there are in all departments 522 were confirmed last year. The number pupils-297 males and 225 f~males. Of these 12 are in the theological depart- the cause of social reform. The Hin- ment, 34 in the male college proper, and du Social Reform Association of Mad- 37 in the female college. ras has entered on a crusade against tho -The lot of a journalist is a hard one demoralizing practice of Nautch danc. in the dominions of the Sultan, and the ing, which has hitherto been an acceptnewspaper is at a heavy discount. The ed feature of entertainments, pnblic and censor has an eagle eye, revises with a private. The crusade is led by. but not free hand, and even suppresses an of- exclusively confined to, Christians.
fending sheet on slight provocation. -Some of the native States have -The Sultan will not have a tele- rulers so enlightened as to be every way phone within his dominions at any:price fit to hold the reins of power. Such, whatever. He complains that his sub- for example, as the Maharaja Gaekwar jects are far too ready, as it is, to plot of Baroda, whose subjects number and conspire against his life, and he 2,500,000, and his income is $7,000,000. does not propose to introduce a me~ns When in London last year this royal whereby they can accomplish their foul Hindu announced that his first object designs twice as easily I has always been to promote education, and to this end, on assuming the gov- India.-A Calcutta paper relates that ernment, he ordered schools to be openrecently a young Brahman came to the ed at the cost of the State up to the house of a missionary, seeking an in- number of. 30 each year, wherever 16 terview. In the course of the conver- pupils could be brought together.' By sation he said: "Many things which this arrangement he hopes that every Christianity contains I find in Hindu- one of the 3500 towns and villages in ism; but there is one thing which Chris· his dominion will soon possess a school tianity has and Hinduism has not." for both sexes. He is now educating " What is that?" the missionary asked. several students in England to become His reply was striking: "A Saviour." teachers. The Gaekwar strongly dis- -A Hindu widow through all her approvE's. of child marriages, and has life, even if she lives to be ninety years expressed his determination that his old, can never eat but one meal of rice own sons and daughters shall not marry in twenty-four hours. At fast seasons before they are twenty.
she must fast for two or three con- -Eleven Lutheran missionary socisecutive days. "If a dying widow eties, representing ten different States asks for water on a fast day, a few and countries of Europe and America, drops are dropped into her ear." are at work in India.
-In; this land all burdens are car- -A gentleman in Brooklyn who read the appeal of the Rev. William Butler ried On men's heads and on their backs, in The Ohristian Advocate of July 6th for" Village Chapels in India," walked and not in carts, wagons, and bacrows, into the missionary office the next Tuesand it is customary to provide resting- day and handed Dr. Peck $1000. The places for them along the roads. For noble-hearted donor declined to permit this purpose stones are set up along the his name to be given to the pUblic. hot, dusty, and sandy ways just the His gift will build 20 chapels; and not right height for a man to rest his bur· long after $500 were received from anden on. There he can stand and rest other source, and will build 10 more. till, relieved and refreshed, he is able to go on his way. A native Christian in Travancore once said to an English gentleman, "Ah, sahib, Christ is all -Hindu heathenism dies hard. In my hope; Christ is my rest-stone." order to stave off the inevitable catas- -AhopefU:l sign of progress in India trophe all sorts of Christian methods of is seen in an important movement in work are resorted to, like tract soci· eties, street-preaching, newspapers, go back and tell him more about what schools, Sunday-schools, etc., but all in my Scriptures said."
vain_ In a few weeks or months col- -A letter from the North China Mis· lapse ensues. sion shows how rapidly the medical -A good report comes from the work is gaining in favor. Instead of South Mcot field: "From the very holding back in fear patients have been small beginning in the village of Sattam- flocking to the dispensary in Pangbadi in 1863, the work has grown until Chuang in such numbers that Mr. Smith there are now 8 organized churches, 32 writes: "Not only has all the available congregations, 543 communicants, 1658 space in all the wards been occupied, adherents, 30 schools with 734 pupils, as well on the women's as on the men's 212 of whom are girls. From the vil- side, .but every available building is oclages have gone forth as many as 40 cupied too. Each case brings others, young men and women, educated in till there seems no end to it, and Dr. our boarding schools, who are filling Peck is much overtasked with his unpositions of usefulness in the mission. wonted labors, owing to his wide surgi- Such are some of the numerical results cal fame." The writer states that on of thirty years at one of our mission one day the patients represented 23 difstations. " ferent regions. One day two men came from a place 180 miles south, -The Surgeon-General of the Siam- bringing two children with them. ese Army is Dr. T. H. Hayes, who went to Siam several years ago as a -Rev. W. T. Hobart, :l'Iethodist medical Presbyterian missionary. He Episcopal missionary, wants more men met with such wonderful success in and more money, and reproaches and curing diseases that the king considered prods his brethren in this fashion: his services indispensable, and made " When Mr. Collins. of our own church, him surgeon-general of the army, with offered to go to Foo-Chow as a mispower to establish hospitals and medi- sionary. he was told the society had no cal institutions on American models. funds. He said to the bishop: •Find Dr. Hayes receives a salary of $7000 a me a place before the mast, and I will year, part of which he turns over to work my passage to China. ' When the the mission board. first Wesleyan missionary to China of- fered to go he was told that the Wes- China.-In this country all the land 1eyan Missionary Society had no ,mis- belongs to the State, and a trifling sum sion in China and no funds to begin per acre, never altered through long one. So he sold his own property and centuries, is paid as rent. This is the paid his own way out of it. The church only tax, and it amounts to but about was not ready. "
60 cents per head. Korea. -A missionary sends home -In their interprctation of Scripture these statistics: .. We have now 54 the Chinese are apt to be literalists. evangelical Protestant missionaries in One of the Bible-women, Gueh Eng, Korea, not including the High Church Ilately met with a rude reception from Episcopalians, who have no dealings the head of a house to which she went with us, but are nearer to the Catholics to teach the women. "And what did perhaps. The Presbyterians lead the you do about it?" she was asked. van with 21 missionaries, only 3 phy- " Oh," she said, "I turned around at sicians, one of them a woman and the the door, and shook every particle of wife of Dr. Brown. The Methodists dust off my shoes, and told him that come next with 16, 6 being physicians, was what the Scriptures tell us to do 3 of them women. The Southern Pres- when those to whom we go refuse to byterians are 8 in number, and the Aus- hear us. I left it as a testimony against tralian Presbyterians 5; 4 Indepen- him; and afterWard he sent for me to dents make up the total of 54." AFRICA. -The Jesuits, to whom the Apostolic Prefecture of the Upper Zambesi was -,-It is said that not even one Arab committed in 1877, think the time has woman im Algeria is able to read. come to occupy Mashonaland, where Hence the Gospel must be spoken to the Protestant societies are putting forth them. all their efforts to win the natives to heresy. They have secured a farm of -The state of religion in Algeria is 12,000 acres to the east of Fort Salisunique. There are four established or bury, and their superior, Rev. P. Kerr, State-paid forms of worship-namely, has just installed a troupe of mission· the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, the aries there, newly arrived from Europe. Jewish, and the Mohammedan.
-Ethiopia is certainly lifting up her -In a missionary letter one of the hands, not only to God, but ,in defence torments of life in West Africa is noagainst the vices of civilization. A ticed: "The carpenter working on Zulu church recently organized has it this station is troubled with a bad foot. among its by-laws that "no member It is caused by what is called a Guinea shall be permitted to drink the white worm. The foot is swollen as if an abo man's grog." scess were forming, and the swelling resembles one, but for a tiny hole the -Twelve new missionaries have been size of a pin-prick where the head sent out to reinforce the Zambesi Indus- of the worm is. When the foot is poul.
trial Mission, making 30 in all. The ticed for some time the worm sticks its amount of land now owned is 100,000 head out. This is taken and wrapped acres. An effort is to be made in be- round a match or bit of stick and wound half of 150,000 slaves found in the round and round; thus it is gradually vicinity. pulled out, perhaps about a foot-some- -The station of Lavigerieville, times more, sometimes less-every day, founded by the White Fathers on the great care being taken not to break the shores of Lake Tanganyika, has already worm. This worm is very little thicker become an important settlement. When than an ordinary thread and, the doctor the missioniLries first settled there in says, is about twenty feet long. The 1883 there was nothing but " the desert development of the worm makes the and brnshwood." Since then a large swelling very painful." extent of territory has been purchased at a cheap rate, and, when fully culti- -The arrangements made by Sir vated, it will be able to support 100,000 Gerald Portal for harmonizing the repeople. It is an undulating plain, ligio·political variances in Uganda probounded by the rivers Lope and Kan- vide for 2 ministers of justice, 2 com· wema and traversed by two others. At manders of troops, and 2 commanders first the Fathers established themselves of canoes, 1 of each to be Protestant close to the lake, but owing to the fall and 1 Catholic; all to have the apin the water during recent years, they proval of the British resident. In the found themselves amid swamps, and distribution of territory, it is claimed had to move to high ground about one that the Catholics have the larger share. mile inland. There they have built an So are reproduced on the continent of orphanage for boys and another for Africa some such ecclesiastical dissengirls, in number about 300, all redeem- sions as 300 years ago in Germany gave us the Thirty Years' War.
ed from slavery, and also several vil- ISLANDS OF THE SEA. lages for Christian households. Alto- gether there are some 2000 inhabitants -The King of Samoa has issued a -neophytes, catechumens, and in- proclamation forbidding, under pain of quirers. heavy penalties, any native Samoan or Pacific islander to sell or to give away turbulent. A young man is needed any intoxicating drinks whatever. An also to take Dr. Pease's place on the exchange asks a pertinent question Marshall Islands, and, as there is good anent this proclamation, "Who is the reason to expect that Spain will permit barbarian ?" missionary work to be soon resumed on Ponape, another able missionary must -Kedokedo, the government chief be found to aid Mr. Rand. The Micro- on Fergnsson, New Guinea, was angry nesian force seems to be seriously crip- with his old aunt for threatening to pled, and the call for volunteers is ur- smite a -friend of his with sickness gent. through the agency of her familiar spirit, and afraid lest she should smite him -The London Missionary Society also he took her out in a canoe, and, Chronicle: a short time since, jl,'ave an heedless of her cries for mercy, tied a account from Rev. C. Chalmers of a big stone around her neck and cast her voyage in the Gulf of Papua, where he into the sea. She sank never to come up met with-a kind welcome, though many again, and he thinks he has done a vir- of the natives had never seen a white tuous act in not suffering a witch to man before. At one place he held a live. The teacher was away at the service in a native hut, amid charms time for the sake of his health. and fetiches of all kinds, skulls of hu- man beings, crocodiles, pigs, casso- -Why the people at Bauro made waries, and six hideous idols at the end. tree-houses. They had been fighting Among these surroundings they sang a with the Ysabel Islanders, and the peo- translation of the hymn, "Hark the ple at Bauro were nearly all killed. voice of love and mercy I" "I do not The few who escaped hid in the bush, think," writes Mr. Chalmers, "I ever and when the enemy had gone they heard it sound better." crept forth to find their hOlJses and gardens quite ruined. They therefore be- -The New Zealand Herald reports gan to build their houses in the tallest the death of Mr. Richard Matthews, at trees, ascending thereto by long lad- the age of eighty-two, after a life of ders, sometimes reaching over sixty feet strange adventures. He was landed at from the ground. Up these dangerous Terra del Fuego by Captain Fitzroy of aJ;ld uncertain ladders the natives ran the Beagle, where, with three Fuegians with ease, a woman heavily laden who had visited England, he meant to climbing carelessly up without even at- plant a mission station. The natives tempting to steady herself with her thought of killing and eating him, but hands.-Life of Bishop Patteson. by the persuasion of his three friends they gave up the idea and contented -Recent disciples on Futuna, New themselves with stealing all his clothes; Hebrides, were sacred men who pro- it was the sight of these being worn by fessed to be able to make rain, and by several natives 150 miles away that led sorcery to bring disease and death. Captain Fitzroy to search for his old When they joined the class for Chris- passenger, whom he found and rescued tian instruction they willingly brought from a second proposal to " rise, slay, their sacred stones, held as dear as life and eat" him. He was on board the itself, and burned them in the public Beagle for four years, assisting Darwin. square. He left the vessel to become an agent of the Church Missionary Society at -The American Board calls for vol- Wanganui, New Zealand. He afterunteers for the work in Micronesia. ward went farther north, where he Mr. Snelling, the missionary in charge built the first house and made the first at Ruk, is obliged to give up his labor bricks in the district. He was probon account of impaired health, and a ably the only European who ever wit· man and his wife are needed to succeed nessed a Maori cannibal feast, where him, taking up the work in the Ruk he bought off 2 intended victims for a. lagoon and among the MortIock islands. tomahawk:apiece. where a good beginning has been made amid a large population still rude and
The Missionary Review of the World — April 1888
PAUL'S MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XI. No. 4.-Old Series.-APRIL.-voL. I. No. 4.-New Seriu.
I.-THE LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.
PAUL'S MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] LOOKING back through the long aisles of the ages and tracing the history of missions, we behold a grand procession, or succession, of devoted men and women, whose names constitute an alphabet of glory. yet back of t4em all, farther removed into the distant past, stands "Paul the Little," yet the colossal, commanding figure that even distance cannot diminish-the pioneer, in a twofold sense, of missions to the heathen. Noble as are the names of the missionary host, and inspiring as is the story of their heroism, there is no nobler name, no more heroic career than those represented by the Apostle of the Gentiles.
It may be well to try and analyze the principles that underlay that grand missionary life which, leading all the rest in point of time, has led all the rest in point of excellence and eminence; for the history of man has furnished no higher pattern save only as found in Him who made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and undertook the original mission to universal man.
1. In Paul's life as a missionary we observe first a peculiar law oj evangelization: the occupation of otherwise unoccupied fields. " I have strived to preach the gospel not where Ohrist was named, lest I .should build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of they shall see," etc. His special aim was "to preach the gospel in the regions beyond" (Rom. xv. 20, 21; 2 Oor. x. 13-16).
The right and left arms of Ohristian activity are these two-education and evangelization. Weare first to proclaim Ohrist where he has not.been named, and then to train converts into active, stalwart disciples and workers. There is undoubtedly a work of building, but foundations must first be laid. And this necessity cannot be too much emphasized. The mission work is sometimes treated as though it were all one; and so indeed it is in principle. But practically there is a great difference between those who have heard of Ohrist and those who have not; between the indifference of apathy or habitual resistance, and the indifference of downright ignorance and habitual surrender to the tyranny of superstition.
You ask, Why should a man go to Africa? Are there not souls needing the gospel in Nebraska and Iowa, and even in our own cities? I answer, There are unsaved souls perhaps in your house, but their destitution is not to be compared with that of millions in the interior of China and Africa. These people are without saving faith in Ohrist ; those are without saving knowledge of Christ. With one class it is light unused, with the other it is darkness unbroken. Paul did not deny that there were hundreds in Jerusalem who had seen Christ's mighty works and heard his divine words, who yet needed salvation, but he yearned especially to reach those who had not even heard ~( him. Theirs was a double destitution-first, not having Christ; second not having the knowledge of Christ.
Take our most destitute mission districts. Can you find a town or settlement in the remotest frontier where there is not at least some pious man or woman who is competent to guide an inquirer? One of our missionary superintendents went to a small group of hamlets on the Rocky Mountains, where there was neither a church nor a Sunday-school, but there he found a poor but pious widow whose humble home was the gathering place for prayer-meetings, and there was not a soul in that village that would not know where to go for counsel. But when Stanley crossed the Dark Continent, from Zanzibar to the Congo's mouth, over all those 7,000 miles he found no native that had heard of Christ! And in China a poor man who had been convicted of sin journeyed sixteen hundred miles to find an American consul, who, as he thought, could tell him about the God of the Christians. Were the question before Paul afresh for decision, where he would go to preach the gospel? He would go where no one else 1vould-where there was the greatest destitution and degradation. If other men feel attracted to the work of building on other men's foundations, let them do that work; but Paul yearned to press into regions beyond, where Christ had never been named, and so within the life of a generation he carried the cross over the known world west of the Golden Horn.
That principle of evangelization must be the law of our Christian life if we are ever to overtake the regions beyond. We must practically feel that the call is loudest where the need is greatest and the darkness deepest. Then, while we shall pass by no really needy field nearer home, we shall press with untiring zeal and contagious earnestness into the farthest corners of the earth.
II. Paul's life was regulated also by the principle of obligation. " I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise." He was a debtor, owing and owning a debtsomething was due, from a man who had such ample revelations of truth, to the rest of mankind.
We often speak of the family of man. God's universal Fatherhood involves and implies man's universal brotherhood, and this brotherhood implies a mutual bond of obligation. Weare each our brother's keeper. Huber, the blind naturalist, observed that a wasp or an ant would not stay alone to enjoy some precious morsel, but go to the nest and return as leader of a host that might partake of the same delicacy. If I have found the bread of life, lowe a duty to my hungry and perishing brother to supply his needs, especially since the more I divide my loaf the more it multiplies. He that is content idly to enjoy gospel blessings, without caring for the starving, dying millions, is guilty of inhumanity. There is such a thing as encouraging a monopoly in salvation. And monopoly is monstrous in proportion to the value of the article monopolized.
How can any man contemplate the moral and spiritual ruin of the race and be unmoved! nave we not all one Father? And we, are we not all brethren? What would be thought of a family that should allow a member of the household that was living thousands of miles away in destitution and degradation to go unthought of, uncared for, unaided, because remote from home? Is not that very remoteness a reason why the heart goes out in especial tenderness in that direction? Let a Ohristmas season come, aud the annual love tokens be distributed, and the first child provided for will be the absent one, nay, even the alienated one. Such is the love of God and the love born of God: it seeks the farthest, neediest, poorest, first of all, because the more liable to be overlooked.
Indifference to foreign missions is the natural outcome of infidelity and materialism. Deny the unity of the race in Adam, the oneness of the human family; make man the offspring of the monkey or the clod of earth, and a true manhood the result of development, and the logical effect is apathy toward a pagan world. The Hottentot is a brute. The French governor of the Isle of Bourbon is right: "You may as well attempt to convert oxen or asses as to make Ohristian men out of the Malagasy." According to the creed of Huxley, Darwin & 00., these superstitious fetish worshipers are brutes, at best only on the long road toward manhood. Why not let them alone and take care of the higher products of evolution! Let these millions of cannibals die eating each other; it matters not if they are never evolved!
But the instant you heartily believe that God has made of one blood all nations of men; that the family of man is one; that there is no human being however embruted or brutal that is a brute; that behind the darkest skin and most bestial physique an immortal soul burns like a gem buried in the dust; that the Maori, Papuan,Terra del Fuegan is my brother and yours, and capable of a future equally glorious with that of any other soul-the moment you accept this truth, such indi:ffer~ ence cannot survive.
III. The Lato of Accommodation. "I am madeall things to all men, that by all means I might save some." This means nothing less than that Paul identified himself with every class of men whom he met and sought to save. Even now Ohristian character is sometimes rigid and frigid in its inflexibility. We know very little about bending and stoop~ ing. We have our Inborn, inbred peculiarities; we call them charac~ teristics because they seem inseparable from character. Our high intel~ lectuality lifts us above ignorance, our refined taste above coarseness, our wealthy associations above the environments of poverty. Weare prone to consult our affinities. And so society separate/! into little groups of those who are like-minded. Self-love degenerates into selfish~ ness; we become comparatively isolated, and do not touch the great mass of humanity sympathetically, helpfully, savingly. .
This great apostle had everything to tempt hi~ to a similar isolation and separation. He was a man of royal mind, enriched with imperial culture. The· schools of Tarsus had done all for him that Greek wisdom and Roman civilization could accomplish, and the schools of the prophets with Gamaliel as teacher had added to all the polish of secular learning the strength and solidity of sacred knowledge. He was fitted for a Oorinthian column in the structure of society, for he had the solid, massive, substantial education of Judean scholarship surmounted by the elegance and grace of Athenian philosophy. Besides all this he had refined sensibilities. He was delicately organized. All his emotional and affectional nature was built on the most exquisite pattern. He had the strength of manly courage and fortitude, with the tenderness of womanly sympathy and sensibility. He was aggressivelyactive, yet his energy and activity were qualified by the passive virtues.
Such a man was one most likely to retire into the comparative exclusion and seclusion of a few cultured friends. He might have been at the head of an academy, or a court, or an army, but he would have been naturally the center of a small circle of intimate associates. But Paul had beneath his life a principle of accommodation. He sawall men in 11 lost condition, and so terrible was spiritual alienation from God that in those measureless depths all comparative differences were lost, as in the star-sown depths of illimitable space. And he forgot his intellectual gifts and graces,his fine sensibilities and selfish affinities, in one burning desire to save men. To the Jew he was a Jew, that he might gain the Jews; to those who were under the law or without law, as himself in the sam£, condition, that he might save them. He sacrificed no prin~ eiple, he denied no truth, he compromised no eternal verities, but he got down to every other man's level and from his point of view looked at life and duty, law and penalty, sin and salvation. Beside a poor man he felt poor; beside the rich man he imagined himself encompassed by the snares of greed; with the ignorant he forgot his learning, and with the gross his refinement. The idolater and sorcerer found in him a man who could sympathize with a mistaken religiousness and a temptation to impose on popular credulity. Chained to a soldier as a common convict, he became interested in the soldier's life as an armed defender of the state, and became for the time himself a soldil'r, and as day by day he was chained to a new member of the Prretorian guard he told anew the story of the cross till so he had preached the gospel to the whole guard in turn. Whether in the palace of the Cresars or the Philippian jail; whether in the house of Lydia or the synagogue at Thessalonica; whether on Mars Hill or the Temple stairs; among the barbarians of Malta or the disciples at Antioch, he never anywhere held himself aloof from human souls. There is no lofty air of superiority in the presence of the lowest and no servile air of cowardice and flattery in the presence of the highest. 'rhis accommodation might almost be called assimilation, for it brought him into such vital, honest, sympathetic contact with man as man.
I have a friend who holds weekly in his church parlors a theological clinic. He brings in convicts, the vicious, the abandoned, the profane, the infidel, and asks them questions concerning their life and opinions and notions of men and things, that, to a band of Christian workers, he may by a kind of dissection of spiritual experience unfold the mysteries of that strange thing the human heart. Paul's life was one long spidtual clinic. He studied men that he might know them, and sought to know them that he might reach them.
IV. Again, Paul was moved by the principle of self-abnegation. "Not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved." Mark, not even his own profit. There are many who get where they forego pleasure for others' profit, but Paul surrendered even his own profit. He simply lost sight of himself in his passion for souls.
Only in the light of this marvelous enthusiasm for God can we interpret Paul's self-limitation. "I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified." Wisdom of words he could forego lest the cross of Christ be made of none effect. Literary ambition beckoned him on to receive its shining crown, but he forgot all else in that absorbing passion. He could say with Count von Zinzendorf, "Ich hab' eine Passion, und die est Er, nur Er."
In this flame of devotion to his Lord all else was consumed. The lust of gain, of applause, of pleasure, of office, of power, of achieve~ ment, all burned as to ashes in those inward fires that left only the image of his Redeemer to survive and glow the more brightly. Of this self-abnegation there is no expression more sublime than that in the epistle to the Colossians (i. 24), "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church."
To be crucified with Christ was a reality to such a man. It meant a cross and a death to self in order to save others. Christ's death saved no human soul. It only made salvation possible. The word of God is but the declaration of the terms of salvation. The Holy Spirit must take of the truth and blood and apply them to the soul. But how does the application come? By lttlman agency. A believer, one to whom salvation has come by faith and faith by hearing, becomes the missing link that joins Christ on the cross, in the word and in the Spirit, to the penitent soul. The believer is a witness and a herald; he tells the story of redeeming love, and he adds his own experience to attest tho word. The Holy Spirit uses that believing testimony to convince the reason, persuade the heart, and move the will. It may be reverently said that the blood of Jesus plus the witness of the word, plus the work of the Holy Spirit, plus the believer, save sinners, for, each in its own place, all together are used by God to accomplish the salvation of the lost. God might have saved men immediately. He chose to do it mediately. Hence Paul needed to fill up what was behind of the sufferings of Christ in his own flesh for his body's sake. He had no need to atone. for men, for the work of atonement was "finished;" he had no need to furnish the Holy Scriptures of truth, for they were all embraced in the Bible; he had no need to act as a divine physician to apply the balm of Gilead. The blood, the word, the Spirit were provided; all he had to do-but that was still lackingwas to get human souls where the blood could sprinkle them, where the word could reach and teach them, where the Spirit could touch and transform them. And to do this he was content to suffer with Christ and bear in his body the marks, stigmata, of the Lord Jesus, as one literally crucified with him.
Paul's success in evangelism is no mystery; it is all an open secret. Give us one man, moved by such principles of evangelization, obligation, accommodation, abnegation, and again the history of humanity shall show a man who in one generation will compass the known world with the network of his personal labor and make a continent echo with the trumpet voice of his testimony!
DAVID BRAINERD
DAVID BRAINERD.
[EDITORIAL.-J. M. S.] HAVING briefly outlined his Life in a previous paper, we proceed II. To SET FORTH IN BRIEF OUTLINE BRAINERD'S CHARACTER. An analysis of his character is not difficult to make, for the leading traits or qualities of the man stand out in bold relief and challenge our observation and admiration. 1. The first thing that impresses the reader of Brainerd's life is the genuineness, depth and thoroughness of his personal piety. We see at once that there is nothing superficial, transient, doubtful, half-hearted about it. Weare brought into contact with a Christian character, and a Christian experience, and a Christian life, most rare and extraordinary in many of their elements and features. There is something startling and awe-inspiring in the depth and intensity of his religious "fra!pes" and" exercises," as recorded so frankly and faithfully in his diary, running through several years, with no expectation that any eye save his own and God's would ever read them. " He belongs to a class of men," as one has well said, "who seem to be chosen of Heaven to illustrate the sublime possibilities of Christian attainmentmen of seraphic fervor of devotion, and whose one overmastering passion is to win souls for Christ and to become wholly like him themselves. " The Law made thorough work with him. His sense of the evil, guilt, and awfulness of sin, of his own deep moral corruption and desert of God's wrath, his personal unworthiness, and entire dependence on divine grace, and his constant need of the Holy Spirit to cleanse, enlighten and sanctify, was most profound and ever present with him. He could not find language strong enough to express his hatred of sin and desire to be entirely and forever cleansed and delivered from it. He longed and strove after holiness, after complete victory over sin and the world and the devil, after entire conformity to the will and likeness of Christ, with a strength and intensity of soul that seem almost; superhuman, 2. His consecration to the Master's service was, seemingly, entire and sublime. Not since the apostolic age has the church produced a grander illustration of the power of the gospel to subdue human selfishness and the love of ease and pleasure and self-indulgence, and to make Jesus Christ supreme, "an and in all," in the affections and life of the soul. Like Paul, he made a total surrender of every faculty and power of body, soul and spirit, to the divine Son of God, and at the same time an unreserved, absolute consecration of his life and being to his service. He could not love and serve God enough. lIe was jealous of his own heart and life lest he should not render every day and hour a tull measure of love and labor. He kept nothing back. From the time he gave himself to Christ he devoted his life and strength and attainments and acquirements and opportunities to the work of saving souls, without recreation, without cessation, sparing himself in no par- ticular ; serving God to the full extent of his ability, and even beyond.
The amount of work he did was almost incredible. He broke down his constitution in four short years, by exposure, privation, and labors of every kind; literally wore his life away in the cause of his blessed Master. It is affecting in the highest degree to read the entries in his journal from day to day, of what he did, what he attempted, what he longed to accomplish; and in the midst of his incessant labors to hear him bemoan his shortcomings, his barrenness of spirit, his unfruitful- ness, and pray God to forgive him his unfaithfulness and grant him a new baptism of love and zeal. Here is a specimen : "Here I am, Lord, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wildernesfi; send me from all that is called comfort in the earth; send me even to death itself if it be but iq thy service and to promote thy kingdom."
And it was no ascetic or misanthrope that wrote thus, for he adds: " At the same time I had as quick and lively a sense of the value of earthly blessings as I ever had, but only saw them infinitely overmatched by the worth of Christ's kingdom. Farewell friends and earthly comforts, the dear- est of them all; the very dearest, if the Lord calls for it: adieu, adieu; I will spend my life, to my latest moments, in caves and dens of the earth, if the kingdom of God may thereby be advanced." .
He was affianced, as is well known, to a youthful saint of rare gifts, the youngest daughter of Jonathan Edwards; and such a pure, intelli- gent and sensitive nature as his would have enjoyed, in an eminent degree, the felicity of domestic life. But he sacrificed even this, and plunged alone into the wilderness and passed his years with savages, that he might win them to Christ. The little patrimony left him he also devoted to the education of a poor young man for the ministry soon after entering upon his missionary work.
3. Hi8 love for 80uls amounted to a pas8ion, 1IJkich nothing cmtld cool or conquer. No miser ever clung to his treasure as he grasped this idea and made it an ever-present and supreme object with him. No matter where he went, or what were his surroundings, the ruling bent of his soul was manifest. In health and in sickness, in his wigwam among the Indians, on his numerous and solitary journeys from settlement to settlement in the wilderness, and in his occasional visits to New Eng- land, his supreme desire was to convert souls; and no occasion, no opportunity, did he fail to improve, however weary or racked with pain, or weak or broken down from disease. This intense, ever-burning passion often finds expression, as when he Wl'ites in his diary: "0, how I longed that God should be glorified on earth! Bodily pains I
lSS8
cared not for, though I was then in extremity. I never felt easier; I felt willing to glorify God in that state of bodily distress, so long as he pleased I should continue in it. The grave appeared really sweet, and I longed to lodge my weary bones in it: but 0 that God might be glorified! this was the burden of all my cry. 0 to love and praise God more, to please him forever ~ This my soul panted after, and even now pants for while I write, 0 that God might be glorified in the whole earth! Lord, let thy kingdom come! • • • o the blessedness of living to God! • • • Spent two hours in secret duties, and was enabled to agonize for immortal souls, though it was early in the morning and the sun scarcely shone, yet my body was quite wet with sweat. • • • With what reluctance did I feel myself obliged to consume time in sleep! I longed to be a flame of fire, continually glowing in the divine service, and building up Christ's kingdom to my latest, my dying moment."
Is it any marvel that many souls – even the souls of such ignorant and degraded savages-were given to him? And he never regretted his q.evotion and self-sacrificing zeal in: this work. Read his thrilling words as he hung over eternity while in Boston: "I declare now I am dying, I would not have spent my life otherwise for the whole world."
4. His humility and spirit of self-denial and cheerful submission to deprivations and hardships for the gospel's sake are touchingly illustrated in his life. According to President Edwards' testimony, he was a young man of "distinguished talents;" "hali extraordinary knowledge of men and things;" had "rare conversational powers;" "excelled in his knowledge of theology, and was truly, for one so young, an extraordinary divine, and especially in all matters relating to experimental religion." "I never knew his equal of his age and standing, for clear and accurate notions of the nature and essence of true religion." His "manner in prayer was almost inimitable, such as I have very rarely known equaled." He" had a very extensive acquaintance, and engaged the attention of religious people in a remarkable degree." He had also many invitations to settle in his own New England, and an urgent and oft-tepeated call to "East Hampton-the fairest, pleasant~ est town on Long Island, and one of its largest and wealthiest parishes." So that he did not give himself to the missionary work, as is often though unjustly said of other missionaries in these days, because he could not succeed at home. His talents, gifts, and Christian attainments made him the peer of New England's most gifted preachers, with few exceptions.
But he put from him all these tempting offers, and all considerations of a merely personal and temporal nature, and gave his whole self for life to the work of teaching the poor American Indians the way of salvation. And he had no thought that he was doing anythingUJonderful, or that he was degrading himself, or throwing away his talents and Hfe by so doing. On the contrary, he evidently felt that God had greatly honored him in calling him to such a service; and he consecrated his heart and soul and mind and strength and life to it with as much hearti-
DAVID BRAINER1;l. [Al'RIL
ness and enthusiasm and ambition as though he were ministering to a highly cultured people in some conspicuous and wealthy parish.
So real and great was his humility that he often expressed his sur: prise that he was called to such a noble service; that the Indians should have any respect for him, or show him any attention, or that any good should come from his labors. His privations and hardsltt"ps likewise were such a few missionaries have ever experienced. An extract or two .
will serve to introduce the reader to his mode of life: " My diet consists mostly of hasty-pudding, boiled corn, and bread baked in the ashes, and sometimes a little meat and butter. My lodging is a little heap of straw, laid upon some boards a little way from the ground, fsr it is a log room without any floor, that I lodge in. . . . I have now rode more than 3,000 miles [on horseback] since the beginning of March [8 months].
. • . Frequently got lost in the woods. . . . At night lodged in the open woods. . . . Crept into a little crib made for corn and slept there on the poles." .
And yet not one word of complaint do we hearfrom him. Even in his times of extreme melancholy and dejection, and they were frequent; when sick and racked with pain; when lonely and disconsolate, not one breath of murmur rises to heaven. His forest home was often a "Bochim," or as the "valley of Baca," as it respected the outward man and his surroundings. And yet, even then and there, like Jesus after the temptation of the wilderness, angels comforted him and his soul often exulted while he magnified the God of his salvation, "who giveth songs in the night."
5. He exemplified the law of Ohristian meekness and forgiveness in a pre-eminent degree. The unusual attention which his extraordinary career and saintly character attracted, at home and abroad; the sympathy and interest manifested in him by many of the most eminent ministers of his day, among whom were Jonathan Edwards, Bellamy, the Tennants, Pemberton, Aaron Burr, and Jonathan Dickinson, and the high esteem in which he was held py the Ohristian world, especially toward the close of his life, did not tend in the least to elate him. On the contrary-as in all cases of real and eminent worth and superiority -it only tended to make him more humble; it induced Ohristian meekness, and filled him with a profound sense of his unworthiness. The expressions of this feeling in his journal are frequent, emphatic, and evidently sincere.
In all the annals of human life and experience, excepting those of the God-Man, we have no more striking example of Ohristian forgiveness than the life of BRAINERD furnishes. Take a single particular.
He was wronged-wronged as few men in similar circumstances ever were wronged. He was wronged by a public institution; wronged before the world; nay, it is not uncharitable to say that he was perse- cuted, insulted, outraged, and all redrQss refused, and that against the united, solemn, and earnest protest of such men as President Ed-
18!8.] DAVID
wards, Burr, Dickinson, Pemberton, and many others of the most distinguished men of the times. He was wronged in a way to mortify, humiliate and injure a young man of his ambition and talent and gen~ . uine manliness 'and high Christian character and standing, to the ntmost possible extent. The wrong was persisted in, with iron determination and rtlentless severity, even after he had made the most manly and ChriJiian acknowledgment and confession that it was possible for the college authorities to exact, or a gentleman, respecting his own manhood, truth and righteonsness, could consistently make.
And that he felt the wrong exquisitely, and smarted under it, and carried the memory and the scar of it to his grave, his diary affords abundant and affecting proof. This ill treatment at his tender years had much to do with his dejection. It preyed upon his sensitive nature. He felt as if a brand was placed upon his forehead. Most of all he mourned over it, because he thought religion suffered in consequence of it. Noone can read the entries made in his journal during his visit to New Haven a year after his expulsion-at the time when he would have graduated but for that unjust procedure-afraid to show himself in the town for "fear of imprisonment," hiding away in the house of a friend in the outskirts of the town as if "guilty of some open and notorious crime," and there spending Commencement day in prayer and sweet converse with Christian friends-and not feel his heart rise in rebellion against that stern and unrighteous decree which on that occasion crushed his last hope of redress! Earnest application was made on his behalf to the authorities of the college by a "council of ministers at Hartford," and by Edwards, Burr, and many other distinguished men in the various colonies, that he might be allowed to take his degree with his class. But all in vain. Yet here is the entry he made in his diary in this bitter hour of disappointment: "Sept. 14. This day I ought to have taken my degree [this being Commencement day], but God sees fit to deny it to me. And though I was greatly afraid of being overwhelmed with perplexity and confusion, when I should see my classmates take theirs; yet at the very time God enabled me with calmness and resignation to say, 'The will of the Lord be done.' Indeed, through divine goodness I have scarcely felt my mind so calm, sedate, and comfortable for some time. I have long feared this season, and expected my humility, meekness, patience, and resignation, would be much tried; * but found much more pleasure and divine comfort than I expected. Felt spiritu- ally serious, tender and affectionatfl in private prayer with a dear Christian friend to-day."
But notwithstanding the wrong done him was so great and was so obstinately persisted in to the last; and notwithstanding he suffered in his feelings as only a man of such exquisite natural and moral sensibilities could suffer, not once was he known to speak harshly or unkindly of those who had committed the injury. Not a line is found in his diary * Had he been allowed to gradnate he would have been at the head of his class. a.nd that class the largest that had ever graduated at that college.
BRAINERD
alluding to the matter· that breathes other than a spirit of Ohristlike charity and forgiveness, while he was fervent and frequent in his prayers in behalf ofthose who had" so ill used bim." The same spirit that cried out from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," animated the heart of this youthful disciple while living, aud to-day encircles his brow with a halo of Ohristlike glory.
6. But the crowning excellence of Brainerd 10as the l!8-ge measure of the spirit ofprayer which characterized his life. Prayer was his chief reliance and the secret of his remarkable success. Much of his time was spent in prayer. Days and nights were thus passed, and he grieved when anything interfered to keep him from his knees in solitary and prolonged intercession and communion with God. Closely in this respect did he follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Prayer was his solace, his inspiration, his strength. No part of his diary or journal is of more thrilling interest to any and every Ohristian worker, either in the home or'the foreign field, tban the numerous entries in relation to his seasons of secret prayer. Few saints this side of beaven ever got so near to the throne of God in prayer, ever so "wrestled with the angel of the covenant," ever experienced such communion with the Father of spirits until his soul exulted and overflowed with the fullness of "ineffable comforts." Read a specimen or two: "Had the most ardent longings after God which I ever felt in my life. At noon, in my secret retirement, I could do nothing but tell my dear Lord, in a sweet calm, that he knew I desired nothing but himself, nothing but holi- ness; that he had given me these desires, and he only could give me the things desired. I never seemed to be so unhinged from myself and to be so wholly devoted to God. My heart was swallowed up in God most of the day. Felt much comfort and devotedness to God this day. At night it was refreshing to get alone with God and pour out my soul. Oh, who can conceive of the sweetness of communion with the blessed God but those who have experience of it ! Glory to God forever, that I may taste heaven below! . • • Retired early for secret devotion, and in prayer God was pleased to pour such ineffable comforts into my soul that I could do nothing for some time but say over and over, 0 my sweet Saviour! 0 my sweet ~aviour!
whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. If I had a thousand lives my soul would gladly have laid them all down at once to have been with Christ. • • • My soul was this day at turns sweetly set on God; I longed to be with him that I might behold his glory. I felt sweetly disposed to commit all to him, even my dearest friends, my dearest flock, my absent brother, and all my concerns for time and eter- nity. 0 that his kingdom might come in the world, that they might all love and glorify him for what he is in himself, ;l.nd that the blessed Redeemer . might' see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied!' Oh come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Amen."
Is it wonderful that such a habit of prayer and such experiences in prayer in the, closet should have made his social and public prayers edifying and striking in a remarkable degree? President Edwards'tes- timony on this point is very explicit and noteworthy: "I know not
THE BffiLE IN
that I ever SO· muoh as heard him ask a blessing or return thank8 at table, but there 1vas something remarkable to be observed both in the matter and manner of the performance." Prayer, in secret and personal communion with God, will temper the whole spirit of a Christian and put its impress upon his social and public habits. If you witness habit- . ual fervency and fullness and power and a wrestling spirit in prayer on the part of any disciple, you may be sure the habit has been acquired in secret intercourse with God upon his knees. Prayer is not so much a gift asa grace, implanted, nourished and matured in long and intimate communion with the Hearer of prayer.
The end of such a life, as we might anticipate, was peace and joypeace in fullness of measure, and" joy unspeakable and full of glory." A glance in his dying chamber reveals the fact that it was" quite on the verge of heaven." Says President Edwards: " On Tuesday, Oct, 6, he lay for a considerable time as if he were dying. At which time he was heard to utter, in broken whispers, such expressions as these: 'He will come, he will not tarry. I shall soon be in glory. I shall soon glorify God with the angels.'. . . The extraordinary frame he was in that evening could not be hid. His mouth spake out of the abundance of his heart, expressing in a very affecting manner much the same things as are written in his diary. Among very many other extraordinary expressions which he then uttered were such as these: 'My heaven is to please God and glorify him, and to give all to him'and to be wholly devoted to his glory; that is the heaven I long for-that is my religion, and that is my happiness, and always was ever since I suppose I had any religion; I do not go to heaven to be advanced, bu't to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven-whether I have a high or a low seat there-but to love and please and glorify God is all; if I had a thousand souls, if they were worth anything, I would give them all to God.'"
THE BIBLE IN INDIA.
By REV. JACOB CHAMBERLAIN, M.D., MADANAPELLE, INDIA.
THE Bible contains a plan devi5ed for the redemption and elevation of mankind. Take the Bible, then, !1S an engine thus devised for the performance of a certain work, and test it well and see whether it does that work or no. And it is to this view of tlie subject that I particularly ask your attention.
Is this old Bible, given centuries ago among the Jewish people, now calculated to do the work for which it was designed? or, in this day of progress and of the intermingling of nations, do we find it antiquated, and its day of adaptedness and usefulness passed away? This is, emphatically, an age not alone of changes, but of improvements. Fast mail-trains and the telegr~ph hiLVe taken the place of the old mounted mail-carrier~ with his mail-bags thrown over the 4ors6 upon which he rode. The four and six horse stage-coach has' given way to palace cars. The quiet stitching of the seamstress is replaced by the hum of the sewing machine. There is scarcely ~ piece of machinery, of any kind, now in use that was used even by our grandfathers. New books, new systems of sciences, new methods in the arts-aU, all is new. Have we made a mistake, then, in holding on to our" old Bible" too long? If so, let us acknowledge it like men and try to replace it with something better; but first let us put it to the proof and see.
Now, in testing a machine or engine it is necessary to try it in all the different circumstances in which it is to be employed, especially in the worst. The government of India sought to introduce the best machinery for ginning and spinning and weaving the cotton growing there. A proclamation was issued, and published in every country where machinery was made, offering a princely premium for that machinery that should best do the work. And when, after near a year for preparation, the machinery was gathered from the four quarters on the banks of the sacred Ganges, when the viceroy and his council and the judges had assembled to test it, it was tried not alone wit.h the cotton grown there on the banks of the Ganges, but cotton was brought from the base of the Himalaya Mountains, and from the plains of Tinnevelly, near Oape Oomorin, from the hill country of Berar, and from the plains of Bellary, and the country a~out Bombay; and the machinery that best did the work in all, the long staple and the short, the coarse and the fine, it was that that won the prize, and that is now doing the work in India. So if an ocean steamer be launched, it must be tried not alone on the smooth waters of the bay or river on whose banks it was constructed, for until it has crossed the ocean, breasting the mountain billows in a storm, no one can tell whether after all it be a safe vehicle for human life. So with every kind of machinery-it must be tested in the 1IJOrst circumstances in which it will be called to act.
For the last score of years I have been engaged in putting the Bible to just such a test, and that in the most unpropitious circumstances. India is Satan's stronghold. Hinduism, with its handmaid caste, weaves iron fetters around its votaries. With much of truth in its scriptures, the Veda'l, it has degenerated into the worst of polytheism and idolatry; with .its defective view of God and man, it has had no conservating, elevating influence over its votaries. The Hindus are at once a very religious and a grossly immoral people. Intelligent, sharp, quick-witted, immutable in their nature, wedded to their ancient system, which is a splendid one though false, the Brahmanists are the most able and determined adversaries of what they term the" new religion." If the Bible will work in India, then we may safely COllclude that it will work anywhere. How, then, does it work in India? Let us test it and see.
For example, does this "old Bible," given so many centuries ago among the Jews, describe the human heart of to-day, and the condition of man in different lands? or is it antiquated and defective in this respect? On a certain occasion, some fourteen years ago, I went into a native city in India, where the name of Jesus had never been heard, there for the first time to show them and give them these Scriptures, and to preach to them of Christ and His salvation. As an introduction, when we had assembled an audience in the street, I asked my native assistant to read the first chapter of Romans; that chapter which those who call themselves liberal-minded tell us is too black to be true; that chapter that describes the heart of man wandering away from God and into sin, and conceiving vile conceptions of God, and then wandering away farther, until at last, "though they know the judgments of God, that they which do such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them ;" the chapter which many tell us is a libel upon human nature. That chapter was read. The most intelligent man in the audience, a Brahman, stepped forward and said to me, "Sir, that chapter must have been written for us Hindus. It describes us exactly." The photograph was recognized. It had ICen taken centuries before, and among a Jewish people; but the artist .vas divine, and the heart that was photographed was that, not of a lmo, but of a man.
On another occasion I went into another city, there also for the first time to proclaim Christ as the way of life. As we entered the native town and passed up the main street, I noticed a small Hindu temple, built upon the side of the busiest street, with its doors open and the idols in at the farther end, so that passers-by could worship as they went. At the side of the door sat the Brahman priest of the temple on a pedestal, unclad down to the waist-that he might receive the homage, the demi-divine worship which the people were wont to render him-with a platter by his side to receive their offerings as they went in and out of the street to their business or their work. I noticed it and passed on. Going up the main street, and looking here and there and finding no better place, we came back to this temple; and as I politely asked permission of the Brahmin to address an audience from the steps of tho temple, he as politely gave his permission; and singing a song to bring the people together, we soon had the street packed with those who wondered what we had come for, and I preached to them. I took for my theme "the character of any being whom the intelligent mind of man in any land would be willing to call God ;" and from the necessities of our natures, I attempted to show them that in order to call any being God, we must believe him to be stronger than we and stronger than any powers that might be arrayed against us;' that he must be omnipotent, or we could not trust him; that he must be wiser than we and wiser than any intelligences that might be combined against us; that he must be omniscientj that he must be able, in all parts of his dominion, at the same time, to be and to notice all passing events; that he must be omniprB8ent; that he must be a God of love, a Goq. of jus~ tice, and so on. I had painted to them the character and attributes of God as we find them given in our Bible-not telling them where I found the picture, but drawing this characterization of God from the necessities of the soul of man. The intelligent men in the audience at once acknowledged the picture to be a correct one, as I went on from point to point, and admitted what I said to be true. At last, complet~ ing the picture, I said to them, "Now, who is God, and where is God?" The Brahman priest sitting there on his pedestal, seeing how intently the audience of his worshipers were listening to my description of God, so di:tIerent from that enshrined in the temple at my side, and seeing at a glance, with his keen mind, that if this description of God was ac~ cepted as true his employment was gone, seeking to create a diversion, straightened himself up, and with his finger drawing a line around his stomach, he said, "Sir, this is my God; 1IJhen this £s full, my God is propitious; token this is empty, my God is angry. Only give me enough to eat and drink, and that is all the God I want." Turning to this same old Book, I gave him that scathing denunciation of Paul of those "whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, and whose end is destruction." And then turning again to the audience and reminding them of the pure and holy character that I had described, I told them that "this poor, miserable wretch here is willing to call his belly his God." Amid the sneers and scorns of his own worshipers, he sprang from his pedestal, slunk around the corner of the temple, and vanished down a side street. And oh~ how the audience listened while I described to them Him in whom all the fullness of this Godhead was manifested bodily, even Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of all of them, in all the world, that will believe in Him!
On another occasion I was reading from the seventh chapter of Romans that declaration of Paul of the power of sin over us, where he says, "When I would do good, evil is present with me, and the good which I would I do not, but the evil which I would not that I do." As I read it the most intelligent man in my audience spoke up, saying, "That is it! that is it! That is exactly what is the matter with us Hindus. Now, does your Book tell us how we can get rid of that evil disposition, and do the good we would and avoid doing the evil that we would not?" How gladly, from this same old book, did I point them to Him who can create a new heart and renew a right spirit within us; who can give us not only the desire but the power to do good: "For I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."
On another occasion and in a di:tIerent city I read the description of the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, of the making and worshiping of images. When I had completed the reading, a sharp man in the audience, a Brahman, st9pped out and said, "Now, sir, we have caught
THE MIRA.CLES OF MISSIONS
you. You told us that this was an old book, given long ago in another part of the world to tell us how we might find God, and, how worshiping him we might attain to peace with him; but, sir, that which you have just read you have written since you came here and saw how we Hindus managed it." The photograph once more was recognized.
THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS.-NO. II. [EDITORIAL.-A. T. p.] THE LONE STAR MISSION.
THE Romance of Ongole reads like a fairy tale. This station is some two hundred miles north of Madras, in the Telugu country of India. Some thirty-four years ago Dr. Jewett, missionary from Nellore, in the service of the Baptists of this country, touring in this thickly settled region, climbed the summit of a mountain near Ongole, and surveying the country besought God to send there a missionary. For thirteen years that prayer seemed to be lost. But God was not unmindful, and he was preparing a workman for this "lone star" field, which in 1853, at the anniversary meetings in Albany, it had been almost determined to abandon as a fruitless and hopeless enterprise.
Mr. Clough, a civil engineer, became strangely impressed that he was called to this field, and that God would there give him ten thousaud converts in a great and marvelous ingathering. It seemed to be the wild fancy of a vagarist or dreamer. The Baptist Board hesitated to send such a fanatic to the field. But he persisted, and was finally appointed to the Lone Star Mission. Blessings have crowned his work that have thrilled the whole Ohristian church with amazement and gratitude, and which deserve record among the Miracles of Missions.
The Lord has often used the locusts and caterpillars as his "great army," and he used the famine of 1877 as his messenger to prepare the way. It has been estimated that in the presidency of Madras alone three millions of people perished in consequence, and in Mysore and Bombay districts two and a quarter millions more. While the Brahmanic priesthood and the heathen people, even the rich, looked on with selfish and stolid indifference,Ohristian England sent a relief fund of $4,000,000; and the distribution of !Such noble charities among this alien people made a profound impression on the native mind and compelled a comparison of the two religions, which by no means was favorable to Brahmanism and its kindred faiths.
During the severest pressure of famine it became obvious why God had chosen a civil engineer for this emergency. Mr. Clough was studying to provide work for the suffering masses round about him. He went to the authorities of the government and proposed to undertake the construction of three and a half miles of the Buckingham Oanal, in order to furnish employment and food for these starving thousands. The offer was accepted. After the day's work was done these people gathered in camps and the gospel was preached to them; meetings for prayer and praise were held, inquiries were guided, and converts taught and encouraged. The spirit of God began to work in a way and on a scale which probably has had no parallel since Pentecost. Seed that had been sown now rapidly sprang into blade, ear, and full-grown corn in the ear. Idols were fiuug away by the thousands, and even the hundreds of thousands, as useless. The missionaries were througed by inquirers, and had no leisure so much as to eat. Lest the sincerity of the motives of the converts should be questioned, they were kept on a sort of probation until after the famine had been relieved and there was no longer the temptation to seek the church as a charity organization.
As soon as it was safe to receive professed converts they poured by the thousands into the church. Between June and December, 1878, nearly ten thousand were after diligent and careful examination received into the fold by baptism. These marvelous ingatherings were undoubtedlyof such as were being saved. '['hey have proved unusually faithful, and after ten years the work still goes on. The prayer offered on that mountain has been conspicuously and gloriously answered, and no miracle of apo.;tolic days more plainly shows the finger of God. The immense congregations, the character of the converts, the theological seminary at Ramapatam with its two hundred students, and the transformations to be seen in society all through the Telugu country, prove that the Lone Star has been and still is shining with supernatural beams in this great darkness.
Mr. Clough has been permitted to do efficient service in another direction, in striking a heroic blow at the monstrous caste system of India. His first arrival in the country was hailed with joy by. the highcaste Brahmans, who rejoiced to have a prospect of good schools for their children. They promised their support, and they kept their word; they placed under Mr. Clough's instruction sixty-two of their sons and paid well for their education. The prosperity of the schools seemed to be on a firm basis, and no restraint was put upon the teaching~of the truth. This spontaneous and generous welcome to Ohristian schools was the opening of a new and wide door of service.
But a perplexity arose. Three men of low caste presented themselves as converts and were welcomed as became a missionary who believed in a church where there was no barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, male or female, but all one in Ohrist Jesus.
The caste spirit was aroused and the aristocratic Brahmans indignantly threatened that if Mr. Clough had any more to do with the outcast Sudms and Pariahs, all the support of the higher classes would at once be withdrawn from him and his schools. While he hesitated and wavered, scarcely knowing what course to take, two more low-class converts knocked at the church doors, and the genuineness of their conversion demanded a prompt decision. The crisis of the mission had arrived. The horns of an inevitable dilemma threatened to impale the missionary, and to escape the one was to cast himself upon the other. If he refused the low-caste converts, what became of the democracy of the Ohristian church? If he admitted them, what became of his aristocracy and the schools dependent on the high caste for support?
He consulted his wife, and they both retired by agreement to separate rooms for prayer. H 0 God, guide us in this extremity of the mission," was the groaning of two hearts whose deeper prayer could not be uttered. Simultaneously, in their different rooms, the husband and wife each took' up a 'l'estament from a pile lying before them for distribution among Eurasians; and without any intention of open'ing to any particular place, both husband and wife, involuntarily, unconsciously opened to the same passage and verses -1 Cor. i. 26-31 : H Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish, weak, base, despised, the things which are not," etc. 'I'o each of them came the same thought: H I see it: I have not been building on God's plan; this structure must come down and I must begin anew." The wife and husband started to meet each other and communicate with each other the direct answer to prayer through the Word. H See here," said Mrs. Clough, H what I have been reading." H But I have been reading the same verses," replied he; "did you know it?" H No, indeed." Thus by a remarkable coincidence God, at the same moment, by the same means, made their way clear as day. They were to build the church like a pyramid, from the broad base of the lowest classes upward, and the base must be broad enough to take in the masses of the poorest and basest and the weakest and most despised.
They had the heroism to follow the divine guidance. The very next morning they made their decision public. Every pupil l~ft the school, and the financial bottom of their enterprise collapsed in ruin. The friendship of the high castes was changed to bitter hostility. They began anew. The base was now broad enough to embrace all who would come, however poor or low. And on that basis another structure was reared, in which, strange to say, m.ore upper-caste converts have been built than under the former aristocratic system!
We do not wonder that those who have studied the work of God among the Telugus have said: " It is without a parallel in the history of modern Christian missions in heathen or in civilized countries. In some cif its features and aspects it always suggests the Pentecostal period and its wonderful scenes. The present condition of the mission is full of promise and prophecy. Stili greater successes in the near future may be confidently expected. This mission demands, must have, and is sure to receive, the best care and the most munificent contributions of the Baptists of America. But we have been standing off and e;aziu~ ill amlloZemen,t at tbe ;l.chievements of divine 15l'ace and power amon9' the ignorant and degraded Telugus. The time has come when we must move closer up to the work, more vitally and practically link ourselves with that work. We must without delay prepare to assume the weighty obligations and to discharge the grave responsibilities which success has created and is daily pressing upon us. A short time ago and a few brief paragraphs or sentences, uttering only depreciation and discouragement, if not something akin to contempt, constituted all the annual statement which the executive officers of the Missionary Union had to give the denomination relative to the mission among the Telugus. Now many pages of the yearly exhibit are required to present only the merest outlines of the surprising successes which continue to crown the toils'of the working forces in the Telugu field. Last year large and eager audiences assembled and listened with breathless attention for nearly two hours to Dr. Clough while he narrated, witho~t embellishment or emotion, the simple, extraordinary, almost incredible facts of his labors among the Telugus. No mission in the world, prosecuted by any Christian denomination, can so compel, arouse and enlist the attention of a public assembly; no mission in the past or in the present has such a marvelous record; but this very success calls for immediate and vigorous effort, for prompt and generous gifts of money, to provide for the deep and pressing necessities which spring up with and out of that success-necessities which cannot be neglected or inadequately met without jeopardizing the best welfare of the mission in the future.
"Education, both secular and religious, must be instantly and amply pro- vided for. It is gratifying and encouraging to learn that this want is at this hour being felt and to some extent provision is being made to meet it. At Ongole, the great centre of that large field on which the blessing of God has been so bountifully lavished, a school has been established, for which, since Dr. Clough's recent return to this country, $10,000 have been subscribed for additional buildings. Besides this he has also raised $10,000 for the erection of two mission-houses in Madras. The prOVision being made for the enlarge- ment of the high school at Ongole should haNe the hearty and practical co- operation of all interested in the training of the converts in that field. The high-caste people will not, cannot be reached and inlluenced by the Christian diSCiples in the Telugu churches until ignorance gives place to intelligence. God is able to work without the mental training and discipline of the Telugu Christians; so is he able to work without their intellectual inferiority and crudeness. The theological seminary at Ramapatam, under the manage- ment of the energetic President Williams, iii doing a large and splendid work for the training and equipment of a native ministry. On the )st of last July there was completed and occupied a building that will favorably compare with anything of the kind that can be found among the other missions of Southern India. At Nellor~ is soon to be built the Bucknell Female Seminary, a school for the training of Bible-women and female teachers for girls' schools. For this building one gentleman, Mr. Bucknell of Philadelphia, has given $3,500.
" While these efforts are being made and these projPcts are being pushed forward to provide for the necessities and the advantages of secular and Christian culture, the work of evangelization is being carried steadily and vigorously on. The conversions and baptisms since the great awakening and ingathering in 1877-78 have averaged over 2,000 souls a year. There are now 13 central stations and 205 out-stations in this mission. There are 37 Ameri- can missionaries, including the women of the company. The number of na- tive preachers, ordained and unordained, is 174. There are 21 Bible-women and other nativ(,! helpers, making a tota.! working force of 323, There are
MISSION WORK IN PAPAL EUROPE
now 84 churches, comprising a membership of nearly 25,000. There were baptized in 1886 in this mission nearly 3,000. Besides the high school at Ongole and the theological seminary at Ramapatam, there are 180 mission schools with nearly 4,000 pupils; and all this the growth of about eighteen years! True, there was much of sowing, praying and weeping for some years prior to this large and splendid harvest. But what a harvest! "
MISSION WORK IN PAPAL EUROPE.
By R:EV. WILLIAM OLARK, D.D., FLORENCE, ITALY.
IN my brief paper in the January REVIEW, "Mission Work in Papal Europe," I alluded to woman's work, some features of which I desire now to give more in detail.
The school in Greece has had great influence in awakening in the women of southern and eastern Europe a desire for higher education, for social and industrial freedom, and has awakened also a consciousness of higher privileges, rights, duties and responsibilities in society and in the state.
This school was established and has ever been sustained by American women. Mrs. Emma Willard, Mrs. Sigourney, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Hill will ever be remembered as honored names in connection with the founding in Athens, Greece, of a college for the higher education of Greek young women. . When Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Sigourney visited Europe, about 1835, it was not merely to seek health and pleasure, but they sought to do a most noble work. They became deeply interested in the condition of women in Greece, and returning to this country Mrs. Willard organized a society called" A Society for the Advancement of Female Education in Greece." In regard to this enterprise she said: "Is not improvement in female education an important feature in the grand system of moral advancement now going forward in the world? Should we not strengthen it at home and send it abroad?" For this object she offered $3,000, and this sum she would have given herself had not the ladies of Troy nobly come forward to her aid.
This school, carried forward by Mr. and Mrs. Hill, has been the cause of the education of more than 20,000 in that country and in the colonies of Greece in all parts of the Orient. In all the centres of Greek civilization-Oonstantinople, Smyrna, Salonica, Seres, Adrianople, Philippopolis and Janina-are found the best schools for girls, whose teachers have been trained in the American school in Athens. In 1874 a pupil of this school was invited to Oonstantinople to take charge of a Greek seminary fOl' women, and soon she became principal of the" Zappion," the greatest female college in that city, and this position she still holds.
Fifty years ago Athens and the East were dead in regard to higher female education, but by the sympathy and interest of noble American women there was set up a great agency which has been a most power· ful civilizing influence thronghout all southeastern Europe, and which even sheds its light and joy far into western Asia. It has trained an admirable band of well-educated teachers and sent out hundreds all over Greece and its oriental colonies. TheI;e is no question that Greece owes its rapid progress and Greek instruction to its women.
This school has awakened in them a love for the study of the works of their ancestors, which, pervaded by a lofty spirit of patriotism, have made them more alive to their responsibilities at the first reappearance of their national life.
There is in Greece among women a consciousness of their rights and duties and an activity in benevolent work hardly to be found in any other European conntry. There are also large charitable organizations, composed of prominent ladies of Athens and other cities, and recommended by her Majesty the Queen, which confer great blessings upon the poor and needy. The work done by these associations received medals and honorable mention at the Vienna Exhibition. And in all this culture and benevolence, so marked in Greece, there is a spirit of warm patriotism, a' religious nature untainted by fanaticism, and a philanthropic and hospitable heart.
It is also of this American school at Athens that Mr. Botossi, the Greek consul in this country, speaks with so much enthusiasm, saying in substance that to be a graduate of this school is to have a diploma for the best manners, the most thorough education, and the highest and purest. morals; adding at the same time that here his own sister was educated, and also the daughters of all the best families in Athens. He also said that the Greek papers were filled with the highest praise of this institutiou. In such favor is this school with the government that it is visited by the queen, and a few years since the king thanked the American principal in the name of the nation for her fifty years of devotion to the cause of education for Greek women.
How large and widely extended is this noble mission work accomplished by a few large-hearted Ohristian ladies! Pupils of thilil school who have taken high rank in social and domestic life have been found at Smyrna, in remote eastern Asia Minor, at Oonstantinople, in Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and Italy. Indeed 'we can safely say that the highest and best educational and religious culture in 'all southeastern Europe and western Asia can be traced to the institution for women at Athens. And I am happy to say that this same school is at present most generously aided by one of the best women of our land.
There is also another institution in Europe which by its energetic and wide-spreading influence has done much for the intellectual and religious culture of young women. I refer to the one at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, for the education of German deaconesses as teachers and nurses. Here Florence Nightingale was educated previous to accomplishing her great work at Constantinople during the Crimean war. There is an indescribable charm about Kaiserswerth as a seminary of higher female education, and in home work and mission work throughout Europe and the Orient the results have been wonderful in awakening a desire among women for high literary and religious culture. Their institutions, embracing normal schools and colleges for the training of Ohristian workers are everywhere recognized as agencies of the purest benevolence, characterized by a lovely Ohristian spirit, and agencies also of a high intellectual culture. It is impossible to speak sufficiently in praise of this noble agency for woman's highest mental and spiritual improvement. At Kaiserswerth at present there are about 260 deaconesses. More than one thousand have been sent forth. They have 103 stations, many of which are in Germany and Southern Europe. Nineteen are in the East-at Smyrna, Oonstantinople and other citiesand all are in charge of some 50 deaconesses. At Florence, Italy, there is an institution of 70 pupils. It began with 20, and in two years it was self-supporting. In some places these labors are under the direction of' a committee of ladies. The deaconnesEles are religious, cheerful, loving and earnest in spirit. The only critici~m that I could make in regard to all these schools would be that they should be of a still higher literary grade, in order to respond more fully to the wants of the people. These noble-hearted deaconesses, however, going forth two by two in V the various countries of Europe, are doing a great work and are signally blest. Their policy is the true mission policy, and the only successful mission policy that can be employed in mission work for all the Papal States of Europe.
In conversation with the late Dr. Mark Hopkins, President of the American Board, only a short time before his death, I spoke of the culture and religious influence I was endeavoring to secure for young women in Oentral and Southern Europe, and I referred to the work of the German deaconesses establishing religious schools in the East and in other countries, with their wonderful success. He replied, "Why cannot the Ohristian women of our own land do a similar work? Let there be an organization and perhaps an institution in this country or in Europe like the one at Kaiserswerth, to prepare young women thoroughlyfor this special work; call them deaconesses-I see no objectionand send them forth two by two to establish evangelical schools; it would be a noble work." And when I referred to the aid I was then seeking for this very object he said, as President of the American Board, " We are doing no better work in any part of the world than you are doing in Southern Europe; if I had money I would give liberally, but poor as I am I wish my name and the name of my wife associated with this enterprise;" and saying this he gave me a donation for himself and also for his wife.
Only a day or two after, in speaking with Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D., of my work in Europe, after words of high commendation and approval he said, "It is a grand work, and I wish to show that I fully endorse and appreciate it." He then gave me a donation for this object.
In the same day these two men, first in our country in culture and first as leaders in benevolence, finished their work on earth.
It is by means of such influences as have gone forth from Kaiserswerth and from the college in Greece that woman is now earnestly calling for a higher and better Ohristian culture. Feeling that she has in the past been held back from her higher sphere of action, numerous organizations are now everywhere being formed for improving her condition. Her claims for education, for social and industrial freedom, and for political enfranchisement are earnestly advocated by the first women in every department of art, literature and philosophy throughout Southern Europe.
Most marked and happy was the influence upon the educational condition of wome~ in Europe coming from the admirable exhibit of our American system of education made at the expositions at Vienna and Paris. Residing at Vienna and the south of Europe at the time, I could give many interesting proofs of this. For instance, at Vienna, shortly after the Exposition, a princess of one of the first families of the empire said to me, "Do you know what we want at Vienna? It is an institution similar to the best female schools and colleges in the United States. We need it for the education of the daughters of our nobility. I am fully persuaded that your system of female education is far superior to that in our church under the direction of the Jesuits and the convents." And she added, "If you will persuade the good ladies in England and America to aid in initiating such a system of education and establish a college here at Vienna, I will be a patroness of the institution." Such were the wonderful words of a lady who belonged to the representative Oatholic family of Austria.
So also in Italy. Once visiting the highest school of female education established by the Italian Government at Florence, being struck by some improved methods of instruction, I asked the lady principal some question in regard to them. She replied in substance, "You will recognize my system of instruction in many points to be distinctively American. I was at the Paris Exposition, and there day after day I faithfully studied your American methods, and these I have introduced as far as possible into my school." This lady expressed the wish that our American system of schools, with a true religion, might everywhere be introduced into Italy, and she believed that such schools would be the salvation of the country.
Here is opened before us a mission work in Europe, in our opinion second to no other-a workfor ~ooman and to be done by ~ooman.
In close contact with mission life for a long series of years, in all that I have seen and done, I cannot form a conception of a nobler mission work in this or any other age than that of' carrying our best culture, with a true religion, at the present crisis of woman's history, to the Papal countries of Europe. Evangelical schools of higher female education are the agency, and the agency that is desired in Italy. Not schools without religion, but schools with religion.
It is well known that the Italian Government is now doing much for education; but having banished the Jesuit and the priest from all educational institutions, their schools are all without religion-from the primary to the highest-no religion. But the Italians of the beUer class have much religious sentiment, and wish their daughters to be educated in schools under religious influences. They say, Religion has in the past occupied so prominent a part in our schools, what is now to take its place? The schools are becoming more and more irreligious, and there is reason to fear that ere long the people will appeal to the government for the priests to be returned to give religious instruction in the schools. For this reason they ask us to hasten to their help. One of Italy's first scholars and ablest statesmen not long since said: "The weakest point at present in Italy is the religious education of young women. In our schools there is no religion; and why," he asked, "do not benevolent men and women in America and England see it and come to our help, bringing to us the superior culture of their schools, with a true religious influence, and thus aid in emancipating our system of female education from the control of the convent and the Jesuit? They could confer no greater blessing upon It~ly." Thus speaks a noble Italian, who has the best interests of his country at heart.
Immediately after the formation of the kingdom of Italy, which seemed like the springtime of life to the nation, many courageous women arose to take part in her literary regeneration, and these gave a marked impulse to higher female education. As early as 1869, at the :request of some of the first ladies of Italy, we made an appeal to the Italian Government for the establishment at Florence of a "Ladles' International Oollege." We had several conferences with the Minister of Public Instruction, and the project was received with great favor. The United States minister wrote several letters to this country to interest friends in the enterprise. But Florence was then the capital, and unfortunately a building in that city could not be found for the purpose. But the establishing of such an institution of high literary culture was regarded of supreme importance to Italy. Un.sectarian in its character but vUaUy Ohri.stian in its influence, it would prove far superior to any direct denominational mission agency ever introduced into the country. It is thus, as Sir William Muir of the University of Scotland said, "establishing evangelical schools of higher female education in Papal Europe, is mission work of the highest imuortance."
THE GREAT WORLD COUNCIL. [APRIt
THE GREAT WORLD COUNCIL.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] THERE are those on both sides of the sea that look forward to the coming month of June as the time for the convening of a Council second in practical importance to none that has ever met since the day of Pentecost.
A general Missionary Conference is then to be held in Exeter Hall, London, from June 9th to 19th, which will embrace representatives of all the great missionary societies and Christian denominations. Missionary workers, native converts and helpers from every part of the mission field will be present and participate; information of the most comprehensive and accurate sort will be furnished as to the world-wide work and field, and the practical questions to be covered in the discussions and addresses are of supreme importance to the prosecution of the great missionary campaign and conquest.
For example, the matter of missionary comity. There is a great deal of work that overlaps. While some fields are wholly destitute, others are comparatively over-supplied. . The time has fully come for a mutual understanding between Christian denominations and their societies and representatives as to the limits of their respective fields, interchange of workers, transfer of converts, etc. We need to have it determined what is to be regarded as preoccupation and what as intrusion. Certain principles need to be agreed upon as to the policy to be pursued in dealing with such questions as Chinese ancestral worship and East Indian caste; there ought to be a consistent plan for developing a native ministry and making native churches self-governing, selfsupporting, self-propagating. A common scale of salaries for native helpers would remove the temptation of a mercenary motive in seeking .larger wages, etc. A hundred questions that now present practical perplexities would be no longer embarrassing could Christian disciples agree upon a standard for the conduct of the work.
The place of education in the work of missions needs to be determined. The need and value of schools, the scope of their educational schemes, coeducation of the sexes, the language in which teaching should be conducted, the character of the teachers to be employed, the question of copartnership of different societies in college work, the importance of higher education, and especially theological training, the shortening of preparatory courses for those who cannot spend the full period of preparation ordinarily required-how many and vast are the problems of education demanding solution!
Then the whole position of the native agencies needs definition and determination. How to secure a large efficient body of capable native workers, how to fit them for service and set them at work and support them in the work, how broad to make the basis of their training without raising them unduly above the people for whom they labor, how ample to make their pecuniary support without putting before them the temptation of avarice or elevating them to a false level-here is a whole continent of thought needing exploration.
The methods of mission 1vork demand adjustment and agreement. The qualifications of missionaries, physical, mental and spiritual; their course of training, the question of a medical education for the ordinary worker, the establishment of missionary professorships and lectureships at home and abroad, itinerant and local evangelism, industrial and medical missions, adaptation to existing usages and customs, and the attitude of the missionary toward the government and society at large-these are matters vital to a large success.
Then the creation and dissemination of a Christian literature; the power of the press and its utilization; Bible translation and distribution, and the multiplication of tracts and books; the newspaper, apologetic literature, children's papers and periodicals; and last but not least, the way to get and keep before Ohristians the facts of modern missions through a cheap, comprehensive and frequent form of printed statement-here again the conference might busy itself for the ten days of its sessions.
Consider again all the intricate matters that concern the development of the chu,rch at home. The monthly concert, missionary maps, missionary conventions, simultaneous meetings; the increase of gifts, but above all of prayer / the education of children in knowledge and love and systematic giving; woman's work, its range,' its opportunity, its grand utility; the consecration of wealth' and the organization of the mites into millions-behold here another class of questions engaging the best thought of our day.
These and scores of other subjects will occupy the sacred season of prayer and conference in June next in the world's metropolis. One of the editors of this REVIEW may well be permitted to feel a very special interest in this approaching conference. As long ago as 1881 he published an appeal, which was widely distributed in this and other lands, calling for a world council of missions. That appeal closed with these words: "Let us have an ecumenical council, representing all evangelical churches, solely to plan this world-wide campaign and proclaim the good tidings to every living soul in the shortest time! Let the field be divided and aistributed with as little waste of men a,nd means as may be. Let there ~e a universal appeal for workers and money, and a systematic gathering of offerings that shall organize the mites into millions.
"The grandeur of the proposition thrills the very pen that puts it on paper. And yet, after studying to look at it calmly and coolly, I can see nothing to hinder such a glorious result, save the lack of the divine anointing."
At the Northfield convention of believers in August, 1885, Dwight L. Moody presiding, the great assembly by a rising vote adopted a similar deliverance calling for a "great council of evangelical believers to meet at some great centre like London or New York t.o consider the wonder. working of God's providence and grace in mission fields, and how fields now unoccupied may be insured from further neglect, and to arrange and adjust the work so as to prevent needless waste and friction among workmen, and so to greatly further the glorious object of a world'!! evangelization." That appeal closed thus: "We earnestly commend the suggestion to the prayerful consideration of the various bodies of Christian believers and the various missionary organizatioll!'l. What a spectacle it would present both to angels and men could believers of every name, forgetting all things in which they differ, meet by chosen representatives to enter systematically and harmoniously upon the work of sending forth laborers into every part of the world field! "
This deliverance was signed by seven representatives of different denominations, as a committee: Arthur T. Pierson, Philadelphia, Presbyterian, chairman; A. J. Gordon, Boston, Baptist; L. W. Munhall, Indianapolis, Methodist; George F. Pentecost, Brooklyn, N. Y. Congregationalist; William Ashmorc, missionary to Swatow, China, Baptist; J. E. K. Studd, London, England, Church of England; Miss E. Dryer, Chicago Avenue Church, Chicago.
There will be many who will regard this council, now called to meet in June, as the answer to many fervent prayers. For one, the writer of this article looks forward to this meeting as surpassed in importance and possible results by no other ever held. In fact it may be doubted whether it be not the first of its kind. When before have Christians of every name and land met, without regard to any denominatioual lines or limits, to represent on the one hand the entire body of Christendom and on the other hand the entire field of missions, pagan and papal, Mohammedan and heathen! This will be an ecumenical council in fact. And think for what a purpose they meet who gather there and then! To map out the world-for Christ's war of the ages! To cover every district of earth's surface with the network of missionary effort; to plant the cross in every valley and on every hill ; to put the Bible in every hamlet and hut; to prevent all waste of men and material and means; to distribute work equally and equitably; to accelerate the progrelils of missions so that in the shortest time the witness may be borne to all people and to every soul! Is there any purpose on which the whole Christian church could so heartily and confidently invoke and implore God's blessing?
There is one outcome of this council for which we look with greater confidence and hopefulness than for all other results combined. How heavy has our heart often been over the wide spread apathy and lethargy of the church itself in respect to missions! Even where missionary effort is found, how often are its methods excessively conservative, stereotyped and often even secular. Dependence is frequently placed on mere organization. A transient enthusiasm is awakened that is like the morning cloud or early dew, that passes as quickly away. How little avidity in welcoming news from tbe field! How little prayerful solicitude for the progress of missions! How slow and spasmodic the inflow into the Lord's treasury !
What the church needs just now above all else is a baptism of prayer. 'fhe world has invaded the church with its secular spirit and its skeptical spirit. Confidence in the supernatural is practically undermined. " A life of faith" is often sneered at as fanaticism, and" dependence solely on prayer" is regarded as a mere pretense or an indirect mode of advertising and appealing. Men show the grade of their own piety and spirituality by their construction of the motives and methods of other disciples. A Ohristian who sneers at George Muller, Francke, Dorothea Trudell, and who speaks in depreciation if not deprecation of J. Hudson Taylor and the heroic African bishop, William Taylor; he who will embark in no enterprise where he has not a human security, has the flavor and savor of the natural man and does not perceive, or certainly receive the things of the'Spirit of God. -The Christian church needs to pray and pray in faith, believing and expecting great results. Mathematics and measuring lines cannot compass God's power. There is a supernatural sphere and an omnipotent energy at work in that sphere. The God of Pentecost is not dead. The Holy Ghost can" demon.,trate" what no argument can prove to a soul whose spiritual perceptions are dulled and deadened. There is a logic of moral conviction that God only can wield. He who takes up the isles as a very little thing knows how to raise a continent to a higher level; He who can say "Let light be" can flood a world with glory. Where is the faith in prayer that made the place where primitive disciples assembled to shake with the presence of God; that caused Peter's chains to be riven and his prison doors to open of their own accord; that made the palace of the Oresars a vestibule of heaven, and turned infidel Thessalonica into a pulpit of evangelism?
If that conference in London shall not issue in a new baptism of prayer, the highest result will not be attained. We believe that from the first that great gathering in which all disciples forget their differences and join hands and touch hearts in a common purpose to promote God's glory will prove a new Pentecost. We expect to see even the visible tokens of the divine presence. Let the whole Ohristian church unite in one mighty and moving entreaty, that in these latter days it may come to pass that God shall pour out his spirit upon an flesh and Joel's prophecy shall at last find its grandly complete fulfillment.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FROM FOREIGN MAGAZINES
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FROM DANISH, SWEDISH, DUTCH, SWISS, FRENCH, AND OTHER FOREIGN MISSIONARY"
MAGAZINES. .
[Translated and arranged for THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD by REV. CHAB. C. STARBUCK, Andover, Mass. Scores of our exchanges in other tongues have been patiently gone over for these interesting facts and statements.-EDS.] THE Swedish Lunds Missions Tidning gives the whole number of missionaries (male and female) that have gone out from Protestantism as six thousand.
The Missions Tidning, in an obituary notice of the eminent Swedish missionary Dr. Andrew Blomstrand, says that one of the motives he assigned for going abroad was his wish" to see whether missionaries could not live in peace with one another!" Having once; during his 27 years' stay in Southern India, been exhorted to come home for rest, he answered: "As it so often happens that missionaries, without any sufficient reason, leave the missionary work, I hold it my duty to give others a good example, and it is therefore impossible for me to leave our mission with a good conscience so long as God upholds my health and powers. With broken health I shall be glad to die in the dear homeland, if such were God's will. If I should return home well and strong but without a good conscience, I should be unhappy and should not be able to occasion joy to the dear ones at home. But if I stay in India so long as God wills, my letters will occasion joy to my dear ones."
The Tidning, speaking of the Ziegenbalz, a memorial church in Tranquebar, remarks that" even heathen have gIVen a very decent amount toward it. They hold it a good work to contribute,to religious ends in any form. Some do this without any further thought. But others again are convinced that the Christians' God is mightier than theil'S. Thus lately a heathen told me that when his grandchild was ill he was thinking of calling me in to baptize it before it died. But as the child recovered he let the matter go by, in fear of his kindred, as usual."
The question of caste in India has many complications. Herr Horberg of Tranquebar, giving an account of a primary school of which the native pastor had taken charge at the request of the heathen, and in which all the teachers were Brahmans, remarks, "To send our Pariahs to it is quite out of the question. A single one would suffice to put teachers and all the pupils to flight."
The Neueste Nachrichten aus dem Morgenlande, spea~ing of the lepers' asylum at Jerusalem says, "The only pastoral offices in this are Protestant. It is true we should not in principle object to admitting the pastoral visits of a Catholic or Greek clergyman if they were desired. But they are not desired, either by patients belonging to these communions or by the priests. ThQ Greek and the Roman church alike see in the lepers only men thrust out of society and appointed to death, who are no longer of any value as concerns the extension, power, and glory of the visible church on earth, since they noflonger have any influence in the family or the community. And far less does Islam advance any claim over the religious instruction of Moslem lepers."
The Danske Missions-Blad published at Copenhagen, remarking on the late spread of missionary interest in the colleges and seminaries of England and America, laments that there is so little in Denmark's one university. There is, however, it appears, a missionary conference in the University of Copenhagen, at present numbering- one hundred aud fQur lllembersl and C(msisting not only of theological students but of various others. It holds eight meetings a year, in whiCh the missionary cause is handled in what migh- perhaps appear to us a clumsy and roundabout way, but, on the other hand, with that scientific thoroughness and expendIture of thought and previous research which is more characteristic of European than of American schools. What appears to us very strange is that no theological student has yet offered himself to go abroad. Danish as well as most German missionaries are laymen, mostly of the working classes, who, after offering themselves, receive a special preparation in special seminaries at the expense of the missionary societies which send them out. But the interest, more and more felt in the more cultivated circles of society in England and in America, seems to be making a decided impression among Christians on the continent.
The Blad has an interesting autobiographical account of a Chinese con- vert, describing his first meeting with the missionary who brought him to Christ. "In the great famine I was helped by Mr. Hill, an English mission- ary. After having distributed gifts he offered a prize for an essay on Christ tian subjects, and to facilitate its composition offered the loan of Christian books to those who might wish to compete. I presented myself, and my essay won the prize. I was to receive the money in Ping-Yang-Fu. I had heard that the Christians could. bewitch people, and was therefore afraid to • approach them. Yet I went to Ping-Yang-Fu, taking my brother along. On our arrival my brother undertook to procure the money for me, but came back with the message that the foreigner wished himself to see and talk with the man who had composed the essay. I was now in a strait: on the one hand stood the fear of being bewitched, on the other hand the fear of losing' the money. At last I decided to go. As I neared the house I met three of my countrymen coming out of it, who I found had been helping him. I asked them if they were not afraid of being bewitched. 'No,' said they, 'nor will you be when you learn to know him.' Accordingly one of them introduced me to missionary Hill. A look, a word was enough! As the stars pale before the dawn, so vanished all the evil reports I had heard; every trace of fear disappeared, my heart became at rest. I saw his mild eye, and remem- bered the words of Mencius: 'Where a man's heart is evil his eye betrays it.' I felt that I stood before the face of a noble man."
The following words of M. Dieterlen, a French missionary in South Africa, found in the Journal des Missions Evangeliques, are often as hard for mis- sionaries to take to heart as for natural parents. The secular incapacity of Rome to comprehend them is what has chiefly converted her presidency, in so many nations, from a blessing into a curse. It has been simply an obsti- nate refusal, continued through ages, of a missionary society to provide for the gradual withdrawal of its own oversight. "I have striven," says M. Dieterlen, "to gain the confidence of my people by exhibiting confidence toward them, to develop their individual conscience and judgment, and to teach them to depend not on a man, but on Christ himself. The thought with which I have endeavored to be constantly inspired has been: 'They must increase and I must decrease,' a word which ought, so soon as it can safely be applied, to become the motto of every missionary, and which, car- ried out in wisdom, will bring us, without any revolutionary shock, to the establishment in our missionary churches of a regular government and of a native pastorate,"
The African races are far enough in arrear of civilization, but they have the instincts of despotism in a high degree. The following description by one of the French Protestant missionaries on the Zambezi, :Mr. Coillard, presents this on both its ludicrous and its atrocious side: " Kabnkee, a lad of fifteen or sixteen, the king's son and the viceroy elect, seems as yet illinstrncted how to bear the weight of his novel dignity. He grimaces like a coqnettish girl, .winks, twists his month, trifles with a rhinoceros-horn, as if he fonnd his hands in his way; he drinks the native mead, said to be as strong as brandy, and surronnds himself with all the ceremonial of his father's court. He had not been half an hour at the station when he began to show all the qualities of a practiced beggar. He had all manner of wauts to satisfy. He coveted above all one of our wooden chairs, and, undannted by two refusals, returned a third time to the charge, so that I was fain to capitulate. And now this seat, glistening with ochre and grease, is borne everywhere before him as the symbol of his high position. The elder chiefs, onr old friends, are, in the presence of the beardless yonng prince, as mean and cringing as they had been hanghty. They appear like greatfnnctionarles disgraced and fallen. bnt still in a measnre indispensable. When they visited the capital the king did not kill a single beef or even goat for them; he gave them only fish to eat. No wonder, then, that they are moody and taciturn. Lewanika has made a distribntion of the wives of all the murdel'ed or fugitive chiefs, but all the children-those dear little children, of whom some are so intelligent and so amiable-have to the last one been mercilessly put to death. We have received harrowing details of this horrible tragedy."
The Journal remarks that at present a singular conflict is going on in Africa : " Civilized Enrope protests against the Arab slave trade; the Moslem merchants lift their voice in return against the alcoholic fioods-il2,420,0921itres in one year from the two ports of Bremen and Hambnrg-which to their eyes represent Christianity. Is not the work of missions interested in these facts'? Ought not our missionary enterprises, our missionary agents, onr missionary prayers, to form, as it were, a dyke against this poison in which the colonial civilization of the nineteenth century would fain steep Africa?
.. But there is in all these facts a Christian interest of a more general order. We cannot too often repeat that in the impulse which at this time Is directing the activity of Europe toward distant countries and especially toward Africa, we onght to behold a sign of the times. Almost always the signs of the times contain appeals to the chnrch of Christ. As the Reformation was, in the plans of God, a parallel current to the Renaissance, so also to-day Christian missions ought to be our response to the contemporaneous colonial movement. May the Lord, who has caused us to live at this honr, give ns the spirit which ought to animate ns I The new routes opened throngh the hnge African continent, the great commercial crises, the creation of new colonial empires, the birth of international states, the chivalrons enterprises for the rescne of a valiant soldier; the encroachments of Islam, which is everywhere forming its odions slave-cofles, and pnshing them like mere cattle toward the coasts; the corrnption which our merchant ships discharge upon these same coasts, and Which insinuates itself into the veins of these vigorous populations to enervate them; the perseverance of our miSSionaries, who alone in the night of paganism, like sentinels of a forlorn hope, watch the horizon in hope of discovering the arrival of new recruits, not isolated but in serried ranks; the Christian constancy, in the midst of torments, of negro colliessors, the blood of martyrs -do they not instrnct us that the hour of God has strnck for missionary efforts snch as shall surpass all that has been done hitherto? Do not all these events cry ont to us, 'Where is there to-day in the church the love of Christ which constrained a Paul f' "
M. Duvoisin, of the French Protestant mission in South Africa, writes: " A considerable part of our work, and we may well believe not the least solid, is that which is wrought, so to speak, In the deep places of th~ earth, and which consists in restoring the conscience and in laying ,n human sonls the very beginnings (les assises) of that moral fonndation on which some day may rise the fabric of a living and spiritual faith. Here is a work which escapes our hama. standards.of valnation, and which, nevertheless, is so precions that it would be worth the consecration ot one's life to it, were one never to have the joy of registering a single conversion."
Dr. Casalis, from among the Bassutos, writes to his father, describing a visit to a remarkable waterfall : "The river has cut itself a bed 300 feet lower than the rest of the platean, before arriving at a narrow gorge surrounded by frightful precipices, and there it makes a perpendicnlar leap of 620 feet. I do not feel myself capable of describing this wonder of nature. I have seen Niagara; I have visited the Staubb..ch, the Reichenbach, the Giessbach, etc., and nevertheless I have fonnd the Maletsnnyane more overpowering still. Tbe gorges are something extraordinary, rising perpendicularly almost 900 feet, like a titanic wall of a reddish granite veined with white qnartz. Here again rises a tower of more than 5,600 feet; you might thiIlk it the tower of an old cathedral. How is it, that during more than forty years the missionaries of Lessouto have never snspected the existence of such a marvel f"
CONDITION OF FEMALES IN INDIA
Occasional visits to such a resort will be a wonderful restorative to the spirits and health of the missionaries.
Says the Journal des Missions Evangeliques : " The history of Christian missions on the west side opens with a characteristic and most mOving incident. In the middle of the eighteenth centnry ten Moravian missionaries established themselves on the Gold Coast. In 1770 they had ali snccumbed to the murderous climate of this region. Count Zinzendorf declared, in a memorable and prophetic epitaph, that the ten seeds thns laid in the soil of the dusky continent should yet spring forth in a waving harvest. The Basel Missionary Society in 1828 succeeded to the Moravians. In 1840 the sole snrvivor of this second company of volnnteers retnrned to Basel. They had been faithful unto death. Canon Taylor has good rcason to say, however disparagingly he may mean it, that the chnrch has made great sacrifices for Africa. The pretended Moslem missionaries lay waste the land and massacre without pity entire popUlations. The servants of Jesus Christ, aner the example of their divine Master, lay down their lives if need be to save that which is lost.
" What is the present state of the Basel missions on the Gold Coast? They reckon in the ten stations nearly 8,000 adherents, of whom 2,995 are communicants. The work is directed by 82 European missionaries, 19 native pastors and 116 evangelists and schoolmasters. And this is only one of at least twelve missionary societies which are sending laborers into these homes of fe"er and death, among which we are glad to be permitted to mention our own modest work in Senegal."
Canon Taylor's Moslem missions do indeed have their dark side, as witness the following, from the Journal des Missions Evangeliques: .. In 1855 peace and prosperity reigned in the country between the Opara and the Niger; fertile fields sustained the nnmerous villages which filled the valleys, according to the testimony of the traveler Clapperton. When Richard Lander traversed these countries in 1830 he no longer fonnd there anything but slight traces ofburnt villages and here and there a banana plant struggling with the weeds; the howling of apes and the cries of paroquets alone disturbed the silence and solitnde. The fanatical Fulbes had passed over all things like a destroying wave. Some bands of fugitives, rem nants of more than 150 villages burned and destroyed, sought refnge in a cavern near an immense clilr of porphyry. There they fortified themselves and named this asylum Abeokuta-that is to say, • Under the Rock.' "
The history of the steadfast Christian church of Abeokuta and of Yoruba is well known.
CONDITION OF FEMALES IN INDIA.
[From a discourse delivered to a company of ladies in the castle of a German baron, by Rev. Mr.
RUDOLPH.] "A WOMAN when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour has come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world." But in India the poor mother has additional anguish, of which mothers in Christian lands know nothing. For months she has petitioned the gods to grant her a son; she has tried to propitiate them by gifts and promises, and now in the hour of pain and danger she looks eagerly at the women that surround the bed. At the decisive moment she watches to receive the glad tidings from their lips, "It is a son and not a daughter." But who can describe the disappointment of her attendants when they have to 8.nnounce to the poor mother that her hopes are not to be realized? How sinks her heart within her! how does she wish the child were never born! No expression of joy greets the little stranger; the little daughter is received as an intruder upon the family, that has no claims on a mother's affection. Caste distinction may peremptorily demand that an end be put to her existence forthwith.
If she is permitted to live, the father assumes the grave responsibility of seeing her married within seven or eight years. A Brahman would lose his caste if his daughter remains unmarried at the age of eleven years. But proper marriage alliances are not easily affected in India. A girl must marry in her own caste, but not in the same subdivision to which she belongs, nor in one that stands lower than her own. For those subdivisions, therefore, that stand highest in honor and reputation, it is often absolutely impossible to form proper marriage ties, and hence the only way of escape from such; difficulties is to put the little girls to death as soon as they are born. A skilllui pressure on the neck or a small opium pill would be resorted to wherever the vigilance of the English Government was but little feared. In most cases now, however, the parents try to obtain the desired end by other means. The child is untended and uncared for in every possible way. Unsuitable food is given; it is exposed to the inclemency of the weather in a state of nudity. Cleanliness, so important to a young child, is often not used.
If, however, the girl survives the neglect and the hard treatment she has received from the hands of those from whom she might have claimed love and affection, she is allowed to grow up without ever knowing what it is to have loving parents. They do not rejoice at her unfolding beauty or the ripening of her understanding. She receives no education to make her a fit helpmeet .for the lad that may enjoy the privileges of a good school. A mother in India has no wish to see her daughter beeome wiser than she herself is. The poor little thing has reached the age of seven, and the family' barber is commissioned to look out for a family with whom an alliance may be properly conduded. This important functionary must give himself no rest till he has found one that can fulfill all the conditions as to caste, wealth, standing in society, etc. He now puts himself en rapport with the barber of that family, who informs his employers of all he has ascertained about the little girl and her family.
An engagement being agreed upon, and the gods having been asked through the Brahmans, whose good will is obtained by gifts, a sum of monpy, a few dishes of sweetmeats, or afew bags of grain are sent into the house of the girl. The betrothal is followed in a year or two by the marriage of the little couple. Vast preparations are made to celebrate it with due pomp. Sums of money at exorbitant interest are often borrowed by the father, which it is impossible for him ever to repay. Astrologers are consulted as to a lucky day when the ceremony may be performed; near and distant relations and friends are invited to the marriage feast.
Musicians and dancing girls are engaged for the amusement of the men outside, while the women sit pent up in small apartments trying to eatch a gbnce, through the lattice-work of a small window or from behind a curtain, of the festivites carried on outside. The bridegroom is the centre of all; the bride is of no aecount.
Vhile the marriag'e procession on horsebaek and all kinds of vehicles, and accompanied by music, is passing through the streets of the town, copper and silver coins are scattered among the sight-seeing crowd at random. Strong young men thus reap a rich harvest, while they thrust the poor weak beggars, for whom the offering was intended, unmercifully aside. These often go away empty-handed.
The Brahmans have been feasted; they now recite with great rapidity the marriage rites in the Sanskrit language, which fortunately bnt few understand, for many expressions are far fl'om delieate. They walk three times round a fire, tie the garments of the two ehildren into a knot. The bride has to take seven steps, a ring is drawn through her nose, and now she is the wife of a lad perhaps a year or two older than herself, She continues to live in the house of her father till she is of age, when she is sent away under the disagreeable howling of the women of the house to the dwelling place of hel' husband. Here she enters another labyrinth of dark passages, small damp apartments and dirty inclosures, which look very much like the abode she has been accustomed to. She is now closely watched by fault-finding mothers-in-law and severe aunts, and she is envied bitterly by widowed young maids who were less fortunate than herself, having lost their boy husbands before they knew them, and who are now condemned to perpetual widowhood. The position of the young wife is not to be envied though. The house being uncomfortably arranged and thickly peopled by the members of the family, she has no' opportunity to be alone with her husband. In fact she sees him only in the evening by the flicker of a small lamp or on the flat roof of the house, by moonlight. In the presence of a third, not even her own children, she never sees him unveiled. All that she knows to teach her children is to fear their father.
Within a few short years she may have to share her rights as wife with another hated rival, who may soon succeed in pushing her and her children out of her position altogether. At best life with her is a continual struggle. The children grow up to hate each other; strife and quarreling among them is the rule of the day. If she happens to be childless she :;;ubmits to her fate with impatience, and possibly she may yield her affections to the children of her adversary; for whom else has she that she can love?
Who would dare to describe the abuse and neglect, the angry words and blows to which the poor women have to submit in a land where it is not reckoned a shame if her husband lifts his haud against his wife? But if she survives the hard treatment she has received in her younger years, the time comes when she will revenge herself on her lord. In old age, when passion has done it utmost to efface from her heart and countenance everything that is lovely, she generally manages to regain her lost position. It is now her turn to change the house into a hell of strife to her husband as well as to all the younger members of the family. Her old, weak, emaciated husband has now to submit, and if he does not she may sue him in court for the means of support or the restoration of jewels. Public opinion is now against him, for in India old women are well esteemed, while younger ones are treated as dirt, and girls are ciphers that have no claims of any kind. Anxiously waits the decrepit old man for the day when he may purchase a rupee's worth of fuel to burn the remains of her that hath embittered his old age so much. And after her decease he is not slow by any means to show the contempt he regarded her with, and the satisfaction he feels in being released from such a companion. Ask him why he neglects to shave his beard, and he may answer, Will I shave when I have lost an old shoe?
It is not so when she survives her lord. Her voice will be the loudest among all the mourners in the house and she will most scrupulously perform every prescribed rite that she may believe to be capable of procuring his happiness in a future world. You meet an old woman alone on the highway, unaccompanied by any attendant or friend; as she passes you, you ask her where she is going, and you are told in reply that she is on a pilgrimage to the Ganges, and that she carries the last remains of her deceased husband into the holy stream, to secure his final happiness. But where is the box that contains these remains? Ask her, and she may open the corner of hel" coarse veil and show you a piece of charred bone that she has picked up from the ashes, at the cremation of the corpse, and that she regards as a sufficient representative of her departed lord.
Bad as the condition of a Hindu wife may be, that of a widow is still worse. She may never have known her husband, he may have died when still a boy; she is condemned to perpetual widowhood, and this means a life worse than death.
At the decease of her husband she is deprived of her hair, her jewels, her good clothes. The coarest food and the hardest treatment is good enough
THE BABOO CHUNDER SEN
for her. She is excluded from all festivities in the family, she is treated henceforth as a slave. She ought to have been burnt with the body of her husband, but the English Government has forbidden it, and the widow there- a: fore remains source of anxiety in the house of her father-in-law. She is sur- rounded by the grossest immorality, and who would dare to lift the veil as to the temptations that her chastity is exposed to, and the consequent danger to her life? Poison is a convenient means to hide a multitude of sins, and the report that she died of cholera may save the honor of the family. If childmurder was an easy means to relieve the father of the difficulty of providing a suitable husband for his new-born babe, the cremation of the relict with the body of her husband used to be another means to strike at the root of all the difficulties that a widow might create to a family, and intoxicating drugs would be a powerful help to secure her consent. The watchfulness of government hinders the perpetration of this crime, and thus a life of unspeakable humiliation and misery is prolonged to the widow, but in many cases only in order to be cut short still by the cup of poison. And here government can bring but little relief by laws and regulations, because life in a Hindu family is too much hidden from the eye of the public observer.
Only the gospel can bring here effectual relief-the gospel with its enlightening, softening, consoling influences. And as the missionary cannot carry the Bible into the family, but female missionary agents can do it, we must beg that these be sent in large numbers, so that the blessings of the Christian religion may be brought to the families of the people of India.
THE BABOO CHUNDER SEN.
INDIA originated the two religions most widely spread of any, Brahmanism and Buddhism. Lately a third religion seemed strugglinginto life-an Eclectic Theism. The Eramo Somaj of India aims to combine whatever is best in all religions, Christianity rating highest, in one new faith for all mankind. Under the influence of Dr. Duff, the great missionary at· the mouth of the Ganges, arose Rommahun Roy, who died in 1833. To him succeeded Tavoal the Bengalee, who carried out the same views, accepting the Vedas, and forming a theistic society, a "Natural Religion." Of these two men Chunder Sen was the lineal descendant and heir. He was a man of magnificent physique, thoroughly honest and sincere, not profound, and scorned all books unless they be the bibles of the religions. It has been said that there are in India ten thousand Emersons; he was the greatest-ambitious, politic, exceedingly devout and emotional, not at all of an analytic or philosophical mind, not an Occidental but an Oriental in every sense of the word, a mystic, throwing himself wholly upon the intuitional in himself. More than any Quaker he believed in conscience, in an Inner Voice. No man held more heartily than he to the doctrine of an overruling Providence, to prayer, to an inspiration which answers to illumination. He considered himself gifted with an indwelling spirit, and yet that the spirit of the prophet ·is subject to the prophet. Our Scriptures he accepted as above all other bibles, the book most from God, and yielded to it avowedly when in conflict with his own "inspiration." He believed that in and by him the Holy Ghost revealed a new dispensation which shall result in the unification of all religions. He detested Unitarianism, and denounced its one representative in India; and he opposed materialism, agnosticism, atheism. He had his own idea of a trinity, regarding Christ as having existed from eternity, but" as an attribute of God." He was impetuous, possessed of the noblest oratory, completely the master of himself in every emergency. His English was. simply perfect. Every Sunday he preached in the City Tabernacle, but his chief place of worship was in his own house. Here his disciples came together
BRIEF NOTES ON NEW
every day of the week. Seated upon a raised platform, he entered upon the service, after music, in a very long prayer, the most intense petitions of which he and his disciples regarded as inspired. Often his disciples kissed his feet, but that is a not unusual sign in India of reverence only, not of worship. After music another long prayer was offered, sometimes by a disciple. When two or more such prayers were in agreement, that agreement was considered to be by inspiration and recorded as such, the truth thus revealed being accepted as infallible. These services often lasted five or six hours. At the close a poet, to the accompaniment of an instrument, indulged in an improvisation which was taken down from his lips by a stenographer. Over 1000 such Hindu hymns have been preserved, accepted as inspired scripture. When advised to read this book or that, the suggestion is rejected with scorn. "No, never," they reply; "we prefer to gaze in, and by prayer into the face of God." A vessel of oil is placed during their services upon a central table and set on fire; sticks of fragrant wood are cast into it, with the exclamation over each, "Thus perish our lust, our pride, our self-will!" During prayer a pause of some minutes occurs, in which each supplicant is supposed to be making an absolute surrender of himself to God. At the end of the service is the cry of all present, "Victory to God!" and the benediction follows, "Peace, peace!" The Baboo used dances, theatricals, processions, singing in public, and every other means of disseminating his religion. He abhorred caste, idolatry, child marriages, transmigration, and all forms of infidelity, while a hearty friend of temperance and every philanthropy. Yet, alas, when challenged to do so, the new religion could not produce a dozen individuals reformed by its agency from drunkenness; in a word, its practical results are very few and faint, and tha,t after thirty years of effort and the organization of 200 societies over India. The whole thing is but a beautiful bubble, knowing nothing of an atoning Saviour or a regenerating Spirit.
BRIEF NOTES ON NEW BOOKS OF A MISSIONARY CHARACTER.
Christianity in the United States. From the First Settlement down to the Present Time. By Daniel Dorchester, D.D. 8vo, pp.795. Price, $4.50. New York: Phillips & Hunt.
This is a noble volume in size and mechanical appearance as well as in its contents. The author, so well known for his work on "The Problem of Religious Progress," has given much time and patient labor to the production of the present volume, which is of the highest interest and value, and will long remain a standard work on the subject.
Dr. Dorchester has taken up the work of that eminent historian of Religion i'fl, America, REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D.D., and is carrying it forward with distinguished zeal and ability, and is doing invaluable service for Christianity. No attempt has here been made to write the history of our various religious denominations, but a bird's-eye view of the field is presented under the threefold classification of the three great competing forces in the religious life of the aation-"Protestantism, Romanism, and a variety of Divergent Elements." As to the Protestant churches, the beginning of each, the organic changes, schisms and reunions and the evangelizing agencies employed by them are sketched. The Roman Catholic Church has also blilen fully, fairly and generously dealt with. The Divergent Elements, existing only as drifts of sentiment and mainly unorganized, have been skillfully handled. The statistical exhibits of all the religious bodies are the best their own'official Minutes or Year-books make possible. The numerous and carefully prepared statistical tables are invaluable. We have already availed ourselves, in anticipation of the book, of some of these statistics in this REVIEW, and shall frequently have occasion to refer to them in the future. We congratllate the author and the publishers on the completion and pUblication of so grand a work bearing directly on the status of the American Church and the cause of Christianity.-J. M. S.
Protestant Foreign MiSBions. By Theodore Christlieb, D.D. Only Authorized American Edition. Congregational Publishing Society, Boston.
While this little work has been some time before the public we gladly call the attention of our readers to it. It has run through several editions in Germany, and been translated into French, Dutch and Swedish. It is a laborious and careful work, giving a "universal survey of Protestant Foreign Missions" down to the date of its publication in 1880.-J. M. S.
Ohrist mid the Gospels. By James P. Cadman, A.M. Chicago: American Publication So- ciety of Hebrew. Chas. Scribner's Sons, N. Y. Price, $1.50.
This is a life of our Lord in the words of the evangelists, and after the Re- vision of 1881. It has already passed its sixth edition, and deserves it. It contains a synopsis of the Gospels, explanations of the text, a Life of our Lord in Bible words, together with a brief history of various translations, indices of persons, places and subjects, maps, diagrams, etc.
The four Gospels are here made to throw their combined light on the career of the Lord Jesus. The true chronological order is, as far as can be ascertained, followed after the method of Rev. S. J. Andrews.
So far as we have examined this admirable book it is a very great help to any devout student of the New Testament. A simple but complete method is pursued by which at a glance,the analysis is presented of the entire con- tents of the Gospels, together with the improved readings of the text, and Scripture parallel references in full. A full and complete index is found at the close. Bible class teachers will find in it a helpful companion to the study of the Gospels. We began the examination of the volume WIth little interest, but laid it down with a conviction that it is a valuable contribution to Bible literature.-A. T. P.
The Story of Smyrna Medical Mission, in Connection with the Church of Scotland.• R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh, Scotland. Price, sixpence.
While this mission is a branch of the operations of the Jewish Mission Com- . mittee of the Church of Scotland, it receives no share of the ordinary church collections forthe Jewish missions, but is sustained by special aid from friends and churches, The account given in this little work by Mr. Scott, one of the missionaries of the society, is highly interesting.-J. M. S.
The Crisis Of MiSSions. By A. T. Pierson, D.D. Price,35 cents.
The Carter's have brought out a paper-cover edition of this wonderful work, of which many editions have been sold in a single year. It is a marvel in cheapness, considering the size and excellent quality of the letter-press.
The same publishers have brought out a new edition, the fourteenth (price, $1. 25, 12mo, pp. 406), of Moffat's" Southern Africa," with a brief sketch of his life, condensed from the "Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat," published by the Armstrongs and which we reviewed at considerable length in these pages in our January issue. We need not repeat what we there said. Moffat was an extraordinary character; his long missionary career in laying the founda- . tion of the South African Church was extraordinary; and this book, written by him on a visit to England (1839-43), considering the period at which it was written was, in some respects, the most extraordinary work on Africa ever written. We read it at its first appearance with a degree of interest and excite- ment we have seldom felt. His vivid pictures of African scenery and life, his perilous adventures, and his experiences as a missionary explorer and pioneer over all that region which his son-in-law Livingstone, Stanley, and others have since laid bare to the civilized world, have scarcely ever been exceeded. The impression of the book on our mind, after a lapse of over forty years, is almost as vivid as the day we read it.-J. M. S.
The Teaching 0/ the Apostles. By Prof. J. Rendel Harris. Baltimore: Publication Agency of the Johns Hopkins University.
This is a newly edited and superb edition of this remarkable work, with lac-simile text and a commentary for the use of this university. Through the negotiations initiated by Dr. Hale with the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the co-operation of Mr. Henry Gillman, the United States Consul of that city, a complete series of photographs of the" Teaching" have been obtained and are here given, thus securing in the most complete form possible the publication of the recovered memorlal from the early days of Christianity. It is a work of great intrinsic worth to the whole church of God.-J. M. S.
A Budget 0/ Letters/rorn Japan. By Arthur Collins Maclay, A.M., LL.B. I'p.391. New York: Armstrong & Son.
From a missionary point of view this is a book of decidl'd interest. It is written by an intelligent man after close observation and the best of opportunities for judging the Japanese. A long chapter is devoted to the missionary work. He says they are "champion listeners. They wear an ordinary man out. They are insatiate. They come three or four times a day, urging a continuance of the speech. I knew one missionary who began at four o'clock in the afternoon, and when he was exhausted his native helpers carried on the exhortation until nine o'clock at night. Of course sermonizing is not resorted to. Simply the barest recital of the Ii fe, the work, the agony of our Redeemer seems to chain their attention. The people then disperse. Very few of them, perhaps, will be baptized. But curiosity has been awakened to know about this extraordinary religion; books are bought; and when the missionary makes his next visit he will find a number of earnest inquirers after the truth."
Other chapters give discussions of the claims of Christianity as compared with Buddhism, and the need the heathen have of the gospel of salvation, and of the results effected by Christianity as compared with the results of Buddhism. This discussion is conducted with great ability and fairness. The author gives a clear and concise account of the early efforts of Protestant Christianity and the results down to 1877, the time when he left Japan.
Mr. Collins tells the following story as characteristic: "The Mitsui Bank in Tokio is a national bank, backed up with the money of the government. Young Japan had been especially educated abroad to carryon the banking sy!'tem on approved foreign principles. They were intelligent, capable and shrewd. They made excellent cashiers, tellers, bookkeepers, and clerks, so far as the merely executive qualities were concerned. They possessed every intellectual requirement necessary for carrying on a bank, but they were too intelligent. They were so thoroughly acquainted with financiering that they understood many little methods ofdeflecting cash from the treasury into their own pockets. And there was no power except fear that could prevent their doing so ; and fear had but little effect, as there was hardly any fear that the capitalists, composed of effete daimios and of government officers unfamiliar with banking, could detect how the cash disappeared. In this predicament, one of the bank officers, with great candor and solicitude, came and explained the situation to one of the missionaries. He frankly admitted that he did not believe in any religion whatsoever. He claimed that the Japanese intellect was of too philosophical a nature to accept the Jewish myth called Christianity. 'But,' said he, 'your religion does something that our religions cannot do. It makes men honest. Now, we wish our employees at the bank to be carefully instructed in these principles, so that they may learn to discharge . their duties with scrupulous integrity.'''
Mr. Collins says that the missionaries meet their greatest discouragemenij from the foreign community. "The cause of this hostility is easy to see. The presence of missionaries is a continued rebuke to the greater part of the foreign community, who are leading lives they would not think of leading at home. The natives are soon taught that these foreigners are living beneath their duties and privileges. They soon learn to point this fact with cutting and contemptuous observations, which gall the recipients thereof exceedingly. And they soon begin to draw a line between the two portions of the community: one portion is bent on gain, it is selfish and grasping, it abuses its servants, deals harshly with the natives, and is licentious; the other portion acts justly toward all, so that servants are anxious to secure them as masters, and the merchants are always on the qui vive to open accounts with them. They learn the language accurately and elegantly, and instruct the people carefully and thoroughly, and the people soon begin to love and respect them. "-J. ]H. S.
Mary and I. Forty Years with the Sioux. By Stephen R. Riggs, DD., LL.D. Pp.437. Price, Sl.50. Boston Congregational Publishing Society.
The reader who takes up this book is quite sure to read it through. He will recognize in the Mary of this story a worthy pupil of Mary Lyon and Miss Grant. Cultured and attractive, she cheerfully left her Massachusetts home and plunged into the wilderness of Lac Qui Parle. She found a " home" for five years in the upper story of Dr.Williamson's log house. From the letters written at the ijme to friends in the East, we get vivid pictures of the privations, discouragements. dangers, and triumphs of those who devoted their lives to giving the gospel to the Indian. How bravely she bore up in that terrible midnight flight from Hazelwood, and the long perilous journey to St. Paul through the pelting rains and wet swamp-grass, and with murderous savages upon the trail!
"The other partner in this firm," says Prof. S. C. Bartlett in his brief Preface, "needs no words of mine. He speaks here for himself, and his labor speaks for him. His Dakota Dictionary and Bible are lasting monuments of his persevering toil, while eleven churches with a dozen native preachers and 800 members, and a flourishing Dakota Home Missionary Society bear witness to the Christian work of himself and his few colaborers. , Forty Years among the Sioux,' he writes. ' Forty Years in the Turkish Empire' was the story of Dr. Goodell. ' Fifty Years in Ceylon' was the life work of Levi Spalding. What recol'ds are these of singleness of aim, of energy, of Christian work, and of harvests gathered and gathering for the Master! "-J. M. S.
The EvangelizatilYn oj the World. A Missionary Band. A Record of Consecration and Appeal.
This is a volume prepared especiallyfor the student volunteers. It contains 242 pages. Published by L. Morgan & Scott, London, 12 Paternoster Buildings. The price is not given, but if we remember it is 18. 6d. sterling. It was published under the name of "The Missionary Band," and has run through fifteen thousand. It is now enlarged and published under this new title. It contains skillfully arranged extracts from Spurgeon,Arthur,Griffith,Vaughan, Moule, Somerville, Radcliffe, Loudels, Alden, Guinness, Pierson, Cust Haig, Hudson Taylor, etc. It is one of the best books conceivable to put into the hands of young men and womeq. Its paragraphs are a history, a poem, a prophecy, all at once. Short, suggestive, on fire with God's Spirit. The themes so briefly treated are: The Needs in India, China, Africa, e!c.; Benefits to the Church from Missions; Injury to the Church from Neglect, etc. ; The Missionary Spirit; The Men and Women Wanted; The Work of Missions; Truths Essential to Success; Prayer; Personal Consecration; Spiritual Anointing; Woman's Work; Y. M. C. A.; Universities and the Missionary Volunteers; Helpful Books; Missionary Societies, etc. There are 20 full-page illustrations, alone worth the price of the book, besides three maps, four musical pieces, and six portraits.-A. T. P.
Hodder', Li/e Q/ the Earl 0/ 8ha/tesoor1l. 3 volumes. London and New York: Cassell & Co.
We do not hesitate to say that from this book, which we read with enthusiastic delight, we got more inspiration and help in the direction of missionary labor at home and abroad than from any other biography we ever read. Shaftesbury was a rare and unique example of a man who deliberately turned his back on temptations to wealth, position, rank and power, pleasure and self-indulgence, to undertake the uplifting of his fellow men. Without regard to their position, degradation, or depravity, with utter contempt of casteocracy, he devoted his time, his money, his whole soul, to the work of reforming abuses, abolishing outrages, and improving conditions. For sixty years of his public life he never swerved from his purpose. He accepted as his divine calling this sublime vocation, to lift up the fallen, and to take out of the way of the poorest and most easily tempted the enticements to evil. Where he found a man ignorant of Christ he sought to inform him; where he found the most abandoned criminal he sought to touch the tender spot where capacity of response still remained. He fought for half a century to see the abuses of the insane asylums, factories, mines, and workshops abated or removed, and meanwhile stood at the head in all true labors to bring the. gospel to bear on the darkest and most abandoned quarters of the great cities, especially London. Every intelligent and earnest man or woman ought to read this book. Those who cannot afford to buy it ought to borrow it. The copy we own is a part of our "circulating library," and we rejoice to see it worn out in service, as its heroic subject was. As a model biography, as a biography of a model philanthropist, as a book which combines the value of a history with the beauty of a poem and the fascination of a novel, we cannot speak in terms high enough to express our appreciation of Mr. Hodder's magnificent work.-A. T. P.
Modern Olties and Their Religious Problems. By Samuel Lane Loomis. New York: Baker, Taylor & Co.
This is a book that deserves to be widely read. It touches wisely and discriminatingly some of the most practical problems of the day. The author has manifestly spent years in the personal and painstaking investigation of the questions he discusses, and his suggestions throw a flood of light on the method of dealing with the cities. The Introduction, by Dr. Josiah Strong, is itself worth the price of the book. But this iii! not meant to deprljOiate what follows. The growth, social composition, and menace of the cities is plainly set before the reader; and then the best and most successful methods of Christian and philanthropic work are presented, with extended references to the actual examples of such work in London and Paris. The last chapter abounds in useful hints, as to the increase and employment of working force, the nature and frequency of such service, the value of the parish system, etc. The two chapters on Christian work as performed in London, with the ex- tended and detailed description of the methods employed, furnish in themselves a volume rich in valuable contribution to the practical solution of the great perplexities now before the church. This book should be set side by side with" Our Cquntry," and read by all earnest and thoughtful men and women. -A.T.P.
CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE
II. -CORRESPONDENCE and GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
The Missionary Meeting. Ages. The carrying of the gospel to the modern nations. St. Augustine, Cyril and Methodlus ; [Letter from Mr. H. N. Brainerd, a St. Patrick in Ireland, etc. (c) Study of Boman graduate of Harvard, who expects to Catholic and Jesuitical missions. Francis be a foreign missionary.] Xavier, Loyola, etc. Dlustrative of the wrong method of working. (d) Modern missions. How shall we make our missionary meetings Awakening of Protestants. History of societies, both profitable and interesting? This is a ques- especially of the early movements in our own tion often asked, and for nOne is a practical country. (Si Study of particular missions, as answer more important than for the members of China Inland Missions, missions of Polynesia, the missionary bands now to be found in nearly the Harmannsburg MiSSion and the rest. (4) all our colleges. Perhaps a few suggestions may Study of missionary heroes, as Carey, Brainerd, be helpful. John Eliot, Judson, Bishop Patteson, Living- stone, Moffat, Henry Martyn and hosts of others. 1. Give the missionary meeting a status. De- (5) Study of the actual life and work of the various termine upon the number which may be reason- missionary stations. This may be got from reably expected to be held, and make no devia- turning missionaries, always glad to speak of tion, providential events alone excepted. If pos- their work; from the various publications of sible bave a regular date assigned. This will the different SOCieties; from current literature. sllow of thorough preparation. especially periodicals, happily not now indlfi'er- ent to these subjects. (6) Study of blessings 2. Give the missionary meeting an efficieut or- other than religiOUS, arisiug from efforts of misganization. Ifyour association has a missionary sionaries, as translations of the SCriptures and committee, see that the most active and de- other books, the foundations of new literatures, voted of the band are among its members. If schools. The cessation of idolatry, cannibalism, possible choose those who are in some way con- infanticide,. and modificatiou for the better of nected with actual missionary work. A record many superstitions. (7) Contributions of misof the meetings and proceedings should be kept. sions to science, such as is found in the Ely It wlll be valuable for future reference. volume. The missiouary exploration of Africa.
S. As to the meeting itself. The course of the Subjects like these ought to be interesting to meeting may be turned in several directions: every one. The Christian college man Is just the person who should be familiar with this A. The religious or ethical. In this attention kuowledge. If on no other ground, Christianity should be turned to the spiritual features of the is worthy of attention for its respectable infiumissionary question. This may not differ much ence in history, to be seen nowhere more clearly in kind from the ordinary prayer-meeting. Snb than in this. jects like these might be taken: C. Auxiliary helps. These are important. (1) The Ground of MIssionary Work. John These are: iii. 16 ; Luke ii. 10 ; Mark xvi. 15; Matt. xxvlti. 18-20. (2) The Need of Missionary Work. (1) Books. Every association or band should Psalms xiv. 2,3; Eph. ii. 12; Rom. x. 13-15; .have its missionary alcove, or shelf for books on Acts xvi. 9. (8) The Purpose of Missionary missions. (2) Maps. These are almost indis- Work. Luke xix: 10; Acts xxvi. 18. (4) The pensable to a successful meeting. They may be Siu of Standiug Aloof. 2 Kings vii. 9 ; Judges v. had at reasonable rates. (3) Charts and publica- 23; Matt. xxv. 25, 26. (5) The :Motive. Luke tions of the dlfferent societies, as "Gospel in all xvi. 5; 2 Cor. v. 14; 2 Cor. viti. 9. (6) Ways of Lands," M'wBionary Herald, THE MISSIONARY Helping. Isa. vi. 8; 2 Cor. i. 11; Matt. ix. 38 ; REVIEW, American Baptist M'f88ionary Maga- zine, and many others. They may be got always, Acts ix. 61; Col. iii. 23 ; 2 Cor. ix. 7. (7) The Re- either free Or at a merely nominal cost. (4) Curiosities from missionary fields. These may ward. Prov. xi. 25 ; Job xxix. 13; Matt. xxv. 28. not be in the reach of all, bat they render a (8) The End of Missionary Work. Matt. xxiv. meetiug very interesting. Copies of Scriptures, 14; Isa. ii. 18: Hab. ii. 14; Rev. xi. 15. objects relating to customs, productions, an- tiquities, are all profitable. (5) FInally seek and This list is not exhaustive. Many others will obtain the co-operation of your president and suggest themselves. professors. They can often aid very much in rendering an evening spent on any of these topics B. The practical and historical. This side of one worth the attention of all the students. missions is as vast and as varied as the world itself, for "the field is the world." We might In closing let me say that these topiCS are suggest here : simply intended to be suggestive. That which must be at the base of all missionary work-a (1) Study of dlfi'erent fields, as China, Japan, consecrated, active, senSible heart and mind, India, Turkey, etc. Information of the people, full of the Holy Spirit-Is most necessary here. customs, tongues, climate, productions, advantages, state of society and religion in these countries. The caution here Is not to undertake more than can be thoroughly handled. (2) Stndy of history of missions. (a) Ancient missions, which ended in the Christianization of the Roman Empire. (lI) Missions of the Middle To sueh a one these suggestions will, I trust, be pit aud looks down tnto thousands or sonls but a beginning-the first-fruits of a plentiful whose darkest night has never shimmered with harvest. Above all, let every member of the eveu a starlight ray of God's blessed and savtng band take especial interest in the meeting. Let gospel. We find ourselves here in a town ot him make it a constant theme for prayer. Let about 30,000 tnhabitants, to whom only two men all who are to contribute in any way to the are preaching Christ in the vernacnlar. The meeting hold a previous period of prayer and direct need at home is scarcely so straitened consecration together. Such efforts the Holy as that, and yet this place is supposed to be well Spirit loves to bless. supplied with missionaries and preachers."
From a Student Volunteer. NOTE FROM ANOTHER VOLUNTEER. The" Student Volunteer Movement for For- HAVB read with keen pleasure the circular, eign Missions" is still increasing. Names of .. Student Volunteers for Foreigu Missions." I volunteers are coming tn every week. Stnce favor strougly having one college each mouth the New Year Grove City College, Pa., has enwrite a somewhat similar letter, sketching the listed her sympathies and a number of volonuhistory of Its own foreign missionary movement, teers tn this movement, and also organized togiving any ideas as to their methods of organiz- support a foreign missionary, and they say they ing, increaSing numbers; stirring np snrround- can do it. ing churches, etc., as may seem helpful, and then The report that comes from this college cheers filling the remainder of the letter with snch stir- the band in Union Seminary. This seminary is ring facts as are fonnd in that circnlar, and get- betng stirred on this subject. Prayer-meetings ting as many copies printed as would place one are held each night on the different fioors for in the hands of each of the 2,800 volunteers, and the purpose of awakening a missionary spirit. send them to all the colleges. Gro,"e City College had its attention directed to this movement by a single student to whom a Suppose Yale send one iu January, Prince- letter was written on the subject. ton in February, Harvard in March, Toronto in April (and the others when they will), why Letter from Rev. W. Alfred Redwood. each letter would be a source of iuspiration to the other schools and wonld draw them together MALVALLI, MYSORE TERRITORY, INDIA, with sympathy in the same cause. December 29, 1887.
At the end of the year-the college year-if the IT is a great pleasure to me to find THE MISletters were preserved, each volunteer would be SIONARY REVIEW evangelical iu these days of so loaded with facts that his summer's work "new-fangled notions." If it had a grain of could not fail to be of great power. Try it. How sympathy with such theories as " Future Proba- I long to see the .. volunteers" pull together; tion" I certatnly should not, for one, welcome what a power they must be if only focused! The it under my roof. 2,800 should shake about (yes, altogether) $2,300,- 000 more out of our churches annually than is THE REVIEW tn the past had great sympathy now beiug given for missions, if they" get hold of "with independent missions-I mean work not the church and the Spirit gets hold of them. dependent on a society. It may be glad to know .. Come, it may be that the Lord will work for us; that I am a child of that school and am opening for there is no restraiut to the Lord to work by up this fresh ground to the light of the gospel in many or by few." _ dependence on God alone for all I need both for myself, family and work. And I am bound to .. I am but one, but I am one. I cannot do say, to the honor of his name, that he has never much, but I can do somethiug, and all I can do I allowed me to want. I have been engaged tn ought to do, and by God's grace will do." mission work for abont five years in India, but only a year'-and some months tn this neighbor- What One Did. hood. I have taken up two .. talooks " (dis- trictS) to work which contain about 200,000 Less than eleven months ago Mr. H. F. La- heathen and Mohammedan sonls, the former beflamme joined the" Student Volunteers for For- tng more than 95 per cent. of the whole. Most eign Missions." Six and one-half months after of these people have never heard the name of his decision he sailed for India under the .. Ca- Christ, and their moral condition is too terrible nadinn Board of Missions." Before sailing he to describe. Though not professioua1ly a docand Mr. Davis had appealed to the churches of tor, I give away medictnes to all who apply, and this denomination tn behalf of their foreign have a school, which is well attended, where the work; as a result about $3,000 were added to word of God is taught daily. When we came that denomtnation's foreign missionary tncome here the people were afraid of us, but now they -an income which was scarcely $14,000 the pre- come around us and show much love for us. cedtng year. Mr. Lafiamme writes as follows: .. Cocanada, India, Dec. 9, lSS7.-God can level We suffer of course some privation, from'the mountatns. I reached here just three weeks place being far away from any town where proago aud have had scarcely time to look around, visions can be got, but nothing serious. We still I am ready for this remark. The need here find much more pleasure than pain tn worktng loo!ted large to me when 11,000 miles away, but tn such a place, though there Is not at present a awful wheu one stauds ou the very verge of the suitable house In the neighborhood for Eurnpeans, and our strength Is very small. If we whole gospel, full salvation, Africa for Christ." can buy our present dwelling, the only one of I expect my brother, J. H. Harned, to send me brick in Malvalli, which we rent from govern- a valuable box of medicine which I need immement, we might in time be able to enlarge it, as diately iu my practice, which is already large. the Lord enabled us. The government will There is no doctor in this part of the country, sell it for 700 rupees, i.e., about £50 or $250. My support will come in great measure from this source. Bishop Taylor's Self-supporting Mission. Ha.ve Not I Oommanded Thee? [LetterfromMissionary Harned and wife to the Treasurer of the Society.] [Letter from Miss Grace E. Wilder, written on her way to India.] CAPE PALMAS, LmERIA, Oct. 8, 1887. DEAR BROTHER GRANT: We arrived in port BEFORE conversion, in connection with the here last Saturday. We had considerable diJIi- command "Be ye reconciled unto God," these culty in getting our goods ashore, as there are words arouse deep concern. but few boats, and these boatmen are never in a hurry; but the captain kindly lent two of his What of their message after conversion f boats, which facilitated matters somewhat, but Have not I commanded tkee, redeemed one, most of us staid on board and came ashore with bought with precious blood f Can the pronoun the remainder of our goods Sunday morning. be any less personal as I read " Go ye into all After breakfast we all went to he little old stone the world and preach the gospel to every creachurch, where the Lord graciously poured out ture. Have I not commanded thee f" his Splrit. Mr. Harned was blessed in preaching "God so loved the world that he gave his Ab, we say this .. thee" means the church. only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth It should be Interpreted as an indefinite or a disin him should not perish, but have everlasting tributive and only in exceptional cases as a perlife." In the evening Brother Cadle preached, sonal pronoun. We are like the father who after which an altar service was held aud many after an earnest appeal for missionary workers seekers went forward. We have three services asked for volunteers from his congregation. every day: one at seven in the morning, One at Among the first to rise was his own daughter. 10:00, and the regular revival work in the even- Agitated, he hasteus to whisper to her, "My dear, ing. Many are being gloriously saved, for which I did not mean you." Not alone are fathers and we praise the Lord. mothers saying this, but some are saYing, My son, my daughter, Ohrist doesn't mean you. Friday, Nov. 11, 1887. Even ministers are urging caution. Do they Mrs. Harned commenced this letter, and finally fear a literal apostolic obedience f Alas, the I found time to write a few lines. Of course you church is far from this, for" they were allscstrealize that I am full of business these days. tered abroad, and they that were scattered God is wonderfully with me while attending to abroad went everywhere preaching the word." the very many details of landing aud caring for our effects. I would be glad to write you about me' But, says one, how can I know that Jesus' last the voyage, but present matters press heavily, and I shall write concerning the work. Five of command is for the stations ou the Savilly RiTer have honses Does not much of the doubt over this question completed, and Baraca on the coast is ready for occupation. There are two stations in this large arise from a failure to Bee that God's scheme of tribe, one of which is on the bank of the river service is as wide as his scheme of salvation? and one back in the bush. We are to go to the .. Whosoever will may come; let him that hearstations this week, say about 16th or 17th. eth say come." With confidence we say the Sister Amanda Smith is here with us, work- first of these promises applies to every sinfnl ing as usual with power in the meetings. She is soul, but does not the second as unconditionally not strong, while not really sick. She will not apply to every redeemed soul? Do we meet be able to attend us on our trip up the river. a struggling, timid seeker with the question, Are When we get to our station I shall write a letter you sure God has called you to be saved f God with some description of the work. I would forbid. Satan asks this question. God forbid say for your encouragement that our goods were also that we should create doubt in the heart of landed here without the loss of an article, either a young Christian by asking, Are you sure you from the lot from New York or Liverpool. are called to serve God f As surely as the atone- Brother Pratt seems a fIIithful agent for the ment leaves no doubt as to God's yearning for work. My dear brother, I have no fault to find, the lost, it leaves no doubt as to his purpose for but in the name olthe Lord Jesus get men and the saved. Calvary not only rescued our souls; women of sound body and good sense who can it purchased our service. "He died for all, in accommodate themselves to any circumstances order that they who live should not live unto for Christ's sake, and find out if possible what themselves but unto him who died." This author- kind of doctrine they intend to preach. We go izes us to give him all-heart, soul, strength, to work with great hope of success. The Lord time. Is it not then the privilege of e'lJery Chris- God Is with us; our motto Is" All for Jesus, a tian to make the evangelization of the world the business of life f It is a fearful thing to limit service to a few believers, for this limits salva- tion. Is it not due to this that the church must now face the fact that in the last century while
CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
she has been gaining 3,000,000 converts hea- own hands f Yes, and we must, for God hall thenism has Increased 200,000,000 1 placed It In our hands. Human choice Is a gill; we must use after salvation as well as before. The Earl of Shat'tesbury says, "Dur1ug the Did not t/le prodigal take the plan of life into latter part of these (eighteen) ceuturies it has his hands when he resolved, " I will arise and been In the power of those who hold the truth, go , " Yet no man cau come nnto me except having means enough, having knowledge enongh, the Father which hath sent me draw him. Ezra and having opportnnity enongh, to evangelize came to Jerusalem accordiug to the good hand , the globe fifty timee over." of his God upon him, for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it. What a tonchstone of guilt is the qnestiou, Have Nehemiah forms a definite piau and takes his not I commanded thee? in the light of these three desire to God. "Prosper, I pray thee, thy serfacts' Christ redeemed the world, and with the vant this day and give him favor in the sight of emphasis of his last desire asked us to;evangelize this man." the world. "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I Into the world, that I shonld Mr. Mackay, who celebrated his fonrteeuth bear witness to the truth. As my Father hath anuiversary in Formosa with 1,213 converts, sent me into the world, so have I sent you. When and has during a tour of ten days baptized 1,200 this gospel shall be preached for a witness, then persons, writes: "While superintending the shall the end come." Can I, dare I say, if God work of two hundred workmen I also dispensed wants me to witness he will put me into the medicines to hundreds, preached the gospel for work; if he wants me to be a missionary he will hours at a time, taught the students at night, give me a missionary spirit? Is there the slight- and in three months traveled over 1,600 mUes." est ground for an if here' Are we not holding I don't believe in those cant phrases, "Trust iu the rebellions position of him who says, "If God God and all will come right," unless the rest be wants to save me he wi11 do it ?" He longs to added, Trust In God bnt cut the trees down; save, but he has conditioned salvation. "When trnst in God but burn them; trust In God but ye shall seek me with the whole heart, then shall plough the soil. ., Trust In God but sow the seed ye find me." Panl recognized this 800king at -sow it in tears. I believe we should think, any coot, as also the condition of service. "I plan, pray, and toil as if all depended on our fol(Qw ajt.er, if that I may apprehend that for work-excuse me, as if th.ere were no God. But which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus; I pree8 stop I At the same time conscious we cannot toward the mark of the high calling of God In hold the pen even without the power of our Christ Jesns." Conscious of the awfnlilmiting great, living and adorable Redeemer." Is not power of human inertia, he writes, " Stir up the this truth confirmed In the life of Paul and In gift that is In thee." the experience of every Christian f " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, Which is the greater, responsibilities In serv- for it is God that worketh in you." The divine ing or the responsibility of not serving' One and human are linked In every action. A divine says, I wonld not dare to be a missionary with- promise of Canaau was not realized for forty out a missionary spirit. But can you dare to years because of human unbelief. The promise, live withont it' Where lies the responsibility The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the if I have not the spirit? Perhaps it is not God's Lord, !bas waited fulfillment 1,800 years. Why f What more subtle and effective, way conld Satsn gift for me. "Let this mind be in you which devise than the unbelief of refusing to take was in Christ J esns." God's revealed will as his will for men? I have not the qualifications. "Who is able TWO NATIVE SIAMESE. to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think?" I am empty, so can't rnn [THE following thrilling letter will over. " Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it." be read with great interest. Though But am I eutitled to appropriate as miue the the editors withhold names, these high aud holy work of wituesslng for Jesus young Siamese are now 'in this coun- where he is not known? Keep and 800k all the commandments of the Lord your God. He has try, personally known and loved by given us the opportnnity of treadiug in the very US.-EDS.] footsteps of Jesus; like him to leave home; like him to be a stranger, despised, rejected; like My DEAR DR. PIERSON: him to seek and save the lost, the privilege of entering into fellowship with Christ's suJferlngs, I am constrained to appeal to yon, my good aud in him have it our meat and drink to do the friend of many years, for counsel and aid, If pos- will of the Father. Is it strauge that God should sible, in this time of need. You know some- not give such attainment until we covet them thing of the circumstances under which, when earuestly? Where was Dauiel when Gabriel In 1876, forced to leave Siam, my home for thirty touched him? "I set my face unto the Lord years, my wife's health brokeu down com_ God to seek by prayer and snpplication with pletely, we brought with us, to be educated In fastings." Again the conditiou appears In Ga- the United States, two Siamese lads, then each briel's words: " At the beginniug of thy supplica- 11 years old. One of these-the expense of whose tion the commandment came forth." passage home aud educatiou we took upon our But, says one, would not seeking to be a mis- sionary be taking the plan of our life Into our
selves-was the son of a true Christian woman- heading was executed stonce upon my poor boy's a treasure to the ladies in charge of the girls' mission boarding school in Bangkok, founded father; his mother and the other native wives by my wife, where she is native matron and teacher. Her heart's desire and prayer for her (the English wife with her babe made good boy was and is that he may become a preacher to his benighted countrymen. her escape to Englaud) were made slaves in tlie The other was the eldest son of one of the king's rice mills, and all the property was con· most intelligent and enterprising young noblemen in the kingdom, high in favor with the fiscated. The boy's graudfather and his two progressive young king, as were also his father and brothers, understanding, as they did, ma- uncles, once great favorites' with the king, were chinery, the steam-engine, photography, gasmaking, etc. The boy's grandfather was super- that same night arrested, sepiuztedinbycthhaeincs~oawnn.d intendent of the royal mint and a member of their houses and property the Idng's privy counCil, and the father had charge of the government gold mines at Pachim. And in chains they stilllu. It would seem as if They 80 earnestly requested us to take the nothing else than the ruin of the family could lad to Amel'ica with us, to be thoroughly educated as a civil and mining engineer, that we satisfy their vindictive enemy. And yet the could not refuse them, desirous as we were of still doing all in our power for the good of the king knows he had none more capable of servland and the people we so reluctlantiy left. So we brought on both these brave littie fellows ing him, but he is powerless against the exwith us across the seas. a~ members of our family, and in due time were established with regent, who in fact put him on the throne. I them in myoid home. I shonld have mentioned as to the latter of these lads that his friends, who cannot but believe however, that on the death were wealthy of course, were to defray all his expenses. of their foe (aud he is quite and old man) this I had been home littie over a year w hen cer- family will be restored to favor. . tain financial reverses left us with a home of our own to be sure, but without income, and with Notwithstanding these unexpected calamities the boy we had undertaken to bring up on our hands. One lad, however, still paid his expenses. which have befallen us, we have persevered iu Two years more passed away, and he too was thrown upon us for support. The story will our purpose to give these boys a thorough edusound like romance, but alas it is too true. cation, both for their own sakes and for Siant's The father had incurred the grave displeasure of his sovereign by strangely elopiug with the sake. They are intelligent and amiable, and, daughter (by a native mother, but highly educated i~ England) of the English cOJ:lsul-general better still, are, we trust, sincere Christians, In –carrying her oft' in a steam yacht, which he owned, to the mining works at Pachim, where 1880 both of them, desiriug to acknowledge behe was a sort 'of viceroy. Unfortnnately for the young noble, the ex-regent, the most pow- fore men the Saviour in whom they believed, erful of all the nobility, had a grudge against his family, and now was an opportunity to gratifY it. and beiug judged worthy, were baptized and re- He took advantage of the king's displeasure to bring charges against him ofembezzlemeut, etc., ceived to church membership. It strangely and when he returned from his three weeks' wedding trip to Bangkok, had him arrested. happened that the very next day there came He was whipped to extort confession, imprisoned, aud throwu into irons. across the seas the uuexpected aud terrible Mr. Consul- General, who at first had been tidings to the young noblemau of his father's exevery angry, now espoused the cause ot his new son·in-law and demanded his release, threaten- cution, hls mother's Slavery, and graudfather's ing a bombardment of the city by an English fleet, and actually ordering up from Siugapore an and uucles' imprisonment, aud of the loss of all. English gnnboat. The Siamese stood firm, however, and dispatched an envoy to England de- Poor boy I he had secured the unfailing Friend manding the consul's recall. This was fiually granted them, the English Government pro- none to soon. nouncing his interfereuce unjustifiable; and on the consul's leaving and the envoy's return They are both promising lads, Uniformly triumphant some months after, sentence of be- good reports as to their deportment and diligence have been received. The professor in charge of their class writes, "They are doing well in their studies," are H industrious land capable." One of them at the close of the first term" ranked .fifth in a class of 3·1," which is certainly very creditable to a boy from a heathen land in a New England school. They maintain too their Christian character and an earnest purpose to fit themselves for usefulness in the land of their birth. They are both 23 years of age. The young noblemau bears a strong resemblance to his unfortunate father whose career ended so tragically, and in looks is a good speCbneu of the better class of Siamese.
It may be that yon have iu the circle of your acquaintance those who could be induced to take an iuterest in the8e Siamese youth and carry them through their educatiou, and thus through them aid not a little in the work of Christianiz- ing and elevating that interestiug kingdom from which they come.
Tribute to Missionaries. I have of- ten been asked, "What of the mis- sionaries of the East? Are they true, and do they serve their Master?" And I have always been a swift witness to say-and I say it now, solemnly and emppa.tically-that if anywhere on it does not need the gospel; .and secthe face of the earth there exists a ondly, that there is any nation so low band of devout Christian men and down in degradation that it is incawomen, it is these. I personally know pable of receiving the gospel. The many men and women, and the names first has been exploded by the triof Dr. and Mrs. Riggs, the names of umphs of the gospel among the most Woods, Bliss, Pettibone, Herrick, accomplished, progressive nations, Dwight, and others spring up in my like India, China and Japan. As to memory most vividly. Their work is the other fallacy, let me mention one of that kind which will in future be or two facts. When Dr. Vander productive of the greatestgood. They Kemp went to labor in Cape Colony live and die in the work. One I know he found over the doors of nominally has been in the work fifty years. They Christian churches this sentence: are God's people and they should be " Dogs and Hottentots not admitted." remembered and sustained by us.- They classed the Hottentots with the General Lew Wallace. dogs, and would not have them even in Christian churches. When the Setting all religio1s questions aside, the civilizing power of the missions; Church Missionary Society went to the revolutions which have been consequent on their work; the coloniza- labor in Madagascar the French govtion, of which they were the pioneers; ernor of the Island of Bourbon said to the growing empires, founded on the missionaries, "Youmightjust as European and American civilization, well attempt to convert the cattle and of which they laid the foundations; sheep as to convert the Malagasy." the enlightening influences which And as to the Australian aborigines, have spread among barbarous nations it was thought at first that they were from their points of labor-all these so far gone that they could not apprecommand the profound respect of all ciate even the fundamental vital men of sense. The one great fact, truths of the gospel, putting them that the spread of the power of the into the simplest language in which English language as the language of you could clothe them. And yet commerce and advancing civilization, what has been done? The grandest receives an assured impetus from mis- victories of the gospel in the ninesions of English – speaking people, teenth century have been among makes these missions of paramount these very people. Madagascar has importance to the spread of British become a Christian island within less and American commerce.-.rournal than fifty years; and what triumphs of Oommerce. have been won among the Hottentots and the Australian aborigines! Taking pagan lands, we find two things. First, the people have lost Proposed New Missionary Society. faith in their religion. Sometimes The organization of a new misthey are not ready for any other faith sionary society is now being con- sidered by Christian workers in the because they are reduced to a condi- United States. Almost simulta- neously suggestions upon the subtion of skepticism or infidelity. Some- ject came from. China, Africa and times they nurse a secret faith until Chicago, to Dr. Dowkontt of the the deathbed, "that detector of the New York Medical Mission. The heart," reveals the real state of things. China Inland Mission and Bishop Sometimes they come out openly, as Taylor's Mission in Africa, which are in Southern India, and confess Jesus self-supporting, are the models set Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the before the friends interested. It is Father. Secondly, the gospel, by its proposed that the new organization triumphs, has exploded these two shall embrace some of the peculiar greatfallacies: first, that there is any features of the&e tWQ missions, and nation so high up in civilization that have in it the element of medical in less than 240 years it amounted to JDlSSlOns. The originators desire to take Canada into.. the organization more than two and a half millions of and make it a representative inter- dollars. And I asked myself whether national missionary society. The God would not make a dollar laid name which thus far commends itself up for him grow as rapidly as it does is " The Evangelical Medical Mission- by the laws of trade." GIVE 1 ary Society." Dr. Jefferis, the leading Con~ The Hope of Paganism. Christian- gationalist in the Sydney pulpit, de- ity is confessedly the greatest power clares that the most degrading in- . in the world. This is so politically, fluence in New South Wales is that commercially, intellectually and mor- of Parliament, which is characterized ally. There are other faiths, as by the intemperate use of strong Buddhism, with a more numerous fol- drink, clouding the faculties of its lowing, but none with comparable members and rendering legislation power. The powerful and ruling na- impossible. tions are Christian nations. The ag- gressive force, the elements of con- Afrlca.-As an instance how entirely quest and molding influence-wealth, the German authorities in East Africa learning, enterprise, progress-are all are attempting to make the mission- in Christian hands. It is a significant aries subserve to their colonizing pur- fact that the political power of poses, not only are German terri- Christendom dominates almost en- tories to be made the preserves of tire paganism, whilst one-third of Protestant missionaries from Ger- paganism is under the absolute sway many to the exclusion of other na- of Christian rulers. All the forces tionalities, but arrangements have of modern thought are Christian. been made with the Pope to establish The eyes of heathenism are turned an ApostolicPrefecturein EastAfrica to the centers of Christendom. The to be occupied by German priests heathen world, dissatisfied with its alone. The French missionaries of religion and civilization, not less the well-known mission atBagomoyo, than with its poverty and misery, is opposite the island of Zanzibar, have looking toward Christendom for help. been constrained to place themselves They are· waiting for deliverance temporarily under German protec- without knowing what it is they are tion, and to continue in their office waiting for. Heathenism cowers and until German priests are duly quali- shrinks away in conscious weakness fied to take their place and develop before Christian thought and Chris- the German language and German tian institutions. Christian truth sat- influence. This appears to be a death- urates the atmosphere of the globe. The very essence of Christianity is blow to real spiritual missionary that it reconstructs man and makes him anew creature. Itnot only recasts work, as the missionaries will degenhis ideas and practices, it resets his erate into German officials, doing the affections and will. It is a life. It is work of chaplains to the German this fact, more than its external vic- settlers and state educationists, and tories, that gives us the confidence deprived of all free action. The that it will possess and remake the French priests set a bad example of world.-Bishop R. S. Foster. preaching France and Christ, and they have found now that the Ger- Dr. Deems relates that one of God's stewards once said to him: "I sat man Government is ready to play the down a night or two ago and calculated the increase of a dollar at same game with a much stronger compound, interest, and found that hand.-Church Miss. Intelligencer.
Life on the Congo. The Rev. W. Holman Bentley, an English mission- ary, has published a. book entitled .. Life on the Congo." Mr. Bentley has been longer in the Congo region than almost any other missionary, have been recently surprised by calls from the Paranapanema district for .and his book contains much that is the govermnent to send Jesuit mis- sionaries to catechise, corral and bapvaluable on the physIcal character- tize pro forma the Chavantes and Guatos, who were coming into the istics and climate of the country, the frontier plantations by fifties and hundreds. Heretofore it has been home life and superstitions of the the fashion to hunt these" buqres" and shoot them for sport like any natives, the experiences of the mis- other wild game; but a few warm- hearted men tried the other plan, sionaries, and some of the results of that of treating them liko human beings, and the result is that they are their labors. It is not yet ten years begging to be taken care of. These tribes are of a peculiarly timid and since the first missionaries at'rived in peaceable disposition, and only at- tack the white settlers when forced the country, and yet already there are to retaliate. The whole district lying between the Paranapanema and the native Christian churches at Mukim- Tiete is peopled by these tribes.
bungu, Lukunga, Banza, Manteka and Here is the finest chance in history for those of our Christian friends who San Salvador; there being about 1,500 do not believe in missions in papal countries. A million of native Americonverts, whose sincerity is attested can pagans; 20,000 immediately ac- cessible! There is a large class of by the self-denial and consistency of so-called "tame Indians" scattered throughout the empire, whose conditheir lives. There are more than fifty tion is wretched almost beyond de- scription, and who know nothing of missionaries, but the greater part of Christ Ot· his salvation. Thecondi- tion of the wild Indian of these souththem have but recently arrived. ern provinces is simply that of a wild animal, naked and unspeakably Mr. Bentley believes that Bishop filthy. Has he a soul, and have Christian people a duty toward him? Taylor's self-supporting idea is im- The work of the government is a farce, so far as any serious attempt practicable in Africa, and that it to evangelize the Indians is concern- ed. The frontiersman shoots him "could only be entertained by those without compunction, the Jesuit en- slaves him in the most literal sense. ignorant of African life and circum- Who is interested in the poor Indian, and who believes that Christ died for stances. This will be a matter of him ?-Brazilian Missions.
painful experience." He gives the France.-The Huguenot Church in France is just now appealing to following illustration of the risks and American friends. By the terms of the Edict of Nantes which received difficulties of some. men with whom the signature of Henry IV. May 2, 1598, the utmost freedom of worship he was acquainted: granted to the Protestants of Paris was the freedom to assemble outside "A few months ago a faith-healing mission, a party of four men, sent by Mr. Simpson's church in New York, started for the Congo. They held this same notion of selfsupport, and of being able to establish mission work far into the interior with a small sum of money. I saw the leader of the party, gave him the fullest information and more advice than was agreeable. They reached the Congo, and ignoring medicine the leader died in a week or two, the rest were obliged to abandon their principles, and the mail of May brought a message from them that the:y wished they had followed my adVICe. They had come to the end of their means; differences had arisen; without money enough to return home they were hoping to get some employment on the coast and thus to earn sufficient to return. Such a story nt'eds no comment, but certainly ought to be known."-Spirit of Missions.
Brazil.-The fact that there is a round million of wild Indians on the plains and in the selvas of Brazil is practically ignored by the Christian world. We who live in the country the city walls. In the suburb of church throughout all France if Charenton, accordingly, they built a another Protestant sanctuaryj ·how- Christian tern pIe. It had provision e,'er humhle, is built on that ground for 8,000 worshipers. The lj,l'chitect so memorable and sacred and from was the famous Debrosses, designer which the blood of the martyrs cries. of the palace of the Luxembourg. In that church outside the walls India.-As an instance of inquiry worshiped a multitude of the faith- among the educated classes in Inful of whom the France of that day dia, it is stated that in Calcutta a was not worthy. well-known Brahman recently called on Dr. Baumann, who in the course On the 22d of Octoner, 1685, just of conversation asked him whether 202 years ago, the revocation of the he had ever read our Bible. The man Edict of Nantes was registered and on looked at him and then slowly rethe day of the registering the destruc- plied, "I have read the New Testation of the great Protestant church at ment eighty-three times and the Old Charenton was begun! Not one stone Testament twenty-seven." was left upon another. The Huguenots residing there were cruelly per- There are thousands of towns and secuted and dispersed. cities in India and China with a pop- ulation ranging from 5,000 upward, For nearly two hundred years Cha- accessible to Christian life, that never renton has had no public Protestant have hdd a single missionary to tell worship, though the popUlation is them of the way of life. If the Im- 60,000. About ten years ago, how- man family are equally divideo, male ever, Professor Charles Clouet, con- and female, there are 500,000,000 of nected with the Belleville station of women and girls who have never had Mr. McAll's wonderful mission, be- a chance to heal' the name of Jesus. gan mission preaching at Charenton. In unbroken procession, one by one, He has already gathered a church of they would, in passing your door, 286 Huguenot members, poor in this consume thirty successive years. world's goods but rich in faith. These members have been worship- Bombay is a perpetual wonderland. ing in an old workshop, dingy and 'Vhence came the 800,000 inhabismall, and for years have hoped to tants? Last week a Greenlander build a sanctuary. During these called, seeking work. Two days aftel' years, despite their poverty, they I>. man from Australia wrote me askhave paid for a lqt costing $3,600. ing a fayor. A few weeks ago a West They have succeeded in laying by Indian came to attend to repairs on $1,000 toward a building fund. A my house. Last Sunday night I crisis, however, has come. In April preached to a congregation at which next the workshop is to be taken sat, side by side, a Russian from the down for business purposes. There Baltic, and an Armenian from the is no rental available for them, ex- foot of Mount Ararat. Among my pacept at ruinous rates. Therefore, rishiont'rs are an Abyssinian, Turks Professor Ciouet, bringing letters of from the Dardanelles, Greeks from warmest commendation and most tile Adriatic, Sidhee boys from, Zanearnest appeal from such men as zibar. Norwegians and South Afri- Monod, De Pressense, Bersier and cans live, do business and <lie in this McAIl, is now here for the raising of human hive. Is it not a wonderland? $5,000. God is working in this city. I found the Greenlander trusted him, the The churches of our country, with- Abyssinian wept as she talked of him out distinction of denomination, and the Sidhee boy from Zanzibar ought to take up the work and Cl'own needed him. it with speedy success. It would give inspiration to the Huguenot Miss Tucker ( "A. L. O. E.") went to India in her fifty-fourth year, and is now in her eleventh year ofservice under the preaching of Mr. Knowles, there. She has been enabled not only an Englishma.n, and his colleagues, to learn the language but also to visit members of the North India Meth~ habitually in more than one hundred odist Episcopal Conference. Mr. Knowles has been in the mission work zenanas, besides influencing in a very for a number of years. He has been considerable degree various portions led to feel that greater privileges of India by her writings. belong to Christian believers than have been generally realized; that Native Christians. Rev. E. Mac- through faith the gift of the Holy kenzie Cobham of Madras says of Spirit might be received in large the native Christians in India: measure both for one's self and others, and that through this gift God would .. I went one day to our chief conunissioner do his own work of conversion far of police in Madras to ask for the criminal more grandly than we had ever bestatistics of our presidency. First of all lieved. Accordingly, when preachhe told me who were the worst people in ing at the" melas " or great religious Madras. Government divides the population gatherings of the Hindus, he has into three classes-Christians, Mussulmans, been wont to press upon his hearers and Hindus. In Madras, a city of 400,000 the importance of °an "immediate people, which of these three classes is the decision." He declares himself ready best, which the worst? Government says: to baptize immediately, without fur- 'The statistics which we have received say ther test or instruction, any who will this: The Mussulmans are not the best peo- come forward and publicly avow a ple, the Hindus are not the best, the Chris- belief in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. tians are the best people.' Out of every A large number of baptisms have thus 447 Hindus we have a criminal; out of every been made of those who, up to the 700 Mussulmans in the city of Madras we moment of preaching, were thorough have a criminal; but it takes 2,500 Chris- Hindus, in full caste relations. tians to make one. Out of every 100,000 Hindus throughout the 31,000,000 of the Ma- The same course is pursued by the dras Presidency we have 49 criminals; we American United Presbyterians in have 06'2 criminals out of every 100,000 Mo- the Punjab, and thus far with unusual hammedans; but we have only 16 out of success. Whole villages have come every 100,000 Christians. That is the testi- to Christ and called for instant bapmony of governm,mt. The fact is, that if tism, which has been given, with full all the population of the Madras Presidency admittance to the church. The Methwere Christians, we should have 12,000 fewer odists and the Church Missionary criminals every year than we now have. Society prefer, as a rule, not to allow Christianity in South India has won the instantaneous baptism. The advorespectand esteem of the whole community. cates of instantaneous baptism ask, Not long ago one of my evangelists met in "Is not this the' way, after all, in the street a Hindu with a troubled counte- which the bulk of the people of India nance, a man who had a great deal of money are to be brought to Christ-not by with him. He had gone to the town to col- preliminary education, which can lect what seemed a bad debt, oand he haa reach only a few at a time, and may got it. Hehad tied it round his waist. Then draw men away from Christ instead came the trouble to keep the money. He was of toward him" (meaning evidently afraid, since he was in a strange town, that that such may be the effect of instrucitmight be stoleu, and that he might be tion in speculative and metaphysical murdered. He met my evangelist, and saw dogma), but by conversion, with inby his dress that he was a Christian, he stantaneous baptism to seal the act. saw by his face that he was a Christian; for God puts a bit of sunshine beneath a Mr. Lawrence gives a most interbrown skin, you know. He said, 'Sir, I esting account of successful work in should like to stay at your house, if you Bombay, and especially of the only please, to-night.' 'Oh I but,' said the evangelist, 'my dear sir, I am a Christian, you are a Hindu; there are thousands of Hindus here.' 'Yes, it is just because you are a Christian I want to stay with you. I can trust a Christian, but I cannot trust a Hindu.'" Is not one such testimony worth a volume of sneers?
"Instantaneous Baptism." Remark- able conversions have taken place self-supporting native church in the done everything that malice could city, and of the work it is doing. invent to annoy and impoverish the colony. "They seized," said he, .. The working force of this church is or- "our church, our village hall, our ganized into a kind of Christian Endeavor cannery, sa.wmill, store and work- Society. having from fiftEen to twenty men shop. They have taken from us over and women connected with it, who do regular 80,000 feet of lumber that was in unpaid work for Ohrist. His last night in stock at our sawmill, and white men India was spent at a tea-meeting of this have been sent to the old village and society. The hostess was a native lady, a ordered to take arms against our member of the church, who was supporting people if we attempt to bring away and teaching a school of native children in the buildings I have named. The one of the most thickly settled portions of poor people are almost afraid to go Bombay. Her husband is a Christian in for their personal property, and nothgovernment employ, and it seems to be his ing would gratify our enemies more· highest aim to have a little independent than to see the people driven to deschurch near his wife's school, where as a peration and commit some breach of layman he may regnlarly preach the gospel. the peace whereby the law, so called, Altogether I may say I have never found a might be invoked to punish them." church at home more full of the true spirit He also refers to his hope for a grant of the coming kingdorn, more ready to learn of land from the American Governand teach, to prayand labor, to receive from ment, and says that the Governor of God,andgive and do for God, than this com- Alaska has sent to him a commission pany of ninety-six Indian Christians in the of the peace, which makes him an city of Bombay." American citizen.-F. G. Carpenter.
Alaska.-The New Settlement of Madagascar.-Mr. and Mrs. Stowell the Indians in Alaska is to be called Ashwell have safely arrived attheir New Metlakahtla, and from a letter destination in the centre of the island written by Dr. Duncan, October 29, of Madagascar. Mr. Ashwell has I find that it is bravely under way. been sent out to take charge of the Eight hunared .of the Indians have society's printing establishment at crossed in canoes from British Colum- the capital. He is delighted with that bia to this point, and the work of important institution, and thinks the clearing the forest is now going on. greatest credit is due to his predecess- A line of huts nearly a mile long has or, Mr. Parrett, who had the training been built among the big trees upon of the staff of workmen.-Chronicle the shore, and a steam sawwill has London Miss. Society. been erected and is at work. The natives have built a 1l1rge salmon Pamare,Queen ofTahiti and Moorea, cannery, 100 feet long by 34 feet died at seventy years of age. At her wide, and this will be used as a birth not one convert had been made church and school until other build- in the South Sea Islands. At her ings can be provided. The Alaskan death, after years of faithful Chris- Indians are deeply interested in the tian life, more than 300 islands were new colony, and a number of· them wholly evangelized, and the gospel leaven is permeating the entire lump. have visited it. Dr. Duncan has the plans ready for building a guest- The Woman's Missionary organihouse to take care of strangers, and zations in this country and Great he hopes to extend his civiliiing work Britain report 19,286 auxiliaries, 5,193 to the Indians of his new territory. bands, 999 missionaries in their vari- The Sunday services during October ous fields, 2,219 Bible readers and were held in the open air, but at the teachers, 2,305 schools and 59,318 time of writing he expected to have pupils. Their aggregate increase the big building ready November for 1886 was $1,221,649.57, an increase 6, and they are probably in it at on the preceding year of $68,947.96. this time. In his letter he states that the governments of British Columbia and Canada and the ecclesiastical party of the English Chm'ch have
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
III.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D., OF THE "INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY UNION."
The Spiritual Element in Mission Work. ject, that of devout waiting before THE leading article of this "de- God. And yet the" shortcomings" partment" for the March REVIEW, was on the impulse got from well- of Christians when measured each by conducted" simultaneous meetings." It must have been remarked that the his own ideal so faithfully analyzed special aim of those meetings was by the Ven. Archdeacon Richardson not primarily to convey instruction, as "the coming-short" . • • "found but to develop the truly spiritual ele- in the development only in some and ments necessary for the successful the shrinking· of other parts," must prosecution of the work by those at naturally have quickened their spirhome and those afield. The "simul- itual perceptions. Rev. Hadley C. taneous meetings movement," origi- G. Moule thought no sort of missionnated by the Church of England mis- ary meeting was so likely to be made sionary secretaries, has been followed a vehicle of calling out personal servby another phase of the same general ice and calling out from those who effort to restore the devout element could not go personally, just that to missionary work. The committee spirit of prayer and self-sacrifice of the Church Missionary Society in- which would result in personal servvited their friends to join them in a ice of others, as this sort of meeting. " Whole-day Devotional Gathering" Information was not enough, general on Wednesday, January 11, saying appeals were not enough. He shrank thatitseemed tothemthat the present from criticising missionaries, but he was ,. a time when 'the members of knew from themselves their manifold the society are specially called to ap- temptations, by the solitudes of proach the throne of grace in solemn Africa, by the society of India, by supplication, confession, intercession, external success, by working for ten dedication, and praise." The place years without a convert, and by facset for the holding of this meeting ing heathenism. Rev. Canon Hare was Exeter Hall, London, and the knew there were periods of special programme divided the devotional manifestation of God's powel' "in a topics as follows: Morning meeting, way not known at other times." So "Spiritual Shortcomings;" afternoon it had been in the history of their meeting, "Spiritual Possibilities;" own missions-men had toiled and evening meeting, ." Spiritual Deter-· died one after another and their minations." Eminent men were se- wives had died. From 1804 till 1816 cured, three for each session, to pre- there was in Africa not one single sent these topics. The remarkable baptism, and then the fountain was thing about these addresses was that opened. So it was in New Zealand. they were not remarkable at all. They had toiled on without success Tp.ey were just such familiar utter- from 1814 t.ill1825-eleven long years ances as one hears over and often in -without a baptism. So it had been exhortations to holy living and even in Foo Chow. They had gone on in prayer-meeting addresses. This, for eleven years toiling without one we suspect, was deeply intentional. baptism till there was a great discus- A brilliant address might have di- sion whether or not the mission verted attention from the main ob- should not be abandoned, and one young man-he remembered him well as a Scripture reader at Margate who used to come over to him at Rams- General Assembly of Proteetant .Mis- gate to talk about missionary work, sions in Mexico.
and who had gone to Foo-Chow- OUR correspondence from Mexico when everyone said it was to be just now is full and intensely intergiven up had said, "You may give esting. The topic which is most up the mission, but I will remain." prominent is the General Conference That very year baptisms began, and which the several missions carrying a shower was poured forth from on work have held in the city of Mex- God. ico. Pan-denominational conferences are not a novelty on other greater The Rev. C. A. Fox said it was by foreign mission fields, but this was cleansing and purging that all the churches must be fitted for their the first attempt within the Republic great and glorious work. There of Mexico to bring together repre- were indeed open doors everywhere. sentatives of all the Protestant The Bible was open in 300 languages. churches and societies in the country.
The world was open all round as it The societies, missions and agents had navel' been before. The doors who took part in this conference, arwere open everywhere. What was ranged chronologically in the order wanted was the open windows of of the beginning of their work, were: heaven pouring out such a blessing 1. The Baptists (Northern Convenas they could not even measure. tion). who commenced work May, And there must be the fourth bap- 1869, and now operate in six states of tism which they read of in the Epistle the republic. 2. The Protestant Epis- -that they should all be baptized copals, formerly "Church of Jesus" into one body. Christ claims us, said (1869), but adopted by the Protestant Episcopal Church by General Con- Rev. Evan H. Hopkins-claims own- vention, 1886, and are now carrying ership, claims possession, claims con- on work in Central Mexico. 3. The trol. God undertakes for us. Sir Friends, who began in 1871 and con- Arthur Blackwood, speaking of spirit- duct a mission at Tamaulipas. 4. The ual determinations, said it was rather Central Presbyterian, who began in spiritual determination, not of the 1872 and operate in the Federal Disparticular resolution that they might trict and several states. 5. The Presbe inclined to form, but of the atti- byterian mission of Zacatecas (1872), tude of soul in which they were, the working in five states. 6. The Methdetermined attitude rather than the odist Episcopal Church South (1873), individual determinations. The now a conference with six districts in blessed result which they desired fifteen different states. 7. Methodist would depend not on the numbers o[ Episcopal Church (1873), working in the Federal District and seven states, their gatherings, not even on the now organized as an annual confer- scripturalness of the addresses that ence with three districts. 8. The might be given, but on the attitude Methodist Episcopal Church South of soul in which those gatherings left has frontier conference since 1874, them. working in seven frontier states. 9.
These brethren of the English The Southern Presbyterian Church Church have set the example, and it (1874), working in two states. 10. The is worthy of imitation. A whole-day Reformed Presbyterian Mission (1880), missionary prayer-meeting, in which also working in two states. 11. The we pray not so much for missions and Southern Baptist Church (1881), work- missionaries as for the missionary i.ng in four states. 12. The" Ameri- spirit-the consecration and spiritual can Board" (1882) mission in Chihua- uplifting that fits for the work. hua. 13. The same society's mission in J alisco (1872), abandoned 1880 and This subject, we may be allowed to re-establishedin 1882. 14. The Friends say in passing, is one of wide inter- (1886), with work in Central Mexico. est. The standard Romish versions 15. The Cumberland Presbyterian of the Scriptures in Spanish are two mission (1886), operating in Aguas -Scio's and Amat's-both from the Calientes. 16. The "American Board" Vulgate. The Protestant text is (1886), at Sonora. 17. The "Church mainly that of Valera. At present of Jesus," a small independent body, this is the text followed by the Amerso called, still under Bishop Riley, ican and the British Bible Societies and which has refused to be received for· Spanish America, though the' by the Protestant Episcopal Church. American Bible Society has issued por- 18. An independent English mission, tions we believe of other translations. under charge of James Pascor, a con- Valera's style is that of the sixteenth verted miner, who works among the century, and as various attempts Indians of the State of lfexico. De- have been made to modernize it the nominationally, perhaps, he is a sort result is, several, at least seven, differof "Plymouth" brother. This com- ent texts are in print with sufficient pany represented twelve different variation to create great confusion in churches or denominations, carrying their use; while Valera's text itself on work in every state of the Mexican was defective, and its style is, of Republic except Campeche and Chia- course, archaic and mystical. pas. Dr. Patterson of the Methodist The opening service (Jan. 31) was Episcopal Church South presented addressed by Rev. Dr. Green, who the subject of territorial division of preached to about five hundred per- the country between the different sons in the Presbyterian church. The denominations, and after a warm formal opening of the Assembly in discussion a resolution was presented the fine audience room of the Trinity to the effect that in all towns of over Methodist Episcopal church was on 15,000 inhabitants more than one Feb. 1, the representatives sitting by church might establish missions, but delegation, and after an hour of in towns of less population only one prayer was organized by appointing society should enter; and if two or a Spanish and an English secretary. more societies are now opel'ating in Dr. S. P. Craver (Methodist Episco- such towns the field should be a!Janpal) read an essay on the attitude they doned by all except the society which should assume toward the Roman first began work in that place. The Catholic church, and then the ques- entire subject was referred to a comtion of Bible translation was pre- mittee, consisting of one from each sented, Rev. H. P. Hamilton (A. B. S.) denomination present. speaking of the need of revising the Spanish version of the Bible, and also Among the topics treated were of translating the Scriptures into the "Self – Support" and "Gambling." vernacular of the native Mexican peo- During the discussion of "Education ple. Rev. H. B. Pratt of Virginia, an of the Ministry," Rev. P. Rodrigues eminent Spanish scholar, who was of the Protestant Episcopal Church sent specially by the American Bible advocated the establishment of one Society to attend this Assembly, ad- preparatory school for all Mexico. vocated the revision of the Spanish translation, and pressed its impor- The Assembly sent its congratulatance among sixty millions of J?eople tions to the President of the Repubspeaking the Spanish tongue. The lic. Amongtbe distinguished visitors whole subject was referred to a com- to the Assembly were Bishop Harmittee of one from each denomina- grave and Dr. Morton (M. E. Church tion represented. South), Bishop Thos. M. Bowman, Dr. Wm. Butler, founder of M. E. Church missions in India and Mexico, and Dr. J. M. Reid, senior secretary of the foreign missionaries are chilof the M. E. Missionary Society. dren of ministers.
The statistics of the several mis- The Situation and the Outlook in Ohina. siot;!s were carefully prep~red by Rev. John W. Butler of the City of Mexico, BY REV. C. A. STANLEY, TIENTSIN, as follows: Number of centers of CHINA.
operation, lil6; of congregations, 393 ; LOOK at the map of China and take ordained foreign missionaries, 48; in the size of the country. It ex- tends over about 20 degrees of latiassistant foreign missionaries, 44; tude and 24 degrees of longitude. It foreign lady teachers, 43. Total for- contains 2,000,000 square miles of eign workers, 125; ordained native territory and has a coast line from preachers, 88; unordained, 65; na- southwest to northeast of over 2,000 tive teachers, 96; other native help- miles. Its dense population is variers, 49. Total native workers, 300 ; ously estimated at from 250,000,000 total of foreign and native work- to 400,000,000-we will say about ers, 4550. Organized churches, 177; 300,000,000. It is an old nation. It church members, 12,444; probable possesses an extensive literature, one adherents, 30,000; theological schools, book of poetry comprising 900 vol- 10 ; scholars in same, 66; boarding umes. Its culture and civilization schools and orphanages, 15; scholars are hoary with age, and are well in same, 687; of these 109 are sup- worth our study. They are practiported by indigenous resources. Com- cally what they were centuries ago. mon schools, 71; scholars in same, Her laws are spoken of as " copious, 2,187. Total unde1' instruction, 2,516. consistent, free from intricacy, big- :sunday-schools, 199; teachers and otry and fiction," and as little infeofficers, 367; scholars, 4,817. Total rior to the codes of Europe. The membership of Sunday-schools, 5,256. "Ritual of Chau," B. C. 1130, formed Publishing houses, 8; papers issued, the type of construction for the" Six 10; most of these are issued monthly, Boards" of the present government. two semi-monthly and oue weekly. Total pages of religious literature To understand the situation we issued from the beginning, 49,471,295. must look at the past. Note the ex- Number of church buildings, 73; ceptional opportunity the Chinese approximate value of same, $333,400 ; people had throughout centuries to number of parsonages, 39; value of develop their individuality in peculiar same, $93,260; educational buildings, circumstances, in their own way, and 16; value, $147,200; value of press amid the best conditions. (1) They property, $39,500. Total value of were to no perceptible extent affectmission property, $594,260. Of the ed by foreign influence or intervenchapels and churches sixteen were tion. They have been a nation apart, built without aid from home boards, separdte, as few nations have been, and nineteen received only partial and that while time grew hoary. aid, which is encouraging and indi- This will become apparent if we concates a disposition to aim for "self- sider that (a) as a nation China is support." Bro. Butler notes also in isolated geographically. On the his correspondence that the Mexican south and east it is guarded by the church can make sacrifices for Christ's ocean. On the north it is separated cause. She has already added fifty- from the Mongolian plateau by high nine to the-" noble army of,mar- and precipitous ranges of mountains, tyrs." He remarks also that two reinforced by the great wall, which native preachers are sons of former stretches its serpentine length of workers, three foreign missionaries 1,500 miles across its northern borare children of missionaries, and nine der. The western frontier is correspondingly hemmed in by moun- religious system so much as a moral tains, thus making its geographical philosophy, although it contains position unique. But (b) China is many religious elements. Not only isolated by its language. This has no its moral tone but its distinct moral affinity with or similarity to any utterances surpass in my opinion the other of the Oriental tongues. It has teachings of any other non-Christian no alphabet. It is monosylabic. It nation. And although terrible wick- has not grown away from its original edness and corruption prevail the simplicity of structure. The speech moral sense of the nation and the of to-day is essentially the speech of laws are wholly on the side of virtue, three thousand years ago. The char- truth and honesty, and can always acters remain as they were construct- be appealed to with the certainty of ed at the first. The idiom is the same. a response. The teachings of Con- As they thought then so they think fucius have molded and govern the now, and so they speak. Moreover social and family relations, and the (c) the surrounding nations were small principle of filial reverence, exagger- in extent, weak in power and defi- ated by him into the real worship of cient in attainments, and sought the ancestors, has thereby perhaps kept Chinese as guides and instructors. woman from the degree of degrada- Their literature, culture and civiliza- tion which prevails in most other tion were derived from China. Its heathen lands.
sacred books became their sacred Here I would call attention to four books in many cases. Hence there points of politieal significance in the was little fear of invasion. Possessed growth of the country, and which of extensive territory, there was owe their existence, I think, to the equally little occasion for aggressive Confucian teachings.
warfare beyond natural limitations. 1. China has mu.intained demo- It was therefore left free relatively to cratic ideas under a purely despotic develop its own institutions, and es- theory of government. The entire pecially its literature, according to local village and clan administration its own genius and after its own is essentially democratic. Patient un- model. der oppre~sion, this spirit is manifest But these conditions alone could when the people rise in a b6dy against not have developed such a national oppressh'e rulers and exacting offi- life, such a continuity and uniformi~ cials, and assert theiL' rights and se- ty of endurance, language, custom cure them temporarily. In such up- and habit. We must seek other rising's the people are helped by the causes for these wonderful results. teachings of the sage, and conversely They are very largely found (2) in the a beneficent ruler is equally strength- moral and social teachings of the an- ened by an appeal to those precepts.
cient sages and rulers during the in- 2. The rights of the subject have fancy and simplicity of the race, and been respected by giving them the reimpressed by Confucius more than protection of law. It may seem to twenty centuries ago. Confucius' ~s cruel and arbitrary and be badly claimed that he was not an origina- administered, but it is settled and tor. He reverenced the sages of the largely.known among the people.
past. He strove to revive a love for That subjects have certain rights is them and lead the nu.tion back to the acknowledged.
observance of their teachings. In 3. The sovereign is held amenable doing this he dwelt upon seemingly to a higher power for continued swav.
trivial matters of observance. But Any extensive calamity is consider;d .
he knew his people, u.s is evident to be in consequence of misrule or from the influence his teachings ex- , maladministration of law and calls ert to 'day. Confucianism is not a for humiliation, confession and repentance on the part of the emperor " opium war" began. This issued in and his subordinates. We not infre- a treaty which opened the five ports quently see calls to righteousness in of Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo the way of edicts from the throne and and Shanghai to foreign residence. witness the humble presentation of These were occupied as speedily as petitions at the temples by those possible by the missionaries who had highest in authority, including the been waiting long on the borders. emperor. In 1843 active operations were begun within the empire. Later treaties 4. The domination of feudal, hered- opened other ports. In 1858 came itary and priestly classes has been the second war with Great Britain, prevented by making elevation to when the allied forces of England _ and promotion in office depend on lit- and France bombarded the Takoo erary examinations. Here is an old- forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho, protime civil service of merit. Although ceeded to Tientsin and secured the it has been and is abused, yet proba- promise of further concessions. On bly much more than half the officials the departure of the invading force hold their positions regularly. the forts were restored and strength- ened, the promises were disregarded Two facts of a religious nature, and little came of it all until the fall which though negative have yet ex- of 1860 when the allies again proceederted an unquestioned influence in ed north, marched on Peking, dethe formation of the national charac- stroyed the" Summer Palace," and ter, should be mentioned in passing. secured the opening of other coast 1. So far as I can learn, human beings and river ports. Since then the have never been offered in sacrifice whole country has been practically for sin. 2. Vice and sensuality have open to travel with a passport, and never been deified. The way of the we can go anywhere at little risk, if sinner has not been made easier by careful, preaching and distributing causmg it to pass through a temple Christian books. Residence is grantand giving it the sanction of religion. ed by treaty only at the "treaty The natural result of all this was ports," but missionaries have generpride, conceit,. arrogance, in view of ally been able to secure residence at China's own attainments in compari- interior places by rental or purchase. son with the surrounding countries, Honan is the only province we have to whom "The Middle Kingdom" been unable to enter for residence. had given much while it had receiv- ed little in return. They and all Viewing the work by decades the " outside" peoples became despised growth has been as follows: In 1853 in the eyes of Chinese. Such in brief there were 350 enrolled church mem- '»as the people and such the situation bers. In 1863 there were 2,000. In when the gospel was first borne to 1873 there were 8,000. In 1883 there them. were 22,000. And now there are not less than 30,000 Christians scattered The first missionary, Rev. Robert among the towns and villages of the Morrison, reached Canton in 1807. eighteen provinces; for all that I He could only study the language have said refers to these alone and and do preliminary work. There was not to the dependencies. Not less no opportunity to reach the people. than 14,000. children are taught in the The missionaries sent out had to la- different mission schools. There are bor entirely among the Chinese of eighteen hospitals in which 150,000 the "Straits Settlements." Morri- patients receive treatment annually. son died in 1834. The outlook then was "nearly as dark as when he Look at the work in a smaller field landed." Only three Christians could be found in Canton in 1835. In 1841 and for a fewer number of years- the troubles which resulted in the the North China field. Rev. H. Blodget reached Tientsin on Nov. 8, 1860, nifica.nt utterance. Further, censors going north in one of the transport have memorialized the throne, recomships of the allied fleet. His mission, mending that western studies be the A. B. C. F. M., now occupies six placed on the list with their own stations and is opening another. classics for the examination of those Five, or, including Shansi, seven seeking degrees and promotion. This other societies, have since entered seems to be receiving favorable con- this northern field. There are now sideration. enrolled over 30,000 Christians in less than twenty-seven years of labor. It Such, briefly and very imperfectly, is estimated by careful observers that is the situation to-day. The whole in' addition to the more than 30,000 country is open and full of opportuni- Christians in the empire there are ties to do effectiYe work for the Mas- not less than 50,000 to 70,000 who ter. Not that there are no difficulhave lost all faith in other systems ties, no opposition, no hindrances and of religion, if indeed they have not occasional local and temporary inter- abandoned them. But this is not all. ference and stoppage of the work, as The prejudice of exclusiveness, pride, everywhere, but these do not alter bigotry, contempt for all outside of the great fact. The outlook is indi- China, and conceit of themselves, cated in the array of facts above given have gradually given way and sus- -churches, hospitals, schools, 30,000 picion has been overcome as the Christians and double that number years have passed. Steam has been of "adherents" scattered throughout introduced on the water and on the the land; prejudice and suspicion land, and its power is felt deep down largely disarmed; hundreds seeking in the mine. The telegraph and the western knowledge and science; the telephone arethere. Schoolsfor teach- government not hostile. Surely there ing the knowledge of western lands is no cause for anything but encour- and the English language and fitting agement. Great enlargement seems young men for official positions have not far distant. been established by the government. There is an increasing demand for Death of Rev. George Bowen.- western knowledge and science. It is becoming apparent to all that the The cable has brought the news of work of missions must be enlarged so the death of Rev. George Bowen at as to include a complete education in Bombay Feb. 5, 1888. Some time such western knowledge as is adapt- last fall he met with an accident in ed to the needs of a rapidly develop- alighting from a tramcar. We do ing country. The demand for this not know any of the particulars of knowledge is increasing, and if facil- his death. He was born in the ities for acquiring it are not furnished United States in 1816. He went to by the church which are thoroughly India as a missionary of the Ameri- Christian it will flow in skeptical can Board of Foreign Missions Jan- channels, and much of our work be uary, 1848. The following year he lost or have to be done over again. resigned his salary, but his relation Then, too, there is the edict issued to the society continued until 1855. from the throne early in the year and For seventeen years following he. ordered to be published all over the was not connected with any mission- empire. It speaks of the missiona- ary society. In 1872 he joined the ries as "guests," and directs that Methodist Episcopal Church in Bom- they shall not be interfered with in bay, and in 1873 the missionary . their labors since they have come to staff of that church. From 1854 to teach morals. However little it may the time of his death he was editor accomplish at once, it is a very sig- of The Bombay Guardian, one of the most vigorous and best-balanced Christian weeklies of the foreign mission field. Among the produc- manners. He subsequently abantions of his pen are a "Life of Mo- doned this course, being convinced hammed," "Discussions by the Sea- that it did not im,rease his influence side," "Abiding 1'Iliracles of Proph- or usefulness among the natives. ecy," "Friendly Words to Roman- Yet there is something thrilling in ists," "The Religion that Man the example and the honest experi- Needs," "Did Christ Rise Again?" ment made by a cultured Christian "Some Friendly, Words," "Friendly gentleman who had traveled in Words to Educated Natives," "Paul Europe and knew French, German, the Christian's Pattern," "Is Infant Spanish, Italian and other European Baptism Unwarranted?" But those languages, besides some Oriental by which he is most known and tongues, as Hindustani and Marathi. through which many thousands He was later secretary of the Religlearned to love him though they ious Tract Society, residing at their never otherwise knew him are" Daily depot and managing their affairs Meditations," "The Amens of without fee in addition to all other of Christ," and" Love Revealed." his duties. He was a cheerful, self- sacrificing, devoted missionary and a The preface to "Daily Meditations," loving and lovable friend. " There written by the Rev. Mr. Hanna, gives was a man sent from God, and his a brief sketch of the author of the vol- name was"-George Bowen. ume. In early life he became quite a skeptic concerning the Scriptures The London Oommittee's Appeal. from reading a chapter in Gibbon's history. For eleven dreary years he The Oommittee of Oonference, to the FJuropean, wandered in the darkness of infidelity. American, and Native M'1,8sionaries of all A Bible bequeathed to him with a P"oleslant Ohurches lalxffing for the Salvadying request that he would read it tion of the Heathen in all parts qf the HalJ. was faithfully perused, but he never itable World. doubted for a moment that his views concerning it were correct. He was BELOVED BRETHREN: We, your fellow-laboraccustomed to get books from a pub- ers aud .. companions in the kingdom aud palic library, and on one occasion asked tience of Jesus Christ," salute you heartily iu for a volume and when nearly two the words of the apostolic beuediction, " Grace miles away to his surprise he found and peace be multiplied unto you, through the he had" Paley's Evidences" instead knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." of the book he had called for. He could not go back, but he would not We greatly rejoice with you in the blessings read the book. Before putting it which have accompanied your labors and those away he glanced at the first sentence; of your predecessors dnring the past hundred he read one page, another and an- years of modern missiouary effort, whereby other, and was pleased with the about three millions ,from amoug the heathen style. Halfway through the vol- are at this honr fouud gathered into the fellowume he offered the prayer, "Help ship of the church below, while at the same thou my unbelief." When he reached time large tribes of our fellow-men, who were the last sentence his dOlJbts were all sunk in the grossest barbarism and snperstition, gone. have been socially elevated, and have derived manifold secondary benefits from the preaching As a missionary Mr. Bowen was of the gospel of.Christ. true to his convictions wherever they might lead. He made a fair experi- We rejoice also over the many millions more ment of increasing his influence by who have passed within the veil, after testifying becoming self-supporting. He earned by their consistent lives and peacefnl deaths to $15 a month, and for many years the regenerating and consoling influences of the lived in the native bazaar, adapting grace of God-many of them having been faithnative dress, we believe, and food and ful witnesses of Jesus Christ, not only by taking joyfully the spoiling of their goods, but by en- dnring manifold tribulations in the flesh, and suffering even unto death for His Name's sake.
But while we are unceasingly grateful to God for the great things accomplished in the past by the inadequate means employed, we lament over the feebleness of the efforts put forth by the churches of Christ, and we mourn over the great and increasing mass of heathenism which still
MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
confronts the church in this nineteenth century of one mind; doing nothing through faction or of the Christian era. It is one great object of through vain glory, bnt in lowliness of mind, the Conference to be assembled in June to look each counting other better than himself." this appalling fact fully in the face, and byapplying the lessons taught by the past to the con- Pray that, under God, the Conference may be ditions of the present, to awaken the church of the means ofintroducing a new era in missionary Christ, by every possible effort, to a due sense of enterprise. That it may hasten the day when the obligation under which she lies to the perish- " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the ing heathen and to her Divine Head and Lord. Lord," and when "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." Our great object in now addressing you is to ask you to unite with your brethren of other de- We do not fix hours nor prescribe snbjects nominations, if such there be in your neighbor~ for prayer. The one special gift which includes hood, or in solitary stations with your converts, ail " good things" is the gift of the Holy Spirit, in earnest and united prayer for a Pentecostal whose presence we seek in all the plenitude of blessing on the Conference, on Sunday, the third his grace and power. of June, to Tuesday, the 19th of the same, >eing the week before and the ten days during which Let us, dear brethren, encourage one another the Conference will be in session. in the thought that unnumbered brethren throughout the whole world are uniting in the Pray that the presence of God, the Father, same prayer. We have good reason to hope Son, and Spirit, may be in our assemblies, and that this will be the most universal cry that has that gracious manifestations of his power may ever gone up from this sinful world into the ear be displayed in the midst of his people gathered of" the Lord of Sabaoth." Through the promfrom all parts of Christian and heathen lands. ised help of the missiouary societies this re- That the spirit of union and peace and love may quest will he sent ont into all lauds, wherever reign in and among us, and that all our deliber- the feet of the messengers of the gospel of peace ations may be "in the Spirit." Pray for the have trod, and will be read in the languages of single eye and the undivided heart, for strong almost all the natious upon earth. faith and ardent zeal, and for that "wisdom from above," which is "first pure, then peace- But most of all would we strengthen our muable, gentle and easy to be intreated, without tual faith, by the promise of the Father, as partiality, and withont hypocrisy;" and that learned from the lips of his only begotten Son : in all our assemblies we may "be of the same " If ye then being evil know how to give good mind, having the same love, being of one accord, gifts unto your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."
V.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
MISSIONS IN INDIA. missionaries either to Africa or St. BARTHOLOMEW ZIEGENBALG, found- Thomas. After some hesitation he er of missions in India, was born on yielded, but on reaching Copenha- St. John's day, 1683, a little over two gen he found that Tranquebar was hundred years ago. His mother their destination. The vessel which called her four children to her dying bore them bore also secret instrucbed and: committed to them a" treas- tions to the governor of Tranquebar ure" she had laid by for them: "Seek to oppose and crush the mission. it in the Bible, my children; there Through the long voyage of nearly you will find it; there is not a page eight months the ship became a uni- I have not wet with my own tears." versity of Christ, where they were Ziegenbalg learned of Fmncke at learning daily new lessons in holy Halle, that men who heard were living, both from nature and the bound to spread the good news, and Divine Word. that he ought at once to begin. So when a tutor at Merseburg he or- Ziegenbalg's heart was greatly ganized prayer-meetings,Bible classes stirred at the sight of the heathen and Bible readings, and became the whom he saw on the Coromandel center of godly influence. coast, as he entered the harbor of While preaching neal' Berlin he Tl'anquebar July 9, 1706. But the received a letter proposing, in behalf captain of the ship gave them no aid of the king, that he and Pliitschau, even in landing, and when they did .his old fellow-student, should go as land the governor did eveL"ything he dared to drive them back. The first Protestant missionaries that ever Obstacles such as confronted Zieg- stood on the soil of India found them- enbalg have been met by few even of selves literally without a place to lay the most heroic missionaries. The their head-destitute, abandoned, and governor was the implacable foe of alone. We talk of "India for the mission, faithful to his secret Christ;" but there had to be some- instructions. Meanwhile there was thing deeper than a sentimental en- a fire in the rear, for at home thusiasm in those two pioneers who both friends and funds were scarce.
stood under the midnight skies, Liitkens, the chaplain, died, with his homeless, strangers to the language last words breathing a blessing on the and peoples of India, facing the most mission. Ziegenbalg went home, told subtle and seductive of false faiths, his story to the king, sped through the most gross and sensual forms of Germany and Holland like a flaming idolatrous worship, and that mon- e'angelist, and returned to India to strous caste, which is the most sa- find the hostile governor displaced by tanic system of organized opposition a friend of missions. Two years more to human brotherhood and Christian of hard labor, and on New Year's progress ever yet devised-a radical day, 1719, his voice was heard for the denial of all fellowship based either last time, and Feb. 23, 1719, not Jet in nature or in grace, deifying hu- 36 years old, he died of cholera. His man selfishness and sanctioning its last exclamation was, "How is it so own exclusiveness by penalties more bright! It is as though the midday terrible than death. sun shone full in my face!" The Zeigenbalg and Pliitschau found eternal glory had already broken up- temporary shelter through the mere on his dim dying vision and dazzled pity of one of the governor's suite, him. While they sang "Jesus, meine and then in a house upon the wall Zuversicht," he fell asleep.
close by the heathen quarters. Six To that man, so brave, wise, calm, days after they landed Ziegenbalg is resolute, of such commanding pres- studying Tamil, though he has no ence and such winning piety, mis- lexicon, grammar, or even alphabet sions in India owe their true begin- to guide him; and yet within eight ning. He planted there that germ months he is talking Tamil intelligi- whose growth is yet to cover with bly! Three ,years Jater it was as a healing shadow and fruitful bour-hs vernacular to him, and then he pre- all India. Yet when he died all the pared a grammar and lexicons con- visible or tangible results were a few taining40,OOO words. He had scarcely hundred converts and the translation been two years in India when his of the Bible into Tamil.
translation of the New Testament Count Zinzendorf is another link in was begun, and within three years it the chain of Indian Missions. He was finished and he began the Old came under the contagious influence Testament, himself not yet twenty- of Francke, at Halle, when a lad of seven years old! ten years, and at fifteen founded the From Madras to Cape Comorin "Order of the Seed Corn," whose this young German had already be- pledge and symbol was the conver- come a mighty power. In Tamil he sion of the heathen. Ziegenbalg on proclaimed the wonderful works of his short stay at home had been the God, and in the broken Portuguese guest of Zinzendorf, and the count of the half-breeds all along the coast, had felt the fire within him burn which was the relic and remnant of with new fervor as he came into con- ancient Portuguese possession, he ad- tact with the ardent glow of Ziegen- dressed the slaves at Tranquebar and balg's evangelism. The Moravian gathered five of them into the church exiles who founded on Zinzendorf's a!) first-fruits of India unto Christ. estate the site of Hernnhut became the great missionary leaders of the tions and conflicting armies. On he Lord's host, and still continue in the went, until he died at 72, in Tanjore, van of missions. A procession of preaching, gathering converts, or- missionaries more than 2,000 strong ganizing churches, opening new sta- moved out from that little communi- tions, training native workers, shel- , ty that never numbered over 70,000 tering orphans, doing every good in all. The Moravians kept the mis- work that can accompany good sion fires burning on the continent, words. When Hyder Ali invaded the and many a heroic life got its inspira- Carnatic and Tanjore was in a state tion unconsciously from those vestal of starvation, Schwartz induced the altars. farmers to bring in their cattle, pledg- Almost while Ziegenbalg was dy- ing his word alone for their payment.
ing, Christian Frederick Schwartz After his death the Rajah of Tanjore was preparing to take up the apos- and the East India Company each tolic succession. He was born Oct. erected to his memory costly monu- '
8,1726, dedicated from birth by his ments.
dying mother to God's service in the Henry Martyn is the next promi- ministry. He likewise got his train- nent link in this fascinating history.
ing in Francke's Orphan House at From his birth in Truro in 1781 to his Halle. There he met Schulze, come death in Tokat in 1&12, only thirty- home from India to superintend one years old, his story bas a thril- the printing of the Tamil Bible. ling missionary interest. When a Schwartz caught fire from this bless- young man of 21 his father's death ed contact and told his father that he turned his thoughts to a holy life and must go to India, and, in that very the mission field, and in 1805 he sailed bedchamber where the wife and for India. For years he traveled in motiler died, the husband and father India and Persia and preached the learned to give up his boy to the gospel, studying the native tong-ues heathen and to God, with'such success that he was chosen Schwartz studied Tamil with the to superintend the translations of the missionary and was able to preach in New Testament into Hindostanee it within four months after his land- and Persian, and had already made ing in 1750. Schwartz is probably no little progress in an Arabic ver- the most prominent figure in the In- sion when his frail health gave way, dian Missions of the eighteenth centu- and on his way home he was laid to ry. He went often on foot, tirelessly rest in Asia Minor. His career was journeying and tirelessly preaching. short, but it cannot be measured by Himself a living epistle, he made years. Close by the river at Seram- preaching almost unnecessary by the pore, a small deserted idol fane was eloquence of his life. He won uni- fitted up as a bungalow, and there on versal confidence. The Rajah of the open platform overhanging the Tanjore made him on his deathbed river Martyn would kneel in prayer guardian of his adopted child. Hy- for India's millions. That spot has der Ali, the stern warrior, the ruthless become to Christians one of the chieftain, the scourge of the Car- world's Meccas. The ceaseless labors natic, said to the Madras rulers, of that devoted man, who at Dina- "Send me Schwartz, the missionary; pore and Cawnpore welcomed the him only can I trust." The humble most abject vagrants to his garden man who walked with God while he and bore ridicule and abuse without talked of God, and whose talk was so a murmur of impatience or even a subduing because his walk was so sign of annoyance, that he might sublime, was at once the minister of read to them the sweet words of God, and the minister plenipotentiary God, have never been lost to India to lllediate betweell contending fac- or to the church at home. Thebrokell ;flask has only let out a pervasive dorf, Schwartz and Carey, Martyn perfume. Dr. Stevenson has well and Duff•. are destined by God to tri- said that in the annals of Christian- umph? ity there is "nothing grander than the picture of Henry Martyn, with MISSIONARY TEXTS AND THEMES. the Bible in hand, alone and un- supported in a strange country, chal- Preach, i.e., proclaim the word. lenging the whole strength of Mo- The gospel should be preached and hammedanism to a conflict." The in as nearly as may be the words of memoir of that sublimely conse- Scripture. crated life has perhaps stirred to a , like devotion more disciples than his 1. Because these are God's words. life itself would ever have reached. 2. Because his message is the only thing we are commanded and com- At but one more link in this chain missioned to preach. have we space to tarry. William 3. Because it is the only thing that Carey was the first great gift which it is profitable to preach. England gave to missions in India 01' 4. Because the Spirit is most likely indeed to the world in these modern to use his own inspired utterances as times. The full century has not to the vehicle of his power. passed since, in 1792, Carey organized 5. Because as a fact conversion and that first Baptist missionary band !)anctification and all comfort are which may fairly be called the pio- traceable to the very words of Scrip- neer of all the existing societies. ture. When William Carey died, in 1834, 6. Because not our words but his India had become the established word has the promise of not return- field of missions. The broad founda- ing to him void. Is. .lv. tions were laid on ¥i hich such men as Rev. Dr. H. B. Smith's outline ar- Alexander Duff were to rear a struc- gument: ture so grand that no civil revolution 1. The spirit of missions is th~ or political convulsion can ever over- spirit of Christ, etc. Christianity is throw it. That pious shoemaker of a doctrine, teaching an incarnate Paulerspury became the uuremitting God, an atonement, a new birth, and student of the languages of the Ori- a new life; teaching and exemplify- ent, and with his colaborers, Marsh- ing a love that is universal and im- man and Ward, he was the means of partial and manifested mainly in un- making forty different dialects of selfish effort for souls. Asia channels for conveying the .2. Christianity is solitary in this: news of salvation to as many differ- teaching one blood for one race of ent tribes. At Serampore he estab- man, and one blood of redemption lished that large successful mission- applied to one blood of creation and arypost of his denomination, taught, one curse of sin. in the college at Fort William, the 3. The Experimental argument: Bengalee, Sanskrit and Mahratta Christian Europe and America, as tongues, and made valuable contri- fruits of missions, vindicate the meth- butions to the natural sciences. Three ods of missions. He who would not • years before Carey's death Alexander send the gospel to heathen peoples Duff met him at Serampore and the must first ask himself, What would aged apostle of India gave his bless- I have been but for missions? The ing to the young Highlander who purpose of missionary enterprise is to was to thrill not only India but the do for present heathen what has been world with the electric energy of his done for the present Christian nations utterance. Who can doubt that J:Uis- when they were in the same condi- sions which present such a chain of tion. workmen as Ziegenbalg and Zinzen- Itis admitted that sometimes there is slow progress. All great und per- manent results are slowly wrought. Espeeially, changes ~f intellectual, receive the grace of God's Son the sociaJ and moral life are necessarily chains are struck off and the prison slow. Moreover, in many cases it is thrown wide open.-Dr. Edward must be borne in mind that the work Judson.
is preparatory, like the breakwater on A Beautiful Legend.-In the hill the coast, or foundations of Eddystone country of India is a touching myth lighthouse. of a queen, greatly beloved by her 4. Historical argument: Where the people, whose life was devoted to spirit of missions is found, there is their interests. – In olden times the the Spirit of Christ-i. e., Holy Ghost. people of Chambra suffered grievous And wherever a church or a disciple distl'ess for want of water. The is indifferent to missions, there the queen, taking the sorrow of her sub- flame of a renewed life is with great· jects greatly to heart, consulted the est difficulty maintained at all, if in- will of the gods how the constant deed any really exists. curse of drought could be removed.
SUGGESTIVE PARAGRAPHS. The reply, "If the ruler of Chambra lVho his Own Self Bare our Sins.- – die for her people, abundant water Some time ago a war raged in India shall begiven." "Here am I," respond.
between the English and a native ~d the generous queen. Bravely monarch named Tippoo Sahib. On standing on the lofty position des- one occasion several English officers ignated by the gods, the devoted were taken prisoners, among them woman was buried alive for the sake one named Baird. One day a native of her people. Thereupon a fountain officer brought in fetters to be put on of pure sweet water flowed from the each of the prisoners, the wounded spot, descending to quench the thirst not excepted. Baird had been se- of the people of Chambra, visiting verely wounded and was suffering each hut and bearing to each its life- from pain and weakness. A gray- giving blessing. We by whose haired officer said to the native offi- homes the pure waters of salvation cial: are constantly flowing need hardly " You do not think of putting be reminded that they gush from a chains upon that wounded young grave, and mingling with the music man?" of those sparkling waters comes the "There are just as many pairs of echo of worqs spoken, commission fetters as there are captives," was the given, "Whoever shall do and teach answer, "and every pair must be my commandments Rhall be called worn." great in the kingdom of heaven."
"Then," said the officer, "put two Stimulated by this promise, mission pairs on me. I will wear his as well work has ever been carried on.
as my own." There is an honor in contributing The end of the story is that Baird in however small a measure to the lived to regain his freedom, lived to spread of God's church in the world.
take that very city, but the generous When the walls of the House of friend died in prison. He wore two Commons were about to be orna- pairs of fetters. But what if he had mented with cartoons, Haydon, the worn the fetters for all in the prison? eccentric historical painter, besought What if, instead of being a captive Parliament that he might be one of himself, he had been free and great the favored artists, or if this might and had quitted a glorious palace to not be, that he might paint one live in their loathsome dungeon, to figure, or put on a few touches, or at wear their chains, to bear their the least mix the colors or hold the stripes, to suffer and die in their brushes for those who were per· stead that they might go fl'ee! Such mitted to do the work.
a thing has been don~. For all who
PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN
V.-PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS- MONTHLY BULLETIN.
Africa. – Rev. George GreenfeIl, the world, take back with them to lately returned from the -Congo, re- their homes slaves of both flexes.
ports "Christianity spreading even This is the case at Constantinople, where missionaries had not labored. for though the traffic is prohibited by As he approached one town in which law, evasions are winked at. The no Baptist missionary had ever 1<1- trade is wholly in the hands of Mos- bored, he saw a band of native evan- lems, and the open market which gelists coming out of it to preach the makes the trade profitable is under gospel to their native brethren, and the shadow of the shrine of their that town, a few years years ago, was prophet.
sunk in heathenism." Ceylon.-The Church Missionary -The last Congo mail brought Society's baptized native Christians good news from all along the line in Ceylon are 6,378 (2,861 Singhalese from Lukolela, Nshasa, Stanley Pool, and 3,518 Tamils). The adult bap- Ngombe, SanSah'adorand Underhill. tisms last year were 126 Sin~ha "The brethren report good health lese and 81 Tamils, and there are 273 and much and manifest blessing." adult candidates for baptism, 142 -The Congo Free State embraces Singhalese and 31 Tamils. '['here over 1,000,000 square miles of the terri- are 6 Singhalese and 6 Tamil natory tributary to the Congo, having, tive clergy, 156 Singhalese and 187 it is supposed, a population of about Tamil native lay teachers, and 9,735 ~7,000,000. It thus occupies about scholars in the 192 schools, 5,841 be– one-tenth of Africa, and includes ing Singhalese and 3,952 Tamils.
about one-seventh of her estimated China.-Rev. J. L. Stewart of the population. Of course the sover- Southern Presbyterian Mission in eignty of King Leopold exists only China, in a review of the progress of ad extra, being felt as little in- the gospel in China, gives these spe- teriorily as the sovereignty of the cial points of encouragement; State of Nebraska ovm,·the swarming .. Books for the study of the English lan- towns of her prairie-dogs. But it is guage and on the Western science, written a great fact even thus, doubtless, to in Chinese, meet with an extensive and inbe the parent of greater facts. creasing demand. A dozen daily newspa- pers, all founded within fifteen years, are -The slave trade between Africa obtaining a wide circulation throughout and Arabia is far from being sup- the empire. These are spontaneous appeals pressed. According to L'A/rique on the part of the Leathen Chinese for more there is, on the borders of the Red light. Add to this the voluntary attendance Sea, a regular price current for slaves. on the hundreds of schools and chapels, Girls from 10 to 15 years of age bring wherever opened in the empire; their re- spectful attention to the preaching of the from $80 to $100; boys from 7 to 11, Word, to the quiet talks by the roadSide, in their places of business, and in their homes, $60 to $80; young women from 16 to and it sums up a mass of evidence that the 22, $50 to $79; young men from 15 • Chinese mind is in an attitude of attention to 26, $30 to $50. The slave caravans and inquiry. n rarely have men who are above 25 -The City of Naiyen, north of years of age. It has been a question Ningpo, SUbmerged about 1,000 years as to what became of these slaves ago, has recently been exposed to view after they entered Arabia. It is now and a nurnber of vases, plates and affirmed that Moslem pilgrims to other utensils of the Sough dynasty Mecca, coming from various parts of have been recovered by the natives. .. '" "' India. Of the 50.000,000 of that faith in India, 24,000,000 are in Bengal. el° From the most careful census reports ci … ever taken in ,India it appears that the followers of Islam increased dur- 0 g8§g~§§888g88888§g~ 0:", ing the nine years 1872-1882,2,145,472 or at the rate of 10.96 per cent., the ~~~~~&~§~~~~&~&~~~~ 'C ~otz5 whole population increasing at the :0 qq,qqrSqqqqqqqqqpSoo rate of 10.89 per cent. The actual gains of Mohammedans were 15,000; 1il>~o oj ca this shows how much faster they in- creased than the whole population. :010: ~ Q A careful thinker would not concede 0-0 all of this number to proselytism. A t-O~O~OCl1':lO'OlO':>t-CO:::>lQ~l.~eol.C i0ii small increase in the health and lon- ~1"""'1~~1'""4W<:,!….-I (N T"'<1"""1 gevity of the Mohammedans would IIl<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ wipe out aLI the gains. But we would ::::::::::: .:. think that a church of twenty mill- "<X'"l0_ ions of members that only gathered : : : : : : : : : ; : ; : : z 1,666 members a year more than an- >" ;0:: other body, that made no converts and could make none, was not a model 0: of progress. The case grows darker 0 for Mohammedan success when we 0 remember that few have left Islam in Bengal, although several are far from ''""0: being as orthodox as of yore.-Indian oJ ::::::::::: : : ;.~ Witness. z ~J) :!l~ ~ ~ 3 d ~ d ~( : :….: ~ : :~ ~;:; ~.~ :. : 0 Japan.-Eighty-five thousand Eng- 0 ==bn~.§.~:..~cg '~~? Ec!·.~~..;~~~~~'£f-=:9:';!0]'r~C,i ='~f'9C;1l §c~6.-~!§ =co'!~)~~ 6gC ~Z0 lish and 119,000 American books were 0: imported last year, an increase of nearly 100 per cent. A lamentably Po. large fraction of this importation consists of skeptical anQ agnostic ~~o~wo~~~ww~w~~~~~~ writings.
India. – There are 42,000,000 chil- -The missionary fields in Japan demand more men and more money. dren in India who ought, according to There are now 200 churches with 15,000 members and 100 ordained their age, to be at school. Only about Japanese ministers. The Congrega- tional churches number 4,000 mem- 3,50G,000 of these are receiving any bers.
education, and less th[1n 200,000 of – The Japan newspapers report the ceremonies at the opening, Dec. this comparatively small number 15, of the last link of the railway connecting Sendai with Tokio. The are learning the truths of Christbn- line was opened from Tokio to Ko- riyama, 137 miles, in July last. The ity. Many adults (even in the Tamil- section just completed is 87 miles in length, and now Sendai, the most speaking districts, where mission northern station of our mIssion, is in quick and easy communieation with work has prevailed most extensively) the capital city of the empire.
who learned to read at school are for- getting the art because of the scarci- ty of books.
-The Church Missionary Society send out eight clergymen on a " win- ter inission" for India two by two, visiting all the stations of the society in India and Ceylon, stirring up the native churches to the work of evan- gelization, and preparations have been made on an extensive scale for wel- coming them and furthering their work. General Haigstates that "there are already Christians enough in In- dia, were they baptized with fire and endued with power ·from on high, to carry the gospel to every town a~tl village and hamlet from Comorin to Peshawur. In Southern India the native church ought to be able even now to take in hand and complete the work of evangelization with little European assistance."
-General Haig furnishes statistics concernmg Mohammedan progress in Italy.-Rev. T.D. Malan of Geneva tion was made for the poor heathen writes: The Genevan Italian Mission, founded in ] 882, has yielded good re- and sent to the treasurer of the sults from among the many thousands of Roman Catholicswho fiockinto that Auxiliary Bible SOCiety of Halifax, town from all parts of Italy and Italian Switzerland. The mission was and forwarded by that society. constituted into a church in 1884, and granted the use of a chapel by the Amount, £8 13s." This, says Dr. Bill, Genevan Presbytery, and much good has been attained, notwithstanding may be regarded as the commencemanifold difficulties. Owing to the fluctuating state of part of the Italian- ment of the foreign mission enterprise speaking population in Calvin's city, from 500 to 600 new hearers are every of the Baptists of the maritime provyear brought into contact with the gospel from the Roman Catholic inces.- W. J. Stewart. / Church. Thus far 114 of them have been received as members of the Russia.-In Russia there are 32,000 church. An important branch of the work is the Italian Young: Men's schools, having an average of 36 Christian Association, Circolo Diodati, so called in honor of the trans- scholars each. This is one school lator of the Italian Bible, Giovanni Diodati, who helonged to the Geneva for 2,300 inhabitants, at a cost of less Italian Church of the Reformation. than one cent a head of the popu- Korea. – The first Protestant church has been organized in connec- lation. In Austria, with 37,000,000 tion with the American Protestant llllSSlOn. Fifteen members are en- inhabitants, there are 29,000 schools rolled, and others are calling for baptism. Though contrary to Korean and 3,000,000 scholars. The average law, the government is reported as raising no question. It is but a score number at each school is 104, and the of years since the organization of a Christian church in Japan was not cost per inhabitant 20 cents. In Italy, only contrary to the law, but would have been visited with severe punish- for 28,000,000 inhabitants, there are ment, yet to-day there are more than 15,000 church members in thatempire. 47,000 schools, one school for every Mexico. – A convention of all 600 people, at a cost of 17 cents per Pl'otestant mission workers began in the City of Mexico Jan. 31 ult. Dele- head. In Spain there are 3,000,000 gates from all quarters, bishops from the United States were present. Ser- scholars, 29,000 schools, giving an mons were delivered in the ancient Franciscan convent, now used for average of 56 in each school, and one mission purposes. school for every 600 inhabitants, as Nova Scotia.-The Baptist Association of Nova Scotia met in the year in Italy. The school bill comes to 30 1814 with the church in Chester, N. S. Among the records of the association cents a head. The number of schools I find the following important statement for that year: "A contribu- given for England is 58,000, which is one for every 600 inhabitants, with an average attendance of 52 per school and a cost of 37 cents per head.
The Germans have a school for every 700, giving a total of 60,000 schools with a hundred pupils in each, at 40 cents per inhabitant. France has 71,000 schools, being one for every 500, with 66 in each school.
Turkey. – The Government and Mission Schools. Dr. Barnum, of Harpoot, India, writes to the Miss.
Herald that the Turkish Government, constrained by the remonstrances of the American and other ministers to respect its own laws in regard to mis- sionary schools in its territory, has now" determined to change the laws so that it may defeat the aims of the missionaries in a legal form. Mr.
Straus, the American minister, learn- ing that a new law for schools was under discussion at the Porte, claimed that as a large amount of American capital is invested in educa.tional in-
STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS
stitutions in the Turkish Empire, in the Sultan himself. [Such a document is not easily obtained.] 'fairness the American minister ought .. 2. No Ottoman subject shall be allowed to be consulted in regard to it, in or- to attend such a Ecbool until after he has had a course of religious instruction in one der that these interests might be of his own schools.
properly protected." He was fur- ··3. Foreign schools are to refrain entirely from religious instruction. nished with a copy of the proposed "4. That all foreiirn scboolsalreadyestablaw. It provides: ' lished which do not conform to this and to certain other conditions, and obtain the "1. Tbat no foreigner shall be allowed to Sultan's permission within six months, shall open a scbool without a special firman from be permanently suppressed."
VI.-STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS.
Home and Foreign Missionary Statistics 1841-1885, Amer. Tract Soc. col's ….. 13,148,659 1866-1885, Amer. Bible Soc. col's …… 12,~91,460 of the United States. 1855-1£8.5, Presb. Board of Pub. col's.. 2,879,586 [WE are under additional obligations to Rev. James H, Ross of South Total visits, representing 190 years .• 31,577,433 Norwalk, Conn.,' for these "latest statistics," which he has prepared Average number of visits per year.. 1C6,197 with great care and thoroughness, acknowledging his indebtedness to PRAYER-MEETINGS HELD. 520,C51 Dr. Dorchester.-EDs.] 70,7f8 1840-18E5, by missionarieS Bapt.HM. S. 439,247 The statistics of Home Missions cannot be tab- 1854-1885, by col's of Bapt. B'd of Pub.. ulated satisfactorily. But tbe results attainable 1841-1885, by col's ofAm. Tract Soc …. are not pe!simistic. They indicate advancement. The worst feature of them pertains to the pro Total by agents of three boards …… 1,030,086 rata giving as tested by the estimated wealth of ADDITIONS ON CONFESSION TO H. M. CHUROHES.
tbe Christian portion of the population of the 1826-1E85, A. H. 1I. S. churches.. . . . . . .. 326,862 United States. Mr. Moody has said that the 1870-1885, Presb. H. M. Board chs.. …. 115,804 next characteristic revival within the churches 1832-1885, Am. Bapt. Mis. Soc." …… 97,919 is to be a revival of beneficence. Total additions to churcbes of 3 boards. 540,085 The total number of missionaries and helpers in the care of Americau evangelical home mis- YEARS OF LABOR RENDERED. sionary societies in 1885 was 8,482, and the number of missions or stations served or aided was 1826-1885, by Am. H. M. S. missionaries. 38,811 13,367. In 53 years, by Baptist H. M. S. mission- BELIGiOUS VISI'rS BY MISSIONARIES AND COL~ PORTEURS. aries (incomplete) ………………. . 7,357 1840-1885, Bapt. H. M. S. missionaries. 2,367,151 1870-1885, by Pres. H. M. B. miseionaries, 13,951 1824-1885, Bapt. Pub. Soc. agts. or col's. 890,574 1850-1885, by Pres. Bd. of Pub. .. 1,329 In 45 years, by Baptist Bd. of Pub. mis- sionaries (incoroplete) …………… . 1,029 III 49 years, by Am. 'r. S"c. colporteurs. 5,550 Total by agents of 6 bds. in 296 years. 68,327 RECEIPTS OF HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.
—————–S-OC-I-ET-IE-S.—————– 1881 to 1887. 1820 to 1887. Presbyterian Old School, North, and Presb. New School, North…..•….. $3,666,186 $13,334,850 A. H. 1I. S. (Cong'I) ……………………………………………. . 2.847,210 11,586,891 M. E., Domestic ……………………………………………….. . 2,505,848 11,164,539 Protestant Episcopal, Domestic ………………………………….. . 1,187,904 4,762,136 American Ch. Miss. Soc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . … . …… . 133,158 1,103,945 Reformed (Dutch) Ch…………………………………………… . 217,143 963,642 Am. Bapt. H. M. Soc……………………………………………. . 2,256,6.56 6,556,142 Seamen'S Friend Soc……………………..•…………………….. 378,234 2,020,535 A. 1I. A. (Cong'I) 1816…………………..•………………………. 3,257,567 9.302,665 Wn~~~e~~~:,~~O~i~~~~n::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::: 630,616 1,626,616 494.225 1,598,521 Southern Bapt., Domestic…………….. "……………………….. . 455.399 1,601,256 Y.M. C. A. (1851-1887) …………………………………………. . 7,&'iO,OOO 22,165,000 Disciples………………………………………………………. . 410,500 l,372.70'Z United Presbyterian……………………………………………… . 296,890 Southern Presbyterian……………………..•…………… "……. . 853,352 495,788 1,076,149 Cumberland Presbyterian ……………………………………….. . 184,734 Free-Will Baptist………………………………………………. . 103,900 394,021 373,827 M. E. Church South ……………………………………………. . 1,001,495 4,061,495 Lutberans ………………….••………….•••…………••……… 221,905 747,835 Aggregates.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .• $28,655,258 $96,666,119 Contributions to the Freedmen's Aid Soci- and United Presbyterian churches, and to the eties of the Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian Christian Commi"sion, increase the total for the last six years to $30,486,573, and for the last 67 by the American churches, exclusive of the years to $103,019,308. The contributions of the American McAII auxiliaries, chiefly of ladies, Reformed Presbyterian and German, the Mora- numbers 203 stations, 2,125 sub-stations, 1,273 Vian, and the Protestant, Free Wesleyan and Af- official laborers of all kinds and both sexes, rican M. E. churches are uot included because 115,542 communicants, 2,123 pupils in day and not available. boarding school8.
OOMPARATIVE RECEIPTS. AMERICAN EVANGELICAL MISSIONS IN ASIA.
Yearly average. The lands included are Western Asia (Asiatic 1820-1829.. … ……………. ……. $23,382 Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Asia Minor), India, 1830-1839…………………. …. … 234,271 ,Burmah, Siam, China, Thibet, Korea, and Japan. IB40-1849.. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . 006,235 Tbe totals for aU denominations are 237 prinCipal 1850-1 Bfi9 …. " ……………. ,……. 1308,010 stations, 2,606 sub'stations, 533 ordained foreign 1860-1869 ………………………… 2,101,571 missionaries, 843 foreign lay helpers, 632 native 1870-1800, , ' , ….. , … , ' , … ' , , …….. 2,842,923 ordained helpers, 5,479 natiye lay belpers, 7,487 1881-1887…… , ' ………………. '… 4,000.000 laborers of all kinds, 120,890 communicants, 100,560 pupils in day and boarding schools. Foreign Missionary Statistics. IN AFRICA AND MADAGASCAIt. THE latest foreign missionary statistics of the evangelical churches of the Uuited States are The missions are chiefly along the coast and in indicative of progress. The numbel~ of church the centre of the continent. Tbe total figures members disinterested in foreign missions is a for all denominations n1¥Il ber 55 principal stalessening fraction. The nnmber of disciples is tions, 255 snb·stations, 138 ordained foreign misincreasing who realize the force of Christ's sionaries, 81 foreign lay helpers, 57 native orteachings and commandments, that tbj3 field is dained and 788 native lay helpers, 1,064 laborers the world, that the dnty of the Christian is to of all kinds, 15,426 communicants, and 16,920 pucover the whole of it by prayer, gifts and labor- pils in day and boarding scbools. ers, in person so far as possible, by representation so far as individnals are limited by time and IN POLYNESIA, space. We give the following facts, before tbey are pnblished in complete form in any other inclusive of New Zealand (Seventh Day Ad· pnblication : ventists), Micronesia and Sandwich Islands (A. B. C. F. M,), tbere are 5 principal stations, 33 MISSIONS o.F AMERICAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES sub-stations, 8 foreign ordained missionaries, 13 foreign lay helpers, 11 native ordained mission· IN EUROPE. aries, 35 native lay helpers, 67 laborers of all kinds, 10,852 communicants, and 2,500 pupils in Tbese consist cbiefly of missions among Rom- day and boarding scbools. isb and lapsed rationahstic populations in Austria, Austria- Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, IN NORTH AMERICA, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, Roumania, Scandimivia, Spain, Switzer- inclnsive of Greenland, Labrador, work imong land, and European Turkey. It would seem as the North American Indians (States and Alaska) if the American churches might do more to ayail and the Chinese in Oregon and California, Mexthemselves of the wonderfnl opportunity existing ico, Central America and the West Indies, there in France, even if they were compelled to work are 181 principal stations, 823 sub·stations, 44, Rolely on lines developed hy the McAlI missions. foreign ordained miSSIOnaries, 253 foreign lay Dr. Mutchmol'e of Philadelphia, now making help',,"s, 168 ordained native missionaries, 1,419 the tour of the world to stndy foreign missions, native lay helpers, 2,287 laborers of all kinds, ~ays, "France is in a wonderfully receptive 56,269 communicants, aud 26,214 in day and mood. . . . God has opened new avenues on boarding schools. all sides. It is as if tbe windows and doors of all French dwellings were snddenly thrown .IN SOUTH AMERICA, open to the light." Mrs. DoddS, the widow of the Rev. Theophilus Dodds and a successor of inclusive of Brazil, the Argentine Republic (Chili her husband in tbe MeAl! missions, says ;hat the and Colombia) and Guiana, there are 28 principal workers want ," everything except opportuni· stations, 84 sub'stations, 100 foreign ordained ties." The Enropean work in hand, supported missionaries, 37 foreign lay helpers, 15 ordained native miSSionaries, 454 lay native helpers, 715 laborers of all kinds, 12,724 communicants, and 4,597 pupils in day and boarding schoole.
RECAPITULATION.
– -St-at-ion-.s.- – Laborers For. miss'aries. Native Helpers, Total Communi- Pupils in Or- Lay Or- Lay labor· cants in day and ers. mission boarding dained. helpers. dained. helpers. scbools. — churche~. —- — — — —- – – – – Prin·Sub- stations. cipals. —- 1,123 Europe…. , . 203 2,125 41 34 245 396 1,273 115,542 Asia …….. :!37 2,606 533 843 632 5,479 7,690 120,890 100,560 Africa……. 55 255 138 81 57 788 1,184 15,426 16,920 N.America.. 181 823 447 253 168 1,419 2,287 56,629 26,214 S. America .. 28 84 100 37 15 454 715 12,724 4,597 2,500 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Polynesia….533813 11 35 67 10,852 —- — –~ Aggregate.. 700 n,9'?6 1.267 1.2M 1,128 8,571 13,216 332,063 151,914 The statistics are largest for Asia, the native are fewer pickers but more grspes; while in home of Christianity. The number of foreign or- the far distance the clnsters are dead ripe and dained and lay missionaries, and of native or- not a man to pick. Another student said: "I ~ained helpers is about equal. The relattve thought of one minister to every 600 ofpopulafigures are 1,261, 1,261, and 1,128. The harvest is tion in America, and I thought of one man to white,the laborers are few, the total of all kinds every 5OQ,OOO in the foreign field; of South 13,398. At Mr. Moody's college of colleges, America, with one man to 600,000; of the Congo, Northfield, Mass., last summer, a Princeton with one man to 40,000,000 of people." student stated the matter of " a call" to work at home or abroad, as follows: Near the gate I THE REOEIPTS find many pickers and few grapes; further on of the foreign missionary societies of the United States, in receut years and the totals since their origin are as follows: SOCIETIES. 1881-1887. Totals 1810-1887.
A. B. C. F. M …………………………………. . •$4,488,112 $22,452,817 Am. Baptist missionary Union ……………………. . 2,;)27,239 9,057,119 M.E………………………………………….. . 2,756,251 9,346,661 rr~!~~~e~!nPJ~~~~~I::: …: … '.. ~ . '.. '. '.. ~ ~ '. '. '. '. '. ~ '. '. '. : : : : : : : : 916,246 3,992,454 4,744,533 14,746,588 Southern Baptist………… '. .. .. …. .. …… .. 472,411 1,457,353 American and Foreign Church Union……………… . 129,625 2,404,331 Reformed Church……………………………… . 413,290 1,724,401 Evang(')ical Lutheran…. …. . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . :<57,089 557,089 Evangelical Association…… . ………………. .. 85,000 334,000 United Brethren ………………………………… . 200,000 750,658 United Presbyterian.. . . . . . ………… . 616,610 1,626,239 Southern Presbyterian. . . . . …………. . 498,570 1,033,511 Reformed Presbyterian.. .. . .. ………… . 185,732 Disciples…….. ……… …… . …………. . 93,600 218,742 Free-Will Baptist………………………………. . 185,565 466,362 Methodist Episcopal South ………………………. . 126,000 2,119,439 719,439 TOTALS ……………………………….. . $19,028,980 $73,074,115 Complete retnrns from 1881 to 1887 would make 3,000,000, and more than one-quarter as much for about 21,000,000, or an annUal average of about last six years as Cor the last eighty-six.
COMPARATIVE TABLE.
MISSIONS. 1850. 1880. 1887.
Stations……………………………….. .. 77 129 175 Ordained missionaries, foreign and native. .. . .. 438 1,7E2 2,395 Lay laborers …………………………….. . 4,167 Total laborers ………………………….. .. 829 : 9,832 Communicants ……… .. …………… …… . 1,267 5,959 13,398 Day and boarding scholars …………………. . 47,266 205,132 332,060 29,210 65,825 151,914 During the last thirty-seven years the number quite recently pagan women were almost wholly "'f foreign missions has increased more than two- nnreached. Oriental customs account for the fold, the number of ordained missionaries over failure. The organization of Christian ladies in five-fold, the nnmber of lay helpers twelve-fold, the home churches to aid missionary work in the total number of laborerR over ten-Cold, the the foreign field has been one of the characternumber of communicants seven·fold, the number istics of the last quarter of a ceutury. There of day school scholars five-fold. are now 26 female foreign missionary societies in the United States, in 16 denominations (count- Since this decade began, the mission communi- ing subdivisions of one type of denominationcants have increased 126,928, or 60 per cent.; the alism). The "Woman's Union Missionary Somission day-scholars 86,189, or 130 per cent.; the ciety," organized in New York City in 1861, still total laborerS 7,391,or 124 per cent. exists as a Union Society. The latest available statistics, except for their receipts, are those of The average yearly receipts since 1880 have the year 1885, when there were 15,867 auxiliaincreased about one million dollars over the av- ries, 3,454 bands (of girls and young ladies). The erage for the previous decade, and they are aggregate receipts of 12 of these Women's Fornearly seven times as large as the average from eign Missionary Boards is 8,571,706, from 1860 to 1840 to 1850. 1886. This is exclusive of the receipts of 12 of these boards, so recently organized that their WOMAN'S WORK. statistics are not available.
Thus Car the number of female converts to Christianity from paganism is small. Until TOTAL AVERAGE YEARLY RECEIPTS, HOME AND FOREIGN lIIISSIONS.
Foreign Missions. Home Missions. Total. 1850………………………… $675,000 $557,1:!!3 $1,232,123 1,450,479 1860.. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . .. . … 1,075,070 2,472,246 2,525,549 3,389,845 4,225,952 1870.. … . .. . . .. …… ………… 1,753,700 4,000,000 5,989,845 7,000,000 1880………………………… 2,600,000 1886.. •.. . •. .. .. .. ••. .. •.. . •. . . . . . 3,000,000 ACTUAL INCREASE.
Foreign Missions. Home Missions. Total. 1,384,426 1850 to 1860. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 400,070 983,356 1,700,403 1860 to 181"0……… '" ……… 678,636 1,021,767 1,763,898 1870 to 1880…………………. 846,294 917,604 • RELATIVE INCREASE.
Foreign Missions. Home Missions. Total. 1850 to 1860…………………. 59 per cent. 160 per cent. 105 per cent. 1860 to 1870. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 70 67 1870 to 1880. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 48 37 42 The increase of the otrerings for foreign mis- priests. The rapid increase of Roman Catholics sions in 30 years was about four-fold, and for in Scotland oflate has been due chielly to immihome missions about six-fold. The total annual gration from Ireland. The increase of priests in receipts in 1886 are $7,000,000 as against $6,000,- Enl(land from 1871 to 1885 was 636. 000 in 1R8O. Although it is claimed that the Church of PRO RATA TESTS. Enl(land has a majority of one million adherents over all other creeds, this claim is seriously Average per questioned hy Dissenters. If the actual senti- Inhabitants member for H. ment of the people were taken, it might be Members. per member. & F. Missions. found that in England as well as in Scotland the Established Church is really in the minority. 1850.. 3,529,988 6.57 35 cents. Until 1871 the Established Church of Ireland 1860 .. 5,240,554 6.00 48 was Protestant Episcopal, though it represented but a fraction of the population. At present 1870.. 6,673,396 5.78 63 there are fonr Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland and 23 bishops. The Roman Catholic 1880 . . 10,065,963 5.00 591-2 c. population in 1881 numbered 3,960,~91. The Protestant Episcopal Church had, at the same 1888.. 12,132,000 (estimates) 579-10 c. time, two archhishops, ten bishops, 1,560 clergy, 1,550 churches and 6.."0,000 members. There Multitudes of members have given nothing, or were iu the same year 470,734 Presbyterians, only a few dimes, and those spasmodically. The 48,839 Methodists, 6,210 Independents, 4,879 average is still less then % of one dollar. Baptists, 3,645 Quakers, and 472 Jews. From 1851 to 1861 the decrease of Catholics in Ireland Religious Statistics of Great Britain. was 43 per cent., of Protestants 10 per cent.; 1861-1871 the former decreased 8 and the latter THE Church of England has two archbishops and 31 bishops. In 1881 there were 14,926 civil Yo per cent. In 1871 the Catholics numbered parishes, with 14,573 churches and chapels; the clergy in actual service numbered 21,663. Ac- 4,141,933, so that in 1881 there was a further decording to an estimate made in 1883, 13,500,000 crease of 181,042. The Jews in Great Britain persons in England and Wales were adherents number about 70,000, of whom 40,000 are in of the Establisbild Church, leaving 12,500,000 to London. It is claimed that nine-tenths of the other creeds. The Wesleyans, Independents, inhabitauts of Wales are Dissenters. The Baptists and Presbyterians are most numerous Quakers in Great Britain, now numbering 15,- among dissenting bodies in England. The Wes- 219, are said to have been constantly on the inleyans have 13,270 chapels; the Independents crease during the last 20 years. 2,603; the Baptists 2,243. The number of dissenting ministers in 1881 was 9,734. The total A German authority gives the following as the number of denominations in Great Britain is ]80. religions statistics of the world: In Scotland the Established Presbyterian CHRISTIANS. Church has 84 presbyteries, 16 synods, 1,307 parishes, with 1,587 churches, chapels and sta- Catholics. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. 190,000,000 tions, and about 1,700 ministers. In 1884 there Protestants. . .. … . . ……. . ……. 108.000,000 were 556,622 members, an increase of 12,653 Greek Christians.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SO,OOO,OOO over the preceding year. The Free Church of Other churches… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,000,000 Scotland has 1,096 ministers, 32.5,000 members, while it is claimed that the adherents number Total. . …. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … 393,000,000 945,000. The United Church has 594 ministers, Ii59 churcheS and about 179,891 members and ad- NON-CHRISTIANS. herents. The Episcopal Church of Scotland has seven bishops, 220 churches,255 clergy, and a Jews ……………………….. .. 7,000,000 claimed adherence of 76,939 souls. Mohammedans ……………….. . 85,000,000 Buddhists …………………….• 500,000,000 The Roman Catholics of Great Britain are es- Hiudus ……. .'………………..• 190,000,000 timated at two millions. There are 15 ecclesias- Heathen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … 280,000,000 tical dignitaries in En~land, and in Scotland there are two archbishops aud four bishops. In Total. ……………………… 1,062,000,000 England there were in 1835 1,269 chapels and This makes thirty per cent. of the earth's popstations, and 2,256 oftlciating priests. In Scot- ulation Christian, of whom less than one-half land there were 305 chapels and stations and 320 are Roman Catholics.-Dr. J. H. W. Stucken- berg, in H()TT!iletw Review. S Foreign Missionaries. .b., I ' Date Native Unordalned Commu- Pnpils ContrIbntions of Ordained Nat;"e nicants. in by Q.I Name of Society_ Mission Men. Wlves. IWSoinmgelen TotaI. Ministers. Helpers. Schools. Native Churches. .~ —————– 1 London Missionary Society……… 1807 28 21 11 60 8 69 3,595 2,186 –.,——- 1:1.l $17,200.00 2 A.B. C. F.M………………….. 1830 29 25 12 66 8R 1,545 ::Q;s) 3 American Baptist, North . . . . . . . . . . . 1834 21 559 180.00 5 2 i:Q 4 American Protestant Episcopal …. Ita; 5 12 4 16 371 145 279.26 410.76 S 5 American Presbyterian. North .. " . Itlil8 10 6 1 17 22 21 362 900 6 American Reformed (Dutch) ……. 1842 45 34 19 98 19 176 3,786 1,932 2,448.88 .~…
00 7 British and Foreign Bible Society .. 1843 5 5 3 13 5 19 820 124 2.076.29 114 ~ 8 Church Missionary Society……… 1844 13 7 20 'i2 2.507 2ji;z 3.ioa:so 171 1,062 450.00 <11 9 English Baptist………………… 1845 26 19 8 63 1 8 3,349 160 ~ 43 1,084 3,473.57 Q) ;;<11 19 15 34 87 24 10 Methodist Episcopal, North ….. " . 1847 "7 1,641 36 1,175.61 CD 11 Seventh Day Baptist……………. 1847 30 27 14 71 7 1,808 232 654.00 ~ 1 1 1 3 24 3,553 598 Io:ol'-~o 12 American Baptist, Sonth ……….. 1847 370 3,920.00 13 Basel Mission …………………. 1847 13 10 9 32 60 200 35 222 725 ZiO::i4 <11 ·14 Engli~h Prespyterian …………… 1847 20 15 3 66 80 ::s ~ ~ 935 520 600.00 15 Rhemsh Mission …………….•.. 1847 21 15 7 43 5 84 17 105 8.00 p !.; 3 6 1,218 162 16 Methodist EPiSCOlJil, South …….. 1848 3 3 14 6 273 100.25 C!:l'tS 7 '634 50 11 Berlin Foundling ospital. ……… 1850 8 7 4 29 173 250'.00 ::r:.: 5., 1,932 ~ 18 Wesleyan Missionary Society……. 1852 1 1 6 "5 ':ii "77 401.34 r:.1' 6 306 tIl 19 Woman'c Union Mission ……….. 1859 19 8 5 32 … 34 83 260 240:00 :~-;::.::~~~ 5 25 5 Eo< 20 Methodbt New Connexion ……… 1860 5 .'".. 13 1,765 72.00 21 Society Promotion Female Educ…. 1864 11 …1……2 73 …. .5.2.7. o". 22 United Presbyterian, Scotch …….. 1865 ::: I 7 5 42 97ii.oo 1 5 …..2. 11 30 80 ~~ o<11 4 70 . ….. E:: 6 12 .5.0.0. . ….. § .~ 23 China Inland Mission ………….. 186.5 1~ '46 . … . … <11 24 National Bible Society of Scotland .. 1868 4 52 .9..0 265 . … .. :i2 …… 25 United Methodist Free Chnrch ….. 1888 2 6 '60 . … …… ~ t.3. ~ . … 26 American Presbyterian, South…… 1868 3 3 6 "30 . ….. ……0., .o., Eo< 40 . ….. 27 Irish Presbyterian ……………… 1869 10 6 4 20 32,260 . ….. o ~ 28 Canadian Presbyterian …………. 1871 13,777 . ….. 29 Society Prooagation of the Gospel. . 1874 3 3 '" ~ 4,260 =..'!l 30 American Bible Society ………… 1876 198 "4:00 31 Established Church or Scotlaud …. 1878 2 2 .".2. 4 Q) 4 2 $38,236.70 8 4 8 12 $19,862.14 <11 3 3 "i 6 3 4 9 3ro2 Berlin Mission ………………… 1882 4 '….. 1 …..3, .2.1. 8 General Prot. Evang. Society•…… 1884 1 1 ………… 34 Bible Christians ……………….. )885 4 5 …"….i,, ~ 35 Foreign Christian Miss. Society …. 1886 5 2 .'".. 7 ~ 36 Book and Tract Society .••….•…. 1886 1 1 2 37 SOCiety of Friends……………… 1886 1 1 2 – – – – – – – – – 38 Independent Workers ……..••…. -…-. 4 1 3 8 @ ..-. …. 489 320 221 1,030 175 ~ — ,~.. — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Total-December, 1887………• 1,316 Tncrease .over 1886……•…•…. …. 43 4 64 121 ·35 20 — –_._-
m4 EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS
-Roman Catholics in India. Ac- about a million and a quarter among oording to the official return pubiished the 260,000,000 of India-the result by the Propaganda last year the num- of 300 years of labor. ber of Roman Catholics in India is -There are some 200,000,000 wo- 1,185,142; churches and chapels, 2,677; men in India of whom 20,000,000 are stations, 417; EUropean missiona- in enforced widowhood. The English ries, 940; native missionaries, '150; Baptist Zenana Mission has been do- ,elementary schools, 1,566; scholars, ing a good work among them. It 64,357; orphanages, 73; orphans, commenced in 1867 with a revenue of 4,837, This does not include the $1,500. Now H! has 18 stations, 42 Catholics of Goa, under the Portu- lady visitOl'S, 25 assistants, 42 native ,guese, who are at feud with Rome at teachers and Bible ,,"omen, and 41 girl present. Together they will number schools containing about 1,500 pupils.
——– VII.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Office be so modified as to give entire free- AND MISSIONS. dom to the various missionary societies to conduct their educational work on Indian FROM the Bible Society Record we reservations in their own way, without inquote: ~";;'Jerellce on the part of the government; .. On the 2d of November last a delegation .. II. That the regulations be further modof gentlemen, headed by the Hon. William fied so as to allow the use of the native Strong, ex-Justice of the Supreme Court, tongue in schools supported, in whole or in ,and represeHting theAmerican Bible Society, part,. by t,he government, so far as such use the Presbyterian Boards of Home and For- may be desirable as a means of acquiring eign Missions, the American Missionary a knowledge of the English or of imparting Asso~iation, the Missionary Society of the moral or religious instruction. Methodist Episcopal Church, the Board-of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church, .. This interview with the President gave the Board of Indian Commissioners, and the warrant for the hope that the order would be various organiz.ations represented at the so far modified as to remove all objection Mohonk Conference, waited upon President to it on the part of those interested in it. But Cleveland with a statement and a request. we deeply re"ret to say that this hope is blasted, and that the latest order from the .. The occasion which led them to seek this Indian Office is open to the gravest obj~c interview was an order issued some time be.. tion as an attempt on the part of a single fore by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, officer ot the government to restrict religrigidly and positively forbidding the giving ious instruction and to dictate to missiona.. of instruction in the Indian language in any ry societies how they shall give instruction Indian school, and threatening to close ev- in religion and morals. ery school maintaine,d at private expense which did not comply with the regulation. .. The delegation asked, as a matter of pub- lic policy, that in schools in which govern- U The delegation expressed its accord with ment funds are employed the teachers might the department in its desire to have the be allowed to make use of the native tongue English language take the place of the na- as a means of teaching English, or of teachtive dialects as soon as possible, but re- ing their pupilH how to become good men spectfully questioned' the wisdom of at- and women. The answer is precise and pas.. tempting to secure this end by forbidding itive: 'No textbook in the vernacular will teachers to employ the only language which be allowed ;' ~ no oral instruction in the ver~ their pupils have known from childhood, nacular will be allowed at such schools;' or to use interlinear books in those lan- • the entire curriculum must be in the Engguages, especially in schools where the at- lish language.' tendance is Sure to be irregular and the period of tuition very brief;' and further- .. Furthermor'e, they asked, as a matter of more represented that it is' not within the civil and religious liberty, that missionary province of the govetnmeRt to enter any societies, intent on promoting the welfare private institution and say that Indian chil- of the aborigines, should be allowed to condren shall not be taught to read the Ten duct their eaucational work in their own Commandments and the Lord's Prayer in way, without interference on the part of the their own tongue. ' Government, using the primer, the hymn- book, the bool< of devotion and the Holy .. The delegation, believing that the best Scriptures in Dakota at their discretion. sentiment of the nation would sustain them ion it, made this twofold request: .. This appeal also is disregarded. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs assumes .. I. That the regulations of the Indian to know better than the missionaries. Bishop Hare must not teach his catechU' mens to read the Dakota catechism. Mr. perhaps is a little more-than the original Riggs must not use as a textbook the ver- was. It is a great pity that so important a. sion of the Bible which his father prepared matter should not be managed more sensiwith so much patience and scholarship. Mr. bly." Williamson must not write on the blackboard the T"u Commandments expressed in For ourselves we are amazed at any words his Indian boys have ever heard this" rebuff from the U. S. Governin their wigwams or on the playground. The ment." Our worthy President canbook, the printed page, the written words, not afford to have this action of his are under the baH of tbe United States Gov- subordinate stand. It is a grievous .,rnment. Its edict is, • Thou shalt not teach indignity to the missionary sentiment an Indian boy to read a word in his own of the age and directly contravenes a tongue." 'No person,' says the Commission- fundamental principle of our instituer, in his order, dated Jan. 18, 1888, • other tions. It is quite bad enough for our than a native Indian teacher, will be per- politicians, in national, state and mitted to teach in any Indian vernacnlar ; munidpallegislation, to show markand these native teachers will only be al- ed partiality to the Roman Catholic lowed in schools not supported in whole or Church for the Rake of political influin part by the government, at remote points ence; but when a government officer where there are no government or contract arbitrarily interposes and forbids our schools where the English language is missionary societies, in schools estabtaught. ", lished and wholly supported by them, from conducting them as their wis- That this high-handed and imper- dom dictates, it is quite time a halt tinent action on the part of a gov- were called and the pulse of the peo- ple felt. The order excluding the ernment official will be acquiesced in Dakota Bible from every school by the religious public, especially by where its reading can do any good is our missionary societies, we do not only paralleled by the recent attempt for one moment believe. The posi- of the Turkish Government to suption taken by the conference at Mo- press American schools in the Otto- man Empire-an attempt against honk ,Lake last summer is the only which our Department of State cprrect one, and our presumptuous through Mr. Straus, our minister, Indian Office will be forced to see it : so earn2stly protested as to defeat the attempt. No less earnest should .. No policy can be endured which forbids be the protest of the American people Christian 'IlUJn and wO'l1UJn to teach Ohristian against an arbitrary order which dictruth, or to prepare instrul'tion in it in any tates to their missionary societies the way theydeen. right, in any part of this com- metho.ds which they must pursue as monwealth, that is consistent with that civil a condition of being allowed to work and religious liberty which is unhampered for the conversion of the Indian race. in every other part of our land, and must So long as this order stands the Dehereafter be unhampered within all Indian partment of the Interior will be in a reservations. " position of direct antagonism to the Christian sentiment of our land.- The Christian Union well says: J. M. S.
.. It is monstrous that there should be a THE INDIAN BUREAU AND THE CA'l'HOsquare mile of territory in the United States in which the National Government should LIC CHURCH. be able by despotic decree to determine the conditions under which a free religions soci- THE American Protestant Church ety which asks no support and no favors has another serious matter to settle from the government may carryon its work. with this same secretary. Something We should be glad to have religious societies is evidently wrong in his department, appeal to the President to have this order and it is quite time some light was rescinded, not because they wish to use the let in upon it. We quote the follow- Indian vernacular, but because they demand liberty to make their own rules and regulations without let or hindrance of any kind from the Indian Bureau."
Says The Congregationalist: .. The simple facts are that the order of the Indian Commissioner, which has bAen modified, was absurd and unjust to begin with, and that whoever has attempted to modify it has bungled his task so that the result is not much more satisfactory to intelligent and patriotic people-although it ing froIn The Independent of this president and Rev. Joseph S. Stephan direc- tor, which devotes itaeJf to forwarding the city, and commend the startling facts interests of the Catholic Church with the government. Contracts for Catholic Indian here disclosed to the serious attention schools are made with Father Stephan. The energy of this bureau deserves high of our readers. We know that New commendation. Not simply the contract schools, but the government schools, sup- York, Brooklyn and other cities, as ported wholly by the government, are also rapidly passing into the control of this well as many state legislatures, have bureau by the appointment of Catholic teachers, even where the Indians are all long discriminated in favor of Roman Protestant. If we are not mistaken the chief of the department of schools in the Catholic as against Protestant insti- Indian Bureau and his assistant have both tutions; but here is evidence of such been Roman Catholics. The government marked, gross, iniquitous favoritism has given them all it could, not, we suppose, on the part of our National Govern- out of any preference to Catholics, nor bement as to shock one's sense of justice cause it believed the Catholics to maintain and demand an investigation. Such any better schools than the Protestants, an administration of our Indian but simply because it is believed that the Bureau as these two items disclose administration has something to gain politshows it to be a disgrace to the nation ically by favoring this one church at the and to President Cleveland's admin- expense of all others. "-J. M. S • istration! A WOMAN died in Philadelphia on .. What we say is in no way designed as a criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. the second of January who has in We respect it for its enterprise and activity. herself done more to solve the prob- That its activity has been wonderfully fa- lem of how to heal the breach bevored by the Indian "Bureau at Washington is tween the so-called "higher" and all that we propose to show. The statistics "lower" classes than all the wise we give need no eloquence to teach their plans and resolutions adopted by meaning. The government expended last ecclesiastical bodies. She was heryear the sum of $308,299.98. Of this sum the self a woman of elegant refinement, Catholics got $168,959.13, and all others, in- wealthy, beautiful in feature and cluding Hampton and Lincoln, got $139,- character, lovely in disposition, gen- 340.85. For contract day schools the gov- erous and charitable. But instead of ernment expended $9,847.27. Of this the identifying herself and all her family Catholics got $7,632.92, and all others $2,- with one of the wealthy and aristo- 214.35. The government paid for the educa- craticchurehes she deliberately joined tion of Indiau youth in contract schools the a church mostly and almost exclusum of $318,147.25, of which $176,5~2.15 went sively composed of the working peoto Catholic schools, and $141,555.20 to all ple. She became a teacher in the other schools. The Catholics comprise from Sunday-school and practically the one-tenth to one-sixLh of the population; pastor of the entire parish which her the amount allowed to their boarding and large class constituted. She visited day schools is 55).2 per cent. of the total each member of the class systematiamount expended ou these schools. The cally, and they were not social calls non-Catholic population of the couutry is either, but spiritual visits, dealing from five-sixths tonine-teuthsof the whole ; directly with souls. When they the amount allowed to their Indian schools were sick she went to them, Qn foot is 44).2 per cent. of the whole. In 1884 the and in humble attire; she carried government expended on Catholic schools them little dainties, she read hel' the sum of $35,263. In 1885 it was $90.142. Bible at their bedside, she knelt and In 1886 it was $134,197. In 1887 it reached prayed with them, she inquired of the sum of $176,592, five times as much as their spil:itual condition and directed in 1884. them to Jesus. No pastoral care be- .. When asked how it happens that Catho- came needful where that woman lic schools got so much, Mr. Atkins a.nswers that they ask for more. This is not a fair answer. Protestant schools find more dif- ficulty than Catholic in getting what they ask for, besides the fact that the govern- ment iuterferes less with Catholic than Protestant contract schools. But Catholic schools are very diligent in their asking. There is in Washington a bureau of Catholic Missions, of which Rev. P. L. Chapelle is went. She declined invitations to score of such men and women as this social parties that she might be free and we can close up the slums in our to devote her time to the Lord's great cities, build a chapel in every work. She might be bearing a sor- forsaken quarter, put a missionary in row that would have crushed another every remote hamlet, and girdle the woman, but no one would ever sus- globe with a zone of missionary pect it behind that cheerful face. labor. We are scarcely sincere when She was one among the people with we talk of insuperable obstacles in whom she was identified. There was the way of evangelizing the cities or no sign of conscious superiority. In- the world.-A. T. P. to the prayer-meetings and missionary circles and Dorcas gatherings she LIVINGSTONE at first had no thought went, just as though she had no high of being himself a missionary. Feelblood, nor social pank, nor ample ing that" the salvation of men ought purse. Everybody loved her. The to be the chief desire and aim of every poorest work – women would drop Christian," he had made a resolution everything and go at her call 01' her that he would give to the cause of beck as though they were serving a missions all that he might earn bequeen. Her last act was to rise from yond what was required for his subher dying bed, as her disease suddenly sistence. The resolution to give himdeveloped fatal symptoms, and write self came from his reading an appeal out checks to cover various benevo- by Mr. Gutzlaff to the churches of lent expenditures, and among others Great Britain and America on behalf a contribution to the church of whi9h of China. It was" the claims of so she was a member, and which just many millions of his fellow creatures, then was making heroic efforts to and the complaints of the societies of cancel a large mortgage debt. She the want of qualified missionaries," wrote her checks with a clear firm that led him to aspire to that office. hand, and went back to bed to die. From that time, apparently his When the news of her decease came twenty-first year, his efforts were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, constantly directed toward that oba hush fell on' the entire people as ject without any fluctuation. David though the ground were trembling Livingstone said, "I am a missionwith an earthquake. They could at'y heart and soul. God had only scarcely speak to one another. The one Son, and he was amissionary."- prayer-meeting turned to sobs and A.T.P. tears.
We talk of missions. There is no ONE of the most pathetic stories of trouble in reaching souls, but it takes missions is that of MarialIathsdotter. .a soul to do it. When we are in As she followed the reindeer over the dead earnest-when all else is practi- silent hills around her father's house, 'cally trampled under foot in our in- the needs of her people seemed to tense desire and determination to call her. She wept and prayed for bring souls neal' to God-when self- the ignorant Lapps until their condiindulgence gives way, and even self- tion forced her to decide. Their need love, before the burning, consuming was the voice of God. It took her flame of devotion to Christ and those three years to learn the Swedish for whom he died, we shall sweep language. Then, clad in ottel' and earth as with a conflagration lOne reindeer skins with the Lapland skid- Paul, in thirty-three years, made a del'S on her feet, she walked in winter, journey afoot over the greater part 600 miles to Stockholm. It was a ·of the known world west of the long journey over the dreary moun- Golden Horn and bore the gospel tains and dismal forests. But suc- .into the regions beyond. Give us a cess crownfld her efforts. The Lord was with her. The king of Sweden THE editor of The Church at Home granted her request. Her people and Abroad, our esteemed brother were provided with schools and Dr. Nelson, calls our attention to the churches.-A. T. P. fact that the article on "Beginning at Jerusulem," which we reviewed in WHEN Dr. H. H. Jessup, for so the March number of this REVIEW: many years a missionary in Syria, has already been met by "clear and was offered the secretaryship of the conclusiye" counter statements in Presbytel'ian Board of Foreign Mis- the same magazine in which the artisions, after enumerating the reasons cle first appeared (The Church, Jan. why he should remain in the foreign 1888, pp. 67,68). We would simply field he closed by saying' : add that a distinction ought always to be made between attacking a sen- .. One thousand Presbyterian churches timent and assaulting a man. We give nothing for the spread of the gospel in were reviewing an argument whic·h heathen lands I What a mournful minor we regarded as unsound and unscripstrain rises from that sentence amid the tural, but we had not a thought of glorious harmonies of that ever-memorable antagonizing its author, who is yet assembly in the city of Philadelphia! One to us unknown, nor above all of holdthousand churches giving nothini!': Sccres ing the editor of The Church responof young men graduating from our theologi- sible for all the sentiments of articles. cal seminaries, and ahnost none wiIIiEg to that appear in the various depart go to the heathen. A devoted lady teacher ments of that organ of the Boards. from a foreign field, spending a year in America, invitin~ a young woman to return In our opinion the only way to conwith her to a delightful field of missionary duct a Review is to deal frankly, labor, and obliged to return alone I Appeal honestly and impartially with all· after appeal sent for a teacher to aid subjects. If any published line of Miss Everett in the interesting- female sem- argument seems hostile to the best inary in Beirut and no oue found to come 1 interests of the cause of missions, we mean to do our best to expose its fal- H Is this the time for us on the ground to lacy. And we expect at others' hands leave onr work and go home? Not until the the same treatment and shall not Great Captain calls us htlme.'" complain. We felt sure Dr. Nelson would agree with us in our strictures No wondel' he refused. upon the article in question.
SAID the Earl of Shaftesbury, upon FROM a very valued and influenthe occasion of his taking the presi- tial foreign correspondent the editors dency of "the English Missions Aid have received a letter full of wis- Society" III 1860 : dom. He congratulates the eaitors on the grand conception and great •. I do not believe that in the whole history u~efulness of the REVIEW, and hopes of missions; I do not b@lieve in the history our plans will be fully carried out. of any negotiations carried on between man He thinks the tone of the REVIEW and man, we can find anything to equal the should be at once independent, imwisdom, the soundness and the pure evan- partial and uncompromising in its gelical trnth of the body of men who c,msti- rebuke and exposure of whatever tute the American mission in the East. I is wrong OL' hostile to the best inhave said it twenty times before. and I will tel'ests of missions; that there should say itagain, for the expression appropriately not be too much license in attacking conveys my meanin6'-they arg a marvelous missionary societies and committees combination of common sense and piety. or defending acts on the part of Every man who comes in contact with these missionaries :which are indefensible misslOnaries speaks.in praise of them. Persons in authority and persons in subjection all speak in their favor. I know of no man who has ever been able to bring against that body a single valid objection. There they stand, tested by years, tried by their works and exemplified by their fruits, and I believe it will be found that these American missionaries have done more toward uphold- ing the truth and spreading t.he gospel of Christ in the East than any other body of men in this or in any other age." -simply in a partisan spirit. He be- speak out with unflinching voice when lieves a missionary should be loyal to a thing is done which is wrong, and the society with which he is engaged, point out faults um;paringly, yet in and not take up arms against the Christian love." To all of which we agency which placed him in the field, have only to add that whenever auand suggests as our motto" audi al- thenticated facts are brought to our teram pe,rtem." He deprecates ex- notice demanding faithful reproof, travagant praise and undue epithets, we mean that there shall be found in and even thinks Bishop Hanmngton our pages no cover or cloak to evilcannot in any proper sense be called a doing. 'Ve believe that the law of martyr as he did not die for the Faith, "truthing it in love" is one of the but like any other indiscreet traveler. foremost laws of Christ's kingdom, In this we disagree with our friend, and that nothing' is gained by the while giving;place to his friendly stric- concealment of wrong or the veiling tures. The word martyr is one of of it in apology. wide scope. Hannington certainly was a witnQss for the Faith, and will- NOTHING is needed more in these ingly surrendered life that he might days than an entire reconstruction, purchase the way to the heart of not of our systems of giving only, but Africa with his blood, which is not our very ideas of giving. The most true of any mere traveler. princely sums given to the Lord's work are miserably and shameflllly Our correspondent thinks errors of a iNadequate to the demands of that most serious sort are springIng up and work on the one hand and wretchedshould be unsparingly exposed in such ly disproportionate to our average a Review. He asks, What could justi- ability and personal expenditures on fy the appeal of Mackye and Ashe for the other hand. One great church help from England to rescue them of 700,000 members raises a dollar a and their native conv:erts? "'hat year for foreign missions-less than could justify the American mission- one-third of a cent a day for each aries in the Caroline Islands making member !-and calls that generous. their converts, who were subjects of Another church, far more numerous. Spain, keep the 4th of July? or the raises a million and sets all its church Presidentof France giving the Legion bells ringing for a jubilee! of Honor to the French mi5sionaries in Basuto Land, within a British col- We find ourselves lacking $50,000 &ny, "for advancing the interests at the end of a fiscal year, and word of France? What can justify the goes out to the various missionary French Government expelling the stations that all expenses must be re- American mIssionaries from the Ga- trenched; and accordingly schools boon? The Germans have expeJled are closed, mission stations abandonthe Engli'lh Baptists from the Came- ed and all aggressive work ceases. roons,and the Basle missionaries have The" Salvation Army," at whose vaoccupied their place. Missionaries garies we laugh, at whose extravaare beginning to ill-use the natives gances we sneer, finds need of $50,- of Africa; they habitually beat them, 000 for an onward movement and and some men have died under their they raise it in one week by simple- hands. In Madagascar all the mis- self-denial. They impose it on them- sionaries-S. P. G., Norwegian, L. M. selves to limit their supply of food so S., Friend-use slave labor in their as to realize the needed sum. houses; all the native pastors, once slaves, buy and sell them and are not We have just passed the holiday ashamed." season. We have not one word to say in discouragement of exchanges With regard to such things our cor- of friendship and family love-tokens, respondent says the REVIEW" should although we feel confident that this. thing is carried to an absurd and of- "The account for last year iii as follows ten idolatrous extreme; but if one- for foreign missions: tenth of all lavished in Christmas gifts had been simply saved for Christ Parent society …………….$576,914 and his kingdom, the treasuries of Woman's Board …………… 167,000 every great benevolent agency in the world might now be bursting with a Total for last year……… $743,914 superfluity of funds I-A. T. P. This year We have appropriated for ERRATA. Foreign Missions…………..$635,000 Woman's Board…………… 228,000 AN unfortunate error occurred in our January number on page 33. To Total , ……………….. $863,000 Sir Monier Williams's admirable "The point is, !1lways remember to count paper an extract is added purporting our women in if you count those of other de- to be from Prof. Max Miiller, but nominations. " which is a part of the address of Pro- fessor Williams delivered on another ON page 130 (Feb. No.), in a note from occasion. The first speech was before Prof. Wilkinson, several errors occurred. the Church Missionary Society at the Read the work goes on for the world moves annual meeting in Exeter Hall, in on. The name of the missionary is Witter May last; the other is from an ad- iustead of Willis, and Naza Hills should read dress before the Bible Society at its NagaHilis. annual meeting in 1886. The error is easily accounted for. The second OUR MISSIONARY MAP OF THE WORLD. extract was put in THE REVIEW just as we cut it from one of our ex- WE bespeak the attention of our changes, where it was credited to readers to the publishers' offer of this Prof. Miiller, and we unhappily trans- great map on terms that bring it ferred both the extract and the error. within reach of every mission circle, Sunday-school and church. We OUR attention has been called to a know from long experience that such discrepancy in our figures given in the a map displayed at the monthly con- February number, of the receipts for cert or in the Sundav-school or at mis- 1887 of the Missionary Society of the sionary gatherings·would add vastly 'Methodist Episcopal Church. On to the interest and the profit of such page 118 we give the sum of $576,- meetings. Well do we recall the 914.74, and on page 156, $828,000. In widespread interest and enthusiasm the former case our figures were offi- awakened by "Bidwell's Missionary cial, taken from the society's last re- Maps," a generation or so ago, and port. In the latter they occur in a many thousands of them were sold table of statistics, copied from and in this country and abroad. " Col- credited to the Missionary Herald. ton's," which our publishers offer, is a We wrote to the editor of the M. H., "thing of beauty," and immensely and he replied that his figures were superior to any ever before produced. obtained by conespondence with Dr. It would be money well expended for McCabe, Secretary of the M. E. C. a church or Sunday-school to take Society. Dr. McCabe very kindly up a collection and possess one, if it responded to our request for informa- can be got in no o!her way.-J. M. S. tion with the following gratifying statement: THE patience of our patrons has been and may still be tried by delay "The discrepancy arises frOm a failure to in getting our REVIEW 'after subscrib- count the receipts of the Woman's Foreign ing for it. The demand has so far Miss. Society. The Presbyterian Board" outstripped our editions that three [to which we referred in our note] "counts editions Of the January and two of the receipts of the Woman's Board. the February have already been printed and more will speedily be called for. Fortunately the work is stereotyped and hence the largest demand can be supplied. This delay, however, will only be temporary.- J.M. S.