The Missionary Review of the World — June 1899

THE SUDAN AND THE SUDANESE

100 :.WO aoo 400 15~——–~.—-~r—— o HNA ~0 rd fan ———-~——w I'

DAR.E'UR ® El Obcld 0 El FlUihcr u I lJara S DA I llliGlU.._VED FOR. ,THE MISSIOXARY REVIEW I. MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD: Old Series. t JlTNE. New Series. { VOL. XII. No. G. VOL. XXII. No.6.) 'l'HE SUDAN AND THE SUDANESE.

BY REV. C. T. WILSON, }I.A., LONDON, E~GLAND.

'rhe last quarter of this century has seen a marvelolls development of Africa. During this period that dark, mysterious land, so long hermetically sealed to the civilized world, has been opened up with unexampled rapidity, and, in its closing decade, by a wonderful series of events, one of the widest and most important areas in that great continent, the Sudan, has been thrown open to the soldiers of the Cross almost simultaneously from west and east.

This country is a vast, somewhat vaguely defined territory in Northern Africa. '['he name Sudan is a plural form of an Arabic word meaning" black," and was given to it by the Arab invaders, owing to the dark color of its inhabitants. In its widest application it designates the whole country between the Atlantic and the Red Sea, south of the Sahara, and north of the Equator (excluding Abyssinia). The whole area is approximately 3,090,000 square miles, or about that of the United States, while the total population has been estimated at 15,000,000, tho this figure can not claim to be more than a rough guess.

The variety of races in this wide region is eonsiderable, ranging from the Arab of pure blood, with clean-cnt aristocratic features, to negroes of the lowest type. Almost every condition of lifo is to be found, from the almost Western civilization of a few of the great towns, to the degradation of the cannibal tribes and unclothed savages of the Nile basin and elsewhere.

'rhe languages spoken there differ even more widely than the inhabitants. One modern authority divides those now current in the Sudan into four great divisions, viz: Semitic, Hamitic, Nuba-Fulah, and n'.lgl'o-altogether comprising 173 known languages. Few of these have any native literature, and into only a small number has any portion of the Bible been translated.

• This periodical adopts the Orthography of the following Rnle, recommended by the joint action of the American Philological Association and the Philological Society of England :-Cbange d or ed final to t when so pronounced, except when the e affects a preceding sound.-PuBLISHEHS. It is with the eastern division of this region that we are now more immediately concerned, the district usually indicated by the term Sudan, but more correctly designated the Egyptian Sudan. Under this title is included all the dependencies of Egypt south of the cataract of A8suan – namely, Dongola, Nubia, Senaar, Taka. the African coast of the Red Sea, Kordofan, Darfur, and the countrieR on either side of the White Nile south of the rivers Sobat and Bahr-el-Ghazal, nearly to the Equator–extending in all over a length of 24 degrees latitude.

'fhe chief physical feature of this region is the Nile – that river so vast in volume that the Arabs, accustomed ollly to the willter torrents of their arid home, gave it the name of ~ea, " Bahr-en-Nil," fol- lowing, probably ullconsciously, the usage of the ancient Greeks; nor was the term confined to the united river, but was applied to both branches, the Blue Nile, Bahr-el-Azrek, and White Nile, Bahr-el- Abiad. As a waterway the Nile can not compare with the KOllgo, not so much on account of the impediments to navigation ill its course, as to the fact that, with perhaps the exception of the Sobat, it has not a single tributary which is navigable to any great distance from its junction with the Nile. Still it is the great highway for that part of Africa, and will become increasingly so with the development of trade, and as engineering skill removes or mitigates the oLstacles in its course.

CHARACTER m' THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN.

The Egyptian Sudan is divided into two tolerably wf'll defined portions. The northern part extends from Assouan to the Sobat, and is much larger in area than the southern, which reaches from the Sobat to Uganda. The first of these districts consists of a narrow strip of fertile country on either side of the Nile, with, ill its upper portion, desert on either side. Further south, Oil the east of the river, there is the Nubian desert, consisting first of sand, and then of long ranges of black rocky hills, running from north to south, alternating with wide valleys, having a fail' amount of vegetation, aml not infrequent oases with good water. On the west stretch the vast dry tablelands of Darfur and Kordofan. The rainfall on these table-lands is very small, and water is for the most part scarce. Usually it is procured from deep wells, sllnk with much labor in the hard soil. In some localities the baobab-tree (Adansonia) is utilized for storing it in summer. This tree has a trunk of great girth, but always hollow, or decayed inside, only with a thin shell of living wood and bark. The natives make these trees water-tight inside, and fill them during the brief rainy season. I have seen scores of these tree-reservoirs when traveling in Kordofan, and have often drunk the water from them.

Oonsiderable tracts of these two districts are covered with jungle.

and abound in wild beasts. Many of the inhabitants are nomads; wandering about in search of water and pasture for their numerou s herds of cattle and camels. . Others are agriculturists, Ii ving in vil- lages, which, when I past t hrough in 1880, seemed peaceful and prosperons. 'rhere are a few good-sized towns, with some well-built honses. The people own large n umbers of camels, besides cattle, goats, sheep, and a fine breed of horses.

The southern half of the Egyptian Sudan is very diffe ren t. Frolll Khartum to the mouth of th e Sobat, a distance of 500 miles, th e Nile is a splendid river, and easil y ll avigable at all seasons. From this point southward, however, its char- acter changes. There succeeds It region of vast swamps, covered with a dense growth of float ing vegeta- tion, and extending for nearly 300 miles. Here at times the Nile loses itself altogether~ the water chan nel being entirely blocked by islan ds of grass, reeds, papyrus, etc., brought down from the higher reaches of the river, or from its tributari es. The vegetable barrier thus formed is known as the "8udd," an Arabic word meaning "a block," or "stop- page." It is so den se that the most SUDANESE WOMEN.

powerful steamers can not force their way through it, and it must be cut away piecem eal. Sir S. Haker, a fo rll1.er governor of the Sudan, on one occasion had to cut a chan nel through 80 miles of this growth, in order to open communication between the upper and lower reaches of the river. A party of C. M. S.

missionaries, on their way to Ugamia ill l8'i8, was detained here many days by this same" sudcl," and ill t he followin g year, on my return froll1 Uganda, I was obliged to make a detour of 200 miles to the westward. It lleed hardly be sa id that this district i::; illtflnsely unhealthy, yet a considerable part of a tribe of negroes, the Nuer, actu ally live on this floating mass of vegetation, their food consisting solely of fish and the stalks of a killd of water lily.

Beyond this, to the westward , stretches a fertil e COUll try, with n regular network of rivers and streams, much of which is covered with fine fo res t. Comparatively few inhabitants are found, however, until we co me to the outposts of the C. lYI. S. Ugallda mission, when the population becomes denser.

Distinct ns are th ese two divisions of the Egyptian Sudan in their physical features, there is an even grenter difference in the inhabi- tants. In the northeru half there are many Arab tribes in the Nubian desert, as well as in Darfur and Kordofan. III the eighth century of the Christian era Arabs from Arabia began to emigrate across the Red Sea, settling first on the banks of the Blue Nile, and gradually penetrating to other districts. In some cases they have kept themselves very distinct from the original negro inhal1itants, while in others they seem to have freely intermarried, and many of their distillguisht characteristics have been obliterated. In the regions west of the Nile many of them are still nomads, wandering about from place to place to find pasture allll water for their flocks and herds. Preeminent among these are the Baggara,* of whom so much has been heard in the last few years as supplying the largest and bravest portion of the Mahdi's and Khalifa's forces. Besides these nomads there is a large settled population in the towns and the villages of Kordofan; they are of very mixt origin, tho probably the negro blood predominates. As a rule, they are indolent and much inferior to the Baggara. In the hills a third race is found, generally superior to the peasantry and hostile to these nomad Arabs, who have greatly opprest all the other tribes around them.

SIGNS OF NATIYE CIVILIZATION.

In Darfur, besides the Baggara, there is the tribe of the Homr Arabs, who are said to have emigrated from Morocco. 'rhey have kept themselves free from admixture with the Fur, Takruri, and other aboriginal races, and are much superior to the native tribes of Kordofan, being clean and industrious. I found in this country a certain amount of civilization, especially in and about the towns. In such places as Obeid, El Fasher, Dara, etc., many of the houses were of a fairly substantial character, and, as a rule, the people were decently clothed. Greek and other traders found a ready sale for goods of European manufacture, while the telegraph, which General Gordon had carried to the extreme southwest of this province, and the wellbuilt government houses, gave an appearance of comparative refinement.

The telegraph was regarded with great awe by the natives, who thought that it repeated to the governor-general in Khartum any word spoken near it. In carrying it across the country a broad track had been cleared through the forest, in order to prerent the line bein~ broken in storms by trees blown across it. When I first struck this track it was in a long stretch of jungle. At night we campt under the line, and the familiar sound of the wind humming in the wire was mingled with the roar of the lions around-a strange mingling of civilization and savagery.

The people of these districts were more accustomed than many to * These Baggara are, however, not really one tribe, but consist of a number of tribes of varying size, tho group,t under a common name from their being. like many of the Bedouin trihes of Asia, chiefly cattle breeders, Baggara meaning in Arabic .. those occupied about cattle." Other tribes chiefly engaged in rearing camels are similarly called Siat Ibil. the sight of the foreigners. One at least of the great lines of travel, by which the Moslem pilgrims from Hau!,aland and other parts of Western Africa go to Mecca, passes right across Darfur and Kordofan. A good number from here perform the Haji, and of them a fair proportion find their way to Palestine, where they frequently remain many years, being in request as watchmen and caretakers, owing to their reputation for trustworthiness. Most of these men are from the Takrnri tribe, tho during a residence of fifteen years in Jerusalem, I have met representatives of almost every district in the Sudan north of ten degrees north latitude.

There is, moreover, some degree of education throughout this area; that is, there are some people in every district who can read and write Arabic. Their number may not be relatively large, still the fact remains that reading and writing are not unknown arts. It will probably be found, however, that nothing has been done to reduce purely native languages to writing.

SAYAGES OF THE SOL'THERN SUDAN.

In the southern portion of the Egyptian Sudan we find a very different state of things. There are no large towns. 'fhe villages, except in the Egyptian military posts, consist of mere huts. Civilization does not exist even in name. The natives wear little or no clothing, and the people, of at least one tribe, are cannibals. The different tribes, who are all of negro origin, vary much in physical and mental characteristics; some, such as the Makrakas and Dinkas, being much superior ill physique, and probably also in intellectual capacity, to others around them.

The difference in religion in the two sections of the Sudan is equally distinct. In the northern portion Islam is the prevailing religion, tho there are still pagan tribes in Kordofan and Darfur. Once Christianity held sway in part of this region. Fifteen miles above Khartum, on the Blue Nile, are the ruins of a town called Soba, which, in the tenth century of our era, was the capital of a flourishing Christian kingdom, known as Alwa. But long ago the light of the Gospel, as in the land of northern Africa, faded and then went out, and now the darkness of Iblam holds undisputed sway. South of the Sobat and Bahr-el-Gazal, the native negro tribes are chiefly heathen, tho there may be Moslem settlers among them.

Such then, so far as our present knowledge extends, are the lands which God is now opening up to His messengers, and such are the people whom He sends us to evangelize. It is very instructive to the students of Christian history to see how God has been preparing the way in this part of the world, by political and other events, for the complete emancipation of this vast territory. Had it been left to the trader and explorer, many decades would have past before much could have been done for the amelioration of the ambition of the people. But events have been so ordered that English statesmen have time after time been obligell, most reluctantly, to take steps in connection with Egypt which have culminated in the reconquest and reopening of this whole region. A paranel series of events ill the extreme west of the larger Sudan has resulted in breaking the eivil power of another Moslem tyranllY on the river Niger. So that from east and west, the doors of these long-closed lands have at length been opened almost simultaneously.

These circumstances are all the more remarkable from the undoubted fact, that centuries ago Europeans did penetrate, on various errands, to the great lakes; and eyell the pygmies, discovered by Stanley in the vast Equatorial forest, are described and figured in all old work. But God's time for Africa's emancipation had not then come, and so, tho a few brave men forced their wfiy into the far interior, the cOlltinent as a whole was still closed. It was reserved for the closing years of the nilleteenth century to see the great obstacle to freedom broken down, and for the Church of to-day to hear God's call to go ill ald possess the land.

I'REPJ.RATION FOR THE GOSPEL.

,Ve can now see how, ill the interval, the way has been prepared. To mention only one point: the variety of languages in the Sudan has been already referred to; this, as will readily be seen, is no small hindrance to the preaching of the Gospel, but, by the diffnsion of the knowledge of one language oyer a yery wide area, among peoples of varying rnces and tongues, the work bas been marvelously lightened.* In the Egyptian Sudan the knowledge of Arabic bas been spread very widely among many trilJes, as it has been both the religious and civil language of the dominant race for many years. The whole Bible, as well "s an extensive ChrisLiall literature, exists in it, and where missionaries have already acquired it (as is the case with most of the workers whom the C. M. S. is hoping to send to Khartum), long before the vernaculars of the tribes are known, or any portion of * This may, perhaps, be made clearer by a closely parallel instance from a mission field in another part of Africa, where the writer has himself labored, viz the Victoria Nyanza mission of the Church Missionary Society, South of the Equator, from Zanzibar right across to the Atlantic, very many languages are found. Some three hundred years ago Arab traders from the Persian Gulf settled at the coast, adopted Swahili, the local language, retaining a knowl. edge of Arabic chiefly to enable them to understand the Koran (much as the Hellenistic Jews of our Lord's time adopted Greek, only keeping up Hebrew in order to read the Old Testament). Gradually penetrating into the interior, these traders carried with them a knowledge of Swahili, and wherever they settled some natives of the locality learned it. So now right across Africa, in nearly every town and large village, whatever be the local language, some can be found who can speak it. About fifty years ago Christian missionaries came to the east coast of Africa, learned tilis language, redHced it to writing, and translated pal·ts of the Bible into it. When we went out to Ugauda in 1876, we learned it at the coast and on the way up, and then when we arrived at our destination, before knowing a word of the language of the country, we were able at once to carryon active missionary work. God's Word translated ilJto them, it will be possible, by the medium of this foreign tongue, to carryon direct evangelistic work. It, of course, should not stop here. After a missionary experience of nearly a quarter of a century, I am more than ever convinced that no spiritl1al teaching is fully satisfactory till the people « hear in their own tongues wherein they were born," of the wonderful works of God; but, as preparing the way and removing the initial language difficulties, tho spread of Arabie ill this manner over a wide area is an enormous gain.

Another potent factor ill the early stages of the work will, ]]0 dou bt, be that those who come to bring the Gospel to these races, will be one in creed with those who have, broken the iron yoke of the MAHMOUD, THE KHALIFA1S CHIEF GENERAL. He was cnptul'cd hy Ole B,'H-h:}j near Kllartmn, nnd tlir photograph llaR hi8 signat.ure.

Khalifa, and thus earned the gratitude of those whom he has so loiig erusht under his tyranny.

Then in regard to the Moslems themselves, the victories over the Khalifa have a far deeper significance than the mere defeat of a rebellious vassal of Egypt. As his title shows, he was not merely a civil, but a religious ruler also-a kind of Mohammedan pope in fact-and his downfall is not merely the e,id of his own rule, and the crushing of his rebellion, but it is a tremendous blow to the creed of all Moslems, whether in the Sudan or elsewhere, who have acknowledged his claims.

Can we doubt then, that God is now calling His Church to a special effort to win for Him this part of the domain of Islam? No

'l'HE PROBLEM OF CITY EVANGELIZATION

method is so hopeful as a medical mission. Islam is not a religion of love or sympathy, and nothing in Christianity so strongly and practically appeals to the Mohammedan, as the tending of the sick and sorrowful, the suffering and the dying; and no one is so respectfully listened to, when telling of the Sayior's love and claims, as the skilful physician or patient nurse, who have with the Divine blessing been the means of giving relief 0]' healing to the body.

God has, I believe, set before us an open door in this region of Africa. There will no doubt be much opposition and many adversaries, but when He has opened who can shut? He who has bidden us go, will Himself assuredly go with us, and mightier victories will be won than those which the Sirdar has gained, and souls delivered from an even worse tyranny than that of the Mahdi and Khalifa.

'rHE PROBLEM OJ<" CI'l'Y EVANGELIZATION.

BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.

'rhe familial' phrase, " The Church and the masses," suggests, perhaps, the most perplexing question of the home field: What can be done to get hold of the great bulk of our city population who now attend no church? 'rhe late Dr. John Hall quaintly observed that" in Britain the population is divided between churchmen and dissenters; in America between church-goers and absenters."

Pope, angling for a compliment, after he had publisht his" Essay on Man," askt Mallet what new things there were in literature, and the reply was, "0, nothing worth notice-only a poor thing called an 'Essay on Man,' made up of shocking poetry and insufferable philosophy." "I wrote it," cried Pope, stung with rage, and Mallet darted out of the room, abasht at his blunder in thus offending its author unawares.

The Church is practically writing an" essay on man" which, it is to be feared, is not very honoring to the Master or His disciples. It is a patent fact that for half a century there has been a const,antly widening gulf between the Church and the mass of the people. Candor compels the admission that there has been little systematic effort to gather in the non-church goers, or even to provide accommodations for them. Not more than one-fifth of our city population attend church, and not more than one-third could find sittings, if they wanted them. Candor likewise compels the concession that the responsibility for church neglect lies largely at the door of Christian disciples. Church buildings are transferred to fashionable localities, and if any work is carried on in the deserted quarters, it is done in mission chapels, which suggest an invidious distinction, and foster a caste spirit. Churches that were once greatly blest of God in gathering in the peo- ple, are even now consolidating and moving" up town," both decreas- ing the number of church buildings in proportion to the population, and removing from the quat:ters where the greatest need exists. The fashionable church, with its rich surroundings, large-salaried pastor, costly choir, etc., is not intended for the poor, and they know it, and do not feel at ease, and will not come.

Some of us can remember when a large part of the ministers in New England had small salaries, and eked out a subsistence by farm- ing. They were perhaps not so learned or eloquent as the ministers of our day, but they were linkt closely with the people, and the churches were full, and revivals were frequent. Have not our modern churches too much taken on the cast of the religious club, and their build- ings become the resort of those who can afford the luxuries of the club-house? Can we blame the poverty-stricken multitude for having the impression that they are outcasts, in the very nature of things, from these elaborate temples with their elegant garniture and furniture?

There arc many more things that might in honesty be added .as to the actual and undeniable causes of the present estrangement between the churches and the common folk. We believe that the Gospel, the Spirit of God, the love of souls, are just as mighty to-day as ever, and if these were really depended on, and practically opera- tive, the churches would regain and retain hold on the people. But oll!' present purpose is rather to call attention to three practical exam- ples of actual success in reaching the common folk-three examples, each of which presents the subject from a different point of view: Thomas Chalmers in Glasgow, Charles H. Spurgeon in London, and John Wanamaker in Philadelphia. .

THOMAS CHAL~1ERS, THE PARISH EVANGELIST.

We begin with Chalmers, who may be called the parish evangelist. Thi$ name is especially worthy of a permanent record, as one of the men who led the way in the practica.l solution of that great problem of our civilization: "How to deal wIth the masses In our great clttes." At his sixty-fifth year we find this greatest of Scotchmen on fire with all his youthful ardor, in this mission to the masses in Edinburgh, where, as in Ephesus, the gold, silver, and precious stones of the sacred fanes and palaces were in strong contrast to the wood, hay, stubble of the huts and hovels of the poor. With sublime devotion Chalmers at this advanced age, when most men retire from active and arduolls toil, entered upon the most difficult experiment of his life, that he might demonstrate by a practical example what can be done for the poor and neglected districts in a great metropolis.

The West Port, in the" old town" of Edinburgh, was the home of a population whose co ndition may be described by t.wo words, poverty and misery. He undertook to redeem this heathen district by the .

Gospel, planting in it schools and a church for the people, and organ- i7.ing Christian disciples into a band of voluntary visitors. Th e name "territorial system " was attacht to the pIau as he workt it, and has past into history under that sonorous title. III St. John's Parish, Glasgow, he had already proved the power of visitation and organization. Within his paroehial limits he fo unu two thousand one hundred and sixty- one families, eight hundred and forty-fhe of them without any seats in It place of worship. He assigned to each visitor about fifty families. Applications for relief were dealt with systemat- ically, nnu so carefully, ye t thor- oughly, that lIot It cltse eit her of scandalou s IIllowance or scandal- ons 1w[/lect was ever made known against him and hi s visitors.

HEY. THUS. ('HALMKRS. J) n . J.L . n. Th ere was a severe scrutiny to fiau out the fact and the causes '

uf poverty, to remove necessary wallt, and remedy unn ecessary want by removing its eause. The blll'eall of intelligenee mad e imposture and tri ckery hopeless, espeeially 0 11 a seco nd attempt. And not only was poverty relieved, but at a cost which is amazingly small. While in other parishes of Glasgow it averaged two hundred to everyone t honsand of the population, and in many parishes of England it aver- aged It p01lnd for every lnhabltallt; in St. John 's it WitS but thi?·ty pou nds for one th.ousand people.

It was an illustration of heroism, in these mod ern times, wh en a man, past threescore years, whose pll blic career, both wit h hi s pen and tongu e, had made him everywhere famous, gave up his latter days to elevate th e physical, mental, moral, and spiritual condition of a squalid population in an obscure part of the modern Athens. His th eory was that about four hundred families cOllstitu te a manageabl e town par- ish, and that for every such territorial district there ought to be a church and a sehool, as n ear as may be, free to all. 'rhis district in West Port contained about thi s number of families, which were sub- divided into twenty "proportions," each containing some twenty f a mili es. A careful census, taken by visiting, revealed that, of four hundred and eleven families, forty-five were attacht to some Protestant church, seventy were Roman Catholics, and two hundred and ninety-six had no church connection. Out of a gross population of two thousand, one thousand five hundred went to no place of worship, and of four hundred and eleven children of school age, two hundred and ninety were growing up entirely in ignorance. It is a curious fact that these four hundred and eleven families averaged one child each of appropri- ate age for school, and that of these four hundred and eleven children there were about as many growing up untaught as there were families without church connection 'l'his careful compilation of statistics revealed that the propol'tlllJlS of Ignorance and non-attendance at church cOJTeslJond almost e:cactly ; in other words, families that attend a place of worship commonly send children to school, and the reverse.

Another fact unveiled by this effort at city evangelization was that about one-fourth of the mhabitants of this territory were paupers, receiving out-door relief, alld one-fourth were habitual, professional beggars, tramps, thieves, and r~tfralr.

Here was a field, indeed, for an experiment as to what the church could do in her mission among the masses. Chalmers was hungry for such an opportunity; it stirred all his Scotch blood. So he set his visitors at work. But he did not himself stand aloof. Down into the "wynds," and alleys, and" closes" of West Port he went; he presiued at their meetings, counseled the people sympathetically, identified himself with the whole plan in its formation anu execution, while his own contagious enthusiasm and infections energy gave stimulus to the most faint-hearted. He loved to preach to these people, not less than to the most elegant audiences of the capital. or the elect students of the university. He would mount into a loft to meet a hundred of the poorest as gladly as ascend the pulpit of the most fashionable cathedral church, crowded with the elite of the world's metropolis. And those ragged boys and girls hung on his words with characteristic admiration.

Two years of toil, with the aid of Rev. "V. 'rasker, enabled Dr. Chalmers to open a new free church in this district; the Lord's Supper was administered, and out of one hundred and thirty-two communicants, one hundred were trophies of the work done by him and his helpers in that obscure district. With a prophetic forecast Chalmers sa" in this success the presage of greater possibilities, and a practical solution of the problem of city evangelization, and hence he confest it was the joy of his life and the answer to many prayers.

The plan pursued by Dr. Chalmers was not at all like the modern evangelistic services-an effort spasmodic, if not sporadic; preaching for a few weeks in some church edifice or pu blic hall or tabernacle, and then passing into Rome other locality, leaving to others to gather up results and make them permanent. From the most promlsmg beginnings of this sort, how often have we been compelled to mourn that so small harvests have been ultimately gleaned! He organized systematic work that lookt to lasting results. The plowman and the sower of seed also bore his sickle, and watcht for the signs of harvest. And whenever the germs of a Divine life appeared they were nurtured, cherisht, guarded, and converts were added to the church, set at work, kept under fostering care, and not left to scatter, wander at will, or relapse into neglect.

As to his mode of dealing with pauperism, the sagacious Chalmers saw that while a ministry of love to the poor, sick, helpless was a first necessity, it would be unwise and hurtful to their best interests to encourage them to depend on charity. The church must not be an asylum in which indolence and incompetence and improvidence should take refuge. The poorest must be educated to maintain, rather than to sacrifice, self-respect, and compelled to form and maintain habits of self-help, industry, economy. thrift. Instead of clothing the poor with the half-worn garments of the better class, he would have them taught to save money worse than wasted on tobacco, drink, and vicious indulgence, and buy their own garments. And the results of this wise policy were seen in the gradual and rapid improvement in appearance of the attendants at church-rags gave way to respectable raiment, which was not the cast-off clothing of their betters.

Chalmers had no less ambition than to amell"orate and finally abol- £sh pauperism, and his success in St. John'H Parish, Glasgow, had proven that he was master of the situation; and no one call tell what results might have followed but for the Poor Law, enacted in 1845, which, by the admission of a statutory right to public l'91ief, encourages improvidence, weakens family ties among the poor, conduces to a morbid satisfaction with a state of dependence, and thus sows the seed of the very pauperism it professes to relieve and reduce.

CHARLES H. SPURGEON, THE PREACHER TO THE MASSES.

Charles Spurgeon met with the greatest success of any man of our century in gathering the common people about him and holding them for over forty years. His methods were totally diverse from those of Chalmers. He was too busy with his pen, and too remote in residence from the mass of his adherents, and too frail in bodily health, to do a work of parish visitation, or go himself among the people. Spurgeon's power lay in the preaching of a plain, searching, rousing Gospel message. lIe was less the teacher than the preacher. Others have excelleed him in pulpit exposition and systematic exegesis, as did Adolph Saphir, and as Alexander McLaren does to-day. But few men ever excelled him in the power to preach the Gospel so as to lay hold of mind, heart, conscience, and. will. Some attribute his success to his humor, or his mimicry, or his dramatic power, or his simplicity of character; but the real secret was deeper: Spurgeon preacht as a man who believed his message and meant to make others believe it; as one who loved Christ alld meant to constrain others to love him. And all the rest was but accessory to this, his main method. He practist no art but the divine art of earnestness, and his whole soul was on fire with his message. 'fhe conspicuous absence of all artistic aid was most undeniable.

The Metropolitan Tabernacle building was immense, but there was no decoration. It was built simply to hold the people and enable everybody to see and heal' with comfort, and from four thousand to six thousand assembled there every Lord's Day, morning and evening. There was nothing but congregational singing led by a precentor, and not even a pretense to fine music, no organ or choir, not even modern popular hymns and songs. But the people went and kept going, and they were the common folk-the rich were the few, and so were the cultivated; the bulk of Spurgeon's congregation was composed of the poor, the unlettered, the humble folk of the great metropolis.

JOHN WANAMAKER, THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL ORGANIZER.

We turn now to John Wanamaker, whom, being still living, we shall not indelicately compliment or praise. Bethany Church in Philadelphia, whoever may have been its pastors, owes mainly to Mr. Wanamaker whatever it is as a church of the people, and we know of no instance so conspicuous in America of success, carried on for over forty years, in reaching the masses of the common people. 'fhe secret here is somewhat unlike that of either Chalmers or Spurgeon. The origin of this work was peculiar, and it has stampt the whole history with its likeness. There has never been an essential deviation from the primary and original purpose, which was to reach people who had no church home.

At the twentieth anniversary of the organization of Bethany Church, in 1885, Mr. Wanamaker himself told the history of the enterprise, reluctantly because he was necessarily so conspicuous in it. But it was a thrilling story.

On a February afternoon in 1858, he, with Mr. Toland, a missionary of the Sunday-school Union, began a mission-school in a second story back room on Pine street. Driven out of this first room by the rowdies of the neighborhood, they tried again on South street, and at the first session gathered twenty-seven children and two women, besides Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. Toland. To-day in that huge Sundayschool building between two thousand and three thousand children and adults gather every Sunday afternoon, while Mr. Wanamaker's own Bible-class fills the spacious adjoining church. Bethany has a membership of over three thousand, and the people never tire of going there. The Gospel is preacht; but there is another secret: the people are loved and sought and made at home. They are taught that the whole of this great institutional church is for them, their home, and that everybody is there made welcome for his own sake, and not for the sake of his money, his learning, his social status, his business influence, his ability to help, or his external surroundings. Here is a model institutional church, and its history and methods are well worthy of study.

For forty years Bethany Church has demonstrated that the common people, and in great multitudes, can be got hold of and kept hold of, and that success is not spasmodic and uncertain, but permanent and uniform. In February last the writer, as a former pastor, went there to speak at an anniversary of the Bible Union, spending a Sabbath with his former flock. He attended and addrest nine meetings, which filled the day from an early hour of the morning until the close of the evening service. It was a day of hard rain, and most church buildings would have been two-thirds empty. Bethany was well filled. There were little children's meetings, and services for all ages and classes. Bible study was the one markt employment and enjoyment. 'l'here were fellowship and brotherhood meetings, all bright, cheery, sunny, helpful. Mr. Wanamaker was ubiquitous-he was everybody's friend, cordial and hearty, simple and accessible to all. Ko one would suppose that he was an ex-postmaster-general and a millionaire, conducting business on a scale almost unparalleled. He was as thoroughly free from airs or assumptions, as tho he were the. common workingman from the carpenter"s bench or the shoemaker's shop. Forty years of unique success in his own business and the Lord's business, which he seeks to make practically one, have ;:ot made him any less the man of the people, and the humble believer in the Christ. All his genius for organization has been tUl'l1ed into the Lord's work at Bethany. His great Bible class numbers well on to 2,000, and it is divided into centuries of one hundred each, with a centurion at the head, and these into companies of ten, with a titheman at the head. The tithemen keep track of attendance, collect the offerings, and take oversight of the physical and spiritual we1I7 being of the little bands under their care. If there be sickness, the sick are cared for, and if in anyone band there is more illness than that band can manage, other bands come to their help. By this simple system of division, everybody is kept track of, and feels the influence of oversight. Men, women, and children feel themselves to be somebody because somebody else takes interest in their welfare.

There is scarce a night in the week when something is not going on at Bethany. The people learn to associate church life with everything that is helpful and attractive. The channel is always open to the popular current, and the current flows that way. Prayer meetings

SAMOA-ITS PEOPLE AND MISSIONS

are thronged; and so is every other sort of service. And around Bethany gather savings banks, deaconesses' houses, book-rooms, and whatever encourages frugality, charity, and service. The neighborhood is transformed. Mr. Wanamaker obtained control of blocks of buildings that he might build homes for the people and displace whiskyshops by cheap and neat houses. The church is in the midst of a settlement, where peace and order reign.

Nothing will el:plain Bethany but Bethany itself. It is not a place or an institution to be photographt or described. It must be seen and heard and felt. There is nothing dry, stale, perfunctory about it-no dead orthodoxy nor cold refrigerating propriety. '['here is life and love, warmth and motion. And while this great church stands, and is faithful to the truth and the Christ, it can not be said truthfully that the people call not be drawn to places of worship, or kept within the embrace of the Church of God. A kid-glove is a non-conductor; but the open hand and the warm heart can be made mighty by God's Spirit to lay hold of the neglected and indifferent, and make them members of Christ's mystical body.

SAMOA-I'rS PEOPLE AND MISSIONS.

BY REV.•TA)IES )I. ALEXA:NDER, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. Author of "The Islands of the Pacific."

The islands of Samoa are situated in the middle of the routes of voyage from the North American coasts to Australasia, and on the northern border of the vast zone of islands that, with little intervening spaces between its groups, stretches from the Marquesas to Asia. 'l'hey thus occupy a strategic position for controlling the commerce and the military operations in the South Seas, and in this respect are as important in the southern part of the Pacific as are Hawaii and the Philippines in the northern part of that ocean.

The Samoan group has ten inhabited islands, btl t ouly three of them are of much importance. Of these, SaYaii, the most western, is the largest, being forty miles long, twenty broad, and seven hundred square miles in area. It has only one good harbor, that of Matautu on its northern side. Its interior is occu pied by three parallel ranges of mountains, which reach the height of four thousand feet, and are so rugged and covered with impenetrable forests that no white man has ever crost from one side of the island to the other.

Four miles east of this island is U polu, which is forty-five miles long, fourteen broad, and has an area of five hundred and eighty square miles. This island is important because of its city of Apia, which is the capital and commercial emporium of the group. This city is unfortunately situated on a bay that lies open to the hurricanes, which blow from th.e north in the months of January, February, and March.

-I eO'UtAY. ~O"EIlIIiIl'I.N •.,.

Scale of Miles .. 67 miles to an inch. 25 50 75 TOTAL AREA OF GROUP ABOUT 1,700 sQ. MILES. TOTAL POPULATIOl 36 ,000.

long, five broad, and has an area of two hundred and forty square miles. It has the best bay for ships in the group, that of Pago-Pago, situated on its southern side, one of the safest and noblest bays in the Pacific. In the year 1878, during the administration of President Hayes, Col. Steinberger negotiated the cession of this bay to the United States for use as a naval station.

In its aggregate area this group is small as compared with the great islands in the western part of the Pacific, but large as compared with the islands in the eastern part of that ocean. The statement may be surprising to many people, but nevertheless is true, that it is about equal in area to all the Tongan, Cook, Society, and Marquesas islands. (It is about half as large as the State of Indiana.) PAGO-PAGO HARBOR, TUTUILA, SAMOA.

The harbor ceded to the t;llited States fo' a coaling station.

It may also be said to be about equal ill agricultural resources to all those islands combined; for while its mountains are not picturesque, like those of the Marquesas and Society islands, not rising with rocky crags, abysmal gorges, and sky-piercing peaks, they are by their low, rounded forms and unbroken slopes better adapted to agriculture; and they are also very attractive with their ell chanting robes of vegetation. In this group the soil is so fertile, and the climate so warm alld rainy, that it is adapted to yield in perfection and in the greatest abundance every. kind of production found in the tropics. At the present time its chief export is copra. The writer once past through a plantation Ileal' Apia on which there were ninety thousand coconut trees under cnltivation for this product, a magnificent forest of the most beautiful of trees; and he was informed that a good begillning had there been made in cultivating coffee, cacao, and the choicest of tropical fruits. As yet not one-twentieth part of the area of this group has been reduced to cultivation. It may be said without exaggeration that, if its resources were fully developt, it could sustain a commerce worth in the value of its exports and imports five million dollars a year, and sustain a population of five hundred thousand people.

'fhe natives of this group are of the Polynesian race, which probably came from the Malay Peninsula and Southern India, and which occupies the islands of the eastern half of the Pacific. It is found also in the western islands of that ocean, and in those of the Indian Ocean as far as to Madagascar. Both physically and mentally it is the finest of the races of the Pacific, and the representatives of it in this group are not sm'past by any tribes on the islands of that ocean.

'rhe missionary enterprise in behalf of thc people of this group wall commenced by Rev. John Williams ill lS30. He went thither in the strange craft he had constrncted of Rarotongan tim bel', and left eight Christian Tahitians with the king of Savaii. Two years after- ward he returned, touching first at the eastern islands of the gronp, and was snrprised to filld that the nati "es had, by canoe voyages to Savaii, learned enough of the trnths of Christianity to nominally accept Christianity. Arriving at the sonthern side of Tntnila, he . undertook to land at a place, where a few years before a boat's crew of La Perouse's expedition had been massacretl, amI was hesitating to go ashore, when a native waded forth and informed him that his people had become Christians through information obtained frGm teachers left at Savaii by a great white chief twenty moons previous. Mr. Williams informed him that he himself was the chief referred to, and then the native made a joyful signal to the people on the shore, and they rnsht into the ocean and carried the boat with Mr. ,Yilliams within high up onto the land. 'rhere Mr. ,Yilliams found that the natives had erected a chapel, and, withou t teachers, were regularly assembling in it for the worship of the trne God. Continuing his voyage he found II similar state of things at Upolu, and finally, arriving at Savaii, he received a most cordial welcome, and was able to address congregations of a thousand people.

)IISSIONS AX)) POLITICS IN SAMOA.

'rhe London Missionary Society soon supplied all the districts of these islands with Tahitian teachers, and in 183G sent thither six English and Scotch missionaries. Subsequently it sent reenforcements, and ever since it has labored nobly in nplifting the natives from their ancient barbarism. The Wesleyans entered this group soon after this society, but withdrew by an amicable agreement that the 'rongall am1 Fiji Islands should be left to them, and the Samoan group to this society. Recently the Wesleyan Conference of Australasia has reentered the group. The Homan Catholics began work in the group as soon as residence was made safe by the labors of the Protestant missionaries, and they now have a following of about one seventh of the population. The Mormons have 8 missionaries and 90 converts.

The progress of the people of this group toward Christian civilization has in recent times been sadly retarded by their political tronbles, and that chiefly by the intrusion of foreigners into their affairs. Their difficulties began with the strnggles of foreigners for possession of land, and afterward cantin ned in their stl'llggles for the sovereignty over the group. It would have been a happy thing for the natives to have been conquered in early times by one of their chiefs, and brought under a hereditary monarchy, as Hawaii was brought under the Kamehamehas, and to have had their lands rendered inalienable, except by rent to foreigners, as has been arranged in the Tongan Islands, and recently in this group. The Samoan rulers did not realize the value of their lands, and sold them to foreigners, giving them titles to more land than there was in the entire ar(>a of the group.

The Germans, who claimed the g reate r portion of the land, sought to secure possession of the group. They fonnd an opportunity for accom- plishing their purpose at an election of a king. The re- snlt of the election was, that a chief by the name of Mal- ietoa Laupepa, who was 11 good man, and who had been ed ucated for the Protestant 'ministry, received three votes of the representatives of the districts, alHl was declared king, and a chief by the name of Mataafa, who was a Romlln Catholic, and another chief by the name of Tamasese, ellch received one vote, and were declared vice-kings. The Germans interfered to make Tamasese king; war ensned, and to preven t bloodshed Malietoa surrendered himself to the Germans, trusting that MALIETOA LAePEPA. the foreign nations, Britain, The late Christian king of Samou.

the United States, and Germany, would adjudicate his claims; bu t without waiting for such an adjlHlication, the Germans deported him to Jalnit, a low lagoon island of the ~Iarshall group. Several war ships of the interested fo reigll nations then congregateu at Apia to protect the citizens of their respectiv e countries. In their jealousy of each other they remained against the warnings of the weather- prophets, and were lleady all wreckt in one of the most terrible hurricanes known ill that part of the world. The foreign nations then hastened to settle their disputes by the memorable international conference that convened at Berlin on June 14th, 1889.

This conference declared for the indepelldence of Samoa, decreed that the natives should be allowed to freely elect their own kings, and choose their form of government according to their own laws and cus- toms, lLnd required that Malietoa should be conveyed home and reiustated as king. It appointed a supreme court, with a supreme justice, elective by the signatory powers, to adjudicate differences between foreigners,or between Samoans and foreigners, and to decide, finally, any question respecting the election of a king over the group. It decreed that the municipality of Apia should be governed by a president appointive by the signatory powers, and six councilors elective by its people. It appointed a land commission to settle all claims by aliens to land, and decreed that hereafter, excepting within the district of Apia, all alienation of lands to foreigners IS prohibited, but leases of land for forty-year periods are permitted, when such leases are ap- ·proved in writing by the king and chief justice.

In many respects this system of government has been beneficial to the Samoans. I t has caused justice to be properly administered; it has an- nu lIed nearly all the claims of foreigners to land; it has made the homesteads of the Sa- moans perpetually in- alienable; it has forbidden the sale of intoxicating liquors to the nati ves, and MATAAFA. it has put restraints on the immorality of for- The banisht chief and present claimant to the Samoan kingdom. eigners visiting Samoa.

But the natives have rebelled against it, because of its imposition of taxes. Under the lead of Mataafa they sought .to depose Malietoa, but were defeated, and Mataafa was deported by the Germans in 1893 to Jaluit. A few months ago he was conveyed home again, having been won over by kind treatment to favor the ascendancy of the Germans in Samoa. Unfortunately, soon after his return Malietoa died, having contracted typhoid fever, and the old struggle for the throne was renewed. There were three candidates for the throne, and of these Mataafa received the majority of the votes, being a favorite of the people and a partisan of the Germans and of the Roman Catholics.

According to the requirements of the Berlin conference the matter was referred to the chief justice, and on the 31st of last December he announced that Mataafa was ineligible, because Germany had stipu- lated in its protocol for the Berlin Conference, that he should not be permitted to become king. '1'he chief justice, therefore, proclaimed Tanuafili, a son of Malietoa, about eighteen years of age, king. The German consul, Mr. Rose, assured Mataafa that the stipulation of Germany's protocol was a mere matter of the past, and no longer bind- ing, thus admitting its significance. Thereby emboldened, Mataafa, with five thousand warriors, marcht to attack Tanuafili, who, with one thousand men, had encampt on the bank of a small stream.

The chiefs of Mataafa went as envoys into T an uafili's army, and won over a third of the warriors on the plea that Mataafa had re- ceived the majority of th e votes for king, and they would have won over the rest, if one of Tanuafili's men had not discharged a gun and killed one of them. A combat then ensued, in which Tanuafili was defeated. He, with ·a multitude of warriors, fled to Pago-Pago, and Mataafa's men pillaged the city, and, under the lead of Roman Catholics, de- stroyed the foreign Protestant ch urch. The foreign community establisht a provisional govern- ment, and they are now awaiting the decision of the foreign powers respecting the succession to tlle A SA MOAN WARRIOR. throne.

As might be supposed, the state of warfare which has continued in Samoa for many years, has been very detrimental to the welfare of the natives. Because of the consequent in sec urity of property, the natives have withheld from industrial enterprises, indolently subsisting on the spontaneous products of their fruit-trees, and the yams growing wild in their forests, and going in their ancient semi-undress. They have also been demoralized by the barbarities of war, and injured in health by exposure to inclement weather while encamping in the mountains. The result is that t.heir death-rate is greater than their birth-rate, tho formerly their population was increasing. Travelers going thither infer that they have made less progress in civilization '·.han the natives of islands that have enjoyed uninterrupted peace and t>rosperity. And this is partly true, but they are hardly less improved in character and education. The testimony of the foreign residents in Apia is that they can almost universally read and write; that many of them have made considerable advance in the higher branches of education, and that they are on an average quite as moral'and religious as the people of Great Britain and the United States. In nearly all their houses they daily conduct family worship. Out of a population of thirty-six thousand, about seven thousand of them are members, and twenty-eight thousand adherents of Protestant churches. Nearly all of these churches are under the care of native pastors, of whom thcre are about one hundred and eighty. Besides these pastors there are two hundred lay preachers There are also 10 male and 4 female foreign missionaries of the London Missionary Society.

For this reason the foreign missionaries are doing little in the way of preuching, and are devoting their attention to primary schools, and to several noble institutiolls for higher education, thus laying the foundatiou for a permanent Christian civilization. There are in the group over two hundred primary schools, ill which eight thousand boys and girls are receiving instruction. From these schools the best pupils are promoted to high schools, or to bor-rding-schools. The most important of the high schools is the ~ralua 'rraining Institution, which is situated about twenty miles west of Apia, and owns a tract of three hundred acres. It was founded in 1844 by Rev. Chas. Har- . die and Rev. G. Turner, the latter compelled to flee for his life from the savages of Tanna, in the New Hebrides group Excepting in the support. of its tutorial staff, this institntion has from the first been self-sustaining, the pupils having built its houses, twenty ill unmber, reclaimed fifty acres of its land from jungle, and planted them with one thousand two hundred breadfruit and nine hundred coconut trees, and each cultivating with yams, taro, bananas, and sugar~canc a special tract assigned to himself. They procure supplies of fish from an adjacent lagoon. In this institution there are now one hundred and three pupils, thirty-three of them married men, their wives receiving instruction. They have come both from Samoa and from other islands in which the London Missionary Society is conducting its enterprises, and on graduating the most of them wiIllabor as ministers or teachers either in Samoa or in islands of other groups. Besides this institution there is, on the same island, the girls' central boarding-school near Apia, a girls' 11igh SC1100] at Aal1a, a boys' high school at Leumoega, and, on Savaii, two schools under the management of foreign teachers.

The result of the work ill these schools, together with that in the churches, is the enlightenment both of the Samoans and also of pagan tribes on other islands of the South Pacific, for the Samoans have heroically engaged in foreign missionary enterprises. They have been the pioneers in evangelizing the savages of the New Hehrides and Loyalty Islands, of New Guinea, of sixteen islands of the Tokelau,

THE PRESENT CENTER Ol!' THE BLAV E-TRADE

Ellice, and Gilbert groups, and of Nine, or Savage, Island. It may be said that important as is this group by its strategic positio1l for COIltrolling the commercial and military operations in the South Seas, it is thus more important as a ra(liating center of missiollary influences for promoting Christian civilization in that part of the Pacific. A people so teachable as are its inhabitants, and SO acti ve as they are in the noblest benevolent ellterprises, deserve the sympathy of the civilized world ill the dissensions fostered amongst them by foreign nations, and should be enabled to so adjust their difficulties as to enter on an era of uninterrupted prosperity and of great usefulness in the other island, of the South Seas.

THE PRESENT CEN'l'ER OF 'l'HE SLAVE – TRADE.

BY REV. SA)IUEL )f. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S., BAHREIN, AHABIA. ~Iissionary (,f the Reformed (Dutch) Church in AmerIca.

Mohammedanism has been throughout its history responsible for the slave-hunt and the slave-market as the necessary accompaniments to the slavery it recogllizes and sanctioIls. 'rhe African slave-trade in recent years has been maintained solely for the supply of the ~foslem markets. And while the awful traffic in human flesh has somewhat abated, it is still carried on outside of Africa to an extent above belief, along nearly the whole Arabian coast. 1'he cradle of Islam is the center of the" honorable business." Fo!' we must llever forget that, according to the Koran, slavery and the slave-trade are divine institutions.* From these texts we learn, that all male and female slaves taken as plunder in war are the lawful property of the nmster; that the master hail pow~r to take to himself any female slave, either married or single, as his chattel; that the position of a slave is as helpless as that of the stone idols of old Arabia; and that, while a man can do as he pleases with his property, slaves should be treated kindly and granted freedom when able to purchase it. Slave-traffic is not only allowed, but legislated for by Mohammedan law and made sacred by the example of the prophet.t In Moslem books of law the same rules apply to the sale of animals and slaves. Some Moslem apologists of the present day contend that Mohammed lookt upon the custom as temporary in its nature, but the slavery of Islam is inter- woven with the laws of marriage, of sale, of inheritance, and the whole social fabric, so that its abolition would strike at the very foundations of their legal code.!

Oonsequently, whenever and wherever Mohammedan rulers have agreed to the abolition or suppression of the slave-trade, they have acted contrary to the przmleges of thell" reltgion in consenting to obey the laws ~f 7mrlluUlty. There is not the least doubt that if it were possible to do away with the slave-trade by the writing and signing of treaties, it would long since have been abolisht. The war against the traffic has been waged on paper most vigorously and unanimously by all the powers. The general act of the Brussels Conference, 1889-90: drawn up ill French, all nom de Dielt Tout PUlssant, and signed by Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, "United States, France, Englalld, Italy, Holland, Persia, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Turkey, is a noble document. The conventioll between Great Britain and rrurkey for the suppression of the African slave-trade, bound the latter power illdisputably "to absolutely prohibit the traffic in and mutilation of children." "With a view to the more effectual suppression. . . . his Majesty agrees that British cruisers may visit, search, and, if necessary, detain any Ottoman vessel which may be found engaged in the traffic or suspected of being intended for that traffic." And the provisions of the Brussels Oonference define the maritime zone, where slave-trade still exists, as extending" on the one hand between the coasts of the Indian Ocean and those of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf included, from Baluchistan to Cape Tanga- lane;" in plain English, the coast line of Arabia.§ 'ren years after the date of these treaties this coast is still the center and hotbed of the slave-trade. Let llS begin at the Persian Gulf littoral. At the * Surahs iv : 3, 28, 40; xxxiii: 49; xvi: 77; xxx: 27; xxiv; 33. and Moslem Commentaries t Mishkat, Book xiii, Chap. xx.

t Hamilton's Hedaya (Grady's Edition), Vol. II., page 45S.

§ Hertslet's Commercial Treaties, Vol. XV., page 417-421. Convention between Great Britain and Turkey, Jan. 25, 1880, Englisn text. Act of Brussels Conference, Arts. VIII, XX..

XXI, XXV.. LXVIII., and LXIX. Brussels Conference the shah consents" to organize an active supervision in the waters off the coast of the Persian Gulf and on the inland routes, which serve for the transport of slaves." His Majesty has one gunboat stationary, rather than stationed, at Bushire; nor has this vessel ever attempted to track or pursue slave-dealers. Recent testimony is conclusive that an active trade is carried on along the entire Persian coast. Mr. Budgett Meakin writes: During my sojourn in the city of Shiraz (Persia), I have been making inquiries as to how the ra'nks of the slaves I see in all the well-to-do houses are recruited and what is the lot of the slaves themselves. It seems that since the English have been so energetic in their patrol of the Arabian and African coasts, the prices in Persia have risen considerably, on account of the difficulty of importing them, but that the demand is sufficient to make it a paying business to those engaged in it. The simplest way is the running of them across the gulf in native sailing boats, which can not, of course, be controlled by the one English vessel stationed there to prevent them, while it is the interest of the officials and people on both sides to encourage them. Many are bought in Mecca, and brought in, by way of Bagdad, as members of the families or suites of pilgrims, and it is in this way that the eunuchs required in every Persian household of standing are imported, being brought, while still boys, in the impenetrable and inviolable guise of women.

SLAVE-TRADE UNDER THE FRENCH FLAG, After the" rise" in prices, Abyssinian boys could still be bought at Shiraz for £18 ($90), and Bombassi girls for £16 sterling; in the same town agood riding horse cost £12, and a baggage mule £14. The variety in the market included Abyssinians, Nubians, Circassians, Georgians, Kurdish, and Bombassan. Not only is there an active trade in Persia, but this trade is largely due to the gulf slave-trade propel', carried on in native boats under the French flag. Here is the testimony of the Bombay Times in an editorial of Dec, 24, 1898: The French vice-consul at Bushire has been careful to repudiate the assertion that the refusal of France to accept the convention of Brussels has rendered moral support to the slave-trade in the Persian Gulf. For the sake of strict accuracy it would have been better if it had been made clear that the refusal applied only to certain stipUlations in the convention whose importance that functionary recognizes. We have been presented with a series of citations from a circular addrest by the minister of marine to the French consular agents in Bushire, Zanzibar, and other ports, in which the refusal of the French government to recognize a right of search in vessels carrying the French flag is announced and defended. This refusal is justified by "the national traditions," and by an appeal to the principles of the modern law of nations. We are not quite sure, however, whether the law of nations, which is an inference from the sustained and general practise pursued between nations who have arrived at an equal stage of moral and political development, is necessarily applicable to the relations between European powers and the pirates and slave-dealers of the Persian Gulf, Before laying down principles in a case such as this, we ought to have some regard to the facts.

Constructively, no doubt, French statesman may, if they wish, regard as a French ship any battered baggala to whose mast a half-naked Arab may choose to nail a strip of tricolor. Whether this is for the greater glory of a flag that has splendid traditions of its own, is a question not to be ansvered outside of France. But to allege that the principles of the law of nations apply to vessels of this description, only in a construc- tive sense possessing the character of French vessels, is to strain them to breaking point, and to put solemn rules of international law to a con- temptuous use. To put the lllatter plainly, the French flag is being prostituted for the benefit of slave-traders. Certificatt's of protec- tion are granted to owners of dhows without any regard to the use to which they are likely to be put, Fifteen hundred to t",·o thousand slaves are annually landed at SUI', many of them in craft carrying the French colors, coming from ports adjacent to :lIadagascar. 'Ve take for granted that so much of this trade as is carried on in dhows provided with French papers is unknown to the French consul at Muscat, and that he would prevent it if he knew of it, and if he hadanavalforce at his dis- posal for intercepting it. But the fact that his vigilance is eluded only strengthens the argument for abandoning the vicious sYfltemof indis- criminately granting letters of protection to all who apply for them.

If these were limited to people who have It bona fide right to them, the French consul at illuscat would have less to do, but the slave-dealers at SUI' and elsewhere along the coast would find their business illOSt happily curtailed.

BRITISH SPHEHE OF RESPONSIBILITY.

The mention of Snl' (Soor) brings us to that part of the present slave-trade zone for which certainly England ;s primarily responsible. The entire coast from "den to Mnscat is practically under English protection, for the nati"e rulers are subsidized by the English. Sur itself is only Olle hundred llliles frolll the }lusmtt consulate. And while we must acknowledge that whatever Ims been done, and is being done, to interfere with the traffic ill both the Gulf alld the Indian Oceall, has been by English gunboats; yet the fact remains that the occasional capture of a slave-dhow neal' Muscat harbor is not an effective patrol of the lIatlramaut coast. ~'1ore serious still WaS the unrestricted and wholesale importation of firearllls nnder the British flag into Onu~1l and East Arabja during the pa~t fi'e years. Thousands of modern rifles reaeht the Arabs on the coast, and from there went inland* Yet the Brnssels Conference states, Art. VIII., "The experience of all nations has proyed the pernicious and preponderating part played by flrearms ill the slave-trade." Happily we ean at this date record that the Indian government has, out of self-interest, at * Said the Times of India, Dec. 10. 18DH: "Perhaps the faets which have now come to light will put an end to the agitation organized by the gunmakers of Birmingham" and benevolently supported by two or three members of parliament. Anyone acquainted with the conditions of life in the Persian Gulf must be aware that 27,000 rifles can not be poured into that region every year from England alone~to say nothing of exports from continental countries~without a proportion of the weapons filtering through to the frontier' last rigidly prohibited all importation of firearms into the Persian GnU and Oman coast.

Lastly, there remains to consider the Hed Sea littoral and its slavetraffic. An American, long resident in Africa, estimates that at present over eleven thousand slaves are sent yearly into Arabia from the African coast ~ The late J. Theodore Bent wrote respecting the slavetrade in the Red Sea: The west coast of the Red Sea is in portions still much given to slave-trading. From Suez down to Ras Benas the coast is pretty well protected by government boats, which cruise about and seize dhows suspected of traffic in human flesh, but south of this, until the area of Suakin is reached, slave-trading is still actively carried on. The transport is done in dhows from the Arabian coast, which corile over to the coral reefs of the western side ostensibly for pearl fishing. At certain seasons of the year slave-traders in caravans come down from the dervish territory in the Nile valley, and the petty Bedouin sheiks on the Red Sea littoral connive at and assist them in the work.

THE )IECCA t-lLA VE )IAHKET.

Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje describes (:N[ekka, Vol. II., pp. 13-24), the public slave-market at Mecca in full swing every day during his visit. It is located near Bab Derebah and the holy mosque, and open to everybody. Altho he himself apologizes for the traffic, and calls the anti-slavery crusade a swindle, he yet confesses to all the horrible details in the sale of female slaves, and the mutilation of male slaves for the markets. Eunuchs are plentiful, and are specially imported to act as gnards for mosques; they can be bought for £24 apiece.

The explorer, Charles M. Doughty, who spent years in the interior of Arabia, writes: Jiddah is the staple town of Afl'ican slavery fOI" the Turkish empire; Jiddah, where are Frankish consuls! But you shall find these worthies, in the pallid solitude of their palaces, affecting (Great Heaven!) the sim- plicity of new-born babes; they will tell you they are not aware of it!

But I say again in your ingenuous ears, Jiddah ,is the staple town of the Turkish slavery, 01' (Ill the Jv!oslemeen (ll"e l'ial's. I told them we had a treaty with the sultan to suppress slavery;-Dog, cries the fellow, thou liar-are there not thousands of slaves at Jiddah that every day are bought and sold? Wherefore, thou dog, be they not all made free if thou sayest sooth? " t After such testimony it seems almost impossible that the special commissioner of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1895 should report on the condition of the Red Sea slave-trade without ever * That there is extensive slavery prevalent in all of the interior, is evident from the fact that in 1898 fifteenlllale and forty-three female slaves were assisted by the Busrah consulate in obtaining their manumission papers. This is the average each year of slaves who escape from their masters in the direction of Busrah. The possession of a domestic .slave is not an offense in Turkey; it is only the slave-trade which is forbidden. Consequently, it is no easy matter for a slave to obtain his freedom, nor will they take the task of seeking it unless driven by cruel treatment.

t Arabia Deserta, Vol, II. pp, 53, 167, and 491. visiting Jiddah or any port on the Arabian coast north of Hodeidah.* Yet such is the case, for cholera at Jiddah prevented Mr. Donald Mackenzie from calling at that port. Stranger still, notwithstanding this important omission, he has a very strong indictment left. Speak- ing of the long stretch of African coast, between Cape Guardafui and Kismayu on the south, avoided by British ships because, almost with- out shelter or harbor, he says: The natives of those regions are able to do as they please, and I was informed, on very reliable authority, that a considerable amount of slave-trading is carried on with Arabia, and, as the coast is not watcht, there is nothing to prevent the Arabs carrying away slaves continually.

There is one fairly good harbor near Cape Guardafui, called Ras Hafun, in which the dhows take shelter in case of bad weather. The dhows that usually resort to this part of the coast hail from Maculla, Shuhr, and other places on the Hadramaut coast. "Vhen they have obtained their cargo of slaves and other products, they run for Ras el Hadd, and should they meet any of the European warships on the way, they hoist the French flag, but it does not, therefore, follow that they have authority to use the flag of that nation, their owners simply buying one and using it when they find themselves in difficulties. . Neither the British, French, nor Italians, do much to check the export of slaves from their spheres of influence on the Red Sea coast. While I was passing along the coast from Massowah to Assab, I observed a large number of dhows at different points waiting for business. We must have passed hundreds, but I did not observe a single war-ship looking after these dhows.

The following is a list of slave-traffic ports as given by Mr. Mackenzie: Debab (between Aden and Mocha), Musa, Khauka, Zebid, Hodeidah, Jiddah, Lahaia, Gaizon, Konfidah, Fursan Islands, and Mede-all on the Arab coast. "The Turkish authorities charge so much a head on every slave introdttced into Arabia at these points; in other words, they charge a duty on the slave-trade." Mr. Mackenzie acknowledges in his report that the one peculiar and serious difficulty that stands in the way of the abolition of slavery in the Red Sea is Turkey: It appears that, in the Anglo-Turkish Slave-trade Treaty, any slaves or dhows caught in the Red Sea, must be handed over to the Turkish authorities at the nearest port. These authorities are supposed to punish the Rlave-traders, and liberate the slaves, but in reality these latter only become slaves of the Turkish government. British cruisers are not allowed to pursue a dhow inside the three··mile limit on the Arabian coast, the result of such arrangement being that it is practically hopeless to put down slavery in these waters, unless the slave dhows are caught on the African coast of the Red Sea.

But he is not at a loss for the remedy, and recommends: Greater activity on the part of the Aden authorities; the establishment of British consulates at Sanaa and Hodeidah [why not at Mecca as well ?]; the prohibition of the importation of arms into Abyssinia.

* Anti-Slavery Reporter, December, 1895.

1899·1 REFLECTIONS AFTER A WINTER TOUR IN INDIA

But all these are paUlical remedies-porous plasters, which will not heal" the open sore of the world." The disease can not be cured by politics; there is a more excellent way.

The true method of dealing with the slave-trade was pointed out long ago by Mackay of Uganda, in his celebrated plea for a mission to the Arabs of Muscat. The way to root out the slave-trade is to evangelize the slave-trader. The entire west coast of Arabia has not a single witness for Ohrist. Aside from Aden, the entire southern coast of Arabia has never been toucht by a missionary society; and the same is true of nearly all the African Red Sea coast north of Massawall. It is the ambassadors of the Great King who must occupy the vantage points, and not mere consular officers of earthly governments. Why has Jesus Ohrist no resident agent at Jiddah or Mecca, or Hodeidah? Why has not the Ohristian church occupied these direful cities in the name of humanity, if not to raise the banner of the Orucified? The time has come, if we are really in earnest about the slave-trade, for a mission to the west coast of Arabia. He who undertakes it will help deal the death-blow to the traffic in human flesh, and bring the answer to Livingstone's prayer.

If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it ?

REFLEOTIONS AFTER A WINTER '.rOUR IN INDIA.

REV. F. B. MEYER., B.A., LONDON, ENGLAND.

India is now the scene of a mortal conflict between Ohristianity and Hinduism. The issue is not doubtful, but the conflict is severe, and demands all the thought and prayer that the Ohristian church can give. The hoary system of Hinduism is not yielding her ground without a strenuous resistance. and, especially in South India, there is every appearance of a revival. The temples have been refurnisht; the festivals were never more zealously maintained; the crowds of devotees were never more numerous. T.his was specially notable at the vast temple at Madura, which can easily accommodate 40,000 pilgrims within its vast corridors and courts. This imposing structure within the last twenty years has been encircled with walls and railings, paved with magnificent granite blocks at great cost, and redecorated. Immense and costly additions are also being made to its splendid Buddhist shrines at Rangoon, and tho there is a vast difference between Buddhism and Brahmanism, yet the' great extensions which are in progress in Burma are evidence of the reaction which is taking place in the non-Ohristian world of the East, as tho every effort were being made, and every nerve strained, for the last scenes in the mortal strife. If the Christian traveler would see Hinduism in its most significant forms, he should do three things. First, hire a boat some morning, and pass slowly along the two miles of river bank on which BenaTes stands-Uasi (as the Hindus call it) the holy city, old when Christ was born, to see which is the cherisht hope of every Hilldu; to die within whose walls is to secure an instant passport to heaven, even for him who has killed the sacred cow, for the Mohammedan, or even the Christian. Here will be seen a most extraordinary spectacle. The river bank is lined with steps from the water's edge to the temples and palaces above, which are of every conceivable ugly style of architecture. On these steps stand at least 10,000 people in every attitude of worship; some adoring the sun as it slowly rises over the desert on the other side of the water; some descending to the water and performing various intricate sacred rites; others retiring from the bank, drying and attiring themselves, and giving presents to the fat and lazy Brahmans, who sit on stone platforms beneath their spreading umbrellas, reciting passages from the Vedas. Let the visitor then go through the crowded streets of the city, where people jostle one another in their endeavor to reaeh the sacred shrines. Remember that this scene has been witnest for centuries and centuries, with no appreciable abatement, and you will reali7.e how deeply the entire system is interwoven with the national life and social customs of the people.

THE BLOOTlY T1DIPLE OF LLI, CALCI'TTA.

Second; Visit the temple of U ali, in Calcutta. It is a gruesome and terrible spectacle. It is well to have seen it once, but I have no desire to repeat the experience. Ye saw the image of the goddess, with her red tongue protruding, as it is said to have done on that bloody field of lmttle, when she discovered that she was treading on the dead body of her sponse. The temple, filthy in the extreme, is beset with beggars, specially women, and the rendezvous of villainous people of all kinds. Scores of worshipers may be seen carrying or leading kids, which are on sale in the neighborhood. Before the British government stopt it, children were sacrificed to this horrid deity; but now kids are substituted. Whilst we were standing there Olle was brought, its head fixt in a cross-piece of wood, and with one blow severed from the body; then, as its warm blood covered the pavement, a fakir, with matted hair, came and danced in it, bathing his feet in the gore. From there I was taken to a well-known college to address the students; and, alluding to what I had seen, said; "Gentlemen, I can not think that you can have any sympathy with such forbidding rites." But oue of the professors informed me afterward that, with the exception of the few Christian students among them, there was hardly one who, at the instigation and bidding of the women of his household, would not take part in those very scenes. A CORRIDOR Db'" THE TEMPLE AT MADURA 1 INDIA.

Intellectually they have 110 faith, 110 sympathy for such a cult; but the social system of thei l' people is too strong all illfinence for them to withstand.

Lastly: Visit the great temple of .Madura, in Southerll India. The temple covers a vast area, with its beautiful cloister-girt tank, its long and spacious galleries, with gigantic ilgures of the gods of the Hindn Pantheon carved in monoliths on either side, its hall of five hundred columns, its inner shrine, which nono but the pure Hindu may enter; its 0001 summer palace for the comfort of its goddess, its forty priests, its elephants and nautch-girls, its priceless jewels and countless treasmeso All around there is the mystic and obscene symbol of life. These vast spaces are thronged with people, many times a year, so thickly packt that progress is almost impossible. This is some indication of how Jlluch must yet be aeeomplisht beforc this gigantic growth of the centuries is felled to the ground.

In former centuries Hinduism has largely ayaile<l itself of the poliey of comprehension. There is an instance of this at Mad ura. Once a year a marriage ceremony is proclaimed between the son of the god and goddess of the temple and a queen, who some centuries ago fell in battle. Now, it is the traditional custom of the Tamils to worship demons, and to propitiate the l)/({lle.~ of allY that may have come to a sudden and tragic end by making propitiatory offerings. No doubt they did so in the case of this warrior queen, and when the wily Bmh, mans came, in all probability they raised no objection to the aborigines following their ancient practise, and profest their willingness for it to be incorporated with their own system, and thus this marriage was suggested. But tho celebrated each year, it is never consummated, because at a critical moment the chief Brahman comes in and sneezes, and as a sneeze is an unlucky omen, the ceremonial is hastily interrupted and postponed for another year. The interesting point for us to consider is the complacency with which Hinduism incorporated the simple primitive cult that, from time immemorial, hnd held the allegiance of the native race.

This octopus method of absorption, as is well known, was adopted toward Buddhism, which, six hundred years before Christ, nrose as a protest against the sacrificial system of Brahmanism, a system which, in pre-Buddhistic days, found expression in more numerous and more precious sncrifices than those offered by any other people. When face to face with this deadly revolt against its nudacity, Hinduism did not hesitate to abandon some of its most chnracteristic teachings in favor of those of its rival, and ended by giving Gautama an honored place ill its pantheon.

HINDUISM AND CHHISTIANITY.

There are evidences that the same policy at some remote period was attempted as a method of meeting Christianity. An interesting broc7mre by Dr. Jones is my anthority for this statement, * and he maintnins his position by elaborate allusions to the Hindu sacred books. He instances the curious similarities between the stories of the infancy of Krishnn and that of Jesus, the doctrine of bhakti, which affirms the saving efficacy of faith in a personal God, and the writings of the Sittars, who rejected the fables of Hinduism, and taught a pure Theism. He lays especial emphasis on the anticipated tenth incarnation of Vishnu, when he comes to put an end to the present iron nge, destroying the wicked and ushering in a new era of righteousness. For this great mission he is to come seated upon a white horse, with n drawn sword, blazing like a coronet. And in such n delineation it is impossible not to trace the effect of the vision of the Apocalypse. Such concessions and inclusions may, without doubt, be due to the effect of the successful endenvors of early Christians to win this stronghold for Christ.

No serious and widespread attempts in this direction are, however, being made to-day. The defenders of Hinduism realize that no quarter can be given or accepted on the part, at least, of those evangelical forces from which they have most to fear; and they are endeavoring to meet the present crisis by the establishment of colleges and schools, the sending forth of itinerating preachers, and the imitation, even to *" Hinduism and Christianity: a Comparison and a Contrast," by Rev. J P. Jones, D.D. The Christiall Literature Society for India. London and Madras. open-air preaching, of those methods which are pursued by Christian mIssIOnaries. And it is, therefore, of untold importance, that the Christian church should discern the signs of the times, and avoid all that would needlessly dissipate her forces, or diminish her strength.

The great societies in Great Britain and the United States should seek to adopt adequate means of conserving their forces for this great conflict. I would suggest the following items for consideration: OONSERVATION OF MISSIONARY ENERGY.

(1) The desirableness of relieving the missionaries, so fm' as possible, from the details of reports, statistics, and accounts. In many cases, missionaries possest of great linguistic and evangelistic talent are confined within their compounds, and unable to devote themselves to the direct work which they love best, because their strength and time are so largely monopolized by bookkeeping, which might as well be attended to by young laymen, who are sincerely anxious to be employed in the great missionary cause, but may not feel distinctly called to preach the Gospel. It is likely enough that, tho well acquainted with bookkeeping, they may not have had the opportunity of becoming specially educated, and attaining the standard Of efficiency, on which most of the missionary societies insist.* In these days of short-hand and typewriting, it does seem a pity not to save, in every possible manner, the time and energy of our most capable and experienced men and women·t (2) The necessity of securing {t more complete delimitation of frontier. It is a bitter experience to see the divisions of the home lands repeated on the foreign field, and to find the C. ~L S., the American or English Baptists, or some form of Methodism, in the same city or district. Wherever this is the case, not only are the minds of the non-Christian peoples greatly exercised as to which is the true faith, but there is a perpetual unrest amid the native pastors, catechists, teachers, and members. Authentic reports have come to me of native agents, who would retort on their superintendents, that if they were not satisfied, there would be no difficulty in .obtaining employment in some neighboring mission, which, in fact, would pay them a rupee or two more per month.

In contrast with this, how pleasing it is to turn to the habitual practise of Bishop Moule in mid-China, who refuses to receiye into his church the member of a family, if the remaining members are *In one instance. which came recently under my notice, because the young man in ques- tion was selected from my own church, the C. M. S. sent out to an African mission field the kind of man, of whom I am now writing, to the great relief of the missionary staff.

t In one case a missionary, whom I came to know intimately, told me, that he had given up the post of superintendence, to which his seniority entitled him, because he did not wish to be trammeled by tbe inevitable demands to which such a position exposed him. But, on the other hand, the risk of great detriment and loss was incurred to the entire mission, because, on this ground, he stood back from the chief post of <;ommand, connected with some other mission. If one strong evangelical society were prepared to carryon the work offered in a given district, and could guarantee the maintenance of all existing agencies, thoroughly and energetically, it surely should be arranged for other societies to withdraw, and concentrate their efforts on some other portion of the vast unevangelized .portions of the Indian Empire. * The question as to which society should remain, and which withdraw, might be settled by a joint commission of inquiry, on which most of the great missionary societies should be represented; and its decision would be determined by such considerations, as the date of occupancy, the amount of money invested, and the schemes on foot for affecting the entire district.

Is such a commission quite an impossibility; and even if it could not affect the status quo, might it not arrange for the division of the land in coming times, so that there might be some organized plan of campaign, some coordination of forces, some brotherly arrangement, that the unwholesome rivalry, which now exists in certain directions, should not spread?

FREE-LANCE INSTITUTIONS.

(3) I would also urge most strongly the extreme undesirableness in Ohristian people at home giving support to free-lance institutions. Whilst I was in Calcutta, a telegram was received from Europe, from a distinguisht person, to ascertain the respectability of a Hindu, who was seeking his patronage. The reply was sent back that the man was an absolute fraud. t If an enterprise or an institution is needed, and is on right lines, there is never any difficulty in obtaining the sanction and concurrence of missionaries or laymen on the spot; and where this is wanting, no assistance should be given. The touching details of the report, or appeal, are not to be relied on as evidence; they are often simply patcht together for a purpose. A thorough investigation would do a world of good, and clear away a large amount of dead wood from the young forest of missionary enterprise.

(4) There seems some hope that the missionary societies are slowly coming to the conclusion, that India will never be reacht by Europeans or Americans, and that the main hope for its evangelization • I would most earnestly and specially plead with the leaders of the Salvation Army in this direction. Surely, they can not realize how bitter is the feeling which they have excited in many parts of India, by intruding on work which had been establisht long before their organization had any existence, drawing away converts, and even exhibiting as trophies of their work those who received their first religious impressions in Christian schools. F. B. M.

t On two occasions attempts were made to secure my countenance of institutions that did not publish a balance·sheet or account for some moneys received. In one of these, I am inclined to think, that the omission was rather from inadvertence than from chicanery. But in each case I vehemently protested, and was assured that the institution should be placed pnder proper control, and should issue a statement of accounts. F. B. M. must rest with the Ohristian natives themselves. But if this is to be so, the self-reliance and self-help of these men must become a very definite o':ject. Whether they be specially versed in Presbyterianism, Episcopalianism, or Methodism, is not of material importance; for these forms of church government may advantageously merge into a very simple and specially Oriental method, when the Indian Ohristians are really left to themselves. But it is of prime importance that the native workers should be thrust away from that reliance on the missionary, for his initiative and direction, which at present is so perceptible. One is repeatedly met by the remark, "'l'hey are so exactly like children." But babes will remain babes until they are forced from their mother's arms. Few things seem to me of more importance than the raising up of men of vigor, self-reliance, and devotion, who shall be able to stand alone; and I do not see how these are to be formed apart from the inculcations of deeper aspects of truth, and especially of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, concerning which the apostle said, that they who receive them were no longer babes, but strong men in Christ Jesus.

THE MISSIONARY HEROES OF INDIA.

I can not close without expressing my admiration for the devotion, earnestness, and self-denial of the immense majority of missionaries whom we met in India. We were everywhere welcomed with an infinite warmth and thoughtfulness, and shall ever cherish the remembrance. The number, manifoldness, and excellence of the methods employed were equally interesting and astonishing; and the swift- Bess with which, as in the case of the famine children, the missionaries adapt themselves to a new situation and seize an opportunity.

It is much to have seen the Taj, the Pearl Mosque, and Akbar's Tomb; to have stood in the residency graveyard at Lucknow, and to have seen the angel carved in white marble at the grave in Cawnpore; to have prayed under the roof of Henry Martyn's Pagoda, and to have sat in the room where Carey died; but it is a greater privilege to have stood for a moment beside the leaders of the greatest fight that the Christian church has ever waged since the time of Oonstantine, and to have been permitted to raise to their parched lips a draught of the living water, making a brief interspace in their great fight.* * Mr. Meyer's mission was the means of great blessing to the Christians of India, Europeans, Eurasians, and natives. He visited Poona, Bombay, Lahore, Lucknow, Calcutta, Rangoon, Madras, Madura, Colombo, and other cities, and everywhere was welcomed by large audiences, who listened attentively to the practical, spiritual messages given. Christ was lifted up, and men and women were drawn unto Him.-En.

THE CHUltCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY CENTENARY

THE OHUROH MISSIONARY SOCIETY OENTENARY.

BY THE REV. A. R. BT:CKLAND, M.A., LONDON, ENGnAND.

English church life has hitherto shown us nothing which furnishes a just parallel to the London celebrations of the Ohurch Missionary Society centenary. They are for the present unique. In the multi- plicityof the engagements they suggested a successful church con- gress, but there the parallel ended. No church congress has ever brought together as many men and women as were present at the call of the Ohurch Missionary Society. No church congress ever suc- ceeded as the Ohurch Missionary Society has done in filling meeting after meeting without even a passing suggestion of waning interest or exhausted enthusiasm. No church congress was ever pervaded with the spirit of fraternity, with sanctified enthusiasm, with the absolute unanimity of motive and desire manifest at these Ohurch Mission- ary Society gatherings.

The outstanding feature of the centenary celebration in London was its religious character. It lasted from Sunday, April Dth, to Sat- urday, April 15th. But attention was rarely confined to the methods and details of the work. The program for the week was as follows: Sunday was the opportunity of the parochial clergy. Monday a day of prayer and thanksgiving. In the morning there was an administra- tion of the Holy Oommunion (with a sermon) in what may be called the society's parish church, the scene of its annual sermons, St. Bride's, Fleet street. In the afternoon came a gathering for confession and thanksgiving in the lower Exeter Hall. In the evening a noble service at St. Paul's, when the Archbishop of Oanterbury preacht. The three meet.ings of Wednesday were given up to reviewing the advances, the methods, and the home-life of the Ohurch Missionary Society in its century of existence. Wednesday-the centenary day-saw Exeter Hall and the Queen's Hall both filled in the morning, and the vast auditorium of the Albert Hall crowded at night for a simple service of prayer and praise. On Thursday three meetings listened to the stories of missionary agencies other than the Ohurch Missionary Society. On Friday, "the regions beyond," and the Master's claims upon His people were set before two great meetings. Saturday was the children's day.

Now, in all that program the things that drew men most together were those which ministered simply and directly to the spiritual life. It was clear at the first, and clear all through, t.hat people had come not to hear eloquent speeches, not to look at leaders in church or state, still less to " demonstrate" on behalf of a society, or to manifest the 'power of a church party. They came not to gratify curiosity or minister to pride, but to humble themselves before God, and to dedicate themselves anew to His service. The meetings that were in their essence merely religious services, drew more to share them than those which discust the rletails of the work abroad. In fit conformity with this was the naked infrequency of any words like congratulation or snggestions of complacent pride in the resources or achievements of the Church Missionary Society.

The tone of the whole celebration was indeed set by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his sermon. Archbishop Temple must now be one of the very ablest of the society's friends. lIe has subscribed to its funds since he was a school-boy; he shows ill old age an almost boy- ish eagerness in pleading the canse it represents. To watch him as from the pulpit of St. Paul's he surveyed the vast throng filling all the space under the great dome, and stretching down the nave to the west door, was to see that his heart went out to the people before him in warmest sympathy with them and their work. Nothing could have been simpler than his sermon (from Acts xiii: 2), comparing the methods of the Church Missionary Society with those of St. Paul and the apostolic missionaries. Passing from this compl1rison, he deprecated anything like pride or self-satisfaction in respect of what had been done, and ended with a peroration delivered, for a man of his years, with extraordinary fire: vVhen we compare it with the standard which the Lord has given us, lUld think of His command, the command that He gave just before he left this present world, the command which He gave and which He assuredly will ask us how we have fulfilled it when we see Him face to face; when we measure it by such a standard as that, is it possible for us to say that there is not a great shortcoming, that there is not an imperative demand? The Lord has died for you; He ha,s bidden you tell all the nations why and how He died. The Lord has proved His love for you; He has bidden you tell all the nations what His love is really like. The Lord, He has given you the fulness of His revelation in the Gospel; He has bidden you, as you value that Gospel yourselves, to make it known to all your fellow creatures, wherever they may be. l1y brethren, I call upon you to put this to your consciences; I call upon you to ask yourselves whether you are really doing anything corresponding to what the Lord has done for you; I call upon you to rouse yourselves to the great work, and speedily to shake off from our church the reproach that we have received so much, and done so little.

'rhat same note of humiliation and self-examination had been heard in many of the sermons preacht in the society'S interests on the preceding Sunday; it was heard in the Monday afternoon gather- ing " for confession and thanksgiving;" it was heard throughout the London week; it has been reechoing through the provinces.

On Tuesday the society met at Exeter Hall. The morning and afternoon sessions were gatherings for those who might be called experts. The great audiences testified, however, to the fact that Church Missionary Society people like to follow with critical care the history of the society's enterprises, and to weigh the methods of work employed. In the morning men talkt of missionary beginnings. Archdeacon Long, one of the society's oldest and warmest friends in the North of England, recalled his own work at Salisbury Square, exhibited a precious copy of the original manifesto of the society, and recalled examples of the way in which the society had followed the leading of God. Dr. Bruce explained how the Persian mission began; Mr. Ensor unfolded again the romantic story of his early days in Japan; Mr. Wilson recalled the famous journey of those who went with him in the first party to Uganda. In the afternoon we past from the steps by which fields had been opened, to the methods of work carried on in .them. '1'he Bishop of Wakefield, who presi.ded, is brother to the Rev. F. N. Eden, who went out at a very critical period to the Niger mission. The Rev. Rowland Bateman spoke first on evangelistic work, illustrating his speech in his own cheerful fashion, by swiftly~drawn word-pictures of the preacher in the Punjab, his critics, questioners, and converts. The Rev. C. W. A. Clarke, of the Noble High School, Mawlipatam (India), dealt with the educational method, ably defending it by examples of the work done, and ending with a plea for a larger measure of help through the prayers of those at home. It was the very kind of speech needed to remove the difficulties which some feel in regard to educational work. No mission could more justly have been called upon to illustrate the work of consecrated women in the mission field, than that of Fuhkien (Ohina), with its quite recent memories of H wa-sang. Its representative was the Rev. W. Banister, who rendered due honor to a band of women workers who are sometimes forgotten-the mothers and wives of missionaries in the field. China also supplied, in the person of Dr. Duncan Main of Hang-chow, the speaker on Medical Missions, a department of Ohurch Missionary Society work which in recent years has shown a wonderful tendency to expand. Perhaps the growth of medical missions, under the semi-independent arrangement which now prevails, may indicate the line .on which the translational and foreign literary work of the society may some day proceed. Dr. Weitbrecht, in a paper which deserves the close attention of the friends of missions, foreshadowed the appointment of a central publication committee, with a branch in every mission. Ohristian literature for the mission field has not yet received the attention it demands from the Ohristian Ohurch. Said Dr. Weitbrecht : It is the a.rmory for our warfare, the storehouse of tools for our building, the food for our converts, the engine by which we may influence the mind of non-Christian society. It is a faithful index, not of the extensiveness, but of the inextensiveness, of our work, and its extensiveness is its permanence.

The Rev. Jas. Johnson, an honored native clergyman from the Yoruba country, followed Dr. Weitbrecht, eloquently defending the man of color from the attacks of some white critics, and laying just stress upon the importance of developing independence in the native churches. So ended a session of profound interest and value to those who intelligently study the mission field. In the evening the gathering was quite popular. Canon Sutton, who was for many years the society's central secretary, described with the help of lantern views the home history of the Ohurch Missionary Society in its hundred years, and the Rev. G. F. Head, of Clifton, pointed the moral for the workers of to-day.

The Centenary Day itself began with a semi-private gathering at the" Oastle and Falcon," the city hotel in which the Ohurch Mission- ary Society came into being. When the society kept its jubilee, the then proprietor of the "Oastle and Falcon" invited the inner circle of the society to breakfast on the site of its foundation. Th~ centenary breakfast party included one who as a boy had been present at the Jubilee breakfast, and in the hope of keeping up this link there were seen at the breakfast table some young faces that, God willing, may survive to look on the celebration of a third jubilee. The cen- tenary meeting was divided; men met at Exeter Hall, women at the Queen's Hall. A morning meeting of men only is not easy to get in the morning, and for the first time the hall was not quite full; but the interest of the gathering never flagged. Congratulations had poured in upon the society, and men who do not in all things see eye to eye with the Church Missionary Society were there to wish it God- speed. The prime minister sent it greeting; his son was there, and on the spur of the moment delivered one of the most striking speeches of the week. I know uot which will be longest remembered, the fervid plea of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Minnesota's mov- ing witness to the brotherhood of the workers in the fields he had himself toiled in; Lord Northbrooke's defense, out of the experieuce of au ex-viceroy of India, of the work done in that land by men of God in the high places of civil and military control, Lord Cranbourne's eloquent appeal, " I ask you to pledge this meeting to the Christianity of the British Empire," or the Rev. H. E. Fox's cry to the younger men for help. In the meantime at the other hall the aged Bishop of Liverpool (Dr. Ryle) presided over a gathering which, both in its composition and in its speakers, was a strikingly fit companion to that held in the more historic Exeter Hall. Great, however, as the enjoyment of the morning was, it seemed to be felt by all that interest would culminate in the evening meeting in the Albert Hall. The ever-moving throng which, in the afternoon, up and down the stairs and in and out of the rooms of the society's house at Salisbury Square exchanged words with long-parted friends, made new acquaintances, compared experience in the mission field, or discust the proceedings of the week, clearly held this view. It was not mistaken. That vast hall, circular in form, can hardly ever have contained a greater crowd than that which met, not to hear a prt:ma donna, or sit through an oratorio, or join in a political demonstration, or listen to eloquent speeches, but in the simplest fashion to lift up confession, prayer, and praise before the throne of God. The crowd was controlled with all the skill of the most practised minds could have devised. There was no discomfort, and the whole assembly gave itself to a religious service which will probably remain a unique remembrance in the minds of most who were present. But the Albert Hall might have been filled twice over, and an overflow meeting was necessary at Exeter Hall.

The comparative quiet of Thursday suggested the danger of an anti-climax; but nothing of the kind happened. It was a day of peculiar interest; a day illustrating the oneness of the Church of Christ amidst all the differences of view and organization, as well as that regard for the comity of missions, in which the Church Missionary Society has always set an example.

A message from Count Bernstorff was a happy prelude to addresses from the aged Bishop Bickersteth, of Exeter, on the unity of effort in the service of Christ; by the Bishop of Newcastle, who made a good point when he declared that our responsibilities for India are a hundred times greater than they were a hundred years ago; by the Bishop of Rochester, who eloquently summarized the work of that university's mission to Central Africa, which is one of the memorials of Livingstone; by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who, as an old AustI'alian prelate, dealt with Australasia and the South Seas; and then by Bishop Whipple, upon whose lips the audience hung as he told of the missionary problems confronting the Christian forces of America.

In the morning churchmen had been in possession. In the afternoon, under the presidency of the masculine Bishop of Manchester, the moderator of the Church of Scotland, and the well-known missionary expert, Dr. Geo. Smith, told us of the work done by Scotland. Then the keen intellectual face of Pasteur Theodore Monod rose before the audience, and Protestant France told its story. The Basel Mission, friend of the Church Missionary Society in old days, was also represented. In the evening the story grew still in interest. The Rev. F. W. Macdonald, for the Wesleyan Methodists, and Dr. Wardlaw Thompson, for the London Missionary Society, had to deal with agencies which have been honored by God in many parts of the world. But the Rev. F. B. Meyer was even more effective when he drew upon his own experiences in India. He had come back an Imperialist, believing in the duty of the Anglo-Saxon race to "take up the white man's burden." Responsibility for India was, indeed, one of the dominant thoughts of the week. No one prest it home with more force and solemnity than Mr. Meyer.

Friday was largely a day of Bible readings, with a meeting also on "the regions beyond "-fit subject for the close of a week such as we had Leen having. Again it rebukt any tendency to self-satisfaction by its reminder of the much land yet waiting to be possest. The great children's meeting at the Albert Hall on Saturday ended the London week. As I writtl, centenary gatherings are assembling all through the country, the archbishops and most of the bishops taking part in them.

It is hard to sum np in a few words the impression the centenary has left. But its deeply spiritual character, its truly Catholic spirit, its entire freedom from boasting or complacency; its pervading sense of warmth and brotherly regard, its evidence of a growing belief in the peculiar responsibilities of the Anglo-Saxon race, will all be remembered. Offers of service for the mission field were not wanting, and there was a general belief that the celebrations had left on the mind of the general public an impression which can hardly fail to profit the cause. It was a time of great happiness and of many a new resolution. It remains now that those who have shared in the one and the other may" both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same."

STATISTICS OF MISSIONS IN AFRICA

H.-MISSIONARY DIGEST DEPARTMENT.

AfRICA * MAP OF AFRICA Showing the location of the PR(NCIPAL PROTESTANT MISSION STATIONS alld the two leading lines on which GREAT UNEVANGEI~IZ)1';n POPULATIONS ~till renlaitl,.

STATISTICS OF MISSIONS IN AFRICA.t Area, 11,874,600 sq. miles; Population, 175,000,000; Pagans, 125,000,000; Moslems, 40,000,000; Missionary Agencies (Roman and Protestant), 200; Protestant lIlissionaries, 2,500; Native Helpe rs, 10,000; Boarding Schools 70, Pnpils 4,727 ; Day Schools 1,588, Pupils 90,948; Sunday-school Pupils, 161,394; Bibles and portions circulated in 1895, 124,878; Hospitals, Dispensaries, and Asylums, 120; Native African Protestant Communicants in Africa and Madagascar, 269,000.

KEY TO NUMBERS ON MAP SHOWING PRINCIPAL PROTESTANT MISSIONARY SPHERES.

1. American Baptist Missionary Union. 18. German Missions. 2. American Foreign Board. 19. Jewish Missions. 3. American Evangelical Alliance. 4. American Evangelical Lutherans. 20. London Missionary Society. 5. American Methodist Episcopal. 21. Moravian Mission. 6. American United Presbyterian. 22. Methodist, Wesleyan. 7. American Episcopal. 23. ,. Primitive. 8. Arnot's Mission. 9. Baptist Missionary Society. 24. " United. 10. British Bihle Society. 25. North Africa Mission . 11. Bishop Taylor's Mission. 26. Paris Evangelical. 12. Bavaria Protestant Mission. 13. Congo Balolo Mission. 27. Presbyterian (America). 28. Southern Morocco Mission . ~t g~t~gh~:~~~r~h~;~~~y· 29. Scotch United Presbyterian. 30. Swedish Mission. 16. EstablishtChurch of Scotland 31. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 17. Free Church of Scotland. 82. Universities' Mission. 33. Swiss Church. 34. English Episcopalian Church.

* From Regions Beyond. t From Noble's" Redemption of Africa. "

MISSIONARY DIGEST DEPARTMENT

WONDERFUL HAUSALAND.* BY THE REV. JAMES JOHNSTON, DARWEN, ENGLAND.

The land of the Hausas, t lying between the extremities of the Middle Niger and Lake Chad-an enormous stretch of country, consisting of territories hundreds of miles broad-is less malarial than supposed.

Approaching it by SKETCH the Niger water- ways, it forms the to ~how p!»,tlon oP threshold to the IlAUSA-LAND.

central Sudan. The late Joseph Thom- son wrote that its immense surface is more densely peo- pled than any other portion of the Dark Continent. In the numerous towns dotting the Hausa kingdom s, each populated by a hun- dred and fifty thou- sand or more souls, the natives are dis- tinctly progressive in civilization, and are celebrated throughout North Africafor the variety and skill of their manufactures and industry. The martyr missionary, Graham Wilmot Brooke, in 1892, wrote as follows concerning the Hausa-Mohammedanstates, which stretch north and east: From vast walled cities of fifty, eighty, even a hundred thousand inhabitants, caravans are always streaming out~to the south to raid for slaves, to the North African states across the Sahara to sell them. Weavers, dyers, and shoemakers, work hard in the streets of these great cities, manufacturing the ample clothing that the people wear, and exhibit this remarkable spectacle of African civilization. From eight degrees north latitude to the borders of the Sahara, and for thirty·five hundred miles from west to east, this vast region of the Sudan stretches from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, with a population nearly equal to that of the whole of North America, under settled rulers, hundreds of thousands able to read and write, eager to read and reread tracts in Arab character till the very paper is worn to bits. Yet no one has troubled to send even a few tracts into their great cities.

Over the greater portion of this extensive region the Hausas, whose *Condenst from The Sunday-school Times. See also Book Reviews.

t The Rausa Association, instituted for the object of placing the claims of the Rausa countries in and around the Niger before the notice of the friends of humanity in all lands, was founded in memory of the Rev. J. A. Robinson, M.A., late scholar of Christ's College Cambridge, who died at his Master's post in the service of the Church Missionary Society, at Lokoja, Niger territories, on June 25, 1891.

Already the Rausa Association has provided for three years a lecturer in Rausa in the University of Cambridge, and a post-graduate scholarship for Rausa at the same university_ A further goal of the association is the founding of a college in Tripoli, where opportunities would be afforded to English and other students intending to visit Rausaland-speaking districts, to obtain a preliminary foundation of the Rausa tongue. Natives, too, might be trained, in the same institution, who might eventually be useful as missionaries or in other capacities in the country_

WONDERFUL HAUSALAND

home in the Hausa state lies southwest of the great Sahara, are the principal merchant traders. In all the more secure provinces of Hausaland the roads are thronged with merchants and other travelers. Several districts are beautifully timbered and well watered. At Fawa, the principal seat of the iron trade in the Hausa states, Mr. William Wallace visited the smelting furnaces in 1896, hut was not allowed to see the extensive mines from which the iron ore was dug. He called at Jega, a vigorous commercial town, having large potteries and dye-works, as well as a thriving occupation in iron and leather. Apart from the periodical, bloodthirsty slave-raiding, bearing death and devastation in its track, Hausaland might, with peace and freedom, be converted into another India, so industrious were the inhabitants under most adverse conditions, and so extraordinary the natural wealth of the region.

The number of the Hausis proper (who have been called" the most civilized and first nation in Central Africa,") is estimated to be about fifteen millions. Multitudes of these Hausa-speaking people can also read and write it in a modified Arabic character. Hausa is the chief language of the whole of the central Sudan, extending from the Sahara to the pagan regions near the Gulf of Guinea, and from the Egyptian to the French Sudan. Northward to the Mediterranean, eastward to the Red Sea, southward to the Gulf of Guinea, and westward to the Atlantic, travel Hausa merchants, in whose hands the internal commerce of these regions is held. They are consequently powerful agents for disseminating amongst dense populations whatever ideas Europeans succeed in planting in this unplowed soil.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HAUSA CIVILIZATION.

The general characteristics of the Hausas make a fascinating study. Bronze-colored in complexion, excelling in physique and intellect, famous as traders, polisht in manners, they likewise posse8s a verpacular with no mean literature. Several of their cities are notable centers of population, such as Kano, Sokoto, and Gandu. Kano, with some hundred and twenty thousand souls, has thirty or forty schools, where children are taught to read and write in a character of their own. About one-third of the Hausas are followers of the Moslem religion, outwardly imposed on the central Sudan by the conquering races during the present century, tho the bigotry and fanaticism which characterize the eastern Sudan are entirely absent from the Hausas.

Gradually the chief portions of the central Sudan, including the whole of the country peopled by the Hausas, has come under the British flag and sphere of influence, but for many years not a single white man was known to reside in any of the states. But through the successful issue of the Bida campaign, the long-closed doors of Hausaland have been definitely opened to the western world, and protection of life insured where British authority prevailed. Altho the Hausas excel all other tribes on the west coast in the power of fighting, they surpass them far more in their trading and merchandise calling. In reality they are a race, not of soldiers, but ot traders, and sufficient is known to warrant the opinion that the Hausa tongue and people must playa main part in the development of the continent of Africa. Hence their need of Christianity, and hence the necessity of our acquiring a thorough knowledge of their language, in order to understand their history and influence

MissiONARY DIGEST DEPARTMENT

their future. A missionary station is to be establisht inland by the banks of the Binue, forming an excellent base whence an advance in God's time may be made to Kano. * CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS OP THE HAUSAS.t The Rausa people are in subjection to the Fulahs, who, however, are far from being numerous in Rausa territory proper. This tribe some 100 years ago seized the chief Rausa towns, preacht the Moslem faith, and became the conquerors and devastators of a large negro kingdom ruled over by the kings of GobiI' and Kachena. These Fulahs were up to that time shepherds and cowherds noted for their obstinacy and bigotry in following the Moslem faith, altho in reality subject to the heathen Rausas. It is extremely doubtful if half the Rausa-speaking people are Mohammedans. In the large towns ve1ly little heathenism exists, but once out of these centers of Moslem rule, the people in small villages or on the farms are found still worshiping idols and observing heathen practises. It is from these villages that most of the slaves are obtained. This continual raiding is gradually driving the whole country to profess Mohammedanism, but should British rule be more directly establisht over the country, a great revival of heathen practises would probably be seen.

About 40 per cent. of the male population of a large town can read a little. No large schools, as a rule, exist, but mallams, of whom there are numbers in every town, take a class of two to eight or ten boys, and teach them to read and write. A few prayers and some Suras from the Koran are also taught, which the pupils learn by heart in Arabic, often without having any idea of the meaning of the passages and words they are taught to repeat. More educated Rausas can repeat the Koran by heart, and give a fair translation of it, but such men are few and far between. After a primary education in the repetition of certain Suras of the Koran, various books of Moslem law and tradition are read, and in addition a few Rausa songs are learned by heart, chiefly for begging purposes. Every Friday the disciples of various mallams go round the town begging, chanting a vernacular song. These songs are based on the Koran and on various traditions touching the life of the prophet or one of his followers.

The Rausas are a polite and generous people, altho it is hard to test this when a European comes amongst them, for the people look upon him as possest of unlimited wealth, and everyone aims at obtaining something in consequence. Among themselves strangers are hospitably entertained, a hut is put at their disposal, and food and water brought to them. The blind are exceptionally well treated, and the poor beggar fairly well lookt after. Even in war generosity is shown to a remark- .

• Canon C. H. Robinson, M.A., of Cambridge, made a memorable visit to the Hausa dominions in 1895, of which a charming narrative, "Hausaland; Or, Pifteen Hundred Miles throUi'h the Central Sudan," was pubJisht by Sampson, Low & Co. last year. Canon Robinson brought to England a revision of Dr. Sch5n's Dictionary, augmented by about three thousand words, a collection of native manuscripts, consisting of history, and historical and religions songs, together with idiomatic translations (effected in Kano) of the Gospels of Luke and John, to be printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Canon Robinson, who is lecturer in Hausa at Cambridge, has recently completed the task of revising his brother's translation of St. Matthew.

t Condenst from an article by L. H. Nott in "Niger and Yoruba Notes."

A REVIVAL OF SLAVERY IN AMERIOA

able extent, and one does not hear of the harrowing scenes which occur amongst the more degraded coast tribes.

On the other hand, the Rausas are not strong either in habits of cleanliness or morality. Their want of cleanliness is probably accounted for by the scarcity of water in their country; the immorality, to the absence of that which alone can give purity and righteousness to a nation-the true knowledge of the Gospel of Christ.

The typical Rausa man is always happy; he has few wants and cares, nature has given him a country in which he can live without overworking, and as he needs very little to satisfy him, he is usually goodhumored, and so wins the heart of those who have dealings with him. In addition, he can adapt himself to all sorts of changes, and is obedient and willing to follow those whom he likes. Re is lacking, to some degree, in the power of real thought; this latter defect is common to all Africans on account of their reliance to memory alone as the path of knowledge. This can, however, be remedied, as has been so clearly proved by many Africans of sound educational and reasoning powers; the ability is there, but lies dormant until brought into exercise by proper educational methods.

At this present time the door of the Rausa country stands open, government officials and traders are stepping in. The call to the Church has already gone forth, but the men are lacking. A small party of four are studying the language at Tripoli, hoping at the close of the year to proceed to Rausaland. But others are needed who should start, God willing, with this party this year. Others are needed to reenforce this small staff next year. Let volunteers come forward to labor in this important field.

A REVIVAL OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA. * THE TREATMENT OF NEGRO PRISONERS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES.

There are comparatively very few prison buildings in the South, so that offenders are usually leased out to contractors, who pay the State or county for their labor at so much a head, and then become absolute masters of such prisoners. Thus the taxpayer is entirely relieved from the burden of criminals, who actually become a source of large revenue to the State and to individuals. At first sight this may seem to be a great advance upon the systems of the Northern States and of Europe, which are so costly to the community, but in reality the lease-system produces terrible sufferings and fatalities to many thousands annually.

This is, practically, a 'I'cuival of slavcry, and on a very extensive scale. In Florida, public sales of convicts (most of whom are negroes) Dccasionally take place, when they are sold by auction to the highest bidder, for various periods up to four years. Usually the sentences on colored people in the South are for very long periods, even for minor offenses.t * Compiled from a leaflet issued by the Howard Association, London, 1899, and from articles by William Tallock and Mr. D. E. Tobias in the St. Jamcs Gazette, and by Charles Cook in The Ch,·i.,tian. See also" The Silent South," by Geo. W. Cable (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1885 and 1895), and" Prisoners and Paupers," by H. M. Boils (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893).

t The colored population furnishes about nine-tenths of the Southern convicts; and it is reliably stated that a considerable portion of them are punisht by long sentences for the most trifling offenses, and, frequently, on merely trumped·up charges.

lIIISSIONARY DIGEST DEPARTlIIENT

There are several classes of leased convicts. (1) Those under the immediate supervision of the State, in camps, or on farms, corresponding somewhat to British convict establishments. These, tho open to grave objection, are comparatively free from the grossest evils, and have, of late years, undergone considerable improvement in several of the States. (2) There are the cot~nty camps, which are worse. (3) 'Vorst of all, there are the numerous gangs farmed out to private sub-contractors, or bidders, who, in many cases, "sweat" their victims to death by excessive labor, wretched food, brutal violence, and the grossest neglect of sanitary requirements.

In many of the camps, women and boys and girls of tender years, undergoing punishment for the first offense, work in ditches side by side with men hardened to crime, and all occupy the same quarters at night. The wretched prisoners are driven to the yards of the stockades, after a long and hard day's work, to find nothing to eat prepared, and no fire to dry their clothes when wet. Cornbread and fat bacon may be given them, which they must cook a" best they can on little fires on the ground, whilst chains manacle their limbs. In some instances over sixty men, women, and children sleep in rooms 18 feet square and 7 feet from floor to ceiling, without windows or adequate means of ventilation. Most of the camps have neither bunks nor mattresses, and the prisoners are obliged to sleep on the bare ground.

But this is not the worst. All convicts are punisht in the presence of each other. 'Vomen are whipt in the presence of men and boys. In Wilkes County, Georgia, an old colored man was whipt so savagely that he died. The death-rate in some camps is very high. * In the old days of slavery value was set upon the lives of the slaves; now apparently there is little or none. When sick, no doctor is summoned; and as for religious or moral instruction or restraint, there is absolutely none.

This farming out of prisoners in the South is purely a money-making institution, yet it is supported by executives of States and by the local and national law-makers. In a pamphlet just pUblisht it is stated that "some States reap an annual income of $250,000." This is after the lessees, sub-lessees, and others have been satisfied; the same pamphlet gives the name of one lessee" who has cleared over $25,000 per annum from convict labor." Due advertisements are made" that on a certain day so many able-bodied convicts will be least to the highest bidder desiring their labor." Prisoners are taken to a place in each State, known as the stockade, and are sold from the public auction-block much as slaves were before the Civil War. Crowds of people are attracted to these degrading scenes to see human beings sold into bondage. George Kennan said at Boston, in 1889: I suppose Americans would be incredulous if I should say to them that in some of our Southern States I have seen terrible sights. I have seen a string of twenty-five convicts-old bent men and young boys-almost bound together by iron chains, a heavy iron ring around the neck of each. I have seen many things which have convinced me of the evils of the system of leasing out convicts to cruel and unscrupulous employers, and I think that system should be abolisht. I saw some pretty bad sights in Siberia, but I am serious when I declare that I have seen worse sights in the South, and in this there is abundant food for reflection for the moralists and reformers of this country.

A very sad feature in these chain-gangs is the number of young children sent to them. Mr. G. S. Griffith, of Baltimore, president of the * Whereas in English convict prisons the death-rate is under 7 per 1,000 per annum, it ranges in these camps from 75 to over 200 per 1,000 yearly.

A REVIVAL OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA

Maryland Society for the Protection of Children, was pained to find in the gangs so many children from nine years of age and upward! In one of the better class of chain-gangs, in North Carolina, he found 55 prisoners, including three women, and one boy of eleven years of age. These men, women, and boys, all sleep under a tent 70 by 24 feet. This promiscuous and most demoralizing association of the various ages and sexes, by day and night, is the usual feature of the private camps, and, some- times, even of the State establishments.* The "captains" employed by the sub-contractors are often of the class depicted in Legree, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Their conduct to the female convicts is indescribable. A large number of illegitimate births take place in these camps. The wretched children are sometimes permanently retained as slaves. Wo to the women and girls who are sent to such camps! Their life is an inferno. Men and women frequently run away and are then chased with bloodhounds and guns. Fearful brutalities are perpetrated by the "captains" in the lonely, remote places, where many of the gangs are located, as in forests and mines. Women and girls are habitually subjected to the grossest indecencies and exposures. Christian America sends hundreds of missionaries to Asia and Africa. Is there not here also a vast mission field for effort and influence?

Mississippi, Arkansas, and the Carolinas, all need great reforms in this matter; but especially Florida and Georgia. Their forest turpentine works and their phosphate mines are often awful spots, morally and physically. Louisiana is making some special efforts at improvement. Alabama and Texas are perhaps better than formerly. Yet a prison chaplain in Texas writes (1898): "Practically there has been no advance in the lease-system of our convicts. It can only be an evil."

In the spring of 1892, Governor Atkinson, of Georgia, appointed a special commission to investigate the convict camps of the State. The work of the commission was completed in August, 1892, and the report stated that living death abounded in many of the camps; prisoners had been murdered by their merciless white" bosses." The report also states that prisoners slept on the bare ground, and were fed on raw horse and beef meat. Instead of abolishing this heathenish institution, the State legislature has extended it twenty years longer, without even passing a measure to separate the sexes. Governor Atkinson, in a letter dated Nov. 12, 1895, writes of the report of the committee of investigation: "It reveals such inhuman and barbarous conduct upon the part of some of those engaged in working this class of convicts, that comment by me is unnecessary to induce you to act promptly to save our State from longer submitting to th'is burning shame."t The National Prison Congress of America was held at Austin, Texas, December 2-6, 1897, but no good results have followed. Southern men read papers before the Congress on the Convict Lease System, and favored its continuance, on the ground that the States received an annual revenue under this system, whereas to abolish it the States would be put to an expense of supporting convicts.

*Judge Chandler, of Georgta, says: .. My experience is that when a boy is sent to the chain-gang, he is ruined." What then must be the chance of the girls?

t In the printed official sub-report from a State inspector of convicts in Florida, Colonel Moore complains that he has no authority to inspect the quarters where the convict. are lodged, or to see that the contracts with the lessees are complied with!

MISSIONARY DIGEST DEPARTMENT

The problem is indeed a vast one, and of pressing import to the United States, both North and South. Is this great nation to remain impotent in effecting a reform? Are the colored people to be driven to what now appears to be their only means of relief-by self-help, through imitating the methods of their adversaries-in the formation of secret societies, and powerful and compact organized unions, for defense and offense? What else are they to do, unless the white race bestirs itself for other efforts than continuing oppression? There are now nearly twelve million colored people in t·he United States. They are increasing in numbers, in_ intelligence, and in wealth. It is stated that more than half of them can read, and that their property is worth 80 million pounds, or 400 million dollars. Such a multitude ought not, and will not put up with their oppression indefinitely.

REMARKABLE EVENTS IN CHINA. * Baffiing indeed to the uninitiated denizens of the West is the current of Chinese politicallife. 'Ve have heard that the emperor was in power, that the emperor proposed reforms, that the empress dowager was shut up, that the emperor was imprisoned, that he had been assassinated by order of the dowager empress, that all the proposed reforms had been annulled, and new reforms hf'vd been instituted. The following story of the recent series of events is as true as the best information we have been able to obtain enables us to make it.

The present dowager empress of China was the daughter of a Manchu nobleman. She received a good Chinese education, and became the secondary wife of the emperor, Hienfung. Ou the death of the emperor (August 17, 1861), her son, Tungchi, who was only six years old, became emperor, and the mother, called the" Western Empress," became joint regent with the first wife of Hienfung, known as the" Eastern Empress."

These two dowager empresses ruled together until Tungchi became of age, but he had hardly begun-to rule before his death, on January 12, 1875. The dowager empresses then caused Kwangsii, a cousin of Tungchi, to be announced as emperor. The two empresses ruled as joint regents until 1881, when the elder empress died and the "Western Empress" assumed supreme authority, and ruled without question until March 4, 1889, when the young emperor became of age and was crowned. It has always been recognized, however, that the dowager empress was the power behind the throne. She is the stronger character, and the emperor, the "son of heaven," has always been largely a puppet in her strong hands. Filial piety keeps him subject to her authority.

To show what a series of markt events has occurred in China, we give a calendar of the chief events for four months during last summer: June 11. Decree commanding the establishment of a university at Peking. 13. Summoning of Kang Yu Wai, the leading reformer. 15. Announcement of selection of imperial clansmen and princes to travel abroad and learn something of the outside world. 20. Tsung·li-Yamen ordered to report on the necessity of encouraging art, science, and modern agriculture. 23. Classical essays abolisht as a prominent part of public examinations. 26. Ministers censured for delay on the Peking University, and speedy construction of Liu-Han railroad ordered. 27. Ministers and princes ordered to report on the adoption of Western arms and drill – – – -for Tartar troops.

* Condenst and corrected from the Baptist Missionary Magazine.

RECENT ARTICLES ON MISSIONS AND MISSION LANDS

July 4. Establishment of agricultural schools ordered. 5. Introduction of patent and copyright laws ordered. 6. Board of War and Tsung-li-Yamen ordered to report on reform of military exam- inations. 7. Special rewards promist to inventors and authors. 14. Officials ordered to encourage trade and assist merchants. 29. Establishment of school boards in every city of the empire ordered.

Aug. 2. Bureau of Mines and Railways establisht. 9. Journalists encouraged to write on political subjects for the enlightenment of the authorities. 10. Consultation on the establishment of naval academies and training ships ordered, and ministers and provincial authorities urged to assist in work of reform.

22. Establishment of schools in connection with Chinese legations abroad for the benefit of sons of Chinese ordered.

28. Commercial bureaus for the encouragement of trade in Shanghai and Hankow ordered.

Sept. 1. Six minor and useless boards in Peking abolisht. 4. Two presidents and four vice'presidents of the Board of Rites dismist for dis· obedience of order that memorials to the emperor should be sent to him unopened. 7. Li Hung Chang and another dismist from Tsung-li-Yamen, and the issue of a certain class of bonds stopt because used by authorities to " squeeze" the people. 8. Governorships of three provinces abolisht as being useless expense. 11. Schools for instruction in the preparation of tea and silk approved. 12. Establishment of newspapers encouraged. 13. The general right to memorialize the throne by sealed memorials granted, and manchus allowed to take up trades or professions. 15. The system of budgets as in Western countries approved. The next week the emperor was supprest.

While, on resuming power, the empress dowager at once annulled all the decrees of the emperqr regarding proposed reforms, she is proceeding with reforms as rapidly as she feels that the condition of China and the temper of the people will permit. Railroads are being built, concessions made to Western commerce, the duty of the protection of missionaries and other foreigners has been now imprest upon the minds of the rulers of the various provinces, and advance will undoubtedly be made as rapidly as Chinese conservatism will allow. Perhaps the empress dowager, instead of being an obstacle to progress, has simply stept in to prevent the young and rash emperor from precipitating turmoil and disorder, which would be a more effectual check to progress than her more conservative rule.

RECENT ARTICLES ON MISSIONS AND MISSION LANDS.

,V. AFRICA-Andrew Murray's Work in South Africa, Ellen C. Wood, ReC01'd of Christian Work (May); Use of Native Traditions in Bible Teaching, Rev. G. Robertson, Sunday-school Times (April 22); Progress in Madagascar, James Sibree, L. M. S. Ch,'onicle (April); Through Pigmy Land, A. B. L!oyd, Wide World Magazine (May).

AMERICA-The Lepers of D'arcy Island (B. C.), Without the Camp (April); Puerto Rico, A. F. Beard, D.D., The American Missionary (April); Puerto Rico, Wm. V. Pettit, Atlantic Monthly (May); Condition and Needs of Cuba, Gen. Leonard Wood, North American Review (May); Cuba as an 0l?en Door, W. A. Candler, Review of Missions (llay); The Indians of Guiana, The Mission F,eld, BritiAh (April); In the Heart of South America, E. Ollson, Christian Miss. Alliance (May).

ASIA-European Empires in Asia, etc. (with map), Independent (May 4). CHINA-The Condition of China, Wm. Upcraft, Baptist Missionary Review (April); China and the Powers, Lord Chas. Beresford, North American Review (May). INDIA-The Arya Somaj, Dr. W. lV. White, Indian Evangelical Review (April); The Parsees, James Mudge, D.D., Gospel in All Lands (May). JAPAN AND KOREA-Hindrances to Christian Work in Japan, R. B. Perry, Record of Chris· tian Work (May); The Hairy Aimi, C. M. Severence, Review of Missions (May); Korea, Prof. H. B. Hulburt, Independent (May 4). TURKEy-The Future of Turkey, Contemporury Review (April).

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

lII.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.

Young Men of the Orient. whom they have no concern what- soever. The denseness of this armor In response to our invitation, the gentlemen of indifference and ignorance must try the souls of the missionaries bewhose names are attacht to the several yond measure. Through it he finds it almost impossible for the articles below, have kindly contributed to the Gospel arrow to wing its flight. Like a high blank wall, to change symposium on "The Attitude of the Youug the figure, this self-satisfied density and ignorance of spiritual things Men in Asia Toward Christianity." They are rises between him and the one whom he would win for Christ, and abundantly capable, and have written care- no Chinese wall is more difficult to scale or seemingly more impossible fully and kindly. Their respective settings- to batter down with the artillery of religious argument and instruction. forth are from the view-point of experienced While the missionary is discourswriters, and will command attention. The ing on things of deepest spiritual import, the young heathen will vears of service of the writers are given, interrupt to ask not how or why ~xcept in the case of Dr. F. E. Clark, who Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, but why the missionmade a round·the-world tour of missions, and ary's hair is yellow, or his eyes blue, or why he wears two buttons on the who writes from that standpoint. In a note back of his coat.

at hand from Rev. Timothy Richard, Secre- Until one goes to a heathen land he can scarcely realize the full tary of the Society for the Diffusion of Chris- force of Paul's statement that" the natural man receiveth not the tian and General Knowledge Among the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither Chinese, he says: "God has stirred up the can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." souls of a vast multitude of young China. But this should not be thought a Pray for them and us, that we may have thing strange or unaccountable, when we remember the centuries abundant wisdom and grace." J. T. G. of heathen darkness that must be pierced; the utter deadness of the THE ATTITUDE OF YOUNG MEN IN natural man upon whom even the refiected light and warmth of Chris- NON-CHRISTIAN LANDS TO tianity has never fallen; a creature twice dead, pluckt up by the roots, CHRISTIANITY. and hopeless of resuscitation, except for the reviving miracle of the in- BY REV. FRANCIS E. CLA.RK, D.D. dwelling presence of the Spirit of all Life. President Christian Endeavor, Boston, Mass. Then there is another class of I wish that I could speak with full young men who correspond more assurance that the most optimistic nearly to the non-Christians of view of this subject is the correct Christian lands. The! hav~ be'illl one, and could say without hesitation that the young men of non- Christian lands are looking to Christ as the hope of the world, and are flocking to Christianity as the one true religion. Truth and candor, however, compel one to admit that the cry of the young man in heathen lands for Christianity is largely the cry of unconscious need, a desire that is not formulated in words, or known, as yet, even to the needy and yearning soul itself.

The young men of these lands may be roughly divided into three great classes: first, the great company embracing the overwhelming majority who are ignorant, stolid, and absolutely indifferent tu the claims of Christ, even if they have ever heard of him. To them the Lord Jesus is simply the name of ll-n unknown foreign divinity with educated in mISSIOn schools; they best of them are trained for active have intellectual apprehension of Christian service, either as pastors the truths of Christianity; they or teachers or catechists. They are have for the most part a contempt more and more taking the burden for the gods of their fathers and of evangelization and Christian for heathen superstition, but have education, which sooner or later not as yet accepted Jesus Christ as must rest upon the natives of the their personal Master. Most of the country to be evangelized. Through educated young men in India have their own peoples, and not through received their training in Christian foreigners, however wise, devoted, schools supported by missionary or tactful they may be, must this money. The same is true to an work be done; and the Christian extent in Japan, and to a large young men, whom our missionaries degree in Turkey and Syria, and is have trained for this most imporcoming to be more and more true tant work in these non-Christian of China. But alas! in non-Chris- lands, hold the key of the evangelitian lands as well as in our own zation of the world, a key comcountry education does not always mitted to them by the most High mean the "leading out" of the God, and which will unlock the spiritual nature, the development portals of a Christian future, I beof that which is most akin to God; lieve, to all these lands. and the proportion of those thus educated who become humble The work of the Young Men's followers of the Nazarene is not as Christian Association, especially large as the missionary educators the college work in heathen lands, themselves, or their supporters at has been greatly blest of God, and home, could wish. From some of a multitude of young men have these higher institutions a very been reacht and saved, and saved to small proportion of the graduates serve, by the young men who become earnest working Christians, have gone out from America or but the claim is made, and not with- England. Especially in India have out reason, that the whole com- the meetings for the quickening of munity is leavened by these edu- the spiritual life, held by the Stucated men; that the superstitions dent Volunteers and the College Y. of heathenism are weakened, and M. C. A., been greatly blest. In that the respect for Christianity many parts of India and China, and Christian institutions through- too, have the Christian Endeavor out the country is greatly increast, societies and conventions brought even when but few of the young new life to the young men who men themselves, who are most here learn to speak and pray and highly educated, become profest work for Christ, as do their brothdiscipies of Christ. ers at home. The burden is laid upon them. A little society is But there is still another class, often responsible for the spiritual and the outlook indeed would be life of the village where it is estabmost hopeless were it not for this lisht, a village too small for a misclass, who every year are gathered sionary 01' a native pastor, but not into the Kingdom and become con- too small for a little organization sistent, devoted, outspoken fol- of self-governed, unpaid Christian lowers of Jesus. I have found workers, who try, through their them in almost every mission field. meetings and their committees, to Many of them are among the spread the knowledge of the Lord. brightest intellects which the non- In all these more recent efforts for Christian world has produced. Tbe evangelization the place' of the young man in non-Christian lands of China are attacht to these re- is a most important and hopeful ligions. They are hallowed by one. antiquity. They find in them many I speak with much diffidence on moral maxims which are in accord- this question, since I know there ance with the nature of things, and are so many missionaries of large which commend themselves to their experience, who understand the consciences. They are not troubled question much better than I can by the pantheism, atheism, poly- claim to understand it; but these theism of these religions, for they conclusions have come to me frorn have never known the better way.

more than one visit to missionary So far as they have not heard of lands, which, tho fugitive and brief, Christianity, their attitude toward have given me some opportunities it is that of ignorance and indiffer- to study, with sympathetic inter- ence. So far as they have learned est, the problem of the young man of Christianity, under the two in non-Christian lands. forms of Roman Catholicism and THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUNG .MEN Protestantism in which it has OF CHINA TOWARD CHRISTIANITY. come before them, they regard it as antagonistic to their ancient re- BY REV. HENRY BLODGETT, D.D. [China since ligion. Those less educated and less 1854.] prejudiced are willing to give it a Most gratifying would it be to re- hearing. Active opposition is to be port that the young men of China expected only from scholars and were rising up in a body to receive from Buddhist and Taoist priests.

Christianity; that they had become Among these also the Gospel will wearied with the pantheistic na- win its trophies.

ture-worship and atheism of their There is another class of young national religions, wearied with the men, small at present, but con- worship of deceast ancestors, of stantly increasing, and destined to gods and heroes, native and foreign, exert an immense influence in and of manifold superstitions, and China-those who have come under were filled with longing to know of the influence of"Vestern learning.

God, the Creator and Father of all, Many of them will be from govern- and of the Lord Jesus, their Re- ment schools. If we may judge deemer and Savior. But their at- from what takes place in India, titude can not in truth be thus these will in general remain Confu- represented. cianists, at least for a time, tho Taken as a whole, the young men disarmed to an extent of hostility of China know very little of Chris- to Christianity, and having a cer- tianity. Their minds are prepos- tain respect for its institutions.

sest in favor of the three great re- The late Marquis Tsing, who spoke ligions of their own land. The . the English language, and had been scholars are to a man Confucianists, in England, said to the writer, with an admixture of Buddhism " You have your Jesus, we have and Taoism. Such, however, are our Confucius. We shall remain but few. Most of the young men Confucianists. We shall not do not know how to read. These change." Yet some of these also gain from others, better informed will change and embrace the Gos- than themselves, and from an an- pel.

cestral teaching and custom, a gen- The great hope of China is in the eral knowledge of the tenets and young men educated in churches practises of the national religion. and in Christian schools. These Naturally enough the young men come forward with a genuine lovll for the Gospel. Its provisions have or disadvantage of such a condition supplied the deepest wants of their of affairs, but simply note the fact, souls. They are able to judge of so that we may be better able to the old religions, and see their realize just what an important facemptiness and folly. They are de- tor in the Japan of to-day the voted to the interests of the Chris- young men of that nation are. tian faith, and are willing to stand One of the principal reasons for up as its witnesses and supporters. this prominence given to young Their minds are open to receive all men, no doubt is, that it has been truth, and all good things, even a custom of long standing for a tho they may be new and unaCCllS- man who has begun to show signs tomed. of age to retire from business, and let it be conducted by his sons, The patriotism of these young thus giving rise to the idea that the men is intense. They are loyal to young men are the only ones who their rulers; they pray earnestly are capable of engaging in the acfor them, and for the welfare of tive duties of life. their country. They refuse no civil or military duty. Their one desire In consequence of the position is, that rulers and people may be- which young men occupy in Japan, come Christians, and receive all they have received a large share of blessings which God has prepared the attention of Christian missionfor Christian peoples. aries since the opening of their work. From the beginning of ag- That the number of such young gressive evangelistic effort, until men should be greatly multiplied, the year 1887 or 1888, a gradually should incite the earnest prayers deepening interest in the teachings and diligent labors of all Christians. of Christianity was manifested by the young men of the empire. A THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUNG MEN large number of Christian teachers from the United States and Eng.. OF JAPAN TOWARD CHRISTIANITY. land was employed in many of the higher schools, and naturally the REV. IRVIN H. CORRELL, D.D. [Japan since current of thought of the students 1873.J was turned toward Christ, but when international complications In no country of the world are concerning treaty revision arose, young men given a higher place in and some of the Christian nations all departments of life than is ac- refused to grant what the represencorded to them in Japan. Quite a tatives of his imperial majesty depopular Japanese writer, who has manded, Christianity was to a good traveled abroad extensively, and degree held responsible for it, and consequently knows well the differ- this prominent army of young men ence between other countries and revolted, and the tide of anti-Chrishis own in this respect, in an article tian feeling began to rise. The publisht some months ago, refers devil quickly took advantage of to his own country as a nation gov- the situation, in f~ct, he seemed to erned by young men. There are have had somewhat of a prophetic few lectures or addresses delivered vision of what would come to pass, in the country in which the speaker for he had his forces and ammunidoes not frequently call the atten- tion all ready for aggressive movetion of the young men to the im- ment as soon as the opportunity portant positions they occupy, and was afforded. The feeling against the great responsibilities which de- Christianity grew more and more volve upon them as young men filled with the Yamato damash-ii- Japanese national spirit. We will not stop to discuss the advantage intense, until it was regarded by made its inroads into the ranks of many as an act of disloyalty for a the young men of Japan. It not Japanese to become a Christian. only weakened or destroyed the The leaders of the non-Christian faith of young men professedly religious organizations were de- Christian, but non-Christians were lighted with the powerful weapon seriously affected by it. As the against Christianity which this af- standard of Christianity was lowforded them, and used it to the full ered by taking out of it the Divine extent of their ability. The de- man, it also lost its power of atstructive blows which they endeav- traction, for it is only when He is ored to strike at Christianity with lifted up that He will draw all men it, were made doubly effective be- unto Him. The serious shipwrecks cause the Christians no longer took of faith which have occurred have, part in the public celebrations of to a good degree, led the people, historical events, and were thus and especially many of the young represented as not paying due re- men, to realize that there is only spect to their great historical char- one safe road to travel, and that acters. The reason for this appa- leads through the straight gate rent neglect on the part of the and over the narrow way. Christian was, that these celebrations are really religious festivals, One of the surest signs of a and, as a matter of course, the change for the better, and of Christians could not take part in greater promise for work bestowed these idolatrous performances. In upon the young men of Japan, lies this particular a change has come, in the fact that the mission schools and the most important days are where the Bible is taught are again now observed by the Christians in becoming well filled, and in many an appropriate way, and the better cases there are more applicants for thinking class of people not only admission than can be. accommoapprove of these observances, but dated. God undoubtedly has a great are ready to come in and unite with mission for this nation, so youthful 1he same. It has thus been made in its international life, to perform clear that Christianity does "honor in the formation and development the king," and that it does render of the new Oriental world which is "their dues" to those in authority. to be.

It is evident that the self-satis- ATTITUDE OF THE EDUCATED YOUNG fied spirit which obtained during the past few years, by which the MEN OF INDIA TOWARD young men were led to believe that their country was superior to any CHRISTIANITY. other, especially in a moral sense, and which gave rise to the convic- REV. HORACE A. CRANE. [India, 1892-1897.] tion that they were not in need of any religious or moral help from What the educated young men the West, is gradp.ally giving place of India think of Christianity deto a feeling that the moral strength pends very largely upon where they of the Occident, grounded in the were educated. If they have studreligion of Jesus Christ, is superior ied in schools maintained by any to any morality the Orient has of the religious communities-Hinknown, and an increast desire to du, Mohammedan, or Parsi-they investigate the secret of this power are commonly loyal to their ancesis apparent. tral faith, and intolerant of any other. If in the government So called" liberal thought" also schools, with some English mas- ters, a broader curriculum and an atmosphere less antagonistic to everything Occidental, they are more liberal, saying usually that ment: .. In India the elements Christianity is best for Europeans, which go to constitute a national- Hinduism for Hindus, etc. But if ity-the community of race, a com- they hava been some years in mis- mon religion, the sense of common sion schools, they are, with few ex- interests, and the habit of acting ceptions, favorable to Christianity, as a single political whole-are if not avowedly Christian. conspicuous by their absence. In- dia, therefore, consists of a vast Thus it comes to pass that among assemblage of different nations, the rapidly enlarging circle of edu- d i v ide d into unsympathizing cated men in India, there may be castes, classes, and creeds. But found three distinct attitudes to- among these heterogeneous eleward Christianity. ments there is a unifying influence at work, and that is education First. That of bitter hostility. based on the lines of Western civil- The occasions of this are chiefly ization. It is English education national pride, race prejudice, and that is rendering possible a feeling religious bigotry. Christianity is of nationality among the peoples the white man's religion, and the of India." white man is the conquerer and ruler of the country. But Hindu- The second attitude is that of ism prides itself on its Aryan an- skeptical indifference. By far the cestry, its ancient civilization, and larger part of the educated men of its historic faith. Mohammedan- India are actuated more by merceism, altho an alien religion, and in- nary considerations than by religtensely antagonistic to idolatry, ious or patriotic motives. They see boasts a purer monotheism than in education primarily an increast Christianity, and an equal genius wage-earning power. It signifies for universal conquest. Hence production in government or other both, while mutually opposed to service, and that is sufficient. and jealous of each other, foster a Moreover, the Oriental does not spirit of hostility toward Chris- naturally concern himself with his tianity among those whose dream neighbor's religion. He unquesis an independent Indian empire. tionably accepts that of his father, The attempt in recent years to re- and expects everyone else to do habilitate Vedic Hinduism arises the same. Nevertheless, English not so much from religious consid- education has had the effect of unerations as from a misdirected pa- dermining orthodox Hinduism, triotism. This has been well char- without as yet substituting any acterized by an educated native definite faith in its stead. The gentleman, S. Satthianadhan, Esq., Hindu who, as a pantheist, has re- M.A., LL.B., of Madras, who says: garded all religions as equally true, " Nothing is more futile than the when awakened to the futility of attempt now made by a few edu- his own, naturally enough goes to cated Hindus to stimulate faith in the other extreme, and regards all their ancient religion by appealing as equally false. The perils of secto patriotism-a religion which is ular education are well stated by wanting in consistency and coher- Rev. T. E. Slater, L.M.S., of Banence; a religion which is at best a galore: loose compromise between several conflicting phases of thought, and "Owing to pantheistic perverwhich is utterly incapable of serv- sion, the depraved yet proud ing as a uniting principle." The Hindu intellect, which fails to see same high authority is responsible any necessary connection between for the following significant state- conviction and practise-our stout- est obstacle to the progress of the Gospel-needs to be regenerated no by many as a step toward Chrisless than the heart and conscience. tianity. Some have called it the Naturally religious, but being edu- halfway house, while others do cated every year out of their own not consider that Brahmoism in its religion into skepticism and unbe- present attitude will even form a lief, and aided by a large circula- transitional religion, enabling the tion of infidel and anti-Christian nation to pass through its present literature from Europe and Amer- crisis. But at least it is a tendency ica, sinking as a consequence deeper which, if rightly developt and honand deeper into a condition of estly workt out, should terminate worldly Indifference, selfish mate- in Christianity. Not long since a rialism, and moral cowardice, ap- Brahman in high official position, parently dead to all spiritual seri- conversing with some of his own ousness and concern, 'young India,' people, frankly said: "The best otherwise most lovable and attrac- thing that could happen to us as a tive, stands in sorest need at the class is that we should one night go present crisis of its history of the to sleep to wake up next morning renewing and saving element of the as Christians." Another has said Gospel." that regularly, before going to his office, he prays in Christ's name, The third attitude is that of real and in addition usually reads a portion of the New Testament. friendliness, open or secret. Many YOUNG MEN IN TURKEY. have bravely confest Christ by REV. J. L. FOWLE, D.D. [Turkey, since 1878.] baptism, sundering all caste ties, In considering the young men of and enduring, in some cases, in- Turkey we must leave out alto- gether the young Moslems, or, at credible domestic persecutions. It least, put them in every respect into a different category. No class is estimated that one out of six of young men can be found in the world more needy or more inaccesconverts in India is from the higher sible. Sensual and beastly by na- ture, their life and so-called religcastes or classes. Not all of these ious training only emphasize and strengthen the worst elements in are educated, but many of them this human nature of ours. Let Gen. xix cast its lurid light on are. In southern India, where the Rom. i : 2~2, and you can appre- ciate some points of the terrible native Christian community is the picture. God hasten the day when we can bring to them the enlightlargest, out of every twelve grad- ening, cleansing power of the Gos- pel of Jesus Christ. I would not uates, one is a native Christian, mention this here were it not necessary to call attention to the tho the native Christians form but terrible possibilities of such an en- vironment for other young men. one"fortieth of the population. But We need not be surprised that all speech, thought, life among them Christianity has immense influence has been lowe1'ed by the influence of this ruling race. outside the two millions of the Turning now to the present con- Christian community, and nowhere so much as among the educated classes. Speaking of the Hindu reformers, who are vainly seeking to purify Hinduism from its idola- try and superstition, Mr. Satthia"

nadhan says: "Being convinced of the higher spiritual character of Christianity, and dissatisfied with Hinduism, they are trying to effect reform from within. I know, from personal knowledge, that the Bible is read most diligently by these earnest searchers after truth. Many of them have also accepted Christ in secret as their Lord and Savior, tho they have not the moral courage to confess their faith before men."

The Samaj movement is regarded dition of the young men of the so- and to "perform" the rites of the called Christian communities. church. To expect any spiritual uplifting from such is to look for 1. Physically. In villages, strong beauty and verdure in an ash- of body, robust, accustomed to hard dump, or sweetness and refresh- work and simple living. Hence of ment from a sewer. This strong necessity they learn something of language is not uncalled fop; it is a self-control. In cities, as a rule, truthful representation of an awful narrow-chested, delicate, rather fact. effeminate, eager for self-indul- gence and pleasure, easy slaves of Second, there are some good passion and lust. schools among them, where the head and the hand are trained, but 2. Intellectually. In villages, of almost without exception, the good capacity, but absolutely un- teachers are questionable in moral- trained. When they get a start ity and infidel in religion. They upward are eager, industrious, suc- ridicule the Bible, and hold themcessful, sometimes even brilliant. selves infinitely above its anti- In ciUe8, very bright, and almost quated teachings. Parisian life is without exception eager to learn. their model, pleasure and self- Have a natural aptitude for lan- gratification their goal. From such guages. are interested in science, teachers as these young men can but not especially good in mathe- get no help for good; their ability matics. and brilliancy only increase their power to harm. The phenomenal 3. Morally. As mentioned above, self-conceit mentioned above comes sensuality common; self-indulgence natural to such men. the law of life. Obedience rather to force than to right, for their Third, when we turn our eyes to consciences are neither enlightened another class of workers, however, nor sensitive. Satisfaction with we can thank God and take courage. self, and an utter condemnation of I am sorry to say that some of the everybody else phenomenal. Such graduates of the American schools colossal self-conceit on such a small even are afflicted with the same capital can not be duplicated; at disease that is mentioned under the least, I have never seen its like. second head above; yet a vast majority of them have drank That such young men need a pure deeply enough of the springs of Gospel, a live Gospel, a Gospel that both temporal and spiritual knowlshall touch and vivify all depart- edge to find refreshing themments of life, goes without saying. selve;; and to be both able and willing to help others. There are What chance is there that they men among them as devoted, as will find such a Gospel? What will wise, as skilful in spiritual work be their attitude toward it when as the best of those in this land. found? And their work has begun to tell even on this mass of ignorance and First, there is not, at present, the conceit and immorality. The vicslighte8t hope that their own relig- tories won can not make us proud, ious teachers can help them. but they can make us hopeful, There are, to be sure, a few ecclesi- earnest, persistent. The battle is astics who, by ability and training, on; the Captain is here to win, and might have helpt them spiritually, the rank: Rnd file of the young had they not been ambitious of Christian host are going where He place and power. Religion with leads. They realize their own them is simply a means for personal advancement. But the great majority of their priests are ignorant, untrained, able simply to memorize weakness and His strength, and in the Italian government, from 1870 that realization and effort is our on, license was given to Protestant hope of ultimate success. error to establish and propagate itself in Rome, it has spread itself A Stirring Up in Rome, Italy. like a drop of oil. So much so that we read in the English periodical, BY MISS M. E. VICKERY. The Tablet, of London, dated Nov. 19, 1898: 'It can not be denied that Methodist Episcopal Missionary, Rome. a dark future is in preparation, and that the second decade of the twen- It is recorded somewhere that tieth century will see a great part Socrates preferred to measure the of the Roman population Protesstandard of his attainments, not tant.' Such propaganda is done in by the verdict of the friends who Rome, especially by those protestcriticized him, but rather by the ing sects, which Anglicans call disopinions of his enemies and the senters, since they are divided and dread he inspired in them. Emu- dissenting from the official Church lating this wise old son of Athens, of England. These sects, not being perhaps the most eloquent report able to directly reach their aim of of the progress and succ,ess of our making the Italians Protestants, work in Rome will be that which adopt in profusion' indirect means;' has recently been written by the that is, scattering most lavishly Romanists themselves, and which money furnisht them by English appeared in a March number of and American Protestant societies. their most violent Jesuit organ, This they give in abundance to the Civilitd Catolica. poor families, accept their children, without pay, into their boarding- Never before has the Protestant schools and homes, open workcause excited so much commotion rooms, day – schools, boardingamong the high ecclesiastics as now schools, places of recreation, gymthat our school has been a success nasiums, etc., to trap as many as among the better class of well-to-do they can of our youths and of our Italians. The Catholics are moder- peoples." ately content that we support and care for the swarms of their poor, In a lecture given February 2d feeling quite competent to eventu- in Rome by Father de Mandato, of ally come in to give them the" last the Jesuits, on this theme, the Sacrament," and reclaim the others learned and pious father enumerof that family on that score sooner ated one by one the various works or later. But this new line of founded in Rome by the Protesoperations, this attempt at con- tants-the many schools, the boardtrolling the intelligent and edu- ing-schools, the gymnasiums, the cated adherents through their reading-rooms, the work-rooms, young women who are still study- the dispensaries of medicine, and ing-this leading the contest to the other helps for the poor. He higher ground than they have ever said: attempted to secure for themselves, has stirred-even-" his holiness." "The American Me tho di sts alone have more than twenty of "The bird that flutters shows it these places in Rome alone. Not ishurt." Behold the "flutter" our only do they try with these to poor little two-year-and-a-half-old draw into the heresy the inferior school has caused! classes, but also those of higher rank and authority. In Vicolo San We translate the article verbatim: "Since under the protection of Nicolo da Tolentino, at the P::dazzo places of recreation and education for the young, industrial training Moroni, the American Methodists for the poor and unoccupied youths, free schools, orphanages, and some have opened an institute for young board.ing-schools, both for boys and for gIrlS, at low prices, visits and ladies, which they call 'Interna- as:,istance to the poor and infirm, mIssions and religious lectures in tional,' where they drag in Catho- the places infected and menaced by ~rotest3;ntism, popular religious lic girls to learn literature, art, InstructIOn, and the diffusion ot music, and singing, and where even good printed matter, especially of some renowned Catholic professors that kind to refute the errors most diffused by the Protestants and the give instruction, perhaps ignorant incredulous. As to the internal constitution, the work is composed of the damage that they bring to the of a central council in Rome. This has for its head a general ecclesi- very church to which they belong. astical president nominated by the cardinal vicar, and approved by Besides this, there are received the holy father, and he is S. E. R. Monseignor Giustino Adami, titu- there in pension, at the lowest lar Archbishop of Cesare di Ponto. A vice-president and a woman rates, young ladies who come to vice-president, a general secretary, a treasurer, twelve male and twelve Rome to study to become profes- female councilors, a male and a female secretary aid the president. sors." He continued: "Similar to this central com- "In this institute, as in others, mittee of Rome, there will be dio- proselyting is done on a grand cesan councils, at the head of which scale. Catholic girls are obliged to will be, in the same manner an read in common the Protesant ec;clesiastic ;nominated by , the Bible, and to hear it commented hIShop. BesIdes these councils, upon in a way altogether different there wiII be members of various from Catholic doctrine; and this grades; founders, benefactors acyear has heen added openly the ob- tive and associate members, ligation to be present at a weekly cooper.ators, both of the clergy and sermon by a Protestant minister, the laIty. There are, too, special in which the foundations of the laws, that it is not wise to particu- Catholic faith are undermined. larize here, regarding the reunions More shamelessly still they pro- the gathering of offerings, the dura: ceed to pervert the children-Cath- tion of office, the spread of the olic children shut up in their work, and the spiritual indulgences homes, compelling them to receive granted by the pope, which latter their Protestant instruction and he has distributed widely to the doctrine. Thus one child kept there members to show how much at gratuitously represents not rarely heart he has this work." an entire family that at such a price pay for their. apostasy from Would that we had some of this the living faith. It has happened just recently that a workman called money we are reputed to use so to work in a Protestant office had imposed on him the condition of lavishly for our purpose! Would sending his own sons to these socalled evangelical schools. that we had but one place where ': To oppose this evil, as just de- we could be comfortably and conscrIbed, It has been decided to institute a plan for the preservation veniently housed, that we need no of the faith. It has its central seat in Rome, but it is not for Rome longer turn away the girls who only, but, indeed, for all the Italian dioceses, and must be extended would come to our school! Does it finally outside of Italy. The nucleus of the plan is already estab- not seem a wise prevision to do as lisht with the full approval of the holy father. Here is a summary much as pm,sible before the new indication as to the scope, and as to the internal constitution. method of opposition shall have "The scope is to make reparation made too much headway? Next for the Protestant propagandism by aiding and favoring the works year will be a critical one for the that most directly are opposed to it, and to found new ones wherever schoo1. they may be needed; especially IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.

The Oollege at Khartum. success lies its distinct moral and religious character. Much possibly misdirected enthusiasm is awakened by Lord The sirdar should have his atten- Kitchener's proposal for a college tion directed to the success which at Khartum, which is to be in no has waited upon Robert College, sense a Christian institution. It while arranging for the one which may be well to consider whether is to perpetuate the name and fame it is a wise step to plant such of Gordon at Khartum. an educational institution, with the money from Christian commu- Barbarism in the South. nities, in the heart of a Mohammedan and heathen land. Some of the most shocking events- recorded in the history of America Robert College, at Constantinople, have recently been taking place in is a standing refutation of the idea the Southern States, the most that such work must be conducted recent of which was the shocking on an entirely irreligious, or at and barbarous punishment inflicted least unreligious basis. From its on a negro in Georgia. This negro foundation in 1863, during all these acted at once the part of a beast thirty-three years, it has main- and a demon; he outraged virtue, tained its character as a distinct- murdered the innocent, and seemed ively Christian institution at the to revel in cruelty. That his crime very point where such a college made the popular indignation to would seem to be impracticable. boil like a caldron is not to be Situated on the Bosphorus, about wondered at; or even that the law six miles from Stamboul, it con- was not permitted to take its fronts the very towers built by proper course in the calm adminis- Mohammed II. when he captured tration of justice. But the manner Constantinople; it is near the site of his execution was unworthy of a of an ancient Roman temple, and civilized, Christianized community. so seems to lift the banner of For half an hour this man was Christ on the very ramparts of the subjected to the torture of mutilaenemy. Its present staff embraces tion, then he was burned at the a score of professors, and thou- stake, and after death his body sands of students have been edu- was literally hackt to pieces and cated in its halls, representing the fragments of the tree to which twenty or more different nationali- he had been bound, borne off as ties and every variety of faith. souvenirs. Tho not linkt with any society or mission board, it has survived even Popular fury did not exhaust itthe social earthquakes that have self in this holocaust of vengeance. desolated the city, and its influence As he had charged an old negro for Christ over the empire is be- preacher with being the instigator yond calculation or expression. of the crime, this old man was Mr. W. T. Stead believes its alumni tortured to elicit a confession; but will ultimately fill all responsible as this failed, he was finally hung, positions in the civil service under notwithstanding his employer's the control of the sultan. The num- vigorous efforts to save him by ber of its students (now 250) has affirmation of his innocence. been limited only by its accommodations. Those who have conducted Those who have read the horrible it know that at the basis of its high details of these lynchings will not find it difficult to believe the truth of the charges made in the article on "A Revival of Slavery in The Samoan Trouble. America," printed in our Digest Department. The civilized and Unfortunately the missionary Christian portion of the country element has been uselessly and should be aroused to insist on the wrongfully dragged into the dis- establishment of law and order, not cussion of the political disturbances the punishment of crime with in Samoa. Undoubtedly mission- crime. Let the white man set the ary work will be hampered for a negro an example of self-restraint; time by the troubled state of the educate them, for educated negroes island, but that the Protestant do not commit such crimes; erevate missionaries are in any way re- them and let the law treat white sponsible for the conflict is most and black alike. certainly false. The London Mis- sionary Society is represented by A Baptist pastor at Atlanta, who able and trustworthy men, who subsequently preacht in rebuke of most heartily deplore the present acts of lawless retaliation and strife, and who seek in every way violence had his tabernacle broken to promote the glory of God and into and looted, and has been peace among men. threatened with a public whipping. All this reveals a state of society The princip8,1 facts of the case which is disgraceful to the name of are these: According to the Berlin civilization. No decent man will treaty, the chief justice has authordefend such crimes as those of the ity to decide finally in event of disnegro. No language can be found pute in the election of succession to describe their enormity and de- to the nominal and, at present, useformity. But neither c[(n words less position of king of Samoa. Maportray the hideous cruelty of his taafa received the majority of torture, mutilation, and burning. votes, but was declared ineligible If he had acted the part of a beast according to the Berlin treaty. and a demon, those who visited on Mataafa is a Roman Catholic, and him such condign punishment, let is backt by the priests and the Gerthemselves down to his level in act- mans, but his following is largely ing the part of wild beasts and Protestant. He is also a fighter, demons. That sublime principle and has a large following of those laid down in the Word of God who love war and warriors. Maliewas forgotten: "Vengeance is toa Tanu, the son of the former mine,. I 'will 1'epay, saUh the king, is a lad of seventeen or eight- Lord." We are bidden to leave een, a Protestant, and naturally such requital to "the Lord God quiet and peaceable. Chief Justice of recompenses," who" will surely Chambers decided in his favor, and requite." We are not to let hell the Mataafa party, backt by the loose upon sinners; it is time Germans, if not urged on by them, enough when they fall into the rebelled and establisht a provincial hands of a just God. Ve need government, raiding the towns and intrepid preaching of the Gospel at looting the property of non-combathome, or Christian communities, ants, and even churches and misso called, will lapse into barbarism. sion premises. The only way in The Savior of us all bore without which Protestant missionaries were murmuring the scourge, the spit- mixt up in the affair was in seeking ting, the torture of the cross, and to protect life and property, thus said only this: ., Father jorg'ive giving protection to those who fled. them, jor they know not what they from Mataafa's victorious party. do," Chief Justice Chambers was placed in a delicate position by the "the mother of God," and confes- conflict between the Berlin treaty sion to the priest, rejection of and the vote of the people. He was, which practises and beliefs has however, upheld by all foreign rep- won for the Nestorians of old the resentatives, except the Germans, name of "Protestants of the East." whose consul-has shown anything but a desire for law and order, and The evangelical churches developt who is largely responsible for the among the Nestorians of Persia by strife and bloodshed. Mataafa is a Presbyterian missionaries have, ac- strong leader in some respects, and cording to reports, stGod measura- is thus popular with many natives. bly firm against this wild onset, He is not, however, fitted for a but they are a small body at best, ruler, and has shown that his aims and they. too, have lost a consid- are selfish, and not calculated to erable number of members. The promote the good of the little king- converts of the Roman Catholic dom-so called by sufferance of the missionaries have largely gone with three powers. His followers have the tide. shown themselves to be headstrong and freebooters. Malietoa Tanu is What is to be the final effect probably not an ideal king, but is of this invasion of Persia by the at least tractable and peaceably in- Russian Church uPQn Protestant clined, and in the position of nom- missions there, it is too early to proinal sovereignty would not stir up nounce. Whether the American strife. We sincerely deplore the Presbyterian missionaries will be reign of lawlessness, the loss of life suffered to continue in oversight of and property, and the retarding of their few thousand adherents, and Christian work, but hope that the whether these latter will be at all commissioners* who have gone to tolerated, or driven to the wall by Samoa will reach a satisfactory un- Russian illiberal regulations, are derstanding, and adopt a new con- questions of deep interest to the stitution, which will help to estab- friends of missions all the world lish peace and prosperity, and pre- over. Vhatever the development vent a recurrence of trouble. on these lines may be, we must confidently believe that the seed of The Russian Invasion of Persia. evangelical truth sown among the Nestorians in the past sixty years, The Russian mission to the Nes- and so richly matured by the Spirit torians of Urumia, Persia, seems of God, will, under His gracious to have made rather a clean overruling providence, prove a sweep. Already they are reported mighty working leaven among to have enrolled from 15,000 to those peoples. The Moslem popu- 20,000 of these people as members lation has, from early times, been of the orthodox church of Russia. favorably imprest with the supe- The promise of a measure of polit- rior character of Protestant Chrisical protection from Mohammedan tianity. It is not strange that now, landlords is the bait that has drawn more than ever, they recognize it them in wild crowds to exchange as the purer, nobler form of Christheir time-honored faith for the tian truth, as it is seen in contrast Greek Church, with its picture with other forms and practises. worship, reverence of Mary as The larger body of the Nestorians * Mr. Bartlett Tripp (American), Mr. Eliot in Kurdistan are as yet untoucht by this Russian movement. But, then. C6ritish), and Baron von Sternberg (Gerl11an). the Roman Catholics from Van seem to be making considerablf;l headway. African Liquor Traffic. Self-supporting missions have been That some decisive steps need to planted in India and Burma, Afbe taken immediately to curtail the liquor traffic with Africa is rica, and other lands, but thus far, manifest to all who have the interests of the Africans at heart. have met with little success.

A new conference is proposed to The professed basis of this particconslder the question of ""Vest African liquor traffic. King Leopold ular movement, which started in of Belgium invites European nations to the conference, and Eng- Brown University some time since, land, Germany. and France, have already accepted. He will propose is, "faith in God" and" dependence a higher duty on alcohol. At Sierra Leone it is now 75 cents per gallon, on His selection;" the grand requibut still is working untold harm. The bush negro will not work ex- site being entire surrender to His cept under such inducement, but the traffic ought to be abolisht, as will and service. Each member of it speedily works death to the blacks of the dark continent. The the colony is expected to furnish police are busy hunting the "moonshine" stills in Sierra Leone, but passage and outfIt, is to go withbananas are readily made to yield an intoxicating drink, and the out stated salary, and for a lifelong Illicit business goes on notwithstanding. We fear that the new campaign; money is not to be askt conference will not be sufficiently unselfish and determined to pro- for, except from God, in prayer. pose the radical reforms needed, but let us hope arid pray that ade- The particular" industry" in view quate steps may be taken to stamp is sheep raising; and it is proposed out this heinous sin against God to employ native labor, and thus and man. both help the mission to self-sup- port, and afford ample opportunity A South African Industrial Oolony. for access to the unsaved.

A "South African Industrial Col- The plan has many features to ony for Missionary Work," has commend it, and looks well on presented to us for our review its paper; whether, on actual trial, it plan and prospectus. This is a new will succeed depends very largely on attempt to solve the problem of the parties who undertake it. For putting at work those who are wil- ourselves we bid godspeed to any ling and desirous to serve God, but way, new or old, which is supported whom the "boards" can not or do by Scripture teaching and common not send out, and to supplement sense, and has for its-chief aims to existing methods by others that do spread the knowledge of God. It not demand such elaborate train- is not worth while to stand in the ing. The particular matter em- way of any who seek to evaugelize phasized in the Industrial Colony the world, while thousands are is the self-support by trade, as Paul dying every hour. wrought at tent-making to prevent peing a burden on the infantchurch. One word of caution we feel con- strained to offer. Let each step be carefully considered before being taken. Africa is the cemetery of missionaries. Europeans and Americans find there a climate that is laden with poison. We can not stand exposure to the tropical sun, nor eat with impunity the food to which, in such temperate zones, we are accustomed, nor wear the same clothes. Any party going to the Dark Continent should first ascer- tain the conditions and risks of this new sphere of life. A few weeks of imprudence at the start may mean health wreckt or life short- ened. Even a consecrated purpose and spirit does not save us from the physical consequences of violating God's natural laws. Let obedience to God, which is the basis of all true work, begin in compliance with the known laws of bodily health. Even grace does not make up for llWk of common sense.

RECENT BOOKS ON MISSIONS AND MISSION I,ANDS

V.-RECENT BOOKS ON MISSIONS AND MISSION LANDS.

THE REDEMPTION OF AFRICA. A Story of tional bodies, and separate chap- Civilization. ·With maps, statistical tables, ters are devoted to valuable infor- and select bibliography of the literature mation as to the environment of of African missions. By Frederic Perry African missions, industrial educa- Noble. Two vols. 8VD, 846 pp. $4.00. tion, woman's work, medical mis- Fleming H. Revell Co., Chicago, New sions, and the debt of Africa to York, and Toronto. Christianity. The statistical tables include lists of diseases prevalent Mr. Noble has given us a work in various sections; educational, which will stand the test of time, medical, literary, philanthropic, and one without which no library cultural, and missionary work. is complete. The book is not with- There is also a list of the principal out faults, but few are more con- authorities on Africa, and indexes scious of this than the author. The of persons, places, societies, and field is so tremendous, and the subjects. The maps show political sources of information so often un- spheres of influence, mission stacertain, that one needs the life- tions, diseases, and languages, betime of a Methuselah, the patience sides sectional maps of Madagascar, of a Job, and discernment more Egypt, and British Central Afric:.t. than human, to attain perfection. Comparatively few can realize the As to criticisms, spa.;e forbids a amount of labor that the present minute examination, but in general work has involved. Mr. Noble often seems to strain a point to insure accuracy. He has As to scope, the book attempts to reform on the brain, so that amacover too much ground, if any- teurs need a key to enable them to thing, and might be called "The unlock the mystery of many of his Redemption of Africans," since it proper names. Comparatively few deals with work for African peo- would recognize the well-known ples in both hemispheres. Neces- names Darfur, Kordofan, Zanzisarily, it goes into the history of bar, Bechuanaland, Matabili, etc., African missions, and takes a in the possibly more accurate but liberal view of Moslem, Roman, un-English forms, Fur, Kardo, Zanand Protestant missions. The sub- quebar, Chwanaland, Tabili, etc. ject is treated under three main In his names of societies, too, he is divisions: Ancient and medieval often needlessly obscure in order preparation, the religious partition, to secure technical accuracy, e. g., and the expansion of missions. It using Unity of Brethren to transis exceptionally compact and com- late Unitas Fratrum, to designate prehensive and reliable, and has the well-known Moravian body. some claim to literary merit. It was almost inevitable that the His spelling is not always selfromantic and miraculous stories of consistent, e. g., Zanzibar being the lives of most African mission- sometimes spelled Zanguebar, etc. aries and mission fields should be omitted, thus leaving a most fas- As for the maps, they are helpful, cinating portion of the subject un- and for many books would be extoucht, but much incidental infor- cellent; but as a standard work, mation is given on the character this should have first-class original and work of many heroes of the maps, showing political, missionary Dark Contiflent. The modern spheres, etc. It is especially iinmissionary work is wisely taken up portant that there should be a map. aocording to the great denominaor sectional maps, giving the loca- adventurous side of life on such a tion of various missionary societies. mission field, and vividly describes Some such plan as that given in the unique customs and characterour map of China (February RE- istics and beliefs of the Y orubans. VIEw) is most helpful, and does not involve changes in plates for new Monthly Missionary Bibliography. editions. The illustrations are not sufficiently representative or nu- ISLAM IN AFRICA: Its Effects-Religious, Ethmerous to be of any particular ical, Social. By Anson P. Atterbury. value. We wish that it had been 12mo. $1.25. G. P. Putnam's Sons. possible to give full statistics of the work of all societies laboring AMONG THE WILD NGONI (Africa). By Wm. in Africa, but we know something A. Elmslie. Map and Illustrations. 12mo, of the difficulties of such an under- 318 pp. $1.25. Oliphant, Anderson & taking. Ferrier, Edinburgh, and Fleming H. Rev- ell Co., N. Y. .This is one of the indispensable missionary books, and any blem- THE NEGRO AND THE WHITE MAN. By Bishop ishes which may appear are of Gaines. $1.25. African M. E. Book minor importance, compared with Rooms, Philadelphia. the value of the material collected and the great accuracy which marks NEW YORK'S CHINATOWN-An Historical Preit as a whole. sentation of its Peoples and Places. By Louis J. Beck. Illustrated. 8vo, 382 pp. HAUSALAND, or Fifteen Hundred Miles $1.00. Bohemian Publishing Co., New " through the Central Sudan. By Rev. York. Charles H. Robinson, M.A. Map and il· lustrations. 12mo, 30.3 pp. Sampson Low, OUR ISLAND EMPIRE.-A Handbook of Cuba, Marston & Co., London. Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the PhilipIlines. By Chas. Morris. 12mo, 488 pp. $1.50. In our Digest Department an ar- J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia. ticle appears based upon this interesting and valuable book. Canon PUERTO RICO AND THE 'VEST INDIES. By Robinson is lecturer in Rausa at Margherite Hamm. 12mo, 230 pp. F. Cambridge, and is doing much to Tennyson Neely, New York. bring the Rausa people to notice, and to further the cause of Christ THE PHILIPPINES AND ROUND ABOUT. By Maj. among them, through the Rausa- G. J. Younghusband. 12mo, $2.50. The land Association. Ris book de- Macmillan Co., New York and London. scribes a tour through Nigeria and the Central Sudan, and gives much THE PHILIPPINES AND NEW POSSESSIONS. By information as to the character of W. J. Seabright. R. H. Woodward & Co., the country and people, their laws, Baltimore. customs, occupations, languages, religion, etc. It throws.much light THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. By John Foreman. on a little known land and people. Maps and Illustrations. 8vo, 653 pp. $5.00. Charles Scribner's Sons. IN AFRIC'S FOREST AND JUNGLE, or Six Years among the Yorubans. By Rev. R. H. PIONEERING IN FORMOSA. ByW. A. Pickering. Stone. Illustrated. 12mo,282 pp. $1.00. Hurst & Blackett, London. Fleming H. Revell Co. A HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA (5 vols.) By Sir This latest addition to the" Stor- William W. Hunter. Vol. I. 8vo, 475 pp. ies of Missions," is an exceptionally $5.00. Longmans, Green & Co. readable account of life and adventure among the barbarians of the AMONG THE HIMALAYAS. By L. A. Waddell. West African coast. It can not be Map and illustrations. Svo, 452 pp. $5.00. called strictly a missionary book, New Amsterdam Book Co., New York. but gives a graphic picture of the THROUGH THE STORM. Pictures of Life in Ar- menia. By Avetis Nazarbek. 8vo. $2.00. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.

LIGHTS .AND SHADOWS OF MISSION WORK IN THE FAR EAST. By S. H. Chester, D.D. 8vo, 252 pp. 75c. Presbyterian Committee of Publication, Richmond, Va. SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA. By J. W. Book- walter. Illustrated. 8vo, 548 pp.

HANDBOOK OF COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS. By Samuel H. Kellogg, D.D. Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia.

HISTORY OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. By Richard Lovett. 2 vols. Portrait and maps. 8vo. 21 shillings. Henry Frowde, London.

STATESMAN'S YEAR BOOK. American Edition. 8vo, 1196 pp. $3.00. The Macmillan Co.

PRISONS AND PRISONERS. By Rev. J. W. Hors- ley. 12mo, 2;)3 pp. $1.25. W.;F. Mans- field & Co., New York.

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE

VI.- GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

EDITED BY REV. D. L. LEONARD, D.D.

-In a recent sermon on foreign of what is possible and feasible for missions, this old legend was told: a parish to support a missionary as When God first made the birds, an extra thing, without diminishthey could only walk; but their ing (on the contrary, while continwings were fashioned and laid be- uing to increase) the measure of side them. The birds took up these its ordinary support by collections, wings, and, binding them to their subscriptions, boxes, and sales of breasts, carried them as a burden. work. This discovery is calculated But presently, the wings having to work a revolution in the scale of grown to their sides, they soared giving.-C. M. S. Intelligencer. up into heaven. "Brethren!" said the speaker, "the church now bears -According to Secretary J. L. foreign missions on her heart as a Barton, the churches under the burden. When will she learn that care of the American Board added her Lord intends missions to be an average of 10 members each last as wings to her, carrying her joy- year, those of the American Misously forward to the blessed day of sionary Association 9, of the Oon- His appearing? " gregational Home Missionary So- ciety 4, while all the strong, self- -Mrs. Ballington Booth says supporting churches averaged 1.7 that one day when she was feeling each, barely holding their own. keenly her failures and discourage- Nor is there any reason to suppose ments, and wondering if she really the proportion between growth in was worth anything in her Father's the foreign and home work is much vineyard, her little boy came in different in the other denominafrom a walk in the city park, and, tions. Whatever" failure" there running up to her with great de- may be in the work of the Gospel, light, he put into her lap a little evidently it is not found in heathen handful of wilted chickweed. She lands. pickt up the worthless weeds with 8: cry of gratitude, and kist the lit- -All the signs of the times comtle hand which had brought them bine to indicate that in the coming to her. They were in themselves century these will be prominent of absolutely no account, but they among the burning questions: (1) were all the flowers he had, and his Medical missions; (2) industrial loving thought and plan to bring missions; (3) self-support; (4) selfmamma his only bouquet lifted the management, and far greater care burden from her heart. "Ah!" to build up an indigenous church; she said, "shall not my Father that is, one not fashioned after take my little service, which often- European, American, or merely times seems so worthless and una- denominational ideas, modes, and vailing, and count it precious be- methods. cause in my heart I longed to do great and beautiful things for -Among others these eminent Him?" cases of comity are delightful to contemplate: The Presbyterians -The idea has evidently taken are unmolested in Siam, the Baphold, and is spreading-the idea tists in Burma, the American that it is quite within the compass United Presbyterians in the Nile valley, and the American Board in Turkey. Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren, etc. THE JEWS. The Mission World says there -As to Jewish population in dif- are in the Church over 100,000 proseferent countries: Russia holds the lytes from Judaism, and in the record with nearly 3,000,000; Aus- Church of England alone 250 of the tria-Hungary comes next with 1,- clergy are either Jews or sons of 500,000; and Germany follows with Jews. The Gospel is proclaimed in 700,000. There are 400,000 Jews in more than 600 pulpits of America Rumania – nearly a tenth of the and Europe by Jewish lips. Over population; 100,000 in Turkey, 80,- 350 of the ministers of Christ in 000 in France, and nearly as many Great Britain are stated to be Hein Holland and England. Italy brew Christians.

contains 50,000, and the other -In 1882 an agreement was made powers 30,000. In round figures between the United States and the total population of Jews in Russia to allow American citizens, Europe is set down at 6,000,000. who had a legal passport, credited The estimated population of Jews by Russian consul, to enter Russia, in Africa is 500,000, of which num- and stay as long a time as would ber 40,000 are in Algeria; 250,000 in enable them to get their business Asia; 350,000 in America; and from • or private affairs in order. Only Jews were excepted, and even if 20,000 to 30,000 in Australia. they were American citizens, they -There are about 14,000 Jews in needed special permission. Re- Switzerland, and all, with the ex- peated efforts to put aside this hurt- ception of a very small portion, ful measure were always opposed have immigrated into that country. by the Russian power. The Jews of True Swiss Jews, whose parents North America now ask a revision have lived in the land for several of this agreement.

hundred years, are only a few hun- dred persons. Most of the immi- -The Jewish colony, founded by grants come from Alsace and Lor- Russian Jews in Wellington, Ne- raine, who emigrated from there vada, is on the verge of dissolu- when Germany took these two tion, being in the hands of the provinces from France. From sheriff. In November, 1877, twen- other countries there are a small ty-one Jewish families left San number of Jews, and there are Francisco to settle in Nevada as about 100 Russian Polish Jews, farmers. They bought land, giving who are not very well liked by their a mortgage of $14,000 for a large German brothers. estate, hoping to payoff the mort- -There are some 14,000 Jews gage gradually by their industry. altogether in Cairo, Egypt, made But the president of the colony and up of the same heterogeneous and the secretary pawned the estate in cosmopolitan character as their a bank in Carson City, without the brethren in Alexandria. Some are colonists knowing it, and fled. Now wealthy and influential, living in the bank insists upon payment of their grand palaces by the Nile, but this sum, and so the colonists will the majority, especially of the be dislodged. The police are seek- Arabic-speaking Jews, seem in a ingthe two malefactors.-Die Welt. very wretched and destitute condi- AMERICA.

tion. Each of the Jewish com- United States.-The American munities-the Arabic, the "Asch- Bible Society in the eighty-three kenaz " (German speaking), and the years of its history has distributed Karaim-have their own quarters 64,000,000 Scriptures, which would and synagogs. load a freight train ten miles long. If opened and placed side by side was scheduled to meet May 18th at these books would reach nearly the Hague. The topics for discushalf-way round the globe. And sion should be put on record. twice this work has been done by the British and Foreign Bible So- (1) An agreement not to increase naval or ciety, which is the most popular military forces, and thll corresponding budgbenevolent cause in England. ets for a flxt period; (2) an e:1deavor to find Twenty-eight other societies have means of reducing the forces and budgets in distributed altogether the same the future; (3) interdiction of the use of any number as the American. Since new weapon, or explosive of a power fuller its foundation the society first than now made; (4) restriction of the use of named has circulated Scriptures in the most terrible of existing explosives, and languages and dialects as follows: 28 forbiddin~ the throwing of any explosives European, 39 Asiastic, 8 Oceanic, 9 from balloons, or similarly; (5) forbidding African, 9 American Indian, and 3 the employment of submarine torpedoes, and South American, besides the Eng- similar contrivances; (6) undertaking not to lish translation. construct vessels with rams; (7) application of the Geneva convention to naval warfare; -Rev. A. Woodruff Halsey, (8) neutralization of vessels saving those pastor of the Spring Street Presby- wreckt in naval battles; (9) revision of the terian Curch, New York City, who declaration concerning the laws and customs delivered the students' missionary of war elaborated at Brussels in 1874; (10) aclectures at Princeton Seminary this ceptance of the principle of mediation and year, has been elected to succeed arbitration in such cases as lend themselves Dr. John Gillespie as secretary of thereto. the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. He is admirably fitted The composition of the United for the position. States delegation was announced as follows: -The New York Board of Charities has recently compiled statistics Andrew D. White, United States Ambassawhich show that the various insti- dor to Germany. tutions in the state hold property to the value of $103,384,544, and Stanford Newell, United States Minister to had an income last year amounting the Netherlands. to $23,100,880. Benefits of one kind or another were conferred upon Seth Low, President of Columbia Univer- 74,664 pf'rsons, 31,127 being children sity, New York. cared for in "homes." Captain William Crozier, ordnance depart- -The Baptist Missionary Union ment, United States army. reports 13,197 received into its churches in foreign lands last year, Captain A. T. Mahan, United States navy, divided among the missions as retired. follows: Burma, 2,500; Telugu, 1,870; Assam, 1,187 (900 at one sta- Frederick W. Holls, of New York, secretary tion); China, 475; Kongo Free State, of the delegation. 335; Russia, 980, etc. The number received from the beginning is The delegation is regarded as an about 300,000, and of these nearly exceptionally strong body, being 100,000 are the fruit of the last nine made up of men well known, not years. only in political life, but in letters and international affairs. -The preliminary conference of ambassadors to discuss the propo- -The M. E. Church has gathered sals of the czar as to disarmament, from heathen lands into its churches 56,884 full members and 67,967 probationers, a total of 124,- 851. The conversions numbered 12,445 last year. The preaching force aggregates 1,631, of whom 234 are Americans and 436 are ordained natives. In the schools are 31,382.

-Two theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church, South, devote one day each month to missions, holding services in which all the faculty and all the students take part, for papers and dis- altar, some with their faces on the cussions on all the phases of both fioor, in the very dust! The most the home and foreign work. Nor interesting circumstance is that is it surprising to learn that one of our young men did all the work. them, the Union Seminary of Rich- They marcht through Chinatown mond, Va., with 88 students, has with kettledrums and cornets, stopundertaken to support a mission- ping at the street corners to testify ary in the field. to the saving power of God. Then they sang all the way back to the -Seventeen students of the Re- mission, bringing a great crowd formed (Dutch) Church have askt with them every night." the mission board to make provision to send them to the foreign field -Editor Gray of The Interior, when they shall have completed met an educated negro in the South, their studies, and a portion have who was planning to go to Liberia also sought and obtained the ap- as a missionary. He tried to disproval of the board to organize and suade him, citing the instance of speak among the churches after the Mr. Briar, who went to Gabun fashion of the Yale band. and "uselessly sacrificed a valuable life "-that is the way the Presby- -At Darlington, Oklahoma, the terian editor put it. Note the neagency headquarters for the Chey- gro's reply. "Institutions must enne and Arapahoe Indians, some have graves for their foundations." effective work for Indians is being done by Rev. and Mrs. 'V. M. 'Vell- – -A new movement has been inman. Easter Sunday was a great augurated by Mr. Ogden Mills, a day, for 61 were received into mem- son of the originator of the Mills bership, 46 Cheyennes and 15 Ara- hotels:' He plans fireproof apartpahoes. These ranged in age from ment houses, to be built absolutely twelve to twenty-six. One hundred safe and comfortable, to be rented and fifty Indian Christians partook as tenements, at cheap rentals. of the Lord's Supper, 25 of whom Stone and steel are to be the only walkt six miles to attend. Two materials used. The first of these sermons were preacht by Indian structures is to stand at the corner converts, one of whom is an of 42d st. and 10th ave., New York. Apache, grandson of old Geronimo. The property purchased has already A Christian Endeavor Society of 45 cost $250,000. It is calculated that active members has been organized the rental will average one dollar a at the Arapahoe school. week per room, and that this will pay an income on the property. -This is strange reading, since it relates to the staid and impassive Puerto Rico.-Chicago will have Celestials. Rev. F. J. Masters, su- the honor of sending the first Episperintendent of Methodist Chinese copal missionary to Puerto Rico, work in San Francisco, writes as Bishop McLaren having appointed follows: "We have had a glorious the Rev. G. B. Platt as special misrevival. Chinatown has been sionary of the Chicago diocese. He moved to its center. Nearly 100 will work under the personal insigned cards expressing their deter- struction of Bishop McLaren, and mination to follow Christ and ac- establish missions and schools in cept Him as their Savior. We all the large settlements on the found over half .of them return to island. a great rally. What a sight it was to see 25 on one night, and 34 an- -The American Missionary Asother night, kneeling down at the sociation has voted to plant 3 schools in as many different inter- king rapid strides in voluntaryism. esting centers of Puerto Rico, to be Canon Burnside's statistical tables in full operation in October next. of the voluntary offerings for 1898 One of these will be in the north, show that Anglicanism is well able another in the center, and the third to stand the test put upon all the on the west coast of the island. free churches-of self-maintenance. Christian teachers who understand More than half a million sterling the language of Puerto Rico are was raised last year over and above now ready to take up the work. the amount raised in 1897, the total amounting to £7,506,355. Church Brazil.-Mr. Geo. R. Witte, who extension received £56,000 as its has been working in Central Bra- share; home mission societies, £30,- zil, is returning to America in 000 ; foreign missions, £236,000; consequence of a proposition from church building, £190,000. If the the Para government to take charge free-will offering system were propof an industrial school which the erly developt, and churchmen were 'government offers to build, equip, trained in the grace of giving, the and partially maintain for fifteen Church of England could listen years on the Tocantine river (a complacently to the cry for disestributary of the Amazon). This tablishment. Thrown on her own offer is in consequence of Mr. Wit- resources, she would realize her te's telling the governor of the true strengt.h.-London Christian. work of Hampton Institute, Va. The bill was drawn up by the gov- -Since the British and Foreign ernor and submitted to Mr. Witte and Dr. H. M. Lane, of San Paulo, Bible Society was organized, in for suggestions. Three s qua I' e miles of land has been offered, 1804, it has spent more than $60,- buildings, apparatus for industrial work, etc. No restriction is placed 000,000 in publishing the Scriptures. on religious teaching, so that Mr. Witte sees in this offer a call of It has issued 141,000,000 copies, en- God, and is visiting America to interest people in this work. * tire or in part, that have been EUROPE. printed in more than 300 languages England. – It is said that the and dialects. From its J;tead office churches of this country spend each year on the average from ten to fif- in London, on an average, 6,000 teen times as much upon providing for the ministry and local expenses copies are sent out each day; and, as they give to the work of making the Gospel known in the dark besides London, Oxford, and Camplaces of the earth. Is it not time the churches were giving at least bridge, it runs presses in 12 of the as much to evangelize 1,000,000,- 000 of people who have not the chief cities of Europe, and 8 in Asia, Gospel, as they do to evangelize and minister to 38,000,000 who have besides at Cape Colony, in South the Gospel?-North Africa. Africa, and Sydney, in Australia. -The Church of England is ma- At the present time it is issuing * Mr. Witte is ready to give illustrated annually an average of 3,888,000 ledures on the Indians of Brazil, and may be addrest care of the editor of THE REVIEW. copies of the Bible or New Testa- ment, at which rate it will in the next forty years publish as many copies as it has done in the last ninety-five years; but the proba- bility is that it will do so in much less time. .

-Of the 70 versions which the C. M. S. owes to the Bible Society, the majority have been made by its missionaries. In each of its two chief fields, India and Africa, about 25 versions, mostly the work of its scholars, are in use in its stations. France.-In connection with Miss No other missionary society has de Broen's Belleville Mission in done so much for the translation of Paris 25,000 copies of a French the Scriptures, or uses them in so leaflet on Christ, "La Vie et la many languages as the C. M. S. Resurrection," were distributed on the occasion of President Faure's -At the annual meeting of the funeral, addrest to Roman Catho- Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, lics, Protestants, and Free Thinkor the Indian Female Normal ers, so that none could repulse them. School and Instruction Society, The tracts were brief and most exrecently held, it was reported that cellent in every way, and they were the society has 32 stations, and gladly received, and even soldiers employs 96 European missionaries stretcht out their hands for them. and 310 assistants, Bible women, There is much cause for thanksgivetc. Last year there were 6,551 ing that in the midst of the politpupils in the schools and zenanas, ical, social, and religious friction and the attendances at the hospitals going on for so many months in numbered 60,000. The in-patients Paris, almost daily meetings have numbered 17,235 in 1897, against been held in the Mission Hall un- 2,647 in 1887. In the last fifteen molested. years their schools were increast from 31 to 71, and scholars from Spain.-The Mission World re- 1,060 to 3,514. Their village work ports that Bishop Cabrera, of the in Allahabad is languishing for Spanish Protestant Church, has want of lady workers. received letters stating that since war broke out tpe membership of Scotland.-The year 1898 was to the Anglican Church in Spain has the National Bible Society of Scot- had a wonderful increase, several land, whose headquarters are at priests and a large number of Hankow, an exceptionally pros- private citizens having left the perous one. The circulation for Roman Catholic for the Protestant 1897 was: Whole Bibles, 112; Testa- Church. One distinguisht memments, 8,680; portions, 275,745; to- ber of the Spanish aristocracy has tal,284,537. That was an advance requested the Protestant comon all preceding years. Last year, munity to send to his town a Prothowaver, the circulation rose to a estant minister to conduct services, much higher figure. Its circulation and has placed a building at their for 1898 was: Whole Bibles, 169; disposal. Testaments, 19,008; portions, 420,- 785; total, 440,062. Germany.-W. F. Gooch, in the London Christian, writes this -Well may the United Presby- strange story of intolerance and terian Church rejoice and give persecution from Protestant Saxthanks when its official organ can ony: give this report: "Again the brightest feature in the summa- "On January 11th a fine of tions of the year is the increase of 100 marks was inflicted in Ohemmembers of the church in the nitz simply for the offense of havforeign field. The jubilee year was ing conducted a Sunday-school outsignalized by an unexampled in- side the pale of Lutheranism. On crease of .1,079; last year eclipst it February 1,160 marks for conductwith an increase of 2,370; this year ing a Gospel meeting in Sosa. it mounts still higher, to 3,472, January 4, 150 marks for baptizing nearly double the increase of the converts to the faith of Ohrist church at home." in Sosa and elsewhere. January 25, a pastor served with govern- ment notice that if it was proved that any religious work was carried are in black, and the newspapers on among children with his knowl- head their articles, "A Nation in edge, a fine of 150 marks would Mourning." A wholesale emigra~ be levied on him. January 29, a tion to America is likely to ensue. party of children in the hall of Chemnitz on the Lord's Day were Russia.-A commercial school for surprised by the entrance of the women was opened in Kiev last police and forcibly turned out into month. This is the first school in the street." Russia where Jewish women can enter without restriction; and last In Dresden, recently, the pastor month fourteen Jewish girls were of the Baptist church was sum- accepted as pupils.-Jewish Daily moned before the magistrates for News. having allowed a plate to be held at the door to receive voluntary ASIA. offerings on behalf of the China Inland Mission. Many similar facts Turkey.-A correspondent writes might be added. It is even danger- to the London Times: "Advices ous to speak of these things. received from Constantinople con- firm the reports as to the serious Norway.-The fifty-sixth annual character of the steps taken by the report of the Norwegian Mission- Turkish government in closing or- ary Society is out. This organiza- phanages. The British and United tion has 2 fields in South Africa, States governments are understood and 3 in Madagascar. The income to be in full agreement as to the was £27,825 last year, the number steps which are to be taken in the of representatives was nearly 100 event of the Porte further postpon- (not including missionaries' wives, ing the withdrawal of the order or 1,200 natives of whom 30 are closing the Protestant orphanages ordained). 'l'he number of baptized for Armenian children. These in- members in the various missions is stitutions, altho supported by Brit- about 40,000, in more than 500 ish, American, German, Swiss, and congregations. In Madagascar 40,- Swedish benevolent committees, 000 are in its schools. are under the direction of the Uni- ted States missionaries in Asia Finland.-This country, like Po- Minor. Sir N. R. O'Connor and land, is to disappear from the map, Mr. Straus have already made en- since it is about to be thoroughly ergetic representations to the grand Russianized. By recent decrees vizier, but without effect. The sit- the emperor's local title as Grand uation is, unfortunately, compli- Duke of Finland disappears, and cated by the measures adopted by the word "Empire" or "Russia" Archbishop Azarian, the Armenian is substituted in the soldier's oath Catholic patriarch, to influence the for the word" Fatherland." Thirty- sultan against J:;he Protestant mis- five per cent. of the young men, sions, on a frivolous pretext that instead of ten per cent. as hitherto, the directors harbor revolutionary must enter the army for five years' agents and spread sedition." service, with liability for a still longer term, and may be sent to -There is reason to believe that any part of the Russian empire, Mr. Oscar Straus, of New York, whereas hitherto they have been who went to Turkey because there for local service alone; and at the was important business on hand, . same time Finland is to pay 10,- has made excellent progress in ac- 000,000 marks as a military contri- complishing the special undertak- bution. The people are helpless ings he had in view. There were and in despair. In Helsingfors four of these undertakings: (1) To the theaters are closed, the people have an exequatur issued to our Of course some time, as the Bible puts it, the stench will go up to consul at Erzerum. (2) To secure heaven, and at any convenient time Russia may step in-but it would passports for travelers to the inte- be rash to be definite in prophesyrior of Turkey. (3) To secure pay- ing.

ment of damages for destruction of "As for mission work, the pros- pects are good in many ways. The property belonging to American work among the Nestorians is more missionaries. (4) To make a treaty encouraging than for some years. Work and spiritual power seem to recognizing naturalization. The bring in results in almost every first two tasks are accomplisht, place, and the causes for failure are mostly, if not altogether, within and the third important and diffi- our church. We may hope for a large ingathering, I believe. The cult undertaking is understood to Russian mission seems to have be so far along, that the damages collapst, tho it is too soon to be sure. Work among Moslems is have been assessed, the ministers more circumscribed than formerly, and it is the part of wisdom to say of the sultan's council have advised very little about what we are dopayment, and finally the sultan has ing for them. Everywhere seed is being sown in a quiet way." given favorable assurances. Arabia.-It has long been well Persia.-Dr. J. G. Wishard writes in the Herald and Presbyter that known that the so-called" holy dis- trict" of Mecca in Arabia is the one of the most encouraging features of the work in Teher~n is the breeding-place of cholera. The fact that 18 Mohammedan girls ap- huddling together there at stated plied for admission into Iran Bethel intervals of hordes of filthy Asialast year. To those acquainted tics, under the most unsanitary con- with the fanaticism of the Moslem, ditions conceivable, can hardly help the fact that the parents of so many but be productive of diseases which Moslem girls were willing to send may sweep a whole continent bethem to a Christian boarding- fore they are extinguisht. And school, to eat the "defiled" food of when it is borne in mind that the the Christian, to be known, per- carcasses of the multitudes of anihaps, as Christians, is to convince mals sacrificed there are thrown one that a change in public senti- out to putrefy in the neighborhood, ment is possible, notwithstanding under the hot rays of the blazing the boast of the ancient Persian sun, the periodic origination of that his laws never changed. cholera seems fairly well accounted -A correspondent writes in a for by this geographical localiza- recent letter as follows: tion. As for things here in Persia, it is India.-In this country there are hard to give a fair impression or to 166 hospitals and 466 medical misgain it even in the country. For one thing I think that we are all sionaries in various fields. apt to exaggerate political events, both those past and those in pros- -Dr. John Murdock, well known pect. Undoubtedly affairs are serious here and are growing more for his efforts to supply a Christian so. Still an occidental has little conception of the possibilities of literature for India, having given degeneration in government here in the East. The people expect himself now for fifty years to this corruption and bear oppression as if it were the legitimate function of work, says, in a recent letter, that government. What would be cause seven years ago he had been confor swift and certain revolution in Europe, may be and probably nected more or less with the issue is the ordinary course of events here. I think Persia may rot on of 1,600 different publications, in 21 and her government stink for years. languages and dialects of India; the number of copies printed magic, and their religious preju- amounting to about 20,000,000, while the sales realized nearly $500,000. dices are roused into hostility; and -It is estimated that there are as a-Hindu will die rather than go 5,000,000 of English-speaking natives now in India. That is about counter to his religion, there is still one in sixty of the population. That these, with those who are in- much work for intellectual encreasing the number constantly from the colleges and schools, will lightenment before modern dishave more influence in shaping the educational, social, political, and coveries can be fully utilized. religious future of the country than the other 275,000,000 combined, is -" I affirm, with a wide experimost evident. They are the teach- ence of North India and Burma, ers in the schools, the editors of the that I have never rp.et with a direct newspapers, the natural and recog- and organized attempt to gather in nized leaders in every department the heathen on the part of that of life and activity. church, save where the seed had been first sown by others, and they -Surely India is making prog- had begun to enter into the fruit of ress. A short time ago the writer their own labors. Instances of had the pleasure of visiting a such intervention of the Church of Brahmo Sunday-school in this city, Rome may be found among the in which he found several Bengali Karens in Burma, among the Chols women teaching mixt classes of at Chotu Magpur, in the Nadiya boys and girls. Some of these missions of the Church Missionary ladies have earned the degree of Society in Bengal, and in the mis- B.A., ano. one enjoys the distinc- sions of the Society for the Propation of being an M.A. of the Cal- gation of the Gospel to the south of cutta University. Suppose fifty Calcutta. No modus vivendi is years ago some one had prophesied possible as between herself and this! Itis now announced that two other communions. We must con- Bengali women, both M.A.'s of the fine ourselves to a protest against Calcutta University, have been ap- what seems to us a marauding polpointed examiners at the forthcom- icy, taking care, I should add, to ing university entrance examina- establish our own people in those tion. Surely the day of the eman- true Catholic principles which are cipation of India's women has the best safeguard when the as" dawned! How great the debt which saults and intrigues of Rome have India owes to Christian mission- to be met." aries for having pioneered the way for the education of its women in This is a melancholy statement, the face of doubts and fears and prolonged opposition !-In d ian remarks the Church Missionary Witness. Intelligencer, made by a singularly -Two noted physicians, Drs. Chalnette and Fraser, have demon- qualified observer, but two wrongs strated that antivenene is efficacious as an antidote to snake poison. do not make one right, and no But an obstacle has arisen against its use. The natives think this is marauding policy, such as has some new and diabolical species of characterized Roman missions in India, should tempt us to forget our own duty of evangelizing the heathen and to make reprisals.

-That Protestant Indian Chris- tianity is a very positive factor to be reckoned with, is evident from the announcement that a directory of Protestant Indian Christians is being prepared in Bombay by one of the most influential Indian Christian leaders connected with the American Board. This direc- tory is to contain the names and addresses of the leading Indian Christians in the empire; sketches of the important work undertaken who would not so rescue a drown- ing woman is a wolf. For males and done by the more prominent and females not to allow their ones; lists of Christian associations, hands to touch in giving and receiv- ing is the gene'f'al rule; when a the Young Men's Christian Asso- sister-in-law is drowning, to rescue her with the hand is a peculiar ciation, etc., their office bearers exigency. and strength; lists of Christian -The veteran missionary, Dr. educational institutions, churches, Edkins, giving in the Chine8e Re- especially self-supporting ones; corder his reminiscences of the last fifty years, says: "The great river classified lists of Indian Christian of idolatry is dried up. The conflict ministers, lawyers, doctors, edi- now is between Christianity and the world powe7'. Our books are tors, authors, etc., and a statement being widely examined, and the re- sult will be an enormous accession of laws especially applicable to to the Christian ranks in a few years. Faster than India, sooner Indian Christians. than Japan, China will become a Christian land; and it will be the -An indication of the current of greatest victory achieved by the thought in missions is seen in the Christian religion since the conver- sion of the Roman Emperor Con- resolution of the conference of stantine."

missionaries of the Church Mission- -The advance of China is most ary Society held at Allahabad a strikingly shown in the increast demand for books on Western few weeks ago. After a full dis- science and learning. To supply cussion of the future of the Chris- the calls for this sort of literature the old printing houses have been tian Church in India, the strongest overtaxt, and many new ones start- ed. Bookbinders have advanced ground was taken in favor of a their prices, and the price of paper has risen. Nineteen books on West- native church and a native episco- ern learning have been publisht in pate, entirely independent of con- Szchuan, the most western prov- ince of China, and the number of trol from England. It was decided: native newspapers has quadrupled in three years. The Society for That the future outcome of the C. the Diffusion of Christian and Gen- M. S. Native Church Council Sys- eral Literature among the Chinese, tem should be the formation of an last year printed more than 37,000,- independent Indian church, gov- 000 pages, and the Presbyterian erned by its own synods, under an Mission Press, in Shanghai, printed Indian episcopate, and in com- 45,000,000 pages. munion with the Church of Eng- land. – The following requests for prayer comes from the committee China.-C. A. Coleman, of Van- in charge of the national convention couver, B. C., kindly calls attention of the college Young Men's Chris- tian Associations of China, to be to a statement on page 951 of the !ield at Shanghai, May 19-22, 1899: REVIEW for 1898, which, tho-taken I. Pray that the students in the colleges of directly from the pen of a missionary, gives the exact opposite of the truth. He says: I thought it could not be correct, as in my reading of Mencius in Chinese and English, some years ago, I had never noticed it. I turned to Mencius, Dr. Legge's Chinese Classics, vol. Ir., Mencius; 'and in Book IV., Part r., Chapter XVII., this is written: 1. Shunyu K'wan said, "Is it the rule that males and females shall not allow their hands to touch in giving or receiving anything?" Mencius replied, " It is the rule." K'wan askt, "If a man's sister-in-law be drowning, shall he rescue her with his hand?" Mencius said, "He China may make prayerful. adequate efforts style, brought together, under the flO be represented at the conventio.n. one conception Shangti, the sum of natural forces, which the degener- II. Pray that the difficulties presented by ate Confucianism deified more and great distances, by differences of language, more. But this is now no longer and of traditions, may be overcome, and that the ancient classical Shangti of B. the convention may have a spiritual unity. C. 1000-2000. This is the philos- ophers' Shangti, an abstract God III. Pray that the important questions reo of thought, a conceptual idol.- lating to the work of local associations, to the Evangelisches Missions Magazin. future of the student movement in China, and to the evangelization of China in this -The Chinese could teach a congeneration, may be so acted on as shall be siderable portion of the Occidental most pleasing to God. world profitable lessons in filial piety, respect for law, reverence IV. Pray that the delegates may return to for superiors, economy, industry, the various parts of the empire and take up patience, perseverance, contenttheir work" in the power of the Spirit." ment, cheerfulness, kindliness, po- liteness, skill in the use of opportu- -Consul Fowler, of Chefoo, has nities, and energy in ttl' conquersent the following statement to ing of an adverse environment. The merchants of China, in contra- Washington, in connection with an distinction to the officials and small traders, are held in high esteem as earnest appeal for help: men of probity and business honor. The capabilities of the Chinese ConservativJl estimates place the people, under favorable auspices, number of starving from the floods will surely secure to them an unexat 2,000,000, and time and the in- pectedly high and honorable place creasing cold weather will greatly in the world's future. There is a augment the distress. Hundreds staying power in their natural of villages are submerged, cities qualities, and a possibility of desurrounded by water; homes, fur- velopment under helpful condiniture, clothing-in fact, every- tions, which deserve more recognithing is under water or destroyed. tion than the world seems ready The natives themselves are living at present to accord.-Rev. J. S. in straw huts; many have abso- Dennis. lutely no shelter from the winter's cold and snow, subsisting on bark, -The Lutheran missionaries rewillow twigs, roots, etc. The sum- fused money in China to the extent mer's crops have been a failure, the of $10,000, for the murder of two of seed for next spring's sowing is their number, maintaining that all gone, and there is nothing for these they wisht was to be allowed to starving millions to hope for in the continue their work without molesfuture. tation.

-In the most ancient passage of -Ten years ago, three men were Chinese literature in which baptized in a town 130 miles inland. This was the beginning of a work Shangti for the first time occurs, which has grown until, during a he alone is Ti, God. The other late journey of two months, I was permitted, by appointment of Presnatural forces, wind, water, fire, bytery, to organize a church of 130 members, and ordain 3 eldfirs and 4 etc., are only Shin, spirits. A later time then more and more drew up Shangti into a transcendent form; it forgot to honor and to thank him, and thus the original idea of the one personal God receded more and more. The wa.ywhich Chi- nese heathenism struck into is the same as that of the other heathen, that which the apostle so exactly describes in Romans i. The philo- sophical school of the Sung dynasty (1200 A.D.) with a Chufucius (llot Confucius) at its head, has then first again, in pantheistic deacons. A member of our last Japan.-The Japan missions are theological class was ordained as to have a mission conference in settled pastor over this new church, 1900. Arrangements have already and another one ten miles distant. been made, and it has been decided During the past few weeks 6 mem- to hold it at Tokyo in the latter bers of the theological class have part of October of that year. A been ordained and settled as pas- program has been carefully ar- tors over churches either entirely ranged, and papers are to be read or nearly self-supporting. During covering the whole range of mis- the year 140 have been received at sionary activity. The conference different centers into the church on held at Osaka in 1883 was a great profession of faith, and 51 children success. Now there are about 600 baptized.-Rev. Hunte1' Corbett. missionaries of the evangelical bodies in the empire, and it is hoped -Dr. Duncan Main covers more that 400 at least may gather in this than a page in a recent Me1'cy and conference, which may probably Truth, with most startling figures mark a new epoch in the history of relating to the attempts to commit Christian missions in the empire. suicide, which came under his own eyes in a single hospital at Hang- -The years 1897 and 1898, tho a chow, during a twelvemonth. The time of considerable excitement and cases numbered 211, in which 126 important changes in the world of men figured, and 85 women. Opium Japanese politics, have been a was the poison selected by 187; 67 period of quiet and steady growth were between the ages of twenty in the world of Christian missions, 'and thirty, 51 between thirty and and in this we are glad to be able forty, and 28 were over fifty. Quar- to say that the Young Men's Chrisrels led 13::1 to court death, and bad tian Associations have shared. treatment from parents and mas- Perhaps the greatest growth in the ters impelled 27. local work is to be seen in the mem- bership of the Tokyo city associa- Korea.-On the eve of her mar- tion, which has now reacht a total riage a Korean girl has her eyes of 825, including a sustaining memtightly glued together. She goes bership of 129. This increase is through the ceremony in this man- proportionately more than it has ner. She is carried to the bride- been for some years past. groom's house with her eyes still sealed. Afterward she is returned -It is now reported that Japan to the home of her parents, where has been successful in her attempt the paste is removed. On the morn- to pacify Formosa, which came ing of his wedding day a Korean into her possession as one of the bridegroom goes to the home of his results of the war with China. All bride's parents, mounted on horse- but one of the surviving rebel chiefs back and arrayed in a pink or purple are said to have surrendered, and robe. Two men walk before him, bodies of insurgents have laid down one carrying a big white umbrella, their arms. The Friend of China and the other a goose with a scarlet is responsible for the statement thread run through her beak. The that the Japanese government is man carrying her is also drest in steadily pursuing its plan of rescarlet, which is the color of rejoic- stricting the sale of opium to those ing in Korea. The goose is an offer- among its new subjects who have ing to the bride, and is an em- already become habituated to the blem of domestic happiness. drug, and is thus preparing for the total extinction of the vice. Many opium smokers have not been will- close union," and its charter stated: .. Chrising to endure the ignominy of tianity is the foundation of the moral educabeing registered as such. Only 6,796 tion promoted by this college." These prinopium smokers have registered out ciples the charter declared unchangeable. of a total of 11,444 reported previously as the result of a careful The wave of materialism which rolled over official inquiry. Japan involved the Christian Doshisha, and the trustees altered its rules so as to exclude -This item shows what a task the Christian element in every department the Japanese have had on hand. save the theological school. The American Two hundred rebels attacked a Board endeavorea in every way to cause village, surprising the people and them to stand by the foundation principles, looting the place. They burned 37 and finally demanded the return of the money houses. A Japanese police in- invested, but this demand was unheeded. spector and 6 constables perisht in Legal measures were finally resorted to, repelling the attack. One constable the Christian Japanese alumni were aroused, was captured alive. The insurgents and the trustees forced to resign. fastened on his back the bloody heads of his companions and drove Financially the institution is not in a good him before them into the woods. condition, but it is hoped that "?ith the Reenforcements were sent to the changed conditions it will flourish. village, where the mutilated bodies pf the victims were found. One -Rev. Charles Hartwell, of Fooconstable escaped. He gave a ghast- chow, writing on the third day of ly story of the massacre. Inspector November last, speaks of that day Kosake, as soon as he was aroused, as the forty-sixth anniversary of ordered his wife and child to hide. his sailing from New York for He commanded his followers, in China, and he adds that the ship case of his own death, to kill his which carried him had" as part of wife and child rather than let them her cargo 300 tons of coal and 70 fall into the hands of the savages. tons of shot for Commodore Per- While he was fighting the savages ry's fieet, to be used, if necessary, dragged the woman and child from for the battering open of the doors their hiding-places. He rusht upon of Japan." Mr. Hartwell calls atthem, and with two blows of his tention to the vast change which Japanese sword killed them. Then has taken place, especially within h~ fell himself, covered with the last few months, so that Japan, wounds. which at the earlier day was abso- lutely closed to foreigners, is now -It is a matter of much joy to an open asylum for political refuall true disciples that in Japan gees from China. Christians again control the Doshisha college, which past some time AFRICA. ago into the hands of rationalists and liberalists, who had openly -Khartum is now within twelve boasted that they" had taken down days of London. "The old equathe Christian sign." The facts torial provinces will be brought have been thus stated in a recent within twenty-five or thirty days of publisht article: easy travelfrom Cairo. From South Africa we hear of a plan of steam The Doshisha College was founded in 1875 communication by rail and water by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Neesima, a Japanese from Cairo to Cape Town. It is ineducated in America, with the assistance of tended to push the railroads from the American Board of Commissioners for Bulawayo to Tanganyika, some- Foreign Missions. It waS establisht "to pro- thing like 800 miles. A steam mote moral and intellectual education in service would take us 360 miles further north on that lake, and then a railroad 180 miles to Victoria Lake, and then 200 miles more steamer navigation, and then by railroads and steamers down the never been so bright and promising Nile." as now, and, with a railway run- ning through the fertile districts, Egypt.-The annual report of the an abundant revenue with a con- Girls' School at Mansura, Egypt, siderable annual surplus, lessened is full of interest. During 1898, import duties, cheaper markets, there were 204 pupils in this school. and a firm and settled policy, the Of these, 9 were Protestants, 67 colony has a future before it such Copts, 76 Moslems, 29 Catholics, as was not dreamt of a few years and 23 Jews. The number of Mos- ago. A new era is dawning for the lem girls was double that of the colony, and already its signs are previous year. Some of the bright- easily apparent and are unmistak- est girls in the school are from able. Even the hut-tax itself will Moslem homes. A small circulat- tend to foster habits of industry ing library has been establisht as a among the people, and will in the means of keeping in touch with the long run prove as successful in girls after they leave the school. Sierra Leone as in all the other colonies where it has been tried.- Morocco.-Writingto The Gospel The London Times. Message one of the missionaries in Morocco gives the following de- Angola.-Letters from the West scription of those they meet with: African Mission are most cheering, as showing the hold which the "Beneath the grove where we Gospel has gained upon some of the were campt the gleaners would native chieftains and leading men come during the heat of the day to of Bihe and Bailundu. It is much rest and beat out their handfuls of that the chief of Ciyuka has built grain, one by one, and winnow it schoolhouses and opened places for in the wind. I wish you could see worship, after burning all his them I-the aged women with hag- fetishes, and that on his trading gard face and bowed form, bent expedition to the distant Barotse beneath the toil and years of sin; tribe, on the Zambesi river, he has the child of tender years, just enter- so arranged his caravan that it ing a life of untold misery; the shall be under Christian control, strong young slave girl, and those with daily worship and with no of early womanhood, whose care- dealings in rum or slaves. It is an worn faces betokened the misery of interesting item mentioned by Mr. their lives; those of middle life Read, of Sakanjimba, that whenwhose sufferings have early brought ever the chief and old men of that them to the threshold of the grave. district are unable to attend the Diseased, dirty, wretched beyond Sunday service, they send their description, all groaning beneath excuses to the missionary on the burdens too heavy to bear. Saturday previous, that he may know why· they are not there. Sierra Leone.-Almost all the re" How would such a custom as this bellious chiefs have either been ap- work in America ?-Missionary prehended or have surrendered Herald. themselves, and have been treated with imperial clemency. Confi- Cape Colony.-The African Methdence is almost entirely restored, odist Church proposes to found and the natives, now that they are a Kafir University at Queenstown beginning to understand the drift for the training, industrial and reliof the government measures, effu- gious, of that trib€. Rev. J. H. sively welcome the new order of Dwane, vicar bishop of the A. M. things. Everywhere they are readily paying the hut-tax, and not the slightest difficulty is anticipated in collecting it for the future. The prospects of Sierra Leone have E. Church in South Africa, himself have been printed at the expense a native Kaffir, is head of the of the British and Foreign Bible school. He was educated for the Society. At every station the work ministry in England. Sixteen has borne frui t, as on each place a Kafir boys and girls are now small congregation has been gathreciving religious and industrial ered. Two other stations have training at Wilberforce. Another been opened on the Livingstone young Kafir is studying medicine Mountains. The society had at the at Howard University, Washing- end of last year 9 stations in East ton. A call is out for $10,000 with Africa, 8 of which were situated which to start the work. A hun- 5,000 or 6,000 feet above the level of dred self-supporting churches with the sea. pastors and 12,500 members form a South African constituency. -Rev. John Roscoe, returning to Uganda after a sojourn in Eng- Equatorial East.-The telegraphic land, gives in a recent letter an inline from Lake Nyassa to Lake teresting account of the situation. Tanganyika is already surveyed, The revolt seems not to be over, and the wires have been laid about and religious work suffers much half the distance. It is but twenty- from the long period of excitement five years since Livingstone died, and peril. He reports some 475 after having made known this re- teachers at work; 70 were sent out gion to the world. It is an inter- during last year, while 70 more are esting fact that the Livingstonia under daily instruction, with 14 Mission can report that their har- candidates for holy orders. The vest the past year, despite the rav- need of additional workers is most ages of locusts, has amounted to urgent. 30,000 pounds of maize and 10,000 pounds of beans, besides a ton of Obituary Notes. millet and 4 tOES of wheat. The mission seems thus well establisht, Weare greatly saddened by the and far on the way toward seIf- news of the sudden death of Rev. support. The industrial work is Samuel H. Kellogg, D.D., LL.D., under the care of Mr. Moffat, the of India, one of the noblest men grandson of the great missionary, and ablest missionaries in the Robert Moffat, and nephew of Dr. world. A telegram states that he Livingstone. The spiritual work was killed by falling over a precikeeps full pace with material prog- pice while riding a bicycle in the ress, and more. Himalayas about May 1st. No further particulars are given. Dr. -The Berlin missionaries who Kellogg has been chiefly engaged are working on the north end of in translation work, having gone Lake Nyassa have been able to ad- to India especially for that purpose. vance in the country of the much He expected to return to this coundreaded Wahehe, those fierce war- try soon, and had promist to deriors in whose country no Protes- liver the Princeton lectures on mistant missions ever have been es- sions next year. tablisht. Among the Koude tribe the missionaries have establisht 4 -Tidings have recently reacht us stations, 1 on the shore of the lake, of the death of Peter Rijnhart, an the others higher up in the coun- independent missionary to Tibet. try. The dialect of the tribe has He was a native of Holland, and, been reduced to writing, and a with his wife and baby, started grammar of it was publisht in Ber- from Western China some months lin. The Gospels of Matthew and ago, expecting to go into the heart Luke have been translated, and of Tibet. The child soon died, Mr. Rijnhart disappeared, and is sup- posed to have been murdered, and his wife, a Canadian, after many perils and hardships, finally reacht a missionarv's house in Tachienlu, Western China.

Aoknowledgments.

No. 132. Congo Balolo Mission ..•…..• $60.00 " 133. Pundit,,_ Ramabai………. . . . 35.00

The Missionary Review of the World — August 1891

THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS

MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VOL. XIV. No. S.-Old Series.–AUGUST.–voL. IV. No. S.-New Series.

THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS.-NO. XX.

[EDITORIAL, A. T. P.] THE DAY-DAWN AT THE HAWAIIAN GROUP.-II.

IN 1808, thirty years after the diticovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain Cook, a lad was brought to the United States by a shipmaster of New Haven.

His name was Obookiah, and he had been trained by his uncle, a pagan priest, to the practice of idolatry. On the eastern shore of Kealakekua Bay, opposite where Cook was slain, may yet be seen, rising above the ruins of a small heathen temple, a cocoanut tree planted by that boy when as yet he had never heard of J esns.

Obookiah was intelligent, and not long after his arrival at the City of Elms, Mr. Edwin W. Dwight, passing the college buildings, saw him seated on the doorsteps weeping because the treasures of learning, so freely opened to others, were 10ckAd to him. Sympathy led Mr. Dwight to become his instructor, and he was the instrument in his conversion. The next year Samuel J. Mills, the father of modern American missions, wrote to Gordon Hall, from New Haven, suggesting a mission to the Sandwich Islands. Eight years latAr a foreign missionary school was established at Cornwall, Conn., of which Mr. Dwight was the first teacher; and fiye 'It the ten earliest pupils were Hawaiians. Obookiah, while being taught here, died in 1818, aged 26, and that which seemed a sad blow to the prospective missionary work among his countrymen God nsed as the means of awakening greater interest by the published account of his life and death. Hiram Bingham, a student at Andover, offered to go as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, and found in Asa Thurston, a classmate, a worthy colleagne. These two men were ordained as evangelists, and on October 15th, 1819, in the Park Street Church, Boston, a mission to the IIawaiian Islands was organized with the following members: Messrs. Bingham and Thurston, ministers, with their wives; Messrs. Whitney and Ruggles, teachers j Thomas Holman, physician; Elisha Loomis, printer; Daniel Chamberlain, farmer, with their wives, and three Hawaiian young men from the Cornwall Missionary School. These seventeen went forth, having among themselves the essential elements for creating a Christian civilization upon pagan shores, for they represented the Gospel, the common school, the printingpress, the medicine chest, and the implements of agriculture.

They set sail from Boston Octobel' 23d, 1819, and reached the Hawaiian coast March 31st, 1820, after somewhat more than five months. They had expected a long, hard struggle with paganism, with its human sacrifices, bloody rites, and deep-rooted prejudices.

But God had prepared their way. Only ten months before, Kamehameha I. had died, and, strange to say, forbidden human sacrifices during his illness or in connection with his obsequies; and so the people offered three hundred dogs instead. This first blow at the idolatrous customs of the people had been dealt by a professed idolatcr! Liholiho, his son, succeedcd, Kaahumanu, the king's widow, sharing the government during life. The king's mother, Keopuolani, saw foreigners violating the sacred r'lles of the tabu system with impunity, and even the natives, when intoxicated, trampling heedlessly upon them, and yet no divine wrath pursued the violators; and satisfied that her fears were groundless, she herself dared to break over the sacred limits and eat with her son. Such an example would naturally find followers; other chiefs, and finally the king, yielded, and then began a ruthless disregard of these tyrannical caste restraints. They saw that the gods did not punish their profaning of sacred laws, and naturally concluded that their gods were but the creatures of their superstitions j and thus the chiefs actually led in a revolt against the national religion, ordering the tabu system to be disregarded and the idols burned and temples razed. Stranger still, the high-priest resigned his office, and " first applied the torch to this Hawaiian structure of an idolatrous faith !" He was Joined by many of the lower pries~hood, so that, before the arrival of the missionaries, idolatry was abolished by law, and heathen temples were laid in ashes. Perhaps for the first time in human history idolatry threw down its own altars, and a nation was without a religion. Moreover, in the civil war that had followed this abolition of the national religion, God had given victory to the king, and thus established the new order. The newly arrived missionaries found the old religion abolished, but no desire for a new faith. The king objected to giving up his polygamy, and feared the effect of an American mission on his political relations. The old high-priest, however, favored the missionaries, and the king's mother counselled toleration j and, after twelve days, royal consent being given for them to reside on the islands for a year, they disembarked, April 12th, 1820. Part of them were ordered to Kailau and part to Honolulu. Mr. and Mrs. Thurston and Dr. and Mrs. Holman for a time abode in one small thatched hut assigned by the king, which was less than four feet high at the foot of the rafters, and had neither floor nor ceiling, windows nor furniture, in the centre of a noisy, filthy village! Those at Honolulu likewise found themselves destitute of common comforts j but, as God's providence dispersed them among the people, they went without fear, and were kept from all evil. The king, his brother, his wives, and other prominent persons became their pupils. After two years the printing-press was called into use in re- ducing the language to a printed form. The Hawaiian tongue having but twelve letters-seven consonants and five vowels, every letter having bu~ one sound, and every syllable ending with a vowel-it was easy for the na- tives to learn' to read and write, and a large portion of them made rapid progress. Thus a foundation was laid for introducing the Bible in the na- tive tongue. Unfriendly foreigners represented the missionaries as politi- cal spies, and that their presence would be offensive to the English king, who bore to the Hawaiians the relation of protector, and declared that the missionaries at the Society Islands had robbed and enslaved the people j but these falsehoods were exposed at the very crisis, when the king threat- ened to banish the missionaries. An English vessel, touching at the Hawaiian port in 1822, had on boardfrom the Society Islands two chiefs on their way to the Marquesas group as missionaries, and had also on board a deputation of English gentlemen, who had been "isiting the islands on a missionary tour; and so the exact means were suddenly supplied to expose the false statements made by the enemies of the missionaries. Who could so well tell the true influence of missions in the Society Islands as the two converted chiefs! and who represent the feeling of the English Gov~ ernment so well as these men from British shores! God thus directly interposed at this juncture! Meanwhile, the wife of the late king made a tour of the i:>lands, searching out and destroying idols. Hymns were written in the native tongue; in 1823, twenty-four chiefs, male and female, were learning to read and write, and the missionary band was reinforced. The same year Keopuolani died, the first convert, baptized. In this daughter of a kingly race, wife of a king lJ,nd mother of two other kings, the Sandwich Island church began visibly to exist. She forbade the customary heathen abominations to be practised at her death, and from that day dates their permanent decline. Liholiho, in this same memorable year, visited America and England with his wife and two chiefs. The whole party were attacked with the measles in England, and the king and queen died. Liholiho had already, before leaving home, declared his belief in Christianity, attended public worship, and urged it on his people. At his death the favorite wife of his father became regent, and gave emphatic support to the Gospel and schools. Kapiolani, a female chief, made a journey to the great crater of Kilauea, where the great goddess Pele was said to dwell, and there purposely set at naught the power and wrath of the supposed deity to show the people their superstitious folly.

At the time of the visit of Lord Byron, in the British frigate which brought the royal remains, the government had begun to assume a Christian character, and the council formally acknowledged the authority of the Christian religion. Efforts were made, with royal sanction, to prevent murder, theft, infanticide, Sabbath desecration, licentiousness,. and drunkenness; and Kauikeaouli, the heir to the throne, now nine years old, was put under the instruction of the missionaries, that he might shun the errors of his deceased brother! A little more than five years after the first missionaries came, Kaahumanu, the regent, and nine chiefs were received into the church, and afterward died in the faith-a rare instance of a pagan govern- ment embracing the Gospel in advance of the people! Yet there was never a formal nnion of Church and State, but only concurrent action.

At Kawaihae 10,000 natives assembled, in 1826, to hear the Gospel. Governor Adams, the same year, built at Kailua a rude house of worship holding 5000 people, and at its dedication the rulers of the nation pledged it to Christianity. Schools were already in every district of the islands, with 400 teachers and 25,000 pupils, mostly adults. Such marvels had God wrought in six years!

At the regent's request, a second reinforcement was sent out in 1828, and another house of worship built at Honolulu. Another prominent chief, Kalanimokll, died in 1827 a triumphant Christian death, and during the three succeeding years, Governor Adams and other persons of great influence joined the church.

In 1832 Kaahumanu died, universally lamented, and the young prince of eeventeen, on assnming the sceptre, replied to the godless chiefs who sought to turn him against Christianity, " The Kingdom of God is strong!"

It bas sometimes been said, " Civilization first, Christianity afterward. " But on these islands Christianity far outran civilization. In 1836 the young king and chiefs applied to America for a carpenter, tailor, mason, shoemaker, wheelwright, paper-maker, type-founaer, agriculturists skilled in raising sugar-cane, cotton, silk, etc., cloth manufacturers and machinemakers; but already for ten years the Christian religion had been espoused by the government.

Rev. Mr. Richards was released from the service of the Board to act as Minister of Instruction, and Rev. Dr. Armstrong became Overseer of Schools. Dr. Judd, a physician, also retired from the missionary service to aid in administering the goverument finances, and it was he who, during the strange usurpation of the government by Lord Paulet in 1843, withdrew the national records to the royal tomb; and there, with the dust of dead sovereigns around him, using the sarcophagus of Kaahumanu as a table, for weeks he passed his nights in labors for the Hawaiian Government and people! To such aid and counsel of pious men, in secular affairs, the Hawaiians owe their progress and civilization.

As early as 1825 the spirit of God had begun to work conspicuously upon the Hawaiian people. In not less than fifty families in Lahaina morning and evening prayer ascended to God, and the number daily increased. Mr. Richards was interrupted every hour by calls from earnest inquirers. He woke in the morning to fi~d people waiting at the door; during the day the house was never empty, and even up to midnight there were those who came to ask the great questions of the soul! Six months before, he says that he wOl~ld have been satisfied if assured of such results aftflr the lapse of a whole generation! In 1835, when as yet the missions had been established barely fifteen years, the American Board felt their work to be fast drawing toward its elOISe. They looked forward to the Christianization of these islands as a glorious example and proof of the Gospel's power and as the greatest incen- tive to missionary zeal, but they dared not look for this result in less than a half century.

In hope to hasten this consummation, it was determined to concentrate efforts for a time upon this field, and in 1836 thirty-two additional laborers were sent out, and had scarce been distributed over the islands and begun to use the strange dialect, when a wave of spiritual influence, like the billows of the sea, swept over the islands, bore before it all traces of idols and idol temples, and left the Hawaiian people virtually cleansed of their pagan superstitions.

The first sound of its approach was heard in the general meetings of the missionaries in 1836-37, in resolute, importunate pleading for the conversion not of these islands only, but of the whole world j and a printed appeal to the churches of the United States was sent forth from the mission press.

Among the natives this great work of reformation began in 1838 at Waimea and at nearly all the stations on Hawaii, as also on Maui, Oahu, and Kaui. The power of the work left no doubt whose work it was! Dull and stupid, imbecile and ignorant pagans began to think and feel; grovelling, vile, and wretchod slaves of lust and passion began to aspire after holiness and rise out of their dust and degradation j hard and insensate consciences began to suffer pangs of sorrow for sin, and manifest the quickening of a sense of duty, and proved a' force at work, higher in source, deeper in reach, than any that man can wield! The islands became vocal with the cries of penitence and prayer! Crowds flocked to hear the Word. Intoxication became rare, Sabbath observance well-nigh universal, and family worship common, even among those who had not as yet publicly professed faith in Jesus !

In 1839, May lOth, the whole Bible was given to the people in their own tongue, and the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures greatly promoted the work of evangelization. Three years afterward the number of professing Christians had reached 19,210, nearly sixteen times greater than five years before. In one year more there were 23 churches, with an average membership of over one thousand! and during this season of extraordinary interest, the congregations at Ewa, Honolulu, Wailuku, and Hilo numbered from 2500 to 6000. From 1838 to 1841, 8000 were added to the church, from the districts of Hilo and Puna whose whole population was but 14,000. Mr. Coan admitted 5000 in one year and 1700 in one day; and only after eareful inquiry into each individual case.

When before did a half century produce such changes! They were idolaters of the grosser sort j human sacrifices were common; they worshipped the great volcano, had their Poison God and War God, and Tiari, with inferior deities and licentious revels. They lived under a tyrannical tabu system, were sunk in ignorance, without a literature or even a grammar in their own tongue, or a knowledge of the simplest principles of arithmetic. They were savages of the lowest sort, living in grass huts, almost naked, without the arts or sciences j superstition was their religion, absurd fancies had all the power of facts, and they lived in fear of their own thoughts. Government was the strong oppressing the weak, and subjection was slavery.

Shameless nakedness has disappeared j the people are decently clad j respect is paid to the natural, social and domestic relations, and wholesome statutes with appropriate sanctions sway the people.

Forty years ago it had become rare to see a drunken native! and the average morality and practical religion was as high as in any other nation. The arts of civilized life were practised j the laws protected and encouraged virtue.

Thirty years ago R. H. Dana, Esq., wrote to the New York Tribune: " The missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M. have, in less than forty years, taught this whole people to read, write, cipher, and sew j given them an alphabet, grammar, and dictionary j preserved their language from extinction, given it a literature, and translated into it the Bible and works of devotion, science, and entertainment, etc. j have established schools, reared up native teachers, so that the proportion of the inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in New England. Whereas they found these people halfnaked savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs, and abandoned to sensuality, we see them decently eIothed, recognizing the law of marriage, knowing something of accounts, going to school and public worship with more regularity than people do at home, and the more elevated part of them aiding to conduct the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the local magistracies!

"In every district are free schools for natives, where they are taught by native teachers reading, writing, singing by note, arithmetic, grammar, and geography. At Lahainaluna is the normal school for natives, in which the best scholars from the district schools are carried to an advanced stage of education, or fitted for teachers. At Punahou is the college, now having 70 students, and the examinations in Greek, Latin, and mathematics, which I attendcd, were particularly satisfactory. In no place that I havc visited are the rules which control vice and regulate amusements so strict, so reasonable, and so fairly enforced. A man may travel in the interior alone, unarmed, eYen through wildest spots. I found no hut without its Bible and hymn-book in the native tongue, and the practice of family prayer and grace before meat."

When Rev. Dr. Anderson visited the missions, in 1863, he bore witness that the government rests upon an avowedly Christian basis, and the Magna Charta of the kingdom is worthy of any government on earth, re6ognizing, since 1840, three grand divisions of a civilized monarchy: king, legislature, judges j and going beyond our own in declaring that no law &hall be enacted at variance with the letter or general spirit of the Word of God. In 1846 the religion of Christ was established as the national religion, and freedom of conscience in faith and worship, Sabbath observance, etc., were guarded from invasion.

These people have from the first profited by a literature in their native language, learning to read and write, and evincing capacity for literary culture not only by eagerness to read, but by original contributions to the press, and by grappling successfully with the problems of arithmetic, algebra, surveying, geography, etc.

From the beginning the Bible has been a text-book in morals and religion.

How can such results be regarded with indifference ~ An organized Christian government, with a constitution and laws accordant with the Word of God j nearly onethird of the whole population numbered among the members of Protestant churches j native education provided for by the government j houses' for worship everywhere built, and regular service maintained-in a word, all the requisite machinery for healthful, intel~ lectual, social, and spiritual development, and all this as the fruit of less than forty years of toil !

Well has it been said that, as to the progress of this nation in Christian civilization, the history of the Christian church and of nations affords nothing equal to it.

A CALL TO NEW PRAYER AND EFFORT.

A MEMORIAL from the Presbytery of Los Angeles, California, was sent to the late Presbyterian General Assembly at Detroit, asking for the issue of a Pastoral Letter, addressed to the churches, and calling upon pastors and people to make the coming ecclesiastical year-the year 1891-92-a year of specific, continuous, prayerful, and hearty endeavor for the salvation of souls. Though this is always the chief business of the Church of Christ, the General Assembly is entreated to give special emphasis to the enforcement of this duty now. Facts and figures are given to show how vast is the work before the Church, and how inadequate are the efforts to overtake this work. The memorial urges the need of a great, powerful, all-pervading Revival of Religion, which is to be looked for only through the "ministry of personal, systematic, untmimf!us work for souls."

When such a story as this of the Hawaiian Islands is before us, and similar marvels of grace in modern missions, one is disposed to ask, What is to pre'ent such mighty works in our day, and in every part of the habitable globe ~ Surely God's arm is not shortened, nor is His power straitened. We are straitened in ourselves. Let unbelief, prayerlessness, and selfishness be put away, and mighty prayer go up to God.-EDITOR.

PRAYER ANSWERED IN MISSIONARY WORK

PRAYER ANSWERED IN CONNECTION WITH MISSIONARY WORK.

BY MISS HELEN L. BURNET, NEW YORK CITY.

THE explicit declaration of Scripture that God i3 the Hearer and the Answerer of prayer. coupled with the experience of " those who humbly try to do His will," brings rest to the trusting heart, although this subject is hedged about with philosophical doubts and difficulties whioh reason cannot fathom nor wisdom solve.

In addition to instances already published in these pages, the following cases of great emergency in which the faithfulness of our prayer-hearing God has been put to the test by His people will tend to confirm the faith of every devout Christian reader : 1. Dr. Chamberlain, a veteran of the Areot Mission in India, relates that while on an extended missionary tour, he found himself overtaken by the rainy season on the outskirts of the jungle, where the ground was covered with water, and where lurked fever and man-eating tigers, from fear of which his guard of coolies soon ran away. With difficulty he procured mother escort for sixty mi:es, where he expected to find a boat which would float him down the river. "Above the cataract not a boat could be found, and the river had overflowed its banks. All day they waded in the jungle under alternations of heavy showers and a boiling, sickening sun. Toward evening nothing but water, and endless stretehe!1, of it, appeared, and not even a hillock on which they could spread their tents for the night!

" Must he and his band perish ~ In this extremity, the doctor, on the back of his horse, prayed to his covenant God for help as His ser"ant, and in obedience to whose call he had come to India to preach the Gospel. Immediately an answer came, distinctly pronounced in the ear of his soul, , Turn to your left, go to the river, aud you will find that which you need I ' "

Twice he consulted his guides, who assured him that rescue from that quarter was impossible. But a second and a third time the voice came with the same explicit direction. " Then, as master in command of the company, he gave the order to turn to the left, and, coming to the river-what did he see ~ The very thing he needed most-a large flat boat, and in it two boatmen, who, mistaking him for an English officer, began to apologize for the boat's appearance in such a strange spot. They said the flood in the river had loosened the boat from its moorings, and that the' devil himself seemed to be in the boat,' for, despite their efforts to the contrary, it persisted in floating to the spot where it was found."

Dr. Chamberlain, armed with authority from the English Government, took possession of the boat, which he found just broad enough to allow the spreading of his tent, under which they safely rested that night undisturbed by the hungry tigers, who were heard howling in the jungle. The next morning they began floating down the river, and continued fioating till they came to the next cataract, where they found another boat, and with it relief from all anxiety.

2. Aniwa, in the New Hebrides, is a coral island on which there are no streams, lakes or springs, rain water being the sole dependence of the people. One morning their missionary, Rev. John G. Paton, said to one of the chiefs, '" I am going to sink a well deep down into the earth to see if our God will send us fresh water up from below.' They looked at him in astonishment, and said, in a tone of sympathy approaching to pity, , 0 Missi! wait till the rain comes down, and we will save all we possibly can for you. Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our island to send up showers of rain from below ~' But, " he writes, " I started on my hazardou!! job, selecting a spot where my prospective well might be useful to all. I began to dig with pick, and spade, and bucket, an American axe for a hammer and crowbar, and a ladder for service by and by. The good old chief now told off his men in relays to watch me, lest I should attempt to take my own life, saying, 'Poor Missi ! That's the way with all who go mad! ' "

Becoming exhausted under that tropical sun, he for a time secured the aid of the natives, by the promisc of English fish-hooks, in taking out buckets of earth, although, he continues, "the shaft seemed to lower very slowly, and my fish-hooks were disappearing very quickly. I was thankful one evening to find that we had cleared more than twelve feet deep, when, 10 ! next morning one side had rushed in, and our work was all undone. The old chief and his best men remonstrated with me very gravely, assuring me for the fiftieth time that rain would never be seen coming up through the earth on Aniwa! 'You are making your own grave, Missi, and you will make ours, too, for when the man-of-war ship comes, and we tell the captain that you are buried in the well, he will think that it was our work and will kill us.''' Mr. Paton quieted these fears, and constructed a sort of derrick, so that, with pulley and block, the bucket could be lifted from the bottom of the well. But not a native would enter that hole. Day after day, digging with his own hands till he was fairly exhausted, he reached the depth of about thirty feet. He says that the phrase, " Living water, living water," kept chiming through his soul like music from God as he dug and hammered away. At this depth the earth began to be very damp, aud he believed that he was nearing water, but he had coustant fear that it would be salt water. One evening he said to the old chief, "I think that Jehovah God will give us water to-morrow from that hole." The chief said, "No, Missi j you will never see rain coming up from the earth on this islanrl. 'Ve expect daily, if you reach water, ta see you drop through into the sea, and the sharks will eat you. That will be the end of it j death to you, and danger to us all. " "I still answered, 'Come to-morrow. I hope and believe that Jehovah God will send you the rain-water up through the earth.' At the moment I knew that I was risking much, and probably incurring sorrowful consequences had no water been given; but I had faith that the Lord was leading me on, and I knew that I sought His glory, not my own. Next morning I went down again at daybreak and sunk a narrow hole in the centre. about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with uncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb when the water rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was, I eagerly tasted it, and the 'tinny' dropped from my hand with sheer joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy bottom to praise the Lord. 11; was water! It was fresh water! It was living water from Jehovah's well. True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to speak of; and no spring in the desert cooling the parched lips of a fevered pilgrim ever appeared more worthy of being called a well of God than did that water to me. The chiefs had assembled with their men near by. They waited on in eager expectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites coming round, while Moses struck the rock and called for water. By-and-by, when I had praised the Lord and my excitement was a little calmed, I filled a jug which I had taken down empty in the sight of them ali, and ascending to the top, called for them to come and sec the rain which Jehovah God had given us through the well. They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in superstitious fear. The old chief shook it to see if it would spill, and then touche4 it. At last he tasted it, rolling it in his mouth with joy for a momp.nt; he swallowed it and shouted, 'Rain! Rain! But how did you get it ? ' I repeated, 'Jehovah, my God, gave it out of his own earth in answer to our labors and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves.'

" And then they went and saw, and marvelled and gave praise to God, and company after company returned to the spot loaded with their gods of wood and stone and piled them in heaps amid the tears and sobs of some and the shouts of others, in which was heard the oft-repeated word, , Jehovah, Jehovah.'

"The old chief said, ' Missi, I think I could help you next Sabbath. Will you let me preach a sermon on the well ?' 'Yes,' I at once replied, , if you will try to bring all the people to hear you.'

" , Missi, I will try,' he eagerly promised. And preach he did a rousing sermon, closing with these words, 'The Jehovah God has sent us rain from tbe earth. Why should He not also send His Son from heaven? Namakei stands up for Jehovah!' In those intensely exciting days we sat still and saw the salvation of the Lord. "-From Autobiography of Rev. John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides.

3. "One evening, after commending ourselves, our friends, and the mission to God, I went outside my house, and right under my window was a tiger about twelve feet off. My first thought was to turn and fiee, but fearing that he would jump on my back and shake me by the neck, as the cat does the rat, till I was dead, and seeing that I was too near to fiee, I resolved to walk straight np to him, and begged Jesus to go with me and preserve me. What a blessed thing that my soul was in my Saviour's keeping! On the veranda was lying my Scotch dog, who rushed at him and barked furiously. The tiger had never seen impudence like this. He had taken his prey from his youth, and had always seen dogs taking to their heels much faster than he cared for. He snarled at us and went a few steps on one side, and I made a shave between the wall and the tiger, praying all the time. I expected every moment that he would paw me, but after walking twenty yards I realized that I was safe and thanked God, and ml dog, saved also, was barking at the far-off tiger. "-Rev. .A.

Haegert, in the Missionary. 4. In 1885 the work of the Church Missionary Society, London, Eng- land, having greatly increased, a special day was appointed to pray for workers. The evening previous more than one hundred graduates of the University Church assembled who desired" to dedicate themselves to foreign missionary work, ready to go at the command of the Master when their studies were completed. Thus the meeting which had been called for prayer became a meeting for thanksgiving." "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isa. 65 : 24).

5. In 1872 a missionary in the city of Cadereita, Mexico, made it a special subject of prayer that the Lord would open the way for the return of himself, his wife and child to the States for a little season, the circumstances seeming to indicate this as a duty. The needed means were provided, but the country was in a state of revolution, and his friends tried to dissuade him from going, as General Cortinas would probably cross their path, who was a murrlerous man and regarded as having a special hatred for Americans. He determined to go forward, however, trusting to Divine protection, and they started for Matemoras, some three hundred miles distant, two hired men and their wives accompanying them, the brethren " promising to pray daily for their safety." "The third morning, after commending ourselves as usual into the care of our covenant-keeping God," he relates, " we started on our journey, and soon espied the troops of General Cortinas two miles distant marching toward us. We again all looked to God for protection, then went on until we met the advanced guard, who commanded us to halt and wait until the general came up.

" Riding up to our company with the usual salutation, he asked whence we came and whither we were going; he then asked the news from Nueva Leon. After replying to his question, the missionary inquired if the road was safe between his party and Matamoras. He replied, ' Perfectly; you can go on without any fear, and as safely as you would in your own country;' then, bidding us good-morning, he rode on, not even inquiring about or examining any of our baggage. " Upon reaching Brownville, Texas, friends pronounced the conduct of General Cortinas as truly a miracle, for they " could not have believed him capable of such kindness to Americans so in his power."

6. A missionary of the Amcrican Board among the Maharattas in India once wrote thus: "The first Monday in January, 1833, I shall ever remember. At our morning prayers, in the native language, three strangers were present who said they had come to inquire'about the' new way.' At ten 0'clock Babajee returned from his morning visit to the poorhouse in an ecstasy of joy, saying, 'The poor people all come about me inquiring, " What shall we do g" , I appointed a meeting of inquiry at three o'clock to-day, and to my joy and surpl:ise there were sixteen present. A heavenly influence, I am persuaded, was with us. Our Christian friends in America must be praying for us." Although unknown to the missionary, that very day" had been set apart by the General Assembly in the United States and by other bodies of Christians as a day of fasting and of prayer for the heathen world."

7. A friend of the Rev. Benjamin Slight, of the Methodist Church, while journeying as a missionary in Africa" came to a fork in the road, one branch going round a hill, the other np the hiII." Hesitating which to take, he besought the Lord to give him direction. He was decidedly inclined after prayer to take the up-hill road.

Reaching the summit, he saw clearly on the rejected path several large lions. Making a memorandum of this remarkable escape from certain death, he had occasion on his return to England to refer to it, and learned that on this very day his friend was so impressed with the thought that danger threatened his missionary brother that he had" made him a subject of earnest intercession. "

8. Many years ago, in a New England village, the widowed mother of a large family in narrow circumstances was called upon for a contribution for missIOnary purposes. She went about sad-hearted all day because she had so little to give in aid of a cause so near her heart. Calling her children together for family worship, she brought her burden to the Lord, and prayed that He would accept one of her children for such glorious work. A daughter was much impressed by this prayer of consecration. This daughter afterward became Mrs. Wilder, a missionary to India, wife of the late editor of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW, and in her old age and widowhood she returned to India with her young daughter to labor on till life shall end among the people of her love, soon to be followed by her son, who has also given himself wholly to the work.

9. It is related that Dr. Adoniram Judson, while laboring as a mission- ·ary to the heathen, felt a strong desire to do something for the salvation of the children of Abraham according to the flesh. But it seemed that his desire was not to be gratified. During a long course of years, even to the closing fortnight of his life, in his last sickness, Dr. Judson lamented that all his efforts in behalf of the Jews had been a failure. He was departing from the world saddened with that thought. Then, at last came a gleam of light which thrilled his heart with grateful joy. Mrs. Judson was sitting by his side while he was in a state of great languor, with a copy of the Watchman and Reflector in her hand. She read to her husband one of Dr. Hague's letters from Constantinople. The letter contained some items of information which filled him with wonder.

Ata meeting of missionaries at Constantinople, Mr. SchaufHer stated that a little book had been published in Germany, giving an account of Dr. Judson's life and labors; that it had fallen into the hands of some Jews, and had been the means of their conversion; that a Jew had translated it for a community of Jews on the borders of the Euxine, and that a message had arrived in Constantinople, asking that a teacher might be sent to show them the way of life.

When Dr. Judson heard this, his eyes were filled with tears, a look of almost unearthly solemnity came over him, and clinging fast to his wife's hand, as if to assure himself of being really in the world, he said: " Love, this frightens me. I do not know what to make of it." " To make of what 1" said Mrs. Judson. " Why, what you have just been reading. I never was so deeply interested in any object; I never prayed so sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came-at some time-no matter how distant the day-somehow, in Borne shape, probably the last I should have devised, it came !" What a testimony was that! It lingered on the lips of the dying Judson; it was embalmed with grateful tears, and is worthy to be translated as a legacy to the coming generation. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. Pray and wait. The answer to all true prayer will come. In Judson's case, the news of the answer came before he died, but it was answered long before. So we may know the results of prayers and toils even while we sojourn here; but if not, what sweet surprises shall await us in the great beyond !-JVorthwestern Christian Advocate. Queen Mary trembled at the vrayers of John Knox. What a quaking in the kingdom of darkness would come if our great sisterhood of churches would band together to fathom the meaning of that glorious promise, " All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive !"

The conviction grows upon us that upon a revival of the praying spirit everything else depend!! in the further prosecution of missions. Hence we give space to the testimonies of a prayer-hearing God. vYe hope to publish still other papers, from time to time, which put on permanent record the remarkable interpositions of God in the critical and pivotal periods of missionary work. These proofs are countless, but they are scattered through various biographies and narratives, and hence lose their cumulative force. In these pages we hope to gather them, and thus give them fuller opportunity to impress the hearts of our readers with their joint testimony. To know and feel that God is a present living and faithful God, that Christ is with us on the battle-field as He is with the Father on the throne-who shall say what new energy and power would come into all work for God if this conviction could once more become the ruling thought of the Church in her work for souls !-[EDITOR.]

"A FEW PAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS."

"A FEW PAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE HUGUE- NOTS,"* BY EUGENE BERSlER.

BY ALICE BERTRAND.

THERE is hardly a more melancholy definition of death than thls expression of the Psalmist, The land of forgetfulness. Few of us aspire to a posthumous glory but whose heart does not yearn for a kindly remembrance ~ We are then happy to think that the memory of Eugene Bersier seems as yet far from sinking into oblivion. A full year has elapsed since his death, and never, perhaps, has he been more present in the hearts and thoughts of all.

On the mournful anniversary of November 19th a crowd filled the Etoile Church and, moved to tears, assisted at the inauguration of a black marble slab which had been placed under the pulpit" in memory of thE) first pastor and founder of this church."

Almost at the same time a little black and gray volume appeared in the windows of all Protestant booksellers-and very soon disappeared, too. The friends of the regretted preacher had gathered together a few lectures delivered by M. Bersier on different occasions and entitled them, " A Few Pages from the History of the Huguenots."

The Huguenots! Eugene Bersier, in relating their sufferings, was not only accomplishing a useful task, he was almost performing a filial duty. This descendant of French refugees, though born in a land of exile, was proud to feel the blood of martyrs still running in his veins. But, recalling the tortures of his ancestors, there was no bitterness in his heart. He loved his country too dearly to bear her any resentment. And if a word were needed to give the substance of this book-and perhaps of the whole life of M. Bersier-no better could be chosen ~han this motto : Faith and patriotism.

M. Bersier's favorite hero was Admiral Coligny, undoubtedly because he thought with the historians, Michelet and Henri Martin, "that Coligny was the best Huguenot and the best Fren~hman of his time." He commenced a history of Coligny of which, unfortunately, we have only the first volume. But this was not enough. M. Bersier, thinking of the statues of poets and orators which crowd the squares of Paris, resolved that Protestantism should be represented in this army of the illustrious dead. , And Coligny was destined to stand up once more for his religion before the people of Paris.

It was precisely to defray a part of the expenses occasioned by the erection of this statue that M. Bersier delivered a remarkable lecture on Coligny in many towns of France and of foreign couutries.

An analysis, somewhat complete, of this conference would either be too long or too dry. But a few facts will suffice to throw some light on the noble figure of the admiral.

• Paris, Fischbacher, 0telques pages deB l'histrnre' de Huguenots, par Eug. Bersier, with a remarkable preface by Professor Sabatier. Gaspard de Coligny was born (1519} at Chatillon, in the green valleys of western France. He was brought up in that solitary castle by his pious widow mother, who had quitted the brilliant court of the Valois to devote herself to the education of her three sons.

Gaspard was, from his youth, eminently qualified to be a soldier. He had nothing, truly, of the knightly valor of a Due de Guise, but his strength of character, his indomitable perseverance and, above all, his unselfish patriotism, were unparalleled. But alas! fortmie had few smiles for him.

" Gentlemen," said M. Bersier, in opening his lecture, " I am about to relate the history of a vanquished soldier."

His two great deeds were two failures. IIis plan-wonderful for the age -of establishing a Huguenot colony in Florida wretchedly failed. The Huguenots were murdered by a band of Spaniards, who hung them on the neighboring trees, with this inscription, " Not because they are French- men, but because they are heretics. ,.

The defence of St. Quentin was more glorious. The north of France was threatened by an invasion of Spaniards, directed by the" iron-headed general," Philibert-Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy. Coligny, though sure of being defeated, went to the little town of St. Quentin to oblige the Spanish general to besiege it. On the duration of the siege depended the salvation of France. Coligny knew it, and resisted heroically. The town was taken by the Spaniards, and Coligny sent to jail; but the French king had had the time to assemble the troops and to protect Paris. Yes," we feel that some defeats are more glorious than victories, and that true heroism is sacrifice. "

But the bitter cup had to be drained to the dregs. Coligny heard, in his dreary captivity, that the Duke of Guise, haviug possessed himself of the admiral's own plans, had taken the town by surprise, to the enthusiastic admiration of France. " God, in chastising Coligny, had, as Calvin said, called him aside, that he should better listen to the heavenly Voice." The admiral's brother, a prisoner like himself, had sent him a copy of the Holy Scriptures, which Coligny studied with the greatest care. He then began to correspond with Calvin, and soon after his release he openly entered the: ranks of the Huguenots. .

M. Bersier, who had shown the patriotism and courage of the Frencn soldier, dwelt here on the simple faith and the austere piety of the Christian. It would have been interesting to have followed him in that beautiful castle of Chatillon, ornamented with the sculptures of Goujon and the paintings of Primatice, and which is now, alas! little more than a heap of ruins. It was there that, under the superintendence of a learned and pious tutor, the young Colignys received a sound classical education, for their father, says M. Bonnet, the Protestant historian, hated ignorance almost as .

bitterly as he did ungodliness. Every morning and evening the children and servants gathered in the great hall to hear the family prayers said by the chaplain, or, in his absence, by the admiral himself. But whereas, peace and happiness were reigning there, on the other side of France, in the village of Vassy, a hundred Huguenots had been murdered while they were singing their psalms in a barn.

This news caused an immense sensation. What could the Huguenots do 7 Clamor for justice 1 Alas! the government was openly with the murderers. The Protestants had no choice left, except death or fighting. " Ought not religious liberty to be defended as other liberty is 7"

However, such a decision could not be lightly taken, and we fully understand the hesitation that tortured the admiral's noble mind.

One night Coligny, who was awake, heard the sobs of his wife, the Lady Charlotte de Laval. "I regret," said she, " to disturb your rest. But think, my lord, that while we are reposing here in luxury, the bodies of our brethren, our own flesh and blood, are lying in prisons, or in the fields, at the mercy of dogs and ravens. I tremble to think that your prudence may be worldly. Oh! my lord, the blood of our dead weighs heavily on my soul !"

Coligny explained to her the difficulties of civil war, and added, "Put your hand on your heart, and think if you would have the courage to endure flight, exile, shame, and hunger not only for yourself, but, what is worse, for your children; if you will suffer death by,the hand of the public executioner, after having seen your husband exposed to the mockery of the rabble, and your children servants to your bitterest enemies. I give you three weeks to decide, and if your heart is strong enough to bear all this, then will I go and die with you and with your friends. "

Charlotte de Laval answered with these sublime words: "My lord, these three weeks are over !"

Death was merciful to the heroic woman ; it spared her most of the calamities of the civil war, and the direst of them all, the murder of her beloved lord.

The Protestant nobility had been invited to meet in Paris, on the occasion of the wedding of Margaret, Charles IX.' s own sister, with their prince, young Henri de Navarre, who became afterward King Henry IV. Coligny had joined them. But it is not only in poetry that a dagger is hidden in the jewel casket of a bride. This maniage was but a snare to entrap the Huguenots.

A few days after the religiotls ceremony, the bell of the Church St. Germain l'Auxerrois rang for the massacre of the Huguenots. It was about two o'clock in the morning. Coligny, hearing a great noise and cries in the house, understood at once that his last hour had come. "Monsieur Merlin," said he calmly to his chaplain, "will you pray with me~" Then -he begged his friends to leave him and save their own lives, for he was too ill and weak to escape. The murderers soon rushed into his room. "Art thou the admiral ~" cried one of them, called Besme. ., Young man," answered Coligny, "how-dare you attack an old and wounded man 7 However," added he, with resignation, "you will not much shorten my life." BesUle, swearing fearfully, pierced him through with a spear. The body of the admiral was then thr.own out of the window. Henri de Guise turned it over disdainfully with his foot.

]?ut, thanks to M. Bersier, France has now, in a certain measure, atoned for this oqious crime. A beautiful statue of the admiral, which M. Bersier had the happiness of inaugurating some months before his death, now adorns the Oratoire Church, on the side toward the Rue de Rivoli. Coligny stands in a proud attitude, one hand placed on his heart, the other grasping his sword.

M. Bersier read, on that occasion, a speech which might, ioo, be r.om- pared to an antique statue for the perfection of its form, with something, if I may say so, of the coldness of thc marble. Tuese were the concluding words of his speech: "It is worthy of a great nation to honor those who have served her, as Coligny has, with this noble aim : The glory of God and the public welfare !"

The following lecture is a description of the intellectual candition of the French Reformed Church in the seventeenth century. With patriotic pride, M. Bersier enumerates our glorious Protestant academies of Nimes, Sedan, Caen, and Saumur, where Dubose was professor, that same Dubose of whom Louis XIV. once said, "I have heard to-day the best orator of my kingdom." And the illustrious pastors of Charenton, Daille, and Claude, the worthy rival of Bossuet in theological controversy. . . . But why are they so little known 1 It is not because of their lack of learning. Professor Samuel Petit, listening accidentally to a rabbi's attacks on Christianity, retorted on the spot by an extemporary Hebrew speech. It is more probably on account of their heavy and somewhat provincial style, bnt, above all, it is because they were too conHcientious to be very fashionable.

The Protestant erudition proved to be favorable to Catholic theology. Thanks to frequent controversies, the Scriptures were attentively studied, stupid legends became discredited, and a great reform of the doctrines and of the morals of the Gallican Church was at hand.

But the Revocation, like a deadly wind, soon blasted these fair promises of a rich harvest.

The 18th of October, 1685, Louis XIV., incited by the clergy, as,M. Bersier has proved once more, revoked the famous Edict of Nantes, which granted to Huguenots the free profession of their faith. This revocation had been prepared by petty cavillings whic~ deprived Protestants of many legal rights, and now this last safe-warrant was taken from them.

H the Roman Church did not lay claim to infallibility, she would feel a pang at the thought of the persecutions of the seventeenth century, for she then not only tortured the body of the heretic, but attempted to disunite his family and to destroy his conscience.

We know what the Protestant homes were, for historians have told us of the austere piety of the wife and of the mother, of the authority of the father, a priest in his own house. • •• Now, a troop of drunken soldiers invaded this holy of holies, insulted the women, and tortured children be- fore the eyes of their mothers.

Poor mothers! a decree was issued at that time, which authorized the legal kidnapping of children, that they might be brought up in the Cath- olic belief. .

But some persons think that, at least, the inmost recesses of the con- science were respected during these persecutions. The facts prove too clearly, alas! the worthlessness of this opinion.

" What can we say," writes M. Bersier, " of these peasants of Saintonge, forced by the swords of dragoons into Catholic churches, to receive there what was told them to be, the holy body of the Lord? Horror-stricken, they spat it out of their mouths, as soon as they were unobserved. . • .

Do not be mistaken, this is the greatest of all crimes, the attempted mur- der of the soul !"

But no one-the victims excepted-dared to protest publicly against those iniquities. Nothing bnt praises were to be heard. The greatest orators, Bossuet (who calls Louis another Constantine), Massillon, thc mystic Fenelon himself, La Bruyere, the moralist; La Fontaine, the poet- all congratulate the king of having accomplished such a great deed. The women are not more tender-hearted. Witty Mme. de Sevigne gayly writes, "The dragoons have been such very good missionaries j" and Mme. de Maintenon, the granddaughter of the noble Huguenot d' Aubigne, is not ashamed to affirm "that it will soon be quite ridiculous to profess that religion. "

" This universal approbation is certainly one of the scandals of history. ,.

But is there not a compensation for us in the praises given to our Hugue- not refugees by foreigners 1 " Oh!" writes M. Bersier, in a page which is one of the most eloquent of our Protestant literature, " they must allow us to exclaim in the bitterness of our hearts, It is no consolation for us !

We know that France has received a deep wonnd, out of which a large stream of blood has flowed. . . . Aud we needed these lost riches! these severe virtues! Tenacity in trial, respect of liberty, austerity iu conduct- all those traits are now missing in our national character.- " We have often lamented it in many a terrible crisis, in many a battle that our people fought to conquer their rights and their liberties. In these dark hours we look for our absent ones, we call to our dead, and, as Augustus to Varus, we cry to him who exiled our fathers, ' 0 king, give us back our legions!' "

These legions were not, according to an opinion generally accredited, an army of noblemen. M. Bersier, in a most interesting essay on " The French Refugees and Their Trades," has victoriously proved that, as Coligny used to say, "The little ones are before us in the kingdom of heaven."

Thanks to their rare holidays, to the practice of lending money on in- terest, and, above all, to their intelligence and industry, they soon became the first manufacturers of France. Their cloths, made at Sedan or Elbenf, their Lyons silks, their Angouleme paper, etc., were universally appreciated. And the Caudebcc hats were quite a celebrity. The cardinals themselves, in spite of their dislike for heretics, would wear no others.

The Revocation was the death-blow of all this prosperity. But Huguenots were not men to be easily disheartened. Facing the greatest dangers, they fled from their ungrateful mother-country. Whole families sailed on the ocean in a small boat; men and women hid in empty wine-casks; little children-Bonnet, the future founder of New Rochelle, was one of themcrept into vegetable baskets, at the risk of being wounded by the dragoons' long lances. Most of them reached the hospitable lands of Switzerland, England, and Holland. These strangers, moved by a noble pity, did their best to assuage the sufferings of their martyr brethren. And a great reward was in store for them.

Thanks to the Huguenots, Geneva was endowed with its now worldfamed watch-making. But the "Ark" of the refugees was Holland. They were in such a wretched state when they arrived there that most of them had no other food than the snails which they picked up in the woods. However, before many years had eJapsed, they had founded the famous mannfactories of paper and of that yellow velvet known as Utrecht velvet. And England! I am sorry for Albion's pride, but the list of her debts to the refngees is far from being a short one j it is sufficient to mention Sheffield cutlery. Irish lace, mutual help societies, etc. We might note also that a great many members of the House of Lords and the qneen, Victoria herself, are of Huguenot origin. Of Huguenot origin, too, alas! the famous ox-tail soup. They were such very good housewives, these poor Huguenot ladies, they knew how to make use of everything, and when the butchers threw away the tails of oxen, they bought them and made this soup, which all loyal Britons believe to be a national dish.

These discoveries may be a little hurtful to national pride, but, seriously speaking, are they not, as M. Bersier observes, far more painful for our own patriotism? And when we remember that we have wantonly despised these treasures, it is sometimes rather hard to find comfort in saying, " Our Huguenots have well deserved the gratitude of mankind."

But all the Huguenots could not flee. The rich only-rich in money, heroism, or health-could face such perils. What became of the others ~ Ah! this is the dreary story of the Church of the Desert, of nightly assemblies -held in the woods, of pastors sent to the rack, of women shut up for life in the Tower of Constance. Persecutions slackened little by little, but in the middle of the eighteenth century Protestant marriages were as yet illegal; the austere Hnguenot lady was considered no better than a mistress, and her children were bastards, incapable of inheriting their father's fortune.

M. Bersier enumerates the efforts made to obtain, at least, the legal marriage of Huguenots. Rousseau, alleging his bad health, civilly refused to lend a helping hand to his brethren. But Voltaire roused Europe to

LETTER FROM MRS. HELEN W. GIBSON

indignation about the unjust sentence of the Protestant Cal as. It was not, however, without many difficulties that the Toleration Edict of 1787 was issued. It granted to Protestants legal birth, marriage, and burial, and the right of trading in the kingdom. Two years later, under the Revolution, they enjoyed at last the benefits of a full liberty.

The best conclusion of this volume is in the words of M. Bersier on the Revolution, but which might apply still better to the history of the Huguenots, " We must pity them who have not learned in those tragic scenes the respect of the human soul and the hatred of all religious oppression."

MRS. HELEN W. GIBSON, of Pari.s, writes as to " a call from over the sea :" "all true followers of Christ are missionaries, and devote their lives (in one form or another) to carrying the glad tidings of salvation, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, to those that are ' without.' These outsiders are found crowding the boulevards of Paris, as well as turning off prayers by machinery in China; they are found wallowing in the slums of our civilized cities, as well as vegetating in the wilds of Africa. Wherever exists a soul ' without hope and without God in the world,' there is a mission field for the Christian worker. The' all the world' of Christ includes the places nearest home, as well as the far distant 'regions beyond. I How many in civilized France are bowing down to stocks and stones! After having during several years burnt, broken, and thrown away the relics of their 'former ignorance' given to us by our converts, we are just now beginning to form them into a little museum. The people cling to such' heips' only until they get the real thing in their hearts; they then feel them to be 'hindrances,' and hasten to put them away.

" God has greatly blessed our mission work lately, especially in Paris and its suburbs. The old Methodist mode of after-meetings and direct personal dealing with the people is employed, and with marked success. We have no parti pris as regards these meetings, otherwise they might become formal and defeat their own end. We sometimes close up with the first service, but always try to lay hold of the people as they leave, and get one here and there into a corner (in a double sense)! Then, if we find, as we often do, that the Spirit of God has been beforehand with us ih preparing the way, we are soon down on our knees together.

" When the people give evidence of sound conversion to God, or even when they seem to be sincerely seeking, we invite them to the classmeeting held in connection with each hall, where they are further instructed in the Bible and helped by the i~terchange of experience, and last, not least, taught to give systematically. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered to the members every month in the various halls, and is always a time of blessing. These dear French converts live well; many of them have the old Huguenot spirit of endurance. They stand not only open persecution, but the annoying pin-pricks of domestic taunts /lnd mockings; and they die well; one of our members has just gone home proclaiming her joyful faith in Christ as the only Mediator, though the priest stood by her bedside cursing her, and telling her she was damnee and' going to hell!' Two young men, also, saved at the eleventh hour through the visits of another of our converts (himself a bigoted Romanist up to last November), have just died exulting in Christ, but followed to the last by the threats of the priests. The work is precious in France. I wonder when I look at the recent successes of our little mission, which has been hitherto almost unknown outside of English Methodism. We are a mere handful of workers, and most of our helpers are ignorant and milearned men and women; but they are full of faith and the Holy Ghost, such agents as God can best use, and He opens doors before them everywhere. The fact is that every human heart is craving for God in Christ, but His professed disciples show Him up so poorly that the weary seekers turn disappointedly to the world. If we Christians would best see our duty and then tarry on our knees till we receive the power from on high to do it, there would soon be a universal revival.

"There is no room for details in a short article. Let our American friends come and see and hear for themselves! Let them listen to the glowing testimonies and the fervent prayers of men and women who a fe". months or. weeks ago were, some of them, on the brink of suicide, and all of them either defying God altogether, or mumbling over their beads to the Virgin! I earnestly beg that visitors to Paris from all churchesfor surely we may make common cause against the errors of Romewill call at our headquarters, 4 Rue Roquepine, and ask to see my husband, Rev. William Gibson, conductor of the mission, who has his bureau there. We need sympathy, and we need practical help beyond what our own. people can give. The conversion of Romanists appeals equally to all churches and to all Protestant countries. May God awaken an effectual response !"

Rev. Dr. Gibson supplies to us the following further facts as to Methodist Evangelization in France among Roman Catholics : " The. Methodist Evangelistic Mission in France, under the direction of the British Conference, consists of Ii stations: 8 in and around Paris. 2 at Rouen, 2 at Havre, 1 at EIbeuf, and 1 at St. Servan.

"During the last three or four years the work has made great progress, and some of the stations have been marvellously blessed. The methods employed are: Lively popular Gospel meetings, followed by aftermeetings, in which the people are spoken with personally on the subject of their salvation; women's and children's meetings; and the Methodist , class,' in which the converts are trained and led on higher. All these meetings are aided and followed up by assiduous visiting and tract distribntion. Our journal, La Bonne Nouvelle, of which we distribute about 10,000 monthly, is of great help to us.

"The mission costs yearly $11,000, of which $5000 is ' granted' by

NEWS FROM CONGO AND ANGOLA

the Wesleyan Missionary Committee of London, and the remaining $6000 is provided (mainly collected in England) by myself. The substantial premises in Rouen, which have cost £4000 for the building and £2000 for the ground, are composed of a large shop on the ground ftoor, the rental of which will, with the collections, make the station self-supporting j a handsome hall for public services, good reading-rooms for French and English sailors, and ministers' and evangelists' houses.

" About £1000 had already been collected in January, 1871, and the debt on the ground can be paid off by yearly instalments; but for the remaining £3000 I am personally responsible, and it is in a great measure the pressure of this burden which brought me to America. The work is, as far as possible, to be made self-supporting. A missionary restaurant has been opened in connection with our principal hall in Paris, and promises to be a help financially as well as spiritually to the station. I believe that France is on the eve of a revival. Already we have felt the first drops of the showe,r in the numerous and satisfactory conversions from Romanism to Christ that we have seen with our own eyes. Methodism suits the French temperament. Our converts are prompt and fearless in their testimonies, delight in prayer and praise meetings, and soon become active workers according to their light and opportunity. Two of our evangelists were brought to God in the mission.

, , We are in urgent need now of generous help for Rouen, as well as fOf many other objects less costly but equally important. We also earnestly request yearly subscriptions toward the support and extension of the work. Doors are opening all around us j France is craving for the Gospel as perhaps never before since the days of the persecutions; her fields are white unto the harvest j disgust of snperstition is hurrying her along toward atheism; nothing can save her but the pure Gospel of the grace of God, preached and applied to the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost."

NEWS FROM CONGO AND ANGOLA.

From Banana, mouth of Congo, April 14th, Bishop William Taylor writes: " Last night I slept aboard our steamer, the' Anne Taylor.' No snch cabins on any other river steamer on the Congo. This steamer will be the best and cheapest sanitarium for Congo workers this side of Europe or America. She has made one trip to Boma and return. We go on to Angola in the Gaboon. I will visit our mission stations in that province, and hope to return in five or six weeks to open new fields in the North Congo region.

" We anchored at St. Paul de Loanda, Angola, April 16th. Rev. A. E. Withey, our presiding elder for Angola district, came aboard and remained all night. He is looking well, and reports general good health among our people and prosperity in their work, including abundant selfsupport in all our Angola stations.

"Thursday, P.M., April 17th, arrived at the Missio 'Americana. Brother Burling and family all well."

THE GOSPEL IN BPAIN

THE GOSPEL IN SPAIN.

* BY J. E. BADGETT MEAKIN.

I.-INTRODUCTORY.

SPAIN! What an array of historic associations is brought before the mind in dwelling upon the connection of this stronghold of popery with the light of the Gospel, and how black they look! Instinctively one thin;s je, of the fiendish Inquisition, of the brutalities of the autos de and of the more recent but no less determined efforts of the priestcraft to stifle the voice of protest which has earned for us our distinctive title of Protestants. In the study of the blood-stained pages of her past history one is apt to think that in this day of progress and religious freedom, Spain has marched forward with her compeers, and that now her spiritual condition must be more or less that of other countries equally advanced in civilization. But this is not. the case, and the only vital difference between religious Spain to-day and the religious Spain of three centuries ago is the lack of sufficient temporal power to carry out all it could wish.

For some time past the country has been split up into two pretty sharply divided parties, the priest-ridden monarchists and the atheistical republicans. It is the history of France and of Italy repeating itself. The one party, ever on the decrease, includes most of the wealth and political influence of the kingdom, and the other comprises a large proportion of the poorer classes, and those who may be fitly described as " Adullam- ites. "t The vast majority of these, disgusted with the inherent rotten- ness of the phase of Christianity presented to them by the Church of Rome, have rejected religion entirely. Even among the ranks of the first party are numbered thousands whose only ties are those of position and politics, and whose religious opinions only remain unchanged on account of their indistinctness. If they think at all, the result is almost inevitable. They either turn to the truth in the measure in which it has been ~evealed to them-by human agency or not-or they lapse into the condition of infidelity so prevalent around them.

Between these two, which are no less than manifestations of the crumbling to pieces of the State religion, there is an open door for the Gospel. It is true that the task of entering it is one of difficulties and discouragements, but " if God be for us, who can be against us ~" Would to God that there were this day more laborers in this vineyard, for the harvest truly is plenteous, and ripe withal. Here and there, scattered up and down the Peninsula, are bright and shining lights to guide the wanderer home, but oh, how few and far between in comparison with the need for them!

Having just concluded a five-weeks' tour through Spain, from Cadiz to * For some years editor of The Times qf Morocco.

t .. Every one that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented" (1 Sam. 22 : 1, 2). France via Barcelona, during which I have visited all the mission stations I could bring within my course, I"will endeavor to give some idea of what is being done, and what opportunities this country offers for Christian effort. After what I have said, there is no further need to dwell upon the need, and our marching orders are to "all the world." I may mention that a knowledge of the lang.uage of the country, and a previous residence of some years among Spaniards, have placed me on a better footing than the majority of travellers to judge of the state of the country and the value of what is being done, while it also enabled me to gain some personal experience from attempts to make known the Good News on my way.

n.-THE AGENCIES AT WORK.

At present there are no less than tweh-e foreign societies more or less engaged in work in Spain and the Balearic Islands, mustering among them some eighty preaching places, while there are about forty more managed independently of any society. Owing to the number of agencies at work, exact statistics are very difficult to obtain, especially in connection with the independent workers, who, it will be seen, occupy about a third of the field.

The eighty stations were thus distributed when the last general survey * of the work was made two years ago, and since then very little change has taken ~lace, insufficient to warrant the labor of going over that task again.

" ~ ~wl . OIl~ '§w w ~~ ~~ zj C2'5 :a~ QJ ~s"~ ~g s'5 " i " " ~]I "" ~ """"~A:;bll ~:l ~~ 0 A'5 E-< oj p.. oj 00 "".El 0 "'" ~ w'" ""E-< > p.. f"1 ::;J P'Ih :§ 00'" 0 — — — — — – — – – – –1– – AmerlcanCongregationalists 14 8 3 1250 413 14 4 11 262 215 13 20 466 American Baptists …….•.. 5 2 3 155 34 2 2 6 6 158 58 English Wesleyans ……•.. 20 6 9 1540 269 17 12 13 306 299 11 30 387 Church of England..•.•••.. 15 6 3 1884 1194 13 6 8 236 292 1 1 30 Scotch Presbyterians ..•••.• 4 4 1 290 284 8 4 4 256 118 6 25 276 Irish Presbbterians ……… 4 4 1 108 22 4 3 2 111 52 3 7 60 Dntch Pres yterians….••.. 3 3 127 67 5 3 2 75 68 2 7 165 Swiss Presbyterians …….. 6 .. 2 3 223 1922 9 5 6 120 104 11 23 310 German …. …………. 2 60 80 6 6 3 184 56 2 11 168 ~~~~~~-~~~~~l i~rl's~~~: 3 8 1425 154 7 3 4 118 92 3 5 91 2 1 27 15 E~IiSh Congregationalists. 1 2 4 '57 70 30 321 60 ll~ 2 – In ependent ……………. 35t 12 11 20351688 23 11 24 759 784 -2-0 -4-4 100.1 – – – — Totals ………. 114 54 35 9194 3442 111 61 78 2545 2095 80 183 3231 The general position may be briefly summarized thus: preaching places, 114 j t pastors, 54 j evangelists, 35 j attendants at divine worship, 9194 j eommunicants, 3442 j day-schools, III j day-school teachers, male, 61 ; day-school teachers, female, 78 j boys on the lists, 2545 j girls on the lists, 2095 j Sunday-schools, 80; Sunday.school teachers, 183; Sundayschool children, 323l.

The above figures are those which each pastor or evangelist supplied, and therefore rest on their authority. With reference to the number of * By the Rev. J. W. Brown, of Barcelona, to whom I am indebted for these figures.

t There are a few more of whicb no statistics were obtainable. commuuicants of the Church of England Mission, which is known in Spain as the Reformed Church, it should be mentioned that little care is taken in granting admittance to this church, as evidence of the New Birth is not consiaered necessary. 'l'hen again, though the numbers of school children in all cases are those on the lists, the average attendance is from three fourths to four fifths of this number. The average number of attendants at the services, too, is to a large extent conjectural.

In addition to these agencies, the British and Foreign Bible Society has a representative at Madrid, in charge of a central depot, with a body of colporteurs in various parts of the country, as also has the American Board.

The Religious Tract Society of London, too, has a branch in Madrid, with a committee of the leading workers of each mission, and a depot from which are issued periodically a vast number of most excellent tracts, booklets, and periodicals suited to meet the objections of Romanists and infidels. In addition to these there are published, in one place or another, one weekly, two fortnightly, and two monthly periodicals, devoted to Christian enterprise and the spread of Gospel truth, in Spanish.

I1I.""':"THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORK.

If my readers will open the map of Spain, they will have no difficulty in following me in an imaginary trip through the country, calling at all the principal mission stations, for I will commence with the northwest corner and take them in order as they come.

The province of GALICIA is almost entirely occupied by workers belonging to the Brethren community. At Ooruiia Mrs. ChAsterman, at Vigo Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle, at Marin Mr. Blamire, are all carrying on an earnest warfare for the truth, with out-stations at six minor towns, in all of which blessing has been received. There are schools for children of both sexes at Marin and Coruna. The only other station in this province is that of the Scotch National Bible Society, at Ferrol.

In ASTURIAS the only evangelical chapel and schools are at Besullo, under the direction of M. Fliedner, of Madrid, while there is work carried on at three smaller centres.

LEON, as a larger province, has more to show. The Reformed Church is here to the fore, with chapels at Salamanca and Villaescusa, in the charge respectively of Senors Antonio Garcia and Regaliza, who engage also in work of more or less importance in eleven neighboring villages. At Villaescusa the result of the work has been greatly exaggerated in some reports, but it is fairly prosperous, and a small church is being erected. In this province are also two out-stations maintained by Mr. Hoyle.

Several bodies are at work in the next province, OLD CASTILE. At Santander, on the sea-coast, is a station of the American Board, under a Spanish pastor, Don Enrique de Tienda, with chapel and schools. Owing to the efforts of the Romanists, during the sixteen years that this church has been in existence it has had to move seven times in search of a meeting-place, and was once nearly two years houseless. This is an in- stance of what goes on in most parts where the work is prospering, and the churches own no property of their own, showing how important it is that this need should be provided for. This mission has other stations at Logroiio, Pradejon, and Roa. At the first-named place Don Angel Dijon is pastl>r; a worthy old saint who founded the church at Saragossa was long in charge here, but has at length retired to the south to end his days with his family. At Pradejon, for the past year or two, opposition has been more than usually intense, owing to the arrival of a stern and bigot- ed parish priest. Nevertheless, progress is steadily made. Owing to lack of workers, this is in the same charge as the one previously men- tioned. Roa is able to boast of a purchased place of worship for the Protestants, but as yet it has no fixed pastor, and remains in the care of the evangelist from Pamplona, through whose means its church was founded. Mission work is also carried on at Oaniego.

The Reformed Church has a chapel at Valladolid, ministered to by Sr. Martinez, with mission work in six or seven villages round, and an out- station at Palencia. For many years a most valuable work was done here by Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, independent workers, who have now removed to Murcia to open a new station, leaving Mr. Macarthy here in charge of their chapel and schools.

In the little province of BISCAY is the head station of the American Board, at San Sebastian, nnder the direction of the Rev. W. H. Gulick, with a chapel and schools, one of the latter for the preparation of female teachers, superintended by Mrs. Gulick, being a most important work. In all there are about a hundred and twenty day. scholars and thirty boarders. There is another chapel at Sestao, and a mission at the mines of Triano.

The important town of Bilbao would seem wholly given up to Roman- ism, for though it is full of priests and nuns, and a vast amount of money is ever ready to add to its numerous Mary-temples, Jesuitical convents, etc., the Protestants have for two years been unable to secure premises for public worship. Is it not a disgrace and a shame to our wealthy Christians . that they are not forthwith supplied with funds to purchase a site and build 1 The work here is sustained by the Evangelical Continental So- ciety of London, but under the superintendence of Mr. Gulick. There is also here a mission for sailors of all nations.

The only miilsion station in NAVARRE is that at Pamplona, where a lit- tle group of faithful ones has existed for several years, often without the presence of a pastor, who is now maintained by the American Board.

In ARRAGON the same mission has a pastor, the Rev. Carlos Aranjo, with chapel and schools, at the idolatrous town of Saragossa, and an in- teresting out-station at Tauste. Mr. Armstrong had formerly a chapel here, but this has recently been given up.

The next province, CATALONIA, has a most flourishing work at Barcelana, one of the earliest attempted in Spain. Here several bodies are engaged. The Brethren are represented by Mr. Henry Payne, who, with Mrs. Payne, has labored here for nearly twenty years. Under their care are three chapels, each having its schools for girls and boys, which are supported through Mr. Muller, of Bristol. They have gathered around them quite a large number of souls plucked from the fire of Rome, and their schools are well attended. The Wesleyan Methodists have long been represented here by Mr. Simpson, who has, however, been for a year or two laid by in England, and his post ably filled by the Rev. W. J. Brown. Here, too, are good congregations and excellent schools, five of the former and three of the latter, with four out-stations. The Swiss Presbyterians have also their representative here, M. Empaytaz, who has grown gray in the work. Under his direction are chapel and schools in the town, four other chapels and schools in other localities, and three out-stations, two with schools. The Swedish Baptists support Mr. Lund, who has here a chapel and schools, and one out-station. Another important institution in Barcelona is a Protestant hospital, managed by a committee formed of the gentlemen named. This meets a deeply felt want, and is a work which should have the fullest sympathy. There is also a B1ble and tract depot here. Apart from the Spanish work there is an English chapel, and work among the Swedish and Norwegian sailors.

From various causes the work at this, the second city of Spain, has been proportionally more successful, perhaps, than anywhere else in the country. I was delighted to see the well.managed schools and earnest services, and the good attendance at lectures which I was asked to give in Spanish at two of the chapels. As I had visited nearly all the chapels and schools, I was able to form some idea as to their actual condition better than by the comparison of reports.

Near the famous shrine at Montserrat, the Reformed Church has a station at Monistrol and another at St. Vincente de Castellet, with chapels and schools at both places, and four out-stations.

At Figueras, farther north, is an independent mission carried on by the Rev. and Mrs. Lopez y Rodriguez, the latter being English. They are assisted by several English ladies and two brothers of Sr. Lopez, carrying . on work in quite a number of villages round. The American Board has also an evangelist and school at Figueras, and another at La Escala. An independent work at Villafranca concludes the list in this province.

In Y ALENCIA and MURCIA there are chapels and schools at the town of Valencia and at Carthagena, the one under the Swedish Baptists and the other under the Swiss Presbyterians. As already mentioned, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong are just now occupied in commencing work at the port of Aguilas. The only other work is at Sagunto, an out-station.

In the province of NEW CASTILE there is but one mission ceatre, except in Madrid, though here several agencies are busy. In the capital, again, the Brethren are to the fore with a chapel and three schools supported through Mr. Miiller, all excellently managed, and giving evidence of real spiritual blessing. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Fenn have charge of it, and have labored at Barcelona and here some twenty-one years. They are assisted by several English ladies. At· YunC08 they have an out-station, with schools, but work in the villages round the capital has all along proved very hard and unencouraging. The Reformed Church in Madrid is represented by the Rev. J. B. Cabrera, the bishop-elect, who has a chapel and a mission room with three schools. A church is about to be built for this congregation with funds from England, by which also the pastors and 8chool1l are supported. The Scotch Presbyterians had formerly a good deal of work here, but latterly they have been abandoning it piecemeal. The only remnant here is a good congregation, with schools, eloquently addressed at their services by the Rev. Sr. Tornos, and under the superintendence of the Rev. John Jameson, once supported by this Society, but now British and Foreign Bible Society agent. They have also an outstation at },{ocejon, with a bOYI:!' school. The Wesleyans have a chapel and a boys' school in Madrid under the superintendence, just now, of the Rev. J. W. Lord, but the work having suffered recently from various causes, has not come into Mr. Lord's hands in a flourishing condition. The remaining mission here is a German one, that of the Rev. F. Fliedner, assisted by a preacher, Sr. Vargas. He has a chapel and schools, with a small orphanage, accommodation for a few boarders, and a "sick bay" over them, as also a cottage near the Escorial as a country branch. Mr. Fliedner likewise directs the Protestant book-shop and tract-depository, and is honorary chaplain to the German Embassy. There is, too, an embryo Young Men's Christian Association here, which is at present in but a crnde state, though it should develop. For English-speaking people, there are formal services in connection with the British Embassy. The only other station in this province is at· Criptana, where Mr. George Lawrence is at work, with his three daughters, in chapel and schools j they are independent workers.

Sad to say, the adjoining province of ESTREMADURA is totally without evangelistic work, and only that of ANIULUCIA remains to be noticed. The Edinburgh "Spanish Evangelization Society" has several stations here, under the superintendence of the Rev. ·William Moore, M. A., at Puerto Santa Maria, close to Cadiz, where they have a school for the training of young Spanish converts for evangelists and pastors. This again is a most important branch of the work, as no one can reach people like their own countrymen when properly prepared. At Cadiz itself this society has a chapel and schools under the care of Don Rafael Bianco, with an outstation at Pto. Real. At Huelva the English residents set an excellent example by supporting a boys' school, which is under the same superintendence, the Rev. Antonio Jimenez being pastor. They have here also girls' and infants' schools. At Seville the Rev. Sr. Barroso has a small chapel alild schools under the same auspices, while the remaining station is at the village of Escornaz, near Granada, where there is a chapel and school. One or two out-stations are under the same society, which allo supporto the Rev. John Murray at Granada. The Irish Presbyterians have here taken over the work of their Scotch brethren, who had grown disheartened, and now maintain a mission in Jerez, where they have a wellbuilt chapel and schools, under the Rev. Jose Viliasid, and a chapel and schools at San Fernando, on the other side of Cadiz. Friends in Amsterdam support the Rev. Camilo Calamita at Utrera (chapel and schools) j the Rev. C. Carrefio at Oordova (ditto), and Sr. J. Alhama at Gmnada (chapel only). At Malaga Sr. Manuel Carrasco has a chapel and schools where good work is being done, and there is another independent worker. The Reformed Church supports the Rev. Jose Vila in this town, with chapel and schools, and in Seville the Revs. V. Baquero and Palomares, with built churches formerly belonging to monasteries, and schools, with an outstation at Triana. Farther north, at Sinares, Mr. Wigstone, of the Brethren, works both in Spanish and English, and at Algeciras, opposite Gibraltar, a new work was begun nearly a year ago, under the direction of an independent worker, Mr. Simpson, aided by several ladies. There are two more out-stations in this province.

IV.-CONCLUDING REMARKS.

This brings to an end the list of mission cent~es in the whole kingdom, and the reader will not have failed to note how far they are from supplying its great need for the Gospel. As forming part of the same domains, the Balearic Isles should not go unmentioned, for here a good work is going steadily forward under the Rev. F. G. Smith, Wesleyan minister at Mahon, who has nine chapels and five schools in his charge. At Gibraltar, too, there is work doing among the Spaniards, though on a small scale, by various laborers too much engaged in English work to spare much time for it. Just over the straits, on the Morocco coast, is a work among the Spanish colony at Tangier, which promises well. Mr. H. N. Patrick and two or three ladies, all under the North Africa Mission, are laboring there, and have a Gospel coffee hall, with services and night schools.

It will be understood, in the above brief sketch, that except when a " built church" is specified, the chapel and schools usually consist of one or more rooms in a private house, or of a store, the same apartment in many cases serving for both purposes. This is a very great dra.wback, as it is not allowed in Spain to put np any sign outside to denote an evangelical place of worship, and only special edifices will attract outsiders, unless they hear the singing as they pass. Then again, a large proportion of the people consider the present places" hardly respectable," who would be quite willing to enter a " regular church. "

Space will not permit of my discussing fully the various methods of work employed in Spain, or of the causes which concur to retard the spread of Gospel truth which it might lie in the power of those engaged to mini-.

PLANTING CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY

mize or, in some cases, to remove. Though the vi8ible resnlts of the twenty years of toil which have been spent upon the country since its doors were opened to the Gospel are still small, this must not be made an excnse for staying our hand. We have sent but one company of soldiers to stay the on-rush of a mighty host. How can we wonder that they can do little else than keep their ground ~ Where one of the enemy falls there are ten to to rush in. If we want !lee results, let us send our thousand devoted men and woman to Spain not unprepared, but equipped with some knowledge of the language if possible. Let us not leave them struggling for lack of funds, but empty our full coffers and lay them at Jesus' feet. Let us break our pots of ointment and devote our strength to using in His service what is of greatest earthly value. How many who read this will accept the call and say, " Lord, here am I, send ME" !

PROTESTANTISM IN BELGIUM.

BY MARGUERITE DE LAVELEYE, SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER AT LIEGE.

Two Belgian monks, Henri VillS and Jean Esch, were burned alive in Brussels in 1523. These were the first Protestant martyrs in the Netherlands. The Spanish Inquisition continued its bloody persecutions till the Reformation was completely suppressed. During more than two centuries Belgium was thoroughly dominated by the Romish Church. In 1848 a society named Eglise Missionnaire BeIge was constituted at Brussels for the spreading of the Gospel.

This society comprises now 27 churches and missions in full activity in 170 communes composed o£ 7000 members, 420 only of Protestant origin. Thirty-eight clergymen and Bible-teachers preach the Gospel in private houses, churchyards, and in public, presiding as well over Sunday services and Bible classes.

The Belgian missionary church might rapidly extend its blessed work if it was not constantly prevented by the insufficiency of its means. It requires about 140,000 francs yearly, and as nearly all its members are poor workmen, the receipts are always much below the expenses, not to mention the requirements of the new missionary stations. In January, 1890, the deficit reached 45,000 francs, and the missionary society will have to diminish its activity without fresh help.

We therefore appeal to all those who take an interest in the promotion of evangelization on the Continent that they may" come over to help us. " The treasurer of the Belgian Missionary Church is M. Kennedy Anet, 123 Chaussee d'Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium.

PLANTING CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY.

BY REV. HENRY GRACEY, GANANOQUE, CANADA.

IN contemplating the spread of Christianity in the seventh and eighth centuries among the barbarous peoples dwelling in the north and northeastern districts of Europe, one cannot but admire the energy, zeal, and courage shown by many of the missionaries. Their methods cannot always be commended, nor can all their doctriues be approved; still we must admire their fervor and glowing devotion. And our modern missionaries might find not a few things worthy of imitation in the conduct and character of those early heralds of Christianity. The tribes or peoples which inhabited at that time that part of Europe now known as Germany were fierce, warlike, and barbarous; and the first missionaries who went among them did so at no little inconvenience, and some of them at imminent risk of thcir lives.

We read of several attempts made by zealous missionaries to get a foothold among the tribes on the eastern borders of the kingdom of the Franks; but they met with comparatively little success. About the middle of the seventh century one Amandus, a bishop alDong the Franks, extended his labors to the Frieslanders, a fierce and powerful tribe occllpying part of what is now called the Netherlands, and also certain districts in Germany. Unable to subdue the barbarism and idolatry of the people, he procured an order from the Frankish king, Dagobert, by which all might be compelled to submit to baptism; but in trying to carry out this violent measure he raised such a storm of indignation against himself that he was in danger of losing his life. He was, however, a man of resources. By acts of benevolence, by redeeming captives, and by pretended miracles, he managed to recover his lost ground, and to persuade some of the people to destroy their idols and embrace Christianity. Another Frankish bishop who did something for the spread of the Gospel among the German tribes was one Eligius. He had been a goldsmith by trade, and was rich, benevolent, and very devout. "'hen engaged in his trade he spent large sums of money in the interests of Christianity. A favorite plan with him was to redeem captives, which he did in large numbers-sometimes as many as one hundred in one transaction-and after giving them some knowledge of the Gospel he would send them back to their homes, from which, hy the fortunes of war, they had been carried off. In 641 this pious and worthy man was appointed bishop of Tournay and Noyon, and during 18 years he continued to carryon missionary work in the neighboring territory. He was noted as much for his liberal and evangelical views as for his piety and generosity.

But the most extensive mission work among the German tribes in this seventh century was done by missionaries from Ireland. At this time the zeal, learning, and devotion of the Irish Church had attracted considerable attention. The religious schools there were noted for their many excellencies and their numerous students. The monasteries were said to be crowded in the fifth and sixth centuries with pious monks willing to engage in enterprises of Christian activity.

The first of these of whom we have information as undertaking mis- sionary work WaS one Columban, near the end of the sixth century. His method was very practical. Born in the province of Leinster, he was ed~ ucated in the famous monastery of Bangor. At the age of 30 he felt im- pelled to enter a larger field of usefulness than seemed open to him in Ireland, and taking twelve young men with him, he crossed over to the Frankish kingdom. Christianity had been established there. Still, find- ing a great deal to be done, and being entreated to remain within the king- dom of the Franks, he did so. His aim was to make his colony of monks support themselves by their own labor, and while doing so they could set an example of industry to the natives around them, teach them some of the arts of husbandry, and also the truths of the Gospel. Accordingly a suitable spot was selected at a place called Anegrey; a humble lodging was built as a monastery, and the forest was cleared by the labors of his monks. At first they had great hardships, and were reduced to the greatest straits for the very necessaries of life. But Columban was a man of great determination and courage, and his influence over his followers was lIuch that even in the greatest difficulties he was able to cheer them, and induce them to persevere. After a time the method and discipline of Columban became very popular, and families of every rank committed their sons to him for education; and so numerous did his monks become that he established several monasteries. Hard work was a prominent feature in his discipline.

But he had other difficultIes to contend with than the poverty and privation met with in planting his mission. His severity of discipline and the strictness of his morals were unpopular with the worldly and dissolute, and he became an object of dislike to many in high places. Then there was another cause of trouble. The usages of the Irish Church did not harmonize with those established in the Frankish kingdom. The most prominent di"ergence was in respect to the Easter observance. The feeling at that time was running strongly in favor of entire u",iformity in the Church. The popes Gregory the Great and Boniface IV. both pressed this matter very resolutely, and Columban was urged to yield and give up his practices imported from Ireland. This he could by no means be per~ suaded to do. And to the Pope Boniface IV., as also to the Frankish bishops, he wrote very earnestly, counselling unity in essentials, while divergence was permitted in such matters as were complained of. He disclaimed any intention of trying to change the customs of the Frankish Church. He only wanted liberty to follow his own methods in his own monasteries in the wilderness; and he intimated pretty plainly to the Frankish bishops that there were other matters of reform of more importance to which they might with profit to themselves and their flocks tum their attention. His appeal did not meet with their approval. A synod was called in 602 to deliherate on the matter. What the immediate result of the synod's deliberations. were does not appear; but shortly afterward a feeling of hostility to Columban sprang up in the Burgundian Court, within whose territory three of his monasteries lay, which became S'J strong that he was forced to yield to it and retire. An order was issued that he should be seut back to Ireland. This, however, was not carried OUL; but, on the invitation of the Frankish king, he removed to a place within the territory of Zurich, intending to carryon a mission to the Alemanui and Suevi, who dwelt in this district. But his zeal deprived him of the opportunity; for, unable to restrain his indignation against gross idolatry, he indisereetly set fire to and destroyed a heathen temple. This rash act raised such a strong feeling against him among the savage natives that he was forced to seek refuge in flight. The result was he forsook this region altogether, retired to Italy, and founded, near Pavia, the monastery of Bobbio. One Gallus, a disciple of his, resolved, however, to remain and continue the work. Following the method pursued by Columban, he selected a suitable spot in the forest, and gathering to him some monks, he set about clearing the forest and cultivating the soil, aiming in this at two things: First, he wished to secure a living for his missionaries, and second, to set un example of cultivating the soil that might be followed by the people. While engaged in these works of husbandry, however, he preached the Gospel. He described to the people God's plan for saving men, and told them that he and his associates were messengers sent to tell them about this great matter. He carefully pointed out to them the sins they were to avoid, reminding them of the judgment of God in time and eternity. By those means Gallus became very influential in the neighborhood, and established a great reputation for sanctity.

But other missionaries, resolved to engage in the same work, also came over from Ircland. In the seventh century it was a common thing for young men to go over from England for the purpose of leading a spiritual life among the monks of Ireland, or to gather learning in their schools. Such visitors were readily welcomed by the Irish Church.

Among these was a young man named Egbert, who, in a time of very severe illness, made a YOW that if spared he would devote his life to work among the heathen. Having recovered, he made arrangements to carry out his vow, and several others of kindred spirit resolved to join him in the work. For reasons that do not appear, Egbert, who originated the mission, did not go with it j but the others carried it out. One Wigbert became the leader j and the northern part of Germany, adjacent to the German ocean, was the field selected. But, on account of the determined and Ditter hostility of Radbod, a powerful native king, little was accomplished, and eventually the mission was given up. This failure, however, did not discourage, and shortly after the same enterprise was undertaken by another man from the same school. A young Englishman, named Willibrord, when about the age of twenty visited Ireland and spent twelve years in study there. After that, moved by the missionary spirit, he set out to prosecute a mission among the Germans where his countrymen had failed. By this time Pepin had subdued part of Friesland, and was able to give some protection to the missionary. Willibrord took twelve compan-

CHILDREN OF FOREIGN MISSIO!iAIUEIl

ions with him, and for more than thirty years he continued his labors amid distressing privations, and in the face of many great dangers and difficulties. King Radbod continued his implacable enemy j but although he threw many difficulties in the way of the missionary, he failed to dislodge him as he had dislodged his predecessors. A characteristic story is told of this king which illustrates his haughty spirit and the strong doctrinal convictions of the missionary. It is said that on one occasion the king presented himself to Willibrord for baptism j but before submitting to the ordinance he wanted to know whether the kings, his ancestors, were in heaven, and whether he might hope to meet them there if he were baptized and went to heaven himself. This question presented no difficulty to the missionary, who at once told him his ancestors were certainly all in hell, as they had died unbaptized. "What business have I, then," said Radbod, "with a few poor people in heaven 1 I prefer to abide in the religion of my fathers." And so he did; he could never again be induced to entertain the doctrines of the missionary.

Throughout the seventh century missionary work in Germany was carried on in a desultory fashion. There were a number of independent laborers, characterized by great zeal and self. denying devotion, yet having no bond of union and no common centre, nor, indeed, any means of sympathizing with and helping each other. There being no central authority, there was no organization, and the different missionaries labored under great disadvantages. And not only did these earnest men lack the stimulus of mutual encouragement, they lacked the help of material support and backing. They often found themselves without supplies in the midst of savage enemies. It can hardly be wondered at that in such circumstances, while many devoted men had engaged in the work there were no results that made a deep impression in respect to the conquests of Christianity. Yet the labors and instructions of these piom! men from Ireland, continued with varying snccess through the seventh century, prepared the way for the work of Boniface in the beginning of the eighth century, who has been called the Apostle of Germany; and to them belongs the credit of in~ augurating that great missionary enterprise and sowing the seed, while the harvest and the glory fell to Boniface.

CHILDREN OF FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.

BY A MISSIONARY.

One of the difficult questions foreign missionaries have to decide has reference to their own children. Climate, want of proper schools, and other canses compel them to pursue one of the following courses: they must either send or take their children home a.nd leave them to the care of others, or abandon their work at a time when best fitted for it, and when it may be most needed. This necessity is one of the severest trials mis- ~j.ollaries have to meet, and calls for strong faith and earnest prayer, It is difficult to see how the work can go on with efficiency if, as a general rule, missionary parents must permanently leave it when it becomes necessary for their children to leave the country where it is done. But is this necessary ~ May not these parents, having cons~crated their children to Christ, leave them, for His sake, to the care of others ~ Evidence of special care bestowed by the Master upon such children has not been wanting, as may be found, it is believed, in the following communication.

The writer has the names of all missionaries sent by the American Board to its different missions in India and Ceylon previous to 1874. And though he has not the names of all their children, he has known many of them, and had the means of learning much respccting the history of others.

While he was himself connected with one of these missions for nearly forty years, it was the practice in each for its members to observe a season of special prayer for their children at a particular time each week. How far the facts here given are the result of this concert of prayer cannot be told. But they are interesting and encouraging.

The following statement, though not claiming to be complete, is the result of careful notice, and is certainly within the truth. Of the sons of missionaries sent by the Board to India and Ceylon before 1874, twentyeight became foreign missionaries, seventeen clergymen in this coun'ry, and seven physicians. Fourteen, after graduating at college, became teachers, or engaged in other useful employment, and eleven are known to have become useful men without a collegiate education. One lost his life in the Union Army during the Civil War. Two died in college, and one soon after graduating. One was pursuing his studies in college a year ago, and three in theological seminaries.

Of the danghters of missionaries mentioned above, twenty-seven, as is known, became missionaries or the wives of missionaries, arid eleven others married clergymen or educated men in other professions. Ten, after completing their education, engaged in teaching or other useful employment, and three, not graduating at public school!'!, became uscful as Christian wives and mothers. One had just entered the institution at South Hadley a year ago, one was in her last year of study preparatory to Wellesley College, one was in an academy iu Massachusetts, and one in a normal school in New Yqrk City.

The following account is confined to the children of a single company of missionaries who went out in the same ship. The company consisted of four men, with their wives, and an unmarried lady. About two years later the young lady was married to a missionary. Fifteen sons and eleven daughters born to this company lived to adult age: All but two or three were sent or carried home by their parents and left in the care of others. These would have been thus left had not their parents been prevented by other causes from" returning to their work in accordance with their earnest wishes. All early became members of the church. Ten of the sons graduated at college. . Six of these became ministers, of whom three went abroaJ. as foreign missionaries, and another would have gone but for the failure of his health. Two engaged in journalism. One studied medicine, and settled as a physician in New York City. One, ha,'wg taught for five years in a college in India, ill now studying in a theological seminary in the United States. Of the other five, one died while a senior in college. One. having graduated at a medical college, is a practising physician in Massachnsetts. One, an eldcr in a Presbyterian church, is a journalist in one of the principal cities of the Northwest. The two others, in useful callings, are active workers in the Sunday-school. Of the eleven daughters, two, after several years' work in a foreign mission, became the wives of missionaries. One graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary, and went to Ceylon as a missionary. One, after graduating at the same school, engaged in teaching in New York City. One died not long after her marriage to an educated Christian man. One, graduated at a normal school in Massachusetts, taught five ycars, and married the pastor of an important church. One, having received an education in other schools of high standing, graduated at the vYornan's Medichl College, in Philadelphia. One graduated at W cHesley College. taught six or seven years, and is now giving assistance in missionary work in Spain. The other three are all useful as intelligent Christian wives and mothers. These accounts are given with the hope of affording encouragement .to missionaries called for the sake of Christ to put their children from them, and to those who give them sympathy and help. Does not the Lord care for such children?

DECEMBER, 1890.

THE ANATOMY OF NATIONAL LIFE.-In a recent lecture on " Oriental Thought," Professor E. P. Thwing, M.D., of Brooklyn, Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, drew attention to the initial elements, the physical fa!tors revealed in the geographical position of a continent, its climate, scenery, and soil. He quoted the remark of Dr. Coan, of the Sandwich Islands, that the Gulf Stream gave Europe its ,present civilization, and the occlusion of the Pacific at Behring Strait made Polynesia what it is. Volcanoes and seismic disturbances and typhoons, are related, he said, to the abnormal development of the imagination, and the thanatophidia of the East to demonology. Thermal extremes produce indu8trial and so moral instability. The study of physical geography and ancillary themes is fundamental. Only by a patient analysis is a true synthesis and so a rational science gained of human ciyilization. Buckle drew notice to this method thirty years ago, but modern research hal> illuminated the subject and emphasized its importance to every student of ethnology.

ISIDOlt LOEWENTHAl•

ISIDOR' LOEWENTHAL.

BY ROBERT MORRISON, FULTON, MO.

In the Youth's Companion of April 23d ult. there is a quotation from a book entitled" Stories from th,e Battle Smoke," as follows: " A missio~ary to India was shot, as he sat in his veranda in the dusk (If the evening, by bis own chowkeydar, or watchman, whether intent iollally or hy accident will never be known. Near a public road stands hi~ solitary grave. On the stone at the head is the inscription: SACRED TO THE MEMORY of the REV. – – SONNENTIIAL.

J[e tran8lated the Script7£res in the Afghan tongue, and wa.~ I1hot by his own chowkeydar.

, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' "

The above epitaph recalls a flood of memories of the years gone by. The real name of the missionary refeITed to above is Isidor Loewenthal.

God's dealings with him were so strange that a sketch of his history . ,,,n hardly fail to interest God's people of the present day.

lIe was born in Posen, Prussian Poland, A.D. 1826. His parents were .rews. His father knew but little and cared less about religion. His mother was a devoted follower of the traditions of the rabbis. She, however, endeavored to instruct her children in the principles of morality. These parents were in moderate worldly circumstances, and with eight children to rear and educate, of whom Isidor was the eldest, they were unable to give them a liberal or university education. They however did what they could, and did that fairly well.

Our young schoiar was sent to a Jewish school to learn some of the first principles of science, and to repeat prayers of whose meaning he knew nothing. There was no attempt to explain their significance or interest him about such matters more than would have been done to a pet parrot.

By and by he was sent to " a Christian school" -so, at least, in name. There religion, as the teachers understood it, was taught as an accomplishment to fit one for general society or for office in the government, and, of course, was taught in a very lifeless sort of way. There were 01]. this subject two recitations a week, and attendance thereon was optional. The Greek language was in the course, but no hint was ever given that the New Testament was written in that tongue. Hebrew was taught, and Isaiah was read and pronounced by the professor to be nearly equal in beauty and snblimity to Homer. Snch Jews as Philo, Spinoza, and Mendelssohn were commended in contrast to such Christians as Voltaire, Rousseau, Rume, and Bolingbroke. Milton and Locke were called fanatics, and while the learning and genius of Newton were admired, he was pitied because unable to free himself" from the common superstition of the greater part of mankind."

Being unable further to pursue his studies, young Loewenthal became clerk for a merchant; but selling goods was not to his taste. To be among books was his delight. He was a born student. Having no other work, however, open before him, he kept on with his clerkship, and becoming acquainted with some young men about his own age who were radicals in politics, met with them secretly for the discussion of political questions. At such times essays and poetry of their own composition were often read. One of these pieces Mr. Loewenthal was indiscreet enough to publish. Because it criticised the government, he indirectly learned that his arrest had been determined on. He knew the horrors of such a risk as that. This was but two years before the great upheaval on the Oontinent, of 1848. With haste he fled to Hamburg, and with a good deal of trouble secured a passport to New York, whither, in a short time, he arrived, a stranger in a strange land, with but a poor knowled,e of English. He had but little money left, and he hnnted for work very earnestly in New York and Philadelphia, but failed entirely. He then struck out to get work in the country, but failed there too. In despair, he invested -all he had in a small basketful of notions, and began the life of a peddler.

In Novemher, 1846, when but a little over twenty years old, he ealled one forenoon at the house of Rev. S. M. Gayley, near Wilmington, Del., drenched with rain and suffering with cold; he was invited to the fire and to stop for dinner. After dinner, when he had disposed of some of his wares to Mrs. Gayley, he rose to depart, but the kind preacher, noticing how thinly clad the young stranger was, invited him to halt for the night, which he readily did.

Upon inquiry he found, to his surprise, that the young peddler had studied some philosophy and seience, and was master Qf the Hebrew and several modern languages. The preacher became very much interested in his guest, and persuaded him to stay with him until he eould see if some more suitable employment eould be found for him. This he soon seeured in having a elass formed for him in modern languages in Lafayette College, at Easton, Pa., and which he took charge of January lst, 1847. The few weeks, however, that he spent at the house of his benefactor were eventful times to him. Writing to Mr. Gayley some time afterward, lle says: "It was at your house, by your earnest prayers (at family worship), to which I first went half from curiosity, half from politeness, by your humble supplications, that I was first awakened to apprehend my danger, to consider that I had an immortal soul. I began to open the Bible. I was astonished. I waited with eagerness morning and evening for the summons to family worship to hear you pray. I was more and more convinced I was on the wrong path." During the young professor's absence at col-

tsmon

lege, Mr. Gayley followed him with kindly religious counRel, which, though a bow at a venture, proved under God to be the right things said at the right time, and in the autumn following Mr. Gayley baptized him as a member of the Presbyterian Church.

In the fall term of 1847 Mr. Loewenthal entered the senior class in Lafay- ette, and graduated in the June following. Shortly after graduating the Rev. Samuel Miller offered him the position of a teacher in the collegiate school at Mount Holly, N. J. This he accepted and retained for three years, when he entered the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he took a full course and graduated with great credit in 1854. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. While in the seminary he taught classes in the modern languages in the college of New Jersey. He was an early riser and a tireless worker. As a linguist he had few equals and, per- haps, no superior, considering his age. He was a thorough student, at the same time, in mathematic1l and philosophy. There were plenty of open- ings gladly awaiting such qualifications as he had, hut he cheerfully offered himself to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church to go to the Gentiles of India, and was accepted and sailed for his field in August, 1855.

The Society of Inquiry of the seminary selected him as essayist for 1854, and his subject was India as a Missionary Field. The prouuction was one of great merit, and was soon after published in the Princeton Review.

He was below middle size in stature, but lithe and wiry. He had a large hooked nose, a fine black eye, and raven black hair. He was a quiet, modest man, and a man of thorougll consecration. All his powers were cheerfully laid at the foot of the cross.

At Peshawer, the advanced station of missionary enterprise in Afghanis,…, tan at that time, he landed in 1855. He was the pioneer there and alone, but he addressed himself in earnest to the acquisition of that difficult language, the Pushtoo.

Nine years of patient, hard labor passed, and he was able to preach in Pushtoo, Persian, Cashmere, Hindustanee, Arabic, and, in fact, in all the languages and dialects of that polyglot region which he had chosen as his field of labor. Besides this he had just completed a translation of the New Testament in Pushtoo, and was about to begin work on the Old Testament when his earthly work suddenly came to an end.

When in the seminary he was subject to terrible headaches, which caused him to rush out very early in the morning to take an airing, and Rome of the theologues who rose betimes in the mornings used to see him coming back from a walk of two or three miles just as they first looked out. One morning in July. 1864, about daylight he was shot by his own watchman, who said he thought it was a thie;: 'Vhether what he said was true, or whether he was paid to kill one who was hated and feared, as did some men of Asia who were not ahle to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which Stephen spoke to thEm, will not likely be known on this side of eternity.

ISIDOR LOEWENTIIAL

Tt is hardly probable that that was the first time in all those years that Mr. Loewenthal had come home at that hour and in that way!

To human view it seems mysterious that one so gifted, so eminently fitted for such a field and on the ground and anxious to work, should be cut down. So, however, was it with another grand servant of Christ and misEionary to India, Henry Jl,Iartyn. Both were men of wonderful intellect and rare scholarship, especially in the line of language; and eaeh gave a final work of a New Testament of his own translation-the one to Persia, the other to Afghanistan. Each died young and alone in differents parts of the field, but Tocat and Peshawer are drawing nearer to each other, and hosts of pious dead will soon surround the graves of these young, brave, lonely pioneers.

From Chefoo, China, Mr. G. P. Bostick writes, April lOth, 1891 : " Rev. B. C. Henry says, , The Chinese dress too often means a Chinese house pure and simple, and native furniture, native utensils and native food.' This statement is unjust to a large number of missionaries who wear the dress,· which no more means, in itself, the other things specified than wearing a Prince Albert coat in New York City necessarily means a brown-stone front with all attending luxuries, or a plain dress, squalid poverty. Many who wear the dress live in good foreign style otherwise, and some of them under the same board with Mr. Henry. The C. 1. M. policy is economy, whether you wear the dress or not. I know some of them in foreign dress who live harder than some others who wear the Chinese dress. I know not how to account for Brother Henry's statement, unless he has not mingled with those who wear the dress. " I also read recently something like this, 'If you are shaking in yonr faith and tend to looseness of views, throw yourself into the mission on a foreign field and it will eure you.' Some haye tried this, resulting in their finally giving up the Bible, religion, and God. Work at home might have the desired effect. But for heathen lands we need men well grounded in the faith at all points; others, if not entirely thrown off, will get looser, and teach loose views to others. Faith of all workers on foreign fields will be thoroughly tried, and needs an immovable foundation. " I read also recently an appeal for sending out mechanics as missionaries, to establish all kinds of shops for the natives. In this part of China there is danger of burying the Gospel beneath the accompanying civilizing agencie~, so that God's power unto salvation will not be seen. My vote is, first and last and all the time, for men and women to preach the Gospel, pure and simple, and depend on God for results; already too much time and money are expended in heathen lands on thc side issues. " Amid the many societies undertaking to do the work of the churches, would it not be well to consider how much stress is to be put upon the individual Church-Christ's organization g"

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN l'EitIODICALB

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FORELGN PERIODICALS.

BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.

-The Annual Report of the National Bible Society of Scotland has a very "aluable letter respecting the state of France from Mr. Charles Faulk- ner, " whose long residence in that country, and careful study of events in it, entitle him to be heard on such a question" : " Pius IX. himself never made a greater mistake, and that is saying a great deal, than when he dro"e Jules Simon, one of the fairest, most moderate, and most religiously disposed men in France, from power; and he who would form a just estimate of the acts of the French Govern- ment in relation to the Church, is bound to take the 16th of May, 1877, into account. Passion is an evil counsellor, and the systematic persecution that followed was a great mistake; but the Church only reaped what she had sown. She had tried to strangle the Republic."

Mr. Faulkner then describes all the familiar outbursts of passionate hostility to clericalism, aud, in the train of that, to religion itself, and adds, "In all these respects there is a great change. The government is no longer professedly hostile to the Church, and makes an effort even to be fair, and this is true notwithstanding many seeming exceptions. The programme of an anarchical socialist meeting no longer of necessity in- cludes blasphemy. The administration has ceased, at least openly, to persecute. Priests are no longer eaten every day by the extreme Radical journals. Civil funerals are a diminishing quantity." Notwithstanding various measures bearing hard upon the re"enues and exemptions of tho clergy, Mr. Faulkner says that "there is reason to think that the re- ligious influence of the Church is greater now than it was when the Pope drove Jules Simon from power. In the matter of education she has estab- lished free schools, both primary and secondary, which, her opponents being judges, are a great success. In other departments of work there is the same energy, and it seems possible that the latest attempts to cripple her may have the opposite effect." The Jesuits having been greatly disabled, it should seem as if this revival was measurably independent of them, and guided rather by the deeper religion and stricter ethics of the Dominicans. This, however, is an uncertain guess of my own.

"The same is true of the Reformed Church of France. • .. Ten years ago, a few leading men determined to seek the reorganization of the Church by means of non-official synods, both provincial and general. The attempt was regarded by many with fear and trembling, but it has suc- ceeded beyond expectation, and three fourths of the churches are now formally connected with this revived organization, and the Church, as a whole, is throbbing with organic life as she has not done since the dark days of Louis XIV:'

Mr. Faulkner says, moreover, as fully attested by men of all schools, that" the educated French mind is in a marked degree turning its atten- tion to religious subjects, and that in no hostile spirit; indeed, one of the extreme Radical papers complained the other day that among periodicals such as the Revue des Deux ]tfondes there was not one that treated scepticism with due respect."

Is French Catholicism competent to detach itself from its accretions of superstition ~ It should seem not impossible, since, as Pere Hyacinthe attests, the doctrine of Transubstantiation has been there spiritualized to a degree which seeIllS to leave it hardly distinguishable from Calvin's own teaching, except that the presence of Christ is assumed as existing ante usum. The coarse medireval conceptions of t.he Roman Catechism in this Pl!rticular have never found much acceptance in France.

-The Societe des Missions EvangUiques mourns the loss of M. Eugene Casalis, the eminent founder, with M. Arbousset, of the admirable Lessuto .(or, as we sl,ould say, Basuto) Mission, in South Africa. He died March 9th, at the age of 79 years. M. Eugene Casalis, after his return from Africa, was director aud then honorary director of the mission house. The remembrances of the reawakening of French Protestantism, and of its first development of zeal for the extension of the Kingdom of God in the world at large, were peculiarly embodied in him. His missionary character, profoundly Christian, is described as being peculiarly French, marked by that pervasive sympathy and ready flexibility which distinguished St. Paul, and is a special French characteristic. He was distinguished also for his unmoved adherence to the central missionary idea, the salvation of men and the advancement of the kingdom of God, resolutely putting and keeping all the distracting invitations of science, civilization, national interests in their thoroughly subordinate place, " sacrificing, at need, everything which, in our hands, might become an obstacle instead of remaining a lIimple means."

Various children and grandchildren of M. CaRalis have been or are now his successors in Basutoland.

-The April number of the Presbyterian :Jfessenger, of the Presbyterian Church of England, has a letter from a Chinese graduate addressed to W. Faber, which is interesting, though certainly amusing, as showing the enormous over-valuation of mere literature which is characteristic of China, as, in a less degree, it has until lately prevailed in Europe. Says the worthy gentleman, "The excellent men who undertalw to propagate Christianity and are zealous for the salvation of the world have themselves, of course, good methods as well as beautiful intentions; and assuredly they are not waiting for any prosing of mine on the subject. Still, since Jesus, in revealing the truth of God, has eyen sacrificed Himself to save all mankind of all generations, with a tender commiseration which might move to gratitude even the creatures we eat, why is it that to this day so few in China follow Him ~ ". . . Good medicine is that which cures disease, but good medicine is, for the most part, not palatable, and people are apt to loathe it. If you can by any means make medicine smell fragrant and taste sweet, your use of it in the curing of the disease will be marvellously facilitated and quickened. The doctrine of Jesus is indeed beautiful and is indeed good; but much of the translations of it are inelegant and crabbed, and scholars despise it. If you could by any means impart to the translations a just amount of grammar there would be a rush of believers, and no holding of them back. I would, therefore, advise that the Old Testament be translated on the model of the earliest literature of China (that of the Three Dynasties), that the New Testament be translated on the model of the Han Wei and Tsin writings, that hymns be translated in imitation of our elegant praise songs and ceremonial chants, and that Christian literature generally be rendered in the style of the best masters of Pang (A,D.600-900)."

That translations and hymns should be thoroughly Chinese in form and genius is an altogether reasonable requirement. 'But assuredly the Greek New Testament is not written with any care to make it Attic. To some who complained that Salva tor was not classical, Augustine nobly replied, "Christ made it classical when He came into the world." But the letter, as a whole, which is long, is exceedingly good. The graduate points out how the charge brought against Christianity of neglecting an- cestral honor might be met by tracts showing the thousand ways in which, in Christendom, wealth is diverted from ceremonial wastefulness before the dead to a thousand forms of beneficence, public and private, toward the Jiving." Again, all that can be found in Chinese books which is in harmony with the doctrines of Jesus should be collected into a volume for distribution and for use in preaching." The author says, after speaking of the former prevalence of Buddhism, utterly foreign to Confucianism, " That the religion of Jesus should not mightily prevail in China is a thing totally unprecedented. For myself, I barely know the English alphabet, and have no acquaintance with European literature. Hitherto mathematical and mechanical studies have absorbed my attention and dragged me down, so that I dare not hope to achieve anything in the way of illustrating loftier themes. But I cannot help wiping my eyes in tlager expectation of a glorious moral advance and uplifting."

-The Messenger, speaking of the opium traffic, says, "With the great problems staring us in the face of the future of the Chinese race and of the Russian Empire, in both of which we are deeply concerned, surely it is time for us to set our house in order and get rid of the accursed thing. If we do this in the fear of God it will be the surest safeguard should the day of evil come."

– The Ohinese Recorder for March says, " There is an idea prevalent among foreigners that China can make no advance because she is unwilling to become westernized. If these Asiatics would only array themselves in broadcloth or tweed, and throw aside their strauge tongue and ancient literature for our classic English; or if they could be induced to ape our customs, buy our general merchandise to the exclusion of their own, and submit at once and utterly to the demands of the Westorn diplomat-then we might look for progress. But the fact should be emphasized that China's conservatism has an importance at least in potentia; and what- ever of value in our civilization and whatever of truth in our religion comes at length into her possession will be held with invincible tenacity."

-North Africa mentions t.hat a Shereef not far from Cape Juby, West Africa, has sent for" books and information about the religion of Je~us, the Son of Mary." Mr. W. Summers was expecting to visit him.

-North Africa gives an account of the baptism of EI Hansalee, a Moslem" saint" of Morocco, which reminds one of Simon Magus. He had long vainly striven to reconcile two hostile villages. At laRt the reconciliation was achieved by 1 simple Christian believer. EI Hansal!'!', finding that his power came from his faith in the Messiah, was baptized, but scarcely disguises the fact that it is in the hope of gaining, like Simon Magus, a new degree of " power."

-A Moslem .woman in Morocco,becoming a Christian, besought her husband with an honest but exaggerated zeal to divorce her, which he did, , though very unwillingly. She since supports herself by sewing. A Chris- tian desired to marry her, but desisted from his suit on learning that Christ forbids marriage with a divorced woman. Her husband still wishes her to return, and it is a wonder that her instructors do not refer her to St. Paul's teachings. It seems, strange as it is, that in Mohammedan Morocco Moslems are free to change their religion.

-It seems that there are various sects in North Africa which are almost or quite purely Unitarian, paying little or no attention to any historical claims of Mohammed, hardly as much as our Unitarians of the left pay to the claims of Christ. They will probably be found the least hopeful objects of Christian missions.

-The Calwer Missionsblatt for April, 1891, mentions that all the churches nnder the sway of the King Kscholokol, brother and successor of Sekukuni, have seceded from the Berlin Missionary Society, to set up an independent Basuto Church. The movement is headed by Herr Winter, a nnivcrsity man and a son-in-law of the director of the Society.

-The Mission Record of the Church of Scotland asks, "Is it possible to find healthy sites in Central Africa? On the low belt of country near the c9ast, along the banks of the great water-ways, or on the shores of the inland lakes, such places are rare, if they can be found at all. But on the great central plateaux above the level pf two thousand feet there are large districts where Europeans can enjoy health as good as it is possible to secure within the tropics. Such districts are de!jtined to be the great saving centres of Africa. As examples of such regions one thinks of the Shire Hills, the Lomwe Hills, the Angoni country west of Nyassa, and the lofty table-land lying between lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika. From these centres, when once missionary societies see the reasonableness of such a method, the Gospel of Christ will be carried all round until mission meets mission, with a network of workers allover the continent. The low-lying malarious districts, where no European can live or work, must be won by the native African Church, born and nurtured on these hill regions of Africa, and sent out in its manhood to win the rest of the Dark Continent for Christ. "

-It is known, bllt seldom fnlly apprehended, that the great bulk of the· people of Africa so"uth of the equator, belonging as they do to the Bantu race, are not negroes, though they may not inappropriately be called negroids. A traveller, quoted in the Missionary Record of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, says: "The Bantu is a fine, tall, upright man, with delicately small hands and well-shaped feet, high, thin nose, beard and mustache. They are not black, but generally of a warm chocolate. Some of the men are perfect Greek statues as regards the splendid development and poise of figure. They have pleasing faces because of the perfect good humor that'enlivens their features." One tribe, to the south of Stanley Pool, are described as having not a stupid face among them. The noble heads of the.men make thenl appear as if they were all "members of Parliament." Like the negroes, they are born orators, but apparently on a higher range. ,. A sermon that I heard from one of them," says a missionary, " was as fine as ever I heard in Europe or America, nut only in point of delivery, but in its clearness of reasoning, and in its profound perception of spiritual truth."

-The Moravian Missionsblatt, speaking of the Cafl're tribe of the l'embus, remarks discriminatingly: " The heathen is, on the one hand, not the devilish abomination into which sometimes he is disfigurEd in all good faith, out of pure ignorance, by those who in Christendom, so to speak, beg from door to door for pity on him. No; he has also redeeming traits, clearly discernible traces, though sadly marred and discontinuous, of the original imprint of God's similitude. But, on the other hand, assuredly he is far from being that uncorrupted, harmless child of nature that dimly dreaming worshippers of man would make him out to be. No j his true portrait does not merely include individual shadows and unclean disfiguring spots, Lut the whole foundation of his moral being is awry, untrne, impure, and unholy, plainly attesting his indispensable need of the redemption in Christ, that only through the energy of grace and the inner transformation wrought thereby can he be restored to his true temporal and eternal destiny. "

-The Rev. E. C. Gordon, in the April Intelligencer, gives a dismal picture of the devastations wrought in Uganda by the wars of succession. " When I read in the papers, of Buganda being a garden, and its population 2,000,000, I see what Buganda once was, not what it is now. It is very difficult to judge of numbers j still I do not fancy more than 10,000 fighting men could be found in the whole land."

-Bishop Smythies, before returning to Africa, was presented to the Emperor William. The latter remarked significantly, "The Mohammedan religion is a very simple one, and takes great hold on those who profess it. Surely in the face of it there is great necessity for Christian missionaries to act unitedly."

-The French missionaries of Lessuto are devoting special attention, by large ~ssemblies and otherwise, to the spiritual unification of their work, being convinced "that to have in a heathen country a church strong, compact, zealous, and pure is the best means of presenting to unbelievers the Gospel, with its most attractive and most convincing fruits."

M. Vollet, of the Zambesi Mission, has attended these reunions, and takes back with him Pauluse, a native Basuto evangelist, and his wife, to labor among the Barotsis.

-M. Boegner, Director of the Paris Maison des .Missions, well sums· up the difficulties of Northwestern Africa, "These African churches give you the impression of vaHt caldrons in ebullition j everything there is in fermentation, in conflict j good, evil, the influences of race, of environ- ment, and, above all, of Christianity. We have to belicve, to hope that this last will carry the day and bring forth noble fruits in the moral life, as it already does in the domain of religious feeling. The former are not lacking, but are behindhand. This is the characteristic trait of these churcl~cs: a retardation of character compared with sentiment and the manifestations of this sentiment. " – -Blantyre has had stroke upon stroke in the deaths of Dr. Bowie, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, and the pioneer, the Rev. Robert Cleland. "But though the workman dies, the work goes on." A pastor and a physician in Scotland have already offered. The Free Church, which has already eleven missionaries on the banks of Lake Nyassa, sends out five mOle this spring. Adding the Moravian Mission and the Berlin Mission, about to be established here, Lake Nyassa will become an eminent centre of Christian effort in Africa, hesides the close connection of friendship hetween Blantyre and the Universities' Mission. As says the Journal des Missions, their numerousness is an added element of success. "Into these mUIder- OUB climatcs men should go in numbers, or remain away." _co As was to be foreseen," remarks M. Kruger, in the April J01J,rnal, " the great partition of AfriM in 1890 has given a new impulse to the zeal of the Christ.ian Church for the advancement of the kingdom of God in the Dark Continent. This fact attests anew that Christian missions do not hover in the ether of a faith detached and isolated from everything which agitates and interests mankind at large; they cling, by their natural fibres, to all the preoccupations of their time, to the character of the race, of the people, of the church which maintains them. But a supernatural principle, the Spirit of God, governs Christian missions, predominates over every other motive, and keeps in view, without suffering itself to be divested from it, the propagation of the Church of Jesus Christ."

-After thirty-six years of labor, the London missionaries have baptized a man and a woman, the first two converts of the terrible Matebeles, between the Zambesi and the Limpopo. Hitherto, whenever promising dispositions appeared in any way under the long tyranny of Mselekazi, the man disappeared. A second tyrant has sncceeded, but apparently somewhat less implacable.

-C. Busse, in the April Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrijt, says of Mackay, " Although he was not an ordained clergyman, his deeply rooted piety, his burning missionary zeal, his many-sided cultivation, his splendid adaptability, his inexhaustible energy, his blessed activity, and his childlike humility have given posterity the right to number him among the greatest missionaries-to set him by the side of his great. countryman, Livingstone."

-The Zeitschrijt just.ly designates the French mission on the Zambesi as " one of the most heroic of our day." It is, though now entirely diiltinct, an offshoot of the Lessuto (BaRuto) Mission. having been founded seven years ag-o "by the valiant COILLARD and his courageous wife." "The difficulties of this remote mission are enormous: a savage people, despotic princes, crnel manners, unbroken power of abject heathen superstition, frequent wars, a dangerous climate, a fearfully oppressive isolation -verily here is the patience and faith of the saints." Their firstling, Nguana Ngombe. gives them infinite comfort. The king's son, Litia, seems likely to be the second. Lewanika himself is thoroughly friendly, upholds the Sabbath and temperance, begins to be ashamed of plundering forays and of the cruelties of his old time, though he shows no signs of a renovated heart. Few missions, for their intrinsic interest, deserve more attention or sympathy of prayer."

-King Kharna, who has transferred his capital to the 20,000 strong town of Phalapye, at once proceeded to build a church for 3000 hearers, to which his subjects contributed about $13,000. This well-ordered Christian government, it is to be hoped, may survive the impact of white seekell! of land and gold. Khama is a convert of the London Missionary Society.

-The Basel Mission in Cameroon (West Africa) in 1890 lost four laborers by death, while the superintendent was obliged to return for awhile to Europe. Nevertheless, says the Zeitschrijt, a series of joyful expcrieneps hal:' in a measure given compensation, and awakens excellent hope for the future. The mission has grown both in influence and extent. A number of out-stations have been added to the four main stations, while " from almost all the towns of tue country men resort to us to learn about , God's matters.'" In many places there are formed societies of "men of God"-i.e., seekers for the truth. More than twenty native hclpers, a number being of marked capacity, assist the missionaries.

-The sad experiences which the Church Missionary Society has had with its mission on the Niger have led it to decide on supplying hereafter the principal stations with Englishmen, to whose oversight the colored clergy lire to be submittcd. The aged Bishop Crowthcr, remarks the Zeitschrift, seems thereby to become rather ornamental than effective. No charge lies against him, however, except too easy a discipline, and the 8US- pension of his 80n, Archdeacon Crowther, has been annulled by the Society. The Zeitschrift well says, "Go forward in the use of native helpers, but make haste slowly."

-The Allgemeine Missions·Zeitschrijt for April says, "In reatling the books of modern African travellers and contrasting them with Livingstone's journals, we cannot avoid a feeling of sadness on a double account: first, that they have not kept their hands frce from the shedding of hnman blood, and then, that in their reckoning, modesty does not appear to count for a virtue. "

-Tho colonial politicians of Germany seem to have concluded an alliance offensive and defensive with Roman Catholic missions, which lend themselves very easily to political schemings. Of this the hard-hearted and almost wantonly mnrderous Dr. Peters is a notorious example. lIe boasts of having persuaded Mwanga to ordain" that Mohammedanism should be absolutely forbidden, and made subject to the punishment of death 1"

-Stanley is said to be sufficiently open to blame for recklessness of human life; but Peters actually taunts him with cowardice, because he not unfrequently, in order to spare bloodshed, preferred circuits, and sometimes paid toll, etc. 1 Any way seems to be the object of contempt to Dr. Peters which is not cloven right through human bodies. Have the Germans reverted to the heathenism of thAir ancestors? But against all this cruelty the leading missionary magazine of Germany, with the missionary magazines generally, raises an unfailing protest.

The Ohurch Missionary lntelligencer for April remarks, " Although the name of the United States does not appear among the Powers whose , spheres of influence' and protectorates arc being so carefully marked out upon the map of Africa, the American' sphere of mis.~ionary influence' is neither small nor unimportant. On the north, in Egypt, the United Presbyterian Church has a vigorous mission, with over thirty·five missionaries from America, and over 3000 communicants in their churches. Their educational work is far advanced, and in the regions about Cairo and As~iout Christian enterprises are successfully prosecuted. Down the west coast, at Mendi, there is an American mission, while in the Republic of Liberia (whatever its shortcomings may be), the Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, and American Presbyterian churches are all hard at work. At Muhlenberg, on the St. Paul River, the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod has a prosperous work, while the Presbyterian Board is located at the Gaboon and Corisco. On the Congo the American Baptigts find a congenial field of labor, while on the Lower River and in Angola, Bishop Taylor is established. To the south of Angola lies the West Central Africa Mission of the American Board, which after only ten years of labor gives promise of great efficiency. The work of the same Board in Natal, where it has been established for fifty.five years, is well known. I~ has now sixteen churches wIth nearly 1200 members. To the north of Natal again the Board has its East Central African Mission, near. Inhambane, whence it is purposed to push forward into the interior. There are in all nine American missionary boards laboring' for the redemption of the Dark Continent, with 204 missionaries, 359 stations, and an annual expenditure exceeding $237,000."

-Th~ Burma Bible and Tract Society, in its Annual Report for 1890, says, "How every true heart is pained at the thought that the two great English speaking nations that are doing so much to bless heathen lands, are at the same time doing so much to curse them! Oh, that they would cease to do evil, and learn to do well! Then would they bless only, and not curRe ; and in blessing they wonU be blessed. But in cursing, they shall certainly be cursed. The God of the terrible Civil War in the United States, and of the Indian Mutiny, is unchangeable and cternal." ~Te notice that Sir Charles II. T. Crosthwaite, Chief Commissioner for Burma, is President of the Society.

-The Indian Witness statell that the Viceroy, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and Lady Lansdowne, have taken particular pains to manifest, by personal attendance and otherwise, their interest in Dr. Pentecost's labors.

-Bishop Thoburn, quoted by the Bombay Gum'dian, avows that there is one Hindu notion to which he is a good deal of a convert-namely, that there is religious merit in planting a tree. "In India it certainly ought to be everyone's aim to plant as many trees as possible, in every place where they can have a chance of taking root and growing, either to yield fruit or shade to generations yet unborn. Every missionary should see that his compound is well planted with trees; and there are hundreds upon hundreds of small plots of ground under the control of missionaries in villages and country places where valuable trees might easily be planted and cared for. "

-Here is a pleasing piece of information from Kaukab i Hind (Star of India), "During the past year the profit on opium for the Government of India fell much below the estimate, and for several years the cultivation of opium in Cawnpore District has been a losing business, and consequently the offices have been closed and the buildings will soon be sold."

-The Harvest Field, published by the Methodist Episcopal brethren of Madras, opens, in its March number, with a paper by the Rev. G. Pittendrigh, on the New Testament place of preaChing in the New Testament as a means of propagation of the Gospel. The author, before taking this up, lays strong and, as it appears to us, just emphasis on the entire flexibility of methods allowed by the New Testament, so that the object is the same, and of course that possible aberrations are continually checked by a Christian instinct kept fresh from the New Testament. He signifies that to worship the mere Jetter of "apostolic methods" is something that is thoroughly unapostolic. The Lord God of the prophets and apostles is still with His people. And lie who gave wisdom to Paul to work in the Jewish and Roman world will not withhold it from Paul's successors, who are called to work in the Indian world. New Testament method, are often inapplicable in new conditions; New Testament principles are always supreme.

Mr. Pittendrigh believes that educational and medical agencies in India are largely leavening the Indian mind, and preparing a class a good deal like the imperfec.:,t proselytes of the Empire, among whom, in the fulness of time, as among them the word of preaching will run like fire among dry grass.

-The Harvest Field says of this REVIEW, "The tone of the magazine is healthy. the articles readable, the information generally fresh, and it is unquestionably the best missionary magazine."

-Mr. Whitton, writing in the Helpmeet, the women's organ in connection with the Free Church of Scotland, says, "You will have heard of the bill at present before ·the Viceroy's Council to raise the age of consent ftom ten to twelve. I am sorry to see that the Calcutta native press are almost universally against this change. Calcutta is gaining an unenviable notoriety by its resistance to all reforms. I hope the government will stand firm, and that the bill will soon become law. The law will do good in many ways. Among others~ it WIll tend to keep girls longer at school, and so help on the great cause of female education."

-The Rev. William Stevenson, of the Free Church, says, "Every Hindu girl of respectable family must be married, not merely as soon as she reaches maturity, but long before it, while she is still a mere infant.

The higher the caste, the earlier does tyrannous custom demand the cele- bration of the ceremony. The origin of this extraordinary system is attributed to the old times of disorder and insecurity, when there was no safety even for little girls, save under the legal protection of a husband.

However the custom may bave first originated, it was established at a very early period in the history of Hinduism, on a more sacred foundation.

It was declared to be a divine ordinance and incorporated with the most hallowed rites of their religion. The dogma that underlies this iustitution, as well as the other outstanding institutions regarding women in India- their seclusion within the zenana and perpetual widowhood- is the thorough and irredeemable depravity of woman's nature. Hinduism first publishes the grossest libel on woman, and then treats her as if it were true. It de- clares her utterly incapable of freedom, and then enslaves her. Notbing is too bad to expect of women, and accordingly the only guarantee for the purity and respectability of the family is the maintenance of a system which marries them as infants, secludes them 'as wives, and practically entombs them as widows. And this system is guarded in every part of it by the most sacred sanctions of religion.

"Strange as it may appear, the women who suffer are themselves the main upholders of the corrupt idolatrous system that enslaves them. They hug their own chains, and bind even the men in the same bondage. But it is because they do not know any better. Their life is entirely centred in the home, and all the reverent instincts of their heart cling to the sacred traditions of their caste. To them, hid in their prison houses, Christianity is invested with all the terrors of the unknown. But let its pure and gra- cious light shine in upon them, let them see their own dark customs in the brightness of its beams, and their hearts will respond, their consciences will spring into activity, and the woman's influence, which is ever the subtlest, most penetrating, and, therefore, most powerful force for'the elevation of society, will erelong dissolve the ancient system of corruption and cruelty.

For this let us labor and pray." , -The Marchioness of Dufferin, whose husband has been Viceroy of India, says, as quoted in the Church of Scotland Mission Record, "In Oriental countries generally emancipation from the strict rules of the purdah, and the education of women, are apt to mean dissipation and French novels; but in India tbey seem really to lead to a bigher life. The educated Indian ladies I bave met retain all the remarkably feminine character of their race; they lose none of tbe modesty of their demeanor, and I have never seen a sign nor have I ever heard the faintest whisper of any levity of their conduct."

-The Mission Field says that a native Christian, who had been very unwilling to make the customary annual offerings, but had done »0, paid the next year three or four times as much as was looked for as bis tithe on plantain cultivation. "I have realized," said he, " the blessing of making God my partner."

-The late Bishop Sargent's venerable coadjutor in the fruitful field of Tinnevelly, the eminent Bishop Caldwell, wbo bas so long worked for Christ there, in connection with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, as Bishop Sargent in connection with the Churcb Missionary Society, has at last felt constrained by the burden of age to lay down his episcopal cbarge. Both these bishops have been, in form, coadjutors to the Bishop of Madras, but each has in fact had a distinct episcopate over the converts of his own society.

-The Ohurch Missionary Intelligencerfor April, 1891, has a profoundly interesting article by the Rev. G. Ensor, explaining more thoroughly than anything we had seen before the slow but irresistible advance of Brahmanism, and the gradual way in which, in a large part of India (especially in the Ganges valley), it has so interwoven itself with" the kindred points of heaven and home," tbat the influence of the medireval priesthood of the west, though supplying to Mr. Ensor various illustrations of startling force, appears in the comparison a light and shallow thing. Anyone that will read this article on the Sanctions of Sapinda will rather wonder that Chris- tianity has made so many converts in India than that it has made no more. That the fortress has not been found altogether impregnable seems to have been largely owing to the fact that the Dravidian South has never yielded to the full force of Brahmanic pretensions. And the Aryan current, in sweeping over the Punjab, had not yet developed its sacerdotal strength. But between the Five Rivers, the Eastern Sea, and the Vinethya Mountains . there was seen in full force that junction of the king and the priest, out· giving in fact the proud theories of Boniface VII!., and of which Sir Henry Sumner Maine says (as quoted by Mr. Ensor), "A more awful tyranny never existed than this which proceeded from the union of physical, intel- lectual, and spiritual ascendency." And though the teeth of the lion have been drawn by the island conquerors, yet the terror of a hundred genera- tions of subjection still weighs the people down.

It should appear that, by a canonical though neglected doctrines of Hin- duism, referred to in a government decision quoted in the Bombay Guardian, native Christians ought to be accounted equal to Brahmans. The Shastras, it seems, declare that the caste of the monarch, be it what it may, is always equal to the highest!

-The fluctuations and gradual advance of an Indian mission are in- terestingly illustrated in the table of average annual increase of communi- +, +, +, cants in the Ahmednagar Mission of A. B. C. F. M. during twelve quinquen- nial periods, beginning with 1831. It is as follows: 3 3 1'1 +, +, +, H t, 1'1 74 51 42 +, 92, l46, 149, 171 -r. .

1891]. INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

BDITED A!{D CONDUCTED BY BEV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.

The Internationa.l Missionary Union-Eighth Annual Meeting, [J. T. G.] It was a great meeting-that of the ble of covering with its spacious verano International Missionary Union at Clif- das a thousand persons. There must ton Springs, N. Y., from .June 10th to have been that number seated in the 17th. Many things which have inter- audience the evening it was dedicated by ested the cider members of the Union the President of the Missionary Union, took on more satisfactory and definite when the beautiful service which had'" form. The Union has from its begin- been arranged was presided over by ning been" on wheels." These were that widely known and everywhere loved taken off, probably never to be used servant of all who come near him, Rev. again. The Union has determined to L. Bodwell, chaplain of the Sanitarium. meet always at Clifton Springs, and al- We will not try to describe the taberwayson the second Wednesday of June. nacle itself. It is not like the taber- One object of this is, that persons may nacle of old, but no architect gave the know without notification, in making pattern, and yet it is perfectly adapted their alTangements for returning from for all the purposes for which it was de· their foreign fields, where and when they signed. A double ·roof secures ventilaare to meet with this grand body of their tion when the glass doors are closed on fellow-laborers from all quarters of the account of chilly weather, and the tranglobe, for a week's consultation, devo- soms further this object. All can be tion, and fellowship. It is well to say thrown open, and the freest circulation now to all missionaries abroad that they of air secured as needed. Members of need not wait for invitations to the the Union in every land will rejoice, and meeting. Service in foreign fields con- all missionaries will recognize with gladstitutes any person a member of the ness that there is here a great centre Union on signing the Constitution. where the entire mi,ssionary force is They should come without ceremony. afresh made to feel that they have a but not without notification to the Presi- home. dent or Secretary, unless that is really unavoidable. The number of missionaries in at- tendance this year was slightly in ad· There were advantages attached to the vance of any former year. Ninety·two .. movable feast," but there are greater missionaries who had rendered an aggrein the settled life of the Union, as things gate of perhaps twelve hundred years are possible that were not under the old of service in connection with the sevplan. But how has all become possi. eral societies were present. They came ble? Just this way. Dr. Henry Foster from fields stretching from Hudson's has loved the Union and built them a Bay to Buenos Ayres, and from the tabernacle and asked them to be his great wall of China to the Sandwich guests always. That seemed wonder- Islands; from the Bosphorus to Ispafully in the order of God's Providence. han, and from Africa on the Zambesi, and the union accepted the proposal the Gaboon, and the Kongo, and the with more gratitude than often gets form Cape of Good Hope. It was a polyglot in words. The tabernacle itself was crowd. speaking, singing, and writing formally tendered on the evening of its more languages than could perhaps be dedication, Jnne 9th, and the action of spoken by any philological society in the Union formally announced to the the)and. if not more dialects than any public with grateful phrase to Dr. Fos_ learned society ever used in assembly. ter at the closing session of the meeting. It represented very widely all depart- And what a beautiful edifice it is! capa· ments and branches of the General Church of the United States and Cana- others we have no room to write. da, and even took its members from Neither can we do more than mention the English Presbyterian, and the Free the excellent symposiums of the ladies' Church of Sootiand, in its noble repre- meetings, in which vast stores of insentative, Rev. Dr. Narain Sheshadri, formation were disclosed, and much of Bombay. 'l'hey only tarry. Three heroic work reported. We may furnish fourths of the number are expecting just one illustration of the work which to return to service in the foreign field, these and other missionary ladies have and to do yet more to hasten the con- done beyond their usual lines: version of the benighted peoples of the 1Imh. There were two new missionaries ,Mrs. Mix, of the Baptist mission in who had just been appointed by their Burma, took the manuscript of the Sh~n boards to enter upon foreign service. Bible, beginning with the New Testa- ment, and gave it a careful reading after The papers which were read were of it had been compared with Dr. Cusha high order. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin pre- ing's own copy, and was supposed to be sented two, one on "Proportion and perfect, and before it was sent to the Harmony in Missionary Work," and printer. She found many mistakes to one in connection with the able sym- correct, and frequently found places that. posium presented one day by Dr. Kel- she wished to change in expression. logg, of Toronto, Dr. Hamlin, and Mr. Dr. Cushing accepted and incorporated William E. Blaokstone, of Chicago, on many of her suggestions. the Jews. That was in every way a remarkable discussion. Sometimes she took charge of the printing for a short time and gave Dr. Among the papers was one by Dr. Cushing a chance to take a much-needed George W. Wood, giving some special change. When she had finished the features of the History of the American reading of the, New Testament and be. Board; one by Rev. J. Taylor Hamil- gan on the Old Testament, Dr. Cushing ton, Secretary of the Moravian Millsion- said he had no time to look at the arySociety, on the Leper Hospital at "copy" and she must compare it with Jerusalem; one from Professor Gil- his and make it ready for the printer. more, of Rangoon: on the New Tide of This she did with about half of the Old I=igration into Burma, and its Bear- Testament before leaving for Amerioa. ing on the Future of Missions in South- During her stay here she has underwestern Asia; one on the Present taken the reading of the stereotyped Movement among the Pariahs of South- proof.sheets of the Shan Bible in order ern India, in Relation to the Christiani. to make it as perfect as possible, and zation of the Country, by Rev. Dr. has read all of the New Testament and John McLaurin, for many years a mis- more than half of the Old Testament, sionary in India, now Secretary of the the reading of which she expects to Baptist Missionary Society of Ontario finish. and Quebec. This paper contained most fundamental theories of mission- The discussions on how to increase ary development, and awakened great the intelligent interest in missions in interest and discussion, receiving most the home church was opened by Dr. hearty endorsement. The Rev. J. M. Nevius, in reporting the Students'Vol- Allis, D.D., of Chili, furnished a good unteer Meeting at Cleveland, and speakpaper on Missions to tbe Iberian Peo. ing on the Movement in general. The pIes. Rev. Dr. Happer, of Canton, and consideration of this subject was broad- Rev. Dr. Shedd, of Persia, also sent ex- ened into a general conversation on cellent papers. ways of stirring up the churches, the young people as represented in Young Of the many able addresses by such Men's Christian Associations, Christian men as Drs. Nevius, Jessup, Chamber- Endeavor Societies, and similar organi. lain, Kellogg, Hamlin, Sheshadri, and zations. The platform meetings were of a high order, not one dull nor tame Kelsey, M.D., Japan; 1883, Rev. W. C. Longden, China; 1883, Mrs. W. C. Longspeech being made in all the week. den, China; 1847-54, Mrs. D. D. Lore, Argentina; 1879, Mrs. A. W. Marling, The following officers were elected for W. Africa; – – , Rev. J. McGuire, India; 1870, Rev. J. T. McMahon, the coming year: President, J. T. India; 1851-76, Mrs. L. W. Mellen, Natal; 1879, Mrs. B. ,T. Mix, Burma; Gracey, D.D., Rochester, N. Y.; Vice- 1873-83,Rev. James Mudge, D. D., India ; 1868, Miss Isabella A. Nassau, W. Africa; Presidents, Cyrus Hamlin, D.D., S. L. 1881, Rev. F. L. Neeld, India; 1881, Mrs. F. L. Neeld, India; 1853, J. L. Bald.win, D.D., M. H. Bixbee, D.D.; Nevius, D.D., N. China; 1853, Mrs. J. L. Nevins, N. China; 1876, Rev. A. A. Secretary, Rev. William H. Belden, Newhall, India; 1879, Miss Ella J. New- ton, China; 1882, Miss Mary W. Niles, Bristol, Conn.; Associate Secretary, Mrs. M.D., China; 1872-89, Rev. Albert Nor- Dr. C. C. Thayer; Treasurer, Rev. James ton, India; 1883-88, Miss A. E. Ottaway, Mudge, D.D., Clinton, Mass.; Librarian, Guatemala; 1880, Miss F. E. Palmer, C. C. Thayer, M.D., Clifton Springs, Burma; 1866-86, Rev. H. T. Perry, Tur- N. Y.; .Executive Committee, Rev. E. P. key; 1884, Miss Fidelia Phelps, S. Africa; Dunlap, Rev. J. A. Davis, D.D., Re,.. 1878, Miss Harriet P. Phillips, India; M. H. Houston, D.D., John McLaurin, 1882, F. D. Phinney, Burma; 1879, Rev. D.D., C. W. Cushing, D.D., Mrs. O. L. N. J. Plumb, China; 1878-80, Miss Mary George, Rev. Henry T. Perry. Priest, Japan; 1880, Rev. E. H. Rich- ards, Zambesi, Africa, and Upper Kon. A farewell meeting was had the last go ; 1878, Rev. W. H. Roberts, Burma; evening to bid God-speed to the large 1878, Mrs. W. H. Roberts, Burma; number of the misRionaries present who 1885, Miss Eva L. Rolman, Japan; expect to return to their fields before the 1884, R9v. W. B. 8cranton, M.D., next annual meeting. The Secretary, Korea ; 1884. Mrs. Mary F. Scranton, Rev. Mr. Belden, having been detained Korea; 1883, Susan A. Searles, Japan; by illness, the Rev. James Mudge, D.D., 1869, Rev. D. Z. Sheffield, N. China; served in his stead during the week with –, Rev. Narain Sheshadri, D.D., marked efficiency. India; 1886, Miss L. B. Smith, Japan; 1870, Miss Fannie J. Sparkes, India; The following missionaries were present: 1874-78, Mrs. S. C. Adams, Ja· • David Stevensoii., M.D., China; pan; 1874, Thomas Barclay, Formosa; 1874, Mids Mary E. Tulmage, China; 1886-87, Mrs. G. A. Bond, Singapore; 1874, Miss K. M. Talmage, China; 1864, Mrs. T. W. Burkholder, India; 1868-73, Rev. C. C. Thayer, Turkey; 1853-83, Mrs. Albert Bushnell, West 1868-73, Mrs. Mary F. Thayer, Turkey; Africa; 1862, Rev. G. W. Chamberlain, 1883, Mrs. M. T_ True, Japan; 1871, Rev. Brazil; 1862, Mrs. G. W. Chamberlain, L. M Vernon, D.D., Italy; 1867, Miss Brazil; 1879, Miss L. B. Chamberlain, Isabella Wat8on, Bllrma; 1872-90, Mrs. Turkey; 1884, Rev. Charles T. Cocking, Rev. J. E. Walker, China; 1882, Rev. Japan; 1884, Mrs. Oharles T. Cocking, G. L. Wharton, India; 1880, Rev. W. Japan; 1879, Miss A. M. Oolby, Japan; J. White, China; 1880, Mrs. W. J. 1878, Miss Edna S. Cole, Siam; 1882-86, White, China; 1849-89, Mrs. A. T. Mrs. S. Cross, Siam; 1878-79, C. W. Cush- Wilder, Natal; 1880-90, Rev. O. W. ing, D.D., Italy; 1881, F. W. Damon, Willits, China; 1838-86, Rev. G. W. Hawaiian Islands; 1884, Mrs. F. W. Wood. D.D.. Turkey, and Mrs. G. W. Damon, Hawaiian Islands; 1875, Rev. Wood; 1881-89, Miss M. P. Wright, E. P. Dunlap, Siam; 1882, Miss Anna Turkey; 1862-68, Rev. Egerton R. S. Geisinger, India; 1874, Mrs. O. L. Young, Hudson Bay, and Mrs. Egerton George, Burma; 1861-68, Rev. J. T. R. Young. Gracey, D.D., India; 1861-68, Mrs. J. T. Gracey, India; 1881, Rev. G. H. SUMMARY Oll' MISSIONAllIES PRESENT. Gutterson, India; 1874, Rev. J. G. Hall, Mexico; 1837-77, Rev. Cyrus By Fields: India, 16; China, 15; Hamlin, D.D., Turkey; 1883, Miss M. L. Hammond, Guatemala; 1866, Japan, 12; Turkey, 7; Persia, 1; :Rev. V. C. Hart, China; 1864, Rev. A. Africa, 7; Burma, 7 ; Siam, 5 ; Korea, Hartmann, Australia, and Delaware Ind- 3 ; South America, 3 ; Central America, ians ; 1864, Mrs. Mary Hartmann, Aus- 2; N. W. America, 2; Australia, 2; tralia and Delaware Indians; 1879-89, Miss Mary E. Hartwell, Siam; 1879, Miss Italy, 2 ; MeXiCO, 2 ; Syria, 2 ; Hawaiian Ada Haven, N. China; 1881, Rev. J. W. Islands, 2 ; Syria, 2 ; Mr.laysia, 1. To- Hawkes, Persia; 1846-76, Rev. S. R. tal missionaries, 91 ; newly appointed House, M.D., Siam; 1881, l'[iss oJ. H. Honston, Mexico; 1887-89, Miss Meta missionaries, 2 ; grand total, 98. Howard, M.D., Korea; 1862, Rev. Samuel Jessup, D.D.,Syria; 1862, Mrs. AnnieE. Jessup, Syria; 1864-76, Rev. S. H. Kellogg, D,D•• N. India; 1878, Miss Adaline Action had by the L M. U. on Public in that country, so vast in possessions Affairs. and so rich in promise.

TEE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT'S PAT- American Relations with Ohina.

RONAGE OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIO Viewing the Chinese as a civilized though heathen people inhabiting a ABROAD. country in climate, soil, and many geo. graphical peculiarities like our own, The International Missionary Union with a population six times greater than would express its regret and amazement ours, with a power for muscular effort at the act of our Government through and endurance inferior to no nation on the Secretary of State, by which the earth -our neighbors on our Pacific Government has been committed to the shore-we lament the unjust and cruel policy of undertaking to increase the and, to us, disgraceful treatment which sale of the products of our breweries they have received at our hands. by officially introducing and commanding them to the favorable notice of the We view it as being unwise as well people of Mexico and other adjacent as unjust to provoke hostility and recountries. taliation from the greatest empire of the East, now rapidly adding the ele- It can scarcely be conceivable that ments of power in Western civilization the intelligent officers of the Govern- to-her own mighty system. It will be ment are ignorant of the fact that such to the great injury of oUr commerce, and action puts a serious obstacle in the other nations will reap the advantages way of the work of missionaries who that naturally belong to us. are laboring in those countries, since there is no greater hindrance to the Our very greatly extended and rapprogress of Christian work than the idly increasing Missionary interests defree use of intoxicating drink. serve the attention of our Government as well as our commerce, and our Gov- We therefore, as a convention of ernment has no right to break them up, missionaries, most earnestly beg that to the grief of many millions of Chrisour Government will adopt such meas- tians of all denominations in the United ures as will fully counteract the influ- States. ence of this most unfortunate transaction. We therefore, the missionaries of the International (and Interdenominational) The Brussels Treaty. Missionary Union, in Annual Meeting assembled at Clifton Springs, N. Y., do This Union is not undmindful that earnestly req]1est all our Missionary Secgreat interest has been awakened by the retaries in the United States of America fact that the United States Senate did to petition the Government at Washingnot see fit to declare in favor of uniting ton to redress the wrongs inflicted upon with other powers in Europe in what the Chinese, and to establish and seek to is known as the Brussels Treaty, the foster the most friendly relations with ostensible aim of which is to secure our great neighbor. the abolition of slavery, the suppression of the rum traffic, and the indis- Appeal to the Ohnrches. criminate sale of fire-arms in Africa. The International Missionary Union, to While we do not assume to be in possession of all the facts which would en- the Ohurches which they representable us to judge accurately of all the political bearings of this subject, we sin- GREETING: cerely hope that some adjustment may be made which will secure the full moral We, members of the International effect of the Government's participation Missionary Union. on behalf of the sevin the suppression of these evils, which eral missionary fields from which we are such deadl'y foes to all real progress have come, and in the name of our sociations and Christian Endeavor Sobrethren now laboring in those fields, cietie8, and similar organizations, and and of our former associates who have we would urge all Christians to unite fallen at their posts j and, above ali, in with us in the prayer that these organithe name of our blessed Lord, who has zations may be still more abundantly commissioned the Church to disciple blessed and used of God for the adall nations, make this appeal to the vancement of His cause in the future. churches which we represent. Finally, with a full conviction and We have fallen upon a time of great realization of the utter uselessnesfl of all privileges and responsibilities. The human efforts and pecuniary gifts, prayer of the Church that God would without God's presence and aid, we open the world t'1 Christian effort im- would call upon God's people to unite plied a pledge and promise on the part in earnest prayer, that the Holy Spirit of the Church to perform her duties as may be poured out on all nations; the way might be opened. that the Lord of the harvest may choose and send forth from Christian lands, At the present time world-wide op- and from converts in unevangelized portunities, and the possession by the lands, many laborers into His harvest, Church of men and means adequate to and that Bis kingdom may come alld world·wide efforts, give to our Lord's His " will be done on ea.rth a.s it is in command to evangelize the nations an heaven." emphasis and urgency hitherto unparalleled. Ordinary consistency and sin- The Outlook. cerity as well as loyalty to Christ, gratitude for our distinguishing mercies, Rev. J. L. Phillips, M.D.. recently compassion for the many millions of appointed Secretary of the Sunday- God's lost children, a sense of personal School Union of India, said: .. Reachindebtedness to them, and the fear of ing Bombay November 30th, 1890, I increasing God's displeasure and the began a Sunday-school tour of India, withdrawal of His spirit from our home and during these five months have churches by neglect or delay in the dis- travelled more than 9000 miles. India charge of present duty, conspire to never presented so many open doors as awaken us to immediate action, and now, and we could find places for thousuch action as shall b'e in some good sands of Sunday-school teachers within degree commensurate with our obliga- a week if we had them. Missionaries tions. of all sects and nationalities are giving our Sunday-School Mission a very We therefore request and beseech hearty welcome. Auxiliary Sundayall pastors and teachers to seek by the school unions have now been organized prayerful study of God's Word, and a in Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Punjab, and familiar acquaintance with the condi- Burma, and before long we hope the tion and needs of heathen nations, to Northwest Provinces, Rajputana, Cenknow more of God's will, and our duty tral India, and Ceylon will be similarly with reference to the world's evangeli- organized. At an annual meeting of zation, and to teach those under their the India Sunday-School Union, held influence the relations to the whole here in Calcutta last December, we world which are necessarily implied in started a Sunday-school journal in Eng- Christian discipleship, and the privi- lish for all India, which is being very leges and duties growing out of those kindly received and will' prove a stron~ relations. bond of union between workers in dis- tant parts. We recognize with devout gratitude to God the work for foreign missions " On returning to my own dear India which has been accomplished by Wom- I find II. very hopeful feeling among IUl'S Missionary Societies, the Students' Movement, Young Men's Christian Asmissionaries generally. The Lord is slave trade of East Africa, though dreadworking wonderfully in this land, and ful, does no~ kill souls, and the nations we look for larger ingatherings. The will soon stop it (not by Cardinal Lavinext Decennial Missionary Conference gerie's society-I distrus~ him; I do not will be held at Bombay at the end of favor his method). In my speaking 1892, and plans are already being made thus (comparatively) lightly of slavery, for it." no one who is acquainted with my poli- tics will misjudge me. But the rum -Rev. Dr. H. N. Barnum wrote from trade kills soul and body and all the Harpoot, Turkey: "I have not the time nations are guilty, America among the to speak of the work here, except to rest, Germany about the worst. HollIay in a general way that it is encour- land, the last to lately assent to a high aging; that prejudices are overcome, custom duty on liquors in the Kongo, and doors are opening much faster than does not, I think, deserve much praise. we can enter them. The greatest source Now the Kongo nation have learned to of discouragement now is the failure of like rum, they will have it at any cost. the home churches to appreciate the The only safety for the nation of Africa emergencies of the foreign field. The is prohibition. I am not radical on the rallying cry of the Student Volunteers, temperance question. I am unable to • The evangelization of the world dur- stand with the per se brethren. Pracing the present generation,' is the true tically I am a total abstainer, under one. Were the whole Church of Christ Paul's • weak brother' decision. It is aroused with this as her motto, she one of the regrets to me in the pending would be irresistible. It seems to me transfer of our African stations situated that the first, the most pressing need on French soil (Gaboon and Ogove) to now, is that the home Church be awa- the Paris Evangelical Society, that our kened to such a sense of personal re- natives will see the lower standard our sponsibility as shall lead ChrisUans to French brethren hold on temperance enter heart and soul into the work of and Sabbath observance. I beg to say giving the Gospel to the unevangelized we are not deserting our native churches nations at the earliest possible moment. simply because we are wearied with ab- We have prayed for open doors; the surd French colonial regulations, but prayer has been answered. 'Ve have because French pIIStors, as Frenchmen, prayed for re.enforcements, and they will be better able to save our native are coming six thousand strong. But Christians from often cruel injustice; how can they preach, except they be our appeals have little effect. The losent? How can they be sent, if their cal governors are vexed with our Engcoming involves the dismissal of native lish language, and think that we love laborers? This will be the result with- England more than we do France." out an increase of funds. Tbe silver and the gold which are the Lord's is Pressing Needs. kept back by His servants; it does not find its way into His treasury." REV. J. H. SHEDD, D.D., OBOOMIAH, PERIlIA.

-Rev. R. H. Nassau, M.D., of West [Among the excellent communica- Africa, sending salutations, wrote: tions to the International Missionary ., Were I with you I could tel you what Union, at its meeting at Clifton Springs, I would talk about ad fatigandum, THE was the following from Dr. Shedd :] AFRICAN LIQUOR TRADE. African domestic slavery is a very mild thing; it " It seems to me, if permitted to SAY corresponds in its deprivation of liberty a word to the Union, my first plea would to unrequited service to our criminals be in behalf of the missionaries in the in prison labor; and even the export work and the supply. I cannot say as to other fields, but in Persia the percentage of mIssIonaries, especially of the need the patient continuance in well- unmarried ladies, who are compelled doing that can even wait for results in to give up the work in a short time such a field as ours! God has sent very after they come out, is very large. The eminent missionaries into Persia, and young,man or woman in America joins noble men and women are coming still, the ranks of missionary volunteers, and but it is a subject that the International it seems that the great question is set- Union DIay well consider again and tled. But facts show that the real cru- again, and emphasize the qualities needed cial period is the first three years on in missionaries, and how our Boards are the field. Many break down in health to get the right men and women, and how or yield to discouragement before they see that each one is in the right place. I have acquired the language or know the am sure you will .pray earnestly for all joys and rewards of the work. in the field. You can realize, as those who have not tried it do not, the strain e. We are very isolated here in Persia and trial, the temptation to despond- -one thousand miles inland from Oon- ency and irritability and dissatisfacstantinople-three or four weeks' travel tion, and the danger of losing faith and to the nearest railroad or seaport_ The courage, and of failure of health and climate is not tropical, but it iii malari- hope-how helpless unless sustainell ous and most of the year very dry, and by the great affection for Christ and by the altitude on the plateau of Persia the power of God through His blessed is four thousand or five thousand feet. Spirit. These hard fields of Islam Our mission station is just now in must have patient, it may be long lagreat need of two single ladies to work bor. They are strongholds, and cannot in our girls' school. Our college in- be captured by a crusade of ill-prepared dustrial departmant seeks in vain, from though zealous missionaries, but by the thousands of volunteers, for the only the fullest offering of ability and right man to act as superintendent. devotion united. Consecrated artisans like Mackay, of Uganda, seem to be scarce in America. " Another phase of the subject is the The words of our Lord are often our relation of young men educated in prayer, 'That the Lord of the harvest America, but natives of the East, to the will send forth laborers into His har- Boards and Missions. Our station has vest.' The need is great of God-sent a large constituency of young men who laborers, who are called as Paul and Bar- have gone or are anxious to go to nabas were, and who shall be called by America. Some twenty of them are the Church, after full trial, beloved now in America, and hoping to come men who have hazarded their lives for back in some capacity to their native the name of our Lord .Tesus Ohrist- land. I send a paper prepared· by our I hazarded,' have given up, placed their station on the subject, which if you lives in a sense out of their own power, have time is well worth considering in fully surrendered all to Christ. Equally its bearing on all fields. important are other New Testament qualities of the true ambassador to the "My second plea to the brethren of unevangelized, such as Jives compleled the Union would be, I think, in behalf in Christ (Col. ii. 10), lives' fully dis- of the native church in our field. This ciplined, or self-control, self.mastery, was presented fully two years agothe temperance of the New Testament, what has been done for the Nestorian and oontentment or self·contained power people and the reformation going forto meet varied difficulties and emer- ward among them. The young misgencies and not become helpless as the sionary is sent out by the home dangers and trials increase, but such as churches. He considers himself as ca.n win their own way and help others their ambassador, and goes back after a to do the same. How much, too, we time to rehearse all that God has done with him, and how he has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. But as held last Sunday, and it was a memoratime goes on and he becomes an old ble day-the communion Sabbath in missionary the relations are changed. more than twenty of our churches, and He is identified with the peopJe and nearly one hundred and fifty new mem-. church of his field, and is one in his bers received to full fellowship. I can interests with his brethren and sisters well recall the time when all the conand sons and daughters in the faith. verts came together in a single com- Thus in my own case. My church reo pany, but now the bands of believers lations are all here. The Iittle com· are two hundred miles to the west of U8 pany of communicants of thirty.two and still farther east. The outlook for years ago, when I entered on this work, the future is hopeful of rapid growth, have increased tenfold. Our evangeli· if we fail not in well.doing. cal Knooshya or synod (which uses the Aramaic or Syriac language, spoken by " The question of steady supplies to Christ and the apostles) now numbers meet the expansion of this work in co- 42 presbyters, 26 preaching deacons, 19 operation with the native church is allicentiates on trial, 90 elders in the ways with us. For example, in church churches, 91 deaconesses in the building there are twenty places in churches, and about 2000 other memo need, and for this year our two thirds bers, a total of over 2250 in full com· of the funds should be at least $1000 ; munion. This is a little company, but but the board can only say, • Alas! this it is big in its relations to the broad work must wait.' We have at our station field of millions of souls about us that the college and female seminary, with need a Saviour. Last fall I was chosen a united attendance of over 300 in the the moderator or president of the graded departments; 9 are in theology, Knooshya for three years. This means 6 i:a medicine, 50 in the college course, more than simply to preside at the 50 more in the seminary course, etc., meetings. It is an executive office to down to the lowest preparatory. Gardensee that the ecclesiastical affairs move ing, carpentering, sewing, housekeepon smoothly, and that the work of the ing, etc., are going on beside the medi- Church in its boards and missions and cal work. The press, with its monthly pastorates is carried out. At first it paper, school books, and Christian literseemed too great a responsibility to ature needs about $1000 a year to help add to my already full duties, but the it do its work; our church and evangegreat need and possibility of helping listic work some $4000 ; our educational our Church in flO many ways led me to work, $2000 for college ani seminary, accept. Now the words of the apostle, and $1200 for over a hundred other • The Ilare of all the churches,' have an schools; as much more for the hospital, emphatic ~eaning, and lead me to ask that has an aggregate of several thouyour special supplications for our native sand out-door patients and several hunministry and for the whole household dred indoor patients in the year. The of faith. Our Church has many ob- missionaries to keep all this work and stacles in its way, some within Rnd the woman's work over the field besides Bome without, in these lands of intoler- in motion, are now but four families and Illce and anti·Christian influence. The four single ladies. Outside of mission winter and spring just passed have salaries the native church supplies brought some signal blessings. System- about one quarter of the expense, and atic labors, in which missionaries and our mission three.quarters. When the native brethren worked side by side, word of retrenchment comes, • Cut have gone forward in many congrega- down 20 per cent or even 10 per cent,' tions, and always with more or less of we have a serious time, ani! pray more the power of the Holy Spirit. The earnestly that God would put it into Feast of the Resurrection (0. S.) was the hearts of His people to give us just enough steady supply to help on our work in co·operation with the native A NeN Churoh Edifioe at Constantinople. church, without these annual embarrassments and discouragements to us and Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, now mOle than to them as well. But the work goes on fourscore years of age, does not " die notwithstanding, and I ask again your at the top." He is one of the most prayers for our beloved native church vigorous thinkers of the age. But we and people. supposed his well-earned retirement was not to be disturbed; but he is earnestly " r meant to add a third plea for our at work trying to raise funds for a new church at Perea, Constantinople. He needy field of Persia. and Kurdistan. says: In its Christian population in many places it is ripe for the harvest. In " The building is designed for a place the tenfold larger field of Moslem and of worship, and for a church home for anti·Christian sects our native brethren the first Armenian or native Protestant say the spots of harvest are appearing. Church ever formed in the Turkish Em- In places the way is open. In places pire (1846), and for other uses which the way is strongly barred against Chris- will be mentioned. tian influence. One most interesting feature in our work the past year is the .. The history of the many efforts and spirit of a number of young men who failures for a church building cannot be are volunteer workers. Without asking here given, but the set time seems now any help they go from place to place to have come, after forty'. five years' wanpreaching Christ, both to Christians and dering in the wilderness, to cross over Moslems. They find the hearing ear, into the promised land. and are full of faith in the power of the truth and the working of the Spirit. I "This church building will be a hope, if spared till next year, to report monumental church in history. It will more fully of this part of our tield and commemorate the signal and singular work." triumph of God's providence over the well-planned measures of the Czar of -Rev. G. S. Wilder, of South Africa, Russia, to efface the Pl"otestant movewrote to the missionaries at Clifton ment from the empire, and at the close Springs: "I hope some member of the of 1845, the Emperor Nicholas, having Conference will think to submit, and obtained the most exact information of the Conference judge wise to pass, a the progress of the work and of the fail. resolution urging upon our next Con- ure of previous persecutions, advised gress the advisability of its reconsidering the Catholicos ofEtchmiadzin, the titular its late hasty action, whereby it refused head of the Armenian Church, to put to unite with the other powers in the forth his entire ecclesiastical power to convention to suppress the slave trade, efface this disturbing element forever to regulate the sale of fire-arms, and from the empire. the supply of liquor in Africa. Before the last Congress adjourned an honor- " Acting through the Armenian patriable member giwe motion to reconsider. arch and primates at Constantinople, However, it is not at all certain that sustained by the secret influence of the Congress will be ready to reconsider its Russian embassy, the ' Great Anathe. action. It seems to me that all mis- ma' was thundered forth, which de. sionary and religious conventions should prived every evangelical of not only his pass resolutions in strong terms on this spiritual but civil rights. They were subject, and if possible bring our Can. thrust out like Turkish dogs into the gressmen into the light before they streets. Sir Stratford Canning (after.. meet in December next." ward Lord Stratford de Redcliffe) im. mediately took up their case with that firmness, wisdom, prophetic insight, and unconquerable will which haVE) made his name immortal. Ho com· pelled the Sultan, despite all the dip. lomacy of .Russia, Austria, and France, pUblications, but that for the last twenty to organize Protestantism as one of the years her sight had not permitted her legalized religions of the empire. The to do this kind of work."-J. T. G. story is magnificent, but cannot here be narrated. The great emperor was foiled, -Mrs. Gracey. who prepared the artiand most singularly defeated. cle on the Women's Missionary SOCieties, has received the following from Mrs. " Under the new and surprising char- L. R. Keister, editor of the Woman'8 ter of freedom the first native Evan- Evangel, the organ of the Woman's Misgelical Church was formed July 1st, sionary Association of the United 1846. Instead of annihilation there was Brethren: life, there was joy, freedom, wonder, thanksgiving, triumph. What had God " In the May number of THE MISwrought! SIONARY REVIEW you have us reported as collecting during the year $4567. The " From this beginning more than 150 correct figures, as given in the June churches have been formed in the em· Evangel, are $14,567, a difference of pire-1I5 under the American Board- $10,000, probably caused by the accibut in this work the American and Pres- dental dropping of one figure by the byterian Boards were one; and yet this compositor. " first, this mother of all the churches, has no home of her own to this day, and This is the true explanation; but the no visible proof of her existence and his- result is a very great depreciation of the tory. That it has held together for forty- noble work of these good women. Let five years in a nomadic state shows a all persons who make up tables, or otherlife of inextinguishable vitality. wise study the figures, take note of this correction. It seems as if the Church .. It will cheer the whole Protestant on earth was like the Church in heaven, body throughout. It will prove to all in one respect at least, it is a company the world at that central point that the that no man can number, at least not Protestant Church has a permanent and exactIy.-J. T. G. solid existence, which to this day many affect to doubt because its first organ- -It really seems amusing to mark ized body has no sacred temple. the sensitiveness of the English over the wounding of the sensibilities of Moham. " It will be a place of worship for as medans in India by the introduction of many languages as can find a suitable Mahomet into a play in Great Britain.- time on the Sabbath-the Armenian, J. T. G. Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, English. It is a polyglot capital, and religion takes in all the languages.

.. The native church in its poverty has done nobly in pledging $11,000. "- J. T. G.

-Bishop Thoburn, who has recently -On the 17th of February last the been in Rangoon, Burma, says: largest missionary party ever landed in China arrived at Shanghai from San ,. I enjoyed the delightful privilege a Francisco. It was composed of thirtyfew days ago of calling upou Mrs. Ben- five men and women, who were to be nett, of the Baptist Mission, now in her followed the next week by ten or fifteen eighty-third year and in the Hixty-first more, the whole being a party of misyear of her residence in India. She sionaries sent from the United States seemed to be in excellent health, cheer- by the Scandinavian churches of this ful and hopeful. She remarked that for country to labor in Hudson Taylor's twenty years she had worked every day China Inland Mission. correcting proof of Karel! or Burmese

EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS

1II.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.

The success of the MISSIONAlIY REVIEW on the mission field, or preparing for it, seems now to be assured. For the past who are unable to pay for the REVIEW.

three years the cost of production has We take pleasure in a public and for- been scarcely covered by the subscrip- mal acknowledgment of our indebted- tion list, notwithstanding the fact that ness to many subscribers who ha'l"e, of at least one of the editors, and he the their own accord, undertaken to induce one who furnished or provided nearly others to subscribe, and some of whom all of the literary matter for its pages, have sent us as' many as a score of did his work almost gratuitously, for the names. Acknowledgments are likewise sake of securing the permanent estab- due to others who have encouraged our lishment of a much-needed review of efforts by helpful, stimulating, and sug- missions that should be independent in gestive words, sometimes of approbation utterance, undenominational in char- and sometimes of advice and kindly acter, world-wide in scope, and cosmo- criticism. We have scarcely ever re- politan in sympathy. ceived a letter of causeless complaint or After more than three years Bnd a half unjust and harsh censure; and when since the REVIEW took its present form, one such has come to our table it has the income of this REVIEW begins to as- been buried under a pile offraternal and sure the publishers that the large amount appreciative commendations.

of money embarked in this enterprise is Just now we have been particularly likely to be returned through the increas- gladdened by receiving the sum of ing number of patrons who give these $207.80 in ope gift, to be applied to fur- pages a welcome to their homes and nishing the student volunteers and sim- hearts. To establish a first-class month- ilar intending missionaries with copies ly magazine of misRions ; to secure con- of the REVIEW. This is the largest sin- tributors to its pages of the highest gle contribution ever received by us for ability, accuracy, and authority from all this purpose. It has been our prayer quarters of the globe; to get an eqitorial that we might be able to put a copy into staff representing the great leading de- the hands of every student preparing for nominations, and a large corps of edi- the mission field at home and abroad.

torial correspondents scattered through We have from the first offered to send a all lands ; to command the support and copy for one year to some such person approval of the most intelligent and now preparing for the work, for every consecrated friends of missions; and dollar sent to us, paying from our own withal to undertake to compensate, even pockets the lacking sum to cover cost on an economical basis, those who write of production. But the aggregate 8um articles for its columns, was no small received to be applied to this object has venture, as we can attest, and it is with been comparatively small and inade- no little gratitude to God and the friends quate. The" friend" above referred to of missions that we now find the scale desired to go to the foreign field, but be- turning favorably toward self-support. ing providentially constrained to "abide Our readers have always outnumbered, by the stuff" instead of going into the four to one, our list of subscribers. Often battle, he sends this generous donation.

times one copy has found interested He will thus be the mesns of supplying perusal on the part of an entire family, the REVIEW to 208 persons not now re- or even larger circle of students in col- ceiving it. This fund we should like to leges or seminaries. With no little joy see increased to at least $1000 a year, as the editor-in-chief found one of the most we could well invest it in furnishing free busy and wealthy men of Chicago read- copies to students whose limited means ing aloud from its pages to his whole hinder them from paying even their cost.

household on a Sabbath afternoon; and H may not be amiss to add that ar- he informed me that he found no better rangements have now been made to have reading for such times, and that his a regular resume in these pages of the whole family regarded it as a privilege work of the foreign missionary societies to hear him read the REVIEW aloud. One of Great Britain. We hope soon to se- man in Montrose, Scotland, in his zeal cure equally satisfactory reports of the for the wide perusal of these pages, doings of all continental societies.

sends his copy every month to fifteen There is no design to be partial to any other persons, who otherwise would not missionary organization, field, or work, see them. Beside this fact of the com- or to treat otherwise than fairly every paratively limited Jist of subscribers, we brallch of the Christian Church. But have been at a disadvantage, pecuniarily, to present each month within the thirty in furnishing copies free of charge. or less pages assigned to the Department ot than cost, to the volunteers and others Missionary Intelligence a proper account of the work of some three huudred mis. ously blenderl, which the Alliance forms !lioniry organizations, though only in as a sign of peace, the brilliant French outline, requires unusualfacilitiesfor ac· colors should not be lacking. The cess to theirreports, and uncommon abil. presence of a goodly number of breth· ity for classification and condensation. ren from France and Switzerland was desired, and your attendance is a good Much of the missionary" news" in. omen for our meeting. evitably gets stale before it comes before the readers' eves. The weekly religious " Honored and dear Brethren of Hoi. press, not to say the daily newspaper, land, which was also, and in fact pre. easily anticipates us, as we appear but eminently, a refuge of the Reformation, once a month, and it requires at least with whom could we group you? In ten days after the matter is in the print. everything you are yourselves, only er's hands to set up, correct, electrotype, yourselves. Therefore we, specially do tbe press work and binding and salute you. The absolute tenacity of mailing. But with God's help and our the ancient faith is still seen in your readers' indulgent sympathy, we shall Protestantism, while at the same time aim to make this REVIEW more and more we behold the extreme daring of modern the indispensable inspiration to all in. thought. You bring to the Alliance the telligent and aggressive missionary work benefit of two extremes, namely conat home and abroad. stancy of faith and freedom of thought, both so dear to us all, and so needful This number being especially devoted for the times. to papal Europe, we pu· here for per. manent record the admirable address of "Honored and dear Breth.ren of th.e the President of the Florentine Com. mittee on the reception of the Evan. German tongue, one of the richest of langelical Alliance at the Ninth Universal guages, in which the Gospel resounds Conf(;renoe in Florence in April last: with such force, and yet with such sweet· ness, in consequence of the Reformation ., Honored and dear Brethren: It is an of your Luther, who by the power of his event, a benediction, a festa for the speech was a true king without a crown, Evangelical of Italy, tbis solemn reunion you form a vast group comprehending of distinguished co-religionists from in language and doctrine brethren of every land, froIil Greece, Turkey, Egypt, various countries to the South, to the India, Australia, Austria, Germany, Rus. North and to the West of Germany. sia, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, Britain, North America and "Your thought is as rich and com· Canada. plex as your language, and your immense periods. In your books and your Uni. .. 01 611'0 T~~ ITaAia~ a<J1rlii;ovTal VflU.~ : versities we all drink at the fountain of Those of Italy Salute you, and heartily bid your profound knowledge. you all welcome. "Religic.n among you blossoms and "Languages distinguish us, but they abounds not less in erudite theology do not divide us ; rather they unite us, than in poetry and music, which pro. forming special groups. Permit us to ceed from the heart and rise sublime. place together the delegates of countries where the same language is spoken, and " Your good part, which shall not be to address to each group a few words: taken from you, consists in heart, in sentiment, im GemiUhe, and it is this "Honored and dear Brethren of the that brings a blessing and is your most French tongue, in you we salute, 011 the precious gift to our Alliance. one hand. the descendants of the heroes of the Reformation, who with unheard. •• Honored and dear Brethren of the Enrl· of constancy have fought and suffered lish language, you COIlle from all parts for the cause of "the Gospel; and, on of the world; your group comprises the the other hand, the sons of generous Globe, now made small by your active Switzerland, refuge of the persecuted enterprise. You cover the earth with and bulwark of liberty, who received Bibles, translated and printed in all with equal affection the emigrants of languages, and sow the seed of the King. France and of Italy. dom of God among all nations.

"The Reformation did not become " You have mllltiplied denominations. national in France, but its effect has pushed individualism to extremes, and been universaL It founded the rights of man with respect to his fellow·man and shown a divided Protestantism; yet, on to the State on the Sovereignty of God. the othel' hand, you seek after anrl mani· fest unity through the Evangelical Alli. .. That principle, still worthily repre. ance, of which you al'e the strenuous sented by you, is essential to Protestant. and constant promoters. Unity through ism, and necessary to the Alliance. In liberty, this is God's way, and it is also the rainbow of variollii tints harmoni. the way of the Alliance, of which you are the advance-guard.

" And those of us who are but small minorities in the midst of catholics, both strive to attain. But these principles Roman and Greek. and likewise in the of Evangelical Protestantism, and these midst of Turks and Heathen, brethren only are universal, truly catholic, comof Italy and Spain, of Belgium, of mon to Christianity, which holds the Greece, of Turkey, and of other coun- Lord Jesus Christ as the only MaBter. tries, we are all born in the arms of the Mediator and Saviour; and these ends Alliance; we too are welcomed here, so are all included in the universal applimuch so that on this occasion we the cation of that supreme precept of the last have become the first. Law and the Prophets, which suffices to establish and maintain the best rela· " Honored and dear Brethren, we have tions between man and man, between not yet in Florence a temple large family and family, between chureh and enough to enable us to receive you in a church, between nation and nation: consecrated place. Not unfrequently a , Whatsoever ye would that men should temple is transformed into a theatre; do unto you, do you even so unto them. for a few days let us prove that a thea- for this is the Law and the Prophets.' tre may become a temple. We begin by reading from God's Word, Matt. xvii. 1-5. "' Protestantism, founded upon tho Holy Scriptures, rule of faith and life, " Our earnest desire and prayer, be- has various forms, among which each loved brethren, is that by the presence one may find freedom and a suitable of the Lord, by the Spirit of grace by sphere of action, and it has no need to the joy of fraternal communion, you be transformed or reformed; it needs may feel that it is indeed good to be only to be transfigured, so that the glory here, that you wonld even pitch yonr of Christ may shine through all these tents and abide with us, that no one various forms in justice, truth and holiwill regret having come. ness. Thus unity is manifested in diver- sity. Thus the ideal is realized, and "' Is there less of blessing here than the Kingdom of Heal'iln is advanced. upon the Mount, whence the disciples were loath to descend? Nay, there is " May these reunions strengthen our cven more and better. Lifted up on ties, leave among r's blessed traces, and high infinitely above all, behold the Mas- give fresh power to the Gospel everyter, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His pres- where, among all the churches, and in ent glory, His eternal glory, of which that which shone forth on the Monnt all lands. was but a symbol, a momentary sign. "Is it really in Itily, in Florence, only "On the right, and on the left, be- a few steps from Savonarola's wool1-pile hold Moses and Elijah, the Law and the and the Bargello, that we are assembled Prophets, which testify of Him, and re- for this work of liberty and faith? Is it mind us of the Golden Rule, to do unto really in Florence, where the Madiai for others as we would that they should do the sake of the Gospel, in August of the unto us. Below, the disciples looking year 1851. were arrested, and in June of up humble, attentive, ecstatic, repre- 1852 condemned for years to the galleys; sent the attitude that becomes us in the where an honored deputation of the presence of our Lord Ilnd His HolyWord. Evangelical Alliance came to implore from the Grand Duke their liberation, " The souls of the three disciples ex- and could not obtain an official henring ; ulted at the sight of the glorious specta- is it on this very spot that we open this cle. Here we are, hundreds of disci- free Conference of Evangelicals of all ples, representatives of thousands Ilnd nations? Scarcely can we believe our millions, who, from all parts of the eyes. Never did Italy in the times of World, look up with us to Jesus Christ. her republics, never did this classic Joyful day! Glorious spectacle! Should land, never did Florence, tbe most libnot our souls rejoice? eral and the most cultured city of Italy, ever enjoy religious liberty, the highest "In the Transfiguration beheld by and the holiest form of liberty, until tho the first disciples, we see the ideal, into entire nation rallied around the house which the sad reality ought to be trans- of Savoy, which with firm hand held formed, into which it has already in part been transformed; the ideal which is the sceptre of i ustice. gradually being realized by the fulfilment of the V'w and the Prophets, by " Hence we could not inaugurate the the Gospel of Christ, who with righteous- present Congress, which to the eyes of ness 8S white as the light clothes every all is a great event in the cause of libsoul that calls upon Him. erty, and to our e:res greater still for the " The Evangelical Alliance in its sol- Gospel, without heartily exclaiming: emn assemblies represents that ideal, , B:GESSINGS FOREVER REST UPON and by its labors seeks its realization. THE HOUSE OF SAVOY AS IT NOW " The Alliance has principles which it Jll~st maintain, and !)Jlds whieh it mllst REIGNS AT ROME !' "l'AOLQ GE}Cr.roN4T, P.D."

THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS

IV.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

Italy, France, Spain-Papal Eurape.

[EDITOBllL.-A. T. P.] -Papal Europe embraces about 150,- independence, declaring to all offers of 000,000 of Roman Catholics, who con- outside help, "L' ltalia fard da se," in stitute, in all Germany. over 52 per cent plain worda, "Italy is able to take care of the population; in Bavaria, 71 per of herself."

cent; in Austria, 76; in Ireland, 82; The year 1848 was a year of earth- in France, 96; in Belgium, over 99; quake in Europe, but it broke the bonds and in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, twenty of Italy. Liberty awoke, and Sardinia years ago, almost the entire body of became the asylum of such heroes as people. While geographically Protes- Gioberti, Tommaseo, Manin, and even tantism is dominant in the north and the Vaudois martyr saints were preach- northwest, and the Greek Church in the ing at Turin. The Act of Emancipation east and southeast, Romanism holds came in 1848. Ten years later and sway in the south and southwest. It is more thrones fell, and 6,000,000 more also to be noted that the principal re- Italians found the joy of freedom; cen- ligious faiths thus correspond not only tral Italy began to rise into the at- with certain geographical limits, but mosphere of liberty. In the town of with certain race features. While the Aoste, at the descent from Great St. Ber- German races are mostly Protestant nard, a memorial of persecution be- and the Sla~ic mostly Greek, the Latin came a monument of emancipation.

are mostly Roman Catholic. When Calvin crossed the Alps to bear Our space forbids that we should do the cross into the land of the crucifix, more than throw out a few outline facts he set up his standard in the Cite and hints, especially as to the condition D'Aoste, and for a time lived there.

of Italy and France. But afterward he fled for his life, and 'Ihe history of Italy and France for his flight was kept in remembrance by the past seventy-five years has been full the enemies of the archheretic, who set of interest. Victor Emanuel I., by the up a column opposite his hired house.

treaty oj Vien-1a in 1815, was restored When the Waldensians gathered the to his kingdom of Sardinia, and six converts into a house of prayer, they years later was succeeded by that stupid observed-what they had not before per- monarch, Charles Felix. Then the very ceived-that directly opposite to the word" liberty" was proscribed in Italy, memorial column that told of the and Alfieri's tragedies could not appear Romish persecutions of three hundred on the stage, lest that Italian Shake- years before, they had set up the cross speare should kindle a new fire of love of Christ, and were preaching the apos- for freedom. It was a double despot- tolic gospel! From that year (1858) ism of kingcraft and priestcraft. A Italy's progress has been upward. Vic- book was a rarity; a Bible or testament tor Emanuel recognizeq the rights of was seized even from a traveller's conscience, and defended them against satchel, and the Inde:c Expurgatoriu8 it- interference by magistrates or ecclesias- self was forbidden, lest people should tics. Baron Ricasoli supported religious desire books because forbidden. equality. Count Cavour, whose public Charles Albert succeeded to the life reached from his eighteenth year to throne, and in 1847 left to his country his death at fifty-one, as soldier, jour- the statute or constitution, to which his nalist, deputy, minister of agriculture son, Victor Emanuel II., faithfully ad- and commerce, of marine, of finance, hered. In the revolution of 1848 Charles as premier, directed as well as originat- Albert became the champion of Italian ed the Sardinian policy, improvedfinan· cial conditions, introduced free trade, being enlightened. The day has dawned consolidated constitutionalism, weak- on fair Italy.

ened clericalism, and achieved eminence The Waldensian Synod multiply their in Italian history as .. the pure-hearted, missions, evangelists, and colporteurs, broad-minded, sagacious leader in the and could they have the money they field of diplomacy and statesmanship need, might plant one hundred centres for the reviving and reunited Italy." of gospel work where they now have As Dr. Richard Burgess finely said,* five. The Israel of the Alps desire to .. The polluted streams of an idolatrous take possession of all Italy, from tho religion had, like burning lava, pro- Alps to the sea.

duced moral devastation in Italy among The changes taking place before OUl"

twenty generations." eyes we do not appreciate, The travel- Some hope for Italy came with the ler in Italy in 1850 passed through the revolutions of 1848-58. Liberty of con- dominions of nine enthroned rulers be_ science, worship, speech, was pro- tween the mountains and the southern claimed from the Alps to the Straits of cape. Now the Pope whines because Messina when Italy became united and he is " imprisoned in the Vatican," and free. But the spirit of Romanism and Humbert rules Italy. Temporal domin- Jesuitism is not dead. Pope Gregory ion is gone and gone forever, notwith- XVI. and Pius IX. after him pro- standing frantic efforts to recover it; nounced liberty of conscience a dream, and if th9 common school and an open a delirium, and liberty of speech and Bible continue, the Pope will lose hi!!

press the mother of all heresies. Never- spiritual sceptre too, or radical reforma.

theless, the triumphs of freedom move tions must take place in the papal on. At Perugia, at Turin, at Naples, at church.

Florence, at Rome itself, have been Meanwhile we call attention onCQ printed attacks upon the Church of more to the fact that since Luther Rome, her priests, her saint worship, nailed up his theses, the balance at masses for the dead, papal bulls, etc., power has been transferred from papal as bold as the utterances of Gioberti or to Protestant Europe by sheer infertility- Tommaseo. To-day, where forty years of papal communities in offspring.

ago no Protestant worship would be The revelations as to France's decline.

allowed, there are thirty pht.ces within in population, which threatens soon to sight of St. Peter's dome, where Prot- take the appalling form of there being; estants worship and preach unhindered; more deaths than births, are made still.

and Siguor Arrighi predicts that before more startling when a comparison is; long the Evangelical Alliance, that met made of France's relative position in in May last at Florence, may yet short- the past. A century ago France had a lyassemble in St. Peter's, and Bend its population of 26,000,000; Russia had delegatus to lodge in the Vatican. only 25,000.000; Austria, 17,000,000; A few years ago the Bible was hunted Prussia, 15,000,000 ; and England 12,.

by spies from the Alps to the GuU of 000,000. To-day Russia possesses 90,- Tarentum; now it is freely bought and 000,000 inhabitants; Germany, 46,000,.

read, and was printed by sections in a 000; Austria. 38,000,000; and France.

daily paper. Signor Capellini's Sol- 36,000,000. The birth-rate is 6.7 pel'

diers' Church sends out hundreds of 1000 in Italy, 10 in Germany, 12.9 m converted cadets every year into the Russia, and 13.7 in England, and it does homes of Italy after the military service not exceed 1.19 in France.

is fulfilled. An ignorunt people is being Austria has been shorn of much of educated – a superstitious people is her strength, and she no longer COD- trois or leads the great German Empire.

Poland haR disappeared from the roll of .. Exeter Hall Lectures, 1865. nations. England, then so feeble, has spread over 1Il1 lands. Prussia has be- ligions orders-an army of at least come a giant, and Russia, then un· 123,131." This vast host moved obediknown, is in numbers almost equal to ent to the supreme pontiff sooner than the whole of papal Europe. Rome, the h the word of the king, or even the seat of ecclesiastical power, is now the written Word of God. capital of an united and free Italy, over which the Pope has no political control. The traveller in Italy and France and These wonderful changes have in no way Spain observes that papacy has now lit· strengthened the papacy or enlarged its tie hold on the more intelligent part of influence among the nations of the the people, especially in France. A earth. It has been weakened by each. man may go to his first communion, but The very efforts put forth to augment he seldom enters a church or the con· its sway have in the divine orderings fessional, or sees the priest until per. enfeebled it. haps he gets extreme unction on his death·bed. France is no longer Roman Protestantism has not only grown Catholic-France is without a faith! politically, but numerically in Europe. Spain is scarcely Roman Catholic- Compare Spain and Great Britain. At Spain is dead of spiritual torpor and the Reformation the one was greatly sloth. There is not energy enough to 'superior to the other in numbers and breed another Torquemada. In that political influence. Now Spain has just Land of the Inquisition, where in 36 about one half the popUlation of Great years, from 1480 to 1517,13,Q.00 persons Britain, while in this period the latter were burned alive, 8700 burned in effigy, has peopled Australia, New Zealand, and 169,423 variously pnnished. you United States, and other countries. may now buy a Bible on the street cor· During the last fifty years, England has ner! increased her population 119 ; Prussia, 72; Austria, 27; and France, 12 per Dr. John Cumming used to say that cent. This difference led a French it is essentially popish to sacrifice truth Roman Catholic to write, a few years to uniformity, to make men tell lies, and ago, as he called attention to it : "On then hide reality in order to keep np comparing the respective progress made the appearance of unbroken nnity with since 1814 by non·Catholic Christian a central regulating power -like atnation3 with the advancement of power tempting to make clocks strike everyattained by Cath~lic nations, one is where the noon honr when the great struck with astonishment at the dispro- pontiff at Greenwich signals the merid· portion. • . . Unquestionably since ian, although the earth does take 1789 the balance of power between twenty.fol'lr hours to move ronnd, and Catholic civilization and non·Catholic any spot fi$teen degrees away from civilization has been reversed." Greenwich must be an honr away in time. The relative growth of Protestantism is much greater than that of Romanism. Every year in the church hf Ara In 1825 the Protestant population stood Cee/i, at Rome, takes place a, sort of to the Roman Catholic as 3 to 13 ; now child's religious filte. A chapel is ar· it is as 1 to 2. ranged as a stall, in which are wax fig- ures of the Holy Family and the beaRhl Dr. Burgess called attention a qnarter about them, etc. Decoration and wax of a century ago to the vast hierarchy of tapers abonnd, and hundreds of chilwhich the Pope was the head. "A dren are brought there to adore the string pulled at Rome moved the follow· B,lmbino, or wax image of the Holy ing puppets: 6 cardinals, 15 arch. Child. All day long, too, little folks bishops, 69 bishops. 158 vicarR.general, are set up on a pulpit, one ata time, to 660 canons, 3396 higher clergy, 39,630 speak their little speeches in honor of priests, 3000 seminarists preparing for the sacred doll. prie"thood, and 50,000 members of re- This wax baby is a " miracle work. er;" and when anyone is ill who can otherwise of Lord Archibald's asser· afford so costly a. doctor, this figure is tion. Bent for, and by the monks brought with all solemn formality, followed by Here are two extracts from .. The a bill for the visit the next day. Since Glories of Mary," a work heartily com· a woman attempted to pass off a new mended by Cardinal Manning, and wax doll for the old one, the Bambino stamped by papal infallibility: is suffered to go out only in his own carriage with guards. "0 Lady in Heaven, we have but one advocate, and that is thyself." I think it was about thirty-two or thirty-three years ago, when the tax put "Thou, 0 Mother of God, art om· upon bread, in the Eternal City, excited nipotent to save sinners." the indignation of the Bambino, and on the principle that even the" stones cry Rev. Frank H. White well says, "In out," he lifted up his voice, and in an view not only of the blasphemies poured awfully solemn way enjoined on the forth by the Church of Rome on this government to remove the bread tax. subject, but also of the incl'easing ten· One wonld think he had got hold of a dency in the Church of England to an copy of Adam Smith's ,( Wealth of Na- idolatrous exaltation of the Virgin, it tions." His utterances caused, of would be well if this tract were more course, a serious stir; and a day or two widely circulated." after, in order to emphasize the warning, the wax doll again spoke. The Dr. George W. Chamberlain, of San government proposed to be supreme, Paulo, Bra:<il, likewise testifies that in and to hold even the Bambino in sub. Brazil St. Joseph is held as of practically jection ; and so the police informed the higher rank than the Virgin Mary or monks who take care of the Bambino Jesus, inasmuch as " she,like an obedithat no such miracle must henceforth be ent wife, submits to her husband; and allowed-it might create a revolution. Jesus, like an obedient Son, submits to Once again the baby spoke, and this her ;" and such was the public teachtime· the message was peremptory and ing of the archbishop in Rio Janeiro final. The head of police sent at once when he returned from the festival of to infonn the monks that if the doll the" Immaculate Conception." opened its head once more, they would be turned out of their situation as Those who think Roman Catholic nurses; and remarkable as' it mayap. lands need no missionaries should read pear, the Bambino's mirq,eulous utterances the letter which appeared in the New ceased from that very day I York Trib'tme,* written from Siena, where dwelt the famous "Saint" Cath. As to Rome and Mariolatry, Lord arine. If the Roman religion was the Archibald Douglas, in his pamphlet en- same then as now, it passes comprehentitled « A Voice of One Crying in the sion how its practice could make her Desert," declares that .( the Roman " holy." Catholic Church upholds the Bible in its entirety," and" hates" priestcraft "I stepped into a church where mass and Mariolatry. was being celebrated. There were fif- teen priests in the chancel and three If our readers will look at the four. persons in the congregation. 'fhe acopage leaflet "most respectfully ad. lyte who rang the bell appeared to neg. dressed to all sincere Roman Catho- lect his duty, for the celebrant turned lics," entitled .. Which is Right-the and shook his fist at him. The boy re- Ch1IrCh of Rome or the Word of God?" taliated, after the priest went to the published by the Irish Church Mis. altar, by running his tongue out at him, Flion, 12 D'Olier Street, Dublin, all can which seemed to give convulsions of then judge for themselves the truth or quiet laughter to the priests near the altar who sang the responses. A French lady came 'Up to me and expressed her indignation. and said that there was no religion in this country. I assured her • September 7, 1890. that our Irish and American Catholics As to the l'[cAlJ missions in France, 'Would not tolerate any such irreverence in church. She answered that nllither they are remarkable for their number 'Would the French, and that here many and influence. They are spreading all of the educated people were infidels be. over France. and are the most powerful cause of the irreverence of the priests. Protestant influence of modern times in Yet the Italians pay an immense price for their religion. that RepUblic. Some trace this movement to that " In France, where there are 35,000,000 inhabitants, there are 60,000 priests, bold enthusiast, Napoleon Roussel, who, paid wholly, or in part, by the govern- in about 1830, scattered the fire of a ment. In Italy, with 29,000,000 inhabitants, there are 250,000 priests. In true religious zeal. Roussel came of e. France there is a priest for every 58;j of noble stock of Protestant martyrs. At the population, and in Italy one for twenty-five he was spiritually aroused every 116. More than one of our Roman by the great revival then spreading over Catholic churches in New York have 10,000 parishioners of all ages. Such all Switzerland and France under the parishes, according to the Italian ratio, leadership of Robert Haldane and would be obliged to maintain 86 priests. others. Roussel had been a close stu- Siena has 62 churches for 23,000 inhab- dent from his youth, and was quite itants. familiar with the whole religious status of Europe, and especially of France. " I went to the cathedral t""qee the festivities of the Assumption, said to ex- oeed in pomp those of any other festi- When, therefore, set on fire by the Holy val. The cardinal was seated on his Spirit, he was soon zeady by his scholar- – throne, lind they were robing him for ly education and theological training to the oelebration. A little ohild was seat- stand forth as a target for the Roman ed on the floor playing with a doll and singing to himself. There is oeaseless Church. He feared nothing, shrank movement of people, and everybody is from nothing. and went through France talking, so that you hear nothing from as a firebrand. His preliminary work the chancel. There are many priests was done in PariR, as editor of a in the congregation and some monks.

On the right of the chancel is a high religio-political paper. But PariR and platform for the orchestra, and the cele- the editorial chair could not long hold brated tenor and soprano of the city are him. Where there was the greatest to sing. The orchestra begins. It sounds persecution and the greatest call for like a military march, and gives a crescen- do to the conversation about me. The hard work there was Rouosel, till finally tenor is fine. When will this ceaseless clatter of talk and movement end? Is in 1847, returning to Paris, he estabnobody going to pray or pay any atten. lished a school for the instruction of tion to the celebration? Occasionally Protestants for the ministry and for some one bows for a moment toward mlssIOnaries. Out of this grew many St. Catharine's chancel and then rises small churches in and out of Paris. and salutes some friend with lond talk. But the revolution of 1848 seriously em- This continues throughout. 1t did not b:llT8SSed his efforts, and finally Napostop when the Host was elevated! At the moment a lady in front of me was pre- leon III. arbitrarily prohihited his senting a gentleman to a friend with great clatter. A few were kneeling on noble work. Seed, however, had been my left. I heard laughter on my right, sown which sprang up later as the McAll and turned to aee what occasioned it at Missions. There are now more than such a solemn time. A priest and a 130 of these in France, each the nucleus young man were playfully contending for a chair that a lady had just left. of saving power for the multitude. n The music was finely rendered. The is now eibhteen years since this Inove· orchestra and the two soloists did most ment became a vital power. For the last of it. The chorus parts were weak. few years it seems to be setting all There was no preaching. But after the cardinal had been unrobed and gone France in a blaze. Each mission is a out, I did not feel that I had been in a radiating point of such extensive work place of worship, but that I had seen a and numerous bands that make the spectacle unsurpassed in scenic splen. number of meeting-places and street dor in a place that the artists had abandoned for 600 years." services almost innumerable.

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE

V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

Organized Missionary Work and Statistics. Edited by Rev. D. L. Leonard, Bellevue, O.

-The population of Europe may be -From the organization, in 1848, of set down in round numbers as 350,- ' a society called ,. Eglise Missionnaire 000,000, and is divided religiously about Beige" at Brussels, there have sprung as follows: Roman Catholics, 165,000,- up 27 active churches and missions 000; Protestants, 90,000,000 ; members with 7000 members, the greater part of of Oriental' churches, 85,000,000, and whom are converts from the Romish about 5,000,000 each of Jews and Mo- Church. There are 38 preachers who hammedans. Italy with 31,000,000 as are spreading the Gospel throughout well as Spain and Portugal with 25,- the country. The yearly expense of 000,000 are almost wholly Catholic. this work-about $27,000-exceeds the Belgium with 6,000,000 is papal about receipts, which come mainly from per- twelve to one. In France out of 39,- sons of limited means, and outside help 000.000 less than a million are Protes- is being solicited.

tants. Austria contains some 37,000,000 -The Free Church of Italy recently inhabitants, of whom 12,000,000 are held its annual convention, 37 delegates non-Catholic. In Switzerland nearly representing 40 congregations and 7 two thirds of the 3,000,000 accept the stations being present. There were Reformed faith. The German Empire reports of progress from nearly all holds 30,250,000 Protestants in a total places. The convention decided upon of 48,000,000. Denmark, Sweden, Nor- the name of .. Evangelical Church of way and the Netherlands, with a com- Italy" as their official title in the future_ bined population of 13,;;00,000, are al- Among tho representatives of other most solid against the papacy, the latter Protestant bodies present were two being overwhelmingly Presbyterian, from the Waldensian churches, who and the others Lutheran. Great Britain declared that their communion still and Ireland are Protestant by 29,620,- cherished the hope of being able to 000 against 5,640,000. Of the Catho- unite with the Free Church. lics 1,370,000 are found in England and Wales, and but 330,000 in Scotland. -In 1850 the Oatholic Church in In Ireland are found 1,155,000 Protes- Denmark had 3 missionaries, 2 stations, tants and about 4,000,000 Catholics. and 300 members. Now it is repre- Russia and Greece have a population sented by one apostolic prefect, 37 of 100,000,000, of which two thirds be_ missionaries, 14 stations, 3700 mem- long to the Greek Church. Moham- bers, and more than 150 members of medans comprise about one half of religious orders. In 1856 there were Turkey's 5,000,000. no Oatholic churches in the kingdom; -The Catholic missions in Bengal now there are 10 churches, 6 publio under the conduct of the Belgian Jesu- and 6 private 'chapels, a Jesuit college, its have been very successful. Com- and a high school for boys. Nowhere mencing in 1881, the first year for in the world are the spiritual interests which we have exact figures, we find of Catholics so well provided for, there the converts amounted to 16,149. In being a clerical representative for every 1886 their numbers had increased to 18 members and a church for each 168.

20,000, and in 1888 these had advanced -·According to the latest synodical to 53,281. In 1881 baptisms num- reports the Waldensians have, outside bered 378, in 1886 they had increased of the hiBtorio valleys, 44 congregations to 3274, while in 1888 .they reached the and 36 pastors. In addition to these total of 35,000. there are 46 preaching places. The regular pastors are Ilided by 20 evan· 000. Mr. MUller planned to go out as gelists, 68 teachers, and 14 colporteurs. a missionary to India, but insuperable The total number of communicants is obstacles prevented. But, remaining 4266, an increase of 192 in the last at home, he has been able to raiSe anlI tweh'e months. 'l'he reports complain distribute for missions $1,116,800. that Catholic parents send their children to the elementary classes of the -The Denmark societies in 1888 con- Waldensians, but withdraw them as tributed to foreign missions $33,422.64. soon as they are old enough to partici- The Danish Government has a mission pate in the religious instruction of the in Greenland with 6 stations and 6 orschools. dained toilers, and the Danish Mission. ary Society has 7 ordained men in -The Methodist Episcopal Church India. has 6 missionaries in Italy and 24 native preachers, and a church member- -In 1889 the Netherlands Reformed ship of 743 with 198 probationeril in Society had in Java 60 churches with addition. The Southern Baptists oc- 5937 members distributed throngh 397 (lUPY 12 stations with 15 ordained mis- villages, and last year the number had sionaries, and have gathered 272 into increased to 70 churches, 6794 memo churches. The American Board sent bers, in 411 villages. The contribu. its first representatives to Austria in tions of 18 Netherlands societies to for· 1872, and now sustains 2 with 17 native eign missions amounted to 315,134 helpers. The 3 churches have a total gulden ($137,319). of 364 members, and the schools have 104 pupils. -The Protestants of Germany and Germau Switzerland are said to con· -No less than 15 Protestant societies tribute for foreign missions at the rate are at work in Spain, occupying 115 of but 12 centimes each, and those of houses or rooms as chapels and school France but 45 centimes. Now the buildings. The American Board has 3 centime is only the one hundredth part missionaries and 33 native helpers, 18 of a franc, or the fifth of a cent! churches with 349 members, and 604 pupils in schools. The American Bap- -The Society for the Propa~ation of tists in Spain and France together have the Gospel held its 190th annual meet- 18 missionaries and 13 churches, with a ing May 7th. The receipts reported for membership of 900. the year were £164,382, an increase of £26,000 over the previous year. As a -In nineteen years the Protestant consequence, the Society had enlarged churches of the United Kingdom con- its work, especially in New Guinea and tributed to foreign missions £21,166,- Korea. The number of ordained mis- 164. During the last half of the period sionaries, including eight bishops, on the gifts were greater than during the the Society's lists was 660-in Asia, first half by £665,315. The increase 220 ; in Africa, 142; in Australia and was 64 per cent on the part of the the Pacific, 17 ; in North America, 215 ; Church of England, and on the part of in the West Indies, 34; and 32 in Eu. the Dissenting churches was 24 per rope. Of these 127 were natives laborcent. ing in Asia and 29 in Africa. There were also in the various missions about -George MUller has under his care 2300 lay teachers, 2600 students in the 75 schools, of which 13 are in Spain, Society'S colleges, and 38,000 children 2 in Italy, 2 in the East Indies, and 7 in the mission schools in Asia and in the English colonies. In May of Africa. The Bishop of Calcutta in an last year these schools contained 6250 address called attention to the very im· pupils, and the total number since the portant position of India as resulting first one was opened in 1834 was 112,. from the fact that her popUlation were ~37, The expenses have been $489,- spreading so widely over the globe. In -The Wesleyans of Great Britain the West Indies there were 280,000; in have a membership of 424,303. The Mauritius, 2<15,000 out of 500,000 in. total receipts of their missionary sohabitants were from India, and South ciety for 1890 were £122,072, and the Africa was swti.rming with them. expenditures were greater by £10,813. Missions are sustained in EU1'ope, India, -The Anglican missions (Church China, West Africa. the Transvaal, eto. Missionary Society and Society for the The principal stations number 363 with Propagation of the Gospel) in the Tin. 1572 chapels and other preaching Develly district, South India, in 1888-89 places, 338 missionaries and assistant covered 1636 villages, with 113 Dative missionaries, ann 2163 other paid clergy; tho schools contained 23,52<1 agents, 34,722 church members, and pupils; the churches, 20,024 communi. 5250 probationers, and 65,803 in Sabcants, with 18,396 catechumens, 77,171 bath and day schools. baptized persons, and 95,567 adherents.

-The latest report concerning the reo -The. Society of Friends in England lci~"vieoruss condition o f the Fiji group and America, though numbering but the year 1889. The total area is 1u0p0~0a0r0d oontribute to foreign missions about the sa.me as that of the State of of $90,000 annually. A begin_ Massachusetts. There is a European ning was not made until 1866, and since population of about 2000, whilo tho na· then representatives have been sent to tives, including other Polynesians ancl Syria, India. China, Madagascar, Mexi.

Indian emigrants, number 123,000. Of co, and the American Indians. Their this native population, 103,775 worship Woman's Foreign Missionary Union in the churches of the Wesleyan mis- raised $23,164 last year. Though effi- sion, while 10,302 attend Roman Catho- cient work is done in other fields, yet lic churches. The Wesleyan mission Madaoascar has been the scene of their has 10 European missionaries and 72 great:st successes. Entering the island native ministers, 49 catechists, 1838 in 1868, they now have 18 missionaries, local preachers, and 1095 teachers; 40 native pRstors, and 37(1 other native these laboring in connectbn with 909 assistants. 130 churches with 4000 mem- churches and 414 other preaching bers and 40,000 adherents, lind 132 places. In the schools of the WeslAyan schools with 14,600 scholars. Special mission are .ro,667 children. The Ro· emphasis is laid upon educational work, man Catholic mission has 18 European and they are gen~rous contributors to ministers, with 148 Dative teachers, and the funds of the missions of other 76 native churches and chapels. Aside churches.

from the 18 Roman CatholIc priests -This table gives a partial statement of the work of 18 German missionary there are 3 lay Europeans and 14 female societies as it stood at the close of 1888.

Europeans.

SOCIETIES. MiE'sion- Co~~~.ni. Adherents. Receipts. aries.

—-·———–·i–·– —- —- —– Moravian Chnreh ………….. …….. .•.. 1IM03 3101..509812 2827,,216832 $18607.412280 Basel Society…………….. ………… 75 10.735 35.7"01 79,120 Rhenish Society … : . . . •. .• …….. …… 0 0 0 ' 5 068 38 461 HermannBburg SOcIety…. ..•. ……….• 71 (1)7. .. . 61'""" 2616 170,.0358;4) 2113..191422 ~2,8.71"!)'8"1 Berlin Society……………….. …. … 12 000 c 36 000 Leipsic Society- . . . . . •. . . .. ……………. ou NG~~~~eG':rSmoacnIestoyci~iy:':: :::.-:::::::.:::: 1118 c., . '71707 1213',,010046 SchleBwig·HoIBt~in. Society…. ……….. ~~ 408 Nine smaller sOcIetIes…. …….. .. …… 200 660 30,993 ________ – I 89,452 – – 5 6 1 Totals ………………………… 232,714 $599,677 =firlrlng 1890 there were built in the contributions are $53,351,103. He United States 8500 churches; ministers also concludes that the other evangeli. to the number of 4~00 were ordained, cal denominations just about double anI a membership, in all denomina. these figures, and hence these and tions, of 1,090,000 added. those together number 13,000,000, and have.invested for the maintenance and -It is computed that the English spread of the Gospel $800,839,154. If tongue is now spoken by nearly twice the same rule be applied to the annual as many people as any other European contributions they would aggregate language. The estimated ligures are: $106,702,206. English, 125,000,000 ; Russian and Ger· man, 70,000,000 each; French, 50,000,. – World· Wide Missions sends out a 000; Spanish, 40,000,000; Italian, ringing caIl to the Metbodist Episcopal 30,000.000; Portuguese, 13,000,000• Chnrch for a grand, general uprising . At the beginning of the century Eng. under the head of Financial Possibili. lish stood only fifth, being exceeded by ties, and with One Penny a Day as the French, Russian, German and Spanish. watchword. bespeaks the speedy ap- pearance of a second Wesley to inaugu. ~Well might Dr. R. S. Storrs say, in rate the revolution, to trans{orDl the a recent number of the Sunday.School scheme into solid fact, and presents nmes, .. It is something that Ameri. some astounding figures which would can missions alone now occupy more result, such as $3,UOO,000 for mis. than 4000 stations in unevangelized sions, $1,000,000 for evangelistic work lands, with 2350 missionaries Rtmt from in cities, $750,000 for Freedmen's Aid, this country and more than 10,000 nil.· $400,000 for the Women's Foreign Mis. tive helpers; that there are at these sionary Society, etc. The total, $10,- stations more than 2700 churches, with 000,000, though so great, is yet a smaIl nearly 237,000 communicants, of whom one for the vast Methodist host, num· 26,000 were added last year; and that bering 2,783,967. $4,000,000 are contributed annually in our country to carryon the work. It -At the 75th anniversary of the is something, certainly. that all Protes- American Bible Society the last year's tant missionary societies have now 46,- receipts were reported as $512,388.18, 000 missionaries and helpers in the and the issnes of Bibles, Testaments, field, ministering to nearly 700,000 and portions as 1,497,637, of whiah oommunicants and to more than 3,000" 524,096 were for circulation in foreign 000 of adherents to Christianity, and ex· lanrls. Sinae 1816 over $20,000,000 pending every year at least $12,000,000 have been received, and with these in the distant and costly work." 54,000,000 copies of the Sariptures have been printed and distributed. The -Mr. Charles A. J. Marsh, of Minne. legacies of the first quarter century apolis, has gathered with great oare reached $109,504.57, and grew to $3,204" Bome interesting statistics relating to 460.68 in the third quarter, and the the money investments made in behalf churoh coIlections inoreased from of the Lord's kingdom by four of the e28,938.04 to $353,307.29. leading denominations of this country, the Methodist!! (North), Baptists, Pres· -The reoeipts of the Southern Bap. byterians (North), and Congregational. tist Convention for last year were $113,- ists. He finds that they have 67,274 522.37. Its missions are found in Afri. churches with a membership (,January cB, China, Japan, Haly, Bral'lil, and 1st, 1891) of 6,500,000 ; that they hold Mexico. The principal stations are property worth $359,828,994, with en· 38. The miRsionary foroe numbers 86, dowments (,f colleges, eto., amounting with 23 ordained and 53 unordained na. to $40,590,000, or a total of $400,419,. tive assistants. Into the 67 churohes 577 thus invested, and that their a.nnual 2377 have been gathered, 'and 361 were received in 1890. The church-mem- reassuring. The cruel King Mwanga, bers in China are 790, and 98 were now restor~d to his throne, is evidently added last year. forgetful of all his pledges to be a bet- -The American Presbyterian Church ter sovereign. He is also being mahas in its Clanton mission 35 mission- nipUlated by the French priests_ The aries from the United States, and 3 or- little band of Protestant missionaries dained and 94 unordained native assist- which are striving to carry on the work ants; 10 churches with 690 members, of the noble and lamented Mackay have of whom 95 were added last year; 3 a friend in the Prime-Minister, but the boarding schools with 231 pupils, and outlook is grave with such a selfish and 3a day with 864 pupils. The medical revengeful man on the throne as· work of the mission is set forth by 63,- Mwanga. Meanwbile this fair province 785 visits to out-patients and 3489 sur- in the heart of Africa suffers in every gical operations. part because of the bloodshed and deso- lating warfare of recent years. -The Marathi mission, India, of the American Board, covers 17,000 square From Uganda, Africa, letters are miles, embraces Bombay, Ahmadnagar, printed in England showing that there and 8 other cities, besides 3600 villages, is a genuine progress in all Christian and a population of 3,286,889, of whom enterprises. The peril from persecu- 285,000 are Mohammedan. This field tion has entirely ceased, but peril of an is held by 33 missionaries, 18 native exactly opposite character has arisen on pastors, and 19 native preachers. The account of the outward advancement 35 ohurohes have 2306 members, of of the Christians, who are becoming whom two thirds have been received rich and powerful. during the last ten years, and 215 last year. The schools number 200 and the American Indians.-Many methods pupils 3382. In the hospitals 12,289 have been devised for raising money have been trealed. The native oontri- for benevolent purposes, but some IndbU'tions were $1617 in 1890, ian boys in the Northwest have hit upon the newest plan. They were very poor, but wished to pllt some money in the collection. They saw a premium offered Monthly Bulletin for killing gophers. The gopher is a mischievous little animal, devouring a A£riclI..-Since the partition of Africa large amount of wheat, com, and other the governments of England, Germany, grain every year. The farmers pay two Italy, and Portugal have made an agree- cents for each dead gopher_ The proof ment for the reciprocal protection of that the gopher has been killed is his their missionaries in the Dark Conti- tail. Now these little Indian boys had nent. Armed with a passport from the been so interested in the story told of government to which they belong, the the work being done by the Snnday_ missionaries will enjoy the proteotion school Society that they spent their of each of these powers, Saturday afternoon holiday lnaring gophers_ They brought the tails in the One of the methods which Bishop envelopes of the Society as their oon- Taylor is said to be employing to some tribution. elltent in carrying on bis work in Africa is unique in the elltreme, Young negro girls are purchased, the market price Brazil. – The Methodist Episcopal being $30 a girL When introduced into Mission in Rio Grande do SuI, Brazil, the mission schools their families and is finding speoial opportunities for friends have no further claim on them, work among the immigrants that come and Chri!ltian influences can be brought pouring in in hundreds. While the to bear on them much more effectively. work at the capital is conducted in Latest tidings from Uganda are not Portuguese, that in the colonies is in Italian, and is under the care of a na- Peking; Methodist Church, North, at tive of Italy. In two of these colonies Nanking; Methodist Church, North, at there are organized churches which have Fuhchan ; Presbyterian ()hurch, North, secured ground. (Jut timber, and securcd at Shantung; Presbyterian Church, material for chapels. North, at Canton.

It is said that the Catholics of Brazil Dr. Judson Smith SBYS: " The Chi. have been very much opposed to the nese are manifestly the governing race provision of the Constitution of the of Eastern and Central Asia, They evi- Republic, which deprives pdesta und dently hold the key to the future of al. employes of the Church of the right to most one half the unevangelized people vote, and also debars priests from be- of the globe; so long as they remain coming members of Congreas. It is without the Gospel. the great bulk of understood that the reason this pro- Asia will be pagan; when they are evan. vision was inserted was that the officers gelized, the continent will be Christian of the Church really held their allegi. and the world will be won." unce to their spiritual superiors us stronger than their allegiance to the There is need for yet more mission- State, and therefore are not such true aries. Kweischow and Kan-suh each citizens of the Republic as would entitle has only three missionaries for 3,000,000 them to a voice in its governments. people. ShenBi has ten lllissionarie';l This provision, however, has been Bome- for 10.000,000, Yun-nan has four miswhat modified. sionBries for 6,000,000.

Brazil, with its fourteen millions, is Dr. Happer writes from Canton, far behind the age in education. With China : "I am preparing to take my ninety-nine per cent of its population fourth and last departure from China. rated as Roman Catholics, it reports It is a terrible work to tear up the eighty-four per cent as illiterates. The roots that have been growing deeper priests have not taught the people mo- and deeper for forty-seven years. But rality, and they in their blindness and as the Lord has laid thc necessity upon ignorance have followed their leaders. me, I can only say, in humble gratitude But a reaction has come, and they are for the privilege of laboring so long in seeking light and life. The Presbyte. this populous land, Thy will be done. rians lire making an earnest effort to When the gracious Lord called me to put upon a good foundation a thor- return to Amel'ica, in former yeBrs, Hd oughly equipped Christian university. each time gave me the privilego of working there, I trust and pray He Canada.-Two Chinamen were re- may give me the privilege of working cently received into the membership of still in some quiet way, as my strength the Church of Christ in Knox Chnrch, may enabl" me to do. I am sending Winnipeg. They had both been under my books home, and hope to resume Christian instruction for several years my studies and use my pan, or do what and had given good evidence both of my hand may find to do." their acquaintance with the great truths of the Gospel and of their desire to Egypt.-M:r. L. D. Wishard, who is lead a Christian life. travelling in the East in the interests of the Young Men's Christian As- China.-The condition of Christian sociation, was recently in Cairo, Egypt., education in China is encouraging. Be- and the United Presbyterian missionsides the Imperial University at Peking, aries there tried the experiment of of which Dr. W. A. p, Martin is presi- advertising a lecture on the relations dent, there are no less than seven other of Christianity to American civilization, colleges-viz., St. John's Episcopal, at The result was an audience of above Shanghai; Southern Methodist, Bt three hundred young men, who listened ShBnghai; Methodist Church, North, Bt attentively. although the lecture was in- terpreted. This is most gratifying in a city like Cairo. Many of the young helpmate, that a woman's condition, men were Moslems. whether as wife or widow, can become more honorable and more worthy of reo The Rev. William Harvey, for many spect." Lady Dufferin gives the opinyears a faithful missionary of the ion that the velY best way in which we United Presbyterian Church in Egypt, can help our Indian sisters is by sup. is at present in this country for a brief plying them with medical relief: 1. visit. He is continually engaged, how- Because it aims at diminishing suffering ever, in making missionary ad(hesses, and at saving life. 2. Because education and will return to Egypt during the and general enlightenment must follow present year. He is at Monmouth, lll. in its train. 3. Because it encourages and inculcates respect and considera- Formosa.-The Rev. Mr. Mackay tion for women. 4. Because it brings has recently written from the island of cultivation and learning in contact with Formosa, to the Canadian Presbyte- the Zenana; and 5. Because in medi. rian Mission with which he is connect. cine and nursing Indian women will ed, concerning an extraordinary turning find professions in the exercise of from idols on the part of the people of which widows, deprived 8S they are of Ka-le-oan, a village, or rather a con- home and family ties, may fill their geries of villages, recently visited by lives with all the interest, occupation, him. A native assistant had com- and honor so sadly wanting in their mtlnced work in that district, but Mr. present state, Mackay had been hindered from going there, though he had had the matter in The census of India, recently com· mind for a dozen years. On his recent pleted, shows that the tolal popUlation visit he found many of the people hav- is now 285,000,000, an increase of 30,- ing a clear idea of Gospel truth, while 090,000 in the last decade. Of this inall of them were wearied of idol wor- crease 3,000,000 is due to accessions of ship. The three main facts in the case territory by conquest. It is calculated Mr. Mackay states thus: 1. Nearly five that the population of India is about a hundred idolaters cleaned their houses fifth of the whole human race. of idols in our presence. 2. ~'hey declared themselves anxious to worship The comments of the Calcutta press the Lord, the Redeemer. 3. They gave on Dr. Pentecost's evangelistic work in a temple built for idols as a house of India are full of appreciation. The worship for the living and true God. editor of the Statesman of that city, and also the missionaries of different de- The Rev. Mr. Jamieson, of the Canada nominations, unite in saying that few Presbyterian Mission in Formosa, died preachers if any have produced such recently at Tamsui, He was a native a profound impression for good upon of Scotland, and went to Formosa in all classes of people, including the 1883. lIe was a devoted missionary, European residents, as Dr. Pentecost. and his death is a sore loss to the work. A society has been formed in Eng- India.-Lady Dufferin, writing in Jand called "The India Widows' the Nineteenth Century on "The Women Union. .. It is an organization of Chrisof India," expresses the fear that their tian women for the purpose of improvsocial condition cannot be modified to ing the condition of Hindu and Mohamany great degree by legislation or by medan widows in India. The membErS outward reforms. She says: "It is are widows only, but any Christian only by the education and elevation of woman may becom!' an associate memwomen that any change can come OVEr ber. They pledge themselves to pray the feeling of the people with regard to that God will break the yoke and set marriage, and it is only when public the captive free. They raise money to opinion ceases to regard her as a chat. be expended in training widows to usetel, and begins to recognize her as a ful industries, and they gather and diffuse information with regard to the people. Nearly ten dollars was saved condition of the widows. in this way.

Dr. George F. Pentecost. who went North Sea."'-The Sailors' Magazine to India last fllli on an evangelistic mis- sllys : "One hundred thonsand dollars sion, took Mr. and ~s. George C. Steb- were contributed in England last year bins with him to lead the singing. to sustain missionary operations on the After laboring a few weeks in Calcutta North Sea among English deep-sea among the Europeans, it was decided fishermen. Ten fully equipped evanto turn to the ed ucated nati ves, and the gelizing vessels, three of which are hossingers left Dr. Pentecost and accom· pital ships, are employed in the work. panied Bishop Thoburn in a visit One of the fishermen" greatly moved by through the country, travelling several the earnestness of a woman missionary, thousand miles and singing in all the expressed his B1lfprise and gratitude principal cities of the Empire. On that she' had come out to do us North their way home they will stop in Egypt, Sea dogs good.•• , P4lestine. Italy, Germany, and England, reaching homo by midsummer. Palestine.-A Scotch missionary at Tiberias says that whereas almost every The New York Evangelist, in a brief Jew in Sated and Tiberias understands paragraph on ,. Hinduism and the Signs Arabic, not more than twenty or thirty. of the Times," says: "An encourage- out of five or six thousand understand ment to missionary effort is found in Judeo·Spanish, and a preacher in that tb.e increasing number of Somaies and language would in truth be "a voice Congresses for securing healthy reforms crying in the wilderness." Two of the in the social life of the Hindus, and in missionaries there are prepared to the preceding changes which made pos- "quote Hebrew" and to conduct sersible the establishment of those asso- vices in it whenever that is seen to be ciations. The time has now come when necessary. To hold Hebrew services Hinduism finds fulfilled in its history would, he insists, be absurd, as the the prophecy of the Christ, 'A man's Jews do not use the language, and very foes shall be they of his own house- many do not understand it. The mishold.' Its most decided and efficient sionaries have thought it wise to conantagonists are the converts from its verse with the Jew'! in the ordinary ranks to Christianity. Under the in- language of every·day life-i.e., with creasing number of these, and of others the Sephardim in Arabic and with the who, while abjuring Hinduism as the Ashkenazim in Jargon, but to preach result of Christian labors and influAnces, only in the language that all could unare not yet fully prepared to embrace derstand. Christianity. Hindu society is comiug to understand its needed reformations; The many recent movements among the Hindu conscience is awaking from the Jews cannot but attract attention. its long slumber; child marriages and Among others it is announced that an the rigid enforcement of caste rules association for the colonization of Palwill be things of the past within the estine has been successfully established lifetime of mllny now living, and the by the Hebrew Workingmen's Club. of end of Hinduism will not be long de- London, which is situated in Whitelayed." chapel, one of the most densely popu- lated districts of the metropolis, where Japan.-It is reported that when the thousands of Hebrews carry on their people in Kobe, Japan, were suffering occupations. The association is sendgreat want, several starving to death, ing shiploads of poor Hebrews from the students of the Kobe Girls' Scho<>l London to Palestine, and will provide for three weeks ate nothing for break- them with funds with which to purfast but rice and pickles, that they chase land and start a home. might save something to give to poor Patagonia.-There has been little into th~ mission field in a place where mission work accomplished in Pata· they can live a community life and work gonia, but the Roman Catholics have a together. They take no vows or permission centre at Viedma, in the south- manent pledges, and receive merely ern part of the country. ~hey have what is necessary for their support. twelve colleges with 5000 students, and The offer has been accepted, and four an industrial school with thirty appren· men are ready to go. The field of thtlir tices of carpenters, blacksmiths, boot- missionary work will be Chota Nagpore, makers, tinkers, and tailors. They a district in India, lying twenty-five have also a dispensary and the only miles west of Calcutta, about as large hospital in the territory. as all England, and containing peoples speaking twenty different languages. Russia.-The persecution that the poor Christians in Southern and Cen- " Missionary teas" have become poptral Russia are suffering should excite ular, and are found a means of drawing wide sympathy. The name " Stundist" larger numbers of people together to was given to them originally on account gain intelligence of missions. and thus of their meeting for an hour for reading increase the interest. The English the Word of God. The first who did have long availed themselves of this so were emigrants from South Germany, means of making meetings of all kinds who called their meeting from the Ger- more popular. The trouble of preparman word sluMe, for hour. Although ing the very slight refreshments is a the persecution has hardly had a par- mere nothing compared with the results allel in Europe since the Reformation, in awakened interest by the good feelthe adherents of this movement are in- ing engendered by the simple breaking creasing rapidly, now numbering many of bread together. thousands. The" Brotherhood of the Sea" is the Spain.-There is news of a triumph name of a new society of two hundred for the cause of mission work from a Norwegian sea captains, who have town in Spain-Rosas-where the peo- pledged themselves to have regular reple elected the Protestant pastor mayor; ligious services on board their ships, and when, on account of the pressure and to conduct everything there and on of his own work, he was obliged to re- shore in the fear of God. fuse the office, his brother; an evangelist, was accorded the honor. The American Board has given out a summary of the results of Protestant Turkey.-The ravages of the cholera missions in recent years: In Japan the in Central Turkey, though extensive twenty-seven Protestant missions have among the Moslems, have not greatly a total adult native membership of affected the Protestants. In noting 28,977. About 5000 members were this fallt a Moslem official exclaims: added to the church rolls during the " How is this, 0 Christians! has God past year. Of the 300 members of the spread a tent over you, out of all the new Japanese Parliament which was people of this city, to preserve you elected last July, twelve are professedly from death ?" Christians. There are about 527 Prot- estant missions in Japan, the first ar- General.-A new missionary move- riving in that country less than twentyment has been inaugurated within the two years ago. In China there are 1295 walls of the University of Dublin, in Protestant missionaries, while the num_ connection with the Society for the ber of adult native communicants is Propagation of the Gospel. A number 37,287. In India and Ceylon the re- sults are the most satisfactory of all, the at young men have approached the Uni- nativA Christians in the schools alone numbering 74,386, though the number versity Auxiliary Committee of the So- of missionaries is less than 300. A ciety, intimating their desire to go forth summary of the number of missionaries to Christian intelligence an aggregate in foreign countries supported by Prot- of not much less than 600,000 children estant societies in the United States, and youth. together with the number of churches, native communioants and contributions The receipts of the Presbyterian for the year 1890, shows the following Woman's Board of the Northwest for totals: 2350 missionaries, 2721 churches, the year recently closed reached the 236,187 native communicants, of whom handsome total of $91,069.70, which 25,963 were added in 1890; $524,217 was made up as follows: Cash from contributed by natives, and $3,977.701 auxiliaries, bands, and Sabbath-schools, contributed in the United States. $77,018,69; legacies, $12,581.96; in- come from real estate, $954.89; mis- According to the American Baptist cellaneous, $199.86 ; with balance from Year Book for 1891, the Regular Bap- previous year, $314.30. tists have in the United States 1382 associations, 34,780 churches, with a mem- Some very humble CJ;1ristians make bership of 3,164,227, an increase for the noble confessions of Christ and become year of upward of 94,000 members. most efJ'ective missionaries. He was only a cabman who died the other day The annual meeting of the Woman's in Edinburgh, but he did not consider Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres- his vocation bcompatible with the serbyterian Chnrch was held recently at vice of his Master. His cab bore the inscription, " What think ye of Christ ?" Auhurn, N. Y., with an attendance of and in the hayloft of his stable he used to hold meeHngs for prayer and testimore t1:an two hundred missionaries, mony. His mates called him" Holy delegates, and visitors. The reports Peter." It was the kind of holiness showed sixty-four missionaries and which attracts and does not repel. He twenty-six Bible readers in the employ " reached th/l masses" withont making of the Board in Africa, South America, any fuss about it. Mexico, China, Japan, India, Korea, Siam, Persia, Syria, and among the Christian Endeavor.-The plan of North American Indians. The receipts attempting to raise a half million dolwere $67,000, an advance on the pre- lars yearly for missionary work through vious year of $10,000. The employ- Christian Endeavor SocietieR, each ment of female physicians was specially member giving two cents a week, is mentioned, and regret expressed at the meeting with greRt success. One hunnecessity, through lack of funds, of dred and fifty societies report 5000 closing a hospital in Persia. names-that means $5000 ; which sum will support seventy first-class native Some one states St. Paul's missionary preachers in India and China. creed thus: 1. I believe that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord A son of a Modoc chief is the presishall be saved. 2. I believe that no dent of the Christian Endeavor Society heathen will call on Him in whom he in Yainax Indian School, Bly, Ore. has not believed. 3. I believe that in order for the heathen to believe the Henry M. Stanley tells that oncey Gospel they must hear the Gospel. 4. in the heart of Dark Africa, a native I believe that the heathen will n(Ver was dragged before him by some of his hear the Gospel till a preacher preaches followers for stealing a gun. Stanley it to them. 5. I believe that a preacher, looked at the gun; it clearly belonged in order to preach to the heathen, must to his expedition. The poor man who be sent to them. This creed is found had it was frightened at the mention of in Rom. 10 : 13-15. Stanley's name, and could hardly 'find his voice or say a word, only, " I am a The sohools Bustained by the various son of God, I would not steal!" This American missionary societies contain almost 175,000 pupils, and the 12,000 Protestant missbn schools are training he repeated again and again. It was have given cause for offence quite apart all he could say. from their being Christians. It is so hard ever to get at the truth underlying Stanley was interested, and it dawned apparent facts. Anyhow we often talk on him that this man was probably one as if there were no more martyrs. Are of the converts of some of the mission. not these poor people hungering on the aries laboring in that region, and he mountains, almost within sight of their accordingly gave him the gen, and 0.1. old homes, martyrs in the truest sense? lowed him to go, while they pursued There are very many Roman Catholics their way. here, and fuey seem to be a power in the land, which in itself must be an At the next station where they stopped offence. But other Christian bodies they found the gun waiting for them. seem making good helldway."-China It appeared that the gun had probably Mail, April, 7th, 1891, Hong Kong Pape1·. been lost. This man had found it, and when he was set free he at once went The Christia~ at Work will pay a with it to the missionary for instruc· liberal sum for information giving the tions, and by his directions it was sent names of the United States senators where Stanley would get it. who voted against the ratification of the Brussels Treaty formed for the sup. But what a light must have touched pression of the African slave trade, the that darkened son of Africa, who, abolition of the rum traffic, anu for. though brought up in all vileness and bidding the selling of fire-arms to the theft and sin, had come to realize the natives. glorious dignity of a divine paternity, and say, " I AM A SON OF GOD; I WOULD A missionary from China says" that NOT STEAL !" if there is anything which lays hold on the poor people there, it is the simple A Chungking correspondent of the story of the crucifixion of our Lord North Carolina Daily News writes: Jesus Christ. It is not the morality, or " When not schwa-ing, the people here the miracles of the Gospel, or even the seem by preference to go in for a little wonderful saying and speeches of our bit of persecution. Last July only Lord Jesus Christ, but the old story of sixty miles from Chungking, Pere Pons, the cross, of the blood, of the sacrific!", one of the Roman Catholic Fathel's of the satisfaction of Christ in dying here, was suddenly warned to fly, He for sinners on the tree-that is the could not believe it, But, happily for power for good in touching the heart him, he did fly when he heard the guns and awakening the conscience." firing. The mob had risen, and eight Chinese were killed, and their bodies The Scotch missionaries in the burned in the fire of their burning Punjab of Indio. rejoice over a rich har. houses, The others fled, and some vest of souls. At the station of Sialkot 2000 native Christians are still starving they baptized thirty converts four years upon the mountains but for the help ago; but last year the number was 0.1. sent to them from time to time, What ready eight hundred, and the blessed makes it specially hard upon the poor work is going on increasingly. people is they had just got in their crops. The Chinese authorities have The Baptist Missionary Union sent to punish the offenders, and it sends out this year the largest number seems one or two poor people have been of missionaries ever sent in a ~ingle pnnished, but not the ringleaders, so year. Forty-four of the sixty are newly the poor refugees dare not return. appointed. It is wort.h noticing that The Chinese authorities say they dare the largest band-eighteen-go to Bur. not do more, because the whole district mah, that field where Baptist effort has is incensed against the Christians. been so greatly blessed from the begin. This may be only an excuse. On the other hand, the Roman Catholics may' ning. Ten go to the Teloogoos of India, .. It is with missionary work a8 with eight to Assam, and the remainder are everything else. ThQse who know lit- scattered in China, Japan, and Africa. tle, care little and give little. Those who know most are most interested, and Missions and Commerce.-At one give liberally." time it was thought that the money given to the cause of missions was At a recent missionary meeting of wasted. No intelligent man thinks so the Reformed Church at Saugerties, Mr. now. England gives more for missions Scoville said: " We hear the complaint than all the rest of the world combined, of draining a country or community of but English commerce has gained ten needed funds. Listen to the telephone pounds for every pound England has of the ages, ' Why was not this ointinvested in missions. Christianity and ment sold for three hundred pence and commerce go hand in hand. The Gos- given to the poor?' Would it have pel is God's power to save from sin, and been? The blessing of missions is from all the imbruting and degrading that it is the work of the Church. consequences of sin. The Gospel un- Why was it not completed before this derlies our commerce and our civiliza- age? Because this age needs to do it. tion as a root underlies a plant. – A. Missions now are a test of Christian McLean, D.D. character. The Church needs a touch of heroism in it. Is the cross an orna- There are, so it is said, five hundred ment ot the declaration of a princimillionaires in New York, lIome of them ple ?" worth from one hundred to three hundred millions of dollars. We suppose A Japanese converted to Christ these men are-Buddhists! seems at once to betake himself to the labor of teaching the truth to his During the last four years seventy- friends at home and at a distance, and nine English university men have be- thus is the way prepared for the mincome missionaries. ister of Christ. No wonder that with such preparatory service the truth is •• You wish to teach our women to running in that land, and being gloriread, do you?" scornfully said an offi- fied. cial of the Hindus to a missionary from America, and added, .. Next you will There are those who wish to be seek permission to teach our cows!" Christians in secret, and those even in But what good has come to the Hindu lands where it is deemed no reproach by his supreme selfishness toward to follow Christ. But we hear of a mother and sister, daughter and wife? Japanese workman, who was necessarily He has not progressed one inch in thou- away from his shop most of the day, sands of years except as men who look who put the following notice on the upon women as their equals have placed door: .. I am a Christian; and if any in his un~killed hands the inventions of one likes to go in and read my Good Occidental civilization and taught him Book while I am out, he may. Buddhour ideas of literature and law, of art ist priests need not come here. I do and commerce. He has not risen one not want them any more." hair in the scale of being except as our missionaries have brought to him that There is but one lake on the surface Gospel which says, .. There shall be no of the globe from which there is no more curse, for the former things are outlet, and that is the Dead Sea, which passed away," and which restores the receives much, but gives nothing. joint headship set forth in the Divine Such a lake is a perfect illustrfltion of a words: " Let us make man in our im_ church all whose efforts termi nato upon age after our likeness, and let them have itself. Around it there will be desodominion," lation, and in it there will be no life.- William M. Taylor, D.D.

The Missionary Review of the World — March 1891

THE REGIONS BEYOND. .[March

MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VOL. XIV. No. S.-OldSeries.–MARCH.–VoL. IV. No. S.-New Seria.

THE REGIONS BEYOND.-PART II.

[EDITORIAL. ] Beside the literal ground unoccupied for Christ, there is the unclaimed, untrodden, territory of Divine promises. What did God say to Joshua in chap. i., v. 3 1 "Every place that t~e sole of your foot shall tread upon, . that have I given unto you," and then "He draws the outlines of the Land of Promise-'-all theirs, on one condition: that they shall march through the length and breadth of it, and measure it off by their own feet. They never did that to more .than one third of the property, an'd consequently they never had more than one third; they had just what they measured off, and no more. Now, if we turn to the New Testament, in the Second Epistle of Peter we read about that other" Land of Promise" that is opened up to us, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be "partakers of the Divine nature, having es- caped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Mark the close analogy between those two passages. Here is God's true Land of Promise, "exceeding great," " exceeding precious j" and it is God's will that we should, as it were, mtlasure off that territory by the feet of obedient faith and believing obedience, thus claiming and appropriating it for our own, becoming partakers of the Divine nature, and escaping the corruption which is in the world through lust and which was typified by the Canaanites that had to be expelled before the Land of Promise could be possessed.

Now, let us look at these promises. They are marvellous I How many of us have ever imagined the wealth and the extent of that land 1 And how many of us have ever taken possession of the promises of God in the Name of Jesus Christ? It is a territory for faith to lay hold on and march through the length and breadth of, and faith has never yet done it. The faith of the Church has, thus far, taken possession only of a very small portion of this exceeding great and precious land, and the rest lies in " the regions beyond." .

We are limited by sight; sight makes a great deal of the visible and temporal, and unbelieving disciples prefer that which iil tangiblQ tQ that which is unseen and eternal. Sight emphasizes numbers. Hear what God says: "One of you shall chase a thousand, ~nd two put ten thoueand to flight." That is God's arithmetic. Twice one thousand is two thousand, but in God's arithmetic twice one thousand is ten thousand. God is sublimely indifferent to numbers. It is not quantity but quality for which God cares; He would rather have one consecrated Ulan or woman than a thousand who are halfhearted in His service; so He keeps sifting down, and down. and down, just as He did Gideon's great multitude, till He gets the choice "three hundred" with whom He can do mighty works.

Sight emphasizes power. See how'sublimely indifferent God is to power. While we are seeking the patr(mage of great, or rich, or mighty men, God is taking up the poor and the weak, and the despised and the base, and the things that are nothing, and with them bringing to nought the things that are something.

Fellow-believers, we have to take possession of this region of unclaimed promises; and, inasmuch as we are applying this truth especially in the interest of missions, let us give onrattention to a most important distinction. Christ says, in Matthew: "Go, . • . make disciples of all nations. All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age." That is His promise. Then, in Luke, He says: "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you, but tarry yc in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high."

THE PROMISE OF CHRIST AND THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER are not the same thing. Christ's promis~ is the promise of His personal presence, and the exercise of His omnipotent power in behalf of His missionary band. The promise of the Father is 'the promise of a descending Holy Spirit to break down internal barriers in the minds and the hearts of men, and to endue His own disciples with the wondrous unction from above. Now, these are two promises–not to speak of any others. Think of them in their bearing on Christian missions.

When Joshua saw a man standing in the neighborhood of the city of Jericho, he said, challenging him, " Art thou for us or against us~" This strange personage said, " Nay, but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come;" and Joshua perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord, and took off his own shoes in reverence, and waited for His commands; and, in accordance with the precise directions that He gave, Joshua moved round that city once a day for six days, and seven times on the seventh day; and then, without a blow being struck, the walls fell, and they went into Jericho and took captive all that were within it. What is that but an historic allegory in the Old Testament illustrating the facts of the New 1 When. the Acts of the Apostles opens, which corresponds, in the New- Testament, to the book of Joshua in the Old, we have there the hosts of God on the Day of Pentecost simply surrounding the fortress of Jewish prejudice, superstition, and alienation from God, with the trumpet· blast, the preaching of the Gospel, and on that day also without a carnal blow being struck, without any human philosophy to account for it, three thousand were pricked in their hearts, and said, " What shall we do 1" and were taken captive for God. What is all this bnt. the Captain of the Lord's host going before the missionary band, and repeating the miracle of Jericho ¥ Walls fall at once that might have stood for a thousand years but for His presence. All human calculation is disappointed when the Captain of the Lord's host appears on the scene.

The promise of the Holy Ghost is one of special grace from above on teachers and preachers; and then also on those that hear the vVord j as, in the house of Cornelius, it becomes converting grace to the hearers as it has been anointing grace to those that speak.

Look at this territory of promise. Suppose that the Church should pass all that has been attained, overleap all barriers, disregard the measure· of past human attainment, and simply march over the length and breadth of these promises, claim the presence of the Captain of the Lord's host, claim His intervention, the fulfilment of His word, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age," claim the prostration of barriers that no man could prostrate without the power of His presence and influence! Suppose that the Christian Church should get down on her face before God to-day, and pray the Captain of the Lord's host to remove the obstacles that prevent our going into Thibet, that has stood there on her heights, walled about by her mountains, and thus far defied even the Moravians to obtain access to the shrine of the grand Lama worship,-what might we not see in the year 1891, if we believed that this Jericho that could not be taken by the power of man could be taken by the simple fiat of the Captain of the Lord's host I And suppose that there was this believing appropriation of the Promised Spirit in anointing power on teachers and preachers, and in converting power on audiences that hear the Word in the communities in the midst of which these men are laboring, vhat new things we might see! It is vety noticeable that Peter did not say, on the Day of Pentecost, that this was the fulfilment of what had been spoken by the prophet Joel. TiLe more minutely we study the Scriptures the more we shall believe in the inspiration of the very words of Holy Scripture. Thore is no mistaking the words Peter uses here. He does not say, "This is the fulfilment of what Joel said." He simply says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is not spirituous intoxication, but spiritual exhilaration. It is not new wine, but it is the new wine of the kingdom, even as Joel foretold." This wa~ a foretaste; the fulfilment of Joel's word is yet to come. There is to be a greater Pentecost, to which that was only like the first few drops that indicate the mighty rain that is to come down on the mown grass and refresh the earth j and we ought to pray to-day for, and claim from God, a Pentecost so much greater than the first Pentecost, that it should at last begin to fill up to the full the language that Joel uses in that remarkable prophecy. III.-REGIONS BEYOND OF PRAYER.

is This suggests regions beyond even the promises that faith has not taken possession of,-namely, those regions beyond that prayer yet to tread. Faith and prayer are so intimately associated that we cannot speak of one without at least implying the other. But let us mark that there are different levels of pmyer. As we follow our blessed Lord, as He teaches His disciples, He goes from one rung in the ladder to [mother, and lifts them with Him, higher and higher, to a sublimer level of prayer.

Our Lord's first lesson on prayer was, " Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." But then, as we go on in Matthew and come to chaps. xvii. and xxi., a new element is empltasized: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shan receive." Now, it is not simply asking, but asking in faith and receiving according to faith. But when we come to the Gospel of John, we read, in chap. xvi., the most marv:ellous words our Lord ever spoke on prayer, in the New Testament: «Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name He will give it you." Now, this is beyond simple asking; beyond even asking in faith. This is asking by virtue of, and because of, our identification with the Lord Jesus Ghrist. His Name is His person. To ask in His Name is to ask by virtue of our identity with Him, our individuality being merged into His personality in the sight of God, so that God does not look on us as we are, in ourselves, but looks on us as we are in Ghrist Jesus. Here is a " region beyond," in the matter of prayer, that one man or woman in a thousand has scarce dreamt of. When I go to the Father in Jesus' Name-reverently let me say it-Ghrist is the suppliant rather than myself; and because th·e Father can deny the Son nothing that He wants, it is certain that what I ask in His Name I shall receive-nay, I have already received it; and it is my privilege to believe that I have received that which I ask.

Now, suppose the Christian Church should get hold of this power of prayer, and get above the level of simply asking, or even of asking in faith, and realize her identity with her Lord and the privilege of praying in the Name of Jesus; then, keeping in fellowship with Christ, nourishing and cherishing this daily walk with Him, and therefore having, within, the motions that His Spirit creates, the groanings unutterable awakened by the Holy Ghost-.these, presented in the golden censer of Christ before the throne, shall certainly be heard and heeded by the Father. And so I believe that the greatest need of missions to-day is NEW PRAYER-prayer on the highest level of prayer.

IV.-REGIONS BEYOND OF GIVING.

There is yet another" region beyond" that has not been taken possession of, and that is the region of sanctified giving. We are coming now to a very practical matter. There is a whole world of promise and of power to be 'taken possession of in the matter of consecrated means. The Church of God is doing nothing to-day in comparison to what she might do and ought to do. We feel ashamed, however, to speak of giving as a duty, because it grows on our convictions more and more that we ought to lose sight of it as a duty, and only think of it as a transcendent privilege. There is something in love that takes off the asperities of duty. "I delight to do thy will, 0 my God." That is the atmosphere of service-not the law atmosphere-" I ought to do this thing," but the love atmosphere, " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work." Now, in this unclaimed and untroddcn region with regard to giving, there are three or four things to which we want to call especial attention.

In the first place, individual giving is a region beyond, yet to be reached by the Church of God. "Let everyone of you lay by him in store." God's principle is not that the rich should give, nor that the poor should give, but that rich and poor should alike give j and every man, woman, and child thus have part in this consecration of substance.

Then we need systematic giving. ".Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by in store j" at stated times, with regularity, as a matter of habit, so that, just as regularly as the week comes round, there should be an account with God that is audited, corrected, adjusted, to see that there be no failure in this part of our duty. Just as we are to bring a certain portion of our time and set it entirely apart to God, so we are to bring a certain portion of our substance, statedly and habitually offering it to the Lord.

Then there must be proportionate giving. We must give, first, according to our ability, and, secondly, " as God hath prospered us." And this law of proportion must never be overlooked. The difficulty with the Church to-day is that, too often, we are calculating how little we can give to satisfy the claims of conscience, whereas we ought to ask, " How much can I give to God ¥ and how little can I reserve for myself, and yet satisfy the absolute necessities of my own reasonable wants ~" Vv'e ought to turn the rule of our giving entirely round. Give to the Lord the first portion, not the last. Give to the Lord the largest portion, not the least.

Then there ought to be self-denying giving, which lies still further beyond in this untrodden territory. A woman went round in a church to get offerings from the women of the congregation for foreign missions, and her uniform plea was, "You can give this, and you will not feel it a bl:t." That was the damaging recommendation. Here is the trouble in the Church of Christ: we give and we do not feel it j neither does the world feel it very much! 'We cannot conceive how God can take much pleasure in a gift that costs us nothing j and let us pray God never to let us use such an argument as that. Rather give until you do feel it.

Much is said from time to time about the generous giving of disciples. There are thirty millions of Protestant Church-members to-day, and twelve millions of dollars is the aggregate sum that is given to foreign missions by these Christians; whereas, if everyone of them gave one cent a day, it would amount to over one hundred millions, and if everyone of them gave three cents a day, it would give us over three hundred and twenty-fh'e millions a year! There is something wrong when, in the coffers of American and British Christians, there lie twenty-live thousand millions of dollars, and God cannot get for the whole work of foreign evangelization more than twelve millions of that immense sum!

At the same time, individual examples show us what giving is possible. There was Sarah Hosmer, of Lowell, Mass., a poor woman living in an attic, and working with her needle. She saved, on six different occasions, fifty dollars, and sent it to educate a native preacher in Oriental countries j and, when she was borne to her rest, six men were preaching in foreign lands whom she had helped into the ministry.

Travellers pass by, in Scotland, the estates formerly owned by Robert Haldane, in the neighborhood of the Bridge of Allan, and one feels a degree of reverence that inclines him to take off his shoes, for it seems that he is standing on holy ground. The fragrance of the act of that godly man who sold those estates, and offered the $175,000 that they yielded to establish in Benares, the centre of Hindu idolatry, a mission for the Lord Jesus Christ, is still shed abroad all through that country, and people pass those estates not without a reverent thought of Robert Haldane, and a grateful recognition of the power of a consecrated life.

Then, in Alloa, when the writer of these lines was delivering the closing words of one of his addresses, he saw an old man there, leaning on his staff. He was nearly ninety years of age, and the chairman whispered, " That is David Paton. He has given his entire fortune-$l,OOO,OOO-to missions, and he is living now on a little annuity which has been reserved that he may not come to absolute want." And yet, when that man heard my plea for missions, he managed to get out of the little that was left him $1250 more, which he gave the next day, and subsequently sent yet another $2000.

There was Mr. Hamilton, a mere clerk in a surveyor's office in Glasgow, and all the income that he had was perhaps $350 a year-yet he annually gave to the U. P. Church $100, nearly one third of his entire income. And when, in 1887, there was a special call made by the Synod for $100,- 000 for missions, that man furnished one-hundredth part of the amount. He sent $1000, one hal£ of the savings that he had made all through his lifetime. And after his death his cash account was found, with the Lord's offering indicated there, and it was discovered that he spent only one shilling a day on his own needs, besides the three shillings a week for lodging -ten shillings sterling a week in all-that he might give the more to the cause of the Lord J csus Christ.

Well may we feel that we have never denied ourselves anything for our Master when we read the story of such a man as that, living seventy-one years with slender income, and in that frugal fashion, that he might be one of the noblest givers in all Scotland, giving~unobtrusively and quietly" as to the Lord, and not unto men. "

God showed the church in that annus mirabilis, 1878, to which we have referred, what could be done by a few consecrated givers. In that one year there was given to the Lord, on the altar of missions, by less than twenty individuals in the United States and in Great Britain, nearly one million pounds sterling, or $5,000,000! Thus God first showed ns, in 1858, what wonders He can do in opening the way before His Church. And then, in 1878, lie showed both what wonders He can do in giving la1'ge harvests from the seed sown, and what other wonders He can do in moving His people to come forward, like Barnabas at Cyprus, to lay the proceeds of their estates on the altars of Christian missions.

V.-THE REGION BEYOND OF HOLY LIVING.

We notice one more region that lies beyond-namely, the region of holy living. That is the most important region of all. We must not measure onrselves by ourselves, or compare ourselves among ourselves, or stop where others have stopped, or where we have now attained; but we must go on, if this world is to be evangelized, to a life of which very few know much. We compress all that we would say on this point in one maxim: ".A holy life is a life in a supernatural realm-a walle with God." That is strong language, but the New Testament is stronger: "He that dwelleth in love d welleth in God, and God in him. " Notice the expression that Jude uses – " praying in the Holy Ghost"-as though the Holy Ghost were a divine atmosphere in which the praying disciple moves, which he breathes, which exhilarates him, which nerves him to duty, which vitalizes him, which strengthens him 1 And that is exactly the truth. A man that is a truly holy man is breathing the Holy Ghost as a sacred atmosphere. And that is the atmosphere of missions.

The thing that, more than anything else, has led the writer to devote hims.elf to the advocacy of missions has been that he has recognized in the working of missions the nearest approach to the repetition of all the supernatural occurrences of the Old Testament and of the period of the Acts of the Apostles. There is the Pillar of cloud and fire, going before God's people,' causing Red Seas to present a passage on dry ground, causing fortress walls to fall instantaneously without a blow being struck, causing the enemy, like Amalek, to be defeated as long as the arm of faith and prayer is extended. When Christ says, "I am with you," He means omnipotent power; He means guidance, guardianship, government. Jesus Christ is with us in even sense that is most precious, when we seek to proclaim the Gospel to a dying world.

We must learn to look for DIVINE INTERPOSITION. In Psalm ii. the kings of the earth are represented as conspiring together to break the bands of Jehovah, and cast away the cords of His dear Son. Wh~t does Godeay,to them 1 "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion j" and He says to His King, •• Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. " That text has been preached from a great many times asa missionary text, as though it meant that the whole world is to be converted. But the next verse addR: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." This Psalm is the encouragement of the Church of God, but not in the direction of the harvests that are to come from the sowing. There are abundant such encouragements elsewhere; but here the encouragement given is that, although the kings of the earth conspire and rulers take counsel to obstruct the work of missions, to defeat the plans of the great King Himself, He who has even His enemies as His inheritance, and the hostile territories of conspiring kings with which to do as He wills, shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, and break them with the iron rod of His just rnle.

Missionaries of the Cross have seen many such interpositions of God. We refer again to two as examples of many.

In Turkey, in 1839, at the crisis of missions, the Sultan Mahmoud said, "There shall not a representative of the Christian religion remain in the empire. " And Dr. Hamlin came into the house to Dr. Goodell, and said, " Doctor, it is all over with us-we have to leave; the American Consul and the British Ambassador both say that 1t is no use to meet, with antagonism, this violent and vindictive monarch.!' Dr. Goodell, sitting in his chair, rocked to and fro with undisturbed serenity. Dr. Hamlin said, " Well, you do not seem to give yourself much anxiety." That devout and godly man looked up to heaven and said, " Dr. Hamlin, the Sultan of the Universe, in answer to prayer, can change that decree." And they, gave themselves to prayer, and the next day the Sultan Mahmoud died, and the decree has never since been mentioned, save as a matter of history. There a ruler conspired against the King of Zion to defeat the plan of evangelizing His empire, and to expel His missionaries; but He stretched forth His rod of iron and instantly " dashed him in pieces, like a potter's vessel. "

And in Siam, in the crisis of missions, in 1851, when another hostile king would not even allow the missionaries to get premises in which to live, or ground upon which to build, and would scarcely lIuffer them to obtain a lodging; and when they were only waiting for a vessel to bear them away from the harbor of Bangkok, believing that their work was all in vain ; meanwhile they called upon Almighty God to interpose, and again the King of Zion stretched forth His rod and smote that monarch, and broke him likewise in pieces, "like a potter's vessel." And when his corpse was borne to burial, the question came up, " Who is to be his successor 1" and again God was besought to interpose. The man that was selected was the only man in the empire that had ever been trained by a Christian missionary. Though not himself a Christian, in studying language and philosophy and history and political economy with the missionaries, he had imbibed tolerant and catholic principles and impulses, and he inaugurated in the Empire of Siam the n;l.Ost aggressive and the most liberal policy in all Asia j and his successor, Chulalangkorn, is to-day the most enlightened sovereign on that continent. He and his wife are nursing father and nursing mother of Christian missions. Only two years ago they made munificent presents to our American missionaries to enlarge the borders of their hospital and dispensary work, as they have again done more recently.

Verily, A NEW STANDARD OF HOLY LIVING IS NEEDED. These" regions beyond" must be entere,d. Faith must enter the unclaimed territory of promise. Prayer must enter the unclaimed territory of divine power in the diviue presence. We must get a new standard of giving, that shall be individual, that shall be systematic, that shall be proportionate, that shall be cheerful, and that shall be self-denying. And we must get a new standard of living, that shall dare to invade the supernatural, that shall walk with God, and dwell in God, and pray in the Holy Ghost, and shall recognize the word of our Master, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," and the word of the Father that the Holy Ghost shall come down to anoint disciples, and bring the unconverted to the knowledge of Christ. Oh! we must enter this nnclaimed and untrodden territory, and then it may be permitted to some of us to see the glorious day come, when the Gospel, having been preached as a witness among all nations, the King himself shall come in His beauty, and those that have looked long for Him, with fainting desire, shall be permitted to share in the glory of His enthronement and coronation !

A very dear friend of the Editor, Miss Agnes E. Henderson, M.D., daughter of ex-Provost Henderson, of Aberdeen (for many years a director of this society), goes out to. India as a medical missionary in connection with the Free Church of Scotland. At a large and deeply interesting farewell meeting held in Aberdeen, Professor Salmond, who was in the chair, stated that Miss Henderson had with high distinction completed her curriculum as a tnedical student, obtained her degree, and dedicated herself to the service of Christ. She was about to go first to Bombay, there to stay for a year, to learn the language, and acquire a knowledge of the peculiar character of Indian diseases. After that she would proceed to Nagpore to labor as a medical missionary. Her services would cost the Church nothing, as provision had been made by the liberality of her father for carrying on the whole work of this post of which she was to be the first occupant without any charge to the Church.

That was not the only instance of It missionary going out at her own cost, because,. as Professor Salmond said, another missionary was present who occupied precisely the same position. How is it that there is not far more of this kind of thing? Many a Christian family might with ease support one of its number in foreign service, and thereby show allegiance to the Master, take a noble share in evangelizing the heathen, and bring a rich blessing upon themselves.

THE MISSION' OUTLOOK

THE MISSION OUTLOOK.-III.

BY REV. J. MURRAY MITCHELL, M.A., LL.D., NICE, FRANCE.

Let us now glance at the Asiatic countries in which Mohammedanism is the ruling religion. There has been, in varIOUS quarters, a disposition to think well of Mohammedanism. Its one merit is its discouragement of intemperance. It may raise savage races up to the Arabian civilization of the seventh century, but it fixes them there; and further progIess is attainable only by rejecti ng it. But how difficult to make it relax its grasp! Mackay of Uganda speaks of the" strange venom" in Islam which makes it almost impossible to Christianize any race that has accepted it, however imperfectly. Still, when Mackay speaks of "the universal failure of missions to Moslems," his language is much too strong. In fact, he admits so himself when, at a later date, he writes of " the work already accomplished among Mohammedans in Persia and India" as having proved "a decided success" (Memoir, p. 419).

Throughout the Turkish Empire work among Mohammedans is exceedingly difficult. After the Crimean War it seemed as if the door was opened for work among the Turks; and good Dr. Schauffier said to us in Constantinople, in October, 1859, that the prospects were most cheering. But from about 1864 Islam has wakened up as from deep lethargic sleep; and the command has evidently gone forth from high quarters that mission work among Mohammedans must be suppressed if possible, and in all cases opposed. This is what is called" the new departure of Islam." Theconcessions of the Hatti Humayoon of 1856 are ignored. Mission schools are closed, and when representatives of foreign powers are able to compel their reopening, Moslem children are forbidden to attend. Mohammedan schools and mosques are provided with a zeal formerly unknown.

In Persia the repression is not so strong. The missionaries believe that the Shah's three visits to Europe have considerably liberalized his views; and although the persecution of the Babis shows that fanaticism is not dead, yet the Bible can be circulated to some extent among Mohammedans, and religious inquiry goes on in private.

In Arabia, so far a~ it is under Turkish dominion, the public preaching of the Gospel would be at present impossible. But a majority of the Arabs do not acknowledge Turkish sway; and a definite effort ought to be made, on their behalf. Medical'missionaries at least would be safe, perhaps, even where the blighting shadow of the Turk has faUen. The Scriptures can be circulated-from Aden especially. On the whole, Arahia has been unreasonably overlooked in the distribution of the missionary force.

We come now to speak of Africa. Every portion of the field at which we have glanced has interested us deeply; but as he names Africa one feels his heart swell in his breast. The Dark Continent! Dark as Erebus it has been for generations without number. One of the latest testimonies regarding its religion is that of Mackay. He tells us that the Africans aCknowledge God, but worship only devils. They are "guilty of every form of uncleanness, and robbery, and tyranny, and murder." Yet we must not despond. The possessing demon can be cast out. Mackay de- clares it indisputable that" the African is capable of Christianization, and of rising to take his place among the foremost races of men.' , We ask anxiously, as the prophet did of old, 'What of th'e night 1 that is, how much of it is past ¥ Thank God, the midnight is gone j yes, there are streaks of light on the eastern sky.

Let us glance first at North Africa. Time was when all North Africa, from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, was Christian j and not a few of the men who stand high in the records of the Church were born and flour- ished there. But the sword of the Moslem swept the professors of the faith away, all except a small, oppressed remnant in Egypt. It is a Rolemn question why this was permitted by Him who has the hearts of all men in I1is hand j and the answer is equally solemn which good men have given- namely, that the civilized people of North Africa took little or no interest in the extension of the Gospel among the aboriginal inhabitants, and that the lamp-stand was removed because the lamp gave little or no light. Steadily Islam has advanced in all North Africa to within six or perhaps * four degrees of the equator, almost exclusively by war and conquest j and the Arabs have ruined many fair provinces to the south of the line. But we believe that the wave of devastation ,has stopped in its onward march, and in the goodness of God will henceforth steadily recede. Stanley has spoken of an early date, when he hopes that Islam will no longer be seen to the south of the equator.

But let us begin with Egypt. Much toleration prevails j conversions from Islam take place from time to time; the circulation of the Holy Scrip- tures is considerable; and more than 800 Mohammedans attend the mission schools.

Then, as to the rest of North Africa, under which designation we include Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sahara, more than forty agents are at work exclusive of those connected with the Bible societies.t The people generally are not hostile j but the priestly and 'political authorities are strong in their opposition. Yet conversions take place. Travelling south, we come to the Soudan-a region more than three thousand miles by fifteen hundred, and containing perhaps fifty millions of people. Here reigns the Mahdi with his fixed belief in his commission to conquer the world. The Moslem in this region have set up schools for the blacks-schools which succeed in proseletyzing. Protestants are doing next to nothing. A young Englishman, Wilmot Brooke, is working his .. So said Mr. Joseph Thomson some years ago. But now that Emin Pasha's power in the equatorial parts has fallen, we must say the sway of I.lam reaches the Equator.

t Mr. C, F. Baldwin mentions that there are more than thirty in Morocco and Mogador. See MISSIONARY lbrvlBw, Oct., 1890, p. 776. way to the Soudan by the Niger. Several young men from America bad chosen this sphere of labor, but alas! they all perished on the way.

Then comes Central Africa-between the Soudan and the Zambesicontaining the mighty Congo, with its innumerable tributaries, and the region of the Tanganika, Victoria, and Nyassa lakes. The churches have not been regardless of the claims of. Central Africa; in the Congo Free Statc alone eight missionary bodies are laboring, the London Missionary Society on Tanganika among them; the C. M. S. has done admirable work at Lake Victoria; the Universities Mission and the two Scottish Missions are diligent in Nyassa land. Here, then, is an excellent beginning.

To the south of the Zambesi there are older missions, all of them doing admirable service. How eagerly the great European Powers have partitioned nearly all Africa among themselves! We trust it is well; for at least the hideous slave-trade will be retarded and gradually extinguished; but while we rejoice that Divine Providence will overrule for good the earth-hung.er that infects the European races, and while we acquiesce in this part being for Germany, and that for France, and this other for Britain, and so on, let the desire and determination of the Church be-all, God helping us, for Christ !

Our remarks are lengthening out too much ; yet we dare not' conclude without a reference to the work among Eastern Christians. Under this name we include the Nestorians, the Armenians, the Jacobite Syrians and the Syrians in South India, the Copts and Abyssinians, and the members belonging to various nationalities of the Greek or " Orthodox" Church. The work among these venerable communities is carried on-chiefly, though not solely-by the American Congregationalists and Presbyterians. It is of immense consequence for the Eastern churches themselves. It is hardly less so for the Mohammedans among whom the Christians live, inasmuch as the spiritual life of the churches has been low and languid, and their ritualistic worship appears, to the followers of the Koran, to be absolutely idolatrous. Unhappily it is believed, in many influential quarters in England, that the Americans desire to break up the constitution of the ancient churches among which they labor. This the missionaries very earnestly deny. In faet, they began by endeavoring to spread light among the clergy, and turned, only when the attempt was unsuccessful. to the ordinary members of the churches. And new communities have been formed only when those who receive scriptural truth and seek to walk in accordance with it are persecuted and excommunicated. One of the most statesman-like acts of the" great Elchee" (" the great ambassador," as the Turks called Sir Stratford Canning, afterward Lord Stratford de Redcliffe) was the securing of the recognition of the Protestant Armenians as an independent community with guaranteed rights. This was in 1846. Since then the Protestant Christians in the Turkish Empire, including Egypt, have increased to fully 70,000. Their teachings among the Nestorians in Persia and the Bulgarians in Europe have also been greatly blessed. Bulgaria has wonderfully sprung all at once into national life j but had it not been for Robert College on the Bosphorus, such an.,awaken- ing would have been impossi?le.

The influence exerted on the old churches of the East by these new communities is by no means small. In some cases the missionaries, or the pastors of the reformed churches, are invited to preach in the pulpits of the older. The priests, as a rule, oppose the reformation j but the people are often friendly to it, or at least not unfriendly.

. We dwell on these things all the more earnestly because of the scant justice that is done in certain quarters in England to these important missions.

We must now hasten to conclude. We do so, as we promised, with a few remarks suggested by the survey we have taken.

We have expressed our·admiration of the feeling which prompts the Shanghai Conference to make the demand for a thousand missionaries. Mr. Hudson Taylor asks as many for the" China Inland Mission." But these things unavoidably suggest the question, What are the claims of China as compared with those of other mission fields ~ Missionaries in India will be slow to admit that the necessities of that great continent are inferior to those of China j they .will probably maintain that, in its present sorrowful unrest, the claims of India are paramount. Then, not to speak of Japan, Korea, and Siam-each, it may be urged, in a condition that may rightly be called critical-what are we to say of Africa? As now so won- derfully revealed, its demands are overwhelming. Its hideous superstitions, its fetich-worship, its demon-worship, its human sacrifices, its cannibalism, its inter-tribal wars, its slave-trade-yes, we now see the heart of Africa, and we see that it is bleeding at every pore. Then, let us remem- 'ber what fearful mischief the Christian nations of the West have done to unhappy Africa by the drink traffic. Oh, that it were possible to be as great a blessing as we have been a curse I The population, perhaps, ex- ceeds three hundred millions. What is to be done for the vast Dark Continent' It seems to us that, when God Himself has opened a dooraye, doors-which were closed from the beginning of the world, He is distinctly calling on His people to enter. But further, there are the Mohammedan kingdoms, both in Asia and Africa, and the battle with Islam is barely begun.

The question then occurs, Is it not needful that a survey be taken of the entire heathen world, and an estimate formed of the relative claims of each portion ~ It is a difficult task, and would require the co-operation of many men to do this with any approach to accuracy. Yet the Romish Propaganda attempts a solution of the problem j and the comprehensive mind of Cromwell contemplated the formation of a similar institution.

It might, perhaps, be possible to form an international commmittee, representing all Protestant missions, to map out the great battle.field and suggest a plan Qf campaign i at present, each mission, each regiment chooses its own field and fights its own battle, with little or no reference to others.

But, in the mean time, the topic should be taken up in such magazines as the MISSIONARY REVIEw,and suggestio~s offered, out of which some orderly scheme might erelong be evolved. Unless something of this kind is done,. there will be increasing collision, however unintentional, in the foreign field. Connected with this is the question of what is called mission comity, which is of vast importance and no small complexity.

In the earnest call for European missionaries, in which we heartily rejoice, let not the Church forget that the evangelization of each land must be conducted mainly through its own believing children. When conversions take place churches must be formed and, after the example of Paul and Barnabas, elders" ordained in every church" (Acts. xiv. 23). Next, the raising up of native preachers and teachers is a matter of primary im- * portance. We say teachers-i.e., schoolmasters, as well as preachers.

At the present time a large body of Christian teachers would be of unspeakable value in India and Japan. This matter has been far too much overlooked. In recent discussions we have heard much about the necessity of self-denial. But we have not heard enough. The principle is both deeper and wider than many think. We have been told that it is binding on all missionaries-" Missions arc 80 expensive j" but is there any reason for saying that it is more binding on missionaries than on other Christians? Ministers at home j all office.bearers in the Church j all members of the Church; every man that professes himself a Christian-is not self-denial the imperative duty of all such? Yet how much luxury among multitudes who, in the judgment of charity, mnst be held to be real Christians!, Has any Christian a right to try to be a millionaire? If he has become so, has he a right to remain so? For meanwhile the outlay of the Church by no means keeps pace with the increase of the wealth of the nation or, as we believe, of the Christian portion of it j and all our missions languish for lack of funds. A trumpet-blast is needed to rouse the slumbering Church. Fields are white to the harvest j the laborers are ready to go forth; but means to send them are a-wanting. "Well," says a ~elf-complacent church, " let us have cheap or even self-supporting missionaries. " Self-support, in many places, would be easy j for example, in India a well-educated man could readily find Government employment, and have three or four times the salary of an ordinary missionary. Is that desirable, seeing that very little time would remain for evangelistic work 1 Many seem to think it is. Yes; these are enlightened days j many have got far beyond the standpoint of St. Paul, and they think it well to muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.

As we have glanced over the recent history of missions, we have been greatly saddened by the many deaths that have met our eye; and the .. In a paper read before the Decennial Conference at Calcutta in 1882, the writer had occasion to dwell on this snbject at considerable length. question has repeatedly arisen, Was this a necessary sacrifice 1 We gaze with tearful admiration on the men who go forth in entire devotedness to meet, in Christ's name, almost certain death j but how awfully accountable are they that send them forth if they do not, with much prayer and forethought, take every possible precaution against danger! It is certain that, in the ardor of their souls, the young warriors, eager to. be in the high places of the field, will themselves seldom do so j it must be done for them. And we must give a word of waUling to the young warriors too. Is there no danger that sometimes they may take the suggestions, of their own fallible minds for an impulse from on high 1 do they prayerfully seek to distinguish between these things 1 We have been led into this train of thought espccially by what has happened in the case of the young American missionaries whom we referred to as having lately sought to reach the Soudan. All have perished. * Their precious lives were simply thrown away. So has it been in other cases. 0' est magnifique; mais ce n'est pas la guerre. Of old the enthusiasm of martyrdom became in many cases the fanaticism of martyrdom j and the Church had to put forth her most strenuous efforts to repress the evil. Something of the same kind may rise up in modern days. Weare aware that these remarks may be thought to savor of cold, worldly prudence. "Ve are willing to bear the imputation, if we can only help to save very precious lives which ought to be dedicated to the Master's cause on earth. Heaven, we believe, can afford to wait for these men. Earth cannot afford to lose them.

Already there are cheering examples, not a fcw, of men and women possessed of means who have dedicated themselves and their possessions to the work of God abroad. Such cases will multiply as the pulse of the Church beats higher. Let rich parents encourage their children to go forth, and supply them with sufficient means to do so. We must not rest satisfied till the noblest of the land shall count it their highest distinction to become missionaries of the Cross. So was it in former days. Columba and many of the Celtic missionaries were of noble jf not princely descent. Raymond Lull was a nobleman of Majorca. Xavier was a Portuguese of position. And in our own day Keith Falconer, so early snatched away, was an earl's son. If such examples awaken any snrprise, it only shows how deplorably defective is the conception which the modern church has formed of the" grace" of being called to "preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. "

There are not quite three hundred medical Il!issionaries, men and women, in the foreign field at present. Why should there not be as many medical missionaries, whether ordained or unoruained, as there are ordinary missionaries 1 Why not more 1 Such Mohammedan countries * See the MU8Wnary Herald, Oct., 1890, p. 394. They were three young men and the wile of one of them. They arrived at Sierra Leone at the beginning oC the rains. They were implored to wait till the dry seasou before penetrating into the interior. But they refused. .. It was the Lord's work, and He would surely protect them I" Here was beautiful zeal, but not according to knowledge. ' are Turkey and Arabia, which will hardly tolerate preaching missionaries, will pay high respect to medical men. We believe that medical ladies also 'Vould be welcome. Assuredly there is much need of them! What a glorious sphere of usefulness would be opened up to lady doctors among the inmates of the Harems, accessible only to women, throughout all Mohammedan lands! But now we really must conclude. May God grant that the heart of the Church may glow with a warmer and warmer mis- sionary spirit-not mainly the excitement aroused by passionate appeals from pulpit or platform or press, but with the deep and holy zeal which springs from a clear perception, imparted by the spirit of truth, of the supreme glory of the enterprise; yea, may we all drink more and more deeply of the missionary spirit of the great Master Himself-a spirit that combined the most perfect devotedness, the most perfect calm, and the most perfect assurance of full and final and eternal victory I [P.S.-Since the above was in type, Dr. Mitchell sends the following additional notes.-ED.] I.-MOHAMMEDANISM IN CRINA.

There is great diversity among the estimates that have been given of the number of Mohammedans in China. In the last issue of the Nordi8k Missionstidsskrijt they are reckoned as 20,000,000. In the reports of the British and Foreign Bible Society they are said to be 30,000,000. Some years ago inWestern China-especially in Yunnan and Kashgar- the Mohammedans were active in proselytizing. In these provinces, however, they were entirely crushed; the cruelty they had shown being far exceeded by the retaliations of the Chinese.

From 'the beginning of Islam efforts were made to win over the Chinese. An uncle of Mohammed visited the Chinese Emperor Tai Tsong in the year 628. In 755 about 4000 Arabs were sent to the assistance of the Emperor Song Tsong, and for centuries thereafter there was a close con- nection between the Chinese and the Arabs. * H.-SCANDINAVIAN MISSIONS.

As the readers of the MISSIONARY REVIEW are probably not so well lOformed about these missions as about many others, we may give one or two notices in addition to what we have mentioned above.

In Zululand the Norwegian missions have 9 stations. In Natal they have 3, and the Swedish Mission, 4.

In Madagascar the Norwegian missionaries, in 1888, baptized 4393 persons. The attendance at church was 49,069, being about 10,000 more than in 1887. Among the Sakalavas, on the west coast of Madagascar, they have in Morondava (which is under the Hova Government) a church of 140 souls. On the south coast there are 2 Norwegian missionaries and 7 native teachers.

In the Congo Free State there are about 20 Swedish missionaries. ~<bout two years ago Dean Vahl, writing in the Allgemeine Missions Zeitscnrijt, said : "Including teachers in Lapland, there are 57 Swedish missionaries' of these 16 are ordained, 18 are women, and 31 are native helpers.

ANSWERED PRAYERS

ANSWERED PRAYERS.

BY MISS LAURA M. LATIMER.

The 16th of September is the great day when the Mexicans celebrate their independence. I was living in the city of Guanajuato–a strange, quaint city, where the streets are veritable stairways, and the houses are so built into the rocks and the rocks so encroach into the houses that onp. can hardly tell where rocks end and dwellings begin. Because of its rich silver-mines, it is one of the first cities taken in revolutions. Its towering crags that. surround the city afford a safe hiding-place for the attacking army. This national festival was my holiday, and for a little rest I went to Silao, a city thirteen miles away. When I reached the mission house I found the portera and his wife alone, and greatly alarmed. He told me that a thousand robbers had entered the city of Guanajuato to commence a revolution, in order to sack the city. The Governor of the State had telegraphed to the President of Mexico for fresh troops, and they were just beginning to arrive. The mob was already gathering in the streets of Silao. To quiet their fears, I reminded them of the Sabbath-school lesson that week. I opened the Bible and read to them-" And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the. Lord opened the eyes of the young man i and he saw: and, behold, the moulltain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." All that day I could hear him reading aloud to his wife from the book of Kings; Sev- eral members of our little church came and stood with them all night by a little grated window, watching the street. With an earnest prayer for protection I went to bed and slept soundly all night, although the streets were filled with a mob, who broke every window in the great hotel, with yells of, "Death to the Americans." The next day the stones began to come into the mission house, but I securely locked the great street door, and the crowd passed by, and we were not molested. When I returned to Guanajuato the portera oiold me that at the time of greatest danger the surgeon of the hospital called at my house. He said that he was very tired, for he had been dressing wounds all day, but he could not rest until he knew that I was safe. He stood by the door, on the street, until all danger was passed, and his presence there was a protection. He was a Catholic, and a stranger. But I always felt that a kind Providence had in this way, in answer to prayer, protected my home. The mayor of the city sent two policemen to guard the street door. The daughter of my cook heard one policeman say to the other, " Why were we sent here ~" " To protect a lady," was the reply. " But who is the lady 1" he still questioned. "She is a Protestant i" and that satisfied him. The soldiers quelled all disturbances, and the robbers fied.

In this same city, several years before, the missionary heard the mob coming down the street with yells of " Huerte a los Protestantes /"-death , to the Protestants. He ran in haste to the street door to close it, but it was too late. He could see the flash of the knives with which they were to kill him and his family, and with an agonized prayer to God for help, he turned to face death, when suddenly peal after peal of thunder shook the house; the rain began to fall in torrents; and the terrible lightning so terrified the mob, just as they had reached the threshold, that everyone of them fled affrighted to their homes. And thus the lives of the missionaries were saved, and the mission church was not destroyed.

At the time of the last revolution in Mexico, the army marched upon Pachnea, and from the hills that overlook the city they threw their bombshells upon the defenceless inhabitants. The mission church had just been completed, and the congregation had assembled for the first time in this new chapel to worship God.· Mr. Ludlow, the pastor, knelt down to pray, and he commenced by thanking God that now they were able to worship under their own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest or make them afraid, when suddenly, without any warning, the bomb-shells came crashing into the city. He opened his eyes and discovered that everyone had left the church in haste, and he was alone. The bomb-shells fell thick and fast. First one part of t.he mission house went crashing in, then another. The pastor and,his family took refuge in a little passage-way be~ tween the school-room and house. He opened his Bible and read to them the promises of God, promises of protection in hours of peril, and they sang" Jesus, I rest in Thee," and then they knelt in prayer. When they rose from their knees the danger was over and they were safe, but their beautiful church was in ruins. There were cannon-balls everywhere in the school-rooms, fresh and hot. The doors and chairs and benches were riddled with bullets. The streets were filled with the moans of the wounded. Death and ruin was everywhere, except in the little passage-way where they prayed.

One of the most unmistakable interpositions of God in answer to prayer was the way that Mexico was opened for the Gospel. It took an army of soldiers to carry the Bible into Mexico. The Americans won every battle. They were in a strange country unknown to them. They had only a few thousand men to battle with the vast hosts of the enemy. It was not nqmbers that won the victory. It was God. Our invading army changed the future of Mexico. The Bible agents and chaplains who accompanied the United States Army scattered Bibles everywhere along their route, and the Word of God broke the power of papal Rome in that oppressed country. Those who have carefully studied the marvellous results of the Mexican War have been amazed at what God has wrought.

AFRICA.

In the depths of a dark African forest, Henry M. Stanley was obliged to wait for a company of his men who were missing. It was midnight. He was hemmed in by hostile savllges on all sides. The terrible shadowhaunted, pathless wilderness lay dark and dismal before him. All his plans had been brought to naught by une~pected obstacles. He was sick with fever. " Death and disaster, disaster and death," encompassed him. He feared that his brave followers had been massacred, and he prayed earnestly to God to protect those brave men who were in peril. Alone with God in his tent at that midnight hour, reaHzing his utter helplessness to accomplish what he had 80 bra~'ely undertaken, conscious that the issues of every effort were in other hands, he made a vow that if the lives of his heroic men were spared, and his own efforts crowned with success, he would acknowledge to the world that all the way through that perilous journey it was God who had led him and brought him safely, iu answer to prayer, when all his own plans had failed. The following day the missing ones arrived, and they soon emerged upon the plains, and the deadly, gloomy forest was behind them. The marvellous success of that expedition has given to the world one of the most inspiring examples of the power of prayer. One day Dr. Livingstone, in the heart of that Dark Continent, became disheartened. He was surrounded by the cannibals, sick with fever, and his men were about to desert him to return to their homes. He says : " The prospect of being obliged to return distressed me exceedingly, and I went into my little tent with the mind directed to Him who hears the sighing of the soul j but soon the men entered, and with the most artless simplicity of manner told me to be comforted, they would not forsake me, thcy were all my children and would die for me." Dr. Livingstone was 'greatly oppressed with the vastness of the " Dark Continent," and his constant question was, ""Vho will penetrate Africa~" The weeks that Stanley remained at Ujiji with Dr. Livingstone were a time of preparation and inspiration for future work. Was it chance, or was it God in answer to prayer, that led the most successful of all explorers of Africa through so many dangers to find Livingstone 1 During the recent cruel persecutions of the Christians in the kingdom of Uganda, the missionaries, driven from their homes, found refuge near the lake, and there they waited, praying to God to interpose and put an end to the cruelties of the brutal king l'Iwanga, for their mission was broken up, the native Christians were clubbed to death, burned alive, and torn to pieces. Their prayers were soon answered, for just as Mwanga was meditating a general massacre of all the Christians, he was dethroned, pursued, and hunted by his enemies. ,This bloodthirsty, savage king fied to the Christians for safety. One of the French missionaries took him into his house, fed him, clothed him, and King Mwanga became a Chris- tian. And he wrote this letter to Mr. Mackay : June 25, 1889.

I, Mwanga, beg of you to help me. Do not remember bygone matters. We _are now in a miserable plight; but if you, my fathers, are willing to come and help to restore me to my kingdom, you will be at liberty to do whatever you like. Formerly I did not know God, but now I know the religion of Jesus Christ. Consider how Ka1ema has killed all my brothers and sisters; he has killed my children too. Mr. Mackay, do help me; I have no strength, but if you are with me I shall be strong.

I am your friend, MWANGA.

The scattered, persecuted native Christians placed the penitent king again upon his throne, and restored to him his kingdom.

Every year the river Nile overflows its banks and floods the country. The natives go out in little boats and sow their seed by casting it upon the waters. The rice sinks down into the mud, takes root, and when the flood is over they gather a rich harvest. For many years the brave missionaries in Africa have been sowing the seed of the kingdom upon the water in floods of persecution, and now the harvest has commenced.

At Banzameteke a missionary had labored six years with no success, when suddenly he was astonished at the pentecostal answer to his prayers j for one Sabbath morning the people collected all their fetiches and gin bottles and burned them in the public square, and nine hundred men, women, and children were baptized that day.

The saddest of all stories is the story of the graves in Africa. The heroic Bishop Taylor, on foot, going from station to station, and at each mission finding new graves of his missionaries j passing on his weary way, leaving the silent dead in their lonely graves, to " wait till Jesus comes j" passing missions where the carefully built houses are vacant, the churches deserted, the school-rooms silent, and only a missionary's grave to tell the sad story.

Slavery and rum have so desolated Africa that a cry, piteous and awful, ascends from that country, " How long, 0 Lord, how long~" "Home after home is made desolate, region after region is ravished, State after State is demolished, nation after nation is mowed down like grass."

I attended the Women's National Temperance Convention which met in Chicago. I sat in Battery D, and watched the ladies as they came pouring in at the door by hundreds. There were ladies from, California, from Oregon, and from every State all the way across this continent to Maine-earnest Christian women, who had come from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, to plan together how they could put down intemperance. They were reaching out their hands to help remove this evil from every country on the globe. .

That same month across the sea there was a remarkable conference in session at Brussels, a congress unique in history. The representatives of seve~teen great nations-Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Congo Free State, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Persia, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, and the United States-the nations that rule the world, had come together to put down slavery in Africa, to save a land that had no claim upon them but its utter helplessness.

While the great Christian powers were convened in Europe to devise means to ,overthrow the horrible slave-trade in Africa, the slave-dealers were having a remarkable congress on the Nile-200 delegates, Moham- medan Arabs, met to suppress the traffic in liquors; for the rum-trade, which destroys so many lives, diminishes the number of their victims. The action taken by them is " to surround the entire coast of Africa with a cordon of armed dhows, and confiscate every European vessel containing liquors, and sell the crew into slavery." It seemed to me that God had rallied all the great religious forces of the world, Christian and Mohamme- dan, to help those patient, suffering, praying missionaries in Africa.

The whole history of missions is made up of remarkable answers to prayer. The beginning of the great work in Japan was traced to a little room where the missionaries met every day to pray.

In the State of New York is a little village nestling among the hills. , Near by is a river, where the high ruggeq rocks and rainbow falls have a wildness of beauty unsurpassed. In this little village a minister once lived in a parsonage which was much too small for his increasing family. His salary was hardly sufficient to feed and clothe the six little children. He had been for several years principal of one of the public schools in Brooklyn, and his oldest son, who was sixteen years of age, was ready for college. He was eager and impatient to continue his studies, and the father found it hard to control the impetuous boy, who would not brook delay. He was at work in a store, but complaints came constantly fro.m the merchant that he was more interested in his books, which he concealed behind the counter, than in selling goods; and finally the boy declared that he would run away to sea if he could not go to college. It was a time of great anxiety to the father and mother. They could never expect to feed and clothe and educate six children on a preacher's salary in those days. After much worry and planning and anxious thought they could see no way out of the perplexity, and so they dropped the burden that , they could not carry, and gave their children to the Lord for special work in His service, with earnest prayer and as careful training as the mother of Moses gave her little one, though she knew that he was no longer hers, but the king's. The children grew to realize more and more that the prayers of their par3nts followed them constantly.

In those days people knew but little about misi>ions. -A few years be- fore Lee, with one of the flat-headed Indians from Oregon, had visited them, and after t.hat there was a new interest in the cause of the heathen in the minister's family. The pastor carefully scattered the Missionary Advocate among the children Of the Sabbath-school. There was one little girl in his congregation into whose heart the preacher's words sank deeply. She eagerly listened, and stndied with intense interest the missionary paper, with its strange pictures of lands and people be- yond the sea, and always as she gazed upon those dark pictures of heathen cruelty a feeling came to her, a dim foreshadowing of the future, that sometime she herself would sit under those palm-trees in India. As the years passed by, and there seemed no way to realize the dreams of her childhood, she forgot her early resolve to. be a missionary. But one day, years afterward, just a few weeks before she graduated in the medical college, suddenly the forgotten VOWI3 of her childhood came to her. The rush of recollections came like a revelation, and in a flash she realized what all the training of years had been for, and she was so overcome that she burst into tears. She was the first lady physician sent to heathen lands from America as a medical missionary. The daughter of her early pastor said to her, "How were you led to become a missionary 1" She replied, " It was your father who did it j the result of his labor and prayers."

The faithful minister lived to see his prayers answered also in a remarkable way in his own family. His sons became ministers of the Gospel, and his youngest daughter a missionary. His eldest son was the late Dean of the Theological Seminary of the Boston University, a school which has sent scores of missionaries to foreign lands-to China, India, Japan, Mexico, South America, and to the islands of the sea.

Captain Hore, F.R.C.S., is returning to England via United States, after a successful mission tour in A~stralia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. To the regret of his co·workers and admirers, he is forbidden to return to the region of Lake Tanganyika, where he has for thirteen years done such ser- vice to missions. The doctors prohibit such return. He built a steamer there, made valuable explorations, surveyed Tanganyika, for which he re- ceived the Royal Geographical Society's Award, and for two years lived at the famous slave and ivory mart of Ujiji, where he was much in contact with Tippoo Tib. American friends who know of his journey through the States will doubtless avail themselves of his presence to get him engaged in lectures describing the Central African missions, native tribes, and customs, and the development of civilization. Mr. S. E. Bridgman, College Rook Store in Northampton, Mass., will act as his medium of communication. . Here is a rare chance for those who wish missionary lectures.

Dr. G. F. Pentecost seems to have met a cordial reception in India. He held his first meeting with the educated natives of Calcutta on December 24th, and the Albert Hall was full to overflowing. The Opera House was then engaged for a fortnight miEsion to the higher classes of residents, and 'great expectations are indulged. We hope they may not be disappointed. Nevertheless, we believe that our brother has taken on his hands what Lincoln would call a " big job," and nothing will make thiR mission a true success but the power of prayer. We know personally that many, both here and on the other side of the sea, are engaged in earnest supplication to God that this errand may prove to be guided by God's good Spirit. The Engtish residents of India are very difficult to reach. They are mostly of two classes, either very High ChurchAnglicans-mere formalists and rituaIistsor else absolutely indifferent and often infidel. Such walls are of adamant, and only the power of God can break them down.

1891·1 THE GREAT COMMISSION

THE GREAT COMMISSION [EDITORIAL. ] The four Go~pel narratives, at the close of each, and the Acts of the Apostles, which has been well called the "Fifth Gospel," has at its beginning words which are intended to instruct and guide disciples as to the great mission and commission entrusted to the Church. Each differs from the other, yet each presents something essential to the full and complete knowledge of the Lord's will and our duty. And as in a composite photograph we get various facial forms and features blended in one portrait which combines individual peculiarities in a collective result, so, if we carefully project these five forms of the commission upon one sensitive plate and get a composite picture, we shall see at a glance the mutual relations of each special word of instruction, and the completeness of the grand total. While we reverently seek to combine these five fragments, we do not mean to imply that they were all thus blended in our Lord's own teaching, nor to assume to settle either their logical or chronological order; our aim is simply to present a summary from which nothing shall be omitted which belongs to anyone narrative, and to group together words of instruction or promise which seem to belong together by closer affinity. The attempt so to arrange and combine has been attended with such profit to the writer that he hopes it may prove no less a blessing to the reader. The obvious parallelism of the thought we seek also to represent.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying: •• Peace be unto you!"

And, when He had so said, He shewed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again: "Peace be unto you !"

All power is given unto Me In heaven and in earth.

As My Father hath sent Me Even so send I you."

Then opened He their understanding That they might understand the Scriptures; And said unto them, " Thus it is written, And thus it behooved Christ to suffer, And to rise from the dead the third day; And that repentance and remission of sins Should be preached in His name Among all nations, Beginning at Jerusalem: And ye are witnesses of these things.

Go ye, therefore, into all the world, Make disciples of all nations, And preach the Gospel to every creature : Baptizing them in the name of the Father And of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Teaching them to observe all things Whatsoever I have commanded you: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; But he that believeth not shall be damned.

And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. Depart not from Jerusalem But wait for the promise of the Father, Which ye have heard of Me.

For John truly baptized with water, But ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, Not many days hence. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem Until ye be endued with power from on high. Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost Coming upon you; And ye shall be witnesses unto Me, Both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, And in Samaria And unto the uttermost parts of the earth." And when He had said this, He brElathed on them And saith unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost !"

., And 10 I am with you alway Even unto the end of the age.

And these signs shall follow them that believe : In My name shall they cast out demons ; They shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; And if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them ; They shall lay hands on the sick And they shall recover. "

So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, He led them out as far as to Bethany; And He lifted up His hands and blessed them, And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them ; And while they beheld, He was taken up And a cloud received Him out of their sight And He was carried up and received up into heaven, And they worshipped him And returned to Jerusalem with great joy And were continually in the temple Praising and blessing God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, The Lord working with them And confirming the word With signs following, Amen.

1891.J JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, AS DEVELOPED BY BUDDHISM IN JAPAN.

BY HENRY C. MABIE, D.D.

Among the objects of most striking interest which the traveller sees in the ancient city of Kioto, Japan, are the temples of Hon-gwan-ji- " Eastern" and "Western," so called. One of these temples is quite new, in fact it is yet building. To those sanguine souls who are inclined to think that the force of idolatry in Japan is spent, that idolatrous shrines generally are in the last stages of decay, and that no more will be built, we commend a few facts concerning the present building of this new Hongwan-ji structure. It is built entirely from the free-will offerings of the people of the Buddhist sect which it represents, from all parts of the empire. These contributions are of costly jewels, metals, woods for the building, human hair, and money without stint.

On one of the platforms of the temple are twenty-four coils of rope from three to four inches in diameter made of this human hair. Attached to one of the coils is a placard with this inscription: " Since the thirteenth year of Meiji (1880), when the rebuilding of the two halls of the Eastern Hon-gwan-ji was 'begun, the faithful laymen and laywomen of every place have been unanimous in presenting to the principal temple, Hon-gwan-ji, strong ropes made of their own hair, to be used for the work of erection. The number of these ropes reached fiftythree. Twenty-nine of them became worthless from use. The total length of the remaining twenty-four is 4528 feet, and the total weight 11,567 pounds. "

Besides these ropes were several large coils of hair, several of them gray, the gifts of the aged, which came in too late to admit of being used. The total cost of this temple is to reach the enormous sum of $11,000,000. The offerings of devotees in Kioto, apart from gifts for erecting the temple, ' to these two shrines, during the year 1889 amounted to the sum of $367,000, Mexican. And yet most of the contributions were from people who are extremely poor. Out of Kioto's population of nearly half a million less than five hundred people pay a tax amounting to $15, so poor are they.

Magnificent, however, as the temple is, and regal as the offerings were, the peculiarities of the sect whose primal shrine is here are of far more interest to me. Specially so, on account of the characteristic worship and belief of the sect.

These people are a sect of the Buddhists, but they represent a departure from pure ancient Buddhism of rare significance. They worship Buddha, indeed, but him only in the character of Amita, or Amit,abha, whom they conceive to be the idealization and glorification of highest discipleship to the primitive Buddha; they eschew all works of merit; they depend on the absolute unconditioned mercy of Amita j they have a doctrine of justification by faith only, apart from meritorious deeds; their priests are not celibates nor ascetics; they carryon active and aggressive missionary operations, and to this end they highly educate their young priests,send- ing some of them to the Doshisha Congregational College in· Kioto, and even to Oxford, England. Three hundred of these neophytes are gathered in one school near their chief Kioto temples.

They base their doctrine on that portion of the Buddhist Scripture known as the" Sam-bu-Kio," in which is recorded the peculiar vow made by Amitabha that he would ., accept Buddhaship, but under the condition that salvation was made attainable by all who should sincerely desire to be born into Buddha's kingdom, and should signify their desire by invoking his name ten times." This vow is called the "Former, or Real V ow," and hence the name given to the two great temples in Kioto, " Hon-gwan-ji," meaning" Temple of the Real Vow," referring to their basal doctrine.

This sect is now divided really into two, the one known asthe "Jodo" sect and the other as the " Shin Shin."

Originally they were one, taking their rise in the beginning of the· twelfth century under a great teacher, known as Honen Shonin. This man was enough in earnest to break with earlier Buddhists, and to outline a doctrine far in advance of Buddha's in some respects. He taught the worship of Amita, and also the doctrine of justification by faith in Amita's boundless mercy; but he also urged the value of meritorious deeds, and insisted on the cardinal idea of Buddhism, that no help can be expected in the conquest of passions outside of one's self. It was at this point that there sprang up early in the thirteenth century a departure from the teaching of the Jodo sect. The man to inaugurate the departure was Shinran Shonin, a disciple of Honen.

This Shinran is described as a sort of Luther of his time, and presenting a striking parallel in his teachings and in his martyr-like devotion to their maintenance. He was determined enough to submit unflinchingly to banishment for conscience' sake, and to bravely maintain his school in a monastery among the mountains at Takate in Shimo-tsuke. He is buried at Otani, on the mountain-side above Kioto. To his grave myriads of his disciples make annual pilgrimages from all parts of Japan. The Shin Shin sect is the outgrowth of his influence, and the new Hon.gwan-ji temple is specially to his honor. The Shin Shin sect differs from the J odo sect in its teaching at the following points: first, it holds that salvation is due to faith only in the power and willingness of Amita to save mankind, and that the invocation implied in the Real Vow is to be used only as an act 'oj thanksgiving, and not .as an act of merit, for mercy received; secondly, that this Elalvation is received at once, and not at death, and that the believer is taken thenceforth under Amita' s merciful protection; thirdly, that morality is of equal importance with faith; fourthly, that while Nirvana, or eternal happiness, is to be attained (as all Buddhists teach) by the extinction of the passions through many deaths and re- births, yet this extinction of passions (contrary to the usual Buddhist teaching) may be reached through help from another-that is, from Amitabha, he being the chi~f of the Buddhas. The name Amitabha signifies "boundless life" or "im- measurable light."

The Shin Shins maintain that their rival sect, the Jodos, have departcd from the former and true teaching at these several points. The Shin Shins have undertaken to restore the true teaching respecting the" Former Vow." Hence they are sometimes called the Protestants of Japanese Buddhism. The proportions to which this sect of reformers has grown is remarkable. They have in all Japan 18,000 temples and shrines, and are accounted the wealthiest and most powerful of all the sects. They possess no fixed properties which might be considered endowments, but depend entirely on the offerings of the people for support and for purposes of propagandism. They actively undertake missions abroad, especially in Corea and China.

In support of these general statements respecting their belief, I quote a short creed prepared by one of their later apostles, Rennio Shonin, and given by Murray in his " Handbook of Japan. " The creed runs as follows: " Rejecting all religious austerities and other action, givi~g up all idea of self-power, we rely npon Amita Buddha with the whole heart for our salvation in the future life, which is the most important thing, believing that at the moment of putting our faith in Amita Buddha our salvation is settled. From that moment invocation of his name is observed as an expression of gratitude and thankfulness for Buddha's mercy. Moreover, being thankful for the reception of this doctrine from the founder and succeeding chief priests, whose teachings were so benevolent, and as welcome as light in a dark night, we must also keep the laws which are fixed for our duty during our whole life." A most extraordinary statement this to proceed from men presumably destitute of revelation. Substitute for Amita Buddha, here conceived of as the chief of the Buddhas, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you have substantially the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith as amplified by Paul in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians.

A still more modern statement of the belief of this remarkable sect is given by Mr. Akamatsu, a distinguished member of the sect in Kioto, and published in the April number, for 1881, of the Ohrysanthemum, now discontinued.

Says Mr. Akamatsu: " Amita Buddha always exercises his boundless mercy upon all creatures, and shows a great desire to help and influence all people who rely upon him to complete all merits, and to be re-born into Paradise. Our sect pays no attention to other Buddhas, but putting faith only in the great desire of Amita Buddha, expect to escape from the miserable world, and to enter into Paradise in the next life. From the time of putting faith in the saving power of Buddha we do not need any power of self·help, but need only to keep his mercy in heart, and invoke his name in order to remember him. These doings we call I thanksgiving for salvation.' "

I Is this an uninstructed groping for" the grace of God which bringeth salvation," which is accurately and specifically met in Paul's great exposi· tions ~ Is this an ignorant worshIp of the essential Christ under the phrase of Amita Buddha r We would not dare say that these doctrinal conceptions, purely considered, are generally entertained by the adherents of the sect, much less that they have popular power to bring spiritual rest and the sense of salvation to the mass of q,evotees! But who shall say that, where so explicit ideas of mercy, grace of some sort, justification through belief of some sort, and hence salvation, however inadequately conceived, are formulated and taught, that they have redeeming power over none ~ How shall we account for the existence of the conceptions at all in any measure, by even a single mind, except on the ground that " He hath not left himself without a witness among any nation" 1 Be all this as it may, what a prepared soil is here, in the providence of God, for such missionary endeavor as shall be able. to go in among such a people and explain to them the real way of God more perfectly! What an evangelizing oracle the Epistle of Paul to the Romans would prove in meeting this unique state of heathen mind! May God raise up and bring some man to the Kingdom of the Sunrise for such a time as this !

KIOTO, JAPAN, Oct. 15, 1890.

How MISSIONARIES ARE MADE.-Dr. Cyrus Hamlin has told in a fiveminute speech how it was he came to be a missionary. He said: "In the vast majority of cases missionaries are made by the influence of the family. My widowed mother made me a missionary. She had me read every Sunday out of the Panoplist, and then later out of the Missionary Herald. We had in those days in our town a missionary contribution box, a cent box, and we were enoouraged to earn some special cents for that box. I remember well one occasion which was, I think, a turning-point in my experience. When the fall muster came every boy had a pocketful of cents to spend. My mother gave me seven cents, saying, as she gave them, I Perhaps you will put a cent or two in the contribution box in Mrs. Farrar's porch on the common.' So I began to think as I went along, Shall I put in one or shall it be two ~ Then I thought two cents was pretty small, and I came up to three-three cents for the heathen and four cents for gingerbread ; but that did not sound right, did not satisfy me, so I turned it the other way, and said four cents shall go for the heathen. Then I thought the boys will ask me how much I have to spend, and three cents is rather too small a sum to talk about. I Hang it all,' I said, I I'll put the whole in.' So in it all went. When I told my mother some years after that I was going to be a missiollllry, she broke down and said, I I have always expected it.' "

lIIISSIONARY GEOGRAPHY

MISSIONARY GEOGRAPHY-COMPARATIVE OPENINGS FOR THE GOSPEL IN DIFFERENT SYSTEMS.

BY REV. DR. J. H. SHEDD, OROOMIAH, PERSIA.

In glancing at the fi~ld which our Lord says" is the worIel," one thing is clear now which was not so clear one hundred or even fifty years agonamely, the actual condition of the inhabitants of our world. The maps and globes have changed. Vast tracts of Asia, Africa, America, 2nd the islands of the sea, that were a terra incognita or laid down as unknown deserts, have been explored and now are delineated j and the names of lakes and riverll and nations, and their populations and resources, and their political and religious condition are known. The missionaries have usually been the pioneer explorers. In crossing China, in describing the tribes and haunts of the Himalayas and all Western Asia j in first setting foot on the cannibal islands of the sea j in penetrating the thousandll of miles of interior Africa, the constraining motive has been the same which led the great Apostle to preach the Gospel not where Ohrist was named, but carried him from Jerusalem to Philippi and Athens, to Rome and to Spain. This exploring work has been done, and few places upon the surface of our globe -from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand or to Africa's sunny fountains-remain unrevealed. We know the actual state of the unevangelized world in all its terrible depravity, suffering, and need.

This vast increase of knowledge is acting and reacting on the Christian Church and Christian nations. The parable of the Good Samaritan is better understood. The question, Who is my neighbor ~ is answered from the seven hundred millions of Asia, and the two hundred millions of Africa, who are our fellow-men, fallen among thieves, wounded by sin, and robbed of their birthright by the vices and superstitions and errors of their false religions. Certainly there is a growing interest and sympathy. The dense mist of passive neglect that hung over the Protestant world has lifted. A great and happy change has taken place since Carey, the shoemaker, in England, began to plead for the heathen a century ago, and was told by the wise old fathers, "Young man, mind your own business. When God wishes to convert the heathen He will do it without your help j" or since the young men by the hay-stack at Williams College began to pray eighty years ago, and only. two or three of them dared to offer themselves to the cause lest the Church would take alarm, and refuse to have any part in so fanatical a movement. Now the volunteer missionary students in this country number nearly 5000 since the Northfield meeting in 1886., and some 200 of these have already sailed for the foreign work.

This increase of knowledge also awakens a deeper sense of responsibility for those with whom we are brought into relation and contact. The world is brought together by commerce and easy and rapid travel. The prophetic words are fulfilled, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. " Every day the telegraphic wires flash the news from distant lands-so often the echo of the woes and miseries of mankind without the Gospel. To the ear that is open, what sounds of sorrow and cruelty and suffering come from the dark places of the earth! Now it is the .horrors of Siberian prisons; next, famine, with several millions of famished and dying in.en in China; then the cholera, starting up from the hot-bed of Hindu or Mohammedan shrines, and the sacred festival and holy pilgrimage carrying the seeds of death to myriads of victims; or it is the open sore of the world in the awful slave-trade of Africa. Surely the dark places of the earth are filled with the habitations of cruelty even to the bodies and earthly life of our fellow-men, such as we, in the comfort and ease and security of this happy land, little understand. Yet here is the responsibility, not only for the temporal welfare, but for the immortal souls of onr fellowmen. Here is the fact that the world is daily growing smaller, that a young lady in seventy-three days can travel around the globe.- In no time in all the Christian centuries has the providence of God been so plainly p'ointing to momentous events and changes. The present century has cleared the way for rapid movement.

Another fact stares us in the face, that whithersoever we turn the people are fast awakening from the mental and moral apathy of centuries. The Bible and the missionary have set the world to thinkmg. The crisis is confronting us of a world awake and alert for action. The current of intellectual activity is very sluggish in Oriental and tropical lands; but there is not a nation, nor tribe, nor island but has been touched by the awakening from afar; and every year the breeze is fresher and stronger. The calico and sheeting, the sewing-machine, the telegraph or other wonders of science, :ind the missionary tract and testament are everywhere; and men are wondering what will come next. As in the host of Midian, when Gideon and his little band were encamped against them, men are telling their dreams to their fellows, and expecting conflict and change.

Another very significant fact is that in the van of this ceaseless and onward impulse of progress is the English-speaking race. Says a recent writer: " 'We stand at the dawn of a new epoch, which from the point of view of universal history is quite as momentous as that in which the Northern tribes broke in upon and destroyed the fabric of the moribund Empire of Rome. It is a revolution vaster and more rapid than that which founded the modern European world on the wreck and ruin of the Roman Empire. The world is passing into the hands of the English-speaking races. Already the English tongue is becoming the lingua franca of the planet. Already the territories over which the laws are made and justice administered, in the language of Shakespeare and Bacon, exceed in wealth, in extent, in the number of their populations and in the limitless latent possibilities of their development, all other lands ruled by all other nations of the earth. In a hundred years, unless the progress be checked, Englishspe3king people will outnumber all the men of other tongues in the world. English, ideas, English laws, English civilization are becoming as universal as English speech. The future of the world is English."

The young Greek who marched with Alexander across Asia to the waters of the Ganges and back saw a most wonderful expansion of human knowl- edge, and was filled with expanded views of human destiny. The man who could say Romanus sum considered the world his tributary, and his heart dilated at the extent and power of his empire. The young Christian soldier. who marched with Constantine under the luminous symbol of the cross to the overthrow of Paganism saw a brighter vision-Christianity ruling the world in equity and love. The young reformer who was thrilled by the religious fervor of Luther's age was lifted to a higher elevation still. The heroes of the Elizabethan era, with their legend, "Westward ho I" and the new world and new seas to be explored and delivered from the Spaniard, were inspired with a still nobler purpose and wider vision. What shall the young man to-day diseern? Have the romanee and adventure and high purpose of life all faded out? Or is there an inspiring vision} The Christian young man to-day leads the progress of a raee of exhaustless resourees and energies that is re-making the whole world. How great must be the responsibilities of living at sueh a time, at the threshold of such momentous changes I Reverently we may say: .. We are living, we are dwelling, In a grand and awful time, In an' age on ages telling- To be living is sublime."

Add one more fact : it is the rapid and great increase in the resources of the Church in connection .with the openings and changes in the world. In the century past Christian population has more than doubled, and the Protestant population has quadrupled. It is not now a little company of despised Galileans who hear the command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," but it is the mighty Christian Church of the foremost nations of the earth, with means and men and women in exhaustless abundance. It is especially to the generation noW' coming forward to whom God intrusts the great commission to take possession of all nations not for worldly gain or honor, but for Christ's kingdom and glory.

It were pertinent..to ask the question here, How far our so-called Christian nations shall yield to the spirit and law of Christ in their dealing with ignorant and heathen people ~ Vice is more easily planted than virtue. Shall drink and opium and fire-arms and social immorality go to the ends of the earth in every ship? Shall purely selfish and mereenary counsels rule in our intereourse with China ~ What profit if Africa is saved from Arab slave-traders to be ruined by European rumsellers ~ How far the nations of the earth are open to Christian influenee depends largely on the treatment they reeeive from Christians. But this broad subjeet I pass, calling attention simply to the great work yet to be done before Christian nations and rulers shall love their neighbors as themselves, doing justly and loving mercy toward the weaker and inferior races.

We turn now to the outlook in unevangelized lands. To what extent can true Christians work in faith that all other religions and systems shall yield and fall before the religion of Christ F We can see that the influence of steam, electricity, science, education, commerce, and civilization-the mingled good and evil-is permeating all lands. Row far can the true religion conquer?

Let us not overlook the difficulties. The cry, " On to Richmond," in the great Civil War was a sad illusion. There is no mistake worse than to under-estimate the stubborn resistance and mighty power of evil in the world. When we review the forces of Christianity, go about Zion and count her towers and weapons, think of Providence and truth and enlighten- ment and the Divine Spirit and grace, all on the Christian's side, it may seem easy to many missionary volunteers to go out into the heathen world, or to gather in the ignorant souls and teach them and see their conversion.

But in reality the spies who have gone and examined can truly say, "The cities are walled and very gteat, and we saw the children of Anak there. "

Let us notice some of these strongbolds that are walled and thoroughly entrenched in opposition to true Christianity. Geographically we fiud : , 1. Buddhism, and the allied systems connected with it, holds sway over a full third of the human race in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. Thibet, China, Japan, Siam, and Burmah contain nearly 500,000,000 souls.

2. Hinduism, in Southern Asia, in India with nearly 200,000,000 votaries.

3. Mohammedanism, from India westward over Asia and Northern Africa, with nearly 200,000,000 adherents.

4. The corrupt forms of the true religion, Judaism and the Russian and Roman power in so many parts of Christendom, might be mentioned.

These are the Religions of the Books, entrenched by ages of dominion and tradition, and defended by organized systems of worship, education, and priesthood. Then beyond the Religions of the Books are the outlying regions of barbaric heathenism-all Africa to the west and south, the islands of the sea, the primitive tribes of Asia and America, a mighty host of nearly 200,000,000 of lost and dying men. – A fact of great significance is that in all phases of this great conflict there are, with special difficulties, also special features of encouragement.

Let us turn our faces to the two hundred millions of heathen without sacred books. They are the lowest in the scale and the most repulsive, requiring for their redemption that the messengers of Christ follow them in patient sacrifice of comfort and of life to the habitations of cruelty and the abodes of cannibalism in the jungles of Asia, the islands of the sea, the forests of America, and the recesses of the Dark Continent. These, it might be thought, are the most hopeless and the last to be elevated; certainly they are not the races that human wisdom would select for mission work. Let us remember that our ancestors were such barbarous heathen till Christian missionaries planted their schools and stations of beneficence in the forests of Europe and Britain. The colored population of this country is but one hundred or two hundred years removed from savage ancestors. The Indians of our country and of Mexico and South America are not yet fully Christianized.

But we should notice that in the last eighty years wonderful changes have taken place through missions for these lowest heathen. We see the Hawaiian, Fijian, Samoan, and other groups of islands as truly Christian- ized as any of the higher races. Thirty years ago cannibals in Fiji were eating missionaries and their converts j now 100,000 out of a population of 110,000 are found in places of Christian worship. We see Madagascar turning from the bloody work of martyring Christians only thirty years ago, now to ask admi.ssion into the family of Christian nations. Heathen- ism is virtually ended in the islands of the Southern Ocean. The greatest island in the world, New Gui.nea, is waiting for God's law. A greater Bririn is rising in Australia and New Zealand and South Africa, and the Southern cross is fast becoming the brightest constellation in the Southern Hemisphere. .

In Africa we see changes quite as wonderful. April 29th, 1873, Liv- ingstone died. Alone, upon his knees, in the heart of Africa he died. He thought himself a defeated man, a failure! But he had travelled 29,000 miles on foot to explore that continent j and instead of .failure his life thrilled the world and converted Stanley, and his death opened the very heart j)f the Dark Continent. There is that heart of Africa to-day, throb- bing with savage humanity, and waiting for the touch of divine compassion and sympathy. Shall the disciples of Christ go and teach the savages by the slow and sure ministries and the loving words of the Gospel, or shall the cruel trade in rum and fire-arms destroy them q The King of Uganda is a case in point. He is seeking a religion-at least a change j a year or two ago accepting the Arabs and murdering native Christians and such men as Bishop Hannington j this year turning from the Arabs and begging Stanley to come and help him Christianize his whole nation.

Here is certainly in Africa an immense missionary field, among millions of men too degraded and ignorant to have any learned systems to set against the Gospel. Their very ignorance and barbarism is an encourage- . ment not for one Bishop Taylor only and his mission to strive for self- support j but a field so ripe and perishing that it will be strange indeed if the next half century does not witness laborers by the thousand, foreign and native, braving all the difficulties, and gathering in the souls by the million.

In Asia, too, this class of heathen is the most hopeful of all mission fields. The Karens are such. Among them the Baptists have hundreds of churches, and thirty thousand strong are marching on to conquest. The lnlooloos, of whom thousands were baptized in a few j1j.01).tps, ~re of the same class. In fact, according to Sir William Hunter there are fifty millions of indigenous races in the confines of India that in the near future must succumb to one or another of the stronger religions. The query is, Shall it be the holy religion of Christ ~ It is well to distinguish this most inviting and open field in all parts of the world. It is well to know that among our Indians and Africans, and among all this class in Asia aud Australasia, there is no organized obstacle to the pure and loving faith of Christ. The only obstacle is the wicked heart, full of sin and superstition, on the one hand, and the lukewarmness of the disciples of Christ on the other. It is well to know that thus far the greatest successes of missions have been gained among these ignorant and barbarous races.

But do you say that these are only the outworks, and, if captured completely, beyond them are the mightier systems rearing their walls in defiance and scorn at the soldiers of the cross?

What of Buddhism in China and the East? The answer comes back again of special difficulties and special encouragements. The difficulties certainly are great. The conquest of China will be a greater event in the Christian annals than when the religion of the Nazarene ascended the throne of the Cresars ; yet though so far off I can remember when Neander, the historian, wrote words like these: "It will be a great epoch in the history of the Church when the Gospel enters China, and Chinese converts truly accept of Christ." At that time Japan was entirely closed. There is still one isolated land from which Christian teachers are entirely "excluded. This is Thibet, the home of the high-priest of Buddhism.

But look on the other side. The barriers have given way. The Christian religion is well established to-day in China and Japan. The native brethren and the missionaries also consider that the thirty years before us will suffice to plant the Church in Japan, and to cast the mould for all future time of a natIOn of forty millions to be on the east of Asia a Christian power, as the British Isles are such a power on the west of Europe. It is not impossible, for now is the hour of opportunity for Japan. Later will follow Siam, where the prime-minister says, "My country was not opened to the West by cannon nor by fleets, but by the American missionaries."

Then also comes China, where the way is open to Christian missions on a scale never before seen. The China Inland Mission sent out over one hundred men and women in a year. The advance is clear, and America, with Christian influence and intelligence, is in the van. Every town in our land. could as well as not send a missionary to China, and support him or her in that land. It is nothing chimerical nor improper, with the cheap means of travel and the love of Christ constraining us, and the awful condition of China's millions, that we make the same efforts we would to rescue men and women from famine and death or from fire and earthquake ill our own land, Let us tum to Hindustan. The same might be said of Hinduism ih India that I have just said of Buddhism and China; except that Brahmanism is more firmly entrenched, is the very citadel of heathenism; and the key of the citadel is Ca8te. The encouragement to mis~ionary labor in India is constantly increasing. The field is completely open surely, and the' opinion of Sir John Lawrence, the wise statesman and thoughtful observer, may be taken as correct: " It seems to me that year by year and cycle by cycle the influence of these missionaries must increase, and that in God's good will the time may be expected to come when large masses of the people, having lost all faith in their own, and feeling the want of a religion which is pure and true and holy, will be converted and profess the Christian religion, and having professed it, live in accordance with its precepts."

The contest must be more difficult and longer against such a system than among the savage heathen, but the results are just as certain. Already a church of more than 150,000 members is gathered, and this church is doubled every ten years.

But what of the still more difficult system of Islam 1 I can only allude to this field and to our work in Western Asia, the Bible Lands, the lands where our Saviour lived and the Apostles preached. The centre of the enemy's camp is stm there.

There meets the missionary in those lands first a false or corrupt Christianity that blunts the conscience and hardens the heart by its selfrighteousness and formalism. Back of this confronts us the religion of the false Prophet, aspiring to rule the world, and hence the bitter supplanter and enemy of the cross of Christ. How is this stronghold of specious error and half-truth, of blind fanaticism and pride, to be pulled down 1 Where is the weak place that invites assault and promises victory? Let me answer in a word: Fifty years ago Islam would allow no Christian missionaries to labor for Mohammedans, and by its organic law will allow none to-day. Every apostate is an outlaw, and is exposed to the death penalty. But in India under the British Government this penalty cannot be executed. In Persia the government is weak and the system is divided against itself, and the rulers are not disposed to aid the ecclesiastics in religious matters. In Turkey the pressure of Christian powers is also felt, and Christian missions cannot be entirely destroyed. In Egypt the revolutions of the past few years give practical toleration to Christian work. In all North Africa there is as much toleration as existed in the Roman Empire in the days of the Apostles and early Church. This may be said of all Moslem lands, even of the Soudan and Afghanistan. Consider, also, that over against this mighty system of intolerance is another advancing power, the Englishspeaking races, pouring into every Moslem land an increasing volume of capital and commerce and influence. This is true of Egypt and the Upper Nile, Arabia, India and Afghanistan, Turkey and Persia; and we can see that the chances of Islam making head as a rival power are indeed small.

Then we should reckon another factor still more important. The old churches of the East, by their unfaithfulness, were the occasion of the great heresy or apostasy of Islam. Their revival is the pledge of its downfall. There is now an evangelical church of 2500 members in Persia, a similar church in Egypt, a similar church in Syria, and another of over 12,000 active members in other parts of Turke,y. These are bodies of living Christians in the midst of Moslem conquerors; the scattered leaven to leaven the whole lump, inwardly; the materials for the spiritual assault, outwardly. They and the missionaries are at work with the Bible, the press, the power of prayer and of the daily life. The Moslem is now on the defensive, with no hope of converting the Ohristian to this faith, while the Ohristian is on the aggressive, full of faith in the ultimate triumphs of the truth. The converted Moslems all along the line, from the Ganges to the Straits of Gibraltar, are the pledge of many more. Great events may transpire suddenly to change the face of the East, and when such events come we know they wiIl be guided by the pierced Hand that rules the world. Thus the very difficulties of the problem invite to greater achievements. There is no more inspiring work in the world than to labor for the overthrow of Islam. The conflict may. be a long one before the last Moslem yields to Jesus, but the irresistible influences are at work, the motives of the cross are sufficient, and the end is as sure as the promises of God.

I cannot pursue the subject further, and will only add: Happy is that young man of education and "Ohristian experience and consecration who shall enlist for his life work in some one or other of the divisions of the great conquest of the world for Christ!

"ON Sabbath, January lIth, 100 ministers in Edinburgh and Leith preached, by common consent, on the divine authority and permanent obligation of the Sabbath Day. The preachers included ministers of all evangelical denominations, mauy of them prominent men in the three great Presbyterian churches, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Wesleyans. The evidence of unanimity in conviction and feeling in defence of a divin(> institution which is at prtlsent the object of continual assault, it cannot be doubted made a good impression on all the churches, as well as on the general community.') So writes that prince among men, Dr. Andrew Thomson. May we not suggest that if, on the same Sabbath, at a future day, all pastors conld similarly agree to present the great facts of modern missions with especial reference to the increased obligations resting upon God's people both to occupy the whole world field and to multiply very largely their gifts, the effect would be like a thunderstorm all around the sky.

FAITH HALL, LERADO, MEXICAN BORDER MISSION

FAITH HALL, LERADO, MEXICAN BORDER MISSION.

BY MISS JENNIE BROWN, TUSCALOOSA, ALA.

Faith Hall, of Lerado, stands as a proof of Miss Holding's descent from Israel, "who as a prince had power with God, and prevailed"-a witness to the world of God's power and willingness, in answer to believing prayer, not only to open the windows of heaven in spiritual blessings, but when the material interests of His kingdom must have pecuniary aid; in proof that the gold and the silver are His, and that His stewards, solillited only by the influence of the Holy Spirit, will respond to the prayer of faith, and send their gold from afar to build the" waste places of Zion.", When the recipients of God's bounties will not give even the crumbs that fall from their children's tables for the Master's use, the disbursers of the impoverished treasuries of the house of the Lord are obliged to protest many drafts written in love, and signed by the blood of perishing souls. When this Christian heroine's petition was refused on earth, with inspiration high as heaven she turned from the limited treasuries of earth to the limitless pledges of heaven, and made request, "The heathen, thino inheritance," are in want, and "man shutteth his bowels of compassion against them. " The fixed and eternal laws of the kingdom were fulfilledknock, ask, receive.

In the year 1887 Miss Holding attended the Woman's Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met at Catlettsburg, Ky., to requestthe society to grant her $7000 with which to build a house containing a hall that could be used as a school-room and chur~h. None who heard her will ever forget her earnest pleadings. Such words could only come from a heart where human love had touched the Divine, and gone forth reflecting the Christ-like compassion for the multitudes" in • error's chains." She drew a strong contrast between Mexican darkness, defilement, alld falsehood, and Christian light, purity, and truth. The mission buildings were so small they could not receive those who were longing to learn to read the message of life. They had no room to accommodate those who would see Jesus.

"For months they had not been able to take those who crowd their doors. None but a missionary who stands in the midst of a down-trodden and poverty-stricken people can comprehend the anguish of spirit when compelled to turn away from their pleading 100K;S and words, and leave them in their helpless misery."

"Can't you, won't you, my dear sisters, give us $7000 for this building? God's work demands it; we must have it this year. " As that saintly woman resumed her seat, she must have felt, Surely my petition will be given me.

When the Executive Committee had made the appropriations for the obligations of the society, it was found impossible to give a grant of $7000 to the Lerado Mission. None but those who have assisted in distributing missionary funds know how the heart aches as they look at the discrepancy between the demand and the supply j how the soul cries out, " 0 Lord! how long shall those who are clothed at the expense of Thy love, and called by Thy name, shut their ears to the cry of a perishing world ~"

The president sorrowfully told Miss Holding of the inability of the society to grant her request, assured her of their continued sympathy and prayers, commending her to the care of the God of Jacob; who would de- fend and" send her help out of Zion."

What seemed disappointmeut proved to be love most true. Christ would lead His chosen one into a richer experience, a broader faith j into extremity, that she might prove the exceeding greatness of His promises.

Miss Holding rose to bid the society farewell, preparatory to leaving for her mission at Lerado. With a voice full of tears, she said, "My dear sisters, we must have that building this year." With inspiration she said, " I have asked for that building j God's work demands it j we shall have it." Every heart present, touched by sympathetic faith, repeated the as- surance-" shall have it." Heaven echoed back to earth-" shall have it." A triune Deity ratified the promise of incarnate God, " according to thy faith be it unto thee."

On Miss Holding's return to Lerado she was greeted by many anxious and expectant faces j because of the tumult of hope and fear, all hesitated to ask the question so near to their hearts.

As soon as possible, Miss Holding assembled the whole household. She did not wish to give them disappointment without sharing with them her hope and expectation that" deliverance should arise from another place."

After explaining to them that it was impossible for the Woman's Mis- sionary Society to give them the building that year, she asked them if they would all join her in a day of fasting and prayer, asking the Lord to supply the means for building. All heartily joined their beloved teacher in. calling upon the Lord, who had promised to deliver in the day of trouble.

Three public prayer-meetings were appointed for the fast day. As Miss Rolding was stepping out of the door at the close of the evening prayermeeting, a little girl-the youngest pupil in the school-took her by the hand and said: " Will we commence to build to-morrow 1" Miss Holding said, " The child's faith had gone beyond mine. " I hesitated just a moment, and replied, ., No, dear, we will not commence to build to-morrow, but we will get the lot ready.' " Miss Holding requested that the pupils, and all that could help. be in the orchard at six o'clock in the morning to transplant the trees and prepare the lot for the building of the house. . Promptly at six o'clock they were on the ground to show their faith .by their works. Accounting Him faithful who had promised, they made ready the ground. As soon as the orchard was cleared the first pledge of a covenantrkeeping God arrived-a letter containing money for the buildings.

Miss Holding, surely gathering that God intended that she should com- mence to build, without gainsaying began the work, knowing that He who had begun the work would also finish it.

Miss Holding said, " I knew God had heard our prayers, and would give us the building; but I thought in my heart, surely our Heavenly Father will move on the heart of some rich man or woman to send us the $7000 ; but it came in small sums, just as it was needed. I had to pray and believe all year." .

The bountiful Giver of all kept the dire~tor of His building, the con- servator of His funds, asking at the door of mercy, tarrying at heaven'i!

gates with thanksgiving; not that he would weary His beloved, but that in the audience chamber of heaven, beholding His glory, she might" be changed into the same image from glory to glory," and become to this people a living expression of the graces of thc Holy Spirit.

This sanctuary, which is of the Lord's own right hand planting, is an inspiration to the faith of the donors from almost every State in the Union, and those which hear of it will rejoice to know that justification by faith alone will be preached to a people" where superstition usurps the place of the Gospel, and priestly absolution supplants a divine forgiveness; where baptism is synonymous wit~ regeneration, lying wonders of relics are put in the place of the work of the Holy Spirit."

At the next meeting of the Woman's Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1888, at Nashville, Tenn., Miss Holding presented the fOllowing report : " , This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.' As I come to my fourth annual report, I find in my heart only a feeling of praise and thanksgiving. So manifestly hath the Lord been with us our cup runneth over; prosperity in every part of the work, health and happiness maketh the soul glad. We would not rejoice so much in these outward things if we did not look upon them as the manifestation of , the good hand of our God upon us.'

"Last year we realized the necessity of enlarging our buildings. We asked for an appropriation for that p,urpose. / You did not have it in your power to grant our request j we remember how sorrowfully you refused us j we turned to Him 'who holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands,' and whose spirit' moveth upon the hearts of men,' and He gave us the thing which we asked.

" The new building or, as we call it, the house we prayed for, and which you have christened' Hall of Faith,' is completed and occupied, and free of debt. It is a large two-story building, containing nine rooms. How eagerly we have watched it grow into its present fair proportions, becom- ing, indeed, ' a thing of beauty!! There it stands, a blessed reality- a tangible evidence of direct answer to the prayer of faith. "

" So great has been the increase in numbers that we have found it necessary to become an organized church. To meet the exigencies of the case, by my request Brother Sutherland preaches twice a month at the seminary, both in English and Spanish. We have a membership of twenty-four. The Sunday-school numbers seventy-nine.

" Our missionary society-Lerado Band-has a membership of seventytwo. The year's contributions, $59.60. The baby of the school-Maria Villareal, six years of age-is supported by the Band. All things stand out as beautiful tints. upon the dark background. When we take into consideration the sloth and utter carelessness of the Mexican character, we can more perfectly approximate the advancement of our pupils. Our souls are encouraged by drawing comparative lines, present and past. From one flashes rays of light which give promise of the full life ; the other, only a dark line of simple existence, into which no glimmer of light had ever entered. The three natures of the household have in a measure kept pacephysical, intellectual, and spiritual. This one school upon the border can no more meet the demand of this people tban one drop of water can quench the thirst of famishing millions. We have pleaded, 'and we plead again, and will continue to plead as long as strength and life remain, for the establishment of Christian schools in every city of Mexico. The rapid growth and unrivalled prosperity of this border mission lead us to hope that th-e Board, and through the Board the women of the Southern Methodist Church, will be encouraged to enter the numerous doors now standing invitingly open."

Weare told of an Irishman who, when his opinion was asked as to the comparative merits of the sun and the moon, replied that he preferred the moon, because the moon shone by night and the suu shone by day when there was no need of shining. He reminds us of some Christians, who, in their comparative estimates of Christianity and morality, give morality the preference, on the ground of the Irishman, that Christianity is an unnecessary luminary in the presence of nineteenth-century ascetics, forgetting that nineteenth-century ascetics are the reflection and product of Christianity.

The Presbyterian churches of Great Britain and Ireland held their annual season of prayer for foreign missions during the week beginning November 30th. The Presbyterian churches in the United States, in accordance with the direction of the General Assembly, held" simultaneous meetings" for the same purpose during the week following December 6th to 13th.

A native Japanese, in Bethany Church, Philadelphia, gave a fine definition of prayer and its answer. He said: "They remind me of two buckets in an old-fashioned well, while one was going up the other was coming down."

'tHE WALDEN'SIAN' CHURCH

THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH AND ITS EVANGELICAL MIS- SION IN ITALY.

BY PASTOR J. P. PONS, TORRE PELLICE, ITALY.

[Last April I had the pleasure and honor of a visit to the Vaudois Valleys, as the guest of that rare man of God, Rev. J. P. Pons, President of the Synod. and author of the paper which follows. I spent the whole day- Saturday-in" walking over the hills and valleys of Angrognia, and visiting the beautiful and historic scenes connected with the Waldensian history. I went to the Rock Simon, where one saint, bound about with cords, was" hurled one hundred and fifty feet on to the rock below. I went to the Church of the Cavern, where for centuries the little body of believers escaped persecution, hiding from their implacable foes in the merciful shelter of a cave. I had to get down on hands and knees, crawl through a narrow opening, and then I found myself in an apartment cut out of solid rock by some convulsion of nature, and where hundreds of people could be comfortably accommodated; and I went also to the neat little chapel of Pra de Tour, and saw the very pool that the persecutors threatened to make flow red with the blood of the martyrs. On Sunday I preached four times at successive services in the valley, from 9 A.M. to 8 P.M., to attentive and decorous audiences, Rev. M. Peyrot, Bonnet, Meille, and Pons being my courteous hosts and attendants. The impression left on my mind by these experiences was that God has a great work to do for these descendants of His precious witnesses who counted not their lives dear for His sake. The young men studying in the college at Torre Pellice on a few francs a week, that they may get into the sacred calling; the self-sacrificing pastors, accomplished men as they are, who are living on a pittance that they may serve these poor saints; the whole aspect of affairs in these valleys, where a baptism of blood made every spot a Golgotha, impressed me with a peculiar solemnity, and seemed to say that before this martyr people a great future lies, in the evangelization of Free Italy. Think of a people, poor and few, who since Apostolic days have steadily and steadfastly kept the flag of the cross at masthead even in the stormiest seas, and when the little ship of their ecclesiastical organization seemed to be sinking, and would have sunk had not Christ been in it-think of all the marvels and miracles of deliverance God wrought for them, of which the siege of La Basille is only the most prominent and historic-and then say, whether a people so preserved and so persevering for Christ must not, like the Saviour, have been made perfect through suffering, in order to become Captains of Salvation to the poor, down-trodden, priest-ridden people of Italy. Let us help the Waldenses by prayers and by money, and make up for their poverty by our liberality.

The Waldenses in Piedmont, Italy, have recently held festivals in various places, celebrating "the remembrance of the return of their forefathers to the paternal firesides, where they learned to pray to God, where their fathers fell asleep in peace, where they struggled and suffered for liberty." Although the persecution of the Waldenses did not wholly cease until about the middle of the eighteenth century, an event of much importance in their history occurred in 1689-the permission then granted them to return to their mountain homes from the various parts of Europe to which they had been driven. Here they have since remained. In 1848 the Sardinian Government granted them full religious and c~vil liberty. They are now also permitted to establish congregations elsewhere in Sardinia besides the three retired valleys of the Cottian Alps to which they had before been obliged to confine themselves.-EDlToR.] The Waldenses both are and always have been" a peculiar people," not only of Italy, but of Europe j and the place where they live and have lived for more than seven centuries is also totally different from the country which surrounds them j and the valleys of the Cottian Alps, near Pinerolo, seem to have been especially provided by God for their preservation. If they had not been hidden from their enemies behind a rampart of mountains, they would have perished as a nation long ago.

I.

As to the origin of the Waldensians, my confined limits do not allow me to speak about such a controverted question. There certainly is a great interest in knowing whether they werQ a pure, primitive church, which never went wrong nor needed reformation, or whether their religious principles were due to Peter Valdo, the merchant of Lyons. After all, we would better leave this question to the historians as a matter of no consequence in the present state and to the present duties of our people.

For ages every man's hand has been against them, though their own has been against nobody except in self-defence. Nor can we wonder at this, because they have ever been, since the twelfth century, a thorn in the side of the Church of Rome, a perpetual witness against the errors of the papacy, a light, greater or smaller, shining in darkness, as the Waldenses' motto says, " Lux lucet in tenebris. •, But though thus preserved from destruction, the Church of the Valleys was not shielded from great and numerous persecutions, nor guarded from cruelties such as have been seldom equalled, and never surpassed j and all that during not less than five centuries. That such things should have been allowed may seem mysterious, but we know that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church, and that seed is even now bearing fruit, and will, we trust, do so henceforth.

When God prepares a suitable instrument for His will and purpose, before everything He breaks it! The last of this series of persecutions has been the most atrocious and dangerous for the existence itself of the little flock. It took place in the year 1686, the year in which all the people were imprisoned-viz., 14,000. The following year about 3000 emaciated

1S91.J TlrE WALl>ENSlAN Cnu1WJt

beings crossed the Alps and took refuge in Switzerland; but alas! about 10,000 had perished in loathsome dungeons! The remnant of the exiled were hospitably received, housed, and fed by the generous inhabitants of Geneva and other cities of that generous country, or in Germany.

But after living some time in foreign countries, the poor Vaudois were seized with an unconquerable home-sickness, and resolved to return to their native land, to kindle again their lamp. After much prayer and consultation a party of 800 men, led by the heroic Henri Arnaud, succeeded in entering their valleys, on Sunday, August 27th, 1689.

That glorious return was solemnly celebrated by the Waldenses in the year 1889, and we had the honor of seeing our king partake of our joy, who was there represented by Count Lovera, Prefect of Turin.

The worst days were over, but still the Waldenses had troubles from the Church of Rome, till the beginning of this century living in constant dread of bad edicts. They received moral and temporal aid from their brethren from England and Holland, which enabled them to keep up their schools and their worship.

In the early part of this century three noble men of England-Dr. W. S. Gilly, General Beckwith, and the Rev. Dr. Stewart-were providentially sent into the valleys to help us in the foundation of the College of La Tour and in the improvement of the instruction of youth, as in the foundation of a theological seminary. We said, providentially, because the 17th of February, 1848, the King of Piedmont, Charles Albert, emancipated the Waldensian Church from the oppressive disabilities and restraints under which she had so long suffered and labored, and that event found us ready to occupy the field open to the truth of the Gospel.

The barriers were removed, and the Waldenses, under the impulse of their newly acquired freedom and revived spiritual life, were prompt to undertake the great work for which God had certainly preserved and prepared them. If their " Barbes" had not feared, in the past centuries, to go through all Italy preaching the Gospel, despite the danger their life ran, their descendants were quite decided to continue the interrupted mission-" Woe is unto Me, if I preaoh not the Gospel !"

II.

The first mission to the Italians was' begun by the W aldEmsian Church in Turin, and after some years it had congregations in that city, in Genoa, Alexandria, and many other places in Piedmont.

When, in 1859 and 1860, all the Dukes of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the King of Naples were driven from their thrones, and their States annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia, the largest part of Italy was so opened to the Gospel, that the ancient Church of the Valleys sent its evangelists, teachers, and colporteurs everywhere, including the distant island of Sicily.

To prepare fit men for that great work of evangelization, the Theolog- . ieal Seminary of La Tour was removed from there to Florenae, as hetter adapted, that city being the Athens of Italy. In the same year,. 1860, the Synod appointed a special Committee of Evangelization, as the Table could not provide for the wants of the native churches in the valleys, and the new congregations spread throughout Italy, which were increasing every day.

Some years later the provinces of Lombardo-Venitia were liberated from Austrian power, and immediately the principal cities, as Venice, Mantua, Verona, were visited by one or more of our evangelists. At last Rome was opened, and our Church, availing itself of this liberty, sent the first pastor who has preached the Gospel to the Romans in modern times, after the fall of its walls. He was the actual president of our committee, the Rev. Dr. Matteo Prochet.

The mission has been gradually extended, and its progress will appear, looking at the following statement: Forty years ago the Waldenses had 15 native churches in the valleys and 18 ministers (15 pastors and 3 professors). Now the ministers are 81, and the settled churches more than 60.

I give here the statistics of the Waldensian missionary field : Settled congregations.. • • •. . . . . . . . . • . . • • •. . .• 44 Missionary stations…••.••….•..••……… 53 Ordained ministers……………………. . I41 ) . . Lay evangelists …•…•••……•…, …….. . 9 Teacher evangelists……………………. . 588 ( II Teachers or schoolmasters……………… . 8I I all 132 workers Colporteurs ……….•••••. , ………….. . Bible-readers and Bible-women………….. . 8J The regular attendants at the church amount to …..•. " …… . 6,536 The occasional hearers of the Gospel to ………………….. . 49,929 The number of communicants (members) ……. _…………. . 4,428 Members admitted last year ……•……… , .•…••…. , .••.. 586 Catechumens last year…..•••••••..•…….•………••• " •.• 618 The day-schools last year…………………………….. .. 67 The attendance of pupils last year………………• " ..•….. 2,560 The Sabbath schools last year. . . .. . . .. . . .. . … …… .. …. .. 57 Attendance of pupils last year………………………….. . 2,866 There are also 17 evening schools, with 582 young people or adults. The present expense of the mission is about $60,000 per annum, of which about $16,000 are contributed by the Waldensian churches, the offspring of the mission. For the remnant we seek the help of other churches. As our missionary congregations in Italy "four times exceed in number the native congregations in the valleys, our agents in the field of evangelization are 132, and they are doing a great work j some of them having many places to visit in a week, we need aid. We say to all our brethren in faith, in the words of Carey to Pierce and Fuller, " We will go down into the pit, if you will hold the rope !" The progress made by the evangelical movement is not completely indicated if we look only at the figures. As they stand they represent, no doubt, a gain; but it is quite impossible to show by them the general impression produced by the preaching on the many thousands of occasional hearers.

We have ascertained that a general improvement of the public opinion has been the happy result of our labors.

It was evident last year, when the prefects, senators, and many members of Italian Parliament assured their sympathy to our church, coming to La Tour to assist at the Second Centenary of the Glorious Return of our forefathers. They spoke cordially to the descendants of the martyrs, and we felt how imp?rtant is the change of the opinion and attitude of our countrymen toward us. The daily press also gave to us many precious tokens of this great and real improvement.

All this awakens rejoicing, but it is not yet the conversion of the multitudes, which we long for so much. Our evangelists have done their best to attract and retain the hearers, bq.t we know that all the country is under the spirit of indifference, unbelief, and the deepest superstitions. The more we approach Rome the greater the darkness and errors are. Your Catholicism in America is a great deal less intolerant and superstitious, because the influence of Protestantism forces the Papacy to adapt its practices to the milieu in which it lives and works.

When I read, in this REVIEW, an account of the Roman Catholic Lay Congress of 1889, held in Baltimore, I felt more than ever the necessity of evangelizing Italy. Here is the head of that universal army, here is the " man of sin who exalteth himself against all that is called God, . . . setting himself forth as God." England and the United States mnst keep their ground, but all evangelical Christians share the duty to unite their efforts to hasten that day when we shall hear the mighty voice saying, " Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great."

Now, in that hope, " we beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with us in your prayers to God for us."

A Methodist Episcopal bishop of this country boasts that in the last ten years the gifts of the churches for missions had increased steadily by the sum of $50,000 a year. For the coming year the missionary committee has appropriated the following sums: Foreign Missions, $566,352 ; Home Missions, $459, t348. This seems a small sum for so large a body. The United Societies of Methodism, under J ohn Wesley, now !ncludes about six and a third millions of ministers and members, and a domestic and personal affiliation of about thirty millions of adherents. The Methodist Episcopal branch alone has 2,252,621 ministers and members, 26,200 Sunday-schools, and 2,554,000 teachers and pupils.

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS.

BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.

-M. Saillens, in a pleasant little tract entitled L'.Age d' 01' (" The Age of Gold"), occasioned by a discourse of the noted female anarchist, Louise Michel, whom a good nun has well described as une sainte egaree, " a saint that has lost her way," remarks, after speaking of the many points which anarchists and Christians have in common, that nevertheless they are exactly opposed as to two points. the cause and the cure of present ills. "The revolutionists say, Change societYI and men will be good. Christians say, Change man, and society will be good." "Anarchism," he remarks further, "is merely Jesuitism reversed. The same fanaticism, the same blindness, the same implicit obedience to secret chiefs, the same contempt of morality, of justice, of the rights of others."

-The report rendered to the Synod of the W aldensian Church, September 1st, 1890, by the Table, or Executive Commission, which is chosen annually to govern the Church ad interim, is interesting. in view of the recent celebration, so interesting to .the whole Protestant world, of the Glorious Return, when, two centuries ago, the expatriated Waldenses forced their way back to their native valleys, in which they have since maintained themselves. It was hoped that this great celebration might issue in a great spiritual reawakening. But patriotic celebrations, with all their benefits, do not always give much room to the" still, small voice" of the Divine Spirit. It is the general testimony of the parishes that no fruits of revival have been seen. In some the crust of religious indifference seems to be growing thicker and thicker. The catechumens, once confirmed, partake of the Holy Supper once or twice, and then remain absolutely indifferent to it. But in most of the parishes attendance is good, great interest is manifested in the services, even to tears, but there is a noted unwillingness to do. The pastor, elders, and deacons seem to be regarded as charged with the sole responsibility of all the administration of the means of salvation. To overcome this paralyzing misconception of a private Christian's duty seems to be the point toward which all the endeavors of the leading brethren are bent. And it is plain, notwithstanding the dead weight of old habit, aggravated by that of modern unbelief, good progress is making in the right direction. In many pariAhes a large number of the brethren are becoming active in prayer, in Bible study, visitation of the sick, and other offices of piety and charity. The old confusion between "the Vaudois people and the Vaudois Church" is giving way to a more spiritual discrimination. There, as. elsewhere in Europe, the national or quasinational crust may break away altogether; for" all are not Israel which are of Israel." But the living nucleus, the true inheritrix of the traditions and the· promises, will be set free for unencumbered energy in the works of conversion.

-In a very interesting essay by the Rev. Arthur H. Smith, of the North China Mission of the American Board, on "The Natural History of the Chinese Boy and of the Chinese Girl," the author quotes a description which, he says, sums up the whole system of Chinese education- "gnawing a wooden pear. " A very small proportion of boys and next to no girls enjoy this dismal privilege. "The great majority of pupils, when they leave school, cast aside all their little store of learning as a wornout pair of shoes." There seems to be the same difference between the Chinese and us as that which some French journal declares to exist between Catholic and Protestant countries. In the former countries, parents are as fond of their children as in the latter, but have but a glimmering conception that childhood has a world of its own, which must be divined, entered into, and provided for. In Protestant countries alone, says this journal, is there (fairy stories apart) a children's literature. The full significance of the Saviour's blessing on the little ones seems to have been reserved for the lands of the Reformation.

In China, Mr. Smith remarks, a youth learns two excellent lessons which do much to make amends for the dreariness of his biting on the " wooden pear"-if he has done so. He learns obedience and he learns industry. " But of intellectual independence he has not the faintest conception or eVlln a capacity of comprehension." An uneducated Chinese youth " knows that he knows nothing, that he never did, never shall, never can know anything, and also that it makes very little difference what he knows. He has a blind respect for learning, but no idea of gathering any crumbs thereof for himself. The long, broad, black, and hopeless shadow of Confucianism is over him. It means a high degree of intellectual cultivation for the few, who are necessarily narrow and often bigoted, and for the many it means a lifetime of intellectual stagnation. Measured by what it has totally failed to do, when it might and should have done it. we charge Confucianism with being intellectually one of the most elaborate, compendious, and far-reaching failures which has ever wrought out its ultimate results upon this distracted earth !"

As to daughters, the Chinese say, "A daughter with the virtues of the eighteen Lo-hans"-whatever they may be-" is not equal to a splayfooted son." Why ~ Because a daughter cannot offer the ancestral sacrifices, without which a family is given over to ignominy and, as is supposed, to every conceivable evil. The reason also why girls are as good as never educated is, that after marriage they are (not socially, -but legally) no longer the children of their parents. To educate them " is like putting a gold chain around the neck of some one else's puppy." If the puppy is whistled away, what becomes of the chain ~ Neither man nor woman being recognized by Confucianism as having any eternal and therefore individual value, the selfishness of mere Socialism has full sway.

" One of the weakest parts of the Chinese social fabric is the insecurity of the life and happiness of woman. But no structure is stronger than its weakest part, and Chinese society is no exception to this law. Every year thousands upon thousands of Chinese wives commit suicide, tens of thousands of other persons are thereby involved in serious trouble, hundreds of thousands of yet others are dragged in as co-partners in the difficulty, and millions of dollars are expended in extravagant funerals and ruinous lawsuits. And all this is the outcome of the Confucian theory that a wife has no rights which a husband is bound to respect."

-The Rev. George Ensor, in the Church Missionary Intelligencer for November, 1890, makes an important remark respecting heathen systemsnamely, that usually in them the moral and the religious elements are in inverse proportion to each other. Thus the highest morality· is perhaps found in Confucianism. Yet Confucianism is very nearly atheistic. On the other hand, an extraordinary depth of religious feeling appears in Hinduism; yet morally it is worse than worthless, it is foul and cruel. This may well remind us of what Dr. Dorner so justly says of our Lord, that in Him we cannot separate ethics from religion. There is no saying of His of which we can declare that it respects man without equally respecting God, or God without equally respecting man. . But, says Mr. Ensor, the much-lauded Islam, in its Paradise of lust, • displays a moral corruption of which the foulest Tantras of Hinduism, the most immoral votaries of Krishna, are simply incapable. They cannot even comprehend it. Our own Mormonism alone approaches it.

-The Rev. Henry Rice, writing in the Harvest Field for November, 1890, on " British Influence in India," remarks: "We may point with just satisfaction to the improved state of the country, to communication by land and water, to railways, electric telegraphs, etc. This is unde- niable. But all the while religion has been largely shuffled off or almost entirely left to missionaries. Little or nothing has been done as a com- munity to let our light shine before the heathen. We have feared that we might acknowledge Christ too openly, and that the natives of the country would imagine that we wished to enrol them forcibly among the number of His disciples. We have, perhaps, feared their numbers. and practised a cautious timidity, until it has come to pass that goodness has been left to itself, and greatness made the foundation and support of our authority. There has been an endeavor to rule by power, and make a display of what may be called great works, tacitly trusting that the Hindus would be awed by wonder, and render the obedience due to superior knowledge and energy. The most subtle and the most formidable forces of heat and electricity have appeared alike obedient to our will and subservient to our convenience. The effect has been very great upon a people who believe in sorcery, whose jugglers and snake-charmers perform feats which at first sight can hardly be accounted .for by anything short of Satanic agency. But we may. say without hesitation that the higher means of spreading the true religion in this country have been largely wanting. Living example in ordinary men has been the exception, not the rule. All has been too much confined to externals. The influence held by the British is an in- fluence derived from wonder at the visible greatness of their power and energy. It excites awe, perhaps, but it does not create the feeling of reverence which internal goodness of principle alone can call into being. Where there is no reverence there can be no love."

The Harvest Field remarks, speaking especially of female agency, and of India as " weirdly fascinating" to cultivated women, " In the divine enterprises to which India invites the V{est, America· is aiready doing an almost equal share with Britain. Could anything be more admirabJe? Divided there, and disposed sometimes to emphasize division, the two nations join here."

The same article speaks at length of the broad and fruitful efforts mak- ing by our countrywoman, Mrs. Brainerd·Ryder, M.D., to advance general and also technical education among the women of Bombay.. These efforts are not specifically religious, but they allow full discussion of religion, and are of course underlaid by Christian motives. The Society for Technical Education of Women has, as its president, the Hon. Justice K. T. Telang, C.LE. The Vice-Presidents are Khan Bahadur, M.C., Murzbun, a Parsi, and Pundita Ramabai j on the Advisory Board are the Bishop of Bom- bay, Bishop Thoburn, of our M. E. Church, and the Vicar-General of the Jesuits.

-The Rev. W. J. Chamberlain, of Mandanapelle, says: "We baptized here a young Brahmin of twenty-five years. He came to us a year ago, entered into full and earnest converse with us, and left with a promise to return in eight days. He did not appear, nor, after the most diligent inquiries, could we find him, He came to town a month ago, and walked directly to the mission compound, as he said, 'driven by God.' He was baptized on the following day, and soon after accompanied me on a tour into the region of his home. "

-The Rev. F. Hahn, of Gossner's Mission among the Kols, quoted in the Harvest Field, says: " How is it that Roman Catholic/! are permitted to break the marriage law with impunity, .•• while Protestant minillters are liable to punishment for doing so?" Protestant Christians should com· bine, not to persecute the Roman Catholics, but to insist that there shall be one manner of law for all Christians in India. Otherwise, without any intention of the Government, of which Mr. Hahn acquits it, it may be throwing the mighty weight of " Cresar in India" (as the empress is officially called) into the scale of the sacerdotal Cresar of the Tiber.

-A non-Christian graduate of a Christian college in India remarks, in a Christian magazine, quoted in the Missions-Blad for October, 1890, that one hostile European of high place can counteract the work of ten. missionaries. He refers to one who used to tell the people that if any applicant for an appointment was recommended by missionaries, he would reject him without any further inquiry. The writer, however, remarks that so desperate a hostility to missions as this on the part of Europeans is very rare. But," before the missionaries rises a strong and gigantic fortification, whose garrison are by no means despicable soldiers in intellectual wars. Behind they are assailed by a Bradlaugh and an Ingersoll. And to render the situation yet more perplexing, there sometimes come flank attacks from hostile local officials of their own nationality."

"The missionaries are not likely in the near future," continues this non-Christian adviser, "to advance the banners of victory very widely in any direction. But they may and ought to accustom the Hindus to look upon them as assailants worthy of their steel. And this is what educational missions are in a fair way to accomplish." '" A patriotic feeling,' many say, 'is awakening among the people of India, and their resistance is about to become more energetic.' This is the exact truth ; and let me say to the educational missionary, You have no occasion to be ashamed when you are declared to be largely responsible for this state of things. Hitherto the lion has been couching in serene disdain of you. Now he feels that, after all, you are not so much to ·be despised, and he is rousing himself for defence and for a counter attack."

" There was a time, " says this Christian]y educated but not Christian theist, "when the inner world was almost the exclusive object of human study, while men looked down upon the physical world with contempt. We are now veering to the opposite extreme. Weare so completely taken up with the visible and palpable, that we act as if everything invisible was chimerical." Tillthe tide changes, he thinks that conversions in India will be few.

" True it is," he remarks, "that often, when by a Christian education one devil has been driven out of the young Hindus, seven devils worse than he come in his stead. But he who believes that Christ is mighty to drive out every devil must believe that sooner or later his power and lordship will be acknowledged by all."

He says in conclusion, in reference to the contemptuous criticisms of the missionary work, " As the Chinese say, a tower is measured by its shadow, and greatness by its slanderers."

Mr. Herman Jensen, who comments on this article, remarks that we lllust. not exaggerate the present position of the Brahmins in India. A poor Brahmin will feel honored to stand side by side with a wealthy and educated Sudra.

He remarks also that missionaries formerly were too much in the way of recommending their converts, simply as such, to the Government, which has given a handle to those who wished to discredit their recommendations altogether.

"This writer also," says Mr. Jensen, " has learned that missionaries are too willing to exaggerate. Till the severity of absolute truth is exacted of all missionary reports, every missionary society will end its days with sorrow, if not with shame."

There are as yet many more "free-livers" than" free-thinkers" in India. The latter tendency is as yet a mere rootless result of the former. -It is known that the English Universities' Mission in Central Mrica ill very distinctly of the Anglo-Catholic type. But happily it is absolutely free from that arrogant and encroaching temper which sometimes renders the missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel hardly less uncomfortable neighbors than the most encroaching Roman Catholi~ orders. In particular, remarks the Church of Scotland Home and Foreign Record, the relations between the Universities' Mission and the Scottish Mission in Nyassaland have always been of the friendliest. Archdeacon Maples, of the former mission, writes of the latter: "The hospitality and friendliness of the Blantyre Mission to ourselves are so well known that I will not dilate on them here, but will content myself with remarking that if there is a place on the face of the globe where the Church in occupation of the field extends the entente cordiale to missionary visitors from another, that place is Blantyre. The mission buildings, with the beautifully laid out' square,' with its home-like looking lawn, its deodoras, and the noble church seen at the end through a vista of greenery, form a coup d'a!il which surpasses anything I have ever seen at any missionary station in Africa. " The Record quotes the following from Vaughan's standard work, "The Trident, the Crescent, and the Cross:" "Thousands with slender faith and scanty knowledge have embraced the name of Christ. Among these were many hundreds of Mohammedans. One of the Mohammedan converts, with a simple and ingenuous candor, said' he hoped God would be more favorable to him when he worshipped Jesus Christ than when ho worshipped Mohammed, for then they had nothing but trouble, but with the Christians they found pity, as also money and rice [largely bestowed also on those outside] which they did not obtain from the Zemindars' [Mohammedan landlords]_ He might have been the spokesman of the majority [of these , famine' or 'rico ' Christians] thus gathered within the Christian fold.

, We find pity and help' was really the voice of converted thousands. It was a voice which fell far short of the agonizing cry, , Men and brethren, what shall we do ~' (Acts ii. 37.) And yet it was a natural voice, and it was true. They began, no doubt, at a very low level; yet, commingled with the selfish aim was a certain vague impression that Chdstianity rested upon a basis of truth and justice. Many a pleasing story might be told of those who, star~ing on such a defective principle, have rapidly advanced in light and knowledge and faith, until at length they have become burning and shining lights. . . . But there is another picture, and one which charms the eye with its glowing and beauteous tints. Numbered among the Christians of India are multitudes of persons, the narrative of whose conversion would grace the fairest page in the history of the Church of Christ. • • , If deep repentance, earnest faith, and burning love, if complete self-sacrifice, if a fearless confession of Christ at any cost, be marks of genuine conversion, then has the Church of India multitudes within her pale distinguished by these marks. . . . Try them by whatever test we may, we find them approved as the regenerated children of the Most High. It has been our privilege to mix with many such, and we have uo hesita_ tion in saying that among them are Christians so advanced in the life of grace that we have, as it were, sat at their feet and learned the deep things of God."

Much is made by many of the fact that by far the most of the converts in India are from the lower classes. As to this, the Indian Witness, Calcutta (as quoted in the Record), says: "It is very true that four fifths of the converts are from the lower castes-many of them, indeed, from the lowest; but those who reject the idea of such people becoming the successors to the Brahmins have not probably given much attention to the rapidity with which many of them rise in the social scale. A youth of eighteen, perhaps the son of a sweeper, becomes a Christian, and begins to study. Three years later he is a student in a high school, and at twentyfive he is the most intelligent and cultured man in the village where he lives. His wife is so superior to all the other women in the village, and is able to help them all in so many ways, that the young couple are everywhere received with honor. Already their sweeper origin is nearly forgotten." How much more in two or three generations !

-The Rev. George Cockburn, M.A., writing in the Record from Ichang, China, says that the Mandarins, who are apt to have a smattering of Western culture, show a disheartening readiness to truckle to the JUost puerile superstitions of the people, and that since the young Kwang-su has come to the throne, the hands of the clock have gone backward. It is rumored, we may remark, that the young emperor seems sullenly resolved not to appear too much under the influence of his father, who has become a decided advocate of Vvestern progress.

-Whatever may be thought of the West African, or Negro proper, the East African Bantu (of which race the Caffres and Zulus are a branch) is, says the Record, "sharp and clever, and although a spirit of levity does seem to rule the African, it does not make him, as Major Wissmann contends, impervious to spiritual truth." Of two East African boys at school' in Edinburgh, one took the highest place in his class, " and both showed themselves not in the least degree inferior."

-Mr. Frederiek WellsWiIliams, a native of Macao, China, and the son of the author of " The Middle Kingdom," says of the Chinese civilization "that, with such a cast-iron system, any change must come from outside. • • • Almost inevitably the great tonic of new life and aims must be from Europe and America. Chinese statesmen recognize the radieal nature of the change to come, one of whom declares it a greater change for China to find herself face to face with the nations of the far West than anything that has occurred in her history. How to adapt herself to this imminent transformation is the problem for years to come. The next two or three generations will be best employed in observing and applying the institutions of other lands. As a cat watches a mouse, China watches Japan, whose rapid progress irritates the Celestial and shocks his pride. Japan may be to China the hyphen, the copula, between the old life and the new. But we shall see no more than the beginning, for Asiatic civilization moves slowly, by centuries j yet some day a great destiny wiIl be realized."

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY BEV. J. T. GBACEY, D.D.

Korea.'s Political Relation with Ohina. be 80 gracious as to give me to take back to my master. For, if the Throne It is a matter of no small interest to sends envoys, we will not be able to ac· the missionary world to know the exact commodate them properly. Then measure of the independence of Korea would we be sinners evermore. '" e as a kingdom. A late occurrence throws beg your Celestial Graciousness, our a good deal of light upon the subject. most affectionate parents, to treat us Being strictly official, it shows China's like a red child (i.e., a new-born babe), claim to sovereignty over Chosen, and and not inflict any penalty upon us for Chosen's evident disposition to secure expressing this desire. If your Heavthe recognition of at least a little larger enly Majesty bestows the letters of conautonomy, possibly as testing the tem· dolence upon me to take back, so as to per of the Court at Peking as to Chosen's save the trouble of the envoys, my tendency to secure acknowledgment of Prince and my country will ever bathe her independence. in thankfulness."

The immeditate occasion of this reo To this, however, the Government of assertion by China of her Imperial con· China declined to accede; but seizing trol of the little peninSUla was as fol. the only argmuent in the petition based lows: The Queen Dowager of Korea on Korea's poverty, adapted the former died. It has been the custom hitherto custom merely to a more economical for the Government at Peking on such base, but reaffirming the sovereignty occasions to send an embassy of con. of China over Korea. The reply was: as dolence to Korea, as to a vassal. Korea follows: sought to reduce this to an ordinary let. ter of official sympathy as between "RESCBl:PT FBOM THE THBONE-MEfriendly and equal sovereigns. Accord. MOBIAL NOTED.-That Kingdom for ceningly, the Korean First Envoy at Peking turies past having been the Eastern was instructed to solicit a modification vassal and reaped Our Graciousness of ullage, and addressed to the " Board always, on occasions of any death of of Rites" at Peking the following com. that Kingdom's household, We have munication : always sent Envoys to convey Our Sym- pathies. Such Missions have hitherto II This small kingdom, a vassal to the gone overland, making many halts on Throne which has from time immemo. the way. But this time, not having the rial reaped the benefits of Imperial slightest doubt but what that Kingdom favor, even as late as 1882 and 188!;< is in poverty, We will depart from the notably during the two rebellions when old rule and make slight changes. the Throne raised us from the earth and Therefore the Mission shall proceed by saved our ancestors' ashes, we thank water [sea] with the Pei-Yang squadron again and again for having given us new to land at that Kingdom's port of life. But this small kingdom has Jeuchuan [Chemulpol. When the cersuffered grievously from these two reo emonial shall have been performed. the bellions, and the people being in pov. Mission shall return by the same route. erty d1j.ring the past six or seven years, By such a temporary change that Kingthe condition has been getting worse dom will incur no heavy expenses. and worse. This unfortunate year the When the Prince of that Kingdom premother of my Prince died, and the sents you both with presents, you are funeral expenses are such that we must not allowed to accept anything. That economize. Most humbly prostrating Prince, hearing this Heavenly Declaraourselves, we beg the Great Emperor to tion, will forever be grateful. But you give us the instructions and the letter will see that all rites are strictly obof condolence which the Throne would

2:13

served. Let this Decree of Mine be at not take in the Gospel. All atonce obeyed by the Superintendent of Pei-Yang (of the Northern Seas, Li-Hung tempts to bring them to a knowledge Chang, the Viceroy of Chihli). Let the Board of Rites at once instruct that of the true God have as yet failed ut- King to obey." terly… ' Poor brutes in human shape, We ha7e no room to recount the exact manner in which this edict was executed . . . they must perish off the face of on the one part, and accepted on the other. These were, of course, religious the earth like brute beasts." (" Serproceedings, and might appear as if the relation was similar to that of some mons on National Subjects," p. 234.) Europeansovereign recognizing the Pope as religious emperor in his dominions. The article we now present on this But there can be no mistaking the recognition of the political relatiQl1s involved people has been translated and conin Korea saying" This small Kingdom" is a "vassal to the Throne," and the densed for our columns at our request by authoritative utterance of China that " that Kingdom for centuries past Rev A. Hartmann, from the German having been the Eastern vassal, ..• let the Board of Rites instruct that King of Rev. H. G. Schneider, a missionary to obey." This indirectly and directly involves serious political questions. among these aborigines. Mr. Hart- Korea has existing treaties with European nations, and receives minis- mann was himself a missionary of the ters from the same, such as are accredited only to sovereign States. But if she Moravian Church among these Black recognizes and China asserts her vassalage, what then? Fellows of Australia from 1864 to 1873, , This is diplomatic correspondence incidental to religious rites, but Korea and is now a missionary to North Amermay not alone have the decision of her fate. Japan may have something to say ican IndiansatMoraviantown, Bothwell, when the issue is pushed into practical politics, and 80 may western powers; Ontario, Canada. It strikes us that nevertheless it must be said in the face of Korea's confessed vassalage to China. Mr. Kingsley would have found a bet- J. T. G. ter specimen to put in evidence of the The :Black Pellows of Australia. bottomless pit of original depravity, on FmsT PAPER-PBs-MORAVIAN MISSIONS. the other side of the court room. The PREPARED llY REV. A. HARTMANN. " Settler" and the Colonist might toss It is a no less brilliant and benevolent dice with the poor Papuan for front rank, author than the Rev. Charles Kingsley who, taking the position that man might in the lowest depth of submerged actually fall by original sin too low to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and humanity. Read and judge. be recovered again, points his proposition by the illustration worn threadbare J. T.G. by saints, sinners and scientists, of the poor Papuan of Australia. He says: The continent of Australia was taken " The black people of Australia, exactly possession of by Captain Cook in the the same race as the African negro, can- name of the English Crown. It was taken, not bought, from the original pos- I sessors of the country. The first settlers were convicts. They, and alas! too many of the emigrants who followed, treated the aborigines as they thought fit, robbing them and abusing their wives, and killing them if resistance was offered. Colonial history gives no rec- ord of an organized war with the na- tives; the latter must have been few and weak, and the severities and cruelties practised upon them were therefore unwarrantable. Their thefts and attacks were in many cases incited by want, or by revenge for wrongs suffered by them. By the introduction of intoxicants, the low became the lowest of the low. A disgusting sickness, of which many of the blacks suffered and perished, as a consequence of vice, was also introduced among them. Of the cruelties inflicted on some of them in individual cases we would rather not speak. Just think of a cowboy glorying before his master that with his own hand he had killed six or seven blacks, and that for the mere sport the chase of human beings afforded him! Dismissal from service piled up the dead bodies and kindled was the only punishment for this mur. over them a large fire to destroy every derer. It is not too much to say that trace of their awful murder. Through the majority of European inhabitants a combination of peculiar circumstances looked with contempt on the blacks, the crime was discovered, and the murconsidering them little if any better derers condemned to suffer the extreme than dangerous animals, for whose ex- penalty of the law. During the trial tirpation any measures were justifiable. the whole population of the colony was in a great excitement. Many, and even So matters went on for fifty years. But men of influence, were full of sympathy in 1838 II society was formed for the pro. for the murderers. All possible means tection of the aborigines. In 1839 a law were employed to have the murderers was passed appointing land commission. acquitted. Large Bums of money were ers with full power to put a stop to the raised to employ the most skilful lawcruelties perpetrated on the natives by yers in their defence, and witnesses reo the settlers beyond the colonial boun. ceived terrible threatenings, and even daries. At the same time, the following the chief witness, one of the most honnoble proclamation was made by the orable men of the district, hardly ven- Governor: ., As human beings, who tured to return to his home. The govpartake of the same nature as ourselves; ernor himself, a brave man, occupying as the original possessors of this terri- the most difficult position in this catastory, from which we derive much of our trophe, nevertheless signed the deathwealth and prosperity; and as subjects warrant of these murderers. Although of the Queen, whose power extends over the blacks now enjoyed the protection every part of New Holland, the abodg. of the law, yet slow progress was made ines of this country have the same right in the improvement of their condition. as Europeans to the protection and as- Still, during the last thirty years the sistance of the law. His Excellency be. moral obligations toward the natives lieves it his duty to inform every inhab- have been fully acknowledged. Efforts itant of this colony that each new de. have been made by the government and spatch from the Secretary of State in by private individuals to better thei~ England speaks of the increasing stress condition by supplying them with food, laid by Her Majesty's Government, the clothing, schools, churches, and mission- Parliament, and the whole people, on aries. But alas! much that was well the proper and humane treatment of the meant came too late to save them as a natives of this land. His Excellency race. Too long these unhappy beings also most urgently and solemnly de- had been treated as animals; too long clares that it is their conviction that had there been no place on earth where nothing whatsoever is so essential to they were suffered, cared for, or loved. the honor and welfare (or interests) of Only at the throne of God, the Just and the colony as humane care and consid- the Merciful, was compassion shown eration of the aborigines. " for them; but the poor blacks did not know Him, and it was long before As one result of this Proclamation, those whites who did know it showed and the laws put in force with it, mur· them the way to Him. derers were punished. Seven convicts who, by the Government, had been ap. EFFORTS TO IMPIOVE THE NATIVES. pointed shepherds to some of the squatters, went out on horseback to hunt There is no rule without exception, blacks. They discovered a small tribe and in this case the rule was bad and of about thirty, men, women, and chil- the exception good. Among the many dren. They surrounded them, tied who looked down and trampled on the them together with a long rope, and natives of Australia there were found then butchered them in cold blood in some noble souls, whose hearts were full the dell th of the wilderness. They then

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

of love and sympathy for them. For in. poor parsonage at Paramatta, a few stance, since the beginning of this cen· miles from Sydney. Mr. Marsden tury there have been noble, humane gov· preached to the convicts and to all the ernors, who did everything in their colonists" Jesus Christ and Him cruci. power to ameliorate and improve their fied" with undaunted courage and un· condition. These efforts sometimes met tiring love. With the blacks, however, with resistance and ingratitude on the he pursued another plan. With the help part of those whom they sought to ben- of Governor Macquarie he established a efit. The blacks would stay for a week model farm, in which several families or two in the paradise prepared for of natives were placed under the guidthem, and then suddenly disappear and ance of a qualified overseer to be trained return to their wandering life. Too to farm work. much was expected of them; the most beautiful palace would have been a pris- Besides this, a boarding-school was on for them. Instead of being grad. commenced for native children, in which ually accustomed to order and a civilized they should be taught reading, writing, life, a degree of liberty being allowed arithmetic, and the elements of the them, they were expected to settle down Christian religion. The whole undertakat once. Many such efforts· were made ing was a failure, and after a few years' and proved failures. The hearts of the trial had to be given up. The children natives were difficult to reach, and the were not to be confined within walls, love of a wandering life was not to be nor were the minds of these ignorant eradicated in a hurry. Even the friends heathen to be prepared by the disci. and benefactors of the race were dis_ pline of civilization for Christianity. couraged, and came again and again to The idea was to teach them first to be the conclusion that for this race there men, then Christians. People forgot .was no hope of deliverance. As, on the that though a missionary is a civilizing one hand, too much was expected from agent, yet that civilization must be the them, so, on the other, too little was giv. fruit, not the root of Christianity. Mr. en them, causing again failure. Marsden in his old age acknowledged this mistake, and spoke thus concern. We are reminded here of the noble ing it : "The Bible," said he, "pro- Governor Macquarie and the chaplain claims free sovereign grace for poor sin- Rev. Samuel Marsden. Thelatter, born ners. No self.righteous person can enat Leeds in 1764, was the son of a poor ter heaven; he would rather hunger and artisan. He attended first the parish perish than accept this free gift. Civschool and then the grammar school at ilization is not necessary before Chris- Hull. His father, being unable to sup· tianity. Let both go hand in hand, if port him any longer, and needing his you will ; but you will find that civilizahelp at home, desired his return. But tion rather follows than precedes Chris· Joseph Milner, the author of a well. tianity. Speak to the heathen of the known Church History, desired that the living God and the Saviour who died talented boy might remain, and procured for them. That will come home to for him the assistance of a company of their hearts !" pious and wealthy men, who made it a point to support poor and talented the· Further efforts were made by pious ological students. After completing his and zealous Methodists. The first, studies preparatory to the ministry, who was sent exclusively for work Marsden, after repeated requests, at among the natives, was Walker, of whose length accepted the position as chaplain work, however, nothing is known. Tho to the convict colony at Sydney, Aus- missionaries Leigh, who commenced tralia, and started thither with his ex- work in 1815, and Cartwright, who folcellent wife in August, 1793. On March lowed in 1820, began at once to speak 2d, 1794, they arrived and entered the of the main point, but the natives did not then understand English, and their teachers did not learn Papuan, forgetting of the work to the pouring in of unprinthat the Word of God reaches the heart cipled colonists and the absence of of the heathen only when translated into such law protection as would have prehis native tongue, and that the first and vented desolating wars between the most important work of a missionary is native tribes and guarded the latter to make the language of the heathen against the outrages of the whites. tribe among whom he labors his own. Herein he touches indisputably the sore point in the condition of New Holland; In the year 1828 they relinquished and sad as his conclusion is, it in notheir work for the time, justifying their wise represents the natives as beyond step by the unsteadiness of the abo- improvement. rigines and the great expense of the mission caused by journeys and repeated Another recorded failure in the hisattempts at founding stations. tory of Australian missions is that of the Church Missionary Society of London, Meanwhile, Missionary Threlkeld, of England. Marsden, who died in 1838, the London Missionary Society (prop- had already prevailed upon this society erly intended for the mission in the to send out missionaries. Watson and South Sea Islands), came to New South Handt were appointed to Wellingtondale, Wales, and was desired by the governor north of Sydney,and were joined later on to remain and devote himself to the in the station they had formed by Gun. work among the natives. The society ther. But after eleven years of faithful approved of the plan, and Threlkeld re- and self-sacrificing labor they were ceived from the Government 10,000 obliged to leave, for the shepherds and acres of land at Lake Macquarie for a workingmen of the district (it was the settlement of natives. With firm faith, old story of liberated convicts) exercised unwearied perseverance, and holy love the most baneful influence on the na· he set to work. After laboring for six tives; and to this came drought and years without visible results, the Lon- grasshoppers, which drove the natives don Society, which had spent £3000 on from the district. The missionaries, the work, thought it right to use their therefore, devoteq their energies to work funds in more promising fields. Threl- among the colonists. keld, however, could not leave his Papuans. He carried on the work, The Methodists had again established partly from his own means and partly mission stations in different places in by the assistance of friends and the 1838 and 1840, and met with some de. government. He learned the native gree of success. In the saIDe year mis. language, prepared a grammar, trans- sionaries were sent out by the Lutheran lated parts of the Bible, as well as a Missionary Society at Dresden (now number of hymns. Leipzig), and a number also by Gossner, at the request of a Scottish Presbyterian Generally three or four tribes lived on minister in New South Wales. The the reserve, but their stay was never of a Lutherans, after a few years of fruitless long duration. The news of a corroboree labor, left the natives and became pas. (er dance) or oftener the information that tors to various congregations of Euroa hostile tribe was approaching was suffi- peans. A few years Jater the Gossner cient to scatter them,in spite of all Threl- missionaries followed their example. keld's efforts to keep them. All the ef- The natives had, indeed, begun to dis. forts,sacrifices,and pains of this excellent tinguish between these whites and those man remained fruttless, and as the con- whom they had known hilherto. They tributions of friends flowed more scan- put confidence in the missionaries and tily, and the support of the Government showed at times a desire to work, but was stopped, this champion of the Gos- soon tired of it, and rewarded the kind· pel found himself compelled to leave the ness and patience of the messengers of station. That was a bitter pill! Yet peace by continual thefts. At length still the noble man attributes the failure all the tribes of the district formed tive, is it to be expected that he will themselves into robber-bands, who at- make a distinction in favor of those few tacked and robbed the neighboring sta- who giT8 themselves out as his friends; tions in broad daylight wherever the that he will put full confidence in them, objects of their plunder were not pro- and accept their word, their advice, their tected by revolver and gun. But, in the message? Will he not rather take admean time, the missionaries had the joy vantage of their kindness and, by stealof seeing two of the natives converted. ing their goods, recompense himself for Still the results were, on the whole, so what has been taken from him? Sad sad and unsatisfactory that some of the to say, that in Australia it is not the obmissionaries left the place, with a view duracy of the aborigines but the hardto Illbor among the settlers. Those who heartedness of professing Christians remained directed their efforts to the which has been the greatest stumbling- Bame object, without losing sight of the block in the way of the Gospel. poor natives; and Missionary Gerler wrote, in 1855, "I llm convinced that The Glad Tidings in Morocco. the time is not far distant when the blacks will cry out, ' What must I do to BY JAMES EDWARD BUDGETT MEAKIN. be saved?'" Further efforts made by the English Church, under the direction (For some years editor of the Times of Moroc()/).) of the energetic Archdellcon Hale, of Adelaide, were put an end to by the It is only of late years that any sysdying out of the natives. Of later trials tematic attempt has been made to bring and successes experienced in connection the Gospel before the people of Morocwith different churches and societies we co, though they live, as it were, at the will not now speak, but notice them as very doors of Europe. A small body cotemporary with the missions of the of missionaries are laboring among the Renewed Brethren's Church (Mora- Moors. So far, however, only' a very vians), of which it is our intention to small number have sufficiently surspeak in the next paper. mounted the initial difficulty of the language-Arabic-to be able to do T,he enumeration of aU these failures much in the way of direct teaching or is very discouraging, yet it shows the controversy. But there are other ways difficulties attending the work of evan- in which the people may be reached, gelizing this spoiled and degrllded race. such as by medical treatment of the sick. Let us weigh these well, not forgetting that by the grace of God they may be The benighted condition of Morocco surmounted, and we have a strong proof is such that the aims and objects of misof 'the necessity and duty of carrying sionary laborers are not yet realized, and on mission work. The faith and love the Mohammedans cannot imagine that of Christendom and of its messengers anyone of their number could prove can llnd should overcome, in spite of all himself, weak enough in their faith to the opposition of the servants of sin seriously entertain any other. Once and Satan. Still, in considering what they become fully alive to the,facts of has been and may still be said regard- the case trouble and fierce opposition ing the work in Australia, we must take may be expected. into account not only the sad state of the natives, but also the bllneful influ- The initial difficulty in dealing with ence which has been exercised upon the Moors is their utter self-satisfiedthem by thousands of ungodly whites ness and indifference to outside influduring the last century. If contempt, ences. What was good for their fathers bad treatment, robbery. violence, and is good for them ; and they are brought murder are connected with the idea of up so sure of a heaven of material bliss, the white man in the mind of the na- even after a life of sin, provided that they comply with certain forms, that they see no reason even to listen to the emissaries of Christianity. But, thank God! there are many who have listened, with certain religious duties which are and some among them who have obeyed carefully defined in the' Book to be Read' and been baptized, but these are few (the Quran), we are sure of eternal bliss I"~ and weak, needing much instruction. We who have lived in Morocco can The next ob,stacle to the work is the testify with one accord that this empire utterly erroneous ideas possessed by the is too steeped in sin to allow us to lay Moors concerning Christianity and bare the truth. Crime and misery Christians. They believe, to begin abound, and justice is all but unknown. with, and often tell us so, that we wor- Possessed of a beautiful country, the ship a woman as equal with God-a Moors drag out an almost torpid existmost awful idea to such strict Unita- ence without enjoying one tithe of the rians as Muslims are. They say then blessings within their grasp. Such is that we worship bread and wine as Morocco to-day, and I do not hesitate God; that we have introduced the to give as the reason that it is a victim greater part of the history of Christ into to the spell of Islam. the Gospel, and that we have eradicated every prophecy about Mohammed ex- The difficulties to be met with are not cept John 14 : 26, which they declare small nor few. The fear of the" powrefers to that teacher. It is easy to see ers that be," and the feeling that the whence these ideas come, but still more acknowledged convert must become an Bad to note what they judge from the outcast, cut off from his dearest friends; specimens of nominal Christians with and subject to bitter persecution in whom they have had to deal, to be proportion to his boldness in his new equally tenets of our religion. They faith, is a very serious matter, and s have no doubt that every good Chris- man's change of heart must be real and tian gets drunk once a week or more thorough before he can be expected to often if he can, and that it is their in- make an open profession with such revariable rule to make up for only being_ sults. Even when he has the example allowed one wife by supplies from the before him of others who have stood streets. The wearing of a hat and the and suffered it is easier for him. Neveating of pork are looked upon as ertheless, thousands of Moors have equally essential to the Ohristian life, learned the difference between nominal and it ill generally considel."ed that dis- and real Christians, so much so, that honesty, venalism, and every abuse of while the name Nazarene is still applied power are matters of course with the fol- to all, the names MaseeaM and Kitab~ lowers of the Messiah. (Christian and Biblical) are now given by them to the missionaries and their "The difference between your way few sympathizers to distinguish them and my way," said an intelligent Moor from the others. Medical work among one day to a lady missionary, "is that them and the kindness shown to them yours is hemmea in on either side by re- in many ways are steadily taking effect; strictions which must make your life and although few have come forward miserable, and you have nothing to from among them, and after careful hope for, after all, for your heaven has teaching and examination have been no earthly joys. My way, on the other baptized, there is a pleasurable certainty hand, leaves me room to do much as that a far greater number have the truth I like in this world, and in the next the planted in their hearts, that they know pleasantest sins of this will be our law- the way of salvation, and that but for ful and continual pleasures. Think of fear of man they would acknowledge it. that! Then, too, our lord l'rlohammed, We must not think hardly of these weak the messenger of God-the prayers of ones. God be on him, and peace I-is so good and powerful that, however we may sin BISHOP HANNINGTON'S BONES.-It was against God now, so long as we comply a remarkable Providence that enabled the Church of England Missionary So- ed that he would get rid of the bones by ciety to recover the body of their mar- taking them to the white man. He tyr-Bishop Hannington, who was mur- passed the place twice, and I fancy it dered in Oentral Africa, under circum- was on the second journey that he took stances that would have seemed to the bones to Mr. Jackson. forever preclude the possibility of his receiving Christian burial at all, much "The above is in substance what less the return of the remains to Chris- Marko says. Some of the details may tian England. The story has been most be incorrect." vividly told, but now we have the de- tails of the way in which God's provi- -The American Board has rightfully dence kept ., all his bones." applied to Mr. Blaine for the protection of American property interests in con- It was with peculiar interest that we nection with the newest outrages of the read the communication made by Rev. Spanish authorities on the American R. H. Walker to the Church of England missions in the Caroline Islands. We Missionary Society, in explanation of the trust our Government will speak with manner of the recovery of Bishop Han- some vigor to that anachronism in modnington's body. A strange interest will ern civilization known as the Governhang around this story for a long time to ment of Spain. It is little worth while come. Little wonder that it has recalled allowing this representative of an effete the story of the Ark of the Lord turned civilization to be strutting with misused loose under divine supervision alone. authority in a remote corner of the Mr_ Walker wrote: .. When Bishop globe. At best, Spain is out of joint Hannington was murdered, the same with the times. She feeds on memories day his body was carried to another and mumbles beads; her battles are place, because the people feared that the bull-fights and her victories autos-daje, dead body of a white man might bring and she might as well be relegated to evil on them. But the people of the some museum of political antiquities. next place refused to have it ; and so it Has Mr. Blaine ever secured any indemwas carried from place to place, each nity for Mr. Doane, and will he now refusing to alJow it to remain in their call Spain into court for protection not country. A coast man, who we under- of missicnary, but of American interstand was one of Bishop Hannington's ests? porters, accompanied the corpse. At last it reached a place on the boundary -There is a tract entitled" Christian of Busoga, or in the country of the Women of North China to the Christian Bakeddi. Here they agreed to build a Women of England upon the Opium Inhouse for it, and on a framework or bed- iquity." In this these Chinese Christian stead, such as they make for smoking women declare to all Europe, and to all meat and fish on, the body was laid, and mankind, that" foreign opium in Chinais left to decay. An agreement was made a greater scourge than war or pestilence." with the coast man to live at this house These China Christians are taunted with and to take care of it, and in return the having adopted the l'eIigion of "the people would give him food. foreign devils, who are making China into a hell by their opium ;" and what " To this place Marko, the messenger is worse, the poor weak little Christian from Mwanga to Mr. Jackson of the Church in the Celestial Empire is well- Imperial British East Africa Company, nigh decimated by the use of the drug. came on his way with letters. He seems to have heard that the people -A collector of Bombay has among there had experienced bad harvests and his curiosities a Chinese god marked drought of late years, and that they at- "Heathen Idol," and next to it is a tributed this to the fact of their having gold piece marked " Christian Idol." the white man'~ bones; and he suggest-

EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS

III.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.

RUSSIA is exciting no little criticism special attention to the instruction of and animadversion by her course toward mISSIonaries. Miss Swain, M.D., was the Jews and the exiles' in Siberia. the first woman medical miSSionary to Lately the details have been published Asia. of a horrible outrage upon a Jewish lad named Rutenberg, at Bialystok, about The EpOCH OF ORGANIZATION seems to one hundred miles from Warsaw, by a have come. Certainly in Christian work Russian medical man, Dr. Gravonsky. the organizations are both multiplying The boy, with some schoolmates, had and extending their bounds. Some of plucked some apples off a tree and, being them have overleaped the limits of caught in the act, was carried into a stable States, denominatIOns and even conti- where he was brutally branded with nents. For instance, "The Young lunar caustic on the forehead, chin, and Men's Christian Association," "The both cheeks with the words" Jew" and Young Women's Christian Temperance "thief" in Russian, Polish, and Hebrew. Union," "The Society of Christian A photograph has been circulated show- Endeavor," now enrolling one hundred ing the horrible branding of this lad's thousand members, "The White Rib- countenance, and has awakened snch in- bon Army," "The Boys' Brigade," dignation that the authorities have " The King's Daughters," "The Shut· prohibited its sale or circulation. in Society," "Kitchen Gardens," "Guilds," "Christian Workers' Train- THE HONOR ROLL of Wesleyan Meth- ing Classes," "Bible Corresponding odist and Methodist Episcopal mission- Schools, .. "Parochial Associations," ~ aries is a very long and illustrious one. "Chautauqua Classes," "Working- Among Wesleyan Methodists the name men's Clubs," and others. of Thomas Coke stands pre-eminent. He had a hold upon both continents, being Our only apprehension is that these the first bishop of the Methodist Epis- forms of Christian effort and organiza- copal Church under Wesley's commis- tion may wean away from the churches sion. He died on the way to India. those whom they should attract to them, He poured his private fortune into the may fail to acknowledge the supervision cause of missions. The Rev. John of pastors and church officers, and es- Hunt will always have front rank for pecially may, in the pride of numbers, work among the Fiji people. The Rev. commit that fatal mistake of overlook- Elijah Hoole was fifty years in India. ing quality in quantity Samuel Leigh won undying fame in New Zealand, and John Thomas in the There are many Christian parents, Friendly Islands. says the Ohurch Missionary InteUigencer, who are leading people in the Christian From the Methodist Episcopal world, who claim reserved seats at Church, Melville Cox died in Africa. crowded missionary meetings, and join George Bowen, of Bombay, was known in congratulations over the increasing as " Good George Bowen." Among the number of candidates for missionary ser- living missionaries, William •Butler, vice, but who will not bear of their own founder of twenty missions of this sons and daughters offering for that ser- church in India and Mexico, Bishop vice. What a rare jewel is consistency! Thobum, of India, and Bishop William Taylor, of Africa, are perhaps the best Among missionary books we feel con· known generally. Dr. Maclay, who strained especially to recommend " Mis- spent forty years in China and Japan, sionary Enterprises in the South Sea now in his old age is professor in a the- Islands," by John Williams, an edition ological seminary in California, giving of which is published by the Presbyte. rian Board, 1334 Chestnut Street, Phil- dially to every reader who is interested adelphia. It was this remarkable bopk in missions. which led the Bishop of Ripon to ex- claim, when he laid it down, "This is We have received from the publish. the 29th chapter in the Book of the Acts ers, James Nesbit & Co., London, a copy of the Apostles." It is the story of a of a little work known as " Once Hindu triumphal progress. John Williams -Now Christian," edited by Dr. J. Mur- moved in every direction, 2000 miles ray MHchell, our esteemed correspond. from the shores of Tahiti, and within 22 ent. It is the autobiography of a very years, from 1817 to 1839, carried the admirable man, one of the ablest and Gospel to all the islands within that inost devoted Christians in India, Baba radius, and saw not only some of those Padmanji. It is intensely interesting, islands, but whole groups of them, turn- and gives us a remarkable insight into ing from idolatry to the living God. the difficulties of a native convert in India, and it shows how remarkably Perhaps the most compendious ency- useful a man may be who is brought clopredia of missions which has yet ap. out of East India society into a thorough peared is that entitled" Conquestsof the espousal of the Gospel. Mr. Padmanji Cross," by Edwin Hodder. It is pub. has been the author of about seventy. lished by subscription, Cassell & Co. five books and tracts published by the being the publishers. Only two vol- Book and Tract Society of Bombay, umes have as yet reached my table, but Christian Vernacular Education Society, those two volumes far surpass anything and others. If there be any profits from else in the line of comprehensive mis- the book they are to go to Mr. Padmanji sionary biography and history which I himself. We wish the book might be have seen. thoroughly circulated.

The Editor would again call attention In March, 1887, certain papers ap. to "Alden's Manifold Cyclopredia," peared in the Ohristian (London) on which has now reached volume No. 25. the subject of "Unemployed Native Though not a distinctly missionary Agencies in Heathen Lands." They book, we have found the articles in it were by Hudson Taylor, Reginald Rad. which pertain to missions to be exceed- cliffe, and James E. Mathieson, some of ingly helpful and excellent in every re- the most devoted students of missions spect, and we are coming to regard this to be found in the world. These cheap and handy cyc10predia as an brethren regard the raising up of a vast authority. host of native converts, who shall take up this 'Gospel mission for their fellow· Dr. S. A. Mutchmore, editor of the countrymen, as the only practical way Presbyterian, has already published a of reaching the nearly four hundred volume describing his travels in Eastern millions of native Chinese. They con· Europe and Asia Minor. The second tend that a few hundred European mis· volume has now been issued, "The 110. sionaries, not exceeding six hundred, gul, the Mongol, the Mikado and the do very little toward the evangelization Missionary." These letters have of this great empire, and they quote Dr. already appeared to a large extent in Nevius, who has been very successful the Presbyterian, and for raciness, read. in the employment of such unpaid ability, originality, and power to grasp, agents. Rev. Donald MacIver, of South. and present the most interesting mat· ern China, says that the rapid increase ters of foreign travel, we know of noth. of converts has been accomplished, 110t , ing published in modem times that sur· by Dr. Nevius's sermons, or those of , passes them. We commend them cor- his assistants, but by the simple wit· ness of the converts. Eight agencies are at work in China to accomplish its was presiding officer. It was a fit choice. Mr. Field's" Draft Outlines of evangelization. (1) Bible distribution; an International Code" is regarded as an (2) tract distribut,ion ; (3) chapel preach- authority. In it he favors arbitration 'ing; (4) translation and literary work; as to the dispntes between nations by a (5) schools; (6) itinerations; (7) med- reference to disinterested parties. If ical missions ; (8) work among women. we may judge from appearances, the Dr. Nevius says, "I am disposed to time of Universal Peace is not very think that the number of conversions near. All Europe seems rather prepardue to each of them would be found to ing for war. increase about in the order in which they are mentioned above; arid that An Anti-Slave·Trade Conference sat the number traceable to them all to- at Brussels from November 18th, 1889, gether would be but a small fraction of to July 2d, 1890. The beneficial results the whole, and that by far the greater seemed liable to be frustrated by the reproportion is to be referred to private fusalof the Netherlands for a time to social intercourse. That is (lertainly sign the stipulations. The Congo Free our experience in the South of China. State must have a revenue if it is to re- Probably seven eighths of our member- press the slave-trade, and this revenue ship have been brought in, not directly must come from a tariff on imports. All as the result of the preaching, either of the other powers and now also the the European missionary or of the ap- Netherlands have consented to this. pointed Chinese evangelist, but simply The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce at from private Christians telling to their first protested to the Government of friends and neighbors about the Baviour Great Britain against the signing of the they have found. This state of matters stipulations, but the Government nobly is, on the one hand, cause for thankful- replied that these duties were levied ness, for the evidence it gives of the only in the interest of human rights. reality of the religion of these Chinese Every year it is said that four hundred Christians ; and it also is full of hope thousand human beings are carried into as to the future of Christ's kingdom in abject slavery from the Congo region. China. If every individual member of 'he 30,000 Christians in China were a A Hebrew-Christian Conference was true missionary, then the Middle King- held in Chicago on November 24th and dom would soon be evangelized. 25th last. This gathering has excited a lively and extensive interest, as well it •• But it seems to me that this state of might. The Conference seems to have matters is full of important lessons for been called mainly through the efforts all interested in the progress of the Gos. of William E. Blackstone, Esq., whose pel in that land. We are to give most interest in the Jews is known everyattention to the method God's Spirit uses where. We have heard of no other conmost. We are not to give up our preach- ference in modern times where Chrising tours, nor our distribution of Scrip- tianA and Jews have met together for tures and tracts ; we are not to close the friendly discussion of points of hIour hospitals and schools; but we, as terest and matters of difference. The foreign missionaries,should give most audiences were very large, and some of attention to the work of training our the Jewish rabbi were present and took converts in the knowledge of Scripture, part. It is very noticeable that in the developing their gifts and graces, and present time the attention of all Chrissuperintending and guiding their efforts tendom seems to be drawn to God's anto bring to the truth their friends and cient people. Our attention has been kindred." called to the fact that a somewhat sim- ilar gathering was held two hundred and At the Universal Peace Congress, held in London, David Dudley Field forty yeBl'S ago in the Plain of Ageda, in upon the part of persons not accustomed Hungary. Some three hundred rabbis to such surroundings. We think that met in this Council in a large tent, and this}s the only charitable if not the the discussion lasted seven days. We only possible explanation, and we pre- anticipate only good results from a gath- fer to dismiss this horrible story with- ering of this character. In all our ap_ out further comment. proaches to the Jew, we have this great advantage, that he is familiar with the It seems now to be generally admitted prophesies of the Old Testament con- that the position taken by Dr. Lunn and cerning Christ, the Messiah, which have Rev. Hugh Price Hughes as to Wesleyan been so remarkably fulfilled in Chris- missions in India was a mistake. Dr. tian history. Lunn had been less than two years in India, and wrote impulsively and indis- We have purposely abstained hereto- creetly. As to Mr. Hughes, he did not fore from any reference to the startling know of the facts, except as obtained stories concerning Stanley's rear gnard. through Dr. Lunn ; but as it was in his pa- The terrible revelation with regard to per that Dr. Lunn's strictures were pub- the brutality of Barttelot and the cruelty lished, Mr. Hughes acted as his sDcond. of Jameson have caused to be applied A competent committee has examined to this history the appropriate title of the whole matter, and thrown consider "The African Chamber of Horrors." able discredit upon Dr. Lunn's testi- The scheme for poisoning the nephew mony. This is another example of the of Tippoo Tib, the statement that Ma- fact that foreign missionary work will jor Barttelot actually fastened his teeth bear even the severe and searching crit· into the :flesh of a woman, and even icisms to which :it ~has been lately exinto her face, his fatal kick upon the posed. boy Soudi, his fatal flogging of the lad John Henry, whose ears he threatened We regret to learn that M. Saillens, to cut off, and to whom he administered who has been one of Dr. McAll's printhree hundred lashes, his stabbing of cipal helpers in his French work, has the chief Ungunga, etc., might easily resigned connection with the McAll account for the shooting of such a missions, with which he has been conhuman fiend as he showed himself. nected for seventeen years. This will be a great loss to the mission, but the The story of Jameson's cruelty, buy- separation has been made in an entirely ing. a little girl with six cotton handker- friendly spirit on both sides, though it chiefs, causing her to be murdered, was caused by some little differences of cooked and eaten, that he might have a opllllOn. From personal acquaintance practical illustration of cannibalism, with M. Saillens we can testify that a and calmly taking six sketches with his more accomplished and perfect gentle- Kodak to represent the stages of the pro- man we have not met, even among the ceedings-all these things defy descrip- polite French people. Although he will tion and almost credence. It is our no longer be a director or agent of the judgment that all these were acts of per- mission, he will speak in the Salles from sons virtually insane __ that there is no time to time. possibility of otherwise accounting for such atrocious cruelty and barbarity on Dr. McAll writes, .. Our work gives the part of the representatives of a us much encouragement, both as to Christian nation; we cannot believe numbers and evident seriousness. We they were in their right mind; and it cannot enlarge; our resources do not is a well·known fact that climatical in- allow that, to our great regret. No an- :fluenge, together with prolonged expo- swer has yet been received from Dr. sure and privation. som etimes brings on Loba, of Kalamazoo,-Mich., who was ina peculiar type of insanity or monomania vited to join the, work, and who seems especially adapted to it from the fact congregation, but all this served as grathat he is a native of France." tuitous advertisement, and saved us all outlay on this head. One paper, La We perhaps owe it to Dr. McAll to Rappel, suggested that as soon as the say, with reference to an article which ship would be towed away from Paris, appeared in this REVIlIlw in July last, in we should hire a balloon, and so have which the Editor indulged in some our hearers part way to heaven to begin friendly strictures on the mission, that with." Dr. McAll remarks that he is" not prepared to express an absolute agree- The announcement has been made at ment with what is there said respecting the Wesleyan Mission House, in Lonthe overtaxing of the workers. With a don, that the Rev. Alexander McAulay few exceptions of voluntary painstaking, has suddenly died at Sumerset East, the requirements laid upon our mission- Cape Colony. He was an ex-President aries are not at all extreme. In the of the Wesleyan Conference, on an evancase of some of them, they undertake gelistic tour among the Wesleyan other and collateral engagements, good churches in South Africa. He was in in themselves, but not favorable to full his seventy-third year. More than activity in the mission, and liable, to- thirty years ago he began work in the gether with its duties, to bring on over- East End of London, where he spent fatigue. Mr. Greig is a tremendously fourteen years, beginning with a congre-· hard worker, but does his work with gation of eighteen persons; in ten years peculiar facility, and in a way quite vol- he built four large chapels, each seating untary." Dr. McAll confesses the over- 1000 persons, besides organizing other taxing of himself, especially since losing enterprises. He had also during the two of his most valued helpers, but past ten years visited the West Indies, hopes for relief when an assistant is where he exercised a most helpful reobtained. Dr. McAll says that David vival influence. Such a man cannot be Paton, .Esq., to whom we have already other than missed in the great mission referred, had given more than any other work of the world. contributor to the McAll work, probably nearly if not quite six thousand pounds, In the Ghristian (London) for Decemand that he left no money behind him, ber, Mrs. Grattan Guinness gives a long but gave it all away during his lifetime. and critical examination of General Booth's book, "In Darkest England." Dr. McAllfurther says, " The' Bateau She especially calls attention to many Missionaire '-' Le Bon Messager,' we existing agencies which in his book brought to Paris for about seven weeks, ending in July. Certainly it was a great a are entirely overlooked, and the hrissuccess-moored at the Pont de la Concorde. On Bome Sundays we had four tian adds that Mrs. Meredith, with her meetings on board, the people waiting Prison Mission to Women, aud Mr. anxiously to be admitted. It would George Hatton, with his coadjutor, Mr. hold 160 or 180 in the cabin. I think William Wheatley, long before led the that about eight hundred were there in way into this philanthropy, and that the one day. To the close we kep t up four Salvation Army is indebted for its methmeetings daily in all. I think the at- ods to the plans which they have been tendance was about twenty-five thou- following. The Ohristian mentions sand. Never did I have or see greater George Holland, of Georgeyard, whose attention and respect-very many were work is like the waters of Siloah, that intelligent,and many young Frenchmen. flow softly; then there comes to mind Almost all never heard the Gospel be- a multitude of names, each of which fore. The infidel and worldly news- awakens memories of orphans housed papers tried to write the affair down, and homed, or girls rescued, or, still beteven inserted pictures of the ship and ter, prevented ; of work of every conceivable kind for the glory of God and Mr. Silas Farmer, of Detroit, Mich., for the good of men. Miss Macpherson, gives the following reasons why we Archibald Brown, F. N. Charrington, should be specially interested in mis. Henry Hill, William Cuff, Dr. Stephen- sions to the Chinese. First, the an· son, Peter Thompson, Miss Steer, Miss tiquity of the nation and the interesting Child, Evans Hurndall, J. W. Atkinson, peculiarities of the people and the coun. Christian Community, Strangers' Rest, try. Secondly, the peculiar and friend- Seamen's Missions, Mrs. Birt in Liver- ly feeling toward America and Ameri. pool, William Quarrier in Scotland, and cans. Third, the debt which America innumerable others all through the owes to Chinamen for labor in this coun· land. Positively one's heart aches to try, notwithstanding the persecution to think of the noble army of God's ser- which they have been subjected. vants who serve Him and slle His face in Fourth, women especially should be in· the squalid parts of our great cities, who terested because of what the Chinese are, for the moment at least, forgotten women are, and because of what we obby lllany of the churches, and by indi- tain from China. Fifth, the unusually vidual donors accustomed to contribute favorable conditions for missionary to their funds. effort. Sixth, the unusually large field which China presents for missionary Notwithstanding these statements, it labor. seems to us that General Booth's scheme ought to have a full and fair trial. We Lord Wolseley believes that the believe that if it be not entirely success- Chinese are the coming nation, that the ful, it may at least lead the way to a great battle of Armageddon will take larger and more prominent work for the place between the Chinese and the Eng. poor not only of London, but of all our lish.speaking people; that a general is great cities. to arise among them who will train them in the science of arms and prepare them A young man's guild has been formed for a great assault upon the Russian in connection ~ith the Church of Scot- Empire. The Chinese are capable :of land, and the ninth annual convention wonderful endurance, have a stolid in. of delegates met in Hamilton, Scot. difference to death, and he prophesies land, from the 5th to the 7th of October that before them Russia will fall; that last. Delegates were present from all then they will overrun India, sweeping parts of the country, even from the Ork. the British into the sea, and at last Eng. neys. The membership of the Guild lish, Americans, etc., will rally for a desembraces about twenty thousand, with perate conflict. Lord Wolseley is an over five hundred branches, extending authority on military matters in Britain. from Montreal to Ceylon. This Guild Whether or not he is a prophet remains is marked with peculiar missionary zeal; to be seen. no less than eleven of the Church's mis. sionaries have gone through this Guild. The compression of ladies' feet in We have seldom read with greater in· China is merely a mark of gentility. terest the account of any similar meet- Various accounts are given of the origin ing. The Town Hall on October 7th of this custom. One is that an emperor was crowded to overflowing. Mr. Camp- was jealous of his wife, and to prevent bell, M.P., presided, and among the her from gadding abroad put her feet speakers were Professor Charteris, Dr. into iron stocks. Another is that a cer- Marshall Lang, Mr. Hoxier, M.P., Mr. tain empress, Tan-ke (B.C. 100), was Parker Smith, M.P., Mr. Somerville, born with club feet, and that she caused M.P., and Rev. Archibald Turnbull, the emperor to issue an edict adopting . B.D., Darjeeling. Five Guildsmen her foot as the model of beauty, and rehave, during the past year, gone into quiring the compressing of female inthe mission field. fants' feet so as to conform to the imperio untarily chosen as a permanent order of al standard; while a third account is that things implies either a very imperative the Emperor Leyuh (A.D. 961) was amus- call of duty or a great lack of prudence. ing himself one day in his palace, when The duty may and very often does exhe thought he might improve the ap- ist, and then the course adopted canpearance of the .feet of a favorite concu- not be too highly commended. But bine. He caused her feet to be so bent economics have a place in missionary as to raise the instep into an arch, to life as well as elsewhere, and· there is resemble the new moon. The figure certainly a very terrible waste of vital was much admired by the courtiers, energy in this mode of life. Men may who soon began to introduce it into endure it, as soldiers endure the hardtheir families. It is said that another ships of the camp or the march, but it emperor, two hundred years later, is cruelly hard for the ladies. One has placed a stamp of the lotus flower but to look at many of the ladies at the (water-lily) on the sole of the small shoe Conference to see that they were mere of his favorite concubine, so that at shadows of their former selves, their every step she took she left on the ground heroic spirits not being proof against the print of the flower; hence girls with the physical and mental trials of such a small feet are complimented at the pres· life. The statistics of the great society, ent day as "the golden lilies." The whose name is synonymous with the operation of bandaging and compress- highest consecration and self-abnegaing the feet is very painful; children tion, show a terrible sacrifice of precious cry very much under it. Mortification material. It is said that one half of of the feet has been known to result those who enter China under its ausfrom the cruel practice. Cnstom, how· pices return within two years, either to ever, imposes it as a necessary attrac- their homeland on earth or to the home tion in a woman. An old gentJeman at above, and that the average term of ser- Canton being asked the reason why he vice for the whole body is only three bandaged his daughter's feet, replied and a half years. The policy which that if she had large feet she could not leads to this alarming sacrifice must be make a good marriage. backed by the strongest arguments of necessity before it. can be fully justified." A " Heavenly Foot Society" has been formed by Chinese women at Amhoy. The Habitations of Ornelty. Rev. John Macgowen, missionary at Amhoy, now in England on a visit, in a Bishop Crowther, speaking of the speech delivered at Manchesterrecently Niger xegion, says; "About four days stated that the Society was the result of before our arrival at Ohambele, an old his persistent teaching that the Chinese rich woman died and was buried. The custom of binding the feet was in open proceedings of the burial were stated as – violation of the precepts of the Gospel. follows; When the grave was dug, two It is his belief that the example will be female slaves were taken, whose limbs extensively imitated, and that the final were smashed with clubs. Being unresult will be a death·blow to the bar- able to stir, they were let down into the barous practice. grave, yet alive, on the mat or bed on which the corpse of the mistress was laid, Rev. B. C. Henry says, with regard to and screened from sight for a time. Two the wearing of nati ve Chinese costumes other female slaves were laid hold on by the missionaries in China : " Chinese and dressed up with best clothes and dress too often means a Chinese house, coral beads. This being done, they pure and simple, and native furniture, were led and paraded about the town native utensils, native food. These, to show the public the servants of the when necessity requires, may be cheer- fich dead miatresl! whom they would fully eqdllred tor a time, but to be volattend in the world of spirits. This foreign missions, addressing requests to was done for two days, when the un- ministers in different parts of the fortunate victims were taken to the edge Church to write briefly on some aspect of the grave, and their limbs were also of foreign missions and the Church's re- smashed with clubs, and their bodies sponsibility. The first series in the laid on the corpse of their mistress, and symposium appeared on December 10th, covered up with earth while yet alive. discussing the supreme motive of mis- We can only imagine what would be the sions-the _prayer, " Thy Kingdom feelings of these unfortunate victims. Come" -the Missionary-the Mission- Some of the Bonny oonverts attempted ary obligations-the need of consecra- to rescue these last two females by a tion-the debt to missions, and the large offer of ransom to buy bullocks for necessity for a full presentation of the the occasion, but it was refused them. facts. The idea is a good one, -and Can there be any doubt as to the urgent might be well imitated in other quar- necessity of sending Christian teachers ters. We must not only strike while the among this poor ignorant people, who iron is hot, but make it hot by striking. are slaves to Satan, and yet glory in their shame? After these atrooious deeds It is no smaIl gratification to the ed_ were performed, volleys of trade oan- itor to have received from France a copy nons were fired for days in honor of the of "La Crise des Missions," which is dead. I counted ten of these cannons a translation into the French language in the street opposite the house of the of the " Crisis of Missions." The ed- dead, about four or six pounders eaoh." itor supposes himself to be desoended from the Huguenots, his original name From Bolobo, Congo Free State, having been Pierre, the Frenoh for an English Baptist missionary writes: Peter; after the expulsion of the Hugue- " Our neighbor's wife died; a man and nots and their arrival in England, it bewoman were killed, so that she might came very natural that the next generanot go alone into the spirit world. Her tion should be known as Pierre-son, or spouse was then wound up in oloth, and Pierson, Peterson being another form of wrapped round and round with piece the same name. Having his little book after piece until it made a big barrel translated into the Frenoh language at shaped bundle two yards long and one this orisis of foreign missions, he feels in diameter. Hearing that two more as though he were like a son, bringing victims were to be sacrificed on the day to his old mother a tribute of filial love. of the funeral, I determined at least to put in a protest, and, together with An aged clergyman met a man who Miss Silvey, arrived on the scene just was declaiming against foreign misas the executioner was carrying the sions. " Why," asked the objector, young woman to the grave, at the mouth "doesn't the Church look after the of which the young man who was to be heathen at home?" "Oh, we do, ' , her companion in misery was bound and said the olergyman, qllietly, handing the ready for the last act-that of being man himself a tract. placed in the grave in a sitting position and bnri~d alive, with the corpse sup- One of the singular revenges of hisported on their knees. It was, indeed, tory is noted in the fact that the first a sad sight to see a couple of well-built stone of fhe monument erected to the young people, with fine, intelligent memory of the missionary John Willfaces, weeping bitterly at the prospect iams, who was oruelly killed in the of a cruel death and making their mute South Sea Islands, was Jaid by the son appeals for help." of the man who slew him.

The Ohristian Intelligencer of New York has started a symposium on

THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS

IV.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

[EDITOBIAL. ] The Land of the Aztecs.

-Between the southern limits of in either direction may be found all the California, New Mexico, Arizona and featnres of a continent.

Texas, on the one side, and the conti- Historically, this country is equally nent of South America on the other, interesting. Here is the colossal there stretches an irregular triangle of museum of American antiquities.

land which, from a breadth of eighteen Cortes' conquest of Mexico dates back hundred miles, gradually tapers down- neaxly four centuries; yet this era is com.

ward to a narrow isthmus less than fifty paratively modern. Far back beyond the miles from sea to sea. Spanish invasion, into the dim distance The upper and much the larger part of of prehistoric times, stretches Mexican this triangular country is Mexico, which civilization, the monum(mts of whose dips down into the great waters of the unique, antique grandeur even now are Gulf like the arched head and neck of a among the wonders of the world. For camel. Below it lies Central America, example, there is the Teoccali of Cho- in shape somewhat like a half square, luba, its four stories coinciding with the bisected at its diagonal and resting its cardinal points of the compass, its balle base line on the Pacific. more than fourteen hundred feet square, This country of Mexico is, from every its summit rising to a height of one point of view, one of the most interest- hundred and sixty.four feet. Though ing in the world. In physical features undoubtedly built as a temple or grand it is very l'emarkable, having the capac- altax, it was also, like the Pyramid of ities and possibilities of an occidental, Cheops, a sepulchre; and a square sep- tropical paxadise. The Tropic of Can- ulchral chamber has been found with- cer divides Mexico into two nearly in, having no egress, and supported by equal parts, one of which lies on the cypress wood. In it were idols of Temperate, the otheron the TorridZone. basalt, curious vases and two skeletons.

On the western coast is the long, narrow At Mitla, in Oaxaca, have been discov- gulf of California, seven hundred miles ered very unique ruins, palaces with in length, famous for its pearls, and quaint, arabesque ornaments; a vast once known as the Vermilion Sea, from hall. whose ceiling is borne up by six its reddish hue; on the eastern side the porphyry columns, the like of whicli are Gulf Stream has its mysterious fountain. not elsewhere to be found in this hem- The configuration of the country is isphere, and which bear the marks of peculiar. A vast plateau, with a series the primitive days of art.

of table-lands varying in elevation from Politically, the country of Mexico six thousand to eight thousand feet, wields a peculiar fascination over the dotted with volcanic cones, forms the student of political history. In a double great bulk of the interior; and this sense this is a land of earthquakes and plateau abruptly descends toward the volcanoes. Frequent and violent social Pacific, while it gently sbpes to the upheavals characterize its annals. From broad lowlands which border the Gulf. the conquest, about 1522, until now, it Such a country must present all varie- has enjoyed little respite from these po- ties of climate. A few hours' journey litical eruptions and revolutions. After enables the traveller to pass from torrid exactly three centuries of Splnish dom- heats to the frigid realms of ice and ination, in 1822, it became for a short snow. There are three distinct and time an independent State under an well-defined climatic zones, with cor- emperor; in 1824 it was constituted a responding varieties of fiora and fauna. Federal Republic, but afterward came Within a range of five hundred ·miles under military dictatorship. In 1862, by French intervention, it became sub- twenty thousand victims were slaugh- ject to the sovereignty of an Austrian tered upon it. The papal religion has prince, and then again became a Repub- been forced upon the people, but it has lic. There is no social stability; quiet scarcely lifted them above the level of is but the interval between eruptions these old rites and superstitions. To and explosions. keep them down and keep them under, it was necessary to leave them in that The population is of a mixed hetero- ignorance which is the mother of super- geneous character, composed of every- Btition and to cater to their vices. thing, but compacted into nothing; and Hence to-day seven eighths of the pop- this is one secret of social disquiet. ulation cannot read or write. Marriage The whites of Spanish descent, called has sunk into concubinage. The Bible creoles, constitute at once an oligarchy is almost an unknown book, and the and a landed aristocracy. There is a name of Jesus is inseparable from that much larger body of mixed Spanish and of Jesuit. With a drunken and disso- Indian blood who count themselves lute priesthood for teachers and exem- among the whites, but are not of pure plars, with the very churches and con- lineage. Indians form the bulk of the vents identified with extortion and population, and their abject poverty re- licentiousness, the drift of society has .duces them to practical sl.:.very. With been toward atheism on the one hand this mixed mass are further mingled a and the indifference of religious apathy few negroes, and everywhere may be on the other; while the more abject poor found the mestizos, with their varieties, and oppressed lower·clas~es, pulverized the zambos, mulattoes, terzerons, and beneath the millstone of social tyranny quadroons. Add to all these the numer- and slavery, are only waiting for oppor- ous foreigners, especially French and tunity to feed their resentment. The German, and you have the body politic, only power that can remould such a pop- which throughout, like the feet of Neb- uIation is the pure Gospel of Christ. uchadnezzar's image, is of elements that Notwithstanding the sway of a nominal refuse to assimilate and combine, out- Christianity, Mexico is as much a field for wardly mixed but not mingled. Protestant missions as China or Africa.

The Mexican religion is well symbol- This popuIation of over ten millions, ized by the Teoccali, to which we have with a score of cities having each over already referred. The elevated summit- 20,000 inhabitants, lies on our borders, platform once sacred to the Aztec our next-door neighbor. Contact there deities now bears aloft a chapel to the must be, and it must be more close and Virgin. Another race has succeeded it frequent, as modern enterprise is so rapand supplanted the Aztec; so another idly annihilating space and time, and religion, with its new deities, saints, and pushing railways and telegraphs through sacrifices has reared its very shrine on the heart of the land of the Aztecs. the temple platform of a more ancient Lacking a river system and good harbors, superstition. Yet down beneath the Mexican commerce naturally Hoats to corrupt Romanism of Mexico, we find our ports. Awaking to the superiority the old relics of an abandoned faith. of our civilization, Mexican society be- gins to court closer fellowship with our That ancient Aztec religion was a institutions. Now is the tum of tide strange mixture of countless deities and in the affairs of this neighboring nation. deified passions and cannibal cruel- Whether avarice and ambition shall ties. That huge round block of red conquer Mexico in the interests of trade porphyry in the museum of the City of and traffic, or the spirit of the Gospel Mexico, once the capstone of the great shall impel laborers to till these opening pyramidal temple, was once the bloodi- fields for Christ, is the pivotal issue of est stone of sacrifice known on earth. the hour. Its side bears graven records of horrible cruelties, and it is said that every year Forty.four years ago, in 1847, in con- still in the State of Guerrero, until Manection with an unjustifiable war, the thilde Rodriquez went with her Bibles United States troops invaded Mexico, and tracts and anointed tongue to the but they bore in their knapsacks that homes of the people. Eight years ago, blessed book of God, which thus by the Rev. J. Milton Greene went with Rev_ strange fate of war found its way into Procopio Diaz, and found a welcome the Aztec land. The furrows ploughed again in Guerrero. Within seven weeks by cannon were strange furrows in they held thirty-two services, estabwhich to sow the seed of the Kingdom. lished six churches and thirteen congre- Yet so it was. Then seven years later, gations, and baptized two hundred and Miss Melinda Rankin, in Brownsville, eighty converts. Texas, just across the border, a few miles from Matamoras, set up her sem- There were similar signs, elsewhere inary. The revolution of 1857-8 open- in Mexico, of a breaking down of the ing Mexico to Protestant missions, Mr_ barriers of ages. When Mr. Forcada Thompson, agent of the Bible Society, entered Zilacuaro twenty.four years ago, crossed the Rio Grande to Matamoras he found that for six years Bibles and in 1860 ; and that heroic woman, Miss tracts had been making ready the paths Rankin, followed in 1864, and in 1865 of the Lord. A Mexican had opened a personally raised in our country the bookstore and taken with him four hun- $15,000 to push on her pioneer work, dred Bibles and a large lot of tracts, and herself training and sending out native had sold or given away the entire stock_ colporteurs. In 1866 she began work The circulation of the blessed word of at Monterey, and six years later the God had proved a similar John the Presbyterian General Assembly formally Baptist in Tabasco, preparing the way took up Mexico as a mission field. In of the Lord. September of that year a pioneer band of seven, Rev. Messrs. Pitkin, Phillips, The true policy of missions in Mexico Thompson, with their wives, and Miss is to raise up an efficient native ministry Ellen P. Allen, took ship from New to whose charge the churches may be York and went straight to the Mexican entrusted. In the theological seminary capital. There they found a large body at San Luis Potosi, this training work of people prepared for organization into is carried on. The girls' boarding- Protestant communities, and in J an- school, in charge of Miss Snow for five nary, 1873, Rev. M. N. Hutchinson and years, passed into the hands of Miss wife took charge of the work. During Bartlett, when Miss Snow became Mrs. the same year Zacatecas became to the Hamilton. Twenty-five pupils were here northern what Mexico city was to the gathered. southern States, the evangelical and evangelizing centre, and from these The fact that even figures sometimes points evangelism radiated. lie is illustrated in the reports of the statistics of the Mexican field. The re- The methods of work were simple duction in the number of converts and and effective. Protestant worship, with church-members reported by the Pres- Scriptural ordinances and sacraments, byterians, for example, led some to de- Christian schools, Bible teaching, evan- preciate the work and even to affirm gelical hymnology and the education of that it was going backward. But at first a native ministry were the seven-fold all baptized persons were classed with secrets of success. Of course these de- communicants, and so reported; but voted men and women had to breast according to Presbyterian usage elseopposition and sometimes dare and bear where, the lists of baptized children persecution. In the outbreak in Aca- haye been separated from those of compulco in 1875, several persons lost their muning members, and the latter only lives, and the work for a while stood reported. The fact is that, instead of a large loss, there has been a total gain of ten per cent over and above all reductions and losses by death, and the work made Juarez Governor of Oajaca. Revois growing both in interest and promise. lution having broken out there, his position was very difficult, but he not It is very difficult to give any fairly only reduced chaos to order, but sent accurate photograph of the present con· out armed forces to effect pacification dition of missions in Mexico. Before elsewhere in the Republic. In 1857 he what is written can be put in type, the was made Constitutional Governor of whole condition may have undergone Oajaca ; then in November, 1857, Presisuch change as to demand a revision if dent Comonfort made him . Secretary not reconstruction of the report. At of State, and afterward he became Presithe time of the Jubilee Report of the dent of the Supreme Court of Justice. Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, In January, 1858, he became ell-officio they had a total force of eighty.nine Constitutional President of Mexico, by laborers, of whom fifty.six were native the withdrawal of Comonfort. To him preachers, teachers or helpers, twenty· Mexico owes a great debt. He secured one licentiates, and four women. There recognition from the United States. were ninety churches, with 4314 com- In 1860 he drove Miramon, his rival, municants, and a gain of one sixth dur- from Mexico ; then, entering the capital ing the year. Over six hundred pupils in 1861, he was formally elected Presiwere gathered in schools. This repre- dent for four years, and executed with sents but one denomination. great severity the decrees against the clergy, by the confiscation of church Some reference ought to be added as estates. He was governor when France to Benito Juarez, the Mexican Presi- invaded the country and put Maximilian dent, and the descendant of the Toltec into power. In 1865 this ill-fated prince race.· Educated by a wealthy family, he issued his fatal decree declaring the rebecame distinguished in the law, and public extinct, and sentencing to death afterward, as a politician of most liberal all J uarists taken in :arms. Though ideas, went from the position of justice the term of Juarez had expired, the bold of the peace to presiding judge. In Toltec issued a proclamation that he 1846, at the age of 39, he was made should hold office until the driving out deputy to the Constitutional Congress of invaders should make possible a new in Mexico City. He was prominent in election. The United States now inthe administration of the famous manos terposed, our own Civil War being at an muerias, whereby the clergy had to end, and in 1866 Napoleon withdrew furnish a loan to pay war expenses in his troops, and Maximilian was shot in the conflict with the United States. 1867. Juarez probably would have been Then for four years he was Governor unable to prevent his sad end, as it was of Oajaca. During the period of peace judged by court-martial a justreprisalfor he opened roads, built up schools, re- his guerilla mode of warfare on Mexico. formed finances, and left the public treasury enriched when he retired from After a ten yeo.rs' struggle, in which the government. After being banished Juarez had held up the standard of the under Santa Anna, in 1853, he spent republic against treason at home and time in Havana and New Orleans, and armed intervention from abroad, he WIlS in 1855 joined Alvarez, whom he ac- again elected President, and died still companied to Cuernavaca, where he rep- in office, June 18th, 1872. He was an resented his native State in the choice of honest reformer and a man of statesa temporary President for the Republic. manlike ability. He is believed to have Alvarez being selected, Juarez was made done more than any other man of his Minister of Justice. To him was due generation to deliver Mexioo from tIle the Ley Juarez, the law abolishing the despotism of a corrupt papal church privileges of the clergy and the army. and open the way for the Protestant re- General Comonfort, who became Al- ligion and repUblican freedom. varez's substitute in December, 1855,

GE:NERAL MISSIO:NARY I:NTELLIGE:NCE

V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

The Scandinavia.n Mission in Liverpool, by Rev. James Johnston, Bolton, England.

No lack of encouragement is sup- Kjaldstrom, of Hull, and Pastor Snellplied by the pUblication of the nine- man, of London, who have conducted teenth annual report of the Scandi- services in the Finnish tongue. This navian Mission in Liverpool, to sailors, brief record of what is being accom- ~migrants, and others who chiefly hail plished yearly for thousands in the great from Northwestern Europe. Last year port of Liverpool, who would otherwise marked the fifth anniversary of the be spiritually destitute, constitutes the opening of Gustaf Adolf's Church in most eloquent appeal for assistance. the famous English shipping port. The organization has the cordial aid of sev- Organized Missionary Work and Statiseral prominent Li veTpool citizens. Its tics. Edited by Rev. D. L. Leonard, committee further includes the Swedish Bellevne, O. and Norwegian, Danish and Russian Consuls, and the most influential mem- -The China Inland Mission sent out bers of the resident Scandinavians. As no less than 59 missionaries in 1890, of in previous years, the work has been whom 32 were unmarried women. The continued among the mariners and number sent the year before was 55. American-bound emigrants without in- These toilers represent various societies, terruption. The services of the year such as the Swedish, the Norwegian, the 1889 number 331-averaging from six to German Alliance, and the Bible Chrisnine services weekly-and the attend- tian missions. ance in the aggregate to 31,000. Day by day the pastors and laymen have vis- -The number of missionary stations ited the ships, boarding-houses, Sailors' in Africa now exceeds 500. There are Home, emigrant houses, and hospitals, 400,000 converts, and the number is ininviting the wayfarers to the services, creasing at the rate of about 25,000 a comforting the sick, and distributing year. Within five years more than 200 religious books and tracts. During the natives have suffered martyrdom for year the British and Foreign Bible So- their faith. ciety presented the society with 2500 Gospels. The spacious reading-room -It is stated that not one in 10,000 in the basement of the church, which is of the Chinese have yet heard of the provided with admirable supplies of Saviour of mankind. The province of newspapers and religious literature, has Shen-si, which possesses 88 walled cities, become an appreciated quarter for rest, has 86 without 8. missionary. Another conversation, and general knowledge. province has 56 such cities, and 54 ut- When it is repprted that 549 Scandi- terly unreached by the true Light. Nine navian vessels dropped anchor last year other provinces of the empire are equalill the Mersey no greater proof of the ly destitute. need of the mission is required. For the maintenance of this remarkably suc- –The Free Church of Scotland had cessful undertaking the Hon. Treasurer, last year 181 branch stations; 51 or- Mr. C. Brodersen, 10 South Castle dained European missionaries; 14 or- Street, Liverpool, will gratefully ac- dained natives; 10 licentiates; 8 medknowledge the donations of friends ical missionaries ; 3 nati ve physicians; whether in Europe or America. Pastor 23 male and 35 female teachers; 15 lay O. Heden has been assisted in his min- evangelists and mast~rs of industrial istrations by Pastor J. A. Axelson and departments; 625 native helpers; 42 Mr. A. Andersen Hetland. Occasionally native churches; 6620 communicants; help has been volunteered by Pastor 26,826 pupils in schools of all grades.

-The Y. M. C. A. is spreading all over the world. There are now formed upward of 4000 associations, and of these 1000 are in papal lands, and nearly To which add Brazil Mission, 365 ; Cen- 300 in Mohammedan and heathen coun- tral Mexican Mission, 1650 ; China Mistries. There are 21 in India and Ceylon, sion, 348; Mexican Border Mission, 12 in Turkey, 6 in Syria, 12 in Africa, 5 1838 ; bishops, 8 ; travelling preachers, in China, 7 in Persia, and 200 in Japan. 4862 ; grand total, 1,177,150. There are going to be openings in every quarter for the young men who have a -Though the Salvation Army has fitness for secretaries and evangelists In Great Britain as its principal work-field, connection with these associations. and finds its chief. task in ministering to the poor and degraded of the great -Statistics of the Lutheran Church, cities, aggressive operations are also gathered by the Rev. J. N. Lenker, of pushed continually and with vigor in Leadville, Col., show in Europe a total heathen lands. Thus a few weeks since of 22,980 ministers, 29,644 churches, and a detachment of fifty young men and 43,133,696 baptized members; in North women sailed for India to reinforce the America, 4710 ministers, 7964 churches, members of the order already there. and 6,511,500 baptized members. In. These new recruits volunteered for this eluding the statistics of Oceanica, South particular service largely as an affec- America, Africa, and Asia with those tionate tribute to the memory of the already given, he makes the grand total late Mrs. Booth. As showing the in the world of 28,406 ministers, 38,381 financial strength of the Army, it is credchurches, and 50,061,280 baptized memo ited with owning property in various bers. countries to the amount of $3,250,000.

-Methodism in this country has over -The Methodist Episcopal Church, four and a half million members, led by North, with its 2,236,000 members, conover 30,000 preachers; Baptists nearly tributed last year for home, foreign, and four million followers, led by over 28,000 freedmen's missions, $1,799,000. But ministers; Presbyterianism, a million though this sum is large it yet repreand a half, led by a ministry of 11,500 ; sents an average of but eighty cents per besides a host of smaller denominations, member, while the Congregationalists, and a band of Sabbath·schools scholars with a membership of only 492,000, gave numbering over nine millions. In the to similar objects $1,877,000, or at the whole country there is a gain to the rate of $3.81. In all its foreign work Christian churches the past year of this great and active church reports a 1,089,853 members, 4867 ministers, and gratifying growth. The largest gains 8494 churches. were mads in North India, where in a single district last year 2677 were bap- -Statistics of the entire membership tized of whom 1020 were adults. The of the Methodist Episcopal Church, total increase in all the fields was 5553, South, are given as follows: Georgia, or nine per cent. The Methodist Epis- 132,606; Texas, 126,884; Tennessee, copal Epworth League, though but two 114,351 ; North Carolina, 111,630 ; Vir. years old, has 300,000 members. ginia, 108,341; Alabama, 88,702; Missouri, ~2, 933; Kentucky, 80,685 ; Mis- -Madagascar, with its 230,000 square SISSIppi, 72,203; Arkansas, 69,378; miles and population of 3,500,000, is South Carolina, 67,094; West Virginia, one of the wonder-lands for missionary 24,779 ; Louisiana, 23,269 ; Florida, 23,- success. The Church Missionary So- 044 ; l:[aryland, 10,866; Indian Terri- ciety has 12 representatives at work tory, 8130; California, 7491; Illinois, upon the island, and has gathered 6361; Kansas, 2803; Oregon, 1569; 10,000 adherents, and the Society of Colorado, 1138 ; Indiana, 1104 ; District Friends, with a force of 15, has gained of Columbia, 772; New Mexico, 542; 32,000. But the London Missionary Montana, 456; Washington, 342; Ne· Society, first in the fiel d, and called to braska, 300; Arizona, 225; Idaho, 80. bear the heat and burden of the day, can easily reckon up by far the largest are 6271, and the expenditures for the results. To her 30 English toilers are year were $lJ4,742.42. The Japan Mis- joined as auxiliaries 827 native ordained sion was opened in 1873. and has 1686 ministers and 3459 other nati ve helpers. church-members, an increase for the In the churches are found 40,000 mem- year of 211, and the cost was $27,503.50. bers, while 160,000 adherents listen to the Gospel. The local contributions Christian Church (Disciple).-Secamounted last year to $18,340. retary, Rev. A. McLean, Cincinnati, O.

Arabian Mission.-Treasurer, Prof. Report for the year closing October J. G. Lansing, New Brunswick, N. J. 18th, 1890.

Report for the year closing October This church has a membership of over 1st, 1890. seven hundred thousand, and sustains missions in India, China, Japan, and This Society was formed in August of Turkey, in addition to work in England 1889, and the field chosen for its first and Denmark. It has in heathen lands operations is likely to be Southern 32 stations and 33 missionaries from Arabia and the Aden region. Two America (of whom 16 are women) and missionaries are already there or on 25 native helpers, a total of 58. The their way thither, and making prepara- church-members number 1418, a gain tion for their work by studying the for the year of 158, a net gain of 135. language. Its receipts for the first year In day-schools 817 pupils are found, ani 'were $4738.47 with a bequest of $5000 2063 in Sunday-schools. The receipts in addition, and the expenditures were were $67,750.49,8 gain of $5820.34, but $3144.64. $12,000 came froll} a single bequest. An earnest call is issued for $100,000 in Evangelical Association. – Secre- 1891. tary, Rev. S. Heininger, Cleveland, O. Reformed Church in the United Report for the year olosing Sept., 1890_ States.-Secretary, Rev. Allen R. Bar- This society has a mission conference tholomew, Harrisburg, Pa. in Germany and another in Switzerland, but its work for the heathen is wholly Report for the year closing May 6th, confined to Japan, where 5 missionaries, 1890. with 10 native itinerant preachers and 3 local preachers, sustain 31 appoint- Until 1865 this church contributE1d ments. A theological seminary gives through the American Board in all training to 13 students. The number about twenty eight thousand dollars, of church-members is 378. of whom 115 and had its representatives in Asia were received last year. In 1888-89 Minor and among the American Indians. the receipts for the Japan missions were In 1878 a mission was opened in Japan, $9513.03. to which 7 missionaries have since been sent. The number of native preachers Methodist Church (Canada).-Sec- is 17. The churches are 12, with a retary, Rev. Alexander Sutherland, D.D., membership of 1656, and the contribu- Toronto. tions for nine months 'of 1889-90 were $2835.15. The number of converts was Report for the year closing June 1st, 218. A girls' school is sustained, and a 1890. theological school with 26 students. The cost of the mission for three years is This church has a membership of $59,209.64. 233,868, and has increased by 36,399 in four years. It sustains missi;;ns among North Africa Mission.-Secretary, the French, Indians, and Chinese in Edward H. Glenny, 21 Linton Road, Canada, Manitoba, and British Colum- Barking. bia. Its foreign work is confined to Japan. In aU fields the missionaries The figures are from the Monthly number 67, with 44 native assistants Record, December, 1890. and 46 teachers. The church-members This society was organized in 1881, is undenominationol, and has its work Income. sundry funds ..•……•.••• $10.172.35 among the Mohammedans, Jews, and Tuition and public funds. •…….• 40,066.75 Europeans in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, U. S. Gov't, on account of tuition Tripoli, and Northern Arabia, with a 24.700.08 population of 14,000,000. It has 53 mis- and subsistence for Indians. _… . 8,900.00 sionaries in the field, of whom'31 are lo- Slater Fund, paid to Institutions.. . cated in Morocco and Algeria, 2 are physicians, 36 are women and 28 are Total …………………. $408,038.97 unmarried. In November 7 were sent Balance in hand September 30th, out, and 4 others have been accepted. 1889…….. …. ……………. 4.471.67 Canadian Church (Episcopal).- Secretary, Rev. Charles H. Mockbridge, Total….. ……. ……… $412,510.64 D.D., Toronto. DANI1IL H.um Fmm. INcoHlI: ACCOUNT. Report for the year closing July 31st, Income collected 1889-90……….. ~,686.76 1890. Balance in hand September 30th.

Hitherto this church had contributed 1889…………………… …. .. 16,688.56 through the Church of England, but last year sent out its first missionary, Total……… …. ……… $51,375.32 and to Japan. The total expenditures Amount expended in the South….. $47,482.27 were $14,785, of which these are the Balance in hand and appropriated… 3,893.05 principal items: Total. … ………………. $51.375.32 S. P. G………………………….. $1,880.59 REC1tIl'TS J'OR THlI: WORK OJ' THE YEAR. C. M. S…………………………. 1,410.44 S. P. C. K……………………….. 470.15 For current work • •. •. …..•..•.••• $408.038.97 Income from Daniel Hand Fund…. 34.686.76 Colonial and Con. Church Society. . •• . 470.15 Proportion of General Expenses.. . . . •• 245.00 Total …………………. $442,725.73 Appropriat~d Contributions. American Board.-Secretaries, No.1 S. P. G…………………………. $3,301.73 Somerset Street, Boston, Mass. C. M. S…… _…. ……….. ••• •••••• 275.71 Bishop of Madras ……………….. 305.00 Report for the year closing August Zenana Missions…. . .. .. . .• •••• ••• •• 1,289.53 31st. 1890. Parochial Missions to Jews………… 1,424.06 London Society, Jews …………….. 2,321.81 No. of missions………………… . 22 Rev. J. Cooper Robinson, Japen Fund. 1,227.06 Stations and out-ltatiOns •••••••.•••• 1,053 American Missionary. Association. -The main work of this society is in Ordained missionaries.••••••.•••.•.• 183 the Southern States among the freedmen and the" Mountain whites," with large Lay …………. .. 17 emphasis given to education. but missions are !Llso sustained among the Ind- Women (wives. 181) .. .. 333 ians and the Chinese in this country. Whole No. from America.••.•••….. 533 The Treasurer's Report (October 1st, 1889-September 30th, 1890) gives a grati- Native pastors………………… .. 174 fying exhibit. showing a credit balance of $2,089.24, an increase of receipts over Total native helpers…………….. . 2,417 last year of $31,820.09, a total of $408,- 038.97, and if the income be added from Total American and native •..•.•.••. 2.950 the Daniel Hand Fund, $34,086.76, the aggregate amounts to $442.725.73. the No. of churches……………….. .. 387 largest ever received by the Association. No. of church-members…….. _…. . 36,256 RECEIl'TS. Added during the year…………. .. 4,554 From churches. Sabbath schools. missionary societies and Individ- No. of adherents……………… .. 127,000 nals…………… ………… ••• 8186,470.61 No. of church-members from the be- Estates and legacies.:…. • •••••• 137.739.18 ginning……………… …….. .. 115,000 Average congregations….. ………. 62.200 Under theological training.. . .. . . . . .. 247 In 66 colleges and high schools.. . . . . . 4,600 In 56 girls' boarding schools. . •..• .•• 3,180 In 889 common schools…. .. .. .. .. .. 33,114 Whole number under Instruction…. 47.329 Native contributions….. …. ……. $117,494 Total receipt…………………….. $763,434.07 Protestant Episcopa.l. – Secretary. Rev. WilliamS. Langford, D.D., 22 Bible House, New York.

Report for the year closing December 31st, 1890. According to the Living Chu.rch Alma- Nonconformists in this total is thus nac for 1891, this church has 4163 stated: clergy, 299 candidates for orders, 2330 parishes and missions, and 508,292 com- Wesleyan Missiouary Society……….£124,883 municants. The number of baptisms Londou Missionary Society…. . . .• . . . . . 98,830 IMt year was 61,665, of which nearly Baptist Missionary Society. . . . . .. . •… . 63,470 47,000 were of infants. The contribu- English Presbyterian Foreign Missions. 14,492 tions for the year are $12,754,767. .. Friends" Foreign Mission Association. 13,156 Wesleyan Ladies' Auxiliary for Female In addition to work carried on in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Education…….. …. ……… ……. 7,661 Greece, and Hayti, missions are BUS- United Methodist l!"'ree Churches' Fortained among the Indians and freedmen, and in West Africa, China, and eign Missions.. .. . …. …………… 6,283 Japan. These are the figures for the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists Foreign three fields last named : Missionary Society.. . …………… 7,195 Bishops….. .. ….•. …. …. •… 4 Eight smaller societies and value of Presbyters (of whom native, 14)…….. 32 needlework….. …. … …. ………. 33,682 Deacons (native).. .. •. … ..•. . .. . . . . . .. 18 Total. ……………………….£364,652 Candidates for holy orders……… •••• 22 Scottish and Irish Presbyterian soci. eties contributed £185,646, aud Roman Catechists, readers, etc. (native)……. 'J7 Catholio societies £9819. The amount for 1888 was £1,334,491, and for 1887 Stations……………. …. …. ……. 196 was £1,228,759.

Baptisms……………. …………. 585 United Presbyterian Church, Scot- land.-These figures set forth the growth Adult baptisms…………………… 331 witnessed by this society in thirty years, and in six important and decisive par- Confirmations……… …. …… ….. 265 ticulars. As will be noticed, the de- velopment of both causative forces and Communicants ……….. " …. .. .. … 2,242 of results has been steady, and the two have kept pace in a remarkable manner. Increa.e……………. …… ……… 305 The first column includes ordained na- tive pastors, Zenana missionaries and Scholars in day schools …..• …….. 2,434 European teachers, but excludes all native evangelists and teachers. Scholars in Sunday·schools…….. .. 8,247 Native contributions………….. : …. $5,527.79 The appropriations for work among the American Indians and freedmen is $85,007.50, and for foreign missions $162,504, or a total of $247,511.50.

British Contributions to Foreign ~! "'"Q)~ ..d~ 1>,' Missions.-Canon Scott Robertson has ~lS ~~ "[;Q ;.0) prepared with great care the following .~+::.£ ,>:IS -"il ~,g summary of the gifts of British Chris- ~~ j~ ~~ tians to foreign missions in 1889. Os .s :9~ Though somewhat smaller than in 1888, ~~ ~t. it is yet larger than for any previous -bS year. Of the grand total, £1,301,306, ~ ° – – " — – he estimates that £670.000 came from – § 8"t0d 0 members of the Church of England. The channels of contributions were: – — – -0 – 1859…. 30 1 85 4,552 £16,900 £2,090 Church of England Societies•…•….. £523,226 1869…. 63 7 48 5,740 29,100 8,020 Joint Societies of Churchmen and 1879 …. 81 12 68 9,187 32,300 6,500 1889 …. 117 l!3 96 14,899 40,500 10,470 Nonconformists ……………… .. 217,963 English and Welsh Nonconformist 1 Societies ……………………. . 364,652 Missionary Failure.-The cry about Scotch and Irish Presbyterian Socie- the failure of the modern mission sug- gests a close study of the following statis- ties ………………………….. . 185,646 tical table, compiled to show the growth Roman Catholic Societies. . …..•…• 9,819 at intervals of five years during the past thirty years, or from the beginning of Total contrihutions…….. . … £1,301,306 missionary work in the Methodist mis- sion of North India. The number of The share of 'English and Welsh communicants given is, with the ex- ception of 217 Europeans and Eurasians, native membership. ~~!~ln=~:~~:::':':::':::::.:':::::::.::::~:::::: 1858~ 186~ 1:~ 1::~11 '~I'~I ':; Number of Sunday..schoo!s ……………. , ……. 9 31 104 164 4-30 703 " "school scholars…… …………. 397 860 4,540 6,~ 17,366 26,585 " ~1 :~~~f~~~:::::::: ::::::::::::::::~:::. 4~ 1,Jll 3,~ 6,~,1 7,~7 t2j~ 16,~~ Christian boys in schooL……………. 4 130 257 296, 442 t,243 2,027 " girls in school. .. " …… .., 126 168 350 715 971 1,327 Baptisms during past year……………… …….. .. 115 289 5701 7B9 1,169 1,959 Christian community.. .. .. .. .. .. …. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 11 .. . . 11,000 " men teachers and evangelists………….. …. women teachers and Bible readers. ,…. .. …• 320 300 The number of children in schools tive Christians live. Christian con. includes only 260 pupils other than verts reside in more than 600 towns and pure natives. Twenty missionaries direct work in 225 centres where na· villages, where they BUpport their own work.

AMERICAN MISSION IN EGYPT. A COMPARISoN SHOWING THE lIHSSlON'S GROWTH AND STATUS, DEC. 31, 1889. 1854-1889.

PERIODS: FmST, 5; OTHERS, 10 YEARS. 1859. 1869. 1879. 1889.

Number stations and churches. . ……………….. .. 3 8 48 112 ~. organized congregations, Christians. . …. . 2 11 29 1 5 12 pastors (native) ………………………. .. 1 6 7 licentiates" . .. ……………. …. . .. . 13 . 8 *14 theqloglcal students …………………… . 180 9B5 2,971 communicante, Dec. 81. ……………….. ' 48B 2,088 5,654 4 $566 $4,726 " of attendants, Sabbath A.M'……………… . 100 5 39 $6,495 Amonnt contributions for church purposes……….. . 118 1,575 9B Number Sabbath schools ……………………… '. 2 (1) 100 4,427 h school pupils…. .. . . . . . . . . .. . .. , .. . 20 $829 H 400 1,200 50 300 83 Amouut contributions Sabbath·school pupils…. , …. . 2,150 Number harem workers ……………………… . "i4 44 " women taught in harems. …. .. ………… .. 'iii 2,218 4,557 females hearing word in churches, harems, 633 1,537 1,156 schools, etc…. ………………….. . .. . 60 352 female ~om!ll~nicant8, ~ec: 31. . ………….. . 281 681 4 women s mISSIOnary SocIetIes …….. ……. . 12 61 159 members women's missionary societies. . . . .. . 10 29 $273 $596 $2.723 100 Amount contributions women's missionary societies .. 6,446 20,720 2,100 6,350 6,304 Number day and training schools……………….. .. 4 $2,051 $4,694 4,386 $3,213 $12,148 1,918 :: pURils, enrollmeutt ……………………. .. 100 51 199 boys ………………………….. .. 45 31 117 100 20 35 " H girls., ………………………… . 55 25 13 $13,872 Teachers {Males…. ………………………. .. 3 B 31,067 Females…………………………. .. .23 10,184 Amount paid by natives for school purposes………. . 3 883 $6,384 Book department: Total volumes sold …. …….. . 600 '(f)' $860 $27,358 250 Scriptures …………………………………….. . (?) 75 Total receipts…. .. .. .. .. .. .. …. .. .. .. . .. … .. …. .. (?) 50 Total paid by natives for all purposes……………. . (?) 68 Training college: Pupils…….. .. ……………. .. 25 NUl;'!-ber of gra?ustes… .. '.' …… _. ………. …. ..- ~11 III servIce of Chnst.. . ……… . teachers trained and workiug. ' ……….. ' .. . 64 2,981 pastors. preachere, etc., trained …….. , ….. . 1,315 college pupils in theological class. .. .. …. .. . $2,123 " sch~ols.-outgrowth.. . .. . .•• .. .. …. .. ….. .. . puplls III same………………………… . Total enrollment, college …………………….. .. Amount fees paid by pupils ………………….. ..

* In 1890, theological students, 19.

t Sects, 1889: Protestants, 1,822; Copts, 3,718 ; Mohammedans, 831 ; others, 433. ~ Seventeen in 1890. Monthly Bulletin. steamer. The annual drink bill of Japan is $86,000,000, an average of -Wo hive Bishop Walker's church $2.40 for every individual in the Emon wheels, and now the Free.Will Bap. pire. It is encouraging, however, to tists have built a floating ohuroh, whioh learn that a total abstinence society has was launched recently at St. Louis. It been organized in that country, and that iii intended to 0lrry the Gospel along many are uniting with it. the Mississippi from St. Paul to New OrleanEl. -The missionaries in Africa deem the work of one woman equal to that of -TJie Presbyterian Church has now twelve men, since the women can go in Alaska seven missions and fOllr anywhere, even among the fiercest ohurches, with seventy to eighty com· tribes, unmolested. The female mismunicants each. Besides the Presby- sionaries are held in high esteem; their terian. the Moravian, the Protestant motives are never questioned, and they Episcopal, the Methodist Episcopal, the are listened to with greatest respect. Roman Catholio, and the Anglioan ohurches have missions in Alaska. -From the recent report of the Jap- -The Church Missionary Society of anese Minister of Education it appears England proposes to send out one thousand new missionaries during the next that education is now offered to all the fi ve or six years. A much larger proportion than heretofore will be laymen. children in Japan, and that there are -It was recently reported from the nearly three millions of pupils in the Presbyterian Mission at Wei Hien. China, that there were 650 inquirers, pllblic schools of the Empire. There and that 150 had been baptized. This is most gratifying news. is a remarkable growth of intelligence -The spirit of intolerance seems to among the people. The standard of rule unmitigated in Russia. It is stated that the procurator of the Holy education is advancing, as is shown in Synod has advised the Czar to banish all foreign missionaries, and to suppress the fact that many new studies have foreign worship except in the Baltic provinces, where the Lutheran religion been introduced in the Imperial U~:liis barely tolerated. versity of Tokyo. ' -The working of the marriage laws of India is illustrated in a recent inci- -A congress of French Protestants dent. A marriage was arranged between was recently held in Paris, having in an edllcated young girl of twelve and a view new consecration and practical lawyer of twenty.three who was suffer· study. The meetings were very earnest. ing from white leprosy. The girl was The subjects considered were such as ,kept in ignorance of the disease of her the relation of the evangelist to the paspurchasing husband. and learned it only tors and churches, difficulties in the way when she met him at the marriage ser- of evangelization in Roman Catholic vice. She merely looked up with tearful countries, and the getting of converts eyes to her father, and then submitted into the church, especially where differto her lot with a resignation character- ent denominations are represented in istic of the Hindu maiden. the same place. A resolution was adopted asking the French Evangelical -American enterprise is now sending Alliance to study means for promoting :r;um to Japan, as well as to Africa. It a confederation of French Protestant is carried over the Union Pacific Rail- churches. way an4 forwarded to Yokohama by -Another mission is to be established in Alaska by the Reformed Episoopal Church. The government having prom- ised $1000 for buildings and $1000 toward expenses, Miss Benson, of Phil. adelphia, offered to contribute one half of the remaining expenses on condition that the Church would raise the remain- der. These propOSitions bave been 00cepted, and an appeal has been made tions on the confines and books prepared for funds. in Thibetan to equip the missionary as . Boon as the wall is broken down. A -The interesting fact is stated that prayer union has been formed among while the number of Christians in Japan the Moravians to pray for the opening is only about one in one thou~and, and of Thibet. in no province do Christians even' approach to a majority, yet there have -Dr. B. H. Badley, 'President of been eleven members of the House of Lucknow Christian College, writes to Representatives chosen from their num- the Independent of the North Indian ber. There are also three professed Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Christians in tho House of Peers. A Church. Its foundations were laid in Christian has been ohosen President of the dark days of the mutiny of 1857, by the new House of Representatives. A Dr. Butler. In August, 1858, the statisformer vice-president of the liberal tics were: Missionaries, 3 ; helpers, 7 ; party is an active Presbyterian elder. church members, 1; probationers, 4; After his ~lection he was advised to give orphans, 6; day scholars, 41 ; native up his office in the church, as it might congregations, 35. In 1889 the figures create prejudice against him, but he re- were: Missionaries, 30,; Zenana and plied that he regarded his office in a native, 72 ; helpers, 389 ; church-mem- Christian church as more important bers, 4989; probationers, 4793 ; than his seat in the Diet. It was then orphans, 617; day scholars, 17,241; suggested that he absent himself from Sunday-school scholars, 28,400 ; native the meetings, but he answered that he congregations, 13,529. The mission has rega.rded attendance at Christian wor- its own publication house, a theological ship as a greater privilege, as well as a seminary, a college, and 8 woman's colhigher duty than any other. This shows lege, and is in all respects splendidly sturdy Christianity in Japan. equipped for work.

-It is said that Hebrew is rapidly -In the year 1800 only one twentybecoming again a Iiving tongue in Pales- fifth of our population was in towns of tine. Jews driven by persecution from more than 8000 inhabitants. Now more other countries are gathering in the land than one fourth of our population is of Israel. They do not know each massed in cities. Thill fact is startling. other's language, but all of them under- It has its great lesson for the Church. stand something of Hebrew, and the Here is where the work of evangelizaconsequence ia that Hebrew is becoming tion must be pressed. While we are the medium of communication among sending missionaries to fOl,eign lands, them. Two weekly newspapers are now God is sending thousands of foreigners published in Jerusalem in Hebrew. It to us, that we may Christianize them would seem expedient that missionaries right at our own doors. The problem of to the Jews in Palestine should be able city evangelization is one of the great to speak in the Hebrew language. problems of Christian missions to-day.

-Thibet is one of the few countries -Dr. Arthur Mitchell, Secretary of where the preaching of the Gospel is the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Misprohibited. Very little is known of the sions, was greatly impressed in his repeople. The population is set down as cent visit, with the vast unoccupied 6,000,000. They have two forms of re- fields in Central China. He found cities ligion, one of which is a type of Buddh- of from 75,000 to 300,000 with not one ism. Various attempts have been missionary of any denomination. These made to carry the Gospel into the coun- fields are open, too. "There is as littry, but they have all been practically tle excuse," he says, " forIeaving a city unsuccessful. The Moravians have long of 100,000 on the New York Central Railwaited to enter the field, having sta- roe.d without 8 single ~reaqber of the GOIl_ pel, as for leaving cities of that size and Miss Frances E. Willard, "no steamer double that size utterly neglected with- could revolve its wheels fast enough to in twenty-four hours of Shanghai." convey me to the Dark Continent. I should go where my color was the cor- -The Rev. J. A. MacDonald, a Wes- rect thing, and leave these pale faces to leyan missionary in Bengal, says that in work out their own destiny." India idolatrous practices are coming into disrepute. He thinks that the -Along the West Africa coast thirtyreign of false gods is drawing to a close. five languages, or dialects, have been mastered, and portions of the Scripture -The Foreign Mission Board of the and various religious and educational Reformed Church has sent out an ear- books and tracts have been translated nest appeal for special contributions to and printed, reaching thus about eight meet the needs of the work. It makes million people. these suggestions: "One cent a day from every member of the Reformed -This is woman's age. Even in Church in this country, 90,878, would slow-moving China, women are coming give $331,707 a year for this blessed ser- to the front. The Amhoy MontMy Ohurch vice. Five cents a week (a single car- Magazine contains a prize essay by a fare) saved and given to it would yield young woman on " How Shall Christian $236,283. Women Lead their Heathen Sisters to Worship God." -An ignorant Hindu woman became a Christian. Her husband told Dr. -The Moravians, at the close of a Murray Mitchell that his wife was century of missionary work, show a realways singing. Dr. Mitchell asked the markable record. The total number of man to write down some of the words their members at home is but one-third she sang and bring them to him. He of those in the mission fields. One in did so, and the following is the transla- every sixty-five of their adult members tion: has gone to labor as a missionary.

" To my poor house there came a lofty strauger- -Reginald Radcliffe says that the Oh, it was Jesus, the darling of heaven. sooner we understand that the New I ran to bid Him welcome. Testament does not ask nor expect the evangelization of the world to be done " With gods of stone what have I now to do ? by ministers, any more than a general I clasp my Saviour's feet; expects the fighting to be done by him- My whole soul clings to Jesus. self and his officers, but in far greater part by the rank and file, the sooner " Since to my breast I clasped those blessed feet, will the day of missionary advance be- Rich, rich am I, 0 Jesus I gin. The apostles did not send to And Thou wilt never leave:' Jerusalem for foreign pastors, but out of the converts in each town found na- -Sometimes converts in heathen tive overseers which they placed over countries may teach us older Christians the flock. lessons in systematic beneficence. It is said that the Christians in Ceylon -The Young Men's Christian Assohave four methods of giving for the sup- ciations are spreading all over the port of the Gospel. First, the tithes of world. There are now above four thoutheir earnings. Second, the offering of sand associations. Of these there are, trees-the setting apart by each family in India and Ceylon, 21; in Turkey, of a cocoa· nut tree, the produce of which 12; in Syria, 6; in Africa, 12; in they sacredly devote to benevolent pur- China, 5 ; in Persia, 7 ; in Japan, 200. poses. Third, the offering of labor-de- There will be openings in all parts of voting a certain amount of time to work the world for young men who are fitted in the interest of the church. Fourth, to be secretaries and eyangelists in conthey reserve a handful of rice from neotion with these associations. every day's meal.

-" If I were black and young," says