The Missionary Review of the World — September 1890
THE MISSION IN BASUTO LAND
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XIII. No.9.-0Id Series·–SEPTEMBER.–voL. III. No. 9.-New Series.
I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.
THE MISSION IN BASUTO LAND.
BY REV. ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.
The Christian Church owes this singularly interesting mission in South Africa to the Paris Missionary Society, which was founded in 1822 by some of the most prominent men in the French Reformed Church, whose names are yet fragrant in the memory of multitudes in other lands besides their own. Those men of God appear to have inherited much of the holy intrepidity and zeal of their Huguenot ancestors, for, in the midst of conscious weakness, one of their earliest acts after emerging from the fires of persecution and the tempests of revolution, was to unite in forming themselves into a missionary society and to claim an honorable share in that grandest of all enter- prises, the bringing about of the conquest of the world for Christ.
Basnto Land is a native territory lying between Cape Colony, the Orange Free State and Natal. The Orange river is the southern boundary, and the less important Caledon flows through its centre. It is a mountain land with deep valleys, many of which are gladdened and fertilized by refreshing streams which shed verdure and floml beauty upon their banks. In later times it has been placed under a British protectorate, which affords greater liberty and safety to the missionary, and gives to those mission churches which owe theil' birth and maintenance to French Protestants some claim upon British liberality. An eadier mission had already been established in another part of South Africa by the Paris Missionary Society, and had gatlwred its first fruits in converts and churches; but even this mission to Basnto Land dates back to a period many years before the names of Moffat and Livingstone had become household words in all the languages of Christendom and in all the churches of the saints.
The founder of the Basuto Mission was Eugene Casalis, who had associated with him from the beginning two fellow-workers of congenial spirit and of varied gifts, which greatly increased their usefulness. He who had been the honored founder of the mission has also lived to be its historian in a volume which has recently been translated into the English tongue, and which, in its picturesque descriptions, its narratives of thrilling adventures, and its style sparkling with vivacity, as well as in its more solid qualities of devout thought and burning zeal, and "common sense which is not common," tracin!; all the while the growth of one of the most successful Christian mis! sions in modern times, keeps the reader under a pleasing fascination to its close. ,,y e intend in this paper to present some notices of ):lis earlier years, prior as well as preparatory to his entering on his consecrated and greatly honored missionary life. Our facts shall, of course, be principally gathered from his own souvenirs.
Eugene Casalis was born November 21, 1812, at Orthes, a town in' the Department of the Lower Pyrenees, about thirty miles from Bayonne. His parents wet'e pious Protestants, of good social position, who could look back through generations of Huguenot ancestors, some of whom had bravely suffered for the faith. The boy thus received the priceless benefit of a godly upbringing, even those cherished ancestral traditions of faithful suffering for Christ mingling with and favorably influencing his thoughts. Weare led to conclude that there was something rather stiffened and stereotyped about the religions life of the worthy parents, and that it was in some measure deficient in warmth and joy. This made the youth welcome with keen relish the hymns of the saintly Cresar Malan, with their gladsome notes of faith and hope, which had begun to find their way from Geneva to those parts of France in which the faith of the Reformed Church prevailed. This good influence was increased by the appearance in that staid Protestant community of M. Pyt from Bayonne, a pastor and evangelist of much fervor and eloquence, who was received at the first with some suspicion by the sterner natures, but whose warmth and zeal in no long time overoome all opposition, while great numbers were attracted towards him who were passing from youth into early manhood. Eugene was among the first to sit at his feet and drink in his words of holy wisdom. It was natural that such an eager listener should soon attract the notice of the earnest evangelist, who was interested by his promising gifts and apparent buddings of grace, and at length, with the consent of his parents, he returned with the young pastor to Bayonne, where, under his daily supervisiOl" he was to receive a higher education in which the Christian element should be supreme. Gradually, under the evangelist's watchful eye, Eugene's hopeful symptoms ripened into decision; he not only embraced him. as a Christian brother, but discovered in his conversation and action qualities and desires which seemed to mark him as a missionary to the heathen. The finger of Providence had begun to point to the far off land.
This led to another important step, in the transference of Eugene to the Mission House of the Paris Missionary Society in Paris, where hopeful young men, while undergoing a period of probation, were meanwhile under systematic training for the work of a missionary to some dark region of heathendom. It was a wise and happy arrangement for youths, in whose hearts the Spirit of God had kindled a holy ·enthusiasm for the missionary enterprise, to be placed, for a series of years, under the direction and superintend~nce of such master spirits as Grandpierre and Audeber and Frederick Monod, of more than one .of whom we can write with the recollection of personal friendship, who combined, in a remarkable degree, the gift of eloquence with glowing zeal, geniality of spirit, and practical wisdom. There was labor in the mission house without weariness. Every hour had its a prescribed work. Exegetical theology held large place in the ·curriculum of study, for men such as Monod had sat at the feet of Robert Haldane at Geneva, and had learned from his instruction and example the divine art of bringing out the mind of God from a pas- sage of scripture, and to regard this as the highest function of a min- ister of Christ.
The young neophytes were also introduced to some knowledge of those sciences which might be turned to practical account on the mission field. Some of their hours were also spent outside the mis- 'sion house, in visiting the sick and the poor, in experiments in evangelism-as birds learning. the use of their wings-and in acting as hands and helps in the distribution of charity. As months and years rolled on in these congenial services, the thoughts of Eugene Casalis wandered more and more to Africa and its dark millions; he became impatient to go forth and share the toils and conflicts of the mission field. It is possible for the mower to spend too much time in sharp- ening his scythe. The unanimous voice of the directorate in the mission house at length said to him, "Go." It was a welcome sound,' as that of the trumpet to the war horse. On October 18, 1832, he was solemnly ordained by assembled presbyters to the office of a minister and missionary of Jesus Christ, his friend and pastor, M. Pyt, who had foreseen and foretold his destiny, and left on him the ·deep impress of his own noble character, fitly presiding at the laying ·on of hands.
A few weeks were spent by him in a visit to his parents in the old home at Orthes, there being a wise aITangement, however, that their intercourse should not be darkened by allusions to his departure till the hour for farewell was near at hand, for so strong was the impres- .sion in those earlier days that the separation would be for life, that the "A1( ;evoir" was usually pronounced with the finger pointed to heaven, as if there must be the next place of meeting. We give a few :sentences of the young missionary's own account of his parting, in which the self-denial and bravery of his venerable mother shines nobly out: "The horses were brought before the door of our house at four o'clock in the morning. After a prayer, mingled with sobs, there began a scene which I can only compare to that of the supreme separation at the moment of death. My father, my brother, my sisters were overwhelmed. My mother alone had power to speak. Seeing I was overcome, she cried, 'Courage, my son, it is for yonI' God. Go without regret; commit yourself to Him. I know that He will take care of you.' "
On November 11, 1832, Eugene Casalis sailed from London for South Africa, the appointed scene of his mission, having associated with him M. Arbousset, a young minister like-minded with himself in his French vivacity and spirit of perseveringendllrance, and Gosselin, a Christian artizan without culture, but to whom educated men delighted to listen because of his practical sagacity and openhearted piety, and who was to prove himself a priceless· acquisition. After a few days of sickness, these young heralds sought to increase thcir equipment for their sacred work by reading and study, mingled with much prayer and with hymn-singing, in which they remembered the example of Christian David and his two Moravian brethren, a. century before, sailing to Greenland and standing at nightfall on the stern of the vessel and singing those hymns which once had echoed on Moravian hills. But these congenial exercises were disturbed by more than rude adventure-a great deal more pleasa~t in the retro, spect than in the experience. For several days their too small and overladen schooner was visited by a tremendous storm, which swept the deck of its hencoops and bulwarks and every other movable thing, and drove thA vessel far out of its course. At a later period in their voyage, when they were away out of the usual sea-path and in unkuown waters, a pirate ship hovered near them and its ruffian crew were only at length scared away by the bustle of preparation and the signs of defiance which they saw in their coveted prize. And even when they were within sight of the harbor of Cape Town, and could hear the sonnd of the lowing of oxen and the crowing of cocks, and the vessel had begun to graze on some sunken rocks, it was only as if by a hair's-breadth they escaped shipwreck. It was with hearts overflowing with thankfulness that they trod at length on the soil of Africa, and saw the noble form and heard the cheering welcome of Dr. Philip, the superintendent of the missions of the London Missionary Society in the Cape Coiony, whose heart and home were open to missionaries of every name alld from every land, whether going forth to work or returning after years of earnest. toil to a season of wellmerited and needed r('~t.
But what was the astonishment of Casalis and his associates to be told, when the unwelcome news could no longer be withheld from them, that the misRion which they had come to reinforce and enlarge had, during the very time when they were at sea, been broken up and ruined! A period of despondency followed, in which everything seemed to be covered with mystery and gloom. Table Mountain, with its dark summit rising before them 5,000 feet high, appeared to represent the impassable barrier which rose between them and the enterprise about which they had been dreaming such fond dreams. They did not all at once see that God had another plan for them which was betttr than theirs, and that, instead of building on another man's foundation, they were destined to found a new mission in a region whose very name was yet unknown to them-where the foot of European had never trodden; and that within little more than one generation hundreds of thousands would be gathered by them and their fellow-workers into the fold of Christ. But their depression of SpIrIt was temporary. Even their youth and sanguine temperament, with the counsel and good cheer of the Christian circle which surrounded them, did much to lighten their burden, while believing prayer was the most powerful factor of all, and in no very long time they were able to say, "'Vho art thou, 0 great mountain? Before our Zerubbabel-a plain." Short visits to some of the mission stations which were within convenient reach of Cape Town strengthened their missionary impulses, and within a few weeks they were busy with preparations for a long journey into the interior, not doubting that an unseen heavenly guide would make their way plain before them, and in due time point out to them the chosen sphere of their life work. Large wagons were provided, especially one which for weeks to come was to be the habitation and conveyance of the missionaries. There were many teams of oxen which were to draw the lumbering vehicles along the desert path, with skilled teamsters and a band of Christian Hottentots for servants, and every necessary thing in the form of food and clothing, and guns and powder, and corn and flower seeds, and medicine and books, was stored in the wagons' capacious folds. We imagine them ploughing their way, sometimes through loose sand, and at other times over solid ground carpeted by the beautiful mimosa flower and heaths. The farmsteads of colonists, widely separated from each other, were at rare intervals seen in the distance; and startled flocks of antelopes and ostriches fled at their approach. There was a strong Christian element in this mingled company, so that the teamsters and Hottentot servants most willingly joined in the never-failing evening worship. M. Casalis mentions again and again the remarkable gift of singing possessed by the Hot… tentots: "The women have voices of an incomparable range of flexibility, and in the tenor or bass, which the men render in perfect harmony, there is an element of veiled emotion which profoundly moves the heart." This, no doubt, added to the attraction of the family worship in the desert with which the evenings were closed. Another custom of those dark-hued attendants greatly interested the good missionaTies: two hours before daybreak it was their uniform practice to rise and each one for himRelf to pray, and then to return to rest-all this for the purpose of securing themselves against hurry or disturbance in their simple devotions. 'Within twelve days they reached the Orange river, which at the place of crossing was a thous- and feet broad and at least five feet deep. It was with almost in- credible difficulty, and only after doubling the number of their teams of oxen, that they succeeded in crossing the great river. Here was another landmark which they had reached, for they were now outside the boundaries of civilized government, and had entered upon the region of heathenism, whose thick darkness was scarcely mitigated by one ray of Christian light.
A few hours' travel from the river's brink brought the missionar- ies and their company to Philippolis, a little embryo town which was to be prominent in their recollection ever afterwards, because it was the place where Providence would begin to unveil to them their future, and, as it were, lead them visibly by the hand to the seene of their life-ministry which he had chosen for them. The sealed letters were now to be opened. It happened in this wise. They had not been many hours in Philippolis when they were accosted by a mulatto, farmer, Adam Krotz, who eked out his regular income, and at the same time gratified his passion for adventure, by the hunting of antelopes, taking long detours over hundreds of miles. On learning who these strangers were, and what was their errand, his countenance brightened with a new interest. He told them of Basuto Land, of its king, whom he had met with not long before in one of his hunting excursions, who had a strong desire to have missionaries sent into his country, and had even drawn from Krotz a promise that if ever such men came in his way he would use all his influence and persuasion to induce them to choose his country as the scene of their sacred toils. Krotz added that he was truly glad to fulfil his engagement to the great Basuto chief, and promised that, on condition of their accompanying him on the hunting expedition on which he was about to enter, he would both be their guide and protector on the journey, and prepare their way by sending friendly messengers before them. The astonished missionaries distinctly read in all this the finger of God, and were ready to say with Eliezer of Damascus, "I being in the way,. the Lord led me," and though the time of their journeyings was ·likely to be lengthened by such an arrangement, they yielded to this. inconvenience for the sake of the greater benefit they would derive from this man's knowledge, friendship and guidance.
Certainly, if the patience of these devoted missionaries was sorely tried before their guide and counseller had secured his complement of meat, dried skins and horns, they had abundant opportunity of improving their knowledge of natural history; for, in additiop to the gentle antelope, the whole hunting ground which they were traversing abounded with baboons and panthers and lions and other beasts of prey. At length deliverance came, and at the end of four weeks of waiting they had crossed the boundaries of Basuto Land. The good men could not help smiling as they. remembered how, in the maps which they had bought in Paris, the whole of this region had been marked as sandy and level, for they had not travelled many miles inward when they found themselves standing at the foot of a moun- tain several thousand feet in height. As. they journeyed onward, a local chief having been apprised of their approach sent theIl down from his mountain fastness a present of milk and boiled maize, which they hailed as a token for good. Meanwhile, messengers were sent forward by the indefatigable Krotz, to inform the king of their movements and to bespeak his royal welcome. As they proceeded on their journey, they were struck with the unmistakable signs of recent battles which appeared in many places-in broken walls, and ruined villages, and desolated gardens, and battle-fields strewn with remnants of the dead. Already we may imagine the prayer to have ascended from their full hearts that their mission might be blessed as the messengers of the Prince of Peace.
On reaching the foot of the mountain on which stood the palace of King Moshesh,they scarcely had time to unyoke their wearied oxen and to pitch their tent, when the king's sons appeared scampering on horses at full speed to convey the salutations of their royal father. Early on the following day the missionaries ascended the mountain by a precipitous and winding path to return the monarch's s!1lutations. 'l'hey were received in a spacious court, enclosed by lofty palisades, into which Moshesh descended from his palace accompanied by his queen and their one little boy, whom they both fondly caressed. We give M. Casali's first impressions of the Basuto king in ~is own words: "The chief bent upon me a look at once majestic and benevolent. His profile, much more aquiline than that of the generality of his subjects, his well-developed forehead, the fulness and regularity of his features, his eyes a little weary, as it se~med, but full of intelligence and softness, made a deep impression on me. I felt at once that I had to do with a superior man, trained to think, to command others, and, above all, to 'command himself. After we had looked an instant at each other in sitence, he rose and said, 'Lumela, lilchoa' (Welcome, white man), and I replied by holding out my hand to him, which he took without hesitation." The king's looks expressed even more kindness than his words.
On the next day the king, attended by some of his chiefs, came down from his mountain to dine with the strangers. It must be acknowledged that the contents of their larder did not supply "a dainty dish to set before a king." But the time was 'urgent, and nothing could be done or even attempted until they knew more of the ruler's mind. With Krotz as his interpreter, the missionary explained to. the king the end of their mission, in promoting the religious as well as the material good of his people, and asked for his protection and help in
WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN
their enterprise of love. The answer was, in some respects, wonderful, as coming from a heathen king who knew nothing of Christianity except what he had vaguely heard of its beneficent effects, and would have graced the lips even of a Christian monarch: "~ly heart is white with joy," replied the chief. "Your words are great ~nd good. It is enough for me to see your clothing, your arms, and the rolling houses in which you travel, to understand how much intelligence and strength you have. You see our desolation. The country was full of inhabitants. 'Val's have devastated it. Multitudes have perished; others are refugees in foreign lands. I remain almost alone on this rock. I have been told that you can help us. You promise to do it. That is enough. It is all I want to know. Remain with us. You will instruct us. 'Ve will do all you wish. The country is at your disposal. 'Ve can go through it together and you shall choose the place 'which will best suit you."
Here was the charter of their liberty and privilege given without parchment, or signature, or seal, but never violated in one iota by the king'..:; acts. A great and effectual door was opened before those men of God, and they were not slow to enter in. But we must reserve for another paper some notices of the first years of these devoted laborers, of their principles and methods of actions, and of the glorious and ever-increasing fruits which crowned their ministries of faith and love and patience during the next fifty years.
WOMAN'S 'YORK FOR WOMAN.
BY 1<'. I". ELI~I~WOOD, D.D., NE'V YORK.
The New Testament sounded the key-note of woman's emancipation from the tyranny of old custom!';, and welcomed her to a share in the active service of redemption. The old dispensation had given a promise which cheered evelT Hebrew mother's heart with hope, and llere and there, as in the sto~ies ~f Hannah and Ruth and Esther, appeared beautiful illustrations of what woman's influence might accomplish in the world. But outside of the Jewish Church, the worst elemcnt in the darkness of heathenism was the oppression of the female sex.
The very fact that woman was specially honored in the advent of the Messiah seemed to presage a new and more ample sphere for her influence. The two sisters at Bethany, instead of being hidden away like the inmates of a lHoslem harem and forbidden to share the blessings of the Saviour's visits, seem to havc had the same intimate acquaintan~e and friendship with their brother's guest that would be accorded to the wives or sisters of a modern Christian home. Dorcas was as free and as efficient iIi her Christian aetivities as any modern president of an orphan asylum or a woman's home. Priscilla taught theology when crude and uninstructed young missionaries needed further training; and of all the men and women in the church in Cenchrea, Phrebe alone was immortalized by her Chris- tian service.
It must have been a matter of disappointment to Paul, when he crossed the Hellespont and entered Philippi, that he did not receive a welcome from that "man of Macedonia" whom he had seen in his VISIOn. But the only welcome he found was in a woman's prayer- meeting by the river side, and Lydia, a woman of affairs and of ag- gressive Christian influence, became his hostess and his chief patron.
As for the men of Macedonia, his first encounter was with a sordid syndicate who were making merchandise of the wild vagaries of a de- mented girl. She had been restored ana cOllverted and their business was ruined, and in consequence Paul was mobbed. The last chapter ·of the Epistle to the Romans shows how extensive and how free was woman's work in the church at Rome.
In the days of martyrdom woman bore her part in heroic courage and in suffering unto death. In Carthage and in Rome, in far off France, and wherever the long struggle of Christianity with heathen- ism was waged, the delicate forms of women and of girls were tor- tured and mangled for their faith. In hundreds of instances also woman, who in the bloody invasions of savage tribes was spared from carnage only to be borne into slavery, became a herald of the Cross. Even in the courts of savage kings we find her the centre and source of gospel light. The conversion of Vladimir of Russia through his Byzantine wife was a case in point.
In no country has woman's early influence in the propagation of the faith been more remarkable than in France and Britain. Clovis on the eve of. battle vowed that if victory should be given him he would thereafter worship the God of his Christian wife, Clotilda. Tl~e victory was won and in pursuance of his vow he was baptized with three thousand of his court and his army. It has been truly said that not merely Clovis and his army were baptized, but a great empire and the whole civilization and destiny of Western Europe.
When the rude Saxons of Britain were to be reclaimed, and that Christianity which their savagery had well-nigh trodden out on the shores of Kent was to be restored, the way was opened by a Chris- tian princess of Burgundy, who in her marriage to the King of Kent had stipulated that she should be free to worship the true God and His Christ. Canterbury was really founded by Queen Bertha, who prepared the way for Augustine and his monks.
In the modern movement of Christian benevolence the women of the Roman Catholic Church were earlier in the field than those of the Protestant churches, but they worked under the rules and restrictions of conventual orders. It is quite to the credit of Rornanism that its ,sisterhoods have in modern times been mobilized for active service at home and abroad. Though the missionary idea in the Roman Catholic Church is that of a celibate priest, yet the Sisters of Charity go in groups to all lands, and their hospitals and orphanages rise up as- by magic wherever human suffering is found. Only praise and com- mendation can be given to the self.denying devotion with which this' noble work is done.
But a far better development of woman's work in missions and in all benevolence is that which has been shown in Protestant Christen- dom within the last quarter of a century-better, first, because it is freeer; second, because it aims at the subsidizing, not of a professional class, but of all Christian womanhood for the work of Christ; and third, because the example and influence of the married and unmar- ried women of Protestant missions are more positive than that of iso- lated sistel'hoods. 'fhey illustrate the home-of which China and India know nothing-instead of the convent, which Buddhism already has; and they give stronger emphasis to the freedom which all women should claim.
It may be said that on the home side the woman's work of Pro- testantism does not in fact subsidize all the talent and moral power of Christian womanhood in the Church. This is, indeed, too true, but its tendency is in that direction; that is its ideal and its aim, and in no other one enterprise has so large a portion of its membership, male or female, been enlisted as in woman's missionary work. We have observed the growth and operations of women's foreign missionary societies. for the last twenty years, and have been more and more impressed by their stability in organization and their advance in efficiency and power.
In all Protestant churches the impulse is one and universal. Sus- picions, doubts, and fears which conservative men entertained at the outset have disappeared. No denomination would think of dispensing with this potent auxiliary force. It were difficult ~o say whether its success abroad, great as it is, or its reflex power at home, has been the greater.
The late Dr. Mullens, of the I,ondon Missionary Society, main- tained that, as a uniform law, home charities of every kind had grown out of the broader and deeper movements that had been stirred by . the spectacle of woman's debasement in heathen lands. He traced nearly all the societies for evangelization in Great Britain to the antecedent impulse which arose about the beginning of the century to give the gospel to distant lands.
'Vhatever may have been the facts in England, it is certain that the great tide of sympathy which first sprang up in the hearts. of American women for their enslaved sisters in the zenanas of India has inured to the good of our own frontier settlements and of the freedmen in the South. The women of the churches never before so fully realized their power or were so disposed to use it in all earnest service for Christ and humanity.
The movement was timely for more reasons than one. (1.) It arose at a time when the zenana system had begun to be questioned, and teachers were demanded to instruct ignorant and neglected wives. The door opened just as the messengers arose-as in the case of Cornelius and Peter. (2.) The movement was called for at a time when the women of America had just learned something of their united strength in their efforts for the relief of our wounded soldiers. (3.) This work in foreign missions came forward at a time when there were many bereft and bleeding hearts which needed the care, and through care the solace, which the service of the Great Sympathizer so often presents. From its very beginning it has proved a resource to many a widowed soul who in deep sorrow was wondering for what object her life was still prolonged. (4.) The movement came at a time when, in the North at least, American womanhood was beginning to feel the influence of an unexampled reign of wealth and luxury. Steadily for the last twenty-five years money has been growing in social power, and more and more asserting itself as an aim in life. Old standards of estimate-knowledge, culture, characterhave lost ground before the influence of the" gold basis," and the temptation to worldliness and display has been greater than in any previous period of our history, or, perhaps, any history. The" social c,olumns" of the secular press have fed the flame of this craze for wealth, and certain classes of magftzines have made it a special aim to cater to the unwomanly ambition for money. Some months ago one of our popular montl)lies gave the public an article on "The Rich Women of America." Several portraits were given, with the names. Some were marriageable young heiresses! It is vulgar enough for men to parade their money-bags or have others do it for them, but to drag down woman from the purity and dignity of her true character and place her in the arena for such a show, and especially to advertise heiresses, is demoralizing alike to womanhood and to manhood, and seems to point already to social and national decay.
Fortunately the counter-movement in behalf of missions and other forms of Christian benevolence has in many cases interposed a wholesome check to this unhallowed ambition. Side by side with this rush of worldliness and display, and often across its current, there has gone forth an influence that was elevating and ennobling. There are multitudes, even among the wealthy, who have learned that there is something higher than empty display, and who have instilled into the minds 6f their daughters aspirations for practical sympathy with the wants and woes of the world. In many a family of wealth the counterbalancing influence of the missionary interest has been welcomed as a safeguard. With it has come a wide range of information concerning lands and peoples and institutions which would not otherwise have been gained. If nothing else had resulted from woman's work in missions, its educational influence in families, the better impulses with which it has enriched and ennobled womanhood, the widespread altru- istic spirit which now shows itself in Zenana bands, Christian Endeavor Societies, or among the Daughters of the King, would repay a hundred fold all that has been expended.
N or has its influence been confined to the female sex. The prayers which have been offered for nearly a generation in Christian homes, the increased intelligence, the glow of ennobling enthusiasm, have affected sons as well as daughters. What wonder that there are thousands of young men now rising up and offering themselves for the mission fields! Recently, when the brave and dauntless Mackay fell at his post in the Uganda lVIission, and the sudden call came to England for others to take his place, nine volunteers at once presented themselves.
On the foreign field t.he supplement of this home interest is found in hundreds and even thousands of women, married or unmarried, who in school or .zenana work, in the hospital and the dispensary, are exerting a quiet but N,tent influence which no computation can measure. It comes not" with observation." The change wrought in the surrounding community is one thing accomplished. It gradually refutes and destroys the Oriental theories of woman's sphere. The conscious dignity of woman appearing in utmost freedom in the home, in the school, or worshipping in the mixed assembly, breaks down old prejudice, and rebukes the blind cOllceit of men who, in enslaving woman, have blighted their own happiness and destroyed the welfare of their families.
But the most important factor in this regeneration is the training of thousands of the young to ideas and usages and degrees of inte1ligence which are at war with the' old customs and superstitions. The simple truth is that in countries like India and Japan the sentiment of the best classes is already revolutionized, the miraculous victory is already won. The only difficulty is that those who are convinced are loth to acknowledge the sources of the new influence. They are jealous of the foreigner and of his foreign creed. They are slow to acknowledge the defeat of their ancient faith and customs. They would like to adopt the new cult, but with their own ancient labels. But intelligence in woman they are beginning to prize.
Two or three years ago, when four Hindu girls graduated with full honors at Calcutta University, they were publicly applauded by high Goyernment officials, and the fact was pointed out that the upper strata of Hindu society were being transformed by the influence of just such events. This is precisely the meaning of the ready and eager patronage which is given by high Brahman families to the 8cho010f
1890.j THE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS
Ramabai in Bombay. And the same thing is illustrated in the female seminary with four hundred high caste girls, which is carried on under the patronage of the Maha Rani of Mysore. India, in her pride, is not yet ready to acknowledge that the new order of things has sprung from the influence of missionaries and of other Christian women, but God knoweth His own, and the benign influences which have been exerted quietly, as the falling of the raindrop and the snow-flake shall not return unto Him void, but shall accomplish' that whereunto He hath sent them.
'l'HE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] Eliminate God from missions and yon have nothing left but a llUman enterprise; all the grandeur and glory are gone; for the one supreme charm and fascination of this work is that, in idea and plan, in origin and progress, it is divine.
Nothing is more noticeable than the peculiar emphasis laid upon the supernatural factor in worId-wide missions thi'oughout the scripture. We say throughout, for, in Old Testament and New 'l'estament alike, the conception of world-wide missions may be found. The idea was not novel, even at the outset of Christian history. In the prophe- Cies and prayers of holy men of old,whether in the.De Profundis and Miserere of pathetic lamentation and warning, or the In Excelsis of exultant praise and promise, like the deep undertone of mighty waters, we hear the wondrons intimation of a coming day when the kingdoms of the world shall become the one kingdom of the Messiah. As far back as the opening of Genesis, the first promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, is generic. It is a promise for the race of man as such. Satan had bruised the heel of the Adamic race and in the person of the second Adam that race was to bruise the serpent's head. Abraham was the great father of an elect family, yet, as the second great period of Messianic promise opens in his call and separation, we hear again the prophecy of a universal blessillg: "In Thee shall all the families ofthe earth be blessed." Further on, as we pass from one epoch to another, we never fail to find this world-wide blessing emphasized. The Psalmist, breathing a prayer of profounder meaning than he knew, pleads that the whole earth may be filled with God's glory, and predicts that all nations shall call Him blessed. Prophets tal{e up the strain, and foretell a day when "in every place incense shall be offered unto His name, and a pure offering;" when Messianic blessings shall be as widespread as the wings of the day, which touch, as those of the cherubim touched the walls of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, the remotest east and west, from the rising to the setting of the SUIl.
In that great Messianic and missionary Psalm (lxxii.), whose full radiance is only manifest, like a jeweled cavern, when the "Light of the World" is set in it to interpret its hidden beauties, there occurs a most significant doxology: "Blessed be Jehovah God, The God of Israel, WHO ONLY DOETH WONDROU,S TIDNGS!"
The connection associates .this doxology, by an obvious link, with the body of the Psalm, as though the inspired singer, who foretells this supernal glory of the Messiah's coming and world-wide reign, foresees that all this can be brought about only by the wonder-working God to whom nothing is impossible. The Holy Ghost, moving in the soul, inspires this outburst of adoring praise as a tribute to the grand truth and fact that no future historic development is to display God's power so unmistakably as the history of Christian missions. And so it is. Looking back now over a century of modern missions, the century of organized effort to spread the good tidings everywhere, we can only exclaim, "What hath GOD wrought !" Even sceptical disciples have been c9nstrained to say, like Pharaoh's magicians, "Truly this is the finger of God!"
It may be profitable to trace this supernaturalisn;t a little in detail. The thirteenth chapter of the Acts opens with a divine call to the laborers. As the prophets and teachers in the Antiochan Church were leading the church in holy ministrations and fasting, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." This is the first step in organized foreign missions. Let us remember that the initial foreign mission tour'was undertaken at the special command of the Holy Spirit. However the Church may have separated these two original foreign missionaries and sent them forth, they are expressly declared to have been separated and sent forth by the Holy Ghost. Here, then, is the supernatural factor as the basis of mission work. God, by the Holy Ghost, calls, appoints, anoints and thrusts forth into the harvest field His chosen workmen.
Now observe that, when from this tour which begins and ends at Antioch, they returned, they "gathered the church together," and "rehearsed all that GOD had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles" (xiv. 27). Subsequently, Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem to the first Church council. Being brought on their way by the Church, they pass through Phenicia and Samaria, "declaring the conversion of the Gentiles," magnifying the divine power and grace. Then when they are at J erusalem they declare unto the Church with the apostles and elders "all that God had done with them." Peter, in his address, magnifies God. It is He who .made choice of Peter as the apostle of the keys to open -the doors of the Kingdom to Jew and Gentile. It is He who chose disciples from among the Gentiles, granted them repentance, and put no -difference between them and Jews, purifying their hearts by faith. And when Barnabas and Paul again address the people, a deep hush of silence shuts the multitude in like a canopy, as with awe they give audience, while these missionaries deelare "what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them."
How could there be any more express, explicit, emphatic recognition of the supernatural factor of missions? Here is no parading of .church life, of organization, method, human power, gifts, learning, tact, or even devotion and self-sacrifice. God alone is put before us. He fills the whole horizon. If, in the course of this mission tour, any man has been visible or prominent, now that they have "come down from the mountain," they see "no man save Jesus only." The Holy Spirit calls, separates, sends forth the workers; God opens the door of access to the nations, and then opens the door of their hearts to faith. He bears them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, and purifying their hearts; and, in a word, the whole story of this mission tour is one of miracles and wonders which God has wrought. "They _went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."
That short history is the perpetual type and prophecy of worldwide missions. They are to be carried on solely in dependence on God. We are to depend on Him to select and separate unto the work His chosen servants. We are to depend on Him to open the doors of access and approach to the nations. Weare to rely on Him to attend the word spoken with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. We must depend on Him to convert men. We may evangelize, but we cannot by all our ~fforts secure one convert. From fil:st to last the whole work must be of God, and only as He is in it and through it can it be saved from disastrous failure.
vVhen we open the New Testament, and read the last command of Christ, we find the commision of the Church prefaced and followed by a remarkable and significant declaration and an equally remarkable and significant promise: "All power is given unto Me In Heaven and in earth.
Go YE THEREFORE AND DISCIPLE ALL NATIONS.
And lof I am with you alway, Even unto the end of the world."
Is it any accident that this command is buttressed, front and rear, by such divine endouragements? First our Lord declares His own omnipotence; then His omnipresence; and between these He puts the great commission of the Church. What means this but that His righteousness shall go before us, and His glory shall be our rere-ward when we dare in His name to do our duty to a dying world, and march forth to subdue that world unto Him! 'fhe Acts of the Apostles is the historic illustration of the duty undertaken and of the promise enjoyed. Here the philosophy of missions teaches by examples. From first to last this book is the record of His working who only doeth wondrous things. Here is a period of history covering about thirty or forty yean;, the average lifetime of a generation, as if to show us what one generation of disciples can do toward a world's evangelization when the all-powerful captain oJ the Lord's host leads, and His "everywhere" and" alway" presence is their confidence and support.
The book opens with Pentecost-a miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit which in a moment removes the impassable barrier of unknown languages and enable!:! each man to hear in his own tongue the wonderful works of God. If Babel's confusion of tongues was a miracle, surely the reversal of Babel-the resolving of that confusion into order-is a counter miracle, and the record of that wonder working of God at the very beginning of that book is highly significant. The book of the Acts stands in the New Testament as the book of Joshua does in the Old. The latter is the account of the wars of Israel against the Canaanites; the former of the wars of the Church against the enemies of God; and in both the introduction is the record of a stupendous miracle. Jericho's walls fall without a blow struck or an engine of war employed; on the day of Pentecost the walls of strange speech instantaneously fall, and make representatives of the farthest cardinal points at once open to the message of the gospel. Can any thoughtful reader overlook the purport and purpose of that miracle? It stands at the very door of the history, like a sentinel at a gate, or a signal flag flying from a turret. It is the interpreter of the whole Book. The Acts of t,he Apostles are the acts of the Holy Ghost-of Jesus by the Holy Ghost. He is displaying that omnipotence and exhibiting that omnipresence, and the perpetuity of that power and presence is to be the warrant for the perpetuity of Christian missions and the inspiration and encouragement of them.
With profound and solemn conviction we record once more our testimony, after more than a quarter of a century of the study of missionary history and biography, that only from a divine point of view can the mystery of missions be interpreted 01' the significance of missions be appreciated. Higher up than the level of the most selfdenying heroism must we get to command this true horizon; and our constant effort with tongue and pen is to awaken and arouse sluggish believers to behold this march of God and fall into line under His leadership and take up the march with Him.
What He did in the times of the Acts He has been doing in later years. How did modern missions begin as a general movement in the Church? God separated and sent forth such men as Pluts,hau and John Eliot, Schwartz and Kiernander, Ziegenbalg and Zinzendorf~ William Carey and John Williams. Take William Carey as an example. That man can be accounted for only as a miracle of grace. No figure in missions more prominently stands out as the product of divine power. In the eighteenth century evangelical religion in America and in Europe lay dying, like a famished traveler. In France the Huguenots had been either massacred or driven out; in Germany and Holland the Reformed Church was already deformed by Rational- ism; in Britain Ritualism and Moderatism, Arianism and Socinianism, Antinomianism and hyper-Calvinism reduced religious life to a name. In some parts piety was an organized hypocrisy or an empty pretense. Just at this time, 1761, a humble weaver of Paulerspury, who with the loom united the offices of schoolmaster and parish clerk, had a son born to him. ;His boyhood was without special promise. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a Hackleton shoemaker, and entered upon the career of a simple tradesman. But God had chosen that "cobbler" to be the Paul of the new century of missions. He was converted and joined the Baptists at eighteen, and eight years later was ordained as a minister of the gospel.
There was nothing in the" environment" or " heredity" of that young shoemaker to hint his career as a missionary. That was not a mIsSIOnary age. He breathed no missionary atmosphere. The Church at that time denied her obligation to the lost race of man as well as neglected her duty. A distinguished clergyman of the Church of England chose the keenest darts in his quiver of sarcasm and wit to· shoot at the cobbler who proposed to convert the world. His own brethren treated his project with contemptuous indifference orpatronizing pity. And yet from the hour of his conversion there was lit in bis soul a strange flame of desire and purpose to preach the gospel in the regions beyond, for which we can account only by a coal from off a celestial altar.
Behold him, poor, obscure, unlearned, pegging away at a boot, while his eyes wander to an open book in which he is reading of faroff peoples, still farther off from God. See him making a rude m~p of brown paper or sole leather, drawing with cobbler's ink a rough outline of the world and filling it" in with such items of information as he can obtain about the populations and religions of the world, and, by shading the various countries, indicating the comparative degradation and destit.ution of their inhabitants. He was heaping fuel of facts on the flame of his zeal until the fire spread to a conflagration and consumed him as it consumed his Master before him. 1784 comes, and under his leadership the" monthly concert of prayer for the world's conversion" begins. Now, for the first time since the days of Pentecost, the Church organizes prayer to God for world-wide missions. From tile fires kindled in William Carey's soul God lights new flames on church altars until they spread over the whole of evangelical Christendom, and on the first Monday of the month there is a ring of prayer girdling the globe!
The next great step is the formation of a missionary society at Kettering in 1792. That same William Carey is again chosen to lead the way. It is this sanctified shoemaker who teaches a lethargic Church to "attempt great things for God and to expect great things from God." Twelve obscure Baptists withdraw to the parlor of the W allis house at Kettering on that 2d of October and draw up a com- pact to organize a society to send the gospel to the heathen. They erect a humble missionary treasury and put in it a trifling sum of thirteen pounds and a half crown sterling; and thus again William Carey is thrust forward by God to lead the Church to organize mis- sions. To-day R. M. Cust, Esq., tells us that there are approaching 250 missionary societies, belting the globe, with almost 7,000 mission- aries from Europe and America, and nearly five times as many who, from converted heathen, Moslem and pagan disciples, have joined them in the work of proclaiming a gORpel of salvation to the lost. To·day the missionary treasuries receive and disburse annually an aggregate sum of over two hundred thousand times the amount laid on the altar of missions on that day in 1792, and all this increase within less than a century!
In 1793 William Carey himself goes forth to India, leading now not in prayer and organization only, but in actual missionary activity -in self giving. He becomes England's first foreign missionary. The Lord of the harvest thrusts forth into His harvest the man of Paulerspury whom He has lleparated unto the work. For a hundred years his example has been the incentive and the inspiration to similar consecration. Thc aggregate number of foreign missionaries who have since 1792 gone into the field is known only to God. No one man has probably the data from which to give that sublime list of men and women who have fallen asleep, or are still living, and who belong to that sacred host; but we believe if that entire roll of living and of dead could be called it would be found to number not less than 25,000! Can any believer look at this missionary century and doubt that this whole work is God's work, who alone d()eth wondrous things?
We have no space, here and now, to carryon this presentation of the supernatural factor in missions. But, were there space and time at command, we should pursue the theme with enthusiasm through volumes.' For the encouragment of others who may be disposed to follow the subject into its fascinating ramifications it may be well to sketch a few of the directions into which the subject branches out, as we think of the divine presence and power in the missions of the Church.
There are two great branches of the theme. First of all, Christ's personal promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," and secondly, what He calls the" Promise of the Father," viz.: "Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you." Between these we are manifestly to distinguish. His own promise is one of His personal, perpetual presence everywhere-at the head of His missionary host, as the general-in-chief at the head of his columns. The angel of the Lord's presence is again acting as Captain of the Lord's host. Such an omni- present, omnipotent chief will of course manifest his invisible pres- ence in three ways: g~tiding, guarding and governing. We are justi- fied in expecting, if the Lord Jesus is at the head of the army of mis- sionaries, that all the movements of the host will be directed by divine wisdom. We shall expect to see a divine strategy exhibited in the whole plan of the campaign; to see movements all along the lines- piercing the enemy's centre, turning his staggering wings-now a flank movement; again a surprise in some new quarter; here a fortress taken, and there a rapid advance made into the very heart of his terri- tory. If Christ be at the head of the host we shall not be suprised to see Him exercising His protecting power as well as His directing wisdom. Especially in the crises of His kingdom He will turn the tide of battle in the very gate. When kings conspire to overthrow His Church and to burst His bands of control asunder; when around His elect band that dare for His sake the fight of the few against the many, the powers of darkness gather, He will interpose to defeat their counsels and bring their devices to naught. Has it been so in the history of missions? Look at the little band who have gone to cannibal islands, into the midst of savages, into the heart of hostile kingdoms surrounded by malignant foes. How wonderfully have they been preserved! Many have fallen because their blood was to be the seed of new churches, and their martyr testimony was needful as a witness for Christ. But who is He that sends forth His great army of locusts, who despatches famine, pestilence, drought to act as His evangelists and prepare the way of the Lord? Who is He that, when Sultan Mahmud had ordered the expulsion of all missionaries from the Turkish empire in 1839, sent death to cut off the tyrant and annul his decree; and who, when the King of Siam, twelve years later, plotted to dislodge all the missionaries from his kingdom, again sent the angel of His wrath to break the conspiring monarch as with a rod of iron and dash him in pieces like a potter's vessel!
Has the Captain of the Lord's host manifested Himself as the governing, controlling power behind missions? To answer this question we must command a wide prospect. The whole century has been full of new developments, which have been so much beyond all human devising as to present a series of surprises to the Church herself. God saw that, in order to the success of missions, there must be an awakened Church, an organized plan, a consecrated band, systematic giving, women associated, children devoted, new enterprise. a return to apostolic faith, covenant prayer and world-wide effort. And right along these lines has the Captain of the Lord's host been exercising His providential oversight. As a new emergency has. arisen a new interposition has been evident. The Church has found in every crisis a higher hand controlling. From every period of despondency or discouragement the faithful few who enter into the secret place have risen to new endeavor and in!lpiration by " beholding the works of the Lord."
But what shall we say of the Promise of the Father'! That again manifestly involves three things, for the work of the Holy Ghost is. seen in salvation, sanctification and service. If the promise of the Father has been falfiUed we shall find throughout the history of mis– sions that God has been exhibiting His grace as He has also His. proviilence. He has separated' and sent forth servants, then He has. accompanied their work with saving power, and, from the converts gathered, again sanctified and separated new workmen for His king– dom.
How has it been? Marvellous as have been the interpositions of Providence, the signs of the Captain of the Lord's h<lst, guarding, guiding, governing-still more wonderful have been the interpositions of grace-appointing and anointing workmen, subduing and saving souls, and reforming and transforming entire communities. Here our pen halts-in the very perplexity of the exuberant abundance of matter that claims at least a passing reference. Again we say, the whole story of modern missions is a new book of the Acts of the Apostles; and there was not a sign, wonder, miracle of grace in the apostolic. age of missions which in its measure is not characteristic of the moile1'n missionary age! From the time that William Carey went to India, Adoniram Judson to Burmah, Robert Morrison to China, J ustin Perkins to Persia, Robert Moffatt to Africa, Nott to Tahiti, Dober' to the West Indies, Eliot to the North American Indians, there have been, in one grand series, miracles of grace among the highest and the lowest alike. Sometimes a thousand have been born in a day;_ sometimes whole communities and even nations transformed; sometimes Christianity has become the law of the land, and idols, once in every house, have not been found even as curios and relics! Theadamant wall of caste, the iron wheel of transmigration, the brazen fetters of Moslem bigotry, the hopeless thraldom of Fetichism, have alike proved powerless to oppose the simple gospel of Christ. The investigator may follow any devoted missionary of the century intoany field of labor, however unpromising, and he will find that instead of the thorn has come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier has. come up the myrtle-tree; and this displacement of noxious and vicious growths in the soil of society by beautiful and fragrant trees and plants which show the "planting of the Lord" becomes, when
1890.J MORMON PROSELYTISM
other signs fail that had a temporary.purpose, "ttOD'S ll:VERLASTING SIGN THAT SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF."
That sign has been found and will be found wherever the gospel is faithfully proclaimed 1;0 the lost. And ~n this day the wilderness and solitary place are to be made glad and blossom as the rose. The field is the world-the seed is the Word of God; the seed is also the children of the kingdom. The Church has only to go throughout the field and sow both the seed of the Word and the seed of holy lives, and we may calmly and confidently leave the result with Him, who, whatever agencies He may employ, is, after all, the Husbandman, and the harvest will never fail. Even the apparent scarcity of the seed and the vastness of the field need not discourage us. He knows how to make the seed bring forth thirty, sixty and even a hundred fold. Missionary histor¥ both demonstrates and illustrates how the most desperately hopeless fields, with the most inadequate force of workmen and supply of material, have yielded the most amazing harvest and- often with such rapidity that the plowman is overtaken by the reaper. Are we yearning for new signs of God's presence and power in human affairs? Here is the grand sphere for such manifestations. He is ready, willing, rich in grace. All we have to do is to go everywhere-break up the fallow ground, scatter the seed of the Kingdom, in faith, in prayer, in tears, in hope; and heavenly dews and showers, with the beams of the Sun of Right~ousness, will make sure the fruits of a divine husbandry!
MORMON PROSELYTISM. BY REV. D. L. LEONARD, BELLEVUE, OHIO. To some it may seem an unwarrantable proceeding, an act bordering upon the profane, to use the pages of 'l'HE MISSIONARY REVIEW to set forth the methods and the achievements of the Mormon propaganda. And, indeed, it is setting such matters in far better company than they deserve. But facts are stubborn things, and certain facts, though unpalatable, we are in duty bound to consider. Fas est ob hoste aoce'l'i. 'fhen no feature of Mormonism is more characteristic. Not to understand its aims and modes of working in this particular is to omit from the great tragedy the part of Hamlet. Besides, taking note of the aggressive campaigns of the elders-so many, so difficult, so full of hardship and peril, we shall be persuaded that thpy are not wholly false-hearted and deceivers, but possessed of large measures of sincerity and zeal, and we can also more readily understand how this sect, so mongrel and outlandish, so fraught with folly, and so stained with serious offences agaim;t the moral law, has so marvellously spread and endured. But more than this, we are to consider one of the most startling and most forbidding religious phenomena in the civilized world in the current centu~. Beyond question the Latter-day Church has sent out more missionaries and made more converts in proportion to the number of its adherents than any other, in this respect far surpassing even the Moravian Church, whose name is a synonym for evangelizing zeal. Nothing less than world-wide dominion was in the eye of Joseph Smith from the start.
The church was organized in April of 1830, and in October four of the neophytes were commissioned to carry the infant gospel from New York to the Indians upon the extreme Western frontier, while in June following thirty took their journey towards the same remote region. In 1831 about as many more were named "by revelation" to make a preaching tour from Ohio to the Eastern, Southern and Western "countries" in part, while the rest were to "ask the Comforter" whither they should bend their steps.
. In 1837 in all 139 took the field, of whom 109 starting together were divided into eight companies, and were ordered to travel towards as many principal points of the compass. In 1844 every ·Congressional district in the Union was visited and canvassed by its share of a troop numbering in all 334. In 1852 Salt Lake witnessed the departure at one time of 109 missionaries destined to seventeen countries, and most of them in the Old World. In 1857 no less than 350 left the Great Basin, while for two decades about 200 was the annual average. For years together upwards of 400 were kept constantly abroad, and in all from the beginning not far from 5,000 American elders have been chosen and sent forth, with enough of native auxiliaries to raise the average to 100 a year.
As to results, within a few weeks of the organization of the church in Seneca County, N. Y., a branch was formed in Broome County, 100 miles away, and before the end of the year another in Ohio, and by midsummer of the year after scores of saints ate found in Western Missouri, while at the end of the year converts were abundant in several counties of the Western Reserve, and Cincinnati was blessed with a flourishing branch. Within three years Canada had heard the message, and every State from Maine to Mississippi.
In 1837 emissaries of Smith crossed the Atlantic and opened a door great and effectual in England, and a little later they pushed on to Wales, Scotland, Ireland, to the East Indies, to Australia. In 1840 two doughty crusaders set their faces towards Palestine; while in 1844 the Society Islands, lying in the Central Pacific, were invaded. The year befote his death the "prophet" declared, "I go in for preparing for a mission through the United States, and from Maine to England and to all the countries we wish. If I live I'll take the elders through and make just as big a wake as God Almighty will let me. We must send kings and governors to Nauvoo, and we will do it !"
In 1848 the tide of conquest reached France; Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and the Sandwich Islands in 1850; Germany, Norway, Iceland and Chili in 1851; the Crimea, Burmah and the Cape of Good Hope in 1853; the West Indies, Ceylon and China in 1853; and Turkey and Siam in 1.854, etc. Aggressive faith and zeal had now reached their climax, but all this had come to pass within twenty-five years from the first baptism.
At the close of the first twelvemonth the membership had risen from six to 1,000, eight years later 25,000 saints could be counted, and six years later still, Joseph claimed 150,000 adherents. In Britain for a season baptisms were by the wholesale-entire churches surrendered, preachers and all, and during a period of nearly ten years the annual average of conversions there was upwards of 7,000. After a large emigration to Utah the British church numbered 33,000 in 1852, and the sum of those led captive from first to last can hardly be placed at less than 150,000. In Scandinavian countries the baptisms rose at one time to 2,000 a year, and reach in all about 50,000. An enthusiastic Mormon historian makes the preposterous claim of a round million brought by the elders into the citizenship of Joseph's kingdom! But if his estimate is too large by one half, the results of their labor are sufficiently astounding.
And all the more when we remember that it is their business not only to capture but to deliver the prey at the church headquarters. The undertaking was a bold one when the transfer was but from the Atlantic seaboard to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois. It became tenfold greater when an ocean and a continent must needs be crossed, including the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Thousands reached ZiQll via New Orleans and the Mississippi and the Missouri to Council Bluffs, and from thence 1,000 miles by wagon or on foot. But such was the grip of religious fear and hope (coupled with the promise of land without cost, and other material benefits) that at least 90,000 have made the long journey from Europe. rrhe high-water mark of emigration was reached in 1856, when 5,000 or more in a single season ascended the Platte and found their way through South Pass into the valley.
A variety of other features characterizing Mormon missions may be summed up in t¥ statement that from the beginning these hierarchs have affected to follow to the very letter all manner of New Testament precept and precedent, and in particular such as are found in our Lord's instructions to the Twelve and the Seventy. It is in this spiritual obedience that the church has always maintained a "quorum" of the twelve apostles, and also an ever-increasing number of seventies, constituting an order in the priesthood, and from which missionaries are commonly s~lected. The idea was reached at an early day that no saint lived for himself, that "the kingdom" had the first and supreme claim, that salvation was largply for the !'lake of service, and that all personal or family considerations must be kept in strict subordination. Every adherent is to hold himself subject to call from the church authorities, and must go wherever sent. To re- fuse is to lose caste and to make one's self an object of suspicion. And thousands have held themselves as passive in the hands of their leaders as ever did any member of the Society of Jesus. The first fashion was to call for volunteers, but little by little a system of drafting was substituted. The number desired is apportioned out among the sev- eral communities, the selection is made by the local authorities, and the names are sent on to the chiefs. If satisfactory these are read off at general conference, and "sustained" by popular vote.
"Without purse or scrip" has ever been the great commandment.
Each one goes at his own charges, and .no matter how great the dam- age to business may be. To pay salaries would be to wickedly imi- tate the ways of the false churches with their "hireling clergy." Let the elder get to his field as best he can. The first seven that crossed the ocean landed at Liverpool without a farthing. Of course they depended wholly for food and shelter upon the people among whom they labored, and in early times great hardships were often endured.
Then, seldom does a saint take a mission alone, but at least two travel and toil together, Still further as of necessity, in strict duty bound, the sick are healed with prayer and oil, and the devils are cast out as an every-day performance, and occasionally the dead are raised.
"These signs shall follow them that believe," is a prophecy whose fulfilment no good Mormon will suffer to fail. Marvels in every way to match the best of monkish legends are on record, such as healing 406 Zunis sick with small-pox by the laying on of hands, and the cast- iug out of 319 devils in Wales, all in one day and by one elder, and in lots of from three to thirty-seven at a time! Also, if their message was not received, woe was duly pronounced. As far back as 1833, one ·Whitney hurled maledictions against guilty Albany, Boston and New York, which latter city was well-ni.gh destroyed by fire only two years after. Shaking off the dust from the feet as a testimony was for a time in vogue, or sometimes it was washing the feet, but soon it was found wise to do this in secret places lest wrath be stirred up.
Mindful of the same injunction nneovtertoknreosw•t inwgiltyh being merely "harmless as -doves," the elders have cast pearls be- fore swine, or offered the strong meat of the gospel to toothless babes.
On the contrary, they have always and most carefully suppressed un- palatable, though fundamental, matters of faith and practice.
Thus was it with polygamy for more than ten years after hundreds had accepted, in very deed. On one occasion the prophet sent out 380 elders to testify far and wide that such a thing had never been heard of in the church. No Jesuit in his best estate was ever ready to lie more shamelessly and withaut limit for the advantage of his order. As an alleged further following of the New Testament, learning has never been held in high esteem as a needed part of preparation for heralding the Mormon gospel. The great business was to "give testimony" to the truth. This in the form of bold, positive assertions was all-sufficient, though proof texts are handled in a fashion fearful .and wonderful. The elders are not chosen because of any intellectual gifts. Most are unlettered, and many are also youthful. But let it not therefore be imagined that they are suffered to depart unprovided with weapons, both defensive and offensive, or untrained in their use. Every boy is a potential missionary, and is regarded as such in the Sunday-school and in the various quorums of the priesthood through which he passes. Presently he has by heart the tenets of the church, the choice texts and arguments for and against, and he is called to use them frequently in public in the presence of his friends. His piece is :not lengthy, he learns it perfectly and can produce it with vigor on short notice.
Strangest feature of all, and certainly a wide departure from even the letter of the gospel, piety is not deemed essential, the moral cha1'- .acter of the messenger is not much taken into account. So there is no .sort of scruple about appointing those whose graces are far below the average. They are called and sent to give them a chance to see the world and to test their courage and skill facing the foe, to deliver them from evil associations and habits, and even to punish them for transgression against church rule. One saint, a saloon keeper, was "'sustained" to go forth and tell of Joseph and the Book, but before the police were advised of the fact he had been arrested for selling liquor on Sunday.
It was a favorite practice with Brigham Young to take revenge upon any who were proud or stubborn, or in any way troublesome, t to break their fortunes and place them where they could do no harm, by sending them to distant and de~olate regions. That is, to remain lllltil penitent, at least until called home; for the traveling elders never go forth for life, but only for a single campaign of a few months ~r years. At first, when the distance to be gone over was not great, there was a continual going and coming. Next the fashion was to make -a summer campaign and spend the winter months studying in the Kirtland "School of the Prophets." Later still, when Salt Lake had become Zion's seat, and a broad stretch of mountain and desert must be crossed, and foreign lands were to be possessed, the rule was fixed -of choosing at the great April Conference, and for a period varying .according to circumstances from one to three years.
And it is worth noting that if this system of limited terms of service, coupled with constant change of men, results in defective work, through the crudeness and inexperienc~ of the toilers, the great advantage ensues as an offset that the tug of spreading the kingdom is distributed to a much larger number, who receive the benefit of exercise and experience, and are commonly bound closer to their faith, while deep interest in missions is easily maintained at home. Every community contains several who have been abroad; one or more have recently taken their departure and presently will return to tell the thrilling story of their adventures.
We have seen that the Mormon elder is expected not only to baptize, but also to bring home his trophies. And a few words concerning the gathering should be added. It was found soon after the Great Basin was reached that Europe was so remote and the difflculties so appalling of a journey from thence, that something potent in the way of impulse must be supplied 01' else the" valleys of the mountains" would never become the abode of the saints. And so the Perpetual Emigration Fund Society was contrived, which ever since 1849 has loaned or given pecuniary assistance to tens of thousands of the indigent. Companies of emigrants have been organized and led through all the long and perilous journey by those who had influence and knew the way. Vessels were chartered, and in later years emigrant trains. upon the railroads, and so the cheapest possible rates were secured. Fifty dollars would pay the passage from Liverpool to Council Bluffs. And then both the spiritual and the carnal were appealed to stimulate the faithful to transfer themselves to Utah. They were to press on at once, not only for heaven, but also for Salt Lake as a· very important station on the road. And success for a season was well-nigh overwhelming. So many ·would flock to Zion that the utmost of available ways and means proved insufficient. And then it was that Brigham in the plentitude of his wisdom hit upon his famous" hand-cart scheme," and announced it as of origin celestial. The saints were to dispense with wagons and almost all worldly goods, and to trudge the entire 1,000 miles from the Missouri, male and female, old and young, and, moreover, each one push before him a cart loaded down with about eighty pounds of baggage, food, etc. The storms should not harm them, their garments should not wax old,. the feeblest should renew his strength, etc. But, alas, the outcome was different. Mishap followed blunder in long succession. Frost. and hunger together beset the poor wretches in the mountains, and scores perished and their bodies became food for wolves.
Even the failures met with by :Mormon missionaries, the limitations which. beset the progress of that church, barriers to its spread found to be impassable, are full of instruction to the student of missions. As the first suggestive fact of this kind, in every case the elders have made their achievements by working up a "boom." Or, the uniform course of things was as follows: Under their preaching a tide of interest would set in, would rise presently to a flood, and then was certain to subside never to lift its front again. Examples are abundant. In Ohio the craze lasted about eight years, reaching a culmination in 1836. Throughout New England and the Middle States conversions were multitudinous from 1830 to 1844, bVt then by the scandal concerning polygamy cea~ed at once and forev'r. In Britain 1840-55 was the period of growth, for the" sealing" prac- tice was long successfully concealed from the saints over the sea, but from the day when, in Brigham's happy phrase, "the cat was let out of the bag," baptism!'! began steadily to diminish. Scandinavian coun- tries were the fruitful field from 1850 to 1870, but since have fallen off at least three-fourths. During the entire period of the operation of the Edmunds law f~wer converts have found their way to Salt Lake than formerly crossed the plains in a single year. Only a few hard-earned gleanings are now gathered in Europe, the Maories of New Zealand have not yet made discovery of the imposture, nor the illiterate mountain whites of the Southern States.
Originally it was understood that the Indians (Lamanites) were to be gathered in by the wholesale. These were the degenerate descendants of certain ancient saints who apostatised, and as a punishment their skins were changed from white to copper color, but brought back to the faith by Joseph's elders, they were again to become "a fair and delightsome people." But, alas, only an inconsiderable number have become the" battle-axes of the Lord." The conversion of the Jews was also to be a leading specialty. The Book of Mormon told of two old-time migrations from Palestine to America. It was learned by revelation that the ten tribes were not lost, but only hidden behind huge ice barriers at the North and busy amassing riches. In due season, said barriers melting, they were to migrate to the Missouri Zion and share their wealth with their brethren. For also it had been ascertained that in the veins of wellnigh every elder of note flowed the pure blood of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, or other of- the sons of Jacob, while every bishop was" a literal descendant of Aaron!" Therefore several expectant delegations were sent to the Holy Land to reconsecrate it and to make ready fo.r the return. Proclamations were sent out to the Hebrews that the set time had come, but for some reason, to this day and to a man, they have remained unbelieving, stiff-necked and uncircumcised _in heart and ears.
The assault upon the ramparts of heathendom was withheld to a date unaccountably and culpably late. Not much was attempted until the fifties were well advanced. But then, as if expecting that polygamy would supply an excellent point d'appui, and to make up for lost time, a cloud of elders went abroad and great things were planned. It was expected that the gift of tongues would give immediate command of every language, and by the ten thousand pagans would bow the knee to Brigham. But not so; the French authorities soon drove his recruiting officers from the Society Islands. In China the Tai-Ping rebellion engrossed the entire attention of the Celes- tials. From Hindostan went home most lamentable accounts of the measureless and unutterable stupidity and depravity of the natives. No' 'honest in heart" could be found. Even the Turks could not be woed and won by the principle of "celestial marriage." And so it was everywhere. As for the 200,000,000 of Africa, and the represen- tatives of the same race in the United States, Mormonism has no mission to them. The negro may be baptized if he seeks such salva- tion, but may not under any considerations be admitted to the pri~st hood, or receive the "endowment." For it appears that all black bodies are inhabited by spirits who, in that great war in heaven, took sides neither for nor against Jehovah but were neutral in the strife. So the curse is on them, and the church is bound to see that it is not removed.
Attempts to make converts in Catholic countries have been uni- formly and everywhere as discouraging. In Ireland the preachers have never had more than their labor for their pains. A Latter-day son of St. Patrick is as rare as a white blackbird or a dodo.
Once upon a time a little company just from Salt Lake, and with an apostle at their head, climbed a high mountain in Italy, named it Mount Brigham, formed a branch and consecrated the land to the gospel, but nothing came of it. In France, a paper, "Etoile du IJe8~ eret," was started, the Book of Mormon was translated, and a great public discussion was held at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, and that was all. The elders were expelled from Austria, etc., etc., etc.
After years of assiduous angling it has been settled definitively that Utah has no bait with which Papists can be caught, and the the- ocracy aceept~ the situation and wisely transfers the fishers to other waters. It is only in Protestant lands that trophies can be won, where conscience is free and the Bible is held in honor. And there only from among certain classes. The ignorant are won, the credu- lous, those ravenous for marvels, and such as by some hocus-pocus would be saved. "The Lord's queer people" likewise, and his "silly people." Religious cranks of all kinds, the uneasy and the unstable. And worse, the self-seeking and crafty, who, to serve their own lusts and eager for the spoils, scruple not to deceive and then to fleece the multitude.
The final phenomenon, and as striking as any other, relates to the infinite ease with which the :Mormon faith may be put off, or to the frequent and wholesale apostasies with which the career of the church , has been attended. A large majority of those who have received the message and been baptized, after a season of great fervor and zeal, nave sooner or later lost their enthusiasm and gone back to their for- mer state, or too often to something far worse. An experienced
THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE HELD AT SHANGHAI, CHINA
elder of long standing declares that not one in twenty holds out to the end of life. Of the eleven witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon nine denied the faith, and of the first twelve apostles all but two lifted up the heel against Joseph.
In 1838 in both Ohio and Missouri occurred a fearful sloughing- off, and another in Utah in 1869. In the Scandinavian mission 1850- 82 out of 35,489 baptized 11,620 were cut off before emigration. In Great Britain from June of 1849 to December of 1854 the baptisms were 34,592, and the excommunications were 15,587, and in the latter portion of the period the losses equaled two-thirds of the gains. Of the 150,000 claimed for the church at the date of the prophet's death less than 25,000 ever set foot in Salt Lake, while the residue, having had their fill of priesthood and revelation, and of wonders and glories in general, scattered and were heard of as saints no more..
; THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE HELD AT SHANGHAI, CHINA, MAY 7, 1890.
BY REV. FRED S. CURTIS, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN.
To sum up in a few pages the doings of this Conference would be no easy task. Its 430 members represented not only all parts of China, including distant points in the interior, which it requires over two and a half months of constant travel to reach, but also Siam, Burmah, Korea, and Japan. We present a summary of the more prominent practical results of the meeting: I. A more comprehensive view of the work as a whole,with a mutual appreciation of the various methods employed. The most important facts in regard to the various lines of .work pursued throughout the Empire were focalized. It was possible thus to get a better view of the work as a whole than by years of travel and residence by individual missionaries. The free and harmonious comparison of views on the part of one-third of the missionaries of China brought the entire work into one grand survey. A more thorough understanding and a deeper feeling of sympathy was the result.
The purely evangelistic work was emphasized throughout-the duty of giving the gospel to the present generation. That a sufficient number of ordained men cannot be obtained for this purpose, was made the reason for an appeal for lay workers.
Great stress was also laid upon the work of teaching, and it was urged that the educational work be pushed, especially the training of native helpers. The hospital and dispensary work made a fine showing. A single fact by way of illustration: Dr. Kerr, of Canton, in the past 36 years, has treated 521,000 patients, written 27 volumes on medicine and surgery, and trained 100 medical assistants. Woman's work was also given a prominent place, one day being set apart for the consideration of the subject. The following summary of statistics was presented: Foreign missionaries.-Men, 589; wives, 390; single women, 316. Total, 1,295. Native helpers.-Ordained ministers, 209; unordained,l,260; female helpers, 180. Medical work.-Hospitals, 61' dispensaries, 43; patients (during 1889), 348,439. Churches.-Organized Churches, 520; wholly self-supporting, 94; half self-supporting, 22; quarter self-supporting, 27. Bible distribution (1889).-Bibles, 1,454; New Testaments, 22,402; portions, 642,131. Total, 665,987. Communicants, 37,287. Pupils in schools, 16,816. Contributions by native Christians, $36,884.54.
II. A second result was a more thorough understanding of the obstacles to the spread of the gospel in China. Of these, two received the most attention: "The Opium Habit" and "Ancestral Worship."
1. The Opium Habit. Such facts as the following were presented: The introduction of the d~g preceded that of Christianity by a short time, and it has become not only China's greatest curse, but one of the most serious obstacles to the gospel. It is impossible to exaggerate the evils resnlting from the smoking of opium. It causes the rapid deterioration of health, especially the 10Sd of muscular power, shortens life and undermines the whole constitution. The ease with which opium is everywhere procurable, and the facility and certainty with which it may be used for self-destruction, have largely increased the number of suicides. The Chinese, with their revengeful spirit, often for a trival cause commit suicide, regarding this as the most awful re- venge they can take, believing that the spirit of the dead person may continu- ally injure the living.
Opium smoking is spreading more and more. It is no longer looked upon with shame. Legalization has increased its consumption. At first the Chinese made a tremendous effort to stamp out the vice, and refused revenue. Their want of success must be laid to the account of Great Britain. This gigantic €vil now pervades all classes; high and low, rich and poor-Chinese, Manchus, Mongols and Koreans. The estimate for the whole empire is said to be, of the coolie class, four-tenths; of the merchant class, six-tenths; of the official class, three-tenths. The father of the present emperor has contracted the habit within the past two years. During an illness he was advised to try smoking the drug. The result is that the vice has become rooted, and although he be- wails the bad example he is showing to tIie royal family, and especially to his son, the emperor, he thinks he cannot give it up.
This habit so blunts the moral sensibilitv that the Chinese themselves will not trust a smoker and will but rarely employ him. To satisfy his craving the habitue will steal,will sell his wife and children, and even starve himself. The will becomes weakened, if not paralyzed. The government and people, smokers and non-smokers alike, regard it as a vice and a curse, their greatest plague. Not a word is ever spoken in its defence. It would be next to impossible now for the Government to eradicate the evil even if England were to cease her own importation. The poppy is now extensively cultivated in China; the officials use it, and the smokers would get it in some way.
Of course such a habit is a stupendous obstacle to the spread of the gospel in China. The only way to reach the heart of an opium smoker is first to rid him of his pipe. Hence many opium refuges have been opened by mis- sionaries, many cases have been treated in the hospitals, and the .native Christ- ians have done what they could to help. Much good has thus been accom- plished. In connection with this subject, however, one serious fact was brought to light at the conference. Many physicians, missionaries and native Christians, have been unwittingly selling and distributing so-called anti-opium pills, con- taining morphia, which have often resulted in the substitution of one form of -opium for another. This was regarded with such seriousness by the Medical Missionary Association that the matter was, at the recommendation of this Association, especially mentioned in the report of the Committee on Opium.
The entire report is.as follows: .
" }Vhereas, this Conference regards the rapid extension of the growth of native opium in addition to the use of the imported drug with profund alarm; and whereas, the consequent vast increase of the opium habit demands our most serious and unremitting consideration, therefore we resolve: "1. That we, as a Conference, re-affirm and maintain ·our attitude of unflinching opposition to the opium traffic. .
"2. That we recommend all Christians in China to use every endeavor to arouse public opinion against the spread of this evil, and to devise means to secure, as far as may be, its final suppression.
"3. That we advise the formation of a Chinese Anti-Opium Society, with branches at all mission stations.
"4. That we find this increase is largely owing to the indiscriminate sale, and consequent abuse, of so-called anti-opium medicines, and that we now, on the suggestion of the Medical Missionary Association of China, urge all missionaries to discourage, and as far as possible to prevent, the sale of such anti-opium medicines as contain opium or any of its alkaloids. "5. That we earnestly impress upon all Ohristian churches throughout the world the duty of u"iting in fervent prayer to God that He will in His wise providence direct His people to such measures as will lead to the restriction and final abolition of tbis great evil.
,. 6. That we deeply sympathize with the efforts of the societies of Great Britain and else- where for the suppression of the opium trade, and recommend them to continue and increase the agitation for the suppression of the growth and saJe of opiilm."
2. As to the question of Ancestral Worship the facts were brought out that it is a colossal system, firmly rooted. Touching this system we touch the foun- dation-stones of the Chinese empire. It is evident that the worship of ances- tors was practiced at the dawn of Chinese history, and was even then a well- developed cult. Ancestors were believed to be in existence and able to hear. The 242 emperors have each been associated with Shang-ti, or heaven. The ancestral tablet was in use as early as 1766 B. C. Every Chinaman is supposed to have three souls. At his death one of these goes to heaven, one remains in his tomb and one enters the ancestral tablet.
The question was raised in the Conference, and discussed with much warmth, whether it would not be possibl/il to tolerate such rites connected with ancestral reverence as were not idolatrous or superstitious. A very small minority- "Some four or five per cent. of the members of the Conference-were inclined to emphasize strongly the good points of the system, urging that it had incul- cated the virtue of filial piety, had consolidated and perpetuated the empire, .and had tended to keep up the purit! and morality of the family and of the classics.
On the other hand it was clearly shown that it is nine-tenths idolatry; that divine attributes are ascribed to the dead, and that the element of filial piety is in a large measure a slavish fear of ghosts. There are temples where" those spirits of ancestors who have no descendants" are propitiated by the multitudes purely out of fear.
More than this, the universal testimony of the converts is that it is impossi- "ble to practice any of the forms connected with this system without committing the sin of idolatry.
The strong and almost unanimous feeling of the Conference seemed tg be that we have no right to permit any of these forms, but should advise the con- verts to show their filial devotion by more attention to the funeral services of the Christian Church, to the care of the graves and such matters. This advice is most needful since the native Christians are apt to go to the opposite extreme of neglect.
IlL-As a third result may be named: A closer union of the entire mis- 8ionary body in Ohina. Notwithstanding the large number of representatives of different nationalities, various denominations and diverse preferences as to methods of work, a remarkable spirit of unanimity and brotherly love pervaded the Conference. In order to maintain and perpetuate the benefits of the gathering, it was resolved: 1. That members of the Conference and all other missionaries in China set apart a portion of every Satnrday evening as a time of special prayer for each other's success in bringing souls to Christ and that they may be united still more closely in the unity of the Spirit and the bonds of love.
2. That a Committee of Correspondence, consisting of seven members residing in Shanghai, be ejected by the Conference, whose duty it shall be to communicate with the missionaries on all subjects of common interest, to collect and publi~h missionary information and statistics, and to seek the views of the missionaries in all parts of the common field on any subject where they may think united action desirable.
3. That the missionaries in the various missionary centres, who have not yet done so, unite in local conferences or associations, and that each of these bodies select one of their number to correspond with the Shanghai Committee and to act in conjunction with them in carrying out the work above assigned them. 4. That the Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal and Tke Messenger be adopted as. the organs of this committee.
In regard to comity and division of the field the Conference advised: 1. The common occupation of large cities as bases of action. 2. That societies go into unoccupied districts with a view to the speedy occupation of the whole field. 3. In case of disagreement in regard to the occupation of the field that the matter be referred for arbitration to disinterested persons. A strong desire was apparent on the part of several denominations to unite their different branches organically in spite of the difficulties of distance and dialect. The various branches of the Methodist body, represented by 71 members, held a meeting and appointed a committee to consider plans for closer union. A Presbyterian gathering was also held; more than 100 were present. Seven branches of this church were represented. Of these, two, on account of the difficulties of language and travel, thought organic union impracticable; but the remaining five, which are located nearer each other, agreed to recommend steps looking to organic union between these bodies. It was agreed that a constitution be drafted, based upon the constitutions. of the Presbyterian churches of Europe and America, taking for doctrinal basis the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds and the Westminster Confession. Itwas also recommended that all Presbyteries should form one Synod, meeting, for the present, once in five years. There was also union along literary lines. In view of the lack of knowledge on the part of many missionaries of the existing Christian literature in Chinese, and the great waste of time and labor resulting from this ignorance. it was resolved to appoint a permanent committee to collect information and prepare a classified catalogue with a brief description of books and tracts, to gather and publish information in regard to books in preparation, and to secure writers who shall supply the more pressing wants in any department of Christian literature. Missionaries contemplating literary work were recommended to communicate with the committee before beginning such work. It was voted that a general depot for the storage and sale of all books in the classified catalogue be established at Shanghai, with book rooms at other important centres. IV. Perhaps the most important work of the Conference was union in regard to a new version of the JVord of God. There are in use at present some half-dozen different translations of the Bible, which causes much trouble. Before the meeting of Conference there was little hope of agreement on a standard text, owing to the preference of different missions for the texts of their own translations; alio to the difference of opinion in regard to the translation of such terms as God, spirit, and baptize. However,with the blessing of God, separate committees were able to present, reports which were unanimously adopted by the Conference. By their recommendation three committees were empowered to select three corps of revisers, one to prepare a new version of the higher classical, one of the simple classical, and one of the Mandarin.* In order to secure one B~Dle in three forms, all the revisers are to act in conjunction. That such a satisfactory plan could be agreed upon, was regarded by some who knew the difficulties in the way as a great triumph of the Spirit of God. When the united report was brought in, inspired gratitude to God for the immediate prospect of one Bible for all China, the entire Conference rose, and, led by the chairman, united in singing, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."
In its direct bearing upon the churches at home no greater work was done .. The Mandarin is the language of the officials throughout the empire, also that of the common people of uearlyall of North, West and Central China. by the Conference than the framing of the following four appeals for help: One for ordained men, one for unordained, one for womEn, and one summing up the other three in a call for ONE THOUSAND MEN WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THIS TIME! God grant that the call may be heard!
I.-AN APPEAL FOR ORDAINED MISSIONARIES, ETC.
TO ALL OUR HOME CHURCHES.
GREETING:-Realizing as never before the magnitude of China and the utter inadequacy of our present numbers for the speedy carrying into execution of our Lord's command, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature;" therefore, Resolved, that we, the four hundred and thirty members of the Missionary Conference now in session at Shanghai, earnestly and unanimously appeal to you to send out speedily as many hundreds as can possibly be secured oj wellqualified ordained men.
The whole of China is now open to missionary effort and needs a large number of men of prayer, of patience, endurance and of common sense-men full of the Holy Ghost and of faith in the gospel as "the power of God unto salvation."
The missionary here encounters hoary and subtle superstitions, a most difficult language, a people of vigorous intellect, with a vast literature and an elaborate educational system. There is need, therefore, of men of commanding practical and intellectual as well as spiritual endowments-men who shall be able to engage in and direct the work of evangelization, to educate, train and induct into their work a native pastorate, to fonnd and conduct educational institutions, and to provide a general theological, scientific and periodical literature.
Seeing, as we do, the utter destitution and helplessness of these millions still" having no hope and without God in the world," we appeal to young men to give themselves to t~ work. We believe that the great question with each of you should be, not" Why shouljl I go?" but" Why should I not go?"
We recommend that the men be sent under the regularly constituted missionary societies of the various denominations, and that these societies search out suitable men before they are committed to the home work.
With the highest appreciation of the claims of the home churches, we still urge young pastors to consider whether the places of some of them might not be filled by men who cannot come to the mission field, while they might bring their experience to spheres of work in China which must otherwise be left wholly unoccupied.
We call upon individual congregations to greatly increase their contributions for the support of one or more of these men.
We urge Christian men of wealth to prayerfully consider the duty and privilege of giving themselves personally to this work, or of supporting their representatives.
Finally, we shall not cease to pray the Lord of the harvest to move you mightily by His Holy Spirit in behalf of this vast and ripening field.
IT.-APPEAL FOR LAY MISSIONARIES.
This Conference, while strongly urging upon the home churches the susten- tation and continued increase of the staff of thoroughly trained and fully quali- fied ordained missionaries and the further development of native agenCIes in every branch of Christian work, is still so profoundly impressed with the mani- fold needs of this vast country, that it would present a direct appeal to the laity of the home churches for lay missionaries; and in doing so would place before them some of the departments of service in which their helpis more especially needed. .
Beginning with the highest service, and touching the deepest need of the country, they would point to the many millions of our fellow-men who have never heard the gospel of the grace of God; and to some millions more, who, though they have possessed themselves of some portion of His Word, still fail to comprehend its meaning for want of some one to guide them in their study of it; and they would urge the claimsof these unevangelized millions on the youth of the home churches, and would emphasize the nobility of the service which a Christian evangelist may thus render to the Lord in China.
The country long closed is open. The people, if not decidedly friendly, are not hostile. The work of the Bible colporteur has prepared the way. The promise of ingathering is yearly brightening, but the laborers are few; and with the abundance of Christian workers in the home lands, surely hundreds or even thousands might be found to hasten on the evangelization of this empire by their personal effort and consecration.
Passing now to the intellectual req,uirements of China, we rejoice to record the progress of missionary education LD the East during recent years; but are admonished by the fact that purely secular instruction so largely tinges the educational movements both of Christian and heathen governments; and in fact we hear a loud call to the Christian Church to supply in larger numbers Christian educationalists for China. The intellectual renaissance of the empire is just commencing, there is an incipient cry for western culture; and the re- sponse which the Christian Church may make to this cry will, to no inconsider- able extent, decide the course which the education of the country will take in the future. .
With Christian men in the chairs of the colleges of China, what may we not expect from so powerful an auxiliary in the evangelization of the empire?
University men may find here at no distant period some of the most influen- tial posts in the mission field; and we would earnestly invite all Buch Christian 'Co-workers to weigh over with all seriousness the question whether they may not more effectively serve their generation in China than in the home lands.
But besides the intellectual need of the country, there is also the chronic and otten dire necessity of phYBical distress. The masses of the people are poor. Physical Buffering meets us at every turn. Medical Bcience is almost unknown. Charitable institutions, though established both by the government and by private effort, fail to compass the need of the masses. Flood and famine slay their thousands; and yet the wealth of the world is in Christian hands, and might by judicious distribution both save the lives of thousands yearly and give completer expression to the Life we preach. On behalf of these destitute masses, therefore, we earnestly plead with the men of wealth in the home churches that they will consider the claims of these Buffering ones, and not only by their gifts and prayers will largely aid the reinforcement of the noble staff of medical missionaries already in the field, but will give them- selves in larger numbers to benevolent enterprises abroad. The blind, the aged, the orphan and the destitute mutely plead for Christian compassion, and the Lord Himelf has said, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me."
Weappeal,then, to our lay brethren in the home churches, to men of sterling piety, and of strong common sense, that they would lay to heart the needs of this vast empire-its spiritual destitution, its stunted education, its physical distress, and that they would.solemnly ask themselves whether for the greater glory of God they are not called to meet this pressing need, and to devote them- selves, their service and their wealth to this missionary enterprise in China.
We would offer to them a most hearty welcome to our ranks, and would as- sure them that, whether they come out as ordained 01' as lay workers, this welcome will be equally cordial; and in conclusion, we would earnestly pray that this appeal may be brought home to the hearts of many by the power of the Divine Spirit. (Signed) J. L. NEVIUS, } Ch . a~rmen. DAVID HILL, IlL-AN APPEAL FROM MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED LADIES, MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE.
To the Christian Women of the British Empire, the United States, Germany and all other Protestant Countries-Greeting: We, the women of the Missionary Conference now assembled in Shanghai, come to you, our sisters in Christ, with an urgent appeal in behalf of the one hundred millions of women and children of China who" sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
The work of women in China has been prosecuted at the oldest stations for about fifty years, at first chiefly by the wives of missionaries, but in later years single ladies have largely augmented this working force. There are now ladies engaged in educational, medical and evangelistic work in China. Much has been done by them, many lives have been uplifted from the degradation of idolatry and sin, many sad hearts comforted, many darkened minds enlightened, and much solid good effected. But our hearts are burdened to-day with love and pity for the millions of women around us, our sisters for whom Christ died, still unreached by the sound of the gospel. Beloved sisters, if you could see j;heir sordid misery, their hopeless,.loveless lives, their ignorance and sinfulnesS, as we see them, mere human pity would move you to do something for their upliftin~. But there is a stronger motive that should impel you to stretch out a hel.{>mg hand, and that we plead-the .constraining love of Christ. We, who are m the midst of this darkness that -can be felt, send our voices across the ocean to you, our sisters, and beseech you by th~ grace of Christ our Saviour that you come at Olice to our help. .
Four kinds of work are open to us: 1. There is school work in connection with our various missions which in many cases the men have handed over to the women in order that they them- .selves may be free to engage more directly in evangelistic work. 2. There is a work to be done for the sick and suffering women of China, l.n hOspitals, dispensaries and homes, for which skillful physicians are needed. Most of this work can be better done by women than by men, and much of it can be done only by women. 3. There is work for us in the families of the Church. There are converted mothers and daughters who need to be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly, and to be trained in whatever is necessary for their fnIl development into lively members of the great household of faith. 4. There is a work of evangelization among women, similar to that being done by men among the people at large. It is not claimed that the evangelization of women cannot be done at all by men-but that there is more of it than men can do, there is much of it that will never be done unless women do it, and much that men cannot do as well as women can. There is nothing in this kind of work transcending the recognized scriptural sphere of women. Women received from the Lord Himself upon the very morniug of the resurrection their commission to tell the blessed story of a risen Saviour. What they did then we may continue to do now. But you will ask, " Who are needed for this work? " Knowing the conditions of life and work in China, we would answer that: 1. They should be women of sound health, of good ability and good common sense, also well educated-though not necessarily of the hignest education-apt to teach, kind and forbearing in disposition, so that they may live and work harmoniously with their associates, and win the hearts of the Chinese. Above' all, they should be women who have given themselves wholly to the 'Lord's work and are prepared to bear hardship and exercise constant self-denial for Christ's sake.
2. It is desirable that they should pursue a systematic course of Bible study before coming to China, and have some experience in Christian work at home.
Further, we would suggest that they should labor in connection with established missions in order that the good results of their work may be preserved, and that they may have, when needed, the assistance and. protection of their brother missionaries.
Open doors are all around us, and though idolatry lifts a hoary head, and ancestral worship binds the people as with chains of adamant, yet with God "all things are possible," and mountains of difficulty melt like snowflakes before the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, God is on the side of His own glorious, life-giving Word; we ask you to come in the power of consecration and faith, with sober expectations and readiness to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus, and take your share in the most glorious war that was ever waged on earth-the war against the powers ·of darkness and sin, assured that God will accomplish His own purposes of love and grace to China, and will permit you, if you listen to this call, to be His fellow-workers in "binding up the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
That the holy and loving Spirit of God may incline your hearts to respond to His call is our earnest prayer.
Signed on behalf of the two hundred and four ladies assembled in Confer- .ence at Shanghai.
Mrs. Mary Lees, London Mission SOciety. Mrs. A. Elwin, Church Mission Society. Miss C. M. Ricketts, English Presbyterian Mission. Mrs. J. R. Watson, English Baptist lIission. Miss L. S. Sugden, M.D., Wesleyan Mission. Miss I. Newcombe, Church of England Zenana Mission. Mrs. E. Tomalin, China Inland Mission.
Mrs. John Ross, U. P. Church of Scotland.
Mrs. W. E. Soothill, United Methodist Free Church. Mrs. T. C. Fulton, Irish Presbyterian Church.
DR. HA.PPER ON THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE
Mrs. Arthur H. Smith, American Board. Mrs: J. M. Foster, Baptist Missionary Union. Mrs. C. W. Mateer, American Presbyterian Mission (North). Miss L. H. Hoag, M.D., Methodist Episcopal Mission (North). Miss E. ]'. Swinney, M.D., Seventh Day Baptist Mission. Mrs. Eliza M. Yates, Southern Baptist Mission. Miss Laura A. Haygood, Methodist Episcopal Mission (South). Miss K. M. Talmage, American Reformed Mission. Miss R. E. Reifsnyder, M.D., Woman's Union Mission. Mrs. J. L. Stuart, American Presbyterian Mission (South).
N.-AN APPEAL TO ALL PROTEST~'<'NT CHURCHES OF CHRISTIAN LANDS.
DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIsT,-We, the General Conference of Protestant Missionaries in China, having just made a special appeal to you for a largel;}' increased force of ordained missionaries to preach the gospel throughout the length and breadth of this great land, to plant churches, to educate native ministers and helpers, to create a ChrisQan lIterature, and in general to engage in and direct the supreme work of Christian evangelization; and having also just made a special appeal to you for a largely increased force of unordained men, evangelists, teachers and physicians, to travel far and wide distributing books and preaching to the masses, to lend a strong helping hand in the great work of Christian education, and to exhibit to China the benevolent side of Christianity in the work of healing the sick: Therefore, we do' now appeal to you, the Protestant churches of Christi.an lands, to send to China in response to these calls ONE THOUSAND MEN WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THIS TmE.
We make this appeal in behalf of three hundred millions of unevangelized heathen; we make it with all the earnestness of our whole hearts, as men over- whelmed with the magnitude and responsibility of the work before us; we make it with unwavering faith in the power of a risen Saviour to call men into His vineyard, and to open the hearts of those who are His stewards to send out and support them, and we shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He.
will do this thing, and that our eyes may see it. On behalf of the Conference, Chairmen J REV. J L. NEVIUS, D.D. 1REV. D. HILL. REV. J. HUDSON TAYLOR. l Permanent CommitteeREV. WM.AsHMORE, D.D. REY. H. CORBETT, D.D. REV. C. W. MATEER, D.D., LL. D. REV. C. F. REID.
DR. HAPPER ON THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE.
[We regard this large and representative Conference of misssionaries of sufficient interest to our readers, in its character, in its harmonious action, and in its loud and thrilling appeals to the Church universal, to fully warrant us in gi~ing additional space to it. And who more worthy to fill that space than the beloved brother who w.ent to China in 1844, and is now the "oldest mis· sionary" resident in the empire, and who can appreciate the marvellous contrast then and now as we cannot, and who, from the high tower of the Presidency of the Christian College of China, is now permitted to survey the future in the light of the past? We introduce his "obser- vations and statements" respecting the Conferenct', with his private note, because of the facts stated in it, and the earnest words by which he seeks to emphasize the action and the appeals of this memorable body.-J. M. S.] Canton, China, June 2d, 1890.
My DEAR DR. SHERWOOWD,-I am fully aware that your columns will be greatly taxed with the details of the Shanghai Conference. I have thought, however, that some general remarks might find a place-some observations and statements of the "oldest missionary in China." There is not a single missionary resident in China that was here when I arrived in 1844. There are three still in China that arrived in 1847. You can easily understand what a contrast it is now to what it was when I arrived. These considerations may add some force to the call for more missionaries. The plea for the several classes of missionaries will stand on their several requirements, as the call for medical missionaries, for laymen, single ladies and ordained men. But let the bugle-call go forth for one thousand missionaries within five years. Let it ring in the ears of the Church. Help them to carry it to the throne of grace. Let them ponder it in their closets and around the family altar. Let the youth hear it in the schOOls, in the academies, in the colleges and in the universities, and in the theological seminaries: "One thousand missionaries for China in five years." Keep this line in your columns every month, till the Church is aroused with the trumpet-call, and arouses itself to good earnest work and consecration and giving; and above all, may God by His Spirit accompany this call to the hearts of those He would call to have a share in this blessed work for the Master. With much esteem and regard, A. P. HAPPER.
As you will receive the full report of the proceedings of the General Conference in Shanghai from others, I will only give some general impressions and statements in regard to it. 1 may say the Conference was a great and blessed success. It far exceeded in the number of members, in the spirit of harmony and co-operation, and in practical results arrived at, all that the most sanguine friends of holding it had hoped for. The very first meeting of the assembly left upon the minds of all in attendance the impression that the Spirit of God was in our midst. This sense of the presence and power of the Holy Ghost increased and deepened each successive day till the last.
We may remark that there has been only one conference on the foreign field where the attendance of missionaries was larger than it was in Shanghai. At the General Decennial Conference in India in 1882, there were 500 in attendence; at Shanghai there were 432 names enrolled. If we consider the fact that there was a greater number of missionaries then laboring in India than there are now in China, that the distances are not so great in India as in China, and that the facilities and cheapness of travel are greater in India than they are in China, it is a matter of special gratitude that the attendance at Shanghai was so large. It manifests that there was a very great interest felt in the Conference when, notwithstanding the distances and the expense of travel, so many assembled to spend a season in special conference and prayer for the conversion of China.
I feel that I express the feelings of all who had the privilege of attending these meetings that they consider it a matter of. very special gratitude and thanksgiving that they were privileged to attend these solemn and delightful conventions of God's people.
There are some things that may be specially considered. During the last forty years there has been a diversity of views among the missionaries, which has led to the use of different versions of the Bible. These versions have differed not only in style but to some extent in meaning. Plans were arranged and agreed upon to prepare a standard version of the Bible to be used by aU the missionaries. This version is to be prepared in three styles-the high classical style, the simple book style, and the Mandarin colloquial style-so as to be suited to all classes of the people; but the meaning is to be the same in all the styles. Thus the division of forty years is healed, to the praise of God's grace.
It has long been felt that something was needed to help the people generally to read the Christian Scriptures intelligibly. This they were not able to do because of their ignorance of the history, the manners and customs of the Jews, ·and of the geography and religion of Judea. The Conference was able, after much consulting and prayer, to adopt a plan for the preparation of an annotated Bible which will give an explanation of names of persons and places, of countries and manners and modes of worship, which are so often referred to in the sacred text. The new version will be used when these annotations are printed in a complete volume.
Thus one great work of the Conference was to arrange plans for giving the Word of God to this multitudinous people in the form which will help them to understand its precious doctrines and the way of salvation as made known in it.
It was most interesting to sit from day to day in this company of missionaries and hear their testimonies to the goodness of God and their experience in the work. There were present persons of every age and sex. The men of gray beards and the youth-men and maidens-just commencing their life- work were there. There were those who were engaged in every kind of mis- sionary work-the preachers, the teachers, the colporteurs, the students, the translators and writers of books, the medical missionaries and the visitors from house to house. They came from far in the interior and from the coast ports. They had every variety of experience-of disappointment and success, of sick- ness and health, of danger and safety, of opposition and of quiet, undisturbed work; and they all wore the same joyful and hopeful expression of counte- nance and joined in singing the same songs of thanksgiving and praise. They all said "The Lord is our helper," "The Lord is our shield and our buckler," "Rejoice and be glad in the Lord," "In the name of the Lord we lift our ban- ners." Not a despondent word or utterance was heard in all those days.
After these forty years of experience of missionary labors and trials, con- flicts and hindrances, hear them as they unite, as with one voice and·heart, in the appeal to Christendom to send forth one tlwusand missionaries in the next five years. Will the Israel of God hear this call from the men and women who. are in the forefront of the battle-who, with full knowledge of the sacrifices, labors and toils which the service demands, send forth this call to their fellow- Christians of all lands, saying, "This is a great warfare in which we are ~n gaged. Our numbers are utterly insufficient for the great work before us. Send us men; send us strong, able, mighty men. Send us medical men and women. Send us those who can 'endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christl' Send us those who will have the spirit of love and compassion to win souls for Christ. Send us men and women full of faith and the Holy Ghost."
Blood-bought followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, will you hear this call of 430 of your fellow-Christians, who represent the 1,285 Christian workers in China, saying, "Come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty!" All can have a part. All can do something. Some can furnish the means to send forth the laborers. All can pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers unto the great harvest in China, with its 350 millions of people. Parents can encourage their sons and daughters to give themselves to the blessed work of faith and toil. Young men and women in Christian homes, in our colleges and universities, will there not be one glorious response from many hearts under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus, saying, "Here are we; send us! We long to have a part in the laborsandpatienee of the kingdom of God."
As I sat in the midst of that assembly, which filled the whole house in which we assembled, and looked back over the forty-six years of my missionary experience, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude for what mine eyes have seen of God's wondrous work in this land. I had seen the day of small things. At the time of my arrival in China, in. 1844, there were some thirty missionaries rflsident at four cities and the British possession of Hong Kong. There were some six native converts and two native ·assistants. Now" the little one has become a thousand and the small one a strong nation. " Scattered abroad in all parts of this widely-extended land 1,285 missionaries are making known the glorious gospel of the blessed God. They are assisted by 209 ordained native ministers and 1,260 unordained native helpers. There are 520 organized churches, with 37,287 members gathered into them professing the gospel; 16,816 pupils are gathered into Christian schools, where they are instructed in the knowledge and love of God. How thankfully I exclaimed, "Behold what God hath wrought!"
As I cast my thoughts on the future I could only think, "What will be
TRANSLATIONS FROM .FOREIGN MISSIONARY PERIODICALS
seen by those who are privileged to see the results of another forty years of missionary work in China?" The workers continue the work with wonderful facilities and opportunities of. every kind. They may expect a yet more abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God. As I stood before that large company of brethren and sisters, and looked into their earnest faces, and saw their countenances beaming with joy and anticipated success, I could only say, "God bless you;" "The Lord be with you;" " The Lord give you to see the glorious triumphs of His grace." For" this handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon." The deep feeling of my heart was and is, " Oh, that I were young again to commence work in China with all these favoring circumstances and this strong band of workers and the mighty outpouring of God's Spirit."
In this review of the work and the results of labor in China, I could not but recall the scenes of labor and trial, the disappointed hopes and expectations, that have been met with by the many dear friends and fellow-laborers ;who have finished their toils and labors and gone to their glorious reward and to receive their crown of life and the welcome plaudit "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord." Some of them finished their course in early youth; some fell while still in the full strength of middle age: and some when they had filled up the measure of three-score years in labors for Christ. But they all have gone to their glorious reward and to unite with "that multitude which no man can number, gathered out of every nation and every people," to cast their crowns at the feet of their adorable Redeemer, and to cry" 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to be exalted thus!" While recalling those loved departed ones how blessed is the assurance that for such" to die is gain "-infinite gain-however great the loss may be to the Church on earth.
The Church may well count the cost of winning China for Christ. This populous empire will not be converted to Christ" except by much prayer and fasting." It will cost the sacrifice of many more lives and the expenditure of much labor and toil and sacrifice and money. It is a stronghold of the powers of darkness. But our encouragement is this: "Greater are they that are with us than they that are against us." " It is not by might, nor by power, but my Spirit, saith the Lord."
Let parents then rejoice to consecrate to this service the choicest of their sons and daughters. Count it all joy when you hear of conflict and trial on the high places of the field. Rejoice when any shall be honored to receive the martyr's crown. "Go forth in the strength of the Lord." "Trust in the mighty God of Jacob." Follow where the great Captain of our Salvation leads His people to the redemption of a lost world, and "Sure as God's truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven."
TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY PERIODICALS.
BY REV. CHARLES C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.
[INTRoDUCTOY NOTE.-Dear Dr. Sherwood: One of the brethren connected with the Jout"nal des Missions Evangeliques, in a very courteous and brotherly letter, has taken exception to my comparison of French Protestants with German Protestants, as less courageous in criticism of the colouial acts of their Government. He points out that, so small a minority as they are against a hostile majority, a certain degree of circumspection may well be pardoned them, and that while Saxons may charge them with Gallic arrogance, Frenchmen charge them with being sold to the Protestant England and Germany. He assures me, moreover, that various Protestant publications of France which I do not see have expressed themselves energetically concerning French aggressions upon English missions in the South Seas. I am sorry if I have given any just occasion to my Reformed brethren ir: France to complain that I do not sufficiently distinguish them from their Ultramontane and atheistic countrymen, under whom the wise providence of God permits them at present to be constrained. May en- largement come to them soon, by such a blessing on the P.rotestants and Reformed Catholics of France as shall bring this great nation into line with our noblest e/l'orts.-CHARLES C. STARBUCK.] The Dansk Missionsblad for December, 1889, speaking of the first mission- ary account rendered by Paul and Barnabas to the Church of Antioch, "how God had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith," remarks: "When we also look out over the missionary field and observe what comes to pass in east and west and south, in China and India and Africa, we, too, may say the same as Paul and Barnabas, when they returned from the first mis- sionary journey: God hath opened to the Gentiles a door of faith. This is the great alteration, which has come to pass in the last generation, that where there previously were locked doors there are now opened doors for the mes- sengers of the gospel. And we know also that missions are God's work by the fact that God is now opening the door of the world so that missions may be carried on. The work can only be done bysuch men as the Lord calls and qualifies, and in those places where God opens the door for the Word. Weare absolutely not to decide where missions are to be carried on, but to observe where the Lord points out the way. And as there is a sinful indifference to the holy work of missions, so there is also a sinful impatience that will insist on going whither the Lord has not sent His messengers, and has n0t pointed out the way by opening the door. Many noble powers have been sacrificed, many a self-sacrificing effort has been wasted. because Christians would insist on in- truding where the Lord had not opened the door.
" . . . When the first missionary who brought the pure gospel to India, Bartholomew Ziezenbalg, was sent out from Denmark, the voyage from Copen- haben to Tranquebert took up forty weeks. Now it requires forty days. Letters now go from London to Calcutta in from twenty-one to twenty-eight days. Formerly they could be sent, by sailing ship, once in a summer; and if the summer passed without an opportunity, or the ship was wrecked, two or three years might pass before the missionaries had answers to their letters. And what such difficulty of communication signified Ziegenbalg experienced when he had incurred the Danish governor's enmity. All King Frederick the Fourth's personal regard and sincere assurances of protection did not secure him from lyinf half a year in prison in the distant dependency. Nor was he released unti he had signed an agreement that he would make no complaint to the King. And if we turn to the West, as late as 1841, a missionary went from England to Canada. in order from there to reach his station in the interior of British America. But he found no opportunity in Canada and was obliged to return to England, and from there, the next summer, to go around by the glacial waters of the North Atlantic and Hudson'" Bay to York, and from there by boat, to journey up the river 170 miles to Winnipeg. At present a railway journey of two or three days from Canada to Winnipeg accomplishes what then required that long and terrible circuit. And when, three years ago, this same missionary died at his station, his death was known the next day by telegraph in England."
-The BlarI's brief statement of the Lakes missions in Africa may serve afresh to remind us that, according to the law of missionary beginnings, these have not been working fruitlessly-44 stations, 121 missionaries, 1,800 baptisms.
-India has become almost wholly British, but the missionary interests of Denmark are still confined to it. Their two fields are: the Tamils in South India; the Santals in Northeast India. Danes were the first Protestant mis- sionaries in India, and Danes received, sheltered and befriended -the first Eng- lish missionaries in India against the persecutions of their own countrymen.
All, therefore, that has been done by Englishmen and Americans for the cause of Christ in India owes a tribute of acknowledgment to our Danish kindred.
And, so far as we can call to mind, the first Protestant king who was, dis- tinctly and definitely, a nursing father of Christian missions, was the King of Denmark.
-In reference to India, however, the Blad remarks,that although the coun- try (excepting here and there some native State) has been unlocked since 1813, the home has only been unlocked since the Zenana Mission was formed, above all, among the Hindus proper, the Aryans of the northern plains. The Tamils of the south, though Hinduized, are not Hindus in race, and do not seclude their women very jealously, nor do the aboriginal hill-tribe of the Santals.
M. Coillard, whom, with all the French missionaries on the Zambesi, the heathen king Lewanika, of the Barotsis, greatly reverences, writes: " While I intercede with God for this bloodthirsty people, it is also my duty to testify publicly against a warlike undertaking which Lewanika himself had called an expedition for plunder, and so I do. No one shall be allowed to mis- understand our position in this matter. Lewanika, full of attention to his mis- sionaries. had sent to our brethren and sisters at Sherheke six head of the cattle won by the foray, and had courteously designated two of them as being ex- pressly intended for' his daughter,' Madame Jeanmairet. M. Jeanmairet, how- ever, in a letter, in which he warmly expressed his gratitude, set forth to the king, with courteous dignity, the reasons why neither he nor his fellow-laborers could accept any part of this booty. Can it be that Lewanika had expected this refusal? At all events he contented himself with the answer, 'I under- stand. But then what have the Barotsis, anyhow, which they have not ac- quired by plunder?'"
-The atheism of nominal Christians and Christian governments in heathen <countries appears to have reached its extreme in the Dutch East Indies. What the Macedonier says, however, in the following extract, is sufficientlyapplicable to other nations: "The governor of the Island of Cyprus, Sergins Paulus, an intelligent and thoughtful man, was very desirous to hear the new message of the gospel from the apostles. But there was found at his court a Jew, Barjesus by name, who also flaunted the Arabian appellation of Elymas, i.e., the Wise, the Magus, and who sought to hold back the pro-consul from the faith. Him- self unwilling to enter, he wished also to bar the entrance against others. And when our ~'eaders consider that Elymas was not a heathen but a descendant of the chosen people, who, just like Barnabas and Saul themselves, had been circumcised the eighth day, it will then be superfluous to remark, that we must look for the sin of Elymas not only among heathens and Mohammedans, but also, and indeed chiefly, among such as with us bear the name of Christ, and just like ourselves have been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. " And inasmuch as we meet with the sin of Elymas in a Jew in a heathen island, I venture to express it as my conviction, that the sin of Elymas finds a far more fruitful soil in our East In~ian colonies than in a Christian society. The opposition which we missionaries experience from our countrymen in our colonies may, in form and manifestation, be somewhat different from that which the apostle Paul experienced from Elymas in heathen Cyprus, but in essence it is one. It is.the sin of Elymas-personal unwillingness to enter in and solicitude to hold others back from entering in. And as with Paul, so with us; it meets each of us at the beginning of his missionary life, and in some form or other accompanies him to its close.
. "If European colonists or officials had been Christians in truth, and had let their light shine before men, they would then have been a bridge jor, whereas now they are too often a dam against, the diffusion of Christianity. They do this, it is true, more negatively than, like Elymas, positively, but with a like temper and a like result. They poison the whole atmosphere of influence by their indifferent, ungodly and immoral lives. It is no wonder, therefore, that we missionaries, even with the most strenuous exertion, do not succeed in establishing flourishing native churches in places where there are many Euro- peans."
-It appears that in the Dutch East Indies most of the whites have actually sunk to the level of heathen superstition, making offerings to propitiate evit spirits, and avoiding anxiously the spots which the natives declare to be haunted by them. Having no faith in Christ, they, like the same class among us, easily b~ome worshippers of ghosts. "ContelTIning the miracles of the gospel, as something too childish for the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, they have fallen back into the very darkness of heathenism. If a missionary talks with a Javanese or a Chinese about the Christian religion, he may expect to be asked, 'Have the Hollanders also a religion?' Verily, the Elymas of the nine– teenth century is no less a child of the devil than the Elymas of the apostolic age."
-The despotic prohibition, by the Russian Government, of every manner of- missionary activity, abroad or at home, of the Protestant churches of Russia, cuts off about $8,000 annually from the revenues of the Leipsic Society, an important amount for a continental society. The rising missions of the Finnish Church are not smitten by this blow, as Finland is not a part of Russia, but a grand duchy of which the Czar is grand duke. It has a constitutional govern- ment and a legislature; Swedish, not Russian, is the official language; the Lutheran is the established Church. This prohibition, therefore, does not apply to Finland, but applies to all the rest of the Czar's dominions, at least throughout the Russias. The Allgemeine Missivns-Zeitschrift well !lays: "But all un– righteousness cry to God, and at last comes His hour to set them home. Mean- while, may He grant to the oppressed the courage of confessors, faithfulness to· their faith, perseverance in prayer and patience." .
Persecution along the Baltic and fiendish cruelty in Siberia-the orthodox Czar seems to be doing his best to render antichristsuperfluous by anticipating- him.
-The German Government has given a singular statement, namely, that in its East African possessions it does not undertake to protect either whites or' natives against the attacks of natives, but merely against encroachments of other Colonial Powers! The German dominion in East Africa, according to the showing of the German missionaries, appears as yet to have wrought a great deal of harm and very little good to missions. The German missionaries who are within the English" sphere of influence" express a lively satisfaction in their good fortune.
-The Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift remarks that in the present inflamed condition of the native mind in East Africa it ought to be regarded as success enough that none of the stations have been destroyed except Pugu, German Catholic, and Dar es Salam, German Protestant. Besides the hatred borne to· these as being German, they had actually provoked q;estruction by consenting to receive great numbers of fugitive slaves without any adequate provision for their protection. "In the midst of all this tumult and battle-cry a work has been accomplished in stillness which is of the very greatest significance for the evangelization of East Africa: the translation of the whole Bible into Suahili;essentially the work of Bishop Steere and his Archdeacon Hodgson, of the Universities' Mission. "
-The BerlinSociety has in North Transvaal 11 stations, with 2,300 baptized Christians. There the recent discoveries of gold, with the rushing in of the whites~ are threatening a critical time. Pray that a new account of good destroyed may not be laid up against our race. In Transvaal the Berlin Society has in all 11,000,baptized Christians. The most important station is Botchabelo, with 2,310 baptized Christians. The law forbidding more than five native fam– ilies to reside on one estate has been suspended by the Transvaal go,ernment,. and it is to be hoped it will be repealed. It would be fatal to the missions in that Republic.
-The Hermannsburg Mission in Transvaal has in the last year baptized 1,390, raising the number of Bechuana converts to 13,969. In Zulu land the progress of the Hermannsburgers is much slower, the whole number of baptized con- verts here being now 1,618.
-The number of Basuto Christians in the French mission has lately risen from 6,000 to nearly 10,000. The station of Morija alone has received an ac- cession of 514 communicants. The scholars now number 5,314. The Industrial School has been so successful that at the Grahamstown Exposition the Basutos took the prize above all other South African tribes.
-Unhappily the Roman Catholic-we may here fairly say, the Romanist- counter-mission is more hostile than ever. "It patronizes all mannerof demor- alizing heathen customs, which the Protestant mission had 'proscribed' in its congregations, e. g., the purchase of wives. 'Weare, so to speak, assailed in our moral position.' … A continually recurring proof that Ultramontanism is ready to ally itself even with heathenism, if only it can harm the Evangelical Church. But it only harms itself and its own moral reputatiQn." This consideration makes it of vital significance whether here at home Romanism shall poison Catholicism, or Catholicism shall reduce Romanism to its lowest terms. The Baltimore archbishopric seems to stand for the latter effort; the New York archbishopric for the former.
-The Scandinavian Missionary Conference which was held in ChristiOOlia, Norway, last July, was largely attended, having 552 delegates in attendance- 105 Danish, 61 Swedish, and one Finnish, leaving, it appears, 386 for Norway. An animated description of it is given in the Dansk Missionsblad. The three Scandinavian kingdoms together send out over 100 missionaries, and contribute 1,000,000 crowns yearly, or about $250,000. The conflict of missionary effort is greatest in Sweden, where there are 9 societies, less in Denmark with 4, least in Norway with 2. As entire consolidation is not practicable, it was urged that. different Scandinavian societies, working in the same heathen country, shoul" at least strive after a common liturgy, Bible translation, etc. The next Scandinavian missionary conference is appointed to be in 1893 in Copenhagen.
-To us the name of "Hottentot" has by old habit come to signify the extreme of human degradation. But the Missions-Blatt of the Moravian Brethren for February gives a narrative which presents them, as Christians, in a very different light. It seems that in 1810, a. wealthy South African Boer, or farmer of Dutch descent, named Burgers, besides his extensive farms, bought at some distance frem them, in a mountain basin, a pasturing ground of a number of hundred acres which became his favorite resort, while his farms. were managed by his sons After nearly thirty years of pastoral contentment in this grassy and wellwatered valley, he found, in 1838, that he was likely soon to be left alone in it, as his slaves, whose hour of freedom dawned with the first of August in that year, had been so discouraged by him in their religious longings that they would be sure to leave him for some missionary station. He therefore took a great resolve. Surrendering his farms to his sons, he bequeathed his broad pasture-lands, or rather the usufruct of them, to six Hottentot slaves, on condition that they should care for him till his death. When the last of the six should be dead, the lands were to be divided among their children. They immediately established at Biirgerskloof a flourishing Moravian station named Goedvorwacht. But it was surrounded by wealthy Boers, worshippers of Mammon and enemies of Christ. These, conscious how plethoric their purses.
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
were and how lean those of the missionaries, waited grimly year after year, till the last of the six Hottentots, who had been so suddenly raised from the depths into the rank of landed proprietors, should have passed away, nothing doubting but that with their long purses they could then buy up Biirgerskloof from all competitors, and scatter all godliness to the winds. Year after year passed, and one after another of, the six dropped away, until the whole continuance of the station, as it appeared, hung on the life of one frail old Hottentot woman, fitly named Christiana. The hearts of the missionaries grew heavy. But for many years "many were engaged in building up an invisible wall of prayer around Biirgerskloof." At last, December 28, 1888, old Christiana fell asleep, 92 years old. There were now thirteen heirs, all poor Hottentots, some a good deal in debt, to whom the Boers around stood ready to pay twice, thrice, nay five times as much for the rich pasture land, with its plentiful springs, as the mission had any hope of raising. And the courts decided that if one of the thirteen insisted on it, the whole must be put up to auction, in which case the Boers were sure of the result. It must be remembered that the Moravians claim no authority over the property of their members. They can advise but they cannot control, either civilly or ecclesiastically. Not one of the thirteen, however, could be moved to sell the land to anyone ,except the mission, for the moderate sum of £750, which it could afford to give.
And thus Goedvorwacht,through Christ's providence and His humble people's faithfulness, fulfilled its name of Well-guarded, and Mammon retired discomfited. In the various transactions connected with the final settlement, involving the fate of two stations, the Brethren remark that the Hottentots have displayed a dignity, a self-restraint, a submission to Providence, a preference of spiritual to temporal interests, which places them not among the lowest but among the highest of their converts. They contrast their behavior, greatly to their advantage, with the noisy intractableness which the Eskimo Christians sometimes exhibit.
H.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions.
The following is an outline of the pledge. The pamphlet may be ob- Volunteer Pledge recently issued as tained of Walter J. Clarke, 50 East No.3 of Student Volunteer Series: 70th street, New York city, at three I.-The necessity for a pledge.-l. cents per copy; $1.50 per hundred, To secure decisions. 2. To secure de- prepaid. Mr. Robert P. Wilder has ,cisions early in the course of study. treated his subject in an exhaustive 3. To confirm those who have de- and masterful manner. His style is ·cided. 11.-What shall the pledge condensed,vigorous and pre-eminently be? IlL-The meaning of the pledge: clear. The little book is stamped by a " We are fully determined to become spirit of consecration and prayer. We foreign missionaries unless God block are reminded that "spiritual things the way." IV.-The use of the pledge. are spiritually discerned;" hence how V.-Who shall use the pledge? neccessary it is for one to be in prayer The necessity for understanding the to understand the messages which the pledge cannot be too strongly empha- Lord entrusts to some of His children.
sized. "It is the keystone to the arch The keynote of the Northfield Con- of the Student Volunteer Movement ference this year was struck early in for Foreign Missions." Volunteers the session. On Sunday, June 29, cannot be effective and successful Major Whittle preached on " Foreign .
workers, it may be fairly said, unless Missions." Scarcely a speaker during they understand an(~ hf'liE've in the the ten days which followed failed to recognize the fact that personal pernicious, and that those numbers responsibility in regard to the evan- already obtained (the 5,000) represent gelization of this blood-bought world only a small percentage of the men was the problem uppermost in the who intend actually to go into the minds of the majority of the men foreign work! Practical common present. Rev. George F. PenteCost, sense demands an estimate if our D.D., awakened interest in the pro- Lord's last command is to be obeyed posed" Siege of Bombay," an enter- in its entirety. Fellow-students, it is prise in which he will be assisted by our privilege to pray that men shall be men and women both from England faithful. We have a right, the conand America. Mr. D. L. Moody de- dition having been realized, to claim voted an hour one Sunday afternoon fulfillment of the promise:" Being to the subject of" Preparation," ad- confident of this very thing, that he dressed to missionary candidates. One which hath begun a good work in of the most vigorous and stirring ad- you will perform it until the day of dresses ever heard in Northfield was Jesus Christ." delivered on " Round Top" by Dr. A. T. Pierson. With great earnestness It is possible to evangelize the world and power he bore in upon the hearts in this generation. Let us work as of men his own deep conviction that though we believed it, absolutely sure the world can be evangelized in this that the endeavor is well pleasing to generation. our Lord and Master.
Alll)ther brief address is still ringing Foreign missionary meetings were in my ears, the substance of which held on Round Top Hill every other was as follows: "Fellows, we have no evening during the session. These record that a human being has ever meetings were conducted by Mr. Cosbeen converted save through the in- sam, who is successor to Mr. R. E. strumentality of some other individual. Speer, traveling secretary. On Wed- If this world is to have Christ preached nesday evening, July 9, a little meetto it missionaries must be, in a sense, ing of marked character was held on man-made missionaries. There are "Round Top." Mr. Dankowt was the about 85 volunteers here present and first speaker introduced-a gentleman 300 Christians on the grounds. Seize in charge of a medical school in New the opportunity! Strive by personal York city, established for the especial effort to persuade these 300 men to, benefit of men who intend to be forenter this missionary service. It is eign missionaries. He first called atnot hard to win men to this work. tention to the fact that many of the Let each volunteer' strive each day men and women who have gone into during this Conference to persuade a heathen lands have come back to study single man to enlist in foreign work." medicine. "It is barbarous," he went on to say, "that the Christian Church Has not this exhortation a possible should send out people to be removed wider application? Let us turn for a hundreds of miles, from medical assismoment from the Conference to a tance and without some knowledge of wider student body. On a conserva- surgery and medical practice." tive estimate there are 250 institutions, each one of which contains on an Mr. De Forrest, of Japan, underaverage 1() volunteers. Is it unreason- took to answer the question" What able to plead that each one of these 2,500 kind of men are wanted in Japan?" strived to secure each month (estimat- and said: "We don't want people ing nine college months in a year) a with quarrelsome dispositions; but we new volunteer: 10+250+9 recruits= do want men who can get along with 22,500 recruits. The objection is urged each other. We want men that can that this passion for mere numbers is love fellows with different color of skin. Furthermore, we want men with tact and discrimination; men held as he told about its geography who know when to talk about the and the people, "a little shorter in natural and when to talk about the stature than we are," those among .supernatural. " whom he intended to spend his life• He said: "Of the religion of these Mr. Laffin, who has already spent a people, Hinduism is like a glacier that little time in Africa, and who expects comes down the mountain and ab- to return, followed Mr. De Forrest. sorbs everything" in its way. Bud- His face was radiant and his manner dhism is beautiful externally. When touched by enthusiasm. "When men I contemplate this intricate and fasci- {)r women draw down their faces and nating system of religion I am retell me how sorry they are that I am minded of the appearance of the going to benighted Africa, I tell them beautiful wall about the city in which speedily, 'I don't want your sympa- I once lived-a wall pierced by winthy. Keep it.' No country in this dows and crowned by graceful minawide world is more receptive to the rets-and when the sunlight streamed gospel than Africa. I do not know a upon it it glowed and sparkled as village or a town where they won't re- though set with jewels; but underceive a missionary. One church of neath that wall, at its foundation, was 100 to 120 members supports six evan- rottenness, filth and decay." gelists. Can you equal that record in this country? With the native Afri- Spacewill not admitof telling about can God's Word settles any point of obstacles and triumphs of missionary dispute." life in India, nor of the crisis. No other man has been so thoroughly Mr. Griswold, who intends to go to identified with the missionary upris- Northern India, encouraged the men ing as Mr. Wilder-perhaps no other still remaining at home to shine as student in America is better known scholars, pointing to the great need, among Christians, and more deeply both in India and China, of men fitted loved. And so the personal farewell to train native teachers. words, simple and earnest, found a quick and glowing response in the When Mr. Griswold finished the hearts of men that night: "I want to twilight was deepening-it would soon see many here in India some day. be time for the eight o'clock bell to I want you to pray for me and my ring. Mr. Robert P. Wilder was an- dear India." The notes of the violin nounced"to say a few words in closing. could not have been sweeter or more " He expected to go out to India be- penetrating than these last words. fore another year had elapsed," he " Blest be the tie" . . . " Like to said. At his opening sentence every- that above." Never was the old body seemed to be listening expec- hymn sung with more spontaneity and tantly. It was very still: no sound spirit. was heard except the rising wind and the flap now and then in the breeze of MAX WOOD MOORHEAD. a map of Kolhapur which two friends Notes on India, by Rev. James Johnston, Bolton, England. -Indian Church Aid Association.- houses and engineering enterprises. This auxiliary, which aims at the The success of missionary work among Christianization of Englishmen resi- the natives depends largely on the lives dent in India, is growing in favor. It of Europeans living among them. is estimated that some 60,000 British Among the members of the Church of soldiers are stationed in different parts England in Great Britain the signifiof the empire, besictes large numbers cance of these claims is being reaof Englishmen engagep. in its civic ad- ized and enforced. One of the advoministration and in the commercial cates in Manchester Cathedral denied -that missionary propagation in India portance to the whole future of miswas a failure. It might be asserted sions." by travelers through districts where it was difficult to plant Christianity, – Female Education in India.-To -or where Englishmen congregated in read of an Indian princess enlarging large numbers, whose lives neutral- upon the advantages of education to. ,ized rather than sustained the mission- her less favored sex, is a notable sign ary's message. Upon Englishmen in of the times in Hindustan. Not long particular lay the solemn responsi- ago, in the ancient town of Gondal, in bilityof making reparation for the ne- the Bombay Presidency, at the Mongglect and failure of their fellow-coun- hiba School for Girls, her Highness trymen inpastyears to live and preach the Rani Nankooverba distributed the -Christ to India's idolatrous millions. prizes. The occasion was extra jubil- ant because an ex-student, Ladlubai, -DevelopmentofMedical Missions. a child of poverty-suffering parents, -Every year bears evidence to the ad- was first in the examination at the vance of medical missions among the Rajkote Female College, and had releading missionary societies which ceived an excellent appointment as supply an increasing number of nurses the head-mistress of the Porbandar and doctors. At the headquarters of Girls' School. This and similar matthe Zenana Medical College in London, ters gave the lady speakers some instudentsare trained, andsubsequently, spiring thoughts on the accompaniin connection with one or other of the ments and possibilities of education. great societies, proceed on service to "My sisters" were invited to let the the East. Two of the present students knowledge which they had obtained are Syrian girls, who, at the comple- teach them "how to win the husband's tion of their training, will return to heart, how to be always agreeable to their own land as the first Syrian his wishes, how to pa~ respects to the ladies to practice medicine. India, father-in-law and mother-in-law, as naturally, has most attention. The well as to the father and mother, how devoted Miss Hewlett, a fervent helper to behave towards juniors, elders, and on behalf of her Indian sisters at Am- equals, how to keep the house clean, ritsar, writes of its efficiency, and of how to acquire proficiency in cookery, Miss Bose, the first native Christian how to spend their leisure in reading, lady to be medically educated in Eng- sewing, 01' needlework." The Rani land, and now in charge of an exten- urged the benefits of higher education sive dispensary at Taran-Taran. From and the duty of parents teaching Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., whose free their daughters, and finally closing criticism of mission work created a with the exhortation that girls should storm some mgnths ago, comes an elo- know something of the women who quent tribute. He says: "I believe in many lands were renowned "for for medical work among Indian wo- knowledge and learning and for varimen the three great essentials are a ous virtues. Some are celebrated for knowledge of nursing, of dispensing, their scholarship; some for their purand of maternity. The lady who has_ ity of conduct; some for courage, formastered these things is fit for service titude, enterprise; some, again, for in India. I may tell you that it is modesty or presence of mind; some officially stated that one of the best for devotion to their husbands; while dispensaries in the northwest provin- some have been remarkable for their ces is under the charge of one of your piety; and others for their excellence former students. In whatever aspect in household management." I view the work of the Zenana Medical College, I become the more convinced Generous sympathy is asked for that it is of the highest value and im- ~nss Cornelia Sorabji, the Indian young lady whose university career at the Deccan College, Poona, was so tion of a woman's self-denying love, distinguished. At Somerville Hall in taking the medical supervision of she is now reading literature to ob- the Ambala 1sylum, which shows. tain the place at Oxford equivalent, marked improvement in the condition in the case of a woman, to a degree. of the patients since she accepted the Unable to meet her expenses during charge. the next two years' study at Oxford, her special friend, Lady Hobhouse, -Zenana Missions-English Wes- has opened a fund on her behalf. It leyan Women's Auxiliary.-In speak- is felt that in extending support to ing of "the condition of women in Miss Sorabji a powerful impetus will India," Mrs. Sutcliffe, an earnest be given to the cause of Indian edu- lady missionary, alluded to the cation, to which this gifted scholar 120,000,000 women of the country, purposes devoting herself on return- 40,000,000 of whom were in zenanas ing to her native land. and 21,000,000 widows. Of these latter 80,000 were children between the ages -Lepers in India.-For 15 years the of six and sixteen years. Methodist Edinburgh Mission to Lepers has been Women's Mission Work in India had combating the evils which attend this achieved much success since its originterrible scourge. Along with its pri- ation in 1858, though even to-day there mary work to evangelize. the agents is only one missionary to about each of the society have alleviated the mis- million of the population. It is aperies of the lepers. A bill has been parent that the foundations of heathdrafted especially affecting the va- enism were planted in the zenanas. grant classes. "Retreats" are proposed in which the sexes will be separated. -Church of England Zenana So- The society's secretary goes to India ciety.-At the annual meeting held in to make arrangements for the erection May it was reported that at home there of asylums for adults. These are sore- has been healthy development in the ly needed for the lepers' comfort and number of workers, while in the field the protection of the natives from the there are 114 missionaries, with 62 aswandering lepers who spread the dis- sistants, and 577 native Bible-women ease. In considering the world of woe and teachers. The deathof Dr. Fanny represented by 500,000 lepers, the Butler was mourned over. It is noted most sorrowful problem is the case of that everywhere there has been dethe children. A leading authority on voted labor and a call for medical the question, Dr. Monro, states, "Lep- mission work, while in school work rosy has never been proved to be and zenana visitation there has been transmitted without contact, is not distinct encouragement. In funds constantly transmitted even when there is deficit of £1,743, although the both parents are diseased, and seldom income-£25,817-is £951, in advance affects more than one child in a fam- of the highest amount previously reily." Sir Morell Mackenzie says that ceived. The increased expenditure, hereditary contamination has scarcely it is gratifying to know, has not been any existence. Nevertheless, as early in the home but in the foreign departas possible it is important to remove ment, the fact being that, while in children from the risk of contagion, the ten years of the society's 'existence and in this direction the Edinburgh the income has barely doubled, stasociety is exerting itself. It has tions have trebled and workers have one home and branches for the lit- quadrupled. A worker of seventeen tle ones in connection with its three years' serv~ce, Mrs. Ellwood, spoke asylums. Let the name of Miss Carle- of the great subjection of the ton, M. B., an American lady doctor, Hindu women, and only could be universally honored as an illustra- their Christianization be effected by women. Latterly, zenana work has made rapid strides. Everywhere the This fam.ous field, scattered .over the Khassia Hills and s.ometimes spoken .of toilers were welc.omed with .open as the Assam missi.on, is the crown .of the society's harvest abr.oad. N.o doors. Net l.ong since the native written language existed in Assam at the- inaugurati.on .of the missi.on. w.omen shrank fr.om their missi.onary Meanwhile, the missi.onaries have translated the scriptures into the sisters. Mrs. MacDonald, fr.om South- tongue .of the people. A m.onthly periodical was issued in the native ern India, referred in gl.owing terms speech fer the services.of the churches and musical classes .opened .on the to zenana devel.opments. The sowers, tonic sol-fa system, which the natives much appreciated. The Khassian English ladies, last year increased Missi.on was being strengthened in the directi.on.of medical attendance and fr.om 100 to 117, mere than 20 .of schools fer higher educati.on. By the celebration.of the jubilee.of this miswh.om were h.on.orary missi.onaries si.on in 1889, the collecti.ons had been augmented. Preaching stati.ons numwh.o did net take a single penny fr.om bered 163, candidates fer membership, 934; day sch.olars, 4,134. Reinf.orcethe funds. In the same period the ments are wanted fer Khassia Hills, Jaintia, and als.o fer Brittany. The Bible w.omen's 1'.011 had risen fr.om 139 m.ovement to raise £20,000 in celebrat- ing the jubilee.of the Welsh Calvinto 141, the missi.on h.ouses fr.om 2,275 istic F.oreign Missi.ons, fer the mere ef- fective pursuit .of missi.on w.ork and to3,321, schools fr.om 177 t.o 183, and training .of native missi.onaries, has resulted in half the am.ount being the sch.olars fr.om 6,686 to 7,411. raised and its probable full realizati.on next year,.on behalf .of which wide- Truly the zeal.of the society's w.orkers spread interest exists.
indicated real, her.oic, c.onsecrated de- v.otion.
-Welsh Calvinistic Methodist For- eign Missions.-Meeting in Liverpool in May, this sturdy branch .of the Church .of Christ was largely c.on- cerned with its f.oreign w.ork. Pass- ing fr.om its evangelical labors in Brittany, special attenti.on was cen- tered in the Indian missi.ons. By com- paring the figures with th.ose.of 1861, the f.oll.owing results were tabulated: Churches. Communicants. Congregations.
1861, 6 158 500 lSi1, 16 514 900 1881, 36 2,600 3,326 1889, 78 6,054 8,424 Africa. between England and Germany, and we hope that when a like arrangement is concluded be- THE ANGLO-GERMAN AGREEMENT. tween England and Portugal we shall have- [This is an event of great importsnce in its matters as satisfactorily settled on the coast; bearings on the future of Africa, especially in of Lake Nyassa. the matter of missions. At ilrst English sen· tlment severely criticised some of its provis- The boundary between the English and Gerions, especially the ceding of Heligoland to man "spheres of influence" is to be what is: Germany. But reilections and a full under- known as ''the Stevenson Road," and may bestanding of the details has wrought a change, indicated by a line drawn from the mouth of and the feeling now is one of satisfaction. The the Bokura river on the western shore of Lakepoint of greatest importance is the acknowl- Nyassa, to the mouth of the Kilambo river 011 edgment of the English protectorate over the south shore of Lake Tanganyika. Ger- Zanzibar and Pemba. For Zanzibar is not many is to retain the country north of the line, only the largest city on the African shores and to the Congo Free State, and along theof the Indian Ocean, and the headquarters of ilrstdegree of south latitude, a divergence of commerce, government, and language, butthe the boundary being conceded around the west– base of extensive mission work. As England ern shore of Nyanza, so as to include Mt. has always been foremost in putting down the M'Fumbiro in the British "sphere," and makeslave trade, the practical control of the policy the frontier agree, as nearly as possible, with. of the Zanzibar Government will greatly facilitate this part of her work. Looking at it, Stanley's treaties. therefore, from the missionary and philan- The all-importsnt feature of the adjustment thropic point of view, we have every reason to feel satisfied with the settlement arrived at Is that it throws almost the entire responsi- bility of the continuance of the slave trade 011 England and Germany. Zamibar Is a great. slave mart; England will now control the being made for the suppression of the island. Droves of slaves are annually driven maritime slave trade as well as for the from the great lakes across the equatorial extirpation of slavery itself."
regions to Gondokoro and down the river to The Universities' Mission, which has Khartoum and across to the Red Sea. Eng- made Zanzibar its headquarters, has land virtually assumes the responsibility of thus a firm basis for those operations this country. The roads across from Tangan- to which Bishop Steere consecrated a yika, Nyassa and Victoria Nyanza are also life of so much learning and devoted- highways of slave trade. Forthese Germany ness, and which are still so earnestly must now be responsible. The whole area followed up by Bishop Smythies. The blighted by the slave trade is now open to an mission will now hold' in favorable exercise of authority and vigilance on the part circumstances thi& important centre of these two great Powers which ought soon for Christian education and for the to suppress the awful traffic. training of teachers, catechists and the We quote from the July Church Missionarv native clergy. It is true the great out- l'ntelligencera lucid statement of the "agree- field of their mission work will be now ment" and its relations to the work of tho chiefly in territories under German .great English and Scottish missionary societies rule, but already the report is favor- in Africa.-J. M. S.] able as "to the steady administration This agreement is an important p0- of affairs by the German Government," litical event, and will, no doubt, be much discussed in that aspect, but so that "the spiritual work of the sothere are indications already that a final settlement on the lines proposed ciety is no longer disturbed by wars will be accepted cordially by the German and British nations. Our interest and rumors of wars." Under the Brithere is non-political, although at the same time, looking at the settlement ish flag German missions have greatly in its broad aspect, apart from party, it cannot but be a source of thankful- flourished in India, and especially in ness that these two great nations, the pillars of European Protestantism, South Africa, and there is every reason have found a satisfactory S91ution of questions of territory which might to hope that when the German rule have given rise to dispute and alienation. If they proceed in friendly ac- is firmly established the mission will cord, we have one of the best guarantees that the inner African slave trade enjoy security and friendly support. is doomed, and that the time is hastening on when civilization and Christi- The Church Missionary Society and anity will win the day in the Dark Continent. the London Missionary Society have We look at the details of the agree- also their stations in German terriment, and we give the first place here to the protectorate of Zanzibar. From tories, and they may anticipate the the German Official Gazette we learn that Germany assents to the assump- same friendly support under the Gertion by England of the protectorate over the Sultanate of Zanzibar. This man protectorate. The Church Mismust be regarded as no small concession on their part. Of course France sionary Society has also its special or some other Power may still do what it can to hinder this assumption. But grounds of thankfulness as regards here it is satisfactory to find Lord Salisbury speaking out quite decidedly this settlement. Its work will be in his despatch, June 14th: "England will further assume, with the consent chiefly under the British flag, and of the Sultan of Zanzibar (which has been given), the exclusive protectorate what a wide door opens before it! But over the Sultanate, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba_" "The it scarcely belongs to us here to enter direct control and extensive influence,"LordSalisburyadds,"which this on so wide a field. We may only noarrangement will confer upon Great Britain, will furnish a powerful as· tice how much Lord Salisbury's words sistance to the efforts whi0h a1"(, nnw suggest. "Upon the east coast the Gerinan Government has agreed to surrender all the territory it occupies or claIms north of the British sphere of influence. The whole territory up to the Juba, with a coast line of more than 200 miles, is under the British protectorate. The elrect of this ar- rangement will be that, except so far as the Congo State is concernpd, there will be no European competitor to between the first degree of south lati- tude and the borders of Egypt, along the whole of the country which lies to the south and west of the Italian pro- tectorate in Abyssinia and Galla Land." .
Another part of this Anglo-German agreement relates to Lake ~yassa and Nyassa Land. In these regions the Scottish missions have been laboring for years, and with conspicllous suc- cess. The Church of Scot land has its mission to the south of La ~.(> Nyassa, close to the Shire. It is a country of religiously in the balance, our protecfertility and of much promise, but it torate of Zanzibar is of vastly more does not enter into the agreement, as consequence to the interests of huthe British Government has here to manity and the cause of religion. come to a settlement, not with Germany but with Portugal. The subject J. E. C. {)f keenest dispute here betwixt England and Germany has been as to what STANLEY AND THE BRUSSELS CONFERENCE. is called the Stevenson Road. As to Lake Nyassa itself there has been less [We are glad to see that this intrepid exdifficulty; the eastern shore where the Universities'Missions are established plorer, who doubtless understands the present has been assigned to Germany; the westernshores, where the Free Church condition and needs of Africa better than any Missions have been successfullyestablished, are to remain British. The other living man, is in full accord with the Stevenson Road joins Lake Nyassa at its northern end to Lake Tanganyika conclusions of this important Congress, which .at its southern extremity. As to its being a road, if Mr. Johnson, Her has just closed its sessions, as to the remedy Majesty Consul's authority is to be ac- ·cepted, there can be no question. for the wholesale slaughter and devastation Some 52 miles from the northern end of Lake Nyassa have been carefully which is going on in the Dark Continent.- engineered; in fact in the construction two able engineen; were employed, J.M.S.] Christian men, and they laid down their lives in the work. Along this "There is only one remedy for these road a steamer was carried in pieces to wholesale de,astations of African ab- Lake Tanganyika and launched there origines, and that is the solemn combion its waters for the London Mission- nation of England, Germany, France, .ary Society. The Germans here ha,e Portugal, South and East Africa, and done nothing; were they to be allowed Congo State against the introduction to enter into the labors of these ener- of gunpowder intoany part of the congetic Scotchmen? It has been ar- tinent except for the use of their own ranged that it is not to be so. agents, soldiers and employes; or seiz- ing upon every tusk of ivory brought There are other parts of the agree- out, as there is nota single piece now-ament on which we can but barely days which has been gained lawfully. touch. There is undoubtedly a break Every tusk, piece and scrap in the between the territories under British possession of an Arab trader has been influence north and south, extending steeped and dyed in blood. ~very from 1 degree south latitude to Lake pound weight has cost the life of a Tanganyika. On its western extrem- man, woman, or child; for every five ity, this is so far diminished, however, pounds a hut has been burned; for the British sphere of influence extend- every two tusks a whole village has ing so far south as to include the been destroyed; every twenty tusks mountain M'Fumbiro (10,000 feet high). have been obtained at the price of a This is to make the frontier "coincide district, with all its people, villages as nearly as possible with the region and plantations. Whom, after all, covered by Mr. Stanley's treaties." It does this bloody seizure of ivory enhas been agreed that the passage here rich? Only a few dozens of half-castes, for British goods and British subjects Arab and negro, who, if due justice will be perfectly free and exempt from were dealt to them, should be made to transit duties. sweat out the remainder of their pi- raticaI.lives in the severest penal ser- There are two other points of agree- vitude. ment in the CO?1pact; Germany is to be allowed to extend its influence in "On arriving in civilization after South Africa to the 21st' degree of these terrible discoveries, I was t')ld longitude, in place of the 20th degree. of a crusade that had been preached Lord Salisbury is of opinion that Lake by Cardinal Lavigerie, and of a rising Ngami will remain still under the desire in Europe to effect a reform by British protectorate, as its longitude force of arms, in the old Crusader style, is believed to be 22 degrees. and to attack the Arabs and their fol- lowers in their strongholds in central Heligoland forms a part of this Africa. It is just such a scheme as Ang'')-German settlement. What its might have been expected from men -valuels politically, it is not our part to who applauded Gordon when he set estimate. But weighed morally and out with a white wand and six follow- ers to rescue all the garrisons of the Soudan, a task which 14,000 of his countrymen, under one of the most skillful English generals, would have found impossible at that date. The last thing I heard in connection with this mad project is that a band of one hundred Swedes, who have subscribed £25 each, are about to sail to some part of the east coast of Africa, and the fine cloth and fine beads they exproceed to Tanganyika to commence pected to receive for the food furostensibly the extirpation of the Arab nished were not forthcoming, and it slave trader, but in reality to commit seemed for a time improbable that suicide."-Scribner's Magazine. enough food could be got to send any to Nelson. By the 26th, however, "NELSON'S STARVATION CAMP." matters were arranged, and on that day Mr. Jephson,with forty Zanzibaris [The following passage from Stanley's book and thirty Manyema, set out to rescue Nelson, whose camp was reached on givesone of many vivid and thrilling pictures of the 29th. Pitiable, indeed, was the condition of things there. Of the fiftysuffering endured during this ever memorable two men left with Nelson, five only remained, of whom two were in a dyexpedition for the relief of Emin Pasha.-EDs.] ing state; all the rest had either de- serted or were dead. Nelson himself, "On the morning of October 6,.1887, having hardly left his tent on account it was evident that Captain Nelson of his badly ulcered feet during the and fifty·two of the black men were absence of Stanley, had lived chiefly wholly unable to travel further. It on fruits and fungi his two boys had was decided, therefore, to leave these brought in from day to day. Jephson in camp, while Stanley and the other found Nelson sitting near his tent, white and black men-211 in a11- worn and haggard looking, with deep went forward to try to find some food. lines about his eyes and mouth, and Nelson and his fifty·two men were left the latter could do nothing but sob and with hardly any food in a camp on a turn away and mutter somethingabout sandy terrace, encompassed by rocks being very weak. But Nelson recovered and hemmed in narrowly by dark slowly and has lived to rllturn." woods which rose from the river's edge to the height of 600 feet, on the Japan.-American visitors at the bank of the Drumiwi, there a writhing and tortuous stream, making an recent Paris Exposition were astonish. unceasing uproar, and with two cata- I'acts not far away, each rivalling the ed at the educational exhiLit from J aother's thunder. A gloomier spot for a camp could hardly have been se- pan; an exhibit which showed greater lected. Stanley, with his 211 men, started on October 7th. They made intelligence, more thorough methods, their way as well as they could at a funeral pace, marching sometimes and more progressive educational deonly four and a half miles a day, through woods with dense under- velopment in Japan than exist in this growth, living on the fungi and berries they could find, glad even to get country. The recent report of the Japnux vomica, suffering the pangs of unappeasable hunger, all frightfully anese Minister of Education, summarthin, though the whites not so much reduced as the colored men. They had ized by "the nation," is exceedingly occasionally to climb hills, which, in their enfeebled condition, causeli their interesting and significant. There are hearts to palpitate violently. Hunger, followed by despair, killed many of in the empire 10,862 school districts; the colored men. The night of the 17th was ushered in by a tempest the total population being 39,701,594, which threatened to uproot the forest and bear it to the distant west, ac- andthe children of school age numbercompanied by floods of rain and a severe cold temperature. The next day, ing 6,740,929. The empire employs however (the 18th), relief came. They reached a community of Manyema, 62,372 teachers, and there are at pres- Arabian ivory hunters, who had arrived five months before. Here, at ent enrolled in its various schools last, they had food; but alas! they had lost the power to digest it. 'Nature about 2,800,000 children. When the either furnishes a stomach and no food, or else furnishes a feast and robs great reform of Japanese institutions us of all appetite.' The party began to suffer from many illnesses, the was undertaken twenty years ago, the result of the food it had so long been unused to. The Manyema on the first principle of education was accepted day were very gracious and friendly, on the next day were less so, becllillire as the basis of all progress, and noth- ing has shQwn the capacity, intelli- gence, and adaptibilityof the Japan- ese mind more strikingly than the thoroughness, progressiveness, and fruitfulness of the educational system they adopted, and which has now be- come thoroughly seated in the respect and affection of the Japanese people. In addition to common schools in all
1890.J MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS
parts of the country, a seaside labora- piling an encyclopedia. Among the tory has been established on Yeddo teachers in the Japanese schools are Bay for the study of marine life. Ad- nearly two hundred Europeans; while vanced courses in art and science are among the men who have furnished text-books or have otherwise contrito be found in the university. High- buted to this remarkable educational progress are found the names of many class commercial schools, schools of Japanese who havestudied inour own fine art, schools of music, schools for schools and colleges. This record is a the deaf, dumb and blind, law courses notable one, both on account of the in German, French and English, completeness with which a very sulibraries and museums, all form a perior educational system has been part of this admirable system. The built up in Japan, and on account of Imperial University at Tokio numbers the promise for the future which it 864 students, and there is also in the contains. The Japanese are blillding same city a kind of Japanese academy, on a strong foundation. made up of eminent native scholars, who publish a magazine and are com- I1I.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD-FIELD.
Ohina. be full members of these. In all cases it shall be left to each individual foreign missionary PLAN OF THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN or minister to choose for himself one or other of these two relations, but during a temporary CHURCHES. sojourn at home he may resume full connec- tion with his former church court. A Conference on Union, composed of the representatives of seven Presbyterian II. The doctrinal basisof organlo union shall churches laboring in China, was convened be: (a). The Apostles' Creed. (b). The Nicene in Shanghai, China, May 12, 1890. At this Creed. (c). The Westminster Confession and Conference it was found that on account of Catechisms. the diversity of language and the difficulties of travel, the representatives of two churches m. Presbyteries sha.lJ be oomposed of the believed organic union impracticable. After the adjournment of this Conference an iu- missionaries, the pastors and the churches formal meeting of delegates, representing five occupying the same territory. These Presbydifferent Presbyterian missions, was held, at teries shall, for the present, constitute one which were present: Rev. A. P. Happer, D.D., Synod, which shall meet once in five years. Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. (North); Rev. John Ross, United Presbyterian Church of At a meeting of the full delegations. held at Scotland; Rev. T. C. Fulton, Irish Presbyteri- Shanghai, May 14th, it was resolved: an Church; Rev. John L. Stuart, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. (South); Rev. D. McGillivar- 1. "That Rev. Dr. Happer, Rev. J. Goforth, ay, Canadian Presbyterian Church (in Hon'an). Rev. J. Ross, Rev. John L. Stuart and Rev. T. C. Fulton be requested to present this basis of Dr. Rapper was called to the chair. It was union to their respective bodies for their aprecommended that steps be taken to form an proval, with a view to bringing the matter organic union between the churches here re- fully before the assemblies of 189~." presented and any others who may desire to join them. A plan of union, similar in some 2. "That these delegates intercommunicate respects to the one adopted by the Presbyteri- the action of the respective bodies as soon as an Churches in India, was proposed, and at a practicable. " subsequent meeting of the full delegations unanimously approved. Following is the plan: 3. "That these resolutions, with the whole action in the matter of organic union, be print- I. That a constitution be drafted for the ed for distribution among the delegates." Presbyterian Church in China, based upon the constitutions of the Presbyterian Churches in A. P. HAPPER, D.D., President. Europe and America. (a). That, if foreign S. I. WOODBRIDGE, Secretary. missionaries and ministers retain their connection with their home church courts, they shall Ohili, have no vote in the China church courts, but only the right to counsel and advise; but if [We give below a letter, addressed to Mrs. they sever their ecclesiastical connection with Dr. Asbury Lowrey, whose husband is one the home churchesand submit to the discipline of the vice·presidents of Bishop Taylor's Self· of the ecclesiastical courts in China, they shall Supporting Mission in South America, sent to us for publication.-Ens.] Santiago, May, 1890. Our Spanish work in Serena is progressing grandly under Dr. Canut; we have 40 probatloners and 300 In regular attendance at wor- Miss Rugg, late of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- ship, patto (yard or court) crowded with versity, writes: "This is work to be enjoyed people anxious to hear the Word of Life. for its own sake, imparting knowledge to Plenty of persecution; but no matter, that others-a.nd this we do for His sake,Who gives don't harm. Bless God for the awakening us such blessed saving knowledge of Himself. shown amongst this people I Oh, do buy us a I constantly feelthat my stay inIquiqueis one of great pleasure and profit. Thongh never esoo, lot on which to bulld a church. There is one wishing myself back home, my thoughts are often in that direction." for saleat another at $1,000; either would suit us, and for either we would be thankful. Faithfully yours, The $1,000 lot Is much the better suited for our purpose. Surely we should have one of these MRS. A. W. LA. FETRA. at once. India. Our Spanish work in Valparaiso in- creases in interest with astonishing rapidity; YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN A.SSOCIATION WORK, its needs are very great. In Valparaiso es- pecially we need a church and one of the best While the first chapter of this history may men in the Methodist Episcopal Church to to some seem only a common place record, supply English work there. Give us the church those who understand the situation sufficient- and the pastor and Methodism will take root ly to read between the lines wili see In it a there at once and flourish. deeper significance and the earnest of untold possibilities. Because this new departure in Communion wasadministered at Concepcion Madras will no doubt be repeated In many last Sabbath;. the church was full and several other cities of the Orient, the record may well joined the society; the Spirit of God was pres- be given more in detail. ent. Thereare now 100girls in the school here. In March, 1888, the Madras Missionary Con- Rev. James Benge, pastor of the church ference listened to a statement by Rev. Jacob· at Iquique, writes May 10, 1890: ()hamberlain, D. D., telling of the magnificent movement he had recently seen in progress. "We have here a properly organized church, among the young men of the United States. consisting of a pastor, a local preacher, a class and Canada for the salvation of their fellows, leader, eight members and six probationers, and of the young men of other lands. He sugall working together in harmony. Our class gested that thoroughly trained and experimeetings, prayer and Bible readings, are true enced leaders might be sent out and supportmeans of grace. Most of our members and ed by the American associations, to organize probationers are present at every meeting." the Christian young men and set them at work to reach their tellows by means of Dr. Hoover is wonderfully quick at acquir- Young Men's Christian Associations, whereing language. He superintends the meetings upon the conference unanimously took the of the native church, which has a dozen or following action: more members and probationers, among them a lad of 17 who has been educated in the "Considering that this Conference has on school and is 1Illed with a desire to serve God. many occasions called the attention of the He gives short addresses to the people. Dr. churches to the existence of a well prepared Hoover preaches in English, and a little in field among the educated non-Christian yonng Castilian; both English and Spanish congre- men of Madras, and begged them to send a gations are good, much interest being shown special agency to work it, it regards this proin religion. posal as a Providential response to their ap- peals, and it will gratefully welcome such Every form of religious literature we offer well qualified, thoroughly trainedagents as the the people is received with avidity and care- American Yo.ung Men's Christian Associafully read. Bible agents sell their books In tions propose to send, and it will give them large numbers; the people seem to crave God's its cordial sympathy and co-operation." Word and buy liberally. This means eulightenment. Responding to that action, I reached Madras on the 9th of January last, and was A few days ago we laid in the grave the body met by Mr. L. D. Wishard, who is visiting the of a lad, of Scotch family, who had been one students of the East as a representative of the· of our pupils. Dr. Hoover, with some 50 of College Young Men's Christian Associations the school boys, went in procession to the of Europe and America. Predisposed as we cemetery, where, during service, the boys sang were to Madras, by the action of the Mission- "Beautiful Home" by the last resting-place ary Conference and other Provideutial indicaof their companion. It was an unprecedented tions, that this was the likeliest point for event in the history of Terapaca, the sweet beginuing this work, we had, nevertheless, left voices singing tremblingly, while tear drops it an open question whether or not the time coursed down the faces of many native born. was yet ripe to organize here. The very day Chillans singing in English a song of Heaven of my arrival, a conference was held with the in a Chilian grave-yard marked an epoch in missiouaries, and, notwithstanding the colher history fragrant with promise for the fu- leges were all closed for the holidays, it was ture. Soon these boys will be Chilian men, decided to take advantage of Mr. Wishard's and the lessous of the grave and the hope beyond will never depart from their memories. presence to hold a Union meeting of ChrIs- reading-room, and actually increased in the tian young men in Memorial Hall, Saturday social room_ evening, January 18th. We held four preliminary meetings, explaining our purpose The membership has grown graduallyand making acquaintances. There were 800 February, 85; March, 85; April, 110; May, 125 present at the Union meeting, and it was -until now, early in June, we number 131, evident that the time had come to fully Inau- who have paid the annual fee in adgurate our work by and for the young men of vance. This includes not more than 100 Madras. sustainiug members, who contribute not less than 10 rupees each. Of the member- A voluntary commitee of management was ship, 48 are I' active," i. e., communicant constituted, consisting of five native Chris- members of Protestant churches, having tians, four Europeans and one Eurasian, seven the right to vote and hold office in the of the ten being laymen_ 11k W. Rierson Arbuthnot was elected president and Mr. J. association; 83 are I' associate" members, so L. Duffield, of the Bank of lIIadras, treasurer. An assistant secretary being required, Mr. J. that it is evident non-Christian young men are Gnanamuthu, a native Christian of Tinnevelly, being brought within the influence of the assojust graduated from the Christian College, at ciation. 84 are natives, 29 Eurasians, and 18 once entered upon these duties. Europeans, proving that it is possible to work on SO broad a basis, ignoring race prejudices, We got immediate possession of the most despite predictions to the contrary. The fureligible building in the city, already furnished ther fact that, of the 84 native members, 34 in part for our purposes. This building, "two are Hindus (of whom 16 are Brahmins) and 2 stories high, eighty feet by sixteen, with a Mohammedans, shows that the association shaded yard in front, centrally situated on the will bear heavily against the' caste barrier. Esplanade, overlooking the sea alongside of The occupations of our members are: Stuthe Christian College, within two minutes' dents, 48; teachers, 23; in Government posiwalk of the Church of Scotland College, five tions, 19; mechants, 6; clerks,10; railway serminutes from the Hindu College, and ten vice, 3; clergymen, 7; bankers, 2; catechists, minutes from the Medical College, is within 2; secretaries, 2; barristers-at-law, 2; physieasy access of several thousand students, cian, 1; unemployed, 3; unknown, 2. many of whom daily pass our doors. Important improvements were begun, renovating The privileges offered are not great as yet. the place, and improving the' ventilation. The reading-room is well supplied with Indian Down stairs a reading room, bath-room and aud foreign publications. The social room is kitchen. Upstairs a room, seating seventy- furnished with games, such as chess and five, was devoted to meetings and social pur- draughts. We have about 100 volumes for a. poses, adorned with pictures, curtains, etc., library; a taste for healthy literature will be and furnished with chess tables and checkers. cultivated, and the reading of young men be On this fioor there is also an office, where directed, if the library is SO enlarged that it meetings of the board and of the committees can be made circulating. We expect soon to are held. secure athletic grounds and to have a compe- tent instructor in the physical department, a. The formal" opening" was on the evening class in vocal music, and probably also an of March 7. Between five and six o'clock orchestra; but for lack of room we cannot there was a musical reception; the rooms meet the demand for other classes, especially thronged with members and friends. The in technical branches. public exercises were held in the evangelistic hall near by, which was crowded with the Since the middle of March Friday evenings young men of Madras, Christian and non- have been devoted to literary and social fea- Christian, Brahmin and Sudra, native and tures alternately. The social hour is spent Eurasian. It was gratifying to find so large a informally with music, recitations, games, number of young men who, f.hough without etc. Our course of lectures on literary and the pale of the Church, had been led thither scientific 8ubjects has become so popular that by conscious or unconscious interest in on one occasion 177 crowded into a room large Christian work designed to further the true enough for only half that number. progress of India. The Lord Bishop of Madras presided, and addresses were delivered Since January Saturday evening has been deby Dr. Miller, principal of the Christian Col- voted to a Bible class, preceded by a short servlege, and others. ice of song. The average attendauce has been 48, Hindus as well as Christians attending, and The attendance in our rooms has increased most of them bringing their own Bibles and steadily from the first, the daily average note-books. During the college vacation the the first week being 15, and in successive class is converted into a young men'8 gospel weeks, 31, 47, 51, 68, 94, 106, 102, 141. Even meeting, in which the members take part. during the hottest weather, many members being absent during the college vacation, the A Bible training class, composed of six attendance has decreased but little in the young men, pledged to invariable attendance and at least three hours' study a week, is being conducted through a systematic course, to prepare workers. At the close of every evening the members ently refused to do. Alone, with no defense of the reception committee conduct a brief save the feeble protest of his brother, he finalinformal service of prayer, to which those in ly consented to have the marks put on for the roomS are invited. fear they would kill him. He is keenly consci- ous of the shame which he feels he bears, and At our first quarterly members' meeting, 71 is more pronounced than before in his purpose being present, the reports from the various to follow Christ. Indeed he assures me now committees would have done credit to any that he is quite ready to be baptized. He needs similar association in the West. Most of the instruction, however, and our hope is that active members are at work on the com- other members of his family may join him ndttees. a little later. To become a Christian here means literally the loss of all things. Those 3,000 rupees, it was estimated, would be re- words in Mark xi:29·30 never meant so much quired for the expenses of this year, inclnding to me before as when this young man and I furnishing. We have already secured 2,500 in read them together: "There is no man that membership fees and annual subscriptions of hath left house or brethren or sisters or father sustaining members. and it is believed that or mother or wife or children or lands, for My the work will become locally self-supporting, sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an apart from the salary of the general sec- hundredfold-with persecutions-and in the retary. world to come eternal life." Food and water and fire are cut off from the man who dares to The building is already too small to accom- break caste. modate the growing membership,and the management feels the pressing need of another The young Brahmin convert who led our building adapted to the peculiar requirements Young Men's Meeting last week and made a of this four-fold work, and for the funds to ringing appealfor fearless confession of Christ build the association must look to generous at any cost, is regarded by his fl'iends as dead friends in America. and his funeral obsequies have actually been performed. When another of our active mem- The Young Men of India, our eight-page bers, one of my training class, was about to monthly paper, is bearing tidings of this work be baptized, poisoned food was sent him by through the land, and we are now in corres- his own mother. and the road near my bungapondence with twenty-two other associations low was thronged with a mob of 2,000 Hindus, in India. infuriated at the missionary who was to per- form the ceremony. What far-sighted wisdom Already "first fruits" are beginning to ap- Jesus displayed in appointing baptism as the pear; success is provoking opposition-a wel- sign and seal of complete separation from the come relief from death·like indifference. For dead past! example, a Hindu member who has attended evening prayers and my Bible-dass quite regu- Dr. Chamberlain did not exaggerate when larly has shown anxiety to know the truth, at Northfield, in the su=er of 1887, he deand seemS not far from the Kingdom. On a clared that this was "the opportunity of the Saturday evening, about two weeks ago, he ages" now presenting itself to the Young was waylaid and prevented from coming to our Men's Christian Association here in India. Young Men's Gospel Meeting. After being What is being done in Madras can be done struck he escaped, and went quietly home. A throughout India. Calls for experienced genfew days after he came to get an English Bible, eral secretaries have already come from Calsupplementing his Tamil New Testament cntta and Colombo and Allahabad, and other which he has been using for some time; he cities are making similar demands. But the also attended a native church with one of our pressing need of the hour is to establish per· active members. Then a rumor was started manently in a suitable building this growing at Ihis home that he was becoming a Chris· work that has begun so well in this strongtian, and persecution commenced. Last Sun- hold of Hinduism. We are praying for the day he went with his brother, according to needed funds. "The God of Heaven, He will custom, to his native village to attend a cere- prosper us; therefore we His servants will mony for a sister who had recently died. arise and build." Are ye who read this record Sixty or seventy relatives had gathered to to "have no portion nor right nor memoriar' perform Puja for the deceased, but when the among the fifty millions of young men of Intime came to eat they refused to take food dia-so many of whom have English education with our friend, because they said he was go- but are "without Christ, having no hope and ing to become a Christian. They insisted upon without God in the world 1" his shaving his head and putting on the castemark of his god which he had abandoned. He Yours in His name and theirs, was taken to the temple. Excitement ran high. They demanded that he take an oath DAVID MCCONAUGHY, Jr. not to become a Christian, which he persist-
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY REV. J. 'T. GRACEY, D.D.
Ohinese Education-Past and Present. China, when he stated that, as his victorious troops were returning to- BY REV. MARCUS L. TAFT, OF PEKING wards· the capital, they could fre- quently hear sounds from certain UNIVERSITY. buildings as of "the humming of bees." This poetical allusion would (Paper read before International Mis- be readily understood by any intelli- sionary Union, June, 1890.) gent Chinaman as meaning" students studying aloud "-a sure sign of peace " Formerly Confucius had young Hsiang Toh and prosperity. for his teacher; "Pai Chia Hsing," or "100 Sur- Even the sages of antiquity studied'with dili- names," is the title of the second book gence. which the youthful John Chinaman is required to memorize. This ex- ,Chao, a minister of State, read the Confncian plains why, although the popUlation Dialogues, of China amounts to hundreds of mil- lions, there are only 100 purely Chi- And he, too, though high in office, studied nese surnames, and, therefore, we in assiduously. this country so often see so many of the same name, as Chang, Lee and One copied lessons on reeds, another on slips Wang. of bamboo; Four other books, based upon the 'These, though without books, eagerly sought Confucian Classics, as well as the knowledge. famous " Four Books" and "Fine Classics," are, in due order, mastered (To vanquish sleep) one tied his head (by the by the patient, ambitious scholar. hair) to a beam, and another pierced his thigh with an awl; These Confucian Classics inculcate morality and teach jurisprudence. In 'Though destitute of instructors, these were comparison with the ancient writings laborious in study. of India, Greece and Rome they are remarkable in the absence of the One read by the glowworm's light, another by vulgar and obscene. Some of the reflection from snow; poetry is truly of a high order. Take an example of an ode, composed by 'These, though their families were poor, did Wan Wang, about 1,000 B. C" which not omit to study. may remind us of a more modern production on a smilar topic: .one carried faggots, and another tied his books to a cow's horn, "THE SWEET PE.AR TREE.
And, while thus engaged in labor, studied with (1.) " 0 I FeIl not that sweet pear tree I intensity. " See how its branches spread I Such are some of the inspiring senti- Spoil not its shade, ments in the" San Tzu Ching," the For Shao's chief laid universal primer, committed to memory by every Chinese lad who Beneath it his weary head, .enters upon the road of learning. Well do I remember the pardonable (2.) "0 I Clip not that sweet pear tree I pride of ;t certain Chinaman at Kiu Each twig and leaflet spare- Kiang, China, who brought his little brother before me to have me hear 'Tis sacred now him recite the" San Tzu Ching." Since the Lord of Shao, Being winter, the little urchin was clad in cumbrous, cotton-wadded When weary, rested him there.
clothing, and appeared hardly old (3.) " O! Touch not that sweet pear tree I ,enough to walk alone. Quickly facing Bend not a twig of it now; about, with his back towards me, and There, long ago, constantly swaying from side to side, As the stories show, this Chinese youngster glibly recited the entire" Trimetrical Classic." Oft haIted the Chief of Shao."
Another peculiarity in Chinese schools, besides" backing" and swaying during recitation, is stUdying aloud. It was to this universal practice that the late Viceroy, Tso, referred, a few years ago, in his report to the throne upon his repulse of the Russians from the northwest province of The familiar lines, " Woodman, These Governmental examinatione Spare that Tree," are thus, by this place a premium upon learning and Chinese poet, .anticipated by over furnish worthy incentives to every twenty-five centuries. aspiring youth to acquire an educa- Throughout China there is no sys- tion. Conceit, conservatism and cau- tem of public education. Many tion were legitimate results of this.
schools are started by wealthy parents contracted, antiquated curriculum of for their sons, and other pupils are stUdy. The ordinary Chinese scholar, allowed for a small sum to attend. with his enormous goggles and long Other schools are carried on by weH- finger-nails, indicative of leisure and to-do Chinese as meritorious deeds, for erudition, considers that he, like the which they will receive due credit in Pharisee of old, is the personification the world to come. of all wisdom. Their conceit is some- The attractive incentive.> to study thing prodigious. Nearly ten years.
are honor, office and immunity from ago, shortly after my arrival in China, corporal punishment,obtained through as I was studying with one of these> the civil servive examinations. DiS- literati as my teacher, we came to a.
trict, provincial and national exami- point where I could not comprehend nations, if successfully passed, open what he was trying to explain. Since the door to rank and office. Nearly he could speak no English and my all youths in the empire may compete knowledge of Chinese at that time> inthesepublicexaminations. Through- was very limited, he resorted to the out China there is no aristocracy of object method of instruction. He wealth, rank or caste. Only the aris- was endeavoring to explain the differ- tocracy of intellect prevails. The son ence between China and foreign coun- of a poor coolie as well as the son of tries. So he drew a large circle, and a rich mandarin may alike compete in inside wrote "Middle Kingdom"- this intellectual tournament. Who- one of the namE'S for China, and over'
ever succeeds, whether of a rich or the rim of this large circle he drew a poor lineage, may, provided he has very small circle, markingit " Outside the brains, attain a pqsition next to Countries;" His notion was that the emperor himself. This, in fact, is China, the;' Middle Kingdom," com- the ballot of the Chinese. This system prised all the best poI'tion of the· of competitiveexaminations, in opera- world, and over the bordt!r of this, tion during nearly thirteen centuries, where no one would live if he could has done more to maintain the integ- possibly help it-why, there were the rity of the ChinE'se empire than any United States, England, France, Ger- other factor, excepting, perhaps, filial many, Russia and all other foreign piety, to which God attached the first countries.
promise in the Decalouge. Conservatism is also a natural result.
Most remarkable has been the loyalty of their educational training. The of the Chinese literati. During that Chinese seem to think that whatever long and bloody Tai Ping Rebellion was good enough for their illus- " not one imperial official voluntarily trious sage, Confucius, who lived joined the Tai Pings, while hundreds about five centuries before Christ, is died resisting them" (v. Villiams' good enough for them to-day. To- "Middle Kingdom," Revised Edition, alter now what suited him then would Vol. I., p. 563). Compare such unani- be irreverence. As an instance of this.
mous loyalty of Chinese officials with look at the springless, seatless, rude some of the graduates of West Point cart of North China to-day. This and Annapolis during our late Civil conservatism especially manifests it- War, and the contrast will be more self against any innovation in morals evident. and religion. Hence the intense hostility towards the Christian religion on ous wealth, into the possession of a British Queen, who lives on a little the part of these same literati. island far away on the other side of the world. They do not at all desire Throughout the Chinese empire, these that a single square foot of Chinese soil shall be owned by any foreign literati, and not the Buddhist and Power. Therefore, eight years ago, on the introduction of the telegraph Taoist priests, have been the most via- into China, the Chinese would only em- ploy foreign experts from one of the lent opponents of Christianity. Ifany- smaller Powers of Europe, even Den- mark, so that every foreigner engaged one will take the trouble to investigate in the ereotion of the telegraph lines in China was a Dane. With reference the various riots in connection with to railroads a similar policy has been adopted. Syndicates in Great Britain, mission work which have occurred in France, Germany and the United States have sent their representatives widely separated sections of China, he to China in order obtain grantS for the construction of railroads. The will almost invariably find that these urbane Chinese mandarin received them very politely, but not the slight- Chinese literati have been the chief est concession would he grant any of them. After a brief interview, they instigators of these disturbances. They were ushered out of his presence and politely but plainly shown the way to· do not always show their hands. They their respective native lands.
usually stir up the lewd fellows of the China's enlightened statesmen want railroads, but only on the conbaser sort to perform this menial work dition that China shall control them. She may employ foreign engineers and for them, while they stand by and mechanics, but the railroad must be under her exclusive control. Such is. urge them on to their dastardly deeds.. their great caution, which, in some re- spects, rather deserves commendation Who, a few years ago, started the than condemnation.
riot in Chung-King, in West China, Notwithstanding this conceit, con- servatism, and caution, the shriek of when the Gamewells, Lewises and the locomotive and the glare of the electric light are causing these Chineseother missionaries with their families Rip Van Winkles to wake up from the slumber of centuries. Within three had their houses torn down by a mob, years modern science, mathematics, history and kindred studies have been and who, after an imprisonment of placed upon the list of examinatlOns. In the autumnal examinations of 1888 nearly two weeks, escaped at midnight in Peking, a further advance was· made. "For the first time in this exfrom the Ohinese yamen' Who, time amination a large premium was placed upon a knowledge of mathe– and again, have caused missionaries matics and Western sciences. Previ-· ous to the time for entering the lists, of the China Inland Mission to be proclamations were posted in the· driven by mobs out of their houses in Honan and Hunan? Who, in the lat- est instance of the kind, pulled that Baptist missionary out of his house in Shantung, "dragging him into the street by the hair of his head, tramp- ling him under their feet and leaving him there almost dead? Who were the instigators of all these and scores of similar riots in all parts of China?
No other auswer can be given than the Chinese literati. Such is their hostility developed out of their intense conservatism. • Again, excessive caution is another result of their educational system.
Since the influential officials have be- gun to investigate the history of for- eign nations, they are very cautious in making changes. Their leading statesmen are well posted concerning India. They know how India, after having been seized upon by Portugal and France, has at last come, with its enormous population and prodigigates, announcing that this much- ate at Edinburgh and ranked high sought-for honor would be bestowed as a physician at Canton; Hon. Yung upon five per cent. of those who Wing was the originator of the Chinshowed proficiency in these studies; ese Educational Commission to the whereas in the case of students from United States. Their headquarters the province at large, who, after the were at Hartford, Conn., but these order of the old regime, submitted to Chinese students, after a few years of examinations in the classics only, but study in New England, were sumone per cent. would receive the de- marily recalled to China. Now they gree." are filling influential positions in the Chinese army and navy, in the Since the iniquitious Opium War of telegraph offices, in the medical 1841-4.2, China, perceiving the superi- profession and in foreign consulates ority of Western science, has estab- and embassies. Tong King Sing is lished arsenals and technical schools president of the China Merchant for military and naval tactics, Steamship Company, and the leading medicine, telegraphy, and other director, withViceroy Li Hung Chang, Western sciences at Foochow, Shang- in the newly constructed railroad from hai, Nanking, and Tientsin, as well as the Kai-Ping coal mines to Tientsinthe Imperial College, Tung Wen about eighty miles in length. These Kuan, at Peking, where some 100 Chi- are some of the results of the "Morrinese students are prepared to act as son Educational Society," organized interpreters and consuls, under the before conservative China began to apefficient leadership of that eminent preciate and appropriate modern sci- American sinologue, Rev. W. A. P. ence from the West. Martin, D.D., LL.D. All of the Governmental institutions are secular, Since Morrison's day, Christian eduthe Bible and Christianity being rigor- cation in China, started by his wise ously excluded from the course of in- foresight, has made marvellous strides. .struction. Institutions, where only the vernacu- lar has been used in teaching West- Robert Morrison, the far-sighted ern learning, have been in successful and clear-headed pioneer of Protes- operation on many mission fields, tant missions in China, inaugurated notably atSwatow, Tungchowfu, and both educational and medical work, Tungcho in Chihli. Other Protestant as able auxiliaries in evangelizing that institutions oflearning have combined empire. In the light of recent events the study of English with Chinese, as the wisdom of his planning is most in the ChristianUniversity at Canton, manifest. For thorough mission-work, in the Foochow University, in the there should be an indissoluble union Shanghai College and in the Peking ·of body, mind and heart. Christianity University. must have possession of the whole man. In all these Christian schools, a great door and effectual is to- Dr. Morrison, clearly seeing this, day opportunely opened for the established both educational and medi- thinking classes of China. These cal auxiliaries for Chinese evangeliz- literati, recruited from all grades of ation many years before the Opium the Chinese population, have all along War. Also, antedating that epoch, been our most bitter opponents. Since there was organized in his honor' 'The the recent radical departure of the Morrison Educational Society," with Government in placing Western Dr. S. R. Brown as first instructor. If science upon the examination lists, Dr. Wang, Hon. Yung Wing and these ambitious scholars have ascer- Tong King Sing were the only pupils, tained that Christian Anglo-Chinese the work of that society was surely schools could provide them with the not in vain. Dr. Wang was agradueagerly desired Western science. They tainty the life beyond the grave. have loudly knocked at these Chris- Philosophers of all nations may surtian halls of learning, asking admis- mise and speculate, but, as Gibbon sion. All available room has been camlidly stated in his famous fifteenth quickly taken. At present, worthy chapter, "It was still necessary that applicants, willing to pay tuition and the doctrine of life and immortality, support themselves, especially at Pe- which had been dictated by nature, king, have had to be turned away, sim- approved by reason, and received by ply for lack of accommodation. superstition, should obtain the sanction of divine truth from the authority and Merely secular education will never example of Christ." rescue China from her heathenism and atheism. Allowing to Confucian- Clearly appreciating the present nism all the moral and political excel- educationalcrisis of missions in China, lence it deserves, there still remains contrasting the intense hostility to "an aching void." In it exists no Christian education in Turkey, and self-renunciating love, no forgive- remembering Christ's farewell comness of sin, and no hope of immor- mand, " Go, teach!" the faithful Protality. testant missionary in China to-day gladly employs Christian education as The negative maxim, "Whatsoever the right arm for evangelizing China's ye would not that men should do to millions. to you, do not do them," is sometimes called the Silver Rule of Confucius, in The Evolution of a Missionary Society. comparison with the positive law of love, the Golden Rule of Christ. One BY REV. JAMES MUDGE. is negative and passive; the other is positive and active. One is as the It has for some time seemed to me priest and Levite, who do no harm, that since the International Missionary but sympathetically pass by on the Union was also, in the most emphatic other side; the other is as the Good sense, interdenominational, it would Samaritan, who at the sight of the be highly fitting that there be presuffering traveler, at once dismounts, sented at its annual meetings a series binds up his wounds, places him upon of papers setting forth somewhat in his own beast of burden, and makes detail the internal organization of the arrangements for his comfort at the various societies, together with the inn. One is like the moonlight, sil- changes, if any, that have taken place very and clear, but cool and chilly; since their formation. Such a series The other is like the genial warm sun- would be especially timely just now shine, with its invigorating radiance in view of the fact that the oldest at noon-day. American society is casting about for the wisest method of so modifying her Once a disciple of Confucius came constitution as to bring herself more to this conservative sage and asked fully en rapport with her constituency. him concerning sin. The only conso- By way of a beginning in this direclation Confucius gave him was this: tion, and as affording in a compact " He who sins against heaven has no compass information not easily accesone to whom he can pray." At sible to all, I present the following another time a disciple of his inquired sketch of the manner in which the concerning the future life. Confu- missionary society of the Methodist cius replied, "If we know not the Episcopal Church has reached its present life how can we know the present position. future life?" Honest words, frankly spoken! No man, however wise in It has undergone what may not inthis world's wisdom, can, unaided by aptly, perhaps, be styled a process of divine revelation, describe with cer- evolution. Like Methodism itself it has gradually developed, adapting itself to circumstances and undergo- meeting. A committee from that ing a variety of changes, passing on meeting, composed of Nathan Bangs, from point to point as Providence ap- Freeborn Garrettson and Laban Clark, peared to direct and the wisdom of drew up its constitution, which was experience to dictate. It has not formally adopted at a large public probably yet attained in all respects gathering held in Forsyth street perfection's height, but in most par- church, April 5, 1819, and a full set of ticulars it affords an admirable ex- officers was elected. The ensuing ample of close approximation to the general conference sanctioned the ideal. scheme and recommended all other Previous to 1872 its membership, as Methodist missionary societies, nota- in so many other societies even at the bly the one at Philadelphia, which present day, rested on a purely finan- was of older date, to become auxiliary cial basis. The society up to that time to this at New York. But it was more consisted exclusively of life members, than twenty years before these two made such by the payment of twenty societies really united. Norw~ it till dollars. No others belonged. Twenty- 1836 that the missionary society be- five of these members constituted a came of sufficient,.importance to have quorum for the transaction of busi- a resident corresponding secretary ness. And at the annual meeting, of who should give his entire time to its such members as might choose to come service. Dr. Nathan Bangs was ap- together in the city of New York on pointed. He had from the beginning, the third Monday of November, there without salary orcompensation of any was chosen the full board of man- kind, conducted almost all its busi- agers in whom was vested the entire ness, writing every annual report but disposition of the affairs and property . one; and holding in himself the most of the society. Rather a loose arrange- of its life-blood. Dr. Bangs was ment it would seem. These managers chosen by the general conference, as consisted of thirty-two laymen, and, have been all subsequent correspond- after 1856, of no more than thirty-two ing secretaries, although, until the ministers, although before that all abolition of the old" society" in 1873, Qrdained ministers, both traveling and it went through the legal form of re- local, who were·members of the society electing them at its regular annual were also members of the board. This meeting. From 1836 to 1844 the cor- made it, by the necessities of the case, responding secretary had to be a mem- largely a local affair, and to some ex- ber of the New York Conference, tent, legally at least, independent of which was charged with his super- all church authority. Yet from the vision.
first its promoters earnestly endeavored In 1844 a very important step was to give it a connectional character, taken in the direction of generalizing and partly succeeded. They groped the management. It was in this year their way steadily toward the true that the church was divided into mis- theory and method, dropping off one sion districts, and there was formed erroneous feature after another, fol- from these the general missionary lowing the leadings of the Lord, and committee, appointed by the bishops, moving forward as fast, perhaps, as to whom was given a share in the the church in general was prepared to control, conjointly with the board.
accompany them, until they came at In 1856 the clerical managers were re- length to the fully developed system. stricted to thirty-two, and in 1872 was It is instructive and interesting to instituted the present arrangement, note the advances. whereby the general missionary com- This missionary society was clearly mittee is composed of one representa- the child of the New York preachers' tive from each of the mission districts, now fourteen, elected by the general States and foreign countries there conference, on nomination, by the shall be a missionary society, duly in- delegates of the annual conferences corporated according to law, and within each district respectively, alilo having its office in the city of New an equal number of persons selected York; said society being subject to by the board of managers from its such rules and regulations as the own sixty-four members, together general conference may from time to with the secretaries and treasurers of time prescribe." Singular as it may the society, and the whole Board of seem, this was the first issue of the Bishops. This action more than any Discipline, fifty-six years after the other gave the final death-blow to society had been endorsed by the the old society idea, and made the general conference, cOlltaining a direct missionary organization, as it ought authorization of its existence. No to be, an integral part of the work of previous Discipline has any mention the whole church. of the society, except two or three indirect references or allusions in Dr. Durbin, secretary from 1850 to paragraphs treating of other topics, 1872, had already seen the importance which shows emphatically in what a ,of emphasizing this side of the move- very miscellaneous manner the entire ment, and in the" Disciplinary Chap- legislation of the church on this ter on Missions," recast by him with a subject has been thrown together, large amount of new matter in 1852, and how fragmentarily it has arrived he had taken pains to place at the at its present excellent condition. head of all this highly significant sen- tence: "The support of missions is The most recent emendation of the committed to the churches, congrega- constitution, ordered by the General Conference of 1888, was in the same as tions and societies such." In other line with all the previous changes, and provides for the still further emwords, the cause was not to be re- phasizing of the connectional, as opgarded as the concern simply of such posed to the local, character of the separate members of the church as institution, by prescribing that the might choose to bind themselves annual meeting of the General Comtogether in local auxiliaries, which at mittee shall be hereafter no longer the first, and for a long while, were confined to New York but shall be regarded as the principal feeders held at least three times out of four in Df the society, nor of such as were other cities. able and willing to contribute twenty dollars at one time, but every church It would seem now that there is member throughout the nation or the nothing left of the society or local world was by the very fact of his idea beyond the mere name and the membership pledged to contribute restrictions imposed by the necessity and co-operate according to his ability, of having a charter from some specinor did he need to be further enrolled fic State Legislature in order to hold in any distinct way to make this property, as well as the necessity of having headquarters where certain pledge more binding. And all the matters of business can be attended pastors were, as such special agents of to. This missionary society, still so- .the cause, charged with collecting called for convenience sake, is now funds for its furtherance and in every simply and solely the whole church way advancing its interests. itself acting in its corporate capacity for the establishment and support of The missionary section of the Disci- missions. It is not an outside organizpline was again entirely recast in ation allied to the church, but distinct 1876, with a number of new para- from it. Rather is it tpe right arm of graphs, of which the following 'Stands first: "For the better prosecution of missionary work in the United
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
the body. holding most vital connec- and sovereignly regulates all its aftion with every other part, receiving fairs. The bishops appoint all the its full share of the life blood and con- missionaries. The general committee, tributing its full share to the welfare meeting annually, selects the mission of the whole. The missionary society fields and allots the money, and the is only one of the names of the church, board of managers, meeting monthly, and every member of the latter, from looks after the details, while the secthe senior bishop to the youngest pro- retaries conduct the correspondence bationer, is also a member of the and set in motion all possible agencies former, having some part to fill in its for filling the treasury. So there is at maintenance. The General Confer- last provided here an agency of marence, the highest authority, the one vellous completeness for the purpose body which speaks for the entire in hand-a system of wheels and pulchurch the world around, elects its lies and bands in which strength is secretaries and treasurers and presi- combined with elasticity, and which dents, appoints its managers and gen- moves with a smoothness and effieral committee, revises its constitution ciency leaving little to be desired.
V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY SECRETARY F. F. ELLINWOOD, D.D.
The Situa.tion in Ja.pan and Korea. decades-the average force for that time having been small. But that I.-JAPAN.
The statistical report of Protestant which may be tabulated in figures is missions in Japan for the year 1889, but a small part of what has been ac- published by Rev. Henry Loomis, complished in Japan. The beginnings agent of the American Bible Society, which have been made point to is full of suggestions. Its general in- broader future results. Everything dications of success are remarkable. in such a work is of the nature of Only fifteen years ago the member- seeds. Forces are set in motion which ship of the churches were buta hand- will continue to act for generations.
ful. The missionary boards scarcely What if foreigners should now be took the pains to publish any statis- wholly excluded, as were the Portu- tics. It was the day of small things. guese missionaries two centuries ago? It is almost startling, therefore, to Is Christianity planted and rooted SO find now a total membership in the firmly that it would survive and Protestant mission churches of 31,181, prosper if the Japanese churches with 274 organized churches, 153 of were left to themselves? Judging which are wholly and 151 partially from the history of Protestant mis- self-supporting. Thereare 135 ordained . sions in Tahite and Madagascar, we native ministers and 409 unordained may safely conclude that the work preachers and helpers. There are 350 accomplished in Japan is a perma- Sabbath schools with 21,597 pupils, nent and enduring power in the land.
and 17 theological schools with 275 And it is from this point of view students. The contributions of the that we may perhapsgainthe strongest churches during the year 1889 amount- impression of the value of the work of ed to $53,503.13. The number of mis- twenty-five years. Over against the sionary organizations represented in work of less than a generation, there this work is 29, and the number of must be set down to the credit side foreign missionaries is—{)f men, 200; the endless development and the im- of unmarried female missionaries, 171; measurable fruitage of many genera- with a total, including wives, of 527. tions to come.
Such is the force now engaged and Of course missionary influence canthe result shown is the work of two not claim all that has been done in the transformation of Japan. Com- in place here as we contemplate the merce has done much, and "he general situation. It has been too government and people have until common, though on slight grounds, to now seemed almost eager to learn the consider Sintoism* as dead and out of ways of our Western civilization, in- the question. But intelligent Japcluding education. But the missionary anese, even some of those most work has contributed that best of all friendly to Christian progress, look elements, the ethical and the domestic. upon Sintoism as constituting a It has changed especially the whole greater obstacle to Christianity than status and outlook of Japanese woman- Buddhism, though its influence is less hood, and that includes also the out- conspicuous and obstructive. Sintolook of the future state. ism is the old national religion; it is a development of that nature worship But there is another lesson which which has been so common in the the statistics of Mr. Loomis present. early experience of many races. There has been evidently some reaction. There has not been as large a Sintoism recognizes one Supreme growth in 1889 as in other recent years. God, who is unknown to men, but We were prepared for this, for all from whom all things have sprung. sources of information have revealed From him eight subordinate divinities the fact of political jealousy connect- emanated, of whom the most impor_ ed with the question of the revision tant were Isename and Isenangi, male of treaties. There has sprung up a and female, the progenitors of manparty which is opposed to foreigners kind. and foreign influence. It embraces many of the young and vigorous ele- These related deities, standingon the mentsof Japanese society. There has ramparts of heaven, reached down to in consequence been less readiness to earth with a long spear and stirred listen to the gospel, and the religious the depths of the ocean, and as they movement generally has felt the in- withdrew the spear there dripped from fiuence. Missionaries are consequently its point a peculiar substance from filled with no little anxiety, though which grew the islands of Japan, and generally they are hoping that the re- which had in it "the prophecy and action is only temporary. potency of all life," animal and vege- table. It was Huxley's protoplasm It isa fitting opportunity, now that turned to' practical account. From the work has slackened speed, to re- the two deities sprang a beautiful view the whole situation. What is daughter, the goddess of the sun, and the religious condition of Japan to- she became the mother of the day? What remaining strength have Mikados. the old faiths? Are they likely to abide, or will the future conflict lie It is claimed tha~ there has never between Christianity and some new been a break in this royal and divine form of belief or unbelief? Really succession, and that for 2600 years it there are four religions still contend- can be clearly traced. Many imporing for supremacy – Sintoism, Bud- tant results have sprung from this dhism,Confucianism and Christiar:ity, sun myth. It has conduced greatly to say nothing of those new types of to the loyalty of the Japanese toward thought which are the result of their sovereign. Only in three unsucconflict or compromise, and which cessful instances have attempts ever generally savor of general dissent and been made to dethrone a Mikado, negation. though changes in the dynasties of the Shoguns, or temporal rulers, have SINTOISM. • Some writers use the simple term Sintoo, A moment's consideration of the bnt Sintoism is employed by some native old faiths and their present status is writers. been frequent enough. The myth of neighbor, considered the universe as the sun goddess has also had a general- eternal, subject only to development ly favorable influence on the con- by natural growth or by generation. dition of women. The chief deity Though the Japanese, unlike the Inof Sintoists is a female. The most dian faith, recognized the existence gorgeous temple in Japan is the Sin- of a supreme deity from whom the to temple, reared to the sun goddess two divine progenitors emanated, yet in the Province of Ise. She is regard- it made no practical account of him. ed as the giver of all life in nature, He was never worshipped. and therefore the goddess of spring and of harvests. In the springtime festi- The two systems appear to have exvals and processions are instituted in ercised a degree of mutual toleration, her honor. and both adm~tted the claims of Confu- cianism, which in Japan, as in China Of the long succession of sovereigns and Korea, became largely the faith nine have been women. Naturally, or cult of the intellectual classes. The therefore, the female sex escapes favorite illustration by which this the degrading estimate which obtains tolerantspirit was expressed ran thus: in most Asiatic countries. Women There are many paths which lead to are not secluded as in China or India, the top of Fusyama, each approaching and there is in Japan something from a different side, but when they which approximates to our ideas at reach the summit, they all alike home. command a view of the world.
A religion which is so strarigely In some respects Sintoism and naturalistic might be expected to be Buddhism rendered to each other a weak on its ethical side. It is not a mutual service. The former, like creed of strong moral power. There other systems of sun worship, develis less ~f "thou shalt" and "thou oped a great aversion to death and shalt not" than in most faiths. The corruption. As with the followers of sexual relations, especially among the Zoroaster, so with all Sintoists, the rural populations, are lax and the pro- contact of the dead was considered test of conscience is feeble. Yet in polluting. And there was but slight the common ethics of life in all that attention given to the hereafter. concerns mutual rights, Sintoism presents a better record than many Buddhism, on the other hand, magsystems of more rigid law. It is nified the issues of the future. It was always the sin that breaks over a more sombre in spirit and looked upon strong moral code that becomes the death as only a transition to oth&r most heinous. Sint6ism has no forms of life. But on the other hand positively corrupting doctrines or Buddhism held an awkward relation ceremonies like those of Hinduism or to marriage. Itwasessentiallyopposed the old Baal worship. It has no vile to the reproduction of life. Its celiand demoralizing promises like that bate priesthood were out of place at of the Mohammedan's heaven. It has the marriage feast, whileSinto priests, DO legends of vicious conduct in its themselves fathers of families, were in gods as have most heathen systems, full sympathy with it. ancient and modern. For a thousand years, therefore, BUDDHISM. marriages were under the direction of Sinto priests, while the Buddhist Buddhism entered Japan about 552 bonzes officiated at the funerals. The A. D., and from that time interesting arrangement was finally broken off changes occurred mutually between it through the jealousy of the Governand the Japanese faith. The two sys- ment. As with the Church of Rome, tems were alike in dispensing with a so with the· Buddhist Sangha: the Creator. Sintoism, as well as its new power over the dying and the dead and the issues of the world to come The Japanese Government from was found to be a formidable factor time to time canonizes the great men in the State. who in their lives have been public benefactors, and thenceforth they are It must be ,"mfessed that thE' line of enshrined. Every prefecture. in the cleavage between the two systems is empire has its Sinto temple. The still very difficult to trace, as the great system seems entrenched in the mass of the people are practically both national life however little of aggres- Sintoists and Buddhists. The latter siveness it may manifest as a religion. <:ult, by its stronger intellectual character, has accomplished more for Buddhism of the old stamp can education and for all the elements of scarcely retain its power, but it never an advancing civilization than the old cares to retain any particular type. faith. It has also introduced moral It has ul'l.dergone many changes in the precepts of a more positive character past centuries and is ready for many than the simpler nature worship had more. It is the most flexible and adever inculcated. Modern Japan as it justable of all systems. It is divided stood at the time of Commodore into twelve distinct sects as it nowex- Perry's expedition was greatly in- ists in Japan. What new attitude it debted to Buddhism, and it owed much will assume in the new ordeal to which also to the teachings of Confucius, the full blaze of Christian truth is which with the introduction of the subjecting it remains to be seen. Chinese language had gained a strong German philosophy, Indiantheosophy, foothold. Both of these systems are and American Unitarianism are doing :still active and aggressive in their what they can to keep it in good heart influence, though lacking the one ele- agaiust the incursion of the" Western ment of strength which Sintoism religion" which missionaries are strivenjoys in its alliance with the Govern- ing to introduce. ment. When the present Mikado assumed full power he proclaimed the What, then, is the outlook? The Sinto faith as the religion of the foes of Christianity love to dwell State. upon what they call the small and in- effectual efforts and smaller success of Well he might, for he had witnessed our Christian propagandism, and they a manifestation of its power as a sup- point in contrast to the widespread porter of his throne such as few conquests of Buddhism on the same sovereigns in the world's history have field fourteen hundred years ago. known. The voluntary surrender of But they forget that those conquests their power and their feudal estates by which we have se~n to have be~n only the daimios of all the provinces to one partial were the result of hundreds of ruler could only have been brought years of slow growth. We have been about by that reverence which the at work a quarter of a century, the sovereigns of Japan have so long re-' first decade of which showed little <:eived as the sons of the gods. fruit, and yet no other such trans- formation ever occurred even in a Moreover, the Sinto temples are century or in two centuries. The enshrined in the pride and reverence nation was never so awakened before, of the people as the resting-places of and it is not strange that some rethe national heroes. There are no action should have occurred and some idols there, but the images of the great real fear lest all trace of the past men of the past are legion. Bud- should be lost. dhism has adroitly followed this example, but the images are only bor- The fact that neither the Buddhist rowed and seem out of place. They nor the Confucian faith ever entirely properly belong to Sintoism and the won Japan after so many centuries of national system. experiment may properly raise the question whether even Christianity dynasty it has been under the ban of will take exclusive possession of the Governmental condemnation. It excountry. The idea that Japan or ists only by sufferance. Confucian- China or India will become exclusively ism has fared better among the lead- Christian in the near future seems ing classes, but its influence is greatly born rather of enthusiasm than of· a circumscribed. careful consideration of facts and indications. No _country is wholly Korea, as a country, has no religion Christian. The best are only prevail- except a crude mass of superstitionsingly Christian, and such Japan will spirit-worship or nature-worship, or be. But until the day comes in which the usual mixture of the two. Like infidel influences from so-called China and Japan, the country has had Christian countries shall cease to ob- an experience with Jesuit missions and struct the conversion of heathen races has driven them out with bloody perby positive efforts to corrupt and lead secutions-though a remnant of native astray we can only hope for a supreme Roman Catholic Christians has reand Qvermastering influence of the mained. The work of Protestant gospel. missions in Korea all lies within the last decade. It began on the North- The Government will perhaps cling west even before the seaports were to the alliance of the Sinto faith for opened by treaties with Western Powa time even after the light of civiliz- ers. Through the indefatigable labors ation has shown the absurdity of the of Rev. John Ross, a Scotch Presbyold myths. Buddhism will continue terian missionary at Moukden, North to find sympathy and support in the China, parts of the New Testament natural self-righteousness of many were translated into the Korean lanhuman hearts, and Confucianism, that guage and were borne over the borproverbially self – sufficient system der by his native helpers who pro– which has become so deeply rooted in ceeded southward even to Seoul, where all three of the great Mongolian races, they won a few converts. will perhaps be slow to yield its hold, but the sceptre of the cross will bear Then followed the medical work or supreme sway and will transform the Dr. H. W. Allen, of the American country more and more. Presbyterian Mission. He was soon followed by Dr. J. W. Heron*andRev. n.-KOREA. H. G. Underwood, of the same mis- sion, and by Messrs. Scranton, Appen- It seems natural to associate Japan zeller and others of the American with China and still more nearly with Methodist Episcopal Mission North. Korea. Both of these missions have been greatly strengthened and are realizing The Mongolian type of race renders an encouraging success. The Presthem essentially one. Between the byterian Church of Australia estabsprightliness and docility of the Japan- lished a mission a year and a half agoese and the extreme conservatism of under the direction of Mr. and Miss the Chinese the Koreans present a Davis. They gave great promise of medium character, as their country success, but the death of the brother holds a geographically intermediate and the consequent return home or position. the sister have left the mission in suspense. The Young Men's Christian Korea, in its existing religious posi- Association of Canada is about to send tion, is unlike either China or Japan. two missionaries to 'Korea during the Sintoism has never been introduced present season. there. The Taouism of China has made but a slight impression and that in a *Dr. Heron has recently died of dysentery. modified form. Buddhism was successfullyintroduced long ago, but during the whole period of the present
EDITORIAL NOTES ON CCRRENT TOPICS
VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
A general conference of all evangeli- of this REVIEW, who has been in Brit- ~al Christians is called to meet in Florence in 1891, immediately after ain for seven months on a tour of mis- Easter. The invitation is issued by the Italian Branch of the Evangelical sions among the churches, should un- Alliance, and is exceedingly tender in tone. One can realize how changed is dertake a similar campaign in this the aspect of affairs in Italy only by a tour in this wonderful land. The country. He has given his consent to people breathe freely now, with the Pope "a prisoner in the Vatican." How this arrangement and the details only vast the changes since Dr. Marsh was ~ompelled to leave his Bible outside remain to be settled. It is probable the walls before he could himself enter the Eternal City! We remember Sig. that he will accept the invitation of Arrighi's saying that he should not be surprised if he yet had the privilege the Presbyterian Board of Foreign of inviting the Evangelical Alliance to meet in Rome, and seeing the meet- Missions to give a series of addresses ings held in St. Peter's and the delegates lodged in the Vatican! Rome in the great centres East and West, was thought of for the coming meeting, but abandoned on purely pru- between October and meeting of the dential grounds. There are now about 30 places of Protestant worship next General Assembly. We beinside the city of the PopesI A. T. P. speak for Dr. Pierson in this expected The recent outrages at Zacatecas show that the Romish spirit of intoler- campaign the prayers of the readers ance is only slumbering, and that if the Papal Church dared all the hor- of the REVIEW. His aim will be to rors of the Inquisition would be revived. Father Hecker said in the put before the people the great facts Catholic World that heresy should be puuished, and that sins of heresy which are calculated to stimulate should be taken cognizance of in the department of thought. What does missionary zeal and awaken personal that mean but that to think differently from Rome is an offense that ought consecration of self, substance and to be dealt with by law and visited with penalty? Truly we are not so far children to the work of spreading the from the days of Cardinal Bellarmine who, on the basis of two texts, "Feed good news over the wide world. We My sheep," and "Rise, Peter, kill and eat," argued that these two texts prove know no one better fitted for such a the double duty of the Church to take care of disciples and burn heretics! mission. J. M. S. Why not carry such liberalism a step further, and prove that the Church It is another significant sign of the should eat the heretics she burns! times that in both China and Japan there should be the most prominent A.T.P. and promising movement toward the union of all evangelical Christians in It is proposed that one of the editors one body. The contrast is significant, that in Christendom there should be such a multiplication of sects, and on the field of missions such a drawing together and tendency to eliminate denominationalism altogether from the body of believers I -A trained teacher is wanted by the Reformed Church for Nagasaki, Japan, to take charge of the Steele Memorial School for Young Men. Here is an opportunity for some man of balanced judgment, learning, health, piety and a missionary spirit to impress himself upon a whole generation of Japanese youth. A similar man is needed in Amoy Mis- sion, China, and neither needs to be ordained. Where are our young men who, like Micawber, are waiting for something to turn up? Here are op- portunities for investment of mental and moral capital such as no previous hedge into the playground. This was generation ever presented. Think signal for a rude assault, in which what Paul would do if he had the stones and even knives came into play.
chance which this generation supplies But for the fact that it was discovered of expending his life for Christ and by the assailants that he WQ.S a teacher souls! Here are two nations, excelled in one of the schools his life might by none in the Orient for average have been sacrificed.
capacity and culture, waiting for the Meanwhile, in Utsunomiya, the right man to take the rudder and Buddhists had organized a society, guide the coming State. A. T. P. supported by the money of citizens -The outbreaks of personal violence not worthy of the highest esteem, in missionary fields of late are very hired a theatre and employed a lectur- significant. An attempt was made to er to abuse Christianity publicly.
murder Rev. D. W. Frazier, of the When a challenge to public discussion· Presbyterian Board, in Greenville, was wisely declined by the Christians West· Africa, but baffled by the fact about 300 men came from the theatI'e that he and his boys were armed. on Sunday evening, and not only in- Rev. Mr. Newby, in Monsterrade terrupted the service of worship but County, was shot and killed for the broke the windows and some of the sake of land he had bought and im- seats, and only the police prevented proved. At the same time Mr. Frazier further violence.
himself bears witness that the mission- All these are significant signs. We ary spirit has never risen to so high a read of the devil as coming down, Hood mark! "having great wrath because he At the same time the anti-foreign re- knoweth that he hath but a short action in Japan is creating alarm. On time." It would seem that Satan April 4th two armed, masked men begins to tremble for the stability of entered the house of Rev. T. A. Large, his kingdom in this world. Were of the Canada Methodist Mission in missions the failure some would make Tokio, and in attempting to drive out us think he would not trouble himself the intruders he received deadly much about them. Evidently Satan wounds and his wife was wounded in does not agree with some modern the face and had two fingers cut off. critics of missions.
011 the 14th of May Rev. J. Summers, But more than this, we think we of the Church of England, driving out see a decided sign of God's providence with his wife met the carriage of the in permitting these outrages. Mis- Empress Dowager of Japan. Because sions have been in danger of being he did not lift his hat in salute when Invested with a false" romance." On as yet the carriage was onlyapproach- one hand one would suppose from the ing. an advance guard struck off his halo with which heathenism is sur- hat with the butt of his lance. The rounded that the " Light of Asia" is "soshi," the "young America" of quite sufficient to illumine the world.
Japanese society, followed this assault And on the other, we fear that the by rude and irritating conduct in their necessity for the martyr spirit has in ~eal to defend the honor of the royal the eye of some disappeared in the family, and Mr. Summers has resolved rapid advances of modern civilization to return to England. The insult and culture. We have heard young seems purely gratuitous and inex- men exhorted to go· to these far-off cusable. Only three days later, at a lands on the ground that no such sel/- game of foot ball between the pupils denials are now required as once of two native schools, Dr. Imbrie, of were; 1;hat they would find all the the Presbyterian Mission, to avoid a comforts and luxuries of modern civili- roundabout walk stepped over a low zation surrounding them in these Oriental lands! We protest, that when is found in the dominions of the the martyr spirit is quenched the mis- greatest Protestant empire on the sionary spirit will be found to have globe! We record our solemn belief gone out in the same dying flame. Per- after much observation, that, notwith- haps the Lord sees that if missions are standing many precious Christian to have a new and great advance it truths held by the Papal Church, it must be over paths marked with harbors and fosters idolatrous worship blood. As persecutions have tested, of the Virgin and even of the sacra- sifted and purified the Church, so mental wafer. And where idolatry have the trials and risks of missionary prevails, under whatever guise, the life purged the missionary band of the Spirit of God has never yet been pres- chaff and dross of unconsecrated and ent to convert and sanctify. If idols unworthy workmen. Let us not be in are in the courts the Shekinah is not fear. It would not be surprising if in the temple. A. T. P.
the devil should be permitted to work -Recently we attended a simplecon- out his great wrath, and God should ference of believers at Niagara-on-the- make that wrath to praise Him in Lake, where for a week a few hun- raising the level of missionary devo- dred disciples who held the truth es- tion. The man or woman who is not pecially dear, and wished to study the ready to dare death for Jesus is not Bible in company, assembled. Never ready to use life for Him. The lions have we breathed an atmosphere so in the way that send Mr. Fainthearted full of God. In the closing three and Mr. Halfhearted back only em- hours, on Thursday, July 17, we heard bolden Faithful and Christian to brave three successive addresses from Dr.
danger for the Lord. A missionary W. G. Moorhead, on the" Millell'ial life that presents only worldly attrac- Age," from Dr. Nath. West, on tions and tempts worldly indulgences " Christ in the Apocalypse," and from produces a degenerate class of mis- Dr. Brookes, of St. Louis, on the sionaries. We shall have no more "Rewards of the Believer," which we Morrisons, Moifats, Livingstones, never heard surpassed or even Lindleys, Brainerds, Bushnells, Notts, equalled for scriptural quality and Hunts, Williams, Hanningtons, Jud- spiritual power. During seven days sons, McAlls, when there is no more we heard only the Word of God ex- need of self-denial for Christ, for self- panded, expounded and applied. No sacrifice is the mould of heroic souls. ad captandum speeches, no essays or The Lord has not left the work or the orations; no attempts at drawing a workmen yet, and if there be any new crowd; not a hint of the new theology trials and tests they will only make -the old-fashioned views of plenary the product purer and more perfect. inspiration, with every cardinal doc- A. T. P. trine as our fathers held them, with- Those who think that Roman Catho- out any attempt to accommodate lic communities need no Protestant them to the demands of modern cul- missionaries should read Rev. A. B. ture and science. It was refreshing Mackay's letter about the adoration of and invigorating; it was a tonic for " Corpus Christi" in Montreal! the soul. But the most noticeable Think of compelling people not only thing about it is that when the old- to halt while the procession was mov- fashioned Bible was so deeply rever- ing but to kneel in the presence of the enced and earnestly studied, the mis- "host!" What is this but the idolatry, sionary flame burned more brightly not of sun or moon-which are at least than we have ever seen it before in noble objects of admiration-but of a such a gathering. Such a spirit of mere piece of dough! And this forcible spontaneous giving was there ex- participationin iiolatrous ceremonials hibited that a few hundred people, mostly of very moderate means, vol- results, compare favorably with any untarily offered more than $4,000! other in the whole fil<ld. A. T. P.
Year before last that same little con- We desire to call attention to the ference gave $2,500 to Hudson Taylor National Missionary Conference to be for the China Inland Mission, and held at Indianapolis on September 3d furnished him some 13 missionaries and continue till the 9th. It is ex- besides! All from that small com- pected that there will be a large at- pany of disciples met for Bible study! tendance, particularly of the volun- Last year again about thesamesumwas teers for the work of foreign missions given, unsolicited, and now again this and of those who feel especially "in- year the voluntary offerings are nearly terested in giving the gospel to the double those of the previous years. whole world as speedily as possible."
Never have we seen in any similar There has been a marvellous quicken- assembly a like devotion to the old ing and extension of the missionary Bible, a like spirit of prayer, a like spirit in Kansas and other portions of spirit of missions, or a like spirit of the West during the past few months.
giving. And we asked ourselves as A great many missionaries have been we came away, whether a. revival of raised up already as the fruit of this the simple faith in the Word of God, revival. One company, as we have in place of modern "Progressive previously chronicled, has already Theology," "Second Probation," gone forth to plant a new mission in "Higher Criticism" and "Christian the Soudan, and another company, we Science" might not be the key to a understand, will join the pioneer band new zeal for missions, and a new the coming autumn. Doubtless this Pentecost of prayer, and a new spirit Conference will intensify this move- of large and abundant self-sacrifice? nlent. which has taken such powerful The more we see of Christian life the hol~ of the Young Men's Christian As- more do we feel confident that every sociations of several of the Western step away from a full faith in the States in particular, and will origin- plenary inspiration of the Word of ate and give shape to new and impor_ God is a step away from the Cross tant developments looking to the of Christ and from all which that speedy evangelization of the world.
Cross represents in the believer's life May the Holy Spirit of God baptize of devotion to the spread of the the Conference with a special effusion kingdom. A. T. P. and guide all its deliberations and doings! J.11. S.
-We note that Rev. Dr. Gulian The Shanghai Oonference. Lansing, of the United Presbyterian Church, after forty years of mission- "ONE THOllSAND MISSIONARIES FOR ary life in the Valley of the Nile, is now in this land for a rest. He is the CHINA IN FIVE YEARS!" father of Professor J. G. Lansing of the New Brunswick Theological Semi- This is a bugle-blast from tke nary. The fires that burn in the great Conference of Missionaries in father's heart have been kindled on the China which recently closed its sesson's altar, as is evident from the fact sions at Shanghai. We have elsewhere that he is at the bottom of a special given a pretty full account of its promission to the Arabs, and not only ceedings from the pens of two of its stimulates young men to devote them- members. It was, with one exception, selves to this work but,we understand, the largest gathering of missionaries proposes to lead the columns! The work that ever took place on the foreign of Dr. Lansing and his fellow-mission- field, numbering 432 members; and its aries in Egypt will, in character and whole proceedings were character- ized by a spirit of harmony, enlight- ened wisdom, a broad and compre- hensive policy, and bold and earnest aggressiveness never excelled by a in five years! It can be done-done similar assembly. It was a grand op- easily and without neglecting any portunity, and grandly did our mis- other field. Why, the China Inland sionary brethren improve it. The Mission alone-one of the new and Church may well be proud of such comparatively feeble organizations, representatives, and thank God for with no visible resources-resolved, in the harmony, the courage and the 1888, to send out to China, within one wisdom given them. year,100 missionai'ies, and then prayed the Lord for the men and the means, The Conference has now spoken to and both the men and the money came the Church at home-'-the Church forward. If that little band could universal-and spoken in no uncer- tain way. Its voice is like the voice send out and support 100 new mis- of many thunders. It met and calmly sionaries to China in one year, what and thoughtfully and solemnly dis- are 200 a year for the great British cussed, planned, prayed, resolved, and and American missionary societies made its four-fold appeal and ad- represented in the Shanghai Confer- journed. It did its duty in a great ence? If each would do its propor- emergency, at the flood-tide of vast op- tion, the work could be done with portunities-and did it nobly, grand- ly, in the fear of God and in faith in infinite ease. Note that "lay" as well the churches that sent them forth. as ordained missionaries are called Now the responsibility is laid upon the churches, whose servants and re- for. Surely our brethren in distant presentatives they are; will they respond as the occasion demands? Will China have not sent out their loud ap- they lay to heart these masterly and burdened "Appeals" which they have peals in vain. J. M. S. sent forth and give them practical effect? We repeat here the burning " What Ought we to do for Foreign .words of Dr. Happer, our editorial Missions?" is ably shown in a leaflet correspondent at Canton, and make we have received from thepen of Rev. them our own: T. G. Field, district secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union "Let the bugle-call go forth for one at Minneapolis. It is a plea for rethousand missionaries within five organizing the home department of years. Let it ring in the ears of the the work carried on by the Union. Church. Help them to carry it to the He contends that there is a great lack throne of grace. Let them ponder it of wise and efficient organization on in their closets and around the family the part of Baptists, and he finds in altar. Let the youth hear it in the schools, in the academies, in the col- this fact occasion for the following leges and in the universities, and in statement: the theological seminaries: 'One thousand missionaries for China in " On every hand we have been, we five years.' Keep this line in your are, outdone by Christians of other columns every month till the Church names. To look no farther, with selfis aroused with the trumpet-call, and reproaching gratitude behold the arouses itself to good earnest work Moravians, and weep. Or consider the and consecration and giving; and, enterprise and liberality of the Church above all, may God, by His Spirit, ac- of England, or of Presbyterian or company this call to the hearts of Congregational mission work. In those He would call to have a share in one thing Baptist missions do proporthis blessed work for the Master." tionately greatly excel, viz., in fruit- fulness of conversions. But is this A thousand missionaries for China ours, or is it God's gift to the obedi- ence of the few? The four leasing foreign mission societies of America spent last year over $2,500,000. Less than one-sixth of this was Baptist money. To these societies was given a report of 17,336 converts, of whom 6,093, or over one-third, were gathered intothe mission churches of ourUnion. With what feelings must we own that
ORGANIZED MISSION ARY WORK AND STATISTICS
for such blessing on such service we pansive, inadequate, outgrown system have contributed this year but twenty- five cents a member; that in a year of of administering foreign interests." the largest receipts ever known, the highest average per member, in any An over-conservative policy is not State, for the general work of the Union, is only sixty-five cents, while restricted to anyone society or church. in the lowest it is but eight cents. Nay, there is one grand exception. We deeply regret the present ten- California breaks the record with the splendid average of almost $2.16 per dency to start independent missions, member; but this is due to a noble contribution from one individual. but is it not in part the outcome and Twenty-five cents apiece and one ordained missionary abroad to 6,356 protest against a too narrow or rigid members at home, 01', counting wives and single women, about one mission- iron-cast policy not in harmony with ary to every 2,800 Baptists does not overstate the present practical guage the spirit and changed conditions of of our obedience to the parting injunction of Jesus. The fact is that the times? Secretary Field's views for several years we have made no adequate progress. We seem to be are commanding attention in his 'own nearly at a dead-point. The most of our missions are sorely taxed' to hold church, and they may do good in their own. Speedy reinforcement, requiring large increase of men and other mission circles. J. M. S. money, alone can enable them to maintain efficiency with vigor. . . . As to the prize offers of premiums Practically, we now struggle simply for articles on Prayer in connection to hold what our fathers acquired, with missions, the editors would save the Congo Mission, and thIS, too, further say that they have not thought at an hour when we, in every way, in it necessary to say that they will not numbers, intelligence, wealth, pros- consider themselves obligated to award perity, are blessed as never heretofore; any premiums if there shall not be a at an hour when" to earth's remotest sufficient 'I1,umber of competing and bound" every nation thrown wide satisfactory articles to make such open to approach is threatened with award justifiable and practicable. In the vices and atheism of the West, to such case all that we engage to do is add death unto death, instead of re- to return all such essays as cannot be ceiving the Bread of Life, and while made of use. And, secondly, the we, with all the equipment of divine articles should cover ground not algrace and modern civilization, fully ready covered by articles which have know the awful need of heathenism appeared in these columns. One letter' and our ability, under God, to minis- which we have received from a proter to it." posing competitor asks one of the editors to furnish certain details of He argues that it is not" the fault fact, which have already been pub- lished in the REVIEW. Of course we' of the Missionary Union, but rather shall insist that the instances given shall be culled by the writers from the inevitable outcome of onr denomi- material found outside our own pages., national growth constricted by an inex- A.T.P. J.M.S.
VII.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS.
Reformed Presbyterian «Jovenanter) From Contributions to missions.•••• 3,400 00 Ohurch in the United States. Synod's trustees ………. . 1,320 84'
Secretary: REV. R. M. SOMMERVILLE, D.D.,l26 Total….. .. ….. … .. ……….. $18,462 89 West 45th Street, New York. Expenditures.
REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 30, 1890. Balance from last account ………. $01,01485' For the missions…. • • …. …… . .. . 16,042 27 Receipt•. From congregations.. … ……….. $7,858 Zi' Total…………………….. $17,057 13 Balance to new account.. •.• • . . . . . . 1,405 76 .. Sabbath·scbools and mission- ary societies…………… . 2,804 07 Total.. ………………… ,_ •. $18,462 89 " Individuals and bequests .. , 4,07971 ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS.
There are no home expe~s, all the funds Amount In hand of being directly used on the field. Mission Treasurer STATISTICS. called In.. . . ….. .. 48,326 25 Deficit carried for- 3 missions (Latakiyeh, Larsees, Cyprus); missionaries, ordained, 4; lay, 1; missionaries' ward ………….. 60,2759.3 wives, 4; other ladies, 4; native ordained ministers, 4; other helpers, 34; stations and – – – – $158,602 18 out-stations, 8; organized churches, 3; total TotaL ………………….. $952,668 62 number of preaching-places, 11; communicants, 190; added during theyear, 12; schools, Expenditures. 25; pupils, 730. Amount cOl)tributed by na- Balance (Deficit) May 1, 1889 ….. $44,696 62 tive churches, $33.91. Appropriations for year ending May 1,1890: Board of Foreign Missions of the Africa…………. $31,155 02 811,245 69' Presbyterian Ohurch (North). China, Japan and 43,001 84 The Secretaries: 53 Fifth Avenue, New York, Korea ……… .. 248,57600 1,724 47 N.Y. India, Siam and. 52,000 00 REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY 1, 1890. Laos ………. .. 181,723 26 Receipts. Persia . . . . . . . . . . .. 76,872 89 Syria …………. . 60,733 64 From Churches…….. $291,719 86 Guatemala and " Woman's Bo'rds 280,285 51 Mexico ……… . 92,314 00 Sunday-schools. 36,062 56 South America .. 117,180 88 Papal Europe .•… 2,690 00 Legacies…….. 112,877 68 Individuals and Chinese and Indians in United States …………………. .. miscellaneous sources … … 73,120 83 Special ………………….. . Home Department•..•••..•….. $794,066 44 Balance to New Account: TotaL …………………. $952,66862 Amount withheld on acc't of changes in !lscal y~rs in vanous miSSIOns.. . $50,000 00 STATtSTtes.
Missionar'es Na ive ~00 "r~n",S-'0~"o. ~~ o"""~~ OJ' ',"c",6"~ ——- ~~6 :~Cg.S.~- 5~~ ga ~ ~ .:;; g ~ g~.8 _:.:SI rtl 'm0 ~• ~ ~~ ~~c~6o~~ ~o ~0 ~~CD Q3 .u"; ~ ! j ~ .:;;w . .4 !":l ~~=::=:-::-:- 217 910'9 '9 24171.398156ls 57981l,3121$ 504 China………… … . …. … " 13 48 68 12 61 226 45 4,084 446/'124 2,687 6 2,969 2,809 Japan……. …. ………… 1 5 21 47 3 43… 34 4,977 672 15 1,409 17…… 6,750' Korea ………. ……….. 1 1 3 5 2 .. …… 104 39.. ……………….. .. India… ………………. 3 10 37 71 4 33 174 4(?) 1,093 81 14 8,016… 4,590 82 Siam and Laos …………. 2 5 13 21 4 6 33 12 1,114 1711 21 f541 14 fi76 804 Persia……. ……… …… 2 6 14 35 5 89 170 27 2,269 141 147 3,069 18 5,210 2,200 24 Syria………………….. 1 5 14 1 39162 20 1,619 98 142 5,853 7 4,966 7,767· 1 Guatemala…………….. 1 11 2 4 …. ••• 1 1 . 4….. 1 38 2 50 15 Mexico …… …………… 1 5 7 11 …. 50 53 90 5,165 388142 1,358 15 1,795 3,627 South America…….. " …. 3 15 2-J 25 1 15 69 46 2,993 324 22 1,263 5 947 13,602 _.2 .:.:.:.:. .:.:.:. _ 92: 24;820 24;913 92 22,~15 .Total ;Foreign Lands…. 21 $37,660 Indian Tribes…………… 3 ,03 2,986 61 190 321411345 912 297 2,516/546 320 9 5 8 … 114 21 20 1,630 198 10 Chinese & Japanese in U. S. 1 ~ _~ ~ ~ 344 _.~ _~ .2~:: ~ _~ 3,711 Total. ……………… 25 lOti 199 336 411359943 320 26,794 2,753 583 26,348106 23,935 1$44,357 Board of Foreign Missions of the Expenditures. Presbyterian Ohurch (South) in the United States. Three Brazil Missions•…•.••••••.. $ 37,433 01 SeQretary: Rev. M. H. HOUSTON, D.D., Nash- China Missions………………. .. 17,928 82 ville, Tenn. Japan 13,132 44 REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 1, 1890. Receipts. Greek 2,722 65 Balance on Hand. . .. •• … ….. … $ 7,229 29 Italian 1,206 25· From Churches……………….. 47,459 63 Sabbath-schools.. . •. . . . . …. .. ….. 10,290 00 Indian 6,550 00- Missionary Societies.·……… ….. 25,422 03 Legacies……… …. ….. …….. 1,934 59 Mexican " 7,863 71 Individuals and Miscellaneous….. 10,948 89 Total for Missions………….. $ 86,836 92· General Expenses….. …….. ….. 7,989 42· Balance on Hand…. •.. . . . .. . . . . . . 8,457 59 Total……. .. ……. …. …… $103,283 93 Total. • .• …. ••. ………….. $103,283 93· STA.TISTICS. tions),8; other helpers-evangelists, 108; or- ganized churches, 43; other preaching places, o-g§ J 87; stations and ont-stations, 130; communi- 00 00 oll cants, 3,60'2; added during the year, 222; col- '0 leges and theological s"minaries, 4; pupils, § 41. Of other schools no accurate statistics are ~~, available.
i Sc:.e: ~ ~ o~" ~~o~j ~'"~~~~~f 'C 00 ~~ Reformed (Dutoh) Ohuroh in Amerioa. ] ,: 5 '8 -;;; iO' Secretary: REV. H. N. COBB, D.D., 26 Reade 5.; "~ ~>. •~::::s Street, New York.
'~~gOO.~~O~.O~ ~…S.. ~Iw~ ….. .~ r.tJ. w'O REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING APRIL 30, 1890. §.S .S .s A JJ Receipts.
~:-8:.-s~ I:'-~s~~1:~d § .S Balance from last account. . . . . $971 69 -~ ~ ~O~ From churches ………. $54,76228 · – – – § -8§-:~[- -0 – " Sundar-schools, etc. 12,385 10 -8 – LegacIes, ."…… 8,965 64 Brazil… 30 10 10 5 10 601 100 224 165 $3,040 " Individuals……… 25,995 28 ChiRa .' 71011 .. 110 82 4' 240248 92 " lHisceIIaneous …•..• 14,981 84 Japan.. 12 7 8 5 2 567206 200 100 600 Greece. 41111 28 11 15.. . 130 – – – 117,090 14 Italy … 1 .. 2…. Mexico. 44 2 4 8 3 400 43 40 …… —- 250 150 875 Total …………………….. $118,061 83 Expenditures.
India: .Arcot Mission..••• $30,01327 China: Amoy Mission ••••……..• 21,008 46 Total Japan: North and South Missions .. 49,209 74 929 ;'03 $4,737 I Foreign. 983036 19,26 1,678 364 300 60 1,200 General mission expenses, ……… $100,231 47 Arcot Seminary Fund"……….. 105 00 IinndiIannds. Home expenses……………….. 6,276 75 Terriey Interest and loans (balance)…….. 9,422 03 (U. S.). 37 3 3 5 6 625 27 Total. 13.3 33 39 24,32 2,303 391 1,229 763 ,6,437 Balance to new account………… 2,026 58 —— 1 Total….. .. .. …… ……. …. $118,061 83 1 The work among the Indians will probably ~IHfl >'31l;'g[! be handed over to the Home Missionary ~I ~~-oo-TI~St~a~ti~o-ns-.—– Society during the current year, the Foreign Missionary Committee continuing to con- e….1 tribute somewhat towards its support for a ·term of years.
lOut – Stations and !:5!il i§l Preaching Places Presbyterian Ohuroh of England. 1~ Secretary: JOHN BELL, 13 Fenchurch Avenue, !ill 1 Ordained. ~ c£:)OHX) I I I ~ ~ eo eo Female. London, E. C., England. ~.
REPORT FOR YEAR ENDiNG DEC. 31, 1889. ~.
Receipts. I ILay. Il Balance from last account, ..•••• £4981211 ~ l':I~-q…. Congregational contributions… . 6,497 2 6 Edinburgh Committee …….. . 2,740 0 0 ~ ! dj00 …. 1 Ordained. Legacies. .. -. _.. .. .. . . . … .. 1,454 15 3 i I I ~ ~!:5~ Other Helpers, ~. Juvenile fund………………. . 1,785 3 8 Students' Missionary Society ..•. g: I !:5 oo!ill Churches. Donations, etc….. .. ……… . 348 6 6 Balance overdrawn, .•. " •••••••• 1,710 2 6 2,086 4 0 Total. ………………….. £17,070 7 4 ~8l~ 0.' to ,,"",,"' Expenditures. §ll 1 Communicants.
General mission charges…….. £15,767 1 11 ~ 1~g;:s51 Added. Home charges .. ……………. 848 17 6 Interest and amounts drawn on ac- ~ I … '" '" ·1""'S;-em—C-in-a-rI~·e-s.— count …………….. …….. 454 7 11 8 ~ ~1£ 1 Students.
Total…………….. . ….. :£17,070 7 4 e ITheological Stu- The total missionary income should in- ~eo~ dents. ·clude £2,608 15s 6d from the Woman's .Associ- 00 ~ 1 Day Schools. ,ation making (exclusive of the balances) £17,13958 11d. i : i Ii§ Scholars. Adding also the expenditures of the Woman's Association, £2,700 3s 3d, the total '" : …….. I Hospitals. ,expenditure is £19,770 lOs 7d. • ~~ .W . ~! STATISTICS. '""'I: I ~,p..: Patients Treated.
Missions, 6; ordained missionaries, 20; lay, §~ ~ Contributi~ns 13 (of whom 10 medical); miSSIOnaries' wives, from NatIve :21; other ladies, 16; native ordained ministers Ooo.~ (elltirely supported by their own congrega· djg;~ Churches.
PROGRESS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN
VIII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS MONTHLY BULLETIN.
Africa.-The Work in Abyssinia. The nouncing their allegiance to Portugal and are strong position Italy now occupies at Massaua joining Gungunyana. on the Red Sea, its military strength, its alliance with King Menelek, its rising colony at -The report of the Mackenzie Memorial Assab-alJ inspire the hope that Abyssinia and Mission to Zululand and the tribes towards the Zambesi river begins with mourning the the Galla country may be speedily opened up loss of its head, the late Dr. D. Mackenzie, to the gospel. The pastlabors of the C. M. S., Bishop of Zululand. The mission consists (in since 1830, in these regions are well known. addition to the Bishop) of 13 clergymen (two GoOOt, Krapf, Isenberg were among its faith- of them natives) and 22 lay helpers. The total ful agents; these were, however, gradually income from free contributions received during driven out through religious intrigue and the the year was a little over £1,200. violence of King Theodore. There remain, however, valuable translations, such as those -King Mwanga, of Uganda, Central in the Amharic, Tigre and Galla tongues; the Africa, who has heen twice dethroned and driven out of the country, has returned and is last the laborious work of Dr. Krapf. There again at the head of the kingdom. In a letter are still, also, fragments of missions among written to Cardinal Lavigerie he asks that the Falashas, in the Shoa country, and there is priests be sent to teach the religion of Christ the Swedish Mission at Massaua, etc., which in all the country of Uganda. General Gordon so generously supported. -The reports of the suffering from famine The Church of Rome is availing itself of the in the Soudan are appalling. The greatest opportunity. It is said that Russia also is to sufferers are the widows and children of the establish a consulate and to send a mission. men who have been killed during the many It is to be hoped that evangelical missions will conflicts which have raged in the interior. not be slow to avail themselves of this open Reports from Suakin are that not only all door. sorts of animals are eaten, but toot cannibal- ism has actually commenced. An appeal has -In response to a telegram from Mr. been made in England for these starving Douglas Hooper of Eastern Africa, received Soudanese. on a Monday in London and announced that evening in Exeter Hall, no less than nine vol- -The number of missionary stations in unteers presented themselves in thirty-six Africa now exceeds 500. There are 400,000 hours for work in that difficult field. Four converts and the number is increasing at the men were selected, and by the following rate of about 25,000 a year. Within five years Saturday evening actually started on their more than 200 natives have suffered martyrjourney via Marseilles. " This," says the dom for their faith. Indian Witness, "is a good answer to the charge that mission interest is dying out." -Rev. A. R. Tucker wits consecrated Bishop for Eastern Equatorial Africa on April -A Steamer for Victoria Nyanza. The 21, and left for Africa the same day. He has enthusiasm in England has led to the raising charge of the missions of the English Church of a .. Stanley Fund, " and Mr. Stanley himself Missionary Society in East Africa. A telehas made the suggestion as to its disposal- gram to the London Time" says that his party that it be devoted to the placing of a steamer are to start for the Nyanza the first week in on Victoria Nyanza. This lake is as large as July with Mr. Stokes' caravan. the whole of Scotland, and he states that a steamer upon it would be of immense service, China.-A Revival.-A great and mighty both for the use of the missionaries and as a door has been opened lately for the gospel in civilizing factor. He proposes that it should the Shantung Province, China. A revival be handed over either to the Church Mission- wave is passing over that section of the counary Society or to the Imperial British East try. The Rev. Robert M. Mateer, one of the African Company.-Missiona1'1/ Herald. laborers in that province, has been so dis- tressed by the great hunger of the people for -The Gaza Country. L'A/rique reports the gospel and the small number to feed them that a Portuguese expedition has been sent to that he has taken upon himself the support of the Gaza country, the region to which, as we ten native preachers ($50 a year each), three have recently reported, Gungunyana, the son girls' schools ($175 each), and one boys' of Umzila, has removed with all his people. school ($:lOO). He wrote to the pastor of This expedition is intended, by an effective Tabor Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, occupation, to enforce the claims of Portugal Rev. Willis B. Skillman, stating the above as the protectorate of Gazaland. A more re- facts and asking for a helping hand. The cent report by way of Lisbon, June 11, states pastor laid the matter before his Bi ble-class, that Gungunyana has joined the chief Bilene, composed of 35 young men, and the class made and, with a force of 50,000 men and women, the hearty response of $50, which means the has beaten Bifoana, the leading chieftain of support of a native pastor for a year. The in Portuguese territory. Other chiefs are re- same matter was brought to the attention of the Young Men's Prayer Meeting of the church, years and has come home to raise $15,000 for numbering 125 members. The boys' generous a printing plant in Calcutta. After describing response was over $60, which will support an- the country, with its population of 310,000,000, othernativepastor for a year andtheeducation he took up the culture and religion of the for one year of a boy in the loys' school. The people. Said he: "Calcutta has a student matter was also laid before the congregation. population of 15,000, and its college men are No collection was taken but simply the state- peers of their American brethren. From this ment made. The response was over $50. Can- cultivated class you can descend until you find not some other pastor be the means of bless· whole villages where no person can read a ing his people by asking them to help in this word of any language. To these degraded great work of Christ? classes the missionaries go or send native preachers who teach the alphabet by marking . -Shanghai Union Conference.-A Confer· in the sand with their fingers. With this beence on Union, composed of representatives ginning they teach them to read the Bible. " of seven Presbyterian churches laboring in Chica, met at Shanghai, May 15th. On ac- Cannibalsthe Bishop does not regard as the count of the diversity of language and the lowest class of men. He has seen men worse difficulties of travel the representatives of two than cannibals in New York and London. In of the churches deemed organic union impos- speaking of the work of the Young Men's sible. At a later meeting it was decided to Christian Association in Calcutta, he said take steps to form an organic union between that its representatives are undenominational the five other churches, and any others who and he wished them to remain so. When he may wish to join the union. A plan of union said that $30 would support one of the lowest similar to the one used by the churches in In- class of missions, for which he had men dia was adopted. A constitution is to be trained, Mr. Moody said that he wanted one of formed for the Presbyterian churches in China those missions and would contribute $30 for based upon those of the churches in Europe that purpose. About twenty minutes was and America. Its doctrinal basis is to be "The given up to receiving similar offers. College Apostles' Creed," the "Nicene Creed," and the after college responded. The Virginia delega- "Westminster Confession and Catechisms." tion and the University of Virginia each sub- The Presbyteries are to be composed of the scribed for a mission. "We think more of Virmissionaries, the pastors and the churches ginianow than we did in '61," said Mr. Moody, occupying the same territory. These Pres- and the applause stopped the contributions byteries are to constitute one Synod, meet- for a short time. Princet<>n, the University of ing once in five years. The uniting bodies are Pennsylvania, Harvard, Yale, and Johns-Hopthe Presbyterian Church (North), U. S. A.; kins were among the twenty or thirty instituthe Presbyterian Church (South), U. S. A.; tions which will share in this new phase of the United Presbyterian of Scotland, the Irish mission work in India. Presbyterian, and the Canadian Presbyterian churches. The two declining to unite are the -A meeting was held in Exeter Hall, on English Presbyterian and the Reformed Dntch May 2, to establish a London Auxiliary of the chnrches. The snmmary of statistics given Mission to Lepers in India. The secretary reat the Conference shows, Foreignmissionaries, ported that there are about 500,000 lepers in 1,295; native helpers, 1,&:19; churches, 520; India. The society utilizes existing agencies communicants, 37,287; pupils in schools, as much as possible. Addresses were given 16,916; contributions hy native Christians, by Mr. T. A. Denny and Rev. F. E. Wigram. $36,834. Italy.-The Waldensian Church of Italy, India.-"Our work in North India continues which has recently celebrated its two hnnto prosper. Brother Bare writes that no less dredth anniversary of the return of the exiled than 2,364 persons have been baptized in the Vaudois, gives evidence of continued life and Rohilkhund district since the annual statistici vigor. It reports 44 churches, 38 pastors, Z7 were made up at the close of last October. evangelists, including colporteurs, 6 Bible This covers a space of five months. Add to readers, 4,074 communicants and 469 catethese 400 baptisms in connection with Dr. chumens. Parker's evangelistic work, and 300 by Brother Osborne and others in the Rnski district, and Japan.-Murder of a Missionary. It was we have a total of more than 3,000. This sur· at first feared that the recent assassination of passes the sanguine expectations with which Rev. T. A. Large, of the Canadian Methodist we began the year, and our brethren are very Mission in Tokio, Japan, indicated a reaction naturally filled with joy and hope."-Bishop in the popular feeling about missionaries, and resulted from hatred to the foreign religious Thoburn. teacher. But the sad event proves to have -Bishop Thobnrn on India.–At Northfield, been the crime of robbers, who entered the missionary's bedroom to find the key of his Mass., in Mr. Moody's College Conference on safe, in which a considerable sum of money Missions, July 3d, Bishop Thoburn, of the happened to be deposited. Roused suddenly Methodist Episcopal Church, jnst returned from his sleep, and wholly unarmed, Mr. Large bravely expelled the masked intruders, from India spoke. He has been In India 31 but was meantime so cut and gashed by their from posts under the Government. The en- sharp Japanese swords that he fell dead at the forcement of the edicts will result in the ex- -feet of his wife, who had also been wounded pulsion of over one million Jews from the in the struggle. Earnest sympathy has been country." universally expressed with the widow by all the organ~ of the press, and universalindigna- Sweden.-The Annual Convention of the tion is felt against the cowardly criminals, Swedish Fatherland Missioi1 Society was re- who, if they can be captured, will be severely cently held in the Blasieholm Church, Stock- punished.-Misionary Herald. holm; 245 clerical and 216 lay delegates were present. The branch societies have, during -The native churches under the care of the the year, increased from 107 to 116; 18 travel- American Board's missionaries~in Japan, says ing missionaries and 187 colporteurs are em- the Congregationalist, organized half a dozen ployed. 762,000 copies of the Bible and other years ago a home missionary society. It devotional books were printed, and somewhat has flourished so well that the demands of the more than that number sold and distributed. work now justify the appointment of a paid Since its organization the society has pub- president, who will devote all his time to es- lished 22,700,280 copies of various religious tablishing new churches and strengthening books. The net profits of the pUblishing house those already existing. for the year are 11,890 crowns. 35 mission- aries are laboring in Eastern Africa, and 35 in Korea.-In regard to the progress in India. The expenditures for foreign missions missionary work, Dr. Underwood, of the were W3,525 crowns. The balance remaining Presbyterian Mission, writes to the Occident: in the foreign mission treasury is 105,282 "In the Presbyterian Church at the end of the crowns. The home mission fund shows a bal- first year our first convert had not been seen. ance of 36,666 crowns. We had come to sow seed,and had hardly dared expect to see fruits so soon. Japan hali to Miscellaneous.-A special committee of wait six or seven years for the flrst results. the English Wesleyan Missionary Society has In July of the second year, however, the Lord investigated and reported upon certain permitted us to see the flrst convert baptized. charges published in the Methodist Times re- At the end of the third year our numbers specting the alleged extravagance of Wes- were about twenty. Steadily they increased, leyan missionaries in India. The substance their interest grew, the members were zealous, of the report of the committee is that the and at the close of the next year there was a Wesleyan missionaries in India do not live in revival, and before the year ended the little luxury, that their stipends are not excessive bsnd was almost sixty. Another year of compared with those that are given to Wesleysteady progress was granted to us, and to-day an ministers in England, and that the attend- the company numbers over a hundred baptized ance of the missionaries at the levees of the Christians, besides over half as many more Viceroy does not involve pecuniary expense who have applied for baptism and profess nor hinder their work among the native poputhemselves Christians, but have been urged to lation. The committee find that the charges- acquaint themselves more fully with God's that the missionaries live in such a manner Word." and in such places as to alienate them from the natives-are not sustained. The result is a Palestine.-Bishop Blythe of Jerusalem complete exoneration of the missionaries. says there are now in Palestine double the number of Jews that returned from the Baby- -Up to July IS the number of appoint- 10nish captivity, and that the "latter rains" ment.s for missionary service in connection which had been withheld since the times of with the American Board, since the last annual _the exile, had been granted again during the meeting, was just sixty, 22 of them men and last two years,. 88 women.
Russia.-Persecution of the Jews.-Lon- -The statistics of the Christian Endeavor don, July 3O.-The Times says: "The Russian Societies, as presented at the international Government hasordered the application of the Convention at St. Louis, shows clearly the edicts of 1882 against the Jews. These edicts great advance this society has made. These have hitherto been held in abeyance. Accord- societies exist in every English-speaking land ing to these, Jews must henceforth reside in in the world, the total number being 11,013, certsin towns only. None will be permitted to with a membership of 66O,OOO-a gain of 3,341 own land or hire it for agricnltural purposes. societies and 185,000 members in eleven The order includes within its scope towns and months. hundreds of villages that have large Jewish -Arabic tracts for Mohammedan readers. At populations. No Jew will be allowed to hold the request of General Haig the Committee of shares in or work mines. The law limiting the Religions Tract Society (London) have the residence of Jews to sixteen provinces published a series of Arabic tracts, setting will be enforced. No Hebrew will be allowed forth, in progressive order, the main doctrines to enter the army, to practice medicine or of scripture, and leading up to that of the law, to be an engineer, or to enter any of the Atonement of the 'Lord Jesus Christ. other professiollll. They will also be debarred
INDEX OF CONTENTS OF THE SEPTEMBER NUMBER
INDEX OF CONTENTS SEPTEMBER NUMBE~.
PAGE PAGE. I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS…… 641-684 CHINA.-Proceedings of Shanghai Con- n.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLI- ference, 669; The Four Appeals of the GENCE~._ …. _._ … ___ …….. 684-693 Conference to the Churches, 673; Dr. Happer's Remarks on the Conference, m.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE._ 6934)96 676; Edit.orial Note on do., 712; Plan of Union of Presbyterian Churches, 693; IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT… 696-704 Editorial Note on,709; Chinese Educa- tion,697; A Great Revival,717; Shang- V.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS 704-708 hai Union Conference……………….. 712 English Wesleyan Missionary Society, VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT Report of Investigating Committee….. 719 Field, LeafietonBaptistMissions ………. 713 TOPICS __ ………….. 00. •• 709-713 "Hottentot," A Noble Example. ……. . 683· VII.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK INDIA.-Notes on various interests, AND STATISTICS.. . . . .•.• ••..•• 714-717 (translations), 680; Indian Church Aid Association, 686; Development of Medi- VIII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS: MONTH- cal Missions, 687; Female Education, LY BULLETIN ……………. 717-719 687; Lepers, 688; Zenana Missions, 688; Welsh Calvinistic Foreign Missions, 689; IX.-INDEX TO CONTENTS………… 720 Young Men's Christian Association Work, 694; Work Prospering, 718; Bishop Authors. Thoburnon India, 718; LondonAwdliary of the Mission to Lepers …………… 718' EDITORS. – A. T. Pierson. The Super- natural Factor in Missions, 653; Edi- ITALY.-Missionary Conference at Flor- torial Notes, 709; J. M. Sherwood, Edi- ence in 1891 ………………………… 718 torialNotes………………………… 712 JAPAN.-Educational Exhibit at Paris Curtis, Rev. Freq.. S., Account of the Exposition,692; The Situation in, by Dr. Shanghai Missionary Conference…..••• 669 Ellinwood, 704; Murder of Mr. Large, 718; Work of Home Missions…………. 719 Ellinwood, F. F., D.D., Woman's Work for Woman, 648; The Situation in Japan KOREA.-The Present Condition of and Korea ………………. _…….. 704 Things,708; Progress in Mission work .•• 717 Gracey, J. T., D.D., International Depart- Lansing, Dr. Gulian and hisSon…•……. 712 ment ……………………………. 697 Missionary Conferences-The Conference Happer, A. P., D.D., Comments on the of Believers at Niagara, 711; The Indian- Shanghai Conference .. …………… 676 apolis National Conference ………… 712 Mormon Proselytism.. .. …. • •…. .. …… 661 Johnston, Rev. James, Notes on India…. _ 686 Outbreaks of Personal Violence ..••……• 710 Pierson, Dr. A. T., A Proposed Campaign Leonard, Rev. D. L., Mormon Proselytism 661 in behalf of Presbyterian Board of For· eign Missions………………….. … 709 McConaughy, David, Jr., Y. M. C. A. Work Prize Offers …………………………. 714 in India…….. …. ……………….. 694 RUSSIA.-Persecution of the Jews …… 719 Moorhead, Max Wood, Student Volunteer Movement…………………………. 684 Mudge, Rev. James, The Evolution of a Missionary Society.. .. …. … .. …….. 701 Starbuck, Rev. Charles C., Translations from Foreign Missionary Periodicals…• 679 Taft, Rev. Marcus L., Chinese Education .. 697 SOUTH AMERICA.-Spanish Mission work in Chili, 693; Romish outbreaks in Thompson, Rev. Andrew, D.D., The Mis- Zacatecas…… ……………………. 709 sion in Basuto Land.. .. …. … .. ……. 641 SWEDEN.-.A.nnual Convention of the Countries and Subjects. Fatherland Missionary Society,719; Scan- dinavian Missionary Conference in AFRICA.-Dr. Thomson on the Mission Christiana…………………………. 683 in Basuto Land, 641; The Anglo-German Agreement 689; Stanley and the Brus- Statistics of Foreign Missions. sels Confererence, 691 ; Nelson's Starva- tion Camp, 692; The Work in Abyssinia. Reformed Presbyterian Church in the 717; Steamer on Victoria Nyanza, 717; United States. Report for 1889·90….. 714 TheGaza Country, 717; MacKenzie Me- morial Mission, 717; King Mwanga, 717; Presbyterian Church (North) Report for Soudan Famine, 717; Number of Stations 1889-90.. .. …. .. … ………………… 715 in Africa, 717; Bishop Tucker………. 717 Presbyterian Church (South) Report for Berlin Mission in Transvaal…… .. ……. 682 1889-90 …. …. . …………………… 715 Christian Endeavor Society, Statistics of. 719 Presbyterian Church of England. Report for 1889……………. ……… .. …. 716 COrpU8 Christi, Adoration of in Montreal. 711 Reformed (Dutch) Church in America. Report for 1889-90…. …….. …. ….. • 715
The Missionary Review of the World — June 1889
REVIEW OF THE
VOL. XI. No. 6.-Old 8eries.–JUNE.–VoL. II. No. 6.-New Serie•• I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS. A RETROSPECT OF THE WORLD'S CONFERENCE.
[EDlTORIAL.-A. T. p.] THAT grand gathering in Exeter Hall, London, in June, 1888, has in many, perhaps in most respects, had no rival, not to say superior, in all church history. This we have affirmed previously, repeatedly, emphatically; and after the lapse of a year, we see no reason to modify this judgment. Nevertheleiils, as we calmly pass in review the proceedings of those ten days, we seem to see, more and more clearly, a few marked errors in the conception and execution of that great plan, and in the management of that great conference, which were avoidable; or to say the least might be avoided whenever another similar gathering shall be held. This we say in no spirit of carping criticism. The more we see of a fastidious and fault-finding temper, the more we are impressed that the hypercritical and the hypocritical spirit are very closely allied. That conference was an alabaster flask of ointment compounded of precious and fragrant materials by a divine apothecary; and there were in it no dead flies to send forth an ungrateful savor. But it would have been strange indeed had there been no infelicitous features, no lack of forecast and discrimination, no mistakes in methods, which prevented the conference from reaching its highest and widest results for good. To some of these we shaH now advert. 1. One conspicuous mistake was made in the selection of chairmen. The policy of the committee was to change, at every session, the presiding officer. The desire was to have some distinguished clergyman or layman take the chair at each new assembly, and to divide up these honors so as to distribute them over as wide a representation as possible. Some of these chairmen were not only men of mark, but of marked capacity and ability for the place. Others were as conspicuously unfit. We all know how much depends on the selection of a. presiding officer. He not only guides but often inspires the entire meeting. His tact, promptness, decision, suggestion, are the very hinges upon which turn the success or failure of the court or conference whose presiding chair he fills. A moderator of an association, presbytery or other ecclesiastical assembly ~ay facilitate business, suppress
A RETROSPECT OF 'l'H'E WORLD;S CONFERENCE
disorder, disentangle the perplexities of confused and contradictory motions, and stimulate fraternal harmony and prayerful unIty; or, on the other hand, may positively hinder, embarrass, obstruct, the whole proceedings. Sometimes even the voice and enunciation of a chairman, his manner, glance, attitude, may have upon the body of which he is the temporary head an unconscious influence. We have seen a whole throng of ecclesiastics run wild in debate, because, at a crisis, the chairman was flushed and embarrassed and undetermined, and waited a moment too l()ng before decided action. So important have church courts found this matter to be, that the suggestion has more than once been made that a permanent moderator should be selected to guide their deliberations.
At this great conference one was occasionally placed in the chair who, whatever his personal character, had really no fitness for a presiding officer. Timid, hesitating, flustered, stammering, without even volume of voice or distinctness of utterance sufficient to be heard; unacquainted with even the simplest rudimental principles of pltrliamentary law, such men ought not to be put into a place where they can neither do themselves credit nor help anybody else. For such po~ sitions men should be chosen not for some conspicuous service rendered to church or state, to science or art, to letters or to humanity, but preeminently because they are fitted to guide a deliberative body or a popular assembly. A very distinguished man was not long since nominated for such a position in this country; but, before the vote had been taken, his awkwardness, dullness of hearing, slowness of comprehension, made evident into what a "sea of troubles" he would have plunged the assembly had he been raised to the chair. As it was, a much younger man, comparatively unknown, was made moderator,. and showed no common aptitude for the place. The time has fully come when, in great deliberative bodies, the chair is no longer to be a high seat of honor to which to exalt some popular favorite or idol as a mere figurehead, but a throne of power for which the first and last and indispensable requisite shall be competency to preside and control.
II. Some serious mistakes at the conference were made by the speakers themselves. As not every man is fit to preside, so not every man is fit to make an alidress or prepare a paper for such an assembly. The more we hear of public speakers, the more we are satisfied that in the vast majority of cases, apologies are themselves without apology. Time is too valuable to be consumed in useless explanations, tame self-depreciation and false humility. If the apology be true, the speaker has no right to be making the address; if untrue, he has no right to be making the apology. Yet a man will rise before a magnificent audience of intelligent and cultivated people; and, where every moment is golden, coolly state that he has "had no time to prepare," or feels ," in· competent to speak on the theme" assigned him, or in one ofa thousan_d ways excuse himself .for what he is about to say or read; when, if what he states be true, he ought, by every law of good sense and ethical propriety, to sit down and leave the more room for somebody who is prepared. Every speaker should make the very best preparation possible, and then plunge in medias res, from his opening sentence giving his hearer something that has cost thought and is worth thought. We remember to have heard aman of no little distinction rise to address a large assembly on a great occasion ; and, though appointed to the duty months previous, calmly inform his auditors that he "had made no preparation save that which he.had made on his way to the meeting," iu a ten miuutes' ride on a tram-car! If true, that was an insult to the assembly: and unfortunately his speech proved that it was only too true.
A grievous blunder it is to bring in irrelevant matter, especially where brevity, condensation and concentration are essential. There is an impassable gulf between having to say something and having something to say. Those who easily took hold and firmly kept hold of those great audiences were invariably those who spoke, keeping most closely and clearly to the subject. The more direct the track, straight to the heart of. the theme-recte viam secare-and the more vigorous the handling of it, the closer and more absorbed the attention. It was observable that matter, interesting in itself but foreign to the discussion, was ruled out by an impatient or listless audience, if not by a watchful and impartial moderator. Some of the papers were simply specimens' of riding hobbies. Some writer, who had been studying a topic, or making a book, would take opportunity to inflict on his helpless hearers a treatise, having only a nominal connection with his theme, and sometimes so foreign to it as to appear such to the most casual and careless observer. Sydney Smith saidthat "in preaching, the crime against the Holy ghost is dullness." It is very nearly an unpardonable offense to intrude and obtrude before such a body as that which met in Exeter Hall any address or paper which has not been carefully prepared on the subject under discussion, or which lacks the pith of sensible suggestion or the point of fitness and applicability. Spea.kers should be chosen, competent to treat these great themes, and conscientious enough to take pains in preparing; and only such should be heard.
Even in the voluntary remarks that followed the papers there was no real reason why a law of judicious selection should not have been followed. Cards were sent to the secretary indicating a desire to be heard, and the parties were called upon in the order of application. The consequence was that not infrequently the most forward rather than the best furnished speakers engrossed the priceless moments of tha.t great gathering. That a man wishes to be heard is not always a sign that others wish to hear him. To the happy conduct of such assemblies a certain amount of "natural selection" and" survival of the fittetlt" is essential. Every public gathering draws moths about it, which do little more than fly into the flame, singeing their own wings and obscuring the light.
To flaunt one's denominationalism in such a conference is a most grievous mistake. Yet a few-a very few-were guilty of what was so out of taste aud out of tune with the whole key of that ecumenical council. For once from every quarter and every denomination came the champions of missions. In such a presence, it behooved us all to forget our tribal standards as we rallied around the Ark of God. Yet some felt it needful to let the rest know that for them to appear in such a promiscuous gathering was an unusual condescension; that it must not be construed into any abandonment of the peculiar tenets of their" church," or even as an admission of the comparative unimportance of such tenets, as non-essentials. A few such protests and sectarian professions were heard, but they were the only inharmonious notes in a general, beautiful, orchestral harmony.
We ought all to rise above such a level. Why should a Presbyterian in an assembly of the church catholic insist that he abates not a jot of bis belief in the "parity of the clergy" and the" divine right of the presbytery" ! Or a Baptist announce his undiminished confidence "in believers' baptism" and that too only by "immersion"! Or an Episcopalian declare that he must not be understood to admit the validity of Hnon-episcopal ordination," or as conceding that the barriers separating" the church" from the rest of the body of believers are to be easily stepped over! If there be any magnanimity in fellowship with those who differ with us, such great-mindedness is always unconscious, for in nobility, as in humility, self-consciousness is destructlvp of the very grace itself.
III. Another mistake made at the great conference was undue mUltiplioity of meetings. Ten days were assigned to the sessions; and not only were those days, with rare exceptions, crowded with almost continuous meetings, from 9. A. M. to 10 P. M., but there were generally three or four simultaneous gatherings; and to make matters worse, at these different gatherings, at the same hours, different themes were discussed, making impossible attendance at all, and therefore compelling members to choose what they could best afford to miss, though the choice was often no easy one to make. Two marked consequences were observable. First, there was more or less confusion. Persons would go into one meeting and then, from a strong desire to hear some speaker or some discussion in another section meeting at the Bame hour, would go from one to another creating inevitable disturbance. Frequent cbanges of this sort were quite unavoidable and often a very serious hinderance to enjoyment, profit and even good order. Secondly, there resulted, as a conseqnence of these multiplied and divided meetings, the loss of aU unity of impression, and of that peculiar cumulativeness of impression, which is even more desirable than such unity. To have had fewer meetings, and to have arranged them so that essentially the same body of auditors might have attended them all, so far as they chose, would have served to secure from beginning to close a continuous, growing, climacteric interest. But, as it was, the conference was cut up into several minor conferences, which, for all unity or continuity, might almost as well have met in different halls or even cities. It was very noticeable that, so far as unity and continuity of assembly were conserved, the richest results were realized. The interest and enthusiasm touched floodmark only in those large evening assemblies where, without the diversion or .distraction of having rival meetings at the same hour, essentially the same audience met from night to night, and felt the power of every new accretion of argument and appeal. In our judgment, it had been better either to have appropriated more days to the discussions, or else to have .attempt~d to cover less ground, rather than to have split up the hody into so many parts. Section may sometimes be vivisection. Those who attended the Evangelical Alliance meetings at Washington, D.O., the year before, will remember how by continuous sessions in the same assembly chamber, the very ends, sacrificed at EXeter Hall, were admirably served and conserved.
IV. It was, we think, a mistake for the committee of the confero ence to hamper themselves ana the boay with neealess restrictive rules. Laws are the servants, not the masters, of intelligent bodies; otherwise they turn human beings into mere automata. Even Sabbatic regulations, however strict, are "made for mun," not man for rules and regulations. The human mind is too great and grand for any parliamentary matrix, 'and all regulations, not based upon immovable essential moral principles, must be elastic and flexible.
For instance it was determined in advance by the committee that no resolutions should be introduced into the conference. The restriction was well meant. To have put up no such barrier would have left open door for every religious "tramp" or " crank" to find his way into the field of discussion and inflict on helpless ears his resolutions upon his favorite topic. But that such a body should meet as never met before, and never may again, and not be free to act in such ways as to make its power felt and its effects lasting, was to resort to the strait-jacket. ~'he committee themselves felt the awkward constraint of their own restrictions. When the giant evils of rum in Africa, opium in Ohina, and licensed vice in India called for vigorous remonstrance, they felt the need of a series of resolutions, ably advocated, and adopted by the conference. But there was that rule against res- olutions! To "save their constitution" they held the great public meeting for protest, on the night after the conference clol!!ed ; but, as 406 A RETROSPECT OF THE WORLD'S COl.'fFERmNCE.
they wanted it embraced within the proceedings of the conference, they stretched the conference beyond it ; and it fell to the writer, on that occasion, to review the lessons of those ten days at the close of that .u additional meeting" for the passage of the resolutions!
Would it not have been better to avoid this paradox by not adopt. ing in advance rules so stringent? To have determined that only such resolutions should be submitted to the body as had been pre.
anviously approved by the committee would have shut the door against intruders without locking it so effectually against the committee themselves as to compel them to climb up some other way.
V. It was, we think, a mistake that no attention was given by the conference to the great uprising of young men in our coZle.tes and semina,ries. The last five years have witnessed a sort of crusade of missions in which the main movers, the leaders, have been students. As we write, word comes to us that over 3,000 in our own country alone have signified a willingness to enter the foreign field when their course of preparatory study is completed. Making all proper deductions for mere evanescent sentiment or transient enthusiasm; discounting liberally for all hasty action under the influence 6f strong and pressing appeals; not unmindful of the fact that time is a great sifter of even honest purposes, and that hundreds of such pledges will be bloll'D away like chaff before the wind when the crisis of final decision comes; with all reasonable reduction, we have still left one of the most significant movements of modern times. When such men as Stanley Smith, and O. T. Studd, and Arthur Polhill-'l'urner in England, and John N. Forman, and Robert P. Wilder, and Mr. Goforth, and J. H. McVicar in America, lead on a great nprising of students, and thousands respond, "Here am I ! send me," there is some force at work that is more than human. Our sons and our daughters are beginning to prophesy. It looks very like the coming of a last great Pentecost of missions. Some notice shonld have been taken of so stupendous a development. If such a mighty current needs nothing more, it needs proper restraint; it needs to be banked up and turned into a true channel, and kept from spreading into a mere shallow, superficial freshet, where breadth of surface is mistaken for depth of stream, and energy of action is ultimately displaced by mere stagnation. A new spirit of missionary consideration and consecration is abroad in the universities of England and America. Age must counsel youth; experience must temper enthusiasm. Ardor and fervor must not be dampened and quenched, nor left to burn fiercelv and burn out, but must be moderated and controlled. We hoped to'the last that the conference would have given a careful and prayerful consideration to wha~ we cannot but regard as one of the signs of the times which it behooves sagacious disciples to discern, and thereby read the present and forecast the future.
VI. It seemed to many delegates a very serious mistake that no provision was made for permanent and closer bonds of fellowship in missionary work. During ten days of constant contact there ha,d been no break of harmony, no really discordant note. It was a foretaste of heaven, the days of heaven upon earth. To part was inevitable, for duty called in different directions, and "tabernacles," even upon Tabor, are not to be expected. But there were certain bonds of comity and unity, of counsel and co-operation, which might have been perpetuated, and thus have given also a certain perpetuity to the conference itself.
After the lapse of a twelvemonth we do not see any good reason why a permanent Standing Oommittee might not have been created by that conference, that should have been thoroughly representative in character, and to whom might be referred many matters needing careful consideration from time to time. We would not have such committee legislative and authoritative, but simply advisory and representative, and in three directions principally they might have rendered efficient service: 1. In keeping up a certain living contact and practical fellowship between denominations of evangelical believers.
2. In adjusting matters of difficulty, preventing misunderstanding and collision, and promoting a true comity.
3. In providing for the proper division of labor and forces, so as to insure the impartial occupation of all mission fields.
There were many reasons why the blessed and delightful fellowship of that fortnight should be, as far as possible, made permanent. No name but that of Ohrist had been named; contact not only served as an expression and manifestation of charity, but as a means of developing it. To have such contact broken and lost was more than a calamity-a disaster. Oontact could not be maintained at every point, but it could have been at certain points like links in a chain, and such a committee would have served as such links. All questions involving the delicate matters of mutual comity, or the practical co-operation of disciples on mission fields, such an advisory board could settle in behalf of all the churches. Without claiming authority, their advice would become authority.
In reference to the occupation of the whole field, snch a committee could at least wield great influence in three directions: First, Where any local field is now fairly preoccupied, those who are working in it conld be left unmolested. The valley of the Nile might be left for the most part to the United Presbyterians; Turkey to the American Board; Syria and Siam to the Presby~erians of America; Burmah to the Baptists; the Lake Di&1;ricts of Eastern Equatorial Africa, the various islands of Polynesia, the openings in papal lands, to the various bodies already successfully at work-nntil help is needed and may be spared from more needy" regions beyond," Secondly, Fields already open but wholly unoccupied, whose vastness is overwhelming and demands careful division of labor, might by such committee be apportioned to various Ohristian denominations.
And thirdly, Fields not yet fully opened but about to become accessible, could be watched and preparations made for their speedy occupation when the full time has come; as for inliltance Korea, Thibet, etc.
We have already in these pages adverted to this subject, and, after much thought, feel constrained to press even now the appointment by the various evangelical denominations of some sort of Advisory Board who, by correspondence and as far as may be by personal conference, may act for the whole church of Ohrist. Such men as the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir John Kennaway, Dr. Wardlaw Thompson, Eugene Stock, Esq., Rev. A. O. Thompson, D.D., Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D., Rev. Hudson Taylor, Rev. A. J. Gordon, D.D., Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D., Bishop W. X. Ninde, D.D., James Mathieson, Esq., Rev. J. Murray Mitchell, LL.D., Rev. W. S. Swanson, Principal McVicar, Rev. Phillips Brooks, Bishop Potter, Bishop Huntington-who would hesitate to follow the counsel of such men in matters pertaining to the great world-wide field of missions!
VII. There were mistakes of a minor character which pertain to all things human. This limiting of speakers to "five minutes" is one of the absurdities of modern impatience and "fastness." A'man'who, like Dr. Oairns, carries big brains qnder his hat and a big heart in his breast, takes proportionately long to get" under weigh." It was more than offensive to hear some really great and wise m;::,n rung down by the inexorable bell, when he had just laid the basis of his remarks and was just prepared to give us the results af wise and deliberate thinking; while some smart but shallow speaker, who mistook" audibility and volubility" for logic and eloquence, rattled through five minutes and" finished" without saying anything. It was painful to iee that the modesty of some men of merit kept them back because their very aversion to the bell and the five-minute rule increased their embarrassment, while the assurance of others emboldened them to "occupy the time" without any real suggestions to offer. It was very strange to us to hear such an audience actually arrest with mock applause certain men of whom they tired or who overran their proper limits; or to observe evidences of manifest favoritism on the part not only of auditors but of presiding officers and committee men.
But these ware the spots on the sun-the insignificant blemishes on a fair face that was on the whole beautiful and even radiant. He would be very critical and run his criticism into captioul!lness who would turn a telescopic or microscopic eye upon such defects. Here was a grand gathering of missionaries and missionary workers and sup- porters brought face to face and eye to eye from the earth's ends. Here were men competent to speak from actual experience and observation of all phases and perplexities of the work, in every sphere. Here were laborers who spoke with the authority that belongs only to an actual toiler; they were not theorizers lazily sitting on cushions and dreaming about missions, but faithful workers who had borne the burden and heat of the day, and some of whom had already reached reaping time and borne also the sheaves to the garner. 'rhe facts, sometimes poured upon the assembly in one address, came like a deluge for volume and like a torrent for force and momentum. The sight of some men and women, whose names are already immortal for their service to missions, repaid us for a trans-oceanic journey. Even R. N. Oust, Esq., whose keen scalpel mercilessly cut with incisive blade into the faults of the conferenoe, wrote with discriminating and eloque~t pen, such as he knows how to use, in appreciation of all that was best in those days of fellowship. With impartial judgment he condemned what he disapproved, and praised as loudly the manifest solidarity of the churches, the disappearance of offensive denomina- . tionalism, the grand federation of the greatest benefactors of mankind, speaking every language, but using one dialect of faith; and the forming or renewing of precious ties of friendship.
We think it too soon to forecast the ultimate results of such a conference. Perhaps it is true that no original idea was struck out, and no novel information or even important practical suggestion elicited. It is possible to be too near as well as too far off, to see clearly and form just conceptions. Too near a view limits our prospect; too distant a view dims it. But if that ten days does not inspire new devotion to missions; if those two imperial volumes, which constitute the greatest encyclopedia of missions extant, do not feed with the fuel of facts the kindling interest in the world field; and if the body of disciples there gathered do not feel a closer and more vital bond with all true workers in that wide field, we shall be greatly mistaken. We earnestly hope that within a few years another like conference may assemble. The year 1892, which marks the full completion of the century since William Oarey formed that first Baptist Society in Ket- tering, suggests the natural time for the next WorId Oonference. And what stupendous changes may take place before that year 'has opened no huma:n being is sagacious enough to forecast. If, years ago, Dr. Duff could say that, to which ever point of the horizon we look, signs of changes greater than the world has ever seen confront us, it is far more emphatically true to-day. What a century was once required to accomplish a year now works out; and so every hour be- comes a hinge and pivot of history and destiny. Let us, like Erskine, call God to witness that we are "doing our best to .bring on a definite issue between Ohrist and His adversaries." The thicker and hotter the battle, the quicker the rout of the foe. The whole world
THE OUTLOOK IN JAPAN
is the field, the whole church is the force; let us bring the field and the force into actual contact, from the rising to the setting sun, and from pole to pole, while we humbly remember that the only true force in missions is the FIRE FROM ABOVE 1 THE OUTLOOK IN J APAN.
BY REV. GEORGE WM. KNOX, D.D., TOKIO.
THE statistics of missions and missionary work for 1888 are instruc- tive. The growth of the Japanese churches continues. There are 5,785 more Christians than at the close of 1887, the total being 25,514; 1,970 children are included iu this total. Ten years ago there were not 2,500 Christians in Japan. In another decade these tens of thousands should be hundreds of thousands. Another tenfold increase is not too great for faith.
The increase is as great in other things. These Christians gave last year yen 64,454.70 for church and missionary purposes. Comparing • Japanese poverty with American wealth it is as though 25,000 Christians in the United States, including women and children, were to give $600,000, a standard that no denomination has yet reached, though certain favored localities exceed it. In the Itchi and Kumiai churches, Presbyterian and Congregational, the standard is still higher.
The 15,800 Christians, including children, in these two bodies gave yen 51,000, an average of three yen and twenty-three sen per member.
T~at is as if Presbyterians and Congregationalists in the United States were to give more than $30 each a year for religious purposes. Certainly Christianity in Japan is not eleemosynary.
The Japanese ministers are 142,40 more than a year ago. These men are sometimes put down in mission reports as assistants of the foreign mISSIOnaries. In Japan such statements are most misleading. The fact is the missionaries are the advisers of the Japanese ministers. I am most intimately acquainted with the polity of the Presbyterian (with the Reformed) lnd the Congregational missions. The missionaries are already the advisers and friends or at most co~laborers with the Japanese ministers. The latter and not the former are foremost in the most important work. Ten converts are led to Christ by them to one brought into the church by the direct agen<Jyof foreigners. And in councils, committees, synods, and boards the Japanese are in the lead.
The actual state of things would surprise men who have been ac- customed to regard foreign missionaries as the main factors in the preaching of the gospel. Some of the largest and most successful churches have had little or no foreign assistance. Were every foreign missionary and every,dollar of foreign money withdrawn at once the church would still advance and still seek to preach the gospel to all Japan. .
I am not undervaluing missionary work, but am seeking to state its true value. The church succeeds in Japan because it is led by earnest, educated Christian Japanese of the right kind. But hardly one of these men has achieved great success who does not bear the impress of some foreign missionary. The. influence has been direct and permanent, and the missionary thus works through the Japanese far more ef- fectively than he could possibly work himself. Christ's method must. be the missionary's. If the foreigner can spiritually quicken twelve men who will be his apostles he has achieved a grand success. Then the wide results garnered by these men will be his crown and rejoicing. Every mission report in Japan repeats and emphasizes this lesson, though sometimes by contrast.
There are lessons for Boards in the United States in such facts. The foreign missionary must be able to do this thing., If he cannot per- sonally lead men to a high standard of personal consecration to Christ, if he cannot prepare them for successful war, he is relatively a failure. Japanese mmisters can preach more effectively than he. Japanese teachers can almost rival his best efforts in the class room. They are fully ready for all the routine of work. If, then, he cannot supply high spiritual and intellectual stimulus; if by word and life he cannot raise these men to higher grades of life, he is a failure. At present it is vain to send missionaries to Japan who are not exceptional men. The church is at last ready to send many men, and now the higher test comes at once. The church must send its best. Quality and not quantity must be the ambition; or, better still, the best quality in large quantity. The mission service need not be ashamed; it has fair share of the best now. But in fields like Japan none others are of use. Som~ Japanese ministers in intellect and spirituality excel some foreign missionaries.
A large part of the missionaries are in schools. The missions report 15 boarding-schools for boys, with 2,704 students, 39 boarding-schools for girls, with 3,663 pupils, and 47 day-schools for boys and girls, with 3,299 scholars. Half of the men, and nearly all the ladies, are in these schools. The schools are still for the most part under "mission" control. But the most successful one of all has a Japanese for presi- dent, and he does his own thinking, and forms his own plans. Some of the other schools also give the Japanese a large place in their con- trol. These schools are doing a great work for the Christian Church. The Government does so much for education that their influence in general education is relatively small. They are not the introducers of western learning and scientific truth. Their mission is the formation of a body of select men and women, combining spiritual force with in- • tellectual attainments. They are to train the leaders for the church. There is a constant advance in their equipment, but.all feel that equip- ment in things material is only a small aid to growth in things spiritual. It is still to be proved that the great institutions of to-day will exceed in solid results the groups gathered around individuals in the period just past. At the same time in every school the religious influence js constant. They are not like the missionary colleges of India that graduate a "kind of theists." The graduatelil in large majority are earnest Ohristians. Now we seek one thing more-the consecration • that will make them the fearless, devoted and successful leaders of the Lord's hosts.
The number of missionary societies continues to increase. We feel like saying, Hold! Enough! If any church or society, British or American, thinks of launching a new mission, let them seek some other field, or come prepared to unite with some of the organizations already here. We have weak missions enough, and strong ones too, for that matter. Were our mission forces combined, we should not need an- other man; indeed we could dispense with a third of those already here. It is our disunion that makes our mission work so extravagantly costly. It is absurd to place three missions of as many different churches in one small country town of Japan, as absurd and wasteful as to plant a half dozen denominations in a frontier village in the United States. As long as the churches in the United States prefer that sort of thing, and are ready to pay for it, it will no doubt con- tinue; but it costs more than wasted time and money. A Oongrega- tionalist has just written to a Presbyterian, "The division of our few Ohristians in the same neighborhood into two churches of dif- ferent names is the greatest obstacle to our work here," and he ex- presses his perfect willingness to enter Presbytery if thereby harmony can be gained. And yet men in the United States oppose union in Japan, because they happen to be dissatisfied with the results of the plan of union in New York fifty years ago, and associations threaten to cut off their contributions to the Board if union is effected. Let it be understood that the present plan of separate action, in Japan at the least, involves great waste.
The Episcopal societies have united their churches in the Nippon Sei Ko Kwai, the Holy Church of Japan. The union proposed by the Meth- odist missions is postponed because of unsympathetic action at home.
The union of the Reformed and Presbyterian bodies will be completed by the union of the Oumberland Presbyterian Ohurch in the coming spring. The further union with the Oongregational churches was voted by the synod of the United Ohurch in November, but the Gen- eral Association of the Oongregational churches postponed action until spring. Thus their action is still in doubt. This union, if effected, will be of great service to the cause of Ohrist in Japan.
FRO}! THE PRISON. • In December, 1887, a large number of men from the province of Tosa came to Tokio to present a petition to the Government. After Borne delay the Government declined to receive the petition, but the Tosa men still lingered in the city. The Gover~ment professed to find something dangerous in their presence, and issued new regulations for the preservation of the peace. The men from Tosa were ordered to leave Tokio, and the more prominent were lodged in prison. Some of these men had never seen the laws which they were said to have broken. They had no trial, but were told that they would be released if at once they would leave Tokio, not to return for a specified • time. They stoutly denied having broken the laws, and declined to make such confession, or to (lven imply acquiescence by leaving the city. So they were sentenced to imprisonment for two years. On the promulgation of the constitution they were released, having been confined for fourteen months.
Some of these men are Christians. They are gentlemen, and have served their country in the past. One of them is well-known throughout Japan, and especially for his honesty and frankness. They found the imprisonment hard to bear, of course. The food was not enough to satisfy them, anq. the prison bedding and clothing was scanty, and they suffered from cold during the first winter. As time went by, however, both food and clothing were increased. When they entered the prison one of them had his Bible with him. It was taken away, but afterward Bibles and other religious books were freely given them. They read and studied the Word continually; they held morning prayers, and as the few opportunities occurred, they taught their fellow prisoners.. Now they say: "Our imprisonment was grievous to our bodies but beneficial to our souls. We learned the meaning of the gospel as never before. We value prayer and believe more firmly in God's presence and communion with us." Through their labors six of their fellow prisoners were led to Christ.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
Japan has a written constitution. It was promulgated on the 11th February. The city was given up to rejoicing for days. The illuminations and decorations were exceptionally fine. Almost every house in the city was ornamented. Thus the emperor redeems his promise, made on his accession. Japan again leads Asia, indeed is in advance of some European states. As we read the provisions for the protection of the rights of subjects, for the judiciary, and for the exercise of ample powers by the Imperial Diet, whole centuries of English constitutional history unfold before our eyes. There is some ground for the boast that' Japan will do in a generation what we have accomplished in centuries. It is only a generation, less than a generation, since Japan was a feudal despotism tempered by assassination. In 1871 feudalism was abolished. And yet there are men in plenty who talk of the Japanese as an inferior race, not at all to be compared with "us." Some think them inferior to the Chinese. If that judgment is correct Europe and America must need look to themselves when
liON. ION KEITH-FALCONER. [Ju.a
China wakes up. The imprisonment of the Tosa men will be the last incident of that sort. I Laws will be, made by the Diet, and no one shall be arrested or punished without due process of law. Arbitrary law and government end.
To us one of the most immediate points of interest is the article that promises religious liberty. The fact has been undispnted for years, bnt its official and constitutional recognition by the emperor will have its influence.
What new pretext can Western powers now find for failing to comply with Japan's most moderate and reasonable request for the revision of the treaties, and the abolition of extra-territoriality? Russia and Austria most likely will fear to intrust their subjects to the tender mercies of this Government, though, to do them justice, these powers have never been credited with an obstructive policy, but pretexts can doubtless be found. or made by some ingenious power. We trust the rumors that the United States are just ready to make a new treaty on terms of equality will prove true. Japan is ready to grant every right and privilege to foreigners that she gives her own subjects, if they will come under her laws. Japan cannot ask less. All obstacles to freest travel and residence are of foreign making. For our part we are glad that this empire will not yield further. Her position is just. II; is "Christian" diplomacy that is unjust, and as short-sighted as unjust.
THE APOSTLE OF BUDDHISM.
The Buddhists are credited with following Christian example in all their propaganda. They have tried lectures, girls' schools, newspapers, young men's associations etc., all without success. Copies are seldom of great worth. Now they have gone a step further and have imported a missionary from America, Col. Olcott. He is the same man to whom Madame Blavatsky referred in the letters that were printed several years since, first in India. His connection with that acute adventuress does not seem to have quenched his love for the occult. We shall see what will come of his mission to Japan. He was welcomed to-day, March, 1, in Yokohama by a throng of priests. If he can improve these men in wit or morals his mission will not have been in vain. He has ample field for missionary work.
HON. ION KEITH-FALCONER. * A MODERN ApOSTLE.
BY REV. W. J. MUTCH, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
THE best there is in human life is not too good to be given to the I service of humanity in behalf of God's kingdom. This truth has been no more impressively exemplified in modern times than in the noble *}{emorials of Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, M. A:, late Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic In the University of Cambridge, and missionary to the Mohammedans of Sonthern Arabta. By Rev. , Robert Sinker, B. D., Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge. With portrait, map and iIlustratlous. Cambrldie: Diihton Bell & Ceo life and early death of Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, a modern apostle of the best stuff that men of our day are made of, and yet not too good to give himself as a living and dying sacrifice to humanity in carrying the word of God to those who have it not.
H blood and lineage counted for as much with us as it does in Great Britain, it would add greatly to our interest in the name of Keith-Falconer to trace the noble ancestry of this son of the Earl of Kintore back through the critical and stormy periods of British history, past the standards of Bruce and Wallace, and back to the year 1010, in the reign of Malcolm II., King of Scotland, when in a battle with the Danish invaders Robert Keith won by his valor the title of Hereditary Great Marischal of Scotland.
But it is not until 1856 that the life of our subject began; and in the years that followed from infancy to college life there iii! nothing that need detain us save the generous and loving child, who was devoted to the truth, had no patience with shams, had the largest sympathy, frDm the fiest, with the suffering and needy, and found his greatest enjoyment in seeing those about him happy and comfortable. He was a faithful 'and interested student of the Scriptures from the time of his earliest reading. His old nurse tells of his going about to the cottages of the peasants soon after he was seven years old, and reading the Bible and trying to explain it. On one occasion, having saved his pocket money for the purpose, he went to the store and bought for himself some cakes of a favorite kind, but on his return he met a hungry-looking boy and promptly gave them all to him. 'rhese things were never known at home save as some one else than he chanced to mention them, but they reveal thus early a vein of pure gold which was to enrich the later life.
It is stimulating to know that with these generous qualities he was not of that solemn, sickly and unenterprising sort which so many good children are represented to be. He came to the front in athletics; and being six feet and three inches tall and finely proportioned in his manhood, his physical contests were a sight worth seeing. He became president of the London Bicycle Club, and was not content with anything less than the championship of all England, which he won in 1878 by five yards in a five-mile race with John Keen, then the champion professional of Great Britain. In 1.882 he was the first to accomplish that remarkable journey on the wheel from Land's End to John O'Gro!lit's house, nearly 1,000 miles, which he accomplished in thirteen days. As a phonographer also he would probably have ranked second only to Isaac Pitman. He was the author of the article on Shorthand in the "Encycl@pmdia Britannica," which is a marvel of comprehensive and condensed accuracy.
In college there were others more brilliant than he, but none more interested, independent and persistent; and his stubborn persistence enabled him to win positions, honorlil and prizes of the hiihest order. But his aggressive evangelistic spirit could not be confined within the college walls, and so with some companions, among whom he was a leader, he went among the lower classes in Barnwell with the simple story of redemption. The work outgrew their halls, and an old theater was purchased with subscriptions largely given or solicited by Keith- Falconer, and from this work, in which I.e was a leader while yet a leader in undergraduate college life, the wretched and unchurched village of Barnwell has been transformed into a comparatively respectable portion of the university town.
But there is a far greater city mission enterprise than this with which his name is connected. It would be an interesting digression if we could trace the history of the Tower-Hamlets Mission in the East End of London. Mr. Oharrington, the leader of this enterprise, was a great friend of Keith-Falconer, who all through his Oambridge dayt! went often to visit this work and to help it on. About 1880 he spent much time in devising ways and means, and in securing subscriptions, £2,000 of which he gave himself, for the Great Assembly Hall, which now towers up on Mile End Road, where 5,000 people may gather under the sound of one voice, where a people's service is held eyery night, while the play-houses and grog-shops have greatly declined in value since the hall was built, and where one of the worst regions of human degradation in modern city life is being redeemed, not in the mind of a wciter of tales, but in the alleys and hovels of East London, by the simple gospel of the risen Lord. Keith-Falconer has been a main factor in all this movement, working as a humble layman in private life who but rarely attempted to speak in public. His direct evangelistic work was mostly in the direction of what he called" having a talk with a man," which would mean a quiet, private conversation about those sacred issues which lie deepest in life. This he always welcomed an opportunity to do. For instance, we find him writing in a letter to his wife, in 1884, while on a bicycle tour with a friend in Sutherlandshire, "We had a job to get across the Kyle. It was very low water, and we had to wade some distance before we got to the boat. We had a talk with the boatman, who said he had been praying and searching for years, but ' couldn't find Him.'"
And so it is as a layman that all his religious work was done-no less indeed commissioned of God for his work than if he had been an ordained minister of the gospel; but on the other hand, no more com- missioned than is every disciple of Jesus Ohrist in the world to-day.
There remains to be sketched one more enterprise of this short life, which may give a fitting impression not only of the life here set forth, but of what is still more valuable, the truth which is set at the head of this article.
While in his college life he had followed a large varIety of studies, his chief interest had centered upon the Bible and the languages in which it was written, especially the Hebrew, and from the Hebrew his interest spread to the whole family of Semitic languages. After the close of his college study he gave Arabic his chief attention for many months, until he had mastered the classic language and its literature, including the Koran; and then he spent a winter in a forsaken place in upper Egypt for the purpose of getting the colloquial language, the temper of the A,rabic mind, and the nature of the Mohammedan religion. For all this work he seems to have had no other conscious motive than his love for the study-a mere scientific interest, and yet who can doubt that there was a sub-conscious motive, an impulse from God which did not rise into the consciousness of the man himself until it had done its work, and made him, while yet a youth, the master of all this knowl- edge. If now this knowledge were followed up in one direction it would, by general consent, make him the greatest living Orientalist, and if it were followed up in another direction it might open the door of many locks that should let the light of the gospel into the heart of Mohammedanism.
Here was a parting of the ways. Science, fame, and comfort on the one hand, and on the other seclusion, with only God and the gos- pel, and a wretched world about him, the dangers of a foreign land and climate, and the sacrifices of nobility, distinction and wealth at home. But there is no moment of hesitation in choice with him. He im~ediately, and in the most methodical and business-like way, sets about finding the strategi() point of attack, geographic and ethnic, upon Mohammedanism. The knowledge of Arabic, which he found himself in possession of, must be used to the best possible advantage to the kingdom of God, which it was always his ambition to.serve.
After careful deliberation he settled on Aden as the point to be ex- amined, but his methodical style required that it should be visited and the climate tried and the methods of operation decided upon on the' ground; and so in October, 1885, he and his wife went to Aden, which is a British coaling station at the point where the Red Sea opens into the Indian Ocean, opposite the Somali coast of Africa, and the south- ernmost point of the Arabian peninsula-a barren, comfortless wilder- ness of sand and rock twelve degrees from the equator. But it is a point from which the arteries of Arabian commerce run inland to the whole country. As many as a quarter of a million camels come into Aden from the interior every year, and there is one of the best harbors in the world.
He saw at a glance that the commission of the apostles to heal dis- eases was what was needed there to open the hearts of the people; for the numberless of aftlicted have no relief there, and a skillful surgeon – would be a blessing whose value none could estimate. His knowledge of the Koran was superior to their own, and he found that by helping them, and then "having a talk with them," he was very kindly received, and the news wonld be carried far away to bring others f~r1ike treatment. Finding no trouble in the climate either for himself or wife, he decided that this was the point to be occupied. His plan was to establish a hospital and a school, both of which could be filled almost as soon as they could be built. With this plan clearly drawn he returned to his home to prepare for the work.
A Ohristian physician was secured; he studied medicine himself; he put himself under the direction of the Foreign Missionary Agency of the Free Ohurch of Scotland, for he did not believe in the free lance business in missions, although he proposed to bear the whole expense of the mission himself.
Just at this point, to his great surprise, he was appointed professor of Arabic in Oambridge, but as this position was partly honorary, re- quiring only one lecture or short course of lectures in a year, the teach- ing being given out to an associate, he accepted the appointment, be- lieving that it would give him more influence and enable him to draw the world's attention to :fJ.is work in far-off Arabia. So he prepared and delivered his first course of three lectures on "The Pilgrimage to Mecca;" and early in November, 1886, in the evening after his last lecture, he started for Aden.
Only five months of lahor lay before him; but in that time with his wife and Dr. Oowen, a work was set onfout, buildings begun, a char- acter and a fame established in all southern Arabia, which with the, blessing of God and the support of man gives promise of solving 000 of the hardest problems laid at the feet of the Ohristian world to-day- , the evangelization of the Moslems. Before that five months ended there were but few who had come in contact with this mission who would admit that they were Moslems, and when spoken to about it they would say, "There are no Moslems here." The Gospel in the Arabic found a ready market and a reverent reading among those who had seen the spirit and power of the Ohristian physician.
But the noble fellow was stricken with the Aden fever. It is not a very dangerous disease, and therefore the surprise even to his wife and the doctor was very great when one morning they found that he had quietly slept out his life while those who had been watching at his bed- side slumbered with him.
"The falling asleep," sa,ys the Free Ohurch resolution, "in the first months of fervent service, of Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer in the extreme Asian outpost in South Arabia gives solemn urgency to his last appeal to the cultured, the wealthy and the unselfish, whom that devoted vol- unteer for Ohrist represented [when he addressed them in these words]: 'While vast continents are shrouded in almost utter dark- ness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathenism or Islam, the burden of Eroof lies upon you to show that the .circum-
JEWISH MISSION WORJ[. t1t
stances in which God placed you were meant by Him to keep you out of the foreign mission field:" .
Was it a mistake of Providence that this noble young apostle should be thus early called to "depart and be with Ohrist"? Was it a mis- take that he should have gone to Aden in the first instance? His dis- tinguished position and accomplishments were so widely known, the interest in his enterprise so deep, the love for his person so great, that the dispatch announcing his death sent a shock through the whole kingdom. The call of the church for a volunteer to fill the breach was responded to by thirteen young men from the graduating class of New College, who were ready to be used in the foreign field in the place and manner in which they could do the most good. Others are being led by his example to prepare for a like work. And so, like Samson of old, great as he was in life, he was greater still in death.
This is the kind of men our age is calling for-men who are willing to use what God has given them, and the best he has given them, to His glory• Nothing is too good to be so used. This man was no special favorite of grace. There are thousands who have equal qualifications, except the willingness to use their gifts for God and humanity.
A new value has la.tely made itself known in the Keith-Falconer mission, which promises large benefit to civilization. Since British occupation has turned the current of the Arabian slave ~rade away from lower Egypt, that current has set in right across by Aden.
In September last a British man-of-war captured three cargoes of Abyssinian children, 217 in all, being carried into Arabia for the most degrading servitude. They were nominal Christians. Of course their homes had been destroyed and their friends killed. The mission has put a large number of them in its school, where they will receive a Ohristian training and be sent back as missionaries.
And so another important outpost has been occupied by the armies of the Lord, and is now effectively manned with a force of Ohristian teachers, physicians and evangelists. The Rev. William R. W. Gard- ner, one of the prompt young volunteers, who has been since prepar- ing himself for the special work, has just now joined the mission, and there is every prospect for great good to come from the work of this modern apostle.
JEWISH MISSION WORK.
BY REV. PROFESSOR GEORGE H. SCHODDE, COLUMBUS, OHIO.
THE retirement of Professor Franz Delitzsch, without doubt the leading representative of the gospel cause among the lost sheep of the house of Israel in our day and generation, from the editorship of the Saat auf Hoffnung, the leading journal devoted to this special de~ partment of mission work, after an uninterrupted management of that quarterly for twenty-five years, is a timely occasion briefly to give a bird's..eye-view of the problems, principles, methods, and results of the evangelization of Israel. Such a resume is all the more a matter of present interest, as developments have been going on in this department of mission activity, the records of which form a not unimportant chapter in this, the greatest mission century since the apostolic era. Primarily in the growth of interest in this important work and in the clearer perception of the problems involved and of the correct methods of solution; and, secondarily, also in the success that has attended the efiorts, Jewish gospel work occupies a public prommence in the activity of the church that it never before enjoyed or was entitled to.
When Delitzsch established his journal, he was, at least in central and northern Protestant Europe, a vox clamantis in 'deseno. Affairs stood better in this regard in England. Even as late as 1881, the statistician Haman could report only 20 societies, with about 250 men, and expending about $300,000 annually for the evangelization of Israel. Last year Lic. Dr. Dalmen, the new editor of Saat aufHoffnung, could report 47 Protestant Jewish mission societies, with 377 missionaries, and spending nearly $500,000 annually. In other words, in scarcely half a dozen years, the activity in this ardnous field has almost literally doubled. The Jewish popUlation of the earth is about 6,400,000. There is then one missionary for every 16,976 Jews, and these people are accordingly, in comparison to the nearly one thousand million non-Christians of the globe, which are the figures of so good an authority as Daniel's Lehrbuch der Geographie, by far better provided with gospel privileges than are the heathen nations. This growth of zeal for Israel re-establishment has indeed not been contemporaneous with the revived activity for foreign mission work. The latter had fully half a century the start of the former. But it is an open question whether in regard to methods and manners, principles and means, the cause of Jewish mission work has not gained as much in the last decade or two as the foreign mission cause has since the beginning of the century. Indeed the debatable ground in the latter seems to be greater in oxtent and the interrogation points to exceed in number the difficulties and differences in the former.
It goes without saying that the gospel work among the Jews is the most difficult in the whol-l sphere of evangelization. The problems here are entirely peculiar and unique. It requires but little knowledge of psychology and history to understand why this should be the case. The trouble lies 01;1 both sides, Christian and Jewish. The attitude of the Christian Church, at least practically, has never been what it should have been toward the Jews. Proselyting rather than conversion has been the aim over against Ismel down to almost the present time. There has been a conspicuous absence of that love for ISJ;&el which is an .absolutely necessary prerequisite to successful evangelization in their midst. At best, the attitude of Christians toward the work has been a negative and indifferent one. The poBitive element of zeal for Israel's spiritual interests has been confined to exceeding- ly narrow limits. Nothing like that general interest which character- izes the activity of the chnrches in theforeign and home mission causes in general has been or can be aroused ;or the gospel work among Israel. Just to what degree this apathy and limited interest is the expression of that spirit which in earlier centuries made the Jews the special object of the persecution of a civilization calling itself Ohristian, would bean interesting problem, but one not to be discussed here. To a greater or less degree the popular prejudice against the Jews is the deposit left in the thought of the age from the antagonism of the olden' times. In Ii large measure it is an inheritance and not the result of CODSelous8Dd intelligent reasoning.
That to a great extent the Jews were and are the cause of the antip- athy of modern society and Ohristianity is a matter beyond dispnte. The enigmatical social disorder called anti-Semitism is sufficient evi- dence of this. It is a mistake to regard this opposition to Jewish in- fluence pervading all central and eastern Europe as a rAvival of blind medieval hatred of the Israelites. It is not a new crusade after the manner of a PfefIercorn in the days of Reuchlin. It is the out- growth of the new!3tatus in modern society, socially, politically, ~nd otherwise, which has been granted to the Jews also as one of the Te-:- sults of the general policy of emancipation characteristic of our century. For about three or four decades all political and other disabilities have been removed from the Jews; and as a consequence this gifted people have been crowding into all the higher and influential positions in so- ciety, in education, in politics, in finances, in journalism, and else- where. The Jewish influence in modern society is far in excess of their proportional numerical strength. It is against this undue pre- ponderance of Jewish leadership which, as Semitic in origin and char- acter, is regarded as antagonistic to an Aryan and Ohristian civiliza- tion, that the anti-Semitism of the day is directed. It is a fiction that . the Jews are persecuted for their religion's sake. The problem is pri- marilya social one, and its agitation, aside of some inexcusable excesses, a. legitimate and needful one, made necessary by the social statistics of the day.
A somewhat remarkable confirmation of this is the singular phenom- enon that wherever the Jews are most nUl'lerous and are most influen- tial, that there the work of their evangelization has the fewest friends. Russia and Austria do very little for the cause, and it is in these two countries that fully two-thirds of all the Jews of the globe live. Ger- many, with its many millions of Protestants, does les8 for this work than little Norway with its two millions. But in the Scandinavian countries a Jew is but seldom seen, and the Ohristiansthere, notwith- standing their poverty, take a kind of a sentimental rather than all intelligent interest in the work, and have a warm heart for Israel. In England, where more is done for the cause than in all the rest of Christendom together, the Jew is not numerically 80 well represented as in Germany and eastern Europe, and the distasteful features of his in:fl.uep.qe are to a great extent absent. Besides this, the general lead which England has taken in the work of missions over aU the rest of Europe has not been without its effects in this field also.
Besides this very granting of perfect equality to the Jews, which has been outwardly at least the occasion of tho anti-SemitIc movement, but which naturally, as the expression of a civilization that is Christian in character, would have been expected to make the beneficiaries of this ,emancipation more friendly to Christianity, has had, if anything, the opposite effect. In so far as assimihtion and amalgamation has taken place, it has practically consisted of a comprQmise between traditional Judaism and modern thought, in such a manner that the outcome is little better than radicalism and rationalism. The modernized or "reformed" Jew as a rule entertains little more than such empty generalizations of theological and scriptural ideas that make him feel a warm sympathy with vapid Universalism and Unitarianism. It is the western Jew who has imbibed this new wisdom; and among this class of Israelites the efforts of gospel messengers have practically been love's labor lost.
The problem becomes all the more complicated by the fact that the missionary meets the Jew not as he does the heathen. The latter he approaches as a superior, the former more as an equal. In both cases ho must remove error as well as build up truth; but in the case of the Jew it is intelligent error, fortified by argument and history. The Jew sees in the Christian one who has departed from the pure worship of Jehovah and feels himself in possession of a religion purer and higher than that which he is asked to substitute for it. If there is any idea that has entered into the very marrow and bone of Israel, it is the con- viction that as the chosen people of God it is their mission to uphold the standard of pure divine worship, of monotheism, and that it is their historic and divinely assigned work to bring the religious prin- ciples maintained by JudaIsm to Impremacy in the hearts and minds of the nations. It is true that this is more a theoretic and abstract idea; for Judaism, since the downfall of its political power and the great dispersion, has not been a missionary religion and has made little or no propaganda of its peculiar tenets; yet this does not diminish but rather strengthens the tenacity of this conviction. And this has been fortified by the religious development in Israel for fully two thousand years. The representative Jew, particularly of the East, is the Tal· mudic Jew. His position is essentially the Pharisaism and legalism of the New Testament era, strengthened by the whole Talmudic thought since that day. The Old Testament is seen only in the light, or rather darkness, of Talmudic and Rabbinic thought; and this makes it all the more difficult to prod uce a tabula rasa of error for the erection of Christian truth. To this comes the further factor of a blind hatred of Christ. Vollert, a recent messenger to the Jews of the East, says on this point (BaatautHoffnun~, 1889, Jan., p. 39): "!tis possible to impress upon them that the Messiah has already come; they will listen when we say that they have rejected Him and therefore have deserved their fate; but as soon as we say that the rejected one is 'Jesus,' the Crucified, fire and lightning of the eyes show that the limits of the endurable have been transgressed."
This condition of the problem must determine the methods and manner of its solution. Modern mission workers and thinkers in the field of evangelization in Israel are unanimous that there is but one way proper for the treatment of so intricate a question, and that is the prosecution of the method already adopted by the first writer in the NewTestament, Matthew, namely, to show that the Messiah of the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Messianic predictions of the Old. The work among Israel is more a work of argument than it is anywhere else in the whole sphere of mission activity. Instruction and conviction have here a place not found elsewhere. For that reason the preparation of a Jewish missionary is necessarily a more arduous task than that of a messenger to the Gentiles. He must be not only a good Biblical scholar and interpreter, a logical reasoner, but also well versed in the Talmudic literature, the errors of which he is to refute. Just in this connection is seen the great importance of the revived Instituta Judaica, which are found at fully a dozen German and Scandinavian Universities with a membership of 300 and more and consist of voluntary association of students under the leadership of men like Delitzsch, Strack, Orelli and others, and devote their energy to the study of post-Biblical Hebrew and its literature. But the greatest agencies in this regard have been Delitzsch's and Salkinson's Hebrew New Testaments. The former has been circulated in more than eighty thousand copies, particularly in eastern Europe and in Siberia. The latter has appeared in a second edition of 200,000 copies, and a generous Scotchman has paid for 100,000 copies to be used for missionary purposes. The reports of what the mere study of the New Testament has done to make fair-minded Jews see in the Christianity of the New Testament the fulfillment and complement of the preparatory religious development of the Old, often read almost like miracles of missions. They furnish renewed evidence that the New Testament is the best commentary on the Old. It is this idea, too, that is at the foundation of the various Jewish Christian movements which started independently . of each other and of direct Christian influence in Southern Russia, Siberia and Hungary. Thought and study of the New Testament awakened in these reformers the conviction that brael's development into Pharasaic legalism was a false course, and that the historic mission of the people can be fulfilled only by beginning anew there where the fatal error set in, that is, by accepting the New Testament development as the legitimate and correct outcome of the Old. In this way the correctness of the methods of modern Jewish mission work is vindicated by independent evidence from an entirely foreign source.
Of course even with all arguments in favor of the Ohristian mission_ ary the great work of captatio benevolentiw still remains to be done, and is an all-important factor and most difficult task. The Jews as a class hate and mistrust the Ohristian missionary. They cannot believe' in the purity of his motives, leait of all if he is himself a convert. There seems to be only one man of prominence in this work who has gained the love of all Israel, and that man is Franz Delitzseh. He has given such eVIdence of his affection for that people, especially in the, anti~Semitic agitation, that even the most radical Jews respect him and his motives. To him they all listen, and this fact explains to a great extent the strong influence of his New Testament translation. When recently he addressed a pamphlet to thinking Israelites entitled "Earnest Questions to the Educated of the Jewish Religion," 4,000 copies were disposed of in a few weeks, and many Jewish journals gave it a most respectful treatment. ,But as a rule it is exceedingly difficult to gain the ear of Israel for the gospel. It is a common idea among them, and also among certain Ohristians, that every Jewish convert is a hypocrite. Such rashness forgets that Ohrist's disciples were Jews and that thousands of Jewish converts have noble records on the pages of church history. Think only of such modern instances as the father of modern church history, Neander, whose centennial was bnt recently celebrated; of KalkaI', who presided at the Oopenhagen meeting of the Evangelical Alliance; of Philippi, the great conservative dogmatician of Rostock; of Oaspari, the fine Orientalist and historical scholar of Norway, and men of this kind.
Ooncerning the successes of the work little can or should be said. The estimate of Missionary de la Roi, of Breslau, that fully 100,000 jews have since the beginning of the present century found their way into the church through the mission activity is probably no exaggeration, but must stand ()n its own merits. Oertain it is, that greater gains have been made than friend and foe as a rule are inclined to think. But here as well as elsewhere the question of snccess is important for us only in its relation to the decision as to the correct methods. Ours it is to be faithful to the divine mission command, leaving the consequences to Him who gave it His people.
MADAGASCAR
MADAGASOAR.
BY L. P. BROCKETT, M.D., BROOKLYN, N. Y. (Ooncluded/rompcl/l4J858.) I III. PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN MADAGASCAR. THE dea.thof the wicked queen RanavalonaI., and the accession of her son Radama II. to the throne, marks a.nother epoch in the history of the Mal.a. g'asy. From that date (August, 1861,) there was no more persecution, no more exclusion of missionaries or other foreigners from the island, and no more wars for slaughter or for slaves. All religions were tolerated, but idol· atry was not overthrown, and the idol keepers bided their time. Radama II. was a young man of rather weak intellect, though in early lifE' of many good impulses. He had associated, before his mother's death,. with many of the native Chrilltians, and at one time professed conversion, but never united with any of the churches. After his accession to the throne he formed an intimacy with some French adventurers, who used him for their profit, and his own and the nation's injUl'y; and having, very unwisely, abolished all duties on exports and imports, the vile rum from the Mauritius was brought into Madagascar in immense quantities, and he became so addicted to its use as to be almost constantly intoxicated. Drunkenness, became for the first time a prevalent vice with the Malagasy, especially with the coast tl'ibes. The cessation of persecution, and the hopes which were entertained of the young king's good conduct, brought the missionaries back to Madaga.sear,and the Christians who had been scattered everywhere in the island gather.ed again in Imerina, and very many of them in the capital, Antananarivo; the schools and churches were opened again, and the city, so long dellOlate, re– sumed its activities, and again became populous. By 1863 the missionaries found that in Imerina (the land, of the Hovas) there were 37,000 communicants inthe churches, 150,000 professedadhel'eBts to Christianity, and more than 50,000 children ready to enter the school;' So mightily had the Word of God prevailed, even under the instrumentality of native preachers and teachers, for, during at least twenty-fiveyea'1's, them' had been no European missionaries there. They had only the New Testa.- ment in thtlir own language, and the translation of this was not perfect; of course their knowledge of the doctrines of Ohristianity was defective; but they had passed through the fires of persecution, and they knew that they loved Jesus Christ, as their Saviour and Redeemer, and were ready to die for Him. There seemed for a little time to be a probability of the return of persecution. The king, while strongly addicted to his cups, was under evil influences. A French adventurer named Lambert had persuaded him to give him a grant of lands to the amount of nearly one-third of the arable land on the island, and this without any consideration; the idol keepers and idolators had formed an association, naming themseives the M6namaso, "the king's friends," and they were constantly advising him to issue decrees which would injure or destroy the Christians. He was for a time restrained by his Prime Minister, who favored Christianity; but finally Radamall. W8.1I. induced by the Menamaso to issue a decree that whenever individuals orvillages had a quarl'el with each other, they might go out and fight it out, and if any of them were killed the survivors ShOUld not be punished. The people understood that this meant a civil war of extermination against the Christians; and gl'eat efforts were made to induce the king to revoke this decree, but he stubbornly refused to do so, and ad4e<l otherpersec1.ting edicts,
JUNE
The Menama80 were exiled, hut the king, in his sober moments, still ad. hered to his decree, and when drunk.was very violent. A revolution ensued and the Government officials, after using every effort to control him, finaU; put him to death May 12, 1863, and proclaimed his widow. Rabodo, queen under the title of Rosaherina. It was announced to the people that Radama II. had taken his own life, because his friends the Menamaso had been ban- ished. The new government under Queen Rasoherina was to be one in which the Queen. the nobles and the heads of the people were to unite in making the laws; and decrees were at once premulgated as absolute by the new govern- ment; that the sovereign should not drink spirituous liquors; that the friend- ship with foreigners should be maintained; that there should be perfect lib. erty of conscience, and freedom of religious worship to all, natives and for. eigners, Christians and idol worshipers; that the ordeal of the tangena should be abolished, and that the death penalty should be inflicted only for the greatest crimes, and solely by thE' consent of the sovereign and her coun- cil. The people promised obedience to these decrees, and the Queen took the oath of allegiance to them. Rasoherina was not a ChristIan but she proved a good sovereign. Her reign was a stormy one, from the repeated revolts of the coast tribes who had been attached to Radama II., and would not believe that he was dead; from the imperiousness and intemperance of her Prime Minister, whom she was eventually obliged to banish, and from the intrigues of the French. who had made great demands, based on the grants made by the late king to the adventurer Lambert. Finding that she would not concede the lands, the French demanded through their Consul and Admiral an indemnity of $180,000 which she was eventually obliged to .pay in order to obtain the return of the concession. The mission work meanwhile was going forward; new missionaries from the Friends, the Nor- wegian Lutherans, the Church Missionary Society, and eventually the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel came in. Treaties were made with Great Britain and the United States. The Queen was in failing health, and seemed inclined to go back to idol worship, which indeed she had never fully abandoned. On the 1st of April, 1868, Queen Rasoherina died at her palace in the capital, and the next day the Prime Minister and Council chose Ra- . moma, a niece of the cruel Queen Ranavalona I., as her successor, with the title of Ranavalona II. Her reign was signalized by the adoption of a lib- eral constitution fpundeu upon the recognition of Christianity as the ruling power in the state, but not to be administered in a persecuting spirit. At the funeral of Rasohel'ina, and the proclamation of Ranavalona II., no idols were brought forward, nor was idol-worship mentioned in any treaty or state paper. The idol-keepers realized that their power was gone, and fell back into obscurity. On the 3rd of September, 1868, the Queen was crowned at the palace of Andohalo in the presence of a vast concourse of people. A copy of the Malagasy Scriptures, so far as tt'anslated, elegantly bound, was placed conspicuously at her side, and the royal canopy was emblazoned with ScrIpture texts. The coronation oath was administered to her with her hand on the sacred volume. Early in October, the Queen, her Prime Min. ister, Rainilaiarivony, and the household of the palace, met togethel' in Christian worship. On the 19th of February, 1869, the Queen, follOWing the exa.mple of her predecessor, was married to her Prime Minister, a man of remarkable ability, and of pure and noble character. In Madagascar, as in England, the Prime Minister is the real ruler of the country; and in this case he has retained his power through two administrations, and has car- ried it through gr~t qifficulties alld da,ngers. Oil the 21st 9f February,
MADAGASCAR
two days later, the Queen and her husband were baptized by Andria.mbelo," one of the native pastors, and united with one of the mission -church~. It was the custom in Madagascar that the new sovereign soon after his or her coronation should erect a new building, usually a palace, on the palace- grounds: Ranavalona II. decided to build a Christian church there of the beautiful Malagasy marble. Her next· step was the public burning of all the national idols, September 8,1869, and proclamation asking all her peo- ple to follow her example, and henceforth to worship the only living ,and true God. Her request was complied with by all the people of Imerina, though some of the unconverted natives looked forward with terror to the coming harvest, when they thought their idol gods would revenge them- selves on them by a famine, but the ensuing han-est was more bountiful than any which had previously been known, and their fears were allayed.
IV. THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL UNDER RANAVALONA II. We have already spoken of the circumstances attending the accession and coronation of Queen Ranavalona II. ;.of her courageous and frank avowal of her determination that Christianity should be the ruling and controlling influence in the state; of her burning all the national idols, and her virtual command that the people should also give their idols, ancestral statues and fetwhes to the fiames, and the instant response followed by a universal demand for teachers of the new religion. We have also spoken of the public baptism of the Queen and the Prime Minister, and of the erection of a beautiful marble church in the palace grounds by the Queen. There have been instances iii European history within the past three centuries where a ruler has felt it a duty, from motives of state policy, to lead in the change from Romanism to Protestantism, a change almost as great as that made in Madagascar by Queen Ranavalona II. ; but, in the English case of Queen Elizabeth, the sovereign did not deem it necessary that her own life should be an example of genuine piety and devotion to her people. The Queen of Madagascar having avowed herself a Christian, felt that it was her duty and her privilege to live thenceforth a holy, Christian life; and we doubt if in all the annals of history since the commencement of the Christian era, there can be found a record of a purer and more saintly life on the part of a professedly Christ.ian ruler. She carried this devotion into aU the relations of life. Her only questions in regard to any proposed action seflmed to be: Will this glorify God, and will it be for the good of my people? For fifteen years she was spared to bless her people and make them a civilized and Christian nation. How she learned so much of statemanship and effective administration is a gre;;:t marvel; but we believe that she sought and found wisdom from above. Let us enumerate a few of her wise measures and deeds: Whatever she could do to facilitate the work of the missionaries she did promptly and well; she established also large numbet's of government schools in all of which Christianity was tal~ght; and these not only among the Hovas but .among the heathen tribes so far as was possible; she gave equal rights to all her subjects in their religiOUS worship, Catholics as well as Protestants; and when the French Jesuits who, under her liberal administration, had planted missions and established schools, began to intrigue against the schools, churches and missions of the London Missionary Society, and the Friends Mission, whom they called canting Methodists, and finally went" so far as to demand that the whole religious instruction of the nation should be gIven up to Romish . priests, she rebuked them with firmness, and assured them that while there should be perfect freedom ~f wOl'ship and religious belief, no sect or denomination would be allowed to interfere or plot against any other. Her people begged her to expel these Jesuits, who had always been the enemies of the nation, and were really only French spies; but she refused, preferring to subdue them with kindness. She enforced the observance of the Sabbath; caused a code of laws to be prepared based on the best codes of England and America, by which crime should be ('ffectively punished, strict morality promoted, the rights and duties of the family should be maintained, and the strictest purity enforced; emancipated all the the national slaves, and by repeated edicts greatly diminished slavery among her people. She established a government printing house where not only the laws, but the Scriptures and the text books for the schools should be printed; introduced the Tonic Sol-fa system in all the schools, and printed both music and hymns in Malagasy, for religious worship as well as for the use of the schools. She greatly multiplied copies of the Scriptures, which, in 1869, had first been published complete in the Malagasy language. Finding a necessity for more thorough supervision of the various departments of the government, she selected, with the aid and counsel of the Prime Minister, a cabinet of ten of the most competent men in the kingdom to take charge of the agricultural, educational, military, commercial, manufacturing, land and other interests of the country, each of whom was directly responsible to the Prime Minister and herself. When the wild tribes made hostile raids, and it was necessary to suppress them by force, she instructed the military officers to avoid bloodshed, and to show them that their Queen was ready to redress their wrongs if they would appeal to her. The levying of taxes, which in all oriental nations is accompanied by frauds and oppression, was by her wise management made so light a burden that none of her people were distressed by it. In accordance with the immemorial practice of the Kings of Imerina and her immediate predecessors, the sale of lands in fee simple to foreigners, and of mining lands to anyone, was prohibited. Commerce with other nations was encouraged. Treaties of commerce were concluded with France, England, Germany, Italy and the United States, and their provisions carefully observed.* Yet this just and righteous queen was to be suhjected to great and severe trials, through the greed and malice of the French Government, and the bitter hatred and bigotry of the Jesuits, who were acting in the double role of missionaries and spies at Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. For nearly sixty years the French had cast longing eyes on Madagascar. More than once they had attempted to take possession of portions of it by force, but had been thwarted. They desired the glory of foreign conquest, and *This great advance in civilization, in good government, in morality and educational pro- gress, rests not solely on the testimony of the missionaries. who might be regarded as prejudiced witnes!es. In March, 1881, Admiral Sir W. Gore-Jones, at the direction of Earl Granville, British Foreign Secretary, visited Madagascar. taking with him Mr. Pakenham the British Consul, and spent three-a.nd-a-half months in a careful examlna.tion of the condition of the people and the administration of the Queen. Theil' report gives the highest commendation of the Queen, whose reign they declared" the greatest and most beneficial that Ma.da.gascar ha.d ever seen." .. The Hova people," said the Admiral… are now in that condition that they are ready to burst into perfect civilization; large num_ bers of the younger men are highly educated; the missionary schools are fuil of children. and thus the educaotionof the future generation is assured. Under the Queen's administration the Hovas had become a Christia.n people, the children were being educated 1D the Christian faith; the trial by poison had been abolished; more than 150,000 Mozambique slaves had been emancipated; an admirable code or laws, criminal and civil, had been ena.1lted and enforced; an army of 40,000 trO<!ps had been organized, armed a.nd drilled•• This testimolQ' is conclusive.
they wanted possessions in the East and especially 1D the Indian Oeean. After the disastrous Franco-German War, they turned their attention afreshto conquests in the East, attempting most unwarrantably the capture of Tonquin, and seeking to find some pretext for seizing Madagascar. The Jesuit missionaries, furious at theirfailure to compel the Queen to relinquish to them the entire religious control of the island, and to expel at their bidding the Protestant missionaries, were also zealously seeking some pI'etext on which the French Government might seize the island and thus give it upto their control. They represented to the French Government that the Queen, though amiable, was very weak; that there was no military force there worthy of the name; and thata very slight pretext would be sufficient to provoke a conflict; when, if bullied, she would at once succumb to their gemands. Tkiere was a French adventurer there, by the name of Laborde, who had obtained some grants of lands for agricultural purposes without consideration from the weak and intemperate Radama II., and some commercial privileges from Queen Rasoherina, the predecessor of Ranavalona II. ; he now demanded the title to these lands in fee simple, which the Queen refused, as contrary to the laws. He then declared that this was a violation of the treaty of 1868 with France (which was false), and appealed to the French Government to enforce the treaty. The Queen endeavored to pacify him, and to pay him for the concession which he had received from Radama II., but his death occurring soon after, his son and heir, M. Edward Laborde, refused to be satisfied, under the advice of the French Consul. The French had long had a trading station at the island of Nosy-be, on the northwest coast of Madagascar, and had gradually taken possession of the whole of that island. The northwestern coast of the main island, as well as most 01 the western and southwestern coast was occupied by the SakaHtva, a ferocious heathen tribe of large stature and nomadic habits, whose hostility to the Hovas was easily aroused, because they had destroyed their idols, and established a nominal Christianity throughout the island. The French sent their emissaries into this tribe, fomented their emnity to the Queen, made a treaty with them, giving them a claim to a considerable tract, nearly one-third of the island, to which this tribe had no title, and promised, that in case of a war with the Hovas they should be their allies and tht'y would provide for them. These were the only pretexts they had for the demands they now proceeded to make on the Queen; but having assembled a squadron of French ships of war in the harbor of Tamatave, and having taken counsel with the French Consul, the son and heir of the adventurer Laborde, and the Chief of the Jesuit missionaries, communications were made to the Prime Minister and the Queen; but the demands of the French Consul and the Admiral were so extravagant and unjust, and their representations so false, that no settlement was possible. Though the treaty of 1868 had expressly recog- nized the Queen as Queen of Madagascar, they persisted in addressing her as Queen of Imerina, or Queen of the Hovas, and when she refused to receive their communications as thus addressed, they changed their form to Queen Ranavalona II., and addressed insulting communications to the Prime Mmister; and the Commodore made public speeches at Tamatave, which were utterly unworthy the officer of any civilized government. After about six weeks of this fruitless discussion. the French Admiral and Consul drew up an ultimatum, dated June 1, 1883, requiring: 1. That the possesion of all .the island north of the 16th parallel should be guaranteed to them. 2. An indemnity of $200,000 for the claims of French citizens, includingtbe La.borde matter. 8. A revision of the treaty and a controlling voice in all matters
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affecting the policy of the Hova Government. A categorical answer Was dema.nded within eight days from the date of the ultimatum under penalty af the immediate bombardment of Tamatave in case of delay.
The ultimatum was promptly rejected by the Queen, and the Prime Minister notified' the French Admiral of the fact. The longer presence of the French residents in Antananarivo having been rendered impossible by the action of the French Admiral, they were on the 29th of May ordered to depart after five days' notice. They protested, although the Hovas in Tamatave had been expelled by the French at one hour's notice. They had been for many months actively engaged as spies, and the French Government or any other European government would, under similar circumstances, have put them to death or placed them in close confinement, but the Malagasy Queen was too thoroughly imbued with Christian principl(> to do either; she sent them away laden with food, with bearers for theilfeeble ones, and transportation for their effects, and a military escort to accompany them to the French lines. They, obdurate and maligant to the last, complained to the French commander that they had been robbed by the Queen's orders, and demanded and eventually obtained a tenfold indemnity for their alleged losses from the Malagasy Government. Tamatave and the adjacent ports were bombarded, and the British Consul, Mr. Packenham, who had been a firm friend of the Queen, was ordered, when dying to leave Tamatave in 24 hours, but died on the 23d of June, 1883, before the time expired., The Queen, desirous by all righteous means to avert the calamity of war from her people, sent an embassy to France, England, Germany and the United States to plead her cause.
The Queen's health had been failing for some months, and the excitement and trouble probably hastened her end. She died July 13, 1883. Hel' death was as noble and befitting in its Christian manifestations as her lite had been. She declared that she died fully trusting in Jesus Christ as her Saviour. She charged her successor and her Prime lIIinister to remember that her kingdom was resting upon God, and that He would take care of it. They were to continue as before in all matters of religion. Not one foot of her land was ever to be ceded to the French. Having joined in the usual evening prayers, she closed her eyes in death, " calmly as for a night's re- pose; like flowers at set of sun."
V. TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. Queen Ranavalona II. on her death bed named her niece, Razatindrahety, her successor, and asked that at her own death she might be buried quickly so that no interruption should happen to the preparation for resisting the French. She was buried on the 17th of July, 1tl83, her niece having been previously proclaimed as her successor, under the title of Ranavalona III., the Prime Minister, Rainilaiarivony, still continuing to guide the affairs of the kingdom. T~le position of the young Queen was a very trying one. She was a widow, tho::~h only twenty years old, had been very highly educated, and had given evidence of decided abilities and of being a sincere Christian. Her manners were gracious and courteous, but it was thought that she was rather proud and haughty and not quite so amiable as the late queen. She had an excel- lent and wise counselor in the Prime Minister, whom, according to the cus- tom of the country, she subsequently married, though he was about seventy years of age. But she succeeded the wisest, most judicious and most saintly queen who had ever occupied an Oriental throne, and at a time when her na- tion was at war with one of the most powerful nations of Europe. She
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could· rely upon the loyalty of her people, and wha.t was of far more consequence, she placed her dependence upon God, who had brought the na.tion .
thus far, and would not, she believed, leave them to perish. She declined to be crowned till the following November (1883) preferring first to make herself thoroughly familiar with her duties under the instruction of the Prime Minister. But no time was lost in this delay; the arming and drilling of the troops went on; arms of all sorts and Gatling and Gardner guns were imported from America; eminent military men, of English and American birth, were employed to instruct the troops in tactics, in fortification and in cavalry evolutions; all export of food and provisions was prohibited. The ambassadors sent by Ranavalona II. to Europe and America returned; their mission had been successful everywhere, except in France; there the Government had treated them roughly, and even refused them a hearing. But their mission in England, Germany and in the United States had raised up for them powerful advocates, especially among the Society of Friends, who were bringing such moral forces to bear upon the better disposed citizens of France as did lead to a change of feeling in that Republic.
On the 22d of November, 1883, the coronatioll of Queen Ranavalona III. took place. .From her palace at Andohalo, in the capital, she was borne in a beautiful palanquin to the" Sacred Stone," where all the sovereigns of Madagascar al'e crowned, and thence to the great plain of Mahamasina, where were assembled a half million of the Malagasy, all thoroughly loyal. The Queen made an eloquent and impressive speech, without notes, in which she avowed her dependence upon God, and her belief that as He had brought her to the kingdom at such a time as this He would protect her people and herself, if they worshiped Him in sincerity and truth; she reviewed the past, and her predecessor's glorious reign, expressed her intentions of ruling in the fear of God, and her determination of going forth to lead her people to battle for the right, if it should be necessary, and asked them to stand by her loyally. From all the vast concourse shouts of loyalty and devotion went up, and the people asked the Prime Minister to answer for them to the Queen. He did so in a speech of great eloquence, in which he pledged himself that his own body and the bodies of all that vast multituue should be her wall of defense against her and their foes.
The people went frantic with joy at this declaration, and when, bowing to the missionaries, he told the Queen that much of the recent progress of the nation was due to their teachings, the cheers of the people were renewed more loudly than before. The Queen then descended from the platform and entered a small carriage drawn by a white pony. The pony was taken from the shafts and the highest officers of the court drew the carriage through all the sixteen passageways or streets which divided this mighty host into sections that she might greet all her people and be greeted by them. No accident marred the joy of the day, and on her arrival at the palace she went immediately to the palace church, where a religious service of thanksgiving closed the eventful day.
Meantime the war went on languidly, but without result. The Admiral bombarded the smaller ports and trading places along the.. coast without warning, always to the loss of some subjects of other nations, and sometimes to the destruction of their lives and property. These raids only inspired both natives and foreigners with such hatred for the French as to make any permanent occupation of the country on their part impossible for· many years to come. The Hovas, selecting strong locations neal' the points occupied by the French, fortified them and compelled the French and their Sakala.va allies to keep .under the shelter of their own guns, and any attempts to work their way to the interior were sure to result in their being picked off by.the Hova sharpshooters. Meantime the coast fever struck down more than half the French troops, and from a force of from 2,500 to 6,000 troops, constantly reinforced, they never had fifty pel' cent. of effectives. The Admiral was constantly demanding more men and more money; yet he had nothing to show for it. The drain upon the French army and treasury was oecoming frightful, the more so as they were at the same time expending large sums on 'fonquin with an equally ignominious result. At length this and the strong remonstrances against this unjust war which the Friends had presently led to the overthrow of the French Cabinet, and M. Freycinet replaced M. Ferry as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In the two years which preceded this change the conduct of the French admirals and Consul in Madagascar was brutal and offensive in the extreme. They bombarded and captured Mojanga and other ports on the northwest coast, often without notice, stirred up the Sakalava to undertake raids and murders on peaceful viliages in the interior, demanded neg'otiations with the Queen, but continued active hostilities while these were in progress; at each attempt at negotiation they grew more insolent, refusing to recognize the' Queen as sovereign of Madagascar, threatening to take possession of the whole island, and demanding now a protectorate, which would be a virtual cession of aU power to them, now a third of the island in fee simple, Ilext the expUlsion of aU Protestant missionaries from the country, and its delivery to the Jesuit priests, and always an increasing indemnity. To these demands the Queen opposed a firm but courteous refusal, offering, however, indemnity for their alleged losses if the other demands were withdrawn. Then the Admiral Miot and the Consul announced their intention of capturing Antananarivo, and dictating terms of peace from the Malagasy capital. This was absurd, and did not alarm the Queen or the Prime Ministel'. The capital was nearly 5,000 feet above the sea, and the ascent to it was precipitous, through a dense forest, and there were no roads in existence, or possible for the French. They made some demonstrations toward capturing the capital, but never succeeded in approaching within 25() miles of it by the route which they took. Had they been able to come within 100 miles they would have been met by a force of at least 20,000 well-trained Hova troops, occupying a strongly fortified position-the key of the route to the capital-and well provided with artillery, Gatling and Gardner guns and small arms, and thoroughly provisioned. There was no time when the French could have brought 1,200 troops of all arms, aside from their Sakalava allies, to this expedition, and the Sakalavas always fled when attacked by the Hovas. Feints were made of maldng this attempt, but Admiral Miot never really intended it. Meanwhile, in 1884 and 1885, the Admiral had attempted to carry the fortified camp of the Hovas at Manjakandianombana, about ten miles from Tamatave-which had threatened the French for two years. The Hovas had about 20,000 troops of all arms, and were well provided with artillery, arms and ammunition, and were commanded by General Willoughby. In both actions the French were defeated with heavy loss and compelled to retreat. They had about 1,500 white troops and a large number of their savage allies. The last expedition was commanded by Admiral Miot in person. Meantime the condition of the French was growing more critical every day. Sickness and small losses from skirmishes were rapidly reducing their numbers, so that less than one-half of their force was effective, and the French people were unwilling to furnish money or men for 1'0 unprofitable a conflict. M. Sailliens, one of the most eminent of their statesmen, who had himself visited Madagascar, had published a book on the subject, in which he told the French people plainly that this whole conflict had been brought on by the JesUIt priests, froUl hatred of the Protestant missionaries, and from the determination to control these Malagasy tribes; that it could never succeed, and if it could it would ruin the French nation; that the conquest of Madagascar would require twenty years' time, a billion of francs ($200,000,000), and the lives of 200,000 men, and even then they would not be safe from constant guerilla attacks; while they would have the satisfaction of knowing that they had sent back into barbarism a nation which gave a brighter promise of speedy civilization than any other on the face of the globe.
It was evident to the French Government that they must make peace; yet they were reluctant to own themselves beaten. On tile other hand, the Malagasy were growing stronger every day. Th'ey had suffered some losses, but they had made more gains. They had acquired much knowledge in militaryaffairs and statesmanship, and this, without the demoralization and wreck which war usually brings; notwithstanding the losses by battle and by sickness, their population was larger than when the war comme,nceu. Religious worship, under church organization, ,was constantly maintained in all the camps. In the two largest camps there were twenty regularly constituted churches in each, with their pastors, who were soldiers, and their families and schools were established in each camp, and the teaching went on regularly. Many natives among the soldiers were converted. Strict temperance was maintained, and Christian song resounded from all the camps.
Several times during 1884 and 1885 the Queen held kabarys, or mass-meetings, at which hundreds of thousands of her subjects assembled on the great plain near the capital, when she told them of the progress of the war, of her affection for them, and of her trust in God. Their loyalty to her and their affection for her gave her great encouragement and strength. At one of these mass-meetings she proposed that the Premier should voice the prayer of the nation that God would send them speedy deliverance. It was a grand scene! The venerable man, with bared head, gave voice to their petitions, his lips quivering with emotion ,at each sentence, while from these hundreds of thousands of earnest worshipers the responsive amens came up like the voice of many waters.
Obviously, the Malagasy, if they had had a firm, unflinching friend among the nations of Europe or America, were in a position to dictate terms of peace, and France would have accepted them. As it was, with a new and courteous envoy in place of the former brutal ones, France exacted hard' and unjust terms, though hel' own losses were very heavy. She had expended more than twenty-five million dollars, and had sacrificed at least 12,COO men and some of her best officers, and she gained only a bay and harbor in the poorest part of the island, a titular right to interfere in the foreign policy of the Queen, a right to lease lands for a long term of years, and two millions of dollars' indemnity for damages to her own and other citizens. But she was glad to withdraw at any price.
The Queen of Madagascar, being relieved from these burdens and trials, has returned to her more congenial task of endeavoring to elevate and bless her people. There was no falling back during the wal' in the number of churches, of communicants, anu of schools, and in the midst of great peril and of death, thousands found consolation in their faith in the ever-living Saviour. Queen Ranavalona TI. had established a branch of the Red Cross Association in Madagascar, and her successor continued it. It proved of great service to her own tl'oopsduringthe war, and not only the sick and wounded Malagasy, but their wounded enemies also received help and'healing from its nurses. At the close of the war it was found that the French, having used the Sakalava and exposed them at all points of dangel', and to the deadly coast fever as well as wounding and death, after promising to care forthem, had abandoned them to their enemies. Many of them had perished in their miserable huts, and hundreds were wasting away from fever and wounds, having no one. to care for them. The Queen interested herself personally in ministrations of mercy for them, and by her care and attention many of them were brought back to life and health, and from being the bitterest of enemies j:.o the Queen have now bl;'come her loyal and loving subjects.
As soon as peace was restored acti ve work was resumed in the establishment of new schools and missions among the border tribes. Twice the Governmeni found that there had been feeble efforts to restore idol worship and the poisonous ordeal of the tangena. These attempts were promptly put down and "the more excellent way " taught, of the worship of the one living and true God. The laws were enforced all over the island, and everywhere was the love of Christ proclaimed. God's richest blessings came down on this faithful work for Him; 1887 and 1888 have been, in a peculiar sense, veal'S of the right hand of the Most High. The accession of converts has been very large, and the people have been pressing into the kingdom of God in: great numbers. Of course, there is some danger of unworthy persons being admitted to the churches, now, as in apostolic days} for intemperance and lust are the prevailing vices of the heathen population; but the churches are, as a rule, very careful and prompt in their discipline, and temperance and purity are strictly required of all their members. Yet, unquestionably, the righteolls souls of the missionaries and native pastors are sorely tried, by the fearful prevalence of immorality, lyingand intemperance among their professed converts. In a country which, sixty or even fifty years ago, was as wholly given over to lust as Corinth was in the apostle's time, it is hardly to be expected that these sins sbould be wholly extermi- nated. The Queen and her officers are models of purity; but the influence of the French traders, officers and sailors is of the vilest character, in promot- mg concubinage and gross licentiousness, and the English, Italian and Amer- ican traders are not much better. The English Government is responsible for the prevalent intemperance, forcing, as they do, the vlle rum of the .Mauritius into the island, in spite of the strict prohibition of the Malagasy Government. The statistics of the churches and schools to July, 1888, are as follows: There are not more than 40 European missionaries in all, but there are over 1,000 ordained native pastors, about 5,000 native preachers, 1,300 schools, with 125,000 scholars; 150,000 church members, about 450,000 adherents, and at least 1,500,000 nominal Christians. The people are very quick to learn, and a larger proportion of them are more inteillgent, even in religious matters, than most of the common people in European coun- tries. With all its short-comings and faults, Mada&,ascar is the missionary miracle of the nineteenth century.
LAY MISSIONARIES IN CHIN
LAY MISSIONARIES IN CHINA.
BY B. C….TTERBURY, M.D., PEKING, MISSIONARY PRESB. BOARD.
THE object of this paper is to briefly emphasize the following: 1. Need of more Christian workers in China. 2. Advantages to be gained in employing a certain proportion of lay workers to supply this need. 3. These lay workers should be sent out by our various Missionary Boards. 4. On the missionary field they should conform in dress and modes of living as closely as possible to the habits of the Chinese. Before discussing these points, let two objections which are commonly urged by many against this whole subject of the employment of lay agencies by the church be stated. The first of the objections is, that the employment to any considerable extent by the church of lay agents necessarily means the lowering of the standard of an educated minister and lessening their influence. But this by no means follows. The Christian Church in its various branches represents a constituency of evel'y class of society and all grades of intelligence. So long as our congregations are composed of intellectual, cultivated people, they will demand an intellectual, cultivated minister, and the demand must be supplied. In China, as well as elsewhere, men of high attainments are needed to translate books, study the various systems of religion, and preach to converts adval}ced in Christian knowledge. Such should be sent out by our various Boards. But besides these there is room also for another class of laborers of different attainments and education. The employment of this latter will no more interfere with the functions of the former than do the track-layers and other workmen who follow the civil engineers disturb them in their duties, as they layout a railroad. The employment of the one leaves the other freer for his special line of work, and the need for engineers with their superior attainments is all the more sharply brought out by contrast with those who are engaged in other details of road-laying. The other objection to this subject is, that lay workers are often cranky, inefficient workmen, and It costs as much to employ them as it does so-called thoroughly educated clergymen. ThIS objection would have weight if it could b~ shown that there are no cranks 01' inefficient men among the graduates of our theological semina.ries. It is not proposed to send cut hap-hazard, to the missionary field, every pious man or woman who comes along merely because he or she wants to become a missionary. Candidates desiring appointment must present the same credentials as to fitness for the work as do other missionaries, with the exception of not having pursued a regular theological course. Those recommending these candidates for service must be sure of their experience in Christian work, of their knowledge of the Bible and acquaintance with Christian evidences. There are such earnest, Christian men and women" of sanctified common sense" who wish to be engaged in God's work. To say that such lay workers are necessarily cranky, difficult to control, and even if not educated up to the highest notch cannot do"honest, efficient work, shows a non-acquaintance with what many of our city missional'les, those connected with the Young Men's ChristIan Associations, members of the China Inland Mission, and many other prominent and honest Christian workers, are accomplishing. In the East, the names of Wells Williams, Dr. Hepworth, Peter Parker, are household words, yet they worked and translated for the church without having been in one of its theological seminaries. The argument that since it costs as much to support a lay worker as it Joes a clerical missionary, and hence the latter sbould always be chosen, should sometimes be turned around and stated thus: That since it costs as much to send out a. clerical, as a lay missionary, our Boards in their selection of agents should give preference to the latter. The church must understand that the employment of one class of men, ministers we call them, to the almost utter exclusion from Christian work of other classes has no sanction, either in the Bible or apostolic teachings. A theological education per se is no guarantee of success in Christian work; like wings to a flying fish, itoften changes what otherwise might be a good swimmer into a very poor flyer.
The first point alluded·to above is the necessity for more Christian laborers in China. By way of illuskation we present some statistics, copied from various sources, but accurate enough for practical purposes. Four hundred millions of people, 35,000 Protestant converts, and not all these giants by at1;y means either in spiritual power or Christian knowledge. This proportion can be better appreciated by supposing that every letter of our English Bible could stand for a Chinaman. It would take over 100 Bibles to represent the number of heathen, while the Epistle to the Romans would stand for the members of our various Protestant churches. At present in China there are laboring. say, about 300 ordained ministers, or one to considerably more than one million of inhabitants. In the United States this proportion is as one to every 800 people. In that country also there are over 1,000 counties representing districts more populous than some of our states where the gos- pel has never yet been heard. The whole Empire is practically open to mission~ry eifort, but the workers-where are they? We constantly hear that our theological seminaries do not graduate a sufficient number of capable men to supply even home demand. Under the present system of choosing its missionaries for work abroad, our Boards then must either depend on those who are needed here, or, on the principle" anything is good enough for the heathen," send out men who can be of no use at home. Why there is this dearth of those willing to enter our theological seminaries we do not discuss. The fact remains that many who are fitted to do good work for the church both at home and abroad do not take a theological course. Why should not our Missionary Boards, if they cannot seCUl'e a sufficient number of efficient clerical missionaries, send out a certain proportion of such as their agents to China and other fields.
The second point to be spoken of is that even if a sufficient number of theo- logical graduates were offering themselves for missionary work, there are some'advantages to be gained in certain Hnes of work in rather employing lay workers. In China those who are willing to listen to and believe in the gospel are not the intellectual or wise, although these are notto be neglected.
But it is the coolies, the farmers, the villagers, the small tl-adesmen, who form by far the greater part of our native congregations. To get hold of these not so much intellectuality is needed as an earnest, loving heart. To instruct and guide them, an acquaintance and sympathy with their daily life is more important than a knowledge of Greek or Hebrew. He who is will- ing to put on their dress, live in some such manner as they live, eat of theit'
food, and sitting on the same bench, is able to talk about what interests them, speaking simply of the folly of idolatry, and of the one true God, will win their hearts. To fit one for this simple work the ordinary theological training is no sine qui non, but perhaps a hindrance. A knowledge of how to deal with the lower classes comes from having bad personal contact with them, and here the layman oCten has the advantage over him who has passed sO many of his years in his study pouring over his books. . Another advantage also to be gained in sending out lay workers in China is that these are more likely to be free from theological bias and the powers of church traditions, and hence will probably work in greater harmony with ,those of other denominations. This is no slight consideration. The figure of the various sects being but different branches of the same army, butallengaged in fighting for the same cause, is a good one. But when the infantry begin to boast that they are better than the cavalry, or the cavalry assert that the artillery are not loyal to the King because they differ from themselves in drill and equipments, then the simile loses its force. In China there are those who tell their converts that their own churoh, the Greek Church, the Roman Catholic Church, are all right, but that the members of other Protestant bodies are all wrong. There are husbands immersed by close communionists who are not allowed to sit at the same communion table with their wives because immersed by others who believe in open communion, while the most powerful argument used against the formation of a union theological seminary was the fear lest the students would not be able to study Whedon's Commentaries. Of course, neither Chinese converts nor other sensible people understand why there should be these differences amongst those worshiping the same God, reading the same Bible, and expecting to go to the same heaven.
A union native church in Japan, China, and other heathen countries will become a possibility only when those who have the oversight of the bewildered flock are willing to consider all loving the Lord Jesus in sincerity as their brethren. The graduates of our theological seminaries are chiefly responsible for this keeping alive on missionary grounds the differences be- tween the various sects, and for this reason perhaps some should be confined to work in home lands where they can do less harm.
The willingness also of laymen to vary according to necessity the charac- ter of their religious meetings is another argumentin favor of their employment. To reach the masses in China demands. the same versatility and adaptability to circumstances as in New York City. A set order of service consisting of a certain number of prayers and hymns, with the ., unfolding" of a text into innumerable heads, all of which must be gone through with or God is not duly worshiped, will no more attract certain classes in that coun- try than here. Some there can fill our largest chapels, for those coming ex- pect to be interested with plenty of good gospel singing, with catching tunes and addresses. short and to the point, while others-well, vice versa.
The third point to be briefly touched upon is that our various Missionary Boards instead of sending out only those who have had a regular theological education, as is the custom now, should send a certain proportion of others who do not possess this qualification. Young men and women are offering themselves for missionary work. If suitable, why should not the church make use of them? The Y. M. C. A. movement is outside of and independent of the church, principally because in the church itself as at present run-to use a political phrase-by those controlling it, there is but little encouragement given to the lay worker to spend and be spent in its sel'vices. The diploma of some seminary seems necessary for anyone wishing to fill any position under its control. Is it not better to change somewhat this plan even if preconceived ideas have to be given up, and insist that the men and women nurtured as children in its bosom shall also be allowed to spend their maturer years in its service, instead of being compelled when wanting to be of use in the world to join outside agencies because unable or unwilling to take a certain prescribed course of preliminary education? The fourth point to which we have come is: If theselay workers should be employed by our various Missionary Boards they should, when on· the missionary field, be willing to adopt the native dress and live in native houses. In other words some of the methods employed by the now well- known China Inland Mission should be adopted by other societies as well.
At present in China the average salary of our missionaries, if married, is from $1,000 to $1,200 ; about two-thirds of this sum is pald to single men. Be- sides this there are other allowances made for ehildren, medical expenses, house rent, when necessary, all of which will increase this amount some- what. The average cost of a house built in the usual foreign style is about $3,000. It must be noted carefully that it is not said that these salaries are too much, or that the residences built for the missionaries are too large.
Christianity represents a following composed of the wealthiest in our country and the resources of the church are large. In the ports it looks well to see substantial buildings connected with missionary work, and, mingling with all classes of society, many missionaries are compelled to maintain more or less so-called "style" in their modes of living. But in the country villages and interior towns, where many of our converts live, workers from abroad can live more as do the native Christians themselves by adopting their style of dress and homes with certain modifications on half the above mentioned salary with a like reduction in the cost of mission premises. This statement can be corroborated by many actually Jiving in China under ttese conditions. In this mode of living a saving is effected along the whole line of household expenses, dress, servants, coal, furniture, while any sacrifice of some of the luxuries of life is more than compensated for in being able to say in the matter of self-denial to our native helpers and church members" come," instead of " go," getting nearer to the people and by putting a brake on the general tendency to unnecessary expenditures in living, so characteristic the world over, ward off much hostile crioticism.
To have $100 a year to spend on their family expenses would seem a large sum to the majority of our church members and native pastors. Surely, then, some of their Christian brothers from the west should be able to get along on several times this amount. We believe there are those willing to go out as missionaries under these'conditions, and if so our Boards should be willing to send them.
The objection that thus there would be two grades of salaries for men and women laboring in the same society has but little weIght. In the Methodist Church it is an understood thing that its younger men shall do pioneer work and receive less pay than do others living in the large towns of the country. In every society, or in any business firm, there are in- equalities of pay and duties. If thought best the difference thus saved iii salaries might be invested in some life insurance company to be paid to the missionary after a certain number of years of serVlce. In the matter of children also somewhat larger allowances to those who receive just their living expenses on the foreign field than to others in some cases should be granted, when these children have to be sent to the hOIl!eland for education. .
The ideas suggested in this paper that lay missionaries, as well as clerica.l, should be sent out by our Missionary Boards to China at least, and that these-with the idea of bridging over as much as possible the chasm which lies between the foreigner and the Chinamen-should adopt nati ve dress and native modes of life, is in harmony with the example of Christ lJ,nd the teachings of the New Testa-ment.
lSS9
Rev. Dr. Martin; President of the Imperial College,Pekin, thus writes oil .this subject: .. On the advisability of lay missionaries coming to China I hold strong views. The field is so vast, and the work called for so various, that it would be a fa,tal restriction to send out none but ordained miniHters. It would be like depriving an army of its non-commissiolJed officers• .. Of the class of lay laborers that appear to be required we may mention two or three. First, medical men, a class whose influence in China is steadily Il'rowing and whose mem- bers are for the most part unordained. Second, teachers-educational work in China has a great future. It would be a grand mistake for missIOnary societies to follow blindly the example of the apostles and limit their agents to the one work of preaching. Times have changed. and methods must be changed to Buit them. Third, artisans: the back- ward state of the arts in China opens a wide door for Christian enterprise in this depart- ment. Good men, possessed of mechanical skill in different lines, might benefit the Chinese and at the same time earn a support for themselves, bnt aiming chiefly at religious results it would be well for them to form part of a missionary organization rather than to act independently."
He thus answers the question: Should some of the principles of the China Inland Mission be adopted?
.. By all means. These prinCiples in general commend themselves as based on common sense and have acqnired the prestige that comes from experience. Native dress' and native honses are required in most places as an indispensable condition to the peaceful and effective occupation of the ground."
Rev. Dr. Blodgett also gives the weight of his experience and labors in China on the same subject. He writes: .. Are there men gifted with God's Spirit and consecration to Christ's service among the lay workers in the United States 1 Are there those whom God has approved, to whom He has given fruits of their labors? If so, and if they are desirous of preaching the gospel in China, let them come. There is a pressing need in North China for a class of laborers whO, leavinlr to others book making and extensive study of the Chinese classics, shall be both able and willing to go with native helpers into all the towns and villages, preaching the gospel. Snch men should wear the Chinese costume, eat the food of the natives,live in native houses, sleep upon their furnace beds. Undismayed by annoyances of all kinds, they should be able to follow up such service year after year for seven or eight months each year with patience and endurance. Would any lay workers or ordained pastors or any thoroughly educated men be ready to join such a band of workers on equal terms 1 If I mistake not some of our best educated young men, those of choice spirits and rare gifts, would rejoice to cast in their lot with such a band and, WesleyJike, 'evangelize China.'"
Dr. Blodgett goes on to give some sound practical advice as to just how he considers this plan of the use of lay agencies can best be carried out.
Rev. Mr. Beach of Tung Chow, also writes in the same way.
EMIN PASHA.
BY RET. LOUIS GROUT.
WHO is he? what is he? where is he? what is he there f01', or what is he doing? Few questions of a far-reaching character and interest are just now more common than the above concerning the Prussio-German doctor-friend of Gordon, Governor of Southern SO,udan, African explorer and benefactor, eminent linguist and lfaturalist-whose assumed name stands at the head of this article. Eduard Schneitzer, who took the Arab-Tur~ish name and title of Emin Pasha, for the sake of the help it might give him in his beneficent work in the Soudan, was born of Protestant parents in Oppeln, Prussian Silesia, March 28, 1840; began the study of medicine at Berlin in 1858, and graduated at the university of that city in 1864. Fond alike of travel and of natural history, he went that year to Turkey, crossed over into Asia Minor, remained there until 1873, then returned to Constantinople, where he soon mastered the Arabic and several kindred languages. In 1876 he entered the Egyptian service as a medical officer, wf1s sent to the Soudan, and eventually to General GGrdoIi.; and then, in 1878, after the Egyptian Government
£:MIN PABBA
had made Gordon Governor-General of all Soudan, it accepted the general's l·ecommendation and appointed Dr. Schneitzer to be his successor as Gov. ernor of the equatorial provinces in South Soudan. Here it was that he llloid aside all indications of his European origin and assumed the name of Emin and the title Bey, Effendi, or Pasha, that he might the more readily reach the people over whom he was set as rulel',.at the same time telling his friends that" a Turkish name would never change an honest German into a Turk."
The region over which Emin Pasha has been called to rule may be described in general terms as on the sources of the White Nile and of the Aruwhimi, a branch of the Congo. It is sometimes spoken of as the province (or provinces) of the great equatorial lakes, and sometimes as the eq)latorial pl'ovince of the Soudan. It lies between twenty-eight degrees and thirtyeight degrees east longitude, and extends from the equator to five degrees north latitude, includes at least a part of Bahr-el-Ghazel and Niam-Niam on the north and west, and has the Congo Free State, of which the King of the Belgians is nominal ruler, for its southern border. Its capital is Wadelai, situated just a little north of Lake .Albert Nyanza and about a thousand miles south of Khartoum. When Ismail, the Khedive of Egypt, formally announced an extension of his Soudan rule southward, so as to include the whole Nile basin up to the equatorial lakes, he issued a flrman to Sir Samuel Baker, giving him absolute control over the whole country south of Gondokoro. Then, in 1873, when Baker retired, General Gordon was sent to take his place. Both evidently did what they could to suppress the nefarious slave-hunting in which the .Arabs and others had been for a long time engaged, and were making just these provinces the great field of their operations. When Emin Pasha took Gordon's place he, too, gave himself with great zeal to this work, as also to every other good thing, and for a time with much success. But when the Arab slave-dealers and the Mahdi combined to recover their country from Egypt and the English, and well nigh succeeded, they began also to set Emin Pasha's rule at naught, and so revive the iniquitous business to which that rule was so stoutly opposed. No doubt both Baker and Gordon did, each in his turn, all it was possible for any man to do in their circumstances in such a field and with such a desperate o.Pposition as they had to contend with. Nor does Dr. Emin fall at all behind them in his zeal, his efforts, or his success. Great praise has been bestowed on them each and all. Great praise is their due. Few who have not had experience in such a work can ever know or appreciate the strength of the opposition they had to encounter. At present the great business of hunting, catching, transporting, and selling men as slaves is almost entirely in the hands of the Arabs. They believe in it. They delight in it. They have hosts of helpers in their employ. Great are the gains they make in it. Their religion approves it. Their Bible, the Koran, encourages it. All the Mo- 113,mmedan governments in Africa combine to sanction and aid the inhuman practice. And yet.much has been done-done by the men just named-to limit and suppress the abomination and to promote the weal of the people under their care.
Of Dr. Emin it is said: .. He found his province in a condition of chaos when he undertook the government. Disreputable officials had obtamed power and inftuence, the slave-trade was in tull force everywhere, innumerable cruelties and oppressions of the poor negroes were rife on every hand, no Industry or agriculture was encouraged, and the government showed an annual deficit of £3.9,000. In one short year Emin introduced a wonderful change. He put down corruption, banished oppression, and changed misery into prosperity. In four years he had expelled all the Arab slave-dealers; had replaced Egyptian soldiers by natives of his OWJ1 training; had turned the deficit into a profit of £8,000 a year; had introduced the cultiva.-
EMIN
,tion of cotton and indigo, colfee and rice; had constructed permanent roads, and est&b- , lished a regula.r mail between his several stations, a.nd introduced camels and oxen for ,tranSDort. Meantime he had won the love and confidence of all the tribes that lived in his territory."
Surely both great and blessed was the work done by Dr. Emin during those few first years of his reign; great, also and well-earned, has been the praise of it in all Christian lands. And yet, ifever the philanthropist; the Christian, or any other man should get the impression that any such benighted province is to be redeemed or put on a basis of sure, continued life and peace so quick, and without other agencies. no mistake could be greater. Least of all can any African province on which the rapacious eye of the slave-hunting Arab has been set be permanently recovered, save by a large admixture of those most earnest efforts which have their origin and efficiency in the truth and grace of the gospel-efforts the full force of which can never be brought to bear upon any most ignorant and degraded people in a day or a decade.
During Baker's foul' years' rule in the Upper Nile basin, he was said to have" given the cruel commerce of the Arab slave-dealers a severe blow." During Gordon's subsequent rule there he, too, was said to have" given the slave-trade a deadly blow." :And yet Emin is said to have found" the slave- trade in full force everywhere; .innumerable cruelties and oppressions of the poor negl'oes were rife on every hand." And now, after all he has done to "clear his territory of slave-dealers" and "banish oppression," some who have most freely accorded to him this well-deserved praise say: "The sad- dest news we have heard from Africa in many a day id that the work of this great and many-sided 'man is probably at an end, and that the people he so ably and heroically served are remitted again to barbarism and the slave- hunter." Nor will any who know the full meaning of the late uprising in the Soudan to throw off Anglo-Egyptian rule, or the meaning of recent mur- derous assaults on Christian missions in the great lake regions and on the east coast of the continent, n~ed be told that the slave-hunting spirit and power of the Arabs are bent on having permanent, unlimited sway in all Central Africa. To this end theyal'e steadily looking and working. And here it is we have the secret of Emin Pasha's long-enforced insulation and destitution-why nothing was heard from him for more than a year; why he was hedged about so long" at Wadelai making garments of cotton he had planted and spun, making shoes of ox-hides he had taught the people to tan, using honey for sugar,.hibiscus-seeds for coffee, making candles of wax, and soap of tallow mixed with ashes, living on a few vegetables and meat, waiting for Stanley, of whose coming he had heard.'; It was in Janual'Y, 1886, that Dr. Emm wrote of his having been prac- tically cut off from the civilized world for the last three years. Six months later he wrote asking for succor-not an armed force, but supplies, including ammunition for his own forces. Responding to this a.ppeal, the British Government fitted out a relief expedition in the early part of 1887, and ap- pointed Stanley to the charge of it. Toward the cost of this, which consisted of 'i00 men and ample supplies. the Egyptian Government contl'ibuted $50,- 000, and the British Geographical Society $5,000. Starting from Zanzibar, Stanley moved by steamers to and up the Congo to Stanley Falls, then re- turned to the Aruwhimi, on which, at Yambunga, he left a camp of men and supplies under Major Bartelott, and started on foot for Wadelai. While Stanley was makihg up his expedition at Zanzibar he chaneed to fall in with that arch slave-dealer, Tippu Tib, captured and subsidized him, thinking it better policy to buy up than fight one who had been for years the great ter- ror of the helpless tribes of Central AfriCa, and of both commercial alld mis-
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sionary settlements among them, as also one whose intrigues and. power over an army of slave-dealing Arabs had seemed to be well nigh unlimited.
Having taken this uncrowned king into his empioy, Stanley made him a.
kind of sultan, with headquarters at Stanley Falls, to be at once a paid ally of the Congo State, and especially a champion helper in putting down the terrible slave-traffic in Central Africa!
When Stanley started on his expedition he hoped to reach Wadelal in eight months, or by the middle of October, 1887. But his journey on foot from Yambunga was slow and difficult. About the middle of January, 1888, a little less than a year, it would seem that he met Emin at Wadelai, having with him 330 men and plenty of stores, all well, yet greatly exhausted, hav- ing been compelled to make a long detour to the northeast to avoid swamps and hostile tribes. And yet another year had expired before anything like authentic or definite intelligence had come to us from him. It was near the close of 1888 that he was reported as having been captured by the Arabs, but nothing was known of him. Indeed, it was only about the middle of last December that the House of Commons was discussing the question of send- ing an expedition for his relief. But on the 16th of January, 1889, the con- tents of a letter reached Brussels, written by Stanley to Tippu Tib, dated August 17, at Bonalya, twelve days' march from Stanley Falls, in which he says he left Emin May 28 at Wadelai, well and with abundant supplies, and that he would take the men and stores at Yambunga and start on his return to Emin in ten days, hoping Tippu Tib would join them, either in helping Emin strengthen his post or in efforts to make his way in safety to the coast. Whether this letter is genuine, and what may be the developments of a later date, are points of great interest on which all are anxiously wait- ing for definite intelligence.
Few are the examples of heroism, self-denial, and persistent devotion to a great beneficent work such as we here find in Emin Pasha. The narrative before us is clearest proof of his self-sacrificing interest in the redemption of Africa. from the terrible suffering and wrong to which for long ages she has been subject. To see" a single European standing by and defending a prov- ince 400 miles in extent from north to south by 700 from east to west, full of poor, helpless negroes, resolved to protect them from being victimized by Arab slavers, and to lend them a hand toward civilization and security"- what nobler, more inspiring sight does the age offer for us to study or ad- mire? His love for his work and his attachment to his people, and theirs to him, were beautifully indicated when he wrote, last year: "These natives have stuck bravely to me, and they deserve the best government and help that can be given them." Already in a previous letter had he signified his glorious purpose, when he said: "The work that Gordon paid for with his blood I will strive to carryon-if not with his energy and genius, still accord- ing to his intentions and in his spirit. . I shall remain with my peo- ple until I see that both their future and the future of this country are assured."
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS.
"THE MISSIONARY NET."
VOLUliTlIIEBB will be interested in a letter of Bishop Thoburn's, of India, given in the January number of The Ohurch at Home and Abroad. The Bishop is a man of wide experience, and thinks that less than ten per cent. of those caught by "the missionary net" are accepted by the Boards or persevere in their intention. Many are of unsuitable age. Others have" a quiver full of little arrows." Some are rejected because oC defective education and no habits of study. "A slipshod, superficial, Inaccurate graduate of a college will be beaten clear out of sight by the careful and alll)11'IIte country school-teacher who studies." Three.fourths are rejected for one of the above
18$9.] GENEItAL MISSIONARY
r8.asone. The average age of those that are left is about 27. Some of these are rejected bJ the physician for physical disability; others because their testimonials are not satisfactory. When. the number has been sifted down, perhaps from 100 to 5, some of tholle who are accepted may change their minds or find excuses for not going at once. The Bishop brings against yonng men the charge of not r('ally knowing their own minds. "Forewarned is forearmed"; many volnnteers will take the hint as to the conditions and requisites of final acceptance.
MR. WILDER'S WORK.
Mr. R. P. Wilder, traveling secretary of the Student Volunteer movement, has completed a snccessful tonr in the South and East. At Louisville, Ky., 13 men decided for foreign missions. At Mayville College, Tenn., six men and six women signed the volunteer pledge. At the East Tennesee College Conference Mr. Wilder met Mr. Mott, and the two worked together. The power of the Holy Ghost rested upon them in such measure that on Sunday there were 20 inquirers after Christ. At the earnest request of the authorities another day was spent there. Monday afternoon, at a meeting for cadets, 22 sought Christ. Four of the five captains are now Christians. On Monday night there were 15 inquirers. Five men decided for foreign missions. At Chapel Hill, N. C., five pledges were secnred and the sum of $187 was raised. At Hampden-Sidney, Va., 16 men signed the volunteer pledge. At the New England College Conference Mr. Wilder /lgain met Mr. Mott. Fourteen male volunteers were secured. At Amherst, $250 was raised among a small number of students. It is hoped to increase the sum to $700.
Mr. Wilder will spend April in Iowa and Nebraska; in May he will visit Kansas, Missouri and lIlinois. NOTES.
-The University of North Carolina will send a teacher to Japan. -At Bryn Mawr three college girls have volunteered for foreign missions. A representative will be seut a year from November. -Oberlin was visited by Mr. Wilder in March. Thirty-two volunteers enrolled aud between $300 and $400 were secured. -The Northfield Letter to volunteers is published. A copy will be sent to every volunteer. Extra copies may be had at three cents each. -A district convention of the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance, held March 14th at Lancaster, Fa., was addressed by Dr. A. T. Pierson. -College Secretary J. R. Mott, Chairmau of the Executive Committee of the Student Volunteer Movement, has been doing efficient work in the South developing aud organizing the volunteer forces. -At a Missionary Conference in New York City $565 was raised by the ladies toward the current expenses of the Student Volunteer movement. The expenses for the year will be about $1,400. The Foreign Mission Committee of the King's Daughters will keep Messrs. Stoops, O'Brien and Smith in the field this summer recruiting volunteers.
-The student volunteers of North Carolina are planning an active campaign in that State. There are 15 volunteers in three colleges; they expect to raise the number to 50 before the year is out.
-Mr. W. H. Hannum, Correspondin/!: Secretary, has issued statistic blanks to be filled out by volunteers. The blank is accompanied by a letter stating briefiy the growth and organization of the movement, and pointing out the consequent need of a permanent and reliable record. Statistics are gathered under four heads: (1) Personal; name, address, age, etc. (2) As a volunteer; when decided, at what college, training in Christian work. (3) As a foreign missionary; when sent, by what Board, foreign address, present opinion as to the needs of the foreign field. (4) About others ; any points as to missionary interest, etc., that would not be likely to come to the attention of the Bxecutive Committee. The intention is to get and keep a list of volunteers carefully revised to date, and to have accurate information of the plans of each.
n.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
I.-British and Foreign Bible Society. from heaven. It was impossible to go over the LORD BRASSEY recently made an whole field dealt with iu the reports, and he naturally looked at places which in the course eloquent address in England from of numerous voyages he had personally visited. The condition of those places would, he knew, which we abstract some items of in- be one of complete spiritual destitution but for the efforts which were put forth by that society. terest: In the dark continent he knew from personal experience there were great difiiculties in the THE total issue of the Scriptures since 1808 work of distributing the Scriptures. On the amounts to 116,459,000 volumes, and the in- West Coast there was a deadly climate which crease In the sale and distribution is one of carried away many of the noble Christian men steady progress. Such an enterprise must be who went forth to do the work of the Lord in costly, and It was gratifying to know that in that country; and on the East (ioast, in "ddl- 1Iugland it had beeu so nobly supported. The lilt of contributors included thousands who ~e !pven nu!1er the promptings which came ,tion to the d!1lleulties of climate, they had the Ing flgures, which show a sustained· Increase hostility of the Arabs, which mnst be met by a mixture of eourage and tact which was not often among the Mohammedan pupils, distrtbuted met with in fraU humanity. Even in Africa the work was making progress, and Mr. John- over every stage of edncation, and chiefly nostone, who was doing good service on board a mission steamer on Lake Nyassa, aaked them ticeable in the private schools, which were at- (or an increased supply of the Scriptnres in Arabic. In the reports there was an interesting tended by 240,47'~ pupils, as compared with IDS,- account of how the Bible was eagerly asked (or by the travelers in caravans, to read in the 415 pupils in 1886-7.- Our Engli8k Oorrespondlong rests in the mid·day and evening. In the ent. ' island of Mauritius, too, the circulation of the Scriptures was doing a great work. and became A Remarkable I1ocument. a valuable influence for the spread ofChristianity The following is an extract (tran'Jamongst the migratory coolie population. Re- lated) from a document addressed by ferring to India he said that it was satisfactory the Greek Patriarch of Constantinoto learn that the distribution by saJe of the ple to the BisRops under his jurisdic- Scriptures was the largest on record, and the tion, dated June 9, 1844.-G. W. reports from Madras and Bombay were ofa pro- WOOD, D.D. gressive character. They knew the seclusion in which the women of India lived, and the dlf- " And in the days of onr most holy predecesflculty there was in conveying to them the pre- sors, as well as in our own, the church has not cious trnths o( the Gospel. The society had failed to write and to command your Holiness done a splendid work in organizing the agency most carefully to see to it, that within your dioof mission women, who were enabled to carry ceSe there be neither bought nor sold, nor read the truths of the gospel to the heathen and Mo- by the Christians under your charge, anti-relighammedan women of India. There was not less ious, anti-government books, such as entirely than 300 native Christian women engaged in that corrupt the Christian people in their politics, most valuable and yet most d!1llcult work. their religion, and their morals. And we do not doubt that obedient to ecclesiastical authority. After alluding to the labors of the society in you will discharge this your eptscopal duty, and Ceylon, China, Japan and the Colonies, he re- watch most diligently that the Christians withmarked that if Christians had found God's iu your jurisdiction be not injured politically, 'Vord a comfort in the hour of trouble and sor- religiously, or morally. And especially influrow-if they had drawn from the Scriptures enced by the fact that the Old Testament has guidance beyond all expression precious, among recently (in the year 1840) been translated from many dilllcult tasks-if they had drawn precious the Hebrew, we would recall to the remembrance hopes for the life of the future, and felt gratefnl of your Holiness what the church has written at for the precious feast of which it had been their different times concerning this subject, comprivilege to partake freely, the promptings of manding you unchangeably to persevere in such !(1"atitude would impel them to do their utmost watchfulness, and take good heed that this Old to extend to others the blessings which had Testament, recently published, be neither sold, been so largely bestowed upon themselves. nor bought, nor read in your diocese, as not be- ing received by the church; nor any kind of II. India.-Educational Report, 1887-8. anti-religious, antt-government book. You are to prevent the Christians in your diocese from The total expenditure on education, which was' the sale, purchase, and reading of such corrupt 2,1)2,41,414 rupees in 1886-87, rose to 2,61,_ books that they may not be corrupted in their 111,280 rupees iu 1887-88. The percentage of politics, their religion, and their morals; and the total population of school'going age that you are by your counsels and instructions to actually attended school was 11.8, as compared conflrm them in their eivil and religious dnties, with 10.7 percent. the preceding year. On March that yon may please God, the Royal Govern- 31, 1887, 3, 343,544 pnpils were on the rolls of ment, and your holy Mother herself, the great the different 6chools to which the statistics re- church of Christ." late, wh.!le on the same date in 1888 the nnmber had risen to 3,460,844. The numbers attending Africa.-Slavery. A meeting was school in 1886-7 comprised 2,960,859 at public held last week in Exeter Hall, to and 872,685 in private institntions; and, in 1887-8, consider the slave traffic so far as 3,021,721 at pnbllc and 439,123 at private insti- it affects Africa. The audience intutions. There were 2,345,794 Hindns, as com- cluded many ministers of religion, pared with 2,303,812, in 188&-87; 804,485 Ma- military men, and ·politicians, who homedans as compared with 752,441; 23,160 listened with much interest to an ad- Europeans and Eurasians, as compared with 23, dress on this important subject by 185 ; 74,498 native Christians, as compared with Commander Cameron, R.N. 60,611; and 203,121 of other classes, including aborigines, as compared with 192,314. There The Archbishop of Canterbury presided will be lome surprise expressed at the foreso and delivered a. thoughtful opening speech. He rejoiced to find that English people are making up their mind!!! that all slavery
"1889.] GENERAL llUSSIONAltY
must come to an end. He would fain we Which the subject was treated in great de- bad been moved to this determination by tail. He maintained that under good and the principle that every kind of slavery is peaceful government slavery would disap- a degradation to him who slaves. and a pear.
worse d<'gradation to the man who makes The Bishop of London moved a resolution his fellow slave. rather than by the Intoler- urging tbe British Government, either able evils which"lie behind the system. and alone or in association with other powers, have now assumed so gross a character to consider the possibility of devising meas- that lihe human mind revolts at the very ures calculated to d'iminish aud suppress thoughtof them. Whole tracts of Africa the evil, and. moreover. to use all its influ- are. he remarked. returning to the silent ence to secure the maintenance of the Zam- void which preceded the creation of man besi as an open highway. This was second- on the earth. and we may well ask what is ed by the Dean of Westminster. and carried at the root of the matter. There ought to with acclamation. A healthy public opin- be a power of resistance amongst the peo- ion on this subject in GreatBritain is great- ple. but we see that among the African ly needed at the present time. and it such tribes there is. unfortunately. nothing that meetings. with really warm-hearted as well deserves the name of community. no form as fully informed speakers. could be ar- of national life. We find. however. that the ranged throughout the country, much good African people form communities round must result.-The Ohristian (London).
about Englishmen. and learn from them -Details of Mr. Stanley's journey for the re- many things. Therefore. continued the lief of Emin Pssha have at last been made pub· Archbishop. it is beginning to dawn upon lie. The letters, received in London, cover the us that the way to stop slavery is to guide period between the departure of the expedition these great nations to profitable labor by from Yambunga, Jnne 28.1887, and the returu what may be called" industrial missions." of Mr. Stanley to Bonalya, August 17,1888, for We either possess or have claims to large the reserves left under Major Barttelot. Writ- tracts of country in East Africa. and it be. ten at the same time with that sent to TippoQ hooves us to consider why God has given us Tib, published last December, they were appar.
power Over them. Whatever we do in the ently held back lest the harrowing details O!
matter we should do as Christians. and privation snd failnre should deter the wily .Ara then we shall have God's blessing. from sending reinforcements. The expedltio, Commander Cameron dealt at length With started in June, 1887, with 389 officers and men, the horrors of slavery. and the pressing and with a reserve force nnmbering 257 lel need for tbe abolition of the system. In under charge of Major Barttelot, and after al.
Central Africa. he said, whole nations. mil- most incredible hardships, reached the Albert lions of people. bave been swept away, and Nyanza in December. Fighting' began with the the iniquity of slavery is increasing. Le- llrst day's march, and continued with almost all gitimate trade is a valuable ally in efforts the tribes along the ronte, while dreary marches to stop slavery. but it· cannot flourish through interminable forests, desertion, stsrva- alongside of the fearful traffic. The speak- tion and disease, rapidly decimated the colnmn.
er exhibited large branches of trees. called The famished men sold their rilles and clothing .. slave forks," Which are bound to tbe tor a few ears of corn, deserted with their am· necks of slaves. The victims of this wicked munition. and became at last so demoralized bondage have no fear of death. but rather that resort to the death penalty became abso- desir~ it, for something worse than death lutely imperative. To crown the ghastly record, awaits them after enduring the awful ago- when the lake and plenty were reached, hos- nies while traveling. Commander Camer- tile tribes blocked the way and cut oil' com- on claimed that it is the duty of Britain to mnnication with Emin, and in the lack of am- say to those nations who dabble in slavery. munition and food, compelled s retreat to the .. You shall not do this thing." If we show highlands. Four months were spent in collect- ourselves perfectly clean in this respect. ing the scattered aud enfeebled forces left in the our influence will be very great. He also rear, aQ.d In the recovery of Mr. Stanley from claimed that w" have an indefeasible right Sickness, and in April an advance guard re- to the great lakes of Africa. In conclusion. tnrned to the lake and met Emln. who had he urged the desirability of conciliatory come from Wadelai in a steamer in search of intervention in African all'airs for the good them. A halt was made of several weeks, Mr.
of the people. with a police force to main- Stauley endeavoring by many argnments to in- tain order and prevent slave.hunting and dnce the Austrian to leave his post and return fighting. He asked his bearers to pray to under his escort to the Congo. As the latter God for the success of well-devised pro- had. however, some 10,000 people under his posa's to meet the necessities of the case. care. including a large number of women and captain Hore. of the London Missionary children, he naturally hesitated to aval! himself Society. for twelve years resident at Lake of the offer, not the less when informed of the TIIoll,anyika.. followed with an addrvis. in disheartening experience of the relievin~ PutT.
'446 GENEIUl.. MISSIONARY INTlilLLIGENCE
Instead, he furnished Mr. Stanley with an es- sac- of the whole expedition would have been cort oflOl men to enable him to return over his route, relieve his abaudoued stations, aud add rificed for want of water had it not been for the to his forces the reserves left under Barttelot at timely intervention of a tribe ofwanderlng Bush- Bonalya. The arrival' of the explorer at the men, who dug pits to a depth of six or seven latter poiut in August last, his appeal to Tippoo feet, and, sinking hollow reeds still further Tib' for reinforcements, aud his return, pre- in the sand, sucked up a supply of water. After sumably by a newaud shorter route, to Emin, sending home the wagon, Mr. Arnot and twenty were aunounced in the letters made public iu porters started ont on foot, carrying with them December. Since then his movements have calico and beads for trading purposes, and a been unknown, though dispatches last week supply of food and water. They traveled for state, ou the authority of Arab traders, that four days before they came to any ponds, and both explorers were on their way to Zanzibar, then, to their horror, they found that some ele- accompanied by some 8,000 people, and with phants had exhausted them. With the greatest a rich store of ivory. However this may be, difllcnlty he prevented his porters from throw- the details of Mr. Stanley's march to the Nyanza ing down their bundles aud at once starting oft' leave no doubt that the expedition has been the for the Chobi River, sixty miles distant. Ulti- most disastrons in which he has ever engaged, mately he induced the men to look for water, neither his jonrney to Tangauyika nor his voy- but withont snccess, until nightfall,when one age down the Cougo having compared in suf- of his servants returned bringing with him a sup- fering and loss with this last fearful passage. ply which had been furnished by a tribe of Of the 389 men with whom he started only 199 Bushmen from a hidden deposit in the desert. were lef.in Au,:ust last, while of the 257 re- PaSSing the trading station of Pandematenka serves left at Boualya, he found but 61 avail- the Chobi was reached. After replenishing his able for service. The inviucible courage and supply of food, Mr. Arnot returned on his path unparalleled fortitude of a man who will adhere to the trading station, 70 miles back. On to his purpose under such discouragements his way to the river again he was struck down cannot fail to add a new luster to his marvelous for the first time with African fever. His car- career. riers had gone on in advance, and he was only , Central Africa.-A missIonary's jour- accompanied by two boys, one who was about ney. Mr. Arnot, missionary and traveler, attend- as sick as' he was, and the other only thirteen ed a pnblic meeting in the Christian Institute re- years of age. Golug back to Pandematenka, a cently, and ga'e an account of his journeyings in distance of 30 miles, this lad brought aid. Central Africa. Addressing a crowded audience, Humanly speaking, he saved his life. As it WIlS, he said he began his travels on the East Coast, he had been lying for two and a half days iu the and going through the colony of Natal, the desert without food and water. After many _ Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, struck a weeks' illness be joined the King's boats on the northwesterly course, emerging on the west Zambezi. G.lme was scarce, and the expedi- coast of the continent at BengueIla. Reports tion were compelled to replenish their larder by which had been received in this country from shooting at the crocodiles as they came to the the missionaries in Africa had shown that their surface of the river with food from their hidden enterprises had been very disastrous, the reason stores of half-pntrid meat, and causing them to being that they had been chiefly connected with drop what they had in their mouths. After the lowlying fever-breeding coast districts. He many hardships Mr. Arnot reached the popu_ had early read in Livingstone's travels that he lous empire of King Maidi, an enlighhmed mon- believed in the existence of a great central arch, at whose hands great kindness was ex- water-shed, and he thought that surely-al- perienced. His country, it was explainelI, was though he had no great government at his back divided into districts, over each of which there to support him, and no science to help him in was placed a chief, who in turn was responsible traversing his way-he might be able to push to one of the King's 500 wives. In concluding past the waterways, and get to the water-sheds Mr. Arnot pleaded for missionaries to be dis- and mountainous parts of the country. Before patched to Africa; not young men who were any missionary could deliver his message to the sent from hol.i::~ with the object of relieving the natives he required to be three, four, or five platforms here, but tried and reliable misslon- years In the land to learn the language, there- aries.-Gtasqow Herald. fore it was oftme utmost importance to find a healthy place where this initial di1llcnlty could -Missionary interests have be·come very be overcome. Through the kindness of a native extensive in East Africa. The Church Mis- chief; Mr. Arnot said he had had placed at his sionary Society, and the Universities Mis- service a traveling wagon with servants and a sion, of the Church of England, the Estab- team of twenty oxen. Starting in the dry sea- lished and the Free Church of Scotland, the son from Shoshong, he traveled by this London Missionary Society, the United meaus until he got into a region where the tBB Methodist Free Churches and the Church ~e fly was so prevalent that the cattle and wag- of Rome, all have missions on the coast or on had to be sent back. Before this severe in the interior. The Church Missionary hardships had been encountered, aud the lives Society has two distinct lines of missions– one with its basis at Mombasa, in the Eng- lish sphere of influence, with eil:'ht stations, some of which are on or,near the coast and -A statement Is made In a CinCinnati some in the interior. On.. is in the neigh- paper which seems wildly exaggerated: that borhood of Mount Kilimanjaro. The second 34 missionary societies are at work In line of stations is that which stretches Africa and its 200,000,000 souls are all pracUcfrom Zanzibar to Uganda. There are nine aily within reach Of Ohristian miBBion./ The stations in this line, beginning with Ham.. revolution in Uganda, leading to the eJtpplboia and Mpwapwa, nearly due west from sion of missionaries, seems like a very fatal Zanzibar,aud including Usambiro. Msalala blow to missions and even civilization In and Nasa, south of the Victoria Nyanza, Africa. But we wait to see God work good and Rubaga, in Uganda, a t the north of the out of seeming evil. great lake. The Universities Mission has twelve stations-one at Zanzibar, four in -" I don't know under Heaven, unless it the Usambara country north of Zanzibar, be in China," said Dr. Guinness, "a more four onlor near the River Rovuma. and hopeful mission than that Congo field, and three on the east shore of Lake Nyassa. here it is for you. You have now waterway The two Scottish Churches have-the Free to the whole of it. It is healthy, notwith- Church five stations on Lake Nyassa. the standing all statements to the contrary. The Established Church one on Lake Shirwa, at interior is healthy beca.use it is high land, the south of Lake Nyassa. The route to well watered, richly wooded, moderate in tbis region s by the Zambezi and Shire its climate, and rich in popnlation. The Rivers. The London i:'lociety goes further tronble with missionaries has been that west than any of the other societies and they stick to the coast line, which is malarplants two stations on Lake Tanganyika, ious. Instead of keeping up in the ordinary and one at Urambo in the Unyamwezi coun- way, in red-tape style a particular station try, south of the Victoria Nyanza and near with a few missionaries, you want to make the stlLtions of the Church Missionary So- an advance into this great interior parish. ciety. The route was formerly from Zanzi- It is no use for your people in this country bar through Mpwapwa to Ujijl; now there to say: •This is the colored men's work, is another route by the Zamhesi aud Shire, let them do it.' They are suited to be the Lake Nyassa aud a road thence to the south- explorers and controllers of such moveern end of Lake Tanganyika. The United ments. White men must be the leaders and Methodist Free Churches have two missions lay the foundation, when the colored men in the Mombasa region,and one in Gallaland. will be the helpers. The Soudan is the true Three German Protestant societies have home of the negro, a vaster region than the five stations-three in Gallaland, one in Congo, wh~ch is 4,000 miles across, with its Zanzibar and one in Dar-es-Salem, where twelve nations, and not a mission station. one of the massacres took place. It is the It is the last region of any magnitude un- Berlin Society which maintains the last penetrated by the gospel." two stations. -Exciting events in the Soudan. It will These are all the Protestant missions be- be remembered that the Madhi of the Soutween Wito and the Rovuma River; but dan, who captured Khartoum and murdered there are German and French Roman Cath- Gen. Gordon and his men, died of small-pox olic stations. There are three French sta- not so very long ago. His successor in tions on or near Lake Victoria, the most power, whose forces were recently defeated h.nportant of Which is the one in Uganda, by the Rritish at Suakim, is not a real Mahunder the control of Plire Lourdel ; two on di. Hehas assumed that tit,je, while his real Lake Tanganyika; one at Bagamoyo. near title is simply Khalif of Khartoum. What Zanzibar. and one or two others. The Jesu- seem t,o be entirely trustworthy advices, its have also a few stations, and the Ger- now inform us that this present powerful man Catholics have one at Dar-es-Salem. ruler has been denonnced as a false Madhi, and ordered to abdicate his authority and In all, there are thirteen missions-six get out of the Soudan by the Sheik of the British, four German, and three French. Senoussi, whose headquarters are in the One society, the Church Missionary, alone large oasis of Faraja, on the western border has spent $500,000 in the last 30 years in of Egypt and south of Barka, and whosefol- East Africa.-Independent. lowers comprise one of the largest religious followings in the world. It is the purpose -The Portuguese mails now bring the of this sheik to unite all the orthodox Mos- Congo's month within 15 days of Enrope. lem orders in one theocratic body, capable A letter in the London Telegraph describes of defying all secular anthority. It is prob- Monanga as the ferocious ruler of 10,000,000 able that more than 1,500,000 fierce Moslems people, with 1,500 wives, whom, for pnre are already prepared to follow wherever he malice, he kills off at the rate of five daily. may choose to lead, and that he now has a He is the large st slave-dealer in Africa, an- force sufficientlynumerous and fanatical to nually furnishing 150,000 victims, to be sold enable him to execute the order already in Asiatic Tnrkey. He is said to have made namE'd, and drive the Khalif of Kh&rtoum his courtiers take oath to exterminate the from the Soudan. When the conftict comes, whites who mi&"ht seek to "eat up Uganda." It will be no child's play. It will be bloody altars, and 883 double open altars. There are and exte'rminating. While neither Great 974 shops where things used in idolatrous wor- Britain nor Egypt can expect more from ship are made and sold, a very large number of Sheik Benoussi than from the Khalif of which are given entirely to the manufacturing Khartoum, the contest between these Ma- of such articles. There are 67 shops which hammlldan rivals will be eagerly watched, make idols, but many of the clay idols used as one in a procession of stirring events, come from the great potteries in the country.
which during the next decade are to attract The quantities of fire-crackers. used in idol-wor- the attention of the civilized world, and ship in Oanton are made in the country. There work wonderfnl changes in Africa. are probably not less than 12,848 persons en- -Bishop Symthies writes from Zanzibar, gaged in the mannfacturing of ariicles used in February 10th: .. I have had somelow fever worshiping idols and spirits, and that live for the past week and am not fit for much, upon their connection with idolatry. This is but I hope I may get my two confirmations iu Canton alone. In addition there are tens of this week, and start with GE>ldart for Magila thousands of women -largely engaged in folding in about a fortnight. It becomes increas- the paper money they burn to the idols and ingly dilficnlt to get stores up to the Bondei spirits. There are three quarters of a million country. It would be equally dilficult to get dolIars spent in Canton every year for idolatrous them through Lindi if it was not for our kind purposes. Mr. Simmons says: "I believe the Arab friend Sellim, who lately saved some above estimates are below the real troth in of our men from being murdered, and who nearly every case; I have purposely kept the has sent a message to Masasi to say that as figures as low as I could, for I do not want to Ion&, as he lives no one shall hurt our stores ' make a bad thing worse than it really is. These or our people. In the face of such action as estimates do not Include the expenses of stated this, together with the protection given to omcial worship, nor do they include the ex- the French Mission by Bushiri, and his atti- penses of the annual theaters, decorations in tude toward us, it is absurd to say that honor oUhe god of fire, or the feast of lanterns, the disturbances here have anything to do etc. The expenses of these are very large, and with religious antipathies-they are entirely are met by an assessment on each shop or political-but I shall probably write to you house, and are often paid under protest. Ihave further on this head. I understand that thought it best not to include any idOlatrous exthe blockade has quite failed in preventing penditures that were not voluntary. To inarms and ammunition being imported into clude these would make the annual expense the conntry, and what is much worse, it considerably greater." Right on top of this has failed to prevent an infiux of foreign huge idolatry the Indian Government is forcing Arab kidnappers, whose presence is a new thousands npon. thousands of cases of opium and serious danger."-Central Africa. every year, deadening the consciences of the people to the sound of the gospel. Shall not -African ivory is the best in the world, God judge for these things ?-Bombay Guarand the finest quality comes from the inter- dian. ior. The tusks of the African elephants are larger than those of any other country. -We agree with the suggestion made by Both the male and female eie;>hants have the Banner of Asia in regard to the opium traflarge tusks, while in India the tusks of the fic of China. Mr. Dyer says that iu 1885 the female elephant are very small. The aver- Chinese Government obtained from GreatBritage weight of a tusk is from 20 to 50 pounds, aiu an opium agreement which can be made but sometimes they are nine or ten feet to terminate on January 18th, 1891, by twelve long, and weigh 160 pounds each. The cost of months' notice being given on either side. The ivory has trebled in the last 35 years, selling opinm tramc has got so decided a hold on now for $8 a pound. It is said that a pair of China, that the Chinese Government will not tusks are often worth £l,OOOsterling. Zan- find it easy to take effective steps fOl' banishing zibar is the great African market for ivory. the curse from the country; but Mr. Dyer sug- From this point it is shipped by merchants gests that the British churches should unite all to India, London, Hamburg, etc. The chief their strength in encouraging the Chinese autrading center in the interior is Tabara, in thorities to close the present agreement, and to Myamweo;i. where various caravan routes refuse to be party to another. In this we think meet. The trader equips his caravan at the churches of India, a country where the evil Zanzibar, and places it in the hands of an of opium is far more patent than it is in Eng- Arab who goes from Bagamoyo to Ta- land, should take an early and decided initiative. bara. Let an infiuential and repl'esentative council be formed at once in this country, whose first bus- Chlna.-1do!atry. Rev. E. B. Simmons iness it shall be vigorously to expound the gives in the OMnese Recorder some statistics matter to all the Christians in this country, with regard to idolatry in Canton. There are both by the press, and by public meetings, 'rhe in Canton and the snburbs 663 temples of vari- issue of this should be the strongest and mo.t ous kinds and sizes, 83 Buddhist nunneries, 50 numerously sign~d exprelSsion of opinion that places where Buddhist priests live, 145 places Christian India has everJl:iven u.tteranQe tQ. M where Tauist priests reside, 275 Shetan or open soon as possible similar councils sbould be India continue to prod the Government in a vig_ formed in England and America. If the Christ- orous way upon its failure: to act eJllc1entIy ian Church can speak with effect at all, here is upon what there is called the" Drink QuestiOll " its opportunity. The opium contract is un· -which means the almost nnrestrleted mannspeakably toul, and absolutely indefensible. facture and sale of intoxicating drinks, and the Let China be told that au)' effort which it makes rapid increase of drunkenness among the nain the direction of abolition will receive the tives of the country. At a recent meeting of moat energetic and persistent support from aU the Methodist MissJonary Conference of Calthe Christian churches of India and the West. cutta, threQ important resolutions upon this As surely as the Lord reignetb Buch an effort subject, were adopted. The first urged the shall not fail. We hope the suggestion will at immediate organization of a Temperance AIonce be acted on.-Harvest .Field. llance for India. The second strongly fa- vored "local option" as to the establishment India. – A Chief Commissioner's of outstills and drinking houses. The third appointed an expert in such mattters to View of Indian Missions. At the lay- collect all available, information as to the results of the present excise system in India, fortbe puring of a cornerstone of mission build- pose of preparing and laying before th~ Govern- ment a memorial upon this subject based upon ings connected with the Methodist existiug and incontestible facts. Undoubtedly the men who passed these resolutions mean Episcopal Mission, Jubbulpur, Mr. business, bnt as the attention of the Government has recently been repeatedly called, and in vain, Mackenzie, Chief Commissioner of to the demoralizing results of the present excise system in India, it is not certain that any heed the Central Provinces, after refer- will be given to these presentations (or the twentieth time. But tha t is no reason for dng to recent criticisms of missions, sleeping over a matter so important. Continued prodding may finally stir np the authorities. said: -Movements among the Jews. The vari- ..It may be that direct results, iu the shape of ous Jewish societies. at home and abroad. conversions and baptisms, are not so startling are specific and Divinely-approved inas the church at home would like to see them. stances of the general law of a multiplicity But this is only a superficial estimate of the sit- of operations in harmonious combination. uation. No man who studies India with a see- Their chief mission may be snrelyaccoming eye can fail to perceive that the indirect plished by the union of living agencies, inresults of missionary euterprise, if it suits you cluding ma.nagers, collectors, mission dep… 80 til call them, are, to say the least, most preg- uties, and missionaries, all working togethnant with promise. The Dagon of heathenism er. These various agencies must work into is being undermined on all sides. To careless each other's hands. As zinc aud copper bystanders, the image may 100m as yet intact in must be broughtintodirect-communication aU its ghoulish monstrosity, but its doom we through an efficient connecting bath in or- know is written. And great will be its fall. I der to the'prodnction of a powerful galvan- have often given it as my opinion that, ere many ic current, so our missionaries at a distance years are over, we shall have in India a great and our friends here mnst be brought into religious upheaval. The leaven of western direct contact, that there maJ be success- thought, and the leaven of Christianity together ful working, praying and giving on the part are working on the inert heap of dead and fetid of all. superstitions, and, by processes which cannot always be closely traced, are spreading- a re- The Jewish societies founded in England generating ferment throngh the mass, which are eight, with 294 agents,55 stations, and must in time burst open the cerements that nOw an income of £59.394. In Scotland there are enshroud tbe Indian mind. It may not be in five missions, with 71 missionaries, 17 sta- our time. It may not be in the time of our im- tions, and an income of £12,631. There is mediate successors. But it wi!! be when He the 'Irish Presbyterian Missions, with 27 Bees fit with whom a thousand years are as one missionaries, 9 stations, and an income of day. My own belief is that it will be SOoner £3,6-34. There are twelve German Associa- than the world, or even the canons of the tions, wIth 13 missionaries, 6 stations, ano! church, snppose. What the Indian Chnrch will an income of £3,188. There is the Basle be, by what organization governed, to what pre- Friends of Israel Mission, Switzerland, with cise creeds a:tllliated, I, for my part, do not pre- 1 missionary, 1 station, and an income of tend to foresee. It is being hewn out now by £518. There are three Dutch societies,with many hands, furnished from many countries. 8 missionaries, 2 stations, and an income of But the main burden of the growing work mnst £888. There Is Pastor Kruger's Mission in ere long be taken up by the children· of the In- France with an incotDe of £60. In Sweden dian soil. It is not beyond the bonnds of lJossi- and Norwaly there are five institutionS, bility that the native church may in time pro duce its own apostle, destined to lead his coun- trymen in myriads to the feet of Christ. The 8tory et Buddha may renew itself within its pale."-Okr01lie~6 L. M. S.
-Drunkenness. ·llissionary orgaDizations in
MISSIONARY CORRlI:SPONDJl:NCII FROM .il.L PAR11i1
with 6 missionaries, 4 stations, and a.n in- that in several places you lind Buddha. excome of £1,440. There are seven North horting his followers to found places where, American Missions, with 34 missionaries, both the sick of men and animals could be 33 stations, and an income !>f £5,680. The a.ttended to. Andyou lind that the great Jewish Societies of Great Britain and Ire- ., King of Glory" in Northern India is said la.nd are 14, the agents 39l:, the sta.tions 81, to have founded places where the hungry and the annual income £75,659. The total ware fed, where the thirsty received drink, number of societies is 47. the certified work- where the naked were clothed, where the ers 457, the fields of labor 132, and the total weary were re~ted, and where the sick were annual income upward of £87,000. De Ie supplied with couches and remedies. But Roy, who has considered the subject of re- we learned, a.lso, from the Buddhist Iiterasults very carefully, is convmced that ture that it was mainly to their own monks, 100,000 Jews and Jewesses have been bap- a.nd to their own teachers, that much of tized during the last 75 years; and that these favors were given. It was not until these proselytes and their descenda.nts, if the Master came that any more general intaken together, would number250,OOO.-Rev. stitutions of charity or active philanthrop· John Dunlop, 8ecreta17l 01 the British Socie- ic work was done. Christianity came and stimulated its followers to found hospit~ls. tlllor the Propagation Of the Gospel among And so we 'find, before Christianity had been three centuries old, Fabola had the Jew.. founded a hospital in Rome. It is only on -Medical Charity the Fruit of Christiani- the banks of the great stream of grace that issues from the Throne of God that there ty. It is to the spread of Christianity tha.t 1l'1'0W the leaves which are for the healing of we owe the great development of medical the ua.tions.-PrO!eB80r Macalilter, F. R. S. charity throughout the world. It is true that hospitals existed and were diffused to some extent before Christianity. It is true III.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD-FIELD.
France. tation, to recommend the SaTiour to those aronnd them. [THE following very important communication from our esteemed From the origin of the work we have aimed personal friend and correspondent, not to form separatist communities, but to swell Rev. R. W. McAB, D. D., as to the the ranks of the existing Evangelical bodies. ingathering of the converts, into the But, while hundreds have foond their way into mission churches and branches, will the churches. hunda-eds of equally genuine conbe read with much interest. It will verts have remained outside them. Many of serve ,to dissipate some erroneous mis- our dear people have lived and died without the conceptions and to correct some ma- privilege of commemorating the Saviour's saclicious misrepresentations concern- ridce. Various canses have led to this-In ing the McAll Mission, in the recent many eases, the distance !tom any church where efforts to establish denominational tbey could find a Christian Home; in others, churches in connection with the the fact that the neighboring ministers, through Salles.-EDS.] absorption in pastoral dnties or otherwise, were unknown in the station; or again, the impression, OUR greatest deligbt is to witness decision especially on the part of the poor, that.a wei· for Cbrist, a joy whicb has been often renewed come would not be accorded, has kept them during the closing seaSOn. Second only to this back. is our satisfaction when these new disciples enter into the fellowsbip of neighboring Evan- From an early period of our history, and mOre gelical churches. We cannot tsbulate the list and more strongly as the work has taken deeper of those who, during successive years, have root, the numerous friendS visiting our stations, tbus publicly confessed their faith; but we American, Eoglish, Scotch, pastors and laymen know tbat, could the number be ascertained, it alike have,with emphaticunanimity,urged opon would be found large alike in Paris and through- os the necessity for taking measures to bring all out France. In various churches, whole groups our converts into Christian fellowship. J'oryears exist whose religious life commenced in our we have been considering how to accomplish mission·rooms. Among these, not a few have this without in any degree compromising the become diligent Christian workers. Some are undenominational character ofthe mission. Connow evangelists in our own and kindred socie- ferences have been held with French pastors ties; others, while pursuing their worldly call· and !symen on the subject. Until recenUy, inil, are lIeeking by preaching. teaching, or visi- prayerful study had. failed to suggest a mode of joint action such as the representatives olthe various French denominations could see their way to accept. At length, we have been direct- ed to a method of oraanlzation which will, we trust, supply In a great measure this" missing Bonne-Nouvelle regolar worship has been instilink." The proposal has been favorably viewed tuted in connection withthe Reformed Church or by those of our eswumed French brethren to France, our colleague, M.Victor Van der Beken, whom it has been communicated. It Is twofold: being the pastor in charge. All the evangelistic ' work of the statibn proceeds unchanged In 1. Wherever a mission station is placed within the new Mission-Hall of the Rue du Temeasy reach of a French church whose pastor or ple, in the middle of Paris, we are jOint tenants pastors take interestin the evangelistic work, we with Pastor Auguste Fisch and the Free Church invite such pastor or pastors (of whatever Evan- under his care. On the expressed desire ofthese gelical denomination) to take measures in our esteemed friends, we gladly united with them mission room for organizing a group of the se· in securing this important centel' for aggressive rious attendants with the distinct aim of pre- effort amidst a densely peopled district. In the paring them for membership of the parent new hall of the Rne Saint-Denis, also In the very church. In such case, we leave it with these heart of the city, are combined our mission stabrethren tb adopt such measures as the usages tion, transformed from the smaller one of Bouleof their own church may dictate. We vard Sebastopol, !lnd a new mission church, invite them to constitute these persons as an aided by a Committee of the Baptist denominaanne:lle or branch of their church using their tion in America, under the charge of our welldiscretion as to the administration of ordi- known colleague, M. Ruben SaiIieus. In a nances in the mission room or otherwise. The whole series of onr stations, neighbOring pastors only condition we impose is that whatever fel- are working with the view of forming Christian lowship Is formed shall be on the broad basis of groups or branches of their respective churches Evangelical faith, and that the mission station, in the mode already described, and these include as such, shall retain unchanged its strictly unde- representatives ofthe Reformed, Lutheran, Free, nominational chl!scter as a place for purely Wesleyan and Baptist communities. Gospel effort. On examining the list ofourstationsinParis and 2. In other cases, where existing churches throughout France, we find the following number are too far distant, or stand aloof from mis- brought more or less directly into relation with sionary effort, or where the teaching is not existing churches. Reformed Church of France, purely Evangelical, we are prepared to welcome 57 stations; Lutheran Church, 3 stations; the formation in our stations of distinct mission Union of Free Churches, 21 statioLs ; combinackurchea with their mission pastors. There is ation of several of the above three churches. no reason why each such mission pastor should 15; Wesleyan, 3 ; Baptist, 6; total, 105 stations. not continue to be or become also an Evangelist of the mission. But in these cases also, we re- Of the remaining twenty stations, some are gard it as essential that each church and pastor so placed as to be, more or less, in relation should be folly identifted with one or other of with a number of churches indistinguishably ; others are newly planted and not as yet specialthe existing denominations, so as to avoid the ly linked with any. liability of forming separatist communities. The Lutheran Church, so widely dill'used In Wherever the occasion for a mission church Continental Europe has, in France, only the may arise, we shall always hold ourselves ready Important Oonsi8toire of Paris, and those in the to co-operate with any of the French societies district of MontbeJiard. Our work has not enof evangellzation-" Societe Centrale," " So- tered into the latter district; hence the comparciete Evangeuque," "Societe de Geneve," etc., atively small number of stations as yet placed in constituting such a church as one of the reg- in immediate relation with our Lutheran brethular posts of those societies. In certain cases, ren. The French Wesleyan Evangelistic Mission where no Evangelical ageucy whatever exists in directed by the Rev. W_ Gibson, B.A., carrying a department or district, or where joint action on a work closely resembling our own, accounts with the mission may not be accorded, we shall for the fewness of our stations in which our be prepared ourselves to form the converts into Wesleyan friends are specially iuterested. Many a fellowship; but every such community shall of the stations comprised in the above list have be aftlliated with one or other of the existing been formed at the request orand are aided by the denominations, according to the conscientious contributions of the several churches with which convictions of its members.' Where such a they stsnd in relation. church is constituted and exercises its worship iu one of our mission rooms, the mission funds Those who carefully study the above statement cannot be used for its expenses. The use of the will perceive that the strictly unsectarian charroom mayor may not be granted without ren- acter of our work remains uninvaded, since each tal, according to the need of the particular case; denomination is alike welcomed to the spheres but its sustentation must be provided for either it is prepared to occupy, whilst our hearers are, within itself or from independent sources, the gifts entrusted to us being set apart wholly for of course, left entirely free to connect themselves evangelization. either with the Christian group in the station they frequent, or with that in any other of our We are happy to add that, on the bases Indi- stations, or to jOin any Evangelical community cated, we have already been enabled, during this to which their convictions may lead them, year, to make ahopeful commencement in sever- Above all, we would claim from every reader al quarten ofParia. In ountation of Boulevard who desirell the advancement of Our Lord's. Kingdom in France, a fervent prayer that these He has already secured from a member of his own family $25,000 toward the erection onward ,teps may be Divinely guided, so as tp of the proposed building.
issue in the fuller .ingathering of the spiritual Mr. Swift proposes to secure $25,000 more. Witb this $50,000 he will erect a building in fruits of our. enterprise, and in giving stability the heart of the business community which will be devoted to mercantile men. There and permanence, under the power of the Holy is another .important community which we must reach. I refer to the students. The Spirit, to all that we are permitted to attempt Imperial University has over five hundred students. Near by it is a large preparatory in His name. R. W. McALL. college containing nearly one thousand, also the leading Commercial College of the We append an extract from a let- empire with 500 students. Fully 2,000 stu- den~s, the brightest young men in Ja.pan, ter of Mr. Gustave Monod, Jr., are located in this quarter. Over one hun- dred of them are Cbristians, a far larger Agent f01' France of the British and proportion than Yale, Williams, Bowdoin, and other American colleges had at the close Foreign Bible Society: of last century.
.. For the past seventeen years I have been There is not a single place in all Tokio where the students can go for social recrea.- constantly traveling throughout Frauce, and tion after study hours, except the tea hOUses, whose waiter girls are a terrible snare. have made repeated visits to the various towns There is no hall near these institutions where relildous meetings can be held. in wbich the McAll Mission carries on its work. Now, our proposition is tbis: Erect a I have intimate relations with the pastors of all small, home-like building in the very center of this large student communitV. Place in denominations in these town" and it is a rare charge of it a student of strong intellectual and Christian character as general Secrething if I am not'asked for information respect- tary and we will accomplish a work second in impor~nce to none now carried on in tbis Ing the mission. I beg distinctly to state, not empire. The building and lot will cost $10,- 000. The property can be held by a board only that I have never beard it alleged that this of trustees, consisting of Japanese gentle- men of hi~h Christian and social standing, work had taken any denominational bias, but who will protect the purpose of the 'invest- ment. The amount specified will secnre a that no suspicion of the liability to such a ten· property nearly twice as valuable as the same sum invested in America. If yon dedency has ever been hinted." sire to invest this amount in a permanent Christian enterprise in these lands which (Signed) GUSUVE MONOD, Jnnr. are turning toward Christianity, I do not believe that you can do a greater work than PABIS, January 7, 1889. this, because these students, if Christian- ized, will become the" Pilgrim Fathers" of [The following, from the Commit- Japan.
tee of Direction, may serve to con- Commending this matter to your sympa- thy and wisdom, I am, firm the previous statement.-EDS.] Very sincerely yours, MISSION POPULAIRE EVANGELIQUE nE FRANCE, L. D. WISHARD.
PAIUS. January 8,1889. [THIS letfer, from the son-in-law The Committee of Direction having been of one of the editors, was written made aware of a serious rumor in the United only as a private letter, but will be States that a tendency has arisen in the mission read with interest, as giving a to depart from the neutral ground of the Evan- glimpse of how practical work is gelical Alliance on which It was founded and which it has maintained until now, the nnder- begun.-EDS.) signed, composing that Committee, feel called upon to utter a unanimous and earnest protest HIROSHUU, JAPAN, Jan. 18, 1889. again~t this allegation, and to offer a summary I have now been in Japan about nine or of the steps recently taken, as affording the best ten months, and am glad to say tnat I am contradiction of this erroneous impression. getting along now with the work quite a They declare that the accompanying paper (prepared by Mr. McAll for the Annual English Re· little. I think it well to begin to use the port before the rumor in question reached langnage ",little, asl am able, and sol have Paris) contains an, exact stateIIent of the facts, and has their entire approbation.
(Signed) R. W. McAlI, D. D., T. Howard Gill, M. A., Benjamin Couve, Pasteur de rEglise Reformee, Alfred H. Kellogg, D.D., Charles E. Greig, M.A., Ruben Saliens, Pastenr, Louis Sautter, Edouard Kern, Gustave Monod, Junr., J. Henry Benham, M.D., Lond., Eugene Revell- laud, EmUe Rouilly, Leon Reider, William Soltau.
Japan.
WE are permitted to print the fol- lowing private letter: TOKIO, March 11, 1889. There is a plan to erect a building in Tokio for Association work. There has been a succesllfullnauguration of aSSOCiation work 1U this city, and a very competent man has beeu secured who proposes to spend his life in working among the young men of Japan. begun to read the Scripture and have this Syria. week written out and translated a IIhort prayer which I mean soon to use in public. [A PRIVATE letter from a friend If I could have my teacher all the time I in Beirut communicates to one of should probably have a sermon translated the editors the following facts, under ·into Japanese within a few weeks. As it is date of Feb. 25, 1889.-EDS.] now I hope to preach in Japanese before the year is up since my arrival. Of course, I Dr. Jessup has just started with his wife shall have to read the sermon; the time is for a trip to Egypt. You may notice a great yet remote when I can hope to preach ex- dearth of letters (in aU the magazines) from temporaneously, as I mean to do so soon as I get sufficient command of the language. Syria. This is owing to the strict watch Last Sunday Ipreached to the Japanese in Dr. Lambuth's church throngh an interpre- which is kept on aU the reports sent home. ter, and enjoyed it exceedingly. It was a In consequence of a letter written five years sermon to disciples on the parable of the ago one of the missionaries recently has great supper in Luke xiv. After touching suffered, by the rigid orders at the cnson the excuses I spoke as strongly as I tom-house received from the Porte, the could on going out quickly to compel others loss of much time and some very valuable to come in. I wrote out the sermon in full books. No copies are allowed to enter and gave it to nhe interpreter to study be- of Dr. Thomson's .. Land and the Book." forehand, and consequently he translated The Government is daily pntting heavier quite accurately and promptly. I enjoyed restrictions on our work, and we dare not it e:xceedingly, and the Lambuths, as well as aJlow a word of complaint to be seen in the Japanese, seemed to be much gratified. print lest our work and communities Two weeks ago I administered the com- should thereby suffer. The articles on the munion here, but all I did was to read the increase of Mohammedanism which caused Scripture and administer the bread and so great a stir in England some time ago wine, and prononnoe the benediction in were all translated and published in the Japanese. Moslem paper at Damascus, to the delight of the Mohammedans throughout the We are greatly delighted at having been ,country. In the same way articles in the able tostart a prayer-meeting, composed of New York Herald, noticed by the Indepenall the missionaries iu Hiroshima. We have dent. speaking in unfavorable terms of misalready felt much blessed In the two meet- sionaries and their comfortable homes find ings already held. their way, clothed in glowing Arabic phrases, into the papers of our Jesuit and Catholic There is a certain Japanese, one of our presses here. This will show why the misnative chul'ch members, who has the char- sionaries do not write more often and more acteristics of an old Scotch Presbyterian, a fully of their work. great stickler for orthodoxy, but quite opinionated and headstrong. He is, we believe. A little paper is issued st'mi-weekly by the a true Christian, and we recognize his work pupils of the Mission Academy at Sidon of as being very valuable, for he has won many which Mr. Eddy is head. There are four membera to the church from heathenism; editors and each beside the labor of editing but owing to his peculiar temper he has writes out one copy of each issue: one they done much to keep the church in a state of keep, one goes to Mr. Eddy, one to Zahleh, agitation. He has just been here, and I and one to the Sidon Female Seminary. took him aside after diuner with me and Everycopy is quite perfect in its general aphad along talk with him on the subject of pearance. All is done with the ordinary Arab brotherly love, and afterward prayed with reed pens. The illustrations are by one of him-aU in Japanese. This was the first the pupils, who, having the monopoly of the time I had offered a prayer iu the native artistic talent in the Academy is obliged to tongue, and, of course, it was very short and furnish/our copies semi-weekly of his provery simple. At 3 o'clock I went to our ductions I He has never had a lesson, but preaching place, which I have established often his work is quite creditable. with my teacher, where I read the Scriptures, 9ffered a short prayer, and again at The fifty-fourth annual gathering of the evening worship with the servants read the Syrian workers has just closed. For thirty- Scriptures and offered Prayer-preparing seven of these years Dr. Eddy has been conmy prayers beforehand and having them nected with the work here, and begins to corrected by my Japanese teacher. I write feel himself as if he w<1Uld enjoy a sight of this to show you how soon I have been able the loved ones on the American shores after to begin work and use of the la.nguage, and an absence of thirteen years, but his work that this tongue is not after all so difficult for a year at least will not admit of this. of attainment. Albania- Yours affectionately, WE gladly give space to this ap- FRED. S. CURTIS. peal in behalf of a needy and neg- lected field, In a note to one of the editors the writer, Rev. J. McBaird, ans, frowns upon any Instruction, howeverflOOd missionary of A. B. C. F. M., says: not given in Greek. ' .. The Southprn Presbyterian Board has the Greek work bordering on Albania, and Albania is not near any of the patha ot. com-_ the A. B. C. F. M. the Bulgarian. 1 have written to our Board urging the Prudential merce; her country Is mountainous, and her committee to und",rtake this work, but the answer is that they do not see their way to children have seen but little of civilization, exdo it. If you can persuade some society to take up the work I shall be glad."-EDs.J cept as they have gone to other countries to MONASTIR, EuRoPEAN TuRKEY, MARCH 4,1889. earn a little money. Schools are few. In some Between Montinegro on the north and Greece on the south, lives a people for cities there are poor Turkish scbools, but none whose spiritual welfare almost nothing has been done. 1 refer to the Albanians who, in the larger villages. Greek schools are found with the Rumanians that live among and know the Albanian tongue, number a little in southern .Albania. These are useful only for less than 2,000,000. They are doubtless the descendants of the anci",nt l11yrians and those who can attend them long enough to learn Pelasgians. Their language, which isquite distinct from the Slavic, the Greek or the the Greek language. Those who want a fair Latin, has twodialects, the Gheg or northern and the Tosk or southern. oriental education mnst go beyond .Albania's At least'one half of the Albanians, as far as they have any religion, are Mohamme- borders to lind it. The mass of the people can. dans, mostly of the sect called Bektashi, whose members are noted for being skeptical not read, and mauy of those who can read canand prayerless, and often great drinkers. Unlike other Moslems they seem to be at. not nnderstand what they read. tached to their race more closely than to their religion. Ask a Mohammedan, who is The little that has been done for the evangeliof Bulgarian or Greek extraction, "What are you?" and the reply wiII always be, .. I zation ot Albania bas been done by the agents am a Moslem." Ask an Albanian Mohammedan the same question and his reply of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who most probably will be, .. I am a Skipetal' " (Albanian). About one-third of the race have translated and printed all of the New belong to' the Eastern or Greek Church. Of these the larger part are Tosks. The re- Testament and six of the larger books of the Old maining one-sixth are Roman Catholic. The latter are found mostly in northern Al- and have madejonrneys up and down to give bania. rhe spiritual destitution of the Albanians the Word of God to the Albanians in their own is very great. The Moslems are in as great spirtual darkness as are any other Moslems. tongne. A primer, a simple catechism, a his- The Roman Catholics are under the thumb tory of the Old Testament, and a ~mmar, have of of the Jesuitll' who make no attempt to give also been prepared, The B. and F. Bible Soc. can· them a knowledge of the leadiug truths the Bible, but who are very hostile to the colpor· not however take up and carryon the work of a teurs who wish to give the Word of God to the people. Those connected with the Greek Church missionary society. Though friends of the are worse oft" than the Greeks for whom Protestant Christians are working, for by far the Albanians have pleaded for some miSSionary larger part of the .Albaniaus are utterly ignorant of the language-Greek-used in the church SOCiety to send out a few men to preach and to services. That .Albian schools have not existed till very recently is not only a great mis- carry on missionary work, no favorable reply fortune for that people, but is also a punishment for being born .Albanians. Tbe Greek ecclesi- has been received. So far they have passed by astics have turned their church into an instrument for Heleniziug the .Albanians, and con- on the otber side and left this destitute people sider it more meritorious to wean them from the Albanian language than to give them spirit- in their destitution. ualinstruction. The Greek party, while spending mone;!, for Greek 8~hools amoDS thE! Alban, The present is a favorable time for beginning missionary work among the Albanians. The government is bundin~ some roads which will open up the country. Brigandage and lawless· ness have received lately a severe check. Col· porteurs report a great and increasing readi- ness to listen to the gospel. When Mr. G. D. Kyrlas, an Albanian Protestant, was at Korcha about a year ago, he was invited by both Mos- lems and Christians to preach in the school. Large numbers attended his preaching the three weeks he was there and preSsed him to stay and work among them. There is a growing desire shared by both Moslems and Christians for instruction in their native tongue.
The Lord has raised up some .Albanians who, whether working for the British and Foreign Bible Society, or associated with any mission- ary society that takes up the .Albanians; woald be a great help to the cause of Christ. One of the colporteurs of this region Is a devoted .Albanian Chl'istian. The agent of the BIble So. ciety here. Mr. Kyrias, is an .Albanian of such edncation, ability and piety that we Bulgarian missionaries would be glad to see him pastor of a Protestant Bulgarian church. He however feeA that he must work among his own people. He has a brother and a sister, both earnest Christians,who willllnish their course in school in about two years, and who wiIlprobabIy enter the Alballian work, 11; lDY be.slted : Are the Albanians a promta- Hankow, Hanyang, and WnehaD!: a leWD. popu- IDgpeople for miYionaryelfor~ t I gin it asm,. lation that cannot be -rery far short of the pap- opieion that they are. Intellectually they are ulation oC Liverpool and Glasgow taken to!:eth- equal to any 01 the racea of Turkey. They are er. In the country districts round about are more accessible than the Greeks. Though there many other large towns and vmages, &l;!d we are but Cew Albanians in Monastir, and preach- long to see European evangelists stationed in ing hal been in Bulgsrlan, six of our small various central positions throughout those dis- flock are Albanians. NotwithstRndinC the tricts, Crom which, with the help oCnative Christ- mountainous character of the country, the iane, each one coull. work the surrounding sparseness oC the population, and the 1lIll"1Il7 region. There is no likelihood that this work character ot some of the Albaulaus, I thiuk a can ever be oTert:tkcn by t~e existing agenCies.
mll!llionary society would ftud thla a profitable We therefore invite men who hal"e an independ- field, aud while somewhat hedged in by Turkish ent income, or 't7hose personal friends are able authorities, would ftud abuudaut oppportunity and willing to send them abroad, to come out .
both to sow aud to reap. With so large a part of and supplement in the way just described, and the Bible already printed in Albanian, and the without any cost to the society, the work that possibility of getting at the outset the assistance is being already dOlie by the society's mission- of earnest and educated Ohrlstlan Albanians, aries. Most of the English societies now repre- Albania would seem to be a 11eld that some sented number some unpaid missionaries miasionary society would covet. amongst t:telr nge::J.ts. We wish for all the mis- Anyone hoping to do something for the evan- sions n larGe incrc~se of such workers. An un- gelization of the Albanians may write to Rev. married mUn of frugal habits could probably Alexander Thomson, D.D., Oonstantinople, live here on £lCO per annum. Our desire is that Turkey, to Mr.G. D. Kyrias, Monastlr, or to me. every one coming to Hankow in connection J. W. BAmD. with this scheme may be provided with free quarters; we shall try to arrange that house Ohina. rent shall at all events be as small as possible. To any medical man anxious to combine eTangel- [THE lack of space compels us to istic work with the practice of medicine, we can abridge the following appeal.-EDS.] promise rare opportunities for usefulness here, and the consciousness of ha"ing been able to do A SBLF-SU!'POltTING MISSION 011' TBlC LoNDON untold good to the bodies and also to the souls of men. We do not appeal for single men only. MISSIONARY SOCIlCTY. Married couples would also find a hearty wel- come and plenty of work, but should be full ofthe Editor, of TlllI MISSIONARY RJCVIlCW 011' TUB missionary spirit, strong in health, and prepared WOJlLD.-The London Missionary Society has to put up with inconveniences. We could not for years had dialculty in raising funds Cor carry- recommend married people to come out uuless in!: on itl work. With an almost stationary in- they had something like an assured income of come it is very dlftlcult to extend operations even £200 per annum, and more if they had children. in countries whereit already has representatives, anli almostlmpossible to commence new missions We will correspond with any who wish fuller in other lands recently opened to European com-. information; or inquiries may be addressed to merce. A long experience of liC. in Ohin.. leads the Rev. R. W. Thompson at the London :MIsus to disbelieve altogether in the principle of re- sionary Society's oalce, Blomfield st. E. O. It ducing to the lowest possible point the salaries is not essential that honorary workers should oC missionaries. A missionary may of course haTe a college education, or be ordained, but they should be .. self-supporting," having private erei8t on a very small ineome indeed, but if the great majority ot Europeans are to live in health, to work ejftciently as missionaries, and sources of Income, not supported by a church, to give to their children a proper education, or bT a local auxiliary oC the parent SOCiety. something more than the bare necessities oC life Finally we appeal to parents poss8l!sed of is requisite. We think, however, that the work means, asking them If they have children who might be very largely developed, by the addition desire to become missionaries, to enable tbem oCa band of entirely uuremuneraUd labortrs. to do so as honorary members of the society. Few things will help so much to convince the We ourselves are prepared, if others willjoin world of the disinterestedness of missionaries, US, to forego the salary and various money- as seeing the missionary body largely recruited allowances Cor personal needs granted by the society to Its miSSionaries, and we appeal to from amongst men and women of culture and youn!: men possessed of private means to come good social position, who are willing to go forth out and unite themselves with UB as honorary- into all the world to preach the Gospel to the workers in the Hankow MiSSion of the London heathen, taking no~hing for their service, but Society. lITing on Inherited wealth, their hands strength- The needs of this district cannot well be over· ened and upheld by the prayers, and sympathy, stated. In the very heart of a province contain- and benedictions of Ohrlstian parents.
ing many millions, Hankow presents one of the GBIFFITII JOlIN.
ftuest centers for missionary enterprise in the ARNOLD FosTlCB, lfhol, wqrld. We have ~ tba tllree cltl8ll qf I[4D;ow, OHIN4, 21st -l"annary, 188Q. The Ohinese New Year. represented by a tablet inscribed to bim" Of" myriad yea1'!." When the bighest o1II.cial ar.- LETTER from our correspondent, rives, wbo ie Canton is tbe Governor-General, having jnrisdiction over two provinces, the Dr. A. P. Rapper, President Chris- master of ceremonies gives directions. The civil officers arrange themselves on one side actian.College. cording to tbeir rank before tbe tablet and the military officers on tbe otber side, the one cor- CANTO1", CHINA, JAN. 31, lE89. responding to the other. At tbe direction of the THIs is the Chinese New Year's day. This master of ceremonies all the Officers, in SIlOOIl8numerous people of three huudred millions are sive gronps, prostrate themselves before the keeping holiday. Every employment Is stopped, tablet which represente the emperor, with ihe all the wheels of business stand still; all the ceremony which denotes the most profound adschools are on vacation. The toiling, anxious oration, tbe tbree kneelings and tbe nine knockmillions are resting. These few days are the ings of the bead, i. e., three knockiDgs of the only complete rest days out of the three hnndred . forehead on the 1Ioor after each one of three and sixty-five days of the year. All the Govern- successive kneellngs. This presupposes the dei· ment offices, Cram the highest to the lowest are fication of the emperor, as the emperors were closed for a mouth. The seals of all offices W6~e deified. Tbis deification is implied in the dessealed up on the 19th of the l~th mouth to be ignation of tbe emperor as tbe son of Heaven brought ant. for use on the 20th of the 1st .-heaven, the patron god of the Cbinese Em· mouth. This law of the Government would pire by whose appointment the emperors role. appear to be to give the officers time to arrange all the details of their official business and keep Heuce the officers of this government are them in proper order. bound to serve His Majesty, not by the bonds of All the business of the people must be finished loyalty and faithfulness which bind tboseofother np and settled on, or before, the last day of the lands, but by this bond of annual worship and year; and all outstanding accounts settled. solemn vow. This bond no doubt contribntes These details of business often cause the streets to the peace and stability of the Government. of the cities to be thronged with the surging But what a manifestation of the blindness of the crowds till midnight. But then the tormoil natural heart which can give to a mere man the ceases, and the bustle and hurrv ends. homage and worship which Is due to God ooly- • Tbe closing days of the old year and opening who is Lord of lords and King of kings. May days of the new year are given to idolatry. Ac- all wbo read tbis be led to increased ell'ort and cording to their estimate of the merciee received, prayer that tbe knowledge of the only trne God and of their ability to give, the people of all may soon extend througbout tbis whole land, classes and conditions return thanks to their and its multitudinous people worship Jehovah. goda, by the burning of crackers in tbeir banal' and offerings of incense and fruits, etc. Witb Korea. tbeflrst hrYur8 of tbe new year they commence their 'prayers and offerings. to tbe gods for STIRRING statement and appeal blessings and pro.perity during the new year. from Rev. R. G. Underwood. This early worship has precedence of every- thing else. Tbe rejOIcings and feaRtings do SEOUL, Jan. 2, 1889. not commence till tbe evening of the first day, "THE CHECK IN KOREA." or the morning of tbe second day. Tbns is pre The work in Korea, a8 indicated by statistics sented a scene, which cannot be seen anywhere and as far as it can be indicated by so imperfect else, of such an immense multitude engaged in a method, is very encouraging. Tbe Lord has wOT8h.ip, at the same time in every family indeed blessed us, and as we see how good He bouse and shop and store and temple in the has been to us, how far His bleSSings have been whole land. What an evidence does this fact above all tbat we could bave boped or thongbt afford to the truth that man is religious by na- or even dreamed of, and how He bas granted us ture, and that the acknowledgmeut of depend- so much more than we had faitb for, we feel ence upon superior beings bas come down like calling upon all Christendom to jOin in from the very earliest altes of onr race. And singing ballelujahs of praise for what haR been what an illustration is tbis of the force of pa- done in tbis little land alone. Tbere bas been a rental example and instructiou-that tbis wor- steady advance all along the line, and in no de- sbip has tbus been handed down from genera- partmEmt of tbe work, in no portion of tbe land, . tion to generation for four tbousand years, in bas tbere been the slightest sign of a backward unbroken continuance and without change. move. In the past year alone the churcb in Korea On this first day of the new year there is ob- has multiplied over fivefold, and to-day, instead served a worshiping service wbich is un- of a score of earnest workers, there are over a known in all other lands. Every state capital bundred followers of the Master in this land. has a temple for the worship of tbe emperor. The calls from the country are as loud as ever. On the morning of the first day of the year all On all sides are CetUS for teachers and ministers. the officers oftbe Government, from the highest Wherever the seed is SOwn it seems to take, to tbe lowest, civil and military meet at tbis root, grow and bear frUit. If we only bad the temple to worship. They meet in a large hall at four o'clock in the morning. The Emperori. meil to seatter the seed, how 800n this land Korean of "Nearer my God to Thee," which might be won to Christ 1 The soil has indeed been prepared by God's Spirit and is ready for was followed by the sermon on the" Duties'and the seed, yea, we might say for the harvest. There have jnst gone back to their homes and Responsibilities of the Watchm"lu." .. Uri hal work in different parts of the country eight earnest Korean workers who have spent a pon chlkpoun-A. Charge to Keep J Have," month here in Seonl, being instrncted in Chris· tlan doctrine and the proper methods of diffns· then followed, at the close of which Mr. Appening the truth, and a more thoughtful set of Bible stndents cannot be met anywhere. While here geUer, assisted by Mr. Ohlinger, distributed the they have studied night and day, and have shown a really carefnl study that was very encourag- elements. It was indeed an impressive service. ing. For instance, they would come, after hearing a lecture from a foreigner with the question, God was with us and it was good to be there. "Mr. – – said so and so. "We do not doubt but that It Is true, but we cannot dnd it in the Now let us stop and think a moment. Let us Bible. Where did he learn that and how can we know it is true f" Or, again: "We see look at Japan. There the missionaries waited that Matthew and John were Christ's disciples, bnt who were Mark and Luke? We cannot years for the ftrst convert, and it was not till dnd their names in the list of Christ's disciples, and how come their writings in the • Sacred they had been there for ten years that a church Book?'" And, at another time they said, .. We now see why the fuu'l' Gospels are in the Bible, was organized, and not till years after "that any but why Paul's Epistles and the other books of the New Testament are there, but who wrote the semblance of publicity was given to their ser- Acts and by what right Is that In the Canon?" vices. Now glauce at this land. Opened to the While these questions are simple enough, and from a class at home would excite no remark, world by treaty with the United States in 1881. when they come from Koreans, who are only just coming out into the light, they show a Dr. Allen, the first missionary to Korea, a phycritical study and a careful thinking that we had not expected. sician, arrived in the fall of 1884. Others fol- During the stay of these men we were blessed lowed in tne spring of 1885. In July, 1886, tbe with tbe presence and power of tbe Spirit. The burden of their prayers during the whole month first convert baptized. In the fall of 1887 the was for this One thing-the presence of the power of the Holy Ghost in their own hearts and first church, a Presbyterian, was organized with in the hearts of the believers throughout the country. As He always is, the Good Lord was ten members. In February, IIJ88, a union week the hearer of their prayers, and just while they were here there was a great ingathering. In of prayer among the natives was held. In May, the one month there were no less than 28 appli cants for baptism, of whom 19 were received. 1888, .. The Check in Korea" appeared. In The other nine are now earnestly studying the way, aud ere long we hope to admit them also July, 1888, all signs of the .. Check" as far as to the bleSSings of the ordinances of the church. Just before they returned to the country we in- this land is concerned have disappeared. A new vited the Methodist Church here to nnite with us in celebrating the Lord's Supper. What a .. Check" for Korea has appeared in the for- service we had lOur little room was made larger by the removal of a partition, but before getfulness of what the Lord is doing here on the the hour came it was full and several were com- pelled to stand the whole service, which lasted part of the church at home. nearly two hours. In December of the same year the Power of The service opened with the invocation in Korean, and from first to last we all felt that the Spirit is poured out on Korea and a score or God was indeed with us. Then with heart and soul we all joined in singing "Before Jehovah's more are gathered in in a month. In January, Awful Throne." in Korean, to the tune of" Old Hundred." At the close of this dYe Koreans 1889, the church numbers over 100 (Methodist atood up and openly avowed their belief in the Saviour and received baptism. Prayer and read- and Presbyterian). There are two well organ- iug of the lesson for the day, Ezekiel xxxiii., were followed by .. Hauanim Kakahl," the ized churches in the land. Public servicllll are held every Sunday in two parts of the city.
Weekly prayer meetings are sustained. Boys are working for the Master and holding a prayer meetiug for themselves. The little band Is firm.
They trust in the Lord. He is leading them.
Now what has the church done at home in view of this r The Methodist Board have" cut down appropriations because the work is stopped in Korea t" The Presbyterian Board have decided to send no more men until free- dom of religion is granted t It is time for this idea to be put aside. We do not know that a change In the treaties is de· sirable. We have now all the work that we can do, and more, and we do not know but that if restrictions were all removed it might not be the greatest .. check" that the work had yet received.
Pray for the work that it may go on triumph- antly; pray for the laborers that we may know how to work aright, but while you pray let work go with your prayers. Give of what God has given you for this cause here. Let not the cause of Christ languish for lack of funds.
You are the stewards of the Lord; withhold not the tithes and you will be blessed yourselves.
But who will come, is the question. Does not the Mcaallstaenr dnoowbeysary, .. Go"? Who will hear His Will you not" come over and help us ?" and then with God on our aide we will take this land for the Lamb. We plead" In His Name."
INTEltN.A.TIONAL
IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY J. T. GRACEY, D. D.
The Press on Foreign Mission Fields. nacular newspapers to be examined FROM the inception of modern by the Government Translator. By 1872 these had grown to thirty-nine. missions, the power and importance of the press in all heathen lands, The statistical returns for 1885-86 eminently in those having a litera· for India show a steady growth and ture, has been recognized. As long a new departure. There were 1,094 ago as the Liverpool Conference on presses at work in that country. Of Missions in 1860, we find reference to these 294 were in the Northwest the volume and character of native Provinces and Oude, 229 in Bengal, literature in India. 228 in the British territory in Bom- In 1858 Rev. James Long quoted bay, and 20 in the native states, 200 statistical details from the Govern- in Madras, 71 in Punjab, 26 in Burment Report of Bengal, on the ver- mah, 16 in the Central Provinces. 5 nacular press in Calcutta, showing in Berar,4 in Assam, and 1 in Coorg.
that in 1857 the Calcutta presses The number of newspapers printed alone issued for sale 571,670 books, in English during the same year was of which a little less than ten thou- 127, as against 117 in the previous sand (9,550) were Christian. The year, and of newspapers printed in almanacs numbered 13€i,000 and the the vernacular or bilingual 277, as Hindus depended on these to de- against 259 in 1884-85. The Punjab termine auspicious days for mar- is not reckoned in the calculation, as riage (only 22 in the year), for first the returns do not separate the Engfeeding an infant rice (27 days in the lish and the vernacular papers, but year), or commencing to build a give a total of 67 for both. By far house, and the like. The educa- the greater number of the vernacutional works, such as algebra, arith- lar newspapers are published in the metic and agriculture, numbered Bombay Presidency, which supports 145,300. Of books abounding in ob- no less than 104, the Northwest Provscene matter, 14,250 were printed; inces and Oude coming next with 72, of works of fiction, 33,050 copies and Bengal next with 54. In Madras were issued. Of books printed to there are only 29, and in Coorg no sustain the systems of mythology newspaper either in English or in the and Hinduism, 96,150 books were vernacular is published. The numpublished. ber of periodicals published in India -excluding the Punjab-was 284, of In 1871, 769 books were published which 102 were in English and 182 in in Calcutta, of which some 700,000 the vernacular. copies were printed, about one-third being in English, one-third in Ben- The whole number of publications gali, the rest miscellaneous: ArablC, registered during 1886 in BritIsh In- Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit, Santali, dia was 8,963, of which 1,485 were in Urdu, etc. The growth thus indi- Urdu. cated will be emphasized by the In forming an estimate of the statement that it is estimated that growth of thiil literary energy it from 1811 to 1821 the total issues of must be borne in mind that full free" the press were not over 16,000 copies. dom of the press only dates from The leap from that to over half a 1835. It is now well known that a million as we have seen in 1857, and single native publishing house in to over. 700,000 fourteen years later, Lucknow has sent an order at one indicates a great increase of literary time to England, for $25,000 worth activity. of paper to be used in his printing establishment. In 1863 there were but tw~lve ver- I Dr. Weitbrecht, at the London Conference of last year, said that This literary aggressiveness is not "the vernacular books which are limitedto India and Ceylon. Burmah, read for purposes other than studious too, is astir. A report before us or professional are, to a great extent, says: morally pernicious. And this ap- plies also, in great measure, to the .. There are printing presses In Rangoon. one English literature favored by young of them a steam-press, owned and condncted by India, so far as it is secular. Secunatives, which are devoted to the printing of a larism and ft'ee-Iove go hand-in-hand Buddhist literatnre, and cheap editions, put in to furnish the mental food of many attractive forms, are exposed for sale on pagoda English-reading natives." Another platforms, at steamer landings on the river, and speaker, Mr. Madie, said: "I have wherever people are likely to congregate In all been informed, and I am afraid it is parts of Burmah.'" the case, that at the present moment at the different railway stations in But a good deal of this literature India, the contractor for the supply at present is of foreign importation. of books has certainly supplied liter- In 1872 there were eleven booksellers ature of a most degrading and disin Calcutta with extensive shops and gusting nature, that is to say, transwarehouses, whose chief business lations made from the very worst of was importing books and periodical French novels." literature from Europe. Their imports aggregated about $250,000, of Dr. Murray Mitchell added his teswhich the bulk was of course from timony that the number of readers Great Britain, but some from France in India and China is rapidly increasand some from America. The most ing, and the natives are circulating of this was educational. poisonous literature to a fearful ex- tent through the agency of the press. Of the moral character of much of this indIgenous literature it is almost Turning to Japan we find it no needless to write. Dr. Murdock, easy task to write of the literary writing to Lord Napier in 1871, ex- kalaidoscope. The modern newspressed the opinion that it would be paper started in Japan as late as better for India if the whole of its 1871. By 1873 the number of newsindigenous literature were burned papers transmitted through the mails up, and a writer in the Indian Evan- exceeded half a million copies (514,- gelical Review said that "the issue 610), and in 1874 this was multiplied / of books and pamphlets was increas- more than fivefold, over two and a ing in India enormously, very few of half millions of copies (2,629,648) pasthe best vernacular books being free sing through the mails. The next from obscemty, while the great mass six months saw a number (1,839,846) of novels and poetry published in almost equal to the whole year's is- Bengal are distressingly filthy. A sues before. In 1879 eleven millions writer was quoted at the Allahabad and a quarter passed through the Conference as saying in 1852 : Post Office which was 100 per cent. "There are for sale in the Calcutta gain on that of 1876. TheJ;l came the bazaar, pamphlets written fortheex- restrictions of the Government, but press purpose of reducing bestiality despite all, the new'5paper press to a systematic theory. Had we not continued to develop, and by 1880 seen them we could not have be- fourteen millions newspapers passed' lieved in their existence." And of through the post offices of the emthe current Bengali literature Rev. pire. All these newspaper ventures' J. E. Payne said before the Confer- are not of course successful. In ence, that it "consists largely of 1880, of 149 new newspapers started, poetry. dramas, and fiction, and there is very little that is not licentious; probably not one in twenty of these wor~sis fit to read.'" 114 of them never saw 1881; of new with young Japan has been growing journals 266 were commenced in stronger under the influence of such 1880, 47 of which soon succumbed. imported inspiration from the west.
In 1887 a dozen daily newspapers ReV'. Dr. D. C. Greene, in an able were being published in Tokio, three paper read before the' General Con- in Osaka, and more in other large ference of Protestant Missionaries in towns. The total number of works Japan in 1883, said Paine's" Age of published in 1881 reached 4,910, Reason" is known in Japan under the against 3,792 the year previous. Of name of Dori no Yo; and Robert these 545 were on political subjects, Ingersoll's article on Christianity being almost double the number of from the North American Review those of the previous year of this was translated under the name of character: on political economy, 15 Yesu Kiyo Hai geiki Ron. A native works were issued in 1880, and 25 in pamphlet was brought out in 1881 1881. Of books on law, l1il80 pro- entitled Yesu Kiyo Mudori, or Chris- duced 207, and 1881, 225. Medical tiani ty Against Re'ason.
works advanced from 229 to 267; Another was by a professor in ethical and moral works increased Tokio on the Errors of Christianity from 32 to 93 ; historical books, from Exposed, or Yaso Kiya Ben waku.
196 to 276; poetical works, from 491 A book on Christian superstitions to 556; books on drawing and writ- was said to have much influence ing from 127 to 339; engineering with Chinese scholars. Paine's ,. Age works from 8 to 28; books on com- of Reason" was said to be read very merce from 70 to 113. The books on extensively. Another class of Anti- scientific subjects, geography, chem- Christian literature is of native ori- istry, natural history, astronomy, gin, and is based on political grounds slightly declined. School books were, of objection to Christianity. The howevt>r, hearly half as numerous principal books are Fukuzawa's work as all other books -put together. In entitled Bummei Ron or Treatise on 1880 they numbered 707 and in 1881 Civilization; his JiJi Shogen, a they were '704. Lighter literature Word for the Times, and a book was not neglected, 193 volumes of called Yaso kiyo koku gai, or Chris- tales, novels and the like being pub- tianity an Injury to the Country.
lished in 1881. It is needless to attempt in a brief The special feature which chal- article any summary of the literary lenges our attention in the modern features of so great a country, and literature of Japan is, however, the one whose literature is so permeating ready adoption of ll}odern Anti-Chris- and many phased as China. There tian literature. Agnostic and mate- are a few things, however, which in- rialistic treatises from England and dicate a remarkable modification of America have found their way to Ja- the literary life of this nation as im- pan. Huxley's "LaySermons," Spen- minent.
cer's "Data of Ethics" and a large Through ages the classics have range of similar works are read ex- consisted almost exclusively of ethi- tensively by the students of the cal maxims, and these are the text of Government and other English Chinese education of which one reads schools in various parts of the so much. Science was discouraged.
country, and in translationll more Confucian ethics were the standard or less among the students of the ,of scholarship.
normal schools and academies. But recently the Chinese Govern- They form the staple of articles in the ment has made a decided innovation current newspaperIiteratul'e, and the on these centuries-old customs. In materialistic tendency of thought 1888 the Peking Gazette, the official organ of the Emperor, added ques- are uncounted, but 'who in 1843 tions on foreign :science and learning, prmtedoverthree hundred thousand to the examination papers of the tracts, and as long ago as 1872 these tens of thousands of students as- aggregate initial forces had in circusembled at the provincial and metro- lation more than ten millions of politan examinations. Thjl Govern- separate issues. It is impossible to ment had, some time before, engaged follow the development of this foreigners to translate books and agency over anyone of the great follow the current periodicals of heathen countries. . other countries and translate every article bearing upon China; and The rapid growth and the steadily these translations were printed in an augmenting demand may be seen by official newspaper published every a slight glance at the Madras Refifth day for exclusive circulation ligious Tract and Book Society which among the Chinese official class. in the first fifty-five years of its ex- istence printed 7,521,529 copies, and We have no space to show the lit- in the next nine years printed as erary influences which are pervading many more. Forty years latercame other mission countries, such as the the Christian Vernacular Education Spanish-speaking populations of Society, which averaged for its first Mexico, the Argentine Republic, and twenty-two years put into circulaothers on the American continent, tion nearly two and three-quarter nor that of Italy and even of parts millions of publications. Far in the of Africa. Northwest the Punjab, Lucknow and oth!'lr presses have poured forth Enough has been thus hurriedly 'their leaves which are for the healing traversed, to show the vast and im- of the nations. minent need of the hour in the use of the press for evangelical pur- The early China missionaries acposes. Of course we cannot recount complished marvels in the producwhat has a.lready been done in the tion of literature. Commencing department of missionary labor. with Joshua Marshman, the first When Carey, Marshman and Ward translator of the Scriptures into Chion Lord's day, March 30, 1800, stand- nese, who began his work in Seraming at a four corners, or four-cross- pore in 1799, we have a noble band i'oads, sang Bengali hymns, and of litterateurs. Dr. Morrison became then distributed them in print the author of 13 Chinese and 19 Engamongst the people, they began the. lish works; Dr. Milne, of 21 Chinese mightiest revolution the Continent and 3 English; Dr. Medhurst, of 63 of India could experience. Within Chinese, 29 English and 7 Malay; twice twelve montns they had dis- Gutzlaff, of 61 Chinese, 2 Japanese, tributed 22,OQO tracts in the vernacu- 1 Siamese, 5 Dutch, 7 German and 9 lar, and these grew to at least a mil- English; Mr. Muirhead, of 89 .Chilion tracts and pamphlets by 1806, nese and 8 English. Drs. Doolittle, and the year 1815 alone saw the cir- Legge, Edkins and others kept the culation of far more than a hundred literary current flowing in Chinese, thousand. The Church of England, Mongolian, Malay, Japanese, Siathe Baptist, and the London Mission- mese, Dutch, German and English, aries in Calcutta re-enforced the ef- and now Dr. Yung J. Allen tells us forts of the "Serampore Three" in he has translated 90 volumes of his- 1818, the one with 6,000, the next tory, geography and science. OCthe with 15,000, and the last with 88,000 Christian presses estab.lished in variprinted issues, and the whole cul- ous parts of this Empire, there is no minated in the Calcutta Christian space to write. The last annual re- Tract and Book Society, whose issues port of the American Presbyterian Missionary Society says of the press the all-round development ofa at Shanghai: "The business of the Christian church and a distinctly press comprises two departments- Christian civilization. Neither ha.ve the manufacturing and the distribut- we cared to discuss the numerous ing. The former includes the foun- phases of the scope to be given dry, typesetting, pi'inting and bind- to the Christian press in these ing. The foundry has seven casting countries. How far it should be machines constantly at work which ' confined to religious publications, cast six sizes of Chinese type, besides or take also secular type and English, Korean, Manchu, Japanese, much besides, are questions for Hebrew, etc. There is also ma- separate discussion. It is, how- chinery for stereotyping, electrotyp- ever, not much except a question of ing, matrix-makifig, typecutting and capital. Why should not a mission engraving." Three presses are run press issue educational books which by gas, and five by hand, and from 80 tend to augment the intellectual life to 100 persons have been employed. of a people, even if it be in the form And now comes the statementwhich of elementary school books?
caused us to select this press as an The Greek "Alphabetarian" was illustration; " The earnings of the issued by the American Board press at press for the year, including increase Malta in 1829, 27,000 copies of which in the plant, stock, etc., were $12,- were sold in two years. Rev. Mr.
629.65, of which $5,000 were turned Craven issued a small Hindustani into the treasury for current mission dictionary with discriminating defi- work." We do not mean that it is nitions and carefully selected illus- alone in this self-supporting and trations, which was published at the revenue-yielding feature. It is not energetic Methodist Press in Luck- singular herein, else the very point now, India, and 60,000 copies were we desire to make would be dulled, sold in two years.
viz. : that it would seem that no de- These incidentals, however, of the partment of work could so readily mJl>in question should not divert our be made self-perpetuating as a mis- thought from the vast and rapidly sion press, and that a round sum increasing necessity which exists, given for the foundation of a press that the Christian Church shall mul- would be as wise and as useful a dis- tiplythe operations of its press in all position of money as would the en- foreign fields a hundredfold and do dowment of a professorship or even it at once. The hour has struck. The of a college. The power, the reach, procession moves. What we do we the influence of the press, is honey- must do qUickly.
combing tl1ese heathen communities, and the Christian Churr:h should .. Honor the Emperor, :Believe in take such large leadership of the :Buddha." general movement over the world as "Son-NO Ho-Butau Dai Dodan,"
will secure, if not the control of the which is translated in the caption of press in these great countries, yet, our articl~, is the title of the new as- at least such moral power as will sociation in Japan which seeks to materially affect its issues. secure a revival of Buddhism.
We have not discriminated between The Japanese Buddhist is becom- the necessity of furnishing health- ing sensitive to the Christian mis- ful literature for the heathen, and sion, and compliments its efficiency that of meeting the wants of the nat- by seeking to stir up his co-religion- iveChristian community–a commun- ists to rivalry with its pl'opaganda.
ity which must be furnished with all The Japanese newspapers have for the many-sided literature essential to some while past been tellin~ of able
INTERNATION.ll
Buddhist preachers undertaking to in operation along with the course of expound their doctrines with re- the social developments with the newed activity, a~d also of the es- moral and intellectual progress.".
tablishment of schools and other This, to an English reader, is atleast agencies in imitation of Christian a little less mysterious than Om missionary methods, all intended Mani Padn~, the unknown prayer to to counteract the force of Christian the unknown God of unknowable evangelism. The Lew missionary Buddhism.
society organized by these Buddhists But the editor of Bijou publishes can be partly understood by the fol- several letters from persons in this lowing quotation from its prospec- country, describing the hollowness tus: of Christianity and exalting Budd- .. Son-No Ho-Butsu Dai Dodan is an asso- hism as pre-eminently adapted to ciation established for the purpose of main- the needs of the Western barbarians. taining the honor and majesty of our Em- The editor thus expounds Buddhism peror and the truth of the doctrine of for English readers: Buddhism-a union of those who wish to protect our land and religion from the con- .. The fundamental ideas on which Budd- tempt of foreigners. Those who unite with hism hingesare, that the !ltate of constancy, us are expected to avoid everything that or eternal continuance, cannot be found in would lessen the reverence due to his Im- the whole universe, and that there is noth- perial Majesty or the infiuence of Buddhist ing to be pointed to as egoity : and the ob- doctrine. For instance, in selecting our ject of Buddhism is to drive away the conrepresentatives to the national parliament, fusion, and acquire the illumination, of the to provincial assemblies, to town councils psychical state. Every sect agrees on the or local offices, in the distribution of all fundamental idcas and the object; but honors, in appointing school teachers, of- there are found many grades of practice ficials of societies and business companies and principles in the preachings of the etc., we pledge ourselves carefully to ex- Tathagata himself, as well as of the deficlude all who are disloyal to the Emperor or nitions of several points of the doctrine. untrue to Buddhism by belicving in the This reason is that he intended to render foreign religion called Christianity. If these his teachings available to all the circumpoints are kept well in mind and carried out stances which the human beings present in practice, we, 39,000,000 of brethren united among themselves, that all they might be in one, will so protect our country that saved from the dark, miserable circle. This though many a difficulty and many an in- accounts for why Buddhism is divided into ternal social and political problem may sects;." The second extract is in verse, anp arise, still our Emperor's position shall is described as coming from the drama of stand secure and the doctrinc of Buddha the •• Toy Cart" : shall remain unshaken. Yes, if we but stand together on this solid foundation of truth, .. Be virtue, friends, your only store, the result will be that no foreign land will And restless appetite restrain, point at us with the finger of scorn. Now, brothers, if you can see the truth as here Beat meditation's drum, and sore stated do not hesitate to come and join our Your watchagainsteachsense maintain; band. Give us your hand, we shall then all stand together and add to the strength and The thief that stiII in ambush lies, life of our Yamato-damashii I" To make devotion'S wealth his prize.
In order to properly present the •Cast the five senses all away, That triumph o'er the virtuous will, interests of this missionarj society these Buddhists have established at The pride of self-importance slay, And ignorance remorseless ki1l.
So shall you safe the body guard./ And Heaven shall be your last reward."
Kioto a missionary magazine pub- There is, however, little occasion to lished in the English language with apprehend any protracted or powerthe title of Bijou of .Asia. The edi- ful movement toward a real revival tor says of Christianity in Europe of Buddhism, from the success of this -and America, "It is losing its influ- new departure of its missionary so- ence upon the social life and is drop- ciety and magazine. These move- ing away the principles forming the ments, intended as counter forces to part and parcel of its system, owing Christian aggressiveness, of which to the factors which naturally carne we have had many in India and ,I China, whether organized by Mos- powerful allies; shorn of means,of preatlge, lems, Brahmans or Buddhists, have of solid foundationi decay staril)g tb9l!l in been ShOl·t-lived, and are significant the face, no wonder they seek forsympathy rather as containing an acknowledg- and try all kinds of experiments. 'But 'this effort to tack themselves on to oUl-pOor, ment of the power of Christian mis- friendless.,deserted Emperor Is too comical.
sions and an apprehension of their Where is ther~ in all Japan a eJapallese further success, than as at all likely who does not reverence and honor his to furnish a true rallying point for Majesty Y But belief or unbelief in Budd- hism is a matter of choice that has not the revival of the fast decaying forces of remotest connection with our loyalty to the these old faiths in the face of the Emperor. Buddhism may have been of new civilization and the new dogma of Christianity. The editor of The benefit to Japan in olden times, butit is out- Christian, himself a Japanese, re- grown to-day 0.8 the clothes ot childhood are outgrown by one who has come to man- hood. Japan Is now putting away ohildish plying to the editor of the Bijou of things. If Buddhists want to form a politi- Asia, writes as follows: cal party to help themselves, let ,them form a really Buddhist party, and not attempt to .. Buddhism feels that the influence of the mix two things which are as fa.r as the poles old doctrine is decaying, and many are the asunder. But -this dragging in of religiOUS experiments and plans projected to save matters into political life, as they-wilIh to the waning cause. Five or six years ago do in regard to electionll, etc.., is a. matter they started a plan of preaching and lec- that cannot be too severely reprehended. turing on a large scale to expose th" errors We do not wish to see here the-poJitico- of Christianity and to expound the Buddhist religiolls contentions that disgrace papal law: at the same time Yaso-Taijl-Chris- countries. If Buddhism can hold its own tianity expelling society-was started with by the fair teaching of doctrine and by winhigh hopes. These plans failed and the next ning the hearts of the people well and go,od, move was to open girls' schools, establish but if it needs political power to preserve woman's societies, young men's associa- its life it must be in a pitiable condition intions, etc., etc., in imitation of the doings deed." of the Christians. All this is a benefit to Japan, no doubt, but it is suicidal for Budd- "Sunny Spain." hism. for Buddhism and education cannot THREE centuries ago Spain inaug- exist together. Superstition and knowledge urated in the City of Seville what will not mix. Buddhism looks upon Chris- France had theoretically originated tianity as its great enemy, but the real but dUl'st not then attempt to realize enemy of Buddhism is the light of the nine- amongst her people-the terrificInteenth century and the incoming of western science. In India. Bra.hminism is true to it- quisition. Nowhere, even in Spain, self eand opposes the education of the have so many been burned for fidelimasses !Lnd of woman; it may be respected ty to their convictions as here. Here while it is opposed by Christians. There old men, youths, girls died for their would be something manly in Japanese Buddhism standing its own ground and faith. Of the martyrs that cry be- fighting with its own weapons, but when it neath the altar what multitudes asholds its superstitions with one haud and cended from this city! a city so beaugrasps at edncation as an aid with the other tiful that the motto is current still, it IS simply to be pitied. The strength of Buddhism in Japan is wholly in uneducated "He who has not seen Seville, has elderly people, who still believe its teach- seen no wonder." ings. The boys and girls who entered the It was a happy day for Seville when primary schools when the present system was established are now becoming men Rev. L. S. Tugwell, the' British and women, taking the place of the elders chaplain at that place, purchased in who are little by little dropping out, and 1871 the fine old church, San Basilio, hence the decay of Buddhism. But now we have a new scheme. In reading the procla- once a Benedictine monastery, that mation of the Son-No Ho-Butsu we appre- 'ciate the trouble into which they have the gospel in its Simplicity might fallen and pity them, for they are like a once more be preached therein, and lonely castle in the midst of circling foes to ,whom nothing is left but hopelesssurrender. a congregation of a'thousand persons Within, scarcely an intelligent and edu- cated believer; without, no rich or wise or assembled. That work has extended over many parts of Spain; We read of crowded congregations at Malaga,
TJUIl MONTHLY OONOERT OF-KISSIONS
where cruel persecution has failed to – The ticket olllce in the Callt lit Sevilla does Dot su.bdue the pastor or injure the work, open until Saturday; but on Friday 3,000 .per- sons assemble in front of the D68pacho, and and of the success of village missions, walt there Courteen hours in order to prooure and of one occasion where over 200 – cards of admission. A detachment of troops is persons were unable to gain admis- sent to keep order, but Cor all that there Is a.
sion to the room, listening eagerly good deal oC rough horse-pisy. Blows are struck. – at the door and windows. "We have revolvers are produced, arrests are made, and indeed many trials," writes one pas- the authorities threaten to clear the streets'. As this would deprive the multitude of their covet- tor, "but come what may we must ed seats in the bull-ring, order is eventnally re- preach Jesus." stored. Fearing a serious conllict in the Calle But Spain is still a Roman Catho- de Sevilla, however, the Governor of Joladrld lic country. An Evangelical pastor arranges for the tickets to be sold at the bull . ring itself. Directly this announcement is made tells us that when a bull fight, some the crowd march In a compact body to the time ago, was to be given on Sunday Plaza de TOf'08. When the tickets are proafternoon in Seville, in aid of the duced, nearly 10,000 people are standing In the Roman Church, the corners of the blazlnj!; sunshine. On Sunday all the great cen· streets were covered with posters on which the Virgin Mary was repre- ters ot the City are deseried. The Fine Arts Exhibition, which is open free, has scarcely a visitor. But the bull-rlng-the admission to sented as seated between a bull and which is from 14 to 15 twenty-five shilllng……..is a bull-fighter. A recent writer gives packed, and as much as £10 is paid for a seat us this description of the Sunday, for in the shade. which the Roman Catholic Church is responsible in Spain. He writes of "It is a terrible fact that the priest and the bull· fighter are the two chief factors of the day. in- deed, they go together, for bull-fights are fre- Madrid: quently given in aid of the expenses of public .. There is to ,be an extraordinany bull-light on worship, and the proceeds of the revoltinc e1- Sunday, and special attractions are announced. hibltions are called" pWu8 alml."
V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
SUBJECTS for the month: Africa 7. Malayo-Polynesian, Madagasand Freedmen. Consult volume for car. 1888, pp. 411, 468, etc. This is a valua.ble classification. AFRICA.-Physicallyit is compared Religion.-Some of the tribes are to an inverted saucer, the coast line so low sunk in barbarism that they comparatively low, ascending to come as near as any people to no reranges of hills and mountains, with ligion; the language has no words to table lands, SOOO feet high, beyond express properly religious and spirand between. Population vaguely itual ideas; and the consciousness of estimated at 200,000,000 and over. spiritual things, and almost the ca- Keane arranges the -races in seven pacity for apprehending them seem main groups according to language. no longer to exist. Moffat thought some of the people scarcely reachable 1. Semitic, along north coast and even by the gospel, and counseled in AbyssiDia. as the threefold condition of all suc- cess, "Patience, Patience, PA- 2. Hamitic, Sahara, Egypt, Galla and Somali.
S. Fulah-Nuba, in Western Cen- TIENCE." tral and Eastern Soudan. Throughout the northern region, 4. Negro, Western and Central Sou- the crepd of the Moslem is nomina.lly dan, Upper Nile and Upper Guinea. prevalent but is not practically very influential. It is rather a barrier to 5. Bantu, south o[ 60 n. Lat. except the gospel than a positive religiOUS in Hottentot land. belief. On the west coast the Mo- hammedans are divided into Mar- 6. Hottentot, extreme southwest (rom Cape to Tropic of Capricorn. abouts and Soimachees ; the former ers or canoes to give alfJes.8. tQ these are rather stricter in observing the teeming millio.ns. One sta.rts-it(b~ laws and customs of the sec~the mouth of this imperial strea.m and Pharisees of the Mussulmans In Af- ascends 125 miles of navigable river, rica-while the latter are looser, then for 185 miles encountel'S rapids more secular, even eating pork and and cataracts; bu.t beyond that for drinking intoxicants. over1.000 miles, from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls, is one grand stretch of Fetichism is more widely prevalent navigable river, with branches runin Africa than in any other land. It ning each way navigable from 100 to is the lowest form of superstition 800 miles, and leading into the heart and both marks and makes the deep- of this rich and populous territory. est degradation where it prevails. Dr. Burrell in his excellent book on The people from the river-mouth the"Religionsof the World" compre- up to Stanley Pool and the equator hensively describes Fetichism thus: line are civilized by contact with "A Fetich is any material thing, white traders, and their pagan cusliving or dead, not divine, to which toms largelymodifled. They speak reverence is paid on account of a one language, musical. of Jarge casupernatural influence proceeding pacity of expression and easy of from it. acquis~tion, and along this line the seven Congo stations are already Central Thought: a man not the planted. 'Beyond the point where the controller of his own affairs. 1. His Congo crosses the equator, lies anmaster is Fetich, the fortune giver. other vast populatIOn, . more de- 2. He may have many fetiches of graded, less civilized, and needing at divers kinds. 3. Fetichism is not once the full array of Christian Polytheism, Henotheism or Panthe- institutions, but yet entirely desism. 4. It is however a system hav- titute. ing both a creed and a cultus. 5. It is better than materialism, for it Their moral and· spiritual state is holds to the- reality of supersensib1e hardly conceivable without contact things. To the question: What shall with them. With no idea of God or I do to be saved? it gives no answer. immortality, they worship fetich cha.rms; sickness is not brought about Africa is so wide a territory, that by natural causes, but is the result of in addition to matter furnished in. enchantment; hence the medicinethe last volume, we give only notices man must trace disease and death to of some few missions. some unhappy human victim or victims who must suffer the witch's The Oongo Mission. penalty. One death therefore means another-it may be a dozen. Here A grand open door is that which God runawayslaves are crucified, robbers has set bef "Ire our Baptist brethren in buried alive, young men .cruelly dethe Congo basin! a million square capitated, andhuman beings areeven miles in the heart of equatorial devoured for meat. Africa, made accessible by the great Congo and its tributaries. And yet this people, after centuries of virtual seclusion, are now both The great lakes, Nyassa, Victoria, Iitel'ally and morally accessible. They Tanganyika, are isolated; they must welcome missionaries, come to. the be approached by a long and weary chapels, and prove teachable. Even walk of from 500 to 800 miles from now cruel customs and superstitious the coast, and afford no means of notions are giving way before patient, penetrating the surrounding coun- humble, scriptural instruction. .The try; but the Congo and its branches walls are down, and the hosts of God present from 4,000 to 6,000 miles of river roadway, needing only steamha.ve but to march straight on and heroism of the gospel does not de- take what Dr. Sims calls "the last mand needless exposure or careless stronghold of Paganism." venture.
Wonderfully indeed has God linked Here is a grand opportunity. It Protestant, Greek, Roman Catholic, m'ay be doubted whether there has, and even Moslem 'nations in the ad- been anything like it since the ministration of the Congo Free State. clarion voice of our Great Captain Never was such a highway open for trumpeted forth the last commission. the gospel since our Lord ascended. Ethiopia is stretching forth her hands unto God. On those hands The Arabs from Zanzibar and the are the marks of manacles which coast are moving up toward Stanley England and America helped to rivet Falls and the north country, estab- there. There is but one atonement lishing themselves in large villages we can make for Africa's wrongs-it to capture slaves and carryon ne- is to lay down our lives, if need be, farious traffic, while the Protestant to redllem her sable sons from the forces slowly move upward from the captivity of sin. west. The question is, Who is to occupy the Congo Basin? and the We ought to turn this Congo into question is to be settled at once. This a river of life, crowd its waters great highway of rivers means traffic with a flotilla of Henry Reeds, line and travel; this rich and splendid its banks with a thousand chapel tropical country invites trade and spires, plant its villages with Chris- settlement. Into whose hands shaH tian schools, let the Congo Free such a heritage be surrendered? The State mark its very territory with Christian Church must give prompt the sign of Christian institutions, so answer by action, her reply must be a taking possession, and the old law that to cross its border will be to pass is the new one: "Every place that from darkness unto light. Where is the sole of your feet shall tread upon our Christian enterprise, that such a shall be yours:" the resolutions of work, with such a field and such . enthusiastic missionary conventions, promise, should wait for workmeq the prayers of all Christendom, the and for money! What do our con- planting of the banner of the cross verted ypung men want, as a chance at a few commanding points-all to crowd life with heroic service, that this .will not do. We must send out the Congo basin does not attract enough Christian laborers to meas- them! Here what a' century ago ure off that soil with their own feet. would have taken fifty years. to ac- complish, may be done in five. The " But it is unhealthy"? So are all unexplored interior is open, the dark tropical and especially equatorial continent waits to be illumined. climes to those who are not ac- Nature· has cast up her highway of customed to the intense and steady waters, and there is no need to gather heat, and do not use common sense out the stones. Give us only the 'in adapting their clothing, eating and two-wheeled chariot, with steam as drinking, and habits of life, to these the steed to draw it, and the men and peculiar surroundings. One must not women to go in it bearing the gospel, go from temperate to torrid zone, andfl'om end to end of this highway and wear the garments, eat the heat- we can scatter the leaves of that tree ing food, use the stimulating drinks which are for the healing of the na- and risk the exhausting labors which tions. are permissible in cooler latitudes. A trip to New Orleans or Florida has Where are the successors of Mof- proved fatal to many a fool who fatt and Livingstone! What a hero would not take advice. Even the was he who dared forty attacks of fever and then died on his knees be-
sid~Lake·. Bang-wealo, tliat he might of lieen already formed neaHj ',400
tip open. tbe 'dark recesses of Africa, members, witbas many more'~p:: plying. There were two out-stations. to the missionary I Let us pour men A native elder had moved for health's sake to a new part of the country a.nd money at the fe'8t of our Lord. and some six months after 40 con: verts were gathered into a churoh,· We'have not yet paid our debt to the fruit of his work. Some three: Simon the Cyrenean and the Eunuch years and more ago a chief asked for'· the fifth time to have a station in of Ethiopia! his territory, and just then Barclay Amerioan Mission in ~t. Church,Edinburgh,oifered to support an evangelist. Thus the request Rev. Dr. Muchmore writes: was providentially met and shortly " At the request of Ismail Pasha, there were 93 converts. Said Pasha made the mission, in its infancv, a present of an old building, For 50 years the Dutch Boers which" served them a long time. opposed the work, and even burned Being in the way of the improve- down Livingstone station. Now they ment of Ismail, he proposed to give theni in exchang'e the present posi- themselves are crying out for evantion, On which they erected the pres- gelists. They seemed moved by the 'tmt building, so spacious and so belief that they were the modern adequate to all their needs. In ad- Israel of God, to destroy others about dition he gave them about thirty-five them as God's people did the Ca~ thousand dollars. The money for naanites. the building was nearly all given by outside friends in England and We have elsewhere rE'ferred to the America. The mission field has as cruelty and tyranny of the native centers Alexandria, Monsura, Cairo, chiefs as seen in ,Dingaan, a Zulu, , Assiout and Luxor. They have of who when 100 girls came bringing communicants, 2,042; attendants, provisions to the Kraal, the tribe 4,449 ; evening prayer-meetings, they came from havingoifended him, 2,180 ; which is a wonderful dis- and one girl being considered the closure of true inner life, for this is equivalent of 30 cattle, he killed the the test everywhere of a standing or girls in one foul massacre, thus ex- falling church. In the next test- acting the penalty for the offense, ben'evolence-they do not faU behind. 3,000'head of cattle. He sent out There is raised by native members two spies to hunt for cattle, and and adherent.s for church work $5,043 they mistook game for horned -$2.49 per member. They gave also cattle. He ordered theil eyes to educationalcongregationalschools gouged out, saying, "Of what use $5,508. In tuition fees in all schools, are eyes f0 such men!" Similar city and counil-y, $11,211. Whole things are going on now along the value of the property of the mission Zambesi. It was to such people that $193,304, a good showing for thirty- Rev. W. H. Thompson first brought three years. In the schools of Miss the gospel: and now over 200,000 are 'Vhateley are between three and under its influence, over 50,000 are four hundred boys and girls. These now church-members,and onechurch beneficial statements are fm'ther con- numbers 1,400. There are five or six firmed by the reading habits .of the training schools; LovedaZe is con- people. Bibles and books are sold, spicuous for its educational work: 9.651 volumes, money realized $2,552. out of 2,000 or 3,000 pupils only 15 Religious publications, 8,993 vol'lmes; have gone back to heathenism. money realized, $1,149. Educational books for schools sold everywhere, Rev. Robert Cleland writes from 19,179; money realized, $4,405. Total Chiradzulo: attendance in the Sabbath·schools, 417. "
Zululand.-Ourpersonalfriend, Rev. James Scott, of Impolweni, gave in the course of the mission tour in Scotland in August, 1888, a most fascinating account of his own work in Zululand. A church had
· 1881).} THE MONTBLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS•
.. Perhaps in 110 part of the heart of Africa are came a freedman. there were 4,000.000 of peo–., there so many memories clustered as here. A pie who owned not an average of ten cents little over twenty years ago, and livingstone apiece, Ignorant; nnable to read and writewttb, came here with Bishop Mackenzie and that ill· few' exceptions; but with a religlou8 aptitude fated band. Within five miles lies that beauty-· possessed by few peoples, !laving a reverence Cully·situated spot, Magomero-heautiful, as for holy tbingsthat admitted no skepticism fir kneeling nnder an arch made by a thousand infidelity, and a strange respect tor the marcreepers, we find the open grave of poor "Birrup riage relation, notwithstanding they had been who, dying, buried his dead bishop, only to re- educated in the midst of a system of concubintreat along those solemn fOreRt plains to die. To age and compelled to regard the relation of husthis spot, again and again on his last journeys, band and wife. parent and child as dissolvable the great.souled livingstone turned with a glad at the will oC the master." Be says tbia race is hope not unmingled with a feeling of regret. doubling every thirty-fivo years. Bere the gospel was first planted in the heart of this great land." -In the South there are now 16,000 colored teachers, 1,000,000 pupils, 17,000 in the male and The Rev. Dr. Daniel Lindley, who' female high schools, and 3,000,000 worshipers for twenty-five years was a mis- in the churches. There are 6 normal schools, sionary among the Zulus, used to tell 50 colleges and universities, and 25 thoological some very interesting stories about seminaries. They pay taxes on nearly $2,000.- those poor blacks, who are very ig- 000 worth of property. This in the Southern States, which, if including the Northern States, norant, and live in a very miserable would double the property valuation. way, wearing little or no clothing, and having wretched huts for homes. This is a wonderful showing from a race that has 200 year~ of slavery and 4,000 years ofbarba. OC('Atsionally a poor, naked, black rism back of It, when in 20 years of emancipac man would come to him and ask for tion, under all lis repressive circumstances, it a shirt. None could be obtained makes such a showing. American generOSity within 200 or 300 miles, except from has done for the Sonth in 20 years what states- Dr. Lindley, who was glad to supply manship has failed in for over a century; but the man at cost. Next, he would generosity should not be depended upon, RS want a pail' of trowsers; then he even that can reach a limit. The negro popuwould bring a rqugh piece of plank lation Of the United States is now 7.000,000. or slab of a tree, and three stakes, and ask the missioqary to bore hole& African NoteS.-The area is estimated in it, that the stakes might be placed at 8,500,000 square miles, exclusive of in them for legs, and thus make a islands. Of the territory of Africa, England has stool; for he would be unwilling to sit the controlling influence over 1,000,000 square on the ground with his new clothes; miles; Germany, 740,000; France, 700,000; other then he would want a chair for his powers-Portugal, Italy, etc.-have various wife, and would begin to treat her possessions, raising the whole to 6,500,000 and their little children more kindly. square miles. Now, for that Zulu to come to beg for a shirt wa:;; the same as declaring -Bechuanaland postal-runners carry the that he mean t to give up heathenism mail at the rate of 130 miles a day-each runner and become a Christian. covering 15 miles. The. route hetween Tangier and Fez, in Morocco, is 150 miles of mountain- The Freedmen. ous, crooked roads, and bridgeless and ferryless rivers. The Arab earriersrun, walk and swim SENATOR BRUCE, in his lecture on this distance in three and a half days. the Race Problem, says: -An African traveler, Commander Cam- .. The people of the United States have en' eron,states that half a million negroes on that countered on their soil three other races: the continent are taken from their homes and sold red Indian, the yellow Chinaman and the black into slavery every y"ar. African. The red man's land, the Chinaman's labor, and the negro's peraon have been ap- -The London MiSSIonary Society Mission propriated. Race conflicts sometimes prodnce on Lake Nagami, in South Africa, reports' an amalgamation of the Inferior as hi Mexico, ex- iateresting ea.se of a self-taught preacher, termination as In the case of Indians, and the Bokaba, who had learned the truth from porsubordination as in case Of the blacks. tions of scriptural translstions made by Dr. When the war'ended and the co:ored lDan be- Moffat and Rev. Wm. Ashton in 1857. Be had found the 53d chapter of Isaiah, and had been led to behold there" the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." Very hum- hIe in spirit, he has neverthless proclaimed the truth to all about him. .. It is all bahblement," he says. "We are like infants; but the mother understands her Infant, and God understands His children better still."
EDITORIAL NOTES. [ J
-The veteran Dr. )(oll'at, after hearing a deplorable condition. At e•." 1IIDIl' harbOr Christian brother remark that If he were a on the coast may be (ound Bnlpburie RIllcl, aqar yonng man he would go to Africa, said:" I and water, which these tradera sell as braDdy, wonld go to·morrow were it in my power; and I think I am not too old yet… gin, etc. The first German Colonr aOO the Congo lands Mao were bought with liquor. . -One ofthe m,oat terrible facts in modern bottle of rum is current coin. The clamor for drink Is heard here as Cor .. Backsheesh .. history is the forcing of ligum trade upon in Arab lands. One ship brought to the Niger Africa by nominally Christian nations. It is 300,000 bottles oC gin. Brandy has almost taken the unanimous testimony of missionaries that the place oC the native beer on the gold coast; the natural cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the and drunkenness has become so common Africans are kindled into the madness of , that it is a rnle not to visit an omcial after dinner. demons by ftrewater, and beneath the wounds No street preaching is allowed in the evening, of European traders this poor land lies bleeding for no man dare face the intoxicated mnltltude. at every pore. From the cradle to the grave every evening in the West African's life Is saturated with strong- When Bishop Penick reached Africa in 1877, drink. Funerals are horrible to see, sometimes the first word of English he heard breaking $500 being spent for rum and powder on such from African lips was an oath, showing that occasions. A missionary says at times a whole the devil's missionaries had outstripped the village is drunk. )(any sleep with a bottle missionary of Christ. The steamer on under their heads, for use during the night. which he sailed from Liverpool carried fOOT One native dealer is reported as keeping 96.000 missionaries and $50,000 worth of rum to the bottles of brandy in stock for the Interior west coast, and weekly that amount was sent from the civilized world to curse that people. trade." An African missionary writes:" The steamer The New York Timea:" Every ship that on which we came brought apparatus to establish a mauufactory of brandy. They will soon have takes missionaries to Africa carries enough 700 barrels of the poison ready for sale." The poisonous rum and gin to offilet in evil the good etl'ects of a thousand missionaries. Since the secretary of the London Missionary Society opening of the Oongo region enormous quanreports that in all the tribes of South Africa tities of the stutl'-so vile that there is rio brandy is the greatest curse of the natives• market for it in any civillzed country-has .. The bralldy-keg does far more harm than the been shipped to the savages. 14lssionaries in all parts of the Dark Continent are now pleadpowder-barrell " .. Mohammedan influence hinders the sale ing with European governments, for the restric- tion or abolition of the tramc. " of liquors on the East Coast; but iii spite of that the German traders import $20,000 of brandy a No wonder Christian people are petitioning year. In South Africa, Hottentots, Kamrs and those in authority to suppress this iniqnltous others perish beneath this curse by thousJ.nds. tramc on foreign shores I On one Sunday noon,an English gentleman count ed at the diamond fields 317 natives dead drunk, One distillery in Medford. Mass., has a conwhile many others were partially intoxicated." tract to supply parties in the Congo Free State with 3,000 gallons a day for seven years I .. West Africa is, If possible, in a still more VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ONCURRE:NT TOPICS.
Another Assault on Missions. ably inadequate; he thinks the com- mittees at home largely responsible, FOLLOWING in the wake of Canon and that there is urgent need both Taylor, Mr. W. S. Caine, }:[. P., vis- of better men and better methods. iting India, etc., indulges in some- what superficial but critical remarks Mr. Caine is a brilliant example of on missions, which have broughtout the inadecluacy of the ordinary tour- a heavy counterfire from Secretary ist to make accurate observations or , Baynes, of the Baptist Missionary induce sound conclus~ons touching Society, andR. Wardlaw Thompson, missions. He writes about Indian of the London Missionary Society-. missions with the air of a thorough The replies, however courteous, are explorer, yet his travels have been a merciless exposure of the super- entirely confined to North India, for ficialityof his information, and the many reasons the hardest and most injustice of his strictures and the in- barren part of the whole field.' In accuracy of his statements. He at- the Madras Presidency he might find tempts to make out the educational tens of thousands of converts, and policy a conspicuous failure, and the in Ongole and the Telugu country numerical results of missions miser- the greatest harvest field'since apo6-
NOTES
'to!icdays. Yet he. knows nothing of he mistakes egregiously when he the Arcot, Madura, Tinnevel1y, My- prOnounces their "failure complete sore districts or of the work of the and unmistakable" in this direction.
L. M. S. in the Canarese country and He forgets the intelligent and sym- Tra.vancore. pathetic hearers, not to say actfYe Even as to North India, where helpers, who are furnished to evan- Moslem bigotry and Brahman idola- gelistic missionaries from the stu- try have built barriet·s so far insuper- dents trained in these schools; and able, Mr. Caine's criticisms are mis- overlooks the secret faith which as leading. He overlooks Rohilcund yet is not bold enough to face oppo- and the work of the Americl:.n Meth- sition and persecution by open eon- odists, I:.nd Ahmednuggur and the fession. When he advocates the gra.nd missions of the A. B. C. F. M. turning over to the Government of and Calcutta with the work of the all secular education, he evidently L. M. S. In all these not only are , did not know that he was committing there many converts, 'but a con- one of those blunders which Talley- stantly Msing ratio of increase. Mr. rand pronounced worse than a Caine seems to have turned his blind crime. The Indian Govet'nment is, eye to almost every successful field on all matters connected with moral- and his open eye to the more difficult ity and religion, avowedly and neces- and fruitless ones. sarily neutral. To hand. over the With the iron flail of Talus, he entire training of India's vast multi- would at once demohsh all the mis- tudes to agencies destructive, not sion schools and turn over all secular constructive, or to associations posi- education to the Government! This tively 'and professedly heathen in ." Daniel" comes to jUdgment, and character and sympathy, would be in an instant would settle questions madness.
that have engrossed the attention of Mr. Caine is troubled with the cost the ablest men from William Carey of maintaining missionaries. He to AlexanderDuff and John Wilson- thinks the fact that the missionary with one stroke sweepirig away the ., lives in a good bungalow. eats the laborious work of a half century I sacred cow, drives his dog-cart and Mr. Caine is not embarrassed by his is in all respects a BurraSabib," puts humility. "M. P." does not stand an impassable gulf between him and for modest person. Should nis ad- the ordinary Hindu; and holds up in vice' be followed, men who have admiring cou.trast the Salvation studied Indian missions on the Army and the Jesuits. He says, if ground for a generation would con- all the English Protestant missionsider that the religious future of ary societies could furnish 200 men India was disastrously wrecked. He of lil,e devotion, the work of con- seems to think the major part of the verting India would begin. He admissionaries are giving the bulk of vocates celibacy and asceticism as their time to educational work. conditions of success. As to the whereas of the 48 male missionaries in Salvation Army, etc., even those India, in the employ of the L. M. S., who most admire their self-denial, only one-fourth are teaching; and question. the e15ciency and wisdom of the $125,000 spent annually there by this society, only one-twelfth was of their methods and the pt'obability of their ultimate and pet'm~nent granted last year to educational success. And as to celibacy, Dr.
work. Eli Smith, the hero of Syrian mis- Mr. Caine observes quiie truly that "ions and one of the wisest men ever the number of conversions directly on the field of Oriental missions, traceable to the schools is small, but emphatically advised young men to
married to the illi$sion field., and English membel' of Farliamenti{'al_
his cI"owning reason was th3ot'heath- though it must be confessed that 8; enism needed nothing more than the letter'to the secretary of ~e s~e practical exhibition inthe Christian ties would have seemed the first im- home of what Christianity can do pulse of a real friend of missions, for the woman and wife, mother and lest inaccurate statements and un- daughter, and for the whole house- warl'anted conclusions might be hold life. Who dares to say in the rashly put before the public. But, light of history and experience, that attributing to Mr. Caine only the best it is wise to erect in India a celibate of motives, we are constrained to say and ascetic order of ministers, as a. that if he should in a speech in Par- normal Ohristian product, where the liament betray as little knowledgeof very fact of celibacy is a presump- the subject and as fallacious and tion against chas tity! Mr. Caine superficial a course of argument,' he may be a fall' Parliamentarian, but would very soon become a carcase for he is not a safe umpirical critic of the vultures to pick in pieces. We Indian missions. We prefer as a are reminded of Dr. Parr's witty re- judicious and judicial observer some tort to the student who proposed to man like Sir Bartle Frere or the write a book jointly with him: "If Viceroy Lord Lawrence, who has we should write a book and I should lived on the very ground and knows put in all Iknowandyou all lIoU don't, what he talks about. what a big book we would make!" .
Where MI". Caine got his mathe- The following paragraph from the ..Britiah matics we cannot conjecture. He Weekly" may throw additional light on the reports 62 English Baptist mission- matter of Mr. Ca.ine's opposition: .. The main points stand out quite distinctly. In the flret aries at work in India instead of 42, place Xr. Caine, previoU8 to his going to India and makes the number to have was not a subscriber to either the lIaptist or the • doubled from 1880 to 1888; whereas London MIssionary Society,a fact which shows' it has only risen from 35 to 42, one- that he was prejudiced against them. In the second place, belore he went the friends of the fifth increase. He reports the net Society were made aware that he intended to at- increase in the Baptist churches in tack them. In the third place, 8 propotlal WM – India for the year previous as 53 in- made by his friends that he shonld go out as a stead of 153; and his eager eye does representative olthe committee. In the fourth· not discern that the rate of progress place, Xr. Caine, without submitting Imy of his upon previous membership is far in grievances to the responsible authorities, rushed exceSB of that of the whole Church with them into print. The result has been, it is said, a temporary diminution of contribntions, of Christ in England during tpe same , a result not to be wondered lot when itis remem- bered how many are always seeking aneXCU8e to period, notwithstanding the far more escape from giving. but the real damage bas fallnumerous and mountainous obstacles en upon Mr. Caine himself, and if he wishetl to that in this Gibraltar of heathenism know what opinion his countrymen haveformed confront the missionary. Mr. Caine ot him he has only to ascend a platform."-A.
tells us the net gain to native Baptist T.P.
churches has been only 746 during A oonJtliiSPONDBNT who forgot to lIign bls the past eight years, but he does not communication thinks tha~ the China say that during that time 3,830 con- Inla.nd Mission may be ma.de a means of verts were added to those churches. awa.kenlng missionary enthusiasm and He makes 495 salaried workers to be greatly extending the preaching of the in the employ of the Baptist mis- good news in that interesting country. He sions instead of 300. euggests tha.t it would be easy for every towu of, sa.y 10,000 inhabitants, to find 100 These are enough to show that persons zealous for missions, who would this self-constituted critic is a very give, in addition to their other o1ferl~s unsafe guide. We would not at- one cent a, da,y for the support of a missiontribute "malice prepense" to this a.ry in the China Inland: and tha.t this amount ~i8'ht ~ collec~ weekly or,
1889,]'
ll1!)nt;l4by ~,ehildr~n, thJls deepening sense of their stewardship intlie tneU' interest in-the :work. The persons ma.tter of property, eonscientiousin gi-viUgweekIy ~l.·;m;'nthIY to the work would the habit of ,regularly set.ting aside Iia.vetheir thoughts awakened and feel the Lord's portion, and faithful in mUl'hmoreci,uterest tban in,glYingonee a keeping it sacred and bringing it to, • year aIldthElll forgetting aU about it. The His treasury. No such system can money thus given bv members of dilferent be perfectly carried out unless each churches wonld draw them closer together, member becomes his own collector, helping to answer our Lord's prayer for for no collectors can be found to un- unity of heaJ,"t. The sanction of the pastors dertake to gatherall these little sums would be needed and then tberewould beno from so large a body of donors. The difficulty. And then this famine in China theory is perfect; the" BUT" lies in is"s'l'ch ~a grand 'opportunIty to show the its practical working. The Women's spirit and vallie of the religion of Jesus. Boards are doing more than all the Succor sent from far-olf lands, beCl!ouse our other agencies together to work out r~ligion prompts and requires such offer- this organization of the littles. ings, would'do more to recommend it than hundreds of missionaries could do. As to circulars and appeals, the editorsand publishersof this REvmw Weought'to do this work and give the cannot undertake to issue urgent ~p missionaries Oil the ground hundreds of peals for every needy and worthy thousands for distribution. A penny a day cause. We regard it our province to will preserve life there. One dollar would, present the facts and arguments of therefore,save a life for. 100 days. By that missions and leave them to make time something will grow that may be their own appeal. Every page of eaten. ' this REVIEW might be crowded with these special calls for help and lose We a,re asked by this correspondent to their power by theirfrequency. We send out a circular to subscribers, laying must set a rational limit to our this matter before them and teliing them provin~.-A. T. P. what 'to di>,and'he feels' sure 'that in re- sponseto such' burning words,thousands of AMONG other letters receiyed by the dollars would go to the relief of the starving editors is the following: Chiill;se. I am a subscriber to and a constant Such letters as this are not uncom- reader of your excellent REVIEW. It is mon, but they overlook two impor- worth Its weight in gold to the ca.use. I tant facts. First, there is no doubt write to ask can't you give us a. series of pointed and arousing"articles, <>n the subject that the true way to support mIs- of Monell, in its relations to the Kingdom oj sions i~ by gathering the mites sys- God, e. g., one on God's Dependence on Money, tematically and constantly, and so as the chief agency of evaDgelizing the ,world-not abBolute dependeJ1ce on it, of aggregating millions. Butthe trouble course, but His voluntary dependence on it isthe gathering. It is easy to demon- -you understand; one on the demands of strate that one cent a day given by a the age and times on the church for large million people amounts in a year to and increased surrender of the Lord's mouey $3,650,000, but the difficulty is to get in saving the world; one on God's OW7UlT- a million 'people to give the cent a ahip ot money and man a steward, and day, and to provide some way of other articles bearing on the general Hub- gathering such gifts. If we could ject. We need such articles from pens that "organize the littles" the problem can dissect all the main facts .in the case. would be solved, but after 1,800 years Just a.t this time, it Stems to me, 8uell a of Christian history it is still an un- series is demanded. The church must be ' aroused to her responsibili ties in the solved problem. A perfect system premises. Missions under God cIOn only suc- by which all church members may ceed by the use of money. You bave shown be reached, and small gifts regularly us the calls of tbenations; now wake n" n'p on and systematically collected and dis- the means to answer these calls. Tbe money tributed, will mark a much higher question ca,nnot be too elablrately bl'Ou;lt level of Christian liCe than we have ever yet attained. It demands not only a pastor, first of all in thorough sympathy with such plans, but a ({hurch membership imbued with a
NOTES
out ill, your pi!.ges a.nd burnt into the minds up the work, enlarged membership, of yonr readers. The church at large is £'1'0wing interest and larger contribufearfully derelict iu her guty. Hence a tions all along the line. An appeal stirring up of the whole subject of money was made lor $500 to aid Mr. McAU would, it seelDs to me, be in the direct in special work in connection with line of your mission. I should rejoice to see the coming Exposition in Paris, and such a ha.ndlin2: of the SUbject as you are the response, amid great enthusiasm, able togive it. I trust you will see your way was $2,500.-J. M. S. clear to gratify us along this line, and so help on the cause in one of its most, if not WE heartily indorse the words ~lf the most, e~sential plans and methods 01'- the Christian Intelligencer concerndaiued. ing an enterprise that deserves re- cognition and support on the part of The editors have long had this in the Protestant Church. mind, and OUi' brother's appeal only brings our own seed-thought to ripe- For ten years the Rev. James A. O'Connor ness. We propose a series of articles has been holding meetings in the Masonic on the ministry of money. We be- Temple, Sixth avenue a~d Twenty-third lieve this whole question needs a street, for the instruction of Romanists in very serious and thorough examina- the truths of the Scriptures. Be was once s tion, and we purpose to deal wIth the prip.st in the RomaI1 Church, and is thoronghly matter boldly and radically. It is acqnainted with the errors of that chnrch in manifest that money has never yet theory and practice and their disastrous come to the front in the work of results. He has exposed these errors' with evangelization. Thegivers are either singoJar discretion, aud has faithfoJly set over the few who give largely, or else the against them the revelations of the Word of many who give sparingly and inade- God. Cousequently there have been many couquately. But neither the rich nor versions every year, including several priests. the pOOl' have yet learned practically Last year two priests were sent by Mr. O'Conthe true doctrine of stewardship. nor to Princeton Seminary to prepare for the ministry. Mr. 0 Connor is strongly recom- The Amerioan MoAll Assooiation, mended by Dr. Howard Crosby, and by Dr. MacArthur, of the Baptist Church, "as admir- THE sixth annual meeting of this ably qualilled by his experience, as well as by association was heid in Philadelphia, his sonnd judgment, to preach Jes)ls to his April 10th and 11th, and was one of former co-religionists." Other ministers speak remarkable interest. The outgrowth with equal force in his favor. The mission has of the self-denying efforts of Miss for some time felt the neeil of a building of its Elizabeth Beach, who originated the own, in which all the departments of the work movement and founded auxiliaries can be housed, all the meetings held, and where in various cities of the Union, the priests leaving the Roman Church can lind a association has now become. national, temporary home. A suitable building in a conpr~ided over by Mrs. Marine J.Chase. venient location can be bought for $3O,COO, of The treasurer reported $30,795 sent which $1,400 have been given already without to France during the fiscal year-an solicitation. Contributions toward the pnrchase increase of $3,000 over the last year. can be sent to Mrs. William ·Campbell, Treas- The General Secretary reported urer. 36 West Eighteenth street, or the. Rev. 55,600 copies of publications-" Quar- James A. O'Connor Secretary of the Board of terly Record," leaflets, tracts, and Trnstees, 60 Bible House, New York.-J. M. S. pamphlets-issued during the year, and a widely increased publicity to WE have already commended to the work through the secular and the notice of our readers The Chinese religious press. The Representative Evangelist, published both in Eng- Secretary reported seven new Aux- lish and Chinese. Weare g'lad to iliaries formed, a notable increase in note its appearance in magazine the sympathy and co-operation of form as it begins its second year. pastors, three new States taking The office is now 52 West 22d street, where its editors will welcome all in- terested in the Chinese work. Its Ellglish editor is the son of Dr. Hap_ pel', of the Christian College in Can-
EDITORIAL
ton, and this first numbel' con tains a vexation ovel'the ••'total depra.vity of fine photograph of the stltdents now types.'~ In spite of plain copy, severa.l .in that college, which we hope to re- proof-readings and "eternal vigi- pI'oduce in a. future number of this lance," mistakes will creep into the REVIEW. The editor promises arti- printed page, and often they are in- cles during the current year from explicable, and no amount of invesH- several eminent. writers .who are gation suffices to bring to light the specially fitted to interest us in the real culprit. Thus in the May num- Chinese work. We feel that Mr. ber of this REVIEW that grand article Happel' deserves great praise for his by Prof. Leonard-The Marvels of heroic work in this field. There are Moravlan Missions-must be spoiled 100,000 Chinese in this country; by being transformed in the "Con- there are perhaps from eight to ten tents" to The Marvels of M01'mon thousand in New York, Brooklyn Missions I And, as if one such in- and Jersey City alone. Of this num- .iquity was not enough fOl' the num- ber but a small fraction are under ber, the" printer's devil," without a instruction in thEe' schools. There is shadow of reason or authority, must a large class, the "washers" in the slyly interpolate on page 393, at the laundries, who are anxious to leal'n, top of the column, a series offigures, yet never go to the schools, for many represen.ting years, which have no of them are middle-aged and too business there, the years at the top proud to go where their ignorance of the previous page governing the and slowness expose them to the ridi- entire columns on both pages.-J•. cule of the younge~'andsmarterones. M.S.
.. We do not ask for any donations, bnt we do WE have received advance sheets ask for dollars to be sent in payment for papers of Volume I. of THE MISSIONARY to be taken or sent to any Chinese 18undry YEAR BOOK which will be published where there is a sOlli who has not heard of the in a few days by Fleming H. Revell glorious go,pel, though living, perhaps, uuder of 12 Bible House, New York, simul- the very droppinl(s of the "anctnary. The Word taneously with its issue in London is a living Word aud powerful, and if one dollar by the Religious Tra.ctSociety. The can send an Evangehst to sueh a one t'velve American portion of the work-over times a year, who ean, perhaps, be reached in no one-fourth of the whole-has been other way, will anyone grudge the expense f" prepared by Dr. J, T.. Gracey, which -J.M.S. insures its being well done, In our next issue we will give further notice WE are happy to announce that of it. the Woman's Presbyterian Board of Missions of t.he Northwest has begun The Hebrew Messenger, edited by the preparation of a series of mis- Prof. Julius Magath, Emory ColJege~ • sionary maps. One on China is is welcomed to our list of exchanges, already published; one on India is and we warmly commend it to the in preparation, and maps of other sympathy and aid of all who are countri:J.& are to follow. The m:;,ps interested in Hebrew. mission work. are 4 by 5~ feet in size and mounted The editor writes: on cloth. Price $2.50 each. The price is very low, considering the .. The Hebrew Messenger is the only paper size and excellence of the maps. The of the kind published in the South. I try to proceeds are all to go to the society use all the time I can spare from my duties which .publishes them. as a professor In EmoryCollege to get Chris- tian churches interested in the evangeliza- IF there be any class of workers tion of Christ's own kinsmen according to that deserve commiseration, itis we thellesh." poor editors..In an editorial career of more than forty years, we have It is a. noble wOl'k and deserves the had occasion to shed many tears of prayers and aid of all God's people.
PROGRESS OF ,MISSIO~S-MONTliLY BULLETIN
VII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS: MONTHLY / BULLETIN.
Afrlca.-Congo Baptist Mission. An- much damaged. It has sitting aCCOIllDla- other faithful workman- Mr. Slade, has dation for 1.000 worshippers, but at the Callen. The cry is for reinCorcements. 'Only opening service no less than 2,000 managed three men to speak to hundreds of thous- to squeeze into the building, and the school- ands willing to hear. Arthur Brooks, killed room and its grounds were thronged by January 21 by natives, was the eleventh thousands of spectators. All the chiefs but martyr of the East African Mission of the two of the Bonny district were present with London Missional"y Society. their a.ttendants. The service was con- -News reached Zanzibar January 17 oC ducted by the Bishop and his son, ,Arch- Arabs' attack on German station at Tugu. deacon Crowther.
and of massacre of three missiouaries,. The -The London Missionary Chronicle says: Arabs, incensed at the danger to their in- .. The East African situation has during the famous slave trade, are on ,the warpath, last five years undergone complete change and threa ten all missions. in consequence of German aggressions; and -H. M. Stanley. It is very refreshiug at slowly, but surely, Great Britain is discov- last to get definite and trustworthy intelli- ering that friendship with Germany is a gence from this intrepid explorer, whose costly article, and that German coloniza- real name, it appears, was John Rowland. tion schemes are inimical to British Com- His letter Crom the Aruwimi Ri ver, dated merce and Britisb missions."
August 28, 1888,lately received at London. -The Wesleyans report solid prosperity is full both of traKic interest and heroism. in the Mysore district. We quote from the -Bishop Taylo. asks for $4,000 for a Harvest Field: .. We have reached and special w<lrk, to be called a b'irthday gift. pa.ssed the first thousand in the church Richard Graut, treasurer of the Bisbop'" membership, a goal towards which we have work. calls upon .. all who favor self-sup- been striving for a long time. The full num- portiug work to make a grand rally and ber of members is now 1,103, being an in-'
make the old hero'S heart leap for joy crease during the year of 113. There has by making it $50,000, and he gives it a start been no spasmodic outburst of revival by a gift of $5,000. The Transit and Build- power. but in most of the stations steady ing Fund Committee send II' missionariesto growth. The largest net increase has been share his labors and perils. And since May in Mysore City, where 34 have been added last the committee have sent ten missiona- to the church. In the boys' schools there ries to Chili, and still the call comes with is an increase of 426, and in the girls an in- much entreaty for more. The needs DC the crease of 329. Sunday-schools are growing work in Chili, Brazil, and other South Amer- satisfactorily. There have been. 56 bap- ican States are even greater just now tban tisms of adults from heatnenism, some of in Afl'ica Romanism, which in those which are full of interest.
countries is nothing more than heathenized -Congo Balol0 Mission. There Was a Chl"istianity, has reigned there Cor 300 large gathering at Exeter Hall lately to bid years. The true light is just breaking in, farewell to eight missionaries about to and a powerful reaction in favor of liberty, leave for Central Africa in connection with intelligence and religion has commenced. the new mission to the Balolo people, of -Rev. E. F, Baldwin, who is laboring as whom there are about 10,000,000 in the valley 'an independent missionary in Mogador, Mo- of the Upper Congo. The mission Is an ex- rocco, with a companion recently made a tension of the Livingstone Inland Mission, twenty-days' trip into a part of the country founded in 1878. and now occupying and where Europeans have seldom gone. They working a chain of seven stations from the went strictly according to Christ's instruc- coast to the Equator. These new recruits tions in Matt. x., without money, provis- go out under the auspices of Dr. Guinness' ions or change of clothing, but lacked noth- East London Institute, and will reinforce ing by the way. They enjoyed unusual fa- the Livingstone Inland Mission, which. Cour cilities for preaching to the people, ·and years ago, was tranderred to the managewere even admitted to the mosques, and ment of the American Baptist Missionary preached to the Mohammedan priests. ' A Union. The enterprise now becomes unde- considerable number of converts have been nominational, and appeals strongly to those gathered, but they suffer great persecu- to whom hard work, rather than a large tion. salary. is all attraction. Fifteen hundred -Bishop Crowther arrived at Bonny on pounds has heen subscribed for the new January 20. A, week later he opened the mission.
new church of St. Stephen at that place. -Tripoli Occupied. At last Tripoli has The new church Is of iron, and was built (at been entered. The Lord has thus enabled the cost of the people themselves) t.o take us to occupy in some measure Algeria in the place of another which had become 1881, Morocco in 1884. Tunis in 1885. Tripoli in 1889. Mr. Michell, who has been working England.-The amouilt of thedrink bill in Tunis, accompanied by Mr. Harding, who for 1888 was some 8625,000,000, or $15 for left England February 1, landed in Tripoli every man, woman and child in the Unittld tbe-lI7th.- Thus far they &re getting on well. Kingdom. :They find the people more bigoted than In Tunis. Beside the work they may be able to -One of the notable men'of Cambridge i" do In the city and neighborhood, they will Canon Christopher, who proclaim!! his interbe able to send some scriptures by the cq.ra- est in missions by annually entertaining a vans leaving for the Soudan which, with great company of representative men to the blessing of God, will spread the light breakfast. Among his guests this year around Lake Chad. (numbering 300 in all) was the Bishop of British Columbia, whomade what isreported Burma. '- Dr. A. T. Rose says many to have been" a very sturdy and inspiriting Karena are g<?ing over to the Burmese lan- speech." 1'Iis description of his first intro- duction tohis Episcopal" palace" was very gua:;;eand Buddhism. He baptized In Jan- graphic. The .. palace" was simply a uary 20 Burmans. Sunday-schools in Ran- wooden shanty without windows or roof, goon sent 575 for the Hammerfest Chapel, and the flrst thing he and his wife had to do Norway. The first copy for the new Sgau was to nail strips of calico across the roof Karen Bible went Into printers' hands in to keep out the moonlight. January. -The S. P. G. report an increase of 28,- Chlna.-The" Chinese Exclusion Bill," 6011. in the year 1888 over the income of 1887. passed by Congress has reacted in China This is made up of two dona.tions of 25.296Z. to excite great hostility to Americaus. and and 2,288Z., and an increase in the general especially missionaries are suffering perse- income of 3201. cution. When Dr. S. Wells Williams arrived in Canton fifty years since, there was a -The Universities' Miuion has a missiondeath penalty for teaching foreigners the ary fleet on Lake Nyassa. consisting of the Chinese tongue, and there was but one con- following: (1) The Charles Jansen, with two vert in China. Now there are more than dingeys; (2) a larger boat, capable of carry- 35,000_ ing several parsons; (3) still large.. rowing craft, known 80S the consular boat ; (4) a del- -The Missionary Union undertakes a new ta metal centre-board boat; and (5) the missionatSu-Chan,inSz-Chuene. Rev.Wm. 0u8e1 a centre-board sailing boat of galvan- Upcratt and Geo. Warner, both of Minneso- ized steel. ta. go to be supported by young men in Baptist churches of that State. Out of 500hi- France.-At the recent meeting .ot the nese seeking to enter Dr. Hspper's Christian C.ollege, Canton, more than halC had been in McAIl Association, held in Philadelphia. Chinese Sunday-schools in theUnited States. nearly 83,000 was raised as a special offering t<> pay for the two Salles Evangelique, Champ -Increase at Foochow. At the last ses- de Mars, where daily services are to be sion of the FoocLow Annual Conference, held, opposite the entrances to the Exposi- Bishop Fowler presiding. the total number tion grounds. Hundreds of thousands of of members reported was 2,320-an increase strangers. visiting Paris, will be ·confrontof 111; probationers, l,346–an increase of ed by these RaUes, at Porte Rapp and Place 122; mission money raised, $411.46–an in- du Trocadiro. crease of $80.20; self-support, 51,03O.31-an increase of 592.72; church bUilding, $2,8O"l- FOrmOSa.-The English Presbyterian .9&-an increase of 51,341.98. church has appointed another ordained missionary (Mr. Ferguson) to the island of CUba.-B1Sho, Whitaker, of the Protestant Episcopal church, has lately returned Formosa. The Rev. W. Campbell, F.R.G.S., from Cuba, and speaks of tbe religious ont- who is returning, takes with him the gospel look on that island as follows: .. There is a of Matthew in raised Romanized type, which loud call for the gospel. People are ripe for he has prepared for the blind. As the bUnd missionary work. and welcome all well-di- are treated with respect in China,their infiurected efforts. lt is evident that the gener- ence may be used for much good,if taught to al sentiment has been, and still is, favorable read the Scriptures; just as now their infiuto Episcopal services; but the church has ence is very evil from mostly following the been slow in supplying this demand, and art of fortune-telling. Mr. Campbell is also hence the Baptists are conducting a very taking a reprint of the Dutch gospel presuccessful mission in Havana; and many pared by missionaries, who labored among hundreds, tired of the exactions of the Ro- the Malays in Formosa, some 200 years ago, man Catholic church, are welcoming the when theyweredrlvenawa.y. The Dutch are simpler and plainer service furnished by likely to recommence this mission. the Baptists. Considering Cuba as a field for Protestant work, it may be said the peo- -Rev. Dr. Mackay, of the Canadian Presb. ple desire Protestantservices to that extent Mission in Formosa, writes that there are that no more hopeful ground for effort can now fifty churches, 'so arranged that aUt be found anywhere." North Formosa is In a sense occnpied, and that there a.re fifty-one native preachers Who are the sharpest, brightest, most talented and learned class of men in North fit for their oftice by their Idleness, If not Formosa. ' their sensuality, the native population 'of Ceylon now unites with the Church of E1ig- IcC!!land.-Rev. Geo. Bryce writes from land in demanding a dissolution bf the ex- Winnipeg, Jan. 17, that 58 members, all Ice- isting partnership between the British gov- landic converts; have been received to ernment and Buddhism. The sooner this is their first commuuion.· At an aftermeeting done the better. 19 others professed faith. -Mr. W. S. Caine, M. P., writes thus to a Indla.-Ongole field alone has half as number of infiuential English newspapers many member& as in all Burma all 'lnder one pastor, Rev. I. E. Clough, D. D. concerning blS recent investigations at -The school which Pundita Ramabai will Lucknow: .. An opium sot is the most establ1sh for high caste widows will be entirely hopeless of all drunkards-once he Is well secular, on account of the prejudices of the into the clutches of this fiend, everything Hiudus against Christianity. The medical work gives way to its fierce promptings. He only for women, fostered by Lady Duft'erin during works'to get more money for opium. Wife, her residence in India, Is now endowed to the children, and home are all sacriftced to this extent of about $275,000. It has three objects: horrible lust. The receipts of the governto train female physicians, to afford medical re- ment of the North-West Provinces and lief, and to secure a supply of trained nurses. Oude from opium, bhang, and other intoxi- Five lady doctors and a nurse have been ob- cating drugs is no less than £67,000, and is tained from 'England. About 200 young women on the increase. It will give your readers are being educated in the medical colleges of some idea of the way in which this horrible India. There are 12female hospitals and 15 aided traffic in intoxicants is being stimulated. dispensaries. Classes have been formed for the if I give the average revenue for the Northtraining of female nurses.' Although the work West Provinces and Oude from all intoxiis not ostensibly Christian, missions are indi- cants for the three years 1878-79-80, as comrectly beneftted. pared with 1885-6-7. In the former, case, its yearly average was £284,000, in the lat- -More than 1,200 adults were baptized by ter it had run up to £546,000, showinlr a members of the North India Conference of doubled consumption within seven years. the M. E. Church during the past year. Every day I spend in India. brings fresh Alluding to this at the recent conference proof that the government are stimulating Rev.C. A. C. Janvier assigned the following the sale of intoxicants to the very verge of as some of the reasons why this success decency, for the sake of the cheaply colwas granted: 1. Special and systematic ef- lected and rapidly increaSing revenue forts are made to reach the lower castes. which it furnishes." 2. Large and speedy results are prayed and looked for as a neces.ary consequence of Indlans.-Twelve years since the Mothe presence of the Holy Spirit. docs were savages. Now they are industri- ous farmers, ILnd half of them confessing -Assam ranks tenth in territory and Christians. The Rocky Mountain CI,,·i.tian eleventh in population among the provinces Advocate says: .. While the Dakota Indians of India. 2,424 schools in Assam have 63,- were savages it cost the Government $1,848,- 997 male pupils, and only 4,626 female •. ooOto take care of them seven years. The These are less than ten per cent. of the pop- cost after their conversion for the same ulation of school age. length of time was $120,000, a difference of $1,728,000 in favor of Christianity." -In the northwest of India and of Oude, missionary physicians are coming promi- .Jerusalem.-The city is growing rapidnently into notice. Nearly 72,000 cases were ly and improving in appearance. The Ro~,h8treated at eltlven missionary dispensaries, childs have completed a new hospital. Near and 11,000 women Bought relief a~ Mrs. Wil- is a new Abyssinian church. The Russians, son's dispensary at Agra; 18,850 women have erected a new church, consulate, a.nd and children were treated at the Thomas lodging-house for pilgrims of the orthodox. dispensary at Agra. The women doctors faith. Near to the Russian Buildings is ,the in charge succes.fully performed some very .. German House," for German Roman Cathimportant surgical operations. olics, from whose top the German and the papal fiags fioat side by side. The Russians -The British Government and BuddhIsm. have also built a high tower on the summit As a rule, Great Britain has not iilustrated of the Mount of Olives, from which can be the teachings of the gospel in India. In seen the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. CeYlon matters seem to have been going in about the same way. There the British .Japan.-Accordingto a Japanese editor some time ago became tle patrons of Budd- the Protestant churches have grown from hism. as the Government assumed the re- 38 to 151, and the members from 3,700 to 11,- sponsibility of maintaining Buddhist wor- 600 in the last three years. ship. It turned over to Buddhist priests the revenues of hundreds of thousands of Dr. Duane B. Simmons died in Tokio, Feb. acres of public land. Because in this way 10. He went out as a medical missionary of it,has made those priests in many cases Un- the Reformed Dutch chnrch, 1859; after the restoration of 1868 he became Government thrown down; the houses of the congrega- Medical Director and organized the IIrst tions met with the sa.me fate, and priests hospital service. and people were hunted out of the town. No massacres took place. The persecution be- -The Empress has established a college gan in June and continued until October, for )Vomen, to be snperintended by a com- when it ceased, beoouse there was nothing mittee of foreign ladies. Twoare Americans, more to destroy, and all those who would two English, and the other two French and not apostatize were in flight. The acts of German respectively. violence took place under the eyes of the Chinese authorities, who did nothing topun- MadagaSCar.-After 15 years' labor ish the olfenders.-Tke Missionary. the printing of the Malaga~e bible is com- plete. Tu rkey.-Minister Strauss, at Constanti- Mexlco.-ProgreBs in Mexico, thinks nople, lIas rendered another useful ~erVlCe Dr. J. Milton Greene,ismarked not so much to the American missionaries in the Turkish by statistics, as by the changing attitude empire. The local authorities closed the of the people toward the Prote~ta!}t mis- mission school at Istubigo, in the provlnce sionarjes. Sixteen years ago the printing- of Beirut, and other officials elsewhere w;,re offices of the oity could not be induced to about to follow their example, but Mr. print copies of the Decalogue. Now thou- Stranss at once secured from the Grand VI- sands of pages of religious literature are Zier atOonstantinople an order to the gov- issued yearly. So, too, the drift of thepopu- ernors-general of the provinces of Beirut lar mind is shown by the lessening respect and Damascus to reopen the school, which for,and fear of, the priesthood, and by the had been closed, and not to interfere in any greatly diminished attendance at the idola- manner with any American schools. This trousfeasts. is the more satisfactory becanse one rea.son given for the closing of the school was the Scotland.-TheSumTotRlofourNation- fact that the managers refused to reject a.1 Drink Bill is this year a little larger than Mohammedan children applying for admis- it was last. but, considering the increase of sion. This refusal was maintained flrinly our population, the averageexpeudlture per and, in spite ofit, the desired support of the ,person is less. The amouut is portentious- Oenstantinople authorities was granted. £124,603,ll39-whlchgives£il 6s.1Od. for every Good sense and tact are as important to a man, womal1. and child in the kingdom.- diplomatist, and often are equally effective, Church oj Scotland Monthly. as support by a military or naval force.- (/ongreqationali.t. South Amerlca.-In Ecuador none but United States.-Women's Organiza- Roman Catholics are allowed to preach, to the people. The Custon-houses are watched tions. There are in this country 48 national by'the Jesuits to prevent the importation societies of Women, with a direct member_ of Bibles and other prohibited books. Per- ship of 500,000. The largest is the W. C. T. U., sons who do not confess to the priests are with 210,000. Then follow the missionary, objects of popular hatred and violence. peace, suffrage, philanthropic and educa- tional orga.nizations. Twelve of these have SWeden.-Amission house for Lapland- jollied with the National Oouncil, formed to ers has been founded in North Sweden by unite all the women societies lUto one great Empress Eugenie, the noble giver. league.
Thlbet is the only known country on -The followmg act of Christian comity on the part of the Protestant Episcopal Ohurch earth not open to missions. It has an area of Missionary Society, pa.ssed January 29th, 750.000 square miles, about as large as all the will commend itself to our readers: territory in the United Sta.tes east of the Mississippi River. The greatestlengthfrom U Resolved. rrhat in sending mlssionaries east to west is 1,500 miles, and the population to Brazil It is our purpose to occupy such is estimated at 8,000,000. It is the strong- points as are not now under the care of any hold of Bud<lhlsm. Lhassa, the capital, is other Protestan t missioD&ries. " the" Rome" of the Buddhists, and the Dalai Lama IS the Buddhist pope. He is su- -Zenana Work. The Church of Scotland preme in ~oth temporal and spiritual things. Ladies' Association for Foreign Missions One monastry has about 5,000 Buddhist including zenana work, has just completed priests, and there are about 60,000 in the ,its 50th year. The income of the society has country. Thibet is virgin soil for miSSIons. shown a considerable increase on the pr..· The country is trIbutary to China.-Baptist vious year, and the committee have never Miss. presented a more hopeful report. -The Roman Catholic missions in Thibet -At a late gathering in the Mildmay Conhave been broken up by the violence of the natives. The MiBstons (/atlwliqttes, of Lyons, ference Hall, the Church of England Zena"" states tJ>.at the stations have been utterly Missionary Society bade .. God-speed" to destroyed, except one establIshment, which nineteen ladies who will shortlybe aiding in is on the Chinese side of the great Thibetan the noble work of the society ameli&' the decliVIty. Last autumn the mission houses women of IndIa and China. and bUIldings were one by one burned or -The Committee ofthe Church of England ing, and found homes for them, mostly in the Zenana Society reported at their annual country, where theyaeqoired habits ofindustry, lIleeting a year of blessed work. One bun- economy, and self-snpporting thrift. Many a dred lIlissionaries, aided by assistant mis- man of intelligence and npright character will sionaries, Bible-women and native teachers, look back in mature years to this agency with had labored earnestly among heathen and profound gratitude for hiS life of prosperity and Mohammedans. usefalness.
Ninety.four per cent. of all the rum manu- -The Protestant Churches of the United factured in the United States is made within Ave States contribute annuaJly $11,250,000 for formiles ot Boston State house, and nearly aJl the eign miSSions, and, according to Dion Bouciliquor exported from this country to Africa is cault, .. more than $2('0,000,000 are paid every shipped from the port ofBoston. year by the American people for their theatrical entertainment "-nearly $18 to support the the- -Said a heathen to a missionary, "There ater for one given to send the gospel to heathen must be something in your religion which makes nations, and yet there are those who declaim you come all the way out here to teJl us of it. against the cost of foreign missions. I am sure I would not go so tar to teJl you ol -College students. The colleges never had mine." so many professing church members in them as -Last year's Imports from Japan Into the at present. Yale In 1795 had bnt Cour or Ave students who were church members; to- Uulted States were nearly 816,000,000 in value- day nearly one-half hold such membership. more than the purchases of any other nation. Princeton in 1813 had but two or three openly As these goods were largely of a character profeSSing the Christian faith; to-day abont especially attractive to American women, the one-half, and among them the best scholars. In question arises as to their corresponding in- Williams College 147 out of 248, and in Amherst terest in the women ot Japan. It is computed 233 out of 352, are members of chnrches. Out that conversions smong Japanese women num· of a total of 2,493 students, in 24 colleges, there ber forty per cent. more, according to popula- are 1,782 church members; engaged in system- tion, than among women of other countries. A atic Bible study, 2,009; 106 creditable conver- call comes from a society of women near Tokio sions the past year; and 377 intending to enter for a missionary twice a week to teach them the ministry. fancy work and the Bible, which is an advance on earlier requests. The tendency in Japan Is -Am. Sunday-school Union. From March toward a nominal rather than a spiritual Chris- 1 to September I, 1888, its missionaries In the tianity, so, to fully establlsh evangelical Chris- Northwest established 484 new schools, and tianity, the Rev. Mr. lloyd pleads for" mighty aided 943 old schools, where 5,022 teachers are and intense efforts for the next tew years on the now giving Bible instruction to 50,233 scholars. part of those who hold to the pure Gospel of J eSU8 Christ." -The Pope has ordered Roman Catholics in aJl parts of the world to maintain an increasing With a Joss-house and a Buddhist temple in agitation in favor of the restoration of his tem- New York the old cry of" heathen at home" poral power. It is stated that the raising of 500 sounds with anew force. The 3,200student volun- recruits by Cardinal Lavlgerle for the suppresteers are no less needed to carry the pure gospel sion of the slave trade in Africa, is a pretext for Into the strongholds of heathendom before the restoration of the Pontifical Zouaves. these errors and superstitions spread further. I -"High missionary authorities aftlrm that, -The great reason why the mission churches ,especially during the past twenty years, foreign on the continent of Europe do not become self- Aelds have witnessed more converts, in propor- snpporting is the emigration to America, which tion to the efforts put forth, than the home takes away their best young men. This weakfields. Chrlstiaulty has been established in ens them, but strengthens the churches in this more than My islauds of the PaciAc. Among country. the most remarkable instances are the Fiji Islanders, 00,000 of whom gather regnlarly for -Freedmen. Within a few weeks two gifts Christian worship. Madagascar was almost amounting to '26,000 have been made to the whoJlya savage nation twe'!ty years ago, whIle people uuder care of the Presbyterian Board at present its queen, with 20,000 of her subjects, for Freedmen, the gift of Rev. Wm. M. Harare proCessing Christians. There are over 100 grave,a. colored man of Louisvi11e, Ky., is es- Christian congregations on the western coast of pecia.lly worthy of mention. He was born a Africa, and in Sierra Leone over 50,000 Africans slave, was freed during the war,and has, by profess Christ. The slave trade, bad as it is In simple industry and economy, l:'8.thered a the interior, has been suppressed along 2,000 little property. At the age of 70 he makes mJles of sea coast. In China, missions are m it over to the Knox church (colored) ID the operation in forty walled cities and 360 vil- sha~ of a building for purposes of worship, lages."-S4lecUd. worth $10,000, after having jl'iven the use of It to the church for ten years, rent free. -Since the organization oC the Children's Compa.ratively speaking, this IS one of tne Aid Society, it has picked up out of the street noblest and lar&,est benefaction. of modern 86,000 boya., pren them Wholesome moral train- times.
The Missionary Review of the World — May 1889
REVIEW OF THB
VOL. XL No. 5.-Old Serie3.–MAy.–VoL. II. No. 5.-New SerieB.
I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS. I THE MISSION AND COMMISSION OP THE CHURCH.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] ONE of Dr. Guthrie's rules for preaching was: "Mind' the three , P's' : Proving, Painting, Persuading. In other words, address in overy discourse the reason, the imagination, and the heart."
Of the "painting" we are to be not a lIttle on our guard. The art that seeks to adorn the truth sometimes sacrifices it, by giving to it false features or tints: what may be fitting in the department of illus· tration misleads when it invades that of pure demonstration or definition. Here the one law is rigid exactness. Burke used to say that the words of a sentence are the feet on which it walks; to change one word, to shorten or lengthen it, or alter its place in the sentence, may change the whole course of the sentence itself.
In some things, accuracy is so indispensable that a hair's-breadth distinction may be vital, as in astronomical calculations the minutest fraction of an inch must be marked by the micrometer. For a soldier it is of the first importance to understand his" orders" ; and for an ambassador, both to apprehend and comprehend his "instructions." The church is a militant body and at the same time an embassy, or, as Leland would say, an embassadry. Too much pains, therefore, cannot be taken t6 get clear conceptions of the orders and instructions of our Captain and King.
In this article we propose to begin at the beginning-to go back to first principles. If there be any misconceptions of the Mission and Commission of the church, in respect to the world's evangelization, here is the point at which to make our corrections, adjust the variations of our compass, and start anew. The four Gospels, at their close, present our Lord's last command from four points of view; taken together, it is like a building presented with a four-fold projection. In some respects these various versions of our Lord's great commission agree; in others they differ, but it is like the discord of the se,venth, that leads to harmony; their differences supplement and complement each other. For convenience of comparison, we place them side by side.
THE MISSION AND COMMISSION OF THE
MA.TTHEW. MARK. LUKE. I JOHN.
Go ye therefore Go ye into all the That repentance As my Father and teach all na- world and preach and remission of hath sent me even tions.. baptizing the gospel to every sins should be so send I you. them in the name creature: preached in His! These are writof the Father and He that beHev- name among all ten that ye might of the Son and of eth and is baptized nations .. and ye believe that Jesus the Holy Ghost, shall. be saved, etc. are witnesses ofis the Christ the etc. these things. ISon of God, etc.
Our accepted version fails to convey the exact force of the original. For example, Matthew uses a peculiar word-(/la07jTeuO'a·re)-which is rendered perfectly neither by the word "teach," nor by the word " disciple;" the former means too little, the latter means too much. Another word used by our Lord, a little later in these-farewell instructions-(818aaxovTss)-is properly translated "teaching," for it refers to a fuller didactic training of those who believe and so become disciples; it contemplates the more perfect equipment of converts, their thorough knowledge of all the commands of Jesus, and their preparation for service. But that first word looks to no such didactic process. It marks a swifter movement, a briefer proclamation. Ohrist urges on his heralds-they are to sweep round the globe and trumpet forth the good news; then, when converts have been gathered, he would have them taught the way of God more perfectly.
Our mistake is fundamental and initial if we confuse and confound preaching and teaching, evangelization and indoctrination. The first thing to be done is to peal out the joyous tidings of salvation. Men areasleep, dead insin : they must be aroused, awakened. When a house is on fire, a ship is on a rock, a pestilence is raging or an avalanche is falling, we cannot wait to give minute instructions. We need the clarion blast of Gabriel's trump-" escape for thy life!" Then, when the peril is past, we can take time for whatever else is needful, to provide for other wants or guard against other risks. So the herald must precede the teacher; the evangelist prepares for the catechist; Paul first, then Priscilla and Aquila.
That word in Matthew (/laOTjn:uaaTe) is not adequately translated, "disciple," or "make disciples:" This means too much. Only He who can "forgive sins" can "make a disciple." We may "go" and "preach the gospel," we may become heralds, evangelists; but when we have done our best and utmost, we may be constrained, like the great messianic herald of old, to cry: "Lord who hath believed our r~port! And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed!"
That word we are discussing does not imply any necessary effectiveness. In classic Greek it means to give instruction such as a pupil needs; it is close of kin to another word (f.LavOavw) which means "to learn." As used by our Lord it can scarcely.be rendered" disciple," for, though we may gather disciples out of the nations, we cannot "disciple the nations" themselves. So to render obliges us to carry the same literalism further and place onr Lord in the absurd position of bidding us also to "baptize the nations!" There are some who think that this word does not refer to the first stage-preaching the gospel,-but to the second, training disciples ; and that our Lord is here commissioning his church to gather converts from all peoples, and then baptIze and fully instruct them. However this be, if we look at the four Gospels jointly, we shall see that one thought IS uppermost; we are to go into all the world and everywhere publish the tidings. If Matthew's words leave us in doubt, Mark, Luke, and John dispel It. As they report Ohrist's words. they are unequivocal. " Go !"_" proclaim the gospel "-"Repentance and remission of sins" to be "proclaimed in His name among all nations." "Even so send I you." " These things are written that ye might believe"_" and believing have life through His name." And in the opening of the Acts, Luke adds a fifth version: "Ye shall be witnesses nnto me, unto the uttermost parts of the earth."
We often carelessly say that the church is commissioned "to convert the world." The phrase is not scriptural, and we fear it is at least misleading. We may insure contact, but we cannot assure conversion; and if we are powerless to effect it, we are not responsible for it. The use of this word, convert, and its equivalents in the Bible, is very significant. Often as it occurs it is generally used passively or in- transitively. "Shall be converted," * "lest they convert" t-orturn, etc. In Acts xxvi: 18, a proper grammatical construction compels us to render intransitively, "that they may turn about," etc. James uses the word transitively, t but he refers to the reclamation of errin,t disciples; "brethren if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him," etc. And the change of voice is especially noticeable in Psalm Ii: 13.
" Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee."
Here the very distinction is preserved which we would emphasize: we may teach transgressors, but we cannot convert them. Of course conversions have followed and will follow the proclamation of the gospel; but not even the most devoted herald can assure them. We are thus careful to lay down the platform of principles npon which we are to carryon the work of evangelization, because we dare not add to, or subtract from, the exact terms of our divine mission and commission. This is no case of a distinction without a difference. On the contrary, we are persuaded that upon our thorou,th acceptance of this Biblical basis han,ts the proper prosecution of the whole work of evan,telization. And therefore we now proceed to show seven vital relations which such a conception of evangelism bears to the believer's work for souls• • Psalm II : 13. t Isaiah vi : 10. ~ James v : 19,20. I. The limits of our commission are the limits of our authority.
Paul writes: "We are ambassadors for Christ." An ambassador is one who represents another; who acts in the st~ad of a sovereign. Within the limits of his instructions he carries all the authority of the monarch, the empire, the government, which he represents. But the moment he passes the bounds of those instructions, he transcends also the limits of his authority and may even forfeit his commission. It is therefore vital that we understand our commission in order that we may always act and speak with authority. Rere is a whole province in God's universal empire in armed rebellion. We who are believers are sent to offer to every rebel pardon and reconciliation; as though God did boseech by us, to pray them in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. Weare to declare the conditions of such reconciliation and restoration, but we cannot compel any rebel to lay down his arms and submit to God. Nor is this our province. Our authority is explicit: we are empowered to publish the good tidings throughout the world; there our authority begins and ends. So long as we confine ourselves to that, behind us, backing up our message, stands the whole Godhead! But the moment we begin to think of it as our work to "convert" men; we are tempted to tamper with the gospel, to abate its seeming severity, to make it more attractive; or even to invade the province of the Holy Spirit and seek to move directly upon the unrenewed heart and will.
It is a dangerous busine5s, this trying to induce men to consent to the gospel. Paul refers to this perhaps when he says, "Weare not as many who corrupt-(xa7r7J}.ouwres)-adulterate the word of God."* These kapeloi, or hucksters, tavern-keepers, were notorious for adulterating their commodities, for the sake of large sales and selfish gains. What a temptation to the gospel preacher to soften the severity of the terms, for the sake of winning men! "How much owest thou unto my Lord?" "An hundred measures of oil." "Take thy bill and write fifty." What a snare to the church to accommodate her spiritual standard to the natural heart and become worldly, to draw the worldly! What a temptation to count converts and justify as legitimate the means by which their number is swelled to new proportions!
Now, be it remembered that, if, even for the sake of drawing men to God, the ambassador adds to or diminishes aught from his message, he . no longer speaks with authority. Rebels may be induced to yield on our terms or their own terms; but until there· is submission on God's terms there is no reconciliation! The only way to keep out of the clutch of this subtlest satanic temptation is to keep steadily before us that our work is evangelization rather than conversion. Let us preach the gospel just as our Lord has bidden us, and jnst as he gave it to llS .2 Oor. Ii; 11. to preach; then we speak with all the authority and power of God be· hind us. But however much we may yearn over souls, we must keep to our instructions, lest passing them we not only forfeit all authority. 'but betray the souls we seek to save.
II. The limits of our commission are the limits also of our responsibility.
That word, responsibility, is lull of awe. How far are we held "ac. countable for the souls of others? When is their blood on our skirts, and when is it no longer required at our hand? To be held to answer for the final loss of one soul is a load that no believer can bear; Paul's exclamation gets thousand·fold emphasis: "Who is sufficient for these things!" But, thank God! it is not so. We need look no further than that gospel in Ezekiel to learn the law of responsibility. * Originally God alone was responsible, for he only had power to save, or even knowl· edge of salvation. When he appointed ambassadors and committed to them the message, that transferred responsibility to them. The messenger becomes a mediator: havmg the good tidings and being commissioned to stand between God and the dying souls of men. Now observe, that from the moment the gospel is fully and faithfully proclaimed, responsibility is again transferred to the hearer! In every step and stage of this process and progress, the transfer of knowledge implies the transfer of obligation. The wicked is warned; he may not be won; but the watchman is free of blame.
The moment the gospel herald becomes unduly anxious about its reception, he risks forgetting his own work and intruding upon that of the hearer, and of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps he loses courage, bold· ness, peace. He begins to doubt and distrust not himself only but God. He is mixing up his own responsibility with that of those to whom he speaks. In other words, the herald reproaches himself with the heedlessness of his hearers; the ambassador, with the perversity of his sovereign'S foes. No! blessed be God, to discharge our duty, by earnestly and lovingly preaching the gospel, is to be discharged of all further responsibility.
Paul had passion for souls-" great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart "-could wish himself "accursed from Christ, for his brethren." Surely no cold heart, no mere sense of duty, goaded him on. Yet when, at Antioch in Pisidia, those "brethren" "judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life, and even raised persecution against him, he "shook off the dust of his feet," in solemn token that he shook off all responsibility for their condemnation, and departed; and at Mile· tus he said to the Ephesian el,ders, "I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men; for I haTe not shunned to declare unto you aU the counsel of God! "
We may be as faithful as Paul, but all we can do at our best will ~ Exe>iel XYiii., xxxiii, not, of itself, insure one convert or disciple. It will still be true as of him: "Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." Some," ever learning will never come to the full knowledge of the truth." Not a few will become gospel-hardened, which is worse than sin-hardened. But Paul's duty was done irrespective of how many believe and obey. The limits of our commission and of our responsibility must coincide; and becansfl conversion is not our commission, for conversion we are not held accountable.
III. The limits of our commission are the gauge of our success.
We are con.stantly tempted by Satan, and by our own carnal hearts, to weigh in human scales and to measure by worldly standards, the results of our work. Not only in the world, but, alas! in the church, the satanic spirit is abroad, that dares to ask that supremely selfish question: Do missions payf In this inquiry lurk! a latent heresy. It assumes that we are capable of estimating results; still worse, it implies that our estimate of results may lawfully affect our obligation. Both these premises are radically unsound. The tendency is to walk not by faith but by sight, and to judge by appearances; and, because it fosters this tendency, our whole system of statistical returns is misleading and perniciously liable to abuse. Is a minister of Christ to be judged by the-number of converts he gathers in a given year or the amount of money he secures to the Boards?
Away with such standards of success! The most important work upon the' famous Eddystone is not visible, even at low tide. For a few hours each day patient workmen labored, anchoring to the rocks those immovable blocks on which rises and rests that symmetrical cone that Smeaton built. That work was slow and is now unseen; yet, but for that work, there would be no "Laus Deo" graven on the face of that beacon which still stands, after 130 years, off Ramhead, "to give light and to save life." It wa9 not the quick explOSion at Hell Gate that cleared the channel; but the long nnder-water tojl of miners who wrought out of sight and hearing. The first fourteen years at Tahiti passed without one convert or sign of success; yet on the work of those fourteen years rose the structure of Polynesian missions r There were nearly fifty years of fruitless toil among the Telngus before the "Lone Star" atOngole blazed forth like the sun ; but then in one year there were ten thousand converts, and the Lone Star became a constellation. Isaiah's barren ministry prepared the way for Paul's fruitful evangelism. Captain Allen Gardiner's death at Tierra del Fuego was the burial of a seed that in the next generation bore such fruit that even Charles Darwin declared that he "could not have believed that all the missionaries in the world" could have wrought such results.
God leaves none of his faithful servants to spend their strength for Jlaught. Our work i~ his work; it is from him, for him~ with him, in him; and hence there can be no failure, but we must never attempt to gauge our success by appnrent results. If faithful, our reward is sure, though" all day long" we stretch forth pleading hands" to a disobedient and gainsaying people." The Master himself was H despised and rejected of men;" "he came unto his own possessions and his own people received him not." "The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord." But the fact is we are incapable of measuring our own success. To estimate result;:; requires omniscience, omnipresence, eternity. In all work there are three stages: preparatory, intermediate, ultimate; the prepamtory is often the most tedious and prolonged, where the ultimate is most glorious. Man, noblest of animals, is most helpless at first and slowe;:;t to develop. The fields of the world that have yielded the greabst harvests have been longest in the preliminary tillage. God's true missionary goes where he sends him and does what he bids him; and he succeeds, though all he may do is to plow up the hard ground and gather out the stones and leave a fair field for the sower.. And in God's eyes many a man who, by the. armful or wagon-load, brings sheaves to the garner, is only reaping from others' sowing.
IV. The limits of our instructions set limits to our field and work.
Christ says: "The field is the world," and no part of it is to be left untilled and unsown. If we wait to "convert" our hearers, we shall never put our working force into the whole field. Just here has been the J!reat TI"bistake ofthe church even in her missionary era! Christ's principle is DIFFUSION; our practice is CONCENTRATION. We emphasize conversion, while he emphasizes evangelization; and so our human philosophy counsels us to convert as we J!o, and so increase the convertinJ! force. The effect is that we keep tilling a few little corners of the world-field, sowing them over and over, until the soil loses power to yield, while tracts a thousand miles square have never yet borne the tread of the sower! Even disciples are asking, "Are there not heathen enough at home, that we send the flower of our youth to the ends of the earth? "
But who was He who said, "Go ye into all the world?" There will always be heathen at home, and in our churches too-the worst sort of heathen, who have heard so long without heeding that the word will never bear fruit in their hearts. No soil in equatorial Africa is half so hard for the gospel-plow as the respectable sinners in our home congregations. London has to-day a thousand more missionaries than the whole church supports on the foreign field; and so long as we hold that our commission is to convert men rather than to preach the gospel to all men, this radical error will confront us in our methods. But so soon as we accept our mission and commission as world-wide evangelization, leaving to our Commander the time and way of th0 final world-wide victory, we shall see the folly of oui- philosophy and be guided by the wisdom of God. Then we shall spread our force over the whole field; we shall cease to compare respective fields, and mass our forces upon those which promise the quickest, largest harvests; we shall simply obey our Master and leave all the rest with him.
We' write with calm pen, when we write down the mistake of the church as radical. It is our solemn conviction that we must change our emphasis from converting men to evangelizing them. While we wait for long-tilled fields to bear fruit in converts, other fields, vast and wholly untilled, yield harvest after harvest of death. After nine- teen centuries, our labors are practically limited to perhaps one-tenth of the actual world-field. Meanwhile, generation after generation has come upon the stage of human history, and passed into the darkness of the nnknown world, in ignorance of the gospel. Since onr Lord arose 'and ascended, not less than fifty such generations, aggregating probably twenty t:mes the present population of the globe, have lived and died. And yet, there are nearly a thousand millions now living who have never heard the pure gospel. So long as the church turned all her forces into the home field, the dark ages were upon her; and when she sent forth her heralds to light up the death-shade in lands afar, her own morning began to dawn; and so the last century, which has been the missionary century, has been the century of greatest growth to Ohristendom itself. Should we multiply the force in foreign fields a hundred-fold, there would be a thousand-fold increase at home.
V. The limits of our commission set the bounds to our lawful expectation. .
If for the conversion of the world we labor and look, the present , prospect is, it must be confessed, somewhat disheartening. The Ohristian Ohurch has had nineteen centuries as her working-period, and out of 1,500,000,000 of inhabitants, has only about 30,000,000 Protestant church-members. After a century of m~dern missions, with over one hundred missionary societies, some 300 translations of the Gospels, some 6,000 missionaries in the field, arid an annual ex- penditure of over ten millions of dollars, we have but a million and a half of converts to show. T~e territory of Brahminism and Buddhism has been invaded, but never pervaded. As yet, Oonfucianism mocks our efforts, and Islamism defies us at its central strongholds. We are making very slow progress in converting the world; and even "Ohris- tian nations" do such unchristian things that they are sometimes, by their traffic in rum and opium, and in the bodies and souls of men, the chief hinderances of the missionary. Meanwhile, the increase of pop- ulation far outruns us, and leaves our proselytism and propagandism hopelessly in the rear. No wonder the" pessimists" are triumphant.
This is one way of looking at the aspect and prospect. But what if this be the wrong point of view if What if Our LQrd has only commissioned us to go everywhere and preach his gospel, and leave to him to work his wonders when, and where, and as he will? What if Our work be simply to obey his last command-to scatter broadcast, ' and in every field, the seed of the Word; nay, everywhere to bury ourselves as the good seed of the kingdom, content, if so he wills, to die'
inand so bring forth fruit when we can no longer see it? What If, "ven this" evangelistic era," the church is still making the strange mistake of not yet planning and preparing for that world-wide occupation which he enjoined nearly two millennium~ ago?
It is not enough to work, or even to work for God and for souls. Only when we work under his direction, and as he directs, do reward and blessing come. Never was mission or commission more clear and emphatic: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every ereature." "This gospel must first be preached in all the world for a witness among all nations; and then shall the end come." He who, in his impatience at the" miserable contracting lines of pessimism," says "there is no • preaching the gospel as a witness,' here;" surely forgets that these are the very words in which our Lord himself announces and defines the work of the present dispensation.
There may be disappointment, even to a disciple, whenever his expectation is based upon an unscriptural foundation. Our wish is often father, not only to our thought but to our hope. Within the limits of our instructions must we find the entire territory of our assured expectancy. When hope plants her feet upon the promises of God, her standing-place is firmer than the eternal hills; and when she plumes her wings with the promises, there is no limit to her upward flight. But only those expectations ripen into fruition which spring from some seed of his word.
VI. The limits of our commission set the limits of the Spirit's blessing.
Only in the way of perfect obedience can be found perfect blessedness. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love, joy, peace, and power, If we find that we lack confidence and courage in God, contentment in our work, passion for souls, and unction in our message, it may be well to ask, are we in the way of duty? God hath given the Holy Ghost" to them that obey him." To those who "love " him and " keep his words" Christ has promised that mysterious mward revelation of his personal indwelling. It cannot be a matter of little consequence to get a clear, full, exact apprehension of just what our Lord would have us to do.
Both the teaching of the Word and the testimony of the ages nnite in this great lesson to the church: that only so far and so fast as the working force is dispersed over the whole field, and the gospel is witnessed unto every nation and every creature, will the last and greateEt Pentecost of history be fully realized. The primary question is not one of rival fields, whether" home" or "foreign"; not of saving our great cities or saving our own land. It is primarily a matter of im~ plicit and immediate obedience to Christ. Our mission knows no limits but the limits of the command, which are the limits of the world and of time. So long as one human creature has not yet heard the message, our duty as messengers is not done, however many who have heard remain yet unconverted. Our Master stands with imperative finger pointin.t to unoccupied fields; and while one such is left, he has not been fully obeyed and the Spirit will not be fully outpoured.
We believe this and therefore we must speak. Though sadly conscious of feebly stemming a tide that with tremendous energy of movement sweeps the other way, we here record our solemn conviction that the church has yet to take up this work of missions in dead earnest. These unoccupied fields will never be taken possession of in Christ's name until the only ground of discrimination between one field and another is their comparative destitution. Whether near o!' far, those whose need is most extreme, and whose ignorance is most appalling, have the first claim. The drift of the day is toward concentration on the most hopeful, and even the nearest fields. Hence remote heathen and degraded pagan peoples are neglected; the question is soberly raised whether it be right to blast the very blossoms of our highest Christian civilization in the furnace of African fever; whether it be not waste to send such women as Harriet Newell, Mrs. Grant, Mrs. Judson, Mrs. Gordon, to Oriental pagans and South Sea cannibals; and hundreds of Christians quote with relish the sneer of Dickens, who makes Mrs. Jellyby look past the misery of her own household and neighborhood to sigh over Borioboola Gha!
For a century the Spirit has poured his fullest blessing on families, churches, and schools of the prophets, whence have gone the largest bands of laborers to fields remote. The paradox of modern church life is this: Apparent depletion ends in richest repletion; the most liberal gifts of men and money to farthest fields are the signal for the most . rapid replenishment at home. Here is the key to the paradox: the Holy Spirit rewards obedience. Should we recall the 6,000 foreign missionaries to re-en10rce the home-fields, it would bring to those very fields the curse of barrenness. Should we, on the contrary, distribute the whole force equally and impartially, with strict reference to the vast extent and awful need of the whole field, such blessing would come upon fields nearest home as never has been known. Of church life, as of individual life, it is true: " There is that scattereth and yet increaseth : And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, But it tendeth to poverty."
VII. The limits of our commission Qecome tlue bounds of our satisfaction and joy.. What is the ultimate ground of our rejoicing? There is a higher, broader basis for our serenity and satisfaction than even the number of souls'saved, viz.: that we have done the will of God. He who, to Thessalonian converts, wrote: "Ye are our glory, and joy, and crown of rejoicing," wrote also to the Corinthians: "Now thanks be unto God, who at aB times leadeth us about in triumph in Ohrist, and mak:- e~h manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of him, through us, in every place; for we are a grateful odor of Christ, unto God, both in those who are being saved and in those who are being lost," * etc.
Here is another paradox, but it contains the deepest philosophy. It is the most emphatic reminder that our joy is not confined to our success in saving souls. Paul was driven out of place after place, persecuted, scourged, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead; but just as truly where he was rejected, as where he was "received as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus," he joyed in God, for he was a steward of the go·spel, and "it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Observe, "faithful," not successful. He may sow the seed and till the field but cannot assure an abundant crop, or any crop. Some seed Satan's fowls may -catch up as soon as sOWn; other seed may fall 011 shallow soil or among thorns; but however fruitful or fruitless, whether it yields nothing or an hundred-fold, the faithful sower has the same reward.
No man, whose eye is on apparent victory or seeming success, can unlock Paul's paradox. The gospel proves its divinity in this, that no hearer can be indifferent to it. It grapples with his convictions, affections, conscience. It compels consideration and decision, one way or other, and hence every gospel appeal leaves him better or worse. Those who substitute for the gospel something else, and amuse or entertain with intellectual and moral essays, may leave men very much as they find them. But every man who preaches Ohrist-who reasons of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come-either lifts men higher or sinks them lower. The gospel must prove either a lever or a load. "To hear such truth inevitably softens or hardens, saves or damns. In the vegetable world the same conditions that so favor growth where life exists-light,heat, moisture, and nutrition-also favor rapid decay where life does not exist or develop. And so the gospel either begets life or breeds death; and proves itself the power of God by the savor of death as truly as by the savor of life.
It is an awful thought but a true one: Every soul that without excuse goes at last into outer darkness, as having heard but not having heeded the gospel, is as truly a proof of the preacher's fidelity and as really a trophy of God's triumph as is a soul saved by repentance and faith. Therefore it is that as we go forth to evangelize the world we rejoice alike in victory ~n<l in <lefeat, for in both alike God is leading • ~ Cor. ii: 14-16,
THE MARVELS OF MORAVIAN MISSIONS
us in triumph in Christ. Whether men are saved and send up the fragrance of life; or whether, lost, they send up the stench of death, He will recognize and reward the fidelity of which both the saved and the lost are alike witnesses. This cry of U vi0tory" has long been Satan's device to mislead and discourage God's saints. It tempts us to press on where triumph seems to beckon, and to halt and even re- treat where defeat seems to threaten. It tempts us to "number the people" and gauge success by figures; nay, to let down the gospel stand- ard in hopes of easier and quicker victory. It leads an English Canon to set pounds sterling over against the sterling worth of souls, and, be- cause the sums expended seem large and the converts gathered seem few, to cry, like Judas, "To what purpose is this waste?" It betrays us into hopelessness and heartlessness when our words seem to avail noth- ing in winning .souls, 'and it has driven not a few workmen from the field altogether because God's blessing seemed withheld from therr work. • Let no one therefore tell us that it is a matter of indifference whether we go forth expecting to convert the world, or only to evange- lize the nations. Within the limits of our commission we are to find also the limits of whatever else is most vital. Here we find the warrant of our authority, the measure of our responsibility, the standard of our success, the definition of our field and work, the goal of our expecta- tion, the assurance of the Spirit's blessing, and the broad basis of our abiding joy. :For victory we are not to be unduly solicitous; in our seeming defeat and disaster our Lord may find his triumph and success.
We may never see victory until the Great Captain himself appears on the battle-field. All we may be able to do, and all he may give us to do, may be to seize certain strongholds and "hold the fort," till he comes to turn the tide of battle. But in the darkness and the smoke of the conflict, whichever way the issue seems to sway, we are to stand by our guns, and hold fast our flag.
On that mountain in Galilee, Christ the Lord seems still to be stand- ing, and with trumpet tones that echo down the ages, forevermore to be saying: " ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME, IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH!"
THEREFORE " Go 'lie into all the world" And pl'each the gospel to every creature; AND LO! I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE AGE."
THE MARVEL OF MORAVIAN MISSIONS.
BY REV. D. L. LEONARD, OBERLIN, O.
THOUGH the statement doubtless casts a serious reflection upon all other branches of the Christian Church, it is yet true that the Unitas Fratrum is a phenomenon among the most striking to he found in the modern religious world. The story off its origin and growth, and of the vicissitudes abounding in tragedy through which it has passed, read~ like the exaggerations of a wild romance. As an awakening from the fearful unbelief and" moral laxness of the eighteElnth century it antedates the more famous work of the Wesleys, to which it also imparted ideas and influences of greatest value. Certain homely and old-fashioned virtues, on which the New Testament lays great emphasis, but by hostile forces in human nature are too often grievously sinned against, in this communion from the first have stood out in bold relief. At many points, both in the corporate life and in the character of individual members, besides much that may well be closely copied, there is abundance every way worthy of careful and appreciative study because certain to kindle enthusiasm and provoke mightily to good works.
But, after all, the chief glory of the Moravian Church, her noblest achievement for the Kingdom of God on earth, is found in the attitude toward the world's evangelization taken at the very beginning, and ever since persistently maintained. It is just here that the resemblance is most perfect to the church of the first century. Herrnhut is the -yery cradle of Protestant missions. From thence the first heralds of salvation went forth to lands beyond the sea sixty years before Carey and Marshman, and eighty years before Judson and Mills. This church has commissioned a larger proportion of its members to proclaim the glad tidings to the heathen than any other, and has contributed far more money" in proportion to numerical and financial strength. It is also unique in that the fixed policy has always been to select for occupation not the most inviting and promising fields, but rather those most discouraging and desolate, and to expend lavishly ~ts ample resources of love and zeal upon races most benighted and bestial. But above all else, the work of foreign missions has nev!3r been a mere corollary, but the main proposition instead, never an adjunct, an avocation, a by-play, but the very raison d' etre, the fundamental and constitutive principle. And this chief end and aim of existence has been pursue-i so vigorously and unflinchingly that we have the unmatched spectacle of a church whose adherents in pagan lands outnumber the membership at home nearly three to one.
A few words as to how an organization came to be, which is so original at so many points, and differs so radically from all its neighbors. Its beginnings are remote, even as far back as the stormy times of Huss, though 1457 is the date of the formal setting forth. Essentially Protestant long before the Reformation, fierce persecutions befell from the Romish Church. Feeling profoundly Luther's work, the number of churches rose at length to 400, and of members to 400,000, and found mainly in Moravia, Bohemia and Poland. But after a checkered existence of nearly two centuries, during that furious and ruthless onslaught" for the suppression of heresy" known as the Anti-Reformation (1620-27), fire and sword, enforced conformity and compulsory exile, did their worst, and to all human appearance utter annihilation ensued. A feeble remnant, however, survived to worship and serve in secret, and wait for redemption. Faith and patience received trial ,most severe, for almost a century elapsed before the day of resurrection dawned.
Aud two instruments were chosen to bring life out of death. The first and lesser one was Christian David, a Moravian mechanir., born and reared a papist, but strangely brought to accept a purer faith with boundless devotion. Among other forms of service, he set himself to search out in the old sects such of the Moravians as still clung to the worship and tradition of their fathers. And when it further appeared that flight, exile and loss of all worldly goods was the price which must needs be paid for religious freedom, he sought in Protestant Germany a safe refuge, and at length received from Count Zinzendorf promise of protection and favor upon one of his estates. In 1722 a little company of three families, ten persons, ready to make the venture, left home at dead of night, and, fearing betrayal and forcible detention, not informing even their nearest relatives of their. departure. How insignificant an event and yet, how momentous! A few days later they had crossed the mountains to the south, and were safe in Saxony; and a few days later stil1, the foundations of Herrnhut were laid. Others followed in the footsteps of these heroic pioneers, but so slowly that only 300 could be counted at the end of five years, of whom two-thirds were from Moravia and the rest from various parts of Germany, and only 600 at the close of a decade.
But the real founding and fashioning of the renewed Moravian Church awaited the appearance of Zinzendorf upon the scene. Without his magnificent contribution of spiritual fervor and intellectual force it had not been. In almost every particular this body is the reproduction, or the embodiment, of his thought and purpose. For forty years he was practically the autocrat, the sole authority. This immortal builder for God was of princely lineage, and was possessed by inheritance of large landed estates. A man of unwonted original powers of mind, to these was added a thorough training in the best schools, and the further enlargement of extensive travel. If the phrase be ever allowable, upon him was bestowed besides a remarkable genius for religion. His life was distinguished by a whole-hearted consecration, seldom surpassed since Paul's day, and this in an age when princes and scholars almost to a man were wholly devoted to the god of this world, and even the churches and the clergy were well-nigh destitute of vital godliness. Under the impulse of celestial love he gladly sacrificed honor and political power, and deliberately turned his back upon companions, his equals in social station, to identify himself, heart, soul and life, with a ;handful of peasants, poverty-striken, ignorant, fanatical and despised, and though the step cost him ridicule, obloquy, ten years of exile, and eventually his entire property. Even yet the Christian world does scant justice to this man of true martyr spirit, whose just rank is among the great of the earth, and little understands how great a debt Christendom, yes, humanity, owes to him for what in days fearfully dark he so heroically undertook and so grandly achieved.
What Zinzendorf was divinely. chosen to be and to do, began to be plainly prophesied even in early childhood. For example, when he tossed from the window bits of paper addressed to the Saviour telling of his ardent affection, and when he solemly entered into this covenant with the Lord: "Be thou mine, and I will be thine. " Entering the Paedagogium at Halle when but ten, he is presently found organizing among his school-fellows the Order of the Mustard Seed (Senfkorn Orden) with these among the mottoes: "We will not live for ourselves alone," and, "We'willlove the whole human family." Notmuchlater he had attained to the idea of a spiritual fraternity of all the good (eoclesiolw in ecolesia), and had set apart his life to laborfor souls by systematic means and on a large scale. These sentences from his lips well sum up and set forth his highest ambition and deepest desire: "I would rather be despised and hated for Jesus's sake than be loved and honored for my own" ; "I am a poor sinner, a captive running by the side of his triumphal chariot"; "I have but one passion, and it is Thee, only Thee."
And now, at length, this man, so thoroughly furnished by nature aJ;ld grace, is brought face to face with his exalted mission. It was a few months after their arrival at Herrnhut that Zinzendorf received his introduction to that little band of refugees, and five years later that he took up his residence among them. And truly it was a motley company he found, a conjunction of elements most heterogeneous, a quasi cave of Adullam, into which had been gathered recusants, and dissenters, and comeouters of every description. Once when a number were receive!l to the church it was found that no two belonged to the same nationality, but Germans, and English, and Swedes, and Swiss, Poles, Hungarians, and IJivonians were represented! Of almost all the minds were narrow, while the zeal was intense and blind, and so centrifugal forces abounded, and liability to explosion was constant. It was the case of old Corinth over again. Each one determinedly hugged his idol and his ism, and each was antagonistic and destructive to all the rest. For months the scandal and curse of debate and contention, of schism and secession spread their blight. So that not even Zinzendorf's wisdom, and tact, and patience, and ability to organize and govern could have averted destruction, had not an overwhelming refreshing from on high been vouchsafed at a certain communion season. This was in 1727, and ever since August 13 has been kept as the anniversary of the spiritual birthday of the renewed church. Now that the divine flame had melted, and fused and 'unified all hearts, the way was fully prepared for toil in behalf of others. The first-fruits of new-born fervor are found in the beginning of the Diaspara Mission (1 Pet. 1 : 1. "To the strangers scattered" abroad), and which has been ever since carried on in various countries of Europe. Proselytism has never been esteemed a shining virtue in Mora-dan circles, and this branch of evangelistic labor in particular was not meant in the least to separate souls fr.om the established churches, or to build up a rival organization, and so the administration of the sacraments is not allowed to the missionaries, but they merely endeavor to seek out the godly in all communions and foster piety by gathering such for Bible study, exhortation and prayer. The number reached thus is now not far from 100,000.
A year later the horizon of desire and faith had so much enlarged as to embrace Lapland, 'rurkey, and even Ethiopia. In 1731 Zinzendorf made a most eventful visit to Copenhagen. For it was then and there that some of his attendants were brought into contact with a negro from the West Indies, who spoke with deep emotion of the lamentable condition of the slaves in those islands, while he himself conversed with two qonverted Esquimaux and heard of the forlorn estate from which they came. These facts being reported to the simple flock in Herrnhut produced so great a stir that in due season two of the brethren, Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann, the one a potter and the other a carpenter. were under appointment and on the way to St. Thomas, though with but $5 each, and though the first 600 miles must needs be made on foot. Moreover, they went fully expecting to be sold into slavery as the only means possible for reaching the bondmen to whom they were to minister, while Dober declared himself. ready to die, if only one soul could be saved. These were soon followed by others, who occupied and held for Christ, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbadoes, etc., content to face ttll manner of discomforts and perils from tornadoes, earthquakes and pestilences, as well as opposition and hatred even more trying. Though with great cost of life ever since they and their successors have held heroically ou. Next, and in less than six months after, _three more started for the Arctic regions to found a mission among the Esqnimaux of Greenland. These were Christian David, who. at the beginning had kindred faith in the first company, and led them out into liberty, and two cousins, Matthew and Christian Stach. In spite of obstacles most appalling, and though waiting long years for the first signs of good, they fainted not, but toiled and prayed until the barriers to those obdurate hearts were fairly forced. In later times a second mission was opened for the same race, though upon the opposite coast of Labrador.
And, once given air and exercise, see how desire and determination are enlarged. Where else can anything like it be found? In order fully to appreciate the marvel, it must be borne in mind that Herrnhut held but a handful as yet-not more than ate often found in the membership of a single city church, and that less than a score of years had passed since that midnight hegira from Moravia-but 10 ! we find them taking earnest counsel to carry the gospel to the ends of the' earth. Five foreign missions were started in as many years, and eighteen during the first quarter of a century. Next after the two just mentioned followed one in English and Dutch Guiana to the Arowote Indians, to the slaves, and to the bush negroes, who escaped from bondage, and largely because of wrongs endured were an aban- doned and desperate class, as well as in the lowest deeps of degradation. In 1736 missionaries were sent to the American Indians, at first to Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New York.. and later to the Delawares in Ohio and further West.· Christian history holds few if any narratives more thrilling and pathetic than those which tell of what such men as Zeisberger wrought during his sixty-three years of service (1735- 1808), thus more than Eliot earning the title of apostle to the Indians, and Heckewelder, who,se toils and achievements for forty years were almost as great.
The same year George Schmidt, just escaped from the horrors of a six years' imprisonment for conscience sake, and whose scars he wore till the day of his death, took his departure for South Africa to tell the glad tidings to the Hottentots. This was eighty years before Moffat's day, and during his entire stay he was the only missionary in the entire vast length and breadth of the dark continent. The amazing stupidity and depravity of the natives was burden sufficiently heavy, but yet not nearly so hard to endure as the abuses and contempt of the Dutch Boers, whose esteem for the poor creatures to whom this lone Moravian was making proclamation of the Cross was expressed in a "notice set over one of their church doors: "Dogs and Hottentots not 'admitted." It was not until six terrible years had passed that the first encouraging sign appeared, and when converts began to multiply the jealousy and fear of the Christian (?) whites were so excited that he was forbidden by the authorities, to baptize, and eventually was compelled to take his departure. When death came to this thoroughly Christian soul, like Livingstone he was found upon his knees pleading that Ethiopia might soon stretch forth her hands to God. In later days the mission was renewed, and another was started among the Kaffirs, including the..care of an extensive hospital for lepers.
In times comparatively recent (1850) the evangelization of the abor- . igines of Australia was undertaken, soil perhaps as barren and flinty as any to be found upon the face of the earth. To the original condition, forlorn and forbidding in the extreme, was added the presence of multitudes of escaped convicts, and the almost equal curse of the reckless gold hunters. The natives are said to be so little human, and to have been held by the Anglo-Saxons in such utter contempt, that they were sometimes shot down as food for dogs. No wonder that so unpromis- ing a mission was soon abandoned in despair. But such lack of faith was discountenanced at home, and others were soon sent t~ lead the forlorn hope. Latest of all, Herrnhut has sent its representatives to scale in Ohrist's name the tremendous heights of the Himalayas, and to plant the cross upon the pl~teau of Thibet, waiting meanwhile for an opportunity to invade Ohina from the west. Yet others have been dispatched to the Mosquito coast. The same self-sacrificing and determined spirit is manifested in connection with certain unsucces~ful attempts to gain a foothold for the gospel, for in several cases the bar- riers have been so invincible that even Moravian courage and patience could not conquer them. Thus in Lapland the missionaries were ar- rested and sent home. In vain they sought to reach the Samoy- ades upon the shores of the Arctic Ocean. They failed also in Ceylon, in the East Indies, in Algiers and Guinea. In Egypt thrice over failure was their lot, while repeated attempts (1768-1823) to reach the . Oalmucks came to nought. .
A few general suggestions, that we may get further glimpses of the glory which rightly belongs to the Moravian Church for its unequaled missionary zeal. With what exalted spirit the more than 2,000 have gone out into the by-place.s and deserts of the earth we perceive from such examples as these, which are by no means uncommon. When two were called for to lead the way to work among the Mongols in Central Asia, thirty offered themselves. Once news came to Bethlehem, Pa.
(the Herrnhut of America), that in a few weeks five of the brethren had died in St. Thomas, and in a single day eight were ready to go in their stead. Once distress and peril were so extreme that it was re- solved to appoint none who were not ready to lay down their lives, and yet there was no lack of volunteers. And convincing evidence that such utter self-abandonment was called for, and 'such leaning upon the Lord, appears in toil among the Esquimaux, who for a period wofully long gave to the gospel message not the slightest heed, seldom came near the missionaries except to beg or to steal, and not infrequently to the preaching gave this not inspiring response: " We neither hear nor understand what you say to us. Give us a pipe and some tobacco."
But yet they waited calmly for the precious fruit, and had long patience for it till the joyful harvest came at length, and even the 'Esquimaux be- gan to hunger for salvation.· Or, in the incredible sufferings and dis- couragements connected with efforts to redeem the Indians from their paganism and savagery. 'rhough utterly without cause, it was the hard lot of the early Moravians in this country to be suspected and hated by all parties,-by the whites as friends of the Indians, and by the Indians as friends of the whites; by the French as in league with the English, and by the English as emissaries of the French. Hence for . a half century and more they were compelled to face the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. In 1782 both missionaries and converts were removed.by British soldiers from their peaceful and prosperous homes upon the Tuscarawas to Upper Sandusky, and then, a few months later, in a starving condition returning to gather their own corn, were set upon by a force of AmericlJ,n militia and 96 innocents were butch- ered in cold blood! It strangely appears that in this single church zeal for the world's redemption belongs not to the few but to the many. Now, after so long a time, when the period of novelty and romance is long since passed, one in fifty of the membership are still set apart for the foreign field. And further, so closely at heart is this great matter held, that to .go to the ends of the earth to save souls, and thus to meet trials and perils, is not esteemed an act so remarkable as to call for wonder arid praise. The happy men and women who hear and heed the call are not lionized, or sent forward with' noise and display. All this is but a matter of course, the business of all, that for which they live and labor. To be indifferent and un willing, to be disobe~ient, that is the strange thing. The best and most succ"Cssful is an unprofitable servant, has but done his duty. Doubtless the church under review is far from perfect, and fails to exemplify every Christian grace. Since human vision for things divine is but partial, it need not surprise us to light upon error and failure, and divers limitations. In particular, the instruments employed and modes o~ procedure have been such as, hitherto at least, to make no impression except upon uncivilized peoples, and of course the gospel must be carried to dominant races, to the haughty Brahman, the lordly Turk, to China and Japan. But yet it is a most ungracious and unprofitable task to speak of shortcomings when the Unitas Fratrum has on the whole wrought so magnificently. And what a sublime and inspiring spectacle has been passing by before our eyes. How much poorer would the Christian world be, if this portion of history had been omitted. How exceeding- ly profitable for teachmg, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness is this humbler and more plebeian form of service. Choosing out the Hottentot, the Esquimaux, the Australian, the slave and the leper, and thus lavishing their love upon the ofIscourings of the earth and playing the Good Samaritan in their behalf, or, in downright and measureless self-abnegation and Christ-like com- passion, not counting the costliest sacrifice waste, but gladly break- ing the alabaster box and pouring forth, without stint, the precious ointment, the aroma of the deed sheds sweetness throughout the whole world. And when from Greenland and Labrador, from the West Indies and Surinam, from the Tuscarawas, Thibet and South Africa, by the ten thousand the redeemed shall come up to glory, of the little
H40 PASTOR HARMS AND HIS
Moravian church it shall be declared, Thon hast wrought more honor- ably than they all. And this shall be her joy and her crown: "Inas:"
much as ye did unto one of tht< least of these, ye did it unto me !"
And already by losing her life she has found it. Terribly tested during the" sifting period" (1745-50) when fanatical elements for.the time gained the mastery, these were yet so thoroughly expelled and outlived that no smell of fir~ was left. It is also affirmed that no case of divorce, or of capital crime has ever been known among them. And so admirable thhaes•sbeeebnretthheriernwsohrko,wanndthseomwseolvrtehsy of confidence and affection have to be, they have always made many fast friends from outside their communion, so that from this source nearly half the funds employed in carrying on missions is derived.
PASTOR HARMS AND HIS WORK.
BY REV. THOMAS LAURIE~ PROVIDENCE, R. I.
LET us cross the Atlantic to a small country town in North Germaniabout'forty-five miles south from the well-known city of Hamburg. Hermannsburg, for that is the name· of the village, lies in a sandy region where the grass is thin and the people poor. There is much wild moorland, with here and there a pleasant vale, or a field running up into the heath. The villages among the trees on the hilltops overlook the cultivated lands below. It consists of (me straggling street, witb houses separated by gardens, and the spire of the church conspicnol1., over all. 'l'he people were phlegmatic Dutchmen, whose chief activity was toil for daily bread. Worse still, German rationalism ruled the region, so that the prospect for spiritual life seemed very dark. Louis Harms: son of a clergyman, was taken there by his father in 1817, when the son was only nine years old. He studied at home till 1824, then three years at a neighboring academy (gymnasium is the name there), and from that he went to the University of Gottingen to study theology, but the rationalism there prevalent did not satisfy him; so he studied Chaldee, Syriac, and Sanscrit. But still his heart was empty, until the Lord revealed Himself to him in the study of the gospel, especially John xvi., and in the freshness of his new love, he became interested in all kinds of labor for the salvation of men at home and abroad. One wanted him to come to North America, and another wished to take him with him to India, but in 1843 he went back to be his father's assistant, and in 1848, when his father died, the people insisted on his taking his father's place.
Though himself a scholar, he counted himself one of the people, and lived among them as a father; a man of marked simplicity. he was noted most of all for childlike faith in God. He lived in fellowship with Christ, and this was the strength and beauty of his life. He became a power among men, by giving himself up to the power of God, for, beholding the glory of Christ in the mirror of the Word, he was changed into the same' image, and therefore mighty works showed themselves forth in him. It is impossible to de&cribe the force of his preaching, or the love and faith which colored all he did. He un.
folded SCripture in the plainest manner, and was content with such a set~ng -forth of God's truth as made men forget the preacher in thoughts of God.
A great chauge soon began to appear in the place, and now its equal can hardly be found among the churches in either hemisphere. No house is without its family prayer. Only sickness keeps people away from church, and almost every adult is a communicant. Meetings during the week are as well attended as on the Sabbath, and the laborers in the fields instead of songs sing the grand old German ,hymns.
Drunkards and beggars are alike unknown, and the neatness of their homes testifies to the excellence of their occupants.
Not content with the change effected at home, Pastor Harms sug- gested a mission to the heathen and his people at once entered heartily on the work. They did not, however, give to some missionary society and then never inquire what had become of their money. But in response to the" Go ye" of the master, they rose up and went, and such as could not go in person supported them that did go. So in 1849, just one year after he became their pastor, twelve members of the little church entered on a four years' course of study in preparation for the work. For as the universities were poisoned by rational- ism, the good man had to educate his missionaries before he sent them out. Then, as both he and they were poor, they engaged in daily manual labor ; for, as he told them, "This is both that you may earn your own bread and remain humble, being no more ashamed to work than Paul was ashamed of tent-making." , He proposed to send them among the Gallas, a savageraceofrobbers and murderers in Northeast Africa. Few churches would furnish twelve men to go to such a people, and fewer country pastors with a poor parish would assume the entire cost of training, sending them out, and supporting them. In this case, as in many others, the Lord se- lected a different field from that chosen by His servant. For He will not have us forget that He is the Lord of the vineyard and sends the laborers here or there as He thinks best, that we may recognize His wis- dom in placing them, and attribute the success He gives to its true source. When I was in Turkey I hardly knew one missionary out of , the scores then in that empire who was laboring in the field to which he was sent at first, and the I . ord of the vineyard sent Pastor Harms'
recruits to Southern Africa. Then the idea of a Christian colony, ani- mated·by the missionary spirit to form the center whence missionaries should go forth in all directions, was added to the other work. As many as sixty persons offered themselves, for this, but the candid~t('s were sifted down till only eight remained. You will ask, where were the means to come from for' all thIS? . Let Pastor Harms give us the answer.
"Then I knocked diligently on God's door in prayer, and since he who prays must not sit idle, I searched among the ships, but in vain. I wrote to missionaries, but my letters miscarried. Then one said to me, "Why not build a ship, and so send as often as you will?' But how could I build without money? Everybody discouraged me, and some even hinted that I was not in my right mind; but I wrestletl with God, and then I remembered that in the days of Luther, when Duke George was debating whether to intrust his soul to Chrint or the Pope, a friend told him, 'Straightforward and direct fares the best.' So I thought, I have knocked long enough at men's doors. Now I will turn to God, for the work is for Him. So I laid the whole thing in His hands, and as I rose from my knees at midnightI startled myself crying, 'Forward now in the name of God,' and suspense was ended:"
This now became his life work, and it seems as though God meant to show in him how much an obscure man, in the most unfavorable circumstances, can do for God when he sets himself to the work with his whole heart. We cannot recount all his bufIetings, but the result was that the brig Oandace was built at Harburg on the opposite shore of the Elbe from Hamburg. We may note here that even then his troubles were not over, for he was sorely tried by some of his captains, who had no sympathy with the work, and after some voyages the brig had to be sent to England and twenty feet added to her length: but we anticipate. Hermannsburg was now like a hive of bees. Everybody was at work for" our ship." The farmers brought in loads of produce, and the women and children were never idle; as fast as they finished one piece of work they commenced another, and soon all things were ready. Such a joint stock company this world has seldom seen, though the sight will not be so rare in the future as it has been in the past. Of the twelve missionaries, two had died and two more had proved unworthy, but eight were ordained after thorough examination. '1'he colonists were ready, and the crew with the cargo all on board, and after a farewell sermon in the church the sixteen men stood up together (there was not a woman among them) and sang Luther's grand old hymn, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ", to Luther's no less grand tune, written expressly for it. Next day they went to Hamburg, a long train of wagons bearmg through the streets at early dawn the stores provided by the villagers. Even the whole population accompanied them for some distance, singing their favorite hymns. A few, with Pastor Harms at their head, marched through the streets of Harburg, and had a service on deck before the vessel sailed.
Oct. 28, 1853, the anchor was hoisted and the good ship sailed down the Elbe and out into the sea at Caxhaven. I said there ~re no women on board. Three years later there was a great marriage feast in South Africa, when the same vessel brought out the betrothed of the missionaries. The village now seemed desolate. Children missed their. teachers, and sick ones the visitors who had spoken to them of Jesus,' but in less than three weeks twelve new candidates filled the vacant seminary. Let us shake hands with one of them. Several years before Behrens longed to be a missionary, but he was the main dependence of his aged' parents, and as they would not give him up the pastor held him back. Not long after, on his death-bed, the father felt that he had done wrong, and begged the pastor that such a thing might never take place again in his family. The early love was still burning in the heart of the son, whose wife shared his devotion to the work, and when their only child died he again offered himself to go as a missionary. The pastor told him that though heir to the estate, he must enter·the school on the same terms as the rest, and he not only agreed to that, but gave his estate also. This Mr. Harms accepted only on condition that if he ever had to leave the work it should be restored to him. So the mission' owned a farm, which by careful management supported the candidates during their studies.
But success in missions always brings greater outlay, and this work formed no exception to the rule, for the growth of the work required a periodical to keep the people at home acquainted with the work abroad. As it gives us a glimpse of the editor, let us look into its opening address : "And now I hear many a sigh, and words like these: 'So many missionary magazines already, and.here is another! What folly I' Dear friend, if you sigh over this once I do ten times, for you only read it, and when you lay it down your trouble is over. But I must write it, every month a new one, though loaded with work enough alrea.dy. B~ljeve me, I would drop it if I dared, and if you ask, Why not dare? I answer, 'T'he love of Christ constraineth me.' Ever since the work began I have been urged to this, and when I shook it off, as one shakes the rain from his cloak, it only rained the harder till I was wet through, so I publish that the rain may cease, and indeed, I would have no love fOl' Christ or for His people if I did not. So in the name of our God let it begin, and may our Blessed Lord say Amen, and grant me strength for the work."
This was in 1854, and since then it has appeared regularly. Besides narratives of missions, it contains accounts of the work at home or sermons; so the missionaries were kept posted in home affairs, and the people at home with the trials, successes, and new enterprises of the missionaries. The editor writes as though chatting in his own family, and in such a Ohristlike spirit that the reader is not only informed concerning the kingdom, but is thrilled by its influence. This may explain why its monthly circulation reached 14,000 copies, larger than that of any other German periodical, sacred or secular, save one, and that does not eiceed it. Though only a penny a number, in 1860 it yielded more than 2,000 crowns profit to the mission. This press furnishes occupation to many of the pl:'ople, and besides books for the missiom." prints Bibles, catechisms, and hymn-books for home 118e, and never re8te, As interest in foreign missions always promotes interest in other good works, so was it hero. Pastor Harms had notIced that convicts who tried to reform were met with suspicion on all sides, while former associates strove to drag them back again to crlme. A thief near him left the jail resolved to steal no more; old comrades mocked, but he persisted till they slipped a stolen purse into his pocket, and accused him to the owner. In vain he protested his innocence. He was again sent back to prison. Poor man! Vho will help him? Pastor Harms looked at his secluded village as just the place for a refuge for such men. An estate was purchased with buildings and grounds large enough to afiold work for tI. number, a house father, as the Germaus call him, was set over it, and another river of living water refreshed that thirsty soil.
But such labors were too much for endurance and the good pastor lay sick for several months; but he recovered, and pressed forward, till again strength failed him, and he died November 14, 1865.
Let us now briefly glance at the missions, while the Oandace was on her first voyage. Merchants reported that she was lost, and again that she was worm-eaten. The pastor kept nothing back, but bade his. people wait for better news, and when she returned after two years' absonce, not even the ordinary repairs were needed. As the new missionaries would not be ready for a year, she was wiselychartered meanwhile so as to pay her own expenses. In 1857 she took out twelve missionaries, fourteen colonists, and women and children enough to make the whole number forty-four. The King and Queen of Hanover attended the ordination, and next day the missionaries were invited to the palace, where the king promised them a daily remembrance in .the prayers of the household.
The seminary was filled at once with twenty-one candidates. In her fourth voyage to South Africa, in 1859, the Oandace took out four colonists with their families, and two missionaries, ore having already labored for years in Borneo, and in his family was an Indian girl from North America. In 1861 twenty~two missionaries were sent out to Africa, and in seven years from the sailing of the first missionaries, 100 settlers were located at eight stations.
At the death of Mr. Harms in 1865, there were 31 missionaries at 24 stations, reaching from the Zulus on the eastern coast to the Bechuanas in the interior, and from the Orange River in the south as far as Lake Nyami; 252 of the nativos had been baptized, and foundations had been laid for a great work in the futUre.
They have their own ships and their own press, and continue to carryon the work with one accord. Surely these- things show how large a blessing God can pour out through one man, who enters into the work of Christ WIth all his heart. Look even at the money raised. 'rhe ship cost 15,000 crowns, her outfit 4,000 more; the press 3,600;
THE MIRACBES OF
~he refuge farm 4,000. In 1856 and 1857 the annual cost was 15,000.
In 1858 31,000, and in 1859 33,000, and up to the close of that year the whole income had been more than 118,000 crowns. Where did it come from? Not all from Hermannsburg, though some peasants ther.e gave 500 crowns at a time. It came from ali quarters, some from Odessa , on the Black Sea on one side, and some from New Orleans on the other. Pastor Harms said, "It is the gift of God." He adds: "It is wonderful when one has nothing, and 10,000 crowns are laid in his hand by the dear Saviour." When he found the mission house called for so much, he said, 'tet it take, I shall receive, and I went to my God and through prayer obtained what I needed. Recently I had to pay 550 crowns with on~y 400 in hand, and when' I told the Lord, three letters brought 145, and a laborer handed me ten, so that I had five over. Once I needed a medicine chest and was just praying for it when a letter came offering one." .
What a treasure did Pastor Harms find laid up in heaven! With what feelings has he met one after another from his own flock, and African Zulus, and Bechuanas, in that abode of holiness! And this man was not an apostle. He did not live in a golden age, but he grappled with rationalism in faith, and selfishness in life, till only a few years ago. May we not be like him? If not in striking out some new mode of doing good, yet in doing with our might what our hands find to do for Christ. When we go home to meet Pastor Harms in heaven what shall we have to set over against his service to Christ, what shall we have to talk with him about of grace bestowed upon us also to promote the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ?
THE MIRACLES OF MISSIONS.
THE STORY OF SIAM.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] IN the magic tales of missions the Land of the White Elephant has not been conspicuous. There has been no such rapid, startling, striking development of results as has marked the South Sea Islands, parts of India, Japan, and even papal lands like France and Italy. In Siam the kingdom comes without observation. Neither do men say "Lo! here, or 10, there!" as though to call attention to some amazing phenomenon. Hence by some who look. on missions with hypercritical and unsympathetic eyes silence has been taken to imply that there is nothing to be said that is encouraging as to past toils or stimulating as to the future triumphs.
For this very reason we select Siam as the subject of this next paper in our series. Here are a land and a people, among the most interesting in the Orient; 'of which little has been known until of late, and of which even now many otherwise intelligent Christian disciples have yet to be accurately informed. Owing to the native custom of numbering only the males, it is difficult to get accurate returns of the population. But probably in Siam and the Laos country there are not far from eight millions. In other words, with an area six times as great as the State of New York, Siam has a population about equal to that empire state. Its capital, Bangkok, the Venice of the Orient, contains itself probably half a million.
We smile at the homage there paid to the" strange colored" ele- phant, which ranks among the nobility, has titles, g01d bands on his tusks, is served by kneeling attendants with trays of silver, and is sprinkled with sacred water by obsequious priests, and attended by court physicians. But we must not judge the Siamese, by this hom- age to a beast, to be simply a degraded and superstitious nation of elephant worshipers; nor, by the shoe-brush top-knot, or tuft of coarse black hair on the crown of the head, must we infer that they have neither taste nor manners nor !Bsthetic notions. They are gentle, amiable, respectful·to parents and to old age, kind to children, urbane and polite to strangers, above the average in cleanliness and intelli- gence, and capable of high culture and refinement. They are un- truthful and conceited, polygamy prevails among them, gambling houses abound, and men have been known to sen their own wives and children to pay debts incurred in this fascinating" vice of risk." But not even in Ohina and India have women such freedom and intelli- gence and ability; and in few countries do wider doors to mission efforts present themselves. Buddhism is here found in its purest and most unmixed state, with its virtual atheism, and materialism, and wheel of endless transmigrations, with Nepon, like the Brahmanistic Nirvana, the goal of all desire, annihilation of all individnal being.
Idols abound everywhere. In one temple as many as 14,000 may be found; and in Bangkok alone are 200 temples with 10,000 yellow- robed lazy priests supported by charity.
The conditions were not inviting to missionary labor; and to com- plicate the question still more, the papal church had carried its cor- rupted form of Ohristianity into Muang Ti, "The Land of the Free," as early as 1662, and had lowered even the Romish standard of the gospel to a level scarce above that of heathenism itself, seeking to win converts by accommodating, if not assimilating, Ohristianity to the native prejudices and customs. It is now some seventy years ago since the first Prot03stantapproaches were made to that shrine of Buddhism; and, curiously enough, it was woman's hand, as in the zenana work in India and the evangelistic work in Mexico, that put the gospel's golden key in the door that opened into Siam. While living at Rangoon, in Burmah, Mrs. Ann Hasseltine Judson became deeply interested in the Siameee residents in that city. On the last day of April, 1818, she wrote to a friend in this country as follows: "Accompanying IS a catechism in Siamese which I hl.ve just copied for you. I have attended to the Siamese language for about a year and a half, and, with the assistance of my teacher, have translated into the Siamese tongue the Burman Catechism just prepared by Dr. Judson, a tract con. taining an abstract of Christianity, and the Gospel of Matthew."
A very simple unpretending clause in private correspondence; but how little that seraphic woman knew its full significance! In 1819 that catechism came forth from the mission press at Serampore, the first Ohristian book ever printed in Siamese. The press was to be one of God's foremost agencies for the regeneration of Siam, and to ,a woman it was given to set that agency in motion, and in so doing lead Protestant effort in Siam!
Ten years after Mrs. Judson wrote that letter, in 1828, Dr. Oarl Gutzlaff, the famous German missionary, with Rev. Mr. Tomlin, visited Bangkok, treated thousands of patients who applied for medi· cal aid, and distributed boxes of books and tracts in the Ohinese tongue; and they were so impressed with the need of Siam and the open door to the missionary, that they appealed to the churches of America to send forth laborers into this new harvest field. Mr. Tomlin's health compelled him to I'emove to Singapore; and Gutzlaff was left. alone. He was but twenty-five years old when he came to Bangkok, and was there only three years; but those years left a permanent impress on Siamese evangelization. In 1829, Dr. Gutzlaff having prepared in Siamese a tract and one Gospel, went to Singapore to print them. While there he married Maria Newell and brought her back to Siam, the first Ohristian woman that' ever labored there. She died the next year, and, mourning the loss of his devoted and efficient helper, his failing health drove him to Ohina. With what energy and devotion Dr. Gutzlaff had spent those three years may be inferred from his not only learning the language, but, with Tomlin's help, translating into Siamese the New Testament. Thus what Mrs. Judson began, Dr. Gutzlaff carried on.
In June, 1831, Rev. David Abeel, sent by the American Board, arrived in Siam, but after eighteen months was likewise forced by illness to withdraw. In 1834'came Rev. Messrs. Johnson and Robinson, and in 1835, Dr. D. B. Bradley. For thirty-eight years Dr. Bradley was permitted to labor; and when in 1873 he died, he left two daughters, Mrs. MacGilvary and Mrs. Oheek, wives of missionaries, to represent him on the field.
For brevity's sake we curtail this narrative of Siamese missions, that we may give two illustrations of God's wonder working in this land, where the eyes of so few ever turn with intelligent and absorbed interest. We select, first, a marked instance of supernatural Promd~nce; and then some equally unmistakable examples of His illumining and transforming grace.
When in 1847 Rev. Stephen Mattoon and Dr. Samuel R. House arrived at Bangkok, to represent what is, since the withdrawal of the American Board and of the. American Missionary Society, the only mission to the Siamese-that of the Presbyterians-they found scarce a foothold. The king, then on the throne, was actively, though secretly, the foe of missions; and by his subtle influence with the people he so successfully thwarted them that they could scarce get, by rental or purchase, a house in which to live, or even food to eat. That same monarch so became involved in complications with the British Government that the expulsion of the missionaries seemed inevitable in the unsettled state of the country and the excited state of the Siamese mind.
It was now 1851; a generation had passed away since Mrs. Judson made that first appl'oach to Siam, and the entire work of thirty-three years seemed threatened with defeat and disappointment, all through the inveterate hostility and obsti.nacy of the king. He was jealous of the growing influence of the missionaries and the increased "merit making" of the physicians. The native teachers had been thrown into prison, the servants of the missionaries fled, and no way seemed open but a way out of Siam, as soon as a ship should come to bear them away.
Just then-AprilS, 1851,-the kin.i died, in the very crisis of affairs. God was again" known by the judgment which He executeth." As on July 1, 1839, in Turkey, the Sultan of. the Universe, at a similar crisis in missions there, and in a similar way, removed the tyrannical Mahmud who had just ordered the missionaries out of the country; so in 1851 the Sovereign in whose hand our very breath is took away out of the path of missionary advance an otherwise insuperable obstacle, in the person of a malignant monarch.
A successor must be chosen, and the choice of the nobles fell upon the one man, who above all others, as God saw, would remove all restrictions upon the legitimate work of the missionaries. Maha Mongkut, or Prah Chaum Klow was called from monastic seclusion to sit on the throne of the" Sacred Prahbahts." His enlightened policy at once changed the whole aspect and prospect of Siamese missions. Educated, liberal, tolerant; a scholar as to attainments in language and literature, science and general intemgence; in his adoption of foreign ideas and improvements a progressive statesman; in his rule wise, humane; in his bearing toward foreign residents and visitors urbane and courteous; in his intercourse with foreign powers high-toned and conciliatory; and in his aspirations for Siam as a member of the family of nations a high-minded patriot, he had, on all Oriental thrones, no rival. Such was the man whom the Providence of God' lifted to the Siamese monarchy at the most crit.ical hour of modern missions in that land. He reigned for nearly eighteen years, from 1851 to 1868 ; and under his rule missionaries have found not only tolerance but influence, and that too not only among Siamese citlzens but at the Siamese Court. This was all the direct fruit of missions; for that Buddhist priest- . king, while a private citizen, had been the pnpil of a missionary of the American Board, Rev. J. Caswell, who taught him the languages and the sciences which prepared him for taking the reins of empire into competent hands, and whose personal influence disposed him to be liberal in his governmental policy, and friendly to all Christian mission;.. aries. He ascended the golden steps with a heart full of kindly sentiments toward them; they were invited to the royal palace, and were made to enjoy the royal bounty and favor. Their letters at this time recount how their society was courted by princes and nobles; how their exiled teachers and servants returned to their places; how throngs came to them to get books and talk of their contents; and how, free to go and come as they would, they spoke in Jesus' name with confidence, flo man forbidding, and obtained a respectful hearing._ They could no"I;V get suitable sites and erect suitable buildings for homes; and in that same year missionary ladies were admitted to teach in the palace among the women of the royal harem. From that hour to this the missionaries have been sheltered by the favor and protection of the reigning monarchs.
The following document Issued under royal sanction may give some conception of the attitude of Chaum Klow toward the servants of God : We quote in full : " Many years ago the American missionaries came -here. They came before any other Europeans, and they taught the Siamese to speak and read the English language. The American missionaries have always been just and upright men. They have never meddled in -the affairs of the government, nor created any difficulty with the Siamese. they have lived with the Siamese just as if they belonged to the nation. The Government of Siam has great love and respect for them and has no fear whatever concei'ning them. When there has been any difficulty of any kind, the missionaries have many times rendered valuable assistance. For this reason the Siamese have loved and respected them for a long time. The Americans have also taught the Siamese many things."
This change in governmental policy proved permanent. The present king, Ohulalang Korn, is the most progressive ruler in Asia, a " nursing father" to missions. In 1882 this king bought up the whole exhibit of the girls' mission school in the centennial celebration, and gave to the principals in charge a silver medal. He has made a missionary, Dr. MacFarland, head of the Royal College at Bangkok and Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1887 he visited Petchaburi, made careful inquiry as to the mission there, gave a silver medal to Dr. Thompson, the medical missionary, and with his queen sent letters of warm congratulation to our laborers, with substantial gifts from him~ self and his royal wife, amounting to some $2,500 !
We turn now to cite a few marked examples of the grace of God manifested in connection with missions in Siam. The first convert was a (Jhinese teacher, Qua Kien~, who was baptized in 1844, and after fifteen years of faithful service died in 1859.. Three of his children became disciples and one a minister of the gospel. That year of his death, 1859, saw the first Siamese convert, Xai Ohune-a curious" apostolic succession." Thirty years before, Gutzlaff had sown the first seed; twelve years before, Dr. House and Rev. Mr. Mattoon had arrived in Bangkok, the mission center ; and now the harvest had begun. Nai Ohune adorned the gospel. So anxious was he to be unhindered in serving Ohrist and souls that he steadily adhered to medical practice as the means of self-support and refused all offices, however honorable and lucrative.
But though converts have never multiplied in Siam with rapidity, there have been marked examples of the silent, pervasive work of missions and especially of the Word of God. For example Dr. Bradley died in 1873. Four years afterward, in 1877, a venerable patriarch of seventy-three years visited for medical advice the Laos Mission at Ohieng Mai. He sought hf?lp for deafness, and referred to Ohrist's miracles of healing as one who was familiar with the Bible. He was found to be chief officer of the court in the province of Lakawn. How mistaken we are when we judge the gospel's power by noisy demonstrations. Twenty years before, in 1857, while visiting Bangkok, this old man had, from Dr. Bradley, received religious books in Siamese. Though the lan~ua~e is essentially the same, the Laonese characters are so different that, in order to read them, he had to learn Siamese. .Then in his mind and heart God's light began to shine, and he came to Ohieng Mai for further instruction; he found Ohrist, and for His sake braved all peril, and to his efforts we owe the opening of a new mission in his native city, Lakawn.
Similarly, at Petchaburi, Rev. Mr. Dunlap found an old disciple, nigh unto death, who had from that same Dr.. Bradley got portions of the Word of God, and who by secret study found a Saviour in Ohrist and put away his idols. Though taught to pray by the Spirit only, he astonished the missionary by his attainments in prayer, and his progress in piety.
Numbers cannot represent results. During the last reported year, the prime minister, who has in Ratbari one of his residences, after repeatedly expressing his wish for a mission there, now offers a large brick house, free, for mission uses; and will aid in securing other necessary buildings for medical mission, school, etc. And a lady in Philadelphia has offered the $5,000 necessary to support the physician and clergyman who go to occupy this new parish of 50,000 to 75,000 souls.
Siam was not opened by gunpowder or diplomacy, but by missionary influence, and the whole aspect of the nation, and its attitude toward Ohristianity, are gradually undergoing a change ; the preaching, the
MADAGASCAR. 351'
teaching, the press and the medical missions are the four conspicuous agencies which God is now using to bring Siam to Christ. With what results, a single 'example may give a hint of the possibilities of the near future.
When the present king, by a sad accident some years since lost his wife, his brother came to the missionaries for a copy of the New Testa- ment; and gave as a reason for the request, that the king had lolft faith in his own religion; that he could find nothing in Buddhism to console him in his great grief. It might cost the king his crown, or even his life, to renounce the state religion; yet this bereaved mon- arch flies to the Christian's Bible for the solace that his pagan creed cannot supply! Siam may be much nearer to becoming a Christian nation than we think! The additional fact should be put on record that the first zenana teaching ever attempted in the East was by mis- sionary women, in 1851, among the thirty wives and royal sisters of the King of Siam.
MADAGASOAR. "A nation shall be born in a day."
BY L. P. BROCKETT, M.D., BROOKLYN, N. Y. I. ITS GEOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY AND HISTORY TO 1818. MADAGASCAR stands third in size among the islands of the world (Australia being now reckoned as a continent), only Borneo and Papua (New Guinea) exceed it in area. It is 9'15 miles in length, and 250 to 350 miles in breadth. Its area is 230,000 square miles, or 145,838,742 square acres-about five times as large as the State of Pennsylvania. It is in the Indian Ocean, almost wholly in the Southern Tropical Zone, and is separated from the eastern . coast of Africa by the Mozambique Channel, which varies in width from 220 to 540 miles. North and north-northwest of Madagascar are several groups of islands whichare inhabited by mixed races-African, Malagasy, and Arab; eastward, or northeastward, are the two considerable islands of Mauritius, an Eng- lish colony, and Reunion, 01' Bourbon, belonging to the French. There are good harbors on the northwest and northeast, and a few on the east coast, but most of the latter are not protected from the southeast winds. The island'has: 1. Lowlands, extending from 25 to 50 miles back from the coast, generally sandy or marshy, fiat, intensely hot, and generally sickly. 2. A forest belt on the foothills, rising from 400 to 2,000 feet above the low- lands, varying in width from 20 to 40 miles; widest on the western slope, and toward the southern part of the island becoming a barren and sandy desert, with extensive lava beds. This forest is well watered, and contains much valuable timber, many of the trees being peculiar to the island. Por- tions of it, particularly the central and northern portions, form a dense and almost impenetl'able jungle, the Hanas 01' climbing plants being closely in- terwoven with the boughs of the treeii. This forest region, like most of the jungles in tropical countries, is damp and sickly, except to the natives. The temperature is less oppressive than that of the coast, but often reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and seldom falls below 45 degrees. 3. The highland region, the watershed or backbone of the island, which bears the marks of extensive upheaval and volcanic disturbance in former times. There are more than a dozen summits of varying elevation, from 6,000 to 8,200 feet above the sea, several of them having extinct craters and streams of l&va, whose surface is in some places as yet unbroken. The hills, valleys, and ta.blelands of this highland region are healthful, the climate is dehghtful, the range of the thermometer being only from 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The scenery is superb and the lands exceedingly fertile. There are two seasons, the rainy and the dry; in the latter the skies are mostly unclouded, but the mountain streams and lakes supply the necessary moisture, and the crops are abundant. In the more sandy plains irriga~ion, which is easily pl'acticed, gives enormous results.
The watershed is nearer to the east coast than to the west, and while the streams deicending the eastern slope of the mountains are mostly moun- tain torrents, never navigable more than from six to ten miles, those faU- ing into the Mozambique Channel from the western slope are much longer, and some of them, having a ciL'cuitous course,.are navigable from 80 to 100 miles. ..
Madagascar is very rich in mineral wealth. Gold, silver, lead, copper, tin, and iron of the best qualities; antimony, plumbago, and other metals and minerals abound. Coal, bO,th anthracite and bituminous, exists in great quantities, and diamonds have been discovered. As the government claims all minerals and metals, these have not been largely worked. Madagascar has no large or ferocious wild animals; its quadrupeds are nearly all peculiar to the island, and consist of many genera and species of lemurs (which belong to the monkey family), several species of ant and other insect-eaters, a small hippopotamus, civet cats, a number of rodents, and the aye-aye. There are many reptiles, lizards without number, one species of crocodile, iguanas and geckoes, as well as several pythons, mostly of the American or anaconda type. Birds are numerous, and for the most part are of beautiful plumage. Some of the species are fine song birds, but very few birds of prey. Thirty-three genera and more than 50 species are peculiar to the island, and a somewhat larger number are found in Africa or Polynesia also.• Fish are abundant along the coast, and in the rivers there are many peculiar fresh-water species. The domestic animals have been largely introduced. The flora of Madagascar is abundant, and there SJ,re about 700 out of 8,000 genera and species which are peculiar to the island. Many of its flowers are of wonderful beauty. The trees are largely indigenous and peculiar. Much of the timber is very valuable, and some of the products of the forest are of great commercial importance. Among these are five or six trees and vines producing caoutchouc, some of it said to be the finest in the world, the pepper and the tallow trees, the copal tree, the sago palm, the aloe, many species of figs, the pomegranate, the tamarind, quassia, sugar cane, and other shrubs; the manioc, several species of arrowroot, and many other edible roots and tubers abound, while of the cereals their rice is unsurpassed, and wheat, millet, Indian corn, and barley are largely pro- duced. Ethnology and tribal divisions. The aboriginal race, now nearly or quite extinct, came here from the African coast. They were called Vaquimba, and were probably Zulus or Kaffirs. The existing inhabitants are of two affiliated races, both from Polynesia' or Eastern Malaysia. The first migration of these, comprising most of the coast and' some of the intel'ior tribes, must have come to the island about the beginning of the Christian era. They drove the Vaquimba into the interior, but there were extensive intermarriages between them, and also with the slaves who were brought in great numbers from the East African coast. These tribes, of which the Sakalava and Bara are the principal, are dark. skinned, with curly and frizzled, but not woolly, hair; tall and vigorous, with fine forms. They are a sly, perfidious, brutal, and arrogant people, universally addicted to theft, and given to drinking, fighting, and plundering. About A.D. 1000 there came another tribe, or perhaps two, from Eastern Polynesia, who, landing on the island, soon pushed their way into the interior or mountain region, and exterminating the 17aquimba, who had fled thither from the west coast, occupied their lands, and increased very rapidly. These were the Hovas and the Betsileos. The Hovas are of much lighter color than the coast tribes, with straight black hair, fine and soft, and sometimes inclined to curl. TheIr complexion and features are much like the Malays, and are not much darker than those of the Spaniards and Italians. They are rather below the middle stature, butof erect figure, and with delicate and finely-formed limbs, and they are agile and graceful in their movements.
The Betsileos are larger, the men averaging six feet, the women from five feet seven to five feet mne inches. Their complexion is darker than that of the Hovas, and their hair more crisp and curly. As to moral character and intelligence, they are somewhat below the Hovas. The B~tanimena and Betsimisaraka resemble the Hovas much more than any of the other tribes.
There are, according to the latest authorities, 22 provinces or tribal diVISions of the territory, some of them sub-divided into districts, making a total of (so-called) provinces and sub-provinces of 28. These are occupied by fourteen tribes, some of them divided in clans, and these clans seventy years ago, and even fifty years ag'o, were often fighting each other. Wars of conquest, to obtain either territory or slaves, were constant between the tribes prior to 1820, and have not been infrequent since that time.
The great province of Imerina, occupying the central and highland portion of the island, is the largest of all the provinces; and has been occupied for several centuries by the Hovas, who are now the most numerous and intelligent of the Malagasy tribes. Sixty or seventy years ago they num_ bered but 750,000 or 800,000 souls while the Betsileo, an adjacent highland tribe, numbered 1,500,000, but owing to changes produced by wars, civilization, etc., the Hovas have now about 1,300,000; and the Betsileos only from 650,000 to 750;000. In the earlier history of Madagascar, the Hovas seem to have been unknown to those who visited the coast; the Sakalava, the largest of the coast tribes, having a population estimated at 1,200,000, the Betsileos, from 1,200,000 to 1,500,000, the Betanimena and Betsimisaraka about as many, and the Bara, a particularly savage and ferocious tribe, about 600,000. There were some smaller tribes, numbering in all, perhaps, 300,000 more. It is probable that at that period the Hovas were included among the Betanimena and Betsimisaraka, to whom they are apparently affiliate.d by race characteri,stics. The condition of all these Malagasy tribes in the first decade of the presen t century was deplorable, much lower than that of our most degraded Indian tribes, whom, nevertheless, in their habits, customs and worship, they resembled. They had no written language, and, except in the case of the Hovas, no regular form of government; their wars were constant, and ended either in butchery or enslavement of the defeated party. They were lustful, brutal and cruel; some of the tribes were reputed to be cannibals; all were treacherous, thievish and revengeful. Polygamy was general, and they had acquired ·from the foreigners who had visited them the most loathsome vices of civilization. Some of the tribes had a vague idea of a Supreme Being, but they addressed to Him no worship or adoration. The worship of ancestors, though common, was not universal; but they had rude idols and fetiches as foolish and absurd as those of the African races; sticks, stones, roots, and forms of animals. There was not a temple or idol house in all Madagascar, but there were idol-keepers, akin to the African medicine men.
They had an ordeal for detecting crime, called tangena-the decoction of a poisonous bean, indigenous to the island, which the accnsed was compelled to drink. Such were the people to whom the gospel was to come, to heal, to purify, to elevate, to educate, and to redeem.
History before 1820. Though discovered in medireval times, Madagascar was not explored, or any colony landed upon its shores, till 1506, when the Portuguese began a series of efforts to enslave and Christianize its tribes.
The Portuguese Jesuit priests landed on the northeast and northwest coasts, bearing the crucifix, and attempting to convert them, while right behind them came the Portuguese slave trader, with his comes and fetters, ready to hurry all the unarmed natives he could find on board hls ships, and sell them to the Arabs, or take them to the European markets, where they brought a good price. The Sakalava, who were the tribes most usually encountered, did not admire thls method of conversion, and after a month or two they fell upon the colonists and massacred them all. This was repeated so many times, that the Portuguese finally abandoned all further efforts to plant colonies there. In 1642 the French undertook, under a grant from the French king, to colonize Madagascar very much after the Portuguese fashion.
At first they were more successful, but presently they, too, attempted to enslave the natives, and after forty years of successive efforts to establish themselves at various points on the coast, which in every case terminated in massacre and expulsion, they surrendered their charter to the King of France from whom they had received it, and abandoned the island. For nearly fifty years (1686-1733), the French did not annoy the natives, though occasionally English and Dutch slavers picked up along the coast cargoes of slaves. In 1733, the French renewed their efforts to take possession of the island, planting their trading forts at various points on the main island, and on one or two of the small islands adjacent, and wlth much the same results as before, the deadly fevers of the coast aiding in the destruction of the colonies. From 1786 to 1807, the French had no settlement on the island, but about that time they established a small colony and trading fort at Nosy-be, an island near the northwest corner of Madagascar. In 1811 the English Government having captured Mauritius, the Isle of France, as the French had called it, claimed also its dependencies, of which Madagascar was the chief, and in February of that year took possession of Tamatave and Foule Point, two small trading forts, these being all which the French then claimed on the island of Madagascar. This capture was ratified by the two treaties with France in 1814 and 1815. • Up to this time neither the French nor any other European nation seem to have had any knowledge of the Hovas or their chief or king; but Captain Le Sage, the British agent or commissioner, who was charged with the establish- ment of English authority and trade in Madagascar, had discovered that they were a very powerful tribe, and that their King, Radama I., was the thirty- second in the line of the Kings of the Hovas; and he assembled at Port Louis in 1817 four of Radama's representatives (two of them his brothers), one of the nobles of the BetanimEma, the chief of Tamatave, two chiefs of the Betsimisaraka, and two southern chiefs; he formed with them treaties, offensive and defensive, taking the oath of blood" with them, and succeeded in abolishing the export slave trade. By a subsequent treaty, made with Mr. '
Hastie, the commissioner who had succeeded Captain Le Sage, the British Government agreed to pay Radama I., as a compensation for his loss of: revenue from the slave trade, $2,000 in gold and silver, muskets. accouter- ments, flints, uniforms, powder, etc., ;nnually, and to furnish an in- structor in military tactics. .
Radama I. had ascended the throne as King of Imerina in 1810, and had under his sway about 1,206,000 people, mostly Hovas. His father, Impoina.
had commenced a career of conquest over the other tribes on the island.
and Radama, who was ambitious and able, was desirous of completing it.
This alliance with Great Britain gave him 'the means of doing so. Mr.
Hastie, the British Commissioner, proved a wise counselor, and under his suggestions Radama became anxious to have his people educated, and to have -schools established. From these small beginnings there followed the great work of civilization and evangelization.
II. EMERGING FROM HEATHENISM.
That God does have special purposes of mercy, in regard to nations sunk in the darkness of heathpnism, seems to be proved in many cases. How deep was the degradation of,many of the tribes which inhabited Great Britain in the first century of our era. Blood-thirsty, addicted to human sacrifices, worshipers of idols, and utterly given over to cruelty, what but His special Providence could have brought England and America up to its present Christian civilization and culture?
Madagascar is another and even a more striking example of-His Providen· tial dealing. Here these tribes had lived, for a thousand years and more, barbarom., probably cannibals, with but few religious ideas. constantly engaged in wars, either with each other or with other islands and the main- land, reducing the conquered to slavery, massacring those foreigners who attempted to colollize their lands, and resisting, with an instinctive horror, the attempts of French-Jesuits to brmg them into subjection, and to fasten their faith upon them; their case seemed utterly hopeless, but .. There is a wideness in God's mercy Like the wideness of the sea,"
and in the space of seventy yeaL's these wild savages have become a Christian nation, ChrIstian not only in its Christian temples and worship, in its family altars, and its new-found zeal, but in the holy living, the gentle yet firm adherence to the gospel of Christ, the readiness to endure martyrdom for-His sake, and that sublime forgiveness of injuries and wrongs, and readi- ness to bestow kindness on their enemies, which they could only have learned from the Sermon on the Mount.
When Radama I. ascended the throne in 1810, no tribe of the Malagasy, not even the Hovas, who were in many respects the most advanced of all the tribes, had a written language; all were warhke, cruel and blood-thirsty, false, deceitful and dishonest, lustful and treacherous, suspicious and revengeful. They had no clear ideas of a Supreme Being. and no notion of a future state. There had never been Moliammedanism or any other system of false religion on the island, but simply fetichism and the worship of ancestors. Their king, at first King of the Hovas only, and not even of all of them, had, by his ambition and enterprise, and by his courage and audacity, so far subdued the numerous tribes on the island, that he was justified in assuming the title of King of Madagascar, and his right to that title was recognized by Great Britain, and later by France. He was a man of considerable ability, ahd sufficient foresight to know that It was best to form an alliance with some European power, and thus obtain for his people a written language, and, what he valued still more, arms and instruction for his army in military matters, that he might be more successful in/his schemes of conquest.
Through the influence of the British Resident, Mr. Hastie, he was induced to permit the London Missionary Society to establish schools and churches there; to reduce the language to writing, and to translate the Scriptures and other books into the Malagasy tongue; and to prohibit the foreign slave trade. He kept his promises to the English Government; but for himself, he was an uncultured barbarian and savage; his wars were marked by constant rapine and license; his government was stern and often cruel, and his priv- a.te life stained by lust and polygamy. The idol worship, a sort of fetichism, was maintained throughout his reign, the idol-keepers received their offerings, and the worship of ancestors was as active as ever. Yet it may be said to his credit, that he did not suffer the missionaries to be molested in their work during his life. .
These'missionaries of the London Missionary Society left England early in 1818, and commenced their work in Madagascar at once. There was much preliminary work to be done; the language was to be reduced to writmg, and thoroughly mastered, school-houses and churches built, the desire for education awakened, and even the first elements of the knowledge of God, as a supreme Governor and Ruler of the universe, introduced into these darkened minds; then they were to be taught the guilt and destructiveness of sin, and the need of a Redeemer, and made to comprehend that Jesus had come to be their Saviour. The work was great, and the oppositIon of the idol-keepers was intense and malignant, but in a wonderfully short time they began to see the fruits of their labors. The· Spirit of God illumined these dark heart;, and they crowded to the mission-houses to hear the Word of God, and soon a Pentecostal season was presented to the eyes of the as- tonished missio)1aries. In 1828, ten years after they left England, the ScrIp- tures of the New Testament were translated into this soft and beautiful tongue, hymns of faith and hope, such as had cheered the saints of God in other lands, were translated, set to music and sung; 100 schools had been established and 10,000 children were under il1struction; 15,000 of the people were hopefully converted and between 7,000 and 8,000 had professed their faith in the chu,rches ; already some of the most promising converts had be- gun to preach the gospel they had so lately received, and as the Malagasy are" a natIOn of orators," their preaching was attended with great and pre- ciO).lS results. The churches, "walkmg in the fear of the Lord and the com- fort of the Holy Ghost, were greatly enlarged and multiplied." But the time was soon coming, when thegenuinenes8 of this work was to be tested by the fires of persecution. .
On the 27th of July, 1828, Radama 1. died at the age of thirty-six. His suc- cessor should have been, according to Oriental custom, his nephew, the son of his sister, a very worthy young man, but Radama's second wife (he had twelve), a bigoted idol worshiper, and a woman who rivaled in hel'
crimes Catharine II. of Russia, though she' did not possess her intellectual or political ability, aided by some of the idol-keepers, intrigued for, and ob- tained the throne. No sooner was she fairly established, than she put to death every near relative of the late king, and every prominent noble who had favored Rakoto, the legitimate heir to the throne. She was crowned in 1829 as Ranavalona 1. She soon issued a decree forbidding any foreigne~s, especially Europeans, from coming into her dominions; and soon after an other, prohibiting the missionaries from teaching religion to the Malagasy, or 357 holding any meetings or societies which should be attended by them; they might teach sciences, or the mechanic arts, but not religion, and all churches must be closed. Most of the missionaries left the island in 1833. In 1834 another decree was promulgated forbidding any meeting public or private of the people to talk of reLigion, under penalty of arrest, and if found guilty, of punishment by death. Under this decree many Christians were banished and a few put to death.
In 1835 a fanatic, who had mingled some Christian doctrine with his prayers to his idols, and had approached the queen's palace to address her in regard to his creed, was seized and put to death, 'and the rage of the quep.n being roused by this incident, she issued a decree that all persons suspected of being Christians should be arrested and examined, and if they did not disavow their belief in Christ and offer worship to ta~ idols, they should be put to death. Nobly did the Christians stand this test. Some fied, but very few would deny Christ. Some ~vere beheaded, others beaten to death, others still, and a large number, were hurled from the lofty rock on which the City of Antananarivo, the capitol, is built, and fell mangled corpses at its base.
The present Prime Minister of Madagascar relates an incident in connection with this slaughter, of which his father, one of the judges, was a witness: A mother and daughter were brought for examination; the mother confessed her faith in Christ, refused to worship the idols, and was summarily thrown over the rock; then the daughter, a beautiful girl of fifteen, came forward and said: "I, too, am a Christian; throw me over." The judge said. "She is only a child, and does not know what she is saying; take her away." But the young girl was firm. "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," she said, "and I will not worship idols. Throw me over I" Once more the judge tried to save her. "My child," he said, "life is sweet to you. Only bow your head ever so slightly toward the idol, and you shan be free. I will take you to my own home." "No!" said the young maiden, "I will bow to no God but Jesus Christ. He is my Saviour. Throw me over." And throw her over, they did. More than two 'thousand were put to death at this time (1849) by this cruel queen, because they would not deny Christ, and several thousand more in the course of her reign; others were subjected to torture, and many more to the ordeal by drinking' the tangena, a poison prepared to try the guilt or innocence of suspected persons. But it was not alone against the Christiab subjects of this bloody queen that her malignant and murderous temper was manifested. On various pretenses, the most common one being that they were conspiring against her, she put to death most of the principal men in her realm; and when her son, whom she claimed as the son of Radarna, though born about a year after his death, had arrived at,his eighteenth or nineteenth year, and had shown a disposition to be more merciful than his mother, and to pity the Christians whom she persisted in slaughtering, she tried toput him to death for conspiring against her. She was, during most of her reign, constantly engaged in wars with the other tribes on the island; andas her armies were badly handled, and her treacherous management was notorious, she almost depopulated whole provinces of Imerina and the adjacent country: It was estimated that more than a million men, women, and children perished in.her wars. The French made repeated attempts to establish settlements on the coast, but were repulsed either by her ambushes or by the deadly fevers 'of the coast. At length her own people grew tired of her op_ pression, and would have dethroned her had not SICkness attacked her hitherto robust frame, and weakened her imperious WIll. She lingered for some
TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY MAGAZINES
months, and finally died on the 16th of August, 1861, one of her last acts, July 3, 1861, being the ordering of a new and more terrible persecution against the Christians, of whom she had obtained a list. Many perished under this edict, but the new king, her son, proclaimed universal amnesty and the restoration oC property to all Christians. Thus died, after thirty-three years' reign, Ranavalona I., "unwept, unhonored and unsung." Her whole administration was unmarked by a single good or noble act.
(Concluded in our next number.) TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY MAGAZINES.
BY REV. CHAS. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.
THE Allgemeine Missions.Zeitschrijt sums up the work in East Africa thus: .. There are to-day. within the Lake Region of East Africa. extending to the coast. from Kilimanjo,ro in the nort! .to the highlands of the Shire in the south (not reckoning some little out stations) 44 Protestaut missionaries. inclUSIve of the unordained. such as physicians, a.rtisans, agriculturists, teachers, ma.le a.nd female . .A. small number,.itis true, compared with the extent of the region. which is from five to six times as large as the whole German Empire. But if we bear in mind that some 15 years back two little missionary attempts were all that was fonnd here: the little Kisulutini and the then rather inert Universities Mission on Z..nzibar Island. it is. after all. not so trifling an advance which Protestant missions have made here in a decade and a half. We must consider also the sacrifices which these achievements have cost: not in money merely. or mainly. but the sacrifice of human lives and human health. At least fifty men and several women bave given up tbeir lives for East Africa, some of them noble, highly-gifted men. In view of these facts, we are compelled into reverence for the Christian heroism which. thank God. still lives in evangelical missionary circles. There have not yet been great visible results. The time has been too short for this, especially as the unhealthiness of the climate has necessitated a frequeut change of laborers, and the languages are yet but little known. while EastAfrica has been involved in difficulties peculiar to herself. The baptisms which bave taken place (perhaps about 1800 m all) are all in the English missions. which (with the exception of the L. ni. S. on Lake Tanganyika) are tbe earliest. The German missions are not yet beyond incipiency.' , The Zeitschrijt, in a very favorable notice of the Atlas published by the Church Missionary Society, takes occasion tQ correct a few inaccuracies. Thus: it states that the Unitas Fratrum commenced its work in South Africa as late as 1792. Its continuous work dates from then, but its first missionary, George Schmidt, landed in 1737. The Basel Society is credited, on the Gold Coast, with 4,000 "adherents," while in fact it has more than 7,000 baptized members. Most of the European societies, I may remark, baptize those who. after competent instruction, are ready to break definitively with heathenism. Only a minority of these are commonly admitted to the communion. These societies, therefore, need three headings: Adherents, Baptized Members, Communicants. The Atlas, moreover, gives the whole number of Protestant Christians in Africa as about 800,000, whereas, the Zeitschrijt remarks, it should be put (inclusive of Madagascar) at fully twice that amount.
Dr. Warneck, in the preface to his work on "Missions in the Light of the Bible," remarks: "It is. to me, a peculiar happiness. that. by God's grace. peculiar acceptance is falling to the sbare, above all. of these Biblical views of missions. Unless I err. what the missionary work now needs. as first and foremost. is to be deepened. And to he deepened. it is above all needful that It should be plunged and bathedm God's word. Aud, moreover. for the first awakening of agenullle missionary life, I am. as I grow older, more and more convinced that it is the Bible which must do tbe chief work."
The Zeitschrijt in its keenly critical, and therefore more valuable,remarks on the late Missionary Conference says: .
.. In tbe various gatherings at thIS conference. both at the begiDning and throughout Its course, we were struck with the fact that prayer occupied a place of greater prominenc~ and dignity than is commonly the case with us in similar conferences, where prayer is too often treated as an official necessity which cannot be evaded, while in London it was easy to mark the spirit of earnestness and genuine fervor."
The following is a passage from a sermon 01 General Superintendent Lohr, of Kassel, Germany, reported in the Zeitsch1"ift. A superintendent in Germany is a clergyman of virtually Episcopal functions: ••• Behold, I have set before thee an open door.' These are the words in which the Lord is now addressing every missionary society. But whether there ~s energy in store, to avail themselves of this access which He has secured for them, whether missionaries will be found who will go in through the opened gates, that, beloved, depends on the inward state of the· church which supports the missions, on her self-devotion, and power in prayer. 'Where a great door is opened there, too, are always many adversaries. Paul experienced this in Ephesus, and no less does the church in her missionary work of to·day. Whether the skeptical doubts which are expressed concerning this work are recognized and rejected as futile, depends on whether there are men in every place that lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting, who know how to pray in the name of Jesus, and who, out of the riches of Hia promise, know how to draw upon heavenly assistance for th'work enjoined. As we shall do little for missions until we are thoroughly in earnest with our giving, so, still earlier, must we come to be thoroughly in earnest with our praying.
.. We must learn to pray in the name of Jesus for missions, and for this it is not enough that we do something, and give something, for them. We must enter into true and complete communion of life with Him-absolutely give up individual interest, and place ourselves wholly at His disposal. The promise that our prayer shall be heard is conjoined by the Lord Jesus with the parable of the vine and the branches. • If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what yewill, and it shall be done unto you.' It is such people that the Holy Ghost in our time is seeking-such that He is seeking to bring together out of all church communions; people who are thoroughly in earnest in their devotion to the work of the Lord, and to the Lord of the work. Where there are Christians, who present their souls for the name of the Lord Jesus, resolved for His name to do everything, for His name to suffer everything, these the Holy Spirit also introduces into the use of the name of Jesus, and brings them, through experiences of the hearing of prayer, into the attainment of a. consummate joy. There was great joy among the disciples when they saw their Jesus, risen from the dead, again in bodily presence in their midst. But yet greater joy was theirs when they discovered that to the requests which they made known before God in the name of Jesus for the success of His cause, an answer descended frolIl heaven. Whoever has experienced answers to prayer will acknowledge with me that they are the very jewels in our ..emembrances of the past. Peter names as the end of faith a joy un- speakable and full of glory. And answers to prayer bring into the heart the foretaste of such a joy. These anslVers to prayer blot out our doubts, confirm our adoption, whose privi- lege and prerogative the Father makes good to us thereby. They draw aside the curtain that hangs between our Father's house and the frail tabernacles of our pilgrimage, and give us to look into the royal law of liberty, according to whose pattern God is redeeming this world of death out of the curse resting on it, and transforming it into the glory for which it was destined and created."
The Zeitschrift has some keen remarks upon Canon Taylor's ostentatious patronage of Islam: .. I am not acquamted with the antecedents of this gentleman." [The writer is not-aware, evidently, of the philological eminence of Canon Taylor, and of his familiarity with the East. This, however, does not imply any profound knowledge of the religious worth of Mohammedanism. And whether it concerned Islam or heathenism, it IS with good reason that the German writer goes on to say:] .. O/missionary matters he knew nothing. Yet, on the strength of his general culture, he imagined himself competent, after a preparation of a few weeks, or perhaps a few months, to present a paper respecting one of the most difficult questions m the field of missions. If he had merely assumed to instruct the Church (;ongrp.ss this might have passed, as most of them probably know at least as little about the matter as himself. But he has also undertaken to instruct and to rebuke those who ha.ve at least labored in the cause as many years as he has probably spent days upon the study of It. A few facts and figures hastily thrown together" [like those by which he has converted Sir William Hunter's fifty millions of Hindu races waiting for conversion to Christianity mto half a million] .. had given him the courage to assume the air of an expert."
The Berliner Missions-Berichte, at the end of the year 1888, report the finances of the Berlin Society as in a favorable state, partly in consequence of larger amounts paid in to cover the deficit, partly as the result of a great bazaar held in Berlin in March, and realizing $6,000, partly through larger receipts of the Collecting Society (Sammelverein). In these ways the deficit of April 1, 1888, namely, $30,721.76, has been reduced to $12,062.65.
The editor of the Allgemeine-]rissionszeitschrijt thinks that in the present fervor of zeal against the East African slave-trade there is likely to be a good deal of hot-headed crusading, which, like the earlier crusades, will cost a great deal and accomplish little. He is very jealous, it appears to me too jealous, of the credit which Cardinal Lavigede is acquiring. But his opinion is always well worth attention. He says: .. There are times when great and noble aims encounter stroug opposition, and only slowly and with difficulty" in the adhesion of wider circles. And there are times when there is a universal enthusiasm for them, and indeed i~ almost becomes the mode. At ~uch times there goes, as it were, a general fever of hallucination (0. mad intoxication) through the world, and people arc very sensitive over anything like a sober criticism. But these intoxicated enthusiasms are commonly a fire of straw. Some years ago it was the Coloninl fever, now it is the anti-slavery fever. In the time of the colonial fever a man ran gr oat danger of being accuserlof a want of patriotism, if he so much as endeavored to instrt a few drops of modest consideration into the boundless enthusiasm which promised itself nothing but mountains of gold. To-day he might well fear that he would be acco)lnted a defender of slavery If I,e should preach patience in regard to the removal of this great evil. and should warn against the large employment of force."
Canon Taylor, in his recent contemptuous disparagements of the present missionary activity of the Protestant churches, m~,kes great use of compu- tation, and reckons how many thousand, or scores of thousands of years, at the present rate of conversion, it would require to overtake the mcrease of the world's population in a single year. Dr. Warneck makes the following application of his principle: In the apostolic age the population of the Ro- man Empire reached about 120,000,000. Reckoning the births each year as twelve per thousand, we have an annual increase of 1,440,000. According to tolerably trustworthy estimates there were at the end of the first century- that is, about 70 yeQrs after ChrIst's public appearance, about 200,000 Chris- tians. Therefore, assuming that the population had remained stationary, it; should have reqliired 500 years to overtake the increase of a single year, and 42,000 years to convert the population. Assuming, however, that the terri- ble pestilences and other calamities of the first six centuries after Christ had l'educed it one-half, it would titill have requir~d 21,000 years to Christianize it. Yet before A. D. 600 heathenism had entirely disappeared from the em- pire. The ::tpo::;tles did not have a Canon Taylor as the keeper of their con- sciences, but the Holy Spirit of power and love, and of a sound mind, and, therefore, went on to convert the kingdoms, leaving statistics to take care of themselves. '7e wonder whether Canon Taylor has. ever heard of a law of increase called geometrical progression r "The apostles, Herr Canon," says Dr. Warneck, "wcre probably not, like yourself, great arithmeticians, but they were heroef; of faith. They believed, with full and firm conviction, what is written in the bst of Matthew concerning the omnipotent omni- presence of thoir Saviolll' with them. Therefore, they said: 'To a minority with Jesus belongs victory and the future. .' And we now see that the event has justified their faith."
The editor L f the Zeitschrift subjects Canon Taylor's assumption, that the present l·n.te of increase is the perpetual rate of increase, to the scrutiny of facts. Thus, in China, there were of native Protestant Christians (assuming communicants to be one-third of the whole) :
STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS
1857. 1867. 1877. 1887, abo 2,000 14,800 39,000 95,000 Moreover, in the first fifteen years the annual rate of increase was about 133, in the first decade following 1,280; the sec.ond 2,420, the third 5,600.
Accepting Canon Taylor's scornful comparison of the tortoise and the train, and assuming that this progression of the rate of increase continues in China for 100 years, the tortoise will by that time have far outstripped the train.
In Japan, assuming the same proportion of native Christians to commu- nicants in the Protestant churches, we have: 1876. 1882. 1886. 1887. abo 3,000 14,500 43,000 68,000 In five years the number had much more than tripled.
In Airica things are but in their beginning, and we can give but vague guesses. But that the same law obtains there as in China. and Japan ap- pears from two proofs derived from opposite sides of Africa. In Guinea the Basel Missionary Society, whose labors there have been sadly checked by the climate, but which has had a mission there since 1827, shows the following results. Native Christians: 1857. 1867. 1877. 1887. 367 1,509 3,607 7,495 That is, the rate of increase, instead of remaining stationary to please Canon Taylor, persisted in advancing with the age of the mission. In thirty years the number of converts had increased twenty-fold.
"In Madagascar the Protestant missionaries began their work in 1818.
After ten years there were only 50 Malagese catechumens. Then followed a generati9n of persecution, compelling the missIonaries to leave the island.
Yet, at the end of 1868, there were 37,112 Christians, and this number, in consequence of the conversion of the Queen, had, in 1878, grown to about 250,000. The increase here, therefore, was by leaps and bounds. making the talk about tortoise and train idiotic. Now, however, a check ensued because the evangelical societies would not content themselves with a mere external reception of Christianity. Accordingly.now came a time of training and sifting. In the last ten years, therefore, the increase relatively has not been important, perhaps 50,000 for all the Protestant societies, besides the 73,000, more or less, claimed by the Roman Catholics. I adduce precisely this ex- ample ( , Madagascar to illustrate the absurdity of these Taylorian 'com- putations.' When God'~ hour has struck, 'a natiol1 may be born in a day;'
and on the other hand, when such <1 draught has been taken that the nets begin to break, a long time together may be almost wholly occupied with sorting the fishes. Indeed, for a while the ~riters may be all fished out."
To return to India, which has to bear the brunt of Canon Taylor's con- temptuous incredulity as to the prosPElcts of missions, we find, of native Protestant Christians, including Ceylon: 1861. 1871. • 1881. 213,370 318,363 52~,590 The number thus has donbled in about fifteen years.
STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. REPORTS from 262 colleges show that 47 presidents and 31 corresponding secretaries of College Y. M. C. A.s are volunteers. The list of volunteers represents 240 colleges. Mr. R. P. Wilder reports that God is blessing his efforts greatly, and asks' the prayers of volunteers. The students in Lane Seminary propose to unite with a neighboring church in supporting a missionary. Fifty men in Lebanon, Tenn., have pledged $350 for the support of an alumnus in the foreign field. Twelve students and one professor in the R. P. Seminary, West Virgima, have pledged a like amount, and hope to get $100 more. Mr. Wilder's visits have not only awakened a deeper interest in this financial' problem, and urged the personal claim of foreign missions, but, besides, souls are being brought to Christ.
The students of the United Presbyterian Seminary at Allegheny, and those of Grove City, Westminster, and some other institutions, have combined to send out the Rev. J. H. Martin to India. The students in the seminarvat Xenia, and some others, and churches like the Third Church, Pittsbu;gh, and the Second, Fourth, and perhaps First, Allegheny, are each taking up a particular missionary. either in the field or about to go, and providing for his support. Care must be taken to see that in no case shall the raising of funds for such purpose interfere with the carrying on of the regular expenses of the missions. Thus far, in every case. such assurance has been given.
One who has lately decided to become a missionary writes: "I feel a new interest and increased zest in life. I have now a motive power which bids me waste my time no longer. I wish to go out to Japan, if I have to pay my own expenses out, and spend my life in telling of Christ and Him crucified."
Reports from the foreign mission boards, though not complete, show 103 volunteel's sent, and 16 others appointed. Nineteen have gone to Japan, 18 to China, and 16 to India; in smaller numbers, to Turkey, Syl'ia, Siam and Laos, Persia, Mexico, Korea, Burmah, Bulgaria, and Africa. Forty-nine colleges are represented, ana 12 mission boards. The Y. M. C. A. Foreign Education Committee has sent out 9. Of the 103 all'eady sailed, 66 are men and 37 women.
An English gentleman looks upon this army of volunteers as applying for positions of $1,000 a year, and does not find the fact very stimulating. He says: "I entirely concur in all the reasons you give for 'going,' only shonld not the 'word 'volnnteering' be snbstituted for' going,' tbis' going' being in so many cases still such a very remote con· tingency 1 By all means emphasize that word' going,' and ask the Lord to show you how far yoor 'going' is conditional or otherwise. • Pot your own precepts into practice l' I re-echo your 'cry, •Oh, for 500 Elijahs, each one on his Moont Carmel, crying UNTO GoD (not unto the churches). Then we should soon have the clouds bnrsting with blessing.
.. Referring again to yonr appeal as it stands, if the chnrches refuse to give you reasonable aid, it may be that the churches will be disgraced; bnt, to quote your own words, • does go mean stay' until the churches will guarantee you the comforts and luxuries they provide for others 1 As you very jnstly point out, the heathen are dying at the rate of 100,000 a day, not only while the churches hesitate abont snbscribing so large a sum for salaries, but while you are waiting for them to do 80/ Depend upon It, dear friends, that if you wonld only devote your energies as did the Cambridge Band, to enforcing on all, commencing at yourselves, the necessity of sanctification in its widest sense ;-if you would emphasize by personal example and experience and testimony the blessedness of absolute consecration to God of time and talents, of personal tast~s and inclinations, yon would find that there would be no occasion to appeal for funds.
U In conclusiob, recognizing the missionary field as probably the most honorable post in the Lord's service, it is sad to see aspirants for that noble calling throwing themselves on the churches, and on societies, Instead of throwing themselves on God. • • • ' Commit thy way untv the Lord, trust also in Him, and he will bring it to pass.' It Whatever in the above communication is worthy of consideration, no account is taken of the fact that much of the delay on the part of volunteers is due to unfinished courses of preparation, while the 103 who have already sailed is a substantial earnest of what is to be in the course of the next five or ten years. In the second place, the widespread enthusiasm displayed during the last year among students in raising funds for the support of their own representatives is practical evidence that volunteers are not waiting
1889.J BOOK
for $1,000 positions, but are both ready to go themselv~s, and also to send their brothel's as soon as prepared.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETI~G.
The first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreig:o. Missions was held in New York Feb.H. -The object of the meeting was to perfect the organization and define the work ofthe several committeesand ag-ents of the Movement• .. The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions" was adopted as the name of the organization. The Executive Committee is to have the general oversight of the work, di- recting the visitations of Mr. Wilder, securing correspondil.g members in various States, bringing volunteers before the Boards, and having charge of the finances. In addition there is to be an Advisory Committee, composed of representative men in various parts of the country and from prominent missionary organizations, who shall advise with the Executive Committee on all measures of importance and connect the Movement with the churches. Also corresponding members are to be appointed in each state and district alli- ance. These members will have a local supervision of the work, acting in line with exist- ing organizations. They are to plan the visitation of vo]unteers to the churches and in- stitutions of their state or district, and collect funds for incidental expenses. The general finances will be in charge of the Executive Committee, Wm. H. Hannum. 50 East 70th street, N. Y. City, beiDI: Treasurer. The following is an estimate of annual expenses: Office $~ Special Circulars Traveling Secretary 200 Editorial 800 25 –$1,475 This amount is to be raised by voluntary subscriptions from individuals, churches. and associations. Already over $500 has come in unsolicited. Contributions for the support of the Movement will be welcome.
NOTES ON NEW BOOKS OF A MISSIONARY CHARACTER.
The Bible in the Pacific. By Rev. A. W. Murray, London: James Nisbet & Co. Price, $1.50. Mr. Murray is the author of" Missions in Western Polynesia," .. The Martyrs of Polynesia," and other missionary books. The specific object of the present work is to give a succinct history of missionary work in the isilinds of the Pacific-Polynesia, The New Hebrides, The Loyalty Islands, The Sandwich, Micronesia and the Marquesas,especially the work of Bible translation and distributioa. This account extends from the origin of mission work on Tahiti in 1797 to the close of the year 1887. It embraces also historical notices of the different missions on all these islands, sothat the reader can get a bird'seye view of what has been done. and the present condition of missions in that interesting portion of the world. It records a vast amount of labor by men and women whose lives were consecrated to the noblest work in which man can engage. Many of these honored workers have ceasedfrom their labors and gone to their reward, but their work lives in its blessed results. Itjs a great joy to every lover of the Bible to think of the immense amounto! work accomplished, l,Llld the progress in the vast fields now embraced by the combined efforts of the British and Foreign, and other Bible Societies, and the multitude of missionary societies which, in conjunction with these, are working together for the good of man and the glory of God.-J. M. S.
The Sailor's Magazine, vol. Ix., for 1888. American Seamen's Friend Society. It is well to put in permanent form. for ready reference, the monthly issues of our benevolent and missionary societies. The record of this soCiety is an honorable one. It has done, and is doing a most important work, not only at home among the large number of seamen in port, but to those on shipboard, by means of libraries and other agencies, and at all the chief ports of the commercial world by means of chaplains, seamen's chapels. "" Sailors' Rests,"" and the like. We do not half appreciate the necessity of converting the sailor. Wherever he goes he is a missionary of good or a missionary of evil. It Is a matter for thankfulness that a wider and deeper interest is springing up in all Christian lands in behalf of this interesting class, resulting in constantly enlarging agencies and efforts for their social and religious improvement. God bless and prosper more and more this great society I-J. M. S', Life and Letters of Wm. Fleming Stevenson, D.D. By his wife.-London, Edinburgh, and New York: N..lson&Sons. We have been looking eagerly for this exquisite pen portrait of one of tile saintliest souls that ever wrought or pleaded for missions. His precious wife is an artist, and her brush is dippea in rare colors, such as only love could mix and mingle. If any man or woman can read that volume without falling in love with the man it portrays, and the woman who with such consummate artlessness,yet witb such artistic pencil, has perfected the sketch, there must be something defective in the responsive power of the heart
8M BOOK NOTICES
of the reader. Dr. Stevenson was another Pastor Harms, iiI Rathgar, Dublin. Withastrauge enthusiasm that tl."ansfigured him, he spoke, and wrote, and wrought to spread abroad the knowledge of missions, and to iucite intelligent zeal in their behalf. No man in our gen· eration, in any pastorate, has done such service to the cause of a world's evangelization. He handled in correspondence 10,000 letters a year; he went on a tour of missions; he was the faithful, sympathetic pastor of a large city chnrch; he electrified congregations andgreat ecclesiastical assemblies with his angelic eloquence. Where shall we fiud his like or look for his successor ?-A. T. P.
Stephen Hislop, Missionary and Naturalist in India. By George Smith, LL.D., London: John Murray. Here is one more qf Dr. Smith's great contribntions to missionary litera. ture. The man who has written of Duff, and Wilson, and Carey needs no introduction to our readers. This biography betrays his scholarly and skillful pen. It tells the story of a beautiful life cut short by accidental drowning at the early age of 46, but not before he had given twenty years to the building up of tue Christian missiou aud college iu Central India which are henceforth inseparably associated with his name. May Dr. Smith be spared to write many more rich missionary biographies.-A. T. P.
The A88am Mission 0/ the American Baptist Missionary Union. Calcutta. J. W. Thomas.
This is a collection of papers and discussions at the Jubilee Conference held in 1886 in NOWgOllg. Nineteen missionaries were present, eight men and eleven women, besides two missionaries representing other societies. The conference lasted for eleven days, and the following are some of the subjects discussed: Historical sketches of various churches and missions, self-support, work for girls and women, educational work, need and supply of a native ministry, extension of work, prevailing vices, translation, etc. No one who feels interested in this great division of India will want to be without this book.-A. T. P.
John, G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides. London: Hodder & Stoughton. This book we have read with b'Oundless delight and profit. Its superior we do not know in all the range of missionary biography. Whe.her in delineation of his eaTly home life, bis work as a city missionary in Glasgow, or his subsequent career in Tanua, we have met nowhere a more stimulating and inspiring book. It should be On the table of every lover of missions, and would forma rare book for reading ",loud in the family.-A. T. P. – Modern Missionsand Oulture: Their Mutual Relations. By Dr. Gustav Warneck. Translated byDr. Thomas Smith. New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham. Price, $2.50. This book has for some time been difIicult to get hold of, being out of print. The demand for.it has compelleda new edition with some few verbal amendments. It need be scarcely said that whatever Dr. -Warneck writes every student of missions wishes to read. His" History of Protestant Missions,"also translated byDr. Smith,is one of the standard works on such subjects. Dr. Warnecks- style is at once vigorous and beautiful, and the translation is so happy that in Dr. Smith's hands little if anything is lost in the transfer to another tougue. No book of which we know discusses sodiscriminatingly the relations of culture to missions. Whether judged by extent and v*riety of research, or by clearness of statement and lucidity of argument, this book stands at the head on this theme.-A. T. P.
China's Millions. Edited by J. Hudson Taylor, F. R. G. S. London: Morgan &Scott, 1888. This is the Official record of the marvelous work of the China Inland Mission Society. The origin and history of this mission are so well known and appreciated that we need not enlarge upon them here. Its success may rank among the" miracles of missions," undertaken and carried on in Simple dependence On God, making no appeal for money. its missionaries receiving no fixed salary, largely self-~npporting, and building not on other men's foundation~ but penetrating to the -interior of China and establishing missions in provinces where no missionary had gone before, its entire work carried on in the spirit of great self-denial and exalted consecration. God has Signally honored this agency and made it conspicuous. The volume before us, beautifully bound and full of illustrations, and sold for a song, is made up of the monthly issues of the society for 1888. The year 1881, which is as late a date as the official annnal reports cover, was a memorable year in its history, the income of the society being increased 50 per cent., and 100 new missionaries being sent out. The frontispiece to the volume consists of the portraits of these 100 missionaries. A finer and more intellectnal-looking company of men and women it wonld be difficnltto lind.-J. M. S.
Bright Bits for Readings in M"zssionary Societies.-A collection of Essays, Stories, Colloquies and Bible Readiugs. This small, beautiful book contains the choice gleanings of years from the lighter class of missionary literature, made by Mrs. M. S. Budlong, connected with the W. F. M. S. of the North west (Y. E. Chnrch). The work supplies a felt need, and will be welcomed by multitudes of our Woman's Missionary Branches and Banjls, as furnishing fit and varied material for anniversary exercises and other public meetings in the interest of missions.-J. M. S.
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
n.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
Notes from our English Oorrespondent, Rukhmabai's case iq a signal illustration of Rev. James Johnston. . one of the evils of'" blind marriage and re- fers to the existing injustice of the social I. India.-Pundita Ramabai. law, enabling the husband, as in the pres- THIS heroic lady. says a Calcutta tele- ent -instance, to marry a second wife, while gram, is actively engaged in organizing at the victim of the so-called first marriage is Bombay a home for the education of child- debarred from all possibility of domestic widows of the higher castes. The United States and Canada and other in1luential happiness. friends are generously responding to the ap- III. Patna Mission. peal for aid. During the mission, which ·has lasted two and a half years. Rs. 40.000 The latest news from Bangalore states that has been subscribed for the commencement in coneeqnence of the alleged abduction of a of the work, and an income of Rs.I0,OOOper Hindn girl by a Wesleyan Zenana Mission, for annum for a. period of ten years is guaran- the purposes of proselvtism, the Komaties of tee"d by the Committee at Boston with af- the town of Bangalore held a pnblic meetin/i:, filiated committees in other parts of the and resolved not to sQnd their girls to the mis- States and Canada for non-sectarian teach- sion schools, nnder pain of social ostracism. ing. The object is to provide Brahmin The Muhammedans are showing a similar attiwidows of high caste with an education tnde against the Christians. J ndgment in the and a home. Though not a child-widow Patna Mission case has not yet been delivered. herself the labors of RILmabai are notable fora spirit of self-abnegation. She welcomes IV. Wesleyan Foreign Missions. her unfortunate countrywomen in order to In connection with the financial year which save them from the frequently recurring closed in the last week of February it is reported miseries of despair, infamy and suicide. that the amonnt of receipts eqnals that orthe pre- By education and protection from evil it is ceding year. The total income, which last year anticipated that many of tbese sisters may was £125,000, will this year be increased by at become useful members of society, a;nd, least £5,000, the resnlt of the special effort made possibly, happy wives and intelligent moth- at Christmas. This amount is not applied to the ers. The committees are desirous of pro- reduction of the society's debt, but to the in- viding a home for those who choose to crease of the annnal income. The General Com- study medicine or be trained as nurses, mittee have resolved that henceforth in all the their instruction being obtained in hospitals foreign districts the regular expenditnre is to be and schools. It is fUrther intended to train absolutely limited to the annual grants, and that girls of all races to acquire qualification as any additional outlay must be met by special teachers of Kindergarten schools and day local efforts. The current debt will probably be schools. considerably lessened by the time the annual meetiIlll: of the society is held in May next in London.
V. Christianity among the Jews.
Professor Max Miiller writes that his" ex- At the annual meeting of the Manchester anx- cellent friend" RILmabILi requires £15,000 iliary of the London Society for the Promotion for a scheme of philanthropy which may of Christianity amongst the Jews, the Chairman save at least a few souls from a life of hu- noted with satisfaction the greater readiness miliation, disgrace, and despair. It is ap- with which the Jews were reading the Old Tes.
palling to read in .. The High Caste Hindn tament and comparing it with the .New, and like- Widow," a brilliant work by RlLmabILi on p. wise their kindly bearing toward the missiona- 109, that the number of child-widows under ries. The society was founded in 1809, at whklh nine years of age is 78,976; from 10 to 14 time all Christian bodies co-operated in the work.
years, 207,388; from 15 to 19 years, 382,736. In the year 1815 the Dissenters withdrew from II. Rukhmabai. the society, and it was reconstrncted on· purely The last mail from India announced that Church of England principles, and so it has con- the hnsband of the recent heroine of the tinued llnti! now. Replying to the taunts which famous snit for restitution of conjugal were often hurled at the expensiveness of the rights has married a second wife. Rukh- society and effecting so few conversioDs, the mabai suffered much persecution a year Chairman remarked that since the Society's in- ago becanse on reaching years of discretion auguration more than 100,000 Jews had been she refused to become the wife of her child- converted. He maintained that the society, in hnsband. With rare courage she resisted spite of great nnpopnlarity, was dOing a grand a kind of slavery which cannot be tolerated work, and was commanding much support from in any portion of the British Empire. Even Christian people. The subscriptions, which in from an Indian standpoint this form of an 1887 amounted to £36,316, were in 18d8, £33,179, infant…marriage might with justi,ce be a decrease of npward of £3,000.
styled according to Indian-law terminolo- VI. Afrioa, Beohuanaland.
gy, a rdkshasa, or devil-marriage. The In- Regarding with strong disapproval the con- dian Daily News forcibly observes that templated transfer of this territory from the Imperial Government to Cape Colony, the Wes- treatment of the palm-nuts. Trading is the leyans, who have for many years had dourishing missions in that quarter of the globe, have African's special delight, but nntil quite recently formed an inlIuential committee, consisting of the Mission House authorities, together with a the markets of Lagos were not in a prosperous number of Wesleyan members of Parliament, for the purpose of frustrating the object of the condition. Now that a British IIrm has estabcolonial authorities. They take the ground that tile people of Bechuanaland are strongly op- lished a branch at Badagry, and made the place posed to tile -change, and tllat if the policy of the Cape Government is allowed to prevail it will a market town, it is estimated that 5,000 perbe most disastrous to the interests of the natives. sons with every variety of native produce as- VII. Logos (Western). A lurid picture of the western part of this re- semble there every market day, aod in eight gion has lately beeu presented by the English district commissioner. Tlie population, which months the monthly export has increased from has been recruited for many years past by a constant inlIux of refugees from the surround- £30 to £1,878. Cocoanut planting, road making tribes, falls roughly into three divisions. These are: the Popos, chielIy engaged in ing, corn-growing, and the cessation of the drink IIshing, forestry, and farming, but averse to steady work of any sort, and much traffic appear to be the official methods for addicted to theft; the Yombas, the most enterpriSing people in the district; and the civilizing the West African negro. Hoossas, who are farmers and palm-nut gatherers. The Mohammedans among them are more VIII. What Evangelical PreachIng has enterprising and industrious than the fetich worshipers; while the Christians, tbongh few in Done for the Heathen. nnmber, form a fairly thriving community. But all are alike in "intense and obtuse con- At the recent Conference m London upon servatism, so long as they are left to their Own devices, and in a keen spirit of petty trading." Evangelical Preaching, the Rev. E. E. Jen- The sole article of their moral code is "to do to your neighbor as you hope to avoid being done kins, the distingUished missionary late of to by him." It is useless to appeal to any higher motive, and It is certain that without European India and one of the ex-Presidents of the inlIuence to nrge them on commerce must decline. Fishing is carried on wholly m the la- Wesleyan Conference, read an important goons, the people never having had the enterprise to build surf-boats, which would enable paper. A brief summary of It IS presented them to engage in sea·fishing. SOlle progress has been made in agriculture, owing to the to tbe readers of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF efforts of the Roman Catholic Mission at Badagry, the administrative center. In the Frah THE WORLD. Kingdom, also, the local Britlsh officer has succeeded in mducing the people to plant a Mr. Jenkins attribnted much of the succonsiderable area of fertile land with corn, so that villages which were almost starving two cess which had attended the labors of Protyears ago on smoked fish are now supplying large quantities of gram to the local markets. estant missions in various parts of the But this increased prosperity has only increased the drunken habits of the people, who exchange world to earnest evangelICal preaching, by for vile imported spirits the prodocts of their labor. Katamu, the Frah capital, IS rapidly which he meant the preaching of the Cross. falling into a ruinous state of dIsrepair. Every fourth or IIfth honse IS a rnm shop, and the so- The history of modern miSSIOns brought called palm-wine sheds are IIUed every night with drunken men and women. The evils of out triumphantly the message of the Cross, the drink tra1lic are so apparent to the people themselves that they have petitIoned the Gov· and witnessed to the unimpaired fascinaernor to put an end to the sale of liquor altogether. If this were done the fertile flood tion and revolutionizing power of the name lands of Frah might become a sonrce of food and person of Jesus among heathen races, snpply for the whole colony. In spite of the valuable reSources of the forests, nothing IS There was no ~tory which offered a more done to develop them save the collection and conclusive defense of evangelical preach- ing than the FijI MlsslOn_ By the mission- aries the barbarians were charmed mto a life of gentleuess, of purity, of sweet intel- ligence, and of fruitful Industry, and an..
other people was added to the CIvilized na- tions of the world. The London Mission m Madagascar formed another example of the success of evangelIcal preaching In heathen countrles, attesting to the strange power of the gospel of Jesus eqnally strlkmgly and conclusively. Was not the story of the mission m Lower Burmah another chapter in the history of evangelical preaching?
The founders of that mlssIOn had devoted themselves mamly to preachmg Jesus aud translating His words Into the language of the people. Then the love of Christ so awakened III the hearts of the converts, drew them together, and created Within them the elements of family law and communal or- ganization, brmging forth the highest vir- tues of a human sOCiety, morality. mtelh· gence, thrift, courage, public spirit, benefi- cence and philanthropy, enrIching and for- tlfymg Christian eVidence by another proof that faith in the Christ of God was the seed of a nation. The Rev. Dr. Macfarlane, of New Guinea, eloquently testllIed, by many powerful IllustratIOns, to the good which had been done 10 that Ial/knd byevangellcal preaclung. — Africa.-Mohammedan Revolution in traders are certainly not 1;he men to con- Uganda. Public attention has recently, struct or reconstruct an empire. Those who and for different reasons, been very gener- know them best see no prospect that they ally directed to Uganda, a large province of will be able by intrigue, which is their only Central Africa lying round the north shore agency, to sustain themselves in Uganda.
of Victoria Lake. The country proper con- The character and habits of the Uganda tains about 20,000 square miles; its depend- people seem to forbid their enslavement.
encies embrace about 40,000 more. Theyare the only people ln Central Africa On his first expeditIOn across Africa, Mr. that clothe themselves from head to foot.
Stanley introdueed us to Uganda, whose Thousands of Europeau weapons and imple- cruel and powerful king, Mtesa. became un- ments are found in the~r posseesion, and der ·hIS mfluence favorable to Christiauity. ready workers in iron, they immediately He received, and frequently befriended aud imitate what they import. They are apt aIded, the missionaries of the Church of linguists, and their children have rapidly England and of Rome. UntIl hIS death about acquired the French and English languages two years ago, Christianity had made re- from the mIssionaries. They have neither markable progress m Uganda, and that Idols nor fetiches. They have no affiliations kingdom was one of the most powerful in with Mohammed:tDism, and are not likely to Central AfrIca. Mtesa was succeeded by become its subjects for any considerable his son Mwanga, a weak, vain, and treach- time. There is still good reason to hope for erous man, who reversed his father's policy a better future for Uganda.-N. Yo Evan- and undoubtedly ordered the murder of gelist.
Bishop Hannlngton about one year ago. Of China.-Religions of. The old religions of '
course, rt-Iwanga was a coward as well as a Buddhism and Taouism are losing theIr hold cru~1 and blood-stained despot. Because he upon the faith and affections of the people.
made Uganda impenetrable;no direct news You may criticise and ridicule both sys- from Wadelai about the movements of Stan- tems, and the people will join m the rIdIcule.
ley or Emin Pasha could reach Zanzibar. I hear that some people ln England talk of Very naturally he was obliged to face an adopting Buddhism as their creed. China., i U>lUrrection. To save his worthless life he after centuries of trial, will make you a fled from his kingdom, and hiS older brother, present of It for nothing. She has found the Kiwewa, succeeded him. Because under his light to be darkness, and she feels the dark- rule the missionaries were agaIn in favor, ness of it to-day. Why, in the northern part Kiwewa was soon forced to abdicate before of Chma there are thousands turnmg away an insurrection incited by the A.rabs, whom from the old creeds, and formmg new creeds the pohcy of hiS brother had brought iuto and new societies. You will find men there the kingdom, and 1D which such of hls own hungering after they know not what., wan- subjects as opposed the mIssionaries cheer- dermg they know not whither, but knowing fully participated. While about a score of that they are not satisfied-human hearts mi&sionaries escaped unharmed, all mis- lOnging, and no one to brmg them to the SIOnary property was destroyed, many na- fountain of living waters where they may ti ve missionaries were murdered, the Arabs drmk and be satisfied. No doubt Confucian- became dominant m Uganda, and the king- ism stili holds Its power over people. It talks dom, it may be for- several years, 1S closed of ItS learmng and literature. It appeals to against OhristIanlty. The hving mission- na.tional prIde, and stirs up race animosities.
arIeS have quite recently been ransomed. But Confuciamsm IS only a philosophy. It What IS to be the mfluence of this new is not a religIon, and we need not fear it. It Arab kingdom m Central AfrIca 1 This, does not occupy the ground that we occupy.
WIth many, IS a pressing questien. In all- bu tIts talk IS of the earth, earthy-of the sweriU!t It we must remember that these five social relations and the five constant so-called Arabs really havt' in their veins no VIrtues. Not a word about God, not a word Arab blood. They are coast Arabs of the about the 'SOUl, not a word about eternity, lowest cla~ses, and the proud and strong sin. or salvatlOn.-Rev. George Owen.
Uganda chIefs will not submit for any con- -There is evidence that American com- sIderable length of time to the rule of any merce with Chma WIll suffer on account of such men. They may use such men; they the new Chmese exclUSIOn law that is now wlil never become theIr slaves. The coun bemg rIgIdlY mforced at alt the ports of the try IS more lIkely to be broken up into hos- United states. A Shanghai paper, the Oe- tIle sectIOns. These may wear themselves lestial Emp,re, says that there have alrea.dy out 10 wars agaInst each other, and thus been antI-AmerICan riots III Canton, and the may be reahzed the hope that the British populace feel that If Chmamen cannot go to East African Company, from their new ter- AmerIca they should exclude Americans ritory between VictOrIa Nyanza aud the from Chma. The Foochow Echo gIves SImI- coast, would push Its Influence and Its ope- lar news. and adds that the strong party in ratIOns over Uganda, and the whole lake Chma WhICh hates foreIgners has recently regIon of Central AfrIca. These Ara.!> sla.ve- • lleEln dIsplaying a. da.ngerous spirlt. The Chinese Government. which has refused to agine," said Mr. Caine," the Earl of Sefton, ratify the exclusion treaty with the United on whose estates 47,OO() people are Iivmg States, is not averse to these manifesta- but no liquor-seller, bemg called. on by the tions. There is reason to apprehend that Collector lof Liverpool to show cause why disagreeable results may be experienced by a liquor den should not be opened on hIS American traders in China, and by the estate I" Uniformity of excise administrashippers of those American goods that have tion, substitution of moral considerations been coming into use among the Chinese. for financial, m the adminIstration, and But we can bear with all this provided the local option, are the three objects before us missionaries are not Interfered with. in India. The people of India, unllke other people. only drink for the purpose of getting -A recent conflagration in a remote drunk, and if we make them drunken we de- Chinese village destroyed the anc.estral stroy them more rapidly than by war, pestihome of the family of Oonfucius, with aU Its lence and famine.-Indian Witn•••• contents, texts on stone, commentaries, carvings in jade and alabaster, jars of por- -Tpeosophists. The Buddhists are trying celain ; in short, one of the most remarkable to get Col. Olcott to go to Japan to help literary and artistic collections in the Buddhism hold its ground. They have raised world, containing as it did every extant the needed money and sent an ambassador memorial of the great teacher. after him.
-A cable dispatch from Shanghai, January -Rumors are afloat ~hat Mr. Henry B. 30, states that the imperial astrologers de- Foulke and Mr. C. Ingersoll Maurey, both of clare that the recent fire in the Emperor's Philadelphia, have gone on a pilgrimage to palace at Pekm was an evil omen, intended the shrines of Buddha, III India. They beas a warning against the approach of west_ long to the .. Krlsthena Society,)1 WhlCh ern invention. An imperial decree has, .meets on Walnut street, and addicts itself therefore, been issued prOhibitlllg the to the study of" Theosophy." of which Mafurther extension of the Tiensin RaIlway. dam Blavatsky, now in London, IS :high priestess. Some of the members, we belleve. India.-The Government of India and the avow themselves to be converts to Buddliquor traffic. Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., in a hism, others are simply diSCIples. who, powerful_peech III the Town Hall,Calcutta, through study and instruction, hope to asserted that the Government of India is come to a more. perfect knowledge of this stlmulating the excise system for revenue old form of faith and worship. WhIle others considerations. In proof of this he showed pose wholly as stUdents of .. Comparative that the revenue from country spirits in- Religion," or, as the more skeptIcal would creased ten per cent. per annum. While the say. "Comparative Mythology." The Krlsrevenue from imported spirits had increased thena, it is said, has sent forth this deputafifty per cent. during the past eight years. tion to study Buddhism in its ancient home. Mr. Caine quoted this damaging statement Tiley are to wait on 1I1ad"'mBlavatsky m from the late financial member of the Vice- England, and thence go on ·their pilgrimage roy's Council, Mr. Westland: .. That he to the East by w~y of the pemnsular route. looked hopefully for an increase in the ex- At Aden, on the Red Sea, says a correcise system in Northern India." The con- spondent of the New York Evening Mati and trast between this statement and the ntter- Express, .. they will be met by representaances of three English chancelors of the tives of the SOCIety III India, and w!ll be forexchequer whom he had heard" congratu- mally introduced to the Oriental rites and late England on the decrease of the excise mysteries of this strange sect. The prosystem," was very painful. Mr. Caine gramme from this point will depend upon the quoted from the reports of all the provinces decision of the native brethren. The town m IndIa to show that the men who tried to of Kurachee, III Sindh. one of the seats of realize Mr. Westland's hopes were ap- the older worship, WIll be visited, and the plauded and promoted by the Government. tripwiII continue until the American Budd- The Bengal Government had sing-led ant SIX- hists reach Adair, the principal home of teen gentlemen for special honors under Buddhism in the East. Under the guidance this head. of the new conductors the two Philadel- phians hope to make a journey to tbe Hima- From the acts of indi vid ual collectors the layan Hills and ViSIt ancient SItes hItherto stimulating pollcyof Government was seen. unexplored. " The Darjeeling collector compelled a tea planter-who dId not know the law-to open Japan.-Accordmg tothe (}hristianWeekly a lIquor shop on his land, and the collector of Tokio, prohlbltory'liquor laws existed, and at Burrlsal trIed the same tactics on a were rigidly mforced in Chinail,OOOyearsago. zemindar who had closed a liquor den on his The Emperor Buo was a strict Prohibitionist land during a certain mela. The hquor- vf the modern type. He made his own.prodealer was ordered to open his shop, and the hlbitory laws, and saw that they were execollector called on the zemindar to show cuted. He didn't have any courts around cause instantly why thIS should not be done. .him to explam away tbelr meamng. A TIO- Redid so. The collector was defeated… Imla.tion of prohibitory laws was punished by has a theological school for negroes at Lin- ooln University in ·Pennsylvania, and an-. death. With some modiflcation these lawb other at Biddle University in North Caro_ lina. The Methodists have a weU-endowed were afterward introduced into Japan. seminary at Atlanta, Ga.- The Episcopa- lians propose to place a divinity hall for They were .. in full force and virtue" there oolored students in Washington, D. C., and Nashville, Tenn. The American Missionary for nearly a thousand years. There is no Association, acting for the Congregational Churches, has olasses in theology in four of reliable information that they damaged Ja- its chartered institutions in Tennessee. Alabama, Mississippi, and LOUisiana, and pan morally or politically. They passed sustains the theological department in Howard University at 'Washington. The away long ago, to the damage of the coun- last named reported last year thirty-eight students, and is the only school of theology' try. Intemperance, according to the Tokio oontrolled by the Congregationalists in the entire line of Atlantic States south of Conpaper, is now a growing and threatening nectICut. It is at present only partly en- dowed and meagerly supported, but is now evil in Japan. One single drink costs the seeking an endowment. The Rev. R. W. Eastman, of Wellesley, Mass., has underpeople $60,000,000 annually, an amount equal taken to raise an endowment• to the eutire annual expenses of the govern- -The Reformed, or Covenanter, Church (Old School) is not a large body, but it comment; and in its manufacture one-fifth of mands a wide influence. It IS aggressive in its conservatism. Its peculiar belief, relatthe annual rice crop is consumed. What is ing to the sovereign rights of Christ, awakens deep conviction. Its antagonism left affords a short allowauce for food. No to current beliefs and institutions develops a sturdy strength. The great energy which rice is exported from Japan. ' it has manifested has borne its proper fruit in a growing strength. The ministry has Mexico.-Bishop Hurst in The In- doubled since 1856, numbering now 118, and dependent on "The Periodical Lit- the increase of membership has been threeerature of Mexico," makes gratifying fold, 10,970 being repoy ted for 1888. Its mention of the Pl'otestant press: foreign missions have been richly blessed. In Syria and Asia there are nearly thirty .. We now come to the significant and stations with schools, and one has been ess'teadily-growing journals published by the tablished in Cyprus. The delegates sent to Protestants of Mexico. The invasion of visit the missions report nineteen n~tive Protestantism has been strong in numbers Christians as nearly ready for licensure. and aggressive in spirit. For the following The work ha.s reached the point at which list of Protestant periodicals I am indebted more complete local organization is necesto the Rev. John W. Butler, of the city of sary,and the organization of the Presbytery Mexico: El Faro, edited by J. M. Greene, of Asia Minor is recommended. Successful D.D., is the organ of the Presbyterians, and mission work is carried on in this country is published in Mexico. El Evangelista is among the Chinese and the Freedmen. The edited by the Rev. David Watkins, and rep- college and the theological seminary also resents the Methodist Episcopal Church, are doing a good work, both in preparing South. El Testiao is under the editorship of young men for the ministry and in general the Rev. E. M. Bissell, is published in Gua- education. dalajava, and represents the Congregationalists. LaLuz is the Baptist organ, is pub- -What does it mean? Our exchanges lished in the City of Mexico, and is edited show that there is a falling off in the conby the Rev. Albert Steelman, D.D. El Ramo tributions of the churches to a large numde Oliva is the organ of tbe Quakers, and is ber of the benevolent societies of the published in Matamoros. The organ of tae country. The America;' Home Missionary Methodist Episcopal Church is the Abogado Society reports that for the first mne Ohristiano Ilust"ado, edited by the Rev. S. months of its fiscal year the receipts have W. Siberts, Ph.D., and published in the City fallen off, as compared with the previous of Mexico. Even the International System year, $39,040, of which sum $9,892 was in doof Sunday-school teaching has invaded nations and $29,158 III legacies. This is just Mexico. Both the Presbyterian and Metho- about the same as the decrease indicat~d dist Episcopal Churches issue them. in the receipts of the American Board within /I ve months, though the de~·rease III .. Every tourist in Mexico sees at a glance the receipts of the latter was less III donathat Protestant influences are penetrating every part of the new republic. The journal has been found to be one of the cJtief factors for successful work ever since the founding of the Protestant mission in Mexico in 1870. All the periodicals are ably conducted, and bring before the people especially the great religiou~ movements of the Protestant world. All these journals encourage loyalty to the republic. The editors are iu excellent relations With the entire editorial fraternity of the country, and are most highly res;>ected, both for their ability and the cause which they represent."
United State8~The Presbyterian Church
MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENOE FROM ALL PARTS
tions and larger in legacies. The Presbyte- shrinkage in va.lues within the past year, rian boards are in quite as unfortunate a yet it is undeniable that the wealth of the position. Their Home Missionary SOCiety land is increasing at an enormous rate, and is $40,000 behtnd in the first ten months of that a fair proportion of this increase is in its financial year, while the Presbyterian the hands of those who bear the name of Foreign Board shows a falling off for the Christ. There is wealth enough, if it were same period of about $35,000 in donations, consecrated. The percentage of the income and $112,000 ill legacies, or from all sources of professed Christians which is devoted to of $15t,615. It is singular. that there should missionary work at home and abroad is be such a general decrease with all boards wofully small. Wonld that pastors and in the item of legacies. But the societies others would earnestly .inquire what relawill rejoice that their friends still live, only tion this fact has to th't spiritual life within the living men must see to it that the im- their churches! .. Bring ye all the tithes perative necessities of the great work are into the storehouse, that there may be meat not forgotten. While it is true that there in my house, and prove me now herewith, has been in several directions a great saith the Lord ofhosts."-MisB. Herald.
III.-MISSIONARY CORRESPONDENCE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD-FIELD.
Ohina. men's associations, young women's associa- tions.women's missionary societies, indeed HIGHLYmteresting letter from our everywhere where brain workers -seek for correspondent, Dr. A. P. Happel': the materiaJs with which to replace the CANTON, JAW. 24, 1889. constant 'waste from use, and where they DUR EDlTOItS.-A copy of the Report of seek supplies for yet wider and fuller pre- the Centenary Conference of Missions has sentation of facts, principles and results in just reached me from London. It is a most the support of the great work of the church valuable outcome of the Conference to have in winning this world to Christ.
such a repository of facts and prinCiples of We say to all, get these volumes; buy them Christian missions as these volumes con- if you can, borrow them if you cannot buy- tain. The presentation of the states and read them-reproduce them in conversation, peoples among whom missions are con- in talks at mission meetings, in papers and ducted will be of the greatest interest. to all lectures, at public meetings, in sermons and who are studying the subject of the evan- in the newspapers.
geliz8otion of the world. The members of churches will be interest- The statements made by the missionaries ed in missions, give to their support, pray as to the results of different methods of for God's blessing upon them, ,give them- missionary labor will be of great assistance selves or their children to engage in them to all new missionaries, helping them to en- just in proportion 80S they know about them.
gage in that method of laboring which is Hence the importa.nce and necessityi! there adapted to the people amoDg whom he is is to be an advance all along the line, for the called to labor. The supporters of this diffusion of knowledge in regard to the workwho call never see with their own eyes aim and purpose of Christian misRions in the work in which they 80re interested, will heathen lands. This presents the great find in the statements of these volumes va.lue of these closely printed pages, packed new inspiration to labor and self-sacrifice with such reliable, interesting and valuable in increased efforts for the e"I8orging of state,ments and diseussions on every phase the plans for the conversion of the world of Christian work among the heathen.
to Christ. The statistics of the missionary work in Those who desire and are called upon to China for 1888 have been gathered up to the advocate the cause of Christian missions close of the year as far as information bad before their own congregations or general been received, They show an advance all audiences, will find these volumes a rich along the line, as folIows, viz., increase of treasure house, whence to draw materials societies represented in China,3; foreign for instruction, encouragement, appeals. men missionaries, 37; of wives of foreign and for facts and results. Thus the pub- missiona.ries, 17; single women, 39; total lication of these volumes will be of great increase of foreign miseionaries, 93. The benefitto aU the friends of missions, and wlll increase of native communicants is 2,295; beeminently useful in extendingand deepen- the whole number of native communicants ing the interest in the great cause of mis_ is 34,555. The increase of pupils in schools sions. But to accomplish these results they is 1,140, the whole number of pupils reported should be widely disseminated. A copy is 14,817. The advance in contributions is should be, in every minister's lIbrary. In $5,936, the whole amount of contributions is the libraries of Sabbath-schools, young $44,173. which is nearly $1.25 for each communicant. The increase of contributions is Turkey, greater than th.. increase of members, which is an encouraging sign in regard to LETTER from Rev. D. A. Richard-' the grace of giving. While rejoicing in this measure of increase yet we all lament son: that there has not been a greater manifestation of divine power in the conversion of ERzBOOlll, TuRKEy IN ASIA, Dec. 20, 1888. men. There has been, it is true, some unusual EDITORS MISSIONARY REVIEW Oll' THJI hinderances. In some parts of the field the WOBLD.-Reading your much prized REVIEw, It minds of the people have been diverted from strnck me that possibly your readers would like the preaching of the gospel by the calami- to hear from one of too first fruits of the stuties of floods and famine. When the bodies dents' misslonallY movement. I suppose I am are dying of starvation there is little dIS- among the first to reach the field of those whom position to seek spiritual food. In other Messrs. Forman and Wilder addressed. places there has been diversion by reason This station is called one of the hardest in of adverse political influences. But after Turkey, being on the borders of the Russian all the great hinderance is the alienation Caucasus, and a large part of our field lying over of the hearts of men from God. They will the border, which we are not allowed to visit. only be led to the reception of the gospel by However, we have much to encourage us even the Holy Spirit. This is promised by God. But here. He has said, .. For this will I be inquired of The t&ll.cher of our school for boys was arby the house of Israel to do it for thelll." rested last spring on the ridiculous charge of Let all, therefore, who long to see China being accessory to treason, and sentenced to converted join in continuous prayer for exile for life. One of his pupils wrote as an the outpouring of the Spirit upon the exercise a song which contained some severe Chinese, that the Word preached and read reflections on the Turki!h Governmeut. He may be made effectual to the conver- also called on the Armenians to rise and cast off sion of those that come to the knowledge the tyrant's yoke. The teacher glanced at it, and of it. made one or two grammatical corrections,when, discovering its seditious character, he gave It There is a wide diffusion of the truth by back with a severe reprimand, telling him the printed page and oral Instruction in to destroy it at once. This the boy failed the schools, the chapels, the streets, the to do, and some time afterward he was arrested marketplaces and the highways and hedges; and this was found among his papers, and he butitis only the life giving power ofthe Holy was thrown into 'prison, where he died. The Spirit that can change the heart. Maya teacher was arrested because of his handwriting spirit of grace and supplication be given on the paper. The marks were only a word or unto God's people thatwill secure durin!:, or two, and made with a pencil. He admitted the this year the mighty power ofGod to convert writing was his. He was condemned, after a men, that converts may be multiplied as the farce ofa trial under a section of the Code Napodrops of the morning dew. Pray for China, leon, which says: .. Anyone publishing a sedi- Christian brethren and churches, pray for tious document, or postiug it up, or making such us. Pray for this people. a speech, or is accessory to these things, Is liable to exile for life." Under this law he was found The calamities which have come upon guilty and sentenced to exile for life. He is in China during the last forty years have the common prison awaiting action on his appeal been very distressing. These have come to the Supreme Court in Constantinople. from rebellious, internal and long continued Another sad case, yet with a silver lining, war, from floods and from famines, from is that of a young man who was being trained for failure of crops through droughts and pes- work in the Russian part of the field. He was tilence. The destruction of life from these a very promising and devoted young man, and causes has, been perhaps unprecedented in we hoped he could go to his native village to the history of the world. Many of the causes preach and teach. A few weeks ago he was of distress could be lessened if not prevented seized with smallpox, and died, saying: "The by the use of the means which western King of kings is come, and calleth for me." science would supply. But this people are A happier case is that of another young man not yet ready to accept its aid, and in their in the school, whose name is fitly Arstan Lion. distress they do not cry unto t,he Lord, be- He is the one reported in The Missionary Hercause, as yet, they know Him not. If their ald a year ago as preferring to remain over ancalamities are great, the disposition to other day on half rations to working out his help the suffering is great. The Chinede road-tax on Sunday with the rest of his village. Government gave more than Beven million8 He was recently called into a shop by one of the of dollars to relieve the sufferings by Gregorian Armenians and bantered as to his the overflow of the Yellow River. May chauge of faith. He was asked what he got for the Lord soon send them His salvation which his. chauge to Protestantism, and invited to brings temporal as well as spiritual bless- preach to the company. "You know you are ings. bidden in your Testament to preach to all the heathen. Now preach to us." .. But," said Second, a dressJI18,ker and milliner, "apt to the boy, "the Protestants do not call the Grego- teach" millinery, and assist thd superin- rians heathens." Just then another person came tenilent. Surely there must be among the in who had offended the principal man present. thousands of our Methodist women two who As he entered the man greeted him with a tor- ought to respond to this call, and who are rent of profanity and vileness. After this was ready to say, •• Here am I. sena me, send me."
over and the offender had gone out the lad said Anxiously and prayerfully we wait your to the swearer: "May I be forgiven if I say but reply to this appeal. Send your name and a word more before I go!''' " Certainly." "If testimonials to Mrs. Mary C. Nind, No. 122 I may be so bold, one reason why there are Highland Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., Corre- Protestants here is to teach the Armenians not sponding Secretary Minneapolis branch.
to swear." The politeness of the boy and the Jan., 1889. keenne~s of the rebuke bronght a roar of laugh- Famine in Shantung.
ter from the company, and an acknowledgment AN appeal from Dr. Nevius: of the righteousness of the answer from the The reports of the floods in China, which have appeared in the public prints of the swearer. West, leave in the minds of readers but a Snch things as these serve to show the quality vague impression of their exact locality, extent and consequences. Most of these of Christians that are found here, and though reports are taken from newspapers in China. their standard is not equal in all points to that of While clearly understood by readers here, eminent Christians in America, yet they are so they presuppose a considerable amount of far above their surroundings that wa thank God we are placed in so glorious a work.
Japan. geographical knowledge not possessed by AN earnest appeal for the Indus- persons who have not resided in China. In- deed the phases of these misfortunes are so trial Home : . varied at present that they are only im- In the minutes of the fourth session of the perfectly comprehended, even by those who Women's Conference of the Methodist Epis- in different localities are eye-witnesses of copal Church in Japan, held at Aoyama them. ,H is, however, generally known that Tokio, Aug. 23d to Aug. 29th, 1888, we flnd the calamities which have recently ex- ihe report of the Committee on Industrial cited so much sympathy the world over, Home as follows: are the result of an inundation of the er- .. The Committee on the Industrial Home ratic Whang-ho. In less than 2,500 years can report but little progress because of this river has changed its course ten times, failure on the part of one society to secure and in a comparatively recent period three ladies during the year fltted for the work. or four times. in 131 A.D. there was a Word has come of the appointment of Miss very great innnd~tion, which it reqnired Imhoff, who is to be sent shortly. Mr. Kanzo twenty years to control.
Uchimura lately returned from the United A few decades ago all the children in States, where he made benevolent institu- home lands were taught that the Whang- tions a special study, holds himself in read- ho, the second of the large rivers of China, iness to assist in the undertakiug; but it discharged its waters into the sea in the has not been thought best to rent property central part of the eastern coast, about two until the ladies appointed arrive in Japan. degrees north of the mouth of the Yang-tse- We trust the way will open to inaugurate kiang. This was true at that time. About this important enterprise during the com- 45 years ago the Yellow River broke its ing year. M. A. SPENCER, Chairman." banks, left its bed, and, pursuing a north- The ladies at home are as anxious as the easterly direction, found its way to the sea, missionaries abroad to commence this work. principally through the Ch'i'ng-ho, or" Clear Appeals have been made to individuals and River," and disembogued into the Pechili througl;J. the church papers to the women of Bay. about 500 miles north of its old mouth.
our Methodism. Several have responded, After the Yellow River had taken possession but Miss Imhoff is the only accepted candi- of the Ch'ing-ho, and rendered its waters date, and she is now under appointment for turbid and yellow, the name of the Ch'iug-ho Nagasaki. as we had no superintendent to wa.s changed to Whang_bo,_U Yellow send to Tokio. What is our pressing need? River." As the original channel of the First, a superintendent. An intelligent wo- Ch'ing-ho had not sufilcientcapacity to hold man of mature judgment, executive and the additional waters of another river, it linancial skill, showing an ability to acquire was subject in times of heavy rains to fre- the Japanese language because she has quent overflows, inundating the whole ad- mastered some foreign tongue, witha kuowl- jacent country, destroj:ing crops, carrying edge of industrial enterprises. Above all away villages, and almost depopulating she must be a consecrated woman, with the large districts along its banks. It was evi- missionary spirit constraining her, a love dent that the silting'up process in the origi- for souls, and success in winnin~ them. nal bed of the Ch'ing-ho from the mnddy wat.ers of the Whang-ho poured into it, the whole of Shantung, the eastern part would every year increase the danger of of which had only the average rainfall; overflow, and the probability of its seeking while the extreme western end had a somewhere else a lower bed. All the ener- scarcity of rain amounting to drought.
,,"ies of the Central Chinese Government The storm crossing the central part of were exerted to prevent this, but a change the province from south to north cov- of channel soon or later was inevitable. ered a. tract of country betwlen one This change occurred two years ago a.t a and two hnndred miles wide. The streams point in the Honan province, where the rnshing down valleys overflowed their breach had previously more than once be- banks, denuding fertile fields of their sur- gun. The highartificialembankllient shook face earth, tearing up trees by their roots, and tumbled under the rnsh and pressure and in some places covering the ground with of the superincumbent flood. The alarmed sand to the depth of a foot or 1l1<)re. Rain officials in charge redoubled their efforts to feU almost continuously for ten days, until avert the impending catastrophe, but in on the 18th of August it could only be de- ~ain. The new opening was made, 'pouring scribed as a deluge. All the streams burst forth a deluge of waters, which trending their banks in many places, uniting their southward embogued iu the Yang-tse river waters in a common flood, which covered near Yang-chow. The distress and loss of the lower plains to the depth of from two life and property consequent on this new to ten feet, sweeping as one unbroken rivtJ'l'
inundation could scarcely be overstated. to the sea.
I cannot here speak at length of the vast E'I'"en the central portion of the province amount of treasure which has been spent between the extremes of drought and flood by the Chinese Government, and from pri- has hardly enough grain to support its own vate contributions of natives and foreigners population. From this comparatively favor- in the region of this new inundation; nor ed territory scarcity increases toward the of the prodigious but unavailing efforts of region of drouth On the one side, and floods the government to repair the new breach; on the other, nntil the extreme of want is nor of the opposition of the inhabitants found on the plain bordering on the Pechili along the banks of tl:le Ch'ing-ho to having Bay. The inhabitants of this region had lost the waters of the Yellow River turned back most of their wheat crop by drought, but again into that channel; nor of the gigan.. the sorghum, cotton, and millet promised tic problem which 'confronts the Chinese well, and they were rejoicing in the prospect Government now, as it has for so many of plentiful har'l'"est in the autumn. Their centuries, and confounds also foreign en- hopes were blighted. The water did not gineers, "What shall be done with the subside for days, and in some places for Yellow River?" weeks, and all further growth and develop- We have now to record another calamity, ment was stopped. When early in Novem- different in origin, character, and locality. ber last, in company with Rev. J. H. Langh- of which, in consequence of its recent liB, of the Weihein Mission, I visited this occurrence, and the fact that the public region, some portions of it were still too wet mind has been preoccupied with the inun- to plow for the autumn wheat crop, and dations of the Yellow River, very little is as other parts were covered with water. The yet known. This calamity, which affects heads of ·the millet and sorghum which had . principally the province of Shantung, orig- been gathered yielded only empty husks or inll-ted in an unequal distribution of rain- chaff, or at the best a little; s1lriveled half- fall, producing in some. places drought. in developed grain. This, however, was careothers floods. The rainy season, which fnUy proserved, and the people were ~Ian is here the months of Julyaud August, is ning to live on it through the winter, or as owing to the condensation of the moisture long as it lasted, mixing with it· the leaves suspended in the southern monsoon as it of the sweet potato, when they were so formeets the colder atmosphere of the north. tunate as to ha'l'"e them. The people liviNg During the past summer the clouds, sur- still nearer the sea were depending for snscharged with moisture, passed over a large tenance principally on the seeds and leaves tract of country south of Shantung (in- of a coarse grass or weed resembling the cluding its southerll border) which, being wild sage which grows on the alkaline left without ~ain. is now suffering from plains crossed by the Oentral Pacific rail- drought and consequent famine. Tl:le rain- road. Purchasers cannot be found for fall began in the southern central part of land, evell at only a tenth of its usual value, this province, and increased until it be- and clothing brings but a tritle at the pawn- came in the central, and especially the shops. Urlprincipled specnlators have al- northern part, a flood such as had not been ready gone in and are buying winter gar- experienced for nearly a centnry. ments,'for a mere son::, and soon the people This great rain extended still farther will be left without food, clothing or north, across the Pechili Bay, and far into sbelter.
Manchuria. It did not, however, cover The water covered the fields, reache:! the villages, entered the houses and rising to by the residents here for immediate use the heiJrht of two, and in some Instances We hope to receive further aid from the five or six feet, dissolved the mud wails, southern ports of China, and also from Engand speedily caused the buildings to fall. land and the United States. Our plan is to In some of the towns near the large streams occupy and confine ourselves to one or more the flood swept by in deep, strong currents, centers in the famine region, and enlarge the tearing down brick houses, and carrying work as the funds atour command may waraway timbers, furniture, farm-utensils, and rant, continuing the relief on the same plan, even large iron kettles and mill-stones. In and, as ",rule, to the Same individuals until the villages WhICh have suffered least the next wheat harvest, when, if God in His three or four·tenths of the houses are de- mercy gives a fruitful season, the famine stroyed, in some eight or nine-tenths. will end. The refugees who will probably About one-half of the inhabitants have return to their homes in March or April . started out from their homes to beg in the will require not only food for their susoutlying districts, and these refugees com- tenance, but seed-grain for putting in the prise, as a rule, the bone and sinew of the spring crops. We do not propose to assist country. They leave their scanty suppJy in rebuilding houses, or repairing the of provisions with the members of their banks of streams; but simply to supply the families who are aged or infirm, hoping food necessary to support life. A very themselves to return in time to pJant the small allowance of one or two cents a day spring crops. They usually take with them for an individual will effect this. As yet, the farm wheel-barrow, which is loaded so far as we can learn, the inhabitants of with bedding and clothing, a few dishes and this region have received no relief from the cooking utensils, and the little children; Chinese Government, or from private the men dj:awing and balancing the barrows, Sources. and the Women and larger chIldren following behind. Perhaps as many as 2,000 of A little money given here and there in a the inhabitants are leaving their homes promiscuous way would do but very little daily, and this stream of emigration has good, and when exhausted would leave the been flowing for nearly three months. The people just where they were before. Relief, refugees are found in almost every village to be really effective, must continue untn of the central part of the province, and next June, carrying a limited number they lead a life as comfortless and cheerless quite through the season of want. The disas can be imagined. Those fleeing from the bursement of funds in a famine-strlcken drought region On the south meetthosefrom couutry is a task both difllcult and dangerthe flooded region on the north, each party ous, but there are those on the ground who telling the other that it is useless to go far- are competent and willing to undertake it. ther. There are so many of them, and the Mr. Laughlin has already gone into the supply of food in the most favored secti6ns famine region and commenced the work of is so scanty, tlat it is difllcult to support life distribution. We must look for further aid ~o by begging; and many return to their the home lands. The help which we can get homes, disheartened and hopeless, to die_ from foreigners in China will not last long. We appeal to you who In God's merciful When six weeks ago we examined into the providence have never known want, in becondition of this famine-stricken people, half of those who, when this appeal reaches we supposed that their smail stores of food you, will for months have had no respite might last those who remained at home for from the pangs of hunger, and will be on the at least a few months; but letters recently very verge of starvation. Though we have received inform us that the extremity of refused our Mongolian neighbor a home on want has come sooner than we expected, our shores, let us not refuse· him a place in and starvation is alreadystaringtheinhab- our sympathies, or turn away from him in itants in the face. In many families the this hour of his extremity. supply of wild grass seed is exhausted, and the people have now no resource but t.o Contributions may be sent to Rev. F. F. pluck and eat the fresh blades of wheat';f Ellinwood, D.D., 53 Fifth avenne, New York, the autumn planting. It is but too evident which will be forwarded at once to the Famtha.t this food, unfitted to sustain life for ine Relief Committee in Chefoo. any length of time, even if it were plentiful, must soon fail them. JOHN L. NEVillS. CHEFOO, January 2d,1889. The spectacle which now presents itself is that of more than a million of people re- P. S.-While I write, news has come duced to the last state of destitution, most through a Chiuaman who lives in the famine of whom must perish of starvation before region that the people there have entered a nextsummer, unless relief is afforded them. complaint before the district magistrate against certain rich men who turned their At a public meeting, held in Chefoo, a cattle Into the wheat fields to graze, as in Shantung Famine Relief Committee was aD- ordinary season. They urged that under pointed, and funds have been contributed preseut circumstances the greeu wheat blades should be denied the cattle and re- served for men I The magistrate gave his verdict in favor of the people.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY J. T. GRACEY, D. D.
The Tra.nsfer of Political Power. Speaking, then, after the manner of men, speaking as one earthly A STUDY of political rule shows a king would of another, reckoning steady, silent but sure transfer of the boundary-lines of realms as parlia~ government of the world, from idola- ments or cabinets or congresses do trous and Moslem hands to those of among themselves; reporting as Christian potentates. Tiberius Cresat· would have reported to the Roman Senate of the extension Add the total population ruled by of domain by conquest; using the the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of vernacular of civil, political, and Turkey together-not Moslems only, military rulers of all the centuries, but Moslems, Armenians, Jews, Jesus Christ at this hour dictates law Copts, Christians, SlaYs, and pagans, to-rules, governs, more than half and it will be found that the Queen of England, through her India Vice- the seething and surging masses of roy. rules more Moslems in India alone than the agg'regate mixed mankind, and-what w~ have left population ruled by Shah, Sultan, ourselves no room to situ" – the and Khedive. geographical extension of His king- Statistics show that the Moslem dom is equal to more than half the population of the globe may be land surface of the globe, while" the roundly estimated at one hundred sea is His," not only because "He and seventy-five millions, but the made it," nor because He holds it "in Moslem political powers of all the the hollow of His hand," and can world do not rule more than ninety command its waves as He did the millions of people. Of the total blue waters of Galilee, but rather be- population of the globe not more than cause it has been added in bulk to one-sixteenth is under the sway of His territorial domain, is absolutely Moslem rulers, while it is easy to under the control of vice-regents of show that of the more than fourteen His throne, who at this hour seek to hundred millions, estimated popula- administer it in accordance with tion of the world, over eight hun- principles which He formuiatt'd, and di'ed millions are, politically speak- who, though sometimes unwillingly, ing, subject to the reign of Christ. and often unwittingly, yet are com- That is to say, more than half the pelled to acknowledge" from sea to population of the globe to-day is un- sea" that the "government is upon der Christian princes, kings, and His shoulders." "The KINGDOM of presidents, having been conquered God cometh not with observation,"
by Christian arms, won by Christian -but it comes!
commerce, or multiplied by the sin- Nor is this all. The relative ratio gular birth-rate which Christianity of increase of political power, within alone renders possible. They are the past hundred years, and the pro- amenable in Christian courts; their portionate momentum at present,of suits are adjudged by Christian codes; this political Christian progress, are if exercising local jurisdiction, they all in favor of, what we count, the are 'doing it under authority dele- best type of this Christian kingdom- gated or suffered by a Christian par- Protestantism. We write not theo- amount power, which not only holds logically nor ecclesiastically, butf·rom over them supreme political sway, the secular statesman's stand-point but controls their commerce, devel- only when we characterize Protes- ops their resources. and steadily tant politica.l rule, with all its imper- molds their social life to its stand- fections and faults and failures, as ards. on the whole the best the world has seen, the nearest to thp model set to Christian powers have a supremacy work by,; and hence w@ rejoice as a which enables them to enforce it, is citizen that within the last century not so much what we press at this' the extension of the Protestant ex- moment; but rather that here is the pression of Christ's political king- formulated law of a sublime authordom has more than doubled the ity born of Christianity, the concrete increase of the Roman Catholic expt'ession of an unseen Congress, type of the same, and almost quad_ the regulation of an invisible Potenrupled the territorial advance of the tate, the foreshadowing and the Greek Church. Christ's kingdom is overshadowing of a kingdom not of advancing, then, at a favorably dis- this world, which while represented proportionate rate to all other re- on many thrones is localized in no ligious kingdoms, and much more one of them, whose vast plans and than half of the propulsion comes purposes silently, almost stealthily fro'm the Protestant half of Christ's embrace them all, and, quietly as representatives in the earth. the movement of the spheres,revolves them all within its orbit. This in- What is left unsubjugated ? We ternational expression of Christ's have seen what is left to Islam. Kingdom therefore is a felt political What is left to the" light of Asia, force over all but the lowest forms Buddhism-and to Brahmanism- of human society; and the momenwhich together exert more or less tum which has carried the Kingdom religious influence over half the pop- of Christ to this political prominence ulation of the globe? We mean gives no indication of becoming a what is left to them as political fac- spent force. tors of the world? Weare indebted to Mr. James Johnston for the follow- Anti-slavery Defense. ing formula in which we answer: J.un:s STEVENSON, F.R.S.E., has "Buddhism is not the prevailing religion of any really independent just issued through James Maclehose power to-day, unless Siam be reck- a; Sons of Glasgow a pamphlet* oned one, while Brahmanism only which must awaken a good deal of exists and increases under the pro- feeling on the subject of slave hunttection of Great Britain." ing and the slave trade in Africa. The wo admirable maps, which are col- We have said nothing of the po- ored specially to show the districts litical rule exercised by Christian which have been utterly depopulated powers over non-Christian political by these Arab slave-capturers, and kingdoms, yet within certain bounds also to indicate the extent of country it has reduced them to a measure of over which slave-hunting obtains, subordination, and in some direc- and the routes along which slaves tions to semi-vassalage. There is are carried to the coast, are eloquent. a code of nations, which we call In- They rouse us like a photograph of ternational Law, which by common horrors, and awaken indigntttion election is recognized by all except and shame that make one "blush to savage and uncivilized peoples. call himself a man." China and Japan are obliged to concede to it support, and all who recog- .The quotations which the author nize the comity of nations as de- makesfrom Stanley's"Congo," while sirable or essential to common pros- graphic and powerful, are strongly perity must willingly or unwillingly supported by other testimony, E'till govern themselves by its require- more recent. Stanley wrote of a secments. tion which he said was a little greater than Ireland, inhabited by about a That this International Law is a conception of Christianity, and that *"The Arabs in Central Atrka and at Lake Nyassa." million of people. For eleven months coast of Tanganyika the entire popthe band of slave-hunters he was de- ulation has been swept away. The scribing had been on one continuous Arab traders have congregated in raid in this district. The traders ad- great force at the Nyassa end of the mitted they had "only" 2,300 cap- road from Tanganyika. These tives in the pen, after devastating thl'eaten the very existence not only 118 dllages and 43 districts. Stanley of the Scottish and other missions does some fierce ciphering, by which above these lakes but of the com- he shows that for five slaves got to paratively industrious population the market, at least a thom'and peo- amongst· whom they have made ple are slaughtered. quite. a successful beginning of civil- .. To obtain tbe~,500 slaves, out ofl18 villages they must have shot a round number of 2,500 ization. Rev. Mr. Scott, head of the people, while 1,:loo men died by the wayside through scant provisions and the intenSity of Blantyre Mission, sayR: their hopeless wretchedness. How many are wounded and die in the forest or droop to "The Arab slave trade is making frightful death through an overwhelming sense of their progress. Caravans of Arabs are pouring incalamities we do not know, but if the above lor trade? No 1 Hardly a bale of cloth goes up figures are trustworthy then the outcome from country from the east coast; it is guns and the territory with its millions of souls is 5,000 powder, uot eveu spirits. It is simply slaughtslaves obtained at the cruel expense of 33,000 er, and slanghter of thousands, and the desolives. And such slaves 1 They are females or lation of the fairest lands-lands where the young children who cannot run away, or who natives were at peace, where industry and with youthful indifference will soon forget the thrift and happiness ruled; where to get terror~ of their capture 1 Yet each of the very through one village you might start in the smallest infants has cost the life of a father, early mo~ning and not pass out of it till the sun and perhaps his three stout brothers, aud three was half-way down, journeying straight on; grown-up daughters. Au entire family of seven and these are now desolate. Fresh routes are souls have been done to death to obtain that opening up to them and the desolation is small, feeble, useless child:" spreading. It is not slaye-trade ; it is ruthless massacre of the most barbarous type." The district of which Stanley was The Roman Catholic Cardinal, writing lay to the the south of Stan- whom the London Spectator report- ed when speaking in that city, deley Falls, but in the other vast districts the horrors and cruelty and scribing these slave scenes, said: wrongs are quite the same. .. A few days of these hardships begin to tell South of Tanganyika toward Ny- even on the strongest. The weakest soon suc- cumb, and the weakest are naturally among aSEa this trade is spoken of by Mr. F. the women. But terror sometimes nerves M. Moil' in a paper which appeared even a weak frame to almost superhuman in the Scottish Geographical Maga- efforts; and the Arab slave-driver adopts a zine. He describes summary method of striking terror into the hearts of the laggards. ' In order to strike ter- "the wretched ovepburdened tied-up slaves. ror into this miserable mass of human beings, The men wllo might still have had spirit to try their conductors, armed with a wooden bar, to and escape were driven, tied two-and-two, in the economize powder. approach those who apterrible goree, or taming stick, or in gangs of pear to be the most exhansted, and deal them about a dozen each with au iron collar let into a terrible blow on the nape of the neck. The a long iron chain, many even so soon after the unfortunate victims utter a cry, and fall to the start staggering nnder their loads. grouud in the convulsions of death. The ter- rified troop immediately resumes its march. "And the women 1 I can hardly trust my- Terror has imbued eveu the weakest with new self to think or speak of them-they were strength. Each time anyone breaks down fastened to chains or thick bark ropes; very the same horrible scene is repeated.' This many in additiou to their heavy weight ot grain butchery goes on even in the, case of those and ivory carried little brown babies, dear to who manage to struggle on, as soon as the extheir hearts as a white man's child to his. The perienced eye of the slave-drivers see that double burden was almost too much, and still their streugth will not carry them to the coast. they struggled wearily on, knowing too well To save fooq, they receive a smashing blow that when they showed signs of fatigue, not from the mallet, and are left behind to a linthe slave~'s ivory, but the living child would gering death. The march sometimes extends be torn from them and thrown aside to die." over months, and such is the awful cal'Dage, •that it a traveler lost the way leading from For ninety miles along the south Equatorial Africa to the towns where slaves tlon. Is Central Africa to be given are sold, he could easily Ilnd it again by the over to the lust of the panderer and skeletons of the negroes with which it is the mercy of the sl,ave-fiend, or shall strown.' This prodigal waste of hnman life some determined effort be made to has in some districts so thinned the populati,on save It to civilization and Christianthat the slave-hnnters are obliged to nse strat- .agem to catch their prey. Their bands prowl ity? We are at least able to say that in the forests, and pounce npon the hapless this question is receIving the earnest women and children who go by. Things have thought of Christian men in Great reached such a pass near the great lakes that now, in the words of one of the cardinal's mis- Britain, and though one can read besionaries, • every woman, every child that tween the lines that with many Eurostrays ten minutes away from their village has peans there is the thought of the big no certainty of ever returning.' And the peo- market for European goods that lIes ple who are the victims of this cruel oppression are, according to the cardinal, kind, indnstri- above those lakes and beyond, or ons, amiable, and might be made, nnder hap- even the splendid territory that may, pier inflnences, the means of making those later on, supply an outlet for overparts of Africa one of the most prosperons stocked European states-while this regions or the globe. The country is very fer- is, we say, readily visible, yet the protile, and abounds in natnral resonrces. It pos- sesses three zones-first the lowlands along founder feeling and realinspiration to the sea-hoard of the Mediterranean, Atlantic, do something in the premises, lies and Indian Oceans. Toward the interior are with those who are acting under motwo plateans, one above the other, rising to ral and religious impulse, and seek- 2,000 feet and 4,000 feet respectively.'.'
Lately a band of these Arab slave ing the best interests of the African traders has even attacked one of the races. Eminent philanthropists, such British stations in NJassa-Iand, and as the Earl of 'Aberdeen, James Ste- continues to threaten them from phenson, Professor Henry Drum- stockaded villages within a few miles' mond, and others have organized distance: For a time the presence of what is termed the "Nyassa Anti- the missionaries on the lake borders Slavery and Defense Fund," with a seemed to restrain these wretches. view to placing on these trade routes But the Christian sentiment of and around these lakes and mission- Europe will not sustain missionaries, ary stations, a small but well- scarcely in forcible self-defense, for equipped military force, independ- themselves, refugees, or their native ently of all governments, to keep the Christians; and, the native slave- peace at least in that quarter. They hunter having found out that there are asking for $50,000 for the pur- is no gunpowder behind the mission- pose of organizing this sort of armed ary, is growing daily bolder and police; a comparatively small.army sweeping down on these tribes, of of such, it is said by those best able whom the missionaries have made to judge, at the head of well-dis- friends. The question is imminent- ciplined natives will be sufficient to not a question of to-morrow, but of repel these inroads on the communi- to-day-whether Central Africa IS to ties wnere the missions are estab- be left to this sort of Mohammedan lished.
civilization and up-lifting, as Canon The administration of the fund Taylor affects to call it, or whether will obtain the best advice of naval some power can come to the rescue of and military experts, as well as of these poor harmless native women civilians, whose knowledge of the and children? They need defense, country entitleB them -to speak wi'h not from any organized government, authority on African matters. Wide- but from organized banditti, who rob spread sympathy and aid is sought, and murder and ruin, and leave noth- and earnest prayer that God will mgfor anybody to rule; whose touch teach the Christian peoples how to is pollutIOn and their footstep desola- heal this" open sore of the world." General Missionary Oonference in Ohina, scientific literature; what has been done, in 1890. and what is needed; 3, Scientific terminol- WE are glad to know that the China missions have decided to hold ogy; present discrepancies and means of another General China Conference securing uniformity; 4, Centrallzation of on Missions in May, 1890. The pro- tract societies,a.nd needs of a general agent, gramme, as It appears in The Chinese Recorder of January, 1889, is as fol- a llbrary ot publication, and a descriptive lows: catalogue; 5, Christian periodical litera- F'trstday-t, Sermon, Rev. Griffith John; 2. Organization of Conference; 3, The ture; 6, Current Chinese literature; how Changed Aspect of China. far is it antagonistic to Christianity? Second day-The Scriptures: Historical snmmary of the different versions, with Ninth day-1. DIvision of the field; 2, their terminology and the feaRabiIity of securmg a single standard version in Wen· Ii Mutual co-operation; 3, Relation of Chriswith a corresponding version in the mandarin colloquial. Review of the varions tian missions to the Chinese; 4, Ancestral colloquial versions. worship and kindred obstacles to the spread Third day-t, The Missionary; his qnalifications, introduction to his work. and mode of Christianity. of life; 2, Lay Agency in Chinese Missions; to what extent desirable, and on what con- Tenth day-t, Direct results of missionary ditions ; 3, Historical Review of Missionary Methods, past and present, in China, and work III China, and statistics; 2, Indirect how far satisfactory; 4, Preaching to the heathen, in chapels, in'open air, and during results of missions; 3, Outlying nations and itineration. aboriginal tribes. Fourth day-t, General view of woman's work in China, and its results; 2, Girls, The evenings are to be devoted to sChools; 3, Best methods of reaching the women; 4, Feasibility of unmarried ladies lectures. Archdeacon Moule will engaging in general evangelistic work in new fields; 5, Best method of training Bible speak of ,< The Relation of Christian women for their work; 6. The Christian trainmg of the women of the church. Missions to Foreign Residents"; Fifth day-l. Medical work as an evangel- Rev. A. H. Smith will lecture on izing agency; 2, Medical missionary work in China by lady physiciaus ; 3, Orphanages, "How Chinese View Christianity"; asylums for the blind, deaf,.and dumb, and other <!haritable institutions; 4, Value and Rt. Rev. Bishop Burdon will speak methods of opium refuges; 5, Statistics and resolutions on the evils of'the use of opium. on "The Relation of Christianity to Sixth day-I, Methods of dealing with in- Universal Progress," and Bishop quirers, condItions of admissiou to church fellowshIP and best methods of discipline; Moule will preach on Sunday at the 2, Deepening the spiritual life, and stimulating the church to aggressive work; 3, cathedral. ' Best methods of developing self-support and voluntary effort; 4. How far should Chris. Japan Under Its Oonstitution. tians be required to abandon native CllStoms. IT almost takes one's breath, to read of the Emperor of Japan, with the Seventh daY-I, History and present con- sword, the jewel and the privy seal dition of mission schools, and what further before him, representing a reigning plans are desirable; 2, How best to adapt family whose first ruler was contem- Christian education to the present state of porary with Nebuchadnezzar, and a Chmese mind and life; 3, The best methods nation with a longer history than any of selecting and training efficient native nationintheWest, withrecordsreachassistants (preachers, school teachers, ing back to the time of Crcesus, on the etc.) ; 4. The place of the Chinese classics in 11th of February, the day on which, Christian schools and colleges. twenty-four centuries ago, the first . Eighth day-1, Report of School and Text- Emperor of Japan landed on Niphon book CommIttee; 2, Other religious and -to read, we say, that such a poten- tate did publicly, deliberately, volun- tarily,in the face of the world,change the settled habits and policy of cen- turies, and hand the scroll of a con- stitution to the Minister·President of Sta,te, and then withdrew while a hundred and one guns announced to the people of the realm that autoc- racy had ceased, and that the Em- , peror henceforth is to occupy a throne whose edicts must be countersigned by the consent of a Parliament,-to read, further,-that in a. la.nd where
THE MONTHLY CONCJi:RT OF MISSIONS
the edicts that prohibit" the evil sect when then disapproved. The Emperor appoints called Christians" have never been and dismisses the officials, and fixes their sala- withdrawn, but for 250 years have ries; he has the command of the army and read: "So long as the sun shall warm navy; power of makmg war, peace, and treaties; declares the law of siege; confers the earth, let no Christian become so titles of nobility, and so forth; orders amnes- bold as to come to Japan," that in ties, pardons and rehabilitations. The citizen, this land, without internal riot or re- on the other hand. is free to change his abode at will; cannot be arrested, searched for, or volt, without violence or subjection punished, except according to law; and is, of foreign arms, constitutional pro- within the same limits, entitled to the right of vision for religious liberty is peace- property, freedom of religious belief, of public fully inaugurated, and to recognize meeting, ofspeech and association, and has the that this has not so much been revo- right of petition. The Parliament consists of lution as evolution, and that within two houses, the Peers and the Representatives. a third of a century, is to peruse in The first are partly hereditary, partly nomi- the press of our day what is without nated by the Emperor for life, and partly elected a parallel in all the records of empire; for seven years by the highest taxpayers, with and what fairly compels in one a , the Emperor's approval. The house of Repre- statEi of suspense. It is as a "dream sentatives consists of 300 members, elected by when one awaketh." open ballot; its members must be thirty years of age, and must be paying annually fifteen yen Pending the fuller discussion of of national taxes; but army, navy, and police the features of this new constitution, officers, as well as prie~ts, are not eligible. The which is to come in the calmness fol voters must be twenty-five years of age, and lowing the first surprise that it has must be paying the same amount of taxes as really come at all; and its treatmen hose eligible; army and navy officers in active by men who are nearer to its merits .ervice cannot vote. The house sits for four and defects than we can be at this years, three months annually; but this term hour, we quote the following out- may be prolonged, or extra sessions called. line by the correspondent of the New Parliament discusses and votes the budget, and York Tribune: sanctions also all special expenditures; but from its power in this respect are excluded the imper- .. As regards the constitution, it declares with ial household and' expenditures incurred in the emphasis the inviolability of the Emperor and exercise of the powers reserved to the Emthe perpetuity of the throne. The legislative peror,' which means chiefly the salaries of the functions ofthe throne are to be exercised with officials and the expenses for army and navy. the consent of Parliament. From this the Em- When ParlIament fails to agree on the budget, peror can, when Parliament does not sit, devi- the Government has competence to carry ont ate only in case public safety demands it, but the budget of the years previous. Judges can any law so made must be submitted to Parlia- be appointed and removed by law only. The .ment at its next session, and becomes invalid Representatives and the nominated and elected Peers receive an annual salary of 800 yen each, together with their traveling expenses. to V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
THE subject for May IS Burmah, sive of the Laos people. The chief Siam and Laos and Buddhism. Com- town is Bangkok, with from 400,000 pare Vol. for 1888, pages 338, 373, to 600,000 inhabitants. All figures 387-90, etc., and Miracles of Missions are but an approximation. We take in this number. these from the best authorities we can LOWER BURMAH has an area of 87,- find, but they must be regarded as 000 square miles, with nearly 15,000 only a fair conjecture. Reliable data a: villages and towns, and population are not JBt available. The difficulty in 1881 of nearly 4,000,000. Upper is increased by the native practice of Burmah has more than twice the numbering males only.
area, about 190,000 square miles, with Siam occupies the central and larger fully 4,000,000. part of Indo-China, which lies be- SIAM has over 280,000 square miles, tween India and China, and includes and a population of 6,000,000, exclu- most of the Malayan peninsula, which runs down far into the ocean. very few changes, and those very Siam's territory almost touches the tardily. The inertia of the Siamese equator, and runs 1,350 miles toward and kindred people is due doubtless the pole, measuring 450 miles at its in part to the climate, which is enerwidest part. It is about as large as vating. They have few needs, and New England, with the four Middle these are easily supplied-but little States, or nearly as large as two such is required, either for food or cloth- States as Oregon. The Laos extends ing, and supplies are very cheap, fl'om about latitude 16 degrees to 24 rendering little labor necessary, and degrees N., and has a population esti- so tempting to laziness. Women are mated at from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000. in a comparatively free condition, Its limits are not very closely defined. the lirnitations of zenana life beIng The Mekong or Cambodia River unknown among Siamese and Lao~ traverses it, and the Saluen sepa- nese. Boats take the place of wheeled rates it from Burmah, both of them vehicles, and rivers are the roads for streams of considerable magnitUde. all lower Siam. The surface seems to be a valley intermediate between two parallel BliDDHISM has in Siam its center ranges running along the frontiers and citadel. Here this religious faith on the northeast and southwest. The is found in its purity; unmixed as in soil is fertile in vegetable products, China with Confucianism and Taoand valuable mines exist; even gold ism. Buddhism claims a remote anano precious stones may be found. tiquity, and seems to be about 2,500 The Laonese are lazy, but honest, years old. Its founder, Gautama, and much given to the study and wa.s called Buddha, the "Enlightcontrol of mag-ical arts, and in lan- ened" or "Illumined." He was unguage, manners and customs, and re- doubtedlya rare man, and his influligion resemble the people of Burmah. ence has been both widespread and marvelously permanent. For more Siam is inseparably associated with than a. thousand years Siam has had the white elephant-a variety not no other faith. And over one·half strictly white, but of a whitish of the human family it exercises an brown, bordering on a pinkish red. influence more or less despotic. The Siamese name for it is the "strange colored." Though highly It is both atheistic and materialishonored and revered, and associated tic, for it has no place in its creed for with the national flag, it can scarcely either a proper God or a real soul. be reckoned as an object of worship. Mo;;t of those who follow it have no word for God, and neither prayer nor A large proportion of the inhabi- worship in a proper sense finds room tants of Siam are foreigners-mostly in Buddhistic teaching. The craving Chinese. The Siamese are an amia- for objects of worship has to be supble race, and, like most naturally plied by importations from other amiable people, lack the energy and systems. Prayer is nothing more vigor of "sons of thunder." They than a mechanical monotonousform, are rather passive than active, very an intonation or incantation, which opinionated and somewhat deceitful. is supposed to have some mysterious Like the Chinese, they are obedient magical power, and which legitito parents and reverentia'l to the mately gives birth to the" praying aged, disposed to be peaceable and mills" used in Thibet, which, by the liberal. Mentally they are rather tUrn of a wheel on which is a magical receptive, but are not easily moved, form or formula, answers all the and do not move with rapidity even purposes of prayer as well as the when they get staded. Their civili- most laborious thought or agonizmg zation is largely fossilized,and admits speech. Although pure Buddhism !iupplies read into Buddhism, as in Arnold's no objects of worship, images of "Light of Asia." No doubt there Buddha are so common, and numer- are many lofty moral teachings in ous that one fane alone is said to Gautama's system as there were in contain and enshrine 14,000. Certain those of Epicurus and Zeno and features of Buddhism may be easily Plato. But it is obvious of them all kept in mind and memory. that they failed to uplift, redeem, save. Even the excellence of the 1. Atheism-a virtual dental of all standard does not arrest the moral propel' deity. declension of the followers.
2. Materialism-a direct denial ofall The priests, or monks, devote spirit or soul In man-and, of course, themselves to a meditative life, live of all spirituality or immortality. solely on alms, and beside all the revenue which goes to support the 3. Transmigration. All want and Siamese temples the priests use up woe in the present life may be-ac- some $25,000,000 ayear! This sum for counted for by the sins of a previous a people numbering in all less than existence; and every sin of the 8,000,000 makes an average of over present will be compensated by the $3 a year. At that rate the Ameri- wants and woes of other states and can nation would be paying annually stages of existence to follow. This $200,000,000 for the support of the may seem inconsistent with the de- clergy. Every man spends at least nial of personal immortality, but the part of his life as a priest. No won- Buddhist evades that inconsistency der that the system has a strong by the theory that, though every hold on the people and that the gos- human being ceases to be at death, pel makes slow progress in the dem- another existence begins at that in- olition of this false religion so in stant which is somehow historically contrast at every point with the gos- -and practically identical with it; in pel of Christ. a word, the death of the old and the birth of the new being are simulta- SELECTED PARAGRaPHS. neous, and there is a true succession of being thus kept up. This new THE ETHICAL VALUE OF A PAGAN RELIGION. birth may be in the form of man, beast, demon or angel. Each life THE test of ethical value in any religion is thus has both an end and a succession, the kind of character it tends to producEl. and heaven is the escape from this We will say character in two respects- succession-in the final slum bel' or average character aud ideal character. annihilation of Nepon or Nirvana. The second should be noticed first, since The highest good is no longer to live the ideal character in any religion must an individual life, but to be lost as a powerfully infiuence average character. drop in the sea. To some extent the ideal of character in a religion may be seen in that which is at- Buddhism prescribes the noble tributed to the deity that is worshiped. It path to this nirvana goal. It is by should seem that the conception allY people meditation on, life's hollowness and may have of what is best in humanity may shallowness until all desire of every always be inferred from what is regarded as sort dies out. proper to deity. The mythology of a people, in fact, indicates its apprehensions of what The proper symbol of Buddhism is belongs to the highest being. The ideal of the revolving wheel, as that of Chris- character is also seen in those whom pagan tianity is the cross, and that of Ma- teaching and pagan literature set forth as hommedanism is the crescent. Life- ideal men. This is especially the case where existence-is a revolution of the the ideal man is the teacher himself, stand- wheel, and perfect bliss is to have ing to his disciples in much the same rela- the wheel no longer revolve. tion, perhaps, as Jesus of NaZareth to those whom He taught. A conspICUOUS example Many Christian ideas have been S Buddha. Those who in these days, and in en·lightened lands, so unaccountably show a tendency to accept the founder of the Budd- hist faith as both an ideal teacher and aU ideal man, must be -1tran'gely blinded. Let Hindu Lingalll God," consisting of a chryso- us take him just as the books picture him to beryl cat's eye fixed in a topaz. and mounted us. The way in which he is represented as in a pyramidal base studded with diamonds entering upon his career illustrates the fatal and precious stones. This curious relic stood fallacy of his whole system. Does a man 2J4 inches in height. It was preserved for born to oe the ruler of a people owe nothing more than a thousand years in an ancient to them? Is not his life-work provided for temple at Delhi, where acts of devotion him in the very fact of being so born? Then were paid before it by women anxious to Buddha had other ties; ties with wife and have children. The base is of solid gold, child; ties with the father and the mother and around it are nine gem.. or charms, a whose only son and heir he was. Is it. after diamond. ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl cat's all. such a charming thing in him that he eye, coral, pearl, hyacinthe garnet, yellow casts off all these and goes roaming over sapphire and emerald. These gems are all the world a bare-footed beggar. preaching rudely carved, and would, no doubt, by – hi.. gospel of nirvana' The story can be more scientific cuttin!" be greatly improved told in poetry so as to be very pleasing; in value. Round the apex of this gold pyra- but apply to it those tests which are af- mid is a plinth set· with diamonds. On the forded in the hard facts of human life and apex is a topaz 1 10-16 inches in length and human duty. and what does it all become? 9·16 of an inch in depth, shaped like a horse- The ideal Buddha affords in his own person shoe; in the center of the horseshoe the is one which, if it were to be used in this !,reat chrysoberyl cat's eye stands upright.
world for other. than poetical purposes, This is 15-16 of an inch in height, and dark would take men everywhere out of their brown in color, and shaped like a pear. An spheres of duty and service; would make extremely mobile opalescent light crosses all manly virtues a crime; would change the length of the stone in an obliqne direc- the world's workers into puling, whimper- tion. When Bad Shah Bahador Shah, the ing ascetics; would make religion itself a last King of Delhi, was captured and exiled mask for selfishness, and morality the car- to the Andaman Isles, his Queen secreted cass of a dead dog. Buddha's boast was, this gem, and it was never seen again until, uI am no man's servant." Jesus said, "If being distressed during the mutiny, she sold any man would be great among you, let him it to the present owner. The gem was finally be the servant of all."-Dr. J. A. Smith. knocked down at £2,450.
SIR MONIER WILLIAMS'S account of ihe devotees of Yoga, a system of ascetic prac.. TEXTS ANn THEMES.
tices which existed before Buddha. suggests DANIEL xii: 3. "And they that be teachers shall a contrast between those fanatics and the radiate brightness as the expanse, and they that ordinary Christian believer. He tells how convert the many to righteousness as the stars he saw at Allahabad one who had main- forever, " etc.
tained a sitting postnre. his feet folded un- Babylon'. clear skies stimulated Daniel's Cas- der his body. for twenty years. During the dee teachers to study astronomy and led to the mutiny, while cannon thundered and bnllets worship of the stars. To them the firmament hissed around him, nothing apparently dis- was Deity. and its radiance the splendor of the turbed his attitude of profound meditation. Supreme.
To obtain" enlightenment" these devotees Our Lord applies these words from Daniel.
practice the strangest austerities, and Compare Matt. xiii : 43.
they seem to have the clearest hope of The first clause refers to the expanse by day: thereby reaching" emancipation of heart." the second to the glory by night. Thus sunlight Sir Monier has given fresh illustration of and starlight are used as illustrations of the that concentrated will-power in Orientals glory and reward of teaching truth and convert- which our Christianity may well envy. iog sonls. • Rational aims, indeed, are qnite at a disad- Sunlight is diffnsed and refiected and so be· vantage as compared with mystical hopes, comes a revelation. The true teacher dUfnses and asceticism is, on the whole, an easier and rellects the light of God and so reveals business than wise activity ; an empty mInd trnth and God to men. Starlight has grades of can attain-the saintship of the Yoga, but glory-and so converters of sonis durer in the keen mental energy is needful in order to measnres of their service and reward.
reach" the stature of the fullness of Christ. " This text thus snge;ests the glory of teacbing Yet if our fai th is to master Buddhism in the and turning souls. We are taught here aud in East it must show marvels of devotion; Psa. li : 13 the same lesson.
thus only can it win a nation of devotees. Teaching first: instrnction is the basis of all The Christian missionary does not find the evangelization and conversion. God calls every Indian people as they are found by the believer to be a teacher and converter.
fanatic Buddhist or Siva-worshiper, drunk Success hangs on the Message, the Hethods with a mystical hope. and the Man. We confine ourselvds to the THE great attraction of a late sale of Bur- Me88aQ6.
~se and Indian curios in London was" The 1. The gospel and nothing less and nothing
EDITORIAL NOTES
else. The central theme: .. Chrillt CruCified." gospel must first be a sword opening up the hid- All preaching starts from and returns to that. deu part, then" mirror to show us our inner self. It Is nO narrow theme, but a "swivel gun" that maY'beswung in any direction aud directed 8. An aggressive gospel. The true preacher . to every practical issue of life. or teacher is not one who keeps on the defeu- sive.. In a game, the moment one is on the de. 2. Afullgospel: .. All Scripture is profitable" fensive the game is against him. So in war. The most successful ministers and missionaries Skillfnl strategy demands that the general keep have preached the whole couusel of God, espe- the enemy busy defending himself. God never cially these eight fundamental truths: The In- meant we .honld be nsing spades and throwing spired Word, Man's Depravity, Christ the only up intrenchments. Let us leave apologetics Saviour, J nstification by faith, The new Birth, and energetically carry the war into the enemies' Personal Holiness, God's Hatred of Sin, Future territory. Punishment. These are first principles of the doctrine of Christ. Heb. v : 12 to vi : 2. There 4. .A. cumulative gospe~. True preaching is a are two edges to the sword of the Spirit-an pyramid-the basis laid firm, broad, square; edge of law and one of grace; and hence one then stone upon stone, layer upon layer, all con- piercing point in which those edges meet. The verging toward a climax. Unity and continuity of impression are thus conserved.
VI.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
WE have received the report of management of the Church Mission- the" Association for the Free Dis- ary SOCiety. . The income of the tribution of the Scriptures." Office, society last year was nearly £222,000.
No.1, Oak Hill Park, Hampstead, It il5 rumored that nearly £50,000 was L~mdon, N. W. We have no hesita- spent before any of the money was tion in commending to the sympathy paid out for mission work. This and support of our readers this ex- society was foundedatthe beginning cellent institution. Its founders and of the century. It has numerous supporters regard it as a fatal hin- missions in Western Africa, India, dranceto tbe wide spread of the Word Egypt, Persia, China, New Zealand, of God that the Bible shall only be America, the North Pacific-all over sold; and maintain that in millions the world, in fact. It has 294 stat.ions of cases persons will never possess or in all; ul'ward of 500 missionaries even read the 'Vord unless it comes in holy orders, and 3,700 European to them as a free gift. There is no and native teachers of aU sorts.
antagonism with existing Bible so- There are complaints of other mis- cieties; but the attempt is to supple. sionary societies as to extravagant menttheirworkby a free distribution home expenditure. Even tbeLondon among those whosepoverty orapathy Missionary Society, whose manage- prevent their purchasing copies. ment was regarded by Canon Taylor The names of the committee are a as contrasting favorably with that of sufficient warrant for the organiza- the Church Missionary Society, has tion. Where such men as Major-Gen- not escaped criticism; and complaint • eral Graydon, James E. Mathieson, as made in The Methodist Times that Robert Paton, etc., lead, most of us £30,000 of the income of the Wesleyare safe in following. The annual ian Society is spent at home.
number of Bibles, Testaments, etc., For ourselves we are glad to have from all existing societies reaches these matters thoroughly ferreted but 8,000,000, i. e., two million less out. If there be anything that will than the annual inCl'ease of the not bear exposure, that is w hat needs world's population.-A. T. P .. exposure. Meanwhile we put on record our confidence that it will be THE recent assaults on missions found that no work done in the way and missionary societielb have had at of benevolence will prove on the least onfl good result. For instance, whole more economically done than it is proposed that a full and search- that of missions j while at the same ing inquiry shall be made into the time we believe there might be no little improvement in administration. Mr. Moody's Training College in We believe that the time will come Chicago is especially designed toftt when for the love of the cause men for evangelistic work in great cities.
will be found who can and will give -A.T.P.
their services as secretaries and treas- THE recent decease of the Dowurers; or when special funds will be ager Lady Kinnaird in London has provided for administration so that removed from Christian and philanevery dollar contributed may go thropic work one of God's noblest directly to the mission field.-A. T. P. handmaidens. She was equally de- WE have received a number of let- voted to Home and to Foreign Mis- sions, and city evangelization. She ters of which the following may serve led in the Indian Female Normal School and Instruction Society, the as a specimen; . Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, St. John's School, Westbourne Park, Please furnish for your r-eadersan article touching the what, the where, the when, and the how, of such a preparatory course for Foreign Mission Work as increasing , for training girls for domestic ser- hundreds are longing to get. vice, in the London Young Women's General information is desired on such Chrilltian Association, which has 140 matters as these: For what field should I prepare? What branches with 15,000 members. She should such preparation involve f Where was . in fact hundred-handed and can I best secure it? At now little cost f hundred-hearted. To the last day of In how little time f Is there, or is there to her life she, with her noble daughters be, any institution where foreign languages, and son, the Earl of Kinnaird, was taught by natives of the foreign fields, can engaged in every work that sought be acqujred by those who give themselves to snch fields f Are there any traininll' the up-lifting of man.-A. T. P.
schools the curriculum of which shall pro- vide the best special equipment for stUdents Progress in the Patna. Oase. who cannot attempt the .. full course," .. regular," etc. Fraternally, Now that the case of the Christian girl Luchmin has passed from the JAMES P. LUDLOW, To ask questions is easier than to magIstrate, Mr. Quinn, to the High answer them. But we are glad to Court in India, we are rapidly getting give what information we can. nearer to the goal which all who Rev. W. B. Osborn and Mrs. S. B. have worked for the girl have had in Osborn, formerly missionaries in view-her salvation from a life of India, are in charge ot the Bradbury immorality to which the magistrate Memorial and Missionary Training had consigned her.
Institute, cornel' Raymond and Will- The High Court at Calcutta, in January, issUfJd / oughby streets, Brooklyn, N. Y. By a rule calling upon the magistrate to show cause why his order which consigned the girl applying to this address, catalogues to an infamous life should not be set aside. and circulars may be obtained giving The case came on for argument on Monday, all needful information, They under- Feb. 18, and the High Court not only pushed .• take special training for the mission- aside the magisterial order, bnt took a step ary field, and look directly to the Lord toward recovering possession of the child, as for support. They undertake to have will be seen from the following telegram which we have received from India: the languages of foreign fields taught "BOMBAY, 20-2-89.
by native teachers, etc. " A. S. DYER to Sentinel, LoNDON. A training school of a somewhat " Rule issued on Radakissen and Mahatabo to show cause 'Why order should not be made to different character is established at restore status quo, and give back Luchmln to Springfield, Massachusetts, under mission, or other suitable order. "
charge of Rev. David Allen Reed. It will be remembered by our readers that We advise all persons who desire in- Radakissen is the man who falsely claimed to formation to apply directly to these be the husband of the girl, and Mahatabo Is parties. the girl's mother who sold her to Radakissen. They are the two to whom the, magistrate consigned her. Our chief anxiety now is lest the Says the N. Y. Evangelist on this lI:irl, who was carried off by her captors.directly same subject: they got hold of her, shall not be fouud. But with the order of the High Court before it dem- " From entirely reliable religious papers in onstrating the iniquity of Mr. Quinn's unjns- India, the Evangelist gathers some unpleasant tifiable order, the Indian Government must see facts regarding the teaching required in such of that it is bound to exert itself to the utmost to the so-called missionary schools of that country find her, that she may be set free. as received aid from the Government, and of the results of that teaching. A professedly mission- The Anglo-Indian papers have been asserting ary journal declares that because such teaching that the Government had authorized Mr. Quinn may involve political dangers, the British Govto prosecute Mr. A. S. Dyer for his determined ernment should not continue the teaching of the championship of this girl's cause. The decision Bible in subsidized misEionary schools. The oC the High Court that Mr. Quinn was wrong same Government, however, sees no danber in demonstrates that Mr. Dyer was right. We making a sacred Hindu book a textbook in snch shall therefore now hear nothing more of these schools, and keeps it in them. Missionaries suggestions of a Government prosecution, bnt teach from it for the sake of retaining a Governmay expect a Government condemnation and ment subsidy. The result is that a good educaremov"al of Mr. Qniun.-The Sentinel (March). tion and a Government appOintment are gener- -J.M.S. ally the sol~ objects of young men in some snb- sidized mission schools, who reinain heathen be- Missionary Schools in India. cause from these school the Bible is carefully excluded. This statement is confirmed by the We can scarcely credit the an- fact that when more than a dozen young men nouncement, though supported by from such schools recently appeared for examofficial statements, that the Indian ination m mental and moral philosophy, and as Government excludes the Bible from candidates for the decree of A. M. from the Uniits public schools on the pl'etext that versity of Calcutta, not one took np the papers it is "'neutral." But we are ready on the Evidences ofChristianity which had been to believe that, and a great deal selected for Utem by the authorities. Under more, when we learn that it admits these circumstances, the Free Church of Scotinto those same schools the idola- laud has decided, according to The lndian trous and idolatry-teaching" Rama- Witne88 to close its school at Poonu, and the yan " as a class-book in Hindi; and Canadian Indian College at Indore is to be closed that, in order to secure the Govern- this month."-J. M. S. ment grant, professed missionaries of Christ make this same book a part Samoa. of their teaching in what are known as the "Sixth Standards "of their There is no one island called Samoa: the missionary schools. Replying to name is applied only to the eutire grouD of ten those who, for this reason, demand islands, often called the Navigator Islands. The the extincti9I of all missonary col- great French navigator,LaPerouse, who visited leges, a prominent Indian paper, these islands in 1787, had one of his officers and The Eastern Star, very properly de- ten of his men massacred, and while bitterly clares that the true remedy for this denouncing them for their "atrocious manunnatural condition does not lie in ners," declared it •• one of the finest couutries the abandonment of the higher ed- in the universe." A similar testimony was ucation of Indian youth to the hands given by other navigators who visited these isof whatit styles" a neutral secular lands before their evaugelization. government," but in the thorough reconstruction of missionary schools But all of the islands that form the group are on a sound evangelical basis, and in now professedly Christian. The first missiona return to the old missionarymeth- aries, Williams and Barff, reached Samoa in ods and standards of Duff, Anderson, 1830, and very rapid progress was made In and Wilson. And the sooner there Christianizing the islands. Heathenism is now is, in this matter, what the Irishman a thing of the past, and there are 200 villages is saId to have called an "advance in which native pastors are supported by the backwards," the better will it be for people. Besides supporting the native pastors, the cause of Protestant missions in the native churches have contributed on an av- India, and for India. erage during the last twenty years $6,000 per anuum to the funds of the London Missionary Society, which numbers 27,000 adherents. The Wesleyan Mission have 5,000, and the French priests claim 3,000. The population of the is- lands is now 35,000, an increase since 1843. Iu seven years after the entire Bible was printed in their lauguage an edition of 10,000 copies was sold and the British and Foreign Bible So- ciety has received from sales the entire amount of its outlay, $15,571. Some years after another and is spent in the Home field. About revised edition was published, of 10,000 copies, three per cent. for the world's evanwhich is now exhausted. The natives had gelization by the most Christian na- tion in the world, in this wonderful never seen a piece of money when the mission nineteenth century. was started. Now there are English, French, G<lrman and American stores, and from $250,- Judge Tucker, of Futtepoor, served 000 to $500,000 worth of native produce goes long in India, giving to missions into the stores of these merchants in exchange $200 per month. Beingremonstrated for clothes and other necessary articles. with for his liberality, he replied: These facts lend great interest from a missionary point of view to the Samoan matter, which now occupies the joint attention of the "Here are 86,000,000 adult populathree leading governments of the world. It is tion; 5,000 die daily-every day's alllrmed that on account of rivalry for the chief- delay meaus5,000souls." Would that tainship, and feuds growing out of it, the bulk of all judges viewed the question thus. the people, and evell the chiefs, long for foreign help and protection. These islands ofthe South There are a great many promises Sea, so recently converted from savage barba- to give to the Lord's cause that are rism to Christianity by English missionaries, only evasions of present duty. A deserve the sympathy and prayers of Christen- Cambridge, England, theologue, dom. It is obvions that the triumph of the when he told the story of the Good German policy would work injury to mission- Samaritan, after reciting the good sry interests in that part of the world.-J. M. S..
Dr. HENR Y M. SCUDDER relates a man's promise to the host, "And case of orientai justice that cannot be outdone for sharp and subtle dis- when I come again I will repay criminations even by a Philadelphia jurist. thee," wound up with: "'l.'his he said, knowing he should see his face no more." , " Four men. partners in business, bought HORACE says: "Who shall forbid some cotton bales, That the rats might not me laughing to speak the truth?" destroy the cotton they purchased a cat. On the question of the growing gulf They agreed that each of the four should own a particular leg of the cat; and each between the churches and the peoadorned with beads and other ornaments ple, WP have clipped the following the leg thus apportioned to him. The cat, suggestive epigram on a fashionable by an accident, injured one of its legs. The London church, from a foreign exowner of thart member wound about It a rag soaked in oil. The cat going too near the change: , fire. set the rag on fire. and. being in great pain, rushed in among the cotton bales .. In a church which is garnished with mullion where she was accustomed, to hunt rats and gable, The cotton thereby took fire and was burned up. It was a total loss, The three other With altar and reredos, with gurgoyle and partners brought a suit to recover the value groin. of the cotton against the fourth partner who owned the particular leg of the cat. The penitents' dresses are sealskin and sable, The odor of sanctity's Eau-de·Cologne ; uThe judge examined the case, and decided thus: 'The leg that Bad the ,oil rag But snrely, if Lucifer. flying from Hades, on it was hurt: the cat could not use that Were to gaze on this crowd, with its panniers leg, in fact, it held up that leg, and ran with and paints, the other three legs •. The three unhurt legs, therefore, carried the fire to the cotton, and He wonld say, as he looked on the lords and the are alone culpaple. The injured leg is not ladies, • Ob, where is All Sinners, if this is All Saints?' "
CANON TAYLOR, who has been fig- to be blamed. The three partners who uring as the critic of methods purowned the three legs with which the cat sued' by Foreign Missionary Socieran to the cotton will pay the whole value ties, is thus dealt with by a brother of the bales to the partner who was the pro- clergyman who sent the following prietor of the injured leg.'"
to the Record (London). Its force IS FINANCIAL FACTS.-At present ful- none the less from its being ad hom- ly ninety-seven per cent. of all mon- inurn, as the Canon's criticisms have eys collected for religious purposes been of that character.
ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS. [MAY
Sm: Canon Taylor, in the Fortnightly Re· of the value of souls abroad, connting his friends view, judges, by comparison of expenditure the Mohammedans, and souls in SettringtOD. with results, mission effort to have failed. He The discovery is striking, and to Settrlngton counts non-Christian p~ople at 920,000,000, and folk most flattering. The heathens at J.2d. a estimates the annual outlay for their conversion head are amply provided for; at Settrlngton at 2,000,000; that is, 11. for each460, or rather they required 11. 68.1%d. to be annually supplied mOre than an annual half·penny a head. Yet for their pastoral supervision. Surely the Can· he says, "Clearly there is no lack of men or on's friends abroad may justly take umbrage means." I accept the Canon's statistics with· that their souls are estimated by him in value at out question. I shall admit one half·penny a 1-627 of the value of the folk of Settrington! head as amp:e ontlay for the conversion of the I omit, to preserve the simplicity oCthe compar· heathen. Now as to the valUe of souls at home. ison, snch other factors of the eqnations as the I find from Crockford, 1887, that the income of enormous dilllcnlty of the task of Christianiz· Canon Taylor's benefice is (net) 1,048/. and ing people ont of heathenism contrasted with house. I find also that the population of his keeping Christian a parish Christianized so parish is 802. Now, as, presumably, the Canon many ceuturies ago. It is, indeed, humiliating having so keen a sense of the wasteful expen· to enter into such statistical contention with the diture of money on modern missions; considers clergyman in question. But he has appealed 1,048/. and a house not excessive payment for to figures and statistics; to figures and statistics the spiritual care of 802 souls, we arrive at once he must go-Suo silJi gladio huncjugulo. at the difference between the Canon's estimate GEORGE ENSOR.
VII.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK AND STATISTICS.
Ohina Inland Mission.
STATISTICS OF THE MISSION FOR JANUARY, 1888.
MISSIONARIES. NATIVB .,; HELPKRS. . … iii ,,; iii g>" t< ., "() o:l .~ .;0:; .,; iii m $"G .. o:liii .Q iii .,; ".s::: '0 ] .~"0 .s <Ii .S iii .~c ..0c: o:l El ~ Q El .~ "" " ] ."" .0….,:;:l00-o;.;i ~ .:J Q Q) ::< El u QI 0 — — –"- — -°- — — — —- — — — Po<~0-~ -… 0 00 ';5. r'.". :8 ~ is 0 rn 15 64 65 274 61 61 59 66 2,105 18 3 5 16 — . Associate Reformed Presbyterian Ohnrch, 1888. MISSION- '0 ,,; ARIES. '0 0 .0: 0 —————– .::sj" – – -"- "..". ;" . MISSION. ~"d tti Q ,,; .,; .,; ,..,.; c .,; .0<-: iii .si OJ ~ o:l -<;I;i :" ~Z"~ o;""&Q '":: .c .8 ..~cc .'0c 00 ~ ~ .0.Q.:. El ;e .~~, -:8- '~ — ~ .'0c -00- ::< :0'"1 Q -S – Q -~ – .0: -«-i -00- U -00- -00- ME"xico ……………. 5 2 1 3 I> 206 10 7 14.~ 2 33 Amount raised by Ladies' MissIOnary Society ……………………………….. 82,969 Amount raised by Young People's Society…………………………………… 604 The effect of ~he climate seems to have been unusually depressing, almost all, both foreigners and natives, baving suffered from disease. The well-nigh universal licentiousness among the people constitutes the great obstacle. Still with prayer and faith they labor on, sure of a blessing and success at last.
Methodist Protestant Ohurch, 1888.
~ MISSIONARIES. .i.i.i … "" " ~ . "" MISSION. o:l ~ ..ci£,ii ~ -<;I;i 0p:;: iii Q iii .,; .>, . o.i ~ ~ El ~ ..Qc.. '8 '0 ~ ~ ~ ~ :;; 00 :8 .u:c:< ::< 0 .c 0… () ~ .0: u0 () Po< .:1 () 00 00 — — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Japan……………… 3 's 7 8 279 I> 348 $16,000 $20,000 " The Board of Foreign MISSiOns IS located at Sprlllgfield, OhiO. The Wom/lon's Board at Pittsburgh, Pa. The society 18 only ten years old, but 1S pushmg Its work as best It may. The Medical Missionary Association, South American Missionary Society.
London, Tws was institutedby membersof the Chureh of England, first as the Patagonian Mission in REPORTS up to April, 1888, the receipt of 184~, but was subseqnently enlarged in its seope £1,064, and expenditure of £909, leaving a and no… inclndes missions to the Falkland balance of £155, most of which is pledged to Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Argentine Republic, certain undertakings not yet commenced. ' Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Chili. Under its general auspices are medical missions at A.den, Kashmir, Rome and Tan- The list of missionaries in the service of the gier. society includes 9 ordained clergymen, 12 lay and 6 female hy missionaries and helpers; also, TheSecretary,James L. Maxwell, writes: the captain and crew of five of The Allen Gar- .. With us it is still the day of small things, diner, a F'lip constantly employed in evangelisthough we rejoice to ackilowledge the Lord's tic service, CJ well as to keep lip communicaprospering hand. Justnow we have five fir, tion betwer'l the different stations. The total fellows, who are at various stages of their disbursements during the year 1887 were £12,. four years' course in medicine before going 880; the receipts, £12,415; showing a deficit of to the foreign field, and we are busily en- £465. Thi~ seoms to have been due entirely to gaged in promoting our Fifth Medical mis- the falciug off of reeeipts from le;ucles. sion in London, the fifth in three years." The prineipal work accomplished by this The Edinburg Medical Missionary society seems to he among the seamen of the Society. different ports and the fo"reign residents, but thoy are constantly pushlr..; out among the Tum report for the year closing Nov. 1, 1888, native popnlation and meeting with gratifying shows expenditures as follows: success. Mission House, Training Institution and The Rhenish Missionary Society Dispensary ………………•……….£2,746 Support of Medical Missions at Nazareth, REl'ORTS for the year ending Easter, 1888: Receipts ………………….$8.'l,362 Damascus, Agra, aud toward other Med- Expenditures ……………. 82,985 ical Missions.,……………………. 1,942 Diffusion of information as to Medical Balance …. , ……. ..•.•….. $877 Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . • 153 Separate Fund for New Guinea ……$13,054 Priuting, advertising, etc……….. ..•… 287 Outlay. . .. . . . . …. .. . •…. . . •.. . .. 5,149 Total. ……………………. , ….. £5,128 Balance…………………….. $1,905. Income ……………………………. 4,702 Deficit ………………………….. £426 Missionary Board of the African Meth. There are 62. medical missionaries, formerly studeuts of this society, connected with mission odist Ohurch.
stations in all parts of the world. Four of these THIll quadrennial report of this society for the are supported by the SOCiety itself, the remain term commenCing June, 1884, aad ending April, del' are connected with one or another of the 1888, shows an interestin:; advance in the work various miSSionary societies of England and undertaken by j~ in Hayti, Sin Domingo, and Scotland. Many of these are indebted to this Sierra Leone.
society, not merely for the impulse that sent The work in the West Indies is carried on in them forth, but for s.ubstantial aid in the pur- the face cf great opposition from the Catholics, chase of medicines, etc., etc. and hence its SUCC03S is all the more encollrag- ing.
The work in Freetown, Sierra Leone, was The London Association in Aid of the commenced by Rev. J. R. Frederick in 1886, and has been enlarged by the establishment of a Moravian Missions. mission in the interior, on the Scarcies River.
Tum report shows a total of receipts for the The king of the country donated ten acres of year 1887 of £4,656. It has, of course, no statis- land to the enterprise.
tics of the work separate from those furnished Foremostamong the agencies that have helped in the Moravian Almanac. Its work is, how- on the work has been the Ladies' Missionary ever, none the less important. The peculiar Mite Society.
work accomplished by the :Moravian missions The total disbnrsements have been: needs no special words of acknowledgment, For the first year …….. , ………$3,522.27 for it is well known. It is not so generally For the second year. . .. . .. …….. 4,030.88 recognized that milch of their widespread Ilse- For the third year ……………… 4,770.76 fulness Is dne to the hearty practical SIlPPOrt of The statement for the fourth year was not earnest English Christians. complete. Statistios of the Ohurohes of the Disciples of Ohrist IN HONTANA TERRITORY FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 1. 1888.
I Af omr ' t rLaoisceadl Am't raised Am't for Home Total IJhurches. Preach's. Members. S.Schools. Schol's. Ohurch and and Foreign lor all Pur- – – – – – – S. S. Work. Missions. poses. .—- ———–,— -6291 $11,484.38 $1,103.16 $12.g58.0!l 11 7 551 9 In five and a half years the value of church 'property has risen from $1,600 to $50,310. • The average per member of the 411 disciples organized for work is $31.52. Besides tais the C. W. B. M. contributed about $5,000 for this year's work in Montana.
STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS.
-According to the" Baptist Year-Book for Protestant Ohurch, 123,000,000. Besides 1889" that denomination has in the United these, there are about 100 sects or smaller States 21,420 ordained ,ministers, 32,900 divisions claimiug to be' Ohristians, with churches, 2,997,7.1 members, and i,l58,502 eight million adherents. Of the nonscholars in Sunday-schools; 601 new socie- Christians, 8,000,000 are Jews, 120,000,000 are ties have been organized during the past Mohammedans. Among the heathen reli- gions, Brahminism is the most wide spread, year, and a::J churches have been dedicated. and embraces about 138,000,000 adherents, and its younger offshoot, Buddhism, em- AccOl;dlng to these figures the Baptists ded- braces 503,000,000. Other heathen religions icate nearly one new church for every day have 135,000,000 adherents. There are thus in the year, and baptize 369 persons on an yet over one thousand millions of souls who averagd each day. are not Christian I -The year!" statistics of the Baptist -Th~ missionary contributiohs of all church<:s of Great 1 ritain for 1888 show an British societies for the last year amount· increase In the membership of the denomi- ed to $6,143,795. The following were the pation. Ther" are now 2,645 churches and sources: 3,591 ch:;pols and preaching stations ill England and Wales. These provide accommo- 1. Ohurch of England, tVenty. dations for 1,180,(67 worshipers. In England three societies………………….$2,306,180 there :;rc 1,3=~ ordained ministers, and In Wales 37;;. The communicants are said to 2. Joint societies of Ohurchmen be 209,558 in England, and 75,891 In Wales. and Non·Oomformists, seven In In Scotland there are 101, and in Ireland 20 number (including Bible and tract churches. The aggregate returns for the societies). .. . .• •• . . . . . . . . . . . … .. . .. . 935,240 whole of the United Kingdom give 2,770 . 3. English and Welsh Non-Conchurch"s and 3,745 places of worship, with a formist societies, eight in 0.11…… 1,835,575 membership of very nearly 300,000. In th" Sunday-schools there are 352,167 scholars. 4. Six societies of Scotch and with 45,977 teachers. Dr. Booth, Secretary Irish Presbyterians…•…………. 1,014,700 of the Baptist Union, gives a statistical summary of 13aptist churches throughout 6. Five Roman Catholic missionthe world. These he sets down at 37,478, with ary societies in Great Britain…… 52,100 a total membership c1 3,326.542, which shows a marked illcrease on the similar summary Total. ••• .. . . . … . …………… $6,143,795 made four years ago. The total numlar of Ita1y.-Wuttke gives the following statis- Baptist ministers and missionaries, in all tics of Evangelical Ohristians among the parts of the world, is 22,150. 01 these, 1,755 Italians; There are 16,500 W",ldenses. Most re..lde in England and Wales, of whom 1,~o7 of these are found in the old churches of the are returned as members of the total absti- valleys but there are also new churches in nence society. cities, namely, one in Milan with 326 com- municants, one in Turin with 317, and two in -Tue most carefully compiled and best Florence with 325. The Free Church of Italy general statistical work is Daniel's" Lehr- has 71 churches and stations, with 1,580 buch der Geographie." The number of in- members. The Plymouth Brethren have 50 habitants on the globe is about 1,435,000,000. small congregations; the Wesleyans, 55 There are 3,064 distinct languages and dia- congregations and stations, and 1,380 memlects known. There are about 1,100 different bers; the Methodist Episcopal Ohurch, 20 religions. There does not exist a single peo- congregations and 5 stations, with 950 memple which is without a religion of some kind. bers; the Baptists have 53 stations and 870 Even the lowest on the social scale have some members. Tbere are, besides, a few small religious idea, howev"r crude. Ohristianity missions in differtlnt parts of the country. has C,~,OOO,OOO adheren ts. ":'ae Roman Catho- The statistics of the German, English, lic Church numbers 208,000,000, the Greek or American and French churches are not Oriental Orthodox Church, 83,000,000; the given. The total number of Italian com- municants in the Evangelical churches s 22,OOO.-Dr. J. H. W. Btuckenberg. By REV. H. LooMIS. No. 42 BIBLE HOUSE, YOKOHAMA.
.; – ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ .~ fg:-a9i ~ ~ ~ O§ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ 00 ~00 ..cI a! 1lJ .t- g s i = NAME OF MISSION. 'rj C,) CIl 00 00 .oat :-== .z -aj – – -l>- -!.E:3- -:- – — -'"- -,-..-. -:-: -:-:-:-: sa! 8 Presbyterian Church in the U. S..• .j..)P-I Q) – ~ ~~C,) g ~ ~~~ oj "~'a;4tS~,.S~£r):n1"'~S~~d~).'G~J9aJ.:i.l:ZQ')0s8t)'~:i9rb::. S..~Q.lfG1d.~.I)..l·.~:~.~~..:.:~~~cr~,/..}~.§~t~£t~lc8'~'1S~~3O1,oo.~.:~1g8);p:§tts:li:;t:'.r'bC~~3~Qllo)tI8§c~~~.' " oj ~o· ~ ~ -L~ ~-. ~ ~ ~ ….. <3 rc Q3 A '~dI. ..c:; ~0 ''~0b00C0e. ).'000~b0o.O~·~.Q0~..~0.. ;;: S'" S 5 tl tl '" ~ .~.2 == § rq §…a;~~:i j : I00 ~ Q~ .~8 ~.".S~.e.. ='gQGf..)l e~rPQ-n). ~S"(0~l):o~t0~ ~ioO.~~0.o~ 0~~..~~.;..-.a~SQ~~!~aC,) :r.~:g; S~': Q ".~d~;.;~• ~ ~ A .0~ c8 f .090 ~:0 N Pl ~ ~'tl rtl al <Il (/J!il (/J ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 -::; ~'S.
–;i -222 64 "6 –;i 1 – -:-: -:-: – '5 Reformed Church in America…… …………. 10 1 5 26 4 20 …. .. …. .. .. .. .. :: .. :::::::: Union Presbyterian Church of Scotland.. , "… 2 ,. .. 4 1 4 .. .. .. United C hCuhrucrhc ho fi nCthhle' iUs tniint eJda Sptaant e(sN. .a t.i v. .e .)*. .. ,… Reformed . · 4 2 10 137 61 28 33 1,937 221 100 75 50 8,690 2;057 61 4:000 1 44 36 41 '3 '2 :W..:.3.i.ii.'i!.3. 3 148 16 719 1 15 7 7 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. (South)…… 4 2 4 14 2 11 … .. … . …. …. …. . … 21 •…… . Women's Union Missionary Soc'yof America., ,. 5 1 1 i04 Cumberland Presbyterian Church………….. 4 4 12 3 '5 7 202 7 '500'48 American Protestan t EpiscopalChurch…….. 9 2 9 29 7 i4 47 13 9 3 2 :j:513 280 .. 6 1…. 4 31 3 34 18 4 406 87 753 559 14 695 1 20 1 43 .. 10 1,907 22 Church Missionary Society….. …………….. 11 5 6 21 25· 2 23 383 123 89 134 294 1 27 :; 12 .. 1 1.560 02 7 1,329 210 15 Society for the Propagation of the Gospelt…. 2 6 3 13 2 6 4 .. 4 100 .. .. .. .. :j:5O() 300 2 75.. 4 2 5 .. .. 350 00 Society for Female Education in the East.. …… 2 2 1 .. .. .. .. …. .. .. .. .. … 66 1 30… .. . . .. .. ,. .. …… l~!~~Itc;,hB~~fis~1iM:~~ona~YU;;i;;~::::::::::: ii~J …~ ~ ~ 875 ioo 's '9 10 iiJ :: iiJ '206 :: .'.i .. 52 200 1 '9 '4 .. :: .. i:002'si English Baptist Church……………………. ~ .. 4 1 19 2 .. 2 40 '2 175 62 1 2 '4 .. '..i ChurchofChrist…………………………… 2 8 2 3 1 . . 1 50 '5' 9 130 90 3 67 '" .. J 153 53 .. 12 67 97'66" 4 400 '1' 1 4 2 1 1500 Christian Church of America…….. ……….. 1 'n ;.;, 2 100 i .. 3645 Am, Board of Commissioners tor For. Mis ….. , 25 '" "" 79 132 2 50.. 5 3 1 :; 8 84 45 40 5 2,114 10 -B5 .. 95 7,093." 48 3,500 86 4E 64 .. .. 31,02200 Independent Native Churches……………… '1' .. .. .. .. 12 2 2 . . 25 10 .. .. ,. 150 ." 1 60.. .. 1 1 .. .. 40000 Congregationalist, U. S, A … ,……………… .. 1'4' 2 1 '7' 15'9' 15'6' .. .. … … .. … '2' 25 3'7' '3' iii American Methodist Episcopal Church……… 18 1 51 9 34 49 42 947 131 75 3,059 2,293 62 3,746 31 a:827'oi Canada Methodist Church…………………. 9 1 6 25 2 3 9 2 7 380 61 15 3 '32 1,462 450 19 1,177 1 11 5 19 .. 6 2,150 00 Evangelical Association of North America….. 3.. 3 1 2 5 .. 5 90 30 25 7 16 266 34 11 460 1 17 5 13 .. 6 3~969 51 Methodist Protestant Chnrch……. ………… 3 .i; 11 2 2 2 .. 2 4IPl' 1295 American Methodist Episcopal Ch. (South)…. 5 3 1 14 3 9 5 .. 5 55 3 2 .. .. 162 261 3 217 5.. 4 .. 1 88 6 3 6 .. 163 62 15 357 1 7 .. .. .. 1 General Evangelical Prot. (German Swiss)….. 1 1 .. 3 1 1.. 1 41.. ';' 'I' 'i 82 '1'8' 1 35 1 4 .. …. 10200 Society of Friends, America.. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . 2 .. .. 4 1 2 1 .. 1 . .. . .. '" 25 2 118 .. .. .. 2 . . . . 13 40 Unitarian…….. ………………………….. 1 .. .. 2 1 .. .. .. .. …. .. .. .. .. … … .. … .. .. .. .. .. .. .. …. .. – – – – – – – – . u………… — . – – – – – – – – – – – – 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Total, 1888 ………………. 150 27 124 443 72 324 249 92 157 6,959 728 442 365 352 25,514 9,698 295 16,634 14 287 142 257 8 70 64,454 fO 1911_~ Total, 1887…………………………… 128 20 1011 253 69 316 221 73 144 5.020 510 517 797 34419,829 7,145 24713.017 14 216 102 33 41.57170 Increase, 1888………. ………………… 32 7 21 90 3 8 28 19 13 1.939 218 ' " _.. 8 5,785 2.553 48 3,617 .. 71 40 66 '.. 37 22.888 00 NOTE.-It is impossible to get exact reports from all the churches up to Dec. 31. It is probable that complete statistics would have increased the total membership .~…
* a.bont ten per cent.-H, L, Statistics to October, 1888. t The S. P. G. Mission decline to furnish their statistics. :j: A.pproximate.
Statistics of the American Presbyterian Mission in
I. EVANGELISTIC AND GENERAL MISSIONARY "WORK.
1_~876. _ _ _ _•_ _._ _ _ _._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1_ _ 1884. _ _ 1____18_85._._._.1___1_8_86_.___ . _ _18_8_7._ _ _ _ _188_8_._ _ American j Men……………………………………… . ~H 28 B}23 37 M} 38 ~H 37 ]3( 34 M} 34 Mi8sionaries 1 Women………………………………….. .. Native rO~dainedpastors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : .. . 31 3}Ifs 194 l~} 189 21f 4137 13 5 J~l Syrian 1LICensed preachers…………………………. .. 96 JI20 10 90 4}32 179 171 153 198 LabvrerB School teachers……………………………… . 8 5 19 125 Other helpers………………………………… . 5 89 30 131 13 60 19 130 12 Stations………………………………………………… .. 10 30 570938 } 1,301 5 I> 7J Out-sta.tions……………………………………………… . 24 68 87 91 5 Churches…….. : ……………………………………….. . 75 3,891 86 19 89 ~}1,207 73 19 20 Church buildings……………………………………….. .. ~~}573 3,8M 31 31· 31 84 104 63 Added on profession during the year…………………….. . 61 3,961 3,977 153 ~g} 1,493 Male church members………………………………….. .. 2,612 $6,451 ~~} 1,534 76 677655 } 1,440 Female church members……………………………. "'" 40 3,584 Regular preaching places………………………………… . 1,540 92 85 94 3,847 4,293 4,289 4,522 congregatlons …………. Average 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2,982 $6,302 $1.252 68 66 81 Sabbath schools………………………………………… .. 3,746 3,732 4,620 Sabbath scholars….. , …………………………………. .. Syrian Protestant Community (withm the field of the Ameri- 4,165 4.241; can Pre&byterian MIssion) ……………………………. . $6,980 $8,114 4.359 Contributions of native churches………………………… . $7,355 II. EDUCATIONAL WORK.
College (Syrian Prot.)……………..,…………………….. 1 1 1 1 1 1 Medical school…………………………………. ………. 1 1 1 1 1 1 Pupils in colle:;e (including Med. Dep't.)…….. … ………… 106 185 165 165 175 197 Theological seminary.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 1 1 1 Pupils in do. ………………………….. ………… 7 4 4 7 6 6 Boys' boarding schools………. …………………………… 1 2 2 3 3 2 Pupils in do……………………………………. 42 68 72 151 129 110 Female seminaries……………………….. …….. ……… 3 3 3 3 3 3 ~iig~~hOof"~: ….. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~ r~ 1~ li~ It~ 1~~ 6:%,i::~~ ~~hOO~·:::::::::::::::::::::::::.:: :::::::::::::::::::::: ~~ ri~ ~5~ 3~¥ 4~i i~ Boys in do. …………………….. …… …… ………… 2,031 t 2840 5,lceo 31',1°1856 ft 4,201 Girls in do. ………………………………………….. 819!' 3, 7751 3,626 t 4,871 3,178} 4 505 ill',663393 } 5,272 1,405! 1.245! 1,327 ' Total schools……………………………………………… 80 . 144 121 125 141 .. .. .. ..=.____ __________ Total pupils………………………………………………. 136 ~VV~o=m=e=n~in~b=ib=l~e~c=l=a=ss=e~s~..=.=.~..=.=.~..=.=.~..~.~..~.~.~..=•~.~.==.~.•~.~.=~.~.==.~.= 3,509 5,881 5,065 5,344 5,391 6,199 ~=- ~1~1.~1 __________~1~:'_4.__________~230~__________~2·~IO~____~__~300~____
PRESS WORK, PRINTING A.ND DISTRIBUTION OF BIBLES, TRACTS, &0
1876. 1881. 1882. 1883, 1884. 1885.
– – – – – – – – " – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – —-I—–I–·-~- 1 —— Bible House and Press Establishment :-…………………. 1 1 1 4 1 Steam presses…………… …………. ……………….. 3 3 1 6 4 1 6 Hand presses………………………………………… 2 6 3 4 1 1 3 1 Hydraulic presses……………………………………. 1 1 6 6 1 3 1 1 Lithographic presses…………… ,…………………… 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 Type foundry-Casting machines………… ,………. ,… 1 2 1 1 45 1 346 48 Electrotype apparatus……………………………….. 1 '1i 2 2 57,000 360 4i 20,085,500 100,900 Stereotype apparatus………………………………… 1 1 1 11.117,000 28.722,968 J!~:!~~g:i~:~~~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 1 1,671,100 18,045.000 Publications on Press Catalogue……………………… 44 '2 385,112,219 1,586.100 2 21,484 .393,835.187 44 1 2'Zil.649 26,848 50 284,450 76.198 ~2,350 Volumes printed during the year…………………………. 207 258 1268 336 38.450 47,500 87,900 72,050 Pages " . "………………………………. 13,786,980 19,235,547 27.981,600 33,284,675 Or which pages of Scriptures… , …….. ,….. ……. .. .. ,…. 4,277500 9,465,000 17,378,600 19,331,750 " " " " tracts………………………………. ,.. 232.000 451,600 1,04.~,500 1,702,500 Total pages from the beginning…… ….. …………….. …. 159,810,300 283,760,444 311.742,044 345,026,716 *Scl'iptures distributed during the year…………………. 5,641 15,953 23,576 15,571 fOther books and tracts sold and distributed…………….. 25,721 28,232 36,752 63,311.
Copies of publications of all kinds issued during year.. 372,710 IV. MEDICAL WORK AT ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL.
The physicians of the Medical Department of the Syrian Protestant College have been appointed by the Order of St. John in Berlin as the medical attendants of the "Johanniter-Hospital" in Beirut. This most interesting charity, supported by the above mentIOned Order, and served also by the Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth, basreceived during- the past years: Indoor patients……. '" .' ……………………………….. 1 537 571 595 440 491 Patients treated in the Polyclinique…………………….. . 9.162 7,489 7.628 8,390 Total of days of treatment…………….. , …………….. .. 6.009 11,842 17,500 16,489 16,348 11,953 .. These fignres represent the copies of Scriptures sold and sent out from our Mission Press to private purchasers, and to our own and otber missions, and to Bible Society agencies, for further distribution.
tThe distribution has been by the various miSSIOns among Arablc·speaking peoples, and the American and British Bible and Tract Societies:
ORGANIZED MISStONARY WORK AND STATISTICS
The Jesuit Missions. of the continent; in India they have noth· ing to do with Madras, Ceylon, Central In- A RECENT issue of the Etude8 Religiemea dia, or the Northwest Provinces, and theIr cout!lins some Interesting statistics of the work in the United States is exceedingly number and distribution of the Jesuit mis- circumscribed. In such places as Japan, sionaries' abroad at the commencement of the Malay Peninsula, Siberia, Indo·China the preseut year. The numbers are those (Bnrmah, Tonquin, Siam, Annam), they are of. the various orders of the priesthood; not found at all. The great centers of priests, coadjutors, and" scolastiques," but Jesuit missionary activity on the surface of in every case the number of priests is more the globe' are the Zambesi, Syria (where than twice that of the other two orders put there are 142 French Jesuits), the Philiptogether. In the Balkan Peninsula there pine Archipelago, the Central States of the are 45 Jesuit missionaries; in Africa, and Union (here they are all German Jesuits), especially Egypt, Madagascar, and the Zam- Central America and Cuba, Ecuador and besi region, 223; in Asia, especially Armenia, Peru, Chili and Paraguay. Syria, certain parts of India, and parts of China,699. In China alono the nUJ:ab~:' b -Sur.lmary of member. and probationers 195, all of French nationality. h 'Ocoania, including the Philippines, the Malay Archi- in the China Missions of the M. E. Church pelago, Australia, and New Zealand, the number is 21'0; in America, including cer- for 1t:~: Mem- Probatain specified, States of the Union, portions of Canada, British Honduras, Br:1zil, a'1U In· Peru, 1,180; the total numb3r of Jccuih bers. tioners. Total. cr'se. scattered over the globe in purely missionary work being 2,377. These are of various Foochow….. . 2,297 1,267 3,564118 nationalities, but the vast majority are French. In the distribution great attention Central China. 305 304 609 140 is paid to nationality; thus in Illyri, Dalmatia, and Albany, they are all Venetians; North China.. 655 373 1,028 218 in Constantinople and Syria, Sicilians; in Africa, Asia Minor, and China, French; West China… 9 7 16 while no French Jesuits are to be found in any part of the American continent. In TotaL ….. 3,266 1,951 5,217 476 the Bombay and Bengal Presidencies they are Germans and Belgians respectively; in -The Congregationalists in Australia the Philippines, Spanish; in the Malay have 82 Sunday-schools, with an average Archipelago, Dutch; in Eastern Australia attendance of 7,400. The Wesleyan Methoand New Zealand, Irish; in the United dists are largely in predominance; their States Germans, Neapolitans, and Piedmon- schools number 545, with an average at- tese are found working in specified and dis- tendance of 30,264. The Church of England tinct districts; those laboring among the comes next, with 430 schools; and then in Indians of Canada are Canadians; in the order follow the Presbyterians with 392, and British West India Colonies they are Eng- the Roman Catholics with 312, etc. In all lish; in Central America, Spaniards; in there are 2,157 Sunday-schools, with a total South America, Italians, Spaniards, and average attendance of 143,766. Germans; 'the Italians and Germans having all Brazil to themselves, doubtless bec:1uE" -According to the statistical report for of the enormous Italian and Germ:>n immi- 1888 of the Evangelical Association, that gration to Brazil. It will be understood body of German Methodists numbers' 141,853 that the spheres of labor of the different members, 1,159 itinerant preachers, and orders, Jesuits, Lazarists,Franciscans,etc., 1,916 churches: indicating a gain of 4,156 are carefully laid down at Rome, no two membera, 38 preachers, and B5 churches orders,- as a rule, working in the same re- during the year. gion ; these spheres once fixed, the dIstri- bution within them is left to the head of -The yearly increase of ordained men in the particular order, whatever, it might be. the Anglica.n Chnrch is vastly in excess of In an illimitable field like China all the or- requirements. The clerical deaths last ders are represented; bnt the districts of year were 460, and there were bnt 70 new each are specified, and were re·arranged churches buHt, while there were 734 ordina- about eighteen months ago. The Kesuits tions. The unbeneficed clergy in England have Kiangsu province and the southeast- now number from 10,000 to ll,OOO.-Chri8tian ern part of Chili, the metropolitan prov- Leader. ince; they have 145 fathers in tho former and 50 in the latter. In Africa, again they Statiatios of the Ohurohes of the United touch only on the! east coast at certain points, and are represented in no other part States for 18~8.
BY REV. DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D.
IN compliance with the request of Dr. Buckley I give the latest ecclesiastical sta- tistics for our country. They are for the year 1888, and have been gathered from the official Year·Books and Minutes. Some of the data for 1888 could not be obtained until the Y <,ar-Books for 1889 were issued. In only a few instances have the figures been estimated, and even then, so far as possible. by prominent officials in those denomina- General Baptists.. . '3,225 1.400 tions. I give the statistics in a classified United Baptists.. .. 6,329 1.000 form: Separate Baptists.. 9.015 3.500 Advent Bodies. Cum. Fr. Bap. (est.) 46.000 1.450 Chs.* Min. Com. Seventh-Day Bap .. 106 115 Orig. "Evan. Ad." 91 107 11,000 S. D. (Gr.) Bap.(est.) Adv:Christians…. 2,500 1,000 75,000 Anti-Mis. Bap.(est.) 1.800 900 Seventh-Day Adv. 787 199 22,357 Six-Prin. Baptists. 16 16 Life& Adv. Union. 100 …. 10,000 T'I brng.nameBp. 36,353 24.765 3,175.589 Age-to-Come Adv. 10.000 Kind. Bap. Bods.: Dis. (partly est.) .. . 6,859 3,388 , 645.771 Barbourites…….. 5,000 Tunkers (est.) ….. . 1,050 1,876 100,000 Winebrenna'n(est.) 30,000 Christadelphians .. 14 15 1,200 Mennonites (est.) .. 300 400 100,000 550 500 Total. .. . .. .. .. .. . 3.492 1,321 134.577 Most of the above were obtained by per- T'!Bp. & knd. bds. 45,112 30,929 4,051,360 cOonal interviews with leaders in these bodies, but they are largely estimated. Lutheran Bodies. Com.* Cbs. or Congs. Min. 159.091 ' Baptist Bodies. General Synod ….. 1.429 952 33,625 Chs.t Min. Com. United Synod…… 392 186 241,424 General Council … 1,490 846 341,987 Bap. Reg., North … 8,695 7,164 799,236 Synodical Council.. 1,743 1,233 260,843 Bap. Reg.• South… 14,874 8,0.'>7 1,115.276 Ind. Synods…….. 2,556 1,295 Bap. Reg.• Cplored.. 9,331 6,199 1,033,282 'rotal Reg. Bap ..• 32.900 21,420 2,997,794 Total Lutheran … 7,610 4,512 1,036.970 Free- Will Baptist.• 1,531 1,314 82,686 F.W.B.of N.C. oi-ig. 8,232 *Some baptized children are always in- F.W.B.• Other Ass.. 4,958 cluded in the statistics of one or two of * Mostly congregations. these bodies.
tIn some cases congregations.
Methodist Bodies. Full Total Local Mem. Com.; (,,hs.* Min. Prs.t Prob.
Methodist Episcopal Church…•.••…….• 21,361 12,802 13,436 224,788 1,929,561 2.167.151 Methodist Episcopa.l Churcb. South …….. 11,864 4,5;)0 6,192 1,096,734 1,107,456 Methodist Episcopal African, ……•….••• 3.600 2,943 4,891 47.000 390,000 43~,943 Methodist Episcopal African Zion……… 2,600 3,250 325,000 327,600 Methodist Episcopal Colored …………… 1,729 4,042 165,000 166,729 Methodist Episcopal Union American….• 50 60 50 21,000 21,060 Total Episcopal Methodist…………… 36,875 24,664 31,861 271,788 3,927,295 4,229.939 NO'rt-Episcopal Methodi8t: Protestant Methodist ……………..•…•. 2,039 1,463 1,125 4,271 141,557 147,791 Congregational Methodist………… …… ' 225 200 8:000 8,000 Independent Methodist………………… 35 30 5.000 5,000 Free Methodist…………… : ………….. 961 498 556 2,418 16,104 19.030 Wesleyan Methodist…………………… 535 260 16,197 16,732 Primitive Methodist……………………. 122 62 174 587 4,343 4,992 – – Reformed Methodist…………………… 60 50 2.000 2,000 Total bearing the name Methodist……. 40,8-52 27,247 33,698 279,064 4,120,496 4,443,484 Kindred Methodist Bodies: United Brethren ……………………….. 4,451 1,490 560 204,517 206,007 Evangelical Association……………… , .. 1,916 1,159 647 141,859 143,018 Moravians……………………………… 66 71 10,900 10,966 Bible Christians……………………….. 85 115 7,700 7,815 Total Methodist and kindred Methodist .. 47,470 30,082 34,905 279,064 4,485,472 4,801,390 * This term is unsatisfactory. In most cases it means church edifices; in som~. church organizations or societies; in others, congregations; and in some circuits which comprise several societies. Probably 50,000 societies.
tIn Methodi.t polity these are laymen and reckoned as members in full. ;Ministers, in column 2, are added into this ,column, because they are communi· cants, and not elsewhere reckoned in as with other denominatIOns. And probationers. being also communicants. are here reckoned. Only a few of the above are estimated-some of the smaller chnrches-and most of these by officials of their own body, and almost all are official statistics for 1888.
PROGRESS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETJIi
Presbyterian' Bodies. Denominations not nsing the same statis- 9hs. or Congs.* Min. Com. tical methods as those in the preceding 722,071 Pres. Gen. Ass.. . . .. 6.543 5.789 156.249 tables, especially ill receiving and enrolling 98,992 Pres.Gen.Assr.Sth. 2.280 1,129 151,929 members: U. P. Ch. of Nth. A. 907 759 15,000 Ministers. Parishes. 10.970 Cumberland Pres.. 2.648 1,584 New.Church ………… 113 141 Cum. Pres. (col.) … 200 Unitarian…………… 490 382 Ref. Presbyterian.. 121 116 Universalist………… 709 971 Gen. Sy.Ref.P. N.A. 47 47 6,800 The New-Church Almanac for 1889 esti- Ass.Ref.Sy.ofSouth 112 8t 7,282 mates 7,028 church members, and, including :WelshPresbytorian 175 84 9,563 isolated adherents, a total of 10,178 New- Other bodies (est.). 200 250 20,000 Churchmen in America. The UniversalIst Total Presby'n. '" 13.033 10,0-l2 1,198.856 Year-Book for 1889gives an iucompletestate- Kind. Pres. Bods.: ment of members, 38,780 and 41.474 families. Ref. (Dutch) Ch ..•• 87,015 TrueRef.D.Ch.(est.) 546 555 584 The Roman Catholics give the following Ref. (late Gr.) Ch… 13 8 190,527 differing statistics for 1889 : 1,512 823 • Sadlier's Hoffman's Year-Book. Year-BooK.
T'l Pr.& kin. bods. 15,104 l1,-l28 1,476,962 Priests …….•….. 7,996 S,118 7,424 7.353 Unclassified Bodies. Chnrches ………• Chs. Min. Com. Chapels and st·ns.• 3,133 2,170 ·Chris.,Nthn&Sthn. 1,755 1,344 142,000 Population•.•••.•.. 7,855,294 8,157.676 Christ. Union Chs.. 1,500 1,200 125,000 Aggregates. Congregational••…• 4,404 4,2ll4 457,584 Chs.. Pars., Episcopal, Protest.• 3,450 4,053 or Congs. Min. Episcopal, Ref••…. 456.729 70 87 8,000 .. Evangelical" Bodies. . . • • 131,477 90,368 Total Episcopal ..• 3,520 4,140 464,729 New-Church…….. _…….. 141 113 Friends, Orthodox.• 600 500 72,000 Unitarian….. …………. 382 490 Friends, :Wilburite.. 100 12,000 Universalist……………. 971 709 RomanCatholic…….. …• 10,557 7,996 Total Friends …•. 700 500 8MOO Ger. Evan. Ch. Un … 804 618 65;000 Populations.
Schwenkfelder Chs.. 6 10 850 Total" New-Chnrchmen ..•….•.•.• 10,178 Other bodies (est.) … 35,000 Universalists, 41,474 fams. (5 each). ~,370 Total Unclassified 12,689 12,096 1.374,163 Unitarian, no Ineans of estimat·g.• Roman Catholic (Sadher's est.)..• 7,855,294 Summary. .. Evangelical" bodies, 3~ times Chs.,Socs. Com. as many as the enrolled members 48,570,977 or Congs. Min.
Advent Bodies…… 3.492 1,3~1 134.577 The Evangelical churches have made a Baptist Bodies.. … • 45,112 30,929 4,051.360 large relative gain for 1888 as compared Lutheran Bodies…. 7,610 4,512 1,036,970 with 1886, namely, 1,744,771 members. This Methodist Bodies… 47,470 30,082 4,801,340 shows an average of about one member in Presbyterian BodIes 15,104 11,428 1,476.962 4.5-I-inhabitants,on an estimated population.
Unclassified Bodies. 12,689 12,096 1.374,163 for 1888 of 62,300.000. The Evangelical pop- Aggregate …….. 131,477 90.368 13,877.422 ulation is 77-1- per cent. of the whOle popula- … In some of the above bodies congrega· tions are reported, and In others church tion of the United States. The Roman Catholic population is 11-1- per cent. of the organIzations. – – – – – – – whole.-('''hristian Advocate.
VIII.-PROGRESS OF MISSIONS: MONTHLY BULLETIN.
A.frica.-The London Missionary Society of it. Last year they added $4.000 to the enhas received word that the disturbances along dowmeut of their Normal and Industriallnstithe African coast opposite Zanzibar have not tute affected their missions on Lake Tanganyika or at Urambo. Mr. Brooks, their missionary Central A.merica.-Plotest,mt Missions at Urambo, was killed as he was coming to the are found in but two of the five repnblics of coast. but there is said to be no need of anxiety Central America. Nicaragua and Guatemala. in regard to those who remain in the interior. Ceylon.-The Editor of The Ceylon Observer, Burmah.-A Burman Christian woman of Colombo, during the agitation against the licens- Ran'goon has promised to give a bell to the ing of sin in Ceylon, has spoken in that paper memorial chapel to Adoniram Judson in Man- with the voice of a preacher and prophet. All delay. honor to the editor of a commercial paper who. on a great and momentous occasion, in the face -The Bassein Christian Karens of Burmah of cynicism, ridicule, and all the forces of worldare running a saw mill and making a profit out liness. boldly rebukes sin, and champions the cause of righteousness. The world would be a. -The English nation continues to derive an brighter place if there were more meu with the income of some £8,000,000 from the excesses courage of the editor of The Ceylon Observer. and miseries of the richer part of the Chinese China.-The Ching-Kiang Riot. Washington, March 21. The Department of State is in receipt people; while the poorer classes of Chinese are of further detailH concerning this riot. The trouble arouse out of the stoning of the Sikh creating a demand for a cheape'r home-grown policemen of the British quarter by a crowd of boys and young men. It occnrred on the opium. And so the enslavement of the entire Chinese New Year, when business was practically suspended in the town and when the streets nation to this fatal habit appears to be inevitawere thronged with idlers. The quarrel of the boys was assumed by the men, and a general hl~ . figh ensued. A Chinaman was knocked down by the police, and the report was cnrrent that -Chinese Christians are, almost to a man, he was killed. Immediately the enraged mob ready to pray in public, to exhort one another attacked and burned the police stations. The at their meetings, and to speak for Christ to road way was thronged with 20,000 rioters. who their neighbors. Rev. Hunter Corbett bears surged toward the United States and British witness to their childlike faith in the powe~ and consulates. When the situation became alarming willingness of God to fulfill every promise, to 300 soldiers appeared upon the scene, but their their unshaken faith in prayer, their love for presence served only to excite the derision of the the Scriptures, and their honest and faithful mob. The gates orthe United States and British effort to live blameless lives. Not a few have consulates were assaulted and the British con- persevered in the study of tbe Scriptures until sulate burned, the Consul barely escaping with they repeat entire chapters and sometimes enhis life by climbing over a rear fence. With tire books, from both Testaments, and, better much difficulty the two Consuls, with their fami- yet, they are able to explain them. lies, effected their escape, and reached a mail steamer which had arrived just in time to -A narrow escape. Mr. Redfern, en T()Ute evade the fury of the rioters, who were in hot for lIan-Chung, gives in China's MillWns an expursuit. The mob made various uusuccessful citing account of a remarkable deliverance from efforts to board the vessel, but it was repulsed pirates, who landed on his boat with daggers in each instance. The arrival of a brigade of and pistols, and began appropriating everything soldiers in the evening and of a British man-of- of value. The only weapon Mr. Redfern used war the following morning had the effect of re- was prayer, which proved so powerful that the storing quiet. robbers returned their booty and departed abashed, without hurtiug anyone. The heatheu -The Chinese press is stirring up mission- boatmen were amazed, having fully expected aries to undertake medical work. The China both the robbery and the murder oCthe mission- Medical Mission J()Urnal contains articles by aries. .Dr. J. G. Keerand Rev. A. W. Douthwaite, M. D.• on the value of medical work as an aid to England.-The British and Foreign Bible evangelization. Commenting upon them, The Society has issned during the past year 4,206,- China Overland Mail says: .. We think it is 000 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions becoming more and more apparent to religious of the Scriptures, a larger number than ever workers in this part of the world that the before. The total income of the society fbr the masses of China cannot be reached by merely past year was £253,300. Its grand work encirpreaching to them; that their best chance of cles the WOrld, preparing the way for missionsuccess is in imitating the example of the Mas- aries and strengthening their hands. ter they serve, who inculcated lIis teaching while going about doing good. Of course one -A Mazarin Bible bronght $10,000 at a re- does not wish to see all the missionaries turned cent auction sale in London. into sick nurses, but only that they should realize that by discriminatingly helping the natives in -" Our Day" contains a painful article on their sufferings they can best reach their heart." "Pagan Idols of English Make," showing that U it is not an nncommon occurrence for an -The severity of the winter is increasing the East Indianman, from Liverpool, jnst through distress caused by the famine in Shang-Tung the Red Sea and tbe shadows of Sinai, to touch and Manchuria. It is estimated that 1,500,000 at Madras and Calcutta, then lie up at Rangoon, persons are starving. at each wharf landing a missionary from her -Shanghai advices to January 19. The famine cabin, and unloading a crate of graven images in Anhui and Kiangsu is worse. In one prov- from her hold." ince 300,000 families are starving, and alto- gether several millions are suffering from fam- -The S. P. G.has taken up missionary work ine caused by drought two years in succession. in the Nicobar Islands-a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, and used as an Indian penal -Our Consul at Pekin reports that the total settlement. A hnndred years ago the last of the number of American citizens residing in China Moravian brethren retreated, after the sacrifice is 1,022, of whom 506 are miseionaries. of twenty-four of their number in nineteen years. The object iR to reach Carnicobar, a populous island of over 3,000 inhabitants, on the north of the group. The field is at preseut oc- cupied by merely one catechist-a Madras Chris- tian-who acts under the direction of the Gov- ernment chaplain of Port Blair. The plan adopt- ed is to bring relay. of the island children to Port Blair, and after the stay of a few months in the Andaman Christian Orphanage, to return present, aud was cordially greeted. aud his pres- them to their parents. euce highly prized.
-Bible Distribution. The British and For- -Twenty-three missionaries and members eign Bible Society's district secretaries from all of missionary families reached Bombay. De- parts of the country held their annual confer- cember 31st, by the Arabia. Seveuteen of the ence on :Monday. Tbere are in England 5,407 uumber come to reinforce the missions of the societies, auxiliaries, and branch associations. M. E. Church in India, Burmah and Malaysia.
Besides raising funds for the society, these The remaiuing six represent several differeut lJranch organizations distribute copies of the societies, includiug the Disciple or Christian Scriptures in the localities in which they are Missiou at Bilaspur, the North Berar Mission at situated. The society makes no profit by the Akola, the C. M. S. Missiou South of Poona, sale of the Scriptures, as they either give or and the Canadiau Presbyteriau Mission at In- sell them at cost price. To give an idea of the dore. Miss Dr. Baldwin aud Miss Dr. Merrill extent of the work it may be mentioned ·that go to Bilaspur to the Disciple Missiou, Miss they send away to different parts of the world Sinclair and Miss Scott to Indore. Miss Bates between 7,000 and 8,000 Bibles, Testaments, or casts iu her lot with the Berar Mission at Akola.
portions of Scripture every working day. or five -Bombay Guardian.
copies every minute. The society spends £70,- -The BritIsh Government sells to the high- 000 annually for printing Bibles in this country, est bidder the exclusive privilege of distilling and a considerable sum in foreign countries.- and selling alcoholic liquors withiu a certain Pall Mall Gazette. district. The holder of the liceuse increases his -Salvation Army. Marshall Booth, in re- sales regardless of. cousequences or of the re- viewing his forces at Chicago, said that withill monstrances of the better portiou of the native twelve yeal'l! 1,000,000 men and women have populatiou, with the terrible result that that been rescued from the slums and transformed population (almost entirely total abstainers 'pre- into self-supporting, sober, Christian citizens by vious to British rule in Iudia) is becoming de- its work. He is prepared to establish at once moralized and impoverished. From this iuflu- in London ten more Rescue Homes, for 300 ence even the native converts to Christiauity girls (which will enable the Army, by the help do not escape. Statistics show that while there of God, to rescue at least another thousand a . were in 1880 41 habitual aud 163 occasioual year), and also to establish ten food and shelter druukards among 29,000 professed Christians, depots, six for women and children only, and four iu 1883 the number of such drnnkards among for men, with a capacity for 1,000 beds per night 80,000 Christiaus had iucreased to 250 habituals for women, and 500 for men and 200,000 meals aud 274 occasionals. The increase is said to per week, or at the rate of 547,500 beds, and have been still more rapid during the last five 10,400,000 meals per annum. He appeals for years, and to be yet larger in proportion among $75.000 to meet the expense of fitting up and the nou-Christian portious of the people. This furnishing the said twenty buildings. mustbe a fearful couuterweight to theiufiuence of -The £IO,OOO debt of the Wesleyan Mission- English foreign missionaries.-N. Y. FJvangelist.
ary Society has been cleared away at two strokes, -,We learn from the Free Church of Scot- first by a magnificent donation of £4,000 by land Monthly that there is a great movement Henry J. Atkinson, Esq., M. P., and the re- toward the gospel in the Santal Mission of the maining £6,000 by a family collection on Christ- Free Church. The Sautal Mission, like our mas day last throughout the lIlethodist Church Darjeeling Missiou, is mainly, if indeed not iuEngland. exclUSively, coucerned with aboriginal peoples.
India.-Bishop Thoburn writes from Cal- Writiug from Pachamba in November last, cutta, Jan. 24,1889: Rev. Audrew Campbell says: "Siuce I last The Bengal Couference met at Allahabad, Jan. wrote to you I have had the great privilege of 17, and adjourned Jan. 21. The statistics showed baptizing 110 persons. We have still many ap- an increase of more than 10 per cent. in mem- plicatious, and are taking them up as we fiud bership, and of more than 4,OOOin Snnday-school opportuuity. One special feature of the pres- attendance. One young man was admitted on ent movement is that the people come in fami- trial. and two received into full connection. lies."-C:wrch of Scotland Record.
Tbree were ordained deacons, and one elder. -In one cf his letters from India Mr. (Jajue, The Conference has as yet only twenty-six M. P., gives a sickeniug account of the opium preachers on its roll, but five others were read deus at Lucknow. In one he couuted on the out as " Missionaries iu Malaysia." I inteud, if fioor down stairs alone" 117 humau swiue of spared, to go down to Singapore and organize both sexes." There were more up stairs. He the Malaysia Mission in the course of the uext had seen the giu ·palaces of East-eud Loudon ou two or three mouths. Bishop FowLr was at the Saturday nights, he had seen meu iu delirium Couference during the last two days, and added tremeus, but" never such horrible destruction very greatly 1) the interest of the occasion. He of God's image in the face of mau as in the preached on Sunday, and spoke at several of the •Government' opium dens at Luckuow."
public me".ings wi'", the sarna vigor and iucis- -The Buddhists, Brahmins, Confucians aud iveuess which distingnlsfl him at home. Dr. Mohammedaus, nnmberi~:; 700,000,000 souls, M. V. B. Knox, of New Hampshire, was also have had prohibition over a thousand years. -For the last three months of 1888, 730 bap- stations into a Presbytery, presided over by a tisms were reported from three stations of the Synod. Meanwhile Christianity is spreading Baptist Telugu Mission in India. also in the Djogjokarta district, and some 5,000 natives have accepted the truth. -More than 2,000,000 of the youth of India are to-day receiving an education in tb" English Jews.-A movement of Prof. Delitzsch, of language. Leipzig, is a wonderful step toward the conver- sion of theJews. In nine of the German univer- Japan.-Dr. Henry M. Scudder, now a sities he is starting a movementfor mission work missionary at his own charges in Japan, and amongst the Jews, and already over 300students well-known as a successful pastor in San Fran- of the universities have enrolled themselves as cisco, Brooklyn and Chicago, writes to the members of a special school for training to this Christian Mirror in hearty snpport of the end. church union movement inJapan. Heis especially strong in the conviction that it originated Madagascar.-The London Misdonary Soin Japan among the native Chrictians. It is of ciety, with only thirty English missionarios in indigenous growth, and should hence not be op- Madagascar, reports the astonishing number of posed by those without,even in distant conlltries. 828 nativo orJained ministers and 4,395 or- dained preachers, vith ~l,OOO church members -The Friends. In Japan there are forty and 280,000 .. adherents." missionaries under their care. More than $46,6CO were contributed for this work by Eng- Mexico.-An urgent plea is made by mislish Friends last year. There are stations in sionaries in Mexico for a college which shall be Constantinople, Roumania, on Mount Lebanon, for that country what Robert College has been Roumelia, and Madagascar. Three stations are in Turkey-a strong Protestant in1Iuence as in Znluland, two in India, and one in China. well as an educational center for the natives. The death oflllss Rankin removes one who for -The friends ofShige Kusida, ayoung Japanese woman who has been an efficient temper- twenty years previous to lB73hadbeen described ance worker and speaker in her own country, are planning to send her to the Untted States as .. The most prominent Protestant power in to study the American temperance movement, Mexico." Her school prepared the way for an as a further preparation for successful work agent of the Bible Society, and in 1865 Monterey amongherpeople. became the headquarters of Protest;lnt missions in Mexico. Miss Rankin anticipated the Wo- -One of the most hopefnl indications for men's Boards, and her work was in connection the. future of Christianity is the missionary with the American and Foreigu Christian character of the native Christians. They are Union. There is now a demand for a new zealous in carrying the gospel to their own translation of the Spanish Bible in MexiCO, people, and also to Korea and the islands de- adapted to the needs of all Spanish·speaking pendent upon Japan. people. The British and Foreign Bible SOCiety report t):le Scriptures translated in Six fresh -The Southern Baptist Foreign Mission languages last year, which now increases the Board has decided to start a mission in the number of tongues in which this society pubsouthwestern part of Japan. lishes the Word to 300, double the number fifty year- ago. All the great languages of the world Java.-Missionary work began 40years ago. have thus, by the successfnl efforts of the mis- Seven societies of Holland are represented by 26 sionaries, translations of the Bible. missionaries, having 25 mission stations, numM bering 12,000 native Christians. The British -The Friends in Mexico. The Friends are and Foreign Bible Society has one agent in east the last of all the sects who might be ex- Java, and will soon send another for the west. pected to make headway among the lively Not only Java, but the whole Dntch India, in- and mercnrial people of Mexico. Yet, cluding Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Celebes, has strange as it may seem, they have accoma strong claim not only .on Enrope, but on plished in their missions a remarkable suc- Christian America for the gospel. Twenty- cess. The.' have been at work for about ten seven millions of people and only 69 Christian years, chiefiy in connection with the Indimissionaries to give them the glad tidings I In ana Yearly Meeting. They established their all Malaysia, with its 35,000,000 people, there is headquarters at Matamoras, where they only one American missionary. have a $4,000 meeting-hous.. for the Mexican Friends. The Ohio Yearly Meeting has a -In the central district of Java there are mission at Escuandon, which is reported to some 5,000 native Christians in connection with .be in a prosperous condition. The Friends the Netherlands Reformed Missionary Society. have circulated extensively three or four For many years this field has been under the periodicals in Spanish, enlightening t.he exclusive care of one missionary, who is sta- Mexicans as to their doctrines. They have tioned at Poerworedjo. Recently two other sent these not only through Mexico, but missionaries have been sent to Poerbolingo, one among the people of Guatemala, Honduras of whom is to be engaged in training native and Nicaragua. The .Mexicans receive the evangelists and preachers. Still more recently Friends with much confidence. One strong a young medical missionary has been sent onto point in the success of these missions is He is to be supported by the Dntch Reformed tha,t the Me<tican ~0l'le I(I.re tired of war, Missionary Society in London. An attempt is being made to form the various chur~hes Qf and they think the pea.ce principles of the the press by the Turkish Government are Friends a.re preferable to the state of local many and oppressive. !J'he new censor of the and general belligerency which has for so press, appointed il) November last, requires long been a prominent feature of Mexican of the editors of the Zornitza, the Bulga- existence.-Evangelical Ohristendom. rian religious paper published by our mission at Constantinople, that duplicate copies 01 Russia.-Watchful for opportunities for all matter be placed in his hands two days interference in African affairs, Russia, uu- before it is given to the public. He then der the guise of a missionary movement, mutilates the articles, not merely those hav- will probably soon send a large religious ing apolitical bearing, but t;hose in the re- body into Abyssinia, the people of that coun- ligious and educational departments, on the try having expre~sed a desire for a closer ground that there may be a political interpreta- connection with the Greek Church. This tion placed upon words innocent in themselves. movement is ostensibly undertaken in com- Among the words which are uniformly stricken pliance with the expressed wishes of the King out are" union" and" freedom." In the sen- of Abyssinia, and is to be aided by a grant tence in the Suuday-school lesson, "R~th's of 3,000,000 rubles (about $2,400,000), when union with the family of Elimelech had f'l'eed rubles are counted at their par value. The her from idolatry," the words we have italicized chief of the expedition gained an unenviable were stricken out. Only after representations reputation as a zealous proselyter during made by the American Legation was the paper his long residence in Jerusalem, and will be permitted to speak of the United States oC accompanied by 40 priests and 60 monks. .A America. The absurdities of this censorship second expedition, consisting of 2,000 young are innumerable. Our brethren connected with men, will soon follow the first. This dwarfs the press at Constantinople are entitled to our our missionary enterprises. But is it really sympathies in the annoyances to which they are a missionary enterpr1se? That remains to compelled to submit.-Mi88. HeraJ.d. be seeu. Syria.-The annual meeting of the Sallloa•…:.The Samoans, regarding whom Syria Mission has just been held in so much interest is now felt, are considered Beirut. The statistics presented we the finest race among the Polynesian Is- are able to give in our Statistical De- lands. They are graceful, pleasing, of good physique, and have a soft aud musical partment, through the courtesy of . lauguage. They have been converted to Miss Mary Pierson Eddy of Beirut. Christianity and are very moral and honest. On Sunday no work is permitted on shore, In a note accompanying them she nor are natives allowed, it is said, to work says: on board ships in port. The sale of liquors is absolutely prohibited. It is to be hoped .. Notwithstanding all the efforts made to that the faith of these people in Christian thwart our work you will notice in every nations may not be wronged through department encouraging progress is re.. violation of treaties.-Illustrated Ohristian ported, and this While the laborers are few, ·Weekly. and the stations feebly manned by foreign workers. Is not the press work. viewed in Scotland.-At the Annual Meeting of the the light of the promise, • My word shall not National Bible Society, held in Edinburgh last return unto me void,' full of hope aud pro- month, the income was reported as over £;14,- mise for a rich harvest in the future?" 000, the largest ever attained. Amidst many proofs of the successful labors of the SOCiety, it United States.-Woman's MiSSion Work. was mentioned at the Annual Meeting that the We are in receipt of the nineteenth annual native chnrches of Japan, for whose benefit the report of the Woman's Foreign 1Ilissionary National Bible Society of Scotland has taken a Society of the M. E. Church, North, which share in translating the Scriptures, have re- makes a substantial book of 150 pages. The solved to institute a Bible Society of their own. summary of home work shows a total of The Religious Tract and Book Society of Scot- 5,449 organizations, with a membership of laud have just issued their Annual Report. The 127,178. The receipts for 1888were $206,308.- work of the colporteurs is referred to as a val- 69, and the appropriations for 1889 $230,401. uable agency in spreading wholesome religious literature to counteract the mischievous litera- -The twenty-two missionary societies in ture which circulates so largely to the prejudice the United States managed by women, and oC the morals of the people. It employs about whose support comes from women, support 200 colporteurs, and there is ample evidence in ';'51 missionaries, last year contributed the report that their work is meeting a real $1,038,:aJ3, and since their organization want iu the religiOUS life of the country, and has have contributed $10,335,124. The forces of upon it the divine blessing. Great Britain, Continental Europe aud the United States have an annual income of -Scotch LIberality. The 336,000 members $9,396,996; man and equip 9,550 stations; of the Free Church of Scotland must be giving support 5,431 missionaries; have the assist- at the rate of nearly $10 per head. ance of 32,015 native helpers, and missioll churches that number 588,974 communi- Turkey.-The restrictions placed upon cants and 1,875,655 adherents.
The Missionary Review of the World — April 1889
FURTHF..R TESTIMONIES TO MISSIONS
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XI. No. 4.-Old Series.–APRIL.–VoL. II. No. 4.-New Serie8.
I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS. FURTHER 'fESTIMONIES TO MISSIONS.
[EDITORIAL.-A. T. p.] AMONG the attractions at the great Paris Exposition this year is to be an immense terrestrial globe, constructed on the scale' of one millionth, for which, in the center of the Ohamp de Mars, a place will be set apart. The globe will measure nearly thirteen metres in diameter and will afford visitors some conception of the comparative size not only of continents and islands but even of great cities. Paris, for instance, will cover a square centimeter. The globe will have also an axial revolution to illustrate the earth's diurnal rotation. Would that, even on a small scale, this world could be made to pass before the eyes of Ohristian disciples; and that the marvelous changes which missions have wrought throughout their vast field of operation, notwithstanding all discouragements and difficulties, could be made to appear to the vision even of the incredulous and unbelieving! In two articles, immediately preceding, we have endeavored to pre- sent a small portion of the evidence of the grand success of Ohristian mISSIons. Before we close this series of papers, we add a few pages on the further testimonies to their effectiveness and power. A valuable work* has just issued from the press, in which the author has compiled and arranged the witness of men and women, unimpeach- able both as to intellectual competency and moral integrity, with re- spect to the great value and success of foreign missions. It is sim- ply a grand massing' and marshaling of testimony from all sources. It comes on the stage at an opportune time when from all quarters there seems to be a combined attack on Ohristian missi.ons. To those who candidly and carefully read it, there are single pages and even para- graphs of witness so weighty that all the accusations and insinuations of professed friend, or open foe. will be but as a feather's weight in comparison. But this author has given us only a small part of the avapable testi- monies. Should we crowd every page of this REVIEW for years to come, with the proofs and products of missionary success, after using every , available inch of space we should still be hindered, not by lack of mat- *" The Great Value aud Success of Foreign Missions" by Rev. John Liggins. Baker & Taylor Co. ter but by want of room, and be compelled to leave the subject, like Newton's ocean of truth, only touched on its remote borders, but still unexplored, unrepresented. Our object has been simply to stimulate the study of the matter by intelligent people, and to arouse those who are ignorant to inform themselves. Let those who doubt, "Come and see." Missionary literature is abundant and varied and cheap and fascinating. It combines the marvels of fable with the solidity of fact; the charms of romance with the value of reality. In the rich literature of missions we have the granite column, wrought into Corinthian grace and elegance. Let us read and search, investigate and discriminate. If one witness seems to tell a tale that taxes onr incredulous faith too severely, let us call others to the stand, until in the mouth of many every word of truth may be established and every error or exaggeration corrected. For example let us summon one witness. In Melbourne Rev. A. J. Webb, in a most glowing address, recently gave his own personal testimony concerning the work in Fiji, in which field he himself is a laborer in connection with the Wesleyans.
"All their ancient heathenish practices have been cleared away, and visitors now cannot imagine that this people, with their almost Parisian manners and their mellifluous speech, were the cannibals of former times. I have the latest Government retul"ns, showing the present state of the people, but they only partially represent it; the true character of the work cannot be estimated by figures, but by the inner lives of the people. There are at present in Fiji: Fijians, 111,734; Europeans, 3,567; half-castes, 79-6; Asiatics, 4,230; Polynesians, 5,664; Rotumans, 4,214-total, 130,205. Of these 111,734 Fijians, 100,154 are attendants at our own public worship-a veJ'y large proportion indeed. Where fifty years ago there was not a single Christian, today there is not an avowed heathen. There may be heathen, but if so, they don't stand up and say so. When I first visited Fiji there were thousands of them. In my first circuit of Rewa there were more heathen than III any other-men who would stand up and avow it, too. I well rememberone wild, fine-looking young fellow with a head of hair standing out on all sides, which added to the wildness of his appearance, coming right in front of me, and looking me boldly in the face, saying, 'I'm a heathen, and I'm going to be a heathen,' as if it were something to be proud of. But there is none of that now. Instead of it we have as many people whose names are on the class-books in Fiji as you have in Victoria, and those whose names are on the class-books are not conspicuous by their absence. We have at present 53 native ministers, 44 catechists. 1,877 local pt'eachers, 3,192 class leaders, 27,421 members of the church, 4,121 on trial, 2,795 catechumens, 1,019 teachers, as well as day and Sabbath-schools with their teachers, for all the children of Fiji are educated in the mission schools. It is difficult to believe that in a place which fifty years ago waH studded with heathen temples-where the first parsonage was a canoe house, open at both ends, in which the Rev. David Cargill and his noble wife were glad to take shelter-there is not today a single heathen temple. In 1,255 places of worship God's Word was preached last Sabbath, and will be preached again next Sabbath."
Such testimony any candid man finds it hard to discredit.
When the German scientist, Baron de Hubner, visited Fiji some time ago, he had enjoyeu unusual opportunities of studying men under different aspect.:;, having traveled three times round the world. He looked for himself; and after making all sorts of inquiries from the various men he came in contact with, as to the cause of the unquestionable changes he saw in the Fijians, he came to a missionary to ask some questions. Himself a Roman Oatholic, he thus expressed his mind: "I must say that the change which has come over these islands is wonderful; no candid man can deny it. What I want to get at is, 'How did it come about?' I have spoken to some of the Government officials about it, and they ascribe it to the influence of the Government upon them." "Yes," replied the missionary, "but how do they account for the fact that the change was there before there was any settled government?" "That is true," he replied. Then he added, "I asked some of the traders, and they attributed it to the influence of trade upon them." "Yes," returned the missionary, "but how do you account for the change that existed before the traders dared to settle there?" Well," he said, "I have come to you as a missionary, and I want you to ten me how you account for it." This was the reply: "I can not account for the change that has taken place, except in one way. If it has struck you so forcibly, Baron, how has it struck me? You have seen this only as a visitor; I have seen it for years, and have seen it going on. I can only account for it in one way-I believe in God, and I account for it by the influence of the Holy Ghost." And he, though a Roman Oatholicand a foreigner, bowed his head reverently, and said, "So do I." That is the only way it can be accounted for. It strikes foreigners and travelers strongly, but it strikes the plissionaries more strongly still who have been on the ground, and seen the changes wrought before their eyes, that, without admitting the supernaturalfactor in missions, the transformations cannot be accounted for. No human phHosophy is adequate to explain them .
. The silent voice of History is itself a witness to missions. We must not forget that many of the crises of human destiny have been turned on the battle-field of missionary conflicts. Nor must we forget that there are many indirect results wrought by the gospel which prove it to be the only true civilizer, preparing the way for the higher triumphs of grace. Resultant motion is a term applied to the product of two or more forces acting jointly. For instance a body, acted upon equally by two impulses the direction of which is at right angles to each other, will not follow the line of either impulse but take a diagonal between them. May not this illustrate the historic fact often exemplified, that a community of people, feeling at once the influence of ancestral and ancient superstitions and of the Ohristian religion, will be deflected from the lines of their heathenism and paganism, even while they are not yet following the line of a pure Ohristianity. There is a, resultant motion given to the whole political and social life. Even the secular press is now presenting the testimony to missions. One of the most intelligent women of our acquaintance, herself both a diligent student and a powerful advocate of missions, writes: "It is just to bring out such glorious 'vindications of missions' that Canon 'faylor, and men like him, are allowed to make their assaults. I should not be sorry if another Canon should try his hand, if only to draw out this counterfire again." Since this spirit of antagonism began to be especially manifested, two or three years ago, we have read article after article on missions, and sometimes in their vindication, from quarters where we did not expect a plea in their favor. The Indian EvangelicaZ Review says: "In the higher periodical press, for example Murray's Magazine for August, 1887, is an article on the' Church of the British Empire;' the Quttrterly Review of July, 1886, gives as many as 36 pages to 'Modern Christian Missions.' The National Review of June, 1887, on" The Foreign Missions of the Church of England,' the Asiatic Quarterly of January, 1887, on' TheWelles· leys in India,' the Contemporary Review of July, IS86, on 'India Revisited,' the Nineteenth Centu1'Y of November, 1887, on' British Missions in Africa,' the Standard of Octcber 26,1887, the Daily Telegraph of Brd November, 1887, the Times of 29th and 30th October, 1886, and 24th August, 1887, and the Satnrda1l Review of 4th December, 1886, all give strong testimony in favor of missions and devote much of their editorial space to their advocacy. In the correspondence of Members of Parliment, as that of Mr. W. S. Caine, M. P. for the Barrc,w-in Furness, in the lectures of retired Anglo-Indians, as in Sir W. Hunter's lecture of the' Religions of India,' and in Government reports and resolutions as in that published in the Gazette of India in January, 1888, on education, morals, and religion, will be found conclusive evidence of the growing influence missions have acquired and are exercising over modern thought. Even fault finding, when done in a good spirit, is encouraging."
Of late the appearance of such articles in the secular press is even more frequent, owing to the greater freqnency, and we may add malignity, of the assaults made on missions. Perhaps in no one year of the modern Christian era have more vindications of mission work been put before the public eye than during the year just closed. Thoughtful men in every rank and calling of hfe are beginning to ask and a~swer such questions as that propounded by J. P. Lesley in the Forum: "Shall We Call Him Master?" and on purely scientific' grounds Mr. Lesley concludes, "His name is above every name, the'
most precious legacy of time to the ages." The Rev. E. E. Jenkins says: "I was thinking the other day whether I could find out one single force, acting for the benefit of the human race, that did not come from the Oross- that had not its origin from the Cross. I can not find one. Who discovered the interior world of Africa, and set in motion the intellect of that people and made them an intelligent people? Missionaries. Who has solved the problem of preaching liberty to the women of India? Missionaries and their wives. Who first brought into modern geography the hidden lands and rivers of China-unsealed for inspection the scholarshIp and opened for the enrichment of commerce the greatest empire of the East? Missionaries. Who first dared the cannibal regions-the cannibal shores of New Zealand and Tonga and Fiji, and convel·ted wolves, who~e appetite was for blood, into a nation'? Missionaries. To come nearer home. Who aile those in Europe who are now lifting up their voices against war, that horrible per- version of the intellect and of the soul of man? Who are devoting their means and influence against vice in the high places and vice in low places and against the infliction of wrong upon the dGlfenseless? Who are those whose examples of righteousness and purity and gentleness conform with their own spirit the legislation of governments and the sentiments of society? The followers of the Nazarene, 'The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men,'"
Similiarly Mr. Howells declares in Harper's, that "Christ and the life of Christ is at this moment inspiring the literature of the world as never before, and raising it up a witness against waste and want and war."
These are a few representative utterances showing the trend of intel- ligent and impartial testimony, on purely scientific and philosophical grounds, to Christ and the Christian religion, and especially to the value of missions for the elevation and education of the human family.
There is one department of witness that must be especially empha- sized for its comprehensiveness and value. One of the grandest mar- shalings of testimonies to Christian missions may be found in the witness of unconverted, non-Christian, but candid observers. There are hundreds yet involved and entangled in the snares and supersti- tions of heathen systems, who either cannot or dare not forsake the old faith, who are yet conscious of the superior virtue and power of Christianity and its mission work. These testimonies, if compiled, would of themselves make a voluminous collection and a sufficient answer to all modern skepticism and malignant hypercriticism. "Our roQJc is not as their rock, even our enemies themselves being j,udges." Demosthenes and lEschines once engaged in a famous disputation before the assembly of their countrymen. Upon it hung issues next in im- portance only to life itself. Demosthenes triumphed, and lEschines went into exile. While at Hhodes, lEschines founded his School of Eloquence, and on one occasion read to hi~ pupils the masterpiece of his opponent. When his pupils burst into unrestrainable applause, lEschines said, "Ah! what would have been yonr admiration had you heard Demosthenes himself speak what I have read!"
Many have been the involuntary testimonies which men have been led or forced to give to Christian missions; and they weigh like the , praise which lEschines could not withhold from the orator whose mag- nificent eloquence drove him into banishment. They are not the words of prepossessed advocates. Nay, they are often the expressions of those who have been prejudiced and even inimical, but who cannot in candor and fair-mindedness longer deny the facts. And, out of these testimonies alone, the vindication of missions could be sufficiently framed. Let us summon to the witness-stand a few of this class. If we wish to gauge the progress of Christianity in India, what statement can be more authoritative than that which comes spontaneously from the lips of non-Ohristian Hindus? More importance attaches to such an opinion than to any amount of figures compiled by any laborer engaged in the work. In The Spectator of Bangalore, in the Madras Presidency, we find a report of a monster meeting of the Hindus residing in the Oantonment and the Pattah, held on Saturday. November 10, at 4 P.M., in the new chuttram, near Annamma's Temple, Bangalore. The recent conversion of a Hindu girl, named Muthulutchamamah, to Ohristianity, was the occasion of the assembly. We quote this report, and comment is needless.
" There were over one thousand people present, and the meeting was held in true Oriental style. The speeches were delivered in Canarese, and the audience wasaccommodated with seats on carpets; Mr. C. Sooba Rao, retired Deputy Collector, Bellary, occupied the chair. The chairman, in a lengthy speech, referred to the conversion of Muthulutchamamah to Christianity, and submitted that it was against the tenets of the Shastras and the Vedas for Hindu parents to send theil' daughters to mission-schools, where they run the risk of being proselytized. He cited copiously from the Shastras, in Sanskrit, on the subject before the meeting, and explained his citation .in Canarese. The Hindus, he observed, never sent their girls to school after they had attained the ,age of majority; and the ChrIstian padres took advantage of their youth to infuse into them new ideas which were inimical to the Hindu religion. He appealed to his hearers to immediately start subscription lists for the purpose of establishing schools for the education of their girls, and to remove them at once from mission-schools. Missionschools were mainly supported by the Hindu community, and considering the incalculable injury the missionaries were doing to the cause of the Hindu religion, he did not see why they should not have their own schools-the padres to look after themselves. The conversion of the girl was not the first of its kind, and in all such castls he invariably found that the influence of mission ladies was brought into requisition to effect the work of destruction. Mr. Advocate Nitrrian Rao said tha.t the father of the girl Muthulutchamamah had told him that she was only fifteen years of age, and that it was by his allowing mission ladies to frequent his house that his daughter was now lost to him. Mr. Advocate Sooba Rao read the translation in Canarese of a letter bearing on the point at issue, written by the Rev. Mr. Picken, in the last issue of The Harvest, and proceeded to explain the same seriatim~ Mr. Ramkrishna lyer, of the Dewan's office, suggested that a large building near the Taluk Cutcherry should be purchased and utilized fora school. Mr. Pattana lyer remarked that it was owing to their lethargy that the missionaries had so far succeeded in their work of conversion. It was eventually resolved that all Hindu children should be removed from mission-schools, anI! that subscriptions be collected for opening schools for Hindu girls in the several localities of Bangalore. The proceedings lasted exactly four hours."
A Bible reader in China lately overheard a Buddhist, who was a. chief spokesman in a crowd of disputatious natives, say, "Well, it is plain that our religions are already declining; and this religion of the foreign devils is bound to conquer." The best and most sagacious observers in India, China, Japan, those three foremost Oriental empires, cannot hide from themselves the fact that their ancestral faiths have no firm foundation; and that, whatever truth is built into them, it is a foreign addition, a purer metal that may mingle but will not mix with the baser clay. The Christian faith is consistent and coherent, pure, .perfect because divine.
In the South Seas, to-day, the natives have learned to link in their thoughts every beneficent result with the gospel's introduction and prevalence. Their very idioms of speech are a revelation. Their simple classification is this: "This is a missionary man; this, no missionary man," according as they detect on the one hand honesty, integrity, generosity; or on the other meanness, treachery, and deceit. Such testimony is not only spontaneoul:l, it is involuntary and unconscious. It belongs to the ethics of language. Certain convictions of mankind stamp themselves on human speech. The word miser is the unconscious testimony of humanity to the wretchedness of grecd. And .so the term, missionary, has come to have a moral meaning to the savage and cannibal. It stands for heroism, honesty, self-denial,' love. And it would take more than Canon Taylor to shake this solid bastion in the fortress of missionary success; it rests on the bed-rock of the popular consciousness.
The most conspicuous mark of God's hand in missions is perhaps this: the progress of missionary advance has been supernaturally rapid. In the Hawaiian I~les, in five years, results were reached that mere human power could never have compassed; and ordinary Christian activity would have been fitly rewarded if such results·had crowned the work of fifty years. The triumphs of the gospel among the Karens were like the strides of a giant with his" seven-league" boots in comparison with the common rate of progress. As to Japan, President Seelye, at a meeting of the American Board, Syracuse, calmly affirmed in 1879, and it was confirmed by that immense assembly, that "never before had the gospel wrought such great and speedy changes as during the previous seven years in Japan." He said: "It is not only the most remarkable chapter in the history of modern missions, but there is nothing in the history of the world to compare with it. We talk about the early triumphs of Christianity; but the early records of the Church, bright as they may be, pale in the light of what is taking place before our eyes at the present time. Even Madagascar offers nothing to compare with Japan. " Africa was for thousands of Ylars emphatically the dark continent; yet so rapidly is missionary exploration going forward that our maps of yesterday are scarce accurate today, and will be obsolete to-morrow. At Harpoot, on the Euphrates, we find one little mission church multiplying itself into fourteen, with four hundred and eighteen church members, eleven native pastol'smore than half of them supported by these native churches-twel"c licensed native preachers, twenty-one native teachers, and forty-one other helpers; of pupils two thousand and forty-one, and scores of unpaid laborers going forth every Lord's day to tell the story of Christ under the inward impulse of love for souls. The people are very poor, yet so liberal that the faithfully-paid tithes of ten converted families enable their native pastors to live on a level with their people. And all this the outgrowth of a single church, in a single missionary station, in less than twelve years, at a cost not exceeding in all $150,OOO-the cost of one modern church edifice! Yes, these little churches on the Euphrates, gathered from native converts in Eastern Turkey, are per- haps the best illustrations in modern times of the three great principles of church life-self-government, self-support, and self-propagation.
Nevertheless, antagonism to missions is in the very air-and many that have never been good for anything else are, like Dr. Guthrie's famous elder, aye objectin,-adepts at criticising and faultfinding. We must dare to disregard all these oppositions whether coming from nominal friend or foe, whether resulting from ignorance or from science falsely so called; we must simply in face of all opponents go forward. Here is the authority of our Lord, "Go ye into all the world and preach •the gospel to every creature." That alone is enough, both as a reason and a vindication. Said a gunner of Waterloo,-when asked afterward by Dr. Cooke of Belfast, what he saw when standing on an exposed knoll in the very thick of the fight,-" Saw? nothing but a cloud of dust and smoke." "What did you do?" "Stood by my ,gun." He had been placed there by his commander and there he stayed till a counter-order was given. The command of our Lord is sufficient, even were it all. But it is not an. There is the impulse of humanity, es- pecially when it is fortified by Ohristianity. The possession of Ohrist begets a passion for Christ and for souls. "We cannot but speak the things which WOe have seen and heard," though, as to the apostles, our testimony may bring only the scourging. Philanthropy compels testi- mony, and endeavor to uplift man; and the gospel is the only adequate lever. The" Ely Volume" is an encyclopedia in which are gathered and catalogued the contributions of missions to science, art, language and literature, everything that raises man to a higher level.
But bey Jnd all these is another, and if possible, higher inducement; our Lord's promise: "Lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age." And gloriously has that promise been fulfilled, nay it is ful- fillipg before our eyes. '1'0 study the history of missions is not only instructive and stimulating, but thrilling; it is the tracing of the golden footsteps of the Lord Christ. During this century of the formative and preparatory period of modern missionary enterprise, what mighty obstacles He has removed! what a missionary spirit He has created and developed! what a chain of organized effort He has forged and stretched fl>round the globe! what work I;I~ has impelled WOIp.!1n to do} an(j. with what imperial success He has crowned it I what enthusiasm He has awakened among our young men and maidens, and among our princely givers I what a new scope He has given to medical missions I what printing-presses and schools He has caused to be ere(~ted in foreign lands I Is not all this a literal fulfillment of that word, "Lo ! I am with you alway?" Could all this be accounted for on any other ground than this, that, back of all the feeble endeavor of the Christian Church, there has .been a mighty divine energy at work, turning and overturning, pulling down and building up, by methods and measures which man could neither devise nor develop, moving the very minds of men in accordance with His eternal purpose? Never was there heard a voice more imperial and imperative than that which now calls the whole Church of our Lord to go forward! The walls are down, though thus far we have done nothing but encompass the stronghold of paganisJll and shout, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon." An insignificant missionary band has been sent forth, nnmbering only abont 6,000, inclusive of lay teachers and women, to confront a force of over 1,000,- 000,000 pagan, papal, and Moslem people, i. e., one to 166,000 I Meanwhile Japan in 1853 opens her ports, sealed for three centuries. In 1856 the Hatti Humayiin gave the firman of the Sultan as the ~uaranty of toleration in Turkey. China opens her gates by the treaty of 1858 to the gospel, and assures to converts immunity from persecution. In 1878 ten thousand converts were baptized in the" Lone Star Mission" alone, within ninety days, and sixty thousand people in South India renounced idolatry; in 1877 Stanley, after 1,000 days, completed the exploration of Africa's interior, opening the way for f chain of stations from Zanzibar to the estuaries of Congo; and in 1884 the Berlin Conference, embracing fifteen ruling powers, Protestant, Greek, Catholic, and even Moslem, sat to decree civil and religious freedom to the vast Congo Basin. In this missionary century, every day is a crisis and every hour a pivot of destiny. What are we doing? The cry of retrenchment startles our missionary workers, at a time when our motto should be not only nunquam retrorsum, but semper prorsum. Retrenchment! Why, if at such a time the Church of Christ restricts her missionary work, hesitates to follow the moving a~d luminous pillar, God may let back upon his own hesitating hosts the waters which hp, has heaped up to give us a dry path through the very deep. A church that with such world openings before her,-the last of the hermit nations coming forth from exclusion and seclusion. to welcome the contact of the gospel missionary, Ethiopia stretching forth her hands unto God, the isles of the sea waiting for His law and within thirty years rearing thousands of churches on the ruins of idol shrines and cannibal ovens-if the church now fails or even falters with such Divine voices calling, such ,doors opening, such fields inviting; with bl!-rv[:lst ripenin~ so close upon the sowing that the plowm(ln is
– THAT QUESTION OF POPULATION
overtaken by the reaper-such a church may well ask whether there is not risk of apostasy from God in the matter of missions!
The time for trifling is past; we must go to work in dead earnest. The time for defensive movements is past; we have something better to do than to use spades and throw up earth-works and trenches. Out from behind all walls where we have sought she1ter from the fire of the foe, let us move with <tIl the weapons of aggressIve warfare, and drive back the enemy by the boldness and promptness and unity of one combined movement. The best apologetic defense of missions is an energetic prosecution of missions. -Let the Word of God .be scattered in every_ part of the field, let the children of the Kingdom sow themselves side by side with the Word of God, content to die and be buried if need be in order, dying, to live in the fruits of their heroic devotion to Ohrist and souls. I.1et no part of the world be left without_ the witness of the gospel, let money be poured out in rich abundance that all whom God makes willing may be sent forth into the harvestfield-let there be above all else a new revival of covenant prayer throughout the whole Ohurch of God, for a new effusion of the Holy Ghost-and whIle critics are complaining, and owl-eyed worldly-wise men are blinking, we shall have compassed the globe with missionary effort, and our sufficient answer to all antagonists shall be found not in the counterfire of argument, but in the waving harvests of a thousand fertile fields!
THAT QUESTION OF POPULATION.
BY REV. F. F. ELLINWOOD, D.D_, NEW YORK.
I NOTICE that many secular papers have published articles containing extensive quotations from the late article of Oanon Taylor entitled "The Great Missionary Failure." The article, coming as it did from a clergyman of the Anglican Ohurch, excited much surprise, and by many it is thought to have dealt a severe blow to the cause of missions. But let us see.
Canon 'raylor plainly shows the effect of having been antagonized by the severe, and in some cases, destructive counter-statements which have been made to his article of some months ago on the merits of Islam as a religion for Africa. He takes now the broader ground of a general attack upon the whole work of missions the world over.
His first point is a preliminary statement that in the means devoted to this work « there is no stint," the impHcation being that they are wholly adequate to the end in view. But will any thoughtful man say that the means are commensurate with the undertaking? In this couutry the contributions of Protestant Ohristians for foreign missions amount to less than one-sixteenth of one per cent. of their wealth. The amount given by the average Ohristian is not a tithe of the average amount paid for anyone of a hundred mere luxuries. There are thouRands of Ohristian men whose gifts for this object are the merest fraction of what is paid for their cigars or their wines. A slight tax upon the bric-a.-brac in many a Christian home, or on the recreations and amusements of a dozen kinds, would exceed all that – is given for what, by the terms of our Christian cr~ed, is the most important, the most formidable and difficult, the most widely extended of all enterprises that have ever been undertaken by mankind. The more common charge is that of dribbling inadequacy. So small is the percentage given for this great work that the sincerity of Christian belief is sometImes called in question. It was ascertained a year ago in England, that out of 7,000 titled members of the nobility, including all branches of the Royal family, only about $5,000 altogether was given for the cause of missions. This would not half support the hounds, certainly not a tenth part of the fox-hunting horses of those high and privileged notables, who owe all that they are and all that England is, to the early missionary efforts which raised the British Isles from the darkest savagery to the high po'sition which they now hold among Christian nations.
Canon Taylor next points out what seems a well-nigh fatal consideration, viz.: that the populat!ons of India, China and Africa so far exceed the ratios of increase in Christian converts. This is the fashionable argument just now, and it is wonderfully plausible. Its fallacy lies in the fact that while the increase in population goes on over all the earth, missionary efforts are as yet limited to a comparatively few districts, and that while the growth of population is at its full tide, missionary efforts are as yet only in their beginnings. Every reader of your columns who knows anything of history is aware that the missionary problem has always encountered this same factor in every nation that has been won to Christianity. Intelligent men cannot be ignorant of the fact that when the missionary work of the Christian Church began, all the nations now called Christian were in the depths of heathenism, and that Britain, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and all the European nations have been won by the same seeminJly inadequate means. For a very long time (much longer than is now required) there was a great disproportion between the numbers of the converts and the annual increase of population, and if it be said that he populations did not then increase as rapidly as now, it should also be remembered that the means and agencies then at hand bore no comparison with those which the Ohristian nations now possess. Yet notwithstanding the scanty means then employed, the time came when the ratio of converts overtook the increase of population, and this has been the law of Ohristian growth in all lands.
The true comparison lies not in the totals of increase, but in percentages of increase. Some of the enlightened Anglo-Indian statesmen of our day, like Sir William W. Hunter, Sir Richard Temple, Sir Oharles Aitcheson and others, have given special attention to this very question as illustrated in the census reports of India. Whoever will consult the July, 1888, number of the Nineteenth Cetnury, will see some instructivefiguresfrom the pen of Sir William W. Hunter on this subject, which show that the growth of the Ohristian element in India greatly exceeds either that of Mohammedanism or Hinduism not only, but exceeds four or fivefold and in some cases sixfold, the increase percent. of population. Sir Oharles Aitcheson in a recent speech at Simla, India, declared: "That while in the decade from 1871 to 1881 the population in the Madras Presidency actually decreased, the growth of Ohristians of all denominations was more than 30 per cent. In the Bengal Presi- dency the growth of population was 10.89 per cent, while the advance in the Ohristian population was more than 40 per cent." And he adds: "What is most remarkable is the fact that while the increase among . Ohristians of all other races (white men) was only 7 per cent., the in- crease among native Ohristians was 64 per cent., or six times the ratio of the general population." He also quotes the Oensus Oommissioner as saying that, "the progress made in the spread of Ohristianity in that last nine years was one of the most interesting facts brought out in the census taken." In the Northwest Province the population increased six per cent., while the number of native Ohristians advanced 54 per cent., exactly nine times as fast as the population, and the Oen- sus Oommissioner asserts that this increase extended through every division of the Northwest Provinces except one. In the Punjab there was the same story to tell. The population increased 7 per cent.: the Hindu and Mohammedan sects were practically stationary, having in- creased only a fraction of one per cent.: the adherents of the Sikh re- ligion actually declined: the Ohristian increase was 381-2 per cent., or more than five times that of the population!
These figures, which are very similar to those of. Sir William W.
Hunter, ought to suffice so far as India is concerned. H the same calculation be carried into other mission fields like Siam, or Persia, or Ohina, the per cent. of increase will be found much higher. The com- municants of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in Siam, where the population probably does not increase more than ten per cent. each decade, have increased nearly 600 per cent. in the last de- cade, while in Ohina, where the increase in population is probably less than ten per cent., the communicants of the same Board have increased nearly 200 per cent. Fortunately we have for Ohina the total gain in all Protestant missions, and the ratio is found to be about 140 per cent. for the last ten ycars. If we take Japan, where the progress of Ohristianity is more rapid than it has ever been in any other land since the beginning of the Ohristian era, the total church membership of the Protestant missions doubles every three years. This for the last decade would be an average of over 300 per cent. for the mission work of all Protest~nt denominations. And we I1re cOllfidently informed by . judicious missionaries that in twelve years more Japan will be OJ Ohristian country. The particular work of foreign missions there, though so .recent in its beginning, will have been completed. Of course this does not imply that every individual of the 38,000,000 will have professed Christianity (such a result has not been reached in the United States) but the Japanese churches will then be able to conduct their own propagandism as a home missionary work.
Canon Taylor's article directs its attack particularly against the missions of the Church Missionary Society, but very unfairly, I think. He singles out the fields in which that society has been least successful, and where in fact it has barely made beginnings, and passes over its noblest successes. He cites two or three cases in Egypt, Persia and Arabia, leaving the impression that those are specimen fields of that grand sOCIety, and that their work is a fair sample of what is being accomplished iIi the countries named. He makes no mention of the Egyptian work of the United Presbyterians of America, whose success on the Nile has been phenomenal, nor does he even hint at the work of the Presbyterian Board in Persia, where over 2,000 are gathered in the church, and where not less than a hundred native ministers are successfully employed.
As to the quality of the members of the mission churches, he singles out a region where the iniquities of Christian nations have poured their worst influence upon a helpless and degraded people for several generations. .He selects West Africa, desolated by two centuries of the slave trade, and where even yet the delugc of whiskey, imported from Europe and even from Boston, pours its blight upon a long degraded people. N or is this all. Vice in its worst forms is propagated by the representatives of European and American commerce. Its vile and unblushing character cannot fitly be descrihed in this paper. Moreover, Canon Taylor's statements are ex parte, those of an African traveler not in sympathy with the cause of missions or of Christianity in any form, arid whose information is gathered from foreign residents who represent in persona the very vices of which I have spoken. This has heen a world-wide evil. How long were the missionaries in the Sandwich Islands and in Tahiti compelled to fight against the sailors and in many cases the naval officers of all nations who were determined to make those islands a paradise of lust? For three centuries, according to Sir William W. Hunter, the worst influences of Europe have been poured forth upon the countries now occupied as mission fields.
But great as the discouragements in West Africa have been, the result is by no means what Canon Taylor represents. There are scores of missionaries in West Africa who find such encouragement as leads them still, and faithfully, to hold on in their work in spite of all obstacles. They send their reports to a dozen different societies by which, on the whole, they are deemed encouraging, and they are in a position to judge. Are they alllia~s ? Is only this one transient traveler reliable? Are the great societies of Great Britain, many of whose administrators ha'e been over the fields, all parties to a fraud? Are these missionaries who have suffered so severely in hfe and health, so anxious to labor on for a pittance of a salary, and in great discomfort, only to support the merest sham?
In the late London Missionary Oonference,at which more than 1,500 delegates were present from all parts of the world, there was a class of men of unique character, whose testimony ought to outweigh the statements of travel~rs who spend a night or two in this or that mission station. These men have held high official position-in some cases for a score of years, in the distant colonies of Great Britain, where the work of foreign missions has gone on directlynnder their observation. They have looked upon the work from the stand-point of statesmen. They are keen observers of great social movements and were in a position to judge without bias. Among them were the Right Hon. Earl of Northbrook, ex-Governor General of India, Sir Richard Temple, Sir WiHiam W. Hunter, Sir Monier Williams, Sir William Muir, Sir Robert Thayre, Dr. Robert N. Oust, Mr. Henry Morris and others. These men acted during the sessions of the Missionary Oonference as chairmen of important meetings. Besides these, there was another class who, although not formally in the colonial service, are men of the highest character and of the broadest knowledge. For example, the Earl of Aberdeen, the President of the Oonference, Earl of Harrowby, the Bishop of Exeter, Lord Kinnard, Lord Radstock, Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Sir James P. Oorry, Sir Robert N. Fowler, Sir John H. Kennaway, Sir Risdon Bennett, and Mr. JamesP. Oampbell, M. P. These also presided at the different sessions, and several of them took part in the discussions. The following extract from the address of the Earl of Northbrook I think your readers will be inclined to accept as worthy of confidence. In speaking of men of high position who had given their sympathy and support to the cause of missions, he said: "I will speak of men whom I have known and whom many of you have known. Among civilians what greater name is there than that of John Lawrence, who always during the whole of his life supported missionaries on every opportunity? He was succeeded in the government of the Punjab by Sir Robert Montgomery, an active supporter of missions. After Sir Robert Montgomery came Sir Donald ~fcLeod, a man who on all occasions and espeCially at the Missionary Conference at Liverpool some years ago, showed his support of missionary undertakings. Now these, mind you, were not men of whom the natiyes of India felt any suspicion or want of confidence. I remember very well when I was traveling through the Punjab, that I was told that a small and peculiar sect desired to be presented to me. They were pt'esented, and this turned out to be a sect who worshiped the photograph of Sir Donald McLeod. There was no man probably who had so much influence with the natives as he, and he was a warm advoc~te of Christian missions.
THl;: CHINA INLAND
You all know that Sir William Muir, when Governor of the NorthwestProvinces, openly showed his support of mission work, and Sir Charles Aitcheson, who occupied the post of Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, and who is now one of the members of the Council, has also been an active supporter of mission work. Then there are Sir Richal'd Temple, Sir Richard Thompson; Sir Charles Be1'llard, Henry S. Tucker and others. There is the almost equally distinguished brother of Lord Lawrence. Henry Lawrence. There wereHel'- bert Edwardes, Reynell Taylor, Henry Havelock, and in fact nearly all the men who came forward at the time of the mutiny and through whose exertions the British Empire in India was preserved. I say this for two reasons, I say it first because when you are told that these missionary societies are nonsense, supported by a pack of old women, then you may point to these menthe best statesmen and the best soldiers of India, who have by their lives and on every occasion on which they could, supported mission work. And I say it besides, because I wish to point out that these are men in whom morethan in any others the natives of India, whether Christians or not, had the greatest confidence.
"Now a few words as to the result of the work we have been dOing, and the prospects of it. Did any of you read the telegram in the Times the other day? Of all the men 1 ever knew Sir Charles Aitcheson is the most careful and accurate, and (according to the telegram) he said at a meeting at Simla, 'Christianity is advancing five times faster than the growth of the population, and is making greater progress than at any time since the Apostolic period.'''
Other points in Canon Taylor's article challenge reply, but the above will suffice.
THE CHINA INLAND MISSION. BY PROF. HOMER B. HULBERT, SEOUL, KOREA. IT is quite natural that missionary interest among the people of America should be largely confined to those fields which are manned by missionaries from that country. At the same time it must not be forgotten that there are vast missionary movements which have not as yet drawn upon America for workers or funds to any considerable extent and so have not been brought forcibly before the Christian public of that country. Such an one is the" China Inland Mission," the very principle of whose organization, which I am about to give, is of such a kind as to keep it rather out of the public eye than conspicuously in it. We desire to present to the readers of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD a few facts showing how great a work has been done, and is being done, by an organization of which comparatively little is known in America. And it is because that within the last three months that society has begun for .the first time to draw upon our country for workers and funds that I deem the subject worthy of special interest on our side of the Atlantic. The statements herein contained were given me directly by the Rev. Hudson Taylor, and it is by his kind permission that I am able to present them. In order to set forth the subject with fairness, we must look back to the year 1865, in which the mission was founded. Rev. J. Hudson Taylor first went to China under the" Chinese Evangelization Society" of England as a medical worker in 1853, but because of illhealth was obliged to return in 1860, yet it was with a deep determination to stir up active iuterest among Christians at home. His efforts led to the founding of the new movement, the one of which we are speaking. A prominent feature from the' first was the desire and determination that it should not encroach upon fields already provided for, and that it should not divert men or means from any of the previously existing societies. These fundamental principles were laid down and have been strictly adhered to ever since. They were as follows: (1) Duly qualified candidates for missionary labor should be accepted without restriction as to denomination, provided there was soundness in the faith in all fundamental truths.
(2) All who go out as missionaries should go out in dependence upon God for temporal supplies, with the clear understanding that the mission does not guarantee any income whatever; and knowing that, as the mission does not run into debt, it can minister to those connected with it only as the funds sent in from time to time may allow.
(3) There shall be no collections taken up on behalf of this mission and there shall be no personal solicitation of money.
These principles are widely different from'those adopted by a large majority of mission societies, and for that reason the working and the results under them ought to be carefully examined by all interested in the foreign work. In 1885 it was seen that in the whole empire of China, with its 300,000,000 souls, there were 97 Protestant missionaries, and these were confined almost entirely to the sea-ports. Eleven out of the eighteen provinces were without a single resident missionary. It was this melancholy fact which led to the inauguration of a new movement. , In May, 1866, Rev. Mr. Taylor sailed again for China, accompanied by fifteen laborers, funds having been sent in by individuals throughout England, though unsolicited. We have seen already that in the selection of these men there 'was no recognition of denominational differences. Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, were all looked upon as followers of Christ, and their distinctions ended. Education and culture were not considered qualifications in themselves. The university graduate was a no more acceptable candidate than one who had enjoyed only a common school education. But capacity for attainment was an indispensable qualification. The organization itself was prepared to give a man just the kind of education that would fit him for the best and most thorough work on the field. But above and beyond all other things, the 8piritua~ condition and attainments of the candidate were examined into. The question was raised, "How has this person used the opportunities for spiritual development which have been at his command?;' Also, "What are the evidences of his deep and thorough consecration?" Of course in answering these inquiries evidence ,was gathered from various sources; and l'ight here the objection may be made that this is a questionable way to do-to hunt up a man's record so carefully and pry into his affairs. But anyone who has followed up the history of missions, through its dark as well as its bright phases, and has marked the injury done in times past through neglect in this particular-the retrogressions that have followed unconsecrated labor-will say that too great care in the selection of workers is impossible. As to theological beliefs, each applicant is required to satisfy the committee as to his belief in the following points: (1) The inspiration of. the whole canonical Seripture. (2) The Bible the ultimate and only rule and guide for the Christian. (3) The rrrimty. (4) The pollution of the whole 'race through the fall of Adam. (5) The atoning merit of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (6) Future rewards and punishments. (7) The limitation of probation to this life.
The applicant subscribing to these few propositions as being his settled belief, gives a solemn written guarantee that should his belief in any of them undergo a change he will immediately retire from the work. -Then with the assurance that he will be put where there will be plenty of work for the Maflter, and that his physical wants will be provided for as well as possible by the organization, but without guarantee of definite salary, he goes forth to Inland China. And now another peculiarity of this work comes out. As the person reaches China, he or she immediately adopts the Chinese dress, and so far as possible, Chinese customs. Living in native houses, eating native food, using native methods of transportation, but all this without any atteIl4Pt to disguise his nationality or his intentions as r'lgards evan~ gelization.
We have said that this work began in 1865, and from that time until the present day the results have confirmed the founders in their adherence to the principles which were adopted at first, the first and all-important one being entire dependence upon God. Hundreds of men and women have thrown themselves body and soul into the work, piercing to the remotest corners of the empire, overcoming every obstacle. Repulsed, baffled, persecuted, they struggled on with heroic perseverance until out of eleven provinces which in 1865 contained not a single missionary, nine have to-day resident missionaries and the other two are entered and traversed from time to time in itinerant work. When I say that the work is comprehensive I give no idea of the vast area covered by the Inland Mission. Its laborers may be found from the borders of the Mongolian desert and the boundary line of Siberia. on the north, to the banks of the Bramapootra river and the valleys of the Himalayas on the south, from the Pacific Ocean on the east to the borders of Turkestan and the unknown plateau of 'l'hibet on the west.
Shanghai is th~ business and distributing center. All workers enter at this point, and after securing their Chinese outfit, board one of the Yang Tse river steamers and ascend that stream a few hundred miles, when they reach a city where the mission has a training seminary for ladies, and a little farther on a similar one for gentlemen. Having spent a year or so at these places training for their work they are drafted off to their respective fields. Some settle in stations near the coast, while others reach their fields only after continuous travel for five months over almost impassable mountain ranges, burning deserts, and swollen rivers till they penetrate to regions where the gospel never shone, where the banner of Christ's Church has never been unfurled. Some people think that the romance of missions is a thing of the past, ' but could the unrecorded histories of many and many, of these men be put before the world they would fascinate more powerfully than fiction, and kindle more enthusiasm than all other appeals combined. Some settle in teeming cities, surronnded by envious and hostile eyes, others attach themselves to nomadic tribes of Mongol Tartars, living in miserable tents, and roving from place, to place, no fixed home, no familiar fireside, but wandering over the Tartar plains at the will of wild chieftains, or as the scantiness of pasturage for flocks demands. , And there lies the lofty plateau of Thibet, a terra incognita, almost mythical" which for a hundred years has hardly been pressed by a for- eign foot, but to-day the workers of the Inland Mission are on its bor- ders and have been offered by local Thibetan officials the opportunity of entering the country of the Grand Llama quietly and without danger of molestation. It is only a matter of months before Christianity will be knocking at the doors of Llamaistic faith, so long left unassailed. The plan of this mission is to carry out its work on great lines aease of communication or density of popUlation shall indicate. One line, starting at Shanghai, follows up the Yang Tse a distance of 2,000 miles, with stations at intervals and at that point, the river being navi- gable no farther, it pushes out across the country and continues the chain to the borders of Burmah and the Himalayas. At the point where the river Han debouches into the Yang Tse another line begins, which, following up that river, has reached the confines of Thibet, and round- ing the northern part of that province is pushing westward toward Kasgar and the Caspian. The running of such lines of work renders mutual helpfulness much more practicable. To-day there are 300 workers under this mission, with an income, all told, of $170,000 a year. I will give no statistics of the work further than to say that it has been wonderfully prospered in almost every province. Those who are w.on to Christ instead of being made to feel that their becoming Christians will prove of pecuniary benefit to them, are from the very,
ULPBILAS AND THE GOTHIC
first made to feel the importance of giving of their substance for the support of native workers. This is a most severe test of the sincerity of the convert and leads one to believe that the result will be lasting.
A word in regard to America's participation. in this work, Rev. Mr. Taylor on his way from England to Ohina stopped in the United States last summer, and while there was invited by Mr. D. L. Moody to address the young ladies of the Northfield, Mass., Seminary in regard to the Inland Mission. It aroused great enthusiasm. Later he addressed a convention at Niagara which awakened such interest that, to his surprise, enough money was pledged for the support of eight new workers in Ohina. With these means at hand he made a strong appeal for workers, and before the summer was over there had been over 75 applications. Fourteen were selected and are now on their way to Ohina. I Thus, America is becoming identified in a work which can truly be called one of the most extensive and important now on foot for the evangelization of the world. Remember that (1), it is unsectarian; (2), it demands adhesion simply to the fundamental doctrines accepted by aU evangelical denominations; (3), it uses no persuasion or solicitation to procure funds, using simply the medium of prayer and never, during twenty-three years, has that Bource failed.
Does not this come near the ideal of a mission movement? And now that it has come home to us, by drawing upon us for men and means, shall we not follow them with our prayers and our efforts?
ULPHILAS AND THE GOTHIC BIBLE.
BY JAMES M. ;LUDLOW, D.D., LITT. D, THE Goths were the mightiest of those great n!1tions of half-savage people, Barbarians as they were called, who poured down from Northern Europe and destroyed the Roman Empire. They swept over Italy antl Greece, and across the Mediterranean the coasts of Africa trembled beneath the shock of their on-rolling power.
But though the Goths crushed the mightiest of empires, they were not to found one for themselves, nor even to maintain their own racial existence. There are now no representative Gothic powers nor pure Gothic people. Providence, however, had for them a wider mission. They melted into the peoples they conquered, so that Gothic blood and Gothic language are the best ingredients in the civilization of Europe and A-merica. We belong to the Teutonic race, embracing the German, Dutch and Anglo-Saxon; but the whole Teutonic brotherhood is partly Gothic. An expert would recognize the Gothic cast in almost all our faces, and the Gothic words in our common conversation. Here is the Lord's Prayer in ancient Gothic. We can almost understand it without prompting-" Unsar Atta tIm in himinam. Weihnai namo thein. Wairthai wilja theins swe in himina jah ana airthai," etc.
It is a most interesting !act that we are indebted for the richest part of our language to what a single Christian missionary did among these Goths 1,500 years ago. At that time this people had no written speech. They made sounds which they mutually understood, but their language was only. in the air. There was nothing to preserve its form. The story of the making of this written language is the story of Ulphilas and his Bible. He is therefore called in history "The Father of Teutonic Literature."
Ulphilas was born in 311 A.D. The wild Goths were in the habit of breaking across the Danube, raiding the country of the Christians, and carrying away captives. According to tradition the ancestors of Ulphilas had been such captives. He was certainly born among the Goths, whether of foreign extraction or not. When twenty-one years of age he was sent to Constantinople, it would seem as a hostage, or, perhaps, as 1j.n envoy; for the marvelous genius he afterward displayed must 'have been recognized by the duller-minded Barbarians among whom he lived. While at Constantinople he mastered the Greek and Latin languages, and imbibed fully the spirit of the Christianity with which he was -brought into contact. He became a semi- Arian Christian. After nine years' residence in Constantinople, where he served as a Bible-reader among his Gothic countrymen, multitudes of whom came there, he was solemnly ordained as a missionary bishop to his kindred in their northern homes. Though but thirty years of age he drew to him vast hordes of the barbaric people, organized them into civil so~iety, and became their virtual ruler, as well as minister. His popularity soon drew down upon him the wrath of the still pagan king of the Visigoths.. who waged upon him and his followers a war of extermination. Ulphilas, obtaining consent of the Roman emperor, Constantius, selected a new country south of the Danube, and led his people forth, as our fathers crossed the Atlantic for the sake of liberty of conscience, as Moses led the people out of persecuting Egypt. Hence Ulphilas is known as the "Moses of the Goths." In those Mresian valleys just north of the Balkans, which are now the envy of Russian and Turk, Servian and Bulgarian, he found his Canaan, and for thirty years more lived as the father of the people he had saved.
His great work was giving his people the Bible in their own tongue. But how could he do this wheu they had no writing, or, if any, only some rudimentary forms which hardly anybody understood? He must first invent an alphabet. Then he must crystallize the rude sound language into visible shape, translate from the ear for the eye. To do this must have been the work of a tremendous toiler, who at the same time WlS a superb genius. We may doubt if any man ever undertook such a task, save under the direct impulse of the Spirit of God. Written language is ordinarily the slow development of centuries, the exceptions being those cases where that superhuman sort of zeal to do Christ's work and give the Bible to the people has not let the missionary falter at the mighty task of first framing for them a speech in which to read the sacred oracles.
Gibbon, sneering whenever he could at things Ohristian, had only words of marvel and praise for the character and literary exploit of Ulphilas. He wrote (Vol. IlL, p. 541, Harper'se dition): The Goths "were indebted for their conversion to a countryman, or, at least, to a. subject, worthy to be ranked among the inventors of useful arts, who have deserved the remembrance and. gratitude of posterity. . . • He executed the arduous task of translating the Scriptures into their native tongue. . . . The rude, imperfect idiom of soldiers and shepherds, so ill qualified to communicate any spiritual ideas, was improved and modulated by his gellius ; and Ulphilas, before he could frame his vet -' sion, was obliged to compose a new alphabet of twenty-four letters, four of which he invented, to express the peculiar sounds that were unknown to the Greek and Latin prollunciation."
Max Muller ir. his" Science of Language" (VoL 1., p. 188) pauses to pay reverential tribute to this great consecrated genius: "Ulphilas must have been a man of extraordinary power to conceive, fOl; the first time, the idea of translating the Bible into the vulgar language of his people. At his time there existed in Europe but two languages which a Ohristian bishop would have thought himself justified in employing, Greek and Latin. All other languages were still considered as barbarous. It required a prophetic sight, and a faith in the destinies of these half-savage tribes, and a conviction also of the utter effeteness of the Roman and Byzantine empires, before a bishop could have brought himself to translate the Bible into the vulgar dialect of his barbarous coun trymen."
For many years Ulphilas was spared to his people, in his piety their exemplar, in his wisdom their counselor, by both exalted in popular ,estimate as their prophet. At seventy he was aged perhaps more by outward hardship as the leader of his rude tribes, and by the long confinement of his study, than by years. At this time a new emperor, I rl'heodosius, had come to the Roman throne. He was an orthodox Ohristian, and determined to crush out the Arian faith. The city of Oonstantinople was seething with riots between the two parties. The Emperor summoned Ulphilas to his court, whether to receive punishment as a leader of the heretical Barbarians, or that he might act as a peace-maker between the hostile sects whose contentions menaced the unity of the empire, we do not know. He crossed the Balkans and appeared in Oonstantinople, in repute, perhaps, the fairest man of his age, his decrepitude almost transfigured by the veneration in which he was held. But he had scarcely entered. the capital when his laborw~rn frame gave way, and the giver of speech to a race was called to learn the new language of heaven.
But the fragrance of Ulphilas' life never died out. His Gothic Bible
THE DISTRmUTION OF MISSIONARY AGENTS
was for five hundred years the sacred text-book of Italy and Spain, where the descendants of the Barbarians had become the guardians of all that was left of the civilization they had overthrown. ./ The very expressions of thai Bible as he had written them were the molds In which was cast the religious sentiment of Northern Europe, andlargely of our modern Christian thought.
In the year 1648 the Swedish army captured Prague. Among the spoils sent to Stockholm was a strange manuscript of Ulphilas' Bible. The vellum was originally tinted a delicate purple. Its letters are in silver, apparently stamped upon the vellum with types. Its capitals are in gold. Altogether the book is a splendid specimen of the highest art of Italy in the sixth century. About half of the entire work of Ulphilas is thus preserved on 188 skins or folios.
If all pleasant words are, as Scripture says, "like apples of gold in pictures of silver," well may this book be written in gold and silver, for it ~ot only contains the pleasant words of God to poor men, but the story of its making is one of the finest illustrations the world has 'known of man's hnmanity to man-for Ulphilas's devotion to his Goths was unsurpassed in tenderness and bravery by even the zeal of the Apostles. The gold of its letters might well have been taken from the crowns of kings, for in giving written speech to that race, the mission- ary made the Goths Christian, and secured to their descendants the glory of building the empire of modern Christendom; a work that is matched not by that of Constantine or Charlemagne.
A beautiful lesson is taught us in this story, of the incidental blessing that may follow any service offered to God. Weare wiser than we know in every act of consecration. Ulphilas had no foresight of the far-reaching results of his labors; no dream that for thousands of years the scholars and statesmen of the world would class him as chief among themselves. His plan was only to be a faithful missionary. Translating the Scriptures, with all that it involved both of labor and consequence, was incidental to missionary duty. So every Christian is but an intelligent tool giving itself into the hand of the Infinite Artist for a little work; but the tool knows not what work the artist may exe- cute therewith. Our lives are but tonches against the clay which God, the potter, is revolving on the wheel of time; and what an exquisite thing, how large a vessel he may shape with these touches we cannot now know.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF MISSIONARY AGENTS. BY REV. EDWARD STORROW, BRIGHTON, ENGLAND.
THROUGHOUT the non-Christian world with its 1,030,000,000 souls, about 5,000 European and American missionaries are placed and 30,000 native workers. About 3,000 of the latter are ordained minis- ters ; the remainder are variously employed as assistant evangelists, catechists and school-teachers. Of the former about 3,000 are or. dained ministers, 700 lay missionaries, and 1,300 lady teachers and the wives of missionaries. Valuable as the services of many of the latter are, they cannot all be regarded as effective laborers, so that to ,esti- mate the female missionary laborers at 1,300 is as high a number as accuracy will justify. .
According to these figures the proportionate number of agents sent from Europe and America to evangelize non-Ohristian races is one to 206,000, and of all Ohristian laborers one to 20,400.
In America and Great Britian, the ministers of religion are in the proportion of one to less than 1,000 of the population. The town missionary evangelists and lay preachers are equally numerous, whilst a yet greater number of Sabbath-school teachers, district visitors and general helpers in every good word and work render to the cause of religion an amount of service which cannot be too highly valned.
Apart, then, from the latter agencies, to which there is nothing analo- gous in most pagan lands, it will be seen that the distribution of avow- edly Ohristian agencies bears no fair relation to the wants of Ohristian and non-Ohristian races. Those who need the most have least.
,The Ohurch of Ohrist is responsible for the disproportion. It is neither wise, nor generous, nor benevolent. It cannot please Ohrist.
Perhaps it explains why our agencies at home are not more successful.
If we did less for ourselves, that we might do more to spread Ohrist's name and grace throughout the world, would He not by His presence and blessing more than recompense us for the sacrifice? The words of Scripture have profound relations to many things beside money.
H There is that, "etc. See Provo xi : 24, 5, etc. ; Luke vi: 38.
Missionaries are not only few, they are very unequally distributed over the non-Christian world, as will be seen by the following observa- tions, which take account of but one aspect of the mission field, the proportion of foreign missionaries to population.
The countries best supplied are North America, including Green- land and the possessions of Great Britain and the United States; the West Indies; the coast of West Africa south of the Senegal; South Africa; Madagascar; New' Zealand; Western Polynesia; European Turkey; Syria and Palestine. The countries moderately supplied are Japan, Ohina proper, Burmah, British India, Oeylon, the Dutch possessions in the East, and Egypt. The countries where there are the fewest missionaries are, S. Oentral Africa; Morocco; Algiers; Tunis; Tripoli; Northeastern Africa; New Guinea; New Britian; ,New Ireland; Oorea; Manchoria; Mongolia; Siam; Tributary India; Persia and S. America. Whilst the vast Soudan, many islands in the Indian Archipelego, Asiatic Russia, Oochin Ohina, Tonquin, Laos Thibet, Turkestan, Afghanistan and Arabia are practically without missionary agency.
At a time when the world is unfolding itself as never before, not only to our knowledge but our influence, as an opening flower to the • sun, and when the Church of God is happily eager to send forth more laborers into the harvest, it is interesting and indeed important to consider where, with the greatest advantage, fresh agencies may be employed. Of course the gospel should be preached to every creature and nothing short of a supreme attempt to win the whole hUlnan race for Christ can satisfy Him or absolve His church from its solemn re- sponsibility; but seeing that there is no probability of this being done in our day by united and well advised effort on the part of any consid- erable number of Christian communities, it may be of service to consider where missionaries may be sent with the greatest probability of find- ing "a great door and effectual opened unto them," and with the fewest advers>tries to oppose their entrance and impede their endeavors.
Assuming then that the Protestant churches of Christendom had 25 per cent. additional agents to send into the mission field, where would it be advisable to locate' them? Not necessarily where there are the fewest. 'fo us it seems that several conditions should have due weight in arriving at a decision, so as to turn the forces at our disposal to the best uses, that is, so as to avoid waste of power and secure the proba- bility, at least, of the greatest success.
'I'hat mistakes, great and varied, have been made in the location of missionaries is undoubted, but they should be judged in much charity, remembering that some missions have been founded because other spheres were not open, or in unhealthy localities, or among un- friendly races, through inadequate information, and it must be admit- ted, not seldom through more zeal than knowledge, or under the pres- sure of popular sentiment, which mission boards should have had the courage to resist. We now have an amount of knowledge and experL ence to guidens, which mission boards and societies fifty years ago and even half that time had not, and its application might with advantage take the following directions: '
1. No new mission should be established where the area and popu- lation are limited and one or more missions are already in possession.
In Sien-a Leone, for instance, and Liberia, among the North American Indians, in some of the West India Islands, and even the moreim- pOl·tant cities of India, China, and Japan, the number of societies represented is injuriously and wastefully great. On this ground the establishment of high Anglican missions in the Sandwich Islands and Madagascar, after other societies had labored alone and successfully for many years, must be condemned, alike on the ground of economy, fairnes8, discipline, and Christian charity and courtesy. And the instances here adduced, and in future paragraphs, are illustrative but by no means exhaustive. • 2. An adequate amount of knowledge of a country and its people should be obtained prior to the formation of a mission. Instances could readily be given where, through the neglect of this simple rule, some missions have had speedily to be abandoned and others have been pros- ecuted at au unforeseen cost of life and money and with no adequate results. In such instances, men have been sent out, who, though able in. themselves, have. been ill suited to the spheres in which they were placed. Disappointment, failure, and heartache have ensued. Men capable of great things have done but little; money has been wasted, societies have been discredited, and the friends of missions 'discouraged. Mistakes of this nature were inevitable when little was known of heathen lands and races; but they are made yet, even where careful inquiries can be made, but through haste or negligence, or ill-regulated zeal are not, and some of the most expensive enter- . prises of our own time, attended with the heaviest losses in life and health, and with no adequate results, have arisen from this cause. And there is danger that such mistakes will be repeated. There is the Soudan, for instance, to which it is suggested missionaries should be sent, since now it is unoccupied. But it is one of the least-known regions. Our information respecting its population, where it concen- trates, the states into which it is divided, their political, social, and religious condition are so vague, and so far as we do know, so unprom- ising, that all operations should be suspended until our knowledge is more complete. And this is the more imperative since there are so many countries well-known which are open to almost all forms of Christian effort.
3. :Freedom to settle in a country for the avowed purpose of propa- gating Christianity is an important condition.
'rhe striking contrast between the hostility and friendship of govern- ments toward missionaries will occur to the minds of all familiar with the history of Christianity in Japan, China, India, Madagascar, and many islands in Polynesia, as well as with its earlier propagation throughout the states and tribes of medieval Europe. Of course, no government hostility can be accepted as a final bar to Christian propa- gandism, but where there are several countries, in some of which this unfriendliness prevails, and others where it does not, the strength of our resources should be concentrate,d on the latter, whilst around the former, posts only of observation as it were, should be placed to act as pioneers and to witness for Chri"t and His truth as favoring circum- stances dictate. For instance, all through British India there is free scope for almost every form of evangelization, such as there is not in most of its feudatory states; it should therefore be the chosen field for the best work and workers. On the other hand, to Afghanistan, Bok- hara, Turkestan, Central Arabia, Darpen, where the governments are bigoted, and supported in their intolerance by the fanaticism of the people, where the life of a European is not safe, and where, if he made converts, he and they WQuld most likely be massacred, no inissionary should be sent. To Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli, which are only so much better as they are awed by the presence and fear of Europeans; to the Indians of South America, where the govern- ments are weak and corrupt and Roman Catholicism exerts its intoler- ant power, and to such settlements or possessions as those of Portugal III the Philippine Islands, and France in New Oaledonia, where bigotry on the one hand, and policy without principle on the other, render the governments subservient to the intolerance of Romanism, it is questionable if any missionary should be sent. But from a country such as Uganda, where missionaries were well received and converts made, it is not advisable voluntarily to withdraw, however cruel, capri- , cious and repulsive the monarch may be.
4. The friendly or unfriendly disposition of the people should have· due consideration. The difference in this respect between various islands in Polynesia, districts in Ohina, provinces and races in India, and tribes in Africa, is as wide as success is from failure. The disin- clination of a people to receive the ambassadors of Ohrist must be deplored and every effort should be made to remove such an unhappy prejudice, but whilst it exists effort, unless carefully used, is more likely to sharpen hostility than to subdue it.
It does not meet our contention to say that the world is usually in opposition to true and pure Ohristianity, and that the conquests of the latter have been won in spite of the former. Where Christ has most triumphed has usually been where at least numbers have had a desire for something higher and better than they possessed and there- fore have been willing to welcome whatever seemed fitted to meet their spiritual wauts. Where the attitude of mind on the part of a people resembles that of the man of Macedoni~L whom Paul saw in his vision and others that the Gadarenes who besought Christ to depart from them, the choice should be readily made.
5. The healthiness of a country merits more consideration than it usually receives. It is a fine characteristic of our age that whilst life is valued as perhaps it never was before, there are numbers prepared to go anywhere, braving danger and death for Ohrist's sake. Sierra Leone -the white man's grave as it has been callcd-and some of the missions in Central Africa, afford ample evidence that the martyr spirit yet lives. But whilst a missionary should be ready to sacrifice his life for the gospel's sake, his desire should be to liYe and work. This is the primary aim of his appointment. And to secure this should be the aim of those who send him as their representative. Theirs is a solemn responsibility. Apart from higher considerations of the value and sacred- ness of human life to an individual and relatives, a missionary has value as a trained and selected agent sent out for an important purpose at much cost and not easily replaced. Risks in sending out such are in- . evitable, but it is important that they be minimized. And they may be in various ways. For instance, the .constitutional adaptability of a. missionary to a climate should be considered. He should be sent so as to enter on his sphere at the least unhealthy time of the year. Only small bands of missionaries should be sent to unhealthy regions until they have been explored and the least unfavorable localities for settlement discovered, or some great opening for extended usefulness justifies more hazardous enterprise.
6. The probability of continuous labor uninterrupted by war or revolution should have great weight. Contingencies in these directions must be accepted in many instances. There is not a mission in all Africa beyond the British possessions and Little Liberia free from this danger. And in these instances the risk must be accepted. But where adjacent countries present these alternatives or the probability of their occur- rence this should have great weight. Until the Burmese Empire was conquered missionary labor was confined to the British Provinces on the sea-coast. Tonquin and Cochin China are wisely avoided for China on the one side and Siam on the other, as Dahomy and Ashanti are for Liberia to the west and the states on the Niger to the east.
7. The inexpensiveness of a mission and the probability of self-sup- port should be considered. Missionary funds should be administered with the utmost care and economy. They are almost always inade- quate to the work to be done, and therefore if higher considerations . do not intervene the spheres where most work can be done in the shortest time at the least cost and with the greatest results should have a preference. And also for a reason other than that of economy.
The results of missions, alike on their friends and enemies, are of the utmost importance. If with great expenditure there be but meager results the former are discouraged and the latter gain a weapon of attack they can use with great force, as recent incidents have shown; if on the other hand the results are rapidly gained and at a small cost other enterprises can afford to be undertaken and the desire to do so is greatly stimulated. Instances of discouragement could easily be cited; it is more agJ'eeable to indicate the effects of success. The speedy success and great results in money and agencies, with but moderate expenditure, of the Baptist Society in the West Indies; the London Society in Polynesia and Madagascar; the Wesleyans in Fiji; the Church Society in Tinnevelly, and the American Board in the Sandwich Islands, have done more to gain for these societies prestige, popularity, and support than any other causes that can be named. Not only have these demonstrated the efficiency of missions to convert the heathen and to elevate them; self-supporting churches ha,:e been formed, large contributions to missionary enterprises have been per- manently secured, and numerous agents have been obtained to minister to the native churches or to become missionaries to lands yet unevan- gelized.
IMPORTANT EVENTS IN PAPAL LANDS
It is not my intention to apply these principles by indicating more definitely where new misHions should be formed or existing ones enlarged. This must be left to mission boards and the judgment of individuals seeking spheres for themselves or others. But the 'principles themselves we hold to be sound and of the utmost importance. To have acted on them in the past was not always practicable through lack of information and experience, but to act on them now is imperative if we would use well our resources, deal justly and honorably with Christian brethren of other churches, and secure the largest results with the resources at our disposal.
IMPORTANT EVENTS IN PAPAL LANDS.
[I BOUGHT in Paris in August last a very remarkable book. It bears the name" Le8 Saints Evangele.9," Traduction Nouvelle, par Henri La88erre. It has a most significant history bearing npon modern missions.-A. T. P.] I HENRI LASSERRE is a devout Roman Catholic. He I'ead the Scriptures and saw that his nation needed the gospel in the vernacular. In the preface of this edition of the Holy Gospels he says: "It is a notorious fact that of a hundred persons who pl'actiee the sacraments, there is seldom one who has eve!' opened the Gospels. The book pal' excellence; the book whose teachings have changed the face of the world; the book which is found everywhere, which is quoted each day; the book which God placed in the foundations of the church-namely the gospel-is in reality rarely read by those who profess to be fervent Catholics, and never read by the multitude of the faithful."
M. Lasserre himse!f undertook a translation of the four gospels into a sort of idiomatic, popular and very attractive rendering. And. strange to say, he obtained not only the imprimatul' of the Archbishop of Paris, but thc sanction of the Pope!
Our tl'Ue yokefellow, Rev. Dr. A. J. Gordon, in the Morning Star, has told the story of the recent" Emancipation of the Bible in Papal Lands," and of the extraordinary blessing which is following, and we take the liberty to make copious extracts from his admirable pen. He says: " M. Lasserre did not give a bare, literal rendering, but rather threw the whole into a free translation, in which the meanin!!' was, for the most part, admirably preserved. The divisions of chapter and verse were dispensed with, technical terms avoided, and familiar and ~olloqnial phrases substituted in their stead. It is, printed in two forms; the one a plain and neat volume of 500 pages, and the other a splendid illustrated edition, the engravings of which are of the most exqnisite character.
~.. Pope after pope has forbidden the translation of the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue, and the readiug of the same by the common people. When Wycklilfe sent out his version of the Bible, Pppe Gregory condemned it by a bull, denouncing the conduct of the great reformer, in presnming t';give the Scriptures to the commOn people, as a' de'estable kind of wickedness.' Pope Pius vn. cursed Bible societies as 'a crafty device b,1I which the very foundations of re:/gion are undermined,' and as ' a pe8tilence dangerous to Ohri¢ianity.' But llave not the times changed?
Henri Lasserre expresses himself plainly on thls point, declaring that the Catholic Church, withcnt absolutely prohibitiug the Scriptures, ' sims at taking out of the hands of the faithful the Divine Book, which is the fonndation of our faith, and substituting' for it the devotional works of the church.' This he regards as a great calamity, and adds, 'We must lead back the faithfnl to the great fountains of living water which flow from the inspired Book. We must make them hear, taste, and relish the direct lessons of the Saviour; the words full of grace and truth which fell from His lips.' Well I strange to 'say, some of the light of the Reformation, and of modern ideas, has penetrated even into the Vatican. The Archbishop of Paris shared Lasserre's desire that the French people shonld have the Gospels in their own tongue. He commend'ed his work to the Pope, and, astonishing to relate, the Pope gave the work his formal sanction. Here is a copy of It. " , To M. Henri Lasserre, of Paris. .. • Most llinstrions Seigneur: .. , The Holy Father has received in regular course the French translation of the Holy Gospels which yon have nndertaken and accomplished, to the delight, and with the approval of, the Archi- episcopal anthority• .. His Holiness commissions me to express to yon his approval of the object with which yon bave been illspired in the execntion and pnblication of that work so fnll of interest. He thanks yon for tbe homage of filial devotion wbich accompanies tbe volume whicb yon offer to bim ; and he cbarges me to make known to yon his earnest desire tbat the object wbich yon pnrsne and which yon indicate in the preface of yonr book may be fnlly attained.
'" Yielding most willingly to your desire, His Holiness sends yon, from tbe bottom of bis beart, his apostolic benediction.
.. , And I myself profit by this opportunity to declare myself, with much esteem, " • Rome, 4th IJec., 1888.' h 'Your very affectionate servant; … L. Cardinal J ACOBINI.
"With the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Paris, and tbe official approval of the Pope, the work was put to press.
" Astonishing as was the Pope's indorsement, still more so its reception by the Catholic people of France. Edition after edition was sent out, the press and the bindery being hardly able to keep within the demand, till, within twelve months, twenty-flve editions had been sold, amounting to 100,000 copies. It seemed as though France, long bound in darkness, was about to become a nation of Bible readers, and to shake herself free forever from the bonds of her ignorance. As a mere publishing venture, one bas called this' the greate$t bookselling success of the century.' But as a triumph of the Bible, wbat shall we say of it? We can only read the story with amazement, as an indication of hunger for the trnth, which proves France to be the most open to the gospel of any n~tion on the Continent to-day.
"But now comes the astonishing thing. No sooner has this great achievement in the distribu- tion of the gospel begun, than the thunders of tbe Vatican are heard condemning what a little while ago was sanctioned. The infallibl9 malediction now falls upon the same book that a little while ago received the infallible benediction. •Doth the same fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter f' asks the Apostle James. Yes, marvelous to tell, this fountain of infallibility which was opened at Rome in 1870 can bless and curse from the same month; and can bless and curse the same identical thing with the same mouth. Yes, and here is a copy of the· papal decree of prohibition: (TI amiatllm.) "'DECREE.
" 'MONDAY, December 19, 1887.
" , The sacred congregation of the most· eminent and re"erend cardinals of the holy Roman Church, by our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo xm. and the holy Apostolic See appointed and delegated for the index of books of degraded doctrine, 'and for proscribing, expurgating, and sanctioning the same thronghout the whole Christian State, held in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican on Deo.
19,1887, condemned and condemns, proscribed and proscribes, or if previonsly condemned and proscribed, commanded and commands, the following works to be put on the index of forbidden books: ,;. Les Ba'ints Eva'ngiles, t;aduct;.M" nouvell~, par Henri Las;erre. Paris, 1887.
;0 •" , And let no'one of ~hatsoev~r rank o~ condition dare i~ any pl~ce or in 'any tongue, either to pnblish in the future, or if published to "ead or to retain the forementioned condemned and proscribed works, but let him be held bound to deliver them to the Ordinaries of the place, or to the Inqnisitors of heretical iniqnity, nnder the penalties proclaimed in the Index offorbidden books.
'" These having been referred to Our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XTI!. from the Secret Counsels of the Sacred Congregation of the Index, by me the undersigned, His Holiness approved the decree and ordered it to be issued. In token whereof, etc.
"Granted at Rome on December 20, 1887. "'Fr, THOMAS MARIA, Card. MARTINELLI, .,. Epiec_ Sabinen Praef. Fr. HIERONYMUS PIUS SACCHERI, " 'Ord. Praed. B. Ind. Con greg. a Beare/is.'
.. And so as a loyal Catholic, Henri Lasserre has been obliged to suppress his translation of the gospel, and to do what he can to pnt it out of circulation. And the great conrt of ecclesiastics, cardinals, archbishops, and priests say Amen I How long will the intelligence of nineteenth century Catholicism endure such holy prevarication as this and name it church authority f The same identical thing called white to-day and black to-morrow; blessed to-day and curaed to-morrow; and all by an infallible month, which can speak nothing but trnth I "Bnt what was really a Jesuit blow at the Scriptures has turned out for their still wider distribution. Lasserre's edition of the gospel still lives on iu spite of papa.l anathemas, and the tidings ofjts success have moved others to follow in his steps:
APRIL
.. For I~stance, in Milan, Signor Sonzogno, the proprietor of a leading daily paper, has commenced to publish a popular Italian edition of the Bible in half-penny numbers. He sees that there is~money to be made in the venture, learning this from the history of Henri Lasserre's work in France. But this is not all. This Catholic publisher is anxious for the moral elevation of his nation. He sees plainly that the reading of the Scriptures, and their incorporation into the life of the people, wiJI be a mighty means to this end. In his paper, the See%, he pays a high tribute to the Bible, in announcing his neW plan for its publica_ tion. He says: ". There is one book that gathers up the poetry and the science of humanity, and that book is the Bible: and with this book no other work In any literature can be compared. It is a book that Newton read constantly, that Cromwell carried in his saddle, and that Voltaire kept always on his study table. It is a book which believers aud unbelievers alike should study, and that ought to be found in every house.'
"But can this book be circulated in Italy, where within the present year priests have secured the arrest and imprisonment of colporteurs for distributing the Bible f Ah I but that is old Italy. The Parliament has made all that impossible now by its recent act of religious toleration. It can not be done with this Milan editor as was done with Henri Lasserre. Fifty thousand copies of the first number of this Italian translation were sold in one week. And such has been the emancipation of Italy from the Pope that though a thousand bulls were issued against the work, it probably would not interfere with its sale. And now the enterprise is becoming contagious. In Spain the darkness is denser than in any country in Europe. But a secular paper in Barcelona-such is the latest newshas made arrangements to publish a Spanish edition of the Bible after the same plan as the Italian • .. Now to me this seems to be the most marvelouE event of recent times. It is certainly a fact that continental Europe is being rapidly emancipated from the chains of darkness and error that have sc.long bonnd it. Italy and France have hoth abolished the parochial school as dangerous to the IibE'rty of the country, and both France and Italy are reaching out lor the Bible as the best nurse and conservator of that liberty already acquired. We a.re called to rejoice and be glad at these remarkable events; but especially to prayer and eternal viligancE',lest the chains which long-sufferingltaly and France are shaking off may be bound upon free America. These countries have abolished the parochial school because nurseries of disloyalty, since they would train the children to pay their first allegiance to the Pope instead of to the state. And yet in the legislature of six different S~ates last year bills were intr oduced for the di vision of the taxes of the State-support of parochial schools. The same power that has forbidden the reading of Henri Lasserre's Bible in France would forbid the reading in our public schools, and has done so in repeated instances. Let us have charity in all our religious discussions, butfet us look to it that our charity does not give.away the priceless inheritance which we have received from our liberty-loving fathers."
GAVAZZI. ALESSANDRO GAVAZZI, the celebrated Italian preacher who died recently, in his eightieth· year, was known as Fath~r Gavazzi, and has lectured in America first in 1850, and afterward in 1873. He was one of the most re- markablemen of his day. He was born in Bologna in 1809, joined the orderoi the Barnabites in 1825, and subsequently at Naples held the chaiI' of rhetoric. He reminded us of Savonarola in his religious zeal, of Victor Emmanuel in his generalship, and of Daniel O'Connell as a political agitator. He was in Rome at the outbreak of the Revolution in Lombardy, and in the Pantheon delivered a funeral oration in behalf of those who fell in that conflict. Then and afterward, untilltaly became free, he made appeals in behalf of national independence that were as passionate and eloquent as Patrick Henry'S in the era of our own Revolution. The- Pope appointed him Almoner of the Roman Legion which was dispatched to Vicenza, and the people called him Pietro Eremita, Peter the Hermit, of the national crusade. In Venice crowds thronged St. Mark's Place to hear his fearless addresses, and his eloquence moved them to give money to carryon the war. Pius IX. as the Revolution gained ground, recalled his army to the Eternal City. Gavazzi went to Florence, and, when driven thence, to Genoa; thell being recalled to Bologna, the people 'rho had taken a bold stand ag!1inst papal domination rallied
SIR WlLLIAlt HUNTIllR ON 'l'llE RlllLratoNs OF INf>IA
round him withgreat enthusiasm; and the r('publican government made him chief chaplain of the army. After the French occupation of Rome in 1849 he took refuge in England, where for more than thirty years he has found, at least, an occasional home. He has been known in this country chiefly as a politico-religious orator. He has lectured all over the United States and Canada and Great Britain, vehemently protesting against the errors and delusions of the papacy. No more powerful orator ever spoke to American assemblies. Graceful, accomplished, impassioned and intrepid; with wondel'- ful command of language, marvelous facility and felicity of vocal inflection, and singular effectiveness of gesture, he held vast throngs under the peculiar spell of his magnetic presence. We remember to have heard him when, as yet, old TripIer Hallin New York was standing, and though it is more than thirty years ago, the impression is perfectly fresh and vivid. He wore along, black doctor's gown that swept the floor and hung in full folds about him. That gown he used more effectively and variously than Mr. Gough ever used his" coat-tails." For example, when speaking of the delusions of the papacy, he would gather up the loose and ample skirt of his robe and peer into the hidden recesses behind it, and describe what was there concealed, until you could scarcely persuade yourself that he actually saw nothing; then after curiosity had been wrought up to an extreme, and the imagination had taken judgment captive, he would slowly sway his long arms to each side and carry with them the capacious folds of his mantle, until the emptiness was revealed; and so he would illustrate the hollowness of papal pretensions and promises. That same robe represented the dark secrets of the confessional, the horrors of the Inquisition, the superstitious appeals of purgatory, the systematic deceptions of the priesthood, the elaborate ritualism that obscured the true worship of God; and every other error or evil of the Roman Catholic Church. Now he would let it hang loosely about him; again he would gather it tightly around his person and fold his arms; again he would rapidly stride across the stage with its long folds sweeping through the air; or again he would raise it about his head, and speak from behind it, or reach out his arms to their fullest extent until he looked like some monster bird with out-spread wings like a bat. He was a mighty man of valor. Italy owes to him an immeasurable debt, politically and religiously. He was a man raised up by God in the crisis of his country, to stand in the breach. He was as bold as John Knox, as out-spoken as Luther, and as fervent as Whitefield. Cav. Matt~o Prochet was, in some respects, his complement, and we rejoice that this noble man still survives to conduct the work of Italian evangelization for which Gavazzi largely prepared the way.-A. T. P.
SIR WILLIAM HUNTER ON THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.
DR. THoBuRN, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission in North India, is reyorted as saying, that everything in India indicates that before long there will be there an expansion of missionary effort which will break through the present l'ange of expectation, throwing back all that has been done hitherto into the rank of a merely introductory work. This is highly probable, and a presage of it seems to be afforded in the rapidly ascending scale within the pt'esent stage of efforts and results. Another thing which gives encouragement for the belief that an epoch of rapid largeness of development in the missions of India is at hand is, that the lines of the problem, the rational grounds and limitations of forecast as to the calculable future are fast coming into distinctness, and thus affording a basis for the more definite formation and more resolute prosecution of plans of evangelization, and also for a more definite co-ordination of the work as a whole.
This view of the probable future of the missionary work in India is quite in line with a profoundly interesting paper on the Religions of India, lately read by Sir William Wilson Hunter before the Indian Section of the Society of Arts, in London, and reported in full in the Times. It reveals the correlation of the three great spiritual forces of India-Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity-with a distinctness which appears to render it an invaluable basis of forecast.
It has slowly come to be understood, at least by some, that Hinduism, though utterly incapable of being, like Christianity, a missionary religion for the world, 01' like Islam, for two parts of the world, or like Buddhi~m, for Asia generally, being absolutely territorial, is yet, within its own sacred land, not only a missionary religion, but the chief missionary religion, having annually, it is said, more accessions by far than either Christianity or Mohammedanism. After 4,000 years of occupancy, it has not yet by any means closed up its assimilation of aboriginal tribes. And according to Sir William Hunter, there are still in India fifty millions of human beings lying outside or barely inside the pale of orthodox Hinduism and Islam. Here, he holds, is the line of least resistancfl, along which the church is called to regard it as her principal immediate duty to advance. He says: "I believe that within fifty years these fifty millions will be absorbed into one or other of the higher faiths, and that it rests in no small measure with Christian England whether they are chiefly incorporated into the native religions or into Ch!'istianity." This ",hows, as Sir William remarks, that Christianity in India has a vast area of extension opened before it, even if it should not for an indefinite length of time lessen the numbers, or even stay the advance, of Hinduism and Mohammedanism. One-fifth of the people of India is a prize worth trying for, even according to the canons of ordinary probability.
Islam has another fifth of the people of India, and these, both according to Sir William and to the author of an article only less important than his, published in the Febt>uary Contemporary, are yery far from having been principally won by the sword. Indeed, az'ound the three centers of Mohammedan rule, Delhi, Agm, and Lucknow, the Mohammedans are under fourteen pel' cent. of the population, while in Lower Bengal they are thirty-one per cent. Islam, Sit> William shows, while not forgetting its advantages of conquest, a,nd its obJigations to violent conversion of its Hindu subjects, did also what the church is invited tp do, plunged among the teeming millions of the lower races, "fishermen, hnbters, pirates, and low-caste tillers of the soil, whom Hinduism had barely admitted within its pale." To these, he says, " Islam came as a revelation from on high. It was the creed of the governing race; its missionaries were men of zeal who brought the gospel of the unity of God and the equality of man in His sight to a despised apd neglected population." And in t.his century a great t'eligious revival has purged out the abject pagan superstitions and "fuliginous rites> of lowcaste Hinduism," amid which" the white light of Semitic monotheism had almost flickered out." But the author shows that it is unwarranted to suppose that Mohammedanism is advancing largely now in India. Of the five provinces outside the famine area of 1877, within which a religious census has been taken, the Moslem increase in one, from 1872 to 1881, has gained a good deal on the population, in two more has gained somewhat, in one has fallen behind, and in one has fallen a good deal behind. In Bengal, where Islam is strongest, the population has gained 10.89 per cent., the .religion 10.96 percent. Intellectually, it has made very rapid progress, of course, however, on lines laid out by Christian culture, within a generation, and Sit' William declares, contrary to general impressions, that" Islam in India has shown that it is perfectly able to dwell in peace and comfort in the new Indian world."
Though Christianity in India has been said to be advancing much less rapidly than Hinduism, and in several provinces much less rapidJy than Mohammedanism, yet regarded as gaining on its own numbel's, it seems to be growing much faster than either. Passing over, though not with disparagement, the 1,600,000 Catholic and Syrian Christians, who do not seem to represent at present" the new disruptive force" of Christianity, the author dwells mainly upon the 600,000 Protestant Christians of India. Protestant Christianity was introduced by Danish and German Lutherans, ' who are still, though now overshadowed by the missionaries of the governing race, going quietly and steadily on. "English missionary work practically began in the last year of the last century. It owed its origin to private effort. But the three devoted men who planted this mighty English growth had to labor under the shelter of a foreign flag, and the Governor of a little Danish settlement had to refuse their surrender to a Governor-General of British India. The record of the work done by the Serampur missionaries reads like an Eastern romance. They created a prose vernacular literature for Bengal; they established the modern method of popular education; they founded the present Protestant Indian Church; they gave the first great impulse to the native pr(jlss; they set up the first steam-engine in India; with its help they introduced the modern manufacture of paper on a large scale; in ten years they translated and printed the Bible, or parts thereof, in thirty-one languages. Although they received help from their Baptist friends in England, yet the main part of their funds they earned by their own heads and hands. They built a college which still ranks among the most splendid educational edifices in India. As one contemplates its magnificent pillared facade overlooking the broad HugH River, or mounts its costly staircase of cut brass (the gift of the King of Denmark), one is lost in ltdmiration of the faith of three poor men who dared to build on so noble a scale. From their central seminary they planted out their converts into the districts, building churches and supporting pastors chiefly fl'om the pl'ofits of their boarding-school, their paper mill and printing-press. They blessed God that during their thirty-eight years of toil they were able to spend more than £50,OO(t of their own substance on his work. But when two of them had died and the third was old and broken, the enterprise proved too vast for individual effort, and the Serampur Mission was transferred to stronger hands. In death they were not divided. An evergreen circle of bamboos and palms, with delicate feathery masses of the foliage of tamarind trees, surrounds their resting-place. A path, lined with flowering shrubs, connects their tombs. And if the memory of a great work and of noble souls can hallow any spot, then this earth contains no , truer campo santo than that Serampnr graveyard." The beauty and the noble appreciation of this memorial passage, delivered from the high places of science and English culture, and sent throughout the world on the wings of its greatest journal, may well console us for the shallow mockeries which rained upon these men, and" the silen t smiles of slow disparagement" bestowed on their successors by that still shallower thing which, in certain snpereilious circleR, passE's for American culture. Sir William Hunter, while l'emarking that the statistical reports are a. very fallacious basis for estimating the present work of Christianity in India, shows that it is, even in itself, one from which Christians have no oc- casion to shrink. "While the number of native Protestant Christians has increased by fivefold during the thirty years preceding the last census, the number of their communicants has multiplied by nearly tenfold. The prog- ress has been a progress of conversion, concurrent with a progress of inter- nal growth and of internal discipline. It is a result. not alone of the zeal which compasseth the earth to make a proselyte, but also of the pastoral devotion which visits the fatherless and widows in their afiliction, and labors to keep its flock unspotted from the world." This regenerating influence, as the Times remarks,lSir William does not ascribe either to Hinduism or to Islam, which are not the agents of· a transformation of character, but simply of .- social organization. Hinduism is described by the author as having a. power, of which hitherto few had known anything, of slowly drawing up lower castes in the scale of ceremonial purityand social dignity, until at last some of them have even ventured to assume the sacred thread of the Twice- born.
Sir William says that from 1872 to 1881 the general popUlation of India in- creased by 10.89 per cent., the Mohammedans by 10.96 per cent., the Hindus by less than 13.64 per cent., the Christians generally by 40.71 per cent., the native Christians by 64.07 per cent. He may well say, therefore, that though Christian missions are not to be judged according to mere statistics they can well afford to be judged even according to them.
Against the vast advantages of a pastoral0are unknown to Islam, which really has no clergy, of a cordiality of welcome and completeness of incorpo- ration unknown to Hinduism, which is calmly indifferent to its aboriginal proselytes, of the exaltation of woman, whom both the other religions dis- parage and one degrades, Sir William Hunter is obliged to set off the terrible temptation of the Christians in being set free to drink. Americans will agree with him that the gospel in India must proceed" on a basis of total abstinence." He thinks that even caste might be purified and humanized, and yet retain its immense social forces of protection and mutual helpful- ness. And he agrees with the author of the article in the Oontemporary Review, that both Christ and Christianity must be presented-and before long, by a great native episcopate and ministry-m those aspects which give the Hindus that which they have not, but which they long for-Christ on that side especially on which we are so slow to apprehend Him. although in the first gospel it is so luminously evident-on the side of His kingliness.
Sir William Hunter's concluding words are: H I thank this society and its distinguished council for the opportumty they have given me of telling some plain secular truths concerning the religions of India. It is not per- mitted to a lecturer here to speak asan advocate of any creed. But on this, as on every platform in England, it is allowed to a man to speak as an Eng- lishman. And speaking as an Englishman, I declare my conviction that English missionary enterprise is the highest modern expression of the world- wide national life of our race. I regard it as the spi!'itual complement of England's instinct for colonial expansion and Imperial rule. And I believe fnat any falling off in England's miSSIonary efforts will be a sure sign of swiftly coming national decay."
BRIEF NOTES FROM: OUR ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT
BRIEF NOTES FROM OUR ENGLISH CORRESPONDEN~, REV. JAMES JOHNSTON, A. S. A., BOLTOS'.
1. BOKHARA AND THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
CHEVALIER Max de Proskowetz, of Vienna, a member of the Native Races and Liquor Traffic Committee, has written an interesting letter relating to the drinking customs of the Bokharese in Central Asia. It appears that the AmiI' of Bokhara, notwithstanding his compliance with the introduction of Russian merchandise, has made a stipulation according to which no liquors are to be allowed in Bokhara for consumption by his own subjects. This interdict keeps the Bokharese people back from the temptations offered by the establishment of liquor stations. Although Islam prohibits the use of alcohol by its adherents, the allurement of beer, wine, and strong drinks, in the places where the Russians are boundless, and where their soldiers and bar-keepers can freely indulge in their bibulous or mercenary inclinations, seduces the Asiatic aborigines to drinking;and inebriety. The Mohammedan peoples in the Caucasus have been long accustomed to wine, and along the entire line of the Transcaspian Railway from Asunada to Samarcand the Mussulmans are induced to be regardless of their religious prescriptions. It is to be feared that the Russian supremacy in the larger part of Central Asia will in time propagate the plague of alcoholism among the natives of Transcaspia, Turkestan, China, Bokhara, and probably the north of Persia, skirting the Transcaspian Railway, in the stations of which Chevalier Proskowetz saw the inevitable stocks of strong liquors held up for sale for the garrison and the passengers. It is widely known that the Russian troopers in Central Asia are duly renowned for their inebriety, an effect of their loneliness, national habit, and the want of nobler pastime. Inebriety in Russia itself prevails to a frightful degree. Against this pestilence a movement has been registered at Moscow where the'popular author, Count Leo Tolstoi, has established a society. Many of the Russian peoples may be regarded as native races; i.e., on the Volga rivers and in some steppes, so that the Uquor traffic ought to be checked among them by the enforcement of the principles of the" Native Races Committee," to prevent a demora'ization which is unfortunately precipitated by the RussiaIl; Government which, like the Indian Government, derives a considerable profit from protecting the development of distilleries and liquor shops, flourishing everywhere on a disgusting scale, though heavy taxes are imposed on their existence.
II. A MISSIONARY MARTYR.
To the ever-lengthening roll of the noble army of martyrs the name of Mr. Arthur Brooks must now be added, whose death at M'Kange, near Saadani, lying on the East African coast, occurred under tragical circumstances on January 21. Having heroically served the Master in connection with the London Missionary Society's mission on Lake Tanganyika, he was returning to England on furlough at the termination of seven years' labor in Central Africa. After the young missionary-artizan had successfully passed through 500 miles of country in the interior, his life was sacrificed within the borders of the territory which has been the scene of so much disastrous strife between the Germans and the natives. Together with sixteen of his followers, Mr. Brooks was murdered bya mixed crowd of coast people and Zanzibar Arabs. A servant who saw Mr. Brooks shot dead afterward fled with the lamented tidings to Zanzibar. This eye-witness states that the missionary was killed simply as being a white man, and in revenge for German outrages.
"This murder is most significant," the Times' correspondent at Zanzibar observes, "indicating the e)!:tent of the natIve hatred which has been < aroused by the Germans against all Europeans without distinction. Saadani , has been for many years past the starting point for th~ interior of all Euro- pean missionaries, where they, especially the Englishmen, were eagerly welcomed and assisted by the natives. The present murder of an English- man has caused a greater sensation than all the recent murders, and the: probabilities as to the punishment of the perpetrators by the English'are eagerly discussed." • Mr. Brooks was born at Edgeware in 1860, and was consequently only 29 years of age. In May, 1882, he sailed for Africa as an agent of the society to undertake engineering responsibilities at the Tanganyika Mission. He as- sisted in the construction of the steamer Good News at Liendwe, at the southern end of the lake, and in the launching o,f the hull of that vessel in March,1885. In October of the same year he removed to Urambo, taking charge of the station during the absence of the Rev. T. F. Shaw in England. It is satisfactory to l~arn that this sad event is not regarded at headquarters as affecting the safety of the remainder of the London Missionary SOCiety's missionaries at Urambo and on Lake Tanganyika, who are far beyond the immediate range of the coast troubles. No fears are entertained respecting them, unless a sudden change should come over the relations which at pres- ent exist between them and their Arab and native neighbors. Meanwhile co.mmunication with them is suspended, and the fate of Mr. Brooks is an evidence that it would not be safe for them to come down to the coast.
III. MOHAMMEDAN REVOLUTION IN UGANDA.
The latest intelligence from the south of Victoria Nyanza fot'ebodes im- portant changes in the destinies of Uganda and the surrounding countries.
Last October Mwanga, the reigning sovereign, who succeeded Mtesa two years ago, had become unpopular among his subjects.. Distrusting his per- sonal bodyguard he conceived a diabolical plot for their destruction by abandoning them to starvation on a small island in the lake not far distant from the capital Rubaga. The bodyguard, being warned, refused to enter the canoes, and returned to the capital which they immediately occupied and also stormed the palace. Unaccompanied by any attendants the mon- arch fled and his elder brother Kiwewa was chosen king.
The new king, a friend of the Christians, awarded favors to the Christian adherents in his court which speedily resulted in the'rising of the jealous Arabs, followed by the murder of many native Christians, the sack of the French and English missions, and the establ ishment of the1Uohammedan rule in one of the most extensive and densely populated regions of Central Africa.
Happily the French and English missionaries reached Usam biro, which lies to the southwest of Victoria Nyanza. Much regret was however ex- pressed at the loss of five of the native French converts in the church missionary's vessel, the Eleanor, which was sunk by a hippopotamus. It is gratifying to learn that the Catholic missionaries exhibited the most broth- erly generosity to the members of the English mission in their hour of jeop- ardy. It is reported that MsaJala, the mission station near the south shore of the Nyanza, which has been serving as a temporary depot for Mr. Stanley, is uninjured. The same cheering anl10uncement is also telegraphed with re- spect to M:pwapwa in Usagara some 180 miles fl'om the Zanzibar coast.
Mwanga, who is detained by the At-abs at Magu, has appealed to the Eng- lish missionaries for ass'istance in spite of the capricious and cruel treatment to which he formerly subjected them. The Arabs, or, to speak more cor- rectly, the Swahilis and kindred coast tribes of the lowest type, have flaunt- inglyaddressed Mr. Mackay Jlpon their triumph in Uganda, together with" the pregiction of exterminating all missionary effort in Uganda'in revenge for England's anti-slavery policy. Although the Arabs boast of making Uganda a Mohammedan kingclom it is very doubtful whether the chiefs of ,Uganda will tolerate their usurpation beyond the time of a ruler being chosen from their own people, or, possibly, a son of Mtesa receiving the offer of the crown.
Uganda (the country of Ganda) proper, lying round the north shore of Victoria Nyanza, is,a country of about 20,000 square miles, and with its adjoining depehdel1cies its total al"ea will be equal to 60,000 square miles. The Uganda influence has been dominant east and west, and even northwest into Unyoro. Mr. Stanley estimates the mixed population, the majority of which belongs to the Waganda branch, at 2,@00,000, and Mr. Felkin at ' 5,000,000. The standing army cori1prised 600,000 well-disciplined men.
IV. THE FAMINE IN CHINA.
A great national calamity has befallen China which involves the lives of many millions and extends over an area of thousands of square miles in some of the usually most fertile provinces of the Celestial Empire. In 1877-8; when the different missional"Y bodies vied with each other in noble philan!. thropy, it is supposed that upwal"d of fifteen millions of souls perished in the' dreadful famine of those years. Over an enormous area a more terrible fate was impending, resulting from flood, dl"ought or famine. Immense tracts of conntry have been devastated and reduced to the most pitiable condition by causes of the most opposite nature. While some have been laid waste by the inundation of the waters of the Yellow River, in others the crops have literally been burnt up in consequence of the want of rain. Flood and fll"e appearing at the same moment, have intensified the evil by making it impossible for the people of one regiun to give the other that assistance which, had misfortunes come singly, they might mntuaUy have rendered.
The cattle, which in China are rearp.d almost exclusively for agricultural purposes, have been killed for food, or to keep them from dying for want of grass. The Chinese peasant it is well known has made the ox only on'e degree less sacred than it is to the Brahmans in the courts of the temples of Benares; and, consequently, the peasant owner must have been driven to great straits before he laid his hand on the life of the patient associate with him in the labors of the field.
The countries suffering most acutely are thp. following: In the province of Anhui, the prefectures of Fungyang, Yungc!Jow, and Shuchow are flooded by the Yellow River; in Kiangsu (the province in which Shanghai is situated) the crops have entirely failed from drought in the prefectures of Yangchow, Chinchial1g, Hsuchow and Chinldang, all ofl which appear to be in the Yangtsze, and, are, therefore, the districts lying on the Yangtsze Valley. In Shautung and Manchuria there are extensivp. floods, and the area in which suffering prevails is described as immense. The numbers al~ ready starving cannot be estimated. In a single district, that of Hofei, half a million of people are in a state of starvation. From Manchuria, around Newchwang it is reported that bands of homeless men,'women, and children are roaming about the country. They are styled "devourers oJ villages, " becahse wherever they settle down for a time they eat up every- thing. Elsewhere it i!l. stated that women and children are dying in thou- sands by the wayside, while the starving men are powerless to help them. The Rev. A. G. Jones of Shantung telegraphs: "Thousands in this district IJ,re perishing and dying f!'om hunger. Pray make urgent appeals for funds. yve m.ust have help., Telegraph flnlls immediately, "Chin[, F~rpint;l R~~ lief FuneL" Missionaries representing every branch of Christendom are heroically grappling with this wide-spread national calamity for which they piteously entreat the sympathies of Europe and America. As the Lord Mayor of London remarks: "For this is a case in which, without speed, the gift is no girt. The people to be helped may soon be beyond help." Halli.
day Macartney writes: "Great as'is the misery, more black yet is the' outlook in the immediate future."
V. THE MISSIONARY AREA IN INDIA.
At the farewell banquet, given in honor of Lord Dufferin, the departing Indian Viceroy, in Calcutta, the event was celebrated with great brilliancy and made memorable by the speech of the Governor-General. By the reproduction of some of its passages, the advocates of missions will appre- hend what are the manifold physical and ethnological features of that immense empire.
Population.
What is India? It is an empire, equal in size, if Russia be excluded, to the entire continent of Europe, with a population of 250,000,000 souls, composed of a large number of distinct nationalities, professing various religions, practicing diverse rites, and speaking different languages. The census report says there are 106 different Indian tongues-not dialects-of which 18 are spoken by more than a million persons, while many races are still fUrther separated from each other by discordant prejudices, conflicting social usages, and even antagonistic material interests.
Territory.
India has a land frontier o[ nearly 6,000 miles and a seaboard of about 9,000 miles. On the east she if> conterminous with Siam and China, on the north with Tibet, Bhotan and Nepaul; while on the north-west she marches, at all events diplomatically, with Russia. On the coast are many rich and prosperous seaports-Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Kurrachee, and Rangoon.
(Upon the" Human Aspects of Indian Geography" the readers of THE MIS- SIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD will find a masterly article in the Oontemporary Review for December, 1888, by Sir William Hunter).
Oommunities. The most patent peculiarity of the Indian Cosmos is its division into two mighty political communities-the Hindus, numbering 190,000,000 and the Mohammedans 50,000,000, whose distinctive charactl'ristics. religious, social, and ethnological, it is unnecessary to mention. To these two great divisions must be added a host ~f minor nationalities. Such are the bikhs, with their warlike habits and tl-aditions and thl'ocratic enthusiasm; the Rohillas, Pathans, Assamees, Belochees, and other wild and martial tribes on the frontiers; the hillmen, dwelling on the Himalayas; British subjects in Burmah, Mongol in race and Buddhist in religion; the Nairs, Bheels, and other non-Aryan peoples of the center and south of India, and the enterpris- ing Parsees, with their rapidly developing manufactures and commercial interests. Oharacteristics.
At one and the same moment, all the various stages of civilization through which mankind has passed, from prehistoric ages to the present time, are'
exhibited. At the one end of the scale is the naked, savage hillman, with stone weapons, head-hunting, and polyandrous habits and, childish super- stitions; at the other the Europeanized native gentlemen, with the refine- ment, polish, and literary culture of Western philosophy and advanced political ideas; while between the two tie layer upon layer, in close juxtaposition, of wa.nderin~ commlJnities, livin~ in tents1 witll flocks of ~oats,
• TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY MAGAZINES. 2'79
collections of undisciplined warriors, with blood feuds, clan' organization and loose tribal government, feudal chiefs, or barons, with picturesque retainers seignorial jurisdiction, and medieval modes of life; and modernized country gentlemen, enterprising merchants and manufacturers, with well-managed estates and prosperous enterprises. Besides all these, under direct British administration, the Government is required to exercise a certain amount of supervision over 117 native states, with their princely rulers, autocratic executives, and independent jurisdictions, and their fifty millions of inhabi- tants. The mere enumeration of these diversified elements will suggest to the most unim,aginative mind a picture of as complicated a social and politi- cal organization as has ever tasked human ingenuity to govern and admin- ister. Within India itself the limit dr accountability has not yet been exhausted. The rulers are bound to provide for the safety and welfare not only of Hindu, Mohammedan and other native subjects, but also for the large East Indian community, the indigenous Christian churches, and the important planting and manufncturing interests scattered over the face of the country.
Education.
Out of the whole population of British India, which may be put at 200,000,.
000 in round numbers (literally 268,000,000 according to last returns), not more than five or six per cent. can read or write, while less than one per cent. has any knowledge of English. Thus the overwhelming mass of the people- perhaps 190,000,000 out of 200,000,000-is still steeped in ignorance. Of the 10 or 12 millions who have acquired an education, three-fourths, or perhaps less, have not attained to more than the most elementary knowledge. In a recent review of the progress of education it is pointed out that 947:!' per cent. of those attending schools and colleges are in the primary stage, While the progress made in English education is measured by the fact that the number of the students who have graduated at the universities since 1857- that is, during the course of the last 31 years-is under eight thousand.
During the last 25 years probably not more than half a million students have passed out of the English schools with a good knowledge of that language; there being, perhaps, a million more with a smattering. Consequently, it may be said that out of a population of 200,000,000, only a very few thou- sand may be considered to possess an adequate qualification so far as educa- tion and acquaintance with Western ideas, or even Eastern learning, are concerned.
It is not astonishing that this golden river of splendid oratory and wonder- ful comprehensiveness should have created a profound impression among the leaders of the political, educatIOnal, and religious life in India.
TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN MISSIONARY MAGAZINES.
BY REV. CHARLES C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS.
The Organ der Nederlandsche Zendingsvereeniging, "Organ of the Netherlands Missionary Union," for September, 1888, remarking on Mark xvi: 20; "The Lord wrought with them," says, ,. This word, unchanged, still gives the only explanation of the birth and growth of every congrega. tion at our missionary stations, and of the addition of each individual living member of this. Yet," it remarks, "these additions do not everywhere take place under equally impressive circumstances. There are mission-fields from which you may at any time look for exceedingly 'interesting' reports and narratives. Not so the Sunda Islands. What is done here displays, even as do the'people themselves, the utmost possible calmness and equability." TheAgaan has the following account of the" feeling aft!>r " God, of wl;lich St. Paul speaks, as illustrated in the case of a Caffre woman.
"Even when I was a young girl, and before ever the word of God had been brought into this arid, I felt the trouble of heart which I now feel. On a certain day, while working in the field,l was all at ouce drawn to thinking about the great God. I looked up to heaven, fell upon my knees but could say nothing, for I only felt how bad my heart was. I went home and related what had befallen me to my parents, who assured me that the bird which makes the thunder had caused tbat feeling in me. I must fetch and burn a bunch of long grass ancl thorns, and rub the ashes vigorously into my skin, and then I might expect to feel better. Of course I did so, but it was of no use. r remained wretched until a missionary came here. People told me about him. I lost no time in going with my husband to see him and hear him, and we resolved to settle in the dwelling-place Of the Christians."
De Macedonier, published by Dr. Dijkstl'a, of Leyden, in Holland, says: "Since recent parliamentary and cabinet changes have brougbt into office a ministry which tnrns a friendly countenance toward missions, and even invokes their helo, tbe desire has arisen in our minds to make from time to time a little excursion into tbe domain of statemanship. Wben the Government rather endured tban valued missions, we had usually little inclination to waste time on useless pleas and unheeded remonstrances. But now there is hope that a complaint or a suggestion may sometimes fall into good ground, and now and then bear fruit. It appears to us, moreover, that there is now peculiar occa.ion to consider the colonial policy from the missionary point of view. The more highly the Government esteems our work, the more risk dowe run in an evil hour of soliCiting its help, and in our willingness to please it, of losing our proper aim out Of View."
The same magazine speaking of Christian work among the Chinese of a certain locality in Borneo, says: " These Chinese had always loved the missionaries and met all their advances with a welcome. When visited and addressed by the latter they would assent to everytbing. They chose ratber to send tbeir children to the Christian than to the Irreligious government schools, but they had no mind to become Christians. One of tbe missionaries witb the help of a friendly Chinese found a locality in the midst of the Chiuese quarter where be held regular Bible readings; the Chinese came as regularly, and an iuterest was aroused. But wheu their leaders perceived that tbe new missionary was really iu earnest to iuduce them to become Christians, and tbat many were inclined to this, their enmity broke loose. They could uot, however, withstand God's work. The Lord had touched the heart of a merchant's servant. He declared that he could not hold his place longer, since his conscience forbade him any longer to practice the wonted tricks of trade. His master was at first for dischargiug him, hecause he would not give short weight, or work any longer on Sunday. But matters did not come to this, inasmuch as the zeal and faithfulness with which he served, hrought his employer to another mind, and secured to himself still more confidence tbau before. He was baptized, and has shown himself a sincere Christian. In July of last year he died in tbe sure confidence of his redemption in Cbrist. His example took hold of three other Chinese oue of them his brother. Before the latter applied for baptism he had a severe struggle as his mother declared that ifhe, too, like his brotber, became a Cbristian, she would starve herself. But he did not yield, aud by last accounts his wife and four children bave also been baptized."
The Journal des Missions Evangelegues, under the title, "An Unnoticed Friend of Missions," says: .. Our society'uumbers many frieuds; some are knowu, all the world names them; others remain even till.their death unknown to all, save perhaps two or three persons, who are sure of tbeir love for missions, aud of tbe sacrifices which they lay on tbem,selves to help them forward. Dnring the visit of the' Director' Ltbat is the Secretary] to the cburch at Montpellier, in 1884, he was taken by the pastor to see a humble woman, formerly a servant, who, in a modest little room, was leading a simple aud quiet life. Assuredly, on seeing this poor apartment, no one would have expected to see proceeding from it a truly royal gift of missions, aud yet it is from thence that we bave received one of the largest su'escriptions for tbe erection of the Missionary Honse, a sum of about $2,000, the fruit of the savings of this humble servant, who thus consecrated to God the labor of a long life."
M. Jacottet of South Africa writes in the Journal, that the sad financial depression under which that region has been suffering for several years is slowly abating.
The Roman Catholics seem to be disposed to follow that policy of unscrupulous intrusion upon the French mil3sipu in Sputh Africa by which they. (and I am sorry to say a large body of the Anglicans, notto speak of some other denominations) appear to be doing their best to identify themselves with the Judaizers who tormented St. Paul. A Roman Catholic station has been founded near the home of Massoupa, a chief. The Journal remarks: "Father Deltour, the author of the letter, describes his joy at the proposition made him by' Massoupa to establish a station in his village, and then adds: 'I promptly accepted his offer, for thus we were going to strike at the heart of Protestantism.' It is shown with how much care we avoid in this jonrnal everything like polemics, and the satisfaction with which we have mentioned the relations of Christian conrtesy which had been secured between the Catholic missionaries on the Zambezi and M. Coillard. But we cannot refrain from mentioLing facts which constitute one of the most serious difficulties against which onr brethren in Bassutoland have at present to contend."
The Journal des Missions has had extended and highly ap;>reciated accounts of the London Conference, which has naturally been very encouraging in its working upon the French brethren, plunged as they are in such a morass of Roman Catholicism. They, however, do not spare a temperate criticism, as follows: "It might here be in place to address a criticism to the organizers of the Conference. Have they not erred in allowing facts to predominate quite so much over ideas, and over discussion? Would it not have been possible to pay a closer regard to the equilibrium established by nature among the different faculties of man, by assigning less to the memory and more to thought and the heart? The reunions of the Evangelical Alliance of Basle, in 1879, have left on our mind, in this regard, ,a more satisfying impression. Facts, assuredly, were not lacking in the admirable reports of an Orelli, a Christlieb, and a Godet; but, less pressed fDr time. these orators found a way to guide their hearers to the sources ot thought and to the summits from which one may survey the vast horizon of general ideas.
" It appears to ns that, in the reports given at London, over-numerous as they were,!and therefore' necessarily incomplete. comprehensive views came a little short. The !iiscnssion of qnestions of method, which, for foreign delegates, had a very special interest, suffered a little nnder the restrictions laid on it. The very proportions of the Conference hindered a thorough-going discnssion of technical snbjects. As was said by the secretary of one of the English societies, a real light conld only have been thrown on the subjects by a gathering of fifty or Sixty delegates of the societies of most experience in them, deliberating in a little hall, and not by assemblies as large as those of the Conference.
"But, these reservations apart, let us hasten to add that, if the pending qnestions have not been I.Ible to be resolved, they have at least been propounded in tbe distinctest shape, and in the shape best suited to impress the mind. If discussion, properly so called, has not been able to establish itself, at least the cnrrents of opinion have distinguished themselves with a singular vivacity. The sittings devoted to the training of missionaries, to the question of polygamy, to the trade in brandy and in opinm, will live in the memory of those who had part in them. We shall not forget the evening devoted to this last subject. With perhaps one exception. atrthe speakers denounced the national sin of the legalized trade in opinm with an energy which does honor to our brethren beyond the channel. Gatberings of this kind are worth more than theoretical discussions; they are acts which leave an impression in the moral history of peoples; they involve for those who have had part in them an instruction of a superior order and infinitely precious.
"It is here, in this personal contact with such things, and with individnal men, that, in our view, we are to find most distinctly the immediate profit of the Conference. To see close at hand and to' hear the representatives of the grand missionary enterprises-such men as Hudson Taylor, Bishop Crowther, Dr. Post of Beirnt, and so many others; to hear from their own mouth the narrative of their experiences-this is an advantage the lack of which nothing can snpply, and which of itself is worth all the technical information, all the instruction in detailS, which the mind refuses to record."
"Such are, in brief, some of the impressions which we have brought back from London. Shall we acknowledge it? More than once. during the sittings, we have experienced a painfnl feeling. while noting the difference between the conditions ill which we have to work and those in which most of the other missionary societies find themselves. The greater part of these societies have the moral Silpport of powerfnl Protestant nationalities ; most of ~hem h/love millions <If men l)ehind them. We, on the o~hlr hl1,nd, are working jl!-
THE GREAT FAMINE CRY
isolation, sustained only by a minority which three centuries of persecutions have reduced and eufeebled; often ill-understood by our countrymen, and even som"times misjudged by our own co-religiouists. This contrast has more than once come over us in the course of the London meetings. But, if the first thoughts to wbicb it bas given birth are sad, the final conclusion of the comparison has nothing discouraging. After all, our isolated situation, if it imposes on us some sufferings, presents also great advantages. It obliges us to rest on tbe true ground of missions: the disinterested love of souls, the service of Christ disengaged from every utilitarian and terrestrial after-thougbt. The position which Is assigned to us has its difficulties, but it has its privileges also; it is the position of the first Cbristian missions, it is the position of the Moravian brethren. it iB the position of the missionary work as it was understood at the opening of this century, at the time of the great awakening from which our society has sprung, and all our desire is ibat we may never forget the principles which have presided over our beginnings."
.. Let us conclude this statement by rendering a deserved tribute to English bospitality. The reputation of this bospitality has been long-established; we have had the proof that it has not been exaggerated. Let our English brethren be assured of our gratitude for the reception given to the delegates of our society. They will not forget this reception, which has once more proved to them that Christian brotherhood is not a vain word."
THE GREAT FAMINE CRY.
BY MISS M. A. WEST, OF SYRIA• .. TELL your people how fast we are dying; and ask if they cannot send the Gospel a little faster."-Words of a lIeathen Woman.
HARK I the wail of heathen nations; Can you sleep upon your pillow List I the cry comes back again, With a heart aud soul at rest, With its solemn, sad reproaching, While, upon the treacherous billow, With its piteous refrain: Souls you might have saved are lost?
,. We are dying fa.st of hunger, Hear ye not the tramp of nations Atarving for the Bread ~f Life I Marching on to Day of Doom?
Haste, oh, basten I ere we perish, See them falling, dropping swiftly, Send the messengers of life I Like the leaves, into the tomb.
.. Send the gospel faster, swifter, Souls for whom Christ died are dying, Ye who dwell in Christian lands; While the ceasless tramp goes by ; Reck ye not we're dyinl:', dying, Can you shut your ears, 0 Christian, More in number tbau tbe sands? To their ceaseless moan and cry?
Heed ye not His words-your Master: Harken I hush your own heart-beating, • Go ye forth to all the world'? While the death-march passeth by- Send the gospel faster, faster- Tramp, tramp, tramp I the beat of nations, Let its banner be unfurled I" Never ceasing, yet they die- Christian I can you sit in silence Die unheeded, while you slumber, While this cry fills all the air? Millions strewing all the way; Or content yourself witb giving Victims of your sloth and" selfness "- Merely what you" well can spare" ? Ay. of mine and thine to-day I Will you make your God a beggar, When the Master comes to meet us, When He asks but for" His own"? For this loss what will He say?
Will you dole Him, from your treasure, .. Iwas hunger'd ; did ye feed Me? A poor pittance as a loan? Iask'd bread; ye turn'd away I Shame, oh, shame I for very blushing Iwas dying, in My prison, E'en the sun migbt veil his face: Ye ne'f"r ca.me to visit Me l"
.. Robbing God "-ay, of His honor, And swift witnesses those victims, While presuming on His grace I Standing by, will surely be.
Keeping back His richest blessing Sound the trumpet I wake God's people I By witbholding half the" price" .. Walks" not Christ amid His flock?
Consecrated to His service; Sits He not U against the treasury f n Perjured, perjured, purjured thrice I Shall He stand without and knock- While you dwell in peace and plenty, Knock iu vaiu to come and feast us ? " Store and basket " running 0 "er. Open, open, heart and hands I Will you cast to these poor pleaders And as surely His best blessings Only crumbs upon your floor f Shall o'erf!ow /l.1I he'l<rts, alllan~
ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK. 283
n.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK.
Danish Evangelical Missionary Society. Outfit and Passage of $804 00 Berg and Andersen …• 1954 GENERAL report of receipts and An Advance..; ………. . 908 01 expenditures from Jan. 1, 1887, to (b) Station of Madras•………• 2,17113 Jan. 1, 1888. ,. Siloam ………. . 643 40 .. Bethany…….. .. 67584 RECEIPTS. .. Asampore ……. . 4614 (e) Santal Mission ……….. .. 158 96 (l) a. Gifts. received from Ba· (3) Mission in Greenland …….. .. From Legacy.. …………. . 2624 zaars, Missionary Circles, (4) Missionaries in Training…. .. (al Support…………….. . 1,05866 Female Societies. etc…….. $13,73400 (b) Instruction ………… .. 440 77 b. Regular Contribution from (e) Purchase of Hamonium.. 6030 (5) Refunded Interest, etc……. .. 59681 Copenhagen…….. , …….. . 26 00 (6) Missionary Meetings …….. .. 134 04 c. From Legacy of Ostenfeld 53 60 (7) Missionary Library …….•…• 8133 . and Wife…………….•…. (8) Expenses for Collections by Collectors' Books……….• 55281 a. Various Testamentary Be- (9) Missionary Boxes……•……. 4283 (10) Provost Vahl for Appendix quests …………………..• 83 08 to Catalogue…………… .. 1541 (2) Interest of (a) Grnd. Hans An- (11) Lent Out ……………….. .. 95 14 (12) Discount. Exchanges and dersen's Legacy……….. .. 24 12 Postage……………….. .. 2872 (b) George Pedessen Holt's (13) 'Bookkeeper………………. . 10720 (14) Sundries ..••••••..•..•.•…… 23 41 Legacy……………….. . 1042 (e) Miss Olive EmHie Ander- sen'8 Legacy . …………. . 1876 (d) Pastor Emer. Chr. Oster- 5504 gaard's Lega.cy……….. . (e) Hatterna.ger Feld berg's Legacy………………. .. 71 28 (f) Sven Skaanen Lauridsen's wgacy……………….. . 5628 $~,736 92 (g) TbeScholtz Legacy…… .. 28021 Transferred……………. .. 62469 (h) J ens Rasm ussen's Legacy .• 2278 (i) Tailor Rasmussen's do. … $10,36151 (k) Niels Jorgensen and Wife's 56 21025 Legacy ….•…•..••••…..• 375 $10,671 76 (l) Deed of Gift. E …………. .. 1296 (m) Bonds…………………. . [9138 Assets Dec.· 31, 1887 (including Orowns. (n) Cuvrent Accounts with balance) ………………….. .. 17.146 89 Savings Banks…•…….• 4069 January 1. 1887……………… .. 7,769 43 (3) Note of Subscription Cashed.. $65081 Increase during 1887…….. .. 9,377 46 (4) Mission Atlas……………. .. 2551 Special Assets ……………….. . 15.660 00 (6) Herr Logstrup. for Mission 82160 SpeClal Contributions paid to the among the Tamuls…….•..• Treasurer of Santal Mission …. 7.201 99 (6) Missionary Boxes …….•…••• 5382 (7) Profits of Mis8ionsblaa.••. .•••• 4312 Mission Board of the Moravian Ohurch (8) Contribution from Brit. and 155 51 EXTRACTS from the annual report For. Bible Soc. to a Bible 29 18 Woman in Madras……… .. 6834 for 1888. [We are indebted to Rev. (9) Discount on Loan …………. . 415 C. L. Reinke, American Secretary, (10) Balance paid in ………….. . for the following abstract, translated Transferred …………….. . 13.73402 from the Gflrman.-EDS.] $15,07606 A further proof of the faithfulness ofour God, who will not let ns sink, we have experienced in EXPENDITURES. ourWest Himalaya Mission. In Leh, the capital of Western Thibet, we had a hopeful commeDce- (1) BalaQce from 1886………… .. 624 59 ment of a medical mission, to which the Eng· ish Government had lent kind aid. The church (2) Missions in East Indies ….••.. knows what a sad interrnption of this work took place, because of the necessary dismissal of (a) Salary of Missionary H. the missionary physician; and we saw no pros- pect but that, in consequence, the whole work in Jensen ………………. .. 808 40 Leh would be taken out of onr hands again. But the Lord has interposed in mercy. He has re- For support of his children stored the backslidden brother through whose m,isconduct the disturbance hlld arisen, so tj}at in Denmark…•……….• 9380 Salary of Missionary A. Ihle 763 80 Miss Jorgensen ….. . 10720 Berg and Andersen.. 285 86 Miss. Chr. Schlesch. 64856 Chr. Kofaed… . RO 40 .f .. J:.,Q.'l""rus … ,.. .. 74 e6 we have again been able to give him the right the raising of funds, bnt the finding of mission- hand of fellowship. In other respects, also, we aries for this new field; however, our friends have seen how the Lord indeed led us to begin in Australia do not venture upon anything de- this station at Leh, especially because of the cisive until the Colonial Government shall en- formal opening and consecration of our chapel gage to grant more permanent assistance. and school September 2,1888. The establishment of this station is the most important event in In another of the enterprises of our Unity, the history of our West Himalaya mission dur- the Leper Hospital in Jerusalem, the blessing ing the last ten years. From this station twice of the Lord has attended the work, the number as large a field can be evangelized, as from of the inmates having likewise increased. The' either of the other oluer stations, Poo and Kye- patients, numbering about twenty-four, not lang. It had long been contemplated to attempt only manifest more gratitude for the bodily establishing a mission in this capital of West comforts which they receive, but are also Thihet, but even only two years ago there more receptive for spiritual impressions seemed to be no prospect of being able to begin than was the case in the first years. The it. The Lord would first prepare the way; and case here, however, is somewhat eimilar to this was done as follows: The old Maharajah, that of our mission in Australia. It is written, or prince, died a few weeks after he had given "To whom mnch has been given, of him shall .. permission to Brother Redslob to begin the much be required." But these poor people's mission, and npon his death a great change in the endowments are very small; nevertheless, if political sitnation ensued. The British Govern- they do not become burning and shining lights ment became the virtnal ruler, and we owe it to during their lifetime, they become patient suffer- this fact, under God's goodness, that this new ers, and die happy deaths. Throngh the daily mission post could be established in so short a instrnction they receive the Name of Jesns be- time. It is to the Lord's overruling providence comes precious to them, and to it they cling, that we must keep looking, if our courage and whether Moslems or Christians, in all simplic- confidence are not to fail; for especially in this ity, often in great spiriLnal and physical weak- Himalaya mission the things of the Kingdom ness, and this Name of Jesus gives them a soft of God seem often to work by a different and resting pillow in their sufferings and in death. mnch slower process than we had hoped and Is not this then likewise a blessed work,worthy believed. The brethren who were first sent ant to be the life-work of the brethren and sisters have grown old and gray in their work, and in engaged therein, and worthy of being regarded part are fallen asleep, leaving almost no visible by the church as of equal importance with the frnit of their labors. Bnt did they spend their other labors of love with which our Lord has strength for nought, and have we hoped, and charged us for even the least of His brethren? prayed, and given money,andsent out laborers in -The Unity's Elders' Conference, Hernhut, vain? When brother Arthur Smith returned last Saxony. year from his jonrneyings into the bush country ot South Africa, he said to himself. "I reap The :Evang~lical Lutheran Mission where I have not sown." Even so others of (Leipzig), our brethren in the service of the Lord may like- wise sow, and leave the harvest for those who [WE are indebted to The Harvest shall sncceed them. The final resnlt will show Field, the 6t·gan of titis Society, for that the Lord hath done all ithings well. May this sketch of its history and present this be our ouly mission policy-to trust Him, status.-EDS.J tbe all-wise Master; to follow Him, the mighty Leader 1 "The Evo,ngelical Lutheran Church was the first among Protestant denominations to have Such shall also be our policy in Australia, her feet' shou with the preparation of the gos- where He elected our Morayian Chnrch to per- pel of peace, ho,Ying been at work among the form the last and best offices of love for a poor, heathen in Lapland, Greenland, North America broken-down, and rapidly perishing race. By and India long bef"re any others of them. At the close of the year 1889, our two stations, present we shall consider only that work which Ebenezer and Ramahyuck, may have to be re- this church is dOing among the fourteen and a linquished. By that time there will be very few half millions of Tamulians in Southern India. blacks there, and the rest, the half-breeds, will The society has two names; it is called the have to leave the stations by order of govern- "Tranquebar Mission" as well as the" Leipzig ment, to care for themselves. They will then Mission." How these two names came to be be scattered all over the country. The settled given to it will appear from the following: parts of Australia are well snpplied with churches and schools, and those of them who .. In the Year 1860 a Danish vessel come to grief desire to unite with the former will scarcely off the coast of Tranquebar, which was then lack the opportunity. The hope of the extension part of the country belonging to the Maharajah of our mission to North Qneensland IN. E. of Tanjore. The captain with his crew landed, Australia) is still as uncertain as it was last only barely saving their lives. The latter, howE year. The church is a ware that the Mission ever, were all killed on shore; the captain alone ~oard did not pril!!arily t~ke jnto consi<l~ratipn escaped to Tanjore, where he was treated kindly by tbe king, who granted him a long interview. the result of which was the ceeding of Tranqn- for special object~, they contributed Rupeee bar and its vicinity with abont 30,000 inhabitants 2,018 for general church purposes and Rupees to the King of Denmark for trading pnrposes. 2,573 toward the support of their ~ wn poor. For a whole century trade was the only thing car- Several districts now receive no help whatevet ried on. But at the beginning orthe eighteenth for their poor from mission fnnds, though a centnry the pious King Frederick IV. of Den- good many other districts get a moiety." mark, encouraged by his zealous court-chaplain Dr. Lutkins, began to send out missionaries to Spanish Evangelistic Mission in Figu- Tranquebar. Ziegenbalg and Pluetsohau, uni- eras, North East Spain. versity men of Halle, were ordained in Copen- hagen and arrived in the year 1706 in Tranque- Balance Sheet for the Year ending June 30th, bar. 1888, " Within three and a half years 150 souls had RECEIPTS. been baptized, and flve years after their arrival £ s. d. they had translated the New Testament into Tamil. In 1725 the Old Testament also was Balance in hand, 30th Jnne, 1887… 123 2 9 printed, for they were men of linguistic attain- Donations received by Pastor and ments as well as great missionary zeal. In 1736 there were 2,329 native Christians in Tranque- Madame Rodriguez and Rev. J. bar, who increased to 3,812 in 1756 under the C. Stewart Mathias, including sale care of five missionaries. Altogether 56 mis of pottery, etc.. .. .. . ….. . . …… 1,157 5 4 sionaries had been sent out when the church of Donations for site and new Halls in Germany began to feel the deadening influence Figueras and Vilabertrane . . . . . . 735 18 0 of rationalism. Those 56 we may call the first gen~ration of missionaries , after whom mission £2,016 6 work was sadly neglected. Although their sta- tions in Tranquebar, Tanjore, Madras, Trich- PAYMENTS. r£ so. a. inopoli, Palamcotta and Cuddalore were in a 156 flourishing condition, the missionaries died out Salary of Pastor Lopez Rodriguez.. 0 and there were no new-comers to take their Salaries of evangelist, three school- place. 298 011 masters~ two schoolmistresses, Hence in 1830 Lutheran missionaries gave up and one colporteur…………. .. 137 0 2 to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowl- Rent of seven Mission Hall~, Boys' 8513 5 edge, 1,300 native Christians, 11 catechists and and Girls' -School, and Mis~ion 49 7 6 . 11 small churches, as they had some time before House… , ……………….. , .. 7912 8 given up to the same society mnch property Repairs and fnrnitnre of halls (in- 13419 4 amounting, it is said, to more than three lakhs cluding four harmoniums) …… . 22 12 10 of rupees. This property is now in possession Medical Mission expenses …….. . 54 5 4 of the S. P. G. Of the 56 missionaries mentioned Evangelization and traveling ex- 2;[15 8 above,43 died in India, one died at sea, and one penses…………………….. . 40 0 0 was killed in Africa. Printing, postage, stationery, and 600 0 Q pnblishing Et Heraldo ……… . "Now the connecting link between the first Coal, gas, and oil ……………. .. 33318 :I Danish-German mission and the present Leip- Carriage and snndry expenses …. . zig Society is the Rev. H. Cordes, who is still Expenses of horse and tartana …. . alive. Already in 1819 a new association had Maintenance of two orphans in pas~ formed itself in Dresden. In 1845 the Danish tor's family for one year …….. . Government sold Tranqnebar to England, but at Purchase of site for hall ip Figueras the special request of the native congregation Balance in hand,30th June,18~8: the mission continued to be carried on in con- nection with the Evangelical Lntheran Chnrch. New Halls Acconnt £214 0 6 Fonr years later (1849) the Royal Missionary .General Account. .. 119 17 9 Collegium of Copenhagen made over all their property at Tranquebar and Poriar to the Mis £2,016 6 1 sionary Collegium at Leipzig.' Inasmuch as there was a university at the latter town, the Totals of Receipts from the commencement mission college at Dresden, which had been of the Mission in 1887. ionnded in 1832, was transferred to Leipzig in . 1848. Hence the name-Leipzig Luthern Mis- Year 181'7 .. .. ……………… .. 236 11 3 sion. " lH78………. …………… 113 7 0 1879……………………. 196 3 0 .. This society has at present 24 European mis 1~80. ……………….. …. 193 11 3 sionaries, 14 native pastors, 57 catechists, 156 " 1~81. .. . . . . .. . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . . 134. 0 4 schools and 3,991 pupils of both sexes. The me~bers of the church number more than 13,- .. It82……………………. 530 14 4 500, who are scattered about in 51'7 lowns and villages. Most of our Christians come from the IbCl3………………. …… 685 7 3 voorer classes, but last year, apart from gifts 1884…………………… 775 4 11 U'85. .. .. ………….. 885 17 4 1886……………………. 923 9 0 … 1887 …………………… 1,205 0 11 1888 …………………… 2,016 6 London Missionary Society.
COMMENCED liKi. STATEMENT FOR 1888-9• .. THE London Missionary Society is now entering upon the ninety-fifth year of its exist- ence, and its directors desire to acknowedge with gratitude to God the abundant blessin~ which is still vouchsafed to the labors of its mis- sionaries, and the ever-increasing opportunities for usefulness which are set before them in every part ot the great mission field. It is a sign full of promise that missions to the beathen have received an amount of attention ciety in the"'past, that the ecclesiastical organi.. "- from the press and the public during the past zation of the mission churches planted by it year which has never been manifested before. have been shaped, not in rigid conformity to any 'particular model, but in accordance with .. The wisdom and foresight of thefonnders the necessities of different fields of labor and the of the society are strikingly exhibited in the special characteristics of different peoples. It broad platform on which the society rests. Its will be its strength. and the pledge of its success agents have no desire to reproduce in the eastern in days to come, to endeavor to cultivate among world an exact counterpart of any of the schools those who are brought to the knowledge of of western theology. They bear from us those Christ by means of its missions. an Intelligent great fundamental principles of Christianity and independent study of the truths of the which are the common heritage of all Evangel- Divine revelation in the freedom of a life which ical churches, and which find intelligent recog- is not compelled to form itself on Western nition and response in the umversal heart of man. It has been the peculiar glory of the so- models."
STATISTICS.
-d SCHOOLS. '8"
—– ~aI "" " .; .; .9 .;:: 0..1. "'''"' '"" " — — — …;. .;I> .b0~"
01 o~ 8,8 ."" " ..!.l. :Prti …;. 01'" ~ 0", 01 Q).d .d~ ,; "-"'" .d" Z…."".. <> cal1.2 -010·- ~~ 1>'" ,o""§:''E<."0l! ".0 ~".' 0~ 11.2 <>'tI – – — " ." –.0.."-'" – -".– -".- ~~ ~:<!:::rr.~'a.- 01 ..t::.d E z01~'- Z0P1-<" 0"'-''<'' -z- £ s. d. 8 72 3.695 1.817 71 2.634 2.584 9 3 1. China …………………. 28 11 2. North India ……………. 16 11 8 32 535 1,872 10] 6.630 2.8.';94 1 3. South India ……………. 24 4 14 104 1.105 7.619 13~ 6.785 2,443 5 11 4. Trava.ncore ……………. 8 2 19 25 5,192 45.176 285 13.295 1.029 7 10 5. Madagascar …………… 28 4 67…0. 3.785 50.435 236.862 756 79.458 3.6550 3 …. 6. Africa ………………… 24 88 2.407 10.735 37 2.002 5779 0 7. West Indies …………… 1 .. 3 6 1.271 4522 9 23 312 528 489 1.380 544 24,485 5,7927 :I – – – – – – 8. Polynesia ……………. 14,760 41,554 Totals ………………. , 152 32 1.031 4,637 – 78.618 347.0151 1.933 136.560 19.404 6 3 Mi8sion etations and out-stations occupied by the society :-South Seas, 450; Madagas- car. 1.312; Africa.33; India. 500; West Indies. 4; China. 66.-Total. 2.365. Churches planted by the society.* but now self-supporting :-South Seas, 300; Madagascar.
1~200; Africa. 17; India. 20; West Indies. 24; China. 20.-Total, 1.581. Total Income for the year ending April 30th. 1888; £124.860, Is. 9d. Balance :against the Society. £7.960, 5s. Sd• • Duringthe past thirty years.
Japan Mission of the M. E. Ohuroh, South.
RESUME FOR 1888. Numer of mission stations…………………………………………………………5 Number of missionaries, 9; wives of missionaries. 5 ; whole numbers of workers ……14 Net increa£e in membership ……….•..•.•…•.•..•…••..••….. , ••……….•……….. 99 Total membership in Japan ……………………………………………………… 163 .. Amount raised on salaries and expenSes of self-supporting missionaires ….•……2.523 .. Whole~llIountr~isedon the field …. , ………………………………………3.897.80l-) C. B. MOSELEY. Statistical Secretary• .. The value of the yen is about 76 percent. of that of the American gold dollar.
Amerioan Free Ba.ptist Mission in Southern Bengal, 1888.
CHURCH STATISTICS ..,' .., " ".Q.; >. .u…l .; '0 .t~t., .0 …" " .<.>..c >,. >, -d <"I .,• o~ ,,0 0 ';:::';::1 .i.,"$t:,.i:-=~'" ".""",,,+.",.-,:' ~'a >~ ..t:::j " "" "" ."-"" .J:l .oEl .'0 g~' " "~'E.0l .od ul 06 ~~ ",,'" ·s~ .~-::9j 0.0~" … " ." "''' 0 ""d….~, u .".t,:0:- A'" ,,~ ol.J:l ""<"""~~'- M .0 0 ~El ~ -d .011.2 01 ~8 "l:i "'a"iE.0l ~:<!
— "" 0 0" s:<! r°<EEll Zb 11.2 Z 0 0 0= -'- Z – – – – -0 – 0 — — — – – —- — – – Z -~ 10 62 22 17 5 11 563 91 654 RS'.640 *2,701 1.
*This includes pupils of jungle schools. EDUCATIONAL STATISTIcs.
I Statioh~l~hOO~1 C~~;ll~~n Hindus. 1:~~:::I~ntals'l Boys. II Girls. rl?~~W;:.
12 21 340 1,322 102 1,298 1,859 992 3,058 RECAPITULATION.
Number of Churches……………………………………………………………… 10 •• Communicants ……….•…………………………………………….. 654 Nominal Christians …………………………………………………1,266 Sabbath School pupils ………………………………………………2,701 Pupils in all the Schqols ……………………………………………..3,058 CASH RECEIPTS. 6,204 0 0 3,516 3 0 From Government…………………………………………………..Rs. 4,5811011 Foreign Mission Board (for education)……………………………….. . 328 12 9 Woman's Board …. 0 •••• 0 ••• 0 ••• 0 ……….. 0 •••••• '0' •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 8,526 4 8 New Brunswick Woman's Board………………………………………. Special Donations…………………………………………………… .
Total. ……………. , ……………………………………………… Rs. 23.156 15 4 Association for the Religious Improvement of the Remote Highlands and Islands in connection with the Free Church of Scotland. Thirty-eighth annual report, 1888.
ABSTRACT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES to Nov. 27. 1888.
RECEIPTS. EXPENDITURE.
Subscriptions and Donations, Salaries of Teachers………• £1215 16 0 do. Sewing Teachers.. 183 10 0 General Fund………. . .. … £916 14 3 o College Aid…………. ……. 135 0 Glasgow Association, General Traveling Expenses of Fund …………………… . 230 14 8 Teachers………………. .. 46 o 0 Legacies ………………… . 206 910 Clothing and Material for Sewing Classes ………….. .. 26 12 6 Sewing Classes ………… .. 60 1910 Clothing Fuud ……………. . 14 4 0 Bibles and Books•…••.•….• , • 39 2 2 Furniture………………… . 14 2 10~ Contributed by people in the Printing and Advertising …. . 31 11 6 Incidents, Freights, Postages, Highlands……………… .. 18 '4 6 etc…………………….. .. 14 17 1~ Proceeds of Clothing sold….• 37 14 7 To Building Fund ………… .. 20 0 0 do. Books do… .. . 17 2 5~ Furniture sold… . o 9 0 do.
Bank Interest….. " ………. . 9 4 0 £1477 9 9~ £1760 19 6 Balance from previous year.. 452 2 ~ Deposit Receipts.. £150 0 0 On Bank Account. 131810 In Treasurer's hands ……… .. 413 8 168 12 6 £1929 12 0 £1929 12 0 The~Seamen's Rest, Marseilles, France, under the direction of Mr. Charles E, Faithful. Ninth annual report to Nov. 1, 1888.
RECEIPTS. £ s. Frcs. Cs. EXPENDITURE. Frcs. C•.
Donations and Sale of Balance forward ……………….. 2.503 05 work ……………… .. 584 914.635 2(j Loan returned to Monsieur Mathe_ Sailors' board aud lodg- ron. .. . . .. .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . .. 1.560 30 ing ………………… . 259 5 6.480 25 Household bills. including board of eaders of 7'he Christian per Messrs. Morgan and Missiou stall' and servants ……. 8.409 80 Scott ………………. . 1 Salaries of Manager and Matron, Association for the Free 25 15 two lady helpers, and servants' Distribution of the wages ……………………….. 4.568 45 Scriptures ………… .. 5 Rent, taxes and insurance………. 4.044 Transferred from Cloth· 125 Director's traveling expenses…… 700 10 Furniture and repairs. . ………… 431 30 ing Fund …………… . 36 4 905 20 Scriptures for Free Distribution… 125 Sale of clothes to Sailors. 16 400 Printing and advertisemeuts…… 294 Sales (variols) ……….. . 7 1 174 10 Books, periodicals, etc.. and car- Interest ou Reserve Fund riageof same for Reading-room. 78 35 bonds…••.•••….••….• 4 10 112 50 Stationery and postages…•……. 271 50 Balance………………. . 39 8 985 Intereston loan ……………… .. 150 Traveling expenses (Capt. Christ- ensen aud family) …………… . 226 Bad debts ……………………. .. 398 Petties (inclnding boat and bus hire…………………………. . 8255 £952 18 23.842 40 23.842 40
CORRESP.ONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. [APRIL"
Darjeeling Mission. Founded 1870.
REPORT, OCTOBER, 1888.
1 CHURCH CENSUS.
Commu- Non-Commu- ..; nicants. nicants. ~ — Total. 0 NAME OF C£c:lCH. Adults. * Child'n. E-< 1. Darjeeling……………………….. Q .,; ,; .,; .,; .,; Z -;; ~ .,; ~ .,; ~ .,; S .,; ~s ~ ~ S ~ S S ~ -"- ~ -"- — "' '" '" '" " -~-'" -~ '"'" -"- -~ – -~ – — 58 24 22 28 21 33 38 85 81 166 2. Kurseong ………… , .. .. . ……….. 19 10 11 9 9 11 8 3a 28 58 3. Nagri ……………………………. 15 8 9 6 6 10 8 24 23 47 4. Salom ……………………………. 10 5 7 6 2 7 2 18 11 29 5. Kainjilia…………………………. 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 6 4 10 6. Sonadah …………………………. 4 3 4 2 0 2 6 7 10 17 7. Tindaria…………………. ,. ……. 6 5 6 1 1 6 4 12 11 23 8. Gumba …………………………… 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 9. Badamtam………………………. 2 2 2 0 0 3 3 5 5 10 10. Poomong…………………………. 2 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 4 6 18 25 23 16 69 131 — — – – – – – – – – – – 11. TeraL ……………….. " ……….. 5021 28 62 — Totals …………………………… 170 82 82 80 65 90 101 252 248 500 * Under 14 years of age.
In 1870 there were no native Christians in the district; in 1880 there were 184; in 888 considerably over 1,000.
Free Baptist· Woman's Missionary separate paper, but conduct a department Society. in both Foreign Mission Journal, Richmond, Va.. and The Baptist Basket, Louisville, IN our December number, page 927, in Ky." Both of these statements, it appears, ]rrs. Gracey's paper on HWoman's Mis- are wrong. The society does publish a magsionary Boards," a slight error occurred in ",zine of their own-The Missionary Helper– her account of this society which we gladly and" the Western ladies conduct a column correct at the instance of the secretary. of society m",tters in The Free Baptist, pub- We said: "These ladies do not publlsh a lished ",t Minneapolis."
III-CORRESPONDENCE ana GENERAL INTELLIGENCE Korea. things" when last year we prayed for U scores" of souls, and the Lord gave us INTERESTING letter from Rev. H. over a hundred. Has He not indeed been good to us? But we look forward to another G. Underwood: year, and the question is, have we faith for a like increase, for another .. fivefold" SEOUL, Dec. 23, 1888. blessing, this coming year? Has the Church at home, as she tries to uphold our hands by EDITORS OF THE IV£IsSIONARY REVIEW OF THE her prayers, faith for such a blessing as this? On every side of us are men who are WORLD.-I have wanted to write you for wanting to study ~~ the doctrine." Teachers some time about the work here, bnt my are called for, bnt they are not-here. Minhands are so full of work that I get little isters to baptize the people are desired, but time for' writing. I h",ve now but a few there is no one to go. Oh I how my heart minutes, and can simply give you a few yearns for this people. I had planned forquite hints about what the Lord is still doing in an extended trip through the country last this land. 'We can report an adv",nce ",II fall, bu t there was no one to take my place along the line and in every department of in Seoul, and I could not go. There is need work. We cannot keep pace with the work for men, north, south, east, and west, bnt as it opens up. But a year ago there were just a score of baptized Christians in this land; now there are more than five times that number•. In one year we have increased fivefold. We thought we were asking "large where are they? When they do get here SBOUL, Dell. 28, 1888. they have a. difficult language to-Jearn. To-day at two o'clock a native Korean that will take several years to master, and service was held, the first of the kind I have when are they coming 1 seen in this heathen city. About fifty a.s.. sembled under the leadership of Mr. Under- These are questions that are before UB, wood. It was a surprise to me. for on my and that ought to present themselves in a way here I had been told by many that the practicai way to the Church at home. Is doors Were closed again in Korea and that she going to step in P Let her stop praying there was no sound of the gospel there. for more doors to be open, and enter those The opening hymn, however, sung to the already open, and then let her pray again. tune of .. Old Hundred," so rung aut through Not till then can she pray with that fervent the open walls, that it must have been zeal that will bring down the. blessing she heard by everyone in the neighboring desires. Great things are in store for the streets of the city. A striking BOund in- Church of Christ in Korea, if she will but deed! take them. Will she do it P Will the Church Following this, eleven dusky young Koof Christ accept·the responsibility that now reans came forward for baptism. The witrests upon her and go forward in the work nessing of each for Christ was of the brightthat lies before her here P est kind. Mr. Underwood translated their replies into English aud such a succession of We are just now seeing the manifestations testimonies I had never heard before. Many of the power of the Spirit in our midst. Our others at the present time are studying the services are well attended, our room is Word of God. at times crowded, and on the Sabbath is Such is the' work in Korea. The missionalways full of men who pay strict and earn- aries in the midst of their abundant labors est attention for an hour a.nd more. Our are looking prayerfully homeward for more weekly prayer-meetings are ca.rried on with help. Before them lies this whole land, with a zeal and earnestness that is cheering. itsmillions of heatheu, still unoccupied. The Not many months ago a boy of 16 years of harvest so great and no laborers. age came and desired to be taught about Christ; he studied night and da.y, and has JAS. S. GALB, since made a profession of faith. He went Toronto Univ. Coil. Y. M. C. A. Missionary. and found another boy, one' who could not read, taught him to read and brought him France. to Christ. These two went after more, a.nd LETTER from Director C. E. Faithnow there is a regular weekly native boys' prayer-meeting. Thus the work goes on, ful: but weneed more men. Reinforcements are coming, but as We think of the millions in MARSEILLES, January 29, 1889. this land and their readiness to accept Christ, we feel that we should call for more DBAR DR. SHERWooD.-The monthly visitor and more laborers. Has not the Lord given in the shape of your excellent and este~med the Church wonderful fruits thus far P Has He not shown that the harvest here is in- REVIEW' is, I can assure you, a source of deed ripe f See what has already beendone. It is but a little over four years since the unusual pleasure. At the same time I feel first missionary for Korea landed here. There are to-day two organized churches very guilty that now for a year I have bee.. in this land, with a total membership of over a hundred. Applications for baptisms are thus invited and yet, I fear, nothing has comlUg to Seoul to-day by the hundreds from all parts of the land where copies of the reached you that could help to add in any gospel have been distributed. The people are let alone in their faith. Public service measure to its already very complete aris being held in the city, and has been for months without the least opposition. A re- rangement and information. Moreover, you vival is now in progress in the native church. Truly the Lord has done wonders most kindly added my name to your list of III our midst. Will not the Church at home remember us in their prayers P Pray for correspondents. At that time my residence great things for us; ask largely, and pray also for laborers in this,tleld. Are there not was in Nice, from which place we removed some who will read this whom the Master in September, my health having, through 18 calling to work in this land P the goodness of our God, been sufficiently How the work in Korea strikes a new-comer, restored to enable me to take the personal oversight and dirQction of the mission here. This removal and the necessity of & somewhat prolonged sojourn in England last summer must be my special reasons for re- maining so silent. Allow me then to thank you most heartily for your liberal1tv to so unworthy a. contributor.
As I write you the minds of the French are considerably agitated and there seems to be a probability of further upheaving. Coosa.- ism on the one hand and anarchy on the other affiict this poor nation-so needy, though unconscious of It, of that which alone can make a people free and great, the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the same time much good is being done, and in this city of liBt and balance sheet duly andited. The accom. nearly 400,000 inhabitll.nts the eft'orts made to reach the masses and also special classes panying .. Letter from Spain" supplies detaila of men and women compare well with those of the progress of the work through God's made in most large cities. In addition to blessing, during the past year. We much hope the churches, established free, the McAIl that you will be interested in the perusal, and Mission. with which I am associated as a will kindly insert extracts in REVIEW. Regard. voluntary helper, takes the foremost place, ing the building of our new hall in Figueras, we Its earnest and energetic director, Pasteur have good news to tell. In November .. a Lenoir, is fully alive to the requirements of friend" most generonsly sent £500, with the the people and seems also to know how to promise of £300 this year. It came as a .. glad reach them. The one, and sometimes two, surprise" IIond filled our hearts with joy and evenings a week that it is my privilege to thanksgiving. The societies, De San Vincent aid in their meetings are always agreeable and St. Paul and the Holy Cross, did their best occasions. Then the work among the soldiers to prevent us getting a site, by over-bidding for Is most interesting and successful, and two the first one we had in view. Another in a far elforts areatloat for the sailor, one specially better situation was soon after unexpectedly for Britishers, the other for sailors of all offered for sale, bnt at a higher price. The nations. This latter, uuder the title of Lord sent the extra £250 needed, and the pnr- The Seamen's Rest, is the work it was my chase was made before the Romanis!s had time privilege to iuaugurate nearly teu years ago. to discover aud prevent. Then came the ditll- In addition to a Home capable of receiving cnlty; WMr8 was the money to come from for ~rom thirty to forty men, there is a bright the building f We knew of no one to whom to and well supplied reading-room where also apply who did not already know of the need. the meals are served for those lodging in Should we make a speclal appeal iu our new the Rest. In this room also meetings are report' No, for that might injure the General held regularly on Sundays, Tuesdays. Thurs- Fund, which wants replenishing. So we decided days, and Saturdays. Frequent conversa.- just to lay the matter before the Lord in prayer, tions dlloiiy IIore carried on with individual and to leave it wltb Him. We felt sure that cases requiring assistance, spiritU1lo1 and after sending the money for the site, He would otherwise, by my two lady helpers, one not allow the enemies of His truth to triumph Scotch. the other German Swiss. The for lack of means to lnI.ild. As I have told yon, manager is a. retired capta.in, a Norwegia.n, He did not disappoint our trust, and hope In the cook is a Da.ne and the man who attends Him. "He hath done great things for us, to the rooms, French. so that we are a whereof we are glad," and praise IDm with full polyglot house indeed. SerVices are held hearts for His faithfulness. For many years also on board ship, and constant visits paid an old house, now being pulled down, occupied to them and to the hospital. I am now en- part ofthe site of the new hall. and'was the abode gaged in planning regular visits to the beer- of a priest aud his servant. On hearing that it shops, 63 of which exist on the three- -was to be replaced by a Protestant gospel hall, quarter of a mile quay where our Rest she exclaimed, "Oh. God I can it be that on this .stands. Next door to us was formerly one of spot, where so many prayers and rosaries bave these, but is now a temperance colfee-room been repeated, those vile beretics should come and restaurant. F"r all these elforts may 1 to teach their infamous lies." Fai too long ciaim a petition for a corner in your valuable have poor souls like that woman been bound in journal to ask for prayer and sympathy. the chains of Romish superstition, and we do beg The work is one of faith, and tbe way the the prayers of God's people, that in our new means are supplied alfords undoubted proof hall hundr~ds ofsuch cap_ives may be set free that the God of Elijab still lives and reigns. In a few days I complete my twenty-fifth and" tarned from darkness to IDs marvelous year of service for Christ and am hopeful light." I may be permitted to mark it by meeting demands that are very pressing just now, Siuce sending the .. Letter from Spain" to and besides, oy removing aU debt, I need press, we have been cheered by a remarkable at least $1,000 to do this and go forward conversion, result of our evangelistic work in' a clear. town at some distance by train. From curiosity a man was induced to listen at the foot of the Spain. stairs to the preaching in our hall. Becoming interested, he crept up and was invited to enter LETTER from Madame Lopez Rod- by the converts, who could bardly believe that riguez. the well-known" Carlist murderer," employed by his, party to commit many acts of cruelty CALLE PEDRO, 30 FIGUERAS (GERONA). (uine men he confessed to have killed in cold blood), eould possibly wish to join their number. Jan. H, 1889. How great the change tbat grace has wrought I For three months he never missed a meeting. EDITORS MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD: One night, when weary from work, he went early to bed. Living next door. to our hall, he By this post I send a copy of our new report, containing outlines of the work, with donation was awakeneq by the BOUllds ofthe harmonium. Springing up, he washed, pnt on his best ward onr chnrch and begged that I should give snit, and hurried into the meeting, which he them something to read tonching onr faith; forgot took place that night. Before all the they departed seemingly well contented, and converts he told his sad story, drawn out by promised some hope, bnt, what deception. the pastor asking if he were willing to accept The priest advised them to bnrn or destroy all Christ as his Saviour? "Yes," was the ready I had given them, with the result already reply. But when further asked if he were pre· mentioned. pared to follow and confess Him before his old companions, he answered with much agitation, Although many persons are afraid to announce .. Only one thing keeps me back. I have yet one themselves, we are making some progress. debt of revenge to pay. There is one enemy I They have reduced the wages of Don Ventura can never forgive. In the war, I was taken who is working in the factory. and the fear of prisoner. On my knees, clasping a crucifix, I lOSing his place kept him from our services implored for mercy. It was granted by all but last Sabbath. A lady named Dolia Luisa reone who turned the tide against me. Aim was turned all the tracts that Guadalupe had given taken. A moment more and I should have been her becsuse her husband had threatened that i1 a dead man, had not friends come up on horses she continued reading such books he would to rescue me. That man I can never forgive, take her family from her and leave her. Just and would take his life if! could." The pastor see the result of ignorance and of her companion, laid his hand on the man's shoulder, soothed fanaticism. his excited spirit, and gently reminded him how the blessed Saviour on the cross forgave those Sabbath morning we had a congregation of who were taking His life; then, how God, for twelve persons and among them three who had Christ's sake had forgiven us. Another thought, never heard the gospel, and while preaching " Who cau tell that your enemy may not come about the redemption, several persons in the here, be converted as you have been, and sup· street listened attentively. At night we bad a plicate yonr pardon?" The poor man tried congregation of sixteen and at the beginning hard to keep back his tears, and in a tremulous there was nobody at the window, but when I voice replied, "It is true I It is true I There is commenced to preach there was a congregation now nothing to keep me back." To God be all of twenty-five at tte window, and to them I the praise for" another brand plucked from the directed my remarks, and heard them say burning." Asking the prayers of your readers among themselves H Good," "That's so I" and that we may have the joy of seeing many more .. Well, the Protestants do worship God." In such rescued by the love of our forgiving my remarks I invited them to c.ome and talk Saviour. with me wheneyer they were so disposed. The priest Ayala was watching from a neighboring Mexico. window, and it is quite certain that he will pro- LETTER from Rev. M. E. Beall: hibit the people from even standing at the win- dow. But in time I trust that both fear of the SAN Lurs POTOSI, Jan. 21, 1889. priest and the fear of what society may say will DEAR EDITORs.-The inclosed is" translation not prevent earnest sonls from seeking the truth. of a letter sent by one of our· semiuary boys working during vacation, to our native preacher Receive, my brother, the heart of him who eSt teems you, here. Its only merit is, that it is a very true Your most affectionate servant, picture of the beginnings of work in Mexican ATRANASIO QUIROZ. towns. It is one native writing to another with no thought of another reading what was being North Africa Mission. written. There is no victory to report, no special danger to fear, but simply the common BRIEF note from the Secretary: every day work. JANUARY 26, 1889. Er. VENADO, Jan. 14, 1889. DEAR DR. PIERSO!(.-I have just returned BELOVED BROTHER PANFILo.-Senor Justo, from visiting most ·0110 the missionaries connotwithstanding his fanaticism, has conducted nected with the North Africa Mission in Mohimself toward me as a friend. We have talked rocco, Algeria and Tunis. The prospect among together of our respective beliefs and he is now the Mohammedans is encouraging and· we are reading some of our literature. I have been hoping to send out more laborers. There are having some conferences by night with a few now 41 on our staff, and two more leave us IU a persons. I was with the mayor of the town on week. Saturday, and he showed bimself to be a red We are now proposing to take up work liberal, and spoke of his fatber who was mayor among the Europeans as well as the Mohamme· of Villa de Cos when our church commenced dans, and also establish a station in Tripoli, work there, and the father took an active part which is quite without the gospel. in protecting us. One day last week we found at the door of onr bonse many torn tracts and Yours heartily in Christ, two half bnrned Gospels. I knew who did it, EDWARD H. SLENNY. Cor two persons who were with me the evening Hon. Sec. of N. Africa N. beCore l!howed themselves kmdly dIsposed to- Sweden.
[IT gives us pleasure to lay the fol- lowing earnest request before our readers. It is made by an American atructor of a most wise, humane. and philanwho is laboring as an evangelist in thropic measure undertaken by Great Britain three years ago, in which our co-operation was Sweden-the Rev. Otis L. Leonard. asked. We sland to·day as the champion and As an earnest of his interest in mis- protector of the trading wretches who sell dansions in his native land, he sends us gerous firearms and ammunition, and equally $10, after paying a year's subscl'ip- deadly spirits in the islands of the Western Pation to THE REVIEW, the balance to cillc. We occupy before the other civilized go to our "Volunteer Fund" Sure nations a position which is indefensible aud we are that our many thousand humiliating in the last degree. l'eaders will join heartily with him in prayer for such an object.-EDS.) .. The liquor traffic in Africa can be stopped forever by au international agreement such as REQUESTS FOR PRAYER. Great Britain very nearly effected respecting the Pacillc Islands. The friends of humanity, DEARCRRlSTIAN FRIENDS.-Will you allpray not only in this country but aU around the world, for Sweden. We ueed a great revival !!ere, ask through this memorial that the Congress of Pray for it I Pray for me, au evaugelist, labor- the United States shall exercise its power toing here I Pray for a student who is ill, called ward the accomplishment of that result." of God to preach. that he may be healed I Pray for a mighty revival of God's work, all over -Livingstone's Discoveries. The source of Sweden! the Nile was the unsolved problem of ancient geography. In 1770 James Bruce, a famous GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. traveler, thought he had found it, but it proved to be only the head of a branch called the Blue Africa.-Rum on the Congo. A Memoria Nile. More than 90 years later Lake Victoria Nyanza was discovered, which has an area as from the World's W. C. T. U. asking Congress large M the State of New York-more than 49,000 square miles. From this lake :flows a to act. Bishop Newmau preseuted the memorial broad river-the head waters of the Nile.
praying that immediate and decisive steps be Dr. LiVingstone discovered a great river in the heart of Africa. H. M. Stanley traced it to taken to suppress the liquor tramc 1D the Congo its mouth and found it to be the Congo, which pours more water into the sea than any other Free State and basin of the Niger. The memo- river except the Amazon, rial shows that during 1885 more than 10,000,000 .. Livingstoue hImself traveled 29,000 miles in Africa, and added to the known part of the gallons of the cheapest and vilest spirits ever globe about a million square miles.. He dis- covered Lakes 'Ngami, Shlrwa, Nyassa, Moero, manufactured were seut from the United, States and Bangweolo; the Upper Zambezi, and many other rivers; made known the wonderful Vic- Germany, Holland, England, France and Portu- toria Falls; also the high ridges fianklng the de- pressed basin of the central plateau; he was the gal to the natives of Africa. The quantities first European to traverse the whole length of Lake Tanganyika, and to give it its true oriencontributed by the different nations were: tatiou ; he traversed in mnch pain and sorrow the vast watershed near Lake Bangweolo, and United States, i 737,650 gallons; Germany, through no fault of his own just missed the in- 7,820,042 gallons the Netherlands. 1,01)9,146 formation that would have set at rest all his gallons; France ( • pure alcohol "), 405,944 gal- surmises about the sources of the Nile. H,S dis' Ions; England, 311,384 gallons; Portngal, 91,524 coveries were never mere happy guesses or vague descriptions from the accouuts of natives; gallons. each spot was determmed with the utmost pre- cision, though at the time his head might be The memorial, continumg, says that abundant giddy from fever or his body tormented with pain. He strove after an accurate notIOn of the evidence proves that this deadly rum has de- form and structure of the Continent; im'eBtiga_ ted its geology, hydrography, botany, and zoveloped in the natives an alcoholIc passion ology ; and grappled with the two great enemies of man and beast that prey on It-fever and almost without parallel, and has sunk them into tsetse. "-Memoir.
a state of degradatlOn lower than they occupied -The distinguished African traveler, Lieutenant Wissman, recently delivered an before they had contact with our commerce address before the Hambnrg Geographical Society on .. The Arab Question In Central and ch'iization, The march of commerce will Africa.,. He stated that withIn the Jast few years a great change had taken place soon place the rum traders m commuUlcation in regard to the attitude of the Ara.bs in with over 50,000,000 of stuages, and unless tbe traffic is totaUy suppreesed, the result will be most disastrous to the cause of humanity, a re- proach to the Christian natious, and an outrage second only to the sla va trade itself.
The purposes of the memorial and of the argu- ments made by Bishop Newman and Mr. Bor- nady are to bring about such a reVIsion of the General Act of the Berlin West Africa Confer- ence as shall completely suppress the liquor tramc in the terrItory m question; to obtam 8 law from COngress prohibIting the exportatlOD of liquor from this country to any port of Africa, and to persuade the UUlted States Government to. use its influence to mduce other governments to co-operate.
Mr. Hornady spoke with great earnestness and impressiveness. .. The UnIted States Gov- ernment," he said," stands to-day as the ob- Africa toWard the Europeans. The threat- Nasa, south of the Victoria Nyanza, and euing danger of European ascendency has Rubaga, in Uganda, at the north of the great made them very hostile, defiant and relent- lake. less. They no longer hesitate to show t'1at the right belongs to them of carrying on the The Universities Mission has twelve sta.- slave-tra.de, and that they mean to exercise tions, oneat Zanzibar, four in the Usambara It. The slave-dealers charged Lieutenant country north of Zanzibar, four on or near Wissman to inform the English on Lake the River Rovuma, and three on the east Tanganyika that any attempt on their pa.rt shore of Lake Nyassa. to interfere with the tralIlc would bring war upon them. The traveler is convinced The two Scottish Churches have-the that war-like measures against the Arabs Free Church five stations on Lake Nyassa, must be resorted to if a secure foundation the Established Church, one on Lake is sought for the establishment of European Shirwa, at the south of Lake Nyassa. The civilization in Africa. Arabs and Europeans route to this region is by the Zambesi and cannot exist side by side. Lieutenant Wiss- Shire Rivp.rs. man attaches great importance to the proposed expeditIon for the relief of Emin Bey. The L09don Society goes further west Re insists that the only feasIble plan is an than any of the other societies, and plants advance from the coast, and declares that two stations on Lake Tanganyika, and one it would be useless to employ others than at Urambo in the Unyamwezi country, natives as soldiers and carriers. In the south of the Victoria Nyanza and nea.r the meanwhile a sudden obstacle to such an stations of the Church Missionary Society. expedition has arisen in the disturbed state The route was formerly from Zanzibar of the Zanzibar coast. through Mpwapwa to Ujiji; now there IS another route by the Zambesi and Shire, -Missionary interest in East Africa. The Lake Nyassa and a road thence to the massacre of German missionaries at Dar-es- southern end of Lake Tanganyika. Salam, oli the East African Coast below Zanzibar, has been followed by the mas- The United Methodist Free Churches have sacre of an English mIssIOnary named two missions in the Mombasa regIOn and Brooks with sixteen of his followers, at one in Gallaland. Saadani, a pomt nearly opposite ZanzIbar. These massacres, committed by the Arabs Three German Protestant societies have and natives under their control, m the rismg five stations-three in Gallaland, one in against the Germans, were not unexpected. Zanzibar, and one in Dar-es-Salam, where The course of the Germans, who had no ex- one of the massacres took place. It is the perIence with African Arabs or natives, Berlin Society which maintains the last two was such as to provoke hostility. They stations. established their commercial enterprise last August, and m a few weeks the Arabs These are all the Protestant missions bewere up m arms. The blockade of the coast tween Wito and the Rovuma River; but maintained by Germany infuriates the reb- there are German and French Roman Cathoels because it stops thetr tralIle, and they lic stations. There are three French stawill, It is feared, massacre all the miSSIOn- tions on or near Lake Victoria, the most aries on wh~ they can lay hands. important of which is the one in Uganda, under the control of Pere Lourdel; two on Missionary interests have become very Lake Tanganyika; one at Bagamoyo, near extensive in East Africa. The Church MIS- Zanzibar, and one or two others. TheJesusionary Society and the Universities Mis- its have also a few stations, and the Ger- SIOn, of the Church of England; the Estab- man Oatholics have olle at Dar-es-Salam. lished and the Free Church, of Scotland; the London Missionary SOCIety, the United In all, there are thirteen missions-six Methodist Free Ohurches and the Ohurch of British, four German, and three French. Rome, all have missions on the coast or in One society, the Ohurch Missionary, alone the mterior. has spent $500,000 in the last thirty years in East Africa.-The IndepI'ndent. The Church MiSSIOnary Society has two distmct lines of missions-one with its basis -How some missions were saved. At at Mombasa, in the English sphere of infiu- Mombasa, Frere Town and Rabai, on the east ence, with eight statIOns, some of Which coast of Africa, the English Church Missionary are on or near the coast and some in the Society has for some time been carrymg on a interior. One IS III the neighborhood of work SImilar to that which has been so greatly Mount KIlimanJaro. The second line of blessed at Sierra Leone and other places on the stations is that …hich stretches from Zan- west coast. The natives who have been reszibar to Uganda. There are 9 stations in cued from the Arab slave vessels by the British this hne beginning with Mambola and cruisers have been taken to the first-named Mpwapwa, nearly due west from ZanzIbar, towns, where they have been cared for and mand including Usamblro, Msalala and structed by the missionaries of the society, and a large number of them have become new crea- tures III Christ Jesus, and are now dIligent in tilling the soil or in following other industrial pursruts.
For several yoors fngitive slaves from the adjoining conntry have sought refuge at the plainest and most decisive manner of the the mi,sion stations from the oppressions of evils of opium smokiug-. The people are being their Mohammedan masters. Every effort has ruined by it, and it is iudeed a lamentable spec- been made by the missions to prevent mere tacle to see professing Christian men speaking runaways from settling around the stations; and writing in defense of the horrible crime.
but it has lately been found that many who " The perniciOUS results of this soul and body came and placed themselves nnder Christian destroying vice are apparent all around. Ca- teaching, and who were supposed to be free daverous-loookiDg faces meet one on every side, natives, were really fugitive slaves. Many of and the slovenly habits and the filthy appearance them have embraced Christianity, been bap- of the people generally testify too plainly to the tized, and are leadiBg .. quiet and peaceable evil it is working on this once industrious and lives in all godliness and honesty." energetic population. The rapid progress which Snddenly the former Mohammedan masters opium smokiug has made during the last twenty of the fugitives combined and threatened years among all classes of this population is destruction to the missions unless they were a very serious matter for us missionaries.
given up again to slavery. It has been a time Humanly speakiug, opium smokers are beyond of great anxiety to the missionaries, and the reach of conversion, as the vice unfits them in this crisis lhey could only commit all to for the perception of any moral or spiritual the Lord. Happily the danger has been truths_ Can the Church of Christ in England averted by the wise and timely acHon of do nothing to influence the nation to withdraw Mr. Mackenzie, the chief agent of the new from the abominable traffic which is causing so Imperial British East Africa Company whose much moral, spiritual, physical ruin to this great head-quarters are at Mombasa. Mr. Mackenzie people? It is a sad reflectiou on the Church of saw that if the regime of this politico-commercial Christ in Englaud that it seems powerlesM to company began with the restoration of a thou- influence the English people in so important a sand escaped slaves to the slave owners, its matter as the Indian traffic in opium.
inHuence wonld be serionsly injured. He has, .. Almost the entire population in some places therefore, undertaken to compensate the Arab is abandoned to the use of this poisonous drug.
slave-owners. on condition that the whole of The effects are witnessed in the extreme pov- this fugitive slave population, a large portion of erty of the people, in the broken-down and which is Christian, are declared free forever. dilapidated dwellings all through the village, This arrangement has delighted all parties. A and in the gross immorality which prevails grand feast has been given by the Moham- among the inhabitauts. Men openly aud with- medans to Mr. Mackenzie, while the slaves are out shame prostitute their wives, in order to set free and the missions are saved. procure for themselves the means of indulging Cllina.-Opium Havoc. Archdeacon Wolfe, in opium smoking. Little children are sold as of the C.M. S., has written an account of a visit slaves and turned away from the embrace of to Hoh-Chiang, commencing iu September last. their helpless mothers in order that their de- He says: graded fathers may have money to buy opium. All this and much more may be told of the .. Kang Cheng is situated in the heart ora beau- tiful valley, rich in rice crops, and well watered efl'ects of opium smoking on the miserable peoat all seasons of the year. The population is pie; yet professing Christians iu England see immeuse, and the position: is well suited as a no harm in it, and openly advocate the abominamissionary center for the eutire valley; but, ble traffic which makes it possible and compar- alasl it is filled with opium smokers, and where ativelyeasy for the Chinese people 10 ruin them- these abound there is very small hope of an en- selves aDd their wives and children for time and trance for the Gospel of Christ. Though the for eternity !
town stands in the midst of such natural beauty " At one place I met Sia, the literary graduate, and grandeur, there are no attractions in the and had a long and painful conversation with town Itself; on the contrary, every sight and him ou this questiou. Sia himself comes object that the eye rests on, as well as nearly regularly to church, and contributes to the every word that the ear listens to, is most re- support of the catechist and the repairs, pulsive aud degrading. Such is heathenism in etc., of the church, but at present he is every place that I have seen it iu China, and much discouraged and disgusted by the con- especially III a place giveu up to opium smoking. duct of England and China with reference to .. In consequence of the removal of the local the opium question. He says that since the tax ou the sale of opium, the drug is very much recent arrangements which allow the opium cheaper than before; consequently Its use is to be transported iuto the interior free of lekin rapidly spreading among all classes, and is fast tax the consumption has more than dOUbled, as destroying the Vitality of this people. The devil the price has by tljese arrangements been much could not have invented a more permcions vice reduced. The Imperial revenue has been large- for the destruction of soul and body than this of ly increased; but, the local taxation having opinm smoking, and woe to the man who by been removed by the special request of Eng- word or deed gives any support or encourage- land, it can be conveyed into the interior and ment to the hell-boru trafficl It is necessary sold for a much less price than it cost under the for every friend of the Chinese to speak out in old arrangementI Hence the Country is being visited with a. hea.vler curse than ever before by the building removed by the French as a cnunb of -action and greed of England. Will not God visit comfort to him. Cor these things' Sia's only son has succumbed to the temptation. and has become within the " At this juncture China proposed a new solulast year a confirmed opium smoker. The grief tion of the difficulty. Without proposing to and anger of the father may well be imagined, meddle with the French miSSionaries, whoso and the shame and helpless indignation oC the relations to their own authorities could not be English missionary are beyond expression. changed, and with a desire to deal justly with OCten and often has the missionary to endure the all parties, it proposed that the Ministers and humiliation which no other nationality has to Consuls oC the other nationalities should treat bear in this country. Often has he wished in Roman Catholic missionaries of their nationhis heart -that the flag of some other nation alities as they treated merchants and others: which is not stained with the poisonous, pol- shonld @ecnre passports, consider complaints, luted opium drug, was the one under which he demand redress, etc.; thus superseding tho lived in this country rather than the English, French MInister and ConSUls, and of course which to the Chinese is the emblem of the moral diminishing the power of France. which conld ruin of their nation."-The Ohristian (London). scarcely dare to protest against so obviously eqnitable an arrangement. Her power had Boman Catholic Missionaries in China. hitherto been only a usurpation. Within the last two months, Germany and Italy have made [We copy below from the New York agreements with China on the terms proposed. Evangelist in a condensed form tpe Withont pausing to examine their probable motives too closely, we may safely assume substance of an able article which that at an early day the other European pow- ers will do the same. The French protectorate recently appeared in the London in China is a thing of the past. It wili no longer obstruct the success of Protestant mis- Times on "The Past and Present sions." Positions of Roman Catholic Mission- Europe.-Standing Armies. The tabular aries in China."-EDs.] statement given below,showing the strength .. AFTER the treaty of Tientsin in 1857, Napo- of standing armies of Europe, even when on leon ill. assumed the protection oC Roman a. peace footing, will convey some idea. Catholic missionaries in China, irrli8pective Of of the waste of human energy involved, their l1ationalitiea. Italian, German, and Span- to say nothing of the cost of their mainteish missionaries knew nothing of the official nance. representatives of their own countries. Practically they were all Frenchmen, not willingly, EUROPEAN ARMIES ON A PEACK FOOTING. but by Corce oC circumstances. French officials secured Cor them favors or redress, and received from them reports upon civil, political, and social matters. The power and intluence secured iil this way by France were felt as a menace to China, which lacked either the resolution or opportunity or both. to protect itself.
" ThIs French protectorate over Romish missionaries in China might have coutlnued to the present time but for the recent war between France and Tonquln, a country having close religious and political relations with China. When it found that iu that couflict Romau Catholic mIssiouaries became unscrupulous Freuch political emissaries, Chiua saw her danger, and improved her opportunity for escape. The result ofthe missions of special agents aud private messeugers was an agreement that the Pope should send to China a Legate, who in his name should have control of all missionary matters, receive all communications from missiouaries, entirely ignoriug the French Legation, which would immediately lose its protectorate and power. Then the French Goverument threatened that if the proposed arrangement was carried out, the Pope shonld receive the de· nunciation oC the Concordat, and the supplies of the French clergy shonld be withheld. This Chinese agreement therefore was thrown overboard. the site of the obnoxious Pie·tang Cathedral being restored to the Emperor, and the England.-Prof. Sir Monier-Williams de- With this larlre sumlivered a powerful address a few days ago at a C. M. S. meeting at Kensington. Having shown Societies. Men. Women. that the missionary spirit is of the essence of Christianity, he maintained that those who talk ~ri~~~~~ea~~~~~~~i.~~:: ::: 1,~~ 1,~ of failure in this work cannot' know what is in their own heart, or be conscious that a deep- Continental are employing.. 777 447 rooted repugnance to the healing power of the Cross lurks in the very soul and intellect of man. 3.574 Total …………………. 2,273 At present God wills to do His work slowly, through man's agency, and progress is not to be These societies have the following visible settled by the multiplication table. We cannot all bear witness in a foreign land, bot we can all results as testimony to tbeir faithfnlness in persevere in praying to our Father that His name may be hallowed and His kingdom come their appointed work: over all the earth. We have undoubtedly to wrestle with formidable forces, but victory is Members. not doubtful, for" power belongeth unto God." Pertaining to American societies. 242,733 Turkey.-The Withering Influence of Mohammedanism. Canon Taylor says' that Mo- Pertaining to British societies…. 340,242 hammedan countries do not require the gospel. The Turkish Minister of Finance, in it report to Pertaining to Continent'lsocieties 117,532 the Sultan, states that the deficit in the Budget is £1,500,000 and that no means will be avilable To'l membership in heathen lands 700,507 to provide against it if the present system of abuses be continued. Economy in certain depart. This is larger than the membership of ments, or reorganization, with strict control and regularity in payments, to maintain Turkish the Presbyterian Church in the United credit abroad. are suggested as of the first necessity for recovering an equilibrium. It re- States, and the amount expended is nearly mains questionable (the Timea' correspondent says) whether tbe salutary advice of AIlOP Pasha the same that ~aid church spent at home will be adopted, considering the powerful infiuence militating against reform in a depart- last year for her own current expenses. ment wbich is a hotbed oC illicit gain to so ml'ny. This deficit by no means represents tbe Butforeign missions have not only gained whole state of financial collapse of the ollly Mohammedan Government in tbe world. It is this largenumberof converts from heathenin arrears with many of its chief officials for years of salary. They depend for keeping np ism, but they have also the following educatheir position upon grmding the faces of those wbo are below them. Had it not been for the tional work to report: Crimean War and the Berlin Treaty, Turkey would have perished as an independent state Societies. Children. long ago. It would have been better for tbe common people had sbe done so.-Bombay American have in schools……. . 124,813 Guardian. British have in schOOls………. .. 434,774, -Why am I a Missionary? This question is not one bounded by denominational lines, Continental have in schools…. .. 67,154 but can be answered by almost every Christian chuch in almost the same terms, as a Total…. . •.. …. .. • . .. .. .. . …. .. 626,741 non-mission church may be called a non- Christian church. I a.m inspired by the en- . In addition to all this, missionary ships, couragements presented. The Christian freighted with" The Word of Life," sail on world is earnestly ",ngaged in the work of many seas and steam on the lakes of Central foreign missions. It ·has become an estab- Africa. Hundreds of papers, in almost as lished part of church work, engaging its many languages, .. drop their leaves for the bes~ talent both at home and on the foreign healinj('of the nations." Moreover, modern field. The latest statistics tell ns that the missions are yet in their infancv. The past following sums are being contributed an- has been a time of seed-sowing. Tbe oldest nually for this great work: A.merican society, the American Board, was born in 1810,and of the British and Continen- 32 American societies contributed. $3,011,027 tal societies, all but six were established 28 British societies contributed….. 5,217,885 within the last eighty ;tears. There is grand 27 Continent'lsocieties contributed. 1,083,170 inspiration in the history of thecause. Mis- sions have always been important factors, Total, 27societi.es, contributed …$4311,582 in the providence of God, in giving to the world the civilization it now enjoys. There is goodly fellowship in the work. Missions have given to the world the lives of such men as Robert Moffat, of South Africa; Dr. LiVingstone. his son-in-law, of all Atrica; Robert Morrison, of China; Henry Martyn, of Persia; Adoniram Judson and his wives. of Burmah; Schwartz, of India; Egede, of Greenland; and a host of others as worthy of canonization as any saint in the Roman calendar. Missions, by the blessing of God, can and do regenerate nations. They have reduced scores of languages to writing, and have given a literature to many lands. In Japan, where twenty-five years a.go there was not a slDgle paper ill circulation, there are now more than in all the rest of Asia combined; more than in Russia and Spain together. She is casting away her old cum- bersome alphabet, if such it can be called, and adopt.ing the Roman letters. She is
18S9.] INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
filling theatres with thousands hungering are also converts in Timor, Wetter, and those and thirsting for the gospel. The Bible will portions of Borneo and New Guinea, to which do for Japan and other nations what it has the Dutch Government lays claim. The island done for England and America. I am a of Celebes has become Christian, there being missionarybecause, while our Savior taught 199 Christian congregations, and 125 schools. us to pray, ., Thy Kingdom come," He also The number of adherents of the missions is no said, "Go ye into all the world and preach less than 80,000. the gospel to every creature." Praying and workingmnstgo together. Thatchnrch -Alfred Russell Wallace's Remarkable Tesis not truly evangelical (envangelizing) timony. The book by Alfred Russell Wallace, which preaches the gospel in bnt one the distinguished SCientist, entitled" The Malay langnage.-M. E. Beall, in North American Archipelago, a Narrative of Travel, with Studies Ret'iew. of Man and Nature," contains the following : -The World's Debt to Missionaries. Mr. .. Jnst opposite my abode in Rurnkan in Liggins' book, " The Great Value and Success Celebes was the school-house. The school-masof Foreigu Missions," is calling forth stroug ter was a native, educated by the missionary commendation from the press and from eminent at Tomohou. School was held every morning clergymen. Dr. Clarke of the American Board for about three hours, and twice a week in the writes' evening there was catechizing and preaching. The chlldren were all tanght in Malay. They "No one can read this volume without being always wound up with singing, and it was very profoundly impressed with what has been ac- pleasing to hear many of our old psalm-tunes, complished by Foreign Missions. It is a rare in these remot,e mountains, sung with Malay collection of just those facts and incidents which words. Singing is one of thA real blessings which missionaries introduce among savage nations, I who are interested in missions will find help- whose native chants are almost always moful in presenting the cause. Every pastor notonousand melancholy. The missionaries have should have it; every Sunday-school superin- much to be proud of in this conntry. Theyhave tendeut should have it as a storehouse of in- assisted the Government in changing a savage teresting incidents." into a civilized commnnity in a wonderfully short space of time. Forty years ago the conntry was a We extract two items in regard to the island wilderness, the people naked savages, garnish· of Celebes. In the Dutch East India Islands there ing their rude houses with human heads. Now are many missions supported by Christian it is a garden, worthy of its sweet native name people in the Netherlands. On Java, Sumatra, of ' Minabati. ", Amboyna, Ki and the Aru Islands, there are large congregations and many converts. and there INTERN ATION AL DEPARTMENT.
Applied Missionary Information. to be impelled individually to venture on their own responsibility to go THERE never has been a time when everywhere; merchants, mechanics, the methods for the conduct of foreign missions were the subject teachers, professional men, in a great of more varied suggestion than uprising of missionary enterprise now. There is manifest a growing going to the ends of the earth to disposition to find out what is ex- pursue their several'v<llyations, that traneous in existing modes, :1nd to by such opportunity as shall occur experiment with" new departures," to them, they may act as lay mis- in the hope of finding some method sionaries. How far this might lead or methods which admit of more to disorder, and put on the several vigorous and extended advance on fields irresponsible persons who heathendom. Inexpensiveness, sim- would not contribute to the advance plicity, and greater freedom of ir.di- of Christ's kingdom is amongst the vidual effort are earnestly sought. queries that attach to the suggestion.
There is, besides, a conviction that Is it possible to establish an intelli- the duty of evangelization ought in gence office which shall supply such; some· way to be more distributed persons with informatIOn about the among individuals, without lessen- specific opportunity for such labor,'
ing' that of the organized societies. that they may form a better judg- Acknowledging all the worth of ment, whether what they feel moved; organized effort, there is still the to do is likely to prove of any practi- thought tha.t melll1I1.d WQwell oug-ht cal value? There are fields where workers ar~ "We think it advisable to form a Mission_ needed to do just such specific work.' ary Consulting Committee, in various large What else besides that which exist- cities of Great Britaiu in connection with a ing organizations supply can be set Central Body in London to meet monthly up to try to bring the workers and the fur prayer, for the study of the great needs of the world-field, to consider missionary work in aU the world intelligently information, and to intercha.nge opillions.."
together? The result of this was the organi- These are practical and important zatioh of a " Missionary Intelligence matters. An international and in- and Registration office" in London ter-denominational committee, for " for the registration of missionary general oversight and stimulus, is information, and the encouragement amongst the hints that this matter of vigorous self-supporting mission- has brought out. Another form of ary enterprise in all parts of the it is seen in conventions, colleges, world, in harmony with existing mis- and individual churches assul1)ing the sionary societies." This' numbered support of individual missionaries, amongst its patrons such persons as with or without alliance with al- Robert Arthington, Rev. Hugh Price ready existing societies. That there Hughes, Rev. F. B. Meyer, and other are indications of need in all this eminent men.
which call for mature deliberation This organization has varied its can scarcely be called in question. title of late into "Missionary and Workers of one country 01' church , Evangelistic Bureau." The objects may sometimes be suitably employed of this enterprise are definitelystated to meet the demand under already as follows: existing organizations in some other .. First. To collect and put into practical country 01' church, just as many of form, reliable information concerning spirthe early missionaries of the English itually·destitute and neglected places, as societies were found in Germany. well as Christian work in operation. throughont the world, and to disseminate Are the societies doing what should the same through suitable channels. be done internationally 01' interde- .. Second. To call attention to promiSing uominationally to bring work and workers all over the world together? fields of labor, and to encourage all (men or, have they already more than they or women) who are willing to be used in the can do, and should there be a volun- Lord's service, for theevanzelization of the tary organization to collect and col- world, aud to furnish missionary informa.- late this class of information to be tion. placed at their disposal, such organi- .. Third. To establish a system of corre- spondents in foreign lands, who will report on suitable openings for missionaries, self- supporting or otherwise, and act as referees zation becoming auxiliary and sup- to those who go out; also generally to keep plemental to the regular missionary the Bnreau furnished WIth snitable IDfor– societies of all countries and co-op- mation. and to put those of the Lord's peoerating with them? ple who may travel•• en rapport' with Christian work in the countries they may If such voluntary organization be visit. realized, can it become the medium .. Fourth. To nrge on Christian people for collating and classifying all information likely to be of practical thronghput Great Britain and elsewhere, the claims of the heathen, and their respon- sibilities rsspecting them. and to seek to in- value to independent as well as or- fnse zeal and energy into the Christian ganized missionary enterprize? public at large for the support ofmissionary enterprise with their means and influence. A Bilginning.-At the close of a ~Conference in Manchester, England, .. Fifth. To stimulate Christian congre- gations to seek representation on the For- in 1886, several well-known gentle- eign field, by members selected, sent out, men met, an.d after anxious and pray- and maintained from amongst themselves. erful discussion unanimously adopted the following resolution: .. Sixth. To act as agents for either mis- sionaries or evangelists, by representmg them in Londoll, and facilitllting their work. by relieving them of such business affairs of requirements includes: name, as they may desire to depute, and by enlist- age, married or single, health now mg sympathy in their behalf." and formerly, hereditary physical traits, trade or profession, education, In actively attempting to secure acquaintance with any language or this purpose the work is divided into languages, whether person will work departments. 1. The Department for at profession or trade provided op- Registry of Missionary Effort, in all portunity for systematic work for. parts of the world of whatever name, conversion of souls is afforded, what the record to be available for all de- evangelistic work he has hitherto siring information. 2. The Depart- done, denomination, if denominationment of Requirements, to bring work al work is desired, references. The and workers together. 3. The De- Registry of Requirements includes: partment of Employment of Mission- society or mission requiring worker, aries, to bring to the knowledge of whether work is old or new, scope suit~ble men and women means of and objects of work, age, if payment livelihood abroad while working for of passage will be met, if for any the Lord. specified term, and the official, if any, with whom arrangements are This Bureau has prepared blank to be cQncluded. forms for the collection and registry of information, of which there are six That such a society would find an classifications lettered as follows: abundance of applications for infor- mation is certain. There are those (a) For the registration of any'par- who would like to go to Japan on ticular missionary effort; (b) on sug- their individual account, to engage gested openings abroad where in teaching by which they could Christian workers may be profitably support themselves and at the same employed; (c) for Christian workers time do incidental missionary work, seeking a missionary sphere; (d) for but who are ignorant as to whether opportunities of suitable secular em- any such openings exist now, as ployment for the support of mis- they did a few years ago. There sionaries; (e) for vacancies in exist- is no doubt of their qualifications, ing missions or societies; (f) for such yet no SOciety has at this time the private and confidential information means to send them forward for its as will enable the Bureau to act as organized work. representative of missionaries and others. The Bureau gives illustrations oC the daily applications made to it, and It may help to a better apprehen- also of applications for workel·s. It sion if we quote from these forms mentions among others the call for enough to indicate the plan. The an educated lady for South India, registry of effort seeks to record: amongst higher class native women, when any mission was commenced, and two working-men for colporteur_ number of stations, area worked by evangelism in Bombay presidency, mission, number of missionaries, Eu- India; and further of openings in ropean or native, also of evangelists general, as in Kashmir, where a carand lay helpers, communicants, bap- penter, printer, shoemaker, photo- tized persons, cost of mission, etc. grapher, nurse and others could find The registry of openings requires an opening. to know: where any such exists, E'Xtentand populationof district, nature, We have been thus explicit be- objects and prospects of proposed cause this organization represents a work; climate, expense, whether for general spirit and tendency of the established or new work, special dif- times, while itself only one form of cuities, how reached, how possibly the expression of it. Such a Bureau to be supported, etc. The registry involves imm:ense and patient work. It is plain that ail good Mussul- Persons desirous of further imforma- mans must believe in that which tion concerning the operations of was revealed before the Quran. Muthis Bureau, or who are willing to co- hammad's inspiration is said to be operate for securing the same ends of the same character as that of in America, may address Rev. J. T. former prophets of the Jews and Gracey, D.D., Buffalo, N. Y. Christians.
Islam. "Verily we revealed our will unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and «()onfinuedfr(Jm page 218.) JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN FACTORS. Jacob and the tribes 'and Jesus and The most prominent Jewish and Job and Jonas and Aaron and Solo- Christian idea appl'opriated by mpn, and we gave unto David the Muhammad was that of a Divine Psalms and apostles whose stories revelation. The extent to which we have not revealed unto thee"
Muhammad was impresiied with the [Sura IV: verse 161]. .
Jewish and Christian Scriptures is a The authority of a Divine revela- matter of no little sUt'prise to the tion, and the obligation to be guided student when he first approaches this by it, which was Jewish and Chris- subject. Sir William Muir, in his tian, was fully appropriated by Mu- "Testimony Borne by the Coran hammad. .
to the Jewish and Christian Script- "And he sent down the Tom'at ures," collates a large number of . (pentateuch) and the gospel from be- passages from the Quran, which fore for the guidance of mankind, and show how prominent this thought of he sent down the Forcan (Quran).
"The Book," the sacred "Script- Verily they that reject the revelation ures,"the Divine revelation, was in of God to them shall be a fearful the mind of Muhammad. Mr. Muir punishment" [Sura iii : verse 2].
says: " A considerable portion of the Muhammad seizes, perverts, and'
Coran is occupied with narratives of applies to himself Christ's promise to events recorded also in the Sacred send the Paraclete, and places on a .Scriptures of the Jews and Ohris- parallel with that of Jesus and to the tians. Such narratives show very prophets of old the revelation made frequently a close correspondence, to himself.
amounting in some places to actual "Jesus said: Oh, children of Israel, coincidence in the cast and turn of verily I am an apostle of God unto expression with the Bible." Besides you, attesting that which is before this, the Jews and Christians are me, the 1'0urat (Pentateuch), and some fifty times in the Quran styled giving glad tidings of an apostle that the "People of the Book," the "Peo- shall come after me whose name is pIe possessing the Revelation," etc. Ahmad" [Sura lxi : verse 6].
These are in fact the commonest de- The style and mode of the inspira- signations of Jews and Ohristians in tion of the Quran are here put in the Quran. the same category with that of the Muhammad evidently only ex- Jewish and Christian peoples. And pected to succeed in impreSSing Jews the coincidences between the Jewish and Christians by producing a reve- and Christian Scriptures and the Qu-, l~ion, as their prophets had done. l'an are claimed as a proof to the Mec- A revelation was considered abso- cans of the inspiration of the Quran, .
lutely indispensable. as in Sura xxvi: verse 191: "What, "The people of the book will ask is it not a sign unto them that the thee that thou cause It book to de- wise men of the children of Israel scend upon thee from the HeavElns'" recognize it?" or, [Sura IV: verse 149]. " 'I;hus doth the glorious and wise God communicate revelation unto miracles. Muhammad -distinctly rec- thee and unto those that preceded ognized this, but declared that n9 thee" [Sura xlii: verse 6]; or again, necessity existed to confirm the mes- "Thus have we sent down to thee sage of the Quran, no other evidence the Book (Quran) and those to whom could enhance that of the book itself.
we have given the Scriptures be- "Each prophet has received ma:ni- lieve in it" [Sura xxix: verse 47]. fest signs which carried conviction "We believe in that which hath to men, but that which I have re- been revealed to us, and in that ceived is the revelation." In other which hath been revealed to you, words the c.i?uran itself is a literary and your God and our God is one" miracle; no book in the world can [Sura xxix: verse 46]. Thus the text co~pare with it in thought and ex- of the Quran is claimed to be of the pression; the Arabic of the Quran is same manner as that of the Script- the Arabic of Heaven; no revelation ures, and also of identical origin could be more self-evident. Muham- The source of the Quran is also the mad challenges men and genii to same. This is not an accidental refer- produce a single chapter like it. The ence. The Quran abounds in similar challenge has not been accepted.
references to the Scriptures. Mr. Incidentally, we may put a few con- Muir has collated some one hundred trasts. Let it be conceded that the and fifty of such references in the Quran is the most untranslatable Quran to the Jewish and Christian , book in the world; that no book in Scriptures: Muhammad was evi- the world loses so much by transl;l.- dently profoundly impressed with ,tion ;1.6 it does, because its beauty and this Jewish and Christianconception, force inhere in the Arabic language.
and availed himself of it. But on the other hand, no book in The conception of a revelation in- the world is so translatable as the volved the personality and unity of 'Jewish and Christian Scriptures.
God, and his selection of a person Another strong contrast is seen in through whom to make known his the fact that the Quran having been will. This was soon concreted by delivered through one medium and Muhammad into: "There is no within a period of little more than God but God, and Muhammad is his twenty years, is all of one time and Prophet." one manner; and has uniformity of The one overpowering thought of expression, but strangely enough has the revelation of the Divine purpose no continuity of design; while the and pleasure to the individual was Bible, written by various authors, at clearly Jewish and Christian, and various periods of history, has great this was the great factor furnished variety of expression and most by these people to Muhammad, marked unity of design. This sug- Whatever else mayor may not have gests another phase of the idea of been amongst the elements of the .revelation adopted by Muhammad, times, these were, and, given these that of infallibility in the revelation.
and Muhammad, the result is the Muhammad said the later message Quran. must always take precedence in au- A collateral part of the idea of Di- thority over the earlier, and abrogat- vine revelation adopted by Muham- ed all which were of a contradictory mad, was that of the necessity of character to it. This abrogation per- outward evidence to support the rev- tained however only to commands elation. The prophets who had pre- and prohibitions, and the abrogation ceded him had confirmed the claim of must itself be a part of the revela- the supernatural revelations made tion, and must be announced and ,to them by supernatural works- historically preserved. This is a most important point in the controversy extension over AfrIca or Malaysia, of Christianity with Islam. The but rather the revival of Moslem Moslem world, being obliged by the Puritanism by the Wahiibees. Abd- Quran to recognize Muhammad's in- el-Wahab, at the close of the laSt dorsement of the Jewish arid Chris- century" saw that his co-religionists tian revelations, offset the force of had fallen away from that purity of the fact by asserting that the Quran life and belief which made Islam being the latest revelation, aqnuls master of all the civilized world save all the Jewish and Christian revela- a corner of Europe; he resolved to tions contrary to it. But Sell asserts ,bring them back to the truth. He that" it cannot be shown that either scouted the traditions which had Muhammad or his companiens ever buried the pure Quran under their said that the Bible was abrogated." mass, .• he learned to distin- POST-MUHAMMADAN ELEMENTS. guish between the essential ele- Three streams of tendency follow ments of Islam and its accidental or fl'om all that we have said: recent admixtures," and 1. The followers of Muhammad found "the keystone, the master- have imitated the prophet in extend- thought, the parent idea" to lie in ing the Gnostic eclecticism which he the phase, La llah illa Allah- inaugurated. IfMuhammad adopted, "There is no god but God." This adjusted, appropriated religious doc- he said meant much more than a trines and customs of his time and negation of any deity save one aJone, country, why should not his follow- but that this one Supreme Being is ers? Islam has sometimes appro- also, as Mr. Palgrave puts it, "The priated what it could not assimilate, only agent, the only force, the only as in the island of Java, where a act, existingthroughoutthe universe, strange mixture of nature-worship, • . the sole power, the sole animism and Hinduism with Muham- motor, movement, energy and deed, madanism, and is so nearly a new is God; the rest is downright inertIa conglomerate, as that it takes a dis- and mere instrumentality from the tinct name, as Javanism. Another highest ar,changel down to the sim- illustration of appropriation is in the plest atom of creation." Hence, in offering of sacrifices at the tombs of this sentence, "There is no god but saints to secure their mediation. God," is summed up a system which Kuenen well remarks, in view of the Palgl'ave terms, "the Pantheism of absence of the doctrine of sacrifices force or act." It is not ours to de- from the Quran, "The Moslem seeks fend all this. Weare only Illustrat- what his faith withholds from him, ing the movement toward Puritan- and seeks it where the authority ism fl'om a Moslem standpoint, a which he himself recognizes forbids recurrence to the original elements him to look for it." It is no part of of Islam within OUt· own times; a Islam; it is not even a product of it. great movement which is secretly It can only be adopted on the pro- wide-spread over Asia, and greatly re- phet'') own principle of action, that invigorating and intensifying the of thl agglutination of ideas. It is Moslem community. The Panthe- thus that it has partially adopted in ism which the Sufi Moslems claim India the caste system of the Hindus. has been an historic doctrine of 2. A second tendency is to appeal Islam for three centuries is put to primitive ideas and principles, or much more nearly after Hindu form.
to read a philosophy into the teach- A chief among hIS sect says: "God ings of the prophet himself. himself is the vessel and he is the The great feature of Islam in this hopper. He is the clay and he is century is not its geographical the wine-drinker. He is the buyer and he is the vessel when broken to political, social, intellectual, and pieces." They say, "If of a piece moral." of cloth one makes stockings of one part and caps of another part, the ANOTHER TEST CASE IN INDIA COURTS. honor of the one would be appal'ently WHAT has suddenly become famous greater than the other, though they would be really the same." However as "the Patna case" bids fair to at- much they differ as regards name tract as great attention as did that of and appearance-internally or really, Rakhmabai. This involves another God and the whole creation are phase ot the question of the morality identical; and hence Persian, Indian, and the liberty of person of the and Arabic, Moslem Puritanism women of India. It appears that two says La Bah illa Allah is but an axiom, a confession of faith, the native women applied to Miss Abra- condensed creed of the Moslem Pan- ham of the Indian Female Normal theist. This is of value to us, how- ever, rather as illustrating the ten- School and Instruction Society at dency, which is always possible of Patna for baptism. The younger, a manifesting itself, of a return to the virgin of 14 and a widow, whose primitive elements of Islam. mother sold her to a life of shame, to avoid which the girl fled to the mis- 3. But the far more forcible ten- dency that has hitherto flowed from sionary. The India papers teem with what we primarily set forth, has been the various incidents,and with discus- to set up the "Prophet" himself as sion of legal principles involved in the the rule and the example for Islam, .and to bound all interpretations of case. We quote from one of these, Islam by the "Prophet" himself, the Indian Witness, the following thus prohibiting all accretions or summary of facts: adaptations, and denouncing all phi- losophies, defying all interpretations, .. The girl Lachmin is Courteen and a half and sternly, irresistibly limiting years old, and was sold by her mother to a shop- Islam by the personality of Mu- keeper by the name of Radakissen. All the part- hammad. Hence the immobility of ies belong to the Khetri caste, and hence Rada- the Moslem Creed and civiliza- klssen being prohibited by caste rules from mar- tion, and a prejudice against inno- rying a widow, his object In procuring the girl vation which petrifies progress at is plain. While negotiations for the sale of the the boundary line of the personality .glrl were In progress, Miss Abraham, a Zenana of Muhammad and the literal text missionary (of the 1. F. N. S.), visited the home of the Quran. of Lachmin without knowing anything about the girl's history, Lachmln and an older woman, Muhammad said: "Bl'ing ink and who had heard the gospel before, decided to paper. I wish to write you a Book forsake their evil associates and accordingly to preserve you always from error." went to Miss Abraham's house. LachmIn yielded But it was too late. He could not to the operations of grace and became a firm be- write. Hence he said: "May the liever in Jesus Christ. Radakissen, seeing that Quran always be your guide. Per- his gain was gone, for It is alleged he was trying form what it commands you; avoid to sell the girl Into infamy, made application to what it prohibits." Mr. Sell well the magistrate under section 551 of Indian Pro- says: "The letter of the book be- cedure Code to have his prey restored, and came, as he intended it should be- charged Miss Abraham with' abducting the child come, a despotic influence in the Cor immoral pnrposes I' Rioters surrounded the Moslem world, a barrier of free think- magistrate's court, attacked Miss Abraham's ing on the part of the orthodox, an house, and put the missionaries In peril. The mag- obstacle to innovation in all spheres, istrate yielded to the clamor and issued a snm- mons on Miss Abraham. in which he called Rada- "kissen LachmIn's husband I Possibly every Brahman and Pundit in Patna would contradict this error, as LachmIn's boy husband died In infancy and the girl was a virgin widow, but the mistake in the summons had a banefnl effect. Miss Abraham employed a lawyer, and, better stiJI, laid the case before the undaunted knight errant of the Bombay Guardian. This last gentleman pointed out that section 551 referred to detention of girls for immoral purposes, which did not apply to Miss Abraham. Mr. Dyer also showed thlLt under section 3'T3 Radakissen and the President, Rev. :1. T. Gracey, the girl's mother were liable to ten years' im- Buffalo, N. Y. It is desirable that prisonment. The case came before the magis- trate on November 6th, and that gentleman was missionaries abroad shall contribute dlspoeed to order Miss Abraham to give up the suggestions, or papers to be read on girl without hearing any evidence, but the law- this occasion, especially calling at- yer iuformed him that he was watching the case tention to the needs of specific fields, on behalf of the Purity Party in England, and this electric shock had its elfect. Another ad- the outlook, the perils, or the help journment followed by an appeal to the high needed from Christian lands. court, Calcutta, and on December 6th, the girl was forcibly torn from Miss Abraham's arms, in Foreign Missionary Prayer Union. spite <If her most heart-rending cries for mercy, by the magistrate'.s order. Mr. Dyer at once On Dec. 12, 1888, several missionaries met in telegraphed to Lord Dulferin to save the girl. the Young Men's Christian Association rooms, No reply came. The Patna Solicitor telegraphed in Loudon, to consider the proposal of forming Mr. Dyer, • Quinn (the magistrate) has given a Fbreign Missionary Prayer Unton, open to Christian girl to Radaklssen, her screams can be all missionaries and to those iuterested iu heard here. Rouse allEngland, it is not too late. foreign missionary work, whether in Christen- Mr. Dyer telegraphed this to the Viceroy, and dom or amongst Jews, Heathen or Mohammeadded: •England expects you to save the girl.' dans. The organization was effected and the con- Telegrams were also sent to Lord Cross, six ditions are that the members agree to pray for members of Parliament, and nine papers in Eng- each-other daily and for the coming of the land. The private secretary to the Viceroy then Kingdom of God. telegraphed Mr. Dyer: •I have at His Excellency's direction sent your two telegrams for Rwas also suggested that, in order to proofficial disposal.' Two telegrams were then mote definiteness in these intercessious, the folsent to the Viceroy and one to Lady Dulferin lowing order should he observed :- urging interposition on behalf of the Christian girl. The Pall Mall Gaz6tte ot last Saturday ThR. Lord's Day.-For miSSionaries, native thrilled London with details of the case. Ques- churches, and Christian workers in all lands, and tions were asked about it in Parliament on for a greater manifestation of the Uuity of the Monday, and Sir John Gorst replied to them; Body of Christ. The Englishman and Pirmeer say satisfactorily. Mr. Dyer at once telegraphed to Parliament that Mimda1/.-For the Greek and Roman Catholic • Sir John Gorst's statement about the Patna Churches throughout the world. C/lse was untrue; faller particulars will follow.' This is a brief history of one of the most Tuesday.-For Persie., India, China, Japan, memorable cases of this time. II it leads to the and all other Asiatic countries. 'dethronement of Sir John Gorst and proper legislation for the protection of girls, this poor Wednesday.-For the heathen iu Africa, child will not hlve been ruined or possibly Madagascar, New Guinea, and the Islands of killed in vain. God forgive her persecutors '" the Sea.
-THE SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF Thursday.-For the heathen in North and South America. THE INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY UNION will be held in Binghamton, Fridal1.-For Mohammedans, whether in Europe, Asia, or .Africa. N_ Y., July 5-12. All returned mis- Saturday.-For the Jewish race in Palestine sionaries of whatever church, or in and the lands of their dispersion. whatever foreign or pagan mission And itwere practicable, it was urged that the they may have labored, are cordially same hour should be observed so that the wave of prayer might follow the dawn of light invited to attend, and participate in round the world. The early morning hour of prayer is therefore suggested, and thus may be the proceedings of this meeting. En- realized the ancient predictiou .. For Him shall prayer be made continually." tertainment will be afforded gratu- Persons willing to join this Prayer Union are itously by the citizens of Binghamton requested to sign the followin/l: form.
and the several churches. Let those In dependence on Divine 'help, I agree, 80 far as posBible, to pray each morning for those interested communicate at an early who are my feUow-rnembers in the abO'Ve date with either the Secretary, Rev_ Union, and for the extension 0/ the Kingdom C. W, Park, Birmingham, Conn.; or of God throughout the WOf'ld.
Name …………………………… .
Addre88…………………………… .. Date …………. .
This is to be forwarded to Mr. J. M. Pamment Secretary, Missionary and Evangelistic Bureau, 186 AIders/l:ate Street, London, E. C., who will furnish the list of members to the several parties eutering iuto this prayer union.
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
THE subjects which fall into this It is the doctrine of a refined Panthe- month. are India and Ceylon and ism. The human soul is a portion Brahmanism. On pages 301 et seq. of of this universal spirit, and can be THE REVIEW for 1888, will be found freed from transmigration and reu- a sketch of missions in India. The nited to Brahma only by getting cor- matter now presented will be addi- reet notions of this supreme IT and _<onal thereto. of the soul, theinfinitesimalIT, which 1. Some facts. British India em- is to be absorbed in the other like a braces an area of 1,129,632 square drop in the ocean. Brahmii. (mascu- miles, with 544,855 towns and vil- line) is one of three chief gods of the lages and an estimated population in Hindu Pantheon, and specially as- 1881 of 208, 670,421. The nati ve states sociated with creation, himself only have an area of 471,549 square miles, a creation or an emanation from with 153,844 towns and villages and Brahma. Manu relates the origin of a popUlation in 1881 of 52,002,924. Brahma, a curious specimen of cos- This makes a total area of over mogony. In a seed, deposited in 1,600,000 square miles, 698,699 towns the original abyss of waters by etc., and 260,673,345 popUlation. Brahma, and which seed expanded There al'e 21 towns of over 100,000 into a golden egg, Brahmii. began inhabitants. Calcutta and its suburbs to be. After a year's continuance in lead, with about 875,000; Bombay is the egg, he by a thought divided the next with 775,000 j Madras, with egg, and from the two shells made 405,000 j Hyderabad with 254,700, and the heavens and earth j placing in Amritsit· and Cawnpore, Lahore and the middle the sky, the light regions Allahabad with about 150,000 each. and the eternal abode of the waters.
There are" 42,000,000 children in Child-marriages and child widow- India who ought, according to their hood in India. The results of these age, to be in school. Only about customs are appalling and incredible.
3,500,000 of these are receiving any Thus there were, according to the education, and less than 200,000 of census of 1881,20,930,626 widows, of this comparatively small number are whom 78,976 were under nine years learning the truths of Christianity." of age, 207,388 under fourteen years, Manyadults who learned to read at and 382,736 under nineteen years I school are forgetting the art because Over twenty millions of widows- of thescal'city of bool's. "There are more than the entire female popula- thousands of towns and cities in In- tion of the United States above three dia with a population ranging ft'om years of age! Ramabai writes of 5,000 upward, accessible to Christian widowhood in India as follows: life, that never have had a single "Throughout India widowhood is regarded missionary." as the pnnishment for horrible crimes commit- Brahmanism is simply the doc- ted by the woman in her former existence…. If the widow be a mother of sons she Is not trines of Brahma. The Shaster is a nsnally so pitiable an object, but the widow- religious treatise, received among mother of girls is treated indifferently, aud the Hindus as authoritative. The sometimes with special hatred. But upon the Veda is the most ancient collection child-widow inan especial manner fall the abuse and hatred of the community as the greatest of sacred Hindu literature. The criminal upon whom Heaven's judgment has Bl'ahman is the upper and sacerdotal been prononnced. A Hindn woman thinks It caste. Bra-hma (neuter) designates worse than death to lose her beautiful hair. the universal spirit, ground, and Among the Brahmans of the Deccan the heads cause of all existence j ra-ther an ob- of all widows must be shaved re!,(ularly every ject of contemplation than worship. fortnight. The widow must wear a Bingle coarse garment and eat only one meal a da7 and never take part in the family feasts. The life than that of a home. Asduring the day relations and neighbors of her husband call her the men usually associate with the men, bad names, and curse her as the cause of his and the women with the women, and even death. She is always looked upon with suspi- during the meals the husband sits down to cion, lest she may some time bring disgrace his food with his wife attending on him as a. upon the family by some improper act. She is servant, and not eating with him as an closely confined to the house-forbidden even to equal, there Is, there can be, nothing at all associate with female friends. • • • Her life, aUBwering to the pleasant sociality of an destitute of the least literary kuowledge, void of all hope, empty of every pleasure and social English dinner-table. When further it is advantage, becomes iutolerable-a curse to berself and to society at large." remembered that in some of these Immense houses over three hundred people live to- WILKINS, in his "Modern Hindu- gether, it will be still more clesrlyseen how ism," says of the Hindu home: vast is the difference between the Hindu and the English home. Few things in Eng- .. The typica.l Hindu fa.mlly house is built land seem to please the Hindus Who come in the form of a quadrangle, with an open over here more than the socia.bilityof an courtyard in the center. Opposite to the En):"lish home. entrance-gate is a platform built to receive the images that are made for the periodic .. The Hindu famlly system may be dereligious festivals that are held in honor of scribed as a sort of joint stock compallY, the various deities. On the ground Door in which the head of the family is managing the rooms to right and left of the courtyard director, with almost unlimited power~; or are used largely as store-rooms, offices, as a little kingdom, in which he Is an almost etc., whilst over these,are the public recep- absolute sovereign. The sons, grandsons, tion rooms,'well lighted and generally well nephews, who form the family, regard all furnished, some of them having chairs, etc., their earnings as gelonging to the common for the convenience of European visitors. treasury, and their expenditure is under Here also Is a room in which the family idol the direct control of the karta, or head. is kept, before which the priest performs Thus it happens that when several members service generally twice a. day. All taese of the family s.re absent from home, enapa.rtments are used by the male members gaged in various ways, the balance of their of the family only. Excepting at feasts, the salaries Or profits must be remitted to tbe meals are not taken here, uniess there may karta. This has its advantages and disad. ha.ppen to be a number of visitors other vantages. There is a home In which a man than members of the family who are not can leave his wife with confidence when he ill admitted into the more p~ivate portion of hundreds of miles away engaged in business the house. From the back of the courtyard or filling some government appointment. a passage condlcts into a second and This, to the Hiudu, who would not regard it smaller yard, which is 'also surrouuded by as a safe procedure to have his familywlth rooms in which the lady members of the him in an ordinary house, Is a. source of imfamily live. Here the meals are eaten, and mense comfort. Once a year,lf his buslne~s here the sleeping apartments of the family is distant from his home, he takes leave are to be found. The guests sleep in the that he may have a few days with his family. rooms adjoining the outer courtyard. These There is also the certainty of support in inner rooms are generally much smaller case of sickness or permanent Incapacity tha.n those In the more pubhc part of the for work. But it has its drawbacks, too. An house, and the windows are also smaller and idle, worthless son has no necessity laid pla.ced high in the walls, for Manu distinctly upon him to work; he can obtain all the decllred that it was not right for a' woman necessities of hfe without it, and many a. to look out of the windows. ; During the day family has one or more members who are the gentlemen generally occupy the more mere parasites, doing nothing whatever to public rooms, as they may be transacting increase the income of the family, and, acbusiness or amusing themselves in various cording to our ideas of life, it Is destructive ways, wbilst the women are engaged in to the most sacred institution, the home. household duties, or in their own forms of Often, however, the Idle son is not altorecreation. As it is considered indecorous "ether without his place in society. If he for a man to speak to his wife during the will not, or can not, go out to earn money as day, their only time for conversation is the other members of the family do, It is when they retire to their own apartment for sGmethin):" it he remain at home to look the night. And as it is not considered right after the domestic and other all'airs, and to for .. married woman to look at or address afford protectlOn to the ladles who live her husband's elder brothers, it will be there. Where all are workers, If the head clearlyrealized that anythinglike the social of the family is growing old, the sons take home life of an English house is impossible it in turn to remain at home, perhaps for a under such conditions. It is more like hotel year at a time, or the one who has the worst prospects of advancement will resign his appointment at a distance and de- papers of the great cities are fer- votes all his time to the careo! the family… menting leaven in the great lumps. Pulpit, platform and press, Christian Token8 of religiou8 progre88 in church, school and home, the very India. conversation of men in the thorough- fares, betray the awakening of the 1. Education. Many are running public mind. The forty tongues of to and fro and knowledge is in- India are busy with discussion. Increased. Through the spread of the tolerance and bigotry, ancestral English language and literature, faiths and follies, the selfishness and English schools and colleges, relig- sordidness of the old man, will make ious science and preaching of the a hard fight against social and esgospel, darkness is giving way be- pecially religious reform. National fore light, and whenever darkness pride, a mercenary priesthood, petrideparts, those birds of the night, fied notions, caste prejudices, and the superstition, ignorance, degradation, lack of real aspiration among the are correspondingly driven away. great masses, will hinder advance. Vaccination has robbed of many But it will come. We see signs of it human victims the goddess to every day. The suttee is no morewhose malign influence small-pox J uggernaut lacks devotees. Crueltorwas attributed, and who, it is tures are virtually abolished. Even thought, formerly claimed a. million caste is giving way. Hindus themlives every four yea~s. Hundreds of selves advocate re-marriage of widcruelties and superstitions cannot ows, and pundits of holy Benares survive the day dawn of a true civ- deprecate the miseries of child-marilization, and much that was peculiar riage. The zenanas are opening to to Indian idolatries is becoming as visitors, and Christian homes with impossible as in England itself. An family altars already abound. educated Hindu, in Bombay, recently, though not himself a Chris- DR. WILSON of Bombay enumertian,said: "Cast your eyes around and ates the benefits of British rule in take a survey of the nations abroad. India as follows: What has made England great? Christianity. What has made the Horrors and iniquities removed: other nations of Europe great ? Chris- 1. Murder of parents by suttee, by tianity. What has started our pres- exposure on river banks, and by burent religious Somajas all over India? ial alive. Contact with Christian missionaries. 2. Murder of children: by dedica- Who began female education in Bom- tion to the Ganges to be devoured by bay? The good old Dr. Wilson and crocodiles; by Rajpool infanticide. Mrs. Wilson, of beloved memory- S. Human sacrifices; temple sac- Christians again I Christianity has rifices; by 'wild tribes-Meriahs of not only been the saviour of man's the Khonds. soul, butthe regeneration of man's 4. Suicide: by crushing under habitation on earth." idol-cars; by devotees drowning themselves in rivers; casting them- 2. Agitation. Daniel O'Connell selves from precipices; widows leapheld this to be the prime necessity ing into wells; by Traga. for the removal of existing wrongs. 5. Voluntary torment: by hook- Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and such swinging; by thigh-piercing; by men used this as the main lever for tongue-extraction; by falling on removing slavery from our land. All knives; by austerities. India is more or less stirred up, 6. Involuntary torment: barbarand stagnation is broken up, by the ous executions; mutilation of crimentrance of occidental ideas and inals; extractingevidence under tor- Christian civilization. The very atmosphere is full of motion, the newsture; bloody and injurious ordeals; while a stout defender of his hereditary faith, .cutting off women's noses. regretted that· so little of Mr. Sherring's teach- iugs had fallen to his lot.' This was written of 7. Slavery: hereditary, predial; a man who had spoot his life in controversy domestic; importation of slaves from with the uncompromising Brahmanism of Be- Africa. nares. But the missionary has won for himself the same respect in the south as in the north. 8. Extortions: by Dharana; by Ifl were asked to name the two men who, dur- Traga. ing my service in India, have exercised the greatest infiuence on native development and 9. Religious intolerance: preyen- native opinion in Mallras, I should name, not a governor, nor any department head, but a mis- tion of propagation of Christianity; sionary bishop of the Church of England. and a requiring Christian soldiers to fire missionary educator of the Scottish Free Kirk." salutes at heathen festivals; saluting gods on official papers; managing TEXTS AND THEMES. affairs of idol temples. The Field i8 the World. Matt: xiii, 38. 10. Support of caste by law: ex- 1. Its vast extent-world-wide. clusion of low castes from office ; ex- 2. The two kinds of seed. (a) The Word of . emption of high castes from appear- God, (b) The children of the Kingdom. 3. The rapidity and abundance of Harvest. ing to give evidence; disparagement Compare Amos Ix: 13. The lowest measure of low caste. indicated is thirty-fold. 4. The main dependence: Prayer to the Lord Missionary influence in India.- of the Harvest. Compare His promise, Isa. Iv : Sir William Hunter, the eminent 13; Matt. ix : 38. East Indian official, writes: 5. The final scene of marvelous triumph. .. The desire of the slothful killeth him, For .. To a man like myself Who, during a quarter his hands refuse to labor, .. Provo xxi: 25, i. e. The sluggard's desire to enjoy slothful repose a of century, has watChed the missionaries ac- will destroy him, for in consequence of such in- clination, his hands refuse the labor from whi~h tually at their work, the statistics of conversion support comes. What a wide application has seem to form but a small Part of the evidence. the philosophy at this acute proverb I The The advance which the missionaries have made sluggish disciple's desire to enjoy slothful repose in the good opinion of great non-Christian pop- Is destructive of all true Christian character and ulations well qualified to judge, such as those of service ; for it leads him to withhold himself India and China, is eveu more Significant than from all those wholesome and holy activities by their advance in the good opinion of sensible which service is secured and even self-support people at home. I shall speak only of facts and growth. There is too much" folding-wing" within my own knowledge. But I know of no piety. If there be the life of Christ, itlwiil start class of Englishmen who have done so much to as soon as the mOisture of the Spirit touches it, render the name of England, apart from the as the seed· of the collomia grandiflora under a power of England, r"spected in India, as the drop of water. We fear if the truth were told missionaries. I know of no class oC English- the following lines would represent but too men who have done so much to make the better well many nominal disciples. side of the English character understood. I know of no class who have doue so mnch to THE UNSPOKEN PRAYER. awaken the Indian intellect, and at the same time to lessen the dangers of the transition from the 0, to do nothing; nothing I old state of things to the new. The missionaries Only to live at my ease; have had their reward. No class of Englishmen receiYe so much unbought kinduess from the And swing in a silken hammock Indian people while they live; no individual While fanned by a geutle breeze. Euglishmen are so honestly regretted wheu they die. What aged viceroy ever received the post- Sweet is a life of pleasure. humous honors of affection accorded to the Sipping the honey of flowers; Presbyterian Duff by the whole native press 1 What youthfnl administration has in our days Like a butterfly in the sunshine been mourned for by the educated non-Chris- Enjoying the golden hours. tian community as the young Oxford ascetic C&0&U8.-0, to do nothing I was mourned in Calcutta last summer 1 It mat- ters not to what sect a miSSionary belongs. Au 0, to do nothin~. nothmg I orthodox Hindu newspaper, which had been Others who will. may work; filling its columns with a vigorous polemic, en· titled' Christianity Destroyed,' no sooner heard But I much prefer to be quiet, of the death of Mr. Sherring than it published a Life's burdens and cares to shirk. eulogium on that missionary scbolar. It dwelt on •his learning, aft'ability, solidity, piety, be- Lilies and sparrows do uothing nevolence, and business capacitJr.' The editor, Yet all their wants are supplied; Much of our labor i. wasted Aud gets not a. .. Thank you" beside. CHO&US.-O, to do nothing I
PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN
0, to do nothing, nothing 1 o. to do nothing, nothing 1 Ministers-what is their;trade That is the way to be blest; But doing the work of the Master! There can be no labor in heaven. And for it they're pretty well paid. For that is a perfect rest. Of course, some people are fitted, Rather do nothing, nothing, Which I don't pretend to be; Than al ways go bnstling about, They like to make speeches in meeting, Trying if I can't do something, Which is ont of the question for me. And never qnite making it out. CnoRus.-O, to do nothing 1 • CnoRus.-O, to do nothing I VI.-PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS: MONTHLY BULLETIN.
Africa.-The Jesuits are busy in Africa in God the outlook would be dark. He, as elsewhere. A company of fifty so-called however, works for the deliverance of the .. Black Fathers" are working at seven cen· oppressed in unexpected ways, and Afric's tres aTong the Eastern coast. Others, who are penetrating into the interior, are said own sons may, under Him, become their to be giving special attention to the care of own deliverers from the most inhnman of the sick. In another band of Roman Catholic oppressors. priests, recently arrived from Germany, are a number of artisans and agriculturists. -Bishop Taylor's advance party has reached the goal in the depths of Africa to- -All vessels bound for West and South ward which he has so long been struggling. Africa, coming from ports in EUrope and Before his pioneer band of missionaries America, stop at Madeira. Here is the list started, the BI~hop declared his intention of liquors which passed through iu one week. to plant stations among the tribes along the It is taken from the daily returns posted in Liverpool: Upper Kassi and its tribntaries. Toward this region his chain of stations has been 960,000 cases of gin……….. £240,000 steadily lengthening. Dr. Harrison, one of 24,000 butts of rum …….•.. 246,000 the party that the Bishop led up the Congo 80,000 cases of brandy……. 90,000 in July last, has reached Luluaburg, the 28,000 cases of Irish whiskey, 56,000 new station of the Congo State. He is one 800,000 demijohns of rum ….. 240,000 of the four physicians who have followed 36,000 barrels of rum.. . . . . . . • 72,000 the Bishop to Africa, and he is now estab- 30,000 cases of Old Tom…… 00,000 lished among the natives. These Balubas 15,000 barrels of absinthe… 45,000 are among the most remarkable savages in 40,000 cases of vermouth…. 3,000 the world.-Bombay Guardian. The compilel" calls it" The Devil's Missionary Enterprise."-Bombay Guardian. -Lukunga on the Congo River has a Bap- -The latest news from Uganda shows that tist Church of seventy members. A society alfairs have taken a most alarming turn. called .. The Chtistian Union" has been Hwanga has been dethroned. His older brother, who was made king in his stead, formed in England for the severance of the has now been driven from the throne by the British empire from the opium traffic. The Arabs, who are for the moment supreme. income of the British-Indian Government The Arabs have attacked the native Chris- from opium last year was $80,000,000. tians, and the Church of Uganda is threatened with ruin. The English missionaries, -At Equator Station, Central Africa, 800 Revs. E. C. Gordon and R .. H. Valker, are safe, ha.ving escaped across the Lake Vic- miles from the sea, the people are beginning toria Nyanza. to Mr. A. M. Mackay, who is fortunately near the scene of his former to understand and appreciate gospel truth. la.bors and heroic endurance. No more pressing subject cau be brought before The station is among the Balolos, one of the united meetings for prayer than that of the revolution in Uganda, to which we again finest tribes of Africa. ' advert. King Mtesa was a protector of missionaries; his son Mwanga. IS weak. vain -Rev. Theo. H. Hoste,of the Congo Misand cruel; and it seems beyond doubt that sion, resigned a commission in the English at his door lies the mnrder of Bishop Han- army to go to Africa and preach the gospel nington. The tyrant is himself now a fugi- to the heathen. tive, and the Arabs are supreme. Their intentions are threefold-to root out Christi- East Africa~According to the Monatsa.nity, to establish Islamism, and to extend blatter, the Church Missionary Society's the horrors of the slave trade. But for faith work in East Africa stands thus: Baptized Christians, 791; communicants, 402 ; cate- chnmens,l,900. A small beginning, but yet a beginning.
Liberia.-Rev. William Allen Fair i. con- ducting an independent mission in Liberia, the whole expense of which, including the support of Mr. Fair and his family, is paid from the products of a large farm. This can be done in some conntries, but it WOII; t not bl! safe to conclude it could be done been unique In the history of mlssionB be- everywhere. cause it has at once satisfied a grea.t na.- AJgters_A French missionary in Tunis tiona.l religious need, and in lioing so ha.B says that the most shameless drunkenness developed a na.tional civilization."
reigns among all classes of MussuJ.;nan so- China..-The C4inese Exclusion BI11 psa.sed ciety there, notWithstanding the Koran by Congress ha.s excited grea.t hostility prohibits the use of wine to the followers of among the oftlcia.ls in Ca.nton, China.. and Mohammed. the missionaries a.re Buffering much perse- Austria.-The hostility to evangelical cution a.nd difficulty in consequence.
work in Austria. Is growing more intense. -When Dr. S. Wells Wilhams a.rrived.ln The Boma.n Catholic a.rchbishop has called Ca.nton In 1833 there was only one Chinese a. conference to consider the question convert, a.nd the penalty for tea.ching for- "What mea.ns sha.ll the priests employ In eigners the Chinese language was dea.th.
the hope of resisting successfully the Now there a.re 33,000 converts.
fa.rther progress of the sects, the Free Re- -The Chinese Sunday-school, numbering formed Churches a.nd the Ba.ptists f .. 100 men, connected with Dr. A. J. Gordon's Belgium.-Ten years ago the King of Church in,Boston. Ma.ss., ha.s voted to sup- 'Belgium entered upon the development of port three na.tive missiona.ries in China..
the Congo region a.nd the establishment of -The Miuiona Oatholiqufls of Lyons gives a. new African State. An officia.l report of some pa.rticula.rs of the expUlsion of the the progress a.tta.lned has just been rea- Roman Catholic missiona.ries from Thibet, dered, giving these fa.cts: The Lower Congo which has bp,en several times a.luded to by has been opened up to na.viga.tion by la.rge our Shangha.i correspondent. The stations, vessels a.s Ca.r a.s Boma., soundings havin&' it states. have been utterly destroyed. ex- been made a.nd the course marked out by cept the establishment a.tTachienlu, on the buoys; a cadastral survey of the Lower Chinese side ot the greatThlbetan declivity.
Congo has been made as a step towards the During last autumn the mission houses a.nd preparation of a general map of the entire buildings were one by one destroyed or rf'gior ; justice is regularly administered in thrown down; the houses of the congrega.- the Lower Congo. and a trustworthy and tions met with the same fate, a.nd priests chea~ postal service has been established. a.nd people were hunted out of the towns.
At Banana. Boma. and Leopoldville medical No ma.ss&cres took place. The persecution establishments. under the direction of Bel- bega.n in June and continued until October, gian doctors, have been founded. and a con- when it cea.sed, because there wa.s nothing siderable armed force of blacks, officered more to destroy, a.nd a.1I those who would by Europeans. has been called into exist- not a.posta.tize were in fiight. Out of nine ence. The caravan route between Matadl mission centres sca.ttered a.long the border and Leopoldville is as free from da.nger as a in Yuna.n a.nd Szechua.n two alone remain.
Enropea.n road, and a complete service of It Is stated tha.t while the rea.l ca.use of this porterage by na.tives ha.s been established. persecution is the intense ha.tred of the La.- A railway has been projected a.nd the route mas for Christianity, the excuse on this a.lmost entirely surveyed. The Sta.te ha.s occasion was the British expedition to Slk- esta.blished herds of cattle at various sta- kim to drive out the Thibetan troops; for, tions. and in the very heart of Africa.; on although strictly the region where the mis- the wa.ters of the Upper Congo there is a sions were is Chinese. the people are rea.lly fleet of 'steamers every yoor Increa.sing In Thibeta.ns. The report concludes by sta.ting number. A loa.n of 150,000,000 francs ha.s tha.t the acts of violence took place under been authorized and the first issue sub- the eyes of the Chinese a.uthoritles, who scribed. Many of the more intelligent na- took no steps to punish them.-Lon.on and tives from the country dra.ined by the (Jhina. Express.
Upper Conjto ha.ve ta.ken service with the England.-Lar missionaries. The direc- State. a.nd numerous trading factories have tors of the London Missiona.ry Society ha.ve been established a.s fa.r up the river as taken a. nota.ble step by resolving to ava.ilof Banga.la. a.nd Leuebo. In a.ddition several the services of la.y mlssiona.ries who ha.ve priva.te compa.nies ha.ve been formed for not undergone a. specia.l training. The fol- developing the country, and flna.lly geo- lowing is the text of their resolution: "Re- graphica.l discoveries of the grea.test Im- eolved that, without interfering with the porta.nce have been made, either by the existing rules of the society rela.tive to the officers of the Sta.te or by tra.velers who tra.ining of students for missionary service.
reeeived greata,ssistance In their work from In the judgment of the directors it has be- the State.-(Jhriatian Intelligencer. come desirable also to encour~e olfers of Burma_"The Loyal Karens of Burma," service trom young' unma.rried men of ap- by D. M. Smeaton, M.A•• of the Benga.l Civil proved Christian cba.ra.cter a.nd good gen- Service, speaks very highly of the work of era.l educa.tion, who ha.ve not pa.ssed through the American Baptist missiona.ries a.mong a theologica.l tra.ining a.t college, but have the Karens. It says: "Its success ha.s . been successfully engaged In Christla.n work. Such candidates, if accepted, to be First, as to contributions. We have risen from Carey's collection of $65 in 1792 to $10,- appointed as lay-workers for a term of 250,000 as a recent total. Second, as to so- cieties. In 1813 there were at work in India years." This action, it is fair to 'suppose, 2 societies. In 1830 they had increased to 9 ; has been long in contemplation, and is now in 1887 they had increased to 57 separate • missions. In 1851 the mission stations in entered upon as a settled policy. It can but India and Burmah were 220. In 1881. alter thirty years, they had grown to 601. During have an important influence. We trust it the same period the native churches had increased flfteenfold, the number of native will turn out to the advancement of the ordained pastors twenty-sevenfold. and the number oflay agents from 493 to 2,856. The missionary work. Roman Catholic Church has 93 native priests in the whole of India. but there were Fonnosa.-The Canada Presbyterian mis- in 1881 461 ordained Protestant native min- isters. With all the boasted succeSA of Rosion in Northern Formosa now embraces man Catholic missions, the number of their churches in India is 2,677, while that of fifty-one native preachers, who are de- Protestant churches is 4,180.
scribed as the .. sharpest, brightest, and -It is thought that the census of l890 will most learned class of men in Northern For'- give Bombay's flgures at 1.000,000. Its present growth is unprecedented. In the moss. There are flfty churches and a col- midst or all that is good and bad in this great city, the mission of the American lege with twenty students-aU Christians." Board is greatly encouraged in its share in Christianizing and educating. It has now France.-Lasserre's French translation nine Sunday-schools in the city and suburbs, with an a.verage 'aggregate attendance of of the gospel., which the infallible pope 450 members.
both cursed and blessed, is on sale at Bag- -One of the greatest ~hindrances to the gospel in Ceylon is said to be .. the coquetster's, Paternoster Row, London. The fol· tin~ with Buddhism which has become fashionable among Europeans." Buddha's lowing tribute to the work done by Lasserre birthday is now a government holiday In is of interest : the island.
Dear Dr. Wright: I thank you very much -The Leipsic missionary, Johann Kabis, who has been transferred to Madras from for Lasserre's "Evangiles." I have read Maj'wesan, after seventeen years of labor there, writes in the EvangelischLutherisches the book, and enjoyed the reading very Missionsblatt: .. For what a rich blessing we had to thank God I In the seven years I much. Although the translation may not had been allowed to baptize 1,000 heathen, and the number of members had gone up be called literal, yet I consider it one of the from 954 to 1,860." -Starbuck.
best I have seen in French. -Missionary fumperrien, describing in th" Mi88iansblatt the formations of the flrst Yours truly, L. L. BoNAPARTB. Tamil Synod of the Lutherans, says: "We have every reason to thank God for this Indla.-Dr. Jex-Blake, late headmaster ot Synod. The corner·stone is laid for the in_ dependence of the Tamil Lutheran Cburch- Rugby, thus sums up in the Mi••ion l!'ield the Christians of the different congrega- tions have united in a communion built on his impressions of mission work in India God's word. Therewith, for this, the time of child~ood, the period of laying foundaduring a recent visit: "1. The degradation tions. is brought to an end, a new time i. be- ginning. "-Starbuck. of the Hindu religion is so deep, and the -The Indian Witness says two events of immorality and unnatural vices of both peculiar importance occurred in India in one week recently. One was the a.rrival of Hindu aud Mahometan races are so revolt- a member of Parliamentwho had come from England to labor for the deliverance of ing that the need of religious renovation is India from the curse of rum; the other was the advent of sixty cases of Scotch whiskey more urgent and the opening for Chris- consigned to his excellency, the new vice.
tianity is more patent tha.. I had any con- roy, who was on his way to rule over the ception till I saw with my own eyes and heard on the I!'pot with my own ears. 2. The Indian mind, though now with most de- graded objects and theories of worship, is essentiaUy a reverent and religious mind, and, if once won to Christianity, would be a fervently Christian mind. 3. To win India to Christianity is not a hopeless task, if only enthusiasm at home were strong enough to multiply the army of workers tenfold, a.nd to send men of such quality as those now at Delhi and Peshawur. 4. Every great reli- gion still active in the world is an Asiatic religion, and the more imaginative or ideal side of ,Christianity is really akin to Indian veins of feeling and of thou~ht-really Asiatic still. 5. England has no moral ground for holding India beyond the moral good she does there; and no moral good that she could do could equal the spread of Christianity aU over that vast continent, peopled by scores of distinct nations, with no unity whatever except the subordina- tion of each to one empire."-Record 01 the Church 01 Scotland.
-Rev. J. Shillidy, in an address at Dun- cairn. Ireland. recently, packed very closely some telling statistics of progress in India. country. The government contends against the Japanese Christians, there will be the greatest curse under the sun with one enough to go' on to the completion of the hand, and strengthens its grip on the coun- work." The statistics given by Mr. Richards try with the other. Governments will not state that there are 19,829 Protestant condeal with rum as it deserves until they are yerts, with 123 missionaries (men only), 103 forced to do so by the growing intelligence unmarried ladies, and 102 native ministers; and conscience of the people. 32,000 Roman Catholic, with 62 missionaries and 40 unmarried ladies,and 14,000 members -North Indian Methodist Conference. In of the Greek Church, with 3 missionaries, 9 connection with this conference the Indian native ministers, and 90 catechists. Witne88 reports that the number of baptisms for the last twelve months was 1,201, -There are in Japan 93 native preachers an increase of 369 on the preceding year. and 169 theological stUdents. Of 193 organ- Of the accessions to the church, 35 were ized churches, 64 are reported to be selffrom Mohammedanism and the rest from snpporting I Last year the native converts, Hinduism. The number of Sunday-school with average wages of one shilling a day, pupils is 26,585. gave nearly £~,OOO for mission work. Were the' Christians of Scotland to give in the -At the Durbar held in Calcutta, India, same proportion the tre~suries of the the Marchioness of Dufferin held a recep- churches would be overfiowing. tion, which was attended by ~OO native ladies of Calcutta. The&e ladies broke -The Greek Church seems to be alive in through all the prejudices of their class to Japan. It is stated that the Greeks are show their appreciation of the work done bnilding a fine large church, in a commandby the Marchioness in securing medical ing site, in the city of Tokio. The lot was help for the women and girls in India. given years ago to the Russian legation, and they turned it over to the bishop of the -The American Baptist Telugu Missiou Greek Church. Thirty thousand doJlars calls for a re-enforcement of eight men this has been spent on the foundation alone. It year. Rev. D. H. Drake says that faithful is built of brick and iron, and will be comevangelistic work during the next five or pleted within a year.- Oanada Presbyterian. seven years will result in a greater blessing than any before experienced. -The largest and most successful Chris- tian school in Japan is the Doshieha, at -In the Mysore country, India, the people Kyoto. At its head is Rev. Mr. Neeshima, believe that the gods will be angry if a child who has had such a remarkable history, and is born in or near a human habibattoo. The whose efforts for his own countrymen have mother and little child must remain in the been so signally blessed. field or forest twenty-one days, and no one will come to bring even a cup of water un til -Rev. A. Lloyd writes from Japan that the child is several days old. Even the Unitarianism is so wonderfnlly like Confufaith of heathenism is cruel. cianism that it seems likely to prove specially attractive to the Japanese. With- Japan.-A well-known missionary to out change of heart or opinion they will be China, the Rev. T. Richards, recently de- able to call themselVes Christians, and that scribing the Christian missions in Japan is just what they most desire. which he had visited, says that their educational work is surpriaing. There is no Korea.-Korea is to-day another miracle street chapel preaching as in China, and in modern missions. As late as 1882 mission little medical missionary work, evangeliz- work was not only forbidden but prohibited. ing being almost exclusively educational, A medical missionary, Dr. Allen, was used although the distribution of Bibles and in 1884 in unlocking the door for the entracts is carried on by native colpor- trance of the gospel, and shortly after the teurs. He observes that Christian mis- government provided him with a hospital sionaries in Japan are very happy in the wherein to .• heal the sick and preach the sympathy with which their labors are gospel." Now tae Queen of Korea employa rege.rded by all classes, and by non-Chris- as her private attendant a Christian lady tians. Japan wants to be westernized. physician at a salary of 31,800, a year, and China does not, and the Japanese believe- jnst a few months ago Dr. AJlen was sent as men of high rp,nk have stated it in so many an ambassador at the head of a Korean del- words-that they will he the more readily egation to Washington to formulate a treaty admitted into the comity of nations when with the United States Government in case they are a Christian country. Hence the of war with China or England. anxiety to assist and promote the work of missionaries. .. The general feeling is th at -Aid asked. A dispatch from Hugh A. if things go on as they do now, the main Dinsmore, American Consnl-General at work of the foreign missionary will be ac- Seoul, the capital of Korea, says: .. A terri- complished by the year 1900-i. e., only ble famine prevails in the southern portion twelve years hence I Not that Japan will of Korea. People are reduced to the last be all converted by that time, but then with extremity and many are starving. The t:,!" aid of the missionaries in the field, and need of assistance is urgent and relief funds should be cabled." Mrs. Dinsmore will promptly devote to the relief of the suffer- Sweden.-Princess Eugenie, of Sweden ers any funds which may be forwarded her has borne the expense of establishing a. Madagascar.-" Madagascar," says the mission house for the benefit of the Lap- London Missionary (Jhrooicle, .. ought to be specially prayed for just now, for a work is landers in the northern part of Sweden. It beginning there among the young such as is over two hundred miles north of the has not been seen for many a year. There Arctic Circle. seems to be a real stirring among the dry bones. The work began at Betsileo, where Syria.-The Syrian Protestant College at at one meeting over sixty stood up in token Beirftt is this year enjoying one of the most that they wished to forsake their sins and prosperous years that it has had since its lead new lives reallv consecrated to God. foundation. Its corps of professors and The interest has sin~e spread to the capi- teachers in the five departments is full; its taJ." endowment fund has been increased by the efforts of Dr. Post among tbe friends of the -In an article in the Union Signa! Mrs. Mary C. Leavitt describes her recent vIsit college in America; additions have been to Madagascar. Referring to the men who made to the chemical and physical appaconveyed her from Tamatave to Antanana- ratus, and the library has been enriched rivo, a distance of 200 miles, she says: •• I by many gifts and purchases. Nearly two suppose they were all slaves. Some year. hundred students have entered, by far the ago, in consequence of pressure brought to argest number ever on the rolls. They bear by England, the slave trade with come from every division and sect of the Africa was forbidden. The Malagasy Gov- Levant. E!;ypt sends three bright little ernment saw no way to enforce this but to fellows from Khartftm and others from free all African slaves and make it a penal Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez. At least eight offence to be found holding an African livinglanguages are spoken by the stUdents, slave. But this did not touch Malagasy so that when the longed-for outponring of slaves. Most of them are descendants of tbe Spirit comes there will be a literal captives taken long ago in wars between the speaking in many tongues, and they will carry the blessing into everyone of the different tribes." Oriental churches, and bear the light of the Mrs. Leavitt further writes: .. I have gospel into some very dark corners at the earth. visited no country more impure than this. The Hovas,living on the great central pla- -Rev. George F. Herrick, D.D., missionary teau. the ruling people, are nominally Chris- in Turkey, says in the Missionary Herald' tians. There are many, many true-hearted .. I never yet saw a missionary wife whose Christians, pure and upright; but still, as companionship did not double her husband's in all Asiatic countries, the missionaries usefnlness. I have known more than one and pastors are plagued by immorality and whose bee, as the years of life increased., lying in the cburches. A Malagasy !doody took on that charm, that wondrous beauty, is wanted to preach up and down the couns that youthful features never wear-the try. The London Missionary Society and beauty of Ii. character disciplined by sufferthe Friends work most harmoniously. At ing, of a life ullselfishly devoted to the the present time both are preaching and highest ends. One of the choicest things of teaching. Outside the city they each have missionary work is the unwritten heroism their own dish·icts." of missionary homes." He says, turther- more, .. It is the missionary's wife who, by Mexico.-Bishop Hurst, in The Independ- years of endurance and acquired experience ent, says that 229 newspapers are now pub- in the foreign field. has made it possible in lished in Mexico-72 in the capital and 157 these later years-the years of women's in the provinces. Of these six are published missionary societies-for unmarried ladies by Protestants. to go abroad and live and work among the people of Eastern lands." Spain.-The Irish Presbyterian Work. The Rev. Wm. Moore writes from Puerto Santa -The emigration of Syrians to foreign Maria: U The work was never so flourishing lands continues. Between ten and fifteen as it is now. I bave been spending my thousand at them from tbe pashahc of leisure hours in • setting up' a new geogra.. Mount Lebanon alone have taken out passphy (elementary), sorely needed for our ports during the last few years, going schools, and which we are going to attempt mostly to the United States, to Brazil, and to bring out on our little printing press. Buenos Ayres. This geography is the translation of one compiled by Miss Whately for evening United States.-The net gain of new schools in E~ypt and the Levant. It is the one branch of study at which the Spaniards churches in the United States during the seem to know nothing, and any school text- year 1888 was 6,434; the increase in the book one can find is so complicated and number of ministers was 4,505, while the in- crease in church members was 774,861. The absurd as t9 illl R/l!ll{ls~ for !"lem!lntll.ry average gain for each day of the year was 17 churches, 12 ministers and 2,120 members. schools." According to this showing the churches do not seem to be dying out.-Preabyterian ,Journal.
STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS
VII.-STATISTICS OF THE SUMMARY OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONS OF Africa …………. '6. 6 '5 .. .. 3:i 29 6 60 2,641 161 7;400 '176 36 91 .. South America…. 34 717 616 9 319 1 Foochow ……….. 6' 5 8 9 ……..65..6 3 52 84 5210 6 2,297 1,267 2,372 258 179 460 1 Central China…… 11 10 1 …. 2 3 21 1 14 305 304 B50 33 48 2 .. North China……. 12 11 5 9 21 .. 19 655 373 124 27 1 ………4. …..3. .. West China…….. 2 58 1 1 .. i>il 9 7 6:838 7 '258 'i 17 2 .. 7,296 2,203 1,061 .. …. .. Germany……….. 25 …. 5 150 .• 63 …. 41 41 4.846 906 4;490 716 Switzerland .•…… 30 .. .. Sweden …………. 9 …. 8 117 12,333 3,4.')3 8,870 2,509 455 1 …. Norway………… 1..5.'; .i 1 3,868 533 '0" 181 1 Denmark……….. 8 6 .. 3 1,361 214 1,342 400 98 1 1S alia 47 126 62617 118 3,733 4,186 8,109 1,164 1,167 729 1 North India …….. 24 20 South India…….. 22 15 3 .') 2 9 52 3 21 082 157 1,146 426 27 86 .. Bengal. …..•..•..•. 24 13 2 8 22 19 4 19 750 …. …. … 439 2,079 248 51 83 1 Bulgaria ……….. 45 2 7 '5 9 83 7 99 13 1 Italy……………. 22 8 21 6 1 .. 21 920 45 116 34 29 1 Japan ………….. 20 19 i2 22 2,854 174 989 149 5 1,155 130 1 M K oerxeiac.o. .. …~… ……………. 26 16 32 4416 27- 849 5;452 '229 85 2 9 26 30 3 949 1 to 12 7 .. 2 4 6 – – 6 11 – -27 – -165 – 34 34 4 3' 3 Grand total …… 14812100 400 353 441 916 69 594 46,432 16,883 49.319 7,295 9,909 3,260 18 Last year…….. 185 130 62 427 369 453 804 43 588 44,255 16,01350,742 5,2.::3 2,409 3,099 15 NOTE.-By Foreign Missionaries is meant American missionaries sent out from the United States. By Asgist&ntMisslonarles-the wives of Foreign Missionaries; the wives of Native Preachers are not here reported. "Other Helpers .. embraces Bible Readers, Colporteurs, Chapel Keepers, and wives of natives specl1lcally employed. By Adherents Is me..nt the Christian community belonging to us, In addition to the Members and Probationer..
SUMMARY OF THE DOMESTIO ~GJ~ ~ ;.S .9 ~8Oe~gD~~J~e..Ia'~~j ;'t~Suio~dcJt uir~~i~~. oo"t::lJ.4QJ.4~Q MISSIONS. oll p1l ,~..:.·:..e.. ~p:: ~~ ::e z .s.' z z zo z ..~<~2I0="8~~~re :Q ~~zp.t.~,.". ~~,~p,.~""." ~~of) E…..o.8.<. ——–11– ———–1—-1·-·-1- American Indians………. 1a8 33 1,297 310 Welsh…. ………………. 2 151 16 French……………. …… 6 .. 3 148 85 German………………… 271 190 199 24.922 2,760 Scandinavian…. ……….. 149 105 117 7,518 1,197 Bohemian. … ………….. B 1 381 73 Chinese and Japanese…… 5 8 257 58 Arizona.. .. .. . .. .. .. …. …. 10 233 33 Black Hills……………… 12 479 6'7' 9874 Indian Territory………… 13 10 2 409 New Mexico…………….. 11 11 2 65 46 New Mexico.Spanish……. .. .. …..
Utah……………………. 24 15 2 '1'7' 400 116 Nevada…………………. 21 715 78 English·speaking Confer- ences. .. . …. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3,087 2,900 2,'130 201),211 35,871 — —— —-1—-11– Grand total……….. 3,832 3,231 4 . . . . …. 3,102 242,386 40,660 181 Last year…………. 2,893 .2,259 5 12 10 .. 38 3,442 250,787 44,644 275 WORLD'S MISSIONS.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,1888• . …, .. .; .e; .; .; .; » ~ ..; ciS '00 '0 .!! gciS .; bi, .cI 0 .. .. " " . .. … .E! .cI 'iii .~,.,~, .cI.E! . . co 00 .%" " 0 'g .cI ~ ~0'0a , "!: ~ "ciS .O"Ec~ioS. ~ .0'0 .S .cI ..0.. "..~.,.0o":o: 'Gl » » .0 ~ ciS "0,;'0" 00 ".,..,,I="l< .. ..<:I .0 ~."B..>~..' ."…s0l , " ., . . . . °1 .~..oo ..<:I ciS ciS ,d ~ – ""ciS .0.c0.iS. 1l 0ci:S:"~ 00 ,,~ ".. £&1 .g ",.c ~o. A A "ciS 000 ~~ ..~…'0":: 'O0..0;l 0 :::0:: .I.l=<.. .0 ;'!l~ $8 :~:::og: $322 ciS… ……. . " . … " …… '" ….. " ~ 1"D:IbiI)ciS" -£ .,..<:I.Z6 ~'O 558 8&l ",ciS 8,019 0 ~ ..<:I • 00 =. . ,,- 0 ' o 0 .E.o..<. $8 "bI) Z6 ..0.. ~~ 00 02 998 $1,184 0 ".0..• 'c"iS 0" 13,775 ~""'0.~:~: 0 0'0 0 ~£" Z0.O.:: "" o 6 Z0'.o.<"o:1 ~ Z ZZ0 Z0 0 o0 = —-.. — — — — – – —- — – – – — '2 i2 :: !Xl ~ …. 40 2,342 38 $3,229 33 1,416 11 5i 4,846 00 2:299 3 21 3 11 'i64 38 454 56 1,117 75 20 389 61 841 1,791 425 ·s is:: …….. .. … '2 …. …. 2 2 3 5 1 4 3 133 28 556 13 720 9 11 28 ..1..7 488 35 387 20 2 …….9… 128 16 666 11 548 13 17 517 343 579 122 ..'4 M 1 23 25 2:007 is: : ………… 265 io,680 72 2il9 1,052 5,854 4 5:257 1 6 .. '5 , 186 570 3,087 18.286 3,935 7,959 5 .. 1:5ii , 202 13,398 28 77 4,119 8,082 11,588 11,640 3410 51~ 14,417 84 52 1,093 341 9,742 10,346 13,291 154 62 5,074 35 747 498 2,953 8,956 14,270 629 2,188 9 74 536 402 2,405 616 1,792 3 22 211 46 1,842 91 42,559 55 45 285 70 3,972 1,776 20,926 '4 1 8 130 20 1,026 6,298 18 5 17 35 10,181 6,552 2 8 48 5 88 lo.~ 6,031 14 4 10 8,513 3,409 936 24 24 80 55 185 119 'Ho 289 .3.0..2 .."..5…9 8 199 921 'sis 1 17 419 9 16 5,097 1,059 77 4,198 25 43 -.8.-0..3 7 89 6 4i '9S0 11 1,295 18 -.3.-4..8 4,956 178 -3.1. -1,5.-0.,1 43 ,. — — – – — — …. …. 1 432 681 31 17 — 2 3 7 -2 -7 -3 – – – – – – …. 256 1,888 38258 36 2(Xi 3,564 747 23,697 1,944 112,928 516 WI $10,925 $13,951 $92,032 $55,1;36 $71,718 24175 32172 2,840 647 19,433 1,712 83,945 505 652 10,232 12,172 95,773 48,026 65,554 [We are Indebted to the courtesy of Secretary Baldwin for advance sheet. of the Annual Report containing the numerous and carefully prepared tables of the Society, We have space at present for only the Summary, and on account of the width of our page are obliged to ollllt several columns in each table.-EDs.] MISSIONS.-(SA.HB SOCIBTY.) .s ..; .; .=~. 10 . .!l ..ai ..,,; 8 ciS '.~" :=~ .~ …'5.~ .8m ."..:: t~ ~ •.!.:.! .cI '0 .~.s…t~o 00 ""31 ~ ti "= • . …."0.<'0:0I0" E=5~~ . ;;;III …0"0 .cI ""~,0,'~0'0' ~ °0 ~ !Xl ..<:12 "".2.0..,0~:-: ,Elold 0:: ..<:I …0"0 '0 ciS " ",,0:: '!".",..,.. .E~ " tc:>iS .0.o.. ~"o. ".,"..',.'-"~~ alll< – – – '" '<"11 – -.cc·I – .cI Z00 -0- – :g~ _0 :::: ~ 0 '0'" -'"0= .!X~l ~~.(.,"s; ciS 0 0 — 26 148 0..0.. .0 20 $331 $126 39 31 7 $6,097 $10,578 $731 21 10 0 i 1 72 134 686 3,240 190 2 400 152 19 1,809 Z6 00 354 10,595 10,124 1,293 3 1,254 5,346 1,860 108,3~2 . m,386 18,785 9 60 19 '0 J41 37,632 11,845 2 Z6 3 93 38 41.937 78 8 4 79 2,799 200 871 4 27 446 1,059 2 698 194 152 155 5;356 .2..5..5.0 14 172 5,026 10,050 21,155 6,182 6,1125 1,599 3,776 7 256 13 751 10 530 160 ii/ria 88 22 1,034 10 '00 372 37 37 16 585 'I 371 294 17,174 i:5!i5 •• ..5 21 41 10 664 7 1,191 3,035 13 54 24 1,4Si 26 654 474 13:005 i:047 24 580 235 3,655 15 89 35 2,157 1,638 8,758 32,413 23,017 764,422 440,385 69,000 — — — — – – 14.131 -4- ,213 204,360 – 3,346 14,468 12,404 — 3,95.'J $51,744 $36,920 $966,809 $591,412 $107,505 4,977 241,610 549,533 133,421 15.~89 16,172 5,067 250,304 4,038 72,208 56,496 1,007,783
of Protestant Missions in Ohina-f'ecember
Compiled by l.Ir. L. H. GULICK, Agent of American Bible Society and editor of Chinese Recorder.
N..uIES OF SOCIETIES. Date of Foreign MissiolJaries. Native Unordain"d Communi- Pu~ls in Contributions Mission Single Total. Ordained Native cants. Sc ools. by Ministers. Men. Wives. Women. Helpers. Nat. Churches – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – London Missionary Society ..•••••••.•••. 1807 I 31 21 13 65 8 72 3,695 1,927 (f) $14,420 00 A. B.C. F. M………………………… 1830 4 105 816 443 425 07 2 American Baptist, North ……..••••.•.. 18341613635 244 3 American Protestant EpiscopaL …•…. 1835 37· 1,340 1,07700 4 American Presbyterian, North …..•…. 18381191030 6 3 496 1,614 568 18 5 American Reformed (Dutch) …………. 1842 11 2,352 6 British and Foreign Bible SOciety ……. 1843108321 84 3,788 7,090 00 Chnrch Missionary Society ………•…. 1844 102 844 163 2,87003 7 English Baptist ……………………… 1845483618 23 16 8 Methodist Episcopal, NOI·th …………. 1847 15 (1) 114 2;832 2,041 ·3;400·20 9 Seventh Day B..ptist……..•………… 184776221 6. 210 10 American Baptist, South……………. ]847 1,130 425 00 11 Basel Mission.. . .. . …………………. 11147147550 ii 81 3,903 1,288 4,49091 12 En;:lish Presbyterian………………… 18472817 9 13 Rhenish Mission …………………….. 184716tl7 1 8 30 .. ·087 ·70 14 Methodist Episcopal, South•…….•••••. 18482131iiSO 776 292 15 Berlin Foundling Hospital.. , …•••.•….. 185032 43 91 1,885 692 94986 16 Wesleyan Missionary Society………… 1852 1 3,428 575 5,435 10 17 2 2 1 5 ·7 18 154 37 18 ., .. Voman's Union Mission …………….. 185920 286 855 5000 19 7 6 7 43 49 27 80 24691 .. Methodist New Connexion …………… 186019 2 975 552 20 .. ….. Society Promotion Female Education… 18842450 8 89 36 109 '··400·00 21 24 16 10 1,232 180 22 United Presbyterian, Scotch………… 1865 1 4 818 23 China Inland Mission ………….. ··•···· 186542iii6 10100 24 American Presbyterian, Sonth ……..•. 1867109 34 4 7 25 United Methodist Free Church ……••.. 1868 1 (1)·iiio·oo 26 1 1 4 6 33 27 .. .. ….. National Bible S()ciety of Scotland …… 186843 2 45945 28 25 12 6 4 2 9200 29 Irish Presbyterian …………………•• 18694 30 Canadi..n Presbyterian•…………….. 18711 12 36 ……2..6..3……0..0 31 4 ……………………………4………..9………..1……………………………8………..0 .. ….. ….. Suciety Propagation of the Gospel. ….. 18747 32 ·5 7 13 i4 773 67 • ••••••• 0 33 .. .. American Bible Society•…………….. 18761 34 7 115 316 12 118 2,415 153 $44,173 39 35 Established Church of Scotland ….•..•. 187862 36 139 .3. 19 5 82 300 $5,93669 47 ·s Berlin Mission …………………. ······ 16821066 38 .. .. .. ….. Allem. Ev. Prot. Miss. Gesell ••……•…. 188433 ·2 8 329 72 . …….. 39 40 .. .. .. Bible Christians ….•…………….•…• 1885426 (?)60 68 .. .. .. Fureign Christian !Iission Society…… 1886 2,650 3 3 6 ·2 12 . ':jis .. ….. ….. Soc. Frop. Christ. and Gen. Knowledge.. 188610 50 5 4 1 .. . ….. Suciety of Friends…………………… 1886(f}n1l (1) 5 2 4 88 ··'30 :., .. .. ….. ….. Amel'ican Scandinavian Congregational 18874 7 1 2 3 80 .. Ch. Eng. Zenana Miss. So ……..••••..•. 18881 .. .. Independent Workers …..•.•.••.•…•.••1 9 21 500 70 4 4 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – ——- – – – – – – Total-December, 1888•….••..•……11 4 ·2 6 ····3 '··32 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Increase over Dec., 1887….•….•…. -.-…- – – – – – -.-. – – – – – – – Decreasp. since Dec., 1887………….527 …… 2 1 1 ·2 2 …. 1 1 4 2 2 ., ·S 3 3 ·2 1 3 (i;30 (·i) 62 526 337 260 1,123 162 1.278 34,555 14,817 37 17 39 93 .. ——- – -2.-,.2.9.-5. – –,… 1,140 —— .. .. .. 38 . …. 13
EDITORIAL NOTES. '317
EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
Good Tidings from Utah. ploy of the five railroads centering MISSIONARY intelligence from this there. With one populous county, land of darkness is a1 ways quite likely Summit, already redeemed by the to be of a sort nondescript and de- presence in it of a large body of cidedly unique, and to relate to secu- miners, who, if not specially lovers of lar matters even more than to things righteousness, are, to a man, fervid spiritual. The governihg forces of haters of the hierarchy, and Weber the Mormon Church being so largely County, of which Ogden is the capi- of the earth earthy, and the chief tal, soon to follow, it is not likely concern of the leaders financial and that Salt Lake will be far behind in political rather than religious, it fol- the race. Already a foretaste of lows that the doings of Congress' and good things to come is enjoyed. For, the courts, business booms and elec- two years of marked business pros- tions, as well as the efforts of Chris- perity and growth have resulted in tian teachers and ministers, the the loss to the church of six wards, a growth of Christian churches and solid block in ,the very center of the schools, are potent weapons against city, leading in particular to a com- existing errors and iniquities. plete revolution in the control and The latest event in the pathway of • the character of the public schools.
progress, and also one of the greatest And all these things are the more 0'
in the his tory of the struggle against significant and cheering from the the theocracy, is found in the recent fact that since the passage of the Ed- election in Ogden, a city, after Salt munds law in 1882 scarcely a crumb Lake, the largest in Mormondom, at of comfort has fallen to the lot of which the victory was overwhelming the Utah "saints," but, on the con- against priesthood and polygamy. A trary, for them the situation has struggle of months had preceded to steadily waxed worse and worse.
Ewert, or at least to postpone, so dire a calamity, including a shameless at- Justice in India.
tempt to keep a Mormon minority in THE machinery of the law seems control by gerrymandering the vot- to be on its trial just now, to a large ing precincts, and a last desperate extent, in India. The famous, or expedient of arresting and imprison- rather infamous, Patna case has ing Gentiles enough on election day opened our eyes to the possibility of to turn the scale. But both schemes justice being perverted in its very came miserably to nought, the one seat and center. The proceedings of th rough decrees of the Federal courts, the Crawford Commission, recently and the other through the presence concluded, also reveal an alarming and prompt action of the Federal condition of veniality and corruption Marshal with a company of troops in places of judicial power. It ap- as posse. pears that the Bombay Government Before and from the beginning it had previously given a pledge of in- had been the chief duty of every demnity to those called on to give, official to defend and strengthen the evidence. Now that some native church, but now and from hence- magistrates have confessed their forth mayor, council, chief of police misdeeds in the witness-box, the puband all are thoroughly American in lic conscience is scandalized at the sentiment. This great victory was idea of their being permitted to remade possible largely by the fortu- sume magisterial functions. The nate residence in the city of some Calcutta correspondent of the Times hundreds of conductors, engineers, (London), says: telegraph operators, etc., in the em- .. Lord Beay is now impaled on the horns of a dilemma. He must apparently either falsify the Secretary of the American Board. Government's pledge, and so break faith with He then studied at Andoverand Yale these magisterial witnesses, or else he must be- Theological Seminaries, and was tray his duty to the public by prostituting the ordained as a missionary of the A.B. administration of justice. Unless he at once C. F. M., in 1847. Was married to make up his miud to resign all thought of the Eunice B. Day, of West Springfield, latter immoral alternative, public action will and sailed from Boston for Turkey be promptly taken in the matter." in September of that year. He was stationed at Ezroom, Turkey, In the Patna case it seems as if about 240 miles south of Trebizond, there had been great moral obliquity and was the first to open up to misas .well as legal blundering-a pel'- sionary influence a large section vel'se indisposition to side with right- where some of the most successful eousness. It is well that public at- Christian work has since been done. tention has been so imperatively Continued traveling, unintermitting directed to the case. Sir John Gorst's labor, broke a naturally powerful miserable attempt to smooth it over constitution, and in 1852 he was obliged to return to America. Once was characteristic. Men of his stamp and again he essayed to return to are likely to have some rough les- his chosen field, but each time was obliged to give it up. He entered sons administered by the awakening the pastorate first at Southbridge, Christian conscience and growing Mass., and afterwards at Boylston, Christian sentiment of Great Britain. Mass., and severed his connection The sooner the better. Says the with the Board. It was a bitter trial Indian Witness of recent date: to him, but it seemed net:essary, and he accepted it as prOVIdential. In .. The Patua girl case is coming before the Oal- 1857 the proposition was made that cutta High Oourt on appeal next week. The he enter the service of the American delay in briuging the case before the High Bible Society as their agent for the Oourt must have been very serious to the cause Levant. The work, which was more of the Mission; but the Government of Bengal varied and less confining, seemed had the original papers without which the ease suited to him, and he accepted the could not· proceed. And the Government was position. He sailed from New York not very expeditious in deciding what to do in December 25, 1857, l'eachmgConstanthe case, or to return 'the pa.pers. Indeed, it tinople early in February of '58, and was semi-officially published that the Govern- commenced the great work of his m'nt had decided to rebuke Mr. QUinn, [the life. In 1866 he returned to America British magistrate who consigned this Christian to raise funds for the erection of the girl to a life of shame,] but after a painful delay Bible House, and was here until the a contrary deCiSion, in which Government fall of '67. Was called to New York washed its hands of the matter, was made pub- again for a short visit in 1870, in relic. Mr. Dyer [Editor of Bcrmbay Guardian, gard to the great question of publishwho has nobly exerted himself to have outraged ing the Arabic Bible. Since then he justice vindicatedJ has informed the Social has made two visits to this country, Purity Party in Englaud of the decision of the one in '83 and' one in '86, with the Bengal Government, and the Queen-Emprcss is hope of regaining strength from the being influentially moved to interfere in the heavy strain of many years of hard, case. The end is not yet."-J. M. S. unintermitting labor. He returned each time refreshed, but hardly re- THE sudden death of Dr. Isaac G. cuperated. Vital power was weak- Bliss, of Constantinople, so long a ened. The harsh winds and damp prominent missionary in the Levant, ail' of a Constantinople winter and will be a pa.inful surprise to multitudes all over the missionary field. We give a few facts concerning his life and work.
Isaac Grout Bliss was born in West Springfield, Mass., July 5, 1822. The family afterwards moved to Springfield, Mass. He fitted for college and graduated at Amherst in 1844, in the same class as Rev. E. K. Alden. D.D., spring were dangerous for him, and called him away he was able to see he often -took that time to visit the the frui t of his labors in a thoroughly southern portions of the great field organized well established system, under his care. Last January he by which every portion of the great left again with his wife, and reached field under his care was reached by Assiout, in Upper Egypt, planning special colporteurs, so that it may to stay a few weeks with dearfriends truly be said that there is no one'in there. Letters from him from Cairo that vast empire beyond the reach of werefull of cheer, hope, and courage. the Word of God. But the Master had other work, and The Levant Agency, as at first con- Saturday, February 16th, he passed stituted, included Turkey in Europe to his rest. No details have come. and Asia. Gre(;'ce, Syria, Egypt, and His son, Rev. Edwin M. Bliss, who Persia. He was warmly seconded in was for many years associated with his efforts by the missionarit's of the him, received a telegram from his different Boards operating in those mother, "Father very ill." Thesame countries, and had the assistance of evening brought another, "Father his oldest son, Re'. Edwin M. Bliss, gone." That is all that is as yet fr~m 1872 to 1888-with the exception known. 'He leaves a widow. four of two years, during which he finsons and one daughter, one brother, ished his theological course. Three Rev. Edwin E. Bliss, D.D., mission- assistants in Athens, Beir1it, and ary of the American Board in Con- Alexandria cared for the details in stantinople, and four brothers in this Greece, Syria, and Egypt. Still the country. The agency remains in wide extent of territory made it seem the care of Rev. Marcellus Bowen wise to divide, and in 1880 Persia was and William G. Bliss, his second son. made a separate Agency. Subse- Dr. Bliss's great work was in con- quently Greece was transferred to nection with the American' Bible the British and Foreign Bible Society. Society. Indeed he may be said to Hardly of less importance than the have been the pioneer of the organ- distinctive Bible SocIety work. was ized work of that society in foreign the service rendered by Dr. Bliss to lands. PreviOUS to his appointment the general influence of Protestant in 1857, a number had served as Christianity in the Levant by the agents, buttheiragency had in almost' building of the Bible House at Conevery case been subordinated to work stantinople. in connection with some missionary The need of a central buIlding, society, and had never had the ele- capable of furnishing offices for the ments of permanency. The first different societies, storage rooms for agent in the Levant was Rev. Sim- Scriptures and evangelical books, eon H. Calhoun, a missionary of the and the many other needs of an in- A. B. C. F. M. in Syria, who served creasing Christian work had long from 1836 to 1844. The next appoint- been felt.. Indeed the lack of permament was that of Rev. Chester N. nent location had given occasion to Righter, in 1854. He made an exten- some to feel that Protestant, or sive journey that demonstrated the rather Evangelical, Christianity had necessity of a special agency, but his not come to stay. All wanted. such early death prevented his carrying a center, but no Society would take out the plan. When Dr. Bliss com- up the matter. At last, after much menced his work in 1858 he found it pressure from Dr. Bliss, the Bible no easy task to organize and develop Society allowed him to take time for theagency on its own foundation. But tht' collection of funds in America. patience, tact, unintermitting labor, He came to this country in 1866, and never failed, and beiore the Lord returned to Constantinople in 1867, with something over $50,000. A poppy is grown in Bengal alone over an extent most advantageous site was found, of more than 500,000 acres. and this growth is and at last, in 1872, the building was carefuily fostered by the Indisn Government. complete. Since then two additions The opium drug is mannfactured under constant government direction and supervision. It is have been made, and it stands now sold at auction by the government, expresslT- and intentionally for the Chinese market. Inone of the most imposing edifices in clnding that from the native states, abont Constantinople, exerting an influence 85,000 chests, containing over 5,000 tons of over the whole empire. It is owned opium, are thus exported annually from India to and managed by a Boara of Trustees China, and a revenue of five, six, or seven millin New York City, and is entirely ions sterling is derived by government from It. independent of any of the Societies. It is a great governmeut institution, for which Those that have offices there-the England is directly and peculiarly responsible. American Bible Society, the American Board of Missions, and the Brit- "Because through many, many years this traffic ish and Foreign Bible Society-all pay has been carried on in spite of the remonrent. The income, when the prop- strances of the Chinese Government, and of the erty is complete, will go to the gen- thousandfold testimony that it ministered onl1 eral interests of Bible work in the to debauchery and to moral and social ruin. Levant.~. M. S. The Convention of 1885. thongh it has given to -the Chinese the right to put a heavier tax upon THE protest against the manufact- imported opium, has not altered in the .lightest ure of opium by the British govern- degree our own relations as a country to the ment in India bas been- spread gross immorality of the trade. through the pages of this REVIEW (see p. 678 of 1888). But the extent .. Because while, for very shame's sake, we of the evil is very little understood. have done a little (only a little) to restrain the Says the late Dr.Medhurst : havoc which opinm was working among onr 'Burmese fellow-subjects, we have done nothina "Those who grow and sell the drng,while they to check the ruin which it is working in China profit hy the speculation, would do well to fol- among a people in friendly alliance with us. low the oonsumer into the haunts of vice, and mark the wretchedness, poverty, di8ease, and The Missionary Year-Book for 1889. death which follow the indulgence; for did. they hut know the thousandth part of the evils A " HAND-BOOK OF MISSIONS"- was resultiug from it, they would not, they could not, continue to engage in the transaction. It published in connection with the has heen told, and it shall he rung in the ears of the British public again and again, that opium World's Missionary Conference in is demoralizing China, aud becomes the greatest barrier to the introduction of Christianity London, in June, 1888. The work which can be conceived of. Calculating the 8lwrtened lives, the frequent diseases, and the was admirable in design and full o[ actualstarvation which are the remits Qf opiumsmoking in China, we may venture to assert information._ Its only sel'ious defect that this pernici0U8 drug annually dl!8troys myriads Of individuals." related to the missions conducted in A "Christian Union" has been the United States and Canada. The formed in Britain for the extermination of this opium traffic. The account of these was extremely circular gives some reasons for the formation of this union of prayer meager and inaccurate. A "MISand protest, and among them are these: sionary Year-Book" is now in con- templation, the American and Can- "Because as a nation we are responsible adian portions thereof to be written through our Indian government for a trade and edited by Rev. J. T. Gracey, D. which is ruining the bodies and souls, and de- D., who has charge of the internastroying the homes of multitndes of the Chinese. tional department in this Rl£VIEW. This will be united to a somewhat "Because our national connection with thiS evil larger department relating to Eutraffic is pecnliarly close and revolting. The ropean missions, and the whole Will be published simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic. It is proposed to give in this work a full presenta- tion of the work of the American so- cieties, as weHas historical and statis- tical accounts of the prinCipal Prot- estant Missionarv Societies in Great Bl'itain, and Continental Europe.
This valuable Missionary Year- Book will be published by Fleming H. ReveU, Chicago, and Bible House, New York.