The Missionary Review of the World — March 1919
Personals
THE MISSIONARY Review of the World DELAVAN L. PIERSON. Editor.
CONTENTS FOR MARCH, 1919 COVER ILLUSTRATION-MEXICAN NEIGHBORS WAITING TO BI TAUGH'r FRONTISPIECE-A RnIGIOUS HOME MISSION PROBLEM IN HAWAII SIGNS OF THE TIMES . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 A CRUSADE J!OR A CLEAN NA'rION NA'rURALIZING CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA THE NEW OU'rLOOK IN ARABIA REVOLUTION AMONG CHILDREN IN ASIA THl!: RISE OJ! LIB~'rY CHURCHES EDITORIALS . . . … . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 UNI'rEIi STUDY OJ! 'rHE WORLD'S NEEDS BOLSHEVISM AND 'rHE RUSSIAN CHURCH WORLD PROHIBITION AND WORLD PEACE WHA'r IS 'rHE HoPE OJ! ISRAEL PROTESTANT PROGRESS IN ITALY MAKING AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD By REV. RAr.PH WEI.I.ES KEEr.ER, D. D. 171 An impressively illustrated challenge, presented by the survey of the home mission field connected with the Centenary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. .
THE MISSIONARY BALANCE SHEET OF THE WAR By REv. CHARLES R. W A'rSON, D. D. 183 A concise statement of the losses and gains to foreign mission work due to the world war.
A MISSIONARY BIBLE STUDY (MATTHEW 28:18-20) By REV. SAMUEl. M. ZWEM.J!R, D. D. 190 • WORKING IN MEXICO UNDER DIFFICULTIES. .BY WALTER C. TAYLOR 191 The story of the work of the Young Men's Christian Association in Mex- ico under revolutionary conditions.
r HAVE CONDITIONS IMPROVED IN MEXICO . By AUCE MCCLELLAND 195 THE SUFFERINGS OF M~SSIONARIES IN PERSIA By REV. F. N. JESSUP 198 Extracts from the journal of a Presbyterian missionary during the Turk- ish and Kurdish invasion of Urumia and Tabriz.
THE OUTLOOK AMONG TURKISH MOSLEMS By R:lv. HENRY H. RICGS, D. D.204 SOME MORE THINKING BLACK . . . . . By DAN CRAWFORD 209 BE3T METHODS DEPARTMENT. . . . . Edited by MRS. E. C. CRONK 212 FEDERATION M.1THODS :l!OR THE CoMING YEAR LITERATURE WITH POSTERS WOMAN'S HOME MISSION BULLETIN . . Edited by MRS. O. R. JUDD 218 ApPROACH TO A COMMON TASK ANNUAI. MggTlNG OJ! 'rHE COUNCIL NEWS FROM MANY LANDS . 223 THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY 238 Facts Worth Quoting Missionary Personals TERMS: $2.50 a year. ($2.00 in clubs of five.) Foreign postage, 50 cents. Sma-Ie copies l!5 cents. Published Monthly. Copyrighted, 1919, by Missionary Review Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Entered as second class matter at the post office at Cooperstown, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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RoBn'l' E. SPJ!JlR, Pr,sident· DI!I.AVAN L. Pn:ItSoJi, Sec,.,ta,.y FUNK I.. BROWN, Vi",-P,.,sid,,,t W Ar.TI!R McDouGAr.r., T,.,lJNr,,. R!iv. E. E. CALV!iRLY of the Reformed Church Mission in Arabia has been invited by the Indian National Council of the Y. M. C. A. to enter upon work under its auspices among British and Indian troops in Mesopotamia.
RJlv. EDWARD LINCOLN SMITH, D. D., Secretary of the American Board of For- eign Missions, has returned from his six week's visit to China in the interests of the new Peking University. He also visited the interior of China, and reports an era of good feeling toward missionaries in that field.
DR. JOHN R. MOTT has been made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French Government in reeognition of his service through the Young Men's Christian Association.
MISS MARGARET SLATTERY recently sailed for Europe in order to study conditions among girls of England, France and Belgium. When she returns Miss Slattery expects to make a lecture tour of the United States.
FRANCIS C. BRADING, Secretary of the Scripture Gift Mission of London, has been ordained to the ministry of the Church of England.
R!iv. NORMAN H. CAMP, lawyer-evangelist and Bible teacher of Chicago, has been made Superintendent of the Chicago Hebrew Mission, an organization more than thirty years old, with five centers and a corps of twenty workers.
DR. J. N. FARQUHAR, literary secretary of the National Y. M. C. A. in India and Ceylon, and well known authority on Hinduism, is in America on a short lecture tour. Dr. Farquhar is the author of "Hinduism and Modern Religious Movements in India."
MR. HIiRBIiRT K. CASKEY, of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, has been appointed Secretary of the Foreign Department of the Y. M. C. A. for the Dominion of Canada.
RIiV. S. B. ROHOLD, F. R. G. S.. pastor of the Hebrew Christian Synagogue of Toronto, has been invited by the British Jews' Society 'to assist in a Forward .Movement in Palestine, which will include the distribution of literature, holding meetings and some relief work. Mr. Rohold is leaving America for three months and will be accompanied by Rev. Arthur W. Payne, missionary to the Jews in Palestine and Europe.
MISS ELIZABETH WILSON of the National Y. W. C. A. sailed for England on January 4th to attend a meeting of the World Committee of the Y. W. C. A. From England Miss Wilson will go to India to establish a training center in the Associlrtion's work for women.
RJiv. J. H. RITSON, D. D., of the British and Foreign Bible Society has left London for four months to address a series of meetings at the principal bases of the British Army in France, calling soldiers to missionary service.
MR. JOHN N. HAYWARD has recently been appointed as joint secretary with Mr. Marcus Wood to the China Inland Mission. Mr. Hayward has given thirty years of missionary service in the Far East, where he applied his business efficiency to the eccentricities of Chinese finances with conspicuous success.
DR. GIiORG~ RIC!i Hov~Y has entered upon his duties as Secretary of Education of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Dr. Hovey has been President of Virginia Union University since 1905.
DR. ROLVIX HARLAN, formerly President of Sioux Falls College, has been elected Secretary of Social Service of the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
REv. AND MRS. F. J. BARN!iY, of the Reformed Church Arabian Mission, have gone to India to assist in the American Arcot Mission for some months, possibly a year.
HaN. EMM~TT J. SCOTT,' secretary of the Tuskegee Institute and special assistant to the Secretary of War, is to write a history of the Negroes' part in the world war.
MRS. S. B. CAPRON, identified for many years with the missions of the American Board in Madura, and later Superintendent of the Women's Department of Moody Bible Institute, died in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on December 15 at the age of ninety.
MR. EDWARD W. WARmtN, President of the International Sunday School Association, died on January 16. Mr. Warren presided at the World Sunday School Convention held in Jerusalem in 1904, at the Convention in Rome in 1907 and again in Washington in 1910.
• HAWA.iI t!o £
ZEAL"ND OUIl VIEW OF TRJt WORt.D IN THIS NUMBER .. The Sufferings of Missionaries in Persia LEADING ARTICU:S AND EDITORIALS ARE INDICATED BY nnES TIlE NUMBER OF NEWS JTEM5 ON EACH GOUNTRY IS INDICATED BY ARABIC NUMERALS
United States Public Health Service is conducting an active
to enlighten the public, and enlist state and municipal authorities in helping to make a clean nation; and many cities and states have heartily undertaken to cooperate. The American government is today the only one undertaking by a permanent national organization to defend society from the scourge of lust and alcoholism.
****** While Bolshevism is preaching atheism and abolishing religious instruction, the vital factors in the Russian Church are being strengthened and new character is being formed. In Moscow 600,000 persons of all classes participated in a procession of protest against Bolshevist atheism.
* * * * .. * In the Methodist Centenary Home Mission program recognition is given the demand for religious education as thorough-going as the teaching of the public schools in the plans for the training of 250 directors of religious education, 486 women institutional workers, 46 district superintendents and 41 district evangelists.
.. * * * * * Young men in Mexico are showing more and more interest in the kind of Christianity that can be carried into an athletic contest or a business transaction, and can help a man to keep square and clean. In the athletic leaders' corps of the Mexico City Y. M. C. A. not one member uses tobacco or intoxicants-a remarkable fact for Mexico.
… >I< … … … …
, The missionary significance of the rapprochement between the French and the Anglo-Saxon races, produced by the war, can. be appreciated when we remember that Protestant missionary efforts have' practically been excluded from French colonies, and these represent the major portion of the unoccupied mission fields of the world.
****** Most of the Turkish Moslems have either themselves accepted Islam under compulsion or are the descendants of such unwilling converts. Now that the compulsion of fear is removed by the overthrow of Turkish domination there is the possibility of a mass movement of these tribes to Christianity.
****** The object lesson of Christian kindness in Moslem lands has done more than all else to prepare the minds of Turks to understand the spirit of Christianity. When 'an Armenian Christian went to the house of a wounded Moslem soldier to ask news of his relatives in the Army, he was astonished to see the wounded man come on hands and knees to kneel at his feet and pour out gratitude for what the Christian Armenian's relative had done for him in a far away hospital.
… '" '" '" '" * Fanaticism is disappearing in Mexico. Protestant churches are better attended than ever before and all the schools are full. There is a growing demand for both secular and religious instruction, and the public schools are beginning to have an appreciable number of Protestant teachers who are making their influence felt.
****** Fifteen new mission hospitals for Turkey, located at various points from the Black Sea to the Persian boundary, is a feature of the American Board Expedition for the relief and reconstruction of Armenia.
****** Natives of the Sudan have contributed the greater part of the £9000 ($44,000) already subscribed for a proposed Medical College as a Sudan memorial to Lord Kitchener in Khartum.
****** 'The percentage of literacy among Liberians is said to be greater than that among Negroes in America. This is probably due to the fact that in Liberia every man has an equal chance, with no discrimination against him; and because the govern- ment is in his hands, he must rise to a place of responsibility. ,i,
A RELIGlOUS HOME MISSlON PROB LEM AMONG FOREIGNERS IN H
A s cen e in front of the $100,000 Buddhi st T emple in Honolulu, Hawa ii
MISSIONARY
EVIEW, VOL. MARCH,1919 N …… Tmu:. XLII SIGNS OF THE, TIlVlJBS A CRUSADE FOR A CLEAN NATION O NE fact brought to light by the war is the prevalence of diseases due to social vices. "One of the compensations for the tragedy of war," says Secretary Josephus Daniels, "is the fact that an enlightened opinion is behind the organized campaign to protect the youth against venereal disease. It is worse than cancer, more deadly than tuberculosis, more loathsome than cholera. The campaign begun in war to insure military fitness of men for fighting, is quite as necessary to save men for civil efficiency. The National Government, under authority of Congress, is undertaking this task in cooperation with State authorities. The full cooperation and sympathetic working together of local, State and Federal agencies, backed by sound public sentiment, are needed in this holy campaign for that cleanness of living which alone insures clear thinking and physical excellence."
The United States Public Health Service is conducting an active campaign to enlighten the pnblic and to enlist State and Municipal authorities in the effort to clean up their districts and help to make a "clean nation." This work is done largely under the impetus to make the country more safe for the 4,000,000 returning soldiers and sailors.
Many cities and states have heartily undertaken the task of educating tl.Ieir people and eradicating social vices and diseases. Omaha, Nebraska, has introduced an ordinance to curb social diseases among men, as well as women, and there is agitation for a national law to regulate physical examination.
In Ohio, the State Dairy and Food Department prohibits the 161
employment, in any places used for the preparation or handling of food, of anyone afflicted with venereal disease. Michigan, Minnesqta and California are making a determined fight to abolish prostitution, with educational posters and pamphlets and the arrest and confinement of women who are a menace to the communities.
Houston, Texas, and with leadership of the Mayor, h'ls equipped a municipal farm as a detention home and has established a clinic in which 14,000 courses of treatment have been given. Columbus, Ohio, reports that open vice is a thing of the past in that city and is undertaking to make it the cleanest city in the world. Birmingham, Alabama, has named a committee of 100 citizens, representing various civic bodies to purge the city from this menace to health-moral and spiritual.
Th'is crusade will require the nation-wide cooperation of all American schools, churches, clubs and civic organizations. The American Government is today the only one undertaking, by a permanent national organization, to defend society from the scourges of lust and alcoholism. Britain and France' are dis- gracefully remiss in this respect. .
Thus far the natioual and civic authorities are only concerned with the consequences of vice. They naturally do not go to the root of the matter and deal with the sin, nor do they offer the only teal cure which will regenerate men and women and save them from the sin itself. The Surgeon General of the Public Health 'service, Dr. Rupert Blue, has, however, gone so far as to recognize the spiritual problem and forces involved by calling upon the ministers of the United States to set aside Feb. 9 as Health Sunday and to preach sermons emphasizing the responsibility of the nation to protect returning soldiers and sailors and the community at large, and to take vigorolls measures for combating social dis- eases.
A proclamation has been issued which requests the churches of every denomination to continue the work Carried on in time of war in order that the world may be made safe, not only for dQmoc- racy, but for posterity. .
The only right attitude to take toward this question is not to ignore it or to consider it inevitable, .but to treat the social evil as an inexcusable crime that brings disaster to the individual and to the nation, both body and soul. The way to fight the evil, root and branch, is to make no compromise.
1. Close the red light district in every city and town and root out open or concealed vice as far as possible. Any other course is to sell loathsome disease in the market place. Constant vigilance is required and upright officia,ls. An "open town" means
– SIGNS OF THE TIMES
prosperity for the vicious, but higher taxes and greater dangers for the innocent.
2. Safeguard against the spread of the disease byestablishing clinics and hospitals. Put the quacks out of business. Require physicians to report all cases of venereal disease.
3. Educate the public by lectures to parents and through the public schools. Distribute judiciously wholesome literature on sex matters.
4. Provide healthy recreation for young people in public parks, and put a curb on dance halls and amusements that pander to unhealthy moral appetites. This if; not a task for sentimentalists nor for ill-balanced enthusiasts, but for conscientious, intelligent men and women who have the highest good of the community at heart.
NATURALIZING CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA I s it right to impose western forms of Christianity on the __ Orient or should other lands adapt the teachings of Christ to their own institutions and ideals, transforming them but not eradicating them 1 For example: One of India's honored Chris- tian leaders, Mr. N. Tilak, an instructor in Ahmednagar Divinity School, long connected with the Marathi Mission and a well known poet, has recently imitated the role of a Sadhu, or Hindu religious leader. Garbed in a saffron-colored robe, this Christian Sadhu goes from place to place, appearing in public streets to tell the curious crowds of Jesus Christ and His message. He does not ask anyone to accept his religious experiences; he merely gives his own interpretation of them, and popular curiosity and interest seem never to wane.
As a boy, Tilak was dissatisfied with the caste system and Hindu teaching and customs. He studied both Mohammedanism and Buddhism, but his Brahmin seclusion was so complete that he -did not once come in contact with Christianity, and never so much as heard of the Bible until later. He finally worked out for hiinself the principles of a new religion as follows: There is one God, a Person with a Father's Heart, and all men are His ~hildren. _ All Holy Books are creations of men. The world of nature is the only true -Scripture revealing God.
The essence of religion is a living faith in God and the treating of all men as brothers.
The evil to be fought supremely by the true religion is idolatry.
Later _Tilak received his first copy of the New rr:estament from an Englishman and in reading the Sermon on the Mount became convinced – that his search for truth had reached the Tig1b.~ goal. Thereupon he sought out a Christian convert,
through whom he learned more of Christ and the Gospel. After being baptized he began a career of Christian service.
Another exponent of the Sadhu method of evangelism is Sunder Singh, who has already been mentioned in the REVIEW. Hindus, Catholics and Protestants have all flocked to his services, and recently he has lead in a great revival in Ceylon. This experiment is most interesting and suggestive, as it is conforming to local traditions which the Apostle Paul approved. We have many things to learn from Orientals and in many respects our century-old customs may be improved.
THE NEW OUTLOOK IN ARABIA T HE victoi."y of the Allies over the Turks, the union of the Arabs with the British in the campaigns in Palestine and Mesopotamia, the establishment of the new kingdom of Hejaz and the excellent behaviour of the allied troops of Christian powers in their invasion of Moslem lands-all these point to more friendly relations between Arabs and the British, and give hope for new opportunities of Christian influence in Arabia. At the same time the Arabs have been exceedingly conservative, and have not yielded in their demand for political and religious control in Arabia. The great conflict is still between Jesus Christ, the son of God and Saviour of mankind, and Mohammed as the supreme prophet of God.
For many years the Arabian (Reformed Ohurch) Mission on the Persian Gulf, and the Scotch Mission in Aden have represented the Christian forces in Arabia; and they have stood their ground and even made some progress against tremendous odds. Dr. John Van Ess of Busrah describes the work in somewhat military terms as follows: " After many years of trench fighting, so to speak, which taught lessons of faith and prayer, the fighting has shifted to the open. Schools are cavalry, hospitals are artillery, evangelists are the infantry-each branch has its function and needs the others. In each center of activity all arms have been engaged, but in each, peculiar conditions have given special opportunities for one or another.
".A.ristocrati(', Kuweit, where live the' bluest of blue-blooded Arabs, in face and language very like the false prophet himself; fanatical Kuweit, where only a few short years ago four missionaries in turn and in short order were rudely expelled; Kuweit is wide open to the Gospel. On Sunday mornings the' church is so packed with Arabs, men and women, that men stand on boxes at the windows. Very recently a young man in direct line of descent from Mohammed confessed Jesus Christ and is being educated to preach Christ.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
"In Ba;hrein the Gospel is making a deep salient in Moslem womanhood. If we breach the line there we can roll up the lines of countless children yet to be born and make them prisoners of hope. Last year Dr Harrison on personal invitation from the Emir went inland and for twenty-five days preached with lancet and medicine and Scripture and tongue the riches of Christ. In Nejd is a college of three hundred Moslem students being trained to go as missionaries and teachers of Islam to all the tribes. In Nejd Islam in all its self-conceived purity and naked fanaticism is held and practiced. Only the. Reformed Church in America has been honored by God to enter Nejd.
"At Maskat, the key to Oman, the people have been torn by dissension and warfare, but at heart they are sociable and approachable as never before the war. To reach the Woman's Hospital scores have run the blockade that cuts off Maskat from the interior. Shall we be as eager to reach the interior as they are to reach usf What great contribution will the Arab make to the body of Christy God asks us to answer."
THE REVOLUTION AMONG CHILDREN OF ASIA WE HAVE all heard much of the revolutionary movements in Turkey that overthrew the old Sultan; of the upheaval in Persia that promised a new order of things before the war; of revolutions in Al'abia and the establishment of the Kingdom of Hejaz; of uprisings in India in the effort to secure self-government; of the revolutions and counter-revolutions in China with the abolition of the old order, politically and educationally; of the reforms and progressive steps in Japan and Korea. All Asia and Africa as well as Europe are in upheaval, and a new order, for better or for w()r~,e, is taking place of the old.
But the most significant and far-reaching revolution in Asia receives little attention-it is the revolution that is taking place in the life and education of the children. Miss Florence E. Reynolds, of Amoy, tells us what this means to the youth of China.. The men and women of tomorrow are being trained in different ways, with very different ideals as to government, home life, business, morals, education and religion than were those of two generations ago. Then, boys were educated, if at all, only in the classics, reciting page after page of what were to them meaningless words. Girls were not con~ sidered worth educating except in sewing, cooking and proper conduct. In Moslem lands boys were taught the Koran and girls were left in ignorance. Throughout Asia there were many excellent principles instilled into children, relating to respect for parents and the aged, but ideas of God were, and still are among the non- Christians, vague or crude; personal purity for men and boys was
not expected; laws of custom were more strongly urged than the laws of God j and education in athletics, recreation and the use of leisure time was almost entirely neglected.
With the coming of the kindergarten, the Y. M. C. A., Boy Scouts, Y. W. C. A. and Western ideas of education, a veritable revolution has taken place in the lives and thoughts of the children who have been brought under thes,e inflnences. Miss Reynolds says, for instance, that the opening of a kindergarten in Amoy revolutionized the child life of the city, and the movement has extended to the other towns and cities. It is now very widely used in Japan. The children are taught to play, to sing, are trained in the art of self-expression; are taught simple fundamental truths about God and nature, themselves and their comrades. Later, by this new education, they learn to read their own and other languages i they discover that the world is large and that theirs is not the only important country; they study history and science, mathematics, literature and religion in such a way as to prepare them for larger and more useful lives. Parents gaze in wonder at the progress their children are making and learn many things from them. Christian ideals and truth are entering into the thoughts and lives of the people of Asia through the children, and they in turn will revolutionize the habits and histories of the lands in which they live. Now is the time to mold the plastic clay.
THE RISE OF LIBERTY CHURCHES O NE great result of the war on Christian work in the home- land seems to be the adaptation of the church program to new conditions in the large industrial centers that have suddenly grown up in districts before almost uninhabited. Many of these new communities promise to be permanent, but rival churches, as such, have not had an opportunity to become established in them. It is against the spirit of the age to countenance such rivalry or overlapping, and the question arises: shall there be denominational activity, a non-church welfare work or a union church organization ~ One answer to the question is found in the so-called "Liberty Church, " the first of which is to b~ established at Nitro, West Virginia. The denominational affiliations of its members will be recognized in separate rolls, and there will be a head pastor with a staff of assistants. Fifty-five centers have been surveyed and plans made for establishing churches similar to the one at Nitro. The exp~riment has important possibilities and the successor failure of these experiments will have much to do in detertnining the: progress of movements toward closer cooperation and church unity; " . ~.
STUDY OF THE WORLD'S
Students of mission problems, both at home and abroad, recognize, as the first great need, a knowledge of the facts. How can the gospel be preached adequately to the American Indians unless we know where and under what conditions the Indians are living and what Christian agencies are at work among the various tribes f In the same way the Mormons mnst be stndied to discover why they need Christian missionaries and what centers in Mormondom are over supplied or under manned. Industrial centers and communities 'of foreign born peoples must not be left to one denomination that may be unable to supply the need, nor must a score of sects enter one promising field regardless of the strategy in such a program. Independent and unrelated mission work have caused much friction, large waste and disastrous misunderstanding. The home fields should be studied unitedly by inter-Church commissions, and findings reported: as the number of stations needed, the kind of activity that will prove most effective and the denomination that is the logical organization to undertake the work.
In studying the needs iu foreign lands, the need for a similar systematic and comprehensive survey is seen, but on a much larger scale. Certain fields in South Africa, for instance, are overcrowded with missions, while whole areas of Christless lands are left untouched. Every land and every mission agency call for reinforcements and larger outlays. Who is to judge whether such outlays of men and money are justified? Shall one denomic nation make a drive for men and money, survey the field alone and undertake the work as though that denomination alone represents the Church of Christ?
The time has surely come to make a united study of the world field with reference to the degree of moral and spiritual destitution, the Christian agencies at work, the type of service most needed and the way in which the needs of each field can best be supplied. For example-there is Rnssia, a great land of 180,- 000,000 people. What do they need T It is a question for the united study and response of the Christian Church. There is thfl Moslem world opening up to Christian influence. The missionary problems presented are quite as important as those discussed at the Paris Peace Conference. There a~e Tibet and Afghanistanclosed to Christianity. Shall they remain closed or inay they be entered Y There is the problem of Central Africa, and un- 167
touched interior South America; the mass movements in India and the educational problems of China. Now is the time for an adequate and united study of the fields and the forces to till them.
In this number of the REVIEW we publish a valuable article by Dr. Ralph Welles Keeler. It shows by map and chart and photopraphs how one denomination has studied the home mission fields in a way that the churches unitedly should study all the fields. Let us cooperate in study, in prayer, in mobilizing forces and in supplying the need.
PROTESTANT PROGRESS IN ITALY.
M ANY have rejoiced in the days of war at signs of the "bury- ing the hatchet" by Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Others have feared lest the large influence of the Catholics in Governmental circles, the appointment of a great percentage of Roman Catholic chaplains, the activities of the Knights of Columbus and the "denaturing" of much of the Protestant Christian activity in war work, might unduly increase the prestige and following of the Catholic Church in America and England. That question is not in itself important. The only question of moment is: how may the supremacy of Jesus Christ be maintained 7 In Italy the Roman Catholic authorities are disturbed at the growth of Protestant Christianity. The Catholic journal America says of the progress there: "Protestantism is growing and indifference is alarmingly on the increase. In 1862 there were 32,975 Protestants of various sects in Italy, in 1901 there were 65,595, in 1911 the number had grown to 123,253, which means that in ten years it had almost doubled. The writer believes that the official registration of Protest::tnts would be still greater were it not that human respect prevented certain Italians from publicly proclaiming their apostasy. Figures show, however, that the Protestant propaganda is more successful in depriving Italians of all religions belief than in converting them to heresy. In 1901 there were in all Italy only 36,- 092 persons who professed to have no religious affiliations; ten years later the number of those who were without faith was not less than 874,532. If to this number be added the 653,404 persons who in 1911 refused to make any statement as to their attitude toward religion, we find that at that date these two categories embraced about 5 per cent of the entire population, and that in ten years they had almost doubled."
Not many years ago a Methodist minister ventured to prophesy that it Protestant missions in Italy were vigorously supported, the near future would witness a separation of· the Italian people from the Pope, unparalled since the days of Luther in Germany. Agam
EDITORIAL COMMENT
let it be remembered that separation from selfish materialism and sin is the important thing to strive for, and that the bringing of men to God through Christ is of vastly greater importance than bring- ing them into any particular ohurch.
BOLSHEVISM AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH R USSIA, the land of chaos, is perhaps most paradoxical in the effect of Bolshevism upon the Church. Where the rule of the Reds has in every other instance meant destruction, the suffering and material loss which the Church has been experiencing may be her salvation and emancipation. While Bolshevism is preaching atheism and practicing anarchy, the vital factors in the Church have been strengthened, new leaders are coming to the front, new character is being formed.
The decree of the Bolsheviki abolishing Sunday was perhaps compounded of Jewish prejudice and a Jacobin desire to imitate the madness of the French Revolution. This was accompanied by a pronouncement forbidding weddings or funerals to be held in any of thechnrches. Since the decree was put forth that lessons in atheism shall be given in the schools, religious instruction is forbidden. According to a writer in The New Europe there are signs that the Boisheviki episode is clearly incidental and superficial in Russian history. In Moscow, a procession of protest was organized, and was participated in by 600,000 persons, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. All this suffering will be worth while if the Russian Church is regenerated and girds herself for new tasks in new spiritual power.
WHAT IS THE HOPE OF ISRAEL1 O UT of the darkness that has overshadowed the Jewish people for oonturies there shine ever and anon rays of light and hope. The dark days that followed the Babylonian Captivity and the· Roman oppression were illumined by the coming of Christ to His people in Palestine. But there was no brightness of political freedom on the horizon and the Jews as a nation shut their eyes to the light. Then came the capture of Jerusalem by Titus, followed by long ages of darkness and persecution. The Jew has been an outcast in Europe and only here and there have individ- .. uals arisen who have attained social and political prestige.
From poverty and depress~on the Jews have sought to free themselves by the golden key of material prosperity. Millions have lost faith in the religion of their fathers and have put their hope in the god of this world. To millions of ..Tews from Russia, Poland and Hungary, America has become the "Pro:tn-
ised Land" wher:e they have found new life. But within the last twenty-five years the spirit of Jewish nationalism has revived, and with the release of Palestine from Turkish misrule, hundreds of thousands of Israelites have turned their thoughts again toward the land of Abraham and have fixed their hope on political and national independence.
Israel is, however, divided. The prosperous members of the race have no wish to leave the material comforts that they have struggled to win in ~>merica, for the rigors and hardships of pioneer life in Palestine. Others see no ground for hope for political independence in view of the jealousy of European nations. Israel is seeking liberty and the fulfilment of national aspirations without reference to their Messiah. Their attitude toward Christians and toward Christian ideals may have changed, but they still reject Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. The Jew is more liberal because he is less religious; he is more ready to .hear and speak well of Christ because h~ believes less in any divine Christ. Nationalism and materialism are taking'the place of religion, and those who abandon Judaism for Christianity are still despised and persecuted by Jewish patriots, not because they are irreligious, but because they are deemed unpatriotic.
The Jewish history is clearly developing in line with prophecy but this does not mean that the Hope of Israel will be realized through the fulfilment of purely material aspirations. The league of British Jews, of which Major de Rothschild is President, even sees danger ahead for Israel in the materialistic movement. The more political power Jews obtain the more other nations will oppose them. The only "Hope of Israel" is not in the establishment of a national Jewish state or in material prosperity, but in the aceeptance of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
WORLD PROHIBITION AND WORLD PEACE I NTERNATIONAL peace will be largely dependent upon in- ternational sobriety, and in the Conference of the Anti-Saloon League of America held at Columbus, Ohio, November 19-22, the conviction was repeatedly emphasized that in the corning peace settlements, some account must be taken of the liquor traffic and its effect upon the civilization of the future. It was evident at the Conference that national prohibition in the United States is only to be regarded as a step toward world-wide temperance.
A forth-coming number of the REVIEW is to be devoted to World Wide Temperance, and will be a verital:>le. handbook of facts on present conditions, prqgress and forces in respect to the traffic in intoxicants.
POPULATION BY
Making America Safe for the World The Challenge of The Methodist Home Mission Program BY RALPH WELLES KEELER, D. D. Publicity Secretary of Home Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church · HE challenge to make the democracy of America safe for the T. world is being taken up in no uncertain manner by the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in its Centenary Program. This great denomination of 4,000,000 members is celebrating the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of Methodist Missions with a campaign for $80,000,000 for new endeavors in the strengthening and enlarging of its mission work at home and abroad.
No mere dreamers have brought this great venture into being, but men of vision, statesmen, prophets. Throughout the length and breadth of the land they are carrying a message which furnishes such concrete information concerning need, opportunity and obligation as will base the giving of the $40,000,000 essential to the program's .success in the United States upon intelligent consecration of time, effort and money. . To . survey the field so as to dis,cover the responsibility of the Metho~ist Episcopal Ohurch in the United States has been no lloliday task. It has involved the time and thought of both the l,eap..ers~ndmembers of the Church in a most unusual but profit- ~le,~ffort,. In its scope. it has. included not only the states, but ~!~ P~~,to ~~co, Ha'Vaii and Alaska. lnten~ivelY.it ;has" ..C()~k 171
cerned itself with the religious problems of every community in the country. From the multitude of opportunities which have been discovered it has set as its goal the accomplishing of such non-competitive tasks as it will be able to do with the expenditure of nearly $22,000 a day or $8,000,000 a year for a period of five years. When it is recalled that the greatest annual inflome available for the Board of Home Missions and Chl.rch Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church was the amount received last year, $2,001,163.99, the advance to be made of three hundred per cent is considerable.
Figures lack reality to most people. To those of imagination, however, there is romance and adventulle in the statement that this Home Mission program includes 2,506 new buildings for the modern ministry of the church, either in new fields or for more adequate equipment in fields already occupied. This does not take account of the 1,035 remodelings proposed, nor of the 1,188 parsonages to be built, nor the 43 special buildings to be erected. The impetus given to community religious life by these additions to the Christian forces of our land is incalculable. While buildings of stone and wood alone never will bring about the results desired they are nevertheless needed. Christian democracy is not a force that develops unaided. Based on ideas and ideals that are fundamental to the best human relati(:)llships, it needs power plants froni which its spirit may be sent forth into the lives of individuals. This great service of collaboration in the nation's trend toward life's best is rendered for the most part by the Christian Church. And the multiplying of local Christian democracy power plants will perceptibly quicken this trend.
It is not the purpose to build churches without providing for an adequate ministry. While it expects to invest $28,771,845 in the material equipment mentioned, it expects also to invest $11,265,565 in human personalities, fired by the spirit of Jesus Christ, to carryon the adventure toward the Kingdom for which the church buildings will serve as bases of supply. There are 1,344 home missionary ministers to _be supported,. men who are serving in those hard fields which have supplied the romance of home m.:issions since the days of the sod church and the prairie schooner. They a:oo not all on the old frontier, however. Many of them are on th~ new frontier of the crowded city, or in the new industrial community, in the unfavorable agricultural sections, or among the Mexicans of the Southwest or tIle Highlanders of the South. Then there are 2,220 more ministers who are toiling in charges which will become self supporting in five years if adequate provision is made for the support of the right kind of a man. Two hundred and fifty "language pastors" are to be trained~ men who will qualify as first class English-speaking min-
MAKING AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD
TOWNSHIP MAP STAT~ Of OHIO _ represents Townshlpt In whlc.h the,.. Is no Church that hIS a Resi· dent Minl.ter.
THE UNOCCUPIED FIELDS IN ONE STATE isters, and in addition be competent to minister ably among adult immigrants.
Recognition is also given in a large way to the modern demands for a religious education as thorough-going as the teaching 'of the public schools, in the provisions for the training of 250 Directors of Religious Education. Of women workers there will be 486, women trained for the new day of the ministry of the community and institutional church, and 131 deaconesses. Forty-six superintendents will be supported; district missionary aid will be provided in 155 instances. Forty-one district evangelists will be put into the field and 115 other workers will be supported. What a program of maintenance! Will those who question the interest of the Ohristian Ohurch in the pressing needs of today take no-
tice T They have helped to frame the challenge. The meanSM answer it are being shaped before them.
Cooperation with other denominations in non-sectarian educational work characterizes the program for Porto Rico and Hawaii, where already comity plans are in operation which prevent waste of money and men. The great rural sections of Porto Rico arc to have more churches and chapels, a greater number of native workers are to be trained and appointed, and speciat attention is to be given both in the schools and churches to developing ANOTHER FOREIGN MISSION PROBLEM AT HOME Some Q£ the Mohammedan Children in Johnstown, Pe n nsyl vania the highest type of American citizenship. In Hawaii the Christianizing process is to be augmented by developing Japanese, Korean and Filipino pastors, trained to conduct services in English. A minimum salary of $900 a .year for married pastors is to be established! Many a preacher in the United States whose salary has been $600 or even less, will note with a feeling of joy tbat somewhere under the stars and stripes such a step is being taken. The Oriental birthrate, especially among the .Japanese and Filipinos, is rapidly increasing. Fourteen thousand American-born Japanese children attend the thirty-five Buddhist schools provided
AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD
NEGRO EXOQUS TO THE NORTH CANADA TEX.
WHY THERE IS A NEW NEGRO PROBLEM IN AMERICA for them each day before and after the regular hours of public ,;chool. It is a. challenge to Christianity as to which type of democracy will prevail here, and therefore the Sunday-school is to reoeive special attention.
THE INDIANS AND THE NEGROES The American Indians number 350,000, of whom forty per cent are Christians, and only twenty per cent are Protestants. To these are to be sent more resident missionari€:s speaking an Indian language. Native Indian preachers are to be trained. More Sunday-schools are to be established. Women workers will teach
TheUnreached Colored Task PHILADELPHIA COLORED WORK The Task 76,500 in sanitation and domestic science, and bring the message of the Christ to the women and children on the reservations. And-another place for a "Hallelujah! "-greater cooperation with other denominations is proposed.
Two thousand one hundred and seventy-two ministers, 348,477 church members and probationers, and 234,647 Sunday-school pupils, officers and teachers among the Negro population of the United States are in the Methodist Episcopal churches. Yet lamentable conditions exist among the churches in the South. But a better day is in sight. A paragraph in the new policy. proposed:- "A better trained ministry. Church buildings adapted to community service. Typical community centers in agricultural centers. Model parsonages as demonstrations of home life. Organized movements for educating pastors and church officials in modern church work."
There is some force in that program. Yes, and another occasion for rejoicing: "Cooperation with other denominations in surveys and plans of work."
In the North where some 1,045,550 Negroes have swarmed into the cities, more churches are to be built, and the 150 already in use will be enlarged. Able men are to be put into pulpits where lack is shown in guiding newcomers in the readjustment of their lives. Community centers for lectures and recreation are to be established. Temporary quarters will be proviq.ed for Negro girls and women just entering the city, and domestic science courses organized for those who were plantation laborers in the South.
Alaska has never received the attention from the Methodist Episcopal Church which it deserves. Now, more missionaries are
MAKING AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD
to be sent there and a general missionary appointed to superintend the field. The Highlanders of the South also are to receive such aid as will make possible local trained workers, adequate pastoral support, improved Sunday-schools, and modern buildings adapted to community service. , In this field there is to be cooperation with other denominations and with the state, in order that improved living conditions may be speedily brought about.
Mormonism has never been met squarely. Greater efforts are now to be made in reaching the young people in the colleges and universities, as well as the strengthening of the ministry and equipping the field with adequate and suitable buildings.
THE COLORED MIGRATION PROBLEM IN ONE CITY A Religious Tent Meeting for : Netroes from Southern States, Philadelphia, Pa.
Most of the 80,000 .Chinese and the 100,000 Japanese in the United States live in the far west. The Chinese are to be sought out in the population centers, day schools provided for their children and traveling missionaries are to minister to them in the scattered rural communities~ Elementary day schools will be provided for the Japanese, and aid will be given to re-establish a Christian Japanese press to counteract the influence of the strong Buddhistically inclined Japanese daily papers of the ' Pao cific Coast. Here, as in Hawaii, the Sunday-school is au import- ant factor, while single men are to be provided with dorinitories in an attempt to solve the lodging-house problem.
Who shall speak adequately of the plans of him whom we spoke of as the "foreigner" until he mingled his blood with ours in the trenches 1 Whether he be Italian or Slav, Pole or Lithuan- ian, Magyar or Jew, he is with us in overwhelming numbers. And
our task is to Christianize each man, his wife and his children, keep- ing the best of the characteristics brought as a heritage and im- parting the best of American ideals. Only where absolutely nec- essary will the foreign-speaking church be continued. In its place will be developed the church which ministers chiefly in Eng- lish, with language pas'tors who can minister to th.ose adults to whom English will always be an alien tongue. The ministry of these two types of churches will be through a program of wor- ship, a program of religious education and a program of social upllit. .
WHICH CHURCHES MUST UNITEDLY SOLVE THE CITY PROBLEM Among the 1,500,000 Spanish-Americans of the Southwest and the other peoples who are classified as Latin-Americans, the ministry of the church must be in the language of the people. But a better type of native ministry is to be trained, capable women workers are to be provided. Better facilities in buildings, location and equipment are to be furnished.
Special attention is to be given to the downtown, transient,polyglot masses of our cities. In these tenement or lodging-house neighborhoods the slogan of the Centenary Home Mission Program is: "Not more churches, but better ones. The uniting of small
MAKING AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD
and dying .churches in downtown districts into strong central plants adequate to meet the city 's challenge." This contemplates the building pf new, well-equippe,d churches with facilities for religious education, lectures, classes, clubs, and general recreation, and the remodelling of family churches to conform to the new program. With dormitories. clinics and day nurseries, social parlors and commumty laundries for working girls, and a staff of special workers, these churches will soon become centers for Americanization and training in citizenship as well as the place to which people will come to have their hopes and aspirations l!>haped in harmony with the purpose of Him who came to estab- AN ATTE MPT TO SOLVE ONE F ORE IGN BORN PROBLJ<:M Meeting of a Russian Forum in the " Church of All Nations," New York lish a Kingdom which should be democratic beyond any dream which the race has yet seen come true.
The initiating of a program of evangelization, religious education and social uplift is the first move to be made in Englishspeaking and polyglot industrial oommunit,ies. This will be accomplished by building community churches and enlarging those already built, so that the church may fulfill both social and religious functions, besides providing vocational training, day nurseries and gymnasiums. Parish houses will be added to the old family churches and in all cases a personnel consisting of the modern type of social service expert who combines specialized training in social work with the religious spirit will be employed.
The new city program for Methodism in a word is: A grE'~.+
Photo of Tuberculosis Chart Conditions in the Plaza and Vicinity From theT. 8. Association 7A% of the Children born in 1.0.
Anfe1e. last year were Mesiean.
126 % ofthe Chilclreft who clied in Lo. Anfele. lut year were Mexicaft.
Of the Veftenal DiNa_, treated at the Venereal Clinic. 20". are Mexi..- cans Study of District Near· Plaza Character of thePopuiatioll Mexicans Italians Others SIAl SOr. .l8"~ Percent of Deaths from Tuberculosia In City 17,% In Di.trlct Studied S911.
Causes of Death in District IS1. Tubet'culo.iI Infant DiNa_. StillbirthPneumollia Othen of DifeRive Tnct HOW ONE CHURCH IN LOS ANGELES STUDIED TH~ CITY PROBLEM central downtown church, planned in equipment and staff on the broadest and strongest lines, with a preacher of the rarest ability to bring a message to the hurry-ing life of the city, with him a neighborhood evangelist and a director of religious education. This central church should be the headquarters of the denomination and should have under its supervision the weaker churches needed in their immediate locality. Community features and neighborhood features would characterize such a church, and the task of scientific rescue work would receive attention. One great aim is to keep the members of the suburban churches interested in the churches in the city where they used to worship and where now they earn their livelihood.
While the city, "where cross the crowded ways of life," is beginning to be recognized as the new frontier, the old frontier of plain and prairie is not extinct. True, the pioneers kept on to
MAKING AMERICA SAFE FOR THE WORLD
PROJECTING THE MEXICAN PROBLEM INTO THE HOME MISSION FIELDS the Pacmo Coast, but they left much land uninhabited along the way. Twelve States, with an area of 1,259,977 square miles and a population of only 6,458,417, approximately five people to a square mile, is the frontier as defined by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Newness, movement and uncertainty mark this field. The population is constantly changing. Here the church at large is obliged to invest largely at the beginning. Community churches must be built for the miners. The single men of migratory habits who make up the population of the stockraising oountry must have virile traveling missionaries. In the lumber camps must be sent men who can meet the n~eds of men herded together in unsanitary bunkhouses, without home ties or religious life. More and better churches for more populous communiiues, especially in the irrigation and dry-farming sections, are demanded. .And above all there must be preachers of such high caliber as will command folks of such enterprising character as to leave the established communities of the land to strike out into unbroken country for a new try at life's opportunities.
Rural life betterment is the theme of many an essayist and public speaker today. The rural church is also coming in for a greater amoupt of attention. Following the little groups of
pioneers westward across the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains, and finally to the coast, the Ohristian Ohurch has pitched its tent in almost every place where a handful of settlers have made a clearing and built th'emselves homes. Eighty-seven per cent of the Methodist churches are in rural communities of 2,500 inhabitants or less. These . communities include coal mining sections of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and the West, the iron mines of the South and North; the copper mines of Michigan; the oil fields of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas; the coke· villages and many other types of small industrial villages; fishing hamlets and lumber camps. For these there is plann~d a better trained ministry and such help in church building as will .make the church the center of community life and influence.
Here is a home missionary program worthy a great denomination celebrating its Oentenary of Missions. And it is one demanded by the times. Through it all is shot the preparation for an evangelism which knows forgiveness for sin, and service for others, that appeals to men of every tongue and manner of thinking, that provides for the taking of the Message by word of mouth and by printed page. It is a home mission program so formulated as to enable the Ohurch to do its share of making .America Ohristian in a manner adequate. When the Ohurch teaches the principles ofOhristian democracy so that the common spiritual needs of every citizen are met in Jesus Ohrist, we may send forth the news to all the earth that American democracy is the answer to their cry for national foundations which will not only endure, but make better the nation from year to year.
AN EASTERN TOWN WH ER E THERE ARE NO CHURCHES Bagga;ley;. PeIlosylvania. showing the homes of coke workers. This village has a playground for,· the children and the houses are homelike and comfortable, but -there aTe no Protestant churches ' BY REV. CHARLES R. WATSON, D. D., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
President of Cairo University, Egypt.
O UR greatest gains from the past four and a half years of war may lie in certain new life conceptions, of whose signifi- cance and power we now have little appreciation; and our greatest losses may ultimately appear clearly traceable to certain tragic tendencies, of which we now speak lightly, and of whose damaging power we are unconscious.
SOME MISSIONARY LOSSES These are varied in character and too real to be belittled. 1. Inc1"eased Burdens of Missionary Administration. His would be a short memory who would forget the inconveniences, the anxieties and the tragic sufferings which belonged to the earliest days of the war, due to the stoppage of all money trans- missions to the mission fields and the devious methods that had to be adopted in order to overcome these difficulties. The limi- tations, and in some cases the total disappearance of all passen- ger transportation to the mission fields, called for repeated re- arrangement of routes of travel and dates of sailing. More ser- ious still was the complete stoppage of freight transportation, leaving certain missions, such as those in Africa, without re- sources which were essential, not merely to work, but t.o life itself. Nor is it difficult to recall the endless negotiations for passports and for special permits to enter mission fields. Then came the stoppage of the use of all cable codes and delays in cable messages. The loss of mails through submarine attacks led to duplicate and triplicate copies being required of import- ant letters. With the entrance of America into. the war came the trying problems of military exemptions and the increase in rates of exchange, which generally produced deficits in miilsionary treasuries. 2. Interruption of Missionary Work in Many Fields. The most conspicuous sufferer among American agencies has been perhaps the American Board, whose work in Balkan and Turkish territory was so extensive. But other mission boards also found their work caught in the maelstrom of the war, as the Northern Presbyterians in Syria, the Methodists in North Africa, the Re- formed Church in the Pereian Gulf, the Presbyterians in Persia an~ in West Africa. Who can estimate the spiritual harvests .that are forever lost, either because the seed was not sown during ", • Selections froin an address at the Foreign Missions Conference, New Haven.
183 these difficult years, or because the ripening grain could not be gathered by reason of disturbed conditions. Of over 150 mission- aries of the American Board in Asia Minor, some 50 remained in the country throughout the war. But the period of the war marked more than the suspension of two-thirds of that noble work, for during this period fully one-half of the Armenian race in the Ottoman Empire perished, and over two million Moslems died through famine and disease, brought upon them by their own mad rulers.
3. Heavy Burdens Borne by Missionaries. There was the burden due to the high cost of living. In Egypt, coal, ordinarily $10 a ton, rose to $70 a ton. In Japan, flour of the poorest quali- ties commanded $12 a barrel. On the Pacific, freight rates in- creased 300 per cent and even 400 per cent. In all mission fields, servants (an economy, not a luxury, of the missionary's life) became hard to keep and harder yet to get. As one missionary remarked,-" I have not been able to do one piece of really con- structive work in a year, simply because I cannot get servants.
I am just about reduced t'? an errand boy, and we cannot help it. " '
To the high cost of living was added the high cost of mis- sionary operations, usually with a budget which allowed no mar- gin for such increased cost. Missionaries have carried enor· mous cares because of native workers leaving the missionary service, not through love of money, but simply because the high- er cost of living made it necess'ary for them to seek employment where a living wage was offered. Building operations became difficult and even impossible.
The missionary also experienced no slight hardship because of the difficulties of travel to the home land. Missionaries in the Near East, for example, were no longer permitted to come by way of the Mediterranean, but had to take the long route, three quarters of the way around the earth via the Pacific, to reach the home land. Added to this were strain and anxiety due to perils of submarines. But because of the increased cost and the longer journeys necessary to reach the home-land, many missionaries remained longer at their posts, imposing thus undue strain upon their physical and nervous resources.
In many instances, also, the war added directly to the bur- dens of the missionaries by setting before them opportunities for war service. In many mission fields the presence of allied armies and the vision of the choice youth of these lands going to moral destruction because of their heathen environment, con- stituted so strong an appeal that missionaries gave themselves with abandonment to the service of such troops. In other fields devastated by the war, as in Persia,· Syria and Armenia, great relief mov/jments swung upon the hinges of the life and service of the foreign missionary.
4. Total Elimination of German Missions. We recall the emphasis placed by the great Edinburgh Conference on the unity of the missionary enterprise and we remember also the sessions in which representatives of the German missionary movement set forth before us the distinctive contribution which German missions might make to the world's foreign missionary movement. It develops, therefore, a sense of tragedy to see the elimination of the greater part of the work of 21 different German missionary societies, whose field activities were in the main brought to an end by this war. The activities of over 900 men missionaries and some 350 unmarried women missionaries, approximately 1250 workers in all, were suddenly brought to an end. The stream of German missionary giving, approximating one and one half million dollars a year was thus checked, and a great host of baptized native Christians, over 385,000, not counting hundreds of thousands of adherents, were either left unshepherded or given only that inadequate care which the generosity of adjoining allied missions might contribute.
5. Moral 9dium of War in Non-Christian Eyes. In the opening days of the war Japanese Christians and missionaries testified that the war had made it more difficult to commend the gospel of Jesus Christ in Japan, because in that country the national aspects of any religion bulk large and Christianity had seemingly failed in its national aspects. Dr. Barton has reported how a Mohammedan, preaching 20 days after the war broke out, in the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constan,tinople, congratulated his Mohammedan hearers that 20 millions of Christians in Europe were cutting each other's throats, and he prayed that their number might increase. He said, "That is Christian civilization," and added, "We spit in the face of such civilization."
Such was the moral odium attaching to the war in places removed from the scene of action. But more serious was the moral odium in the lives of those who were brought into the midst of the conflict. There is a touch of pathos in the reply made by a group of Malagasies-members of the French Mission in Madagascar, who came over in labor battalions to France-as they responded to an address of welcome given to them on the occasion of their visit to Paris, "Ten months have we been in France and we have seen no Protestant Church nor met a Christian church member."
6. The Weakening of the Sense of Christianity's Distinctive Character and Value. Has not the war led us to deal with certain elemental qualities of human nature in respect to which Christianity has seemed to have no distinctive contribution to make 7 Have not the splendid fighting qualities of many non- Christian and almost savage fighting units somehow unconsciously created the impression upon many that the great fundamental qualities of courage, devotion and sacrifice are not exclusively nor even distinctively the fruitage of Christianity'
SOME GAINS DUE TO THE WAR But if our losses have been serious, we believe that our gains have been greater. It was expected that the war would result in the reduction of the financial resources of the Mission Boards. Quite the opposite proved to be the actual experience, and the record of contributions to Foreign Missions from the United States runs, in round numbers, as follows: For 1915, $16,000,000; for 1916, $17,000,000; for 1917, $19,- 000,000; for 1918,· $20,700,000.
It is also probably safe to say that in nine-tenths of the mission fields, foreign missionary work not merely continued, but found itself with increased opportunity for service and a deepened interest in the message of Christianity to non-Christian life. Again, where some have deplored the lack of foreign workers by their withdrawal owing to war conditions, others have been able to point out that the very withdrawal of these foreign workers has proved an unexpected blessing for the work in the development of native leaders, and in placing upon them responsibilities which either the foreign worker had been reluctant to share with them, or the native worker had been loath to assume. With reference to the lapse of German missionary activities, the sense of loss can be slightly diminished by observing the different ways in which these activities have been either continued or their results conserved by others.
Then as to the moral odium, which is supposed to attach to the breaking out of war between nominally Christian nations. As we look back we find that where~s in the early days of the war the minds of Christian men were disturbed by the thought of war, as the weeks passed and they recognized the enormous moral issues that were involved in the great struggle, it became a very· general experience that Christian men did not feel so much that participation in the war was a contradiction to Christianity, as that it was Christianity itself functioning through the service of the Christian soldier in the only way in which Christianity could function when it stood in the presence of an on-rushing, physical force which had loaned itself to the support of evil principles.
1. New Political Situations. We will do well to speak modestly and with reserve as to future political situations, but, perchance, the following points may be set forth as altogether probable, and if realized they will constitute missionary gains.
(1). As we recall the rivers of blood that have been run- ning, the sorrowful and steadily decimated processions of Armenian exiles, then, as we recall that the brutalities, the mas- sacres, the robberies, the travesti~s of justice which have marked this war period, are only the fruitage of a tree that has borne none other than evil fruit in all its history, the overthrow of Turkish rule and power which results from this war, must be regarded as a gain, not merely to missions, but to humanity, a gain whose importance no human words can describe.
(2). The War has also produced a rapprochement between the French people and the Anglo-Saxon race, between France and both Great Britain and America. The missionary s[gnifi- cance of such friendship may be appreciated when WI!' re- member that across the years, American and Anglo-Saxon missionary efforts generally have been excluded from French Colonies, and French Colonies represent the major portion of the unoccupied mission field of the world. This spirit of international friendliness will call for very wise cultivation, but the war has given it an historical foundation, upon which we may build much of missionary opportunity and liberty, providing we build wisely.
(3). We must also name the new emphasis laid upon na- tional trusteeship for Colonies and subject races. 'l'he new emphasis laid upon this conception amounts almost to the formulating of a new conception of colonial policy which will aim, not at the exploitation of subject races, but at their development. This is none other than the missionary prin- ciple applied to national and political life. In proportion as this conception dominates colonial policies, it will become possible for the missionary, whether as doctor, ed'lcator, preaC'lier or social roformer, to be a fellow-worker with the political unthorihes in the development of subject races. 2. The Spirit of Unity. The war has advanced the unification of the world along physical and material lines by developing as never before, a means of communication which binds together peoples separated by either land or sea. Distance has been to a great extent annihilated. The wireless promises to become a commercialconvenience by the elimination of the disturbing element called static. 'rhe development of aeroplanes, resulting in quite ordinary and commonplace journeys from England to the Continent,and more startling journeys as from Egypt to India, is full of sigitificance for the future, especially in opening up such inac:- Cessible sections of the world as are found in Africa. The war has also emphasized unity for the human race. It has gone far toward removing those national barriers and that national aloofness which were so great a hindrance to the missionary spirit. This war has carried America overseas and never again will America be satisfied with a purely American horizon. It is easy now to talk about our missionary obligations to the most distant parts of the earth, because the nation as a whole has accepted the principle of world relationships and world obligations. If the war has made this rich contribution to the- life of the United States, its contribution along this same line to the nations of Europe and particularly to the non-Christian peoples of Africa and Asia, must not be belittled.
The sense of unity has also penetrated the religious· and ecclesiastical life of our country. Incidents that are numerous and deeply touching tell how religious and sectarian differences became so reduced that Jew ministered to Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholic to Protestant and Protestant to both, each finding in the other much of common ground in a consciousness of God's presence, a sense of dependence upon Him, a recognition of His nearness in the midst of danger and death, and a common loyalty to ideals of unselfishness, moral character and sacrifice.
The effect of this process of unification has been enormom; upon the thought life of the country, and when the longer roads between these widely differing religious positions could be tra- ",ersed, it has not bee.n unthinkable that the infinitely shorter distances between Presbyterianism and Methodism, between Congregationalism and Anglicanism and all the rest of our Protestant divisions could be spanned by those who with lo'e and prayer, with forbearance and tact, will endeavor to find a way for the realization of Christian unity.
3. J.'ke Spirit of Service and of Sacrifice. The spirit of unselfish service became the law of common life. With the advent of the war, suddenly, as by magic, the law of unselfishness for which the missionary enterprise had so long borne witness, became the common practise of the world. Where once it was irritating to business circles to have philanthropic proposals leave the rather small worlds in which they have been given birth, and the brazen statement that "business is business" was supposed to set the· money earning powers of men free from all claims to generosity, the. war somehow changed all that. DoliJ.ar-a-y:ear appointment's became respootab!le, almost popular; corporations found it quite business-like to vote' contributions to the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A.; firms readjusted the work of their staffs to set some major member and numerous minor members of the firm free for unremunerative war service,· while the rest "carried on", each man with a double load; Congress found it constitutiDnal to vote $100,000,000 to relief work; the public rallied to appeal after appeal for all the varied forms of war service, until an aggregate of a thousand million dollars is €stimated to have been freely contributed to such causes. Nor did men stop with money; life itself was poured out like water. The Allied dead number .over five milli.on of the cream of these nations; and this takes no reckoning of lives laid down in like spirit and often much more sacrificingly by those who belonged to civilian classes-whose measure of courage in carrying increased burdens, and of sacrifice in making cDnstant self denials, yielded to them also the crDwn of death. So, as some one has put it, we have come tD realize "the undreamed-of resources and splendor of even ordin~ry human nature, when touched by sacrifice into fire. And SD we have discovered, too, our own past mistake-the commDn mistake of the majority of modern Christians-that of asking of men, in Christ's Name, not too much but too little."
This spirit of service and of sacrifioo has made the missionary program, infinitely costly as it is, seem reasonable and poslijible as never before .the War.
There are other gains that suggest themselves as issuing from the great struggle: the new note of reality in all that concerns the word religion; the wider and deeper interpretation of the message of Christianity' to human life; the reliza- ,tion that Christianity must be applied to national and international life as well as to individual life. These and many other gains CDuid be mentioned, but those which have been reviewed suffice to establish the fact that our gains are greater than our IDsses and that the year 1919 marks a new year amDng the years .of modern histDry.
The deepest lessDn of .our survey .of the war period lies, however, not in regarding the crisis as past, nor in judging that we have reached the end .of the business and that the bDoks may be balanced and we may cDmfDrt ourselves with any slight excess of gains over losses. On the cDntrary, the real crisis lies ahead. Peace will bring more severe testing .of our national life, .of our civilizatiDn and of Christianity itself, than any days of war placed upon them. Highly as we may prize the purifying and challenging processes of the war, as E. A. Burroughs has so well said: "By al,I the laws and experiences of the higher life in the individual, we know that this better world will not come of itself. It will hav~ to be fought for. The kind of world that emerges after the war will depend on the extent to which God CDmes in to overrule the evil; and that, in turn, on the extent to which our faith releases His power."
Bible
By REV. SAMUEL M. ZWEMER, D. D. CAIRO, EGYPT CHRISTIANITY REVEALED IN THE GREAT COMMISSION "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying: "AU power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holv Ghost; teaching them to obsen'e all things whatsoever I ha'/}(! commanded you; and, 10, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." MATTHEW 28 :18-20 T HE four Gospels give the last command of Christ as the Magna Charta, the "marching orders," Divine program and . authority for the missionary task.
Mat. 28.18-20 – Why we are to go "All power is given unto Me" Mark 16 :15 – Luke 24 :47-49 – To whom to go "Every Creature"
The distinction John 20:21 – Order of going "Beginning at Jerusalem"
Spirit of messenger "As My Father hath sent Me"
In Matthew's account of the Apostolic Commission to the pioneers of the world-wide program-we have in germ the whole character of Christianity. It is to dominate the world because: 1. It is final and absolute. "All authority hath been given unto me in Heaven and on earth." Jesus Christ is·-The Only Saviour; The Perfect Saviour; The All-powerful Saviour. Son of Man-Son of God.
II. It is vital and aggressive. "Go Ye." They went. Apostles. Mediaeval Missions; Raymund Lull; Modern Missions; Wm. Carey, etc. III. It is universal. "Into all the World." Twelve men on a mountain in Galilee.
One century later – Jerusalem to Spain Five centuries later – conquered Europe iFourteen " " – crossed Atlantic Eighteen " " – belted globe Nineteen" " – occupied all lands Twenty " " – Christianizing all Nations IV. It is Trinitarian. "Baptizing into the name (One) 'of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," (three persons)-So it has been interpreted in the Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypse and Church Councils. .'
V. It is Ethical. The precepts and example of Christ give the highest ideals, highest motives. ("Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you.") VI. It is Triumphant. ("Lo, I am …"ith yon … ") AJI·~.
non-Christian religions mourn the abs.ence of their leaders. :a~d founders. But Christ lives, reigns and will return.
190
DEVE;LOPING NEW ERA LEADERS IN
. A Class in the Ed.ucational Deparbnent of the Young Men's Christian Association. Mexico City Working in Mexico Under Difficulties BY WALTER C. TAYLOR, MEXICO CITY Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Associatiou T HE past few years have been full of difficult experiences to the Young Men's Christian Association of Mexico City. With its building bombarded and nearly ruined in 1913, with so many changes in the government that a long period of continued occupation by one faction appeared to be an impossibility, and with the constant necessity of changing dues and room rents .to keep pace with the ever changing medium of exchange, the Assoc ciation like many business enterprises, had frequent causes for discouragement. But the workers have been the friends of all Mexicans and its supporters have remained loyal; so .that today it stands as a great example of international brotherhood and Christian unity in Mexico. Never before has it been so popular; never 191
before has it been supported so generously by the contributing public; never before have so many men enlisted in its ranks because of its moral and religious program.
A year ago, in the face of business conditions that seemed almost impossible, the Association raised $20,000 for new equip- ment and improviements. President Carranza, gave $2,000 (pesos), General Obregon contributed five hundred pesos, other government officials gave smaller amounts, and Spanish and Mexican business houses also contributed liberally. The budget for 1917 was over $75,000 (pesos). Many of the large business houses are assisting their employees in the payment of their dues, and Mexican business men as never before are making use of the Association's equipment.
Last February the Mexico City Association, cooperating with the churches, held what was probably the first "Father and Son Banquet" ever held in Mexico. One hundred and eighty-six fath- ers and sons were pres·ent. The guest of honor was Alberto J.
Pani, Minister of Commerce and Industry in President Carranza's cabinet. The principal address was made by Prof. Andres Osuna, at that tUne head of the department of Education for the Federal District, and more recently elected provisional governor of the State of Tamaulipas. The toasts, given by members of the boys' department, would have done credit to the brightest high school boys in the United States.- The following telegram, which was sent the next day by Mr. Paul to Dr. John R. Mott, indicates the impression which this occasion made: "1 was the guest last night of Y. M. C. A. at successful father and son banquet and congratulate you on splendid results of your noble work here, hoping that you will extend it more and more in my country and throughout the world for the advancement of the highest ideals which men of good will everywhere so earnestly desire. Accept kindest regards and sincere esteem from yours very sincerely, A. J. PANI."
The best people of Mexico, are manifesting a great interest in all efforts to uplift. the manhood of the country.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR MEXICANS One of the encouraging signs of the times in Mexico today is the interest in physical education. This is manifested in athletic clubs for the promotion of football, baseball and tennis, organized throughout the country. Educational leaders, like Professor Osuna and Professor Saenz, director of the Preparatory School, are prolltQting physical education in the schools with great energy and. efficiency. The physical director of the Y. M. C. A. has been appointed director of physical education in the PreparatCll'Y School, and many of the young men that have been trained in the Association are assisting him. At the annual physical exhibition given by the leaders' corps of the Association in the month of
WORKING IN MEXICO UNDER DIFFICULTIES
April, more than 1,000 people were present, and the event was giv·en more space in the daily papers the following morning than the European war. This leaders' corps, composed of eighteen of the finest young men to be found in the City of Mexico, is the pride of the Association. Not one member of the corps uses tobacco or intoxicants, a fact which makes the group a distinctive one indeed for Mexico.
ARE MEXICAN YOUNG MEN INTERESTED IN RELIGION?
If by religion one means the traditions and formulae of the Church that has dominated Mexico for the past four hundred years, the above question must be answered ,in the negative. If by religion is meant Christian life and a man's relation to the Kingdom of God, the answer is decidedly in the affirmative. The Y. M. C. A. has attempted to show that Christianity, rightly interpreted, appeals to the vigor and activity of youth. Young men IMPROVING THE BODIES AND ESPRIT DE CORPS OF MEXICAN YOUNG MEN A gymnasium class in the Y. M. C. A'. in Mexico City are showing more and more a vital interest in the Christianity that can be carried into an athletic contest or a business transaction and help a man to keep square and clean. Moreover, the ' young men are beginning to turn their eyes toward evangelicalchurches, for they recogni~ that the message of the Association is also the message of the Church. Groups of young men can be seen going from the Y. M. C. A. building on Sunday mornings to – the churches, a thing absolutely new in the history of the Assocition in Mexico. It is not to be understood, of course, that crowds of young men are flocking toward the churches, but key men are gathering round them their closest companions and are making an effort to learn more about the real Christ. The assembly hall of the Association, holding some three hundred persons, is well filled every Sunday afternoon, to listen to educational, moral and,
religious addresses. Among the speakers have been pastors of the native churches and the President of the Union Evangelical Seminary, whose messages have held the attention of the young men better than those of any other speakers.
The greatest problem of the Association in Mexico, like the greatest problem of every missionary enterpris,e, is that of leadership. A training center has been established by the Mexico City Association and an attempt is being made to send two men to the States each year for training in the Springfield and Chicago Association colleges. Already this plan has begun to show results.
EXTENSION OF THE AsSOCIATION MOVEMENT Last March, Mr. Richard Williamson, in charge of the na- tional work in Mexico, visited Tampico under instructions from the IniJernationalCommittee, to investigate the possibilities of opening a branch in that city. At a meeting of some forty repre- sentatives of the leading oil companies, more than $12,000 U. S. currency was subscribed, and within ten days a total of more than $26,000 was secured for leasing and equipping a suitable building~ The :Association is now established in that place, where hundred~ of young men, .chiefly Americans and English, will have the social aNd physical privileges so much needed. These young men were engaged in an industry absolutely vital to the prosecution of the war, and the Association in that city may truly be considered Ii part of the great war work. In Chihuahua the Association has been carrying forward its work during the past two years with no trawed secretary on the field, and the Association in Monterey, has r~~ntly been reorganb;ed. Calls are coming from a dozen or more cities throughout the country for the Association to open up its work. Lack of leaders is the only obstacle to rapid and exten- sive expansion of the movement.
Many people ask: "How has the Association been able to maintain its work in Mexico through all the revolutionary times?" In the words of a recent member of the Board: "The only ex- planation is that through the fifteen years since the Association was founded in Mexico it has made good." It has kept persist- ently at the task of working for young men. When its building was blown to pieces, it proceeded immediately to make the neces- sary repairs in order that its work might continue without inter- ruption. Its contributors have not forsaken it because they know that its work is indispensable, just as the efforts of all branches of the Christian Church are indispensable if Mexico is to be won . for the Kingdom.
Conditions Improved in
By ALICE J. MCCLELLAND, SAN ANGEL, MEXICO A s we read in the morni~g paper of a particularly horrible ban- dit attack on a passenger train my companion asked: "Do you think that Mexico is any better off than when Diaz was in powed" I hesitated, prospecting around in my mind for something witty to say, and then answered, "That is not a fair question. Comparisons are still odious, as they were in Shakespeare's day."
The time before the revolution and the present are so different that comparison is impossible. The Diaz government was impossible and could stand no longer. The present government is not impossible and I find no one on the ground who can think of any Mexican who would do better than the present head of the government. Now that we are able to contemplate Russia after the collaRse of an absolute despotism, we see how much worse Mexico might be. Men without Christian morals can not be expected to govern unselfishly for the good of humanity. But we may compare the conditions under which missionaries now work with those before the revolution.
When the first missionaries came to Mexico they faced physical danger at every turn and expected nothing else. The country was wild and fanatical. The missionary took his life in his hand and went ahead where duty called him, regardless of peril. But later there came a time when "Don Pornrio" made Mexico Ii playground for tourists and one could travel from one. end of the country to the other as safely as in the United States. Fanaticism broke down in a large measure and the missionary was safe to preach or to teach wherever he chose.
Then, after fifteen years or so of security missionary history reversed, for Mexico reverted to type. The heathenism which had been covered up with a gloss of civilization came to the snrface and has been in plain sight ever since. From being a paradise for tourists it has come to be a country where no one· ever travels for pleasure. The missionary travels when his work demands it, but he takes hiS' life in his hand every time he boards a train, regardless of peril, as did his first predecessors.
Anotl;J.er change, due to these same disturbed conditions, is the concentration of the work in the cities, and the abandoning of what was b~fore known as "field work." Our "field" men form~ erly kept horses and some kind of vehicles to travel to the ranches, far from the more populated centers. In these. days 195
of bandjts a horse is anybody's property, as soon as it gets out- side the city limits. A foreigner, especially an American, is liable to be kidnapped and held for ransom, if he ventures far from the city. Not long ago when a missionary nurse was leaving the town for the city a man tried to drag her off the platform of the Pullman car, as the train was starting. She managed to push him off the train. .
The cost of living has made another difference in our work.
In days gone by the missionary in Mexico could live in comfort on a salary which seemed small to people at home. Now living is higher that in the States, and yet very few salaries have been increased. Naturally the cost of all the mission work has ad- vanced accordingly. Appropriations for schools which were ample before the change are now so small that the schools can barely exist on them, and improvement is out of the question.
The missionaries are burdened with the scarcity of funds, almost to the point of despair. The principal of one school said the other day that she thought she would suggest to the mission that they close the school for one year and ask the Board to use the appropriation to get the equipment into something like order.
This shortness of funds exists in spi~e of the fact that the Mexi- cans themselves pay many times as much as they formerly did for school tuition and board. Antiquated text-books and equipment continue to serve, because there is no money to buy anything new. Food and household supplies have increased from one hundred to four hundred per cent in price. Coffee is the only article which has fallen in price. A bath is the only one which remains the same, but soap has risen 300 per cent.
But the changes are riot all for the worse. The awakening which the revolution brought has created a great demand for in- struction both secular and religious. Fanaticism has practically disappeared and everywhere there is a welcome for the Bible and Christian literature. Protestant churches are better attended than ever before and all our schools are full. In the schools of many cities there is getting to be a good sprinkling of Protestant teachers and they are making their influence for righteousness felt. Many believe we are on the eve of a great spiritual harvest.
Weare also debtors to the revolution for much of the in- crease of cooperation among the different denominations sus- taining mission work in Mexico. The" Cincinnati Plan" for the redistribution of the territory among the diff·erent missions has been carried out to a large extent, the Union Evangelical Semi- nary for the training of ministers is in successful operation, and further plans for closer cooperation are being carried out.
Ve expect financial and political conditions to improve now that the world war is over, but we do not squander our present
HAVE CONDITIONS IMPROVED IN MEXICO
opportunity hoping for better times. Weare convinced that Protestant . Ohristianity is Mexico's only hope, and that we must accept the pl'esent conditions until Christianity is f strong enough to furnish statesmen. Noone wishes for another dictatorship, even for the sake of security. Some progress has been made in the matter of statesmen, since Sr.
Andres Osuna has been made governor of the State of Tamaulipas. (Prof. MOlses Sainz, at the head of the gov- ernment high school in Mexico City is another Protestant who stands on his own merits and commands universal respect.
The pacification of the out- lying districts may be brought W about by evangelization. We must go out as the first mis- sionaries did, with our lives in God's keeping. Perhaps mis- sionaries have grown timid about facing physical danger, and Boards do not want 'to r invest money in property that may belong to them or to the Mexican Government or may MEXICAN OBJECTS OF VENERATION go up in smoke from a bandit's match. More ,risk will have to be taken in the matter of property, and if missionaries of the John G. Paton type are necessary to evangelize Mexico, we may secure them from the brave soldier boys who come back from France. At any rate in some way, by the power of God, and the sacrificial service of missionaries, Mexico must be evangelized.
Sufferings of Missionaries in
THE JOURNAL OF REV. FREDERICK N. JESSUP, TABRIZ, PERSIA The following extracts are taken from the private journal of Rev. Fred'k N. Jessup, a missionary of the Presbyterian Board in Tabriz, Persia. Mr. Jessup tells his story in a matter of fact way, without any attempt to depict all the horrors of the situation. His account of the imprisonment, the murders, attempted abductions of American women, and other experiences reveal, however, the courage of the little band, their heroic service and the sufferings they endured. Surely these noble men and women and the people for whom they are giving fheir lives deserve the most loyal support and most earnest prayers of Christians who are safely enjoying the security and comforts of the home land.-Editor.
November 1, 1918.
WHILE the Spanish Minister was here (in Tabriz) he acceded to the request of the Turks to allow them to use our house and the school buildings for a couple of weeks for some of their doctors. We protested but he assured us it was the best thing and that it would insure our own persons from being moh;sted, and the property would be returned in as good condition as when occupied. The result was that on Sept. 8th, the day after the first party of Turks went out, Doctor Vanneman and I were arrested. I was just starting for church when the word came that the "commandant" was coming to see us. In came the commander of the city troops and several other officers, the new "agala begt" and one or two Persian police. Instead of a call, as we supposed, they demanded to see the doctor's papers. They got all the doctor's letters from his family for the last five years. Then they said we were to come with them for five minutes to the Commandant's house. As it was time for church and they were expecting me to preach, we debated about going, but decided the best thing was to go, as there was little likelihood that the consul would be of any assistance then. .
We were taken to a big house and put in an empty upstairs room. They said that we had better send home for some lunch, so we d~d. Mcanwhile Mugerdoon, the dentist, was also brought in, and in the afternoon the two Armenian lawyers, B. Sedrak Awakian and B. Alexan, and at sunset Mr. Kavalsky.
As afternoon wore on they told us we had better send for bedding as we would spend the night there, so we sent for kindergarten tables on which we put our mattresses. Later we got a couple of tables and a lamp and little by little accumulated a bath tub, watering pot, 'washbowl, and other property. At first, expecting every day to be taken to Agoom baghe (Persian Cossack quarters taken by the Turks for barracks) to be examined, or to be set at liberty, we were chary of getting many things together.
198 We were all six of us in one room. The Annenians were charged with making bombs, Kavalsky with running a wireless, and against us was formed no charge. The Annenians knew some of the petty officers living in the building and we got acquainted with each other and had reading and talking and games and blessings and prayers and lots of callers. Every day the wives of our four comrades came to call and we shared all our meals. So the first days were very cheerful.
RELIEF FUNDS IN DANGER Tuesday evening some officers of the head Pasha came to .interrogate the doctor. They put their heads together and very solemnly in Osmanli Turkish asked questions. The young officer repeated in French, I translated into English, and the doctor replied in English, and it went back into French and Turkish, or sometimes I corrected when he did not translate correctly. Mter asking questions about the hospital and missionary force,and whether he had journeyed in Persia, etc., at last they whispered to each other, "Let us come to the point." So they asked if he did not have some other work than being doctor, the point being to get him to say he was treasurer of the Relief Work. Then they asked how much money had been spent and how much was DOW on hand, and where it was 1 The doctor told them of the money in the Bazaar at the bankers. That was absolutely the entire investigation, nothing more for six weeks. They tried hard to get the money from the Persian bankers, who naturally refused to pay without an order from Dr. Vanneman.
Meanwhile our companions were being released; Kavalsky on Wednesday and the others on Thursday. The same day a Persian banker was brought and put in with us a few days and on Friday, Mirza Ali Khan of the British Consulate. He was quite scared and sick, but was released before we were.
For the first week or so we had many visitors and our fellow jail-birds on being released showed us many kind attentions, sending us meals and samovars and tea and fruit and coming to call. The bishop and chief men called on the German consul and governor rotd Turks, and tried to get us released. Persian doctors made representations to the Crown Prince. A paper was gotten up and signed by 200 prominent people, saying the Persians had nothing against us and that we were gniltless. The American consul too wrote notes and made calls, but nothing came of it all. Mter about two weeks our jailors became stricter about ad- mitting callers and after three weeks the regiment whose men were in our yard was sent forward and a new set of officers and men came. Then we were snbjected to the indignity of having a
sentinel put outside our door with gun and bayonet and every hour as the guards changed they looked in to see we had not escaped. For the last three weeks we never went outside that door. For the whole 44 days I never descended to the first story nor set my feet on mother earth. It was quite like a long sea voyage, pacing our floor for exercise and playing quoits from day to day; and the rest of the time reading, sleeping and eating!
The last three weeks we saw practically no one but our jailers and settled down to regular habits: Reading all day and either reading or playing dominoes at night. Arose about 6, cold bath, breakfast at 7, a long morning of reading-Bible, Gibbon's Rome and some Commentary. Afternoon, more Gibbon, and then some novel. Evening, Bible, Commentary, novel and bed at nine. I practically finished four volumes of Gibbon, read at least half of the Bible and went over Ottman's book on Revelation and Gordon's little book on Christ's second coming nearly twice, besides re-reading quantities of novels. The last few weeks were really profitable.
From time to time we heard rumors that we would be deported to Kar!:!, or Aleppo or Constantinople, but as we couldn't do anything we did not worry.
After we had been under arrest about two weeks M. Franssen gave permission to the Turks again to enter our house and school grounds. He said it was for two days and that he hoped thereby to secure our release. .The r,esult has been to do a great deal of damage to the property-our stable yard was stripped clean of doors, windowS' and frames, and many other acts of vandalism were committed-and I know not what damage to our house and the schools for the Turks are still there. But they have stolen some 40 kharvars (20 tons) of ~chool wood, burned platforms, etc., and made the whole place filthy.
The 13th of October, Sunday, we heard that the Urumia missionaries were being brought over. The next day they arrived and were put into the Russian Bebk garden. They were allowed to go out into the garden and even cross to the Bank President's garden, so were freer than we. They have had a terrible time. The flight of the eighty-five thousand Christians from Urumia took place only a few hours before the Turks entered Urumia. The Shedds left only three hourse before the Turks and Kurds arrived. All the other missionaries stayed. Miss Schoebel wished very much to go, but there was no one to accompany her so she stayed to die of pernicious malaria.
On the arrival of Kurds and Turks together, Drs. Packard and Ellis were in the city property and the others at the "College." The doctors were able very early to see a commander
1919J THE SUFFERINGS OF MISSIONARIES IN PERSIA
who made his headquarters in our city property, and to get him to send guards to the "College," the orphanage and the Catholic Mission. But at the orpbanage Kurds and some Turks entert~d, looted the front buildings and then went to the back where the Pflaumers, Miss Bridges and the orphans were. A Kurd tried to carry off Miss Bridges. Mr. and Mrs. Pflaumer held her by the arms to keep her. At last a Turkish officer said, "We will have to kill him," and they fired a couple of shots into him as he was holding Miss Bridges, so that her clothes were drenched with his blood. The Kurd then carried Miss Bridges' off to the gate and was just putting her on his horse with the loot when other Turkish officers arrived and stopped him. The two ladies were taken to the commanders and some days later sent to the "College" where all the missionaries were: There was a time when it seemed that Mr. Richards and Dr. Dodd 'would be killed and at least Mrs. Richards carried off. Three Kurds entered the room where the ladies were, snatched rings off their fingers, carried Richards into the next room where they tbreatened to shoot him because he could not open the safes, aiId another started to carry off Mrs. Richards. But they were deterred by Kurdish refugees who had been fed and well treated at the hospital. The guards arrived before any murder was done: MURDER AND LOOTING At the Catholic Mission, where some 600 refugees from Salmas and Urumia were, Persian Moslems entered from one side while the Turkish guards were supposed to be guarding the property, shot down Monseigneur Sontag, the bishop, and another priest, and massacred all the Christians and refugees by clubbing and stoning and with daggers. Only one or two women escaped. The leader was Arshad-i-Humayoon, who with some twelve of his men spent nearly five months at the Bishop's last winter, being protected by him from certain death at the hands of the Armenian and J elco leaders. His r,eturn was the assassination of his benefactor.
The city property at Urumia was all looted. At the "College" the Turks took over the hospital and filled the grounds with soldiers and the buildings with sick. Besides that there were many sick Christians. All the missionaries' horses and carriages were taken. The crowding and the polluting of the air and water resulted in almost every one of them being sick and in Miss Schoebel 's death. John Maosme, one of the ablest of the Syrian workers was sick in his home and murdered in his bed. He was a graduate of Colgate University. Dr. Israel was' hung.
On October 8 the missionaries were told to get ready to come to Tabriz at once, Finally, they got three hours' notice
to get ready, but, of course, could take very few of the most esseutial things. These were packed with them on the auto truck, and they were taken to the lake, where that night fifty persons, Americans, Turks and Persian prisoners were crowded into a room some 20 by 10 feet. Next they were jammed between the decks into a barge and brought to Sharraf Khanah and thence to Tabriz. They had to le.ave their houses open and all their goods; and I suppose long ere this not a thing has remained of all they own.
We were freed October 22nd, and I immediately set to work to get ready our only available property, the girls' school. By Wednesday night we had the ladies' residence and the old residence portion of the main building cleaned, carpeted and partially furnished. 'l'hursday the Packards moved into the residence proper and the Ellises into the school building.
November 10th.
The three weeks since getting out of jail have been one perpetual jump; getting places and things ready for the Urumia missionaries, seeing quantities of visitors, trying to do something for the deluge of poor hungry people who had just been waiting for us to get out of prison in hopes of my being able to supply them with help. It is pitiful. And to have to turn away so many and to give such a pittance to those we do help, because of lack of funds and the way to get more until the roads open up and business is resumed, is heartrending. It makes one ashamed to be eating when so many are starving. I regularly give out money and interview the poor on Fridays, but other days and all the time they are coming to me for help and with pitiful stories. Last week I estimated the money should have reached about 1200 Tomans, but a great many more have to be turned away. Yet this is but a drop in the bucket to what ought to be done.
At last, on November 5, the last soldiers went, taking with them the mule and the woman they had kept in two adjoining rooms of the school, and leaving behind them many evidences of their stay. In our own house all the shelves and woodwork the soldiers could get hold of were smashed and burned. In the stable yard, doors, windows and their frames, and even some of the roofs were torn down and burned. In the school, doors and windows and all shelving besides most of our firewood are gone.
. Things were in a filthy condition. Our own house will need to be rewhitened throughout and floors repaired or remade and in some cases the existing woodwork and plastering torn out in the hope of getting cleanliness. However, it might have been worse and we can't be too thankful that they didn't stay on till winter, for then all the trees and all the wood work would have gone! While we were "jugged," Dr. Vanneman's dining-room,
THE SUFFERINGS OF MISSIONARIES IN PERSIA
where the Gifford's, Wells' and Flemings' things are stored, was broken into and all bureaus and desks broken open and ransacked in search of treasure apparently. The Pittmans have lost all their earthly goods, save perhaps a bedstead, and the others whatsoever they had left in the hospital compound.
The Urumia missionaries will stay here this winter. They can hardly do otherwise, having lost all thelir possessions, and to return to Urumia now, to a wasted, famine-stricken and desolated region, to hO'llses and larders looted, with no furniture or bedding or food at the opening of winter would seem ill-advised. Besides the roads are not safe yet for travel and no one knows when they will be. When they are, one at least, probably Dr. Ellis, wants to go over to see what can be done for relief and what has become of the mission property.
One thing is very noticeable and touching, and that has been the general cordiality of the people to Doctor Vanneman and myself upon our release. I have never seen the Armenians so cordial and people whom I have never known have expressed pleasure at our release. Many Moslems also tell how they have prayed for us during our period of arrest. Dr. Vanneman's enforced stop from work was felt all over the city by the sick and their friends.
There is no way as yet to communicate with you, for the telegraph wires are down, the Shahsavans on a rampage between Basminch and Zenjan.
November 17th.
News from America. Dr. Dodd's father was going on a medical commission or unit to the Holy Land and Wilfred Post might join them in June. Mrs. Packard has heard of the death of her father a year ago last October. Dr. Yonatan of Soujboulak arriv-ed a couple of days ago disguised as a Koord. He had taken refuge in a Koordish village for three months. His propf'rty and dispensary in Soujboulak had been destroyed by the Turks. Dr. Yoel of Maragha was seized by Munir Bey, the notorious commander-in-charge when our hospital was looted. He was carried to Benab, put in stocks for a short time and later freed from them. He was threatened with being carried to Khoi for courtmartial on charges of communicating with the enemy, but was offered his freedom on payment of 500 Liras. He :finally got off with the payment of 210 Liras and 50 tomans in bribes. In Khoi lately six Armenian men who had eseaped and taken refuge in the mountains were discovered and massacred under orders from the Turks, they say. The condition of the remaining Armenian women and children is pitiable.
Outlook Among Turkish
BY REV. HENRY H. RIGGS, HARPOOT, ASIA MINOR T HE most striking and obvious change brought by the war in the missionary situation in Turkey is the advent of religious liberty. Hitherto Turkey,being under the direct rule of the Caliph of Islam, has been absolutely intolerant of any Christian effort for Moslems, or of any wavering on the part of Moslems in their profession of loyalty to their faith.
To say that this barrier ha~ been removed may soun~ prematnre at a time when the peace conference has not yet decided the fate of the Turkish Government. But it must be remembered that a majority of the Sultan's Moslem subjects live in areas that have either already been delivered by Entente armies, or have been definitely promised permanent deliverance from the ~'urkish yoke. To all these millions of Moslems has come at last the day when they can worship God as their consciences dictate.
At first thought the most important outcome of this change might seem to be the opening of the door for direct preaching of the Gospel to Moslems. It is with this blessed prospect ever in mind that we turn our faces once more to the field. The old, baffling ban is off.
But another fact has even more dramatic possibilities in its train. Most of the Moslems in Turkey have either themselves accepted Islam under compulsion or are the descendants of such unwilling converts. It remains to be seen how many of these have acquired a loyalty to Islam that will survive the removal of artificial compulsion. The many, of course, will remain Moslem. Yet there are those, and their numbers are not small, who will welcome the chance to repudiate their former insincere adherence to Islam.
I do not refer only to Armenians who have saved their lives by professing Islam. The number of such is not large. Far more numerous are those of supposedly Moslem races. Among the Kurds of Armenia and the wandering Turkomans of Anatolia, there are whole tribes whom the Turkish Government has classified as Moslems, and who through fear accepted the pretense. But they are not true Moslems. Their faith is an odd mixture of miscellaneous traditions,' some of which, notably their sacra- .. ment similar to the Lord's Supper, are obviously an inheritan(le from Ohristian ancestors. Their sympathies are altogether with Christianity, and they often say, "We are nearer to the Ohristians than to the Turks." Some years ago a group of Kurdish tribal chiefs came to the American missionaries in Harpoot with the proposal that they with all their tribes should declare themselves Christians, if only the Americans would persuade the Z04 British Government to protect them from the wrath of their Turkish rulers. Now that the compulsion of fear has been removed, the possibility of a mass movement of these tribes to Christianity is one which cannot be ignored. .And there are many other individuals whose only reason for adhering to the ruling faith was the fear of punishment, who now will gladly take a stand as Christians, with no effort or persuasion from without.
Striking as it is, this purely external change in the missionary situation is not the most important that has resulted from the war. More potent than governmental restrictions, the pride and self-satisfaction of the Moslem has been the more decisive obstacle to reaching these peoples with the Gospel. This pride had a political basis. The Moslem was the ruling race, the Christian a despised subject. Now that the Moslem finds himself politically no more than the equal of his Christian neighbor (in all other respects he has always been obviously inferior,) one of the strongest arguments for loyalty to Islam disappears. The Moslem's pride has been humbled.
Back of his pride in lrcal supremacy was the sense of the great Moslem world unity. After all, the dominance of Islam is, in the mind of its devotees, a political dominance, and thinking of h·mself as a member cf that irresistible Moslem world power, the Moslem has been sure that when, some day, the Caliph of all Islam should issue the call to a Holy War, every Moslem the world over would rally to the green banner of the prophet, and the infidel would be overthrown. The failure of the Jihad was unthinkable. But the Jihad was proclaimed, and was a miserable failure. The Turk today is broken-hearted, not so much because his own government is overthrown as because Islam has been overthrown, irretrievably broken and divided. And his hopelessness is the more complete as he realizes that the rupture came over a moral issue, in which the Turk himself was in the wrong.
To those of us who lived among the Turks during a part of the war, the depression and hopelessness among thinking men was most impressive. One Moslem told me that he had been studying the sacred books, and that he was convinced that the end of Moslem power was at hand. "The measure of our sins is full; terrible days are coming!" Repeatedly they said, when fresh disasters and sufferings came upon them, "This is the judgment of God for our sins." This sounds fairly obvious to a of western mind, but for a Moslem, repentance and humiliation soul are strange fare indeed! To all this national and religious humiliation has been added a degree of personal suffering and loss not often realized by outsiders. The Turkish losses in battle have been frightful, but pale into insignificance beside the ravages of disease, hunger and neglect, which have swept away literally millions of Moslems in Turkey. Every home has its sorrow, and thousands of homes have been broken up, and whole villages blotted out by epidemicsor other disasters.
Under the crushing load of all this humiliation, sorrow and agony, the Moslem has found little help in his religion. The only comfort in Islam is a S'toical submission. "Such was the decree of fate." But when he sees all too plainly that it was not a decree of fate but the criminal callousness of someone who should have cared that has laid him low, the faith ·and complacency of the Moslem is under too great a strain. The people of Turkey are heartbroken, and for that heartbreak there is no balm in Islam.
This time of the humiliation and bitter suffering of the Moslems has given an unparalleled opportunity for Christian service. Missionary hospitals have been full of sick and wounded Turkish soldiers, and the simple ministry of sympathetic care has brought the love of God more vitally to the hearts of those
THE OUTLOOK AMONG TURKISH MOSLEMS
poor sufferers than was ever possible before. I count it one of the greatest privileges I ever enjoyed to go into the wards of our hospital and explain, as the men listened with brimming eyes, the motive that lead Dr. Atkinson and his fellow-workers to show them a tender kindness that they had never experienced before. Christianity has a new meaning to those men.
Not by any means all of this ministry was rendered in missionary hospitals. In almost every military hospital in Turkey Christian doctors and nurses and orderlies were in a position to show the Christian spirit in a most striking way. Armenian girls escaped from their persecutors often found refuge as nurses in military hospitals, and it sometimes occurred that they had to minister to the very men who had done to death their own Christian neighbors and relatives. The triumph of Christian kindness under such impossible circumstances has furnished an object lesson that can never be forgotten. Simple kindly service to suffering Moslems has done more than years of sermons could do to prepare the mind of these Turks for understanding· the spirit of Christ.
An Armenian friend told me of a Moslem soldier who was brought home, wounded in both feet, from the battle front. The Armenian went to his house to ask for news from his relatives in the army, and as he stood waiting in the doorway, was astonished to see the wounded man come on hands and knees and seize his hand,-the proud Moslem kneeling at the feet of the despised Christian,-while he poured out his gratitude for what the Armenian's son-in-law had done for him in the far-off field hospital, showing him human sympathy when all others were callous and cruel.
Some of the Kurdish Moslems were deported as the Armenians had been, and scores of thousands of Turks fled before the advancing enemy, often fleeing in conscience-stricken panic when no real danger existed. As these wretched exiles dragged themselves through Harpoot in a pitiful, unending stream, their own fellow-Moslems treated them with shocking indifference, for that is the way of the Turk. The Chief of Police of Harpoot, himself a pious Moslem, confronted with the task of feeding the fugitives,' complained bitterly to me one' day :-" Our Moslem people have no hearts! Their own people are starving, yet they will not even lend me a kettle to cook food in, and I have to ask it from the Christians. " One day I watched a throng of these Moslem fugitives wind- ing down the hill i-watched a dying woman who fell by the roadside right within sight of the city,-saw her appeal in vain for help to Moslem after Moslem who passed, till two Christians came that way, lifted her tenderly and brought her to our school where S/hp, and several like her were cared for by the willing hands of Ar-
menian women who had suffered measureless wrongs -from their Moslem 9Ppressors. If anything were lacking in this impressive object lesson, it was furnished by the spectacle of Christian faithfulness and courage in martyrdom. We watched the multitude of Armenian women and children starting out on that awful Sabbath day in July, 1915, when Harpoot was depopulated. Those women had seen their men go forth to die; and as the police and gendarmes, with horrid brutality, herded together the defenceless women and children to start on that journey of death, the women knew that an early death was the best fate they could hope for, and that many of them must. go on and on, over the mountains and throngh the dark ravines where none could say nay to whatever their beastly captors chose to do. And yet, facing a fate so infinitely worse. than death, many of those Christian women started out that morning with calm faces and unshaken trust. Some with smiles of triumph said, "Goodbye, we're going to Heaven." They went "refp.sing deliverance, that they might attain a better resurrec- tion. " Our Moslem neighbors stood by that day, silent, powerless to help. But they never could forget that scene. A few weeks later, a Moslem Doctor of the Law was sitting in my room when news came of the death, in the Syrian desert, of one of our neighbors, a wealthy lady who had started out on that fateful Sunday morning~ I told my visitor the news, and he said, "It is too bad slle went, but she would not stay. I went to her house that morning and begged her to tak~ her two little children and come to my house. But she said 'No, I cannot stay. If I should, when the rest are gone, you will make me a Moslem. No, I will not give up my Jesus.' " That prominent Moslem gentleman, repeating to me thlil very words of broken Turkish with which a refined, wealthy woman had turned her back on safety and life to face such a fate with her Saviour, is typical of thousands of others whose hearts have been touched by the martyrdom of Armenia.
The miracle has been wraught! The obstacles that hitherto have barred the Christian missionary's approach to Moslems in Turkey have one and all been melted down in the terrible suffer"- ing that has swept over Moslem and Christian alike" Freed at last from governmental compulsion, their religious pride irretrievably broken, their hearts crushed and hopeless and unable to find help in their own religion, these heartsick Moslems are ready as never before to listen to the offer of new life and hope in the loving Saviour who has enabled their Christian neighbors to triumph in their ordeal of far greater suffering. Surely the glorious day is dawning for missionary work in Turkey.
OF DAN CRAWFORD'S MISSION BUILDINGS IN CENTRAL
Some More of "Thinking Black"
BY DAN CRAWFORD. ELIZABETHVILLE, BELGIAN CONGO Author of "Thinking Black"
L AST night I climbed the great range of mountains walling our Luanza town on the West, and with the first flush of saffron . . dawn I seemed to hear far below the "sunrise" bell sounding down the palm avenue and calling the town to daybreak prayer.
For many years, in the unwearied mercy of God, this "Sunrise in- the-soul" .meeting has been the first fact in Luanza life, when God, The Sentinel of the Night, is greeted with a song of praise. For sunrise should mean soul-rise, yet instead of the soul rising with the sun how often the wide-awake sun finds a foolish, fast-asleep soul. .
There are deep .canons all along the edg-e of this range and down in the Dantesque darkness a rare hamlet hidden among landolphia vines. The overhanging cliffs are crested with a fringe of noble trees and this means that far below, all the canon cocks crow an hour later than their fellows out in the open plains; long ago the great savannahs were flooded with warm morning sunlight, the correct cocks going by solar clock and punctually saluting the sun. Not so deep down among the dark rocks of the glens sun, peasants and birds are all late; "Slug-a-beds," you might dub them, only they retort that it is King Sol who is the late riser! But the best bit of all lies in the tribal fact that they themselves see a moral meaning in it and sing a song that catches this symbolic action of the sun. Mark you, it is not the moralizing missionary but they 209
themselves who put it. Bwa cha ka~a, cha chinga ni ngu~u. Which means: "Look out yonder the warm plains bathed in the morning sunlight-that's Europe far away, kissed with the sunshine of life's good things. But contrast our dark, cold ravine, with no belated sun yet a while-that's Africa,' the black den of black people who have not got their !'lun yet. But it's coming, oh yes, it's coming, and soon the symbolic sun will be over the rim of the range; then even our parabolic cocks will crow." i The trouble about this parable is that it is too tragically true, even in its ultimate details, for the pinching part of this picture lies in the bursting on them of an angry belated sun, not the pale, easy thing of daybreak, but a fierce eleven-in-the-morning sun sending down burning bolts,' a true-to-the-Ii£e snapshot of the ugly African "booms" and the terror of transition. Surely this is proof positive that the African in a parable of his. own making calls his 'own Africa, "The Dark Continent"! But I must hasten to record a little episode lest it be lost to posterity; a humble bit of preaching that proves how the African is no mean surgeon of the soul. Dropping in on this young preacher, I am really eavesdropping, for he is not supposed to know that I am listening. Unlike most Africans he is none of your oh-be-joyful sort of saints, but, au contraire, very sober with gestures that are marvellous in their economy of effort. Nevertheless, the fine fellow in his own way is flowing like a flood, his theme that delightful but dangerous record of the woman taken in adultery. What has caught him is the contrast of Christ in humiliation, stooping to write on the ground, while the woman's accusers not merely talked tall, but loomed up all the taller as Christ seemed smaller by His stooping. They from their lofty height laying down the law of death to the stooping Saviour; for the taller they talk the smaller Christ shrinks as He keeps writing on the soft ground!
Then the preacher sparkled out into a phrase that only an African could frame. Said he, "Was Jesus Christ rudeT Why does He not look up at these accusers; why turn away His eyes from them and look down always to the ground, not up at them1 Answer: He was looking at them all the time He did so look down, for they were only dust and He remembers we are dust, even when we Pharisees forget it. The tall talk of these tall accusers made them so forget they were dust that Christ seeing them as they were and not as they pretended to be, He really, all the time, saw them not merely deep down in the dust, but the dust deep down in them. Therefore, in so stooping and so steadily gazing down on the ground, not up in their direction, His eyes in the truest sense never left them, for to look up would not have been to see them, but only their external make-believe.
But, is this his final word T Nay; of all the pestilent trash
SOME MORE OF THINKING BLACK
preached in God's name, without His authority, a "bloodless" sermon is the maximum of mockery. The blood is the life. And this young gospeller puts the Oross in where its apparent absence only argues its perpetual presence. He is out for a contrast-those tall talkers, said he, are quoting from those othlOlr words written on the hard tables of stone, whereas here is Ohrist writing the accusation on the soft ground that (hark at the fellow!) "one shower of God's tears (the rain) would in one downpour wash away forever." But he does not end with the poetry of the tears of God. How can God's tears make an end of sin any more than man's tears? Oould Gethsemane ever equal Oalvary1 Where is the blood-shedding in mere tears 7 His answer is that it was The Very Hand soon to be nailed to the Tree that so wrote on the soft- ground, and This Very Hand having to pay the price had therefore the purchased right to write her acquittal in advance.
Thus did the African preacher sweep the arc of this great Ohristian doctrine, telling how the tenderness of the Saviour is so beautifully proportioned to the sorrow of the sinner.
,But to be true to the African story, this. letter should be full of light and shade like a Rembrandt picture: I mean that somber side of backsliding that lies between you and your night's rest. And yet out of this very sorrow there finally flows, through the good grace of God, the joy of restoration. Bunyan is the man to quote on this tender theme, for he will never be dead-and-done-with in more senses than one. You recall how poor Mr. Little Faith fell among the desperadoes of Deadman's Lane: they assaulted him violently and topped it all by robbing him to boot. But the remarkable thing was that when he recovered his senses an investigation of his total loss in cash revealed that his assailants had taken only his 'spending money. And then comes the "tinker touch that tells": "The place where his jewels were they never ransacked, so those he kept still." Surely this is sweetly true; yet these soul robbers are doing such a real business that the only safe place for our treasure is to be "hid with Ohrist in God." When his mates stole the converted collier's dinner to see if they could make him swear, he only cried out "Praise God, I've still got my appetite; they can't take that!" and so it is bere in the wilds' where the devil has to learn the lofty logic of Deadman's Lane.
PAGANISM HAS NO DOXOLOGIES "Do the heathen get no comfort whatever from their religion?" a missionary was .asked.
"Yes," he replied, the same kind of comfort you get out of a narcotic." Buddhism, Brahmanism, Taoism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism are opiate religions.
* Christianity, on the contrary wakes un the soul with a ..cw life. "The fruit o£ the Spiri. is * * joy," and must find outlet in singing.
~tY1f80t fIIO/fflh. FUR lAIIORER5
if!OIust/Je'(lRrlmoo- Lift up yoW' eyes and LOOK TEACIIEIIS ENUST NOW FOR WORLD RWS On the ,lddt WANTED Uft up your hearts and IMIDIAmy PRAY VOLUNTEERS The Lord of the Harve.t JAPAN The Bread of Ufe to the .st.rnnr KOREA 0iINA INDIA- AFRICA NEAR EAST MAYLAYSIA SOUlH AMERICA Poster IP-ATRIOTI-SM ISNOHNDUGH Possibilities EDITH CAVELL A set of Six Attractive Posters EMERGENCY CAlLS FOR RECRUITS has been prepared-three are reproduced on this page ___ … _ .."CIIIJIo ….. _~.,,_ … They measure about 24 by 30 inches and cost only 50 cents _-";_"QW-~"' a Bet HUt AJU. £»ll'iC ,…. lHr l1tI "oOif~ Already FOURTEEN ON "le" 8.1t.nlJn·ll) OF Ni'iJ'l'rI!HOO[) rnOUSAND SETS THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR SALVATION CALLS t.~ve been ordered in advance-this means 84,000 posters will be e2hibited HOW TO USE. THEM In American Colleges In Mi••ion Study Classes In Hospitals and Nurse. Schools In State and Di.trict Meetings In Summer Conlerences On Bill Board. Anywhere 212
@ @ ~…….B…0EUd.S…-T-1!:Mf ~E.T"H,O-DS….._…0
EDITED BY MRS. E. C. CRONK, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Chairman of the Committee on Methods of Work of the Federation of Woman's Foreign. Mission Boards FEDERATION METHODS FOR THE COMING YEAR A MOST significant meeting of the The War Program was: first, Federation of Women's Boards of Volunteers. It was when we saw Foreign Missions of North America the boys march away that hearts was held in New York on January were opened and people became eager the thirteenth and fourteenth. There to give for Liberty Loan, for War .was evidenced a great enthusiasm, Work, for Red Cross. There is a which was well balanced by a calm great financial missionary drive determination that the women of planned, on which we may enter in a America must be led on from the few months. Recruiting should pre- heights of sacrifice and service which cede this. have won a war to still greater heights of sacrifice and service 'Yhich Our plan includes: shall win a world to Jesus Christ. A RECRUITING CAMPAIGN. This is not to supersede or inter- Plans and methods for a Rainbow fere with the plans for reaching col- Division to conduct a campaign for leges, but there are thousands of wo- larger enlistment of service, money and life, promise an even larger in- men now graduates of colleges with experience as Doctors, Teachers, fluence than the great Jubilee gather- Nurses, Music Teachers, Christian ings which blazed the way. Workers, Social and Welfare Work- ers. Our first call must be for those. Mrs. Henry W. Peabody presented They could go now. There are many the following plans of the committee who are demobilizing. of which she is chairman: How can we reach them? Cam- Preparedness Program-and 1. By a united effort. 2. By prayerful effort. paign for Recruits. Now after the roar and crash of war, after the 3. By persuading them to look on blood and tears, God's Bow of Prom- the fields. ise, His Everlasting Covenant, may span all the seas. We women may PUBLICITY PLANS. help to make the rainbow, for surely our covenant with Him is not to be (a) Meetings of professional wo- a "scrap of paper." Our moment in men of the type who might be valu- the world's history has come. Are able in mission fields. These meet- we prepared? If not, we are un- ings to be held with a supper. worthy to be leaders of Boards and Societies, unworthy of our Great Di- (b) By addresses at such meetings 'vine Leader. Women have made a planned in some respects along suc- new record in war. Are we ready cessful war l i n e s . ' to make a new record in missions? Boards are in need of money. We Teams should include: have learned how to give for war. 1. A Veteran: Board leader or How may we learn to continue our giving for missions? missionary. 2. A new recruit or Volunteer. 3. A recruiting officer who will be supplied with material-post- ers, Rainbow literature, prayer and pledge cards.
213
LOCAL COMMITTEES: form the basis for the speeches of the Four~Minute Women. In addition to the teams sent out under direction of Boards, Local (3) In the ellve10pe is included a Committees must he formed in cities sheet of hymns–our marching song~ where the campaign is on. These are -all familiar. from all the churches. Their work is to secure a place for such a meeting, (4) The Prayer and Pledge Card appoint groups to secure the presence of professional women-not through is also enclosed in the envelope. public announcement but by personal invitation. They will arrange for a The appeal will be made by the Re- Rainbow chorus of musical girls to lead the music. They will secure pa- cruiting Officer who should be a wotronesses who will help to pay for the supper and will be present to re- man of intelligence, spiritual power ceive the inspiration. Women of means will not grudge $5.00 each for and appeal. this. Six Four-Minute women must be secured to answer the questions: THE PROGRA!',{: Who, Why, When, Where, How and Wherewithal, from the leaflets in the 1. Supper-a simple attractive envelope. They should be those who can do it strongly and effectively. meal to which professional women are invited. Patronesses will defray A group of "Canteen" workers will help to serve the supper. expense.
We must not fail to have groups 2. Singing. organized for prayer for the meeting -that God will call the right ones to 3. Appeal from a veteran, a strong enlist in Foreign Service. missionary speaker, Board worker MATERIAL FOR BOARDS: or missionary. 15 or 20 minutes. (1) Posters. The series of six Federation posters in color present topic: The Call of the World Today. the needs as follows: 4. Six Four-Minute Women an- 1. A Call to Prayer. swer the questions-Who, Why, 2. For Christ and the World- When, etc., getting points from Lend, Give, Join, Send, Go. Rainbow Series. 3. To Doctors and Nurses-A Message from Edith Cavell. 5. Singing.
4. To Teachers-,Democracy is not 6. Recruiting Officer presents the enough, it must be Christian. call of the King, displays posters, 5. The Federation Poster-Feder- and presents Pledge Cards. This is ated to Fight for 500,000,000 Women.. made a serious prayerful call, and aU 6. The Book Poster-A Crusade of are asked to take home the souvenir Compassion. envelope at their plates containing (2) The Rainbow Series. Who? Why? When? Where? the leaflets, and sign at least one of How? Wherewithal? the pledges which should be read An artistic envelope containing six and explained. leaflets in color with answers to these questions which naturally arise FINANCE;: in the minds of women who have never considered foreign service. The Local Committee in large These consist of 800 words each and cities, as in the Jubilee, will plan for local expenses.
ORGANIZATION: The Executive Committee of the Federation will appoint a suh-com- mittee to act as a Central Committee to arrange for the territorial divi- sions. These will be determined by the location of groups of Boards, and will include such centers as; Boston . Nashville New York Pittsburgh Philadelphia The Pacific Coast Chicago and other places.
The Boards in each territory will each appoint .two or more women on the Rainbow Committee for that territory. They will add leading Dis-
BEST METHODS
trict or State representatives of de- meeting of those who have the servnominations not represented by ice flags with the cross instead of Boards. This Committee will decide which cities shall be visited, and will the star. communicate with them. They will also select and train the team or The posters may be secured from the teams, and will furnish full instruc- Women's Foreign Mission Board. They tions to the Local Committees. are put up in sets of six in a mailing tube, price 50 cents. They will secure Posters, Rainbow Literature and will make clear and The Rainbow colored envelope, containenthusiastic presentation of the plans ing the six leaflets and prayer and in the religious and secular Press, pledge card with hymns will be furnished giving the facts regarding the needs for 5 cents each. Order £.rom Miss M. of the women of non-Christian lands H. Leavis, West Medford, Mass. and stating the need of workers, the type of workers and the great need Much will depend on the enthubf larger gifts. The Rainbow Committee will suggest special services of siasm, intelligence and prayer brought prayer in all the churches for this to the task. Think what it would campaign. They will ask Local Committees to present the plan to pastors mean to tired workers in the trenches and secure their cooperation. out on the far flung battle line, to A service flag should be presented hear the sound of the marching foot to each church by the Local Com- of a new army of occupation. Think mittee. Such a flag will be designed and the pattern furnished. One of those who have been not four but church that sent 145 recruits to war has not one star on its missionary forty years at the front. Think of service flag. Make reports in the closed hospitals for lack of workers. VVe know what American boys did as an army of relief on the West Front. Have we heroism equal to theirs? And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be my wit- nesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth. The Day of Witnessing is here."
WHAT ONE POSTER DID In the fall of 1916 a list of places in the mission field where trained nurses were needed was sent by the Student Volunteer Movement to a number of hospital superintenden.ts, with a letter asking that it be posted in a conspicuous place.
One of these on the bulletin board of a Florida hospital was read by a nurse who had almost finished her course of training. She wrote to the Secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement telling of her interest in missionary service and desire to give her life to it. She had had training and experience as a high school teacher before entering the hospital and had been active in church and Sunday-school work, all of which seemed to be a splendid preparation for the work of a missionary nurse. Her name was sent to the Foreign Mission Board. of the Southern Methodist Church-as she was a member of that church-the Secretaries opened correspondence with her immediately and had a personal interview with her within a few weeks. Although she was thirty-four years old, she was so well qualified in every other way to meet the requirements of work abroad that she was accepted by her Board at its spring meeting and sailed August 2, ·1917, for China: Her work at the language school has fully justified the Board in setting aside its usual age limit in her case, and they see in her one of the strongest young missionaries on their force."
If one poster did this what may Bring it to the attention of Wo- eighty-fo,ur thousand posters do? men's Clubs as a suggestion for a Miss Vernon Halliday, the newly- course of study that is sure to inter- elected secretary of the 'Federation, est every woman.
tells a story of the influence of one Secure a gift from women of poster which suggests the possibility means to place the book in the hands of a largely increased force if these of nurses in hospitals, and students posters are carefully placed. in Medical Colleges. , Before this issue of th~ REVIEW Secure another gift to send a copy is published the Rainbow Division to each woman missionary in the will have conducted meetings in a service of your Board. There are mis- number of important centers includ- sionaries on the field who have never ing Washington and Philadelphia. seen one of all the splendid text Fuller information may be secured books we have printed, and we have from Mrs. Dewitt Knox, 216 West scarcely given a thought to making 56th St., New York, who is secretary it possible for them to keep in touch of the Committee. ' with the Mission Study of the home Text Book Methods churches.
The new book, "A Crusade of Christian Literature Advance Compassion," by Belle J. Allen and Methods for securing more Chris- Caroline Atwater Mason, is a study tian literature for the women and of medical missions, and promises to children of mission lands are worthy have the widest use of any text book of time and thought. We have yet issued by the United Study COIp- scarcely had time to lift up our eyes mittee. There has never been a time from the wealth of our laden book when the women of America were so shelves to the emptiness of the ready for such a crusade. Hearts shelves which should contain Christhat have been stirred to compassion tian books in mission lands. A by the suffering on the battlefields. special meeting to consider this and in the hospitals of Europe, will subject was held in Boston a few respond now to the call of the suf- months ago. Mrs. McGillivray of fering 'women and children of China told of the great need for the non-Christian lands, and will pour out Life of Christ, translated into the their lives in compassionate service Chinese language and adapted especiand their money to parallel the lives ally for small children. When one given, if the need is presented to woman present realized that in the them in an adequate way. land in which one-fourth of the children of the world live there is Circulation Suggestions. Place an no illustrated Life of Christ prepared order immediately with your own specifically for the very little ones, Board so you may have this new text-book as soon as it is off the she took out her check book and press. Price 35 cents, paper binding, wrote a check immediately for two 50 cents, cloth. hundred and fifty dollars, the amount needed for such a translation. She Have copies sent to key women in said she was' afraid to wait for fear your church and community, so that she might die on the way home and they may have opportunity to study miss such a glorious opportunity. the book early and make plans for the widest use possible in Mission Such meetings should be held in Study Classes and Reading Clubs. many centers for the presentation of this great need and opportunity. A See that this book has place on the special program has been prepared, program of all Summer Schools and which may be secured for five cents Chautauquas. from Miss M. H. Leavis, West Med- Put it in your church, college and ford, Massachusetts. city libraries.
191~1 • BEST METHODS
Summer Schools conference advising them to send this girl to a Summer School for train- All the summer schools will fea- ing. They made the investment and ture methods of work. One of the have received rich returns in the best opportunities for introducing improved methods introduced into the best methods into our societies is their conference. in sending to these Summer Schools the girls and women best fitted to 5. A woman wrote to a number of get the most from these courses and friends asking them to share with her to carry the inspiration and practical the privilege of giving the Summer help back to the members of their School trip of three missionary societies. As in most other things friends on furlough. The shares we fall short in preparedness in hav- were quickly taken and the mis.sioning a strong delegation ready for aries both gave and received great Summer School enrollment. We in- blessing. tend to, but the time slips around before we make any definite plans, 6. A girl who had received great and we sit us down and sigh because benefit from a Summer School began the girls and women who ought to be early in the year to work up a party there are not. for the next summer. She made a list of possibilities. She wrote to + 6 Things 6 People = 6 Delegates them and arrived at the Summer School with a party of seventeen. 1. One woman started a Summer School bank and made a daily sav- A SEVJ>:NTH POSSIBILITY. ings deposit on her expenses so they would not have to be taken out of Everyone of our Summer one month's allowance. Schools should have at least one "Missionary Review Delegate"-who 2. A woman who is a regular may make all or part of her expenses Summer School attendant makes it by taking subscriptions to the Review her rule to take with her a young between this· and the conference date. girl as her guest. She calls the girls The commission on from twenty-five to whom she has given these advan- to fifty subscriptions would pay extages: "My second chances." penses to a nearby School. To the "M. R. Delegates" will come the 3. A girl who could not go herself double reward of attendance at the paid the expenses of another girl Summer School and the gratitude of who could. the workers whom she introduces to the wealth of the table contents of 4. One woman, noting the possi- the Review. There is more halo bilities of leadership in a bright about the head of the agent of misyoung girl whom she met in a local sionary literature than is usually vismeeting, wrote to the officers of the ible to the naked eye.
Your Best Method Have the methods of other workers helped you? Your methods would likely be just as helpful to them. The Best Methods Department is the medium of exchange. You are asked to send to the editor plans that you -have tried and have found successful. Address Mrs. E. C. Cronk, 2346 West Grace St., Richmond, Va. A free subscription to the REVIEW will be sent in recognition of methods submitted and found available for use in this department.
Woman's Foreign Mission
Edited by Mrs. O. R. Judd, Brooklyn, N. Y.
THE APPROACH TO A COMMON TASK Mrs. F. S. Bennett, New York President of The Council of Women for Home Missions DURING the past two decades church to its long-established and groups of men and women repre- restricted lines of service. Whatsenting the official mission agencies ever may have been true of the past, of many denominations have been many women of 1919, trained to associated in Councils and Federa- study with women of other detions; through this association they nominations about the mission task, have been learning how similar are are preparing their minds for the the tasks to which they are sever- day already foreshadowed when ally obligated, and how alike are they shall serve together with these the methods through which they others for the accomplishment of are approaching these tasks. To a this common task. greater or less extent this new knowledge has,filtered down through It is not easy to realize that· the world of 1914 has gone forever the groups back of the Boards and and that there has come a period has mitigated the rigors of denom- which is seeing gigantic revaluainational exclusiveness. Summer tions in things mental, ethical and spiritual. Were there great· physi- Schools of Missions,emphasizing cal convulsions it might be easier the number of communions having to appreciate this other change, but adherents at these gatherings, and when the material world is so unions formed in local communities serene it seems almost impossible for the united study of missions, to believe. that 1919 is very different have given tangible evidence of the from 1914. But those who have drawing together that was bound kept their eyes to the future underto come with understanding. stand that great changes are im- minent and the necessity that there The Council of Worrien for Home should be immediate preparations Missions has gathered annually, for that the new conditions of life may the past eleven years, representa- be challenged by a great spiritual tives of the eighteen Woman's power. Political revolutions have Boards that constitute the Council, made the last few years memorable for the consideration of those in- and the struggle of capital and labor terests which they have in common. has focused the attention of the Very tentative was the approach a world upon itself, but in no part decade ago; at the last meeting a of life are tremendous changes prenew spirit was manifest and through- saged more than in those things out the session was sounded the that relate to the Church. It, too, belief that the Church of Christ is faces readjustments, reorganizations; unless it proves its adaptability to at the threshold of her greatest the new world conditions, disorganopportunity, but that she can achieve ization as well as reorganization is possible. the service asked of her only as she is a united power. It is often said The Church has claimed for itself that the women form the conservative group which in every com- munity hold the denominational .. 218 a large leadership; it is now de- cumulative force rather than dis- sipated attack. manded of it that, because of this The twentieth century demana~ claim, it shall have an adequate above everything .else results, a· that these shall In some way l>~ program for the new national and commensurate to the effort that has international life; that this program been put forth. It is unquestioned that to some extent the Church has shall not be weakened by diversified escaped this demand and because it sectarian appeals, but that there has seemed to be in a class by itself, has been allowed to put forth shall be a unified approach to a a maximum of effort with a mini- mum of result without being sub- common task. It is further de- ject to the criticism that would have manded· that the presentation of come to any other body under similar circumstances. This has such a program shall be immediate, been partially due to the 'very splendid work done by the Church that the new forces abroad in the in many lines and by individual churches; the inefficient ones have world shall not thoroughly entrench often benefited thereby; it has also been partially due to the inherent themselves in the popular mind, desire of great numbers of people to keep intact the body which it unguided by, or with no conscious- was felt was the great moral force of the world. In spite of the very ness of, the place of the Church in splendid work of many churches in the new order. It is also demanded their individual capacity, it is how- ever true that because of the secthat the Church of Christ redefine tarian divisions and rivalries, the itself, not in its fundamental creed Church has shown a flagrant ex-. as a great body of those who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, but ample of wasted effort and ineffecthat it shall redefine itself as to tive power. This situation can no the service which it shall render longer be accepted with patience. to a needy world, as to "the out- The Church need be no less spiritward manifestation of an inward ual because it is efficient-indeed, spirit." the spirit of cooperation supplanting the spirit of competition should be It is today a matter of common the basis of a more truly spiritual acknowledgment on the part of the life. Church, as well as of reproach on the part of· those who have been What has been too often true without the Church, that the ap- in the home community has likewise proach to the community, whether been true in the Mission Field. in the Mission Field or in the Home The effort to bring non-Christian Church, has been fragmentary, that peoples to a knowledge of Christ it has not been on the basis of the has been lessened in effectiveness need but rather on the basis of the because the approach has been by desires of the organization making the individual denominational agenthe approach. This appreciation cies rather than by a comprehenand acknowledgment are necessary sive study of the whole needs. We before any new program can be have therefore had the sad spectacle successfully launched. So evident of bewildered "natives" striving to is the message of the day that a common task can be effectively done discriminate the seeming antago-c' only by a united force that this has become a truism accepted and linel nisms of rival sects. So far has ~ beyond the place of argument. From Marshall Foch, directing a thought progressed along this unified fighting force with power and efficiency and leading it to success, down through hundreds of other less conspicuous examples has come to. all the new method of world service, of conserved power rather than competitive effort, of
during the last twelve months, that ing across "the frontier of the it now seems impossible that new spirit" in thousands upon thousands fields of service should ever again in America who today see not be approached in the spirit of com- barriers, not the things which separ- petition rather than in that of ate groups of the followers of the mutual cooperation. Master, but who see the great deed Doubtless ecclesiastical and mis- to be done, the great cause to be sionary agencies have had serious won, and who are impelled to set responsibility for this state of things, aside. all things that hinder, all but it is likewise true that the spirit things that hold back, and to reach which has led to the perpetuation out with their brethren in the faith of many of these unfortunate con- to a larger and finer accomplish- ditions, has existed in the general ment?
church body and can be remedied But, says one, what is it that shall only as "interdenominational minds be gained to the Church of Christ and hearts" are existent in large or to its agencies by the oblitera- numbers in the membership of the tion of denominational lines or by a Church. During the last two years larger cooperation of the denomina- many have learned to think in in- tions in service? Answer can be ternational terms, and barriers that made: had held for ages have been broken down. It is a question for each to 1. That the acknowledgment of the ask of himself or herself whether one-ness of the task that is to be done it be more easy to think politically in winning the people of. a community in terms of Southeastern Europe or or of this land and of other lands to of Asia than it is to think in com- know the Master is vitar to its accom- plishment. It is not to be viewed from mon terms with other branches of a sectarian, and therefore limited, standthe Church of Christ in one's own point. It must be seen as one great community, when all of these latter are seeking the same ends through world objective; then only shal1 it be approached aright.
2. That the un-divided concentration paths diverging but slightly, each of the attention of all upon the magfrom the other. nitude of the task can be gained only When, a few years ago, groups when there are no barriers to be surof Christian women in local com- mounted between worker and worker.
3. That there would result the possi- munities came together to study the bility of stimulating the imagination of mission text books, which had been the Church by the presentation of a prepared for them, it was felt that comprehensive program fo·r a worth a long step forward had been taken. while service. 4. That to the great mass of those In the new companionships many who care but slightly the very fact of have found how insignificant were the divisions over non-essentials weakthe things that had separated the ens the great appeal and weakens the groups compared with those which belief in the sincerity of those who sustain the sectarian lines.
should have drawn them together.
Some have even found the necessity Such questions as these may per- of erecting artificial barriers to keep haps to some, whose interests are apart those who would so naturally centered in an individual church have blended. "Many nations link- and community, seem somewhat ing arms across the frontiers of the academic and far afield. But the spirit," wrote Phillip Gibbs so un- Church is the sum of its army of derstandingly of the battle front. members each of which has a re- Has not the great blending of spirits sponsibility toward this question of which he saw amon~ those imbued the future service which the Church with the fervent spint of a common shall render and the method by cause to be won, been paralleled which it shall render it. The an- in the great wave of desire sweep- swer to this question may affect a
WOMAN'S HOME MISSION BULLETIN
community of five hundred just as Church Federations, United Missiondefinitely as· it may affect a cos- ary Campaigns, local missionary unions are but manifestations of a mopolitan city like Chicago or New new spirit and are but an effort to York, it may become of as burning make it possible for the Church to importance in the heart of Africa express itself in larger terms and as it may among the teeming mil- finer service. lions of Asia. It will dictate the The question of "reconstruction" approach to a group of Indians in is agitating the Church and its our home land or to a group of agencies; all will help to decide people in a distant island of the sea. what shall evolve from this splendid freeing of the Church imagination, Said Mr. Hoover, when the food too long bound by .denominational crisis was acute and when he was restrictions. If the leaders plan big appealing to each woman in her things to be done in a big way, home: "The determining factor shall not all turn their minds to for the success of such an enlarged new visions of service and be ready appeal will be the vivid conscious- to translate into vital action even ness in every individual in each though in the translation cherished community of obligation and oppor- forms of administration shall be tunity. It is that common recogni- given up? In the great upward world struggle, kingdoms and tion of obligation that we now wish crowns have perished, boundary lines have been obliterated and to create." What was true in the ap- racial alignment changed, but from all of this there will come a peal made for the conservation of finer, freer, better world; so through food is equally true in the great evolution rather than iconoclastic question before the Church today. The leaders of the Church are dis- destruction shall come a day of cussing these questions and from the larger, better things for the Church discussion new forms will evolve, of God, a day when non-essentials but to make effective a program shall not distract from the great for the immediate and tremendous service to be rendered, and when service which is demanded, every through organic unity of the differman and every woman in the Church must realize his or her re- ent bodies or through cooperative sponsibility for creating a great service all may seek unitedly that body of enthusiasm and for the all men may know and worship translation of plans into action. God. President Wilson, speaking in This was the spirit that animated England, said: "It is the wish to come together that is more than the annual meeting of the Council half of the process" and it is for of Women in January, 1919. There each to think this thing through was a new appreciation of the place and to come clear minded and definite, with reconsecration of herself which a Christian America must to the service of a church which bear in world redemption and an shall see its cooperative duty in a overwhelming belief that no one more generous spirit than that in would dare hinder the fulfillment of which it has ever approached it; it is for each one to come clear her world service. visioned to help in the united ap- To the great body of Christian proach to the common task; it is for each one to will to come to- women giving their services disgether that she shall not by the interestedly and loyally through grain of a mustard seed hinder the many missionary societies, we can Church in the great accomplish- surely say that a larger day awaits, ment immediately before it. Inter- a day of greater opportunity than any that has before been known.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE tions may join in educational and COUNCIL OF WOMEN FOR inspirational meetings for the HOME MISSIONS. strengthening of the different organ- New York, January 14 to 16, 1919 izations and for the inspiration of larger and wider activities.
STANDING at the threshold of a The following were elected offi- momentous hour, the Council of cers for the ensuing year: Wom€n for Home Missions faced President. ……. Mrs. Fred S. Bennett the task of a new day with great Recording Sec'y.. Mrs. Philip Rossman heart-throbs of purpose and deter- Corresponding Sec'y .. Mrs. F. W. Wilcox mination to enlist and to mobilize Treasurer ……….•. Mrs. P. F. Jerome the womanhood of America to "win Vice Presidents the war" against the powers of dark- ness in the home land. Mrs. George W. Coleman As the body faced the tremen- Mrs. Mary Leonard Woodruff dous needs and demands of the new Mrs. R. W. MacDonell day, strong hearts trembled with Mrs. W. C. Winsborough the fear that women might yet Mrs. Tabor Knox Mrs. Wm. S. Cook fail God in this hour of supreme Mrs. Alice M. Burnett test. With America holding the Mrs. E. W. Lentz world idea and ideals in her hands, Mrs. W. J. GrueIer the mobilization of the prayer-power, Mrs. E. M. Spreng Miss Susan Mendenhall the money-power and the life-power Members at Large on Executive Comof the women of the Church, was a mittee-Mrs. Charles L. Frey, Mrs. Frank M. Goodchild, Mrs. Ida M. Harconsuming thought. rison. Hence large plans were made in unison with other agencies to go Chairmen Standing Committees forward and possess the land in this Home Mission Study Courses and day when "there is a new tide run- Literature-Mrs. J. S. Allen. ning in the hearts of men," which Home Mission Summer Schoolscauses them to join together in a Mrs. Luke Johnson. Home Mission Interests in Schools common task against a common foe and Colleges-Miss Carrie Barge. for the freedom, the righteousness, and the redemption of all mankind. Home Mission Interests Among Im- migrants-Mrs. D. E. Waid. The business meetings planned for forward movement in Christian The joint Sessions of the Council Americap.ization, the establishment of Women for Home Missions and of a League of Nations, co-operative the Home Missions Council were work among the Indians, the Mexi- marked by a strong program. In cans, other Spanish speaking peo- the presentation problems confront- ples, and Negroes; also industrial ing the Church in its effort to save centers, and rural communities. America; it was repeatedly stressed In order that a higher degree of by the speakers that the problem of efficiency might be reached by the world evangelization, redemption Council in making safe the founda- and reconstruction is in a great tions at home, an Executive Sec- measure dependent on Home Mis- retary was provided for to maintain sion activities.
a central office for a c10ser touch The world is searching America with and more direct assistance to with a great flashlight for its an- the Constituent Boards in their swer to Christianity. The Council efforts to make America Christian. of Women for Home Missions has A discussion of the "Adequacy of set for itself the task of calling Present Organizations" led to every woman to join in the chorus hearty support of Local Federations of reply which shall "Crown Him where the women of all denomina- Lord of All."
fROM .MrANY
NORTH AMERICA nine members. Recently oil wells, sunk in its yard, yielded a revenue D"IJI.obillzation and the ChunJhes of $200,000 and princely figures were offered for its burying ground HAPLAINS and camp pastors which adjoined the church. In turn.: C strongly urge the men, who have been in service and are being de- ing down the offer of $1,000,000 for mobilized, to return to their homes the right to develop wells in the and their former jobs, unless they cemetery, the -;:ongregation voted find themselves capable of better that none of its :nembers should ones. Many churches are cooperat- profit personally by this good foring with the Department of babor tune, but that the entire income in securing positions for discharged should be devoted to the service of soldiers, making especial effort for God. Already this congregation has the men sent out' from rehabilitation distributed $100,000 among the Baphospitals. The whole program af- tist institutions of Texas. fords many opportunities to maintain the morale of the men, and to re- Rural Slums Call for Help ceive them back into civil life in the most constructively.helpful manner. "COUNTRY Slums" is what a ru- A Cooperative DrIve for Funds ral New York pastor calls his F0U.~TEEN Protestant deno~i- parish. The land has become im- nations are to start a campaIgn poverished, the people have rio to raise $10,000,000 for the after-thewar emergency needs of the knowledge of scientific farming churches. The campaign will be cooperative and the following sums methods, and the consequent struggle will be raised by ten of the fourteen denominations: Presbyterian, to make ends meet has reduced them $1,750,000; Lutheran, $500,000; Baptist, $300,000; Protestant Episcopal, to a state of spiritless passivity from $250,000; Disciples of Christ, $125,- 000 ; Reformed Church, $110,000; which there is little chance of re- Congregational, $100,000; Reformed Church in America, $70,000; Evan- ligious awakening. gelical Synod, $33,000 ; United Evangelical, $10,000. This is a An experiment in community land small foretaste of the plan to unite all the denominations in a Mission- cultivation may help the farmers to ary Campaign. realize the advantage of cooperative One principal object of the fund is to extend religious and social ser- effort as well as give them new ideas vice ministration among American soldiers and sailors during demobili- on farming. If each church could zation. Americanization work among purchase ten acres of ground for a the foreign born will be a feature. Help will also be given in the recon~ demonstration plot, the cultivation struction of Protestant church buildings in the war zone of Europe. to be done by the farmers· them- A Church that Struck Oil selves, under the direction of a THE Merriman Baptist Church of county agricultural agent, the results' . Ranger, Texas, has only twenty- would justify the outlay. The profits from this plot could be placed in the keeping of a board of trus- tees, who would decide the best use to make of them.
While this agricultural program appears to bear no definite relation to the church, those who have studied the problem say that it is only by giving these people a little leisure that therf' is any hope for religious and social effort. .
It is stated that over 21 per cent of the farmers of the State of New 223
York have no religious affiliation and have a flourishing Serbian Bap- whatever. The development of bet- tist Church. The Hungarian Bap- ter community spirit and the knowl- tists of Detroit have their mission edge and the use of improved meth- in a Hungarian settlement in Del- ods of cultivation will lighten this ray. The – Italian Baptists have bleak picture of rural American life moved out of the old Berean Chapel which is typical of many parts of and are preparing to build more the country, and make way for the ample quarters.
growth of a strong country church. The Record of Christian Work.
. Better Leadership For Rural Districts Presbyterian Preparedness AT Iliff School of Theology, Den- ·IN order that their program for re- ver, Colorado, there has been construction may be carried ·out established a Chair of Rural Leader- most effectively, the Presbyterian ship. This is a pioneer movement Church in the U. S. A., the South- and it is hoped that such chairs will ern Presbyterian Church and the be established in other theological United Presbyterian Church will schools. hold four great Congresses, each The object is to offer the neces- lasting three or four days, one in the sary courses on rural- sociology and South, two in the North and one in rural leadership; to assume charge Canada. At these Congresses op- of the student pastorates surround- portunity will be given for full dis- ing Iliff and direct them as train- cussion of the reconstruction prob- ing stations for rural ministers; to lems confronting the churches of act as an extension representative the Presbyterian affiliation, and for both the Seminary and the Rural every possible phase of the situation Department of the Methodist Board will be presented by speakers quali- of Home Missions. A work similar fied to deal with them. The Pres- to this has been inaugurated in Cor- byterian Church in the U. S. A. has nell University, where courses are already planned to raise a fund of now offered in church problems. $500,000 for the relief of Protestant churches in the war zone, and an Successful Work among Foreigners additional $500,000 for the aid of RESULTS of Protestant mission- returning soldiers who went to war ary effort among the foreigners from Presbyterian homes. are seen in the following facts from Detroit. A short time ago a few The Presbyterian Church and the JeW8 Roumanians were brought together in the· Ferry Avenue Church and DURING recent years the Presby- terian General Assembly has services held there. They next pur- considered with increasing serious- chased a property on Rivard Street ness, the duty of bringing the. Gos- and organized a church there. Out- pel to the Jews. The demand for growing these quarters they bought immediate action is found in the the building of St. Andrew's Pres- fact that there are 3,500,000 Jews byterian Church on Hastings Street. in America, more than 1,500,000 re- The church now has 300 members siding in New York City alone.
and conducts a mission on Lafayette These Jews are ignorant of the Gos- Street. In the meantime another pel, and the Church has made no colony of :;Roumani<!.ns was discov- adequate effort for their evangeliza- ered in the Hamtramck district and tion. In accordance with a recom- work there soon gathered <L little mendation of the General Assembly, church. which now has 169 members. the Board of Home Missions has se- £erbians have purchased the church lected an Advisory Committee, of building on Rivard Street, formerly which Dr. Charles R. Erdman is occupied by the Roumanian Baptists, chairman, to assist in perfecting-
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
plans for a comprehensive program there are twenty-two saloons to of Jewish evangelization. The plan every church, and of the existing proposed includes: establishing in churches very few are adequately centers of Jewish population a work equipped. so equipped and conducted as to make the most direct appeal; en- There seems to be no great need couraging the widest possible evan- for new churches, but th.ere is an ur- gent call for more effective cooperagelization of the Jews in all parts of tion on the part of existing churches the land; the publication of facts for (1) establishing community cen- ters; (2) for social welfare work in relative to problems of Jewish evan- industrial communities; (3) for progelization and the distribution among viding sanitary and comfortable Jews of suitable evangelistic litera- housing for colored people and (4) facilities for wholesome recreation. ture and arranging in various com- The negro's innately religious nature munities for conferences designed makes the work of the churches to awaken interest in this cause. doubly urgent.
Rev. H. L. Hellyer and Mr. Light for the Esk1mos Greenbaum are Jewish workers employed as evangelists to cooperate NOT only light for the long Arctic with this committee. evenings, but light for the Es- kimo mind is being supplied by Needs Due to Colored Migration. "Uncle Sam" to the peopl~ of Noor- vik, Alaska. Many an Eskimo wo- NEGRO churches of the North man is now able to continue her have found themselves almost sewing by the sof~ glow of the helpless in caring for the problems Mazda lamp in her home, and along presented by the great influx of col- with the light has come more pride ored people from the South. In Chi- in the orderliness of the home, and cago, the negro popUlation increased a keener interest in world events. from 50,000 to 150,000 between the years 1916 and 1918. In Detroit, the A wireless instrument has been rate of increase has been almost as installed in connection with the lightgreat. In Gary, Indiana, the colored ing plant, so that through Noorvik inhabitants have quadrupled in two other villages in the northwestern years, and the United States Steel district can receive news bulletins Corporation has assigned to the from the outside world. This news Methodist Church the responsibility is always read at the opening exerof caring for this group. The prob- cises of the school, and makes the lem is also acute in Cincinnati and children realize that the United Toledo. In New York City, where States does not mean only a local there is a colored population of 175,- teacher and the man in charge of 000 the problem is serious. the Alaska Bureau of Education, but means the expression of the good The old and new colored popula- will of a whole nation. tions do not mix easily, especially in their religious life. About 60 per LATIN AMERICA cent of the migrants were church members in the South, .but their col- Transfol'JIled by a Printed Page ored brethren in the North are making little headway in assimilating this I N a small town of Guatemala a new element; while the white woman named Mercedes Morales churches have done practically noth- operated a saloon with a flourishing ing to aid them.. There is desperate trade. Four years ago she was goneed for religious educational work ing through a hunch of old papers among colored people. In Ohio, out and came upon a sheet nearly deof 38,000 colored children only 8,000 stroyed by rats-it was a page her go to Sunday-school. In one city son had tom out of a Gospel song
book some years before. She read necessary to get the police to protect it, thought it must refer to angels the house where the missionaries in heaven and spoke to her son were to sleep. The following night about it. He answered, "No, the magistrate was on hand with Mother, those are the believers in his soldiers, but the school room Jesus." "But where are they," said which had been promised for the she, " in heaven?" "No, right here on meeting was not available, because earth, those who believe in Jesus." the school master was drunk. The "Well, then," replied Mercedes Mo- priest also was frequently drunk, rales, "I want to believe in Jesus; and as a moral uplift to his people, I want joy like that. But see here, his influence was nil. The Gospel is boy, is there anyone here in the the only hope for this town. Last village who can tell me more about October, the same missionary vis- Jesus pH The son replied that there ited the place, baptized nine persons was one woman in the town who and organized the Evangelical had what she called a Bible. That Church of Sanarate. Recently news very day Mercedes found this other has come that the local priest is in woman, borrowed her Bible and sat disgrace, and that the door is now up all night reading it. Then and wide open for the Gospel. A native there her life was changed. The evangelist is on his way there to confollowing day when customers came duct regular services. for drinks they were told, "You can't get any more liquor here be- CosmopoUtan South America cause the woman who used to sell it does not live here. Today a Jesus SOUTH America, with her vast believer lives here." She poured economic possibilities, is attract- @ut the barrels of liquor and now ing men and women of the more she keeps a little store where she crowded countries, and is large sens needles, buttons and dress enough to give them an a home. goods. No one comes into her store Before the war began, Russians of without receiving a tract. When a the better sort were coming to westmissionary passing through the ern Argentina in large numbers, town not long ago held a meeting putting in orchards and irrigation seven men and one woman accepted systems. They were arranging to Christ. have hundreds of other Russian families come away from economic Guatemala News. oppression at home.
Then and Now in Sanarate Over four hundred thousand Ital- ians have settled in eastern Argen- SANARATE, Guatemala, is a town tina, and Hollanders, with their fine of some four thousand people, cattle, were establishing dairy indusignorant, superstitious and fanatical. tries at a rapid rate up to the year Several years ago a native Chris- 1914. Brazil attracts a less desirtian pastor paid a visit to this town able class of immigrants, many of and was stoned, and the house in them coming raw and untouched by which he preached was nearly de- civilization from interior Africa; stroyed. Since that time colpor- and often continuing their fetish teurs have stopped there from time worship after leaving the African to time, and literature has been jungle. sent out from the Guatemala Missian Press. Last August two mis- The dominant church has lost its sionaries essayed to hold a meet- power and the priests are generally ing in a liquor storehouse, when corrupt or indifferent. A traveler, about one hundred and fifty came taking a superficial glance at the iminside, while six hundred vicious provements there, would be apt to fanatics stoned the building. It was report a higher moral level than an investigation would disclose. Im-
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
morality and atheism are rampant. This organization consists of women "It is not 'difficult to introduce and men who watch out for men in American uniform, and direct them railroads, telegraphs, electricity, and to congenial and wholesome ways of water works, for this may be done spending their leisure. by the stroke of a pen that signs a contract. But real progress means Hundreds of soldiers and sailors such things as education, control of owe much to these faithful workers. alcoholism, justice for the humble- Their work is supplemented by the blessings which cannot be bought Y. M. C. A., which has twelve Enfrom a contractor, but require the quiry Bureaus at various points, intelligent and Christian cooperation giving information and help of all of devoted people, supported by an sorts. One of the stations records enlightened public opinion." 7,000 inquiries in one month, or 230 a day, and 125 voluntary work- New Ideals for Brazilian Young Women ers have given all their time to do any and everything possible for the THE diploma of the Brazilian men. The League has 50 guides, Government School at Natal, and during the last six months the Escola Domestica, expresses its nearly 20,000 of our soldiers were purpose when it bestows upon its shown places of interest in and graduates the title "Graduate House- around London. Through the League wife and Mother." This school has many English people have opened been warmly welcomed in Brazil, for their homes to the soldiers, more the young women of that country than 8,000 of whom have enjoyed have been coming out of their leth- real hospitality, often extending over argy and striving for better things. the week end. One of the leading newspapers of Natal said: The -Educational Program Over Sea.
"Happy are we to be able to offer DETAILS of the educational proto our daughters and sisters the ad- gram designed to teach the vantages of Escola Domestica. It fighters of the A. E. F. everything will bring about a great social and from architecture to band leadereducational uplift among us such ship have been made public, followas America has already gained by ing a Conference of the Y. M. the type of education peculiarly hers, C. A. leaders in Paris. The Army which has made the American wo- of Occupation in Germany is to have man one of the greatest factors in first claim; another important area is the greatness of the United States." the training section, where more in- tensive work will be possible i and It is the plan of the Brazilian the leave areas are also of great Government each year to send the importance. honor graduate of this School to the United States for three years of The great ports of Brest, St. Nafurther study. This reveals a strong zaire and Bordeaux are important confidence in the ideals of the United educational centers, and auditoriums States, and is an indication of the are being erected where from 1,500 changing attitude of Brazil toward to 3,000 men can be gathered at one her neighbor of the 'North. time.
EUROPE The fifth area would be on the transports carrying soldiers back to Women's Night Patrol America. This program now rests with the personnel of the Y. M. ONE of the ways in which good C. A. Text books have been pre- wemen in London have sought pared in special editions at low price, to safeguard the throngs of Amer- and the American Library Associaican soldiers seeing the British cap- tion is arranging to put a carefully ital before starting home is through the service of the "Night Patrol."
chosen list of reference books into fectiveness will be done in Greece 1500 "Y'~ huts. there is no doubt. It was a pastor in Missouri who entered the overseas The French and British universi- service of the Y. M. C. A., and as a ties have been most cordial in open- secretary with the Greeks at Saloning their doors to men in the Ameri- ika before and after the Bulgarcol. can army who are fitted to take up lapse was able to open the way. their studies in the colleges, and it may be necessary to put American MOSLEM LANDS instructors into the French universities to teach the Americans who do Missions and the Jihad. not speak French. I T is not mere conjecture to say French M:lssionary Interest Stimnlated that the Missions to Mohamme- dans of the United Presbyterian THE close contact of so many Church were worth 500,000 soldiers races in the western war area of to the Allied cause. Among the Europe has stimulated a practical Mohammedans of the Nile valley the interest in mission work, so that the missionaries of this Church have Paris Missionary Society reports a been diligent in schools and hospitals great increase in the number of con- for many years, and have so lifted tributors as an offset to the deficit up Christ before the followers of the in the actual amount of money re- false prophet that when the message ceived. Many people who, before was sent from Constantinople that the War, did not believe in foreign a holy war was to be waged against missions, have come to see the effi- the "infidel," Egyptian Mohammeciency of the Gospel. The officers dans refused to obey. Had this orwho have commanded the Tahitians, der been carried into effect, it would New Caledonians, Basutos, Kaffirs, have required half a million British Zulus, Christian converts of all sorts, troops -from other fronts to hold this will testify to their fine spirit, their country down. Thus is added anindustry and courage. These natives other item to the long list of mishav~ many times stirred the devotion sionary contributions to the history of French and British by their at- of freedom. tachment to services of worship, and to the Bible; proving that today, as Christlan Editors in Cairo in the day of Paul, in distant lands and among divers races, "The Gos- THE editors of the leading Chrispel of Christ is the power of God tian papers of Cairo and Alexunto Salvation." andria held a dinner on October 25, which marked a new era in Chris- Red Triangle Wanted In Greece tian literature work for the Near East. Dr. Nimr, the senior editor of PREMIER VENIZELOS of the leading Arabic paper of Cairo, .Greece, who carried Greece into al- told of his publishing experiences liance with the Entente, was so deeply thirty years ago, confirming and impressed with the work of the backing up the appeal made for a Y. M. C. A. in the war that he has stronger support of Christian literavolunteered to secure the erection of a Y. M. C. A. building in Athens if ture preparafion. Mr. Howard J. the Red Triangle will furnish secretaries and carryon a work there. Weaver, the business manager of The offer is to put Association work the Nile Mission Press, gave a sumin Greece on the same footing as in mary of the work done during the America, France and England, to past thirteen years, which showed meet the requirements of returning that over a million copies of books Greek soldiers. had been distributed and that 132,- 000,000 pages had been printed dur- That a work of "influence and ef- ing this period, representing no less than 280 separate pUblications, cov-
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
ering the fields of apologetics, his- this expedition already remind one tory, commentary, biography and of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp! Christian fiction. Industrial Aid tor Persia No recent event in the history of missionary cooperation has been of THE American Committee for Regreater importance than this dinner. It has drawn together the writers o lief in the Near East has reand editors of every section of the Christian community in Cairo. With ceived the following interesting news united front it will be possible to from Persia; . make the Christian press a strong force for righteousness and evangel- "The cloth-making work is boomization throughout the Nile Valley. In connection with this dinner the ing along these days with eighty recent drive to secure $25,000 for the production of Christian literature women spinning, fifty-four combing in America through the American Christian Literature Society for and about thirty looms getting into Moslems is significant. shape to begin weaving in a few The Christian Intelligencer. days. The quilt making is pretty Fifteen New Hospitals For Turkey nearly half done, some 1,159 having ONE of the most interesting fea- tures of the expedition of the been completed up to Tuesday night. American Board for the relief and reconstruction of Armenia, under We are running short of wool, howthe leadership of Dr. James L. Barton, will be the one supervised by ever, and may have to quit before' Dr. George H. Washburn, son of the former president of Robert College, we can really finish the twenty-five Constantinople. Dr. Washburn will superintend the building of fifteen hundred needed. . hospitals, to be located at various points from the Black Sea to the "As for the orphans I have cov- Persian boundary. Hospitals already existing will be remodeled and ered some eighteen of the villages utilized. The one dreadful scourge in that region is typhus, for which on the plain and the city, and early special antidotes 0 have been carefully prepared. The possibility that Dr. next month I start a distribution Barton and some of his colleagues may fly in aeroplanes to points in wagon to make the rounds with me the interior appeals to one's imagination. Several trained aviators are in to bring the flour, clothes, quilts, the party with this in view. Miso sionaries who have remained at their etc., to the orphans who are unposts during these terrible days, may look up in the sky some bright able fo come to the city and get mid-winter afternoon and see a them." plane descending, from which in due season would alight the dignified The expedition now on the way Secretary of the American Board and the distinguished Professor of is taking one hundred cases of con- Christian 0 Theology at Harvard University I Verily the 0 possibilities of densed milk, a large supply of vac- cine, serum for fighting cholera, ty- phus serum, 34 kegs of green soap, a Ford car and six motor trucks for transport, fifty sewing machines, 14,- 000 spools of thread, 100,000 sewing needles, 25,000 thimbles, and 1,000 pairs of scissors.
In Teheran alone, 12,000 persons have died of starvation during the past year. This "cradle of the white man's civilization," which ren- dered great service to the Allied cause by remaining neutral through- out the war, is threatened with utter and complete extinction unless food and medical supplies reach them ill time.
Fhost Methodist Conference in Balucb- Istan FOR the first time a Methodist Episcopal District Conference has been held in Baluchistan. Ar-
rangements were completed for the tion than the speaker. Perhaps purchase of property in Quetta, to more discouraging still was the be used as a Bible School to prepare careless inattention of the hearers.
evangelists for that country, and for But now, the closest attention is Afghanistan and Southern Persia. manifested, the audience apparently Already a day school has been forgetting their prejudices and opened under Methodist auspices, deep-seated beliefs.
with twenty Afghan boys in attend- In an evangelistic campaign at ance. Jalesar, a town of 14,000 inhabitants, INDIA the attend.mce was over a thousand a day. This was most encouraging, "General ABStlDlbly" ot Hinduism since it was the first attempt of the kind in the place, and most of the EVERY twelve years, when the people were illiterate. planet Jupiter enters the constellation Aquarius, there is a great assemblage of ascetics and religious New Record for Lucknow College E devotees, called the Kumbh mela, at IGHT Christian students will re- ceive the degree of A. B. from the junction of the J umna and Ganges rives, near Allahabad, In- LucknowChristian College at the dia. Dr. H. D. Griswold of Sahar- next commencement, this being the anpur tells of a visit to this mela last largest number of -Christian gradu- year: , ates in the history of the School.
"I went for the purpose of inter- The total enrollment is 120, or fif- viewing the ascetics. We began teen more than in any previous year.
with the Udasis and had an inter- Last year there were but two Chris· view with a headman. He was not tians in the graduating class. One very communicative so we walked of these is now a teacher of mathe- through the mass of seated ascetics, matics in the College and the other asking questions, waiting for an is an assistant in the faculty while opening for a little conversation. studying for his M. A. degree.
One young U dasi ascetic asked us to VllIage Schools tor Mass ~[ovement sit down beside him on an antelope skin. His father and mother, he Converts told us, had six children, all of whom died. Then they made a vow THE greatest problem in the mass that if another was born to them he movements toward Christianity would be dedicated to this holy life. is that of educating the converts. In This young man was the seventh one district there are eight small child, and was an ascetic in fulfill- Christian communities composed of ment of the parents' vow. converts of not more than -four years' standing. They are in great "We made inquiry as to the liter- need of enlightenment. The eduacy of the Sadhu, or ascetic class, cation that should be given them apd found that half or more of should enlarge their vision, but those at this mela were literate. should not make them unsuited to Some knew English very well, many their economic conditions. Often can read Hindu script, and some when a boy attends a large central know more or less of Sanskrit." boarding school, he falls into a some- what artificial mode of living, and Growing Interest In ChrIstiauity sometimes refuses to return to the I N the early days of missionary ef- simple life of his village. In this fort it was impossible for anyone way some of the most promising to talk to an Indian audience for young men are lost to th.e village even five minutes without interrup- congregations. To offset this, a plan tion on the part of some Hindu, of education has been worked out by ~h or Mohammedan, cock-sure which ten or twelve primary schools that he knew a better way of salva- offer every child elementary instruc-
1919J NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
tion in his own village. Some hold Mobarnmedan Women as a Factor sessions during the day and others THE thought of Mohammedans at night, the latter being chiefly in- fighting for Christian ideals, of Dark Age heathenism taking up tended for young men who must arms for the cause of civilization work during the day. These schools and humanity, opens a vista that would be staggering were it not that give promise of being strong centers the idea has long been dreamed of.
of evangelization, especially as they As one result of the war, the woare attended by non-Christians as men of India have, for the first time, well as by converts.
C. M. S. Gleaner.
A Charade Witb a Moral worked in the Government depart- REV. H. R. CALKINS relates the ments in Delhi, and the question is following incident of his Bom- being debated. as to giving women bay Church in The Moslem World equal representation with men in the for October; "It was our Christian plans of the India Natiorial Society. family night, and at the close of the In all the battle for larger things In- Bible reading I drew a picture to dia has met the problems common to show the difference between a all lands with the most modern, effi- Christian and a Mohammedan home. cient and self-sacrificing methods.
"I called brother Shah and Ag- The women of. India can hencenes, Ram Lal and Ruth, and Jai forth be counted on as a factor in the Ram and Bertha, and asked them larger problems of reconstruction.
to stand inside the altar, facing the audience. They came and stood Bibles for ·the UnJearned A while all the people looked at them. LITTLE compilation of Bible Agnes appeared· particularly beauti- stories now being used in the ful. Then I said in a quiet voice, American Presbyterian Mission in 'Brother Shah, I am a prophet to- India. is a gaily colored, pasteboard- night and I give you authority to bound volume containing the Black- take a second wife and then a third stone Picture Series of eleven Bible wife if you so desire.' Poor Agnes stories from the Gospels, accom- nearly sank to the ground, but Shah panied by text in Grumukhi charac- was quick to see what I was driving ters. The unlettered Christians at and held her closely by the arm. strive hard to learn these stories, Then I repeated the same words to short and readily understood. Usu- Ram Lal and Jai Ram and told them ally, the women learn the parable to take their seats again. The whole of the Lost Sheep first of all. Al- congregation seemed to be shocked; though it is difficult to induce them indeed I felt shocked myself. Many to tell these stories-over and over Mohammedans were present. They they will say, "I am unable"- yet seemed stunned and stung. Today once they' begin nothing can stop an educated Mohammedan gentle- them. The same is true in the man, who had studied law in Lon- efforts to persuade them to pray don, came to talk with me about the aloud. One mother, who had been a 'picture' at Central Church. The Christian only a short time, had a thing had gone through the city like son in Mesopotamia. Her heart a sword. This man freely admitted was troubled about him. We asked my accusation-for he called it that her to pray, "I don't know how to -against Mohammedans as a class, pray," she said, "but I talk to God but wanted me to know that edu- about my boy and this is what I say,"
cated Mohammedans repudiated and then followed a prayer which polygamy altogether. We had a brought tears to all our· eyes; a heart to heart talk about .Jesus prayer such as thousands of mothers Christ." are praying these days.
CHINA as your honor's posthumous olive Why an Ope.. Door in China branches.
L S. C. WANG, who is now study- . A letter found in a Shanghai pa- • ing in America preparatory per from a Chinese applying for a to entering the ministry in China, position.
gives five advantages which the The Missionary Herald.
Christians of the United States have in the work of evangelizing Two Pictures from China A China. They are: (1) the popularity CHRISTIAN Alliance mission- ary newly appointed to Nanof the United States among the Chinese, due. to their not having ning, South China, gives a picture taken any Chinese territory, and to contrasting heathenism in all its their returning the indemnity fund hopelessness,and. Christianity in its for educll:tional work; (2) the sym- transforming power. pathy of democracy; (3) President Not far from the missionary home Wilson's leadership; (4) the super- and chapel is a large idol temple ior wealth of the American people where are prodigious, terrible-visas a whole and (5) the greater de- aged monsters-in all, about one gree of contact of the student class, hundred and fifty idols in one room. out of which sympathy and better Some were designed for men to understanding is certain to develop. worship, others for women and still A Classic from China others for children. All portrayed MOST honored Sir: characteristics expressive of power, such as smiting tigers with clubs, Understanding that there are or terrorizing with large, upraised several hands wanted in your honor's swords. There were idols to be department, I beg to offer you my worshipped on special occasir;ns and hand. As to my adjustments I ap- others to be worshipped by special peared for the Matric Examination types of mankind. Saddest of all at Oety, but failed, the reason for was the great number of people which I shall describe. To. begin bowing before them, with their gifts with, my writing was illegible, this of roast fowls, live fish, rice and was due to climate reason, for I wine.
having come from a warm in a cold The missionary's first baptismal climate found my fingers stiff and service marked the dividing line be- very disobedient to my wishes. tween Supei1"stition and enlighten- Further I had received a great shock ment. Of the three candidates for to my mental system in the shape baptism, one walked 180 miles and of death of my only fond brother. on his return asked for Gospels to Besides, most honor~d sir, I beg to sell in the villages along his way: state that I am in very uncomfort- Another was a young man of the able circumstances, being the sale middle class who lived 110 miles means of support of my fond broth- away and the third was the mother er's seven issues, consisting of three of the native teacher, who had been adults and four adultresses, the lat- indifferent to spiritual things~and ter being the bane of my existence, for whom her son had been praying owing to my having to support two long and earnestly. She walked 70 of my own wives as well as their miles, carrying a heavy baby on her issues, of which by God's misfortune back, in order to be baptized. In the feminine gender predominate. If China, Christ means all in all to by wonderful good fortune these few those who accept Him.
lines meet with your benign kindness and favorable turn of mind, I, the Ragged Sunday Schools at K1aIigyin B poor menial, shall ever ·pray for ECAUSE so many children in the neighborhood were too poor the long life and prosperity, as well
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
to go to school, some mIssIonaries burial squads and taught the people at Kiangyin, 'with Chinese helpers, how to fight the plague. The hos- organized a "Ragged Sun day pital grounds were open and for two School,'" first for the boys and later, months an average of more than one for the girls. This school has 400 women and children were fed now outgrown its ·original bounds, daily from the soup kitchens. Mrs.
and every Sunday about one hun- Hamilton writes that they are still dred and thirty ragged and dirty caring for the "debris" from the children, often coarse and rough, previous year's soup kitchens, the gather to repeat the Lord's Prayer, debris consisting of half a dozen or the Ten Commandments, sing hymns more families who were stranded in and listen to Bible stories which are Shuntefu after being helped over illustrated with pictures. A highly the worst of the famine, but who appreciated part of the service is the are reluctant to give up the mendi- distribution of small picture cards, cant's life. The problem is to find each card having a Bible verse writ- work for them and as many as pos- ten upon it that a message may be sible are employed about the mis- carried to parents at home. Not sion premises. One family of six long ago the children were initiated is living in a dugout without the in the blessedness of giving, when pretense of a window, and in abso- a collection which had been an- lute indifference to the laws of sani- nounced the previous Sunday was tation or the dangers of contagion.
taken up for Armenian children. It The mother of this family is em- was quite an event in their dull, ployed as janitress of the church, colorless lives. Each tot had and one day when she had finished wrapped his gift carefully in paper,' cleaning she brought broom and dust as he had seen the older folk do at cloths to Mrs. Hamilton; saying she church services. This collection must hurry home as the baby was amounted to about fifty cents, but it "growing the heavenly flowers,"
was cheerfully given, and who knows which being interpreted meant she how much the Master may accom- was tak:ing small-pox, now rampant plish with it? in the district. Notwithstanding all this valiant fight against poverty and Plague, Famine, Flood and War disease the evangelical work has been THE . Shuntefu Station of the carried on without serious interrup- North China Mission is one of tion. The chapels were crowded the thirty-two principal stations of with throngs who came to give the Presbyterian Board in China. thanks; hundreds brought their idols In the Shuntefu district there are to burn in public and Bible classes six churches and groups of Chris- of 700 each were formed.
tians, eleven schools, two hospitals and two dispensaries. The year JAPAN·CHOSEN ' 1917 was a year of plague, famine, Buddhist MIssIonary Methods T flood and war, and the entire force ELLING of some of the difficul- ties he experienced in getting of the station was engaged in some form of relief. Dr. Guy W. Ham- photographs of places of worship, ilton supervised the sanitation of a Rev. Sumner R. Vinton, who re- camp at Tientsin where 10,000 cently returned from a tour of the refugees were cared for; and also Orient, describes conditions as he inspected daily for pneumonic plague found them in Japan.
every passenger on the railway run- "There is a Shinto revival and a ning from Shuntefu to Shih Chia Buddhist revival," said Mr. Vinton. Chuang. Dr. J. R. Dickson in- "The first is an attempt to substitute spected every infected district, iso- patriotism for religion. It is a huge lated houses and people, trained experiment in national psychology.
"As to Buddhism, there is a prov- Japan, ten of whom are Japanese erb in Burmah, 'The dying frog women. Classes for Bible study, for gives a last kick.' The Buddhist sewing; cooking and singing, and leaders are aroused at the progress travelers' aids for young women of Christianity. are only a few of the activities for "A young Japanese girl professed helping women and girls.
conversion and became an active Missionaries are the promoters of member of a mission Sunday-school. all such organized effort, leading in Six months later she disappeared. the work without seeming to do so.
Where had she gone? It was found They render both executive and fi- she had been sent to learn all our nancial help, but more and more the methods, even to committing our Japanese women are assuming full . best hymns to memory. Now she is responsibility.
back imparting these methods for On the Death of a Son the glory of Buddha. MR. YAMAGATA, Japanese edi- "They have Buddhist institutes for tor of The Seoul Press, Seoul, training men in Christian methods. Korea, lost his six-year-old son, and They study in these institutes every phase of our Sunday-school activi- a letter which he has written in ties. another newspaper, the Keijo Nippo, "Cases are known where men have will have an influence with non- come to listen to Christian sermons Christian Japanese of more weight and then gone back to repeat these than any foreigner's word. An ex- ,tract from a translation of this letsermons in Buddhist meetings,the ter by Bishop Herbert Welch is as only change being the substitution folJows: of the word Buddha for Christ There must be .some purpose in throughout."
Work of Christian Women the summoning of my child by God who is Love. I cannot think that THE women's societies in local He has given us this trial in order churches in Japan are doing to plunge us into the depths of sormuch valuable work by visiting non- row and thereby make us desperate Christian women, winning their and abandoned. All people are glad friendship by kindness and by trying to care for their children, but it canto show them the joy of the Chris- not be denied that the rearing of tian life. Particularly in time of children is a heavy burden. Is it sorrow or discouragement these not, then, that God's summoning of Christian women are helpful to their non-Christian friends, and many a our child Hisao is meant for the convert has testified that the kind- alleviation of our burden, so that ness of· Christian women so im- we may turn the little strength we can thus save to other use? There pressed them that they wanted to is no doubt that God has taken our know more of their religion. child, so that we may be able to give to less fortunate people the love The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has had a remarkable growth in Japan. Mrs. Yajima, the and energy we used to direct toward President, is eighty-five years old, him. We will thus interpret the but gives her entire time to the trial we have just passed through, work. Two periodicals, "The Wo- enter into a new life, and work man's Herald" and a magazine for harder for the cause of humanity. children are published by the In this way will we make the W. C. T. U., and a rescue home is death of our beloved child rich in maintained in Tokyo.. The Y. W. meaning. The Christian Advocate.
C. A. has twelve secretaries in
1919J NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
AFRICA it must be done from the begin- Kftchener Memorial College ning-there are forests to be hewn THE proposal to erect a Medical and roads to be built, railways and College in Khartum as a Sudan ships to be constructed and it all Memorial to Lord Kitchener has re- must be done by men of intelligence ceived hearty endorsement among and enterprise. It takes the extra- the natives of the Sudan. From or,dinary man-the ordinary man the published lists of subscriptions it would be a hindrance to Liberia."
appears that about £9000 has already been collected in the Sudan, the Opportunity Among the Hausas T greater part of which was· subscribed HE Hausa people are the pre- dominant race in the Western by the natives. A liberal endow- ment fund for the benefit of future Sudan, thorough-going Mohamme- students is assured by a gift of land dans and proud of their religion and and house property in Khartum and their race. Results of missionary Omdurman by a retired merchant, work among them have been few Ahmed Hashim el-Bagdadi Bey, and thus far, but a new order seems at generous gifts of agricultural land hand. Great numbers have been have been made by Sheikh Hassan helping England in the war, and the Sherif. railroad that has come to them is a great awakener. The Hausa begins CitizenShip In an African Republic to see that the educated' are occupy- BISHOP CAMPHOR'S statement ing government and railroad posi- that the percentage of literacy tions in his country, and while it has among Liberians is greater than that taken him some time to see into the among colored people in America is reasons for this, he is doing some food for thought. Bishop Camphor thinking for himself and soon will recently came to America from his want to be taught as others have home in Monrovia, Liberia, and his been. The British government has explanation of this astonishing com- established some schools among parison is that in Liberia the col- them, but these are thoroughly Mos- ored man is ruler, that the govern- lem and only for the elite. The ment is in his hands and he must mission schools have a rare oppor- rise to a place of responsibility tunity, for not infrequently it is the among his people. There is no dis- middle and lower classes who are crimination there, every colored man the more ambitious, and ready to is a gentleman, especially if he has lay aside prejudice. The Bible is education ,and property, and most of the chief text-book in the mission them have. Every man has an schools.
equal chance, there is an objective to Missionary Tidings.
work for and something to spur him on to make something of himself. Plans tor the Congo D As soon as he is civilized and wears R. JOHN M. SPRINGER, who clothes, he becomes a citizen. They is in charge of the Congo have a missionary college, mission- Methodist Episcopal Mission, has ary schools and churches. just returned to America from the When asked his opinion of the heart of Africa, and tells of condi- migration of American Negroes to tions there, particularly in the min- Liberia the Bishop expressed his ap- eral belt, as affected by the world'
proval. He said: "That is the place war: for them, but they will have to work "In the copper smelters at Eliza- hard. It is my purpose to invite bethville, the number of furnaces colored men of intelligence to go was doubled. All of this meant there and help Liberia to build up a commercial prosperity; but, unfortu- nation.·' It is not an easy task, for nately, none of the profits of the
industry go into mission work. forts of the missionaries, backed When we began the work at Eliza- by the United States Government. bethville, in the spring of 1917, we Before this transformation the· type had no property. Now our equip- of native houses was responsible for ment includes four main buildings, a much of the disease, being built in school and church, two residences, a way to attract every variety of and an office which can also be used insect and lizard. The percentage of as a residence. Our night school mortality among children under five reaches a large group of students. years of age was from 96 to 98. Two schools are conducted daily· in One can imagine the moral standthe compounds, there is a new vil- ards of the mothers, who knew that lage school under construction in the only three out of ten children would suburbs, and a morning school for live. In marshy places, the people women reaches some of the ever- built their houses in the trees and shifting group of native women and in many other villages, there was girls. hardly room to walk between the houses, and throngs of people "Now that transportation facilities washed their clothes in one stream, have been added, our mission sees using the water for every possible a long dreamed of program within purpose. Practically every known reach. An institution is planned disease existed there. where hundreds of students may receive an all-round training that will The work which has gradually fit them for service to their fellow- changed conditions was an appeal to men." their imitative temperament. Houses were built which were attractive, A Mass Movement in Nigeria so they came down out of the trees to live in them; then sidewalks were A MASS movement is well under built, wells dug, and finally a school way in Nigeria which promises built. A fire engine went about to equal those of India, Uganda and spraying, not water, but a disinfect- Korea. The number of persons un- ant, and drainage systems were inder instruction for church mem- stalled. Ball games were started on bership in the C. M. S. Niger Mis- the opposite side of the town from sion has increased since 1896 from where a cock fight was in progress. 583 to 20,668; in the Qua Iboe Mis- One serious handicap in this prosion in the same period, from 60 to gram of uplift was the aversion the 9,200; while the Yoruba, the Wes- natives held toward manual labor. leyan, the Free Church of Scotland Their chief ambition seemed to be Mission and the Niger Delta Pas- to wear a high collar, and shoes. torate report similarly encouraging But the increased facilities for comgains. Smaller societies bring the munication and transportation; the number of those baptized and under improvement over their primitive systematic instruction· up to 135,748, methods of industry and above all and of contributions on the field to the educational program of the mismore than $200,000. Plainly, the sion school have metamorphosed the Church of Christ is well established life and temperament of the Filipino in Nigeria. native.
ISLANDS OF THE SEA GENERAL NOTES FiHpinos Learn by imitation $1,200 in lWssIonary PrIzes DR. PAUL MONROE, who has A FRIEND of American students, recently returned from the through the student department Philippines, tells of the marvellous of the International Committee of changes that have taken place in liv- Young- Men's Christian Associations, ing conditions on the Islands within offers $1,200 in prizes for the best the past twenty years, due to the ef-
NEWS FROM .MANY LANDS
1,000 word original statements by transfer to the American Society all students on the subject, "The Sig- the plates of its Philippine versions, nificance of the Foreign Missionary also giving the American Society Enterprise in Making the New its rights in the new translations World." now under way.
Sign with nom de plume, accom- Secretary W. I. Haven, of the panied by name and address in American Bible Society, writes: sealed envelope, bearing same pen "It is believed that this transfer name. Articles must be typewrit- of fields will make for economy in ten on one side of 80 x 11 sheets the administrative expenses on the and must be received at Student De- field and be in line with the best mis- partment, 347 Madison Avenue, New sionary policy."
York City, by April 15, 1919. OBITUARY NOTES InJInenza Rages in All Lands Dr. Alphens Andrus of Turkey N A EARLY the whole of Korea has FTER passing through many been prostrated by the epidemic most trying experiences during of influenza. As in America, schools the war in Asia Minor, and return- have been closed and business houses ing to America about two years ago have found it difficult to keep open. the Rev. Alpheus N. Andrus, D. D., In Chemulpo, a city with a popula- an honored missionary of the tion of 32,000, the death rate from American Board at Mardin, Turkey, the epidemic has been over seventy died suddenly in Poughkeepsie, New a day. The same condition 1s re- York on Saturday, January 11, 1919.
ported from Siam, where over 8,000 Dr. Andrus was seventy-five years deaths have resulted; and in West of age and had been a missionary Africa thousands have been carried in Turkey for the past fifty years, off by this plague. It is thought having gone to that field in 1868.
that monkeys have carried the dis- Mrs. Andrus died in Mardin in Au- ease from one place to another. All gust, 1916.
mail service has ceased in interior. Africa where mail has to be sent Dr. John Wherry of China by native ca~riers. DR. JOHN WHERRY, a Presby- terian missionary in China, died Bible Societies Make Reciprocal Ex- change in Peking on January 2, in his eigh- tieth year. Fifty-five years ago, in THE American Bible Society and the spring of 1864, Dr. Wherry and the British and Foreign Bible his bride started on the voyage to Society have entered into an agree- Shanghai which then required 175 ment by which an interchange of days. For six years Dr. Wherry fields is to be effected, and thereby had charge of the Presbyterian Mis- greater efficiency secured. It is pro- sion Press, then he was transferred posed that the American Bible So- to Chefoo and later to Peking.
ciety shall retire from its work in There he was headmaster of the Korea, turning over all its interests Boys' School, Professor of New in the translation, publication .and Testament Exegesis in the North distribution of the Scriptures in that Union Theological Seminary and country to the British and Foreign Professor of Astronomy and Mathe- Bible Society; while the latter So- matics in the Arts College. At the ciety shall withdraw in the same time of his death, Dr. Wherry had manner from the Philippines. It has just completed his translation of the been publishing the Scriptures, in Bible into classical, literary Chinese, whole or in part, in several different a work upon which he had spent dialects, and generously agrees to eighteen years.
MKSS1[ONARY
Mexico's Dilemma. By Carl W. interesting and instructive manner. Ackerman. Illus. 281 pp. New York: George H. Doran Com- Mrs. Bainbridge does not believe in pany. $1.50. 1918. clothing a man's body and neglect- The dilemma proves to be a trilemma: 1. The financial ruin of ing his spirit, or in feeding a wo- Mexico and internal disorders, unle,ss a loan is obtained. 2. The pos- man's stomach and allowing the sibility of subjugation to German soul to starve. Spiritual work is influence, with all its liability to external strife. 3. Cooperation with given first place, if not always in the United States, England, France and with other portions of America time at least in importance. outside the United States. But Those working in city missions these are resolved into the dilemma, Is Mexico to be an American men- and among the poor and outcast ace, or an American ally? everywhere will find these exper- iences of Mrs. Bainbridge, humanely After discussing Mexican revolu- fascinating and practically Christions and German intrigue at length, tian. Mr. Ackerman concludes that the Republic is better worth aiding than Comparative Religion. By A. S. any of the twelve countries he had recently visited; that within fifty Geden, D. D. 144 pp. New York: years she could take her place The Macmillan Company, New among the greatest nations of the York. 80 cts. 1917. world, if willing to seek the cooperation of its great democracies. Half For so brief a book on so great the volume is devoted to appen- a subject, this is very satisfactory. dices, mainly official documents The author's plan is' to give the shedding light on the country's reader an insight into the teachings financial and commercial condition. of five of the chief religions of The only suggestion for missions is mankind, Hinduism, Buddhism. the sore need he shows of edu- Judaism, Muhammadanism and cational assistance-which mission Christianity, collating the results boards are rendering already. thus obtained and then estimating the significance of truths held in Helping.the Helpless in Lower New common, with a distinction of the York. By Lucy S. Bainbridge. cleavages and differences between Illustrated. 12mo. 172 pp. $1.00 them. As well as any man can do net. Fleming H. Revell Co., New it in fifteen small pages, this last York: 1918. objective has been accomplished. A preliminary chapter opens tip the As Superintendent of the New whole range of early forms of York City Mission and Tract So- religious faith, whose survivals conciety for many years Mrs. Bain- stitute so much of some of the bridge has had unique opportunity others; and in the final chapter one to see "how the other half lives" finds a statement of the achieveand how they may best be helped ment and prospects of Comparative to clean Christian living. Her ex- Religion. A bibliography of some periences and observations are here of the best books on the religions described and interpreted in a most studied adds to the value of this little handbook. For great trends in religious thought as set forth by a thorough-going modern, and as a fair appraisement of them, the book has unusual value, despite its great brevity.
238
1919J THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
Christian Ethics in the World-War. others, and the experiences of Her- By W. DougJas Mackenzie. 8vo. bert Withey in Africa. The stories Pp. 192. 1918. $1.00. Associa- are best adapted to intermediate tion Press, 347 Madison Ave., age.
New York. 1918. Personal Appeals to Sunday School Workers. By Oscar L. Joseph. There are few, if any, more im- 8vo. 215 pp. $1.00 net. Flemportant and pressing needs to-day ing H. Revell Co. 1918. than to see the true beanng of Christianity on the State in general In the form of letters to superand on War in particular. The intendents, teachers, mothers, faththought of many Christian people ers and others, Mr. Joseph shows has to be clarified in regard to the importance of Sunday-school these great and far-reaching issues. work and the need for consecrated, Dr. Douglas Mackenzie here does efficient workers. It is a series of this with signal success. In eight exhortations rather than a course of chapters, including such subjects instruction, but it contains many as "The State and the Citizen," valuable hints. "Ethical Values in the World-War,"
and "Ethical Gains in the War," he Graded Missionary Education in the reviews the situation created by the Church School. By Frederica war and provides convincing guid- Beard. 12mo. 132 pp. 75 cents ance for Christian thought and life. net. The Griffith and Rowland n is one of the best books on this Press. 1918.
great subject and should be read Social service and missionary inand pondered by all who. want to struction are here joined together know the true Christian position. in a practical and progressive plan It might well be used as a text- for the various grades of a Sundaybook for discussional classes, but, school. As a handbook it is very however it be employed, it is de- valuable and contains not only genserving of the widest circulation eral, workable plans but useful deand the most thorough acceptance. tails, good illustrative stories, and It is impossible to touch upon the lists of books. many points raised, but. two seem to stand out from the rest: the The Blot on the Kaiser's Scutcheon. difference between Church and By Newell Dwight Hillis. 12mo. State, and the interpretation of the $1.00. 193 pp. Fleming H. Re- Sermon an the Mount. The entire vell Co. New York. 1918. book" is sane, balanced, strong, Scriptural and eminently satisfying. The bitterness and personal char- acter of the accusations in this vol- Red, Yellow and Black. By Sophia ume is in contrast with Dr. Sher- Lyon Fahs. Illustrated. 12mo. wood Eddy's more dispassionate 215 pp. 75 cents, net. Metho- study of principles involved in the dist Book Concern. 1918. war. This volume is calculated to Books for juniors are increasing stir unchristian hatred of a man and in number and improving in quality. a nation, while the other is more cal- There is no excuse for failure to culated to establish right principles, -1nterest children in missions. The clarify Christian thought and stimumaterial is abundant and excellent. late to Christian warfare for right- eousness and peace. The author of the young peoples'
life of Alexander Mackay describes A Cyclopedia of Twentieth Cenin her latest volume the life of John tury Illustrations. By Amos R.
Stewart and the American Indians, Wells. 8vo, 476 pp. $3.00.
short stories of Chinese babies and Fleming H. Revell Co., 1918. A fertile brain, a good meroory, a the midst of dirt, superstition, ig- knowledge of men and things, wide norance and sin, he was preacher, reading and long experience as a ,teacher, judge, physician and sur- writer and speaker, are the elements geon. that make these selections of prac- tical value to speakers and teachers. After estimating the cost of the Mr. Wells has been for many years service, he believes that it pays-as the Editor of The Christian En- shown by the fact that there are deavor World and has written nu- stores of self-supporting churches merous books of poetry, religion, and by the character of many of stories, Sunday-school work, essays the Christians. and illustrations. He is always interesting and practically helpful. He Stories of Brotherhood. By Harold draws on science, history, child B. Hunting. Illustrated. 12mo. study, folk lore and the Bible for 124 pp. Missionary Education his material. This Cyclopedia of il- Movement, New York, 1918. lustrative material on nearly 400 topics will be a rich storehouse for These live stories for boys and many who have not Mr. Well's girls are about men and women large experience and great sources who lived and loved, served and of supply. died for their fellowmen. Here is told the story of Jacob A. Riis, "the Romance of Missions in Nigeria. man who brought sunshine to chil- By S. G. Pinnock. Illustrated. dren;" George E. Waring, the "Gar- l2mo. 176 pp. Educational bage man who was proud of his Dept. Foreign Mission Bd. South job;" Chief Kohler, a new kind of ern Bapt. Convention, Richmond, policeman; Ben Lindsey, a judge Va., 1918. who loves even bad children; Flor- ence Nightingale, who made nurs- Nigeria, on the Gulf of Guinea, ing beautiful; Samuel M. Jones, who includes a territory almost as large introduced the golden rule in busias the Southern States east of the ness; David Churchill, who gave Mississippi. Here the Southern more bread to India; Booker T. Baptists have a work among the Washington, a black man who Goeubans-a people numbering believed in his white neighbors; Dr. 4,000,000. Mr. Pinnock, a misson- Shephard of Anitab, a missionary ary who went to labor among them who helped different nations to be thirty years ago, tells in brief but friends-and others. The subjects interesting fashion the story of his are worthy and the stories are inwork among them. The climate is teresting, although some ·of them unhealthy and most white men go might be better told for boys and there to seek fortunes or on politi- girls. cal missions, but many consecrated men and women have labored The Minister's Handicap. By J. there to help the people Godward. Their experiences were picturesque, . Wilbur Chapman. 12mo. 155 pp. often disagreeable and sometimes Price 75c. The American Tract thrilling. Mr. Pinnock gives a Society. 1918. simple and clear, but not a "romantic," account of his life in the fever Dr. Chapman has gathered under stricken land of primitive men. He this title a number of more or le~s was staggered at the magnitude of closely related reminiscences, anec·· the task before him-"valleys of dotes and addresses, which suggest slavery, polygamy and drunkenness. his attitude toward life, the Scrip- . . . mountains of idolatry, Sab- tures and the Church. The book is bath breaking and witchcraft." In scarcely worthy of Dr. Chapman's name as a preacher, pastor and· evangelist.
The Missionary Review of the World — February 1897
AND DERWENTWATER
The Town of Keswick, England.
'…. "
THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD..
VOL. XX. No. 2.-0ldSeriu.-FEBRUARY.-VoL. X. No. 2.-N~ &risa.
THE KESWICK MOVEMENT.
BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
Keswick is a town of Cumberland, England, on the sonth bank of the Greta, some twenty-four miles from Carlisle, and having 'a population of perhaps three to four thousand. It has no importance commercially, tho it has manufactures of linsey woolsey, cutlery, ancl lead-pencils, and has two museums, indicating a high average of intelligence. It is but a mile from the foot of Skiddaw, and half as far from Derwentwater; and, even in this famous Lake District, forever memorable by association with Coleridge and Southey and the poets of the Lake School, Keswick's vale is unsurpast for picturesque and fascinating scenery.
But the association which makes Keswick already famous is that which links it with the annual convention of believers which meets in July of each year for about a week, and then during the whole year radiates its blessed influence throughout the 'whole British Empireand the world. Nearly twenty-five years ago a very remarkable movement began in Britain, which in a previous number has been traced to its beginning, and which has ever since been in progress. In somerespects it was a sort of modern Pentecost, having in it a depth of meaning and a breadth of influence, quite unknown and unsuspected at first by those who were connected with it.
An American evangelist, known as R. Pearsall Smith, the husband of Hannah Whithall Smith, a man whose brief tracts and inspiring addresses have for many years been such a stimulus and help to holy living, was proTidentially among those who were connected with the: inception of the movement, as was also his wife.
It is a singular fact that God seldom moves on one section of the Church, or in one locality, alone. Simultaneous quickenings commonly take place in various parts of the world, as the reinvigoration
KESWICK MOVEMENT
()f So human body would shew itself in different members and even at the opposite extremities at the same time.
These various conventions, across the sea, were held, in 1874, at Broadlands, July 17-23, and at Oxford, August 8 to September 1, then :at Brighton, May 29 to June 7, 1875, and the first Keswick Conven- tion followed, from June 29 to July 2 of the same year. With tile convening of the latter the lamented Ganon Battersby is inseparably 'connected, and it was he who invited Mr. Robert Wilson to join him, as he wanted a layman to cooperate with ,him. The first Keswick Convention was not in a building, but a tent, capable of holding a thousand, but attended by between three hundred and four hundred. It is also noticeable, as a part of this history, that both the Brighton and first Keswick gatherings were for ten days, and that at Brighton about 8,000 were present.
About the time that these meetings were thus being held in such rapid succession in Britain, and on the continent, there was in more than one quarter a similar gathering in the United States; for example, at Oberlin, Ohio, and in Maine, on the borders of Canada, where a great company of disciples assembled for a purpose precisely similar to that of the Oxford meetings. The railways sold some 40,000 special tickets in connection with this latter conference alone.
For the present, however, we confine our attention to the so-called '" Keswick" movement, which is just now compelling such attention from its widespread and deep-reaching results, that we are constantly :receiving letters and attempting to answer oral inquiries, as to the origin and character of this remarkable revival or reformation.
It may be well to let Rev. Evan H. Hopkins tell our readers how the Keswick Convention began, as he has been very closely identified with it for many years. In the Life oj Faith, he has recently spoken on this subject, editorially. We quote, at some length, as all -our readers may not have access to the admirable periodical from which these extracts are taken.* In a brief outline of some of the 'Chief events that preceded the holding of the first convention at Kes- 'wick, and were closely connected with its origin, he says: This remarka:ble movement, iD. connection with the experience of a fuller spiritual life, did not have its rise in the Keswick Convention. The first convention held at Keswick was in July, 1875; but, during the year 1873, small meetings 'Were held in London, where great and definite blessings were realized by a few. These led to larger gatherings, and in the year 1874 special meetings for consecration, for two or three days at a time, were held at the Mildmay Conference Hall, and.at the Hanover Square Rooms. These were followed by similar meetings in -Dublin, Manchester, Nottingham, and Leicester. On the Continent, too, meetings for the same purpose and on exactly similar lines were held. The result was that very many of God's children, both at home and abroad, were awakened to '8 deep sense of need, and to an expectation of larger and more definite blessing• • Life of Faith, July 22, 1800. such as they had never conceived to be possible in this life. The uplifting of soul experienced by many who attended these meetings was one of the most striking features of the movement, and the effect of their testimony upon thos~ who came within the sphere of their influence, was one of· the chief factors in arousing the Church to seek the realization of its privileges in the matter of triumph, usefulness, and power.
In the summer of 1874, the first convention at Broadlands was held. Its origin was in the desire that a number of young university men, who had found paliial blessing in some meetings for consecration held at Cambridge, during term time, should have a few days of quiet meditation and prayer in some secluded spot, keeping before them the following definite aim: The Scriptural possibilities of the Christian life, as to maintained communion with the Lord and victory over all known sin. This suggestion was made in the presence of the late generous proprietor of Broadlands Park, near Romsey; and he at once said: "My place is at your service if you will accept it." The plan was extended to the invitation of about a hundred persons for six days-July 17 to 23-all of them to be the guests of the then Right Han. W. Cowper-Temple (afterward Lord Mount Temple).
The meetings were mostly held beside the river or under the beech trees, or in the Orangery. Such was the absorbing interest felt by all, that no di1ll.culty was found in gathering the guests at seven o'clock in the morning; and it was an effort to separate when the breakfast hour of nine came. At ten o'clock con- versational meetings were held, Bibles in hand, in different places through the grounds, and at eleven o'clock there was prayer, with singing and addresses. Meetings for ladies only were also held; and at three o'clock conversational meetings, followed by a general gathering at four; and after tea Bible-read- . ings were given, till the regular evening meeting. The manifested presence and power of God pervaded every meeting, and many stated that the long periods of silent prayer had been to them the most solemn and helpful seasons of their spiritual life.
One wrote at the time: "We began with the negative side, renunciation of discerned evil, and even of doubtful things which are not of faith, and therefore sin. For some days the company was held under the searching light of God, to see and to remove any obstacles to a divine communion, aught that frustrated the grace of God. We sought to have that which was true in God as to our judicial standing in a risen Christ, also true in personal appropriation and experience. Many secret sins, many a scarcely recognized reserve as to entire self-renunciation, were here brought up into the light of consciousness and put away in the presence of the Lord. We desired to make thorouglt work, so as to have no known evil or self-will unyielded; and we have reason.to hope that those present did so, and that we took the position of solemn purpose to renounce instantly everything in which we should find ourselves 'otherwise minded,' as from time to time' God shall reveal even this unto us. '
" In the intervals of the meetings it was interesting to see groups gathered, in the more secluded places in the woods by the river, on their knees, praying, searching the Scriptures, or speaking earnestly to each other of the all-absorbing subject of our meetings. Some one had proposed to have reading at the meal- times, so as to concentrate our minds; but no such plan was needed to keep the company, even at times of refreshment, to the one engrossing subject."
In a letter received from Pasteur Theodore Monod at the time, reference is made to this memorable occasion. An extract from that letter will be read now with interest: "The difference between those Broadlands meetings and many others that I have attended is just the difference between a flower and the name of a flower. Christians too often meet oaly to talk about good and precious things: peace, joy, love, and so on; but there we actually had the very things themselves. I cannot be grateful enough to God for having led me into such a soul·satisfying and God.glorifying faith. I think I may say that I got all that I expected, and more. .And I begin to suspect that we always get from God every- thing-provided it be good for us-that we ask for, expecting to get it. Oh, for self.forgetting faith, that I may have more and more and more of it, and that the Church of Christ may cease to grieve Him, distress herself, and hinder the coming of His Kingdom, by disbelieving His Word I My French companions have all derived much benefit from the Conference. God be praised for His work I Never mind the world, nor the devil, so long as you have the sunshine of Jesus" smile in your heart."
During this Convention our brother Monod wrote the now well-known hymn, .. The Altered Motto: "
Oh I the bitter shame and sorrow That a time could ever be, When I let the Savior's pity Plead in vain, and proudly answered, " All of self and none of Thee."
It was only a short time before this hymn was written that our brother entered into the" fulness of blessing."
The account of the Broadlands Conference was read far and wide, and awakened considerable interest. Many who had never attended any meetings of the kind were led to cry to God for the fullness of the Spirit, with an expectation and earnestness of desire they had never before known. At the close of the meetings one said, "We must repeat these meetings on a larger scale, where all who desire can attend." And one of the guests volunteered £500 toward the expenses of this effort. But none of this money was found to be necessary when the proposal was actually carried out in the conference that followed. So abundant were the offerings that large sums remained over actual expenses, to be devoted to the extension of the movement on the Continent.
It was suggested by the late beloved Sir Arthur Blackwood, who was present at Broadlands, that this proposed convention should be held at Oxford during the vacation, and it was accordingly held from August 29 to September 7, 1874. The details of the meetings were settled during a mission week in August, at Langley Park, the seat of the late Sir Thomas Beauchamp, Bart., near Norwich, who shortly after passed from an earnest life of service to an eternity of reward. Having received great blessing himself in a similar meeting the previous year, he again generously gathered about forty clergymen, and many others, for five days' waitingupon God for consecration and prayer. The invitation to the" Oxford Union Meetings for the Promotion of Scriptural Holiness, .. was issued on the 8th of August, 1874. And, tho the notice was so short, a large and representative number of Christians came from all parts of the king!iom, as well as a great many pastors from the Continent, to spend ten days at this convention.
A few extracts from an able review that appeared immediately after will give some idea of the deep impression that was made by what took place during those ten days at Oxford:- " 'God hath visited His people.' If anyone had said a year ago that we' should see, in the city of Oxford, an assembly of Christians, very largely composed of ministers of the Establishment and various Nonconformist bodies, and including twenty or thirty Continental pastors, gathered for the purpose of seek. ing, by mutual counsel and united prayer and consecration, to reach a higher condition of Christian life, it would have been considered far more devoutly-ta-bewished than likely to occur. An(l if it had been added that we should see early morning meetings of nearly a thousand of these men and women, of all ranks in society, and of all denominations, gathered in prayer, and for the communication of their experiences in the divine life, clergymen and laymen standing up and declaring what God had done for their souls, there would have been not a few to say with the lord, on whose hand the king of Israel leaned, 'If the Lord would open windows in heaven might such a thing be I' But God has opened the windows of heaven, and is pouring out a blessing that there shall not' be room to receive it.' Alld not only so, but 'God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; that no flesh should glory in His presence.'
***** "We have attended many conferences, including a ten days' convention in America, the prototype of that at Oxford, but in many respects this excelled them all. It is the fruit and flower of those which have gone before-of those at Barnet, and Mildmay, and Perth, and other places at home, as well as of Mannheim, and Vineland and Round Lake, in the United States. Conferences must be of another type henceforth.
"If it be askt, What is 'the blessing?' it is the blessedness of the man 'who maketh the Lord his trust,' 'whose strength is in Thee,' of them who have not seen and yet have believed, who stand by night in the house of the Lord, trusting where they cannot see Him, who present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, their reasonable service, and who, doing this, are not conformed to this world, but are daily being transformed, by the renewing of their minds, that they may know what that good and acceptable and perfect wfil of the Lord is."
At this Oxford Convention the late Canon Harford-Battersby himself entered into "the rest of faith." But for this event the now well-known Keswick Con- vention would never have had a beginning.* Very soon after the Oxford Conference similar meetings on a smaller scale, but on the same lines, were held at Stroud, under the presidency of the late Mr. T. Croome. Two brethren who had taken part at the Oxford meetings conducted this Conference. At that time the Rev. Preb. Webb-Peploe was not on the platform amongst the speakers, but was seen amongst the listeners. He had not been able to attend the Oxford Conference, and we think it was only at the Stroud Conference, or soon after those meetings, that he himself deflnitely entered into the blessing of the more abundant life. The Cheltenham Conference followed the Stroud Convention, and there for the 1Irst time he actually took part in the movement.
The next great series of meetings was the wonderful Brighton Convention, which was held in the Pavilion at Brighton, from May 29 to June 7,1875. There some eight thousand people, the greater part earnest, well- instructed Christians, met together for ten days in prayer, meditation, and waiting upon God. Addresses were given there during those days, which live to this day in the memories of those who heard them, and have been the means of lasting blessing to thousands. Everywhere-at home and abroad-we meet with the abiding fruits of this memorable gathering. It was at this Convention Canon Battersby arranged for the :tirst Convention at Keswick, to take place in July of that year.
In looking back upon the twenty-one years that have elapst since then, it would be interesting to be able to note the various names of those who now take • "Canon Harford-Battersby and the KeSwick Convention," edited by two of his sons. (Seeley & Co., London.) part in this great annual gathering at Keswick, and to record the particular year, and circumstances, when they each saw for the first time the truth of a fuller life. It cannot be too clearly stated that those who are askt to speak at this and otlier similar conventions are those, and those only, who can bear testimony to a de1l. nite experience of the fulness of blessing.
Every year at the Keswick Convention numbers of God's children are brought into a realization of their resources in Christ, such as they have never before thought possible; and this has given a strength and brightness to their lives which have been felt by others around them. In this way the movement has been continually advancing and deepening, so that its fnfiuence is seen to-day in every quarter of the globe.
In a. memorable series of meetings held by me in Brighton, in 1896, I found many who had been present at the conference thus held at that place for the deepening of spiritual life, where tbousands of people gathered. The main objects were united prayer for the deepening of spiritual life and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in power; and at that time, both in America and in England, there was a spontaneous and simultaneous movement among disciples looking toward similar results. In one sense, the greater part knew not wherefore they were come together, except that such a general and widespread longing and expectancy had been created for a new and singular bestowment of power from on high. Worldliness, formalism, apathy, selfishness, were so apparent in the Ohurch and so alarming, that devout believers were driven to the Throne of Grace to seek some help from above. Throughout the whole convention at Brighton this blessing was realized. While engaged in prayer the Holy Spirit often in those days mysteriously laid hold On men and women, and they were swayed as by a rushing, mighty wind. Prayer became more earnest, importunate, believing, prevailing, and it was manifest that some new force was controlling. The first fruits were found in a distinct entrance into newness of life on the part of many who hitherto had been cold or conventional in their religious character, hampered by forms, exclusive and uncharitable, inconsistent and without power as witnesses. Men and women were blest, and clergymen of the Anglican Ohurch were among the prominent parties receiving this Divine enduement. At the time no one suspected the real import of this Divine visitation, and hence the early history of it has somewhat inadequate records.* It is remembered by those w1!o had a share in it simply as a very unusual and quite indescribable manifestation of spiritual quickening and power. Of course, such a meeting could not but be the mother of others, and hence the subsequent gatherings known as the Keswick meetings of which we are now more specially writing.
~ " Record of the Convention for the Promotion of Scriptural Holiness," held at Brighton, 1875. London, S. W. Partridge & Co., and "Account of the Union Meeting," etc., at Oxford,l874. F. H. Revell, Chicago. . The movement at Keswick found both its suggestion and warm sup- port in the Vicar of Keswick, the lamented Oanon Battersby, by whose influence it became connected with and located at that beautiful spot in the English Lake District, and who, as long as he lived, presided over the meetings held there. In the same simple way, the presi- dency then passed by a general assent to Mr. Henry Howker, and a~ his death to Mr. Robert Wilson. But there has never been a fixt com- mittee of leadership; quite without any definite arrangement of man, it remains in the hands of Mr. Wilson so far as any human hand is on the helm.
To a singular extent no deference is paid to men, however high their social or ecclesiastical position. Keswick stands for a peculiar type of spiritual teaching and life. Those who understand it and, exhibit it are askt to take part, and no others. The most renowned minister or evangelist or theological professor from any country might happen in the very meeting, but would not be askt to speak unle~ he was believed or known to have_been led out into this sort of experi- ence and teaching.
The first Keswick Convention, which lasted four days, was held in a large-sized building; but as the meetings became more largelY' attended, they were transferred to a tent. The present accomodations are equal to about 3,000, but 10,000 often attend in course of the con- vention.
In view of all that has been thus far written, it is of some consequence to ask and answer three questions: 1. What is the exact type of Keswick teaching? 2. What is the peculiar method of dealing with souls? 3. What are the actual results reacht ? 1. The Type of Keswick TeacMng.-This is definite, complete, and progressive. It has a definite beginning, middle, and culmination. Six successive stages may perhaps be indicated, all of them being deemed important, and in the following order: (1) The definite and immediate abandonment of every known sin or hindrance to holy living. (2) The abandonment and renunciation by faith of the self-life, or the life that centers in self-indulgence and self-dependence. (3) The immediate surrender of the will in loving and complete obedience to the will of God, separation in order to consecration. (4) The infilling of the Holy Spirit, or the claiming of the believer's share in the Spirit's pentecostal gift of power for service. (5) The revelation of Ohrist as an indwelling presence in the believer's soul and daily life, and as his actual Master and Lord. Beyond these there is always a sixth and last stage of teaching-the privileges and victories implied in this higher or deeper life, such as the rest life of faith, power over sin, passion for souls, conscious fellowship with God, growing possession of promises, and prevailing prayer and intercession.
The basis of all this teaching is, as is very apparent, the con- 'tiction that the average Christian life is too often grievously des- titute of real spiritual power and is essentially carnal, and that it is the duty and privilege of every child of God to enter at once into newness of life, and to walk: henceforth in the power of Christ's resurrection.
1. Hence the starting-point-instant abandonment of sin and of every known weight which prevents or hinders progress. Whatever is wrong or believed t~ be wrong in God's sight cannot be indulged with impunity. It is held up as utterly destructive of all holy living and testimony, as unnecessary because wrong, and as making impossible even assurance oj salvation. How can disciples lead out others into a life they have not themselves found? How can a man help a. sinner to salvation unless ~he knows he is saved? To continue one moment in what is felt to be sin is therefore perilous not only to holiness, but to the hope of salvation itself.
2. Secondly, a deadly blow is aimed at self-liiein its six forms; selfdependence, self-help, self'pleasing, self-will, self-seeking, and selfglory; in other words, a new practical center is sought for all the life to revolve about, and in this way a new step is taken in advance. Beyond the territory of known sin there lies another almost as danger- (lUS, where self-indulgence is the peculiar feature. There is a large (Jlass of pleasures, amusements, occupations, which do not bear the hideous features of secret or open sin, but which all tend to give supremacy to self. In them all the real question is: What will gratify and glorify myself? For example, the pleasures of ambition, grasping after power and position which feed self-glory; avarice, heaping up riches, which is pleasing to self-indulgence; appetite, eating and drinking for the sake of pleasure, which ministers to self-seeking; and other forms of selfishness, such as courting human applause by intellectual preaching, or conformity to worldly maxims.
There are five or six forms of amusement that bear the distinct stamp of this world, whatever may be contended as to their inherent innocence; the theatre, the dance, the card-table, the -horse-race, the 6pera, the wine-cup. These have been felt, for some reason, to hinder holiness and service; and some churches have distinctly made indulgence in them a matter of discipline. Whatever may be said of them, this is true: that wherever this deeper experience of Christ's power has been known it has been preceded or followed by their abandonment. These matters are very seldom referred to specifically at the Keswick gatherings, as the teaching concerns great general principles .. of holy living and serving, yet as a fact, those who attend are brought face to face with this question: how can you do anything primarily to please yourself which does not put at risk your pleasing God'! A high type of holiness always involves two practical rules: (a) I will seek in everything to please my Master as the Lord and Sovereign of my life; (b) I will seek to please my neighbor for his good unto edification. Hence one of the remarkable features of this movement has been, for instance, the abandonment of tobacco, not because its use can be conclusively shown to be inherently sinful, nor because of any direct pressure brought to bear by speakers; but because, where used, not as 8 medicine, but for indulgence of a liking, it exalts self to the throne. Paul gives by the Spirit two or three great all-controlling principles to guide in doubtful indulgences, and in each case he carefully guards the' principle by saying in advance, "all things are lawful for me;" but he adds in one case, "all things edify not, are not expedient i" and in the other case, "I will not be brought under the powe1' of any." Compare 1 Cor x: 23: vi: 12. Three questions are thus to be asked after we have settled the matter of lawfulness. First, is this lawful thing expedient? does it advance or retard holiness? second, does it edify-that is, help or hin- der others? and, third, does it tend to enslave or to emancipate me? A true disciple whose whole heart is set on pleasing God will soon settle all debatable territory on these ,three principles. 3. Thirdly, the surrender of the will to God in obedience. Christ must to every believer become not only Savior but Lord (Rom. 10 : 9, R. V.). "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. 12: 3). Hundreds who accept Him as Savior from sin have no real conception of Him as the actual Master and Sovereign of the daily life. In the message to Laodicea we have a hint as to this sort of profest believers. "Behold I stand at the door and knock," etc. Here is Christ outside knocking and appealing for admission. The keys of the house are not in His hands. He is not admitted to His own house and in control. There is a definite act of opening, welcoming, and entrusting to Him the keys which mean government; but so long as one apartment in the house is voluntarily withheld from Him, He never practically assumes control. From the nature of the case it must be all or none i and every child of God knows, or will know if he searches his own heart, whether any part of his life shuts out Jesus from practical rulership. If any part of the body shrinks and shows abnormal sensitiveness under the surgeon's touch, he begins to suspect that there is a lurking place of disease. And whenever a disciple is especially sensitive as to anyone or more forms of indulgence, or shrinks from the candid application of Scripture to any particular practice, he may know that at that point there lurks spiritual disease. On the other hand, if the hidden recesses be opened , up to Christ and He be welcomed to the whole heart and whole life. the very chambers of our previous idolatry will become the chambers of heavenly imagery and Divine communion.
4. Fourthly, the infilling of the Spirit.-Here is perhaps the most delicate and difficult part of this teaching. But it is well not to stop on phrases; whether we agree or nO.t on the exact form of words, we must agree on facts, and conspicuous among the facts is this: that thousands of profest believers, like the Ephe!lian disciples in Acts XIX, do not practically know whether there be a Holy Ghost or not. Dr. Gordon discriminated between sealing, filling, and anointing. He thought the first had reference to assurance, thl'l second to power, and the third to knowledge. The point is this: have you ever claimed and received the power of the Holy Spirit as such? He came down on the day of Pentecost and filled disciples. This was an experience quite apart from conversion. The upper room was filled with a hundred and twenty disciples, some of whom for years had followed Jesus. And yet now suddenly they all received a Divine gift whereby they had new apprehension of all spiritual truth, a more assured witness borne to them as children of God, and a greater power in testimony for Christ. They were somehow filled with light, and love, and life, and power; their tongues were loosed, and they spake even in new languages before nnknown. Now, it may be, and doubtless is, true that this" baptism" of the Spirit was once for all, and that no further such effusion is to be expected in this age. But every disciple is entitled to claim his full share in that blessing and enter into pentecostal life and power or rather have it enter into him.
This is to be claimed by faith quite apart from feeling. Nowhere in the Word of God is feeling addrest, and for a good reason: if God made feeling an evidence or test, we should depend on it, and our confidence would vacillate as often as our feelings do. Man is complex; he is composed of body, soul, and spirit; and body and soul have much to do with spirit. Where the body is not normal, a cloud comes over the higher faculties. What we call feeling is often largely at the mercy of digestion and other physical conditions which do not affect faith or choice. The will may be as unchangingly fixt on God in sickness as health, tho the feelings vary with every change of bodily mood. " According to your faith be it unto you." If you open your heart to the Spirit's infilling and are claiming this blessing, rest on God's faithfulness. He will not fail you.
5. Fifthly, The Revelation of Jesus Christ in the soul as an. Indwelling Presence.-This is the climax of this teaching. The supreme end of the Holy Spirit's indwelling and inworking is to manifest the personal Christ as consciously our possession and in possession of us. ,This is the mystery: Christ in you. The Spirit first takes the things of Christ and shows them to the believer; second, he testifies to Christ, and, third, he glorifies Christ. Note the three parts of this
1R97.] THE SmGE OF TIBET
work as laid down in John 14-16: Manifesting, witnessing, glorifying. He will show you Ohrist iu all His offices and relations to you; He will make Him real to you as your actual possession; and He will clothe Him in glorious charms, so that you will gaze on Him as one enamored of His beauty and love. It is very different to have Ohrist revealed withont you as a historic personage, and within yon as experimentally and really master and Lord. 1'his latter the Holy Spirit does, as the former the Word does.
Rev. F. B. Meyer, who is so prominently connected with the Keswick teaching, has left a special farewell word to his brethren, which we here reproduce from The Ram's Horn.
" I am askt to give a parting message to the beloved ministers of, the Gospel -and other friends with whom I have met during this my fourth and brief visit to the United States. Your country is becoming increasingly a second homeland to me, and I thank you a thousand times for your love. It is an unfeigned delight to find that the teaching of the Inner Life is becoming so widespread in its influ- ence on this side the Atlantic. Union with Christ is His death and resurrection, the reckoning oneself dead to self the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the Rest of Faith, Life across the J~rdan in the Land of Promise, these are familiar and- deeply prized truths and their wide dissemination and realization on the part of believers, together with the exposition of the Bible, as opposed to merely topical preaching, seems to me the conditions of a Revival of God's work in this land, which shall reanimate the churches. and enable them to act as the cementing bond in your vast and varied population.
" Ever your attached friend, F. B. MEYER."
THE SIEGE OF TIBET.
BY F. B. SHAW, WAKEFIELD, ENGLAND, LATE OF LEH, BRITISH TIBET.
Situated in the heart of a vast continent, guarded on the north by immense deserts and arid plateaus, shllt in on the other sides by the loftiest mountains in the world, Tibet is as inaccessible as any country well could be. Small wonder that its wondrous line of snowy peaks, which glistened so strangely above the mists of the plain, and from which issued the mighty rivers upon which his crops depended, became an object of reverence and religious awe to the ancient dweller in the Indian lowlands. This reputation of the unknown has descended to modern times, when Tibet is almost the only country in the world absolutely and of a set purpose closed to Europeans, the country of the Dalai Lama, a priest-king as wonderful as any Prestor John, the country of reputed mahatmas-in a word, the country of mystery.
But Tibet has not always been the" Great Closed Land." Friar Odoric, of Pordenone, past through the country about 1325; and it is quite in keeping with the energetic character of their order that several Jesuits traveled in Tibet during the seventeenth century, but without making a permanent settlement. This was first done by Desideri, who resided in Lhasa from 1716 to 1729. At first alone, this Jesuit was joined in 1719 by twelve Oapuchin friars under Or~io della Penna. They seem to have had a very flourishing mission; but they had fallen on troublous days. Civil wars and insurrections against the Ohinese having thrown the country into anarchy, the missionaries were expelled in 1760. During the last twenty years of their stay the Capuchins had been practically isolated, and with their departure the land was thoroughly closed. For one hundred years not half a dozen Europeans, none of them missionaries, succeeded in entering the country, and of these only one reached Lhasa. For one hundred years the Ohristian Ohurch left Tibet to slumber into death.
To their honor be it said, the Romish Church was the first to resume attempts. In 1846 the Redemptorists Huc and Gabet penetrated to Lhasa, hoping to be allowed to settle there; but Ohinese influence prevailed, and after only a few weeks' stay they were driven out of the country.
The time had now come for Protestants to take up the work, the Moravians being first in the field. But their work was in so far different from any other attempt, as, when the pioneer missionaries Heyde and Pagellleft home, neither they nor the directing board had Tibet or the Tibetans in their minds. On the contrary, the new effort, prompted by the veteran Chinese missionary GiitzlafI, was directed to the Mongolians. Only after failing to reach Mongolia through Russia was the attempt made to penetrate through Tibet, and only when this attempt, renewed at various places, had utterly failed, was the finger of God recognized as pointing to a settlement among Tibetan Buddhists living around the western frontier of Ohinese Tibet. To this day the visitor can see in the library of the oldest station the Mongol books brought out by the pioneers. Time and space fail to relate in full the story of this mission. Suffice it to say that the missionaries decided in 1856 to settle in the Valley of Lahaul. Attempts to obtain land in the chief village failed, and the pioneers were obliged to content themselves with Kyelang, a village on the opposite side of the valley. This was again a providential leading, for it soon appeared that Kyelang was in every way more suitable than the village originally thought of. The same providence was apparent in the fact that just at that time there was in the service of the Moravian Church a man of rare linguistic talent, H. A. Jaeschke, who was willing to devote himself to the exploratioJ? of the difficult and little-known Tibetan language. The untiring energy of these three men soon made Kyelang a center of light. Not only was the Gospel preacht to the villagers at hand, but long itinerations from village to village served to make it widely known. Quickly realizing the fact that they had to do with a people possest of an alphabet and a literature of their own, they started a lithographic M0 N G 0 L A lQ . S A .IT 0 o 7'
II, O!
O~_ _'fIO ~'lh·()r)l11{,R, 2(~J ~IJO —.±OO 600 MISSIONARY MAP OF TIBET, (Dotted lines indicate trade routes,) The Scaudinavian Alliance l'tIi88ion has aleo l'ibetan Missionaries in Ghoom India, in Baksadnar, Bhutan, and iu Guntak, Sikkim. printing-press, from which school-books, catechisms, hymns, tracts and B,ible portions were issued in rapid succession.
In a few years another station was founded in Poo, in the Upper Sutlej Valley, close to the borders of Chinese Tibet, and on an import- ' ant commercial route. But Ladak, with its capital Leh, on the upper course of the Indus, was the spot which seemed most desirable. Leh is a great center of Tibetan trade, as well as the metropolis of Western Tibetan Buddhism, and no stone was left unturned to secure a regular station there; but its ruler, the Maharajah of Kashmir, tho allowing some freedom of travel through the country, anxiously excluded resideut Europeans from his territories. Not till 1885 did the Maharajah give the required permission, when Leh was immediately occupied. A new feature in the work was a fully equipped medical mission, which has proved a most useful adjunct. Its temporary cessation, owing to a series of adverse circumstances, is all the more to be regretted, as the Roman Catholics saw fit, in 1888, to start a work of their own in Leh. The visible results of the work at all stations are small, very small; but the conviction, caused by the circumstances attending the origin of the work, that the mission is where God would have it, has sustained the directing board at home and the missionaries abroad in their efforts. So far from withdrawing, the Moravians are seeking to extend their work.
An encouraging sign in answer to much prayer for Tibet is seen in the great interest now taken in this field of work. While the Moravians were for years alone, there are now about forty men and women engaged in Tibetan work. The same impulse seems to have come to many minds in various places. Miss Annie Taylor, originally attacht to the China Iuland Mission, naturally demands first attention. Her work in Sining brought her into contact with the Tibetans, and she determined to try what could be done. Proceeding to Darjiling, she acquired some knowledge of the language, and then returning to China, started on her adventurous journey. She had to return, foiled of her hopes of reaching Lhasa; but the journey was not in vain. Her marvelous feat drew universal attention to the people on whose behalf it was made, and in the course of a few months the Tibetan Pioneer Mission was launched. With fourteen companions she returned to Sikkim, there to continue linguistic studies, and, if possible, to penetrate from thence into the country. In and near Darjiling she found several Swedish missionaries belonging to the Scandinavian Alliance Mission (U. S. A.) engaged in similar work.
In the meantime another worker had been made ready. Mr. and Mrs. Polhill-Turner, like Miss Taylor, belonging to the Chiua Inland Mission, had also had Tibet laid on their hearts. When stationed at Sining they devoted what time they could to studying Tibetan, 'but not finding it a suitable place they removed, and after many wanderings settled in Sungpan in the autumn of 1891. A prolonged drought having roused the superstious fears of the Ohinese, (Mr. Turner is careful to say that the Tibetans took no part), a terrible riot broke ()ut and the missionaries were driven away. Here, again, was God's hand working wonderfully; Mr. Turner was taken away from Ohina only that he might take the leadership of some of those who had originally joined Miss Taylor in Sikkim, but now desired to seperate themselves from her. Thus the Tibetan Mission Band was formed. Besides these workers the International Missionary Alliance (U. S. A.) in 1892, also sent men to Darjiling, to acquire the language. All these workers are new, and for this reason little could be said of the work done, even were space to allow of it.
And now let us see how the forces are disposed around the mighty mountain ramparts. Let the reader take a good map. He will find the north of Tibet to be a vast uninhabited region, where the missionary would find no work to do. Ooming round to the west, the Moravians hold Tibetan districts in the higher valleys of the Indus, Sutlej, and tributary rivers. Lower down the Indus and west of the Moravians, the Scandinavians are commencing work in Baltistan. This is an important step, for it means the occupation of a district with 100,000 souls as yet untouched by regular work; Mohammedans by religion, but speaking Tibetan, and members of the Tibetan family. Toward the south, Almora is occupied by the London Society, who have devoted what time they could spare to Tibetans, and where an independent worker, Mr. Agnew, has settled. Nepal is as yet unoccupied, being closed to missionaries. The Scotch mission has long held Sikkim and devoted much time to the Tibetans; but this branch of their work is now presumably taken off their hands by the members of the various societies destined for ~'ibet. Bhotan is unoccupied by Protestants, but the Oatholics have a work in that country. In 1854 they had obtained a footing in Tibet, were ejected four years later, and retired to Bhutan. We finally come to the east, or (i)hinese side, where the Oatholics have several stations, but where no Protestants are working at present.
We hear, however, that Mr. Polhill-Turner has made an arrangement with J. Hudson Taylor, by which his men will form a separate group affiliated to the O. I. M., but set apart for Tibetan work. They will therefore move round to the Ohinese frontier of Tibet, thus completing the ring of attacking forces. The present writer rejoices over this decision, for he is convinced that the road to Lhasa lies through Ohina. The population is densest, the country is most fertile, political jealousies are least on that side. But the strong fortress is not to.be taken at first storm, and many weary years may have to be spent in the trenches. We do not believe that a sudden dash at Lhasa is in any way advisable, inasmuch as it would probably only serve to make
CHINA-PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
the people more suspicious. Also the British Government is anxious to establish friendly relations with Tibet, from which the missionaries must ultimately derive benefit. A recently publisht report on the matter shows how difficult this is, and it would be a matter of regret if the missionaries should by any hasty actioR delay the desired event. The advance will be gradual, the whole country being occupied, and every outpost having'a support to fall back upon. This may, probably will, be slow work; but nothing else can be expected. Tibetan Buddhism, however grotesque it may seem to us, has a firm hold on the people, and stands ready for battle. Let us, therefore, while thanking God for the work already done, and the great accession of workers, not imagine that the difficulties are past.' God may be preparing another Jericho; but we must be prepared for much toil before the power of Dalai Lamas is broken.
Any enumeration of the forces arrayed against Tibet would, however, be incomplete without a mention of the Tibet Prayer Union. Originally launched in connection with the Moravian work, it has grown so as to demand a separate existence; and it now consists of a union of those interested in Tibet, being independent of and above every society. The workers in the field expect great things from this union, for when Tibet falls, it will be in answer to prayer. There is no missionary who does not feel himself strengthened by its existence and quiet work. We can only wish that all who desire the good of Tibet-and we are persuaded that very many are regular in their supplications for that country-would definitely join the union, and so enroll themselves personally in one of the regiments-and by no means the least important-detailed for the siege of Tibet.
NOTE I.-The latest books on our subject are (1) "Working and Waiting for Tibet," Moravian Publication Office, Fetter Lane, London, E. C., and Bethlehem, Pa., 1891; (2)" The Great Closed Land," by A. W. Marsten. Partridge & Co., London, 1893. .
NOTE 2.-The secretaries of the Tibet Prayer Union are: Messrs. Ford and Ashton, War- Ington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, England.
NOTE 8.-There being some confusion as regards the spelling of certain common names, the following may be of interest: (1) The orthography "Tibet" seems to be the best, the form" Thlbet" having no sufficient authority. The name is of doubtful origin, being certainly not Tibetan. (2) The form "Lhasa" would seem to be best, as corresponding most closely in letters and pronunciation with the Tibetan "lha-sa "-abode of the deity. (3) The form "lama" (Tib-" bla-ma," with mute b) is the only correct rendering; the use of the word "llama" rests on confusion with the South American quadruped, which may claim to be allowed the exclusive use of Its own name.
CHINA-PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
BY REV. WlLLIAM ASHMORE, D. D., SWATOW, CHINA.
Some people in Ohina are sanguine of great and immediate advancement. They consider that Ohina has now discovered her need and that, therefore, impelled by the sturdy, practical common sense of her people, she will lose no time in giving effect to her more enlightened views, and will take her place in the great procession of the nations,., Others haveno such expectations. They consider China to be like the sluggard of holy writ, disturbed in its sleep of ages, it has merely rolled over-and merely says: "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep." Her administrative heads are stupefied with conservatism, and will not change without still more violent convulsions 1 And so, after this little spurt of reform has spent itself, things will all fall back into the old ruts, according to the litany of Chinese politics, "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be."
Each of these views has much which may be said in its favor, therefore a more correct answer to the question may be arrived at by taking some items on both sides into the account. It becomes a case of general average.
I: The first point to be noted in the consideration of the question as to whether China will now become progressive is contained in the affirmation that slLe has advanced immensely already. This fact is beyond dispute. One who notes the growth of a tree, by the week or the month, will not discover much progress, but by making the observation extend over an interval of several years, he will find that there has been an immense advance. In order to apprehend the progress which China has made, we need to go back and note the state of things before the first war with England, in 1842.
At that time Chinese statesmen knew nothing of the West. Their ignorance was dense. They knew nothing, and they cared nothing. None of them ever went West. To find a Chinaman who had been to London or New York was at once to give him a new designation. " Boston Jack" and "London Tom" were so called because one had been to Boston and the other to London. Of intercourse with Western people, there was none whatever. Europeans and Americans were not wanted, and were not allowed the freedom of the soil anywhere in China. The only place allowed them was that small patch of ground along the river front of Canton, known as "The Thirteen Houses," so called· because there were that many dwellings and warehouses there to be occupied by foreigners of all nationalities alike. Then there was a. garden plot for common use, in which they all had to get their airing a.nd exercise, under the greatest limitation and restraint. If they ventured outside of their "jail-bounds," they were liable to be mobbed and stoned. Inside of the gate of the city no man could go. If he attempted it, he riskt his life. They could also take a little run down the river, for a dozen miles, to Whampoa, where the ships anchored. That comprised their privileges in China.
i~e estimate placed on foreigners by the Chinese was contemptuous to the last degree. They were spoken of as "barbarians," "redheaded devils," who had come to China to beg the privilege of supplying themselves with tea, and who were, as a very great favor, permit. ted to bask under the imperial smile. China was to them the Central Kingdom. All other countries were on the outskirts, and wer~ reckoned as the mere rind of civilization. When dealing with them officially, the mandarins deputed only low-class subordinates, but littl~ above the grade of constables, to "instruct the ignorant barbarians how to demean themselves." Then the most arrogant, haughty, supercilious and utterly unbearable manner was always assumed. Even Lord Napier, when sent out to negotiate a better understanding, was addrest as "a barbarian "-he was called "the barbarian eye" in all official communications-he was snubbed and insulted and treated with an infinite disdain. An attempt to get the Viceroy to use more courteous language only called out a scornful laugh and another kick. England herself was called" a tribute bearer," and was regarded as a distant dependency of China, along with Siam and Tibet, and the regions occupied by wild tribes on the frontier.
The Chinese, then, had no steamers, no sailing ships, no telegraph, no railroads, no ambassadors at their capital, no open ports except Canton, no foreign consuls recognized, nobody to represent them at foreign courts, no books or papers that told them anything about foreign nations, no foreign improvement of any kind; their trade was all done in the old-fashioned junks; their men-of-war were all small and contemptible junks, but little better than their merchantmen, each one armed with several old smooth-bore cannon, full of blisters in the casting, and almost as dangerous to those who stood behind them as t() those who were in front. Their rabbles of militia, without drill, and without organization worthy of the name, still practised with bows and arrows and old matchlocks, and thought to scare their enemy by the flaunting of flags, the banging of gongs, noisy vociferation, and fierce paintings of tiger-heads on their wooden shields. Ohina was a thousand years behind the rest of the world, and, at that time, there was not the least sign that a change would ever come. Would China ever come to recognize the nations, the West, as equals? Never! Would her viceroys ever adopt terms of equality with foreign consuls? Never! Would China ever have any use for Western science and Western improvements? Never! Would the supremely august and" Solitary one" in Peking ever admit foreign embassadors to his presence 1:" Never ! Never! Let the heavens fall first. Would there come a time< when foreigners would have the free range of the empire? Never! Would the proud, stiff-necked, conceited and supercilious mandarins ever be found imploring foreign aid to keep them in resources to run their ship of state ? Never! Would China ever be found sending her most renowned statesmen to carry the respects of his imperial majesty to those despised and so-called tributaries of the West? Never-s() long as the world stands ! Yet all this, and far more, has come to pass. China began to go to school in 1842. She has had several special semesters since. She has been in the public school of the nations and has had private tutors of her own. It is a course of rough discipline that she has gone through. She has rebelled and kickt at the teach- ers, but her stiff-necked mandarins have had to yield to the power of .solomon's celebrated mortar-and-pestel treatment. Braying in the mortar has done them good. They have not got there yet, but they .are on the way, and will "fetch up" by and by.
Now, look at some of the changes that have taken place. That {)ffensive expression, "barbarian," has been knocked out of aU official documents, consuls are the equals of viceroys, ministers plenipoten- tiary reside at the imperial capital; the Chinese have reorganized their army; they have reconstructed their navy; they have rebuilt their forts; they have remodeled their whole commercial marine. The old junks of such enormous size, that used to run to Batavia and Singa- pore and Siam, are all gone. They were crowded out by sailing ships, and now the sailing ships have been crowded out by steamers, and the Chinese own steamer-fleets of their own; they have iron-clads and tor- pedo boats, and arsenals, and huge dry docks of their own. They have the most reliable part of their revenue collected for them by for- eigners; they have telegraphs and railroads. They have started great foundries of their own; they have started silk filature establishments, and cotton-mills. They now have banks of their own and insurance {)ffices. Once they did all their business in the West through foreign houses in Hong Kong and Shanghai; now they have their own agents in London, Berlin, New York and San Francisco. Instead of a stray sailor called" Boston Jack" or "London Tom" they now have able .and wealthy business men of their own-men who have1 become mil- lionaires in the West, and who compel the respect of the whole com- , mercial world. All this is progress. Certainly the tree has grown, if it has been imperceptibly.
II. In the next place it must be noted that these advances make -other advances necessary-advances so great, that aU that has been before will be thrown in the shade! There is an immense amount of 'seed sown ready to spring up; there are vast potencies at work to 'Produce more changes; there is a logic of progress which is bound to :assert itself. One of a kind begets another of the same kind; two different kinds make a demand for a third kind. One successful <:otton-mill means two cotton-mills, and two mills means three mills. One telegraph wire means another wire. Twenty miles of railroad means a hundred miles, and a hundred miles means a thousand in the future. .A short road from Tientsin to Peking, less than a hun- dred miles, means a long road from Peking to Hankow, six hun- dred and fifty miles, and a road from Peking to Hankow, means an extension to Oanton, five hundred miles more-and eleven hu,ndred and fifty miles of main trunk lines means innumerable branch lines, and all that means radical change, industrial revolution, and continual progress.
The most significant indication of progress is the altered attitude of the Chinese science to all things Western. The change of sentiment is not complete, but it is going on, and will continue to go on, till Western ideas will permeate and dominate future Chinese civilization. The most important bureau in Peking to-day is the one which has to do with foreign affairs. Powerful viceroys, like Li Hung Chang and Ohang Chi Tung, have English-speaking linguists attached to their yamen. Forty years ago such a thing would have been pronounced impossible; they have English books translated and laid before them; they have daily newspapers started-a marvel of progress; they have schools for teaching Western science. The emperor has actually issued an edict commending to his people the adoption of such Western improvements as the Chinese may deem advantageous. This is an astonishing stride. It does not say so, but it does mean that China, officially, is getting ready to declare a break with the old. It is slipping the anchor and letting the ship drift into the Western gulfstream.
Then, too, China is being affected powerfully by her emigrants who have gone abroad-have become inoculated with various Western ideas, and have come back to let them germinate. Furthermore, a score of open ports have become luminous and radiating centres. Tens and hundreds of thousands of her people, at these places, are getting their eyes opened. Persons at home can hardly conceive of the change of attitude in the minds of the common people that is now beginning to take place in consequence of the events of the last few years. They have seen the energy and efficiency of the western man; they have seen their own mandarins quail before him. The glamor of superiority, which surrounded these mandarins and literati in their estimations, has begun to fade as a rainbow fades. When John the Baptist came, men mused and "were in expectation." A state of "expectation" is the soil out of which changes sprout. Without exaggeration we may say that, up and down the coast of China, millions of people are" in expectation" of something. So all that enters into the preparation. Not only are they expecting something, but they are longing for something. Things can hardly be worse, they think, and they may be better.
III. It will appear then that the real question is not whether Ohina has progrest or will progress, but it is, at 10hat rate will China now progress? This will call for a reestimate of the forces at work-those holding back and those impelling forward, and their mutual pullings and haulings with each other.
The former come first. Origiually they had the entire field, , adversely to them nobody dared to peep or to chirp. Conservatives they are called, but obstructionists and dead weights is what they really are. The China "Mission Hand Book" gives the number of leading mandarins-that is, of high grade mandarins-at a few over ten thousand. This does not include the large retinue connected with the imperial household; then there are the literati, attending examination still, about six hundred thousand; then there is the large roll of past literati, the number of which it is difficult to ascertain, and certain of the gentry, so-called, with them, who cannot be less than a million. At the outset ~'}l of these classes were of one mind and of one instinct to oppose foreign ideas. They included the edu- cated brains of China; they represented all the power and all the prestige of the nation; they were ben t on resisting foreign encroach- ment, in maintaining the complete isolation of Ohina, and the con- servation unmixt of their ancestral inheritance of civilization. The mass of them hated the foreigner, and were ready to drive him out into the sea. .Out of this immense class began to be born, little by little, the new class-the men of progressive ideas, the men who discovered quicker than others that Ohina was kicking against the pricks. They have been growing, little by little, since the first war with England. For a generation they were but few, without communication or con- ference with each other. Some high statesmen were in this class; they stood where they were compelled to see the truth. But they were not assertive, nor were they at all agreed in the extent of the innovation they would sanction. They took to improved military and naval arrangements first, and yielded to other demands slowly and reluctantly. They still considered China able to dictate her own course. While some of them saw the real advantages of Western methods, and what an immense boom their introduction would be to China as a nation-others of them advocated a limited adoption of Western appliances, chiefly on the principle of fighting fire with fire; they would beat the foreigner by resorting to his own weapons. Small at first, this class has now become large and influential. Great statesmen are now enrolled among them; the influence of traveled Chinese is on their side; foreign diplomacy is on their side; the wars of China have all been on their side; and the whole drift of the gene- ration is on their side. Of course, there is friction and collision, and that is what is the matter with China just now. She is a divided house. The conser- vatives are powerful, and bigoted, and desperate-they cling as for dear life to all the features of the old system of administration and emolument. But the others are becoming powerful too, and are reso- lute, and are coming into touch with each other. Two civilizations are struggling in the womb of Ohina. The second one is Jacob, the Supplanter. First, it is one that is likely to claim the portion of the first-born, and then it is the other. Jacob will start his Reform Society and appear about to lead the host. Then, all at once, his Reform Society will be knocked to pieces by the red and hairy hand of Esau.
Let no one despair of the outcome. It will be Jacob and not Esau that will win at the end. But it may take more time than we pushing Western people are willing to allow. The rate of progression may be slow and tedious. At the same time we are cheered with the hope that, in the Providence of God, events may be accelerated. It may be peaceably, and it may be with commotion and upheaval, but the consummation is surely coming. Conservatism may show its power to humiliate Li Hung Chang after all the honor heapt upon him, but that power is being exhausted with every blow it strikes. It may never be possible to do as bold a thing again.
In addition to all this, allowance must be made for inherent difficulties, which lie in the way of radical and rapid changes in China, even when pusht by willing and unfett;:;::"ed hands. These arise from the crystallized form of society-the time and labor required to move such immense masses of human beings into new lines of thought and action. But into that large subject we cannot enter here.
IV. When it comes to missionary aspects of the question, as to whether China will become progressive, we appeal to a comparison of the present status with that of the past. We look back to a time when Robert Morrison was the only missionary to China. Then he had to dodge about the foreign settlement at Canton to escape observation. Now Robert Morrison and his wife have become twenty-five hundred strong, and he is the most ubiquitous person of the foreigners in the whole empire. Once Leang-A-Fa was the only convert. Now Leang- A-Fa has become seventy thousand strong, and is the growing class of China-he is the man of the future-the coming Chinaman. Others will decrease, but he will increase. Like Abraham, he will become the father of multitudes-those of his countrymen who will come to believe with him, will be like the stars for numbers. Once the Chinese teacher who helpt Dr. Morrison translate the Scripture, had to carry the manuscript concealed under his jacket, to avoid arrest. Now Bible Societies and Tract Societies occupy central points in their great cities and send out their printed pages, by the million. every year for the healing of the nation. Native churches are springing up by the thousand, and native speakers by the thousand. In her pristine state China had no public speakers. Among the incidental things being done by missions for China, is the raising up of a class of men trained to address crowds of people. In course of time, other classes of men than preachers will catch the spirit and learn the artthen a new dynamic element will enter into social and political life.
THE WOMEN OF CroNA-HEATHEN AND CBlUSTIAN
Not to prolong the subject, just rest the inquiry on two things. Oontrast two events in missionary history. In the one the translator, spoken of, appears slipping into the back door of Robert Morrison's dwelling with his contraband manuscript hid away in his clothes; in the other, a deputation of missionaries, headed by a foreign ambassador, marches into the imperial precincts to present a copy of the whole Bible to the Empress Dowager, who accepts it with pleasure and appreciation, while the servants of the Emperor are seen at the book stalls buying copies for themselves. The stride from the little alley in Canton to the palace in Pe~ing is tremendous. Then again, who, of all the missionaries of thirty years ago, familiar with the disdainful manner of even the yamen lackeys, could then have dreamt that the greatest statesman of Ohina would be receiving a deputation of missionary supporters in New York City, and should there put in writing an expression of his estimate of the value of their labors, and pay them an imperial compliment for their moral and personal worth. And yet that, too, has come to pass. Let no one say that missionary work in C~ina does not move. If all this be not progress, then what is progress?
China has been called a hard field. And snch in truth it has been, partly because of the intense materialism of its Confucian ethics, partly because of blind and slavish subservience to antiquity, and partly because its people have been trained for ages to think in bulk. But a freshet has come, the ice is beginning to crack and to break. The world has seen great ingatherings of disciples at many times and in many places, but in our humble opinion, these may all fall short of what may take place in China when the veil of ancestralism shall be torn away from the eyes of her myriad myriads of people.
THE WOMEN OF CHINA-HEATHEN AND CHRISTIAN.
BY MRS. GEORGE S. 1LA.YS.
To nnderstand a woman-Ohinese or American-one must have some knowledge of her home, her family cares, and her habits of thought. A typical Chinese family consists of the father and motherin-law, two or three sons and their wives and several grandchildren, all living in rooms opening upon the same high-walled court-yard, and sharing the same kitchen.
The father and sons work for and contribute to the common purse, and so strict are their ideas of impartiality, or rather so jealous is each member of the family of the others~ that a husband may not take even of the money he himself has earned to buy a. present for his own wife, without buying one equally v!l-luable for each of 'his sisters-in-law. The Chinaman has ways and means, however, of evading almost every law or custom, and the fond husband buys a handsome gown and sends it and his wife for a few days to her maternal home. From there she will return triumphantly displaying her gown as a present from her mother.
In the home the mother-in-law is usu~ly-but not always-the head. Sometimes a daughter-in-law of unusually bright mind or vicious temper rules the whole household. The quickest way & daughter-in-law possesses by which to bring her mother-in-law to subjection is threatening suicide. If a woman kills herself her spirit is supposed to return to haunt the mother-in-law, but worse than this to the practical mind of the Chinaman, her living relatives will gather and by demanding a costly funeral, will plunge the whole family into heavy debt that they will be unable to pay for years.
Imagine the situation in a Chinese home, and it becomes at once apparent that peace and happiness can not reign continually. On the one hand is the daughter-in-law, a young girl, perhaps indulged and spoiled from her babyhood in her mother's home, and untrained in housework and sewing. She is suddenly introduced by marriage intoa new home. Her husband, her mother-in-law, her neighbors are aU total strangers. She is miserably homesick; she gets wretchedly tired' doing all sorts of unaccustomed work; she is criticised, laughed at, or' reviled for her stupidity or her indolence.
On the other hand is the mother-in-law. She has perhaps suffered for years under the hard reign of her mother-in-law; she is now ready for her turn to sit on the throne. She expects to be treated with obedient consideration by her son's wife; she expects to take life easily in her old age. Instead of this she discovers that her new daughter-in-law is saucy, careless and wasteful, if not actually thievish; she is above all taking the place in her beloved son's affections which the mother has always held.
Remember, they are two heathen women with hot and hasty tempers which have never been controlled; each with a stock of vile words. and insulting epithets at her tongue's end, and it is easy to imagine the result. When there are several daughters-in-law in the samehouse, and children of different mothers ready to quarrel at a, moment's notice, and each mother ready to take her own child's part to the bitter end, it is often "confusion worse confounded."
It is well in such a household if there be one at the head who can command obedience and at least a semblance of peace. As the daughters-in-law grow older and wiser, as they bear sons to add luster to the family name, and as the various elements of the family become accustomed to each other, terrific outbursts of temper and violent chastisements by the mother-in-law become less frequent. There are, of course, some cases where the mother-in-law and her son's wife live together in loving harmony, but these are, unfortunately, rare exceptions.
The saddest and most hopeless lot in China is that of the" nourished daughter-in-law;" the girl who, yet too young to marry, is sent to her betrothed husband's home because of her parents' death or extreme poverty. Her mother-in-law resents this most vehemently. Why should she be called upon to feed and clothe for years the unfortunate child? .Ail there is no one to take the girl's part, she is usually over-worked, reviled, beaten and sometimes half-starved and driven to sleep with the dogs in her new home. If the mother-in-law goes too far, however, resource may be had to a curious mob-law, as far as I know, only practist by the women of China.
Not long ago an orphan girl was sent to live with her mother-inlaw who had already one daughter-in-law living with her. The child's betrothed husband was an industrious business man a good many years older than herself. He was seldom at home, and even when there, as it was not good form for him to take any notice of his little bride before marriage, he knew nothing of how she was treated. Altho the girl was a gentle, modest child, afraid to say or do anything contrary to her mother-in-Iaw's wishes, she was most cruelly treated. When she was thirteen years old, she 'inadvertently did something to offend her. mother and sister-in-law, and the two women, working themselves into a fiendish rage, killed her with scissors, cutting her :flesh horribly and slitting her tongue, but leaving no mark upon her face. When she was dead they carefully drest her in her best garments, and, according to custom, were obliged to send word of her death to her aunt, her only living relative. This aunt was a desperate character, a beggar-woman who could hope or fear nothing from the magistrates, as she had not enough money to make it worth an official's while to pay any attention to her case. She obeyed the summons at once, and after carefully examining the body of the dead child, returned home, and gathering together thirty or forty women, each armed with an awl or sharp pointed instrument, came to execute vengeance on the murderers. The two women, however, managed to hide themselves, and the infuriated mob were obliged to disperse after being assured by the bridegroom, who was horrified at the dreadful death of his bride, that a grand and costly funeral should be given in her honor.
In another instance within my knowledge, a mother-in-law who had beaten her daughter-in-law to death, did not escape so easily. In this case the murderess was caught by the mob of women armed with awls and sharp metal pins; they dragged her out into the street, stript her of her clothing and prickt and jagged her furiously. Then they .dragged her over the stones the whole length of the street two or three times, and finally left her, after pushing a quantity of briars and small thornes into her flesh. She was carried home by her friends more dead than alive. "No one in that village has dared to kill her daughter-in-Iaw since that time," was the significant conclusion given by the Ohristian woman telling me the story.
It is frightful to see a woman deliberately" nourishing wrath," as the Chinese express it. The word translated" nourishing" can also be rendered "kindle," as in "kindle a fire," and is most expressive in connection with the working-up of anger. It was once my unfortunate experience to see my nurse-maid, "nourish" or "kindle" wrath. One day, after having a quarrel with the washerman, she sat down in spite of my remonstrances, and deliberately gave way to her evil passions. She drew her breath in with great violence at long and regular intervals, until she became wholly unconscious of her surroundings. In this state, which lasted about forty hours, she threw herself about violently, and talkt deliriously, especially after I had applied the mustard plasters which I had heard were effective in such cases. Altho I lean toward homeopathic treatment, on this occasion I made two plasters thick and strong, one foot broad by two feet long, and applied them on her chest and down her back. While I was preparing the plasters my cook told me that the Ohinese would call one in this woman's condition "possest of demons." I am glad to state that by the aid of those mustard plasters, I exorcised the demons, and better yet, that they have never dared to return to that woman!
She came legitimately by her temper. She often told me of her grandfather, who had a long wished for and only son born to him late in life. He was so greatly delighted that he went in and out of his wife's room, exclaiming, "aren't you happy! aren't you happy!" After repeatedly replying in the affirmative, the old lady finally becoming irritated answered emphaticallly, "No, I am not happy." Whereupon the old man "nourished wrath," refused to eat and drink, and died in a few days. Serious illness or death often follows this deliberate giving way to anger.
Women who claim to be possest of a" fox or a wolf god," are much feared and reverenced by the Chinese. I once askt an intelligent Ohristian woman, Su May, whether she had ever known any women claiming this possession. She answered that she had met with very few, and those all claimed to be possest of a "fox god." When a pupil in one of our Christian schools, she had been allowed by the matronwho had not yet given up all her heathen superstitions-to witness the attempted healing of a very sick child by a woman possest of a "fox god."
Several of the school-girls stole into the room while the woman mumbled her incantations-intelligible only to herself-and it was not long before she turned angrily to the matron, and declaring that her god could do nothing in the presence of those believi::J.g the " Jesus doctrine," gave up the case and went away. She afterwards bitterly reproacht the woman who had conducted her to the school, saying, t< you should not have taken me there. Don't you know I have nothing to do with people holding their belief?" She declared that the child would surely die, as she was the run-away soul of a little nun, who had in her previous existence broken a bowl, and her mistress was calling to her to come back and account for the damage done to her property. But the child recovered in spite of this prophecy. .
After Su May left school, her fathel' took her for a visit among old family friends whom she had not seen since a little girl. Nearly every woman and child in the village crowded to see the natural-footed girl, who had been educated by foreigners, and among them came a woman who at once caught Su May's attention from her resemblance to the woman possest of a "fox god." She entered the room in a gli~ing serpentine manner, with averted eyes, which were never lifted in a straightforward, direct look into the face of another. By slipping behind some of the other women, she sought to avoid notice, but Su May said· to her at once, "you are possest of a "fox god, aren't you ?"
"Dreadful!" the woman gaspt," How do you know? No one told you about me, for I have been watching you." .
" I have a way of recognizing you," answered Su May, "but I won't tell you my way."
" Are you possest with a god also?" askt the woman.
"Yes," answered Su May, "I have the true God in me. He is with me all the time. Is your' fox god' with you? Let him speak to us through you."
" My god has gone to Shanghai," confusedly answered the woman, slinking out of the room as rapidly as possible.
Another woman of this kind was for a time in Mrs. Nevius' sewing class, but she declared she could not prophesy before the Christian school-girls. The most striking part of Su May's story was her state- ment that all the possest women of whom she had known or heard, confest at once on hearing the name of Jesus, that" He is true. He is the Son of the true God." And while others around might mock and jeer at the preaching of the Gospel, they either listened with respectful attention, or evaded it entirely.
The women who claim a "wolf god" are of a fierce nature, advis- ing more cruel methods of averting misfortune or curing the sick than those who are under the guidance of a "fox god." A petty mandarin living near Chepoo, having two wives, had the great misfortune to have no children. In great discontent with this state of affairs, he sent for a woman possest of a" wolf god," and askt her to tell him the reason for his ill-fortune. She was a total stranger to him and to both of his wives, so it could not have been an old grudge or wish for revenge that influenced her demands. She told him he would never have good luck as long as he kept his second wife; that she must not be divorced, but killed. The head wife was in real sorrow at this ver- dict and begged the mandarin to spare the unfortunate woman's life, but he remained determined to follow the "wolf god's" advice. Strip- ping the heavy wadded garments from his second wife (with whom, as far as known, he had had no previous quarrel) he drove her out into the bitter cold, where she was soon frozen to death.
The religious feelings of Ohinese women vary greatly in different localities. In some places they are distinctly religious, visiting tem- ples, worshiping daily at a private shrine in the home, fasting, praying and endeavoring by good works to lay up for themselves a reward in the future world. In the eastern part of Shantung Province this was not the case. The women as a rule never visit the temples, and worship no private gods. They are, of course, filled with' many vague and dark superstitions. Hard workt, improperly nourished, easily distracted and excited by the little details of daily life, they seem to give little, if any, thought to their future after death. It is commonly believed that a woman will change at death into a pig-considered the filthiest of animals-to atone for the sins committed during her lifetime,such as polluting pure water, wasting food, cutting cloth, reviling her husband, worrying her mother-in-law, etc. From a pig to a woman, a woman to a pig, the dreary transmigration goes on forever. Others believe in total annihilation, but most women dismiss the question of a future life by a careless" who' knows?" or by the sad statement, "I fear no future suffering. My lot cannot possibly be worse in the world to come than it is in this life."
This picture of heathen womanhood would be misleadingly dark and' gloomy if all bright coloring be omitted. It is indeed a black and bitter life, even among heathen homes that get no ray of light occasionally. Hunger satisfied, tho with coarsest food, a refreshing breeze after a hot day, warmth in winter, a shelter and rest at night, the doubtful joy of having overcome an adversary in a reviling match, or, the relief of escaping with whole bones from a fierce quarrel, make a lining to the black cloud of life, which, if not silver, is at least lighter than the prevailing hue.
But we may certainly call bright silver the joyous smile of an innocent child, the true love which children give to and receive from their mother, vigorous health with few nerves, and the natural love of life, which is the portion of all God's creatures. Add to this an apathetic disposition, an astonishing lack of envy of those in better circumstances, and the fact that a quarrel, which wonld drive an American woman into a long siege of nervous prostration, is but meat and drink to the ordinary Chinese woman, and one has a clearer insight into their lives.
Many deeds of unselfish and even heroic kindness are performed in heathen homes, of which the world hears nothing. In no other land are daughters more carefully guarded from impurity of action- tho purity of thought or word is considered unimportant. Altho the children do not render the cheerful obedience which Christianity demands, yet the care and protection of infirm and aged parents is a rule rarely departed from.
But notwithstanding all these ameliorating circumstances, it is with a feeling of distinct relief that one leaves a heathen home, too often filled with a " darkness that can be felt," and enters the home of a Clll'istian. In this connection a story which I have already told in The Independent, is so apt, that perhaps it is worth repeating. After a morning spent with a Chinese woman, she inteITupted my Gospel message with the question, "Is your mother-in-law living?" " No," I answered. "Does your husband get druuk?" "No." "Does he smoke opium?" "No." "Does he beat you?" " No," I replied. "He has never struck me a blow in his life." It took her several moments to become convinced of this astonishing fact, and then she turned to me saying impressively, "You have been talking to me of heaven and hell in the world to come. Your life now and mine are as heaven and hell."
Those who have seen the changed lives and happy homes of many Chinese women, can testify gladly that nothing but Christianity could perform such miracles. One of the strongest proofs a Christian Chinese woman can make of her sincerity is in unbinding her own or her daughter's feet. In Shantung, with the exception of a few slaves or prostitutes and manchus, all women-whatever their condition of life-bind their feet. It requires an enormous amount of moral courage for.a Chinese woman to go about with natural feet, thus incurring the curiosity, ridicule, and evil insinuations of every one she meets. The change, therefore, is very slow, but it is surely coming, owing to the influence of Christian schools and anti-footbinding societies, or rather to the influence of Christianity.
An old, Godly elder, in the church at Chefoo, who's Christianity was real enough to break an opium habit, strong with the practice of many years, was very fond of telling of the change Christianity wrought in his wife. "Before she became a Christian, she had a most violent temper," he would say in his slow, gentle manner. "She would scold and revile most abusively, and we were all afraid of her. But since she has become a Christian, all is changed. Why now she hasn't even a disposition left," was always his quaint conclusion.
Truly, in a heathen land is most clearly illustrated the truth, " By their fruits ye shall know them."
POLYGAMUS APPLICANTS
POLYGAMOUS APPPIOANTS.-I.
WHAT MISSIONARIES THINK SHOULD BE DONE WITH THEM.
BY REV. DANIEL L. GIFFORD, SEOUL, KOREA.
Toward the close of the year 1894 the church session in Seoul, Korea, had its attention called to certain concrete cases, which raised the question of the status of men with plural wives in relation to church membership. It was not until a year later, however, that any of the members of our mission dreamed that in our copies of "What is Presbyterian .Law," tuckt away under the irrelevant heading of "Who are forbidden to marry," was a statement of the speciallegislation of the General Assembly of 1875, which forbade the admission of men in such relations.
The problem was brought to the attention of the Presbyterian Oouncil, which met about that time, and they were askt to legislate upon the subject. In the debate which followed, it soon became evident that we had upon our hands a question which could not be settled upon the spur of the moment. So its consideration was postponed for one year. From the account of the debate upon this subject at the London Missionary Oonference of 1888, I observed that most of the missionaries from Africa favored exclusion, while quite the reverse was true of most of those from China. I was perplexed and wondered if it might not be true that the social conditions which attended the unhappy practice, might not be different in the different countries.
The first of July arrived, and still no light; then in desperation I decided to appeal to missionaries upon older fields for their advice. A circular letter was prepared and sent to some sixty representative missionaries of various denominations in Japan, China, and India.* So far as I am aware, no such data has ever before been gathered on what is perhaps the most intricate of all mission problems.
The circular letter was as follows: SEOUL, KOREA, July 1, 1895. My dear brother in Christ:-I feel compunctious for taking the time of one, busy with missionary work, to answer my questions. But my justification, I think, will be found in the facts as I state them. The missions in Korea are new missions, and in certain matters need the experience of older missions and missionaries to help them in reaching right conclusions. The three Presbyterian missions working in this country are united in a "Council." At the last annual meeting of the council, the question of the .. They were for the most part people whom I had seen personally at the Shanghai Conference in 1890, and at meetings of the highest ecclesiastical courts of the Congregational and Reformed bodies of Japan, in 1889. admission to church membership of men with plural wives came up for settle- ment. I need not tell you that we found it a very complicated and perplexing question. After an evening of discussion, in which were developt nearly as many opinions as there were missionaries present, it was voted to lay the whole question upon the table for one year, in the hope that we could get more light upon the subject. It is in the interest of "more light," that I am writing to you.
Of course, it is clear that the adopting of such marriage relations after entering the church cannot be allowed; and the Scriptures seem to imply that a man hav- ing once entered into such relations, altho living with only one wife, may not hold ecclesiastical office. But there are other questions for which the answers are more difficult. Allow me to state them.
I. In case a man with plural wives applies for baptism, should he be kept out- side the church as a "perpetual catcchumen?"
II. Or still retaining his wives, should he be allowed to enter the church; and under what conditions, if any?
III.. Or again, should he be required to put away all but one wife?
(a) If so, should the one retained be invariably the first wife, to whom he was married in childhood by his parents, or the wife by whom he has had chil- dren; or ·again. should he be allowed to choose one from the number of first wife and second wives, or concubines?
(b) And should the wife, or wives sent away, be still supported or absolutely divorced? If divorced, what shall be done with the children, if such exist?
IV. Also, what shall be done with a female applicant, in such relations, especially one whose husband refuses to give her up?
In answer to the above, will you kindly tell me (a) what is the rule of prac- tice of your mission in dealing with such cases; and (b) what is your own opinion with regard to the same?
As the council will meet in October, may I request an early reply. Thank- ing you in advance, I am, Yours in the work, D. L. GIFFOlID.
REPLIES RECOMMENDING EXCLUSION.
Japan.-Rt. Rev. Bi8hop E. Bickersteth (English Church Mission), Tokio, quotes the action of the Anglican Bishops: "(1) That in no case shall a man·be admitted to baptism who has more than one wife. (2) That a woman being one among several wives, should not be .regarded as a ban to her baptism."
Rev. M. L. (Jordon, P.P. (American Board), Doshisha College, would require such a man to give up all but the first wife. He should support the divorced wife and children, if possible. "But the wife should be put away with a lump sum and pecuniary relations severed, otherwise temptation and fall may follow." The rule of Congregational Church ("largely in the hands of the Japanese") requires separation. Rev. J. B. Ayres (N. Presbyterian), Yamaguchi. "Should think we might rightly insist on no church member having more than one wife; but let him have his option in chosing that one, and leave it to each one to settle in advance the support of those who have been dependent upon him."
Rev. J. L. Atkinson (American Board), Kobe. "I should incline to leave the choice and decision to the man himself. I could never baptize a man who insisted on bringing his heathenism into the church. The whole Christian scheme is hard for the heathen and the natural man, and it would hardly help matters by making one or two or more things easier. See the Sabbath in Roman Catho- lic countries. I should suppose that any man who has any heart or enlightenment at all, would provide for those who may have been his partners in (unwitting) violation of God's law. If a man would not do this to the best of his ability, I should doubt his con- version."
Rev. J. B. Porter(N. Presbyterian), Kanizawa.
The question of plurality of wives has never been a seriously practical ques- tion in the Christian Church in Japan, as it seems to be with you, because in this country a mall cannot legally have more than one wife at the same time.* Many men have concubines; but no one would be admitted to church membership, as long as it is known that he kept a concubine. I have heard of instances where a man became a Christian who had a concubine with children, whereas his legal wife had none. He had the option of putting away his wife by divorce and retaining the mother of his children as his wife. Or, if this were not practicable, he was required to care for the children and support their mother until he could find a home for her. In other cases I have heard of Christian·men securing a proper husband for a former concubine. But in no case have I ever heard of either plural marriage or concubinage recognized in the Church, even tempo- rarily. Therefore, in answer to your questions, I would say that no one should be admitted to membership in the Christian Church, until he has put away all but one of his wives. Each case should be decided on its merits, as to which wife should be retained,-sometimes the mother of children, or, perhaps, the one best loved. Certainly a man should be responsible for the support of children he has brought into the world, and the mother also as long as she is in a dependent con- dition; but if she is not retained as wife, she should be divorced. Your fourth question •a female applicant in such relations, especially one whose husband refuses to give her up,' is to my mind the most difficult of solution. But I think in such a case I should decline to baptize her, until her marriage relations were changed. It seems to me vastly important that the Church of Christ should make no compromises in the questions of family and social purity. The only way that the Church can lift up the nations from the tilth of heathenism is by occupying the lofty plane of Gospel purity. If we yield in any particular to heathen marriage customs, there is danger that the camel whose nose has come in, may next get in its whole body.
Ohina.-Rev. J. Bates (C. M. S.), Ningpo: "They (polygamists) are only regarded as catechumens."
Rev. T. Barclay (Eng. Presbyterian), Tai-wan, Formosa: " We have no standing for any but simple membership. Others are just counted as hearers."
Rev. W. Gould (Can. Pres.), Tamsui, }'ormosa: "They are welcome *At the recent meeting of the Synod of the United Church of Christ in Japan (Presby- terian), there was a motion to overture the Government to enforce the law of single marriage more rigidly. But, as it was deemed inexpedient to take action, the matter was finally dropt. to come and hear the Gospel, apart from that no standing is granted. But here they are comparatively few, and, so far as I can learn, none have askt for baptism or any church standing."
Rev. J. N. B. Smith (N. Pres.), Ningpo. No experience. Should separate from all but one wife. "He should be allowed to choose the one whom he loves and who by temperament and inclination is best fitted to be his true helpmeet, seeing that in his first marriage he presumably had no choice." The first wife, or woman recognized by her husband as lawful wife, is not living in sin, and is eligible to church membership. Others to be legally separated and supported. "They should be treated as he would treat his own sisters."
Rev. W. M. Ha.yes (N. Pres.), Presbyterian Oollege, Tungchow. Thinks if the man will not live with his first wife alone and will not make provision for secondary wives and their children, would not admit him. "At the same time I would tell him that I could not afford to be lord over another's conscience, and that, while conscientiously I could not do otherwise, my action did not necessarily debar him from an entrance into the Kingdom. I would urge him to be faithful, to study God's Word more and more, to pray for light, and then leave the result with God. To give up his secondary wives may, as you kn0w, be giving them in their weakness over to ruin, and unless they can be provided for safely, I would be very cautious about urging such a man to join the Ohurch, while I would urge him to identify himself with the Ohristians."
Rev. O. Hartwell (American Board), Foochow, refers to the occasion in the fifties, when Dr. Anderson and Dr. A. O. Thompson, of the American Board, visited their missions in India.
After discussion there, the opinion was adopted that bigamists and polygamists should be required to cohabit with but one wife in order to be received to the Church, but that he should be required to support the other or others who had lived with him, unless they saw fit to marry other persons and relieve him of this duty. I have known of cases where second wives have married other men, both for their own and their first husband's benefit. As to the children, of course, the father is responsible fqr their support and for the best arrangements for their training and education. I do not think a cast·iron rule can be made in respect to the arrangements for the children, when a concubine is discarded. In case of her marriage it seems possible that in some cases her ehildren might follow their mother. In others, perhaps, she would better leave them. The good of the children is, of course, the thing to be sought in all arrangements for them. As to receiving a concubine into the church, my idea would be first to see if some arrangement could not be made for her to get a proper husband. Get her mind right on this subject and see if the thing cannot be brought about. It will be hard sometimes for such a woman to be willing to take a poor man for a husband, when she has been the concubine of a richer man. But let grace have its perfect work. In respect to always taking the first wife, this is the only wife according to Chinese law. The children of others all have to call the first wife 'mother,' and their own mothers only 'elder sisters.' . . . Notwithstanding all the difficulties, I do not think a man should be received to the Church who persists in cohabiting with more than one wife. People's feelings and opinions may not; all coincide with this view, but I regard the method indicated as the least of all. the evils.
Rev. David Hill (Eng. Wesleyan), Hankow. Rule of Wesleyan; Missionary Society is that no man with more than one wife can b& admitted to the Church. . Must put away all but first wife and support the others until they are "honorably and properly married to a. suitable husband." Is bound to support the children. No concubin& would be admitted. Legislating for the majority, he thinks the ruler practicable and just.
Rev. A. Foster (London Mission), Hankow.
In China, a man can have only one wife and to marry a second in the life of: first, is a crime. . . . In addition to his "wife," a Chinaman often has a number of women attacht to him in various degrees of loose relationship, some of" whom we foreigners call" secondary wives" and" concubines," but there is in. Chinese law no distinction between these miscellaneous women, such as we make., tho, of course, there is a distinction between the "concubine" and a "prostitute.''' . . • Here is another (point) showing, as I think, the impossibility of drawing iii. line bywhich con'OertlJ from lteatheni8m are to be allowed to keep their extra women and Oliristians are to be forbidden to make such alliances. A Christian takes ~ "secondary wife" and is excommunicated for so doing. That is very simple; but; a year or two later he comes back sincerely penitent, and asks to be forgiven. Whllt is to be done with him? Is he (1) to be received back as a polygamistt If so, other Christians will know how to get secondary wives. (2) Is he to be told to put away this woman? Well, then why can't a new convert be told to act. in the same way? The hardship is not greater on the new convert's concubine than on the concubine of the renegade Christian. If pity for the woman is to> decide the case, it applies to both cases equally and should decide each on the same lines. But (3) you may under the circumstances refuse this renegade Christian readmittance to the Church at all. Is that right? . . . Why should you make the sin of taking a concubine the one sin that must forever debar the man from Church fellowship? • . • To me there seems a very simple way of dealing with the case, but only one way. If under no circum8tances can a man living: with several women be admitted to the Church, the law holds good for every one alike. If you repent, put away the woman? . . . The concubine should be put away in a Christian spirit, in a right, considerate, kind way. . . . The: influence of polygamists will always be on the side of polygamy. Your polygamous converts will leaven your Church with polygamous notions. If you want to create a conscience among your young Christians that makes polygamy impossible, every man who comes into the Church as a polygamist will be secretly working against you. He has not this conscience and cannot sympathize with it, and his influence will insensibly lower the tone of your whole Church.
Rev. Henry V. Noyes * (N. Presbyterian), Canton.
Concubinage is a more correct term to designate the custom among tl16' Chinese, often referred to as polygamy. For: (1) In taking a second partner, the prescribed formalities for taking a wife are not necessary; nothing is needed but. a contract with her parents. (2) The act is deemed discreditable, except in the case of the wife bearing no sons. (3) The sons which the second woman bears.
* For Mr. Noyes' argument in full, see his paper on Native Customs in "Reportof Shanghai Conference of 1890," p. 609. are not legally her own, but belong to the wife. (4) The degradation of the wife to the second place, or the elevation of the second woman to the first place, are alike illegal and void. Thinks that applicants for baptism, who have concubines, should not be received into the Church, without being required to 'put them away. His reasons are two. (1) So far as the custom of taking concu- bines is legal, its root is found in ancestral worship. * If the wife bears no son, the husband may, by Chinese custom, take 'a concubine, in order that husband and wife both may, after death, have male posterity to worship at their grayes.
Not to have such worship is deemed a great calamity. If we require applicants for baptism to abandon ancestral worship, we should also require them to abandon this custom so closely connected with it. If the root be unholy, so also are the branches. Root and branch must both be put away. (2) But the reason which ought to settle the question forever is that we have no right to depart from the law of marriage which Christ has himself laid down. (See Matt. 19: 4, 5, 9). . • Neither by word nor act, so far as the record goes, did our Savior ever relax one iota this absolute and unqualified requirement that marriage must be betwcen one man and one woman, and because this was the original, and-is the permanent and universal law of marriage. TIe calls things by their right names, and tells us that, except for one named cause, the man who puts away his wife and marries another, is an adulterer. :Much more then is he an adulterer who, retaining his wife, takes another woman, without even the usual formalities of the marriage ceremony.
If Christ's language means anything, the simple question to be decided is:- Shall a man, who, while a heathen, lived in adultery, be allowed to join the Chris- tian Church and continue that adultery? It would seem that there could be but .one answer to such a questioD. Whenever the apostles refer to the marriage rela- tion and the duties arising from it, their language always implies that the union is between one man and one woman. If they refer to polygamy at all, which is doubtful, it is only to flYl'bid it, a poor reason indeed for allowing it now. Even if we admit that it had crept into the Church, we have not the shadow of evidence that it came there by Apostolic authority_ . If men drifted away from their original knowledge and practice of duty into idolatry, and ancestral worship, and polygamy, this does not make it right that these things should continue.
• Even if it is proved that God permitted an exception to the permanent law of marriage, in the case of some in the Jewish Church (in Old Testament times) it does not follow that we can in the face of Christ's reaffirmation of the original law, assume our Maker's authority and permit this exception in the Chris- tian Church. God's permission being an exception to the universal law, was surely limited to the time when, and the persons to whom it was given. . He thinks that the fact that Abraham's progeny by his concubine Hagar are the wild slave-raiding Arabs of to-day, is a "mark of God's displeasure" "upon this unhal- lowed union." He doubts whether Moses legalized polygamy and thinks that Deut. 21: 15-17 alludes merely to the existence of polygamy, without expressing :an opinion as to the rightness of the relation. While on the other hand, he -declares that both the old and new translators of the Scriptures give two inter- pretations to Lev. 18: 18. One is, "Neither shalt thou take one wife to another to vex her in her life time." He is therefore inclined to believe that Moses forbade polygamy. The hardship of breaking up a long standing relation is cer- tainly a serious difficulty, but to argue that therefore polygamy or conCUbinage ought not to be meddled with, proves too much. It equally proves that such rela- .. This is important, as showing that concubines taken In days of Gospel Ignorance in ChIna and Korea, were taken under the semi-religious sanction of Confucianism, the highest system of religious ethics that they knew. tions once formed should in no case be broken up, for the same difficulties always exist. . . . A great many difficulties meet the Chinese who wish to keep the hlwof God, but these difficulties only give him an opportunity of making his testimony to the truth all the stronger, if he overcomes them. Of course, in separating from his concubine, it is a man's duty to see that she and her children are properly cared for. . . . In regard to the children, they are, of course, his own children as much as any others, and should bc provided for. In all ordinary cases I should think they might remain under the mother's care, during their childhood life, but I can see that some difficult questions might arise to make this undesirable. For instance, suppose the mother is an out and out heathen, and insists on bringing up the children in the practice of idolatry. A good deal would depend on the circumstances and probably no absolute rule should be adopted.
. . He considers the question of a female applicant whose husband refuses to give her up, as the most difficult of all. " With the power which the husband has over her, at least in China, a woman would seem to be almost helpless in the matter." Yet he thinks that while such a woman should be counted as a Chris- tian, she should not be admitted to the Church. "The Synod of China discussed these questions, long and earnestly, as long ago as 1874, but there was strong difference of opinion, and no other decision was arrived at than to leave the whole matter to the Session of Churches, exhorting them, however, to exer- cise great care in regard to the admission of members."
Rev. Griffith John, D.D. (London Mission), Hankow.
In reply to your circular just to hand, I would say: (1) All polygamists should be kept outside of the Church as "perpetual catechumens."
(2) In the event of putting away, the one retained should invariably be the first wife. She is his Wife, and to ask him to put her away, would be to ask him to violate God's law, and offend the moral sense of the nation. How missionaries can have any doubt on this point, has always appeared to me a great mystery.
(3) There are circumstances in which I should have no hesitation in requesting a man to put away all but one wife. (4) But there are circumstances in which I could not do so. (a) I could never ask a man to put away the mother of his chil- dren. (b) I could not ask a man to put anyone of his wives away unless he saw. his way to make provisions for her future support and safety. To throw her upon the world helpless, would be cruel, and to expose her to temptation, would be immoral. (5) As to the female applicant, she is in a different condition; still my vote would be against admitting her into membership. (6) We do not admit polygamists in this mission. (7) My own idea is this: Did I believe that the salvation of any man depended in the least upon membership, I would bap- tize the polygamist, that is, if satisfied with him in other respects. But I do not take this view of the matter. Then I ask myself, what is the mission of the Church in the world, apart from the saving of the individual? Is it not to teach, maintain, and confirm the great Christian principles of righteousness and truth?
Polygamy is one of the great curses of the East, and it is certain that the East can never rise to true greatness while it lasts. But how can it be ever done away with, unless the Christian Church in the East sets her face determinately against it? The fact, that no one is allowed to take a second wife after entering the Church tends to brand the practice as unchristian. On this point we are all agreed. But I feel that this is not enough. I think it is a matter of vital impor- tance that the Christian Church should be known in China, Korea, and in every part of the East as a Church which does not and cannot tolerate concubinage.
In order to do this, polygamists must be strictly excluded.
(10 be continued.)
BARRIERS TO PROGRESS IN OHINA
BARRIERS TO PROGRESS IN CHINA.
BY REV. A. H. SMITH, TIENTSIN, CHINA.
There is an important sense in which the problems connected with the planting of the Ohristian Ohurch are the same in all times and in all lands, yet there are special features everywhere to be discerned. It is the object of the present paper to point out some of these features as exhibited in missionary work in China.
When once Christianity has got any foothold, it is,not difficult to organize a "church," but to introduce the practice of self-government or even the idea of it, is quite a different matter. Self-government implies a certain amount of democracy, and Asiatics are seldom very democratic, tho there is a strange and an abundant admixture of the popular element in the government even of China. The initial difficulty is generally to make an effective bridge from control by the missionary and his society to some form of local autonomy. The Chinese readily fall into the way of expecting the missionary to take the lead in all cases, and will seldom assume independence until it is thrust upon them, in which respect they differ greatly from their neighbors, the Japanese.
Theoretically there is no caste in China, but in practice there are certain religious Brahmans that make havoc of self-government in churches during the initial stages. There is the man who has been a church-member from the very first-a" charter member"-who must be considered and consulted. There is the aged member, and China is a country in which there is an ideal respect for mere weight of years. There is, as in other lands, the rich church-member, who must be conciliated. There is the influential member, strong in his family connections, who must always be reckoned with. There is the literary graduate, who often carries the infant church in his closed hand. A word from him is the end of all independence on the part of the uneducated. There is also the irrepressible talker, who as a rule is capable of becoming so obstreperous that, as the sayings go, "People do not know east from west," and" Men are worn out and horses exhausted.» No one wishes to arouse, much less to offend him, for there is no adequate social machinery which can cope with him. When he has inserted himself into a church, as not infrequently happens (for is not the Gospel meant for publicans and sinners?) there are dramatic times in prospect. There is in every Oriential country-or, indeed in any country-an instinctive dread of giving offense. There is, also a marvelous instinct of secrecy. There is, for example, a. matter which ought to be taken cognizance of, but no one will take the initiative, nor even impart any information. No one wishes to be implicated in any possible trouble, for all remembre the Oonfucian maxim, that when a word has once gone forth, four horses cannot overtake it. In any country where the differences of intellectual ability are emphasized in the church, those below will follow those above. "When the wind blows the grass bends," and nowhere is this more true than in Ohina. Moreover, the custom of adjusting troubles by giving" face" to one party, requiring the other party to do something by way of penalty, is very likely to hinder real disciplin. "The guilty person is sentenced to do something which he reluctantly agrees to, but which he has no intention of really carrying out, and unless adequate and continued pressure is brought to bear, that will be the end of the matter. In general it may be said that the difficulties in the way of self-government in Ohristian churches are everywhere the same. They can be overcome by the use of the teachings of the Scriptures, as opened to the spiritual understanding by the Spirit of God, but the process will demand that infinite patience without which no spiritual development is anywhere possible.
If New Testament ideals of purity in the Ohurch are foreign to Ohinese instincts, New Testament ideals of the duty of the Ohurch to diffuse itself are no less so. Ohina is filled with societies which have for their ostensible object the" practice of virtue;" but propagandism is not a principal feature, if it is a feature at all. Those join who wish to join, and those who do not join are severely let alone. It is not "good form" to inquire of a member as to the practices or the ritual of his" sect," and thus it comes about that thousands who live in the midst of many "virtue societies" have as little acquaintance with their tenets as with the different theories of Egyptian chronology; and even if they happen to learn something on the subject, they will seldom allow that circumstance to be publicly known. It is the same with the multitude of Mohammedans in China. Beyond the fact that they worship a being known as "Lord,", and that their notions are strange and divisive, the Ohinese know nothing about their beliefs, and care as little as they know.
When Christianity comes as one more "sect .. or "instruction," it is at once placed in the same category as the rest. The outsider cannot comprehend why the insiders should insist upon teaching it, unless there is somewhere a cash asset in the business, and the Ohinese Christian cannot see why he should be at the trouble to diffuse a teaching which he got himself with much trouble, and perhaps at no little cost. We have heard of an infant Ohinese church where the word was past that no more members should be received, lest there should not be enough of some of the incidental benefits to go around! But this is more than matched by the case mentioned by Dr. Josiah Strong, where a clergyman told some working girls, who applied for membership in a stylish church, that he believed there were at present no "vacancies." Oriental inertia is a great barrier to /lelf-propagation of Christianity – Oriental suspicion is an even greater one. "Who knows what drug this fellow has in his gourd?" is a natural and indeed an inevitable question on the part of a Chinese, when a stranger appears recommending some new "instruction." It is not at all uncommon for Chinese evangelists in the quest of some possible "inquirer" to be thrown completely and permanently off the track by the suspicion on the part of those of whom questions are askt, that there lurks some sinister design in this strange thirst to find a wholly unknown person for an incomprehensible purpose.
It is a Chinese custom for the (( roving scholar" to use his Iiterary talents as a hook with which to secure a few morsels of food. Christian colporteurs are supposed to have a like interested motive. C( How much are you paid for believing this? " is the inevitable inquiry on the part of the interested and curious spectator. It is a proverb that the priest, Buddhist or Taoist, " eats the four directions"-that is, that he lives off the land. It is reasonable to suppose that the Christian propagandist means to do the same as soon as his arrangements are completed. The inate hostility of the human heart to the Christain teaching of sin and the atonement is everywhere the same. Intelligent Confucianists, who have gained an outline idea of Christianity, will often say to the missionary, " As compared with our sects, your doctrine is more truej but if you wish to get a hearing from intelligent people, you woulU do better to drop all your talk about the cross and about what you style sin. If you leave this out, we shall be glad to listen to your comprehensive instruction." What Paul called" the offense of the cross" is a permanent factor in the spiritual history of mankind. We have known an expert and skillful story-teller who had a large circle of auditors in the district where he was a peripatetic dispenser of entertainment, to be turned from the doors of his patrons when he began to substitute Christian stories for those which were distinctively Chinese. It is a characteristically Oriental trait that those who have received Christianity stand in a special relation to those from whom they receive the truth. The contention that" I am of Paul, and I of Apollos," is a very real barrier to intercommunication of Divine truth. Christianity, like other forces, is propagated along the lines of least resistance, and no one can foresee whither bread cast upon the waters may drift. It constantly happens that a wise economy of mission forces is prevented by the clannishness of the convert, who refuses to be transferred to the care of another shepherd or to connect himself with another church. Precisely the same trouble is met with in missions to the Chinese in this country, where it is often impossible to change teachers in a Sunday-school class without precipitating a. "strike" on the part of the scholars; but when we consider well the phenomena of denominationalism in the United States and elsewhere, we feel that we can cast no stones at the Chinese. Great as are the initial obstacles to inoculatiug Chinese Christians with the conception of the duty of evangelizing the regions about and beyond, the measure of success which has often been attained is simply marvelous, and is itself the best authentication to the Chinese outsiders of the Divine origin of Christianity.
There are many Chinese churches which are doing more in the way of working outward among their neighbors than nine-tenths of the churches of America. One of the most interesting instances with which we are acquainted of the development of the idea of self-propa~ gation of Christianity in China is to be found in the formation and operation of the Canton" Book-lending Society," composed exclusively of natives of different churches in that city, and wholly under native management. It is colporteur work mingled with a free circulating library of Christian books for the benefit of all who will agree to read and return them. There is no reason why this plan should not be adopterl all over China, as it is peculiarly adapted to the genius of Chinese society.
There are many traits of Chinese life which render the oral proclamation of the Gospel, accompanied with the circulation of printed matter of a suitable description, easy. The Chinese live simply, and can put up with anything. They are in the habit of taking long journeys on foot, and often with loads. The respect for literature is a national and an ineradicable instinct. They have, as already remarked, a great theoretical respect for "virtue," and extensive societies for the diffusion of books for the inculcation of good practices. The minute subdivision of the currency and the cheapness of material and of labor render it easy to get all sorts of books into general circulation when once an impression favorable to their reception has been made. What is most needed for the universal diffusion of Christianity in China is the indefinite m~ltiplication of Christian centers, and the possession of the native church by the missionary idea, "Freely ye have received, freely give." We cannot expect the Chinese Christians to rise higher in the tone of their piety than the average of those from whom they have received their teachings. That our Chinese converts may be filled with the Spirit of Christ, we must be filled with it ourselves.
At first sight it would appear that the self-support of Chinese churches would be a much easier matter to compass than their selfgovernment or their self-expansion. Experience teaches otherwise. It is always difficult for Occidentals to comprehend the poverty of Orientals, however much we may think we know about deprivation in a year of "hard times" and scarcity of money. Poverty in China is the universal rule, with only exiguous exceptions. It is partly a matter of latitude, for the poverty whioh both freezes and starves is more desperate than that which is merely out of food. Until onr present methods of missionary activity are radically amended we can- not get on without the expenditure of money in the introduction of Christianity, and this use is itself a poteut factor in hindering self- support. Many a missionary society might have been saved much'trial had it duly considered the Russian proverb which advises one to ~'measure your cloth ten times, for you can cut it but once." Mauy a missiouary has had to "eat bitterness" during the period in which he endeavors to correct early mistakes by taking in sail which might much better never have been spread. It is a venerable proverb that when it rains puddings one should hold up his dish. In this the Chinese are expert. 'rhe writer once taught a station class imported many scores of leagues from a distant field for the purpose. The pupils were on au allowance, which, like most Ohinese allowances, was perennially "not enough." One scholar only of the whole number was a permanent and valuable addition to the preaching force. Years afterward he remarked casually that the motto of his class whenever a payment was to be made was exprest in the significant words, " Don't spend too little!" In one of the mission conferences in India an experienced missionary mentioned the remark of an old woman who was one of his converts, on the occasion of his revisiting his former tield, and preaching from the words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." "That was a blessed text," she observed," and yet, tho you have been here two days, you have not given me a single rupee."
Self-support of Ohinese churches can only be obtained by adherence to Ohinese simplicity in the externals and in the inner working of the eystem, and even when attained it may be lost. It is the custom for the temples to have a piece of land which supports the priests. There is considerable danger in the "endowment plan" as applied to lChurclles, lest misappropriation of funds, so common in the case of temples, should work more injury in a year than the Church can remedy in a lifetime.
The way to attain self-support in native churches is for the misilionary leaders to have from the start a clear and comprehensive con- ception of the end at which they aim, and to make every part of their teaching cooperate to the end in view. Unyielding firmness combined with a loving regard for the hardships to which the convert is subjected must be judiciously blended. This is an ideal to which few of us ever attain, but whenever it is attained the result is no more in doubt than is the adaptation of Ohristianity to the wants of every class of men in the world. The essential difficulties are precisely the same as those which are to be met in this or any Christian land, and are due to the intrinsic selfishness of human nature, for which the Gospel is the only cure.
The fact that from communities radically hostile in spirit to the Christian religion there have in such iunumerable places been developt churches which govern, propagate, and support themselves, and that this evolution is at present going on upon an unprecedented scale, is a phenomenon to which the attention of the critiCS of missions may be respectfully invited. Of the facts there ought not to be a rational doubt. Taken in connection with the obstacles everywhere to be overcome, they either constitute a series of effects without any cause, or they show that Christianity is a Divine system which will win its way ~espite the resistance of forces which ought logically to destroy it.
EUROPEAN EXTEl'ISIOl'l OF 'l'HE VOLUl'ITEEB HOVEMEl'IT
EUROPEAN EXTENSION OF THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.
BY REV. DONALD FRASER, LIVINGSTONIA, AFRICA.
One of the chief purposes of the Liverpool Conference was to bring the Continental students into line with the missionary movement, which is spreading through the colleges of Great Britain and America. For some time past signs of a slight spiritual awakening in some of the universities of Europe were evident, and thus a basis for a missionary movement was being formed. For nine months before the Conterence, daily prayer was made to God that He would choose the delegates who should come, and would pour down upon them His fire, that they might, on their return home, set their fellow students ablaze with a new enthusiasm'for the world's evangelization.
The Conference was international beyond our faith. Students were present from no less than twenty-four nations-the most international gathering of students that the world has ever seen. These were days of wonderful power, when the presence of God grew daily more and more conscious.
On the Saturday morning of the Conference, in welcoming the forei~n students, we askt whether they would not join hands with us in formmg a great student brotherhood for the coronation of Jesus in all lands. In the afternoon they met, each nation apart, to pray and discuss how they might best further the missionary spirit among their fellow students. In the evening we had our financial session. Just before it began a note was handed to the chairman from the Scandinavian I delegates, saying they would promote the Volunteer Movement in Scandinavia, and had appointed a committee for this purpose. A minute afterward the German delegates sent an intimation that eleven of their men had signed a declaration and were forming a Volunteer Union for Germany. Then there came another from the Frenchspeaking delegates, saying that they had nineteen Volunteers, and were banding themselves into a missionary union for France and Switzerland. Besides this, there was a note from five students in Madrid University, Spain, asking whether they might be allowed to join the missionary movement. Also a letter from Australia, telling how in March, 1895, at the very time when some Edinburgh men were in daily prayer for Australian colleges, a spiritual revival had begun in the Universities of Melbourne and Adelaide, and it was now turning into missionary lines. As these notes were read out, one after the other, what a thrill ran through the hearts of men and women who for years had been praying for this consummation I We had adopted that day as our motto, "The Evangelization of the World in this Generation," and we now felt that God was approving our faith and quickening our hopes in the possibility of its realization.
On Monday, when the delegates were dispersing, a very significant incident happened. About eighty Belfast students sailed from the Mersey in the steamship Magic. Some other men went down to see them off. When the Magic was in the middle of the river the students on board were seen to be lining the bulwark. Then there came a great shout from them as from one voice, "The Evangelization of the World in thiE Generation." And the cry rang across the river and through the ships and along the wharf, making sailors and passengers start and wonder what it meant. Then the men on the quay shouted back, "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." Then in the silence the cry from the Magic came back, " Amen," and the steamer sailed away out into the evening. During the last few months that cry has been ringing up and down the col- leges, through the churches, and across the Continent, quickening men's expectations, and rousing a new endeavor to take possession of the world speedily for Christ. .
Immediately after the Conference I made a rapid tour of some of the colleges of Europe, and I can testify that that movement, which began at Livcrpool, was no temporary affair, born of sudden excite- ment, but an awakening come from the breath of God. In Paris and Montauban the work which had begun at Liverpool was being carried on with great spirituality and energy. In some of the other universi- ties the news of blessing which delegates had received was rousing a spirit of inquiry. At a conference at Geneva, we organized the Franco-Swiss Volunteer Movement, with morc than forty Volunteers, and appointed a French student as traveling secretary.
My next point was Holland. There quite a spiritual revival was spreading in some of the universities. The" Dutch Eleven," who were at Liverpool, had met together at Velp, spent two days in prayer, and prayed one student who was present into the Kingdom of God.
Since then they have started a Dutch College Christian Union, and daily prayer-meetings are being carried on in most of the universities.
Now, many of the leading men are earnestly facing their personal responsibility to the foreign field.
I arrived in Germany too late to do much work in the colleges, as the long Easter vacation W:J.S on. Nevertheless, we held at Halle a little conference of students from some six universities. We formed a German Students' Missionary Union, which seeks to spread living religion among German students, and to call forth men to foreign service. The first step that has been taken is to issue a call to daily prayer for the German universities.
In Scandinavia one found the situation there much more ripe for a missionary work. At all the universities we had large and solemn meetings with the students, which were frequently followed by after- meetings, lasting till past midnight. Hours were set apart for inter- views with men who wanted to know about Christ or about the claims of the foreign field, and they were fully occupied with those who came. A work was also begun among young men and ladies of the better class, and others. Now I hear of no less than nineteen Volun- teers in Stockholm alone. Very few of these, however, are students.
At Copenhagen we organized a Scandinavian Volunteer move- ment and a system of intervisitation was planned, by which the movement may be strengthened and extended.
On our return home, what a day of praise we had for the way that God had answered prayer all along the line! But we were still in the midst of our praise when we heard the news of what had been done among the Indian students through Mott and Wilder's conferences- how eighty-seven Indian students had profest conversion, one hundred and thirty-seven had consecrated their lives entirely for the evangel- ization of India, and more than seven hundred had joined the" Morn- ing Watch! "
Thus God is girding the whole world with a great student-brother-
SINCE THE MASSACRE IN FUIIKIEN, CHINA
hood who have consecrated themselves to go forth into all the earth and claim His inheritance for Him. The marvelous progress of thepast five months, which has b~en swifter than the previous fifty years~ has made our hearts beat sWIfter for the near approach of Ohrist's coronation day. All this, however, is but the begmning.
SINOE THE MASSAORE IN FUHKIEN, OHINA.
BY REV. P. W. PITCHER, FOOCHOW, CHINA.
Eighteen months ago, August 1, 1895, the horrible massacre, which shockt the whole world, occurred at Hwa Sang. As we recall those- solemn scenes may we not, with profit, look back over the past year and ask if indeed the blood of the martyrs has, in this case, proved to be the seed of the church? Or was it true, as some said, that" the time had come to get out of Ohina," that our task was hopeless and should be abandoned?
No, that could not be true even at a greater cost than that which was paid at Hwa Sang. In the face of even more bitter opposition, it would be difficult to find a single missionary ready, willingly to abandon his post. Abandon the work of over fifty years? Preposterous! It has been estimated that 20,000 inquirers have presented themselves at the doors of the churches of the three missions located in the Foochow district. "Hundreds of families have renounced their idols,'~ _ while hundreds of others have been asking for leaders and teachers to guide and instruct them. Manyof these may be moved with little or no conseiousness of sin, but they are nevertheless coming, and may we not be too ready to question motives, but ask for wisdom in dealing with these inquirers, so that they may be led to that true consciousness of sin which bringeth sorrow and repentance. Driven by the storms of oppression and persecution, driven by the thraldom of superstition~ with its heavy burdens, it may be that some of them are coming~ blindly, yet honestly coming to seek shelter in the fold of Ohrist. May we be taught how to lead them to the true refuge where they shall find safety. Of the 20,000 inquirers already mentioned, it has been stated that probably 5,000 have been accepted and have united with these three missions since August 1, 1895. This is an unprecedented record for any twelve months since the establishment of missions in this district, or, in fact, in the whole province.
While the great awakening centers about Foochow, still there are encouraging signs in the Amoy, the southern district, especially along the line of church development. The southern portion of the work is admittedly remarkable for the progress made in the matter of the development of a native ministry, church organization and self-support. In the synod of Amoy (Eng. Pres. and Am. Refd. Oh. Missions) thera are twenty church organizations, which support their own pastors and maintain a home mission work~ while some carryon other independent work besides. The London Mission Society also has seven church organizations working along similar lines, many of them supporting evangelists. Throughout the length and breadth of this whole province the present status of mission work is encouraging, and the prospects bright with hope.
INTERNATIONAL DEPABTlIENT
n.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.
II A Oyola of Oathay." * he says: "The drug was already con- traband by imperial decree, England BY REV. S. L. GRACEY, D.D., EX-U. S. has made no protest, nor would she have lifted a finger to protect her people CONSUL, FOOCHOW, CHINA. in the smuggling trade, if Ohinese cruisers had driven them from the A few years since, one distinguisht coast. But when commissioners of the literateur askt another, what book writ- Ohinese issued commands to the Queen ten within the last forty years would as a vassal of Ohina, and treated her last forty years; but Dr. Martin's subjects with unjustifiable violence, the "Oycle of Oathay" was not yet pub- question entered upon another phase. lisht. Dr. Martin being askt how long The opium was stored on ships that lay it took him to write this work, answered, outside among the islands, but its own- "forty-five years." If Dr. S. Wells ers were at Canton. Without taking Williams, after twelve years residence the trouble to identify them, the comin Oanton and Macao could write the missioners surrounded the factories •• Middle Kingdo~," which has already with a cordon of soldiers, and threatened survived through forty-five years, why the whole foreign colony with death if shall not Dr. Martin's masterly com- the opium was not surrendered by a. pendium of the political, social and fixed date. To give them an idea of religious movements of that vast empire, what they had to expect, a native as observed, participated in, and patron- opium smuggler was put to death in an ized by himself this forty-five years, open space in front of the factories. together with criticisms which exhibit Oapt. Elliot, the superintendent of his independent judgment and remark- trade, who was at Macao, hearing of able prescience, warrant the expectation these high-handed proceedings, hasthat this volume will remain one of the tened to Oanton to share the perils of chief literary authorities on Ohinese af- his countrymen. He obtained the opium fairs for the next forty-five years. for the service of the Queen, and then handed it over as a ransom for British It is conceded that there has been lives. Over twenty thousand chests, nothing equal to Dr. Wells Williams' valued at nine million dollars, were de- .. Middle Kingdom" in comprehensive- stroyed by mixing the drug with quickness, clearness, and accuracy, down to lime, and pouring it into the river. the date at which it was first publisht. The property having been demanded Dr. Martin's book takes up many of by Her Majesty's representatives for these great topics where Williams' vol- her service, the Queen was pledged to umes closed. Lapping backward on see that the owners were indemnified. Williams' topics, Dr. Martin treats An order in council authorized reprisals, fairly and thoroughly what is called to compel the Ohinese to make amends the " Opium War" with England, and for their acts of spoliation. Thus betho condemning the English for intro- gan a war which was more fortunate ducing opium, the great curse of Ohina, for England than that which followed the destruction of her tea in Boston • A Cycle of Cathay; ~r, China, South harbor, and which' eventually ended in the opening of the five ports of Oanton, and North, with personal remlniscences by Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shangthe Rev. W. A. P. Martin, D.D., LL.D., President Emeritus Imperial Tungwen College, Peking,with 7OillustratioDS from photographs and native drawings; a map and inde:x:. Svo, cloth, decorated, $2.00. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, Chicago, Toronto. hai to British trade, and tho not a word the Ten Commandments, and imposed was inserted in the final treaty in favor on all his subjects observance of the of the trade in opium, the result was Sabbath day, on which day their highforeseen, a complete immunity from est officers ascended the pUlpit and interference with the traffic, and the thundered against idolatry and the Tartraffic flourishes beyond measure. Had tars. The washing of the bosom with England, after exacting due reparation, a towel dipt in water in token of the introduced a prohibition clause, there cleansing of the heart, was the form can be no doubt that China might have of ceremony observed for baptism. been free from a terrible scourge. These fierce and fanatical forces were What a contrast between her opium unsubdued for fifteen years, and caused policy and her anti-slavery legislation." the loss of fifty millions of human lives.
The Taiping Rebellion lies on the It is not a new question now, nor can hither side of the date of publication of it at best be little more than a specula- Dr. Williams' great work, so that, his- tive one, what might have been the reo torically, Dr. Martin takes up this sult had the western powers not come thread. where Williams laid it down. to the aid of the Imperial government Later editions of .. Middle Kingdom" at Peking. But Dr. Martin, tho he have mentioned this movement among were first to name it, is not alone in the the Chinese in a few brief lines in the suggestion, that every interest of civilipreface; but Dr. Martin gives the clear- zation and of Christianity would prob· est, most succinct statement of facts con- ably have been greatly advanced, had nected with it, and makes the most the western Christian powers supported satisfactory analysis of any author who and directed this Christian rebellion, has written upon the subject. rather than to have supprest it, to gain the prestige of saving the throne to the Dr. Martin "watcht its waxing and Tartar. Whatever weight of opinion waning with the deepest interest; came may be brought in support of the one in contact with active agents on both view or the other, one thing is certain, sides; and at least endeavored to exert that an opportunity to decide a question some influence on the course of events." so vast an,d overwhelming in its out- It must be borne in mind that, whatever come, is one that "does not occur once its imperfections, this rebellion was led in a thousand years." by a body of native Christians, and that it not only threatened to destroy the His account of what is known as the dynasty at Peking, but to overthrow co Arrow War" follows. A Chinese the gigantic paganism of the ,Empire. vessel known as the" Arrow," and fly- It was a tidal wave of blood. At Nan- ing the British flag, had been seized by king the" Manchu garrison of twenty- the authorities, and its crew thrown five thousand were butchered to a into prison on a charge of piracy. The man." Dr. Martin declares "history British authorities at Hongkong at once presents few pages more brilliant than began negotiations which were blunderthis part of his (Hung's) career. Sher- ingly conducted, and a war resulted, man's march to the sea must be com- which is described most interestingly bined with Garibaldi's successful assault by the author, and all going to show on the Kingdom of Naples, backt by how great a matter a little spark will only a thousand men, to furnish an kindle. One of the good results of the adequate parallel." • . "These in- war was to take Dr. Martin to Peking surgents were known to be Christians as interpretor at the court, to Mr. Reed, not simply fighting for empire, but United States Minister to China. The carrying on a crusade against the pagan- record of his services, the incidents of ism of their country." The chief styled the war, the diplomatic struggles, the himself, "Younger brother to Jesus Chinese peculiarities of statecraft, Christ," called God his father, publisht supply most interesting reading, and· give the outside barbarian a glimpse of curriculum are described, and the final the inner workings of the highest circles triumph of the institution as a recog- {)f Chinese official and diplomatic life, nized imperial college, in which all the not found in any other publisht work modern sciences are now taught, is that has come to our notice. graphically related. It now has nine :Many persons will recall the thrilling foreign professors, with classes studying interest with which the news was re- international law, physics, physiology, -ceived, that the United States Plenopo- astronomy, chemistry, and mineralogy, tentiary, the Hon. William B. Reed, with the French, German, and Russian had secured the insertion in the treaty languages. There are also four native between this country and China, of a professors who teach Chinese and "religious toleration" clause. Accept- mathematics. The number of students ing Dr. Martin's analysis of Mr. Reed's is limited to one hundred and twenty.
interest in that affair, the American This institution, tho under the hearty people will find reason to reconsider the sanction and support of the govern- measure of commendation which should ment, has been constantly opposed by be accorded to him. Evidently Dr. many of the literati, who are every- Williams and Dr. Martin were, far and where the foes of modern methods of ;away, the chief actors in securing the instruction, as well as :of the study of insertion of that clause; and tho it may modern sciences, and cling to their old seem a little ungraceful in Dr. Martin conservative theories of education em- to disclose the vanity of Mr. Reed, yet bracing only the Chinese classics. Two it looks as if regard for exact history of the graduates of the Tungwen Col- demanded it. Mr. Reed told them that lege are now tutors to the Emperor.
he expected they would not only make The author gives us an excellent chap- this unexpected triumph in the issue, ter on "Mandarins and Government,"
widely known in America, but also in which he tells of the higher classes, that they would attribute to him the their training, virtues, defects, powers, honor of its accomplishment, tho he and limitations. He also devotes a ;announced himself as impatiently ready chapter to the influences of some of to sign the treaty without the insertion the most noted mandarins; his charac- of this privilege, and declined all fur- ter sketching is excellent. " China and ther delay to secure it, saying, "Now, her Neighbors;" "The Customs Ser- gentlemen, if you can get your article vice;" "The Audience Question,"
in, all right! But, with or without it, I and "The Mission Question," are sub- intend to sign on the 18th of June." jects with which every student of China It is a little humiliating, however, to should be familiar. The book is beau- find that the United States must be tifully illustrated, and mainly from largely shorn of its honors, since the drawings by native artists, which show other nations inserted a similar clause, considerable merit and the usual de- and were determined to insist on it fects of Chinese art.
without any regard to the contents of It is doubtful if there is any other our treaty, or the prestige of the con- foreigner in China who has the confi- cession to us. dence and appreciation of the official The opening of the "Tungwen Col- class to the degree that Dr. Martin has; lege," at Peking, is described. This Sir Robert Hart excepted was originally designed to train Chinese Dr. Martin arrived in Canton in scholars as interpreters for the diplo- April, 1856, being accompanied by Rev.
matic and commercial service. Dr. Justus Doolittle, (whose name should Martin was called to the charge of the have been, •• Did-great-things ") and institution, by the "Tsungli Yamen," Rev. S. N. Martin, the author's brother.
or Foreign Board. The difficulties ex- The personal narrative, which is exceed- perienced in efforts to introduce a wider ingly interesting, serves only as a thread on which to string pearls of truth con- The Missionary Question in China. cerning native customs, diplomatic struggles, native craft and history for Dr. Martin, in "A Cyele of Cathay,"
nearly sixty years, a Chinese cyele. has a vigorous chapter on the "Mis- It is to the equal credit of Dr. Martin sionary Question," of which he remarks: and the Chinese government that he "For the Chinese government this has been invited to resume the Presi- means, how may we minimize the in- dency of Tungwen College; especially conveniences arising from the opera- in view of the fact that, for one who tions of missionaries? For a party was a guest of the government, he among officials and people it means, treats of national affairs with great free- How may we get rid of them aIto~ dom. It will be remembered that an gether? For the representatives of eminent statesman of our own country, Christian powers it means, How far are designated by our government as Minis- we bound by policy or autllOrity to in- ter to China, was rejected by them as terfere for the protection'of missionaries persona non gratia, because he had and their converts? With missionaries written, or was supposed to have writ- and their supporters it takes the form, ten, unfavorably of their country. How can we accomplish the greatest This will suggest how difficult it always results with the means at our disposal?"
is for one who is in the employ of the To France belongs the honor of in- government, or even one who hopes to augurating the new era of religious labor with success in the uplifting of freedom in China, which dates from its people, to write freely and truth- 'the signing of the French treaty in fully of conditions and actions which 1844, which removed the ban of pro- would expose rulers or customs to ridi- hibition against promulgating the cule. Christian religion. "This was the Dr. Martin criticises faithfully, and first stage in the way of enfranchise- exposes trickery of officials in diplo- ment. Under its provisions mission- matic affairs which came under his aries enjoyed no small privilege, tho observation. He is cautious, but bold, they were still of a nature of 'un- and spares neither Europeans nor covenanted mercies.' Protestants set- Chinese from the scalpel of his analy- tled at the five ports, from which they sis. His association with the leading were able to make long jOUl;neys in- men of the "Celestial Empire," and land, tho nominally restricted to a with the plenipotentiaries and other radius of fifty miles, while Catholics diplomats of all the European nations, journied in all the provinces without under conditions of practical equality, molestation. It was reserved for the 'Ar- furnisht the opportunity for this rich- row War' to complete immunity from est and most piquant of narratives of all obstruction under guarantee of treaty reminiscences of these notable person- stipulations, and Dr. Martin says: 'It ages. There is a remarkable combina- was a sublime spectacle, the great pow- tion of the most ancient history of China, ers of the earth sinking their differ- with the most recent, in which China, ences of creed and joining their shields Russia, and Japan have been concerned, to protect the Church of Christ China and accurate and trustworthy accounts found it to her interest not to reject of the present status of questions still their demands.'" This was in 1858.
pending, which involve the mutual re- " The discrepancy which exists between lationship of Korea, China, and Japan the French text and the Chinese text is with the individual and combined inter- one of the anomalies of diplomatic his- ests of Russia, Germany, France, Great tory. The Chinese text contains the Britain, and the United States. The clause securing to Roman Catholic mis- Greater "Eastern question" lies in the sionarics the right of buying land and Far East. building houses in the interior, tho the French text has nothing of the kind." have conformed to the original type in By whom the attention of the Chinese every particular-beginning with tracts was first turned to the disagreement is and placards as their exciting cause, not known, but twenty-five or twenty- followed by studied negligence on the six years ago, when Dr. Martin was part of mandarins (who always conaskt to translate the article for com- trived to come too late when their aid parison, he supposed the Chinese author- was invoked), and finishing with an ities intended declaring the French text inquiry how many heads and how much the authority on all points of differ- money would satisfy the resulting ence. To this day, however, they have claims. never taken a step in that direction, Dr. Martin says, for the obvious reason "If, in 1870, the French Charge, dethat the interpolation being in Chinese, clining the offer of money and heads, there was no ground for complaint that had waited until he could have had a they had been hoodwinked. But we fleet of gunboats in the Peiho, if then must bear in mind that a Chinese Em- the whole suburb where the riot had peror, or any other chief Chinese au- occurred had been laid in ashes, and thority, could never admit that he had, the ground confiscated for a French even by accident, made a political mis- concession, the government would have take. Witness the instance of our taken care that there should not be a government tendering the Chinese gov- second riot. Being let off cheap, the antiernment the return of a large indemnity foreign mandarins felt that they could fund wrongfully paid by the Chinese to continue the process of fanning the us. On the theory of infallibility they flame of patriotism. These occurcould not and did not accept this, the rences have created an impression on funds remaining in the Treasury at the mind of a public not very well in- Washington for many years, until a formed on the subject of missions, that 'Via media was discovered. for our government to back up the missionaries by affording protection or Dr. Martin says: "If the first stage exacting redress, is equivalent to forc· in the recent history of missions was ing our religion on an unwilling people. then toleration by edict, and the second But is it forcing our religion on the the recognition of their legal status by Chinese to protect our missionaries any treaty compact, the systematic attempt more than it is forcing our commerce to crush them out by mob violence may on them to protect our merchants? No be regarded as a third stage. On this duty is plainer than that of requiring phase they entered in June, 1870, when the government of China to provide for a Catholic mission in Tientsin was de- the secUlity of our mercantile estabstroyed, and sisters, priests and a French lishments, and to leave the people free consul were murdered by the populace, to buy or sell as they may choose. led on by an ex-general of the Chinese The missionary asks the same, and no army. The minds of the people had been more. prepared by the dissemination of false rumors, and when they were wrought H But are the people unwilling to up to the required point, the mandarins have missionaries live among them? stood aloof and allowed the storm to If they were we should have had to take its course. Since that date there count many more than twenty riots have been twenty or more anti-foreign during this quarter of a century. Their -not altogether anti-mission-riots of increase has not kept pace with the sufticient magnitude to be visible across growth of the missionary work. One the seas, culminating this year in the a year in a country of such vast extent, expUlsion of missionaries from the cap- and with a missionary force of over two ital of Szechuen, and the massacre at thousand, is no proof of popular ill- K;ucheng, near Fuchow. Most of these will, but rather the reverse."
From the secular or semi·secular standpoint which Dr. Martin has occu· which there is more to hope thal!l from pied for a quarter of a century, his tes· an excessive multiplication of the fortimony concerning the prosperity of eign element. Foreign missionaries illl mission. work will be read with special large numbers will, it is true, be needed interest. We quote from it as fol· for a long time, and they will find amlows:- ple scope for their energies in the work of education and superintendence. " I can testify that they have made progress. There is, indeed, no better "If it be true, and it certainly is. testimony to that fact than the increast that the grandest enterprise that apactivity of the opposition. I hold that peals to the heart of man is the converthe results achieved afford good ground sion of the world to Christ, it is unfor expecting more brilliant results in questionable that the grandest of misthe near future. Much of the work sion fields is the empire of China. done has been of such a nature that its effect is not visible on the surface. "There is no danger of too many When works were going on which reo entering the field if our missionary suIted in the removal of those dangerous societies encourage none to offer whOo rocks called Hell Gate from one of the are not fitted by superior training. entrances to New York harbor, a care· Weak and ignorant men and women less observer might have reported that are out of place in China. In addition there was nothing to show in proportion to other qualifications, they require toto the expenditure of public funds. Yet, be strong in faith and full of the Holy deep down in the water, the roots of the Ghost:' rocks were being honeycombed with drill-holes, and when the hour came, Ohina Missionaries to Home Ohurches:, after long years of preparation, a spark from a battery sent the whole mass high and to Native Ohristians in Ohina. in the air. Over eighty missionaries, members "There are, however, visible results ofthe different missionary organizations. in full proportion to the means em· conducting missionary work in the Proployed. The one or two hundreds of vince of Foochow (Fuhkien), China, converts whom I found in connection assembled in August, 1896, at Ku-liang. with Protestant churches at my arrival near Foochow, to consider missionary in 1850, have expanded to fifty· five or affairs in their fields. sixty thousand in 1895. This, the low· est estimate, compared with the thirty- They prepared two addresses, one to' five thousand in 1890 (obtained by a the Committees and Boards of the Sosort of census), will give the rate of in· cieties in England and America, with crease. The churches, or organized whom they are connected; the other a. companies of believers, are not far from pastoral letter to Native Christians. a thousand. Some hundreds of these are supplied with native pastors, while The address to the home patrons COil>- the number of evangelists, who have a tains some statements of general intei~ roving commission to plant the Gospel est. They say:- in new fields, is greatly on the increase. Mission schools, some of which take "1. The atrocious crime of Angust. rank as colleges, are raising up large 1st, 1895, which turned the eyes of tha. numbers of yonng men well equipt world upon this part of China, has beem for this work. Numbers of students followed by the undermentioned re-· from mission schools have been drafted sults:- into the new university at Tientsin, and the demand for such is certain to ex· (a.) The fact that neither the Mistend. Here, then, is an agency from sionary Societies of England and Amer"", ica, whose interests were involved, nor the relatives of those who lost their lives at Hwa-Sang have askt for thlt slightest compensation, has afforded to the world a conspicuous example of the. disinterested motives of the missionary the Redeemer from sin under these cir- societies and their agents. cumstances. "
(b.) The abundant wealth of prayer The Pastoral Address to Native Chris- which has ascended from all churches tians, exhorts loyalty to government, in all parts of the world since the mas- and love of neighbors, warns all Chinese sacre of August 1st has been manifestly guilty of crime against seeking refuge followed by a wide·spread and general from Jegal penalties by professing the movement towards Christianity among Christian religion; declares that none .all classes of the population, and in all should expect foreign governments to parts of the province, but especially in compel the Chinese government to alter the neighborhood of Foochow and the its ordinary laws, or modes of execu- northern part of the province. tion of the same. In cases involv- ing religious liberty guarenteed under (c.) The knowledge of this move- treaties with foreign governments, no ment. and the fact that in many places discriminating legislation should be hundreds have joined the local sought; if the case cannot be settled churches, has caused a feeling of un- amicably, and it be found necessary to easi.ness in the minds of the Chinese appeal to the courts, this should be authorities. And parallel with the done in the usual way, no missionary above movement there is noticeable being askt to adopt the case. "Chinese on the part of the local authorities an Christians should remember that in the organized effort to repress and to providence of God, they are Chinese; intimidate the people from joining that the regular government taxes are the Christian churches by harrassing light comparatively, and that the the native Christians and discrimin- present untrustworthiness of the people, ating against them in every possible the system of yamen fees for service circumstance and on every possible oc- rendered is unavoidable." Even if for- casion. eign missionaries and counsels appeal to the officials in behalf of native (2.) "In a Ch,istian land, when a Christians who suffer wrong and loss, man turns to Christ it is because he is they have no official relations or rights ~onscious of sin, and longs for forgive- to interpose, and can only exert a moral ness and emancipation. In a heathen influence in the premises, and even this land the reason for turning to Christ may must be cautiously exerted,· or they will well be more imperfect and more mixt." induce hatred of Christianity and of Christians, among officials for their in- It may be that it is "not hunger for terference. Missionaries at most can spiritual things which gives this move- only appeal to their counsels, and this ment its growing impulse, but certainly should be restricted to cases of perse- .ood's Spirit is at work in those who are cution. invoking Christian help. The desire for freedom, for alleviation in the social Many Christians are persecuted be- scale, for many good things in the world cause of their refusal to contribute like these. may possibly form the main money for the support of idolatry and .spring of the movement." . • • " To for immoral purposes. The mission- .help on such a movement and to make aries remind the native Christians that it Bubserve the highest spiritual interests the treaties of the government with is indeed the grandest work in which it Christian nations pledge the Imperal is open for men and women to engage." government to protect any person, We therefore plead for the absolute official or citizen in the full exercise of legitimacy of this stage of the Chinese his religious liberty, and say that for . Dation's cry to God. Patience with the many years t,he officials at Foochow, crudeness of such a movement, gener- from District Magistrate to Viceroy and ous support, hopeful prayer and stead- Tartar General, have proclaimed the fast labor, will lift the hearts drawn to Christ up to a higher faith in Him as rights of Christians to be exempt from Poverty of Some Native Obristians in taxation for temple service or immoral Ohina. proceedings. BY MISS MARY ELIN CARLETON, M. D., In the case of property rights held in FOOCHOW, CHINA. common with heathen relatives, they say: " With respect to property shared I have wanted to write for a long year by year in rotation, we recommend time on a subject that greatly engrosses that the Christians in the several pre- my thought; that is, what are we to fectures, or in the entire province, unite do for our native Christians who are and present the case to their officials, living in such destitution as defies de- showing the injustice that must result scription. Some are in such poverty in case the Christians on account of because their former means of livelihood moral inability to perform ancestral was connected with idol worship-i. 6.
worship, should be deprived of their making idol-money, commonly called share in their patrimony. To aid in the "Joss-money," also making incense- mlttter, it could be suggested that the sticks. Of course, when they become money for the sacrifices and feasts Christians, they can not continue in should be divided among those entitled such employment. Then again, there to it, and the balance belong to the are many who had DO employment be- party who has the control of the prop- fore they became Christians. Let me erty for the year. Or the proposition tell of a few instances.
might be made that the expenses for I have living near me, so near ~hat I the repair of graves should be provided might practically say living with me, a annually and the rest go to the man- family consisting of twelve persons.
ger for the year, or, that the property Formerly they had been very wealthy, be equitably divided among the heirs. but the head man was an only child, The last course would naturally be the petted and indulged to a fatal degree.
rule if all the heirs became Christians. When he wisht to study, he did so, In such application to the officials, it whenhe wisht to play, he was allowed should of course be shown that Chris· free bent to his will-consequently he tians are not wanting in filial piety, tho grew up unrestrained, undisciplined, they refuse to sacrifice to their ancestors. knowing no will but his own. When " With respect to reforms in marriage he took up opium smoking, his father and social customs, such as the protec- willingly sold field after field, that tion of widows from the power of their he might have the wherewithal to late husbands' relatives; the daughter's gratify his poisoned appetite. A few right to share in her father's property; years ago Dr. Sites, having business the matter of infant betrothals; the relations with this house, got an influ- selling of daughters to be slave girls, ence over this man, then a middle-aged and other questions which may arise, man with a large family, and so poor, the same general method may be fol- that they could scarcely keep body and lowed." soul together. By sheer love and stick- The necessity for the proclamation of to-it-iveness, Sites led him to Christ these directions shows some of the dif- an~ stood by him till opium smoking ficulties in the way of progress of mis- and many kindred sins were conquered.
sions; but the fact that thousands of As his buried manhood was resurrected, Chinese converts, become such at the his conscience quickened, he wanted to risk of the loss of all things, and remain work and support his family, but what such in the teeth of persecution, to the could he do? Totally unfit for any- shedding of their blood in many in- thing, without strength or skill for stances, marks the integrity and stabil- manual labor, without knowledge suffi- ity of the Chinese Christian communi- cient to teach or preach-his children, cants. [J. T. G.] most of them born when his family were in deep degradation, are slender, greatly overcrowded, so most of the miserable, and sick a great deal of the time. It is understood that sixty gold work goes to younger and abler men. cents will provide food enough for one person a month, so that $7.20 would be The mother earned a pittance by taking required to support this family of twelve for one month. But what are their a baby to nurse. You will understand assets? By most careful computation I reckoned they are able to earn from to what extremities they were driven, $2.50 to $3.00 per month; then they have a little garden, about thirty feet when I tell you that when this little square. You may well ask the question I askt of my Bible woman-If $7.20 baby-boarder died, the womanborrowed is necessary for their food, and they have only $3.00, how can they live? a baby once a month and went to the "Well," said dear old lIrs. Huie Mu, "they cook what rice they have, and Roman Catholic Foundling Home, those who have any work in view, eat the kernels of rice, and those who have where the baby belonged, and got her no work, with the little children, have the rice water;" i. e., the water the rice wages. You may say that was inexis boiled in. One glance at this family would convince you of the truth of this. cusable conduct for a Christian woman, Again, I know a woman, who is one but remember, it was to keep her own of our Bible women, receiving $1.00 per month for her services. With that children from starving to death before she must support herself, her invalid husband and an idiotic son. Again, her own eyes-and again, she had only some epidemic or other carried off every member of a family, save a little boy of been out of heathendom a few months. twelve years and his betrothed little wife of nine years. This little girl Well, we heard the other day that the found her way to one of our pastors, saying, she had heard he was a good whole family were nearly starved, so man, but she said to me, "It is too bad for me to impose myself on this good much so, that their heads were fairly man as he has a big family of his own, but what can I do ? My brother," as dizzy for want of food. Now, we can't she calls her be trotht, "can only keep himself." turn these cases off. God has sent Now, one more case, and I will re- them to us. Every other missionary frain, tho every case could be mul- has her hands full-we cannot simply tiplied by a hundred. There is a family Jtive them money and call our duty in Foochow City, consisting of a man done-I cannot tell you how disastrous of fifty years of age, his wife, a girl of it would be to give such Christians sixteen, and three younger children. money. Too often. as it is, we have They have recently become Christians our Christians called "rice-Christians" , by seeing the power of God to save the -we must give them work. Not all sick when this man was at the point of can be preachers, catechists, Bibledeath, and when the daughter was women, or school-teachers. 'Ve canrecovered from ,. devil possession."- not undertake anything along their own The man is a tailor, but that business, lines of work, for already there are ten like all others, especially in the city, is persons to every one required. _ There is a growing demand for knit- ted goods-stockings, socks, children's caps. I want crochet-hooks, knitting- needles, Germantown yarn of bright colors, stocking-yarn – black, blue, gray, and white-but best of all would be a simple knitting machine, with yarn to work it. I feel sure that with such capital provided, they would soon be- come self-supporting.
Now don't fancy I am leaving my medical work and going into the stock- ing business, but I must not leave these needy ones to face the battle of life unaided. "He that bath this world's goods and seeth his hrother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compas- sion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
Two Recent Books on Buddhism.
"Buddhism in Translations," by Henry Clarke Warren, publisht at Cambridge, Mass., by Harvard Uni- versity. 8vo, pp. xx+250, $1.20.
This book meets a distinct need of students of Buddhism who are not ac- the ritual and discipline of the priestquainted with the classical languages hood, and some remarks on the conof India; it gives them a knowledge of duct befitting the laity. the subject which is not only first hand, but also systematic. .Mr. Warren gives The selections cover all important us translations of a series of excerpts points of Buddhist doctrine. }Ir. Warfrom the Buddhistic sacred literature, ren has acquitted himself well in the judiciously selected and carefully ar- difficult task of translating Pali theo- ranged under appropriate headings, to logical writings into English. Not only afford a fairly complete and orderlyac- is his translation exact, but his English count of the Buddha, his doctrine, and is elegant. The book will be of value the religious order which he founded. to missionaries in Buddhistic communi- ties, and to all who have occasion to Mr. Warren's book represents what understand Buddhism.-REV. DAVID is known as the Southern school of GILMORE, PrOfessor Rangoon Oollege, Buddhism, whose sacred literature is Burma. in the Pali language, whose chief seat is in Ceylon, and which prevails Almost directly in contrast with throughout Burma and Siam. The Warren's "Buddhism in Translation" excerpts in this book are taken from is a smaller work, and a popular one, Pali literature exclusively. Most of .. Primitive Buddhism: its Origin and them come from the Tipitaka, the Teachings," by Elizabeth A. Reed, Buddhist Bible; but a number are A.M., already well known as the author taken from the Milinda Pai'iha, and the Visuddltimag.qa-two works which (tho of "Hindu Literature," "Persian Litnot canonical) are accepted by Southern erature," etc. (Scott, Foresman & Co., Buddhists as authoritative statements Chicago,$l). The admiration of Buddh- ()f their belief. ism is just now a "fad" on thc part of a class of persons who have neither the The excerpts in this book are arranged culture nor the earnestness to become in five chapters, each of which is pro- even superficially acquainted with its vided with an introductory discourse. philosophy, its tenets, or its effects on There is also a general introduction and society. The author appositely says, :an excellent index. "theories have been advocated as to the doctrines of Buddhism of which its The first chapter treats of the life of founder never heard, and 'statements Gautama, the Buddha. It is introduced have been made upon the modern platwith the resolution which he formed in a form which could astonish no one 80 previous stage of existence, to attain the much as Gautama and his early follow- Buddhaship. Passing very briefly over his intermediate existences, it recounts ers." fully his birth, his retirement from the The manuscript of this volume was world, his attainment of Buddhaship, subjected to the criticisms of some of his daily habits and his death. Pali the most distinguisht savants of Euliterature affords no account of his life rope, and thoughtfully discust byemibetween the commencement of his min- nent Orientalists. Like Warren's work, istry and his death. it is mainly a compilation of translated texts from primitive sources. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 deal with Buddba's doctrine. Chapter 2, entitled The author rightly estimates Buddha .. Sentient Existence," treats of that as ., the prince of pessimists," who denial of "an ego," of .. a continuous ,, nowhere alludes to the happiness personal identity," of .. an underlying which may be derived from health, persistent reality," which is the chief friends, love, or existence in a world of source of confusion in the study of beauty." Monier Williams affirms cor- Buddhism, inasmuch as it is explicitly rectly when he says, "Buddhism has no creator, no creation, no original germ denied and implicitly assumed in the of all things, no soul of the world, no system of thought. personal, no impersonal, no supermun- dane, no antemundane plinciple." Of Chapter 3 treats of Karma and rebirth. all the dreary wastes which manJdnd have been invited to contemplate, the Chapter 4 treats of Nirvana, and of dreariest, dismalest and surest of rethat system of meditation or trance sulting in disaster and dismay, Buddhwhich is supposed to lead to Nirvana. ism easily stands, unchallenged, the Neither the excerpts in this section nor first. We commend •'Primitive Buddhthe introduction thereto, afford us a ism" to those who feel impelled to definition of Nirvana; yet the book acquire some knowledge of this diBmaZ sheds much light on the Buddhist conception of Nirvana. 8wamp."-J. T. G.
The fifth chapter gives samples of
FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY
III.-FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY.
BY DBLAVAlII' L. PIERSON.
* China,* Tibet, t Formosa, Oonfuoian- ment allegiance; (d) the prohibition of ism, § Taoism, Opium. Tra.flio." the practice of foot binding; (6) the pro- hibition of opium smoking; (f) the pro- THE GOSPEL IN CHINA. tection of a free press. These involve great changes. To secure them outside The war with Japan and the late help is required. A British protectorate tour of Li Hung Chang have recently would :he a boon for China. drawn unusual attention toward China, "2. The construction of extensive railroads, bridges, tunnels, canals, etc., and there is a very general anticipation is tending to upset heathen belief, and of some markt change in China's home Is opening to Europe a trade in China's and foreign policy. Altho the" Celes- 34,000 square miles of coal beds, oil tials" move slowly, and in many respects and mineral products, so that the devel- opment of the wealth and industry of are still' far behind Japan and India, China is assured. they have already made many strides "3. The adoption of Western methsince missionaries first entered their territory nearly a century ago. In the ods and ideas will help her. She is getting her eyes opened. Education is acknowledged as of value and schools opening up of the various ports of the are in demand. Empire to commerce and missionary "4. To-day China is beginning to work, in governmental protection for believe that Christianity is a prime factor in the progress of Western naforeigners, in the general attitude of the tions. "5. Her appeal to our missionaries masses toward Westerners, and in read- for a knowledge of science, art, literainess to accept foreign institutions and tureand general learning is a hopeful inventions, there is evidence of very sign."
markt advance. The future promises The great need of China to-day is two-fold-more believing payer for the still further progress, both in civiliza- preparation of the hard hearts of these idolators, and a more 8eif-sacrijicing 8pirit tion and Christianity. Dr. B. C. Henry on the part of Christians at home, lead- ing them to give themselves and their has thus summarized the reasons for substance, that these ignorant, degraded taking a hopeful view of the outlook: .. 1. The demand for a change in the administration of the central government. A manifesto has already been issued, demaJ;lding (a) a change in the and helpless multitudes may have an constitutional government; (b) the re- opportunity to accept the Gospel. moval of incapable rulers; (c) the removal of the 'cue' as a sign of govern- While there are now some 1,900 Pro- testant missionaries in China, there • For additional Information concerning the would have to be over 500,000 more Ji'ield# of Monthly Survey see REVIEW Index sent out in order to give to China the for 1896 (December number). same proportion of ordained ministers See also p. 46 (January), 95, 102, 116,128,124, 129; 181 (present Issue). as the United States, and were this New Books: " A Cycle of Cathay," W. A. P, republic supplied in the same propor- tion, we should only have 140 ordained Martin; "Alone in China," Julian Ralph; ministers for the whole of the United "Sketch of the History of Missions in China,"
D. Willard Lyon.
Recent Articles: "China, England and'Rus- States I We have 80,000. "If all the sia," Fortnightly Review (Oct.), "Secret Christians but 750 were taken out of Soci~ties in China," Blac~ood's (Dec.); London, and their places filled by Gospel in all Lands (Feb.); China's Millions heathen, scarcely any of whom had (Monthly).
t See alSo p. 91 (present issue). ever seen a Bible or heard of a Savior, :I: New Book: "Formosa," Wm. Campbell. and among them 19 missionaries (in- § New Book: "Proverbial Philosophy of cluding wives) were put to WPrk with Confucius," F. H. Jennings. '''If Recent Article: "Opium Traftl.c in France," some 60 native agents, that would be a Chautauquan (Oct,.). fair representation of what is being done by Protestant Christendom to win Rev William Brewster, of Hinghwa, . China for Christ." China, sends us an interesting account But with all the disadvantages, the paucity of men and means, the un- of a recent tour in Fuh.kien Province. willingness of the natural heart to turn from idols to serve the living and We regret not having space to print the true God, the harvests which have been reapt in China are very encouraging, whole report, but in substance his com.: and show unmistakable proof of Divine approval and blessing. munication is as follows: The Statistics* of Missionary So- "Three years ago Brother Ng long Seng, a good earnest man, with excel.. cieties in China are in part as follows lent sense and immense industry, but with perhaps the least education of any (1894): …~ :.i of our 70 preachers, determined to be- " " ".. g I0i:!'!"l 0 gin work in a new region across the Nllnc 0" SOCIETY. ~~ . o! border of the county of Sing-iu, a half Ii: day's journey distant from his old field in the Heo-Sang circuit. His first and :z: ~ to only auditor at this new place was won – – – ~ pt,<H,~'-);I- to Christ, and is now a very effective ~ E-4 junior preacher on the circuit. From this one genuine convert the work BRITISH, IBISHAND CANADIAN. spread into a large market town, a half day's journey beyond. Last ~larch we h~ftts'hnF~~~~~"nn:~a ~~gl~tloo:: 1807 44 SS 21 98 held a three day's camp-meeting, at 1848 9 7 ••• 16 which the pastor and eight or ten of the Church Missionary Society…•• 1844 46 S1 SS 110 new converts were present. This little English Baptist …..•.•..•…..• 1845 21 17 .•. SS band were all baptized with the Spirit, English Presbyterian..••……• 1847 81 t18 18 67 and went back to tell the glad tidings. Wesleyan Missionary Society•. 1852 16 t8 2 26 Within two weeks after they returned, tMethodlst New Connection… 1860 7 4 1 12 I was asked to confirm the appointment tSri'.~~t);l~~a1fg:.~.t~~.~. ~:. ~:: 1864 55 of II man to a new place. No money was asked for, it having been provided United Presbyterian of Scotl'd. 1865 14 t6 2 22 by the little company of converts. Soon China Inland Mission•…..••••. 1865 241 120 232 593 another, and yet another place was tUnlted Methodist Free Church 1868 8 8 6 opened In the same way. We were National Bible Soc. of Scotl'd.. 1869 8 t6 14 askt to hold another camp-meeting ] Urlsh Presbyterian…………. 1869 4 4 9 on their circuit, and promist to d() Canadian Presbyterian•..••.••. 1871 12 8 22 so during the latter part of May. I i~l:a£ytllw,au~~~oo~ °Jc~g~n"J: 1874 9 2 13 went to Gia-tau, where the meeting was 1879 1 1 2 to be held, and a mile out was met by a !Blble Christians .•••…•….••.. 1885 4 t2 procession of 50 or 60 Christians with Society of Friends…………. 1886 1 1 6 banners and native instruments, and S conducted to the house where the meetoc. for DltTuslon of Gen. II4ld 1886 2 1 8 ing was in progress. Through some Christian Knowledge….•…. misunderstanding the date of the meet- – – – :tCburch of Eng. Zenana Mlss'n1888 5 5 ing had been put three days earlier than 1891 "6 "2 2 10 I had expected, but the people had come Canadian Methodist ••.•.•….•. 1080 together 70 or 80 strong, and when I Total British, Irish and Can. …. 479 274 – reacht there they had already been holding the meetings for four days, 327 four services a day, beginning with a sunrise prayer· meeting. It meant much AMXlUCAN. to these people, mostly poor farmers, t() spend a whole week at a camp-meeting A.B.C. F.M……………….. 1830 47 4S 27 117 during the planting season. The testi- A.B.M.U……..••.•…..•….. 1324 84 26 18 78 mony meetings were remarkable. There Protestant Episcopal •••.•••.••• 1885 18 9 5 27 was no time even to sing, much less the ~~~bJ~~~'l,nl~Nl'~~J: 1885 76 69 S5 160 need of saying' Brethren, don't let the 1DutcIij: 1842 7 7 7 21 time go to waste.' In voluntary prayer, Methodist Episcopal (North) .•. 1847 54 45 41 140 not less than a dozen would pray in Seventh Day Baptist……….•• 1847 1 1 2 4 quick succession, always right to the Sonthern·Baptlst Convention•. 1847 15 15 8 SS point and very brief. A number of the Methodist Ep,lscopnl (South) .•. 1848 16 7 9 32 men are scholars or literary men, con- Woman's Union Mission …. o •• 1859 8 8 verted through the influence of their 1867 '24 'is 8 50 comparatively ignorant pastor, and all r:'~i~::~~b~'1;~~~~ty::::::: : 1876 2 4 look up to him. Nine men testified to 1886 11 2 "s 24 For. Christian Missionary Soc.. 1887 2 10 1 8 1869 1 2 4 i!m. Scandinavian Conrseg't'l "i United Brethren In Chr st.••.. ternat'l Missionary Alliance. 1389 46 4 32 32 – Total American ….••••••••••. 849 257 206 812 CONTINENTAL.
Basle Mission.•••••.•.•••••••.•.. 1847 24 18 1 4S Rhenish Mission…………….. 1847 7 7 7 21 … JPe~rl~nJ;~~~~~~~. 1350 ~~~~~: ::: ::: 1632 11 5 7 8t5 1S … tGen. Evangel. Protes. Mission 1324 1 ••• 1 – – – Total Continental•.••.••..•.•. …. 41 31 – 18 85 Grand Total••••••••.••••…. 869 562 546 1977 • From D. W. Lyon'l .. Sketch of the History of Protestant Missions In China."
*.t Reports In these ca.es were not exbanltlve as to the number of marrIed womf"n. These are the ~ tor 1890. ! baving been saved from the opium hab- territo17, but it will probably be some , it. I baptized over 40 adults, everyone of time before sufficient quiet is restored whom keeps the Sabbath strictly, can , answer intelligently questions regarding to allow missiona17 work to progress as the fundamental truths of God as Fath- er, and Christ as Savior. All are accus- prosperously as before the war. The tomed to testify and pray in public, as sto17 of this wonderful work has been well as in private; and all give of their substance to the support of the Gospel; told in two intensely interesting vol- and, as far as we were able to discover, all have broken off entirely from their umes, which deal both with *tihne work (lId idolatrous customs, and the sins of of the English Presbyterians South their former life. At one place, far up Formosa and that of the Can~dian (In a high mountain, where there is but (lne village with about 60 inhabitants, a Presbyterians t in the north man heard the Gospel, and accepted it at once. The women of his family The Opium Curse. could not attend church on account of the great distance and bad roads, 80 he The following is a translation of a offered to pay $24.00 a year, and fur- small sheet which has been issued late- nish house· room for a pa~tor. Now ly in connection with an Opium Refuge there are a dozen converts in the village, at T'ai Yuen Fu, and is being also used and no doubt it ~ill ere long be a Chris- on other stations :- tian village. This man probably spends SO per cent. of his entire income for the "Of all things in this world that support of the Gospel. He says, 'I harm men, nought surpasses opium; inused to spend much money on idolatry. juring manners and destroying customs; I would be ashamed to spend less money overturning homes and laying waste for the true religion than I did for a patrimonies-eve17where it acts thus. false one.' These people are also' giv- But none appear to think of the mising themselves unto the Lord.' Four chief of opium, which is like a flood of men have already been appointed to poison unrestrained. It is the cause of these new places from among the new anxiety to one's parents and also to the converts. They are all men of educa- wife. When the wealthy take it, it tion and culture; some of them were shortens their years, deprives them of well-to-do, and are making markt posterity, and wastes any amount of tlnancial sacrifices to go into the work. money. When the poor take it, clothes These people seem heartily to believe are exchanged for it, or pawned away, that 'it is more blessed to give 'than to while they suffer from the extremes of receive,' and cheerfully contribute not hunger and cold. Thus do men lay hold (lnly for their own support, but to help of error, and do not awake and perceive their more needy brethren in neighbor- how things are and repent. With such ing towns. When the spirit that is in things God is not pleased, but He sent these men becomes general among the Jesus into the world on purpose to save Chinese native Christians, the church men from their sins, and assist them in will propagate itself. and support itself. their sorrows ; therefore here is the holy • All things are possible to him that doctrine taught that men may forsake believeth.' " wickedness for righteousness, and give up falsehood for tmth, and repent of FORMOSA. everything that is harmful and inju- Since this island was acquired by rious; as the Scripture says (of Jesus), , I came not to call the righteous, but Japan, natives have been in a continual sinners to repentance.' The disciples of Jesus, desirous of imitating His state of ferment, sometimes breaking example, came from the West to China, respectfully desirous of assisting men (lut into open rebellion, and at other to repent. If there are any who, clearly- seeing the harm done to them times only submitting under compul- by OpIUm, determine to cut it short, and will quickly come to the 'Salvation sion to the occupation of the land by Hall,' then, according to proper pre- scriptions, taking the necessary medithe Japanese. The strategic import- cines, from within twenty-one days to a month, whether old or young, with a ance of the island is recognized by the strong or weak craving, they may make a clean sweep of the opium, and, leavnew rulers, and they have now well- ing this false road, return to the true way. This is what we earnestly denigh brought it under complete control. sire."
The Japanese Christians have shown *"Missionary Successes In Formosa," by their zeal by making plans to send their Wm. Campbell.
own missionaries to the newly acquired t"From Far Formosa," byGeo. L. Mackay.
EDITORIAL DEPAUTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
The Maroh of Events. because they stand so related to mis- sions. But in every part of the world The plague and famine in India pre· there is at this time a peculiar aspect of sent two of the most important and affairs, which invites ample discussion. weighty facts that now confront us, next The atrocities in Armenia still go on ; to the Armenian horrors which lie on and the appeals for the destitute are so all thoughtful people like a nightmare. emphatic and agonizing that many feel that there can be no attention paid to Toward the close of last September any other calls until these are attended a peculiar fever broke out in a part of to; and yet the need is so great it seems Bombay, attended by a singular fatality almost hopeless to meet it, and almost among rats, and it was soon identified useless unless the Turk can be held in with the plague that two or three years check. ago broke out in Hongkong. Tho considered comparatively mild, about Cuban affairs threaten to involve the two-thirds of the cases are fatal, tho it United States in a war with Spain, and does not seem contagious, nor does it a general state of disquietude and alarm abate. 011e week the death-rate ex- or uncertainty prevails. ceeded by 300 the rate of any period for nveyearspreceding. Within two months The half bankrupt condition of some nearly 100,000 Hindus left the city. missionary boards, and tlle measures of Various precautionary measures were retrenchment which seem to be needful, taken to prevent the spread of the -these are the features of discourageplague, and much prayer was offered ment against which it is hard to conby believe rs. Meanwile outside of tend. Bombay a famine is spreading over a large area. Since the monsoon the Dr. W. A. P. Martin has returned to price of food has in some parts doubled. China. It is nearly half a century since Already there has been a year's dearth he first went, when, with his brother, he in the Hindee neld in Central India, began work at Ningpo, where he spent where hundreds have starved to death, six years, which he looks back on as the and the sight of children, not to say most fruitful of his life, and where he adults, in every stage of disease and was qualified to act as interpreter to the want, is almost too terrible for believers American plenipotentiaries, Messrs. to bear who seek to be ministers of God Reed and Ward, in the treaties with to them. The details are too bad for China. Afterward he determined to reproduction. It looks as tho a large move further north and undertake an section of the Marathi country would educational mission work, and this become a similar scene of suffering. opened the way to the presidency of the Riots have become common where the Imperial Tungwen College and a prostarving people forcibly sieze what they tracted stay at the capital. He now recannot buy, and the police are some- turns joyfully, in his maturest life, and times unable to protect the shops. we wish he might spend there another •• Khandesh is sure to suffer unless rain "cycle" of "Cathay." He is better shortly falls," was the report in the fitted than ever to act as a wise counmiddle of October. Jowari was burn- sellor and competent teacher and ading up with drought, and the north- ministrator. west, north and central provinces seem threatened with a repetition of the suf- Our dear friend, the secretary of the ferings of twenty years ago. Presbyterian Board, Robert E. Speer, has been seriously ill at Hamadan, Per- These events we give prominence to sia, with typhoid. He had intended to sail for India by the middle of De- most effectual ministry to the une~an.
cember, but was detained. Already gelized.
his visit to the East has left a markt The last report, covering 1895,tells the impression wherever he has been. He story of seven years; and this last year thoroughly studied up the countries to exceeds all the others. Some of its facts which he was going, and surprised should be borne in mind as an incentive brethren on the ground by showing in to others to follow his example. 'rhe many respects a familiarity with the missionary money up to Nov. 12 this conditions of field which they them- year, 1896, is upwards of $19,000.00, selves did not possess. of which his own congregation of per- haps 200 people have, without any On October 13th of last year, our be- pressure, given over $4,000.00. The loved brother, Rev. D. M. Stearns, of map of the world is kept ever before Germantown, bade adieu to his beloved them, and they are taught that they are wife, who, after less than two days' debtors tothe whole unsaved world,and illness, departed for a higher home. trustees of the Gospel of salvation, and She had shared all his work for the that each of them iS,to regard himself Lord, and was to him a help, meet for as responsible for bringing the Gospel him. Noone knows the extent of the to every living soul as soon as possible.
loss and sorrow that came to our , What could not be done by a few hun- brother, who nevertheless bears up dred such men as Pastor Stearns, who with a fortitude and patience only would follow this hitherto untrodden learned of God. Some years ago this path in Bible study and missionary brother, in a conversation with me, work? He is now teaching a monthly heard me emphasize the fact that the Bible class at Princeton University, church is not a man's field but his and his influence is constantly ex· force wherewith to work in the world panding. Most of the mission funds field, and this seed of truth found in he collects go through regularly organ- him such a soil as to bring fonh liter- ized channels, and the paper, King- ally an hundred·fold. Witness the wide dom Tiding8, has a circulation of about dissemination of the Gospel through 3,000. Of the nearly $10,000 that the this man, his parish and his Bible synod of the Reformed Episcopal classes now held over so wide a terri- Church of New York and Philadelphia tory. And now in the departure of his gave to the foreign work from Oct.,1895, wife, he is asking whether God means to Oct., 1896, over $4,500 came from to open a new door of wider usefulness; Pastor Stearns' congregation, the other whether in leaving him alone He may twenty or more parishes giving the rest.
not be leaving him free ttl go through They give to the Reformed Episcopal the world-field on a wider ministry to Church; Mr. Stearns' congregation give souls. This 'devoted brother, who to the whole Church.
watches keenly the signs of the times, watches also the signs of God's will in Since the Editor's note appeared in his own life, studying to know the the October issue of 1896, on the Ben- Divine plan and fall into his own lot in oliel Mission in Jerusalem, some vigor- it, ready for any service which his Lord, ous letters of remonstrance have been the King, may appoint. received from parties who consent that ,Certainly it would seem as though their names should appear; and promi- God has for him some increasingly use- nent among them is Rev. Edwin S.
ful future. He has projected what is Wallace, American Consul at Jerusalem, essentially a new method of working a who does not hesitate to express his dis- parish into a missionary agency, and his satisfaction with the position taken by Bible classes are in effect a larger parish the Editor in the paragraphs referred to. rn enlisted in a similar way on a wide and self·defence the Editor will only say that for more than a year-in fact, since brief notes in the October number, he some time before Dr. Gordon's death- will see that no endorsement of Mr. he and his lamented co-editor sought to Benoliel is therein contained, as there trace unfavorable rumors concerning was no personal knowledge on which to Mr. Benoliel to some satisfactory rest iuch sanction. All that is affirmed source, and to obtain some data in the is, what was true, that after a year way of definite charges founded upon spent in diligent investigation, nothing definite facts, upon which to -base an had been found worthy of credence, or intelligent judgment of the merits of sustained by any reliable proof; and the case. But, up to the time of re- that nothing assailing his piety, integ- ceiving Mr. Wallace's letter, not one rity or loyalty to Christ had been sup- clue had been given to the situation. ported by adequate evidence. On the Dr. Gordon had received some com- contrary, the testimony of my friend, munications from a Mr. T. J. Alley, Arthur W. Payne, of London, as wen and Rev. Selah Merrill, which he, with as of R. Scott }ioncrieff, of Edinburgh, the aid of a lawyer, undertook to in- and other parties in Great Britain, some vestigate. He has himself publisht of them connected with work among the result of the investigation, and he the Jews, was entirely in his favor. saw his way not only to vindicate Mr. Benoliel, but to assist him, and encour- In now adding these paragraphs, the age others to do so. Personally, the Editor can only say that he has desired Editor-in-Chief gave no attention to to be fair, impartial and umpirical in these communications, and was not this whole matter, and treat a brother responsible for his colleague's action. who has been accused as entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven When, however, separate letters were guilty. The amazing prejudice existing sent to me, after Dr. Gordon's death, I everywhere against the Jew, the prevailat once undertook for myself to trace inganti Semitic spirit, makes it very easy unfavorable rumors, and find some solid to create a bias against any brother whobasis on which to rest a judgment. I is a Jew, and seeks to work among his· wrote to parties accusing him, and brethren-a bias easier to create than among others to Rev. E. S. Wallace, remove. While thus seeking to do a for whose character and reputation I simple act of justice to a maligned had high esteem, asking for something party, the Editor of this REVIEW must that was worthy to be made the basis not be understood as giving his sanction of such accusation. It seemed to me or the sanction of this periodical tu Mr. then, as now, both unwise and unfair Benoliel, for the sufficient reason that to give currency to damaging reports, he is unable to vouch for him by any where no one was found to make dis- personal knowledge of his work; and tinct charges of misconduct or unfaith- he must leave to those who are inclined fulness; and yet, up to the date of re- to aid him to satisfy themselves by such ceiving Mr. Wallace's letter, about Dec. methods of investigation and through 15 ult., no 'I'e8po7UI6 had ever come to my such parties, as are open to them. It hands. Not having visited Jerusalem, nevertheless remains true, whatever my only way to investigate was by let- may be the reason, that a singular suster or conversation with visitors and picion seems to hang about almost every residents. .And the only party who did man who is a Jew, and who, as a conreply to my communications was R. verted Jew, seeks to carryon mission Scott Moncrieff, Esq., whose endorse- work among his fellow-Israelites. Ament of Mr. Benoliel was as unquali- man lately said to me: "They are aU fied as the charges of some others were Jacoba yet. not IS'I'ae18." hostile. Under these circumstances the Editor felt bound to state just the It should be added, in order to bafacts, and if the reader will recur to the fair to all parties concerned, that no in- tentional reflection was made upon any particular party in the remark of the These schools quietly helped to per- Editor that Mr. Benoliel seemed the vade the country with the Gospel. Por- victim of persecution. The reference tions of the Word were daily learned, was to sundry anonymous reports and and often as regularly recited at home.
attacks which have come to our know- It is an interesting fact that the Queen ledge, but which we have been unable of Spain herself once heard the Gospel to trace to any responsible source. In recited by a child from the Protestant all t11is matter but one conscious desire school, who had been put into a Roman has controlled, namely, to do just as we Catholic school, that was honored by a would have others do to us. royal visit. Some 5,000 children in all had come under the influence of Mr. Albert R. Fenn, whose death, these schools when Mr. Fenn's health Aug. 3, 1896, was briefly noticed in compelled him, in 1895, to withdraw these pages, was born in London in finaIly from the little church in Cham- 1832, and had spent forty-four years in beri.
his Master's service. For some years At his death, a very pathetic com- he was connected with George Muller's munication was sent to his widow from school work, and engaged in various the church. It was signed by all who forms of Gospel work in the neighbor- could write, and bore strong witness to hood. In 1861, he gave himself wholly the marvelous strength and tenderness to evangelistic and pastoral work, look· of the tie that bound this faithful pastor, ing directly to God for support, and loving father and wise counsellor to his until his life closed he continued this people.
life of faith and prayer. Wherever in England he labored, Backwell, Yalton, In the September number of the RE- Weston-super-Mare, Kingsbridge, etc., VIEW mention was made of a medical he left the impress of his catholic spirit, work by Dr. Frank Ross, which would and united prayer-meetings are even yet be sent by· him free to missionaries.
held in Kingsbridge, where he initiated Numerous applications have since then them. 'When the Spanish revolution, been made to the Editor for copies of in 1868, opened the door to the land of his book. To one and all such appli· the Inquisition, he and his wife, with cants the Editor would herein say that four children, went forth, trusting he has not yet been able to ascertain wholly in God. For three years he and Dr. Ross' address, and that, when he Mrs. Henry Payne wrought together in does, he will publish it in these pages.
Barcelona, and then joined Mr. Charles This must serve instead of private cor- Faithfull in Madrid. There, by his respondence on the subject.
holy and blameless life, not lcss than his preaching, he rebuked the abound- In the review of the one volume bio- ing wickedness even of profest religious graphy of John G. Paton, it should guides, and by his honesty and punctu- have been mentioned that the two vol- ality in business, presented a markt umes in one are thus furnisht by Revell contrast to the deceitful and procrasti- at $1.50-one-half of the cost of the nating Spaniard. He was known in the previous two·volume edition. Thisnew little Chamberi Chapel as "the Saint." edition is printed from the same plates, Unti11892, Messrs. Mllller and Wright, and has over 800 pages. If there is any of Bristol, assumed the support of the more interesting book on missions, we day-schools and Sunday-schools, but for have not seen it.
the rest of the work all supplies were in answer to prayer, and yet there was The Editor intends to give ampler no delay in meeting all dues, and the space to the review of books than schools had latterly an attendance of hitherto. Authors and publishers who four or five hundred children daily. have sent on books for examination will kindly take notice that the absence Among medical missionaries, there of the Editor in Great Britain for six are at least two abroad who are the months in 1896 caused all such work to peers of any physicians and surgeons at fall into arrears. But it is his intention home. One is Dr. George E. Post, of to give careful examination to all books Syria, who has performed more major sent either from Europe or America, cases of surgery than probably any man for review, and to send to the parties abroad; and the other is Dr. Kerr, of from whom they come markt copies of Canton, of whom the U. S. Consulthe REVIEW in which they are review- General in that city remarkt that he ed. If those who forward books will undertook cases that Philadelphia sursend them to the Editor's residence, geons would not risk, and is the peer of 1127 Dean St., Brooklyn, N. Y., it will any living surgeon, and has treated prevent delay. The present variety three-quarters of a million of patients. and value of books on missions ex- Both of these men could command an ceed all the contributions made to the income of at least $1,000 a month, and subject in any previous generation, they get little more than that a year. and we shall seek to do a serviCe to our readers by a fair, candid, and careful Miss Clara Barton, who is at the head estimate of all books brought to our of the Red Cross Society, says of the notice, so soon after their reception Armenian sufferers, that according to as time and other duties allow. At careful estimates, not far from 155,000 least forty deserving volumes now Armenian Christians, men, women and await reading. Among the most prom- children, are destitute of shelter, raiinent may be mentioned the following, ment, fire, food, medicines, of the comwhich have had at least a partial ex- forts that tend to make human life pre~ aminat.ion: servable, or of any means of obtaining them save through charitable benefi- " Knights of the Labarum," by Rev. cence. Without such outside support Harlan P. Beach. This is a volume on at least 50,000 of these persons will have missionary biography, prepared for use died of starvation or perisht through in mission study classes, giving an ac- accumulated hardship before the 1st of count of four typical men in as many May, 1897. Money may be sent to the fields and in different methods of work. agency of which Mr. Spencer Trask. of Tho publisht in October, in a little over New York pity, is treasurer. a month 2,500 students were already using'it, and was adopted by the Ep- As to the famine in India, we find in worth League, and by the Woman's our reliable exchanges the following :- Baptist Board in the mission course. Editions are to be had for 40 cents and .. The whole civilized world will 25 cents, respectively. It is publisht in stand aghast at the horrors which the Chicago by the Student Volunteer next nine months are certain to bring in movement, and Mr. Beach is abun- India. According to the statement dantly able to discuss his topic, being made by Rev. Dr. James L. Barton, a returned missionary from China, and secretary of the A. B. C. F. M., this now Educational Secretary of the Vol- famine 18 due to the failure of the wheat unteer movement. The four typical crop, which has trebled the price of missionaries chosen are Judson, Duff, wheat, and the people have not the Mackenzie and Mackay-Judson, the money to buy it. UnUke the famine of Pioneer in Burma; Duff, the Educator, 1877, the present one is general. Then in India; Kenneth Mackenzie, the Phy- rich and poor suffered, as the means of sician in China; and Alexander Mackay, communication had not been opened the Engineer, in Africa. The work is up. Now, however, railways have been done carefully and thoroughly, as Mr. built with the result, as stated, that Beach's work always is. " the rich will not starve, but the mil- lions of the poor must." It is not a question of the scarcity of grain-which can be had from abroad-but of the want of money wherewith to buy it. of worship, both Roman Catholic and The government has appropriated *125,- Protestant, have been burned; aIld 000;000 to be spent on public works as native pastors,. evangelists, and school- a means of relief to the starving people, masters have suffered most. and the missionaries are cooperating with the Buthorities. Nevertheless The Jesuits are trying to make capi- there are 287,000,000 of people to be tal out of. the fears of the people, and 8upported in a country barren of crops, say openly that only under their pro- and "millions will die from starvation, tection can the people expect safety. and within a few months the world will And they are now trying to obtain hear of such suffering and wholesale possession of Protestant churchel!. deaths as it has never heard of before, unless relief is extended." The mis- General Gallieni has issued instruc- 8ionaries of the various denominations tions to the commandants of military are scattered all through the afflicted circles, telling them to see that at least territory and they will do all they- can. half the time in all schools is devoted But most of the native missionanes get to the study of the French language, but $3.75 per month, and it is quite as and to shut up schools that do not commuch as they can do to support them- ply. There were, before the war, 700 selves. Touching this matter, Rev. A. or 800 schools in connection with the B. Leonard, corresponding secretary of L. M. S., and few of the teachers have the Methodist Board, also says: any knowledge of the French language; it is not, therefore, easy to obey this "Letters received at this office give law. Military power, however mighty, an appalling account of the famine now can hardly, with the stroke of a pen, prevailing in parts of India, particularly in the north and northwest. Hundreds turn 700 vernacular schools into French of children are to be seen in the bazaars, schools. Perhaps the Paris Missionary 'Picking up grain or anything that can Society may give aid in this serious be used as food. Some of them stagger crisis, and help to prevent the permaas they walk. The cries of hungry nent weakening of the Protestant cause people for food in the darkness at rail- by the enforced closing of so many road stations is often heartrending. schools. Parents take their children to the mis- 8ionaries, offering to give them away All ordinary civil government meanfor food;" while being suspended, martial law pre- vails. The whole country is divided into Rev. James Smith, of Ahmednagar, military circles, and great powers are writes. that "in the district of India, placed in the hands of the officers comover which famine is now impending, manding. The General's plan seems to there are 80,000,000 of people who in be to lay down principles for the guidgood times have only one meal a day, ance of subordinates, and tben to allow and that 40,000,000 always go to bed large liberty in carrying them out. hungry. To these millions the present Thus in different parts of the country dearth means death, as the increased very different modes of operation may price· of grain has raised the cost of be employed, and a very different attImaintenance per capita from one to tude assumed towards the work of three cents per day, and the Viceroy of Protestant missions. In some districts India has telegraphed to London that the clear instructions of General Galliem '72,000,000 must succumb to famine in reference to religious freedom seem unless assisted." fully carried out; while at the same time in other districts Protestants are A correspondent says as to affairs made to feel that they are at the mercy 1n Madagascar: "General Gallieni seeks of officers who suspect and dislike them. to extend the French outposts and re- A Protestant church at Fiaferana, built store order. Refugees are returning, in part by the contributions of native and Christian services resumed in vil- congregations, has been forcibly taken lages, lately in the hands of tbe rebels. and handed over to the Roman Catho- Tliousands of Christians have suffered lics, and Protestants are forbidden to greatly, many having lost everything enter it. At Tsiafahy another church in but their lands, but they have patiently connection with the London Missionary endured tribulations. Many nominal Christians have in fear joined the rebel Society was taken by the officer in bands, and a few have been among the command and used for a Roman Catholeaders; but the Christians, as a whole, lic service; but it has since been rehave been loyal and law-abiding. The stored. In another district the whole rebellion has taken, from the beginning, of the school teachers were called be- fore the commandant and told, among a distinctly anti-Christiaii form; places. other things, that henceforth no relig- ious instruction is to be given in the schools held in Protestant buildings, and supported. by the native Protestant the great work done among the women congregations and by the London Mis- of the Indian Empire, this magazine is sionary Society. A missionar,Y going to indispensable. It is well illustrated visit a village in a district WhICh he has and full of interesting and informing worked for a quarter of a century, was matter. Those who think that a virtually arrested and charged with monthly magazine contains only mat- collecting the people unlawfully with- ters of transient interest should give ont permission of the officer in charge. " The Zenana" a careful perusal. One notices that all these irritating measures are taken against the work of "'India, and Daily Life in Bengal," English Protestants. Time after time also their churches have been occupied by Z. F. Griffin, is publisht for the by the French troops; but I have not heard of a sin~le instance in which a author at Buffalo, N. Y. Roman Catholic church has been taken for such purposes." It is the object of this book, of less than 200 pages, to give details of life in Oongregational Work. This is the India which are not generally supplied title of the new monthly publication by books. The author spent two and a devoted to the Home and Foreign Mis- half years in travel through the coun- try as "field secretary of our forei~ sionary operations of the Congregational mission work."- He does not explam churches in the United States. whose foreign mission work he means, tho the reader discovers it is the Free It has been started in answer to a Baptists. " He was for ten years a misstrong feeling in the Congregational sionary in India. The last two chapbody, that the missionary intelligence ters on "Hinduism," and " Mission of the denomination has not hitherto Work" contain the gist of the informabeen thoroughly disseminated through- tion found in this volume as to the out its rank and file. One hundred purely religious aspects of Indian and twenty-five thousand copies of the affairs. The rest of the work is, as first edition will be circulated, and in the author says, a bird's eye view of view of the subscriptions already re- this interesting land and people, and ceived from the churches, the watch- will be found well worth a reading. word of the paper "into every family" may soon be realized. Among other books, issued by F. H.
Oongregational Work is attractively Revell Co., N. Y., we would call attenprinted, ably edited, and furnished to churches at the cost of 10 cents per tion to the following as all worthy of a year. place in the fine missionary library that U The Missionary Calendar of Prayer," issued by the Woman's Bap. this publishing house furnishes at such tist Missionary Society, Philadelphia, is a very beautiful calendar with an low cost. exquisite selection of texts, beautifully " J /Iopan, Its People and Missions," by illustrated. To have such a calendar before one day by day is both a re- Jesse Page, a book of 160 pages, well minder and an incentive, along the line illustrated and ful~ of interesting matter.
of missionary effort, giving and praying. "Through Egypt to Palestine," by .. The Zenana:" or Woman's Work in Lee S. Smith, with original illustra- India, the monthly magazine of the tions. Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, published by Partridge & Co., 9 Pater- "Pioneering in New Guinea," by noster Row, E. C., London, England, James Chalmers, likewise abundantly has been issued in a second volume and originally illustrated. This will be bound for 1895, at half a crown. This bound volume contains the numbers found bristling with points; graphic from Nov. 1894 to Oct. 1895, inclusive. and fascinating-a story of real pioneer- To those who desire to keep track of ing.
The American Baptist Publication Society likewise issue "The Lone Star" -the history of the Zelugn Mission. This tale of missions we have long re- garded as one of the great classics of all mission history. No one can afford not to read it, who aims at even a re- spectable knowledge of "The new acts of the apostles," as they are being written in our day.
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENcE
V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
EDITED BY BEV. D. L. LEONARD, D.D.
:Extraots and Translations from Foreign -The Annual Report of the Church Periodioals. Missionary Society for 1895-6 gives a full and compact statement of Chinese BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, opposition to foreigners and of the sit- uation generally. MASS. " Anxious eyes have again and aglin CmNA. been directed to China during the year under review. Bishop Moule, speaking -A pious Chinese Christian, Chang at St. James' Hall in May, 1895, with Wang, mentioned in the Damk Mi88ions special reference to the war between Btad, remarkt once: "Solomon was China and Japan, then first concluded, seven years in building the first temple; said: 'Some of us, who are looking Herod forty-six years in renewing the with deep affection on that great nation, second, but Lord Jesus has been nine- are wondering whether it will please teen hundred years already in prepar- God to permit her to pass out of this ing a place for us. How glorious then terrible crisis which has been upon her it will be when He has it finisht I" without further trouble, without inter- nal convulsions and practical anarchy – " The Chinese have the repute of amongst her three hundred millions of being a proud, haughty people. But people.' The potentialities of the situthe more intimate our relations become ation were indeed exceedingly grave. with them, the more completely does A government corrupt to the very core, this prepossession evaporate. Beyond and in every department of its adminisquestion foreigners find the mandarins tration, legislative, judicial, and execuand other oflicials haughty enough, and tive; an armydefeated and disorganized, indeed the literary classes generally, disperst over the land; a people not almost -universally. It is these classes affected by any profound sense of loythat form the chief obstacle to the Gos- alty to the ruling dynasty-such condipel. Li Hung Chang mayor may not tions amply justified the apprehensions have assured the French that their which were entertained and exprest. army, and the Germans that theirs was the best in Europe. At all events such "The first serious disturbance, howa sacrifice of sincerity to courting is ever, has its own causes, not in the discharacteristic of Chinese functionaries. content or ambitions or passions of the And to insincerity most of them add people in relation to their rulers, but in oppressiveness. The people sigh under the hatred of the ruling classes themthe burden, above all those who, on the selves toward foreigners. Before decoast, or perhaps abroad, have become scribing these disturbances, a few words familiar with just government, and if in evidence of this deep. rooted dislike Europe and America do not intervene, may be introduced. Mr. Valentine which in view of the chronic suspi- Chirrol, in his recent book, 'The Far ciousness of the different powers to- Eastern Question,' testifies to the invetwards each other is hardly to be looked erate nature of this antipathy. He enfor, a revolution is likely to ensue joyed the probably unique privilege, as before very many years through Chi- an unoflicial person, of an interview nese hands, which God will doubtless with the Tsung-li-Yamen, or Board of turn to the advantage of His king- Foreign Relations, the regular channel dom and of the poor people."-Mission- for communications between the Forary GOTTSCHALK, in Berichte der rhein- eign Legations in Peking and the Chii8chen Mi88Wn8 Geaell8chtJj't. nese official world. He writes ;-
EXTRACTS AND
" , Outside of its official relations with Hunan, but in other provinces. He; the foreign representatives, the Chinese saw copies which had been publisht in would know nothing, and want to Si-chuan and in Kwangsi, on the covel!' know nothing, of the Western world. of which it was stated that all th6'1 The members of the Tsung-li-Yamen scholars and people of these two provthemselves have scarcely any inter- inces were, in imitation of Hunan,. course with the foreign representatives printing this book and widely distribat Peking, beyond making a few formal uting it. The author of this book i8lo calls on stated occasions and offering Chou Han, 'a disciple of ConfuciuS' th8m an annual banquet at their official and a Minister of the Great Pure Dyresidence. One or two may sometimes ac- nasty,' whose conduct in this respeca. cept invitations to a foreign Legation, was investigated in 1892 by the Viceroy but no mandarin can frequent a for- and the Governor of Hunan, and whQl. eigner's house without exposing him- was then declared 'not guilty,' but self to suspicion and obloquy. Even ,subject to fits of insanity.' Regarding the unsuccessful literati, who are driven this tract, Dr. Griffith John says ;- to accept employment as writers in the European Legations, will not compro- .. 'Of all the Hunan publications I de> mise themselves by showing any open not know one more violent, morer recognition of their employers when abusive, more foul, or more infiamma.- they meet them in a public thorough- tory than this. It finishes up with a fare. The whole atmosphere of Peking song, to be committed to memory by is saturated with hatred and contempt the reader. Were I to translate: of the foreigner, and the street urchins, and send it to you, you could noll who shout opprobrious epithets or fiing print it, it being too dirty and vile fop' mud and stones from a safe distance at your columns. I may, however, givehim as he passes; merely have the you the closing words, which are words. youthful courage of opinions which of exhortation to old and young; .. Let their elders only venture to betray by a fathers and elders teach the children to' sullen scowl or a muttered impreca- sing this song, and thus accumulate tion.' merit and secure happiness. Let the> little boys learn to sing this song, and! " This attitude of strong and persist- thus remove calamity and escape da~ ent and unswerving dislike toward for- ger. Why fear because the demons eigners, though happily by no means (foreigners) are many? We are firmly; universal among the official classes, is resolved to exterminate them utterly.'~ very widely prevalent. In the Annual All the charges brought against foreignr Report for 1891-2, reference was made ers are given in this book in full detail. to one most dangerous form in which The use of the eyes and brains, and it had been extensively manifested in other parts of the human body, for 1891, namely, by the distribution of medicinal and other purposes, is mi.. abominable placards, emanating chiefiy nutely described. The history of Jesus from the province of Hunan, regarding is given; and anything more blallphe– foreigners. To these placards the numer- mous it would be impossible for the ous riots which occurred in 1891 were mind of man to conceive. considered to be largely due, and they led to a joint representation by the for- "'This is the book which Chou Ham eign ministers to the Chinese govern- has been scattering over the fa.ce of· ment in that year. The Rev. Dr. Grif- the land. We know now that ther6'1 fith John, the veteran missionary of the is a Si-chuan edition and a Kwangsi London Missionary Society, discovered edition. It is highly probable tha~ in the course of 1895 that the worst of every province has its edition. Be that these papers were still being printed as it may, there can be no doubt as to> and circulated, and that not only in the widespread dissemination of the book.'''
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
INDIA. character, the religious belief of the -The Ohureh Mi88iona1'1l InteUigencer Hindus has really no single succinct for August had a leading article on Dr. designation. ' "
Miller's recent Madras lecture. It is Dr. Miller, however, neglecting popu- mild and careful, but expresses" genu- lar Hinduism on the ground that no ine regret at the opinions exprest in it, religion is worthy of itself in its popu- which seem to us in some points lar disfigurements. appears to make it to be not only defective, but mis- his place to compare before his pupils leading. the essential Hindu and the Ohristian – "The assumption that all creeds are, ideal, in the hope that they shall ac- In the main, equally worthy of accept- knowledge the immense superiority of ance, is one which lies at the root of the latter, as it appears that many do.
much indifference to the work of For- "But," says Bishop Caldwell, "with- eign Missions. It is one which, as far out any dislike for Christianity as 8.
as we know, is not held by any Chris- religion; regarding it on the contrary tian missionary"-and of course not by as an excellent religion, probably the Dr. Miller-" although there may be best in the world, Hindus are so in- some who are disposed to allow more tensely nationalistic and conservative, value to other religions than we are able and so intensely jealous about ~he re- to allow. To examine the position of tention of their social respectability, these optimists, let us see what Bishop that they will on no account consent to Caldwell says: 'The theism of the a conversion taking place. • • As a Hindu religious system is avowedly or rule, the pupils are quite ready to be in- virtually Pantheism, not the belief held structed, and even to be convinced, by Christians in a God who has made provided only that they are not required the world, and governs it in the inter- to act upon their conviction. . . • ests of righteousness.' Again, Sir M. The difficulty we have to deal with is Monier-Williams says in the introduc- not so much the resistance of the mind tion to his 'Indian Wisdom:' 'Nothing to truth, as resistance to change, the can possibly be more simple than gulf between convictions and actions, Esoteric Hinduism. It is . . spiritual the absence of moral courage, which Pantheism. A pantheistic creed of this so generally ,characterizes the Indian kind is the simplest of all beliefs, mind, and which nothing can overcome because it teaches that nothing really but special grace from above. • • • exists but the one universal Spirit; that To be almost a convert is the highest the soul of each individual is identical point that many well-disposed Hindus with that one Spirit; and that every have reacht at present. "
man's highest aim should be to get rid The InteUigen~r objects to Dr. Mil- forever of having, being and doing ler's talking so much about ideals.
with a view to such spiritual knowledge Christ is not an ideal, but a Living as shall force upon him the conviction Person, coming into the world by the that he is himself part of the One free act of the Godhead, revealing God, Being constituting the universe. (Ex- and through His personal Spirit enter- ()teric or) Popular Hinduism supposes ing into living communion with those that God may, for His own purposes, who receive and confess Him. How amuse Himself by illusory appearances can this be made equivalent with a The Hindu religious creed, misty recognition of Him as a sublime starting from the Veda, ends by ap- Ideal, by those who remain in a relig- pearing to embrace something from all ious community which does not reveal religions . . . It is at once vague- the God whom He reveals, nor the ly pantheistic, severely monotheistic, Regeneration which He imparts, nor the grossly polytheistic, and coldly atheis- Eternal Life. which He promises?
tic . . . In unison with its variable However, Dr. Miller expressly declares
ENGLISH NOTES
that he does not mean to disparage EngliSh Notas. baptism. The precise force and intention of his lecture can probably not be BY JAMES DOUGLAS.
well understood except from familiarity "Latest Uganda StatistiC8-a Dilem- with the conditions of Indian life. ma."-This tractate has been publisht Christian apologists, from St. Paul at by Mr. Pilkington, showing the vast- Athens down, have often allowed them- ness of the population and area of this selves to use language to them without district of Africa, and the insufficiency which was far from expressing the as regards the workers there. Three intimacy of their own convictions and out of the nineteen districts are quite experience. unoccupied by Europeans, and several _H It is the painful fact that those others, having areas of from 200 to who now go to India, whether mission- 2,000 square miles, are occupied only aries or chaplains, as preachers of the by two workers. Mr. Pilkington asks Gospel of Christ, no longer find them- " are all these magnificent openings for selves confronted merely by native fresh Gospel victories to be allowed to champions of Heathenism. They are pass by?" And he adds, "We leave the compelled to meet in controversy Euro- question with those who can give it a peans who have reversed the happy ex- practical answer, which is the onlyan. perience of the Thessalonians, and have swer worth giving…
turned frmn God to idols, to deny even We8tern lndia.-"We learn that the the existence of the True God. " Rev. A. Manwaring baptized at Pasik, -REv. J. IRELAND JONES, in O. M. last August, a somewhat notable con- Intelligerwer • vert, viz., Professor Pandit Gopal -Mr. Bowles Daly, LL.D., of Dub- Chundra Sastra, M.A. The pandit is an Oriental scholar, and was at one time a. lin University, formerly, it appears, a magistrate of the second class. He has traveled widely in India, and has visited clergyman of the Irish Church, but now Burma, Ceylon, Aden, and even Tibet, as a preacher and teacher of Hinduism. a Buddhist, has lately given a report, He attributes his conversion to the Bible only. He says "It is the Book of which Mr. Jones remarks: "Dr. through which God speaks to man; by constantly reading both Testaments I Daly's report indicates how completely have been able to understand the True the moral principles of Buddhism have Religion and the only Mediator." failed to influence the lives of those London Missionary Societg.-The So- most bound to enforce them. He does ciety is cheered by being able to send not allude to, because he does not out eighteen new missionaries. This understand, the reason of failure. does not represent entirely new work Buddhism has in it no living principle, beginning, as several of the friends goand it appeals to nothing higher than ing out have to step into vacancies personal selfishness. It knows no Liv- caused by death, retirement and other ing God. whose commands are those of circumstances. Appeals from various an Almighty King, and whose precepts quarters are constantly coming to hand, are those of a wise and loving Father. and funds and volunteers are still ur· It teaches no chord which vibrates gently needed for the furtherance of the with gratitude in the realization of work. pardon, purchased and bestowed; and in its denial of the existence of a per- Work in Madagaacar.-The Memorial sonal soul in man, it quenches that Church at Ambokipstay, which for over stimulus to believers and purity of life a year has been occupied by the French which lies in the blessed hope of a soldiers, is once more in full possession glorious and sinless hereafter. However subtle its metaphysics, however profound its so-called philosophy, however excellent some of its precepts, such a religion leaves untarnisht mm's moral nature; it fails to reach and influence his heart, and must be, as experience demonstrates that it is, powerless to elevate as it is impotent to Ave.'" ,
GENERAL KISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
of the native church. Very little dam- Samoan Delegates in Oouneil.-The age was found to have been done, and twenty-third council meeting has re- the building and the churchyard were cently been held, and a discussion on left clean and in order. the social condition of Samoa took place, pointing out the great need of the The Rev. W. E. Cousins writes: "We people for further enlightening. The have had an excellent congregation resolution referring to the control of this morning, the body of the chapel the clan over the marriage contract and being well filled. Our service was al- the distribution of native property was most like that usual at the opening of a the great battle-ground of the confer- new church. ence. The three papers read at the meeting were of a very practical and The Faithfulnes8 of a Ohristian Lep- useful character, and these are to be er.-A poor leper, named David, who publisht and circulated throughout the had been an evaugelist beforehis terrible group and out-stations. In every affliction, was entrusted by Mr. Peake way this conference is encouraging in with money and supplies for the in- its promise for the future, altho the habitants of the village for lepers, who resolution referring to the marriage had been robbed and ill-treated by the contract and native property distriburebels. By some means the rebels got tion was not past in the form in which to know that David was the bearer of it stood, but had to be compromised. the money. They seized him, and hav- Still this result is better than that ar. ing stolen the money and other goods, rived at before, and ere long it is to be demanded that he should renounce hoped the natives will, be freed from Christianity. On his refusal, they their self-imposed bondage. most brutally murdered him. Thus perisht another martyr to the faith of Baptist Missionary Society. – Last Jesus Christ. month, at the autumnal meetings at Bristol, leave was taken of nineteen out- From Dr. Griffith John's testimony going missionaries, some of whom are to the late Dr. Lockhart, we cull the fresh to the work. Others returning to following: "Dr. Lockhart was more their spheres after having been in Engthan a physician, he was heart and soul land on furlough.. The valedictory a mIsSlOnary. He took the deepest in- address was given by the Rev. Dr. terest in every department of the mis- Landells-an address full of tender sionary work, and every afternoon he sympathy and wise counsel. At the might be seen rushing into the native close of the address, the missionaries city with his bundles of Scripture and were commended in prayer to the safe tracts, which he gave away as oppor- keeping of the heavenly Father, and tunities presented themselves. On my the congregation joined in singing the last visit to England he said, with much hymn, "God be with you till we meet feeling, 'John, I wish I could go back again." with you, the missionary life is the only life worth living. Looking back upon At Delhi are manifest signs that the my life, I can truly say that the happiest spirit is working among the people. days I have ever known were the days Mr. Thomas Herbert writes, telling of spent in China doing God's work.' the baptism of two young men, sons of When thinking of paying another visit Christians who had been cut off in that to England, the expectation of meeting sad apostasy among Chamar Christians Dr. Lockhart and spending some time in 1890. In one case the father is dead, with him, was one of the main sources but in the other illness alone prevented of attraction. The world is much him from being readmitted to the Lord's poorer to me now that my beloved table on the day when his son, for the friend is no more in it. But we shall first time, was taking the communion. meet again, and that before very long. Presbyterian Church of England.- ures must be taken by the Japanese. A Great distress has been among the For- great mass-meeting of the Japanese mosan Christians and their heathen people has been held to bring about the relatives: many have been rendered change. None will wish more speedy homeless and destitute. Some of the success than the missionaries of the injuries have been inflicted by Japanese Gospel on the island. soldiers, and some were the work of Chinese brigands and rebels, many of Regions &yond.-Dr. HarryGuiness, whom have been specially hostile to in an address on "Shall we Abandon Christians. Extreme suffering and want Central Africa," concludes as follows: is the result of this outrage, and a .. Relief Fund," to meet the more "Belgian', French, English, and Porurgent cases is being organized. tuguese traders do not flinch from en- countering the dangers of the Congo Foreign Schools in Ohina.-There are climate, for the sake of worldly adnow upwards of a thousand schools of vancement. It were a thousand shames various descriptions for natives in China were we to lag behind! " under foreign instruction or direction. They range from the village day-school Another Side of tM PiCture.-There up to high-schools and colleges. Many is, however, in connection with our Qf these schools have been in operation Congo mission, another side to the from ten to twenty years, so that the picture, and one that is full of hope. number of youthful Chinese who have Whilst our trials and difficulties are actually been brought up under foreign undoubtedly great, we have a compareducational Influence of a Christian ative exemption from certain' hincharacter may safely be estimated at drances which are found in other misconsiderably over a quarter of a million. sion fields. Lolo Land offers no religion of antiquity to combat, no ancient sys- A Jubile6 History of tM Mis8ion in tem of caste preventing ready access to Ohina is in course of preparation by the the minds and hearts of the people: Rev. Jas. Johnston, one of the earliest and, thank God, no persecution such as of the Amoy missionaries, whose daugh- in Mohammedan countries frequently ter, 'Miss Jessie Johnston, is in Amoy awaits those who make an open profesnow. Mr. Johnston knows intimately sion of their faith in Christ. the history of the mission and the characteristics of the fleld it occupies, and Moreover, God has markedly proswill, of course,' write it as one whose pered all the efforts put forth, so that heart is in the midst of it. The volume on the Lower Congo there are to-day will be amply illustrated, and is sure to many hundreds of native Christians be of the greatest interest and value. gathered out of the darkness of super- stition into the Light of Christ, whilst FO'f17Wsa Under Japanese Rule.-The on the upper river numbers have been law enacted to put down the sale of baptized, and the cloud is already seen opium in the island of Formosa seems, on the horizon which betokens an unfortunately, to be laid aside by the abundance of rain!" Japanese parliament. The feeling of the people is very strongly against the THE KINGDOM. sale of opium in Formosa, realizing the curse it is in China, and the great good " My life is not my own, but the non-use is to the Japanese. Christ's, who gave it ; And He bestows it upon all the race. The use of the drug has firm hold on I lose it for myself, and thus I save it ; the island, as it was the first part of the I hold it close, but only to expend it : Chinese Empire in which opium-smok- Accept it, Lord, for others through ing was practist; therefore, in order Thy grace." that it be abolisht, very strict meas- -The missionary idea, translated and transfigured into missionary service, is one of the most incontestable evidences [Tmt.JE statistics are designed to include only Missions among either non-Christianor non· reduced. Accuracy has been sought, but also completeness, and hence conservative estimates within the space afforded by two pages of this Magazine, a large number of the smaller and r:i eli . . -. jl l~.8=,.,=.S . ."""!!hi. NaEs OF MISSIONARY SoCIETIES IN ~§ ~·I — o.:a~ ~'.I GREAT BRITAIN AND UPON THE CON' ~ ~ !; "".~d ~B TINENT, AND 8UlIfJLI.RIES FOR ASIA. ~ ~~ ~<I:0t"j AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, ETC. ."!:l t4 1<0:8" ~~ oZ AtlI) ~8~° !~ 0 – – – — — Baptist (England) •••••••••••••••••••. 1792 $411,975 82 64 95 63 S04 68 819 Strict Baptlst._•••••_ ••••••_ •• 1861 4,905 2 0 2 1 5 8 57 London Society (L. M. S.} •••••••••••• 1795 954,580 158 87 158 68 411 411 2,591 Church Society (C. M. S.}•••••••_ •• 1799 1,342,680 883 94 299 218 009 319 5,390 Propagation Society (S. P. G.) •••••••• 1701 611,685 589 70 854 170 1,188 180 3,800 Universities' Mission••••••••••_ •••• 1859 133,105 28 21 1 28 78 9 115 The Friends'••••••••••••- -•••••• 1867 63,860 23 0 16 18 59 13 425 Wesleyan Society._••••_ . _•••• 1816 657,086 180 270 216 195 741 175 2,775 Methodist New Connection•••••••_ 1859 23,000 11 4 11 0 26 0 108 Primitlve Methodist._••__ •••_._••. 1869 22,100 9 0 8 0 17 0 60 U nited Methodist Free Churches._ 1887 46,920 58 0 11 1 70 0 883 Welsh Calvinlstlc._••••_ •••••••. 1841 89,565 14 2 11 6 33 6 209 Presbyterian Church of England•••_ 1847 97,055 80 8 27 17 77 15 147 Presbyterian Church of Ireland•••••. 1840 95,595 95 1 22 12 60 12 216 China Inland Mission.•••••___•••••••• 1865 168,876 89 201 105 262 657 11 842 Established Church of Scotland-•• 1829 1112,220 20 12 21 45 00 8 443 F rae Church of Scotland••_••• -••••• 1848 832,665 64 26 58 56 204 23 1,018 Reformed Presbyterian ••- – -••••-. 1842 18,050 8 0 1 0 4 0 9 United Presbyterian••••__ •___ •••_•••• 1847 100,000 76 20 66 45 207 19 788 other British 800ieti88_ _ _._•••• —… 422,000 87 256 140 512 l95 95 2,589 Parls SOclety.•••••••••••••_ _ _ 1822 94,800 82 5 81 7 75 28 818 BasIe Society_ _ _ _ _••••_ .• 1815 296,391 149 48 117 8 322 85 840 .Berlin Soclety___••••••••••••_._. 1824 189,4112 74 17 69 4, 164 0 164 Breklum (Schleswlg·Holstein).__•• 1877 14,000 10 0 7 0 17 0 25 Gossner's Society.••____••_••_••_ 1886 48,000 18 14 20 8 55 19 440 Hermannsburg Soclety•••_•••_._ •• 1854 60,672 50 7 51 0 108 0 866 I.eIpsic SOClety••••_.__•___••••__ 1886 97,836 89 4 28 3 74 17 611 Moravian Church••__•••••_••_.__. _ 1782 148,678 100 78 157 15 845 23 1,979 North German SOclety•••_••••_•••_•• 1836 27,000 14 5 7 7 33 1 87 Rhenlsh Society (Barmen) ••••••••••_ 1829 123,986 00 11 85 8 194 28 290 – EIght other German Socleties_._••••• 70,000 12 63 88 19 132 4 58 – Twelve Netherlands SocietieS-._ 145,000 152 0 180 0 282 12 672 – F ffteen Scandinavian SOCietie~_ _ •. 298,500 87 48 Il6 71 802 70 1,875 — Socleties in Asla,Africa,Australia,eOO. .. Totals for Europe, Asia, eoo..••___• —- 180 400 -285 -175 940 -287 7,500 2.888 1-,776 2,788 1-,962 – Totals for America._._•••_……….. 9,951 1,816 86,890 – Totals for Chrlstendom•••____ ••••.• 500,000 – – — — – — — $7,889,577 4,825 1,588 15,847 – – – – – – – $5,693,020 1,396 672 1,892 1-,385 $13,582,597 4,279 2,448 4,180 3,297 14,076 8,854 51,787 Protestant peoples, and hence the figures of certain societies doing colonial work have been have been made concerning certain items omitted from some reports. Malnlyin order to keep special organizations have been grouped together.] oS U.",' §. "<"~'I!'.l>.g~.<,j ! I'l"; ~ -;} z] Countries in which ~~ Missions are Sustained. ~.,; …,.~w. …:l ~f~~1· E ~ ,<:l f:;~ "<,!zl'~t6: ~8 0" w. ell "3"1"1" 0 0""
Eo< ——– ——— 43,198 India China, Palestine, Africa, West 1,116 1,016 53,780 3,452 161,340 650 Indies.
68 25 557 89 1,820 80 576 India (Madras, Ceylon).
8,002 867 27,082 1,560 108,929 1,108 44,604 China, India, Africa, Madagascar, 6,882 462 58,564 2,026 217,825 2,180 Polynesia. 4,488 4,500 35,000 4,500 208,000 850 81 1,278 88,205 Persia, China, Japan, India, Africa. 198 168 4,877 44 North America, etc.
88,000 India, China, Japan, Maiaysia. Africa, West Indies, etc.
16,96 Africa (Lake N,assa and Zanzibar).
484 16 2,725 95 14,715 165 12,618 Palestine, India, China, Madagas- 8,516 2,249 52,687 1,979 145,000 car. 2,471 184 99 146 7,400 880 57,000 India, China, Africa (West and SouthJ West Indies.
20 416 China ( iumtung, Tien·tsin).
77 28 986 80 3,000 8 40 Africa (Fernando Po, Zambesl).
453 65 10,614 250 24,000 180 8,000 China, Africa, Australia.
285 292 2,868 828 12,854 260 6,409 N. E. India, France (Brittany).
224 116 4,640 418 13,000 52 5,600 India, China, Malaysia.
276 45 1,020 817 3,200 57 5,000 China, India (Kathiawar), Syria.
929 244 5,211 847 18,000 66 880 China (Fifteen Provinces).
641 151 1,871 167 7,600 206 13;049 India, East Africa, Palestine.
1,207 805 9,017 754 25,000 418 25,877 India, Africa, South and East, Ara- bia, Palestine, New Hebrides. 150 2 165 Syria (Antioch, etc.). 18 2 43 3 945 284 19,949 712 54,000 281 17,576 India, China, Japan, Africa, West 8,559 198 – 9,697 1,120 and South, West Indies.
28,000 120 15,000 898 198 18,868 333 40,000 845 9,428 Africa, South and West, Tahiti.
1,162 474 15,960 1,503 31,708 861 18,796 South India, China, West Africa.
328 201 18,922 700 28,315 120 5,566 Africa, East and South, China.
42 8 55 18 150 7 120 India (Telugus).
495 50 13,020 970 40,000 120 8,140 India (Ganges, Chota Nagpore).
474 184 20,972 884 82,015 60 4,550 India, South Africa, New Zealand.
685 87 7,187 527 15,044 208 5,775 South India, lIurma, British and 82,681 1,555 95,439 German East Africa. 11,824 1 168 1,800 70 25 860 150 258 24,916 South Africa, Australia, Sonth Am· erica, West Indies, Eskimo.
28 650 West Africa, New Zealand.
487 280 18,899 B85 60,144 282 9,608 Africa, East Indies, New Guinea, 190 80 870 ChL1a. 1,000 5 280 45 954 502 88,000 3,420 280,000 150 2,780 1,677 824 81,650 2,500 90,000 415 82,000 – – 8.440 – – – 1,470 240,000 – -4,5-00 – -80-0,0-00 -1,8-00 -4-8,0-00 – – -45-,62-8 14,841 -79-6,8-59 -8-6,8-91 -2-,028-,82-0 -11,5-66 -44-4,4-68 – – – – – – – – 20,142 6,049 815,287 901,648 5,875 212,271 — — – – – – – 25,569 – 65,765 20,890 1,112,146 61,950 2,924,968 17,441 656,739 [February of Christ's presence in the world. It "Come over and help us," "-We, His is Christ in the presence of his servants, servants, will arise and build," •• The loving and laboring and going about Lord hath need of it," .. Workers todoing good, and touching a sin-stricken gether with Him." And some of the world in order to make it whole. Trans- owners of these boxes look beyond· the late that grand word redemption into present needs and opportunities, and action, and it is missions. The Church send with their offerings such messages <can have no such sign of Christ's living as "The heathen for Thine inherit· presence and gracious power in the ance," "The idols He shall utterly world as she has in the existence of the abolish," "The Lord shall be King missionary spirit in her members and the over all the earth," .. Till He come," ~eports of missionary success from the and "To bring back the King."- tields.-Rev. J. S. Denni8. OhU1'ch MiBsionaru InteUigencer-.
-Sister Dora gave up her life to -I assert it to be a fact beyond connursing sick people. At the head of tradiction that there is not a ruler, offiher bed a bell was fixt by which suffer- cial, merchant, or any other person, ers could summon her at any hour of from emperors, judges, governors, :the night. As she rose at the sound of counselors, generals, ministers, admithe signal she used to murmur these rals, merchants, and others, down to words as if they were a charm: "The the lowest coolies in China and Japan, Master is come, and calleth for thee." Siam and Korea, who, in their asso- ciates or dealings with their fellow· -The Friends' Tithing League is men in that quarter of the globe, are the name of a new organization, or not indebted every day of their lives to other, of an added wheel to the Chris· the work and achievements of the tian Endeavorer's work, which was in· American missionaries.-Rear·Admiral ~ugurated at Richmond, Ind., at the Belknap, U.S.N. Christian Endeavorer's annual meeting during the time of the late Yearly Meet- -It has been justly said of Dr. Van. ing. The following is its pledge: derkemp, one of the first missionaries .. Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for to South Africa, that "for combining guidance, I promise to give at least one- natural talents, extensive learning, ele· tenth of my income to support the work vated piety, ardent zeal, disinterested .of the Lord." benevolence, unshaken perseverance and unfeigned humility, he has not -The names of missionary box- been equalled since the days of the holders do not, as a rule, convey much Apostles." Dr. Moffat says of him: to friends outside the parish circle, "He came from the university to teach rutho the sum total collected may inter· the alphabet to the poor naked Hotten- -est them. One long list, however, tot and Kaffir; from the society of which comes from a large suburban nobles to associate with beings of .association, gives much food for thought the lowest grade of humanity; from and scope for imagination. A large num- stately mansions to the filthy hovel of ber of the box-holders prefer to with- the greasy African; from the army to hold their names and to give instead instruct the fierce savage in the tactics eome favorite text or motto. A spirit of a Heavenly warfare under the ban- ()f consecratfon seems indicated by such ner of the Prince of Peace; from the expressions as "For God's glory," study of medicine to become a guide to "For Christ's sake," "For the Master's the Balm of Gilead and the physician use," "For the work of the King," there; and finally from a life of earthly .. Of Thine own have we given Thee," honor and ease to be exposed to perils A deep sense of personal responsibility of waters, of robbers, of his own conn- 4Stamps -the choice of such mottoes as trymen, of the heathen, in the city, in no active zeal for missionary work, the wilderness." which there is not in the Church at large to·day, there is not real prayer, -At a great missionary meeting re- "The Church is in no dire extremity at cently held in Glasgow, Principal all. She is in no position where she can Whitton, of Nagpore, India, said: expect an answer to her prayer.. She is .. This century has taught this at least merely repeating by rote words which -that it is the duty of the Christian she does not feel. She is not praying in Church to go to work among the hea· any true sense of the term. The means then unto the ends of the earth. He for the world's conversion are, to·day, thought, with regard to missions, that in the power of the Church. She can the proper view to take was that the do the work if she will. Why shirk Christian Church had been going the work under the pretense of piety? through an apprenticeship to the work Why transfer her responsibility to the of converting the heathen. First of all, Lord? Weare, certainly, at this day they tried the evangelistic method alone, prepared to confess that if the world is but they soon found that there were converted to Christ, it must be done by very many whom they were not reach· human and ordinary means. It is the ing by that method. Then they intro· business of the Church to do it. She duced the educational method, which was sent for that, and that is the meanwas producing a revolution in the In- ing of her being here." dian religious thought of to.day. Then they introduced the medical method, so -Year by year Dean Vahl is performit would be seen that they were look- ing for Christendom an invaluable ser· ing in this direction and in that direc· vice by the preparation and publication tion, using this tool and that tool to see of his pamphlet, "A Statistical Review which would work best. He was not of Missions to the Heathen." The quite certain that the apprenticeship tables of figures are unapproacht for was ended. Probably they had a great both comprehensiveness and abundeal to learn, but there were four years dance of detail. The fifth annual issue yet to come, and if they hurried up has come to hand, containing statistics perhaps their apprenticeship would be for 1893-4. These are his summaries: finisht by the end of the century. Then, Income of 352 societies, $13,974,915; when they had learned what tools to missionaries, 5,933; missionaries' wives, use, and how to use them, let the next 1,904; unmarried women, 3,341; native century give the results for which they ministers, 3,815; native helpers, 49,796; had been so long working and praying." communicants, 1,060,822.
-Bishop Thompson, of Mississippi, -The famine in India and the rinderasks this solemn question in T lw Spirit pest in South Africa are as grave as any of Missions.- "Is the Church's refusal political problems of the day. In India, to do her work, and the asking of the the pinch of hunger is being keenly felt, Lord in some extraordinary way to do while in Alrica, according to Mr. F. R. it for her-is that, no matter how fre· Thompson, of Matabeleland, the rinderquent and how often the asking, is that pest is the gravest situation any British prayer'! We may say the Church neur colony has ever had to face, and far exprays for the conversion of the world, ceeds in importance the Transvaal war, and challenge the contradiction of the native rebellions, and Jameson's raid. statement." This conclusion is reacht He does not think that one per cent. of thus: an earnest desire for the thing the cattle will be saved. askt for is an essential element of true prayer; slackness in putting forth -The Oong1'egationali8t, in commentefforts proves tbe absence of a strong ing on the recent order for 1,000,000 desire; and consequently where there is of Spurgeon's sermons, says: .. Except the Sermon on the Mount, no sermons have ever had so wide a circulation, nor, -Within the next two decades it will indeed, can any work of secular litera- be decided whether the negro, by dis- ture compare wJth them in the number carding ante·bellum ideas and methods, of probable readers in a single genera- by putting brains and skill into the tion. Ana the power is not in style, common occupations that lie at his door, which is of the simplest, or thought;. will be able to lift labor out of toil, which is neither deep nor subtle, but in drudgery, and degradation into that adaptation of evangelical truth to the which is beautiful, dignified, glorified.
heart and conscience of plain people." Further, it will be decided within this time whether the negro is to be replaced, UNITED STATES. crushed out as a helpful industrial force by the fast spreading trades unions -In his" Conversion of India," Dr. in connection with thousands of foreign George Smith, of Scotland, says: "The skilled laborers, that even now press foreign politics of the United States of hard and fast upon the heels of the America are foreign missions. Starting negro and seem to press us unto the into national life, free alike from the very death.-Booker T. Wa8hington. ecclesiastical bonds, the feudal institu- tions, and the political interests of -To educate 24,000 Indian children Europe, but possessing the full heritage requires an annual appropriation by of British history, literature, and char- Congress of over $2,000,000. There acter, the Americans were from the are, even then, 14,000 unprovided for.
first prepared to become the chief mes- Some of the schools, such as that at Car- sengers of Christ to the human race. lisle, Pa., and the Haskell Institute, at In 400 years they have, by Christian Lawrence, Kans., have been establisht colonization and home missions, evan- away from the reservations, and the gelized their own continent from the training is chietly industrial. There Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, bringing are 22 of these, scattered at different into the Church the remnant of the Red points, and about 5,000 Indian youth Indian tribes, and giving to Christen- are successfully learning self.support in dom its •richest acquisition' in 65,000,- them. But "the backbone of the Indian 000 of Christian citizens, whom every educational system," according to Com- year increases in number and influence. missioner Browning, is the reservation In the whole development of mankind boarding-school. These number 77, during 6,000 years there has been only and have over 8,000 pupils. .. Their one people and one land ready made, influence," says the commissioner, "in as it were, to be itself free, and to all uplifting the tribal life around them is beside the apostle of liberty in its high- wonderful." There isa third dass, the est form, the freedom which is in Christ day schools, numbering 124, which Jesus." probably come closer home to Indian -A Russian college bas just been life than the two first named. The dedicated at Minneapolis, Minn., by teachers in these schools are expected Bishop Nicholas. This prelate belongs not only to care for the children, but to to the Greek Church, and his bishopric do what they can to civilize the parents includes our Northwest with Alaska by instruction in domestic economy and and the Aleutian Islands. in the art of making attractive homes.
-On the 28th of October, 1646, John -" Mormonism as a religion lives and Eliot preacht at Nonantum, Mass., the will live for a long while to come, first Christian sermon in the Indian Mormonism as an advocate and pro- tongue ever delivered on this continent.
moter of polygamy' is dead. and we This was the beginning of a course of need have no more concern about it." instruction which was continued for -BiBlwp F088. forty years. He translated the Bible and several books to aid in practical York and Philadelphia to supervise the Christian living. At the end of one of organization_ Instead of deacons, these books he placed his motto, clergymen, and bishops, it is to have "Prnyer and pains, through faith in captains, majors, generals, and other Jesus Christ, will do anything." Said officers_ Instead of churches it is to Edward Everett, in an oration, July 4, have posts, companies, regiments, and 1855: "He is called the apostle to the brigades. A House of Evangelists has Indians. .An apostle I Truly I know been opened near the Grand Centr&l not who, since Peter and Paul, better Station in New York City, for the train- deserves that name." Eliot's 250th ing of officers, where "instrumental anniversary was celebrated recently in and vocal music will be taught and Newton, Mass. practical rescue work," with "lectures -The centenary of Mary Lyon's birth in elocution, mannerisms, and how to occurs Feb. 28, 1897. She was born in approach and win sinful persons."
Buckland, Mass., a hill-town in the -rhe New York Society for the western part of Franklin County. Prevention of Cruelty to Children, has There and in Ashfield, an adjoining during twenty-two years received and town, she laid the foundations of her investigated 102,501 complaints, involv- career as a great teacher. The Frank- ing more than 307,503 children; ob- lin County Association of Congrega- taining 36.981 convictions, and rescued tional ministers at a late meeting voted 56,160 children from vice, from sufferto recommend to the ministers and ing, and from destitution. Its recep- churches of the conference to observe tion rooms during the past fifteen years the centenary by a sermon on the fourtll of their establishment have Sheltered, Sunday of February on the life and clothed, and fed 24,932 children, and work of Mary Lyon and the taking of furnisht 233,870 substantial meals. an offering for the building fund of Mt. Day and night, in summer and in win- Holyoke College. ter, its doors are never closed. No child has ever .been turned away with- -The American Bible Society cir- out temporary shelter. Two hundred culates the Scriptures in nearly 100 and fifteen similar societies with the tongues_ Missionaries of every name like object have been organized through- are found among its correspondents and out the United States, and 81 others in co-workers. It had last year its regi- foreign lands.
ment of nearly 450 men engaged at its expense as distributors of the Bible in EUROPE.
foreign lands_ More than one-half of Great Britain.-We are told on good its issues in 1895 went into the hands of authority that the annual contributions Pagan, Mohammedan, or nominally of the Church of England for ber own Christian people outside of the United home work are just ten times the States. Not less than 888,898 of them amount she gives for Christian work were sold in China alone, and- about abroad, and that while we can supply 1 5,500,000 volumes in the various dia- woman worker for each 50 English lects of that empire have been printed women and girls, we can only afford 1 during the last fifty years. for each 100,000 in heathen and Mo- hammedan lands. -The Salvation Army idea has been adopted into the Episcopal Church. -Canon Scott Robertson has com- .An "army" which has existed for a pleted his twenty-fifth annual summary year or more has taken an important of moneys voluntarily contributed in forward step by the appointment of a the British Isles by all sections of Church Army Commission, consisting Christian people to the work of foreign of several Episcopal clergymen of New missions. It shows that for the year 1895 the total sum so contributed thus taking the Bible Society's money amounted to $6,938,325. The channels , for this work. Turning to Japan,it is of contribution selected by the support- interesting to know that the society ers of foreign mission work in 1895 lIells a Gospel there for half a farthing were as follows: Church of England -thus $5.00 buy about 500 copies each Socleties, $2,721,~60; Joint Societies of of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A Churchmen and Nonconformists, $921,- Church Missionary Society woman has 095; Nonconformist Societies in Eng- interested herself in placing these por- land and Wales, $2,229,235; Scotch tions in the shops of Osaka, a city with and Irish Presbyterian Societies, $1,- 500,000 inhabitants.
002,275; Roman Catholic Societies, -The news has been received of the $64,560. From this total are excluded death of the Rev. Henry Buckenham, all dividends, all interest, all foreign pioneer missionary of the Primitive contributions, and all balances in hand Methodist Church to Mashukulumbweat the beginning of the year. Last year land, north of the Zambesi, South Centhese joint agencies received $1,057,550 j tral Africa. More than seven years ago this year, only $921,095. Mr. 'Buckenham was sent out as super- -In a publication of the English intendent of a party of three, to the Church Missionary Society it is stated Barotse country. Not until between that the sum of $60,000 was raised last two and three years ago did the little year by the .. juvenile boxes" which band receive the needed permission are in such common use in Great Brit- from the king to evangelize the natives, ain for collecting missionary money. and then, altho reinforcements were The same publication reports that there despatched from England, the work have been 988 "sales of work," the was of the most arduous kind. Mr. avails of which have amounted to about Buckenham's health began to suffer, $115,000. and he had arranged to return to Eng- land, but on reaching Kanyungala, fifty -The Rev. W. Major Paull, who has miles below Palapye, he became pros- retired from the service of the British trated and died on July 11.
and Foreign Bible Society, says: "As -During 1896 the Scottish United far as langnage is concerned we are Presbyterian Church sent out 22 new able to put at least a Gospel into the missionaries, including wives, 14 going hands of three-quarters of the world's to Manchuria, 6 for Old Calabar, population. Notwithstanding this, at Africa, and 2 for India. the present time we have translations or revisions of existing translations going -George Muller, of Bristol, has on in more than one hundred lan- past his ninety-second birthday, in guages." full vigor of mind and body. In a -The British and Foreign Bible So- recent speech he said he had received ciety offers £144 a year to such mission- $7,000,000. He has had 9,700 children ary societies as will keep 12 or more under his immediate care, of whom Bible-women at work. Some societies 4,000 have been converted. He has avail themselves fully of this-others sent $1,285,000 to missionaries, and has partially. Some find that £144 enabled distributed 275,000 Bibles and 1,460,000 them to keep more than' 12 women in Testaments.
the field. In 1894 the Church Mission- The Continent.-The oldest Protest- ary Society had 17 women j the Church ant mission is the Swedish mission Zenana, 13 j the London Missionary among the Lapps, begun by Gustavus Society, 11; the Wesleyan, 12; the Vasa during the sixteenth century.
Basel Evangelical Mission, 33. Alto- The Swedes were also the first Protest- gether some 30 missionary societies are ants to begin foreign mission workthat among the American Indians in may not be best to make overits Green- 1636. land Mission to the Danish Lutheran Church. The latter has some 8,800 -The Queen of Sweden has been so Eskimos under their charge, who are interested in reading the life of Robert rather increasing; the Moravians, someand Louisa Stewart that she has sent £6 thing over 1,600, who are decreasing. for a native Bible-woman in China, and hopes to send it annually. This sum -The Italian "Evangelical Yearpays food and clothing and traveling book," in its statistical tables of Proexpenses of one of these Chin!'lse mis- testant churches in Italy-including the sionaries. Waldenaians, the Evangelical Church, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Methodist -Rev. J. H. Barrows, in one of his Episcopal Church, and the Old Cathorecent letters from Europe, says as lics-gives the aggregate number as 150 to German uni versities, " It is the organized congregations, with 138 pasuniversal testimony of men coming tors, 81 evangelists, 25,074 members, hither from our richer Eastern colleges 1,880 catechumens, and 9,692 pupils in that there is more real drunken dissipa- Sunday-schools. The Waldensians have tion in these American institutions than 4,864 pupils in day·schools, a theologiin the German universities." cal seminary and a college at Florence, a Latin school, a high school for girls, -King Albert of Saxony, although a 5 traveling ministers in Italy, 1 pastor Roman Catholic, lately gave $3,000 to in Switzerland, 2 in South Africa, and the building fund of a Lutheran congre- 6 in the United States. The theologi· gation in Guttentag, Saxony; and guar- cal school of the Evangelical Church is anteed an annual subscription of $75 closed for lack of students. towards the support of the pastor. -The Foreign Mission Board of the -The German Protestant missionary Southern Baptist Convention began societies are represented in the German work in Italy in 1870. There are lS possessions of East and West Africa, as Italian preachers connected with their follows: The Leipsic Mission has 2 work. These are stationed in Torre stations on the slope'of the Kilimanjaro, Pellice, San Remo, Cannes (just beyond the Moravians have 4 stations in Kon- the Italian border), Milan, VIlnice, Gedoland (northeast of Lake Nyassa); not noa, Carpi, Florence, Rome. Naples, far from them the Berlin Society No.1 Boscoreale (at the foot of Vesuvius), has 5 stations; the Basel Mission has 4 Portici, Bari, Miglionico, Gravina, and stations in Kamerun; the Berlin Mis- in the island of Sardinia, Cagliari, Iglesion No.3 has 7 stations in East Africa; sias and Cuglieri. A station has lately the Bremen Mission has 2 in Togoland, been opened in Palermo, the chief city and the Rhenish Mission has 18 in of Sicily. Besides these centers, many Southwest Africa. other places are visited. There are. about 700 Baptist church members. -The Industrial Company of the Basel Mission was able last year to con- ASIA. tribute $43,000 to the missionary fund. The last report of this mission shows, Islam.-The Indian Standard gives on the Gold Coast, 13,972 church mem- the following item of ne~s: "At 8. bers, 4,126 scholars, 831 baptisms, 10 public meeting of Mohammedans at. stations, 48 male and 26 female mission- Madras the following resolutions were aries. In Kamerun: 1,807 church mem- carried: That the meeting notes with bers, 1,281 scholars, 298 baptisms, 5 extreme regret and pain the foul and stations, 15 male and 5 female mission- abusive language used and publisht aries. by the press with respect to the Sultan -The Moravian Church is seriously considering the question whether it Qf Turkey, who is recognized as the people estimate that not less than 80,000 head of the Islam Ohurch, in connec. have emigrated, and that of this num- tion with the Armenian question ; that ber one-third will remain in foreign Government is respectfully requested lands, one-third return, and one-third to put a stop to the publication of such die away from home. And of those language in the local papers; and, in who return, many are a curse to their forwarding a copy of these resolutions native land from habits of drunkenness, to the Government of India and the gambling and other vices acquired Secretary of State for India, that the abroad. Some maintain their integ- meeting express its deep sense of obli- rity, and there are noble instances of gation to the British Government, which men who have received a blessing and by its voice and liberal policy has always brought a blessing with them. A large respected the religious feelings of its number are studying in various schools subjects." The Standa'l'd remarks that in the United States, but the majority in the case of the Sultau, truth is more are common peddlers, wandering and damaging than the vilest slander could homeless. A large percentage of the possibly be. The curious and awful church members in Syria are now thing is that a ruler who has organized thousands of miles away from home.
wholesale massacres and protected red- handed murderers should be hailed and -India. The appalling extent of the honored as the Head of a Ohurch of famine in India is now disclosed. It God-the infallible Head forsooth of prevails in nearly every part of the em· the only true Church, the Ohurch of pire. In the Punjab the whole vast Islam. Logically enough they ask the triangle of which Lahore, Simla, and government to muzzJe the press in the Delhi are the apices, is destitute, as interest of the great assassin.-Indian well as some other districts-ss.y one- Witness. half of the province. About the same -There are now 3 railways in Pales- proportion of the Northwest Provinces tine, one from Jaffa to Jerusalem, 54 and Dude is suffering. Of the Central miles long, and 2 others centering at Provinces one-fourth is in distress- Damascus, 1 of these being just com- namely, the Nerbudda Valley and Raipleted, and connecting Damascus with poor. In Upper Bengal distress bids Beyrout. Two other railways are in fair to become serious, especially contemplation, also to center at Damas· around Patna and Bagulpore. All cus. When these are completed, 4 dif- Berar is in want. So is !1adras north ferent railway lines will radiate from of the Kistna. In Bombay trouble is this the oldest city in the world, con- most threatening in the central and necting her with the leading points of southern districts, such as Ahmednug. the East. Thus, as has been well said, gur, Kolapoor, Bejapoor, Khandesh, I< Damascus promises to again become and Belgaum. Upper Burma is in one of the great centers of the world." some danger, Hyderabad, Gwalior, .AB a proof of this, the Jews are said to Bhurtpore, Bundelkund, and, indeed, be buying all the land they can secure most of the native States, are in a bad about this ancient city. way. Some 60,000 persons are now employed on relief works, but 60,000,- -Rev. H. H. Jessup in calling for 000 need relief. The trouble has been special prayer in behalf of Syria, gives caused by dry weather. That made this fact among others: "Tens of the autumn crops a failure, and has thousands of Syrian men and women prevented fall sowing for the spring have emigrated from their native land crops. There is no prospect for relief, to North and South America and Aus- therefore, except from outside, until tralia, in quest of earthly gain. They next fall. At least one-third of the are exposed to great temptations. The empire is thusaffected.-N. Y. Tribu1l8. -In a recent issue the Bombay its body straight." Inserting two Guardian has a picture of the famine fingers into its mouth, she raises it up, children from the Central Provinces, as with no other support. This is .. to they arrived at the M. E. Mission, Maza- keep the roof of its mouth from falling gOD, Bombay. Miss Carroll wrote; in." Its nose is prest and pulled, its .. The groans, the bad odors, the cries head rubbed and molded. Finally of hunger are not there. You may steaming water is brought and poured think they look like boys. Miss Frank- over the child, almost parboiling it, and lin has a boys' school, and when these the bath finisht with the administration children were brought to her she had of some hot spices, "to keep away cold, their hair, which was long and filthy, and soothe the child." Many babies cut off, and put on them boys' clothes do not survive their first bath. The for the journey. We dared not give wonder is that any do. them all they wanted to eat at first, but fed them every three hours. For several -There are now about 1,000 natives days they were not satisfied, and their of India ordained to preach Christ to cries for food were very touching. At their countrymen-Hindu, Parsee, and night they cried with pain; earache, Mohammedan. Fifty years ago there toothache, etc. Some of them had such were only 21. What hath God wrought! sore mouths they could hardly speak. One night my servant called me and -John Wanamaker has undertaken said one girl was vomiting blood, but I the entire cost of a building, $30,000, found that it was from her sore mouth. for the Y. M. C. A. in Madras.' By One girl of nine had a very sore scalp, the liberality of friends in England and and her hair was grey. Another had a America one of the best sites in the city sore head which had to be poulticed had been previously secured; and this for some days. In fact, eleven were so handsome gift will permit the comple· very ill that we put them in hospital. tion of a project that is full of promise Oh, I have seen wretchedly poor people on behalf of the young men in and but never before faced starvation. I around this important center. could not but think that if the sights and sounds were so heartbreaking -Rangoon is the great commercial where food, medicine and care were center of Burma, says a writer in given, what must they be in the place Woman'8 Mi88ionarll Friend, and from which these children came." promises to be the door into Western China. Work has already been begun -This is what Annie H. Downie on the railroad which will take one to writes about child·life in Telugu Land; the very borders of that great empire. •• It is the custom," therefore the mother The city has a population of 200,000, must have neither food nor water for made up of nearly every race on earth; three days, nor must the baby be bathed there is an English-speaking community until then. Quite a ceremony attends of 10,000; the Chinese, Hindus, Mothat first bath. Some elderly relative hammedans, Tamils and Burmans make takes the child, and, stretcbIDg out her up largely the rest. Within the boundfeet, lays it between her ankles. It is aries of this little country 72 lanthen rubbed all over with soap-bark, guages and dialects are spoken. and its mouth, nose, eyes and ears, are filled with a pungent oil, •• to keep out -The American Baptist Mission the cold," and the other women look on Press in Rangoon, Burma, employs composedly while the poor child screams about 75 men, and is perhaps the most and sometimes froths at the mouth. important single agency in the Baptist Then the woman grasping the child by missions in Burma, and the largest misboth feet, swings it back and forth, sion press under the control of the head down, a couple of times, •• to make American Baptist Missionary Union. It was first started in a small way more than 75 years ago. From it have been issued many millions of portions of preaching in English I On another Scriptures. The whole Bible is pub- occasion he meant to order a roast lisht in 4 different languages, the Bur- chicken, and told his cook to go out man, the Sgaw Karen, the Pwo Karen and set fire to the street. and the Shan, and portions of Scrip- ture in about 5 or 6 other of the varied -The Peking Gautte publishes an dialects of Burma. As the Press is imperial edict appointing a director of the only printing house which can the railroad to be built between Peking publish books in all the principal and Hankow. The new road will be languages used in Burma, many school books in general use not only in some 700 miles in length, and it will the mission schools, but in government involve the bridging of 27 rivers. It and other schools, have been issued is said that funds for the construction from it; and, in fact, the school work of this line, to the amount of 30,000,000 of the whole country is largely depend- taels, have been advanced by an Amer- ent upon the work of this single estab- ican syndicate. lishment for its books and other liter- ature. -The China Mission Hand·book, just publisht in Shanghai, gives these -E. P. Dunlap writes thus from the latest figures from the Celestial Siam: A few months ago 2 devoted Empire: missionaries reacht our field from an unexpected source. They were sent by Number of societies reported, 44 the native church of Burma, and by Stations, 159 that church to be supported in their Out-stations, 1,054 work. They are Peguans, a tribe of Foreign misssionarles 1,824 lower Burma, and arc here to labor for Native agents (preachers, 1,4(9) 4,174069 the Peguans of Siam, a people that Number of churches, 55,098 have been sorely neglected-thousands Communicants, 21,858 of them war captives, and the descend- Total pupils under instruction, 148 ants of captives, made G.uring Siam's Medical missionaries (women, 47) 71 wars with Burma. This aged mis- Number of hosl'itals, 18,8Il8 sionary and his wife left a strong church Number of patIents, 111 in Burma and a large family of children Number of dispensaries, 228,162 and grandchildren, and made their w.ay Patients in dispensaries, alone for the joy of proclaiming Christ to their fellow-countrymen in this land. Were the wives of the missionaries A few Sabbaths ago 15 Peguans were baptized through their labors. enumerated, the number of foreigners, China.-Rev. J. F. MMters, a mis- male and female, would probably ex- sionary in China, says the Chinese word for heavenly is "teen," with an aspirate ceed 2,000. on the vowels. The missionary left out the aspirate with the result that the Korea.-A man's name, says a mis- word meant" crazy." After Mr. MM' sionary in Korea, is like a bamboo wil- ters had studied Cantonese a few derness-all the same thing, and yet all months he endeavored to preach a different. He has his boy name, his sermon. He wrote it out carefully, hat name, style name, special name, but made so many blunders in tones, and the good or bad name he leaves at vowel quantities and aspirates that some death. . of the Chinese remarked how much the English language resembled the Chi- -Mrs. M. F. Scranton writes of the nese. They supposed that he had been dress of the Korean boys and girls: "The boys, when drest up, have on long pink or red coats and white loose trousers, fastened about the ankle with a band of a bright·colored cloth or ribbon. They wear white wadded socks and wooden shoes. Their long black hair is parted in the middle and hangs in a braid down their backs. and is tied with a black ribbon. The girls generally wear red cotton skirts, with short jackets either green or yellow in color. Their hair is combed like the boys', only they wear a plum·colored ribbon instead of a black ODe,"