LIBRARY 
 
 ANNEX 
 
 2 
 
 ROBERT YOUNG 
 

 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CHINA AND THE CHINESE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 * CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 CLASS OF 1B76 
 
 1918 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BV 2060.Y75S8 
 
 The success of Christian missions, testi 
 
 3 1924 023 021 318 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023021318 
 
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS 
 
 Uestfmonfes to tbetr JBeneficent IResuIts. 
 
 ROBERT YOUNG F.R.S.G.S, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "MODERN MISSIONS," AND "LIGHT IN LANDS OF DARKNESS." 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCXC. 
 
 I. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 Cburcbes anb Societies 
 
 WHOSE MISSIONS HAVE ELICITED THE PAVOUEABLE 
 JUDGMENTS RECORDED IN THIS VOLUME. 
 
PEEFATOEY N'OTE. 
 
 SINCE the idea which has been carried out in the 
 following pages first took shape, and a begin- 
 ning was made, several years ago, in the collection 
 of the " Testimonies," two works on somewhat simi- 
 lar lines have appeared — viz., an admirably written 
 brochure of 48 pages, entitled, " Are Foreign Missions 
 Doing any Good ? " * and, more recently, a larger 
 work by an American author, bearing the title, 
 "The Great Value and Success of Foreign Missions." -f- 
 Without underestimating in the very least either 
 of these productions, the compiler of the volume now 
 presented to the public (for the work is little else 
 than a compilation) ventures to hope that it will be 
 found not less useful, arranged as it is on a different 
 plan and with greater fulness of detail. One feature 
 of the book is that, in addition to the " Testimonies," 
 there are submitted the views of some of those who 
 have been more or less unfriendly to Missions. 
 Readers have thus the pleadings on both sides. 
 
 * Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., London, 1887. 
 t James Nisbet & Co., London, 1889. 
 
 vii 
 
viii Prefatory Note. 
 
 The compiler gratefully acknowledges his indebted- 
 ness to several of the missionary magazines, and in 
 particular to the Church Missionary Intelligencer, 
 which records the work of a society whose fields of 
 labour are world-wide, and upon which the Divine 
 blessing has in no ordinary degree rested during the 
 ninety years of its existence. His best thanks are 
 due also to the Secretaries of the American Board 
 and of the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church 
 (North) in the United States, as well as to other 
 friends, for valuable " Testimonies " which otherwise 
 would not have found a place in this volume. Among 
 those who favoured him with helpful suggestions, his 
 obligations are chiefly due to Dr. Robert Hunter and 
 Dr. George Smith, CLE. 
 
 The favourable reception given to " Modem Mis- 
 sions " and " Light in Lands of Darkness " encour- 
 ages the hope that, by the blessing of God, the 
 present work may also in some degree conduce to 
 the furtherance of Christ's kingdom in the world. 
 
 E. Y. 
 
 2 Mekchiston Place, 
 
 Edinburgh, April, 1890. 
 
COS"TE]^TS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 r. THE CASE STATED, . 1 
 
 BOOK I.— UNFAVOURABLE OPINIONS. 
 
 II. UNFAVOURABLE OPINIONS, 13 
 
 BOOK II.— FAVOURABLE OPINIONS. 
 
 III. GENERAL TESTIMONIES, . .... 49 
 
 IV. INDIA AND BURMA, ... 71 
 V. CHINA, . . . 152 
 
 VI. JAPAN, . . ... . 164 
 
 Vn. AFRICA, . . .176 
 
 VIII. SOUTH SEAS, . . . . 217 
 
 IX. TURKEY, SYRIA, ETC., . . . 241 
 
 X. SOUTH AMERICA, . . . 254 
 
 XI. GREENLAND, . . ... 260 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS, . . 264 
 INDEX, ... .271 
 
THE SUCCESS 
 
 CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 
 
THE SUCCESS OF CHEISTIAN MISSIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CASE STATED. 
 
 IN the present day there is a wide-spread desire to 
 get to the bottom of things. Men are not dis- 
 posed to accept without question what in former 
 days was perhaps too readily received. Opinions 
 and beliefs on all manner of subjects, and all modes 
 of action, are subjected more or less rigorously to 
 the sifting process. The Bible itself comes in for 
 its full share of criticism, and not only, as formerly, 
 from infidel and sceptical writers, but also from 
 many of its professed and even devout friends. In 
 the interests of truth, it is well it should, so long at 
 least as the criticism is conducted in a reverent 
 spirit. 
 
 Such being the mood of men's minds in these 
 days, it need be no matter of surprise that Christian 
 Missions, alike as regards the agents and the manner 
 in which they carry on their work, should have to 
 pass through a similar crucial test. We do not 
 
2 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 complain of this. On the contrary, although at the 
 time and in certain cases, the criticism, when it is of 
 a markedly adverse nature, appears to be- fraught 
 only with evil, there is no ground for giving way 
 to despondency. The result, in the long run, will 
 be beneficial. The cause which was sought to be 
 hindered will be helped. Magna est Veritas, et 
 proBvalebit. 
 
 The unfriendly critics of Missions may be thus 
 classified. There is, first, a certain class of round- 
 the-world tourists who go in search of pleasure, or 
 from the love of adventure, or professedly in the 
 interests of science, note what they see and hear, and 
 on their return publish the narrative of their travels. 
 Such narratives not infrequently contain statements 
 of a nature so disparaging to Missions and Mission- 
 aries, and so grossly one-sided and unfair, and even 
 untrue, that one has no hesitation in characterising 
 them as at best wretched caricatures. The gossip 
 met with on board the steamers, or at the table of 
 hotels, or elsewhere, is to men of this stamp pecu- 
 liarly welcome when the conversation runs in that 
 direction, as it not infrequently does. To ascertain 
 the truth of what thus casually comes across their 
 path is no part of the business of such travellers, 
 consequently they do not take the trouble to examine 
 for themselves. As matter of fact, they give all 
 missionary work a wide berth, and are even forward 
 to proclaim their ignorance of it, if not to deny or 
 question its existence. To this class belong Von 
 
The Case Stated. 3 
 
 Weber, with his " Four Years in Africa," who enjoyed 
 nothing so much as a ballet exhibition by Bechuana 
 maidens, clad with the minimum of native clothing ; 
 and Herr Buchner, a German physician, who, in his 
 " Trip across the Pacific Ocean," glories in being 
 " not out of sympathy with any sort of men except 
 the sanctimonious Eeverends, with their white neck- 
 ties, their smooth-parted hair, and their heavenly 
 illuminated faces" ! 
 
 Some of our literary men, too, from the earher 
 writers in the Edinburgh Review down to the present 
 day, have not ceased to exhibit more or less of the 
 same incredulity, contempt, and bitter hostility. Nor 
 need this excite surprise ; for, as fallen human nature 
 is the same in all ages, so is its universal and deep- 
 seated repugnance to the dissemination of evangelical 
 truth. As long as professing Christians were content 
 with a mere outward respect for religion, and nothing 
 more, just so long did no trouble arise. But when, 
 after centuries of neglect on the part of the Christian 
 Churches, Christianity, like its Divine Founder, sought 
 to go out in earnest, self-denying efforts to rescue the 
 perishing in other lands, forthwith the enmity of the 
 unrenewed heart was aroused. Tongue and pen were 
 employed in decrying the zeal thus kindled as fana- 
 tical enthusiasm. The attempt to detach pagans 
 from the idol-worship and superstitious practices to 
 which for thousands of years they had tenaciously 
 clung, and to induce them to embrace Christianity, 
 with its doctrines and life so humbhng to the pride 
 
4 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 of the natural heart, was described as utterly hopeless, 
 and consequently as in the last degree absurd. 
 
 Men high in station and influence in like manner 
 have not seldom exercised their authority by prevent- 
 ing, though happily only for a time, missionary 
 undertakings from obtaining a footing ; or, failing 
 this, by throwing obstacles in the way of their fur- 
 therance. The history of the earlier efforts to intro- 
 duce Christianity into India, not to mention other 
 fields, affords ample evidence of the truth of the fore- 
 going statement. Witness the action of the authori- 
 ties in reference to Wm. Carey and Adoniram Judson, 
 Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott, with other pioneers. 
 Take a single case in point. No sooner had Mr. 
 Chamberlain, one of the Serampore missionaries, 
 begun a mission at Agra, in 1811, than he was 
 sent back under a guard of Sepoys. And when 
 afterwards, while acting as tutor to the children of 
 an English officer, he ventured to preach at a great 
 mela at Hurdwar, he was again removed by order of 
 Lord Hastings, who is reported to have said that 
 " one might fire a pistol into a magazine, and it 
 might not explode, but no wise man would hazard 
 the experiment " ! 
 
 There are those, also, within the pale of the Christian 
 Church, some of them ministers of the Gospel, from 
 whom better things might have been expected. 
 Happily their number is now very small. The 
 opposition of such has varied in degree according 
 to the standpoint of each in relation to evangelical 
 
The Case Stated. 5 
 
 Christianity. But all of them, as it seems to us, 
 have shown either a sad want of appreciation of 
 Christ's grand design in regard to the establishment 
 of His kingdom in the darkest and remotest corners 
 of the earth, as well as the resources at His command 
 for the accomplishment of such a result ; or, as in 
 the case of Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., have indulged in 
 superficial, grossly inaccurate, and even reckless 
 criticisms of the actual facts of the case — criti- 
 cisms professedly in the interests of the Mission- 
 ary cause, but fitted not to advance, but seri- 
 ously to injure and retard it. Even these, how- 
 ever, are being overruled for the furtherance of the 
 Gospel.* 
 
 Much has been said and written with reference to 
 Canon Taylor's articles, especially the one which 
 appeared in the Fortnightly Review for October, 1888, 
 with the high-sounding title " The Great Missionary 
 Failure ! " The article referred to is, in some re- 
 spects, supplementary to a paper read by the Canon 
 at the Church Congress, held previously, in which 
 the blessings and value of Islam as a missionary 
 agency were extolled. 
 
 It is not our intention to foUow the Canon by 
 exposing his bold, one-sided assertions and trans- 
 parent fallacies. This has already been done by others 
 possessing a competent knowledge of the subject in 
 all its length and breadth, and in a manner that 
 
 * See Reply to Mr. Caine's criticismB in the Baptist Mistionary 
 HeraM for March, 1889. 
 
6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 leaves nothing to be desired.* In view of such, 
 rejoinders, I content myself by asserting that 
 Christian Missions are no failure, and do not 
 doubt that in the estimation of candid readers the 
 statement will be fully confirmed by the " Testimonies" 
 that follow. 
 
 In this connection, the words of Archdeacon 
 Farrar, uttered several years ago, on the occasion of 
 an eloquent and powerful Missionary address in the 
 Bute Hall of the Glasgow University — an address 
 -that was listened to with rapt attention by fully 
 2500 people, mostly students — may be re-echoed. 
 Dealing with objections to Foreign Missions, the 
 Archdeacon said : — 
 
 "Let me cut away all grounds for another objection which 
 is often plausibly urged for despising missions, and was made 
 not many years ago by a noble duke in the House of Lords, 
 that missions are a ' gigantic impracticability,' or an ' organised 
 hypocrisy,' and that every man engaged in them must be a 
 fanatic or an impostor. Thus do men, who have never taken 
 the smallest trouble to inquire into the subject, reiterate the 
 ignorant assertion that ' missions are a failure.' A failure ! 
 ... I confront the assertion with the most absolute con- 
 tradiction. I say that, considering the insignificance of our 
 efforts, missions have been more sucoessful than we had any 
 right to anticipate in our wildest dreams. Like a grain of 
 mustard seed, from well-nigh invisible beginnings, the 
 Kingdom of Christ has grown into a mighty tree." 
 
 Prejudice, it may be added, has played an import- 
 
 * See Church Missionary Intelligencer for November, 1888 ; London 
 Missionary Society's Chronicle for December, 1888 ; and The Missionary 
 Review of the World for February, 1889. 
 
The Case Stated. 7 
 
 ant part in relation to Christian missions. As a 
 rule, among opposing forces, it is about the last to 
 yield, even to the stern logic of facts. In my 
 ■wanderings in South Africa I repeatedly came 
 across its trail on the part of colonists in giving 
 expression to their antipathy to the evangelisation 
 of the native races. It comes out in various ways ; 
 but invariably, underlying it, there are more or less 
 of dislike to the natives, and an ill-concealed sneer 
 at Christian men and Christian missionaries who are, 
 according to their light and to the best of their 
 ability, earnestly endeavouring to raise them in the 
 social and religious scale. Thus, the Superintending 
 Inspector of Schools in Natal, in reportiag in 1889 
 on one of them, writes as follows : — 
 
 " From personal observation I have been impressed with 
 the uselessness of much that is taught in many of the native 
 schools. Parrot-Uke repetition of grammatical rules, and of 
 isolated facts in astronomy, physiology, and ancient Hebrew 
 history is not education, Taut a travesty of it. The time 
 spent in enumerating the plagues of Egypt and in unravel- 
 ling the intricacies of patriarchal relationships would be 
 more profitably employed in levelling the breakneck roads 
 and repairing the treacherous drifts that make a visit to 
 many of the mission stations more a penance than a pleasure. 
 . . . "With one exception these schools belong to missions, 
 and the end of the missionary's work, both Protestant and 
 Catholic, is to make ' converts.' The children are taught to 
 read in order that primarily they may study their Bibles 
 and learn their Catechism. The whole life of a mission- 
 station is ecclesiastically concentric. ..." 
 
 To one who can read between the lines, the fore- 
 
8 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 going sentences simply mean — such at least is my 
 impression — that the native ought for ever to be 
 a hewer of wood and a drawer of water — to the 
 white man. The secret of the opposition on the part 
 of so many colonists to the Christianised native lies 
 in this, as a friend in writing to me put it, that " a 
 Christian native can be no more what he was — the 
 ignorant, stupid, bear-to-be-kicked-about creature 
 that the raw native is." 
 
 Again, the Honourable Dr. W. G. Atherstone of 
 Grahamstown, in an otherwise admirable treatise 
 entitled " Grahamstown as a Health Kesort," allows 
 himself to pen the following most unworthy sentence 
 — unworthy certainly to come from any Christian 
 man — as if, forsooth ! it were not criminal neglect 
 but a Christian duty to leave these native Africans 
 in their deep degradation, under the specious plea 
 that, after they have received the benefits of Christian 
 education, they do not display in the first or second 
 generation all the virtues of a long estabHshed 
 Christian community. Here is what he says : — 
 
 "Would not an organisation for the alleviation of the 
 .sufferings of our fellow-Britons and the saving of valuable 
 lives be a far nobler object, and one more worthy of true 
 philanthropy than the mistaken sentimentalism of those 
 who spend thousands annually on the black races of this 
 continent 1 " 
 
 The foregoing sentence had to be read a second 
 time under the impression that the author's mean- 
 ing had been misapprehended. I do not hesitate 
 
The Case Stated. 9 
 
 to aflSrm that those very people who " spend thou- 
 sands annually" in their efforts to evangelise the 
 heathen are foremost in every movement for the pro- 
 motion of "true philanthropy." In point of fact, 
 there is not, in my opinion, any " true philan- 
 thropy " which is not the outcome of an aggressive 
 Christianity. 
 
 Mr. Edwin Arnold recently informed a Boston 
 audience that he preferred " the dark shadows of 
 Hindooism to the sunlight of Calvinism," and descanted 
 at the same time on the benevolent spirit of the Hindoo, 
 and especially of the Buddhist faith ! Mr. Arnold 
 was of course quite at liberty, if he so chose, to give 
 expression to his preference for " the dark shadows 
 of Hindooism," but it says Httle for bis intelligence 
 or his candour when he can uphold Hindoo and 
 Buddhist benevolence as being superior to that en- 
 forced by the religion of Jesus Christ. He ought to 
 know that the contrary is the fact.* Either he must 
 
 * Here is one illustration out of many that might be given to dis- 
 prove the truth of Mr. Arnold's statement. It is furnished by Dr. 
 Taylor of the Presbyterian Hospital in Pekin :— " He (Dr. Taylor) was 
 summoned to attend a boy who had been found helpless and in great 
 suffering in an open field. Some rascal had hired the lad, who was a' 
 donkey-driver, to take him to a place at a distance from the city. He 
 was tempted, however, to steal the donkey, and when reaching aln out- 
 of-the-way place he well-nigh killed the boy, severing the trachea, and 
 cutting him in many places. A stranger passing by found the boy and 
 carried him to an open space in front of the largest temple in the city. 
 • A crowd quickly gathered about the lad, but all passed by on the other 
 side, doing nothing for him. This was at noon. The little sufferer lay 
 until the next morning, not one of the lazy, droning priests of this great 
 temple offering the slightest aid or comfort. At length some one sug- 
 gested calling the foreign doctor, and Dr. Taylor was summoned. The 
 
10 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 have peculiar ideas as to what constitutes genuine 
 benevolence, or, which is perhaps more likely, he has 
 allowed his mind to be so blinded by prejudice that 
 he fails to estimate aright the fruits of the several 
 systems. 
 
 Instead of pursuing further the line of general 
 remark, it will be more in accordance with the design 
 of the present work to submit, somewhat in detail, 
 extracts from the published opinions of some of those 
 who were unfavourable to missions. These extracts 
 will form an appropriate ground- work for the "Testi- 
 monies" that follow. As already indicated, the reader 
 will also thus have presented to him by way of con- 
 trast both sides of the question. 
 
 long exposure and continued logs of blood had rendered the case well- 
 nigh hopeless. Dr. Taylor, however, resolred to do what he could, and 
 earnestly inquired if anyone in the crowd of two hundred persons could 
 tell him where he could find a room in which to place the patient, in 
 order that his wounds might be dressed. In the gateway of the large 
 temple, directly behind the scene, lounged a dozen priests, devout fol- 
 lowers of Buddha, but they could not think of allowing the wounded 
 boy to be put into one of their vacant rooms. He might die, and the 
 expense of burying him might fall on them ; or if he recovered, they 
 would have the trouble of caring for him for some days ; so they refused 
 (so much for the benevolence and tender mercies of Buddhism). At 
 last a stranger gave permission to have him carried to his house, where 
 his wounds were dressed, and he was able at last to be borne to the 
 hospital. The little fellow is very patient, and as the wounds in his 
 neck prevent articulation, he shakes his hand in Chinese fashion, to 
 express his gratitude and joy." — The Presbyterian Church at Home and 
 Abroad for February, 1890. 
 
B00k I, 
 
 UNFAVOUEABLE OPINIONS. 
 
 11 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 UNFAVOURABLE OPINIONS. 
 
 " Wtien Sanhallat heard that we huUded the wall, he was wroth, and 
 tooJc great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And said. What do these 
 feeble Jews f . . . Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the ru6- 
 bish which are burnt ? 
 
 "Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him; and he said, Even that 
 which they build, if a fox go up, he shaU even break down their stone 
 ttoK."— Neh. It. 1-3. 
 
 FIRST in the order of time, among those whom it 
 is proposed to pass under review is the distin- 
 guished navigator. Captain Cook. So long as his 
 observations were confined to subjects of a geographi- 
 cal and scientific nature, which indeed were what by 
 his voyages he had specially in view, he stood on 
 safe ground. His descriptions of the islands of the 
 Southern Pacific Ocean were so full and accurate, 
 and withal so interesting, that little or nothing was 
 left for succeeding voyages to supply or amend. It 
 was otherwise when he ventured into the region of 
 the moral and spiritual. The heroic Livingstone, 
 whose noble deeds as an explorer may well be placed 
 side by side with, if indeed they did not surpass those 
 of the great navigator, regarded "the end of the 
 
 geographical feat as the beginning of the missionary 
 
 13 
 
1 4 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 enterprise." Not so Captain Cook. In remarking 
 on a wooden cross which had been erected on Tahiti 
 in the interest of the Romish faith by the members 
 of an expedition sent in 1774 by the Viceroy of Peru 
 (all honour to them !), and, in connection therewith, 
 on the introduction of Christianity to the islands, he 
 thus expresses himself : — 
 
 " It is very unlikely that any measure of this kind should 
 ever be seriously thought of, as it can neither serve the pur- 
 pose of puhlic ambition nor private avarice, and, without such 
 inducements, I may pronounce that it will never be under- 
 taken." 
 
 No, certainly, the Christianisation of the heathen 
 in those beautiful islands never would have been 
 undertaken by such as knew of no higher motive 
 than " public ambition " and "private avarice." But 
 undertaken it was by men who not only had no worldly 
 object to gain, but who freely sacrificed all that is 
 usually held dear, even life itself, solely with the 
 view of promoting the spiritual and eternal, as well 
 as temporal welfare of the degraded dwellers there.* 
 With what result will appear in the sequel. 
 
 But the distinguished navigator was by no means 
 singular in the estimate formed of the missionary un- 
 dertaking. On the contrary, he only gave expression 
 to the sentiment that generally prevailed in those 
 days of religious indifference in regard to it. 
 
 It is, however, noteworthy that, despite such remarks 
 
 • See also " The Martyr Islands of the New Hebrides " by the Author, 
 from which the foregoing statement is taken. 
 
Montgomerie Campbell, Esq. 15 
 
 as those quoted, it was the reading of the accounts 
 of these same voyages that first kindled the spark of 
 missionary enthusiasm in Carey's soul, from which 
 such blessed results have flowed. 
 
 Take the following letter, written a few years later 
 by Mr. Montgomerie Campbell, private Secretary to 
 Sir Archibald Campbell, then Governor of the Madras 
 Presidency : — * 
 
 "Mr. Montgomerie Campbell reprobated, the idea of 
 converting the Gentoos. It is true, missionaries have 
 made proselytes of the Pariahs ; but they were the lowest 
 order of the people, and had even degraded the religion they 
 professed to embrace. 
 
 "Mr. Schwartz, whose character was held so deservedly 
 high, could not have any reason to boast of the purity of 
 his followers ; they were proverbial for their profligacy. 
 An instance occurred to his recollection, perfectly in point : 
 he had been preaching for many hours to this caste of 
 proselytes on the heinousness of theft, and in the heat of 
 his discourse taken off his stock, when that and his gold 
 buckle were stolen by one of his virtuous and enlightened 
 congregation. In such a description of natives did the 
 doctrine of the missionaries operate. Men of higher caste 
 would spurn at the idea of changing the religion of their 
 ancestors.'' 
 
 As the foregoing paragraphs referred mainly to 
 matters of fact, Mr. Schwartz felt it necessary to 
 reply to what well deserves to be characterised as a 
 tissue of misrepresentations, which he did in a calm, 
 courteous, and unanswerable manner. The incident 
 to which Mr. Campbell alluded occurred some seven- 
 
 * Courier, 24th May, 1793. 
 
1 6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 teen years previous (1776). Mr. Schwartz, when on 
 his way to Tanjore, passed through the village of 
 Pudaloor in the early morning. Not only did he 
 not preach, as was alleged, for hours at the village in 
 question : he did not so much as converse with a 
 single man on that occasion. The theft of the stock 
 and buckle was made by some boys, whose fathers 
 were all professed thieves — that village being then 
 inhabited by people who were notorious for their 
 stealing propensities. And in point of fact, the 
 villagers were all heathen, there not hei/ng a single 
 Christian family among them. So much for Mr. 
 Campbell's sneer at the " virtuous and enlightened 
 congregation." And as regards his assertion that 
 "men of high caste would spurn at the idea of 
 changing the religion of their ancestors," Mr. 
 Schwartz states that, " had he visited, even once, 
 our Church, he would have observed that m.ore than 
 two-thirds were of the higher caste." 
 
 Mr. Campbell's statements are an average specimen 
 of the ignorant prejudice that prevailed in those 
 days. Yet he, from his official position, should have 
 known that, by the charter of 1698, the East India 
 Company was required to provide ministers who 
 should " learn the native language of the country, 
 where they shall reside, the better to enable them to 
 instruct the Gentoos." This much, at least, was 
 originally contemplated.* 
 
 • Anderson's "History of the Colonial Church," vol. ii. p. 480, 
 quoted in Ludlow's "British India," vol. ii. p. 260. 
 
General Assembly 0/ 1796. 17 
 
 With the clerical utterances in the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland which met in 
 1796, many of the readers of mission literature are 
 already familiar. It is, however, fitting that they 
 should have a place in this record, the more so that 
 they emanated from a quarter from which expressions 
 of opinion more in accordance with Scripture truth 
 might reasonably have been expected. For it was 
 not supineness merely that the few earnest spirits 
 of that dark period of the Church's history had to 
 contend with ; it was undisguised opposition, and 
 that, in many cases, of the intensest kind. 
 
 The subject was brought up for discussion in con- 
 sequence of two overtures — one from the Synod of 
 Fife, urging the consideration of the most effectual 
 means by which the Church in her corporate capacity 
 might contribute to the diffusion of the Gospel 
 throughout the world : the other, from the Synod 
 of Moray, with the same object in view ; but pro- 
 posing, in addition, that an Act should be passed 
 recommending a general collection towards its fur- 
 therance in the various congregations of the Church. 
 
 Among the earlier speeches favourable to the pro- 
 posal, was one by the venerable Dr. David Johnstone, 
 minister of North Leith Parish Church, and the 
 honoured founder of the Eoyal Edinburgh Elind 
 Asylum : — 
 
 " Surely," lie said, "however mucli they might difTer from 
 one another in matters of civil or ecclesiastical polity, they 
 could not be other than united in whatever tended to pro- 
 
 C 
 
1 8 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 mote the kingdom of their blessed Lord and Master. . . . 
 The fact that they, themselves, had been called from heathen 
 darkness by missionary exertion in the remote past, had 
 given a direct claim upon them to the perishing heathen of 
 all time." 
 
 But differ they did, and that, too, as widely as the 
 poles asunder, not only " in matters of civil or 
 ecclesiastical polity," but in regard to the still more 
 important practical question under consideration. 
 
 The first on the opposite side to take exception to 
 the terms of the overtures was the Eev. George 
 (afterwards Dr.) Hamilton, then the young, fluent 
 and bland minister of the parish of Gladsmuir, near 
 Haddington, and at a later period promoted by his 
 party to the Moderator's Chair ; and thus he spoke : — 
 
 " I should blush, Moderator, to rise in this venerable 
 Assembly for the purpose of opposing a plan so beneficent 
 in its first aspect as the present, did not mature reflection 
 fully convince me that its principles are not really good, but 
 merely specious ; that no such honour could accrue to us from 
 supporting and promoting it, as its friends among us have 
 fondly anticipated, and because no such benefits could in all 
 probability result from the execution of it to mankind, as 
 they had no less fondly imagined and described. Such being 
 my decided sentiments on the subject, I f^el no reluctance to 
 rise and state them fully. I feel this declaration, indeed, 
 incumbent on me ; nor do I hesitate to say that, entertaining 
 these sentiments, it is as much my duty to wish that the 
 house may he firm and unanimous in their opposition to these 
 overtures, as it appeared the duty of those who were of a very 
 different opinion to be actuated by a very diiferent desire. 
 
 " To diffuse among mankind the knowledge of a religion 
 which we profess to believe and revere, is doubtless a good 
 
Rev. G. Hamilton, Oladsmuir. 19 
 
 and important work ; as to pray for its diffusion, and to 
 expect it, is taught us in the sacred volume of Scripture. 
 But as even the best things are liahle to abuse, and as 
 things the most excellent are most liable to abuse, so, in the 
 present case, it happens that / cannot otherwise consider the 
 enthusiasm on this subject than as the effect of sanguine and 
 illusiveviews, the more dangerous because the object is plausible. 
 "To spread abroad the knowledge of the Gospel among 
 barbarous and heathen nations seems to me to be highly- 
 preposterous, in as far as it anticipates, nay, as it even 
 reverses the order of nature. Men must be polished and 
 refined in their manners before they can be properly 
 enlightened in religious truths. Philosophy and learning 
 must, in the nature of things, take the precedence. Indeed, 
 it should seem hardly less absurd to make revelation precede 
 civilisation in the order of time, than to pretend to unfold to 
 a chUd the ' Principia ' of Newton, ere he is made at all 
 acquainted with the letters in the alphabet. These ideas 
 seem, to me alike founded in error ; and, therefore, I must 
 consider them both as equally romantic and visionary." 
 
 From these first principles, Mr. Hamilton proceeded 
 to consider the question of responsibility in the case 
 of those who have no opportunity of embracing the 
 Gospel : — 
 
 " To this question," he argued, " Scripture furnishes us 
 with an answer, plain, natural, and just. We are in it told 
 that a man is to be judged according to what he hath, not 
 according to what he hath not. We are, moreover, told by 
 Paul to the same purpose, 'that the Gentiles which have 
 not the law, are a law unto themselves ; ' and that ' they 
 who are without law shall be judged without law.' So that 
 the gracious declarations of Scripture ought to liberate from 
 groundless anxiety the minds of those who stated, in such 
 moving language, the condition of the heathen. 
 
20 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 "Every state of society has vices and virtues peculiar to 
 itself which balance each other, and are not incompatible 
 with a large share of happiness. The untutored Indian 
 or Otaheitan, whose daily toils produce his daily food, and 
 who, when that is procured, basks with his family in the sun 
 with little reflection or care, is not without his simple virtues. 
 His breast can beat high with the feelings of friendship; 
 his heart can burn with the ardour of patriotism; and although 
 his mind has not comprehension enough to grasp the idea of 
 general philanthropy, yet the houseless stranger finds a 
 sure shelter under his hospitable though humble roof, and 
 experiences that, though ignorant of the general principle, 
 his soul is attuned to the feelings on which its practice must 
 generally depend. But go — engraft on his simple manners 
 the customs, refinements, and, may I not add, some of the 
 vices of civilised society, and the influence of that religion 
 which you give as a compensation for the disadvantages 
 attending such communications will not refine his morals nor 
 ensure his happiness. Of the change of manners, the effect 
 produced shall prove a heterogeneous and disagreeable com- 
 bination ; and of the change of opinion, the effects shall be 
 a tormenting uncertainty respecting some things, a great ' 
 misapprehension of others, and a misapplication perhaps of all. 
 
 " When they shall be told that a man is saved, not by 
 good works, but by faith, what will be the consequence? 
 We have too much experience of the difficulty of guarding 
 our own people against the most deplorable misapplication of 
 this principle, though here the people are instructed by 
 stated and regular pastors, though their minds have been 
 early imbued with a pious and virtuous education, and 
 though they are daily warned of the folly and danger 
 of immorality under this pretext, — we have too much experi- 
 ence of this tendency at home, I say, with all our refinement, 
 to entertain a rational doubt that the wild inhabitants 
 of uncivilised regions would use it as a handle for the inost 
 flagrant violation of justice aiid morality. 
 
Rev. Dr. John Erskine, Edinburgh. 21 
 
 " "Why should we scatter our forces and spend our strength 
 in foreign service when our utmost vigilance is required at 
 home 1 What general would desire to achieve distant 
 conquests, and scatter for this purpose his troops over a 
 distant and strange land when the enemy's forces were already 
 pouring into his own country, estranging the citizens from 
 his interests, and directing the whole force of their artillery 
 against the walls of his capital ? / cannot but reflect with 
 surprise that the very men who in their sermons, by their 
 speeches — in short, by everything but their own lives, are 
 anxious to show to the world the growing profligacy of the times 
 at liome — / cannot but reflect with surprise that these are the 
 very men most zealous in promoting this expedition abroad. 
 
 " Upon the whole, while we pray for the propagation of 
 the Gospel, and patiently await its period, let us unite in 
 resolutely rejecting these overtures. For my own part, at 
 least, I am ohliged heartily to oppose the notion for a 
 Committee, and to substitute as a motion in its place. That 
 the overtures from the Synods of Fife a/nd Moray be irmnedi- 
 ately dismissed." 
 
 With an air of self-satisfaction at having demol- 
 ished the '^men of straw that had been so carefully 
 rigged out in the clerical study at Gladsmuir in order 
 to do duty on the floor of the Assembly, Mr. Hamilton 
 resumed his seat, and was followed by Dr. John 
 ErsMne, the honoured leader of the Evangehcal 
 section. "Moderator, RAX* ME THAT BIBLE." 
 Such were the memorable words with which he 
 commenced his address. To the law and the 
 testimony he made his appeal, contending, contrary 
 to Mr. Hamilton's assertion, and in entire accordance 
 with the statements of Scripture, that it was not 
 
 * Anglici Keach. 
 
22 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 "really so absolutely necessary that learning and 
 philosophy should precede the introduction of the 
 Gospel," and stating that " he had been ever accus- 
 tomed to consider it the peculiar glory of Christianity 
 that it was adapted alike to the citizen and the 
 savage, — that it not only enlightened spiritual dark- 
 ness, but promoted also temporal civilisation." 
 
 I content myself with this brief reference to the 
 pleadings of this eminent divine in favour of the 
 overtures, my object in this part of the present work 
 being rather to put readers in possession, of the 
 views of those who opposed them. For the same 
 reason the speeches of other members who supported 
 the overtures are entirely omitted. 
 
 It was every way appropriate, and only what might 
 have been expected, that Mr. Hamilton's motion, 
 accompanied as it was by such an extraordinary 
 speech, should be seconded by Dr. Alexander Carlyle 
 of Inveresk — familiarly known as Jupiter Carlyle — 
 the living embodiment of the most extreme and worst 
 type of Moderatism. One paragraph from his speech 
 on that occasion will suffice : — 
 
 " Moderator," he said, " my reverend brother (Dr. Erskine), 
 whose universal charity is so well known to me, has just been 
 giving a new and extraordinary instance of it — no less than 
 proposing as a model for our imitation the zeal for propagat- 
 ing the Christian religion displayed by Soman Catholics/ 
 When we see the tide of infidelity and licentiousness so great 
 and so constantly increasing in our land, it would indeed be 
 highly preposterous to carry our zeal to another and a far 
 distant one. When our religion requires the most unremitted 
 
Rev. Principal Hill, St. Andrews. 23 
 
 and strenuous offence against internal invasion, it would be 
 highly absurd to think of making distant converts by external 
 missionaries. This is indeed beginning where we should end. 
 I have on various occasions, during a period of almost half-a- 
 century, had the honour of being a member of the General 
 Assembly, yet this is the first time I remember to have ever 
 Keard such a proposal made, and I cannot help also thinking 
 it the worst time. As clergymen, let us pray that Christ's 
 kingdom may come, as we are assured it shall come, in the 
 course .of Providence. Let us as clergymen also instruct our 
 people in their duty ; and both as clergymen and as Christians 
 let our light so shine before men that, seeing our good works, 
 they may be led to glorify our heavenly Father. This is the 
 true mode of propagating the Gospel ; this is far preferable 
 to giving countenance to a plan that has been well styled 
 visionary. I therefore do heartily second the motion made 
 some time ago by my young friend, Mr. Hamilton, — That 
 the overtures be immediately dismissed." 
 
 Such was the undiluted Moderatism of these two 
 professed ministers of Christ. Well might the pro- 
 found Warburton, when referring to ministers of this 
 type in one of his letters to Dr. Erskine, say : " I 
 think many of them to be more than half-paganised, 
 and their Saviour to be only another Socrates." 
 
 Among those who took part in the debate was 
 the Rev. Principal Hill, one of the ministers of St. 
 Andrews. Though anxious, apparently, to avoid the 
 obloquy which he feared might attach to the utter- 
 ances of Mr. Hamilton and Dr. Carlyle, and adopting 
 with this view a somewhat more conciliatory line of 
 argument, his lengthened and laboured speech was 
 thrown into the same scale, and had but the sole 
 object of defeating the overtures. One choice ex- 
 
24 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 tract may be submitted, and that the reader may 
 fully appreciate the argument of the Eeverend Prin- 
 cipal, it is only necessary he should bear in mind 
 that the war of the first French Revolution was rag- 
 ing at the time. 
 
 " Besides the considerations," he said, " which lead us to 
 augur unfavourably of these (missionary) societies from the 
 circumstances I have enumerated, there is one argument, 
 drawn from a consideration of a much more important nature 
 in itself, because threatening much more awful cmd extreme 
 effects thorn, even these, not indeed to the heathen or the mis- 
 sionaries, hut to this country — to society at large. The 
 political aspect of the times, marked with the turbulent and 
 seditious attempts of the evil-designing or the deluded against 
 our happy constitution — against the order of everything we 
 possess and hold dear, whether as citizens or as men — renders 
 it incumbent on me to state, that I observe, with serious 
 regret, not only many of the striking outlines, but even many 
 of the most obnoxious expressions, or expressions similar to 
 those which have been held with affected triumph in the 
 lately suppressed popular assemblies." 
 
 Not the least noteworthy of the many remarkable 
 utterances on the occasion was the speech of a young 
 advocate, named David Boyle (afterwards Lord 
 President of the Court of Session), who represented 
 the burgh of Irvine in this memorable Assembly. 
 The opening sentence was as follows : — 
 
 " I rise. Moderator, impressed with a sense of the alarm- 
 ing and dangerous tendency of the measures proposed in 
 the overtures on your table — overtures which I cannot too 
 strongly, which the house cannot too strongly oppose, and 
 which, I trust, all the loyal and well-affected members will 
 be unanimous in opposing. ..." 
 
David Boyle, Advocate. 25 
 
 Missionary, anti-slavery, and other kindred so- 
 cieties, no matter what the object in view, having 
 been denounced by Mr. Boyle, in no measured terms, 
 as " all equally bad," he wound up thus : — 
 
 " As for those missionary societies, I do aver, that since 
 it is to be apprehended that their funds may be in time, nay, 
 certainly will be, turned against the constitution, so it is the 
 bounden duty of this house to give the overtures recommend- 
 ing them our most serious disapprobation, and our immediate, 
 most decisive opposition." 
 
 Had these been the sentiments merely of indi- 
 vidual ministers and elders, they might well have 
 been allowed to remain in deserved oblivion. The 
 fact, however, that they were indorsed by a majority 
 of the Assembly invests them with an historical im- 
 portance, the more so when it is remembered that 
 the decision then given practically shelved the ques- 
 tion, so far as the Church in its corporate capacity 
 was concerned, for another quarter of a century.* 
 
 Let the reader try to imagine what the feelings of 
 the Great Head of the Church would have been had 
 He, as on the occasion of the meeting in Jerusalem 
 of the disciples on the evening of the first day of the 
 week after His resurrection, unexpectedly appeared 
 in visible form in that Assembly ! And yet it is not 
 diflScult to realise what He must have felt in listening 
 to such utterances. Undoubtedly, grief, the same in 
 
 * The vote stood thus : — For the appointment of a committee to con- 
 sider and report upon the subject of the overtures, 44 ; for the dis- 
 missal of the overtures, 58 — majority, 14. 
 
2 6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 kind to that which was His close companion when in 
 very deed He dwelt with men on the earth, must 
 have been the uppermost feeling in His heart. He 
 could not have failed to be moved with profound 
 sorrow that those who were His professed representa- 
 tives and ambassadors should have so grossly mis- 
 interpreted His mind and will, as made known in His 
 Word. Nay, but, methinks that on the supposition 
 of His visible presence, the men in question, even the 
 boldest of them, never would have dared to deliver 
 such speeches. On the contrary, it is aU but certain 
 that a silence would have been observed by them 
 similar to that which followed the memorable scene 
 in the temple, when the Scribes and Pharisees, 
 instead of casting a stone at the accused, "being 
 convicted by their own conscience, went out one 
 by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the 
 last." 
 
 The spirit that animated the literary critics of 
 those days is well illustrated in connection with some 
 addresses to the natives of Tahiti," which had been 
 prepared with much care and tact by the venerated 
 Dr. John Love, as Secretary of the London Missionary 
 Society. They were thrown into the form of dialogues, 
 abounded in figures, and, containing as they did a 
 brief summary of the leading facts, doctrines, and 
 precepts of the Gospel, were designed to aid mission- 
 aries in their work. The Monthly Review for 
 October, 1797, following in the line of Captain 
 Cook's remarks, and encouraged apparently by his 
 
East India Company. 27 
 
 confident assertion, thus comments upon the said 
 addresses : — 
 
 " When Otaheite (Tahiti) was discovered by the European 
 navigators, its inhabitants were as happy as a delightful 
 climate, a sufficiency of food, moderate labour, health, and 
 aU the animal enjoyments in their natural state could render 
 them ; from their connection with Europe they have already 
 derived various mischiefs ; and from the present publication, 
 it appears that they are destined, by a society confidently 
 pretending to ' the rich communications of wisdom and power 
 from on, high,' to experience the horrors of civil war, 
 lighted up and aggravated by theological zealots from Great 
 Britain ! ! ! ' 
 
 "Towards the close of 1807" — so we learn from the 
 Calcutta Review (Vol. iii.) — "a pamphlet printed in the 
 Persian language at the Missionary Press, Serampore, fell 
 into the hands of one of the Secretaries of the British 
 Government. It was ia the form of 'An address to all 
 persons professing the Mohammedan religion.' It contained 
 a brief statement of Gospel truth, while it depicted in plain 
 but strong terms the character of Mohammed and his san- 
 guiaary faith; but not in terms plainer or stronger than 
 justice demanded, and historic truth fully warranted. The 
 only effect which it had on the Mussulmen themselves, was, 
 that it led to the request, on the part of a Mogul merchant, 
 that one of their learned men ' should prepare an answer to 
 it.' Any proceeding more absolutely harmless, or one less 
 calculated to disturb the public peace, could scarcely be 
 conceived. But it was enough to put the whole Council 
 Chamber into a state of combustion and uproar. 
 
 " As a purely preliminary measure, the Danish Governor 
 of Serampore was promptly solicited to 'interpose his 
 authority to prohibit the issue of any more copies of the 
 pamphlet, or of any publications of a similar description.' 
 It was also suggested that the missionaries shall 'be required 
 
28 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 to deliver up all the remaining copies of the pamphlet in 
 question.' And further still, his Excellency of Serampore 
 was distinctly apprised of ' the necessity of ascertaining from 
 the missionaries to what extent, and in what manner, the 
 pamphlet had been circulated, with a view to enable them 
 (the Governor-General and his Councillors) to counteract its 
 dangerous effects in these places, within the limits of their 
 authority or influence, to which it might have been con- 
 veyed.' 
 
 " With these requests the Danish Governor instantly com- 
 plied. The issue of any more of the pamphlets was prohibited 
 by him. All the printed copies remaining in the hands of 
 the missionaries, amounting to 1700, out of 2000, were 
 delivered up, and transmitted to the Supreme Council at 
 Fort-William ; white a stringent order was issued to prevent 
 the printing or circulating of any works of a similar character 
 in future. 
 
 " The British Government next issued an order prohibiting 
 the missionaries from printing any books ' directed to the 
 object of converting the natives to Christianity.' On this, 
 the operations of the Serampore Press were suspended, and 
 'the translation of the Bible and the New Testament for- 
 bidden ' until the Danish Governor obtained from the British 
 Governor-General an official answer to the question, 'Whether 
 the circulation of the Bible in the Bengali language was to 
 be included in his Lordship's prohibition 1 ' The reply of the 
 Governor-General in Council was the following : ' We are 
 not aware of any objection to the promulgation of the Scrip- 
 tures in the Bengali language, unaccompanied by any com- 
 ments on the religions of the country. . . .' 
 
 "The inquiries instituted respecting the 'Persian tract' 
 led to the fearful discovery that there were other tracts of a 
 similar nature in the Hindoostanee and Bengali languages, 
 and to the still more astounding discovery that the Gospel of 
 salvation was actually preached to the native inhabitants of 
 Calcutta ! The following is a quotation from the Dispatch 
 
East India Company. 29 
 
 of the Supreme Government (signed by the Earl of Minto, 
 Governor-General, and others) to the Court of Directors : — 
 
 " ' At our consultation, in the secret department, of the 
 8th of September, the Secretary reported to us that, having 
 desired Mr. Blaquiere, one of the magistrates of the town of 
 Calcutta, to adopt measures with a view to ascertain the pro- 
 ceedings of the missionaries in disseminating pamphlets of 
 the nature of that which was submitted to Government at 
 the last meeting of Council, and in meetings stated to be held 
 within the town of Calcutta, for the purpose of exposing to 
 the native inhabitants the errors of their religion, and of per- 
 suading them to adopt the Christian faith, Mr. Blaquiere had 
 attended the Secretary's ofB.ce, and informed him that, being 
 apprised of the practice adopted by the missionaries or their 
 converts of preaching to the multitude every Sunday at a 
 house in the city engaged for that purpose, he had directed a 
 person in his employ to attend one of those meetings, and 
 that Mr. Blaquiere had delivered to the Secretary a memo- 
 randum of what passed at that meeting, drawn up by the 
 person who attended it. A copy of that memorandum we 
 deem it proper to enclose. The Secretary proceeded to state 
 from Mr. Blaquiere's verbal report, that Mr. Blaquiere had at 
 the same time directed a Brahman in his service to attend the 
 missionaries, and, under a pretended desire to become a con- 
 vert, to obtain copies of any publications which had been 
 issued under the authority of the missionaries j that the 
 Brahman accordingly waited on the Eeverend Mr. "Ward, one 
 of the Society, residing principally at Calcutta, and that Mr. 
 Blaquiere had delivered to the Secretary eleven pamphlets, 
 written, some in the Bengali, some in the Hindoostanee lan- 
 guage, which, on that occasion, the Eeverend Mr. Ward had 
 delivered to the Brahman, The Secretary reported that those 
 pamphlets, for the most part, consisted of strictures upon the 
 characters of the Hindoo deities, tending to place them in a 
 hateful and disgusting light, and to deduce from those stric- 
 tures the fallacy of the Hindoo mythology ; of exhortations to 
 
30 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 the Hindoos to abandon their idolatrous worship and embrace 
 the doctrines of Christianity; of the translations of the 
 Psalms of David and other parts of Scripture. That two of 
 those pamphlets, however — one in the Bengali, the other in 
 the Hindoostanee language and character — were addressed 
 exclusively to the class of Mohammedans, and contained the 
 same or similar abuse of the doctrines, books, and founda- 
 tions of the Mohammedan religion, as was contained in the 
 Persian pamphlet laid before the Board at the last meeting of 
 Council, and that these two pamphlets were stated to have 
 been printed at Serampore, in the year 1806.' " 
 
 The following were the resolutions adopted by the 
 Supreme Council in reference to these communi- 
 cations : — 
 
 "That the publications in question and the practice of 
 preaching to the multitude, described by Mr. Blaquiere, 
 were evidently calculated to excite among the native subjects 
 of the Company a spirit of religious jealousy and alarm, 
 which might eventually be productive of the most serious 
 evils. That the distribution of such publications, and the 
 public preaching of the missionaries and their proselytes at the 
 very seat of Government, were acts tending to indicate that 
 the proceedings of the missionaries, in vilifying the religions 
 of the country, were sanctioned and approved by the Supreme 
 Authority ; that the prevalence of such an impression would 
 both augment the danger and render more difficult the ap- 
 plication of a remedy ; that if these proceedings should be 
 suffered to continue until their effects should be manifested 
 in their clamour and discontent of the people, any measure 
 then adopted to arrest the progress of the evil, would neces- 
 sarily appear to be the result of apprehension. That it was 
 of the highest importance, therefore, to adopt, without delay, 
 such measures as were calculated to preclude a conjuncture 
 so injurious to the authority and dignity of the Government, 
 
East India Company. 31 
 
 and so hazardous to the prosperity and even the security of 
 these dominions ; and, finally, that the obligations to suppress, 
 within the limits of the Company's authority in India, 
 treatises and public preachings offensive to the religious per- 
 suasions of the people, were founded on considerations of 
 necessary caution, general safety, and national faith and 
 honour. 
 
 " With this view we deemed it necessary to direct that 
 the practice of public preaching at the house employed for 
 that purpose by the missionaries in the town of Calcutta 
 should be immediately discontinued; and to prohibit the 
 issue of any publications from the press superintended by the 
 Society of Missionaries, of a nature offensive to the religious 
 prejudices of the natives, or directed to the object of convert- 
 ing them to Christianity ; observing, that whatever might be 
 the propriety of exposing the errors of the Hindoo or Mussulman 
 religion to persons of those persuasions, who should solicit in- 
 struction in the doctrines of the Christian faith, it was contrary 
 to the system of protection which Government was pledged 
 to afford to the undisturbed exercise of the religions of the 
 country, and calculated to produce very dangerous ejGfects, to 
 obtrude upon the general body of the people, by means of 
 printed works, exhortations necessarily involving an inter- 
 ference with those religious tenets which they considered to 
 be sacred and inviolable. 
 
 " The Earl of Minto having succeeded in crushing the efforts 
 of Christian evangelists, next directed his attention to the 
 heathenish institutions which owed their origin and support 
 to the munificence of some of his predecessors. These he re- 
 solved not only to perpetuate but to render still more efiicient. 
 And not only so, — but his purpose was consentaneously 
 formed to add to their number, at the expense of the State. 
 In 1811, he committed his views on the subject to writing, 
 in an elaborate Minute. 
 
 "Nothing whatsoever (in the said Minute) of an edu- 
 cationally remedial character is proposed or even alluded to, 
 
32 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 as regards the great body of the people. On the contrary 
 no education whatever is proposed but a learned education ; 
 no classes whatever of the community are provided for, but 
 the learned and more respectable classes. So far as the 
 Governor-General's Minute is concerned, the teeming myriads, 
 which constitute the overwhelming majority of the popula- 
 tion, are coolly and deliberately consigned to all the evils of 
 a hopeless and incurable ignorance ! . . ." 
 
 A few months after the outburst at Calcutta, as 
 described in the foregoing extracts, there appeared 
 in the pages of the Edinburgh Review for April, 
 1808, a lengthened article on the same subject, char- 
 acterised by equally intense opposition to the mission- 
 ary undertaking. The writer, it is generally under- 
 stood, was the well-known Sydney Smith, whose 
 sterling good sense, kindness of heart, genial dis- 
 position, overflowing humour, brilliant genius, and 
 rare conversational powers, are justly admired. 
 
 The article referred to is somewhat of a curiosity 
 in its way, and shows how much bitter obloquy it is 
 possible to heap, unjustly and needlessly, on a good 
 cause. One wonders what the witty Keviewer would 
 say to the opinions and sentiments there expressed, 
 if he had the opportunity of glancing over them at 
 the present time, in view of what has taken place in 
 India and elsewhere during the intervening eighty 
 years ! 
 
 After referring to the Sepoy Mutiny at Vellore on 
 10th July, 1806, the cause of which some both then 
 and since have not hesitated to lay at the missionary's 
 door — the fact being that no Protestant missionary 
 
" Edinburgh Revieiu." 33 
 
 was at the time within many hundred miles' of the place 
 — and also to the Danish Missions at Tranquebar, 
 founded more than a century before, the writer goes 
 on to say : — 
 
 " The missions in Bengal, of which the public have heard 
 so much of late years, are the missions of Anabaptist dis- 
 senters, whose peculiar and distinguishing tenet it is, to 
 baptise the members of their church by plunging them into 
 the water when they are grown up, instead of sprinkling 
 them with water when they are young. Among the sub- 
 scribers to this society, we perceive the respectable name of 
 the Deputy-Chairman of the East India Company (Mr. 
 Charles Grant), who, in the common routine of office, will 
 succeed to the chair of that Company at the ensuing election. 
 The Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the East India 
 Company are also both of them trustees to another religious 
 society for missions in Africa and the East. 
 
 " The first number of the Anabaptist Missions, informs 
 us that the origin of the society wiU be found in the work- 
 ings of Brother Carey's mind, whose heart appears to have 
 been set upon the conversion of the heathen in 1786, before 
 he came to reside at Moulton. (No. 1, p. 1.) These work- 
 ings produced a sermon at Northampton, and the sermon a 
 subscription to convert 420 millions of Pagans. Of the sub- 
 scription we have the following account : — ' Information is 
 come from Brother Carey, that a gentleman from North- 
 umberland had promised to send him £20 for the Society, 
 and to subscribe four guineas annually.' 
 
 " At this meeting at Northampton, two other friends 
 subscribed, and paid two guineas a-piece ; two more one 
 guinea each, and another half-a-guinea, making six guineas 
 and a-half in aU. And such members as were present of 
 the first subscribers, paid their subscriptions into the hands of 
 the treasurer ; who proposed to put the sum now received into 
 the hands of a banker, who will pay interest for the same." 
 
 D 
 
34 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Following some ten pages of extracts from the 
 journal-letters of Messrs. Carey, Ward, and other 
 missionaries, the article proceeds : — 
 
 " It would perhaps be more prudent to leave the question 
 of sending missions to India to tlie effect of these 
 extracts, whicli appear to us to be quite decisive ; both as to 
 the danger of insurrection from the prosecution of the scheme, 
 the utter unfitness of the persons employed in it, and the 
 complete hopelessness of the attempt while pursued under 
 such circumstances as now exist. But as the Evangelical 
 party, who have got possession of our Eastern empire, have 
 brought forward a great deal of argument upon the question, 
 it may be necessary to make to it some sort of reply. . . . 
 
 " To us it appears quite clear, from the extracts before us, 
 that neither Hindoo nor Mohammedan are at all indifferent to 
 the attacks made upon their religion ; the arrogance and the 
 irritability of the Mohammedan are universally acknowledged, 
 and we put it to our readers whether the Brahmins seem in 
 these extracts to behold the encroachments upon their 
 religion with passiveness and unconcern. A missionary 
 who converted only a few of the refuse of society, might live 
 for ever in peace in India, and receive his salary from his 
 fanatical masters for poinpous predictions of universal con- 
 version, transmitted by the ships of the season ; but, if he 
 had any marked success among the natives, it could not fail 
 to excite much more dangerous specimens of jealousy and 
 discontent than those which we have extracted from the 
 Anabaptist Journal. How is it in human nature that a 
 Brahmin should be indifferent to encroachments upon his 
 religion 1 His reputation, his dignity, and, in a great 
 measure, his wealth depend upon the preservation of the 
 present superstitions, and why is it to be supposed that 
 motives which are so powerful with all other human beings 
 are inoperative with him alone ? . . . 
 
 " Methodism at home is no unprofitable game to play. 
 
" Edinburgh Review." 35 
 
 In the East it will soon be the infallible road to promotion. 
 This is the great evil ; if the management was in the hands 
 of men, who were as discreet and wise in their devotion, as 
 they are in matters of temporal welfare, the desire of putting 
 an end to missions might be premature and indecorous. But 
 the misfortune is, the men who wield the instrument ought 
 not, in common sense and propriety, to be trusted with it for 
 a single instant. Upon this subject they are quite insane 
 and ungovernable ; they would deliberately, piously, and con- 
 scientiously expose our whole Eastern empire to destruction 
 for the sake of converting half-a-dozen Brahmins ; who, after 
 stuffing themselves with rum and rice, and borrowing money 
 from, the missionaries, would run away, and cover the Gospel 
 and its professors with every species of impious ridicule and 
 abuse. Upon the whole, it appears to us hardly possible to 
 push the business of proselytism in India to any length 
 without incurring the utmost risk of losing our empire. 
 The danger is more tremendous because it may be so sudden ; 
 religious fears are a very probable cause of disaffection in the 
 troops; if the troops are generally disaffected, our Indian 
 empire may be lost to us as suddenly as a frigate or a fort ; 
 and that empire is governed by men, who, we are very much 
 afraid, would feel proud to lose it in such a cause. . . , 
 
 " Secondly, Another reason for giving up the task of con- 
 version is the want of success. In India, religion extends 
 its empire over the minutest actions of life. It is not merely 
 a law for moral conduct, and for occasional worship ; but 
 it dictates to a man his trade, his dress, his food, and his 
 whole behaviour. His religion also punishes a violation of 
 its exactions, not by eternal and future punishments, but by 
 present infamy. If a Hindoo is irreligious; or, in other 
 words, if he loses his caste, he is deserted by father, mother, 
 wife, child, and kindred, and becomes instantly a solitary 
 wanderer upon the earth ; to touch him, to receive him, to 
 eat with him, is a pollution producing a similar loss of caste, 
 and the state of such a degraded man is worse than death 
 
3 6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 itself. To these evils a Hindoo must expose himself before 
 he becomes a Christian, and this difficulty must a missionary- 
 overcome before he can expect the smallest success ; a diffi- 
 culty vrhioh, it is quite clear, that they themselves, after a 
 short residence in. India, consider to be insuperable. . . . 
 
 " Thirdly, The duty of conversion is less plain and less 
 imperious when conversion exposes the convert to great 
 present misery. An African or an Otaheite proselyte might 
 not perhaps be less honoured by his countrymen if he became 
 a Christian ; a Hindoo is instantly subjected to the most 
 perfect degradation. . . . 
 
 " Fourthly, Conversion is no duty at all if it merely 
 destroys the old religion, without really and effectually teach- 
 ing the new one. Brother Ringletaube may write home that 
 he makes a Christian, when, in reality, he ought only to state 
 that he has destroyed a Hindoo. Poolish and imperfect as 
 the religion of a Hindoo is, it is at least some restraint 
 upon the intemperance of -the human passions. It is better 
 a Brahmin should be respected than that nobody should be 
 respected. A Hindoo had better believe that a deity with 
 a hundred legs and arms will reward and punish him here- 
 after, than that he is not to be punished at all. 
 
 "... Whoever has seen much of Hindoo Christians 
 must have perceived that the man who bears that name is 
 very commonly nothing more than a drunken reprobate, who 
 conceives himself at liberty to eat and drink anything he 
 pleases, and annexes hardly any other meaning to the name 
 of Christianity. Such sort of converts may swell the list of 
 names, and gratify the puerile pride of a missionary ; but 
 what real, discreet Christian can wish to see such Christi- 
 anity prevail ? . . . 
 
 " The duties of conversion appear to be of less importance 
 when it is impossible to procure proper persons to undertake 
 them, and when such religious embassies in consequence 
 devolve upon the lowest of the people. Who wishes to see 
 scrofula and atheism cured by a single sermon in Bengal ? 
 
The AhU J. A. Dubois. 37 
 
 who wislies to see the rehgious hoy riding at anchor in the 
 Hooghly river ] or shoals of jumpers exhibiting their nimhle 
 piety before the learned Brahmins of Benares ? This mad- 
 ness is disgusting and dangerous enough at home ? Why are 
 we to send out little detachments of maniacs to spread over 
 the fine regions of the world the most unjust and conteinpt- 
 iblo opinion of the Gospel ? The wise and rational part of 
 the Christian ministry find they have enough to do at home 
 to combat with passions unfavourable to human happiness, 
 and to make men act up to their professions. But if a tinker 
 is a devout man, he infallibly sets off for the East. Let any 
 man read the 'Anabaptist Missions'; — can he do so without 
 deeming such men pernicious and extravagant in their own 
 country, and without feeling that they are benefiting us 
 much more by their absence than the Hindoos by their 
 advice? ... 
 
 " Shortly stated, then, our argument is this : — We see not 
 the slightest prospect of success ; we see much danger in 
 making the attempt ; and we doubt if the conversion of the 
 Hindoos would ever be more than nominal. If it is a duty 
 of general benevolence to convert the heathen, it is less duty 
 to convert the Hindoos than any other people, because they 
 are already highly civilised, and because you must infallibly 
 subject them to infamy and present degradation. The instru- 
 ments employed for these purposes are calculated to bring 
 ridicule and disgrace upon the Gospel ; and in the discretion 
 of those at home, whom we consider as their patrons, we have 
 not the smallest reliance ; but on the contrary, we are con- 
 vinced they would behold the loss of our Indian Empire, 
 not with the humility of men convinced of erroneous views 
 and projects, butwith the pride, the exultation, and the 
 alacrity of martyrs. . . ." 
 
 Few more remarkable productions have issued 
 from the press than that by the Abb^ J. A. Dubois, 
 for thirty-two years Eoman Catholic missionary in 
 
38 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Mysore, in the shape of " Letters on the State of 
 Christianity in India."* The passages that imme- 
 diately follow are taken from the preface, or "Adver- 
 tisement," as he calls it, and will be read with interest 
 in the light of subsequent events. 
 
 The Abb^ states that the " Letters " were " published for 
 the information of the public, among whom much misappre- 
 hension prevailed, chiefly occasioned by many erroneous 
 statements, published of late years at home, by many well- 
 intentioned authors, who, misled by too warm a zeal, and 
 mistaking their own religious creed as the common standard 
 which should rule all the human race, and knowing nothing 
 or very little of the invincible attachment of the people of 
 India to their religion and customs, expected to be able to 
 overcome the insurmountable religious prejudices of the 
 Hindoos, and bring them at once to their own faith. 
 
 " The author has endeavoured to state (as well as his very 
 imperfect acquaintance with the English language has enabled 
 him to do) with freedom, candour, and simplicity the despe- 
 rateness of such an attempt. His notions on the subject are 
 derived from an experience of thirty-two years of confidential 
 and quite unrestrained intercourse among the natives of India, 
 of all castes, religions, and ranks ; during which, in order to 
 win their confidence and remove suspicion, as far as possible, 
 he has constantly lived like them, embracing their manners, 
 customs, and most of their prejudices in his dress, his diet, 
 their rules of civility and good-breeding, and their mode of 
 intercourse in the world. But the restraints under which ho 
 has lived during so long a period of his life have proved of 
 no advantage to him in promoting the sacred cause in which 
 he was engaged as a religious teacher. During that time he 
 has mainly, in his exertions to promote the cause of Christi- 
 anity, watered the soil of India with his sweats, and many 
 
 * Longman, Hunt, Rees & Co., London, 1823. 
 
The AhUJ. A. Dubois. 39 
 
 times with his tears, at the sight of the quite insimnountable 
 obduracy of the people he had to deal with ; ready to water 
 it with his blood, if his doing so had been able to overcome 
 the invincible resistance he had to overcome everywhere, in 
 his endeavour to disseminate some gleams of the evangelical 
 light. Everywhere the seeds sown by him have fallen upon 
 a naked rock, and have instantly died away. 
 
 " At length entirely disgusted at the total inutility of his 
 pursuits, and warned by his grey hairs that it was full time 
 to think of his own concerns, he has returned to Europe, to 
 pass in retirement the few days he may stiU have to live, and 
 get ready to give in his accounts to his Eedeemer." 
 
 Not less remarkable are the following passages 
 extracted from a " Vindication of the Hindoos " by 
 the Abb^ in the same volume. He states : — 
 
 " On the whole, from all that has come within my know- 
 ledge, I observe, with sorrow, that the interference of the new 
 reformers to improve the condition of the Hindoos has thus 
 far produced more evil than good. In support of this asser- 
 tion, I vrill content myself with citing the two following 
 striking instances : — 
 
 " The first relates to the burning of widows on the pile of 
 their deceased husbands. It is an indubitable fact, fuUy 
 confirmed by the official reports of the local magistrates, that 
 since the clamours raised in Europe and India, and since the 
 country-government has judged fit to interfere, to a certain 
 degree, in order to render it less frequent, it has come more 
 into fashion, and more prevalent. I have seen lists of the 
 victims devoting themselves to that cruel superstition ; and 
 I have observed that, in the districts of Calcutta and Benares, 
 where the horrid practice is most common, the number of 
 victims has been of late much greater than it was about 
 twelve years ago, when the natives were left to themselves, 
 and nobody presumed to interfere with their customs. 
 
 "The second instance is more within my province and 
 
40 The Success of Ghriatian Missions. 
 
 personal observation. It is a certain fact, that since the new 
 reformers have overflowed the country with their Bibles and 
 religious tracts, the Christian religion and the natives who 
 profess it have become more odious to the heathen than ever. 
 
 "Formerly the native Christians, when known, were, it is 
 true, despised and shunned by the pagans ; but, on account 
 of their small numbers, they were scarcely noticed. Now 
 the religious tracts, dispersed with profusion in every direc- 
 tion, have brought them into public notice, and rendered 
 them an object of universal opprobrium ; and I apprehend 
 that this very cause would have given rise to an open perse- 
 cution were it not for the awe inspired by a government 
 which is well known to extend an equal protection to all 
 religious worship. 
 
 "All know that nothing is better calculated to produce 
 irritation, opposition, and resistance than contradiction ; 
 above all, when the contradicted party is the strongest and 
 most obstinate. Now such is precisely the effect produced 
 by the interference of the new reformers with the prejudices 
 of the Hindoos ; and I have reason to apprehend that the 
 opposition of the latter will increase in proportion to the 
 extent of the contradictions to which they are exposed, until 
 it shall finish by some explosion, which may make all India 
 a theatre of confusion and anarchy, to which it will be in the 
 power of no government to apply a remedy." 
 
 The Edinburgh Literary Journal, or Weekly 
 Register of Criticism and Belles Lettres, of 30th 
 May, 1829, with self-confident, though certainly 
 not prophetic foresight, thus concludes a brief 
 notice of the " Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson " : — 
 
 " Having had some opportunities of investigating the sub- 
 ject, we must candidly state that we consider the conversion 
 of the Burmese to Christianity a very hopeless speculation 
 for at least several centuries to come." 
 
"Edinburgh Literary Journal." 41 
 
 Happily for the poor heathen Burmese and Karens, 
 this prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled. What 
 are the facts ? They are briefly these. : during the 
 first six years, dating from 1813, the labour expended 
 on the mission, founded by the apostolic Adoniram 
 Judson, was apparently fruitless. After twenty years 
 the converts numbered upwards of 2000, and by the 
 time another score of years had run their course, they 
 had increased to over 8000. 
 
 At the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Missionary 
 Baptist Union, U.S.A., May, 1889, the secretaries 
 had the satisfaction of reporting that the number in 
 fuU communion at the close of 1888 was close 
 upon 30,000. These have been gathered into 521 
 churches scattered over the country, the members of 
 which contributed in 1888, for churches, schools, and 
 general benevolence, $46,067, or £9213 sterHng, 
 377 of these churches being in addition, to start 
 with, self-supporting ! 
 
 To the numbers here given fall to be added some 
 1831 communicants belonging to the S.P.G. Society, 
 in the diocese of Eangoon. 
 
 What a comment upon the paragraph quoted from 
 the Literary Journal are the simple facts just stated ! 
 " At whatever cost," said the Rev. Dr. D. A. W. 
 Smith, of Burma, ia 1888, when presenting to the 
 Union the report on the missions there, " at what- 
 ever cost, let the year of our Lord 1913, the hun- 
 dredth year of occupation, find Burma a Christian 
 country, prepared to do its full share as one of the 
 
42 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 evangelising agencies of the world." A bold outlook 
 this in the estimation, doubtless, of many, but who 
 shall presume to say that it may not be brought 
 about ? 
 
 The period of the Mutiny in India was a testing 
 time in many respects. The preservation of our 
 Eastern Empire to Britain, while undoubtedly a 
 signal interposition of God's dealing with us as a 
 nation, was, I do not hesitate to say, humanly 
 speaking, due not merely to the bravery of our gal- 
 lant soldiers, but also in some good measure to the 
 devoted loyalty of the native Christians, which had 
 been fostered by missionaries, and by such God- 
 fearing men as the two Lawrences, Havelock, and 
 Edwardes. And yet there were not wanting those 
 who, at that time of national calamity, sought to 
 fasten blame on the friends of missions. The fol- 
 lowing paragraph from " The Greville Memoirs " * 
 will serve to illustrate the statement just made. 
 The reader will note the sneer indulged in at the 
 expense of a distinguished Christian statesman, lately 
 removed from our midst. Writing on 2nd December, 
 1857, Mr. Greville says : — 
 
 " Yesterday morning Lord Sydney received a letter from 
 Lady Canning, wlio said that, although, undoubtedly many 
 horrible things had happened in India, the exaggeration of 
 them had been very great, and that she had read for the first 
 
 * " The Greville Memoirs (Third Part) : A Journal of the Reign of 
 Queen Victoria." By the late Charles C. F. Greville, Eaq., Clerk of 
 the Council. 
 
Lord Mlenborough. 43 
 
 time in the English newspapers, stories of atrocities of which 
 she had never heard at Calcutta, and that statements made in 
 India had turned out to be pure inventions and falsehoods. 
 Yet our papers publish everything that is sent to them with- 
 out caring whether it may be true or false, and the credulous 
 public swallow it all without the slightest hesitation or doubt. 
 Shaftesbury, too, who is a prodigious authority with the 
 public, and who has all the religious and pseudo-religious 
 people at his back, does his utmost to make the. case out to 
 be as bad as possible, and to excite the rage and indignation 
 of the masses to the highest pitch. He is not satisfied with 
 the revolting details with which the Press has been teeming, 
 but complains that more of them have not been detailed and 
 described, and that the particulars of mutilation and violation 
 have not been more copiously and circumstantially given to 
 the world. I have never been able to comprehend what his 
 motives are for talking in this strange and exaggerated strain, 
 but it is no doubt something connected with the grand plan 
 of Christianising India, in the furtherance of which the High 
 Church and the Low Church appear to be bidding against 
 each other ; and as their united force will in all probability 
 be irresistible, so they will succeed in making any Govern- 
 ment in India impossible." 
 
 In the following year, in a letter referring to the 
 system of grants-in-aid to missionary schools, Lord 
 EUenborough, an Ex-Governor-General of India, 
 whose bitter opposition to the Education Despatch 
 of 1854, in so far at least as it sanctions grants to 
 mission schools, is well-known, took occasion to 
 have a fling at the said schools, and sought to 
 make out that the receipt by them of such grants 
 was an infringement of the principle of neutrality, 
 and that the promoters of them were, in conse- 
 
44 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 quence, chargeable with being the cause of the 
 Mutiny. Here are some of his Lordship's remarks : — 
 
 " This measure, guarded as it appears to be by restricting 
 the aid of Government to the secular education of natives in 
 missionary schools, seems to be of a very perilous character. 
 ... I have, from the very first, been under the impression 
 — and all that I have heard from the commencement of the 
 mutinies has only tended to confirm it — that this almost 
 unanimous mutiny of the Bengal Army, accompanied as it 
 has been by very extensive indications of a hostile feeling 
 among the people, could never have occurred without the 
 existence of some all-pervading apprehension that the Govern- 
 ment entertained designs against their religion. No cause 
 inferior could have produced so great a revolution in the 
 native mind. There may have been acts of recent legisla- 
 tion, and certain hardships attending our revenue adminis- 
 tration, which may have had a painful effect in alienating 
 classes of our subjects ; and there may, perhaps, have been 
 a change in the demeanour of persons in civil employment 
 towards the people, and of officers towards the troops ; but, 
 however much to be regretted, these causes of alienation 
 from our Government must have been confined to particular 
 classes and particular localities. Our system of education 
 pervaded the land. It was known in every village. "SVe 
 were teaching new things in a new way ; and often, as the 
 teacher, stood the missionary, who was only in India to con- 
 vert the people." 
 
 In the Times of 21st December, 1872, appeared 
 an article on missions. Well might the editor of the 
 Church Missionary Intelligencer, when reviewing it, 
 remark : — " That the Times could issue such an 
 article is perhaps as conclusive a proof of the general 
 indifference concerning missions as could well be 
 
Lieut. Wood, U.S. Navy. .45 
 
 adduced. If there were not extensive ignorance still 
 existing among intelligent men it would have been 
 arrested before it appeared in type." Take but one 
 paragraph : — 
 
 " Upon an occasion somebody can be produced who can 
 tell of wonders done in some cities or villages of India a very- 
 long time since, with a careful reticence as to the last half 
 or quarter of a century. The most remarkable part of the 
 business is the almost total absence, from English society of 
 all grades, of the persons who could teU us something about 
 it. There ought, by this time, to be many returned mission- 
 aries, and even converts ; nor ought they to be ashamed of 
 their position. But who is there who can number among 
 his personal acquaintance a man who has done some years or 
 a single year of Church Missionary work in any field? An 
 ordinary Englishman has seen almost every human or brute 
 native of foreign climes, but few can say that they have seen 
 a missionary or a Christian convert. Dr. Selwyn went out a 
 good man, and came back a good man, and, what is more, 
 still a vigorous believer ; but fortunately he has something 
 else to do than to tell New "World stories." 
 
 Elsewhere* will be found a spirited reply to the 
 article in question by Lord Lawrence, than whom no 
 man was more competent to expose its ignorant mis- 
 representations. 
 
 For unblushing ignorance, reckless flippancy, and 
 bitter hostility, nothing can exceed the criticisms of 
 missionaries and mission work in China in which 
 Lieutenant Wood of the United States Navy recently 
 indulged.! Here is one of his statements : — 
 
 * See p. 82. 
 
 + These appeared in the Washington Post, New York Evening Post, 
 and other newspapers during September, 1889. 
 
46 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 " There is not a Chinese convert to Christianity of sound 
 mind to-day within the entire extent of China. They are 
 merely the menials employed about the headquarters of the 
 Missionaries, who, for a salary of four dollars per month, he- 
 come converts ; but when they are discharged there is no 
 further evidence of their change of mind. As a matter of 
 fact they (the Missionaries) are looked upon about as the 
 Salvation Army in America, only to a degree ten times as 
 great.'' 
 
 Dr. Ellinwood, one of the Secretaries of the 
 
 Foreign Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church 
 
 in the United States, in his unanswerable reply- 
 justly remarks : — 
 
 " One of the most inexhaustible sources of reckless criti- 
 cism is found in the letters of naval officers, and this has 
 been the case for many, many years. There have been noble 
 exceptions, in such men as Admiral "Wilkes, Admiral Fitz- 
 roy. Commander Perry, Admiral Foote, Admiral SuUivan, 
 Captain Brinkley, E.N., Lieutenant Bove, and many others; 
 but on the other hand, there has been quite another class of 
 naval officers, American and European, who with their crews 
 have been pests of the mission work for more than a half 
 century. Their visits to the shore while lying in the 
 harbours of distant nations were often made for anything 
 but missionary purposes, and many a young officer has found 
 in the marts of eastern countries, far away from the restraints 
 of home, those associations at which his mother might well 
 have felt solicitude. . . ." 
 
 Other adverse criticisms might have been quoted, 
 but the foregoing selection wiU, it is hoped, suffice ; 
 and I pass on, therefore, to view the subject in its 
 brighter aspect. 
 
Bmk m. 
 
 FAVOURABLE OPINIONS. 
 
The " Testimonies " that follow are scattered 
 through Government Blue Books, Books of Travel, 
 Reviews, Reports, &c. The present work is, for the 
 most part, a collection of the more outstanding of 
 these. They are valuable chiefly as being, in most 
 cases, the spontaneous expressions of opinion of such 
 as have been or still are distinguished as statesmen, 
 lawyers, educationists, travellers, or men of letters, 
 and the like ; and also because such witness-bearers 
 were not officially connected or prominently identi- 
 fied with any missionary organisation, but gave their 
 impressions as the result of personal observation 
 and experience. Many, valuable "Testimonies'" by 
 Clergymen, and especially by Missionaries, might 
 have been cited, and there is no valid reason why 
 they should not be heard in their own defence. Lest, 
 however, it should be thought that their calling dis- 
 qualifies them to some extent from pronouncing 
 an impartial opinion, the "Testimonies" have been 
 confined exclusively to laymen. 
 
 48 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GENERAL TESTIMONIES. 
 
 Jesus Christ said — " AH power is given unto Me in heaven and in 
 earth, Oo ye therefore, and teacJi all natioriB, baptising them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghosty — Matt, xxviii. 
 18, 19. 
 
 " After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could 
 number, of aU nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before 
 the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in 
 their hands." — Rev. vii. 9. 
 
 Samuel Johnson, LL.D., Author of " A Dictionary 
 OF the English Language," i&c. 
 
 CONSIDERING that the following passages from 
 the introduction to "The World Displayed" 
 by the great English moralist were written more 
 than a century ago, before the commencement of 
 the era of modern missions, the manner in which 
 the important question of the relation of maritime 
 discovery to the work of missions is discussed reflects 
 the utmost credit, aUke on his stupendous intellect, 
 his penetration, and his benevolent nature. The 
 views here expressed are worthy to take precedence> 
 as chronologically they are entitled to do, in this 
 galaxy of "Testimonies." Here is what he wrote: — 
 
 "In 1463, in the third year of the reign of John II., died 
 49 E 
 
6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Prince Henry, the first encourager of remote navigation, by 
 whose incitement, patronage, and example, distant nations 
 have been made acquainted with each other, unknown 
 countries have been brought into general view, and the power 
 of Europe has been extended to the remotest parts of the 
 world. What mankind has lost and gained, by the genius 
 and designs of this prince, it would be long to compare, and 
 very difficult to estimate. Much knowledge has been acquired, 
 and much cruelty committed ; the belief of religion has been 
 very little propagated, and its laws have been outrageously 
 and enormously violated. The Europeans have scarcely 
 visited any (foast, but to gratify avarice, and extend cor- 
 ruption ; to arrogate dominion without right, and practise 
 cruelty without incentive. Happy had it been for the 
 oppressed, if the designs of Henry had slept in his bosom, 
 and surely more happy for the oppressors. But there is 
 reason to hope, that, out of so much evil, good may sometimes 
 be produced ; and that the light of the Gospel vsdll at last 
 illuminate the sands of Africa, and the deserts of America, 
 though its progress cannot be but slow, when it is so much 
 obstructed by the lives of Christians. 
 
 " The first propagators of Christianity jecommended their 
 doctrines by their sufferings and virtues ; they entered no 
 defenceless territories with swords ia their hands ; they 
 built no forts upon ground to which they had no right ; 
 nor polluted the purity of rehgion with the avarice of trade, 
 or the insolence of power ! What may still raise higher the 
 indignation of a Christian mind, this purpose of propagating 
 truth seems never to have been seriously pursued by any 
 European nation ; no means, whether lawful or unlawful, 
 have been practised with diligence and perseverance for the 
 conversion of savages. When a fort is built and a factory 
 established, there remains no other care than to grow rich. 
 It is soon found that ignorance is most easily kept in sub- 
 jection, and that by enlightening the mind with tru.th fraud 
 and usurpation would be made less practicable and less secure." 
 
Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 51 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 
 
 The great Novelist, in his " History of Scotland," * 
 thus refers to the Picts and Scots while yet bar- 
 barians, and to the efforts to introduce Christianity 
 among them : — 
 
 " Their worship might he termed that of demons, since 
 the imaginary deities whom they adored were the personi- 
 fication of their own evil pursuits and passions. War was 
 their sole pursuit, slaughter their chief delight ; and it was 
 no wonder they worshipped the imaginary god of battle with 
 barbarous and inhuman rites. 
 
 "Even over these wild people, inhabiting a country as 
 savage as themselves, the Sun of Righteousness arose with 
 healing under His wings. Good men, on whom the name of 
 Saint (while not used in a superstitious sense) was justly 
 bestowed, to whom life and the pleasures of this world were 
 as nothing, so they could call souls to Christianity, under- 
 took and succeeded in the perilous task of enlightening these 
 savages. Eeligion, though it did not at first change the 
 manners of nations waxed old in barbarism, failed not to 
 introduce those institutions on which rest the dignity and 
 happiness of social life. The law, of marriage was estab- 
 lished among them, and all the brutalising evils of polygamy 
 gave place to the consequences of a union which tends most 
 directly to separate the human from the brute species. The 
 abolition of idolatrous ceremonies took away many bloody 
 and brutalising practices ; and the Gospel, like the grain of 
 mustard seed, grew and flourished in noiseless increase, 
 insinuating into men's hearts the blessings inseparable from 
 its influence.'' 
 
 The Same. 
 In the prose works of the same distinguished 
 * " Cabinet Cyclopaedia," London, 1831, vol. i. p. 8. 
 
52 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 writer the following passage occurs.* Though it 
 was penned with special reference to the philosophers 
 of the French Eevolution, the sentiments expressed 
 have such a direct bearing on the diffusion of 
 Christianity in pagan lands, that no apology is 
 needed for giving them a prominent place in this 
 volume : — 
 
 " Eeligion cannot," wrote Sir Walter, " exist where 
 immorality generally prevails, any more than a light can 
 burn where the air is corrupted ; and, accordingly, infidelity 
 was so general (during the revolutionary times) in France as 
 to predominate in almost every rank of society. The errors 
 of the Church of Kome, connected as they are with her 
 ambitious attempts towards dominion over men in their 
 temporal as well as spiritual capacity, had long become the 
 argument of the philosophers and the jest of the satirist ; 
 but in exploding these pretensions, and holding them up to 
 ridicule, the philosophers of the age involved vrith them the 
 general doctrines of Christianity itself, nay, some went so 
 far as not only to deny inspiration, but to extinguish, by 
 their sophistry, the lights of natural religion implanted in 
 our bosoms as a part of our birthright. Like the disorderly 
 rabble at the time of the Eeformation, but with infinitely 
 deeper guilt, they not only pulled down the symbols of 
 idolatry, which ignorance or priestcraft had introduced into 
 the Christian Church, but sacrilegiously defaced and dese- 
 crated the altar itself. This work, the philosophers, as they 
 termed themselves, carried on with such an unhmited and 
 eager zeal as plainly to show that infidelity, as well as 
 divinity, hath its fanaticism. An envenomed fury against 
 religion and all its doctrines ; a promptitude to avail them- 
 selves of every circumstance by which Christianity could be 
 
 * Prose Works, published by Cadell & Co, in 1834, vol. viii. 
 pp. 52-56. 
 
Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 53 
 
 misrepresented ; and ingenuity in mixing up their opinions 
 in works which, seemed the least fitting to involve such dis- 
 cussions; above aU, a pertinacity in slandering, ridiculing, 
 and vilifying all who ventured to oppose their principles, 
 distinguished the correspondents in this celebrated conspiracy 
 against a religion, which, however it may be defaced by 
 human inventions, breathes only that peace on earth and 
 good-will to the children of men which was proclaimed by 
 Heaven at its Divine origin. 
 
 " If these prejudiced and envenomed opponents had 
 possessed half the desire of truth, or half the benevolence 
 towards mankind which were eternally on their lips, they 
 would have formed the true estimate of the spirit of 
 Christianity, not from the use which had been made of the 
 mere name by ambitious priests or enthusiastic fools, but by 
 its vital effects on mankind at large. They would have seen 
 that under its influence a thousand brutal and sanguinary 
 superstitions had died away; that polygamy had been 
 abolished ; and, with polygamy, all the obstacles which 
 it offers to domestic happiness, as well as to the due educa- 
 tion of youth, and the natural and gradual civilisation of 
 society. They must then have owned that slavery, which 
 they regarded, or affected to regard, with such horror, had 
 first been gradually ameliorated, and finally abolished by the 
 influence of the Christian doctrines — that there was no one 
 virtue, tending to alleviate mankind, or benefit society, 
 which was not enjoined by the precepts they endeavoured 
 to misrepresent and weaken — no one vice by which 
 humanity is degraded and society endangered, upon which 
 Christianity hath not imposed a solemn anathema. They 
 might also, in their capacity of philosophers, have considered 
 the peculiar aptitude of the Christian religion, not only to all 
 ranks and conditions of mankind, but to all cHmates and 
 stages of society. 
 
 " Nor ought it to have escaped them that the system con- 
 tains within itself a key to those difficulties, doubts, and 
 
54 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 mysteries by which the human mind is agitated, so soon as 
 it is raised beyond the mere objects which interest the 
 senses. Milton has made the maze of metaphysics, and the 
 bewildering state of mind which they engender, a part of the 
 employment, and, perhaps, of the punishment, of the lower 
 regions. Christianity alone offers a clew to this labyrinth ; 
 a solution to these melancholy and discouraging doubts ; and, 
 however, its doctrines may be hard to unaided flesh and 
 blood, yet, explaining as they do^ the system of the universe, 
 which, without them, is so incomprehensible, and through 
 their practical influence rendering men in aU ages more 
 worthy to act their part in the general plan, it seems won- 
 derful how those, whose professed pursuit was wisdom, 
 should have looked on religion not alone with that indiffer- 
 ence, which was the only feeling evinced by the heathen 
 philosophers towards the gross mythology of their time, but 
 with hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. One would 
 rather have expected, that after such a review, men profes- 
 sing the real spirit which searches after truth and wisdom, 
 if, unhappily, they were still unable to persuade themselves 
 that a religion so worthy of the Deity (if such an expression 
 may be used), had emanated directly from revelation, might 
 have had the modesty to lay their finger on their lip, and 
 distrust their own judgment, instead of disturbing the faith 
 of others ; or, if confirmed in their incredulity, might have 
 taken the leisure to compute at least what was to be gained 
 by rooting up a tree which bore such goodly fruits, without, 
 having the means of replacing it by aught which could pro- 
 duce the same advantage to the Commonwealth." 
 
 Isaac Taylor, Author of 
 " The Natural History of Enthusiasm." 
 
 The folio-wing extracts from the "Saturday Evening" 
 Meditations of this literary celebrity wUl be read with 
 
Isaac Taylor. 55 
 
 special interest in view of the recent disparaging and 
 most unfriendly and unjust criticisms on the subject 
 of missions by his son. Whatever the latter has 
 inherited, it is evidently not his father's warm 
 and intelligent interest in the world's evangelisation. 
 The " Natural History " of the lamentable want of 
 " enthusiasm " displayed in these criticisms must be 
 left to the reader to discover. The critic of a former 
 generation thus wrote : — 
 
 " If the conversion of all nations be in question, we have 
 before ns, first, a practical, and then a theoretic subject of 
 inquiry. In reference to the former, no difficulty can be 
 started. The duty of every Christian to promote piety 
 within his family, and his neighbourhood, is clear and 
 imperative, and the most distant missionary enterprise (if 
 prudently undertaken and conducted), is nothing else than 
 an extension of the charity which we severally owe to our 
 neighbours ; a village of England, and a village of India, are 
 the same in the sight of Christian zeal, if it comes within 
 our power to convey to the inhabitants of either the know- 
 ledge of God and His Gospel. 
 
 " It is manifest that no opinions we may entertain relative 
 to the second, or theoretic question, concerning the conver- 
 sion of the world, can properly interfere, in the smallest 
 degree, with what we are called to do, personally, for the 
 conversion of those (far or near), who may stand within the 
 circle of our influence. Truly it is a pitiable imbecility of 
 mind that leads certain persons to withdraw from the field 
 of evangelical labour, because they surmise that the vast 
 designs of Heaven are soon to be accomplished by other 
 agency, or in a manner of its own choice. ... A considera- 
 tion of the theoretic question concerning the probable conver- 
 sion of mankind, if rightly interpreted, and wisely used, 
 instead of tending to enhance, or to give colour to any such 
 
5 6 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 indolent delusion, would at once greatly stimulate our zeal, 
 and (which, perhaps, is stiU more to be desired), would 
 simplify our motives, free the heart from a too onerous 
 solicitude, render us more tranquil amid reverses, and, 
 especially, would lead us with more reverence to wait upon 
 God for the fulfilment of His promises. In the preparation, 
 and arrangement, and government of our evangelic institu- 
 tions it must be confessed that we have too slenderly 
 admitted the principles of human prudence; while in our 
 expectations and surmises of what is to be the issue of those 
 endeavours we have too much gone on the ground of thosfe 
 secular principles which we profess to renounce. This 
 species of inconsistency besets the human mind at every 
 turn. 
 
 "It may be — who shall deny iti — that the zeal which 
 now animates a thousand bosoms, shall ere long animate the 
 bosoms of a million ; that for every ten who now devote 
 themselves to the service of the Gospel, there shaU stand 
 forth a hundred ; that printing, and translation, and teaching 
 shall, year after year, with rapid increase, fill wider circles. 
 It may be that, the Christians of this age, or the sons of the 
 present movers of Missions, may become so devoted, and so 
 wise, and may so receive power from above, as that obstacles 
 and opposition shall give way, and the field — the field of the 
 world — be vanquished by their hands. Such, perhaps, is the 
 destined order of the Divine compassion to mankind, and, 
 assuredly, we should act and pray in hope of it." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 "The grave and masculine superstition of the Asiatic 
 nations, after employing the hot blood of its youth in con- 
 quering the fairest regions of the earth, spent a long and 
 bright manhood in the calm and worthy occupations of 
 government and intelligence. During four centuries the 
 
Professor Adam Sedgwick, M.A. 57 
 
 successors of Mohammed were the only Men the human race 
 could at all boast of. In the later season of its maturity and 
 strength — ^a lengthened period — the steadiness, the gravity, 
 and the immovable rigour, which often mark the temper of 
 man from the moment when his activity declines, and until 
 infirmity is confessed, belonged to Islamism, both Western 
 and Eastern. And now, is it necessary to prove that every 
 symptom characteristic of the last stage of human life, 
 attaches to it ? Mohammedan empire is decrepit ; Moham- 
 medan /ai«7i is decrepit ; and both are so even by confession 
 of the parties. . . ." 
 
 Adam Sedgwick, M.A., F.E.S., Woodwardian 
 Peofessoe, and Fellow of Trinity College, 
 Cambridge.* 
 
 " I remember well the mockery and ribaldry — seasoned 
 with pungent wit, and spiced with words which, if they 
 helped to raise a laugh, served also to raise a blush on a 
 modest cheek — by which a party of humble missionaries, 
 who went out to the islands of the Pacific in the early years 
 of this century, were held up to open scorn in some of the 
 most popular works of that period. These missionaries were 
 not learned men ; and some of them may have imperfectly 
 known their own strength, and ill counted the cost of what 
 they undertook. But they were earnest men, and not to be 
 put down by the wit and mockery of those who had done, 
 and were willing to do, nothing for the civilisation and 
 instruction of the licentious inhabitants of those beautiful 
 islands. The missionaries persevered against scorn and iU- 
 bodings; and before many years were over, their labours 
 were blessed; and they christianised the islands to which 
 they first shaped their course ; and their goodly victory was, 
 under God, followed by one of the most rapid advances in 
 
 * Appeared in Christian Treasury for 1868, p. 31,4. 
 
58 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 civilisation of which we can find an account in the moral 
 records of the present century. 
 
 " If some of the fruits of this holy triumph have fallen 
 short of expectation, and have not been allowed to ripen, 
 thaA misfortune was not the fault either of the missionaries 
 or the natives; hut was the fault of stronger men, who, 
 without a plea of law or justice, invaded and beat down the 
 inhabitants by force of arms, and drove away their Christian 
 teachers. Wisdom is approved of her children; and from 
 this good band of Christian labourers — once so much mocked 
 and scorned by writers of great power and skill — have 
 arisen works we may with truth call philosophical ; which 
 have advanced the cause of physical science, cast a good 
 light upon the history of a very interesting section of the 
 human family, and added a goodly chapter to the religious 
 literature of the present day. 
 
 " Just in the same narrow, and I am sorry to say unchris- 
 tian spirit, some of the most popular writers of this time — 
 men who have delighted us by their prolific works of fiction, 
 and done some service to the cause of humanity and justice, 
 national taste, social freedom, and brotherly love — have 
 thought fit to blight their laurels by frequent and hasty 
 scoffings at honest acts of public zeal for the instruction of 
 the poor natives of heathendom. They write as if every 
 man must be a brained-heated fanatic who stands up on a 
 public platform to plead for his fellow-creatures in distant 
 lands ; and as if every woman, who goes to listen to him and 
 desires to help him, must needs be a simple dreamer, a 
 slattern, a sorry housewife, and a bad mother. Such gross 
 caricatures, if they prove nothing else, are a proof of vulgar 
 taste, and may help to do some mischief; but they partly 
 carry with them their own antidote ; for they are nauseously 
 false and ridiculously untrue to nature. 
 
 " Who ever doubted that there are, and ever will be, great 
 follies even among good men ? There will be found at all 
 times men who talk of goodness, and make a show of it, 
 
Professor Adam Sedgwick, M.A. 59 
 
 ■without loving it for its own sake. Such men are the chaff 
 which the blast of ridicule might, perhaps, winnow from the 
 corn. But our Bihle tells us not to be in too great a hurry- 
 to divide the good part of the crop from the bad — rather to 
 leave the separation to an unerring hand — and as for our- 
 selves, it tells us to hope all things, and to live in charity 
 with our neighbours. 
 
 " A man who pleads honestly (and wisely too), for a cause 
 in which his heart is warm, but for which his hearers have 
 no sympathy, may, perchance, appear to them to be acting 
 and talking like a fool, while he is speaking the very words 
 of truth and wisdom. Let us keep down our mockery, and 
 try gravely and honestly to look Society in the face ; and we 
 shall most certainly see that, among men and women of 
 every grade — from the highest to the lowest — who have felt 
 true love for their fellow-creatures at home and in heathen- 
 dom, and have proved it by efforts for their instruction in 
 the lessons of the Gospel, are to be found some of the best 
 patriots, some of the most high-minded men and best clergy- 
 men, and many of the best daily fireside models of social 
 duty and domestic love. ..." 
 
 After disposing of the hackneyed remark that 
 " charity begins at home," and referring to evils 
 which, as in the case of Africa, Christian Britain, 
 instead of removing, had fostered and engendered for 
 centuries, and to the fruits of Christian missions in 
 the islands of the Pacific, and more especially in New 
 Zealand, previously alluded to, Professor Sedgwick, 
 proceeds : — 
 
 " But a true-hearted Christian does not need an appeal to 
 facts, however much he may rejoice to think of them. The 
 Book of Life is before him. He knows its commands and its 
 promises, and he feels its hopes. He knows well that its 
 
60 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 promises embrace tlie whole human family, and are not 
 bounded by latitude or climate. He does not, on that 
 account, give up the homely duties of that state in which 
 God has placed him. He performs them prudently, loyally, 
 and faithfully. But that does not hinder him from honouring 
 those good and brave men to whom his Maker has given 
 a stronger frame, a wider vision, a firmer wiU, and an ampler 
 and more glorious line of duty than his own. Such men he 
 honours by outward reverence, assists by prudent counsel, and 
 encourages by substantial sympathy. ..." 
 
 " Saturday 'Review!' 
 
 la a notice of the volume of " Krapt's Travels," 
 wBicli appeared in 1861, the Saturday Review thus 
 exposes, somewhat scathingly, those who indulge in 
 sneers at the expense of missionaries : — 
 
 " It would be difficult to find a volume which cuts more 
 completely across the silly popular platitude that missions to 
 the heathen are useless, and that wise men would confine 
 themselves to our own heathens at home. It is strange that, 
 if a man goes merely to hunt, or to make geographical dis- 
 coveries, he is loudly applauded by the very people who 
 speak slightingly of missionaries. To bring home hundreds 
 of tusks and teeth and skins, or to show where a river rises, 
 and what is the altitude of a mountain range, is thought to 
 be a noble achievement ; but to have crossed the plains where 
 the elephants roam, and to have ascended those unknown 
 heights in order to give the greatest of blessings to the men 
 who live there, is thought quixotic, and derogatory to the 
 wisdom of civilised men. The real facts are just the other 
 way." 
 
W. E. Baxter. 61 
 
 W. E. Baxter, formerly M.P. for the 
 Montrose Burghs. 
 
 At the annual public meeting of the Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Society, held in 1866, Mr. Baxter spoke as 
 follows : — 
 
 " There was a time when most men, even in this Christian 
 country, regarded Christian missions as an enterprise at once 
 hopeless and absurd ; and you know very well that our fore- 
 fathers had to spend their breath in proving that there was 
 any meaning at all in the words of the Saviour, ' Go ye, 
 therefore, and teach all nations . . . and, lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world.' You recollect the 
 ridicule, the obloquy heaped upon the heads of our leaders 
 in their enterprise, not only by the vain and frivolous men of 
 the world, but by philosophers, politicians, and some of the 
 leading statesmen of the day. The jeering is now in a lower 
 tone, for with all their dislike and distrust — and there is 
 much dislike as well as distrust — still they cannot shut their 
 eyes to the importance of what really has been doing, when 
 they have seen one after another of the islands of the Pacific 
 throwing away their idols to be baptised in the name of the 
 Lord ; the churches we have formed, and which are flourish- 
 ing far away on the west coast of Africa ; and that what has 
 defied the powers of warriors, merchants, and statesmen — 
 viz., the awakening of the mind of our fellow-subjects in 
 India, has been slowly, but surely and certainly, effected by 
 the more humble missionary efforts. 
 
 " But do not suppose adversaries have abandoned the field 
 of battle ; nothing of the kind. They have only changed 
 their ground, and their charge now is not that the mission- 
 aries have effected nothing, but that they are a set of pesti- 
 lent fanatics who have effected a great deal too much. 
 
 " We had last year a Select Committee of the House of 
 Commons upon British Settlements on the west coast of 
 
62 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Africa, and certain evidence was kid before us to prove two 
 very remarkable things — two propositions which, I daresay 
 will extremely surprise this audience. The first was, that 
 Mohammedanism is the great converting and enlightening 
 power of the world ; and the second, that all the agents of 
 all the Missionary Societies — for to do the gentlemen justice 
 they made no distinction — on that coast were very bad men, 
 and very much disliked. The first and most important wit- 
 ness on behalf of these tales was a certain gentleman, of whom 
 probably some of you have heard. Captain Eichard Burton, 
 one of the few Englishmen who has been in Mecca, and who, 
 they say, is very much enamoured of at least one Mussulman 
 institution, which shall be nameless here. But unfortunately 
 for testimony of this kind, and for its patrons on the Com- 
 mittee — for I am sorry to say it had patrons on the Commit- 
 tee of the House of Commons — there was a man in London 
 at the time whose words even the veriest scoffer did not dare 
 to doubt, and who knew more about Africa than any living 
 man. I proposed that the Committee should caU for Dr. 
 Livingstone, and never shall I forget those few sentences, 
 fuU of force and logical power, in which he shook their base- 
 less fabrics down. The evidence extended over several pages, 
 but I think I can condense it for the benefit of this audience 
 into two questions and answers. The first question — ' In 
 your African travels did you find much proof of the progres- 
 sive power of Mohammedanism 1 Keply — ' In all my African 
 wanderings in the interior I met but two Mohammedans, and 
 they were both very bad men.' Second question — 'Is it 
 true that the missionaries of the west coast are very much 
 disliked, and if so, why ? Eeply — < It is true, and the reason 
 is plain and obvious. Their holy lives are a standing rebuke 
 to the immorality of the surroimding people.' And that 
 plain answer, to use rather a vulgar expression, ' shut up ' the 
 Committee." 
 
W. E. Gladstone, M.P. 63 
 
 The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. 
 
 At a complimentary dinner given in London to 
 Dr. George Smith, on 16tli May, 1879, Mr. Gladstone 
 in proposing tlie memory of Dr. Duff, spoke as fol- 
 lows ; — 
 
 "... I confess for myself that in viewing the present 
 state of the Christian world, we should all adhere openly and 
 boldly to that which we believe and which we hold, not ex- 
 aggerating things of secondary importance as if they were 
 primary ; and, on the other hand, not being ashamed of the 
 colours of the particular regiment in which we serve, nor 
 being disposed to disavow the secondary portions of our con- 
 victions. Having said that, Sir, I may add that I have said 
 it for the purpose of attesting, as I trust it will attest, the 
 sincerity with which, upon this present occasion, I wish to 
 bear testimony to the noble character and the noble work of 
 the man whose memory I propose we should honour. Provi- 
 dential guidance and an admonition from within, a thirst 
 and appetite not addressed to the objects which this world 
 furnishes and provides, but reaching far beyond it, and sn 
 ambition — if I may so say-^an ambition of a very different 
 quality from the commodity ordinarily circulated under that 
 name, but something irrepressible, something mysterious and 
 invisible prompted and guided this remarkable man to the 
 scene of his labours. Upon that scene he stands in competi- 
 tion, I rejoice to think, with many admirable, holy, saintly 
 men, almost contemporaries of ours — contemporaries, many 
 of them, of myself, and perhaps of the older members of this 
 company. Proceeding from quarters known by different 
 names and different associations here, but engaged in a cause 
 essentially holy in those different quarters of the world, I am 
 glad to think that from the bosom of the Church of England 
 there went forth men like Bishop Selwyn and Bishop Pat- 
 teson, bearing upon- their labours a very heroic and Apos- 
 
64 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 tolic stamp. But I rejoice not less unfeignedly to recollect 
 that they have competitors and rivals in that noble race of 
 the Christian warfare, among whom Dr. Duff is one of the 
 most eminent. . . . He is one of the noble army of the con- 
 fessors of Christ. Let no one envy them the crown which 
 they have earned ; let every one, on the contrary, knowing 
 that they now stand in the presence and in the judgment of 
 Him before whom we must all appear, rejoice that they have 
 fought a good fight, that they have run their race manfully 
 and nobly, and that they have laboured for the glory of God 
 and the good of man. Whatever account others might render, 
 they at least have devoted all their energies to diminish the 
 lamentable sum total of sins and sorrows in the world, and 
 done something for their race, and for eternity. ..." 
 
 Hugh Mason, M.P. 
 
 Addressing a meeting in the Free Trade Hall, Man- 
 chester, in the spring of 1882, Mr. Hugh Mason, the 
 chairman, and M.P. for Ashton-under-Lyne, spoke as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Standing in this great commercial city of Manchester, 
 which sends its productions to every part of the globe, 
 not only to the civilised parts, but to the uncivilised parts, 
 and to the unchristian parts, I think I may venture, without 
 bringing any undignified consideration or reflections before 
 you, to appeal to commercial men to stand up for Christian 
 missions even upon subordinate grounds. 
 
 " I look upon the Christian missionary as the pioneer of 
 commercial enterprise, and many a market in distant parts 
 of the globe would have been closed for years and years to 
 the introduction of the manufactures of Lancashire if it had 
 not been that devoted missionaries had first led the way in 
 an attempt to raise the heathen in the scale, not only of 
 
Earl Gairnsr 65 
 
 Christian position, but of social position. I tldnk that com- 
 mercial men are bound to support the missionary societies 
 very much more nobly than they have done, and that the 
 obligation rests upon them as commercial men, even as much 
 as it rests upon them as Christian men, to be more munificent 
 and more liberal in their contributions in the future than 
 they have been in the past." 
 
 The Right Honourable Eael Caiens, 
 1st Eael. 
 On various occasions empatMc testimony to the 
 value of missions was given by the late Earl Cairns. 
 Some passages from two of his lordship's speeches 
 will be read with interest. One of these was delivered 
 at the annual meeting of the Bournemouth Auxiliary 
 of the Church Missionary Society, held in February, 
 1879. On that occasion he said : — 
 
 " I look with the greatest admiration upon men — many of 
 them men of great learning, cultivation, intelligence, energy 
 — who might have spent their lives at home, who at home 
 might have carried away many of those prizes which are 
 looked upon as the reward of merit in this country, but who, 
 constrained by love to Christ, and constrained by the desire 
 to spread among the heathen the knowledge of the Gospel of 
 Christ, have forsaken kindred, country, friends, and ease, 
 and have gone abroad among the heathen to spend a life, 
 often of suffering, often of privation, merely for the purpose, 
 and merely for the satisfaction, of proclaiming the knowledge 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 " Suppose we ask ourselves. What was the duty of the 
 early Christians ? What was the duty of the Christians at 
 the end of the first or the middle of the second century, 
 when they were small in number, compared with the rest of 
 the world, than Christians now are 1 Was it their duty to 
 
 F 
 
66 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 remain content with the point to which they had attained, to 
 remain content with the knowledge which they themselves 
 had, or was it their duty to endeavour to spread that know- 
 ledge over other parts of the world? And if they had 
 remained content, if they had ceased to make any exertion 
 to spread the knowledge of the Gospel, I want to know 
 where we should have been at the present time ? Well, now, 
 is the duty changed, or is the state of things so altered that 
 that which was a duty in the first days of the Church has 
 ceased to be a duty at the present time ■? Is the world so 
 saturated, so permeated with the knowledge of the revealed 
 "Word of God, that there no longer is the duty to endeavour 
 to spread it further 1 Unfortunately, this is far from being 
 the case. "We know that those reckoned as Christians — 
 those who pass under the name of Christ and inhabit Christ- 
 endom — we know that not more than between two-thirds and 
 three-fourths of the population of the world have ever heard 
 of the name of Christ ; and I conceive, in answer to the 
 question which I have put, that our duty at the present day 
 is just as strong to endeavour to spread the knowledge of 
 Christ to those who have not yet received it as it was in the 
 first generation of the Church. . . ." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 At a densely crowded meeting, held in Exeter 
 Hall, 24th March, 1885, by the Church Missionary 
 Society, on the invitation of the Young Men's Christ- 
 ian Association, for the purpose of interesting the 
 young men of London in the heathen and Moham- 
 medan world, Earl Cairns thus spoke*: — 
 
 "... "We are approaching the end of the nineteenth 
 century, and I am bound to say that great as has been our 
 
 * He died eight days thereafter. 
 
Earl Cairns. 67 
 
 progress in arts, in science, in manufacture, in the diffusion 
 of knowledge, and of intercourse during the century, the pro- 
 gress of missions and of missionary enterprise in the century 
 has not been less. At the close of the last century what 
 was the case 1 Why, you could not have laid your finger 
 upon a spot in the heathen world and have said, ' On this 
 spot at least the pure light of the Gospel has shone down.' 
 And now what do we see around us ? Look at India, look 
 at Japan, look even at China, look at Africa — "West Africa, 
 East Africa, South Africa, Central Africa — look at the great 
 districts of the Hudson's Bay; look at Fiji, look at Poly- 
 nesia, look at Melanesia, and what do you find % No doubt 
 , your maps of heathendom are covered with large surfaces of 
 blackness and darkness, but yet what gleams, what patches, 
 yes, and what whole districts of light and brightness have 
 become interspersed ! 
 
 " And what an honour has been conferred upon England 
 and upon the Anglo-Saxon race in being privileged to do 
 God's missionary work. We boast and pride ourselves on 
 this — 'that we have been throughout the world the pioneers 
 of commerce and civilisation. Yes ; that is quite true. But 
 it has pleased God to confer upon the Anglo-Saxon race, and 
 mainly upon England, a higher, because a purer and a more 
 holy honour, in that it has been given to the Anglo-Saxon 
 race, and mainly to England, pre-eminently and almost 
 exclusively of all the countries in the world, to be the 
 bearers to the heathen of the wondrous revelation of God's 
 mercy and love. And in that great day when He comes to 
 make up His jewels, I wonder if any brighter name will shine 
 forth in the galaxy of heaven than the names of those great 
 British missionaries whom this century has produced — 
 Henry Martyn, William Carey, Judson, Morrison, Marsden, 
 Williams, Johnson, Hunt, Gardiner, Duff, Livingstone, 
 Moffat, and Bishop Patteson, the martyr of Melanesia. 
 
68 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 The " Spectatoe." 
 
 The following passages are extracted from an 
 article which appeared in the Spectator on 5 th 
 November, 1887, criticising Canon Taylor's attack 
 on Christian missionaries : — 
 
 "... The plain truth about modern missionary work we 
 believe to be this. It has become a profession, a most noble 
 and very successful profession, and like every other profes- 
 sion, has drawn to itself men of all kinds, of whom a large 
 majority are qualified by inner disposition for its duties. 
 At an expense of about a million a-year, the Protests 
 ant Churches send out to most parts of the heathen, and 
 some parts of the Mussulman world, a perpetually renewed 
 force of men and women, to teach to those who know them 
 not, Christianity and civilisation. Those men and women 
 are of all sorts, some unfit,' one or two in a thousand hope- 
 lessly unfit — bad persons, in short — a few fit to a degree no 
 words of ours will adequately describe, but a majority well 
 qualified in extremely varied ways for the burdensome duty 
 they have to perform. Many are teachers, many preachers, 
 many scholars, many, like Dr. Moffat, born rulers of men ; 
 but in all but a very few, there is one quality rare in any 
 other profession, — absolute devotion to the work to be done. 
 If they can do it, living as quiet, hardworking pastors in the 
 tropics, they do it so. If it requires of them excessive toU, 
 abstinence from all that is pleasant to man, the incessant 
 facing of physical danger, including what is a moral certainty 
 of death by torture, they accept those conditions, not boast- 
 ing, not murmuring, as parts of the burden their consciences 
 have placed upon their necks. The writer once knew one 
 of them intimately who for twenty years preached in a tropi- 
 cal jungle under daily threats of death by torture, who was 
 repeatedly ordered for execution, who nevertheless was a 
 
The " Spectator." 69 
 
 cheerful, even humorous man, with this one great sadness on 
 his conscience, — that he had once — he, a strict preacher of 
 non-resistance — to save a girl from murder, knocked her 
 assailant down. The majority are not called upon for his 
 sacrifices, hut everywhere they do their work, setting up an 
 ideal which raises even heathenism, establishing Christian 
 colonies, teaching native teachers — often, no doubt, in Africa, 
 as Mr. Johnston says, in his cold yet sympathetic paper in the 
 Nineteenth Century, horrible failures, but often also the salt 
 of entire districts — and everywhere spreading among bar- 
 barians the first ideas of a nobler and loftier life. We say 
 distinctly, as the result of a life's experience, that this much 
 is successfully done, and done frequently by men whom the 
 world would account underbred ; done, too, by a few in whom 
 varied experience, wide knowledge of many faiths, intense 
 observation of lower races, have begotten something hardly 
 distinguishable from an inner doubt. The profession, as a 
 rule, conquers them all, producing, among other things, a sort 
 _ of horror, occasionally almost painful in its manifestations, 
 of ceasing from direct labour, ' going,' as they say, ' back 
 from the plough.' How it is possible for Christians of any 
 sort to condemn such a profession with such results, we can 
 no more conceive than we can conceive how a Christian 
 Church can be fully alive, yet never wish to proselytise. 
 
 " But then, these results are not conversions 1 Yes they 
 are, just as much conversions as St. Augustine's. Let us 
 speak - out the exact truth. "We no more believe that the 
 majority of converts anywhere in the tropics are men raised 
 to the level, say, of English clergymen, than we believe that 
 St. Augustine's or Olafs converts were. They are nothing 
 of the kind. Ordinary intellectual acquiescence in Christi- 
 anity as truer than any other faith, will no more turn a 
 savage into a civilised man than it will turn a Bengalee into 
 an Englishman. It took more than one generation, or three, 
 to kill the brutality out of the Saxons ; and it will take many 
 to kill out the special predispositions of the tropical races 
 
70 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 towards evils — incontinence for one — whicli oftentimes they 
 only dimly, and as it were at a distance, even see to be evils. 
 There is always the difficulty, too, which, pace Dr. Taylor, 
 has nothing on earth to do with Christianity, that tropical 
 man, when he drinks, longs to be drimk ; and that the Christ- 
 ian missionary, unlike Munoo, Gautama, and Mohammed, 
 is unable to say that drink in se, and apart from drunken- 
 ness, is inevitable damnation. But, nevertheless, there are 
 converts, genuine converts, converts as complete and as sincere 
 as were any of those made by the Apostles. The missionary 
 reports often use, though less now than formerly, a sickening 
 religious phraseology ; but we appeal to hostile critics to 
 answer the question whether they have ever known a Christ- 
 ian Native Church in the tropics in which there were not 
 one or two whom they excepted from all their doubts or 
 censures, whom they felt to be utterly unlike all around, 
 ' Christian * as well as heathen, whom they could trust 
 implicitly under all circumstances, and who were of them- 
 selves proof, positive proof, that there is nothing in race, 
 nothing in climate, nothing in circumstance, which should 
 ultimately prevent, in any corner of the world, the triumph 
 of Christianity. The work is hard, but it is not hopeless." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDIA AND BURMA. 
 
 Colonel Sir Herbert B. Edwardes, K.C.B., 
 Commissioner of Peshawur. 
 
 AT a public meeting held at Peshawur in December, 
 1853, with a view to the organising a mission 
 to the Afghans, the Commissioner made the follow- 
 ing discriminating remarks on the respective duties 
 of Government officials and missionaries to their 
 Indian fellow-subjects : — 
 
 " Our mission in India, is to do for other nations wliat we 
 have done for our own. To the Hindoos we have to preach 
 one God, and to the Mohammedans to preach one Mediator. 
 
 " And how is this to he done ? By State armies and State 
 persecutions 1 By demolishing Hindoo temples, as Mahmud 
 of Ghuzni did 1 or hy defihng mosques with Mohammedan 
 blood, as Kunjeet Singh did ? 
 
 " It is obvious that we could not, if we would, follow such 
 barbarous examples. The 30,000 Englishmen in India would 
 never have been seen ruling over 20,000,000 of Hindoos and 
 Mohammedans, if they had tried to force Christianity upon 
 them with the sword. 
 
 " The British Government has wisely maintained a strict 
 neutrality inreligiousmatters, andHindoos and Mohammedans, 
 
 71 
 
72 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 secure of our impartiality, have filled our armies and built up 
 our empire. 
 
 " It is not the duty of our Government, as a Government, 
 to proselytise India. Let us rejoice that it is not; let us 
 rejoice that pure and impure motives, religious zeal, and 
 worldly ambition are not so lamentably mixed up ! 
 
 " The duty of evangelising India lies at the door of private 
 Christians ; the appeal is to private consciences, private effort, 
 private zeal, and private example. Every EngKshman and 
 Englishwoman in India are answerable to do what they can 
 towards fulfilling it." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 In a letter, dated from Kussowlee, in the Punjab, 
 27tli July, 1863, the hero of Mooltan, as he has 
 been well called, wrote as follows to the late Earl of 
 Chichester, for many years the honoured President of 
 the Church Missionary Society : — 
 
 "Since returning to India, I can perceive the strongest indi- 
 cations of its people being on the march from the stronghold 
 of their own ideas. There is a marked activity of thought in 
 the educated classes, especially of the Hindoos; a sudden 
 recognition of being wrong, or not quite right, and a desire to 
 advance to new things under cover of old names ; a sort of 
 shame-faced reformation, tending away from idolatry and 
 towards Christian belief, through the half-way house of 
 Christian morals ; and all from native exponents, declaring 
 this is not Hindooism, nor that, and must be put away, but 
 never telling where they get the light; from the feeble 
 tapers which your Society and others have kept flickering 
 alive, in scattered mission-houses, for sixty years, amid 
 darkness, and discouragement, and scorn. jMissions in India 
 have begun to tell. God grant that we may see their 
 triumph in our day ! " 
 
Colonel Sir Herbert B. Edwardes, K.G.B. 73 
 
 The Same. 
 
 At tlie sixty-seventh anniversary of the Church 
 Missionary Society, held 1st May, 1866, the same 
 distinguished soldier moved the following resolu- 
 tion : — 
 
 " That the speedy triumpli of Christianity in British India 
 becomes every day more hopeful, if the proclamation of the 
 Gospel be viewed in connection with the momentous changes 
 which are going forward in the political, social, and intel- 
 lectual habits of the people." 
 
 In speaking to the foregoing resolution, after 
 alluding to the extraordinary changes in the political 
 life of India resulting from the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, 
 and to the momentous changes also that were going 
 forward in the social and intellectual habits of the 
 people. Sir Herbert Edwardes thus proceeds : — 
 
 "What I wish to ask this assembly is, whence do they 
 spring, and whither are they leading the people of India 1 
 I maintain that from Christianity they come, and in 
 Christianity they will find their consummation. I do not 
 deny that the secular education imparted by the State has 
 had a large share in this good work as well as direct mission- 
 ary labour. But what is the secular education of the 
 nineteenth century ? It is an amalgam of ancient learning, 
 modern science, and Christian ethics. Alone it cannot give 
 the Christian faith, but neither is it hostile to Christianity, 
 rather it prepares the way, and welcomes fuller light and 
 truth when it arrives. That secular education and civilisa- 
 tion will . ever regenerate a nation I do not believe. It does 
 not go to the root of the matter. It is a police force at best. 
 It does much to suppress crime between man and man, but 
 
74 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 it does nothing for sin between man and his Maker. 
 Undoubtedly it softens what is brutal in human nature ; but 
 it leaves untouched what is Satanic. It was well said by 
 one of the ablest missionaries in India (Dr. Mullens) that 
 ' He alone can make a new nation who can form a new man.' 
 That He is forming a new nation in India is clear to every 
 thoughtful mind. While the Hindoos are busy pulling down 
 their own religion, the Christian Church is rising above the 
 horizon. 
 
 " Amidst a dense population of 200 millions of heathen, 
 the little flock of 200,000 native Christians may seem 
 like a speck, but surely it is that 'little cloud out of 
 the sea, like a man's hand,' which tells that there is to 
 be ' a great rain.' Every other faith in India is decaying. 
 
 " Christianity alone is beginning to run its course. It has 
 taken long to plant, but it has now taken root, and, by God's 
 grace, will never be uprooted. The Christian converts have 
 already been tested by persecution and martyrdom in 1857, 
 and stood the test without apostasy, and I believe that if 
 the English were driven out of India to-morrow Christianity 
 would remain and triumph. In conclusion, I would wish to 
 guard all friends of missions against two great errors — the 
 Scylla and Charybdis of evangelical work — 1, Expecting too 
 great results ; 2, valuing too little the results obtained. On 
 the one hand, don't expect a millennium on earth before the 
 coming of our Lord Himself. The conversion of 200,000,000 
 of heathen is not to be done by pulling a bell at your fireside. 
 It is the vast inheritance of the , Saviour, and must be 
 gathered in by toil and waste of human life. But do not, 
 on the other hand, be discouraged by the testimony of those 
 faint-hearted witnesses, who return from the promised land 
 with the report that ' The people be strong that dwell in the 
 land, and the cities are walled and very great, and, moreover, we 
 saw the children of Anak there.' I, too, have gone up and 
 seen it, and have flung at your feet, this day, a cluster of the 
 grapes of Eshcol. It is but ' a cluster,' it is true, for time 
 
Colonel Sir Herbert B. Edwardes, K.C.B. 75 
 
 aud strength do not serve to gather more ; but it testifies 
 that the land ' floweth with milk and honey ' of Christian 
 promise, and I would say with Caleb, ' Let us go up and 
 possess it, for we are well able to overcome it.' Put confi- 
 dence, then, in your missionaries, and sustain their hearts. 
 I feel ashamed to offer my poor testimony in behalf of such 
 a band ; but the questions that have been put to me in 
 England compel me to say a word. I have been twenty- 
 five years in the Indian service, and have been thrown into 
 contact with many missionaries of many Protestant denomi- 
 nations, and from many countries. I confess freely that 
 I have found no angel among them. They were all men. 
 Some were gifted by God with very high powers, indeed, 
 and some with very humble powers. To some were vouch- 
 safed large measures of success, to others little. All had 
 some share of human frailty. But I have never seen one 
 who was not labouring with a single eye for the conversion 
 of the heathen to the utmost of his ability, and setting the 
 example of a holy Christian life. Well would it be for the 
 State if, in any department of its service, civil or military, 
 it had such a body of servants as the missionaries in India. 
 Do not discourage them then ; do not distrust them. Send 
 out more to help them. Think how little can be done by 
 500 missionaries among 200,000,000 of heathen. Kemember 
 the two first missionaries who ever went to India — 
 Ziegenbalg and Plutscho. They were sent by Frederic 
 IV. of Denmark, great-great-great grandfather of our Princess 
 of Wales, in 1705. They found not one Protestant native 
 Christian in India. Eemember Schwartz and Ehenius, and 
 the long line of evangelists and martyrs down to Eagland, 
 Pfander, Janvier, and Eobert ISToble. These men ploughed 
 and sowed, but only reaped their tens and hundreds. And 
 where are they now ? Absorbed, like the souls of the 
 Brahmins ? Or annihilated like the souls of the Buddhists ? 
 No ! they are a portion of the ' great cloud of witnesses,' who 
 encompass you now as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob encom- 
 
76 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 passed the Hebrew Clmrch. And they are now thanking 
 God for the 200,000 redeemed ones, over whose scanty 
 numbers you are murmuring with faithless discontent. 
 Murmur no more, but urge your missionaries to develop 
 and complete the native churches ; to bring forward native 
 pastors for ordination ; and, where these have been secured 
 with vast congregations of native Christians, as at Tinnevelly, 
 give no rest to the Bishops of India till they consecrate a 
 native Bishop, and leave the native Christian Church to walk 
 alone. Christianity will then be more indigenous in India 
 than Mohammedanism has become in eleven centuries ; for 
 instead of being propagated by the sword of the stranger, it 
 will be preached and evangelised by the natives of the soil. 
 God grant that we may all live to see it ! " 
 
 MACLEOD WyLIE, BARRISTER, FiRST JuDGE OF THE 
 
 Calcutta Court of Small Causes. 
 
 Extracted from his valuable work " Bengal as a 
 Field of Missions "* :— 
 
 " In this country, notwithstanding all deficiencies and aU 
 shortcomings, I am persuaded that there has been decided 
 and remarkable progress. In all the places where missions 
 are known, the conviction has been growing that Christianity 
 will certainly prevail. There has been, indeed, a long course 
 of trial and discouragement ; there have been few things to 
 kindle enthusiasm at home ; but from the time when the 
 illustrious band at Serampore began their memorable labours, 
 to the present hour, there has been a breaking-down of 
 Brahminism, and now the blight of God is on it, and it is 
 waning and fading away. . . . Education is uprooting 
 ancient prejudices and superstitions, and I would fain hope 
 that the day is near at hand when there will be such an out- 
 
 * W. H, Dalton, London, 1854. 
 
Macleod Wylie. 77 
 
 pouring of Divine Grace as will vivify the dormant convic- 
 tions of those who now appear to be halting between two 
 opinions, and are almost persuaded to be Christians. 
 Changes, great changes, undoubtedly have already taken 
 place — even in the period of my own residence I have seen 
 and known them. But the signs of infinitely mightier 
 changes are apparent all around, and India, as the young of 
 the present generation come forward into action, perhaps 
 will lead the vanguard of Christianity in Asia. . . . There 
 is nothing in India to withstand the progress of Christianity. 
 Hindooism is effete — even civilisation by itself would over- 
 throw a system in which so much folly, and so much corrup- 
 tion, join together to deify a heartless and sensual priesthood. 
 The idols are already a shame, and also a reproach, and the 
 Brahmins are conscious that their supremacy is doomed. 
 There is neither political power nor popular enthusiasm, now, 
 to uphold their ascendency ; they trust simply to the con- 
 tinuance of delusions, which are becoming less and less 
 prevalent every hour. . . . 
 
 "... There may be in this land now crowds of deluded 
 worshippers, idols in thousands, and every hateful and God- 
 dishonouring sign of vile and debasing demon-worship ; but 
 the eye of faith can pierce beyond the present scene, and 
 behold this thickly-peopled country from north to south, and 
 east and west, elevated, and blessed, with aU things made 
 anew. ..." 
 
 Two years or so later, Mr. Macleod Wylie, in the 
 Church Missionary Intelligencer, writes as follows : — 
 
 " . . . If education, combined with the motives and 
 temptation of ambition, and the growth of wealth and civi- 
 lisation, have thus signally failed to elevate these people, 
 must we not feel that our missions have here a work of 
 peculiar difficulty and trial? And have we not thus an 
 explanation of much which would otherwise sorely dis- 
 courage us % Carry the Gospel to the poor liberated negro, 
 
78 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 who looks on you as his deliverer, and whose mind is pre- 
 occupied by no antecedent belief of any power or influence ; 
 go to the South Seas, and speak to a people who witness the 
 superiority of your civilisation ; and you enter at once on a 
 career of almost certain success, if not of the very highest 
 and purest kind, at least in their nominal and thankful adop- 
 tion of Christianity. But here all things are against us. 
 We have a people whose religion presses on them — as Eobert 
 Hall said — like the atmosphere ; whose history of suffering 
 and oppression, century after century, has crushed within 
 them the elements of courage, independence, and sincerity ; 
 and whose daily life reminds them, from moment to moment, 
 of their identification with a system, and their subjection to 
 a priesthood, both of which have been almost omnipotent for 
 ages. . . . 
 
 " "We are compelled, then, in dealing with Christianity in 
 India, to regard our work here as a grand experiment of the 
 power of Christianity on an empire already largely civilised, 
 in possession of a definite and ancient creed and an elaborate 
 system of worship ; a work in which we have no complete 
 precedents to help us from the records of experience, and in 
 which there is such a combination of obstacles and difficulties 
 as never, probably, was encountered before. And it may 
 seem that hitherto we have made little progress. But let not 
 that be too hastily concluded. Certainly, if we measure our 
 progress by that which we see of direct results, we may well 
 feel grieved and saddened. But when we consider how 
 widely spread, in some parts, is an intellectual knowledge 
 of the Gospel, and how often the Lord prepares His work 
 beforehand, as it were, and lays deep foundations for future 
 moral revolutions, we may weU be silenced; and rather 
 believe that, in fact, the work of His servants wiU prove not 
 to have been in vain, than hastily conclude that there is no 
 more fruit than we are permitted to gather. ..." 
 
Lieut-Colonel J. H. Wakefield, H.E.I.G.S. 79 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel J. H; Wakefield, H.E.I.C.S. 
 
 Early in 1858, Colonel Wakefield, in a paper on 
 " The Feeling of tlie Native Mind in India towards 
 Christianity," thus writes : — 
 
 " After a residence of thirty-four years in India, with an 
 intimate knowledge of the language, habits, customs, and the 
 workings of the native mind acquired during so long a period 
 of constant association with the natives, I am in a position to 
 speak to the point regarding the feeling of the native mind 
 towards Christianity. During the last twenty years the 
 native mind has undergone a wonderful change. A flood 
 of light, by means of secular learning, in addition to the 
 publication of Gospel truth, has been shed over this dark 
 land. This has been deeply felt by the warrior-priests in the 
 native army, and has been the great cause of the present 
 revolt. The Hindoo, either of high or low caste, after being 
 assured that the Christian religion does not consist in wearing 
 a coat and trousers, or eating beef and drinking intoxicating 
 liquors, is quite willing to hear the pure truth of our spiritual 
 religion, and admires and respects the development of it in 
 the consistent action of a true Christian. 
 
 " Not so the fanatical follower of the false prophet. The 
 corner-stone of our religious fabric is to him a stumbling- 
 block and standing rook of offence. He hates him who 
 speaks to him of the divinity of Christ. He denounces him 
 as an impudent infidel, and considers the application of the 
 sword as the only cure of such blasphemy. For years past 
 I have been asked 'by the sepoys whom I commanded if the 
 Government intended to make them Christians by compelling 
 them to eat and drink like Europeans. They (the Hindoos) 
 had heard from their forefathers of the force used in making 
 proselytes to the Mohammedan superstition, and with the 
 caprice and credulity of all Asiatics (though they knew that 
 every act of the Indian Government proclaimed non-interfer- 
 
80 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 ence), they would believe tliafc force would be used to make 
 them Englishmen, by interfering with their caste. ... I feel 
 assured that the terrific events now taking place in India are 
 preliminary to a strong reaction of the native mind towards 
 Christianity, if our Government will only honestly con- 
 fess it." 
 
 The Eight Honoubable Loed Lawrence, G.C.B., 
 G.C.S.I., D.C.L., GovEENOE of the Punjab, 
 and afteewabds vicekot and governor- 
 General of India. 
 
 The following weighty passages are extracted 
 from Lord Lawrence's Despatches on the subject of 
 Christianity in India. They were written in 1858, 
 when his Lordship was Chief Commissioner of the 
 Punjab, and deserve to be careftdly pondered : — 
 
 " In doing the best we can for the people," his Lordship 
 wrote, " we are bound by our conscience, and not by theirs. 
 Believing that the study of the Bible is fraught with the 
 highest blessings, we, of course, do desire to communicate to 
 them those blessings if we can. "We desire this, not only as 
 individuals, but as a Government, for Christianity does truly 
 go hand-in-hand with aU those subjects for which British 
 rule exists in India. But this can be effected by moral 
 influences voluntarily received. Anything like proselytism 
 or persecution of any kind, or the application of secular 
 motives, direct or indirect, are, in the first place, absolutely 
 forbidden by the very religion we profess, and, in the second 
 place, would be worse than useless for the object in view. 
 Therefore, we have nothing to do with such means. Neither 
 do we as a Goverimient undertake to found and maintain 
 Christian missions, because the thing can be done better by 
 
Lord Lawrence. 81 
 
 private effort, and because our doing so might tend to intro- 
 duae those secular means for the propagation of Christianity 
 which we wish to avoid. But as we have schools, there 
 arises a fair opportunity of offering the Bible to those who 
 may choose to receive it ; and, in the Chief Commissioner's 
 opinion, it is just, politic, and right, that we should avail 
 ourselves of that opportunity. Such, briefly stated, is the 
 real argument for the formation of Bible classes in Govern- 
 ment schools. . . . 
 
 " To say that we have no right to offer Christian teaching 
 to Government schools because we do not allow the native 
 religions to be taught there, is to misapprehend the funda- 
 mental relation that in this country subsists between the 
 Government and the people. We are to do the best we can 
 for them, according to our lights, and they are to obey us. 
 
 "Mr. Arnold writes, 'What answer am I to give to 
 Hindoos and Mohammedans if they say that after having 
 excluded their religions, I have introduced my own % Shall 
 I say that I am master, that I am the Officer of a conquering 
 government, and will do as I please?' That answer I am 
 to observe, would indeed be arbitrary. The proper answer 
 would be thus — ' We offer you the Bible in our Government 
 schools because we believe it to be for your inestimable good, 
 if you choose to listen to it. We do not wish you to study 
 it Tmless you do so voluntarily. But you cannot expect us 
 to help in teaching your religion, which we do not believe to 
 be true. That you can do for yourselves. ..." 
 
 " All those measures, which are really and truly Christian, 
 can be carried out in India, not only without danger to 
 British rule, but, on the contrary, with every advantage to 
 its stability. ' 
 
 " Christian things done in a Christian way will never, the 
 Chief Commissioner is convinced, alienate the heathen. 
 About such things there are qualities which do not provoke 
 or excite distrust, nor harden to resistance. It is when 
 unchristian things are done in the name of Christianity, or 
 
 O 
 
8 2 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 ■when Christian things are done in an unchristian way, that 
 mischief and danger are occasioned. ..." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 The following is the crushing reply of this dis- 
 tinguished soldier and statesman to the article which 
 appeared in the Times of 21st December, 1872,* on 
 the subject of missions — an article as unjust as it 
 was unworthy of a newspaper in which one expects 
 to find the highest intelligence : — 
 
 "Although I must leave to others who are more competent 
 to deal with it, the consideration in all its aspects of the very- 
 complex question of missions upon which you have recently 
 touched in connection with the day of prayer, it has so 
 important a bearing upon the stability of our Indian Empire 
 that I may be pardoned for making a few remarks on the 
 subject. 
 
 " A mere enumeration of the countries in which Church of 
 England missionaries are employed would suffice to show that 
 there are no grounds for stating that they give up any race or 
 region as inaccessible. But, instead of referring to Africa, 
 New Zealand, North- Western America, and other fields in 
 which the Church of England is labouring, I will restrict 
 myself to India, of which I have personal knowledge. Those 
 who are disappointed at the results of missionary labours in 
 this country must bear in mind that the Hindoos, who form 
 the bulk of the population, have shown such tenacity to their 
 faith that eight centuries of Mohammedan rule had left the 
 masses as strongly wedded as ever to their system of caste, 
 and to their religious belief and rites. In almost all other 
 countries the Mohammedans had succeeded in proselytising the 
 people whom they had subjugated, but in India they found 
 
 * Sue p. 45. 
 
Lord Lawrence. 83 
 
 a religious system which, had so moulded every thought and 
 habit and custom of the people, that the sword of persecution, 
 ■wielded by some of the Delhi Emperors, and the temporal 
 advantages offered by others, had no effect except upon an 
 insignificant number of the Hindoos. 
 
 " Bearing in mind that general missionary effort in India 
 dates from 1813, and that even now missionaries are sent 
 forth in such inadequate numbers that, with few exceptions, 
 only the large towns and centres have been occupied (some of 
 them with a single missionary), it was scarcely to be expected 
 that in the course of sixty years the idols of India would be 
 utterly abolished ; the wonder rather is that already there are 
 so many unmistakable indications that Hindooism is fast los- 
 ing its hold upon the affections of the people. It was hardly 
 to be expected that the citadel should surrender at the first 
 summons, but there is every prospect, by God's blessing, of 
 its being stormed at last ; and at this crisis of India's history 
 it is most important that the people should receive instruction 
 in the saving truths of the Gospel. 
 
 " But you say there is no human enterprise of such organi- 
 sation as the missions of the Church of England which shows 
 such poor results. Is this indeed the case 1 It is very diffi- 
 cult to estimate the effects of moral, and still less of spiritual, 
 work. Those of material operations are palpable to even 
 superficial observation. Not so in the other case. One must 
 look deeply, one must understand the people subject to such 
 influences, before it is possible to estimate the effects which 
 have been produced on their minds and characters. The 
 number of actual converts to Christianity, including Burma 
 and Ceylon, is not insignificant. By the latest returns, 
 which are trustworthy, their numbers do not fall much short 
 of 300,000. But these numbers do not by any means give 
 an adequate estimate of the results of missionary labour. 
 There are thousands of persons scattered over India who, 
 from the knowledge which they have acquired, either directly 
 or indirectly, from the dissemination of Christian truth, of 
 
84 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Christian principles, have lost all belief in Hindooism and 
 Mohammedanism, and are in their conduct influenced by 
 higher motives, who yet fear to make an open profession of 
 the change in them, lest they should be looked on as outcasts 
 and lepers by their own people. Such social circumstances 
 must go on influencing converts until the time comes when 
 their numbers are sufficiently large to enable them to stand 
 forth and show their faith, without ruin to their position in 
 life. 
 
 " You tell us, again, that there ought to be many returned 
 missionaries, and even converts, who ought not to be ashamed 
 of their position. Alas ! but few of the former live to see 
 their native land, or at any rate to pass the remnant of their 
 lives in it after years of toil abroad. But those who know, 
 or have known, such men as Lacroix, Dr. Duff, Dr. Wilson, 
 C. B. Leupolt and Mr. Smith (both of Benares), Edward 
 Stuart, John Barton, Valpy French, Joseph Welland, and 
 Kobert Clark, and many others, whose names for the moment 
 escape my memory, within the last twenty years, cannot have 
 a doubt that we have earnest and faithful Christian mission- 
 aries still in our ranks. It is only a month ago since we 
 heard of the death of one of this class. Dr. William Elmslie, 
 who for the last seven years had devoted his life to the good 
 cause in Cashmere, and whose death was caused by the priva- 
 tions and exposure incident to the discharge of the duties he 
 had undertaken in that country. 
 
 " I will not deny that we do not see as many Christian 
 converts among the natives of India as we would wish, but, 
 nevertheless, there are such men. Your readers will recall 
 the Sub-Assistant Surgeon of Delhi (formerly a Hindoo in 
 religion) who, at the outbreak of the Mutiny, gave up his 
 life rather than renounce the Christian faith he professed. 
 There are few Englishmen who have taken an interest in 
 Indian missions who could not produce many other cases of 
 the kind. Men like Lord Napier of Merchistoun, Sir Bartle 
 Frere, and others have borne testimony to the good fruits of 
 
Lord Lawrence. 85 
 
 missionary enterprise in India ; and in sucli men as the late 
 Bishop Heber, Bishop Cotton, and the present Bishop Milman 
 and Bishop Gell, we have had and still have clergymen who, 
 both by their example and devotion to their duties, have 
 advanced the faith which they have preached. 
 
 " If we are to wait until the time when aU the people of 
 England are influenced in their lives by Christian- principles 
 before we carry on our efforts to convert the inhabitants of 
 India, I am afraid we must postpone the enterprise to an 
 indefinite period. But was that the principle on which the 
 Gospel was first preached by the commands of our Lord and 
 Saviour % Was that the rule adopted by the Apostles and the 
 Primitive Church? Truly, the conduct and character of 
 Englishmen have had a mighty influence on missionary 
 enterprise in India and elsewhere. No doubt such considera- 
 tions have led many a heathen to reject the faith which 
 seemed to him to produce such evil fruit. But the greater 
 the baneful eifects of such examples, the more necessary is it 
 that we should apply the Gospel as an antidote. Apart from 
 the higher interests of religion, it is most important, in the 
 interests of the Empire, that there should be a special class 
 of men of holy lives and disinterested labours living among 
 the people, and seeking at all times their best good. To 
 increase this class, and also to add to the number of qualified 
 teachers among the natives themselves, was the object of the 
 day of special prayer, and in this object I heartily sympa- 
 thise. 
 
 "In England we too often see good and earnest men 
 weakening the influence of the power of Christian faith, by 
 their want of union, and by their excessive difi'erences on 
 unimportant points of Church doctrine and administration. 
 This is a stumbling-block in the way of many of our own 
 people as well as among the natives of India. But such 
 jarring views, for the most part, are either not found among 
 the different classes of Christian missionaries in that country, 
 or are studiously kept in the background. These missionaries 
 
86 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 are in the habit of meeting in conference from time to time 
 for the purpose of mutual counsel, and for the general 
 furtherance of the cause they have at heart." 
 
 The Eight Hon. George W. Frederick Howard, 
 K.G., 7th Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society in 1859, the Earl of Carlisle — known in his 
 day as " the Good Earl " — spoke as foUows : — 
 
 " I cannot forget that the Baptist Missionary Society has 
 borne no obscure or ignoble part in the history of Christian 
 missions. I cannot forget that it has chosen for its own 
 field of -labour the most arduous, the most exposed, at times 
 the most apparently hopeless, posts in the glorious warfare ; 
 and that it has, on more than one occasion, found itself, if 
 I may use the term, leading, as it were, the forlorn hope in the 
 Gospel sieges — at all times alike with the same unmoved atti- 
 tude, and the same unblenching front, nieeting the opposition 
 of the day, whether that opposition which it had to encounter 
 manifested itself, as in the earlier days of the Society, in the 
 form of unsparing ridicule from wits and from reviewers, or, 
 after a long interval of devoted and indefatigable service, in the 
 more appaUing form of mutiny, havoc, and bloody massacre. 
 Such has been your career of fiery trial at all times in 
 the annals of this mission, beginning with your first estab- 
 lishment at Serampore, under the honoured championship of 
 Carey ; thence, as the of&cial and imperial hostility gradually 
 subsided, through a series of hard fought struggles, some- 
 times in connection with other Christian communities, some- 
 times foremost or almost alone. I may refer to the 
 unremitting efforts to abolish suttees, now happily crowned 
 
Viscount Halifax, G.C.B. 87 
 
 with, success ; to the permission for widows to marry, more 
 recently achieved ; to the continuous protest against caste, 
 I hope now in the process of achievement ; to the establish- 
 ment of native schools ; to the diffusion of printing presses ; 
 to the translation into, I believe, more than thirty Indian 
 languages and dialects of the New Testament ; — to all these 
 processes, carried on with singular constancy and faithfulness, 
 till, in the midst of these healing and promising operations, 
 which seemed to indicate tranquillity and to predict progress, 
 out burst that fearful crisis which shook the pillars of the 
 State and plunged so many domestic households into terror 
 and misery. "Well, in the midst of these fearful scenes, this, 
 your society, had its own conspicuous martyrs, both British 
 and native — both male and female. So that, as I indicated 
 before, it may be truly said that your society has borne a 
 faithful, consistent, and unfaltering witness, from the laying 
 of the first stone or foundation of Serampore to the storming 
 of the blood-stained ramparts of Delhi." 
 
 The Right Hon. Viscount Halifax, G.C.B., Sec- 
 
 KETAEY OF StATE FOE InDIA, AuTHOE OF THE 
 
 Despatch (1854) on the subject of Geneeal 
 Education in India. 
 
 Towards the close of 1859, on the rising of 
 Parhament, a large and influential deputation, repre- 
 sentative of various denominations and classes, under 
 the leadership of His Grace the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, waited on the Prime Minister and the 
 Minister for India, " to request a removal of the 
 authoritative exclusioa of the Word of God from the 
 system of education in Government Schools in India, 
 so that none, who may be so disposed, be interdicted 
 
88 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 from the hearing or the reading of the Bible in 
 school hours, provided always that such safeguards 
 be adopted against undue interference with the 
 religions of the natives as may appear just and 
 proper to the chief local authorities in the several 
 Governments of India." On that occasion Viscount 
 Halifax (then Sir Charles Wood) remarked : — 
 
 "No person can be more anxious to promote the spread of 
 Christianity in India than we are. Independently of Chris- 
 tian considerations, I believe that every additional Christian 
 in India is an additional bond of union with this country, 
 and an additional source of strength to the empire." 
 
 Viscount Halifax was followed by 
 
 The Right Honourable Lord Palmerston, 
 Then Prime Minister, 
 who spoke as follows : — 
 
 " We seemed to be all agreed as to the end. It is not 
 only our duty, but it is our interest, to promote the dififasion 
 of Christianity as far as possible throughout the length and 
 breadth of India. If the Christian schoolmaster, who is 
 capable of teaching Christianity, is to be allowed to assemble 
 for half an hour before the Government school opens, that 
 portion of his pupils who are willing to receive Christian 
 instruction, why that is authoritative instruction in Chris- 
 tianity." 
 
 Sir William Denison, K.C.B., 
 Governor of Madras. 
 
 On the occasion of a visit of the Governor of 
 Madras to Palamacotta, on 17th October, 1862, an 
 
Sir William Denison, K.G.B. 89 
 
 address was presented to His Excellency, signed by 
 thirteen European and thirteeen native missionaries 
 in Tinnevelly. The following are the terms of his 
 acknowledgment : — 
 
 "Reverend Gentlemen, — I have listened with great 
 interest to the statements in the address which you have 
 just presented, which bear upon the condition and prospects 
 of the native Christian population of the district. 
 
 "I have been long aware that the exertions of the 
 missionary bodies had, under God's blessing, been productive 
 of far greater results in this district than in any other part 
 of India ; but I am glad to have this confirmed to me by the 
 statements which you have now made. 
 
 " It must, of course, be expected that there wiU be a large 
 proportion of a semi-educated body whose religion will con- 
 sist more in the observance of external forms than in a 
 change of heart and life. 
 
 " We • must also expect that habits engraved upon the 
 native mind by precept, example, and by every process which 
 tends to the formation of national character, cannot be rooted 
 out and destroyed at once. Still-, however, there is much to 
 encourage us to persevere in efforts that have obtained 
 results so valuable as those which have blessed your 
 exertions. 
 
 "I quite agree with you that Government would step out 
 of its proper province were it to attempt to aid directly in 
 the evangelisation of the people, but you may rest assured 
 that it looks with great interest upon the efforts you are 
 making, and will be glad to afford to you such aid as may be 
 legitimately demanded from it. 
 
 " I thank you most heartily for the good wishes expressed 
 towards myself and Lady Denison, and in her name, and my 
 own, I have to assure you that we shall be glad to give our 
 individual assistance towards the promotion of the objects of 
 the societies in any manner which you may point out." 
 
90 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Babu Kessub Chunder Sen. 
 
 As the result of the educational agencies that 
 have been in operation for half a century and more, 
 there has arisen a Hindoo Reform party, the leader 
 of which for a number of years was the well known 
 Babu Kessub Chunder Sen. As the able and eloquent 
 expounder of the principles of the Brahmo-Somaj, 
 the following remarkable statements made by him 
 in the course of an extempore address, delivered in 
 the theatre of the Medical College, Calcutta, on oth 
 May, 1866, may well find a place in this volume : — 
 
 " On referring to the map of what is known as the Old 
 World, we find two vast continents, Europe and Asia, 
 separated from each other by the Ural Mountains, the river 
 Ural, and a number of inland seas. Near the southern 
 extremity of this boundary line, and bordering on the waters 
 of the Mediterranean, lies the country called the Holy Land. 
 Here, upwards of 1800 years ago, Jesus Christ, the greatest 
 and truest benefactor of mankind, lived and died. Here He 
 originated that mighty religious movement which has achieved 
 such splendid results in the world, and scattered the blessings 
 of saving truth on untold nations and generations. I purpose 
 this evening to trace the gradual and steady progress of this 
 grand movement, and its influence on the character and 
 destinies of the European and Asiatic nations. It will be 
 seen how the Church of Christ grew and expanded from 
 small beginnings ; how, but a small rivulet at first, it increased 
 in depth and breadth as it flowed along, swept away in its 
 resistless tide the impregnable strongholds of ancient error 
 and superstition, and the accumulated corruptions of centuries, 
 and, by spreading its genial currents on humanity, fertilised 
 it, and produced cheering and magnificent harvests. 
 
Babu Kessub Chunder Sen. 91 
 
 " When Jesus was born, grim idolatry stalked over the 
 length and breadth of the then known world, and prejudices 
 and corruptions of a most revolting type followed in its train. 
 Greece, Eome, and Egypt each had its pantheon of varied and 
 countless deities, who ruled the mind of the age with iron 
 sway. The principles of morality had also suffered a wreck 
 amid the surges of extravagant luxuries and sensuality, and 
 unbridled dissipation and debauchery prevailed on all sides. 
 The light of wisdom and truth, which solitary greatness had 
 now and then enkindled, had become well-nigh extinct. 
 There was hardly any vestige of the beneficial influence pro- 
 duced by that code of pure ethics which the venerable Socrates 
 founded, and for which he laid down Jhis very life ; the same 
 was also the fate of the sublime system of theo-philosophy, 
 elaborated by the master-mind of Plato, and the unrivalled 
 organum of ratiocination, by which Aristotle laid the basis 
 of true scientific knowledge. Only in corrupt and demoral- 
 ising forms the perverted spirit of philosophy still lingered. 
 
 " Thus the world presented almost one unbroken scene 
 of midnight darkness on all sides. A light was needed. 
 Humanity was groaning under a deadly malady, and was on 
 the verge of death ; a remedy was urgently needed to save 
 it. Jesus Christ was thus a necessity of the age. He 
 appeared in the fulness of time. . . . 
 
 " How He lived and died ; how His ministry, extending 
 over three short years, produced amazing results, and created 
 almost new life in His followers ; how His words, spoken in 
 thrilling but simple eloquence, flew like wildfire, and inflamed 
 the enthusiasm of the multitudes to whom He preached ; how, 
 in spite of awful discouragements. He succeeded in establish- 
 ing the kingdom of God in the hearts of some at least ; and 
 how ultimately He sacrificed Himself for the benefit of man- 
 kind, are facts of which most of you here present are no doubt 
 aware. I shall not enter into the details of His life and 
 ministry, as my present business is simply with the influence 
 which He exercised on the world. It cannot be denied that 
 
92 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 it was solely for His thorough devotion to the cause of truth 
 and the interests of suffering humanity that He patiently 
 endured all the privations and hardships which came in His 
 way, and met that fierce storm of persecution which His 
 infuriated antagonists poured on His devoted head. It was 
 from no selfish impulse, from no spirit of mistaken fanati- 
 cism that He bravely and cheerfully offered Himself to be 
 crucified on the cross. He laid down His life that God 
 might be glorified. I have always regarded the cross as a 
 beautiful emblem of self-sacriiice unto the glory of God, one 
 which is calculated to quicken the higher feelings and aspira- 
 tions of the heart, and to purify the soul ; and I believe there 
 is not a heart, how callous and hard soever it may be, that 
 can look with cold indifference on that grand and significant 
 symbol. Such honourable and disinterested self-sacrifice has 
 produced, as might be anticipated, wonderful results ; the 
 noble purpose of Christ's noble heart has been fuUy achieved, 
 as the world's history will testify. The vast moral influence 
 of His life and death still lives in human society, and ani- 
 mates' its movements. It has moulded the civilisation of 
 modern Europe, and it underlies the many civilising and 
 phUanthrophic agencies of the present day. . . . 
 
 " The first Gentile Church was established at Antioch. 
 It was here also that missionary enterprise, on an extensive 
 scale, commenced. God, in His wise providence, selected 
 Antioch to be the centre of missionary activity, and, indeed, 
 no place could have better served the purpose. ... It was 
 from this place that the stream of Gospel truth flowed on all 
 sides, and it was here that the followers of Christ, who had 
 hitherto been a mere Jewish sect, got the distinctive name of 
 ' Christians,' and assumed the form of a distinct religious 
 community. That name, however, which so many now bear 
 as a badge of honour, was first given by the adversaries of 
 Christianity as a term of contempt. St. Paul, the great 
 apostle of the Gentiles, was the leader of this missionary 
 movement. . . . 
 
Babu Kessuh Ghunder Sen. 93 
 
 " Since the Reformation almost new life was infused into 
 Cliristianity, and several circumstances-transpired to facilitate 
 its dissemination. Its more ardent followers, inflamed with 
 holy zeal, have gone ahout in all directions to preach the 
 religion of the cross to their benighted brothers and sisters 
 in remote countries. They have braved all hazards, crossed 
 oceans and deserts, surmounted insuperable difficulties, and, 
 with patience, perseverance, and self-denial, have planted the 
 cross in many a land. Through their labours Christianity 
 has penetrated the furthest extremities of the globe, and has 
 made proselytes among nearly all races of men. Many a 
 country where barbarism and bestiality prevailed has now 
 become the abode of civilisation, refinement, and peace ; and 
 many a nation, long immersed in the mire of idolatry and 
 immorality, has been reformed and purified. The stream 
 of Christianity, which first flowed westward, has wheeled 
 round towards the east, and has diffused the blessings of 
 enlightenment from China to Peru. . . . 
 
 " It cannot be said that we in India have nothing to do 
 with i Christ or Christianity. Have the natives of this 
 country altogether escaped the influence of Christianity, and 
 do we owe nothing to Christ 1 Shall I be told by my edu- 
 cated countrymen that they can feel nothing but a mere 
 remote historic interest in the grand movement I have 
 described? You have already seen how, in the gradual 
 extension of the Church of Christ, Christian missions came 
 to be established in this distant land, and what results these 
 missions have achieved. The many noble deeds of philan- 
 thropy and self-denying benevolence which Christian mis- 
 sionaries have performed in India, and the various intellec- 
 tual, social, and moral improvements which they have effected, 
 need no flattering comment ; they are treasured in the grati- 
 tude of the nation, and can never be forgotten or denied. 
 That India . is highly indebted to these disinterested and 
 large-hearted followers of Christ for her present prosperity, 
 I have no doubt the entire nation will gratefully acknow- 
 
94 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 ledge. Fortunately for India, she was not forgotten by the 
 Christian missionaries when they went about to preach the 
 Gospel. While, through missionary agency, our country has 
 been connected with the enlightened nations of the West, 
 politically, an all-wise, all-merciful Providence has entrusted 
 its interests to the hands of a Christian sovereign. In this 
 significant event worldly men can see nothing but an ordin- 
 ary political phenomenon ; but those of you who can discern 
 the finger of Providence in individual and national history 
 will doubtless see here His wise and merciful interposition. 
 I cannot but reflect with grateful interest on the day when 
 the British nation first planted their feet on the plains of 
 India, and the successive steps by which the British Empire 
 has been established and consolidated in this country. It is 
 to the British Government that we owe our deliverance from 
 oppression and misrule, from darkness and distress, from 
 ignorance and superstition. Those enlightened ideas which 
 have changed the very life of the nation, and gradually 
 brought about such wondrous improvement in native society, 
 are the gifts of that Government, and so likewise the inestim- 
 able boon of freedom of thought and action which we so 
 justly prize. . . ." 
 
 Majoe-General Sir Arthur Cotton, K. C.S.I. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Oxford Church 
 Missionary Association, held 10th February, 1868, 
 General Sir Arthur Cotton thus spoke : — 
 
 " I am always glad to be allowed to bear testimony as a 
 man of forty years' knowledge of India, and not personally 
 connected with Missions, as to their progress in India. I 
 have traversed India from Hurdwar to Cape Comorln, and 
 have had many opportunities of visiting the missions, and I 
 would first express my confidence in the missionaries gener- 
 ally as true men of God, faithful, earnest and able men ; 
 
Major-Qeneral Sir Arthur Cotton, K.G.8.I. 95 
 
 many of them of first-rate talents and energy, preaching the 
 Gospel in great simplicity. "With respect to the progress of 
 the work, I must state iny conviction that the missionaries 
 generally are disposed to underrate the advance they have 
 made. I compare the case with that of soldiers in the heat 
 of battle : they often think themselves hard pressed, and are 
 douhtful of the event, when a man overlooking the field 
 sees plainly that they are making steady and sure progress, 
 and gaining ground at every effort, I was once advancing 
 with a column against an entrenched position of the enemy, 
 marching in the Engineers' post on the right of the leading 
 company of the column, when it came into my mind to observe 
 partioidarly the behaviour of the men, and I saw them mov- 
 ing exactly as if on parade, not a man hastening or slackening 
 his pace, or fidgeting to fire, though the fire was getting very 
 hot, and the men were dropping every moment. Then I felt 
 sure that no enemy could stand before them. Just so I look 
 upon the missionaries in India; and however much they 
 may at times be discouraged by many partial failures and dis- 
 appointments and innumerable difficulties, I see plainly the 
 solid progress they are making, as proved in many ways. There 
 are, in fact, multiplied evidences that the whole fabric of ignor- 
 ance and idolatry and Mohammedanism is shaking. . . ." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 From an address delivered at the annual meeting 
 of tlie Churcli Missionary Society, held at Oxford, 7th 
 February, 1881 : — 
 
 " Having been sixty years connected with India, I can speak 
 from my own experience of the effects of the Church of England 
 and other missions in that vast country. . . . For years after I 
 went to India the Government of Madras used to send the 
 heads of police in state to present a grand dress to the princi- 
 pal idol of Madras, and a collector of a district would go out 
 
96 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 in full state, attended by his peons, at the annual drawing 
 of the idol car, and dismounting from his horse put himself 
 at the head of the thousands of poor degraded creatures to 
 take hold of the great rope by which the car was dragged, 
 himself by far the most degraded of the whole assemblage. 
 Such was the state of things long after I went to India. Com- 
 pare the state of things of late years, when Governors-General 
 have not been ashamed of their God and Saviour, and have 
 publicly declared themselves most anxious to lead the natives 
 to turn from their idols. And what has been a prime cause 
 of this blessed change? Undoubtedly, the missions so despised 
 at first have been principally instrumental in shaming the 
 rulers into conduct more becoming their position as Christian 
 
 Lord Napier and Ettbick, LL.D. 
 
 On the occasion of a visit paid by Lord Napier, 
 when Governor of Madras, to Tanjore, in November, 
 1871, an address, was presented to him by the Church 
 of England Missionaries, to which, as reported in the 
 Homeward Mail of the 27th of that month, he replied 
 as follows : — 
 
 "Gentlemen, — My travels in this Presidency are now 
 drawing to a close, but when I shall revert to them in midst 
 of other engagements and other scenes, memory will offer no 
 more attractive pictures than those which wiU reproduce the 
 features of missionary life. In Ganjam, in Masulipatam, in 
 North Arcot, in Travancore, in Tinnevelly, in Tanjore, I 
 have broken the missionary's bread, I have been present at 
 his ministrations, I have witnessed his teaching, I have seen 
 the beauty of his life. The reverend agents of the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, those of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, those of the London Mission, the Wesleyan 
 
Lord Napier and Ettrick, LL.D. • 97 
 
 Ministers, the Lutheran Ministers, the Americans, the Jesuit 
 fathers, all have given me the same welcome. 
 
 "The benefits of missionary enterprise are felt in three 
 directions — in converting, civilising, and teaching the Indian 
 people. 
 
 " Of the diffusion of Christianity in this country, it would 
 not become me in my present position to say much. It is 
 the primary object of the missionary, and the object in which 
 he is a perfectly free agent, unfettered by connections with 
 or obligations to the State. Yet I may still express my 
 personal impressions. The progress of Christianity is slow, 
 but is undeniable. Every year sees the area and the numbers 
 slightly increase. The Gospel is brought more and more to 
 the doors of the poorest and most ignorant outcast people. 
 I cannot but believe that the time may come when these 
 classes who have no real religious belief, and no place in the 
 social hierarchy of their own country will be attracted in 
 great numbers by the truths, the consolations, and the benefits 
 of the Christian faith. The advance of Christianity has at 
 all times been marked by occasional fitful and spasmodic 
 movements in India. The present period is one of moderate 
 progression ; but it does not exclude the expectation of rapid 
 and continuous expansions such as were witnessed in the six- 
 teenth century in Malabar and Madura, in the last century 
 in Tanjore, and more recently among the Shanars in the 
 South. 
 
 " In the matter of education, the co-operation of the reli- 
 gious societies is of course inestimable to the Government 
 and the people. At no previous time were the relations of 
 the free educational agencies with the Government more 
 useful and harmonious. The missionary bodies have recently 
 assisted the State with the greatest promptitude in effecting 
 a modification of the scale of school fees which the State 
 could not have carried out in a satisfactory manner without 
 their assent, and which was indispensable to the develop- 
 ment of our educational resources. The same spirit of co- 
 
 H 
 
98 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 operation has been shown in the manner in which the 
 missions have received the educational provisions of the 
 Towns Improvement Act and the Local Funds Act. One 
 of the greatest difficulties which the Government will meet 
 in working these provisions for the instruction of the poor 
 will be the influence of caste which keeps and will long keep 
 the out-caste child from the mimicipal and the village 
 schools. Missionary agency is, in my judgment, the only 
 agency that can at present bring the benefits of teaching 
 home to the humblest orders of the popidation, and the 
 missions wiU learn to shape their operations so as to avail 
 themselves of the pecuniary help which the recent Acts open 
 to every teaching power. But the conciliatory sentiments 
 which unite the missions with the Government are equally 
 conspicuous in the relations between the missionaries and the 
 superior classes of the native community. Nothing has 
 struck me more than the intelligent confidence which reigns 
 between the missionary and the mirassidar, between the 
 Englishman and the Hindoo, between the teacher and the 
 taught. This harmony between the Christian and the 
 heathen must be the result of much discretion and for- 
 bearance on the part of the clergy. It is the fruit of 
 Christian zeal tempered by practical wisdom. Nor is it 
 less honourable to the natives of the country that they have 
 so quickly discerned and appreciated the motives, the temper, 
 and the methods of the foreign teachers who labour among 
 them with so much constancy and so much love. 
 
 "In conclusion, I must express my deep sense of the 
 importance of missions as a general civilising agency in the 
 South of India. Imagine all these establishments suddenly 
 removed ! How great would be the vacancy ! "Would not 
 the Government lose valuable auxiliaries, would not the poor 
 lose wise and powerful friends ? The weakness of European 
 agency in this country is a frequent matter of wonder and 
 complaint. But how much weaker would this element of 
 good appear if the mission was obliterated from the scene. 
 
Report of Secretary of State, 1872-73. 99 
 
 It is not easy to overrate the value to this vast empire of a 
 class of Englishmen of pious lives and disinterested labours 
 living and moving in the most forsaken places, walking 
 between the Government and the people with devotion to 
 both, the friends of right, the adversaries of wrong, impartial 
 spectators of good and evil." 
 
 Repobt of Secretary op State and Councii, 
 OF India for 1872-73 (to Parliament). 
 
 Among the varied testimonies to the admirable 
 work of missionaries in India none are more weighty 
 and valuable, because given with such extreme care 
 and unprejudiced discrimination, than that to be 
 found in the " Eeport of the Secretary of State 
 and Council of India upon the moral and material 
 progress of India for 1872-73."* It stands out 
 in striking and most favourable .contrast to the 
 official utterances of earlier days. The labours of 
 the missionaries are reported on in detail, and at 
 considerable length. The following extracts will 
 suffice : — 
 
 "In 1852 there were 459 (Protestant) Missionaries in 
 India at 320 stations, and in 1872 the number of missionaries 
 was increased to 606, and of stations to 522. 
 
 " This large body of European and American missionaries 
 settled in India bring their various moral influences to bear 
 upon the country with the greater force because they act 
 together with a compactness which is but little understood. 
 Though belonging to various denominations of Christians, yet 
 from the nature of their work, their isolated position, and 
 
 * Blue Book. XII. Education, p. 1S3. 
 
100 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 their long experience, they have been led to think rather of 
 the numerous questions on which they .agree than of those 
 on which they differ, and they co-operate heartily together. 
 Localities are divided among them by friendly arrangements ; 
 and, with few exceptions, it is a fixed rule among them that 
 they will not interfere with each other's converts and each 
 other's spheres of duty. School books, translations of the 
 Scriptures and religious books, prepared by various missions, 
 are used in common, and helps and improvements secured by 
 one mission are freely placed at the command of aU,. The 
 large bodies of missionaries resident in each of the Presidency 
 towns form missionary conferences, hold periodic meetings, 
 and act together in public matters. They have frequently 
 addressed the Indian Government on important social ques- 
 tions involving the welfare of the native community, and 
 have suggested valuable improvements on existing laws. 
 During the last twenty years, on five occasions, general 
 conferences have been held for mutual consultation respecting 
 their missionary work; and in January last (1873), at the 
 latest of these gatherings at Allahabad, 121 missionaries met 
 together, belonging to 20 different societies, and including 
 several men of long experience who have been forty years in 
 India. 
 
 " The labours of the foreign missionaries in India assume 
 many forms. Apart from their special duties as public 
 preachers and pastors, they constitute a valuable body of 
 educators ; they contribute greatly to the cultivation of the 
 native languages and literature, and all who are resident in 
 rural districts are appealed to for medical help to the sick. 
 
 " No body of men pays greater attention to the study of 
 the native languages than the Indian Missionaries. . . . 
 The result is too remarkable to be overlooked. The mis- 
 sionaries as a body know the natives of India well ; they 
 have prepared hundreds of works, suited both for schools 
 and for general circulation, in the fifteen most prominent 
 languages of India, and in several other dialects." 
 
Sir Richard Temple, Bart. 101 
 
 After adverting in similar terms to the numerous 
 mission schools for both sexes, and to the " high 
 character of the general education given in the college 
 department" of the missionary institutions, the 
 report proceeds : — 
 
 " They augur well of the future moral progress of the 
 native population of India from these signs of solid advance 
 already exhibited on every hand, and gained within the brief 
 period of two generations. This view of the general influ- 
 ence of their teaching, and of the greatness of the revolution 
 which it is silently producing, is not taken by missionaries 
 only. It has been accepted by many distinguished officers of 
 the Government, and has been emphatically endorsed by the 
 high authority of Sir Bartle Frere. 
 
 " Without pronouncing an opinion on the matter, the 
 Government of India cannot but acknowledge the 
 
 GREAT obligations UNDER WHICH IT IS LAID BY THE BENEVO- 
 LENT EXERTIONS MADE BT THE 600 MISSIONARIES, WHOSE 
 BLAMELESS EXAMPLE AND SELF-DENYING LABOURS ARE INFUSING 
 NEW VIGOUR INTO THE BTBRBOTTPED LIFE OP THE GREAT 
 POPULATIONS PLACED UNDER ENGLISH RULE, AND ARE PRE- 
 PARING THEM TO BE IN EVERY WAT BETTER MEN AND BETTER 
 CITIZENS OF THE GREAT EMPIRE IN WHICH THET DWELL." 
 
 Sir Richard Temple, Bart., M.P., Ex-Governor of 
 Bombay, G.C.S.I., C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D. 
 
 On the occasion of the annual distribution of 
 prizes in the Serampore Missionary Institution, in 
 the spring of 1875, after referring to the opposition 
 of the East India Company when Carey and his 
 
102 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 associates commenced their work in Bengal, Sir 
 Richard Temple proceeded ; — 
 
 " The Government now no longer fears that disturhances 
 will arise from preaching the Gospel of peace. The natives 
 themselves seem no longer to regard missionaries with 
 distrust ; indeed, as an impartial observer travelling through 
 Bengal, it seems to me that missionaries are absolutely- 
 popular. If I go to the large cities, I see schools and 
 colleges belonging to the various missions, which may not 
 equal the Government institutions in strength and resources, 
 but which fully equal them in popularity. In the interior 
 of the country, among the villages, I find missionary schools 
 established in almost all parts of Bengal. The missionaries 
 appear to be regarded by their rustic neighbours with respect 
 — I may almost say with affection. They are consulted by 
 their poor, ignorant neighbours in every difficulty and every 
 trouble, and seem to be regarded as their best and truest 
 friends.'' 
 
 The Same. 
 
 In the course of a speech delivered at Birming- 
 ham, in 1880, after denying that European opinion in 
 India was adverse to missions, and having referred 
 to the weight of the testimony borne by almost all 
 the best and greatest men who had served their 
 country in India, Sir Eichard Temple stated that he 
 had had acquaintance with, or had been authentic- 
 ally informed by nearly all the missionaries of all 
 the Societies labouring there for a period of thirty 
 years — and then proceeded : — 
 
 " And what is my testimony regarding these men 1 They 
 are most efficient as pastors of their native flocks, and as 
 
Sir Richard Temple, Bart. 103 
 
 evangelists in preaching in cities and villages, from one end 
 of India to the other. In the work of converting the 
 heathen to the knowledge and practice of the Christian 
 religion they show great learning in all that relates to the 
 native religions and to the caste system. They often evince 
 appreciative thought in dealing with educated natives. As 
 schoolmasters, in their numerous educational institutions, they 
 are most able and effective ; and although the educational 
 establishments of the State in India are highly organised, 
 the missionaries are esteemed, on the whole, to be the best 
 class of schoolmasters in India. Again, in Oriental litera- 
 ture, they are distinguished as scholars and authors and 
 lexicographers, and have done much to spread the fame of 
 British culture among the nations of the East, 
 
 "In all cases of oppression — and despite the general 
 excellence of our rule in India, such cases do sometimes arise 
 — they are found to be the friends of the oppressed ; and so 
 they exert a salutary influence on the servants of Govern- 
 ment. In my official capacity I always listened with defer- 
 ence to their representations on all matters pertaining to the 
 welfare of the natives. They are, moreover, most useful by 
 their writings, speeches, and preaching, in enlightening and 
 forming public opinion in India. When pestilence, the 
 unseen enemy, is abroad — when famine has smitten down 
 millions, they have been ever present as ministering angels. 
 They have themselves helped the suffering, and have encour- 
 aged those who organised the administration of relief. The 
 excellence and purity of their lives shed a blessed light on 
 the neighbourhood wherever they dwell. Their wives, 
 daughters, and sisters, are zealous in co-operation, are fore- 
 most in promoting all beneficent works, and are the fair 
 harbingers of enlightenment and of civilisation. Although 
 of the missionaries many are men of great talent, which 
 would have won them distinction in the walks of secular 
 life, they are, nevertheless, found living on the barest modi- 
 cum of salary on which an educated man can subsist, without 
 
104 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 hope of honour or of further reward. They do not proceed 
 to England on furlough, unless forced by sickness, and they 
 have no pension to look forward to until they are placed on 
 the list of sick and disabled. Often there has been mortality 
 among them, and no men have shown better to the heathen 
 and to their English brethren how a Christian ought to die. 
 Such is their conduct. And what is its result ? It conduces 
 to our national fame, and adds stability to the British rule in 
 India. The natives are too apt to think of us as incited by 
 national aggrandisement, by political extension, by diplo- 
 matic success, by military ambition. These adverse thoughts 
 of theirs are, no doubt, mitigated by the justice of our laws, 
 by our State education, by the spread of our medical science, 
 by our sanitary arrangements, and, above aU, by our efforts 
 to mitigate or avert famine. But, beyond all these, I am 
 bound to mention the effects of the example of the life and 
 of the conduct of the Christian missionaries."* 
 
 Sir William Robinson, K.C.S.I., (Acting) Goveenob 
 OF Madras. 
 
 At the annual meeting for the distribution of 
 prizes in connection with the Institution and Schools 
 of the Free Church of Scotland's Mission, Madras, 
 22nd March, 1876, Sir William Eobinson thus 
 spoke : — 
 
 ". . . I confess I have long viewed the Free Kirk of 
 Scotland's Mission in India as essentially a Christian mission 
 to the young within its sphere. Many of the best men on 
 her long roll of good names have, in the main, spent their 
 useful lives in imparting to boys and girls, and to early man- 
 
 • Similar testimony is borne by Sir Richard Temple in his rery able 
 work, published by John Murray, entitled " India in 1880." 
 
Sir William Robinson, K.G.S.I. 105 
 
 hood, sound and liberal education combined with earnest 
 Christian teaching and true moral training. This Institution 
 and its affiliations have thus long been occupying a very 
 needful and very important place in the varied field of edu- 
 cation in this country, and have occupied it -with steadily 
 increasing power and advancing confidence on all sides. . . . 
 " There are few present here, I am sure, who do hot accept 
 cordially, as I do, the principle of complete neutrality as 
 regards public administration in these matters — who do not 
 most respectfully concede to every parent in this country the 
 liberty to judge of the influences under which his children 
 shall study. No other course can for the present command 
 mutual confidence and the respect of the people. But I am 
 sure that most of those here present likewise recognise the 
 moral duty and right of Christian bodies to offer for the use 
 of aH classes needing or preferring them, good Christian 
 schools and a weU-conducted Christian CoUege, and that in 
 doing so they deserve the sympathy and should command the 
 hearty support of India's weUwishers, and I feel assured I may 
 tell the Principal and all engaged in this place, in your name, 
 that we are satisfied that they are doing and propose to extend 
 a thoroughly good and useful educational, as well as a needful 
 and worthy Christian work for the youth of India in this 
 place. . . ." 
 
 Two years later, on a similar occasion, in connec- 
 tion with the same mission, Sir William Robinson 
 bore the following emphatic testimony : — 
 
 " I have myself often seen that singular embodiment of 
 Christian life, zeal, and faithfulness, the late Eev. John 
 Anderson, labouring some thirty-five years ago among some 
 200 or 300 children, with a staff of teachers, poor perhaps in 
 their materiel, but bright from his example. When I have 
 told you this fact, and now point around to a United Christian 
 College and Central School, training upwards of 1000 intelli- 
 gent youths and young men from the most respectable classes, 
 
106 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 I have told you what it is that tells me that the blessing of 
 our God is with what we are looking on here ; tells me that 
 this beneficent Institution has been, and still is, meeting a 
 real intellectual and moral want which certainly exists ; and 
 tells me that its Christian and intellectual work is accepted, 
 and has been done in a manner that provides certainty as 
 regards the future. . , . 
 
 " And now I wish to say a few words on the distinctive 
 assertion of character which the CoUege Department of this 
 Institution has more recently put forth ; for practically this 
 Institution has ever been Christian in its life and being 
 throughout its every branch, and missionary in its every aim. 
 And I wish to say them in no critical spirit. I am quite 
 satisfied that the time has more than fuUy come for the 
 establishment of what.I will term an Official United Christian 
 College in this Presidency — a College around which most of 
 our Christian Societies may group, in whose management 
 they may take part. And I think that our Christian Socie- 
 ties are doing very wisely to adapt to their purposes a well- 
 founded and well-tried structure like this rather than begin 
 afresh. I accept the fact that such union has 'already been 
 partially formed around this Institution amongst varied 
 bodies of the Christian workmen, who have but one aim 
 for their labours in this country, as an evidence and guarantee 
 of the Biblical and catholic character of the Christian teach- 
 ing given, and to be given here. May, therefore, the union 
 widen, and deepen, and be peace-making; and may there 
 come with it the strength which mutual confidence and 
 common Christian aims confer. 
 
 " But the earnest encouragement that I would bid to this 
 Institution and all others of the same character, carries with 
 it no disparagement of our State or Native Schools or Colleges. 
 These, too, are doing excellent intellectual work throughout 
 the country, and are advancing its moral tone by precept and 
 example, by virtuous training and good culture. I accept the 
 principle of perfect neutrality as respects religion, which 
 
Sir William Muir, K.G.S.I. 107 
 
 guides our State education as the best that we can follow 
 under the circumstances, because the bulk of our fellow- 
 subjects as yet seek no more ; and I am not sorry to find 
 the executors of our pledges very jealous of their trust. 
 These pledges, my native friends, will never be withdrawn, 
 except in obedience to ypur own well-marked desire to annul 
 them — if ever that day should come. 
 
 " My native friends, I have well-nigh done with you for 
 this life ; and I am sorry for it. But one long loving desire 
 for you I wiU carry to my grave, and it is this : — that every 
 School and College — more especially those of your own found- 
 ing and management — into which the marvellously quick, 
 intelligent, and susceptible youths of this land are thronging, 
 may one day have in use the opened Word of God, and pos- 
 sess teachers who shall be free to take your loved ones past 
 all beggarly dilutes and adaptations, right up to the free, 
 simple, peaceful, lovely, Christian law of God, to the Word 
 full of grace and truth and of the spirit without measure. 
 
 " It is these thoughts that lead me to bid God-speed with 
 all my heart to Christian Colleges and Christian Schools in 
 this country, where the Word of God and the truth of Christ 
 are woven into the web of young intellectual life; to Schools 
 and Colleges where, along with other precious gifts of culture, 
 the minds of the young may learn to acquire the great truths 
 of life at their holy source, and may be guided into an assured 
 faith, assured hope, and a holy charity." 
 
 Sib William Muib, K.C.S.I., LL.D., D.C.L., 
 Principal of Univebsity of Edinburgh. 
 
 Writing towards the close of 1876 in reference to 
 enlarged efforts for the Christianisation of the Santal 
 hill tribes of Bengal, Sir William Muir, after noticing 
 the favourable attitude of the people to Christianity, 
 
108 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 and the extent to which, especially along the borders 
 of their tract, they, are exposed to the paralysing 
 influences of the Hindoos, thus proceeds : — 
 
 "... At the present moment the door is thrown wide 
 open before us. The people are highly susceptible of Christ- 
 ian teaching. When villages come over even to the nominal 
 profession of Christianity, the whole population becomes 
 open to all the influences and miuistrations of our faith. 
 Their children are taught ; they learn hymns, of which they 
 are singularly fond, and sing them with great heartiness 
 and spirit, thus spreading Christian truth among their 
 families in its most attractive form. The converts give 
 up their had and heathenish practices, abandon drinking, 
 and become, on the whole, exemplary in their Uves, as they 
 are simple, Uvely, and animated in their demeanour. 
 
 "While the Spirit is thus working among this people, will 
 the Church not be culpably indifferent if it lets the oppor- 
 tunity pass unimproved 1 Is there not a call, like that from 
 Macedonia, to hasten to their help — a call without relaxing 
 labour elsewhere, to redouble effort here 1 
 
 " The object is a grand one, both politically and socially, 
 and, above all, spiritually. Where else have we, at the pre- 
 sent time, the prospect of gaining over a people en masse t 
 What an effect would it not have on the power and stability 
 of our rule ; and what an engine to bear eventually on the 
 evangelisation of the rest of India ! " 
 
 The Indian Education Commission, 1882-83. 
 
 With the view of inquiring into the working of the 
 system of public instruction, and to its extension on 
 a popular basis, the Government of India, on 3rd 
 February, 1882, appointed an Education Commission 
 
Indian Education Commission, 1882-83. 109 
 
 of twenty-one members, with the Honourable W. W. 
 Hunter, B.A., LL.D., C.I.E., member of the Viceroy's 
 Legislative Council, as President. The Report of the 
 Commission is a very voluminous and exhaustive one. 
 While it was hardly to be expected that the conclu- 
 sions arrived at would on every point be such as to 
 give satisfaction to the friends and promoters of 
 Christian missions, they are on the whole character- 
 ised by a spirit of the utmost friendliness, and stand 
 out in marked contrast to the proceedings of the 
 Government during the earlier years of the century. 
 The following paragraphs, relating to Zenana work, 
 are selected by way of illustration, and the extract 
 is purposely limited to this one branch of the work, 
 missions in general having already been adverted to 
 in a former report.* 
 
 " Zbnana Missions. — The most successful efforts yet made 
 to educate Indian women after leaving school, have been 
 conducted by missionaries. In every province of India ladies 
 have devoted thejnselves to the work of teaching in the homes 
 of such native families as are willing to receive them. Their 
 instruction is confined to the female members of the house- 
 hold, and, although based on Christian teaching, is extended 
 to secular subjects. The degree in which the two classes of 
 instruction are given varies in different Zenana missions ; but 
 in almost every case secular teaching forms part of the 
 scheme. Experience seems to have convinced a large pro- 
 portion of the zealous labourers in this field that the best 
 preparation for their special or religious work consists in that 
 quickening of the intellectual nature which is produced by 
 exercising the mind in the ordinary subjects of education. 
 
 * See pp. 99. 
 
110 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 . . . The Commisaion has not complete statistics with regard 
 to the results achieved. But the figures accessible to it, 
 together with the inquiries made by it in the various pro- 
 vinces, show that these results are already considerable, and 
 that they are steadily increasing. The two impediments in 
 the way of their more rapid extension are — first, the natxiral 
 reluctance of many natives to admit into their families an 
 influence hostile to their own religious beliefs ; and, second, 
 the uncertain attitude of the Education Department towards 
 such missions. With the first of these obstacles the Com- 
 mission cannot deal. But we have observed that much has 
 been accomplished in this respect by the tact, courtesy, and 
 wise moderation of the ladies engaged in the work. The 
 second impediment comes within our cognisance; and we 
 have provided for it by a specific recommendation that grants 
 for Zenana teaching be recognised as a proper charge on pub- 
 lic funds, a/nd be given under rules which will enable those 
 engaged in it to obtain substantial aid for such secular teach- 
 ing as may be tested by an Inspectress, or other female 
 agency." 
 
 Sir [Monier Monier -Williams, K.C.I.E., D.C.L., 
 Hon. LL.D. of Calcutta, Boden Professor 
 OF Sanskrit in University of Oxford. 
 
 At the anniversary meeting of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, in 1886, Sir Monier Williams, 
 the distinguished Oriental scholar, delivered the fol- 
 lowing remarkable address : — 
 
 " I venture to tell this meeting what I have found to be 
 the one key-note — the one diapason, so to speak, of all these 
 so-called sacred books, whether it be the Veda of the Brah- 
 mins, the Puranas of the Sawas and Vaishnavas, the Koran 
 of the Mohammedans, the Zend Avesta of the Parsees, the 
 Tripitska of the Buddhists, the King of the Chinese or the 
 
Sir Monier Monier- Williams, D.G.L. 111 
 
 Purana — the one diapason, the one refrain, that you will find 
 through them all, is salvation by works. They all say that 
 salvation must he purchased, must be bought with a price, 
 and that the sole price, the sole purchase money, must be our 
 own works and deservings. Here, then, we make our chief 
 contrast. Our own Holy Bible, our own sacred book of the 
 East, is from beginning to end a protest against this doctrine. 
 Good works are indeed enjoined upon us in that sacred book of 
 the East far more strongly than in any other sacred book of the 
 East ; but they are only the outcome of a grateful heart — 
 they are only a thank-offering, the fruits of our faith. They 
 are never the ransom-money of the true disciples of Christ. 
 ' Put off the pride of self-righteousness,' says our Holy Bible ; 
 ' it is a filthy garment, unfit to cover the nakedness of your 
 soul at that awful moment when death brings you face to face 
 with the holy God.' ' Put on the garment of self-righteous- 
 ness,' says every other sacred book of the East. ' Cling 
 closely to it. Hold it closely to your heart of hearts. Mul- 
 tiply your prayers, your pious acts, your pilgrimages, your 
 ceremonies, your external rites on all hands, for nothing else 
 but your own meritorious acts, accumulated like capital at 
 a bank, can save you from eternal ruin.' 
 
 "We can understand then the hold which these so-called 
 sacred books of the East 'continue to exert on the natives of 
 India, for the pride of self-righteousness is very dear to the 
 human heart. It is like a tight-fitting inner garment, the 
 first to be put on, the last to be put off. Nay, this may also 
 account for the fact that in the present day these so-called 
 sacred books of the East are gaining many admirers, who fall 
 into raptures over the moral precepts which here and there 
 glitter in them, like a few stars sparkling through the rifts 
 of a cloudy sky on a pitch-dark night. What did the leading 
 journal, the Times, say the other day, in an article on the 
 Buddhist antiquities in the British Museum'! It spoke of 
 the teaching of Buddha as second only to the teaching of 
 Christ. Let us then take Buddhism, which is so popularly 
 
112 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 described as next to Christianity. Let us for a moment, 
 with all reverence, place Buddhism and Christianity in the 
 crucible together. It is often said that Buddha's discourses 
 abound in moral precepts, almost identical with those of 
 Christ. Be it so ; but in fairness let us take a portion of 
 Buddha's first sermon, which contains the cream of his 
 doctrine. I should like to read it from the translation which 
 has just come out at Oxford. The Buddha, who is said to 
 be second only to Christ, made use of these words — ' Birth 
 is suffering. Decay is suffering. Illness is suffering. Death 
 is suffering. The presence of objects we hate is suffering. 
 Separation from objects we love is suffering. Not to obtain 
 what we desire is suffering. Clinging to existence is suffering. 
 Complete cessation of craving is cessation of suffering; and the 
 eight-fold path which leads to cessation of suffering is right 
 belief, right aspiration, right speech, right conduct, right means 
 of livelihood, right endeavour, right memory, and right medi- 
 tation. This is the noble truth about suffering.' And now, 
 with all reverence, I turn, on the other hand, to the first 
 gracious words which proceeded from the mouth of the 
 Founder of Christianity, as given by St. Luke. ' The Spiiit 
 of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to 
 preach good tidings to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the 
 broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and 
 recovery of sight to the blind ; to set at liberty them that 
 are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.' In 
 contrasting these first utterances of two Eastern teachers, one 
 of whom we Christians believe to be divine, I ask. What is 
 there of hope for poor suffering humanity in the first utter- 
 ances of Buddha ? Is it not more like a death-knell than a 
 voice proclaiming good tidings of great joy to poor suffering 
 sinners ? 
 
 " I may hear some learned Orientalist — perhaps there are 
 some present — ask : ' How could Buddha speak of the Spirit 
 of the Lord when he denied all spirit, human or divine? 
 He denied any supreme being higher than the perfect man ; 
 
Sir Monier Monier-Williams, B.G.L. 113 
 
 and assuredly you will admit that Buddha preached his 
 gospel to the poor ! ' Well, bear with me for a little longer 
 while I point out a few other contrasts, showing how vast is 
 the gulf which separates the gospel of Buddha from the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel that I am compelled to speak 
 out on this occasion, even as I spoke out recently at Oxford 
 in contrasting the Veda of the Brahmins with our own Holy 
 Bible, for a kind of doctrine called Neo-Buddhism is spread- 
 ing, I am sorry to say, in many places both in Europe and 
 America, and also in India, where we hoped that Buddhism 
 had been long extinct. This new doctrine magnifies 
 Buddhism, as if, forsooth ! it were a very rational sort of 
 creed for an intelligent man to hold in the nineteenth 
 century. Yes, monstrous as it may seem, the Gospel of our 
 Saviour — the Gospel of Peace — is in some quarters giving 
 place to the gospel of misery — the gospel of Buddha — and 
 the former seems to be becoming a little out of fashion here 
 and there. The Buddhist gospel of misery is, I fear, in some 
 places, certainly in India, where we hoped it was extinct, 
 coming into vogue. But mark two or three more contrasts 
 which I should like to place before you ere I sit down. In 
 the gospel of the Buddha we are told that the whole world 
 Heth in. suffering, as you have just heard. In the Gospel of 
 Christ the whole world lieth in wickedness. ' Glory in your 
 sufferings ; rejoice in them ; make them steps towards 
 heaven,' says the Gospel of Christ. ' Away with all suffer- 
 ing ; stamp it out, for it is the plague of humanity,' says the 
 gospel of Buddha. ' The whole world is enslaved by sin,' 
 says the Christian Gospel ; ' the whole world is enslaved by 
 illusion,' says the gospel of Buddha. ' Sanctify your affec- 
 tions,' says the one ; ' suppress them utterly,' says the other. 
 ' Cherish your body and present it as a living sacrifice to 
 God,' says the Christian Gospel ; ' get rid of your body as 
 the greatest of all curses,' says the Buddhist. 'We are 
 God's workmanship,' says the Christian Gospel ; ' and God 
 works in us, and by us, and through us.' 'We are our own 
 
 I 
 
114 The Success of Christian Elissions. 
 
 workmanship,' says the gospel of Buddha, ' and no one works 
 in us but ourselves.' Lastly, the Christian Gospel teaches 
 us to prize the gift of personal life, as the most sacred, the 
 most precious of all God's gifts. ' Life is real, life is earnest,' 
 it seems to say, in the words of the great American poet ; 
 and it bids us thirst, not for death, not for extinction, but 
 for the living God ; whereas the Buddhist doctrine stigma- 
 tises all thirst for life as an ignorant blunder, and sets forth, 
 as the highest of all aims, utter extinction of personal 
 existence. 
 
 "I have said enough to put you on your guard when you 
 hear people speak too highly of the sacred books of the East 
 other than our own Bible. Let us not shut our eyes to what 
 is excellent and true and of good report in these sacred 
 books ; but let us teach Hindoos, Buddhists, Mohammedans, 
 that there is only one sacred book of the East that can be 
 their mainstay, their support in that awful hour when they 
 pass all alone into the unseen world. There is only one 
 Gospel that can give peace to the fainting soul then ; it is 
 the book that this great Society is engaged in sending to the 
 uttermost ends of the earth. It is the sacred book which 
 contains that faithful saying worthy to be received of all 
 men, women, and children, and not merely of us Christians, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 
 Samuel Smith, M.P. foe Flintshire. 
 
 The Contemporary Review for July, 1886, contains 
 a valuable article entitled " India Revisited," by 
 Samuel Smith, Esq., from which the following 
 pertinent remarks on missionary education are 
 
 selected : — 
 
 "... The future of India largely, indeed mainly, depends 
 upon education. Nothing impresses a visitor more than the 
 craving of the natives for English education. "Wherever 
 
Samuel Smith, M.P 115 
 
 schools or colleges are opened they are soon crowded, and 
 the universal desire is to learn to read English, . . . The 
 great need of India is now primary education ; colleges and 
 high schools have been abundantly supplied, but the masses 
 are still far behind, and it is felt that too much has been done 
 for the rich, and too little for the poor. 
 
 "I cannot forbear expressing my admiration for the 
 splendid missionary schools in all the great centres of 
 Indian life. One of them which I visited had 1500 
 youths in attendance ; they are better patronised by the 
 natives than even the Government institutions, and that 
 notwithstanding that the first lesson given is always upon 
 the Scriptures. Nothing strikes one as more remarkable 
 than the willingness of the Hindoos to let their children be 
 taught Christianity. They are most reluctant that they 
 should outwardly embrace it, for this involves forfeiture of 
 caste, and a species of outlawry ; but they recognise the 
 moral benefit of being taught Christian morality, and prefer 
 it to purely secular education. Cases have occurred where 
 a Government secular school was started side by side with a 
 mission school, and had to be given up in consequence of the 
 native preference for the latter. . . . 
 
 " It may be lioped that the higher and nobler conceptions 
 of life and duty given in the Christian schools will afiect 
 largely the whole future of Indian education. There is 
 ground for believing that it will. It is highly valued by 
 the natives of all classes, and its indirect effect is much 
 greater than its direct. Very many teachers in the native 
 schools have received their education in the mission colleges, 
 and a constant stream of trained teachers is passing out of 
 these normal schools and training colleges. The public at 
 home must exercise constant vigilance to prevent these 
 fountains of good for India being injured by official jealousy. 
 There have been, and still are, painful instances of Govern- 
 ment Colleges whose whole influence is thrown against 
 Cliristianity. The heads of some of these institutions are 
 
116 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 pronounced agnostics, and miss no opportunity of instilling 
 scepticism into the youth under their charge. It is often 
 stated in India that Government Colleges turn out clever 
 infidels ; men whose whole view of life is simply destructive ; 
 it is from these classes that the strongest opponents to British 
 rule proceed. The native newspapers that are most bitter 
 against us are usually edited by agnostics. That contempt 
 for all authority, which commonly accompanies the destruc- 
 tion of faith, is most deadly in India ; and one of the great 
 problems of the future is to carry the Hindoo mind safely 
 through the transition period when native faiths gradually 
 decay. If that be so effected as to secure a permanent foot- 
 hold for Christianity — it may be in some form better suited 
 for an Eastern race than in its European dress — England 
 wQl have done a work in India of which she may be proud ; 
 but if Western thought and science merely act as dissolving 
 acids, and destroy all faith in religion, a terrible chaos may 
 be predicted in India, and its certain revolt from British rule. 
 It may be gravely questioned whether any benefit at all will 
 be conferred on India merely by pulverising its ancient 
 religions without substituting better. Her old faiths, with 
 all their lamentable defects, yet hold society together ; they 
 enable multitudes of the poor and often suffering people to 
 bear patiently the hard incidents of their lot ; they maintain 
 reverence for authority in the breast of millions, and so make 
 it easy for government to be carried on. If all this binding 
 influence be destroyed, and nothing put in its place, the firm 
 texture of Indian life will be broken to shivers, and such a 
 cataclysm result as the world has seldom seen. ..." 
 
 Sib a. Kivers Thompson, K.C.S.I, CLE., 
 Lieut. -Governor of Bengal. 
 At a meeting of the Calcutta Bible Society held 
 in 1886, Sir A. Rivers Thompson said : — 
 
 " From long observation I can most distinctly affirm that 
 
Sir Charles U. Aitchison, K.G.S.L, Jkc. 117 
 
 wherever I have found Christian missions established and 
 properly conducted, I have ever found missions and mission- 
 aries great and valuable coadjutors in the cause of -good 
 administration and proper order. Missionaries shelter the 
 distressed, expose fearlessly wrong-doing, and are ever on the 
 side of a just and upright rule. They are loved and trusted 
 by the people, and are the true saviours of India. ... In 
 my judgment. Christian missionaries have done more real 
 and lasting good to the people of India than all other agencies 
 combined." 
 
 Sir Chables U. Aitchison, K.C.S.I., CLE., LL.D., 
 Lieut. -Governor of the Punjab. 
 
 Writing in 1 8 8 6, Sir Charles Aitchison remarked : — 
 
 " The changes that are to-day being wrought out by 
 Christian missionaries in India are simply marvellous. 
 Teaching, wherever they go, the universal brotherhood of 
 man, and animated by a faith which goes beyond the ties of 
 family caste or relationship. Christian missionaries are'slowly, 
 but none the less surely, imdermining the foundations of 
 Hindoo superstition, and bringing about a peaceful, religious, 
 moral, and social revolution.'' 
 
 The Same. 
 
 At a Church Missionary Meeting held at Simla 
 on 12th June, 1888, for the purpose of interesting 
 European residents in the society's work, the following 
 among other speeches was delivered by Sir Charles 
 Aitchison : — 
 
 " I assume that I am speaking to Christian people — to men 
 and women who really believe that, as our blessed Lord 
 
118 Tke Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 came in the body of His Humiliation to redeem the world, 
 so He will surely come again in triumph to reign over His 
 purchased possession ; and that all work done here — yours 
 and mine, as well as that of His missionary servants — ay, 
 and the work too of His enemies who scoff and blaspheme the 
 sacred name — is but the preparation of His kingdom. Those 
 to whom this precious hope is as the marrow of their spiritual 
 life, are never disheartened by the slow progress of missions, 
 or disturbed by the success of those who say, ' where is the 
 promise of His coming ? ' They remember the weary ages 
 through which the world had to wait for the fulfilment of 
 the promise made to the fathers ; but it came, aU in due time. 
 
 " One hears in these days of a good deal of adverse 
 criticism upon mission work. There appears sometimes a 
 disposition to depreciate it, to demand statistics of con- 
 versions, and to measure success by statistical tables. Now, 
 while I do not admit that statistics can ever be an adequate 
 test of moral or spiritual work, I do not for a moment call 
 in question their importance in the mission-field as in every 
 other field of observation and inquiry. Fortunately, in this 
 country at least, missionaries have no reason to shrink from 
 this touch of scientific criticism ; and perhaps it may surprise 
 some who have had no opportunity of looking into the matter, 
 to learn that Christianity in India is spreading four or five 
 times as fast as the ordinary population, and that the native 
 Christians now number nearly a million of souls. 
 
 " If we turn to the census report of 1881, for example, we 
 shall find that in the Madras Presidency, which is the great 
 home of the native Church, the population actually decreased 
 within the ten years preceding the census, while the 
 Christians of aU denominations increased by 165,682, or 
 more than 30 per cent. 'The great majority of these 
 Christians,' the report goes on to say, ' are Hindoo converts 
 or the descendants of Hindoo converts. They "are to be found 
 in every district, belonging for the most part to the poorer 
 classes and drawn from the lower castes.' 
 
Sir Charles IT. Aitchison, K.G.S.I., <S;c. 119 
 
 "Unfortunately, I have not been able to get precise 
 information regarding Burma and Bombay. But, coming to 
 Bengal, we all know there has been an enormous increase of 
 population in that province. The census report puts it down 
 at 10-89 per cent. The advance in the Christian population, 
 however, is more than 40 per cent. But what is most 
 remarkable is the fact that, while the increase among 
 Christians of all races is only 7 per cent., the increase among 
 native Christians is actually 64 per cent., the rate of increase 
 being six times that of the ordinary population. 
 
 " ' The progress made in the spread of Christianity during 
 the last nine years,' says the Census Commissioner, ' is one of 
 the most interesting facts brought out by the census just 
 taken. . . . This increase is far too large to be explained by 
 the theory of productiveness : ... it is due chiefly to con- 
 versions from heathendom.' . . . The native Christians are 
 the most rapidly progressing classes in Bengal . . . out of 
 the whole number of 86,306, more than one-third, or 35,992, 
 are found in the Lobardagga, where a German Protestant 
 missionary has long been labouring among the aboriginal and 
 semi-Hindooised tribes of that district. 
 
 "Next, intheNorth-West Provinces, thepopulationincreased 
 6 per cent. The number of native Christians rose from 
 7648 to 11,823 being 54 per cent„ or at the rate of 6 per 
 cent, a year, exactly nine times as fast as the total popula- 
 tion. ' This increase,' says the Census Commissioner, ' ex- 
 tends to every division of the North-West Provinces, except 
 Jhansi.' 
 
 " In the Punjab there is the same story to tell. The popu- 
 lation increased 7 per cent. The Hindoo and Mohammedan 
 religions are practically stationary, having increased only a 
 fraction of 1 per cent. ; the Sikh religion has declined. The 
 Christian religion has increased 38J per cent., being five 
 times as fast as the population. I cannot separate the figures 
 as between native Christians and others, but you can draw 
 your own conclusions from the fact that while in 1851 there 
 
120 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 was not, so far as is known, a single native Christian in the 
 Punjab, the numbers in 1881 were 3912. 
 
 "Now, how are these remarkable facts to be explained? 
 How is it that, turn where we will, north, or south, or east, 
 or west, in our oldest provinces, or in our more recently 
 acquired possessions, we find the Christian community 
 spreading at a rate unknown since the Apostolic times? You 
 and I know the true explanation : it is the breath of the 
 Spirit of the Lord. Now, as of old, He is magnifying His 
 name. The Lord is ' adding to the Church daily such as 
 shall be saved.' The Gospel message has not lost its ancient 
 power; now, as in the days of the Apostles, the Word of 
 God 'grows mightily and prevails.' 
 
 "But then it is said, and the reports I have quoted con- 
 firm it, the converts are drawn chiefly from the poor and 
 degraded castes ; but what of the high-caste Hindoos and 
 educated Mohammedans? Just so was it said eighteen 
 centuries ago. ' Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees 
 believed on Him 1 ' 
 
 " In all ages the Gospel has been pre-eminently the pre- 
 cious heritage of the poor and broken-hearted. It has ever 
 been the message of hope to the despised and the outcast, 
 and of deliverance to the downtrodden and oppressed. Pride 
 of birth and intellect is a spirit to which no Divine vision 
 comes. From such the things of God remain for ever hidden. 
 But the Gospel claims its trophies among the humble-hearted 
 of all ranks and all classes. 1 personally know many con- 
 verts of good birth and superior education. Some are at this 
 moment serving Government in the Punjab with credit and 
 distinction. One of the most hopeful results of mission work 
 is the lesson which is silently infusing, through native society 
 and vernacular literature, ideas of integrity, honour, philan- 
 thropy, truth, purity, and holiness, that are distinctively 
 Christian. In every movement for the welfare of the people, 
 too. Christian missionaries have led the van. Their services 
 to education are recognised even by their enemies. The 
 
Sir Charles U. Aitchison, K.G.S.I., &c. 121 
 
 advanced schools of modern religious thought in India are 
 the outcome of Christian teaching. The missionaries were 
 the first to awaken an interest in the welfare of the women 
 of India ; and even in the magnificent work of philanthropy 
 with which the name of Her Excellency the Countess of 
 Dufferin is imperishably associated, missionaries were the 
 pioneers. In a thoiisand ways preparation is heing made for 
 the coming of the kingdom, and the blessed influences of 
 Gospel teaching and preaching are manifest to all who have 
 eyes to see. In this Province of the Punjab, the labours of 
 missionaries have always been highly valued and cordially 
 recognised, and I desire in this place to personally acknow- 
 ledge my own obligation to them. The countenance and 
 active assistance given to Christian missions by the Governors 
 of the Punjab has become traditional. It is a significant fact 
 that many of the missions of the Church Missionary Society 
 have been founded by Christian laymen in the service of the 
 Government. Here in Simla and the neighbouring station of 
 Kolgarh, a mission was first established in 1840 through the 
 efforts of Mr. Gorton, of the Civil Service, and other pious 
 officers. It was an appeal made by military and civil officers 
 that led to the establishment of the Punjab mission in 1852. 
 At the first meeting held at Lahore, resolutions were moved 
 by Sir Robert Montgomery and Sir John Lawrfence. Sir 
 Henry Lawrence became President. 
 
 " It was Major Martin and Sir Herbert Edwardes who, in 
 1853, established the now famous mission at Peshawur. If 
 you were asked to put your finger on the most turbulent and 
 fanatical city in all India, and on the most unpromising place 
 for the establishment of a mission, you would probably place 
 it on Peshawur, But Edwardes had no fear. All through 
 the Mutiny Dr. Pfander never ceased street-preaching, Bible 
 in hand, and on no occasion was any violence offered to him. 
 
 " Then the Kangra mission owed its origin, in 1854, to Sir 
 Donald Macleod, who also suggested the establishment of the 
 Mooltan mission in 1856. In 1861 the Derajat mission was 
 
122 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 founded by Colonel Keynell Taylor, the Bayard of the Punjab. 
 The Cashmere mission, in 1862, was undertaken on the advice 
 of Sir Robert Montgomery. 
 
 "And now, has it struck you that the men I have named, 
 who were foremost in the encouragement of missionary work, 
 who honoured their Lord and confessed Him before men, 
 were the best and most distinguished administrators the 
 Punjab has known — men whose names are most honoured 
 and esteemed among the people, Lawrence, Montgomery, 
 Edwardes, Macleod, Reynell Taylor 1 These names are 
 household words in this Province; some of them beyoid 
 it, some in Europe, and wherever Indian history is read. 
 And now the mission stations which they planted in our 
 frontier Province stand as advanced posts of the army of 
 the Lord, facing towards the vast regions of Central Asia, 
 ready at command to go up and possess the land. The days 
 of territorial annexation, let us hope, are over. The British 
 Dominions have reached their natural boundaries of sea and 
 mountain. But the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ 
 knows no limit in space or time. Wherever there is a human 
 soul to be found, however debased and degraded — nay, just 
 because it is debased and degraded — there must His kingdom 
 be set up. His rule is destined to be universal, because it is 
 the only rule of righteousness and peace. ..." 
 
 Lord Connemara, G.C.S.I., Governor of Madras 
 (Brother to the late Lord Mayo, Viceroy and 
 Governor-General of India). 
 
 At the Anniversary Meeting of the Madras Aux- 
 iliary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, held on 
 21st January, 1887, Lord Connemara is reported to 
 have said : — 
 
 " I can assure you that it has given me very great pleasure 
 to come here to-night. I hope I shall be always ready while 
 
The Earl of Aberdeen. 123 
 
 I am living amongst you to come to show any Christian sects 
 in Madras that we are all proud of bearing the name of one 
 great Master. Ladies and gentlemen, I am quite sure that 
 no governor who is trying to do his duty to his sovereign can 
 commit a greater mistake than to show indifference to the 
 Christian religion, and more particularly in India ; because I 
 am certain that anybody who has the slightest experience of the 
 various religions in this country must feel impressed with this, 
 that nothing can lower him more in the estimation of the natives 
 than that he should show indifference to his own religion.'' 
 
 The Eael of Aberdeen, LL.D. 
 (7th Eael.) 
 
 At a gathering in January, 1887, of over 400 
 native girls in connection with the Mission Schools 
 of the Free Church of Scotland in Calcutta, the 
 Earl of Aberdeen, then on a visit along with the 
 Countess to India, after the distribution of prizes, 
 proceeded to say : — 
 
 " When a traveller from the home country has the oppor- 
 tunity of visiting a mission-station, and of taking part in 
 such proceedings as we have witnessed to-day, he is often 
 asked to offer words of encouragement and sympathy. That 
 is natural and reasonable. But it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive ; and I think that a visitor to such work will, 
 or at least ought, to receive encouragement and stimulus for 
 himself by witnessing the persevering and trustful work of 
 faith and love such as we have just seen. 
 
 " I say this fully recognising the fact that so far as 
 regards such results as can be made the subject of tables of 
 statistics — the number of conversions, for instance — there is 
 apparent cause for disappointment. I think people often 
 forget, when speaking of the want of apparent results, to 
 
124 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 take into account the enormous difficulties which have to be 
 overcome, especially in view of the very small number of 
 missionaries at work and the large masses that need to be 
 reached. 
 
 " It is unnecessary to dwell on this. I would rather refer 
 to the immense indirect influence which must have been 
 exerted during the period since mission work first began to 
 be carried on seriously and energetically. This influence 
 must be vast, though unseen. On the educational side alone 
 the influence thus exerted cannot be overrated. 
 
 "A conspicuous testimony to the efficiency of such educa- 
 tional work was produced at the time when it was first 
 decided to carry on English instruction in Government 
 schools. Long before, English had been taught in mission 
 schools. Dr. Duff having first determined to introduce it. 
 Many missionaries thought that the work of the Government 
 schools would interrupt the work of mission schools, non- 
 Christian parents being considered likely to prefer Govern- 
 ment schools, as giving no religious instruction. Such 
 •apprehensions were not realised. Large numbers of parents 
 still send their children to mission schools. This is not to 
 be explained by the slight difference of fees. Non-Christian 
 parents must be appreciating not only the efficiency of the 
 education given, but also the moral influences which exist at 
 a mission school. I am not disparaging the excellence of 
 Government schools; but it has been their necessary and 
 consistent policy to keep education free from the very 
 appearance of influencing the minds of students in religious 
 matters. 
 
 " There have been many signs of approbation from Hindoo 
 parents of what I may call the prevailing tone of the mission 
 schools where education is based on Christian principles. It 
 is therefore impossible not to look with thankfulness on the 
 past, and with hopefulness to the results which we trust 
 these influences will gradually produce in the way of raising 
 the religion of India. 
 
Lieut- Gen. Sir Robert Phayre, K.C.B. 125 
 
 "After all, it is to the young, like those now before us, 
 that we must look for any large revolution in religious 
 thought. We have now had an opportunity of noticing a 
 large phase of education carried on under mission auspices. 
 The manifest intelligence and bright aspect of the girls seem 
 to me very encouraging. ..." 
 
 Lieut. -Gen. Sir Egbert Phayre, K.C.B. 
 
 In addressing the Annual Meeting of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, in May, 1887, Sir Kobert Phayre 
 expressed himself as follows : — 
 
 "A Government Eeport now before me, in speaking of 
 missionaries of .all denominations in India, says in substance 
 that, apart from their special duties as public preachers and 
 pastors, they contribute a valuable body of educators (on a 
 Bible basis). All who reside in rural districts are appealed 
 to for medical aid to the sick. The moral tone of their 
 preaching is recognised and highly approved by multitudes 
 who do not follow them as converts. This view of the 
 general influence of their teaching, and of the greatness of 
 the revolution which it is silently producing, is not taken by 
 missionaries only ; it has been accepted by many distinguished 
 residents in India and experienced officers of the Govern- 
 ment. . . . The silent revolution spoken of began many 
 years ago. In the present day it has been accelerated a 
 hundred fold by ^ Woman's Work,' as now developed in our 
 Zenana and Medical Missions, our Bible Women, &c. Let 
 these have our full sympathy, our prayers, and our pecuniary 
 support, and India will soon stretch out her hands to God. 
 Even now there are tens of thousands of men and women 
 who, like the 7000 in Elijah's day, or like Joseph of 
 Arimathea, are unknown except to God Himself." 
 
126 The Success of Christian Missio^rvs. 
 
 Donald Mackenzie Smeaton, M.A., 
 Bengal Civil Service. 
 
 In his recently published work entitled " The 
 Loyal Karens of Burma," * after stating that " prob- 
 ably few of those who have read the newspaper 
 telegrams and narratives of the rebellion in Lower 
 Burma, are aware that a neglected little nation 
 called Karens, inhabiting the mountains and forests 
 of the province, have been the staunchest and 
 bravest defenders of British rule," Mr. Smeaton 
 devotes an entire chapter to the work of the 
 American Baptists among them. The testimony of 
 such a man is most valuable, and we gladly trans- 
 cribe a few passages. Referring to the remarkable 
 conversion of Ko-Tha-Byu, afterwards a most suc- 
 cessful preacher among his fellow - countrymen, 
 Mr. Smeaton goes on to say : — 
 
 " He became the means of opening up to the American 
 missionaries a field of enterprise of which they had never 
 dreamed. The field has been ardently worked ever since. 
 Its success has been unique in the history of missions, 
 because it has at once satisfied a great national religious need, 
 and, in doing so, has developed a national civilisation. Three 
 processes have ever since been simultaneously in operation — 
 Christianity, education, and civilisation. The Karens regard 
 these three as indivisible parts of the message which for 
 ages their ancestors had firmly believed God would at some 
 time or other send to them. They cannot understand a 
 church without a school, or a school without a church, or 
 either of these without material advance in civilisation and 
 in the comforts of life ; better houses, better food, and more 
 * Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co. London, 1887. 
 
Donald Mackenzie Smeaton, M.A. 127 
 
 money with ■which to live, enjoy life, and do good to their 
 fellows. In this linking of religion with all that is good, 
 useful, profitable, and happy in daily life, lies the secret of 
 the marvellous success of the Karen Mission in the past, and 
 the bright hopes for the future. ... In common with the 
 American missionaries, I sincerely believe in the capacity for 
 development of the Karens, and in the power of Christianity 
 to develop them. 
 
 " The mission is no sickly exotic planted in an unfriendly 
 soil, but a plant of the universal Christian religion so 
 thoroughly acclimatised as to be really indigenous. I have 
 heard the Karens sometimes blamed for their ' provoking 
 independence,' for their pertinacity in developing along their 
 own lines. But is not this independence the very best 
 guarantee for the permanency of the results attained ? 
 
 "Judging by its past history and its present aspect, it may 
 be predicted that the mission will end in planting among the 
 Karens a distinct, independent branch of the Christian 
 Church, and in establishing with it, and through it, a national 
 civilisation. The Christianity and the civilisation will be in 
 reality indigenous. 
 
 "Nothing that the Government has yet done has succeeded 
 in rousing the people to a sense of their dignity as men, or as 
 a nation. The Government has given them nothing around 
 which their national aspirations could rally. Christianity at 
 the hands of the American missionaries has done this. Once 
 a village has embraced Christianity, it feels itself a head and 
 shoulders above its neighbours, and all the energies of the 
 people are employed in making their village worthy of the 
 name. No labour, no expense are spared. The Christian 
 village must be clean, healthy, neat ; it must have the best 
 school and the best church they can afford. Nothing will 
 satisfy till all these are accomplished facts. Money-aid from 
 the missionaries is not sought ; the people do it all themselves 
 — plan, contrive, and carry out. . . . They will not have 
 anything but the best. It is not the influence of the mission- 
 
128 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 aries which has done all this. All that the missionaries 
 have done is to strike thfe latent spark that has kindled 
 them. 
 
 " The Government official, even if anxious to do his best, 
 has not a tenth of the power for good, moral and material, 
 among the Karens, which their pastor or schoolmaster has. 
 The pastor decides more suits, settles more disputes, and does 
 more real business than half-a-dozen myohes, or local judges. 
 I once met a Burman myohe in the house of a Karen pastor. 
 The Eurman laughingly said to the pastor that he would 
 have to arrest him some day for defrauding thS revenue. 
 ' How so % ' asked the preacher. ' I can scarcely seU any 
 stamped paper while you live in my township,' was the 
 Burman's reply ; ' for you decide many more suits than I do.' 
 ' I 've no lawyers, nor stamped papers in my court — that 's 
 the reason,' replied the Karen pastor, laughing heartily. . . . 
 
 " In openly sanctioning and encouraging the teaching of the 
 Christian religion to Karens, the British Government would 
 be in no sense interfering with the religious freedom of the 
 people. It would, in doing so, be only helping the Karens 
 to a rapid and complete attainment of what their ancestors 
 of old believed, and they themselves avow to be their right- 
 ful possession. Were a plebiscitum of the people to be taken 
 on the question — the right of the Karen nation to be taught 
 Christianity as the promised revelation from the God of their 
 fathers — it would, I am certain, be carried almost unanimously. 
 In promoting the spread of the Christian doctrine, therefore, 
 among the Karens, the British Government would be guilty 
 of no usurpation of power, but would simply be fulfilling at 
 once the historical destiny and the universal wish of the 
 peo^Dle. The position is a curious and unique one." 
 
 Thus mucli with respect to this interesting hill 
 people, of whom, until 1828, little more was known 
 than that they were " a mixed horde of aboriginal 
 savages." The high position to which, as a separate 
 
Sir William W. Hunter, LL.D., <&c. 129 
 
 nation, they have attained is an unanswerable argu- 
 ment in favour of the beneficial influence of Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 Sir William W. Hunter, LL.D., C.S.I., C.I.E., 
 Director-General of Statistics to Govern- 
 ment OF India, and Author of a Statistical 
 Account of Bengal. 
 
 Dr. Hunter, in his valuable work on Orissa, 
 declared : — 
 
 " It seems to me no impartial observer can learn for him- 
 self the interior details of any missionary settlement in India 
 without a feeling of indignation against the tone which 
 some men of letters adopt towards Christian missions." 
 
 From a paper read by the same able official before 
 the Indian Section of the Society of Arts in London, 
 on 24th February, 1888, the following testimony 
 may be quoted : — 
 
 " Speaking of the country in regard to which my own 
 experience enables me to speak — the country which in our 
 times forms the great field of missionary labour — I declare 
 that no true ratio exists between missionary expenditure, or 
 missionary work in India, and the number of new conver- 
 sions. I affirm that calculations based on the assumption of 
 such a ratio are fundamentally unsound. It has been my 
 duty to enquire into the progress of the various religions in 
 India. The enquiry discloses a rapid proportionate increase 
 among the native Christians, "unknown among the Moham- 
 medan and Hindoo population. But it also proves that the 
 increase bears no direct relation to the new conversions from 
 orthodox Hindooism and Islam. 
 
 K 
 
130 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 " Experience has shown that a vast increase of activity and 
 usefulness among the English and Scottish sects, outside the 
 Established churches, is not only consistent vrith, hut has 
 actually proved, concurrent with a vast increase of activity 
 and usefulness within those churches. It has also shown 
 that the progress of Christianity in India is compatible with 
 the progress of Hindooism and Islam. For as the Dissenting 
 bodies of Great Britain have in our century won their great 
 successes, not by a large absorption of good churchmen, but 
 by their noble efforts among the encompassing masses on the 
 outskirts of religious life, so the missionaries have chiefly 
 made their converts, not from the well-instructed Moham- 
 medans and Hindoos, but among the more backward races, 
 and from the lower castes, who are destitute of a higher faith 
 of their own. In both countries it is the poor that have had 
 the Gospel preached to them. In both countries the leaders 
 of Christian thought have read again the opening words of 
 the lirst missionary sermon, and have recognised that ' in 
 every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, 
 is accepted with him.' 
 
 " In India, especially, a religion must be judged, not by its 
 alarms and incursions into other encampments, but by the 
 practical work which it does for its own people. . . . 
 
 "... English missionary work practically began in the 
 last year of the last century. It owed its origin to private 
 effort. But the three devoted men who planted this mighty 
 English growth had to labour under the shelter of a foreign 
 flag, and the Governor of a little Danish settlement had to 
 refuse their surrender to a Governor-General of British India. 
 , The record of the work done by the Serampore missionaries 
 reads like an Eastern romance. Thej' created a prose verna- 
 cular literature for Bengal ; they established the modern 
 method of popular education ; they founded the present 
 Protestant Indian Church ; they gave the first great impulse 
 to the native press ; they set up the first steam engine in 
 India ; with its help they introduced the modem manufac- 
 
Sir William Tf.- Hunter, LL.D., &c. 131 
 
 ture of paper on a large scale ; in ten years they translated 
 and printed the Bible, or parts thereof, in thirty-one languages. 
 Although they received help from their Baptist friends in 
 England, yet the main part of their funds they earned by 
 their own heads and hands. They built a College, which still 
 ranks among the most splendid educational edifices in India. 
 As one contemplates its magnificent pillared fajade, overlook- 
 ing the broad Hoogley river, or mounts its costly staircase 
 of cut brass (the gift of the King of Denmark), one is lost in 
 admiration at the faith of three poor men who dared to build 
 on so noble a scale. From their central Seminary they planted 
 out their converts into the districts, building churches and 
 supporting pastors chiefly from the profits of their boarding- 
 school, their paper-mill, and printing-press. They blessed 
 God that during their thirty-eight years of toil they were able 
 to spend more than £50,000 of their own substance on His 
 work. But when two of them had died, and the third was 
 old and broken, the enterprise proved too vast for individual 
 effort, and the Serampore Mission was transferred to stronger 
 hands. In death they were not divided. An evergreen 
 circle of bamboos and palms, with delicate feathery masses of 
 the foliage of tamarind trees, surrounds their resting-place. 
 A path, lined with flowering shrubs, connects their tombs. 
 And if the memory of a great work and of noble souls can 
 hallow any spot, then this earth contains no truer campo 
 santo than that Serampore graveyard. 
 
 "The statistical results achieved by these three mis- 
 sionary periods in India — the period of private efibrt, 
 the period of great organised societies, and the period of 
 societies side by side with ascetic brotherhoods — may be thus 
 summarised : — In 1851, the Protestant missions in India 
 and Burmah had 222 stations; in 1881, their stations had 
 increased nearly three-fold to 601. But the number of their 
 churches or congregations had, during the same thirty years, 
 multiplied from 267 to 4180, or over fifteen-fold. There is 
 not only a vast increase in the number of the stations, but 
 
132 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 also a still greater increase in the work done by each station 
 within itself. In the same way, while the number of native 
 Protestant Christians increased from 91,092 in 1857 to 
 492,882 in 1881, or five-fold, the number of communicants 
 increased from 14,661 to 138,254, or nearly ten-fold. The 
 progress is again, therefore, not alone in numbers, but also in 
 pastoral care and internal discipline. During the same thirty 
 years, the pupils in mission schools multiplied by three-fold, 
 from 64,043 to 196,360. . . . 
 
 "So far as any inference for British India can be deduced, 
 the normal rate of increase among the general population was 
 8 per cent., while the actual rate of Christian population was 
 over 30 per cent. . , . The general population increased in 
 the nine years preceding 1881 at the rate of 10'89 per cent., 
 the Mohammedans at the rate of 10'96 per cent., the Hindoos 
 at some unknown rate below 13-64 per cent., the Christians 
 of all races at the rate of 40"71 per cent., and the native 
 Christians at the rate of 64 '07 per cent. . . . 
 
 "It is not permitted to a lecturer here to speak as the 
 advocate of any creed. But on this, as on every platform in 
 England, it is allowed to a man to speak as an Englishman, 
 and, speaking as an Englishman, I declare my conviction 
 that English missionary enterprise is the highest modern 
 expression of the world-wide national life of our race. I 
 regard it as the spiritual complement of England's instinct 
 for colonial expansion and imperial rule. And I believe 
 that any falling ofi' in England's missionary efforts will be a 
 sure sign of swiftly coming national decay." 
 
 The Kanwar (Pbinge) Harnam Singh op Kapue- 
 
 THALA, Second Son of Randhir Singh, late 
 
 Maharaja of Kapurthala, a Feudatory 
 
 State in the Punjab. 
 
 When in this country along with the Kanwarani 
 
 (Princess), on the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee, 
 
The Kanwar H. Singh of Kapurthala. 133 
 
 in 1887, the Prince spoke as follows at a meeting on 
 July llth of tlie Committee of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society : — 
 
 "There are many who put the question — What good are 
 missionaries doing in India ? I say, without any hesitation, 
 that had it not been for the knowledge that had been 
 imparted, by these humble, unpretending men, English laws 
 and English science, no, nor British arms, would have effected 
 such changes in the social condition of India as is evident to 
 all observing wen in these days. 
 
 " Do we look back to the work done by such eminent men 
 as our most distinguished statesmen, Lord Dalhousie, Lord 
 Canning, Lord Lawrence, Lord Eipon, or even the present 
 grand representative of Her Majesty in India, Lord Duiferin, 
 for the new light that has been shed over that dark con- 
 tinent ! No ! we look back to the time when such men as 
 Marshman and Carey, and pre-eminently that great and 
 learned man — that devoted servant of Christ — Dr. Duff, first 
 introduced that mysterious little volume, the Word of God, 
 which shows a man the secrets of his own heart, and tells 
 him how he can be reconciled to an offended God, as no other 
 book does. 
 
 " You often hear an Englishman express wonder that so 
 few are what is called ' converted ' out of the vast multitudes 
 of India. Ladies and gentlemen, I rather wonder that there 
 are so many. 
 
 " I often think of the difficulty of a missionary itinerating 
 amongst the villages to preach the Gospel. However gentle 
 he may be, he must tell the people what at first must wound 
 their feelings ; that the faith of their ancestors, for which 
 many, perhaps, have given up their lives, is a great impos- 
 ture, and must almost be blotted out and forgotten, to admit 
 the simple doctrine of faith in Christ. 
 
 "Think you that I had no struggle with myself before 
 I made Christ my own 1 Few here can tell what that 
 
134 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 straggle is, for you all have at least inherited the intellectual 
 part of your religion from your birth. It was, like our own 
 Shastras and Vedas, drunk in with your mothers' milk, so 
 to speak. No credit to you or to me if we have embraced 
 Christianity, but thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. 
 
 " The opposition to Christianity is now greater than ever, 
 for the simple reason that the India of to-day is different 
 from that of twenty years ago. Education is making rapid 
 progress, and the educated are trying to get up a religion of 
 their own, which is destroying the orthodoxy of Hindooism 
 and supplanting it with eclecticism — by which I mean a 
 religion which will suit their own ideas and convenience. 
 But I have no fear that Christianity will not in the end 
 prevail. On the contrary, all these societies which are now 
 working in India, such as the Brahmo Somaj, Arya Somaj, 
 and others, will break the chains of caste and superstition 
 more quickly than if they had not arisen. 
 
 " I rejoice that I have had an opportunity of judging for 
 myself in this country why England is a favoured nation ; 
 and I feel sure that, with the aid of all these valuable 
 societies, the time is not far distant when the full light will 
 shine in India as the mid-day sun, and my countrj'^ will 
 throw away its idols and bow itself before the unseen God, 
 who makes Himself known in His revealed Word, and by 
 His Spirit which dwelleth in man." 
 
 The "Rangoon Gazette." 
 
 Considering the great influence wielded by the 
 newspaper press in the present day, the friends of 
 missions cannot but rejoice when it gives forth no 
 uncertain sound in favour of the grand Gospel 
 remedy for the regeneration of the heathen world. 
 We quote the testimony of the Rangoon Gazette as 
 
" Rangoon Gazette." 135 
 
 given in The Baptist Missionary Magazine, the 
 organ of tlie American Baptist Missionary Union, for 
 August, 1888. It is specially valuable as coming 
 from a newspaper that has the best opportunities of 
 judging :— 
 
 "It is strange to observe how indiiferent the pubhc 
 generally is to the best and soundest work being done in its 
 midst. This has been so at all times in the past, and 
 probably will be so in the future. It is being strikingly 
 exemplified now in tbe matter of the quiet and unobtrusive 
 work of the Baptist missionaries. Those of other sects have 
 also done much good work ; but several circumstances have 
 recently occurred tending to make manifest the excellence of 
 the work done by the American missionaries, and it is to 
 these, therefore, that we now more particularly refer. We 
 do not in any way disparage the labours of others, or the 
 excellence of their work, but nothing special has happened 
 recently to draw attention to it ; whereas the capture of the 
 Mayan Choung Phonghee, by the Christian Karens, is one 
 out of many things which have recently drawn public atten- 
 tion to the effects of the labours of the Baptist missionaries. 
 
 " It is to some extent the fashion in worldly circles to be 
 sceptical about the value of missionary labours. Many, even 
 of those who are nominally Christians, rather sneer at 
 proselytizing work, saying that it is a poor result to turn a 
 good heathen into a bad Christian. Government is wisely 
 perfectly neutral in the matter, leaving every man free to 
 follow any religion he pleases ; and, outside distinctly reli- 
 gious circles, the public feeling among Europeans in India is 
 one of indifference, if not of hostility, to missionary success. 
 In spite of discouragements of this kind, a small but devoted 
 hand of Baptist missionaries has laboured in Burma for little 
 more than half-a-century, and is now able to show results 
 which make the old, somewhat contemptuous indifference 
 impossible. Even those who may be least disposed to regard 
 
136 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 the conversion of the Karens to Christianity as a gain can- 
 not but admit that they, and consequently the State, have 
 gained enormously in many ways from the devotion of the 
 missionaries. 
 
 "Some sixty years ago the early American missionaries 
 found the Karens wild savages, with no religion but the 
 most primitive Nat worship, and so terrified by the brutal 
 treatment they had received at the hands of the Burmese, 
 that they would live only in the most inaccessible parts of 
 the jungle. They must have seemed a most unpromising 
 people to labour among, for they had to be taught every- 
 thing. It was not only a religion that the missionaries had 
 to give them, but every art of civilized life, down even to an 
 alphabet. What was even harder, they had to be taught 
 courage and self-respect ; for though they would fight some- 
 times with the courage of despair, knowing by bitter experi- 
 ence that defeat at the hands of the Burmese was worse than 
 death, their first idea was always to hide themselves and 
 avoid a conflict. Like all people who have been long accus- 
 tomed to nothing but ill treatment, they were very suspicious; 
 but gradually the missionaries won their confidence, and con- 
 vinced them that in British territory they had the rights of 
 men, and would not be treated like wild beasts. Courage 
 came to them by degrees ; they ventured to settle in the 
 plains as cultivators ; and the very race which, little more 
 than half-a-century ago, had most of the instincts of a 
 hunted animal, is now the race which is doing more than 
 the other indigenous races for the maintenance of law and 
 order. In time equal laws for all might have brought about 
 this result; but, without the labours of the American 
 missionaries, it would probably have taken several genera- 
 tions to change the timid Karens into a bulwark of order. 
 As it is, some of the very men who have hunted down the 
 notorious dacoit or rebel Phonghee, may have fled in their 
 boyhood with their parents at the very sight of a Burman. 
 
 " Nor is this the only change resulting from the long 
 
Miss C. F. Gordon Cwmming. 137 
 
 unnoticed labours of the American missionaries which has 
 attracted public attention of late. The last census astonished 
 most people by bringing out the fact that, out of 84,000 
 Christians in the province, 55,000, or considerably more 
 than half, are Baptists. The great majority of these are 
 converted Karens, who are living apart in Christian 
 villages, maintaining their own churches and schools. The 
 savages who had no alphabet have now books in their own 
 tongues ; and many of them are no mean musicians, as was 
 amply proved by those who sang in the Assembly Eooms 
 a year or more ago. All this change has been wrought by 
 the unnoticed labours of self-denying men and women, who 
 have gone and lived among these people in remote villages ; 
 sacriiicing for themselves almost all the comforts of civilised 
 life, in order that these people might become civilised and 
 Christian men and women. . . ." 
 
 Miss C. F. Gordon Gumming. 
 
 The following passages, from an article in Good 
 Words by this accomplished authoress, entitled " A 
 Traveller's Impressions of Christian Missions," well 
 deserve to find a place among these " Testimonies." 
 She writes : — 
 
 "In the course of prolonged wanderings among men of 
 alien race and alien faith, I have had frequent occasion to 
 observe the startling differences in the results produced by 
 mission work in divers lands. 
 
 " My first experience was in India, more than twelve 
 years ago. There we travelled from city to city, where 
 Hindooism and Mohammedanism still strive for pre-eminence, 
 and where grotesque temples or stately mosques are the 
 prominent objects which attract the eye. Christian teachers, 
 I knew, had long been at work, striving to make known their 
 
1 38 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 message ; but their efforts had produced small apparent 
 result, and to one lookhig merely on the surface they seemed 
 to be spending their strength for naught. 
 
 " One of the most genial men I met in India was an 
 American missionary — a steadfast, earnest worker. He told 
 me that he had been for twelve years preaching in Allahabad 
 (' The City of God ') ; hut he had no reason to hope that in 
 all that time he had made a single genuine convert. 
 
 "It was sorely disheartening; yet he was content to con- 
 tinue sowing the good seed, in obedience to the Master's last 
 commandment, knowing that the Lord of the Harvest would 
 reap His grain in due season. 
 
 " The result has proved his faith well founded. Within 
 the last ten years the seed thus scattered has sprung up, and 
 the Indian mission fields are no longer dry and arid, but give 
 such good promise as may well encourage fresh labourers to 
 devote themselves to the work. 
 
 " Since I gained my first impressions of the difficulties of 
 mission work in Hindoostan I have had abundant oppor- 
 tunity of noting the same uphill struggle in Ceylon, Japan, 
 and China, where Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, and 
 all the off-shoots of those elaborate intellectual systems, 
 retain their hold on the minds of millions to whom the 
 preaching of the Cross seems foolishness — as foolish as it 
 would seem to us were very humble exponents of those 
 creeds to seek for converts in the crowded streets uf 
 London. ..." 
 
 So mucli with respect to India, &c. As will be 
 seen further on, the same "Traveller" continues 
 her " Impressions " of the mission work in the 
 Southern Pacific* 
 
 ♦ See p. 231. 
 
Sir Donald MLeod, K.C.S.I. 139 
 
 Sir Donald M'Leod, K.C.S.I., 
 
 LlEUTENANT-GoVEENOR OF THE PUNJAB. 
 
 This distinguished military officer retired from the 
 Lieutenant-Governorship of the Punjab in 1870. 
 Few men in India were more highly respected 
 throughout his lengthened career than he. To the 
 deep regret of all who knew the sterling worth of 
 the man, his useful life was cut short in 1872 by 
 an accident on the underground railway in London, 
 when on his way to preside at a missionary meeting. 
 Tlie following is one of many " Testimonies " by him 
 to the value of missionary work : — 
 
 "When I first arrived in India I was brought into 
 immediate connection with that devoted and eminent man, 
 Carey, whose great lingual accomplishments rendered his 
 services, even to a Government which could not recognise him 
 in his Christian aspect, exceedingly valuable ; he was 
 appointed examiner of the young civilians who went out to 
 India. I also had the privilege, before I went to- India, of 
 knowing his eminent coadjutor. Dr. Marshman ; and although 
 in after years, as my lot was cast in a different part of the 
 country, I had not the privilege of again meeting him (he 
 was soon called away to his rest), I have known other 
 members of his family since then. The first station to which 
 I was appointed was Monghyr, where one of your most 
 devoted and excellent missionaries (Leslie) laboured, and I 
 can say with truth that much of my after career has been 
 affected by my intercourse with that holy man. . . . 
 
 " Your report of this year — although, as my connection 
 with India has been purely official, I have necessarily viewed 
 the country in a somewhat different point of view from that 
 of your missionaries — has come home to me more closely, as 
 a faithful and a deeply interesting record of the progress that 
 
140 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 has been made, than any other reijort that I have yet read. 
 It does not enter largely into statistical details of conversions, 
 but it mentions a number of incidents, which I believe 
 exhibit the most important evidences of the progress which 
 is being made towards recovering India from the dominion 
 of Satan to that of our Lord. It mentions that amongst the 
 people the heads of families here and there are renouncing 
 idolatry. Now, although they may not at once accept 
 Christianity, that is a most important step. You know the 
 immense trial to which those are exposed in India who 
 renounce the religion of their fathers. . . . 
 
 " The report further mentions that there is a great falling- 
 off in the attendance upon Hindoo and other superstitious 
 ceremonies. You know that the ceremony in connection with 
 the car of Juggernaut was attended throughout Lower Bengal 
 by millions of persons, and the most terrible evidences of the 
 degrading character of heathenism used to be exhibited for 
 days together. It is stated, and I know it to be true, that 
 that ceremony now begins to be attended by a much smaller 
 number of persons, and with much less enthusiasm. It is 
 said that at Hardwur (which means the gate of Huri, one 
 of their gods — a place especially holy in the opinion of the 
 Hindoos), the missionaries were reproached by the Brahmin 
 priests for spreading the Christian religion and drawing 
 away their followers. That place may be said to be in some 
 respects the headquarters of Hindooism, and what takes 
 place there will vibrate throughout the whole land. . . ." 
 
 Continuing, Sir Donald M'Leod bore the following 
 testimony to the value of missions to Europeans : — 
 
 " I desire to bear testimony to the value of the labours of 
 your missionaries in this respect. I am myself, in a great 
 measure, an instance in point. The station to which I was 
 first appointed had no ministry at all, except that which was 
 given by your missionaries ; and if there is one thing more 
 important than another in India, it is that our European 
 
The Earl of Xorthbrook, O.G.S.L, &c. 141 
 
 community, especially those who have the direction of the 
 affairs of the Government, should show themselves followers 
 of the true God. And the efforts of your missionaries and 
 others to secure this result are, to my thinking, of the 
 utmost value." 
 
 The Right Hon. the Earl of Noethbkook, 
 G.C.S.I., D.C.L. 
 
 As the utterance of a former Viceroy and Governor- 
 General of India, the following extracts from an 
 address delivered by Lord Northbrook, in June 1888, 
 at the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Mis- 
 sions of the World, will be read with interest : — 
 
 " I should not be doing justice to others besides mission- 
 aries," said his lordship, "who have had to do with the 
 mission work in India, if I did not remind all those here 
 present that missionaries in India have always derived the 
 most active aid and assistance from some of the ablest and 
 most distinguished men in the service of the East India 
 Company, and of the Crown of India, both civilian and 
 military. I will not go back to the days of Eobert Charles 
 Grant, because that is ancient history. I wiU speak of the 
 men whom I have known, and whom many of you here 
 present have known. Among civilians what greater name 
 is there than that of John Lawrence, who always, during the 
 whole of his life, supported missionaries on every oppor- 
 tunity 1 He was succeeded in the government of the Punjab 
 by Sir Eobert Montgomery, an active supporter of missions. 
 After Sir Eobert Montgomery came Sir Donald M'Leod, 
 a man who, on aU occasions, and especially at the Missionary 
 Conference at Liverpool some years ago, showed his support 
 of missionary undertakings, and of such conferences as this. 
 Now these men, mind you, were not men of whom the natives 
 
142 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 of India felt any suspicion or want of confidence. I remem- 
 her very well when I was travelling througli the Punjab that 
 I was told that a small and peculiar sect desired to be pre- 
 sented to me. They were presented, and this turned out to 
 be a sect of men who worshipped the photograph of Sir 
 Donald M'Leod. There was no man, probably, who had so 
 much influence with the natives of the Punjab as he, and he 
 was a warm advocate of Christian missions. I wiU not detain 
 you by mentioning the names of many more. You aU know 
 that Sir WUliam Muir, when Governor of the North-western 
 Provinces, openly showed his support of mission work ; and 
 Sir Charles Aitchison, who occupied the post of Lieutenant- 
 General of the Punjab, and who is now one of the members of 
 the Viceroy's Council, has always been an active supporter of 
 missionary work. Then there are Sir Richard Temple, Sir 
 Eichard Thompson, Sir Charles Bernard, Henry C. Tucker, 
 and others. Then there is the almost equally distinguished 
 brother of Lord Lawrence — Henry Lawrence. Then there 
 were Herbert Edwardes, EeyneU Taylor, Henry Havelock, 
 and, in fact, nearly all tlie men who came forwa/rd at the 
 time of the Mutiny, and through whose exertions the British 
 Empire in India was preserved. Not one of them shrank 
 on any occasion from supporting the cause of missions 
 in India. I say this for two reasons. I say it, first, 
 because when you are told that these missionary socie- 
 ties are nonsense, supported by a pack of old women 
 getting together, then you may point to these men, the 
 best statesmen and the best soldiers of India, who have, 
 by their lives, and on every occasion on which they could, 
 supported mission work. And I say it, besides, because 
 I wish to point out that tliese men are the men in whom, more 
 than any others, the natives of India, whether Christians or 
 not, had the greatest confidence. It is quite wrong to suppose 
 that the native of India is suspicious of an Englishman, in 
 whatever position he may be, because that Englishman is an 
 open Christian, and also supports Christian missions. The 
 
Dr. T. W. Jex-Blake. 143 
 
 native of India, whether he may be a Mohammedan or a 
 Hindoo, is a religious being, and he respects a religious man 
 who Of erdy professes Ms religion on every proper occasion." 
 
 Dr. T. W. Jex-Blake, late Headmaster of Rugby 
 School. 
 
 In the early part of 1888, Dr. Jex-Blake spent 
 three months in India, and in the Times of October 
 3rd of the same year he gives his impressions of 
 mission work as it came under his personal observa- 
 tion. He writes : — ■ 
 
 " I would not have missed Benares for anything, if only to 
 see the Hindoo religion in its greatest splendour. The popu- 
 lation is about 250,000, with more than 3000 temples (it is 
 said) in the city. The view of the city, as you slowly pass 
 along in a steam-launch, is magnificent. Noble flights of 
 stone steps descend to the Ganges ; corpses lie upon the 
 shore, half in the water, waiting to be burnt ; sacriiicial 
 ilowers float upon the river ; and in the early morning 
 ■thousands of pilgrims of 'both sexes are bathing, with per- 
 fect decorum, in the sacred stream. 
 
 " Step inside the city. One temple swarms with fetish 
 apes, another is stercorous with cows. The stench in the 
 passages leading to the temple is frightful ; the filth beneath 
 your feet is such that the keenest traveller would hardly care 
 to face it twice. Everywhere, in the temples, in the little 
 shrines by the street side, the emblem of the Creator is 
 phallic. Eound one most picturesque temple, built appar- 
 ently long since British occupation began — probably since 
 the battle of Waterloo — runs an external frieze, about ten 
 feet from the ground, too gross for the pen to describe ; 
 scenes of vice, natural and_ unnatural, visible to all the world 
 all day long, worse than anything in the Lupanar at Pompeii. 
 
144 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Nothing that I saw in India roused me more to a sense of the 
 need of religious renovation by the Gospel of Christ than 
 what met the eye, openly, right and left, in Benares. 
 
 " At Agra, things were much brighter. The College (St. 
 John's), was founded by Valpy French, the late Bishop of 
 Lahore, who was the first Principal, and held that office for 
 twelve years. During the mutiny, French had successfully 
 appealed against the order to turn the native Christians out 
 of the fort, saying that expulsion would mean certain death; 
 that if they went out he went also ; and that if they were 
 allowed to remain he would answer for the loyalty of every 
 one. In St. John's Church it was pleasant to see the native 
 congregation fiUing every seat. . . . 
 
 " At Delhi there was more to be seen. Mr. Winter, the 
 head of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 Mission, was out when I called ; but the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel's report for 1888 speaks of 466 
 baptised persons, 132 communicants, and 1251 pupils in 
 their schools. There is at Delhi a Zenana Mission, under 
 Baptist guidance, on very friendly terms with our own 
 clergy ; but the most interesting association for work is the 
 Cambridge Mission, in connection with the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel, led by an earnest and able man, 
 in the prime of life, the Rev. G. A. Lefroy. There are six 
 of our own clergy engaged in the Cambridge Mission, two of 
 them Cheltenham CoUege pupils of my own. Among the 
 Hindoos there has been fair success ; among the Moham- 
 medans no convert as yet. . . . 
 
 " The Cambridge men speak of the great strain that it is 
 to live for years in a country where you can hardly trust any 
 one ; where corruption and venality are habitual ; where the 
 trust and love of an EngHsh home are unknown; where 
 centuries of the lowest moral tone have degraded the whole 
 population. Even from a mother's lips, they tell you, the 
 foulest thoughts and language are deliberately taught the 
 children; young mothers delighting to pit their young 
 
Br. T. W. Jex-Blake. 145 
 
 ch.ildren one against the other in contests of obscenity and 
 abuse. The very text-books in Persian contain stories where 
 the whole point turns on some of the most degrading sins 
 known to man ; and impurity and immorality are almost 
 universal. 
 
 " The actual results garnered by the Delhi Cambridge 
 Mission are small ; but it is impossible that five or six men 
 of such high quality, so devout, so earnest, so disinterested, 
 so intelligent, should live for years there without making 
 deep and durable impression. It is seed time, not harvest, 
 at present ; and as Delhi has been for many centuries the 
 seat of high civilisation and refinement, the capital of Hindoo 
 and Mohammedan empires, it is but natural that the evil 
 traditions of a bad past should cling to the spot with unusual 
 tenacity. 
 
 " Umritsur is the religious capital of the Sikhs, with a 
 most picturesque ' golden temple ' approached only by a 
 causeway crossing to the centre of a lake. At Umritsur 
 there is a strong Christian movement led by the Church 
 Missionary Society. One Indian civilian, whom I remember 
 as a boy 30 years ago, having served -his time and earned his 
 pension, stays on still at Umritsur, with his wife, from 
 devotion to missionary work — a splendid and unique devotion. 
 There is strong machinery at work — Schools, Medical Mission, 
 Zenana Mission, Orphanage, Agricultural Settlement, and 
 outlying work in the villages. There are 645 native 
 Christians, 219 communicants, and four English missionaries. 
 It is only natural that there should be much Christian life 
 stirring in the centre of the Punjab, the province in which 
 Sir Henry Lawrence — named as Governor-General should any 
 calamity befall Lord Canning — Sir Herbert Edwardes, Lord 
 Lawrence, and Sir Eobert Montgomery, lived and governed. 
 It was a true saying of Sir Herbert Edwardes — ' The Punjab 
 retook Delhi without a rupee or a bayonet from Calcutta or 
 England ; ' and the rulers of the Puijjab of those days and 
 of the following years have left an indelible stamp of 
 
 L 
 
146 Ihe Success of Ghristian Missions. 
 
 Christianity on the face of the country, if not on the 
 organisation of the Government. They were eminently 
 successful rulers, and they ruled by a Christian standard. . . • 
 " To sum up, it should be said : — 
 
 1. " The degradation of the Hindoo religion is so deep and 
 the immorality and vices obtaining, not only in the native 
 States, are so revolting, that the need of religious renovation 
 is more urgent, and the opening for Christianity is more 
 patent, than can be understood till one sees with one's own 
 eyes and hears on the spot with one's own ears. 
 
 2. " The Indian mind, though now filled with degraded 
 objects and theories of worship, is essentially a reverent and 
 religious mind, and, if once won to Christianity, would be a 
 fervently Christian mind. 
 
 3. " To win India to Christianity is not a hopeless task if 
 only enthusiasm at home were strong enough to multiply the 
 army of workers tenfold, and to send men of such quality as 
 those now at Delhi and Peshawur. 
 
 4. "Every great religion still an active force in the world 
 is an Asiatic religion, and the more imaginative or ideal side 
 of Christianity is really akin to Indian views of feeling and 
 thought, really Asiatic still. 
 
 5. "England has no moral ground for holding India 
 beyond the moral good she does there, and no moral good 
 that she could do would equal the results of the spread of 
 Christianity all over that vast continent, peopled by scores 
 of distinct nationalities with no unity whatever except the 
 subordination of each to one empire." 
 
 Hon. a. Mackenzie, C.S.I., 
 Chief Commissioner of Central Provinces. 
 
 On the occasion of the laying of the corner stone 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Mission Buildings, Jub- 
 bulpoor, on 10th December, 1888, the Chief Com- 
 
Hon. A. Mackenzie, 0.8.1. 147 
 
 missioner of the Central Provinces gave the following 
 emphatic and invaluable testimony to the mission 
 work which is being carried on in India : — 
 
 " . . . As an administrator, I am bound to neutrality in 
 matters of religion so far as the relations of the Government 
 with the native population are concerned. But as an 
 individual I am at liberty to express my sympathy with all 
 non-political movements of which my judgment approves, 
 and it has never been held necessary for Indian officers to 
 hold themselves aloof from gatherings like this. Accordingly, 
 I am here to-day to show my sympathy with your cause and 
 Church. 
 
 "This is not a time or place for controversial argument or 
 statement. I will content myself therefore with remarking 
 that, in my experience, those who depreciate mission work are 
 ■generally people who Tjnow nothing, and care to know nothing 
 about it. Ignorance is the distinguishing characteristic of 
 the ordinary despiser of missions, at home and abroad. 
 There are no doubt, however, critics who take more pains 
 and still arrive at unfavourable conclusions. We must not 
 refuse to listen when these men point out what may be weak 
 spots in our armour. Fas est ab hoste doceri — and if we 
 may learn from our enemies, we certainly may do so from 
 those who style themselves our friends. For the rest, how- 
 ever, I detect in most of the criticism of these so-caUed 
 candid friends (candour, by the way, is generally a synonym 
 for caustic), I detect, I say, in most of them a onesidedness 
 of view, and a certain absence of sympathetic touch, which 
 would, in any other sphere of thought, stamp them as quite 
 unfit for the critical function. 
 
 " It may perhaps be true that the affairs of some mission- 
 ary societies are not conducted with strict business accuracy, 
 though so far we have heard only one side of that question. 
 Well, if defects of this kind exist, it is easy to remedy them. 
 There is nothing in Christianity detrimental to accuracy 
 
148 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 either in accounts or statistics. It may be tliat direct results, 
 in the shape of conversions and baptisms, are not so startling 
 as the Church at home would like to see them. But this is 
 only a superficial estimate of the situation. No man who 
 studies India with a seeing eye can fail to perceive that the 
 indirect results of missionary enterprise, if it suits you so to 
 call them, are, to say the least, most pregnant with promise. 
 The Dagon of heathenism is being undermined on all sides. 
 To careless bystanders the image may loom as yet intact in all 
 its ghoulish monstrosity, but its doom, we know, is written. 
 And great will be its fall. I have often given it as my 
 opinion that, ere many years are over, we shall have in India 
 a great religious upheaval. The leaven of Western thought 
 and the leaven of Christianity together are working on the 
 inert heap of dead and fetid superstitions, and by processes 
 which cannot always be closely traced are- spreading a 
 regenerating ferment through the mass, which must in time 
 burst open the cerements that now enshroud the Indian 
 mind. It may not be in our time. It may not be in the 
 time of our immediate successors. But it will be, when He 
 sees fit with whom a thousand years are as one day. My own 
 belief is, that it will be sooner than the world, or even the 
 canons of the Church suppose. What the Indian Church of 
 the future will be, by what organisation governed, to what 
 precise creeds " affiliated, I, for my part, do not pretend to 
 foresee. It is being hewn out now by many hands, furnished 
 from many countries. But the main burden of the growing 
 work must ere long be taken up by the children of the 
 Indian soil. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that 
 the native Church may, in time, produce its own apostle, 
 destined to lead his countrymen in myriads to the feet of 
 Christ. The story of Buddha may renew itself within its 
 pale. . . ." 
 
Lord Dufferin. 149 
 
 LoED Dufferin and Ava, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., &c, &c., 
 
 LATE Viceroy and Governor- General of 
 
 India. 
 
 At a meeting in Calcutta, on the termination of 
 
 his office as Governor-General — an office which he 
 
 filled with distinguished abiUty and success — Lord 
 
 Dufferin, after referring to certain objections that 
 
 have been urged against the connection of missionary 
 
 societies with the higher education, thus spoke : — 
 
 " While the results of missionary labour in India are being 
 challenged, and sapient critics are writing ' the great mission- 
 ary failure ' a;cross the reports of the societies, it is interesting 
 to note the view which is taken of the subject by those 
 among whom we labour. Admittedly, Christian teaching 
 was the inspiring influence under which Keshub Chunder 
 Sen wrote and spoke his noblest and most striking words, 
 and which thus led to the formation of the Brahmo-Somaj. 
 But now Christian teaching is stirring the hearts of the 
 orthodox Hindoos, and somajes or associations for the defence 
 of the ancient faith against the assaults of Christianity are 
 being formed in various parts of India. In the Madras 
 Presidency, especially, to which missionaries have always 
 pointed as being the most encouraging part of the field, the 
 opposition has become active and polemic ; lectures are being 
 delivered in all the great centres of population in defence of 
 Hindooism; preachers are sent out by an association in 
 Madras to argue and exhort against the Christian missionary 
 when he preaches in the streets; and the Hindoo Tract 
 Society boasts that it has issued 111,000 tracts setting forth 
 the claims of the old religion against the new. 
 
 "These things do not look like indications of failure. 
 They are testimony from the best sources that missionary 
 labour has been a great success, and that Christianity has 
 made a deep and favourable impression on the minds and 
 
150 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 hearts of the people. They suggest to those who have long 
 anxiously watched and sympathised with the labourers in 
 this hard field abundant reason for thanksgiving to God. 
 They confirm faith in the power of the Divine Word. And 
 they appeal for renewed and more strenuous exertion to 
 press home the advantage already gained, and to persevere 
 until the final triumph is won." 
 
 SiE Chaeles E. Bernard, K.C.S.I., 
 Formerly Chief Commissioner of Burma. 
 
 On the occasion of the ninetietli anniversary of 
 the Church Missionary Society (29th April, 1889), 
 Sir Charles Bernard, a man who, during a lengthened 
 Indian career, as was said lately by one who could 
 speak from personal knowledge, " had never been 
 known to exaggerate, or to say one word because it 
 was pleasant, but because it was true," thus expressed 
 himself : — 
 
 " For more than thirty years I have lived in India, and 
 for some of these years I had the honour of being a member 
 of your corresponding committee in Calcutta, and I can 
 assure you that your missionaries, whether employed in 
 evangelising work or in educational work, are valued and 
 respected by the natives among whom they labour, and by 
 the European Christians who are witnesses of their labours. 
 In India the people are a religious race. They exercise 
 great self-denial, and they spend a great deal of their income 
 in promoting their own religion, and even those who do not 
 accept the missionary's message — even those who hate the 
 very idea of conversion to Christianity — appreciate the self- 
 denying efforts of the missionaries who come and live among 
 
Sir Charles E. Bernard, K.G.S.I. 151 
 
 the people and work for the people, who live poorly com- 
 pared with other Europeans in India, and who do that solely 
 and entirely for the love of the Master they serve, for the 
 love of the fellow-men among whom they work, and in 
 order to win souls for the Gospel." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 Sir John Feancis Davis, Bart., F.KS., Her 
 Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China ; Gover- 
 nor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony 
 of Hong Kong. 
 
 A WRITER in the Revue des Deux Mondes having 
 made some very disparaging and unfair state- 
 ments as to Protestant missionaries in China — 
 describing those connected with the Church of 
 England as " Methodists sent out by a joint-stock 
 company, with a cargo of Bibles " — and reference 
 having also been made to similar strictures by a 
 German, in a curious narrative, entitled " A Lady's 
 Voyage Round the World," * Sir John Davis, in his 
 interesting work, " China during the War and since 
 the Peace," t thus comments on such criticisms : — 
 
 "A mission that has produced such men as Morrison, 
 Milne, and Medhurst, can afford to be assailed with such 
 objections as the above, whatever may be the particular 
 instances in which they apply. In addition to their religious 
 labours, the Protestant missionaries are likely to be the pion- 
 eers of European knowledge and civilisation in China. Our 
 
 * Travellers' Library. 
 
 + Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, London, 1862. 
 152 
 
Sir John Francis Davis, Bart. 153 
 
 acquaintance with the language has been principally owing to 
 their labours ; and the benefits of our medical and surgical 
 science have been widely extended among the Chinese through 
 the medical branch of the mission. Some articles of the 
 ' Eepository ' (itself edited by a very old and able American 
 missionary, Dr. Bridgman), contain a mass of information 
 which is worth selecting, and must tend to raise the charac- 
 ter of these indefatigable and useful men in general estima- 
 tion. 
 
 "In 1844, the number of Protestant missionaries in China 
 was thirty-one.* They were sent by the London and Church 
 Missionary Societies in England, and by the Congregational, 
 Presbyterian, Baptist, and Episcopal Churches in America. 
 They do not reckon converts on the same principles, or by 
 any means so easily, as the Eomanists, and their apparent 
 progress is, therefore, not so rapid. If they were less strict 
 than they think it necessary to be, they might, like the others, 
 reckon their converts by thousands, t There was some truth 
 in the remark made by a Eomish convert, at Singapore, to 
 a Protestant missionary : ' You will never make many con- 
 verts. Your religion has too little to attract us, and requires 
 too much. It is very easy to become a Koman Catholic, but 
 too hard to be a Protestant.' 
 
 " . . . To the question. Why do not Protestant mission- 
 aries enter the interior and prosecute their labours as the 
 Eomanists do, the answer is this. When the Jesuits were 
 first expelled by Yoongching in 1724, they had hundreds and 
 thousands of converts in all parts of the empire. The greater 
 number of these remained uninolested, notwithstanding the 
 persecution of their teachers and of some few converts of the 
 higher orders. It was therefore easy for the Eomish priests 
 to enter the country in disguise, and to remain concealed in 
 
 * At the close of 1888 there were in China 526 male and 697 female 
 missionaries — in all, 1123. 
 
 t At the same date the number in full communion with the churches 
 was 34,555. 
 
154 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 the houses of their proselytes. It is plain that the Protes- 
 tant missionary does not possess this advantage.* 
 
 " But the Eomanists are light troops, unencumbered with 
 the impedimenta of wives and families of children, and with- 
 out a moment's distraction from the one pursuit. The extra- 
 ordinary resemblances between the external rites of Buddhism 
 and Eomanism — candles, idols, incense, genuflexions, rosa- 
 ries — all conduce to the ease of conversion, and when we add 
 the facile terms on which proselytes are admitted, there is no 
 more room for wonder at the numbers that are made. . . . 
 When the Emperor Kanghy was besought by the Jesuits to 
 be baptised, he always excused himself by saying, ' that he 
 worshipped the same deity with the Christians.' . . . 
 
 "It has appeared, in another part of this volume, that 
 I had no small amount of trouble in 1845 to establish the 
 right of Her Majesty's Consul to reside within the -city, at 
 both Foochow and Amoy, against allegations and pretended 
 difficulties akin to those pleaded at Canton, but much less 
 real. The missionaries were assailed with difficulties of the 
 same kind on their first arrival at Foochow, but being sup- 
 ported by the Vice-Consul there resident, and backed by the 
 plenipotentiary at Hong Kong, completely succeeded in 
 establishing their position within the walls. This result was 
 facilitated in no small degree by the successful practice among 
 the Chinese of a medical missionary, Mr. Wellar, which 
 enlisted the good feeling of the people in their favour, and 
 enabled them to overcome the machinations of the Chinese 
 literati, those pedantic opposers of all innovations and 
 improvements.'' 
 
 The foregoing testimony from so distinguished and 
 competent a witness may well be placed alongside the 
 disparaging effusions of anonymous critics, whether 
 
 • This, of course, was written when the residence of foreigners was 
 limited to the Treaty Ports. 
 
Augustus Raymond Margary. 155 
 
 they be writers in a French periodical, or German 
 lady voyagers. 
 
 Augustus Katmond Maegaky. 
 
 Writing from Chefoo, Mr Margary, whose mission 
 to China was brought to an untimely end by murder, 
 in February, 1875, says : — * 
 
 " People are apt to scoff at modern missionaries with their 
 comforts of house and home, but I have an opportunity here 
 of seeing that they really do a vast deal of work. If they do 
 not succeed in making many real converts, they certainly 
 diffuse a great deal of knowledge. Their little schools are 
 full of children, and their chapels crowded with devout 
 worshippers. I hope to be able to form a better opinion on 
 the missionary question here than people are able to do at 
 other places. 
 
 " I have made the acquaintance of some of those in this 
 neighbourhood, who are very charming men, of great culture, 
 education, and sociability. One of them gave up a popular 
 pulpit to come out and study the Chinese philosophically ; 
 and he is a man of great reading and a very pleasant com- 
 panion. ..." 
 
 The Honourable Heney Noel Shore, E.N., 
 First Lieutenant of H.M.S. "Lapwing."! 
 
 In the interesting volume giving an account of 
 his cruising in the Lapwing in the Chinese and 
 Japan waters, during 1875 and following years, 
 
 * "The Journey of A. R. Margary, Esq., from Shanghai and Back," 
 by Sir Rutherford Alcook, K.C.B. Maomillan, 1876. 
 
 + " The Plight of the Lapwing,'' published by Longmans, Green, & 
 Co. London, 1881. 
 
156 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Lieutenant Shore at considerable length bears most 
 valuable testimony to the character and work of the 
 missionaries in these fields. The following passages 
 are extracted somewhat at random : — 
 
 " There is some grand work being done by the missionaries 
 in Formosa, both as regards the Chinese and the semi- 
 civilised Aborigines. Christianity is spreading slowly, but 
 surely, in all directions, from Tai-wan-foo and Takow in the 
 south and Tamsin in the north. The latter field is occupied 
 by the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. The mission was 
 founded about eight years ago (1873) by Mr. Mackay, who 
 chose this scene after long and careful deliberation ; and the 
 results which have been so far achieved are entirely due to 
 his untiring zeal and marvellous energy, whUe they go far 
 towards proving the soundness of his choice. . . . 
 
 " The ultimate success of Christianity in China is merely 
 a question of time, and is perhaps nearer than many of us 
 suppose ; there are not wanting signs of a change being at 
 hand, and in the opinion of many thoughtful and experienced 
 men the next twenty years will be an eventful period showing 
 great results. 
 
 "Trade is often spoken of as the true pioneer of civilisa- 
 tion. That it has, in many instances, preceded it, is true ; 
 but it has not always been a very willing instrument ; and 
 in China, at least, the missionaries have penetrated far beyond 
 the limits of foreign trade, and have met with signal 
 encouragement. Perhaps trade has often proved antagonistic 
 to the spread of Christianity ; and the attitude of many 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits at the present day in China and 
 other countries is anything but favourable towards it. This 
 is deeply to be regretted, for the missionaries have trouble 
 and anxiety enough without being exposed to the hostility of 
 their own countrymen, to whom they might not unreasonably 
 look for encouragement and support. The absurd questions 
 that are often asked about the missionaries, as well as the 
 
The Hon. H. N. Shore, R.N. 157 
 
 mischievous libels that are uttered regarding their characters 
 and modes of life, are positively startling. Indeed it seems 
 to be generally taken for granted, amongst very many 
 foreigners in China, that the missionaries are quite the most 
 useless members of society, if indeed their influence amongst 
 the natives is not of a directly pernicious tendency. The 
 question is often put, ' What good do the missionaries do ? ' 
 'Do they ever convert anybody?' and then perhaps some 
 facetious ignoramus will exclaim, ' Oh, I believe there are a 
 few rice Christians ! ' . . . 
 
 "We cannot reasonably expect the millions of China to 
 accept our much vaunted tokens of superiority, our civilisa- 
 tion, our arts and sciences, and last, but not least, our 
 Christianity, when they find us divided amongst ourselves as 
 to their relative advantages, and that we do not practise our 
 own teaching. "When they find many not only setting 
 Christianity at nought, but ridiculing and vilifying its pro- 
 fessors, and persistently obstructing their efforts to spread its 
 doctrines abroad, the Chinese are scarcely likely to form a 
 very high opinion of the nations these people represent, and, 
 instead of welcoming the efforts which are being made on 
 their behalf, they are more likely to look with suspicion on 
 those who are working for their good, and without waiting 
 to detect the impostors from the real benefactors, to repudiate 
 the advances of all. . . . 
 
 " Sceptics, of course, one expects to meet in China as else- 
 where in these enlightened days, and their intolerance is 
 proverbial. These people like nothing better than airing 
 their opinions in public, and noisily asserting their contempt 
 for the ' Champions of the Old Faith,' as they are pleased to 
 call the missionaries ; quoting a few passages from certain well 
 known sceptical works by way of giving an air of respecta- 
 bility to their opinions, and to show that they are well versed 
 in the great controversies of the day, they pass themselves off 
 as philosophers of profound and original thought. A good 
 deal of the animosity they display is due probably to their 
 
158 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 ignorance of the end and aim of missionary work and the results 
 actually achieved ; and so, by way of cloaking their ignorance, 
 they dogmatise on the assumed absence of success, as well as 
 the folly, so they term it, of attempting to convert the 
 Chinese to Christianity. What especially seems to irritate 
 them is the fact that, in spite of their shallow criticisms 
 regarding 'the lack of culture and good breeding' of the 
 missionaries, and fierce denunciations of sectarian differences, 
 as well as the active exercise of such petty powers of 
 obstruction as they possess, the missionaries make slow but 
 steady and solid progress, and won't stoop to notice their 
 angry eagerness for recognition. Of course this is the wisest 
 course, for if the missionaries were to wait and slay each man 
 of straw who was gifted with strength of lung and wit 
 sufficient to attract the notice of passers by, they would have 
 little time for other occupations ; and so they pursue their 
 calling quietly and unobtrusively : and Christianity spreads 
 apace. . . . 
 
 "The missionaries do more towards winning respect for 
 foreigners than any other class in China, and there is no doubt 
 they do succeed, to a large extent, in conquering the pride of 
 the natives, and overcoming their intolerance, and they not 
 only gain the respect of those among whom they work, but 
 they gain it for all foreigners who are worthy of it. We 
 have only to look back on the comparatively short history of 
 Protestant missions in China to find an already long record 
 of devoted service on the part of earnest, self-denying men. 
 The missionaries are doing a work which may be invisible to 
 the shallow insight of many people in China at the present 
 time. It is nevertheless a real and noble work, which has 
 already borne good fruit, and to those who are anxious to 
 help the people along the path of their progress, I should say 
 that they could further this end in no better way than by 
 extending their sympathy and support to the Protestant 
 missions in China." 
 
J. B. Angell, LL.D. 159 
 
 J. B. Angell, LL.D., President of the University 
 OF Michigan, and foemeely United States 
 Minister to China. 
 
 In the course of an address, delivered at Detroit 
 on 4th October, 1883, Dr. Angell thus referred to 
 mission work in China : — 
 
 "I want to say, once for all; that after perhaps somewhat 
 exceptional' opportunities for observing the missions, not only 
 of our own BoaTd (A.B.C.F.M.), hut of the Boards of our 
 Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal brethren in 
 China, and also the Boards of the European churches, I come 
 fully prepared to say, as my own conviction, that the work 
 of foreign missions is now planted upon so solid a foimdation, 
 and gives so much promise in that hardest of all fields that 
 we till — China, that there is nothing left for us but to push 
 on to the glorious end which every believer in this Word of 
 God must feel assured awaits us at the last. I have enjoyed 
 the hospitality of these brethren. I have seen them at their 
 daily work ; and I want to say, as a simple expression of 
 just recognition, that it would be an inadequate statement if 
 I said simply that, in respect to attainments and ability and 
 missionary tact, the American missionaries are certainly 
 -behind those of no other societies in the East. And, as 
 I am a man, and the women are holding their meeting by 
 themselves, I think I may say confidentially to you, my 
 brethren, that we have some women there of most excep- 
 tional brilliancy and ability and devotion — women who 
 would grace and honour any position and discharge any -high 
 duty in life ; women who, with entire consecration to their 
 humble work, are equally welcome in the hut of a Chinese 
 peasant or in the salon of the most distinguished diplomate 
 at Peking. And this is not a small matter in a country 
 where courtesy, politeness, good breeding, and scholarship 
 form, as we may say, a part of the national religion. ..." 
 
160 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Colonel Charles Denby, American Minister 
 TO China. 
 
 In a letter addressed to General James M. 
 Shackleford, Evansville, Indiana, from tlie Legation 
 of the United States, Peking, 20th March, 1886, 
 Colonel Denby thus writes : — 
 
 "I wrote you some time ago about the missionaries. 
 Since then I have gone through some of the missions here, 
 and will go through all. Believe nobody when he sneers at 
 them. The man is simply not posted up in the work. With 
 your enthusiastic religious nature, you can realise the view 
 that the believing Christian takes of the Divine side of the 
 question. I, unfortunately more worldly, look at it as the 
 ancient Eoman would have done, who said, ' I am a man, 
 and nothing that is human is indifferent to me.' 
 
 " I saw a quiet, cheerful woman teaching forty or more 
 Chinese girls ; she teaches in Chinese the ordinary branches 
 of a common school education. Beneath the shadow of the 
 ' forbidden city ' I heard these girls sing the Psalms of David 
 and ' Home, Sweet Home.' I saw a male teacher teaching 
 forty or more boys the translation of the arithmetic used at 
 home ; these boys did examples for me at the blackboard. 
 I saw their little Chinese dormitories, where they slept on 
 kangs ; their plain but neat refectory ; their kitchen with its 
 great piles of rice. I saw their chapel j I visited the dis- 
 pensaries, complete and perfect as any apothecary's shop at 
 home ; then the consultation rooms, their wards for patients, 
 coming, without money or price, to be treated by the finest 
 medical and surgical talent in the world. There are twenty- 
 three of these hospitals in China. Think of it ! Is there 
 a more perfect charity in the woTld 'i The details of all the 
 system were explained to me. There are two of these 
 medical missionaries here who receive -no pay whatever. The 
 practice of the law is magnificent ; but who can rival the 
 devotedness of these men to humanity 1 
 
Col. Charles Denhy. 161 
 
 " I have seen missionaries go hence a hundred miles, into 
 districts where there is not a white person of any nationality, 
 and they do it as coolly as you went into battle at Shiloh. 
 And these men have remarkable learning, intelligence, and 
 courage. It is, perhaps, a fault that they court nobody, make 
 no effort to attract attention, fight no selfish battle. 
 
 "I made the advances that have secured their warm and 
 cordial personal affection. My personal magnetism, if I have 
 any, came into play. I gave them a ' Thanksgiving ' dinner ; 
 I had the Missionary Society meet at the Legation, atd gave 
 them, as is usual, tea. I invited them to meet me, and to 
 discuss questions of interest to Americans, particularly, lately, 
 the threatened reprisals at Canton, which called forth some 
 energetic action on the part of this Legation and Admiral 
 Davis. It is idle for any man to decry the missionaries or 
 their work. I care not about statistics as to how many souls 
 they save, and what each soul costs per annum. The Catho- 
 lics alone have 1,200,000 Chinese church members. How- 
 many Protestant denominations have I do not know. 
 
 "I taught school myself for more than two years in 
 Alabama. The men or the women who put in from eight 
 o'clock to four in teaching Chinese children, on a salary that 
 barely enables them to live, are heroes, or heroines, as truly 
 as Grant or Sheridan, Nelson or Farragut; and all this in 
 a country where a handful of Americans is surrounded by 
 300,000,000 Asiatics, liable at any moment to break out into 
 mobs and outrages, particularly in view of the tremendous 
 crimes committed against their race at home. 
 
 " I am not particularly pro-missionary ; these men and 
 women are simply American citizens to me as Minister. 
 But as a man I cannot but admire and respect them. I can 
 tell the real froin the false. These men and women are 
 honest, pious, sincere, industrious, and trained for their work 
 by the most arduous study. Outside of any religious question, 
 and even if Confucianism or Buddhism is more divine than 
 Christianity, and better for the human race — which no 
 
 M 
 
162 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 American believes — these people are doing a great work in 
 civilising, educating, and ta;king care of helpless thousands. 
 They are the forerunners of "Western methods and Western 
 morality. They are preparing the way for white-winged 
 commerce and material progress which are knocking so 
 loudly at the gate of the Chinese wall. 
 
 " At our missionary meetings at home you may quote these 
 sentiments as coming from me. I fancy that I hear your burn- 
 ing eloquence, arguing much better than I have done, a cause 
 which, outside the religious denominations, has no advocates. 
 I do not address myself to the churches ; but, as a man of 
 the world, talking to sinners like himself, I say that it is 
 difficult to say too much good of missionary work in China, 
 from even the standpoint of the sceptic. Should your 
 people send me any sum whatever, and however small, to be 
 given to any denomination, I will faithfully see that it is 
 transmitted." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 In a letter to Rev. Dr. Ellinwood, Secretary to the 
 Board of Foreign Missions in connection with the 
 Presbyterian Church of the United States, Colonel 
 Denby writes : — 
 
 " I have made it my business to visit every mission in the 
 open parts of China. This inspection has satisfied me that 
 the missionaries deserve all possible respect, encouragement, 
 and consideration. I find no fault ■with them except exces- 
 sive zeal. Civilisation owes them a vast debt. They have 
 been the educators, physicians, and almoners of the Chinese. 
 All over China they have schools, colleges, and hospitals. 
 They are the early and only translators, interpreters, and 
 writers of Chinese. To them we owe our dictionaries, 
 histories, and translations of Chinese works. They have 
 scattered the Bible broadcast, and have prepared many school 
 books in Chinese. Commerce and civilisation follow where 
 
Miss C. F. Gordon Gumming. 163 
 
 tliese unselfish pioneers tave Llazed the way. Leaving all 
 religious questions out of consideration, humanity must 
 honour a class which, for no pay, or very inadequate pay, 
 devotes itself to charity and philanthropy." 
 
 Miss C. F. Gordon Gumming. 
 
 From her interesting work entitled "Wanderings 
 in Ghina," published in 1886 (Vol. II. pp. 239- 
 42):— 
 
 " Of course, from a missionary point of view, China must 
 be incomparably the most interesting and important field in 
 the world. Not only is it by far the largest of all heathen 
 lands, but the vigour and intellectual strength of its people, 
 the patient perseverance and determination by which they 
 triumph over all obstacles, the vigour of a race which year by 
 year multiplies as the sands of the sea, and asserts its right 
 and power to colonise in every quarter of the globe — these 
 are qualities which make every grain of Christian influence 
 which can be brought to bear on the Chinese doubly important. 
 
 " I believe that at the present time all the Christian agents 
 in China combined are numerically equal to about two teachers 
 for the whole population of Scotland, so vast is the extent 
 and population comprised in the eighteen provinces of 
 China. . . . 
 
 "There is small wonder that, when the preachers have hither- 
 to been so few, the disciples have likewise been few, especially 
 as their own systems of faith are deeply rooted, and they are 
 the most conservative race in the world. Yet a beginning 
 has been made. Fifty years ago there was not one Christian 
 in all Ghina connected with any Protestant Mission. Already, 
 notwithstanding all hindrances and the fewness of teachers, 
 there are upwards of a hundred thousand recognised 
 members of different branches of the pfiotbstant 
 Church, and twbntt-two thousand communicants." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JAPAN. 
 
 Miss Isabella L. Bird (Mrs. Bishop). 
 
 IN her interesting work, " Unbeaten Tracks in 
 Japan," published in 1880, Miss Bird gives 
 her impressions of the prospects of Christianity in 
 that recently opened up field, and at the same time 
 pays a deserved tribute of respect to the missionaries 
 who are labouring there. While not anticipating 
 a rapid spread of Christianity, she thus writes : — 
 
 "It is destined to be a power in moulding the future of 
 Japan, I do not doubt. Among favourable signs are that it 
 is received as a life rather than as a doctrine, and that various 
 forms of immorality are recognised as incompatible with it. 
 It is tending to bind men together, irrespectively of class, in 
 a true democracy, in a very surprising way. The small 
 Christian congregations are pecuniarily independent, and are 
 vigorous in their efforts. 1*116 Kobe congregation, number- 
 ing 350 members, besides contributing nearly 1000 dollars to 
 erect a church, sustaining its own poor, providing medicine 
 and advice for its indigent sick, and paying its own pastor, 
 engages in various forms of benevolent effort, and compen- 
 sates Christians who are too poor to abstain from work on 
 Sunday for the loss of the day's wages. . . . 
 
 " Several copies of such of the New Testament books as 
 164 
 
Miss Isabella L. Bird. 165 
 
 have been translated, and some other Christian books, were 
 given some time ago by Mr. Neesima to the officers of the 
 prison at Otsu, who, not caring to keep them, gave them to 
 a man imprisoned for manslaughter, but a scholar. A few 
 months ago a fire broke out, and 100 incarcerated persons, 
 instead of trying to escape, helped to put out the flames, and 
 to a man remained to undergo the rest of their sentences. 
 This curious circumstance led to an inquiry as to its cause, 
 and it turned out that the scholar had been so impressed with 
 the truth of Christianity that he had taught it to his fellow 
 captives, and Christian principle, combined with his personal 
 influence, restrained them from defrauding justice. The 
 scholar was afterwards pardoned, but remained in Otsu to 
 teach more of the ' new way ' to the prisoners. 
 
 " The days when a missionary was ' dished up for dinner ' 
 at foreign tables are perhaps past, but the anti-missionary 
 spirit is strong, and the missionaries give a great deal of 
 positive and negative oifence, some of which might, perhaps, 
 be avoided. They would doubtless readily confess faults, 
 defects, and mistakes, but with all these, I believe them to 
 be a thoroughly sincere, conscientious, upright, and zealous 
 body of men and women, all working, as they best know 
 how, for the spread of Christianity, and far more anxious to 
 build up a pure Church than to multiply nominal converts. 
 The agents of the different sects abstain from even the 
 appearance of rivalry, and meet for friendly counsel, and 
 instead of perpetuating such separating names as Episcopal- 
 ians, Baptists, Congregationalists, &c., ' the disciples are called 
 Christians First.' 
 
 " Without indulging in any unreasonable expectations, it 
 cannot be doubted that the teaching of this large body of 
 persons, and the example of the unquestionable purity of 
 their lives, is paving the way for the reception of the 
 Christianity preached by the Japanese evangelists with the 
 eloquence of conviction, and that every true convert is, not 
 only a convert, but a propagandist, and a centre of the 
 
166 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 higher morality in which lies the great hope for the future 
 of Japan. 
 
 " The practical sagacity with which the Americans manage 
 their missions is worthy of notice. So far from seeking for 
 a quantity of converts, they are mainly solicitous for quality. 
 They might indeed baptise hundreds where they are content 
 with tens. The same remark applies to Dr. Palm and the 
 missionaries of the C.M.S. at Hakodate and Nigata. There 
 are hundreds of men and women scattered throughout this 
 neighbourhood who are practically Christians, who even meet 
 together to read the Bible, and who subscribe for Christian 
 objects, but have never received baptism. 
 
 "... I have the highest respect for both the Nigata 
 missionaries."* They are true, honest, conscientious men, 
 not sanguine or enthusiastic, but given up to the work of 
 making Christianity known in the way that seems best to 
 each of them, because they believe it to be the work indicated 
 by the Master. They are alike incapable of dressing up 
 ' cases for reports,' of magnifying trifling encouragements, of 
 suppressing serious discouragements, or of responding in any 
 unrighteous way to the pressure brought to bear upon mis- 
 sionaries by persons at home, who are naturally anxious for 
 results. ..." 
 
 J. J. Eein, Professor of Geography in 
 University of Maeburg. 
 
 The following extracts from Professor Eein's valu- 
 able work entitled " Japan : Travels and Researches 
 undertaken at the cost of the Prussian Govern- 
 ment," f will be read with interest : — 
 
 "A reform and revival of Buddhism appears to those who 
 are well acquainted with the facts, and have reflected upon 
 
 * Mr. Fyaon and Dr. Palm. 
 
 t Translated from the German. Hodder k Stoughton. London, 1884. 
 
Professor J. J. Rein. 167 
 
 them, to be as impossible as that attempted in the case of 
 ancestor -worship. Christianity is alone adapted to give 
 complete satisfaction to the deep religious yearning which 
 still exhibits itself on various occasions among the better 
 part, the heart of the people, and to be their faithful guiding 
 star in their spiritual awakening. The circumstances are now 
 essentially different from what they were three hundred years 
 ago, and the increase of the converts is incomparably less. 
 Only a few Sumarai have as yet openly adopted Cliristianity, 
 but they include men who are highly esteemed by their 
 fellows for their learning and the purity of their lives. 
 Among the people, however, the missionaries, who are good 
 speakers and are masters of the language, have always a large 
 number of attentive hearers, and are forming congregations 
 which justify the largest expectations. 
 
 " The greatest hindrances in the way of the preaching of 
 the Gospel have disappeared ; and the country is more and 
 more approximating to complete religious liberty. Yet the 
 missionaries have no lack of difficulties with which to 
 contend ; the greatest and most lamentable of them being 
 not so much the indifference of the heathen Japanese, or the 
 variety of Christian confessions, as the indifference, nay, 
 even the enmity, towards Christianity of many foreigners 
 who give utterance to their feeling by word and deed. The 
 Japanese will, however, gradually learn to distinguish between 
 those who merely bear the name of Christians, and those 
 whose thoughts and acts are guided and ennobled by 
 Christian doctrines, and will no longer estimate the value of 
 Christianity by the former." 
 
 Arthur L. Shumway, Newspaper 
 Correspondent. 
 
 A Japanese romance entitled " Yone Santo " 
 recently appeared (1888) in successive issues of the 
 
168 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Atlantic Monthly from the pen of Mr. E. H. House. 
 The author's misrepresentations of missionaries were 
 so gross, and exhibited such an unmistakable 
 animus, that Mr. Arthur L. Shumway felt impelled 
 to vindicate their character and work. This he has 
 done most thoroughly, as indeed he was well qualified 
 and entitled to do, alike from personal knowledge in 
 many lands, and because, previous to setting out on 
 his travels, he had, as he states, no interest whatever 
 in foreign missionary work. Mr. Shumway writes as 
 follows : — 
 
 "I have not the advantage of knowing anytldng about 
 Mr. E. H. House, the author of ' Yone Santo.' It would be 
 more easy to understand his curious treatment of the mis- 
 sionary if one knew through exactly what kind of spectacles 
 he has surveyed the work of the missionary. Whatever may 
 be the animus of his attacks, however, I do not hesitate to 
 say that they convey a grossly false impression of missionary 
 character to the mind of the average reader. 
 
 " Lest there should be any doubt as to the standpoint 
 from which I have studied the work of the missionaries 
 whom I met in the bourse of travels in the Orient as a 
 newspaper correspondent, I will say that, when I started 
 out, I had no interest in the cause of foreign missions what- 
 ever. "When I landed at Yokohama I did not expect to find 
 any time for cultivating the acquaintance of the missionary. 
 Everything about me was so novel that I thought I would 
 barely have time to note the commonest surprises on every 
 hand. But soon I found that I was driven to the missionary. 
 I wanted information — reliable information. I could not 
 speak the local language. I did not want to trust to common 
 interpreters for facts. There were consular agents, here and 
 there, to be sure, but they were often busy, and I remem- 
 bered that, even at the best, they had to get their ideas 
 
Arthur L. Shumway. 169 
 
 through interpreters also. At length I sought out the 
 humble missionary, and then I found that, as a rule, I could 
 get even more reliable political information from him than 
 I could from our own governmental representative. 
 
 " There are good reasons why this should be so. The 
 missionary is the true cosmopolite. He mingles with ' the 
 people,' in the broadest sense of that expression, and he 
 thoroughly understands what he sees. He is brought into 
 contact with all classes of humanity, from the pashas, and 
 rajahs, and pundits, and mandarins, and daimios of the various 
 countries whither he has gone, down to the peasants, the 
 fellahin, even the beggars by the wayside. His calling is 
 peculiarly calculated to familiarise him with the manners of 
 the people, the systems of native education, the national 
 traditions, and every branch of science, art, literature, and 
 industry cultivated by the people. He has a convert who 
 becomes ill. He calls and incidentally learns a great deal 
 about the state of medical science in the country. A young 
 man is arrested for some infraction of the laws, and sends 
 for him. He thus has a chance to learn something about 
 the feudal code of the country, and to study the operations of 
 the judicial system in vogue there. A convert gets into 
 some business difficulty and invokes his aid. He then has 
 an opportunity to learn what are the laws governing in the 
 local commercial world. And so one might go on indefinitely 
 illustrating the truth of this proposition, that the missionary 
 is usually the best informed resident foreigner to be found 
 in an Oriental' community. 
 
 " Thus driven to the missionary for the broadest and most 
 reliable information regarding the people's customs and civili- 
 zation in the country where I might be stopping, I came to 
 make a special study of his characteristics everywhere. 
 
 "In Japan, I not only inspected the work in progress at 
 the chief ports on the east coast, but also at Hiogo, Osaka, 
 Kiobi, Nagasaki, and other points in the western half of the 
 empire. Leaving Japan, I surveyed the work quite carefully 
 
170 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 in several cities in China, in Malayasia, in Burma, in 
 India, in Egypt, in Palestine, in Syria, in Greece, in Asia 
 Minor, in Turkey, and in Papal Europe. I studied the 
 work both from without and from within. I went with 
 missionaries again and again on their tours of visitation. I 
 attended native services in missionary chapels. I visited 
 hospitals, asylums, homes, day schools, Sunday schools, and 
 printing stations. I inspected scores and scores of missions, 
 many on the beaten track of tourist travel, and many in the 
 interior far from the coast. In a number of instances I 
 lodged for several days at a time under missionary roofs, in 
 places where hotel accommodation could not be secured. 
 What is true in Japan, I found to be true elsewhere. No- 
 where did I discover a single person in the service of a 
 missionary society who corresponded even in the smallest 
 particular with the Misses Philipson or Miss Jackman who 
 figure as characters in Mr. House's story. . . . 
 
 "Missionaries are, almost without an exception, men and 
 women not only of the most exalted Christian character, but 
 also of the ripest scholarship and intellectual culture. There 
 is a reason for this also. It takes more than superficial con- 
 secration and more than ordinary mental calibre to enable a 
 man to reach the point where he deliberately resolves to go 
 to some remote shore, and give his best years to the work of 
 educating, mentally and morally, a perverse and — perhaps — 
 unlovable people. It requires a loftier moral purpose, and a 
 steadier, clearer brain than most people possess. 
 
 "Turn to the Oriental shelves in our libraries, and you 
 will be amazed to find that nearly all of the brightest, 
 deepest, and most valuable books there have been written 
 by missionaries. To missionary pens are we indebted for the 
 most reliable information that we have regarding the far east, 
 as well as for the most fascinating, poetical, and scholarly of 
 the correct pictures of Oriental life that we have. There are 
 a few exceptions to this rule, but by their very scarcity they 
 only serve to prove the rule. 
 
Arthur L. Shumway. 171 
 
 " After an acquaintance with two or three hundred mis- 
 sionaries, home and foreign, of all denominations, I have 
 failed to discover a single instance of missionary pride such 
 as Mr. House depicts. I remember the case of one person 
 whom I met in a certain foreign country, who impressed me 
 as being a trifle austere ; but I remember only one such case, 
 and that person could not be for ah instant compared with 
 the caricatures which Mr. House has given to the world in 
 the persons of Mrs. Steele, Miss Jackman, the Misses Philip- 
 son, and their co-workers. I met no one, I think, who could 
 be ' excited to wrath and scorn ' by doubts as to the infalli- 
 bility of her opinions ; no one who seemed to me domineering 
 and arrogant. I saw much of missionaries in their relations 
 with their servants, and with the coolie classes ; but I dis- 
 covered no dissatisfaction on the part of the natives, heard no 
 complaints of underpaid richisha pullers, and learned of no 
 demands for a discount in transaictions of any sort based on 
 the nature of the work in which the employing party was 
 engaged. . . . Alas ! we cannot infer that Mr. House has 
 made the common mistake of generalising incorrectly from 
 a single instance, or at best a few instances. Though we 
 might be charitable enough to formulate some such theory, 
 he has made the entertaining of such a theory impossible. 
 He distinctly tells us in the twentieth chapter of his romance 
 (in the guise of Dr. Charwell, it is true, but we are forced to 
 read between the lines the convictions of the author), that of 
 all the multitudes of missionaries who came to Japan during 
 his long residence there, there was not one whom he did not 
 regard as 'selfish,' 'cowardly,' and 'conceited,' with the 
 exception of a very few, who were ' steeped in ignorance 
 more befitting the rudest peasant than a pretended teacher 
 of religion.' During this long term of years, in the midst of 
 universal ' selfishness,' ' prejudice,' ' vanity,' and ' presumptu- 
 ous arrogance,' the satisfaction which Dr. Charwell found in 
 contemplating his own perfections must at least have been 
 comforting. And yet, from the tenor of his narrative in 
 
172 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 various places, one cannot help occasionally fancying that 
 the Philipsons did not have a monopoly of all the self-love 
 there was in Tokyo during those years. I despair of convey- 
 ing any just idea of the intense conviction which I have, as 
 a newspaper man merely, that Mr. House has grossly and 
 most cruelly misrepresented missionary character. Among 
 those that have no means of knowing that his representations 
 are unfair, the effect of ' Tone Santo ' will be pernicious in 
 the extreme — unless, indeed, the author has really overshot 
 his mark. One would almost infer from reading the story 
 that its first and foremost object was to teach the inherent 
 smallness of all missionaries ; and second — incidentally — to 
 present a valuable picture of the condition of woman in Japan. 
 And the dangerousness of the author's work consists in the 
 fact that the story is so refreshingly original, so exquisitely 
 quaint and entertaining. The indefinable charm with which 
 the whole narrative is invested serves to capture the reader, 
 and beguile him into beheving that everything must have 
 been just as it appeared to Dr. Charwell. 
 
 "How shall I separate from a large number of similarly 
 conspicuous proofs of the worth of missionaries, some single 
 reminiscence that will serve to vindicate my own respect for 
 the class of people belittled by Mr. House '! . . . One day as 
 I was walking the streets of Canton, China, with Mr. Charles 
 Seymour, our American Consul-General in that great city, we 
 met and passed a quiet, modest-mannered man on his way 
 into the city. Said Mr. Seymour : ' Do you see that man 
 yonder ? ' pointing in the direction of the receding stranger. 
 I assented, and he continued, ' That is Dr. Kerr. He is in 
 charge of the great missionary hospital yonder. The hospital 
 was founded in 1838, and has already treated three quarters 
 of a million cases, I believe. I consider that he is the peer 
 of any living surgeon in the world to-day. To my personal 
 knowledge he imdertakes, almost daily, cases which our most 
 distinguished surgeons at home do not dare attempt, even in 
 Philadelphia, the medical capital of our country. I suppose 
 
Arthur L. Shumway. 173 
 
 that humble man might just as well as not be enjoying an 
 income of from $50,000 to $75,000 a-year, instead of his 
 present small salary, if he was only practising in the city of 
 New York on his own account. And I suppose he knows it 
 too.' And when we afterwards passed through the hospital, 
 inspected the photographs of operations already performed, 
 and viewed the array of deformities to be treated that after- 
 noon, I could not doubt that what he had said was literally 
 true. 
 
 " In conclusiouj I will also select one testimonial from a 
 mass of similar material which might be selected, tending to 
 illustrate the worth of the missionary's services to the State. 
 It shall be selected, also, from a source generally recognised 
 as most unfriendly to missions. The East India Company 
 actually prohibited religious and educational work in India, 
 from 1792 to 1812, by statute, and practically prohibited 
 such work from 1812 to 1858 by its policy of hostility to 
 missions. One of the Directors of the Company is quoted as 
 saying, ' I would rather see a band of devils in India than a 
 band of missionaries.' In 1873 the Secretary of State for 
 India made the following statement in his report : — ' The 
 Government cannot but acknowledge the great obligation 
 under which it is laid by the benevolent exertions of those 
 six hundred missionaries, whose blameless example and self- 
 denying labour are infusing new vigour into the stereotyped 
 life of the great populations placed under English rule, and 
 are preparing them to be in every way better men and better 
 citizens of the great empire in which they dwell.' 
 
 " As the London Quarterly Review says : 
 
 "This testimony of the Indian Government to the import- 
 ance and value of the direct results of Indian missions is one. 
 of the most remarkable facts that can claim to have a place 
 in missionary history. 
 
 "It is the testimony literally extorted from a party that 
 for long years was violently prejudiced against all forms of 
 religious work." 
 
174 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 This unscrupulous critic's production is reviewed 
 at some length in scathing terms in the columns of 
 the Japa-n. if aii for February, 1889. His statements 
 are contradicted in toto. While differing from the 
 theological opinions of the missionaries, the writer in 
 the Mail has the candour frankly to admit their 
 abilities and the thoroughly good work they were 
 doing. A few passages from the review may be 
 here submitted : — 
 
 " He (Mr. House) claims that he has thoroughly studied 
 the subject for twenty-five years, and that he knows whereof 
 he speaks ; we affirm that for twenty-five years he has been 
 strengthening a prejudiced opinion by partial observation, 
 and that his light thereon is darkness, and we have had as 
 good opportunities for judging, and for as long a time. The 
 mass he depicts as rotten, with a rare individual fit to live ; 
 whereas, on the contrary, the bulk of the missionaries in 
 Japan are intelligent, fairly well educated, some of them 
 eminently so, as a whole doing indisputably good, moral, 
 and elevating work for this people, though a rare individual 
 may be open to a portion of Mr. House's terrific censures. 
 The government and intelligent people of Japan recognise 
 and appreciate the good which our author persistently 
 ignores. 
 
 " The ladies' societies and schools have done more for the 
 womanhood of Japan than any other force, and are more 
 trusted and sought after by the Japanese authorities and 
 people than any other elevating agency. The attitudes 
 ascribed to representative missionary ladies in the story are 
 simply impossible ; the conversations on religious subjects 
 have an utter woodenness that shows our author floundering 
 out of his depths ; they are absurdly untrue to life. 
 
 "The charges of bad food and unsanitary conditions in the 
 schools, and consequent attacks of cholera, are false. . . . 
 
The " Japan Mail" 175 
 
 A practical refutation of the slander against these schools is 
 that, though with the years they have rapidly increased both 
 in size and number, they are crowded with students, and 
 almost every town of any size in the empire seems anxious to 
 have one established within reach of its daughters." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AFRICA. 
 
 Hon. Sir John Trutee, Knight Chief Justice of 
 THE Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 AT the third anniversary of the Cape Town 
 Auxiliary Missionary Society, held on 21st 
 December, 1827, Sir John Truter spoke as follows: — 
 
 " It is with feelings of sincere interest for the sake of our 
 blessed religion, and with a thorough conviction of its hene- 
 ficial effects on my native country, that 1 undertake the 
 opening of the business of this day. I feel flattered to be 
 able to congratulate this meeting that they are assembled to 
 celebrate the anniversary of one of the most exalted institu- 
 tions (London Missionary Society) which has ever adorned 
 the Christian world — an institution of divine origin, and 
 having a straight tendency to promote the cause of eternal 
 salvation by spreading the light of redemption in pagan and 
 other unenlightened countries — an institution which, under 
 the gracious influence of Divine Providence, may be justly 
 considered as one of the active powers through which the 
 promises of the Gospel are to be fulfilled. 
 
 "Having had occasion to witness the operations of the 
 institution in this colony from its infancy to its present profi- 
 cient state, I deem it but justice to avail myself of the present 
 opportunity to bear testimony to its rapid progress and highly 
 beneficial religious and moral efiects in South Africa. ..." 
 176 
 
Sir Peregrine Maitland. 177 
 
 Committee of the House of Commons. 
 
 The following is the testimony borne by a Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons in 1842 with 
 respect to the state of the colony of Sierra Leone : — 
 
 "To the invaluable exertions of the Church Missionary- 
 Society more especially — as also, to a considerable extent, as 
 in all our African settlements, to the Wesleyan body — the 
 highest praise is due. By their efforts nearly one-fifth of the 
 whole population— a most unusually high proportion in any 
 country — are at school ; and the eifects are visible in con- 
 siderable intellectual, moral, and religious improvement.'' 
 
 SiE Peeegeine Maitland, Goveenoe of Cape 
 Colony, 1844-47. 
 
 In the earlier years of the mission of the American 
 Board in Natal (about 1845), one of the missionaries 
 was returning home after being much disheartened 
 by adverse circumstances, one of these arising from 
 the fact that during the previous ten years of its 
 existence not a single convert had been gathered in. 
 On reaching the Cape, he was urged by Sir Peregrine 
 Maitland to go back to his field of labour, with the 
 promise that he would undertake his support. " For," 
 added His Excellency, " he relied more upon the 
 labours of the missionaries for the peaceful govern- 
 ment of the natives than upon the presence of 
 British troops." 
 
178 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 H. H. Johnston, H.B.M. Consul, Mozambique. 
 
 The following adverse and favourable criticisms of 
 African missionaries and their work are taken from 
 an article in Nineteenth Century for November, 1887. 
 Mr. Johnston writes : — 
 
 " It is not on the spread of Christianity that African mis- 
 sions can at present hase their claims to our gratitude, respect, 
 or support. Judged from a purely Christian point of view, 
 they have not been successful. In many important districts, 
 where they have been at work for twenty years, they can 
 scarcely number in honest statistics twenty sincere Christ- 
 ians — that is to say, twenty natives understanding in any 
 degree the doctrines or dogmas they have been taught, and 
 striving to shape their conduct to their new principles. In 
 other parts of Africa, principally British possessions, where 
 large numbers of nominal Christians exist, their religion is 
 discredited by numbering among its adherents all the drunk- 
 ards, liars, rogues, and unclean livers of the colony. In the 
 oldest of our West African possessions, aU the unrepentant 
 Magdalenes of the chief city are professing Christians, and the 
 most notorious one in the place would boast that she never 
 missed going to Church on a Communion Sunday. . . ." 
 
 The foregoing paragraph, containing as it does a 
 serious impeachment of African missions in general, 
 appears to be quite out of place here, and it is solely 
 on account of what follows that its insertion has not 
 been otherwise arranged. It is out of these and similar 
 statements in the article that Canon Taylor has made 
 capital. They may be to some extent true, and yet 
 I cannot help thinking they are somewhat, if not 
 grossly, exaggerated. But even admitting their sub- 
 stantial accuracy, I have a very strong conviction 
 
H. H. Johnston, F.L.8., African Explorer. 179 
 
 that they are applicable exclusively, or almost so, to 
 the West Coast of Africa, and I should hope to only 
 a portion of that part of the Continent. Indeed, all 
 through the article special reference is made to that 
 portion of the dark Continent. Having seen a good 
 deal of the missions of different churches in Cape 
 Colony and Natal, I make bold to say that such a 
 state of things as Mr. Johnston describes has little or 
 no existence there, nor, I believe, would it be tole- 
 rated for a single day. 
 
 Mr. Johnston's testimony in favour of missionaries 
 as the pioneers of civilisation in Africa is the more 
 valuable that he evidentlydoes not estimate very highly 
 the moral and spiritual results of their labours, as to 
 which I am disposed to think that a more extensive 
 and intimate acquaintance, and sympathy also per- 
 haps, with mission work would have enabled him to 
 judge as wisely of these as of the other results. I 
 proceed, however, with some extracts : — 
 
 " If the immediate success of British missionaries in 
 spreading their religion over barbarous Africa be doubtful, 
 if the average type of their converts seem an unsatisfactory 
 product of so much labour and expenditure of lives and 
 wealth, it is, on the other hand, consoling to reflect on the 
 immense services which missionary enterprise has rendered to 
 Africa, to the world at large, and to Great Britain in par- 
 ticular. When the history of the great African States of the 
 future comes to be written, the arrival of the first missionary 
 will, with many of these new nations, be the first historical 
 event in their annals. Allowing for the matter-of-fact and 
 strictly realistic character of historical analysis in the 
 
180 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 twentieth century, this pioneering propagandist will never- 
 theless assume somewhat of the character of a Quetzalcoatl — 
 of one of those strange, half -mythical personalities which figure 
 in the legends of old American empires, the beneficent being 
 who introduces arts and manufactures, implements of hus- 
 bandry, edible fruits, medical drugs, cereals, and domestic 
 animals. 
 
 " To British missionaries and not to British traders many 
 districts of tropical Africa owe the introduction of the orange, 
 lime, and mango, of the cocoa-nut palm, the cacao-bean, and 
 the pineapple. Improved breeds of poultry, pigeons, many 
 useful vegetables and beautiful garden flowers have been and 
 are being taken further and further into the poorly endowed 
 regions of barbarous Africa by these emissaries of Christian- 
 ity. It is they, too, who in many cases have first taught 
 the natives carpentry, joinery, masonry, tailoring, cobbling, 
 engineering, book-keeping, printing, and European cookery ; 
 to say nothing of reading, writing, arithmetic and a smatter- 
 ing of general knowledge. Almost invariably it has been to 
 British missionaries that the natives of the interior Africa 
 have owed their first acquaintance with the priating-press, 
 the steamboat and the saw-mill. Most of the great lakes 
 and rivers of this little-known continent have been navigated 
 in the first instance by the steamers of British Missionary 
 Societies, which may now be seen plying on Tanganyika and 
 Nyassa, on the Upper Congo, the Niger, Binu^, and Zambesi. 
 Is it of no account, do you think, is it productive of no 
 good effect in the present state of Africa, that certain of our 
 fellow-countrymen — men and women possessed of at least 
 an elementary education, and impelled by no greed or gain 
 or unworthy motive — should voluntarily locate themselves 
 in the wild parts of this undeveloped quarter of the globe, 
 and, by the very fact that they live in a European manner, 
 in a house of European style, surrounded by European im- 
 plements, products and adornments, should open the eyes of 
 the brutish savages to the existence of a higher state of culture. 
 
H. H. Johnston, F.L.8., African Explorer. 181 
 
 and prepare them for the approaoli of civilisation. I am sure 
 my readers will agree with me that it is as the preparer of 
 the white man's advent, as the mediator hetween the barbarian 
 native and the invading race of rulers, colonists or traders, 
 that the missionary earns his chief right to our consideration 
 and support. He constitutes himself infbrmally the tribune 
 of the weaker race, and though he may sometimes he open 
 to the charges of indiscretion, exaggeration, and partiality 
 in his support of his dusky-skinned clients' claims, yet with- 
 out doubt he has rendered real services to humanity in draw- 
 ing extra-colonial attention to many a cruel abuse of power, 
 and by checking the ruthless proceedings of the unscrupulous 
 pioneers of the white invaders. 
 
 " Indirectly, and almost unintentionally, missionary enter- 
 prise has widely increased the bounds of our knowledge, and 
 has sometimes been the means of conferring benefits on 
 science, the value and extent of which itself was careless to 
 appreciate and compute. Huge is the debt which philologists 
 owe to the labours of British missionaries in Africa. By 
 evangelists of our own nationality, nearly two hundred 
 languages and diakcts have been illustrated by grammars, 
 dictionaries, vocabularies and translations of the Bible. 
 Many of these tongues were on the point of extinction, and 
 have since become extinct, and we owe our knowledge of 
 them solely to the missionaries' intervention. Zoology, botany, 
 and anthropology, and most of the other branches of scientific 
 investigation have been enriched by the researches of mission- 
 aries, who have enjoyed unequalled opportunities of collect- 
 ing in new districts ; while commerce and colonization 
 have been so notoriously guided in their extension by the 
 information derived from patriotic emissaries of Christianity, 
 that the Negro Potentate was scarcely unjust when he com- 
 plained that ' first came the missionary, then the merchant, 
 and then the man-of-war.' 
 
 " There are some British Protestant Missionary Societies 
 engaged in Christianising Africa. The yearly income of these 
 
182 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 corporations ranges from £250,000 in the case of the richest, 
 to £10,000 in that of the poorest. Collectively they spend 
 annually on Africa alone about £200,000. Their energy, 
 activity, and wealth united form an imposing force, which 
 is powerful for good and ill, and which to those who shape 
 our destinies is far from being ' une quantite riegligeable.' It 
 is a force which, in the past, despite many errors of judgment 
 and foolish prejudices, effected greater changes for the better 
 in the condition of savage Africa than armies and navies, 
 conferences and treaties have yet done. For missionary 
 enterprise in the future, I see a great sphere of usefulness — 
 work to be done in the service of civilisation, which shall 
 rise superior to the mere inculcation of tedious, barren dog- 
 mas; work which shall have for its object the careful edu- 
 cation and kindly guardianship of struggling, backward 
 peoples ; work which, in its lasting effects on men's minds, 
 shall be gratefully remembered by the new races of Afrifca 
 when the sectarian fervour which prompted it shall long 
 have been forgotten." 
 
 Lady F. N. Barker. 
 
 The following descriptive notices of a visit to the 
 mission-station of Edendale, some six miles from 
 Maritzburg, are taken from Lady Barker's very read- 
 able book, "House-keeping in Natal." The station 
 was founded by the Rev. James Allison, whose mission- 
 ary career extended over a period of more than forty 
 years, in connection first with the Wesleyan Mission- 
 ary Society, and latterly with the Free Church of 
 Scotland, and whose memory is still revered by the 
 natives of Natal and Swaziland. These notices have 
 a special value as ' coming from an experienced, 
 
Lady F. N. Barker. 183 
 
 observant, and highly intelligent traveller. I had 
 the privilege of visiting Edendale in 1887, and was 
 struck -with the substantial character of the work, 
 the visible fruits of it giving the impression of an 
 oasis in the wastes of heathendom. Lady Barker 
 writes*: — 
 
 " The inhabitants of Edendale do not live in Kafir huts, 
 but in neat-looking little houses of brick, all exactly like one 
 another. They have yellow or red-painted doors, and are 
 half covered with creeping plants. Whoever doubts whether 
 the natives can be civilised should visit this or similar 
 stations to be convinced how easily the Kafir adopts com- 
 fortable usages and customs, and how well-pleased he is to 
 live in honourable and orderly fashion with his neighbours. 
 Edendale is a mission-station of the "Wesleyans, and the 
 history of the settlement is extremely interesting — interesting 
 because it is neither the result of a costly organisation, nor of 
 an artificial system of conversion, but is the special work of 
 a single man,t and a proof that the natives can appreciate 
 the blessings of association and civilisation. Therefore, 
 I feel myself constrained to bear testimony to the immense 
 amount of energy and sound practical knowledge of mankind 
 which the missionaries of the Wesleyans and Baptists bring 
 to bear upon the improvement and profit of the black masses 
 all over the world. I am myself a steadfast adherent of the 
 Established Church, and am second to none in love and 
 reverence for my own form of worship, but I do not see that 
 that should hinder me from acknowledging facts which have 
 impressed themselves upon me since my childhood. . . . 
 
 " I confess that I felt my heart greatly drawn towards this 
 pious-minded, hard-working, little community. ... At the 
 special and urgent request of the owners I went into one of 
 the houses. You have no conception how cleanly and 
 
 * Maomillan & Co., 1877. t Rev. James AUieon. 
 
184 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 orderly it looked in every respect, and how readily the Kafir 
 adorns his dwelling. Indeed, he carries it rather too far. 
 I am no political economist, and indeed the combination of 
 the words frightens me ; but I cannot help remarking that 
 we are leaving unused the good material which lies ready to 
 our hand. When one comes here, it is told him as some- 
 thing terrible that there are in Natal 300,000 Kafirs, and 
 only 17,000 whites. The observation is commonly added, 
 that we can only look to immigration for the salvation of the 
 country. I cannot help thinking that this is not what we 
 want, at all events not of such whites as are commonly 
 designated as the lower classes. . . . Could we get a small 
 number of teachers and accomplished, clever tradesmen to 
 co-operate with the missionaries who are spread over the 
 whole country, and have already quietly done an infinite 
 amount of good in establishing trade-schools, in this way we 
 should more and more be enabled to utilise the material 
 which we possess in the Kafirs. "We must find ways and 
 means to bring the Kafirs into the great brotherhood of 
 civilisation. They are a clever, good-humoured, easily- 
 governed people. Their great defect is laziness; but in 
 Edendale I heard no complaint, and saw no sign of 
 it." 
 
 Geneeal Sir Arthur T. Cunynhame, G.C.B., Lieut.- 
 governoe and commander of the forces in 
 South Africa, 1874-78. 
 
 The following testimony is extracted from General 
 Cunynhame's book, entitled " My Command in South 
 Africa,"* and is specially valuable as coming from 
 one occupying a distinguished position in the service 
 of his country. His observations of the work at 
 
 * Macmillan & Co., 1879. 
 
General Sir Arthur T. Cunynhame. 185 
 
 Lovedale well deserve to be reproduced here. He 
 thus writes : — 
 
 "We next came to Alice, near which the Lovedale Institu- 
 tion is situated. I visited this with very great satisfaction. 
 
 " Cart and waggon building and carpentering were pro- 
 gressing satisfactorily, while the more experienced men were 
 enployed in type-setting and printing and telegraphy. 
 
 " It is very much to be desired that mission-stations should 
 be more generally established on these principles, and that 
 reading and singing the Psalms should not be the beginning 
 and end of education of black men. 
 
 "The account of a visit to Lovedale, which I read in one 
 of the daily papers, is so interesting that I trust I shall be 
 pardoned for inserting it here : — 
 
 " ' After kindly welcoming me to Lovedale he invited me 
 to have a look over the place, and here it was that all the 
 arguments that I had prepared vanished as chaff before the 
 wind. For one of the first observations that the Doctor 
 
 made was this — " Our object, Mr. , is to teach the 
 
 native to work ; work he must, a certain portion of the day, 
 or go. We cannot afford to keep idlers here ; lazy fellows 
 soon must leave us. We endeavour to civilise and teach 
 them to fear God at the same time, and hope that some at 
 least will turn out useful men and women." I could scarcely 
 avoid applauding the Doctor's sentiments with a hearty "hear, 
 hear," having all the ground knocked from under me. 
 I proceeded to examine the workings of the institution with 
 less prejudice. The Doctor leading the way, first we entered 
 the printing compartment. Here was one white man and 
 several black boys hard at work at the press, running off the 
 Christian Express. They appear to be well up to their 
 work, the type being clear, and equal to any I have seen. 
 The next was the Telegraph Office ; this is worked by two 
 black boys. The Doctor remarking, " Of course you under- 
 stand the working of the telegraph, Mr. ?" the 
 
186 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 " Oh, yes " came out without thinking, and I felt foolish 
 while the Doctor was explaining. He, however, was generous 
 enough not to notice my blushes. 
 
 " ' Then we examined the carpenters' shop, where the 
 Doctor told me there were twenty-four natives learning the 
 trade. Then came the waggon-makers, where eleven boys 
 were at work. Blacksmiths and farriers came next, where 
 an equal number of boys were being instructed. While 
 thus employed, the strains of music reached our ears, and in 
 answer to my inquiry as to its meaning, I was told that the 
 brass band was practising, having been asked to head a 
 procession the next day. The Good Templars were to 
 celebrate, a something or another, and intended marching 
 through the town, headed by the band. The band consists 
 of native lads, with the exception of four white boys. As 
 far as I could judge, they performed correctly. While they 
 were blowing like fury a Good Templars' March, the Doctor 
 caught me by the sleeve, and took me rather hurriedly out- 
 side,- just in time to notice about a hundred native boys 
 passing with their picks and hoes returning from work ; the 
 Doctor remarking, " It 's not all band-playing, you see, sir." 
 I was astonished as Well as delighted, and could not help 
 wondering at the mistaken ideas many have of the Lovedale 
 Seminary. . . . 
 
 " ' Thanking the Doctor heartily for his kindness and 
 trouble in showing me over the establishment and pointing 
 out all the minute details of the working, I left, convinced 
 that the institution ought to have every support and encour- 
 agement, and I trust that some — ah ! many — will, after 
 perusing this short and imperfect, yet true description of the 
 workings of the establishment, forward Dr. Stewart subscrip- 
 tions, in £5 notes and upwards, to enable him to carry on 
 this praiseworthy institution. . . .' " 
 
Joseph Thomson, F.RQ.S. 187 
 
 Joseph Thomson, F.R.G.S. 
 
 This intrepid African traveller thus writes in his 
 interesting work, " To the Central African Lakes and 
 Back"* (vol. ii. pp. 277-8) with reference to the 
 Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland 
 and the Mission of the London Missionary Society 
 on the shores of Lake Tanganyika : — 
 
 "(Where international effort has failed, an unassuming 
 mission, supported only by a small section of the British 
 people, has been quietly and unostentatiously, but most 
 successfully, realising in its own district the entire pro- 
 gramme of the Brussels Conference. I refer to the Living- 
 stonia Mission of the Eree Church of Scotland. This 
 mission has proved itself, in every sense of the word, a 
 civilising centre. By it slavery has been stopped, desolating 
 wats put an end to, and peace and security given to a wide 
 area of country. While preaching the doctrine of ' peace 
 and goodwill towards men,' the missionaries have exhibited 
 a catholic and enlightened spirit truly admirable. Practical 
 men are among them teaching the natives a variety of trades, 
 showing them how to build better houses,, and to cultivate 
 their fields to more advantage. These representatives of the 
 Church have not thought it unworthy of their cause to 
 connect themselves with a trading company, and by this 
 means they propose to introduce legitimate commerce. 
 Moreover, not to be behind in helping on whatever may 
 tend towards the ultimate good of the country, they make 
 their station a scientific as well as a missionary centre. 
 Geography and geology have both 'received valuable con- 
 tributions by the admirable work of Mr. James Stewart, C.E. 
 Botany also has benefited to no small extent, as well as 
 meteorology and kindred sciences. 
 
 * Published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Eivington in 1881. 
 
188 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 " Then, as if to make the work still more thorough, we 
 learn that roads have been constructed, and that more 
 extended schemes are in contemplation. A line of steamers 
 now connects the mouth of the Zambesi with the north end 
 of Lake Nyassa. Surely here are exploits being done which 
 ought to make us proud of our nation, showing, as they do, 
 how thoroughly the broad and catholic spirit of Livingstone 
 still survives among his countrymen. 
 
 " Worthy also of all praise are the efforts of the London 
 Missionary Society, which have been so signally successful 
 on Lake Tanganyika, though working under even greater 
 difficulties than their brethren on Nyassa. I can bear 
 testimony from personal observation to the real solid civilising 
 work that has been accomplished. The missionaries at 
 Ujiji and Mtowa have won the complete confidence of all 
 the natives they have come in contact with. With these 
 two missions continuing their work in the liberal spirit in 
 which they have commenced, I cannot but express my 
 personal conviction that there is a boundless field of hope 
 and promise opened up for the natives of East Central 
 Africa." 
 
 Donald Ross, M.A., 
 Inspector-General of Schools for Cape Colony. 
 
 In reporting upon a tour through Cape Colony, 
 made during 1882, in the interests of education, 
 Mr. Ross refers as follows to the Free Church of 
 Scotland's well-known institution at Lovedale : — 
 
 " Of all the native institutions, I was most favourably 
 impressed by Keiskama Hoek* and Lovedale. The latter 
 works on a grand scale. A visit to Lovedale would convert 
 
 * Church of England. 
 
Donald Ross, M.A. 189 
 
 the greatest sceptic regarding the value of native education. 
 The great organising power of Dr. Stewart appears on every 
 side ; the staff is large and able, and the civilising effect of the 
 whole institution is remarkably felt. It may have its defects, 
 but the scheme is at present the most complete, the largest, 
 and the most successful of its kind in the country, and the 
 institution as a whole is probably the greatest educational 
 establishment in South Africa, and that with the greatest 
 range in its scholastic operations, the utmost boldness in its 
 plans and prospects, and the most perfect order in its 
 organisation and administration. The yearly turn over is 
 upwards of £15,000, and no less a sum than £1473 was 
 paid in 1881 as fees by native boarders. Trades are success- 
 fully taught in a fair range of buildings, which, however, are 
 to be improved ; upwards of 300 pupils from all parts of 
 South Africa receive the best education at present available ; 
 the boarding arrangements are on a large scale, and economic- 
 ally carried on; a number of young men in the upper 
 department are imder training for the work of teaching or of 
 the native ministry, and the girls receive the most suitable 
 kind of instruction that those of their class and race can 
 receive. 
 
 " In some travellers' accounts of the marvels of South 
 Africa, Lovedale figures as a pleasing centre where what 
 might perhaps be styled showy accomplishments are taught 
 to young princesses and the native aristocracy. But this, 
 I was glad to find, was only fiction, perhaps worthy of its 
 setting in the story. The girls are all plainly but neatly 
 dressed, their dormitories are kept scrupulously clean by 
 themselves ; they are all taught to work and use their hands 
 in a variety of useful training, and they receive precisely the 
 kind of practical and useful education which I believe the 
 best friends of the natives would like to place within their 
 reach. But the whole of Lovedale is a liberal education, the 
 well-kept walks, the rows of trees growing up on all sides, the 
 well-filled water furrows, the farm, the native chapel, and a 
 
190 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 series of minor civilising influences, showing a master mind 
 controlling tlie whole, and infusing earnestness into all 
 around. Lovedale, and all similar institutions, must sooner 
 or later tell upon native character. What is needed in 
 raising the natives to the ways of civilised life is to keep 
 before them the action of well-ordered society, the example 
 of a good character, and a higher ideal of life than their own, 
 to make them know and understand the value of work, to use 
 their senses, their hands, and their general faculties, their 
 bone and their muscle, in a profitable fashion, to develope in 
 them the taste for knowledge — which to them is a very 
 wonderful thing — and to make the pursuit of it a profit 
 instead of a disagreeable repelling toil." 
 
 Government Commission — Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Referring to beneficial influences upon the natives, 
 apart from those of a legislative nature, The Com- 
 mission on Kafir Laws and Customs, appointed by 
 the Cape Government, presided over by Sir J. D. 
 Barry, Judge of the Eastern Districts, and issued at 
 the close of 1882, thus reports : — 
 
 " Among the most powerful of these are the various 
 Christian missions, which, at great expense, and with 
 untiring devotedness, and in spite of heavy losses and 
 manifold discouragements, have established their agencies 
 throughout the native territories. The inflruence of these in 
 raising the natives, both morally and industrially, in their 
 standing as men, can hardly be overstated. ... A few 
 adverse criticisms with regard to the results of their work 
 have come to our notice ; but these have not been substan- 
 tiated, notwithstanding that even the best friends of missions 
 admit and deplore the fact that what is accomplished falls 
 short of the objects aimed at and wished for. It is a sincere 
 
Sir Charles Mitchell, K. CM. G. 191 
 
 gratification, therefore, to the Commission to be able to bear 
 its unanimous testimony to the high opinion formed, both 
 from hearsay and from personal observation and experience, 
 of the good which is being efi'eeted, morally, educationally, 
 and industrially, by Christian missionaries among the native 
 population ; and we recommend that all the countenance, 
 protection, and support which may be possible should be 
 extended to them by the Government." 
 
 His Excellency Sik Charles B. H. Mitchell, 
 K.C.M.G., Governor of Natal. 
 
 From an address, delivered in 1885, on the 
 occasion of the opening of the Jubilee Hall in con- 
 nection with the Mission and Training Institution for 
 Zulu-Kafir youth at Amanzimtote, some twenty-two 
 miles south of Durban. It is the principal educa- 
 tional institution belonging to the missions of the 
 American Board in Natal, and is most ably and 
 successfully conducted, as the author can from per- 
 sonal knowledge testify. After the presentation 
 of the report, Sir Charles Mitchell spoke as 
 follows : — 
 
 " When, after half-a-century of toil, such a report could be 
 presented as that received to-day, and enlarged premises were 
 thus urgently called for, he felt that the shallow criticism, 
 which asserted that nothing was being done, was an entire 
 mistake. . . . The Government had a hearty sympathy in 
 the work of the American missionaries, and he wished for 
 prosperity and happiness, both to the missionaries, and to the 
 natives, for the Government and the people knew full well 
 that the work of the missionaries was of material assistance 
 
192 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 in enabling the Government to rule the natives success- 
 fully."* 
 
 The Hon. Charles Brownlee, C.M.G., late 
 Minister of Native Affairs. 
 
 The following is the substance of an address read 
 by Mr. Brownlee at a missionary conference held at 
 King William's Town, on 6th July, 1887. Few, if 
 any, in South Africa are better entitled to be listened 
 to on all questions relating to the welfare of the 
 natives : — 
 
 " , . . It is not necessary that I should urge on you the 
 moral obligation of Christians to aid in sending the Gospel 
 to the heathen. I will therefore take lower ground, and 
 endeavour to meet some of the objections to mission work, 
 and to show that, simply on the grounds of self-interest, and 
 ordinary pecuniary gain, it is to our advantage to support 
 missions and to Christianise the heathen. 
 
 " As the natives came under the influence of the teaching 
 of the missionaries, they at once abandoned red clay, and 
 sought to cover themselves with European clothing ; and 
 thus, and in proportion to the spread of missionary influence, 
 the desire for articles of European manufacture grew and 
 spread, and I think I will satisfy this meeting that to the 
 missionaries mainly we owe the great revenue now derived 
 from the native trade. The native Christians who first broke 
 through their national customs had no pleasant times of it. 
 They were despised and taunted as renegades to the customs 
 of their forefathers, and were called amagqohoka — that is 
 ' the perforated.' This name, originally a term of reproach, 
 
 * It is noteworthy that the natives in the Amanzimtote district were 
 thoroughly loyal to the British Government at the time of the last Zulu 
 War. 
 
The Hon. Charles Brownlee, G.M.G. 193 
 
 is no longer so, and many now claim it who have no right to 
 it. 
 
 " Having shown the state of the natives on the a,rrival of 
 the first missionaries, I will now, as briefly as possible, state, 
 and endeavour to meet, some of the objections to Christian 
 missions. And one is, that Christian natives are not such 
 good servants as the wild heathen. I have for nearly fifty 
 years had natives ia my service, Christians as well as heathen, 
 and have had good, bad, and. indifferent servants in both 
 classes. I have been robbed by the heathen, but never by 
 the Christian. He is free at least from the besetting sin of 
 our native population, and which proves so ruinous to our 
 Colonial farmers, and that is cattle theft. But it may be that 
 many of those who object to ' school Kaffirs,' have never had 
 them in their service, or that they had the worst specimens, 
 or that they believed they were employing a ' school Kaffir,' 
 who in. fact was either not a ' school Kaffir,' or who may 
 have been expelled from the mission for misconduct. It is 
 true that the mission or civilised Kaffir expects higher wages 
 than the red Kaffir ; the latter by a continuous service of six 
 years, and receiving ten shillings a-month, or a cow in the 
 year, would at the end of that time be a wealthy man, 
 possessed of twenty head of cattle ; whereas the Christian, 
 who would require the whole of that amount for the purchase 
 of clothing for himself and family, would at the end of the 
 same period be no better off than when he entered service. 
 
 " In 1860, there was a good deal of cattle-stealing from 
 the Colonial farmers. I therefore issued strict orders to all 
 headmen under my charge .to bring any native to me who 
 might be found entering the district with stock in his 
 possession. Shortly after this, one of my headmen brought 
 to my office a respectably dressed native whom he had found 
 driving ten head of cattle. The hea^iman appeared rather 
 anxious, thinking that he might have exceeded his instruc- 
 tions, as the man told him he was a Christian and had a 
 Bible, and that if the headman interfered with him, he would 
 
194 The Success of Ohristicm Missions. 
 
 bring an action for damages against him, for taking him up 
 as a thief. He asserted he was a Christian, and consequently 
 an honest man, who was trarelling to his home in Tembu- 
 land, with cattle which he had honestly earned by his labour. 
 I informed the headman that he need be under no apprehen- 
 sion, as he had simply done his duty. The man was then 
 brought before me, and in answer to my questions said he was 
 a Christian, and had been one for many years ; that he had 
 become a Christian at Burnshill under the ministrations of 
 Mr. Laing ; that he had subsequently resided at Peelton and 
 Newlands ; that he had a Bible and could read. He showed 
 me his Bible, which turned out to be an English Grammar, 
 and on being directed to read, he pronounced a sentence or 
 two in Kaffir. When I pointed out that the book did not 
 speak Kaffir but English, he without hesitation or confusion 
 replied — ' I know it speak English, but that is what it would 
 say if it spoke in Kaffir.' It is needless to state that the 
 man was an impostor and a thief, and had never resided 
 either at Burnshill, Peelton, or Newlands. Two days after 
 the arrest, the cattle were claimed by a farmer named 
 Flemmer, from whom the impostor had stolen them. In the 
 ordinary course, the records of the court would have shown 
 this thief to be a Christian native from Peelton or Burnshill 
 or Newlands, and thus the enemies of missions would, in 
 their opinion, have been furnished with strong corroborative 
 evidence of the correctness of their views against school 
 Kaffirs. 
 
 " Now let us hear the testimony of a heathen Kaffir, to 
 the honesty of his Christian countrymen, with whom he was 
 by no means in sympathy. About the time of the theft just 
 mentioned, a Kaffir heathen headman named Goobo, lost six 
 goats, and traced them to the grazing grounds of the Emgwali 
 Mission Station. Here the traces became so mixed up with 
 the traces of the station sheep and goats, that though the 
 Station people turned out and gave Gcobo all assistance in 
 their power, it was impossible to carry on the traces of the 
 
The Hon. Charles Brownlee, G.M.G. 195 
 
 stolen goats. Gcoto therefore, in accordance with custom, 
 demanded payment from the Emgwali Station people for his 
 six stolen goats. The people refused payment, but proposed 
 that Gcobo should search their huts, and 'that if he dis- 
 covered any traces of his stolen goats they would surrender 
 the thief to him, and make good his loss.' Gcobo declined 
 the offer, saying he had sufficient proof of the liability of the 
 Station people, and wanted no more. But as the people on 
 principle refused to pay the fine, the case was referred to me 
 by Gcobo, who brought an action against the Emgwali 
 Station people. The facts were clear, and the Emgwali 
 people admitted everything except their liability. Addressing 
 the old headman, I said — ' Now Gcobo, you are an old man 
 and a councillor; you remember when my father came to 
 this country fifty years ago ; have you ever heard during all 
 that time of any Christian being convicted of theft V 'I 
 have not,' was his reply. ' Have you ever heard of stolen 
 stock being traced to a mission station ; ' Again the reply 
 was in the negative. ' Have you ever heard of the people 
 of any station having been fined in consequence of the traces 
 of stolen stock being lost on their grazing lands 1 ' Again 
 the prompt answer was, 'I have not.' 'Well, then,' I pro- 
 ceeded, ' is it right, Gcobo, that after Christians have for fifty 
 years consistently borne the reputation of honest men, that 
 you and I should now make them thieves ? ' The reply is 
 worthy of record, and shows that even among savages there 
 are good points if one only hits on the right way to bring 
 them out — 'You are right,' was Gcobo's reply, 'we cannot 
 make thieves of Christiarns. I am satisfied ; ' and, turning to 
 the defendants in the action, he said, ' Let us go home, it 
 is settled.' This is the testimony of a heathen, and against 
 his own interest. 
 
 "Permit me now to come a little nearer home, and deal 
 with a subject which no doubt has greatly perplexed many 
 in this town who are favourable to missions, and that is 
 Brownlee's Station. Hardly a week passes without our 
 
196 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 reading in the newspapers of some disgraceful scene enacted 
 there, forming the subject of judicial enquiry and legal 
 penalties. Cases of irregularity and breaches of law are also 
 frequently brought before the Town Council, and it is often 
 painful to me to reflect that my father's name should be 
 associated with disgraceful actions, and for which neither he 
 nor his successor or their teaching are more responsible than 
 the youngest child in this assembly. 
 
 " Before proceeding to explain this anomaly, permit me 
 briefly to point out what Brownlee's Station was in the past, 
 that thus the contrast with the present sad state of affairs 
 may be made apparent even to the most sceptical. I prefer 
 to deal with facts rather than to use arguments. 
 
 "Brownlee's Station was begun in 1826, and there its 
 founder died in 1871, having during this long period, with 
 short intervals during the wars of 1835 and 1846, occupied 
 his field of labour, without once visiting the land of his 
 birth. His earnest, self-devoted labours for white and black 
 have been acknowledged by the people of this town, by the 
 erection of yonder clock tower with its brass tablet in the 
 entrance hall of the Public Offices, and further by the col- 
 lection of a sum of money by white and black, to be devoted 
 to bursaries. In January, 1851, at the outbreak of war, the 
 people of Pirrie, Peelton, and of the Bethel Station, Berhn 
 Society, assembled for safety at Brownlee Station, and, 
 together with the people under my father's care, amounted 
 to above 3000 souls. These people were not aU Christians, 
 but were connected with Christian families, and were all 
 under Christian influence. 
 
 "When the war broke out, those who understood the 
 relation between demand and supply, at once doubled the 
 price of transport, but the simple native Christians, who had 
 not advanced so far in political economy, and who had 
 waggons and slaughter cattle, were quite content to have 
 their waggons employed at ordinary rates, and to sell their 
 cattle for the prices which prevailed before the war. They 
 
The Hon. Charles Brownlee, G.M.G. 197 
 
 thus saved Government from great embarrassment, and were 
 themselves the losers thereby of several thousands of pounds. 
 
 " These 3000 people were encamped at Brownlee's Station 
 from January 1851 to April 1853. During all this time it 
 was not necessary to appoint a policeman or constable in their 
 midst. Government did not require to spend a penny for 
 their oversight ; they were simply under the care of old John 
 Brownlee, Eev. John Eoss, and the Eev. Mr. Liefeldt of the 
 Berlin Society ; and during these two years and three months 
 no individual of the 3000 was ever brought before the 
 Magistrate for even the most trivial offence. This was the 
 result of missionary teaching and missionary influence pure 
 and simple. 
 
 " But times are changed, and Brownlee's Station is not 
 what it was in 1853. The reason is not far to seek. King 
 "William's Town, which up to 1850 was little more than a 
 military cantonment, grew with rapid strides after the peace 
 of 1853, and with its growth native labour was required, 
 and the labourers were located at the station. For a while 
 these heathen labourers, who came from all parts of the 
 country, conducted themselves in a fairly orderly manner; 
 but gradually, as their numbers increased, and the Town 
 Council allotted them plots of land for building huts, and 
 for which they paid hut tax to the Council, they began to 
 ignore the influence and teaching of the missionary. They 
 began to take drink to the station, and disturb the peace and 
 order which had heretofore prevailed. The missionary com- 
 plained, and applied to the Town Council for their removal, 
 but they were required as labourers in the town, and besides, 
 brought in a considerable revenue to the Council, and there- 
 fore could not be removed, and so the evil continued to 
 increase. The most degraded and disreputable characters, 
 male and female, found an asylum with their heathen 
 countrymen, who had been located at Brownlee's Station by 
 the Town Council. The Eev. Mr. Harper, my father's suc- 
 cessor, has time after time applied for the removal of these 
 
198 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 disreputable characters, but without avail, and now Brown- 
 lee's Station is the receptacle for the filth and offscouring of 
 the coloured heathen employed in this town. Still, in the 
 midst of all this abomination, the people who properly belong 
 to the station keep themselves separate from the daily and 
 nightly atrocities of their heathen countrymen. Neverthe- 
 less, the disgraceful scenes enacted at this station are pointed 
 to by the enemies of missions as the outcome of missionary 
 teaching. I think this meeting will frankly admit that 
 nothing could be more unjust than such a conclusion. 
 
 " I might refer to Peel ton, where the mission work has 
 been brought into discredit from causes somewhat similar to 
 those in operation at Brownlee's Station. . . . 
 
 " Apart from missionary influence, contact with Europeans 
 has done very little indeed to civilise the natives, or to change 
 their habits and customs. There are exceptions, but as a rule 
 my experience has been, that heathen Kaffirs who may have 
 been for years in service in the Colony, and who may have 
 worn European clothing while in service, invariably cast that 
 clothing off when they return to their countrymen, and fall 
 back to red clay. . . . 
 
 " Much has recently been said and written regarding native 
 education, for and against. This paper would not be com- 
 plete without my taking a glance at this part of the subject, 
 but which of necessity must be very brief. One of the objec- 
 tions to educating the natives is, that it only makes them 
 greater rascals, and that they abuse education by forging 
 cheques and passes. I have heard of two or three cases in 
 which educated natives have forged cheques, and of more in 
 which they have forged signatures to passes, but this is no 
 argument against education. Are there no forgers amongst 
 ourselves 1 The native who forges a cheque is at heart a thief, 
 and had he not been educated, his propensity would have 
 been indulged in in a much more serious way, and one not so 
 easily detected as his clumsy forging — namely, cattle thefts. 
 Out of the 1600 lads that passed through Lovedale, one only 
 
The Hon. Charles Brownlee, C.M.O. 199 
 
 has passed through my hands for horse theft. I have heard 
 of no other convicted for a similar offence. In referring to 
 the book recently issued — ' Lovedale Past and Present ' — I 
 find this entry opposite his name : — ' His subsequent history 
 has not been creditable. He is now with his brother . . . 
 but making no good use of what he has learned.' 
 
 " Another common objection to the education of natives 
 is that it is of little use, as many of them return to the red 
 blanket when they leave school; and Baron Von Hubner 
 gives currency to these objections in his book entitled 
 ' Through the British Empire,' in which he says — ' It is no 
 rare thing to see pupils who have scarcely left the excellent 
 Protestant Institution at Lovedale relapse into savagery, for- 
 get from want of practice all that they had been taught, and 
 scoff at the missionaries.' Considering the demoralising and 
 depressing influences surrounding native lads when they leave 
 school, one may naturally conclude that a large percentage of 
 them would relapse into heathenism. This would be but 
 reasonable under the circumstances. Since commencing this 
 paper, I have endeavoured to recall any cases of this nature 
 which may have come to my knowledge, -but can only remem- 
 ber three. From the volume already referred to, I find, out 
 of 2058 lads and girls who have passed through Lovedale, 
 only 15 have lapsed into heathenism. • Such a result is 
 astonishing, and clearly demonstrates the high moral nature 
 of the training received at Lovedale ; and Baron Von Hubner, 
 and those who hold views similar to his, are most effectually 
 met and refuted by this most interesting and instructive 
 register from Lovedale ; and how the Baron could have pub- 
 lished a statement so false and misleading as the one quoted 
 is most unaccountable. . . . 
 
 " Whatever opinion may be held regarding the operation 
 and object of Christian missions, there cannot be two opinions 
 respecting the enormous pecuniary benefit they have been to 
 this country. At Lovedale £30,000 have been expended in 
 buildings alone by the Free Church. This is by no means a 
 
200 The Success of Christian Missions, 
 
 small item contributed to our wealth and capital. "We must 
 also consider the constant stream of money flowing into 
 Africa from Europe, as salaries to the agents of the various 
 societies, and the expenditure on buUdiiigs amounting to many 
 thousands annually. Let us also look at what our trade was 
 when the first missionaries came to Africa, developed now to 
 nearly half-a-million per annum, and that due mainly to the 
 influence and effects of Christian missions. When all these 
 points are considered, even leaving out of the question the 
 higher and moral advantages, I think that the strongest 
 opponents to missions wiU admit that, pecuniarily at least, 
 they have been an immense gain to South Africa, and that it 
 is our interest, as well as our duty, to foster and support the 
 efforts now in operation for the education and civilisation of 
 the natives, and thus convert the improfitable red blanket 
 heathen, who still clings to his national customs, traditions, 
 and superstitions, into a useful and productive member of 
 the State." 
 
 Alex. L. Bruce, Hon. Treasueer, Royal 
 Scottish Geographical Society. 
 
 Mr. Bruce, the son-in-law of David Livingstone, in 
 the course of " Some Random Recollections of a 
 Visit to South Africa " * in 1888, thus writes : — 
 
 " We held no commission from any Church or Missionary 
 Society. Our hands were free. This had its advantages. 
 We were thrown more in contact with those who had no 
 sympathy with mission work than delegates from a Church 
 organisation would have been. 
 
 " We heard the stereotyped complaint that the heathen 
 native was better than the Christian native, and that the 
 three evils Africa suffered from were drought, missionaries, 
 
 * The Missionary Record of the United Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
 land for February, 1889. 
 
Alex. L. Bruce. 201 
 
 and natives ! Closer inquiry brought out the fact that the 
 real objection to the missionaries was that they stood up for the 
 rights of the native races, saw that justice was done to them, 
 objected to stores to sell alcoholic liquors being established, 
 and taught the natives that God had made of one blood all 
 the nations of the earth, or, in other words, the equality of 
 the black man with the white. Industrial Missions were 
 not so much objected to ; but to teach the coloured man to 
 read and write was considered as time wasted, turning his 
 head, and unfitting him for being a hewer of wood and a 
 drawer of water to the white man. Such, in brief, was 
 the sordid and selfish view of men who did not believe in 
 missions or missionary societies. Lovedale, under Dr. 
 Stewart's administration, which combines industrial, educa- 
 tional, and missionary training, even scoffers at missions 
 admitted, did excellent work, but an isolated effort like it 
 was regarded as worthless to cope with work of such magni- 
 tude. If the principle — to which no one can take exception 
 — on which Lovedale is conducted be sound, then every 
 effort should be made for the multiplication of Lovedales 
 throughout South Africa. . . ." 
 
 As Lovedale has been more than once referred to 
 in the foregoing pages, I may, perhaps, be excused 
 for making a few remarks- regarding the station. It 
 is situated in the Eastern Province of Cape Colony, 
 and lies nestling at the base of a low hill, a little to 
 the south of the Chumie mountains, with the Chumie 
 river, a perpetual stream, near by. But how shall it 
 be described ? The difficulty is to convey any ade- 
 quate conception of the magnitude, and variety, and 
 substantial character of the work carried on there. 
 It must be seen to be realised and understood — and 
 seen, not as our American cousins are credited with 
 
202 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 doing their sight-seeing, but leisurely, and not for a 
 day, but for an entire week, at least. Thus only will 
 the visitor be saved the risk of carrying away super- 
 ficial, and it may be erroneous, and even more or less 
 mischievous impressions. Lovedale is the growth of 
 half-a-eentury, and much of what is seen there is the 
 result of incessant toil and dear-bought experience. 
 Though grown into somewhat of a village, Lovedale 
 is, strictly speaking, a mission settlement. There is, 
 indeed, a large Kafir Kraal in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, but within the settlement proper only the 
 mission families and native boarders reside. And a 
 lively settlement it is. Other villages, alike in the 
 colony and at home — notably, perhaps, at home — 
 have a sleepy, little-to-do look about them — Love- 
 dale never. There is so much young life about it, 
 and so much also of one of the outstanding features 
 of the place — work — industrial as well as educa- 
 tional — visible all around that an aspect of cheeri- 
 ness is imparted to it, which, to the visitor from 
 other lands, is a great attraction, and, to an African 
 youth especially, is an education of itself. 
 
 It is doubtful indeed whether in the wide mission 
 field there is to be found a more comprehensive, 
 interesting, useful, and in its issues far-reaching 
 educational institution than the one at Lovedale, 
 over which Dr. James Stewart so ably presides. It 
 is the admiration of all who, year after year, visit it, 
 and the number of such is not small. Yet has it 
 not been without its detractors. I venture, how- 
 
The " Cape Times." 203 
 
 ever, to say — and I write from some personal 
 knowledge — that there are very few indeed who, 
 having gone with prejudiced mind to see the varied 
 work carried on there, have not left with their pre- 
 judices entirely removed. It is thus that 
 
 The " Cape Times " 
 
 (January, 1889), describes this famous institu- 
 tion* : — 
 
 "In view of some of the plans of native management sug- 
 gested from time to time in a section of the Colonial press, 
 we attach no small importance to the evidences of successful 
 effort in such institutions as Lovedale. The native question 
 in this country is one of extraordinary interest, and of the 
 very greatest concern to us. We have to take into account 
 the probable future of a people possessed of a singular robust- 
 ness of physique, and most unlikely to develop any variation 
 of type by intermixture with the European race. . . . 
 
 " The Lovedale plan is to train the native to a just concep- 
 tion of the responsibilities of life and of citizenship, to teach 
 him to be useful in his own sphere and under his own limita- 
 tions, and to introduce, by means of the individual, a leaven 
 which will eventually raise the character of the whole race. 
 
 * There are a number of other missionary institutions in South 
 Africa conducted on lines similar to those of Lovedale, and doing excel- 
 lent work. Among these may be mentioned Zonuebloem (Episcopal) 
 in Cape Town ; St. Mathew's Keiskama Hoek (Episcopal), in KafSr- 
 land ; Kaffir Institution (Episcopal) in Graham's Town ; Blythswood 
 (Free Church of Scotland) in the Transkei territory ; Amanzimtote 
 (American Board) in Natal ; and the Gordon Memorial (Free Church 
 of Scotland), also in Natal. None of these, however, are worked on the 
 same large scale, or embrace an equal variety of industrial departments 
 as in the case of Lovedale. In point of fact, they all regard it as the 
 model station. Hence the prominence here given to it. 
 
204 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 One effect of this system should he the substitution of craft 
 industries for the lazy agricultural and pastoral occupation to 
 which the rude native clings. And then the surplus popula- 
 tion will move off to places where such industries are in 
 demand, and perhaps assist by this means in the civilisation 
 of interior Africa. But the great end is to train the natives 
 to that knowledge of themselves, of their life and of its proper 
 aim, which may bring about a vital alteration of the character, 
 first of the individual and thereafter of the people. It was 
 thus that Christianity made its way in the world, the primary 
 effect being to produce a type of character which was at first 
 exceptional, and brought the owner into trouble because of 
 its exceptionality, but in time spread over whole communities 
 and races. We are reminded in this report that impatience 
 of slow results is a characteristic of the time. ' Sixty or 
 seventy years — the period of missionary efforts here — though 
 a full human life time, is but a small fraction of the life of a 
 people.' And this is what we have to consider in judging 
 the result of such work as this. The effect is only to be seen 
 in the mass ; and our own history shows how very slowly 
 masses move. The men who patiently toil at Lovedale and 
 similar institutions are the true heroes of civilisation. Those 
 who would cast a stone at them, should reflect upon the cen- 
 turies through which their own forefathers were dragged into 
 the light. The wonder is not that so small a sign appears of 
 such labour, but that it should have been so evidently fruit- 
 ful." 
 
 " Port Elizabeth Telegraph.'' 
 Similarly, this organ gives expression to its esti- 
 mate of the aims of those who are responsible for the 
 system pursued at Lovedale. In one of its issues, 
 also in January, 1889, the editor writes : — 
 
 " The Lovedale annual report is one of those documents 
 upon which the public may implicitly rely. It differs from 
 
" Port Elizabeth reh'iir'ii>r>:' 205 
 
 many other annual reports of educational and industrial 
 institutions. As a rule the latter generally strive at repre- 
 senting their progress and present state in the most favour- 
 able light. Defects are glossed over, shortcomings excused, 
 and failings palliated. With Lovedale the annual statement 
 runs on different lines. Defects are pointed out, shortcom- 
 ings are deplored, and failings are accurately represented. 
 That there has been a steady advance in some sections of the 
 work at Lovedale we can readily believe from the character 
 of the Superintendent and his assistants ; that the difficulties 
 in the way have been many and baffling, is equally credible, 
 to those at least who know anything of the Kafir nature. 
 What we greatly admire in connection with the staff at 
 Lovedale is the consistency and persistency that have been 
 so many years conspicuous even when circumstances have 
 occurred that would have disheartened many and dissuaded 
 more. As the report very touchingly says, ' Year by year 
 we plod over the same course, study the same school and 
 text-books, meet with the same mistakes, and labour to move 
 the same constantly renewed mental inertia.' The work is 
 precisely that of Sisyphus, and no sooner has the Lovedale 
 stone rolled down the hill than the indomitable teachers set 
 to work to roll it up again, if haply the next effort may be 
 successful. The extreme candour of the report before us has 
 been already mentioned. What, for instance, can be more 
 ingenuous than the following : ' We see, no doubt, a certain 
 educational result, but of immediate missionary results on 
 this heathen people we see less than is noticed in direct 
 evangelistic work. . . . Great masses move slowly, and 
 always most slowly at the first movement, and the great 
 inert mass of heathenism in South Africa is no exception to 
 the rule. . . . The downward progress of a portion of the 
 people is, perhaps, already arrested, but their elevation is a 
 work of generations.' Well, and let us ask — is this not a 
 matter for devout thankfulness and heartfelt congratula- 
 tion] . . . 
 
206 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 " It is quite obvious that Lovedale is no school of idleness, 
 and that the work done is substantial and important-. In 
 estimating that work and its results at a distance great lati- 
 tude should be allowed. It should be remembered that, like 
 aU other institutions which partake in any way of a mission- 
 ary spirit, Lovedale has, always has had, and for a long time 
 will continue to have, opponents. We have frequently 
 pointed out the unreasonableness, as well as the gross uncharit- 
 ableness, of the opposition. It is indubitably diminishing 
 in volume and in force, but it exists to a considerable extent 
 even in the present day. Be that as it may, our sympathies are 
 entirely with the institution and with those ladies and gentle- 
 men who, buoyed up by the threefold power of faith, hope, and 
 charity, plod on in a most monotonous way, ever trustful in 
 eventual results." 
 
 Commenting on the report of the Lovedale Institu- 
 tion for 1889, the same newspaper, in its issue of 
 16 th January last, thus writes : — 
 
 " In the early part of last year there were not wanting 
 those who lamented the ' decay of Lovedale.' So far from 
 there being any indications of decay, the institution is flourish- 
 ing : the numbers have increased, the funds are augmented, 
 and the usefulness of Lovedale is readily admitted. The 
 total number on the books during the past year amounted to 
 534, of whom 159 were native boarders at school, together 
 with 45 native apprentices, who may be also added to the 
 list of boarders. In the girls' school there were 128, of 
 whom 44 were boarders. The Europeans in the neighbour- 
 hood of Lovedale evidently recognise the advantages of the 
 institution, for 21 males and 38 females of European descent 
 are instructed there. The fallacy that Lovedale is supported 
 by contributions from this, that, or the other society should 
 by this time be exploded, for the natives contributed last 
 year no less than £1619, 6s. lid., and the Europeans 
 £772, 4s. 3d. The increase of income in 1889 over the 
 
The " South African Methodist" 207 
 
 amount in 1888 is £689, 3s. No matter what ideas may be 
 current in narrow minds relative to Lovedale, results prove 
 a success. Two students have matriculated during the past 
 year — one heading the list. For the school higher examin- 
 ation two passed from Lovedale — one in honours. In the 
 girls' school a great increase has taken place in the higher 
 standards and a diminution in the lower. The conduct of 
 the girls has been ' fair.' In classification there are such 
 terms as ' exemplary,' ' very good,' ' good,' and ' fair.' Let 
 us hope next year we shall see a step in advance made by 
 the girls of Lovedale. They have, at all events, not been 
 idle, for they have, we are told, washed 25,925 pieces — the 
 value of their work being £155. Trades and industrial work 
 have progressed, and improvements have been made in the 
 buildings necessary for such. 
 
 "... Taken from whatever standpoint we regard it, 
 Lovedale is doing more than ' holding its own ' — it is pro- 
 gressing. The staff have at times exceedingly up-hill work. 
 Educated ladies and gentlemen as they are, they have much 
 to endure. They have privations to undergo, and are, to 
 some extent, shut out from the surroundings to which they 
 have been accustomed; but 'hoping on, hoping ever,' they 
 never seem to be weary in well-doing. They have the warmest 
 sympathy of all who know the arduous nature of their work, 
 and the lately issued report proves that perseverance is at 
 length meeting with its reward." 
 
 The "South Afeican Methodist." 
 
 One more extract bearing on Lovedale may here 
 be furnished. It is too important to be omitted. 
 In an article which appeared about the same time 
 (Jan. 1889) as those in the foregoing newspapers, 
 the South African Methodist thus writes : — 
 
 " Lovedale is the ' forlorn hope ' of native civilisation in 
 
208 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 this country, by which expression we are far from implying 
 any doubt or discouragement in the noble work which is 
 pursued in the institution, but simply mean, in the military 
 sense, that Lovedale is foremost in the brave and self-sacrific- 
 ing enterprise of raising the races of South Africa from bar- 
 barism and the intellectual slumber of ages. Our warmest 
 sympathies must always be with the work of Lovedale, 
 because it is not only an institution for promoting the con- 
 version of the natives, but for proving that, even humanly 
 speaking, and as far as the world's daily business is concerned, 
 it is worth while to try to Christianise the Kafir people. 
 Doubtless it is our duty to evangelise them, even if they could 
 not be utilised for the arts and industries of civilisation ; but 
 in such case the task would be a very depressing one, and the 
 missionary could expect very little sympathy from practical 
 men. It would, in fact, be an anomaly of the most astonish- 
 ing kind, if the African races should be found susceptible 
 of Scriptural knowledge and moral regeneration, and yet be 
 too hopelessly dull or inert to learn and practise the industrial 
 callings of life. Nothing but gradual extinction could in 
 that case await the aborigines, as being proved unfit for a 
 share in the world's busy future. And it is just here that 
 the native ' question ' seems to present to the minds of 
 ordinary colonists its most unsatisfactory aspect. It is not 
 denied that the Kafirs and Fingoes have shown a willingness 
 to embrace the Gospel : the loud and angry complaint that 
 we hear so frequently is, that the Gospel has not made them 
 honest, truthful, or industrious. We might answer this com- 
 plaint by showing that the objectors for the most part con- 
 found heathen and Christian natives in their survey. . . . 
 
 " A vast amount of valuable labour is represented by those 
 dry returns, and something like a shade of discouragement 
 may be noticed in the report as it speaks of the slowness with 
 which results are attained. But this discouragement, if it 
 exists, we are sure arises rather from the fact that the outside 
 public are impatient for grand results, and not because the 
 
The Hon. Ezekiel E. Smith. 209 
 
 labourers in this good work see any cause for depression. They 
 can, as the report says, look beyond their immediate effort and 
 the passing year; and with faith in their religious message, and 
 confidence in their educational method, as combining Christ- 
 ian with mental training, they can see beyond their own 
 walls, and even beyond the present time. We have the 
 most hearty sympathy with the work which is being pursued 
 at Lovedale, and do not entertain the slightest misgivings as 
 to the ultimate success of the effort to raise the aborigines 
 of South Africa into an industrious, civilized Christian com- 
 munity, if only they can be kept from brandy. Unlimited 
 spirit, cheap, raw, and nasty, would drag down the finest race 
 the world ever saw ; and Cape Smoke is the most deadly 
 adversary that Lovedale, and the cause of missions generally 
 in this country, has to contend with.'' 
 
 The Hon. Ezekiel E. Smith, United States 
 Minister to Liberia. 
 
 Writing in 1889 to the Colonisation Society of the 
 United States the result of his observations of the 
 people and institutions of the Repubhc of Liberia, 
 where the work of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 is carried on, the Hon, E. E. Smith says : — 
 
 "I have visited the churches and schools in Monrovia, 
 and along the St. Paul Eiver, and it affords me pleasure to 
 bear testimony to the earnestness and zeal which are being 
 exerted by the leaders — the teachers, religious and others — 
 to instruct the masses properly in their several duties as 
 citizens. I find the aborigines not only susceptible to light — 
 the true light — but many of them anxious to receive the 
 truth. I have visited the settlements of Brewerville, Cald- 
 well, Clay-Ashland, and Louisiana, where I find the settlers 
 
210 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 engaged in agriculture. They are, as a rule, industrious, 
 prosperous, and happy. . . . The people, I repeat, are begin- 
 ning to understand and adapt themselves to the peculiar work 
 required to be done here in order to achieve success. 
 
 " The resources of the country are, as you know, amazingly 
 wonderful, and , the possibilities equally as grand. The pro- 
 gressive and aggressive citizens, teachers and leaders of the 
 masses, with the permanently established institutions, war- 
 rant the indulged hope for a great and glorious future for the 
 lone star Eepublic of Liberia." 
 
 H. M. Stanley, African Explorer. 
 
 In a long letter, addressed to Mr. A. L. Bruce, 
 dated from Ugogo, 5th October, 1889, Mr, Stanley 
 says : — " He is about to write a true story — ^such a 
 story as would have kindled Livingstone, and caused 
 him to say, like Simeon, ' Now let thy servant depart 
 in peace.' " After describing the unexpected appear- 
 ance of a deputation from a body of 3000 Waganda, 
 who were camped a day's march east of the King's 
 capital, and who revealed to him " one of the most 
 astonishing bits of real modern history " — telling of 
 Mwanga, the king of Uganda, the murderer of 
 Bishop Hanmngton, who had gone from bad to 
 worse, until the Mohammedans united with the 
 Christians to depose the bloodthirsty tyrant — of 
 the frustration of a wily plot laid by him to entrap 
 and exterminate the latter — of the successful attack 
 made upon his capitals, Rubaga and Ulagalla, and 
 his flight over Lake Victoria, and ill treatment by 
 
H. M. Stanley. 211 
 
 Said Ben Saif (Kipandi), with whom he sought 
 refuge — of the choice by the victorious religionists of 
 Uganda of Kiwewa, one of Mtesa's sons, as their 
 king, followed by an attempt on the part of the 
 Mohammedans to detach the king's favour from the 
 Christians — of his murder, and the election of 
 Karema, another son of Mtesa, as king of the main- 
 land, Mwanga, having gathered to him all the 
 Christians and disaffected, assuming kingly authority 
 over the isles of the lake — and of the almost 
 incredible report of the conversion to Christianity of 
 the last named king — having described these and 
 other events of a like nature^ Mr. Stanley pro- 
 ceeds : — 
 
 " But if the narrative is true — and I have now no reason 
 to doubt it — what would have pleased Livingstone so much is 
 that a body of Christians can become in twelve years so 
 numerous and formidable as to depose the most absolute and 
 powerful king in Africa, and hold their own against any 
 number of combinations hostile to them. "What can a man 
 wish better for a proof that Christianity is possible in Africa 1 
 I forgot to say that each member of the deputation possessed 
 a prayer-book and the Gospel of Matthew printed in Kiganda, 
 and that as soon as they retired from my presence they went 
 to study their prayer-books. Kve of their following accom- 
 panied us for the purpose of pursuing their religious studies 
 on the coast. 
 
 " I take this powerful body of native Christians in the 
 heart of Africa — who prefer exile for the sake of their faith 
 to serving a monarch indifferent or hostile to their faith — as 
 more substantial evidence of the work of Mackay than any 
 number of imposing structures clustered together and called 
 a mission station would be. These native Africans have 
 
212 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 endured the moat deadly persecutions ; the stake and the fire, 
 the cord and the club, the sharp knife and the rifle bullet 
 have all been tried to cause them to reject the teachings they 
 have absorbed. Staunch in their beliefs, firm in their con- 
 victions, they have held together stoutly and resolutely, and 
 Mackay and Ashe may point to these with a righteous pride, 
 as the results of their labours, to the good kindly people at 
 home who trusted in them. ..." 
 
 Captain F. D. Ltjgard. 
 
 This brave officer, who, in 1888-89, heroically led 
 the expedition against the Arab raiders at the north 
 end of Lake Nyassa, writes as follows in the January 
 (1890) number o{ Blackwood's Magazine: — 
 
 " We have agreed to journey on the Lake, but you must 
 stop here a moment, or you would outrage the generous 
 Scotch hospitality ; besides, there is only one Blantyre in 
 Africa, and nothing like it anywhere else. Savage Africa 
 lies all around ; but passing up the long avenue of blue 
 eucalypti, we find ourselves in an oasis of civilisation, the 
 more striking and complete from the contrast. Well-built 
 and neatly thatched houses of solid brick, enclosing a square 
 beautifully kept in shrubs and flowers, all watered by a 
 highly skilful system of irrigation channels (which bring the 
 water from a distant brook), give a British homely charm to 
 the picture, and disarm surprise when we find well-stocked 
 kitchen-gardens, carpenters' shops, brick-making, and laundry 
 establishments all around us. 
 
 " The mission children are dressed in spotlessly clean 
 clothes, and look bright and happy. It is a mission under 
 peculiar circumstances. Unlike most others, it is not 
 situated in the midst of a filthy and arrogant tribe who, while 
 dreading and respecting the superiority of the white men, 
 are yet fully cognisant of their own brute force. Few 
 
Captain F. D. Lugard. 213 
 
 villages lie even near it, and over most of these the head of 
 the mission exercises a right of arbitration and rough juris- 
 diction. The children are not haphazard comers, here to-day 
 and absent by some whim to-morrow, but boarders — many 
 coming from far, the sons of chiefs and head-men. Over this 
 little model colony preside the genii loci — Eev. D. C. Scott 
 and his wife — and I know not which exercises the greater 
 influence for good. This influence is extraordinary, for no 
 one more quickly recognises the real gentleman than the 
 African savage. It is a tempting spot to linger in, either in 
 fact or on paper. I would like to write fully of the Shird 
 Highlands ; of the very pretty church, so pretentious in its 
 architectural beauty as to have gained the sobriquet of the 
 ' Blantyre Cathedral.' . . . But we must push on to Nyassa. 
 
 "... Much as I have travelled, I have seen, I think, no 
 lovelier spot in my life. Clear as crystal to look at, the 
 water of iTyassa proves under analysis to be as good as it 
 looks. . . . 
 
 "Skirting up the west coast, we come to the mission- 
 station of Bandawd on the lake shore, S. lat. 12°. Dr. and 
 Mrs. Laws have effected wonders here; their schools are 
 thronged, and the practical nature of the work is invaluable. 
 But I must not again allow myself to digress into a descrip- 
 tion of an African ■ mission - station, however tempting. 
 Dr. Laws' contributions to science, and his extensive infor- 
 mation, have made his name celebrated as the scientific 
 referee in all Nyassa 'ologies. . . . 
 
 "If we wish to benefit Africa — disregarding, for the 
 moment, the benefits which may accrue to our own pocket 
 and trade in the process — the first step is to introduce some 
 settled law and order. The establishment of each mission- 
 station has been singularly productive of this, result. At 
 Blantyre the Southern Angoni raids were turned aside, and 
 expended their force elsewhere, at the earnest mediation of 
 Mr. Scott. At Bandaw^, the Atonga have been free from 
 the same enemies for years past, solely on account of 
 
214 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Dr. Laws' influence, and the promise he had won from 
 Mombera — a promise that chief respected with Zulu fidelity, 
 in spite of the urgent remonstrances of his councillors. If 
 encouragement were given to the extension of British 
 influence in Nyassaland, and the influential promoters of the 
 'British South African Company' were supported in their 
 plans north of the Zambesi, capital would come into the 
 country, and the responsibility of maintaining peace and 
 order would devolve on those who have put forward these 
 proposals. . . . All we ask is that this country, so long the 
 sphere of heroic missionary effort, shall be declared to be 
 beyond the sphere of influence of any nation but England. 
 There will be no lack then of pioneers to open it up, and 
 establish a police force which shall restrain the lawless tribes 
 within their own territories. ..." 
 
 Madagascar. 
 
 Lieut. S. P. Oliver, R.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
 When, soon after Eadama II. was placed on the 
 throne, the Government of Mauritius was informed by 
 the Malagasy Minister of Foreign- Affairs that Mada- 
 gascar was re-opened to foreigners as in the time of 
 Radama I., it was arranged by the Home Government 
 to present the King with a letter from Her Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, along with a quarto Family Bible and 
 a variety of other valuable presents. Lieut. Oliver 
 accompanied the mission as aide-de-camp to Major- 
 General Johnstone. His diary was afterwards pub- 
 lished,* and it is from the volume referred to that 
 
 * Madagascar and the Malagasy. London : Published by Day 
 & Son. 
 
Lieut. 8. P. Oliver, B.A., F.R.G.S. 215 
 
 the following extracts are taken. After mentioning 
 the arrival of the party at the capital, the narrative 
 proceeds : — 
 
 " The road below brought us to Ambatonakanga, a suburb 
 inhabited principally by mechanics. We found here a long 
 shed, and a congregation of some 1200 people assembled 
 singing hymns and engaged in devotion. We entered the 
 rude chapel, the people making way for us, and sat down 
 at a table in the centre of it. The building was crowded, and 
 the entrances blocked up by people unable to obtain places. 
 Mr. Ellis preached to them in Malagasy, and our interpreter, 
 Andronisa, also addressed them. It was very interesting to 
 see, in the midst of a town but lately the very centre of 
 idolatry, so large a congregation of Christians, and to think 
 that at the same moment, in six other parts of the town, there 
 were similar congregations of almost equal magnitude. They 
 are in the habit of meeting early in the morning, and every 
 Sunday at day-break crowds may be seen in hoUday and 
 bright clothing, walking towards their respective chapels, 
 where they remain continuously singing and praying, or 
 listening to exhortations and serrc!,ons delivered by their elders, 
 for the whole day ; they go in and out as they please, but 
 the major portion do not return to their houses tiU dusk. 
 To account for this apparent enthusiasm, it must be borne in 
 mind that all the Hovas are remarkably fond of singing, and 
 music, and crowded assemblies. . . . 
 
 "To people hke tliis Sunday is a great fSte day. The 
 excitement, amusement, and last, but not least, the excuse 
 for putting on fine clothes, are great inducements to go to 
 any public gathering. So that their crowding to the chapels 
 every Sunday must not altogether be placed to the score of 
 reUgion. But of what congregation in England could not the 
 same be said 1 I may remark, too, that the Hovas certainly 
 do not feel that weariness which is often exhibited after a 
 long sermon by the majority of British audiences. Both the 
 
216 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Christian and heathen Hovas will sing the Psalm tunes for 
 the sake of the music, for which they have a natural taste, 
 but often without a thought of the words they are using. 
 Sometimes on entering a house the whole family will strike 
 up the Old Hundredth as an appropriate compliment to us, 
 and be rather surprised than otherwise at our not joining in 
 the chorus. . . . Very many of them, in renouncing their 
 superstitious faith in the idols, pretty nearly renounced all 
 religion. Rahaniraka himself, on my inquiring about the 
 progress of Christianity among the Hovas, said, ' Christianity 
 is a good thing for the people, — for the lower orders — it is a 
 good thing for them certainly, but what good is it to us : we 
 do very well without it.' 
 
 " Nevertheless, that there are many sincere and devoted 
 Christians there is no doubt, and the patience and meekness 
 with which they have endured persecutiori, chains, and even 
 martyrdom, will always form a glorious page in the history 
 of the Church of Madagascar. 
 
 " There are at least three thousand Hovas professing 
 Christianity in the capital at this time (1862). This is 
 entirely owing to the former and present exertions of the 
 London Missionary Society, which first sent out missionaries 
 to the coast in 1818, the capital being reached in 1820." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 south seas. 
 
 Charles Daewin. 
 
 THE following extract is taken from Mr. Darwin's 
 " Journal of Researclies into the Natural History 
 and Geology of the Countries Visited during the 
 Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World." When 
 at Tahiti, the distinguished naturalist thus writes on 
 20th November, 1835 : — 
 
 "From the varying accounts which I had read before 
 reaching these islands, I was very anxious to form, from my 
 own ohservation, a judgment of their moral state, although 
 such judgment would necessarily be very imperfect. A first 
 impression, at all times, very much depends on one's pre- 
 viously-acquired ideas. My notions were drawn from Ellis's 
 ' Polynesian Eesearches,' an admirable and most interesting 
 work, but naturally looking at everything under a favourable 
 point of view; from ' Beechey's Voyage'; and from that of 
 Kotzebue, which is strongly adverse to the whole missionary 
 system. He who compares the three accounts will, I think, 
 form a tolerably accurate conception of the present state of 
 Tahiti. . . . 
 
 " On the whole it appears to me that the morality and 
 religion of the inhabitants is highly creditable. There are 
 many who attack, even more acrimoniously than Kotzebue, 
 both the missionaries, their system, and the efifects produced 
 
 217 
 
218 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 by it. Such reasoners never compare the present state with 
 that of the island only twenty years ago, nor even with that 
 of Europe at this day ; but they compare it with the high 
 standard of Gospel perfection. They expect the missionaries 
 to effect that which the apostles themselves failed to do. 
 Inasmuch as the condition of the people falls short of this 
 high order, blame is attached to the missionary, instead of 
 credit for that which he has effected. They forget, or will 
 not remember, that human sacrifices, and the power of an 
 idolatrous priesthood — a system of profligacy unparalleled in 
 the world, and infanticide a consequence of that system — 
 bloody wars, where the conquerors spared neither women nor 
 children — that all these have been abolished ; and that dis- 
 honesty, intemperance, and licentiousness have been greatly 
 reduced by the introduction of Christianity. Por a voyager 
 to forget these things is base ingratitude ; for should he 
 chance to be at the point of shipwreck on some unknown 
 coast, he wiU most devoutly pray that the lesson of the 
 missionary may be found to have extended thus far. . . . 
 But it is useless to argue against such reasoners ; — I believe 
 that, disappointed in not finding the field of licentiousness 
 quite so open as formerly, they will not give credit to a 
 morality which they do not wish to practise, or to a religion 
 which they undervalue, if not despise." 
 
 The Same. 
 
 Writing from New Zealand a month later (Decem- 
 ber, 1835) Mr. Darwin remarks : — 
 
 " The missionary system here appears to me different from 
 that of Tahiti ; much more attention is there paid to religious 
 instruction, and to the direct improvement of the mind ; here, 
 more to the arts of civilisation. I do not doubt that ia both 
 cases the same object is kept in view. Judging from the 
 success alone, I should rather lean to the Tahiti side; 
 
Admiral J. Elphinstone Erskine, B.N. 219 
 
 probably, however, each system is best adapted to the country 
 where it is followed. The mind of a Tahitian is certainly one 
 of a higher order; and on the other hand, the New Zealander, 
 not being able to pluck from the tree that shades his house 
 the bread-fruit and banana, would naturally turn his attention 
 with more readiness to the arts. When comparing the state 
 of New Zealand with that of Tahiti, it should always be 
 remembered that, from the respective forms of Government 
 of the two countries, the missionaries here have had to labour 
 at a task many times more difficult. The reviewer of Mr. 
 Earle's travels in the Quarterly Journal, by pointing out a 
 more advantageous line of conduct for the missionaries, 
 evidently considers that too much attention has been paid to 
 religious instruction, in proportion to other subjects. This 
 opinion being so very different from the one at which I 
 arrived, any third person hearing the two sides, would 
 probably conclude that the missionaries had been the best 
 judges, and had chosen the right patL 
 
 "... I took leave of the missionaries (at Waimate), with 
 thankfulness for their kind welcome, and with feelings of 
 high respect for their gentlemanlike, usefiil, and upright 
 characters. I think it would be difficult to find a body of 
 men better adapted for the high office which they fulfil. . . . 
 
 " 30th December. — In the afternoon we stood out of the 
 Bay of Islands on our course to Sydney. I believe we were 
 all glad to leave New Zealand. ... I look back but to 
 one bright spot, and that is Waimate, with its Christian 
 inhabitants." 
 
 Admieal J. Elphinstone Erskine, RN. 
 
 In his valuable and most interesting " Journal of 
 a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific in 
 H.M.S. Havannah,"* Admiral Erskine bears repeated 
 
 * John Murray, 1853. 
 
220 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 testimony to the good work carried on by the 
 missions in the South Seas. It may suffice to give 
 one extract relating to Samoa. He thus records his 
 experiences there : — 
 
 " The first circumstance wliich must strike a stranger on 
 his arrival, and one which will come hourly under his notice 
 during his stay, is the influence which all white men, but in 
 particular the missionaries, exercise over the minds of the 
 natives. Among a people who, from former accounts, seem 
 never to have had any definite notions on the subject of 
 religion, a firm belief in a creating and pervading Deity, or 
 even in a future state, the introduction of Christianity, in 
 the absence of evil foreign influence, was not likely to be 
 difficult, and we find accordingly that this has been effected 
 to a great extent not merely in increasing the number of 
 professed adherents, but in softening the manners and puri- 
 fying the morals, even of the heathen portion of the com- 
 munity. No unprejudiced man will fail to see that, had 
 this people acquired their knowledge of a more powerful and 
 civilised race than their own, either from the abandoned and 
 reckless characters who still continue to infest most of the 
 islands of the Pacific, or even from a higher class engaged in 
 purely mercantile pursuits, they must have sunk into a state 
 of vice and degradation, to which their old condition would 
 have been infinitely superior. That they have been rescued, 
 from this fate at least, is entirely owing to the missionaries ; 
 and should the few points of asceticism which these worthy 
 men, conscientiously believing them necessary to the eradica- 
 tion of the old superstitions, have introduced among their 
 converts become softened by time and the absence of opposi- 
 tion, it is not easy to imagine a greater moral improve- 
 ment than would then have taken place among a savage 
 people. 
 
 " "With respect to those gentlemen of the London Mission 
 whose acquaintance I had the satisfaction of making in 
 
Richard H. Dana, Jun. 221 
 
 Samoa, I will venture, at the risk of being considereJ pre- 
 sumptuous, to express my opinion that, in acquirements, 
 general ability, and active energy, they would hold no undis- 
 tinguished place among their brethren, the Scottish Presby- 
 terian clergy, to which denomination the majority of them 
 belong. The impossibility of accumulating private property, 
 both from the regulations of the Society and the circum- 
 stances surrounding them, ought to convince the most scepti- 
 cal of their worldly disinterestedness, and raise a smile at the 
 absurd accounts in tales invented for the gratification of 
 coarse minds, of appeals from the pulpit, couched in terms 
 which would be ineflficaoious with the lowest savage intellect, 
 in behalf of their personal interests ; nor can the greatest 
 scoffers at their exertions deny to them the possession of a 
 virtue which every class of Englishmen esteems above all 
 others — the highest order of personal courage. ..." 
 
 RiCHAED H. Dana, Jun. 
 
 The following is extracted from a letter from R. 
 H. Dana, Jun., a well-known author and jurist in 
 the United States. It was written at the Sandwich 
 Islands and inserted in the New York Tribune of 
 26th May, 1860 : — 
 
 " It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the 
 American Board, that in less than forty years they have 
 tau<jht this whole people to read and to write, to cipher and 
 to sew. They have given them an alphabet, grammar, and 
 dictionary ; preserved their language from extinction ; given 
 it a literature, and translated into it the Bible and works of 
 devotion, science, and entertainment, &c., &c. They have 
 established schools, reared up native teachers, and so pressed 
 their work, that now the proportion of inhabitants who can 
 read and write is greater than in New England; and whereas 
 
222 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 they found these islanders a nation of half-naked savages, 
 living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting 
 among themselves, tyrannised over by feudal chiefs, and 
 abandoned to sensuality, they now see them decently clothed, 
 recognising the law of marriage, knowing something of 
 accounts, going to school and public worship with more regu- 
 larity than the people do at home, and the more elevated of 
 them taking part Ln conducting the afiairs of the constitutional 
 monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the judicial 
 bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the 
 local magistracies. 
 
 " In the course of the two months I have spent upon these 
 islands, it has been my good fortune to be the guest of many 
 of the mission families, and td become more or less acquainted 
 with nearly all of them. And, besides fidelity in the discharge 
 of their duties to the natives, I can truly say, that in point 
 of kindness and hospitality to strangers, of inteUigence and 
 general information, of solicitude and painstaking for the 
 liberal education of their children, and of zeal for the 
 acquirement of information of every sort, it would be difficult 
 to find their superiors among the most favoured families at 
 home. I have seen in their houses collections of minerals, 
 shells, plants, and flowers, which must be valuable to 
 science ; and the missionaries have often preserved the best, 
 sometimes the only records of the volcanic eruptions, earth- 
 quakes, and other phenomena, and meteorological observations. 
 Besides having given, as I have said, to the native language 
 an alphabet, grammar, dictionary, and literature, they have 
 done nearly all that has been done to preserve the national 
 traditions, legends, and poetry. But for the missionaries, it 
 is my firm belief that the Hawaiian would never have been 
 a written language ; there would have been few or no trust- 
 worthy early records, historical or scientific ; the traditions 
 would have perished ; the native government would have 
 been overborne by foreign influences, and the interesting. 
 
Richard H. Dana, Jun. 223 
 
 intelligent, gentle native race would have sunk into insig- 
 nificance, and perhaps into servitude to the dominant whites. 
 
 " Among the traders, shipmasters, and travellers who have 
 visited these islands, some have made disparaging statements 
 respecting the missionaries; and a good deal of imperfect 
 information is carried home by persons who have visited only 
 the half-European ports, where the worst view of the con- 
 dition of the natives is presented. I visited among all 
 classes — the foreign merchants, traders, and shipmasters, 
 foreign and native officials, and with the natives, from the 
 King and several of the chiefs to the humblest poor, whom 
 I saw without constraint in a tour I made alone over Hawaii, 
 throwing myself upon .their hospitality in their huts. I 
 sought information from all, foreign and native, friendly and 
 unfriendly ; and the conclusion to which I came is that the 
 best men, and those who are best acquainted with the history 
 of things here, hold in high esteem the labours and conduct 
 of the missionaries. The mere seekers of pleasure, power, or 
 gain do not like their influence ; and those persons who sym- 
 pathised with that officer of the American navy who com- 
 pelled the authorities to allow women to go off to his ship 
 by opening his ports, and threatening to bombard the town, 
 naturally are hostile to the mission. I do not mean, of 
 course, that there is always unanimity among the best people, 
 or perhaps among the missionaries themselves, on all ques- 
 tions; e.ff., as to the toleration of Catholics, and on some 
 minor points of social and police regulation. But on the 
 great question of their moral influence, the truth is that 
 there has always been, and must ever be, in these islands, a 
 peculiar struggle between the influences for good and the 
 influences for evil. They are places of visit for the ships of 
 all nations, and for the temporary residence of, mostly, un- 
 married traders ; and at the height of the whaling season, 
 the number of transient seamen in the port of Honolulu 
 equals half the population of the town. The temptations 
 
224 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 arising from such a state of things, too much aided by the 
 inherent weakness of the native character, are met by the 
 ceaseless efforts of the best people, native and foreign, in the 
 use of moral means and by legislative coercion. It is a close 
 struggle, and, in the large seaports, often discouraging and of 
 doubtful issue ; but it is a struggle of duty, and has never 
 yet been relaxed. Doubtless the missionaries have largely 
 influenced the legislation of the kingdom and its police 
 system. It is fortunate that they have done so. Influence 
 of some sort was the law of native development. Had not 
 the missionaries, and their friends among the foreign merchants 
 and professional men, been in the ascendant, these islands 
 would have presented only the usual history of a handful of 
 foreigners exacting everything from a people who denied 
 their right to anything. 
 
 " As it is, in no place in the world that I have visited are 
 the rules which control vice ■ and regulate amusements so 
 strict, yet so reasonable and so fairly enforced. The Govern- 
 ment and the best citizens stand as a good genius between 
 the natives and the besieging army. As to the interior, it is 
 well known that a man may travel alone, with money, 
 through the wildest parts unarmed. Having just come from 
 the mountains of California, I was prepared with the usual 
 and necessary belt and its appendages, but was told that 
 those defences were unheard of in Hawaii. I foimd no hut 
 without its Bible and hymn-book in the native tongue, and 
 the practice of family prayer and grace before meat, though 
 it be over no more than a calabash of poe and a few dried 
 fish, and whether at home or on journeys, is as common as 
 in New England a century ago." 
 
 Julius L. Beenchley, M.A., F.RG.S. 
 
 Mr. Brenchley, though not estimating very highly 
 the intellectual gifts and social refinement of some 
 at least of the missionaries in the South Seas whom 
 
Julius L. Brenchley, M.A., F.R.G.8. 225' 
 
 he came across, yet makes full allowance for the 
 hindrances thrown in their way by unscrupulous and 
 profligate traders, whose conduct he denounces in no 
 measured terms. What follows is extracted from a 
 work prepared by him and pubhshed after his deatb, 
 entitled "Jottings during the Cruise of H.M.S. 
 Guragoa among the South Sea Islands in 1865." 
 As a distinguished naturalist his remarks have a 
 special value. He thus wrote : — 
 
 " That the missionaries are doing much, though not 
 unmixed, good seems to he the general testimony ; hut how 
 much more beneficial would be their action if with their zeal 
 they combined knowledge, if they were men of more culti- 
 vated intellect and of a greater social refinement, in one 
 category of which, that is manners, they are often much 
 inferior to those they teach, and thereby, a^ we have seen, 
 abridge their influence. Hence it is much to be regretted 
 that the standard of native refinement will be lowered instead 
 of raised by those who have the power of moulding it. But 
 it is useless to complain. The rough work of a higher but 
 imperfectly imparted civilisation wUl go on as it has begun, 
 and it will be a matter of interest hereafter to know the 
 character of the materials out of which its results have been 
 wrought. 
 
 " But of what avail can be the fittest missionary, when the 
 ground he has to till is bristling with passionate recollections 
 and fierce resentments that thwart him at every step 1 In 
 the "Western Pacific Ocean there is hardly an island the 
 traditions of which do not record, or the existing generations 
 of which have not experienced, outrages that cause their 
 inhabitants to distrust, fear, or resent the approach of the 
 stronger race. How is he to face those carriers of demoralisa- 
 tion who, to use the apposite language of the Times when 
 commenting on the subject, ' spread themselves over the 
 
226 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 world, following everywhere the bent of their own nature, 
 doing their own will, following their own gain — too generally 
 doing nothing and being nothing that a heathen wiU recognise 
 as better than himself,' or by many degrees as good ? Even 
 a missionary of the highest qualifications, such as we now 
 aspire to have, but rarely possess, might be baffled by such 
 foes ; how then, we ask with the same journal, ' can a feeble 
 missionary, who would too often be thought but a poor 
 creature at home, with every advantage in his favour, hope 
 to stem with a few phrases the torrent of profligacy he finds 
 already in possession of the ground 1 ' The remedy proposed 
 is ' to convert our masses at home.' Unfortunately this sug- 
 gestion, besides being too commonplace, too rational, and too 
 little ostentatious, indicates a process too slow to meet the 
 urgency of the case. But what could be done, if the country 
 were in earnest, would be to take care that at least the most 
 prominent offences of these destroyers and corrupters should 
 inevitably meet the punishment which they deserve. 
 
 " It is time. In various parts of this book will be found 
 evidence enough of the pressing need of such a policy. But 
 if more were required, the frightful incidents brought to our 
 notice recently in connection with the Carl, a slave-trader, 
 pretending to be an emigrant ship, supply a horrible supple- 
 ment. What a hideous emblem of our civilisation is that 
 blood-stained vessel, throwing out, like the fangs of a grim 
 monster, its grappling irons to clutch and upset the canoes 
 of the unsuspecting natives, then sending its boats to pick 
 up such of them as had not made for land or were not 
 drowned ; hustling and closely packing them in its hold, and 
 when its captives, driven mad by excitement and sufiering, 
 quarrelled among themselves, firing shot upon shot at them 
 through the hatches during the night, killing and wounding 
 seventy ; and, finally, when morning broke, throwing the 
 dead and the wounded, fastened to one another, into the sea ! 
 Surely if there were felt but a hundredth part of the interest ■ 
 in the fate of the Polynesian that was once, and is still, 
 
Captain Palmer, H.M.8. " Rosario." 227 
 
 taken in the fate of the African, there would have been a 
 shout of indignant remonstrance from one end of the land to 
 the other. But where is now the Anti-Slavery Society? 
 Where is the really benevolent Society of Friends ! Where 
 is there the slightest flush of that frenzy of indignation not 
 long since exhibited in the case of the Jamaica black ? But 
 philanthropy has often its pet victims, on whom it lavishes 
 all its affection, and hence it is to be seen fervid and flaming 
 in one direction, while it is cold to rigidity in another, where 
 the claims upon its sympathy are very similar, if not the 
 same. It is to be hoped that some member of Parliament 
 will endeavour to divert his colleagues for a moment from 
 matters more interesting to themselves, perhaps, and fix their 
 attention on one than which none more concerns the honour 
 of the nation, and that is, the necessity of pressing the 
 Government to make itself a vigUant and efficient representa- 
 tive of justice and humanity in these seas.'' 
 
 Captain Palmer, H.M.S. "Kosaeio." 
 
 In a volume entitled " Kidnapping in the South 
 Seas," published in 1870, Captain Palmer bears the 
 following testimony : — 
 
 "When I hear all the wicked nonsense that is talked 
 about missionaries, and the sneers that often accompany it, 
 I wax angry. Doubtless the sketches of the missionary 
 settlement look very pretty on paper, but unfortunately 
 there are some things you cannot pourtray, such as insuffi- 
 cient food, brackish water, together with swarms of mosqui- 
 toes and other insects, and often, as at Dillon's Bay, a 
 sweltering poisonous atmosphere, accompanied by fever and 
 
 ague. 
 
 " The missionary schooner is often delayed on her annual 
 trip ; then the stores of flour, &c., are at a very low ebb, and 
 
228 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 frequently injured by the damp, and the sugar swarming 
 with ants. An English labourer would turn up his nose 
 at their daily fare. 
 
 "All these things cannot be put into a sketch of a two- 
 roomed cottage under the shade of a cocoa-nut grove, with 
 beautifully wooded hills as a background, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Missionary in American rocking-chairs in front, seemingly 
 with nothing on earth to trouble them, 
 
 " But look at the real side of the picture, and see these 
 noble men and women, who have in every age gone forth 
 from their country and friends, often bearing their lives in 
 their hands, to do their Master's bidding, and preach the 
 glorious Gospel of Christ to the heathen, living alone, to all 
 intents and purposes, in a strange land, often in an unhealthy 
 climate, and frequently surrounded by savages who have 
 murdered their predecessors, and may, perhaps, kill them- 
 selves. But these things they think little of; they count 
 not their lives dear unto them ; what concerns them most is 
 to see the little work they have been permitted to do among 
 these savages, after weeks and months of prayer and patience, 
 dashed to the ground, and indefinitely thrown back by the 
 shameful acts of their own countrymen. Whether in the 
 Sandwich Islands or New Zealand, amongst the Society, Fiji, 
 or New Hebrides groups, I have ever found them the same 
 earnest. God-fearing men, striving to their utmost to win 
 souls amongst those who, but for them, would never hear of 
 the 'glad tidings of great joy.' They require no advocacy 
 from me, however ; I only ask those who are so fond of run- 
 ning down missionaries to think a little, and not talk ignor- 
 antly and wickedly about men and women whose lives adorn 
 some of the brightest pages of British history." 
 
Sir Charles St. Julian. 229 
 
 Sir Charles St. Julian, Chief Justice of Fiji. 
 
 On the occasion of a testimonial being presented 
 to the Rev. W. Nettleton, Wesleyan Missionary, when 
 leaving Fiji in 1872 for a time, the Chief- Justice 
 bore the following testimony to the missionary work 
 on these islands : — 
 
 " He did not come there," he said, " to represent any 
 denomination ; but it was to him a pleasure to attend on 
 that occasion, although belonging to a different sect to that 
 of the reverend gentleman. He appeared before tbem as an 
 admirer of Mr. Nettleton. From his position he was a critic, 
 and, as a lawyer and a judge, was accustomed to find fault, 
 yet to give every man his due, and to act impartially. He 
 had been a close observer of the Wesleyan Mission, and when 
 he came here he was hardly prepared for what he saw. If 
 the work done by that society had only been to cause the 
 natives to cast off bad practices and customs, it would have 
 been a very gratifying result ; but the mission had built up 
 the foundation of a kingdom. ..." 
 
 Sir George Grey, K.C.B., Governor of New 
 Zealand. 
 
 In the high position which Sir George Grey filled 
 with such distinguished success as Governor, first of 
 the Cape Colony, and thereafter of New Zealand, he 
 has ever shown himself the warm friend alike of the 
 natives and of the missionaries. Referring specially 
 to the latter colony, we find him making the follow- 
 ing pregnant remark : — 
 
 " I feel confident that, regarded as a mere money invest- 
 
230 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 ment the very best investment the country can make is to 
 send out in advance — and far in advance — of either colonists 
 or merchants, missionaries who may prepare the way for 
 those who are to follow them." 
 
 Miss Isabella L. Bied. 
 
 In Miss Bird's (Mrs. Bishop) interesting narrative 
 letters, entitled "Six Months among the Palm Groves, 
 Coral Keefs, and the Volcanoes of the Sandwich 
 Islands," * after referring to the wonderful transfor- 
 mation effected by the introduction of Christianity 
 on the moral, social, and religious condition of the 
 inhabitants of these islands, and to the fact that the 
 native congregation, then (1874) under the pastoral 
 care of the Apostolic Titus Coan, raised over $1200 
 (about £240), annually, for Foreign Missions, and 
 had sent twelve of its members as missionaries to the 
 islands of Southern Polynesia, the following passage 
 occurs : — 
 
 " Poor people ! It would be unfair to judge of them as we 
 may legitimately be judged of, who inherit the influences of 
 ten centuries of Christianity. They have only just emerged 
 from a bloody and sensual heathenism, and to the instincts 
 and volatility of these dark Polynesian races the restraining 
 influences of the Gospel are far more severe than to our cold, 
 unimpulsive northern natures. The greatest of their disad- 
 vantages has been that some of the vilest of the whites, who 
 roamed the Pacific, had settled on the islands before the 
 arrival of the Christian teachers, dragging the people down 
 
 * John Murray, 1875. 
 
Miss C. F. Gordon Oumming. 231 
 
 to even lower depths of depravity than those of heathenism, 
 and that there are still resident foreigners who corrupt and 
 destroy them. ..." 
 
 Miss C. F. Gordon Gumming. 
 
 The testimony of this accomplished authoress to 
 the results of missionary -work in the South Seas is 
 no less valuable than that borne with respect to 
 India, as given at page 137. She has recorded as 
 follows, in the same periodical (Good Words), her 
 " Impressions " of what came under her observation 
 as she moved about from island to island : — 
 
 "... The contrast between the slow and uncertain pro- 
 gress of mission work on the Continent of Asia, and the 
 rapid changes which have been effected in so many islands, 
 struck me forcibly during three years of travel among the 
 groups of the Eastern Pacific. I arrived there with a mind 
 far more deeply imbued with the histories of the voyagers of 
 the last century than with more modern missionary records, 
 and, like many another traveller, I found it hard to recognise 
 in these peaceable, educated, and essentially Christian com- 
 munities, the children and grandchildren of the fierce 
 savages of whom Captain Cook and others wrote. 
 
 "My first impressions of the South Sea Isles were derived 
 from Fiji, which, in 1875, had, by its own voluntary deed, 
 become a British colony. Though it may seem inexcusable 
 that a member of the governor's household should not have 
 been better informed on such a subject, I confess to having 
 been immensely astonished when my very undefined and 
 misty notions about our cannibal and heathen fellow-subjects 
 were suddenly dispelled by a quiet comment from a feUow- 
 passenger (Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission). He 
 
232 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 said, ' I think that you will find that the Fijians are not 
 altogether ignorant, they have already some schools and 
 chapels.' On further inquiry I learned that ' some ' meant 
 900 chapels and 1400 schools, built by the people them- 
 selves at every village in the isles, and taught by carefully 
 trained native ministers and teachers. 
 
 " During a residence of two years in the Fijian Archipelago, 
 I had occasion to visit a large number of these villages as a 
 guest in the house of the teacher or the chief. I lived in 
 the midst of the kindly, courteous people ; I marked the 
 reverent devoutness of their lives, the simple earnestness of 
 their bearing at the never-failing morning and evening family 
 worship and frequent church services ; and I found it hard 
 to believe the facts related to me by reliable eyewitnesses 
 of the appalling scenes of carnage, fighting, human sacrifices, 
 most debasing idolatry, and loathsome cannibal feasts, 
 which, five, ten, or fifteen years previously had formed the 
 iucidents of daily life in districts where now English ladies 
 and their children may travel, or even settle, in perfect 
 security. 
 
 " I spent one Christmas in a village where two years 
 previously scenes of cannibalism had been enacted by the 
 very people who now received us so kindly, and assembled 
 for worship in a church just built by themselves. Several 
 years have passed siuce then, and no symptoms of any relapse 
 have been shown by any tribe ia the Fijian group. 
 
 "... The work accomplished in Fiji by the agency of 
 the Wesleyans is, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of 
 a successful mission that could possibly be quoted. 
 
 " On leaving the Fijian Isles, I passed on to the Tongan, or 
 Friendly Isles ; thence to the Samoan, or Navigators' Isles ; 
 and then, still sailing eastward, to the Society group. In 
 each of these I found the same wonderful change wrought 
 by the agency of missions. The workers in these groups 
 have been sent out by the Wesleyans and the London 
 Mission, and all have done their part with such excellent 
 
Miss G. F. Gordon Cumming. 233 
 
 results that not one trace of idolatry is to be found in any 
 of these isles ; moreover, the wicked customs of old days, 
 notably the terrible prevalence of infanticide, are utterly 
 abolished, and are replaced by Christianity of a thoroughly 
 practical sort — a Christianity which exercises far more 
 decided influence on daily life than it appears to do in our 
 own British Isles. 
 
 " Many of these isles, as also the beautiful southern group 
 of the Marquesas, are receiving the light from Hawaiian 
 teachers, sent out by the Congregational Church -of the 
 Sandwich Isles, a group which was thoroughly Christianised 
 in the early half of the century, by the agency of the 
 American Congregational Mission. That the conversion of 
 the Hawaiians was no fiction but a great fact, was proved by 
 the radical change in all the habits of the whole race, which 
 was uplifted from the lowest stage of degradation to the 
 standing of a people determined to live Christian lives. 
 
 " Within thirty years of the day when the first Christian 
 teacher landed on the then barren shores of Honolulu (now 
 a green paradise) this great change had been wrought. The 
 contrast between the arid and desolate volcanic soil, now 
 transformed to the loveliest tropical gardens, is not more 
 marked than that between the Hawaiians of 1819 celebrating 
 wild heathen orgies at the funeral of the great Kaneka Meha, 
 and those of 1850 forming the devout congregation in 
 upwards of one hundred Christian churches, built by their 
 own hands, and sending forth carefully trained and most 
 zealous Hawaiian missionaries, to try and establish a footing 
 among the fierce cannibals of the Marquesas, who already, in 
 1797 and 1833, had driven away from their shores the 
 teachers sent out first by the London and then by the 
 American Mission. ..." 
 
 Similarly, in her two volumes of thrilling interest, 
 entitled " At Home in Fiji," * the same writer fur- 
 
 * Published by Messrs. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh. 
 
234 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 nishes the following eloquent testimony to the 
 transforming power of the Gospel : — 
 
 "I often wish that some of the cavillers who are for ever 
 sneering at Christian missions could see something of their 
 results in these isles. But first they would have to recall 
 the Fiji of ten years ago, when every man's hand was against 
 his neighbour, and the land had no rest from barbarous 
 intertribal wars, in which the foe, without respect of age or 
 sex, were looked upon only in the light of so much beef ; 
 the prisoners deliberately fattened for the slaughter. 
 
 " Think of the sick buried alive ; the array of widows who 
 were deliberately strangled on the death of any great man ; 
 the living victims who were buried beside every post of a 
 chief's new house, and must needs stand clasping it while 
 the earth was gradually heaped over their devoted heads ; or 
 those who were bound hand and foot, and laid on the ground 
 to act as rollers when a chief launched a new canoe, and thus 
 doomed to a death of excruciating agony ; when whole 
 villages were depopulated simply to supply their neighbours 
 with fresh meat. 
 
 " Just think of aU this, and of the change that has been 
 wrought, and then just imagine white men who can sneer at 
 missionary work in the way they do. Xow you may pass 
 from isle to isle, certain everywhere to find the same cordial 
 reception by kindly men and women. Every village on the 
 eighty inhabited isles has built for itself a tidy church, and 
 a good house for its teacher or native minister, for whom the 
 village also provides food and clothing. Can you realise 
 that there are 900 AVesleyan Churches in Fiji, at every one 
 of which the frequent services are crowded by devout con- 
 gregations ; that the schools are well attended ; and that the 
 first sound which greets your ear at dawn, and the last at 
 night, is that of hymn-singing and most fervent worship, 
 rising from each dwelling at the hour of family prayer 1 
 
 " What these people may become after much contact with 
 
H. Stonehewer Cooper. 235 
 
 the common run of -white men we cannot, of course, tell, 
 though we may unhappily guess. At present, they are a 
 body of simple and devout Christians, full of deepest rever- 
 ence for their teachers and the message they bring, and only 
 anxious to yield all obedience. 
 
 " Of course there are a number of white men here, as in 
 other countries, who (themselves not caring one straw about 
 any- religion) declare that Christianity in these isles is merely 
 nominal, adopted as a matter of expediency, and that half the 
 people are still heathen at heart. Even were this true (and 
 all outward signs go to disprove it), I wonder what such 
 cavillers expect 1 I wonder if they know by what gradual 
 steps our own British ancestors yielded to the light, and for 
 how many centuries idolatrous customs continued to prevail 
 in our own isles. Yet here all traces of idolatry are utterly 
 swept away. ..." 
 
 H. Stonehewer Coopee. 
 
 The following paragraphs are extracted from 
 Mr. Cooper's volume entitled " The Coral Lands of 
 the Pacific."* As the writer, if I mistake not, 
 belongs to the Romish Church, his testimony is of 
 special value, so far at least as the reference to the 
 Wesleyan missionaries is concerned. He says : — 
 
 " In Fiji the traveller is face to face not only with the 
 Anglo-Saxon, safe under the British flag, but with a Christian 
 native population who have only just emerged from the most 
 horrible forms of cannibalism. On all sides he will see 
 traces of the ancient devil-worship, but he will also notice 
 how the majority of the traditions of heathenism, though 
 dying very hard, are fading away, while all that is good in 
 
 • Published by Richard Bentley & Son, 1882. 
 
236 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 the old system is being carefully adapted, so as to fit in with 
 the Christianity now professed. Fiji has been the last 
 stronghold of organised and systematic cannibalism, and 
 though the history of the religion and customs of Fiji, prior 
 to the country's general acceptance of Wesleyan and Catholic 
 teaching, may be steeped in horrors, it will be of interest to 
 the student in after years, who wiU marvel, in the presence 
 of a Christian and industrious population, that they ever 
 could have had such a ferociously bloodthirsty ancestry. . . . 
 
 " The Fijians wiU, I apprehend, never in our time grasp 
 the spirit of our religion as we do, but marvellous progress 
 has been made ; and although it may be fashionable to sneer 
 at missionaries and mission work, it is just as well now and 
 then to judge by results, and give honour where honour is 
 due. From a great experience of big cities in all parts of the 
 world, I am a firm believer in the axiom that ' charity should 
 begin at home,' but it need not necessarily end there ; and, 
 if I remember correctly, the Divine Commission was to 
 ' teach ALL nations.' Divided, as those who profess a common 
 Christianity unhappily are, I cannot agree with perhaps the 
 majority of the missionaries in the Southern Seas ; but, 
 despite all differences of creed, I tender them the most 
 respectful homage when I think of what those men have done. 
 
 " Missionaries may have traded, missionaries may have 
 lived too luxurious lives, and perhaps there is no great 
 approach among the majority to the spirit of sainted Francis 
 Xavier ; but is not the meanest native teacher (even if he 
 professes a mutilated creed), who preaches the elements of 
 the Sermon on the Mount, a thousand times better, as an 
 advanced guard of what we are pleased to call European 
 civilisation, than any of the trading scoundrels from whose 
 infectious blackguardism Fiji is only just recovering 1 The 
 day is happily past for these mission-haters, who have them- 
 selves, for the most part, gone to answer for their conduct to 
 a Higher Authority than that of the Lord High Commis- 
 sioner of Western Polynesia ; but the fact remains that men 
 
Sir Williafn MacOregor. 237 
 
 of Anglo-Saxon lineage have been the curse of the Pacific, 
 and have caused the deaths of such men as the Protestant 
 Bishop Patteson and Commodore Goodenough. The uncon- 
 trolled Fiji labour-trade of former years may not have been 
 exactly slavery, but the ruffians I have referred to (Her 
 Majesty's Government Blue-Books bear evidence of their 
 infamy), not only carried on a regular slave-trade, but con- 
 sidered murder as one of its branches. ..." 
 
 SiK William MacGregoe, Administrator of the 
 Government of New Guinea. 
 
 The foUovvring are extracted from Sir William 
 MacGregor's Despatches, addressed to Sir Henry 
 Norman, Governor of Queensland. These Despatches 
 appeared in the Brisbane Evening Observer of 
 6th August, 1889, and were afterwards republished 
 by the London Missionary Society, which has done 
 so much to illumine the islands of the Southern 
 Pacific with the blessed light of the Gospel. 
 Sir William thus wrote : — 
 
 " On the 28th June I was able to pay a visit to the schools 
 of the London Missionary Society at Port Moresby, and as 
 I am sure it will be a matter of deep interest to Your 
 Excellency to learn the result of my inspection, I now do 
 myself the honour to place it before you. . . . 
 
 "The, total number on the roU of the lower school is 77 — 
 28 boys, 37 girls, and 12 young men — and the average 
 attendance is about 60. They are divided into classes of 
 about eight or nine to be taught reading ; whilst in certain 
 other matters, as in singing, they are all taught together. 
 As soon as they can fairly read words of two to four 
 syllables 'they are passed into the upper school. All the 
 
238 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 classes except two were being taught by native or Polynesian 
 teachers. The Rev. Mr. Walker is in principal charge of 
 the lower school, into which he has inspired a tone that 
 is almost enthusiastic. Mr. Walker came to British New 
 Guinea some nine or ten months ago, and has in that period 
 obtained a good knowledge of the Motu language, and made 
 himself so familiar with the peculiarities of the natives, that 
 he has given a decided impulse to the school. He has 
 invented a system of marks, and applied other devices which 
 have had the effect of communicating to the scholars a 
 degree of interest in the work which it is surprising to 
 see. 
 
 " It is characteristic of the unobtrusive way in which the 
 great work performed by this mission establishment is carried 
 on, that I never was previously aware that Mrs. - Lawes is 
 daily in her place as the teacher of a class in the lower 
 school. This self-imposed task is not a new one to this 
 lady, but has been carried on for many years with a courage 
 and perseverance that is astonishing in one that has lived so 
 long in such a climate as that of Port Moresby. This labour 
 is no doubt lightened to Mrs. Lawes by the genuine interest 
 taken by her in the school, and by the fact that she is 
 evidently a remarkably successful teacher. 
 
 " One other teacher in this school should be specially men- 
 tioned — Euatoka, a native of the Hervey Islands, who has 
 been a faithful and sturdy worker here for many years as a 
 preacher and teacher, and who has done so much that his 
 name should never be forgotten in this country. . . . 
 
 " The upper school is chiefly conducted by the Eev. Mr. 
 Dauncey, who has been here less than a year, and seems to 
 be a careful and conscientious teacher ; but he, as a teacher 
 of the advanced scholars, has not the same field for the exer- 
 cise of patience and resource that is supplied by the lower 
 school. There were present during my visit twenty-nine 
 pupils, and twenty-five were absent, presumably all away in 
 search of food. . . . 
 
Captain W. H. Gooding. 239 
 
 " The tone of the upper school and the quiet and orderly 
 conduct of the school would do credit to the most civilised 
 country in Europe, and leaves nothing further to be desired 
 in that direction. 
 
 " The Eev. Mr. Lawes exercises a general supervision over 
 the whole establishment, and attends to the training and 
 education of the ten or twelve young men who are being pre- 
 pared for the work of teaching their countrymen. In addition 
 to all this, Mr Lawes is engaged in a work which is of prime' 
 importance to the people of this country — the translation of 
 the New Testament into Motu. Undoubtedly. Mr. Lawes is 
 of aU men the best qualified to perform that great work, 
 which I sincerely and devoutly wish he may be able to see 
 fully accomplished. It would be difficult to overestimate 
 what has already been done by this indefatigable, quiet 
 worker, to whose industrious application and intelligence the 
 present condition of the station is mainly due." 
 
 Captain W. H. Gooding, Yarmouth, U.S. A. 
 
 The Morning Star, the mission vessel belonging 
 to the American Board, when returning lately from 
 Ponape to. the Sandwich Islands, rendered signal 
 service by conveying the crew of an American bark 
 who had been wrecked and plundered by the natives 
 of Pozeat. Captain Gooding, in command of the 
 said bark, communicates to the Board, in the following 
 terms, an expression of his thanks to the missionaries 
 in Micronesia, and his estimate of their work : — 
 
 " On the whole, I saw many signs of reformation among 
 the natives at Kuk and Mortlocks, and much greater change 
 at Ponape ; one sign of the change in the natives was their 
 willingness to assist us without pay, and at Ponape they 
 
240 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 could not do enough for us, and felt sorry when we left. 
 I feel very grateful to Mr. Snelling and Mr. Worth (the 
 missionaries) for their kind treatment of myself and men 
 while at Ruk, and also for their kindness in lending me their 
 boat to go to Pozeat and Ponape, when they felt it was 
 unsafe to be there without a boat ; also to Mr. Doane at 
 Ponape, and to Captain Garland and Mr. Priestly, the mate 
 of the Star, whom I think to be the right men in the right 
 place. 
 
 " I never knew much about missionary work, but I can 
 testify that missionaries at the Micronesian Islands have 
 been a great benefit to the natives and also to the world ; 
 and to them I owe my life." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 turkey, syria, ktc. 
 
 The Seventh Eael of Shaftesbury. 
 
 IN an address delivered in 1860 this distinguished 
 nobleman paid the following tribute to the 
 Christian worth and eminently successful labours of 
 the American missionaries in the East : — 
 
 " I do not believe tkat in tlie whole history of missions — 
 I do not believe that in the history of diplomacy or in the 
 history of any negotiations carried on between man and man, 
 we can find anything to equal the wisdom, the soundness, 
 and the pure evangelical truth of the body of men who con- 
 stitute the -American Mission. I have said it twenty times 
 before, and I will say it again — for the expression appropri- 
 ately conveys my meaning — that ' they are a marvellous 
 combination of common sense and piety.' Every man who 
 comes in contact with these missionaries speaks in praise of 
 them. Persons in authority and persons in subjection all 
 speak in their favour ; travellers speak well of them, and I 
 know of no man who has ever been able to bring against that 
 body a single valid objection. There they stand, tested by 
 years, tried by their works, and exemplified by their fruits ; 
 and I believe it will be found that these American Mission- 
 aries have done more toward upholding the truth and spread- 
 ing the Gospel of Christ in the East than any other body of 
 men in this or in any other age." 
 
 241 R 
 
242 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 William E. Baxter, M.P. 
 
 In the course of an address on tlie Eastern Ques- 
 tion, delivered several years ago in the town of 
 Arbroath, in Scotland, Mr. Baxter is reported to 
 have said : — 
 
 " "WRerever I travelled four years ago — in Egypt, Pales- 
 tine, Syria, Asiatic and European Turkey — I found that men 
 of all nationalities and creeds, of all opinions on the Eastern 
 Question, and all questions as well, emphatically and unanim- 
 ously gave evidence that the colleges, schools, churches, and 
 other institutions conducted in the most bjisiness-like manner, 
 with most conspicuous ability, with a remarkable freedom 
 from all sectarian or religious narrowness, by American gentle- 
 men, were doing more for the civilisation and elevation of the 
 ignorant masses in the East than any other agency whatever. 
 . . . The Americans in many respects are a remarkable 
 people. ..." 
 
 Prince Malcom Khan, Persian Minister. 
 
 The Honourable R. R. Dawes, a member of Con- 
 gress from Ohio, in 1880, having been informed by 
 telegram of the exposed situation of the missionaries 
 in Persia, arising from the incursions of the warlike 
 Koords, called the attention of the Secretary of State 
 to the facts that had come to his knowledge. The 
 United States Government having no diplomatic 
 representative in Persia, Mr. Lowell, their representa- 
 tive in London, was instructed " to request the good 
 offices of the British Government." This request 
 
Prince Malcom Khan, Persian Mvnister. 243 
 
 was readily complied with by Earl Granville. The 
 usual machinery was set in motion, and happily 
 with the desired result as regards the protection and 
 safety of the missionaries, and with the further result 
 of calling forth the following letter to Mr. Lowell 
 from Prince Malcom Khan, who, by the way, is of an 
 ancient Armenian family from the province of Ararat. 
 Addressing him as " My dear Colleague," the Prince 
 writes : — 
 
 " I am plunged into deep grief. I can but feebly express 
 the feelings which I experienced on reading the letter of the 
 Key. J. Labaree, jun. I have always considered the presence 
 of your missionaries in Persia as a providential blessing. I do 
 not speak of their religious mission, but of the admirable 
 and far more praiseworthy efforts which they make to shed 
 the light of European education throughout the entire East. 
 I can assure you, moreover, that the eminently liberal spirit 
 of His Majesty the Shah, and the intelligent men who are 
 now his counsellors, fully appreciate the value of the services 
 rendered by your worthy countrymen to the cause of civilisa- 
 tion in Persia. 
 
 " The Sepeh Salar and his brother are my intimate friends, 
 and wiU be glad to learn through me how highly their senti- 
 ments are appreciated by the Rev. Mr. Labaree. As to 
 myself, I have always gladly availed myself of every oppor- 
 tunity to lend my feeble aid to these apostles of a civilisa- 
 tion which I so earnestly desire to see introduced into my 
 country.'' 
 
 Diplomatic relations having afterwards been estab- 
 lished between Persia and the United States, we find 
 Prince Malcom Khan, in a letter of 29th April, 
 1888, writing in similar friendly terms to the United 
 
244 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 States' representative in Persia, the Hon. Mr. Pratt, 
 thus : — 
 
 "You well know how strongly I sympathise with yonr 
 missionary work in our eastern countries, not merely for its 
 religious side, but specially for its most beneficial effect in 
 the education of our people, and I need not assure you that 
 I will always be bappy to help your humanitarian work, 
 which has been a real blessing for the East." 
 
 The Maequis of Bath. 
 
 In a work entitled " Observations on Bulgarian 
 Affairs," the Marquis of Bath thus refers to the 
 labours of the American missionaries in European 
 Turkey* : — 
 
 " If the (Bulgarian) nation rises again to spiritual life, its 
 recovery will be in no small degree owing to the intellectual 
 and devotional influence and example of a small and devoted 
 company of American missionaries, who abandoned homes in 
 their own land for the purpose of promoting the welfare of 
 an uncared-for and oppressed people — alone of all the mis- 
 sionary bodies — ^regardless of the political influence of their 
 own coimtry, or of the interests of any particular sect. They 
 have aroused the jealousy and excited the suspicions of no 
 political party. In the darkest times of Turkish rule they 
 relieved the needy and succoured the oppressed. No religi- 
 ous test has been imposed on admission into their schools ; 
 and there is hardly a town in Bulgaria where persons are 
 not to be found who owe to them the advantages of a superior 
 education. The result of their teaching has permeated all 
 
 * 'J'bis and the five following testimonies are from a pamphlet pub- 
 lished in January, 1881, by the late Alpheus Hardy, Esq., on the 
 occasion of a collection for Foreign Missions in the Old South Church, 
 
 Boston, IT.S.A. 
 
Hon. Edward F. Noyes. 245 
 
 Bulgarian society, and is not the least important of the causes 
 that have rendered the people capable of wisely using the 
 freedom so suddenly conferred upon them." 
 
 The Hon. Edward F. Noyes, Governor of the 
 State of Ohio, and previously United States 
 Ambassador to the French Republic. 
 
 In a dispatch to the Hon. William M. Evarts, 
 Secretary of State, the Hon. Edward F. Noyes gives 
 as follows his observations of the work of the Ameri- 
 can missionaries in the Orient : — 
 
 "At Constantinople, on the magnificent shore of the 
 Bosphorus, stands a fine College building, founded by Cyrus 
 Hamlin, and endowed by the munificence of Christopher E. 
 Kobert — both American citizens. Though established but 
 a few years ago, this college now numbers among its students 
 the children of five or six difi'erent races — Greeks, Bulgarians, 
 Armenians, Syrians, and Russians. Near the bridge which 
 joins Galata to Old Stamboul is located the Bible House of 
 Dr. Isaac Bliss, formerly an American missionary, but now 
 agent of the American Bible Society of New York. From 
 this house Bibles are daily sent out printed in Armenian, the 
 high and low Turkish, the Greek, and the Slavonic languages, 
 to all parts of the Turkish empire where these languages are 
 spoken. At Siras, in the heart of Asia Minor, and at Lake 
 Van, in Koordistan, American missionaries preach and teach. 
 At Marash, in North Syria, near the passes of the Taurus 
 Mountains, another college is springing upj supported by an 
 endowment secured in the United States by Dr. Pratt, an 
 American missionary. There is also at this place a female 
 seminary, directed by Miss Proctor, an American lady. At 
 Latakia (ancient Laodicea), in Syria, in the only well-built 
 edifice outside the walls, is an American school, crowded to 
 
246 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 overflowing with the peasant children of the back-lying 
 mountains. At Damascus, and Zahleh on Mount Lebanon, 
 American missionaries superintend schools which they have 
 established in many villages of the neighbourhood, and the 
 plain back of Tyre and Sidon is dotted with primitive school 
 houses under the same or similar supervision. At Caipha 
 (Mount Carmel), a German-American colony has planted 
 vineyards and redeemed large tracts of abandoned lands, 
 while at the same time devoting themselves to the improve- 
 ment of the natives. In Egypt, at Alexandria, Cairo, and 
 Assiout, the American missionaries have day and boarding 
 schools for both boys and girls, and in Upper Egypt, con- 
 siderable progress has been made. At Cairo there is a most 
 prosperous college in a magnificent stone building, which is 
 doing a grand work for Egypt. The sales of books by 
 American missionaries in Egypt in the year 1879 aggregated 
 21,000 volumes — about one half Bibles and religious books, 
 the other half educational and miscellaneous. 
 
 " But, perhaps, the most important and successful of the 
 educational institutions established by Americans in the East 
 is the College of Beyrout, in Syria. It comprises a literary 
 and scientific department, a medical college and observatory, 
 all founded and conducted by Americans. 
 
 " Since this college was established, the Jesuits, the Papal 
 Greeks, the Greeks, and the Maronites have opened high schools 
 in that city, so that now there are in Beyrout fifty-six schools, 
 with about six thousand scholars, all of which is undoubtedly 
 due to the impulse given to the cause of education by the 
 American missionaries. There is also an American female 
 seminary at Beyrout now in successful operation. The books 
 published by the American missionaries at Beyrout circulate 
 wherever Arabic is read — from Mesopotamia to Tripoli and 
 Tunis, in North Africa. These publications include the Bible 
 in four or five sizes and forms, three or four works on Arabic 
 grammar, three school arithmetics, algebra, geometry, logari- 
 thims, full text book on astronomy, small school astronomy. 
 
" New York Herald!' 247 
 
 geography, hymn books, large and small, elements of music, 
 dictionary of Arabic language, botany, chemistry, anatomy, 
 surgery, practice of medicine, moral philosophy, natural 
 philosophy, books for primary schools, and many others. The 
 salutary influence of American missionaries and teachers in 
 the Turkish Empire caimot possibly be overrated." 
 
 " New York Herald." 
 
 In publishing the foregoing testimony, the New 
 York Herald says : — 
 
 " In another portion of the Herald, this morning, there •will 
 be found an exceedingly valuable document — namely, the 
 Despatch of Mr. Noyes, our Minister in France, to the State 
 Department, in which he presents a graphic picture of the 
 present condition of American interests in the East and along 
 the shores of the Mediterranean. Mr. Noyes brings out in 
 striking colours the significant fact that there is in that part 
 of the world a population nearly as large as our own, entirely 
 friendly to us, with whom it is possible to establish the 
 closest commercial relations. Among them we can find an 
 immense market, if we only have the enterprise and sagacity 
 to cultivate it. Turkey and Egypt,- we are told, are exceed- 
 ingly well-disposed toward our Government and people, the 
 American missionaries having sown among them the seeds 
 of friendship and goodwill. The subject is one of supreme 
 importance, and it is to be hoped the excellent recommenda- 
 tions of Mr. Noyes will not be lost upon those for whom 
 they are intended." 
 
 Lieut.-General Baker. 
 
 The "Baker Pasha," as he was called, made a tour 
 through the principal provinces of Asiatic Turkey, 
 
248 The Sihccess of Christian Missions. 
 
 with a commission from the Sultan, "to enquire into 
 the real condition of the people, and into the abuses 
 of the local governments, and along with these to 
 suggest some feasible plan of reform." Before leav- 
 ing Harpoot, he thus wrote to the Kev. W. Barnum: — 
 
 " I cannot leave Harpoot without sending you a small 
 offering in aid of your admirable institution, and I indorse 
 a cheque for ten liras ($44) on Messrs. Hanson <fc Co., of 
 Constantinople. Eeform in Asia Minor, in order to be 
 permanent, must be based upon an improved system of educa- 
 tion. All those who are striving for progress and for the 
 amelioration of the condition of the population, owe a deep 
 debt of gratitude to the American missionaries for the lead 
 they have already taken in this good work. 
 
 "The perseverance and noble example of self-sacrifice 
 shown by you and your colleagues is beyond all praise, for 
 you have had to struggle with many difficulties. Nor have 
 you, in my opinion, any reason to be disheartened at the 
 result of your exertions. It has afforded me unmitigated 
 satisfaction during my tour of inspection through Asia Minor 
 to see the impetus and wholesome emulation which have 
 been given among people of all creeds, through the practical 
 example of possible improvement in education afforded by 
 the American schools. 
 
 "It is true that as yet we are but at the commencement, 
 but I can promise you that all my efforts shall be directed 
 to pressing upon the Government the absolute necessity of 
 establishing an organised system for the better educating of 
 the people of Asia Minor. In the creation of such a system, 
 the grand work already done by you and your colleagues will 
 prove of inestimable aid." 
 
Hon. George P. Marsh, LL.D. 249 
 
 The Hon. George P. Marsh, LL.D., 
 United States Minister at the Sublime Poete. 
 
 (1849-1853.) 
 
 The testimony borne by Dr. Marsh to the missions 
 of the American Board in Turkey is peculiarly 
 valuable as coming from one who was at once a dis- 
 tinguished scholar and one of the most eminent of 
 Americans. In a letter in reply to an invitation to 
 be present at the Annual Meeting of the American 
 Board in 1855, Dr. Marsh wrote as follows : — 
 
 "Although I could have added nothing to the facts of 
 which the Board and the religious public are already possessed, 
 yet I should have taken special pleasure in hearing testimony, 
 as an eye-witness, to the value and importance of the mission- 
 ary efforts in the East, and the eminent piety, zeal, learning, 
 and ability of the immediate agents of the Board in that 
 great enterprise. The success of these efforts to carry back 
 to their original source the lights of Christianity and civilisa- 
 tion is not to be measured by the results apparent to distant 
 observers ; and however familiar American Christians may 
 be with the statistical data of missionary movements in the 
 Turkish Empire, the vast significance of those facts can only 
 be appreciated by a personal acquaintance with the field of 
 operations. The action of the missionaries has, I believe, 
 thus far not been impeded by the events of the war. If that 
 action were now to be suspended, still the seed already sown 
 could not fail to yield a harvest that would amply repay the 
 sacrifices it has cost to American liberality and American 
 devotion. ... I have not the slightest doubt that the keen- 
 sighted Layard is right in assigning to this manifestation of 
 the tendencies of American institutions in the East a pro- 
 minent place among the occasions of the political and military 
 
250 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 movements -which have shaken Asia and Europe since 1853. 
 We may well hope that the second generation of our 
 American heralds of Christian truth and Anglo-Saxon 
 civilisation, who are now, under such favourable auspices, 
 going forth as the helpers and successors of their fathers, will 
 achieve results more valuable than have as yet been accom- 
 plished by any of the organised charities of modem times." 
 
 General Lew "Wallace, 
 Late United States Minister to Turkey. 
 
 At a meeting at Brockton, Massacliusetts, in 
 December, 1887, held in connection with the Old 
 Colony Congregational Club on Forefathers' Day, 
 General Lew Wallace gave the following testimony 
 from personal knowledge of missionaries and mission- 
 ary work in the Turkish Empire : — 
 
 " I have often been asked : What of the missionaries of 
 the East; are they true, and do they serve their Master! 
 And I have always been a swift witness to say — and I say it 
 now, solemnly and emphatically — that if anywhere on the 
 face of this earth there exists a band of devout Christian men 
 and women, it is these. I personally know many, men and 
 women, and the names of Dr. and Mrs. Eiggs, the names of 
 Woods, Bliss, Pettibone, and Dwight, and others, spring up 
 in my memory most vividly. Their work is of that kind 
 which will in the future be productive of the greatest good. 
 They live and die in the work. One I know has been in the 
 work fifty years. They are God's people, and they should be 
 remembered and sustained by us. We cannot pxpect much 
 of an impression yet on the old hard-headed Turk, but it is 
 working. 
 
 " We have Bible headquarters in the very den of Mobam- 
 
The Hon. F. Carroll Brewster. 251 
 
 medanism. They are a poor people, and when they buy our 
 books from their hard earnings, it is not to throw them away, 
 but to read them. Apostasy with them means death ; and 
 if the time comes, as come it will, when they can rise up and 
 assert themselves, then we shall see the fruit." 
 
 The Hon. F. Caeeoll Brewstee, Philadelphia. 
 
 On his return from a foreign tour, the Hon. F. 
 Carroll Brewster, in a letter to S. C. Perkins, Esq., 
 PhOadelphia, published in the Presbyterian, the 
 following testimony is borne to the mission work of 
 the Presbyterian Church (North) of the United States 
 carried on in Syria. Both the writer and his friend 
 are among the most respected citizens of Philadelphia. 
 Mr. Brewster thus writes : — 
 
 " I may say that nothing can be more pleasing to an 
 American, upon approaching a foreign shore, than to see that 
 his country is represented at that distant spot by monuments 
 of benevolence and Christian zeal. Such is the feeling at 
 Constantinople, wliere, proudly shining above the Bosphorus, 
 one beholds the College which attests the munificence of Mr. 
 Eobert of New York — now presided over by Dr. Washburn. 
 Time did not permit me to visit this institution, and I cannot, 
 therefore, give you any details as to it. 
 
 " I was more fortunate at Beirut, and can speak of the 
 Presbyterian College there with some satisfaction. The city, 
 as you know, is the chief port of Syria — the Eoman Baryta 
 — and possesses remains of ancient aqueducts, Latin inscrip- 
 tions on its rocks, &c. Most pleasing of aU its attractions is 
 the Presbyterian College, standing upon one of the highest 
 terraces of the town, overlooking the sea. When it was 
 pointed out to me, I was gratified as well as surprised. 
 
252 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 The town rises from the shore as if built upon the steps of 
 some long Coliseum. Most conspicuous of all its buildings 
 stands the College. Founded over fifty years since, the 
 Presbyterian mission has now spread to Damascus, survived 
 the massacre of 1860, and planted upon the shores of Beirut 
 a building that would do honour to any city in the United 
 States. 
 
 " Instead of saying a ' building,' I should write an estab- 
 lishment. There is a preparatory school, a department of 
 arts, a theological seminary, a medical college, the president's 
 house, the janitor's lodge, and a number of outbuildings. 
 Many thousands of dollars have been given by good men and 
 pious women. Several of the professors showed me the 
 buildings and museums. Every department is suppKed with 
 a splendid library, and appropriate collections of specimens. 
 It may be safely asserted that no institution in the East has 
 been more liberally endowed, and that few Universities in 
 the world can rival the museums of the Syrian College. That 
 which most surprised me was the fact that the free scholar- 
 ships were so rare ; that the students paid as with us. The 
 charges are very low. Instruction and board for the colle- 
 giate year are less than one hundred dollars ; but in the 
 medical department the rate is higher — about one hundred 
 and twenty-live dollars a-year. I regret that of all these 
 matters I did not take reliable notes. 
 
 " The idea of giving your missionaries a medical education 
 has - proved a most excellent suggestion. The native 
 physicians have little or no training, and cannot compare 
 with the American or European graduates.'' 
 
 The foregoing testimony may very fitly be supple- 
 mented by that given in 
 
 " Baedekee's Guide." 
 From the Palestine and Syria edition, published in 
 
" Baedeker's Guide." 253 
 
 1876, we gather the following among other parti- 
 culars : — 
 
 "The American Mission (Presbyterian) has laboured in 
 Syria for nearly fifty years, and the centre of the sphere of 
 its operations is Beirut. . . . Many eminent men, such as 
 Eli Smith, Van Dyck, and Thomson, have been connected 
 with this mission. The Theological Seminary at Aheih, and 
 the Medical Faculty and Commercial School at Beirut, bear 
 testimony to the wisdom of the mission in appreciating the 
 requirements of the country. The pupils of the medical 
 school, where they receive a four years' training, become, it 
 need hardly be said, much more skilful physicians than the 
 native doctors. ..." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Admiral Sir B. J. Sulivan, and 
 Charles Darwin. 
 
 NO more weiglity testimony to the value of mis- 
 sionary work has ever been given than that 
 by Mr. Darwin, in reference to the labours" of the 
 South American Missionary Society among the 
 Fuegians. Admiral Sulivan, in a letter to the 
 Society La 1885, furnishes the following particulars 
 respecting it : — 
 
 " I had been closely connected with the society from the 
 time of Captain Allen Gardiner's death, and Mr. Charles 
 Darwin, my old friend and shipmate for five years, had often 
 expressed to me his conviction that it was utterly useless to 
 send missionaries to such a set of savages as the Fuegians, 
 probably the very lowest of the human race. I had always 
 replied that I did not believe any human beings existed too 
 low to comprehend the simple message of the Gospel of 
 Christ. After many years — I think about 1869, but I 
 cannot find the letter — he wrote to me that the recent 
 accounts of the mission proved to him that he had been 
 wrpng and I right in our estimates of the native character, 
 and the possibility of doing them good through missionaries ; 
 and he requested me to forward to the society an enclosed 
 254 
 
Admiral Sir B. J. Sulivan. 255 
 
 cheque for £5 as a testimony of the interest he took in their 
 good -work. On 30th January, 1870, he wrote ; ' The success 
 of the Tierra del Fuego Mission is most wonderful, and 
 charms me, as I always prophesied utter failure. It is a grand 
 success. I shall feel proud if your committee think fit to 
 elect me an honorary member of your society.' In the same 
 letter, in reply to remarks of mine on the success of his sons, 
 he says, 'Thank God, all gives me complete satisfaction.' 
 On 6th June, 1874:, he wrote; 'I am very glad to hear so 
 good an account of the Fuegians, and it is wonderful.' On 
 10th June, 1879 ; The progress of the Fuegians is wonderful, 
 and had it not occurred would have been to me quite incre- 
 dible.' On 3rd January, 1880"; 'Your extracts' (from a 
 journal) 'about the Fuegians are extremely curious, and have 
 interested me much. I have often said that the progress of 
 Japan was the greatest wonder in the world, but I declare 
 that the progress of Fuegia is almost equally wonderful.' On 
 20th March, 1881 ; ' The account of the Fuegians interested 
 not only me, but all my family. It is truly wonderful what 
 you have heard from Mr. Bridges about their honesty and 
 their language. I certainly should have predicted that not 
 all the Missionaries in the world could have done what has 
 been done.' On 1st December, 1881, sending me his annual 
 subscription to the orphanage at the mission station, he wrote ; 
 ' Judging from the Missionary Journal, the mission in Tierra 
 del Fuego seems going on quite wonderfully well.' I have 
 much pleasure in sending you these particulars." 
 
 Well might the Spectator, in a paragraph which 
 appeared on 26th April, 1884, say — "Darwia's sub- 
 scription is about as emphatic an answer to the 
 detractors of Missions as can well be imagined." 
 
256 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 Lieut. James Bove, R.N., Commander of the 
 Argentine Exploring Expedition. 
 
 " A very interesting meeting was held in Buenos Ayres, in 
 1883, to hear an address from Lieut. Bov6, of the Argentine 
 Exploring Expedition. Eeferring to the loss of his vessel, 
 he spoke of the native Fuegians, with their lawless ways and 
 plundering habits ; of the missionaries, with their remark- 
 able Christian influence ; and lastly, of the Bishop, who was 
 present in the room, as the man who had risked his life 
 among them for no earthly gain or advancement, but simply 
 to teach them the purity of the Gospel. 
 
 " The Antarctic Expedition already alluded to was wrecked 
 in Sloggett Bay, on the coast of Tierra del Fuego. On that 
 occasion the officers and crew were neither robbed nor cruelly 
 massacred by the natives as the crew of the Roseneath 
 were on the West Coast a few months before. They were 
 rescued by the timely efforts of Captain Wilhs and the crew 
 of the Alhn Gardiner, the mission yawl, and by the Eev. 
 Thomas Bridges and his Christian natives. They were most 
 hospitably received at the mission station, and departed 
 astonished and delighted to find such a Christian city of 
 refuge for the wrecked mariner, and such a body of tender- 
 hearted Christian natives who had abandoned .their savage 
 habits, and learnt to seek and to save the lost on that storm- 
 beaten and dangerous coast."* 
 
 The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 M. Maneini, the Italian Minister, writing from Rome 
 in March, 1883, to the South American Missionary 
 Society, thus expressed his Sovereign's sense of 
 
 * From circular issued by the South American Missionary Society. 
 
Dr. Hyades. 257 
 
 indebtedness for the help rendered to the shipwrecked 
 crew : — 
 
 "The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of His 
 Majesty the King of Italy, wishing to testify the gratitude 
 of the Italian Government for the generous action performed 
 by the English missionaries in saving from irreparable 
 disaster the Lieutenant of the Eoyal Navy, James Bov6, and 
 his companions, wrecked last year in the channels of Tierra 
 del Fuego ; according to the order of His Majesty the King, 
 it is determined that a gold medal be presented to the English 
 Society of the South American Mission, bearing on its face 
 the august efSgy of His Majesty Humbert I., King of Italy, 
 and on the obverse the motto, ' Demersis cequore nautis 
 attulit Beligio salutem,' ' Eeligion has brought safety to the 
 mariners rescued from a watery grave.' His Majesty has 
 been made aware how thoroughly these apostles of universal 
 civilisation have maintained the character of their holy 
 calling when coming in circumstances so critical to the aid of 
 H.M.'s subjects. His Majesty has also learned how it is due 
 to their indefatigable Christian labours that the very savages 
 of Tierra del Fuego, who were formerly such an object of 
 dread, have shown, at their very first meeting of our ship- 
 wrecked crew, to how great an extent their old ferocity has 
 been laid aside." 
 
 Dr. Hyades, Medical Officer to the French 
 Scientific Expedition to Cape Horn. 
 
 At a meeting held in the Mansion House, London, 
 in 1884, Dr. Hyades gave his experience of a visit 
 to that inhospitable region, in which the efforts of 
 the martyr pioneer missionary, Allan Gardiner, to 
 introduce the Gospel among its degraded inhabitants 
 
258 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 have been so successfully followed up by the South 
 American Missionary Society : — 
 
 " It is," he said, " my good fortune and my great pleasure 
 to bring my testimony to the admirable work which has been 
 done by your missionaries at Ooshooia. I cannot express 
 my feelings of surprise and pleasure when I paid my first 
 visit to Ooshooia, with Mr. Bridges showing me the mission- 
 ary settlement, the gardens of the natives and their houses, 
 the orphanage and the children. All the natives there were 
 good-natured people.'' 
 
 Captain Kennedy, R.N. (H.M.S. "Ruby.") 
 
 At the annual meeting of the South American 
 Missionary Society, held 29th April, 1889, Captain 
 Kennedy spoke as follows : — 
 
 "... In the part of Tierra del Fu^go where the mission 
 is stationed is a tribe called the Taghan Indians, and many of 
 these people are being civUised by the missionaries. In 
 order to show what a deal of good the agents of the society 
 have done there, let me mention that not long since the 
 natives were not only savages but cannibals ; people who 
 used to look upon a shipwrecked crew as a godsend, and pro- 
 ceed to cook and eat them ; while now, through the influence 
 of the mission work, they are aiding the missionaries in doing 
 good. There are now only about four or five hundred of 
 these Yaghans left, and they have suffered greatly for want 
 of proper food. Not long ago eighteen of them died in con- 
 sequence of having eaten part of a dead whale, for even the 
 stomach of a Fulgian cannot take in everything ; and 
 measles, small-pox, and other diseases have reduced the tribe 
 to about five hundred. 
 
 " That part of South America is very interesting to me as 
 a sailor, particularly, from the fact that no man-of-war had 
 
Captain Kennedy (H.M.S. "Ruby.") 259 
 
 ever been there until the Ruby went. There was a certain 
 amount of risk involved in my taking her there, because if any- 
 thing had happened the Board of Admiralty would naturally 
 have held me responsible, and said, ' What were you there 
 for ? ' I told the Bishop that he would be the responsible 
 party ; but that as the cause was a good one, I hoped all 
 would go well. All did go well. We did not strike on any 
 rock. The Bishop proved, I am bound to say, a very good 
 pilot. The place had not been surveyed, and I had my 
 doubts about the navigation ; so I said to the Bishop, ' You 
 go on the forecastle, and tell me where to steer,' and he did 
 so. The country itself was interesting ; but it was especially 
 interesting to me to find in those remote regions, in a latitude 
 further south than any other human beings are to be found on 
 the face of the globe, English gentlemen and English ladies 
 devoting their time to the amelioration of a set of beings 
 probably the most degraded on the face of the earth. No 
 one could witness such devotion without admiration for such 
 noble work. With no eye to see them, no prospect of 
 reward, but scanty means and little encouragement, they 
 steadily pursue their course. The good that they have done 
 and are doing is immense ; for whereas, in former times, the 
 Eulgians used to massacre the crews of vessels which were ship- 
 wrecked on those rock-bound shores, they now protect them 
 and guide them to .places of safety ; so that every sailor 
 should be grateful to the missionaries who devote their time 
 and talents to the cause. . . . 
 
 " We are all familiar with the gallant deeds of our soldiers 
 and sailors who have won the Victoria Cross, but Bishop 
 Stirling has eclipsed them all ; for did he not single-handed 
 go and live among the Euegians for a period of seven months 
 at a time when to do so was almost certain death, nearly all 
 his predecessors having been massacred. If ever a man 
 deserved the Victoria Cross, Bishop Stirling is that man ; a 
 hero as modest as he is brave, the beau-ideal of a ' grand old 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 GREENLAND. 
 
 Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.A., Aectic Explohee. 
 
 THE following passages are extracted from Dr. 
 Kane's valuable work entitled " Arctic Explora- 
 tions in Searcli of Sir John Franklin."* Referring 
 to the Eskimos of Greenland, he says : — 
 
 " The labours of the Lutheran and Moravian missionaries 
 have been so far successful among these people that but few 
 of them are now without the pale of professed Christianity, 
 and its reforming influences have affected the moral tone of 
 all. Before the arrival of these self-sacrificing evangelists, 
 murder, incest, burial of the living, and infanticide, were not 
 numbered among crimes. It was unsafe for vessels to touch 
 upon the coast ; treachery was as common and as much hon- 
 oured as' among the Polynesians of the Eastern Seas. Cranz 
 tells us of a Dutch brig that was seized by the natives at the 
 port of Disco, in 1740, and the whole crew murdered ; and 
 two years later the same fate befel the seamen of another 
 vessel that had accidentally stranded. 
 
 "But for the last hundred years Greenland has been safer 
 for the wrecked mariner than many parts of our own coast. 
 Hospitality is the universal characteristic enjoined upon the 
 converted as a Christian duty, but everywhere a virtue of a 
 savage life. From Upernavik to Cape Farewell, the Eskimo 
 
 * T. Nelaou & Sons, London, 1875, pp. 339-340. 
 260 
 
Robert Brown, M.D., F.R.G.S. 261 
 
 does not hesitate to devote his own meal to the necessities of 
 his guest. 
 
 " The benefits of the missionary school are not confined to 
 the Christianised natives ; and it is observable that the vir- 
 tues of truth, self-reliance, and generous bearing, have been 
 inculcated successfully with men who still cherish the wild 
 traditionary superstitions of their fathers. Some of these are 
 persons of strongly-marked character, and are trusted largely 
 by the Danish officials." 
 
 Robert Brown, M.D., F.R.G.S. 
 
 Similar testimony is borne by Dr. Brown, who 
 accompanied an expedition to West Greenland in 
 tbe interests of science. He thus writes in an article 
 which appeared in Mission Life : — 
 
 " Mission stations are now scattered at intervals, and from 
 being a single missionary, the Greenland priest has become 
 the ' parish minister ; ' for there is now not one professed 
 pagan in all Banish Greenland. Settlements for the trade 
 — conducted (by the Danish Government) solely for the bene- 
 fit of the natives, and so extensive that it employs seven ships, 
 and yields a profit of £11,000 — are established from Cape 
 Farewell up to 73° north latitude, where at Kingatok, on a 
 little islet, lives a solitary Dane, who has the eminent dis- 
 tinction of being the most northerly civilised man in the 
 world." 
 
 Dr. Henry Rink, 
 Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, &c. 
 
 The following is taken from the" English Edition 
 by Dr. Robert Brown of Dr. Rink's volume, published 
 at Copenhagen in 1887, entitled "Danish Greenland 
 
262 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 — its People and its Products." The author thus 
 ■writes with respect to the influence of the mission- 
 aries and first settlers : — 
 
 " The reputation of having entered on a crusade against 
 Paganism seemed requisite to give their labours the Apostolic 
 appearance which was necessary for raising the new founded 
 sect in the opinion of the Christian world. No field could 
 be more suited to them than Greenland. Its very name had 
 a most deterring sound to the great public ear, calling to 
 mind nothing but desolate icy regions, whose inhabitants 
 were the rudest savages and Pagans, while on the other hand 
 the missionaries might expect to have their existence secured 
 by the protection of the Danish Government, and the vicinity 
 of Egede's settlements. In the Moravian accounts it is 
 expressly set out how, even in their external appearance, they 
 imitated the Apostles, being but common craftsmen who 
 were treated with disregard and scorn by their fellow-travel- 
 lers. It must also be allowed that in reality these Moravians 
 displayed no small degree of zeal and self-denial. During 
 several years they suffered privations, being miserably sup- 
 plied, and in one year they did not even receive letters from 
 their friends in Europe. It was not till the year 1738 that 
 they succeeded in making their first convert. When we 
 compare the social condition which was established by the 
 united efforts of Egede and the Moravians with the sad 
 picture of the earlier intercourse between the natives and the 
 Europeans, no doubt can be raised as to their great merits, 
 not only on behalf of Greenland, but in promoting the cause 
 of civilisation in general. ..." 
 
An Over-ruling Providence. 263 
 
 Some thoughts suggested by the foregoing " Testi- 
 monies" will find a place in the closing pages. It 
 may, however, be well before proceeding to give 
 expression to these to remark here on the over- 
 ruling providence of God, whereby the views which 
 met with such general acceptance during the last, and 
 the earlier years of the present, century were not 
 suffered to prevail. In consequence, the concluding 
 verse of St. Mark's Gospel finds in these latter days, 
 even more than in Apostolic times, its fulfilment, so 
 that of the modern missionary band it can still, with 
 equal truth and in fuller sense, be said — 
 
 " Thet went forth and preached everywhere, 
 THE Lord working with them, , and confirming 
 the Word with signs following." 
 
Concluding Remarks. 
 
 11/ HEN the jaded, footsore traveller ascends the 
 ' ' mountain path after wending his weary way- 
 through the depressing mist and vapour of the valley 
 below, in which surrounding objects were at best indis- 
 tinctly visible, what a change he is conscious of, as, from 
 an elevation of several thousand feet, he looks down 
 on the low-lying ground just traversed ! How much 
 purer, and clearer, and more bracing the atmosphere ! 
 How distinctly the various objects in the landscape are 
 now seen ! What an expanse of view he is able to 
 take in ! How unwilling he is to descend again to 
 the lower regions ! 
 
 Somewhat simUar, if I mistake not, must have 
 been the feelings of the reader as he accompanied me 
 through the murky, marshy valley, so to speak, of 
 Book I., where gloom, and doubt, and all kinds of 
 chilling influences predominate, and then from the 
 heights of personal observation and experience sur- 
 veyed the wide field of missionary effort, as recorded 
 in Book II. 
 
 While the reliance of the friends of missions is 
 mainly on the command and promise of their Divine 
 Master, the foregoing " Testimonies " cannot fail to 
 
 264 
 
Concluding Remarks. 266 
 
 prove at once encouraging and stimulating to them. 
 But it is not so much because of any felt want on 
 their part that the collection has been made. They 
 are intended rather, in the first instance, and 
 chiefly, for that large class who, though not animated 
 perhaps by any marked spirit of hostility, yet feel, 
 and more or less articulately give expression to, 
 misgivings in regard to the practical utility of 
 missions — questioning whether those who go abroad 
 might not be more usefuUy employed at home, and 
 whether the results are such as to compensate for 
 the labour and money expended, not to say the 
 more precious lives sacrificed. These " Testimonies," 
 it is hoped, will go far to set the doubts of such at 
 rest ; and this of itself will be something gained, 
 inasmuch as the tendency and effect of such mis- 
 givings is to paralyse effort. 
 
 Then there is the other large class who manifest 
 a positive dislike to the missionary eriterprise, and 
 eagerly catch at remarks of prejudiced travellers, as 
 has already been said, who rarely take the trouble to 
 examine carefully the work they so unsparingly and 
 unjustly criticise. It is hardly to be expected that 
 the opposition of these unfriendly individuals will be 
 removed by anything that appears in these pages. 
 Still, it is very far indeed from my wish to pass a 
 sweeping condemnation on the class referred to. On 
 the contrary, I am fain to believe that not a few 
 belonging to it are animated by a spirit of candour 
 and fairness ; and to such accordingly my appeal is 
 
266 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 addressed. I ask them, in view of the mass of 
 evidence here adduced, to say whether it has not 
 been demonstrated that Protestant Christian Missions 
 have not only not proved a failure, but that they 
 have abundantly justified their existence by their 
 beneficent results. 
 
 While in my opinion the adverse criticism of 
 missions so freely indulged in by many is for the 
 most part grossly unfair, I am very far from claiming 
 perfection for either the modes by which the work is 
 carried on, or for the workers. In all mission fields, 
 and in connection with all churches and societies, 
 there may be, and doubtless in not a few cases there 
 is, a want of fitness in the adaptation of the means 
 employed to the end sought to be attained ; or, 
 even where these are suitable, the work may be 
 comparatively barren of results owing to the want of 
 spiritual earnestness, and consistency of character, 
 and tact, and because of faults otherwise on the part 
 of the worker. All this is freely admitted. May 
 it not be, however, that for much of the alleged want 
 of success, the blame should be laid at the door, not 
 of the missionary, nor of the Church or Society that 
 sent him out to the foreign field, but of the members 
 of the Church whose messenger he is, and who, in 
 very many cases, lamentably fail in their duty 
 by withholding their prayers, and sj^npathy, and 
 effectual help. 
 
 What has just been said bears on hostile criticism. 
 Friendly criticism — criticism that springs from a 
 
Concluding Remarks. 267 
 
 hearty interest in the mission cause, and an earnest 
 desire to further it — that lays its finger on the weak 
 points of the modus operandi, and seeks to secure 
 greater efficiency and productiveness — such criticism 
 is always to be hailed. 
 
 In closing, two thoughts are suggested for the con- 
 sideration of two different classes of readers. 
 
 1. The utter groundlessness of the fears expressed 
 by such men as Captain Cook and Sydney Smith, 
 as proved by subsequent events, may well read a 
 lesson of caution. The same lesson was taught by 
 Gamaliel to the Jews of old, who opposed Peter and 
 the other Apostles, in these words : " Eefrain from 
 these men, and let them alone ; for if this counsel or 
 this work be of men, it will come to nought : But if 
 it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply ye 
 be found even to fight against God." Men, however, 
 have always been slow to follow the advice thus given, 
 even when its soundness could not be gainsaid. The 
 admitted truth is not allowed to have full play. It 
 is overborne by other considerations and influences, 
 notably by lack of sympathy with Christ's parting 
 commission to His Church and people to evangelise 
 all nations. 
 
 There is less excuse, however, for the opponents 
 of missions in the present day than can be pleaded 
 for those who lived eighty or a hundred years ago, 
 when the great enterprise was in its infancy. For 
 not only has a flood of light been let in during 
 
268 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 the intervening period on the general question touch- 
 ing the Church's duty in relation to missions, they 
 are now past the experimental stage. The problem 
 has been in good measure solved. The practicability 
 of turning men from dumb idols to serve the living 
 God, is something more than a Scripture truth — it is 
 an accomplished fact. 
 
 2. There is also a lesson of encouragement for 
 workers in the Lord's vineyard. A hundred years 
 ago, as we have seen, the outlook over the unbroken 
 mass of heathenism was simply appalling. The all 
 but universal belief, too, that the heathen were so 
 wedded to their idolatrous superstitions and cruel 
 practices — Satan had so entrenched himself as in an 
 impregnable fortress — that the attempt to detach 
 the one and to dislodge the other seemed to most an 
 utterly hopeless task. This again begat an apathy 
 in the minds of Christian people which immensely 
 increased the difficulties of the situation. In truth, 
 it is almost impossible for us, in our vastly more 
 favourable circumstances, to estimate aright the 
 obstacles which had in these days to be encountered 
 and overcome. Only a faith that could remove 
 mountains availed in such a case. Happily, such a 
 faith was manifested by Carey and the other pioneers 
 of modern missions, and God honoured it, as He 
 never fails to do. They were instrumental in plant- 
 ing the standard of the Cross in the darkest regions 
 of the world, and were privileged to see a goodly 
 number rallying around it. By almost superhuman 
 
Concluding Remarks. 2G9 
 
 labour the initial difficulties were surmounted, and 
 since their day the work has continued to advance at 
 an ever-increasing ratio, insomuch that, on looking 
 abroad over the various widespread mission fields, 
 our reflections find fitting expression in the devout 
 exclamation, " What hath God wrought ! " 
 
 The marvellous changes, or rather transforma- 
 tions — morally, socially, and religiously — that have 
 passed over the face of society in many quarters as 
 the outcome of missionary labour may well cheer 
 the drooping spirits of such as sow the precious 
 seed in unpropitious soU, 
 
 Nor should the seething mass of heathenism, super- 
 stition, infidelity, scepticism, indifference, licentious- 
 ness, and impure literature, by which we are still 
 confronted, prevent us from believing implicitly that 
 the glorious consummation shall in due time be 
 brought about. It may be appalling to contemplate 
 these, and it is no wonder if at times the hearts of 
 even earnest Christian men are apt to sink within 
 them as they look abroad over the face of the world. 
 What is our duty in such a case ? Surely this — 
 that when the rising tide of unbelief sets in, we 
 should remember what has been wrought in New 
 Zealand, Fiji, and numerous other islands of the 
 Southern Pacific — in Madagascar — in North, South, 
 East, West, and Central Africa — among Green- 
 landers, Eskimos, North American Indians, Mexi- 
 cans, and Patagonians — among Hindoos, Karens, 
 Chinese, Japanese, and Syrians — yea, and in our 
 
270 The Success of Christian Missions. 
 
 beloved land also, where heathenism as dark and 
 cruel and degrading as still meets the eye in some of 
 the countries named, once prevailed. We may well 
 rest assured that the miracles of grace which have 
 been witnessed in the past need only to be repeated, 
 as indeed they are being repeated, on a grander scale, 
 in order to usher in the glories of the time when 
 " the earth shall be filled with the knowledge 
 of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover 
 the sea." 
 
 Let us, good reader, ere we part, again ascend the 
 heights of observation, not now in the company of a 
 stray traveller, but in that of a soldier of the olden 
 time on the march to victory. 
 
 It is related of Hannibal that, when he had 
 led his men to one of the higher ridges of the 
 Alps, they began to murmur, and requested that 
 they should be reconducted to their native country. 
 Standing on an eminence and waving his hand, the 
 intrepid Carthaginian General directed their atten- 
 tion to the plains of Piedmont below. " Behold," 
 said he, " these fruitful vineyards and luxuriant 
 fields. A few more struggles and they are all 
 your own." These were inspiring words, and they 
 had the desired effect. May we not apply them to 
 the subject under consideration and say. Behold, 
 from the mount of promise, the nations of the earth 
 at the feet of the Church's exalted Head ? A few 
 more struggles on the part of His followers, and 
 voices shall be heard, not in heaven only, but from 
 
Concluding Remarks. 271 
 
 the innumerable and widely scattered tongues of 
 earth, giving utterance to the joyous announcement, 
 " The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord and of His Christ." Glorious 
 day ! The Lord hasten it in His time. 
 
1 1^ D E X. 
 
 
 
 pa(;e 
 
 Aberdeen, The Earl of, . . . 
 
 . 123 
 
 Aitchiaon, Sir Charles U., . 
 
 
 . 117 
 
 Angell, Dr. J. B., 
 
 
 159 
 
 Arnold, Mr. Edwin, 
 
 
 9 
 
 Atherstone, Hon. Dr. W. G., 
 
 
 8 
 
 Baedeker's Guide, 
 
 
 . 252 
 
 Baker, Lieut.-General, . 
 
 
 . 247 
 
 Bath, Marquis of. 
 
 
 . 244 
 
 Barker, Lady F. N., 
 
 
 . 182 
 
 Baxter, Mr. W. E., M.P., . 
 
 
 61, 242 
 
 Barnum, Eev. W., Hai-poot, . 
 
 
 . 248 
 
 Bernard, Sir Charles E., 
 
 
 . 150 
 
 Bird, Miss Isabella L., 
 
 
 . 164, 2.30 
 
 Blake, Dr. T. W. Jex, . 
 
 
 . 143 
 
 Bove, Lieut. James, R.N., . 
 
 
 . 256 
 
 Boyle, Mr. David, Advocate, 
 
 
 . 24 
 
 Brenchley, Mr. Julius L., . 
 
 
 . 224 
 
 Brewster, Hon. F. Carroll, . 
 
 
 . 251 
 
 Brown, Dr. Robert, 
 
 
 261-2 
 
 Brownlee, Hon. Charles, 
 
 
 . 192 
 
 Bruce, Mr. Alex. L., . 
 
 
 . 200, 210 
 
 Buchner, Herr, . 
 
 
 3 
 
 Burma, Missions in, 
 
 
 . 126, 135 
 
 Caine, Mr. W. S., M.P., 
 
 
 5 
 
 Cairns, Earl, 
 
 
 . 65 
 
 Calcutta Review, . 
 
 
 . 27 
 
 Campbell, Mr. Montgomerie, 
 
 
 . 15 
 
274 
 
 Index. 
 
 
 PA(JE 
 
 Cape of Good Hope Government Oomniission, . . . 190 
 
 Cape Times, 
 
 . 203 
 
 Carey, Dr. Wm., .... 
 
 . 4, 15, 34, 268 
 
 Carlisle, Seventh Earl of, . 
 
 . 86 
 
 Carlyle, Rev. Dr. Alex., 
 
 . 22 
 
 Census Commissioner (India), 
 
 . 119 
 
 Chamberlain, Rev. John, Serampore, 
 
 4 
 
 Committee of House of Commons, 
 
 . 177 
 
 Commission of Cape Government, 
 
 . 188 
 
 Connemara, Lord, 
 
 . 122 
 
 Contemporary Review, . 
 
 . 114 
 
 Cook, Captain James, . 
 
 . 13, 26, 267 
 
 Cooper, Mr. H. Stonehewer, 
 
 . 235 
 
 Cotton, General Sir Arthur, 
 
 . 94 
 
 Cumming, Miss C. F. Gordon, . 
 
 . 137, 163, 231 
 
 Cunynhame, General Sir Arthur T., 
 
 . 184 
 
 Dana, Mr. Richard H., Jun., 
 
 . 221 
 
 Darwin, Mr. Charles, . 
 
 . 217, 254 
 
 Davis, Sir John Francis, 
 
 . 152 
 
 Denby, Colonel Charles,' . 
 
 . 160 
 
 Denison, Sir Wm., 
 
 88 
 
 Dubois, The Abb6 J. A., . 
 
 37 
 
 Duff, Rev. Dr. Alex., . 
 
 . 63, 84, 124, 133 
 
 Dufferin, Lord, . 
 
 149 
 
 Dufferin, The Countess of, . 
 
 . 121 
 
 East India Company, . 
 
 16, 27, 173 
 
 Edendale Mission Station, Natal, . 
 
 . 183 
 
 Edinburgh Literary Journal, 
 
 . 40 
 
 Edinburgh Review, 
 
 . 3, 32 
 
 Education Despatch of ] 854, 
 
 43,87 
 
 Edwardes, Colonel Sir H. B., 
 
 71, 121, 145 
 
 Ellenborough, Lord, . 
 
 . 43 
 
 EUinwood, Dr., .... 
 
 46 
 
 Erskine, Admiral J. E., 
 
 . 219 
 
 Erskine, Rev. Dr. John, 
 
 . 21 
 
 Farrar, Archdeacon, 
 
 6 
 
Indeji 
 
 Gardiner, Commander Allen, 
 General Assembly of 1796, . 
 Gladstone, Mr. W. E., M.P., 
 Gooding, Captain W. H., U.S.A., 
 Grant, Mr. Charles, H.E.I.C, . 
 Granville, Earl, .... 
 Greville Memoirs, 
 Grey, Sir George, K.C.B., . 
 
 275 
 
 PAGE 
 
 257 
 17 
 63 
 
 23}) 
 33 
 
 242 
 42 
 
 229 
 
 Hall, Rev. Gordon, 
 
 Halifax, Right Hon. Viscount, 
 
 Hamilton, Rev. G., Gladsmuir, 
 
 Hastings, Lord, . 
 
 Hyades, Dr., 
 
 Hill, Rev. Principal, D.D., . 
 
 House, Mr. E. H., 
 
 Hunter, Hon. W. W., LL.D., 
 
 4 
 87 
 18 
 4 
 257 
 23 
 168 
 109, 129 
 
 Indian Education Commission, 
 
 108 
 
 Japan Mail, The, 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, .... 
 Johnston, Mr. H. H., Consul, Mozambique, 
 Johnstone, Rev. Dr. David, . . . . 
 Judson, Dr. Adoniram, 
 Judson, Memoir of Mrs. A. H., . 
 Julian, Sir Charles St., 
 
 174 
 49 
 
 178 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 40 
 
 229 
 
 Kane, Dr. Elisha K., . 
 Karens, The, 
 Kennedy, Captain, R.N., 
 Kerr, Dr., Canton, 
 Khan, Prince Malcom, 
 
 . 260 
 
 126, 135 
 
 . 258 
 
 . 172 
 
 . 242 
 
 Lawrence, Lord, . 
 Lawrence, Sir Henry, . 
 Liberia, Republic of, . 
 Livingstone, Dr. David, 
 
 42, 45, 80, 82, 145 
 
 . 121, 145 
 
 . 207 
 
 . 13 
 
276 Index. 
 
 Love, Rev. Dr. John, . 
 Lovedale Institution, 
 Lngard, Captain F. D., 
 
 ]\IacGregor, Sir William, 
 Mackenzie, Hon. A., . 
 Maoleod, Sir Donald, . 
 Madagascar, .... 
 
 Madras Christian College, . 
 Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 
 Mancini, M., Italian Minister, 
 Margary, Mr. Augustus E,, 
 Marsh, Hon. George P., LL.D., . 
 Mason, Mr. Hugh, M.P., 
 Minto, Earl of (1808-11), . 
 Mitchell, Sir Charles B. H., 
 Missionary Baptist Union, U.S.A., 
 Montgomery, Sir Robert, . 
 Muir, Sir William, LL.D., . 
 Mutiny at Vellore, 
 Mutiny in India, 
 
 Napier and Ettrick, Lord, . 
 Natal, Sup. Inspector of Schools, 
 New Ym-Jc Herald, 
 Northbrook, Earl of, . 
 Nott, Rev. Samuel, 
 Noyes, Hon. Edward F., 
 
 Oliver, Lieut. S. P., R.A., . 
 
 PACK 
 
 . 26 
 
 185, 201-209 
 
 . 212 
 
 2.37 
 . 146 
 121, 139, 141 
 214 
 106 
 177 
 2.56 
 155 
 249 
 
 64 
 
 31 
 191 
 
 41 
 121 
 107 
 
 32 
 42, 73, 144 
 
 96 
 
 7 
 247 
 141 
 
 4 
 245 
 
 214 
 
 Palmer, Captain, H.M.S. Bosario, 
 Palmerston, Lord, 
 Pfander, Dr., .... 
 Phayre, General Sir Robert, 
 Port Mixabeth Telegraph, 
 Port Moresby, .... 
 Progress of Christianity in India, 
 Protestant Missions in China, 
 
 121 
 125 
 204 
 237 
 118, 131 
 . 153 
 
Index. 
 
 277 
 
 Rangoon Gazette, . 
 Rein, Professor J. J., . 
 Rink, Dr. Henry, 
 Robinson, Sir William, 
 Ross, Mr. Donald, 
 
 Santal Hill Tribes, 
 Saturday Review, . 
 
 Schwartz, Rev. Christian Frederick, 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, Bart., 
 
 Secretary of State (India), Report of, 
 
 Sedgwick, Professor Adam, 
 
 Sen, Babu Kessub Chunder, 
 
 Shaftesbury, Seventh Earl of. 
 
 Shore, Hon. H. Noel, . 
 
 Shumway, Mr. Arthur L., . 
 
 Singh, The Kanwar Harnam of Kapurthala. 
 
 Smeaton, Mr. D. Mackenzie, 
 
 Sierra Leone, Colony of. 
 
 Smith, Rev. Dr. D. A. W., . 
 
 Smith, Hon. Bzekiel E., 
 
 Smith, Mr. Samuel, M.P., . 
 
 Smith, Rev. Sydney, . 
 
 South African Methodist, 
 
 South American Missionary Society, 
 
 Spectator, The, .... 
 
 Stanley, Mr. H. M., . 
 
 Stewart, Dr. James, Lovedale, 
 
 Sulivan, Admiral Sir B. J., . 
 
 Tahiti, Missions in, 
 Taylor, Canon, 
 Taylor, Mr. Isaac, 
 Taylor, Dr., Pekin, 
 Temple, Sir Richard, Bart., . 
 Thompson, Sir A. Rivers, . 
 Thomson, Mr. Joseph, 
 Times, The, . . . . 
 
 34 
 
 166 
 261 
 104 
 
 188 
 
 107 
 60 
 
 15 
 
 51 
 
 99 
 
 57 
 
 90 
 
 43, 241 
 
 155 
 
 167 
 
 132 
 
 126 
 
 177 
 
 41 
 
 209 
 
 114 
 
 32, 267 
 
 207 
 
 244 
 
 68, 255 
 
 210 
 
 200 
 
 254 
 
 26 
 
 5, 55, 68 
 
 54 
 
 9 
 
 101 
 
 116 
 
 187 
 
 44, 82, 111 
 
 U 
 
278 Index. 
 
 Tinnevelly, Missions in, 
 Truter, Sir John, 
 
 "Wakefield, Lieut.-Col. J. H., 
 Wallace, General Lew, 
 Warburton, Rev. Dr., . 
 Weber, Von, 
 
 Williams, Sir Monier, D.O.L., 
 Wood, Lieut., U.S. Navy, . 
 Wylie, Mr. Macleod, Calcutta, 
 
 PAOI 
 
 89 
 176 
 
 79 
 250 
 
 23 
 
 3 
 
 110 
 
 45 
 
 76 
 
 Zenana Missions, 
 
 109, 125- 
 
 LORIMER AND GILLIES, PRINTERS, 31 ST. ANDREW SQUARE, EDINBURGH.