q-. 3.'t>2- > V PRINCETON, N. J. $ Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. BV 2520 .M5 1900 Merriam, Edmund Franklin 1847-1930. A history of American i^oo HISTORY OF AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS A HISTORY OF AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS BY EDMUND F. MERRIAM EDITOR OF "The 'Baptist (Missionary (Magazine" AUTHOR OF 'The American "Baptist (Missionary Union and its (Missions," etc. PHILADELPHIA amertcan baptist publication Society igoo Copyright 1900 by the American Baptist Publication Society Jfrom tbc Socfctt'a oven press Go The heroic and devoted men and women from the ranks of American 'Baptists who, in the name of the Lord Jesus, have left their native land and often in privation and peril have given their lives to carry to strange peoples and to distant lands the good news of salvation through a crucified and risen Redeemer PREFACE For many years Prof. William Garnmell's "His- tory of American Baptist Missions," printed in 1849, was the standard and the only authority and storehouse of information on the subject accessible to the public. Professor Gammell had the happi- ness to write when the work of American Baptist missions was yet limited in the scope and number of its fields, and in his volume, issued only a few years after the separation of the Northern and Southern Baptists in their missionary work, he was able to consider the missions as a unit. Both the extent and nature of the subject permitted him to treat his topic with a minuteness and fullness of development and literary finish which have made his volume the ad- miration and delight of successive generations of Baptists in America. It has never had a successor, and in one respect, at least, it can have no successor, since the great expansion and enlargement of Bap- tist missionary work, as well as the multitude of divisions into which it has separated itself in the latter half of the nineteenth century, makes it im- possible for any historian to treat the subject in the elaborate manner possible to Professor Gammell A history of American Baptist missions on the lines Vlll PREFACE of his work would extend into so many volumes as to be practically beyond the reach of the general public, even if the history were taken up at the point where he completed his task. It has seemed better, therefore, to rewrite the history from the be- ginning on a scale which, while comprehensive, must necessarily be far less elaborate and more condensed, in order to bring the entire work within the com- pass of a volume of readable size. One of the first impressions of the writer in be- ginning his work as editor of the "Baptist Mission- ary Magazine," in September, 1880, was the paucity of information available to the general public in regard to the history of our Baptist foreign missions. At that time Professor Gammell's work and a vol- ume of "Missionary Sketches," by Samuel F. Smith, d. d., and a pictorial illustrated volume entitled "Our Gold Mine," by Mrs. Ada C. Chaplin, were the only books to which inquirers for information in regard to American Baptist foreign missions could be directed. The first was out of print and so far past the date of publication that it was useful only for the history of the earlier stages of the mis- sions ; while the special purposes for which the last two were prepared, — the first for "The Examiner," and the second for the " Baptist Missionary Maga- zine," — limited their scope and therefore their useful- ness for the purposes of general historical reference. Under these circumstances the writer at once ad- dressed himself to the task of preparing some ma- PREFACE IX terial which would quickly supply the increasing demaud for information iu regard to the history of our missious. A series of ten pamphlets was begun, which, continued as exigencies of regular office and editorial work allowed, was finally completed, cov- ering the history of the American Baptist Mission- ary Union in the features of its development at home and abroad. As arrangements for the preparation of a special history of the work of the Missionary Union, by Dr. J. N. Murdock, long the corresponding secre- tary, came to naught, these ten pamphlets were bound together in 1897, in a volume entitled "The American Baptist Missionary Union and its Mis- sions," to serve for historical reference and reading regarding the work of the Union pending the com- pletion of that full and elaborate history which the importance and absorbing interest of the subject suggests and demands. Impelled by a desire to supply in some measure the same demand, Mrs. Sophie Bronson Titterington, daughter of the venerated missionary in Assam, Dr. Miles Bronson, prepared an outline sketch entitled, "A Century of Baptist Foreign Missions," which was issued by the American Baptist Publication Society, in 1891, and has done good service, espe- cially as a text-book for classes in missionary study, for which purpose it was peculiarly designed. Rev. J. "Winfred Hervey issued in 1892 a work entitled, " The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands," X PREFACE which exhibited a large amount of research, and which supplies in a convenient form much material on our missionary history obtained from volumes which are out of print and have become rare. Mr. Hervey is entitled to credit for preserving many features of the early Baptist missionary work which might otherwise have been lost sight of, but his volume makes no pretensions to being an analyzed, comprehensive, and complete history of our Baptist foreign missions. In the preparation of the present volume, the writer has not only made use of the before-named volumes, but also of many works on peculiar features of our missionary history which have been issued, especially within the last few years. Among the most important of these are, " The Memoir of Adoniram Judson," by Francis Wayland, which is out of print, the place of which is supplied by " The Life of Adoniram Judson," by his son, Edward Judson ; " Self Support in Bassein," by Chapin Howard Carpenter ; " The Story of a Working Man's Life," the autobiography of Francis Mason, d. d. ; "A Good Fight," a life of George Dana Boardman, by Alonzo King, and other biographies of missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Union and of the Southern Baptist Convention, and also the two large volumes by Henry A. Tupper, d. d., for so many years the corresponding secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Bap- tist Convention, entitled, " The Foreign Missions of PREFACE XI the Southern Baptist Convention " and " A Decade of Foreign Missions." In these bulky volumes Dr. Tupper has gathered a large amount of material for the history of Southern Baptist missions and has rendered a valuable service to the denomination and the religious world. The jubilee volumes of the American Baptist Missionary Union and the Amer- ican Baptist Home Mission Society have also been consulted, as well as "A Story of Six Decades/' covering the principal features of the work of the American Baptist Publication Society, by Dr. C. R. Blackall. Reference to all these and other works is made for those who desire more full and detailed information in regard to the special features of our missionary work than could be given in the present volume. But the great treasure house of original and exact information to which the writer is chiefly indebted is the "Baptist Missionary Magazine," which has been and must continue to be the stand- ard authority on the special and detailed features of the work of Baptist foreign missions in all the years since their beginning. The suggestion for the preparation of this volume in its present form came from the admirable " Dis- trict Baptist History Series," prepared under the auspices of the American Baptist Publication So- ciety. It seemed that so excellent and well-planned a series should be completed by a history of Amer- ican Baptist missions, embracing the work of Amer- ican Baptists outside the limits of the United States, Xll PREFACE in order that the series may then cover the entire work of the Baptists of this country in all its fea- tures. The preparation of this volume is not de- signed to supersede the volumes on special features of missionary work already mentioned, nor those volumes of the same character which will hereafter appear ; but it is hoped that it may supplement and complete the series above referred to and supply a book which for the purposes of the general public shall be sufficiently adequate on our Baptist mis- sionary work in foreign lands. It has been recog- nized that, within the limits set for the volume, completeness of detail, especially in regard to bi- ographical features, could not be attained, but by grouping the entire history about the epochs of greatest interest and most vital importance the at- tempt has been made to supply a history of our missions which may be a compendium for general use. With the prayer that it may be used by the Lord of the harvest for arousing a larger interest in the work of the conversion of the world to the Lord Jesus the volume is submitted to the kindest consid- eration of the Baptists of America. E. F. M. Boston, August 1, 1900. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The Missionary Enterprise xv CHAPTER I American Baptists in 1812 1 CHAPTER II Formation of the General Missionary Convention 9 CHAPTER III Beginnings in Burma 20 CHAPTER IV To the End of the First Burman War 29 CHAPTER V Growth and Expansion 38 CHAPTER VI The Southern Baptist Convention 53 CHAPTER VII The American Baptist Missionary Union 70 CHAPTER VIII The American Baptist Publication Society .... 81 CHAPTER IX The American Baptist Home Mission Society ... 88 CHAPTER X The American Baptist Free Mission Society ... 91 CHAPTER XI Woman's Baptist Mission- a ry Societies 95 xiii XIV CONTENTS CHATTER XII American Baptist Missions in Burma 10:2 CHATTER XIII Baptist Mission Work in Assam 122 CHATTER XIV Baptist Missions in Southern India 132 CHATTER XV Baptist Missions in Siam 152 CHATTER XVI American Baptist Missions in China 159 CHATTER XVII Baptist Missions in Japan, the Liu Ciiiu, and the Philippine Islands 173 CHATTER XVIII American Bvptist Missions in Africa 182 CHATTER XIX American Baptist Missions in Europe 191 CHAPTER XX Baptist Missions in South America 203 CHAPTER XXI Baptist Work in Mexico, Cuba, and Porto Rico . 206 CHAPTER XXII Civilization and American Baptist Missions . . . 213 CHATTER XXTII The Past and the Future 235 Appendices 243 Index 253 INTRODUCTION THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE FROM the time the Lord Jesus Christ founded the work of Christian missions, there have not been wanting in all ages some to carry the glad ti- dings of salvation to those who had not heard. The first chosen messengers of the gospel were the twelve apostles, who might as appropriately have been called missionaries, since the two words mean ex- actly the same thing, the former being derived from the Greek and the latter from the Latin word mean- ing " to send." Jesus Christ himself gave the model and methods of missionary work in his missionary tours in Galilee, where he went about preaching the good news of salvation and healing the sick. No advance or innovation has ever been able to supple- ment the lofty ideals of the mission of Jesus Christ himself, which was characterized by that highest of all commendations, " He went about doing good." After the death of Jesus the disciples were com- manded to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endued with power from on high. This power came on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit de- scended with mighty influence upon the disciples. XVI INTRODUCTION The command which kept them in Jerusalem then expired; but they still remained, and it was left for persecution to furnish the first missionary impulse, which scattered the disciples from the eapital city of Judea to all parts of the then known world, and it is said of them that "they went everywhere preaching the gospel." The Holy Spirit was the first moving agent in foreign missions. In Acts 13 : 1-4 we read: " Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers ; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod thetetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia ; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." After hands of consecration had been laid upon Barnabas and Saul, they went forth to all parts of Asia Minor, preaching the gospel and establishing churches. As yet, however, the gospel was con- fined to Asia Minor. Again the agency of the Holy Spirit was necessary for the enlargement of the work, and of Paul, when he essayed to go to Bi- thynia, we read, "The Spirit suffered him not"; but by a vision a man called him across the sea to Europe, to become a missionary to Macedonia. INTRODUCTION XV1J The means for the extension of Christianity were apparently as inadequate then as now. Beginning with Jesus, the Carpenter of Nazareth, and his disci- ples, the humble fishermen of Galilee, the gospel was carried into distant regions by men unknown to fame, and it was Paul, the prisoner, who became the great agent in the expansion of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in Asia, Greece, Italy, and perhaps Spain and Britain. Of him we learn that his bodily presence was weak. But the power of the Holy Spirit was with him, and wherever he went churches were es- tablished. Through these humble agencies the re- ligion of Jesus Christ was extended and the disciples mightily multiplied, until within a little more than three centuries we find it established on the throne of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine in A. D. 311. The places chosen for missionary work are worth noting. Beginning at Jerusalem, the second great center of Christian labor was Capernaum, the chief commercial town in busy, thronging Galilee, on the northwest shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, at the meeting-place of the chief commercial highways of that day from Damascus, Tyre, and Egypt. After the death of the Lord the first great center of Chris- tian life was established at Antioch, the capital and chief city of the East. Here the disciples were first called Christians, the name being given as a term of reproach, as indicated by the Latin ending, " anus, ' denoting inferiority. Next in order came Ephesus, XV111 INTRODUCTION the greatest port of Asia Minor ; then Corinth, on the isthmus of Corinth, and through which, accord- ing to the methods of transportation then in vogue, a large part of the commerce of the East was obliged to pass. Then came Alexandria, the great center of commerce and learning in Egypt, and next Rome, the capital of the world. After the days of the apostles the same great central idea of the propa- gation of Christianity prevailed, and the most pow- erful centers of life and influence were seized. Britain, which God foresaw was to be the ruling nation of the world and Home's successor, was one of the earliest Christian mission fields. The Goths, a virile stock of Central Europe, soon to be mingled with the Angles to form the great Anglo- Saxon race, were also among the earliest objects of missionary endeavor. In this was recognized the great ethnological fact that mixed races have always proved stronger than a single stock. For centuries the Anglo-Saxon race was the first in the world, and according to all the principles of ethnology and im- perial development, its power is to be merged in the great American race, compounded of all the nations of the earth. At the time when Christianity became dominant in the Roman Empire by the decree of the Emperor Constantine, the number of actual Christians was small, being estimated at about one in every one hundred and fifty of the human race, and though Christianity has now attained to the rule of the INTRODUCTION XIX earth, the number of real Christians is still small. Although the population of the earth is increasing arithmetically faster than the converts to Chris- tianity, the latter is gaining rapidly in a geometrical ratio. From the proportion at the time of Constan- tine of one in every one hundred and fifty of the population of the world, there is now one nominal or real Christian in every four of the people of the earth. The history of early missions has largely per- ished, or is known only by incidental references ; but we learn that in the first great ecumenical council of Christianity, that at Nicea, in 325, among the bishops there were John the Persian, the bishop of India, and Theophilus the Goth, from Northern Europe ; and that in 535 there were Christians in Persia, on the Malabar coast of India, in Sokotra, Ceylon, Bactria, as well as in all the countries about the Mediterranean Sea, and in Gaul and Britain. The Mohammedan conquests swept away all Christian churches in Western Asia and Northern Africa as by a devouring fire, leaving only a remnant in Southern India on the southwest coast, at Goa. The gospel was sent to Britain and Scotland from Rome by unknown messengers before the time of Augustine, the representative of the Roman Church. From Scotland this primitive type of Christianity was carried to Ireland by Patricius (Patrick), from Ireland back to the Scottish Islands, with head- XX INTRODUCTION quarters at Iona, by Columba, and the Iona mission- aries preached the gospel all over Western and Cen- tral Europe. Traces of their labors are visible to the present day. The spirit of these missionaries was purer than was that of those who came later. Alcuin of France " was determined to carry on the publication of the divine word according to the example of the apostles." Anscar said : " When I was asked whether I would go for God's name among the heathen to publish the gospel, I could not decline such a call. Yes, with all my power I wish to go hence, and no man can make me waver in this resolution." No missionary of modern times could express himself in nobler words or possess a purer missionary conse- cration and ideal. It was the labors of these men which, when the Mohammedan power was overrunning with flame and sword all the earlier fields of Christianity in Western Asia and Northern Africa, saved Europe for Christianity, since they forged the weapons by which Charles Mart el drove back the Saracens from Southern France, in 732, and made possible the army of John Sobieski, which hurled back the Turks from Vienna in 1683, thus confining the Moham- medan conquests to Asia and Africa, with the ex- ception of Turkey in Europe and a temporary lease of power in Spain. In the more distinctive missionary movements of Christianity, Francis of Assisi was the first in the line of medieval Roman Catholic missionaries. It INTRODUCTION XXI was his aim to establish colleges for the training of Christian missionaries in connection with every large Christian university. From his labors sprang the order of the Franciscans, by which monks were transformed into missionaries. Raymund Lull was filled with the spirit which later animated William Carey and Adoniram Judson, and only lacked a sympathetic and sustaining church to found the era of modern missions. He gave his life to simple gospel labors among the Mohammedans, and died a martyr to missions on the voyage to his home. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit, had more of the military than the purely missionary spirit, but in his efforts to establish the standard of the church in India, in the East Indies, in China, and in far Japan, he ex- hibited a devotion to his ideal worthy of all praise and imitation. Of the purer missionary movements preceding the Reformation, John Wycliffe, of England, in- spired the Lollards, who were itinerating mission- aries to all parts of central and western Europe, and was the predecessor of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who were the real pioneers of the Mo- ravians. Of the leaders of the Reformation, neither Luther nor Melanchthon were foreign mis- sionary in spirit, being wholly engaged in theologi- cal disputations and the founding of the Faith of the Protestant church upon correct principles ; but Erasmus wrote a treatise on "The Art of Preach- ing," which was as distinctly missionary in charac- XXI 1 INTRODUCTION ter as the later " Inquiry " of William Carey. From this time the missionary impulse of the Christian churches began to develop more strongly. In the seventeenth century began the era of Christian missions under the auspices of temporal authorities. The Dutch sent missionaries to their East India possessions. Peter Heyling went to Abyssinia in 1 632 and translated the New Testa- ment. In 1664 Baron von Welz published a pam- phlet entitled " Invitation for a Society of Jesus to Promote Christianity and. the Conversion of Hea- thendom." Leaving his title and the ease and com- forts of home, he went to Dutch Guiana, where he died a martyr to his missionary enthusiasm. No- vember 29, 1705, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg sailed for India, and about forty years later, Christian Frederick Schwa rz, both under the auspices of the Danish Government, but with the object of spread- ing the knowledge of Christian truth among the people of Hindustan. In the same general line, Christian chaplains and missionaries were sent out by various governments to their colonial possessions in the East and West for the spread of the truth. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was founded in England in 1701, but limited itself to the sending out chaplains, some of whom began the work of Christian missions in the New World. The colonial possessions of England only became in- spired by the distinctively modern missionary spirit after the formation of the first missionary societies, INTRODUCTION XX111 at the close of the eighteenth century. In 1721 the Danish Missionary Society was founded, and la- bored much on the same lines. The Moravian Church began, in 1732, the first missions to the heathen under the auspices of the Christian churches as separated from the State authorities, but they were still maintained from the ordinary reve- nues of the church. Missionaries went to the West Indies, Greenland, and, later, to Africa and other parts of the world. All these movements were leading up to the inauguration of the era of modern missions, the distinctive characteristic of which is the voluntary organization and co-operation of Chris- tians for the sending forth and support of mission- aries to heathen lands. It was in 1792 that a small company of Baptist ministers assembled in a private house at Kettering, England, and organized the Baptist Missionary Society, the pioneer of all modern missionary socie- ties sustained on the principle of voluntary contri- butions. The celebrated thirteen pounds, two shil- lings, and six pence then subscribed was the fore- runner of the millions now contributed every year to missionary societies for the purpose of sending forth missionaries to all parts of the world. The first missionaries of this society were William Carey and John Thomas, M. D., who sailed June 13, 1793, for India. It is noteworthy that the first mission- aries to go forth under the auspices of the first mod- ern missionary society represented both the evangel- XXIV INTRODUCTION istic and medical branches of missionary work. In 1795 was formed the London Missionary Society, sustained by the Independents and other Noncon- formists of England, and the first missionaries were sent forth to Tahiti and the Society Islands of the South Seas. The Established Church of England followed in 1799 by the establishment of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. Its purposes are indicated in its title, and the first mis- sionaries were sent to the west coast of Africa in 1804, a mission at Sierra Leone being established in 1816 and the mission in the ports about the Mediterranean Sea in 1815. It is both surprising and significant to find that the next step in the forward march of the mission- ary enterprise was taken in the new world, across the Atlantic, by the organization in 1810 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, then supported by the Congregationalist and Presbyterian Churches of the United States. The first party of missionaries sent out by this so- ciety established the Marathi mission in India, from which has sprung the Madura mission and all the work in India under this Board. Of the first party sent out under this Board, three changed their denominational views soon after their arrival in India ; Luther Rice returned to America to inform the Baptists that they had missionaries in India while as yet they had no missionary society; while Adoniram Judson, and his wife, Ann Hassel- INTRODUCTION XXV tine, after being tossed about between India and Mauritius, fled at last for refuge to the savage and heathen kingdom of Burma. They landed July 13, 1813, thus founding the first Christian mission in Asia in an entirely heathen country and wholly under the power of a heathen government. From this movement sprang the American Baptist Mis- sionary Union, formed in 1814. In the same year the growing missionary spirit in England manifested itself in the formation of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, which at once interested itself in the Wes- leyan work in the West Indies, which had been conducted independently for about twenty-five years, and which soon established an independent mission in South Africa. The next aggressive missionary society to be es- tablished was again in the new world, being the Methodist Missionary Society of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, formed in 1819, which began its prep- arations for opening a mission in Liberia, in West Africa. In 1820, on the continent of Europe, the Basle Evangelical Missionary Society was consti- tuted, an outgrowth of a movement started in 1815, and in 1819 the Leipsic Evangelical Lutheran Mis- sionary Society was begun. Both of these societies, however, confined themselves for a number of years to the training of missionaries for other societies, and it was not until 1824 that the Basle Society established its first mission in Persia. From these nine missionary societies have sprung all the later XXVI INTRODUCTION missionary organizations and movements. The Scottish churches separated from the London Mis- sionary Society and organized a society of their own in 1829. By similar processes of division and branching all the more than five hundred missions and missionary societies existing at the close of the nineteenth century have sprung into being. It is significant also to note that the fields selected by these earlier societies have supplied the founda- tion for the spread of Christian missions into all parts of the world. The earlier missions in India extended to the limits of the widely extended British Empire in India, to the Indo-Chinese Pe- ninsula, and to China and other parts of the East. Early missions in the South Seas have spread until now, out of the multitude of islands which dot the Pacific and Indian Oceans, there are but few which have not been reached by the gospel ; while Africa, its interior long closed to the efforts of Christian missionaries by natural disadvantages and the sav- age nature of its people, has in later years opened for the advance of the Christian hosts who had planted themselves at numerous stations on the east, west, and south coasts. Of all the widely extended work in the enter- prise of Christian missions six chief successes, some- times called " miracles of missions," may be noted : the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by which the Sandwich Islands, known better as Hawaii, have been transformed INTRODUCTION XXV11 from a savage territory to a civilized community, now a Territory of the United States of America. Entirely similar, and worthy to be compared with this, is the work of the Wesleyan Missionary So- ciety in the Fiji Islands, by which a people given to cruelty and cannibalism of the worst sort have been transformed into a Christian community, with a larger proportion of the people attending the church services on the Sabbath than may be found in any other part of the world. With this may be ranked the work of the London Missionary Society in the Society and other South Sea Islands, where life and property are safe, and the necessity of police for protection is reduced to a minimum, and a friendly relationship is established, not only among the peo- ple themselves, but toward all foreign visitors to these beautiful gems of the Pacific Ocean. In Asia there are also three great triumphs of Christian missions to be noted : that of the American Baptist Missionary Union in the Karen mission in Burma, whereof five hundred churches four hundred and fifty are wholly self-supporting, and all other branches of Christian developmentand education have attained a high state of advancement. The Karen Baptist mission in Burma has been the chief example of self- support, self-dependence, and self-propagation among Christian missions in the world for many years. Another great success in Christian missionary work is that of the Church Missionary Society of England, among the Tamil people of South India, where many XXV111 INTRODUCTION thousands have been gathered into the churches and every element of Christian life is in an encouraging ■^tate of growth and development. The third great miracle of modern missions iu Asia is that of the American Baptist Missionary Union among the Telugus of southeastern India. Here a mission maintained for many years amid the most discour- aging circumstances has within twenty years sprung to the front rank of Christian missions in numbers and influence. A larger number of the Telugus are now converts to the Christian faith than of any other people known as heathen. There are more than fifty-five thousand members of Baptist churches among this people, and the great prosperity of the mission to the Telugus has become ' a model in missionary methods in India. The earlier missions devoted themselves largely to education, but the great success of the purely evangelistic methods in vogue in the Telugu Baptist mission have so revolu- tionized missionary sentiment in India that there is not a mission of any name within the bounds of British India which has not felt its influence. While education and other missionary methods are not neglected, especially in the development of the Christian church, the main reliance for the progress of the truth is becoming more and more the verbal proclamation of the gospel, especially by converts from the people speaking to their own tribes in their own tongues. From the simple beginnings of missionary work INTRODUCTION XXIX in Judea and Galilee by Jesus Christ and his hum- ble associates, the enterprise of Christian missions has gone forward until all the leading nations of the world have become Christian in name if not in fact. All laws and procedures of courts, as well as the conduct of public affairs in all important nations of the earth, are founded upon the Bible. Aside from the millions of Christians in lands not known as missionary, the summary of the statistics of foreign missions throughout the world, prepared by James Dennis, D. d., for the Ecumenical Missionary Con- ference, held in the city of New York, in April, 1900, gives the figures as they appear below. 1 When considered with a view to the vast and man- ifold agencies represented in these summaries and the widely extended work which they embrace, these figures suggest encouragement to every lover of the expansion of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Missionaries, 13, GOT ; native missionary helpers of all classes, 73,615; principal stations, 5,233, with 25,580 outstations; 10,993 churches, with 1,289,298 communicants and S3,895 additions in 1899. The Sunday-schools in foreign mission fields number 14,- 940, with a membership of 761,684, and there was an estimated Christian population of 4,327,283, from which were received con- tributions for Christian work amounting to §1,833,981. A HISTORY OF AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS CHAPTER I AMERICAN BAPTISTS IN 1812 THE greatness of the achievements of any peo- ple is determined by the difficulties under which they were wrought and the effects which they produced. Judged by these standards the mis- sionary work of American Baptists holds a high place among those forces which have operated for the advancement of the human race in civilization and in religion. The beginning of the missions oc- curred at a time in the history of the nation ap- parently the most unpropitious for the founding of an enterprise involving large foreign expenditures with no prospect of domestic advantage. The country was engaged in a second war with Eng- land. At the close of the war of the Revolu- tion the independence of the United States had been recognized, but neither equality of rights nor freedom of action had been secured. The mother I AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS country still claimed and exercised the right of search of American vessels, the control of Amer- ican commerce, and excluded her former colonies from many of the privileges usually accorded to an independent nation. Exasperated beyond endur- ance by the humiliations and wrongs imposed by this attitude of England, the young and still feeble country had resolved in desperation to again sub- mit her cause to the dread arbitration of war rather than endure longer the deprivation of those rights and privileges which belonged to her. Under these circumstances communication with foreign countries had become difficult and uncer- tain, and there was every reason to believe that the entire resources of the people would be needed at home. The commerce of New England, which had become prosperous, was in danger of entire destruc- tion. Even the integrity of the new republic was seriously threatened. Several of the States were still acting under their original charters from the kings of England, and the sense of nationality was as yet weak. The separate States viewed with jealousy any attempt of Congress to legislate in matters which involved that supreme authority which the States claimed for themselves. But more than all, the perils of the commerce of New Eng- land menaced the unity of the nation. Massachu- setts, which had been the foremost in spirit and in arms in beginning the war of the Revolution, viewed with alarm the loss of her foreign trade. AMERICAN BAPTISTS IX 1812 3 While, therefore, the rest of the country was hot with resentment against the arrogant assumptions of England, in New England the love of gain smoth- ered for a time the fires of patriotism. The intense feeling which culminated in the famous " Hartford « Convention " augured ill for the harmony and en-' thusiasm of the people and the success of the weaker nation in its resistance to the aggressions of a vastly superior power. Neither was the condition of the people in the United States such as to encourage extensive plans of benevolence for the benefit of outside na- tions. Almost every existing branch of industry was in a formative state, and many lines of mining, manufacture, and trade which were to contribute so largely to the enormous future development of the country, had not been started or even projected. Internal communication was generally slow, diffi- cult, and expensive. A striking illustration of the condition of the country in 1812, is the fact that at that time the " Baptist Missionary Magazine " was compelled to decline subscriptions from the South since the mail service Avns so imperfect that copies could not be delivered with certainty and regu- larity. Processes of manufacture were rude, and profitable lines of business were few. Up to 1830 only three men in the whole country were reckoned as millionaires, John Jacob Astor, of New York, Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, and William Gray, of Boston, and the distance which separated these 4 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS men of fortune from the general condition of the people was greater than is known at the present time. As a whole, the people were poor, and with- out the resources or the opportunities of financial accumulation which exist in more modern life. Among the people of the United States in 1812 the Baptists occupied a humble position. The so- cial prestige of founders of the State enjoyed by the Congregationalists in Massachusetts, by the Dutch churches in New York, by the Friends in Penn- sylvania, and by the Episcopalians in Virginia, be- longed to Baptists only in the small State of Rhode Island ; and even here they were torn by divisions on minor points, remnants of which remain to the present day. Their homes were bare of most of the comforts of modern life. The large living room, dining room, and kitchen, all in one, with unplastered walls, contained only plain furnishings of strong but simple make. Stoves were rare and the great fireplaces, liberally fed with wood, cooked the food and supplied the heat which had the pecu- liar and unpleasant quality of warming only one side at a time. In the sombre and seldom used " front room " of the better class of homes might be found a stiff and straight-backed sofa, uphol- stered in black haircloth, the only sign of luxury, unless the great four-post canopied bedsteads, with their mountains of monster feather beds, the pride of the housekeeper's heart, be excepted. These, however, were reserved for " company " and the AMERICAN BAPTISTS IX 1812 5 more mature members of the family, while the boys and girls were assigned to the attics, guiltless of heating arrangements even in the coldest weather. Many a crack furnished a whistle for the roaring winds of winter and admitted the drifting snow to test the courage and endurance of the hardy inmates. The churches of these people, like their homes, were bare of comforts, with straight-backed pews and narrow, uncushioned seats. No heat was pro- vided except that which the worshipers carried in their own sturdy physique and warm hearts, or in the case of the elderly matrons, individual foot- warmers, fed with coals from the fires at home. Multitudes of the churches of our fathers lacked even a house in which to worship God, and they held their meetings in schoolhouses or in the homes of the people. Many of the powerful movements which characterized the early history of Baptists in this country and which were the foundations of the present great prosperity, began and w r ere carried on to the glory of God without houses of worship, in- quiry rooms, an organ, or other accompaniments considered necessary to the success of a modern re- vival. Nevertheless, amid these apparently rigorous con- ditions the Baptists thrived and grew. In this year of 1812 they numbered in the States which then formed the Union, two thousand four hundred and seventeen churches, one thousand nine hundred and sixteen ministers, and one hundred and eighty- 6 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS eight thousand two hundred and fifteen members; and Benedict, the Baptist historian, after extensive travel among them, writes that " the Baptists are scattered in every part of the United States. Scarce- ly a mountain or valley in which they are not to be found." He estimated them to form one-fifth of the population of the whole country. They were scattered, however, and also divided. The Baptist churches of different sections of the country had little communication with each other. Few com- mon bonds of interest existed, and no general or- ganization for any purpose whatever. The Phila- delphia Association had been definitely organized as early as 1707, followed by the Charleston Associa- tion in 1751, the Sandy Creek Association, of North Carolina, in 1758, and others in the South still later. The Warren Association of churches in Rhode Island and Massachusetts was formed in 1767, and four Associations in Vermont before 1796, but it was not until 1812 that the Boston Association, later divided into four, was established. The formation of the English Baptist Missionary Society in Kettering, England, in 1792, and the early movements, trials, and successes of the Eng- lish Baptist mission in India, were viewed with deep interest by many Baptists in this country, and did much to arouse a missionary spirit among them. Several Baptist ministers of this country, notably Rev. John Williams, of New York, and Rev. Thomas Baldwin, of Boston, maintained a regular AMERICAN BAPTISTS IN 1812 7 correspondence with William Carey and his asso- ciates of Serampore, and contributions for the Ser- ampore mission were sent from the Baptists of the United States to the missionary society in London, amounting in one year to as much as six thousand dollars. The first crystallization of the missionary spirit was in the organization of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society, which held its first meeting in Boston, May 26, 1802. The object of this pioneer Baptist missionary society of America was stated to be, " To furnish occasional preaching and to promote a knowledge of evangelistic truth in the new settlements within these United States, or farther, if circumstances should render it proper." This society immediately began the publication of the " Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Mag- azine," the first number being issued in Septem- ber, 1803. In 1817 the name of this oldest of American Baptist periodicals was changed to the " American Baptist Magazine," and again, in 1836, to the " Baptist Missionary Magazine," under which title it still continues. Letters from William Carey, and other missionaries in India, frequently appeared in this magazine, which became the chief instru- ment in fostering the rising enthusiasm for missions among American Baptists. This zeal for the ex- tension of the kingdom of the Redeemer found ex- pression in a rapid succession of missionary societies organized in various parts of the country. A Bap- tist Youths' Missionary Society, formed in the city 8 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS of New York, July 23, 1806, was the first Baptist young people's society of America. The Female Mite Society, started in Providence, II. I., in 1808, was the pioneer woman's Baptist missionary so- ciety. Other organizations of a character similar to these three pioneer societies quickly followed. At the meeting of the New York Baptist Associa- tion, in 1806, a missionary society was established, and in 1808 this society united with that in Massa- chusetts in the support of a mission to the Tusca- rora Indians. The Philadelphia Baptist Mission- ary Society was also formed in 1806, and missions were started by various Baptist Associations in South Carolina and Georgia without the formation of special societies. The first strictly foreign mis- sionary society of American Baptists was the Salem Bible Translation and Foreign Missionary Society, organized at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1812, for the purpose of aiding in the translation of the Bible then being made at Serampore, India, by William Carey and his companions, or, "if deemed feasible, to assist in sending a missionary or missionaries from this country to India." CHAPTER II FORMATION OF THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CON- VENTION SUCH were the people and such their condition when the call came for American Baptists to arise and enter independently into the work of preaching the gospel in distant lands and to un- known peoples. But if the circumstances of the people were unpromising, the nature of the call was so singular and so significant with divine meaning that it roused the scattered and separated Baptists of America as the trumpet peal of the archangel calling: the dead to life. In 1810 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions had been formed in Boston, in response to the demand of a few students in An- dover Theological Seminary that they be sent on a mission to the heathen. It was the first independ- ent American movement in foreign missions. After a preliminary, but providentially unsuccessful, at- tempt to become auxiliary to the London Missionary Society, nine missionaries had sailed from America for India, in the month of February, 1812, under the auspices of the American Board, to inaugurate the enterprise of American foreign missions. Adoniram 9 10 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Judson and Ann Hasseltine, his wife, and Samuel Xewell and Harriet, his wife, sailed from Salem, Mass., on the nineteenth, while on the twenty-fourth Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott, with their wives, and Luther Rice, sailed from Philadelphia. The facil- ities for rapid transit known to more modern times were lacking, and the long voyage of four to six months to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope afforded ample time for study and serious reflection upon the new and daring enterprise on which they had entered. The thoughts of two of the young men turned in the same direction. Judson on the " Caravan/' and Rice on the " Harmony," remem- bered that they would be called upon to lead the converts, whom by the favor of God they hoped to win, into knowledge of the principles of Christianity, and if churches should be gathered, to see that they were established on correct foundations. They ac- cordingly addressed themselves to more careful study of the true source of knowledge in these matters, the word of God. It is related of Judson, that during his course of study at Andover Theological Seminary, in a dis- cussion concerning baptism, the professor had ap- pointed him to present the views of the Baptists. He entered into the discussion with such zeal for victory that he convinced himself of the truth of the Baptist position. But the astute professor immediately as- signed to him the duty of answering his own argu- ments, and his intense and ardent nature engaged FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION ] 1 in the task with such enthusiasm that he speedily reconverted himself to Pedobaptist views. Appar- ently, however, this experience had left an impres- sion on his mind, and soon after reaching- Calcutta, Judson, not now in polemic controversy, but as a re- sult of sincere study of the New Testament, adopted fully the views of Baptists as to the church and its ordinances. Mrs. Judson, at first greatly distressed at the change in her husband's views, soon as a re- sult of her independent studies, became one with her husband in this matter, and they were baptized in Calcutta by Rev. William Ward, September 6, 1812. Later their hearts were cheered and strengthened by learning that Luther Rice, pursuing the same studies on the other vessel, had also become a Baptist. Mr. Rice was baptized in Calcutta, November 1, 1812. Baptists engaged in the missions of other bodies are not now unknown, but in the state of denomina- tional feeling existing in America in 1812 such a thing was impossible. Mr. Judson therefore wrote at once to the American Board resigning his connec- tion, and at the same time to Thomas Baldwin, d. d., pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Boston, in- quiring if the Baptists of America would form a society for foreign missions, and offering himself as its first missionary. It was also arranged that Mr. Rice should return to America to interest the Bap- tists in the new Baptist missionaries in India. On the receipt of Mr. Judson's letter to Doctor Baldwin, in the spring of 1813, a society was at once formed 12 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS in his home in Boston called, " The Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel in India and other For- eign Parts/' which assumed the support of Mr. and Mrs. Judson. Under the influence of Mr. Rice's stirring appeals the Baptist Missionary Society of Virginia was formed at Richmond, October 28, 1813. A similar society was formed in Philadel- phia, December 1, and the Savannah Baptist So- ciety for Foreign Missions was organized December 17, 1813. The Baptist Foreign Missionary So- ciety of New York was formed February 21, 1814, another in Baltimore at about the same time, and others in various parts of the country in rapid suc- cession. In 1814 the principal centers of Baptist influence in America were in Boston, in Rhode Island, in Philadelphia, and Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, but until the rise of the foreign mission movement they had no common bond of interest. In all these centers, except at Rhode Island, the Baptists' were overshadow-ed by other bodies which antedated them in time and exceeded them in num- bers. There was no general Baptist society, but one Baptist educational institution, now Brown Univer- sity, and no Baptist periodicals except the " Baptist Missionary Magazine," already mentioned, which was coming to have a wide circulation. It is a striking fact that the influence which called the Baptists of America from their lowly, unorganized condition, united and consolidated their strength, FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 13 encouraged them to more vigorous efforts at home as well as abroad, and started them on the career which has given them power and standing among the foremost religious denominations of America, was the call to engage in foreign missions. The first suggestion for a general movement ap- pears to have been made at the meeting of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, in 1813, when it was decided to form a foreign missionary society, and a general meeting of delegates from all Baptist missionary societies was suggested for the purpose of forming a general committee. As a result of this suggestion there assembled in Philadelphia in the following May the most representative and the most notable gathering of the Baptists of America which up to that time had ever been brought together. The meeting was composed of twenty-six clergy- men and seven laymen, from eleven diiferent States and from the District of Columbia, most of whom now for the first time looked upon each other's faces. Their names were : Thomas Baldwin, d. d., Rev. Lucius Bolles, A. m., of Massachusetts ; Rev. Stephen Gano, A. M., of Rhode Island ; Rev. John Williams, Mr. Thomas Hewitt, Mr. Edward Probvn, Mr. Na- thanael Smith, of New York ; Burgiss Allison, p. p.. Rev. Richard Proudfoot, Rev. Josiah Stratton, Rev. William Boswell, Rev. Henry Smalley, a. m., Mr. Mathew Randall, Mr. John Sisty, Mr. Stephen Us- tick, of New Jersey ; William Rogers, P. p., Henry Holcombe, P. p., William Staughton, p. P., Rev. 14 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS William White, a. m., Rev. John P. Peckworth, Rev. Horatio G. Jones, Rev. Silas Hough, Rev. Joseph Mathias, of Pennsylvania ; Rev. Daniel Dodge, of Delaware ; Rev. Lewis Richards, Rev. Thomas Brooke, of Maryland ; Rev. Luther Rice, a. m., Dis- trict of Columbia ; Rev. Robert B. Scrapie, Rev. Jacob Grigg, of Virginia ; Rev. James A. Ranald- son, of North Carolina ; Richard Furman, d. d., Hon. Mathias B. Tallmadge, of South Carolina ; and Rev. W. B. Johnson, of Georgia. Rev. Dr. Furman, of South Carolina, was chosen president, and Rev. Dr. Baldwin, of Massachusetts, secretary, and the following constitution was finally adopted, after full discussion : We, the delegates from missionary societies and other religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, in various parts of the United States, met in convention, in the city of Philadelphia, for the purpose of carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of our constituents by organ- izing a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort for sending the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen and to nations destitute of pure gospel light, do agree to the following rules as fundamental principles, viz : 1. That this body shall be styled "The General Mis- sionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions." 2. That a triennial convention shall, hereafter, be held, consisting of delegates, not exceeding two in num- ber, from each of the several missionary societies, and other religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, now existing, or which may hereafter be formed in the FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 15 United States, and which shall each regularly contribute to the general missionary fund a sum amounting at least to one hundred dollars per annum. 3. That for the necessary transaction and dispatch of business, during the recess of said Convention, there shall be a Board of twenty-one commissioners, who shall be members of the said societies, churches, or other re- ligious bodies aforesaid, triennially appointed by the said Convention, by ballot, to be called the "Baptist Board of Foreign Missions for the United States," seven of whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of all busi- ness, and which Board shall continue in office until suc- cessors be duly appointed, and shall have power to make and adopt by-laws for the government of the said Board, and for the furtherance of the general objects of the in- stitution. 4. That it shall be the duty of this Board to employ missionaries, and, if necessary, to take measures for the improvement of their qualifications ; to fix on the field of their labors, and the compensation to be allowed them for their services ; to superintend their conduct, and dismiss them, should their services be disapproved ; to publish accounts, from time to time, of the Board's transactions, and an annual address to the public ; to call a special meeting of the Convention on any extraor- dinary occasion, and, in general, to conduct the execu- tive part of the missionary concern. 5. That such persons only as are in full communion with some regular church of our denomination, and who fur- nish satisfactory evidence of genuine piety, good talents, and fervent zeal for the Redeemer's cause, are to be em- ployed as missionaries. 6. That the Board shall choose, by ballot, one presi- dent, two vice-presidents, a treasurer, a corresponding and a recording secretary. 16 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 7. That the president, or in case of his absence or dis- ability, the senior vice-president present, shall preside in all meetings of the Board, and when application shall be made in writing by any two of its members, shall call a special meeting of the Board, giving due notice thereof. 8. That the treasurer shall receive and faithfully ac- count for all the moneys paid into the treasury, keep a regular account of receipts and disbursements, make a report thereof to the said Convention, whenever it shall be in session, and to the Board of Missions annually, and as often as by them required. He shall also, before he enters on the duties of his office, give competent secu- rity, to be approved by the Board, for the stock and funds that may be committed to his care. 9. That the corresponding secretary shall maintain intercourse by letter with such individuals, societies, or public bodies, as the interests of the institution may re- quire. Copies of all the communications made by the particular direction of the Convention or Board shall be by him handed to the recording secretary, for record and safe keeping. 10. That the recording secretary shall, rx-officio, be the secretary of the Convention, unless some other be by them appointed in his stead. He shall attend all the meetings of the Board, and keep a fair record of all their proceedings, and of the transactions of the Con- vention. 11. That in case of the death, resignation, or disability of any of its officers or members, the Board shall have power to fill such vacancy. 12. That the said Convention shall have power, and in the interval of their meeting, the Board of Commis- sioners, on the recommendation of any one of the con- stituent bodies belonging to the Convention, shall also FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 17 have power, to elect honorary members of piety and dis- tinguished liberality, who, on their election, shall be en- titled to a seat, and to take part in the debates of the Convention ; but it shall be understood that the rigbt of voting shall be confined to the delegates. 13. That in case any of the constituent bodies shall be unable to send representatives to the said Convention, they shall be permitted to vote by proxy, which proxy shall be appointed by writing. 14. That any alterations which experience may dic- tate from time to time, may be made in these articles at the regular meeting of the Convention, by two-thirds of the members present. At the meeting of the Board immediately after the adjournment of the Convention, Mr. and Mrs. Judson were appointed its first missionaries, and the Board pledged itself to their support in mission work in India. Luther Rice was also appointed a missionary, hut instructed to continue his services in arousing the churches of this country to greater interest in the work of foreign missions. William Staughton, D. d., of Philadelphia, was appointed the first corresponding secretary of the Board, the head- quarters of which were to be in Philadelphia, and Mr. John Cauldwell, of New York, was named as the first treasurer. As communication between dif- ferent parts of the country was slow and difficult, it was arranged that the Convention should meet only once in three years, whence arose the common name by which the Society was known in its earlier years, " The Triennial Convention." 18 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Thus was inaugurated the movement which made the scattered and separate Baptists of America a de- nomination. The feeling among them regarding this Convention is indicated by the words of the editor of the "Baptist Missionary Magazine," in introducing his account of the meeting in Philadelphia : Perhaps no event has ever taken place among the Baptist denomination in America, which has excited more lively interest than the late missionary Convention held in the city of Philadelphia. It was indeed a sight no less novel than interesting, to behold brethren who had hitherto been unknown to each other by face, col- lecting from North to South, from nearly all the States from Massachusetts to Georgia (a distance of more than one thousand miles), for the important purpose of form- ing a General Convention, in order to concentrate the en- ergies and direct the efforts of the whole denomination throughout the United States in sending the gospel to the heathen. This high resolve of the Baptists of this country to engage in the enterprise of foreign missions was further exalted by the condition of the country at that time. War with England was still dragging on its tedious and exhausting course. Although many splendid victories had been won by the navy of the Americans on the sea and on the great lakes, the British were far from embarrassed by their reverses and the army of the United States had made little headway against the land force of the enemy. By her conflict with Napoleon, England had been for a time hampered in the prosecution of the war with FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTIOK L9 America ; but the victories of Wellington made it evident that his forces would soon be released, as they were, and Great Britain be able to turn her full energies upon the struggling American republic. Although the Embargo Act was repealed in April, 18 14, the peace party in New England continued vigorous and aggressive. By demanding payment of every note of the banks in the Middle and Southern States, and by introducing English bills in large quantities and at low rates, these portions of the country were drained of their financial re- sources, while British fleets harassed the Southern coasts and showed the disposition of the enemy to prosecute the war with increasing and relentless vigor. Undaunted by these unpropitious circumstances American Baptists launched the bark of their for- eign mission enterprise with cheerful courage, trust- ing the Lord, who had led them into the task by such a signal exhibition of his providence, to prosper and bless the work in behalf of the kingdom of his Son. CHAPTER HI BEGINNINGS IN BURMA TIDINGS of the action of American Baptists for their support did not reach the lonely mission- aries in India until more than a year after the for- mation of the missionary Convention. Driven from Calcutta by the hostility of the English East India Company, the Judsons fled to the Isle of France (Mauritius) ; then, determined not to abandon India, they went back to Madras. At last, in instant fear of being forcibly returned to England, they em- barked on an unseaworthy brig, the " Georgiana," which bore them, amid many perils, to Rangoon, in the then native empire of Burma, where they landed July 13, 1813, almost the only white per- sons among that savage and barbarous people. Here, for more than two years, in loneliness and peril, they lived and labored without companions of their own race. On September 5, 1815, however, came the joyful news that American Baptists had rallied to their support and a fully organized mis- sionary convention had adopted them as its mission- aries and had pledged the funds needed for the con- tinuance of the work upon which they had entered at so much personal sacrifice and peril. 20 BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 21 On their arrival at Rangoon, the Judsons found a house occupied by the wife of Felix Carey, who was partly of native blood, and here they made their first home in Burma. This eldest son of William Carey was one of the company sent to Burma by his father in an attempt to establish a mission in that country. At the time of the arrival of the Judsons, the English mission had been prac- tically abandoned, as Carey, the only remaining missionary, had entered the service of the Burman government, in which he remained. This is the son of whom his eminent and devoted father wrote to Doctor Ryland, "Felix is shriveled from a mis- sionary to an ambassador." In the interval be- tween their arrival in Burma and the opening of communication with the American Baptist Conven- tion, the Judsons were sustained by the Baptist mission at Serampore, which made monthly grants for their support, and they were recognized for a time as members of the English Baptist mission. In 1813, Burma furnished a typical example of savage and cruel Oriental governments and peoples. The will of the king was the only and the absolute law. Every officer was a despot in his sphere and the slave of his superiors. The people, in person and property, were subject to the will and the caprice of the officers of the king. By his medical skill, Felix Carey had secured the favor of the viceroy at Rangoon and obtained from the king permission that the Bible might be translated into 22 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS the Burman language. Under these partially favor- able conditions the new missionaries began their labors, and Mr. Jndson applied himself to the study of the language with all his native intensity of application and great mental powers. His aids were few. Dr. Felix Carey had made some begin- nings of literary work, but, for the most part, Mr. Jndson was compelled to prepare his own dictionary and grammar as he went on with his study, gather- ing and comparing words and idioms day by day with that care and accuracy which made his trans- lation of the Bnrman Bible one of the notable bibli- cal versions of all times and tongues. While exposed to much peril from the lawless character of the people and from the location of their house without the limits of the city, the life of the Judsons was by no means so unhappy or unfa- vorable for mission work as they had expected from their previous impressions of Burma. In addition to the conciliatory attitude of the viceroy of Ran- goon, won by the medical skill of Carey, Mr. Jnd- son had now gained his personal favor and protec- tion for himself. Of his pleasant impressions of Burma he wrote to Dr. William Carey on September 28, 1814: This is a delightful climate. We have now seen all the seasons and can therefore judge. The hot weather in March and April is the chief exception. Nature has done everything for this country and the government is very indulgent to all foreigners. When we see how we BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 23 are distinguished above all around, even in point of worldly comforts, we feel that we want gratitude. Oh, that we may be faithful in the improvement of every mercy and patient under every trial which God may have in store for us ! We know not how the gospel can ever be introduced here ; everything in this respect ap- pears as dark as midnight. The work of preaching the gospel was necessarily held largely in abeyance until the language could be acquired, and this proved so difficult with the inadequate aids at his command, that Judson con- fessed that he gained a better knowledge of French in a few months than of Burman in three years. However, by diligent application he had translated the Gospel of Matthew by 1816, and prepared sev- eral tracts on phases of Christianity which seemed fitted to attract Burman minds and acquaint them with the fundamental principles of the gospel. On October 15 of this same year arrived the first reinforcements of the infant Baptist mission in Burma. Rev. George H. Hough and his wife, na- tives of New Hampshire, were the first to sail from America under the auspices of the Baptist Mission- ary Convention, which indicated its sense of the importance of the printed word by appointing a printer as the first to start for the mission field under its direction. The Serampore mission sup- plied him with a printing press and all appliances necessary to place the truth in the printed page before the Burman people. 24 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS The delay in giving the gospel to the people in oral form, caused by the difficulty in gaining a com- mand of Burman speech, led Mr. Judson to under- take a voyage to Chittagong, Arakan, to secure Christian converts to assist him, since the dialect used there was similar to that of the Burmans. He also hoped that his health, which had become some- what impaired, would receive benefit from the change. This journey, entered upon from such high motives, proved a source of untold anxiety and distress to the little mission circle in Rangoon. Mr. Judson had expected to be absent three months. At the end of that time the startling intelligence was received from Chittagong that neither he nor the vessel in which he sailed had reached that port. Imagine the dismay of Mrs. Judson and her com- panions, helpless amid their uncivilized surround- ings. In addition, a sad change had come to the circumstances of the mission. The friendly official was supplanted by one of entirely different charac- ter, who, by calling Mr. Hough before him and by threats, endeavored to extort bribes for toleration and protection. Still more ominous were the threat- enings of war between Burma and England. British merchants hastily closed their business and departed from Rangoon. Ship after ship sailed away until only one foreign vessel was left in Rangoon River. On this the Houghs determined to embark, and with much difficulty persuaded Mrs. Judson to accompany them. She went on board, but before the ship had BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 25 left the river, she heroically resolved to return and in the Rangoon home await the coming of her husband, or some certain news of his fate. The Houghs were compelled to return with her, as she could not be abandoned in the unsettled condition of the country.' In a week Mr. Judson arrived safe and well, having been driven from place to place by contrary winds and unable to reach his destination. Thus was the heroism of the devoted wife rewarded, and in this trial brightly shone forth the exalted traits of character which in after years have made immortal the name of Ann Hasseltine Judson. Disheartened by the eontinued and increasing perils, the Houghs soon sailed with all the printing- materials for Calcutta, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Judson again alone in Rangoon. Their lonely lot was soon cheered, however, by the arrival of Rev. James Colman and Rev. Edward W. Wheelock, of Boston, with their wives, who reached Rangoon in Septem- ber, 1818, after a tedious delay of several months in Calcutta, because of the infrecpiient and uncertain communication with Burma. For the help of the new missionaries, Mr. Judson began the preparation of his grammar, which was afterward published, and has remained a foundation for an accurate knowledge of the Burman language. Their joys were also heightened by the opening of a zayat for preaching the gospel, in April, 1819, the first house distinctively devoted to Christian worship in Burma, 26 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS the stronghold of Buddhism ; and on June 1 9, after six years of toil, privation, and peril, their hearts were gladdened by the baptism of the first Burman convert. This was Moung Nau, who was also, as far as history shows, the first convert from the big- oted beliefs of Buddhism to the truths of the religion of Jesus Christ. Two others were baptized on No- vember 7 of the same year, and the first Christian church, composed of the three converts and the little band of American missionaries, began to shed its rays of divine light amid the darkness of Buddhist Burma. As their previous life in Burma had been a suc- cession of pleasures and perils, so the new joys of the Judsons were destined to an early eclipse. Both Wheelock and Column began to show symptoms of fatal disease, and it became necessary for Mr. Whee- lock to sail for Calcutta in hope of recovery. On the voyage, in a frenzy of delirium, he threw him- self from his cabin window and was drowned in the bay of Bengal, the first of the long succession of American Baptists who have given their lives for the salvation of the people of Burma. The dawn- ing success of the mission aroused the hostility of the Buddhist priests and Burman officials. Threats were uttered against any who might be disposed to follow the new religion. The preaching zayat, which had often been crowded with hearers, was almost deserted, although located on one of the most frequented streets of the city. It became evi- BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 27 dent that the mission work would become increas- ingly difficult unless the favor of the despot at Ava could be secured, and Judson, with Colman, made the long journey to the capital in a small boat to seek an audience with the king. They were intro- duced by the friendly official, formerly viceroy of Rangoon ; but their petition was rejected, and they were compelled to return disappointed and almost crushed under a sense of the difficulties and dangers which threatened their beloved work. So strong was their feeling of the impossibility of success in Christian mission work in Burma without the toler- ance of the arrogant and powerful officials, that it was proposed to remove the whole mission to Chitta- gong. In this crisis the faith and courage for con- tinuance came from the few native converts, who argued that not even the powerful emperor could destroy the work of God, and entreated the mission- aries not to leave them. It was arranged that the Judsons should remain in Rangoon and Mr. and Mrs. Colman should go to Chittagong to open a mission, which should serve as a place of retreat in case the missionaries were compelled to leave Burma. Thus for a second time, so early in its history, did the Baptist mission in Burma narrowly escape aban- donment. The Colmans arrived in Chittagong June 5, 1820. Mr. Colman's health, never firm, soon succumbed to the climate, and he died at a place in the interior called Cox's Bazar, July 4, 1822. Mrs. Colman 28 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS labored for a time at Serampore as a teacher of children, and afterward married Rev. Amos Sutton, an English Baptist missionary in Orissa, thus be- coming a link in the chain which led to the found- ing of the great American Baptist mission to the Telugus. It was Mr. Sutton who, while on a visit to his wife's relatives in America, brought the needs of the Telugu people to the notice of the Missionary Convention at its meeting in Richmond, Va., in 1835. CHAPTER IV TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR rnilE second meeting of the General Missionary -L Convention, commonly known as "The Second Triennial Convention," was held in the Sansom Street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in May, 1817, and was an occasion of great interest. The foreign missionary movement had greatly grown. Dele- gates were present from twelve States, including Kentucky, it being the first time that Baptists west of the Allegheny Mountains had been represented. At this epochal meeting, which lasted a full week, five important measures were adopted, all of which are still in force and have had a profound influ- ence on the development of the Baptist denomina- tion in this country. (1) "The Baptist Missionary Magazine" w r as adopted as the organ of the Conven- tion. (2) A seminary for the training of young men for the ministry was authorized, an action which re- sulted in the founding of Columbian University, at Washington. (3) The churches were earnestly rec- ommended to observe the first Monday in every month as a concert of prayer for missions. These three measures were passed by the Convention. At the meeting of the Board of Managers, immediately 29 30 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS after, steps were taken (4) for opening missions among the American Indians, and (5) two mission- aries, Rev. John M. Peck and Rev. James E. Welch, were appointed to labor among the new settlements in the vicinity of St. Louis, in Missouri. This re- markable Convention thus inaugurated movements covering the whole ground of denominational jour- nalism, education, unity in church life and home missions, both among Indians and white people, ac- tions which speak loudly of the piety, breadth, courage, and mental calibre of the leading minds among those present. The annual income of the Convention, which at first had been estimated at five thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars, had advanced to twenty-six thousand and fifty-two dol- lars and one cent. The measures thus adopted were carried steadily forward until the Fifth Triennial Convention, which was held in the Oliver Street Church, in New York City, in May, 1826. This meeting, lasting twelve days, marked a turning-point in the history of the Convention. Columbian University, which had be- come well established, was placed under a separate Board of trustees for better legal and internal ad- ministration, and the headquarters of the Conven- tion were removed from Philadelphia to Boston, where they have since remained. This latter action was taken for two reasons : first, because passages to India could then be more easily arranged from Boston, but more especially because the funds of the TO THE END OF THE FIRST lil'RMAN WAR 31 Convention were running low, and the Baptists of New England came forward and became responsible for the entire support of the missions. Because of this removal, Doctor Staughton resigned as corres- ponding secretary of the Convention, and Lucius Bolles, D. D., who had been chosen assistant in 1824, became sole secretary in 1826. In this same year, and just before the meeting of the Convention, the Baptist General Tract Society, formed in Washing- ton, in 1824, now known as the American Baptist Publication Society, had been removed to the city of Philadelphia, an action which was destined to exercise a profound influence on Baptist missionary work at home and abroad. As the year 1814 had marked the union of the Baptists of the United States in a common society and work, so the year 1826 signalized the beginning of that division of labor among organizations supported by the same constituency for the more efficient prosecution of diverse lines of denominational activity, which was continued by the founding of the American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1832, and later by other organizations for local and special purposes and aims. For the benefit of her health Mrs. Judson had been compelled to visit Serampore, in 1820, and in August, 1821, sailed for America, leaving Doctor Judson alone in Burma until the arrival in December of Rev. Jonathan Price, M. D., who had been sent out by the Convention. The following month Mr. 32 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Hough returned to Rangoon from Serampore, bring- ing back the printing press, the loss of which hud been a serious hindrance to the work of the mission, which now went on with renewed vigor. Within a few months reports of the medical skill of Doctor Price reached the king at Ava, and he was sum- moned to the capital. Although reluctant to leave his work, Doctor Judson was compelled t<> go with him as interpreter. They left Rangoon August 28, 1822, and were well received by the king, who de- sired them to remain in Ava, and caused a house to be given them. After much thought it seemed best to take advantage of this very favorable opportunity to open a mission in the capital of Burma, and Doc- tor Judson went to Rangoon to meet Mrs. Judson, who arrived there December 5, 1823, on her return from America, with Rev. Jonathan Wade and his wife. Mrs. J ud son's presence in the United States had aroused great interest, and she was urged to remain longer. But although her health was not fully restored, she decided, against the entreaties of her friends, to return to her husband and her work, a decision which in the providence of God led to the preservation of the life and the securing to the world of the later labors of the pioneer of Baptist foreign missions. At this time the whole New Testament had been translated into the Burman tongue, and a church of eighteen members gathered in Rangoon. This promising work the Judsons left to the care of Mr. TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 33 Hough and Mr. Wade, and went to Ava with re- joicing hearts in view of the bright openings and prospects before the mission in Burma. Their ardent hopes were destined to be rudely shattered. Already the ominous whisper of threatening war was in the air. Rangoon was bombarded by the English forces and captured May 23, 1824. Dur- ing the attack Messrs. Hough and Wade were ar- rested and threatened with' death by the Burmans, and their unprotected wives exposed to great peril. By the good hand of the Lord they were delivered and set free by the English on the capture of the city. But the Burmans had fled. Rangoon was in ruins. All hopes of useful missionary work was destroyed, and Messrs. Wade and Hough, with their wives, removed to Calcutta, where they remained during the war, known in English history as the First Burman War. Having a copy of Mr. Judson's translation with him at Serampore, Mr. Hough printed five hundred copies of the Gospel of Matthew in the Burman language, and Mr. Wade supervised the publication of Judson's Burman dictionary issued at the expense of the British government. Mr. Judson and Doctor Price, at Ava, were ar- rested by the Burmans on June 8, 1824, simply be- cause they were foreigners, and supposed to be in sympathy with the English, and for more than a year and a half they were in prison at Ava, Amara- pura, or Oungpenla (now spelled Aungbinle) under the most cruel tortures of bodv and mind which it 34 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS is possible for the human constitution to survive. The Burmans gave no food to their prisoners, who were entirely dependent upon their friends or the kindness of strangers for subsistence. That Mr. Judson did not die of starvation in prison, that he survived the severe sufferings of his long imprison- ment, was entirely due to the heroism of Mrs. Jud- son, who bought supplies as long as she had money, and then begged from house to house in order to obtain the food necessary to sustain her husband as well as herself. No words could describe the agony of those long months, both to the prisoner and to his feeble but heroic wife. Mrs. Judson writes : " Of our sufferings and distresses none can form an idea but those who were in confinement with us. You will hardly believe when I say that so entirely occupied were our minds with afflictions and seek- ing means for deliverance, that months have elapsed without thinking of home or those dear friends on whom our thoughts have been so constantly fixed." Doctor Judson wrote : " We survive a scene of suf- fering which seems not a reality, but a horrid dream." At one time Mrs. Judson's house was plundered by the natives and nearly everything of value which she possessed was taken from her. Twice during the nineteen fearful months of Doctor Judson's im- prisonment at Ava and Aungbinle she was brought to the gates of death, once on the birth of little Maria, that child of sorrow, and a second time with TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 35 the terrible spotted fever. During this last sickness the life of little Maria was preserved by the sad- hearted father, who obtained a short daily release from his prison, and in his chains bore his little daughter from house to house, begging that she might be fed by the Burman mothers. Even heathen hearts could not refuse such a pitiful re- quest. Amid all the gloom and terror of these terrible months two comforts supported Mrs. Jud- son during her sufferings and suspense. A faithful Burman Christian, Moung Ing, with great devotion, stayed unflinchingly by her side. She also found friends among the women of Moung Shawloo's family. Shawloo was governor of the north palace, and it was through him that the release of Doctor Judson was at last obtained. With what joy did the heroic Avife hail the day of deliverance, when with her husband and child they were set free by the Burman authorities and sailed away to safety. But like other heroines in other times the tremen- dous strain was too great for the frail strength of Mrs. Judson, and only six months after their release the heroine of Ava was laid to rest beneath the Hopia tree at Amherst. The closing scenes of her life were most pathetic. After reaching Amherst, Doc- tor Judson was called to the British headquarters to act as interpreter to the embassy charged with ne- gotiating a treaty of peace. During his absence Mrs. Judson died alone, October 24, 1826, with only natives to care for her in her last moments. 36 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS So passed away one of the genuine heroines of earth. She gave her life for others, following in the footsteps of her Lord. To the noble army of Christian women, who have offered themselves as a sacrifice for the salvation of the heathen, she has been an example and an inspiration. She was the first woman to enter upon Christian labors in a purely heathen kingdom in the East, and was the heroic pioneer of those who have followed her as she followed the Lord Jesus Christ. May the church never lack those ready with the same heroic courage to surrender all, even life itself, when duty calls to service for others and sacrifice for. Christ. At the close of the war the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim were ceded to the English, and Amherst was selected as headquarters of the English in Burma. Hither the Judsons removed, reaching that place July 2, 1826, the Wades coming Novem- ber 23, a month after the death of Mrs. Judson. Mr. Hough and Doctor Price both retired from the mission, the former becoming an interpreter and teacher, and the latter entering the service of the Burman king at Ava. During the long captivity of Judson the manuscript of the Burman Bible, as far as translated, was preserved by an evident mani- festation of divine care. It was concealed from the suspicious Burmans by being sewed into a pillow. At one time during Doctor Judson's confinement this was taken from him and thrown upon a heap of refuse as entirely worthless. Here it was provi- TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 37 dentially seen by Moung Ing, who, since all the other possessions of the Judsons had been destroyed or stolen, took this old pillow simply as a memento, not knowing its value. Later the precious manuscript was discovered and taken with the liberated prison- ers within the British lines. By this remarkable exhibition of the care of the Lord, Judson was en- abled to resume his work of translation at the point where it had ended before the war began, and to give the Burman people the whole Bible in their own language in a version so accurate and idiomatic that comparatively little revision has ever been called for. CHAPTER V GROWTH AND EXPANSION WHILE the mission in Burma naturally en- gaged much of the attention of American Baptists, their missionary activity was by no means limited to this one field. The missions among vari- ous tribes of American Indians, founded before the organization of the General Convention, were con- tinued, usually under the auspices of local societies. But in 1817 the Board of the Convention appointed Rev. Isaac McCoy to labor among the Indians of vari- ous tribes in Indiana and Illinois. Later Rev. Evan Jones and others were sent to the Cherokees in North Carolina. Other Baptist missionaries labored among various tribes in the East, and several of these mis- sionaries accompanied the Indians in their cruel and unjust removal by the United States Government from their homes to the new territories allotted to them in the West. Many of these Indians had be- come Christianized and comparatively civilized and had accumulated property in their Eastern homes, and the forcible rending of the ties which bound them to their ancestral lands was one of those wholesale crimes which stain the pages of history, like the ex- pulsion of the Moors and of the Jews from Spain, 38 GKOWTH AND EXPANSION 39 the Acadians from Nova Scotia, and the Jews from Russia. From lack of materials its harrowing his- tory can never be fully written and it yet awaits its Longfellow to bring its shameful features to the hearts of the American people. The tribes which enjoyed the labors of Baptist missionaries were the Miami, Kickapoo, Putawato- mie, Shawanoe, Cherokee, Creek, Oneida and Tus- carora, Ottawa, Choctaw, Ojibwa, Chippewa, Otoe, Omaha, Delaware, and Stockbridge. The work was greatly broken by the removal of many of these tribes to the West, by which they Mere reduced to poverty and largely lapsed into barbarism. Yet missionary work was still continued with several tribes, notably the Cherokee and the Shawanoe, and nearly two thousand converts were baptized. With the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, the mission work among the Indians, which had been carried on with diminished force for several years, practi- cally ceased. In 1865 it was formally transferred from the foreign Board to the American Baptist Home Mission Society, whose successful work among the Indians in later years is a part of the history of Baptists in the United States. Africa also early claimed the missionary attention of American Baptists. Inspired probably by the rise of interest in missions among the whites, the Negro Baptists in 1814 organized the "African Baptist Missionary Society," in Richmond, Va., for the purpose of sending missionaries to Africa. Be- 40 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS cause of poverty, funds came in slowly, but in 1818 they had gathered the sum of seven hundred dollars. Under these circumstances the General Convention came to their aid, and at the meeting of the Board of Managers held in Baltimore, April 28, 1810, two men selected by the Richmond Society, Colin Teague and Lott Carey, both of whom were free men and preachers, were appointed as missionaries to Africa. They sailed in January, 1820, in the brig "Nautilus," from Norfolk, Virginia, and settled first near Free Town, Sierra Leone. The mission- aries were connected with a colony sent out by the American Colonization Society, which afterward permanently located at a place called Montserado, the name of which was soon changed to Monrovia, and for the country the name of Liberia was adopted. Mr. Teague soon left the mission, and Mr. Carey was joined by Rev. C. M. Waring, also from Vir- ginia. A Baptist church was formed in 1824, a school was opened by Mr. Carey, and nine persons were baptized in that year. Mr. Calvin. Holton, a graduate of Waterville College and the first white man to be sent to Africa by American Baptists, joined the mission at Monrovia in 1826. A deep interest in the Christianization of Africa was shown by Baptists in this country. Five missionaries were sent out in the decade between 1830 and 1840. But the climate of Liberia proved unfavorable to the residence of missionaries from America and only a few have gone forth since the latter date. GROWTH AND EXPANSION 41 Prosperity attended the labors of the missionaries, however, and the work extended from Monrovia to other parts of Liberia, especially to Grand Cape Mount and to Grand Bassa. With the growth of Liberia, the Baptist churches have been greatly strengthened by colonies from the United States, and have attained an enrollment of more than three thousand members. Aid from this country was gradually withdrawn and wholly ceased previous to 1880, and the Liberian churches have continued in a course of moderate prosperity on the basis of self- support. Within a few years some assistance on educational lines has been afforded by the Negro Baptists of the South, and there were in 1900 some indications of a revival of interest in missionary work in Liberia among American Baptists. The four years from 1833 to 1837 form a nota- ble period in the history of American Baptist mis- sions. Previous to 1833 the rising tide of mission- ary zeal among American Baptists had expended its force almost wholly in Burma, in Liberia, among the American Indians, and in the more sparsely set- tled regions of the United States. But now the swelling flood began to overleap the barriers and flow forth to other lands in accordance with the divinely given impulse of obedience to the Saviour's last command, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." In that year the mission in Burma having occupied the three impor- tant centers of Rangoon, Moulmein, and Tavoy, 42 AMEEICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS with outlying laborers at Mergui, Amherst, Kyouk Phyu in Arakan, and several minor points, the mis- sionaries commissioned Rev. John Taylor Jones of their own number to open a mission in Bangkok, Siam, where he was joined in 1835 by Rev. William Dean. In 1833 was also founded the Baptist Mis- sion in France on the recommendation of Professor Irah Chase, of Newton Theological Institution, who with Rev. J. C. Rostan, had been sent as a deputa- tion to report on the advisability of opening a Baptist mission in that country. Rev. Isaac Will- marth was sent by the General Missionary Conven- tion to this field in 1834, and was followed by Rev. Erastus Willard and others. On April 22, 1834, Johann G. Oncken and six others were baptized in the river Elbe, near Hamburg, Germany, by Pro- fessor Barnas Sears, and thus was begun that great German Baptist Mission which has spread all over Central Europe and to which the Baptist missions iu Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia owe their inspiration and their birth. In 1834 also, a mission in Hayti was begun by the appointment of Mr. William C. Monroe as a missionary to labor in that part of the West Indies, but this was discon- tinued in 1837 with the retirement of Mr. Monroe from the work. At the eighth triennial meeting of the General Missionary Convention held in the city of Richmond, Va., in 1835, the missionary enthusiasm of Ameri- can Baptists reached a higher point than had before GROWTH AND EXPANSION 43 been attained. By the liberal contributions of the denomination all the expenses of the missions and their administration had been fully met, and a grati- fying surplus was in the treasury. The state of the missionary movement among the churches was such that enlargement was felt to be imperative in order to allow full scope for the growing zeal for the ex- tension of the kingdom of the Redeemer. Two cor- responding secretaries were chosen, instead of one as heretofore ; the services of the treasurer, which had been gratuitious up to this time, had become so arduous and important that arrangements were made that he should receive suitable compensation ; it Avas resolved to " endeavor, by the blessing of God, to raise during the coining year at least one hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of sending the gospel to the heathen," and the following general instruction to the Board of Managers was passed " after animating remarks by different brethren." Resolved, That this Convention, feeling deeply the duty of the American Baptists to engage in far more enlarged and vigorous efforts for the conversion of the whole world, instruct the Board to establish new missions in every un- occupied place where there may be a reasonable prospect of success ; and to employ in some part of the great field, every properly qualified missionary whose services the Board may be able to obtain. The immediate establishment of a mission among the Telinga, or Telugu, people of India, was also rec- ommended by a special committee appointed to con- 44 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS sider the subject as presented in an address before the Convention by Rev. Amos Sutton of the English Baptist Mission in Orissa, India. Mr. Sutton, as already stated, had married in India, the widow of Rev. James Column, one of the early martyrs of the American Baptist Missions in Arakan, and was at this time visiting her relatives. In this providential way was brought to the attention of American Bap- tists the Telugu mission field, which has witnessed the most inspiring triumphs of the gospel, and which, with the Karen mission, has made the name of American Baptists illustrious in the missionary annals of the world. The first result of this great Convention was the appointment of Rev. Howard Malcom as a deputa- tion to visit the mission fields in Asia. He sailed from Boston in September, 1835, with a large com- pany of missionaries, among whom were Rev. Elisha L. Abbott and Rev. Samuel S. Day, designated to open a mission among the Telingas as the people were then called, or Telngus, as they are now known. Before arrival in India it was decided by Mr. Mal- com and the missionary company that Mr. Abbott should go to the Karen mission in Burma, which he did, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Day to open the Baptist mission among the Telngus. They landed first at Vizagapatam, after a time removed to Madras, and in 1840 located at Nellore, which for twenty-six years continued the only station in the Telugu mis- sion — the " Lone Star." GROWTH AND EXPANSION 45 A second result of the action of the Convention at Richmond was the opening of the mission in Greece. Its headquarters were first established at Corfu, but gradually other points were occupied. Although the gospel found ready listeners among the Greeks, there has never been any large number who were impelled to leave the national church. The Greek mission was carried on for a long series of years, often amid persecutions and usually in the face of obstacles and indifference, until the work was finally discontinued in 1886. Inspired also by the glowing zeal of the mission- ary spirit among American Baptists at this period, Rev. Nathan Brown, of the mission in Burma, with Mr. O. T. Cutter, a printer, responded to the invita- tion of an English official in Assam, and opened mission work at Sadiya in the extreme northeastern part of that province of India, in the year 1836. The missionaries had become acquainted with a race of people called Shans, occupying the hills of north- eastern Burma, and learning that this race or tribe extended over the mountains into Assam, where they are called Khamti, the mission in Assam was begun under the name " mission to the Shans," and also with the idea of ultimately effecting an entrance to the western provinces of China, a plan which was formally endorsed and encouraged by the Board of Managers of the Convention. "While these stirring advances were being made in the missionary work abroad, events of great interest 46 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS and importance were occurring at home. At the same Convention held at Richmond at which the establishment of the Telugu mission was authorized, the following resolution in regard to the Bible work was adopted : Resolved, That the generous donations which have re- peatedly been made to the funds of the Convention by the American Bible Society, the American Tract Society, and the Baptist General Tract Society, are regarded by this body as a delightful indication of that increasing spirit of Christian union and fraternal co-operation which is the promised precursor of Messiah's promised reign. The translating and giving to the peoples on the mission fields the word of God had always been considered an object of the highest importance by American Baptists. Large sums had been expended by them out of the general contributions to the Con- vention, in addition to the amounts received from various Bible Societies, chiefly those noted in the above resolution. The harmonious and delightful course of affairs referred to in this resolution was however destined to a speedy and rude disturbance. Versions made by the Baptist missionaries had always been pre- pared on the principle of giving to people of every language the exact meaning of the Bible in the original, by translation. This had aroused a protest on the part of Pedobaptist missionaries in India, which had led to a refusal on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society to further assist in the GROWTH AND EXPANSION 47 printing of the Bengali translation of the Bible made by the English Baptist missionaries. The same pro- test was forwarded to the American Bible Society, and after prolonged consideration and discussion that society adopted a resolution that they would aid only such versions as conformed in the principle of their translation to the Common English version. This made it impossible for the society to continue its appropriations for the versions made by Judson and other Baptist missionaries in India, and led to the separation of the Baptists from the American Bible Society. At the meeting of the Board of Managers of the General Convention, held in Hart- ford, in 1836, a special committee was appointed on this subject, which presented the following report : The committee, to whom was referred the communi- cation from the Board of Managers of the American Bil>le Society, unanimously report : That these communications present two subjects, for the decision of the Board : 1. Mr. Brigham, in his letter dated March 25, 1836, states that on the 17th inst., at a meeting of the mana- gers, the sum of five thousand dollars was appropriated to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, to promote the circulation of the Scriptures in foreign tongues. This appropriation, however, was made in accordance with certain resolutions of the Board of Managers, adopted Feb. 17, 1836, one of which resolutions declares, " That in appropriating money for the translating, print- ing, or distributing of the sacred Scriptures in foreign languages, the managers feel at liberty to encourage only such versions as conform in the principles of their transla- 48 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS tion to the Common English version, at least so far as that all the religious denominations represented in the society can consistently use and circulate said versions in their several schools and communities." Another resolution declares, "That the several Missionary Boards he in- formed that their applications for aid must he accom- panied with a declaration that the versions which they propose to circulate are executed in accordance with the above resolutions." The committee recommend to the Board the adoption of the following preamble and resolution : Whereas, This Board, at their annual meeting, held in Salem, in April, 1833, adopted the following resolu- tions : Resolved, That the Board feel it to be their duty to adopt all prudent measures to give to the heathen the pure word of God in their own languages, and to furnish their missionaries with all the means in their power to make the translations as exact a representation of the mind of the Holy Spirit as may be possible. Resolved, That all the missionaries of the Board, who are, or who shall be, engaged in translating the Scrip- tures, be instructed to endeavor, by earnest prayer ami diligent study, to ascertain the exact meaning of the original text ; to express that meaning, as exactly as the nature of the languages into which they shall translate the Bible will permit ; and to transfer no words which are capable of being literally translated. And Whereas, The Board still adheres firmly to these resolutions, as expressing, in their judgment, the only true principle on which translations can be made; and as uttering what they believe to be the decided opinion of the great mass of the denomination whom they repre- sent : Therefore, Resolved, That the Board of Managers of the American GROWTH AND EXPANSION -ii) Bible Society be respectfully informed that this Board cannot, consistently and conscientiously, comply with the conditions on which appropriations are now made, and cannot therefore accept the sum appropriated by the Board of Managers on the 17th of March, 1836. 2. Mr. Brigham further informs the secretary of the Board, that it is in contemplation to send Bi hie agents to several of the large missionary stations abroad, to take charge of the interests of the Bible cause so far as the American Bible Society is concerned. It is designed that the agent, in each case, be of the denomination to which the missionaries on the ground belong. Would it, Sir, be agreeable to your Board, to have such an agent sent to any of your stations? The committee recommend the adoption of the fol- lowing resolution : Resolved, That in the present state of things, the Board cannot perceive that the appointment of an agent of the American Bible Society, at any of their stations, would subserve any valuable purpose. The committee further recommend the adoption of the following preamble and resolution : Whereas, The Board have been impelled, by a con- scientious conviction of duty, to decline accepting the appropriation of funds made, on certain conditions, by the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society ; as the translation, printing, and distribution of the sacred Scriptures in the languages of the heathen are vitally connected with the glory of God and with the salvation of men ; and as the American Baptists enjoy great facili- ties for prosecuting this important work : Therefore, Resolved, That our brethren throughout the Union be most earnestly requested to adopt measures in their churches, Associations, missionary societies, or by any other suitable means, so to augment the funds of the 50 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Board, that the work of translating, printing, and dis- tributing the word of God, in heathen tongues, may be prosecuted with diligence and energy commensurate with the grandeur and surpassing importance of the enterprise. Under these circumstances there was formed in the city of New York, May 12, 1836, by a company of Baptists, the American and Foreign Bible Society, but its attempt to obtain incorporation in the Legis- lature of New York was defeated by the friends of the American Bible Society, and it could not obtain legal authority to act until the passage of the gen- eral Act for chartering societies, in 1848. How- ever, it received the support of American Baptists, and lame sums were raised and forwarded to the missions for the publication of versions made by Baptist missionaries, in the Burmau and other lan- guages. While insisting on full translation of the versions made abroad, the American and Foreign Bible Society refused to commit itself to an English version in which the terms referring to baptism were accurately translated. Hence on May 27, 1850, was formed in the city of New York, the American Bible Union, for the avowed purpose stated in its Constitution, " To procure and select the most faithful versions of the sacred Scriptures in all languages throughout the world." During the years of its existence the receipts of this society amounted to more than one million dollars, and " its versions influenced every GROWTH AND EXPANSION 51 translation by Protestants, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America." The purpose of the Bible Union in calling attention to the importance of full and accu- rate translation of the original Scriptures into all languages having been accomplished, it Mas practi- cally absorbed by the American and Foreign Bible Society before 1881. Various attempts were made to effect some modi- fication by which Baptists could again co-operate with the American Bible Society, but none were successful. In 1879 the Bible Society revised its by-laws and omitted the article which had driven Baptists from co-operation with that society in Bible work. It was for a time believed that this would enable the Baptists to return to affiliation with this society, and to test the attitude of the society toward translations made by Baptist missionaries, the Ex- ecutive Committee of the American Baptist Mission- ary Union, in October, 1880, made an application to the American Bible Society for a grant to aid in the circulation of Doctor Judson's Burman and Doctor Mason's Karen versions. The application was refused, which plainly showed that while there had been a change in language, the attitude of the American Bible Society was the same as before. By this act the whole question of Bible work by American Baptists was again opened, and a confer- ence called by various committees was held in Sara- toga, N. Y., May 22 and 23, 1883, at which the whole question was fully considered. This great 52 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Bible Convention was the largest and most repre- sentative delegated convention which had ever been held by American Baptists. After prolonged de- liberation the harmonious result of the Convention was that the foreign Bible work of the American Baptists should be committed to the American Baptist Missionary Union, and the home Bible work to the American Baptist Publication Society, and that the American and Foreign Bible Society and the Ameri- can Bible Union, should be merged into the Ameri- can Baptist Publication Society. 1 1 A full account of the Bible work of American Baptists will be found in " Bible Societies and the Baptists," by C. C. Bitting, d. d., published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1897. CHAPTER VI THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION AS early as 1840 a restlessness in the relations between the Northern and Southern Baptist churches on the subject of slavery was evident. This was seen in a circular issued by the Acting Board of the Convention, November 2, 1840, stating that the Board held itself aloof from the question of slavery as not coming within the scope of its opera- tions. In 1842 a missive was addressed to all the missionaries of the Convention, by a body calling itself "The Provisional Foreign Mission Committee of the American Baptist Anti-slavery Convention," charging the Board of Managers of the Convention with yielding its neutrality in the matter of slavery, with adopting a humiliating attitude toward slave- holders, asserting that the entire North would aban- don the Convention, and asking if the missionaries receiving the circular would receive their support from an anti-slavery Convention to be formed. The Board denied the charges and disclaimed all sub- serviency either to the South or North, in a circular dated November 15, 1842. At the meeting of the Board of Managers held in April, 1843, the follow- ing preamble and resolution were adopted : 53 54 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Whereas, It appears to have been extensively under- stood that by certain transactions at Baltimore, during the last session of the Convention, the neutral attitude of the Board in relation to slavery was changed, therefore, Resolved, That the Circular issued by the Acting Board in the year 1840, asserting their neutrality on all sub- jects not immediately connected with the great work to which they were specially appointed, be reissued and printed with the Report of this year, as expressive of the sentiments and position of the present Board. The eleventh triennial meeting of the Baptist General Convention was held in the city of Phila- delphia, April 24, 1844. The conflict of feeling in regard to the question of slavery instead of being allayed, had rather increased. At this Convention, however, the following resolution was adopted with great unanimity : Whereas, There exists, in various sections of the country, an impression that our present organization involves the fellowship of the institution of domestic slavery, or of certain associations which are designed to oppose that institution, Therefore, Resolved, That, in co-operating together as members of this Convention in the work of foreign mis- sions, we disclaim all sanction, either express or implied, whether of slavery or of anti-slavery ; but, as individuals, we are perfectly free both to express and to promote, elsewhere, our own views on these subjects in a Christian manner and spirit. Notwithstanding the conciliatory attitude of the Convention this was the last meeting at which the THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 55 whole country was represented. Of the thirty-two members present at the organization of the Conven- tion only six members were living. The Convention of 1844 adjourned to meet in Cincinnati, in April, 1S47, but before that date events occurred which made another meeting of Baptists of all the States in the Convention impossible. The Convention, as representing the whole country, was a thing of the past. In the city of Philadelphia, where it began with the union of the Baptists of the whole country for the first time in an organization, there it ceased to live as representing all the States. At the annual meeting of the Board of Managers held in Providence, R. L, April 30, 1845, the fol- lowing report on the subject which was exciting the attention of Baptists throughout the whole country, was adopted : The committee to whom was referred the correspond- ence between the Alabama State Convention and the Acting Board, have attended to the duty confided to them, and ask leave to present the following statements, as embracing, substantially, their views on the subject to which the correspondence refers. They are happy also to add, that in these views the members of the Act- ing Board present, in general, coincide. 1. Tbe spirit of the constitution of the General Con- vention, as well as the history of its proceedings from tbe beginning, renders it apparent that all the members of the Baptist denomination in good standing, whether at the Nortb or the South, are constitutionally eligible to all appointments emanating either from the Conven- tion or the Board. 56 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 2. "While this is the case, it is possible that contin- gencies may arise, in which the carrying out of this principle might create the necessity of making appoint- ments by which the brethren of the North would, either in fact, or in the opinion of the Christian community, become responsible for institutions which they could not, with a good conscience, sanction. 3. Were such a case to occur, we could not desire our brethren to violate their convictions of duty by making such appointments, but should consider it in- cumbent on them to refer the case to the Convention for its decision. All which is respectfully submitted, in behalf of the committee. F. Wayland, Chairman. This report was not satisfactory to the Baptists of the South, and the committee of the Alabama Convention addressed a direct inquiry to the Acting Board in Boston, asking if a slaveholder would be appointed as a missionary. The reply was that in accordance with the conscientious convictions of the members of the Board they could not appoint any person as a missionary who was the owner of slaves. The inevitable result of the controversy had been foreseen, and in response to a suggestion of the Foreign Missionary Society of Virginia, a large and enthusiastic gathering of Southern Baptists met in Augusta, Georgia, by whom on May 8, 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention, with two Boards, one for foreign and one for home missions, was formed. 1 1 An account of the formation of the Southern Baptist Conven- tion will be found in " A History of the Baptists in the Southern THE .SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 57 The separation of the missionary efforts of the Baptists of the Northern and Southern portions of this country was deeply deplored by many of the leaders of the denomination in both sections. Ear- nest efforts were made by some to avert what seemed to them a serious disaster, but it was ap- parent to multitudes that separation was unavoid- able. If it had not occurred at that time it would unquestionably have been necessarily made at a later date. It is but fair to say, however, that the forebodings of disaster were not fully justified. While division, in itself and for many reasons, was to be deplored, the missionary cause suffered no in- jury, but was rather advanced by the separation. The distance of the Southern States from the head- quarters of the Acting Board of the General Con- vention, in Boston, caused the general interest of the churches in the South in the conduct of the Board to be of the weakest character. While many of the most prominent leaders of the Southern churches were ardently interested in the prosperity of the missions, the remoteness of the active man- agement was a serious disadvantage. By the sepa- ration of the missionary activities of the Northern and Southern Baptists the responsibility of both was increased. The Baptists of the North became aware that by the loss of the help of the Southern Baptists the whole support of the missions was thrown upon States East of the Mississippi," p. 206, by B. F. Riley, d. d., pub- lished by the American Baptist Publication Society, in 1898. 58 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS them, and if they were to be maintained in full power and effectiveness greater zeal and greater liberality on their part were called for; while the Southern Baptists, by the organization of their for- eign mission Board in connection with the Southern Baptist Convention, had the question of missions brought home to their hearts and local loyalty in the strongest and most convincing manner. While undoubtedly there was considerable feeling, which was to be regretted as between different sections of the same Christian body, yet on the whole the sepa- ration served to provoke each section of the denom- ination to love and good works. Their ardor was aroused, their local interest was engaged, and the missionary activities of both the Northern and Southern Baptists were largely increased, and since that time have gone forward harmoniously and, in some instances side by side, with always increasing magnitude and power. Of all the missionaries under appointment by the General Convention two, the Rev. J. Lewis Shuck and the Rev. I. J. Roberts, of China, preferred to continue their labors under the auspices of the newly formed Southern Convention. Mr. Roberts was lo- cated at Canton, where Mr. Shuck had already been associated with him ; but after his visit to America Mr. Shuck was transferred to Shanghai, where he was associated with that missionary afterward so eminent in the annals of the Southern Baptist mis- sions, Matthew T, Yates, d. d., and others. THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 59 It is related of Mr. Shack that shortly after his conversion a collection for missions was taken in the church of which he was a member. After the col- lection, as the offering was being counted, there was found upon the plate a card upon which was written the word " myself." This was the young Christian convert's first offering to the cause of missions, and it is the noblest which any person can ever make. The Rev. I. J. Roberts had first gone to China in 1836, to be supported on the basis of a fund sup- posed to amount to about thirty thousand dollars, which he had himself given into the hands of the Kentucky China Mission Society, formed for the purpose. As the income of the fund failed to pro- vide his support he joined the staff of the General Convention, but was soon transferred to the South- ern Board. Mr. Roberts was a man of unques- tioned Christian devotion, but of somewhat erratic and peculiar character. While laboring under the auspices of the Southern Board he yet continued in a semi-independent relation to the other missionaries at Canton, the property which he occupied having been acquired by means raised by himself. Yet his labors were generally successful and continued with a reasonable degree of harmony, until finally his re- lations with the Convention were dissolved in 1852. He, however, continued his mission work independ- ently. Wang, the leader of the great Taiping re- bellion, had studied with Mr. Roberts in his mission school at Canton, and after the breaking out of that 60 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS rebellion Mr. Roberts visited the leader in bis camp. He was by him appointed as foreign minister of the Taiping government in 1860, and it was probably through his influence that a decree was issued by the rebel government abolishing idolatry. In the time-honored literary examinations it was decreed also that Bible themes should be substituted for Confucian subjects, and in this and other ways the leader showed his contempt for the ancient ideas which had ruled China, and his desire to inaugurate a new order of affairs. He sought the friendship of foreign nations ; and it has always been a ques- tion whether the future of China would not have been greatly advanced by the success of the rebel- lion. It may be that with all his conscientiousness General Gordon committed the great mistake of his life in aiding to subdue the army of the Taiping rebels. It had become evident that without for- eign aid the rebellion would be successful, and it is possible that if the hands of the foreign troops had been withheld, thirty-five years ago, China would have been farther advanced in the arts and sciences of civilization as well as in receptivity toward the truths of Christianity than she was in 1 900, and the troubles of that year would not have occurred. After a time, however, Mr. Roberts quarreled with the leader of the rebellion and turned against him. The whole career of this mis- sionary was of the most romantic and thrilling char- acter, from the devotion of his whole property to THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 61 the missionary work, as a young man, to his death at Upper Alton, Illinois, Dec. 28, 1871, of leprosy, contracted while ministering to the unfortunate vic- tims of that terrible disease. The principal stations of the Southern Baptist mission in China were located in the midst of the scenes of the Taiping rebellion, at Canton and Shanghai, and shared in the vicissitudes of that contest. They were never molested, however, by the leaders of the rebellion and experienced much prosperity in the places in which they held control. Rev. R. H. Graves, m. d., was for many years the leader of the work in Canton, rendering eminent services in evangelistic, literary, and in educational work in training native assistants in the mission. The most eminent figure in the mission at Shanghai continued to be M. T. Yates, D. D. An interesting and singular physical phenomenon is recorded of Doctor Yates. He went to China at the age of twenty-seven. During his first stay of several years in China he gained one inch in height ; during his second stay he gained two inches more, making three inches in stature gained after the age of twenty-seven. His physical proportions in other directions increased correspondingly. This could hardly have been considered as a testimony to the unhealthfulness of missionary life in China. From 1860 to 1865 the China mission, in common with other missions of the Southern Baptists, were embarrassed by wars both in China and in the United 62 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS States. During these troublous times the mission- aries showed great heroism and self-denial. They declared that even if funds were entirely cut oif the mission should be continued, and some of the mis- sionaries pursued their labors for several years with but scanty and occasional remittances from the Board in this country. Soon after the formation of the Southern Conven- tion it began operations in the Republic of Liberia. The work was carried on chiefly by Negroes, the few white missionories sent to that country not being able to remain because of the failure of health. The mission, however, had a large prosperity, twenty-four mission stations being established and continued, and about one thousand five hundred converts being gathered into the churches. Sierra Leone was occupied by missionaries in 1855, but was soon abandoned. A mission was established in Yoruba, a country in the interior from the gold coast of Africa, in 1849, which had gained some success, but was necessarily closed on account of the opposition of the chiefs in the interior from 1870 to 1875. At the latter date the missionary work of the Southern Board in the Republic of Liberia was discontinued. Rev. W. J. David and Rev. W. W. Colley were transferred from that field to the Yoruba mission, which was then reopened, and has been continued in an era of prosperity and blessing. The Southern Baptists entered the city of Rome almost in the train of the victorious army of Victor THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 63 Emmanuel, in the person of Rev. Win. N. Cote, M. D., of Paris. Doctor Cote established himself in the imperial city, and his labors at once received the approval of the Lord. A church was formed in January, 1871, and much prosperity was experienced here and in the city of Bari, on the coast of the Adriatic, where a church of seventy-five members was baptized in one day. Funds to the amount of about twenty-seven thousand dollars were raised in this country, by which a chapel was built in the city of Rome under the auspices of George B. Taylor, D. D., for many years the superintendent of the Baptist mission in Italy. This became one of the foremost agencies for the evangelization of the people in that country, having prosperous and suc- cessful churches at Rome, Florence, Naples, and other cities in the Italian peninsula. The beginning of Southern Baptist mission work in South America was marked by one of the most striking incidents of Christian devotion to be found in the history of the church. Lough Fook, con- verted in the Baptist church in Canton, China, went to Demarara with a heart burning with zeal for the salvation of his people, who were in practical slavery in that city. Finding himself unable to reach them otherwise he sold himself into slavery in order that he might more freely preach the gospel among them. This was in 1861. In a short time a Baptist church was formed, the first in South America, which rap- idly grew until it numbered one hundred and fifty- 64 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS six members. In one year they raised four hundred dollars for missionary purposes, besides supporting their own religious work, and maintained for several years a missionary to China. This consecrated servant of the Lord, Lough Fook, died in May, 1884. Dr. R. H. Graves, of Canton, calls him " one of the brightest jewels that Christianity re- covered from the dust heaps in China." In 1850 the Southern Convention voted to es- tablish missions in Central and South America, and continued to consider the matter until 18G0, when Rev. T. J. Bowen, founder of the Yoruba mission, was transferred to Brazil, since his health would not allow of his return to Africa. His strength proved insufficient, however, for missionary labors in Brazil, and the mission was abandoned in 1861. In 1871 citizens from the Southern States, living in Sao Paulo, formed a Baptist church, and the Southern Baptist mission in Brazil was opened in 1879 in response to an application from this new church, not for help for themselves, but for missionaries to the people of Brazil. Churches have been formed at Santa Barbara, Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and other places. At times there has been much freedom in missionary work, and at other times the mission has suffered from severe persecution. This, however, has dis- appeared, except in limited areas in the interior, and the Baptist missions have experienced large pros- perity. The church in Rio Janeiro especially has been greatly prospered in membership and in spir- THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 65 itual power and influence among; the people of that city. As early as 1860 the Southern Convention con- templated missions in Japan, and Rev. J. Q. A. Rohrer and his wife were appointed to open the work. They sailed Aug. 3, 1860, in the ship " Edwin Forrest/' in company with Rev. A. L. Bond and wife, destined for the China mission. Mrs. Robinson, the mother of Mrs. Rohrer, ac- companied her daughter on board the " Edwin Forrest." The ties between mother and daughter had been peculiarly close and tender, and the mother was expecting to sail in a short time to rejoin her daughter in Japan. Before saying farewell she knelt in agony on the deck of the vessel and prayed that God would forgive her for consenting to even a temporary separation from her only child. Mrs. Rohrer replied, in what proved to be prophetic words : " Mother, with the exception of parting from you, this is the happiest day of my life. If we are lost at sea death will find us in the path of duty." The ship was never heard from after sailing ; and in the history of the Southern Baptist missions this disaster is one of the most touching and pathetic incidents, associated with the loss of Dr. and Mrs. J. S. James, who were drowned by the capsizing of a schooner while entering the harbor of Hongkong. The question of the mission in Japan was held in abeyance from this time until 1889, when mission- aries were sent to that country, who have established Qti AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS themselves at several points, and labor in harmony and co-operation with the previously established missions of the American Baptist Missionary Union. The Southern Baptist Mission in Mexico was founded in 1880, and as in many other cases, its initiation was attended by disaster. The Rev. John O. Westrup, who with his brother, Rev. T. M. Westrup, had been supported in Coahuila by the Texas Baptist State Convention, were accepted by the foreign Board of the Southern Convention in 1880. In December of that year, however, Rev. John O. Westrup was murdered by a band of Indians and Mexicans, and the work was left in the hands of his brother, Rev. T. M. Westrup. Other mis- sionaries were appointed at later dates and the mis- sion in Mexico, with that of the Northern Baptists, has experienced considerable prosperity. One of the most romantic and deeply interesting missions under the auspices of American Baptists is that founded in the city of Havana, Cuba, by Albert Jose Diaz, and carried on chiefly under the auspices of the Home Mission Board of the South- ern Baptist Convention. Mr. Diaz, a native of Cuba, having received a liberal education in the university of Havana, in both the academic and medical departments, was estab- lished as a successful physician in his native island. His natural heroism and enthusiasm led him to identify himself with the insurgents against Spanish rule in Cuba, among whom he rose to the rank of THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 67 captain ; but with the temporary defeat of that movement he was compelled to escape to America. No other means of fleeing offering he was obliged to leave his native shores with the simple support of a plank. He narrowly escaped drowning, but after twenty-six hours of drifting was taken -up by a fishing vessel and carried to New York City, where an illness from pneumonia came upon him. In the hospital he was cared for by a devout Chris- tian woman, by whose means he was led to a knowl- edge of the Saviour. After the rebellion was over and amnesty proclaimed, Mr. Diaz returned to Havana, but was rejected by his family, and soon again returned to America, where he was baptized in the Gethsemane Baptist Church, Brooklyn. He first applied to the American Baptist Home Mission Society to send him back as a missionary to Cuba, but his request was declined for lack of funds, and he was accepted as a missionary by the Woman's Bible Society, of Philadelphia, and returned to Cuba in 1883. His work, however, was soon transferred to the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, under which it has been mainly continued. A large number of con- verts rewarded his early labors and in 1889 the Jane Theatre, of Havana, was purchased for mis- sion work at a cost of sixty-five thousand dollars, the original cost being one hundred and forty thou- sand dollars, and was dedicated as the Gethsemane Baptist Church. This has been the center of a 68 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS work of remarkable extent and interest, between two and three thousand members being gathered into the Gethsemane Church and its branches. The work also extended to other parts of Cuba outside of Havana, and it was reported at one time that there were as many as twenty native missionaries, seven churches, and twenty stations. The success of the work excited the hostility of the Roman Catholic bishop and priests, and Mr. Diaz, as well as several other of the missionaries, were imprisoned at various times, but were soon released on application to the United States Consul. During the war between Spain and Cuba, Mr. Diaz was prominent in the establishment of Red Cross stations for the care of the wounded of each army. He was, however, imprisoned, and released only on his promise to leave the island ; but after the intervention of the United States in behalf of the Cubans he was appointed on the staff of the commanding general, and rendered great service as an interpreter. Since the war and the release of Cuba from Spanish rule Mr. Diaz has returned to his native island. The missionary work was com- pletely disorganized during the two successive wars, but is now being re-established. By agreement between the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Home Mission Society the island of Cuba is divided, the Southern Board retaining the west part of the island, including the city of Havana, and the towns which THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 69 have been the theatre of its previous successful work, and the Home Mission Society taking as its fields the two eastern provinces and Porto Rico. Further accounts of the work may be found in the appropri- ate chapters. CHAPTER VII THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION THE eleventh triennial meeting of the General Missionary Convention held in Philadelphia, Pa., in April, 1844, adjourned to meet in due course in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1847, and the thirty- first annual meeting of the Board of Managers, which was held in Providence, R. L, in April, 1845, adjourned to meet in Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 1846. Stirring events caused an early change in this pro- gramme. Soon after the meeting of the Board in 1845 the action of the Baptists of the South in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention be- came known, and a special meeting of the General Convention was called, which assembled in the city of New York, November 20, 1845. At this meet- ing a new constitution was provisionally adopted, and arrangements were made for obtaining an act from the Legislature of Pennsylvania changing the name of the Convention to " The American Baptist Missionary Union," and also for procuring an act of incorporation in the State of Massachusetts under the same title. At an adjourned meeting of the Convention held in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 19, 1846, the Acting Board reported that these measures had 70 THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 71 been secured, and the Convention adopted the fol- lowing resolutions : Resolved, That this Convention do now accept the Act of Incorporation granted by the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania, March 13, 1846, entitled "An Act changing the name of the Association known as 'The General Con- vention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions and other important objects relating to the Redeemer's kingdom,' to that of 'The American Baptist Missionary Union,' and for altering and amending the charter of the same," and that the same be recorded on the records of the Convention. Resolved, That this Convention do now accept an Act of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, passed March 25, 1846, entitled "An Act to authorize the General Convention of the Baptist Denom- ination in the United States for Foreign Missions and other important objects relating to the Redeemer's kingdom, to take and use the name of 'The American Bnptist Missionary Union,' and to define more clearly the purpose, rights, and powers of the said Corporation," and that the same be recorded on the records of the Convention. The Convention then adjourned to meet on the following Thursday, May 21, for organization under the new constitution and name, when the following preamble and resolution were adopted : Whereas, In pursuance of the recommendation of the committee on legal questions in their report accepted by the General Convention at its evening session, on Thurs- day, November 20, 1S45, in the city of New York, cer- tain resolutions in said report, numbered five and six, 72 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS were adopted by said Convention ; and Whereas, Such resolutions predicate that a certain constitution at such time conditionally adopted, and a certain organization and election of managers then conditionally made, should become unconditional and definitive on the pro- cural of certain legislative acts ; and, further, Said reso- lutions provide for a transfer in such case of all books, records, property, rights, interests, and duties, from said Triennial Convention to the American Baptist Mission- ary Union ; and Whereas, Such legislative acts have, by the blessing of Divine Providence, been procured ; there- fore, Resolved, That in as far as such transfer may be now necessary, the transfer be and hereby is made, to the full extent recommended in such fifth and sixth resolutions ; that the constitution adopted conditionally, be and here- by is adopted unconditionally and definitively ; that the election then made conditionally be now regarded as un- conditional, and the persons so elected take office from this time. Undismayed by the loss of the sympathy and help of their brethren in the South the Baptists of the Northern States took up the work of foreign mis- sions with renewed energy and zeal. The receipts of the society advanced from eighty-two thousand three hundred and two dollars and ninety-five cents in 1845, to one hundred thousand two hundred and nineteen dollars and ninety-four cents in 1846, and continued to average more than fifteen thousand dollars in excess of the last years of united action until in 1851 they reached the sum of one hundred and eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty- THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 73 six dollars and thirty-five cents, and thereafter never fell below one hundred thousand dollars, except in 1857, the year of the greatest financial depression this country has ever known, and in 1861 and 1862, the opening years of the Civil War. When the for- eign mission activity of the Southern Baptist Board is considered also, it will be seen that the separation of the Baptists of this country, however much to be deplored in other respects, acted as an incentive rather than a check to their missionary efforts. Much of the credit for the large receipts of the Missionary Convention under its new name, the American Baptist Missionary Union, must be ac- corded to Edward Bright, D. d., the corresponding secretary for the Home Department from 1846 to 1855. Appreciating the vast responsibility which the Baptists of the Northern States had assumed in undertaking practically the entire support of the foreign missionary work as already established, he perceived the necessity of more systematic and reg- ular methods of increasing the interest and gather- ing funds than had hitherto prevailed. Up to this time the natural response of the Baptists of America to the impulse of obedience to the last command of the Saviour, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," had been sufficient to supply and sometimes run beyond the needs of the missions. Doctor Bright understood clearly that the partial impulse of enthusiasm aroused by the new sense of responsibility thrown upon the Baptists of 74 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS the North would not be sufficient to carry on and enlarge the missions as their increasing needs would demand. He therefore applied himself vigorously to the inauguration of systematic plans of benefi- cence and thorough arrangements for the conduct of the home work of the Missionary Union. His papers presented at the annual meetings of the Union indicated wise and prudent foresight and a clear understanding of the fundamental principles of Christian benevolence. These papers are still classics on the subject of the development of mis- sionary interest and giving among the home churches, and the methods which he inaugurated and the prin- ciples upon which they were founded have had an abiding influence upon the home work of the Union which continues even to the present time. Previous to the withdrawal of the Southern Bap- tists from the General Missionary Convention, a movement had started in Burma which was des- tined to have a profound and lasting influence not only upon the future of the missionary work in that country, but upon Christian missionary operations throughout the world. In the itinerancy of missions aries and native preachers from Rangoon through- out the Bassein district an extraordinary interest in Christianity had been aroused, and a leading native chief having become a convert, had also become a leader and inspirer of his people in the movement toward Christianity. Rev. Elisha L. Abbott had been first designated to the Telugu mis- THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 75 sion in India, but was assigned to the Karen mission while on the voyage out with Doetor Malcom and his company. He entered into this movement with great vigor. As usual in such cases, the Burman Government, which had viewed with comparative indifference the small beginnings of the mission, now became roused as hundreds of the Karens turned toward Christianity, and it instituted most vigorous measures for the suppression of this new movement, which to the ignorant Burman officials seemed to threaten the overthrow not only of their religion, but even of their political power. Hundreds of the Karens were imprisoned, killed, and driven from their homes, and the measures against the preaching of the gospel by the mission- aries and natives preachers were so vigorously en- forced that it was found impossible to carry on direct missionary work in the district. Under these circumstances Mr. Abbott arranged to meet some of the leaders of the Karens in Sandoway, in the Ara- kan district, which was under the rule of the British Government. To him here came not only the leaders, but many thousands of the Karen Christians, with others who were inquiring the way of life. As many as two thousand were baptized in a single year, and the movement became not merely an im- migration of a small scattered body of disciples, but the migration of a people driven from the Burman dominions into the province of Arakan. The entire depopulation of the Bassein district was threatened, 76 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS and at last the Burman officials, finding themselves defeated, and alarmed at the prospect of the loss of so many thousands of their subjects, abandoned their persecution and permitted the converts to return and dwell in peace at their homes. Under these more favorable conditions the movement toward Christianity still continued with power, and the headquarters of the mission were removed from San- doway, in Arakan, to Bassein, in 1852. This became the center of and gave the name to the great Bassein Sgaw-Kareu Mission, which has always stood first among the missions in Burma in numbers and in self-support. As early in the history of the mission as 1849, the native preachers adopted a resolution that they would not receive any further money from America, and this rule has prevailed in the mission to the present day. So that the Bassein Ka- ren mission not only became the foremost mission in self-support, but its influence has gone abroad and been felt upon every mission field throughout the world, and has been to the present day the chief illustration and example of the possibility and benefit of self-support, self-direction, and self-prop- agation in Christian missions. Mr. Abbott was succeeded in the mission by Rev. John S. Beecher, Rev. Henry L. Van Meter, Rev. Chapin H. Car- penter, and others fully in sympathy with the prin- ciples early prevailing in the mission, and under the leadership of these and other men these methods and principles have continued to the present time. THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 77 The enlargement of missionary operations in Burma had for some time indicated the propriety of some common methods in the missionary work, and this great necessity was accentuated by the result of the second Burman war, by which, on De- cember 20, 1852, the whole province of Pegu, com- prising the larger part of lower Burma was declared a portion of British territories in the East. By this event the largest and most populous territory in lower Burma was thrown open to missionary operations, and the executive committee of the Union at once appropriated fifteen thousand dollars for en- larged operations. For consultation with the mis- sionaries in regard to the enlargement, and also to attempt to settle certain questions which had been under consideration for some years, a deputation consisting of Solomon Peck, d. d., the corresponding secretary of the Missionary Union for the Foreign Department, and James N. Granger, d. d., of Provi- dence, R. I., sailed from America in October, 1852. To meet the deputation a general convention of all the missionaries in Burma met in Moulmein, April 4, 1853, and continued its sessions for six weeks. All the conditions of missionary labor in Burma were fully considered, and the measures adopted at this convention have had a profound and decisive influence upon missionary operations in that country. As a result of these deliberations three new stations, Henzada, Toungoo, and Shwegyin, were opened in 1853, followed by the establishment of a station at 78 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Prome in 1854, and one at Thongze in 1855. By this advance movement the newly opened territory was fully occupied, as far as centers of influence were concerned, and no further stations were opened in Burma for a period of twenty-one years. The policy of centralization, which had begun to prevail in the mission, was thoroughly broken up by this distribution of the missionary force among the old and new stations, and while some of the decisions of the convention, especially in regard to schools, have necessarily been modified by the results of ex-peri- ence, yet this convention must be considered as one of the most important and influential events in the history of the Baptist missions in Burma. Under the stress of the commercial depression of 1857, the income of the Missionary Union was re- duced to ninety-seven thousand eight hundred and eight dollars and seventy-seven cents, as given in the Annual Report for 1858, and only two years passed before the country was plunged into the ex- citement and distraction which culminated in the dreadful Civil War of 1861-1865. In common with all charitable and religious enterprises, except those connected with the war, the Missionary Union suffered greatly in the loss of income and inter- est. The energies of the people of the whole United States were directed to the prosecution of the strug- gle between the North and the South in a contest unparalleled in the vast expenditures of money and of life. The funds and the sympathies of the THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 79 charitable were largely absorbed in support of the Christian and the Sanitary Commissions, for the care and comfort of the soldiers, and the income of the Missionary Union dropped to a lower figure than it had touched since 1845, being only eighty- four thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars and ninety-three cents in 1861, and eighty-five thousand one hundred and ninety-two dollars and twenty-six cents in 1862. It is not surprising to find that on none of the mission fields was there any notable advance during these years of financial dearth. However, the receipts of the society rap- idly recovered to one hundred and three thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars and ninety-six cents in 1863 and rose in 1865 to the highest mark attained in its history, one hundred and fifty-two thousand six hundred and eighty-five dollars. Since that time the growth of the in- come of the society has been rapid and steady, pass- ing two hundred thousand dollars in 1870, three hundred thousand dollars in 1882, four hundred thousand dollars in 1890, and reaching a normal annual average of above five hundred thousand dollars previous to 1900. Under the stimulus of this large and liberal support and by the blessing of the Lord, the missions of the society on all the fields have experienced a like rapid growth, and although standing the eighth among the large missionary societies of the world, in the amount of its annual receipts and expenditures, the 80 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS American Baptist Missionary Union has long been first in the number of Christians in the churches on its mission fields, and its work has been blessed with surprising success, as will be related in connec- tion with accounts of Baptist missions in the various countries of the world. CHAPTER VIII THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY IT is deeply significant to note that as the foreign missionary movement had been the source of the first general denominational society among the Baptists of the United States and of the establish- ment of the first educational institution looking to all the Baptists of the country for support, so the leaders in foreign missions were among the first to assist in founding the second national Baptist so- ciety. The first two names signed to the call for a meeting to form " The Baptist General Tract So- ciety," were William Staughton, the corresponding secretary, and Luther Rice, the general agent of the Baptist Missionary Convention. This meeting was held at the house of Mr. George Wood, in the city of Washington, D. C, February 25, 1824, and re- sulted in the organization of a society under the above name " for the publication and distribution of evangelical tracts." Mr. Wood was chosen the first agent, and the depository was in the office of " The Columbian Star," first in charge of Mr. John S. Meehan, and later of Mr. Baron Stow, then a stu- dent in Columbian College and afterward widely known as pastor in Boston, Mass., and as a member F 81 82 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS of the executive committee of the Missionary Union for many years. The society at once received a cordial welcome from the denomination. Its receipts for the first year were three hundred and seventy- three dollars and eighty cents, and in the first ten months of its existence eighty-five thousand copies of nineteen tracts were printed and distributed. The next year the receipts were doubled and the number of auxiliaries increased to seventy-one. In order to avail itself of larger facilities for printing, the society was removed in December, 1826, to the city of Philadelphia, where it has since remained, the name being changed in 1840 to "The American Baptist Publication and Sunday-school Society." For the sake of brevity the words " and Sunday- school" were afterward dropped without a change in the purposes of the society, and later as the Bible work of the whole denomination in the United States came into its hands the title was made to read, "The American Baptist Publication and Bible Society." This addition was also shortly cancelled, and the title remains as at the head of this chapter. Although the chief objects of the Society were the publication and circulation of religious, and espe- cially of Baptist, literature in the United States, it has throughout its entire history afforded large and gen- erous aid to Baptist missions in other lands. In 1832 an appropriation was made to print tracts in the Burmese language for use in the missionary work in Burma, and another for supplying Christian AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY So literature to the Negro Baptist missionaries in Li- beria. In 1838, among the special objects which the society had in view were the republication of the life of Ann H. Judson, the publication and dis- tribution of tracts in Germany, and the raising of a fund of ten thousand dollars for the publication of Christian literature for China. These objects were not immediately attained, but they indicate the breadth and extent of the ideas of the management. The year 1847 was especially marked by the exten- sion of the work of the society abroad, grants of money and of Christian literature being recorded to twelve foreign fields — Canada, France, Africa, China, Burma, the West Indies, Germany, Denmark, Swe- den, Assam, Greece, and South America. In Ger- many the aid of the American Baptist Publication Society had been especially useful. Tracts furnished by the society had a large influence in confirming and establishing the great founder of the German Baptist mission in his views, and the grants of tracts made to him were freely and effectively used in spreading the knowledge of Baptist principles and practices throughout the German States of central Europe. After the death of Doctor Oncken and in a special emergency in the German mission, his suc- cessor, Philip Bickel, D. D., was sent out and sus- tained for six years by the society. The formation and prosperity of the German Baptist Publication Society is due in no small degree to the example, aid, and inspiration of the American society. 84 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Other countries of the continent of Europe also felt the helpful and uplifting influence of the society. In Sweden especially was its work fundamental and important. On reading some of the Baptist litera- ture scattered broadcast throughout central and northern Europe by Doctor Oncken, Rev. Andreas Wiberg, a minister of the Lutheran Church in Swe- den, was led to adopt Baptist views. His applica- tion to the American Baptist Missionary Union for appointment as a missionary was declined, and in 1855 Mr. Wiberg was appointed a missionary col- porter by the Publication Society. This change seemed to be providential. In Sweden, preaching not in accord with the teachings of the State Lu- theran Church was at that time forbidden, but the press Avas free. As a missionary pastor or evangelist Mr. Wiberg would have encountered the ban of the law, but as a missionary colporter and translator he was technically within his legal rights. A large work was done by him for the spread of Baptist views in Sweden, second only to the phenomenal labors of Doctor Oncken in the German States, and when the Swedish mission was turned over to the Missionary Union in I860 it could report after only eleven years of labor, one hundred and seventy-six churches, with six thousand six hundred and six members. From 1882 to 1885 the Publication So- ciety supported Rev. Jonas Stadling as a missionary in Sweden. By this aid Baptist publication work in Sweden was established on a firm basis. AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 85 As the literature sent out from Germany had been the means of opening the way for Baptist missionary work in Sweden, so the influence of Swedish Baptist literature passed over into the sister State of Nor- wav, a country which also felt the effects of the Bap- tist movement in Denmark, being thus the meeting- place of two currents of truth which harmoniously blended into one. In 1900 the American society undertook to do for the Baptist cause in Norway what it had already done for the missions in Ger- many and Sweden. A Publication Society's secre- tary is to be supported until the Baptists of Norway are well established in publication work and able to assume its entire support. From 1872 to 1877 Rev. W. C. Van Meter was supported by the American Baptist Publication Society as a Sunday-school and evangelistic missionary in Rome, Italy. Large amounts of Christian literature have been supplied to the Baptist missions in France and Spain, and whenever opportunity has offered the Society has not been wanting in willingness to assist Baptist work in Europe along its special lines. Somewhat aside from its usual methods was the mission in Turkey, sustained through the Publica- tion Society from 1883 to 1891. For several years previous to the opening of this work great pressure had been brought to bear on the American Baptist Missionary Union to open a mission among the Armenians of Turkey in Asia. Several Armenian ministers, formerly connected with missions of other 86 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS denominations, had visited America and been re- ceived into Baptist churches in New York City and elsewhere, and there was a desire on the part of many to send them back as missionaries to their own people. As the Missionary Union did not see its way clear to open a new mission in Turkey, the Publication Society agreed to become the medium through which those wishing to support these mis- sionaries in Turkey could transmit funds, but as- sumed no responsibility beyond the amounts contrib- uted specially for this purpose. Five missionaries were thus maintained for several years until in 1891 the mission, interest in which had been de- clining from various causes, was discontinued. In other foreign fields, however, the society has been an efficient and active helper to the missionary work. The aid of the society was a large factor in founding and encouraging the Telugu Baptist Pub- lication Society in India. Grants of Bibles, of literature, and of money have been numerous on nearly all the mission fields where work is carried on by the Missionary Union ; and since the great Bible Convention of 1883, by special agreement between the Union and the Pub- lication Society, the latter has become the chief agency in the collection of funds for Bible work from Baptists in America, sharing a proportion of the receipts of the annual "Bible Day" with the Union, and also with the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. From time AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 87 to time also grants are made from the general funds of the society. 1 Colporters have been supported in Mexico, which has also been visited by one of the six "chapel cars," which carry on so useful and successful a work under the auspices of the Publication Society. Rev. A. J. Diaz, at first connected with the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, during the war between Spain and the United States, in 1898, labored in Mexico, and after the close of the war returned to Cuba and labored for a time under the direction of the Publication So- ciety. This Society has been and must continue to be the chief supplier of Bibles and Christian litera- ture to Baptist missionaries in these latest conquests of the United States, as well as in Mexico and the home States. 1 See " Bible Societies and American Baptists," Bitting, Amer- ican Baptist Publication Society. CHAPTER IX THE AMERICAN BAPTIST HOME MISSION SOCIETY THE influence of the foreign missionary move- ment on the development of Baptist interests at home was seen in the formation of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. While the General Missionary Convention itself was formed by the union of a large number of local missionary socie- ties, some of which were engaged in carrying on home mission work, and while the Convention took up work among the Indians and attempted other home mission work as well as educational work in this country, it was soon found that the entire ener- gies of the Convention were needed for the main- tenance and enlargement of the foreign mission work. Therefore its educational work was placed upon an independent basis and the missionary work in this country was more and more committed to local societies. A growing conviction was felt among the Baptists of America as to the need of en- larged mission work at home, and this was crystal- lized by the visit of Jonathan Going, d. d., of Wor- cester, Mass., to the West. On his representations to the Massachusetts Missionary Society steps were taken toward a united and enlarged effort for domes- AMERICAN BAPTIST HOME MISSION SOCIETY 89 tic missions. The deputation appointed to consult with the New York Baptist Missionary Convention consisted of Daniel Sharp, D. D., pastor of the Charles Street Church, Boston, a prominent member of the Foreign Mission Board, Lucius Bolles, D. d., cor- responding secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, and Jonathan Going, d. d. Their representation met with a cordial response from the New York brethren and a provisional committee was formed, which resulted in the calling of a general meeting in the Mulberry Street Church in 1832, for the formation of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. It is interesting to note that this meeting was appointed during the meeting of the General Mis- sionary Convention, and that Convention gave up one of its sessions for the formation of the Home Mission Society. The first president of the Home Mission Society was also Hon. Heman Lincoln, of Boston, chairman of the Executive Board of the Foreign Mission Union for many years. At this first meeting it was proposed that the work of the society should be limited to the United States, but finally the Home Mission Society adopted as its field North America, and since that time its motto has been, "North America for Christ." However, the limits of the United States furnished an ample field for its labors in all the early years of its history. As early as 1836 the attention of the society was called to Texas and Mexico as com- 90 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS ing fields for missionary effort, Texas being then an independent republic, and anticipations of work on these fields were cherished by the society. It was not, however, until 1862 that missionary work in Mexico was inaugurated. As the result of the con- version of Mr. Thomas M. Westrup, a young mer- chant of Monterey, and the active efforts of Rev. James M. Hickey, of Matamoras, the First Baptist Church of Monterey was organized January 30, 1864, being the first Baptist church established in Mexico. Obstacles were encountered in persecution from the Catholic authorities and from other sources, and Mr. Westrup was not appointed a missionary of the society until 1870. Before Mr. Westrup left Mexico, however, in 1869, there were six con- gregations with about one hundred and twenty members. On account of the lack of funds and heavy responsibilities in the limits of the United States the society discontinued its appropriations in 1876, but resumed them in 1881 by the reappoint- ment of Mr. Westrup as a missionary at Monterey, and soon after the principal headquarters of the mission were established in the city of Mexico, the capital of the republic. CHAPTER X THE AMERICAN BAPTIST FREE MISSION SOCIETY THE American Baptist Free Mission Society was a result of the agitation regarding the subject of slavery, which began in 1840. There was formed in the year 1843 by some Baptists who were dis- satisfied with the attitude of the Managing Board of the General Convention, " The American and Foreign Missionary Society," on the basis of the following principles : A separation from all connection with the known avails of slavery in the support of its benevolent pur- poses, the sovereignty of all the churches over their own missionary organizations and the representative character of the latter, the rejection of titles of distinction in the ministry, such as "Doctor of Divinity," and an uncom- promising opposition to all oath-bound, secret brother- hoods, as being thoroughly opposed to the genius of Christianity and the republican government. Later the name was changed to " The American Baptist Free Mission Society," and in consequence of certain differences of opinion between the exec- utive committee of the American Baptist Mission- ary Union and its missionaries, the further principle was added to the platform of the Free Mission 91 92 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Society, "That Christian missionaries are the serv- ants of Christ and not of man," the society an- nouncing itself to be only a channel through which the churches might conveniently do their appro- priate work of evangelization. "The American Baptist" was established as the organ of the society upon the above principles, the first editor being Rev. Wareham Walker. Rev. Albert L. Post, of Montrose, Pa., was for many years president of the society and a leader in its affairs throughout its entire history. Missions were maintained for a few years in Hayti, in the West India Islands, and in Africa, but its most important work outside of the United States was in connection with the missions in Burma. Some of the decisions of the convention held in Moulmein, in 1853, in connection with the visit of the deputation from America, were not agreed to by several of the most important missionaries in Burma, especially from the restrictions which were placed upon the establishment and conduct of the school work, they felt obliged to dissent. As the. decisions of the convention and deputation Avere upheld by the executive committee of the Missionary Union, these missionaries, with the missions conducted by them, withdrew from connection with the Mission- ary Union. This division continued for seventeen years in the case of the Rangoon Sgaw-Karen mis- sion, and for thirteen years as to the Bassein Sgaw- Karen mission. During: this interval the missionaries AMERICAN BAPTIST FREE MISSION SOCIETY 93 conducting these missions were sustained by contribu- tions of the natives, assisted by independent contri- butions from this country, the American contributions being sent to Burma chiefly through the agency of the American Baptist Free Mission Society. Rev. Nathan Brown, missionary of the Union in Assam, had sympathized with the missionaries of the Rangoon and Bassein missions in their attitude, and on his return to America, in 1855, felt obliged to resign his connection with the society. Becom- ing acquainted with the Free Mission Society he found its principles to be in accord with his own views, and in 1859 became editor of its organ, "The American Baptist," and also the correspond- ing secretary of the society, a position which he occupied until 1872. This society had the honor of establishing the first Baptist mission work in Japan by the appointment as missionary of Rev. Jonathan Goble, who had visited that country as a seaman in the fleet under the command of Commo- dore Perry. The society supported Messrs. Brown and Goble for several years, but in 1872 all causes of differences which had led to the formation of the Free Mission Society having passed away, the work of that society was transferred to the American Baptist Missionary Union, and Mr. Brown and Mr. Goble were appointed as its missionaries. The Japan mission at that time was the only work carried on under the auspices of the Free Mission Society, and by the offer of the Japan mission to 94 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS the American Baptist Missionary Union, and its acceptance by that society and the appointment of its only missionaries as missionaries of the Union, the termination of the work of the American Baptist Free Mission Society came about, which by this action transferred all its salaried officials and all its rights to the American Baptist Missionary Union. A nominal corporate existence was continued for the purpose of holding bequests and funds which must otherwise have been lost, but the last annual meet- ing, being the thirty-second anniversary, Mas held in Franklin Hall, Jersey City, June 12, 1875, Rev. John Duer, being corresponding secretary and AVilliam Howe, Esq., 77 Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, N. J., treasurer. The organization and ex- istence of the American Baptist Free Mission So- ciety, like that of the American and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Union, thus became a historical waymark of the existence of certain con- troversies among the members of the Baptist denom- ination, which passed away with the lapse of time and in a clearer light, a better understanding, and perhaps a larger liberty among the members of the denomination. CHAPTER XI OMAN'S BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETIES „», H'EATHEXISM bears heaviest on woman. The ignorance, the superstition, the physical deg- radation, and the spiritual darkness which are the accompaniment of all forms of paganism, woman shares equally with men; but in every heathen land she is weighed down with an additional social deg- radation which makes her lot vastly more full of anguish and terror than is the portion of her hus- band and brothers. Heathenism is everywhere a religion of force and fear. Might is the only right, and in the struggle for existence woman as the weaker sex bears the heaviest burdens. There is no form of heathenism, however some of its pre- cepts may be exalted by would-be admirers from Christian lands, which suggests anything substantial in alleviation of the lot of woman. In at least one of its features, the cardinal principle of Hinduism, explained by the Brahman as "the saeredness of the cow and degradation of woman," is common to all heathenism. Christianity is the only religion which exalts woman to her true position as the equal asso- ciate and helpmeet of man. It was the increasing recognition of these truths £6 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS which led to the formation of the first woman's mis- sionary societies. In all the earlier years of our Baptist foreign missions the women in the churches were among the most ardent and efficient workers and contributors to the enterprise. In many churches the work of the collection of funds had been largely left to them. There came a time, however, when many of the most earnest and devoted friends of missions among the women of the churches felt pressing upon them more heavily the special and urgent needs of their sisters in heathen lands. The sentiment gradually crystallized until it resulted in the formation of separate foreign missionary soci- eties for women. Not that it Avas proposed that the women of the churches should separate themselves from the general societies, but it was hoped that by separate organization, while still continuing their efforts and gifts on behalf of the general work, special funds might be raised for woman's work for women in heathen lands, without encroaching upon the income of the general societies. This sentiment led to the formation, in 1871, of the "Woman's Bap- tist Foreign Missionary Society, with headquarters in Boston, and The Woman's Baptist Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the West, with headquarters in Chicago. It was not at any time proposed that these societies should be entirely independent of the American Baptist Missionary Union, but that they were to be auxiliary, and while the missionaries to be supported by the woman's societies were to be woman's baptist missionary societies 97 selected and recommended, and the funds they should gather designated by them, the appointment of the missionaries was to rest with the executive committee of the Missionary Union, and all the funds of the woman's societies, with the exception of those for home expenses, were to pass through the treasury of the Union and be disbursed as the gifts of the women had been heretofore. As a movement among women, the formation of these societies has been a great success, both societies having had a large growth and been very success- ful in the raising of funds. While it cannot be said that they have wholly avoided diversion of moneys from the general funds of the Missionary Union, it is still undoubtedly true that the special eiforts of the woman's societies have largely increased the contributions of the women in our churches for foreign missions over the natural increase that might have been expected without these agencies. The increase of the funds of the woman's societies has been in larger proportion than that of the general funds of the Missionary Union, and as their funds have been devoted especially to school and evangel- istic work among women it has been thought to have led to a disproportionate increase of these branches of mission work in contrast with the gen- eral evangelistic work of the missions. In later years a larger proportion of the funds of women has been designated to general work, so aiding directly the principal feature of the missionary enterprise. c; 98 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS The success of the woman's societies with head- quarters in Boston and Chicago, led to the formation of the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of California, in 1875, and the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Oregon, in 1878, for similar work among the women of the Baptist churches on the Pacific coast. Recognizing the pos- sibility of undue development of school and evan- gelistic work among women the society of California took the new departure of assuming the full support of a missionary and his wife, Rev. and Mrs. J. H. Scott, in Osaka, Japan. This suggestive initiative has had an influence upon the other woman's soci- eties. Woman's foreign missionary societies have also been organized in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and other States, but they are entirely sub- sidiary to the other societies — that in Pennsylvania to the society with headquarters in Boston, and those in Michigan, Ohio, and the Western States to the Woman's Society of the West. The fields of the four woman's societies, organized as auxiliary to the American Baptist Missionary Union, are entirely conterminous with those of the Union itself. Each society has the privilege of taking up work in any of the fields of the Union, and of engaging in any portion of the work which may commend itself especially to the managers of the societies. The Boston and Chicago societies are carrying on work in all the fields on which the missionaries of the Union are engaged, while the society of California woman's baptist MISSIONARY societies 99 has hitherto limited its efforts to Japan. The Ore- gon society has had missionaries in India. Stimulated by the action of these sisters in the Northern States the Baptist women of the South began to be inspired by a desire for more aggressive and independent action on behalf of missions. In their organization, however, they were able to learn lessons of value from the experience of the Northern societies, and owing somewhat also to the closer and more vital church life of the Baptist churches in the Southern States the Woman's Missionary Union, or- ganized in 1888 as auxiliary to the Southern Bap- tist Convention, is more strictly identified with and subordinate to the Convention, and their relations to the general society are more intimate than those of the woman's societies in the Northern States with the Missionary Union. While having a special in- terest, of course, in the evangelization of women in heathen lands, the Woman's Missionary Union aux- iliary to the Southern Baptist Convention in its constitution defines its purpose to be : 1. To distribute missionary information and stimulate effort, through State Central Committees, where they exist ; and, where they do not, to encourage the organ- ization of new societies. 2. To secure the earnest, systematic co-operation of women and children in collecting and raising money for missions. It will thus be seen that the women of the Southern Baptist churches limit their special and 100 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS separate endeavors to the spread of missionary in- formation and interest among the churches, and that the funds raised by them are wholly and without special designation devoted to the general purposes of the work of the Mission Boards. All these societies, as well as the Women's Home Mission Societies hereafter named, hold their inde- pendent annual meetings and have a full organiza- tion and a full complement of officers. Inspired by the same general impulses there was formed in 1877 the Women's Baptist Home Mission Society, having its headquarters in Chicago. In this case, however, the organization is entirely independ- ent of the general missionary societies of the Baptist churches, while working in the same general lines and for the same purposes. This society has estab- lished a Missionary Training School in Chicago, where women missionaries are trained for both home and foreign missionary work. Naturally its chief work has been within the limits of the United States, but aside from this it has maintained mis- sionaries in Mexico since 1886, and has already in- augurated missionary effort for the more lately opened missionary fields of Porto Rico and Cuba. In the same year the Women's American Baptist Home Mission Society, with headquarters in Boston, was organized for work in needy fields in North America. This society, however, is auxiliary to the American Baptist Home Mission Society, through the treasury of which all its funds are disbursed, woman's BAPTIST MISSIONARY societies 101 with the exception of the expenditures for Alaska, official salaries, and for some miscellaneous work. In addition to educational work for girls in the South and other mission work, this society has taken as its special field, missionary work in Alaska, where it has assumed the full support of missionary families for general evangelistic work. It has also established an excellent work on Wood Island in an orphan- age for the children of the Indians. This has at- tracted great interest and has commended itself, not only because of the needy field which it occupies, but by the usefulness of its work, which embraces not only Christian education for the children but training in many features of industrial work. While, as above stated, it cannot be claimed that the woman's societies have entirely avoided encroach- ment on the fields and funds of the general societies, this has not been due to the intention or eiforts of the management of the societies, but to certain nat- ural and inevitable tendencies connected with any special or partially disconnected work, and they have unquestionably made good their claim to a large in- crease of missionary interest and effort among the women of our churches all over the land. CHAPTER XII AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA BURMA, the earliest, and for many years the only, foreign mission field of American Bap- tists, has always retained a peculiar hold upon the interest and affections of the Baptist churches of this country. While beginnings of missions had been made in Siam, China, Assam, and Southern India, previous to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 and the consequent division of the missionary work of the Baptists of the United States, yet these beginnings were so small as not to have obtained a firm grasp upon the interest of the people at that time, and Burma was then, and continues to be, in a peculiar sense, the well beloved mission child of all the Baptists of this country, North and South. The nature of the country and its peoples furnishes a just basis for the deep and abiding interest which has been felt in missions in that country. Although now but one of the prov- inces of the British Empire in India, when Baptist missions were begun in Burma by Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson, in 1813, it was entirely under the rule of a savage king, and their enter- prise was the first attack made by Christian mis- 102 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 103 sionaries on the native kingdoms of the East. Carey and his companions were located in the Danish set- tlement in Serampore, and Swartz and others of the earliest missionaries in India had also been under the protection of civilized governments. The pecu- liarly heroic character of the assault of the Judsons on the notoriously savage and cruel native kingdom of Burma, was recognized by their missionary asso- ciates in India and made a deep impression upon the whole Christian world. When American Baptists began their foreign missions in Burma, it was then as now a country of extraordinary fertility and productiveness. Great progress, whether commercial or Christian, was im- possible under native rule. But the successive con- quests of the English and the annexation to their dominions of Arakan and Tenasserim in 1826, of Pegu in 1854, and of all Upper Burma in 1885, have gradually opened the entire country to civil- ization, commerce, and the free and uninterrupted labors of Christian missions, and Burma is to-day recognized as the most prosperous and most prom- ising province of British India. Wages are more than three times as high as in the peninsula of Hindustan across the bay of Bengal, and the inter- nal resources of Burma are increasing with remarka- ble rapidity. Although the population numbers but little more than eight millions, and from this point of view it might seem to offer only a minor field for missionary effort, yet the variety of races 104 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS and languages represented, numbering as many as forty-seven, and their relations to the peo- ples of the surrounding countries, India, Assam, China, Tonking, and Siam, vastly enlarge the importance of Burma as a field for Christian mis- sions. The additional fact that it is also the strong- hold of Buddhism, as well as the residence of many animistic tribes, makes Burma the religious key to southeastern Asia. In this extraordinarily and exceptionally attractive country Baptists have from the first found an ample and encouraging field for missionary effort, and they have cultivated it with such assiduity that the num- ber of Christian missionaries in proportion to popu- lation has always been greater in Burma than in any other foreign mission field, and the success of the Baptist mission has been so great as to lead other religious bodies to leave this field largely to the Baptists. In recent years a few missionaries of the English Wesleyan and American Methodists have located at some points in Burma, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, repre- senting the High Church element of the Church of England, has sustained missionaries there, but aside from these the entire responsibility for giving the gos- pel to Burma has devolved upon American Baptists. Just previous to the separation of American Bap- tists into two foreign missionary organizations in 1845, the labors of Judson and his associates, alluded to in the earlier chapters of this volume, had begun AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION'S IN BURMA L05 to bear abundant fruit. The work of Rev. Justus H. Vinton among the Karens of Rangoon district had been greatly blessed. During the prevalence of a famine, Mr. Vinton, after distributing all the rice in his storehouses, had pledged his personal credit to the rice merchants for a large quantity, and freely distributed it, not only among the starving Christians, but among the heathen who applied. As afterward among the Telugus at Ongole, this action paved the way for the gospel. Mr. Vinton in his tours among the people was everywhere wel- comed as " the man who saved our lives," and the gospel which he preached was freely received by those whose hearts had been opened by gratitude for material blessings. Hundreds were baptized, and the Rangoon Karen mission, the headquarters of which were then located on the premises which they still occupy in the Kemendine district of Ran- goon City, was started on that career of prosperity which continued in succeeding years, and which placed the mission second in numbers in Burma. The remarkable religious interest among the Karens in Southwestern Burma, first centered at Sandoway across the mountains in Arakan, had grown in num- bers and in self-reliance, so that in 1849 the Karen pastors of Bassein, where the headquarters of the mission had then been located, resolved to relin- quish all assistance from mission funds and to rely wholly upon their churches for support. In 18.~i() a Karen Home Mission Society was formed in 106 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Bassein, and in 1854 a similar society among the Karens of Rangoon, for missionary work among their own people, these being, it is believed, the first two societies of the kind ever formed in heathen lands. The practice of entire self-support, then inaugurated by the Bassein Karens, has prevailed in that mission to the present day, and the work at the same time has experienced large spiritual pros- perity, so that it stands first in point of numbers among the missions in Burma, and has been an illustrious example of self-support, self-management, and liberality to Christian missions in all heathen lands. On May 16, 1878, fifty years after the baptism of the first Karen convert, Kothahbyu, the Bassein Karens dedicated the Kothahbyu Me- morial Hall for the use of the Sgaw-Karen Normal and Industrial Institute. The cost of this building- was twenty-two thousand dollars, and for the build- ing and its endowment the Bassein Karens raised at that time more than thirty-one thousand dollars, a record seldom if ever equalled by any Christian community in heathen lands. The Rangoon Karens, with the assistance of English residents of Rangoon and friends in America and England, also erected a fine chapel called " Franc's Chapel," — from the fact that the first gift to the chapel was a five franc piece from a poor woman, — which furnished accom- modations for their school and religious worship on the mission compound in Rangoon. With the rapid increase in the number of con- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 107 verts, the pressing importance of education, and es- pecially of training religious leaders for the people, was early pressed upon the attention of the mission- aries. In 1838 a Burman theological school was started by Edward A. Stevens, d. d., which after his death was continued by A. T. Rose, D. D., and later incorporated as the Burman department of the theological seminary at Insein. The Karen Liter- ary and Theological Institution was organized in 1846, in Moulmein, by J. G. Binney, d. d., and was afterward removed to Rangoon as the Karen Theo- logical Seminary, and later to Insein, nine miles from Rangoon, where the scope of the seminary was enlarged in 1894 to include the training not only of Karens, but Burmans, as above noted, and of Christian preachers and pastors for all the races of Burma. The Rangoon Baptist College, for the higher education of young men of all races in Burma, was begun in 1872 by Doctor Binney, who also con- tinued at the same time to be the president of the theological seminary. Associated with him in the early work of the college were John Packer, d. d., afterward for many years president of the college, and Rev. Chapin H. Carpenter, who, however, soon removed to the care of the Karen work in Bassein, with which his labors in Burma were principally identified. Connected with the removal of Mr. Carpenter to Bassein was the first use of the Atlantic cable for Baptist mission purposes. Rev. B. C. Thomas had 108 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS been compelled to leave Bassein, where he had worn himself out in the service of the mission, and had died in New York City but one day after reaching America. The question of the leadership of the great Bassein Sgaw-Karen mission was pending, and the executive committee of the Missionary Union con- sidered the matter at a special meeting hold Oct. 26, 1867, and sent this message by cable to the Missionary Convention assembled in Rangoon : "Carpenter transferred to Bassein, and Smith to Rangoon." The message was delivered in three days after leaving Boston and produced a profound impression on the missionaries in Burma. It was recognized as the beginning of a new era in the con- duct of missionary work. When four months were required for the quickest communication between the missionaries and the official headquarters of the Union, even the most important questions were de- layed in settlement oftentimes to the serious injury of the work. Now that the time of question and answer was reduced to a few days, as later to a few hours, a new ease and facility in the adjustment of all missionary questions were afforded. An important feature of the missionary work in Burma in all its stages has been the printing press, which, starting from the small hand press used by Felix Carey, and afterward given by the Serampore mission to the American Baptist mission for the use of Rev. George H. Hough, the associate of Judson, has increased to the large establishment now known AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 109 as the American Baptist Mission Press in Rangoon. From the Baptist Mission Press in Burma four complete editions of the Bible have been issued. The Burman Bible, translated by Adoniram Jndson, was put to press in Moulmein in 1840 by Rev. S. M. Osgood, afterward agent of the Missionary Union in New York City. He also printed there a second edition of the same work. The Tavoy and Moul- mein presses were afterward united and removed to Rangoon, where they have remained to the present day. Here was printed in 1853 the translation of the Bible in Sgaw-Karen made by Rev. Francis Mason, the translation of the Bible into Pwo-Karen by Rev. D. L. Brayton in 1883, and the Shan Bible by J. N. Cushing, D. d., in 1891. Many editions of the New Testament and portions of Scripture in these languages have also been issued from the mission press, as well as portions of Scripture in four or more additional languages and dialects of Burma. " The Religious Herald," a Burman paper started in 1842, and "The Morning Star," in Karen, begun in 1843, have been issued from this press continuously from the beginning, as well as millions of tracts and many Christian books for the use of the growing Christian community in Burma. It is the only printing press in the world which has facilities for printing in several languages used by many millions of people. The name longest connected with the press is that of Rev. Cephas Bennett, who re- tired in 1881, after fifty years' service as superinten- 110 AMERICAS BAPTIST MISSIONS dent. He was succeeded by Mr. Frank D. Phinney, under whose efficient management the work of the press has been greatly enlarged, employing in 1900 about one hundred and thirty persons in all depart- ments. By the conclusions of the Moulmein Convention held in connection with the deputation from the Missionary Union in 1853, the Karen missionaries felt themselves to be aggrieved, and Rev. Justus H. Vinton, Rev. Durlin L. Brayton, Rev. Norman Harris, and Rev. John S. Beecher, as well as Rev. A. T. Rose, of the Burman Department, resigned their connection with the Missionary Union. The separation continued in the case of the Bassein Karen mission for thirteen years, and of the Ran- goon Karen mission for seventeen years. During these years the missionary work w r as carried on without interruption on both these fields, the mission- aries and various departments of the work being supported by the contributions of the Karens, by the liberal contributions of the English residents of Rangoon, who in the year 1857 gave as much as sixteen thousand and thirty-nine rupees, and by re- mittances from friends in England. American con- tributions for the missions were forwarded, as has been stated, through the American Baptist Free Mission Society, the secretary of which, Nathan Brown, d. d., sympathized with the missionaries and the reasons which led them to withdraw from the Missionary Union. The misunderstandings AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS EN BURMA 111 which led to the separation having passed away, the Bassein mission was reunited with the Union and the other mission work in Burma in 1867, and the Rangoon Karen mission in 1871, and the mission- aries cordially resumed their connection with the society and their co-operation with the other brethren in Burma. The points of difference were especially in regard to the establishment and conduct of local schools and the measure of individual liberty which was to be accorded to the missionaries. In the light of clearer understanding of the needs and best methods of missionary work all differences on these points have been removed. In 1855 there were nine Baptist mission stations in Burma : Rangoon, Moulmein, Tavoy, Bassein, Henzada, Toungoo, Shwegyin, Prome, and Thongze, all of which except the first four had been opened since 1853, in consequence of the deliberations of the Moulmein Convention. From this time for twenty-one years no new mission stations were opened in Burma ; but with the centers already es- tablished large progress continued to be made, es- pecially in the Rangoon, Bassein, Henzada, and Toungoo Karen missions, which continued to be the strongest and most prosperous departments of labor in the Burman missions, the Rangoon and Bassein missions having two departments, the Sgaw- Karen and Pwo-Karen, while the two tribes of Karens in the Henzada district remained in union in their Christian work. At Toungoo two principal 112 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS divisions exist, that among the Paku ami the Bwe- Karens. The Sgaw and the Pwo are the principal tribes of the Karens, being about equally divided in number, the Pwos being more nearly allied in habits and custom to the Burmans, while the Sgaw- Karens are more primitive in their manners, less affected by Buddhism, and have received the gospel more largely than any other division of the Karen people or any other race in Burma. During the years previous to 1876 the missionary work was strengthening and extending on all the fields in Burma preparatory to a rapidity of expan- sion similar to that which had been experienced in 1853, 1854, and 1855. In 1876 two stations were opened, at Tharawadi among the Karens and at Zigon among the Burmans, and the next year a mission was begun by J. N. dishing, D. d., at Bhamo, eight hundred miles north of Rangoon, in Upper Burma, with the design of reaching the Shans and tribes on the borders of Western China. For several years the Bhamo mission had a check- ered history, having a rapid succession of mission- aries; at one time the city was taken by marauding bands of Chinese robbers and the missionaries were compelled wholly to retire from the field. With the capture of Upper Burma by the English in 1885, the mission in Bhamo was permanently re-estab- lished, and there the missionaries have continued their labors among the Burmans, the Shans, and the Kachins, with peculiar success among the last- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA llo named people. The war between the English and Thebaw, the last king of Burma, was brought on by the interference of the king with the operations of the British-Burma Lumber Company, whose business he had agreed to foster and protect. As in the previous wars with the English, the Burmans entered upon this contest with perfect confidence in their speedy success ; but their army was defeated at the first assault, and in December, 1885, Manda- lay, the capital, was captured with King Thebaw and his cruel and bloodthirsty queen, Soopayalat. The victory over the Burman army was an easy task for the British, but the pacification of the country proved far more difficult. The Burman soldiers formed themselves into bands of marauders, or da- coits, and hiding in the depths of jungle fastnesses, by sudden raids, robberies, and murder, kept the whole country in turmoil and fear. British soldiers, even though natives of India, found it impossible to follow these bands to their hiding-places, and made little progress in bringing them into subjection even after gaining the victory, having the same experience as the American army operating in later years under similar conditions in the Philippine Islands. These circumstances afforded opportunity for one of the most remarkable displays of the political benefits of Christian missions which history has supplied. Moved by distrust, the English government had de- creed that no native of Burma should be allowed to carry arms. After a time some of the missionaries H 114 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS obtained permission for the Karens in their churches to keep firearms to protect their villages from the dacoits, the missionaries becoming responsible for the good conduct of their converts. These Karens pursued the robber bands to their secret retreats in the jungle, captured their leaders and dispersed the bands of dacoits with such success that the govern- ment itself at once established a force of Karen military police, largely composed of Christians, and by this body was effected in a few months what the British army had vainly striven to accomplish — the complete pacification of Burma. For this serv- ice the government gave the Christian Karens and their leaders the warmest praise. For convenience, the headquarters of the Ran- goon Pwo Karen mission were removed to Man bin in 1879, the extension of facilities for travel having rendered possible residence in the jungle among the people. In 1886 the dream of Judson, the pioneer of American Baptist missions in Burma, was re- alized by the permanent establishment of a mission station in Mandalay, the capital of Upper Burma. This field included the sites of Ava and Oungpenla (Aungbinle), where Judson suffered his terrible im- prisonment. It is the chief city of Upper Burma and exercises an important influence upon the whole territory. The next year was signalized by the opening of three new missionary stations, one at Thayetmyo, on the Irawadi river, near the boundary of Upper Burma, one at Myingyan, one hundred AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA li-~; miles south of Mandalay, and another at Pegu, forty miles northeast of Rangoon, on the railroad running from Rangoon to Mandalay by the way of Toungoo. The succeeding year, 1888, was marked by the opening of two mission stations, one at Sagaing, on the west side of the Irawadi, fifteen miles below Mandalay, and opposite Ava, the scene of Judson's imprisonment, which is now included in the field of this station. An interesting event of this year also was the opening of a mission station at Sandoway, the sanitarium of Arakan, and in the earlier years of the mission the headquarters of the Bassein Sgaw- Karen mission. The new station, however, is for work among the Burmans and the Southern Chins, the northern being reached from Thayetmyo. The next year, 1889, also witnessed the opening of two stations, one at Insein, nine miles north of Rangoon, where the Baptist theological seminary was then lo- cated, and one at Meiktila, the military sanitarium of Upper Burma, between Toungoo and Mandalay. Mission work among the Shans had hitherto been carried on only among the scattered communities of this people found in Lower Burma and in Bhamo ; but with the complete pacification of the country under English rule the time had come to establish stations in the Shan territory of the eastern part of Burma, and one was opened at Hsipaw (Thibaw), in 1890, by Rev. M. B. Kirkpatrick, m. d., and another at Mongnai (Mone), in 1892, by A. H. Henderson, M. D. The next year another Shan station was 116 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS opened by Rev. W. W. Cochrane at Namkham in Upper Burma, about twenty-five miles southeast of Bhamo, in a beautiful valley and within one mile of the boundary line of China. Myitkyina, north of Bhamo, opened in 1894 for missionary work among the Kaehins, is the most northern station in Burma, and this and the new station among the Chins, opened in 1899 by Rev. A. E. Car- son, near the highway between Burma and Assam marks a large advance in the complete occupation of Burma by the Baptist missions and the nearer approach to the project cherished in the early days of the mission, when there should be a complete union between the missions in Burma and Assam. AVhile the earlier missionary efforts in Burma were confined to labors for the Burmans and the principal tribes of the Karens, — the Sgaw and the Pwo, — in later years they have been extended until they included special and distinctive labors for all of the forty-seven tribes and peoples represented in the limits of Burma who are sufficiently numerous to be mentioned in the British census of India, the latest mission to be established being work among the Chinese immigrants and traders and laborers in the city of Rangoon. These extended and com- prehensive labors of the Baptists for the peoples of Burma have so preoccupied the field that with the immense territories in other heathen lands still awaiting Christian labors there would seem to be no peculiar or pressing opening for the labors of repre- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 117 sentatives of other bodies for the polyglot and mul- tifarious peoples of Burma. The Baptist missions in Burma have been blessed with a fruitfulness which can only be compared with the extraordinary fertility of its own productive soil. In 1900 the members of Baptist churches numbered about thirty-five hundred Bunnaus, and thirty-five thousand Karens, with a total church- membership of all races approaching fifty thousand, and representing a Christian population of half a million, occupying the most strategic and influential territory of southeastern Asia. From their success- ful missions in Burma as a fulcrum, American Bap- tists have facilities already provided for reaching out in every direction to the varied peoples and tongues of all surrounding countries. From the earliest years of their history the missions in Burma have called for the services of some of the ablest representatives of the Baptist ministry in this country, and oftentimes the sacrifice of precious lives. Adoniram Judson, the founder of the mis- sions, died at sea, April 12, 1850, when three days out on a voyage from Rangoon ; and many others of his companions and his successors in labors have passed to their reward after long years of useful service for Christ in Burma. The earliest youthful .martyrs to the missions, Wheelock and Colman, have also had their successors, who, after but a few months or years, having scarcely entered upon mis- sionary service for the people of Burma, have been 118 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS called to withdraw their strong and youthful hands from the plow to join the praises of the redeemed in the heavenly country. The mission to the Slums has been peculiarly afflicted in this respect, no less than three young and promising missionaries, Rev. Edwin D. Kelley, Rev. Albert J. Lyon, and Rev. Bennet J. Mix, being lost to the mission within a few years, when just on the threshold of their work ; and the number of those who have passed from earth to heaven after service for Christ in Burma com- prises an honored roll of heroic spirits, of whom we can now think as rejoicing in the presence of the Lord with the multitudes of Burmans, Karens, Shans, and representatives of other peoples of Burma, re- deemed from idolatry and sin and gathered as ripe sheaves in the harvest of heaven. As one by one these have passed on before, others like them in mind and in spirit have been raised up to enter upon their labors. Among these are many whose fathers and mothers gave their lives for the people of Burma. The " Bap- tist Missionary Magazine" for January, 1900, gives a list of seventeen of these honored sons and daugh- ters of venerated parents, who have entered most usefully upon the fields and services of their fore- bears — in some instances to the second generation. There is not only peculiar appropriateness in the children following in the footsteps of their fathers in missionary labors, but many practical advantages. Few natives of America can ever acquire an Eastern AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 119 tongue so as to speak it with the same facility as a native of these countries. Correct grammatical un- derstanding of a language may be obtained and ability to preach the gospel with clearness, and pos- sibly with some force, but few, if any missionaries, natives of the West, have ever been able to preach the gospel of Christ in any Eastern tongue with genuine fluency and eloquence. Children of mis- sionaries, however, born in an Eastern land, and having acquired some facility in pronunciation of the languages while young, even though they may have spent years of residence in America for educa- tion, on their return to Asia soon acquire an enviable facility in the use of the native dialects. Men like J. B. Vinton, Edward O. Stevens, and Willis F. Thomas have peculiar advantages in missionary work for the people among whom they were born, both in facility in speech and in familiarity with the customs, sentiments, and habits of the people. Baptist missions in Burma among all races have been advancing with a sure and steady progress from year to year. On no other field of American Baptist missions has there been gained so much de- velopment in all the elements of Christian and church life as understood among the churches in America. Self-support has become the rule in by far the larger number of the fields of Burma. In the re- port of the American Baptist Missionary Union for 1900, of the six hundred and eighty-five churches in Burma no less than four hundred and eighty-two were 120 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS entirely self-supporting, and this satisfactory indica- tion of genuine strength and growth of the churches of Burma is rapidly increasing from year to year. This self-support is supplemented by an encour- aging degree of self-dependence and self-manage- ment, which has found expression not only in the local Associations established on the plan of Bap- tist Associations in America, but in the Burman Baptist Missionary Convention, organized in 1865. This Convention, aside from its usual offices as rep- resenting all Baptist interests in Burma, is carry- ing on independent missions at its own cost, having maintained for several years missionaries to the Karens in Northern Siam, as the Bassein Karens have sustained several representatives of their own among the Kachins in the region of Bhamo, Upper Burma. This large development of all the substantial features of Christian life and growth has made neces- sary increased efforts for the training of leaders for the Baptists in Burma in their important and grow- ing enterprises. Rangoon Baptist College has in- creased to an attendance of more than five hundred in all the departments. The theological seminary at Insein is the largest in Asia, and has grown in numbers and usefulness, sending out yearly Burmans, Karens, Shans, and representatives of other races, in numbers, who become qualified and successful leaders of their own people in the work of the Lord. In short, in all the elements of an estab- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 12J lished Christian community, the Baptists in Burma have achieved marked success and a satisfactory growth, and stand with the Sandwich Islands and a few other of the island groups in the Pacific Ocean, as the only representatives of fields in which foreign missions have shown a near approach to the ultimate object of all missionary work, the establishment of an indigenous, self-supporting, self- managing and self-propagating Christianity. CHAPTER XIII BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM ASSAM, the most northeastern province of Brit- ish India, is a territory that is marked by a large variety and peculiarity of conditions. While the area as ordinarily computed is named at forty- nine thousand square miles, the limits of the coun- try are indefinite. The central part of Assam for the whole length is occupied by the marshy Brahma- putra Valley, while both the Himalaya Mountains on the north and the ranges of mountains intervening between Assam and Burma on the south, offer great changes of climate and homes for a large number of wild tribes. In its population of five million and a half are found almost as great a variety of races as in Burma ; but the whole population may be roughly divided between the Hindu Assamese of the Brahmaputra Valley and the animistic tribes occupying the hills to the north and south. In ad- dition to these there are coming an increasing popu- lation of immigrants from Chota Nagpur and other provinces of Central India, who labor in the tea gardens. Baptist missionary work in Assam has found its field of operations among these three divi- sions of people, the greatest success being among 122 BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 123 the animistic people and the immigrants, or labor- ers in the tea gardens. Sadiya, the first station occupied in Assam, was in the extreme northeastern portion of the country. This station was soon abandoned on account of the turbulence of the people, whose fierceness was be- yond the control of the English authorities. Before its abandonment, however, it became the scene of one of the tragedies of our Baptist foreign mis- sions. In 1837 Rev. Jacob Thomas was sent as a missionary to reinforce the laborers at Sadiya. He made the journey by vessel from America to Cal- cutta in safety, and the long journey by land and river across Bengal and the length of the Brahmapu- tra, until within a few miles of Sadiya. The voyage of the missionary party up the Brahmaputra was made in canoes, and after his long and perilous journey, just before arriving at his destination, while the canoe was tied to the bank preparatory to rest for the night, a tree from a part of the bank which had been undermined by the floods, falling across the canoe, crushed Mr. Thomas, and this young and promising life was ended when just entering upon missionary labor. After the abandonment of Sadiya, Sibsagor, to the southwest, opened in 1841, Nowgong, still farther to the southwest, opened the same year, and Gauhati, still nearer Bengal, opened in 1843, con- tinued to be the centers of missionary work in Assam for a period of thirty-three years, with the 124 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS exception of Goalpara, opened as a station for work among the Garos in 1867. This long period, with- out any sensible expansion of the work, is a true index of the character of the early missionary labors in the Brahmaputra Valley. The Hinduized As- samese are bigoted in the extreme, and although a large amount of persistent and devoted labor has been given to their salvation, even at the present day but a comparatively small number have been won to the gospel of Christ. If it had been only among the Assamese that our missionaries labored, Assam would have been abandoned as a mission field long ago. In 1842 was established by Rev. Miles Bronson the Nowgong Orphan Institution, in which a considerable number of preachers and other laborers among the Assamese were trained, and which has furnished nearly all the leading native laborers among the missions to the Assamese to the present day. Rev. Nathan Brown translated the New Tes- tament into Assamese, and others various books of the Old Testament, but the completion of the Bible was assigned to Rev. A. K. Gurney, who went to Assam in 1875 for this special work. In 1889, after twenty-four years devoted to this service, the translation and revision of the Old Testament and also the revision of the New were declared completed and ready for publication. Dr. Miles Bronson was the author of an Assamese Dictionary, which re- mains a useful monument to his long-continued and faithful labors for the Assamese. BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 125 As already intimated, the most promising fields for missions in Assam have been found among the animistic tribes on the hills and the laborers in the tea gardens. The first of these tribes to feel the in- Huence of the truth in a decided manner was the Garos, in the southwestern portion of Assam. These were reached from Goalpara, and the first converts showed a marked independence and energy in evangelistic labors for their fellow-tribesmen. So much interest was excited that in 1878 Rev. Marcus C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips decided to re- move the headquarters of the Garo mission from Goalpara to the English government station on the Garo Hills, at Tura. This movement proved wise and the cause of great prosperity in the Garo mis- sion. Messrs. Mason and Phillips were class com- panions in their studies in college and in the theo- logical seminary. They married sisters in Hamil- ton, N. Y., and throughout their missionary life have labored in the same fellowship and unity which marked their earlier years. Under their leadership the Garo mission, with headquarters at Tura, has made remarkable progress and proved to be one of the most aggressive, self-reliant, prosperous, and promising missions of the American Baptist Mis- sionary Union, reporting in 1900 more than four thousand church-members. This mission, however, is not more noted for its prosperity and increase in the number of converts than for the independence and self-reliance of the Garo Christians. They 126 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS have their Associations, organized on the plan of the Baptist Associations in America, which are con- ducted wholly by the natives, missionaries being present simply for interest and occasional advice. They not only maintain their own churches, but the Associations have their own missionaries who labor among their own people, and they are also sending out gospel laborers to adjoining tribes. Tura itself is a model of what a central missionary station should be, having its schools of various grades, with industrial features, and a training school for native workers, which supplies the virile and vigorous Garo churches with preachers and teachers. Next in prosperity after the Garo mission comes that to the immigrant laborers in the tea gardens of Assam. Tea culture in Assam is in a high state of development, the teas of Assam being the choicest in the world, and this commercial enterprise in the Brahmaputra Valley is rapidly extending. The successful extension of this business calls for a large number of new laborers, who are brought in from the central provinces of India, principally from Chota Nagpur. These people in their early homes have become somewhat familiar with Christianity from the missionaries of the Gossner Society, of Ger- many, and being little affected by Hinduism, and having a religion similar in its nature to that of the animistic tribes in the hills of Assam, they proved ready and willing hearers of the gospel and have been received into the churches in BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 127 large numbers. The Gologhat station, the most recently opened field among them, received one hundred and seven members into the church in the first year of its existence, 1898 ; hundreds also have been baptized in connection with the mis- sion at Sibsagor by Rev. C. E. Petrick, and the work at North Lakhimpur, on the north side of the river, under Rev. John Firth, and among the same people, is rapidly extending. The successful work among the large and power- ful Naga tribes in the southern hills of Assam was inaugurated by Rev. E. W. Clark, who in 1875 re- solved to abandon the comparatively fruitless work among the Assamese and devote himself especially to work for the Naga tribes. Mr. and Mrs. Clark, with remarkable heroism, established themselves at Molung in 1876, far in advance of the farthest out- posts of the British government and among a com- paratively wild and uncivilized and presumably savage people. They were, however, received with cordiality, and with one or two exceptions have been exposed to little peril from their savage surround- ings. Their long and persistent labors have been rewarded by the conversion to Christianity of almost the entire people of the village of Molung, where there is now the largest and most prosperous church in the Naga mission. For various reasons the head- quarters of the mission were removed a few years ago to Impur, where a training school for native Nagas was opened by Rev. S. A. Perrine in 1898. 128 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS A station among theNagas was also opened, in 1881, at Kohiina, the headquarters of the English govern- ment among the Angami Nagas, and later, in 1896, a station among the Tangkul Nagals was founded by Rev. William Pettigrew at Ukrul, Manipur. Both Kohima and Ukrul are on or near the high road between Assam and Burma, Ukrul being only about one hundred and fifty miles north of the most re- cently opened station at Haka, among the Chins of northwestern Burma. The establishment of these stations points to an early and intimate union of the Baptist mission work in Burma and Assam. The success of the work among the Garos, Nagas, and other animistic tribes of the hills, encouraged the establishment of missionary work among other tribes of this same class of people. Rev. Penn E. Moore, brother of Rev. Pitt H. Moore, long the leading missionary in the work for the Assamese in Nowgong, with Rev. J. M. Carvell, established a work among the Mikirs to the south of Nowgong, about 1895. The Garo Baptist churches are send- ing missionaries to a neighboring tribe called the Rabhas, for whom the old Garo station at Goalpara has recently been reopened by Rev. A. E. Stephen. The Garos have also sent a missionary to labor among the tribes to the north of the Brahmaputra. From past experience and present success mission- ary labor in Assam will be directed chiefly to these simple animistic tribes, who are more ready to re- ceive the gospel than the bigoted Hindu Assamese. BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 129 An extremely interesting development of later missionary work in Assam appeared in the opening of a mission station in Dibrugarh, in the extreme northeast of Assam, as a center for work on the same field occupied by the first missionaries, who chose Sadiya as their headquarters. The British govern- ment has now established itself so that labors in this region arc pursued with entire safety, and the growth of the tea industry and mining operations and the development of oil wells in this region has made it one of the most prosperous in Assam, in a commercial sense, and one of the most interest- ing for missionary work. The reoccupation of north- eastern Assam also brings toward an early realiza- tion the dream of the first missionaries in Assam, that the Brahmaputra Valley might prove a highway for the 'gospel of Christ to Western China, and Tibet. Both of these territories are within com- paratively easy reach of the latest opened missionary station at Dibrugarh. Owing partially to the diversity of interests rep- resented in the missions, but more to the slow prog- ress of the work in its earlier years, the literary, educational, and church development of the missions in Assam has far from equaled that accomplished in the missions in Burma during the same length of time. Aside from Dr. Bronson's Dictionary, the translation of the Bible already referred to, and a hymn book in Assamese, the missions in the Brah- maputra Valley have accomplished little along 130 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS literary or educational lines. A paper in Assamese, called the " Orunodoi," started in 1846 for the benefit of the native Christians, was discontinued after a number of years. In the Garo mission, how- ever, more advancement in literature can be re- corded. The " Achini Ripeng," or " Garo Friend," founded by Messrs. Mason and Phillips, in 1876, the year of removal to Tura, has continued, and has been a source of great helpfulness in the mis- sionary work and in the enlargement of the intelli- gence and activity of the Garo Christians. The church life among the Garo Christians is also dis- tinctly in advance in independence and self-reliance as well as self-support, of the older churches of the valley. The schools in the Garo Christian villages are entirely independent of mission support, and furnish, with the central boarding and training- schools at Tura, a complete course of education and training for the teachers and preachers needed in the Garo mission. The recently rapidly growing churches among the Nagas also have shown great independence, liberality, and self-reliance — qualities in which the churches among the tea-garden labor- ers are yet lacking, although these are advancing rapidly in point of numbers. According to the common opinion of the missionaries in all depart- ments of the work in Assam, the great need of the missions is a central training or biblical school for preparing pastors and leaders for the Christian churches of all races within the limits of Assam. BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 131 The rapid increase in numbers in the tea-garden churches in the valley, the Garo churches, and the Naga churches on the hills, point to this central educational institution as an imperative necessity. By the prosperity of the missions among the Garos, the Nagas, and the tea-garden laborers, in recent years, the character of the missions in Assam has been transformed, and the years of discouragement changed into a future bright with hope. CHAPTER XIV BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA THE American Baptist mission among the Telu- gus of Southern India is universally regarded as one of the miracles of modern missions. Its his- tory is a story of the most striking contrasts and the greatest successes. The story of the mission may be divided into three periods. First, the long years of faithful labor with little fruit, from the beginning of the mission in 1836, when Nellore was the only station — the "Lone Star" of the Telugu mission. Second, the gradual growth of the mission, from the establishment of Ongole, the second station, in 1866, to December 31, 1876, when there were four thousand three hundred and ninety-four converts ; and third, the era of Pente- costal blessings following the great ingathering after the famine of 1877 and continuing to the famine of 1900. The founding of the work among the Telugus is one of the romantic stories of our missionary history. After the death of the Rev. James Colman, of Ar- akan, referred to in the earlier chapters of this vol- ume, Mrs. Colman spent some years in Calcutta as a teacher and in religious work, and was after- 132 BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 133 ward married to Rev. Amos Sutton, a missionary of the English Baptist mission in Orissa. In 1835 Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were on a visit to her relatives in America, and Mr. Sutton took occasion to be present at the meeting of the Baptist General Mis- sionary Convention held in Richmond, Virginia. For the first time in its history the Convention found itself with a surplus of funds in the treasury, and Mr. Sutton's address in which he called attention to the needs of the Telugu people to the south of Orissa received immediate response. The next year, Rev. Samuel S. Day went out to India and became the founder of the American Baptist mission among the Telugus. After a brief sojourn at Vizagapatam and Chicacole, and a longer stay at Madras, he located the permanent headquarters of the mission at Nel- lore, in February, 1840, where he was joined by Lyman Jewett, D. d., in 1848. For a long time the Telugu people proved unresponsive to the faithful and diligent labors of the missionaries. All the usual methods of missionary work were pursued with diligence but with scant success. The gospel was faithfully preached by the missionaries and the native helpers they had gathered about them in all the district round about Nellore, and the evangelistic tours extended even as far north as Ongole. So small was the encouragement in the number of converts gained in the mission that, in 1848, the question of the abandonment of the Telugu mission was raised at the annual meeting of the Union in 134 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Troy, N. Y. The feeling of opposition to the mis- sion continued to grow until, at the annual meeting held in Albany, N. Y., in 1853, it found decided expression. At this meeting the abandonment of the mission, or rather its transfer to the more prom- ising field of Burma, across the bay of Bengal, was earnestly advocated in a long discussion by many of the ablest leaders in the denomination. It was at this meeting that the historic phrase, the " Lone Star," was coined as applied to Nellore, the single station of the Telugu mission. After many argu- ments for the transfer of the mission, one speaker, presumed to be Edward Bright, D. D., then the home secretary of the Missionary Union, pointing to the map, declared that he would never write the letter calling for the blotting out of the "Lone Star" on the map of India. The name fixed itself upon the mind of Samuel F. Smith, D.D., the author of " Amer- ica," and in the night he penciled on some stray sheets of paper he happened to have by him the famous poem, " The Lone Star." The poem was read in the meeting of the Union the next morning ; but already the tide had turned and it was resolved to continue the Telugu mission. The number of converts not increasing, however, again the opposi- tion to the mission arose at the annual meeting in Providence, in 1862, and after discussion it was re- solved to await the arrival of Rev. Lyman Jewett, then on his way to America. After Doctor Jewett's arrival, upon meeting the executive committee, BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 135 the situation was placed before him, and his reply was, that whatever the executive committee or the Missionary Union did, his determination was never to abandon the Telugus. The reply of Jonah G. Warren, d. d., then foreign secretary of the Union, was equally historic : " Well, Brother Jewett, if you are resolved to return to India, we must send some one with you to give you a Christian burial in that heathen land." So the Telugu mission was not only continued, but reinforced. On the first Monday in January, 1854, was held one of the most celebrated prayer meetings in the history of Christian missions. It was attended by only five persons, Doctor Jewett, Mrs. Jewett, Christian Nursu, a native preacher, and two Chris- tian Bible women, Julia and Ruth. The meeting- was held on top of a hill overlooking the village of Ongole. A heathen temple adorned the slope of the hill and below them stretched the large village, as yet utterly given over to heathenism. Each of the five earnestly prayed in turn for a missionary for Ongole. Mr. Jewett's faith arose to the height of believing that the prayers would be answered, and pointing to a lovely and sightly spot, as yet en- tirely overgrown with cactus, he said: "Julia, would not that be a good place for a mission house ?" That was the spot on which the house of the first missionary to Ongole was situated. In April of that same year Mr. James Wilkins was sent from Nel- lore to take up government work in Ongole. He 136 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS chose this very spot for which prayer had been made and built a house upon it. When he was transferred from Ongole his house passed into other hands. In 1860, Lieutenant Lugard, a Christian officer appointed to Ongole, took tea with Mr. Jewett at Nellore. When he arrived at Ongole he bought this house, and on leaving the place the next year he notified Mr. Jewett that he could have it for fifteen hundred rupees. Mr. Jewett borrowed five hundred rupees to pay the cash required and wrote to Mr. Reuben Wright, a gentleman living in the West and an old schoolmate of Mr. Jewett's in Worcester Academy, for help. Mr. Wright sent the balance needed for the purchase of the house. So the prayers offered on Prayer Meeting Hill, as it has long been known, began to be answered. The complete answer came in 1866. In 1864, just as the American Baptist missions were entering upon the second half-century of their existence, a young man from Iowa presented him- self to the executive committee of the American Baptist Missionary Union as a candidate for ap- pointment as a missionary. The impression which lie produced at first was not the most favorable. As he was leaving the committee room after re- lating his Christian experience and call to mis- sionary labor, Doctor Baron Stow asked him what he would do if the committee should not decide to send him as a missionary to India. His modest but firm reply, was, " Then I must find some other BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 137 way to go." The committee decided to appoint him, and the result of this appointment was the securing- of John E. Clough to the American Bap- tist Telugu mission in India. There were certain indications of special providence in the connection of Doctor Clough with this mission. First, he was born the same year in which the mission was estab- lished. God raised him up at the same time that he organized the mission, and through the long years of its slow progress he was gradually reaching man's estate and obtaining his preparation for mis- sionary work. Secondly, he had some acquaintance with civil engineering before going as a missionary, and so was prepared to take the contract for digging four miles of the Buckingham Canal, by which he was enabled to save the lives of many thousands during the great famine of 1876-1877. Third, his eminent executive abilities were such as to keep everything in the completest order and efficiency when the converts began to come into the mission in such multitudes. The story of the famine and the great ingathering among the Telugus of the Ongole District in India is one of the most thrilling of Christian history. It has often been related, but even at the risk of repetition cannot be omitted from such a work as this. The following account was taken down from the lips of Doctor Clough himself during one of his visits to America : In July, 1876, the usual southwest monsoon, 138 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS which sprouts and waters the young rice crop, failed entirely, and also the northwest monsoon in October. All now saw that a famine was inevitable, and word was sent to England and America, and to every place from which aid could be expected that unless help was received many thousands of the people must perish. Generous responses were received, and the starving Telugus were carried on till the next June when they were furnished with seed grain, and their fields planted. But no sooner was the young crop fairly up than a long rain came on, and all the rice rotted in the ground. Again was seed grain furnished for the October monsoon, and the growing crop gave promise of a harvest when clouds of locusts came, obscuring even the sun at noonday and the crop was again destroyed before the hungry eyes of the helpless people. But help was received from every quarter, and through the committees and sub-committees of the relief fund food was distributed and the lives of the people saved. One of the measures of relief adopted by the government was the construction of the Buckingham Canal from Madras to a point near Ongole, which furnished employment to thousands of Telugus and enabled them to keep themselves and their families from starvation. Doctor Clough took the contract for the construction of four miles of this canal. He sent couriers throughout all the Ongole district to tell the people that there was plenty of work for BAPTIST MISSIONS IX SOUTHERN INDIA 139 all, and that he would see that they were well treated, and all who could not work should be cared for, so the people came by thousands to his camp on the line of the canal. The native Christian preachers he appointed overseers in the work. Each had his appointed number of laborers, and when they were not at work the preacher read the Bible to them and taught them of the gospel. After gain- ing a little strength and money some would return to their homes, and others would come in their places, so that while the camp contained perhaps six thousand people at a time, the population was constantly changing, and many times that number became familiar with its blessings before the work was finished and the famine ended. In all this time none were received into the church, although many applied for baptism. On Christmas morning, 1877, Doctor Clough awoke to find the mission compound at Ongole filled with a multitude of two thousand three hundred persons, who had come to him to ask to be baptized, but he declined to re- ceive them, fearing they were moved by a desire to obtain help in their distress, rather than by a sin- cere love for the truth. In June, 1878, after the fourth distribution of seed grain was planted, word was sent through all the district that the people must care for them- selves, the people of England and America could do no more. And now that the Telugus could ex- pect no more aid from him as chairman of the re- 140 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS lief committee, Doctor Clough thought he might begin to baptize those who were applying. He told the preachers to give him the names of the most important men in the villages, of heads of families, whom they believed to be true Christians, and these to the number of about three hundred were sum- moned to Ongole, and after proper examination, baptized. A few days after, about three hundred! more, having heard of the baptism of the others, came in and, with the same preliminary care, were received. Doctor Clough now began to see that it would be necessary to take more adequate measures to deal with the wonderful work which God was evidently doing among this people. He, therefore, sent each preacher to his field with instructions to carefully examine all who desired baptism, and call a limited number to meet him on a certain day at Vilumpilly, on the banks of the Gundalacuma River, north of Ongole, but not to let a large multi- tude of the people come. The morning after his arrival there, to his astonishment, Doctor Clough found the fields about his bungalow filled with a multitude of people who had disregarded the com- mands of the preachers, and although still weak from the effects of the famine, had come, many of them, long distances to claim the privilege of put- ting on the Lord Jesus in his appointed way. Then was the Scripture fulfilled, " The kingdom of heaven suffercth violence and the violent take it by force." Each preacher was told to gather the people from BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 141 his field about him under the shade of a particular tamarind tree, and soon in "God's first temples" forty or more inquiry meetings were in progress, superintended by the missionary passing from one to another. July 1, the careful examinations were all completed, and the names of those con- sidered prepared for baptism taken down and handed to Doctor Clough. At Vilumpilly the government road from Ongole to Hyderabad crosses the Gundalacuma River, whose banks rise precipitously about twenty feet above high water mark. The macadamized road slopes down through the bank from about one hun- dred and fifty yards away from the river to the bed of the stream, which is nearly dry in the dry season. It was now high water and the stream backed up into the cut made for the road, with its hard and sloping bottom forming a natural baptistery un- surpassed for convenience and fitness. Early in the morning the people gathered on the sides of the cut above the road. Two preachers descended the slop- ing bed of the road into the water, two clerks on each side the cut called the names of the candidates in order, and thus, first one preacher baptizing a candidate and then the other, the holy work pro- ceeded from six in the morning till ten in the fore- noon. The preachers were relieved by two others every hour, so that they might not become weary or chilled, and thus all the six ordained native preachers connected with the Ongole mission were 142 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS permitted to have a part in this marvelous scene. At two in the afternoon the baptizing was resumed, and between five and six o'olock in the evening all was done. Two thousand, two hundred and twenty- two persons had been baptized in a single day, July 3, 1878, only two persons administering the ordi- nance at one time, and all was done decently and in order. Thus was forever disproved the argument that it was impossible for three thousand to be im- mersed in a day as related in the Acts of the Apos- tles. All the circumstances being considered, it must be confessed that this was the most wondrous scene which the church of Christ has ever witnessed since the day of Pentecost. Some of the monks and bishops of the Middle Ages may have baptized larger numbers in a single day, but they are not supposed to have been genuine spiritual converts, carefully examined before reception, as were these, and the firmness and consistency with which these Christians have since maintained their profession has proved how thorough and careful was the work of the preliminary examination. But this was not the end. Doctor Clough called Mr. Williams, of Ramapatam to his aid, and the one to the West and the other to the North, they jour- neyed with their native preachers throughout all the Ongole field of ten thousand square miles, preaching and baptizing, until, before the end of the year, nine thousand were added to the church, and the largest Baptist church in the world was found, BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 143 not in England, America, or Germany, but in India among the Telugus, "Hindus of the Hindus," in that mission which less than twenty years before the Baptists of America had well-nigh abandoned because of its unfruitfulness. The people of India are divided into five classes, the Brahman, or priest, Kshatrya, or warrior, Vaisya, or merchant, and Sudra, or farmer castes. The fifth class is composed of those who from va- rious reasons have no standing in the castes, and are called in general, pariah, or out-caste people. Each one of the castes, however, and peculiarly the out-castes, is subdivided into almost innumerable classes, principally according to occupations. In India it is customary for sons to follow in the foot- steps of their fathers in regard to trade or occupa- tion, and so in time these distinctions come to have the force of castes, and are insisted on with as much strength as the divisions between the four great and original castes of India. Nearly all the con- verts at Ongole were from the pariahs, and almost all from one special division of the pariah, or out- caste people, called Madaga, who are leather workers. It is a fact worthy of note that in the various missions, while caste distinctions have not been allowed to be retained by the converts, the progress of the gospel has been chiefly along class lines. For example, while the very large majority of the converts of the American Baptist mission among the Telugus has been from the Madaga 144 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS caste, an equally large proportion of the converts in the Canadian Baptist mission among the Tel- ugus to the north are from the Mala, or weaver caste. This peculiarity of the extension of Chris- tianity in India is not the result of methods of mis- sionary work, but rather goes to show that the gos- pel has moved along the lines of least resistance in the various missions. Whenever it has obtained a hold upon one class it has gained a greater number of converts in that class, while in other missions other castes or classes have been affected in a sim- ilar manner. A peculiar providence in the early history of the mission at Ongole led to the. opening of the gospel to the Madaga people. When Mr. and Mrs. Clough first began missionary work in Ongole, the caste people were greatly interested and were the first to visit the mission compound, and the most ready hearers of the gospel. Numbers of them came daily to be taught in the truth. After a time a few of the out-castes also became interested in the gos- pel. The missionaries preached to both alike. But as the number of pariahs visiting the mission com- pound began to increase, the prejudices of the caste people were aroused, and after consultation a dele- gation informed Mr. Clough that their religion would not allow them to associate with the pariah people, and if these were allowed to come to the compound to listen to the gospel, they, the higher castes, would be obliged to withdraw. This an- BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 140 nouncement brought great perplexity to the devoted missionaries, for they were greatly interested in the more intelligent and prosperous caste people, and earnestly desired to retain their influence on the side of the mission and of Christianity, realizing what a power it would be if some of these high caste people should be brought to a knowledge of the truth. While the missionaries were in this per- plexity, not knowing what course to pursue, it is re- lated that Mr. Clough, in passing by a pile of Tel- ngu New Testaments and taking the one from the top of the pile, it seemed to open of itself to 1 Cor. 1 : 26-29 : " For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- found the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are : that no flesh should glory in his pres- ence." This incident, which appeared to him prov- idential, brought comfort and clearness and decision 'to his perplexed mind. On consulting with Mrs. Clough he found that her mind had also been turned to the same passage, and their resolve was taken ; they would preach the gospel to all who were will- ing to hear without regard to class or condition. The representatives of the caste people, on receiv- 146 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS ing this decision, withdrew from the mission, and even to the present day but few have been converted to Christ, while the despised pariahs by thousands have been received into the kingdom. The necessity of a trained ministry for the mul- titudes of converts whom the missionaries saw by faith gathered into Christian churches was early recognized, and in 1869 a mission station was founded at Ramapatam by Rev. R. R. Williams, with a theological school for the training of pastors and evangelists for the Baptist Telugu mission. Its foundations were laid broad and deep. Rama- patam was selected as a central locality, and a large amount of land was pre-empted which has proved helpful and exceedingly valuable in later years. During his visit to America in 1872 Doctor Clough raised thirty thousand dollars for the endowment of the Ramapatam Theological Seminary, a large part of it being given in notes, the interest of which was to be paid year by year. Many of these notes have from one cause and another remained unpaid, but the income and the amount of principal realized has had a profound influence on the prosperity of the seminary, which at one time stood first in num- bers among the Baptist theological seminaries in the world. It still retains a position of prominence, although the prosperous years of some of our American seminaries have caused them to surpass it in later years. Scores of young men and women have been sent forth from this seminarv, to whose BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 147 labors the later growth and prosperity of the Bap- tist Telugu mission are in a large measure due. The impulse given to the mission by the great in- gathering of 1878 continued in the baptism of thousands of converts year by year. This large increase, however, brought too great responsibility upon the missionaries stationed at the headquarters at Ougole and led to the first subdivision of the On- gole field in 1882, when four additional stations were opened at Cumbum, Vinukonda, Nursarava- petta, and Bapatla. Each of these stations was occu- pied by an American missionary family. This di- vision of the work led to a still further increase in the ingathering of converts, and on Sunday, Dec. 28, 1 890, was seen a repetition of the wondrous spectacle at the Vilumpilly f<>rd of the Gundalacuma River, when one thousand six hundred and seventy-one converts were baptized in the baptistery of Doctor Ckmgh's mission compound at Ongole. The baptism of this large number was accomplished in all decency and good order in four hours and twenty-five minutes, emphasizing the lesson of July 3, 1878, and afford- ing an additional commentary on the baptism of three thousand on the day of Pentecost at Jerusa- lem. Again more than ten thousand persons were baptized within five months. The ingathering also continued in later years. Doctor dough on his visit to America, in 1891-92, raised twenty-five thousand dollars for a special reinforcement for the Telugu mission, and in 1892-93 occurred the sec- 148 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS ond subdivision of the original Ongole field, when in addition to the five stations already established, including Ongole, again four new stations were opened, at Kanigiri, Kundakur, Podili, and Sat- tanapalli. The first three of these stations were in parts of the field where the Christian population was most dense. By this additional division the original Ongole field was divided into nine, and the number of church-members included in these fields reached the great total of more than forty-four thousand, indicating the wondrous growth accom- plished in this the original field of the Ongole mis- sion. Expansion in the Telugu mission, however, was not simply confined to the Ongole field, but it experienced large prosperity, not only at Nellore and other stations established in the Presidency of Madras, but extended over into the Deccan, or do- minions of the Nizam in Hyderabad, a native ruler, whose authority is continued under the supervision of an English Resident. The first station to be founded in his dominions was at Secunderabad, the English military cantonment, a few miles north of Hyder- abad, the Nizam's capital. This was opened by Rev. W. W. Campbell. The second station to be opened in the Deccan was at Hanamaconda, eighty- six miles northeast of Secunderabad, by Rev. A. Loughridge ; and in 1898 Nalgonda station was opened, fifty miles to the southeast. This station has been marked by the large assistance which it has re- BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 149 ceived from the Mennonite Brethren of Russia and the United States, who are Baptists both in belief and practice. The station was founded by Rev. Abram Friesen, a Baptist of Russia, educated in the Baptist theological seminary in Hamburg, Germany. He was joined by others appointed by the Missionary Union, but supported, as is Mr. Friesen, by the Mennonite Brethren, who have also given largely for the building and work of this mission. Both the coast missions and those in the Decean are within the limits of the territory occupied by the Telugu people; but in 1878 Madras was reopened as a mis- sion station. It is outside of Telugu territory, yet several hundred thousand of the Telugus have settled in the vicinity of this great city as laborers, and a large field for Telugu mission work is opened to the missionaries residing at Madras. The only other station in South India occupied by American Baptist missionaries, outside of Telugu territory, is at Oota- camund, the sanitarium on the Nilgiri hills. The success of the evangelistic methods used in the Ongole Baptist mission has revolutionized mission- ary policy in India. In the early years of missions in India the influence of Doctor Duff and others led to a preponderating development on educational lines, which in the earlier history of Indian missions occupied the foremost place. Their influence favored formality and a slow upbuilding of Christianity in India. Doctor Clough, and others of the Baptist missions, swung the pendulum toward the evangel- 150 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS istic side, and at Ongole the masses flowed in tu- multuous tides to the gospel of Christ. This large development of the Ongole Mission has led to a re- vision of missionary policy in all the other missions in India, and resulted in a large increase in converts in this first field of Christian foreign missions. Yet education has been by no means neglected in the American Baptist Telugu mission. In addition to the theological seminary early founded at Ra- mapatam and diligently fostered, which has been a great means of development to the mission, even before the great revival steps were taken toward the establishment of a Baptist mission college. In March, 1874, a piece of land was secured at Ongole by Doctor Clough for the establishment of a college. Rev. A. Loughridge was sent out as the first head of the school, and began the work of building in April, 1876. The first bungalow was completed in 1877, in the midst of the terrible scenes of the famine. The school was opened, but shortly closed again, and it was not until July, 1879, that the Ongole High School, as it was known at that time, was permanently reopened. The first head of the school was Rev. "W. I. Price, who soon removed to Burma. He was followed by Mr. Edward A. Kelley, a native of India, and later by Rev. W. R. Manley, of America, and later by Principal L. E. Martin, a son-in-law of Doctor Clough. The col- legiate department was formally established in August, 1883, when the institution was affiliated BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 151 with the University of Madras as a second grade college, with the privilege of teaching a full First Arts course, the examinations being under the super- vision of the university, and the graduates holding rank as having received diplomas from the Madras University. Industrial and educational work has also received large attention at Nellore, the original station of the mission, under David Downie, D. d., the successor of Lyman Jewett, and an industrial school, for which the funds were largely raised in 1900, is projected at Ongole. The growth of the Telugu mission in numbers was so rapid as to sur- pass the advance in the substantial elements of Chris- tian and church life. Greater emphasis is placed in later years on self-support and the development of liberality and self-propagation. Progress in these directions was greatly retarded in the famine of 1900, the most severe which has affected India within historical times, and in which the northern and western portions of the Telugu field were in- volved. Surprising progress was made, however, when the deep poverty of the people is considered, and the growth of the mission in the Christian graces, as in numbers, is remarkable even in the wonderful annals of Christian missions. CHAPTER XV BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM THE intimate relation of Siam to the adjoining countries of Southeastern Asia is illustrated by the fact that the Baptist missions in Siam were the first outgrowth of the missions in Burma and the foundation of the missions in China. While yet only three fields were opened in Burma the Baptist missionaries in that country felt the call to reach out to the needy countries about, and recommended that Rev. John Taylor Jones, who had arrived in Burma in 1831, should go to Siam for the purpose of establishing a mission in that country. This he did, reaching Bangkok March 25, 1833. The first purpose of the mission was to preach the gospel to the Siamese, and Doctor Jones proceeded to acquire the language, and translated the New Testament into Siamese in an elegant version which is justly considered as a classic. He also prepared a large Christian literature in Siamese, and gained the con- fidence of the king, which has always been retained by our missionaries in Siam. In no fields have our Baptist missions enjoyed so much favor from the authorities, or received so much encouragement from the government, and it is a peculiar fact that in no 152 BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SI AM 153 field have our missions experienced so little of genu- ine success. Although the first efforts were to preach the gospel to the Siamese, in the providence of God the first converts in Siam were among the Chinese laborers who had come to Siam for purposes of employment, three Chinese being baptized December 18, 1833, and while there have been some conversions among the Siamese, and a Baptist church formed of Siamese Christians is in existence in Siam, yet as a matter of fact by far the larger proportion of converts in Siam have been from among the Chinese. All the early missionaries in the Baptist missions in China served their apprenticeship in Siam, Rev. William Dean, who arrived at Bangkok, July 18, 1835, was the first Baptist missionary to study the Chinese lan- guage, and he continued to be the principal figure in the missions in Siam for many years. Rev. J. L. Sehuck reached Bangkok in 1836, but soon re- moved to China, first to the Portuguese colony in Macao and later to Canton, where he became the founder of Southern Baptist missions in China. Rev. Josiah Goddard arrived at Bangkok Decem- ber 16, 1840, and eight years after removed to Shanghai, and then to Ningpo, where he established the evangelistic work of the Eastern China Baptist mission. Rev. William Ashmore arrived in Bang- kok April 14, 1851, removed to Hongkong, Janu- ary 19, 1858, and later to Swatow, where he has continued to the date of the present writing to 154 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS be the leader of the Baptist mission in Southern China. Rev. Sylvester B. Partridge and Miss Adele M. Fielde, both prominent in the work of the Southern China mission, began their mission services at Bangkok, later removing to Swatow. In 1851 a severe disaster visited the mission in Bangkok, by which all the mission buildings were destroyed by fire, entailing the loss of fifteen thou- sand dollars, with the destruction of the printing press and a large amount of printing materials, and nearly the whole of the second edition of Doctor Jones' Siamese New Testament, which had been printed by Mr. John H. Chandler. The buildings were soon restored, and being situated in a favorable part of the city, later became of great value. Mr. Chandler was succeeded as a missionary printer by Rev. S. J. Smith, a native of Siam who was educated in America, and who rendered a large service to the government and the Siamese people by printing Siamese books. The evidence of the favor of roy- alty toward the mission was exhibited by the fact that when the first Mrs. Smith died the king; sent a State carriage to the funeral as a mark of his respect. It was also in the year 1851 that a decree of tolera- tion was promulgated on behalf of Christianity in Siam. In 1869 the missionary work for the Siamese, which had not received great encouragement, was suspended, but a Baptist church of this people has continued in Bangkok to the present time. The BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM 155 mission to the Chinese was more favored, as many as five hundred members being reported in the Chinese Baptist Church in Siam at onetime; but owing partly to the floating character of the Chinese population in Siam and partly to the fact that many were drawn to a confession of Christianity by the well-known favor of the missionaries with the court, many of those who were received into the church proved not to be steadfast, and the number of Chris- tians in the Chinese churches has in later years rapidly declined. From the earliest days of the Karen mission in Burma it has been known that considerable num- bers of Karens were resident in Siam, and many attempts have been made to reach them with the gospel. Multitudes of Karens have been found ; but on account of the scattered locations of the Karen villages in Siam, it has been impossible to estimate the exact number, and the propagation of the gospel among them has been a matter of great difficulty. Rev. D. L. Brayton and Rev. Norman Harris crossed the Siamese boundary in about 1850 in an effort to reach the Siamese Karens. In 1872 Rev. C. H. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter, on their way to America, began their journey by an overland trip from Moulmein to Bangkok, for the purpose of visiting the Karens in Siam. On the formation of the Foreign Mission Board of the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Baptists of these provinces, who had hitherto been co- 15b' AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS operating with the American Baptist Missionary Union, selected as their first field the Karens in Siam, and Rev. Mr. Churchill and his wife spent a year in Bangkok in efforts to reach this people. Rev. W. F. Armstrong, Rev. Mr. Sanford, and Miss Norris, afterward Mrs. Armstrong, also made efforts to reach the Karens of Siam from Moulmein and Tavoy ; but the number that they were able to find did not encourage them in their efforts to reach this people, and the Canadian mission was finally removed to the northern part of the Telugu country in India, and established in territory adjacent to the American Baptist Telugu mission. The first con- siderable number of converts among the Karens in Siam were gained by Christian Karens, teak lumber dealers, who visited the Lakon district in the vi- cinity of Chiengmai, and on their return interested the Burma Baptist Missionary Convention in that field. Native Karen preachers were sent, and the field was visited by Rev. David Webster, of Moul- mein, who later resided a year at Chiengmai, or, as it is known in the Karen language, Zimme, being the only American Baptist missionary actually hav- ing had a residence among the Karens in Northern Siam. They have been visited by various mission- aries at different times — by Rev. Walter Bushell and Rev. J. L. Bulkley, of Moulmein ; by Rev. A. E. Seagrave, of Rangoon, and Rev. W. C. Calder, of Moulmein ; and later by Mr. Seagrave again, ac- companied by Rev. E. N. Harris, of Shwegyin. BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM 157 Three Baptist churches were formed in the Lakon district, which have continued under the care of the Burma Baptist Missionary Convention. In later years considerable Christian interest has been developed among the Mons, or, as they arc known in Burma, Takings. Dr. John T. Jones compiled a vocabulary of four thousand Taking words, and the gospel was preached to many of the Takings who were found in the country in the general vicinity of Bangkok. In 1896 two Talaing missionaries, a man and his wife, were sent by Ed- ward O. Stevens, D. d., of Moulmein, the wife having been a native of Burma, captured in youth by robbers and carried to Siam, whence she finally escaped and returned to Burma. She now went back with her husband to carry to the people of Siam the word of life. In 1897, Doctor Stevens visited Bangkok and baptized five Takings, also the mother of Rev. Hans Adamsen, M. d., a native of Siam educated in America, who was in charge of the mission. A church of twenty-five or thirty Takings was organized at Sampawlerm, in the dis- trict of Ayuthia, and the work among the Mons appeared to be the most promising of any of the missions in Siam. On account of the want of success in the work among the Siamese, and the fleeting character of the Chinese population, the abandonment of the Baptist mission in Siam has often been considered ; but it is possible that the revived interest in missionary work 158 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS among the Karens in the north, and among the Talaings in the south, may give greater encourage- ment for a continuance of Baptist missionary work in Siam. The American Baptist Missionary Union still retains a valuable property in Bangkok, the Siamese Baptist Church is self-supporting, and a valuable property, still under the private control of Rev. S. J. Smith, is yet in existence, ready to be used in the interest of Baptist missionary work. CHAPTER XVI AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA IN their work for the four hundred million popu- lation of the vast empire of China, American Baptists occupy seven different fields, or locations, admirably selected with reference to their strategical importance in religious work and for decisive in- fluence upon the Chinese people. Three of these fields are under the care of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and four are cultivated by the American Baptist Missionary Union. The Southern Baptist missions include the South China mission, with three stations, the chief of which is at Canton ; the Central China mis- sion, which has four stations, the principal head- quarters being at Shanghai ; and the North China mission, with three stations, with headquarters at Tengchau, in the Shantung province. For the work of the American Baptist Missionary Union there is the Southern China mission, with five stations, of which the oldest and most important is Swatow, on the coast north of Hongkong ; the Eastern China mission, also with five stations, the principal one being at Ningpo ; the Central China mission, at Han- yang, on the Yangtze River, one of the three great 159 160 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS central cities of China — Hankow, Han vans:, and Wuchang; and the Western China mission, with three stations, the first being at Suichaufu, on the Yangtze River, and the latest established, Yaehau, in the extreme west of Szchuan province, not far from the borders of Tibet. From these widely ex- tended fields American Baptists have admirable op- portunities for reaching and affecting the entire population of China proper. While the first Baptist convert in China was bap- tized by Rev. J. L. Schuck at the Portuguese colony of Macao, January 31, 1837, and the first Baptist church was formed there, the second being formed in Hongkong, Canton, the chief station of the South China mission of the Southern Baptists is the oldest location continuously occupied by American Baptist missionaries in China, and has always been the cen- ter of aggressive and expanding work. Still under the care of this mission is the church in Hongkong. The Canton mission has prospered not only in num- bers and in increased influence, but in development in every line of Christian activity. Self-support has been largely developed among the native Chris- tians, schools of all grades have been established, from Sunday-schools and primary grades to an academy and an English school, the last two, however, being entirely self-supporting and independent of mission funds. The chief name connected with the Canton mission is that of Roswell H. Graves, d. d., eminent for literary as well as direct evangelistic AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 161 work, he having compiled two hymn books in Chinese and published a book on the " Parables of our Lord," a book of homiletics, for the training class for preachers under his care, a " Scriptural Geography," and a " Life of Christ," besides the translation of several books of the New and Old Testaments. Associated with him, from time to time, have been men of devotion and ability, particularly Rev. E. Z. Simmons, who has had charge more par- ticularly of the evangelistic work of the outstations. In 1885-86 the Canton mission suffered much from the hostility to foreigners incident to the war with France. Its activities were for a time para- lyzed, but it rapidly recovered, and while it has suffered more than many other mission fields from the recent anti-foreign feeling in China following the Japanese war, the work has been continued on its upward course with energy and success. The Southern Baptist Convention was the first Protestant missionary Board to hold property and gain a foot- ing in the interior of China. In 1898, on the invi- tation of the Canton missionaries, all Baptist mis- sions in China were invited to send representatives to Canton to consider the formation of a Chinese Baptist Publication Society, which was organized in February, 1898, Doctor Graves being president. This society is not considered as peculiarly under the auspices of the Southern Baptist mission, but is intended to facilitate and assist the work of all Bap- tist missions in China. L 162 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS The Central China, or Shanghai mission, has been equally happy in its leading spirit, the station having been founded by Matthew T. Yates, d. d., in 1847, who continued to be the controlling factor until his greatly lamented death. Shanghai being the principal port of the central coast of China, furnishes to this mission large opportunities for most important influence upon the flowing tides of Chinese always passing through the city. Its influence is by no means measured by the records of conversions or the statistics of church-member- ship. To the remotest ends of China has gone the word of the truth as preached in Shanghai. Here also is the gathering point of missionaries of all denominations, and Baptist missionaries of all fields have here found a hospitable welcome and God-speed as they went forth on the way to their special stations. The Shanghai Baptist Church is strong and a leading feature in Baptist work in China. By a similar gracious providence the North China mission of the Southern Baptists, with head- quarters at Tungchau, has been blessed by the labors of T. P. Crawford, d. d., who established the station in 1863, and continued to be its guiding spirit for many years. Chefu, an important city of this field, was occupied by Rev. J. L. Holmes and wife, but Mr. Holmes was murdered by the rebels a year after his settlement, being one of the bereavements in which the missions of the Southern Baptists in China AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 163 have had a peculiarly sad experience. The North China Baptist mission, in common with other mis- sions in that part of the empire, has suffered severely from the repeated overflows of the Hoangho or Yel- low River, and especially by the southern overflow of 1898 and the consequent famine, which greatly affected the progress of the missionary work, the energies of the missionaries being largely devoted for a time, as in the various famines in India, to relieving the sufferings of the people. The Southern China mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union, begun at Swatow in 1860 by Rev. J. "W. Johnson, and reinforced by Rev. William Ashmorc in 1 863, has been generally re- cognized as one of the best organized missions in China — a reputation gained chiefly by the efficient leadership of Doctor Ashmore through a long series of years. Bible principles have been constantly ap- plied to the conduct of the churches, every little group of believers being called upon to appoint elders or leaders who should be responsible for the conduct of services in the absence of the missionary or the native pastor. The churches have also been trained in self-reliance and in self-help, and in a desire to achieve complete self-support as soon as the number of members and their financial condition would permit. In 1864, the city of Swatow itself being unhealthful, Mr. Ashmore bought property at Kak Chieh, across the bay one mile to the south, for eight hundred dollars. This barren and rocky 164 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS tract of land was developed with taste and care and industry, until it forms probably the most beau- tiful, convenient, healthful, and attractive head- quarters possessed by any of our Baptist missions. In 1900 the land, aside from all the buildings which have been erected, was valued at twenty-five hun- dred dollars, gold. For many years but one central church was recognized, with headquarters at Swatow, to which all the Christians came as far as possible for quarterly meetings and communion ; but with the growth of the mission and the demands of the outer fields enlargement became necessary, and in 1890 work was begun by Rev. George Campbell in the city of Kayin among the Hakka people. The Chinese about Swatow are known as Tie Chiu, or lowland people, while the Hakkas, or highland peo- ple, live in the interior, the latter being the most literary and intelligent among the people of China. As is usual in religious work, these literary people have been among the most difficult to reach with the gospel, but there is encouragement that when once they receive the gospel they will become a striking and efficient means of spreading the truth among their countrymen. A special feature of the Swatow mission has also been the work of Bible women as developed under the efficient leadership of Miss Adele M. Fielde. It was Miss Fielde's practice to gather the Christian women for instruc- tion and to teach them thoroughly one lesson from the Gospels, and when they had learned it to send AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 165 them out, two by two, into the country about to tell the lesson to their Chinese sisters in their villages. After a time, again they were gathered at Swatow and received another portion of the truth, and having obtained a thorough grasp of it went forth to carry the good news of salvation. By these methods Miss Fielde built up an organized corps of Bible women, whose work under her direction has been a model for the work of Bible women through- out China. In the later years, the little country churches, which were first eonsidered as branches of the Swatow Church, have been organized into in- dependent churches. Several new stations have been established, and as supplementary to the or- ganization of the churches and the excellent work of the Bible women, a system of Bible study at central points in the country districts has been in- augurated by the Rev. John M. Foster in order to reach and touch the members of the churches who are not able to visit Swatow. These Bible classes are maintained for a period of a month or more, the most intelligent of the church-members being gathered for the purpose. By these admirable and efficient methods of organization, with elders in every little church, with the leading members trained in Bible study, and Christian women taught in the word, the Southern China mission has been welded into an effective force for carrying on the work of the gospel among the people in these neighbor- hoods, and for reaching out into the region beyond. 166 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Medical missionary work was the means of open- ing Ningpo to the gospel. A hospital was opened by D. J. MacGowan, m. d., in 1843, but was closed for a time, and re-opened in April, 1845. Some gospel services were also held, and in the first year Doctor MacGowan prescribed for more than two thousand patients. The real inauguration of evan- gelistic work in the Ningpo, or Eastern China mis- sion, was due to the coming of Rev. Josiah God- dard, who arrived in Ningpo in March, 1848. He was soon reinforced by Rev. E. C. Lord, who sailed from America in 1847. In addition to his evan- gelistic and distinctively missionary work, Mr. God- dard completed, in 1853, a translation of the New Testament into Chinese, which has enjoyed a high reputation for accuracy and idiomatic force, and is still in use. A class for the training of native preachers was established and conducted for several years at Ningpo by Doctor Lord, which later was removed to Shaohing, and continued under the care of Horace Jenkins, d. d., who joined the mission in March, 1859. Another strong leader in the Eastern China mission was M. J. Knowlton, d. d., who reached Ningpo in June, 1854. On account of an unusual combination of earnestness, sincerity, humility, and scholarly abilities in Doctor Knowl- ton, he was known as the " Western Confucius," perhaps the highest compliment which the Chinese could pay to any foreigner. Rev. J. R. Goddard, the son of the founder of evangelistic work in AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 167 Ningpo, reached the field in 1868, and continued for many years to be the leader and strength of the mission, which at many times was left wholly to his sole care. In 181)9, he completed the translation of the Old Testament into the Ningpo colloquial. Med- ical work having: been the earliest feature of the mis- sion, has been continued without interruption, and forms a strong element in the progress of the work. Doctor MacGowan was succeeded by S. P. Barchet, M. D., who was followed by Dr. J. S. Grant in 1889. The Eastern China mission is now estab- lished in four of the largest and most influential cities in the Chekiang Province, which form centers of influence for the spread of the gospel into all that portion of China. In December, 1872, the Che- kiang Baptist Association was formed, including the churches of the Eastern China mission of the Amer- ican Baptist Missionary Union, and of the Shanghai, or Central China mission of the Southern Baptist Convention. This union continued with most happy results until the spread of the missions and the growth of the churches and the difficulty of reaching the more distant points at which the Association was held, led to the formation of two Associations by the churches of the Southern and Northern Bap- tist missions respectively. The intimate relation of these two missions was illustrated by the fact that Suchau, first opened as a station by Doctor MacGowan, of the Eastern China mission, later formed a station of the Southern Board. 168 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS In 1889 the West China mission in Szchuan Province was opened at Suichaufu, under the Amer- ican Baptist Missionary Union, by Rev. "William Upcraft and Mr. George Warner. Mr. Upcraft had before been a representative of the British and For- eign Bible Society in China. He had traveled ex- tensively in the interior, and became acquainted with the language and customs of the people. He had also endured great persecution, at one time having been stoned and, like Paul, left without the city for dead. He rose up and returned to the West, came to America, where he visited friends, especially in the State of Minnesota. The forma- tion of the West China mission was due to his proposition, and on going out under the Missionary Union, the support of Mr. Upcraft and his compan- ion, Mr. George Warner, was pledged by the Bap- tist young people of Minnesota. They established themselves first at Suichaufu, on the Yangtze River, one thousand five hundred miles from the sea. As soon as reinforced, Mr. Upcraft moved on and opened another station at Kiating, to the north, and soon still another station at Yachau, northwest of Kiating, and well on toward the border of Tibet. Mr. Upcraft has made several journeys over the border into Tibet, and this outpost of the West China mission furnishes the nearest approach of Baptist missions to that isolated country. In the conduct of the Western China mission, on account of its great distance from the coast, an in- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 169 termed iute post for the entertainment of missionaries on the way, and for the supply of financial and pos- tal facilities became necessary, which led to a station being opened at Hanyang, which, in connection with the neighboring cities of Hankow and Wuchang, forms the largest center of population in China, and constitutes the great receiving and distributing center for the products and imports of Central China. The three cities have, according to the national preferences of the speakers, been called the " Liverpool " and the " Chicago " of China. The station was opened by Rev. Joseph Adams, of the American Baptist Missionary Union, who was later joined by Rev. G. A. Huntley, M. D., for the con-' duct of medical work. Great tides of population are surging to and fro in this immense center, and offer the largest opportunities for casting on the waters the bread of life. A small church has been gathered, and while the visible results of labor have not been large, yet the immense opportunities stimu- late the zeal of the servants of Christ, and encour- age the belief that the scattering of the seed, as promised by the divine Master, shall not be in vain, but that the harvest shall be gathered in the Lord's own time. In the extensive uprising against foreigners, which occurred in 1895, the Baptist missionaries in West- ern China, in common with those of all other mis- sions to the number of nearly two hundred, were compelled to flee for their lives, and their work was 170 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS suspended for nearly a year. Their experience is a story of hairbreadth escapes and great perils hero- ically endured ; but, by the care of the Lord, no missionary life was lost, although a large amount of missionary property was sacrificed. Prompt measures were taken by the Chinese government, under foreign pressure, for the suppression of the anti-foreign riots, the United States government taking the most effective measure, by sending an embassy to Szchuan Province, which, in order to produce a wider impression on the Chinese, made the entire journey by land. The sight of this peace- ful official deputation marching in state across their territory with the approval of the Peking govern- ment, exerted an influence on the Chinese people of the interior almost equal to that which would have been effected by an invading army. Inconsequence of this, and measures adopted by other governments, the officials of Western China experienced a change of mind, if not of heart, the missionaries were re- ceived back with distinguished consideration, and were aided officially in re-establishing their work and restoring their mission premises, for the loss of which full indemnities were paid by the Chinese imperial government. Again in 1899, the security of the missionaries in Western China Avas threatened by another anti-foreign rebellion, raised by a leader known as Yumantse. But this was also against the imperial power, and while several missions were wrecked, and for a time missionary work was greatly AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 171 hindered, the rebels were at last overcome by the government forces and a measure of peace and se- curity restored to Western China. In this excite- ment the Baptist missions escaped all actual injury except the inevitable loss of effectiveness in their work. High hopes were aroused by the advanced reforms ordered in the edict of the emperor, Kwangsu, in 1899, which contemplated the over- turn of the ancient methods in Chinese literary ex- aminations, the founding of a system of public edu- cation, and the placing of official administration on a basis of strict accountability and responsibility. These expectations were put in suspense by the ar- bitrary action of the empress dowager, Tsichi, who placed the young emperor under arrest, executed all of his chief counsellors who could be caught, re- sumed her former place at the head of government, revoked the reformatory edict, and with the support of the conservative Tsung li Yamen, placed the affairs of China back in their old ruts, as far as her efforts and influence could effect. For a short time the progressive party in China was paralyzed by the action of the empress dowager, but soon showed signs of renewed life. Both within and without the limits of the Chinese Empire indications rapidly ap- peared that the attitude of the Chinese government under the control of the Conservatives would not be accepted, and the overthrow' of the Manchu dynasty, which has long been distasteful to the Chinese people in the great Yangtse Valley, was freely predicted 172 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS as a result of this reactionary movement of its most powerful representative. The terrible outbreak of hostility against foreign- ers and native Christians in the summer of 1900, was started by a secret society popularly known as " The Boxers/' but they were soon joined by the Peking government. The clash of arms at Tien- tsin between the Allies and the Chinese, resulting in the defeat of the latter, followed by the rescue of the imperiled legations at Peking, intensified the anti-foreign feeling. The minds of all the Chinese were more or less aroused, and these events seriously embarrassed all Christian missionary work in China during the closing months of the nineteenth cen- tury. The missions everywhere were more or less imperiled, and the lives of many missionaries were lost. Indeed, missionary operations almost wholly ceased, and the missionaries, with few exceptions, were withdrawn. At this writing, what God has in store for missions in China does not appear. CHAPTER XVII BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN, THE LIU CHIU, AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. THE remarkable progress of Japan, from one of the most exclusive to the foremost nation of Asia, and its unique position as the only country com- monly known as pagan which has proved its right to a position among the most influential nations of the world, has attracted universal attention to that country and greatly emphasized the importance of Christian missionary work in Japan. The history of Christian missions for the Japanese exhibits every phase of experience known in missionary life. Begun amid the greatest difficulties and under severest prohibitions, they have been carried on sometimes amid persecutions, and again with almost universal favor. Slow and difficult progress has blossomed suddenly into an ease of winning converts almost unknown in any other missionary land, and again brightening hopes have suffered opposition and blight from the anti-foreign prejudices of the people. No element of romance and interest in missionary work is wanting to the history of Christian missions in Japan. This work is also distinguished from missionary work in other countries by the fact that, 173 174 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS whereas, almost universally, as in India and in China, Christian missions have obtained their first and greatest progress among the lower classes of the people, owing to the peculiar political condition of Japan upon being opened to the entrance of foreigners, the class to view foreigners and their re- ligion with the most favor was the great Samurai or middle class. There is found, therefore, a wide extension of Christianity among the middle classes of Japan, whereas the coolie or laboring class has hardly been touched and the upper classes but slightly affected. It has been said that Christianity rises from the bottom. This has been found to be true from the early history of the religion of Jesus Christ in its small beginnings in Galilee and Judea, to the missions of the present time ; and even in Japan the same tendency is exhibited, since the spread of Christianity among the Samurai has had far more influence upon the aristocratic or noble class than upon the farmers and laborers. How this latter class will be reached is one of the problems which Christian missions have to solve in Japan. The first Baptist missionary to Japan was a sea- man in Commodore Perry's expedition in 1854. Returning to this country, Jonathan Goble told of his experiences and interest in Japan, and was sent out by the American Baptist Free Mission Society in 1860, as the first Baptist missionary to Japan. He translated portions of the New Testament and did much work in extending: the circulation of such BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN 175 Christian literature as was obtainable, as well as in preaching the gospel. When the Free Mission Society turned over its work, in 1872, to the Ameri- can Baptist Missionary Union, that society accepted Mr. Goble as its missionary and appointed Nathan Brown, D. d., then Secretary of the Free Mission Society, to be associated with him in Japan. Doctor Brown translated the whole New Testament into Japanese, having before translated the same for the Assamese, and thus enjoyed the high distinction of giving to two entirely distinct peoples — the As- samese and Japanese — the New Testament in their own tongues, both versions being so nearly perfect that little revision has been needed. In 1873 the edict for the exclusion of Christianity from Japan was abrogated, the calendar of the country was changed to modern style, old holidays were abolished and Sunday was made a legal holiday. The same year the first Baptist church in Japan was formed at Yokohama, with eight members, three of whom were Japanese. The mission was reinforced by the addition of Rev. J. H. Arthur and of Henry H. Rhees, D. D., who built the first Baptist mission house in Tokyo, and afterward removed to Kobe, where he completed his life-work. In 1879 Rev. Thomas P. Poate, a teacher in the Imperial Uni- versity of Japan, joined the Baptist mission, and also Rev. Albert A. Bennett and wife from America. A training class for biblical students was soon opened by Mr. Bennett at Yokohama, which grew 176 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS in importance, and about 1895 was reorganized with John L. Dearing, D. D., as president and A. A. Ben- nett, d. d., Rev. C. K. Harrington, and Rev. W. B. Parshley, as professors. The recognition of the fact that leaders must be furnished for the intelli- gent and enterprising people of Japan led to the establishment of Tokyo Baptist Academy, which in its early stages was nurtured by Samuel W. Duncan, D. c, Foreign Secretary of the Missionary Union, and after his sudden and lamented death his name was given to the academy. The funds for the erection of the first dormitory and for placing the school upon a substantial basis were furnished by Mr. Duncan's sister, Mrs. Robert Harris, and it therefore forms a worthy memorial of the family. The work in Mito, to the north of Tokyo, was in- augurated by Rev. C. H. D. Fisher, who while re- siding in Tokyo made evangelistic journeys to the north. Impressed with the importance and needs of this large city he took a contract for teaching in the government school there before residence for mis- sionary work was lawful, with the agreement that his spare time should be devoted to preaching the gos- pel and that he would secure a man from America for the position as soon as possible. In accordance with this arrangement, Professor E. W. Clement, later the principal of Duncan Academy, Tokyo, went out to Mito from America. After Mr. Clement's return to America, Rev. J. L. Dearing, of Yoko- hama, conducted evangelistic work in the city and BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN 177 vicinity, and in 1898 Rev. J. C. Brand and wife were specially authorized to undertake Mito and the surrounding country as their fields. Sendai, still farther to the north, was occupied as a Baptist mission station by Rev. T. P. Poate, in 1882, and Shimonoseki and Osaka, to the southwest, in 1886 and 1892. Rev. Chapin H. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter, whose names became eminent in missionary history by their notable work in charge of the vigorous Bassein Sgaw-Karen mission in Burma, later turned their attention to Japan, after it was discovered that Mr. Carpenter's health would not allow further residence in Burma. It was thought that in the cooler climate of Japan, and especially in the northern portion, he might continue in the missionary work to which he had consecrated his life. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter opened work in the year 1886 in Nemuro on the island of Yezo, as formerly known, but now called Hokkaido, but Mr. Carpenter's health proved to be undermined by his long residence in Burma, and he passed from his active duties on earth to his heavenly home, February 2, 1887. The work at Nemuro, however, has been continued by Mrs. Car- penter, supported at her own expense, as was the mission from the beginning by herself and her hus- band. Although the entire cost of the work is paid by Mrs. Carpenter, she and her co-laborers in the work are enrolled on the lists of the American Bap- tist Missionary Union as a self-supporting mission. M 178 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS In 1889 the Foreign Mission Board of the South- ern Baptist Convention began work in Japan. This had been contemplated much earlier, but after the loss of Rev. J. Q. A. Rorer and his wife, in the " Edwin Forrest/' as previously mentioned, no fur- ther attempt was made until this latter date. Their missionaries have established themselves in the inland of Kiushiu, the most southwestern of the larger islands of Japan, with stations at Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Kokura. Much encouragement has been met with, and the same obstacles have been encountered, as in the missions of the Northern Bap- tists and other Christian missions in Japan, owing to the political and uncertain attitude of the people and the political authorities of Japan toward foreign- ers and Christian missions. The Southern Baptist missionaries unite with the Northern Baptists in missionary conferences, and share the privileges of the theological seminary at Yokohama and all other movements which relate to the general progress of Baptist mission work in Japan. In 1892, Mrs. Allan, of Scotland, visited Japan, — one among the multitude of those who have had the curiosity to visit this extremely interesting and even fascinating people and country. In Kobe, Mrs. Allan became interested in the missionary work of Rev. R. A. Thomson and his wife. Mr. Thomson mentioned to her the Liu Chiu Islands as a needy field for Christian missions. On her return to Scotland a definite offer was made by Mrs. Allan BAPTIST MISSIONS IN LIU CHIU ISLANDS 17 ( J to Mr. Thomson, as a representative of the American Baptist Missionary Union, of a sum of money suffi- cient to open missionary work in the Liu Chiu Is- lands and carry it on for a number of years, with the understanding that the work, if successful, should be continued by the society. The oiFer was accepted and the Liu Chiu Island mission was es- tablished, and it has been conducted by Japanese missionaries under the general direction of Mr. Thomson, who visits the islands every year. A church has been formed at Naha, the capital. On the first visit of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson in January, 1892, the most interesting and even ex- citing experiences were encountered. No foreign lady had been seen in the Liu Chiu Islands for many years, and the appearance of Mrs. Thomson was a signal for a general suspension of business. The market places and shops were deserted when it was known that Mrs. Thomson was taking a walk through the street. The city was so upset by this strange and interesting visitor that the authorities were compelled to request Mrs. Thomson to remain indoors during the day, in order that the business of the city might be resumed. She, therefore, con- fined her outings to the night and to going out in a covered jinrikisha in the daytime. Considerable response to the gospel has been found among the people in the Liu Chiu Islands, and several have been baptized at every annual visit by Mr. Thomson or other missionaries from Japan. 180 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS The acquisition of the Philippine Islands by the United States naturally directed the attention of Protestant Christians in America to them as a field for missionary effort. Upon agreement with the Home Mission Society the Philippines were taken by the Missionary Union as a part of the foreign mission field, and the missionary work in Japan and in the Liu Chiu Islands, six hundred miles to the north, furnished a natural line of approach to the Philippines. In the providence of God, a native of the Visayan group of the Philippines who visited Spain, was converted in the Baptist mission in Bar- celona, under Rev. Eric Lund. Mr. Lund feeling at once the importance of the new convert, with his assistance began the translation of the Gospels and other books of the New Testament, as well as sev- eral Christian tracts, into the Yisayan tongue. An appropriation of one hundred and fifty dollars by the American Baptist Missionary Union for print- ing these translations was the first American Baptist money appropriated to missionary work in the Philip- pine Islands. On account of the continuance of the war in Luzon, the northern island of the Philip- pines, the authorities of the Union had already looked toward the Visayan group as a more fav- orable field for beginning missionary operations. The providential coming of this convert to the mis- sion in Spain confirmed this opinion, and arrange- ments were at once made for the establishment of Baptist missionary work in the Visayan group of BAPTIST MISSIONS IN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 181 the islands. It was considered highly important that the first missionary to be entrusted with the establishment of this work should be some one thoroughly known to the authorities of the Union as a missionary of experience and discretion, and although Mr. Lund's services in Spain were of great importance, the more commanding require- ments of the opening of the Philippine mission led the executive committee to request Mr. Lund to proceed to the Philippines to establish the work, looking toward the island of Negros as an espe- cially promising field — an opinion which was con- firmed in an interview with President J. G. Schur- man, of Cornell University, who had been chair- man of the first United States Commission to the Philippine Islands. Early in 1900 Mr. Lund ac- cordingly proceeded to the Philippines, accompanied by Mr. Braulio Manikan, the converted Filipino in the mission in Spain. By the establishment of this mission American Baptist work covers a line of outlying stations off the eastern coast of Asia, more than two thousand miles long, from Nemuro, on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, to the Visayan group of the Philippine Islands. CHAPTER XVIII AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA THE history of the adoption of the Congo mis- sion by American Baptists is one which clearly illustrates that providential leading of the Lord which has characterized in a marked degree all their mission work. Baptists in America have always felt a deep interest in missions in Africa, the mission in Liberia having been one of the earli- est established by the General Convention. In 1820 two colored brethren, Avho had gone out from Richmond, Va., were recognized as missionaries in Liberia, and the work in that country was car- ried on without interruption until 1856. At that time, on account of various complications, especially because of the difficulty in making satisfactory business arrangements in regard to the mission, it was suspended, and comparatively little mission work in Liberia has been done by American Bap- tists since that time. Small appropriations have been made to various persons, but within recent years they have been wholly discontinued. Yet there was continually manifest an earnest de- sire on the part of many to resume Baptist mis- sion work in Africa. An examination of the records 182 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS US AFRICA 183 of the annual meetings of the American Baptist Missionary Union shows that almost every year resolutions were introduced, instructing the Board of Managers to reopen mission work in Africa at the first favorable opportunity. These repeated at- tempts are a proof of the warm interest of many of our people in African missions. Only a few months after Henry M. Stanley had completed his journey through the Dark Continent (August 7, 1877), and opened to the world a knowl- edge of the real extent of the Congo, a few friends in England sent missionaries to the mouth of the Congo to open a mission. This was called the Livingstone Inland Mission, the name being taken, not from the missionary, but from the name " Living- stone," which Mr. Stanley gave to the Congo River. The old name of the river has, however, been re- tained by the judgment of the world. This mission was carried on by the friends in England from 1878, increasing year by year, and the chief burden of management and support finally came upon Dr. and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, of London. After coming to the missionary rooms, in 1880, the writer, having noticed the persistent determination of many to reopen missions in Africa, made a complete study of the entire coast line of Africa with reference to the opening of a new mission work. While en- gaged in this study it came to his knowledge that Rev. George Pearse, who had opened a mission in Algeria, had expressed an intention of offering his 184 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS mission to the Missionary Union. As a part of his investigation the writer accordingly addressed a let- ter to Mr. Pearse asking tor information about the mission,- and inquiring whether he still entertained the idea of placing his work in the hands of Ameri- can Baptists. This letter was addressed to the care of the editor of the " Orphans' Mission Press," at Leominster. Since Mr. Pearse was in Algeria, the letter was forwarded to Mr. and Mrs. Guinness, who were acting in an advisory capacity to Mr. Pearse' s mission. It is necessary to go back for twenty-five years previous to this time, in order to take up another link in the chain of providential circumstances which placed the Congo mission in the hands of American Baptists. At that time J. N. Murdock, d. D., for about thirty years corresponding secretary of the Missionary Union, was pastor of the Bowdoin Square Church in Boston. Dr. Kirk, of the Mount Vernon Congregationalist Church, had invited Mr. Guinness, a young and rising evangelist in England, to come to America to hold revival meetings in his house of worship. Jnst before leaving for America, Mr. and Mrs. Guinness Avere baptized by immersion, and upon arriving in this country it was found that a knowledge of this had preceded them, and they were on that account excluded from the Mount Ver- non Church. Greatly distressed at this turn of circumstances, Doctor Kirk asked Doctor Murdock if he would admit the young English evangelist to his AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 185 church in Bowdoin Square, near-by. Consent was cordially given ; and so Mr. and Mrs. Guinness began their evangelistic labors in America in the Bowdoin Square Church, under the auspices of Doctor Mur- dock, afterward the secretary of the Missionary Union. Accordingly, when the letter to Mr. Pearse was placed in their hands, they recognized it as coming from the society with which their old friend, Doctor Murdock, was connected, and received it with special interest. By this time the Congo mis- sion had so much expanded that it was becoming too large to be conducted as a personal mission, and the Guinnesses had been feeling that for its proper development it should come under the management of some established society. Their hearts turned warmly and cordially toward their old benefactor and the society of which he was the head, and, being informed by the receipt of this letter to Mr. Pearse that American Baptists had thoughts of mission work in Africa, they wrote at once to Doctor Mur- dock offering him the Livingstone Inland Mission on the Congo. After several months of negotiation and careful deliberation, the mission was at last accepted in September, 1884, and has since been conducted wholly by the Union and on the princi- ples established by its constitution. In 1886, the opportunity came to Doctor Edward Bright, the defender of the Telugu mission in India, to speak a decisive word in another important crisis in our missionary history. The mission on the 186 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Congo had been adopted by the Missionary Union in 1884. The addition of this work was received with large enthusiasm by the majority of the de- nomination, but with some opposition on the part of others, who were perhaps moved more by their fears than by their faith, and were afraid that the additional burdens would embarrass the work on the older fields of the Union. Doctor Bright was then editor of " The Examiner," and for a time seemed to view the Congo mission with something of doubt. In the spring of 1886, Doctor Sims, of Leopoldville, visited this country. He was the first of the missionaries on the Congo to come to America. His statements regarding the mission were of great service to the executive committee of the Missionary Union, and it was arranged that in company with A. J. Gordon, d. d., who was an ardent advocate of the mission, Doctor Sims should visit some of the chief cities of the country to lay before the leading Baptists of America a clear statement of the condi- tion of the mission on the Congo. Among others a parlor conference was held in New York City at which Doctor Bright was present. He listened with deep interest to the statements of Doctor Sims, and his explanation of the difficulties, dangers, and oppor- tunities of the Congo mission. He became fully convinced that this was, indeed, a work placed upon the American Baptists by God, and the next week he came out in " The Examiner " with a powerful and decisive editorial in favor of the vigorous pro- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 187 secution of the work on the Congo. The annual meeting of the Union, held soon after at Asbuiy Park, confirmed his judgment, and was one of the most inspiring anniversaries ever held by the society. Far sooner than in the case of the Telugu mission was his faith and courage rewarded. Within six months came the tidings of the revival at Banza Manteke, " the Pentecost on the Congo," in which more than one thousand of the natives threw their idols at the feet of the missionary, Rev. Henry Richards, and professed themselves followers of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Since that time the work has gone on at this station, until in 1900 there were more than fifteen hundred church- members, with fifty-seven native preachers and teachers, gathered in three large Christian churches. The field of the Congo mission in its characteris- tics is akin to that among the Karens of Burma and the natives of the Pacific Islands. The peo- ple have no organized form of religion, but have a simple, natural worship which has been proved by missionary experience to offer the most favorable openings for the progress of Christian work. The possibilities of work on the Congo are already indi- cated by the great revival in Banza Manteke, re- ferred to above, when more than one thousand threw, away their idols. All these might have been bap- tized at once ; but the prudence of the missionary, Mr. Richards, led him to baptize only those whom he found by test to be worthy of admission to a 188 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS pure Christian church. A similar work, although more gradual in its progress, has gone on at Lu- kunga, and at other stations which have been blessed in a less degree. But none of the ten stations of the Congo mission are without converts. The prog- ress of the mission since its adoption is paralleled among our own missions only by the early triumphs of the Karen mission in Burma. The work has been carred on in the face of great obstacles, on ac- count of the unsettled nature of the country and the absence of banks, trading facilities, and means of communication. While, however, the material prog- ress of the work has met many difficulties, the spirit- ual advancement has been most encouraging. After the transfer of the Southern Baptist Mis- sion from Liberia to the Yoruba country, in 1875, the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention continued its work on the Gold Coast, principally at Abbeokuta and Ogbomoshaw in the interior, and at Lagos on the coast. The work at- tained considerable prosperity, especially at Lagos, where a large degree of self-support was realized, the church contributions in 1898 amounting to five hundred and seventy-eight dollars and ninety cents, and the membership reaching one hundred and fifty- five. The mission, however, has encountered the difficulties common to missionary work on the western coast of Africa, resulting from the unhealthfulness of the climate and the uncertain character of the population. Only Christian heroes are fitted for AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 189 this work. They must take their lives in their hands for the sake of the work of Christ among the heathen, and counting nothing dear, not even life itself, they go into these unhealthful regions, sus- tained simply by confidence in God and the love of souls dying in darkness without the light of the gospel. A personal history of Christian missions on the west coast of Africa, if it could be pre- pared, would be a story of a heroism and martyr- dom unequaled in the annals of the Christian church. After the closing of the Southern Baptist mission in Liberia and the discontinuance of work by the American Baptist Missionary Union, little mission work was done there for several years by American Baptists ; but toward the close of the nineteenth cen- tury the Lott-Carey Foreign Missionary Convention, formed by Negro Baptists of the Southern States, sent out Rev. John O. Hayes, and continued to main- tain him in missionary work in connection with the Ricks Institute in the vicinity of Monrovia, and later at other fields. The National Baptist Mis- sionary Convention of the Negro Baptists also from time to time sent several missionaries to Liberia, but from failure of health and other causes they re- turned to America, and in the year 1900 they had no missionary on this field. Inspired by a visit of Rev. Charles S. Morris, formerly pastor of the Ne- gro Baptist church in West Newton, Massachusetts, a movement sprang up in 1900 which may lead to a reopening of missionary work in Liberia, perhaps 190 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS with some industrial features. During his stay in Africa, Mr. Morris also visited South Africa, and reported excellent results from the work of Mr. Yah 1 , supported by the Lott-Carey Missionary Con- vention in labors near Capetown. An interesting feature of Mr. Morris' visit was also the baptism at Queenstown of thirty-three leaders of " The African Native Church." This is a body formed under the labors of Rev. Jonas Goduka, who was formerly a preacher in connection with the Wesleyan mission in South Africa. Becoming dissatisfied with the views of the Wesleyans he withdrew from their serv- ice and upon personal study of the Bible, without knowledge of the Baptist denomination, he reached largely Baptist views ; and this group of churches, seventeen in number, was formed under his labors, he being considered as the general overseer. On coming in contact with Mr. Morris and learning that there was a large body of Negro Baptists in America holding views practically the same as his own, excepting that his church had not yet received baptism by immersion, he, with the leaders of the churches, was baptized by Mr. Morris, and they dis- persed with the intention of leading their churches into full fellowship with the Baptists. The name of this group of churches was changed from "The African Native Church " to " The African Baptist Church." CHAPTER XIX AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE THE story of Baptist missions in Europe reads like a romance. It is probable that through- out Europe from the early ages of Christianity there were always scattered communities holding sub- stantially Baptist views. One of these scattered communities existed in the northeastern part of France. Early in the present century, led by a study of the New Testament, a few earnest and pious souls had abandoned the errors of the Roman church and formed societies on New Testament principles. They were ignorant of the fact that there were others in the world holding the same views as themselves ; but isolated and persecuted, these loyal and earnest souls held fast to the princi- ples of the pure gospel. In 1835 these brave New Testament Christians were rejoiced by a visit from Rev. Isaac Willmarth, of America, who told them of the large body of Christians across the ocean with views like their own, based solely and strictly upon the New Testament. The American Baptist mission in France had been begun in 1832 by Professor Irah Chase, of Newton Theological Insti- tution, with whom was associated a native French- 191 192 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS man, J. C. Rostan. Rev. Isaac Willmarth was the first American missionary designated to labor per- manently in France, and he organized the First Baptist Church in Paris, May 10, 1835, and the Baptists in northeastern France gladly associated themselves with the new mission. The work grew, until in 1839 there were seven Baptist churches in France with one hundred and forty-two members, and Rev. Erastus Willard as the only American Baptist missionary in the country. For many years the work has been carried on wholly by French- men. Great persecutions were suffered by the early Baptists, and one chapel built by them was closed by the Roman Catholics for eleven years. It was opened in 1848 by the French revolution, which brought nominal religious freedom to all. But much local persecution still existed. Rev. Mr. Lepoids, who was pastor of the First Church in Paris for twenty years, and others, were arrested and thrown into prison and fined; yet in spite of persecution the number of churches multiplied. During the Franco-Prussian war a large part of the male membership entered the army, but work still went on. The Baptist mission in France has felt a beneficial influence from the work of the McAll mission, and Rev. Reuben Saillens, who was the chief helper of Rev. R. W. McAll, withdrew from that work and devoted himself to the Baptist mis- sion. He organized a second Baptist church in AM ERICA X BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 19o Paris which has greatly prospered and gained sev- eral hundred members. Mr. Saillens also visited other portions of France on evangelistic tours, during which many churches were organized, especially in the southeastern part of France and in French Switzerland. The prevalence of New Testament views among pious and devoted Christians of other churches has been characteristic of the work from the beginning. In later years the most important accessions to the Baptist membership have been from among those who have become Baptists from independent study of the Scriptures and afterward identified themselves with the mission. Large serv- ice in this direction has been done by Rev. J. B. Cretin, who has written and published and circu- lated at his own expense a large number of tracts on Baptist doctrine. Many of the pastors of Bap- tist churches were first pastors of the State churches, and came independently to Baptist views before uniting with the mission. Several entire churches have come over bodily from the Eglise Libre (Free Church) and joined the Baptist Associations — par- ticularly one body of very intelligent believei's in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Baptist views are still very largely represented in the pastorates and mem- bership of the Free and Reformed Churches, and the future progress of Baptist work in France will doubtless be largely in the line of its early develop- ment. About the same time with the starting of the 194 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Baptist movement in France, certain Christians in Germany had also come to embrace scriptural views regarding baptism and the church ; notable among these was Johann Gerard Oncken, of Hamburg. Barnas Sears, d. d., of Boston, was providentially led to Hamburg in 1834, and on April 12 of that year, at midnight, a little band of seven rowed in a small boat to a point several miles from the city and were scripturally baptized by Doctor Sears. This was the beginning of the great Baptist mission of central Europe, of which Mr. Oucken was the founder and apostle. By his labors and those of Rev. Julius K5bner, of Denmark, Rev. George W. Lehmann, of Germany, and others, the Baptist movement was rapidly and widely extended throughout the German States of central Europe. Always have there been found in Germany persons of deep piety and com- munities holding scriptural views of the church and its ordinances. Many of these united with Mr. Oncken and his associates, and the Baptist move- ment gained strength with every year. Severe per- secutions were encountered, but within a few years the Baptists had extended from the little circle of seven to Russia, Denmark, Switzerland, Lithuania, Silesia, and Poland, and in 1849 the first German Baptist Conference was held in Hamburg, repre- senting about thirty churches and two thousand eight hundred members. In 1859 twelve young men, who had been instructed in Hamburg, were ordained to the Baptist ministry in one day, Septem- AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 195 ber 12. Later, Baptist work extended to Bul- garia and Holland, and in 1875 the government of Prussia passed an act for the incorporation of Bap- tist churches. In Cassel there is now a large publishing house un- der the charge of Philip Bickel, D. D., which was first established in Hamburg by and continued for many years by Doctor Oncken. A theological seminary in the care of Rev. Joseph Lehmann and Rev. J. G. Fetzer is found in Hamburg and Baptist churches' are found in all the leading cities of central Europe. These are rapidly multiplying year by year in Ger- many and in all the countries of Europe. The Baptist churches suffer greatly every year by the emigration to America of some of their brightest and best members, so that the increase in financial strength is not proportioned to the growth in num- bers. They still need the help of their brethren in America, and in turn the Baptist churches in Amer- ica receive large and important accessions from the Baptist churches in Europe. The large and flourishing Baptist work in Sweden is at once an outgrowth of the German Baptist mis- sion and a remarkable illustration of the poAver and value of religious literature. Before Baptist preachers were suffered to openly preach in Sweden, large quantities of literature were circulated among its reading people by the valuable assistance of the American Baptist Publication Society, especially through Rev. A. AViberg, who was practically the 196 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS founder of the Baptist mission in Sweden. Not al- lowed to preach or to form churches, he devoted him- self to the preparation and dissemination of Baptist literature throughout the country, with the result that, when missionary work by preaching of the gospel began, Baptist churches were rapidly multi- plied. There is a Baptist theological seminary in Stockholm, under the care of Knut O. Broady, d. d., and six or seven Baptist churches in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, besides churches in almost every other important town in the country. The Swedish Baptist Missionary Union carries on both home and foreign missionary work. Under its auspices the work throughout Sweden has largely extended and been carried into Norway, Finland, and other countries. The Baptists in Sweden occupy a position toward the State Church which we find in no other country. Owing to the peculiar laws of the country, Swedish Baptists still continue to be nominally members of the State Church ; but, taking advantage of the breadth of freedom in worship which is allowed, they main- tain their own churches and their own worship, and are pushing their vigorous missionary operations from the north to the south of the country. There is nothing disingenuous or deceitful in the position of the Swedish Baptists toward the religious laws of Sweden, since they are framed to allow such a state of things. Formerly Baptists suffered more or less persecution from the prejudices of the priests and AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 11)7 occasionally of the local authorities ; but these have largely passed away, and everywhere in Sweden the Baptist work is carried on without legal opposition. Closely allied with the Baptist work in Sweden is that in Norway. Aid in this work has been more recently granted by the American Baptist Mission- ary Union, some of the pastors of Norwegian churches being graduates of the Bethel Theological Seminary at Stockholm. Here, also, are found the sturdy aggressiveness and enthusiasm which charac- terize the Scandinavian race ; and although the Bap- tists in Norway are still weak, yet within the last four or five years they have received a new impetus under the assistance given from America. Another offshoot of the Swedish mission is the Baptist work in Finland, which, although within the boundaries of Russia, is more nearly joined to that in Sweden. Here there sprang up in the last few years of the nineteenth century a most encour- aging work, which was carried on at the first amid great opposition, but later secured a legal standing in the State. The establishing of a school for preachers is proposed, and the future of our Baptist work in this extreme northern country is one of promise, unless the recent act of the Czar of Russia in withdrawing from Finland the measure of inde- pendence it formerly enjoyed and bringing it wholly under the control of the laws of Russia shall place Baptist mission work in Finland at the same disad- vantage as in Russia. 198 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS The Baptist mission in Denmark was also an off- shoot of that in Sweden, but was afterward, and more naturally, allied to the work in Germany, and was carried on for a number of years under the patronage of the German-American Baptist Com- mittee. It has now attained such standing that a separate committee has been organized, and the ap- propriations for the Danish Baptist churches are made directly from the headquarters of the American Baptist Missionary Union. As in all the rest of Northern Europe, there is found in Denmark a strong tendency toward Baptist views, and the progress of the Baptist churches is one of increasing hopefulness. The net increase of the Baptists in Denmark, in the five years from 1879 to 1883, was only thirty-six; in the following five years it ad- vanced to three hundred and eighty-five, and during the following five years the net gain was five hun- dred and ninety-one. One of the most interesting outgrowths of the German Baptist mission has been the work in Rus- sia. It began among the German colonies in South- ern Russia, and has largely extended, having at the present time more than eighteen thousand members. In common with all dissenters in Russia, the Bap- tists of that country have suffered severe persecution. In the popular mind and in the eye of the priests of the Greek Church, they are identified with the Stundists. Multitudes of Baptist families have been torn asunder, their children placed in Greek AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 1SJU nunneries or monasteries, or with families who would bring them up in the accepted doctrines of the State Church, and the parents transported to Si- beria. Whole churches have been exiled in a body. One church from the Baltic provinces sold all its property, and the members left their homes and emigrated to South America rather than endure the persecutions and trials to which they were subjected. Hundreds of Baptists are in exile in the desolate regions of Siberia, includ- ing many pastors of Baptist churches, and many have fled from their homes to central Europe to es- cape a like fate. Of all the Baptists in the world, those of Russia most greatly need the sympathy and prayers of their brethren for the severe trials and persecutions to which they are subjected. In spite of these the work goes on. The Baptist cause prospers amid persecutions ; now, as of old, the " blood of martyrs is the seed of the church," and the most active opposition of the Greek Catholic priesthood and of the officials of the Russian gov- ernment cannot hinder the progress of the truth, which must triumph in the end. The same movement for expansion which led to the establishment of the Baptist mission among the Telugus of India, prompted the opening of the Bap- tist mission in Greece. Rev. Horace T. Love and Cephas Pascoe arrived as missionaries of the Amer- ican Baptists at Patras, December 9, 1836, and re- ceived permission to circulate the Bible and preach 200 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS the gospel. They also opened missionary schools. In 1840 the mission was changed to Corfu. The first convert to be baptized was very appropriately named " Apostolos," and was received in the year 1840. In 1844 Rev. Albert N. Arnold and wife and Miss S. E. Waldo arrived at Corfu, and Rev. R. F. Buel, who had labored at Corfu for several years, removed to Piraeus, whence the mission later penetrated the city of Athens. There was great opposition and some persecution on the part of the Greeks ; but, as a whole, while the people have shown considerable interest in listening to the gospel, they have never felt the force of the truth sufficiently to lead them to leave their State Church in large numbers, and the membership of the Baptist churches in Greece has always been small. Mr. Demetrius Z. Sakellarios, one of the early converts, has been the most promi- nent native laborer in the mission, preaching the gospel in Athens for a series of years, and continuing his work even after the American Baptist Missionary Union suspended its operations in 1856, for fifteen years. In 1871 Rev. George W. Gardner and Rev. D. W. Faunce visited Athens, and on their recom- mendation the mission in Greece was resumed. Mr. Sakellarios having visited in America and studied at the Newton Theological Institution, was then ap- pointed a full missionary of the Missionary Union. He married an American lady, Miss Edmands, of Charlestown, Mass., and returned to Greece and continued his labors, although the Missionary Union AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 201 again discontinued its appropriations to Greece in 1886, except a small honorarium to Mr. Sakellarios in his old age. After long-continued and faithful efforts, it seems to be apparent that while the Greeks are of high intelligence and have great interest in religious subjects, they are not open to that influence of religious truth which will enable them to endure separation from their own people and church for the sake of a purer gospel and a more living faith. All the American Baptist missions in Europe have been under the auspices of the American Bap- tist Missionary Union, except the work in Italy, maintained by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This was begun in 1870 by Rev. W. N. Cote, m. d., in the city of Rome. In 1873 George B. Taylor, D. d., was ap- pointed missionary and superintendent of the Italian mission. To his long services and able leadership are largely due the success of Baptist missions in Italy. He raised the funds in America for the building of a chapel in Rome, which was completed at a cost of thirty thousand five hundred and nineteen dollars and seventy-three cents. An able coadjutor of Doctor Taylor has been J. H. Eager, d. d., who has labored at Rome, Naples, and Florence. Baptist churches have been established in the cities of Rome, Naples, Florence, Torre Pellice, Modena and Carpe, Bari and Barletta, Venice, Bologna, and on the island of Sardinia. A steady and substan- tial progress has been achieved, not only in church- 202 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS membership, but especially in the influence of pure spiritual ideas upon the people of Italy. Instances have several times occurred in which whole villages have expelled the priests, taken pos- session of the churches, and turned them over to Protestant ministers for services. In 1885 the " Apostolic Baptist Union " was organized, which has been the means of the wider extension of the truth and of a large circulation of the Scriptures and Christian literature. CHAPTER XX BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA THE natural interest felt in the southern portion of the Western Hemisphere by the people of the United States early led the attention of Baptists to be directed toward missions in South America. It was not, however, until 1 879 that the Southern Baptist Convention authorized its Foreign Mission Board to begin a mission in Brazil, and a station was opened at Santa Barbara, in Sao Paulo Prov- ince, South Brazil. This province is commer- cially, intellectually, and politically the most impor- tant province of Brazil, having a comparatively temperate climate, and being populated by a class of people of exceptional intelligence, industry, and prosperity. The exports of the province are large and its wealth is increasing. Considerable prosper- ity was enjoyed by this mission from the first, and a Baptist church has been continued, which, how- ever, in 1900 was without a resident missionary. The second mission to be established was at Bahia, on the coast, in the north. Here also large success has been achieved, the number of baptisms amount- ing in 1897 to sixty-two, and the church rais- ing about two thousand dollars for various relig- 203 204 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS ious purposes. In this mission there are now six churches, one church being formed in the year 1898. A prosperous school has been established, with American school furniture, and conducted on the American system of education. The school en- joys the large favor of the best people of the city, and at the inauguration many of the prominent men of the city were present, including the secre- tary of State. The governor sent a band, and the oration was delivered by the leader of the House of Representatives. The Baptist church estab- lished in Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, has been largely prospered. A special revival of relig- ion was enjoyed in the year 1899, by which many were added to the church. A large expansion has been experienced by the Southern Baptist Mission in Brazil, and in 1898 the ideal was realized in a line of mission stations from Manaos, on the Ama- zon River, to Sao Paulo, in Southern Brazil. The principal stations occupied are Sao Paulo, Rio Ja- neiro, Juiz de Fora, Bahia, Valenca, Campos, San Fidelis, Pernambuco, Para, and Bello Horizonte. In spite of the prosperity granted to the mission, or perhaps because of it, severe persecutions have visited the native Brazilian Christians in many places, especially at Campos and in the vicinity of Bahia. This is not due to the laws of the country, which afford entire freedom to Protestant mission- aries in the prosecution of their work, but to the hostility of the Roman Catholic priests and the BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA 205 prejudices of the people. Under their influence many of the Christians have been injured in pro- perty, and in one or two cases have given their lives for their faith in Jesus. Yet the mission con- tinues to prosper, and an association has been formed in the southern part of Brazil called the " South Brazil Baptist Association." A paper called the " Good News " is published by the mis- sion for the furtherance of the gospel. Several new churches were formed in 1898 and 1899, and the mission enjoys increasing prosperity. Some time near 1880 Rev. Paul Besson, a worker from the Baptist Mission in France, removed to Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Republic, and com- menced the work of preaching the gospel. He gathered a considerable church and enjoyed much favor of the people. In 1899 a fine new church was erected, of which an extended account was given, with a description of views of the Baptists, in the leading journal of Buenos Ayres. The growing prosperity of the Argentine Republic and the south- ern States of Brazil points to these countries as in- creasingly important fields for Baptist missionary work. CHAPTER XXI BAPTIST WORK IN MEXICO, CUBA, AND PORTO RICO IN the Republic of Mexico Baptist missionary work has been carried on by the Foreign Mis- sion Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. As early as 1836 the attention of the latter Society was turned toward Mexico, but not until 1870 was the first missionary appointed. Previous to this some interest in Baptist views had been aroused by the labors of Mr. John W. Butler, an Englishman, and Rev. James Hickey, who settled in Monterey. On January 30, 1864, Mr. Hickey baptized Mr. T. M. Westrup, then an Episcopalian, and two Mexi- cans, and the first Baptist church in Mexico was formed at Monterey with five members. On the appointment of Mr. Westrup as missionary by the Home Mission Society in 1870, a printing press was supplied him, which partly under the care of this society and part of the time in charge of " The Board of Baptist Missions of the Republic of Mex- ico," continued as a helpful feature of the mission- ary work. The rapid growth of the new move- ment was indicated by the fact that in 1871, five years after the founding of the first church, a report 206 BAPTIST WORK IN MEXICO 207 called for by the newly established Juarez govern- ment, gives five churches with one hundred and ten members. Owing to lack of funds the support of the mission in Mexico was intermitted for a time, and in 1880 Rev. T. M. Westrup, with his brother, Rev. John O. Westrup, were accepted by the For- eign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Con- vention as its first missionaries in Mexico. The work of the Home Mission Society in Mexico was, however, never wholly abandoned. Other mission- aries were sent to the field, and in 1887 a strong mission plant was established in the city of Mexico under the care of Rev. William H. Sloan, formerly superintendent of the American Baptist Mission Press in Rangoon, Burma. A fine church was erected and excellent printing facilities provided, which, by his thorough knowledge both of the Span- ish language and of the art of printing, Mr. Sloan has been able to use to the great advantage of the mission. The paper, " La Z,uz," " The Light," issued on behalf of both the Northern and Southern Bap- tist missions in Mexico, is truly a messenger of light and salvation to the people of the Mexican Republic as also to the Spanish-speaking peoples of the southwestern territories of the United States. In 1900 work of the American Baptist Home Mis- sion Society in Mexico was conducted from eleven centers, the city of Mexico, Monterey, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, New Laredo, Santa Rosa, Linares, Montemordos, Sabinas, Balinas, and Cadereita, with 208 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS six hundred and forty-three members in the mission churches. Previous to 1880 there were thirteen small Bap- tist churches in Mexico, composed chiefly of immi- grants from Texas and elsewhere. One year after the appointment of the Westrup brothers in this year as missionaries of the Southern Baptist Con- vention, Rev. John O. Westrup was barbarously murdered. His place was soon supplied, and in 1882 Rev. W. D. Powell settled in Saltillo. Al- though meeting with favor from many, the success of the Baptist movement aroused intense hostility on the part of the Roman Catholic priests and their more bigoted adherents. The narrative of Mr. Powell's missionary labors is a tale of exciting ad- venture. He was driven out of places of worship he had secured, attempts were made on his life, and in one of his evangelistic tours he was attacked by a highwayman. After a search to find what of value the Baptist preacher might have about his person, the highwayman offered to loan him money enough to enable him to get home. Not all of Mr. Powell's assailants were so generous, and only the hand of God kept him amid all the perils he en- countered. But he continued his labors. In 1884 the Madero Institute, for the education of girls, was founded by Mr. Powell. It accomplished an ex- cellent service in a time when needed, but with the advance of public educational facilities in the re- public its work seemed to be unnecessary and it was BAPTIST WORK IN CUBA 209 discontinued in 1898. In Saltillo also is the Zara- gosa Institute, for boys and for training preach- ers. The churches of the Southern Baptist mission continued to increase, and before 1890 a line of Baptist mission stations was established from the Rio Grande, the boundary of Texas, to the Pa- cific Ocean, and hundreds of converts were bap- tized. Because of this growth it was thought ad- visable to divide the mission into two, the North- ern and the Southern, for greater facility of admin- istration. The chief centers of the missions were, in 1899, at Saltillo and Torreon, in the State of Coa- huila, at Zacateeas ; at Doctor Arroyo, in the State of Nuevo Leon ; at Morelia, in the State of Micho- acan ; and at Toluca, in the State of Mexico. The last three form the South Mexican mission. Larger prosperity has been experienced in the North Mexi- can mission, which is also the older. In both mis- sions there were, in 1900, one thousand two hundred and thirty-two members in thirty-two churches. The relations between the United States and the neighboring republic, which must grow more inti- mate year by year, emphasize the increasing im- portance of Mexico as a field for the labors of American Christians. CUBA. Upon the conclusion of the war between Spain and the United States in 1899, by which the sov- ereignty of Porto Rico and the protectorate of 210 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Cuba came to the latter, movements were at once set on foot for the re-establishment of Baptist mis- sion work in Cuba and the founding of a Baptist mission in Porto Rico. A conference between spe- cially appointed representatives of the American Baptist Missionary Union and of the American Baptist Home Mission Society to arrange an ami- cable division of fields in the new United States pos- sessions, allotted the Philippine Islands to the for- eign mission society and Cuba and Porto Rico as home mission fields. The very successful work which the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention had inaugurated in Havana and Western Cuba made it proper that those fields should be left to that Board, which was agreed upon in a conference between its representatives and the American Baptist Home Mission Society, the latter taking the responsibility of maintaining Baptist mission work in Eastern Cuba, including Santiago de Cuba, and in Porto Rico. The work in Santiago, under Rev. H. R. Moseley, met with marked en- couragement, especially in the conversion from Roman Catholicism of Dr. Jose P. Dikins, presi- dent of the Pan-American Commercial and Ex- press Company, who became at once an influential advocate of his new faith. At the close of the war the Home Mission Board of the Southern Bap- tist Convention at once resumed its work in Cuba, sending Rev. J. R. O'Halloran to Santiago. Great success attended his labors. By January 1, 1899, BAPTIST WORK IN PORTO RICO ill lie had baptized one hundred and fifty persons and organized two churches. According to the division of territory agreed upon this work was transferred to the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Rev. A. J. Diaz, m. d., whose marvelous story has been given in the chapter on the Southern Baptist Convention, for a time in the employment of the United States Government as interpreter, and later in the service of the American Baptist Publication Society, resumed his work in Havana under the Southern Board, and he continued to experience the great prosperity which had previously been given to his labors. Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Pinar del Rio have also been occupied for missionary work, and from these four centers it is proposed to extend the work until the whole portion of Cuba allotted to the Southern Board shall be filled with Baptist stations, centers of light in a fair but shad- owed land. PORTO RICO. Rev. H. P. McCormick, for twelve years mis- sionary of the Southern Baptist Convention in Mex- ico, on January, 1899, was appointed the first Bap- tist missionary to Porto Rico by the American Bap- tist Home Mission Society, and was soon joined by Rev. A. B. Rudd and Mrs. Janie P. Duggan. They were received with favor by the people. But be- cause of the destructive tornado which, in 1899, devastated this beautiful island in common with 212 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS many other of the \Vest Indies, and also in conse- quence of the suffering brought upon the island by the delay of the United States Government in estab- lishing a settled order of finance and administra- tion, the work of the missionaries was turned to re- lief of the people. This opened the way in the most favorable manner for the preaching of the truth, and may be expected to lead to large spirit- ual harvests in the future. CHAPTER XXII CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS rpHE indebtedness of science and civilization to J- Baptist missions is large and important, but has hitherto been made known only as the work of the different fields has been presented. The chief empha- sis has been placed upon oral preaching of the gospel, and the incidental advantages which have accrued to the peoples of the various lands in which the mis- sions have been maintained, and to the world at large have scarcely been realized even by those well ac- quainted with the progress of missions. Evangeli- zation, and not civilization, has been the aim. But, while the gospel has been preached and many hun- dred thousand persons have been brought into the kingdom of Christ, both these and many others have received large and manifold blessings, the incidental accompaniments of all work for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. That which raises and helps any people is a blessing to the whole human race. The reflex benefits of American Baptist missionary work may be mentioned under seven different heads : First, geography ; second, science ; third, languages ; fourth, literature ; fifth, education ; sixth, social improvement ; and seventh, commerce. 213 214 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Geography. — The aid which exploration and the science of geography have received from Baptist missions has never been properly recognized. Adoni- ram Judson, the pioneer Baptist missionary of Amer- ica, was also the first Protestant missionary to live under an absolutely heathen government in Asia. Before him, the idea of Christian missions had been to labor among heathen populations in colonies of Christian governments. So Ziegenbalg and Schwartz went to the Danish possessions in India ; Carey, Marshman, and Ward, to the domains of the East India Company and the Danish colony in Seram- pore ; but Adoniram Judson and his wife, Ann Hasseltine, driven from the possessions of the East India Company, and by the hand of Providence led to Burma, heroically established themselves in resi- dence and missionary work under the heathen gov- ernment of that country, one of the worst that has ever cursed any part of Asia. In this they set an example which has been an inspiration to pioneer missionaries in heathen lands in all subsequent times. In their footsteps and under their inspiration many others have followed, including such illustrious names as John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga ; David Livingstone, the heroic missionary and ex- plorer of Africa ; and William Morrison, of China. Judson's great services in opening Burma have been followed by others of the Baptist missionaries. Almost every missionary of the early days was to a eertain extent an explorer, and the geography of CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 215 the wild portions of Burma often became known to the English officials through the reports and labors of Baptist missionaries. Special reference should be made to the early travels of Eugenio Kincaid in Upper Burma. He penetrated to Mogaung, almost to the mountains bordering on Assam, when he was driven back by the natives and nearly lost his life in his heroic pioneering exploration. The travels of Josiah N. Gushing, D. d., in opening up Shan- land, are well known to the scientific world, and have received high appreciation from the British Government and officials, who availed themselves of his reports in planning their expeditions through that country, and of his services as interpreter to their exploring parties. In most of the countries in which American Baptist missions have been planted, explorers have preceded the missionaries, except in some portions of the Garo and Naga Hills, in Assam, where serv- ices as explorers have been rendered by Rev. E. AY. Clark, Rev. M. C. Mason, and Rev. E. G. Phillips. It is not until we come to Africa that we find addi- tional large and eminent service to the science of geography performed by our Baptist missionaries. After Henry M. Stanley came down the Congo in his famous journey " Through the Dark Continent," he began the construction of a road along the north bank of the river, for the accommodation of the large possibilities of commerce with the Upper Congo. There the first stations of the Livingstone Inland 216 AMERICAS BAPTIST MISSIONS Mission were also established. But the members of that mission saw more clearly than did Mr. Stan- ley himself that the difficulties in the way by the north bank of the river were so excessive as to be almost prohibitive to an easy transport. They es- tablished stations on the south side, first at Pala- bala, then at Banza Manteke, and finally Doctor Sims and Messrs. Banks and Petterson pushed on and were the first white men to reach Stanley Pool by the south side of the Congo. Their discovery, which opened a way so much easier than along the north bank, led to the abandonment of Mr. Stanley's road, and for years since then all commerce has passed from the lower to the upper river over sub- stantially the way discovered by the missionaries, and running through the line of stations planted by them. The railroad up the Congo also follows the general contour of country adopted for their travel. Physical Science. — The chief contribution made by Baptist missionaries to physical science is un- doubtedly the vast and exhaustive work of Francis Mason, d. d., entitled " The People and Productions of Burma." The preparation of this work furnished the amusement and relaxation of his busy mission- ary life, and was first published by private means. Since the death of Doctor Mason it has been revised by an eminent specialist and published by the Brit- ish Government in a costly official edition. It still remains as the standard authority, not only on the CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 217 ethnology but on the flora and fauna of Burma, and holds a high rank among similar works of that class. It would be impossible to enumerate the exten- sive services of Baptist missionaries in the collection of scientific specimens for museums of various sorts in this country. Probably few Baptist missionaries to any land have ever gone forth without returning with more or less valuable examples of the geology, botany, entomology, etc., of the lands to which they have gone. The physical departments and collec- tions of every Baptist institution in this country will testify to the diligence of the missionaries in this respect. Few can be found where there are not at least some contributions made by our Baptist missionaries, and many institutions outside of Bap- tist ranks have been glad to acknowledge their in- debtedness to our missionaries for valuable contri- butions to their scientific collections. If these scat- tered contributions could be gathered in one, the aggregate would be found to be a large and valuable collection of objects of scientific value, illustrating not only the geology and botany of various countries, but all departments of scientific research, including the chiefest of all sciences, ethnology and social life. In this connection special mention ought to be made of the large collections of scientific objects brought from Central Africa by Mr. J. H. Camp, who was for several years in charge of the mission steamer, the " Henry Keed," on the Upper Congo 218 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS River. Twice the Smithsonian Institution at Wash- ington, D. C, sent out to him through the Ameri- can Baptist Missionary Union, full collecting out- tits and supplies, and on his last return to this country he brought with him more than one hun- dred cases of specimens illustrating the geology, mineralogy, entomology, zoology, etc., of Central Africa, as well as specimens of the valuable and precious woods of those vast interior forests which must be the supply for the civilized world in years to come. The whole expense of the transport of this collection was paid by the Smithsonian Insti- tution. Philology. — By the circumstances in which they have been placed, the service of Baptist mis- sionaries to linguistic science have been of peculiar value and importance. Placed among many peo- ples whose languages had never been reduced to writing, they have performed this service in the interests of the missionary work, and at the same time added an immense store of information to com- parative linguistic study. The brilliant achieve- ments of Baptist missionaries in this work have been widely acknowledged. In Burma alone the number of languages reduced to writing embraces the Sgaw-Karen and Pwo-Karen, as well as many minor variations of these two leading dialects, such as the Bwe, Paku, etc. The Chin language has also been reduced to written form, and, last of all, CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 219 by the labors of Doctor Cushing, Rev. "W. H. Roberts, and especially Rev. Ola Hanson, who was sent out for that particular work, the Kachin lan- guage, spoken by several millions of people, has been put into written form, and a full system of romanizing perfected, which has been accepted by the government of British India. These linguistic services in Burma alone have been sufficient to earn the gratitude of all scientists. In addition, we find that in Assam the same service has been rendered, and the dialect of the large, active Garo tribe has been reduced to written form, and also two dialects of the numerous and powerful Naga tribes — the Angami and the Ao — while a beginning has been made in several minor dialects, as the Mikir, etc. In no other of the American Baptist mission fields has this service been necessary except in Africa. The various dialects of the Congo people are branches of the great Bantu group of languages, but the variations in different localities are such that each dialect can be understood only over a limited area, and all printing, to be comprehended, must be of different form for the varied dialects. The Kikongo has been reduced to writing by vari- ous persons, and Doctor Sims, of Leopold ville, who has received the cross of the Legion of Honor from the French Government, and has also been deco- rated by the government of Belgium for his eminent medical services, has made a dictionary of the Kiteke, and also a vocabulary of the Kiyansi. Much 220 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS work in other Congo dialects has been done by other missionaries, and similar services have been ren- dered to the world by missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention in the Yoruba country of West Africa. Literature. — In enumerating the services of Baptist missionaries to literature, the first place must be given to Judson' s translation of the Bible into the Burman language. That language was already in a written form when Judson went to Burma, but no real attempt had been made to con- nect it with the English, and no literature of West- ern nations existed in the Burman tongue. Judson, making his own vocabulary as he went along, made a translation of the Bible into Burman, which has done for that language what Luther's Bible did for the German, and the translation of 1611 did for the English tongue. The translation was so wonder- fully accurate that but little revision has ever been necessary, and the work of translation need never be repeated. Doctor Judson also prepared an English-Burman dictionary, which has been, and still is, the standard work of that character. A large amount of literature, religious and secular, has been produced by Baptist missionaries in Burma, especially in the way of tracts and school-books. All the literature in the various Karen tongues owes its existence entirely to the Baptist missionaries. The whole Bible was translated into the Sgaw- CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 221 Karen dialect by Francis Mason, d. d. ; into the Pwo-Karen by Rev. D. L. Brayton ; into Shan by J. N. Cushiag, d. d., who lias also prepared a dic- tionary of that language' for English readers. School- books of all grades, from primary to scientific, philo- sophical, and theological, have been brought forth in great numbers by the missionaries, as well as a vast quantity of religious literature which has been circulated largely and freely among the people. Passing to Assam, Dr. Nathan Brown, one of the early Baptist missionaries in that country, enjoyed the high privilege of first giving the New Testament to the Assamese. Other books of the Bible were translated by several missionaries, but the work of completing the translation of the Old Testament, and giving to the Assamese the full Bible, has been in charge of Rev. A. K. Gurney for a number of years. The translation is completed and the full Bible in Assamese will be offered to the people in 1901. Aside from this may be mentioned the As- samese English dictionary, prepared by Dr. Miles Bronson ; and much work of revision and transla- tion of Scriptures, tracts, and other religious litera- ture has been done by Rev. P. H. Moore, of Now- gong. In Garo many portions of Scripture have been prepared by Rev. M. C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips in the dialect of that enterprising peo- ple, as well as school-books and other translations, especially those made necessary by the progress of their missionary work. 222 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS Passing: to India Ave find the whole New Testa- ment translated and revised by Dr. Lyman Jewett, in a form which is still in use in the Baptist mis- sions among the Telngns. Their beautiful language, the Italian of India, has also been enriched with other portions of Scripture, school-books, theologi- cal works, and a large number of religious tracts and smaller publications. In Burma, Assam, and among the Telugus, religious periodicals in the ver- nacular are prepared and issued regularly by the missionaries, especially for the benefit of the Chris- tian converts. While the Chinese and Japanese were written languages before the Baptist missionaries reached those countries, yet a vast amount of work has been done by them in the translation of the Scriptures and the preparation of religious and secular litera- ture. Rev. Josiah Goddard translated the whole New Testament into the colloquial dialect of Ningpo in a version which is still widely in use in that sec- tion of China. His son, Rev. J. R. Goddard, com- pleted the translation of the Old Testament and the work of father and son was united in 1900, giv- ing the whole Bible to the people of the Ningpo district in the dialect read by the common people. At Swatow, much work has been done by Dr. Wil- liam Ashmore, Dr. S. B. Partridge, William Ash- more, Jr., and others, in the translation of Scrip- tures and preparation of religious literature along the same lines. Dr. Nathan Brown, who first gave CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 223 the New Testament to the Assamese, later in life became a missionary to Japan, and enjoyed the unique distinction of having given the New Testa- ment also to the Japanese in a version which is by many considered to be the best in use among the Japanese people. He led the way also in using the kiina, or pure Japanese native character, in printing, the usual method of printing Japanese having been to so interlard the Japanese characters with Chinese as to make it difficult for the common people to learn to read. Doctor Brown's example has had a large influence upon Japanese printing, and the use of Chinese characters is to be abolished in Japan, and either Doctor Brown's method or the Roman characters adopted for printing for the Japanese people. The same service which has been rendered to the Karens of Burma and the hill tribes of Assam by our Baptist missionaries, is now being rendered for the people of the Congo by their Baptist brethren in that region. The Gospels have been translated into the Kikongo, the Kiteke, and other dialects, and a beginning made in the preparation of school- books, especially those of a primary character, for these untaught but intelligent people. The services which Baptist missionaries have rendered to the various peoples among whom they have labored, by the introduction of an elevated and elevating litera- ture, both religious and secular, are inestimable, and cannot be properly judged by the bare state- 224 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS ments which have been given. How much of spirit- ual and intellectual life has come and will come from these services can only be rightly known by the future development of those to whom they have been given. Education. — Next to the preaching of the gospel and the translation of the Bible, schools must be con- sidered as an important element of missionary work. While American Baptist missionaries have never placed the principal emphasis on schools as an evan- gelizing agency, they have ever been ready and zeal- ous in establishing and conducting schools for the broadening and deepening of the religious interest and the training of Christian workers who should be prepared to labor intelligently and usefully among their own people. In Burma, aside from the theo- logical seminary at Insein, near Rangoon, which has now been enlarged to include work for all races, there is also in Rangoon a Baptist college in affiliation with the University of Calcutta, and for all the numerous races of Burma. The Sgaw-Karen Normal and Industrial Institute at Bassein, and nu- merous high schools at Rangoon, Moulmein, and at other of the larger stations, the Baptist Mission Girls' School at Kemendine in Rangoon, and the Morton Lane Seminary at Moulmein, also the schools for boys and girls of all the various races of Burma found in every mission station, as at Tavoy, Toungoo, Shwegyin, Henzada, Mandalay, etc., and the hun- CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 225 dreds of primary schools in the scattered villages throughout the length and breadth of Burma, are rendering a service to the civilizing and enlighten- ing of the polyglot people of that country which cannot be suitably estimated or described. The same sort of work is being done on all the mission fields. In Assam we find the high school at Tura and the industrial school, which has also done much for the Garo people. There are many schools in all the Christian Garo villages, as well as at the various missions stations, both in the plains and on the hills. A school for training Christian workers among the Nagas is maintained at Impur. At the head of Baptist educational work in the Telugu mission is the theological seminary at Rama- patam, occupying one of the finest educational build- ings in southern India, erected at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. The Baptist Mission College at Ongole, established by the energy of Dr. John E. Clough, has been affiliated with the Madras Uni- versity as a second-grade college. The Bucknell Memorial Industrial School, at Nellore, is a prom- ising feature of the mission, as well as schools at all the mission stations throughout the Telugu mis- sion. The value of the education which these Bap- tist mission schools has given to the peoples of Burma, Assam, and India is fully recognized by the government of India, which cordially appropriates money for school buildings, as well as for the con- duct of the school work every year. 226 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS In the missions in China there is a biblical school at Shaohing, for the training of native preachers, a biblical class at Swatow, also, for the same purpose, a training school for Bible women, and schools for Christian girls and boys at Swatow, Canton, Teng- chow, Ningpo, Kinhwa, and other places, which are doing much to prepare the Christian converts for that development of China which is sure to come in the near future. As China recovers from the social and political earthquake of 1900 the value of the training acquired by the Christian converts in Baptist and other mission schools will be recog- nized and will bring them to the front ; and instead of being despised and persecuted, as they now very generally are, these Christians educated by the mis- sionaries will be fitted to be leaders of their people in the onward march of enlightenment and civiliza- tion. Baptist educational work in Japan is not yet ex- tensive, but most excellent work is being done by the Baptist theological seminary at Yokohama, in the preparation of preachers for the Baptist mis- sions. A Baptist academy has been established at Tokyo, a boys' school in Osaka, and most excellent service is being done for Japanese girls in the Sarah Curtis Home at Tokyo, the Mary L. Colby Home at Yokohama, in the Heinrich Memorial Home at Chofu, a suburb of Shimonoseki in south- western Japan, and at the Ella O. Patrick Home in Sendai. CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 227 The educational force of the Baptist mission on the Congo is represented by a biblical training school at Banza Manteke for the preparation of native preachers and evangelists, a normal school at Lukunga for the training of teachers and Christian workers, and a school at Leopoldville, under the care of Doctor Sims, which combines both literary and industrial features. Eight different tribes have been represented at the same time in this school, the most of them coming from the upper river, to which in due time they will be fitted to return and become leaders and centers of light among their own peo- ple. There are also smaller schools at each of the mission stations. The Yoruba mission sustains schools needed for the education of the children of Christians and the training of Christian helpers. The excellent school for girls in connection with the Southern Baptist mission, in Bahia, Brazil, has already been mentioned, as well as the schools for the higher education of young men and young women at Saltillo, Mexico. Sociology. — The advantages which accrue to every nation through the presence of missionaries are well known in every country and community into which our Baptist missionaries have gone. They have performed a service for the social improvement of the people which has been widely and cordially recognized by all those competent to form a judgment in the matter. In Burma, the wild and oppressed 228 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS and scattered Karen tribes have been largely brought to become obedient and loyal citizens through the efforts of Baptist missions and the Karen Christians connected with them. In speaking of the develop- ment of the Karens of Burma, the Administration Report for 1880-1881 says : Foremost in this work have been American mission- aries of the Baptist persuasion. There are now attached to this communion no less than four hundred and fifty- one Christian Karen parishes, most of which support their own church, their own Karen pastor, and their own parish school, and many of which subscribe considerable sums in money and kind for the furtherance of mission- ary work among Karens and other hill races beyond the British border. Christianity continues to spread among the Karens to the great advantage of the commonwealth, and the Christian Karen communities are distinctly more industrious, better educated, and more law-abiding than the Burman and Karen villages around them. The Karen race and the British government owe a great debt to the American missionaries who have, under Providence, wrought this change among the Karens of Burma. The same sort of service has been rendered by Baptist missionaries wherever they have labored among other wild tribes. In Assam, the Garos have been reduced to order and submission to Brit- ish authority largely through the influence of the Baptist missionaries and the Christian converts. Rev. E. W. Clark established his residence among the Angami Nagas far in advance of government outposts, and when the English annexed the Naga CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 229 territory, those in his immediate locality submitted without opposition. Prof. Haraprasad Sastri, senior professor of Sanscrit in the Presidency College, Calcutta, says : " Christian missionaries of various denominations have done much good in advancing education, in reclaiming hill tribes, and giving shape to their languages." One of the most illustrious examples of social improvement by missionary eifort is found in its effect upon the degraded outcaste population of India. Of the fifty-five thousand converts of the American Telngu mission, all but a very few belong to the outcastes, who were despised and oppressed, and, in fact, in practical slavery to the higher classes and castes. The great multitude of these converts have been but recently won to Christianity, and Christian education has not had time to have its full eifect upon the most of them. Yet enough has been done to show what will be the final influence of this elevating force upon that people. Children of Christian Telngu converts, trained in the mission schools, the college, and theological seminary, come out on a full intellectual equality with the proud and haughty Brahmans and members of the upper castes. In conversation and in religious contro- versy with these representatives of the despised out- castes, the Brahman often finds himself at a dis- advantage. His intellectual acumen and training are in vain against the broad and trained intelli- gence of these Christians. In the civil service ex- 230 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS animations, the member of the upper caste finds himself seated side by side with the despised out- caste trained in Christian schools, and very fre- quently, to his shame and indignation, finds the coveted prize awarded to one whom he has consid- ered beneath his contempt. The haughty Brahman is humbled, his pride is brought low, and even in his shame and anger he cannot help recognizing the power of the Christian influence and the training which has raised these despised outcastes to a rivalry with himself in intelligence and power. Another special influence of Christian training and illustration of its power is found in the mis- sions in Africa. The curse of the coast region of Africa is the rum and gin introduced from civilized countries. By his temperament the untaught Afri- can is incapable of resisting the taste for alcoholic liquors. The art of self-control is unknown to him. Once he tastes alcohol it becomes his master, and it is for this reason that the introduction of rum and alcoholic liquors among the native peoples of Africa means death and destruction to the people, and often- times depopulation of whole districts. Against this onrushing tide of destruction the only opposing in- fluence which has been found to stand is the Chris- tian convert. He has learned the art of self-control. He has been taught the benefits of self-mastery ; he has learned to subordinate selfish desires and passions to higher thoughts and to nobler good ; and it is safe to say that where rum is introduced on the CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 231 coast of Africa the only temperate people to be found are the Christians. If Africa is to be saved from the destruction of drunkenness, that twin curse to African slavery, the salvation must come through the converts of the Christian missions. In this respect our American Baptist missionaries are ren- dering most noble service. Total abstainers them- selves, as being connected with an American mission, they insist on total abstinence on the part of the native converts ; and wherever the heathen about them are capable of appreciating social order, pros- perity, health, and happiness, their example and in- fluence will have a profound effect for good upon all the peoples of Africa. Commerce. — The influence of Christian missions in the development of trade is at the present time well understood. Wherever missionaries go the character of the people is elevated, and their de- mands are increased. As one missionary says, " The first call of a convert from heathenism is for clean clothes and a better house." The spirit of the gospel is a spirit of order. The missionary work is a standing illustration of the truth that " cleanli- ness is next to godliness." In all countries where Baptist missionaries have gone, they have had a pronounced effect on the development of trade with the natives. The Karens as a heathen people have almost no wants which they cannot themselves supply. They build their own simple houses, 232 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS make their own clothing, and provide their own food. The introduction of Christianity among the Karens is an example of its effects upon any people of a similar wild and degraded character. The Karens are not deficient in business enterprise, nor are they lacking in men of property and wealth. Converted to Christianity, these men have demanded better homes ; others around them become desirous of the same. Their clothing becomes more ample, and of a better character. No longer are their sim- ple and rude arts able to supply their wants. All the Christian communities in Burma are on the way to development to the condition of the Karen Chris- tian communities in Bassein. This is a model and a standard for the social effects of missionary work. Here we find a people, formerly wild and savage, become a prosperous, orderly, and enterprising com- munity. Their churches they have built by their own means ; their schools are largely supported by themselves ; for their normal and industrial insti- tute they have built a fine and ample building, called the Kothabyu Memorial Hall, and this school, largely maintained by their own resources, turns out every year teachers and artisans fitted to labor for the development of their own people. They conduct a lumber business, with a sawmill, having all the improved facilities of civilized commerce. This mill is a public enterprise, and all its income is devoted to the maintenance of their school. Here we find a brilliant and impressive illustra- CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 233 tion of what Christianity will do for the lowest of peoples. The whole business of Burma in all departments has also received an immense impetus from the labors of Baptist missionaries and the converts they have gathered. Mechanical and agricultural im- plements are imported from America ; clothing of every sort is demanded ; the arts of the printing presses are brought into use ; the improved houses required by the people, as well as the schoolhouses and churches which they erect, create a demand for builders' hardware and other materials, and there is hardly a line of the manufacturers of civilized lands which is not required to some extent by the con- verts gained from heathenism. What is true of Burma is true also of Assam in a less degree, and of the converts in every heathen country. Civilization will not produce Christian- ity, but Christianity always produces civilization. Wherever the missionary goes, there follows an in- crease of trade. This is true in China, in Japan, but more especially of the Christian converts start- ing from a lower state, as among the hill tribes of Burma, Assam, and the peoples of Africa. Here in Africa a larger commerce will find its chief en- couragement from Christian missions. Secular com- merce seeks its own aim and the largest profit. It seeks to obtain the productions of Africa at the lowest cost, and to pay for them as largely as possi- ble in alcoholic liquors. This policy is sure de- 234 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS struction to every form of legitimate commerce. It depopulates the country, ruins the people, renders them drunken, worthless, lazy. A section of country treated in this way soon ceases to yield any possi- ble profit to those who have introduced the means of destruction. Even the governments of large por- tions of Africa are now finding it necessary to pro- hibit the importation of alcohol in the interests of commerce alone. Only vigorous, healthy, enter- prising peoples can be of assistance in the develop- ment of the commerce of Africa. If rum goes in trade goes out. In the development of a larger trade in the Congo Valley, and other parts of Africa, the Baptist missionaries are rendering and will ren- der most judicious and helpful service, and their contributions toward commerce in the highest and best sense are larger than can be estimated in figures. CHAPTER XXIII THE PAST AND THE FUTURE THE diversified missionary activities of the Bap- tists of the United States, as described in the preceding pages, although experiencing abundant prosperity, yet because of the separation of interests involved, have never made that impression upon the religious world which their importance would justify. The American Baptist Missionary Union has long stood at the head of the foreign missionary societies of the world in the number of couverts gathered into its mission churches, but is ranked as the eighth among the large missionary societies of the world in point of income. It has even been attempted to show that the Baptists of America are divided into several denominations because of their separation in missionary work, and the head of the religious de- partment of the United States census in 1890 actu- ally reported the Baptists of this country as three denominations. It is easily discovered, however, that there is no real foundation for such a division, since all the churches are one in polity, both mem- bers and pastors are transferred among the churches without any of the formalities which exist in passing from one denomination to another, and to all intents 235 236 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS and purposes they are one denomination. It is also easily discovered that if diversity of missionary ac- tivities should be held to form a denominational distinction, the Baptists of the United States must be divided not only into two or three, but into seven or eight different denominations, since there are at least this number of separate and independent mis- sionary societies enjoying the peculiar loyalty and support of the Baptists in different portions of the country. It is greatly to be regretted that the authority of the United States census has been given to so unjust and unwarranted a division of those who are really one. The separation in missionary activities has also operated to cause the benevolent contributions of Baptists to appear smaller than they really are. In other denominations, where we find the whole de- nominational effort in foreign missions and in home missions concentrated into one society, which not only carries on all the foreign missions, but all home mission work of every character, with perhaps a separate Board for educational work, and a few other minor societies, the contributions are massed in a sum which appears large in comparison with the receipts of even the largest of our Baptist mis- sionary societies. In order to stand on a parity with other denominations, the contributions of the Baptists of the United States for the two foreign missionary societies, the American Baptist Mission- ary Union and the Foreign Mission Board of the THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 237 Southern Baptist Convention, should be consoli- dated, including the contributions to the woman's foreign missionary societies; and the contributions for home missions should include not only the re- ceipts of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Missionary De- partment of the American Baptist Publication Soci- ety, but the combined receipts of the Baptist Con- ventions of all the States and Territories, and the multitude of other missionary societies, none of which are reported in the general denominational statistics, but all of which represent activities which are included in the home mission work of the larger Boards of other denominations which, because of this combination, have been supposed to contrib- ute more largely to home as well as to foreign missions than do the Baptists. If, however, all the sums contributed to similar work as that reported in the larger societies of other religious bodies were added together in one sum it would be found that, so far as can be gathered, for the year 1899, for exam- ple, the entire contributions of Baptists for missionary purposes amounted to the grand total of one million nine hundred and fifty-three thousand seventy-eight dollars and twenty-nine cents, a sum in excess of the largest contributions for similar purposes reported by any other religious denomination in the United States. This is only for current benevolent pur- poses, and does not include contributions to educa- 238 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS tional and other institutions for endowment, nor the income of the multitude of city missions and other enterprises of that character supported by Baptists. After a careful study through a series of years, it is the conviction of the writer that in regard to the amount contributed for benevolence, the Baptist de- nomination does, as a matter of fact, stand first in the United States. Of the above amount, seven hundred and thirty-six thousand one hundred and twelve dollars and twenty-eight cents was given for foreign missionary work, and one million two hun- dred and sixteen thousand nine hundred and sixty- six dollars and one cent for missions in the United States. In this volume an attempt has been made first to tell the story of American Baptist missions as begun and carried on under the name of the General Mis- sionary Convention, then to give an account of the founding of the other missionary societies of the Bap- tists in this country, and to indicate the lines of work in the foreign missionary enterprise to which each of these societies addressed itself, and finally to give as full and comprehensive a history as the limits of the volume would allow of the later years of the missions of American Baptists on the different fields, combining in one view the operations of various so- cieties which are engaged upon the same field. The narrative covers a period of only eighty-eight years ; but what a marvelous growth from the small, weak, and disunited body of Baptists in America in 1812 THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 239 to the magnificent denomination of 1 900 ! Then there was not a single institution or interest which engaged the attention of all the Baptists in this country. Now six theological seminaries and a multitude of colleges and other schools of a lesser grade indicate the growth in educational lines from one college, now known as Brown University, to the present large development. In churches and denomina- tional strength the Baptists stand among the first in the country, and by means of their great and powerful missionary organizations, they exercise a potent influence in the religious activities of the en- tire world. On April 23, 1900, there died in the city of Rangoon, Burma, a missionary at the age of ninety- two years, whose life more than spanned the entire period covered by American Baptist foreign mis- sions. At the birth of Rev. Durlin L. Brayton, both his nation and his denomination were weak and insignificant among the civil and religious forces of the world. He lived to see his country advance from a little people, not yet wholly freed from the domination of the mother country and without influ- ence in the world at large, to a powerful nation of seventy millions of people, whose word is acknowl- edged to carry the balance of power in the delicate international questions pending among the nations of the earth. He saw his denomination spring with almost startling rapidity from its despised position among the religious bodies of America to hold a 240 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS foremost position, not only at home but in world- wide missionary work in all the earth. He entered upon his missionary labors the same year that Queen Victoria was raised to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, and saw the small area of British possessions in India extended to cover the entire peninsula of Hindustan, with the added provinces of Burma and Assam, and the title, " Empress of India," added to that of " Queen of Great Britain and Ireland." When he entered the missionary field the countries open to Christian missions were few, and the labors of the missionaries were surrounded with immense difficulties, manifold perils, and obstacles apparently almost insurmountable. He lived to see every nation of importance on the face of the earth open to the labors of the messengers of Christ, the powerful and dominant religions of Asia gradually fading before the increasing splendor of the Sun of Righteousness, to view the nations of the earth largely subdued to the power and influence of na- tions bearing the name of Christ, and to behold the religion of Jesus Christ established as the leading and dominant religion of the earth, by which not only the laws and customs of Christian nations and their intercourse with each other are shaped, but to the principles of which the legislation and political conduct of even pagan nations were compelled, in some measure, at least, to conform. If any prophet, pointing to the little boy among the green hills of Vermont, had ventured at that time to predict one- THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 241 half of the growth of the United States in power, in wealth, and in the appliances of civilization, or the splendid progress of the religion of Jesus Christ in its missions and its influence among the nations of the earth, and had named the results which this history has shown to have been achieved by the Baptist denomination at home and abroad, he would have been esteemed as unworthy of attention and as in- dulging in the wildest vagaries manufactured out of the stuff that dreams are made of. In view of the marvelous development of Chris- tian missions in the United States of America, and of the spread of Christianity and civilization through- out the nations of the world, who will dare venture to predict what may be seen by the boy now living among the hills of New England ? Even before the beginning of the twentieth century, China, the only great and powerful purely pagan nation remaining in the earth, lies at the feet of the leading Christian powers. The future of her government, her social and commercial development, and largely her relig- ious progress, is to be indicated by those who bear the name of Christ. It has often been said that with China Christian two-thirds of the battle for the world-wide extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ would be won. Considering the marvelous progress, especially in the latter half of the nine- teenth century, what may not, on the most reason- able anticipations, be predicted of the twentieth ? Long before its first half shall have passed away, Q 242 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS shall not the vision of the prophet be realized when a nation shall be born in a day, and the brightest visions of the Old Testament prophets, and even of the book of Revelation, be realized ? In view of the triumph of the gospel in the nineteenth century, there are substantial grounds for the assurance, so cheering to every servant of Christ, that long before the close of the twentieth century the era shall dawn when the Redeemer of the world shall become the King of nations, and " to him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." APPENDIX A ENGLISH BAPTISTS AND THEIR MISSIONS WHILE American Baptists form by far the larger portion of the Baptist body in the world, num- bering more than four millions in the United States, the Baptists occupy an important and influential position in Great Britain, and number between three hundred and fifty and four hundred thousand. They are divided into two bodies, the General Bap- tists and the Particular Baptists, both holding to immersion as the only form of baptism, the General Baptists being somewhat freer in their views in regard to the Communion, but resembling the Bap- tists in the United States in a general Calvinistic trend in their theological attitude ; while, on the other hand, the Particular Baptists are more strict in their views in regard to the Lord's Supper, but tend toward Arminian views in theology. For many years these two bodies conducted their foreign missionary work separately ; but a few years ago the society of the Particular Baptists was amalgamated with the English Baptist Missionary Society, the pioneer of modern missionary societies, formed at Kettering in 1792. This society, therefore, repre- 243 244 APPENDIX A sents the entire Baptist hotly of Great Britain in its foreign missionary work. The largest missions of the society are in India ; hut it has also an important work in China, in the Congo Free State, West Africa, in the West Indies, in France, in Italy, and in Palestine. The missions in India have about seventy-five missionaries and one hundred and twenty-five native evangelists. The college founded by William Carey at Serampore is still maintained as an institution for the training of native ministers under this society, and the native churches in the vigorous and grow- ing mission have recently established the Indian Baptist Missionary Society for aggressive work under native auspices in various parts of India. This society now has branches in the Northwest Provinces, in Bengal, East Bengal, and Orissa. It is entirely supported by contributions from the native churches and already employs four native missionaries. A printing press is maintained at Calcutta, the continuation of that established by William Carey at Serampore, in which a large amount of religions printing is done, not only for the English Baptist Society but for the American Bap- tist Missionary Union and other bodies maintaining missions in India. Several Anglo-Indian Baptist churches are in affiliation with the missions of tin's society, which also lias a special work among the natives who speak English. The Orissa mission of this society is of special interest to American Bap- APPENDIX A 245 tists, as being that with which Rev. Amos Sutton was connected, whose address at the meeting of the General Missionary Convention at Richmond, in 1835, was the means of establishing the American Baptist Telugu Mission. The society also maintains an extremely interesting mission in Ceylon, where an affiliated body has been formed called the Ceylon Baptist Union. The missions of English Baptists in China are located in the provinces of Shangtung, Shensi, and Shansi. The whole work has been conducted with great vigor and success, employing about thirty mis- sionaries and more than one hundred and fifty native evangelists. A large amount of self-support and native management had been developed in connec- tion with these missions before the terrible events of the year 1900 in China, which resulted in the entire removal of the missionary force, as all three of these fields were located in the centers of great- est disturbance. About ten of the missionaries be- came martyrs for the gospel at the hands of the murderous mobs, and like all other missions, the situation of the English Baptist work in China at the close of 1900 was in abeyance awaiting the developments of the future. The English Baptist mission in the Congo Free State has been the most aggressive in advance toward the interior and in exploration of any of the missions on that field. Especially Rev. George Grenfell has done more exploring in the region of 246 APPENDIX A the Upper Congo Valley than any other one man, and perhaps more than all others together, with the exception of the officers of the Congo Free State. By special request of the king of Belgium, Mr. Grenfell was released from missionary duties for a time that he might become commissioner of the State in the delimitation of the frontier between the Congo State and the Portuguese territories adjoin- ing. The mission occupies ten stations, extending from Matadi in Lower Congo, and San Salvador in Portuguese Congo, to Yakusu at Stanley Falls, in Central Africa. This mission has been conducted with great good-will in connection with the Congo mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union, and in many ways, especially in regard to steamer transportation on the Upper Congo, both missions have been able to afford assistance one to the other. American Baptists have to acknowledge with grati- tude many favors which the English Baptist mis- sion, with their two steamers, the "Peace" and " Good Will," have been abje to afford the Ameri- can Baptist mission on the Congo. The West Indies missions of the English Bap- tists report about thirty-five thousand church-mem- bers and have largely become self-supporting, espe- cially those in Jamaica and in the Bahama group are entirely so, with the exception of assistance af- forded to Calabar College, in Kingston, Jamaica. The Jamaica Baptist Union has been in existence fifty years, has held its annual meeting with regu- APPENDIX A 247 larity throughout the half-century, and beeu of great aid in the development of Baptist work on that island. English Baptist work in France is confined to Brittany, and engages the attention of but one mis- sionary with six native evangelists, while the mis- sions in Italy are more extended, embracing a very successful mission in Rome itself, also the missions in North Italy, in the Tuscan district, the whole comprising six missionaries, with twelve native evangelists. An exceedingly interesting feature in English Baptist missions is that at Nablous, near Jacob's Well, in Palestine, maintained by Rev. El. Karey, with sub-stations at Samaria and five other places. Mr. and Mrs. Karey have suffered much persecu- tion, but still continue their work, and much is being done by the maintenance of a prosperous girls' school, where the future mothers of the district are trained in principles of Christianity. APPENDIX B CANADIAN BAPTISTS AND THEIR MISSIONS THE Baptists of Canada, who number about one hundred thousand, have two foreign mission- ary societies, that of the Maritime Provinces, in- cluding Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, and the Ontario Board, which is also supported by the Baptists in Quebec, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territory, as well as the province of Ontario. The missions of these two societies, however, are practically one, occupying a field of the Telugu territory of southeastern India, north of the mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union. They have felt the influence of the large ingathering experienced by the American mission. A very successful theological seminary is maintained at Simulcotta, and the missions are well organized, co-operating with each other in every respect as if under the administration of one Board, and uniting with the American mission in a Quinquennial Con- vention for the consideration and better prosecution of Baptist mission work among the Telugu people. The native papers and Sunday-school lessons pre- pared by the American mission are used in common 248 APPENDIX B 24(» by the Canadian laborers and mission churches. For all practical purposes the missions of the three so- cieties might be considered as one effective force for the propagation of the gospel among the Telugus. APPENDIX C BAPTISTS IN AUSTRALASIA AND SOUTH AFRICA A COMPLETE view of Baptists in the world outside of the United States, will also include the very respectable and vigorous body of Baptists iu Australasia, including Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, where they now number nearly twenty thousand. Several large and important churches are found in the principal cities of Australia, while the Baptists of New Zealand have shown much energy and vigor in their work. Australian Bap- tists also maintain an independent and separate mis- sion of their own in Bengal, India, which, however, is working in complete harmony and co-operation with the English Baptist mission in that province of British India. In South Africa Baptists number somewhat more than three thousand, covering the territories for- merly known as Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and Transvaal, with one church at James- town, on the island of St. Helena, which is affiliated with the South African Baptist Union. They have a periodical called the " South African Baptist," and in the rapid development which will come to this 250 APPENDIX C 251 territory, Baptists will undoubtedly share. During the war between the English government and the Transvaal Republic the work of the Baptist churches, especially in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, was entirely interrupted, and the circulation of " The South African Baptist " was necessarily suspended for a period of six months, as it was im- possible to distribute the paper to its subscribers on account of the interruption and disorganization of the mail facilities. Several of the Baptist pastors were compelled to leave their fields, but a number heroically remained, although without the promise of support, and ministered to the sick and wounded, and the prisoners. Several entered the Ambulance Corps of the British army, and one Baptist pastor was wounded at the battle of Spion Kop. With the restoration of peace the work of the churches was largely resumed, and the Baptists of South Africa look forward with hope and confidence to aggressive and prosperous work under better auspices than have prevailed in the past. APPENDIX D o o OS cj a; — — ci t co j5 5s x » OiQNN»C10inoOONO©HllOiO'9 ::/.:k:'::i/''--i:::::cnth: lo co cr. ou~ i-« oo co i^ qoci-jt-nc 8 O>G4 co m -l rl C) >-i CI frOMriMT c 00 > 0) •"TCNCO 1 — 1 t— 1 Cll^r-1 95 •>* a . cco>iraMioi>cooocN'S'i>o>cNm(MrHm m CO 'T Oi t~ tj« CO «-i rH 00 O vx ■7.. a '~ l IC B 03 !»=. >> >. o o o o CO CO c a a a a a" o -r« O '5 b"3 0*3 s •« o.Ss e >, p .2£\2p .2 2 .2S& .£ .2 '3 CO a an as a 3 c£a c P* ^ — --^ C- *J fit 4J P.& ^_ cj ftc3 ftci ft cS ftc3 ca c «- . . . £«,g« 5 - «- 5WCQ. ... a .. . 5 : pq .03 .; oa- - ,: B ..::::::: pi 1 •o a n a 3 O 09 3 X a 4) 6 •■iis .2 5 ffi § s ! c a a •£■-" 'n c c B OJSC g — c a B si 8 B > 9 * C ■g««s c a Pi % P £ Ft ■J H 252 GENERAL INDEX Abbott, Elisha L. : sailing of, 44 ; and the Bassein mission, 74. Adams, Joseph S., opened mission at Hanyang, 169. Adamsen, Hans, missionary in Siam, 157. Africa: beginning of missions in, 39, 182; nature of missions in, 188. African Baptist Missionary So- ciety, organization, 39. African Native Church, the, changed to Baptist, 190. Allan, Mrs., gift for Liu Chiu mis- sion, 178. American and Foreign Bible So- ciety, formation of, 50. American and Foreign Missionary Society, formation of, 91. American Baptists: growth of, 238 ; first in United States in be- nevolent contributions, 238 ; one denomination, 235. " American Baptist," the, 92. American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, formation, 53. American Baptist Free Mission Society, formation of, 91. American Baptist Home Mission Society : founding of, 88 ; mis- sion of, in Mexico, 206 ; its work in Cuba, 210: work of, in Porto Rico, 211. American Baptist Missionary Union, the, change of name of convention to, 70. American Baptist Publication So- ciety : takes Bible work of Bap- tists, 52 ; formation of, 81 ; aid to missions in Sweden, 195. American Bible Society, relations with. 46. American Bible Union, formation of, 50. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, formation of. 9. Amherst, occupied, 36. Arakan: Judson's voyage to, 24; ceded to the English, 36. Argentine Republic, Baptist work in, 205. Arnold, Albert N., missionary in Greece, 200. Arthur, J. H., missionary in Japan, 175. Ashmore, William : arrival of, at Bangkok, 153 ; arrival of, at Swa- tow, 163. Assam: opening missions in, 45, 122; missions to animistic races in, 128. Atlantic cable, first use of, for Bap- tist missions, 108. Aungbinle. imprisonment at, 33. Ava : first visit to, 27 ; second visit to, 32 ; imprisonment at, 33. Baldwin, Thomas: correspond- ence of, with William Carey, 6 ; with Adoniram Judson, 11. Bangkok : opening of mission at, 152: burning of mission build- ings of, 154. 253 254 GENERAL INDEX Banks, C. B., first to reach Stan- ley Pool, 216. Banza Manteke, revival at, 187. Baptism : of two thousand two hundred and twenty-two in one day, 141 ; of one thousand six hundred and seventy -one in one day, 117. Baptist General Tract Society: re- moval to Philadelphia, 31 ; for- mation of, 81. "Baptist Missionary Magazine": circulation of, in South declined. 3 ; adopted by the General Con- vention. 29 : name of, changed, 7. Baptist Missionary Society for Propagating the Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts, forma- tion of, 12. Baptist Young People's Society, the first, 8. Baptist Youth's Missionary So- ciety, New York, formation of, 7. Baptists, position of, in 1812, 4. Barcbet, S. P., missionary at Ning- po, 167. Bari, Italy, baptism of church of seventy-five members, 63. Bassein : beginning of Sga w-Karen mission in, 74, 10") ; separation of, from the Missionary Union, 92, 110; self-support in, 105. Bceeher. John S. : missionary at Bassein, 76; separation of, from Missionary Union, 110. Bennett, A. A., founded Yokohama Theological Seminary, 175. Bennett, Cephas, superintendent of Baptist Mission Press in Bur- ma, 109. Bhamo, course of mission at, 112. Bible Day, arrangements for, 86. Bickel, Philip: appointed by American Baptist Publication Society, 83 ; manager of German Baptist Publication House, 195. Binney, J. G. : founded Karen Theological Seminary, 107; founded Rangoon Baptist Col- lege, 107. Bolles. Lucius: corresponding sec- retary of the General Conven- tion. 31 ; and formation of Home Mission Society, 89. Bond, A. L., loss of, 65. Boston Association, formation of, 6. Boston, headquarters transferred to, 30. Bowen, T. J., transferred to Bra- zil, 61. Brand, J. C, missionary at Mito, 177. Bray ton, Durlin L. : translator of Pwo-Karen Bible, 109; separa- tion of, from the Missionary Union, 110; saw whole mission- ary growth, 239. Brazil, opening of mission in, 6-1, 203. Bright, Edward : and the Telugu mission, 134 ; and the Congo mission, 185; home secretary of the Missionary Union, 73. Broady, Knut 0., president of Stockholm Theological Semi- nary, 196. Bronson, Miles : founder of Now- gong Orphan Institution, 124; dictionary of, 124. Brown, Nathan : opened mission in Assam, 45; connection with American Baptist Free Mission Society, 93 ; translated New Tes- tament into Assamese, 124 : into Japanese, 222; missionary in Ja- pan, 175. Brown University, the first Baptist educational institution, 12. Buel, R. F., missionary in Greece, 200. Burma : character of native king- dom of, 21, 103 ; climate of. 22 : Baptist missions in, 102, 119 ; con- GENERAL INDEX 255 quest of upper, 112 : editions of the Bible in, 109 ; martvrs in mis- sions of, 117; other missions in, 104; self-support in, 119; Baptist missionary convention in, 120. Burman Bible: Judson's, produc- tion of, 22 ; providentially saved, 3G. Burman church, the first, 26. Burman dictionary printed, 33. Burman theological school, be- ginning of, 107. Butler, John W., founder of Bap- tist work in Mexico, 206. Camp, J. H., collections of, for Smithsonian Institution, 217. Campbell, George, opened mission in Kayin, 164. Campbell, W. W., opened mission in the Deccan, 148. Canadian Baptist mission at- tempts in Siam, 155. Canton Station of Southern Bap- tist Convention, 58, 160. Carey, Felix, in Burma, 21. Carey, Lott, appointed missionary, 40. Carpenter, C. H. : missionary at Bassein, 76 ; and Rangoon Bap- tist College, 107 ; use of cable for, 108; death of, in Japan, 177. Carpenter, Mrs. C. H., supported mission in Hokkaido, 177. Carson, A. E., opened station for the Kachins, 16, 116. Cauldwell, Thomas, treasurer, 17. Chandler, John H., mission printer in Siam, 154. Charleston Association, formation of, 6. Chase, Irah, deputy to France, 42 ; 191. Chekiang Baptist Association, for- mation of, 167. Children of missionaries in serv- ice, 118. China: plan to reach west prov- inces of, by Assam, 45 ; missions in, 159; formation of Baptist publication society in, 161 ; up- risings in, 169. Chittagong, mission at, 27. Civil War, its effect on Baptist missions, 61, 78. Clark, E. W. : as an explorer, 215; opened mission to the Nagas, 127. Clement, E. W„ principal of Dun- can Academy, Tokyo, 176. Clough, John E. : appointment as missionary, 126 ; founded Ongole College, 225. Cochrane, W. W., opened station at Namkham, 116. Colley, W. W., transferred to Yoruba mission, 62. Colman, James: arrival of, in Burma, 25 ; death of, 27. Colman, Mrs. James, married Amos Sutton, 132. Columbian University : founding of, 29 ; transfer of, to Board of Trustees, 30. Commerce, services of Baptist mis- sions to, 231. Concert of prayer for missions recommended, 29. Congo mission, story of the, 182. Cote, W. N., missionary in Rome, 63, 201. Crawford, T. P., missionary in China, 162. Cretin, J. B., author of " Tracts on Baptism," etc.. 193. Cuba: opening of mission in, 66; division of, between Northern and Southern Baptist Boards, 68, 210 ; reopening of mission work in, 209. Cushing, J. N. : made Shan dic- tionary, 221 ; reducing Chin lan- guage to written form. 219 : trans- lator of Bible into Shan, 109; 256 GENERAL INDEX founder of mission at Bhamo, 112 ; travels of, in Shanland, 215. Cutler, 0. T., opened mission in Assam, 45. David, W. J., transferred to Yoruba mission, 62. Day, Samuel S., first missionary to the Telugus, -14, 133. Dean, William, arrival of, in Siam. 42, 153. Dearing, John L., president of Yokohama Theological Semi- nary, 176. Deccan, opening of mission in the, 148. Demarara, Baptist mission in, 63. Denmark, Baptist mission in, 198. Deputations, 44, 77. Diaz, A. J. : conversion of, and founding Baptist mission in Cuba, 66, 211 ; with American Baptist Publication Society, 87. Dibrugarh, opening of station at, 129. Dikins, Jos6 P., converted in San- tiago, 210. Downie, D., and Nellore mission, 151. Duncan Academy, opening of, 176. Duncan, Samuel W., interest in Tokyo Baptist Academy, 176. Eager, J. H., missionary in Italy, 201. East India Company, the, expelled the Judsons from India, 20. Education, services of Baptist mis- sions to, 224. " Edwin Forrest," loss of the, 65. English Baptist Missionary So- ciety, formation of, 6. Faunce, D. W., visit of, to Greece. 200. Female Mite Society, Providence R. I., formation of, 8. Fetzer, J. G., professor in Ham- burg Theological Seminary, 195. Fielde, Miss Adele M., organiza- tion of Bible women by, 164. Finland, mission in, 197. Firth, John, work of, among tea garden laborers, 127. Fisher, C. H. D., opened work in Mito, 176. Foster, John M., organized Bible classes, 165. France, Baptist missions in, 191. " Franc's Chapel," 106. Friesen, Abram, opened Nalgonda station, 149. Gardner, George W,, visit of, to Greece, 200. Garo Mission, character of, 125. General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions : delegates to the meeting of, for organization, 13 ; organization of, 14 ; constitu- tion of, 14. Geography, services of Baptist mis- sions to, 214. German Baptist mission, begin- ning of, 42, 193. German Baptist Publication So- ciety, 83. Goble, Jonathan, missionary in Japan, 93, 174. Goddard, Josiah, founded mission at Ningpo, 166 ; arrival at Bang- kok, 153 ; translated New Testa- ment, 222. Goddard, J. It., translated Old Testament, 167, 222. Goduka, Jonas, founder of the Af- rican native church, 190. Going, Jonathan, formation of Home Mission Society and, 88. Gold Coast, mission on the, 188. Gordon, A. J., and the Congo mis- sion, 186. GENERAL INDEX 25 Granger, James N., deputation to Burma, 77. Grant, J. S., medical missionary at Ningpo, 167. Graves, R. H., missionary iti China, 61, 160. Greece, mission in, 45, 199. Guinness family and the mission on the Congo, 183. Gurney, A. K., completed transla- tion of Assamese Bible, 124, 221. Hakkas, opening of mission among, 164. Hall, Gordon, sailing of, 10, Hanson, Ola, reduced Chin lan- guage to written form, 219. Hanyang, opening of mission at, 169. Harrington, C. K., professor in Yo- kohama Seminary, 176. Harris, Norman, separation of, from Missionary Union, 110. Harris, Mrs. Robert, gift of, to Dun- can Academy, 176. Hayti, mission in, 42, 92. Henderson, A. H., opened station at Mongnai, 115. Hickey, James M., founder of first Baptist church in Mexico, 90, 206. Holmes, J. L., murder of, 162. Holton, Calvin, missionary to Li- beria, 40. Hough, George H. : his arrival in Burma, 23 ; retired from mission, 36 ; leaves Rangoon, 24. Huntley, G. A., missionary at Hanyang, 169. Indians, missions among Amer- ican, 30, 38. Insein, site of theological semi- nary, 106, 107. Italy, mission in, 63, 201. James, J. S., loss of, 65. Japan : opening of Southern Bap- tist mission in, 65; the progress of missions in, 173. Jenkins, Horace, principal of Bible school at Shaohing, 166. Jewett, Lyman : at Prayer Meet- ing Hill, 135: missionary to the TelugUS, 133, 134 ; translated New Testament into Telugu, 222. Johnson, J. W., opened mission at Swatow, 163. Jones, John Taylor, first mission- ary to Siam, 42. 152. Judson, Adoiiiram : sailing of, 9; appointed missionary of the Baptist Convention, 17; arrival of, in Burma, 20 ; baptism of, 11 ; first missionary to heathen king- dom of the East, 102 ; imprison- ment of, 33 ; incident at Ando- ver Seminary, 10; services to geography, 214; translated the Bible into Burman, 220. Judson, Ann Hasseltine: sailing of, 10; baptism of, 11; return of, from America, 33 ; death of, 35. Karen home mission societies, formation of, 105. Karen military police, formation of, 114. Karen missions in Siam, 155. Karen theological seminary, be- ginning, 107. Karens, tribal divisions among, 111. Khamti, the same as Sbans, 45. Kincaid, Eugenio, travel of, in Upper Burma, 215. Kirkpatrick, M. B., opened station at Hsipaw, 115. Knowlton, M. J., "the Western Confucius," 166. Kobner, Julius, missionary in Den- mark, 194. Kols, mission to, 126. Ko Than Byu Memorial Hall, 106. •Jo I GENERAL INDEX Lagos, self-support at, 188. Lehmann, George \\\, missionary in Germany, 194. Lehmann, Joseph, professor in German Baptist Theological Seminary, 195. Liberia: opening of missions in, 40, 02, 182 ; discontinuance of missions in, 62, 182. Lincoln, Heman, first president of American Baptist Home Mission Society, 89. Literature, service of Baptist mis- sions to, 220. Liu Chiu Islands, mission in, 178. Livingstone Inland Mission, the, 183. Lord, E. C, missionary at Ningpo. 160. Lott Carey Foreign Missionary Convention, the, 189. Lough Fook, sold himself into slavery, 63. Loughridge, A., principal of On- gole High School, 150. Love, Horace T., missionary in Greece, 199. Lund, Eric, opened mission in Philippine Islands, 180. MacGowan, D. J., opened mission at Ningpo, 166. Malcom, Howard, deputation to the missions in Asia, 44. Mandalay, opening of mission in, 114. Manikan, Braulio, the first Fili- pino Baptist, 181. Mason. Francis: "The People and Productions of Burma," 216 : translated the Bible into Sgaw Karen, 221. Mason, Marcus C. : as an explorer, 215 ; opened station at Tura, 125. Massachusetts Baptist Mission So- ciety, formation of, 7. McCormick, H. P., missionary in Porto Rico, 211. Meehan, John S., and Baptist Gen- eral Tract Society, 81. Mennonite Brethren, support by, of missionaries to the Telugus, 149. Mexico: opening of mission in, 66, 200; work of Publication Society in, 87; first Baptist church in, 90. Mikirs, opening of work among, 128. Millionaires in 1812, 3. Mito, opening of work at, 176. Monroe, William C, missionary in Hayti, 42. Morris, Charles S., visit of, to Af- rica, 189. Moseley, H. R., missionary in Cuba, 210. Moulmein, missionary convention at, 77. Moung Ing, faithfulness of, 35. Moung Nau, baptism of "the first Burman convert," 26. Murdock, John N., and the Congo mission, 184. Nagas, opening of mission to, 127. Nalgonda, opening of station at, 148. National Baptist Missionary Con- vention, the, 189. Nellore, opening of station at, 44. New England, commerce of, and effects of war of 1812 on, 2. New York Baptist Missionary Con- vention, 89. New York Baptist Missionary So- ciety, formation of, 8. New York, the Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, formation of, 12. Newell, Samuel and Harriet, sail- ing of, 10. Ningpo, opening of mission at, 166. Norway, mission in, 85, 197. GENERAL INDEX 259 Nott, Samuel, sailing of, 10. Nowgong Orphan Asylum, found- ing of, 124. O'Halloran, J. R., missionary in Cuba. 210. Oncken, Jobann G., baptism of. 42, 194. Ongole : evangelistic methods of, influence other missions, 149; first mission house at, 136; great ingathering at, 136; Prayer Meeting Hill at, 135; subdivision of its field, 147 ; Baptist college at, 150. Osgood, S. M., printer of Judson's Bible, 109. Oungpenla, imprisonment of Jud- son at, 33. Packer, John, and Rangoon Bap- tist College, 107. Parshley, W. B., professor in Yoko- hama Theological Seminary, 176. Pascoe, Cephas, missionary in Greece, 199. Peck, John M., appointed mission- ary, 30. Peck, Solomon, deputation to Burma, 77. Pentecost on the Congo, the, 187. Perrine, S. A., established training school in Assam, 127. Petrick, C. E., labors among tea garden workers, 127. Philadelphia Association, forma- tion of, 6. Philadelphia Baptist Missionary Society, formation of, 8. 12, 13. Philippine Islands mission, the, 180. Phillips, E. G. : as an explorer, 215 ; opened station at Tura. 125. Philology, contributions of Bap- tist missions to, 218. Phinney, Frank D., superintend- ent of Baptist mission press in Burma, 110. Poate, Thomas P., missionary in Japan, 175. Porto Rico, Baptist work in, 211. Post, Albert L., president of Amer- ican Baptist Free Mission So- ciety, 92. Powell, W. D., missionary in Mex- ico. 208. Prayer Meeting Hill, history of, 135. Price, Jonathan : arrival in Bur- ma, 31 ; retired from mission, 36. Printing press in Burma, use of, 108. Ramapatam, theological semi- nary at, 146. Rangoon Baptist College, found- ing of, 107. Rangoon, capture of, by the Eng- lish, 33. Rangoon Sgaw-Karen mission : beginning of, 105; separation of, from the Missionary Union, 92, 110. Revolution, war of the. results of, 1. Rhees, Henry H., missionary in Japan, 175. Rice. Luther : sailing of, 10 ; bap- tism of, 11 ; return of, to Amer- ica, 11 ; appointed missionary of the Baptist Convention. 17. Richards, Henry, missionary at Banza Manteke, 187. Roberts, I. J.: withdrawal of, from the General Convention, 58 ; missionary career of, 59. Roberts. \V. H., reduced Chin lan- guage to writing, 219. Rohrer, J. Q. A., loss of, 6-5. Rome : opening of mission in, 62 ; chapel in, 63. Rose, A. T. : head of Burman theo- logical school, 107 ; separation 200 GENERAL INDEX of, from the Missionary Union, 110. Rostan, J. c, deputation to France. 42. 192. Russia, Baptist work in, 198. Sadiya, first station in Assam, 123. Saillens, Reuben, withdrew from Me All mission, 192. Sakellarios, Demetrios Z., mis- sionary in Greece, 200. Salem Bible Translation and For- eign Missionary Society, forma- tion of, 8. Sandoway : resort for persecuted Karen Christians, 75 ; reopening of mission work at, 115. Sandy Creek Association, forma- tion of, 6. Saratoga, Bible conference of, 1S83. 51. Savannah Baptist Society for For- eign Missions, formation of, 12 Science, contributions of Baptist missions to, 216. Scott, J. H., supported by the Woman's Society of California. 98. Sears, Barnas, baptism of Oncken and others, 42, 191. Self-support, beginning in Bas- sein mission, 76. Serampore mission, India: cor- respondence of, with America, 6 : aid of, to the Judsons, 21, 23. Shanghai, station of the Southern Baptist Convention, 61, 162. Shans, mission to the, 45. Sharp, Daniel, and formation of Home Mission Society, 89. Shuck, J. Lewis: joined the Southern Baptist Convention, 58, 153 : baptized the first convert in China, 100. Siam : opening of mission in, 42 152 ; mission to Chinese in, 155 ; mission to Karens in, 155. Sierra Leone, Baptist mission in, 02. Simmons, E. Z., missionary at Can- ton, 101. Sims, A. : first to reach Stanley Pool, 216; made dictionary of Kiteke and Kiyansi, 219; visit of, to America, 180. Slavery, division of Baptists on the subject of, 53. Sloan. VV. H., missionary in Bur- ma and Mexico, 207. Smith, Samuel F., author of "The Lone Star," 1:54. Smith, S. J., mission printer in Siam, 154. Sociology, services of Baptist mis- sions to, 227. Southern Baptist Convention: formation of, 56; first Mission Board to hold property in inte- rior of China, 101 ; opened mis- sion in Japan, 178 ; mission of, in Mexico, 206. Stadling, Jonas, missionary of the American Baptist Publication Society, 84. Staughton, William : elected cor- responding secretary of Mis- sionary Society, 17: resignation of, 31. Stevens, Edward A., founded the Burman theological school, 107. Stevens, Edward O., visit of, to Siam, 157. Stow, Baron, and Baptist General Tract Society, 81. Suichaufu, opening of mission at, 168. Sutton, Amos: married Mrs. James Colman, 28. 133; address by, on Telugus, 44, 133. Swatow, opening of mission at. 163. Sweden, Baptist mission in, 195. Taiping rebellion, relation of, to Baptist missions, 59. GENERAL INDEX 261 Talaings in Siam, mission to the, | 157. Taylor, George B., superintendent of Baptist missions in Italy, 201. Tea garden laborers, mission to, 126. Teague, Colin, appointed mission- ary, 10 Telugu Baptist Publication So- ciety, 86. Telugu converts from out-castes, HI. Telugu mission : discussions re- garding abandonment of, 133 ; education in the, 150. Telugus, mission to, 43, 132. Tenasserim, ceded to English, 36. " The Lone Star," 44, 132, 134. "The Morning Star," 109. '• The Religious Herald," 109. "The Triennial Convention," 17. Thomas, Jacob, death of, 123. Thomson, R. A., opened mission in Liu Chiu Islands, 178. Tura, mission at, 125. Turkey, Baptist mission in, 85 Upcraft. William, opened mission in Western China, 168. Van Meter, Henry L., missionary at Bassein, 76. Van Meter, W. C, missionary in Rome, Italy, 85. Vinton, Justus H. : " The man who saved our lives," 105: sep- aration from the Missionary Union, 110. Virginia. Baptist Missionary So- ciety of, formation of, 12. Wade. Jonathan, arrival of, in Burma, 32. Waldo, Miss S. E., missionary in Greece, 200. Walker, Wareham, editor of " The American Baptist," 92 Waring, C. M., missionary to Li- beria, 40. Warner, George, opened mission in West China, 168. Warren Association, formation of. 6. Warren, Jonah G., reply of, to Ly- man Jewett, 135. Webster, David, only Baptist mis- sionary resident in North Siam, 156. Welch, James E., appointed mis- sionary, 30. Wheelock, E. W. : arrival of, in Burma, 25 ; death of, 26. Westrup. John O. : murder of, 66 ; missionary of the Southern Bap- tist Convention, 207. Westrup, T. M., missionary in Mexico, 66, 90, 206. Wiberg, Andreas, appointed by American Baptist Publication Society, 84, 195. Willard, Erastus, missionary to France, 42, 192. Williams. John, correspondence with William Carey, 6. Willmarth, Isaac, missionary to France, 42, 191. Women's Baptist Missionary Soci- ety : the first, 8: formation of, 96. Woman's Bible Society of Phila- delphia, accepted Mr. A. J. Diaz as missionary, 67. Woman's Home Mission Societies, formation of, 100. Woman's Missionary Union, for- mation of, 99. Wood, George, agent of Baptist General Tract Society, 81. Yates, Matthew T., missionary in China, 61, 162. Yokohama, formation of Baptist church at, 175. Yoruba: opening of mission in, 62 ; re-opening of mission in, 62. Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 1 1012 01173 0852 ' Date Due Wr i r-. k pf 1« r , Mr * Mr 7 6 ¥ l 9