. . . THE : . . 
 
 DEBT OF CIVILIZATION 
 
 TO 
 
 American Baptist Missions 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. EDMUND F. MERRIAM 
 
 Editorial Secretary of the American Baptist 
 Missionary Union 
 
 FROM THE WATCHMAN . 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 AMERICAN baptist MISSIONARY UNION 
 
 1896 
 

Civilization and Baptist Missions 
 
 By Rev. Edmund F. Merriam 
 
 The indebtedness of science and civilization to Baptist 
 missions is large and important, but has hitherto been 
 made known only as the work of the different fields has 
 been presented. By the policy of the Missionary Union 
 the chief emphasis in the missionary work has always been 
 placed supremely upon the oral preaching of the (jospel, 
 and the incidental advantages which have accrued to the 
 peoples of the various lands in which the missions have 
 been maintained, and to the world at large, have scarcely 
 been realized even by those well acquainted with the 
 progress of missions. Evangelization, and not civiliza¬ 
 tion, has been the aim. But, while the Gospel has been 
 preached and many hundred thousands of souls 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 advance¬ 
 ment of the kingdom of Christ. That which raises and 
 helps any people is a blessing to the whole human race. 
 The reflex benefits of 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, com¬ 
 merce. 
 
 Geography 
 
 The aid which exploration and the science of geography 
 has received from Baptist missions has never been properly 
 recognized. Adoniram Judson, the pioneer Baptist mis¬ 
 sionary of America, was also the first Protestant mission¬ 
 ary to live under an absolutely heathen government. Be¬ 
 fore him, the idea of Christian missions had been to labor 
 among heathen populations in colonies of Christian gov¬ 
 ernments. So Ziegenbalg and Schwartz went to the 
 Danish'possessions in India ; Carey, Marshman and Ward 
 
4 
 
 to the domains of the East India Company, and the Dan¬ 
 ish Colony in Serampore; 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 residence 
 and missionary work under the heathen government of 
 that country, one of the worst which 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. Judson was not only the pioneer 
 Baptist missionary of America, but was the pioneer of all 
 missionaries to purely heathen lands, and in his footsteps 
 have followed, and under his inspirations have acted many 
 others, including such illustrious names as John Williams, 
 the martyr of Erromanga, David Livingstone, the heroic 
 missionary and explorer 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 certain extent 
 an explorer, and the geography of the wild portions of 
 Burma often became known to the English officials through 
 the reports and labors of the Baptist missionaries. Special 
 reference should be made to the early travels of Eugenio 
 Kincaid in Upper Burma. He penetrated to Mogaung, 
 nearly 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 Rev. Josiah 
 N. Cushing, D. D., in opening up Shanland, are well known 
 to the scientific world, and have received high appreciation 
 from the British Government and officials, who have 
 availed themselves of his reports in planning their expedi¬ 
 tions through that country, and of his services as inter¬ 
 preter to their exploring parties. 
 
 In the 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 services as explorers have 
 been rendered by Rev. E. W. Clark, Rev. M. C. Mason and 
 Rev. E. G. Phillips. It is only until we come to Africa that 
 we find further large and eminent services to the science of 
 
5 
 
 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 con¬ 
 struction 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 Mission were also established. But 
 the members of that mission saw more clearly than did Mr. 
 Stanley himself that the difficulties in the way of the north 
 bank of the river were so excessive as to be almost prohib¬ 
 itive to, an easy transport. They established stations on 
 the south side, first at Palabala, then at Banza Manteka, 
 and finally Dr. 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 substantially the way dis¬ 
 covered by the missionaries, and running through the line 
 of stations planted by them. The railroad now being con¬ 
 structed also follows the general contour of country 
 adopted for their travel. 
 
 Physical Science 
 
 . The chief contribution made by Baptist missionaries to 
 physical science is undoubtedly the vast and exhaustive 
 work of Rev. Francis Mason, D. D., entitled “The People 
 and Productions of Burma.” The preparation of this 
 work furnished the amusement and relaxation of his busy 
 missionary life, and was first published by private means, 
 but since the death of Dr. Mason it has been revised by • 
 an eminent specialist and published by the British Govern¬ 
 ment in a costly official edition. It still remains as the 
 standard authority, not only on the 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 large services 
 of Baptist missionaries in the collection of scientific speci¬ 
 mens for museums of various sorts in this country. Prob- 
 
6 
 
 ably 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 ro which they have gone. The physical departments 
 and collections 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 Baptist ranks have been glad 
 to acknowledge their indebtedness to our missionaries for 
 valuable contributions to their scientific collections. If 
 these scattered contributions could be gathered in one, the 
 aggregate would be found to be a large and valuable col¬ 
 lection 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 Reed^ ' 
 on the Upper Congo River. Twice the Smithsonian Insti¬ 
 tution at Washington, D. C., sent out to him'through the 
 American Baptist Missionary Union, full collecting outfits 
 and supplies, and on his last return to this country he 
 brought with him more than one hundred cases of speci¬ 
 mens illustrating the geology, mineralogy, entomology, 
 zoology, etc., of Central Africa, as well as specimens of 
 the valuable and precious woods of those vast interior for¬ 
 ests 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 Institution. 
 
 Philology 
 
 By the circumstances in which they have been placed, 
 the services of Baptist missionaries to linguistic science 
 have been of peculiar, value and importance. Placed 
 among many peoples 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 
 
7 
 
 added an immense store of information to comparative 
 , linguistic study. The brilliant achievements of Baptist 
 missionaries in this work have been widely acknowledged. 
 In Burma alone the number of languages reduced to writ¬ 
 ing embraces the Sgaw Karen and Pwo Karen, as well as 
 many minor variations of these two leading dialects, such 
 as the Bghai, Baku, etc. The Chin language has also 
 been reduced to written form, and, last of all, by the labors 
 of Dr. Cushing, Rev. W. H. Roberts, and especially Rev. 
 Ola Hanson, who was sent out for that particular work, 
 the Kachin language, spoken by several millions of people, 
 has been put into written form, and a full system of roman- 
 izing perfected, which has been accepted by the Govern¬ 
 ment of British India. These linguistic services to Burma 
 alone have been sufficient to have earned the gratitude of 
 all scientists, but 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—and 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 the Congo Mission 
 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 print¬ 
 ing, to be comprehended, must be of different form for the 
 varied dialects. The Kikongo has been reduced to writ- 
 ing by various persons, and Dr. Sims, of Leopoldville,—who 
 has received the cross of the Legion of Honor from the 
 French Government, and has also been decorated by the 
 Government of Belgium for his eminent medical services,— 
 has made a dictionary of the Kiteke, and also a vocabulary 
 of the Kivansi. Much work in other dialects has been 
 done by other missionaries. It is to be hoped that before 
 long some Imgiia Jranca^ or common language, will be dis¬ 
 covered by which printing at least may be done in one 
 form for all the varied but yet closely associated dialects 
 of the Congo Valley. 
 
 
8 
 
 Literature 
 
 In enumerating the services of Baptist missionaries to 
 literature, the first place must be given to Judson’s trans¬ 
 lation of the Bible into the Burman language. That lan¬ 
 guage was already in a written form when Judson went to 
 Burma, but no real attempt had been made to connect it 
 with the English, and no literature of Western 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 
 i6ii did for the English tongue. The translation was so 
 wonderfully accurate that but little revision has ever been 
 necessary, and the work of translation need never be 
 repeated. Dr. Judson also made an English-Burman 
 Dictionary, which has been, and still is, the standard and 
 only work of that character. A large amount of literature, 
 religious and secular, has been prepared by the Baptist 
 missionaries in Burma, especially in the way of tracts and 
 school books. All literature in the various Karen tongues 
 owes its existence entirely to the Baptist missionaries. 
 The whole Bible has been translated into the Sgaw Karen 
 dialect by Rev. Francis Mason, D. D. ; into the Pwo 
 Karen by Rev. D. L. Brayton; into Shan by Rev. J. N. 
 Cushing, D. D., who has also prepared a dictionary of that 
 language for English readers. School-books of all glades, 
 from primary to scientific, philosophical and theological, 
 have been prepared 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 Assam¬ 
 ese. 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 now completed and 
 a revision is in progress, and the full Bible in Assamese 
 will soon be offered to the people. Aside from this may 
 
9 
 
 be mentioned the Assamese-English Dictionary, prepared 
 by Dr. Miles Bronson; and much work of revision and 
 translation of Scriptures, tracts and other religious liter¬ 
 ature has been done by Rev. P. H. Moore, of Nowgong. 
 In Garo many portions of Scripture have been prepared 
 by Rev. M. C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips in the dia¬ 
 lect of that enterprising people, as well as school-books 
 and other translations, especially those made necessary by 
 the progress of their missionary work. 
 
 Passing to India we find the whole New Testament 
 translated and revised by Dr. Lyman Jewett, in a form 
 which is still in use in the Baptist missions among the 
 Telugus. Their beautiful language, the Italian of India, 
 has also been enriched with other portions of Scripture, 
 school books, theological works, and a large number of 
 religious tracts and smaller publications. In Burma, Assam 
 and among the Telugus religious periodicals in the vernac¬ 
 ular are prepared and issued regularly by the missionaries, 
 especially for the benefit of the Christian 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 Scriptures and the preparation of religious 
 and secular literature. Rev. J. R. Goddard, senior, trans¬ 
 lated the whole New Testament into the colloquial dialect 
 of Ningpo in a version which is still widely in use in that 
 section of China. At Swatow, much work has been done by 
 Dr. William Ashmore, Dr. S. B. Partridge, William Ashmore, 
 Jr., and others, in the translation of Scriptures and prepara¬ 
 tion of religious literature in the colloquial dialect of that 
 locality. Dr. Nathan Brown, who first gave the New Tes¬ 
 tament to the Assamese, later in life became a missionary 
 to Japan, and enjoyed the unique distinction of having 
 given the New Testament 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 
 kana or pure Japanese native character in printing, the 
 usual method of printing Japanese having been to so inter¬ 
 lard the Japanese characters with Chinese as to make it 
 difficult for the common people to learn to read. Dr. 
 Brown’s example has had a large influence upon Japanese 
 
lO 
 
 printing, and the use of Chinese characters has been 
 greatly diminished in certain kinds of 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 done for the people of 
 the Congo by their Baptist brethren in that region. Gos¬ 
 pels have been translated into the Kikongo, the Kiteke 
 and other dialects, and a beginning made in the prepara¬ 
 tion of school-books, especially those of a primary char¬ 
 acter, for these untaught but intelligent people. The ser¬ 
 vices which Baptist missionaries have rendered to the 
 various peoples among whom they have labored, by the 
 introduction of an elevated and elevating literature, both 
 religious and secular, are inestimable, and cannot be prop¬ 
 erly judged by the bare statements which have been 
 given. How much of spiritual and intellectual life has 
 come and will come from the services thus rendered to 
 these peoples can only be rightly known by their future 
 development. 
 
 Education 
 
 Next to the preaching of the Gospel and the translation 
 of the Bible, schools must be considered as an important 
 element of missionary work. While American Baptist 
 missionaries have never placed the principal emphasis on 
 schools as an evangelizing agency, they have ever been 
 ready and zealous in establishing and conducting schools 
 for the broadening and deepening of the religious interest 
 and the training of Christian workers who should be pre¬ 
 pared to labor intelligently and usefully among their own 
 people. In Burma, aside from the Theological 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 Cal¬ 
 cutta, and for all the numerous races of Burma. The Sgaw 
 Karen Normal and Industrial Institute at Bassein, and 
 numerous 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, Man¬ 
 dalay, etc., and the hundreds of primary schools in the 
 scattered villages throughout the length and breadth of 
 Burma are rendering a service to the civilizing and enlight¬ 
 ening 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 algo done much for the 
 Garo people. There are many schools in all the Christian 
 Garo villages, as well as at the various mission stations, 
 both in the plains and on the hills. 
 
 At the head of the Baptist educational work in the 
 Telugu Mission is the Theological Seminary at Ramapatan, 
 occupying one of the finest educational buildings in 
 southern India, erected at a cost of ^15,000. Then comes 
 the Baptist Mission College at Ongole, established by the 
 energy and management of Dr. John E. Clough, which has 
 been affiliated with the Madras University as a second- 
 grade college, the Bucknell Memorial Industrial School at 
 Nellore, as well as schools at all the mission stations, and 
 primary schools scattered throughout the Telugu Mission. 
 The value of the education which these Baptist 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 conduct of the school work every year. 
 
 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, both at Swatow, 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 becomes more open 
 to civilization the value of the training acquired by the 
 Christian converts in Baptist and other mission schools 
 will be recognized 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- 
 
12 
 
 sionaries will be fitted to be leaders of their people in the 
 onward march of enlightenment and civilization. 
 
 Baptist educational work in Japan is not yet extensive, 
 but most excellent work is being done by the Baptist 
 Theological Seminary at Yokohama, in the preparation of 
 preachers for the Baptist missions. A Baptist Academy 
 has recently been established at Tokyo, a boys’ school in 
 Osaka, and most excellent service is being done for Japan¬ 
 ese girls in the Sarah Curtis Home at Tokyo, the Mary L. 
 Colby Home at Yokohama, in the Henrich Memorial 
 Home at Chofu, a suburb of Shimonoseki in south¬ 
 western Japan, and at the Ella O. Patrick Home in Sendai. 
 
 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 Dr. 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 centres of light among their own people. There are 
 also smaller schools at each of the mission stations. 
 
 Sociology 
 
 The advantages which accrue to every nation through 
 the presence of missionaries are well known in every coun¬ 
 try 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 judg 
 ment in the matter. In Burma, the wild and oppressed 
 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. After the deposition of King Thibaw, in 1885, a 
 period of anarchy began in Upper Burma. The disap¬ 
 pointed armies of the Burman king formed themselves into 
 independent and lawless bands of dacoits, who roamed the 
 
13 
 
 country, pillaging, burning, murdering and robbing on 
 every hand. The usual English troops were found utterly 
 incompetent to deal with these wandering bands of dacoits, 
 and no effective head was made against them until the 
 Karens were enrolled as a special police and military 
 force. These Karen bands, from their knowledge of the 
 country, followed the dacoits to their secret haunts, and in 
 the course of a few years the anarchy of Burma was sub¬ 
 dued and a reasonable measure of order was established. 
 For these services of the Karens the Government rendered 
 the most cordial recognition, and, while every Burman was 
 forbidden to have firearms in his possession, this privilege 
 was granted to the Karens in recognition of their loyalty 
 and eminent services. In all this the Christian Karens 
 were the leaders, and the advantages which have accrued 
 to Government were recognized as proceeding from the 
 influence of Baptist missions among the Karen people. 
 In speaking of the development of the Karens of Burma, 
 the Administration Report for 1880-81 says: 
 
 Foremost in this work have been American missionaries of 
 the Baptist persuasion. There are now attached to this com¬ 
 munion no less than 451 Christian Karen parishes, most of 
 which support their own church, their own Karen pastor, and 
 their own parish school, and many of which subscribe consider¬ 
 able sums in money and kind for the furtherance of missionary 
 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 edu¬ 
 cated, and more law-abiding than the Burman and Karen vil¬ 
 lages around them. The Karen race and the British Govern¬ 
 ment 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 British authority largely through the 
 influence of the Baptist missionaries and the Christian con¬ 
 verts. Rev. E. W. Clark established his residence among 
 the AngamiNagas far in advance of Government outposts, 
 and when the English annexed the Naga territory, those 
 
14 
 
 in his immediate locality submitted without opposition. 
 Professor Haraprasad Sastri, senior professor of Sanscrit 
 in the Presidency College, Calcutta, says: “Christian mis¬ 
 sionaries 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 im¬ 
 provement by missionary effort is found in its effect 
 upon the degraded outcaste population of India. Of the 
 55,000 converts of the American Telugu 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 con¬ 
 verts have been but recently won to Christianity, and con¬ 
 sequently missionary and Christian education has not had 
 time to have its full effect upon the most of them. Yet 
 enough has been done to show what will be the final influ¬ 
 ence of this elevating force upon that people. Children 
 of Christian Telugu converts, trained in the mission 
 schools, beginning with the primary, passing through the 
 intermediate grades into the high schools, and then into 
 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 controversy with these representatives of the 
 despised outcastes, the Brahman often finds himself at a 
 disadvantage His intellectual acumen and training are 
 in vain against the broad and trained intelligence of these 
 Christians. In the Civil Service examinations, the mem¬ 
 ber of the upper caste finds himself seated side by side 
 with the despised, outcaste trained in Christian schools, 
 and very frequently, to his shame and indignation, finds 
 the coveted prize awarded to one whom he has considered 
 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 the Christian training and 
 illustration of its power is found in the Congo Mission. 
 
15 
 
 The curse of the coast region of Africa is the rum and gin 
 introduced from civilized countries. By his temperament 
 the untaught African 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 alcholic 
 liquors among the native peoples of Africa means death 
 and destruction to the people, and oftentimes depopulation 
 of whole districts. Against this onrushing tide of destruc¬ 
 tion the only opposing influence which can be found to 
 stand is the Christian convert. He has learned the art of 
 self-control. He has been taught the benefits of self-mas¬ 
 tery ; 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 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 salva¬ 
 tion must come through the converts of the Christian mis¬ 
 sions. In this respect our Baptist missionaries are render¬ 
 ing most noble service. Total abstainers themselves, 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 appre¬ 
 ciating social order, prosperity, health and happiness, 
 their example and influence will have a profound effect 
 for good upon all the peoples of the Congo. 
 
 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 demands 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 w^ork is a standing illus¬ 
 tration of the truth that “cleanliness is next to godliness.” 
 In all countries where Baptist missionaries have gone, 
 they have had a pronounced and decided effect in 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 houses, make 
 their own clothing, and provide their own food. The 
 introduction of Christianity among the Karens is an exam¬ 
 ple of its effects upon any people of a similar wild and 
 degraded character. The Karens are not deficient in busi¬ 
 ness enterprise, nor are they lacking in men of property 
 and wealth. Converted to Christianity, these men have 
 demanded better homes; other people become desirous of 
 the same. Their clothing becomes more abundant, and of 
 a better character. No longer are their simple and rude 
 arts able to supply their wants. All the Christian com¬ 
 munities in Burma are on the way to development to the 
 condition of the Karen Christian communities in Bassein. 
 This is a model and a standard for the social effects of 
 missionary work. Here we find people, formerly wild and 
 savage, become a model of a prosperous, orderly and enter¬ 
 prising community. Their churches they have built by 
 their own means; their schools are largely supported by 
 themselves ; for their normal and industrial Institute 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 illustration 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 Bap¬ 
 tist missionaries and the converts they have gathered. 
 Mechanical and agricultural implements are imported from 
 America ; clothing of every sort is demanded ; the arts of 
 the printing-press 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 builder^s 
 hardware and other materials, and there is hardly a line 
 of the manufactures”of ^civilized lands which is not required 
 to some extent by the converts gained from heathenism. 
 
17 
 
 What is true of Burma is true, also, of Assam in a lesser 
 degree, and of the converts in every heathen country. 
 Civilization will not produce Christianity, but Christianity 
 always produces civilization. Wherever the missionary 
 goes, there follows an increase of, trade. This is true in 
 China, in Japan, but more especially of the Christian 
 converts starting 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 encourage¬ 
 ment from Christian misssions. Secular commerce seeks 
 its own aim and largest profit. It seeks to obtain the 
 productions of Africa at the lowest cost, and to pay for 
 them as largely as possible in alcoholic liquors. This 
 policy is sure destruction to every form of legitimate com¬ 
 merce. 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 portions of 
 Africa are now finding it necessary to prohibit the impor¬ 
 tation of alcohol in the interests of commerce alone. Only 
 vigorous, healthful, enterprising peoples can be of assist¬ 
 ance in the development of the commerce of Africa. If 
 rum goes in trade goes out. In the development of a 
 larger trade in the Congo Valley the Baptist missionaries 
 are rendering and will render most judicious and helpful 
 service, and their contributions towards commerce in the 
 highest and best sense are larger than can be estimated in 
 figures. 
 
 One striking illustration of the services of missions to 
 commerce may be mentioned : Rev. Jonathan Goble was • 
 the first Baptist missionary to Japan. He first went there 
 as a seaman in Commodore Perry’s expedition .Afterwards 
 ' he returned as a missionary. While there he was specially 
 interested in the distribution of the Bible. At that time 
 there were no wheel carriages in Japan. Needing a con¬ 
 veyance for his supply of Scriptures, he imported a pair of 
 American wheels, and, making a little cart, he hired men 
 to drag it about the country with his stock of Scriptures. 
 Seeing this, some proprietors of a pleasure park in Tokyo 
 asked him to plan for them a special carriage, which might 
 
i8 
 
 be used for their customers. He sketched the outline of 
 a sort of enlarged baby-carriage, which was adopted and 
 used by them, and drawn by man power. The.advantage 
 of the little cart was at once seen. The idea was quickly 
 caught by the enterprising Japanese, and to-day the jinri- 
 kisha^ or “man-power carriage,” called also kuruma by the 
 Japanese, is in general use in Japan. This is the origin 
 of the jinrikisha^ which now is not only universally used 
 in Japan, and ^ from which the Japanese Government 
 derives an income of many thousands of dollars in 
 license fees, but its use has extended over into the 
 coast cities of China, and all the way round to Singa¬ 
 pore and India. Mr. Goble’s claim has been brought 
 before the Japanese Government and is denied by them, 
 but no other understandable explanation of the inven¬ 
 tion of the jinrikisha has ever been offered. Until such, 
 the credit may well be given to Mr. Goble, the first Baptist 
 missionary to Japan.