THE WORK OF CONGREGATIONAL MISSIONS IN PAPAL LANDS PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN BOARD CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, BOSTON, MASS. 1909 ( r v « rT V i t > r * V, < ^ f ( t ( ' '.I . TABLE OF CONTENTS What Went Before Secretary E. E. Strong The Mission in Spain Secretary E. E. Strong The Mission in Austria Miss Frances J. Dyer * PAGE 3 6 15 The Mission in Mexico Secretary James L . Barton 24 WHAT WENT BEFORE I N the missionary awakening of one hundred years ago the eyes of Christians turned toward Pagan and Mohammedan peoples. It was many years later when attention was called to the lands where a perverted form of Christianity was prevalent. There were, however, a few independent societies which early sought to reach particular districts under the sway of the Papal Church. In the year 1849 three societies, the American Protes¬ tant, the Foreign Evangelical and the Christian Alliance, having the same great object in view, were merged into one organization, called “The American and Foreign Christian Union.” The pur¬ pose of the organization was thus stated in Article II of its con¬ stitution : “The objects of this society shall be by missions, colportage, the press, and other appropriate agencies, to diffuse and promote the principles of religious liberty and a pure and evangelical Chris¬ tianity both at home and abroad, wherever corrupt Christianity exists.” There were many difficulties in the way of cooperation among those of different confessions, but the society was composed of devout men and large-hearted Christians who, whatever diversi¬ ties existed among them on matters of minor importance, held firmly to the great principles of evangelical faith which mark the Protestant Church from its beginning. The first Annual Report, presented in 1850, shows that the work of this American and Foreign Christian Union was princi¬ pally done within the United States, many different classes of peo¬ ple having been reached,— Spaniards in Texas, French at New Orleans and in New York, Germans in New York and Wiscon¬ sin. It maintained a mission in Canada, Hayti, Chili, Sweden, Ire¬ land, Belgium, Hungary and Italy, and its receipts were given as [ 3 ] $58,885. The organization prosecuted its work with good success for many years, scattering evangelical literature, and employing colporteurs and preachers wherever they could find promising openings. Twenty years later, about 1870, there came to be an impression that this work for the Romanists in our own and in foreign lands might better be conducted by missionary organizations that were not solely directed against adherents of the papacy. The churches that were asked to support an evangelical work in the Roman Catholic countries of Europe could not see why the society en¬ gaged in foreign missions could not conduct work in those lands as properly and as efficiently as it could missions in Turkey or In¬ dia; in our own land the various home missionary organizations could reach the people of the many nationalities coming from Roman Catholic countries better than could a society specially organized to reach these classes. There was also much criticism of the methods which were employed in conducting the missions under the Christian Union, in that they savored too much of at¬ tacks upon the opinions and practices of those who had erroneous views, rather than endeavors to enlighten and conciliate them. This feeling led to a lack of support of the Foreign and Christian Union, and later to a withdrawal of a large portion of the Congre- gationalists. The American Board was then urged to take over the work of the Congregational churches in papal lands. The officers of the Board were not desirous of assuming this work, but the pressure on the part of the churches became so great that at the meeting of the American Board in Salem in 1871 action was taken upon a memorial presented by a committee, of which Governor Bucking¬ ham of Connecticut and Dr. Joseph P. Thompson of New York were prominent members. This memorial urged the American Board to be ready to enlarge its operations by extending its work in nominally Christian lands and by forming missions in Europe, South America, and other foreign lands, as God in his providence should open the way. Reference was made to the fact that the [ 4 ] Board was already conducting work among nominally Christian people,— the Nestorians, the Armenians, and others. After much deliberation the Board voted to establish missions in papal lands as the providence of God should open the way. It was understood that the taking up of this new branch of work would involve added annual expenditure for the Board of at least twenty-five or thirty-five thousand dollars. It was agreed that a special offering for this object should be asked from the churches. As a matter of fact, this special offering was not made save by a few churches, and by those churches for no long period. Brief sketches of the missionary work accomplished in these three countries follow in this pamphlet. Mention should be made of an attempt to open a mission in Italy, which was first proposed as one of the countries to be occupied. Extensive corre¬ spondence was had, and an honored pastor from the United States, Rev. Walter S. Alexander, was sent as missionary. Rev. Dr. H. N. Barnum, on returning to the Eastern Turkey Mission, was deputed to examine the situation in Italy; and Dr. L. H. Gulick, who first went to Barcelona in Spain, was transferred for a time to Florence. After full conference with the Waldensian Christians and with churches which had been established by the American and Foreign Christian Union, and by other bodies working independently, it was found that the hopes, which were never very sanguine, of es¬ tablishing work in that kingdom were not to be realized. The methods of the American Board, which called for a large measure of self-support in connection with self-government, did not seem possible of application among the Italians, who had been accus¬ tomed to aid little in the support of the evangelical work among them. Various independent bodies were pressing into the newly opened kingdom, and seemed ready to carry on the work. There was evident danger of overlapping and of interference. After a serious attempt to inaugurate a mission, it was deemed best by those on the ground, as well as by the officers of the Board at home, just then facing a serious financial problem, to suspend this un¬ dertaking, and the missionaries withdrew. [ 5 ] THE MISSION IN SPAIN HE mission in Spain was begun in 1872, the first mis¬ sionaries, Rev. Luther Halsey Gulick, M.D., and Mr. 1 William H. Gulick, with their wives, sailing from Boston Dec. 17, 1871. These men were sons of Rev. Peter J. Gulick, one of the earlier missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, Dr. Luther Gulick having been a missionary for some years in Micronesia and Mr. William Gulick having acquired the Spanish language during a sojourn in South America for three years. At that time Spain could hardly be said to be open to evangelical missionaries, though the revolution of 1868 had introduced a new era, and by vote of the Spanish Cortes a new constitution had been adopted, which, while binding the nation to the support of the Roman Catholic Church, yet promised religious liberty to natives and foreigners. But this legal assurance of religious liberty did not avail against the bitter hostility on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities, and intolerance was shown by a great mass of the people. After careful examination it was determined to open two stations in the northern half of Spain, and Dr. L. H. Gulick chose Barcelona, a city in the northeastern section of the kingdom, hav¬ ing a population of 200,000, while Mr. William Gulick settled in Santander, a city of 20,000 inhabitants, on the northwest coast, on the Bay of Biscay. At the beginning little could be accomplished in the way of public meetings. The missionaries were busily en¬ gaged in perfecting themselves in the language. Small schools were established, although the people feared to allow their chil¬ dren to come in contact with the Protestant missionaries, and or¬ ganized efforts were made to prevent the success of these schools. Much religious literature was scattered, and prejudices were to some extent disarmed by the kindly Christian bearing of the mis¬ sionaries and those who listened to them. It was with no little [ 6 ] difficulty that a place for worship was secured; finally, at San¬ tander, a room 40 ft. long x 30 ft. wide, which had been used as a storeroom for fish, was found in the second story of a double house, and fitted up for a chapel. The walls and ceilings were white¬ washed ; unpainted pine plank benches and an unpainted table for a desk were used; here the little congregation gathered, and the services were often interrupted by stones thrown through the windows, some of them as large as a man’s fist. Though these demonstrations reduced the size of the congregations, yet there were some who were faithful in coming, and in a few hearts the truth found lodgment. In 1873 Dr. Luther H. Gulick and wife were transferred to Italy in view of what was deemed a special call to commence a mission in that kingdom; the same year another brother, Thomas L. Gulick, with his wife, joined the mis¬ sion, and, after visiting many districts in Spain, in 1876 finally [ 7 ] settled upon Zaragoza, a city some two hundred miles southeast of Santander, as the best location. During these early years, while the missionaries were subjected to many indignities from the people, which they took patiently, they were cheered by many incidents showing the eagerness of some hearts for better spiritual food than they had heretofore re¬ ceived, affording abundant proof that the gospel was needed by the people of Spain. One incident may be mentioned of a com¬ pany of basket-makers from a village in the Cantabrian Mountains, who came each summer to Santander to prosecute their trade, and who were brought into the Protestant service by a member of the church, a shoemaker. There they found the truth which satis¬ fied their spiritual longings, and after their summer’s work they returned to their mountain village, where they met regularly for prayer and the reading of the Bible. After many delays and disappointments the First Evangelical Church in northern Spain was organized, April 9, 1876, at San¬ tander, with seventeen members. The church was speedily en¬ larged by the addition of twenty-three new members, and the con¬ gregations greatly increased in size. In September of the same year a church was organized at Zaragoza and two flourishing schools were opened. All this while open hostility was manifest on all sides. The Roman clergy did not cease to preach against the Protestants and to warn their people of terrible dangers and pen¬ alties they would incur if they listened to the new teachers. The members of the churches were jeered at as they passed through the streets, and their place of worship was not infrequently stoned. One case may be mentioned as illustrating the means employed to hinder the gospel. One of the Christian women, being very ill, desired the presence of her pastor, who came frequently to see her; the priest insisted on coming too, against the wish of the woman and of her family. But just before her death this priest came with a policeman and, though the family protested, he administered ex¬ treme unction to the woman, who was too far gone to make any protest. The family arranged for the funeral, to be conducted by [ 8 ] their pastor, the .following day; again the official with police¬ man came, and seized the body and carried it away. The friends protested, but to no avail. Later the family was summoned to court for having offered resistance to the authorities, and the pastor was sent to prison for ten days for interfering with the worship of the Roman Catholic religion. Another illustration may be given of the temper of the authori¬ ties and of many of the fanatical people against whom our mission¬ aries had to contend. At the village of Unzue, a few miles from our outstation of Pamplona, the home of a Christian widow was beset by a mob for seven successive nights, both her house and that of a neighbor being stoned and many bullets flattened against the walls. Mr. T. L. Gulick, with a native evangelist, Don Eulogio, went to comfort the people so beset; after ministering as best they could to them, they returned to the railroad station, and while entering the car were fired upon from behind a wall only twelve feet away, two of the bullets passing within a few inches of Mr. Gulick’s head. As by a miracle both Mr. Gulick and the evangelist escaped with their lives, and later claimed protection from the authorities; but little or no attention was paid to their representations, and no reparation was made to those whose houses were left uninhabitable. It is simply true, during these first years, as our missionaries affirmed at the time, that the nature of their work “was a battle with a powerful, subtle, and unscrupulous foe.” Nevertheless, the record at the end of ten years from the commencement of the mis¬ sion shows that there were connected with the two stations six outstations; two native pastors and seven native preachers; three churches, with 215 members; a boarding-school for girls, with eleven pupils; and a total of 209 scholars in their schools. Removal to San Sebastian. In November, 1881, it was decided to remove the station and the Girls’ School from Santander to San Sebastian, near the border of France, and on the direct line from Madrid to Paris. The change [ 9 ] was effected to the advantage of the mission. At this time Miss Susie Richards had joined the mission and was associated with Mrs. Gulick in the care of the Girls’ School. To the great loss of the mission, Rev. T. L. Gulick, on account of protracted ill-health, was obliged to withdraw, and he and his wife returned to the United States. There had been under his care at Zaragoza a train- ing-school for men, which, though small at the beginning, gave promise of supplying preachers and evangelists for work through¬ out the kingdom. Since his withdrawal in 1883, owing to insuffi¬ cient missionary force, no attempt has been made to re-open that school. Notwithstanding the depleted force of the mission, it became manifest that the work had taken a deep hold in many places, and in the report of 1884 no less than twelve outstations were men¬ tioned, in most of which there were growing congregations. Among these places were Bilbao, Pradejon, Tauste, Pamplona, Reus, Tarragona, Cervera, and Pont de Armentera. The Girls’ Board¬ ing School at San Sebastian increased its numbers greatly, having on its rolls sixty-four pupils. The influence of this school was most apparent, disarming the prejudices of the people, and the motives of the missionaries were better understood and approved; and while ecclesiastics continued to frown upon the movement, large numbers of the people and a good portion of the public press ap¬ plauded. In 1885 a union of the churches of the mission was formed with the title “Union Ibero Evangelica.” This visible union helped much in the development of a healthful spirit of independence among the churches. In 1887 it was reported with gratitude that in no one of the fifteen places where the mission was established had there been any conflict with the civil authorities. While located at San Sebastian the Girls’ School prospered. In 1887 Miss C. H. Barbour took the place of Miss Richards in the school; in 1890, Miss Anna F. Webb, and in 1892, Miss Alice H. Bushee and Miss Mary L. Page were added to the staff. The school assumed such prominence that it seemed desirable to provide a [ 10 ] building and equipment which would enable it to have a perma¬ nent home and facilities for higher education. A corporation was formed in 1892, under the laws of the State of Massachusetts, tak¬ ing the name of “The International Institute for Girls in Spain,” its purpose being to raise funds for an academic building and to provide for holding property in Spain according to the laws of that country. Removal to Biarritz. The next important change in the history of the mission was at the time of the outbreak of the war between Spain and the United States, in 1898. Prior to this there had been no signs of unfriendli¬ ness toward the missionaries as Americans, yet the mission felt it was necessary to be ready for whatever might occur, and two days after war was declared the missionaries, with the entire boarding- department and teaching-force of the school, took train from San Sebastian for Biarritz, France, about an hour’s ride by rail. Their departure was marred by no unpleasant deed or word, and the transference to a foreign country was made without the loss of a pupil; all was going on as usual on April 26 in the new quarters, the change having been accomplished in two days. The govern¬ ment interposed no objection, and during the months that fol¬ lowed not one of the parents asked to have his daughter returned to him. During the whole stay of the school at Biarritz no ill feeling was manifest, and the work went forward uninterruptedly. An incident connected with the war may have had something to do with the allaying of antagonisms between Spaniards and Amer¬ icans. After the defeat and capture of the Spanish forces at San Juan and Santiago, Admiral Cervera and the large number of pris¬ oners were taken to Portsmouth, N. H., and there they were min¬ istered to in many ways by Mrs. Alice G. Gulick, who providen¬ tially was in the United States on furlough at that time. Her knowledge of the Spanish people, and her perfect use of their language, made her a most welcome visitor at the camps of these prisoners, and the facts of her work were speedily reported by the [ll] prisoners to the friends at home. There could be no feelings of hostility or resentment where such kindness had been shown; and since the return of the school to Spanish soil, and its establishment at Madrid, in 1903, there has been no occasion to report signs of ill-will directed to the mission as such or because of the nationality of those conducting this work. During the five years at Biarritz the number and progress of the students were entirely satisfactory. Many of these pupils were matriculated at the University of Mad¬ rid. It is said that the percentage of high marks obtained by the pupils is the largest ever obtained by any group of students coming from outside. At Madrid. In 1902 a large estate was purchased in Madrid, admirably suited for the purposes of the Institute, and the work of reconstruc¬ tion of the buildings was begun; but before this work was com¬ pleted an irreparable loss was sustained by the mission in the death of Mrs. Alice G. Gulick, on Sept. 14, 1903. Mrs. Gulick had been the moving spirit of the school from the beginning, and by her in¬ telligent planning and her indomitable energy and faithful care the work was begun and carried on, with the purpose of giving to the girls of Spain an education based upon highest ideals of Christian faith and love. The first class of five graduated from the school in 1881, receiv¬ ing diplomas; but they were not of great value, inasmuch as only those diplomas granted by government institutions were recog¬ nized in Spain. Mrs. Gulick, therefore, planned a five years’ course for such girls as were willing to present themselves for examination before the government institution at Madrid. Four girls finished this five years’ course in 1894, and astonished the professors and other friends at the Madrid University by their proficiency, receiv¬ ing the degree of B.A., proving both the intellectual abilities of the students and the competence of their teachers. The school earned not only its right to exist, but won the confidence of the Spanish people to a remarkable degree. [ 12 ] During the thirty-three years since this school was opened by Mrs. Gulick there have been enrolled (although the records of the earlier periods are quite imperfect) no less than 314 pupils; of these at least eighty-five have been, or still are, teachers. It is estimated that at least 15,000 Spanish children have come under the influ¬ ence of these teachers, beside many hundreds of adults who have been taught in night schools. Who can measure the good that has been done among the Spanish people? These facts indicate the prominent place which this school has had in the missionary work of the American Board in Spain. Its new building begun in 1904, occupied in some portions, has not been entirely finished. It is about ninety-five feet square, divided into classrooms and various rooms for college work. It has a hall in which large assemblies can be gathered. In 1906 the Corporation deemed it best to make a well-defined separation between the work of the Institute and that of the Woman’s Board, and this has been done so that the work of the latter body, which is carried on by appointees of the American Board and the Woman’s Board, is known as “The Normal and Preparatory School for Spanish Girls,” leaving the name of “The International Institute for Girls in Spain” to the school which is under the sole direction and support of the Corporation. At the present time, 1909, the Faculty of the Normal and Pre¬ paratory School consists of Miss Anna F. Webb, Directora; Miss Alice H. Bushee, Miss Mary L. Page, Miss May Morrison, and Miss Bertha Howland. The Corporation of the International Institute has appointed Miss Elizabeth M. Gulick as its Directora. In a review of the work of thirty-seven years since the Board’s mission was begun in Spain we must express gratitude to God for what has been accomplished. Had the missionary force been larger the results would certainly have been much greater. The na¬ tive pastors have been faithful and devoted. The people are poor, but they have clung to their new-found faith with a tenacity that is beyond all praise. It is manifest that evangelical Christianity has become a permanent institution in the country, and that the dis- [ 13 ] trict occupied by the American Board in northern Spain recognizes the power of the Protestant faith. Figures cannot tell the story of what has been accomplished and of all the influences that are now at work for good; but the follow¬ ing statistics can be given as to the Board’s mission in Spain at the beginning of 1909: 1 ordained missionary; 4 single women; 1 sta¬ tion; 16 outstations; 8 organized churches, with a membership of 320 and a Sunday-school membership of 1,035; 4 native ordained pastors; 3 unordained; 25 teachers; and 904 enrolled as under Christian instruction. [ 14 ] THE MISSION IN AUSTRIA Bohemians in the United States. G ROUPED in several colonies, of which one called “Pil- sen” is the largest, are 100,000 Bohemians in Chicago, making it the third largest Bohemian city in the world. Its three largest breweries are in the hands of these foreigners, and three daily newspapers are printed in their language, besides con¬ siderable other literature, much of it decidedly infidel in character. Three hundred Bohemian societies teach infidelity and maintain Sunday schools in which the attendance ranges from thirty to three thousand. The catechism used contains this question: “What duty do we owe to God ? 5 The answer is: Inasmuch as there is no God, we owe him no duty.” In Cleveland are 45,000 more Bohemians. Several other thousands have settled on the East Side in New York City, and are engaged chiefly in cigar-making Lesser numbers are found on farms in the West. New Prague, Minn., is the center of a large and prosperous agricultural community. In view of their presence among us in such large numbers it is natural to ask, Who are these people ? What are their character¬ istics and history? What is their environment in the Old World ? What causes drive them from home, a land that tourists find full of charm ? Why do they easily become infidels ? What are we doing for them here ? The last question can be answered in full by the Congregational Home Missionary Society. Two of its ablest work¬ ers, Rev. E. A. Adams and Rev. H. A. Schauffler, had their train¬ ing in Austria, and therefore possessed the immense advantage of being familiar with the language. These aliens cling to their mother tongue more tenaciously than most immigrants. Signs of American conquest in their homes here multiply in the shape of stuffed parlor furniture, plush albums, lace curtains, and a piano or organ — for they are a very musical people; but, as Rev. E. A. [15 1 Steiner says, “It takes more than a carpet-sweeper to wipe out the love of that language for which Bohemia has suffered untold ag¬ ony.” These words suggest a stormy national history. The other questions propounded can be answered only by study¬ ing these people in their own land. So we shall gain a new concep¬ tion of the superb faith on the part of the American Board in start- ^DEBURd .LEIPZIG? .GLOGAU DRE^SgEN, .. V, ^VBRESL s .■_ 'tWARSAW \ POpA/VD LODZ, cfc* ' \tVANGOROD RADOI SKALITZ C^kladn^w^/g^achod PRAGUE/^ 5 V p|"sEK N OTMUTZ&vO . 1^4? ‘^'d^NETzV BRU - Nl ^ V * \ ^ PAsSAlf*^- znaim ~s* UNZ-'VIEfCR'A' ' ?Af ZBU• TAR NOW . V •g#**** ' V*.--* •• PRESSBURG A 5 'K. ASCHAUw'^. ?£) MtWKACS SCHEMATA •-./& <|U'>'V' 'V / jrg _ ^ / t r /> ith di f^~~^ODENBURG nnriA+DrcTMDEBREC^N n ftr 7 OUDA/ PEo Jjl r—d^KLAGENFURT >ARAD h’* ing-.a mission in Austria, and a clearer judgment of its reflex influ¬ ence here in the United States. In the Land of John Huss. In 1872 a missionary force of three men, with their wives,— Rev. and Mrs. E. A. Adams, Rev. and Mrs. H. A. Schauffler, and Rev. and Mrs. A. W. Clark,— started for Austria to work among the fifteen and a half millions of Bohemians in that polyglot em¬ pire. It is nominally a Christian land, and, two hundred years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, was a stronghold of Prot- [ 16 ] estantism, under the preaching of the famous reformer, John Huss. The small stone house in his native village of Husinetz, where he was born in 1369, is still standing. One may enter the very room of his birth and see in the wall a couple of shelves where the boy kept his few books before leaving his humble home to enter Prague University. There he became dean of the Theological Faculty, and began to preach with great boldness against the errors and corruptions of the Roman Church. This was a hundred years be¬ fore Luther’s day. For two centuries his teachings bore rich fruit; but in 1620 came a terrible persecution, which crushed out Prot¬ estantism and drove two thirds of the population to a cruel death, or into exile. All Protestant Bibles and books were burned, thus depriving the nation of a large and rich literature. The Catholic religion was forced upon them, and they were also oppressed by a despotic government. The bitterness of such experiences entered into their lives and colored their subsequent history. The year that marked a new era of freedom for America sounded the death- knell of religious liberty for Bohemia. This group of missionaries took up their abode in Prague, the capital and the seat of the oldest university in Europe. It is a picturesque city, sometimes called the “hundred-towered” on account of its many buildings with curious turrets, spires, and lofty towers. They found themselves among a people enlightened and cultured, but spiritually dead and in the grip of superstition and infidelity. Both the State Reformed and the Lutheran Churches taught only a formal observance of religion, and the corrupt lives of the priests exerted a baleful influence. Both churches, and the government as well, maintained an openly hostile attitude towards the new-comers. Nothing daunted by such an unfriendly atmos¬ phere, they secured a place for holding meetings, and one day, in December, 1873, announced that on the following Sunday a Bible lecture would be given on the theme, “Loving One s Neighbor. This notice was according to local requirement, but the chief of police scornfully refused to allow any such service. A deadly po¬ litical feud existed — and still exists — between Germans and Bo- [ 17 ] hemians, and this makes it difficult to start any public meeting without a suspicion that it is to further political ends. At length permission was grudgingly granted to hold services, but only at the home of the missionaries, and with invited guests. A police officer was always present to watch the proceedings, and a fee was also exacted. At one time Mr. Clark casually remarked that he supposed there would be no objection to singing hymns. The official doubted, but yielded the point when reminded that the right of singing was freely exercised by every drunkard in the bar rooms. Once, at the funeral of a little child, a policeman interrupted the exercises, saying, In the name of the law I call upon you to cease.” Not a word was allowed either at the house or the grave, except the Lord s Prayer. From the outset much dependence was placed upon the distribution of Christian literature, but Austrian legislation punishes with fine or imprisonment any person who is guilty of giving away a single tract. Colporteurs are not allowed to sell books, but only to show samples and take orders. Thus the work of evangelization had to be carried on with great caution, and in the face of vexatious interference on the part of the authorities. This was endured without formal remonstrance for several years; but at a meeting of the Evangelical Alliance at Basle, in 1879 , a deputation was chosen to take an appeal to Emperor Francis Jo¬ seph. It was intolerable that the Reformed, Lutheran, and Mo¬ ravian Churches should enjoy religious liberty under the govern¬ ment and this free church be granted only a right to worship in a private house with invited guests, and under police surveillance. The result of that appeal relieved the situation somewhat, but at no time has the Austrian field been an easy one to till for the Master. Standing Alone in a Great Nation. In spite of difficulties and petty persecutions, the work went steadily forward, and in June, 1880 , this brave band of pioneers had the joy of organizing the Free Reformed Church of Bohemia, with twenty-six members, in the house of Mr. Clark. In writing home to America he said of those early converts, “Ah, dear friends, [ 18 ] you little know the struggle it costs some souls here to stand up for Christ and his truth!” According to Roman Catholic ideas, in leaving that church they become heretics, and as such are shunned by their old friends. They are boycotted in business and often lose good positions in allegiance to their faith. Under such circum¬ stances, is it strange that the number of converts is small ? But the success of any undertaking must be measured by its influence as well as by numbers. Judged by that standard, the Austrian Mission fully justifies the wisdom of its founders. Mr. Schauffler, who began his missionary career as an instructor in Robert College, at Constantinople, was stationed at Briinn in Moravia. He remained there until 1881; then came to America to become superintendent of Slavic work in the United States, to which he devoted the remainder of his useful life. He died Feb. 15, 1905, and the Schauffler Missionary Training School in Cleve¬ land, O., is a noble memorial to one who served his generation with rare fidelity and achieved honor on two continents. Mr. Adams, after ten happy years in Prague, came to Chicago to minister to the rapidly increasing Bohemian population there. The service rendered by himself and all the members of his family to these strangers in a strange land has been of inestimable value. In 1907 he withdrew to enjoy a well-earned rest, leaving in charge a native Austrian, Rev. Anton S. Donat. Some of the best helpers in this country are those converted in their own land through the influence of the American Board missionaries. During one period of five years the mission in Austria contributed six men as preachers to the Bohemians here, and four women for ministry among their sisters in the New World. The departure of these two brethren left Mr. Clark standing alone in that great empire of Austria-Hungary, and for ten years he and Mrs. Clark held the fort at Prague without reinforcements. Brave soldier that he is, for he served in the Union Army during our Civil War, he wrote home, “Work does not break men down half as rapidly as does the cutting down of estimates.” At the end of ten years they were gladdened by the coming of Rev. and Mrs. [ 19 ] John S. Porter, who are still there. In 1886 he started the first \. M. C. A. in Austria, with seventy members. He made three un¬ successful attempts before official approval was secured; and even then every reference to the Bible and to faith had to be eliminated in the papers of application. Now branches can be established in any part of the kingdom where our mission has as many as ten members. This is an immense concession. The scattering of men belonging to these Associations, through emigration, has led to similar organizations among Bohemians in Winnipeg, Canada, and in ten of the United States. Largely through the efforts of Mrs. Clark, a society for the rescue of young girls was started in Prague, the only one of its kind in the empire. Yet the need of a home for their protection is appalling. The number of illegitimate births annually in Prague alone is 3,000. There are hundreds of licensed prostitutes in the city, besides thousands who support themselves by similar degradation and sin. In Vienna forty per cent of the children are illegitimate, yet the moral conscience of the city seems scarcely touched by the colossal evil. Other societies for the uplift of the community, such as Y. W. C. Associations and C. E. So¬ cieties, came into existence under the leadership of Dr. and Mrs. Clark. Another helpful auxiliary, though not connected with our mission, is the Krabschitz Institute, for girls, a tiny bit of “Mt. Holyoke in Bohemia.” It would attract little attention here, but there it is the only school which provides moral and religious train¬ ing for young women. Work at some of the outstations has peculiar interest. Tabor, for instance, is an old walled city founded in 1420, two hundred years before our ancestors reached Plymouth Rock. The Amer¬ ican Board was the first to resume gospel preaching there after an interval of more than 260 years. Here Mr. Clark found a young clerk named John Musil, who became a believing disciple, and is to-day pastor of a Congregational church in Cleveland, O. Another interesting spot is Husinetz, the birthplace of Huss. Our mission chapel there stands just back of his house, and in the very garden where he played when a boy. Many pilgrims and tourists visit the [ 20 ] place and drift into the chapel. Still another place, Budweis, is notable for the conversion of Rev. Philip Reitinger and his sister, both efficient workers here in the United States. At the famous Haystack Centennial Meeting of the Board at Williamstown, in 1906, he told a thrilling story of the way he was saved from suicide by Dr. Schauffler, and said, “Had it not been for the messenger of the Cross whom you had sent over the sea into Bohemia’s priest- ridden masses, instead of standing before you to-day, saved by the grace of God, the Moldau River in Bohemia would be my grave, and my soul lost forever.” He spoke of three other of his country¬ men, born into the new life in Moravia, who are missionary pas¬ tors in Iowa and South Dakota, and asked, “Were the money and labor spent in vain ? ” In the Land of the Czar. If our mission is bounded on the north by Canada, on the west by the Dakotas, and on the south by Texas, it is bounded on the east by Russia, a land which presents a wonderful opportunity for sowing the seeds of gospel truth. Just as the early disciples who “were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word,” so the tide of emigration that carried members of Austrian Y. M. C. Associations to Canada and the United States swept them also into the land of the Czar. One of these young men, Mr. Prochazka, went as a clerk to Lodz, in Poland, and found himself in the midst of a population of about 200,000 Bohemians. He began by in¬ viting other clerks in the same office to his room on Sundays, to sing hymns translated from the English. Before long some of the fathers and mothers, who heard of this praise service, asked leave to attend, and presently a deep religious interest was awakened throughout the community. He sent for Secretary Adlof, of the Prague Y. M. C. A., to come to his assistance, and finally gave up his clerkship to become pastor of the first church made up of his countrymen in Lodz. Two more congregations and another pastor have since been added. He started a Christian paper in their language, to which the government raised no objection whatever. [ 21 ] A Bible store has been opened, and six colporteurs are in the field. One who speaks four languages sacrificed a good place in a fac¬ tory to give himself to God’s work in Russia. Mr. Clark, who superintends the colporteurs in behalf of the National Bible So¬ ciety of Scotland, considers this branch of missionary effort as vastly important. He cites the case of one family who bought an old Bo¬ hemian Bible from one of his agents, and then pored over its pages till eight sons and daughters were converted, all of whom are now engaged in Christian work. Secretary Strong of the American Board puts the pertinent ques¬ tion: “Why may not this movement of our mission in Poland be made as effective for the Polish emigrants to America as our mis¬ sion in Bohemia is efficient for reaching the Bohemians in the United States ?” Already there are two million Poles in this coun¬ try of whom 423,000 are in Pennsylvania, 129,000 in Massachusetts, and 250,000 in Chicago. “These people are certainly worth our thought. Americans should not forget Copernicus and Kosciusko.” Then and Now. The church which started in the home of Mr. Clark with twenty- six members now has more than three hundred, and is the mother of twenty-three other churches, each with its Sunday school, and several showing various forms of Christian activity. They reached self-support in 1894, it being the policy of the American Board to lead people to independence as rapidly as is safe and practicable. The earnestness and self-sacrifice of these people in giving puts us to shame. Out of their limited resources their benevolent contri¬ butions average three dollars a year per member. A part of their foreign missionary offering goes to support a native worker in China. The first meetings for worship were held in a hired room. Now there are substantial church edifices, and the mission holds real estate valued at several thousand dollars, of which a large part was raised by the people themselves. A new Gospel Hall, with a seating-capacity of eight hundred, has recently been erected in Prague, at a cost of $20,000 given by friends in Scotland. This [22 ] fine building is of inestimable value in locating and housing our missionary work, and impressing the people with a sense of its permanence. Mr. Adams’s first sermon was preached to scarcely a corporal’s guard in his own parlor. When he visited Prague after an absence of seventeen years he addressed three crowded congregations. A living, witnessing church has been planted and is steadily growing. A good degree of religious freedom has been secured, and obstacles apparently insurmountable have been over¬ come. The masses have been roused from their long lethargy, and the stagnation of ages is past. There is scarcely a town in Bohemia that has not a higher standard of morality and a more enlightened conscience, at the beginning of this twentieth century, through the influence exerted by our Austrian Mission. [ 23 ] THE MISSION IN MEXICO S INCE the American Board gave up its work among the Indians of North America all its missionary operations have been carried on outside of the American Continent, with the exception of its mission in Mexico, begun in 1872. The Republic of Mexico is a much larger country than most people realize. It covers nearly 764,000 square miles, which is more than the combined areas of England, Germany, France, and Spain, or nearly as much as that section of the United States lying east of the Mississippi River. Three days are required upon the fastest express trains to cross the country from north to south. The coast line of the republic is nearly 6,000 miles long. It abounds in great forests of valuable timber, and is also rich in minerals. Mex¬ ico is for the most part a vast table-land, with an elevation of from 3,000 to 8,000 feet above the level of the sea; it is here that its prin¬ cipal cities are located and the great majority of its population is found. Mexico has a population of about 14,000,000, nearly one-half of whom are of pure Indian descent from the aboriginal occupants of the country; about 1,000,000 are of pure Spanish origin; with per¬ haps five times that number of mixed blood. The Spaniard repre¬ sents the most polite society, but the mixed races comprise the dominating class, who occupy places of public trust and are lead¬ ers in commercial and educational enterprises. At the present time the tendency among the Mexican people is to magnify the value of Indian lineage, while there is little cordiality toward those who are of full Spanish descent. The language of the country is Spanish, although there are large numbers of Indians among the mountains of the northwest and in the central portions of the country who live in a most prim¬ itive manner and speak only their native Indian tongue. There is [ 24 ] no color line in Mexico, and one sees in school, sitting upon the same bench, fair-haired, blue-eyed, delicate-complexioned children and black-eyed, straight dark-haired, swarthy descendants of the Indian. The one shows plainly his northern origin, while the Indian stamp is evident upon the features of the other. All else being equal, the Indian child has a better chance of success in Mexico than his more delicate-featured companion, the general opinion prevailing that he is the rightful possessor of the soil for which his fathers fought and died. The Indian stock is sturdy, and when properly trained is capable of great achievement, as Mexican his¬ tory plainly reveals. In Mexico to-day one finds almost every grade of civilization, from the rude, wild, and nearly naked savage to the most refined and polished gentleman. The masses of the people lie between these two extremes. The Mexican has the reputation of being im- [ 25 ] provident, deceptive, indolent, sensual, giving little thought to moral questions and possessing little initiative. The government of Mexico is a republic, called “The United States of Mexico.” The constitution was promulgated in 1857 , and is a model of its kind. Even to the present time President Diaz has continued as the first and only president, having been re¬ peatedly elected as his own successor. Under his guidance as pres¬ ident, if not dictator, Mexico has gradually become a country of order and law. An educational system has been developed, trade has been most materially increased, and general prosperity pre¬ vails. In the public school system the country is endeavoring to reach the excellence attained by the United States. Compulsory education has been adopted, and many of the modern improved methods of teaching have been introduced. Only a part of the children of the republic, however, are reached by its public edu¬ cation system, which it will require a generation or more to per¬ fect and to make available for all parts of the country. Roman Catholicism claims about ninety-five per cent of the population, although it is recognized by those familiar with the country that these claims are considerably exaggerated. There are large sections of the republic where there are no priests, churches, or religious services from one year’s end to the other. The church seems to have lost, in a large degree, its hold upon the more intelli¬ gent classes; and even among the common people everywhere may be found many who complain of and ridicule the practices of the church and the lives of the ecclesiastics. A decided drift towards skepticism is marked. Many have adopted positive rationalistic theories. The majority of those who have turned away from the only form of Christianity which they know have become openly in¬ different to religion. Great progress has been made in Mexico since 1867 toward the emancipation of the people from the power of the Catholic Church, and in the establishment of fundamental principles of religious liberty. These principles include the divorcing of church and state and the taking possession by the government of vast estates which [ 26 ] were held in the name of the church but which were not used directly for ecclesiastical purposes. The rights of free speech, a free press, a speedy public trial in the courts, liberty of conscience in religious worship, and a system of public schools which is not in any measure under the control of the church or clergy are added steps in the process of emancipation. All these sweeping changes point toward liberty of thought and of worship, and are most en¬ couraging features of the situation in IVTexico as it relates to the progress of missions in that country. There is no reason why Mex¬ ico should not be one of the most favorable and accessible of mis¬ sion fields. Every opportunity is given for the establishment of Christian institutions and the spread of modern ideas of religious progress and liberty. Mission Work in Mexico. There was little opportunity for the preaching of the simple gos¬ pel of Jesus Christ in Mexico previous to 1867. The American Bible Society, however, distributed many copies of the Scriptures in the country at the time of the Mexican War, and not without permanent effect, as has been occasionally noted in recent years. In 1866 Miss Melinda Rankin, from Texas, established a school in Monterey, and in connection with this school evangelical woik was begun. In 1867 Rev. Henry C. Riley began work in Mexico City, under the direction of the American and Foreign Christian Union. In 1872 the Presbyterian Church (North) and the American Board established missions in the country, and there followed very rapidly the opening of missions by the Methodist Episcopal North, the Southern Methodist, the Baptists, the Cumberland Presbyterians, the Seventh-Day Baptists, and the Episcopalians; in later years a few other organizations have begun to carry on work. These va¬ rious denominations have worked in Christian harmony, uniting in a Sunday-school organization as well as in a federation of Chris¬ tian societies of young people. All of the leading missions publish periodicals, which circulate far beyond the borders of the mission and present the gospel truth [ 27 ] and news of the outside world to many who otherwise would have no opportunity of learning it. The American Bible Society has car¬ ried on and is still conducting an extensive colporteur work quite independent of any of the mission boards, but in thorough har¬ mony and cooperation with them all. All the missionaries in Mexico are agreed that one of the most important features of Christian work there is the wide distribution of the Scriptures in the vernacular of the people. The American Board in Mexico. The American Board opened work in Mexico, in the city of Guadalajara, in November, 1872, by the hand of Rev. J. L. Stephens and Rev. D. F. Watkins. Guadalajara is the capital of the State of Jalisco, the second city in size and importance in the republic, and is beautifully located upon a lofty plateau, with a most salubrious climate. It is the religious and commercial center of western Mex¬ ico. Its population is strongly religious. A church of seventeen converts was organized in December of 1873. The missionaries began to preach also in outlying districts, most favorable interest being awakened. This interest became so marked that the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were alarmed; a priest in the city of Ahualulco aroused his people by an exciting sermon so that a mob was gathered and Mr. Stephens was assassinated, one of the native converts sharing his fate, while all were in great peril. New missionaries were sent out at once by the Board, Rev. John Ed¬ wards arriving in 1875, and in 1879 Rev. and Mrs. James K. Kil- bourn were transferred from Monterey. Through the efforts of Mr. Watkins, who had withdrawn from connection with the Board, the entire mission was passed over to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Early in 1882 mission work under the American Board was again organized through the efforts of Rev. M. A. Crawford and wife, Rev. John Howland and wife, Miss Haskins, and Rev. and Mrs. H. M. Bissell. The church at Tlajomulco, never having be¬ come Methodist, was organized as the first church of the American [ 28 ] Board in Mexico, after the interim, and a new church was formed in Guadalajara three years later. Guadalajara was made a center for work in the surrounding towns and cities. Native helpers were sent out to various points, and day-schools were opened. In no other portion of Mhxico, however, which has been occupied by the missions of the American Board, has such malignant and deteimined opposition been made as in the field centering about Guadalajara. Monterey, which had been occupied since 18/3, was finally passed over to the Presbyterian Board. In January, 1884, a small weekly illustrated paper, called La Estrella de la Manana (The Morning Star), was begun by Mrs. Howland. Three years later this gave place to El Testigo (The Witness), a large family paper which was edited by Mr. Bissell. This paper has been greatly enlarged and improved, and has long been recognized as a powerful aid to the cause of evangelical tiuth in Mexico. Its present editor is Mr. Howland. In 1882 a new mission was commenced at the capital of the State of Chihuahua, with the city of Chihuahua as its principal center. This was occupied by Rev. and Mrs. James D. Eaton. At that time evangelical Christianity was unknown in northwestern Mex¬ ico. It was also a region which had been greatly neglected by the Roman Church, there being no resident bishop, with the priests few in number, while the population was large. This made the field a promising one, as later results have shown, although oppo¬ sition has been by no means lacking. In 1883 the first converts in Chihuahua were baptized, and three years later the first church was formed, which has now become large and prosperous, with a Mexican pastor of its own. In 1884 Rev. and Mrs. Alden B. Case joined the mission, and a new station was opened by them in Par- ral, two hundred miles south of the city of Chihuahua, but in the same State. This station commands a large field, in which the Ro¬ man Catholics are doing but little. Great sections of this field had been wholly neglected by the Roman Catholic Church, and the people, having no religious privileges, were left to grow up in ig¬ norance and almost in rank barbarism. [ 29 ] In 1886 the Crawfords were transferred from Guadalajara to Hermosillo, the capital of the large State of Sonora, in the north¬ western corner of the republic. This from the beginning has been a promising center for work. A large number of able Mexican helpers have come from that part of the country, and the growth of the church has been unusually rapid in comparison wdth the amount of labor bestowed upon it. Mr. and Mrs. Wright occupied Cusihuiriachic, eighty miles west of Chihuahua, in 1888, but were later transferred to Ciudad Juarez upon the Rio Grande, just across the river from El Paso. Mr. Wright was later in charge of the Rio Grande Theological Train¬ ing School, then newly established in El Paso, upon the Texas side of the river, for the training of a Spanish-speaking ministry. El Fuerte, in the State of Sinaloa, was opened in 1891, and the Bissells were put in charge. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner joined the mis¬ sion in 1895, and for nearly the whole period of their missionary experience have been in charge of the work at Hermosillo. Originally the American Board missions in Mexico were divided into the Western Mexican Mission and the Northern Mexican Mission. In 1891 these two missions were united into the Mexican Mission of the American Board. This combination was in the interests of economy and unity of administration. At the present time missionaries of the American Board occupy only four places in the country; namely, Guadalajara, Chihuahua, Hermosillo, and Parral. Each one of these important places is a center of strong evangelical Christian activity. Lines of Work. The Mexican Mission is carrying on practically all the regular departments of missionary work except the medical. Emphasis is laid at all points upon the evangelistic work, through which the simple gospel of Christ, with its promises and its claims, is brought to the attention of the Mexicans. As an auxiliary to this evangel¬ istic work, and even an absolutely essential part of it, a certain amount of education has been inaugurated in each one of the cen- [ 30 ] ters named, especially Guadalajara, Chihuahua, and Parral. It was found that the national schools did not furnish a training suffi¬ cient to fit a young man or a young woman for Christian leadership among this people; therefore strong boarding schools and a normal school for girls were established in the three places named, where the pupils were brought into the Christian home of the school and there, by precept and example, made to know what pure Chris¬ tianity is, and its relation to the lives of those who profess it. At the same time these girls were given an intellectual training to fit them for positions as teachers in schools of lower grade. It has been a source of encouragement to the mission that so many of these girls have been sought for as teachers in the national schools. Thus wherever these teachers have gone they have carried the principles of pure religion, and the influence of Protestant Chris¬ tianity has thus been widely extended. The girls’ schools at Parral (El Progreso) and Chihuahua (Colegio Chihuahuense) have buildings of their own, while the one in Guadalajara (Instituto Corona) is yet in rented buildings. The best institutions for education in Mexico, as well as in other coun¬ tries, demand proper school buildings in which to carry on the work. The school at Chihuahua has done more in the line of nor¬ mal training than the others. In 1908 it had 166 pupils on its list, while the school at Parral had 253; 63 of these were in kindergarten and 17 in the English Department. The educational work for young men has been more confined in this mission to the training of men for direct Christian service than in any other mission of the Board, save one. The Rio Grande Training School, to which reference has already been made, was opened at El Paso in conjunction with the Congregational Education Society. It was transferred in 1901 to Guadalajara, where a new site has been purchased; and through the beneficence of a warm friend of the work suitable buildings are being provided for the permanent purposes of the school. From this school have come the preachers, pastors, and leaders, not only in our own mission, but in some of the other missions working in Mexico. The importance of the school cannot be overestimated [ 31 ] when we plan for the future of Protestant work in that country. The school is now under the charge of Rev. John Howland. There are six stations of the American Board mission in Mexico, only four of which are at present occupied by resident missionaries. There are fifteen missionaries in the country, and six ordained Mexican pastors, with two preachers and twenty Mexican teachers, making a total of twenty-nine trained Mexicans who are working, together with the missionaries, for the evangelization of that coun¬ try. The twenty-four organized Protestant churches in connection with this mission have over fifteen hundred communicants, with three thousand besides who are regarded as adherents; that is, who are attendants upon Christian worship and who have identified themselves with the Protestant movement. Three of these churches are entirely self-supporting, the Mexicans themselves paying all the cost of their up-keep and the support of their pastors. There are nearly seven hundred Mexican youths under instruction in the schools. Perhaps one of the strongest indications of the hold this work has upon the Mexicans is the fact that last year the people themselves paid for the support of their own work, both educa¬ tional and evangelistic, $12,494. This work of the American Board in the Republic of Mexico has been established with great sacrifice and labor; it is the re¬ sult of much effort and many prayers. Gradually barriers have given way, and little by little the field has opened, until to-day there is slight opposition and we are free to place preachers and pastors and teachers, and to open schools, in any part of the vast fields we occupy, without any special hindrance. There is still some persecution for those who separate themselves from the Old Church, and continued opposition upon the part of the ecclesias¬ tics to evangelical effort; but it is not sufficient to deter those who engage in the work or to prevent the continual and healthful growth of the Protestant communities. These represent the spirit of en¬ lightenment and inquiry, and this spirit has entered our sister re¬ public to abide. It must result, and can result, only in an enlight¬ ened republic, with an open gospel and a free church. [ 32 ]