7th Thousand.] ISM?- [Price 2d. A CENTURY OF MISSIONS INCREASE OF THE The Rev. JAMES JOHNSTON, F.S.S. London : JAMES NISBET & CO., Berners Street. Edinburgh : OLIVER & BOYD. HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., Paternoster Row. j *},' 'vi.Vj i' • • , -'• ',i U -Ithvt P;fi oil!);!' or ;yr\ {• I--’., w» v’U ■ ..r . <- ' _ ^ ‘ ' . , I ■ ' 4 % i vfi • ■ ■ " -;«»••• tyfl./IU i Im; 1 , .-■■■, . . «' ■*> > o ; .. '4X*. IV... Af.).5i A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS AND THE INCREASE OF THE HEATHEN DURING THE HUNDRED YEARS. SUGGESTIVE FACTS FOR THOUGHTFUL CHRISTIANS. JBfBtcatcti ikrmtesum TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF NORTHBROOK, G.C.S.I., D.C.L., &c. BY The Rev. JAMES JOHNSTON, F.S.S., AUTIIOR OP "OUR EDUCATIONAL POLICY IN INDIA,” “RELIGIOUS DESTITUTION IN GLASGOW,” “ECCLESIASTICAL STATISTICS OP SCOTLAND,” "ABSTRACT AND ANALYSIS” OP THE "REPORT OF THE IMPERIAL COMMISSION ON EDUCATION IN INDIA,” &C., &C. lEontron: JAMES NISBET & CO., BERNERS STREET. ©titnlmrgf): OLIVER AND BOYD. 1886. NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. In issuing a Second Edition, I gratefully acknowledge the cordiality with which the pamphlet has been received, in this country and in America. The earnestness and solemnity with which the questions raised have been discussed in the Missionary periodicals, encourages the hope of good results. A few friends have expressed a doubt as to the large increase of the heathen, and the accumulation of capital of late years. Space forbids a reply at present, but they will be met shortly. In the meantime, let no one be turned aside from the consideration of the proved necessity for a new departure in Missionary effort, by what are only questions of degree , not of fact or principle. Even if the increase of the heathen were not so great as asserted : it would only prove that the death-rate from war, infanticide, pestilence, and famine, was greater than my estimate for these sad calamities; and would only add fresh arguments for sending the Gospel to those “ dark places of the earth ” which are “ full of the habitations of cruelty.” As for the accumulation of capital. It is not on that I base my great hope of increased contributions to Missions; but on Christian economy and willing sacrifice for the love of Christ. Some refer to the increase of the Church by birth-rate, emigra¬ tion, &c. That is an entirely separate subject, with which I shall deal in a separate treatise. In reference to the note on page 5, a friend writes me : “I am just on my way to the West Indies, to take part in the celebration of the Centenary of the introduction of the Wesleyan Methodist Missions into those islands in 1786.” 13, Highland Road, Norwood. November 10th, 1886. A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. INTRODUCTION. The time has arrived for the Church of Christ to make a careful and earnest inquiry into the past history and present condition of Christian Missions to the heathen and Mohammedan world. Romance and sentiment have lost much of their force in appeals for missionary enterprise, and there is danger of falling into a lethargic spirit of routine in the methods of Mission work, and still more in the amount of the contributions to Mission objects. Many circumstances point to the present, as a suitable time for a calm review and a new departure. Even the disquiet in the political atmosjDliere, and distress in commercial and agricultural affairs, only remind us that the birth of modern Missions was amid the convulsions of a Continental war, and a state bordering on famine at home. Prosperity is apt to blind the heart to spiritual claims, and the sums given for Mission work are so trifling, com¬ pared with the general income and expenditure, that to double or treble the present rate of contribution a 2 4 A Century of Protestant Missions. would be no effort to willing hearts; and the area of contributors might be much enlarged. It would be presumption on our part to attempt anything with a view to introduce a new era in Foreign Missions, were it not that it hath pleased God repeatedly to use our pen in drawing up statistical pamphlets, which have led to great and beneficent movements. The generous reception given by the Churches to pamphlets, on the “ Religious Destitution of Glasgow,” and on the “Religious Condition of Scotland,” encourages hope in this effort for Foreign Missions—a work which only requires to be under¬ stood, to secure the sympathy and devotion of every true Christian heart—a work in which it was our privilege to have a share, and from which it has been our greatest trial to be debarred. But my chief encouragement to take up this great subject, is the acknowledged effect of a pamphlet on “ Our Educational Policy in India,” in 1879, which led to the formation of the “ Council on Education,” and through that to the appointment of an “ Imperial Commission,” on whose report the Indian Govern¬ ment has reformed abuses, and established the system of education on an Imperial basis and scale, so that the number of pupils has been already doubled, and schools are being multiplied at a five-fold annual rate of increase compared with previous years. These considerations have em¬ boldened me to draw up this statement. I have faith in the power of facts to influence thoughtful and earnest men. I have studiously refrained from the expression of Introduction. 5 ray own opinions, and suppressed all personal feeling, that facts might speak with the trumpet-tongne of Divine authority, and that the thoughts suggested to the mind of the reader might come like the “ still small voice of the Spirit of God ” and move the heart of every loyal Christian. I call this pamphlet the “ Century of Protestant Missions,” although no one Mission dates from 1786. 1 No date can be fixed for the commencement of modern Missions. Protestant Missions of one kind or another have been attempted from the days of tlie Reformation onward. The sixteenth and seven¬ teenth centuries could boast of their Missions, as well as the eighteenth. But their operations were for the most part abortive or temporary. The only institutions started prior to 1786, which are worthy of notice as active organizations, are, “ The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,” and the “ Missions of the Moravian Brethren,” which became heir to the early Danish Missions. I take this date, first, because we thereby recognize the early efforts of the Church. In the “ Statistical Tables,” issued in Calcutta, for 1881, statistics of these early Missions are given for 1726, 1737, and 1776. We do not date our century of Protestant Missions from the foundation of these or any 1 By a striking coincidence I find that Charles Grant in India, afterwards one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society, and William Carey in England, first formally propounded their views on Missions in 1786. I trust this fact, which I only discovered after this was in type, may he prophetic of the com¬ mencement of a new era in 1886. 6 A Century of Protestant Missions. other societies. Their early efforts were not of a character or of such importance as to form an era, while they deserve to be noticed as the honoured precursors of modern Missions. Second, we choose this date, because it does not connect what we hope may become the starting point of a new era for all Protestant Missions with any one denomination of Christians. It leaves each society to observe its own centenary on its own day. Third, we choose this year as our centenary, because we desire to see a new departure for the good of the world in 1887, on the jubilee of the accession of our beloved Queen to the throne of an Empire stretching its wings round the habitable globe, under which God has placed, for gracious purposes, a fourth part of the Mohammedan and heathen populations of the world; and to which the weak and oppressed of many lands look up with reverence and hope. While we ascribe all glory to God, we would, by renewed efforts, do honour to the Queen, during whose reign the great proportion of the success of modern Missions has been achieved; and under whose beneficent rule the Christians of Great Britain have acquired a measure of influence and wealth hitherto unknown among members of the Christian Church, thereby enlarging their means, and increasing their responsibility to extend the Kingdom of God. In the execution of this work, it will be my duty to call attention to facts, which may give pain to others, as they do to myself. But I do so under the conviction that the Churches of Christ only require Introduction. 7 to be aroused to thought and effort, in order to secure the greatest victories and eventual triumph. I shall make no complaints, sound ho alarms, and make no appeals—my only work is to state facts, calmly and fairly, and leave the intelligence of Christian men to draw the inference. But it will appear obvious, that if Christ’s command is to be obeyed, “ Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations ” (Matt, xxviii. 19), Christian Missions must enter upon a new era as to their methods, and much more as to the means of extension. For this the wisdom, as well as the wealth of all the true members of the Church of Christ are called for, by the authority of the risen Christ, and the needs of a ruined race. For the sake of clearness and cogency, I have treated of the subject under four heads, which I have formulated into distinct propositions. NOTE. I have set clown figures boldly without quoting authorities or giving reasons. For this I crave the indulgence of the general reader. It would have turned this tract into a treatise if I had given the grounds for all the statements it contains. The members of almost all the missionary societies of this country have had ample means of testing my accuracy, and their secretaries have given me many kind marks of confidence. I can only say that I stake my reputation on the truth of the statements made, and if encouraged to go on, I shall embody the details on which the assertions are based in a more elaborate work. Where absolute certainty cannot be obtained, I have avoided the pretence of it, by giving round numbers ; and while all round numbers are not to be regarded as indefinite, in all cases of uncertainty they will be found under, rather than over-stated. • ' ' . . I. That Protestant Missions have, in a Hundred Years, Accomplished as much as could reason¬ ably BE EXPECTED PROM THE METHODS EMPLOYED, and the Means placed at the Disposal of the Societies conducting them. The Means Employed . The following are, as nearly as can be ascertained, the number of agents employed at the end of the century for the work of evangelizing the world :— 3000 ordained missionaries , 730 laymen , and 2500 women have been sent out by the Protestant Churches of Britain, America, and the Continent of Europe, into all parts of the heathen and Mohammedan world. These 0230 messengers of the Churches are now preaching the Everlasting Gospel in twenty times as many languages as were spoken on the day of Pentecost. If the 870 millions of heathen and 170 millions of Mohammedans were equally apportioned to these 6230 agents, it would give 167,000 souls to each man and woman sent out; but, as they are very unequally distributed, some may be found grouped with less than a thousand to each, while others are scattered as one in the midst of millions. As many of the women are the wives of missionaries, there is not one female missionary to a quarter of a million of women, in those countries in which they alone can carry the Gospel to the secluded victims, chiefly by the tedious process of visits to their homes. The 3730 men have often to labour singly among ten B io A Century of Protestant Missions . or twenty millions of heathen—the most unpro¬ ductive form of Mission work. Concentration, within certain limits, is generally the most effective form of labour. 27,000 native converts are now employed and paid as evangelists to their own countrymen, and 2500 are ordained pastors of native congregations. Many voluntary workers give themselves willingly to evangelistic work, and many thousands of teachers and professors are employed in the more secular but important work of teaching the young in schools and colleges. These are the agencies at work at the end of a hundred years of missionary effort by all the churches of Protestant Christendom. But the beginning was small and the obstacles great. The few and scat¬ tered missionaries of Continental societies, and here and there individuals like Eliot and Brainerd could do little ; and when English and American societies were formed, their work was for a long time only preparatory. Languages had to be learned and in many cases to be reduced for the first time to written form; translations of the Bible had to be made and books written for the school and the Church ; agents had to be trained from the converts as they were gathered; and it has only been by slow, persevering, and laborious efforts that modern Missions have attained their present position. Now, the millions of converts, with the thousands of European and American missionaries, and many tens of thousands of native agents, are a great fact and a living force , full of hope for the future, if, and only if the Church of God arise and put on her strength. Every year the vital force of the native Church increases in geometrical ratio. The money raised for carrying on Protestant Missions in all parts of the world now amounts to 2,450,000/. This sum is collected by more than 100 missionary societies in Great Britain, America, The Means Employed. 11 and the Continent, to support the European, American, and native agents, and to cover all expenses connected with the work at home and fit) FOct cl Of this sum of 2,450,000k, fully 850,000k are raised in America, by more than fifty missionary societies, nearly all, so far as we can learn, directly or indirectly connected with the different Churches. 180,000k are collected by thirty-four societies from all the nationalities on the Continent. Nineteen societies belonging to the Churches in England and Scotland raise annually 950,000k; while twenty societies, independent of the Churches, collect, for the most part from the members of these same Churches, 150,000/. a year. If to these sums, which are collected year by year by missionary societies, we add the interest on investments, &c., amounting to more than 200,000/. in this country, and the sums expended on missionary objects by the British and Foreign Bible and Tract Societies, the Christian Knowledge Society, and many little societies of which no record can be found, the entire sum raised in the United Kingdom for evangelizing the heathen and Mohammedan world is, as near as we can ascertain, 1,450,000/. yearly, a sum which sounds large ; and if missions had started with such an income a hundred years ago, something might have been accomplished ere this, worthy of the cause of God, and of the claims of our fellow-men. But it has taken a hundred years to bring the liberality of the Church up to this amount, small as it is, com¬ pared with the resources of the Churches of our land. A hundred years ago, only a few hundreds of pounds were raised, chiefly by Continental Christians, feebly assisted by our “ Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.” When England, in the language of the day, “ sent out a cobbler to con- 13 2 12 A Century of Protestant Missions. vert the world,” it was with great difficulty that a few hundred pounds could be collected to pay the passage of Carey and his coadjutors. For many years the funds of missionary societies were summed up in hundreds of pounds. They slowly rose to columns of thousands and tens of thousands; and it is only within recent years that the aggregate has risen to about a million and a half from the United Kingdom, and about two millions and a half from all the Christians of Europe and America—as we shall see, a small sum when compared with the enormous increase of their wealth. Even spiritual warfare must be carried on by men in the flesh; and to expect a great war with the powers of darkness all over the world to be carried to a successful issue even on such a sum as is now raised is unreasonable. Results. 870,000 adults, converts from among the heathen, are now in full communion with the Church of Christ, as the result of Protestant missionary labour. These with their families and dependents, form Christian communities scattered over almost every portion of the habitable globe ; numbering in the aggregate at least 2,800,000 souls. 2500 of these converts are ordained ministers of the Gospel, placed over Christian congregations; 27,000 of them are em¬ ployed as evangelists to their heathen fellow-country¬ men, and a large number are acting as voluntary agents, in preaching, teaching in Sunday-schools, and engaged in other works of Christian usefulness. The children of these converts, with a large number of the children of the heathen, are receiving secular and religious instruction in day-schools. 1 1 I give these and other figures without reserve. I know they are all under the actual numbers, as I hope to demonstrate in a future and larger work. The Results. r 3 These are facts which can be tabulated, but there are others of vast importance which cannot be so expressed: the wider influence of Christian teach¬ ing and Christian life of missionaries and their converts; the elevation of the lowest races to the comforts and advantages of civilization; the esta¬ blishment of peaceful government among savage and cannibal tribes, whose lives were misery, and whose work was war; the spread of commerce ; the promotion of industry ; the creation of written language, with the gift of the Word of God to more than 200 tribes and nations; the abolition of cruel rites and religious crimes amongst those who still remain heathen, and the diffusion of new aspirations and hopes amongst thousands who are still strangers to the higher blessings of the spiritual life which the missionary seeks to import. Whatever view may be taken of the methods and operations of missionary societies, the results we have given above seem to be as great as could reasonably be expected, from the very small amount of thought, and effort, and prayer expended on them by the Churches. They have been left to private enterprise or personal adventure, instead of being made, along with home Missions, the work of the Church of Christ. The Church must be aggressive, and the sphere of her aggressive work, as given by her Lord, is the world. The object of this treatise is not argument or exhortation, but we cannot pass on without calling attention to the great advantages now possessed for a new departure in Missions to the heathen. Let it be remembered, that this spiritual harvest sprang from a very small seed, planted by divine love in a very unlikely spot. So far as the living agency in England is concerned, it took root in an obscure shoemaker’s shop in a little English village. But the “ good and honest ” heart of Carey was the very soil to yield “an hundred fold.” For the 14 A Century of Protestant Missions. first quarter of century, missionary societies were a fertile subject of ridicule to the wit, and of contempt to the proud ecclesiastic, as well as to the layman; and looking with a “ carnal ” eye at the end aimed at, and the means employed, it was enough to excite a smile or a sneer. Everything had to be done, and that with the most inadequate means. But now, see what we have to start with as living forces. 3000 educated ministers of the Word, able to preach in the native tongues of nearly all the different races of the human family. 730 laymen, most of them educated men, and many of them physicians to the body as well as to the soul; and 2500 women, most of them high types of all that is noblest, and purest, and best in our European and American Christian civilization. 6230 men and women trained, and ready, and eager for the exten¬ sion of the Kingdom of God; and there are thou¬ sands at home ready to swell their number, or fill the ranks of those who fall. Besides these, there are nearly thirty thousand of the converts, less or more trained, and employed as ministers and evan¬ gelists to their own countrymen; and many more who might be educated for the work. With such an agency, and with the Bible and Christian tracts in more than 200 languages, pre¬ pared to her hand; with the enormous increase in the numbers and wealth of her members ; what might not the Church of God effect in entering on our next stage of missionary enterprise ? 2 Still the fact remains, that after all, a number, less than three millions , is all that the Christian Church of this age has gathered from among the ten hundred millions of heathen and Mohammedans, 2 We dare not call it a second century of Missions. Many tilings combine to force on thoughtful men the solemn conviction, that the present dispensation cannot last long. Apart from prophetic warnings, the statistics of population seem to point to an early close of the present social economy of our world. The Results. 15 who are now living in ignorance of the great salvation which God sent His Son into the world to procure, and to offer freelv to all men. «/ It is also well for Christian men to note the fact, that, with few exceptions, these converts belong to uneducated or barbarous tribes, who have not much influence over the higher races; and about a fifth part of them belong to races that are dying out before the advance of modern civilization, with its too frequent attendants of vice and disease—a fact which does not lessen the value of the work accom¬ plished, but which materially affects the future of the Kingdom of God. The early converts of Christianity, at the commencement of the Christian era, were generally from among the poor, but they were, even when slaves, of a vigorous and progressive race. No stronger proof could have been given of the pure and child-like benevolence of Protestant Mis¬ sions, than the fact to which I have called attention. If ambition had been the motive, or ecclesiastical power their object, they would never have begun and carried on their work among the miserable Eskimos or the sparse and dying races of the South Sea Islands. The demonstration of the dis¬ interestedness of their founders amounts to a reflec¬ tion on their discretion, when carried to the dispro¬ portionate amount of effort bestowed at such cost on these races, compared with that expended on the more influential and productive races of Asia and Africa. The results of a century of modern Missions are, numerically , probably as great as those from the preaching of the Apostles and their successors at the close of the first century, dating from the day of Pen¬ tecost. But it would be alike injurious and absurd to compare them. They had advantages, in the miracu¬ lous gifts of the preachers and in the intelligence and preparation of the hearers, which the modern Church 16 A Century of Protestant Missions. lias not. On the other hand, the modern Church has advantages, in numbers and means, immeasur¬ ably greater than the early Church. They started with a little company of 120 in the upper room. We can boast of 120,000,000 of professing Pro¬ testant Christians, covering Britain, her Colonies, America, and parts of the Continent; and even when Missions began, a hundred years ago, they were more than a third of that number; and as for means, so far as wealth can furnish them, we are many millions of times richer than they were ; while the completed and printed Bible, with medical skill and linguistic facilities, put us on a par with their miraculous powers and the gift of tongues. Let not the Church flatter and lull herself with the idea, that equality of numerical results implies any approach to equality in labours , sacrifice , and faith. NOTE. I may be supposed to over-estimate the number of converts during the first century of Apostolic Missions, when I speak of them as probably as many as the 2,800,000 at the end of this century of modern Missions. I am aware that it is usual to set down the number of Christians at the end of the first century, i.e., a.d. 100, as probably not more than half a million ; an estimate which I consider much too low. But even taking that number, if we suppose that they were doubled every ten years, as the more successful of our Missions now are, that would give, at the end of the thirty years required to complete the hundred years from the day of Pentecost, a much larger number than I have assumed—in fact, a larger number than some give at the Council of Nice, an estimate as improbable as it appears erroneous. To suppose that a shrewd politician like Constantine, would proclaim Christianity the religion of the empire, when Christians only numbered 3 or 4 per cent, of the population; is to give him credit for more zeal than discretion ; when there is little doubt he was influenced as much by policy as by principle. Increase of the Heathen by Birth-rate. 17 II. That the number of Heathen and Mohammedans now in the World, is vastly greater than when Protestant Missions began a Hundred Years ago. The heathen and Mohammedan population of the world is more by 200 millions than it was a hundred years ago ; while the converts and their families do not amount to 3 millions. 1 The numbers now generally accepted as accurate, and quoted by the Church Missionary and other societies, are 173 millions of Mohammedans, and 874 millions of heathen, 1047 millions in all. When Carey wrote his famous Enquiry , in 1786, he esti¬ mated the Mohammedans at 130 and the Pagans at 420 millions, equal to 550 millions. This would give an increase of 493 millions. But as we have come to the knowledge of vast populations in Africa and the East, which could not be even guessed at in Carey’s time, we must largely increase his esti¬ mate, but I am not prepared at present to say to what extent. Of this, however, I am sure, that the actual increase during the hundred years is much more than the 200 millions at which 1 have put it down. We rejoice in the work accomplished by modern Christian Missions, while we mourn over the sad fact that the increase of the heathen is, numerically, more than seventy times greater than that of the converts 1 I cannot give now the data for this estimate, but could easily give details, if space allowed. These I must reserve for another occasion. 0 tS A Century of Protestant Missions. during tlie century of Missions. It is true that converts multiply in a much more rapid ratio, but the number to be multiplied is so small in the one case and so large in the other, that the prospect of the former overtaking the latter in any measur¬ able period, seems hopeless at the present rate. With one or two slight exceptions the Christian is not perceptibly overtaking the heathen popula¬ tion, except among nations that are numerically stagnant or races that are dying out. Those who calculate on Christian Missions con¬ verting the world at the present rate of increase, stran gely overlook the annual increase of the heathen by birth-rate. The increase of the population of the world during this last century is altogether unprecedented in the historic period. The early Christian centuries cannot be brought into com¬ parison with it. The population of Europe under the decline of the Roman Empire, and after its overthrow, must have been almost stationary and in many cases retrograde. If it had increased at the rate at which Europe has increased during this nineteenth century, its inhabitants to-day would have been thousands of times the population of the whole world. This fact made it much easier for the early Christian Church to overtake the population of the Roman Empire, than it is for Missions to overtake the populations of the world in the present day. England doubles its inhabitants in about fifty years, and Scotland, with its greater rate of emi¬ gration, in a few more years. The Saxon races on the Continent double in about seventy years; and although the Latin races increase more slowly, the Russians more than make up by a greater ratio; while America, the great outlet for the redundant population of Europe, doubles its population in twenty-five years. The computation for the increase in India is one per cent, per annum, and the careful Increase of the Heathen by Birth-rate. 19 census of 1881, compared witli that of 1871, shows that it is not far from the truth. In spite of specially severe famines the actual increase gives fully seven per cent, in the ten years, which would double the inhabitants in 102 years. Thoughtful men are staggered by this rapid increase of populations in view of the limit to the increase of food supply. Scarcity is already felt in India. Millions do not know what it is to have more than one meal a day, and millions more are never free from the feeling of hunger. Mr. Griff en, in his presidential lecture at the open¬ ing of the session of the Statistical Society in 1882, called attention to the fact that the United States of America would in twenty-five years be fully occupied with its population of one hundred millions, and “ that the conditions of their economic growth will be fundamentally altered.” In view of the present rate of increase of the population, we may say that the economic condition of the whole world will he f undamentally changed during the next century , and long before it has run its course. It seems as if the old command, “ increase and multiply and replenish the earth,” were soon to reach its consummation, preparatory to some grand climax in the history of our race. Prophecy and the laws of population are, like converging lines, pointing to one issue in the near future. Never had those words of the Apostle such significance, “ This I say, brethren, the time is short.” Theorists talk of restraints on the increase of population. That, if it does not mean the application of the Darwinian theory to the human family—the de¬ struction of the weak by the strong—means the consumption of the strong by the weak. By an eternal law the nation that ceases to grow begins to decay. The lean and ill-favoured kine will eat up the fat and well favoured, as in the days of Pharaoh. But this question of natural increase 20 A Century of Protestant Missions. is too large a subject for a tract. It is enough to note the fact and its bearing on the 'possibility of Christian Missions , with their three millions of con¬ verts, overtaking the increasing one thousand millions of heathen and Mohammedans in the world. Another sad thought oppresses us when we think of the slow rate of the increase of Missions. Not only has the heathen and Mohammedan population in¬ creased by two hundred millions, while the three millions have been added to the Church; three generations of men, women, and children have passed into eternity during that century of missions. That means the death of more than two thousand millions , without the consolations of our Christian hope, and without the knowledge of the love of God. How long shall this continue ? With the larger population now, in little more than thirty years the whole 1000 millions will have passed into eternity, at the rate of thirty millions every year. NOTE. It would "be rasli in any man to prophecy as to the future in¬ crease of the population of the world, and the effects of that in¬ crease, but it is not rash to say that if there be not some radical economic change, and that soon, society will have a terrible pro¬ blem to solve regarding its future food supply, if the Almighty Provider do not intervene. The grounds of apprehension which alarmed Maltlius and others at the beginning of this century were staved off, not removed, by the amazing increase of manufactures and commerce, leading to the importation of food, to an extent which no man could have foreseen. Xow that the population of Europe has been more than doubled, and is increasing at a rate which will double it again in about seventy years, it is impossible to judge of the effect of that increase, or to foresee any checks which are likely to arrest it, in a state of society so different from that in which moral checks could be imposed by law or religion. Commerce and manufactures have provided the means for the im¬ portation of food, but science has not as yet discovered the means of doubling the supply in geometrical ratio like the increase of population. Increase of the Heathen by Proselytism. 21 III. That the great Heathen and Mohammedan Sys¬ tems op Religion are not only Increasing theil adherents by the Ordinary Birth-rate, but are Yearly making far more Converts than our Christian Missions. The progress of Christian Missions has hitherto been for the most part among races which had no formulated system of religion, or sacred books; to a large extent among unlettered savages, and in many cases among effete races of the South Seas, which are rapidly dying out. This is no disparagement of Christian Missions; far from it. It is a demonstra¬ tion of its Godlike power and beneficence, that it can elevate, morally and spiritually, races of men whom the highest form of mere civilization is powerless to save, and whom it sweeps away before it with the besom of destruction. It is Christlike to come to the rescue of perishing nations, as our Missions have come to the aborigines of America, Australia, and to the islanders of the Pacific Ocean; even if it be only to comfort a dying population, and give Christian burial to perishing tribes. But it is a matter which needs to be taken into account in looking to the future of the Kingdom of Christ. It is full time that the Church of God looked this fact in the face, that no religion which had been formulated into a system , or is possessed of sacred books , has even been arrested in its progress by our modern Missions. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam not only stand their ground, they are yearly making proselytes by tens of thousands. For one convert from any of these systems, they gain thou¬ sands from the inferior races which they are absorbing into their systems. 22 A Century of Protestant Missions. Mohammedanism is spreading to new regions in Africa, and is fast increasing in the Indian Archi¬ pelago, especially in the Dutch settlements; and in India itself it is constantly gaining over numbers from the low “ castes,” to whom the social advan¬ tage of association and inter-marriage with a superior race is a great attraction. By the census of 1881, as compared with that for 1871, it appears that taking only the area covered by the census in both cases, the number of Mohammedans had in¬ creased to an extent that cannot be accounted for by the normal birth-rate; and it is known that, although not to a large extent, conversions are yearly being made. Besides, we know that there has been a great increase of proselytizing zeal of late years in almost all parts of the Mohammedan world. There has been a great revival of the propaganda both in Constantinople and Cairo. I say nothing of the character of the converts, or the motives which influence them, I speak only of the fact. The theory that Hinduism is a hard and fast system of religion and worship is altogether erro¬ neous. It can adapt itself to the beliefs and habits of any of the aboriginal tribes of India, and is con¬ stantly absorbing them. In the census returns for 1881, the enumerators constantly complain of the difficulty of drawing the line where Hinduism ends and the nature or devil-worship of the aboriginal races begins. Mr. Kitts, one of H.M. Commissioners, says : “ The vagueness of the term Hindu, as the name of a religion, is apparent from the fact that all the Deputy-Commissioners considered that it could rightly be extended to the form of worship practised by the Gonds and other aboriginal castes.” (Census for 1881, vol. i. p. 19.) The increase of Hindus in British India is above that of the birth¬ rate by an amount which can only be accounted for by accessions from the aboriginal races; a process Increase of the Heathen by Proselytism. 23 / which has been going on since the days of the Aryan invasion, and still continues. The only point at which Hinduism has suffered any material loss at the hands of Christian Missions is in Southern India, among the Tamils and Telugus. But in their case they were of the class who had been onl j partially absorbed into the Hindu system. They are of the old Dravidian stock, which preceded the Aryan in the conquest of India, and were con¬ quered in their turn by those we now call Hindus; and by them were gradually but partially brought within the lower castes of the accommodating sys¬ tem of their religion, which at first treated them as outcasts. 1 * * 4 From these vigorous and intelligent races, and the more ignorant aborigines, Christianity has made the largest number of its conquests in India. Hinduism has been little affected except by educa¬ tional methods and the progress of science and com¬ merce. Almost the only converts from the higher castes have been through education, and these have as yet been very few. It is, to a more limited extent, the same with Buddhism. It makes its way among the tribes of the northern dependencies of China, while it follows the Chinese race in its migrations, and plants its temples on the Christian soil of America and Australia. It has shown less resistance to Chris¬ tianity than the higher castes of Hinduism and the followers of the prophet, but the converts gained in China, Japan, Burma, and Ceylon are too recent and limited in number to make any impression on its hundreds of millions. They do not number a quarter of a million in all. It may be said, the gains of Mohammedans from 1 That some of the largest temples in India are found among these races is no proof to the contrary. These are rather symbols of their enslaved condition than proofs of the thoroughness of their conversion. Brahmins, though long dominant, are even now only 4 per cent, of the population. 24 A Century of Protestant Missions. the low-caste Hindus and natives of Africa, the accessions of Hinduism from the aborigines of India, and the increase of Buddhism in the north of China, are only a change from one false religion to another, and does not increase the number of those on whom the missions of the Church have to operate. But the painful feature in such changes is, that converts to higher systems of error, instead of bringing a people nearer to Christian truth, tend rather to alienate them the more, and to make their conversion more difficult. I do not here explain the cause. I only call attention to the fact. It is true that Christian Missions have made an impression on all these systems; many agencies have combined to unsettle the beliefs of Hindus and Mohammedans, and it is no hyperbole to say that these systems of error have been shaken. But it depends on the future of the Church’s efforts whether the shaking is to lead to an awakening followed by a new lease of superstition and fanaticism, or to their overthrow. The shaking may not move the foundations of these systems, but like the agitation of some chemical compounds, they may crystallize into new forms of error, more dangerous and deadly than the old. Again I repeat, it is full time for the Christian Church to look these facts in the face, and lay them to heart. NOTE. The increase of Hinduism is not, to any appreciable extent, pro¬ moted by a propaganda. It is, as I indicate, by a process of absorption. In the case of the Mohammedans it is by both pro¬ cesses. There is a revival of the Ulema, and there is a good deal of the old system of propagation by the sword in Africa, but in Bengal and some other parts of India, and in the “Straits,” es¬ pecially in the Dutch “ Settlements,” it is chiefly by social in¬ fluences, for which polygamy gives the Mohammedan proselytizer a decided advantage over the Protestant missionary. But by what¬ ever means, the fact is patent, and the results practically the same. What the Church should do. 25 IV. That the Christian Church is able, in Christ’s Name, to Conquer all Systems of Error, and to “ make Disciples oe all Nations.” Enough lias been clone by Christian Missions to show that Christianity is adapted to all conditions, and all races of men. Already we have seen examples of the conversion of all classes and con¬ ditions of the human family, from the highest in¬ telligence of the nations of India and China, to the lowest forms of degraded humanity living amid the eternal ice of Lapland and the burning plains of Africa. Several of the noblest minds among the Mohammedans and Brahmans, and the fiercest races of cannibals have been subdued and transformed by modern missions. What is wanted is not a new Gospel, but a great increase of wisdom and zeal, and liberality, and faith, in making it known to all people. More of the love of God, and of the Spirit of God in the hearts and lives of His people, would regenerate the world. God has, in His providence, given the work of carrying the Gospel to the world in a special man¬ ner to the Saxon, and more especially to the Anglo- Saxon race. Not only is the great spread of Protestant Christianity due to the natural in¬ crease of that most prolific family; not only is Great Britain doubling its population every fifty years and America in twenty-five years; but Mis¬ sions to the heathen are nearly all supported by the inhabitants of these countries. All the 26 A Century of Protestant Missions. Churches on the Continent of Europe do not con¬ tribute a tenth part of Mission expenditure. We cannot speak for the means of America to increase her efforts as we can for Britain, but we believe that the Christians of America are capable of great enterprises. They have in many things set us an example in the past, and we shall rejoice if they do in future the great things of which they are capable. In the meantime we address our countrymen only. Before speaking of the monetary resources of our country, which might be far more largely devoted to missionary enterprise, we arrest attention on the fact, that the Churches tn Great Britain have NEVER AS YET MADE FOREIGN MISSIONS THEIR PROPER work. The great missionary societies in England are all outside the Churches, which, as Churches, have nothing to do with their maintenance or management. It is true the money comes from members of the Churches, and Church members are managers of the societies. But all that the Churches do is to manifest a beneficent neutrality, or to bestow a benevolent patronage. Even when Wesleyan and Presbyterian Churches make foreign Missions a part of their organization, this co-opera¬ tion is too often formal, and the support languid. Missions to the heathen world are not made the worh of the Churches, they are a parergon, we had almost said a by-play, or a May holiday, instead of being the Church of Christ’s first work, as it was her Lord’s final commission—a work demanding the highest talent and most devoted service. The work accomplished, and now being carried on by missionary societies, is perhaps as great as could be expected for the means placed at their disposal. What is about two and a half millions of money for such a vast enterprise ? What are 3000 ordained missionaries, with the 730 laymen and 2500 women, many of them the wives of missionaries, among What the Church could do. 27 1,000,000,000 of heathen idolators and Mohamme¬ dan fanatics ? The Church at home knows the difficulty of converting the ignorant and prejudiced outside the Churches; men speaking their own language and able to read the Word of God. To have gathered in nearly 3,000,000 in a hundred years is a great work, if the difficulties of the work are only realized. The rate of increase is large, compared with the results of home efforts to gather in the masses who have fallen away from Church ordinances. The annual increase in Mission con¬ verts average, so far as we can learn, about six or eight per cent., while the increase to the membership of the Churches at home does not average one per cent, per annum. The Mission churches double their membership in about ten or twelve years; we doubt whether the churches at home will double theirs in seventy or eighty. These facts are enough to encourage effort, while the smallness of the total results, compared with the number and increase of the heathen and Mo¬ hammedan populations, is fitted to startle a slum¬ bering Church. It is full time for the Churches to awake from the slumber of the past centuries, and from the waking dream about missionary work during the last hundred years. Let us now see what the Churches of the United Kingdom could do if they were fully awake to the great importance of the work, and of their duty to carry the blessings of light and liberty to those who are sitting in darkness and bondage. They could multiply the means of missionary effort amongst the heathen and Mohammedan nations of the earth—the best and noblest work in which our Saxon race could take a part; the most beneficial to our fellow-men, and the most pleasing to God. In showing what this country can do when in earnest, I do not forget that our people are not all Christian, or all in earnest even when they profess 28 A Century of Protestant Missions. to be Protestants. It is sufficient for my argument if a half, or a fourth, or even a tenth are in earnest. I shall give facts to show what are the possibilities and responsibilities of the Church of Christ in our land. In treating of the monetary resources of the Christian Church, I. shall confine myself to Great Britain, but what I say will, to a large extent, be true of America, and to a very limited degree of the Protestants on the Continent. Let it also be distinctly understood that when I refer to the wealth of our country, I do not suppose that it is all in the hands of Christian men, or when it is, that they are Christians of a lively type, and interested in the spread of the Gospel. No one is more sensible than I am of the deadness and indifference of professing Christians. But there are two facts to be kept in mind. First, that every man who professes to be a follower of Christ, declares, at the least, that his religion is, in his opinion, the truest, the purest, and the best; and be is but half a Christian if he does not hold that it is the only true, and pure, and good system fitted for all men ; and moreover that he is a mere professor if he does not as a benevolent and a practical Englishman, take steps to make it known to others, to the best of his ability, as the greatest good to his fellow-men both in this world and the next. Second, that though the number of Christians who live up to their profession be comparatively small, they are numerically a large, and influential, and prosperous portion of the community, and that we cannot judge of their resources but by ascertaining the resources of the whole nation of which they form an important part. Our aim is not only to bring home the sense of responsibility for their resources to a select few ; we wish to impress every generous Christian soul with a noble ambition to spread the blessings of Christian civilization among the ignorant and afflicted natives of the earth. For this Enormous increase of Wealth. 29 purpose we shall compare what we expend on the spread of the Gospel in heathen lands, with the resources of our countrymen, and contrast it with the sums spent on the principal objects on which they expend their income. In doing this, it is but fair that we deduct the sum of 211,000Z. a year which is derived from investments, and other sources than that of annual contributions and legacies falling due during the year, otherwise we would be supplementing the donations of the present with the gifts of past generations. This will reduce the annual income of all missionary societies in this country from the gross sum of 1,450,0002. down to 1,239,0002., or in round numbers to a million and a quarter. The annual income of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom is set down by Mr. Gladstone, the ablest financier of the day, at one thousand millions (1,000,000,0002.) a year ; by Professor Leone Levi, the most thoughtful and accurate of statis¬ ticians, at about the same amount, by a different method. While making allowance for present depression in trade and agriculture, I cannot take a lower figure, when we consider that the sum “assessed” for taxation was not less than 628,510,1992. in the year 1884. The unassessed cannot be under 500,000,0002. It is allowed by all who have studied the subject, that the labouring classes nave an aggregate income equal to that of the classes who are assessed for income tax. What is a million and a quarter to a small nation of thirty-seven millions of people, with such an income ? Every penny in the pound, of those taxed on income yields nearly two millions (1,990,0002.) a year, without including the working classes, who are as well off with their average income of 832. for each family, as many of those who pay taxes on their hundreds. The large tax of ninety millions for the revenue 30 A Century of Protestant Missions. of the country is not oppressive, thirty millions for war expenses is little felt, five millions for education is willingly paid, and ten millions for the expense of collection is borne as a necessary evil. Take these sums for carrying on the affairs of this small kingdom, and compare it with the sum spent by the professed subjects of the King of Heaven for the extension of His blessed Kingdom over the whole world, and what have we ? Total annual income of all classes . „ „ „ „ Government „ „ Expenditure for army and navy ,, „ „ „ Education, &e. „ „ Cost of collection „ „ Income of Missionary Societies £1,000,000,000 90,000,000 30,000,000 5,000,000 10 , 000,000 1,250,000 It is enough to make a Christian nation blush in the presence of men, and tremble at the thought of the tribunal of God. To show what England can do with a light heart for the protection of her Empire, or for the assertion of her honour, look at what is spent on a few of our wars within this century, in addition to our ordinary expenditure for the army and navy. The War with France ... from The Eussian War. „ The China War . „ 1856-61 The Abyssinian Expedition „ 1866-68 The Zulu and Transvaal Wars „ 1879-80 The Egyptian Expedition „ 1882-85 1793-1815, cost £831,446,000 1854-56 „ 69,277,000 6,640,000 8,600,000 4,821,720 9,418,965 But by far the most convincing proof of the resources of the Christian people of this country, and their ability to increase their contributions for missionary objects many fold, is the enormous sums which are every year accumulating from the surplus of the annual income of the people. It shows con¬ clusively that after spending all that they care to expend on necessaries, luxuries, and benevolent objects, there is a large margin left for hoarding. These accumulations amount to the enormous sum Vast Accumulation of Wealth. 31 of two hundred and thirty millions (230,000,000/.) annually, according to Prof. Leone Levi, and ac¬ cording to Mr. Giffen’s estimate, to two hundred and forty millions (240,000,000/.), that is to say, 23 or 24 per cent., or nearly a fourth part of the entire income of the population is saved yearly , and is laid up by all classes of the community, from small sums by millions of the humbler classes, to the millions of the rich; but all show a large margin of income, from which superabundance a few millions could well be spared to extend the Kingdom of the Redeemer of men. We are thankful to see the evidence of forethought and economy in such savings, whether in large or little sums, but surely a thank- offering of a few millions could be spared for the cause which is so dear to Him, “ Who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich.” Even if only a fourth or sixth part of this 240,000,000/. belonged to earnest Christian men, a tithe of 60,000,000/. or 40,000,000/. would multiply the means of our missionary societies for improving their methods and extending their work. Another way of looking at this enormous income which God has given to our countrymen, is to examine the way in which it is expended. We find that the largest item of the annual bill of fare of our countrymen is for spirituous drinks. This, according to the clear and cool calculation of Prof. Leone Levi, amounts to seventy-five millions for beer, forty millions for spirits, and nine millions for wine; or one hundred and twenty-four millions (124,000,000/.) in all. He calculates that not less than thirteen millions are spent on tobacco, and twelve millions and a half on the theatre and other amusements. Let our Christian country look at the following :— Spent annually on beer, spirits, and wine . £124,000,000 „ „ Tobacco and snuff . 13,000,000 „ „ Amusements . . 12,500,000 „ „ Missions to the heathen 1,250,000 A Century of Protestant Missions. 32 .1 * I may be told that earnest Christian men do not spend these large sums in drinking, smoking, and mere amusements, and I gladly admit that this is to a large extent true. But the admission strengthens my argument. If they do not waste their money on what is in most cases useless, and in many noxious, they save the more , and can expend the more for better purposes ; and they have the better health and clearer heads for making more than those who waste their substance on what are in general, to say the least, needless luxuries. I am no enemy to reasonable luxuries and rational amusements, but surely those who spend money on these things, or save money by denying themselves, could spare a few millions for the extension of the Kingdom of the Christ of God, and the benefit of the heathen who know not the Saviour of men. Let no man shelter himself behind the excuse that there are so many calls for religious and chari¬ table objects at home. We know their importance and amount, but they are no hindrance nor excuse for neglecting the duty we owe to our Lord and to save the perishing. Missions to the careless at home have originated, and are infinitely strength¬ ened, by the reflex influence of Missions to the heathen. I might say more, but I have said enough to show the urgent need for a new departure in the methods and extent of missionary effort; and more than enough to show that there are ample resources in our happy and prosperous country to MULTIPLY THE AGENCIES AS WELL AS TO IMPROVE THE Methods of Missionary Enterprise. oo CONCLUSION. It would be presumption in me to lay down rules for the future regulation of missionary enterprise, or the improvement of its methods. It is one of our most earnest contentions that for this the highest talent and largest experience of the Churches of Christ are demanded by the Divine Head of the Church, and by the exigencies of the heathen world; but I may from personal experience abroad, and much study at home, take the liberty of making one or two suggestions. I shall consider my work in a large measure accomplished, if I can secure the attention of thoughtful and earnest men. 1. It is obvious to every man who has thought on the subject, that unity , without uniformity , is absolutely necessary to any great triumphs of the kingdom of Cod in the Missions of the future. Unity was always desirable, now it is a necessity. The number of missionary societies has multiplied to such an extent, that every year it is becoming more difficult to avoid complications or collisions, both at home and abroad; while the waste of money in their management at home is great, and the waste of energy abroad is grievous. So long as societies were few, and the field practically unoccu¬ pied, there was little risk of missionaries interfering with one another ; but now that there are a few in almost all the most inviting fields, many parts are overcrowded, and the labourers are elbowing one another, while vast regions are left untouched. The Church of Kome has an immense advantage in this respect. A friend who lately visited a large part of the mission-fields of the world, told me that he could not help admiring, and being impressed with, the unity of purpose, along with the diversity 34 Conclusion. of operation, manifested in tlie Missions of that Church, while he could not but mourn over their absence in the Missions of Protestants. And let it be understood that the fault does not lie with the agents abroad; they very seldom fall out, and they do what they can to prevent overcrowding. But if the societies, especially little ones, which exist by popular reports, continue to send men to promising fields, the danger of collision will be multiplied, and the success of God’s work imperilled. 2. Another great advantage of unity would be, that some representative body of men could be chosen to act, in certain circumstances, in the name of all the missionary societies, of the country, to whom difference could be referred, and who within well-defined lines might be allowed a limited regu¬ lative power. The Council on Education in India was a practical and most encouraging example of the advantage of such a representative body. In dealing with Government about such cases as Madagascar or the New Hebrides, what an advan¬ tage it would be to have a small but influential body of men who could speak in the name of all the societies of England, if indeed it might not be possible to combine with them all the Protestant societies of America and the Continent. Such a combination would be of great value also in approaching the kings and rulers of heathen states, in the name and with the authority of all missionary bodies holding the same creed, while maintaining their denominational differences, and thus demon¬ strate the unity of the body of Christ amidst its many diversities. It might also, in some cases, enable heathen potentates to distinguish between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of this world to which the missionaries severally belong. It would be felt a great relief to the missionaries in China if, while enjoying the personal protection to which they are entitled as British subjects, they Conclttsion. 35 could make it obvious to tbe Chinese Government and people that as missionaries they had no official connection with the British Government. It would enable them to manifest their freedom from all complicity with the opium-trade, and their abhor¬ rence of unrighteous wars. It would give facilities for explaining the spiritual character of the kingdom of God, and of removing the fear that by submitting to the authority of Christ they become the subjects of a foreign power. At present patriotism and loyalty prejudice many against the claims of the gospel. 3. I refer to only one other subject, which is of great importance, and cannot be a ground of con¬ troversy. That is the importance of some combined effort for providing converts in all parts of the world with a high-class Christian literature—a literature not only of strictly religious books, but books on all useful subjects written in a Christian spirit. The need for this is much felt in almost every field of missionary labour, but specially in India and China. This is a work which cannot be done by each society for itself; it must be a united work. The Christian Yernacular Society does a good deal in this way for India, but almost entirely in school-books and tracts. In the one department Dr. Murdoch has done a most valuable work, and in the other A.L.O.E. has done noble service; but school-books and tracts, important though they be, are not the food for nourishing an intelligent and manly race, strong in themselves and able to in¬ fluence others. A small society has lately been started in Glasgow for providing Christian literature for China, and the Religious Tract Society does what it can to aid all denominations of missionaries, but its means are limited; in fact, the larger portion of its gifts for this object are partly derived from profits on its book-trade, by which it supplements voluntary contributions. This, with some help Conclusion. 3 6 from the Christian Knowledge Society, is all that is done, and it is done in the way characteristic of our divided weakness, and done to comparatively little purpose, and not a little waste of energy, from the want of unity and aim. If the Christian Vernacular Society were to enlarge its sphere, and aim boldly at providing a Christian literature for all Protestant Missions throughout the world, it would not only prolong its useful existence, but confer an incalculable boon on the Church of Christ. Whatever may be thought of these suggestions, let them not stand in the way of a careful considera¬ tion of the facts to which we have called attention in the preceding pages. These facts are— 1st. That the results of missionary enterprise, during the century, have been as great as could reasonably be expected from the methods employed, and the stinted liberality, faith, and prayer of the church. 2nd. That although three millions of converts have been added to the church, there are now two hundred millions more heathen in the world, than there were when Protestant missions began a hundred years ago. 3rd. That while Christian missions have made almost no impression on the great systems of heathenism, the heathen have converted many millions to the faith of Brahma, Buddha, and Mohammed. 4th. That by greatly multiplying the wealth of Christians, and by raising up a spiritual agency all over the world, God now gives His people the means, and calls upon them to multiply missionary work ten¬ fold. The question now is, shall Christians by the con¬ secration of their talents and wealth, with faith and prayer, show their loyalty to their Lord’s last command; or will they, like the rich man in the parable, go on “ heaping up treasure for the last days ” ? BY THE SAME AUTHOR ABSTRACT AND ANALYSIS OP THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON EDUCATION IN INDIA, By the Rev. JAMES JOHNSTON, F.S.S. Prioo Os. London: HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., Paternoster Row. “ Mr. Johnston has mastered the Report, and published the results of his in¬ vestigations in the shape of a very complete ‘ Abstract and Analysis . 5 ... On the whole, Mr. Johnston cordially agrees with the conclusions of the Commission. Where he disagrees, he specifies and explains his reasons for dissent, with a moderation unfortunately rare among Anglo-Indian experts. 55 —Leading Art. in The Times. “Mr. Johnston has drawn up his ‘ Abstract and Analysis 5 with singular ability and fairness. 55 —Art. in London Renew. “ His present work is well done, and is exceedingly valuable to those who have to study the educational problems of the present day. 55 — Anjurnan-I-Punjab. “ On all persons interested in India Mr. Johnston has conferred a boon . 55 —The Record. Price Od. PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS FOR THE PEOPLE. Showing the importance of Open-air Recreation for the Moral and Physical Well-being of the Youth of England. E. w. ALLEN, 11, Ave Maria Lane. “ He shows the need of legislation, not to unsettle vested rights, but to prevent those rights from interfering with the health, the happiness, and the very life of the nation .”—The Morning Post. “ I have read your pamphlet, and have been greatly interested in it. Your views seem to me not only sound but important, and I heartily wish for them that general acceptance which they deserve.’ 5 — James Ekyce, Esq., M.P. “ We congratulate Mr. Johnstcn on the thoroughness with which he has pursued his inquiry. He has unearthed important facts of which hardly any living men were aware . 55 —The JEcho. “I have read the proofs, and consider them excellent. I shall feel it an honour to have the pamphlet dedicated to me.”— Lobd Bbabazon. Population of the World, about 1,470,000,000. Protestants, 135 Millions. Greek Church, 85 Millions. Roman Catholics, 195 Millions. Mohammedans, 173 Millions. Heathen, 874 Millions. Together, 1:047 Millions. Mission Converts, 3 Millions. Each square represents one million souls. / take the above from a diagram, largely used by Missionary Societies, as substantially correct, without pledging myself to the exact figures.