r- 
 
 
 
 
 Woman’s foreign ]V[ission WopI^ 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA. 
 
 
 THREE PAPERS: 
 
 I. THE W. F. M. SOCIETY. 
 
 II. OUR PLAN OF WORK : ITS EXTENT 
 AND LIMITATIONS. 
 
 III. SELF-QUESTIONING. 
 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. D. J. MACDONNELL 
 
 ‘ TORONTO. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE W. F. M. SOCIETY. 
 
 
 1894. 
 
 
 
 PRESS OF THE CANADA PRESBYTERIAF 
 
* Til 
 
 ; > 
 
■Woman’s foreign ]V[ission Worl^ 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA. 
 
 \ 
 
 THREE PAPERS: 
 
 1. THE W. F. M. SOCIETY. 
 
 II. OUR PLAN OF WORK : ITS EXTENT 
 « 
 
 AND LIMITATIONS. 
 
 III. SELF-QUESTIONING. 
 
 MRS. D. J. MACDONNELL 
 
 TORONTO. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE W. F. M. SOCIETY. 
 
 1894. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. I 
 
 \ 
 
 The following sketch was prepared originally for 
 Knox College Monthly, where it appeared in March, 
 1892, as one of a series of historical articles on the 
 Mission Fields of our Church. It is re-issued now by the 
 Board of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, in 
 loving tribute to the memory of the writer, Mrs. D. J. 
 Macdonnell, who for many years occupied an honoured 
 place as a member of the Board and officer of the Society. 
 Changes have taken place in the personnel of the mission 
 staff, and otherwise, since the article wss written. Notes, 
 bringing the information up to date, have, therefore, 
 been added as required. 
 
 The Leaflets, “ Self-Questioning,” and “ Our Plan 
 of Work,” written by Mrs. Macdonnell, are also ap¬ 
 pended. Ttiese leaflets are very familiar to workers in 
 the W.F. M.S., as they have been in circulation for sev¬ 
 eral years, and have been of great value in stimulating 
 missionary interest and in guiding effort in the right 
 direction. 
 
 Toronto, August, 1894. 
 
THE WOMAN’S FOREIGN MISSIONARY 
 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 The Woman’sForeign Missionary Society was organ¬ 
 ized in 187^ by the Foreign Mission Committee of the 
 General Assembly for the especial purpose of helping it 
 in one department of its work, viz. : the evangelization 
 of women and children in heathen lands. 
 
 Its beginning was simple. Two members of the 
 F. M Committee, Professor MacLaren (then the Con¬ 
 vener), and the late Rev. Dr. Topp, called a meeting of 
 Presbyterian ladies in Knox Church, Toronto, and ex¬ 
 plained to them their object in doing so, which was, to 
 have a Woman’s Society in our Church similar to those 
 so successfully carried on in the American Church. 
 At this first meeting a committee was appointed to draw 
 up a Constitution and to nominate a standing commit¬ 
 tee or Board. The same gentlemen formed part of this 
 committee, which was otherwise composed of ladies, 
 and by their advice, the Constitution was drawn up 
 largely on the model of the Philadelphia one, with 
 modifications to suit our circumstances and tastes. One 
 or two ladies from other places, happening to be in the 
 city, were present at the first meeting, but the large 
 majority were from congregations in Toronto, and the 
 Board was composed of representatives from all these 
 congregations. Societies of a similar character were 
 formed about the same time in Kingston and in Hamil¬ 
 ton, with slightly different constitutions, but these have 
 both joined the General Society as Presbyterial 
 Auxiliaries 
 
 The idea of the Constitution is that there should be 
 in every congregation an auxiliary or branch (or when 
 circumstances permit, one for women, one for girls, and 
 one for children), that all the auxiliaries in a Presby¬ 
 tery shall form a Presbyterial Society, which shall meet, 
 by attendance of delegates, once or twice a year for 
 
4 
 
 conference, and whose officers shall endeavour to form 
 auxiliaries within the Presbytery wheie none exist. 
 Every woman who pays $i annually, either to the Gen¬ 
 eral Treasurer, or through an auxiliary, is a member of 
 the General Society, which meets only once a year, in 
 the month of April. These annual meetings have been 
 held in Hamilton, Peterboro’, London, Ottawa, Guelph 
 and Kingston ; and more frequently in Toronto, as the 
 most convenient centre. 
 
 The affairs of the General Society are managed by 
 a Board of thirty-six ladies resident in Toronto, and to 
 these are added the Presidents of all auxiliaries (the 
 name auxiliary, of course, includes “ mission bands ”) 
 through the country. The Board met, at first, once a 
 month. In a short time it was found necessar}^ that the 
 Executive Committee should meet regularly between 
 the monthly meetings. In a few years the Executive 
 meeting was required every week, for a whole forenoon, 
 and last year it was decided that the Board might meet 
 weekly as it now does. Members of Auxiliary Societies,, 
 being introduced by a member of the Board, have a 
 standing invitation to attend Board meetings, and many, 
 especially from the country, who avail themselves 
 occasionally of this invitation, find not only that they 
 can be interested, but that helpful information is secured, 
 which it is difficult to obtain in any other way. Hear¬ 
 ing the details of business discussed leads to a better 
 understanding of the “ why ” and “ wherefore ” than it 
 is sometimes possible to convey by pen and ink. At 
 these meetings devotional exercises occupy a prominent 
 part. There are letters, by the dozen, from branches 
 at home (numbering now over 700^), and from mission¬ 
 aries abroad, from sister societies, and from the F. M. 
 Committee. Items in the correspondence call for earn¬ 
 est thought, and often animated discussion. There are 
 questions regarding finance, regarding publications, re¬ 
 garding supplies. There are suggestions towards the 
 improvement of the machinery, or the quickening of the 
 
 [’800 branches by latest Report.] 
 
5 
 
 interest of the society. There is sufficient business to 
 cause a member of the Board to smile when asked : 
 “ What can you find to do at your Board meetings ? ” 
 The question is never asked by one who has been pres¬ 
 ent.^ Since the organization of Presbyterial Societies, 
 which has gradually become more complete, the labour 
 of organizing branches has been divided, and not a few 
 of the Presidents of Presbyterial Societies have been 
 indefatigable and successful in their efforts to have the 
 W.F.M.S. represented in every congregation within the 
 bounds. But in the earlier years, most of this labour 
 fell upon the members of the Board residing in Toronto, 
 and to one or two of these ladies who were specially 
 suited to that work, and who were gifted with the power 
 of stirring up enthusiasm, the Society owes very much, 
 as it does also to others, whose capacity for business, 
 soundness of judgment, and punctual attention to de¬ 
 tails can only be properly estimated by those who have 
 had the privilege of working with them. Many hon 
 oured names are missing from the roil of those who 
 formed the first Board of Management. Mrs. Burns, 
 Mrs. King, Mrs, MacMurchy and others have “ gone 
 before.” Others are feeling, to a greater or less extent, 
 that the time for activity here is well nigh spent, but 
 we rejoice in the fact that many of the original leaders 
 in the framing of the Society are still in office, and 
 efficiently transacting business which grows heavier 
 every year. 
 
 The Society is simply an auxiliary to the Foreign 
 Mission Committee, and is, through it, under the con¬ 
 trol of the General Assembly. Its aim is to assist the 
 
 ^ Meetings of Auxiliaries and Mission Bands vary in their char¬ 
 acter. Some are largely of a devotional nature, with the reading 
 of missionary news ; in others, there is the addition of papers pre¬ 
 pared by the members, on various phases of mission work; in 
 others the members put each other, or are put by the President, 
 through a regular course of instruction on the subjects that occa¬ 
 sion the existence of their society, while in many cases handiwork 
 is engaged in more or less directly for the benefit of the Missions. 
 One cannot but feel that intellectually, as well as spiritually, the 
 women of the Church have been drawn out by the W.F.M.S. 
 
6 
 
 Committee m an organized way, by disseminating in¬ 
 formation, eliciting interest, and drawing forth the 
 prayers and gifts of the women of the Church in behalf 
 of the work of the Committee among heathen women 
 and children. We are relieved of the responsibility of 
 deciding on the qualifications of missionaries, of deter¬ 
 mining where and when missionaries should be sent, of 
 settling, at great distance of time and place, knott}^ 
 points that show themselves in the management of the 
 fields, and of conducting official correspondence for the 
 Church. The Committee gives us, each year, an esti¬ 
 mate of the work it is called upon to undertake in our 
 department during the next twelve months, and we 
 engage, if possible, to raise the needful means. The 
 Committee has always encouraged us to suggest, or to 
 request the helping of certain objects that specially in¬ 
 terest us, and while they have usually acceded to our 
 requests, we have been satisfied that, in our freedom 
 from the responsibility attached to the power to rule, a 
 burden has been withheld which we might not have 
 been able to'bear. Some members do desire that the 
 Society should be more independent, should select its 
 own objects, and spend its own funds without reference 
 to a committee of ynen ! But has not one of the second¬ 
 ary causes for our success been that we have been 
 spared the friction that might have arisen had it been 
 our duty to take votes on the choice of a missionary, or 
 on the approval or disapproval of some action in the 
 foreign field, and that our force has been concentrated 
 on the more limited sphere allotted to us ?* 
 
 So much for organization—now as to work. We 
 were thankful when at the close of the first year of our 
 Society’s existence we had $i,oooto present to the F.M. 
 Committee as part payrnent of the salaries of the two 
 lady missionaries already sent out by our Church. The 
 second year we raised $2,000 ; ^the third $3,000, and so 
 
 Since the above was written the Board has been entrusted 
 with the duty of making preliminary inquiries into the qualifica¬ 
 tions of women applying for service in the Foreign Field.] 
 
7 
 
 on at a regular ratio, till the eighth year, when we made 
 a leap to $10,000 ; next to $18,000 ; next to $25,000, 
 etc., etc. Last year there was raised about $35,000.* 
 We have been able, not only to pay for all the work 
 undertaken by the Committee among women and chil¬ 
 dren, but to request them to undertake, at our expense, 
 what they might have otherwse hesitated to do. While 
 we have sought to show some interest in all the fields 
 where our Church is working, the Missions to Central 
 India and to the Indians of our own North-West have 
 had the largest share in our contributions and probably 
 in our thoughts, inasmuch as most of the female mis¬ 
 sionaries have been sent thither. There did not seem 
 to be any opening for Canadian ladies in our Mission to 
 Formosa. Dr. Mackay, in 1882, requested us to send to 
 him $3,000, to build a Girls’ School. This was done in 
 the following year, and in several branches money was 
 raised, over and above what was given to the Treasurer 
 to assist in erecting the chapels which Dr. Mackay 
 was projecting. Each year since, a small provision has 
 been made in the estimates for the Girls’ School, and for 
 native Bible women. Dr. and Mrs. Mackay had awak¬ 
 ened much enthusiasm during their visit to Canada, in 
 1881, and had it been desired, missionaries would gladly 
 have been sent to Formosa as to India or Honan. 
 
 A visit from Dr. and Mrs. Morton, in 1882, roused 
 an interest in Trinidad, which has been kept up by visits 
 from Mr. Grant, Miss Blackadder, and others, as well 
 by the correspondence kindly carried on by these friends. 
 The presence amongst us, of Mr. and Mrs Robertson, 
 of Erromanga, the brave man and woman who dared 
 to settle alone on that blood-stained island after the mur¬ 
 der of the Gordons ; and of Mr. and Mrs Annand from 
 Aneityum where Dr. Geddiehad planted the first foreign 
 missionary banner of the Canadian Church, made some 
 of us feel, perhaps more than anything else, what mis¬ 
 sions to the heathen really mean, and brought the distant 
 New Hebrides with their pagan or Christianized inhabit- 
 
 [*At the close of 1893-94 the sum reached was $42,000.] 
 
8 
 
 ants close to our hearts. To each of these Missions, 
 our Society has contributed a few hundred dollars an¬ 
 nually for some years. But it is with India, China, and 
 the North-West Indians, as under the management of 
 the Western Division of the F. M. Committee that our 
 Society has chiefly to do. 
 
 As already mentioned in your columns, so early as 
 187^ two ladies. Miss Rodger and Miss Fairweather, 
 were sent to India by the Canadian Church to work at 
 first under the supervision of the American Mission 
 Board. When our own Mission was established in Central 
 India in 1877, these ladies were transferred thither. In 
 In the same year Miss Macgregor and Miss Forrester, 
 now Mrs. Fraser Campbell, were sent out. Miss Ross 
 followed in a few years. In 1884 our pioneer female 
 medical missionary, Miss Beatty, was gladly welcomed 
 by those already in the field. She, in turn, longed for 
 the coming of a coadjutor, who, in the person of Miss 
 Oliver, joined her in 1886. Miss McKay, also a medical 
 missionary, sent out in 1888, soon after her arrival in 
 India was married to one of the mission staff. Dr. 
 Buchanan. Miss Scott and Miss Sinclair, Miss Jamie¬ 
 son and Miss Harris, Miss Fraser and Miss McKellar, 
 Miss O’Hara and Miss McWilliams complete the list of 
 ladies designated to India ; Miss Fraser, Miss McKellar 
 and Miss O’Hara being also medical women.* Miss 
 Fairweather has not been connected with our mission 
 since 1880. Miss Macgregor came home in 1887. Miss 
 Scott was obliged to return after a short sojourn in the 
 East. Miss Rodger, after seventeen years’ good work, 
 has retired. The others named are still in the field. 
 Great solicitude is at present felt by the Board, and by her 
 family on account of the health of Miss Harris, who, in 
 the budding promise of valuable assistance to the Mis¬ 
 sion, has been laid aside by serious illness.f To Miss 
 
 [*Miss McWilliams was obliged to return home last year(i893) on ac¬ 
 count of failing health. Since then Misses Duncan, Turnbull, White, 
 Gaidar, Grier and Dougan have entered India as our missionaries.] 
 
 fSince the above was written our young missionary has entered into 
 rest, deeply regretted. 
 
9 
 
 Harris had been committed the care of the Boarding 
 School temporarily existing at Neemuch, and since her 
 illness. Miss Sinclair has been appointed to the charge. 
 The long-wished for Boarding School building is now 
 finished at Indore, and the children have been brought 
 thither from Neemuch. The other missionaries are 
 placed in the various mission stations in Central India 
 where the Church has male missionaries residing. Miss 
 Beatty is at present in Canada on furlough. Her 
 health has given serious anxiet}^ to herself and to the 
 Society, but we are glad to believe that a well-earned 
 rest will fully restore her to strength and vigor. The 
 Society has erected, at Indore, bungalows for our mis¬ 
 sionaries at a cost of $4,400, the Boarding School build¬ 
 ing, which is new complete, costing over $4,000, and 
 the Hospital, on account of which $4,250 has already 
 been paid ; which last was opened on Dominion Day of 
 last year with great gladness of heart. One ot our 
 medical women wrote to us some years ago that “ if 
 Canadian women saw the misery of Hindoo women in 
 sickness, they would share their last dollar to help them.” 
 Miss Beatty and Miss Oliver felt the need so imperative 
 that they improvised a temporary arrangement where 
 they could attend to six or eight patients at a time, but 
 this only allowed them to see what could be done with 
 fuller facilities. Efforts to heal the body open doors for 
 offering “ The Healer ” to souls, and the doors opened 
 by the medical women are entered by the Zenana visitor 
 and Bible reader. This hospital and Zenana work, and 
 the teaching of schools for different classes, constitute 
 the main employment of our missionaries. Besides 
 those already named, and directly employed by the Com 
 mittee, the wives of the missionaries do what they can of 
 active work, and we are indebted to them for interesting 
 and stimulating letters. Mrs. Fraser Campbell and 
 Mrs. Wilkie addressed many of our auxiliaries when at 
 home with their husbands, and Mrs. Wilson, whom we 
 
 [*Dr. Elizabeth Beatty is no longer on furlough, but we are not with 
 out hope that she may yet be able to return to her much loved work.] 
 
lO 
 
 hope soon to see, has been one of our most valued cor¬ 
 respondents. 
 
 So little advance has yet been possible in the Honan 
 Mission that in the women’s department there is little to 
 record. Our first missionary, Miss Sutherland, became 
 the wife of Dr. Corbett, of the Shantung Mission. Miss 
 Graham was obliged to return home on account of her 
 health.'" Miss McIntosh, with the missionaries’ wives, 
 has been spending her strength on the study of the lan¬ 
 guage, waiting the opportunity for active work, f 
 
 In 1883 Hugh Mackay wrote to us, from Round 
 Lake, of the destitution of the Indians, and asked 
 were there not “ some faded or worn garments that 
 could be spared ” to save from perishing by cold these 
 children of the prairie—the natives of the soil. This 
 led to the undertaking, which for some years occupied 
 much of the time and thought of the Board, and drew 
 forth a remarkable amount of liberality and of cheerful¬ 
 ly given labor throughout the Society. Tons of useful 
 clothing with the charges paid were dispatched to the 
 care of the missionaries, for the immediate relief of those 
 who had become impoverished by the opening up of the 
 country and by the failure of their staple support in the 
 buffalo. This charity is still carried on, and along with 
 the supply of boxes of prizes, presents, etc., for the 
 children attending the schools in all our Mission 
 Fields, forms the necessity for a sub-committee of the 
 Board, known as the Supply Committee, but, by the ad¬ 
 vice of our missionaries, provision of clothing is now 
 chiefly made for those attending school, or given in 
 return for work, the aim being, to help the Indian to help 
 himself rather than to pauperize him. 
 
 The Boarding School at Round Lake was built by 
 funds raised by the Society. The means for building 
 other schools has also been drawn, largely or wholly, 
 
 [*Dr. Lucinda Graham, Miss Graham’s sister, went to Honan last 
 year.] 
 
 [fThe hostility to our Mission in Honan having subsided to a certain 
 extent, Miss McIntosh has been able to open a small school. ] 
 
from our funds, as was also the proportion of salary of 
 teachers, matrons, etc., borne by the Church ; but it was 
 a conversation with Hugh Mackay at our Board meet¬ 
 ing which first inspired us with a vivid idea of what was 
 needed and of what we ought to attempt. It is unne¬ 
 cessary in this article to describe the missions to the 
 Indians—that has been previously done We simply 
 refer to the share in them of the W. F. M. S. Miss 
 Walker, who has lately been transferred from the school 
 at Portage la Prairie to be matron of the New Govern¬ 
 ment Industrial School at Regina under care of Mr. Mc¬ 
 Leod ; Miss McLaren, matron of the Birtle School ; 
 Miss Rose, when she was in charge of the school on 
 Piapot’s Reserve ; and the wives of several of the mis¬ 
 sionaries, as well as the missionaries themselves, have 
 kept up a regular correspondence with us. Miss Mc¬ 
 Laren has recently been joined by our latest missionary, 
 Mrs. Leckie, and Miss Walker’s post at Portage la 
 Prairie has been filled by Miss Fraser and Miss Hus¬ 
 ton.^ 
 
 One department of our work has not been mentioned 
 —that of piihlications. In our first years, our Home 
 Secretary used to copy the letters from our one or two 
 missionaries, and send them to the few Auxiliaries 
 then existing. This soon became too much of a tax 
 even on a willing pen, and an arrangement was m.adeto 
 print one letter a month Presently two and three let¬ 
 ters at a time were issued—then came the necessity for 
 some medium of communication between the Board and 
 Auxiliaries regarding the progress of the work, and so, 
 in course of time, grew our “ Letter Leaflet,” of which 
 the monthly issue is now 9,000.* At the same time a call 
 was heard for suitable reading matter for Auxiliary 
 meetings, and leave was obtained to republish some 
 leaflets belonging toother Societies. Still further, need 
 
 [1 Frequent changes take place in our North-West staff, but much 
 faithful work is being done amongst our Indians.] 
 
 [*At present date, August, 1894, ^be circulation of the “ Letter 
 Leaflet ” is 12,600.] 
 
12 
 
 was felt for tracts on certain topics, or explanatory of 
 details in our work, and the Board have from time to 
 time made the effort to supply these wants. Hence our 
 publications, too, require the time of a secretary devoted 
 to themselves. Besides supplying a large amount of 
 free literature, scattering some leaflets wherever it is 
 thought they may help the cause, the Publication De¬ 
 partment has, by the sale of others, proved a source of 
 income to the Society. 
 
 Such is the result, in external facts, of the little meet¬ 
 ing held in the lecture room of Knox Church, Toronto, 
 some seventeen years ago. What has been the amount 
 of real good is not for us to judge. That is known only 
 to the Searcher of hearts and the Day will reveal it. 
 But this much we may say, that blessing has been re¬ 
 ceived. We believe that life’s burden has been lighten¬ 
 ed and that souls have been saved among the heathen 
 through the instrumentality of this work, and we know 
 that to the Church at home has come stimulus in spiri¬ 
 tuality and in Christian effort. Other good work has 
 been helped and not hindered by the larger amount of 
 knowledge obtained and interest taken in Foreign Mis¬ 
 sions. And individually those who have helped in this 
 Christian Endeavour ” have realized in larger or less 
 measure, according to the purity of their motives and 
 the consecration of their own lives, that it is indeed 
 “ more blessed to give than to receive.” 
 
 The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society is still in 
 its teens. May we not hope for statelier and comelier 
 proportions, as it passes on to its majority and enters 
 on a more matured life. The work before it is almost 
 illimitable. God bless and prosper it in its aim along 
 with kindred agencies to hasten the realization of the 
 words which it has chosen as its motto, “ The World for 
 Christ.” 
 
 E. L. Macdonnell. 
 
 Toronto. 
 
13 
 
 OUR PLAN OF WORK—ITS EXTENT AND 
 
 LIMITATIONS. 
 
 In attempting to describe our plan of work, it may 
 not be amiss to remind our members of the constitution 
 of the Presbyterian Church, which, as we think, secures 
 at once the rights and interests of its humblest member, 
 and the recognition of an authority which will be obey¬ 
 ed by all who are loyal. 
 
 Congregations, then, in our Church, are governed oy 
 Sessions; Sessions are represented in Presbyteries; Pres¬ 
 byteries in Synods and in the General Assembly, the 
 highest court of the Church. The General Assembly, 
 meeting once a year, appoints committees of ministers 
 and elders, representing all parts of the Church, to at¬ 
 tend to the business of all the different departments of 
 work in which the Church is engaged, and to report to 
 it at its next meeting. Each scheme has its own com¬ 
 mittee : the Home Mission, the Foreign Mission, the 
 French Mission, the Colleges, the Sunday Schools, etc , 
 etc. 
 
 Now, the Foreign Mission Committee has charge 
 of the whole foreign work, chooses the fields, appoints 
 missionaries, pays them, controls them when sent 
 out, decides the amount of money to be spent here 
 or there, and devises means to arouse interest at 
 home. 
 
 One of the means our Foreign Mission Committee 
 has devised is the establishment of our Woman’s For¬ 
 eign Missionary Society, which is purely auxiliary to 
 the Committee, and through it under the control of the 
 General Assembly, and which exists for the special pur¬ 
 pose of providing means for the evangelization of women 
 and children in heathen lands. Our aim is simply to 
 assist the Committee by, in an organized way, dissemi¬ 
 nating information, eliciting interest, and drawing forth 
 the prayers and the gifts of the women of the Church in 
 behalf of the work of the Committee among women and 
 children in foreign lands. We do not speak here of 
 the benefit to ourselves ; our object, at present, is to 
 
H 
 
 show the scope and describe the functions of our So¬ 
 ciety. 
 
 The idea of the constitution of our Society is that 
 there shall be in every congregation an auxiliary or 
 branch (or, when circumstances permit, one for women, 
 and also one for young girls or children); and that all 
 the auxiliaries in a Presbytery shall form a Presbyterial 
 Society, which shall meet, by attendance of delegates, 
 once or twice a year for conference, and whose officers 
 shall endeavour to form auxiliaries within the Presby¬ 
 tery where none exist. Every woman who pays $i an¬ 
 nually, either to the General Treasurer or through an 
 auxiliary, is a member of the Parent Society, which 
 meets only once a year, on the second Tuesday of April. 
 Every member who chooses has the right to be present 
 and to vote at this annual meeting. Members of auxi¬ 
 liaries and mission bands are welcome to be present as 
 delegates, but, unless by having paid $i they are also^ 
 members of the Parent Society, they are not entitled to- 
 vote. 
 
 The affairs of the General Society are managed 
 by a Board of thirty-six ladies, elected by the Society 
 at its annual meeting, and to these are added the presi¬ 
 dents of all auxiliaries throughout the country. 
 
 We are relieved of all the responsibility (which, at 
 times, weighs heavily upon those appointed by the Gen¬ 
 eral Assembly to oversee the v/ork) of judging of the 
 qualifications of missionaries and of where and when 
 missionaries should be sent, of deciding at great distance 
 of time and place many knotty points that show them¬ 
 selves in the management of the fields, and of conduct¬ 
 ing official correspondence for the Church on matters 
 of business The Committee gives us, each year, an 
 estimate of the work it feels called upon to undertake in 
 our department during the next twelve months, and we 
 engage, if possible, to raise the needful means. The 
 Committee has always encouraged us to suggest or to 
 request the helping of certain objects that specially in¬ 
 terest us, and while they have usually acceded to our 
 requests, they have abundantly satisfied us that, in our 
 
15 
 
 freedom from the responsibility attached to the power 
 to decide such matters, a burden has been withheld 
 which we might not have been able to bear. 
 
 The Committee then decides, in its wisdom, on the 
 amounts to be apportioned to certain fields. It may 
 err, but let us trust that those appointed by the General 
 Assembly from year to year are likely to exercise the 
 best judgment that can be brought to bear on the infor¬ 
 mation to be obtained. Certain fields are entered, one 
 by one, missionaries sent, mission buildings (i.e., dwell¬ 
 ings, schools, hospitals, etc.) erected, native assistance 
 provided, Bibles, printing apparatus, etc., etc., supplied ; 
 and for all these purposes the Committee estimates 
 what will be required. It will easily be seen that the 
 Committee must be loyally supported by its auxiliaries 
 or it may not be able to keep its engagements. Just 
 here is where one difficulty would arise, were auxiliaries 
 to insist on appropriating their funds to special pur¬ 
 poses : Too much might flow into the general fund for 
 one scheme and not enough for another. It has been 
 the experience of sister societies in the United States 
 that grave difficulties have arisen in this way. Certain 
 responsibilities have been incurred, and, owing to change 
 of interest in some quarters, while the liberality of mem¬ 
 bers has not been less, there has been a deficiency m 
 the funds needed to meet these obligations. It does 
 seem, at first sight, to create a deeper interest in a branch 
 society to have its particular representative in the field, or 
 to know exactl}’’ to which spot its contributions go. But 
 is the above not a good reason for sending in money to 
 the general fund without limiting its use ? There is noth¬ 
 ing to prevent an auxiliary setting before itself the aim 
 to raise enough money, say to pay a missionary’s salary, 
 or a Bible woman’s salary, or to cover the expense of 
 some special requirement ; but is it not sufficient to do 
 that without deciding that it must be devoted to this or 
 that individual or object ? Besides, the larger the num¬ 
 ber in whom we take an intelligent interest, the wider 
 will be our sympathies. We do not usually take so much 
 interest w here we are not^zTiw^g. If our desires, our aims, 
 
i6 
 
 our prayers and gifts are confined to one field, shall we 
 not lose something that we might have, if by contribut¬ 
 ing to the general fund we know that we have a share, 
 be it ever so small, in all the work, and that when news 
 comes of special developments in India or China, in the 
 South Seas or in the North-West, that also belongs to 
 us ? The same argument holds good with regard to the 
 desire so frequently expressed in connection with send¬ 
 ing clothing to the North-West Indians, that an Auxili¬ 
 ary or a Presbyterial Society should have its special 
 Reserve allotted to it. It is argued with some force that 
 by correspondence with the superintending missionary 
 the particular society would know better how to supply 
 the wants of the Reserve, and would take more interest 
 in its welfare, and the more so if it feels that the mis¬ 
 sionary, from old association, has a special claim on its 
 sympathies. In the first place, some Reserves are more 
 interesting from various causes than others, and some 
 missionaries are more popular—some have better power 
 of making their wants known. What is to become of 
 the less popular, or of the new ones, if the more attrac¬ 
 tive are to be picked up by those able to lay some spe¬ 
 cial claim to them ? May it not press rather heayily on 
 some societies to be told, “ Only such and such objects 
 are left for you ; others are sending all that is to be sent 
 where you would so much like to take a share ? ” Is it 
 not more fair to have the distribution arranged by a cen¬ 
 tral committee, who will endeavour to see that each 
 Reserve comes under the notice of each Presbyterial 
 Society, and to supply the Society each year with infor¬ 
 mation about what is wanted from it for that season ? 
 For here is another consideration : the missionary must 
 correspond with the Foreign Mission Committee regu¬ 
 larly on business ; he must also, as a matter of business, 
 report to the Supply Secretary of the W. F. M. S. the 
 receipt of clothing and his manner of distributing it. If 
 he or she also corresponds with our Board on all mat¬ 
 ters which are thought to be of interest, and if that 
 correspondence reaches every auxiliary in the Letter 
 Leaflet, is it reasonable, in view of all that has to be 
 
done by one head and one pair of hands, to ask him or 
 her also to correspond with a special society ? Our 
 missionaries do endeavour to meet the desire for infor¬ 
 mation, so far as in their power, but nearly all speak of 
 difficulty in overtaking the necessary correspondence. 
 Write, by all means, to the missionaries words of help, 
 encouragement, cheer, as God shall give you, but do not 
 expect answers from them. 
 
 To return in conclusion, to the advisability of taking 
 as wide a view as possible of the various objects of inter¬ 
 est set before us as a Society, it has been said that the 
 greater number of burdens we bear for others, the greater 
 number with whom we sympathize, the more opportu¬ 
 nity we have of entering into the spirit of Him who 
 bears the burden of humanity on His loving heart; and 
 if our offering is made to Him, to be used as He will, 
 may we not believe that, in answer to our prayers. He 
 will so guide the disposal of these offerings that if the 
 special desires we cherish for certain persons or lands 
 are according to His will (and that must be right) they 
 shall assuredly be fulfilled ? 
 
 SELF-QUESTIONING. • 
 
 Question I.—I am a member of the Church, a pro¬ 
 fessed follower of the Lord Jesus. Have I any duty 
 laid on me, as such, regarding the heathen world ? 
 
 Answer. —The Master’s Word contains commands, 
 examples and incentives. Take a few of each : 
 
 Go, ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature.” Mark i6 : 15. 
 
 “ Freely ye have received, freely give.” Matt. 10 : 8. 
 
 “ But to do good and to communicate forget not, 
 for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Heb. 
 13 : 16. 
 
 “ Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the 
 first fruits of all thine increase.” Prov. 3 : 9. 
 
i8 
 
 “ I beseech you, therefore, brethren, that ye present 
 yowr bodies^'" etc. Rom 12: i. 
 
 “ Let everyone of you lay by him in store as God 
 hath prospered him.” i Cor. 16 : 2. 
 
 “ The children of Israel brought a willing offering 
 unto the Lord ” Ex. 35: 29. 
 
 “ And all the women that were wisehearted did spin 
 with their hands, and brought that which they hadspund' 
 Ex 35 : 25. • 
 
 “ And this they did . . first gave their own selves 
 
 to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.” 2 Cor. 
 
 8:5. 
 
 “And he said unto them. Depart, for I will send 
 thee far hence unto the Gentiles.” Acts 22 : 21. 
 
 “ I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbar¬ 
 ians ; . ... so, as much as in me is, I am ready to 
 
 preach the Gospel to you that are in Rome also.” Rom. 
 
 1 : 14-15. 
 
 “ Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
 though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became 
 poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 
 
 2 Cor. 8 : 9. 
 
 “ As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have 
 1 also sent them into the world.” John 17 : 18. 
 
 “ It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 
 20: 35. 
 
 “ She hath done what she could.” Mark 14 : 8. 
 
 “ Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters.” Isaiah 
 32 ; 20 
 
 “ He that watereth shall be watered also himself. 
 Prov. II : 25. 
 
 “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matt. 
 
 25 : 40- . 
 
 “ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 
 him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, 
 that publisheth salvation.” Isaiah 52 : 7. 
 
 “ The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof. ’ 
 Psalm 24 : i. 
 
19 
 
 “ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the 
 Lord ” Hag. 2 : 8- 
 
 “ He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be 
 satisfied.” Isaiah 53 : ii. 
 
 “ Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
 shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in 
 whom they have not believed ? and how shall they 
 believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and 
 how shall they hear without a preacher ? and how 
 shall they preach, except they be sent." Romans 10: 
 
 13-15- 
 
 “They that turn many to righteousness shall shine 
 as the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12 : 3. 
 
 “ The kingdoms of this world are become the king¬ 
 doms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and He shall reign 
 forever and ever.” Rev. ii : 15. 
 
 Question H.—Is there any reason why I, as a 
 woman, should be specially interested ? 
 
 Answer. —I have read and heard of the special 
 degradation of heathen women from their infancy—of 
 their ignorance and slavery, of child marriage and 
 enforced widowhood, ol their dreary lives and hopeless 
 deaths, and as a Christian mother, daughter, wife or 
 sister, I see'the contrast in my own circumstances. 
 My womanhood, as well as my membership in Christ’s 
 Church, impels me to offer them a share in my bless¬ 
 ings. 
 
 Question HI.—If I have no independent means, 
 how can I help ? 
 
 Answer. —I can be interested, and so strengthen the 
 hands of those who are working. 
 
 I can get information and scatter it: be a channel 
 of communication between those actively engaged and 
 those who know little. 
 
 I can pray all the more earnestly if God knows that 
 is all that I can do. 
 
 I can do as the holy women of old did. Surely I 
 can save or earn something of my very own to give, as 
 the women of tabernacle did their spinning. 
 
20 
 
 I can attend the missionary meeting ; take part, if 
 possible ; at all events, join my prayers with those of 
 others and give and receive sympathy and help by con¬ 
 tact with those I meet. 
 
 Question IV.—Can I be a true follower of Christ 
 and do nothing for this work ? 
 
 Can we, whose souls are lighted 
 With wisdom from on high, 
 
 Can we, to men benighted. 
 
 The lamp of life deny ? 
 
 QuESTion V.—Am I doing anything ? 
 
 No answer is supplied to the last two questions. Will 
 each reader reply to them faithfully for herself ? 
 
 PRESS OF THE CANADA PRESBYTERIAF