Z52.2, * 
 
 VV\ 13 c, 
 
 The World's Debt to Missionaries. 
 
 (abridged.) 
 
 MRS. JENNIE B. IIANNUM. 
 
 {Read at Annual Meeting of the Illinois Branch at 
 Moline , April , 1892.) 
 
 To attempt anything like a complete summary 
 of what the world owes to missionaries would be a 
 task beyond our powerand space. We can only take 
 the merest glance at some phases of the work, for it 
 is many-sided. 
 
 AVHAT HAVE THEY DONE FOR US. 
 
 We have personal reasons for gratitude to mission¬ 
 aries, for we owe it to them that we are not living in 
 hollow trees, painting our faces blue, and praying to 
 the fire and sun, as did our ancestors, if we are Eng¬ 
 lish; following the lead of Odin and Wodin, the gods 
 of war and thunder, if we came of Scandinavian 
 stock; worshipping invisible spirits in groves, if Ger¬ 
 many was our fatherland. Patient, faithful men and 
 women came from far and brought Christian civili- 
 
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 zation to those nations, and we are ungrateful indeed 
 if we do not pass it on to others. 
 
 Though some missionary work has been done for 
 centuries past, yet modern Protestant missions are 
 just completing their first hundred years. Only two 
 of the many societies now at work date back of the 
 year 1800, “The London Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel” and the Moravian Missions being 
 longer at work. The work is increasing in a marvel¬ 
 lous manner, as the past fifty years have accomplished 
 more than ten times that of the previous fifty. But 
 of moral enterprises the most valuable results are in¬ 
 visible and impalpable; we can only note some of the 
 outward effects and leave to time and eternity to un¬ 
 fold the rest. 
 
 THE PRESENT MISSIONARY FORCE. 
 
 Let us look first at the size of this agency for the 
 Christianizing of the world. There are now, at the 
 beginning of 1892, one hundred and seventy societies 
 directed by men, and one hundred and ten managed 
 by women. At work under these societies there are 
 7,700 missionaries, male and female. These are aided 
 by a force of 36,000 native preachers and teachers, 
 making a total of 43,700. Surely this is an army of 
 no mean size, and stationed as it is in nearly every 
 non-Christian country of the world, something great 
 must be accomplished by it. 
 
 Who are these men and women who have gone to 
 
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 the front in this warfare? Religious enthusiasts? 
 People with an idea they want to promulgate? Rest¬ 
 less mortals who wish to disturb the peace and quiet 
 in which these distant peoples have been living by 
 adding theological discord and religious unrest. 
 
 As far from this as possible. Most of them are 
 men and women of the best mental and spiritual cul¬ 
 ture. The kinds of work to be done by them call 
 for varied abilities and much demands a high order 
 of talent. 
 
 LINGUISTIC WORK. 
 
 Take the linguistic work accomplished. The 
 Bible has been translated by them into 269 languages. 
 In 189 of these Roman characters have been used, for 
 we must remember that a great many of these peo¬ 
 ples had no written language until the missionaries 
 framed one for them. Think of the immense amount 
 of labor this work must have involved! In many 
 cases the language has proved pitifully meager, hav¬ 
 ing no words to express home, love, or anything good 
 or sacred. The translators must supply these words 
 from their own language, and as the great majority 
 of them are English-speaking, they have been the 
 great factors in spreading our language, which is 
 fast becoming the dominant language of the world. 
 Years must be spent in acquiring the language and 
 translating some books into it, and years again in 
 teaching it to the natives and their children. 
 
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 MANUAL TRAINING. 
 
 A great deal must be done besides this. It is much 
 the same as rearing a child from infancy in each in¬ 
 dividual case, as with only a few exceptions the na¬ 
 tives of the countries to which the missionaries have 
 gone must be taught everything, from the use of a 
 needle to clothe themselves, the use of saw, plane 
 and hammer to build their houses, up to the highest 
 arts of civilization. 
 
 Manual training is now given in most of the mis¬ 
 sion stations where there is need for it, so our mis¬ 
 sionaries must be fitted to instruct in such things. 
 Recently a good many mechanics have accompanied 
 the teachers, but in many cases one has taught all. 
 
 MEDICAL MISSIONS. 
 
 • A great work is being done by medical missiona¬ 
 ries, fifty of whom are supported by the women of 
 this country. The arts of healing practiced by the 
 heathen, even the most enlightened of them, were 
 found to be most barbarous, and it was soon found 
 that medical skill won the way to their hearts soon¬ 
 er than anything else. Lady physicians find their 
 way into the homes of India, China and Japan when 
 no one else can. All medical service is accompanied 
 by instruction in morals and religion. 
 
 EXPLORATION. 
 
 Before going further in the line of work for the 
 heathen, let me mention other incidental benefits. 
 
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 We all know of the great service rendered the world 
 by Livingstone as explorer and discoverer. Much of 
 the same kind of service has been rendered by other 
 missionaries since. Indeed, Europe had not known 
 that Africa was so well worth dividing and appor¬ 
 tioning among its various countries, had not these 
 faithful workers brought its wealth to light while 
 hunting for the dark sons and daughters of the race 
 to give them light and life. 
 
 MATERIAL WEALTH. 
 
 Rich mines and other material wealth have been 
 discovered and are being worked under the direction 
 of men who along with their theological training 
 took also instruction in mining and engineering. 
 
 Commerce has followed close in the wake of the 
 missionaries. The man who looks ruefully after the 
 departing dollar he gave to missions as gone to be 
 seen no more, is mistaken. Let me quote from Gen. 
 Armstrong: “America, through the American Board, 
 expended in fifty years a million and a quarter dol¬ 
 lars to evangelize Hawaii, and during that time has 
 received about $4,000,000 a year in trade. England’s 
 missions are said to bring back about £10 sterling for 
 every pound given to convert the heathen.” 
 
 There are reflex influences of mission work that 
 might be mentioned and dwelt upon had we time. 
 The awakening and developing of sentiments of pity 
 and sympathy all over the world, as the knowledge 
 
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 of the condition of millions of our fellow men eame 
 to them, has been a great uplift. A belief in the 
 brotherhood of man has spread over the world. An¬ 
 other and minor benefit has been the furnishing of a 
 new avenue of thought and work to thousands; es¬ 
 pecially has it been helpful to women. A feeling of 
 unrest and dissatisfaction with a narrow sphere has 
 come to a host of other women beside Mrs. Liv¬ 
 ermore and Susan B. Anthony, and mission work and 
 temperance work has been the healthful outcome o^ 
 it. 
 
 "WHAT MISSIONARIES HAVE DONE FOR OTHER LANDS. 
 
 Early in the century merchant vessels began to 
 stop at the Sandwich, or Hawaiian Islands. In 1809 
 a sea captain brought a lad named Henry Obookiah 
 from there to New Haven, Conn. He lingered around 
 the college thirsting for instruction. From him and 
 five others brought later, Henry Bingham and Asa 
 Thurston gathered information that awakened a de¬ 
 sire to go to those islands and give them the light the 
 Gospel brings. 
 
 March 31, 1820, a company of missionaries and 
 their wives reached Kalui Bay and awaited the close 
 of a fourteen days’ conference between the king and 
 chiefs; the* chiefs contending that they had come 
 as enemies, but the king said, “When men come to 
 kill they do not bring their wives along.” 
 
 On landing they found that a revolution had taken 
 
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 place, and that the people had lost faith in their idols- 
 and that a system of “tabu” that had long held them 
 in bondage was broken. 
 
 The king and chiefs with their families, were the 
 first pupils, the king’s mother the first convert. “In 
 1863, 50,000 had been received into the communion of 
 the churches. The islands were christianized and 
 educated, the Bible was found in eveiy home, 
 churches and schools were provided for all the inhab¬ 
 itants. Two female seminaries, a normal school and 
 a theological institute furnished the higher education 
 to legislators, preachers and teachers. A greater 
 proportion of the population could read and write 
 than in New England.” 
 
 The history of a great many of the fields is of 
 thrilling interest, but only a few can be mentioned. 
 
 THE NEW HEBRIDES. 
 
 The New Hebrides islands in the South Pacific, 
 were first made known to the world by Captain 
 Cook. The people were the most degraded of hu¬ 
 man beings. A missionary from Novia Scotia went 
 there in 1848. He labored on the island of Aneityum. 
 A tablet in one of the churches there records this of 
 him, “When he came here in 1848 there were no 
 Christians, when he clied in 1872 there were no 
 heathen.” 
 
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 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 Look next at New Guinea. You remember the 
 pictures of these people in the geographies we stud¬ 
 ied when children—unclad savages with heads like 
 bushel baskets in size, with war clubs in their hands. 
 New Guinea is the largest and one of the most beau¬ 
 tiful islands in the world. 
 
 From an address before the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society by Mr. Lawes, we learn something of 
 the work there. Mr. Lawes returned to London af¬ 
 ter thirty years of labor, eleven on the savage islands 
 and seventeen in New Guinea. Ilehadleft the work 
 on the first islands with his brother. We can judge 
 something of its progress by the fact that the 5,000 
 inhabitants had contributed £1500 sterling to the 
 Bible Society in the last year. Of New Guinea as it 
 was seventeen years ago he says, “Darkness, gross 
 darkness, covered the land; beneath the feathery 
 frondage of the palm, cannibalism and every other 
 abomination flourished/’ 
 
 At the first services he attended, the savages were 
 present in all the glory of feathers and paint. They 
 knew nothing of writing and printing; had never 
 seen a book. They were teachable, and before 
 years had gone by there was great demand for Eng¬ 
 lish newspapers, yet not for reading, but to clothe 
 themselves with the “London Times ” being most 
 in demand, because it was thickest and strongest! 
 Mr. Lawes was greatly aided in his work by helpers 
 
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 from the savage and other islands who could under¬ 
 stand in some measure the language. 
 
 Many languages are spoken in New Guinea. They 
 selected the one most widely used, and patiently, 
 along with the work of teaching the arts of civiliza¬ 
 tion, he studied its structure, reduced it to writing, 
 taught them to read and write, and after seventeen 
 years of labor he took the long journey of 14,000 
 miles to London bearing the precious manuscripts 
 containing the translated Bible for publication. 
 Speaking of his work he says, ‘ ‘Of course some nouns 
 have to be introduced in translating for a people who 
 have no corn or wine, no cattle or sheep, no silk 01 
 fine linen, no minerals or money, but these are very 
 soon understood and assimilated.” The results there 
 have been as marvelous as in Hawaii. 
 
 MADAGASCAR. 
 
 We cross over to Madagascar. Our acquaintance 
 with this dates back to 1820, when a representative 
 of the British crown went there to establish some 
 treaty relations for the purposes of trade. The king 
 of the Hovas, the ruling tribe, asked this English¬ 
 man how he could make his people more like the 
 other nations. He replied, “If you wish to catch up 
 with the rest of the world, you must have schools 
 and teachers, churches and preachers.” The king 
 promised protection if these should be sent. The 
 London Missionary Society sent a number of mis¬ 
 sionaries, teachers, and artisans. The people weie 
 

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 taught carpentry, weaving, tanning and blacksmith 
 work. The language was acquired, reduced to 
 writing, books printed and schools established. 
 
 Everything moved off in a most hopeful way for 
 eight years, when the king died. He had designed 
 that one of his sons, who was being educated in the 
 mission schools, should succeed him, but one of his 
 twelve wives seized the throne, killed all who could 
 contest her claims, and was Ranavalona I. She 
 reigned thirty-three years. Bloody Queen Mary be¬ 
 comes almost a saint compared with her. She set 
 herself to root out Christianity from her dominion. 
 The missionaries fled from the island, the converts 
 were put to death in every imaginable way. She 
 thought she had accomplished her design, but many 
 had gone to the mountain fastnesses and made them¬ 
 selves homes there. 
 
 When Radama II, the lamb-like son of this lioness, 
 came to the throne, 40,000 Christians, made so by 
 reading the Book of books, came back to their homes. 
 And 100,000 more were found who had abandoned 
 their idols and were ready to embrace Christianity. 
 Radama proved a weak king, he abolished all export 
 and import duties, and as a result such a flood of 
 rum poured in upon them that intemperance came 
 near wrecking all good work. 
 
 The king himself became a drunkard, and issued 
 some disastrous edicts while intoxicated. It was a 
 relief when his reign ended a few years later. At 
 
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 his death a new constitution was framed with a few 
 simple provisions, the first of which was, “The sov¬ 
 ereign shall not drink spirituous liquors. 
 
 A queen followed who was a good and just luler, 
 though not a Christian. She died April 1, 1868, and 
 the next day her niece, a devout Christian girl, be¬ 
 came queen. At the late London Council 1500 
 Congregational churches in Madagascar wei e i eceived 
 into fellowship. 
 
 JAPAN. 
 
 Roman Catholic missionaries found their way to 
 this island kingdom in 1549. About one hundred 
 years later they claimed 2,000,000 converts, and 
 seemed to be trying to seize the government. They 
 were expelled with great slaughter, and an edict 
 pronouncing death to any Christian who should enter 
 the kingdom was issued. Ports were closed and al 
 seaworthy vessels destroyed, so as to keep their own 
 people at home. This lasted about two hundred and 
 fifty years. We know the story of Commodore Perry 
 and his guns. As a result of his visit, a treaty was 
 established in 1858 opening certain ports July 4,1859. 
 
 Representatives of the Protestant Episcopal and 
 Presbyterian Societies of the United States were 
 waiting outside to enter. By January 1, 1860, three 
 missions were established. A little later, tlnee othei 
 men, one a Japanese who had come to this country 
 with Perry and could act as interpreter, entered the 
 country. For the next ten years these four Ameri- 
 
12 
 
 can societies occupied the field. Never was a com¬ 
 pany of men and women busier than were these dur¬ 
 ing those years. It was a period of political upheav¬ 
 al and unparalleled mental activity in the kingdom, 
 and these men were sought for as advisers and teach, 
 ers of those high in state. 
 
 Dr. Verbeck was a fluent speaker of several lan¬ 
 guages, and eminently fitted by his temperament and 
 versatile powers and scholarship to be the adviser of 
 the new men who found themselves at the helm of 
 state after the revolution of 1868. He taught large 
 classes of young men, and from 1864 to 1878 was in 
 government educational service at his own charges. 
 When, in 1872, an embassy was organized to go 
 around the world and study western civilization and 
 ask of the treaty powers, “Justice to Japan,” Dr- 
 Verbeck found that one-half its members liad been 
 his pupils. When Japan, in 1870, sent to this coun¬ 
 try and some of the foremost European States for 
 chosen men, teachers, scholars and statesmen to aid 
 in laying anew the foundations of government, many 
 were selected by the advice of the early missionaries. 
 One who went over at the request of the government 
 to superintend the establishment of schools, was Dr. 
 Griffis, of Boston. He speDt many years there trans¬ 
 lating and preparing books for their youth to study. 
 He is probably the best authority on the question as 
 to whether Japan needs the Gospel. 
 
 We can best say what has been done in a country 
 
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 when we know what needed to be done. Two sys¬ 
 tems of religion were found to prevail there, Shinto, 
 the state religion, which seemed to be made up of 
 fetichism, the worship of charms and ancestral wor¬ 
 ship. Buddhism, a system of ethics, imported from 
 Corea in 552 A. D. In 1887 there were 192,359 
 shrines and temples of Shintoism, and 71,991 of 
 Buddhism. 
 
 The common people seemed equally given to su _ 
 perstition and idol worship, according to their re¬ 
 spective sects. The exact words of Dr. Griffis are 
 these: “In moral character the average Japanese is 
 frank, honest, faithful, gentle, courteous, confiding, 
 affectionate, filial, loyal.” But he also adds, “Love 
 of truth for its own sake, purity, temperance, are 
 not characteristic virtues. Intemperance is common, 
 and lying a national vice. Every third marriage is 
 ruptured by a divorce.” The immorality of the peo¬ 
 ple as this writer found it, was beyond description: 
 the books he was given to translate needed to be 
 purged of half their contents. In social life it was 
 no better; so-called respectable families often sell 
 their daughters for the vilest purposes, tliemobles 
 setting no good examples, “The heirs to the throne 
 being born in a herd and not in a home.’ The 
 court of Louis XV would have been a model of pro¬ 
 priety in that land. Idolatry and superstition were 
 rampant But Dr. Verbeck says that immorality 
 proves a greater barrier to Christianity than idolatry. 
 
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 Of results it is not so easy to speak, so many 
 agencies have been at work there. We will men¬ 
 tion some that came early, while there were few 
 sources of improvement except the missionaries. In 
 1872 the first Protestant Christian Church was estab¬ 
 lished. Following this came the abolition of the lu¬ 
 nar calendar, the adoption of the solar calendar 
 of Christendom and the removal of anti-Christian 
 edicts. The return of the embassy from their tour 
 around the world was followed by the adoption of 
 foreign dress. A national army, navy, revenue, ed¬ 
 ucational, postal, and other modern systems were 
 adopted. In much of this the missionaries were in¬ 
 direct agents. 
 
 At the present time representatives of thirty soci¬ 
 eties are at work among the 40,000,000 inhabit¬ 
 ants. Connected with the missions are many flour¬ 
 ishing schools, the chief work of the missionaries 
 being educational, the natives preferring to do their 
 own preaching, for which they have a special fitness. 
 
 Of one institution there let us say a word. The 
 Do-shisha, “One Bright Endeavor/’ was organized 
 as a Christian college inKyotoin 1875 by the lament¬ 
 ed Joseph Neesima. The first class graduated in 1879, 
 and there has been a large class every year since. 
 Three years ago it was raised to a university, and at 
 present 1200 yonng men are studying there under a 
 corps of able American and native instructors. To 
 
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 measure definitely the good influences at work in 
 Japan would be as difficult as weighing the sunshine. 
 
 In all this we have not touched some countries 
 where the greatest work lias'been done. Think out 
 for yourselves what the change would be had you 
 spent your life in the dark interior of a conical 
 mound of earth into which you must crawl on hands 
 and knees, no window or chimney, no furniture or 
 bed, lying down at night with dogs and vermin; and 
 from this been lifted into a home, a house with mod¬ 
 ern conveniences, books and papers which you could 
 read and understand, and endearing associations such 
 as we have. Or suppose you had worshipped with 
 abject fear a hideous idol or a venomous reptile, and 
 had been lifted up until you could know and feel 
 that “The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath 
 are the everlasting arms.” 
 
 This has been the great work of the Christian 
 missionaries. 
 
 Woman’s Board of Missions of the Interior, 
 Room 603, 59 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
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