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THE WORLD'S POPULATION ACCORDING TO RELIGIONS. 
 
 ONE MILLION TO A SQUARE. 
 
 JEWS ROMAN 
 
 flIWMKH MgHA)«MEDANS 
 
 N.B. — For Sfatixfics see Appendix 
 
 CREEKS PROTEtTANTl 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY; 
 
 A VOICE FROM 
 
 THE LANDS OF BRAHMA AND BUDDHA, 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA, 
 
 AND 
 
 A PLEA FOE MISSIONS. 
 
 By rev. JOHN LATHERN. 
 
 / 
 
 uJ^r.TuLZ"°' "•^™'»' """ '"•'"' "'".. «yin., a,„. 
 
 over into 
 
 TORONTO: 
 r^l^l!!^!'''''' '' ^ «« K^NG ST., EAST. 
 
 HAUFAX : S. F. HUESTI8 
 
 MONTREAL :C. W. COATES. 
 
 ///^ 
 
Enteked, acoordiiiK to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, In the year one thouiand eight 
 hundred and eighty-four, by Wm. Brigos, in the Office of the MinUter of Agriculture. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO HONORED 
 BRETHREN OF MISSIONARY DEPUTATIONS, 
 
 AS INTERPRETERS OF 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY, 
 
 THIS 
 
 PLEA FOR MISSIONS 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The duty, privilege, and encouragement of Christians to 
 send the Gospel to the unenlightened nations of the earth, 
 was the subject of Dr. John Harris' ** Great Commission," 
 and of Dr. Richard Winter Hamilton's "Christian Missions." 
 It is not proposed in the following pages, and indeed the 
 attempt were superfluous, to traverse the ground taken by 
 those gifted essayists. 
 
 An effort has been made to write rather from the stand- 
 point of 1883, to exhibit the character of Oriental religious 
 systems, to delineate some features of an uncivilized hea- 
 thenism, to summarize missionary facts and results, and 
 to urge an earnest plea for Protestant missions — the glory 
 of this nineteenth century. 
 
 An experience of anniversaries has shewn the advantage 
 of definite views in regard to the authority, demands, and 
 possibilities of missions: central ideas, around which new 
 facts and illustrative incidents may be readily grouped ; and 
 should this essay be found at all helpful in the direction 
 indicated, a main purpose of its publication will have been 
 gained. 
 
 J. L. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 A Man of Mackdonia : Help for Hkatiirndom Q 
 
 U. 
 
 Civilized Heathenism: Hinduism and the Hindus 31 
 
 III. 
 
 Civilized Heathenism: Buddhism and the Buddhists 59 
 
 IV. 
 
 Uncivilized Heathenism: Africa and Isles of the Sea... 85 
 
 V. 
 
 Modern Missions and Mission Stations 119 
 
 VI. 
 
 Progress and Results of Missions 159 
 
 VII. 
 
 Missionary Methods and Agencies 185 
 
 VIII. 
 Go, or Send: the Commission 211 
 
 IX. 
 
 Missions and Money [ 233 
 
 .X. 
 
 The World for Christ 253 
 
 Appendix 277 
 
 \ 
 
•• Souls in heathen darkness lying, 
 
 Where no light has broken through, 
 Souls that Jesus bought by dying, 
 Whom his soul in travail knew — 
 
 Thousand voices 
 Call us o'er the waters blue. 
 
 ♦• Haste, O haste, and spread the tidings 
 Wide to earth's remotest strand; 
 Let no brother's bitter uhidings 
 Rise against us when we stand 
 
 In the judgment, 
 From some far, forgotten land." 
 
 —Mrs. C. F. Alexander. 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CM. 
 
 A MAN OF MACEDONIA: HELP FOR 
 HEATHENDOM. 
 
 THE call from Macedonia was an important incident 
 of St. Paul's second missionary tour. Through the 
 gates of Syria and Cilicia, he and Silvanus passed up 
 into a rough region formed by the central table-land 
 ok' Asia Minor. For a time, they travelled by the 
 signal posts of recently-formed missions. Timotheus 
 joined them at Derbe. Churches were founded in 
 Phrygia and Galatia. They passed into Mysia, and 
 essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus 
 suffered them not. Uncertain in regard to the imme- 
 diate future, these heaven-guided niessengers of the 
 cross then turned aside to Troas. Here they trod on. 
 more than historic ground. Each legendary spot had 
 been immortalized in the best strains of Greece. It 
 was almost impossible for any one of the intellectual 
 caste and culture of St. Paul to be insensible to the 
 romantic associations that clustered so richly around 
 
10 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 that classic coast. But, in the inspired narrative, there 
 is no allusion to Homer's heroes, or to Ilion's towers. 
 The mission of the cross had become an absorbing and 
 consuming? passion. He was determined to know no- 
 thing among men " save Jesus Christ and him cruci- 
 fied." Across the straits to the north-west the eye 
 would rest on an outline of distant Macedonian hills. 
 There is the landmark of an unvisited Europe. That 
 western continent is the home of the polished Greeks 
 and powerful Romans. Deeper in the heart of its 
 mighty forests are noble but still uncivilized races, 
 destined to future greatness, and to grand and stirring 
 action on the theatre of human history. Was not that 
 unknown territory comprised in the commission ? 
 Could the mystery and misery of Occidental heathen- 
 ism be pierced and dispelled ? Ought not an attempt 
 at once to be made to break ground on a new soil ? 
 Such, as, from the harbor of Troas or musing along the 
 shore,he glanced to distant and lofty isle and peak, must 
 have been the direction of the Apostle's thought. It 
 may have been one of those magnificent sunsets, such as 
 
 modern travellers have described. In the far distance 
 
 » 
 
 reflecting the radiance of evening splendor, Mount 
 Athos would be visible from the Asiatic shore. Its 
 colossal peak, seen as "a mass of burnished gold," 
 might well look like " some vast angel " beckoning 
 him " to carry the good tidings to the west." Thus 
 probably the great missionary lingered by tho.se iEgean 
 waters until the shadows of night deepened over land 
 and sea. There would, therefore, be a kind of mental 
 
THE MACEDONIAN (^Y 
 
 11 
 
 preparation for supernatural intimation. "And a 
 vision appeared to Paul in the nif^ht ; there stood a 
 man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, Come over 
 into Macedonia and help us," The voice that spake in 
 that dream, mental impression, or visible manifesta- 
 tion, could scarcely be any occasion of surprise. The 
 man of the night vision was the representative of a 
 European population, and of all western heathendom. 
 A Divine call took the form of one of the people pro- 
 videntially prepared to receive the messaij,e of salva- 
 tion. An appeal was made for help. It was the 
 utterance of a deep-felt sense of need, and of an 
 unconscious preparation for the reception of a gospel 
 message. There could be no doubt as to the kind of 
 help that was needed. Response was immediate. 
 There was no demur or delay on the ground of 
 heathen at home, or of the yet unconverted thousands 
 in Syria and Asia Minor. The Apostles of Jesus 
 Christ understood their commission to mean that the 
 glad tidings of salvation should be made known at 
 the earliest possible time to all lands and peoples of 
 the earth. What, if St. Paul had refused to be guided 
 by the Spirit of Jesus, and had selected a Bithynian 
 field of labor ? Had he, when summoned to Europe, 
 refused a reponse to the Macedonian cry, how diH'erent 
 would have been the early history of tiie Church ! 
 But is there not still an imperative call to special 
 work ? Ought not ministers of the gospel, as did the 
 first great missionaries, without regard to personal 
 preferences, freely and promptly to accept a home or 
 
12 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 foreign field of effort ? Not a moment was lost at 
 Troy. Memories of " human gods and godlike men " 
 had no potent spell to bind them to that sta/ry shore. 
 A Macedonian passage was at once secured, and soon 
 they were bounding past the " sprinkled isles " and 
 across the blue waves of the narrow sea. A beloved 
 physician, St. Luke, the representative of medical 
 missions, seems to have embarked with them, and 
 hence the change of person from the third to the first: 
 "And after he had seen the vision, immediately we 
 endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering 
 that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel 
 unto them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came 
 with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next 
 day to Neapolis ; and from thence to Philippi, which 
 is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a 
 colony." 
 
 The Apostle Paul had a knowledge of the heathen- 
 ism of Europe, that enabled him rightly to interpret 
 the Macedonian cry. 
 
 The iEgean sea was almost the sanctuary of ancient 
 superstition. Ida's wooded heights were peopled with 
 divinities. Fountain and stream, pine-clad gorge and 
 rocky promontory, were haunted by shadowy legend, 
 or associated with stirring and storied deeds. Sur- 
 rounded by such symbols and memorials, about to 
 enter proud and magnificent cities where heathenism 
 sat enthroned, the mind of the Apostle must have 
 been directed to the darker aspects of this subject. 
 No one ever more acutely studied or stated the evils 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 13 
 
 of a prevalent idolatrous system. He came to compre- 
 hend its most characteristic developments. Something 
 of classic civilization we know from other sources. 
 The researches of Leake and Wood and Schliemann 
 in Asia Minor, Ephesus, the Troad and Greek penin- 
 sula, and the extended excavations in Pompeii, indi- 
 cate the resolve of modern explorers ; determined, from 
 its own records and remains, to trace out the facts and 
 features of paganism. But " he who would see but for 
 a moment and afar off to what the Gentile world had 
 sunk, at the very period when Christianity began to 
 spread, may form some faint and shuddering concep- 
 tion from the picture drawn of it in the Epistle to the 
 Romans."* It is from the pen of St. Paul that we 
 can learn the whole dark story : 
 
 " Because that, when they knew God, they glorified 
 him not as God, neither were thankful ; but became 
 vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart 
 was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they 
 became fools, and changed the glory of the incorrupt- 
 ible God into an image made like to corruptible man, 
 and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping 
 things. Wherefore God also gave them up to unclean- 
 ness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor 
 their own bodies between themselves : who chansred 
 the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and 
 served the creature more than the creator, who is 
 blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave 
 
 Farrar's Seekers ajler Ood, p. 36. 
 
14 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 them Up to vile atfeetions ; for even their women did 
 change the natural use into that which is against 
 nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural 
 use of the women, burned in lust one toward another ; 
 men with men working that which is unseemly, and 
 receiving in themselves that recompense of their error 
 which was meet. And even as they did not like to 
 retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to 
 a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not 
 convenient ; being filled with all unrighteousness, for- 
 nication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full 
 of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, 
 backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, 
 inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, with- 
 out natural affection, implr cable, unmerciful ; who 
 knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit 
 such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, 
 but have pleasure in them that do them/' 
 
 Such, according to inspired delineation, was the 
 paganism of Europe and the East ; its atheism, licen- 
 tiousness, cruelties, and nameless corruptions. The 
 indictment is tremendous, and allegation is black and 
 burning. Corruption is laid bare to its very heart. 
 Not a gleam of fancy, or of poetic imaginativeness, 
 relieves the relentless process. In the severe and 
 searching light of God's infinite purity, unrighteous- 
 ness reveals its most repulsive aspects. Is it any 
 wonder, impelled by a feeling of holy indignation, 
 that the Apostle put upon that foul system the stamp 
 and stigma Qf loathing and of utter abhorrence ? 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 15 
 
 jmen did 
 against 
 e natural 
 another ; 
 mly, and 
 leir error 
 )t like to 
 n over to 
 are not 
 mess, for- 
 less ; full 
 hisperers, 
 boasters, 
 its, with- 
 ul ; who 
 h commit 
 the same, 
 
 was the 
 3m, licen- 
 ns. The 
 )lack and 
 ry heart, 
 ativeness, 
 jvere and 
 ighteous- 
 [s it any 
 lignation, 
 ihe stamp 
 nee ? 
 
 The period of Roman life and civilization, to which 
 this awful passage has specific reference, has been 
 frequently and glowingly panegyrized. It was the 
 superb Augustan age. The eloquence and victories of 
 Cicero and Cassar were yet a proud remembrance. 
 Mantuan melodies still lingered in the air. It was in 
 many respects a wonderful time. A complex civiliza- 
 tion had brought its forces and appliances to bear 
 upon some of the finest material the world has ever 
 seen. Genius had scarcely more than passed the 
 zenith of its splendor. Intellect was still proud and 
 brilliant. Life was voluptuous. There was opulence 
 to repletion, and everything to minister to the sensual 
 nature. Beauty was deified. Even around the altars 
 and idolatries of that time there was a marvellous 
 and fascinating combination of majesty and grace, of 
 science and taste. Whatever man could do without 
 the living God was carried up to the point of perfec- 
 tion. But that structure of polished paganism had 
 darker and more repelling aspects. It was unspiritual 
 and immoral. Faith that saves, like the luminous 
 flame, diffuses splendor ; but, like mist and murk, 
 superstition deepens the shadows of the night. Estab- 
 lished religion had exhibited a constantly deteriorating 
 and downward process. The Pantheon in Rome was 
 worse even than the Parthenon of Greece. Pagan 
 gods were the patrons and prompters of crime and 
 pollution. Deities were such as lust demanded. 
 Faith was lost, and purity and patriotism were gone. 
 Oriental superstitions and pollutions steeped and 
 
IG 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 saturated the Occident. "Orontes overflowed the 
 Tiber." 
 
 In rejjard to the character of that centurv, we have 
 contemporary and competent witness. Seneca sor- 
 rowed for the degeneracy of the times. Innocence, 
 according to the testimony of this accomplished philo- 
 sopher, had ceased to exist. " Discarding respect for 
 all that is good and sacred, lust rushes on wherever it 
 will."* From the capital a stream of pollution 
 flowed out into provincial cities ; but with fresh and 
 fouler accumulation it was rapidly poured back into 
 the main reservoir. Humanity, morally and spirit- 
 ually, was at its worst and sorest need. The world by 
 wisdom knew not God. 
 
 In mediaeval exploration, amongst the ruins of 
 Pompeii, Lorenzo and Leo are said to have discovered 
 altar lamps. Once these had contained sacred fire, 
 but the oil was gone, and they could not now be 
 reljnrhted. Such was the condition of classic science 
 and philosophy, when Christianity first flashed its 
 radiance across the dark expanse. Flame was extinct. 
 Hope was dead. There was scarcely a solitary ray of 
 
 •" Modern unbelief complains that St. Paul has characterized 
 the social morality of the pagan world in terms of undue severity. 
 Yet St. Paul does not exceed the specific charges of Tacitus, of 
 Suetonius, of Juvenal, of Seneca, that is to say of writers that had 
 no theological interest in misrepresenting or exaggerating the facts 
 which they deplore. When Tacitus summarizes tlio moral condition 
 of pxganiam by his exhaustive phrase, corrttm/Ji ft et corrumpi, he 
 more than covers the sorrowing invective of the Apostle. " — Canon 
 LiDDON, Bampton Lecturei^, 1866, p. 139. 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 17 
 
 even a heathen faith to relieve the dreariness and 
 monotony of prevalent materialism. Moral miasma 
 brooded over the scene. Every spiritual aspiration 
 was chilled and checked. 
 
 "On that hard pagan world, disgust 
 And secret loathing fell ; 
 Deep weariness and sated lust 
 Made human life a hell. " 
 
 "No wonder," says Dr. Brown, in his exposition of 
 Romans, "that, thus sick and dying as was this poor 
 humanity of ours under the highest earthly culture, 
 its many- voiced cry for the balm in Gilead and the 
 Physician there — Come over and help us — pierced the 
 hearts of the missionaries of the cross, and made them 
 not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." 
 
 The question of heathen accountability comes to 
 the front in this connection. The biblical truth that 
 all men must be judged by the deeds done in the 
 body has been luminously represented as "the pillar 
 of lire" which constitutes "the supernatural vanguard 
 of Christian missions." Inspiration is clear and 
 cleaving in its enunciation and enforcement of i^his 
 solemn and profoundly awful subject.. Hence the 
 appalling passage in which St. Paul depicts heathen- 
 ism. Stronjj relief is sought. The main argument is 
 designed to shut up a sinful and guilty world to the 
 mercy of God, to demonstrate the necessity of a 
 Divine and remedial scheme, and to enforce the sublime 
 doctrine of salvation through grace. They who have 
 not received a written law, the revelation of truth, are 
 
18 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 under another and clearly-defined dispensation. "For 
 as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish 
 without law : and as many as have sinned in the law, 
 shall be judged by the law (for when the Gentiles, 
 which have not the law, do by nature the things con- 
 tained in the law, these having not the law are a law 
 unto themselves : which shew the work of the law 
 written in their hearts, their consciences, also bearing 
 witness, and their thoughts in the meanwhile accus- 
 ing, or else excusing, one another) ; in the day when 
 God shall judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ 
 according to my gospel." 
 
 A supreme faculty of conscience has been implanted 
 in the human soul. There is also a "true Light that 
 lighteneth every man that cometh into the world." 
 An inward law commends or condemns. Gracious 
 illumination constitutes the measure of human respon- 
 sibility ; and, at the future and final tribunal, when 
 the judgment shall be set, and the books opened, it 
 must determine acceptance or rejection, salvation or 
 exclusion. "But we are sure," affirms the Apostle, 
 „that the judgment of God is according to truth, 
 agiinst them that do such things." 
 
 Inspired reasoning lights up an abstruse and per- 
 plexing question, and reveals also an underlying and 
 essential principle of missionary impulse and action. 
 It enables us, when carried into the region of heathen 
 life and experience, to grasp the significance of many 
 a testimony. " When I remember," says the evan- 
 gelist Sing, of the China inland mission, "how I sinned 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 19 
 
 I. "For 
 
 perish 
 the law, 
 jentiles, 
 ngs con- 
 re a law 
 the law 
 bearing 
 
 ie accus- 
 ly when 
 LS Christ 
 
 nplanted 
 orht that 
 
 1 world." 
 Gracious 
 n respon- 
 al, when 
 pened, it 
 nation or 
 
 Apostle, 
 luo truth, 
 
 and per- 
 y^ing and 
 d action. 
 
 heathen 
 of many 
 he evan- 
 
 I sinned 
 
 against the light which heaven gave to my nature, how 
 I obeyed the seitish instincts of my soul, and was led 
 astray by evil seductions, sinning against light, / feel 
 how gitilfy I luas." The earlier part of the Epistle to 
 the Romans was read by a Buddhist priest of Ceylon, 
 in his own language. His main object at the outset 
 was to obtain arguments for the refutation of Chris- 
 tianity. The first cha])ter astonished him beyond 
 measure. Secret things from dark chambers of imag- 
 ery, of which he liad been cognizant, were brought to 
 light. Sins that were sadly too common among his 
 countrymen were comprised in the dark catalogue. 
 There was a startling accuracy of delineation. Such 
 is the unchanged character of heathenism, of its idola- 
 tries and consequent immoralities, that missionaries 
 have been actually charged with the forgery of this 
 terrible passage. Adherents of Oriental systems find 
 it difficult to believe that so full and forcible a descrip- 
 tion could have been written at the commencement of 
 the Christian era. The Singhalese student passed on 
 to the second chapter, and there he encountered a new 
 surprise. That account of the law written on the 
 heart answered to actual and repeated experiences of 
 life. Doinor of wrong had often been a cause of re- 
 morseful feeling. Conscience must have been troubled. 
 An unwelcome monitor had refused to be driven away, 
 or silenced, at any moment. That witness of the heart 
 could not be an evil thing; for it condemned the 
 wrong, and approved the good. Against light and 
 knowledge had sin been many times committed. There 
 
20 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CHY. 
 
 I 1 
 
 must be consequent guilt and liability to punishment. 
 This universal law became the subject of repeated 
 conversation with a missionary, whose acquaintance 
 had been formed. The sequence of thought was in 
 exact adaptation to the tastes and mental habits of 
 the controversialist. His interest for a time centred in 
 the close texture of the rea.soning, and in the cogency 
 and conclusiveness of the argument. But he began to 
 find that a sharp arrow had pierced the joints of his 
 tightened armour. Conviction of sin gradually deep- 
 ened to genuine distress. " Is there any peace of con- 
 science," he anxiously inquired, " any pardon of sin in 
 the Christian religion ?" It would be sufficient, in 
 reply to that question of supreme interest and import- 
 ance, to read passages from the same evangelical and 
 glorious Epistle : 
 
 " I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it 
 is the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
 believeth." " Being justified freely by his grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom 
 God hath set forth to be a propituation through faith 
 in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remis- 
 sion of sins that are past." "Therefore being justified 
 by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." " That as sin hath reigned unto death, 
 even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto 
 eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 The Macedonian cry has become the world's cry. 
 
 Modern heathenism is fully as dark and debasing, 
 as polluted and miserable, as was that of Apostolic 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 SI 
 
 ishment. 
 repeated 
 lintance 
 
 was in 
 labits of 
 ntred in 
 cogency 
 began to 
 bs of his 
 ly deep- 
 i of con- 
 3f sin in 
 cient, in 
 
 import- 
 ical and 
 
 t : for it 
 one that 
 s grace, 
 whom 
 fjh faith 
 »e remis- 
 justified 
 )ur Lord 
 ,0 death, 
 ess, unto 
 
 cry. 
 lebasing, 
 Ipostolic 
 
 times. The man of Macedonia represents a perishing 
 world. Night visions are renewed from age to age. 
 Masses and millions of people are pleading for succour. 
 In painful and piercing accents, they are ever saying, 
 Coma over and help us. The Rev. Wm. 0. Simpson, 
 during an evangelistic tour through Northern India, a 
 few years ago, preached from the steps of an idol 
 temple. The first proclamation of salvation through 
 Jesus was thus made in a populous city. " Once," 
 said a venerable-looking Brahman, putting his hand 
 to his head, " this lock of hair was black as the raven's 
 wing: now it is white as the snow on the summits of 
 the Himalaya; and 1 have been waiting all these 
 years to hear words like these." 
 
 "Grown white with waiting ! brothers all ! 
 Is there for you in these words no call ? 
 Stirs there no pulse in your inmost soul, 
 As by you these heart- waves of pleading roll ?" 
 
 A thrilling appeal just now comes from the region 
 of the Transvaal and the Molopo territory, in South 
 Africa. In words of pathos and pain, an aged Baralong 
 chief tells how he has looked and longed in vain, 
 through many weary years, for the message and the 
 ministry of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
 Missionary Society, in which he trusted, had failed him. 
 "Why," he asks, " have we been so long left ? I have no 
 hope now. When I am dead, and my nation is scattered, 
 then, perhaps, when the opportunity is lost for ever, 
 they will send a missionary."* Such a plaint is enough 
 
 * Mimonary Notices, May, 1883. 
 
22 
 
 THK MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 to make the very stones cry out, in rebuke of the 
 apathy of the Christian Church. Is not the heart- 
 stricken Montsioa an unconscious representative of 
 Africa's benij^hted millions of people ? 
 
 But there is also the voice of this western contin- 
 ent, calling for help. A beam of light strikes the 
 spiritual vision of a blind In<lian in the wilds of 
 Alaska. He has heard that Jesus Christ came into 
 the world to save sinners ; and the story of infinite 
 love, imperfectly told by a wanderer of his own tribe, 
 moves the heart as nothing else can do. Something 
 more he must know of the wondrous fact of redeem- 
 ing grace and mercy. Guided by another Indian, the 
 eager inquirer starts out in search of light and help. 
 Through mountain gorge and pathless forest, gliding 
 along rivers unknown to song, as many suns rise and 
 set, at a distance of one thousand miles the nearest 
 mission station is reached, and the heart is made glad 
 by tidings of great joy. Does not that Indian of the 
 distant wilderness represent the dusky tribes of this 
 continent, and other races of the unsaved pagan 
 world, in the same sense that a man of Macedonia 
 represented the idolatrous populations of Europe, and 
 the heathendom of the time ? From the ice-bound 
 coast of Labrador to far-away and frozen Alaska, and 
 from inland lake to polar sea, there comes a cry for 
 help. Our country's voice is pleading. Home mis- 
 sionaries are needed. But the field is the world. The 
 Macedonian appeal comes from every land. It crosses 
 not only straits, but continents and oceans ; wafted on 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 23 
 
 ike of the 
 the heart- 
 ntative of 
 
 rn contin- 
 trikes the 
 wilds of 
 came into 
 of infinite 
 own tribe, 
 ^omethinsf 
 f redeem - 
 idian, the 
 and help. 
 it, gliding 
 i rise and 
 le nearest 
 made glad 
 ian of the 
 es of this 
 ed pagan 
 ^lacedonia 
 irope, and 
 ice-bound 
 laska, and 
 a cry for 
 -ome mis- 
 )rld. The 
 It crosses 
 wafted on 
 
 the wings of every breeze, and borne on the bosom of 
 every swelling billow. The idea finds expression in 
 Heber's matchless missionary hymn : 
 
 "From Greenland'a icy mountains, 
 
 From India's coral strand. 
 Where Afric's sunny fountains 
 
 Roll down their golden sand ; 
 From many an ancient river. 
 
 From many a balmy plain, 
 They call us to deliver 
 
 Their land from error's chain." 
 
 Suppose for a moment that the Macedonian of St. 
 Paul's vision, the Brahman of sultry India, or the 
 African chief, Montsioa, was not the representative of 
 a race or of the heathen world. Think of him as one 
 man ; an unsaved Cree or KafiR.r, Hindu or Hottentot, 
 Cossack or Tartar. Though rude in speech, and 
 degraded to the dust, that man is redeemed by Christ, 
 an heir of immortality. For him there must be a 
 resurrection to eternal life, or to shame and everlast- 
 ing contempt. At the bar of God destiny shall be 
 determined according to the deeds done in the body. 
 Is there not an imminent spiritual peril ? Suppose, 
 again, for the sake of illustration, that, with but a 
 solitary exception, the whole heathen world had been 
 converted to Christ, and that there was but one dark 
 and unsaved idolater on the face of the earth. What 
 shall be done to pluck that immortal soul as a brand 
 from the burning, and to add one more gem to the 
 Redeemer's radiant ciowns ? That soul in value out- 
 
24 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 weighs the material magnificence of worlds on worlds. 
 Would it be too much that an effort and expenditure 
 equal to the aggregate of what is required for the 
 work of the Church at home and of missions abroad, 
 if nothing less would avail, should be employed for 
 its salvation ? Could it be any cause for surprise if 
 there were silence and suspense in heaven itself, till 
 the fate of that deathless soul were determined, or 
 that ministering spirits should stand ready for any 
 mission that might secure the last trophy of redeeming 
 mercy ? But the Macedonian is only a unit in the 
 aggregate of the yet unsaved multitudes. 
 
 Think of the spiritual condition of the great mass 
 of tlie world's teeming population, estimated at more 
 than fourteen hundred million ! A system of impos- 
 ture, Mohammedanism, numbers over one hundred 
 and seventy millions of adherents. Fully one- half of 
 the people of the earth, including the Brahmans of 
 India, the Buddhists of eastern and central Asia, and 
 the dwellers of a few islands of the sea, are idolaters. 
 They are doomed to darkness and the shadow of death, 
 and in their blindness bow down to gods of wood and 
 stone. The mass of those know nothinij of God's 
 reconciling mercy, or of the glad tidings of salvation. 
 One can scarcely be surprised at the emotion which 
 finds expression in the utterances of an earnest and 
 eloquent advocate and exponent of missions and mis- 
 sionary policy : " As I coasted along Ceylon and the 
 Malay peninsula and vast China day after day, I 
 seemed to hear across the roar of the waves, the tur- 
 
 $ 
 
THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 25 
 
 on worlds, 
 cpenditure 
 id for the 
 ns abroad, 
 )loyed for 
 surprise if 
 L itself, till 
 rmined, or 
 ly for any 
 redeeming 
 nit in the 
 
 great mass 
 ed at more 
 of impos- 
 } hundred 
 ne-half of 
 ihmans of 
 Asia, and 
 
 idolaters. 
 
 V of death, 
 
 wood and 
 
 of God's 
 salvation, 
 ion which 
 rnest and 
 
 and mis- 
 n and the 
 er day, I 
 s, the tur- 
 
 I 
 
 bulent sound of the billows of humanity, breaking 
 with a wail upon the stern coasts of our yet barbaric 
 days. Three hundred million billov/s in China, half 
 of them women, two hundred and fifty such billows 
 breaking on the shores of India, multitudes upon 
 multitudes coming out of the unseen and storming 
 across the ocean of time to break on the shores of 
 eternity. I heard the wail of these hosts until I found 
 myself resolved, whatever else I might do or not do, 
 to echo the sound of that ocean in the ears of 
 Christendom."* 
 
 A well-known essayist, in an exquisite vision of 
 human life, beheld an immense valley traversed by an 
 ever-rolling flood. A bridge of black and broken piers 
 stretched away into the boundless tide, and was lost 
 to view in the thick mist on the farther shore. Multi- 
 tudes of people streamed to the fatal arches and sunk 
 in the abyss of waters. By a slight mental eflbrt, we 
 can still gaze on that mystic river ; for, deep and dark, 
 it flows sullenly and silently on to the ocean of 
 eternity. The inspired Psalmist beheld the genera- 
 tions of men, as they were swept noiselessly away 
 from the earth, and said, " Thou carriest them away 
 as with a flood." Beyond the mysterious bridge are 
 the thick clouds of a dark unknown, impalpable, 
 except as revelation fringes them with the splendor 
 of an immortal hope. Millions of human beings 
 throng to the crumbling arch, sink into the flowing 
 
 3 
 
 Joseph Cook, Moinlny Lecfuns, March 12, 1883, 
 
^ 
 
 26 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 tide, and are borne on to the changeless destinies of 
 the future and the eternal. 
 
 Compute, if you can, as the endless procession passes 
 on to the spirit world. Eight milliou of Jews, from 
 almost every nation under heaven, a veil over their 
 hearts, and still for the most part refusing to look to 
 the pierced Saviour, lead the way. Nominal Chiistians 
 from favored lands of Europe, scenes of Bible interest, 
 and the natives of South America, stupefied and 
 deluded by the corruptions and senseless mummeries 
 of their religion, swell the helpless throng, and speed 
 beyond the reach of any earthly ministry. Mussul- 
 mans from sections of three continents, the east of 
 Europe, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia, such 
 centres as Mecca, and Bagdad, and Aleppo, some of the 
 best and fairest portions of the globe, follow the false 
 prophet, and are enveloped in a smoke as that of the 
 bottomless pit : 
 
 " A saintly, murderous brood, 
 To carnage and to Koran given. 
 Who think through unbeliever's blood 
 Lies their directest path to heaven. " 
 
 Still others march past, only to vanish in darkness. 
 There arc the swarthy millions of Hin<lostan, bearing 
 the symbols of their grotesque superstition, priest and 
 pariah, thug and fakir, pilgrim and devotee, one hun- 
 dred and sixty million of the worshippers of Bralima, 
 blindly treading the pathway of mystery, and g«)ing 
 down where the black billows close over them. The 
 Saviour by His atonement has bridged the awful gulf, 
 
 '■,; 
 
itinies of 
 
 on passes 
 5VVS, from 
 vcr their 
 ) look to 
 iJhristians 
 ? in'eresti 
 jried and 
 ummeries 
 and speed 
 
 Mussul- 
 le east of 
 Asia, such 
 •me of the 
 
 the false 
 lat of the 
 
 larkness. 
 
 n, bearing 
 
 priest and 
 
 one hun- 
 
 Bralima, 
 
 ind g-)ing 
 
 em. The 
 
 \vf ul gulf, 
 
 I 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 27 
 
 f 
 :-i^ 
 
 but they know nothing of that "new and living way." 
 There is still a mightier multitude, at least four hundred 
 millions, nearly a third of the human race, adherents 
 of Buddha and Confucius, drifting on the shoreless 
 ocean of the unseen and eternal ; and, supposing that 
 these teeming millions should pass you at the rate of 
 one thousand an hour, night and day, more than forty- 
 five years would be required to complete the dreary 
 procession. But there is still another touching and 
 pathetic appeal to Christian sympathy. Two hundred 
 million of the sons and daughters of Africa, branded 
 with the untold wrongs of ages, plead for pity and for 
 help, and pass sorrowfully on to their destined and 
 unknown future. Numerous tribes from yet unchris- 
 tianized isles of the sea, and the roaming red races of 
 our western forests and prairies follow in the rear, and 
 hurry on to the land of silence and shade. What is 
 to become of these untold millions? Where shall they 
 spend their everlasting days ? How, laden and polluted 
 with sin and crime, can they find their way from the 
 dark river to the gates of gold, or how enter the city 
 of unsullied purity ? 
 
 We rejoice in the thought, for which inspiration 
 furnishes an abundant warrant, that, without respect 
 of persons, every one of every nation that works out 
 the righteousness of the dispensation under which he 
 is placed, shall be accepted of God. " But the fearful, 
 and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and 
 whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all 
 liars, shall have their portion in the lake that burneth 
 
I 
 
 28 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." 
 And never should we forget that such depravities, as 
 God unconditionally condemns, are characteristic of 
 heathenism in every part of the world. O ye followers 
 of the compassionate Redeemer, can you gaze unmoved 
 upon scenes of guilt, weariness and woe ? Is there not 
 an irresistible impulse to some effort for the rescue of 
 the perishinjx ? Will you not care for the dying, tell 
 them of God's pardoning love, and lead them to the 
 fountain for sin and uncleanness ? Hear you not the 
 pleading voice, " Come over and help us ?" There is a 
 cry of souls longing for some deliverer. To each one 
 comes the call. The obligation is of a personal char- 
 acter. Can any Christian man or woman turn away 
 unmoved from the painful and piteous wail of suffering 
 and sinful humanity? Salvation! O sound out the glad 
 message to all the nations of the earth. Tell it out 
 among the heathen, that a ransom has been found, and 
 that they need not go down to the pit. But haste ! 
 Your mission is as that of one who bears a reprieve : 
 hope to the despairing, and life to the dying. 
 
 To some extent the sense and significance of the 
 Macedonian cry may have been realized, and rightly 
 interpreted. But to know the heathen world, its awful 
 and utter darkness and misery, and its need of the 
 gospel, there must be a closer contact with Brahma- 
 nical and Buddhistic systems of idolatry and supersti- 
 tion, and with uncivilized and multitudinous races and 
 tribes of Africa and isles of the sea. 
 
. death." 
 rities, as 
 ristic of 
 ollowers 
 mmoved 
 here not 
 escue of 
 nng, tell 
 m to the 
 not the 
 here is a 
 3ach one 
 [lal char- 
 rn away 
 suffering 
 . the glad 
 11 it out 
 >und, and 
 it haste ! 
 reprieve : 
 
 '4 
 '0. 
 
 1 
 
 je of the 
 1 rightly 
 its awful 
 id of the 
 Brahma- 
 supersti- 
 races and 
 
"The vast old structure of the Veda religion, venerable by the 
 Bufi'rage of thirty centuries, upheld by tens of millions of the finest 
 population in Asia, cherished by a pertinacity which has hitherto 
 seemed immovable, adorned by temple after temple, celebrated in 
 festivity after festivity, magnificent by processions and all public 
 pomp, cemented by the indissoluble bonds of caste, and by a fixity 
 of usage such as has never existed elsewhere." — William Arthur. 
 
,1 
 
 1 
 
 HINDUISM AND THE HINDU& 
 
 81 
 
 able by the 
 of the finest 
 has hitherto 
 elebrated in 
 d all public 
 i by a fixity 
 Arthur. 
 
 II. 
 
 CIVILIZED HEATHENISM : HINDUISM AND 
 
 THE HINDUS. 
 
 HINDUISM is the central fortress of civilized hea- 
 thenism. The world has no other such closely 
 compacted system of error. It may be fairly regarded 
 as the master-piece of the deceiver. Hoary with age, 
 it challenges attention on the ground of its great 
 antiquity. Its temples are magnificent, and its ritual 
 adapted to the popular sense. Millions of priests 
 avow their belief in countless millions of gods, and all 
 are pledged to the perpetuation of this Brahinanical 
 religion. Rising height above height, like the ranges 
 and ridges of the Himalaya, the shadows of this 
 stupendous and embattled structure seem to darken 
 the day, and its proud spires to pierce the skies. 
 Mysticisms and superstitions, penances and pilgrim- 
 ages, transcendentalisms, adaptation to mental peculi- 
 arities, and penetrating grasp of the institutions and 
 usages of national and social life, contribute to its 
 moulding force, and combine to constitute it the 
 mightiest of earth's idolatries. Hinduism numbers 
 one hundred and sixty million of adherents. One of 
 the most eminent of modern missionaries, when first 
 confronted by this towering and frowning citadel of 
 error, realized keenly the sense of his own weakness 
 
82 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 and the utter insufficiency of human resource. A 
 feeling came over him, such as he might have had if 
 he had undertaken to cut down the primeval forest, 
 with the blade of a knife, to level the Himalayas 
 with a pickaxe, or to empty the Ganges with a 
 teacup. " What field on the surface of the globe can 
 be compared to Hindustan, stretching from the Indus 
 to the Ganges, and from the Himalaya to Cape 
 Comorin, in point of magnitude and accessibility com- 
 bined, and peculiarity of claims on British Christians, 
 the claims of not less than" two hundred millions 
 "of fellow-subjects, sunk beneath the load of the most 
 debasing superstitions, and the crudest idolatries that 
 ever polluted the surface of the earth, or brutalized 
 the nature of man ?"* 
 
 Between the earlier philosophy and the later and 
 popular forms of Hinduism, there are numerous and 
 bewildering differences, complex and contradictory 
 aspects. The original Vedic idea of God seems to be 
 that of an essence, analogous to space, self-existent 
 and eternal. But the simple sublimity of primal con- 
 ception soon begins to merge into pantheism, and 
 pa.sses on to the multiplied mythologies of polytheism. 
 Unity diverges into numerous ramifications. The 
 system is developed by the additions and accretions of 
 ages. As the banyan of that land, its shoots are end- 
 lessly multiplied. " Like the sacred tree of India 
 which from a single stem sends out innumerable 
 
 * Life of Dr. Duff, Vol. I, p. 197. 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 33 
 
 iource. A 
 ive had if 
 sval forest, 
 Himalayas 
 ;s with a 
 
 globe can 
 the Indus 
 L to Cape 
 bility com- 
 Christians, 
 jd millions 
 jf the most 
 latries that 
 
 brutalized 
 
 e later and 
 nerous and 
 ntradictory 
 seems to be 
 elf-existent 
 primal con- 
 tieism, and 
 polytheism. 
 
 ions. The 
 ccretions of 
 Dts are end- 
 
 e of India 
 Unumerable 
 
 branches destined to descend to the ground and be- 
 come trees themselves, till the parent stock is lost in 
 the dense forest of its own offshoots, so has this 
 pantheistic creed rooted itself firmly in the Hindu 
 mind, and spread its ramifications so luxuriantly that 
 the simplicity of its root-dogma is lost in an exuberant 
 growth of monstrous mythologies." * 
 
 A Hindu of the upper class believes that a self-ex- 
 istent principle may subsist under two modes. An es- 
 sential condition, the point and perfection of felicity, 
 consummation of bliss, is that of profound and utter 
 quiescence and insensibility. But there was a period, 
 a passing moment, when Brahman roused up from the 
 long deep stupor of ages, and exercised a potent and 
 productive energy. Three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva, the Hindu trinity, constitute the divine mani- 
 festation of an eternal essence. Complexity of rela- 
 tion finds expression in a passage of Kalidasa — 
 regarded by Professor Williams as " the greatest of 
 Indian poets." Evidently there is a perpetual inter- 
 change of function : 
 
 " In these three Persons the one God was shewn — 
 Each first in place, each last — not one alone ; 
 Of Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, each may be 
 First, second, third, among the blessed Three." 
 
 Brahma is regarded as creator. The material uni- 
 verse, according to the Hindu conception, is an emana- 
 tion rather than an exercise of creative energy. It is 
 an outflowing, like the light from the sun. "As the 
 
 * Hinduism, Prof. Monier Williams, p. 11. 
 
S4 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 threads from the spider, the tree from the seed, the 
 fire from the coal, the stream from the fountain, the 
 waves from the sea, so is the world produced out of 
 Brahma." This deity of the Hindu temple and 
 worship is usually represented as a figure of four faces. 
 A philosophical formula, "I am Brahma, and he who 
 knows that knows all," claims for him a reality of ex- 
 istence, in comparison with which everything in the 
 vi.sible universe must be looked upon as illusory and 
 transient. 
 
 Vishnu, the second member of the triad, supposed 
 to pervade and conserve all worlds, obtains homage as 
 the preserver. This popular god is fabled to have had 
 ten incarnations. May not these come yet to form 
 the groundwork of belief in the Incarnate One, the 
 Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us ? The 
 memory of Vishnu's actions, preserved and perpetuated 
 in the sacred records, constitutes the most popular 
 element in Hindu religious literature. In some temples 
 the god may be seem in a form partly human, and in 
 part resembling a fish ; for, according to the legend, 
 based doubtless on some tradition of the historic flood, 
 he w^as incarnated as a fish to save the progenitor of 
 the human race from an overflowing flood. Another 
 incarnation is that of Krishna, " the dark god," repre- 
 sented in the form of a black idol ; an appearance as- 
 sumed for the destruction of Kansa, the representative 
 principle of evil. Krishna is the most popular of | 
 Hindu deities; and, notwithstanding the distortion and 
 exaggeration of this incarnation idea, as traced out in 
 
'4 
 
 HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 86 
 
 the seed, the 
 fountain, the 
 duced out of 
 
 temple and 
 of four faces. 
 
 and he who 
 reality of ex- 
 thing in the 
 
 illusory and 
 
 ad, supposed 
 
 ns homage as 
 
 I to have had 
 
 yet to form 
 
 late One, the 
 
 ng us ? The 
 
 perpetuated 
 
 nost popular 
 
 some temples 
 
 iman, and in 
 
 the legend, 
 
 istoric tlood, 
 
 )ro2renitor of 
 
 Another 
 
 god," repre- 
 
 pearance as- 
 
 presentative 
 
 popular of 
 
 stortion and 
 
 raced out is 
 
 >d 
 
 Brahmanical legends, may we not hope that it shall yet 
 be the means of preparing the minds of swarthy mil- 
 lions of eastern worshippers for the acceptance of Jesus 
 Christ, the Saviour of the world? 
 
 Siva, the third member of the sacred triad, held to 
 be the dissolver and destroyer of the universe, is 
 regarded as the principal agent in the various changes 
 that sweep on in a constant succession. This character 
 is often depicted and shaped forth in hideous and 
 repulsive forms. It is said that some of the images 
 of the god are too abominable to be described. But a 
 still fouler and more revolting form is that of his 
 consort, the black goddess Kali ; armed with sharp 
 instruments, decorated by a necklace of skulls, clotted 
 hair, and face and bosom smeared with blood. Kali is 
 claimed as the presiding goddess of the infernal and 
 terrible thugs ; for whose honor and glory they murder 
 their victims, and by whose energy their feet are made 
 swift to shed blood. These be thy gods, India ! 
 
 To Hindu sacred literature an important place 
 must be assigned. 
 
 The immense treasures of the Sanskrit, that " lan- 
 ujuage of the gods," are being rapidly unsealed. At the 
 foundation lies the three-fold Veda ; mantra, brahmana, 
 and upanishad : pure knowledge, imagined to have 
 issued like breath from the Supreme. Vedic mantras, 
 mainly metrical composition, are forms of prayer and 
 praise. The rig-veda is the first and purest part of 
 the mantra, and contains over a thousand hymns and 
 rapturous ascriptions. It is regarded with profound 
 
 J 
 
36 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 reverence, said to shine in its own light, and to revea! | 
 absolute perfection ; but, through rapt effusions, a| 
 declension from simple and primitive truth to pan 
 theistic doctrine can be readily traced. Elements art| 
 personified. Powers of nature arc identified witlj 
 various divinities. Objects of religious adoration arei 
 multiplied. " God is everything, and everything isj 
 God." 
 
 The brahmanas, or second portion of the Veda, mostly 
 of prose composition, expand and expound the merii 
 of sacrifice, and develop and prescribe an elaborate 
 and complicated system of priestly service. During 
 the period of brahmana ascendency, every prominence 
 was given to sacrificial oflfering. Numerous victim^ J 
 were immolated in almost every religious service, and] 
 the altars of the land perpetually streamed wittj 
 blood. 
 
 To the upanishads, the third and last portion of tht 
 Veda, consisting of prose aphorisms and occasionaij 
 verse, designed to unfold and illustrate the sacred! 
 doctrine of the mantras, Hinduism is mainly indebte(i| 
 for its mysticism and transcendentalism. Here may j 
 be found the source of a principal philosophical dogmaj 
 the transmigration of souls through a succession of 
 bodies. And of all delusions, cunning inventions, or: 
 vain and foolish imaginations, that ever tortured the | 
 minds of poor, fallen humanity, the most dreary 
 oppressive, and painfully elaborated, is that of trans- 
 migration. Souls are regarded as an emanation from 
 the eternal source, but doomed to a repeated succession 
 
 M i 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 37 
 
 ^f bodies, nearer or more distant from the fountain 
 ^iid fulness of perfection. They are held to be in 
 )erpetual transition ; passing from body to body, from 
 >lant to plant, from animal to animal, from divinity to 
 livinity, in sad and weary seri<»s and succession, with- 
 Hit repose, destitute of joy, unable to arrest the stern 
 iionotony of change ; treading, according to demerit 
 ^r merit, the god's slowly-grinding mill ; sinking into 
 Lbysses of horror, or rising by gradual stages to an 
 ^xalted felicity ; dreaming of an ultimate absorption 
 ito the essential principle of the universe, the ideal of 
 )erfection, of endless and infinite bliss. 
 
 The real scriptures of the Hindu, however, as we are 
 |issured, because better known and perused, are the 
 mranas. These are legendary histories, a voluminous 
 md conglomerate collection of traditions and mytho- 
 logies, measuring and marking an immense and deep 
 listance and deterioration from the Vedic age. The 
 )riginal idea of the purana seems to have been an 
 jlucidation of matters belonging to some holy place, or 
 ^he instruction of the people at great national festivals. 
 ?here is no basis of fact or reason. They launch a 
 System of cosmogony that shrivels before the light of 
 Science. Genealogies of the gods and unconnected 
 traditions form a fabulous chronolgy. Time is of no 
 iccount. Periods stretch back into the recesses of 
 remote ajjes. Through a series of legfendarv narratives, 
 Iresembling the coloring and Oriental extravagance of 
 ^he Arabian Nights' Entertainments, these wonderful 
 )oems are brought down to the history and associations 
 )f the place to which they are dedicated. 
 
38 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 It is affirmed that the history of mind in India 
 corresponds to that of Europe. Every western system 
 of thought, we are told, has had its counterpart in 
 Asia. " Precisely the same topics which are brought 
 to the front in religious discussions in the Occident, 
 between Christianity and unbelief, are those which 
 are at the front in the Orient."* As the product of 
 rich and ripe Sanskrit scholarship, a superb series of 
 Oxford translations, " The Sacred Books of the East," 
 have been published for the benefit of English readers. 
 The literature of that wonderful land, reaching back 
 through a space of three thousand years, has been 
 brought witliin the range of an ordinary student. The. 
 seal of mystery has been broken. It is evident, as 
 thus represented, that Eastern speculations contain 
 subtle philosophy, suggest ethical truth, and inculcate 
 moral precept and social virtue. There is, at some 
 points, a striking coincidence with what has claimed or 
 come to be distinctively known as "modern thought." 
 Occasional Hashes indicate a rare intuition or insight 
 into the profound necessities of the human soul. Under 
 one guise or another, especially in the fabled incarna- 
 tions, there are traces of traditional truth, and the idea 
 of a needed Deliverer and Restorer. But thoughts 
 that possess anything of religious or philosophic power 
 and value are probably drift from some period of patri- 
 archal revelation. With many acknowledged excel- 
 lencies, and with great and abounding beauty and 
 
 Joseph Cook, Monday Lecture, January 29th, 1883. 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 39 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 luxuriance of metaphor and style, these sacred books 
 teem with worthless legends, monstrous credulities, 
 the veriest puerilities, and the sheerest absurdities of 
 the human imagination. Taken as a whole, with all 
 their magnificence of expression, they are the daikness 
 and not the light of Asia. 
 
 The literature of India, during thick mazes of the 
 past, has been a source and secret of strength to Hin- 
 duism. But the deep night of ignorance is passing 
 away ; and in the future it may supply a potent in- 
 strument for the overthrow of an ancient and organized 
 system of error. It contains history that facts dis- 
 I prove, and theories of the physical universe that science 
 j completely explodes. The Hindu student, as he comes 
 to comprehend the leading principles of elementary 
 I knowledge, discovers the imposture and fabulous 
 nature i. writings which he once venerated as of in- 
 disputable authority. The spirit of inquiry thus 
 awakened led to the conversion of Narayan Sheshadri, 
 [a gifted Brahman, to whose fervent and fluent utter- 
 ances many of us have listened with delight. As he 
 stood one day upon the beach at Bombay, swept into 
 [a foaming tempest by the fury of the monsoon, a sacred 
 [legend recurred to his mind. One of the miglity sages 
 Iwas said to have drunk up all the water of all ihe 
 loceans of the earth. Was that story credible ? A chill 
 )f doubt was experienced. Other extravagances of the 
 shasters came under review. Faith was shaken. In- 
 [uiry failed to satisfy the understanding. From Brah- 
 nanism he turned to Christianity. The Bible was 
 found and felt to be no cunningly devised fable. 
 
40 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 Historic and scientific myths, when once disproved, 
 cannot be re-established. Incongruous elements in the 
 Hindu system of doctrine and ritual are strangely and 
 strikingly analogous to the mixture of iron and clay 
 in the colossal image of Oriental vision ; " Thou sawest 
 till that a stone was cut out of the mountain without 
 hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were 
 of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then was 
 the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, 
 broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of 
 the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried 
 them away, that no place was found for them : and 
 the stone that smote the image became a great moun- 
 tain, and filled the whole earth." 
 
 Temples are a prominent feature of Hinduism. 
 Benares alone boasts ten thousand splendid fanes. 
 India is a land of superb and stately structures. The 
 peerless Taj Mahal, or crown of edifices — a magnificent 
 mausoleum at Agra — is said to have been " designed 
 by Titans and finished by jewellers." The Seringham 
 pagoda, near Trichinopoly, "an awful and indescrib- 
 ably vast fabric," was erected at a cost equal to that of 
 St. Paul's. There are several groups of religious build- 
 ings in the Tanjore district, each one of which involved 
 an expenditure equal to that of an English cathedral. 
 Hindu temples, however, have little resemblance to 
 the ecclesiastical edifices of Christendom. In archi- 
 tectural idea and outline, they seem to have more in 
 common with the Hebrew temple at Jerusalem — court 
 within court, terrace rising above terrace, and a dimin- 
 
HINDUISM AM) THt HLNDUS. 
 
 41 
 
 ished central site for the main sanctuary. The space 
 occupied by a popular idol in India is usually flanked 
 hy extensive enclosures, comprising several acres. " As 
 if in unconscious mockery of Divine revealings, the 
 city of priests and prostitutes, which forms the Vaish- 
 nava or Savaite temples, lies four-square for a mile on 
 each side, entered by imposing gateways, and domi- 
 nated by towers of gigantic height. But as you pass 
 through court after court to the hideous gloom of the 
 contemptible sanctuary, and approach the obscene 
 penetralia, the buildings diminish in size and elabora- 
 tion."* In the vicinity of a famous idol, numerous 
 and costly shrines are erected by wealtl^y natives, and 
 such munificence is deemed to be exceedingly meri- 
 torious in its character. 
 
 But what .shall be said of the idols, in a land that 
 is wholly given to idolatry ? In addition to m.ore 
 exalted divinities, the minor gods and goddesses are 
 all but innumerable. A divine es.sence is supposed to 
 permeate the visible universe, and the catalogue is 
 being constantly enlarged. Heavenly bodies, various 
 productions of the earth, beneficent rivers, the myste- 
 rious wind, the cloud-capped mountain, the spreading 
 banyan, the sacred ox, the gamboling monkey, the 
 noxious reptile, stocks and stones, mean and miscellan- 
 eous things, fair or foul, angel or demon, through hope 
 or through fear, find a place in the pantheon. The 
 I Hindu makes to himself graven images, the likeness 
 
 * Life of Dr. Duft', Vol. II., p. I4-). 
 
42 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of anything in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, 
 or in the waters under the earth, and bows down to 
 them and worships them. 
 
 Walls, towers, and gateways of temples, especially 
 in the south of India, are sculptured with mythologi- 
 cal groups. They exhibit infamous acts such as are 
 ascribed to the gods, in whose honor the shrine has 
 been dedicated. It has been said that if in the midst i 
 of their quarrels and treacheries, obscenities and atro- 
 cities, "the gods of the Hindu heaven had been sud- 
 denly overtaken by a statuary death," these abomin- 
 able sculptures might be the agglomeration of them 
 all. No man who has once seen the gates can ever 
 forget them. It is a strange and hideous sight. " And 
 then to see groups of children playing before this pile 
 of sculptured temptation, looking at it, gazing on it, 
 regarding it as the shrine and embodiment of religion. 
 It brings a feeling of oppressive sickness. You feel 
 as if Milton's Belial, the dissolute-'t spirit that fell 
 were standing by and pointing to that as the audaciou5; 
 monument of a victory he won over everything pure 
 in man. * 
 
 India is the land of pilgrimages. It has numerous 
 cities and shrines and streams of reputed sanctity: 
 and for the sake of penance, ablution, or some cere- 
 monial observance, multitudes of people are perpetu- 
 ally on the move. At the great annual festivals, in 
 honor of popular idols, thousands of pilgrims throng 
 
 '-I 
 
 * Arthur's Misfiion to the MyAore, Methodixt Mafjaziiii', 184(5, p. iSSi 
 
 Tj 
 
 ai 
 ofl 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 43 
 
 ziiir, 184(), p. 584j 
 
 to the temple service. Many of these are weary- 
 wanderers after rest. Waters of sacred rivers are 
 regarded as efficacious for the cleansing of moral pol- 
 lution ; and, as the most magniticent river, the Ganges 
 is thought to be specially and signally potent for the 
 purification of the soul. As a means of salvation, or 
 for the accumulation of merit, a Hindu achieves 
 immense feats of devotion. Think of a pilgrim 
 starting from the source of the Ganges, traversing the 
 river to its mouth, measuring the same distance on the 
 opposite bank, and getting back to the starting-point 
 at the end of six years ! But what can protracted 
 penance avail ? " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else 
 would I give it." 
 
 Sacrificial offerings are prescribed in the brahmanas, 
 and amongst some tribes human sacrifices are still 
 deemed efficacious and meritorious. An American 
 missionary furnishes a vivid description of a sanguin- 
 arv scene which he witnessed, and of its surround- 
 ings. The ceremony was performed in the night. A 
 hurried booth had been constructed for the idol. 
 Solitary lights threw deeper shadows into the back- 
 ground. The god was garlanded with flowers. Sacred 
 ashes were supplied to the devotees, for the purpose 
 of rubbing their heads and bodies. Strange noises, 
 through the trilling of the tongue, were made by the 
 women of the crowd. Fowls and sheep were slain. 
 The offerers of the sacrifices, bearing their bleeding 
 and quivering victims, hurried out into the darkness 
 I of the night. No wonder there was a deepened desire 
 
4Wi 
 
 44 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 to make known to those dark idolaters the efficacy of 
 the one great Sacrifice, and to point them to Him who 
 is " the propitiation for our sins : and not for ours 
 only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 
 
 The spirit of Brahmanism is hard and cruel in the 
 extreme. Until disallowed by Government, its dire 
 precepts were remorselessh^ inculcated, and no act 
 was considered more acceptable to the gods than that 
 of voluntary suffering. Torture is deemed meritorious 
 in proportion to its intensity. In former times, a 
 \/oman that offered herself for the funeral pile, on the 
 death of her husband, won a bright record. When 
 Ch^istianitv commenced its beneficent mission in India, 
 ten thousand widows were annually burnt to death. 
 Tho eminent Serampore missionary, Dr. Carey, on 
 attempting an organized movement for the abolition 
 of the suttee, found that within a circle of thirty miles 
 around Calcutta, during a period of three months 
 there had been no less tha,n three hundred such im- 
 molations. Mothers worshipped the goddess of mur- 
 der, and, under the influence of dread superstition, 
 laid their hapless infants on the bleeding altars of 
 their superstition. Aged and helpless parents were 
 carried to the banks of some sacred river, and left 
 there to die. By wildly prostrating themselves be- 
 neath the wheels of the ponderous car of Juggernaut, 
 multitudes committed suicide. Mangled bodies were 
 supposed to appease the dread divinities. We still re- 
 member the missionary appeal : 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 45 
 
 jfficacy of 
 Him who 
 b for ours 
 Id." 
 uel in the 
 t, its dire 
 id no act 
 I than that 
 neritorious 
 ir times, a 
 pile, on the 
 rd. When 
 on in India, 
 t to death. 
 Carey, on 
 le abolition 
 ihirty miles 
 ■ee months 
 Id such im- 
 ss of mur- 
 uperstition, 
 <T altars of 
 irents were 
 ^r, and left 
 iselves be- 
 rusfnernaut, 
 Dodies were 
 IWe still re- 
 
 ;.':st: 
 
 " Light on the Hindu shed. 
 The maddening idol train ! 
 The flame of the suttee is dire and red. 
 
 And the fakir faints with pain ; 
 The dying moan on their cheerless bed, 
 By the Ganges laved in vain." 
 
 But, mainly as the result of public opinion, created 
 by Christian mis.sionaries, a great and growing change 
 has been effected. Suttee fires have been extingui.shed. 
 Infanticide has been abolished. The madness of pros- 
 tration beneath the cruel and crushing wheels of an 
 idol-car is prohibited. Hindu gods wait in vain for 
 their prescribed libations of blood. Dark and horriljle 
 practices, " which the edicts and energies of such em- 
 perors as Akbar and Aurungzebe could not restrain, 
 tremble before the cross of Christ." Facts such as 
 these, well brought out in " the Land of the Veda," mark 
 the progress of the mission movement in Hindustan, 
 and the beneficent changes that are passing over -the 
 people of that great country. 
 
 Caste is a distinctive and enormous feature and 
 wrong of the Hindu system. This pernicious law, in 
 all probability, had its origin in social inequalities. 
 Between the proud Aryan conqueror and the despised 
 aborigines of the soil, at the formative period of 
 Brahmanism, there must have been a broad l)arrier 
 of social grade. Religion, instead of bridging the 
 extremes, dug a deep trench. A great gulf was fixed. 
 " Now the Indian system of caste is simply a vast and 
 prolonged attempt to substitute artificial for natural 
 distinctions, to create and perpetuate hard and fast 
 
46 
 
 THE MACKDONIAN CRY. 
 
 lines of separation between the various orders of so- 
 ciety, and the occupations, privileges, dignities, per- 
 taining to them. It caught society at a point where 
 liistorical causes had led to certain social divisions of 
 rank and occupation, and it petrified these divisions 
 for all coming time."* Through the operation of caste 
 the Hindu people are distributed into separate classes, 
 and must remain distinct from birth to dea^h. The 
 presumptuous pride of the priest, and the utter hope- 
 lessnsss of the pariah, are alike intensified and stereo- 
 typed by the force and fixity of immemorial usage. 
 There cannot be alleviations or release. This iron 
 law forms an essential part of the Brahmanical system, 
 and may be regarded as the real test of Hinduism. 
 Religion ought to be a cementing principle and a bond 
 of union between man and man. But here it produces 
 alienation, and operates as an engine of despotisnj. 
 The'tyranny of this law tells with terrible effect upon 
 the social life of the people. A man of high rank may 
 lo.se caste, and then the place that knew him can 
 know him no more. 
 
 But the outcasts of India are most to be pitied. In 
 many districts of the country, until recently, they 
 were an excluded people ; not permitted to reside in 
 the city, to mingle with the crowd in the street, to 
 listen to the reading of sacred books, or even to ask 
 for charity at the street doors. There has been a slow 
 and slight relaxation of former stringency, and the 
 
 Dr. Caird, Oriental li>digioiUi, Huinb. Lib., p. 11. 
 
HINDUISM AND THK HINDUS. 
 
 47 
 
 pariah is permitted to reside in an inferior corner of 
 the town or village. But think of the de^^jradation ! 
 An outcast cannot come into contact with more favored 
 mortals of his own race and kindred. There is a 
 thought continually forced upon him, that his touch is 
 pollution, and that his presence is intolerable. Some 
 hateful thing makes him an object of loathing and 
 contempt. This man, created of God, redeemed by the 
 precious blood of Christ, endowed with exalted moral 
 and spiritual capabilities, and destined to immortality, 
 is made to feel a sense of immeasurable humiliation. 
 And even this baseness of condition does not exhaust 
 the sum of his misery. Degradation must be trans- 
 mitted to his children, and to his children's children. 
 As far as he knows, there is no power in heaven or 
 earth to release him from the curse, or to arrest the 
 entail of sorrow and woe. Shall the Macedonian cry 
 of the Hindu outcasts be unheeded ? Through untold 
 miseries, 
 
 " They call us to deliver 
 Their land from error's chain. " 
 
 The ramification of such an institution can be easily 
 imagined. Masses are held together by a chain, the 
 links of which it has taken ages to forge and rivet. 
 Every man is bound by the law of universal cohesion. 
 A Hindu, unless he wrench himself from all the ties of 
 national and social life, can only move as Ins caste 
 moves. In this fact may be found a serious obstruc- 
 tion to the prosecution of Christian work in India. 
 " What will become of mv caste ?" " Will not the pro- 
 
48 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 posed step endanj^er my caste ? " " Are not the mis- 
 sionaries resolved to break' up my caste?" These 
 burning questions arc inevitably forced to the front. 
 At every point the subject touches Hindu thought 
 and probes it to its very heart. But this adhesive- 
 ness of the social structure has an aspect of hopeful- 
 ness. Even the severance of asincjle individual causes 
 a jar through the complete fabric, and the impact of 
 multiplied conversions must be productive of far- 
 reaching results. If the pretensions of caste could be 
 tolerated, the Brahman allowed to take supreme posi- 
 tion, and inferior grades maintained, converts to 
 Christianity would be rapidly increased, and the statis- 
 tics of missions run into new and larjjer columns. But 
 the Church of Christ cannot recognize any law of caste. 
 " There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond 
 nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are 
 all one in Christ." There must be no compromi.se. 
 Brahman and Sudra have to bow before the same 
 altar, and to meet at the one communion. 
 
 " The chain of caste is broken," exclaimed the first 
 of Carey's converts, " and who shall mend it r Two 
 years later a Brahman surrendered his sacred thread, 
 and another link was severed. The scheme has been 
 devised with subtle and inferital ingenuity ; but, 
 through the touch of spiritual power, and the influence 
 of a Christian civilization, fetters shall fall away, and 
 the hardness of steel be dissolved. 
 
 Indirect ajjencies have done a good work in India. 
 Opportunities afforded by the last famine were signal- 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 49 
 
 ized bv noble deeds of kindness. Hinduism was 
 placed in manifest and humiliating contrast to the 
 Christian religion. Brahmans were consulted in the 
 dire extremity. Wealth was lavished at the shrines 
 of heathen gods. Ceremonial rites were scrupulously 
 observed. Heathen help was fervently implored. But 
 ritualistic service was all in vain. The heavens were 
 as brass. Priests were impotent men. There was 
 none to heed the suppliant's cry. In that hour of sore 
 need, Christianity, as an angel of love and pity, moved 
 through the land, and ministered to the sufferers. 
 
 A movement for the education of the women of 
 India tends to social revolution. It has long been the 
 battle-ground of evangelistic enterprise. The avowal 
 of such a purpose, in direct opposition to the beliefs 
 and habits of ages, had to encounter an excited and 
 indignant feeling. But missionary intrepidity was 
 not to be shaken. A marked and manifest change has 
 recently found expression in public and popular 
 opinion and sentiment. Solid ramparts of superstition 
 and prejudice have been fairly pierced. An immense 
 impetus has been given to social progress. Bound up 
 with this organized effort are the hopes and happiness 
 of untold and unborn millions. One of the most 
 thrilling of Oriental stories is that of Rama rescuing 
 his beautiful bride from the clutches of Ravannah, the 
 demon-king. Hanuman, the son of the wind, dis- 
 covered her prison-hou.se, and gave assurance of deliver- 
 ance. At the suggestion of Hanuman, Rama drew a 
 bow, and sent it to the monster's heart. The power 
 
 'I 
 
50 
 
 THt MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of darkness was (U'stroyed. Sita, the princess, was led 
 forth from captivity to share her husband's throne. A 
 warfare has been commenced for the rescue of the 
 sorrowful zenana captive. Dungeon walls are thickly 
 beleagurcd. Sharp are the arrows froi e polished 
 (juiver of the mighty archer. Demons c superstition 
 are surely doomed. India's beautiful daughter, rescued 
 from a long and foul imprisonment, .shall be brought 
 into the light and blessedness of a new and purer life. 
 Redeemed by Christ Jesus, robed in righteousness, the 
 ransomed one shall .share in coronation splendour and 
 triumph : " She shall be brought to the king in raiment 
 of needlework : the virgins, her companions that follow 
 her, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and 
 rejoicing shall she be brought: they sh^ 11 enter into 
 the king's palace." 
 
 An extraordinary intellectual movement also ranks 
 among the signs of the times in India. Keshub 
 Chunder Sen and other cultured and non-Christian 
 Hindus are leaders of the new faith. A general sanction 
 is given to revealed truth, and recognition is freely 
 accorded to the labors of missionaries. Idolatry is 
 renounced, and caste rejected. Hope has long been 
 cherished that this uprising of mind would receive a 
 spiritual baptism, and be brought under the influence 
 of Christianity. " Our hearts are touched," said Chun- 
 der Sen, a .splendid rhetorician, " conquered, overcome 
 by a higher power ; and that power is Christ : Christ, 
 not the Briti.sh Government, rules India ! None but 
 Christ deserves the precious diadem of the Indian 
 
niNonsM ANh thk Hindus. 
 
 51 
 
 crown, a!i(l In* shall hav«» it." But, notwith.standin<]f 
 sucli lirilliant and impassioned utterances, it is apparent 
 tliat the reformation has run to the extreme of ration- 
 alism. A hymn of the " new dispensation " crystallizes 
 characteristic tenets : " Many a Yogi and Riisln, many 
 a saint and devotee, have dispen.sed the true religion. 
 Ancient teachers, the great leaders of mind and 
 moulders of thought, Shiva and Shuka Chitanya, 
 whose .soul was the storehouse of God's love, Muni 
 antl Moses, Jesus and Mohammed, form one holy 
 family of .saints. All the.se are honored, the objects 
 of deepest reverence. But no one can stand in the 
 place of God, as a mediator or incarnation." Brah- 
 moism has been called a Christianity without (yhrist. 
 As represented by the Somaj, or by the new dispensa- 
 tion, it cannot be a regenerative power for India. 
 
 One of the saddest th(<nghts in connection with the 
 present intellectual feniic/it of the Hindu mind, is the 
 drift towards a dark and dreary sea of unbelief. Old 
 crtM^ls are being undermined. Structures of an im- 
 mense antiquity are in the process of upheaval. But 
 many advanced students, in the abandonment of their 
 ancestral religion, fail to reach the solid ground of 
 evangelical belief. Rationalism is the natural and 
 legitimate outcome of a purely secular education. 
 From the complete course of Government instruction, 
 up to the present time, there has been a rigid exclusion 
 of the distinctive teachings of revealed truth. There 
 is nothing in the pages of Bain or Mill, or of any text- 
 book of Western .science, to guide a perplexed and 
 
52 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 eager iiKjuirer to him who is "the way, and the truth, 
 and the life." A syllogi.srn cannot resolve the problem 
 of sin or of salvation. Teachers are not permitted to 
 encourage the idea that Christianity must supplant 
 Hinduism, that Christ Jesus should be preferred to 
 Krishna, or that " the blood of .sprinkling " is more 
 eflicacious for moral and spiritual cleansing than the 
 waters of the Ganges. " Launched out," says a recently 
 returned missionary, "on a shoreless sea of speculation, 
 cut clean from the old mooring, .sent adrift o'er a 
 perilous ocean of bewilderment, with no surer guide 
 than scientific text- books, the present state of some 
 will warrant the assertion that but a few years will 
 sec the rocks of downright infidelity strewn with the 
 shattered and battered wrecks of some of India's finest 
 and Yioblest .sons." 
 
 The Hindu mind is in transition. Fears have been 
 expressed as to the result. But there is good reason 
 to believe that the movement is in the direction of a 
 purer faith. Missions are not to be measured by mere 
 statistics. Progress is not limited to the facts of indi- 
 vidual conversion. Idolatries of Eastern cities and 
 sacred centres are buttressed and fortressed on every 
 side. Seams and rents, produced by undermining,' 
 operations, can scarcely be expected to reveal soon or 
 suddenly the crumbling weakness of such a structure. 
 It may be that the faith and patience of missionaries, 
 and of people by whom the enterprise is sustained, 
 shall be yet more sorely tested. But there cannot be 
 a doubt as to the future and final result. A wedge, 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 o3 
 
 that ensures ultimate dissolution, has been inserted 
 into the compact mass of ^rror and superstition. 
 Christianity is piercing the Brahmanical system to its 
 very heart. Many are beginning to realize the folly 
 and futility of idol worship. Heathen hearts are 
 yearning for an unknown good. Evangelistic work 
 is licing pron)oted by a hundred unconscious and un- 
 connected agencies. Processes of which no immediate 
 account can be taken are everywhere in active and 
 vigorous operation. A thousand avenues are being 
 cleared for the entrance of new and ameliorating ideas 
 and elements. Two million of boys, the men of the 
 future, receive instruction in secular and mission 
 schools. " The Hindu mind," says the historian of 
 tlie nineteenth century, " is awaking from the ."^leep 
 of as^es." It is the belief of Sir Charles Trevef\'an 
 that "when the absorption of truth has goncj far 
 [enough, native opinion will declare itself, and a nation 
 jbe born in a day." Every other faith, according to 
 the competent testimony of Sir Herbert Edwards, is 
 hlecaying, and " Christianity alone is beginning to run 
 its course." " The time is not far distant," spoke a 
 Brahman to a Jatrapore missionary, " when your 
 jreligion will be our religion, and your God our God. 
 \lt mud covie to that." 
 
 A testimony of exceptional value, in regard to this 
 iRubject of transition, may be given at greater length. 
 iThe Right Hon. W. E. Baxter, M.P., since a recent 
 [visit to India, has given some impressions of what he 
 witnessed. From the sacred city of Benares, in the 
 
54 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Maharajah's state barge, he slowly glided down the 
 Ganges. The scene could never be forgotten. It was 
 in the early morning. " The sun had just risen, and 
 its first rays were tinging the tops of domes and 
 towers, temples and palaces. Thousands of worship- 
 pers in bright garments were on the steps leading down 
 to the sacred streams, while the voices of fakirs, and 
 the tinkling of cymbals filled the air. Never had he 
 beheld anything more picturesquely beautiful ; but 
 this city, like the Athens of the Apostle, was wholly 
 given to idolatry. Not altogether wholly ! One of 
 the missionaries deplored the slow progress of the 
 mission. There were, however, five hundred boys in 
 its schools; the number of pilgrims was falling off; 
 the temples were getting into debt ; and, j^ear by year, 
 as t^e sapping and mining process went on all over 
 India there was greater liberty experienced in the 
 proclamation of Christian truth. Colleges and institu- 
 tions throughout the country, from Lahore to Calcutta, 
 admirably conducted, were crowded with intelligent 
 youth, learning the literature and science and religion 
 of Europe, who would one day become the lights of 
 Asia. It would be difficult to exaggerate the influence 
 which these seminaries in the end would exert ; they 
 might bring about a great social revolution even before 
 the end of the century." * 
 
 The Gospel of Christ is the hope of India. The 
 Macedonian cry of its teeming millions can only be 
 
 Sunday at Home, Nov. 1882, p. 751. 
 
HINDUISM AND THE HINDUS. 
 
 55 
 
 down the 
 m. It was 
 
 risen, and 
 iomes and 
 )f worship- 
 3i(Ym^ down 
 
 fakirs, and 
 ver had he 
 utiful ; but 
 was wholly 
 V 1 One of 
 jress of the 
 red boys in 
 
 falling off; 
 ear by year., 
 
 on all over 
 iced in the 
 and instity- 
 
 to Calcutta, 
 intelligent 
 and religion 
 
 le lights of 
 ,he influence 
 
 exert ; they 
 
 I even before 
 
 met and stayed by the proclamation of a glad evangel : 
 " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
 all sin." Missionaries that have lived and labored the 
 longest beneath that burning sky avow an unbounded 
 faith in their appointed message. The proud priests of 
 Brahma can only reijard the doctrine of the cross with 
 disdain. Occasionally they halt on the outskirts of a 
 listening crowd, in one of the sacred cities where Hindu- 
 ism Mtill towers in its strength. Brahmanical pretensions 
 are denounced, and the fall of the system predicted. 
 Dark eyes flash with anger. But the appliances of 
 the preacher, as he points the multitude to " the Lamb 
 of God which taketh away the sin of the world," seem 
 to be so unutterably feeble for the work .attempted, 
 and the apparent impression on the minds of the mass 
 of the people so very slight, that an expression of 
 bitterness and hate may be seen to change to some- 
 thing more of cool and ineffable contempt and scorn. 
 
 Yet India has already many witnesses for Jesus. 
 Conspicuous cases of individual conversion, even in 
 the citadel centres of the north, contain the pledge and 
 promise of a future work of God. Redeeming love 
 melts away the encrustati )ns of spiritual pride. 
 Through the sweetness and i.jv\'er of saving grace, the 
 hardness of prejudice is dissolved. Indifterence gives 
 place to a tender and inexpressible interest in sacred 
 themes. The subtile controversialist is transformed 
 into a true and loving disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Even the countenance of a genuine convert tells of an 
 unuttei'able emotion. There is the gladness of tran- 
 
 I i 
 
56 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRV, 
 
 sition from darkness to light, from doubt to faith and 
 {i^enuine peace. Calcutta needs exactly the same 
 gospel as that which St. Paul preached in the proud 
 city of Corinth : " But we preach Christ crucified, unto 
 the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks 
 foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews 
 and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom 
 of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than 
 
 men 
 
 and the weakness of God stronger than men." * 
 
 * Hinduism, however, is not the only factor in the problem of 
 India's evangelization. Fifty millions of people in that land are 
 followers of the false prophet. The spirit of Mohammedanism has 
 been embittered by the failure of cherished schemes of conquest. 
 Ambition burns to found Moslem empire, and to bring l)ack the 
 proud days and dynasty of the Delhi emperors. To the messenger 
 of the cross, adherents <»f the Koran are less^ accessible than the 
 idolaters around them. This is scarcely a matter of surprise. Every- 
 thing connected with Christianity is intimately identified with the 
 name and nationality of the conqueror. The bare idea of submission 
 wounds the pride, revives a sense of humiliation, and excites a 
 feeling of derision and hate. 
 
5 faith and 
 
 the same 
 
 the proud 
 
 cified, unto 
 
 he Greeks 
 
 both Jews 
 
 he wisdom 
 
 wiser than 
 
 an men." * 
 
 e problem of 
 hat land are 
 nedanism has 
 of conquest, 
 ing back the 
 lie messenger 
 ble than the 
 rise. Every- 
 fied with the 
 if submission 
 nd excites a 
 
 I 
 
"Rising near the base of the Himalayas and spreading over half 
 the continent of Asia, and extending to the more populous of the 
 adjacent islands, Buddhism everywhere takes the tinge of the soil 
 over which it flows, and the complexion of its adherents is not 
 more diverse than the aspects which it presents in Thibet and 
 Tartary, Ceylon and Burmah, China and Japan." — Dr. W. A. P. 
 Martin. 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 59 
 
 III. 
 
 CIVILIZED HEATHENISM: BUDDHISM AND 
 THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 AN immense tableland stretches over the vast ex- 
 panse of Central Asia. The plateau of Thiliet, 
 forming the highest part of this elevation, is traversed 
 by a stupendous mountain ridge, known by the natives 
 as " the roof of the world." If from the icy heights 
 of Pamir, the crowning summit of this ridge, as from 
 another Pisgah, our vision could sweep the continent, 
 we should look down upon the most populous lands of 
 tlie globe. To the north there are the extensive and 
 almost unexplored territories of Mongolia and Tartary. 
 On the south, the snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas 
 pierce the skies, and the roots of everlasting hills 
 strike down into the glowing and densely-populated 
 plains of Hindustan. Races and regions of Afghanis- 
 tan, Persia, and Asiatic Turkey are to the west ; and, 
 in the direction of the rising sun, beyond the rocks 
 of Thibet, the almost boundless empire of China 
 stretches away to distant wall and sea. Through the 
 greater part of this vast range, in some of its forms. 
 Buddhism is the prevailing religion. " This great 
 faith of Asia, in the number of its followers and the 
 area of its prevalence, surpasses any other form or 
 creed. Four hundred millions of our race live and 
 
 i 
 
60 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 die in the tenets of Gautama; and the spiritual 
 dominions of this ancient teacher extend, at the pre- 
 sent time, from Nepaul and Ceylon, over the whole 
 Eastern peninsula, to China, Japan, Thibet, Central 
 Asia, Siberia, and Swedish Lapland. India itself 
 might fairly be included in this magnificent empire of 
 belief ; for though the profession of Buddhism has for 
 the most part passed away from the land of its birth, 
 the mark of Gautama's sublime teaching is stamped 
 ineffaceably upon modern Brahmanism. Forests of 
 flowers are daily laid upon stainless shrines, and 
 countless millions of lips daily repeat the formula, / 
 take refuge in Buddha." * 
 
 Millions of Asiatics hear of no Saviour but the 
 Sakya-muni. To them, according to highest priestly 
 ideal, he is the joy and gladness of the whole world. 
 Helpless ones are encouraged to look to him as the 
 only helper. He is said to be " the dewa of the dewas, 
 and the brahma of the brahmas." Though great and 
 powerful, yet he is kind and compassionate. Rich 
 gifts are believed to be in store for the suppliant who 
 only softly pronounces the name of the illustrious 
 Sage, or that, in obedience to sacred inculcation, gives 
 a few grains of rice for charitv. But what can 
 highest human strength and resource avail for the 
 salvation of a sinful race ? O, for the revelation of 
 Him in whom "dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily!" 
 
 The Light of Asia, Preface. 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 61 
 
 The fouiider of tliis Eastern faith, (Jautama or 
 "Saddartha styled on earth," according to tradition, 
 was the son of Suddhodana, a rajah that ruled at 
 Kapilavastu in the north of India. Because of tribal 
 pre-eminence, he had the surname of Sakya-nmni ; 
 and, consequent upon the promulgation of his creed, 
 lie came to be known as Buddha, the Sage or Enlight- 
 tuer. Like most Oriental princes, during early life, 
 he had ample means for sensual gratification. But 
 su<ldenly the pleasures, immunities, and privileges of 
 nmk and riches were renounced. He retired to a 
 solitude. The fact of human depravity and misery 
 became the subject of profound and prayerful thought. 
 After a signal victory over the powers of darkness, 
 according to legends of liis life, and the fiercest as- 
 saults of pride and passion, Gautama obtained an 
 extraordinary degree of illumination, and entered 
 upon a kind of sublime and ethereal existence. He 
 gave himself up to meditation, and to altsorbing 
 thought. A new scheme of morality and religion 
 was evolved and formulated. Leading principles were 
 emmciated in his first sermon : rij'ht views and hjfjjh 
 aims, kindly and upright behaviour, a harmless liveli- 
 hood, perseverance in well-doing, intellectual activity 
 and earnest thought. 
 
 Many of Buddha's maxims are admirable. They 
 gleam with the light of a traditional truth, widely 
 disseminated through that part of the world. But 
 the teachings of Gautama ignore the fact of sin, and 
 the exceeding sinfulness of sin; and to understand 
 
62 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 their impotence, as a means of regeneration, we 
 must look deeper to the heart of the system. The 
 words of this teacher are not spirit or life. They 
 constitute a system of philosophy rather than a creed 
 and standard of spiritual worship. Buddhism was 
 proposed as a reform of Brahiiianism. Extremes 
 meet. Brahmanism is said to be faith without know- 
 lege, a God without morality ; and Buddhism is char- 
 acterized as "knowledge without faith" and "morality 
 without God." 
 
 There is a prevalent metaphysical notion in the 
 East that the visible and material universe is but a 
 transient manifestation of the Supreme Essence ; that 
 the human soul is an emanation from the eternal 
 Spirit ; that at some stage of existence, after succes- 
 sive transmigrations and innumerable miseries and 
 vexations, the loftiest ideal of life shall be attained ; 
 that released from individual existence, there shall be 
 an ultimate union with the essential principle of the 
 universe : 
 
 "Yon cloud which floats in heaven, the prince replied, 
 Wreathed like gold around your Indra's throne, 
 Rose thither from the tempest-driven sea ; 
 But it must fall again in tearful drops, 
 Trickling through rough and painful water-ways, 
 By cleft and nullah and muddy flood. 
 To Gunga and the sea, wherefroni it sprang. 
 Know'st thou, my brother, if be not thus. 
 After their many pains, with the saints in bliss ? " * 
 
 Thi^ Light of Asia, Lib. Mag., Vol. 3rd, p. 280. 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 63 
 
 This central idea of Oriental philosophy, from the 
 force of reaction, seems to have furnished the germ of 
 Buddha's doctrinal scheme. Earnestly the Sage 
 looked for deliverance from mundane and mortal 
 miseries. Some alleviation there was in the accepted 
 belief of the transmigration of souls. But there was 
 a current theory that even the multitude of gods 
 could not obtain exemption from the pain and uncer- 
 tainties of change. It was understood that, at the 
 will of the Supreme, the most exalted divinities were 
 liable to alternate and successive periods of creation 
 and absorption. The creature is subject to bondage. 
 Aggregate of action in previous states and stages of 
 existence, for which there may have been little or no 
 responsibility, determines the nature of subsequent 
 birth and life. The insect, that perishes at the close 
 of the summer noon, may enshrine the soul of a 
 former inhabitant of earth. Humanity may be reborn 
 as a radiant angel, or the reverse of such process may 
 be the result of transmigration. This consideration 
 drove Gautama to sheer atheism, and led him to deny 
 Supreme existence. There was no such Being in the 
 universe. A new theory was propounded. "Existence 
 is sutiering." " Human passion is the cause of exist- 
 ence." But, through obedience to the laws of life, 
 "the destruction of human passion may be obtained ;" 
 and, "by the extinction of passion, existence may be 
 brought to an end." Means and methods are minutely 
 prescribed to facilitate the process. Austerities and 
 ceremonies are appointed, and the mortification of self 
 
64 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 is rigidly enforced. Retirement from the world, some- 
 what after the manner of medioeval monasticism, finds 
 abundant encouraijement, and is deemed to be exceed- 
 ingly helpful to a saintly life. Immunities of the 
 flesh are to be subdued, and vile necessities of appetite 
 and passion strangled and slain. Each lust of the 
 soul, as well as of the body, must be thoroughly 
 mortified. The mind should be urged to abstraction. 
 Nature will then yield up her deepest secrets. 
 Through severity of self-abnegation the blessedness 
 of Nirvanii shall be attained. 
 
 To make sure that man ^in this world shall not 
 reappear, under any new form of illusion and misery, 
 the very elements of spiritual existence are to be 
 extinguished. Personality must be utterly destroyed. 
 Every root and tendril of desire and affection con- 
 nected with the idea and anticipation of perpetuated 
 and oonscious life have to be sternly extii-pated and 
 severed from the soul. Meditation and absolute 
 abstraction of thought and feeling are the gateways 
 and avenues through which the Buddhist attains to 
 the ultimate and coveted unity and rest ; the fulness 
 and felicity, as he dreams, of perfect and complete un- 
 consciousness, a blessedness without emotion, thought, 
 or sense. That creed makes it bettpv '^^>* ^ 'le. The 
 follower of Buddha is taught t ni a Ufeles.s. 
 
 nameless, sinless, stirless res tl can know 
 
 no change. To make sure o i he d( outl} -wished-for 
 consummation, the process must 1 gin here, and the 
 mind be elevated to the level of a law under whioh 
 
^1 
 
 BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 66 
 
 impulae and desire shall be utterly repressed. Com- 
 pleteness of renunciation leads to the desired goal. 
 Everything of earthly passion and purpose is forever 
 extinguished. The life of man, according to a favourite 
 simile, resembles an Indian lamp. " As tlame cannot 
 exist without oil, so individual existence depends on 
 the cleaving to low and earthly things. If there is 
 no oil in the lamp it will go out.'* * 
 
 But what is the Nirvana of this philosophical 
 sclieme ? What shall be the Jinale or ultimate condi- 
 tion of the soul — trance or nihilism, absorption or 
 extinction ? Shall life be exhaled like the dew from 
 the lotus leaf at sunrise, or absorbed as the ruin-drop 
 that "slips away into the shining sea?" Must con- 
 sciousness fade out in the .same manner as the flicker- 
 ing riame of a lamp that can never be re-lighted ? 
 The word " nirvana," according to various exponents 
 of the Buddhist doctrine, may be understood to mean 
 " without blowing," an eternal quiescence, " a state of 
 calm which no breath of wind disturbs ;" or it may 
 mean " blowing out," as the extinguishing of a liglit, 
 the complete extinction of being. Dr. Caird does not 
 liesitate to pronounce that " this heaven of the Budd- 
 liists contains in it, at least explicitly, no positive 
 element such as we express by the words moral and 
 spiritual perfection, but is neither more nor less than 
 absolute annihilation." i* 
 
 * Bwldhism, Rhys Davis, p. 114. 
 t Orkntal lhHtjion.'<, Huuibolt Lib., p. 24. 
 
06 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Such is pure Buddhism 1 It recognizes no Divine 
 Personality, and it leaves man without God and with- 
 out hope in the world. Personality would be regpTded 
 as a defect. Deity is an abstraction. Heart and flesh 
 cry out in vain for the living God. Prayer is useless, 
 and the idea of propitiation a delusion. Humanity is 
 orphaned and desolate. There is no ear tu I. ear, no 
 heart to sympathize, no arm to save. Weakness can- 
 not take hold upon strength. Lips of supplication are 
 sealed. The heavens are as brass. Gautama " chokes 
 the cry" of the helpless human soul. The more 
 thoroughly a disciple or devotee of this much-vaunted 
 system accepts its teachings and theories, the farther 
 does he drift away from the idea of a living, personal 
 God, and from the consolation and strength of a Divine 
 Fatherhood.* 
 
 Sutras abound with generous phrases. The scheme 
 of Sakya-muni extols brotherhood and charity, benefi- 
 cence and alm.sgiving ; 1 it, in practical life, all these 
 exhortations are neutralized. The .spirit of the system, 
 not^vithstanding the glow of beautiful precept, tends 
 to utter and intense selfishness. It isolates man from 
 society. Abstraction is urged, and tender impulses are 
 extinjT^uished. Transcendental idealism and the life of 
 a monk or hermit are incompatible with the deeds and 
 demands of an active and practical philanthropy. 
 
 Buddhism, at its best, is not only atheistic and selfish 
 
 * ' ' Buddha recognizes no .supreme deity ; in only God, he affirmed, 
 is what man himself can become." — IJiiHluium, Monier Williams, 
 p. 170. 
 
<i I 
 
 BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 67 
 
 in its teachings and tendencies, but its votaries are 
 destitute of any inspiring and ennobling hope. In 
 regard to the great questions of human origin and 
 destiny, it is a sunless, starless, rayless religion. Its 
 jiiuch-lauded nirvana is a mere vagary, a poetical idea, 
 a boautiful dream, and can never ar'^'li the stormy sky 
 of human life with the mafrniticent bow of an immortal 
 hope. What a contrast to the fulness of joy, the home 
 of the many mansions, the companionship of angels 
 and glorified saints, the blessedness of the beatific 
 vision, the rapture of endless praise, and the perpe- 
 tuitv of bliss, which Christianity reveals ! Buddhism 
 >j;lories in the extinction of personality and of every 
 capacity for eternal life. But, through the light and 
 spiritual power of a nobler and purer revelation and 
 i\'ligion, transcending the speculations of the Sakya- 
 uumi, an eminent Oriental saint exulted in hope : " For 
 I know that mj- Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth : ancl though 
 after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in mv 
 riesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and 
 mine eyes shall behold, and not another." 
 
 The Buddhist reformation besjjan in the holy city of 
 Benares, Northern India, about five centuries Ijefore 
 the Christian era. Gautama was an enthusiastic and 
 intrepid missionary, and his tenets were promulgated 
 with a zeal and success that have never been exhibited 
 or achieved by the emissaries of any other heathen 
 religion. The new faith conquered the Himalayan 
 countries, took possession of Ceylon, and penetrated to 
 
em 
 
 68 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Thibet, the empire of China, and the islands of Japan. 
 Through contact or amalgamation with other Asiatic 
 and idolatrous systems and religions, Buddhism has 
 been greatly modified. An attempt has been made to 
 define the doctrines of the Eastern Sage ; but, in modern 
 and prevalent Buddhism, there is very much that its 
 philosophic founder would fail to recognize, and more 
 that he would probably refuse to acknowledge. " Hav- 
 ing been adopted by very savage and very civilized 
 people — the wild hordes on the cold table-lands of 
 Nepaul, Tartary and Thibet ; the cultured Chinese and 
 .Japanese in their varying climes; and the quiet Sin- 
 halese and Siamese, under the palm groves of the 
 south — it has been so modified by the national char- 
 acteristics of its converts, that it has developed into 
 stranoelv inconsistent and even antafjonistic beliefs."* 
 The purest type of Buddhism is now to be found in 
 Ceylon. That island is regarded as the holy land of 
 Asia. Thrice it was visited by Buddha in person. 
 There his discourses were first committed to writing. 
 The central mountain peak of that island, it is afiirmed, 
 still b ars the impress of the Sage's foot. Nowhere 
 else, in our time, has heathenism exhibited so nmch of 
 vitality and of the spirit of aggressiveness. A keen 
 controversy has for many years been carried on be- 
 tween Buddhist priests and Christian missionaries. 
 An early incident of the dispute, as narrated by Spence 
 Hardy, shows the temper of Buddha's champions, and 
 
 • Biddhisni, Rhys Davis, p. 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 69 
 
 the ease and effectiveness with which they wield their 
 polished weapons. In connection with one of the 
 tjfreat heathen festivals, a number of slips were printed 
 at tlie mission press, and distributed among the pil- 
 ifriiiis on their way to the chief temple. The first of 
 these leaflets announced " Important information," and 
 contained an emphatic passage : " We know that an 
 idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none 
 other God but one." An immediate reply was pro- 
 duced. The rejoinder was affixed to a tree, near one 
 of the main thoroughfares, where it was read by thou- 
 sands. " We know," was the retort, " that there is no 
 Ifod who is the giver of all good, and who lives for ever, 
 existing in time ppst, present, and to come ; and that 
 none but Buddha is the creator and the donor of all 
 sorrow-destroying tranquility." A second publication 
 in the missionary series was headed " Good news," and 
 contained an epitome of the whole gospel : " For God 
 so \o\vj\ the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, tliat whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 hut have everlasting life." The counterpart of this 
 announcement was to the effect that another glorious 
 incarnation appealed to the faith and gratitude of the 
 people : " The present Buddha .so much, so infinitely 
 pitied Maraya, and all beings in every world, that 
 resolving to become Buddha, he came down from ' 
 heaven ; though, on approaching the seat of Buddha- 
 ship, his design was oppose<l by the Dewa Maraya and 
 his host -. yet, having conquered and put him to flight, 
 he became supreme Buddha, in order that all that 
 
aaa 
 
 70 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 believe him should not perish but obtain the happiness 
 of nirvana." The third missionary declaration was 
 entitled, " Divine instruction." It affirmed that " there 
 is one God, and one mediator between God and man, 
 the man Christ Jesus." An answer found equal pub- 
 licity : " He who delights in the glorious sermons of 
 the all-wise Buddha, more divine than the gods, who 
 receives no false doctrine, and who perseveres in the 
 performance of tlie meritorious actions, shall obtain 
 divine and human enjoyments, with all other eternal 
 blessings." Discussions in Ceylon have been marked 
 by eminent ability. Men of literary and scholarly 
 distinction have contended skilfully for the Christian 
 faith, but among the champions of the heathen creed 
 they have found foemen worthy of their steel.* 
 
 A special prominence, for good reason, has been 
 assigned to these facts of the Buddhist controversy. 
 Ceylon is the consecrated centre of this religious 
 system, and the ground on which it can be studied to 
 the best advantage. Throughout Central Asia there 
 is a current tradition that from the holy island great 
 changes are to be introduced into the popular faith. 
 Whatever happens at that sacred spot makes its in- 
 fluence felt in every part of the Buddhist world. It 
 would bo impossible for us not to feel a thrill of in- 
 terest in any of those movements that touch the hopes 
 
 * A native Wesley an missionary, Rev. David de .Silva, "well read 
 both in Pali and Sanskrit," was the representative of Cli.'istianity in 
 the latest public Budtlhist controversy, in Ceylon, 187.'^. 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 71 
 
 or fears and mould the lives of so many millions of 
 our fellowmen. 
 
 Buddhism has been a perpetual blight and no bless- 
 ing to Ceylon. For ages it has been the dominant 
 faith. There has been ample time for the fullest ex- 
 periment. No region could be more favourable or 
 fitting for its development. It signally adapts itself 
 to each surrounding scene. Floral offerings are the 
 special demand for Gautama's service of worship ; and 
 in this island everlasting spring abides. Flowers are 
 in constant bloom. Ceylon is " the resplendent," the 
 fairest " gem of the Indian Ocean," end " the brightest 
 pearl on the brow of India." From central peak to 
 tlie border of its snow-white coral, the land is pen- 
 cilled in lines of soft and exquisite beauty. Language 
 fails to depict the charm and fascination of scenery 
 and climate. In the midst of mingled grandeur and 
 loveliness, perfumed by the fragrance of cinnamon 
 groves, Buddhism has erected its stately temples. 
 Through gorgeous grounds, avenues of palms and 
 other tropical foliage, the worshippers pass into the 
 spacious sanctuaries of idolatry. Yellow-robed priests 
 chant the doctrines of their national creed. But meta- 
 physical subtleties are not comprehended by the mass 
 of tlie people ; and even moral inculcations have but 
 little practical influence upon their hearts or lives. 
 Men and women place briglit garlands upon the altar, 
 and bow before imai^es of hard and liideous form and 
 feature. '?here is no p(jwer to regenerate and save. 
 A stanza of Heber's liynm, written in the early days 
 of missionary enterprise, still tells the sad story : — 
 
72 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 "What though the spicy breezes 
 
 Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle ; 
 Though every prospect pleases, 
 
 And only man is vile ; 
 In vain, with lavish kindness, 
 
 The gifts of God are strewn ; 
 The heathen in his blindness 
 
 Bows down to wood and stone." 
 
 l^uddhisin is the dominant religion of the large 
 territory known as Cochin China. This peninsula, 
 situated between China and India, and influenced by 
 the civil and religious movements of both empires, 
 with a numerous and mixed population, forms an im- 
 portant mission field. The great Baptist missionary, 
 .ludson, entered Burmah in 1818. Seven years he and 
 his companions toiled in Rangoon before a single con- 
 vert clieered their hearts or blessed their work. In 
 this land the Buddhistic system is at its worst. But 
 the faith and intrepidity of the great pioneer were 
 never shaken. Three vears after the commencement 
 of the mission, signs of impatience began to be mani- 
 fested by the people at home. " If they ask," he wrote, 
 " what prospect of ultimate success is there ? tell them, 
 as much as there is in an almighty and faithful God, 
 who will perform his promise, and no more." The 
 work was heroically begun, and it has been nobly sus- 
 tained, crowned with a magnificent success. 
 
 The kingdom of Siam is pre-eminently a stronghold 
 of Buddliism. Beyond the rest of Asia it is distin- 
 guished for splendid temples and gigantic statues. 
 Stupendous superstition obtains an undisputed suprem- 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS, 
 
 73 
 
 acy over national feeling and sentiment. From palace 
 to hovel the same religion prevails. The king, before 
 his coronation, must don the yellow robe ; and the 
 bridegroom, before receiving his bride, must wear the 
 same symbol. All associations and relationships of 
 life are penetrated, pervaded, and shadowed, by the 
 rites and requirements of this idolatrous and degrading 
 sj'stem. 
 
 Buddhism has conquered the rocky region in the 
 centre of the Asiatic continent. The mountains of 
 Tibet abound with temples, monasteries, and other 
 religious institutions. It is said that not less than 
 eighty thousand lamas, or Buddhist priests, are sup- 
 ported at the expense of the Government. Nowhere 
 does monstrous superstition exert a more baleful in- 
 tiuonce. True to the spirit of an heroic and historic 
 past, the Moravians have planted their latest mission 
 (•n the high lands of this interior and almost inac- 
 cessible country. For the first time, the sacred Scrip- 
 tures have been translated into the languacje of the 
 people. God grant that the handful of corn thus 
 sown upon the top of the mountains may be fruitful 
 as Lebanon, and that it may speedily flourish like 
 grass of the earth ! 
 
 China, " the Gibraltar of heathenism," also renders 
 supreme homage to Buddha. Oriental religions, in 
 their interlacings, are frequently intricate and difficult 
 to trace. This is particularly the case in the Chinese 
 empire. The earliest faith, as far as can be ascertained, 
 in that part of Asia, was a plain and simple belief in 
 6 
 
 
74 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 the Supreme Being, creator of the heavens and the 
 earth, and tlie heneficent and bountiful giver of all 
 daily blessings. Monotheism was gradually obscured 
 by materialistic worship — that of woods and rivers, 
 hills and clouds. To this, as another distinguishing 
 feature, was added the worship of ancestors. About 
 five or six centuries before Christ, Lao-tze, an eminent 
 teacher, propounded an elaborate system of philosophy; 
 but, while failing to influence the masses through the 
 medium of intellect, he encouraged polytheism and 
 gross superstition. Thus he contributed greatly to 
 the deepening of the spiritual gloom, and to the de- 
 generacy of public worship. A still greater name in 
 China is that of Confucius. For nearly twenty-five 
 centuries the speculations and inculcations of this 
 illustrious Sage have wielded a potent influence in 
 that most populous land of the globe. Once a year, 
 in official and representative character, accompanied 
 by principal members of the court, the emperor of 
 China renders national homage in the temple in Peking. 
 " Confucius." he exclaims, " how great is Confucius ! " 
 The system of this venerated teacher, however, was a 
 philosophy rather than a religion. His aim is thought 
 to have been to rescue a primitive and comparatively 
 pure religion from the corruptions of Taoism, to estab- 
 lish a rational worship, and to secure good government 
 for the people. The central and controlling idea of 
 Confucianism is that of subordination — of the wife to 
 the husband, of the child to the parent, and of the 
 subject to the sovereign. Obedience, if perfect, accord- 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 75 
 
 ing to the original theory, would develop the five 
 fundamental virtues : benevolence, uprightness, de- 
 corum, knowledge, and faithfulness. But the Sage of 
 Cliina failed to comprehend an inevitable law of fallen 
 liuman nature : " When I would do good, evil is present 
 with m(\" Hence the radical defect, and consetpiont 
 failure, of the much-lauded system of morality. Theory 
 was perfect. It is questionable if anything finer than 
 the higher precepts of Confucius has ever emanated 
 fi'om any human source. But sublime inculcation was 
 weak through the flesh. 
 
 Early in the Christian era Buddhism was promul- 
 pited in China, and may now be regarded as fch«i 
 popular, if not the established, religion of the empire. 
 It is difficult, however, to run any clear line of Chinese 
 holief. Creeds are amalgamated, and worship is mixed. 
 A Chinaman may hold three religions, if such they can 
 ho called, at one and the same time. Confucianism, 
 Taoism and Buddhism are mingled in various propor- 
 tions. The result is not a satisfactory one. There 
 lias been a long and continuous process of deteriora- 
 tion. Even Buddhism has degenerated. "It has never 
 surmounted its environments, but, like organisms low 
 in the scale of life, suffered those environments to 
 modify its form, to tone down its abnormities, to elimi- 
 nate elements too offensive to national taste and pre- 
 judices, and to incorporate other elements foreign to 
 its constitution, yet essential to its survival." * Were 
 
 Paper by Rev. F. T. Masters, Canton, 18S2. 
 
76 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 the Sakya-muni to return to earth, especially to those 
 temples which hear his name in eastern and central 
 Asia, he woiiM scarcely pronounce a benediction on 
 priest or people. Degrading idolatries ohtain the sanc- 
 tion of the system, are sustained by the name and 
 prestige of national worship, and almost everything in 
 the form of an image or idol finds a place in Buddhist 
 ceremonial and service. 
 
 Until forty years ago China was hermetically sealed. 
 In that fact there may have been a providential design. 
 The aggressive and conquering spirit of mo'lern mis- 
 sions was preceded by days of spiritual feebleness. 
 Overflowings of Chinese depravity might then have 
 been sufficient to swamp all Christendom. It is always 
 a great shock to the feelings of a Christian man or 
 woman to be brought for the first time into contact 
 with the institutions and immoralities of China, into 
 which India has also poured so much of foulness and 
 corruption. An interview with one or two mission- 
 aries, acquainted with coast and interior of the coun- 
 try, more than satisfies us in regard to the moral and 
 spiritual condition of the teeming millions of people. 
 China is one of the oldest countries in the world. It 
 has long had the advantage of science and literature. 
 Civilization is splendid. Education and other resources 
 have been utilized and fully tested. But in spite of 
 all this culture, it has, we are told, " become morally 
 and socially worse and worse, until the first chapter 
 of Romans describes its condition, as though written 
 by a Chinaman." Testimony is all to the same pur- 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 77 
 
 pose. We are assured that only personal contact can 
 enable us to " realize how unutterably evil and miser- 
 able a thing heathenism is," and that " only One fully 
 knows this." The Macedonian cry is intense and 
 piercing, as when the heathen of Europe called to St. 
 Paul, in the night-vision, " Come over and help us." 
 
 But signs of a good and gracious character are be- 
 tdnnintif to cheer the watchers and workers in that 
 land. Missionaries are the men who know the country 
 best, and they are hopeful in regard to the result. 
 Traditional customs and beliefs will doubtless strive 
 hard for the mastery, but the gospel must prevail. 
 There is something better than Buddhism in store for 
 China. Even the ancient Sage of the empire, through 
 some snatch of Messianic prediction it may V)e, caught 
 a glimpse of a brighter day : " In process of time a 
 Holy One will be born, who will redeem the world. 
 The nations will wait for him as the fading flowers 
 desire the summer rain. He will be born of a virgin, 
 and his name will be called the Prince of Peace. China 
 will be visited by his glory." Then shall the sacred 
 prophecy have its accomplishment : " And these sliall 
 come from far : and, lo, these from the north and the 
 west ; and these from the land of Sinim." 
 
 Buddhism is the popular religion of Japan, ''the 
 land of the rising sun." That country, with its thirty- 
 live millions of people and a rapidly-advancing civiliza- 
 tion, is destined probably to be the Great Britain of 
 the Asiatic world. Shintoism, a kind of political and 
 patriotic system, combining homage to the reigning 
 
78 
 
 THK MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 sovereign witli a form of ancestral worship, is the 
 ancient Japanese religion, and until recently obtained 
 State recognition. But there is little in it to meet or 
 satisfy any of the instincts or aspirations of the human 
 soul, and it now numbers comparatively few adherents. 
 Buddhism is the religion of the mass. In 18G9 it was 
 represented by one hundred and sixty-eight thousand 
 priests, and a vast number of temples and monasteries. 
 But the Government has recently abolished the reli- 
 gious department of public service. This change, it is 
 hoped, " will result in the final disendowment and 
 overthrow of the old religions of the land." 
 
 A great change is passing over Japan. Her gates 
 are being opened widely for the introduction of West- 
 ern ideas. But religions, deeply founded in national 
 sentiment, venerable by antiquity, buttressed by im- 
 mense revenues, may not be expected to succumb 
 readily to any rival. Adherents of an ancient system 
 are not likely all at once to lose their faith in former 
 guides. But that land of the sunrise needs a purer 
 faith. Buddhism is responsible for very much of its 
 darkness and superstition. It is not easy to lift the 
 veil from the darker aspects even of civilized heathen- 
 ism. When the first student from Japan was resident 
 in the United States, a gentleman showed him an ex- 
 quisitely formed and richly ornamented Japanese vase. 
 It was regarded as a superb work of art, and a credit 
 to the land of its production. He was asked to explain 
 the mystic and elaborate characters and designs by 
 which it was covered. But he had to remain silent, 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 79 
 
 for it displayed tlie deep shame of liis country. That 
 beautifully wrought work of heathen Japan exhihit(*d 
 " scenes and inscriptions breathing out impurity." No 
 wonder he longed for the gospel. It alone can lift 
 them " from the immoralities that pervade the land, 
 and leave a stain on all they touch." But a new sun 
 has risen ; and as foul things shrink from the light, 
 che shadows of a long, deep night shall ilee away. 
 
 The ports of Japan were opened to trade in 1854, 
 and her doors to missionaries in 1869. The political 
 changes which preceded and produced this remarkable 
 revolution could not be regarded as the result of human 
 foresight and wisdom. The Japanese have been, un- 
 consciously on their part, led to a consummation of 
 which, at the outset, they never dreamed. It has been 
 as in the vision of the Hebrew prophet. The mystic 
 chariot of providential movement, as seen at Chebar, 
 was wide in its sweep. There was an apparently 
 complicated motion, as of " a wheel in the middle of a 
 wheel." But the wheels of revolution were guided by 
 infallible wisdom ; and there was rapid and continuous 
 progress, for " they turned not when they went." 
 
 While doors were being strangely opened in Japan, 
 there was a simultaneous preparation of agency. At 
 a time when a heavy penalty was attached to leaving 
 the country, in 1865, young Joseph Neesima ran away 
 to Shanghai, and there obtained a passage to Boston. 
 He had a passionate desire to learn to read, and his 
 first lessons were received from the sailors. Through 
 the earlier part of John's Gospel he patiently pursued 
 
80 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 his way. The sixteenth verse of the third chapter 
 arrested his attention. It was a wonderful announce- 
 ment : " For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." The 
 sense and significance of that glorious passage began 
 to dawn slowly on his mind, and he prayed for light 
 and truth. Through the interest of the captain, on 
 their arrival at Boston, he was introduced to the 
 generous owner of the vessel, and sent in course to 
 Phillip's Academy and Amherst College. He gradu- 
 ated, had flattering offers to remain in the United 
 States, but nobly persisted in his purpose to return 
 and preach the gospel to his countrymen. This youth- 
 ful student went home to Japan, " possessed of the 
 zeal of an apostle," and is now at the head of an influ- 
 ential institution in Tokio, for the purpose of training 
 young men for the work of the Christian ministry. 
 
 Buddhism is still a mighty force in Japan. Immense 
 sums are just now being expended on its structures. 
 But the proudest and palmiest days are past. A mis- 
 sionary visited Kioto, the sacred capital, in 1873, and 
 recorded his impressions of the waning power of the 
 national religion. It had not then received impulse 
 and stimulus from the rivalry of an active and aggres- 
 sive evangelistic movement. Decadence was every- 
 where manife.st. He wandered all one afternoon 
 among the ancient and beautiful Buddhist temple.^ on 
 the east of Kioto. Paths and walks leading up to 
 and around the sacred places were grass-grown and 
 
BUDDHISM AND THE BUDDHISTS. 
 
 81 
 
 deserted. Even the priests had forsaken the shrine. 
 Wandering through the hails and corridors, as among 
 solitary ruins, he " could not refrain from thinking 
 and wishing and praying for men ready to go up and 
 possess the land." 
 
 One of the most remarkable things about the intel- 
 lectual uprising in Japan, is the earnest attempt to 
 grapple with the perplexing problems of lu^ v.fn 
 thought. Japanese scholars read ponderous works of 
 philosophy and science. We hear that their orders, 
 including productions of Herman Lotze, Kant, Darwin, 
 Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and Stuart Mill, are the sur- 
 prise of booksellers. " Not a wave," it is said, " of 
 religious error or advance, not a schism, not a doubt, 
 not a protest, is started on the current of American or 
 English thought, but breaks on that shore." The 
 rationalism of cultured classes presents a formidable 
 obstacle to the diffusion of evanjrelical truth. Churche.« 
 at home have need to pray earnestly for their mission- 
 aries in Japan. 
 
 But the axe is laid to the root of the tree of Budd- 
 hism, and it shall be hewn down and cast into the tire. 
 Before coffee can be grown in Ceylon a dense forest 
 growth must be stripped and cleared from the hills. 
 The workmen commence at the foot of the slope. 
 Trees are usually entangled in a profusion of climbing 
 plants, and this luxuriance of tropical foliage must be 
 first removed. Then the lowest tree is nearly, but not 
 quite, cut ohrough. Numerous fellers repeat the pro- 
 cess, and ere long the crowning ridge is reached. The 
 
82 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 topmost tree is then cut through at its root, and, as it 
 falls, bears down the one beneath. Others fall in their 
 turn, and crash follows crash until all the trees are 
 prostrate. Analogous processes are going on in the 
 realm of Oriental idolatry. Through Ceylon and 
 China, Burmah and Japan, a few stately trees have 
 fallen, and the reverberations of the woodman's axe 
 begin to sound across the Asiatic continent. But more 
 labourers are called for, and native fellers need to be 
 raised up. Jungles of heathen superstition and hoary 
 idolatries shall echo to the ringing strokes of many 
 sharp and gleaming axes. Heathenism shall be des- 
 troyed, and a purer growth promoted. " Instead of 
 the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the 
 brier shall come up the myrtle tree." 
 
 ' f> 
 
md, as it 
 I in their 
 trees are 
 n in the 
 Ion and 
 ees have 
 lan's axe 
 ^ut more 
 3ed to be 
 [id hoary 
 of many 
 be des- 
 istead of 
 id of the 
 
"At times, too, dark suspicions will cross the mind that such 
 inferior races as those of Africa are not suited for so pure and 
 elevated a religion as that of Christ, and that the best service they 
 could render to the Christianization of the world would be to die 
 out and become extinct. We must not, however, give heed to 
 thoughts like these. We must believe, rather, that Cod has made 
 of one blood all the nations of men that dwell upon the earth."— 
 Misaionary liecord. 
 
 who,s€ 
 
AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 85 
 
 IV. 
 
 INCTVILIZED HEATHENISM: AFRICA AND 
 ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 IN lands of Brahmanical and Buddhistic superstition, 
 and of idolatrous religions, we have been in 
 contact with the structures of an ancient and splendid 
 civilization. But there is also an uncivilized hea- 
 thenism. Through its dark and deceptive shadows, 
 multitudes of sinning and suffering people are groping 
 their way to an endless future. The Macedonian cry 
 of benighted millions appeals to and arouses the con- 
 science and compassion of a long-slumbering and 
 apathetic Church. Tribes at the lowest level of 
 civilization are members of the one human family, 
 and belong to a common brotherhood. " God hath 
 made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on 
 all the face of the earth ; and hath determined the 
 times before appointed, and the bounds of their 
 habitation." 
 
 Thoufrht turns to Africa : " an immense and homo- 
 goneous continent, groaning under the curse of the 
 slave-trade, the darkness of superstition, already half 
 of it under the yoke of Islam ; before whose estuaries 
 long sand-banks stretch beneath the heavy surf; 
 whose interior is encircled by the broad, rainless belt 
 
ma 
 
 86 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of the Sahara ; while the entrances are at all ])oints 
 barred by the deadly fevers of a tropical climate."* 
 
 A quarter of a century ago, the interior of Africa 
 was an almost unexplored region, a blank space on 
 the map of that continent. It was generally believed 
 to consist largely of burning desert sands, and of im- 
 mense and pathless wastes, unfit for human habitation. 
 Even members of the African Association spoke of it 
 as " unlike other continents " of the earth ; no large 
 inland lakes, or broad roUinjx riveis tlowinij from the 
 centre to the extremities. But,in the inter(^sts of Chris- 
 tianity, science, and commerce, the enterprise of num- 
 erous explorers has done much to dispel the mystery of 
 the Dark Continent. Until recently unknown regions 
 have been mapped out with scientific precision. The 
 source of the Nile, for three thousand years the problem 
 of African geography, through intrepidity of explorers, 
 has been traced to equatorial lakes and mountains. 
 A broad belt of low land, fraught with miasma and 
 fever, skirts the coast; and as missions continued for 
 a long period to be confined mainly to the unhealthy 
 mart, in, they were prosecuted at a fearful sacrifice of 
 life. But the configuration and climate of intertropical 
 Africa are not what had been once supposed. Within 
 the lines of the fever-belt, flanked on the east and 
 west by longitudinal ridges, the country forms a vast 
 table-land, depressed to the lake region at the centre. 
 The explorer finds himself richly rewarded a.s ho 
 
 * Christlieb's Foreign Missionn, p. 101. 
 
AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 S7 
 
 I il 
 
 Africa 
 aci' on 
 elievcd 
 of im- 
 litation. 
 <.c of it 
 LO large 
 rom the 
 »f Chris- 
 of num- 
 y-stery of 
 1 regions 
 m. ^ The 
 problem 
 xplorers, 
 
 roaches that upland plateau. There are glimpses of 
 undulating and magnificent stretches of country, 
 covered with tall grass, dotted by clumps of superb 
 foliage, threaded by silver streams, batlied in floods of 
 pure and brilliant sunlight, and bounded by distant 
 and dark mountain masses. Almost boundless capa- 
 hilities of material w^ealth awaits an immediate de- 
 velopment, and the enterprises of Christianity should 
 at least keep pace with the advance and achievements 
 of commerce and science. 
 
 The mission field of Africa may be regarded as 
 forming several distinct and very ditierent sections. 
 
 A narrow northern strip, bordering on the Mediter- 
 ranean, extending from Morocco to Egypt, was at one 
 time the seat of empire, the source of flourishing com- 
 merce, and the site of influential Christian churches. 
 But the Vandal conquerors of Rome crossed the Straits 
 of Gibraltar, and laid the country waste from west to 
 east. From the period of barbarian invasion, that 
 border land never recovered the strength or splendor 
 of an earlier civilization. Under the standard of the 
 Saracen, by which the Barbary States were next swept 
 and completely subjugated, the religion of the Koran 
 was remorselessly promulgated. Mohammedanism is 
 still the dominant creed. The mixed races of people, a 
 fu'iion of Arabian and Libvan blood, with more than 
 a trace of the ancient Phenician, are possessed of 
 splendid natural capabilities ; and, in the day of 
 Africa's redemption, they are sure to take a foremost 
 place. 
 
.S8 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Western Africa extends from Morocco and Sene- 
 gambia to the south as far as the Bight of Benin. 
 Back from the belt of western coast lies the great 
 slave region of Soudan, where eighty million of people 
 have sunk to the very lowest level of degradation and 
 misery. Of the actual and pitiable condition of the 
 populations distant from the sea, we have only faint 
 and occasional glimpses. Thick mists of obscurity, 
 especially in the direction of the river Niger, hang 
 heavily and gloomily over the interior country. But 
 even if the veil were lifted, density dispelled, and the 
 barbarities of life fully understood, it is scarcely pro- 
 bable that there would be anything to relieve the 
 dark and dismal picture. 
 
 Facts of Slave Coast atrocities, the story of which 
 has been repeatedly told, have caused the civilized 
 world to shudder ; and, in the name of a common 
 humanity, such vile observances have been denounced 
 and execrated. Dahomian annual " customs " are sig- 
 nalized by processions, revelling and intoxication, th^ 
 horrid sound of the fatal drum, an exhibition of skulls, 
 and a parade of barbaric trophies. A national cere- 
 monial, in which the immolation of eighty of the 
 sanguinary monarch's subjects contributed to the eclat 
 of the occasion, was witnessed and described bv 
 Captain Burton. Grand customs are performed on 
 the death of the king ; and, at such a time, hundreds 
 of men and women fall victims to " revenge, ostenta- 
 tion and pretended piety." The number of persons 
 slaughtered in cold blood, when these abominable ri< es 
 
AFRirA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 89 
 
 sene- 
 ^enin. 
 great 
 Deople 
 »n and 
 of the 
 f faint 
 curity, 
 ', hang 
 '. But 
 md the 
 jly pro- 
 3ve the 
 
 I which 
 civilized 
 ommon 
 ounced 
 are sig- 
 ion, the 
 f skulls, 
 al cere- 
 of the 
 he eclat 
 bed by 
 med on 
 undreds 
 ostenta- 
 persons 
 hie rit'^s 
 
 were celebrated in 1860, was estimated at more than 
 two thousand. Assuredly the dark places of the eaith 
 are full of the habitations of cruelty. 
 
 A vivid remembrance of early life is connected with 
 the perusal of Freeman's famous missionary journal. It 
 contained a glowing narrative of his first visit to 
 Ashanti, and of the scenes which he witnessed in the 
 Itlood-stained streets of Kumasi. An immense pro- 
 cession paraded the prominent places of the capital. 
 Jn that motley mass and array, the royal executioners 
 found a conspicuous position. Instead of streaming 
 banners and proud insignia and the kind of pomp and 
 pageantry to which we are accu.stomed in the civil 
 and military processions of Christian and civilized 
 countries, instruments of torture and decapitation were 
 ostentatiously displayed. There was the diabolical 
 death-drum, literally covered with dried clots of blood, 
 and decorated with human skulls. It was always 
 beaten when |rhe cold and cruel steel had done its work, 
 and the heads of unfortunate victims had been severed 
 from their bodies. No less than forty lives were 
 sacrificed during a space of two days. The ground 
 was saturated with blood, and " putrefying bodies 
 tainted the air." That darinjj and heroic visit had 
 been undertaken for the purpose of effecting an 
 entrance for the go.spel. No wonder that the solitary 
 missionary, as he gazed upon the slaughtered victims 
 of relentless and capricious ferocity, was filled with 
 sorrow and indignation, and longed for the means of 
 amelioration. The very stones of the blood-drenched 
 7 
 
90 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ^ I 
 
 streets cried out for help. Could there be any response 
 to that Macedonian wail ? From Kumasi, the dark 
 and deluded capital of Ashanti, the thought of the 
 missionary turned to the metropolis of Christian 
 England. In contrast to immediate and sanguinary 
 surroundings, another and far different scene burst 
 upon his vision. Was it all a fancy, or did it breathe 
 the promise of an assuring hope ? Exeter Hall is in a 
 flame. Missions are eloquently advocated. Voices 
 are raised in behalf of dark Africa. Emotion finds 
 expression in "a hymn for the heathen," and the 
 prayer of the great congregation ascends to God in 
 heaven : 
 
 " The servile progeny of Ham 
 Seize as the purchase of thy blood." 
 
 No, that is not all an illusion ! The missionary has 
 faith to believe that the enthusiasm of such a meeting 
 is genuine, the altar-fire pure, and that Christian 
 people are in earnest. But the holy impulse largely 
 passes away with the occasion. There has been too 
 much of timidity and delay in spiritual enterprise. "0 
 righteous Father," the Saviour was impelled to exclaim, 
 " the world hath not known thee." " compassionate 
 Redeemer," might have been the sorrowful strain of 
 the Kuma.si missionary, " thy Church is straitened in 
 her sympathies, indifferent to her great commission, 
 forgetful of thy claims and crown-rights, and too long 
 heedless of the Macedonian cry from this perishing 
 world." 
 
AFliICA AND ISLES OF THE SKA. 
 
 91 
 
 ary has 
 meeting 
 Ihristian 
 largely 
 •een too 
 se. "0 
 txclaim, 
 sionate 
 ,rain of 
 lened in 
 [mission, 
 ,00 long 
 irishing 
 
 The we«t coast of Africa, and especially Sierra 
 Lfone, has been desif^nated " the missionary's grave." 
 Thirty laborers of the Church Missionary Society, 
 during the first twelve years, fell bravely at their post, 
 and were laid to rest in the burial-ground of tlio 
 mission church. A wasted remnant of the Basle 
 Society's missionaries, in one fatal year, had to stand 
 hv the fresh graves of ten of their stricken brethren. 
 Forty Wesleyan pioneers fell in rapid succession in 
 the same field : 
 
 " For dangers uncounted are clustering there, 
 The pestilence stalks uncontrolled, 
 Strange poisons are borne on the soft languid air. 
 And lurk in each leaf's fragrant fold." 
 
 But the missionary succe.ssion has been nobly main- 
 tained. As repeated gaps have been made in the ranks, 
 new men have filled up the vacant spaces, and the 
 consecrated banner has been seized from hands that 
 lijid stiffened in death. The gifted and spiritual 
 Melville B. Coxe, who went out in 1833, was not alone 
 in his faith and fortitude. He spoke of going to "a 
 land of sickness," and stipulated that if he should die 
 a friend of his youth should come and write his 
 epitaph. But " what shall I write ?" was the inf[uiry 
 of the Christian brother. The impassioned missionary 
 was prompt in reply : " Write, though a thousand 
 tall, let Africa live!" In a few months this heroic 
 and heavenly-minded messenger of the cross finished 
 his brief course, and his body found a resting-place in 
 the land of swamp and fever. Such losses have been 
 
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 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

 
 •fi 
 
' I 
 
 92 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 keenly felt. But the dust of the mission graveyards 
 along the line of that baleful coast is precious and full of 
 promise. For long centuries the sepulchre of patriarchs 
 in Canaan was the only pledge to the covenant people, 
 and the assurance that they should go up and possess 
 the promised land. Burial-places in which the dust 
 of missionaries and of members of their families has 
 been rendered to the mould is the consecration of 
 many a heathen land. 
 
 The subject of mission effort and enterprise, on the 
 western coast of Africa, has an aspect of encourage- 
 ment and hope. Light has been shot into this "darkest 
 dungeon of the planet." From the Gambia to the 
 Gaboon, a distance of two thousand miles, an infamous 
 traffic in human rlesh and blood has been brought to 
 an end. Slave-pens have been transformed into marts 
 of legitimate traffic. One of the earliest missionary 
 erections, a spacious old sanctuary, that has long 
 echoed the strains of praise to God, was framed and 
 sheathed out of the beams and planks of a condemned 
 slaver. Thousands of people along an extended line 
 of coast have heard the glad tidings of salvation, and 
 have been the subjects of a blessed spiritual emancipa- 
 tion. There seemed to be a dark day for Africa in 
 1822, and signs ominous of a deeper bondage, as a 
 slave-ship sped out full sail through the lagoon of 
 Lagos ; a sinister-looking hulk, packed with human 
 beings, destined for the Brazil market. But a cruiser 
 crossed her path, and the boom of a British gun said 
 to the slaver, " Yield up thy prey." Among the slaves 
 
w. 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 03 
 
 on the 
 )urage- 
 iarkest 
 to the 
 ifamous 
 affht to 
 ,0 marts 
 jsionary 
 ,s long 
 ed and 
 emned 
 ed line 
 lion, and 
 ancipa- 
 frica in 
 e. as a 
 
 of that crowded cargo was an entire family, father and 
 mother, boys and girls, ruffianly torn from their homes. 
 A bright boy from that group was sent to a school in 
 Sierra Leone. He was early converted to God, became 
 an explorer, a successful evangelist, and ultimately 
 was entrusted with episcopal responsibilities. Noble 
 in physique, eloquent in speech, and fervent in spirit, 
 the venerable Crowther is one of the greatest and most 
 apostolic of missionary bishops; and his flourishing 
 diocese, containing the home of his childhood, extends 
 far as the Niger and the Benone. 
 
 The work along the line of the Gold and Slave 
 Coasts, prosecuted at a great cost of men and means, 
 has not been in vain in the Lord. Once it was affirmed 
 that the whole regir was merely a vast moral savan- 
 nah, a dense steamii'^' wamp, and that from such 
 rank and reeking plains* ot atrocity, vileness, and 
 superstition, no harvest of golden sheaves could ever 
 be gathered. But, in looking upon such a scene of 
 widespread and appalling misery and helpless woe, 
 Christian people have been led to realize the need of 
 a deeper dependence upon Divine aid, and of a supreme 
 consecration to the service of God. Missionary faith 
 has never failed or faltered. Sometimes the shadows 
 hide the heaviest wheat of all. The grain is already 
 ripe, and the reaper must thrust in his sickle and 
 reap, or it will rot to the ground. " Say not ye, there 
 are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest ? 
 Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look 
 ou the fields ; for they are white already to harvest. 
 
 \ 
 J i 
 
94 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth 
 fruit unto life eternal : that both he that soweth and 
 he that reapeth may rejoice together." 
 
 The southern section of the African continent com- 
 prises Bushmen, Kaffirs, Zulus, Matalabe, Namaquas, 
 and other tribes to the north of the Orange River. 
 South Africa was early selected as a field of missionary 
 enterprise. Beginning from the Cape colony, the 
 work of evangelization was rapidly pushed to the 
 interior of the country. Through the agency and in- 
 fluence, the patience and statesmanlike .sagacity, of 
 such men as Robert Moflfat, William Shaw, and pio- 
 neers of the Moravian and other societies, a bright 
 and imperi.shable record has been secured. When 
 these men, and others of like consecrated spirit and 
 purpose, commenced their missionary course, there 
 was a serious doubt even in the minds of some Chris- 
 tian people as to the capacity of African tribes for the 
 reception of the gospel, or for elevation in the scale of 
 civilization. It was proposed by Mr. Moffat to a 
 Dutch settler, in whose house he had obtained per- 
 inisoion to preach, that some of the servants should 
 be brought in to the service. " What," roared the 
 burly Boer, who had a hundred of the despised out- 
 casts of all the tribes at his command, " preach to the 
 Hottentots ! You may as well go to the mountains 
 and preach to the baboons ; or, if you like, I'll fetch 
 my dogs, and you may preach to them." The mis- 
 sionary had intended to announce the " great salva- 
 tion " from the standpoint of an inspired and solemn 
 
m^^: 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 95 
 
 question. But, prompt to seize the incident of the 
 occasion, the words of the Syrophenician suppliant 
 were selected for a theme : " Truth, Lord ; yet the dog8 
 eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." 
 The teaching of Christ was elucidated, and the subject 
 was searchingly applied. " No more of that," pleaded 
 the softened Boer, " I will bring in all the Hottentots 
 in the place." 
 
 Benighted bushmen have since then been brought 
 to hear of Jesus and his love, and have been made 
 the recipients of a common salvation. Some of the 
 most treasured trophies of the South African Mis- 
 sions have been won from the families of this 
 scattered and politically insignificant race. Latent 
 genius for song has found a remarkable development. 
 At the dedication of a bushland place of worship, 
 erected under missionary auspices, a choir of bush 
 negroes, assisted by converted slaves from the colony, 
 signalized the occasion by strains of music that would 
 have enriched cathedral worship. They sang with 
 fervor, fine sense of appreciation and good effect, a 
 selection from Haydn's magnificent oratorio of the 
 "Creation," "the Heavens are Telling." Thus a grand 
 chorus which moves cultured and select audiences at 
 home, and thrills to an indescribable emotion, broke 
 the silence of an African wilderness, and filled with 
 rapture the souls of converted Hottentot worshippers. 
 Who could have supposed, even when touched and 
 transformed by the power of Divine grace, that these 
 servile wanderers had the ability to achieve success 
 
 m 
 
96 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 I f 
 
 in a delicate and difficult sphere ? Shall not these 
 ransomed sons and daughters of the bushland, taught 
 to praise the Saviour's name on earth, one day form 
 part of a heavenly choir, and there sincj unto him that 
 hath loved them and washed them from their sins in 
 his own blood ? 
 
 Ten long and trying years, the apostolic Moffat 
 spent among the barbarous and benighted Namaquas 
 and his missiopary faith and purpose were sorely 
 tested. But ultimately he was cheered by a success 
 that revealed the glorious possibilities of mission work. 
 " At length they listened, at last began to tremble, 
 and finally wept; repenting of sin, they forsook it; 
 and hearing of the gospel, they believed it." 
 
 Bushmen and Namaquas, in their native degrada- 
 tion, hold a low place in the average qualities of man- 
 hood. But South Africa has races possessed of superb 
 capabilities of which she may v/ell be proud. Kaffirs 
 and Zulus have encountered the best and bravest of 
 British troops, and have proved themselves to be no 
 contemptible foes. Bechuanas maintain their inde- 
 pendence, and give evidence of progressive ability. 
 But over all this region, at the commencement of 
 missionary enterprise, there rested the deep and settled 
 gloom of an uncivilized heathenism. The people 
 walked in darkness and dwelt in the land of the shadow 
 of death. Fierce and warlike races delighted in blood 
 and rapine. No traveller with safety could pass 
 through the borders of any of these tribes, for the 
 people were habitually cruel and treacherous. 
 
1*^^; n.-n' 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 97 
 
 An ordinary occurrence may indicate the general 
 condition of the country on the arrival of the earliest 
 European missionaries. The kraal or cattle -fold of a 
 South African village is surrounded by grass or leed- 
 thatched huts, resembling the corn-stacks of a farm 
 yard. In that enclosure the chief assembles his 
 people : warriors in the centre, and the women and 
 children on the outer circle. By a rude but stirring 
 eloquence he moves the barbarian horde, fires the 
 martial spirit of the men, and prepares them for any 
 plundering excursion. The eye of the speaker dilates, 
 and his voice becomes tremulous with passion and ex- 
 citement. Distant hills visible upon the horizon are 
 the home of a peaceful and prosperous people, with 
 multitudes of flocks, and herds of sheep and oxen, but 
 " their hearts are white as milk." In their sense of 
 security they may be easily vanquished. Exultant 
 response greets the fierce appeal. An attack is at 
 once agreed upon, and, armed for murderous deed, 
 troops march the same night. Beneath the streaming 
 starlight, they move stealthily across the intervening 
 plain, and reach the hills at early dawn. A savage 
 shout startles the encampment. There is slender re- 
 sistance, for the people have been taken by surprise. 
 Men, women, and children are slaughtered without 
 mercy. Houses are fired, and the village swept by a 
 ffeneral conflagration. Cattle are driven ott', and the 
 victors bearing their spoil are welcomed back with 
 shout and triumph. The heart sickens at the thought 
 of such atrocities, but this was the normal condition of 
 
 I 
 
f 
 
 98 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRT. 
 
 an immense extent of territory. Wliether the fittest 
 always survived in the treacheries of warfare may 
 be open to question. Whole tribes were exterminated. 
 Human life was lightly regarded, and it is only a 
 matter of surprise that such sanguinary struggles had 
 not long ago depopulated the whole land. 
 
 South African tribes in their savage state seem 
 to have been literally without any knowledge of God. 
 It is said that when pioneer missionaries first began 
 to speak concerning the existence of a Supreme Being, 
 of the fall and the entrance of sin into the world, of 
 the incarnation and sacrificial work of the Redeemer, 
 of the resurrection and the hope of immortality, their 
 statements were regarded as fabulous and as little 
 to be believed as were native exaggerations con- 
 cerning lions and wild beasts of the jungle. But the 
 most barbarous of savages have a conscience that 
 may be reached by the light of truth. To a fierce 
 chief Mr. Motiat spoke of resurrection and future judg- 
 ment. The idea was new and tremendous even to a 
 heathen mind. " What," he exclaimed', " are these 
 words about ? Will my father arise ? Will all the 
 dead slain in battle arise ? Hark, ye wise men, who- 
 ever is wise among you, the wisest of past generations, 
 did ever your ears hear such strange news ? " But as 
 the light of revelation dawned upon his savage mind, 
 and conscience spoke of deeds of rapine and murder, 
 appalled by the thought of meeting the victims of 
 many heartless cruelties, the barbarian sought to 
 silence the missionaries. " The words of the resurrec- 
 

 J 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 99 
 
 tion," he said, " are too great to be heard. 1 do not 
 want to hear about the dead arising. The dead 
 cannot arise ; they must not arise." 
 
 For South Africa the day dawns ! Darkness of 
 heathenism is being gradually dispersed by the ad- 
 vancing light of Christianity. Manifold are the 
 evidences of amelioration. Regions through which 
 once white men dare not attempt to travel are now 
 intersected by safe thoroughfares. Churches and cul- 
 tivated lands furnish evidence of religion and of pros- 
 perous industry. Unwritten sounds have been gath- 
 ered up and formed into a grammatical language. 
 The Bible has been given to Kaffir and Bechuana, and 
 thousands of natives are able to read the Old and New 
 Testaments. At Kurumen the sable compositors in 
 the printing office are the very men who a few years 
 Itefore would have been grasping the blood-stained 
 spear, and revelling in deeds of slaughter. In the early 
 (lays of mission effort a few enterprizing traders pene- 
 trated to the heart of an uncivilized territory. But 
 the very idea of traffic was turned to scorn, and not a 
 single purchaser could be found. Now, European 
 manufactures to the value of three or four hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling annually pass through the 
 mission stations into the interior, imported and ex- 
 changed by the people who a few years ago had no 
 conception of the utility of commerce.* 
 
 To the men and women who led the van of evan- 
 
 * 8ee Rev. Dr. Muffat's address at Mildmay Conference, 1878. 
 
100 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 gelization, exhibited the power and purity of the 
 religion of Jesus, set to the savages around them an 
 example of the sweetness and attractiveness of a 
 Christian home, inculcated and exemplified the spirit 
 and precepts of peace and goodwill, translated the 
 sacred Scriptures and laid the foundation of a native 
 literature, secured the erection of commodious places of 
 worship and the establishment of efficient schools, 
 trained a native agency to such an extent that were 
 every foreign missionary to retire from the field the 
 work would still go on — to the founders of this 
 great and glorious movement we accord the recog- 
 nition that is due to saints and heroes. Their names 
 shall be had in everlasting remembrance. 
 
 The explorer of Eastern and Equatorial Africa 
 enters a new and densely-populated region. A spacious 
 and magnificent territory, abounding in material re- 
 sources, can scarcely be surpassed in any other part of 
 the world. Apparently it is a rich reserve for the 
 African race, and seems designed by Providence for 
 some future and marvellous development. But the 
 deep shadows of heathen superstition rest upon this 
 land, and upon its interesting races the blight and 
 desolation and unmitigated curse of slavery have 
 heavily fallen. Through means of an inhuman traffic 
 in flesh and blood, with all its accompanying evils, 
 scenes of almost Eden loveliness have been changed to 
 pandemonium. This sum of all villanies is at its 
 worst in the interior of Africa. Hunting parties, 
 selected from the more warlike tribes, are furnished 
 
M ' 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 101 
 
 with firearms by Arabian slave dealers. As the ordi- 
 nary weapons of the natives are bows and arrows, a 
 murderous musketry fire produces an immediate panic. 
 There is no alternative in the customary raid but to 
 fiy and be shot down, or to stand and submit to a 
 bondage worse than death. Many scenes of horror 
 were witnessed by Dr. Livingstone. They were 
 pathetically said to " harden all within and petrify the 
 feelings ;" and, as he beheld the " tears of such as were 
 oppressed and had no comforter," he could find no 
 relief except 'in the remembrance that "He that is 
 higher than the highest regardeth." An incident lifts 
 the veil from fearful outrages upon common rights of 
 humanity. One of the finest of the interior tribes has 
 a home on the banks of the beautiful Lualaba river. 
 The market-place is a wonted resort for amusement 
 and social intercourse. One day an armed half-caste 
 and sinister-looking Arab, and a band of ruffian 
 followers, came suddenly into the midst of this peace- 
 able and pleasant scene. Suspicion was at once excited, 
 and the worst fears were speedily realized. Beneath 
 the whole heavens a more villanous deed was not to 
 be witnessed than that which was suddenly enacted 
 on that sultry summer morning. Deadly fire was 
 opened upon the helpless crowd, and volley succeeded 
 volley with terrible effect. Gaps were rapidly made 
 in the mass of two thousand human beings, and 
 slaughter was indiscriminate. Through the murderous 
 bullet of the assailant, or by plunging into the deep 
 river, hundreds lost their lives. " Shot after shot 
 
 ■■ ■ 
 
kr 
 
 102 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 II!: 
 
 continued to be fired on the helpless and perishing. 
 Some of the long line of heads disappeared quietly " 
 beneath the water ; " whilst other poor creatures threw 
 up their arms, as if appealing to the great Father 
 above, and sank." Villages were set on fire. " As 1 
 write I hear the loud wails on the left bank over 
 those who are slain, ignorant of their many friends now 
 in the Lualaba. 0, let thy kingdom come ! " * 
 
 The extent to which this infernal business is carried 
 on, and the enormity of the evil, may be inferred from 
 the fact that no less than fifteen thousand agents are 
 employed by one flourishing Egyptian city, Khartoum. 
 They are engaged solely for the purpose of ensnaring 
 and enslaving human beings. Marching through the 
 night, in some part of the Nile basin, they steal upon 
 an unsuspecting village, and fire the grass huts. As 
 the sleeping occupants seek to escape from their flam- 
 ing habitations, the men are shot down, and the women 
 and children are secured as slaves. The necks of 
 mothers and maidens are thrust into a forked wooden 
 pole and securely lashed, while the children are attached 
 by ropes, and thus a living chain is formed. By 
 secret paths the pitiable procession marches to the 
 coast. There, like bales of merchandise, the almost 
 heart-broken captives are crowded together into tlie 
 hot and stifling air of the pestilential slave-dhow. 
 There is a dreary uniformity in the main facts of 
 African slavery. " The tale was almost invariably one 
 
 * Dr. Livingstone's Last Journals, July 11th, 1871. 
 
AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 103 
 
 of surprise, kidnapping, and generally of murder — 
 always of. indescribable suffering on the way down to 
 the coast and on the dhow voyage."* Then, it has been 
 affirmed that for each marketable slave that reaches 
 the sea-board, at least ten lives are lost in the interior 
 of the country. It is estimated that, through the terri- 
 tory of the Zambesi and Shire rivers, the Lake Nyassa, 
 the Rovuma, and other hunting grounds, during a long 
 and uninterrupted period, this vile traffic involved 
 annually the death of half a million of human beings- 
 Details such as these are saddening and sickening to 
 thought and feeling. But they belong to the sum of 
 Africa's wrongs, and give meaning to the Macedonian 
 cry, " Come over and help us." These facts enable us 
 in some measure to realize the nature of missionary 
 obligation : " to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- 
 claim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound." 
 
 Eastern and Central African missions are compara- 
 tively in their infancy. But the beneficent effects of 
 evangelical agency and influence are already apparent. 
 The slave market at Zanzibar, which received annually, 
 and passed over to Arab traffickers, from twenty to 
 twenty-five thousand persons, has been broken up, 
 
 • Sir Bartle Frere. For the main facts connected with the " East 
 African Slave-Trade," the deeds of Arab traffickers in human flesh and 
 blood, the markets in which slaves are sold, and countries, chiefly 
 Mohammedan, through which the captured Africans are dispersed, 
 see "Report on Sir Bartle Frere 's Mission to Zanzibar," presented 
 to both Houses of Parliament, 1873. 
 
 l| 
 
'1 ; 
 
 104 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ^ ) 
 
 and selected as the site of Ihe Universities' mission 
 premises. Cheering tidings reach us that the Living- 
 stonia enterprise has succeeded in stopping the slave- 
 trade around the seven hundred miles of the Lake 
 Nyassa coast; from which, in fornier times, accom- 
 panied by all the atrocities of the system, nineteen 
 tliousand slaves were annually carried off. " All I can 
 add in my loneliness," said Dr. Livingstone, as he 
 sorrowed for the wrongs of the captive, " may heaven's 
 rich blessing come down upon every one, American, 
 English, or Turk, who will help to heal the open sore 
 of the world ! " * These touching words of the great 
 missionary explorer have been appropriately inscribed 
 > on his tomb in Westminster Abbey ; and through 
 these, as the best friend of Africa, " he being dead yet 
 speaketh." 
 
 The people of Central Africa give promise of capa- 
 bility for improvement. Dr. Livingstone's judgment 
 was rarely at fault, for sympathy with humanity in 
 all its forms only quickened his perception, and his 
 estimate of the interior tribes was almost always 
 favorable. Nsama's people, resident in the lovely 
 country to the west of Lake Tanganyika, are enthusi- 
 astically described. Many of them are said to be 
 handsome in form and feature, and to exhibit as per- 
 fect a phrenological development as could be seen in 
 an European assembly. An impression that the true 
 type of negro was to be found in the ancient 
 
 * Blaikie's Life of Dr. Livingstone, p. 464. 
 
'iHIlt 
 
 AFUICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 105 
 
 nission 
 Living- 
 3 slave- 
 e Lake 
 accom- 
 lineteen 
 lU I can 
 B, as be 
 heaven's 
 merican , 
 )pen sore 
 the great 
 inscribed 
 tbrousjb 
 dead yet 
 
 Ei^'vptian, rather than in the coarse ugliness of the 
 West Coast, received abundant confirmation. " The 
 African races are of a type ditferent from wliat Euro- 
 peans are accustomed to associate with Ir.gli and 
 polislied civilization, and undoubtedly some of their 
 f'iist(Mns are barbarian ; but the African races are open 
 to be toned down, moditied, and improved upon as 
 were the primitive customs of Europe."' * 
 
 Central Africa is all a surprise. Instead of a dreary 
 waste of burning and unsheltered sand, as had been 
 supposed, it has broad lakes and rolling rivers, healthy 
 upland^;, and a rich tropical foliage. And it is quite 
 as marvellous a thing, where the traveller iiad ex- 
 pected to come into contact with inferior types of the 
 Imiiian family, to meet the swarthy but comely chil- 
 dren of the sun, dwellers by the great inland seas. To 
 tlie African races a noble continent has been a.ssigned, 
 and we cannot but believe that a i;reat future is in 
 reserve for christianized Africa. 
 
 In the earlier period of the world's history, physical 
 force prevailed. Men of sinew and muscle commanded 
 distinction. Then came the age of intellectual achieve- 
 nient. Mental qualities and attributes still exercise a 
 (loiiiinatin<; intluence. But are there no intimations 
 of a purely moral and spiritual superiority ? Are we 
 not possibly nearing a time when culture of the soul^ 
 graces of character, and the beauty of holiness shall 
 win the most trenuine admiration .'' Then shall Africa 
 
 K f;v 
 
 I 
 
 Contemporary liirinc, Deceinher, ISS2. 
 
 8 
 
lOG 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 I 
 
 i f 
 
 have her turn ! In many attractive qualities, suscepti- 
 bility of moral nature, exuberance of feel in<:^, fervor of 
 passion, intensity of affection, glow of enthusiasm, love 
 of music, ecstasy of song, instincts of religion, and 
 rapture of devotion, the finer type of the negro race, 
 as found in the populous lake region, can scarcely be 
 surpassed. Surely the day of redemption draws nigh ! 
 Relieved from slavery, purified through faith, ennobled 
 by Christian culture, a long-despised people may 
 come to furnish some of the best and most beautiful 
 specimens of a sanctified humanity. Swarthj' tribes 
 shall rise in the scale of an exaltetl civilization. Right 
 and rank, in council and congress, will be recognized 
 and awarded. Europa and other leading members of 
 the great human family can then welcome the long 
 exiled one, and say, "It was meet that we should be 
 glad : for this our sister was dead, and is alive again : 
 and was lost, and is found." 
 
 Everywhere the light is breaking I A period of 
 dreary monotony is passing away, never to return. 
 Unexpected facilities are afforded to travel and IratHc. 
 The Nile and the Ni^er, the Coni;o and the C'oanza, 
 the Zambesi and the Shire, and other great rivers, 
 form magnificent natural highways to the very heart 
 of the continent. Nor is it easy for us to grasp the 
 significance of such a fact. The mighty (.'ongo alone, 
 with its tributaries, drains an enormous and den.sely 
 populated region of eighty thousand s([uare miles. 
 On central lakes, the Nyassa, the Tanganyika, and 
 the Victoria Nyanza, steam and other foi-ees of civili- 
 
AFIUCA AND ISLKS OF THE SEA. 
 
 107 
 
 epti- 
 or of 
 , love 
 , and 
 
 race, 
 sly be 
 \\\^h '. 
 lobled 
 may 
 tutiful 
 
 tribes 
 
 )Ci;nizecl 
 bers of 
 le long 
 )uld be 
 again : 
 
 riod of 
 return. 
 
 iratHc. 
 
 'oan/a, 
 
 rivers, 
 ■y heart 
 asp tlie 
 lo alone, 
 Idensely 
 n\iles. 
 Ik a, anil 
 
 ,f civili- 
 
 /,ation bejjin to be utilized in the interests of relisjion 
 and coninierce. It is worthy of reniendirance and 
 record that missionaries have been amonirst the fore- 
 most and most heroic of African ])ioneers. They 
 have mostly formed the vanguard of this great move- 
 ment of the century ; and when the history of human 
 progress shall have been written, many a page shall 
 glow with the splendor of their names. But such 
 achievements are all too great for the chronicles of 
 earth, and doubtless thev are inscrilted before the 
 eternal throne. 
 
 The area of uncivilized heathenism is not Ixmnded 
 exclusively by the limits of the Dark Continent. 
 Deep shadows still rest upon adjacent territory, and 
 lie thick beneath the ben<ling Southern Cross. From 
 Africa we turn to the Isles of the Sea. Oil' from the 
 African coast, across the Mozambic^ue Channel, lies the 
 magnificent island of Madagascar. Until a few years 
 ago, it was the scene of darkest heatlienism. " So you 
 will make the Malagasy Christiaos," said the Governor 
 of a French island to the pioneer missionaries. " Im- 
 po.-isible I They are brutes, and have no more sense 
 than irrational cattle." But tlie martyr Church of Mada- 
 ijascar has won and now worthi'.ly wears the crown 
 of modern .spiritual heroism. In ;1S,S(I, the hist of a 
 hrave missionary cohort, Johns and Bakt'r, by the 
 merciless edict of the heathi'ii Q\iecn Ranavalona, 
 were driven from the capital and the island. Hut 
 amongst the native converts Avere soine that exhibited 
 an extraordinary courage and steadfa stness of purpose 
 
108 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ! 
 
 and profession. Though forsaken, they still met for 
 religious worship. Foremost of this noble band was 
 Rafaravavy, a lady distinguished for intelligence, rare 
 beauty, and great purity of character. She and her 
 companions sometimes walked a distance of twenty 
 miles into the hill country ; and there, amidst the 
 sounding aisles of the dim woods, or on the calm 
 mountain summit, they sang hymns of praise to God. 
 But furious persecutors were on their track. The 
 gifted and gentle leader of the Christian company of 
 confessors was put in irons, beai-ing the significant 
 name of " causing many tears." Records of the little 
 Malagasy Church began to be written in blood. Mul- 
 titudes of people were summoned by the roar of 
 cannon to gaze upon scenes of suffering and endurance, 
 which the annals of martyrdom had nothing to surpass. 
 Men and women, because of the steadfastness of their 
 Christian faith, bound in cords, wrapped in soiled 
 matting, choked with rags to prevent their testimony, 
 were committed to the flames, or hurled from the edge 
 of the sharp Ampamarinana rocks. During those 
 daj's of fiery persecution, mauy converts obtained the 
 crown of martyrdom, and went up to join the noble 
 army of martyrs before the throne of God. " More 
 Christians irere iiut to death tLcn there luere Chvistiani^ 
 on the island when the 2^crsecittlons commenced and 
 the inissionaries irere banished !" 
 
 But thirteen years ago, heathenism was suddenly 
 hurled from its barbarous and bloody throne. Another 
 and a no^^i'^r Queen, Ranavalona, burnt the national 
 
AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 100 
 
 suddenly 
 Another 
 national 
 
 idols, and publicly expressed her preference for the 
 Christian relifjion. Her coronation mottoes were 
 mainly selected from the Malaijasy version of the 
 Holy Scriptures : " Glory to CJod," "Peace on earth," 
 " Goodwill to men," " God with us."' Idolatry was 
 suddenly aban<loned. Idols were brouudit by thousands 
 from their hou.ses into the street or square, and there 
 consumed to ashes. Slavery has since been abolished 
 by royal proclamation. National lei^Mslation is per- 
 meated by the spirit of Divine precept. Madai^ascar 
 now stands out to the view of the Church and the 
 world as a glorious monument of what the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ can speedily accomplish for the purity, 
 elevation, and salvation of an uncivilized heathen 
 people. 
 
 There are other (hark places in the lieathen world. 
 The demon-w^orship of the Battas, amongst the moun- 
 tain ranges of Sumatra ; the cannibalism of the dark 
 and roaming Dyaks, which pollutes the fragrant gi'oves 
 of beautiful Borneo ; the degrading superstitions of 
 the natives of New Guinea, in the Southern Pacific ; 
 and other abominations of uncivilized heathenism 
 abundantly illustrate the annals of human depravity. 
 But, on the face of the earth, there are not to be found 
 tribes or races of people more utterly vile and 
 inhumanized than many of those that have already 
 been sought out and cvanuelized. 
 
 Once New Zealand was regarded as one of the least 
 promising of missionary fields. Samuel Marsden and 
 Samuel Leigh, in 1813 and 1819, went there as the 
 
no 
 
 THK MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 pioneers of ( 'liiirch of Enijland and Wosley.'in missions. 
 Thcv had to witness unnaiiieable atrocities and al)Oiiii- 
 nations. The peo])le were savafje cjinnibals. A single 
 incident may siiflice for illustration. Two rival chiefs, 
 Hongi and Hinaki, met in deadly feud, and Hinaki was 
 slain. The contpieror, Hongi, sprang forward instantly 
 ami scooT)ed out and swallowed the dyiuLT warriors 
 eye ; and then, plunging his knife into tlie throat of 
 his victim, he filled his hand with the copiously-lli)W- 
 ini; blood, and «lraid< it with exultinu' satisfaction. 
 What a contrast do we find in the case of an old N«nv 
 Zealand chief, converted in middle life I He lived 
 consistently : and, when his last end (h'ew neai . 
 gathered his friends around liim, and sang an ancir-nt 
 song of his country. But all knew that the words liad 
 a new meaning, and that they were transfigure*! into 
 the liglit of ilie gospel. A maiden in search of her 
 lover went out in her frail canoe. She went down the 
 dark river, and on to fast and foaming rapids. Steep 
 rocks closed in on either side, and tlirough the black 
 pass the waters flowed into a wide sea. But still the 
 maiden was not afraid, for she looked forward all the 
 more to a meeting with him she loved so well. 'J'hus 
 the dying chief told how the currents of life weiv 
 minirlinef with the ocean of eternity. But he feared im 
 evil. To die was irain. The bark of his immoital 
 spirit would soon reach the shining shore, ami he 
 would be with the blessed Saviour forever. 
 
 When John Hunt and his heroic wife landed on the 
 shores of Fiji, the captain of the vessel was compelled 
 
A nut A AND ISLKS OF THE SKA. 
 
 Ill 
 
 iSions. 
 bomi- 
 
 chiet's, 
 ki \va> 
 itantly 
 irriors 
 roat oV 
 
 V-Ht)\V- 
 
 t'actioii- 
 
 1(1 N'.'NV 
 
 e IivcmI 
 V near, 
 anc'u'nt 
 n-ds hatl 
 red into 
 1 of lu'V 
 own tlu' 
 , Steep 
 le 1)1 ack 
 still tkr 
 1 all the 
 1. Tims 
 ii'e Nveve 
 "eat'ed n'» 
 iinniovtul 
 aii'l ke 
 
 led on tke 
 ioinpelk''^l 
 
 in .self-tlofcnce to put loaded iiiu.sket.s into tlie hands 
 
 of 1 
 
 lis men. 
 
 Nature was robed in almost peerless 
 
 beauty. The sky was serene, and a sea of crystal 
 clearness laved the coral strand. Islands were frini^ed 
 with an ex(juisite tropical foliaj^c If there was an 
 elv-sium on earth, it must siu'elv be liere ! But man 
 was vile beyond description. The tall and ferocious 
 savages, with painted bodies and bushy heads, a spear 
 in one hand and a club in the other, that rushed down 
 to the shore, were probaldy fresh from a cannibal feast, 
 and read}' for any sliudderini,^ deed of inhumanity. 
 At that time whole villai^'es were depopulated, to 
 provide human ile.sh for the constantly recurring 
 repast. The language of that group contains no word 
 for corpse, Itut one that signifies " a body to be eaten." 
 Fiji '^ islanders had a bad reputation over all other 
 heathen people." Their abominations were unnamc- 
 able. Tiie Rev. Robert Young, who went as a mission- 
 ary deputation to "the Southern World " in 18.33, in 
 reminiscences of his visit, depicts many a dark scene. 
 After a reference to Lakeml)a and Viwa, he tells how 
 he proceeded to Mbau, the capital of the countiy, and 
 " doubtless the greatest hell upon earth." Six ovens 
 were show'n to him in which eighteen human beinijs 
 had been recently cooked, in order to provide a feast for 
 some distinguished stranger. Remains of the horrid 
 repast were still to be seen. A large stone at the door 
 (jf one of the heathen temples, against which tlie 
 head, of manv victims had been da.shed, still bore the 
 marks of blood. No wonder that the pen faltered, 
 
fm 
 
 112 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 and that tliu writer was compelled to pause in his 
 narrative. " Tliere are scenes of wickedne-^s, forms 
 of cannibalism and depravity in that country which 
 cannot l)e told." Dire were the doinjjs of heathen 
 Fiji. But what an amazini:^ chanrre has been wrought ! 
 That group of islands has been christianized, ceded to 
 Great Britain, and constitutes the advanced post of 
 her commerce in the Southern Pacific. A distinguished 
 naval ollicer, during a visit to those islands, noted 
 striking way-marks of progress. At a religious ser- 
 vice, conducted with reverence and spiritual feeling, 
 it was known that every man present had been a can- 
 nibal up to fifteen years of that time. A venerable- 
 looking chief, once the most sanguinary and ferocious 
 in that terrible land, Bible in hand and spectacles on 
 forehead, followed the subject with eager and devout 
 interest. Tlieie was a fatal oven, not twenty yards 
 away, in which human bodies had been baked for the 
 savage feast. A tree, covered with notches, to mark 
 the number of victims, still perpetuated a record of 
 dark and evil deeds. And yet, according to the testi- 
 mony of the late Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, " the 
 people of Fiji are now a Christian people." 
 
 A missionar}' of the London Society, in contrast 
 with a later scene, graphically describes a first night 
 spent in New (Guinea. On this earlier occasion there 
 were fires gleauiinn; throuixh the groves of cocoa-nut 
 trees. The evening was soft, but the sultry air thrilled 
 with the cries of helpless women. Heathenism, in its 
 foulest and most repulsive forms of cannibalism and 
 
AFRICA AND ISLES OF THE SEA. 
 
 113 
 
 led to 
 ost of 
 lished 
 noted 
 IS ser- 
 eeling, 
 a can- 
 erable- 
 rocious 
 Lcles on 
 devout 
 : yards 
 
 iminlerous racjc, was all around, and thcro was none 
 to help or restrain. Seven years later, in the course ot" 
 which the softening and transform ing power of the 
 gospel had been experienced, he noted the change. 
 There was the gleam of tires in the same cocoa grove. 
 But instead of shrieks there were sweet songs of praise 
 to the Redeemer. Converted natives love their hymn 
 hooks. They were now engaged in evening worship, 
 and sweet melodies floated upon the evening air. Thus 
 the promi-e finds fulfilment: "The wilderness and 
 the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and the 
 desert .shall rejoice and blossom as the ro.se. It .shall 
 blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and 
 
 smging. 
 
 An attempt was made in 1875 to reach the debased 
 and cannibal savages of New Britain and New Ireland. 
 The principal agents in the enterprise, in addition to 
 an intrepid English missionary and his noble wife, were 
 earnest Fijian and Samoan converts. Natives of the 
 South Sea have generally consi<lerable force of charac- 
 ter, and when brought thoroughly under the influence 
 of the gospel are ready for pioneer service. " By the 
 blessing of God," writes Professor Geden, " upon un- 
 told labor and suffering, the ancient triumphs of the 
 cross have been repeated in these long neglected 
 groups of the Pacific Islands; and, at this time, only 
 seven years from the first landing on tliem of Christian 
 missionaries, it is not too much to say that the old evil 
 things are passing away, and that all things promi.se 
 to become new. Many of the people, by an evange- 
 
114 
 
 THi: MACKDOXIAN CUY. 
 
 lioal conversion that would liavc marie the hearts of 
 St. Paul and St. John to leap for joy, have l)een turned 
 from darkness to li<rht."* 
 
 E(jually sii,Mial has been the success of the London 
 Society's mission to numerous islands of the Torres 
 Straits. At Saibai and Dauan the natives are clothed; 
 for in the South Sea the wearin<^ of suitable apparel 
 is re<;arded as the badixe of Christianitv — an outward 
 and visible sii^^n of an inward and spiritual i^^race. 
 
 Apparently one of the most hopeless schemes of the 
 Christian Church was the attempt to ovauLielixe the 
 aborigines of Australia. Once the Papunns had that 
 great teri-itory in po.s.session ; but now, numberiiiL;' 
 only some thirty or forty thousand, they f(jrm an iii- 
 signiticant element of the expanding southern popula- 
 tion. Beyond comparison even with Es(juimaux ami 
 Bushmen, the natives of Australia are at the lowest 
 level of degraded humanity. Their language has no 
 equivalent for such words as faith and foigivencss. 
 truth ant] honesty. A vague notion of a good and 
 evil spirit exists among them ; but no religion, not 
 even that of idol worship. Low and loathsome in 
 habit and aj^petite, it is scarcely a matter of suiprise 
 that even Christian people were dubious as to the 
 result of cflbrts for their material and moral improve- 
 ment.f But the gospel is the power of (Jod unto sal- 
 
 * London Methodist liecordor, November, 1882. 
 
 t A brother of the writer, by whom features of the work have 
 been describeil, is at present the Secretary of an Australian Asaoi:ia 
 tion for the Improvement of the Aborigines. 
 
\^y 
 
 AFRICA AND ISLES OK THE SEA. 
 
 11') 
 
 ts of 
 .rnt;(l 
 
 'orres 
 
 iUkmI; 
 
 )parel 
 
 twanl 
 
 r>. 
 
 oi" the 
 
 /e the 
 
 ,1 that 
 
 iberiiii;- 
 
 an in- 
 popiila- 
 vix aii'l 
 
 lowest 
 
 lUS !»•' 
 
 vcness, 
 
 )(1 ami 
 
 111, 11 "t 
 
 oinc in 
 
 suvpvisi' 
 
 to tlu" 
 
 inprovi'- 
 
 into sal- 
 
 rt-ork liiive 
 
 vati(>Ti to cvcrv on«' tliat Ix-liovotli. Divint' uracc lias 
 touched and roused even the lonix-dorniant faculties of 
 the T'apuan. Under the influence of Christian teach - 
 ill<^^ accompanied by the energy of the Holy (Ihost, 
 hitent forces have been developed. When the Mora- 
 vian Bi.shop De Schweinitz looked at the photograph 
 of one of the earliest converts, an assistant at tlu; 
 Khenezer Mission, and heard of the fervor of his 
 prayer and the inipressiveness of his .sermons, he 
 "could .scarcely believe that this man had been a 
 naked .savage, squatting in the .sand and roasting 
 lizards for his food, ioinini; his countrvmen in the 
 vilest abominations, and livinji as near to the state of 
 the irrational creation as it is po.ssible for a human 
 bcinjj to reach." * 
 
 The .signal triumphs of the gospel, in the lands of 
 uncivilized, heathenism, demonstrate a continued elR- 
 cacy and an ahiding adaptation to all the variations 
 and conditions of the human race. Tt purifies and 
 consecrates the highest culture, and it also elevates 
 and ble.sscs the most deeply-.sunken tribes of earth. 
 
 A characteristic sermon, on the general spread of the 
 gospel, was preached by an eminent evangelist of the 
 last century. An attempt was made to trace out the 
 probable course of .spiritual effort and influence, and 
 of the conver.sion of the world to Christ. It was sup- 
 posed that the heathen bordering on the frontier lines 
 of Christendom would be the flrst to be led to worship 
 
 Evanijclica/ Allinvcf, 1873, p. 021. 
 
no 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 God in si)irit and in truth. Tlic Ood of love 'would 
 then prepare a pathway for His messengers into the 
 polar regions, the deepest recesses of America, the 
 interior parts of Afnca, " yea, into the lieart of China 
 and Japan, with the countries adjoining them." liut 
 one " consi<lerable difficulty' still remained. There 
 were uncivilized people bej'ond the range of commer- 
 cial enterprise, and apparently inaccessible to the mis- 
 sionaries of the cross. " Such are tlie inhabitants of 
 the numerous islands of the South Sea, and probably 
 in all the larger branches of the ocean. Now, what 
 shall be done for these outcasts of men ?" * The Poly- 
 nesian and other groups of islanders in the Southern 
 Pacific had an evil reputation. They were distant 
 from the abodes of civilization. Such was the active 
 ferocity of their nature, and the debasing character of 
 their customs and superstitions, that the venerable 
 preacher concluded they would be the last of all the 
 dwellers of the earth to receive the gospel. But yet, 
 in those dark and distant isles of the ocean, missionary 
 enterprise has won its brightest wreath, and Chris- 
 tianity has chronicled some of its most magnificent 
 triumphs. 
 
 The people of the Pacific Islands, as they have ex- 
 perienced the regenerating power of the gospel, have 
 made amazing bounds in the direction of cultured 
 manners, remunerative industries, interchange of com- 
 
 Weslcy's Scnnonx, Vol. VI. of Works, p. 28U. 
 
At'RICA AND ISI.KS OK TIIK SEA. 
 
 117 
 
 rnfxlitU's, and tlie arts fin«l amenities of national and 
 social life. 
 
 "The voice of the world shouts its rliorus, 
 Its pjvan for tliose who hiivi- won." 
 
 And shall we not (ixpre.ss our <^ratitnde for mis- 
 sionary achievement and proi^ress? If apart from the 
 power of the cross, the processes of civilization had 
 proved equally potent and successful for the amelior- 
 ation of the human race, would not tlie world have 
 rinii,' with plaudits? Had merely ethical inculcation 
 softened and subdued the barbarities and f«'rocities of 
 cannibal tribes, mij^dit not elocpience have pronounced 
 its iflowinjx euloijiums? If an anthroi)olo<xical scheme 
 and policy had been productive of such beautiful and 
 beneficent results, what garlands would have been 
 woven for the promoters of the enterprise ! The heroic 
 men who have formed the van;:^uard of the missions 
 may not win or wear the distinctions of earth, but they 
 sliare in the exultation of the Apostle: "Now thanks 
 be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in 
 Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His know- 
 ledj^^e by us in every place."* 
 
 * It has been mainly through the light of missionary agency that 
 the miseries of uncivilized heatlienism have come to 1)L' understood ; 
 and, hence, in previous pages, there has been repeated reference to 
 pioneer enterprise. The pn.'out nspi-ct of missions will form the 
 subject of a subsequent section. 
 
(:■■ 
 
 if I?: 
 
 , r 
 
 i 
 
 ■ 
 
 " Scarcely any one man liaK a clear conception of the internal 
 operations of the numerous Societies in the Old and New Worlds, 
 in Africa, Australia, and the South Seas, Many know much about 
 this or that licld, some are familiar with several fields, but no one 
 eompreliends them all : tlie materials of knowledge are scattered 
 through hundreds of periodicals, and the statistics change with 
 almost every mail."— i'/'o/. ChrinUieh. 
 
't!'«l( 
 
 MODERN MISSION'S. 
 
 119 
 
 V. 
 
 MODIUIN .MISSIONS AND MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 internal 
 
 \Voria«, 
 
 Lich about 
 
 ut no one 
 
 scattered 
 
 uigc with 
 
 w 
 
 HAT of luodern Protestant missions ■' To wliat 
 extent has the Church of Christ, in fultihnent 
 (if liaUowed obligation, responded to the world-wide 
 Mticedonian appeal ? How did this evangelical move- 
 ment originate :* What societies have been organized 
 1)V the leadinu' denominations { What missian stations 
 are at present occupied, and in what force ? What 
 are the most important tabulations, and what special 
 successes have been chronicled ? In answer to nuni- 
 iTous (|nestions, an attempt may be made to summarise 
 a tV\v main historic facts, and to make the circuit of 
 mission stations. 
 
 Modern missions, now expanding into proportions 
 of gi-eat magnitude, belong largely to the ])resent 
 (vtiturv. It is interesting, however, to trace back to 
 ail earlier date the development of a missionary spirit. 
 I'crliaps the first attempts at I'rotestant propaganda 
 wiiv a Swedish mission to Lapland and an arbitrary 
 ttlort of Dutch cinnamon traders to convert the 
 Ijuddhists of Ceylon to a profession of the faith of 
 <'lirist In 1 G.S 4, Robert Junius began a temporarily 
 successful mission to the island of Formosa. The 
 interesting mission of John Eliot to the Indians of 
 Massachusetts, into whose laui^uao'e the New 'IV'sta- 
 
120 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRV 
 
 ment Wras translated, the precursor of niinierous mis- 
 sionary versions, was commenced in 1G46. New- 
 England colonists were deeply iuiV)ued with the idea 
 of conv^erting the heathen tribes of the continent. 
 " The propaf^ating the gospel," wrote the founders of 
 Salem, " is the one thing we do profess above all to be 
 our aim in settling this plantation." An early State 
 seal of Massachusetts bore for its motto the Mace- 
 donian cry : " Come over and help us." The religious 
 enthusiasm which marked the periotl of the Common- 
 wealth in England was productive of missionary spirit 
 and purpose. On July 27th, 1C48, an ordinance passed 
 in Parliament to constitute a " Society for the Propa- 
 gation of the Gospel in New England." According to 
 the recital of the preamble to that missionary measure, 
 " the Commons of England assembled in Parliament, 
 havinir received intelliu^ence that the heathen of New 
 England were beginnihg to call on the name of the 
 Lord, felt bound to assist in such a work." One of 
 Oliver Cromwell's proposed measures for the promotion 
 of the Protestant religion, that miuht have been carried 
 into effect had his life been spared a few years longer, 
 was the formation of a Coiigregatio de Propaganda 
 Fide, with secretaries paid by State, and the Chelsea 
 College fitted up for its reception. 
 
 The present " Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts," organized in 1701, intended 
 chiefly for the benefit of colonists, was an outcome of 
 Puritan Parliamentary deliberations. A Danish mis- 
 .sion to Southern India was commenced in 1705 ; 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 121 
 
 mis- 
 S^ew- 
 
 idea 
 inent. 
 jrs of 
 
 to be 
 
 State 
 Mace- 
 
 iiiuon- 
 T spirit 
 passed 
 Propa- 
 ding to 
 leasure, 
 lament, 
 of New 
 
 of the 
 
 One of 
 emotion 
 h carried 
 
 longer, 
 wganda 
 
 Chelsea 
 
 n 
 
 of the 
 intended 
 come of 
 ish mis- 
 n 1705; 
 
 founded by noble men, Ziei^n'nljalsjf and Plutclio, fol- 
 lowed by the apostoHc Schwartz. Full for a time of 
 hrif^ht promi.se, that Halle-Danish mission was para- 
 lyzed by German rationalism, and its glory departed. 
 Hans E'fede.of Dennivirk, havinjx read .scanty accounts 
 of Greenlanders and their hardships amid the Arctic 
 frosts, was roused to an enthusiastic interest for their 
 spiritual welfare, and determined to brave the discom- 
 forts of polar life. The Greenland mission was begun 
 in 1721. 
 
 Moravian missions, so noblv signalized, date from 
 1732. Under the direction of Count Zinzendorf, a 
 number of Protestant exiles gathered at New Hern- 
 liutt, and were educated for evangelical enterprise. 
 When the community numbered only six hundred 
 persons, they began the first mission beyond the sea, 
 and live months later a second missionaiy sailed to a 
 foreign shore. From " the Lord's Watch," to those 
 that needed them most, there went out a succession of 
 faithful messenirers of salvation. Within five years as 
 many missions were founded, in spite of heat and 
 cold, ministerimr to slaves in the West Indies and to 
 Hottentots in South Africa, seekinii'a home auKJiiLr the 
 ice-bound fiords of the liard and dreary (Jreenland 
 coast, most forbidding fields of labor were selected. 
 
 " Fired with a zeal peouliiir, they <hfy 
 The I age and rigor of a polar sky. 
 And plant successfully sweet ^Sharon's rose 
 On icy plains, and in eternal snows." 
 
 Moravians have recently celebrated their l;~Oth mis- 
 sionary anniversary ; and, with exceedingly limited 
 9 
 
122 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 
 resources, out of their munificence of spirit and the 
 abounding of liljerality, they now sustain tlircc hun- 
 dred and fifteen missionaries in the foreicjn field. 
 " The missionary thought," says ])r. Tliompsou, " grew 
 witli their growth ; it had a conspicuous place in all 
 their plans and movements ; it is the staple of their 
 literature; it was prophetically symbolized in the 
 ancient Episcopal seal of their Church — on a ci'imson 
 ground — a lamb bearing the resurrection cross, from 
 which hangs a triumphant Imnner, with the motto : 
 Viclt annus 'iwdev ; earn sequamur : (Our Lamb has 
 conquered : Him let us follow)." 
 
 In 1784 the distinguished pioneer of Wesleyan mis- 
 sions, Rev. Dr. Coke, made the first of his sixteen 
 Atlantic voyages. Fired with the idea of a universal 
 evaniielization, he lon<xed for the winiis of an anijel 
 and the voice of a trumpet, that he might proclaim the 
 gospel east and west, north and south. On Cln-istmas 
 mornini]:, 178G, the flaminof evanmlist landed on the 
 shores of Antiijua, and beiian a crloriouslv successful 
 mission to the negroes of the West Indies. To the 
 last the missionary fire of Coke knew no abatement, 
 and he found a grave in the depth of an Eastern sea, 
 on the way to India.* 
 
 The Baptist Association which met at Nottingham 
 in June, 17U2, was signalized by a memorable and now 
 
 * The work of Wesleyan missionary enterprise, fi)r more than a 
 double decade under the immediate charge of Dr. Cuke, was more 
 fully organized by the formation of a society in 1S13. 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 123 
 
 the 
 uin- 
 leld. 
 rrcw 
 I all 
 tlieir 
 . the 
 iiison 
 
 from 
 lotto : 
 i\) has 
 
 n iiiis- 
 ixtcen 
 iversal 
 I angel 
 lui the 
 •i.stnias 
 on the 
 
 ces 
 
 To the 
 
 ,emcnt, 
 
 rii sea, 
 
 ino-ham 
 nd now 
 
 ,ic than a 
 was more 
 
 liistoric missionary sermon. The preacher was William 
 Carey. An inspirini^ passage was read from Isaiah : 
 " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch 
 forth the curtains of thine habitations : spare not, 
 lengthen tliy cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; for 
 tlion shalt break forth on the right hand and on the 
 left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make 
 the desolate cities to be inhabited." They must expect 
 great things from God, and attempt great things for 
 (!od. A genuine missionary lire blazed out in the 
 >ermon. The enthusiasm was contagious, and led to 
 grand results. On the 2nd of October, in the parlor of 
 Mrs. Wallis, at Kettering, Northamptonshire, a handful 
 of Baptist ministers met to devise means for the world's 
 conversion. It was a day of small and feeble things. 
 The faith of the men was sublime. A IMissionary 
 Society was formed that day, and the year following, 
 I7!)'i, the first missionaries sailed for India. On his 
 way out to the East, still fired with the expanding 
 idea of missionary enterprise, Carey sent back an 
 earnest appeal to the people at home. Aspirations 
 were not bounded by the necessities of India, or even 
 of all Asia. Africa was but a little way from 
 England, and Madagascar a little further on. South 
 America and the numerous and larixe islands in the 
 India and China Seas would not, he hoped, be passed 
 over. 
 
 At a meeting of the Independent or Congregational 
 ministers, held at Warwick, June SOth, 1703, a mis- 
 sionary question was proposed for consideration : 
 
124 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 " What is the duty of Christians with respect to the 
 spread of the gospel ?" It was felt to be a solemn 
 obligation " to employ every means in their power to 
 spread the knowledge of the ^ pel botli at home and 
 abroad." A resolution was adopted in favor of the 
 organization of a Missionary Union, and it was decided 
 that the first Monday evening of each month should 
 be set apart for prayer for the success of all denomi- 
 nations in their attem])ts to spread abroad the know- 
 ledge of salvation. Two years later, 1795, in further- 
 ance of the same views, the London Missionary 
 Society was founded ; composed at first of members 
 of several evaniielical communities, it was soon left to 
 the management of the Independents. Under the 
 leadership of Simeon of Cambridge, Venn, and others, 
 the Church Missionary Society was established in 
 1799. In 1S04 a few Cliristian men came together 
 in a London business ofKce to devise means for giving 
 tlie Bible to destitute parts of Wales. But why not 
 for tlie world ? Born of that sudden inspiration, 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society was at once 
 organized. 
 
 The enterprise of the Church jias at ditt'erent times 
 been directed towards God's ancient people. There 
 has been the longing of many a he-irt, " that the 
 salvation of Israel were come out of Zion !" • This 
 feeling has found practical expression in the organiza- 
 t'ijii of several societies : the London Society for Pro- 
 moting Christianity among the Jews in LSOH, the 
 Church of Scotland Society in 1^40, the British 
 
'fl 
 
 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 125 
 
 Pro- 
 
 \^, the 
 liitish 
 
 Society in 1842, the Mission of the Free Church of 
 Scotland in 1843, and other societies, A measure of 
 success has attended these laudal)le etibrts. One 
 hundred thousand Jews have been baptized into the 
 faith of Christ. But have Christians on the whole 
 been sufficiently solicitous for the salvation of all 
 Israel ? "To the Jew first" was the apostolic idea of 
 spiritual enterprise. Are not many bright hopes and 
 anticipations bound up with the fortunes and promised 
 restoration of the covenant race ? " Now, if the fall 
 of them be the riches of the world, and the diminish- 
 ing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more 
 their fulness ? " 
 
 A movement amonrj the students of a New Enjxland 
 seminary led to the organization of the first missionary 
 society on the American continent. The saintly mother 
 of Samuel I. Mills had early dedicated him to Cod; 
 and, when converted, his thoughts turned to missions. 
 One day, as several of the students met to hold a 
 prayer-meeting in a neighboring grove, a thunder- 
 storm drove them to the shelter of a haystack. There 
 the question of missions was discussed. The gospel 
 ouiiht to be at once sent, throuLrh some of their own 
 number, to the dark heathen of Asia. This matter 
 became the subject of earnest prayer. A marble shaft 
 crowns the historic spot. But the resolve of that 
 band of five students found a more endurinfj memorial. 
 It led to the formation, June, 1810, of the American 
 Board of Foreign Missions — a society which has sent 
 out well-nigh two thousand missionaries; whose agents 
 
Mil 
 
 i 
 
 1 ■ 1 
 
 I i 
 
 W<f I V 
 
 126 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 liavo rcMluced to writing; no less than twenty-six dif- 
 ferent lan^qiages, and made numerous translations of 
 the Scriptures, tlic hiborers of wliieh have been sig- 
 n.ullv successful in the work of conversion, and have 
 " raised nations from the lowest forms of heathenism 
 to Christian civilization." 
 
 The earlier history of the modern mission move- 
 ment — the daring and splendid programme adopted, 
 the conspicuously inadequate means at the disposal of 
 the promoters of the enterprise, and the suldime faith 
 and heroic fortitude of the missionary pioneer — forms 
 a theme of almost unrivalled interest. " There arc 
 few things in human history that wear an aspect of 
 higher moral grandeur than the opening of what are 
 now our i^reat missions. Among the glories of tlie 
 century is none greater than this." * Bare statement 
 conveys but little idea of actual expansion. Feeble 
 and thictuating efforts have grown up into strong and 
 systematized action. Each succeeding decade has 
 shown continuous progress. Seven societies have 
 been multiplied to seventy. Instead of the faint 
 glimmer of a few struggling missions, scarcely reliev- 
 ing the darkness of heathenism, the ]\fA\t of twentv 
 thousand stations stream out upon the earth. 
 
 "On mountain tops the watch -fires glow, 
 
 Where scattered wide the watclunen stand ; 
 V<>ice eclioes voice, and onward fhjw 
 The joyous shouts from every land." 
 
 T/ir lUth (Hillary, by Robert Mackenzie, Frank. S(|. Ed., p. 'AS. 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 127 
 
 In ordtT to obtain an adecjimtc impression of mis- 
 si(^nary enterprise, in its truly magnificent proportions, 
 it is necessary to glance over the entire field of opera- 
 tions. A visit to the pi-incipal stations takes us round 
 tlie world. Ten years ago the missions of the Mi'tho- 
 (iist Kpiscopal (Jhureh were "the travel posts" by 
 whieli a inissionary statesman and liis companions 
 made the circuit of the fdobe. Westward from New 
 York, tliey crossed the continent, halting for a brief 
 space at the ^longolian mission on the Pacific Coast. 
 An ocean voyage brought them to Japan, atlbrding 
 intercourse with the brethren at Yokohama and Jeddo ; 
 thence to China, and the missions at Foo-Chow, Ivu- 
 kiang and Peking ; thence westward to India, Turkey, 
 and home; "still facing the setting sun, journeying 
 by the signal iires of mission stations, and to the min- 
 strelsy of mission songs," 
 
 Taking Canada as a geographical centre and start- 
 ing-point in our missionary outlook, a field of stern 
 toil lies to the north; for men have braved and borno 
 the snows of Labrador and the rigors of the frozen 
 zone. Greenland's icy mountains have been celebrated 
 in story and song as the scene of inevitable hardships 
 and of indomitalile zeal. That enterprise was the 
 morning star of the modern movement. It is nearly 
 a century and a half since the brave Scandinavian, 
 Egcde, accompanied by his not less heroic wife, left a 
 little Fatherland pari.sh and sought the stormy and 
 frost-bound regions of the Arctic. Faith and patience 
 were long and sorely tested by the stupidity of the 
 
f 
 
 V 
 
 128 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 natives. r>ut at last tliore camo a inenioraMe day, 
 when torpid sensibilities were touclied, a fountain of 
 feeling unsealed, and the succes.s of the mission assured. 
 The work remains to this day. Greenland has seventy 
 missionaries, and a Christian connnunity of twelve 
 thousand ijeople. 
 
 The missions of North America generally, through 
 all their history and across the continent, have been 
 siirnalized bv deeds of intrepidity and heroism. No 
 work could be more arduous than that of reaching the 
 roaming tribes of the Great Lone Land, in their pagan 
 hardness. But, at an early period, wherever the Hud- 
 son's Bay Comjmny established its "storm-beaten sta- 
 tions," James Evans and other pioneers drove their 
 dog sledires, and the trading posts became centres of 
 religious iiiliuence. The work is still perpetuated by 
 men of like consecrated character and purpose. John 
 McDougall emulates the spirit and treads in the steps 
 of his sainted and immortal father. The mission of 
 Thomas Crosby to the Indians of British Columbia, 
 like a pillar of tire suddenly kindled in a dark place, 
 bri'ditens a long line of Pacific coast, and claims the 
 attention of wandering heathen tribes. Dr. Sheldon 
 Jackson is known beyond the limits of his vast charge 
 as " the apostle of the Ilocky Mountains." 
 
 The irreat southern field has had less of the romance 
 of missions than some other sections of this American 
 continent. But the present outlook is full of hopeful 
 interest. Missionaries are making good their position 
 in Mexico. That country was entered fourteen years 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 120 
 
 day, 
 in oi 
 ,urecl. 
 ^enty 
 vvelve 
 
 rongb 
 J been 
 1. No 
 ng the 
 pagan 
 Huu- 
 :en sta- 
 e their 
 ntros of 
 ated by 
 John 
 
 \-\c steps 
 ission of 
 )Uunbia, 
 k place, 
 linis the 
 Isheldon 
 It charge 
 
 :omance 
 tnierican 
 hopeful 
 I position 
 len years 
 
 a;-'(). Eiglit Protestant societies, with one liundred 
 and fifty agents, now report ten tliousand converts, 
 from a mass of ten million of spiritually degraded 
 people. Trade luis recently received an immense 
 impetus; and, side by side with the revival of com- 
 merce, through beautiful Mexican valleys, "the streams 
 of salvation are already flowing in deeper and swifter 
 currents." 
 
 The prevailing religion of Central America, with its 
 several miniature republics, comprising an aggregate 
 population of two million and seven hundred thousand, 
 is that of Roman Catholicism. An English Wesleyan 
 mission has been sustained for several years at 
 Honduras. The Moravians have seven stations along 
 the Musquito coast, and over a thousand members. A 
 gracious revival of religion has been experienced 
 during the past year and several hundred members 
 added to the communion. 
 
 There are few lands of sunnier or richer tropical 
 beauty than those of the West India Isles. But at 
 the commencement of the century the world had 
 scarcely a fouler spot. Society was fetid with crime ; 
 " a black amalgam of European and African vices, 
 combinins: the crossness of the one with the fire of 
 the other." Missions were an experiment. The men 
 who led the van bore in their bodies the marks 
 of the Lord Jesus. But as the facts of slavery and 
 of social life came to be known, the heart and 
 conscience of England were aroused. Voices were 
 heard across the deep. A signal fiame was seen to 
 

 VM) 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN ('H\. 
 
 $ 
 
 Iturn l)(.'iH'atli a darkencMl sky. Kloiniciit incn dr. 
 mauih'A tliat the shackles should be struck oil' from 
 the slave, and that throuf^di relii^nous instruction some 
 reparation should ])e made for loni^^-contiiiued and 
 grievous wron*,'. Since then those islands have been 
 brouj^dit under the inHuence of Christianity, and can 
 scarcely be re^^arded now as nnssi(jns in the proper 
 sense. A new history lias been be^^un. 'I'hree hundred 
 ministers of several denominations re])ort " eiLrhty-five 
 thousand communicants, and two hundred and iifty 
 thousand regular attendants at the house of God." 
 It is somewhat disappointing to notice, in a cruise 
 through the archipelago, that pulpits are generally 
 occupied by foreign preachers. Have the ranks of 
 West India converts failed to furnish suitable material 
 for a native ministry? 
 
 As we touch the continent, an Indian mission of 
 Britisli Guiana, begun forty years ago, sends a gleam 
 of lifjht across the waves. A missionary of the 
 Propagation Society, in the early part of 1 SSI, bap- 
 tized fourteen hundred natives; and he believes that 
 there are few cases, "where so many at a time, with 
 so little to tempt them, have sought admission into 
 the Christian Church." The Moravians began their 
 work at Paramaribo over a century acjo. Thev have 
 a strong station, thousands of adherents, and are 
 responding to an earnest appeal from the Bush land. 
 
 A magnificent territory almost as large as Europe, 
 with a population of eleven million, forms the empire 
 of Brazil. The hope has long been cherished, as the 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 131 
 
 i\t'n tl*'- 
 [)tV from 
 ,c)n some 
 Lied au'l 
 ivc been 
 , and can 
 le proper 
 I hundred 
 i.^dity-iive 
 and lU'ty 
 of God." 
 L a cruise 
 (foneraUy 
 ranks ot 
 ,1c material 
 
 ronli, of elosei' contact witli Protestant civilization 
 and connnerco, that a hri^jhter and 1 tetter era would 
 lie inaiii^Mirated in tlie reli<,'ious life oF that land. But 
 Romanism <lominates liere in its most intolerant and 
 superstitious form, and certainly the I*apal (Jhurch 
 
 torm 
 liHs little rea.son to be 
 
 prouc 
 
 I of its spiritual achieve- 
 
 ine 
 
 nt> 
 
 " Pray for South America!" Such was the re(|uest 
 recently forwarded to the monthly jtrayer concert of 
 one of the j^reat missionary ('hurches. The spiritual 
 (k^titution of nine republics and ten nations were 
 touehingly described; their hopeless moral condition 
 culling to the keepers of God's oracles with tlie Mace- 
 donian voic(! : Come over (ind help us. Missions on 
 the Jjrazilian coast, at Montevideo and Buenos Ayre.s 
 on the Plata .sliores, at Rosario in tlie interior, and at 
 a few points on the West Coast, are still few and far 
 lietween; and yet "from these centres the lines nuist 
 'JO out to evan<'elize the continent." The l^razilian 
 work is carried on under the auspices of Presbyterians, 
 Conr;re<Mtionalist.s, and Southern Methodists. Mis- 
 sionaries of the Northern Methodist Church are said 
 to be doincj an excellent work in the South-Eastern 
 republics. Presbyterians and Congrefjationalists are 
 plantini^ their stations along the West Coast, and there 
 Dr. William Taylor is working out a great experiment 
 in the line of a Pauline method. The South American 
 Missionary Society has given the gospel to Patagonia, 
 at the extremity of the continent, to the Falkland 
 Islands, and to Terra del Fuego. The exclamation of 
 
132 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Humbolt's guides, as — from tlio boaiitit'ul constella- 
 tion of the Southern Cross, which sets the sign of our 
 redemption in the heavens — they noted the morning 
 hour, finds application in a spiritual sense to the 
 nations of South America: "Midnight is xmst : the 
 Cross bends /" 
 
 From the continent we take our course to the island 
 world of the Pacific. Polynesia, marnj islands, l!»et 
 like gems in the crystal sea, presents a scene of unique 
 beauty, and of rare missionary interest. A century 
 has witnessed m.arvellous changes. When first dis- 
 covered, and made known to the civilized world, 
 darkness and barbarism everywhere prevailed. The 
 people were savage, superstitious, and grossly vile. 
 But the power of the gospel has there been gloriously 
 exhibited. What thrilling and triumphant memories 
 are associated with such names as Tonga and Tahiti, 
 Samoan and Society Isles ! " In more than three 
 hundred islands of eastern and southern Polynesia," 
 says Dr. Mullens, " the gospel has swept heathenism 
 entirely away." Former dark rites are now no longer 
 practised. Heathen legends have vanished. Tribal 
 wars have ceased. Son2:s of the cannibal feast have 
 given place to the sweet strains of the Redeemer's 
 praise. Fields are cultivated. Commerce prospers. 
 Law is recosfnized Native Churches are fjenerously 
 supported. " The work of missions may be said to be 
 practically over." 
 
 Sixty years ago, Tonga had not a single convert to 
 the faith of Christ. Three missionaries of the London 
 
I 
 
 MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 133 
 
 :^nstella- 
 n ot* our 
 morning 
 J to the 
 )a8t : the 
 
 ,he island 
 ands, ^et 
 of unique 
 ^ century 
 first dis- 
 ;cd world, 
 iled. The 
 ■ossly vile, 
 ffloriously 
 memories 
 ind Tahiti, 
 ,han three 
 Irolynesia," 
 beathenism 
 Iv no longer 
 led. Tribal 
 feast have 
 Redeemer's 
 :e prospers, 
 generously 
 ,e said to be 
 
 convert to 
 the London 
 
 Society, who first made the attempt to reclaim the 
 fierce .savages, were murdered. But there is scarcely a 
 vestige of heathenism now left in that group. 
 
 Tlie islands of Fiji, as we have seen, were inhabited 
 by a race of ferocious cannibals ; but, through a mar- 
 vellously successful Christian agency, twenty-five 
 thousand of the.se natives have been enrolled as com- 
 municants of the Wesleyan Church, and one hundred 
 thousand assemble regularly for public worship. "You 
 pass from isle to isle,'' under the intelligent guidance 
 of Miss Gordon Gumming, " certain everywhere to 
 find the .same cordial reception from women and men. 
 Every village in the eighty i.slands has built for itself 
 a church, and a house for the native teacher or preacher. 
 Can you realize that there (ire Tiiore than nine thousand 
 Wesleyan churches in Fiji, at every one of which the 
 services are crowded by devou congregations ; and 
 that the first sound that greets your ear at dawn, and 
 the last at night, is that of hymn-singing rising from 
 each dwelling: at the hour of morning and evening 
 wor.ship." 
 
 To the north-west of Fiji are the Nev/ Hebrides, a 
 mission field of the Presbyterian Church of Nova 
 Scotia ; where on the blood-stained island of Eromanga 
 the immortal John Williams and the Gordons of these 
 Provinces were martyred. At Aneityam a marble 
 tablet has been inscribed to the memory of Rev. John 
 Geddie ; " When he landed in 1848, there were no 
 Christians here; and when he left, 1872, there were 
 no heathens." The vivid description of this mission- 
 
II 
 
 '« Is s 
 
 iff! 
 
 1.S4 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN TRY. 
 
 ary's first experience in his selected field will loncf be 
 remembered by Nova Scotia audiences. A cannibal 
 cbicf, afterwards converted to God, lurked around 
 his hut on the niijht of his arrival. The savaire 
 was intent upon murderous purpose. But a power 
 which he could not understand, and which was felt to 
 be as a strange spell, restrained his hand ; " and there," 
 said the missionary, producing a polished battle-axe, 
 " is the weapon with which he intended to perpetrate 
 the deed." Further to the north, on the island of 
 Nukapu, of the Swallow group, a great missionary 
 bishop of the Church of England, John Coloridgo 
 Patteson, met a martyr's death in 1871. 
 
 Crossing the equator, leaving Micronesia on the 
 left, we halt at the Sandwich Islands, where Captain 
 Cook was murdered in 1779. Hawaiians were formerly 
 heathens of a low and disgusting type. Abominable 
 vices and habits were tending to national deteriora- 
 tion, and to a rapid diminution of population. Such 
 was the condition of the Sandwich Islands, when, in 
 1710, a small missionary party sailed from Boston for 
 the purpose of bringing the inhabitants under the in- 
 fluence of Christianity. The patient faith and per- 
 sistent purpose of the men and women who fultillod 
 that mission claim a permanent record. Success was 
 ecpial to the most sanguine anticipation. Civiliza- 
 tion was introduced. The people were christianized. 
 Churches became self-supporting, both in regard to 
 men and means. Native ministers were ordained to 
 the pastorate of influential congregations. This was 
 the work of fifty years. The mission has closed, 
 
 > s 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 I.S5 
 
 lon<^ be 
 anniVjal 
 arouiifl 
 savai^c 
 \ power 
 s felt to 
 d there," 
 ittle-axe, 
 3rpetrate 
 
 island of 
 issionary 
 Coleridge 
 
 having been struck off from the roll of the American 
 Board. The entire cost of turninfj this little nation 
 from idols to serve the living God was " greatly less 
 tlian half the cost of one iron-clad ship of war," less 
 than half the annual value of the country's increasing 
 commerce. Hawaii has the banner church of the 
 Protestant world, numbering between four and five 
 tlionsand communicants. A jubilee sermon, June 
 IS70, in memorial of deliverance from heathenism and 
 the introduction of Christianity, was preached by a 
 native pastor. It would be pleasant to linger on 
 thrse isles ci the ocean, where a nation has been born 
 in our day. Jjut we have many stations to visit, and 
 must embark for " the Land of the Risinrr Sun." 
 
 The favored empire of Japan, in which we begin to 
 meet and mingle with the forms of Oriental life, is 
 the newest tield of modern missions. The first mis- 
 sionaries to enter the country, after the unlo';king of 
 treaty ports, were those of the Protestant Episcopal, 
 Preslnterian and Reformed Churches of America, in 
 is')!). An exceedingly effective and successful work 
 was oi'ganized by the American Board in lISGO. Con- 
 tingents were furnished by the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church of the United States in 1873, and also by the 
 Methodist Church of Canada. "We entered Japan," 
 says Dr. Cochi-an, "just as the time was ripe for 
 Christian work.''* Twenty diti'erent societies are 
 
 * Tlu' iiiiiiii facts connected with the opening of Japan are tersely 
 sununarized. In Dr. George Cochran, in papers fmni.shiMl for the 
 '-'((iiadia)! Mdhodist Marjazint', Decemlter, 1880, and Tlu Missioiinry 
 Outlook, January, 188.'^. 
 
136 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 laboring harmoniously tof^ether in this land of the 
 morning, for the evangelization of thirty-five million 
 of people. A public service was held in Tokio, April 
 18S0, at which fourteen societies were represented, to 
 celebrate the consummation of a complete translation 
 of the New Testament into the Japanese language. 
 The aggregate statistics of missions, as published in the 
 report of the Evangelical Alliance of Japan, for lScS2, 
 comprise one liundred and forty-five missionaries, 
 one hundred and forty-nine ordained and assistant 
 preachers, seventy-one theological students, and nearly 
 five thousand communicants. The week of prayer at 
 v,he commencement of 1883, was followed by a very 
 blessed outpouring of the Holy Spirit, resulting in a 
 more rapid accession of converts than had been 
 previously known. An open liible and a Pentecostal 
 baptism arc Japan's best hope. Yes, the day breaketh! 
 
 Corea, "the Land of Morning Calm," to the w'est of 
 Japan, with a population of ten million, intense ad- 
 herents of Confucius, is slow to open her gates to the 
 messen<]:ers of salvation. There is no missionarv sta- 
 tion to attract us to the shores of that peninsula, and 
 we pass on to the vast and populous empire lying on 
 the south-eastern slope of the Asiatic continent ; an 
 immense territory, numbering over seventeen hundred 
 walled cities, and an estimated population of nearly 
 four hundred million. 
 
 A great and fjrowinc: work is b^ing done for China. 
 Four hundred missionaries, including physicians and 
 ladies, are fulfilling a blessed ministry, and ai'e extend- 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 137 
 
 i the 
 
 lilUon 
 
 April 
 
 [,ecl, to 
 
 ilation 
 
 (Tuaf^e. 
 
 [ in the 
 
 r 188*2, 
 
 :)naries, 
 
 ssistant 
 
 [ nearly 
 
 rayer at 
 
 f a very 
 
 ing in a 
 
 ad been 
 
 rvtecostal 
 
 (veakethl 
 
 3 west oi 
 
 ,ense ad- 
 
 ^es to the 
 nary sta- 
 sula, and 
 lying on 
 nent ; an 
 hundred 
 of nearly 
 
 lov China. 
 Icians and 
 re extend- 
 
 ing their efforts to the interior of the provinces. It 
 took ten years to increase the first ten converts to a 
 force of two hundred and twenty. But during half a 
 decade, from 1877, communicants have increased from 
 thirteen to twenty thousand. Between three and four 
 hundred schools have been established, and other 
 agencies are employed for difTusing gospel light. Pro- 
 fessor Legge, of Oxford, claims that in thirty-five years 
 Chinese converts have been multiplied two thousand- 
 fold, the rate of increase being greater year by year. 
 " Suppose it to continue the same other thirty-five 
 years, and in 1913 there will be thirty-six millions of 
 couimunicants, and a professedly Christian population 
 of one hundred millions." Such statistical studies and 
 estimates have a certain value. They have a basis of 
 asceitained fact. But the most essential laws and 
 forces of spiritual dynamics are not to be measured or 
 tabulated. The residue of the Spirit is with God. 
 China shall be visited with a Divine glory. 
 
 Glancing away to the adjacent island of Formosa, 
 with its three or four million of people, the light of a 
 noble and successful mission gladdens the vision. 
 Twelve years ago, one Saturday afternoon, without 
 any knowledge of the language, a missionary of the 
 Presbyterian Church of Canada, Dr. McKay, landed 
 on the Forrnosan coast. What a moving tale of toil, 
 trial, and triumph he has now to recite ! After four 
 months he began to preach in a new and difficult 
 tongue, and five months later a native convert accom- 
 panied him on a missionary tour. Other converts 
 10 
 
138 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 were won. Fierce persecution had to be encountered. 
 Martyrs died for the truth. Savages clamored for the 
 blood of the intrepid mii,sionary, but he seemed to be 
 shielded by an invisible power. The son of a chief 
 and four others were shot and decapitated ; and over 
 their graves Dr. McKay in.scribed a monumental 
 stone, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." 
 Still the word of the Lord grew and prevailed. Twenty 
 churches have been planted in the northern part of the 
 island, and as many native preachers have been raised 
 up to make known the ^ocprd to their countrymen. 
 
 The Asiatic coast Hue brings us to an important 
 peninsula lying between (Jlilna and India. It com- 
 prises Siam and Burman, with their connected terri- 
 tory, and a population of some fifteen million. Siam, 
 " the Kingdom of the Free," receptive of Western ideas, 
 has yet to know the truth which can really secure the 
 hijrhest freedon\. Buddhism is there enthroned, and 
 its splendid temples are sustained at an annual cost of 
 twenty-five million of dollars. Missionaries of the 
 Presbyterian Board bear the banner of evangelical 
 enterprise in Siam. " Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly," 
 is the prayer of a Laos missionary's devoted wife, 
 " reveal Thyself to those poor benighted ones." The 
 work of the Baptist missionaries in Burmah has won 
 wide and well-deserved renown. The names of the 
 sainted Judson and his gifted wiv^es " will be remem- 
 bered in the churches of Burmah in future times, when 
 the pagodas of Guatama shall have fallen, and the 
 spires of Christian temples shall gleam along the 
 waters of the Irawaddy and Salwen." 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 119 
 
 nen. 
 portant 
 It corn- 
 el terri- 
 Siam, 
 n ideas, 
 cure the 
 led, and 
 cost of 
 of the 
 ngeUcal 
 uickly," 
 ed wife, 
 The 
 has won 
 s of the 
 3 reniem- 
 les, when 
 and the 
 Aong the 
 
 ;S 
 
 From the peninsula we pass on to the islands of the 
 Indian Archipelago, Sumatra, populous Java, spacious 
 Borneo, and the deep bays of Celebes, with a popula- 
 tion of nearly thirty million. The Mohammedan 
 religion very largely obtains ; but there are exceptions, 
 as in the Buddhism of the Philippine group. Propa- 
 gation and Dutch societies have stations at Sumatra. 
 Thirty Dutch missionaries seek to establish the Re- 
 formed faith in Java. Rhenish societies have made 
 a beGfinnincr in Borneo. Celebes is said to be the most 
 prosperous mission of the Holland Churches, having 
 important stations and thousands of converts among 
 the Malays of the peninsula. But up to the present 
 time the strength of evangelical forces is palpably and 
 painfully inadequate to the great work of bringing 
 those beautiful islands beneath the benign influence of 
 the gospel of Christ. 
 
 New Guinea, to the east of the archipelago, is inha- 
 bited by a Papuan race of people. It is one of the 
 largest islands on the globe, and probably one of the 
 darkest spots of heathendom. Not much was really 
 known of the place or the people until the missionaries 
 of the London Society planned their campaign about 
 ten years ago ; except that the climate was deadly, 
 the tribes savage and degraded, and the coast one 
 that seamen sousfht to avoid. But couraijeous mis- 
 sionary exploration has won the high encomium and 
 medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and has led 
 to the discovery of a superior type of people — in the 
 interior. Already strong stations have been planted 
 
^!P 
 
 140 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 along the line of immense coast, and the gospel will 
 doubtless follow rapidly in the direction of recent 
 exploration. 
 
 The great insular continent of Australia, to which 
 in geographical order we next arrive, is the home 
 of three million of enterprising people, destined 
 at no distant period to the possession of a mighty 
 population. At the commencement of this century, 
 in common with Tasmania, New Zealand, and adjacent 
 islands, it was engulfed in deepest night. The 
 country was little noticed except as a penal colony. 
 No one dreamed that in so short a period it was to 
 become the scene of a prosperous commerce ; bound to 
 the rest of the civilized world by rapid and continuous 
 communication, lines of superb steamers, and fleets of 
 sailing ships. The first record concerning the heroic 
 pioneer of Wesleyan missions, Samuel Leigh, was to 
 the eftect that he had sailed for Australia eighteen 
 months before, and had not been heard from. Aus- 
 tralian Christianity, as represented by the leading 
 evangelical denominations, exhibits a commanding 
 character, having thoroughly organized agencies and 
 institutions, and numerous missions to surrounding 
 groups of islands. There is said to be " a larger pro- 
 portion of well-educated people in the Australian 
 colonies than among the same number of people at 
 home, and their religious feeling is fully equal."* 
 
 A pleasant sail over an equatorial sea, fanned by 
 
 Stafinticfi of Protestant Missionary Societies, 1872, p. 96; 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 141 
 
 will 
 icent 
 
 vhich 
 home 
 stined 
 ligV^ty 
 ntury, 
 Ijacent 
 The 
 colony, 
 was to 
 ound to 
 itinuous 
 fleets of 
 e heroic 
 J was to 
 [eighteen 
 
 anned by 
 
 5,P- 
 
 breezes from spicy isles, takes us to the coral strand 
 of Ceylon, " the celebrated Taprobane of other ac,'es." 
 Were it not for the exhibitions of human depravity, 
 this sunny and voluptuous island might be regarded 
 as a paradise ; but the exquisite beauty of scenery 
 must not render us insensible to the vileness of man, 
 and the need of regenerating energy. Ceylon was 
 early selected as a missionary field. Episcopal and 
 Wesleyan societies are doing a strong and successful 
 work. 
 
 Thought turns eagerly to India. That ^reat southern 
 Asiatic peninsula may well be regarded as the Ther- 
 mopylae of modern missions. "India won," said the 
 late Bishop Thompson, "and Asia is saved." This 
 magnificent territory extends from Burmah to the 
 distant Indus, and from Ceylon to Cashmere, a distance 
 of two thousand miles. There is very much land to 
 be possessed. An immense population, one-sixth of the 
 human race, chiefly owns tlie supremacy of Queen 
 Victoria, and has a special claim upon the thought and 
 sympathies of British Christians. Earlier contingents of 
 the missionary army forced their way in the face of 
 all but insuperable obstacles. But there has been a 
 visible interposition of Providence in behalf of the 
 cause of India's evangelization. Conditions have 
 hopefully changed. The Churches have not been slow 
 to acknowledge the hand of God as it was " seen over 
 against them," or to take advantage of new and 
 auspicious openings for the spread of the gospel. 
 Twenty-eight societies, represented by over a thousand 
 
142 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 It 
 
 missionaries, are moving in the harmony and vigor of 
 concerted and aggressive action. Up to the close of 
 the first half of this century, 1851, there were only 
 about ninety thousand Christians in Hindustan ; but 
 an aggregate of nearly half a million is now reported, 
 one-third of whom are communicants.* Each period 
 exhibits an increasing momentum of missionary effort. 
 Two facts challenge special attention. Returns for 
 the decade ending December, 1S81, reveal the hopeful 
 fact that in these ten years the number of converts 
 and of native ministers has been doubled. "None of 
 the European or American Churches can exhibit such 
 an increase." The Anglican Mission at Tinnevelly 
 continues to be signalized by its accessions of converts. 
 During the year 1882, one thousand and eight hundred 
 persons were baptized, upon the profession of their 
 f j,ith, by the Rev. I. S. Clough, of the Baptist Telugu 
 Mission. Five hundred natives, in a body, have lately 
 applied for baptism at a Wesley an station in the 
 Madras Presidency. The second Decennial Confer- 
 ence, composed of missionaries from every part of 
 
 * The Gospel in all Lands, February, 188.3. 
 
 * Statistics, prepared for the Calcutta Decennial Conference, 
 indicate the increase of the decade : 
 
 NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 1871. 18S1. 
 
 India . .224,2o8 417,372 
 
 Burniah 62,729 75,510 
 
 Ceylon 31,376 35,708 
 
 Total.... 318,363 528,590 
 
 COMMUNICANTS. 
 
 1871. 
 
 India 52,816 
 
 Burmah 20,514 
 
 Ceylon 5,164 
 
 Total 
 
 issi. 
 113,32:) 
 24,929 
 6,843 
 
 78,494 145,097 
 
 i! !( 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 un 
 
 nror of 
 
 Dse of 
 5 only 
 i; but 
 ported, 
 period 
 J effort, 
 rns for 
 hopeful 
 onverts 
 None of 
 Dit such 
 inevelly 
 converts, 
 hundred 
 of tVieir 
 Telugu 
 lately 
 in the 
 Confer- 
 part of 
 
 Conference. 
 
 ve 
 
 TS. 
 1. 
 
 116 
 )14 
 164 
 
 113,325 
 
 24,929 
 
 6,843 
 
 194 145,097 
 
 India, was held at Calcutta early in January, 1S83. 
 Thanks were offered to God for the unparalleled 
 succe.ss which had crowned the toilers in tliat land. 
 "That which in popular phrase is calle«l evangelical 
 Christianity," wrote an observer of the assembly 
 gathered on the banks of the Hooghly, " is a mighty 
 power in the Empire, full of vitality and energy, 
 intensely aggressive, org.inized and equipped for vic- 
 tory, and on the march to the goal of certain 
 success." * 
 
 From India the pioneer missionary has crossed the 
 border line to Afghanistan. Four millions of Af- 
 ghans, though claiming a descent from the ten tribes 
 of Israel, are followers of the Arabian prophtt. The 
 Church of England station at Peshawur has a mem- 
 bership of ninety converted Mohammedan.s. A noble 
 boon to the Afghan is the Pushtu translation of the 
 New Testament ; forming, as in many other cases, the 
 foundation of a Christian literature. The conversion 
 of a notorious robber, Dilawar Khan, on whose head 
 the British had set a price, furnished a striking illus- 
 tration of the transforming power of the gospel, and 
 of the influence of genuine Christian character. Two 
 hundred of the Moslem population are said to have 
 been " led by him, at least intellectually, to renounce 
 the faith of Islam, and to accept the teachings of God's 
 word." 
 
 The light of the Persian sky has faded. No longer 
 
 * India Witness, January 6th, 1883. 
 
r' 
 
 if: 
 
 144 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 do the wise men from the East bring their offerings of 
 gold and frankincense and myrrh to the slirine of the 
 world's Redeemer. The cold Crescent, not the star of 
 Bethlehem, " the bright and morning star," .shines over 
 the land of the Sophi. The population of four and a 
 half million, though mostly Moslem, includes a few 
 Jews, and about 70,000 Armenians and Nestorians. 
 Missionaries of the Church of England follow in the 
 labours of the saintly Henry Martyn, whose name and 
 memory are imperi.shably associated with missionary 
 enterpri.se in that Eastern field. The strong missions 
 of Persia are those of the American Presbyterian 
 Church. They have recently been favored with a 
 gracious revival, in which .some Jews and many Nes- 
 torians have been brought to a knowledjje of the 
 Saviour. Translations of the Word of God bring 
 within the reach of all the people of Persia a treasure 
 more precious than the pearls of Or muz. 
 
 The great Arabian peninsula, with a population of 
 some nine millions, extends from the Persian Gulf to 
 the Red Sea, and from the Gulf of Aden to the 
 borders of Syria, on the Mediterranean. The Arabian 
 people, endowed with intellectual qualities of a high 
 order, full of force and fire, were first to accept and to 
 propagate the creed of the Koran. To them " Mo- 
 hammed delivered the scymeter, as the instrument of 
 his apostolate," and the rapid success of the new faith 
 must have been in a great measure due to the splendid 
 qualities of the Arab race. When shall the fiery 
 children of the desert be won to the Redeemer's cross ( 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 145 
 
 i^s of 
 )f the 
 itar of 
 IS over 
 and a 
 a few 
 orians. 
 
 in the 
 ne and 
 iionary 
 lissions 
 yterian 
 with a 
 fiy Nes- 
 
 of the 
 1 bring 
 treasure 
 
 ation of 
 Gulf to 
 
 to the 
 Arabian 
 
 a high 
 ,t and to 
 in "Mo- 
 jnent of 
 lew faith 
 
 splendid 
 |he tiery 
 
 [•'s cross ( 
 
 The Bible has been rendered into the flexible Arabic, 
 the sacred language of Islam, "an accurate and elegant 
 version." Otherwise little is being done to promote a 
 purer faith : 
 
 "Sec where o'er desert wastes they err, 
 And iieitlier food nor feeder have, 
 Nor fold, nor phice of refuge near, 
 For no man cares their souls to save." 
 
 In Asiatic Turkey, where there is much to detain 
 us, and where a great work has been begun, a very 
 different state of things obtains. The dominant re- 
 ligion is Mohammedanism. But the population of 
 sixteen million incl,ude3 numerous communities of 
 Christians. Turkey in Asia comprises lands of sacred 
 interest : Mesopotamia and Armenia, Bashan and Pa- 
 le le, Syria and Asia Minor; the sites of Nineveh 
 p Jabylon, the mountains of Ararat and I^'banon, 
 and the ancient cities of Dama.scus and Jtiijsalem. 
 The Holy Land is still defiled and degraded by the 
 tyrannies of the Moslem. The lioof of the Turk is 
 said to wither every green thing, and nowhere else 
 has the invad»^r left a more desolate track than in the 
 Lord's land. Missionary work has at different times 
 been prosecuted with a good deal of enthusiasm among 
 the Jews of Palestine. Many faithful laborers have 
 gone forth weeping, bearing precious seed. The Church 
 of England has a bishop resident on Mount Zion, and 
 mission stations at Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nablous, Nazareth, 
 Gaza, and ancient Ramoth Gilead. But the promised 
 day of Israel does not seem yet to have come. The 
 

 146 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 i 
 
 lli 
 
 
 
 H|j 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 ii 
 
 1 I 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 « 
 
 Jews are still a scattered people, and in some lands 
 the bitterness of exile knows but little abatement. 
 The pathetic lament of the Hebrew prophet, calling 
 for pity and help at the time of the captivity, is still 
 the Macedonian cry of the daughter of Judah, as she 
 weeps beneath the palm tree: "Is it nothing to you 
 all ye that pass by ? Behold and see if there be any 
 sorrow like unto my sorrow ?" 
 
 Amidst scenes and surroundings of Bible interest, 
 the missionaries of the American Board have made for 
 themselves f noble record, and have challenged the 
 admiration ot every section of the Christian Church. 
 For several years the work, which has now expanded 
 into proportions of magnitude and importance, has 
 been prosecuted at an annual expenditure of $150,000. 
 The mission has a force of fift}-four ministers sent out 
 from home, fifty-seven native ordained preachers, 
 nearly one hundred lady missionaries, and some five 
 hundred other helpers in various departments of evan- 
 gelistic and educational enterprise. A line of stations 
 stretches from the boundaries of Persia to the banks 
 of the Bosphorus, on to Bulgaria south of the Balkans, 
 and from O routes and Aleppo to the borders of the 
 Black Sea. Through translation of the Bible, a great 
 •work has been done for Western Asia. An eminent 
 living missionary has taken part in the preparation of 
 Armenian, Armeno-Turkish, and Bulgarian versions. 
 The Word of God has been given to a large portion of 
 the Ottoman empire. On the banks of the Nile, 
 throughout the deserts of Arabia, by the rivers of 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 147 
 
 lands 
 ment. 
 ailing 
 IS still 
 as she 
 ,0 you 
 be any 
 
 \terest, 
 ade for 
 red the 
 bhurch. 
 :panded 
 ice, has 
 150,000. 
 [sent out 
 eachers, 
 Dme five 
 of e van- 
 stations 
 banks 
 Balkans, 
 of the 
 a great 
 eminent 
 ^ration of 
 versions. 
 )ortion of 
 he Nile, 
 rivers of 
 
 •s 
 
 Babylon, at Ur of the Chaldees, in the land of Genne- 
 saret, amongst the ruins of the Seven Churches of 
 Asia, the sacred Scriptures have been unsealed, and can 
 be read by the people in their own tongue. 
 
 Oriental Churches scattered over a wide region must 
 always excite a deep interest. Christian sects exist in 
 the very heart of great Moslem communities. Arme- 
 nian, Nestorian, Copt, and especially Greek, Churches 
 are found in Persia, Turkey, Egypt, and Syria; in 
 such citiea and centres as Aleppo and Damascus, Cairo 
 and (Constantinople. In spite of Mohammedan hate 
 and determined attempts at proselytism, numerous 
 communities have maintained for centuries a strug- 
 gling life and organization. Although exhibiting an 
 inferior type of Christianity, such sects bear a sacred 
 name, maintain some forms of spiritual worship, and 
 are the depositaries of revealed truth. To Mussulmans 
 they represent the religion of the New Testament. 
 Hence it was thouijht at the outset of mission work 
 that, for the conversion of the Mohammedans, an at- 
 tempt must be made to reform the Oriental Churches. 
 Could the golden candlesticks be relighted, and Arme- 
 nian and Greek worshippers become true witnesses for 
 Jesus, the reflection of gospel truth would shine over 
 vast spaces of As'a, and an eflfective agency might be 
 extensively ' utilized. But there has not been any 
 great quickening of Oriental Christianity, and the 
 later policy has been that of independent organization. 
 
 It is no longer a capital offence, as it was a few 
 years ago, for a Moslem to change his religion. Re- 
 
••MiJNHiWHM 
 
 148 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 cently, at Beirut, a prominent follower of the Prophet 
 became a disciple of Jesus. Appeal was made to civil 
 authority, and an injunction obtained. Arraigned be- 
 fore a legal tribunal, and threatened with the conse- 
 quences of turning renegade, he was permitted to bear 
 a striking testimony to the truth. Taking a copy of 
 the New Testament from beneath his robe, amid the 
 breathless silence of the court the convert read the 
 first chapter of St. John's Gospel ; and with intense 
 earnestness he spoke of the true Light, of the Word 
 made flesh, and of the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sin of the world. But, while a certain amount of 
 tolerance has been granted by law, drawbacks and dis- 
 abilities of conversion are such as to prevent any 
 except the most decided inquirers from making a 
 public renunciation of Islam, or a profession of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 There are siji^ns, however, of a waning Crescent- 
 The march of Moslem armies has been described as a 
 thunderbolt of war; but the cloud that bears the 
 burning bolt must move on or be dissolved. Political 
 unity, the result of conquest., has long formed the 
 citadel of Mohammedan strength. Religion and poli- 
 tics are fused. Threatened disintegration of Turkish 
 power must therefore be regarded as a hopeful feature 
 in the problem of access to Moslem populations. Should 
 Mohammedan? cease to be a political power, buttressed 
 by great European empires, the Koran may come fairly 
 into competition with the Bible, and detected impos- 
 tures of the false Prophet lead to an examination and 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 149 
 
 rophet 
 o civil 
 led be- 
 conse- 
 to bear 
 [^opy of 
 aid the 
 jad the 
 intense 
 le Word 
 th away 
 nount of 
 and dis- 
 ent any 
 aaking a 
 »n of the 
 
 Crescent- 
 bed as a 
 
 bears the 
 Political 
 
 rmed the 
 and poli- 
 
 )f Turkish 
 ul feature 
 Should 
 buttressed 
 ome fairly 
 ted impos- 
 nation and 
 
 LS 
 
 acceptance of the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
 unity of the Godhead appeals to Islam sentiment, forms 
 an initial base of accordance, and may lead to common 
 ground in regard to other fundamental truths. Only 
 let pure Christianity and the Arabian imposture be 
 brought into candid comparison, and prejudice must 
 melt away. The Moslem worshipper of the One God 
 shall be led to believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, 
 the Saviour of the world. 
 
 The Crescent must surely fall before the Cross. A 
 venerable mosque at Damascus, once a Christian 
 church, and in par^an times a heathen temple, psr- 
 petuates a record of prophetic hope and anticipation. 
 An inscription on its portal, carved in Greek charac- 
 ter, proclaims the permanence of the Saviour's spiritual 
 empire. Centuries of Mohammedan fanaticism and 
 deep hatred to Christianity seemed to contradict the 
 silent prediction. No follower of the Nazarene was 
 permitted, during a long dark period, to tread the 
 courts of that sanctuary. But when missionaries of 
 the Presbyterian Church entered upon their enterprise 
 in that ancient city of Syria, they deciphered the i * 
 scription, and had faith to believe it true : " Thy king- 
 dom, Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy 
 dominion endureth tliroughout all jjenerations." 
 
 There is said to be a Moslem belief that the latter 
 days shall witness a universal apostacy f rom the Islam 
 faith, and that the Koran shall cease to exist. Are 
 not the evanfjelical Churches summoned at once to the 
 occupancy of new fields, and to the achievement of 
 
150 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ill i I 
 
 greater spiritual conquest? Obstacles are all but 
 innumerable. The work is great. Missions to Mo- 
 hammedans ought to possess a distinctive character. 
 Responsibility is not to be left to a section of the 
 sacramental host. No single denomination should bear 
 the brunt of assault on the faith of Islam. Let the 
 whole line advance ! 
 
 Christianity has vested rights in Mohammedan 
 lands, many a claim which she cannot forego. An old 
 traveller, Von Schubert, musing at the mosque of St, 
 Sophia, experienced an emotion of sadness. The 
 thought of a long desecration produced a feeling 
 somewhat resembling that of a Northman, whose son, 
 at Algiers, was found wearing the garb and leading 
 the life of a Turkish renegade. The followers of 
 Jesus had not dared since its surrender to enter that 
 once renowned sanctuary of the Christian faith — 
 through which the magniticent Te Deum had been 
 wont to resound, — and only when passing had ven- 
 tured to glance into its courts. How long; must the 
 minstrel wait outside the prison walls, like Caeur de 
 Leon, till they from within should strike up the well- 
 known hymns of praise and thanksgiving ? " The 
 minstrel of thy Saviour tarries long. And thou, old 
 belfry, thou art but small beside the minarets and 
 golden crescents ; but when thy voice returns to thee, 
 it shall sound over sea and land like the call of the 
 muezzin." 
 
 There is a strong temptation, as we near the iEgean 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 151 
 
 i hut 
 ) Mo- 
 •acter. 
 )f the 
 dhear 
 ]et the 
 
 medan 
 An old 
 B of St. 
 The 
 feeling 
 5se son, 
 leading 
 jvers of 
 ,er that 
 faith— 
 ,d been 
 ,d ven- 
 lust the 
 'ijnur de 
 e well- 
 "The 
 |iou, old 
 ts and 
 |to thee, 
 of the 
 
 iEgean 
 
 or the Bosphorus, following in the track of the first 
 great missionary, crossing the Straits from Asia into 
 Europe, to pursue a still westward course. Philip- 
 popolis and Salonika, where St. Paul preached the 
 gospel, are occupied as mission stations. But tho 
 unspeakable Turk still rules, and the Christian hears 
 the voice as of old : " Come over into Macedonia and 
 help us." 
 
 A Mediterranean voyage takes us to the African 
 continent. The Barbary States, extending from Mo- 
 rocco to Egypt, are said to comprise over fifteen 
 million people, of whom four hundred thousand are 
 reported " Christians " of some sort, three hundred 
 thousand Jews, and the rest Mohammedans. Except 
 in the case of missions to the Jews in Algiers and 
 Tunis, very little is being done to lead those erring 
 ones into the way of life. Once along the northern 
 border line of the African continent, as we have seen, 
 there were flourishing Christian Churches. But that 
 " green strip " was long ago desolated by the sands of 
 Moslem invasion. Was the cause of failure to be found 
 in the fact, as some believe, that the early Churches were 
 satisfied to be lights only along the shore, and that 
 no attempt was made to carry the lamp of salvation 
 to the benighted ones of the interior ? Missionary 
 churches do not die. Only through unfaithfulness to 
 her responsibilities could African Christianity be con- 
 quered by fierce invaders. 
 
 For purposes of spiritual conquest Egypt must be 
 
152 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 regarded as one of the strategic points of Africa. 
 It is the stronghold of Arabian slavery. The river 
 Nile forms a connection with the interior of the 
 continent. Here, too, may be found the Tel el Kehir 
 of Mohammedanism. The great university of Cairo, 
 with its three hundred attaches, enrols an attendance 
 of ten thousand students ; and from El Azrah, as 
 emissaries of the Islam faith, educated bands find 
 their way to the centre of Africa, to the eastern part 
 of Asia, and to the Isles of the Sea. With the excep- 
 tion of six hundred thousand Copts, the five and a 
 half million of people in Egypt proper, and the nearly 
 eleven and a half million of annexed territory, are 
 Mohammedans. The United Presbyterian Church 
 prosecutes an influential Copt mission on the Nile, 
 and the Church of England is reorganizing a mission 
 to the Moslem population. The victorious banner of 
 a British host should be succeeded by the sacred 
 standard of the Cross. Wonders shall God work again 
 in the land of Zoan. " The Lord shall be known in 
 Egypt, and Egypt shall know the Lord." 
 
 Ethiopia, in which the London Society has a mission, 
 has frequent association with Egypt in the language 
 of prophecy. An Abyssinian Church claims a Chris- 
 tian name and character. But the light that once 
 was in her has become darkness. No part of the world 
 has more need of the gospel than the regions of the 
 Upper Nile. 
 
 Zanquebar and Mozambique, along the eastern coast 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 153 
 
 irica. 
 
 river 
 ,f the 
 
 Kehir 
 
 Cairo, 
 ndance 
 ;rab, as 
 tds find 
 rn part 
 e exccp- 
 e and a 
 le nearly 
 tory, are 
 Church 
 the ISile, 
 la mission 
 manner of 
 sacred 
 
 ork again 
 
 known in 
 
 a mission, 
 language 
 lis a Chris- 
 that once 
 the world 
 Ions 
 
 istern 
 
 of Africa, have yet to be occupied by the advanced 
 posts of Christianity. But the little island of Zanzi- 
 bar, adjoining the continent, forming a convenient 
 base for interior enterprise, is held as the headquarters 
 of the Universities' Mi.ssion. The old slave market, 
 where in recent years there was an annual sale of 
 thirty thousand slaves, has been turned into a scene 
 of beneficent influence, forming the site of a church, 
 mission-house, and schools. Thirty-four European 
 missionaries, and a number of native evangelists, con- 
 stitute an effective corps for the prosecution of aggres- 
 sive enterprise. From the sea coast a line of stations 
 has been carried towards the central lakes. The 
 grave of Bishop Mackenzie, a missionai-y hero, is three 
 hundred miles inland. But that way-mark is only on 
 the threshold of new and accessible territory. " Be- 
 yond and beyond," said his successor, Bishop Steere, 
 another brave leader whose brief course has been 
 tinislied. " lie nations after nations, until the mind is 
 overwhelmed by the vastness of the work before us." 
 
 To Madagascar, the magnificent island on the east 
 of the Mozambique Channel, must be awarded the 
 crown of modern missions. Facts in regard to the 
 rapid abandonment of idolatry, especially in the 
 central provinces, are well known. Equally extra- 
 ordinary have been the accessions of converts to the 
 Christian ranks. The London Society reports an 
 aggregate of twelve hundred churches, five thousand 
 native preachers, eighty thousand communicants, and 
 11 
 

 mmm 
 
 154 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 I 
 
 not less than half a million of adherents. A million 
 of dollars has been contributed, during a single decade, 
 for the spread of the gospel. Malagasy Christians 
 realize a sense of responsibility in regard to the pro- 
 motion of the Saviour's work; and, at the Mildmay 
 Conference, the belief was expressed by a Madagascar 
 missionary that these churches would rise to the level 
 of yet greater things, and take their share in the hope 
 and hazard of winning the continent for Christ. 
 
 From the eastern coast, missionaries have penetrated 
 to the interior of Africa ; and, in a marvellous manner, 
 central regions and races have become accessible to 
 Christianity. The Church of England has reinforced 
 her oft-shattered and depleted ranks, and extended 
 her mission posts to Victoria Nyanza. A promising 
 Blantyre Mission of the Church of Scotland has been 
 planted on the healthful heights of the Shire region. 
 In memory of Africa's best friend., a noble and fitting 
 monument, the Free Church of Scotland has started 
 successfully her Livingstonia enterprise. Eight years 
 after its discovery, in October 1875, the sparkling 
 waters of the Nyassa burst upon the view of the 
 Scotch pioneer missionaries. The Hundreth Psalm, 
 
 "All people that on earth do dwell 
 Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice," 
 
 seemed to have a new beauty and depth of meaning 
 as its notes floated over the blue waves of the spacious 
 lake. Two steamers, the Lady' Nyassa on the Zambesi 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 155 
 
 iUion 
 
 Bcade, 
 
 stians 
 
 e pro- 
 
 ^Idmay 
 
 Lgascar 
 
 le level 
 
 tie hope 
 
 t. 
 netrated 
 
 manner , 
 ssiblc to 
 einforced 
 extended 
 promising 
 has been 
 te region, 
 nd fitting 
 as started 
 ght years 
 Sparkling 
 w of the 
 psalm. 
 
 ){ meaning 
 Ihe spacious 
 ke Zambesi 
 
 and Shire rivers and the Itala on Lake Nyassa, form 
 an easy route from the coast. Beyond the northern 
 shore of the Nyassa, deeper into the interior, an 
 explorer pushes on to the Tanganyika ; a great inland 
 sea, on the eastern and western shores of which, 
 amidst a dense population, the London Society is 
 planting its vigorous missions. Does not the day 
 (lawn for Africa ? Fron the east and the west 
 pioneer forces are pressing to the heart of the conti- 
 nent. The watchword has been sounded: "Foriuard 
 to the ccntrn !" 
 
 South Africa was early a storied land of missions. 
 The Moravian brethren sent their first missionary 
 to the Hottentots in 1737, and they have now thirtj-- 
 ninc laborers in the field ; while one of their stations, 
 Mamre, has a roll of one thousand and three hundred 
 communicants. The London Society, with headquar- 
 ters at Kuruman in Bechuanaland, has twentv-two 
 missionaries, a strong staff" of native helpers, and a 
 large membership. United Presbyterian and Free 
 Churches of Scotland carry on an influential work in 
 KafiVaria. Wesleyan missionaries, entering the field 
 at an early period, starting from the Cape, have 
 extended colonial and native stations to little Nama- 
 qualand on the one hand, and to the Zulu country on 
 the other. One hundred stations of the Church of 
 England Propagation Society comprise colonial and 
 native missions. The American Board has an en- 
 courajjinjr Zulu cause. Dutch and other missionaries 
 
156 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 IJ 
 
 I 
 '11 ! i I 
 
 :■ a 
 
 labor in the Transvaal. Several Continental societies 
 have agents in South African territory. 
 
 Western Africa, following the coast line from the 
 south, completes the circuit of mission stations. Mis- 
 sionaries of the American Board have inaugurated a 
 new enterprise at Benguela. English Baptists are 
 steaming up the Congo to a thickly-populated central 
 region, and the Livingstone Inland Mission forwards 
 evangelists by the same route. What an immense field 
 opens up for the diffusion of the gospel in the vast 
 Congo valley! It is computed that in order to furnish 
 a single missionary to the thickly-peopled towns and 
 villages, scattered over each hundred square miles, no 
 less than nine thousand men would be needed. The 
 reflection of missionary watch-fires can be seen over a 
 dark region at the mouth of the Niger. Wesleyan 
 and Church of England societies maintain their 
 stations along the line of the Gold Coast and at Sierra 
 Leone. More than one hundred and twenty messen- 
 gers of the gospel, during a period of forty years, have 
 succumbed to the effects of deadly climate, 
 
 "And their low pillow has been tiie strange soil 
 Of that distant and grave-dotted strand." 
 
 But the work has not been in vain in the Lord. Com- 
 municants of the several stations now number thirty 
 thousand. 
 
 As from the shores of Africa we embark for this 
 Western continent — such is the magnitude of the work 
 
MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 157 
 
 )m the 
 
 Mis- 
 
 cated a 
 
 sts are 
 
 central 
 orwards 
 nse field 
 the vast 
 > furnish 
 wns and 
 miles, no 
 ed. The 
 en over a 
 W^esleyan 
 un their 
 
 at Sierra 
 messen- 
 [ears, have 
 
 soil 
 
 yet to be accomplished — the Macedonian cry, heard 
 from many lands, still sounds along our course, and 
 mingles with the murmur of the mighty main. Souls 
 benighted plead for light and help. 
 
 "ChristiauH, hearken: none has taught them 
 Of the Saviour's love so dear ; 
 Of the precious price that bought them ; 
 Of the«iail, the thorn, the spear. 
 
 Ye who know Him, 
 Guide them from the darkness drear." 
 
 When shall " the wail of the billows of humanity," 
 from the lands of idolatry, from .scenes of Mo.slem 
 superstition, from Asia and Africa, and from the Isles 
 of the sunny South, be turned into a shout of rejoicing i 
 
 J)rd. Com- 
 Iber thirty 
 
 Ik for this 
 If the work 
 
rr^ 
 
 "There is yet no more than time to open an enterprise so vast. 
 IJiit already there are materials from whicli it is possible to estimate 
 the prospects of the missionary enterprise, and tlie gi-andeur of tho 
 results which its success must yield," — Robert Mackrnzif. 
 
 \uil 
 
PROGRESS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 159 
 
 VI. 
 
 Hi 
 
 ise so vast. 
 to estiinatL' 
 uleuv of tlie 
 
 PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF FOREIGN 
 
 MISSIONS. 
 
 THE missions of this century, as far as can be ascer- 
 tained from available and reliable data, began 
 with a membership of not more than fifty thousand. 
 But now missionary communicants are estimated at 
 over half a million, and nearly three and a half million 
 of adherents have been won from heathenism. Such 
 an exhibit is full of encouragement. Ratio constantly 
 increases. Reduplication is marvellous. The acces- 
 sions of a single year are larger than was the aggregate 
 of converts at the commencement of the century. 
 
 A brief statistical summary is all that can be at- 
 tempted on this page. Central and South America, 
 including the West Indies, with a population of over 
 thirty-tive million, where four hundred and thirty 
 commissioned messengers of the cross are seeking to 
 respond to the Macedonian cry, began the present 
 decade with a return of twenty-five thousand com- 
 '^ •"' bs, forty-three thousand scholars, and eighty 
 id attendants on public worship. Asia, an im- 
 
 en territory, stretching from the Sea of Sinim to 
 aie Hellespont, and from the sands of Arabia to the 
 snows of Siberia, with a population of eight hundred 
 million, in wh" h two thousand five hundred mission- 
 
lili 
 
 160 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN GUY. 
 
 aries are sounding forth the word of life, seeking to 
 turn men "from idols to serve the living and true 
 God," is credited with nearly two hundred and forty- 
 six thousand communicants, two hundred and eighteen 
 thousand scholars, and three hundred and forty-three 
 thousand adherents. Oceanica missions, comprising 
 several groups of islands, where a brave band of conse- 
 crated men, inclusive of a proportionately large native 
 element, are seeking to win bright trophies for Jesus, 
 aggregates one hundred and twenty thousand com- 
 municants, seventy-five thousand scholars, and iive 
 hundred and thirty thousand nominal Christians. 
 Africa, with two hundred million of people, where, 
 includinfj Madagascar and Mauritius, nine hundred 
 missionaries proclaim the gospel of peace and good- 
 will, presents a roll of nearly one hundred and sixty- 
 five thousand communicants, over ninety-eight thou- 
 sand scholars, and five hundred and eighteen thousand 
 worshippers reclaimed from the baseness and bai uari- 
 ties of heathenism. European missions, comprisinjr 
 stations in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bul- 
 garia, and some other places that sorely need a second 
 Reformation, where seven hundred evangelists are 
 seeking to propagate a purer faith, return ninety-six 
 thousand communicants. But even these summaries 
 are far from being exhaustive of the whole field of 
 missions.* Some of the most important features of 
 
 * "Probably," says Dr. Dorchester, in his valuable and suggestive 
 statistical exhibit of missions for 1880, "more than 20,000 stations 
 are occupied. More than 40,000 laborers, lay and clerical, are in 
 
PROGRESS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 161 
 
 ng to 
 [ true 
 forty- 
 rhteen 
 -three 
 
 prising 
 
 conse- 
 
 native 
 r Jesus, 
 ,d com- 
 nd iive 
 ristians. 
 ;^ where, 
 hundred 
 ad good- 
 id sixty- 
 rht thou- 
 thousand 
 
 buL oari- 
 )mprisinjT 
 
 key, Bul- 
 
 a second 
 
 lists are 
 
 inety-six 
 
 ummaries 
 
 e field of 
 atures oi 
 
 >d suggestive 
 
 ,000 stations 
 
 lerieal, are in 
 
 missionary progress, and many great and glorious 
 spiritual results, do not admit of tabular exhibit. 
 
 SeverrJ years ago a writer in the Tmies complained 
 that the reports of the several foreign missionary 
 societies were not made up in a satisfactory manner. 
 There was said to be an " absence of those facts, those 
 details, that account of results," which generous con- 
 tributors " require in ever}'' matter they take in hand." 
 But no longer can there be any cause for dissatisfac- 
 tion on that ground. Statistics are abundantly tabu- 
 lated. Leading principles and details are so grasped 
 and grouped as to become mutually illustrative and 
 explanatory ; and, in marked contrast, with most 
 impressive effect, they are projected against the dark 
 and discouraging background of a preceding era. 
 
 The most exhaustive summaries, however, in this 
 period of expansion, must soon be out of date, and can 
 only be valuable as way-marks of progress. The vast 
 impetus of advancing evangelical movement necessi- 
 tates constant revision of numerical statement. But 
 there are some special results of modern missions that 
 can never lose their significance, and to which the 
 
 the foreign fields, '31 missions not reporting the former and 51 not 
 reporting the latter item — probably 45,000 at least of these laborers. 
 From 356 of the 504 missions we have 857,332 communicants reported. 
 Returns from the remaining 148 would doubtless swell the aggregate 
 to over 1,000,000. These figures do not include nominal converts 
 from heathenism, but enrolled Church members. The nominal 
 adherents or hearers, reported in about two-fifths of the missions, 
 are 1,813,596 — probably about three and a half millions in all." — 
 Problem of ReligiotLii Proyv^ss, pp. 487, 488. 
 
162 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 publication of annual and decennial returns only chal- 
 lenjjes renewed attention : — 
 
 The area of enterprise has been immensely enlarged. 
 
 There was a contraction of Christian work, in even 
 the comparatively recent past, which is not easy for 
 us to understand. A most chilling subject, at any 
 time between the decline of the Puritan and the rise 
 of the Wesleyan movement, was that of the world's 
 evangelization. Two centuries ago a number of gifted 
 and godly ministers were silenced in England, ex- 
 cluded from the pulpits of the Established Church. 
 Saintly Richard Baxter grieved greatly for the loss of 
 such a ministry. But the chief sorrow was in the 
 fact that these men could not be utilized as mission- 
 aries to the heathen. He was led in this way to 
 ponder the question of obligation in relation to the 
 great commission. England had been wont to absorb 
 his thoughts ; or if the rest of the world was con- 
 sidered, a prayer for the conversion of the Jews was 
 almost all. But when he came to understand the con- 
 dition of the heathen nations, ^heir need of the gospel, 
 and "the method of the Lord's Prayer," there was noth- 
 ing so heavy upon his heart as the thought of the 
 miseries of unenlightened lands of the earth. Even the 
 calamities of his friends or of his country could not 
 affect him so much as the case of heathen, Mohamme- 
 dan, and ignorant people of dark and distant regions, 
 ' Could we but go among Tartars, Turks, and hea- 
 then, I should be but little troubled for the silencing 
 of eighteen hundred ministers at once in England; 
 
PROGRESS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 163 
 
 chal- 
 
 irged. 
 
 even 
 sy for 
 t any 
 le rise 
 vorld's 
 
 gifted 
 
 nd, ex- 
 ;;;hurch. 
 > loss oi 
 in t\ie 
 mission- 
 way to 
 ^ to the 
 o absorb 
 vas con- 
 ews was 
 the con- 
 he gospel, 
 |a\t,s notli- 
 t of the 
 Even the 
 ;ould not 
 obamme- 
 t regions, 
 and bea- 
 silencing 
 England ; 
 
 which maketh nie greatly honor Mr. John Eliot, the 
 apostle of the Indians in New England." It is diffi- 
 cult to realize that, as late as the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, with the exception of a little strip along the 
 eastern seaboard, this continent of America, the 
 whole of Africa, the teeming millions of China and 
 India, the greatest part of Asia, the lands of the Bible, 
 and the numerous Isles of the Sea, were utterly inac- 
 cessible to the missionary of the cross or any evange- 
 listic agency. 
 
 Even at the commencement of this mission century 
 the doors of lieathendom were almost everywhere 
 closed. It is well known that when William Carey 
 set his face towards the East no English ship would 
 tolerate a missionary passenger, and he had to sail 
 under the Danish tlaof. " If I ever see a Hindoo con- 
 verted to Jesus Christ," said Henry Martyn, in his 
 day, " I shall see something more nearly approaching 
 the resurrection of a dead body than anything I 
 have ever yet seen." Dr. Morrison landed at Macao 
 in 1807. The attempt to make Christians out of 
 Chinese Buddhists was generally regarded as a Uto- 
 pian and utterly hopeless scheme. It was stigmatized 
 as an "absurdity in hysterics, preposterousness run 
 mad, illusion dancing in the maddening frenzy, the 
 unsubstantial dream and vision of a dreamer who 
 dreams that he has been dreaming." The West India 
 slave continued to clank the chain of a bitter and re- 
 lentless bondage. Dwellers in the Southern Archi- 
 pelago were still enveloped in the impenetrable gloom 
 
lis 
 
 164 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of heathen night. Deeper than Egyptian darkness 
 brooded over the continent of Africa. It was claimed 
 to be yet an open question as to the capability of sable 
 races for elevation in the scale of civilization ; and, in 
 reference to the negro, James Montgomery met the 
 doubt by a pathetic plea : 
 
 " Since his wrongs began, 
 His follies and his crimes have stampt him Man. " 
 
 It was affirmed by politicians and officials of the East 
 India Company that were an attempt made to inter- 
 fere with the religion of Hindustan, insult would 
 be quickly resented, the people of India would sweep 
 away the Anglo-Saxon race and rule, with as much 
 ease as the sand of the desert is driven by an east 
 wind ; and down to the mutiny, 18o7, as tidings of 
 disaster reached the India House, a director exultingly 
 exclaimed, " Now we shall get rid of the saints!" 
 The thick wall of Chinese exclusiveness had l<^en 
 scarcely pierced. Oriental tongues were but little un- 
 derstood, and but few uncivilized lanfjua<jes had been 
 reduced to writincr. 
 
 Marvellous has been the change ! Barriers of ages 
 have been broken down. Antipathies are relaxed or 
 repressed. The world is everywhere accessible. South 
 Seas have been flooded with T ht. Africa is being 
 explored and claimed for Christ. From Cape Comorin 
 to the distant Himalayas, India is becoming a vast 
 and fruitful mission field. China, to her w^estern 
 mountains, and her northern wall, welcomes the 
 
RESULTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 165 
 
 j:ness 
 iraed 
 sable 
 id, in 
 t the 
 
 >e East 
 
 ) inter- 
 would 
 
 I sweep 
 
 s much 
 
 an east 
 
 lings of 
 
 altingly 
 iaints 1 " 
 
 d l^^n 
 ittle un- 
 lad been 
 
 of ages 
 axed or 
 South 
 is being 
 Comorin 
 (T a vast 
 western 
 mes the 
 
 heralds of salvation. In lands where, within the 
 memory of living missionaries, through the prevalence 
 of repulsive and sanguinary rites and superstitions, the 
 people were oppressed, the earth polluted, and heaven 
 insulted, Christian consjreixations now jrather for 
 prayer and praise. There is also a prodigious growth 
 of intercommunication. Steam speeds the missionary 
 to his distant post, and electricity flashes back the 
 tidings of progress. " To me," says the venerable 
 Bishop Simpson, " all this portends the coming of an 
 era of universal light and glory." 
 
 Missions have added stirriwj and storied pages to 
 the history of spiritual achievement. 
 
 What literature of this world, in thrilling and ro- 
 mantic interest, can surpass that of modern missions ? 
 It was once said that the narrative of John Williams' 
 mission to the South Sea Islands might be regarded 
 as the twenty-ninth chapter in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 A writer in a current number of " The Gospel in all 
 Lands " says, " The achievements of the missionary 
 enterprises of to-day are only the Book of Acts con- 
 tinued on into the nineteenth century." The tours 
 of St. Paul and his companions, their intrepidity and 
 successes, form a fascinating part of the inspired his- 
 tory. But the writer of that narrative could not 
 chronicle all the acts of the Christian Church. There 
 is no sign or seal of completeness, no finish or fornmla, 
 at the close of the book. T'le record runs on from 
 Antioch to Galatia, and from the mission scenes of 
 Asia to the populous cities of Europe. Not for a 
 
166 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 moment, to the very last verse, is there any abatement 
 of missionary spirit and interest: "preaching the 
 kinoTfJom of God, and teach ingf the thinjjs which con- 
 eern the Lord Jesus Christ." The history of magnifi- 
 cent enterprise, and of the spread of early Christianity, 
 thus closes with an apparent abruptness. As you 
 stroll amongst partially hewn blocks, scattered about 
 the quarries of the Nile, retaining in that salubrious 
 clime their freshness for long centuries, you almost 
 look for the workman to return with mallet and chisel, 
 and to complete the partially wrought column or slab. 
 Some such feeling one may have after an eager per- 
 usal of the Acts of the Apostles. We wait for more. 
 The cross has been victorious in voluptuous Antioch, 
 gorgeous Corinth, idolatrous Ephesus, and in imperial 
 Rome. But what of the spread of the gospel through 
 the provinces of Gaul and Spain ? Were not the vic- 
 tories of imperial legions surpassed by those of the 
 armies of the cross ? By what agency were fierce and 
 uncivilized hordes of " those northern and inclement 
 Scandinavian shores, which made the lordlv Roman 
 shiver when he named them," subjugated to the faith 
 of Christ ? We almost expect the inspired writer to 
 resume his pen, to chronicle new facts of apostolic 
 achievement, and to complete the marvellous narrative. 
 Is it not evidently the Divine idea that the sacred 
 record, acts of men who hazarded their lives for the 
 Lord Jesus, should be supplemented by reports of 
 evangelistic enterprise, and of soul-saving work, 
 until the great consummation shall have been won ? 
 
RESULTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 167 
 
 ment 
 T the 
 1 con- 
 ifi- 
 
 ,crni 
 
 anity, 
 .s you 
 about 
 ibrious 
 almost 
 I chisel, 
 or slab, 
 er per- 
 )r more. 
 \.ntioch, 
 imperial 
 through 
 the vic- 
 of the 
 erce and 
 clement 
 Roman 
 [the faith 
 writer to 
 apostolic 
 arrative. 
 e sacred 
 Is for the 
 sports of 
 ^cr work , 
 en won ? 
 
 The history of spiritual achievement repeats itself. 
 Acts of the Apostles furnish an admirable model 
 for the reports of modern missions. Missionary 
 movements in the nineteenth century are simply a 
 reproduction of early Christianity. The first messen- 
 ^ers of the cro.ss, as they left Antioch for the foreign 
 work, were " recommended to the grace of God," and 
 followed by the prayers of all the disciples. In like 
 manner, a consecrated band of men and women, re- 
 cently leaving American shores for China and the 
 eastern parts of Asia, were fervently commended to 
 Divine care and protection, and accompanied by the 
 prayers and hopes of many Christian people of the 
 United States. The incident of Barnabas and Paul 
 sailing away to Cyprus, and across the Pamphylian 
 Gulf, always retains its freshness and power. Later 
 pages glow with the grand enthusiasm of such mis- 
 sionaries as Carey and Coke, rocking on the mighty 
 ocean, and planning the conquest of new continents 
 for Christ. Opening chapters of the Book of Acts in 
 the New Testament tell of the martyrdom of St. 
 Stephen and of St. James, beaten with stones or 
 slain with the sword. Modern annals immortalize the 
 martyrs of Erromanga and Madagascar, and the names 
 of the heroic men who are falling at their post in 
 Central Africa. An indescribable charm is associated 
 with the first days of the gospel in Corinth and in 
 Philippi ; but the facts of Serampore and Kuruman, 
 and a hundred other places, furnish evidence of a 
 gloriously perpetuated apostolic succession. Through 
 
w 
 
 168 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 H 
 
 ' 
 
 ill 
 
 the zeal of mission Churches planted by St. Paul and 
 his fellow-laborers, the word of the Lord was sounded 
 out, " not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in 
 every place." A spirit of propagandisrn is beinj^ devel- 
 oped in the native Churches of India and South 
 Africa, of Hawaii and Tonga, that gives a noble im- 
 pulse to the onward movement of modern Christianity. 
 Yes, there is abundant material for suiiplementary 
 chapters to " the Acts of the Apostles." 
 
 It is sometimes complained that ihe statistical por- 
 tions of missionary reports arc not attractive. Would 
 any one complain that a page of a Parliamentary Blue- 
 book was duller than the latest work of fiction, or that 
 bulletins of battle were wantinjj: in "imaginative and 
 literary power and expression ? To the political econor 
 mist, statistical exhibits furnish information in the 
 most compact and available form; and, to hearts 
 strained by palpitating and protracted anxiety and 
 suspense, eager for the details of national conflict, 
 rhetorical flourish would seem sadly out of place. 
 Reports of mi.ssion work are put into business form, 
 so far as statistics and summaries are concerned. But, 
 between the lines, thoughtful men and women find a 
 world of meaning. Beneath the tabulated statements, 
 there are exhibitions of patience and intrepidity of 
 spirit, of unselfish and successful work for Christ, 
 that move the soul alternatel}^ to exultation and to 
 tears. 
 
 Apart from purely business reports, the Church has 
 a great missionary literature, which, for magnificence 
 
 U 
 
RESULTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 169 
 
 il and 
 underl 
 blso in 
 devel- 
 South 
 ble im- 
 iianity. 
 lentary 
 
 jal por- 
 Woukl 
 ry Blue- 
 i, or that 
 tive and 
 al econOf 
 n in the 
 hearts 
 ty and 
 conflict, 
 place. 
 ss form. 
 3d. But, 
 jn tind a 
 itements, 
 idity of 
 r Christ, 
 and to 
 
 lurch has 
 .niticence 
 
 le 
 
 )t' 
 
 of range, variety, romance of fact and incident, 
 
 touching; and thrillinnr detail and power, surpasses 
 
 all other publications of the age.* Dr. Jaboz Bunting 
 once said that he read the leading newspapers of the 
 
 day in order to understand the manner in which his 
 heavenly Father governed the world. Those who 
 would keep abreast of the marvellous changes that 
 aie being wrought in the earth, and who would mark 
 the victories that signalize the march of spiritual 
 empire, must ransack the records of evangelical enter- 
 prise, and saturate their minds with the memorials of 
 missionary heroes. 
 
 Modern Missions have greatly enriched the hiogra- 
 l>hies of tlie Christian Church. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews has a chapter of unri- 
 valled interest, which has been characterized as " the 
 Westminster Abbey of the New Testament." The 
 names of heroes of the Hebrew faith are there em- 
 balmed. Where shall we now find a succession to 
 that inspired bead-roll of immortal fame ? To what 
 sphere must we look for the noblest manifestations 
 of human life and heroism ? The men and women 
 who, far away from scenes of show and ostentation, 
 have consecrated themscilves to the missionary cause, 
 
 * Two new book-lists happen to be at hand, as these lines are 
 written, and they announce or notice such volumes as those of Dr. 
 Christlieb's " F )reign Missions," the magnificent " Ely Volame " 
 of Dr. Laurie, Bambridge's "Around the World of Christian Mis- 
 sions,'" Thompson's " Moravian Missions," " The Sunrise King- 
 dom,'' "Life in Greece and Palestine," and a " History of Indian 
 Missions on the Pacific Coast. " 
 
 12 
 
■ I 
 
 "I" 
 
 
 170 
 
 THE MACKDONIAN rilV 
 
 i 
 
 to spend and to bo spent for Christ, constitute a 
 j^oodly fellowship. In spiritual resolv(! and intrepid 
 deed, tlie line of missionary succession streams and 
 bla/es with holy and heaveidy li^ht. Names of 
 peerless renown, Xavier and Schwartz, Kliot and 
 Ef^ede, Carey and Coke, Morrison and iMilis, Judson 
 and Marshman, Henry Martyn an<l IJe^inald ilcher, 
 Robert Moftat and William Sliaw, John Williams 
 and John Hunt, Alexander Duff' and ])avid FiivinjT- 
 stone, Coleridge Patteson and Charles Frederic 
 Macrenzie, John Oeddie and (yliarles New, James 
 Evans and George McDougal, mu>^t forcvn' shine in a 
 galaxy of splendor. " Read only the life of Patteson," 
 says Max Muller, " the Bishop of Melanesia. It has 
 been my privilege to have known some of the finest 
 and noblest spirits which England has produced dur- 
 ing this century, but there is none to whose memory 
 I look up with greater reverence, none by whose 
 friendship I feel more deeply humbled, than that of 
 that true saint, true martyr, and truly parental mis- 
 sionary." * 
 
 The dust of another honored missionary has been 
 rendered to the mould in trophied tomb and temple. 
 A magnificent sepulchre was prepared for the mortal 
 remains of the great pioneer of African missions. It 
 was a fitting recognition which the world freely ac- 
 corded to daring and intrepidity, unswerving goodness 
 and patient achievement. 
 
 On Missions, Eel. Review, 1874, p. 263. 
 
l?KSiri/rs OK KOllKIfiN MISSIONS. 
 
 171 
 
 tr('pi<l 
 \s niul 
 iKiS of 
 )t sin<l 
 
 HrlK«r, 
 
 /illiains 
 I.iving- 
 
 James 
 inc in a 
 ittcson," 
 It lias 
 ho finest 
 ced dur- 
 
 lueinory 
 y wliose 
 I that of 
 
 ital mis- 
 
 Ihas been 
 
 1 temple. 
 
 lie mortal 
 
 Isions. It 
 
 :reely ac- 
 
 cjoodness 
 
 *' We saw thfin Inwor liiiii tt) rest : 
 Was liver luiinan bosom pressnl 
 ]{y (lust iiioiu manly ? Or a namt! 
 Of liumblc origin and fame 
 Linked firmer to the lieart (»f man? 
 Or life's most transient human span 
 Crowded M'ith grander, nobler deeds?" 
 
 Ihit is there need to chant the re({iiiem, woavci tlie 
 cliaplet, or carve the monument of stone ^ Do not 
 deeds of missionary devotion find a higlier than 
 earthly record and recompense ? " An<l they tliat l)e 
 wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; 
 and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 The names of a devoted sisterhood have been im- 
 mortalized by the inspired Apostle Paul: Phebe, "a 
 snccourer of many and of myself also ;" Priscilla, " a 
 helper in Christ Jesus ;" Mary, " who bestowed much 
 labor on us ;" Tryphena and Tryphosa, " who labor in 
 the Lord ;" the beloved Persis, " which laboreth much 
 in the Lord." But what New Testament record, " of 
 honorable women not a few," can surpass that of 
 modern missions ? Harriet Newell and Mary Cryer, 
 the wives of Judson, Mary Moffat and Mary M. Ellis, 
 Fidelia Fiske and Harriet C. Mullens, Dorothy Jones 
 and Rebecca Wakefield, and others whose lives have 
 been equally consecrated, heroines of the missionary 
 enterprise, may claim an enduring inscription. In 
 each case, the Saviour's approval is sure : " She hath 
 done what she could." " Verily I say unto you, where- 
 
172 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 • 
 
 m 
 
 m\ 
 
 soovcr this f^ospel shall he preached throui,diout the 
 whole world, this also that she hath done shall l)e 
 spoken for a memorial of her." 
 
 MisHwnariea have made numerous I ranshdwiiH vj 
 the Bible into varied languages of the earth. 
 
 One of the most wonderful faets of modern mis- 
 sions, completely chan^dnj; the aspect and atmosphere 
 of the Christian world, is the immense; impetus given 
 to the work of disseminating the sacred Sciiptures. 
 It is not always easy to understand the stupendous 
 toil demanded for the work of translation. E({uiva- 
 lents for words freighted with evangelical significance, 
 such as sin, atonement, and righteousness, are exceed- 
 ingly difficult to obtain. The Burmese version of Dr. 
 Judson, regarded as a noble work, cost him nineteen 
 years of hard toil. Dr. Carey devoted fifteen years 
 of unremitting labor to his Bengali version. The 
 Arabic translation was a work of fifteen, and that of 
 Tahiti twenty years. Mainly through the unwearied 
 effort of scholarly missionaries, during the past eighty 
 years, the Word of God — or portions of the Old and 
 New Testament — has been rendered into numerous 
 living languages. Had there been no other mi.^.sion 
 results, this great achievement would alone have 
 constituted an ample compensation for the expen- 
 diture of life and treasure. Some one has said that 
 the most profound homage which may be offered to Ji 
 creature, reserved from genius and earthly grandeur, 
 from the soldier that wins blood-stained wreaths, 
 from the statesman that controls courts and cabinets, 
 
 4 
 
RKSriTS OF FOREIfJX MISSIONS. 
 
 173 
 
 ;iii«l I'roiii tlu' oiator whose tlioiinlits und words liirutlu^ 
 ami Inirn, shall he ^nik-t'iilly \mid to liiui who tirst 
 makes a wide-spoken tonj,aie to utter words of salva- 
 tion. 
 
 There were thouf,dit to he at the commencement of 
 tins century, existinj,' in fifty lanj,aiages, about Hve 
 million coi)ies of the Scriptures. But in 1882, a sinj^le 
 year, the issues of the; J^ihle Society, and of tliree 
 kindred institutions, aggregated nearly five million of 
 copies. The Word of Ood has been rendered into 
 no less than three hundred lannruaijes and dialects, 
 comprising the speech of nine-tenths of the population 
 of the globe. Is not the Bible the modern gift of 
 tongues ? 
 
 As in the mystic river of sanctuary vision, the life- 
 giving streams of sacred truth are progressive and 
 t'tiicacious. The waters deepened in their How, to 
 the ankles, to the knees, and up to the loins, not too 
 deep for a man to wade through, from brink to brink. 
 But, suddenly, and without apparent cause, the river 
 became a mighty fiood ; " for the waters were risen, 
 waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed 
 over." There was also a marvellous efficacy in those 
 holy w^aters. "And everything shall live whither the 
 river cometh." Through waste and wild, deep 
 gorge and gloomy ravine, a wealth of tropical vege- 
 tation beautifies and enriches its course. The Dead 
 Sea, a region of sand, salt, and sulpliur, is pene- 
 trated and purified. Sluggish depths are healed. 
 "And by the river, upon the banks thereof, on this 
 
174 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 side ami on that .side, sliall Ljrow all trees \'ov meat, 
 wh'jse leaf shall not i'ade, neither shall the fruit 
 thereof be consumed: it shall brinof forth new fruit 
 acc*. fding to his months, because their waters they 
 issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof 
 shaU be meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." 
 
 Missions have demonstrated the essential manhood 
 of degraded races. 
 
 It has been found that man everywhere has a ca- 
 pacity for the reception of spiritual truth. Carey 
 s' oke of iroinir "down into the mine" of dejjraded 
 hmnanity, and he and his fellow-laborers penetrated 
 to some of its darkest and foulest depths. Once it 
 was affirmed that nothing precious could be found at 
 such a level of baseness and depression. But mis- 
 sionary explorers have been richly rewarded. They 
 have struck rich veins, and have brought to the sur- 
 face treasures of splendid worth. The possibilities of 
 redeemod races have been proved. Through the power 
 and piocess of saving and sanctifying truth and grace, 
 fijems of immortal mind, freed from foul encrustation, 
 poHshed and beautified, flash with the light of 
 Christian graces and of an expanded intellect. 
 
 By what standard shall we attempt to measure the 
 importance of such a work? The Apostie Paul had a 
 profound imprcsbion of the worth of redeeme'l hu- 
 manity. Oace he was instruraeiital in the salvation 
 of a runaway slave, Onesimus, and the elation of feel- 
 ing produced by that success prompted liim to write 
 the Kpistle of Pliilemon. The conversion of one 
 
RESrLTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 175 
 
 licathni soul — a dusky child of the forest, a dark 
 dweller of ice-bound Labrador, a, Hindu devotee, a 
 savaixe Kaffir, a deiiiaded Mala<rasian, a barbarous 
 Tongan, a senseless Papuan, or a stupid Patagonian — is 
 worth more than the outlay demanded by the costliest 
 missions. The lowest of all these tribes may not only 
 be raised to a hifjher jxrade of civilization, but to the 
 dignity of sons and heirs of God. An eminent scien- 
 tist, Charles R. Darwin, while cruising off the coast 
 of South America, makinir the observations which 
 formed the found.ation of his lifework as a naturalist, 
 noticed the deLjraded condition of the Patagonians. 
 He was positive in discussion of the subject that they 
 were specifically diH'crent from the races of Europe, 
 and absolutely incapable of improvement. In later 
 years, as he came to understand the success of the 
 Church of England missionaries in promoting a Pata- 
 g(mian civilization, "he frankly avowed his mistake, 
 and gave his name as a subscriber to the funds of 
 the Soutli American Society — on whose books it still, 
 remains."* 
 
 Missions furnish evidence of the adaptation of the 
 (iosvel of Christ to all conditions of human need. 
 
 The gospel of Jesus Christ has been given to dark 
 idolaters of Oriental lands and to the forest wan<lerers 
 of this western continent, to the polar seal-hunter and 
 to the negro slave; and every wliere, fimid Arctic snows 
 
 *'l'li<' fiC't i.s \(>ii('lieil for liy a corrcspundDiit nl tin; Mniflii Mvr 
 <1 uardiiiii. 
 
176 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 and at the burning tropics, it has V)een found effica- 
 cious, " the power of God unto salvation to every one 
 that believeth." As light to the eye, or melody to the 
 ear, exquisite in its adaptation, the gospel of Christ 
 finds its way to the human soul, and satisfies the heart 
 as nothing else can do. There was a time when 
 Moravian missionaries thought that the Esquimaux 
 were too dark and degraded to receive the sublime 
 teachings of Christianity. They must first aim at an 
 improved civilization. Moral precepts, and the first 
 principles of natural religion were earnestly inculcated. 
 But the experiment of years proved to be an utter 
 failure. No progress was made on that line of effort. 
 It was like ploughing and sowing on rocks or fields of 
 ice. But patiently they toiled in the laborious work 
 of preparing a version of the Gospels for Greenland. 
 One memorable day, natives lingered round John Beck 
 and questioned him about the writing. The Mis- 
 sionary read a few sentences, and for the first time in 
 that land announced the " faithful saying, and worthy 
 of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 w^orld to save sinners." As he spoke of the .sufferings 
 of Christ, his own soul was filled with emotion. Then 
 he read to the wondering listeners, in their own lan- 
 guage, the account of the Redeemer's agony in Geth- 
 semane. " How was that," asked one of the men, a 
 wild savage from the mountains, " tell us that again, 
 for we too would be saved ;*" Again, with softened 
 lieart and streaming eyes, they listened to the won- 
 drous stoiy of Jesus and His love; and, after their 
 
RESULTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 177 
 
 effica- 
 ry one 
 to the 
 Christ 
 e heart 
 e when 
 ainiaux 
 sublime 
 u at an 
 he first 
 ;ulcated. 
 m utter 
 )f effort, 
 tiekls of 
 >us work 
 eenland. 
 
 AVontcd nianner, when struck «hnul) with aniuzenient, 
 they put their hands upon their mouths. One anxious 
 inquirer was savingly converted to God. This first 
 convert, Kajarnak, became a teacher to his country- 
 men, and to the end of his life adorned his profession. 
 The Moravian pioneers obtained a clearer idea of the 
 Divine method of savimj: men, savai^e and civilized, 
 and from that time resolved to preach nothing " .save 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 
 
 In the mission of the brave and brotherly George 
 McDougal, there was an incident illustrative of the 
 power of the gospel and its adaptation to all classes 
 and conditions of men. The Missionary has gathered 
 a considerable congregation of Indians, many of whom 
 have been brought under the influence of Christianity 
 and civilization. But yonder on the outskirts of the 
 prairie audience is a fierce pagan chief who scorns 
 to accept a new religion, or to depart from the 
 traditions of his tribe. Paint and feathers, tomahawk 
 or rifle, still bespeak the savage. But the preacher 
 believes that his quiver contains a sharp arrow 
 that may cleave its way to the heart and con- 
 science of that rude barbarian. A telling sentence 
 rouses his indignant interest. " And what is it," he 
 demands, dismounting from his horse, and stalking 
 proudly up to the front of the missionary, " that you 
 have to tell nie that will make my heart glad ?" The 
 preacher understa».ds the Indian character and pas- 
 sionateness of purpose, but he lias faith in his message, 
 and believes it to be " good ti<lings uf great joy, 
 
OTSaS5!-~ieW!B!HH!MH!i! 
 
 mtmmm 
 
 178 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 whieli sliall lu' to all people." There are chords i!i 
 that dusky warrior's soul, which, it' skilfully touched, 
 must respond to the truth ; and, in earnest and tender 
 tones and true, he tells of " Jesus and the resurrec- 
 tion." Hardness and scorn are concjuered ; and the 
 haughty chief, who perhaps had never shed a tear, 
 except at the grave of a darling child, astounded by 
 the words that the dead shall rise again, softens to 
 sensibility and contrite feeling. 
 
 " Never," says a lady-worker in the Eastern mission 
 field, ' has the old, old story seemed so sweet as when 
 it was told to those dark-eyed and darker-minded 
 women to whom it was not old. The lighting up of 
 dull faces, when first their hearts take in the wonderful 
 fact of a Saviour's love to them, and their eager 
 questionings in regard to the good news, lead to a 
 realization of the blessedness of the work." 
 
 But why should isolated instances of Divine and 
 saving powe** be selected and adduced ? Every mission 
 in every land exhibits the efficacy of the gospel. 
 When John the Baptist was in prison — a moment of 
 depression it might have been — he sent messengers to 
 the Saviour to know if he were indeed the Christ 
 that should come. " Jesus answered and said unto 
 them, Go and shew John again those things which yc 
 do hear and see : The blind receive their '^ight, and 
 the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf 
 hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have tlio 
 gospel preached to them." Need we other attesta- 
 tion of the power of ihe gospel. Darkness is dispelled. 
 
RESULTS OF FOREICiN MISSIONS. 
 
 179 
 
 (Is i!i 
 iclied' 
 euder 
 urrec- 
 id the 
 I tear, 
 ed by 
 ens to 
 
 nission 
 s when 
 minded 
 ; up of 
 aderful 
 : eager 
 id to a 
 
 ne and 
 mission 
 frospel. 
 nent ot* 
 icrers to 
 Christ 
 d unto 
 ich ye 
 ht, and 
 lie deaf 
 ave the 
 attesta- 
 spelled. 
 
 Sinners are converted. IMoiunnents of mercy are 
 being daily multi})lied. 
 
 " Jesus the pri.sonei's fetters break.s, 
 And bruises Satan's head ; 
 Power into strengthless souls it speaks, 
 And life int(j tlie dead." 
 
 MtHsions malce imjwrtant contributions to commerce, 
 literature, (ind science. 
 
 No one can doubt the value of missionary contribu- 
 tion to the cau.se of civilization and the world's pro- 
 gre.ss. Even, if there were only financial tests to be 
 met, and evangelical enterprise had no sublimer 
 aspects, the gain lias been immense. Most of the 
 trade of Lairo.s, amountinij: to four million dollars a 
 year, according to the te.stimony of Sir T. Fowell 
 Buxton, is due to the industry of the christianized 
 natives of Sierra Leone. A century ago. Captain 
 Cook was murdered on the Sandwich Islands, and 
 missionaries found a degraded and savage people, 
 living in the surf and on the sand, devouring raw 
 fle.sh, and steeped in .sensuality. But now Honolulu, 
 the Hawaiin capital, is an important commercial port, 
 with a riourishinf; and leLritiraate traffic of uiree 
 million of dollars annually. It has been calculated 
 that every missionary in the South Seas creates on an 
 average a trade of fifty thou.sand dollars a year. 
 Leading merchants of London and Gla.sgow, believing 
 thi.,t commercially their investment will be a good 
 one, and that a groat impulse will be given to the 
 development of trade, have contributed to Central 
 
ISO 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 At'rieun missions. b'o(jt])riiits of missionary jtioneers 
 uro a safe and sure track for tlie trader. A member 
 of the British Parliament, one of the merchant princes 
 of the sea-girt isle, standing up lately in the busy city 
 of ]\Ianchester, brought home the question to the 
 practical sense of business men. He claimed that in 
 the great metropolis of manufacturing interests, from 
 which productions of the loom were going out to 
 civilized and uncivilized parts of the world, there was 
 iiotliing undignified in the introduction or considera- 
 tion of the subject of Christian missions. Commercial 
 men might be appealed to even on subordinate grounds 
 to support this spiritual enterprise. The missionary 
 was the pioneer of mercantile interests. Many a 
 valuable market, for years and years to come, would 
 have been closed to their Lancashire manufactures 
 had it not been that heroic missionaries had first led 
 the way in an attempt to raise heathen people in the 
 scale of civilization. They were bound to support the 
 missionary societies very much more nobly than they 
 had done in the past. " I think," said Mr. Mason, 
 " that the obligation rests upon them as commercial 
 men, even as much as it rests upon them as Christian 
 men, to be more liberal in their contributions," 
 
 The missionary, as he penetrates the stupidity and 
 barbarities of paganism, is followed by the plough, the 
 loom, the printing-press, the lighthouse, the telegrapli 
 and the railway. Every new mission to lands of 
 uncivilized heathenism, originated and sustaine<l by 
 the Christian Church, expands the wings of commerce. 
 
RESULTS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 181 
 
 slips another belt on the complicated machinery of 
 modern civilization, and makes its influence felt in the 
 markets of the globe. 
 
 Science and literature have also been greatly pro- 
 moted. The stu<lv of numerous lanixuajres develops 
 linguistic and philological genius and aptness, and 
 hence the special value of missionary contril)utions. 
 "Nothing," it is said in regard to Livingstone, "can 
 he more telling than his life as an evidence of the 
 power an<l truth of Christianity, as a plea for Chris- 
 tian missions and civilization, or as a demonstration 
 of the true connection between religion and science." * 
 The Misffiondry Herald h; placed by an eminent (\vv- 
 man geographer, Karl Ritter, above all scientific maga- 
 zines as a repository of "scientific, historical, and anti- 
 (luarian details." The recently-published Ely volume, 
 devoted to " missions and science," furnishes a magnifi- 
 cent summary of material results. " Mission agents," 
 says the Timefi in a recent editorial, " penetrate where 
 officials and private persons have no wish and no call 
 to penetrate, and they enable us to realize wants and 
 needs of whose existence we should often otherwise be 
 dindy conscious." 
 
 The valuable influenc*^ of missionaries, in the pro- 
 motion of national interests and the general good of 
 heathen communitit-^, has been repeatedly acknow- 
 ledged. It was the opinion of the late Lord Lawrence, 
 Governor-General of India, and one of the ijreatest 
 
 Dr. Blaikie's Life of David Livingstoiie, Preface. 
 
182 
 
 THE MACEnoNIAN CRY. 
 
 aii<l Ijust inon tliat England over j^avc to her Eastern 
 empire, notwitlistanding all that the Government had 
 done for tliat countiy, that " missionaries have done 
 more than all agencies combined." " 1 speak simply 
 as to Hiatters of experience and ol)servation," said Sir 
 iiai'th; Frere, in 1(S74, "just as a Roman Prefect might 
 have reported to Trajan or the Antonines ; and I assure 
 you that the teaching of Christianity among a hundred 
 and sixty millions of civilizerl and industrious Hindus 
 and Mohammedans in India is effecting chatiges — 
 moral, social, and political — which for extent and 
 rapidity of effect are far more extraordinary than 
 anything you or your fathers have witnessed in modern 
 Europe." The Government of India, according to an 
 official document printed by order of the House of 
 Commons, acknowledges "the great obligation under 
 which it is laid by the benevolent exertions of these 
 six hundred missionaries, whose blameless example 
 and self-denying labors are infusing new vigor into 
 the stereotyped life of the great populations placed 
 under English rule, and preparing them to be in every 
 way better men and better citizens." * 
 
 Facts of missionary progress and achievement, ex- 
 tended area of enterprise, glowing narratives of pioneer 
 toil and triumph, exhibitions of heroism and saintly 
 devotion, translations of the Bible into numerous living 
 languages of the earth, elevation of debased tribes, 
 demonstration of the adaptation of the gospel to all 
 
 Report of Secretary of State, 1873. 
 
KKSri/rS OF FOIJEKiN MISSIONS. 
 
 1 s;j 
 
 \j had 
 done 
 mply 
 d Sir 
 
 issure 
 ndred 
 lindus 
 igeh— 
 it and 
 r than 
 nodcrn 
 r to an 
 
 3USC of 
 
 under 
 f th^'se 
 xample 
 or into 
 
 placed 
 every 
 
 conditions of hniiianity, contri])ntions to science and 
 coninicrcc, and manifold advantacres resultin<' to the 
 cause of a conunon Christianity, furnish ahundant 
 warrant for ^a-atitude and hope. Even the want of 
 civilization has been no bar to tlie a«lvancenient of the 
 t^^ospel. The modern missionary, equally witli the 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, may say, " I am a debtor botli 
 to the Greeks and to the barbarians ; both to the wise 
 and to the unwise." 
 
 mt, ex- 
 Ipioneer 
 I saintly 
 Is living 
 tribes, 
 |l to all 
 
it 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 " It is the dictate of a wise missionary policy to adapt methods of 
 lahor to the varied cireumstaiucs of ditlereiit fields. While tlie 
 general principles to he observed in the conduct of missionary worI< 
 may now he re<;arded as settled, an<l while the great object of 
 establishing self-supporting, self-propagating churches is kept in 
 view, the application of these principles must be suited to tiie 
 peculiar circumstani'es of each race and nation." — Dr. Clark. 
 
MISSIONARY MKTIIODS AND A(;KNC1ES. 
 
 l.sr. 
 
 VTT. 
 
 MISSIONARY METHODS AND ACJENCIKS. 
 
 f'thoda r.f 
 ^'hilo thr 
 liiry worU 
 
 object (if 
 ; kept in 
 
 (I to the 
 
 rpllE main principles of missionary policy and ac- 
 X tion obtain an almost unanimous acceptance. 
 Unity is a marked feature of the movement. Jose])h 
 Cook, just returned from a visit to the nnssions of 
 Asia, was greatly impressed by the union of sentiment 
 amon<ij missionaries in Japan, China, and India. 
 " Soldiers who are face to face with the enemy must 
 close up their ranks. The conflict with ])aganism 
 l)rinfijs out into the vanjruard of the Churches the 
 hidden half of Christian unity." A nobler spirit of 
 catholicity has been amongst the most valuable of 
 reflex results. The Church, while weeping and work- 
 ing for the conversion of the world to Christ, has 
 grown richer in sympathy, more expansive and 
 generous in feeling. This is the oneness for which 
 the Redeemer prayed, " that the world may believe 
 that thou hast sent me." Missionaries deeply realize 
 
 "Our fears, our hopes, our aims, are one, 
 Our comforts and our cares." 
 
 In a " new model of missions," by the late gifted 
 Isaac Taylor, it was proposed to amubja'mate the sev- 
 eral missionary societies. A union of Protestant 
 denominations under one leadership would, it was 
 
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 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 believed, strengthen and consolidate their work, and 
 enable them to present an unbroken front to the 
 ranks of heathendom. Such a scheme, if at all prac- 
 ticable, might tend to greater uniformity, but scarcely 
 to more of genuine spiritual unity. In the meantime, 
 we are grateful for an almost complete unanimity of 
 thought and action. 
 
 Fundamental principles are accepted. It is agreed 
 that all men are sinful, exposed to wrath, and in need 
 of the mercy of God : " because we thus judge, that if 
 one died for all, then w^ere all dead ;" that the an- 
 nouncement of " a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," 
 is for all : " glad tidings of great joy which shall be to 
 all people ;" that " the glorious gospel of the blessed 
 God," in its wondrous adaptation, and in the sufficiency 
 of its provisions, meets the varied wants of redeemed 
 humanity, even to the le- el of the most debased : "a 
 faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation ;" that, 
 by the imperative terms of the Saviour's command, 
 the Church of Christ has been entrusted with the 
 duty of the world's evangelization : " that repentance 
 and remission of sins should be preached in His name 
 among all nations ;" that, as the Church at Antioch 
 was required by the Holy Ghost to select and send 
 forth men for distinctively mission work, effort of a 
 costly character must be organized for the universal 
 promulgation of the gospel : " to all them that dwell 
 upon the earth ;" that the great promise of this dis- 
 pensation, "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all 
 flesh," warrants Christian people to pray for and to 
 
 If 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 187 
 
 k, and 
 to the 
 il prac- 
 carcely 
 antime, 
 mity of 
 
 in need 
 ;, that if 
 the an- 
 16 Lord," 
 mil be to 
 I blessed 
 ifficieiicy 
 -edeemed 
 ased: "a 
 n;" that, 
 onimand, 
 with the 
 pentance 
 His name 
 Antioch 
 and send 
 ffort of a 
 universal 
 lat dwell 
 this dis- 
 upon all 
 or and to 
 
 expect all needed spiritual blessing, and the hastening 
 of the heathen world's salvation. 
 
 Missionary methods, based upon accepted princi- 
 ples of spiritual propaganda, should he practicable 
 and sufficiently broad to meet the demands of a ura- 
 versal evangelization. 
 
 Questions of method have been frequently mooted. 
 In the first flush of metropolitan popularity, having 
 been invited to preach the annual sermon of the 
 London Missionary Society, the late Edward Irving 
 denounced the modern mission movement. Splendid 
 declamation paved the way to a powerful impression 
 upon popular feeling. A compact organization, — with 
 its board of management, public meetings, and paid 
 agencies, — was said t" b<' a hindrance rather than a 
 help to the progress of ».': gospel. Machinery was 
 regarded as simply an evidence of the materialism of 
 the age, and of the degeneracy of the Church. Sys- 
 tems were cumbersome. They hampered the cause of 
 evangelization. Modern missionaries, the salaried 
 servants of Societies, subject to specific regulation, 
 were placed in contemptuous contrast 'with the first 
 messengers of the cross. Apostles of the primitive 
 Church were spoken of as free from human dictation, 
 guided only by the Holy Ghost. In a glowing and 
 impassioned strain, the great orator expatiated on 
 the sublimity of independent action. The true evan- 
 gelist, according to the preacher's ideal, breaks down 
 every bridge behind him, plunges into the heart of 
 heathenism, trusts to the Saviour for support as well 
 
r 
 
 
 n.! 
 
 : 
 
 188 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 as for success, and leaves a track resplendent with 
 spiritual achievement. It did not seem to occur to 
 the gifted but erratic Irving that it was one thing to 
 go upon such a warfare armed with tongues of flame 
 and the power of working miracles, and another to 
 spend years of toil in the acquisition of unwritten 
 languages, for the means of access to a barbarous 
 people. In the one case there was immediate success 
 to strengthen the soul, and in the other years of pa- 
 tient preparation for a harvest that must be mainly 
 gathered by later reapers. But, in view of modern 
 conditions, the proposal of the preacher was visionary 
 and impracticable. Before we can listen patiently to 
 anything that would seem to discount or depreciate 
 the unselfish and consuming labors of such men as 
 Carey or Judson, Heber or Henry Martyn, Duff* or 
 Livingstone, Coke or Calvert, we must be satisfied 
 that there is some more excellent way. In the mean- 
 time, grateful for success in the prosecution of ordi- 
 nary methods, we must seek to lift them as nearly 
 as possible to the line and level of primitive and 
 apostolic work and result. 
 
 The subject of "Pauline methods of missionary 
 work," as proposed and pursued by Dr. William 
 Taylor, challenges consideration. It is claimed that 
 the evangelical Churches have largely restricted their 
 religious activities to the multifarious forms and de- 
 mands of the home work, that they have sent out a 
 comparatively slender force to make known the gospel 
 of Christ to the millions of heathenism, and that our 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 189 
 
 with 
 ur to 
 ng to 
 flame 
 ler to 
 ritten 
 parous 
 uccess 
 of pa- 
 nainly 
 nodern 
 lionary 
 itly to 
 >reciate 
 men as 
 Duff or 
 atisfied 
 
 mean- 
 ordi- 
 
 nearly 
 ive and 
 
 sionary 
 Villiam 
 ed that 
 }d their 
 md de- 
 t out a 
 3 gospel 
 ihat our 
 
 own countrymen resident in foreign lands arc largely 
 precluded from the programme of evangelization : 
 "The Churches have but two regular methods of 
 disseminating the gospel. One is by the gradual 
 extension of the home work, and the other is by the 
 authorized location of definite mission fields, the ap- 
 pointment of missionaries, and the appropriation of 
 money to support them, by the regular missionary 
 societies through their oflficials. Our remote dispersed 
 people are beyond the radius of the first ; and not being 
 heathens nor paupers they do not come within the 
 plan or provision of our missionary societies."* In 
 view of the fact that St. Paul and his fellow-laborers, 
 under the direct supervision of the Divine Spirit, 
 aimed at independent organization, and placed the 
 entire responsibility of Church administration upon 
 native converts, it is strenuously urged that mission- 
 ary Churches and charges should be thrown upon their 
 own resources In the first days of the Church, Jews 
 were scattered abroad, and became the medium of 
 access to the Gentile populations by whom they were 
 surrounded. Commerce and other exigencies and re- 
 quirements of modern civilization have thrown Eng- 
 lish-speaking people upon nearly every distant shore, 
 and it should be the policy of modern missions to 
 utilize that Christian element for the support and 
 diff'usion of the gospel among the heathen. 
 At the Shanghai Missionary Conference, in which 
 
 PaiUine Methods, p. 25. 
 
190 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 J- 
 
 V ■■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 eiiifhtoeii of the societies at work in China were repre- 
 sented, " where minor ditterences were forgotten," and 
 where the simple purpose was to consider " the policy 
 to be pursued and plans adopted for the overthrow of 
 the kingdom of Satan," this question of missionary 
 method and policy came up for consideration. The 
 earlier plali of evangelistic effort in that empire had 
 been to traverse wide spaces of country, preaching the 
 gospel to multitudes. But experience has now taught 
 the laborers of that land to restrict their itinerations, 
 to concentrate working force, and thoroughly to visit 
 a defined district. St. Paul found it expedient to 
 remain three years at Ephesus, and he continued at 
 Corinth for the consolidation of Christian work. The 
 men who know most of China, and who have been 
 eminently successful in tbeir efforts for the spread of 
 the gospel through the eastern part of Asia, find it 
 necessary to repeat their visits, and to " prolong them 
 on each successive occasion." 
 
 It may be presumed, where missions diflier so greatly 
 in religious character, social status, material resources, 
 and in their immediate surroundings, that no one 
 method can be rigidly or uniformly adopted. Colonial 
 missions planted in communities where language, 
 habits of life, and general conditions are much the 
 same as in England or America, may be made self- 
 dependent at the very earliest stage of their history. 
 There are also missions to mingled communities, Eng- 
 lish-speaking settlers or traders in the midst of multi- 
 tudinous forms of semi-civilization, where, through 
 
 i 
 
 j*i 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 101 
 
 repre- 
 ," and 
 policy 
 row of 
 ionary 
 . The 
 re had 
 ng the 
 taught 
 rations, 
 to visit 
 ient to 
 lued at 
 c. The 
 7e been 
 )read of 
 find it 
 ig them 
 
 greatly 
 Isources, 
 mo one 
 
 Colonial 
 Inguage, 
 
 ich the 
 Ide self- 
 Ihistory. 
 
 5S, Eng- 
 multi- 
 
 bhrough 
 
 the influences and ascendency of a superior race, a 
 rapid transition should be effected towards self-sus- 
 taining organization. But where missions are planted 
 in the heart of heathenism, the conditions are essen- 
 tially different. Foreign missionaries have to conquer 
 languages, create a literature, translate a Bible, uproot 
 the superstitions of ages, and with their families form 
 the model of a nobler and purer social life. 
 
 The question of self-support comes to the front of 
 modern mission enterprise. To its fullest extent this 
 principle or policy finds application in every part of 
 the field, and enters into the missionary plans of all 
 the leading missionary societies. Most of the older 
 missions in different parts of the world have been 
 thrown very largely upon their own resources. A 
 series of questions was lately put by Joseph Cook to 
 large gatherings in ten representative cities of Asia. 
 Inquiry had special reference to this subject : " Ought 
 native Christians to be encouraged and instructed to 
 give a tenth of their income to the support of their 
 Churches?" " No, 7io^ yet," was the reply of many 
 leading and influential minds of the several evangelical 
 bodies. But a few mission-workers, especially of the 
 American Board, said "Yes." "One evening in Bombay 
 I was putting a series of questions to a company of mis- 
 sionaries and civilians, and this question about self- 
 support was among the inquiries. Scotch and English 
 missionaries, one after another, rose and opposed such 
 a pressure as is brought to bear upon native Churches 
 by instructing them to give a tenth of their income 
 
192 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 for the support of their pastor ; but, finally, up rose a 
 converted Brahman from out of the Held of the Ameri- 
 can Board, and, in the most incisive, almost classic 
 English, nearly turned the feeling of the company in 
 favour of the American plan."* The problem of 
 pushing the principle of self-support, and of throwing 
 weighty financial obligations upon native Churches, 
 will doubtless resolve itself in the near future. But 
 " in the beginning of the gospel " there must be com- 
 munication " concerning giving and receiving." 
 
 Missionary methods create and comprise educational 
 forces and facilities. Dr. Duff, putting the impress of 
 a commanding mind upon the missionary policy 
 of India, infusing into intellectual enterprise a good 
 measure of his own intense and impassioned feeling^ 
 was disposed to put education to the front, and to 
 make it the most evangelistic of appliances. The 
 class-room was to prepare the way for direct access 
 to the heart and conscience of the student. Preachers 
 of the various evangelical denominations, throu<,h 
 efforts for individual conversion, would engage "in 
 separating as many precious atoms from the mass " 
 as the stubborn resistance to ordinary appliances 
 would admit, he, by the blessing of God, would " de- 
 vote time and strength to the preparation of a mine 
 and the setting off of a train " which should one day 
 explode and tear up the structure of Hinduism from 
 its lowest depths. But, on the other side, at the 
 
 * Monday Lectures, January 29th, 188.3. 
 
 t 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 193 
 
 rose a 
 imeri- 
 classic 
 my in 
 em of 
 •owing 
 arches, 
 . But 
 e com- 
 
 itio7ial 
 )ress of 
 
 policy 
 a good 
 feeling, 
 and to 
 5. The 
 
 access 
 eachers 
 hrou^h 
 
 tge 
 
 •13 
 
 m 
 
 mass 
 
 )liances 
 
 lid " de- 
 
 a mine 
 
 )ne day 
 
 from 
 
 at the 
 
 recent Calcutta Conference, as the result of conviction 
 and experiment, it was urged that tlie great want of 
 India to-day is preaching. " Education is spreading, 
 breaking down the Hindu faith, and we must preach 
 the gospel to them at this crisis." There is clearly a 
 considerable margin for difference of judgment in 
 regard to guiding policy. What shall be the place 
 and proportion to be assigned relatively to evangelical 
 and educational agency and effort ? Unquestionably 
 the original command was to preach or herald the 
 gospel, to make a proclamation of the glad tidings of 
 salvation. The first messengers of the cross could not 
 but feel that their main business was to preach Christ 
 and Him crucified. " So from Jerusalem," said the 
 great missionary of the primitive Church, "and round 
 about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel 
 of Christ." There was a distinction of spiritual enter- 
 prise that could never be set aside in deference to 
 any human device. As a preacher of righteousness, 
 he magnified his office, and counted all thincjs but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. 
 But while the Apostle would not quench a single ray 
 from the light of that sacred story which gathers 
 round the cross, he sanctioned subordinate agency, 
 and gladly utilized each diversity of mental and 
 spiritual qualification and endowment : " For unto 
 one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom ; to 
 another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit ; 
 to another faith, by the same Spirit ; to another the 
 
 W>^ 
 
194 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 gift of liealing, by the same Spirit;" to others the 
 interpretation of tongues, and other gifts. 
 
 Evangelistic methods demand adaptation. The 
 main purpose must be; through the process of indi- 
 vidual conversion, to secure a purified and elevated 
 national life. But it has been charged that, instead 
 of a civilization suited to the genius and condition of 
 Oriental character and life, missionaries have sought 
 to make English Christians, and in a great measure 
 have denationalized their converts. It was the belief 
 of Bishop Patteson that a mistake had been made in 
 the policy of Protestant propagandism : " Few men 
 think themselves into the state of the Eastern mind. 
 We seek to denationalize those races, as far as I can 
 see." There can be no compromise of the truth as it 
 is in Jesus. But Christianity is a spiritual system. 
 The gospel, as a message of salvation, should not be 
 encumbered with unnecessary social requirements. 
 Native usages of India or China, at all compatible 
 with the spirit and precepts of the New Testament, 
 ought scarcely to be condemned on the ground of being 
 foreign to Western ideas. St. Paul's tolerance of 
 national and race differences suggests a safe principle 
 of missionary action : " Unto the Jews I became as a 
 Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to them that are 
 under the law, as under the law, that I might gain 
 them that are uuder the law ; to them that are with- 
 out law, as without law (being not without law to 
 God), that I might gain them that are without law. 
 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 195 
 
 weak : I am made all things to all men, that I might 
 by all means save some." 
 
 Missionary measures and methods should be framed 
 and adopted with a view to the utmost econoniy of 
 men and means Feeble and scattered efforts do not 
 effectively promote the cause of the world's evangeliza- 
 tion. Territory should be distributed. A principle of 
 non-interference should be sacredly regarded, for it 
 subserves the general good and growth of missions. 
 With easily-recognized exceptions, such as centres of 
 population, the several societies may find it expedient 
 to occupy different fields of labor. An admirable 
 report on "Waste in Foreign Missions" was presented 
 on the closing day of the London Methodist (Ecumeni- 
 cal Conference. Its suggestions are applicable to the 
 operations of all evangelical missions ; and, with such 
 changes of 'phraseology as the adaptation of a larger 
 field demands, it can with advantage be reproduced : 
 
 (1.) That any Christian body desiring to take up a 
 new mission field should, if possible, select one not 
 occupied by any other missionary society ; or, if the 
 field be large enough to admit of joint occupancy, a 
 portion of the field should be chosen not alread}' 
 occupied by other bodies ; or, if the work must neces- 
 sarily be intermingled, cities and towns not already 
 occupied by other evangelical agencies should be 
 by those proposing to enter ; always considering, 
 however, that it may be important to have centres for 
 each body in the capital cities of States and Pro- 
 
 I 
 
; IB 
 
 196 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 vinct'H, arnl that some cities arc of such threat popula- 
 tion as to admit of joint occupancy. (2.) In case of 
 any trespass, real or imaginary, upon these guiding 
 pilnciples, we advise that the largest measure of for- 
 bearance and charity be exercised. Alienation or strife 
 in the presence of those whom we come to save must 
 be exceedingly disastrous. Let each case of alleged 
 interference be fraternally examined by the mission- 
 aries, all the considerations be carefully weighed, 
 and a decision reached that shall not be tainted 
 by any selfishness or desire for denominational 
 aggrandizement ; solely influenced by pure and noble 
 desires for the greatest glory of our common Master 
 and the greatest good of His kingdom. (3.) That 
 when different bodies of Christians, for any reason 
 have entered the same field, there should be the 
 frankest and most brotherly mutual recognition, and, 
 as far as possible, co-operation. Where this prevails 
 any evils that might possibly arise will be reduced to 
 a minimum, and beneficial influences might even arise 
 from the loving co-existence of the bodies in the same 
 field. (4.) We are not prepared to recommend any 
 general council of reference for the adjustment of such 
 cases. The evils complained of have not assumed 
 such dimensions as to warrant such a proposal ; in- 
 deed, from an examination of this subject, we think 
 the evil may be far less in extent than is generally 
 supposed, and we must look for the ultimate remedy 
 to the prevalence of the spirit of brotherly-kindness 
 
if I 
 
 MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 1J)7 
 
 and Christian wisdom among missionaries themselves, 
 and in the boards and committees of directors.* 
 
 A noble spiritual unity has been made and mani- 
 fested in the progress of missions. Exigencies of the 
 hour demand continued co-operation and mutual sup- 
 port. In their simultaneous movement, and in the 
 occupancy of strategic positions, evangelistic forces 
 ought to be a unit. From the world-wide watch towers, 
 of effort and aggression, there should roll up an ac- 
 cordant strain : " One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and 
 through all, and in you all." 
 
 Miasionainj 'plans must aim at provision for an 
 adeqvAite agency ; fm' the immediate exigencies of ^^ar- 
 ticular fields, and for the ultimate evangelization of 
 the whole heathen world. 
 
 A comprehensive missionary policy frames measures 
 of reinforcement, and looks well to means for a con- 
 tinued supply of laborers. An ordinary method is to 
 train men in the work. But should there not be also 
 a training for a special field ? Might not the acquire- 
 ments of returned missionaries be more generally 
 utilized in this department of preparation ? Some of 
 us can remember that not a few of the valuable and 
 permanent impressions of life were received from the 
 lips of such honored men, many of whom had hazarded 
 their lives for the Lord Jesus. Memory at this mo- 
 
 * See Proceedings of the (Ecumenical Methodist Conference, pp. 
 687, 588. 
 
m'fi^sm 
 
 198 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 \v. 
 
 
 
 ment goes back to an eager group in a north of Eng- 
 land-grammar school. The members of that band 
 had been recently converted to God, and were speci- 
 ally susceptible to spiritual impressions. A graphic 
 and gljv/ing description of the work of God amongst 
 dark and benighted races of people moved their souls 
 to missionary enthusiasm ; and in more than one case 
 it led to the formation of purpose, and to life-long 
 results. In a course of twelve lectures, the touching 
 and triumphant story of a century and a-half of 
 Moravian mission toil has been recently told to the 
 students of Andover Seminary, and to those of the 
 Theological Department of Boston University. Would 
 it be possible for young men, whose love and loyalty 
 have been plighted to the cause of the Redeemer, 
 without a renewal of holy resolve, to remember such 
 examples of faith and patience, intrepidity and dar- 
 ing achievement ? Why should missionary addresses 
 of that eloquent and elevated strain and character be 
 restricted to the students of one or two theological 
 institutions ? Ought not the young men of several 
 such colleges, during the formative period of life and 
 purpose, to be made acquainted with the exigencies, 
 claims, and sublime aspects of missionary enterprise ? 
 Difficulties do not deter young men of character and 
 purpose from offering themselves for the most arduous 
 fields of toil. George Piercy, in his Yorkshire home, 
 was roused to sympathy for the perishing millions of 
 China, and offered himself for that mission. He was 
 not at once accepted, but such was the strength of 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 199 
 
 >f Eng- 
 tt band 
 e speci- 
 graphic 
 iinoiigst 
 eir souls 
 one case 
 life-long 
 bouching 
 L-half of 
 id to the 
 le of the 
 '. Would 
 d loyalty 
 ledeemer, 
 iber such 
 and dar- 
 addresses 
 tracter be 
 leological 
 )f several 
 E life and 
 xigencies, 
 iterprise ? 
 acter and 
 i arduous 
 ire home, 
 lillions of 
 He was 
 rength of 
 
 conviction and resolve that he disposed of what pro- 
 perty he had, sailed to China, studied the language, 
 began a new mission, and then renewed his offer to 
 the church. Now he ranks with the most honored 
 and successful missionaries of the eastern world. Has 
 not Christendom a thousand young men ready for any 
 evangelical enterprise, waiting for a summons to the 
 field and front of action ? 
 
 It seems strange that, in their influential seats of 
 learning, Protestant denominations have not done more 
 to utilize consecrated Oriental ^scholarship for the 
 benefit of missions. Roman Catholicism has its So- 
 ciety for the propagation of the faith. The Collegio 
 de Propaganda Fide, in Rome, standing on one side 
 of the Piazza di Spagna, founded two centuries and 
 a half ago, was designed by the astute and enterpris- 
 ing Gregory as a retreat for scholars, and a nursery for 
 missionaries. Professors are mostly selected from the 
 staff of mission laborers. Numerous languages are 
 taught. But the instructors are supposed to possess 
 other than linguistic qualifications. They burn with 
 an intense passion for spiritual conquest. An unat- 
 tractive building is the centre of a world-wide influ- 
 ence. A hundred or more of young men are there 
 under training for the foreign field. Each student, in 
 addition to incidental advantages, obtains an acquaint- 
 ance with the languages of the civilized or uncivilized 
 lands of heathenism which he expects to use in his 
 future mission. An organized scheme, under evangeli- 
 cal auspices, for turning to account the best services 
 
J!'! 
 
 t 
 
 4i i 
 
 J'"' 
 
 .y 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of returned missionaries, might open to us new sources 
 of power and success. 
 
 Missionary methods should have regard to the rais- 
 ing up of a native ministry. 
 
 One of the leaders of Christian work in India 
 has put upon record his sense of the importance 
 of this subject. Were there but two missionaries 
 in his district, we are assured one of them should 
 give his time and strength to the great work of 
 training native agents. It is rightly concluded that 
 in clearing the forests and jungles of heathen su- 
 perstition, and in preparing the soil to receive the 
 good seed of the kingdom, they must look for na- 
 tive fellers, and also provide for them sharp axes. 
 " What," said a scornful Brahman to a solitary mis- 
 sionary, "you talk about converting India to the 
 Christian religion ? It cannot be done ! You might 
 as well," he said, pointing to a strip of wood, stretch- 
 ing away to the distance of twenty-five miles, " take 
 an axe and attempt to fell that forest." The pale- 
 faced teacher was prompt in reply. He could do it. 
 " But mark you, every stick I cut will be a handle for 
 another axe, and yet another, until the wood rings 
 with the strokes of the fellers, and every branch shall 
 be lopped off*, and every trunk shall be laid low."* 
 
 An opportunity was afforded during the visit of 
 Narayan Sheshadri to this country of listening to a 
 cultured Brahmin ; a convert to the faith of Christ, 
 
 *Rev. J. Walton's Speech, Exeter Hall, May, 1865. 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 201 
 
 purees 
 5 rais- 
 
 India 
 )rtance 
 onaries 
 shoulu 
 rork of 
 ed that 
 tien su- 
 iive the 
 for na- 
 rp axes, 
 iry mis- 
 
 to the 
 lU might 
 
 stretch- 
 5, "take 
 
 lie pale- 
 lid do it. 
 
 ,ndle for 
 
 id rings 
 
 ,ch shall 
 
 "* 
 iw. 
 
 visit of 
 tns: to a 
 Christ, 
 
 and an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church 
 in India. As with flexible expression, and almost 
 faultless diction, he discussed and defined questions 
 and doctrines of science and theology, one could not 
 but feel that through the agency of a native ministry 
 there must be grand possibilities in the future of 
 missions. Accustomed to a tropical climate, indepen- 
 dent of the necessities of an European civilization, a 
 native preaciier easily adapts himself to all the exi- 
 gences of the work. There is a vantage ground of 
 immediate access to the heathen mind. He penetrates 
 the reserve of his countrymen. Exposition and refu- 
 tation proceed from the standpoint of native thought, 
 and they attract by the drapery of fitting and familiar 
 expression. " Oh," said a veteran missionary " there 
 is that in the tones of a foreigner's voice which falls 
 heavy and cold on the ear of a native, whereas there 
 is something in the genuine tones of a countryman's 
 voice which, operating as a charm, falls pleasantly on 
 the ear, and comes home to the feelings, and touches 
 the heart, and causes its tenderest chords to vibrate."* 
 Any misgiving one might have entertained in re- 
 gard to the expediency of native agency yields to the 
 logic of facts. Twenty years ago the great Tinnevelly 
 mission of the Church of England had a staff of six- 
 teen European missionaries; but, now, with the excep- 
 tion of the bishop and three educationists, the preaching 
 and pastoral work of eight hundred and seventy-five 
 
 14 
 
 Li/f of Dr. Duff, vol. Ist, page 293. 
 
ilill. 
 
 h^ 
 
 
 202 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRV. 
 
 villaj^es devolve upon converted Hindus. A Wesleyan 
 missionary of South Africa attributes the good results 
 of a recent and extensive revival to the earnest manner 
 in which a splendid band of local preachers had worked 
 and striven to brinj:^ the heathen to Christ. He avows 
 himself a staunch believer in the employment of native 
 agency, for the purpose of reaching the masses. The 
 converted Zulu has scarcely, it is thought, an ecj^ual 
 anywhere in the zeal with which he seeks the salvation 
 of his own people ; for soul-saving work is with him an 
 intense and consuming passion, and he exults to gather 
 new spoils to the Redeemer's cross. But no country or 
 race can claim a monopoly of material for an efficient 
 native ministry. What more beautiful character than 
 that of Joeli Mbulu, a Tongan preacher, as delineated 
 by Miss Gordon Gumming, could one expect to meet in 
 any land ? " The first to welcome us on landing," 
 speaking of a visit to Bau, " was the native minister, 
 Joeli Mbulu, a fine old Tongan chief. His features are 
 beautiful, his color clear olive, and he has grey hair 
 and a long silky grey beard. He is just my ideal of 
 what Abraham must have been, and would be worth 
 a fortune to an artist as a patriarch^-l study." Through 
 scenes of cannibalism and dark and horrid practices, 
 for the space of forty years, Joeli persevered in his 
 arduous work, was ordained to the ministry of the gos- 
 pel, and charged with the oversight of a mission to a 
 separate group of islands. Tongans are naturally a 
 superior race " Better pioneers could not have been 
 desired. M . strong energetic character and deter- 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 20;] 
 
 sleyan 
 results 
 nanncr 
 
 3 avows 
 
 t' native 
 
 s. The 
 
 n e(^ual 
 
 alvation 
 
 [1 him an 
 
 :o feather 
 
 )untry or 
 
 I efficient 
 
 cter than 
 
 ielineated 
 
 o meet in 
 
 landing," 
 minister, 
 
 itures are 
 rey hair 
 ideal of 
 
 |be worth 
 Through 
 practices, 
 led in his 
 k the gos- 
 [sion to a 
 ^turally a 
 ave been 
 ind deter- 
 
 mination, keenly intelligent, physically superior to the 
 average Fijian, and therefore commanding respect, 
 they had always taken the lead wherever they went ; 
 and as in their heathen days they had been foremost 
 in reckless evil, they now threw their whole inHuence 
 into the scale of good. Foremost amongst these was 
 Joeli Mbulu, a man whose faith is evidently an intense 
 reality." The end of this man was full of peace, a 
 beautiful exhibition of the power of saving and sus- 
 taining grace. " The noble face lighted up as we 
 entered, and he greeted us as was his wont — with holy 
 and loving words. He was perfectly calm, and the 
 grand steadfast mind clear as ever." " He was quite 
 conscious to the very last, and the expression of the 
 grand old face was simply beautiful — so radiant as of 
 
 one without a shadow of doubt concerning the home 
 he was so near." * 
 
 Missionary methods ought to aim at provision for 
 an extension of medical agency. 
 
 It is impossible to ponder the facts of Christ's mission 
 and ministry without marking the prominence which He 
 has assiijned to works of healing. The Saviour minis- 
 tered to the bodies as well as to the souls of men. By a 
 manifestation of compassion He won His way to tlie 
 hearts of the multitude. " But that ye may know that 
 the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, 
 He saith unto the sick of the palsy, Arise take up thy 
 bed and go into thy house." 
 
 At Home in Fiji, pp. 123 and 316. 
 
8 'T 
 
 ■ 7 ft' I ^ 
 
 B TV ]' 
 
 I: W 
 
 204 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 11: 
 
 I' 
 
 , 
 
 It was reserved for the American Board to attempt 
 the systematic introduction of medical practice as an 
 auxiliary to direct evangelical agency. Dr. Parker 
 led the way in IHlMi. His labors were crowned with 
 signal and decisive success. Medical agency, while 
 Christlike and beneficent in itself, can be made to 
 subserve direct spiritual results. To many thousands 
 of those who passed through the hospital of the 
 Canton medical mission the sublime doctrines of revela- 
 tion were announced and expounded, and thousands 
 of copies of the gospels distributed. An extraordinary 
 tribute to the value and influence of medical missions 
 may be found in the fact that a hospital under native 
 management has been recently opened at Kin Kiang. 
 Chinese officials acknowledge the great good that has 
 been wrought through the agency of Christian physi- 
 cians; but, in their proclamation, affirm that through 
 hospitals and charitable institutions the foreigners are 
 rapidly stealing away the hearts of the people. Even 
 the Times, not remarkable for enthusiasm on the sub- 
 ject of missions, congratulates the missionary societies 
 upon their achievements in this direction. " The com- 
 bination of the minister to the soul with the minister 
 to the bodily health is not an original, but it is 
 certainly a happy thought. The physican carries in 
 the healing art an infallible letter of introduction. 
 The penetralia of an alien religion, and an alien social 
 system, are thrown open to the doctor, whether man 
 or woman." Medical missions offer to the members of 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 20i 
 
 ittempt 
 :e as an 
 
 Parker 
 ed with 
 ■f, while 
 [uaclc to 
 lousands 
 of the 
 )i revela- 
 ^ousauds 
 .ordinary 
 
 missions 
 er native 
 in Kiang. 
 L that has 
 an physi- 
 i through 
 .aners are 
 
 le. Even 
 the sub- 
 societies 
 
 I The corn- 
 minister 
 
 Ibut it is 
 
 I carries in 
 
 Iroduction. 
 
 lien social 
 
 kher man 
 
 lembers of 
 
 a noble profession, glad to consecrate their acfjuisitions 
 to the cause of the Redeemer, a sphere of valuable 
 service. What course of life is more to be coveted 
 than that of treading in the footprints of Divine and 
 yet human pity and tenderness. The blessed Saviour, 
 moved with compassion, even on His way to Calvary 
 and the redemption of a world, often stayed His 
 steps for the purpose of healing the sick, ministering 
 to the helpless, or for wiping away the scalding tear 
 from the face of some bereaved and sorrowincr one. 
 
 Missionary methods must assign an important place 
 to the agency of consecrated Christian women. 
 
 Through the Zenana mission, and its closely related 
 departments of work, the Church has been led along 
 silently and unconsciously to a point where such an 
 instrumentality can bo utilized to an almost unlimited 
 extent. A terrible seclusion has been amonjjst the 
 wrongs which heathenism has inflicted on the women 
 of Oriental lands. The missionary use of the word 
 zenana has mainly reference to the home life of India. 
 It is that part of the house which belongs exclusively 
 to women, and to which they are cruelly restricted. 
 Once it was supposed that life in the zenana had many 
 attractions. There was an idea that a woman " within 
 the gay Kiosk " found much to gratify the sense and 
 to fascinate the fancy : 
 
 "She leads a kind of fairy life, 
 
 In sisterhood of fruits and flowers, 
 Unconscious of tlie outward strife 
 That wears the palpitating hours." 
 
1 ' 
 
 5 
 
 200 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 But the veil has been lifted from tlie zenana. 
 
 Uncounted millions are sulierinj; dejjradation from 
 inherited pagan customs. Of all the miseries to 
 which human life is subject in this sinful and sor- 
 rowing world, there is nothing more pitiable than 
 those of the immured daughters of India. The fact is 
 keenly realized. Many a mother would welcome 
 death for her daughter, rather than the wretchedness 
 of a life to which she seems irrevocably doomed. 
 There is nothing to soften the barbarity of exclusion. 
 No ray of brightness or gladness ever reaches or re- 
 lieves the interior of the dunsreon dwellinfj. Mind is 
 manacled. The noblest part of nature remains unde- 
 veloped, and the best capabilities of the soul are 
 dwarfed. "Ignorance," said a Hindu lady bitterly, 
 " is the ornament of women in our land." Life in the 
 zenana has no resources for alleviation or comfort. 
 Existence is a dull and dreary monotony. In case of 
 sickness, or of epidemic disease, there is frequently a 
 frightful and a fatal neglect. Such are the inexorable 
 customs of a Hindu home, that a skilful physician 
 cannot see his moaning and helpless patient, feel her 
 feverish pulse, or make himself acquainted with her 
 actual condition. There can be no communication 
 except through the medium of a slave; but an attempt 
 has been made, successfully, to penetrate the gloom of 
 the prison-house, to open the doors to them that are 
 bound. Christian ladies from western lands, with 
 requisite medical training, find access to the curtained 
 
I f 
 
 MISSIONAKY MKTHODS AND AiJKNCIKS. 
 
 207 
 
 n from 
 ties to 
 
 nd soif- 
 le than 
 e fact is 
 (Velcome 
 jbeclness 
 doomed, 
 xclusion. 
 les or re- 
 Mind is 
 ins unde- 
 soul are 
 ■ bitterly, 
 ^if e in the 
 r comfort. 
 In case of 
 equently a 
 inexorable 
 physician 
 it, feel her 
 1 with her 
 tnunication 
 an attempt 
 le gloom of 
 em that are 
 ands, with 
 e curtained 
 
 recesses of the zenana. As anj^'ols of love and mercy, 
 the women .sent out from our C-liurches fulfil a sorely 
 needed ministry to their sorrowing sisters in India. 
 They hold in their hands the key of homes and hearts. 
 " I believe," says Dr. Valentine, " the female medical 
 missionary will relieve an amount of human suffering 
 that lies beyond the reach of any medical man, and 
 bring to a knowledge of the truth those that are shut 
 out from any other form of human agency." Thou- 
 sands, through this means, have heard tidings of the 
 great Healer and Helper of human souls, and their 
 hearts have pulsated with a new-found gladness. One 
 hundred million of woman to be reached by the zenana 
 missionary ! What a field for loving labor ! 
 
 "Before their <luml) idols the prisoners are falling ; 
 Vainly, alas I to their gods do they cry; 
 With helpless hands lifted to you they are calling, 
 
 sister come ov^er and help us ere we die ! 
 
 Come over and help us, come over and help us ; 
 
 sister, come over awl help us ere we die!" 
 
 ' O why," wondered a Hindu woman, " have I not 
 heard of this before ? Why has no one come to tell 
 the women of my province :*" Wasted by long sick- 
 ness, she heard of one that had come from a far-ofH' 
 land to heal the sick, and to help the sufferer. The 
 " foreign lady " was in another province, but re-action 
 from hopelessness brought strange strength. By a 
 great effort .she reached the plains below. As the 
 medical missionary smoothed with soft touch her 
 
if 
 
 208 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 fevered brow, counted her fitful and fluttering; pulse, 
 she whispered in her ear the story of Jesus and His 
 love, of the Saviour's mission to earth, and of the 
 home of many mansions. The wearj" one found refuge 
 and peace. But her latest plea, before passing away 
 to be with the Lord, was for yet unvisited heathen 
 homes : " Won't you send some one up among the hills 
 to tell these sweet words to the women of my 
 province?" 
 
 The Macedonian cry of the zenana finds a noble 
 response. One after another, ladies of refinement and 
 culture leave their attractive homes, renounce the 
 charms of social life, and go out to that distant land 
 for the purpose of ministering to the sick, caring for 
 the dying, blessing the little children, and of guiding 
 wandering and weary ones to the Redeemer and 
 Helper of human souls. A gifted English authoress. 
 A. L. 0. E., for the sake of this needed ministry of 
 love, has renounced large emolument and high literary 
 anticipations. Another accomplished lady, Lucille H. 
 Green, made a like sacrifice. She had taken her 
 degree from the College in Philadelphia, and prospects 
 were all bright for a successful career at home. But 
 all gifts were laid at the foot of the cross. The pine- 
 clad hills of New Jersey were exchanged for the 
 strange scenes and tropical plains of Hindustan, 
 and for the hospital with its dusky occupants. She 
 "sang her way across the sea;" and, in anticipation of 
 many hours of lonely watching, sought and found 
 
MISSIONARY METHODS AND AGENCIES. 
 
 209 
 
 pulse, 
 dHis 
 I the 
 efuge 
 away 
 lathen 
 e hills 
 f my 
 
 noble 
 nt and 
 ce the 
 it land 
 ing for 
 guiding 
 er and 
 ihoress. 
 
 try of 
 
 iterary 
 cille H. 
 
 en her 
 
 obpects 
 But 
 
 le pine- 
 or the 
 
 dustan, 
 She 
 
 ition of 
 found 
 
 needed strength in the assurance of the Saviour's 
 promised presence : 
 
 "That holy Helper liveth yet, 
 My friend and guide to be ; 
 The Healer of tieimesaret 
 
 Shall walk the rounds with mc." 
 
 Unmarried ladies, having obtained a competent 
 medical education, are sent out to the East by various 
 societies ; and, in some cases, private means enable 
 them to go out at their own expense. By a single 
 mail steamer, a few months afjo, eijjht ladies from 
 America landed at Bombay. They were unattended 
 by gentlemen, and proceeded the same day to Allaha- 
 bad. From that city on the Ganges they would 
 separate, some going to Calcutta, and others to the 
 north-west. The growing extent of this work is 
 simply astonishing, and is rightly regarded as a re- 
 markable sign of the times. " If any one had said to 
 me, twenty-five years ago," writes that veteran of 
 Indian missions, Mr. Leupolt, " that not only should 
 we have free access to the natives in their houses, but 
 that zenanas would be opened in cities like Benares, 
 Lucknow, Agra, Delhi, Amritsir, and Lahore, and that 
 European ladies with their assistants would be ad- 
 mitted to teach the Word of God to them, I would 
 have replied, ' All things are possible to God, but I do 
 not expect such a glorious event in my day.' But 
 what has God done ? More than we expected and 
 prayed for."* 
 
 * Quoted by Dr. Christlieb from "Church Mission Intelligencer," 
 Foreign Missiotis, p. 10. 
 
l(i?IJ 
 
 ll 
 
 I'.' 
 
 I 
 
 tl 
 
 " It is easy to feel a generous glow, while we sing in the words of 
 Heber, — 
 
 ' Waft, waft, ye winds, the story, 
 And you, ye waters, roll.' 
 
 But listen I The winds are sweeping, and liave ])cen sweeping from 
 the beginning over the peaks of the Himalaya, and on the shores of 
 Lake Tsad. Now it is the rustle of the breeze, now the shock of 
 the tempest ; but listen ? Does either sound on the ear the name 
 Jt'siwi ? The waves are rolling, and from the beginning have been 
 rolling, on the shores of Fiji and Japan ; but does either the gentle 
 ripple or the boom of the mighty wave, sound the word mi'rcy ? 
 No ; if the story be told, it micst he told by the voice of living men." 
 — Win. Arthur, 
 
1 
 
 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 211 
 
 VIII. 
 
 00, OR SEND : THE COMMISSION. 
 
 '* A ND Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
 IX pownr is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am 
 with you ahvay, even unto the end of the world. 
 Amen." 
 
 The last command o£ Jesus was definite and su- 
 preme. There could be no difficulty in regard to 
 interpretation. Had the commission been inscribed 
 on an angel's flaming scroll, and renewed from age to 
 age, it could not have been more clearly traced. The 
 parting words of the Saviour were to disciple all 
 nations ; to go into all the world, and preach the 
 gospel unto every creature ; to be witnesses in Jeru- 
 salem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the 
 uttermost part of the earth. 
 
 The designation of Saul of Tarsus to an apostolic 
 mission was also explicit : " For I have appeared unto 
 thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a 
 witness both of these things which thou hast seen, 
 and of the things in the which I will appear unto 
 thee ; delivering thee from the people, and from the 
 
(il 
 
 il 
 
 212 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Gentiles, unto whom now 1 send thee, to open their 
 eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God, that they may 
 receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among 
 them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." 
 
 At Antioch in Syria, where' missionary enterprize 
 was first organized, a line of action was clearly marked 
 out for the future guidance of the Christian Church : 
 " As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy 
 Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the 
 work whereunto I have called them. And when they 
 had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, 
 they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by 
 the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia ; and from 
 thence they sailed to Cyprus.'' 
 
 Mission work demands strong men. Preachers of 
 commanding power and eloquence, the most prominent 
 men of the Church of Antioch, were selected as pio- 
 neers of the gospel in new lands. 
 
 The first missionaries did not act upon their own 
 responsibility. They returned to Antioch for the pur- 
 pose of reporting results. " And when they were come, 
 and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed 
 all that God had done with them, and how he had 
 opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles." A most 
 important principle was then recognized. There was 
 to be no isolation of the foreign from the home work. 
 
 Under the direction of the Holy Ghost, the Church 
 prayerfully set apart efficient men for new and arduous 
 enterprize ; and, in sending them away, fervently re- 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 213 
 
 commended them to the grace of God for the work 
 they were expected to fulfil. 
 
 The Saviour's final command is the charter of Chris- 
 tian missions, and the action of the Church in Antioch 
 furnishes an infallible precedent for missionary ap- 
 pointment. Gospels and Acts are nnitually explana- 
 tory. The commission, as Divinely interpreted, means 
 
 "(JO, OR SEND." 
 
 From such an order there can be no safe deviation. 
 Less than this would not suffice for the exigjencies of 
 evansrelistic enterprise. By what agency shall the 
 message of salvation be borne to the world's perishing 
 millions ? Night and day the Church hears a sorrow- 
 ing Macedonian appeal. Shall that wail of weary 
 anguish pass by unheeded ? The great heart of hu- 
 manity throbs in response to a glad evangel. But 
 " 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 ? as it is written, How beautiful are the 
 feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring 
 glad tidings of good things !" 
 
 The mission of the apostles was to begin fro'tn Jeru- 
 salem. The first proclamation was made from beneath 
 the very shadow of Calvary. Home missions first of 
 all ! But even then the universality of the gospel dis- 
 pensation was made apparent. Parthians, and Modes, 
 and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and 
 
214 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ill India, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Plirygia, 
 and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya 
 about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and prose- 
 lytes, Cretes and Arabians, heard in their own tongue 
 the wonderful works of (iod. Other sentiments have 
 at times been propounded. " Charity begins at home !" 
 " The Greeks are at our own doors !" Aphorisms and 
 sarcasms have been frequently appealed to and per- 
 verted for mean and selfish purposes. " We have no 
 religion to spare," was the contention of a member of 
 the Massachusetts Legislature, in opposition to a mea- 
 sure for the incorporation of the American Board of 
 Missions. There was a fear that " if too much of the 
 precious commodity were sent away they would be 
 impoverished at home." But the reply in substance 
 was, that such was the nature of religion, the more 
 they gave away the more they had. Exportation to 
 the perishing ones of foreign lands did not exhaust, 
 but tended to the increase of, home religion and re- 
 sources. 
 
 When the evangelical enterprise of the Baptist 
 Church, in the early part of the century, began to 
 blaze out into a splendor that caught the wondering 
 eye of Christendom, many good people feared that the 
 movement would lead to denominational depletion. 
 " I think it my duty," said a prominent minister of 
 the body, in the exercise of editorial influence, "to 
 crush this rising missionary spirit." But he lived to 
 see that fears were groundless, and that a new epoch 
 in the diffusion of Christianity had been auspiciously 
 inaugurated. 
 
 i. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 2lo 
 
 ering 
 
 There is only one line of action by which the Church 
 of Christ can be led along to ultimate and assured 
 strength and success. Were she to cease from spiritual 
 enterprize the glory wo Id depart. Missionary move- 
 ment does not resemble a mountain stream, where by 
 repression a slender rivulet may be swollen to a strong 
 torrent. It is rather analogous to flame ; and, by being 
 pent up, a tire may be extinguished. " The very soul 
 of our religion is missionary, progressive, world-em- 
 bracing; it would cease to exist if it ceased to be 
 missionary, if it disregarded the parting words of its 
 Founder."* 
 
 'rhe commission has never been revolxd. But very 
 slowly has the Christian Church realized the weighty 
 significance of the charter with which she has lieen 
 entrusted. Sense of duty was long enwrapped in mist 
 and haze. The first attempt of William Carey to 
 interest his brethren in the subject of missions was a 
 failure, and was met by a mortifying rebuke. He 
 was told to sit down, and assured that when God was 
 pleased to convert the heathen it would be done with- 
 out his aid. But that is just what the Lord does not 
 do. A consecrated human agency is demanded for 
 the diffusion of the gospel. The tongue of fire, and 
 not an archangel's trumpet, is the emblem of an ap- 
 pointed ministry. "And all things are of God, who 
 hath reconciled us to him.self by Jesus Christ, and hath 
 given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that 
 
 * Max MuUer "On Missions," Ed. Mag., p. 260. 
 
II 
 
 I 
 
 '•• I > : 
 
 •! 
 
 216 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 God was in Christ reconciling^ the world unto himself, 
 not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hath 
 committed unto us the word of reconciliation." 
 
 The question of duty to the heathen world came up, 
 in 1796, for discussion in the General Assembly of the 
 Church of Scotland. Modern mission schemes were 
 denounced as visionary, " highly preposterous," and as 
 a sign of the restlessness of the times. Revolutionary 
 tendencies, it was feared, lurked in proposed forms of 
 united action, and the very constitution of the church 
 might he imperilled in such a movement. Who were 
 they, that they should attempt to interfere with re- 
 deeming plans, or the purposes of God ? Ought they 
 not rather to wait in patience and in prayer ? Nor 
 could they hope to turn the myriads of India from the 
 superstitions and habits of ages. Civilization must 
 precede Christianity. It was not to the dark and bar- 
 barous hordes of Africa and India, but to the polished 
 cities of Corinth and Rome, that St. Paul directed his 
 footsteps. Such was the reasoning of men whose only 
 business in life was to preach the gospel. The com- 
 mission was apparently ignored, and a strong feeling 
 of hostility to missions developed. But the spirit of 
 one evangelical leader in that memorable debate 
 was moved to an intense and irrepressible emotion. 
 " Moderator," said Dr. John Erskine, who seemed for 
 the moment to have caught the tire of some commis- 
 sioned prophet or apostle, " rax me that Bible ! " 
 Christ's supreme command was thrillingly emphasized 
 and the effect was as that of lightning from a clear 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 217 
 
 himself, 
 nd hath 
 
 came up, 
 ,ly of the 
 nes were 
 J," and as 
 lutionary 
 forms of 
 be church 
 (Vho were 
 3 with re- 
 ught they 
 rer ? Nor 
 a from the 
 ttion must 
 k and bar- 
 e polished 
 rected his 
 Ivhose only 
 The com- 
 ,nor feelir»g 
 e spirit of 
 »le debate 
 [e emotion, 
 leemed for 
 ^e commis- 
 ,t Bible!" 
 imphasizedj 
 rom a clear 
 
 sky. The assembly was brought back to first princi- 
 ples, and the law of the kingdom was searching to 
 heart and conscience. An unfavorable resolution was 
 adopted. But already the current of feeling had begun 
 to turn, and an adverse vote could never be repeated 
 in the courts of the Scottish churches. A new and 
 nobler era of missionary enterprise was near at hand. 
 " It was indeed a token that better days had come for 
 the Church of Scotland, when Chalmers and Duff were 
 contemporaneously making the whole country resound 
 with their noble pleadings — the one for the heathen at 
 home, the other for the heathen abroad." * 
 
 Even yet the force of the Saviour's command can 
 scarcely be said to have struck home fully to the heart 
 of the church. The weight of responsibility is only 
 measurably realized. Resolve and effort do not rise to 
 the level of solemn obligati<m. ]\Iany a Macedonian 
 appeal sweeps past unheard or unheeded. " Did the 
 church really believe the gospel to be as necessary to 
 the heathen as to us, there would be an end of guilty 
 repose. It would be easier to find rest in our beds 
 over the throes of an earthquake. The agonies of 
 Laocoon and his children, dying in the coils of a ser- 
 pent, were but pastime compaied with tho-e of the 
 church, until she had either unlocked herself from the 
 grapple of the conviction, or disburthened her con- 
 science by the faithful consecration of her energies to 
 the work of rescuing the world from its doom."-f- 
 
 15 
 
 * Life of Dr. Duff, Vol. Ist, p. 301. 
 t Dr. Olin's Works, Vol. 2nd, p. 385. 
 
* 
 
 in il 
 
 218 
 
 THE MACKF)ONIAN CRY. 
 
 To go, means denial of self. The spirit wliicli this 
 cause demands is that of supreme abnegation. A 
 device, said to have been copied from an ancient 
 monument, an ox standing bet en plough and altar, 
 with a suggestive legend, ready for either, has been 
 adopted for the official seal of an influential Society. 
 The genuine missionary gives himself without re- 
 serve, for service or sacrifice, doing or suffering, life or 
 death. An ideal of consecration finds expression in 
 hallowed resolve : 
 
 "Ready for all Thy perfect will, 
 
 My acts of faith and love repeat ; 
 Till death thy endless mercies seal, 
 And make tlie sacrifice complete." 
 
 Missionary annals abound with examples of highest 
 herois-m. The first messengers of the cross, when 
 charged with fanaticism, went on in their glorious 
 enthusiasm, saying, " For whether we be beside our- 
 selves, it is to God." Bound for the dark East, Francis 
 Xavier knew not what things might befall him there, 
 and an impassioned utterance burst from " his lips. A 
 night vision passed before him. Millions of fellow- 
 men were perishing, and he longeti to rush to their 
 rescue. But there was a fearful ordeal of trial to be 
 undergone. One was scourged, another stoned, and 
 others committed to the flames. Would he brave all 
 that peril for the sake of preaching the gospel to the 
 heathen ? The zeal of the intrepid missionary was as 
 a Hiighty fliime in his soul, and he cried out, " Yea 
 fjOid, yet more ! yd more r 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 210 
 
 It would bo easy to multiply examples of resolve 
 and endurance. What deed of earth can better claim 
 an immortal record than that of the youthful Mora- 
 vian, who voluntarily became a slave for the sake of 
 securing access to the slaves of the West Indies ? 
 Appointed to the island of Jamaica, a mission to the 
 negroes on the plantations, he found the door closed. 
 A prohibitory Act had passed the local Legislature, 
 making it a serious crime for any person to attempt 
 the religious instruction of the slave population. Jiut 
 the heroic missionary could not abandon the piojcct. 
 He sold himself into bondage. The humiliation must 
 have been keen, but an opportunity was won of whis- 
 pering a message of salvation to unrequited children 
 of toil, and indignity was glory in disguise. Scars in 
 tlie service of the Kedeemer are a badge of distinc- 
 tion. That slave brand was highest honor: — 
 
 *' Than its traces never yet, 
 On old armorial hatchments, was a brighter blazon set." 
 
 In the earlier days of missions, a young girl of the 
 United States read of a remarkable work of God in 
 Burmah, and was fired with the thought of service 
 for Christ. " And I, too," was the resolve, " yes f too 
 will be a missionary to the heathen." But, for a time, 
 life took another direction. " Fanny Forester " be- 
 came a star of the literary firmament, and won both 
 fame and fortune. Then came a genuine surprise. A 
 whisper went out, indistinctly at first, afterwards 
 confirmed, that this favorite of society was to become 
 
' I 
 
 220 
 
 THE MAf;EDONIAN CKY. 
 
 in 
 
 the wife of a distinguished missionary. The proposal 
 was met by an indignant protest. Had the full cha- 
 lice of popular applause been ottered in vain ? That 
 one who shone with such distinction in circles of 
 wealth and fashion should be sacrificed to the cause of 
 missions, and be borne oflT to grim Burmah, was 
 deemed an outrage upon taste, culture, and refinement. 
 " Does she deem that stern duty calls her to resign the 
 home and friends of her heart, the fame which she 
 has so gloriously won, nay, more, perhaps even life 
 itself, for the sake of the far-ott' heathen ? " But, in 
 repudiation of the charge of " madness," throwing 
 away her splendid gifts, she pointed out the folly of 
 those who were spending their lives in the pursuit of 
 earthly pleasure, and exulted to lay " laurels and life " 
 at the Redeemer's feet. Cost was counted. Her 
 father would never wait again for his daughter's 
 coming tread. She was to be regarded as with the 
 dead. But there was the hope of re-union in a land 
 of life and love, — 
 
 "Not sorrowing then cas now,— 
 Slic'll come to thee, and come, perchance, 
 With jewels on her brow." 
 
 If 
 
 For misnons the Church needs the very best men at 
 her disposal. The first and indispensable requisite for 
 this work is an intense missionary impulse. There 
 should be a burning passion for the salvation of souls. 
 Consecration must be complete. " A live coal," says 
 the prophet, " was laid upon my mouth." Isaiah's lips 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 221 
 
 coposal 
 U cha- 
 That 
 •clcs of 
 cause of 
 ih, was 
 inemcnt. 
 jsign the 
 hich she 
 even Uf^ 
 But, in 
 throwing 
 i t'oUy of 
 pursuit of 
 J and life " 
 ^ed. Her 
 aughter's 
 with the 
 in a land 
 
 ec 
 
 )est men at 
 quisite for 
 Ise. There 
 Ion of souls, 
 coal," says 
 saiah's lips 
 
 were touched witli hallowerl tlanie. Iniquity was 
 taken away, and sin was purged. Sanctity was meet 
 preparation for service. "Also I heard the voice of 
 the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go 
 for us." Communion with God renders the soul res- 
 ponsive to such an inc^uiry. The air is full of voices 
 that men and women in their worldly moods do not 
 hear. The Prophet would not have heard the Divine 
 call in the temple, nor 8t. Paul the Macedonian cry on 
 the ^ijean coast, had not the attitude of the soul been 
 one of reverential solicitude. There can be but one 
 answer to sacred appeal : " Here am I, send me." 
 There must be no transfer of responfsibility. A 
 specially qualified and summoned messenger of salva- 
 tion may not plead, as Moses was tempted to do at the 
 burning bush, "O my Lord, send I pray Thee by 
 whom Thou wilt send." Should there be any lack of 
 enthusiasm ? " As My Father hath sent Me," the 
 Saviour said, " even so I .send you." We have been 
 accustomed to think of that Divine mission as one of 
 solitary grandeur ; and yet for each toiler, baptized 
 into the same mind, there is something of a like great- 
 ness in reserve. A mission to save .souls, possibly to 
 wreathe the Redeemer's royal diadem with an added 
 splendor, is enough to make even the fiery pulse of an 
 apostle beat into a deeper sympathy : " Unto me who 
 am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, 
 that I should preach among the Gentiles the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ." 
 
 It was observed in reference to a graduating class 
 
222 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 of ono of tlie United States (Iciioiiiinatioiial colleges, 
 comprising seventy students, tliat only seven entered 
 the ranks of the Christian ministry — one-tenth of a 
 band of young men "not undistinguislied by native 
 gifts and literary acquirements." A very large number 
 of intellectually-gifted young men, pledged to the cause 
 of Christ, enrolled in the membership of the Church, are 
 passing through the halls of various universities. An 
 abundant agency ought to be available for all the 
 exigencies of the home and foreign work. For such a 
 ministry, angels might willingly exchange their 
 thrones of light. Missionary consecration is the de- 
 mand and hope of the hour. The Master calls, and 
 the world waits. 
 
 Qualities of a high order are required for efficiency 
 and success. The men for this enterprise must be as 
 those that went with Saul to Gibeah, " a band of men 
 whose hearts God had touched." It is a glorious thing 
 for the Church when young men of Christian families, 
 educated at the best seats of learning, endowed with 
 intellectual gifts that might win distinction and ap- 
 plause at the Bar or in the Legislature, possessed of 
 a business capacity which ordinarily may command 
 success in a commercial sphere, impelled by sense of 
 duty and constrained by the love of Christ, turn aside 
 from the attractions and emoluments of professional 
 and mercantile life, and, seeing a hand that others do 
 not see, hearing a voice that others do not hear, pledge 
 all the possibilities of redeemed being upon the altar 
 of a high and hallowed purpose. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 223 
 
 entered 
 ith of a 
 y native 
 ; num^ier 
 the cause 
 lurch, are 
 tics. An 
 )r all the 
 i'or such a 
 :i(Te their 
 is the de- 
 calls, and 
 
 r efficiency 
 must be as 
 ,nd of men 
 .rious thing 
 ^n families, 
 [lowed with 
 on and ap- 
 lossessed of 
 command 
 I by sense of 
 ,, turn aside 
 [professional 
 |at others do 
 hear, pledge 
 on the altar 
 
 It was a privilciTjo in earlier life, liaving offered and 
 been accepted for the foreign work, to associate with 
 a number of youthful missionaries on the eve of em- 
 barkation for a foreign shore.* They had been sum- 
 moned to meet the Missionary Committee in London* 
 with a view to an immediate appointment. From 
 diti'erent parts of the British Isles these young men 
 came together at the Centenary Hall in London. An 
 hour was spent in prayer. How vivid the remem- 
 brance of that day, and of that scene ! If ever the 
 Divine promise, " Lo, I am with you," was memorably 
 fulfilled to God's missionary servants, keenly sensitive 
 to accepted responsibilities, it was then. The place 
 seemed full of holy influence. Vows of consecration 
 were renewed, and needed help was earnestly implored. 
 Destination had not been determined. Few of the 
 number had any certainty in regard to appointment. 
 The field was the world, and the laborers stood ready 
 to enter at any point. In one case the son of an 
 esteemed Wesleyan Minister was named for Sierra 
 Leone. The station up to that time had proved ex- 
 ceedingly fatal to European missionaries, and was 
 regarded as a land of death, or " the white man's grave.' 
 There was a perceptible shadow upon his fine coun- 
 tenance as he came back from an interview with the 
 members of the committee. " Well, brother," the 
 
 • Medical examination in the case of the writer, it was understood, 
 inttuenced an appointment to tlie bracing climate of North America, 
 rather tiian to the enervation of tropical heat. 
 
224 
 
 TIIK MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 usual (|ue.stion as each retuniod to the room, " vvliat is 
 your appointment ?" It was not what ha<l been an- 
 ticipated, nor tlie most congenial to feelinj^, but an 
 unrestricted offer had been made, and he could not find 
 it in his heart to intimate any sense of reluctance. It 
 must be of God. This {,nfted and esteemed missionary 
 was able to .say wliat many others felt, " But none of 
 these things move me, neither count I my life dear 
 unto myself, so that I might fini.sh my course with joy, 
 and the ministry which I have received of the Lord 
 Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." 
 After a brief course of two years on the western coast 
 of Africa, he caught the contagion of fatal fever, and 
 was laid to rest in the mission graveyard. By the 
 earliest steamer, or sailing ship, others of that com- 
 pany voyaged away to distant spheres of toil ; to 
 Newfoundland and the West Indies, to West and South 
 Africa, to Ceylon and continental India, to Australia 
 and the Islands of the Southern Pacific. 
 
 The question of duty ought not to be left to the 
 consideration of any one class of workers in the 
 mission field. A Divine command crosses the path, or 
 lies along the line, of every life. To every man 
 according to his several ability is the law of obliga- 
 tion. No special ordination is requisite to the ful- 
 filment of soul-saving work. Openings for useful- 
 ness constitute a providential call to the needed 
 ministry. It has often been felt, especially in India, 
 where Biitish Christianity is represented by thousands 
 of civilians, that an insufficient influence has been 
 
 Bi 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 225 
 
 hat iM 
 
 m an- 
 
 )\it an 
 
 ot tind 
 
 cc. It- 
 
 iionary 
 
 lone of 
 
 ie dear 
 
 rithjoy, 
 
 he Lord 
 
 f God." 
 
 jrn coast 
 
 iver, and 
 By the 
 
 hat corn- 
 toil; to 
 
 nd South 
 ustralia 
 
 [t to the 
 in the 
 path, or 
 vqxv man 
 )f obliga- 
 the ful- 
 )r useful- 
 le needed 
 in India, 
 [thousands 
 has been 
 
 exerted for the promotion of spiritual enterprise. Not 
 solitary was the remark of an Indian Colonel, return- 
 ing home in company with a respected Missionary, 
 that during a long residence in the East he had ne\'er 
 witnessed a native conversion ; but he could tell of 
 notable hunting exploits, and of rare deeds in forest 
 and jungle. But then the clergyman, after spending 
 as many years beneath the same burning sky, and 
 with much experience of travel, had never seen an 
 elephant shot. The retort was to the purpose, and the 
 officer could only confess that the ordinary path of his 
 life had been away from scenes of spiritual eftbrt. 
 
 A decided change, however, has become apparent in 
 recent years. The roll of Christian workers in the 
 great British dependencies includes honored names 
 from each department of the public service, and from 
 the ranks of business men. As the motto of a common- 
 place book, on his way out to the Civil Service of 
 India, Alexander Brown adopted a stanza from Robert 
 Browning, written after passing St. Vincent. A line 
 was underscored : 
 
 " Here and here did England help me, 
 How can I help England I"*- 
 
 It is a noble thing to face colonial life as the repre- 
 sentative of a great nation, concerned for the best 
 social interests of the people, and not from a mere 
 
 * A. Brown, early departed, was the gifted sou of Dr. David 
 Brown, the emiuent Exegete of Aberdeen. 
 
«J I 
 
 226 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 II 
 
 inerceriMry motive, or the greed of commercial gain. 
 But it is a still more laudable thing to take a step in 
 advance of patriotism, and to live unto Him who 
 died for us and rose again. To many a man whose 
 lot is about to be cast in a new land, an important 
 quest^'on may lie outside the range of personal con- 
 sideration. How can I best help these settlers or 
 aborigines of the colony ? By what means can I aid 
 the work of God in Japan or China, in Australia or 
 Africa, to which business may bind me for years or 
 for life ? Shall I not accept a commission from the 
 Church, enroll my name as a member of some pledged 
 band of Christian workers, and thus become an 
 acknowledged witness for Jesus ? 
 
 Have we not a right to expect new depai'ture in 
 missionary enterprise ? The time may not be far 
 distant when, with deepened sense of obligation, and 
 abundant facilities of travel, business and professional 
 men shall plan an occasional visit to the great mission 
 field. Incidental aid could be adjusted to the studied 
 flexibility of missionary organization. A few weeks 
 or months of such service might prove to be of incal- 
 culable advantage to a struggling charge, an aggressive 
 movement in some populous heathen city, or in an 
 attempt to break groui 1 on a new soil. 
 
 We can think also of another possibility of the 
 missionary future. Candidates for the ministry, at 
 or near the close of a collegiate course, and prior to the 
 accepted responsibilities of home work, may deem it a 
 duty and a privilege to spend a few months or years 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 227 
 
 tl gain. 
 
 step in 
 m who 
 L whose 
 iportant 
 lal con- 
 btlers or 
 ;an I aid 
 tralia or 
 
 years or 
 from the 
 3 pledged 
 sconie an 
 
 )arture in 
 3t be far 
 ation, and 
 
 ofessional 
 at mission 
 
 le studied 
 
 ew weeks 
 of incal- 
 
 aornrressive 
 or in an 
 
 ty of the 
 
 linistry, at 
 
 )rior to the 
 
 J deem it a 
 
 IS or years 
 
 on a mission station. Robert Murray McChryne was 
 all the more Htted for settlement in Dundee when, in 
 the spirit of sanctified resolve, he made the record of 
 readiness for a foreign field : " I am now made willing, 
 if God should open tlie way, to go to India ; hero am 
 I, send me." " My missionary race was short," says 
 William Arthur, of the Mysore Mission. " God made 
 it so. But, looking back this day, I would not for the 
 universe have the brief space blotted out of my exist- 
 ence." 
 
 Our children should he early imbued with a mis- 
 sionary spirit. Many Christian men and women, with 
 this cause upon their hearts, are unable to enter a 
 foreign field. They are bound by indissoluble ties. 
 But may they not do a great 'vork, through the dedi- 
 cation of their children to the Lord's service ? At 
 twelve years of age, Hannibal of Carthage was sworn 
 upon the altar of his gods, and the vow of eternal 
 enmity to Rome breathed its spirit into a life of re- 
 lentless and indomitable purpose. Youthful decision 
 has often been influenced at the most critical moment, 
 and character shaped, from the consciousness of par- 
 ental solicitude. There need be no hesitancy in regard 
 to sacrifice of feelinjj. No hioher honor could the 
 Saviour confer than in claimins: our children for the 
 noblest work of earth. 
 
 The missionary addresses of Dr. Duflf, after his 
 return from India, were urgent in appeal to Christian 
 parents. He demanded, in the name of the Master, 
 the consecration of Scotland's most gifted sons and 
 

 228 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY, 
 
 (laufjfhtcrs. Allusion was niado, on one occasion, to 
 the steadfast loyalty of a Highland father or mother. 
 One only son had been cheerfully given up to the 
 royal cause, soon probably to find a gory or grassy bed 
 on a wild moor or in some lonely glen. " But, oh, had 
 I ten, they would follow Prince Charlie." That was 
 the unswerving attachment to the unfortunate House 
 of Stuart. What, then, does the cause of Christ de- 
 mand? Shall Christian parents grudge their children 
 to the service of the King of kings? Before the 
 General Assembly, 1867, a most impassioned appeal 
 was made for the sustentation of missions. Overcome 
 by exhaustion, DufF fainted on the platform, and was 
 carried out to an adjoining vestry. " I was making a 
 speech," he said — coming to and wondering for a 
 moment where he was — " let me go back. I must 
 speak or die in the effort." The missionary veteran, 
 with massive brow and long white hair, tremulous 
 with emotion, stood once more before the immense 
 audience, and received an expression of homage that 
 gold could not have purchased. The vast congrega- 
 tion rose up as one man, and many eyes were wet 
 with tears, A responsive chord was touched in 
 the orator's final appeal: "Fathers and mothers of 
 Scotland, is it true that ye will not let your sons and 
 daughters go to preach the Gospel ? I spent twenty- 
 five years of my life in India, lost my health, and 
 have come back to die. H' it be true, I will be off" 
 to-morrow, and let the heathen know that if I cannot 
 live for them, I can die for them." 
 
THE COMMISSION. 
 
 229 
 
 Qll, to 
 
 lother. 
 
 to the 
 
 ,sy bed 
 
 ih, had 
 
 at was 
 
 House 
 
 L-ist de- 
 
 hildren 
 
 )re the 
 appeal 
 
 ir-ercome 
 
 md was 
 
 aking a 
 
 y for a 
 I must 
 
 veteran, 
 
 emulous 
 
 Immense 
 ,cre that 
 ngrega- 
 ere wet 
 ;hed in 
 ihers of 
 Ions and 
 itwenty- 
 |lth, and 
 1 be off 
 cannot 
 
 Appeal is sustained by an adequate incentive. 
 Earthly aim sinks into insignificance in comparison 
 with redeeming interests. Missionary motives arc of 
 the most inspiring and exalted character. By the 
 cross and passion of the blessed Redeemer, the great- 
 ness of Mediatorial purpose, the thrill of appeal at the 
 altar of consecration, a deepening conviction of the 
 grandeur of that cause to which we have avowed our 
 allegiance, the unspeaka])le worth of redeemed and 
 immortal souls, the solemnities of judgment and 
 eternity, we ire summoned to ponder the fact of 
 obligation. If the Spirit of Jesus be in us, can we 
 hesitate ? A converted native of Burmah was asked 
 to go as a religious teacher to a warlike tribe, where 
 the salary would not be more than a fourth of what 
 was paid to him as boatman. " No," was the reply of 
 Shapon, " I could not go to the Bghai for four rupees. 
 But / can do it for Christ." Was not the guiding 
 principle of that missionary offer a true one ? " Worthy 
 is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and 
 riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
 and blessinj;." 
 
 If to go for Jesus means much of sacrifice, there 
 shall be an abundant compensation. One aspect or 
 result of mission work has to be kept ever in view. 
 It brings a joy all its own. " I heard you speak about 
 heaven, last night," said an Ashanti convert to a 
 Wesleyan Missionary. " When I go there, I'll go up 
 to my Saviour, and fall down on my knees before Him, 
 and thank Him for having sent, a missionary. Then 
 
V' 
 
 230 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CKY. 
 
 shall I go back to the gate, and wait till you come ; 
 
 and then I shall take you by the hand, and bring you 
 up to my Saviour, and say, There is the first man that 
 showed me the luay to the cross of Ghrid." Such a 
 thought may have been present to the mind of Henry 
 Martyn ; as, on the fly-leaf of a Persian New Testa- 
 ment, afterwards found with a converted Mohammedan 
 at Shiraz, he wrote, " There is joy in heaven over one 
 sinner that repenteth." 
 
 The missionary receives an assurance of final award. 
 " And Jesus said unto them. Verily I say unto you, 
 That ye which have followed me in the regeneration 
 when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his 
 glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging 
 the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath 
 forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
 motiier, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's 
 sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit 
 everlasting life." 
 
I come ; 
 
 ing you 
 an that 
 Such a 
 fc' Henry 
 7 Testa- 
 mmedan 
 3ver one 
 
 ,1 award, 
 nto you, 
 neration 
 le of his 
 judging 
 hat hath 
 ather, or 
 Y name's 
 1 inherit 
 
I ii 
 
 
 " Realize to your own mind the nature of Christian dedication, 
 and the claims of Him m'')o calls for :r, and so far from giving 
 penuriously to His cause, you will take ever' increase of your sub- 
 stance into His presence and devote it to His praise; you will regard 
 every appeal which is made to your Christian benevolence as an 
 appeal to that solemn treaty which made you His, and you will honor 
 it accordingly ; you will deeply feel the penury of all riches as an 
 expression of your love to Him." — D)\ John Harrh. 
 
MISSIONS AN1> MONEY. 
 
 •233 
 
 IX. 
 
 ledication, 
 om giving 
 
 your sub- 
 will regard 
 ence as an 
 
 will honor 
 iches as an 
 
 MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 A PROBLEM of money confronts the Church. 
 Humanly speaking the question of the world's 
 evangelization is one of ways and means. How shall 
 adequate missionary funds be obtained ? Do Chris- 
 tians rightly recognize the duty and privilege of 
 giving for the support of the Lord's cause ? Obliga- 
 tion is universal. 
 
 Religious liberality in a subject of sncred inculcation. 
 The Jew, under the Theocracy, was bound by enact- 
 ment to cive a tenth of his increase to the service of 
 the Lord. A second tenth had to be held sacred for 
 the .support of the great national festivals. Once in 
 three years a third tenth seems to have been levied 
 for the poor of the land. It has been computed that 
 a Hebrew householder contributed from a fifth to a 
 third of his income to religious purposes. There was 
 one law tliat could admit of no exception : " And ye 
 shall eat neither bread nor parched corn, nor green 
 ears, until the self-.same day that j-ou have brought an 
 offering unto your God : it shall be a statute for- 
 ever, throughout all your generations, in all your 
 dwellincrs." 
 
 Still there was reserved a generous margin for free- 
 will and other offerings. A splendid liberality was 
 16 
 
234 
 
 TJIE MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 exhibited ])y the Church in the wilderness, and sub- 
 stance without stint brought to the treasury of the 
 Lord. " And they came both men and women, as 
 many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets, 
 and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold : 
 and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold 
 unto the Lord." A proclamation that giving must 
 cease had to be made throughout the camp. " So the 
 people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff 
 they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, 
 and too much." Repeated is the record of sanctuary 
 liberality : "Every one offered a freewill offering unto 
 the Lord." "As for me," said Salem's greatest king, 
 amassing treasures for the building of a temple, " in 
 the uprightness of mine heart I have v/illingly offered 
 all these things : and now have I seen with joy thy 
 people, which are here present, to offer willingly unto 
 thee." The same principle demands expression under 
 the gospel dispensation : " Freely ye have received, 
 freely give." " For if there be first a willing mind, it 
 is accepted according to that a man hath, and not 
 according to that he hath not." " Every man according 
 as he hath purposed in his heart, so let him give ; for 
 the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." " Remember the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed 
 to give than to receive." 
 
 Spontaneity imparts aroma to the sacrifice. Alex- 
 ander of Macedonia filled both hands with rich 
 perfumes, and threw the costly offering upon the altar. 
 Profuseness of expenditure in the service of the gods 
 
MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 23: 
 
 nd siib- 
 I of the 
 men, as 
 »racelets, 
 
 of gold : 
 y of gold 
 ng must 
 
 " So the 
 the stuff 
 
 make it, 
 sanctuary 
 ii-ing unto 
 ,tcst king, 
 mple, "in 
 rly offered 
 li joy thy 
 Lngly unto 
 sion under 
 received, 
 
 a mind, it 
 
 and not 
 
 according 
 
 
 give 
 
 for 
 
 ember the 
 )re blessed 
 
 ice. Alex- 
 iwith rich 
 the altar. 
 )f the gods 
 
 was })elieved to be the surest pathway to success, and 
 to the accumulation of treasure. Should Christians 
 be penurious in the presentation of their altar gifts ? 
 Is it possible to imagine the meanness of counting 
 grains of incense lest a particle too much should go to 
 the sanctuary offering ? "I have no pleasure in you, 
 saith the Lord of hosts," as the people stinted their 
 gifts, " neither will I accept an offering at your 
 hands." A nobler era, of a distinctive missionary 
 character, must be inaugurated. " For from the rising 
 of the sun to the going down of the same, my name 
 shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place 
 incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure 
 offering : for my name shall be great among the hea- 
 then." ' 
 
 Liberality tends to increase, not to impoverishment. 
 " Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the 
 first-fruits of all thine increase : so shall thy barns be 
 filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with 
 new wine." " With what measure ye mete it shall be 
 measured to you again." 
 
 A period of utter selfishness, in the history of the 
 Church, has ever been marked by spiritual dearth. 
 The people of a corrupt age kept back their gifts from 
 the altar. Indignant was the tone of Divine expostu- 
 lation. " Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed 
 me. But, ye say, wherein have we robbed thee ? In 
 tithes and offerings." An occasional demur at the 
 demand of gold for the Gospel might suggest another 
 inquiry : Will God rob a man ? Does the great Lord 
 
236 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 of all require anything in excess of our means ;* Are 
 not God's people challenged to the test of generous 
 gift ? " Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, 
 that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me 
 now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not 
 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a 
 blessing that there shall not be room enough to 
 receiv^e it." 
 
 Once, in this matter of religious liberality, an ex- 
 periment was made in the Church. The result was 
 marvellous. Deficit had been the ordinary condition 
 of temple finance. Now there was an abundance. 
 Tithes accumulated. The treasury overflowed. Every 
 avenue of distribution began to be choked. Ministers 
 wore called to account for the immense surplus. "Theti 
 Hezekiah questioned with the priests and Levites con- 
 cerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest of 
 the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the 
 people began to bring their offerings unto the house 
 of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left 
 plenty; for the Lord hath blessed his people: and that 
 which is left is this great store." 
 
 The teachings of Inspiration are explicit in regard to 
 methods of giving for religious purposes. 
 
 Apostolic direction was given to the Churches of 
 Galatia and Corinth : " Upon the first day of the week 
 let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath 
 prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I 
 come." This was what Paley understood to mean as 
 being " charitable upon a plan." An objection should 
 
MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 237 
 
 ? Are 
 jnerous 
 •chouse, 
 rove me 
 svill not 
 III out a 
 ough to 
 
 r, an ex- 
 sult was 
 condition 
 )undance. 
 a. Every 
 Ministers 
 IS. "Then 
 jvitcs con- 
 priest of 
 Since the 
 the house 
 have left 
 and that 
 
 d to 
 
 rcgcLT 
 
 jhurches of 
 If the week 
 God hath 
 los when I 
 to mean as 
 hion should 
 
 he anticipated at tlie outset of tliis oxplieutioii. It 
 may be claimed tliat St. Paul had reference to matters 
 of temporal relief, not to the duty of giving for the 
 support of missions. But does not the principle of 
 this injunction apply palpably to every purpose of 
 Christian liberality ? Specific statement lifts the sub- 
 ject far above the level of a local or incidental arrange- 
 ment. The epistle was addressed not only " unto the 
 Church of God which is at Corinth," but " to thom 
 that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, 
 with all that in every place call upon the name of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." 
 
 Contribution must be general : " Ev^ery one of you." 
 This order was accordino: to a former le<jal enactment : 
 " None shall come before me empty." Small amounts 
 swell the aggregate. Mites make millions. It is a 
 noble thino: when the Arthinsftons and McArthurs of 
 the old land, and equally generous contributors of our 
 own country, in proportion to their abundance, give 
 princely sums to the treasury of the Lord. But the 
 gifts of the lowliest are not to be undi^rvalued. Once 
 in temple teaching, Jesus " sat over against the trea- 
 sury." A deed of devotion which he there beheld won 
 the tribute of special recognition. " Many that were 
 rich cast in much." But there was one woman, with 
 a care-worn and patient expression, shrinking from 
 public gaze, that quietly dropped a small coin into the 
 chest. Such gifts were of scant account in the estima- 
 tion of .sacerdotal treasurers. That unobtrusive act 
 was unheeded of men, but it was approved of God. 
 
! I "I 
 
 23.S 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 I 
 
 Ml 
 
 i 
 
 lili 
 
 The Saviour looked to the priceless love that prompted 
 the lowly ottering', and gift and giver were immortal- 
 ized. "And he looked up and saw the rich men east- 
 ing their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a 
 certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And 
 he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor 
 woman hath cast in more than they all : For all these 
 have of their abundance cast in unto the olterings of 
 God : but she of her penury hath cast in all the living 
 that she had." 
 
 He who spoke approvingly of the widow's mite 
 would not slight the gifts of childhood. " Every one 
 of you " must include the younger members of the 
 family. " The children gather the wood," is the sug- 
 gestive record of an ancient idolatry, " and the fathers 
 kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to 
 make cakes to the queen of heaven." All kinds of 
 service were utilized. Upon a like principle should 
 the Christian Church secure youthful sympathy to 
 the cause of missions. Sabbath-schools ought to be 
 saturated with facts of gospel progress. The offerings 
 of nearly thirteen million of scholars, even on the 
 average of a cent a month, should form a valuable 
 addition to the missionary fund. 
 
 Giving to the cause of God should be systematic: 
 " On the first day of the week." Such a service consti- 
 tutes an act of worship. The day of the Redeemer's 
 resurrection is hallowed throughout the Christian 
 world. Hearts are constrained to reverential love. 
 The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive riches. 
 
MISSIONS AM) MONEY. 
 
 230 
 
 nortal- 
 ;n cast- 
 er also a 
 i. And 
 is poor 
 ill these 
 rings of 
 iC living 
 
 it's mite 
 /ery one 
 s of the 
 the sug- 
 e fathers 
 lough to 
 kinds of 
 e should 
 pathy to 
 ht to be 
 
 otterings 
 on the 
 
 valuable 
 
 fsteinatic : 
 ce consti- 
 cdeemer's 
 Christian 
 tial love. 
 ivo riches. 
 
 On the Lord's duy the claims of the Lord's treasury 
 are to be sacredly renienihered. To some business 
 men, the giving of money seems nearly related to 
 
 ilar concerns, and is regar<led as an intrusion upon 
 i/i»e sense and sacre<lness of Sahltath devotion. Tliey 
 \vt)uld fain exclude all allusion to iinance from the 
 sanctuary service. There is felt to be a taint of worldli- 
 ness in the mere fact of enforcing the duty of giving 
 for religious purposes. But such a feeling, less com- 
 mon now than formerly, springs from a defective view 
 of Divine rt:(|uirements. Consecration to the .service 
 of the Ijord admits of no reserve. The altar sanctities 
 the gift. Sabbath influence hallows the ottering. 
 1^ ^wly members of the ('hurch, priests by virtue of a 
 
 venly calling, minister of their substance unto the 
 Lov{\. The inceifse of a grateful heart accompanies 
 tlie sacrifice, and wafts its fragrance to tli*- skie.s. 
 Nothing is reserved. Substance and service are alike 
 ott'ered to God. The pray 'r is — 
 
 "Take iny silver and my gold, 
 Not a mitu woulil I withhold." 
 
 Giving ought to be lyroportwnnte : " As God hath 
 prospered him," It may be convcuiient, in dealing 
 with the statistical aspects of the subject, to speak of 
 averages. Jiat 2^>'op(jrtion and not arei^ar/e is the doctrine 
 of Scripture. Jacob set up his memorial at Bethel ; 
 and, by a solemn vow, bound liimself to a covenant 
 God: "Of all that thou shalt give me, 1 will surely 
 give a tenth unto thee." A later direction was explicit : 
 
240 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ill? 
 
 ii 
 
 I 
 
 " They shall not appear before the Lord empty : every 
 man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing 
 of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee," The 
 tithe, as we have seen, the proportion of increase, was 
 a law of the Jewish economy. " To every man 
 according to his several ability" is the principle of 
 Christian obligation. Give as God hath prospered you. 
 But is there not some statute of limitation I Shall we 
 find it in the New Testament ? The first note sounded 
 in the gospel is that of good-will to men. " You are 
 surrounded by a. atmosphere of fervent joy and love ; 
 solicited by a feeling of which the deeds are every 
 good work, distributing, communicating, making sacri- 
 fices with which God is well pleased ; stimulated by 
 examples of Apostles forsaking all, individuals selling 
 all. Churches bestowing all, the deeply poor giving to 
 the poorer, and the Master giving always, storing 
 never ; and in the end giving Himself a ransom for 
 all."* 
 
 Motives to liberality in contribution are numerous and 
 urgent. 
 
 In the SecOiid Epistle to the Corinthians various 
 aspects of this subject are explained and enforced. 
 Aflect-ionate and earnest are the pleadings and exhorta- 
 tions of the Apostle. The spirit of inspired inculca- 
 tion belongs to all ages. 
 
 Ciiristians of the primitive Church were encouraged 
 to keep up the standard of liberality. A good beginning 
 
 * William Arthur on Gin iig, p. 110. 
 
MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 241 
 
 ; every 
 blessing 
 5." The 
 ase, was 
 fv man 
 iciple of 
 ired you. 
 Shall we 
 ! sounded 
 • You are 
 and love ; 
 ire every 
 ing sacri- 
 ulated by 
 als selling 
 
 oriving to 
 s, storing 
 
 ,iisom for 
 
 nerous 
 
 and 
 
 IS various 
 
 enforced. 
 
 Id exhorta- 
 
 •d inculca- 
 
 mcouraged 
 beginning 
 
 had been made at Corintli. The impulse of Aehaian 
 deeds had been felt hy distant communities. Mace- 
 donia was a mission. A great trial of affliction had 
 tested the faith and steadfastness of the converts. 
 But a gracious stimulus had been received ; and, with 
 limited means, thev stood ready to help to the full 
 measure of their ability. " The abundance of their 
 joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches 
 of their liberality. For to their power 1 bear record, 
 yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of 
 themselves ; praying us with much entreaty that v. e 
 would receivo the gift, and take upon us the fellow- 
 ship of ministering to the saints." That Macedonian 
 record has been repeated in the history of modern 
 missions. Facts of native contribution often put to 
 shame the stinted gifts of settled and wealthy home 
 Churches. 
 
 The Saviour's example furnishes a supreme incen- 
 tive : " For 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." How hearts thrill beneath the touch and power 
 of that appeal. Many a time as the ages have rolled 
 along, has it rai.sed the flood-gates of generous sym- 
 pathy. Never can we be insensible to the power of 
 the Redeemer's cross and passion : 
 
 " Love so amazing, so divine, 
 
 Demands my soul, my life, my all." 
 
 There should be an assurance of equalitj/ in demand 
 and privilege : " For I meant not that other men be 
 

 242 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY 
 
 )^: 
 
 i 
 
 eased, and ye burdened. But an equality, tliat now at 
 this time your abundance may be a supply for their 
 want." It was expedient that even an Apostle, in 
 his urgent plea, should furnish the fullest explanation 
 of the tran.saction. Missionary managers can always 
 afford to take their constituency into the most com- 
 plete confidence. A law of proportion is to be observed 
 in demand and distribution. Native Churches and 
 congregations must bear their share of financial 
 burdens. An efficient administration aims at equality. 
 But the exhortation has another purpose. Souls are 
 perishing. Millions are destitute, famishing for the 
 bread ot life. Jesus had compassion on the multitude. 
 Shall not something of the same solicitude and yearning 
 pity for mankind move the heart of the Christian 
 Church ? Think of the errinij and beniijhted ones, 
 whom Christ died to save, and Christians are com- 
 missioned to succour ! They range over western 
 prairies — roam over Russian and Tartar steppes — 
 crowd the banks of the voluptuous Ganges — stretch 
 out their hands from Afric's sunny and sorrowing 
 lands — wait wearily in the distant Isles of the Sea. 
 Is it nothing that we are permitted to take part in the 
 work of amelioration, and of salvation ? Not for all 
 the gold in every earthly mine would an earnest 
 Christian man or woman forfeit the right to a ministry 
 of love and mercy. There is equality of privilege. 
 All may have a share in the glorious enterprise. The 
 smallest labor is not lost. No gift prompted by love 
 to the Savioui-, and placed at His feet, seems large or 
 
now at 
 r their 
 ^tle, in 
 mation 
 always 
 jt com- 
 Dserved 
 les and 
 nancial 
 quality. 
 )uls are 
 for the 
 iltitnde. 
 earning 
 hristian 
 m1 ones, 
 re coni- 
 western 
 eppes — 
 stretch 
 rrowing 
 le Sea. 
 t in the 
 t for all 
 earnest 
 linistry 
 rivilege. 
 2. The 
 by love 
 
 MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 24.3 
 
 arge or 
 
 small. The pierced hand of Jesus receives and hallows 
 each oflering. Yes, there is an " equality ! " 
 
 As an encouracfement to generous contribution, 
 there was a guarantee of economical disbursement. 
 The Apostle would not personally undertake the 
 administration of church finance, or the manajijement 
 of this special fund. No suspicion of self-interest 
 must shadow or diminish the force of earnest appeal 
 and of a faithful ministry. But the work was to be 
 entrusted to a thoroughly competent brother : " whose 
 praise is in the gos] ^] throughout all the churches ; 
 and not that only, but who was also chosen of tne 
 churches to travel with us with this grace which is 
 administered by us." In regard to ability and integ- 
 rity there was every ground for confidence. This 
 point touches a general principle or question of mis- 
 sionary finance. Administration must be competent. 
 It is a boon to any Society to secure men for its 
 executive that command unbounded confidence ; and 
 it does seem that special qualification accompanies 
 designation to office in this department of church 
 organization. A fear has sometimes been express •] 
 that contributions to missions cost too much to carry 
 them to their destination. But a " little arithmetic " 
 applied to the treasurers' statements, as furnished in 
 the annual accounts of the various societies, dispels 
 the doubt, and removes the ground for any sha<low of 
 imputation. "It is a very simple thing to find tlu^ 
 percentage of expense, and we know no surer or more 
 convincing answer than for any doul)t('r to investigate 
 for himself." 
 
Ml 
 
 24+ 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ir 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 !i 
 
 : 
 
 (Jontrildifcors to the relict' fund of the early church 
 were encouraged to expect a ijood and sure return for 
 their liberality. " But this," .says the Apostle, as the 
 exponent of a law which applies in full force to the 
 duty of giving for the support of missions, " He which 
 soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
 which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 
 Assurance was given that, as their substance was 
 freely bestowed, God would make all grace to abound 
 toward them; that, "having all sufficiency in all 
 things," they might " abound to every good work." 
 Return was sure. They could not sow in such a soil 
 without the security of an ample harvest. " Now he 
 that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread 
 for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and 
 increase the fruits of your righteousness." 
 
 Christian liberality promotes the glory of God: 
 "For the administration of this service not only sup- 
 plieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by 
 many thanksgivings unto God." This argument ap- 
 plies also to the missionary enterprise. A character- 
 istic transition leads the mind up to the eternal 
 throne. Service promotes praise. From forest and 
 prairie choirs, redeemed tribes of Africa, groups of 
 Chinese worshippers, bands of Hindu converts, as the 
 result of missions, a rapturous strain ascends to 
 heaven. Each day enlarges the concert, and augments 
 the son<x. How valuable the sacrifices and services of 
 the saints ! A burning seraph might covet the 
 privilege of adding a grain of incense to the fragrance 
 
MISSIONS AND MONKY 
 
 24.-) 
 
 church 
 ,rn for 
 as the 
 to the 
 ! which 
 md he 
 ifully." 
 ce was 
 abound 
 in all 
 w^ork." 
 h a soil 
 N^ow he 
 )Y bread 
 m, and 
 
 God: 
 ly sup- 
 also by 
 ent ap- 
 aracter- 
 eternal 
 est and 
 oups of 
 
 as the 
 ends to 
 lorments 
 vices of 
 /et the 
 asrrance 
 
 of pure and hallowed offerings. But the generosity of 
 an earthly giver is only a reflection an«l result of 
 Divine inuniliccnco : " Thanks be unto God for his 
 unspeakable <dft." 
 
 Missionaru contrUmtion deinands an iinraedwfe 
 aiKjmcntaiion. 
 
 Sanctified liberality has already exhibited many a 
 triumph over human selfishness. The penuriousness 
 of the Christian Cliurch, in a former time, was keenly 
 felt by thoughtful men. " Truly," said Lor«l Bacon, 
 " merchants shall rise up in judgment against the 
 princes and nobles of Europe; for the merchants liave 
 made a great path in the seas, unto the ends of the 
 world, and have sent forth ships and fleets of Spanish, 
 English, and Dutch, enough to make China tremlih; ; 
 and all this for pearl and stone and spices. But for 
 the pearl of the kingdom of heaven, or the stones of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, or for the spices of the 
 Spouse's garden, not a mast has been set up." But 
 the missionary movement has been as the smiting of 
 the desert rock; it has unsealed fountains of Christian 
 liberalty. 
 
 The stream of evangelistic enterprise, traced to its 
 source, generally leads up to some spring of pure and 
 practical beneficence. At the Leeds Conference. 170f), 
 when Wesley deputed Boardman and Pilmoor to the 
 pioneer work of spreading the gospel in America, a 
 collection was made towards the expenses of the new 
 mission. The organization of the Kettering Baptists, 
 1792, was signalized by a financial effort. Indepen- 
 
i 
 
 l^ilil ■ 
 
 
 m 
 
 £t ■ ; i; 1 1 *: ; ■ 
 
 illli: 
 
 i -i ', n'^BBj^L 
 
 
 ::fl 
 
 « 
 
 ■■iiMia. 
 
 
 24G 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 dents at Warwick, in the formation of a missionary- 
 society, followed the example of their Wesleyan and 
 Baptist brethren. Modern missions, at their birth, 
 were baptized by the spirit of liberality. Such contri- 
 butions may seem small to us, but, from what we 
 hnow of the originators of this work, they must have 
 represented a good deal of self-denial. Each decade, 
 however, marks a large increase in the scale of giving 
 for the support of missions. From a quarter of a mil- 
 lion, at the commencement of the century, the mis- 
 sionaiy income now reaches the annual sum of eight 
 million of dollars ; but, in view of urgent need, the 
 amount ouo^ht to be at once doubled and trebled. The 
 Cliurch might then multiply her agencies, and prepare 
 fol" the work of a universal evangelization. 
 
 Missions need money. Could there be a more 
 legitimate appropriation of surplus funds ? Even the 
 coinage of heathen Greece was stamped with the 
 emblems of religion. The Roman mint adjoined the 
 temple. Should not hoarded treasures of our time be 
 placed under contribution for the Lord's service ? Re- 
 sources are ample. Christian nations have abundance 
 of gold in their vaults. Do you doubt it ? Are not 
 rich mines of the earth, wealthy corporations, and the 
 commerce of the world, under their control ? Five 
 hundred million dollars, the net gain on a year's pro- 
 ductions, was the amount added in 1882 to the capital 
 of the United States. A tithe of this store w^ould 
 replenish the mission treasury. Talk of depletion 1 
 Giving, as a rule, has not yet been carried up to the 
 
MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 247 
 
 lonary 
 m and 
 
 birth, 
 contri- 
 hat we 
 ^t have 
 decade, 
 
 frivini; 
 f a mil- 
 lie mis- 
 )f eight 
 ied, the 
 d. The 
 prepare 
 
 a more 
 Ivcn the 
 th the 
 ned t*he 
 iime be 
 Re- 
 ndance 
 A.re not 
 and the 
 Five 
 T s pro- 
 capital 
 would 
 pletion ; 
 to the 
 
 point of self-denial ; and, until the tide of religious 
 liberality shall flow in a deeper channel, or sweep on 
 with a swifter current, we may not expect to see the 
 reign of millennial glory. 
 
 Can any one reasonably object to the cod of mis- 
 sions ? Compare the outlay with the expenditures of 
 extravagance. It is a matter of statistical truth that 
 " the drink bill of Great Britain and the United States 
 alone is J?l, 450,000,000 a year — with twice as much as 
 the cost of the traffic." An Enijlish general election 
 costs the political parties of that country nearly as 
 much as the aggregate of annual expenditure for all 
 the missionary societies in the world. Trade returns 
 of the American Union include one hundred and 
 twenty-live million dollars for such goods as silks and 
 laces, twenty-five million for kid gloves, and five 
 million for ostrich feathers. Wealthy members of 
 Churches are known to expend large sums in fashion- 
 able entertainments. " We are told of weddings cost- 
 ing tens, and even hundreds, of thousands of dollars." 
 Easter floral decorations, in the superb ecclesiastical 
 structures of three or four large cities, are said to cost 
 two hundred thousand dollars, and all for a perishing 
 beauty and fragrance. How much in proportion ought 
 to be paid for the announcement of a risen Saviour to 
 the waiting nations of the earth ? One million of 
 dollars, according to the Herald, is spent by the excur- 
 sionists of New York on a single Sunday ; and the 
 cost of theatres and kindred amusements, to the plea- 
 sure-seekers of the same city, is put down at seven 
 
■I 
 
 jj; 
 
 ^ 
 
 a ^\ 
 
 D 
 
 ' 
 
 ■ Vr 
 
 R 
 
 
 i ^tf •*■*( 
 
 
 I'i 
 
 ! 
 
 
 ll f 
 
 248 
 
 THK MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 
 million a year. Christian penuriousness, brought into 
 comparison with the lavish expenditures of luxury 
 and pride, becomes absolutely appalling to serious 
 thought. Acts of generous liberality obtain a suitable 
 record ; but a solemn and sorrowful truth needs none 
 the less to be flashed upon the conscience of the Church. 
 While mammon's altars are burdened with costly offer- 
 ings, and votaries of pleasure waste their gold, the 
 cause of the Redeemer languishes for lack of the means 
 that his followers could well afford to give." " I gave 
 my life for thee," is the appeal from Calvary; "what 
 hast thou given for me ?" 
 
 Facts of heathen liberality, with which missions 
 bring us into contact, have in them a promise and 
 potency of better things. Life and treasure are held 
 subject to the gods. A niillion of dollars has been 
 received in offerings, largely from the poor, at a single 
 Hindu festival. One form of idolatry costs China a 
 hundred and fifty million dollars a year. Rich Brah- 
 mans and Buddhists expend immense sums for the in- 
 creased magnificence of their temple worship. Shall 
 not wealthy Orientals, with their splendid ideas of 
 giving for worship, one day bring their contributions 
 for the service of the world's Redeemer? Eastern 
 worshippers opened their treasures at the Saviour's 
 birth, and "presented to him gifts; gold, and frank- 
 incense, and myrrh." Converted natives of the East, 
 thronging to the mountain of the Lord's house, may 
 yet lead the van of missionary liberality. "Then 
 shalt thou see and flow together, and thine heart shall 
 
MISSIONS AND MONEY. 
 
 249 
 
 lit into 
 luxury- 
 serious 
 uitable 
 Is none 
 ])hurch. 
 y offer- 
 3ld, the 
 B means 
 " I gave 
 ; "what 
 
 niissions 
 Liise and 
 are held 
 ^as been 
 a single 
 China a 
 ih Brah- 
 |r the in- 
 Shall 
 tdeas of 
 ibutions 
 Eastern 
 aviour's 
 [l frank- 
 ;he East, 
 se, may 
 " Then 
 lart shall 
 
 fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the 
 sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the 
 Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of 
 camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and 
 Ephah; all they from Shebah shall come: they shall 
 bring gold and incense." 
 
 " Thy ramr are there, 
 Nehaioth, and the flocks of Kcdar there: 
 The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind, 
 And Saba's spicy groves, pay tribute there. " 
 
 Shall Christians grudge their money for missions? 
 Dr. Livinfjstone believed Lliat the time would come 
 when, instead of profuse expenditures for pride and 
 luxury, rich men would count it an honor to support 
 whole stations of missionaries. A late merchant prince 
 of New York, of revered name and memory, made his 
 business tributary to religion, and was accustomed to 
 forecast with a view to probable appeals. "I have 
 found my ability to give," he said, " somewhat largely 
 the greatest luxury of my life. The money is laid by^ 
 the call comes, and I am not tempted to the baseness 
 of inventing excuses." An esteemed Ohio doctor 
 prayerfully set apart a tenth, and then a fourth of his 
 income to the Lord's cause. A written pledge, found 
 since his death, covenants that the principal of his 
 fortune should not be allowed to exceed seventy 
 thousand dollars; and, as the Lord blessed him with 
 means "beyond what he had expected or desired," the 
 17 
 
250 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 
 
 ! Ill 
 
 > 8 ■ 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 ■1 
 
 i 
 
 aggregate gifts for .special religions purposes amounted 
 to over five hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Mi.ssionary munificence knows no maximum. It is 
 rcfral after tlie manner of Araunah the Jebusite: Did 
 he not "as a king give unto the king?" Sacred 
 promise must be regarded as equivalent to supreme 
 command : " I will consecrate their gain unto the 
 Lord, and their substance to the Lord of the whole 
 earth." 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 "Thcday«, O brethren, roll rapidly on, when the shout of the 
 isles shall swell the thunder of the continent ; when the Thames 
 and the Danube, the Ti1>er and the I'hinc, shall call upon Euphrates, 
 the CJanges, and the Nile ; and the loud concert sliall be joined by 
 the Hudson, the Mississippi, and the Amazon, singing with one 
 heart and one voice, ' HALLKLrjAii ! Salvation ! Tiik Lohu CIod 
 Omnipotent KKHiNKTii ! ' " — Dr. John M. Mason. 
 
 "Come then, and, added to thy many crowns, 
 Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth. 
 
 Thou who alone art worthy ! — 
 Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest. 
 Due to thy last and most effectual work. 
 Thy word fulfilled, the conf^uest of a world.''' 
 
 — Cowper. 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 258 
 
 X. 
 
 THE WOllLI) FOR CHRIST. 
 
 t of the 
 Thames 
 iphrates, 
 oined by 
 with one 
 
 ORI> C'OD 
 
 Cowper. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY is not a mere wave on the restless 
 ocean of human thought. The allegiance of the 
 world belongs to Jesus. Essential majesty is the 
 Redeemer's most radiant crown. It was his before 
 the world was, ere the white wing of the first created 
 angel had stirred the pure ether of illimitable space, 
 even from everlasting. But a diadem of mediatorial 
 right has also been purchased by the Saviour's cross. 
 The very thought of regal triumph is full of rapture, 
 and there is ample warrant for anticipation. Every 
 purpose connected with the exaltation of the Lord 
 Jesus demands an ultimate and acknowledged supre- 
 macy : " For to this end Christ both died and rose and 
 revived that he mi<fht be Lord both of the dead and 
 living." The world for Christ ! Is not the expecta- 
 tion a legitimate one ? 
 
 Missionary anticipation is sustained hy an accordant 
 /o of sacred irrediction. 
 
 "Sweet is the harp of prophecy ; too sweet 
 Not to be wronged by a mere mortal toucli :" 
 
 But, though under the restraint of such a thought, an 
 attempt mnv be made to unfold tin* significance of the 
 
'["■^iiTT^: 
 
 ^H 
 
 IS : 
 
 ''«'; 
 
 254 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CKV. 
 
 prophet Isaiah's opening vision.* " And it sliall conic 
 to pass in the last days that the mountain of the 
 Lord's house shall be established in the top of the 
 mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and 
 all nations shall flow unto it." The temple of ancient 
 worship, central to all lands, becomes, in this prophetic 
 scene, the type and precursor of a future spiritual 
 glory. Gleaming and elevated spires strike the won- 
 dering vision from afar, and the courts of the Lord's 
 holy house are thronged with worshippers. Natural 
 conditions and tendencies, as in the case of magnetic 
 force, or of water under the power of gravitation, are 
 reversed, and a living tide of humanity flows up from 
 the nations, into the Church of God. 
 
 " And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and 
 let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house 
 of the God of Jacob : and he will teach us his ways, 
 and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion she'll 
 go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from 
 Jerusalem." Illumination shall be universal. In the 
 eighth century, when darkness was dense, St. Bene- 
 dict dreamt that he beheld the whole dark world 
 lightened by a solitary sunbeam. That which was 
 
 * "It is a common but erroneous impression that the missionary 
 spirit is almost entirely the product of the new dispensation, and 
 that )iot nuieh of it is to be found in tlie old. If sucli were really 
 the ease, the cause of missions would lose tlie aid of one of the most 
 powerful principles tliat now lie at its foundation. We can but 
 advert, in passing, to the further development of this principle in 
 tlie writings of Isaiah." Ckurek of Emjlaiul MdyaJio . 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 255 
 
 come 
 of the 
 of the 
 3 ; and 
 mcient 
 Dphetic 
 )iritual 
 e won- 
 
 Lord's 
 Statural 
 acfnetic 
 ion, are 
 ip from 
 
 ye, and 
 lie house 
 
 3n 
 
 ways, 
 
 sh"ll 
 
 I from 
 
 In the 
 
 Bene- 
 
 k world 
 
 ich was 
 
 nissionavy 
 iition, ami 
 rere really 
 »f the most 
 e can but 
 •inciple in 
 
 onlv a beautiful vision to the Italian saint shall be 
 ultimately realized : 
 
 " The beam that shines from Zion's hill 
 Shall lighten every land ; 
 The King who reigns in Salem's towers 
 Shall all the world command. " 
 
 " And he shall judjTje amonf,' the heathen," continues 
 the prophet, in expansion of the mediatorial idea, 
 " and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat 
 their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into 
 pruning hooks." A super!) painting by Salvator liosa, 
 in one of the great galleries of Florence, indebted to 
 inspiration for the magnificent conception, exhibits 
 " peace burning the implem(3nts of war." In a mea- 
 sure the prediction has had a missionary accomplish- 
 ment. Hostile and warring tribes, bent on the exter- 
 mination of their foes, delighting in burning and 
 bitter feud and animosity, have been known to ex- 
 change their murderous weapons for the implements 
 of industrial pursuit. Converted South Sea islanders 
 have been seen to remove the barrel of the musket 
 from its stock, place it on the anvil, and beat it out 
 into a spade or hoe for the cultivation of the soil. 
 The smooth and polished rails of the stairway lead- 
 ing to a very plain-looking pulpit, in one of the most 
 spacious sanctuaries in the southern l^acific, affording 
 accommodation to fifteen hundred people, was literally 
 formed of spear handles, stained in many a sanguin- 
 ary struggle. 
 
d 
 
 K 
 
 
 256 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 ii 
 
 Luminous and lofty prediction also announces the 
 final overthrow of error, and the ultimate result of 
 spiritual agi^ression. Does the Church need encour- 
 agement, and the strength that springs from assured 
 success ? A glorious promise gleams on the inspired 
 page : " And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that 
 day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. In that 
 day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols 
 of gold, which they made each one for himself to 
 worship, to the moles, and to the bats." The eternal 
 God declares that the heathen nations shall forsake 
 their gods, and that the idolatries of the earth shall 
 be utterly overthrown. This is a wonderful thing. 
 Even the destruction of one idol, around which super- 
 stitious feeling has closely gathered, as the climbing 
 ivy around some crumbling ruin, is a great achieve- 
 ment. When, throughout the Roman empire, the 
 overthrow of paganism was resolved upon, a stately 
 temple of Serapis in Alexandria was doomed to 
 destruction. It was one of the most magnificent 
 structures of heathenism, and the idol was of immense 
 proportions. It was announced by the priests that 
 whoever injured that temple or insulted the god 
 would rouse seven-fold thunders, and cause heaven 
 and earth to return to their primeval chaos. To a 
 people steeped in idolatry, an assault upon the deified 
 occupant of that stately shrine could not be thought 
 of without a tremor. But a stalwart soldier planted 
 a ladder afjainst the imafje, struck a viirorous blow 
 with his axe, and broke the spell of superstition. 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 257 
 
 es the 
 iult of 
 ncour- 
 .ssured 
 ispired 
 n that 
 [n that 
 s idols 
 I self to 
 eternal 
 forsake 
 ,h shall 
 I thing. 
 1 super- 
 limbing 
 ichieve- 
 ire, the 
 stately 
 med to 
 niticent 
 lumense 
 sts that 
 he god 
 heaven 
 To a 
 ' deified 
 thought 
 planted 
 us blow 
 rstition. 
 
 Thunder was silent. No burning bolt visibly scathed 
 the audacious assailant. A spirit of iconoclasm took 
 immediate possession of the multitude. The dumb, 
 impotent idol was hewn to pieces and dragged in 
 triumph through the city. 
 
 The destruction of Serapis, in the queenly city of 
 the Nile, signalized a victory for the Christian faith. 
 Such trophies abound. It would not be easy to 
 enumerate the heathen deities that have fallen before 
 the cross, as Dagon before the ark of God. Isis 
 and Osiris, Molech of Amnon and Chemosh of the 
 Moabites, Jupiter and AJinerva, turbulent divinities of 
 the Olympian heaven, "false gods of Hellas," Parthenon 
 and Pantheon, Thor and Woden of Teutonic worship, 
 have sunk into utter oblivion. At one time the idola- 
 tries of the world formed an apparently impregnable 
 entrenchment. " See if there be such a thinix : hath a 
 nation changed their gods ? " But the potent illusion 
 has been dispelled. The carved magnificence of classic 
 antiquity has gone to dust and ruin, to the moles 
 and the bats. Oracles are dumb, altars forsaken, and 
 the lips of old mythologies foreyer sealed. 
 
 " No more at Dolos or at Delphi now, 
 
 Or e'en at mighty Amnon's Lyhian .shrine, 
 Tlie white-robed priests before the altar bow 
 
 To slay the victim ami to pour the wine, 
 While gifts of kingdoms round each pillar twine. 
 Scarcely can the classic pilgrim, sweeping free 
 From fallen architrave, the desert vine. 
 Trace tlie dim names of their divinity ; 
 (!ods of the ruined temples, where, () where are ye?" 
 

 . 1 
 
 r ' 
 
 
 w 
 
 \m 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 i! 
 
 1 tk.:<£UEi 
 
 
 258 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 Wlicre ? Have not these gotls, that made not the 
 heavens and the earth, perished from under the 
 heavens •? And so must it be with all the idols and 
 superstitions of heathen worship. " Bel boweth down, 
 Nebo stoopeth!" Sabianism and Soofeeism are yet 
 to be superseded by the true light. Mosque and 
 pagoda await transformation into Christian temples. 
 Crowns of Brahma and Buddha shall be laid at the 
 feet of the Divine Redeemer. ' 
 
 Tlie bright page of prophecy must become a brighter 
 page of history. It may not be expedient to deter- 
 mine dates. Accomplishment is the only adequate 
 exponent of sacred prediction. But there ought to be 
 no indifference to inspired utterance. The subject is 
 fraught with encouragement. Ancient promise had 
 reference to heathen nations, as well as to Jewish 
 people : " It shall come, saith the Lord, that I will 
 gather nations and tongues ; and they shall come and 
 see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and 
 I will send those that escape of them to the nations, 
 to Tarshish"— Spa.n, "Pul"— Asia, "and Lud "— 
 Africa, " that draw the bow, to Tubal " — Russia, " and 
 Javan " — Greece, "to the isles afar off" — Britain and 
 Oceanic islands, "that have not heard my fame, 
 neither have seen my glory ; and they shall declare 
 my glory among the Gentiles." " As truly as I live, 
 saith the Lord, all the earth shall )e filled with the 
 glory of the Lord." " And the glory of the Lord shall 
 be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the 
 mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." 
 
 'a 
 
 hey 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 259 
 
 not the 
 ler the 
 iols and 
 1 down, 
 are yet 
 [ue and 
 Demples. 
 i at the 
 
 brighter 
 deter- 
 idequate 
 jht to be 
 ubject is 
 iiise had 
 » Jewish 
 it I will 
 Dme and 
 lem, and 
 nations, 
 Lud "— 
 f la, " and 
 ;ain and 
 y fame, 
 declare 
 IS I live, 
 with the 
 ord shall 
 , for the 
 hall not 
 
 hurt nor destroy in all my lioly mountain, for the 
 earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
 waters cover the sea." " And the ransomed of the 
 Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and 
 everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain 
 joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee 
 away." As the pillar of cloud and flame led the way 
 of God's people, in their march through the wilder- 
 ness, an abiding pledge of covenant faithfulness, the 
 brightness of sacred prediction streams along the 
 track of evangelical enterprise ; and, as an advancing 
 banner of light, inspired promise leads the van ot the 
 missionary host. 
 
 The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 
 Messianic themes glow with all the rapture of mis- 
 sionary anticipation. " For unto us a child is Vjorn, 
 unto us a son is given : and the government shall be 
 upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Won- 
 derful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting 
 Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his 
 government and peace there shall be no end." " Ask 
 of me," was the covenant stipulation, " and I shall give 
 thee tht; lieathen for thine inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for thy possession." I 'niversal 
 empire in a worldly sense is a dream and delusion, 
 but the Lord Christ shall have an enduring supremacy. 
 " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the 
 Son of man came with thf clouds of heaven, and 
 came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him 
 near before him. And there was given hini dijminion, 
 
ij 
 
 260 
 
 THP: MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 
 
 and i^lory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, 
 and languages, should serve him : his dominion is an 
 everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and 
 his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." 
 
 Apostles are in full accord with the goodly fellow- 
 ship of the prophets. Some of the most magnificent 
 passages of the New Testament have reference to the 
 regal glory and final triumph of the world's Redeemer. 
 The head that once was crowned with thorns is 
 crowned with glory now. " That ye may know what 
 is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the 
 exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who be- 
 lieve, according to the working of his mighty power, 
 which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from 
 the dead, and set him at his own right hand in hea- 
 venly places, far above all principality, and power, and 
 might, and dominion, and every name that is named, 
 not only in this world, but in that which is to come ; 
 and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him 
 to be head over all things to the Church, which is 
 his body, the fulness of him that tilleth all in all." 
 The Saviour claims the homaije of a redeemed world. 
 "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given 
 him a name which is above every name : that at the 
 name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in 
 heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 
 earth ; and that every tongue should confess that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of CJod the Father." 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 261 
 
 ations, 
 [1 is an 
 ly, and 
 
 fellow- 
 lificent 
 ! to the 
 leemer. 
 orns is 
 w what 
 
 of the 
 ,t is the 
 ,vho be- 
 
 power, 
 m from 
 in hea- 
 ver, and 
 
 named, 
 3 come ; 
 ,ve him 
 rhich is 
 
 in all." 
 1 world, 
 d uiven 
 b at the 
 lings in 
 
 der the 
 !ss that 
 
 ^'athcr." 
 
 The trend of providential movement is imi2')cd)ly in the 
 direction of inspired prediction. 
 
 The outlook is encouraging^. Conditions are favor- 
 able. Avenues are open. Mission watch-fires multiply 
 on the distant mountain-tops. The inspiration of hope 
 is the strength of the Christian Church. Banners of 
 the sacramental host blaze with the light of conquering 
 resolve. Signs of the times exhibit an extraordinary 
 coincidence. Providential and preparatory movements 
 pave the path to onward achievement. Angels of 
 light and love lead the way. Omnipotence is on the 
 side of militant saints. A power not of earth has 
 brought about changes that tend to the furtherance 
 and triumph of the gospel. " This is the Lord's doing; 
 it is marvellous in our eves." If, as has been elo- 
 quently suggested, superhuman agencies had been 
 employed, all would have admired and bowed down 
 before such a revelation of the purpose of providence. 
 Had heavenly legions been commissioned to minister 
 visibly on the earth, to remove political hindrances, to 
 open up highways to the isles of Japan and of the sea, 
 to the heart of China, to the centre of Africa, the 
 world and the Church would have been awed and con- 
 strained to wonder and reverential praise. But Divine 
 interposition has been none the less real, because the 
 way is in the sea, the path in the great waters, and 
 the footsteps not known. " Bulwarks of ages have 
 fallen down. The interior of continents not long ago 
 largely unknown to geography are at this time open 
 to missions. Events not arranged of men have opened 
 
'ii 
 
 •ii 
 
 i 
 
 If! 
 
 262 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 all lands to rclijrious truth." Has not God been niani- 
 festly leading his people ? " He hath shewed his 
 people the power of his works, that he may give them 
 the heritage of the heathen." 
 
 During the earlier decades of this century, the 
 burden of missionary prayer was wont to be that God 
 would open doors, break down barriers, divide the seas, 
 dry up the rivers, and prepare a way for the heralds 
 of salvation. All regions of the globe are now acces- 
 sible to the Bible and the missionary of the cross. 
 Can we doubt that the march of providential move- 
 ment has been made to subserve the great work of the 
 world's evangelization ? The multitudinous thoroufjh- 
 fares of the Roman empire, and the spread of the 
 Greek language, heralded and prepared the way for 
 the triumphs of Christianity in the apostolic age. Art 
 and science, — spanning continents, forming pathways 
 across the billowy deep, eiicircling the earth with a 
 network of wires, utilizing steam and the mysterious 
 forces of electricity, — the growing power of commerce 
 and civilization, and the genius and enterprise of the 
 time, are aids and allies of the missionary movement, 
 eminently favorable to the progress and diffusion of 
 the gospel : 
 
 " Out of the shadows of night 
 The world rolls into light ; 
 It is daybreak everywhere, " 
 
 The question of Tueasures and means for the world's 
 evangelization has noiv to be seriously considered. 
 
 A proposition of such immense interest and im- 
 portance as that which relates to the universal diffu- 
 
TIIK WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 2()3 
 
 sioii of the tjospel demands patient and prayerful 
 tliought. The subject should be pondered in the li<,dit 
 of ascertained fact. Mathematical faith is not mis- 
 sionary faith. The problem of the world's salvation 
 has its " unknown quantity." We live under the 
 dispensation of the Spirit, and when required condi- 
 tions are met, the most sanguine anticipations may be 
 exceeded in the bestowment of promised })lessing. 
 But the project must be viewed, on one side, from the 
 standpoint of human agency and appliance. Is the 
 subject a feasible one ? What is demanded, in the 
 way of men and means, for the immediate undertak- 
 ing of such an enterprise ? The question was under 
 consideration at the meeting of the Evangelical Alli- 
 ance, in 1873. Dr. Angus thought it to be demon- 
 strable that with fifteen thousand missionaries at 
 work for ten years, and with fifteen thousand pounds 
 sterling to support them, the gospel might be preached 
 repeatedly to every man, woman and child on earth. 
 Fifteen thousand missionaries ! Does the proposal 
 startle the leaders of evangelical movement ? Is the 
 demand beyond the resources of the Church ? A 
 great country, leading the van of the world's civiliza- 
 tion, for the vindication of national honor, the con- 
 quest of a single fortress, or the occupancy of a 
 narrow strip of territory, sends as many men to the 
 field and front of battle. Abyssinian, Afghan, and 
 Egyptian e.-^peditions have a voice for the Church. 
 They speak eloquently in regard to effort, endurance, 
 and heroic self-sacrifice. There was never a hesita- 
 
ii P 
 
 bO; 
 
 A 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 204 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 tion on the part of England's noblest sonsi. For the 
 service of sovereign and country, brave warriors have 
 stood ready to pour out their blood like water, and to 
 follow their colors on distant or perilous enterprise. 
 Surely, for the advancement of redeeming purpose, 
 the spiritual conquest of a world, there can be no 
 difficulty in regard to needed reinforcements ! Then 
 
 "send ten thousand heralds forth, 
 From cast to west, from north to south, 
 To l)h)w the trump of Jul)ilce, 
 And peace prochiim f rf)m sea to sea. " 
 
 Fifteen millions sterling for ten years ! The amount 
 would about equal the annual interest paid by two or 
 three leading States of Europe on the aggregate of 
 their national debt. Think of it in comparison with 
 the enormous cost of the liquor traffic to the people of 
 Great Britain and the United States ! The wealth of 
 any one or two of the leading evangelical denomina- 
 tions, if freely and fully consecrated to the Lord, 
 would amply suffice for every demand, and the mis- 
 sionary treasury could fear no depletion. An average 
 contribution of tivcnty-flre or thirty cents a week from 
 the communicants of the Methodist Church, in the United, 
 States and Canada, vxmld alone go far to meet financial 
 exigencies* 
 
 * An article from the pen of Dr. Burns, of Hamilton, in the Octo- 
 V)er and November numbers of the Canadian Mvthodist Ma'jazine, 
 18S.'i, is well calculated to rouse the slumbering conscience of the 
 Church, and to promote "a missionary revival." 
 
THE WOHLI) FOR CHUIST. 
 
 265 
 
 or the 
 8 have 
 and to 
 irprise. 
 Lirpose, 
 be no 
 Then 
 
 imount 
 two or 
 ;^ate of 
 »n with 
 3ople of 
 jalth of 
 Lomina- 
 Lord, 
 mis- 
 average 
 h from 
 United 
 nanciat 
 
 le 
 
 the Octo- 
 fatjazinc, 
 ce of the 
 
 Immediate requirements can be measurably deter- 
 mined. For the successful achievement of the work 
 proposed, one ordained missionary ought to be sent 
 out for every fifty thousand of the accessible popula- 
 tion of the heathen world. The people yet to be 
 reached by the gospel may be estimated at seven 
 hundred millions, and thus fourteen thousand mission- 
 aries must be added to the staff' of foreign laborers. 
 Then it is claimed that if the Churches would give a 
 dollar to missions for every five they expend on them- 
 selves, the message of salvation could be carried to 
 every heathen dwelling, and the Bible put into the 
 hands of every son and daughter of the human race. 
 " I plant myself on these propositions," says Joseph 
 Cook, " which I believe have the approval of great 
 secretaries of missions — one missionary for every fifty 
 thousand of the accessible pagan population of the 
 world ; one dollar to be expended for missions for 
 every five expended for ourselves." * 
 
 A prominent writer on modern missions pleads for 
 the summoning of an (Ecumenical Council, solely to 
 plan for a world-wide spiritual campaign, and to 
 mature measures for bringing the glad tidings of sal- 
 vation into contact with every human soul in the 
 shortest possible space of time. It is believed that 
 the world could be evangelized in twenty years, and 
 that before the close of this nineteenth century the 
 
 * The Vanguard of Christian MissiouB, Monday Lecture, January 
 29, 1883. 
 
 1» 
 

 2(50 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 rillli 
 
 \.\\ I "TlVd 
 
 1i 
 
 gospel of tlif RedecDior might be given to every liv- 
 ing soul. The estimate of agency in this case is 
 exceedingly moderate. " At least ten thousand more 
 missionaries " are needed. " Let the field be mapped 
 out and divided, with as little waste of men and 
 means as may be ; let there be a universal appeal for 
 workers and for money, a system of gathering so 
 thorough tliat every giver shall be regularly brought 
 into contact with the Lord's treasury." * 
 
 The views of eminent exponents and advocates of 
 this great project, so far as they have been adduced, 
 are found to be in substantial agreement, and their 
 estimate of required agency sufficiently near for all 
 practical purposes. The bare suggestion of such an 
 achievement is enough to stimulate interest, strengthen 
 faith, deepen the fervor of prayer, arouse expectation, 
 and afford encouragement to continued and increased 
 effort. Were capitalists or business men to contem- 
 plate a scheme of national or international magnitude 
 and importance, no matter how enormous the proposed 
 expenditure, they would be expected to accomplish it 
 long before the end of the century. No difficulty 
 would be regarded as insurmountable. Funds would 
 be forthcoming, and the globe rapidly girdled with a 
 far-reaching enterprise. Shall the Church of Christ 
 hesitate to pledge herself to magnificent achievement, 
 or to plan for the world's salvation, and the universal 
 extension of the Redeemer's kingdom ? Should not 
 
 * Tlie Gospel in all Lauds, Oct., 1881. 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 267 
 
 ry liv- 
 ;ase is 
 I more 
 lapped 
 m and 
 eal for 
 rinp so 
 )rought 
 
 ates of 
 iduced, 
 d their 
 for all 
 iuch an 
 mgthen 
 ctation, 
 creased 
 ontem- 
 Pfnitude 
 roposed 
 plish it 
 ficulty 
 would 
 with a 
 Christ 
 trement, 
 liversal 
 uld not 
 
 th(i grandeur and greatness of missionary enterprise 
 till every heart, furnish incentive to unwearied eflbrt, 
 and inspiration to hallowed resolve i* " For Zion's 
 sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jeru- 
 salem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness 
 thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation 
 thereof as a lamp that burneth." " The world for 
 Christ " must become the watchword of a host. " Set 
 up the standard toward Zion." " Lift ye up a 
 banner." The broadest, brightest, loftiest banner of 
 earth bears the blazon of .spiritual conquest. Then 
 let it be fearlessly di.splayed. Give it to the Church. 
 Entrust it to the Sunday-school. Unfurl it from the 
 pulpit. Bear it to every land. Fling it abroad under 
 the whole heavens. " And all the ends of the earth 
 shall see the .salvation of our God." 
 
 Missionary accomplishment must precede the second 
 Advent. " And the gospel of the kingdom .shall be 
 preached in all the world for a witness unto all 
 nations ; and then shall the end come." The meaning 
 of the Saviour's important utterance has been well 
 brought out by an apposite illustration. There is a 
 ble.ssed sense in which the gospel shall be a " witness" 
 to the world. The metropolis of Scotland, in 1842, 
 made magnificent preparation for the reception of 
 royalty. Enthusiasm was unbounded. There was a 
 scene then witnessed by thousands, and long after 
 remembered. In Bible times they were required 
 to " set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccarem ;" and so on 
 this memorable occasion, as twilight deepened into 
 
ijlii^l 
 
 208 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 i^. 
 
 night, from hill and height around the proud northern 
 city, there was i^ sudden and simultaneous blaze of 
 splendor. The noble Frith of Forth was all at once 
 illuiiiinated. Beacons and torches flashed their light 
 from Berwick to Stirling. That burst of brightness 
 way well understood. It was a token, a witness, to 
 all the people. The Sovereign was at hand. " So 
 shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." Signals 
 Of salvation are to be lighted in every land. Mission 
 watch-tires shall be a sign to all the dwellers of the 
 earth. " The gospel must first be published among 
 all nations." 
 
 Flans for the luoiid's evangelization should hf^ 
 accorapanied hy jyraybvfov the icorld's conversion. 
 " Efforts for enlightenment and evangelization come 
 witliin the range of human agency and responsibility. 
 But the salvation of the world's multitudes is the 
 work of God, and can only be effected through the 
 energy of the Holy Ghost. Hence the necessity of 
 prayer 1 Continuity of supplication has been pre- 
 dittcid. " Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall come 
 to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabi- 
 tants of many cities : and the inhabitants of one city 
 shall go unto another, saying, Let us go speedily to 
 p?'ay before the Lord, and to seek the Loid of hosts ; 
 I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations 
 shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, 
 and to pray before the Lord." There shall be a world- 
 wide circle of prayer, a universal embassy to the 
 throne of Oninipoteace. Christendom shall be sup- 
 
 V. i 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 260 
 
 fthern 
 aze of 
 b once 
 • light 
 htness 
 less, to 
 "So 
 signals 
 lission 
 of the 
 
 among 
 
 dd he 
 
 on. 
 
 n come 
 
 fibility. 
 is the 
 
 gh the 
 
 sity of 
 p.ife- 
 1 come 
 nhabi- 
 
 ne city 
 dily to 
 hosts ; 
 lations 
 
 iisalem, 
 world- 
 to the 
 le sup- 
 
 n 
 
 pliant at the feet of Jesus, and " for him shall endless 
 prayer be made." 
 
 The Saviour taught his followers to pray that 
 God's iiame might be hallowed, his kingdom come, 
 and his will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The 
 prayer, " Thy kingdom come," in which we ask for 
 ourselves and all others the blessings comprised in 
 the diffusion of the gospel, and the universal reign of 
 Christ, is thoroughly and purely missionary in its 
 character and application. As a cloud of incense, that 
 breathing of desire rises from the lips of tens of 
 thousands of assembled worshippers. One could not 
 help feoling during the first week of 188'j, as in many 
 former years, that the most characteristic part of the 
 programme was mainly an expansion of the great 
 missionary petition. Christian people throughout the 
 world were asked to unite in prayer for all mission- 
 aries and others engaged in mission work, that they 
 might be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that great 
 success might crown their efforts; that all native 
 Christians might be kept steadfast in the faith, and 
 made earnest and efficient in brinofing souls to the 
 Saviour ; that many more faithful laborers might be 
 called and sent out l)y the Lord of the harvest ; that 
 the Mohammedans and heathens might be won to 
 Christ, and that the Jews might be constrained to 
 receive him as the long-expected Messiah. Repeated 
 request car. know no exhaustion. It shall continue to 
 ascend to the throne of the heavenly grace,and to unseal 
 fountains of spiritual blessing, until the utmost of in- 
 
 ■'^srmf^/irm^' 
 
270 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 jH' 
 
 spired anticipation shaU have been realized: "And 
 the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the 
 kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to 
 the people of the saints of the Most High, whose 
 kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions 
 shall serve and obey him." 
 
 In prayer for the salvation of men and the conver- 
 sion of the world to Christ there should be an intense 
 realization of the Holy Spirit's essential otHce, as the 
 quickener and regenerator of human souls. The 
 great promise of God must be the dependence and 
 hope of the Church : " And it shall come to pass after- 
 wards, that I shall pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." 
 Scarcely had the Redeemer ascended to the mediatorial 
 throne when the baptism of fire was received. Wait- 
 ing suppliants were crowned with tongues of flame. 
 The sword of the Spirit, bathed in the lightnings of 
 heaven, pierced thousands to the heart. " And fear 
 came upon every soul : and many wonders and signs 
 were done by the apostles." Through dependence 
 upon God, the struggling Church renewed its strength: 
 " And when they had prayed, the place was shaken 
 where they were assembled together ; and they were 
 all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the 
 word of (xod with boldness." The first preachers of 
 the cross avowed the grcmnd of their sutliciency and 
 success : " For our gospel came not unto you in word 
 only, but also in power, and in the Holy (ihost, and in 
 much assurance." This is still the di.s])t'nsation of the 
 Eternal Spirit. Tlic first call for unite<l and universal 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 271 
 
 supplication, it will be rememljcred, was for " the effu- 
 sion of the Spirit of God upon all the churches and upon 
 the whole habitable earth." Every measure of mis8lv)n- 
 ary success is due to the gracious influence of the Holy 
 Ghost, and he alone can make the gospel effectual to 
 the salvation of men. It is still with the preacher of 
 righteousness as with the prophet in the valley of 
 vision : "Thus saith the Lord God : Come from the 
 four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, 
 that they may live." Unaided human agency cannot 
 achieve success : " Not by might, nor by power, but 
 by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." " Until tlie 
 Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wil- 
 derness be a fruitful field, and the fruit/: ul field be 
 counted for a forest." 
 
 Prayer has to do with movements that subserve the 
 progress and ultimate triumph of mediatorial purpose 
 and administration. A beautiful passage of the Apoca- 
 lypse indicates an intimate connection between united 
 prayer and the revolutions of earth : " And another 
 angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden 
 censer ; and there was given unto him much incense, 
 that he should ofier it with the prayers of all saints 
 upon the golden altar that was before the throne. And 
 the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers 
 of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's 
 hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with 
 fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth : and there 
 were voices, aiid thunderings, and lightnings, and an 
 earthquake." Imagery comes from ancient sanctuary 
 
 :,^0mm' 
 
 ESTA^jmfj i ^^Mm^skfm m 
 
272 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 
 service. As the worshippers bowed in prayer, at the 
 morning and evening sacrifice, priests ministered at 
 the golden altar. Fragrance blended with petition. 
 Incense and prayer ascended together. Thus it is in the 
 ministry of our Great High Priest. The prayers of 
 his people, if earnest and sincere, are mingled with the 
 merit of an atoning and efficacious sacrifice, are hal- 
 lowed and wafted to the throne of God. Ascending 
 smoke, descending flame, and the resultant sweep of 
 revolutionary movement, indicate the prevalence of 
 the prayers of all saints. Even change and upheaval, 
 " voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake," 
 are made to subserve the redeeming purposes of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. They are instrumental in the 
 removal of obstacles. Forces of evil are by this means 
 swept from the field, and a way prepared for the wider 
 diflfusion of the gospel. Through the costly Crimean 
 war the gates of the Turkish empire were opened to 
 Christianity. From the terrible Indian Mutiny dates 
 a new era in th-i history of Eastern missionary enter- 
 prise. China was hermetically sealed, until the iron- 
 clads burst through the barriers of ages. Civil conflict 
 led to the abolition of American slavery, Tel-el-Keber 
 was the termination of the British campaign in Egypt, 
 but only a starting-point for spiritual enterprise. 
 Earthly movements sweep on to mediatorial consum- 
 mation. The kingdoms of this world must bbcome 
 the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he 
 shall reign for ever and ever. For this the Church 
 pleads and waits : " Come forth out of thy royal 
 
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST. 
 
 273 
 
 chambers, O Prince of all the kincs of the earth .' Put 
 on the robes of thy imperial Majesty ; take up that 
 unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty Father hath 
 bequeathed thee ; for now the voice of the bride calls 
 thee, and^all creatures sigh to be renewed," 
 
 Prayer on such a theme passes into praise. Three 
 thousand years ago, unsurpassed missionary strains 
 were chanted beneath the brightness of the Shekinah. 
 The heart of the royal Psalmist was full of Christ, and 
 longed its passion to declare : " He shall come down 
 like rain upon the mown grass ; as showers that water 
 the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish ; 
 and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 
 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from 
 the river to the ends of the earth." 
 
 The ground idea of this missionary hymn was 
 doubtless suggested by the configuration or limits of 
 Immanuel's land. But a resident of fair and favored 
 Canada can scarcely help thinking of another special 
 application. " From the river to the ends of the 
 earth :" from the rolling floods of Niagara to the icy 
 regions of the polar zone. " Dominion also !" Does 
 not the name of this new northern nation seem to be 
 prophetic of future and destined glory ; a foremost 
 place among the peoples that throng to the coronation 
 of the heavenly King '^ "From .sea to sea!" From 
 coasts of Acadia, tidal deeps of the Bay of Fundy, and 
 the majestic St. Lawrence, the jubilant strains shall 
 rise ; shall blend with the raptures of Ontario's lofty 
 praise, break the silence of Lake Huron'.'i shores, 
 
KM 
 
 274 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN CUY. 
 
 I l!: 
 
 i 
 
 I! 
 
 f 
 
 I': 
 
 gather strength and volume from the peopled plains 
 and prairies of Manitoba and the North-West, swell 
 to the sources of the Saskatchewan and summits of 
 the Rocky Mountains, gain tribute from the valleys 
 and commercial gateways of British Columbia ; and, 
 as the voice of many waters, or the fulness of the 
 deep, the gladness of salvation shall sound and spread 
 " from sea to sea," from stormy Atlantic to bright and 
 tranquil Pacific. 
 
 The missionary psalm was the latest as well as the 
 loftiest ascription of the inspired bard. It was a 
 
 magniticent 
 
 FINALE. 
 
 " The prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended." 
 No meaner subject could again rouse his spirit to 
 sacred song. That harp of Judah has been long 
 silent. J>ut the sanctuary strain can never die. The 
 rapture of praise to Christ shall fill the earth. "And 
 he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of 
 Sheba: prayer shall also be made for him continually; 
 and daily shall he be praised." 
 
 " People and realms of every tongue 
 Dwell on his love with sweetest song." 
 
 " His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be 
 continued as long as the sun r and men shall be blessed 
 in him : all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed 
 be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth 
 
 wondrous things. 
 
 And blessed be his jjlorious name 
 
THE WORLD FOR CFJRIST. 
 
 27o 
 
 for ever : and let the whole earth be filled with his 
 j^lory. Amen and amen." 
 
 Passing years between, the eye rests upon " scenes 
 of accomplislied bliss." Promise and prophecy have 
 been fulfilled. The world has been won for Christ. 
 
 "One song employs all nations ; and all cry, 
 ' Worthy the Lunib, for he was slain for lis I ' 
 The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
 Shout to each other, and tlie mountain-tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy : 
 Till, nation after nation taught the strain. 
 Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round." 
 
 Ascriptions of earth, born of missionary sympathy 
 and prayer, are but the prelude of an eternal song. 
 " After this I beheld, and lo a great multitude which 
 no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, 
 and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and 
 before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms 
 in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying — 
 Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the 
 
 THRONE, AND UNTO THE LaMB." 
 

 i '! 
 
 i ' 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Summaries and statistics are appended liere for the 
 sake of convenient reference. 
 
 1. An Estimate of the Population of the World, 
 According to Religions, 
 
 given in the diagram at the front of this volume, 
 was prepared for the Woman's Missionary Society of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, and published by the 
 Rev. Dr. Sutherland in The Alissionary Outlook. The 
 blocks are shaded to show the followins relifnous 
 divisions : — 
 
 "^'^*h«» 855 millions. 
 
 Mohammedans jyQ 
 
 Jews 
 
 8 
 
 Romanists jqq 
 
 Greek Church 34 
 
 Protestants jjg 
 
 Total , 
 
 ,1,42.3 
 
 Another estimate, which in the main has been fol- 
 lowed throughout the previous essay, was presented at 
 the Cincinnati Convention. The aggregate, one thou- 
 sand four hundred and thirty-three million, agrees 
 
N 
 
 i^^; 
 
 278 ' THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 witli the round total of the <'ininent German statists 
 for l<S8:i: 
 
 Christians, inchuling Protestants, (Jreek 
 
 Church, and Human Catholics, pln-^. . 440 niillioiis. 
 
 Jews 8 " 
 
 Moslems 1 75 " 
 
 Kralimans 160 " 
 
 Buddhists 400 " 
 
 Uncivilized Pagans 250 " 
 
 Total l,43:i 
 
 Each square of the diagram, it ivill he seen, represents 
 a million of population. As the result of faithful 
 toil, an important space has brightened ivith the pro- 
 gress of the century. But a glance over the dark Nocks 
 shews the vast extent of heathendom, and the need of a. 
 greatly increased agency. To give one missionary to every 
 oU,000 of the population, would require .!() for each 
 square, or million of people. Brahmans, Buddhists, and 
 heathens of yet uncivilized lands — loithout including Mos- 
 lems — aggregate at least 810 squares, or millions; and to 
 meet the demands of such an enterprise, up to the propor- 
 tion specified, vjould require JG,!JOO missionaries — IS, SOU 
 in addition to the ^,Jf.OO already in the fidd. 
 
 2. Latest Estimate of the World's Population : — 
 
 Drs. Behm and Wagner have recently issued a new 
 edition of their well-known collection of statistics — 
 " Die Bevolkerung der Erde." They give the total as 
 1,433,887,500, which is about 22,000,000 less than 
 their estimate of two years ago. They have concluded 
 that China, including Corea, has 371), 500,000, which is 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 279 
 
 55,000,000 lo.ss tlian thoy formerly suppowtMl. There 
 has thu.s been an actual increase of about .3.*i,000,000 
 in the population of the globe — an increa.se, however, 
 which must be spread over ten years, as many of the 
 recent censuses are decennial. For Europe, the pres- 
 ent population is rated at 327,748,400, .showing an 
 increase of about 12,000,000 over the previous figures 
 by the operation of the censu.ses. In Asia, making 
 allowance for the readjustment of the population of 
 China, there has been an increase of 20,000,000, the 
 present population being set down at 795,591,000. In 
 Africa the population is 205,823,200. In America 
 100,415,400. In Au.stralia and Polynesia, 4,232,000. 
 In the Polar Regions, 82,500.— il/is. AL, 1S8J, p. IG. 
 
 3. DiSTRIlJUTION OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 We cull from Dr. Dorchester's tables the following 
 statistics with reference to the distribution of Pro- 
 testant Forei(;n Mission work in the different "reat 
 divisions of the globe, in 1880, so far as reported : — 
 
 h is 
 
 North America 
 South America 
 
 Europe 
 
 Africa 
 
 Asia 
 
 Oceanica 
 
 Total... 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 B 1 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 in 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 
 cipal 
 ons. 
 
 Stati 
 
 .2 
 
 rin 
 tat 
 
 1 1 
 
 S3 
 
 B-OJ 
 
 ^ 
 
 951 
 
 1,214 
 
 12 
 
 54 
 
 80 
 
 03 
 
 682 
 
 2.934 
 
 103 
 
 589 
 
 3,934 
 
 175 
 
 902 
 
 2,570 , 
 
 65 
 
 2,i-,S7 
 
 1,471 
 
 504 
 
 5,705 
 
 12,209 
 
 .s 
 
 c 
 
 C eS- 
 
 ^ 
 
 1,602 
 
 3,328 
 
 117 
 
 5.58 
 
 785 
 
 1,285 
 
 897 
 
 11,094 
 
 2,033 
 
 9,200 
 
 1,202 
 
 8,325 
 
 6,096 
 
 33,856 
 
 o 
 
 rtJ= 
 
 211,833 
 12,9S1 
 94,030 
 104,701 
 245,085 
 128.090 
 
 332,054 
 47,585 
 42,070 
 518,075 
 341,080 
 532,120 
 
 857,332 1,813,596 
 
 •;^/??.«p»vj^?:?!^Ji^|?^^ 
 
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 THE MACEDONIAN CRY. 
 
 
 Mil!'- 
 
 piir 
 
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 IS!:' 
 
 i 
 
 Estimatinc^ for the Missions whose reports are not 
 obtained in those items, Dr. Dorchester gave for the 
 aggregate of " communicants " over 1,000,000, and of 
 universal "adherents" from 3,000,000 to 3,500,000.— 
 The Gospel in all Lands, December, 1881. 
 
 4. American and European Societies. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Wilder, in the Missionary Review for 
 Nov.-Dec, 1882, gives the following totals of 100 dif- 
 ferent Churches and Societies : — American — Home 
 strength, 77,953 ministers and 10,165,976 communi- 
 cants. Missionaries : ordained, 844 ; lay, 77 ; women, 
 978. Native workers: ordained, 839; others, 7,359. 
 Native communicants, 197,102. European — Home 
 strength, 39,746 ministers, 16,538,877 communicants. 
 Missionaries : ordained, 1,756 ; lay, 548 ; women, 628. 
 Native workers : ordained, 1,118 ; others, 14,730. Na- 
 tive communicants, 377,619. To^ai- -Missionaries : 
 ordained, 2,600 ; lay, 625 ; women, 1,606. Native 
 workers: ordained, 1,957; others, 22,089. Native 
 communicants, 574,721. Income, $8,447,991. — Mis- 
 sionary Almanac, 1883, p. 16. 
 
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