na THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ?4W^eA-: A /? a<,^ C/tKjfo-^, REPORT OF COMMISSION V World Missionary Conference, 1910 (To consider Missionary Problems in relation to the Non-Christian World) REPORT OF COMMISSION V THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS With Supplement : Presentation and Discussion of the Report in the Conference on 22nd June 1910 PUBLISHED FOR THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE BY OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER EDINBURGH AND LONDON AND THE FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND TORONTO 6V l c \\0 CONTENTS CHAP. LIST OF MEMBERS OK COMMISSION PART I. INTRODUCTION PREFATORY NOTE ..... i I. THE MODERN SITUATION ON THE MISSION FIELD . 4 PART II. STATEMENT AND REVIEW OF FACTS AS TO THE PRESENT PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES II. THE PRESENT STANDARDS OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES . 15 III. THE PROCEDURE OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN ASCER- TAINING THE QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES . 27 IV. PRESENT METHODS OF GENERAL PREPARATION FOR MISSIONARY WORK . . . -34 V. PRESENT METHODS OF SPECIAL MISSIONARY PRE- PARATION . . . . . -49 VI. PRESENT PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES IN THEO- LOGICAL COLLEGES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS . 62 VII. PRESENT METHODS OF PREPARATION IN MISSIONARY TRAINING COLLEGES AND INSTITUTES FOR WOMEN 82 PART III. THE PRINCIPLES OF PREPARA- TION FOR MISSIONARY WORK AND THEIR APPLICATION VIII. THE FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES OF MISSIONARY PREPARATION . . . . -95 1236194 vi CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE IX. THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF ORDAINED MISSIONARIES . . 115 X. THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF LAY-EVANGELISTS, AND OF EDUCA- TIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL MISSIONARIES . .124 XT. THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF MEDICAL MISSIONARIES AND NURSES ...... 134 XII. THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF WOMEN MISSIONARIES . .146 PART IV. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION XIII. A SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE REGARDING THE NEED, CHARACTER, AND METHOD OF SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION . . . . . 155 XIV. PROPOSALS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS, AT HOME AND IN THE MISSION FIELD, FOR SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 180 XV. THE NEED FOR CONTINUATION STUDY IN THE MISSION FIELD ..... 193 PART V. CONCLUSION XVI. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CANDIDATES' COMMITTEE . 199 XVII. A LAST WORD TO THE CHURCH 210 APPENDICES APPEN. I. LIST OF QUESTIONS ADDRESSED BY THE COMMISSION : (a) to Candidates' Committees of Missionary Societies ; (6) to Missionaries ; (c) to Heads of Colleges or Institutions for the Training of Missionaries ; (d) to Heads of Theological Seminaries or Bible Schools in America ; (e) to Principals of Theological Colleges in Great Britain 221 II. LIST OF CORRESPONDING MISSION BOARDS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES . . . .234 CONTENTS vii APPEN. PAGE III. LIST OF CORRESPONDING COLLEGES OR INSTITUTIONS FOR MISSIONARY TRAINING . . .236 IV. LIST OF CORRESPONDING THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES . . . . .238 V. GENERAL THEOLOGICAL PREPARATION FOR MISSION- ARIES ...... 240 VI. MISSIONARY INSTRUCTION AT YALE UNIVERSITY . 246 VII. THE WOMEN'S MISSIONARY COLLEGE, EDINBURGH . 250 VIII. EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE TREASURY COMMITTEE ON THE ORGANISATION OF ORIENTAL STUDIES IN LONDON . . . .253 IX. LETTER FROM THE REV. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON, D.D., OF SWATOW ...... 257 X. MEMORANDUM ON THE TRAINING OF MISSIONARIES IN REGARD TO LANGUAGE .... 263 XI. STATEMENT REGARDING LANGUAGE-STUDY ON THE FIELD ...... 207 XII. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF THE COMMISSION, PRE- PARED BY THE REV. W. H. T. GAIRDNER, M.A. 273 XIII. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF THE COMMISSION, PRE- PARED BY MR. J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A. . . 279 XIV. PROPOSED COLLEGE OF STUDY FOR NORTH INDIA . 287 XV. MINUTE OF SECTIONAL MEETING OF MEDICAL DELEGATES, ETC., HELD AT THE WORLD MISSION- ARY CONFERENCE, 1910 .... 289 XVI. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LITERATURE ON THE QUALIFICA- TIONS AND PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES . 291 PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT . . 297 GENERAL INDEX ...... 337 INDEX OF AUTHORITIES AND CORRESPONDENTS QUOTED, AND OF SPEAKERS WHO TOOK PART IN THE DISCUSSIONS . 341 MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION Chairman President W. DOUGLAS MACKENZIE, D.D., LL.D., Hartford Theological Seminary, U.S.A. Vice-Chairman The Rev. J. O. F. MURRAY, D.D., Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, England. The Rev. E. I. BOSWORTH, D.D., Dean of Oberlin Theo- logical Seminary, Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A. The Rev. Professor 0. E. BROWN, D.D., Vanderbilt Uni- versity, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.A. EDWARD W. CAPEN, Ph.D., Boston, Mass., U.S.A. The Rev. Professor HENRY COWAN, D.D., D.Th. (Geneva), University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Mrs. CREIGHTON, London, England. The Rev. STUART A. DONALDSON, D.D., Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, England. The Rev. Professor CHARLES R. ERDMAN, The Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J., U.S.A. The Rev. HENRY W. FROST, Director for North America of the China Inland Mission, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. The Rev. Professor CURTIS M. GEER, D.D., Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. Miss MARIA L. GIBSON, Principal, Scarritt Bible and Training School, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A. Miss G. A. GOLLOCK, Church Missionary Society, London. The Rev. FORBES JACKSON, M.A., late Principal of Harley College, London. The Rev. H. H. KELLY, M.A., The Society of the Sacred Mission, Kelham, England. Professor ADOLF KOLMODIN, D.D., Upsala, Sweden. The Rev. Professor A. R. MACEWEN, D.D., New College, Edinburgh. JAMES L. MAXWELL, Esq., M.D., Secretary of the London Medical Missionary Association. Professor CARL MEINHOF, Hamburg, Germany. The Rev. Canon O'MEARA, LL.D., Principal of Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada. The Rev. WM. PARK, M.A., Belfast, Ireland. The Rev. Principal SELBIE, M.A., Mansfield College, Oxford. Miss SMALL, Women's Missionary College, Edinburgh, Scotland. The Rev. TISSINGTON TATLOW, M.A., General Secretary of the Student Christian Movement of Great Britain and Ireland. THE PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES PART I INTRODUCTION PREFATORY NOTE THE Commission appointed by the World Missionary Conference to consider THE PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES desire, in submitting their Report, to make a brief state- ment as to procedure. Including the preliminary session on gth December 1908, the British members of the Commission have met on ten occasions in London. 1 The American members of the Commission have met twice in New York. 2 Several of the sessions have extended over two days. i. The first duty of the Commission was to survey the field of its labours, and to settle upon general procedure. Papers of Questions were prepared and issued to (a) Mis- sionary Societies and Boards ; (b) Colleges and other institutions where men and women are prepared for the mission field ; (c) missionaries representative of various denominations, mission fields, and methods. With slight variations the same Questions were used 1 9th Dec., 1908; nth Jan., I3th March, i4th May, sth, I2th, I4th, and I sth June, 4th to 7th October, i8th Nov., 1969; i8th and 19th March, and 1 5th and :6th April, 1910. * i sth and i6th Jan., 1909; isth, i4th, and I5th Jan., 1910. COM. V. i 2 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES in America and in Europe. These Questions are appended to the Report. 2. The replies to the Questions were type-written and circulated amongst the members of the Commission. The duty of making a careful analytical summary of the answers on various sections was entrusted to different members. These summaries formed the basis of full and extended discussion at several meetings of the Commission, both in London and in America. 3. The British members of the Commission, having familiarised themselves with the broad outlines of present missionary training, invited a large number of qualified persons missionaries, heads of training institutions, and missionary officials to give evidence before them. Valuable monographs were also laid upon the table from missionary experts on the Continent and in America. 4. By October 1909 the greater part of the matter required for the Report was before the Commission. At a three days' session, under the presidency of the Chair- man, who came from America to meet the British members, a draft outline for the Report was considered, and, after prayer and discussion, was adopted. The successive sections, with the summaries and other matter relating to them, were assigned for drafting to individual members, after the Commission had by careful and explicit confer- ence come to agreement upon all fundamental principles involved. 5. These sectional drafts were considered by the American members of the Commission at a full meeting on I3th and I4th January 1910, when the material was carefully arranged, and a draft scheme of the Report was forwarded to the Chairman. Meanwhile the sectional drafts were also circulated among the Continental and British members, and their criticisms were summarised and sent to the Chairman. The whole material was then recast by the Chairman, and a preliminary draft of the Report was drawn up by him. 6. The Report, as it left his hands, was chapter by chapter, almost line by line, again considered at meetings INTRODUCTION 3 of the Commission ; some additional chapters were prepared; any later information of importance was incorporated, and statements were, as far as possible, once more verified. 7. Finally, slip proofs were sent to all members of the Commission, their last suggestions were received and dealt with, and the Chairman passed the Report as ready for press at the end of April. The Commission, in closing their responsible and arduous labours, desire to place upon record their humble thankfulness to God, by the presence of whose Spirit among them unbroken fellowship has been maintained throughout the whole of their proceedings. Unity has been attained and maintained not by compromise, but by the frank and full discussion of varying convictions, with mutual respect and with a single desire to attain as nearly as might be to the truth. Whilst it would be unfair to make individual members, especially those resident in America and on the Continent, and those British members whose contribution was made by correspondence, responsible for every detailed phrase, it may be said that in their Report the Commissioners speak with real agreement, though they represent many Christian denominations, and are primarily associated with many different missionary organisations. The sincere thanks of the Commission are tendered to all those without whose generous confidence and self- sacrificing co-operation the Report could not have been prepared, namely : the Missionary Societies, Training Colleges, and other Institutions who responded, frankly and thoughtfully for the most part, to the questions asked ; the missionaries who in like manner answered, sometimes from the ends of the earth ; the men and women who in personal interview laid the treasures of their experience before the Commission ; and those who contributed written documents on aspects of Missionary Preparation. CHAPTER I Contents : Introductory ; Recognition uf Rapid Change; Relations of Civilised Governments with non-Christian Peoples : Spread of Western Education ; Commercial and Industrial Influences ; Moral Deterioration; Reactions in Ancient Beliefs; The Growth of Ir^ religion ; Indigenous Churches ; A* Call to Consideration ; The Problem before us INTRODUCTORY THE fifth Commission of the World Missionary Conference appointed to report upon THE PREPARATION OF MISSION- ARIES is one of eight similar bodies whose investigations are designed to cover the whole missionary problem as it presents itself to-day to the Christian Church. Each Commission has entrusted to it one carefully defined section of the subject. Nevertheless each of them, in order properly to set forth its conclusions, is constrained to take some cognisance of what surrounds its own immediate sphere. In particular, it was held to be impossible to set forth adequately the modern require- ments of missionary preparation unless some preliminary statement as to the modern situation on the mission field were embodied in the Report. It is evident that without some basis of agreement as to the conditions under which missionaries are working the Commission could not hope to obtain consideration for the recommendations it is about to make. 4 THE MODERN SITUATION RECOGNITION OF RAPID CHANGE When the Missionary Societies with whom our Report is concerned began their work, there were in the main only two means of contact between Western civilisation and the vast populations of Asia and Africa, namely, the missionary and the trader. Even India was not directly under the British Government, but under the direction of a great trading Company. The influence of the missionary and the trader have gradually drawn the countries of Christendom into such relations with those two great continents that the whole weight of Western civilisation is bearing down upon them with im- measurable and accelerating momentum. RELATIONS OF CIVILISED GOVERNMENTS WITH NON-CHRISTIAN PEOPLES In the first place, the leading Governments of Europe and America have entered into definite relations with Africa and Asia. The " partition " of Africa is now almost complete ; over every part of it some European Government exercises a more or less direct control. Every portion of the continent which can be occupied by the white man is being rapidly appropriated by miners and farmers, and trading stations are starting up wherever large populations are found. In this way the old tribal systems of life are breaking down before any effective substitutes for them can be established. The result is disastrous for many tribes, even where desolating and inhuman tyranny is not directly exercised, as it has been in the Congo. In Asia there is no uniform system of relationship between the various peoples and the great nations of Europe or America. Turkey, Persia, India, China, Japan, the Philippine Islands, Korea, Siberia, occupy entirely different positions internation- ally. But in them all, though in varying manners and degree, the spirit of the people is being aroused. The problems of nationalism astir in China and India and 6 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES the Philippines are the result of contact with the great nations of Christendom. We have seen Japan take her place among the great nations of the world, with a wisdom and moral self-respect even more marvellous than her courage in war. We have seen China, first saved from dismemberment and then opening her eyes like a giant awaking from dangerous stupor. To-day her astute and yet perplexed statesmen are struggling among modern peoples with the primary problems of govern- ment. The British Government has just taken another long step towards the day when constitutional forms shall be fully established throughout the Empire of India. This has been done in recognition of the new spirit which has begun to move in large masses of the Indian races, and which is feeling its way towards responsibility, self-government, and national unity. The sublime result is still far off, but begins to loom in sight. It is clear that in this vast movement affecting the national development of more than half the human race the experience of the West in methods of government must serve both as inspiration and example. The age-long struggles of European races for freedom, self-government, and national consciousness were providential preparations for the rest of the world. The fruit of their protracted woes and costly sacrifices will be the far more rapid and far less painful uplifting of the races of Asia and, let us hope, of Africa. Japan, with all her struggles during these forty years of contact with the West, has not suffered a tithe of what several European peoples endured for centuries in their slow discovery of the paths of liberty and self -direction, of national education and international righteousness. To-day, even though their motives be not always high and pure, these nations stand round China preserving her unity ; sustaining her first endeavours to break the bonds of sleep, even guiding her towards modern methods of administration and education. In Africa they are pledged, more deeply than ever since the exposure of the Congolese horrors, to see that native tribes are not robbed of all their rights, THE MODERN SITUATION 7 but trained by fair and honourable officers for the better era which Christian civilisation must bring to them. THE SPREAD OF WESTERN EDUCATION In the second place, the modern missionary situation is profoundly affected by the fact thit Western education is being given, and will be increasingly given, throughout Asia and Africa apart from the Church of Christ. We are confronted by the fact that the children of far more than half of the human race may within the next generation be educated without any reference to those spiritual truths which are the only real and permanent support of social order and personal morality. What has happened in Japan must come to be the case in India and China, most probably in Turkey, and in time perhaps throughout Africa. The J apanese Government have created a complete system of universal education. While moral instruction is required in all secondary schools, the entire system is and must be non -religious, for where modern education is given non-Christian religions cannot live. The atmo- sphere of historical knowledge, of even elementary science, still more of advanced metaphysics and psychology, of astronomy and natural history, is fatal to any faith in the gods and modes of worship of the non-Christian world. No one who knows what part even the poorest religion has played in sustaining social bonds, in affording sacred sanctions for the crudest code of morality, can view this situation without deep anxiety. In the midst of the vast surge of these races towards a universal education, what place does the missionary movement occupy ? It has in large measure brought about this situation. For long, in Turkey and China, in Japan and even in India, it was the principal educational force, and for that time education was allied with religion. But now the Missionary Societies see this task undertaken by Governments on a scale far beyond that of the missionary schools of the past. This whole great problem with its far-reaching issues is relegated to the considera- 8 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES tion of another Commission; but it has vital relations with the work of Commission V. It falls to us to discuss the preparation of those who are to go forth into such environment to spread the influence of the only religion which is able to win the faith and command the obedience of those who are educated in modern methods. In the third place, the modern situation of the non- Christian world is characterised by the extension of its commercial relations and the gradual adoption of the factory system, as well as by those mighty agencies of commerce and industry, the railway and the telegraph. Wherever the railway goes it profoundly changes the life of a people. It brings distant places into close connection, it unites races, it mixes classes, and withal it creates movement and at least the appearance of active life instead of slow and somnolent ways of business. It has been doing all this in India, and as it penetrates China more thoroughly it will produce the same effects among the large provinces of that Empire. But the railway will only accelerate processes which had already begun to change the life of these peoples, and which are connected with commerce and industry. The South African tribes have been affected by no one factor, apart from the imposition of European Government, so much as by their experience of the mines. There they have learned to earn wages and they go back to their tribal system with their whole view of social relations and of duty transformed. The pressure upon them to work in farm and store, in mines and on railways is daily increasing, and thus their whole attitude towards life and consequently towards its religious meaning is being changed. And in this very change the missionary sees both a danger and an opportunity. In Japan and India the western factory system is now being rapidly developed, often with unsatisfactory results. The former country is already beginning to experience that THE MODERN SITUATION 9 bitter and shameful accompaniment of factory life, the slum problem. It looks as if the beautiful home in- dustries of India must pass away before the growing use of machinery and the capitalising of industries. It looks as if in large regions those painful years must be lived through which England endured in the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, ere the regulation of the factory system was undertaken. And in the midst of all this confusion, largely caused by industrial "competition, the missionary from the West must do! his work. ^ In | the eyes of the people he is identified with those newi movements which have de- stroyed their peace. He must prove that he can help them to find their way to a better and a richer social life. MORAL DETERIORATION In the fourth place, it must be acknowledged that the forces which we have named are exercising in some directions an unfavourable influence upon the moral character of non-Christian races. Not only are they removing the old religious sanctions, they are tearing down those social structures which, however simple or however complicated, do, in all lands, hold the members of society to some measure of mutual understanding, of trustworthiness, and often of deep and loyal affection. The destructive work of the inrush of Western civilisation is far more rapid than the constructive. Moreover, the greater opportunities for acquiring wealth are produc- ing larger numbers of those who push their advantage to the utmost, thus substituting for the more ancient forms of war and oppression, no less effective, cruel, and humiliating methods in the name of modern business. It must be set down, with whatever sense of shame and confusion of soul, that whilst we are thankful for the admirable work done by many administrators and merchants in non-Christian lands, yet the regions under consideration are corrupted by very large numbers of men from the West who throw off the restraints of 10 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Christian civilisation when they have got outside the countries where it prevails. If they learn, they also teach lessons of corruption and infamy. Even Western literature, which first came through missionaries, now comes also in the form of decadent fiction and still fouler forms of print, to spread moral miasma more deeply in the minds of men. REACTIONS IN ANCIENT BELIEFS Lastly, we must name the changes which have arisen in the matter of religious belief and practice through the coming of civilisation and its influences. The effect of all these, as well as of a century of mission work, is threefold. In the first place, various reactions are taking place in the effort to maintain the ancient beliefs whose life is being threatened. The ruder religions go under very quickly, of course, and survive only as superstitions in the midst of higher and better views both of God and of man. But the loftier religions of the East cannot die so easily. The truth that is in them is broader and deeper, the minds nourished under them are more subtle and keen and devout. Hence strenuous efforts are naturally being made to reconstitute these ancient religions as rivals to Christianity. In Japan and India many direct attacks are being made upon the Gospel. Some of them may seem poor and quite inadequate, while others use with force the weapons forged in Christendom itself by modern historical and natural science. But they are all effective, both for the minds which produce them and for the readers to whom they are primarily addressed. There are thousands of enlightened theists in India who stop short of faith in the Incarnation. There are many to whom the theosophical movement appeals, when theosophy has received a tincture of European culture and Christian sentiment. In Japan Buddhism is making valiant efforts through a few leaders to reassert itself THE MODERN SITUATION 11 as philosophically, spiritually, and morally superior to Christianity. THE GROWTH OF IRRELIGION Again we must once more note the fact that large num- bers of people are being driven into a condition of sheer irreligion. The educated are becoming philosophical agnos- tics. The uneducated are losing their confidence in their priests and prayers, processions and sacrifices, without having found any worthy substitute for them. It is a stage of deep unrest, of low morals, of social disorder, such as was seen in Europe during her darkest centuries. But surely here again Europe suffered that Asia may be delivered. In Europe the victory of Christianity was achieved, partially and unworthily as we must confess, in order to provide a force strong enough to cope with the very conditions which are about to be created among the teeming populations of the non-Christian world. But it is the missionary upon whom rests the task of applying this regenerating force. INDIGENOUS CHURCHES Amidst all this, the hope and aim of all our work has appeared already in many lands in the shape of an indigenous Church. Through that Church the future work is to be accomplished. Within its membership must be found the largest number of evangelists, the most influential leaders, the most sympathetic teachers of the future. It is only through the Native Church that the social evils of heathendom can be radically dealt with, and only through it that the Gospel will gradually lose its " foreignness " for the mass of the people and find its way to the centre of national feeling. It is in comparatively recent years that the Native Church has assumed such proportions and power as to constitute a real element in the modern missionary situation. Experience has shown at once the importance and the difficulty of dealing aright with this fruit of mis- 12 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES sionary labour. To attempt to retain indefinitely the control of these developing Churches in the hands of missionaries would be unwise, even if it were possible. To know when and how to withdraw that control will be a delicate task. This subject again is dealt with by another Commission. A CALL TO CONSIDERATION In thus emphasising the gravity of the modern situation in the mission field, the Commission has not forgotten that the everlasting Gospel, the power of God unto salva- tion, has won and still wins its victories in every land, nor that the Christian Church, by virtue of living union with its Head, has resources sufficient for the evangelisa- tion of the world. There can be no doubt as to the ultimate issue. For " the victory that overcometh the world is our faith " in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The only danger lies in delay, through the Church's apathy or unfaithfulness. The impact of Europe upon Asia and Africa of the West upon the East the creation of new commercial and industrial problems by the action of Christian races, the development of non-religious education, the loosening of old social and religious bonds, added to those factors which everywhere influence the spread of the Gospel, produce a situation which con- stitutes a call to the Church to sit down and take counsel how, having begun, she may be able to finish. The question before our Commission is the consideration of the unworked resources at her disposal as regards the preparation of missionaries for their work, and the object of our Report is to aid the Christian Church to consider what she is doing to meet the crisis which has arisen. ^ THE PROBLEM BEFORE US It is easy to use the general phrase "the preparation of the missionary," as if|the subject were definite |and its investigation a simple matter. But a very slight con- THE MODERN SITUATION 13 sideration will show that the phrase covers an immense variety of very different phenomena, (a) In the first place, the word " missionary " must be taken in its widest signification to include all those European and American agents whom the Missionary Societies directly appoint and use on the mission field in any capacity connected with the work of a station. Hence we must think of ordained missionaries, medical missionaries, educationists, nurses, industrial teachers, Bible readers, zenana visitors, secretaries or business agents, etc., and we must remember that even those classes are nearly all being broken up into sub-classes, wherever the Christian community has grown to large proportions and a great unevangelised . population lies beyond it. (b) In the second place, we must face the great variety of mission fields to which those agents are being sent. The same kinds of training are not necessary for those who are going to Central Africa, to a tribe among whom no white people have yet lived, as for those who are going to work in Bombay or Peking or Tokyo. There are great differences in the temperament, the physical quality, the intellectual discipline, which are needed for these different fields. (c) The subject is further complicated by the fact that the Missionary Societies, for whom this Report is compiled and to whom it is addressed, differ in their power, perhaps even in their will, to meet the demands which any group of men and women might agree to describe as essential and urgent. The education for the home ministry among the denominations with which these Societies are con- nected is by no means uniform. Some insist upon six or seven years' study ; others are content with a short course before ordination. Here, as elsewhere, the difficulties of our unhappy Church divisions are felt. It cannot be easy to speak for so varied a constituency in any one decisive and authoritative manner, (d) And yet, in the fourth place, we are face to face with this new world situation. Across the whole front of civilisation opposing forces are set in array, and the Church of Christ is called upon to consider deeply and to exert in zeal and 14 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES power a decisive influence at every point of contact. This great task can only be fulfilled by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost Himself and under the rule of Jesus Christ our Lord. It calls not only for incessant prayer, but also for the offering of the noblest and best of our gifts. To it the best youth of Christendom must be given, and for it be prepared. PART II STATEMENT AND REVIEW OF FACTS AS TO THE PRESENT PREPARA- TION OF MISSIONARIES CHAPTER II THE PRESENT STANDARDS OF MIS- SIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES Contents: Actual and Ideal Standards; Physical Standard; Social Standard ; Intellectual and Educational Standard ; Moral and Spiritual Standard ; Professional Standard Theological, Educational, Medical, Industrial. Standard for Lay Evangelists Men, Women. Home Unions for Missionary Preparation: General Summary ACTUAL AND IDEAL STANDARDS As we study the manner in which Missionary Societies proceed in the work of selecting, preparing, and appoint- ing their various classes of missionaries, we find them admitting on all hands that there is a marked disparity between their ideals and their actual or working standard. The Societies do, as a rule, describe the true standards which ought to be applied in the appointment of their missionaries in admirable pamphlets as well as in their printed forms of application and of enquiry. On the other hand, we have gathered abundant evidence not only that each Society is deeply dissatisfied with its own 15 16 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES application f of those standards, but that the actual standard varies indefinitely when some Societies are compared with others. Even those Societies which provide education for their missionaries in institutions under their own control confess that their attainments fall far below their ideals, and we have found that here also one Society differs from another in the quality of its work. It will be readily understood that the Com- mission is unable to pass judgment on individual Societies or to name those, often the most widely known, which have frankly confessed their failure to realise the ideals which they have set before them. It is hoped that the results which are here given of the examination of the papers before the Commission will be definite enough to be useful, even- though specific references can rarely be given. PHYSICAL STANDARD The actual physical standard varies less from the ideal than any other. With the exception of a few smaller organisations, whose practice is reported as lax, a high physical standard is set, the Societies recognising that sound health and a constitution that will stand the wear and tear of climate, exposure, and toil are absolutely necessary. For the most part, careful tests are applied. From the evidence of missionaries we learn that, though health conditions are improving abroad so that " others than physical giants may safely be sent," something more is needed than an insurance company desires. They urge the need, on the one hand, for more elasticity in view of varieties of climate, work, and temperament and on the other for more attention to neurotic tendencies (especially in women), lack of endurance during training, inability to work steadily through the heat of summer, physical inadaptability to new surroundings, and care- lessness as to matters of health. There is a plea for " better specimens of humanity." Testimony is strong as to bad results from sending out candidates when tired SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES 17 out or after severe study, especially in the case of women doctors. SOCIAL STANDARD There is no trace, in the replies from Missionary Societies, of a rule excluding any candidate on the ground of social status. But there is recurring evidence of the importance of true refinement which, it need hardly be said, is not necessarily dependent on the accident of birth. " In our experience," writes one large Missionary Society, " while there is room for all sorts, it is the. men and women of best culture who ' last longest, stand the roughest wear, and adapt themselves most readily both to the people whom they labour to win and to their fellow- workers.' " " Still more missionaries," writes another important British Society, " from the cultured classes would be welcome. They usually have a wider outlook, more balanced judgment, and less tendency to prejudice or panic. The better the social position, too, the greater the probability of the good manners and in- stinctive courtesy which minimise friction with colleagues and natives." Where lack of cultured family life has not been corrected by education and training, there is evidence from the mission field that it is hard for such missionaries to live and work in close relation with those who have enjoyed a widely different social experience. INTELLECTUAL AND EDUCATIONAL STANDARD The ideal intellectual standard set forth by the Mis- sionary Societies, especially in their printed papers, is without exception high. In some cases it might be called prohibitive. There is a desire to obtain the very best. There is evidence, too, that offers oi service from the educated classes are increasing, and that the actual standard of intellect and education, applied to a candidate before final acceptance, is rising. But the divergence between the ideal and actual standard in some cases is COM. v. 2 18 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES startling. Still more startling is the contrast between the standard in use and the requirements of the field, as stated by the missionaries themselves. Their evidence is practically unanimous and overwhelmingly strong. In one summary of answers sent independently to the Commission by thirtj'-six missionaries belonging to eighteen Societies (all but three being British) working in Japan, China, India and Ceylon, Syria, Arabia, and Africa (West and South), we read : " There is universal agreement that the intellectual standard is not high enough." Another summary of the evidence of thirty American missionaries, representing nine Mission Boards and ten mission fields, shows that on the whole the American missionaries take the same ground. This wide divergence between home and foreign experts in the estimate of intellectual standard is probably ex- plained partly by the fact that men on the field are cognisant of the modern situation outlined in Chapter I., which, if equally known to the Missionary Boards, has not yet had time to influence their actual selection of missionaries, but chiefly by the fact that the choice of the Missionary Boards is limited by the candidates applying. We note, however, that whilst the missionaries urge the need for recognised leaders and men of extraordinary gifts, the plea is strongest for a high average men and women with the ability and capacity to grow constantly, who have in them the making of strong missionaries. The meaning of " education " varies according to the home connection of the Societies, but few admit that they send men or women of " lesser education " to the field. Where they are sent, the record of their length of service and devotion is said to be high. But the fields where such workers are efficient are found to be narrowing. It is significant that, whilst the appeal for a higher intellectual standard is practically universal, no missionary has suggested an increase in the number of men and women of ^lesser education. SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES 19 All Missionary Societies are agreed that there must be genuine spiritual life, thorough consecration to missionary work, and true Christian character. In most cases these requirements are given first place. Much of the success of existing missionary work can be traced to the sincere conviction of the Boards on this fundamental matter. But missionary evidence as to the working of this univer- sally high standard varies considerably. Out of a group of thirty American missionaries, fifteen would emphasise more strongly the need of the spiritual preparation of the missionary. In a similar European group, the majority hold that sufficient care is taken already, but there is a record of " some lamentable failures," and such points as low ideals of honour in practical matters, inability to work with others, and pride of race, are instanced to prove that the spiritual and moral standard is not always sufficiently high. It is apparent, from the answers on this subject, that the standard here is most difficult to apply, and in some cases it is clear that merely superficial tests are applied. Freedom from error, doctrinal correctness, and the absence of apparent faults may be satisfactorily and finally measured by answers to questions, interviews, and enquiries. But the plea from the field is for men and women who have begun to enter into the richness of the spiritual life and truth which is in Christ, for those who are learning in some measure to represent Him truly in character and life. The emphasis falls upon the positive rather than on the negative side. Here no external standard will apply. The moral and spiritual " capacity to become " are not to be estimated on short acquaint- ance. Hence it is urged by missionaries that more care should be taken to sift out the unfit during training, and greater readiness be shown to recall those who prove unfit in the field. 20 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES PROFESSIONAL STANDARD Theological Turning to the professional standard, we find that with the exception of a few Societies who do not use ordained men, " all " or " the majority " of the theological candidates have the regular training for the home ministry. This generally means a course at a theological college, and sometimes by no means always a uni- versity degree. In some denominations the standard for the home ministry is said to be altogether too low to set a missionary measure. Missionary evidence is in favour of a university course, or, in American phrase, " a college degree," as offering more contact with life, fuller mental discipline, and a broader basis of intelligence than is given where a theological course is not preceded by the curriculum in arts. The increase of Oriental graduates makes a degree of real value to a missionary. Here, as throughout the whole series of missionary answers, it is urged that preparation should not only be excellent in itself, but closely related to the future work of the mis- sionary. He wants as much as, but not exactly the same as, the ordained man at home. A few Societies record a few instances in which men have been ordained without any theological course, after service in the field. Some report very favourably of them ; some do not. There is no recommendation from missionaries for their increase. A development of native candidates for ordination is urged instead. PROFESSIONAL STANDARD Educational All Missionary Societies (excepting one or two which scarcely engage in educational work) desire to send out men and women with full qualifications. The supply of such is increasing. But the startling discrepancy between the number of mission schools and the number of available educational missionaries has so far led to a continual compromise between necessity and the convictions of the Boards. It is a question whether this action is not SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES 21 perpetuating the problem which creates it, for the actual standard attained in educational missionary work as a whole is what qualified educationists who might offer for foreign service look at, and hitherto it has been too low to appeal widely to the best. Missionaries them- selves strongly urge the need for professional qualifica- tion ; in many cases a university degree is held to be requisite, but Normal Training, or at least some efficient instruction in pedagogy is thought essential for all who are to superintend or teach in schools. Full ministerial training, or even an Honours course, is said to be in- sufficient without some knowledge of the methods of teaching. Additional weight accrues to these statements in view of the modern situation in the mission field. For education is bound to take an increasingly prominent place in the work of every missionary. PROFESSIONAL STANDARD Medical A few years ago the professional standard for medical missionaries was, as the educational standard is now, striving to rise to a level with the convictions of the Boards. It has largely succeeded. Very little unquali- fied work of the dangerous sort survives ; any simple work done in dispensaries or out-stations by unqualified persons is as a rule under qualified superintendence. All Societies take cognisance some more, some less of professional proficiency ; all agree that a still higher pro- fessional standard is, or shortly will be, required. Tropical diseases and advanced surgery receive considerable attention. Full professional training is generally required for nurses going out to hospital or dispensary work. In most mission fields a diploma for maternity work is important. Some training in nursing, even if a complete course is not taken, is held to be useful for evangelistic and educa- tional women missionaries, and also for missionaries' wives. It is apparent from replies to questions asked, that some difficulty is felt in applying the general standard 22 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES of missionary qualification to trained nurses. Several Societies avowedly lower their standard oi theological knowledge ; others find that the proportion of trained nurses declined is above the average of other professional women. PROFESSIONAL STANDARD Industrial Industrial work is so variously dealt with by the Societies that no common professional standard exists. In some cases skilled artisans, missionary-hearted, although not officially missionaries, are sent out on special agree- ment and form a separate class in the mission. In others, a man with the status of a missionary undertakes technical work, having either learned it at home or acquired it in the mission field. Not infrequently industrial work is inaugurated and superintended by a missionary who knows little about it himself. Each Society has therefore its own practice, but all are agreed that the industrial missionary must be spiritually one with the rest of the mission. That is the only common standard which can be ascertained. STANDARD FOR LAY EVANGELISTS Men The term " lay evangelist " needs interpretation. The Society of Friends makes no distinction between ordained and unordained preachers of the Gospel. Several inter- denominational Societies largely or entirely employ unordained men as evangelistic missionaries. On the other hand, some of the denominational Societies which recognise the need of ordination to the ministry, employ in addition to their ordained missionaries a limited number of what are conveniently called lay evangelists, especially in the less developed mission fields. For the purposes of this Report, it may be taken that the real distinction in all Societies (except the Friends) is between those who have and those who have not been professionally trained for the ministry. Nearly all the medical men (of whom a few only are ordained), a few educationists, SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES 23 and several laymen^engaged irf- business work in the missions might also be truly classed, so far as spiritual work is concerned, as lay evangelists. Alike the inter-denominational and denominational Societies speak well of the work done by their evangelists. It would seem that as a rule their spiritual character is high and their devotion to the work intense. Social and intellectual qualifications are not always manifest, but some possess them to a remarkable degree. A very small proportion of the lay evangelists have had university training. The China Inland Mission has had largest experience of this class of workers, and writes : " We have proved by an experience of nearly forty-five years, at least to our own satisfaction, that there is a large place in China, in the work of evangelisation, for lay missionaries. The work of these missionaries though it would be limited in an educa- tional department of service has been abundantly satisfactory, from every standpoint, in the first preaching of the Gospel, in the gathering of converts, in the formation of Churches, in the super- intending of districts. There have been marked differences among those sent out, limitations being upon some, and unusual development taking place in others, but, from an average stand- point, we have never had reason to regret the position taken by the Mission from the first, namely, that differently equipped persons may be used in offices of varying responsibility and requirement, and that there is, besides the office of pastor and teacher, the office of evangelist." Some of the missionary evidence indicates a desire that the place of the lay evangelist should be taken by trained natives. It is also urged that considerably expanded training should be given to laymen sent out from home. Where lay evangelists of lesser education are mixed with other missionaries it appears that diffi- culties are apt to arise, as also between lay evangelists of this description and native Christian workers. STANDARD FOR LAY EVANGELISTS Women Some large Societies or Boards have a special auxiliary organisation for women's work. Several smaller Societies deal with women's work alone. 24 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Apart from medical or strictly educational missionaries, most Societies employ a large number of women in evangelistic work, such as, to quote one of the answers, " preparation of female catechumens, confirmees, and communicants ; visiting in zenanas, teaching in the villages ; holding classes ; training Bible-women ; evangelistic work in hospitals ; also in some Societies in what would usually be called parochial work amongst mixed races." The urgency and responsibility of this work is illus- trated by the fact that in the home Churches much of it would be done by experienced ordained men. In mission lands, almost without exception, women and girls are, owing to social conditions, mainly dependent upon the ministrations of ' women missionaries. The statements as to general qualifications already summarised both from Boards and missionaries refer alike to women and to men. Few women with university education are as yet available for evangelistic work, the supply being still inadequate for the needs of mission schools. The need for more offers of service from highly qualified women is urged by Board after Board. In some Societies the general standard is already high ; others are finding it necessary to raise it. The tendency of missionary opinion is to emphasise this. At the same time, there is evidence that carefully selected women of intellectual capacity, rather than of previous educational attainment, can, after training, do efficient work in suitable spheres, though they seldom develop power to lead others, and in some cases cause discomfort with fellow-workers. They are said to do best when " the evangelistic passion is strong and the individual is tactful." But this is true even of the best educated. HOME UNIONS FOR MISSIONARY PREPARATION Recognising the fact that many candidates who might attain the standard necessary for acceptance for training fail to do so through lack of preliminary preparation, SELECTION OF MISSIONARIES 25 three British Societies the Church Missionary Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society have instituted Unions for the Home Preparation of possible candidates. By means of correspondence, interviews, and gatherings of a social and devotional nature, some measure of personal intercourse is secured; courses of study and Bible classes at various centres are arranged ; books, especially on Bible study and missionary topics, are lent to members ; and examinations are held. In each case the work of these unions is admittedly un- developed ; they appear to have in them a germ of future widespread usefulness ; but they, like all other agencies of missionary preparation, need to be adjusted to the modern situation in the field. GENERAL SUMMARY To summarise this section of our Report : It is clear from a wide and careful survey, that the Mission Boards of America, the continent of Europe, and Great Britain, are, as a whole, aiming at a high standard of all-round missionary qualification in their candidates, and are, in some respects and to a considerable degree, attaining it. But in view of the admitted inability of the Societies to satisfy their own requirements, and the widespread opinion amongst missionaries that because of the modern situation abroad higher qualifications are needed, it is urgent that the richer resources of the Church should be more largely drawn upon for the best of her men and women, and that available material should be dealt with by methods related to the best thought of the Church at home, and the current needs of the Church abroad. It is apparent from the long roll of candidates at present rejected by the Societies on grounds other than physical, that there is a call to the Home Church as well as to the Missionary Societies to take action in the years preceding definite candidature, ensuring for those who show fitness for missionary service adequate Bible and 26 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES doctrinal instruction, and opportunities for associated work and mental dex'plopment. A clearer knowledge of the present standard required in the mission field should help towards this end. F With such convictions as these we proceed to consider the action of the Mission Boards in dealing with candi- dates, first in connection with their offer of service, and then in connection with the training provided or required. CHAPTER III THE PROCEDURE OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN ASCERTAINING THE QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES Contents : Diversity of Procedure ; Medical Enquiries ; A nswers from Referees ; Examination of Candidate ; Personal Interviews; The Question of Temperament; Professional Candidates; General Summary DIVERSITY OF PROCEDURE THERE is great diversity as to the stage of missionary preparation at which candidates come into connection with the Boards, and also in the relations between the Boards and the institutions where missionary preparation is given. Some Societies concern themselves with present fit- ness for service only ; others are prepared to take up candidates needing a long preparatory course. In the former case, qualified men and women are sought for in various directions, especially in centres of education, and are enlisted shortly before they are sent out. In the latter case, though candidates of mature qualification are welcomed, there is readiness to arrange, supervise, and in some cases pay for, training of a probationary kind. Again, some Societies utilise training Institutions or Colleges over which they have no control ; others, especi- ally those connected with the Church of England, draw many of their missionaries from Colleges or Homes specially devoted to missionary training ; others, again, 27 28 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES undertake all or part of the training of their candidates themselves. This latter course involves a larger responsi- bility, inasmuch as such Societies are able to do a more thorough work of continuous testing. The Continental Societies in Germany and Scandinavia have developed a complete system on these lines. Practically all their missionaries are trained at special seminaries or colleges, where an education is given during the whole course of which the individual students are under teachers who are closely identified with the Missionary Societies. The China Inland Mission, on both sides of the Atlantic, has established Mission Houses, where candidates are required to spend several weeks under close observation before their cases are decided upon. But, notwithstanding this diversity, there is marked uniformity in methods of securing information regarding candidates, the Societies depending, though in varying degrees, upon correspondence and personal interviews. As might be expected from the areas involved, there is more correspondence and less interview in America than in Great Britain. The question of willingness to enter upon training and ability to pay for it is raised not infre- quently in the latter country, scarcely at all in the questions issued to candidates in the former. Men and women in both countries are subjected to practically the same examination. There is a general consensus of opinion amongst the Boards and the missionaries as to the age at which foreign service should begin. The age to be fixed for acceptance for training depends on the length of the course. Four-and-twenty is the age generally approved as the earliest for the field, and it is agreed by the large majority that every year over thirty lessens the power of physical and mental adaptation. It is laid down as a rule, but one to which there have been notable exceptions, that men and women in middle life do best to work out their missionary vocations at home. Cases which in the past have been treated by the Boards as exceptional have sometimes proved to be the reverse. QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES 29 MEDICAL ENQUIRIES The forms provided for the medical examiner of the candidate are varied as to detail, but similar in their general lines. They are worded, especially those in use in America, so as to produce the clearest possible informa- tion bearing upon physical fitness. Many Boards en- quire whether the candidate could be recommended to a reputable life insurance company as a prudential risk, and ask the medical examiner whether he is pre- pared to make a definite recommendation for foreign missionary service. ANSWERS FROM REFEREES Testimonials from those who know the candidate best are also secured, and are considered confidential. Some Boards are fairly satisfied that trustworthy replies are given ; others feel that a number of them are biased and unsatisfactory. Sometimes no forms are used, only a printed letter with an outline of requirements, as in this way it is believed the testimonial is more spontaneous, and gives more indication of the value to be attached to it. But for the most part a list of special questions is issued, in addition to a request for a general estimate of the candidate. The object is to obtain the most intimate knowledge possible of the candidate's physical, mental, and moral character, as well as his history. Such questions as the following are common to most of the American Boards : " Would you recommend his (her) appointment ? Was he successful in his work ? Did he get along well with others ? Has he any special accomplishments ? Has he a sound and well-developed Christian character ? Has he any peculiarities or eccen- tricities that would unfit him for missionary work ? " One Board goes quite into detail in its questions regarding the personality of the candidate. " Is he a person of education and refinement ? Attractive or unattractive ? Energetic or slow ? Tactful ? Patient .? Obedient and 30 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES cheerful under author y ? Able to work well with others ? A leader or L .lined to lean upon others ? If a leader, is he judicious ? Does he possess executive ability and fertility of resource ? Has ho natural ability ? Has he seemed to you successful in the work he has undertaken ? " The form sent out to referees by another American Board say^ at the outset, " The work needs the best the Church can give; men and women of more than ordinary capacity, energy, tact, administrative ability, strong spiritual life and experience, and devotion in Christian work." Still another underlines this question, " Is the candidate a comfortable person to work with, able to co-operate pleasantly with others ? " It also underlines the word " leadership," when enquiring as to the promise of the canclidat'* in personality and character. EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATE The candidate himself is subjected on paper, more especially in America, to a most searching examination with reference to his birth and breeding, his physical, intellectual, and spiritual history, his pecimiary condition, his motives for missionary service, his plans as to marriage, and the like. Almost without exception his doctrinal beliefs are carefully enquired into, though more thoroughly in some cases than in others. As a rule, a candidate is expected to be a member of the Church to whose Board he offers himself. Candidates are asked by some to express their beliefs in their own words rather than to subscribe to a creed. Habits of Bible study are frequently en-, quired into, and personal effort to lead souls to Christ. A few enquire as to the general reading, and as to the amusements of the candidate. " The oldest and largest Boards ask particularly about the ^financial condition of the candidate, as to whether he is in/lebt?or|not, and (hi America) as to whether^he bears a -good reputation in business matters, such as payment QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES 31 of bills, habits of economy, t tc., or whether he has taken a course in book-keeping PERSONAL INTERVIEWS Personal contact between the candidates and the selecting bodies is increasing, but there is large room for improvement still. In some of the British Societies five or six interviews with individual Committee members are required before the candidate's offer is formally dealt with. An American secretary says, " Apart from forms and blanks, we depend generally on personal acquaint- ance and interviews with candidates. This is ordinarily possible, inasmuch as we visit the seminaries where most of the candidates are to be found. We lay considerable stress upon the judgments of fellow-students, as well as upon the judgments of the faculty. In the case of the women missionaries, other than wives, the in- vestigation is carried on by way of the Women's Board. In this way we believe greater freedom of investigation is secured." THE QUESTION OF TEMPERAMENT The American forms abound in questions bearing upon temperament. . Questions are asked such as, " Are responsibilities] calmly and cheerfully borne, or do they produce disquietude, sleepless nights, or care ? " Another universal in America is, " Is your temperament such as to lead to the belief that you can easily adapt yourself to the new and strange conditions of life in the foreign field ? " Also, " Does your experience lead to the conclusion that you can cheerfully acquiesce in \ the decision of the majority ? Or does this nece.-.-ity, when met, produce mental perturbation and discontent ? " The American Boards are taking " temperament " more and more B under^consideration, , though they are 'as 'yet a loag way from any really scientific treatment of/ the question. Perhaps such treatment is impossible. The 32 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Continental and British Societies, in so far as they deal with temperament at all, do so mainly in interviews. It seldom takes prominence in their printed questions. PROFESSIONAL CANDIDATES Practically all the American Boards insert special questions for professional candidates, assuming thereby a large proportion of offers of this class, and proclaiming that they take cognizance of their qualifications. The British Boards, on the contrary, seldom insert such questions, leaving it to be inferred by candidates that professional qualifications are either not greatly desired, or are seldom to be found. Only in a few cases is there recognition of the professional status of women. The Committee for Women's Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (London, England) issue special additional questions for medical women. GENERAL SUMMARY Out of all the responding Societies and Boards from both continents, only two express themselves as entirely satisfied with their present methods. There is a general sense that, whilst good work is being done, there is need for a more thorough examination and investigation of candidates. Too many partial testimonials are given by tender-hearted friends who conceal defects and enlarge upon virtues. Where the interviews appear to be comparatively brief as well as few in number, and are therefore too formal, those who represent the Committee may easily fail to get into true touch with the candidates and thus form an erroneous opinion either for or against them. A careful survey of the whole procedure for ascertain- ing the qualifications of candidates, in so far as it has come before the Commission, reveals much conscientious and elaborate work, for the most part well ordered and success- ful, but occasionally lacking in thoroughness, and at QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES 33 times suggesting a doubt as to whether it is conducted in the fullest light of the modern situation at home and abroad. The methods of Committees in the selection of candi- dates are sometimes apt, as our evidence shows, to be either too lax or too rigid. Where the examination of candidates is perfunctory, where the testing of their spirit, character, and attainments is superficial, grave mistakes are certain to be made, and persons will be found on the mission field who can only cause sorrow and bitter regret to others, and experience the same fruit in their own hearts. On the other hand, methods of religious thought and expression are changing with the growth of knowledge, and the Societies must recognise this change if they are to maintain their hold upon the ablest young men and women of to-day. The Commission would therefore suggest that all procedure, and all printed matter issued to applicants, should be from time to time reconsidered and where necessary be recast. Further, in view of the large numbers of young men and women who, in the process of this procedure, are declined by the Boards, some on purely physical grounds, others because of unfitness in other directions, it is important that every means should be taken to minimise the chill of disappointment, and to utilise the offered missionary service thus diverted from the foreign to the home base. There is reason to fear that serious loss occurs at this point. Active co-operation between the Home Church and the Mission Boards will be needed if the difficulty is to be met. COM. v. 3 PRESENT METHODS OF GENERAL PREPARATION FOR MISSIONARY WORK . Contents : Theological Preparation : Colleges belonging to Societies ; Difficulties of Comparison of Methods ; Preliminary Ministerial Work at Home ; The Lack of Special Missionary Train- ing ; Special Missionary Training in Theological Colleges ; Joint Training for Home and Foreign Work ; The Boards and The Churches. Preparation for Educational Candidates : Missionary Preparation for Educationists ; Educational Training for Mis- sionaries ; Ordained Missionaries and Educational Work. Pre- paration for Medical Missionaries: A Record of Varying Practices ; Missionary Preparation during the Medical Course ; Contact with Medical Candidates ; Aids towards Medical Training. Preparation for Nurses ; Preparation for Industrial Workers ; Preparation for Evangelistic Work (Lay) ; Preparation for Fiancees HAVING considered the standard raised by Missionary Societies and their procedure in applying it to candidates, we pass on to discuss the evidence before us as to the preparation expected from or provided for candidates on their way to the mission field. THEOLOGICAL PREPARATION Methods of preparing men who have not already had the full training for the home ministry differ widely, not only as between Europe and America, but as between the various denominations and Societies. Several Societies recommend the candidate to place himself, frequently for a full course, at a Theological College (or, in America, 84 GENERAL PREPARATION 35 by certain Societies at a Bible School) ; some place him there and defray his expenses. One Society lays down a special course, but leaves the candidate free to choose the institution where he studies. In most cases the responsibility of deciding as to fitness for ordination falls not upon tlie Society, but upon some recognised body such as the Presbytery, or upon the Bishop. Occasionally ordination is deferred until some service has been given abroad. Colleges belonging to Societies Though most Societies use independent institutions, some give theological training in colleges entirely their own. Three instances may be quoted. The Norwegian Missionary Society (Stavanger, Norway) writes : " We have our own Missionary College here in Stavanger, for training our missionary students, with a curriculum of five and a half years. At the end of the curriculum the students are submitted to an examination nearly of the same character as the one at the University for candidates for the home ministry. Only those who have passed their examination creditably are ordained." The Evangelical National Society (Stockholm, Sweden) writes : " All candidates are trained at the Society's own College. In theology the candidates have to be examined in the same courses as are com- pulsory at the Universities where the candidates for the home ministry are trained. After due preparation all candidates have to be examined, first at the College and thereafter by the Bishop, Dean, and Chapter of the Diocese where they are going to be ordained." The Church Missionary Society (London, England) writes : "Of the men whom we train for Holy Orders, the large majority are sent, in the rirst instance, to our Preparatory Institution at Blackheath for a year's probation and preparatory tuition. The curriculum at Blackheath is a general course of preparation for the C.M.S. Islington College Entrance Examination. As a pro- bationary test it is most valuable to us, both from the point of view of character and intellectual ability. Men who pass the 36 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Islington College Entrance Examination, and concerning whose suitability for missionary work in other respects the Committee have sufficient evidence, are admitted to this Society's College at Islington. The course at Islington for Holy Orders is three years. At the end of the first year, the Bishop's Central Examina- tion for admission to Theological Colleges is taken, and at the end of the third year the Preliminary Examination of Candidates for Holy Orders, also, as a rule, the Bishop of London's Examination for Deacon's Orders. In addition to the above-mentioned examina- tions, there are examinations every term, by which a man's intellectual fitness can continually be tested. The Committee also receive reports from the College staff every term, concerning each student, and his fitness in character and other respects." Particulars as to the training given in these and any other Missionary Colleges belonging to Societies, and opinions upon it from the field are of importance, as showing how far the Societies have or have not been able to work out their own convictions and standards in in- stitutions entirely under their own control. Difficulties of Comparison of Methods No clear or convincing conclusion as to the relative merits of theological training can be deduced from the answers of the Societies or the missionaries. The record of work done by men who have not gone through the regular training for the home ministry is high. At the same time, the qualities most emphasised from the mission field, especially in view of present conditions, are those which are associated with the wider culture and liberal thought of university life (or, in America, a College Course) as distinguished from those associated with training consisting only of a full or partial course in Theological or Missionary Colleges. Preliminary Ministerial Work at Home Several Societies like their candidates to take a year or two of ministerial work at home between ordination and departure for the mission field ; some experienced missionaries recommend this strongly. But many Boards GENERAL PREPARATION 37 send straight from training to the field. One large American Board whose candidates increasingly desire a short term in the home ministry is not in favour of it. lest men should be tempted to anchor at home. The Lack of Special Missionary Training One of the most important groups of questions issued to the Societies and Boards is the following : "Do you give your theological candidates any special ' missionary ' training (i.e. in such matters as the language, history, religion, and customs of the people to whom they are going) ? Do you find that candidates who have had a regular training for the home ministry have received in their course of study any such ' missionary ' training ? If so, what ? Do you think that anything more might be done to give this kind of training in the regular Theo- logical Colleges ? " Further evidence on this subject will be found in subsequent sections of this Report; here it is only necessary to record the impression made by careful sur- vey of the answers from the Boards to the first question. The British summary says : " The answers to these questions leave a strong impression of vagueness and inadequacy. Some preparation seems given by most, but the information is slender." The American summary says : " Evidently the secretaries (i.e. of the Mission Boards) do not concern themselves closely enough with special education, and seem to think very little either of what is being done, or what ought to be done." Special Missionary Training in Theological Colleges Turning more in detail to the remaining questions, the Boards, almost without exception, are dissatisfied with the place at present given to special missionary training in Theological Colleges or Divinity Halls. Short courses of lectures in comparative religion are noted in a few cases, and it is recorded that the students sometimes 38 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES combine for some specialised study. But there is little systematised work. Action on the part of the Societies to get this disability removed appears to be hindered by a realisation of the difficulties in the way. The standard for the regular studies in Theological Colleges is becoming higher ; the curriculum is already over full ; in some cases the course is short ; in most cases the missionary students are a small minority. Here are two illustrative extracts. " If a man," writes the secretary of one British mis- sionary body, " while passing through the Divinity Hall has his mind set on a missionary career he will probably direct his studies in a missionary direction, but there is no provision for special training. Undoubtedly it would be of immense importance to the missionary cause if, in each Divinity Hall, provision were made for lectures in the line of future missionary work, but in view of the very few who are prepared to devote themselves to missionary work, such a proposal would not be practicable." " Those who have received the ordinary training for the home ministry " we quote from the statement of one of the largest British Societies " have not, as a rule, received any missionary training beyond such missionary study as they have done of their own accord. The con- ditions of work at home and among non-Christian people abroad are so different that it is doubtful whether much valuable missionary training could be given in regular Theological Colleges for the home ministry, unless more time than is usual were given to the Theological Course." Joint Training for Home and Foreign Work Some Boards would prefer therefore to have missionary candidates either trained apart from candidates for the home ministry, or in the same institution, but with a separate course. Others urge powerfully the disad- vantages of segregating missionary students, and see a solution of the problejn in the inclusion of special mis- sionary study, possibly in the form of elective courses, in the general curriculum. GENERAL PREPARATION 39 " It would," writes a missionary leader in one of the Churches, " in my opinion be a mistake to differentiate in their studies between intending missionaries and their fellow students, even for so important a purpose as the giving of special ' missionary ' training, and this for two reasons, i. Almost inevitably (save in a few very special cases) this would be attended by a lessened interest on the part of the intending missionary in the regular studies of the Theological Course. These are now becoming increasingly difficult, extensive, and important, requiring a man's whole thought and concentration, and in no case more than in that of the man who means to be a missionary. The conditions of work in many parts of the mission field now demand that the worker be thoroughly abreast of modern religious thought and tendencies, so that even more than in some parts of the home sphere thorough intellectual equipment is essential. 2. Were such special ' missionary ' instruction to be relegated to a special course, understood to be for intending missionaries alone, then such treatment of mission topics as is at present included in the ordinary course would be largely curtailed, if not altogether abandoned, and this would come to be a serious loss to the home Church." " I believe that the cause of missions would be better served by the whole subject of missions receiving a larger place in the general course of theological training than it often does, and being recog- nised as a department of the Church's thought and life in which, in some manner and measure, every student should by his training be fitted to take part." Another writes : " The Committee are handicapped by the very inadequate place given to missions in the Divinity Halls and in the examination of candidates. All theo- logical students should have missionary training. We should then have more ministers at home in sympathy with Foreign Missions." ' There is very little, if any, special missionary training," reports a Society representing a denomination with many Colleges and a wide mission field, " in our Theological Colleges. Short courses in comparative religions are now being given, and the students themselves are forming Mission Study Circles ; but a good deal more might be done. There should be missionary lectureships, well enough endowed to guarantee the services of the most competent authorities, so that all ministerial students, whether for foreign or home service, might have the benefit of studying the philosophy and science of missions." 40 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES The Boards and The Churches While it is evident that a sense of responsibility in regard to special missionary training is far from general, some Societies and Boards are bringing pressure to bear upon their Churches. The following paragraphs from the answers of the Livingstonia Mission of the United Free Church of Scotland are full of promise : " The students themselves have their Missionary Societies, their Mission Study Circles, etc., for which they prepare papers, study special books, and the history of missions. It has also become common of late in these gatherings to discuss social customs and practices in the various heathen fields, and to com- pare the various heathen religions. Our missionaries speak of these societies as full of missionary impulse and instruction. We attach great importance to specific preparation at home for the mission field, and a Committee of our General Assembly at the present time is considering how far it might be wise to introduce into the Theological Course a greater variety of optional studies, such as are now common in the Arts Course of our Universities. The great difficulty is to find time for extra studies, as the Theo- logical course, as at present approved, is a very full one, and occupies a student's whole time. A suggestion has been made that if it were possible an extra year of special study might be added to the Theological Course, but as that course already means four years at the University and four at the Theological College, it is felt to be sufficiently long. At present, young men entering college at eighteen do not begin their life-work till they are twenty- six or twenty-seven years of age. Some would have the last year of the Theological Course made specially missionary." Several able and thoughtful missionaries report to the Commission that their own lack of special missionary training has seriously hindered their work, and thrown upon them in the field a heavy burden of previously ignored study. PREPARATION FOR EDUCATIONAL CANDIDATES This enquiry falls into two parts : (i) Preparation on general missionary lines for qualified educationists ; and (2) educational training for unqualified persons going out to do educational work. GENERAL PREPARATION 41 Missionary Preparation for Educationists Under (i) we note that, except in the very rare cases where a teacher goes out on special agreement to a mission school without enrolment as a missionary, the unvarying practice is to require the same spiritual and moral qualifica- tions in educationists as in evangelistic missionaries. They fill up the same forms of application, and pass the same tests. Inasmuch as many who offer with edu- cational qualification appear to lack developed missionary qualification, great importance attaches to the action of the Boards as to preparation. Both the American and British answers show that whilst the majority of the Boards " advise " candidates to procure " missionary " training, a very small proportion provide it. It would be worth considering whether a revision of this policy would lessen the percentage of offers from educationists at present declined by the Boards. Out of four Societies selected from, amongst those which provide training for educationists, one a women's organisation requires all educational candidates to spend at least six months in a selected Training Home ; another provides training of different kinds and for longer or shorter periods according to the qualification of the candidate, whether man or woman ; a third provides no such training for men, but " tries " to send women for a term or two to a missionary College ; a fourth, the Friends' Foreign Mission Associa- tion (London, England), says : " Educational candidates are given additional missionary training, including Biblical study, study of comparative religions, practical experience in mission work, including, if possible, Sunday schools on the Archibald system, and adult schools, in the conduct of which the Society of Friends has had some success." Educational Training for Missionaries (2) The desire to use only qualified teachers in Mission Colleges and schools, and the insufficiency of the present 42 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES supply, has been noted in the previous chapter. Very little is recorded as done by the Boards to provide training as educationists for eligible candidates. Several Societies report that they give " some training in Method " to all their candidates. Beyond this, a few provide full Teacher's training in their own Colleges ; a few others give " occasional help " (which in some cases must be repaid) towards the expenses of promising students. The Church Missionary Society (London, England) alone of the responding bodies, states that " some candidates are given special courses at Training Colleges." Ordained Missionaries and Educational Work Ordained missionaries are closely concerned with this question. The large majority of the Societies use them freely for educational work. The proportion, out of the whole number so used, who have had any instruction in the science of teaching, any course at an educational college, or any supervised practice in teaching, is exceed- ingly small. The cost to the missionary and the dis- advantages to the work are expressed as follows, by an ordained university man who was himself sent out with no knowledge of pedagogy to carry on a mission school : " To make an unspecialised man do educational work is a sinful waste of that man's time and strength, of the efficiency of the school he runs, and of the prestige and efficiency of his Society in the field. . . . Educational missions need almost as much technical skill as medical ones." The whole matter at the present stage of missionary progress is perplexing. There are, as we have seen, few experienced ordained missionaries who are professionally qualified to do educational work. Of the^lay educa- tionists a few are remarkable men, able toffulnl the responsibilities which rest upon the Head of a Missionary College ; others, though technically expert, are not yet qualified for such a charge. All Societies recognise that the superintendent of educational work, whether man or GENERAL PREPARATION 43 woman, ought to understand it. One Board points out that unskilled clergy set to supervise qualified educa- tionists are at a disadvantage. Given only an alternative between placing responsi- bility in the hands of a qualified missionary who is not a trained teacher, or in the hands of a trained teacher not yet qualified for missionary leadership, the former course (which is the one generally adopted) is the lesser evil of the two. But the Commission desire to place on record their conviction that it is an expedient justified only by the exigencies of the moment (and in this the majority of the Societies concur), and one which can be removed by a wider use of pedagogic training for ordained men. PREPARATION FOR MEDICAL MISSIONARIES A Record of Varying Practices A majority of the Boards report that the supply of medical candidates is insufficient ; some say this specially of women doctors. One Society reports that some doctors who apply " wish to do only medical work, without themselves taking part in the spiritual work." There is no record that the Boards accept medical mis- sionaries on these terms, though one large missionary body notes that in pioneer missions the doctors are the actual evangelists, whereas in large settled stations there is more division of labour, and the medical missionaries do less preaching and teaching. Some Societies, though they regret the necessity, consider that urgent needs in the field justify them in sending out doctors whom they would like to detain for additional missionary training another instance of the recurring clash between what the Boards state as a conviction and what they accept as a necessity, owing to exigencies abroad. One Society is satisfied if a doctor has "a real missionary spirit"; another, not considering " technical theological knowledge" as necessary for a medical missionary as for others, only requires experience in spiritual work; a third " advises " 44 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES a two years' course at a Theological College ; a fourth " gives " three months in a Training Home at the end of the professional course ; a fifth provides whatever additional training is required, according to the need of the individual ; a sixth says : " Before or after the medical training, we give to our medical candidates a missionary training similar to that given to others, but generally less extended." The China Inland Mission gives no missionary training to medical candidates at home, but they are all required to pass through the Training Homes in China, just as others do. Missionary Preparation during the Medical Course The Baptist Missionary Society (London, England), which does not itself provide any missionary training, advises intending medical candidates both men and women to follow a prescribed syllabus right through the medical curriculum, including systematic Bible study, doctrinal and missionary reading, and an outline study of non-Christian religions. Two examinations, the one to be taken not earlier than the close of the third year of medical study, and the other within six months of the date of offer to the Society, have been arranged. The import- ance of personal evangelistic work is urged upon every student. In view of the heavy pressure of a full medical course, the following testimony, coming from the Zenana Mission of that Society, is worth quoting : " We usually find that the suggested course of reading in missionary preparation is feasible, even with modern demands upon time and strength, provided the candidate is early impressed with the importance of becoming an earnest evangelist as well as a proficient medical." When this course of study is over, if the missionary training appear defective, the candidate is advised to spend some definite period say six months at a missionary training centre. GENERAL PREPARATION 45 Contact with Medical Candidates Some Societies but only a few appear to realise the importance of contact with future medical missionaries throughout their course. One notes the helpful influence of the Student Christian Movement in the Medical Schools. The Committee of Women's Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (London, England) write : " Our Medical Students are encouraged to attend a class for Bible study, are in special touch with one member of the Committee, and are expected and invited to pay a short yearly visit to one of the Training Homes. These helps are valued by the students, and, as far as results can be known, such intercourse is of real use, even if it is sometimes impossible for students to make full or regular use of opportunities offered. The period spent in the Training Home is specially designed for rest and spiritual refreshment." There is evidence that a time of rest is needed, in especial by women doctors, before departure to the mission field : some Societies have already arranged and some are now arranging for this. Aids towards Medical Training The Missionary Societies proper provide practically no professional medical training, beyond occasional grants for post-graduate courses. Several Societies exist for the specific purpose of training candidates for medical missionary work, and are largely made use of ; there are also Societies which aid medical missionary students by grants towards their professional fees. The Mission Boards gratefully recognise the aid thus given. PREPARATION FOR NURSES The Boards are unanimous as to the need for qualified nurses in the mission field. Offers from such are said 46 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES to be " fairly numerous." With one or two exceptions professional training is never provided, though some Societies are prepared to pay the extra fees for a diploma in maternity work. In many mission hospitals the work of training native probationers, both on the pro- fessional and spiritual side, involves great responsibility for the nurse missionary. One Society has found it well at times to send out a home candidate to complete her professional training in a well-equipped mission hospital side by side with native probationers. As to missionary preparation, some Societies require a nurse to take either the ordinary course, or a shortened form of it. Others seem to send missionary-hearted nurses to the field with no special preparation at all. It is apparent from the evidence before the Commission that much more heeds to be done to fit a nurse for the change from the life of a hospital to that of a training institution or of the mission field. "A nurse has not been accustomed to much deep thinking on theological subjects during her extremely arduous and trying life in hospital, and cannot therefore assimilate teaching of this type as quickly as other candidates." And again several cases are reported to us where the candidate has com- pletely broken down in health through starting on a course of theological training directly after leaving hospital. It is also reasonably urged that " as during the time of her missionary training a nurse has no opportunity for keeping up her professional work, it seems desirable that the Missionary Societies should assist her to obtain three months' practical nursing experience before she starts for the mission field." PREPARATION FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKERS The Societies which systematically employ industrial agents are not numerous fourteen British and nine American Societies for the obvious reason that they are not required in fields such as Japan and China, where 47 industrial civilisation is developed. Societies which do employ them, insist upon the need for thorough technical training. Industrial agents must be " more than mere artisans " ; they should be " thoroughly trained in applied science, preferably with business experience added, able to study the economic situation, and decide how the greatest help can be given." " Big men they should be, who can study the field and lay comprehensive plans." Livingstonia, which has had important ex- perience of industrial work, speaks of the risk of appointing men who, " though burning evangelists, are poor artisans." At the same time, it is recognised by all Societies that technical attainment and skill are not enough. Not only Christian character, but some religious culture is requisite. " An industrial agent in whom the missionary purpose is not dominant, is a dead weight on a mission." "To be effective, he must be a capable religious leader, prepared to plan and lead in Bible study." " To have been a member of the Y.M.C.A. at home is not enough." As a matter of fact, industrial agents are largely engaged in specifically missionary work. In the Church of Scotland Missions (Africa) each of them " has his own congregation." The Moravian Missions report that they are not " permanently satisfied " with the work to which they have been appointed ; and the experience of Livingstonia is that agents of strong missionary impulse " seldom remain long satisfied with their industrial work, and tend to be above or despise the work for which they are competent, although those who continue faithfully and quietly at their industrial work prove successful missionaries as well." Similarly the Church Missionary Society (London, England) and the Swedish Mission find that after a time devoted industrial agents " want to be on the spiritual side of the work." It is a striking fact, which calls for emphasis, that, although such agents are expected to assist in spiritual work, and although they tend when on the field to claim an increasing share in it, they receive no training for it 48 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES at all. Societies are apparently satisfied with technical efficiency, and with general assurances as to Christian character. PREPARATION FOR EVANGELISTIC WORK (LAY) The laymen and the women sent forth for evangelistic work have, as a rule, no professional training, though some of them have had a university course. They form, at present, a large proportion of those who are receiving general missionary training in Missionary Train- ing Colleges or Homes. The special training provided for them by the Boards will therefore be discussed in a subsequent section of this Report. PREPARATION FOR FIANCEES The missionary responsibilities laid upon married women vary under different Boards, as does the pro- cedure for ascertaining then: fitness for the mission field before they marry. In almost every case a medical certificate is required from the fiancee (in one or two cases this is all) ; many Societies enquire as to spiritual fitness, some British and Continental, not American require or give a modified training (some in nursing, if possible) ; a few require the test of a year in the field, and the passing of the first language examination before marriage is sanctioned. Occasionally the fiancee is treated exactly like the single woman missionary. The extremes of practice are marked by three of the Continental Societies. One does not count " brides as entering the service of the Mission " ; another in no way tests their fitness, leaving that to " the discretion and common sense of the missionaries themselves," but requires " two or three years' service in the field " before marriage is sanctioned ; a third treats fiancees exactly like other women candidates, applies the same tests, requires a year's special training, and a year's service on the field before marriage. CHAPTER V PRESENT METHODS OF SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION Contents : The Meaning of " Special Missionary Preparation " ; The Attitude of the Boards ; Recognition of Existing Difficulties ; Co-operation in Training ; Missionary Study Circles. Missionary Training Colleges or Homes : Summary of Existing Institutions ; Criticisms from Correspondents ; Summary of Opinions. Mis- sionary Training on the Field: Postponement of "Special Mis- sionary Training " ; Provision for it on the Field ; A Complete System of " Field Training " ; Furlough Training ; Two Important Facts. The Study of Languages : A Statement of the Position ; A Suggested Explanation ; Conclusions to be Drawn THE MEANING OF "SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION" FOR the purposes of this Report, the words " prepara- tion specially missionary " or " special missionary prepara- tion " are applied exclusively to the training which is given or may be given in those subjects which are not taught in the usual theological curriculum or in the ordinary training for medicine, nursing, teaching, etc., but which are concerned solely with the mission field. In this chapter is gathered together material bearing wholly upon the past attitude of the Societies as to the subject of special missionary preparation. In later chapters bearing upon the future, the purpose and methods of such preparation will be disciissed. THE ATTITUDE OF THE BOARDS Professional or technical preparation such as we have been considering is mainly carried on outside the direct COM. v.- 4 50 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES control of the Missionary Boards; special missionary preparation either lies entirely in their hands or is called into being by their direct requirements. Hence particular interest attaches to their replies to the questions asked, such as the following : " Do you demand from all or any of your candidates specific preparation at home for the missionary field, e.g. training in such subjects as the missionary aim and its relation to the Gospel, the history of Missions, com- parative religion, the various forms of missionary activity, their relative functions and importance, the history, religious beliefs, social customs and practices, and the specific problems of the candidate's prospective field ? " Though some Societies train candidates and others do not, it is evident that all might equally " demand " this special missionary preparation, and the " demand " would in time tend to create the supply. Turning to the answers of the American and European Boards, we find that only three minimise the importance of such training. " I cannot say," writes the secretary of one honoured Society, " that the practice of the Society indicates that much importance is attached to specific preparation at home for the mission field." Another large Society regards these subjects as " of much less importance before going abroad than the study of Biblical languages, exegesis, etc. ; many of the topics will be better under- stood after three months on the mission field . . . than by any number of College lectures before going out." Another Society considers such preparation " valuable but not essential " ; yet another " gives preference to those candidates who have it." The large majority agree that it is most valuable. Yet the general tone is fairly indicated by the statement of one large Society: "We do not demand these subjects, but we are glad when we find them." Several Boards leave the matter in the hands of the Training Homes and Theological Colleges, who, in their turn, it will appear later, leave it largely to the Boards. Only five British and two American Societies SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 51 appear to take a strong line : two others have the whole question under consideration. The Continental Societies are far ahead. RECOGNITION OF EXISTING DIFFICULTIES A sympathetic study of the real difficulties which exist in the way of special missionary preparation lessens the first feeling of amazement at the result of the analysis of the replies. For instance, many candidates go into training when they need elementary instruction in Bible knowledge and Christian doctrine, as well as training in character development and discipline, and in practical Christian work. They need a long course of training on these lines alone. The expense of this on whomsoever it falls is considerable and not lightly to be increased. The needs of the foreign work are urgent ; when men and women are breaking down it is hard that reinforce- ments should be delayed. Other missionaries though in conditions widely different from those now prevailing have done noble work without this specialised training, often without any training at all. It is extremely difficult owing to the probationary nature of some of the training, and also owing to sudden exigencies abroad to designate candidates for any special field in time to allow of such preparation. Each point is true, and is weighty. Yet " where there's a will, there's a way." Now that the general conviction of many of the best missionaries on the field, the widespread desire of candidates at home, and the expressed opinion of the majority of the Mission Boards are known to be at one on this subject, the difficulties will undoubtedly be over- come. A beginning has been made already in the earlier designation of missionaries to their fields, concerning which special enquiry was made. All Societies desire it ; some deem it impossible ; others notably some of the women's organisations are not finding it so difficult as it seems. Several of the larger Societies are moving 52 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES towards it ; one has begun to train for a specified field during the candidate's last term. Those familiar with the best young life of our Universities know that such action meets the earnest desire of men and women who are about to offer with a deep sense of the responsibility of a missionary calling. CO-OPERATION IN TRAINING The question has been raised whether, in order to ensure that such special training should be highly efficient, it would be well for any group of Societies to co-operate in giving it. A Continental Society regards it as " desir- able but not possible " ; a British inter-denominational Society deems it " possible but not desirable." The opinion of the Boards is fairly evenly divided. " Com- plete co-operation " is deprecated, as tending to separate between the Committee and its candidates, but many would welcome joint lectures delivered either at a common centre, or in rotation in the Training Colleges. There is sufficient evidence of desire to encourage the Commission to believe that further discussion of the matter in their Report will be of value. (See pp. 180-192.) MISSIONARY STUDY CIRCLES Missionary Study Circles have been found useful, both in Theological Colleges and in Missionary Training Homes, in giving some specialised knowledge of an elementary kind. Only a few American and British Societies seem to have recognised all the possibilities latent in these Study Circles. A Scottish missionary secretary writes : " Mission Study Circles . . . are already giving indica- tion of their usefulness in raising up possible future missionary candidates with a foundation of missionary knowledge which has hitherto been wanting. . . . The last two or three missionaries ... we find much better^ equipped than they would othenvise have been.'M SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 53 MISSIONARY TRAINING COLLEGES OR HOMES Summary of Existing Institutions Besides the Colleges in which missionary and other students are jointly prepared for ordination, there are a considerable number of Missionary Training Colleges or Homes. In these, lay evangelists for the most part both men and women receive their training, and to them, men and women with technical or professional qualification are advised to go by some of the Boards (and sent by a few) if they are held to need further train- ing in Bible knowledge, Christian doctrine, practical Christian work, and for the development of spiritual life. Most of these Colleges have reported directly to the Commission ; their replies are discussed in a subsequent section of the Report. Thirteen Societies, of which seven are British, four Continental, and two American, report one Training College or Home of their own, some have more. Out of sixteen such, one is jointly for men and women, who reside in different parts of the same building, and unite for meals, meetings, etc. ; one (a joint Institute for Home and Foreign Missions) has classes for men and women ; a third is a residential college for men, in which women candidates for Zenana work have at times resided whilst attending lectures. Of the remaining Institu- tions, seven are for men, and seven for women. The Continental Societies report no such College or Home for women ; America reports none such for men. Several Societies with training Colleges or Homes of their own use other Institutions also to ensure training to fit various conditions and types. A long list of avail- able training centres is given in the replies of the Boards, some interdenominational, some attached to one Christian body, some belonging to Anglican Sisterhoods. Bible Institutes are a special feature in America. There is much appreciation expressed as to the work 54 done in these various Institutions, but there is a desire, both amongst the Societies and the missionaries, for some- thing on wider, stronger lines. " Not perfect," " fairly efficient," " demands grow greater every year," " efficient up till now," are some of the phrases used. Criticisms from Correspondents Individual correspondents of the Commission in many instances report satisfactory results from the work of Missionary Training Homes. One American missionary thinks that candidates trained in them show greater consideration for others, more sweetness of disposition and thoughtfulness, while the corners have been knocked off and the new workers get on better with those from whom they differ. An American Board notes that those trained in the Missionary Schools probably excel in zeal and in personal work. But the following criticisms are submitted by men whose names, could they be quoted, would carry weight : " There is a danger of candidates being either too independent or not inde- pendent enough " ; " the failures of the Bible Institutes are due to insufficient preparation of the students, and neglect of the students to take the full course " (there is testimony from other sources as to the efficiency of the training given in some of the Bible Institutes) ; " the present Training Schools give a training that is far too meagre " ; " the man who does his best work when he is his own master makes a better missionary than one who must depend on others for advice, direction, and inspira- tion " ; " training in specifically missionary Colleges tends to produce a type " (several concur in this) ; " men are not sent out prepared to meet the complicated problems which confront the Christian Church in India " ; " men whose main training has been in a Missionary College do not have the same breadth of view as Uni- versity men, and do not make leaders " ; " the defect of many trained women is that they are weak and wanting in initiative " ; " possibly more of the Hostel than of the SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 55 Boarding School might be of advantage in Women's Institutions, possibly, too, insufficient care is taken in them to widen the interests and broaden the outlook of the students; they seem in the mission field to suffer from narrowness in both these respects." Summary of Opinions The Commission recognises that these criticisms, whilst indicating real points of weakness, do not apply equally to all Training Colleges and Homes, and are necessarily limited by the personal experience of the writers. It is important to weigh on the other side the many aspects in which work done in such Institutions is of proved value. Nevertheless, the quotations just given touch on weak- nesses which are apparent to missionaries on the field and to candidates with professional qualification, and where manifest they tend to lessen the appreciation of otherwise excellent work, and to deter those who would benefit by missionary training from entering upon it with ready expectancy. There is a strong sense in some quarters that Missionary Training should be more definitely probationary than it is, and that there should be less hesitation, in view of the issues involved, in discontinuing the training of those who fail to give evidence of development. At present many Boards scarcely exercise supervision during the time of training, though some require confidential reports from the Heads of the training centres as to spiritual life, character, and practical evangelistic work. Examinations are mentioned as a frequent test of intellectual progress in the institution curriculum; official interviews during training are used by some Boards, and a few report an effort to have intimate personal touch with the candidates through the whole course of training. This latter method, probably the most effective, requires more time than is easily given. There is evidence, however, that it is being recognised as essential to the best results. 56 j [PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES MISSIONARY TRAINING ON THE FIELD Postponement of " Special Missionary Training " At this point our enquiry enters into new relationships. The candidate has become a missionary. His official connection is no longer with the Candidates' Committee, but with the administrative section of his Board, at home and on the mission field. Yet the need for " preparation " is not past. Missionary Societies, Training Colleges of all kinds, and many missionaries, have concurred in postponing his " special missionary preparation " until now. *- He has Jcome to the time when all the admittedly essential matters crowded out at home are to have place not only language study, to which we shall presently revert, but study of the history of Missions, of comparative religion, and of the special beliefs, customs and practices of his mission field. Provision for Training on the Field What provision is made officially for further study on these subjects in the field ? Several European Boards place the young missionary under the direction of a senior, without prescribing any organised scheme for his instruction by such. One important Mission " re- quires their candidates to read on these lines." The secretary of one of the largest Missionary Societies writes : " I am not aware that anything is done to instruct mis- sionaries (on these subjects), but I should imagine they would set to work to instruct themselves." Of the European Societies, the Moravian Mission Board (Herrn- hut, Saxony) record a conviction that " much more ought to be done in this direction." The Committee of Women's Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (London, England) writes : " We should think it desirable to provide more opportunities for supplementary training in the field. We are doing something in this direction SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 57 by the establishment of central houses which we should wish to develop into regular Diocesan Centres to which newly appointed missionaries might be sent on first going out for the training needed in that special field, whence they may be drafted on to various stations in the Diocese." The Egypt General Mission (London, England) writes : "We provide a training in Mohammedanism, its history and present position in the world, its doctrines and practices, and the main lines on which the Christian missionary can approach the Moslems. The training is given at the stations to which the missionaries are allocated. We have native teachers for the language, and the remainder is private study under the supervision of the Committee on the field and subject to periodical examinations. As the work develops we would like to organise two centres for the residence of new missionaries one for women and the other for men where an effective system of instruction could be given for the first year. Only under such conditions would the best teachers be procurable." This Mission likewise urges that Missionary Societies working amongst Moslems might with advantage combine in the formation of an efficient training centre for missionaries. From a summary of the American evidence the follow- ing extract is suggestive : " The replies to the question as to what is being done on the field are meagre, but twelve Boards sent specific answers." The American Commissioners recognise that much is probably being done which has not come before them. This is true also on the European side, yet it is evident that the whole question is not receiving the careful attention in all quarters which it deserves. A Complete. System of " Field Training " The China Inland Mission is the only body which has yet worked out a complete system ot training on the field. After careful preliminary testing, and in some cases 58 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES training at home, the missionaries are sent out to two Homes in China, for men and women respectively, whence after a period of training covering from six to twelve months they are drafted on to their Mission Stations, the designations being made by the authorities in China. The studies are mainly linguistic, with street preaching and mission-hall work, discussion of methods, intro- duction to the classics and other Chinese literature, etc. This training is given by senior missionaries assisted by Chinese scholars. This is found far more satisfactory than sending missionaries at once to a station. " We cannot speak too .highly of the great value our Training Homes have been to the young missionaries in China. They have a great many advantages which they could not get in an inland station during the first year of their residence in the country." The institution of such training centres abroad is of course more possible for a Mission working in a great homogeneous country like China than for Boards working in India, or in many separate and dissimilar fields, throughout which new workers must be dis- tributed. " We are strongly of the opinion," writes the China Inland Mission again, " that if the literati in China are to be influenced and won for Christ, it is essential that those working amongst them should have a thorough knowledge of the Chinese language and an acquaintance with the minds and manners of the Chinese such as can only be acquired through years of living in close touch with the social life of the people. ... It is a serious question whether the vital importance of the above aspect of training for missionary work in China is sufficiently realised. The natural tendency is for us to expect that the Chinese will, so to speak, enter into our national atmosphere and assimilate our ways and ideas ; but . . . this method is bound to fail with the great mass of all classes who are outside the zone of foreign influence which exists in Treaty Ports." SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 59 Furlough Training The difficulty of securing full equipment for a missionary before he goes out, or adding to it whilst he is engaged upon the field, has been shown. The furlough time remains, as the last opportunity of adding that which is lacking, and of enabling professional workers to keep abreast of the times. Enquiry shows that a few Boards are prepared to provide and pay for further training medical, educa- tional, or theological for missionaries on furlough, and that others encourage them to obtain it for themselves if they can. But there are many others who have no realisa- tion of its importance, and state that the missionary is kept too busy visiting the churches on deputation work to have time to prepare further for his foreign work. From a careful survey of the mass of evidence before us, we find there is considerable diversity amongst missionary experts as to where " specific missionary training " should be given. Some urge its development at home, others on the field, either in training centres or m supervised study at different stations. This subject is considered further in a separate section. But two facts clearly emerge one that specific missionary preparation is increasingly essential to the effective work of a mission- ary ; the other, that in the majority of cases it is not provided in any systematic manner either at home or abroad, at any stage of the missionary's career. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES A Statement of the Position In answer to the question, " Is it your belief that the majority of your missionaries become proficient in the language or languages of their people ? " many of the Societies simply respond with an affirmative. A few 60 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES express grave doubts upon the matter. Others report a high average of " working knowledge," as distinguished from proficiency, which one well-worked and widespread Mission thinks that only about 12 per cent, of its mission- aries attain. Over against the somewhat hesitating replies from the Boards, the Commission has obtained evidence that in some cases the men and women on the field are far less proficient in languages than their Societies believe them to be, while statements are numerous that a real grasp of the language is essential to effective work. A Suggested Explanation The position, so far as it can be gathered from the evi- dence before us, is accounted for by further replies. The smah 1 extent to which language study has been as yet undertaken at home has been noted, and its almost universal postponement to the greater facilities of the field. But here we come again upon an instance of the way in which intentions and even convictions are over- borne by the pressure of need. Almost every Board allots a definite period for language study in the mission field free from responsible work; Board after Board records that the time it has itself allotted is cur- tailed. The American Summary states that " in every case the Boards reserve time for language study," but adds that " in most cases this time is not kept free . . . because of the pressure of missionary work." Of the British Boards one says their rule is " usually carried out " ; another says : " We endeavour to arrange that no work should be given till after the first examination " ; a third writes : " Missionaries are given as far as possible the first year free from responsibility but, alas ! the pressure of work and the breakdown of those on the field often render this plan impossible, especially with our doctors." Such phrases as " when possible " ; " we do our best . . . but pressure of work generally makes considerable inroads upon the free time " ; " our rule, though often inevitably broken, is " ; " where we can SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 61 arrange " ; "for one year they are not supposed to take any responsibility " ; " as far as local circumstances permit " these illustrate at once the great pressure which results in broken time for language study, and the truth of the remark made by one Mission whose prac- tice is far above the average : "It is doubtful whether our regulations sufficiently protect our missionaries." Several Boards report that doctors, nurses, and educa- tionists working partly in English are less proficient in language study than others. This is easily accounted for, but our most experienced correspondents find in it cause for regret. The large majority of the Societies have a regular system of language examinations. Of the few who have not, some are instituting them now. As a rule all mis- sionaries are required to pass them, except for some good reason shown ; in a very few cases inability to do so ensures recall. One Mission lowers its language standard for women ; in several cases longer time is allowed for missionaries' wives before examination, and they are not required to proceed to proficiency. Conclusions to be Drawn On this most vital matter of proficiency in the language, the evidence seems conclusive : (i) that in a very large number of cases inadequate opportunities for language study are afforded even on the field < to 1 j. .the young missionary, partly owing to the intrusion of practical work, and partly owing to the lack of efficient teachers ; (2) that a considerable number of missionaries never obtain a full mastery of the pronunciation and idiom of the native languages ; (3) that even among primitive peoples, and still more amongst those of culture, faulty speech in the missionary injures most seriously the authority and effectiveness of public address ; (4) that the Home Boards have in too many instances been un- aware of the true state of matters, or have been unable to provide an adeqiiate remedy. CHAPTER VI PRESENT PREPARATION OF MISSION- ARIES IN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS Contents -.The Varieties of Method at present in Use; Theological Colleges in Great Britain and Ireland : Presbyterian Colleges ; The Church of England Theological Training ; The Colleges of the Free Churches of England and Wales. Continental Missionary Colleges ; Theological Seminaries (or Colleges) in North America : For Graduates ; For Non-Graduates ; Bible Institutes ; Foreign Missionary Interest ; How it is Maintained ; Experiments in Special Missionary Preparation. General Suggestions : Practice in the United States ; Method followed in Great Britain ; The Curricula of Theological Colleges IN dealing with the work which is done at present in Theological Colleges and other Training Institutions, the Commission has had the help of a large number of informants, who have had valuable experience in Great Britain and Ireland, in America and on the Continent. A list of questions, which will be found in the Appendix, was sent to all the leading colleges and institutions, and from the greater number of them suggestive replies have been received. In addition to these, special statements were furnished as to different classes of colleges, and interviews were held with heads of colleges and with leading ministers of several denomina- tions. Many missionaries have sent detailed replies to questions intended to elicit the conclusions they have reached on this subject through experience. C2 THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 63 THE VARIETIES OF METHOD AT PRESENT IN USE An outstanding fact, which must be clearly presented at the outset, is that there are very wide differences between methods used, and this not accidentally, but deliberately and necessarily. The differences have two main explanations : (i) Missionaries as a rule receive their theological training in colleges which prepare candidates for the home ministry, and their training is therefore shaped and denned by the widely different ideals of preparation for the home ministry, which are accepted by the different Churches. The evidence submitted shows that all Societies employ to some extent, some to a large extent, some exclusively, as their ordained missionaries, men who have received the full training prescribed for those who are to be ordained for home work in their respective Churches. The differences resulting arise not from divergent views of missionary requirements, but from dissimilar conceptions of the best preparation for an ordained ministry exercised in any part of the world. (2) In particular, the relation between training in Arts (i.e. general or preliminary education) and training in Theology is differently conceived and finds expression in different collegiate and academic arrangements. No doubt, the normal arrangement which in the past has probably yielded the largest number of efficient and eminent missionaries has been that Theology should be studied in separate colleges or faculties, and should be of the nature of post-graduate study systematised as a curriculum. Yet that arrangement is very far from being universal. Some important colleges and institutes take candidates in hand from the outset, i.e. when they have received no more than ordinary school education, and from the first combine theological or at least religious training with general education. In certain cases this method is taken in order to economise time and resources, with the acknowledgment that a separa- 64 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES tion of Arts from Theology would be an advantage ; but in other cases it is taken deliberately, with the belief that preparation for ministerial work should from the first be regulated and even dominated by theological and Church influences. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND In Great Britain and Ireland the fundamental differences which we have indicated result in great variety, so that no grouping or classification of colleges would be exhaustive ; but the situation will be pre- sented with sufficient fulness if we indicate the character of the theological training given in the Presbyterian Churches, the Church of England, and the Free Churches of England and Wales. Presbyterian Colleges We place the Presbyterian Churches first, because their curriculum is the longest and fullest in the English- speaking world. They require all candidates for the ordained ministry at home or on the mission field, after graduating in Arts at a university, or at least taking a graduation course, to attend a theological college for three or four years four years in the United Free Church, three years in all other Churches. 1 Each theological season lasts for only six months of the year, but most of the students engage in Church or home mission work during the other six months, while some of them attend German universities in the summer semester. As a sample of the distribution of theological study, the students at New College, Edinburgh, in their course of four years, attend daily lectures (a) on New Testament 1 In the case of the Church of Scotland, the Theological Colleges are Faculties of the Universities. At Westminster College, Cambridge, the Presbyterian arrangement has been brought into line with the term-system of Cambridge University. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 65 Exegesis and Theology, Hebrew and Old Testament Theology, Systematic Theology, Church History, each for two sessions ; (b) on Apologetics, Christian Ethics, Homiletical and Pastoral Theology, each for one session ; (c) on Natural Science in its relation to Religions, and on Elocution, each for a single term. The curriculum at the Colleges of the Church of Scotland, all the other colleges of the United Free Church, and of the Colleges of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, is of a similar character, with divergences in accordance with their academic re- sources. The Presbyterian Colleges in Canada follow the same type. Missionary students attend the same courses of lectures as students for the home ministry, and pass the same examinations. The extent to which each professor deals with specifically missionary topics is regulated by his own discretion. Such missionary topics, e.g., as Comparative Religion and the History of Religions, are dealt with by professors of Apologetics where such professorships exist, and, failing them, by professors of Divinity, while the expansion of Christianity and the missionary aspects of Church History fall to the professors of Church History. But this is, as we have said, optional for professors. How far the provision so made is adequate the evidence tendered does not enable us to say. Yet it deserves to be recorded that this method appears to have secured the approval of missionaries on the field. Within the last three years the United Free Church Assembly, in the course of an enquiry into the training of missionaries, requested the opinion of their Mission Councils in all parts of the world, and in response were assured, almost unanimously, that it is extremely important that ordained missionaries should receive the same theological training as is given to^candidates for the home ministry. ' v ' \'~ :"; The number of missionary students at the colleges varies from 5 to 20 per cent., but the replies show that interest in missions is diffused among all students and is upon the whole increasing. Each college has its COM. v. 5 66 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES missionary association, which meets weekly or fortnightly for prayer and discussion of missionary topics. From year to year, in the majority of the colleges, these associa- tions identify themselves with some one foreign mission field, and advocate its claims at Church services through- out the country; while there is scarcely one college at which addresses are not frequently given to the students by missionaries home on furlough. All such arrange- ments are in the hands of the students, and testimony varies as to the extent to which the professors give assistance. The evidence. as to the quality and attainment of the missionary students as compared with the others is upon the whole favourable and hopeful. They are said to be " fully equal," " as a rule above the average," " steadily improving in ability, scholarship, and character," " dis- tinctly above the level of thirty years ago." It should be added that several experienced professors write emphatically of the advantage of having missionary students and students for the home ministry educated side by side. It widens the outlook of the colleges, and maintains, through personal intimacies, the interest of the home church in the mission field, We give below one suggestive statement which has reached us from New College, Edinburgh, in response to our enquiry as to the value of courses of missionary lectures by specialists. " It would probably be an ad- vantage if lectures on such subjects had a place on the curriculum. The difficulty is to secure suitable lecturers and to graft their work on the curriculum effectively. Man}' years ago, under the guidance and impulse of Dr. Alexander Duff, the Free Church instituted a missionary or evangelistic lectureship. It was well endowed, and was repeatedly held by eminent men. Their function was to give a series of lectures to the students of the three Church Colleges at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen on precisely such topics. Yet the Lectureship was not very successful as spiritual education and stimulus, -and its termination (the circumstances in which it lapsed; 67 are uninstructive) was not much regretted. In colleges where work is keen and systematic, courses of lectures given by an outsider are apt to lack interest and impressive- ness. It is a truism with educationists that an effective teacher must be a working member of the staff. This is one of those matters upon which theory points in a direction which seems not to be justified by experiment. Theoretically, nothing could be more helpful than to bring eminent specialists in missions to give occasional courses of lectures to theological students. I myself could demonstrate it to be an admirable idea, but I could also give good proof, as above, that it is exceedingly difficult to work out." This experience of a most admirable institution has clear bearings upon a topic with which we shall hereafter deal : we must beware, however, of attaching decisive importance to the failure of a single experiment. The Church of England Theological Training From the point of view of training, the Anglican clergy ordained at home may be divided into two groups. About three-fourths are graduates ; the remaining fourth have been trained only at a theological college. Graduates. The very great majority of the graduates come from Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, or Durham, where an old Church tradition and considerable provision for religious oversight still remain. The number from the newer universities is at present very small. Exact statistics are difficult to obtain, but it is evident that the Church does not secure an adequate proportion of the best intellectual results. The proportion of Pass. men to Honour-men ordained is about half as high again as amongst university men generally. After obtaining their degree in Arts, about two-fifths of the men proceed to a post-graduate theological college for one year's special training, the larger part of which is occupied with the narrow and somewhat technical requirements of the Bishops' examinations. From an 68 intellectual point of view the inadequacy of so short a training is generally admitted. On the other hand, the results of the spiritual and moral training in a common devotional life are believed to be extremely good. About three-fourths of the graduates, however, are ordained without any further preparation, except such private reading as is necessary to enable them to pass the Bishops' examination, the standard of which is not very high. A certain proportion of those from Oxford and Cam- bridge take theology for their Arts degree. The honours course in Theology covers at Oxford two, and at Cam- bridge three years. A few men take one year's course in Theology as a second school. At Durham some study of theology is almost always taken by men intending to seek ordination as part of the university course. At Dublin the Arts course, which lasts for four years, is followed by a two years' course in Divinity. The two years in the Divinity School may be taken concurrently with the last two years in Arts. The Arts Theology at the university is in general regarded as a " study of the groundwork of theology " rather than of theology proper. The main attention is given to the textual and historical criticism of the fundamental documents, rather than to the philosophical consideration of the bearing of theology upon life. Non-Graduates. The men who attend the universities are drawn mostly from the well-to-do classes, and have been either at public schools or good grammar schools. Those who go to the theological colleges are either older men who have been in business, or men who are not educationally up to the university standard, or those whose financial means are insufficient for the cost of a university course. The normal course is two years. There are also five missionary colleges, which receive men only for foreign service. (This includes work in the Colonial Churches as well as in the mission field proper.) The cost at these colleges is much Jess than at the theo- logical colleges, and much more financial help is avails THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 69 able for students. Consequently a much larger proportion of the men is drawn from the working classes. Most of these have had little more than an elementary education. The course is somewhat longer, generally three or four years, but the additional time is chiefly taken up in replacing the lacking secondary education. The educational result therefore in all these non- graduate colleges is about the same. The standard is fixed by the Universities' Preliminary Examination for Holy Orders, the subjects of which are practically the same as in the Bishops' examinations, but with a slightly higher standard. Both the Bishops' and the Preliminary examinations are intended as tests of the minimum qualification of technical knowledge. Neither the ar- rangement of the subjects nor the nature of the examina- tions is such as to encourage a highly educational or scientific treatment of theology, even if the time available were not too short. One main cause of this unsatisfactory position is the backwardness of secondary education in England, which has had the effect of forcing the Church either to rely on the few who could afford to pay a high price for the best education, or to lower her standards within reach of those who could not. Several attempts have been made to find a remedy. The Society of the Sacred Mission, now at Kelham, Newark, has been engaged for nearly twenty years in developing the non-graduate system. Offering a free maintenance to all men selected, it has apart from such secondary studies as are required provided a very wide theological course of four years, independent of all ordination examinations. On the other hand, King's College, London, and St. Aidan's, Birkenhead, encourage the best of their men to enter for the degree courses at London and Liverpool Universities, but as yet the scheme has been found practic- able only for very few. The Community of the Resur- rection has opened a college at Mirfield for men without means. The majority of these take the degree course at Leeds University, and this is followed by a two-year 70 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES theological course. These therefore are properly graduate schemes. The missionary clergy are drawn in part from the ordinary parochial clergy, and in part from the special colleges for missionaries. Owing to the nature of the latter, the proportion of the non-graduate clergy in the mission field is considerably greater than at home. The Colleges of the Free Churches of England and Wales There are considerable differences among the Free Church Colleges -in England and Wales as regards both method and standard of work. Some of the smaller denominations depend for their supply of ministers almost entirely upon the training given in Theological Colleges under their control. In such colleges the instruc- tion includes part of the ordinary Arts course and a fairly full curriculum in theological subjects. The larger denominations, e.g. the Baptists and Congrega- tionalists, possess colleges giving an education whose extent and standard resemble that of the Presbyterian Churches as described above. But their conditions of ordination are such that they cannot insist, as do the Presbyterians, upon the taking of a course in these colleges by all their ministers. While an increasing proportion of the ordained ministry in these Churches has passed through the long and full course, there is still a consider- able number whose preparation has been gained in other ways. The Wesleyan Methodist Church, on the other hand, ordains no one to its ministry who has not passed through one or other of its theological colleges, such as Headingly (Leeds) and Didsbury (Manchester). As the larger Missionary Societies of the Free Churches seek to obtain their missionaries from the colleges which give the more complete training, we must describe these at greater length. Of late years they have tended to approximate more closely to one standard, and they may now be divided into two main classes, each of which presents fairly uniform characteristics. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 71 The first class includes those colleges which give an Arts training in connection with their theological course. The whole course in these averages about five years, of which in some cases two are spent on Arts and three on Theology, and in others three on Arts and two on Theology. It should be said that in recent years the development of the universities has enabled many of the colleges in this class to arrange that most of the Arts training which they require should be taken at the university with which the college is associated. Thus the students at New and Hackney (Congregational) and Regent's Park (Baptist) attend the classes of the University of London. Similar privileges are open to the students at Western College (Congregational), Bristol, and Lancashire Independent (Congregational), Manchester, in connection with the University Colleges in these places. Generally speaking, the Arts work in these colleges approximates to that of a B.A. degree, and in many cases a degree is taken by the students. The theological work is very similar to that which is given below. Under the second class are comprised colleges which are purely theological and only receive students who have already obtained an Arts degree in some recognised university, either independently or with some financial assistance from the college they intend to join. This class includes Mansfield College, Oxford, and Yorkshire United College, Bradford (both Congregational), and Westminster, Cambridge (Presbyterian). The usual length of the course in these colleges is three years, which, in addition to the Arts course required of the students, would make a complete course of six or seven years. The standard of the theological work in all these colleges is very much the same. The course usually comprises the study of the following subjects : the History and Philosophy of Religion, Apologetics, the Languages and Criticism and History of the Old and New Testaments, Church History, History of Christian Doctrine, Systematic Theology, critical and constructive, Comparative Religion, 72 Christian Ethics and Sociology, Pastoral Theology, Homiletics, and Elocution. The theological work of some of these colleges is arranged in connection with the theological schools of the universities with which they are connected, e.g. the London colleges with the B.D. examinations of the University of London, the Manchester colleges with the faculty of theology in the University of Manchester. Mansfield and Cheshunt both enter some of their students for the theological examina- tions at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge respect- ively, but the course actually taken by the students at these colleges is much wider than that prescribed for these examinations. In most of these colleges some attention is paid to the History of Christian Missions, and the students are afforded opportunities for various forms of missionary study, though this work is often done by them volun- tarily and is not a recognised part of the curriculum. The students also generally receive instruction on the management of a congregation, and on the various ques- tions that arise in connection therewith. They have frequent opportunities of preaching and practice in pastoral work, through undertaking the charge of village stations and vacation pastorates. CONTINENTAL MISSIONARY COLLEGES The large Missionary Societies of Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Scandinavia provide for the training of their candidates in separate colleges, at which both Arts and Theology are studied. Their arrangements, some of which are given in our Appendices, are suggestive in many details, but they differ too widely from one another to admit of generalisation. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES (OR COLLEGES) IN NORTH AMERICA A set of questions similar to those addressed to British Colleges, but with certain necessary modifications, was THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 73 sent out to all the institutions in the United States and Canada which train men for ordination. Answers were received from nearly fifty. The schools from which ordained ministers and mission- aries are drawn can be roughly divided into three classes. There are no schools in America which confine themselves to the education of those who are to be ordained as missionaries. The first class consists of those usually called Theo- logical Seminaries (in Canada, " Colleges "), which only receive into their classes men who have taken the degree of B.A. at a recognised college or university. Of these thirty responded to the questions of the Commission. Their course almost invariably lasts for three years. Until recently this time was spent wholly upon the traditional elements of a theological education, namely : Old Testa- ment (with Hebrew), New Testament, Church History, Systematic Theology (including Apologetics, Homiletics, and Pastoral Theology). But about fifteen years ago a widespread agitation arose for the introduction of modern and specially practical subjects. With the responsiveness and energy shown by so many American institutions, many seminaries tried to meet this demand. The result was the introduction of Sociology, Psychology, Pedagogy, Comparative Religion, etc., into the course. Room was found for them by shortening some of the regular courses, and in many cases by making Hebrew an " elective." In the larger institutions the elective system was intro- duced, which, while insisting on a certain minimum of subjects prescribed for all, offered also a number of courses among which each student might choose according to his personal predilections and his plans for future work. It was this set of circumstances which enabled a few institutions, of which we shall speak later, to intro- duce among the elective courses a certain number which might be of special value to missionary students. It is not our business to estimate the effect which this policy 74 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES is likely to produce upon the ministry of the American Churches ; we only note the fact that such wide and fearless experiments are in process, and are being closely watched, often with deep anxiety, by the best friends of theological education. It should be added here that almost all the larger and more scholarly theo- logical seminaries in the United States, while owing their origin to some one denomination and maintaining close affiliation with it, yet receive and educate men of many other denominations. The majority of the students come from the parent denomination, but the minority include representatives of from three or four to nine or ten other deno'minations. The theological colleges in Canada do not manifest the tendency to experiment described above, and are almost invariably confined to students of their re- spective denominations. For Non-graduates The second class of institutions consists of those which receive into their classes men who have not gained what is called college standing. Their course is also usually continued for three years. They are generally connected with some one denomina- tion, and train very few men for any other ministry than that to which they are attached. As a rule they minister among the less educated portions of the community, especially in the new towns and settlements which are springing up all over the West, North-West, and South- West of the continent. Some of the noblest home mission work in America is done by the alumni of these schools. Hardly any of them are in a position to give attention to the work which in this Report is described as Special Missionary Preparation. Bible Institutes ~ Thirdly, in recent years there have grown up in the United States a number of schools called Bible Institutes, THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 75 of which the Moody Bible Institute at Chicago is the oldest, the largest, and the most influential. They are undenomi- national and intensely evangelistic, and they give a large place to the instruction of their students in visitation, " per- sonal " evangelism, and the conduct of evangelistic meetings. Their curriculum does not require a high level of previous education. It confines itself almost entirely to teaching the contents of the English Bible, Bible doctrines, and the simple elements of Christian experience. From their classes a good many have gone into the ministry of de- nominations whose educational standard for ordination is not high, and as a rule into positions on the home mission field. A goodly number of foreign missionaries have gone to the Moody Institute to find refreshment for their spiritual life and to take the courses in the English Bible. Probably the largest number of the students at the Bible Institutes pass into the lay service of the Church at home and abroad, as evangelists, Sunday-school teachers, mission visitors, Bible readers, nurses, and so on. While their earnest and devout spirit has proved of real value to many intending missionaries, who have also here been led to more thorough reading of their English Bible, and to the "inductive study" which is peculiar to these schools, it can hardly be said that they have added much to the work of Special Missionary Preparation. Foreign Missionary Interest The foreign missionary interest in the Seminaries which have reported varies much. The proportion of their in- mates going to the mission field is about 9 per cent. The highest mark in this regard seems to be reached by Wycliffe College (Episcopal) at Toronto, which sends about 33 per cent, of its students to the mission field, most of them under the Church Missionary Society. Thirty-four institutions report that they have a total of 1401 former students now in active service as foreign missionaries. But this includes 460 reported from the Moody Bible Institute. 76 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES How it is Maintained The necessary interest is maintained partly by visits and addresses from missionaries on furlough, partly by organisations which are conducted by the students themselves. Two of the older seminaries, the Andover Theological Seminary of Cambridge, Mass., and the Union Theological Seminary of New York, have each a " Society of Inquiry " concerning Christian Missions, which has existed for many years. The Union Seminary reports of this Society that "it is sixty years old, and still active. We have a study class in missions successfully sustained ; it is in the hands of the students ; there is a healthy feeling in regard to foreign mission work, and a number are looking forward to it as their life-work." Weekly meetings for prayer and mission study are frequent. Sometimes the students arrange for themselves courses of reading in missionary literature. These groups are, as a rule, associated with the Student Volunteer Movement, and the majority of our informants think that they have a stimulating effect on the life of their respective seminaries. Experiments in Special Missionary Preparation Among the American Seminaries there have been a considerable number of experiments in giving special missionary education in the sense of this Report. About 25 per cent, of those reporting have tried them. In nearly all cases the courses named are Comparative Religion, Church History, and History of -Missions. The elective system at Union Seminary allows of the mission- ary student choosing any one of a large number of useful courses at the neighbouring Columbia University, in Languages, Sociology, Pedagogy, Comparative Religion, and so forth. And the same may be said for the Semin- aries connected with Yale, Harvard, Chicago, California, and Toronto. Three Seminaries, however, have tried to give this form of training a vital place in the arrange- ment of their curriculum, namely, New Brunswick Theo- 77 logical Seminary (Dutch Reformed Church), Yale Divinity School, and Hartford Theological Seminary. The last two possess special endowments for this work, which, though small, give promise of leading to important develop- ments in the immediate future. Dr. Harlan P. Beach, well known as a missionary in China and a writer on missionary subjects, is at the head of the new department which is growing up at Yale. The students of the Yale Divinity School as well as of the whole university are interested in the Yale Mission which has been established in China and is supported wholly by Yale men. A legacy of one hundred thousand dollars has recently become available for the development of missionary preparation, and important results may confidently be expected. For example, arrangements are in process for the instruction of students in the Chinese language. Hartford Theo- logical Seminary has had for nearly ten years an endow- ment of fifty thousand dollars in memory of a former president of the American Board. With this in hand a mission department has been created. An annual course of fifteen lectures is delivered by an expert on some phase of the Seminary Missions, which is usually "elected" by all the missionary students. Another annual series on the Religions of the World has been in operation for several years, which all students are ex- pected to attend and to which the public are admitted. These are given by recognised authorities from other institutions of learning in Europe and America, and are being published as a series of handbooks adapted to the needs of missionary students. A few missionary students have had an introduction to the language of their future field with encouraging results. Several have been trained in Arabic by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, and others have had the foundations laid for a study of Sanskrit, Armenian, and Turkish. The Faculty, however, report that the results of all these efforts are not considered satisfactory, and that they " hope for help from the World Missionary Conference." 78 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES GENERAL SUGGESTIONS The facts which we have summarised exhibit, as was in- dicated at the beginning of this chapter, a large amount of diversity, yet not greater than might be expected in view of the educational and ecclesiastical divergences of those whose missionary methods have been presented. This Commission would go outside its province if it attempted a comparison between the training given by different Churches for the home ministry ; but the most impressive and instructive fact brought to light by the enquiry re- quires no such comparison. It is this, that candidates for ordained work in the foreign field receive very little special instruction in missionary subjects in the course of their theological curriculum, whether that curriculum is long or short. Practice in the United States Undoubtedly in this matter there is a marked difference between the United States and Great Britain, with which Canada and Ireland must in this respect be classed. In the United States, as we have seen, the need for special instruction has recently been recognised in most of the important seminaries, and various plans for giving such instruction have been initiated or planned, whereas in other lands practically nothing has been attempted in that direction. Yet the contrast must not be exaggerated. Even in the United States the movement is in its infancy, and it must be noted that there it does not stand alone, being only one aspect of the " elective " method of uni- versity and college education, which has gained a place in America not accorded to it in Great Britain. The whole question as to how soon a young man ought to specialise for his life-work and how long he ought to continue his general studies without specialisation, while of great im- portance, is a question upon which there is wide difference of opinion among highly competent experts, and the difference manifestly holds good with regard to spiritual THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 79 as well as secular callings. On the one hand, it may be and is said that, if the business of a man's life is to be the diffusion of Christianity, say in Japan, the sooner he begins to study Japanese history and life the better, or, at any rate, the sooner he begins to study the art of commending the Gospel to non-Christian races. Yet it may be responded that that is not so that the prime and essential qualification for the Christian ministry at home or abroad is a careful, thoughtful, and full apprehension of Christianity, and that the very fact that a missionary's principles will be exposed to unusual strain when he reaches his field of work makes it vital that he should be well versed and proficient in what may be called the universalities of the Gospel and of Scripture. Method followed in Great Britain Now it is by this latter consideration that the method at present taken in Great Britain is defended. It has been said to the Commission, by witness after witness, that general Christian culture and wide Christian know- ledge are absolute essentials ; that a man who is to go out as an authority, an apologist, and a propagandist, to the great nations of the East or to the " child races " of Africa, must have a wide and broad outlook, and be the superior, not the inferior, of the home worker as scholar and thinker ; that the defence of Christianity to which he will be called demands imperiously that he should be trained and qualified to take account of the deepest movements of the human spirit, besides being rooted and grounded in evangelic truth. Further, it is urged that these qualifications and attainments will best be gained in the normal curriculum of a well-equipped and well-staffed theological college ; that the continuous study of Chris- tianity as a whole its Book, doctrine, and history implies and should secure consciousness of its relation to the world as a whole ; that Biblical Theology in its principles and per- manent realities is the very theology which missionaries re- ; that Church History when adequately studied gives 80 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES due place to the history and methods of missionary work ; that apologetic loses its cogency when narrowed to specific arguments against any one type of paganism ; and gener- ally, that men whose minds are disciplined will best be able to face special problems and will master them with a firmer grasp than if they had studied them as interludes in a curriculum, the main emphasis of which must always lie in the regions of scholarship, history, and systematic thought. The Commission recognises the great force of these considerations, which indeed appear to them to be irresistible in their general tendency. Grave and urgent as are the claims for special preparation, these in no way justify the idea that ordained missionaries can dispense with general training in theology. Such an idea is at variance with all the evidence. The Curricula of Theological Colleges At the same time, the evidence is as distinct that in theological colleges the needs and claims of missionary students are not sufficiently taken into account. The Commission is far from desiring to bring a sweeping charge against the Boards which regulate theological curricula ; these Boards have, of course, to recognise the fact that the great majority of their students are preparing for home work. Still less would they criticise the principals and professors of the colleges, all of whom have expressed profound interest in their missionary students. Yet it has been represented to the Commission by witnesses of authority that to a very considerable extent the curricula require revision, not only in the interests of missionary students, but in order that the world-wide movements of religion may be better apprehended by the ministers of the Home Church. This consideration touches upon a subject assigned to the Commission on the Home Base of Missions, and we refer to it only to justify our plea, namely, that theological curricula would be enriched for all students by fuller treatment of missionary subjects, even if that involves some revision of the traditional curriculum.. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 81 Further, with willing recognition of the advantages of general training in theology, the Commission would draw attention to the fact that in post-graduate colleges the students are not boys, but mature men. It cannot be right that a man should reach twenty-five or twenty-six years of age without having paid any attention to the special occupation to which he has consecrated his life ; nor can it be right that such attention as he gives to it should be wholly optional and outside his systematic college work. A man who enters a college with the express intention of bccqming a missionary ought to have regular guidance from his professorial teachers in his private studies and spiritual development matters which go deeper than special courses of lectures. These suggestions increase greatly the cogency of the plea submitted in another chapter that Societies should select the field for their candidates at an earlier stage than at present. Here the onus lies upon the Societies, not upon the college authorities. It is impossible for professors to prepare men for special missionary work unless they know what that work is to be. The prepara- tion needed by a pioneer missionary in Central Africa differs very widely from that needed by a man who is to teach at a college in Peking or Calcutta. Until Societies advance in this direction, the specialisation possible in theological colleges will be limited. COM. v. 6 CHAPTER VII PRESENT METHODS OF PREPARATION IN MISSIONARY TRAINING COL- LEGES AND INSTITUTES FOR WOMEN Contents : Sources of Information ; British Training In- stitutions : Difficulties Experienced by Training Institutions; Conference between Societies and Institutions ; Number of Institutions ; Life and Work in the Institutions ; Special Missionary Preparation; The Spiritual Tone; General Summary. American Training Institutions : Women in Theological Colleges ; Missionary Training Schools ; The Course of Study ; Relation to the Mission Boards ; Their Influence and Limitations. Institutions on the Continent of Europe SOURCES OF INFORMATION THIS chapter is based upon answers sent by the various institutions where women are trained for missionary work to questions issued by the Commission. It needs to be read in the light of comments previously made upon such Institutions both by the Mission Boards and by missionaries themselves, and also in connection with the subsequent recommendations of the Commission concerning training for women. It has been found con- venient to deal first with the British, then with the American, and finally to add a note concerning Continental Institutions. WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 83 I. PRESENT METHODS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN WOMEN'S TRAINING CENTRES IN GREAT BRITAIN The nomenclature of the institutions in Great Britain is complex, and sometimes not indicative of any differ- ence of character and aim. For the sake of simplicity all are here spoken of without distinction as 'Women's Training Institutions or Colleges. Difficulties Experienced by Training Institutions There are certain common difficulties that have to be met by Women's Missionary Training Institutions of whatever kind. (i) The inadequate intellectual equipment of many of the missionary candidates must be taken into account. Not that the candidates are less well educated than the average woman, but that it is still comparatively rare for girls to continue any regular disciplined studies after school age. Also, the time given to Biblical and theological study at most schools is not enough even to supply a good foundation for future study, still less to teach a girl how to go on studying by herself. She may be deeply religious and devout, and at the same time quite unprepared to teach others. It follows that the Institu- tions have in many cases to provide mental training and opportunities for Biblical and theological study, instead of thinking chiefly of specific missionary preparation. To give special training to a comparatively ignorant and untrained person would inevitably produce a want of a sense of proportion, intellectual narrowness, and a tendency to conceit and self-satisfaction on the part of those who do not know enough to know how much there is to know. Hence, in these cases, the first task of the Institutions is to give something like general education, and to lay a foundation. They have frequently to make up for the defects of previous education rather than to give the particular instruction needed to fit the student for new work. Their difficulties are only added to by 4 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES the existence of^some missionary students whose previous education has been complete and satisfactory, and who in consequence need only special training. (2) A great number of those coming for training have not as yet been accepted by any Missionary Society. Of those who have, the future destination has only very rarely been fixed. The serious difficulties which have hitherto kept Missionary Societies from fixing for any considerable period in advance the destination of their candidates have already been recognised. But though these difficulties" are evident, it is equally evident that the special preparation which is so much to be desired cannot be given to candidates, when it is unknown even in which continent they are going to work. (3) The majority of the Institutions are small, and train for home as well as for foreign work. This makes it difficult to supply the special teaching needed for the few missionary students, especially where the Home is not situated in a university town. (4) Neither the books nor the teachers needed for those special studies which the evidence before the Commission shows should form part of the preparation of missionaries, are easy to find. (5) The time allowed for the preparation of candidates is seldom adequate. The authorities at all Institutions plead for at least two years' training. In many cases they have the students only for one year, often for less. None of these difficulties, except to a certain degree the last, interferes with the work of training the character, the devotional life and habits of the students, and develop- ing their capacity to work with and for each other ; but they make adequate preparation for future work abroad almost impossible. Many of the ordinary difficulties of training do not apply to those Sisterhoods which have special missions of their own. The Superior is able to select from the Sisters those who are believed to have a distinct call to be missionaries, and who have aptitude for the work, and 40 give the training needed. On going out the missionary WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 85 is received into a Community, which carries oil the training already begun, and where she is able to begin to work under the direction of others. Should she prove unsuited to the work, either through health or other reasons, she can return to the Sisterhood at home. The existence of the Sisterhood ensures the permanence of the work undertaken. Conference between Societies and Training Institutions It is apparent to the Commission that one of the first and most important steps towards the better training of wcmen for the mission field will lie in frank conference as to difficulties, standards, and methods between Mission Boards and Women's Training Institutions. Each stands at present deeply indebted to and practically dependent upon the other, yet each is to some extent hindering by removable causes the efficient working of the other. It is evident from a careful study made by the Commission that each could give a larger contribution to the common aim. Careful reconsideration and mutual readjustment would reveal and remove much that now mars the out- come of faithful work, and brings recurring challenge from some of the best missionaries on the field. Number of British Training Institutions In Great Britain there are at least thirteen Institutions where women can be trained as missionaries. Of these seven exist solely for the training of future missionaries. Six, two of which are Sisterhoods and four Deaconess Institutions, receive some candidates for the foreign mission field to be trained with those who are training for home work. This plan widens the interest of the students preparing both for the home and the foreign field ; but of course it makes special instruction more difficult. Of the four Deaconess Institutions two are Anglican, and train women to pass the Bishops' examina- 86 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES tion and to become ordained deaconesses for life. 1 The third Deaconess House belongs to the Church of Scotland. The fourth is the Wesleyan Methodist Deaconess Institute at Ilkley, Yorkshire, which has eighteen deaconesses in India, Ceylon and South Africa. There are two Women's Hostels belonging respectively to the two largest Anglican Societies where students live and are able to attend outside lectures. These are of special value for candidates who have already obtained pro- fessional or general missionary training elsewhere, and who need only specific missionary preparation. A small proportion of these institutions receive candi- dates only from their own Society or from Missions affiliated to it. Some restrict themselves to candidates who have already been accepted by a Missionary Society, others are prepared to admit women to be trained prior to any definite acceptance. All consider the time of training as a time of testing, and would probably be willing to be more rigorous with regard to the test applied if the Societies were not in such pressing need for workers. Life and Work in the Institutions The life in all these institutions is organised much on the same lines. The morning is given to devotion and study, the afternoon to practical work, of which a large amount is undertaken, and the evening sometimes to more study or missionary work, sometimes to recreation. The amount of time given to lectures in the week varies from four to fifteen hours. All aim at more or less com- prehensive Bible study, but the time allowed for it in some cases shows that it cannot be very profound. They study some Dogmatics, Apologetics, and Church History; all have some study of educational methods and some opportunity for learning elementary teaching. In some cases the 1 Only very few of those who are going abroad have as yet been ordained deaconesses, and should they desire ordination it is thought best that they should receive it frqrn the hands of the bishop in whose diocese they are going to work abroad. WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 87 candidate can, if desired, receive the full training of an elementary teacher whilst living at the Institution. Students generally have to take some part in the work of the house, and most of the centres are able to give in- dustrial training to those who desire it. This, however, frequently means nothing but laundry work. In some cases a little training in business habits is given to the students. They are taught to write reports and to keep accounts, and sometimes even book-keeping. Most of the Institutions have periodical examinations to test the progress of the students ; only the Women's Missionary Training College at Edinburgh entirely dis- penses with them, not considering that, in their case at least, they provide a suitable test of the work or fitness of a student. Language study is begun in some Institutions, either by correspondence, or with the help of missionaries on furlough or other teachers when they can be procured. The Universities' Mission to Central Africa requires all its missionaries to learn Swaheli before going out, and it is taught at the Sisterhood where their missionaries are trained. But the curricula of most Institutions do not allow any time for language study. Special Missionary Preparation There is very little record of special missionary pre- paration in the answers to the questions issued by the Commission. Some lectures on Comparative Religion, and an occasional lecture from a missionary or a discussion of missionary methods, is all that is provided, except in a few cases where there is definite instruction with regard to non-Christian religions and missionary problems. An admirable method for the consideration of missionary problems is provided by the conferences at the Women's Missionary College in Edinburgh. This institution, which appears to be the only one exemplifying many of the methods which have commended themselves to the Commission, is necessarily used as an illustration here and elsewhere. The subject for the conference is chosen by 88 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES the teacher, and the students are advised how to prepare for it, their reading being directed to it for some weeks. The Principal is ready to discuss the subject previously with any who desire to do so. At the conference, which assumes the character of an ordered and prepared debate, the students learn to speak and to express themselves, and their ability and the development of their thinking power can be judged. At this same College the study of history is considered most important. It is taught along the lines of the great missionary movements of the Church, so that missionaries may feel their 'place in the great succession. Church History is taught from the point of view of the expansion of the Church, and missionary methods are taught historically by directing the studies of the students to the periods of the expansion of the Church from St. Paul onwards. Methods of approach to Moslems, Chinese, Hindus, etc., are illustrated, and the study of what is called Comparative Sociology, that is, the social growth of the different countries and the history of their social system as compared with the civilisation of other countries, is considered most important. The Spiritual Tone In all the Institutions in various ways the devotional life of the students is helped and fostered. There are services of intercession and prayer meetings, besides the daily prayers and offices. The Heads of the Institutions offer opportunities for private talks, and desire in every way to aid the spiritual development of the students. In a few of the Anglican Homes there are special times of silence. In some cases it is definitely stated that modern critical questions are frankly faced, and it is recognised as of the utmost importance that such difficulties should be met at home and not left to be struggled with in the mission field. As a rule the opinion is expressed that the life of the students should be left as free as possible, and WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 89 that habits of independence and the power to think for themselves and to develop initiative should result from the training. In some cases the organisation of the life of the house is left to the students. Most of the Institutions are small, the numbers varying from 18 to 30, and the general desire is, as far as possible, to give the atmosphere of family life. General Summary A general consideration of the work done in these various Institutions leads to the conclusion that everywhere there is a desire amongst those who superintend them to develop and improve them and make them more worthy of the great work they have to do. This desire would be deepened by closer contact with the Societies, by wider knowledge of the modern situation in the mission field, and a fuller realisation of the actual responsibilities and opportunities of a woman missionary. Speaking generally the intellectual standard is not yet sufficiently high, nor the teaching sufficiently related to the special requirements of the case. This is in part the natural consequence of those difficulties which have already been stated. But the Commission see cause for hoping that some at least of those difficulties are about to be lessened or removed. II. PRESENT METHODS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MISSIONARY TRAINING SCHOOLS OPEN TO WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA A few of the women sent out from the United States as missionaries have received their training at a regular Theological Seminary, but the vast majority of those who have had any direct training have attended one of the Training Schools which receive women, and most of them only women, into their classes. Women in Theological Colleges As to the former class, it must be explained that very tew, if any, Theological Seminaries would decline to 90 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES allow a woman to attend their classes, if she could show that she had a definite and worthy plan for her future service of the Church. It is true that many of them would decline to give her the diploma of the institution. But a number of Seminaries have admitted women to the full privileges of the school, and given them such diploma or degree as their work deserved on the same conditions as men. While at Newton Theological Seminary, and elsewhere, a certain amount has been done for women missionary students, Hartford Theological Seminary is the only one which seems to have made special pro- vision for the theological education of women on a level with men. Nearly twenty years ago it was resolved to do this. An Advisory Board of women was formed, through whose energy money was raised, partly in the form of endowment and partly in annual subscriptions, to establish scholarships for women students. These students must have the degree of B.A. from a recognised college or university. They must enter for the full course of three years, omitting only the classes in Homi- letics and Pastoral Theology, if they so desire. Not more than two, or at most three, women are admitted to each class. Some of the women have been among the brilliant scholars in the Seminary, and they are almost all now occupied in Christian work of a respon- sible kind. Several are professors of Biblical Literature at women's colleges, such as Wellesley and Mount Holy- oke. Several are engaged in the religious educational work undertaken by the Young Women's Christian Association. But the largest number are on the mission field in China, India, and Turkey. These have borne frequent witness to the great value of their theological training for the work in which they are now engaged. Missionary Training Schools As we have said, the large majority of women mission- aries sent out from North America receive their education at Missionary Training Schools. WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 91 It has been reported to us that there are thirty-nine of these, besides nine Deaconess' Training Schools, whose work is confined almost entirely to the training of young women for service among the Home Churches. But included in the thirty-nine are those Bible Institutes which we have described in an earlier chapter. Twenty of these schools are denominational and fifteen inter- denominational. Four are affiliated with Universities or Theological Seminaries. They vary much in size and equipment, but only two reporting from the United States have less than 50 students. Several have enrol- ments of 200 and 300 students. Most of them have new and good buildings in which, as a rule, the students reside. The endowments are not large, and the schools are supported by the subscriptions of sympathising friends. The Course of Study The course of study at these schools usually covers tw r o years, but there is a tendency to extend it to three years in some cases. The general age of the entering student is about twenty years. The requirements for entrance are moderate, and the general level is that of one who has passed through a High School and is ready to enter a university. Not many apply who have taken the degree in Arts, but the number of such is said to be increasing, and to be due to the growth of interest in missions among university and college students. The essential feature of the course, and the one to which most time is given, is the study of the English Bible. This consists generally of three distinct methods of work upon it. The first is intended to secure a good know- ledge of its history, and often takes the form of analysing the contents of each book according to a prescribed plan (" inductive study of the Bible "). The second involves the gathering together of passages and texts bearing upon the main Christian doctrines, especially those which are supposed to be most closely related to Christian experience and to the dissemination of the Gospel. This 92 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES naturally leads to the third, namely, the practical use of the Bible in evangelistic and pastoral work. It is said that many missionaries and home ministers are glad to spend three or four months at such a school in order to get this grasp of the English Bible, which their Theo- logical Seminary, with all its good qualities, yet failed to give -them. No less than twenty-nine out of thirty of these schools have established a course in Music, both vocal and instrumental, as being of very great value to missionary students. The study of Sociology is found to be emphasised in greater or less degree in twenty-four of these schools. Church History and the History of Missions are found in twenty-two of them, Domestic Science and Home Economics in twenty. In addition to these we find attention given in varying degrees to Comparative Religion, Psychology, Religious Pedagogy, and Physical Culture. Relation to the Mission Boards Many of the students at these schools have been sent there by the Missionary Societies as persons already accepted for service abroad, while others go to them with the expectation of applying and being accepted towards or at the end of their course. Sometimes, in the former case, the Missionary Board pays all the expenses of the student, including her tuition, board and lodging. Possibly the most valuable service rendered to the foreign mis- sionary cause by these Training Schools is the sifting process whereby candidates who fail to meet the required tests both of character and mental grasp are eliminated. Sometimes those who have failed, but have the right spirit, are allowed to remain and take what courses they can in the hope that this may increase their influence in their own Home Church, but they are warned that they cannot be recommended to the Board. Students who meet the tests in daily life, class room, and practical work for two years, in close association with the Faculty and WOMEN'S TRAINING COLLEGES 93 under their direct supervision, can be recommended with a degree of certainty not otherwise attainable. Most, if not all, of these schools are residential, and the effort is constantly made by personal intercourse, group associations, and chapel services to deepen the devotional life of the students. It may be added that attention has been recently directed, especially by the experience of the Baptist Missionary Society with women students at Newton Theological Seminary, to the value of a home or institu- tion in which missionary candidates may be kept for a longer or shorter period before appointment, in order that the officials may be able to discover those who for any reason should not be appointed. Their Influence and Limitations It is evident that the rise within the last thirty years of so many schools of this kind must exert a remarkable influence upon the home life and work of the American Churches as well as upon the labours of their Missionary Societies in non-Christian lands. It is also evident from their own reports that the educational work which most of them do, while well conceived and earnest, is not on such a level as to attract the interest of any large proportion of the thousands of young women graduating every year in the United States from universities and colleges with the degree of B.A. Something will have to be done either by enlarging the scope and method of some existing institutions whose standard is already good, or by estab- lishing new ones, to draw to the missionary cause a larger number of these highly educated young women. in. WOMEN'S TRAINING INSTITUTIONS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE The Commission regret that they have not before them full reports as to the provision for the training of 94 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES women missionaries upon the Continent of Europe. They have, however, ascertained that many avail themselves, both in Germany and elsewhere, of Deaconess Homes on the pattern of that at Kaiserswerth, where they qualify themselves for service in nursing, and educational work, including kindergarten. Other women attend optional courses at centres such as Basel, Liebenzell, and Barmen, or take medical and obstetrical training in the large hospitals attached to the universities. Bible Institutes are also utilised, and special Training Homes. The marked awakening to missionary responsibility which is taking place amongst the educated young women of Central Europe leads to confident expectation of a great increase in facilities for efficient general and specific missionary preparation. PART III THE PRINCIPLES OF PREPARATION FOR MISSIONARY WORK AND THEIR APPLICATION CHAPTER VIII THE FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES OF MISSIONARY PREPARATION Contents: Past Achievement and New Opportunity; The Main Functions of the Missionary Force : The Presentation of the Christian Message ; The Manifestation of the Christian Life ; The Organisation of a Christian Church and Nat on. Essentials for the Fulfilment of these Functions ; The General Features of all Missionary Training : The Spiritual Training of the Missionary ; Elements of Moral Character : Docility, Gentleness, Sympathy, Leadership ; A Need, and a Danger ; Intellectual Preparation ; "Parochialism" and "Specialism"; Second-hand Knowledge; The Results of Intel'ectual Qua'ity. Streets of Study: The Bible as the Missionary's Book ; Natural Science ; Philosophy ; Elementary MedLine and Hygiene PAST ACHIEVEMENT AND NEW OPPORTUNITY IT would be unreasonable and unfair to discuss this whole subject without full acknowledgment of the great achieve- ments of the past. The " century of missions " has produced on every mission field names which have won the admiration and the gratitude of every follower of Christ. If, therefore, we proceed now to make suggestions which indicate our sense of the need for new and more effective methods of preparation for missionaries, this 06 96 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES does not imply any ungenerous depreciation of past efforts. It only means that our study of the question remitted to us has convinced us that there is room, and, as strong and insistent voices from the field compel us to believe, in some directions even urgent need for improve- ment. We desire, therefore, in no sense as critics, but as fellow-students of a great problem, to lay before the Boards the result of our survey of the whole situation, and to ask them to consider afresh with us, in view of the changing conditions already indicated, the points that are of fundamental and abiding importance ; to discover the causes of such weakness or failure as the evidence shows to be inherent in existing methods ; and to examine the suggestions that have been brought before us for the strengthening and development of the work in the immediate future. We wish to state emphatically at the outset that in our judgment cases of absolute failure in the mission field are comparatively rare. Nearly every Board, how- ever, has admitted its failure to reach its own ideals. And there is a widespread consciousness of what we may call relative failure felt both by the missionaries themselves and by sympathetic observers of mission work. Earnest men have been willing to confess that they could see how and where their work was weak. And again and again they see the cause of their weakness in defective prepara- tion. For instance, if a man finds himself limited in his influence by an inadequate grasp of the language in which he must preach and discuss, he may with some bitterness remember that his period of preparative study was hampered by inefficient teachers, or cut short by orders from home to proceed to active work before his term of study was complete. If a man finds himself in Japan or Arabia or India face to face with those who entrench their antagonism to Christianity in a philosophic system, how can he meet their case if he has never studied philosophy at all, and consequently has a feeble grasp of the systematic method even of the Christian doctrines which he is there to pro- FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 97 claim and to defend ? Even women workers in the East are often confronted with arguments drawn from current European literature which they have not the training to confute. Not, indeed, that there is need of a new Gospel. The old Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes. But mere repetition of the Christian message, even with conviction, cannot produce its due effect in the cases we have just described, and the most earnest workers feel the failure most keenly and see most clearly its cause in their own inadequate preparation. Our task,then,is to determine as precisely as possible what steps the Boards can take to guard against such cases of relative failure by a better system of preparatory training. To do this we must first review briefly the main depart- ments of missionary activity. THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE MISSIONARY FORCE Missionary work may be divided into three heads. Stated in general terms these include : (1) The Presentation of the Christian Message. Direct evangelisation is of course the most obvious form of missionary work. It is the first necessity. Whatever the means, whether by open preaching or by personal intercourse, the making of converts is its immediate and simple aim. (2) The Manifestation of the Christian Life. Christ, however, was more than a Teacher, and His messengers must do their best to manifest the power hidden in the Christian life. This comes out both in the personality and life of the evangelist, and in every variety of medical, educational, and industrial work. These activities have their place, of course, in the scheme of direct evangelisa- tion. In certain countries the conditions of native life almost necessitate some introduction of the elements of civilisation, if the Gospel is to make itself intelligible. Again, through the close contact with the people which it entails, and through the sense of gratitude which it engenders, such work gives opportunities of winning COM. V. 7 98 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES attention. But the truest view is that which regards all these forms of activity as acts of Christian love and helpfulness. So St. Paul (i Cor. xii. 28), after apostles, prophets, and teachers, puts gifts of healings, helps, govern- ments. From this point of view it will be seen that all whose services are required in a mission station as accountants, secretaries, industrial workers, or printers, engaged rather for the needs of the station than for the training of con- verts, in some cases seamen for navigation work, besides housekeepers or occasionally a domestic servant, have a place in missionary work, even though they may never take any large share in direct evangelisation. (3) The Organisation of a Christian Church and Nation. A living and effective Church in a Christian nation is the end of missionary work. To prepare the way for this on the ecclesiastical side requires theological colleges for native clergy ; supervision and organisation of the native ministry ; provision of a theological literature. Towards the guidance and development of national life, a Mission should contribute by general Christian literature ; by the training of teachers ; by personal inter- course with, and special schools for, those who through birth, position, or learning may be its leaders; by co- operation with those in power in solving the many grave problems, and in using to the full the many opportunities for good which accompany the social and economic re- organisation produced alike by missions and by Western civilisation. From the first planting of a mission station nothing should be done, no work begun or plan adopted, without reference to the ultimate end. We must work as men sow seed, which is to grow by its own life, rather than as builders who hope to complete a structure by their own continuous activity. The work implied in each class suggests the preparation required to meet its demands. FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 99 ESSENTIALS FOR THE FULFILMENT OF THESE FUNCTIONS 1. The efficient preaching of the Gospel rests upon (a) a real grasp of the message to be delivered, and a per- sonal experience of its power ; (b) an understanding of the needs and perplexities of human life in general, and in particular of the modes of thought of those to whom the message is to be delivered ; (c) the ability to show how the message meets these needs. Missionary work does not in these respects differ from the work of preaching the Gospel at home, but it cer- tainly demands these qualifications more urgently, for the presentation which experience has shown to be effective at home is sure to require constant reconsidera- tion if it is to appeal to very differently constituted minds. 2. The manifestation of the Christian life by teachers, doctors, nurses, and industrial workers, requires ability in some profession not in itself " theological " or mis- sionary, but it cannot dispense, as we shall see later, with a fair measure of acquaintance with theology and with the fundamental implications of that Faith which as Christian missionaries they are sent out to propagate. 3. The work of leading and organising will for the most part be done by men who have revealed or developed their powers in the mission field. Occasionally men may offer whose gifts seem from the first to mark 'them out for such work, but there are dangers in a too-confident anticipation. Men of exceptional ability and learning often fail curiously in a field where everything is new to them. The very fulness of a man's attainment may make docility and humility more difficult, and yet it is upon these childlike qualities more than on outstanding ability that true success in leadership depends. THE GENERAL FEATURES OF ALL MISSIONARY TRAINING Any complete view of training must be prepared to consider not only special preparation for a particular 100 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES field, but also four general elements of fitness spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical. It must recognise the distinctions between them, which in the case of the first two are constantly confused ; it must recognise their inter-relation, which is still more frequently forgotten. The Spiritual Training of the Missionary The spiritual or essentially Christian part is that by which the soul, drawn out of itself, lives in God in the first place, by love for Him, which is its central principle ; secondly, by faith in Him, which is the present basis of all Christian work ; thirdly, by hope in Him, as the End of all activity.. All these are ways in which God rather than self becomes the actual centre of life. For that very reason they are purely the gift of God. No act of the self can win them, and it follows that no training can give them, though it may remove some obstacles in the way of their development. For if, regarding them on the negative side, we substitute for them the terms self- forgetfulness, humility, self-renunciation, it is obvious that there is a development in Which the divine wins its gradual victory over the human. This consideration must guide all plans for spiritual training. There are, besides, special considerations which have to be taken into account in the spiritual training of a missionary. He has to be ready in case of necessity to face the tre- mendous spiritual dangers of isolation among heathen surroundings. He must know h6W to face great strain and heavy responsibility without the support of visible Christian fellowship, and to maintain a high level of spiritual life without the continual renewing which is supplied under normal conditions by the ordinances of common worship. Even if the call should not be to the work of a solitary pioneer, the life of a mission station has spiritual tempta- tions of its own. The circumstances of the work are such as to constitute a heavy tax on nerves and health, while the- seriousness of the issues in which all are engaged FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 101 allows self-importance to invest every occasion of petty friction or personal difference of opinion with the fictitious importance of solemn principles. The conceptions and forms of the spiritual life differ so much in different religious bodies that it is almost impossible to give any detailed suggestions, even if it were otherwise desirable, as to methods of preparation by which provision can be made to meet these and other spiritual dangers. We would, however, point out that the whole question needs to be faced most seriously. Young missionaries need not only general instructions, but the intimate personal advice which only an experi- enced Christian friend can give. One great advantage of a period of training after a candidate is accepted is that it provides an opportunity for the cultivation of such friendships and affords the only sure way of testing spiritual fitness. Elements of Moral Character Side by side with the necessity for a deeply rooted spiritual life independent of external aids, there are four elements of moral character which a missionary student should from the first recognise as containing in them- selves the secret of effective work, and should set himself resolutely to acquire. Docility First among these is docility. A missionary more than most men has the need and the opportunity of cherish- ing all his life long the peculiar grace that belongs to a teachable spirit, " My feeling," writes a great missionary, " was that I had an apprenticeship to serve to the greatest of all work, and I tried to maintain that attitude of mind. Needless to say the preparation is still going on, and one realises more than ever that even a long lifetime is not long enough to prepare to be a missionary." Who can doubt that these words describe the true ideal 102 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES and give promise of ever increasing fruitfulness ? Capa- city for growth at any time depends directly on willing- ness to learn. Yet there are signs that the necessity for cultivating this virtue is sometimes overlooked. One missionary writes : " It would appear highly desirable for the authorities of the various Mission Boards to place before the new missionary most clearly and unmistakabty, that his attitude should be that of a learner, not only, as is necessarily the case, with regard to language, but also as to manners, customs, modes of thought, standards of morals, religions, institutions of the country, methods of work, also care of his own health, and many other matters. He should be encouraged constantly to -seek counsel from his senior colleagues and also, as soon as his language allows, from the officers and leaders of the Native Church, who are so competent to teach and help him." There must be something seriously wrong when an experienced missionary can say : "Of late men and women sent out with special training are not willing to learn, as the earlier missionaries who studied the philosophy and religion of China, but they criticise those who know ten times as much as they do and who have made their work a success. Instead of helping in missionary work, I have known several instances where they have from conscientious false training pulled down splendid work done by their predecessors." Any course of preparation which fails to produce in the missionary candidate the humility and the hopefulness of the patient learner, has failed at the foundation. It has failed to impart the right personal attitude. Gentleness The second quality on which stress must be laid as constituting a primary missionary qualification is, to give it its New Testament name, gentleness (see 2 Cor. x. I ; Phil. iv. 5). It is not a quality for which it is easy to find an exact English equivalent. For "gentleness" FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 103 in New Testament usage is the virtue of a superior, not of a subordinate (i Tim. iii. 3 ; i Pet. ii. 18 ; Acts xxiv. 4). It suggests what Matthew Arnold speaks of as " sweet reasonableness." It is the root of adapta- bility, the spirit of courtesy which produces the right attitude towards alien races, strange customs, unfamiliar conditions of life. The following extracts will show what scope there is for this quality on the mission field : " The young missionary who makes much of personal inconvenience in housing, food, travel, who declines to be garlanded by a welcoming community because ' it makes one feel such a fool,' whose conviction is that he has come to set the social and moral standard, and whose conscience will not allow him to yield to any persuasion, has not more sense of proportion than he has sense of humour, and one of the great objects of his specific preparation has failed." " The question of manner presents peculiar difficulties. The white man so instinctively feels that he is the lord ot creation, that it is hard for him, no matter how Christia i he may be, to get over the idea that men of a different colour are his inferiors. He is apt to be brusque and peremptory. He is always in a hurry and impatient of delays. His very kindness is apt to have an element of condescension, of which he may not be conscious but which the native is quick to detect. Blunders of tact may be almost as serious as want of sympathy. There is no other place in all the world where personal adaptations are more difficult and, at the same time, more important than in Asia." It is difficult, but at the same time most important, always to remember that no man who cannot control his temper can hope to exert spiritual influence in the mission field. Sympathy The third quality to the development of which the attention of a missionary student should from the 104 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES first be directed is sympathy. The tact which comes from "gentleness" is sufficient to prevent the giving of offence and the consequent erection of barriers of suspicion and prejudice in the way of the acceptance of the message. But the secret of personal influence, the power that wins, is the power of sympathy. It was St. Paul's power of identifying himself with every race and with every class with which he was brought in contact that prepared men's hearts to receive his Gospel. We can hardly hope to rival him in the universality of his sympathies. None the less a missionary is powerless to help a people whom he cannot love. All preparation, therefore, which has for its aim the development of a power of mutual understanding between ourselves and all with whom "we come in contact, the quickening of our perception of the good points in our neighbours and associates which comes from the determination to look always for the Christ in every man, is directly missionary preparation. It must tend to build up a habit of generous appreciation both of the glories of ancient civilisation and of the childlike and, therefore, Christ-like elements in the character of the backward races. It will deepen reverence for all things reverend and honour for all things honourable, without blinding the eyes to the evil that must be tenderly eradicated. It will make it possible, when the time comes for a genuine identification of interests, to exhibit a love even' for a strange people which shall be over-mastering, unfeigned, and personal. Leadership The three qualities we have already considered, docility, gentleness, and sympathy, are closely related to that humility, self-forgetfulness, and self-renunciation which seemed to mark out the right lines of training on the spiritual side. It is, of course, only what we should expect that the right attitude of the soul to God should at the same time be the attitude which places us at the outset in our right relation to our fellow-men. FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 105 The last quality which we have to consider may be most fruitfully regarded as resulting from the union of the first three in their application to the special duties and responsibilities of a missionary's position duties and responsibilities which need to be brought home with peculiar emphasis to the minds of missionary students at the present time. It is not merely that the office is essentially a pastoral office, a deep motive for which must always be found in compassion for " the sheep that have no shepherd." The unanimous call from every mission field at this moment is for men with a special capacity for leadership. " Do not send your average man. It is the falsest of economy. If you give this training to the average man he is not much better after all. He cannot use it. I think, on the face of it, we only want men in China who have capacity to lead. . . ." "We especially need men who have ability to lead, organise, teach. I do not think that any one should be sent to the mission field, no matter what his other quali- fications may be, who has not power to lead, organise, or teach." " The greatest need of the missionary body in China to-day, next to Christian character, is for great leaders, with the power of grasping the fact that they are facing a large and rapidly changing problem, which will soon be complicated by modern industrial and social problems, capable of setting to work at particular phases with a sense of their relation to the whole. That is, deeper than the need of men who know how to do things, is the need of men who know or can learn what needs to be done." " In the Christian Church this national movement, too, is taking hold, and in India and China we shall have the same phenomenon comparatively soon that we have in Japan already. The Churches are seeking to take the evangelisation of the country into their own hands, and the work of the missionary will be more and more the training of leaders. I believe one of the secrets of the present position of affairs in India is this, that we 106 should regard every missionary as a leader,. We need leaders there, and not men to do labourers' work." A Need, and a Danger We would draw the attention of all Societies to this call for leadership in the mission field. In the very nature of the case, whether he be a pioneer in Central Africa, the head of a school or college in India, the organiser of a missionary campaign in China, the adviser or official head of a Native Church, the missionary is in a position which demands the essential qualities of leader- ship, such as wise forethought, the power of initiative, the gift of persuasion, a contagious enthusiasm, a sym- pathetic and yet firm manner of guiding and advising others. There is room on the mission field for the ablest and best youth of Christendom to attain positions of leadership where scope is immense, and where many can exercise an influence far wider and deeper than is possible save for a very few in the home lands. On the other hand, exaggeration here is easy, and there is some danger of blundering. Real leaders are few and not always discoverable when young, and they develop as the necessity arises. Those who think them- selves to be such prematurely, perhaps before they have left home, usually fail, while the real leaders of the future are to-day content to be obedient and humble toilers at a daily task which is imposed on them by their own leaders. We must not send out youths unduly impressed with a sense of their own importance, flaunting the claim to be leaders in the face of older missionaries and native Christians wiser and stronger than themselves. Other missionaries than those quoted above, having suffered from the self-confidence of young recruits who went out to instruct their seniors in the latest methods of criticism and pedagogy, not to say evangelism, have asked earnestly and explicitly for good average men. Quiet, strong unpretentious men, who may not be brilliant in examinations, do their fair share of the solid steady FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 107 work of the world at home and abroad. To train wisely for leadership we must not say much about it, but con- centrate the attention of the missionary students upon the three fundamental qualities to which we have called attention above, and upon the hard tasks of a broad and effective preparation. Let these tasks be wisely selected, and the students be soundly taught and awakened early to the vital importance of the attainment of the true mis- sionary character, and the leaders will grow in abundance, as it pleaseth God. Intellectual Preparation In an age like ours there is not likely to be any failure in the desire at least to demand a high intellectual standard for the missionary. Time was when it seemed easy to put men who had little more than an elementary education behind them, through two or three years of Bible study, a little Christian doctrine, some instruction in English composition and in sermon making, perhaps a smattering of New Testament Greek, and launch them out to preach the Gospel to the heathen. And in early stages of the work, among primitive peoples, far from contact with other white folk save a few traders by ship or caravan, this may have been sufficient, at any rate enough to secure some progress. But to-day that is all changed. The missionary must have the best educa- tion which his own country and Church can give him, whatever is to be his department of labour. If he is to be a preacher, theological teacher, or an educationist, he must go through the task of technical equipment for these offices. If he is to be a medical man, he must have the full training and professional qualifications which are necessary to his standing as a physician in his own country. It is becoming clear that this thoroughness of intellectual discipline is necessary, not merely on pro- fessional grounds, but because the mind which has been profoundly trained in any one direction, especially for a great profession involving varied culture, is most capable 108 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES of self -adaptation to changing circumstances and to new calls upon its energy. " Parochialism " and " Specialism " Expression is given again and again in the evidence before us to a sense of the danger of " parochialism," and of a narrow " specialism " in the methods brought from home. " The general intellectual preparation of the missionary must be such as to give him a habit of ... weighing what is wanted, and for what purpose ... a readiness to recognise the complexity of questions, and humility and patience to study them." ' The modern missionary is the founder of all the Christian nations that are to be, if the nations are to be Christian ; he or she must therefore not only be a good teacher, preacher, healer, in any limited sense, but at the least a man or woman wise and capable to intro- duce the universal message by methods evolutionary so far as possible, rather than revolutionary ; and also a serious student of the ways of God with men and with nations (through history, evolution of social ideals, language, religious aspirations), and especially with the men or nation to which he or she is sent, and therefore be able to meet them where they are." Second-hand Knowledge It is not enough, therefore, to aim at providing a full professional training for all intending missionaries lo fit them for then- work in their several departments, supplemented as it clearly ought to be in all cases by a sound working knowledge of the Bible and the fundamental principles of the Christian faith. They are called to pioneer work in every direction. Second-hand knowledge of traditional formulas will carry them but a very little way. They must aspire to be in some real sense masters of their subject. They must learn to face the perils FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 109 and the fascinations of independent thought. They should strive to secure direct acquaintance with the methods by which the boundaries of knowledge can be securely advanced. This is a high ideal. But those, at least, who have the faculties for it can aspire to nothing lower. And nowhere are there such opportunities for the use of the very highest intellectual endowments as in the mission field, nor is the benefit to be derived from this consecration of the intellect limited to the direct results to be attained in its own sphere. The Results of Intellectual Quality The high intellectual quality manifest in certain mission fields above others is attended by correspondingly higher results all round. The native Christian com- munity is more highly civilised, is itself better educated. The whole work is in such a sphere carried on in nobler proportions, with a wider outlook and on deeper founda- tions. There is a moral element in all true intellectual exercise. There are conceited and flippant men who are good scholars, but some strong virus in their system has counteracted and overcome the normal effect oi intel- lectual exertion upon noble subjects for noble ends. That effect is to awaken both self-respect and respect for others, both dignity and patience, both the ability to do things alone and the willingness to do them with others. It is usually the less trained minds on mission fields that become jealous, quarrelsome, suspicious. To aim at the highest intellectual quality in all missionaries of all kinds is one obvious way not only to raise the standard of their work among others, but the standard of their lives with one another. It will not be out of place to call attention to certaiji subjects and aspects of subjects the special importance 110 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES of which has been urged upon the Commission by many of these correspondents from the mission field. The Bible as the Missionary's Book In the first place we would desire to call attention to the dominant place that the Bible must, by a blessed necessity, occupy in his whole life and thought. In a true, and by no means narrowing, sense he is bound to be "a man of one book," and that book the Bible. It is not only the one authoritative standard by reference to which he would wish his Christian congregations to test every part of his teaching. It is in the hands of intelligent heathen everywhere. Whatever else, then, he has to remain ignorant of, he cannot afford to be ignorant of his Bible. He will also find himself on the field in peculiarly favourable conditions for proving its inexhaustible fresh- ness and power. The obvious impossibility of trans- planting exactly as they stand Western Confessions of Faith formulated to meet conditions of thought in six- teenth and seventeenth centuries, and the consequent obligation laid upon him to go back to the fountain- head to discern the Christian answer to the questions raised by wholly different classes of mind, must force him to realise, as less fortunately situated students at home cannot, the inexhaustible riches of wisdom and knowledge that are stored in Christ, and keep him ever on the watch for the " more light and truth " that, to meet John Robinson's most true anticipation, is ever ready " to break forth out of His holy Word." Natural Science We desire next to call attention to the advantage for a missionary of some elementary knowledge of the scientific habit of mind, and of the main direction of modern scientific speculation and research, in view of FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 111 the prominence given to this side of Western thought, especially in China and Japan. The following extracts from correspondence received will show the stress laid on this point : " Some elementary knowledge of science is highly desirable among a people like the Chinese." " Scientific knowledge, especially knowledge of the practical applica- tions of science, is of great value." " I do not think any missionary should be allowed out who has not some grounding of knowledge of the constitution of the physical universe in which we live. For one thing, such know- ledge is being diffused all through the East, and it is deplorable when a missionary's ignorance is shown up thereon ' If you cannot tell me of earthly things, how shall I believe when you tell me of heavenly things ? ' " Of course this matter goes down to the very root of our British education. Still the Missionary Societies might do something by taking care of their young candi- dates in this connection. It is absolutely vital that the ministry be familiar with the general outline of material- istic thought which is swaying the minds of our men to-day, to an extent absolutely unprecedented. The ignorance of the clergy in this 'connection is, uncon- sciously to themselves, and possibly to their public, effecting a growing indifference of that public to their message." Philosophy In the third place, Philosophy has not only an essential place in any serious attempt to see the whole of life in the light of the Christian Revelation, it has, as a leading missionary in India testifies, a special value as an instrument for the propagation of the Gospel in certain fields. " I regard a philosophical as of more value than a specifically theological training, if both cannot be secured, for philosophy enables one to study theology with ease, while it infuses into it a breadth and fulness which might 112 PREPARATION OP MISSIONARIES otherwise be lacking. And in the field, in the conflict of theologies, a philosophical solvent is of priceless value. To oppose one dogmatic system to another is to maximise the area of friction and mutual misunderstanding, white to approach the subject from a philosophical direction does three things : 1. "It makes the missionary himself more reason- able and sympathetic. 2. "It makes his ideas more illuminating to his op- ponent. 3. "It makes his ideas more illuminating to the native Christian, and especially the convert. I have proved this last. It is astonishing how the convert can take in a philosophical idea, and how he finds it invests, what might otherwise be a lump of traditional dogma, with a living and real meaning." Elementary Medicine and Hygiene * It goes without saying, but it ought not to go without consideration, that every missionary sent abroad should be in good health. It is the part of effective preparation to see that he both knows how to keep himself so, and has formed a habit of paying reasonable attention to the subject. This involves that a man going to a new climate, especially if he is likely to be some distance from medical attention, should know enough of normal physiological action to be able to watch over his own body with as much intelligence as a typewriter does over his machine, and he should know enough of the actions of drugs not to play rash experiments. Over-anxiety is a grave evil. Missionaries go abroad to do mission work, not for the good of their health. On the other hand, there is a morbid pride in being over- worked and run down, in being too busy to keep well, and an uncalled for carelessness in such matters is also 1 See Minute of Meeting of 'Medical Delegates, etc., held at th* time of the-Wortd Missionary Conference, . Appemfix 5?e: XV.- FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES 113 a great evil. The body is God's tool. It is a true sacrifice which gives it up to be laid down in His service, but not before we have got all the work out of it which a thrifty use can get. The life of a missionary is of so much value that what- ever can be done to preserve it should be a matter of moment to all Mission Boards. Much of the loss of health in the past and many deaths have been produced by what we now regard as preventable causes. Malaria, dysentery, typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, sleeping- sickness, plague, are diseases prevalent in regions in which the missionary must live and work, but to a very large extent the possession of a readily acquired knowledge will enable the missionary to escape them. It is not enough to say that the medical missionary on the spot can look after the health of his colleagues. It requires that the non-medical missionaries themselves should understand the dangers with which they are surrounded in tropical climates, or they will not escape. In mis- sionary life it is not possible to have a medical missionary at every station, but it is possible by a com- paratively brief but definite course of instruction in the home land to put into the hands of every missionary not only the power of guarding himself against the diseases already specified, but also the power of dealing with a considerable variety of minor surgical and medical complaints, and so of doing much to relieve suffering and to enhance his own influence. Livingstone College at Leyton, London, and the Medical Missionary Institute at Tubingen in Germany, are two institutions which supply the necessary teaching. The Commission urges on the attention of the various Missionary Societies the importance of utilising their help. So much for the personal, and, in the narrower sense, medical side of this part of our subject. The recent development of a science of Physical Culture has also, it is clear, a claim on the attention of a missionary student, not only for the personal advantages to be derived from COM. v. 8 114 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES it, but from its use as an educational instrument. We notice with interest that the School of Religions at Yale finds a place for this subject in its " missionary " course from this point of view. Their lead will no doubt be. followed elsewhere. CHAPTER IX THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRIN- CIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF ORDAINED MISSIONARIES Contents : The Training of Ordained Missionaries ; College Compared with University Training; Spiritual Life of Candidates ; Recommendations IN the light of what has been said in the previous chapter, we proceed to set forth the principles which must regulate the training of each class of missionaries. For the present we leave out of account the subject of Specific Missionary Preparation, reserving it for a separate chapter. THE TRAINING OF ORDAINED MISSIONARIES The Commission desire it to be distinctly understood that the following discussion of the training of ordained missionaries is conducted under two very important limitations : (i) The Commission has found it to lie outside the purview of its appointment to investigate and expound j| the fundamental nature of theological education in^ general. (2) The Commission has been compelled to avoid important matters in the training of ordained ministers in which the various denominations differ seriously from one another. In the vast majority of Societies, as in the denomina- tions they represent, the ordained missionary is, and Ufi 116 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES will always be, recognised as the representative figure and the most powerful factor in the whole movement. In our description of the facts in Chapter VI. we have indicated the very great variety which prevails in the preparation of missionaries for ordination, and we have shown that the variety arises, partly from difference in Church ideals and principles, partly from difference in the personal material available in different denominations and for different Societies. No useful purpose would be served by the institution of a critical comparison in such matters. Our aim must be to set forth the principles which our enquiry has brought to light, in the hope that Societies may be enabled to apply them in such modification of their present system and method as seems to be required. We are convinced, by overwhelming evidence from every side, that an ordained missionary requires for efficiency wide general culture, combined with careful theological training. It is true that competent authori- ties have represented to us the advantage of specific attainment in pedagogy, languages, ethnology, and so forth, but such representations have been united with insistence upon the need for general and theological education. It would be impossible to say upon which of these two general education or theological education the greater stress has been laid. A university training, or its equivalent, is said to be of inestimable advantage as developing mental capacity, intellectual maturity, capacity for work, and fitness to deal on the field with problems and with men. Yet equal emphasis is placed upon a sound and scholarly training in Christian doctrine. Although some missionaries of experience have alleged that the systematic theology which they learned at home in their student days was antiquated and has proved worthless to them, they have combined this criticism with an earnest plea for a vivid and stimulating instruc- tion of candidates in theological science. " Every man who goes forth to teach Christianity must know Christianity." When he meets those who have ORDAINED MISSIONARIES 1 17 been brought up in an alien intellectual atmosphere, he will find that the persuasive power of his spiritual experiences and personal convictions is limited, unless he is qualified to make intellectual connections, as it were, with the position and the outlook of the man whom he would convince. Christianity has an essence, an inner coherence and substance, which must be intelligently grasped by every one who would plant it in a foreign soil, and such a grasp is gained only by continuous and well- directed study Biblical, historical, and philosophical. Those whose main work is preaching and teaching must be expected to go further in this matter than any other class. Yet there is evidence that missionaries some- times deliberately refrain from dealing with educated classes of natives, because, being themselves untrained in Christian philosophy and theology, they feel incom- petent to cope with minds that have been thoroughly trained in non-Christian modes of thought and belief. Here it should be said that no merely formal acquaint- ance with the items of a dogmatic system, accepted placidly as a heritage or learned by rote, will suffice for the needs of the present. It must be thought through, and individually apprehended in the light of a general analysis and a careful examination of evidence. Even at home we know how earnest preaching, however true in its intent and devout in its spirit, may, when it ex- hibits ignorance of the educated and philosophical opinion of the day, alienate eager and enthusiastic minds, and fall entirely outside the range in which thoughtful persons of the rising generation are questioning and aspiring. So it is even more markedly in the mission field. The missionaries have to enter a new world of thought and to give Christian doctrine its place, in relations of sympathy or antagonism of concurrence, coincidence, or opposition with other doctrines in an unfamiliar atmosphere. How hopeless must be the task of those who have no ability to measure, no skill to understand, no mental faculty of comparison ! Some experts x indeed hold that if there 1 See pp. iij-iu. 118 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES must be a choice between philosophy and theology, a good groundwork in the former with a slight knowledge of the latter is to be preferred, because a philosophical training gives a man, as nothing else can, the ready power of understanding a point of view alien to his own and of presenting his Christian message with intelligent sympathy. Similarly, other experts have stated that the ideal training is furnished by the School of Literce Humaniores at Oxford, inasnfuch as it develops best the general and thoughtful appreciativeness of students, and that an Honours man in that school requires only the addition of a moderate amount of theology strictly so called in order to be qualified for work on the mission field. These methods of statement are valuable as throwing into prominence the need for the widest and most thoughtful appreciation of Christian truth. Every intending missionary should have systematic training in the whole doctrine of Christianity, including its dis- tinctive view of God and the universe, of human nature and of the kingdom of grace. In view of this urgent necessity, the Commission would respectfully but earnestly call the attention of Societies to the provision which they at present make for the training of their candidates. How brief, meagre, one- sided it is in many cases ! How deficient in thorough- ness, breadth, and outlook ! The marvel indeed is that missionaries so trained have been able to accomplish so much. Yet thankfulness for what God has done through defective agencies gives place to quiet assurance as to the results that would be reached, if each Society would strictly measure its shortcomings and strenuously set itself to amendment. In this connection the Commission desire to say that the work done by Bible Schools and such institutions cannot properly be brought into comparison with that of theo- logical colleges. While the training they give is extremely serviceable for those who cannot take a course of pro- longed and scholarly training and who have had little preliminary education in the liberal arts, they do not ORDAINED MISSIONARIES 119 claim to be schools of preparation for ordination. So far as they have a place in missionary preparation, it will be, as we shall see afterwards, in the preparation of lay missionaries. COLLEGE COMPARED WITH UNIVERSITY TRAINING 1 Whether the required training should be given at resi- dential colleges specially controlled by Societies, or should have a more open and university character, is a question to which an absolute answer is impossible. Yet the evidence submitted to the Commission establishes two truths which will assist Societies in dealing with the question practically. 1. The qualities most emphasised from the mission field as important in view of present conditions are those which are developed in the wider culture and more open air of university life. 2. Missionaries who have received all their training at theological colleges are sometimes ineffective in the field. Although the record of work done by some of them is admirable, they tend, it is said, to be " opiniona- tive," " narrow and touchy," lacking in initiative, and " in need of constant direction." While these truths should ba noted and measured, they are far from affording ground for a wholesale con- demnation of these colleges. It must be remembered that a university education, especially in England, is expensive ; that the colleges in question train men to whom the universities are almost inaccessible, and who have few social and educational advantages to start with ; that their methods are not to be blamed for defects which they anxiously and often successfully seek to eradicate ; 1 The words "university training" must be understood to include the general education given at those American colleges which are not called universities, but many of which provide as good a course for the degree in Arts as any university in the country. Such colleges are not to be confused with " theological colleges" or "missionary coHeges" in Great Britain. 120 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES in fact that such work as they do is definitely required in view of the limited material at the disposal of Societies. The specifically missionary colleges of the Church of England and the Mission House of Basel unmistakably fill a lacuna by preparing for Christian service men to whom the universities are practically closed. And while no doubt all Christian truth has a world outlook and a direct bearing on missionary work, it is easier for a teacher to realise the fact and to give it its due emphasis when he is face to face with a class composed exclusively of missionary students. The Commission therefore think it enough to have indicated the risk to which the training given in such colleges is specially exposed. It is mani- festly a risk which can be greatly reduced by careful selection of candidates and by a resolute maintenance of the standard of college work. The conclusion to which this points is that, while university training is highly desirable, Societies should seek to secure that candidates who have not this advantage receive a general education as broad and comprehensive as possible. SPIRITUAL LIFE OF CANDIDATES Up to this point we have spoken of the training of theological candidates mainly upon its mental and academic side. If there must be comparison, their spiritual training is more important. But there is no reason for comparison or contrast. Intellectual and spiritual progress should be inseparable, the culture of the soul and the daily exercise of religion advancing with the increase of knowledge. Yet here there is undoubtedly a great danger, especially for students whose curriculum is long and exacting. At the university and even in the theological seminary the impulses which have led to dedication may fade away, religious topics may be faced and debated in a secular spirit, habits of prayer and devotional reading may be neglected, mental equipment may be gained at the cost of faith and zeal. Much has ORDAINED MISSIONARIES 121 been done lately to obviate this danger by students' Societies and Unions, which have sprung up almost spontaneously in universities and colleges both in Europe and in America ; and any official interference in such movements would detract from their spiritual freshness. Yet this need not hinder Societies from discharging their own duty towards the inner life of those who are preparing for ordained service in the mission field. With every addi- tion which they make to their intellectual and scholastic requirements, they should affectionately and propor- tionately seek out means of cultivating in their candi- dates, or rather of helping candidates to cultivate in themselves, those personal habits and qualities which alone will enable them to utilise their attainments for God's glory high-minded and spotless morality, simple Christian fellowship, deep and unflagging piety expressed both in worship and in lowly service. RECOMMENDATIONS Keeping in view the variety of colleges and systems, and recognising that each Society must regulate its policy by the agencies and facilities which are at its disposal, the Commission tender the following recommendations: 1. Each Society should resolve to send out as its ordained missionaries only men whose training is equal to that of the home ministry in the Churches with which the Society is connected, 2. Societies should endeavour to secure that those who enter ordained service have had a broad and sound general education, including the study of languages, history, moral science, and philosophy. Where university graduation in Arts is not made imperative, provision should be made for testing and increasing the general culture of candidates. 3. When it is possible, theological training should be given in the same institution and the same class-rooms with those who are being trained for the home ministry. This is as desirable for the sake of those who are to 122 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES serve in the Churches at home as for those who are to represent the Churches abroad. 4. In all theological colleges a place should be found for some instruction in missionary topics. Every college will be strengthened for its general purposes if it assigns a definite place to foreign mission topics, as integral parts of Apologetic, of Church History, of New Testament Theology, and of Dogma. 5. In addition to his professional training in theology, every candidate should receive special missionary train- ing in topics for which a general theological college cannot be expected to find a place. The character of this training will be set forth in Chapter XIII. Care should -be taken that men who offer for missionary service after ordination are not sent out without this special missionary preparation. 6. Societies should seek to establish friendly relations with all young men who are preparing for the mission field at the very beginning of the college curriculum, and to maintain such relations by sympathetic and systematic intercourse. In each college there should be regular meetings with the students collectively and separately. As early as possible it is imperative that there should be an agreement as to the particular mission field to which each student will be sent, and guidance should be tendered to him for his private reading in accordance with the field selected. 7. For the purpose of carrying out these recommenda- tions, the Societies should enter into closer co-operation with the Governors and Boards of theological colleges and seminaries. They should ask leave to discuss with them possible modifications of the present curriculum, which might be specially helpful to missionary students, without disturbing the balance of study. They should also ascertain from principals, wardens, or professors, the names of students who are looking forward to mis- sionary service, and such particulars as will enable them to give helpful guidance. 8. Societies should put forth unobtrusive but unre- ORDAINED MISSIONARIES 123 mitting exertions to foster the spirit of consecration and the practice of piety in their candidates for ordained service, recognising that students of theology have special temptations. NOTE. While this chapter represents the views of the Commis- sion generally, the opinions of a member of the Commission who dissents from some of the conclusions will be found in an Appendix (pp. 240-245). CHAPTER X THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRIN- CIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF LAY EVANGELISTS, AND OF EDU- CATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL MIS- SIONARIES Contents: An Inclusive Ideal; Lay Evangelists: Their Opportunities for Preparation ; Work among Students in the East ; Educational Missionaries : Educational Requirements ; Spiritual and Moral Preparation ; Two Subjects for Reflection ; Industrial Missionaries : " Assistant Services " ; Upbuilding Christian Civilisation ; Necessity for Religious Training. Two Recommendations AN INCLUSIVE IDEAL THE ideal of spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical fitness which we have attempted to define in Chapter VIII. applies directly to all classes of workers on the mission field, whether ordained or unordained. We have considered at some length its application to the ordained worker, because, in his case, the professional training that he receives bears throughout on the right understand- ing and the capacity to interpret the Gospel message, and during the whole course of it he is living under conditions in which there is the fullest opportunity for the operation of formative spiritual forces over an extended period. There is no difference in principle as regards the general characteristics which should be required, though, in the case of those whose professional training is not theological, 124 LAY MISSIONARIES 125 there is considerable limitation of opportunity for effective help from others in acquiring them. It is of course clear that no one should be sent to the mission field in any capacity who does not possess in the fullest measure the missionary spirit, fervent Christian conviction, and an earnest desire to bring men to Christ. No brilliance of professional qualification can compen- sate for the lack of this fundamental condition. A man out of sympathy with the main purpose of the station will hinder more than he can help. He cannot be re- garded as truly called of God to this particular work. But even a real interest in the spread of Christ's King- dom, and such a desire to take an active part in the work abroad as may by God's grace develop into a definite call, will not justify a Board in accepting an offer of service unless pains have been taken to develop such a character and acquire such an intellectual equipment as we have seen to be necessary to efficiency. We must go on therefore to consider how other classes of workers can best be helped in their preparation. LAY EVANGELISTS We take first the class of " lay evangelists," men whose main interest is in the spreading of the Gospel by preach- ing, and who have lacked either the opportunity or the desire for a full professional training for ordination. As we have seen, such men can still find full scope in some fields and under some Societies, notably the China Inland Mission, though in the more developed fields and in other Societies the openings for them are few. Their Opportunities for Preparation In many cases they are men who have had compara- tively early to earn their own living. They have had scanty opportunities of general education. They give their spare time whole-heartedly to evangelistic work in Sunday Schools, mission rooms, and in the open air. 126 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Such men are necessarily thrown very much on their own resources. This need not be a disadvantage, if the end to be aimed at is clearly grasped. The school of prayer is always open, and the effort to find in the life of Jesus Christ a revelation of the character which can transform the missionary after His likeness will give the Gospels a living force, which will enable a man to turn to best account every experience that God sends him. GOD, after all, is the true Educator, and it is always a strength to remember that He knows the work which He has for each, and has chosen the conditions which best prepare for it. At the same time the privileges of Christian fellowship are open to all. Such a man must no doubt do the greater part of the work for himself, especially in character training. He must set himself deliberately to keep alive in -himself a teachable spirit. He must learn to give up his own methods and plans for the sake of harmonious co-operation. He must be always growing in the power of understanding and caring for other men. To do this he must set himself to learn a great deal from others, and he would do well, if necessary, to curtail his evan- gelistic activity for the sake of some steady combined work as a member of a Bible circle and a mission study band. The Society that accepts him should, if necessary, find the funds to give him a full course at a Bible school or institute before going out. He cannot dispense with a competent knowledge of the Bible and of the outlines of Christian doctrine, such as can hardly be acquired with- out systematic instruction. He must learn to co-ordinate the results of his own experience, his own ways of think- ing and working, with those of other people. For him, as for all other workers abroad, some knowledge of the subjects included under the head of Specific Missionary Preparation is a vital necessity. He must have all the help that can be given him to understand the religion and the ways of thought and social customs of the people among whom he is to labour. If at the same time he could make a beginning at language study, his capacity LAY MISSIONARIES 127 would be tested in a most important direction before sailing. If, therefore, a language school can be pro- vided at home, provision should be made in connection with it to meet the need of this class of missionary. Work among Students in the East The Commission are cognisant of the work upon the mission field of other laymen, not missionaries attached to the ordinary Boards, but doing a work of far-reaching influence amongst the educated classes of the East. In view of the greatness of their responsibilities the Com- mission would urge that those sent out to this work should have not only, as is usual, taken a college or university course, but that they should, in addition, have received special missionary training for the field to which they go, adequate theological instruction to equip them for leading thinking men into Christian truth and Church fellowship, and, as in the case of all other mission- aries, such discipline in character and temperament as will add to their gift of leadership " docility," " gentleness," and "sympathy." We must consider next the application of our principles to the training of those whose primary work on the field is not theological. A special Commission (III.) is at work on the subject of education, and to their Report we must refer for a full treatment of the whole question of the home training of educational missionaries. A summary of the answers bearing directly on this point received by that Commission from missionaries abroad has been furnished to us. Their correspondents assume that care has been taken to see that the candidates possess the necessary spiritual qualification, and have an intelligent grasp of Christian truth. They then lay stress, as we should expect, on the necessity for full professional training, including both a teacher's diploma and experience in leaching, as varied as possible. 128 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Special Educational Requirements They emphasise also the special need for a broad general training. No knowledge comes amiss to a teacher. He never can tell when he may find a use for it. They notice also the vital necessity for such a grasp of the principles that lie at the back of accepted methods of teaching at home as will give power to modify and adapt them to new conditions. When we bear in mind the fact that the call from every variety of field, Africa no less than India and China, conies not only in the name of the children who need teaching, but also and with special urgency from native teachers who need training, it will become clear that there is a call at this moment for the consecration of the highest educational gifts to the work abroad, and that no technical training, no personal self-discipline, no breadth of experience, can be too thorough for the work that may be required. Stress is also laid on the importance of most if not all the subjects with which we shall have to deal later under the head of Specific Missionary Preparation. Whoever else on the station can afford to be ignorant of the religion, the history, and the literature of the people among whom the work is carried on, the teacher and the trainer of teachers cannot. The teacher, therefore, must have a careful grounding in Comparative Religion, in the history, customs, and religion of the land in which he is to work, and hi what is described as their " racial psychology." Openings exist at the present time in Japan and India for kindergarten work. A knowledge of music is clearly important in many cases. Manual and technical training have a value in all education both primary and secondary, especially among peoples who have yet to learn the dignity of manual labour. Domestic science and hygiene may also be required both for the management of a boarding-school and as school subjects. The most important suggestion relates to the necessity LAY MISSIONARIES 129 for a thorough knowledge of the Bible, and for careful study of various methods of teaching it. Almost all these subjects fall within the normal range of a teacher's professional training. A teacher, however, who is hoping to be a missionary, must, in the light of these suggestions from abroad, take special pains (i) to master the principles as well as the methods of his art, (2) to read systematically outside the range of his pro- fessional studies, (3) to enlarge and deepen at every point his knowledge of the Bible. Spiritual and Moral Preparation The conditions under which the training is received may or may not make it possible for help to be provided from without for the acquisition of the necessary spiritual and moral qualifications. In any case, they cannot be regarded as " extras " in a training course for teachers, for in these respects the requirements for educational and for missionary work are identical. No one will question this in respect to " gentleness " and " sym- pathy." It may sound paradoxical as well as hard to expect a teacher to cultivate " docility." Yet it is pre- cisely on this side that the teacher's danger chiefly lies. It is very hard not to grow dogmatic and domineering in the exercise of legitimate and necessary authority. Yet to succumb to the danger is fatal to true educational efficiency. And, inasmuch as the spirit cannot be con- fined to the classroom, failure in this respect must prove destructive of the peace of any community to which the teacher belongs. Two Subjects for Reflection We must therefore guard with special vigilance against the possibility of failure here. And it may be permissible to suggest two subjects of reflection which may be of use for this end. The first is the wonderful and obviously genuine humility which marks all the greatest masters COM. v. 9 130 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES in any subject. They seem so much more conscious than other people of the extent of their own ignorance. The second is this, the best teachers in the past, men like Dr. Arnold of Rugby, have felt most keenly that they would lose all their power of teaching if they ceased to be learners. In all but the most mechanical side of education this is deeply true, because the teacher's work in any subject is not limited to the communication of a form of sound words. He has not reached his goal till he has opened his pupils' eyes to see. With this goal before us, reverence for the truth we teach, and for the ever fresh intelligence to which we have to impart it, should keep our own eyes open continually to the access of fresh light. The specific subjects to which attention has been called, Comparative Religion and the special study of the history, religion, and psychology of the people among whom the teacher is to work, fall outside the range of ordinary professional training. Provision should be made for them and for fuller instruction in the Bible, Church History, and Christian doctrine, and for efficient language study, whether at home or on the field. INDUSTRIAL MISSIONARIES The problem of industrial mission work is outside the scope of the Commission, but it is impossible to deal with the training of industrial agents without recognising some of the complexities and uncertainties of that problem. Such agents may be employed by Societies in two distinct ways, and the training required will differ accordingly. " Assistant Services " They are sometimes needed for what may be called " assistant services " in the maintenance and working of mission stations. In the case of large stations located in uncivilised lands this need is extensive and varied, varying from purely artisan duties to the duties of LAY MISSIONARIES 131 accountants, secretaries, and master-printers ; but it may fairly be said that for such employment specifically missionary training is not necessary. At the same time men so employed are exposed to temptations infinitely greater than beset the workman or clerk at home, and their behaviour reflects honour or disgrace upon the mission cause. The utmost care, therefore, should be shown by Societies in their selection. Wh le well-tested moral character is an absolute requisite, definite Christian conviction and interest cannot be dispensed with. A single servant in a mission station who lacks interest in its spiritual enterprises, and is liable to fall into careless or easy habits in his dealing with natives, may bring lamentable disaster upon the cause. Yet systematic training at home cannot be made an essential for such work. Societies will be able to ascertain, by close and confidential enquiry, the moral and religious qualities of those whom they employ. Upbuilding Christian Civilisation It is entirely different in the case of agents who are sent to assist in building up a Christian civilisation among backward and half -barbarous races. Their work is of far-reaching character, indeed of unlimited importance the presentation of Christianity as a life, the teaching of native converts to earn an honourable living by skilful industry, the capacity to develop industries on lines in harmony with the genius alike of the place and of the people, the daily control of the habits as well as of the occupations of native children in schools and workshops. For such functions the very best technical skill is required. A tradesman, although thoroughly competent to work under a master at home, may be incompetent to initiate and organise, and unsuccessful as a teacher of natives. Therefore, if possible, men who have reached at home the position of foremen should be appointed, or, at least, those who have given proof of ability and enterprise as well as of technical proficiency. It will also be extremely 132 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES valuable to send a selected agent for perhaps a year to study at one of those technical schools or colleges which are now available in almost every centre of population in Europe and America. Necessity for Religious Training It is equally important that they should be well versed in Christian truth. While a scientific study of theology is out of the question, they must have the fullest measure of that intelligent mastery of Bible doctrine which is attainable by a studious and consecrated layman, so that they may be able to answer all plain questions, to give simple addresses and to impart Gospel truth to children. Their beliefs must be mature, their spiritual concern definite, and their missionary purpose keen. Every agent of a Mission is looked upon as a repre- sentative of Christianity, who ought to be qualified to persuade men to welcome the Gospel by setting it forth in its fulness and in its intrinsic superiority to all other forms of religion. Abundant evidence has been sub- mitted to the Commission that this is a responsibility which no class of missionary can escape. One case, for instance, has been cited in which a man sent out as a chemist to the Far East wrote home to say that he was baffled by being confronted with problems as to Christian doctrine of which he had never heard, and that he must ask to be sent home to study theology closely. Certain moral attainments, too, are indispensable. Men occupied in such work hold a difficult position. The knowledge that to some extent their position as industrial workers is a subordinate one creates, the Com- mission are assured, a disposition to abandon their specific tasks for " spiritual " undertakings in which they will be on an equal footing with the ordained members of the staff. In their own spheres also, being without the supervision of a skilled business manager, they may resent the control of the missionary at the head of the station, and, generally, their attitude to the Christian LAY MISSIONARIES 133 cause may lack warmth of sympathy and intelligent loyalty. We are speaking, it must be remembered, of men who have not had the advantage of higher education and who are therefore specially apt to show one-sided- ness, self-assertiveness, and narrowness of outlook. But the faults are not always on one side. It would be well for all to bear in mind the abiding honour conferred on all forms of industrial, and especially on menial labour by the thirty years spent in the carpenter's shop in Nazareth by Him who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and washed His ambitious and therefore quarrelsome disciples' feet to teach them the dignity of service. If we enlarge upon these risks, it is because the past and the present supply clear warning on this matter. TWO RECOMMENDATIONS The Commission accordingly recommend that Societies should give earnest consideration to the religious training of agents who are appointed to responsible industrial posts in the field. Their numbers are not large enough, and their trades are too various, to justify the idea of organising special schools or institutes, and it will prob- ably be found unsuitable to send them to theological colleges. Yet there are two directions in which the Com- mission desire to point Societies : (1) A period of study at the Bible Training Institutes described in another part of this Report might be pre- scribed to agents after their selection. (2) They might be employed for a time, say for a year, in Church work under the direction of a wise and kindly clergyman or layman, who would advise them in their reading, besides guiding them in the practice of different kinds of Christian service. It would be a great additional help if they were meanwhile guests in a sympathetic Christian household. CHAPTER XI THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRIN- CIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF MEDICAL MISSIONARIES AND NURSES 1 Contents : Professional or Medical Training : Professional Training apart from Missionary Control ; Post-graduate Pro- fessional Training ; Professional Preparation on the Field. The Missionary Training : The Relation of Professional and Mis- sionary Work ; Still Wider Relationships ; The Conditions under which Preparation must be made ; Existing Aids to Preparation ; Certain Suggestions ; The Medical Student's Self-Preparation. The Preparation of Trained Nurses : Three Lines of Possible Co-operation. Language Study for Medical Workers THE preparation of the medical missionary covers, naturally, the two great divisions of work represented in the medical missionary vocation, that which is purely professional, and that which is especially or distinctively missionary. A Commission dealing with preparation work must consider each of these divisions. It is to be understood that men and women alike are included in what is said of the medical missionary. THE PROFESSIONAL OR MEDICAL TRAINING Professional Training apart from Missionary Control The term " medical missionary " is now universally understood to imply the possession of full qualification, 1 See Minute, Appendix No. XV. 134 MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 135 that is to say, of a degree or diploma conferring the right to practise in the country in which it is conferred. The medical training essential to the possession of such a right is determined in Great Britain by the General Medical Council, and in other Western countries by governmental regulation. Every student must take the course prescribed by this governing body, and at fixed stages submit to and be found able to meet the necessary examination tests before the right to practise is conferred. This is equally true of the ordinary medical student and of the medical student who contemplates the mission field. It is also equally true of the student who resides in a medical missionary training college and of the student who works independently. All must pass through the same routine of medical school studies and of hospital practice. So far as professional training up to the point of graduation is concerned, there is and there can be no difference. Post-graduate Professional Training Over this the Medical Council exercises no control. It is in the hands of the young graduate, and of the Medical Board which should be associated with every Missionary Society which sends forth medical missionaries. It is the duty of such a Board (some Missionary Societies have not as yet formed one) to secure any further training and hospital appointments for the candidate which may be deemed advisable in view of the field to which he is to be sent. Medical missionaries in tropical climates have to deal with a large class of diseases dependent on conditions which either exist not at all, or very slightly, in the West. Whilst the ordinary medical school cannot take special note of such diseases and their treatment, provision is now made in special (tropical) schools for the study of such diseases, and for the practical use of such instruments and methods as are essential for their detection and for guidance in treatment. To send out a man to practise in a tropical climate, without first 136 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES making sure that he has had the advantage of a course at such a school, brings loss to the missionary cause. Every Missionary Society should have its auxiliary Medical Board, and even if it involves some extra expense for further training, the Medical Board should be em- powered to provide it, if needful, and in any case to make sure that the candidate is prepared for his pro- fessional work. Success or failure on the part of a medical missionary who must be prepared to stand alone in the performance of his medical and surgical work means a great deal in any given region to the success or failure of the Gospel. He cannot be too thoroughly prepared. A special and additional class of men is being called for in these recent years, men who have the gift of teach- ing in one or more of the various departments of medicine, and whose hearts are drawn to deal with native students with a view to win them for Christ. It is manifest that the higher the professional attainment and the power to teach, the greater will be the influence exerted on the students by the Christian life and speech of their pro- fessors. Such men require not only the ordinary pro- fessional training, but such further training and practice as will specially fit them for this kind of work. On the whole it may be said that the home-training of medical missionaries, on the professional side, does not leave much more to be desired than can be met, first, by the constant growth of scientific knowledge in our uni- versities and in our medical schools, of which knowledge the medical missionary student should be a full partaker ; second, by the help and guidance which may be afforded in post-graduate and practical work by a good auxiliary Medical Board ; and third, by the stimulus which the Spirit of Christ is wont to communicate to men who have a great purpose in life before them. Professional Preparation on the Field Every medical missionary has to learn the language of the people among whom he is to work. For this he MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 137 must have time, perhaps at home, certainly during the first and second years of his residence abroad. A gap, however, of a year or two years, in which professional work is wholly laid aside, while presenting advantages on one side, would be disastrous on the other. " To him that hath shall be given " is a truth which has a special application to the man whose vocation is to heal the sick. It is therefore of real importance that, while a man is pursuing his linguistic studies, he should not be entirely severed from professional observation and interest. Here again it is for the Medical Board to see to some arrangement which will secure during the period of study that a new medical missionary should be placed alongside of a senior medical missionary, whose work would be a source of continual professional instruction to the new- comer. THE MISSIONARY TRAINING The Relation of Professional and Missionary Work We have considered the problem of preparation from its strictly professional side as the preparation of a man who has to specialise in his medical training with a view to work abroad. We have now to consider what further specialisation is required, because he is looking forward to exercise his profession as the member of a missionary body with the definite purpose of bearing witness to the power of the Christian life, and so of helping not only to win in- dividual patients to Christ, but to prepare the way for the Christianisation of the nations. His characteristic function as a healer of the sick is, as we saw at the outset of our enquiry, in the truest sense missionary work. It is given to him to represent directly that large and clearly most important side of our Lord's earthly ministry, which was spent in " doing good " and " healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." He must therefore regard his medical work as of primary obligation. Lack of faithfulness on the medical side, for the sake of what looks like more definitely 138 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES spiritual work, cannot be according to the mind of Christ, and will inevitably weaken the spiritual influence of the worker. Still, his work itself will draw the people to him and make opportunities for direct evangelistic witnessing and teaching, which opportunities he must be prepared to utilise. The extent and character of these opportunities will vary considerably If he has comparatively few patients, there is no reason why his medical duties should not permit him to take a large share in such work. If, on the other hand, he has a hospital with a hundred patients, involving many serious surgical cases, and also an out-patient department to which, twice or thrice a week, patients come in numbers varying from fifty to one hundred and fifty or even more, it is equally plain that he can have neither time nor strength to take a large share in the directly spiritual side of the work. He must be content, while taking a general spiritual oversight, to use others for the large opportunity presented by the overflowing numbers whom he has drawn together. Still there remains a personal responsibility which no one else can share. The doctor whose skill has brought sight to the blind, relief to the suffering, and filled a home with hope and life, has an influence which can never be trans- ferred. Still Wider Relationships Outside his direct work among the patients hi his hospital, he will also have relationships as a member of the mission staff which we shall do well to take account of here. In some fields, notably in China, he may have to take a share in training native doctors, Christian or heathen. His practice may bring him into sympathetic touch with the general European society, and his scientific training will give his judgment, if it is felt to be the outcome of a definite facing of the problems, a peculiar weight with more thoughtful minds, whether European or Asiatic, on many of the fundamental issues in the conflict between faith and unbelief. MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 139 Such in outline are the directly spiritual responsi- bilities which a medical missionary must be prepared to meet. The Conditions under which Preparation must be made We must consider next the conditions under which this preparation must be made. A fair proportion of medical missionary candidates begin their professional training at a university. Others begin their training at the Medical Colleges attached to our great hospitals. In Great Britain a good proportion of the men live during their training at one of the medical missionary training homes. The Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society is the only one which has such a home for women. The intellectual strain on a medical student arising from his strictly professional work is very severe, and sometimes it is not of a sort to develop his general powers. Early specialisation on purely scientific subjects is not always conducive to width of general culture or to capacity for grasping readily the points in a philosophical or an historical argument. The intellectual atmosphere in classroom and laboratory may be out of sympathy with, or even antagonistic to, religious belief. Further- more, men during their time in hospital schools are exposed to special temptations on the moral side of their nature. The very nature of the work brings the student into close and constant contact with the most terrible realities of misery, and suffering, and sin. Clearly the problem of preparation under these con- ditions is no simple one. Existing Aids to Preparation The Baptist Missionary Society seems to be the only one which has made a direct attempt to deal with it. They urge on all medical students who contemplate offering for service under them to take advantage of a scheme of Bible study that they have prepared, so that during the time of medical study they may keep this in view, and occasionally present themselves for examination on their knowledge of various portions of the Word. No other Society seems to make any official provision for its prospective medical missionaries, but the Medical Mission- ary Training Homes make provision for nurturing the spiritual life of their students, both by Bible Study and by practical spiritual work. At this point it is only right also to call attention to the help which the Student Volunteer Missionary Union is giving towards the solution of this problem. Seeing that a very large proportion of the missionary candidates are said to declare themselves at the beginning of or very early in their course, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of an organisa- tion which invites them to link themselves together in study circles for the study of the Bible, Christian apologetics, and the mission field. Very few of the Student Volunteers among them ultimately relinquish their purpose. Certain Suggestions It appears to the Commission that the Candidates' Committees or Candidate Secretary of the different Societies could, in co-operation with the Student Volun- teer Missionary Union and the Secretaries of Missionary Training Institutions, get in touch with a considerable proportion of their medical candidates, and so be in a position to help them all through their student days. There seems also room for the development under wise spiritual headship of hostels for medical students. These need not be limited to missionary candidates. It would in any case be well that the students in them should as far as possible be under no pecuniary obligation to the Societies. Otherwise a sensitive conscience face to face with religious doubts and perplexities may find itself in a position of serious difficulty. During the long period of medical training it is important that opportunity should be provided by Mission Boards for intercourse between medical students and honoured MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 141 experienced seniors. There is a twofold end to be gained. On the one hand, during the strain of a course which taxes every energy of body, mind, and spirit, such sym- pathetic friendship would prove an immense boon to many young men and women. On the other hand, it would afford opportunity for a closer knowledge of the tempera- ment and character of the future missionary, for such counsel as might tend to prepare him for future service, and such detailed estimate of his best possibilities as would guide towards his subsequent special training for the field. The Medical Student's Self -Preparation Such are the conditions of the problem, the difficulties that beset medical missionary students and the special agencies through which help can be brought to them. It is clear that for the missionary side of their preparation these students must depend for the most part on their own resources. It will not be out of place to give a few suggestions which may help them to apply the general principles of missionary preparation already laid down to their special needs and opportunities. To take first the main difficulty, the trial to faith which comes to a man when he finds himself challenged to give an account of the hope that is in him in terms that will satisfy the conditions of modern thought. The trial, as we have seen, is sure to present itself in its most acute form to a medical student. The first, and for a time the natural and healthy instinct of an earnest and reverent mind in view of this trial is as far as possible to avoid it. It is well, and a direct part of missionary preparation, that special pains should be taken to keep alive the personal life of private devotion, by prayer, Bible reading, and the use of recognised means of grace. It is a help also if opportunity can be found, most easily on Sundays, for some direct spiritual work for others, whether in a Sunday school, in a mission room, or in ward services. The experience in teaching and preaching so gained will be fruitful in the future, besides 142 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES helping in the present to deepen the hold on the spiritual facts both of man's need and of God's power, of which any scheme of the universe that claims to be complete must give an account. The student meanwhile may be quietly gathering material for the intellectual reconcilia- tion between these facts of spiritual experience and the facts with which his scientific training is making him familiar. When the main burthen of his professional training is over, he will have both more time to devote to the problem and more material on which to ground his conclusions. The task, however, must be faced some- time. Let it be done with faithfulness, reverence, and con- fidence. It is not wise to leave the solution, as some have done to their cost, till they find the problem confronting them on the field, both in their own hearts and in the questions of enquirers. It must be hard work to get hold and to keep hold of any fragment of the Truth but no one can say that it is not worth while. With regard to the other elements included under the head of general preparation, there is not much to be said. The work itself is an unequalled training-ground, as the experience of the sick and suffering everywhere can testify, in tenderness and sympathy. It depends so much for its success on the faculty of securing willing obedience that it develops a peculiar quality of consider- ateness and adaptability. And a man has to be so constantly on his guard against allowing his fancies to distort the facts with which he has to deal, that he has no excuse if he does not maintain to the end a teachable spirit. On the intellectual side some students, as we have seen, have had but scanty opportunities of acquiring general culture. This is a hindrance not only to mission- ary but also to strictly professional efficiency. It is not, though students find it difficult to believe the fact, lost time, even from an examination point of view, to make room deliberately for some outside interests. In any case there is blessing every way for those who will not only keep their Sundays free from the ever-encroaching pressure MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 143 of examination work, but utilise them for deeper thought and for spiritual preparation. Time must if possible be found and provision made by the Societies for the specific missionary preparation required to fit a doctor for work in a particular field, by careful study of the people among whom he is to labour and if possible of their language, after his professional training is over. THE PREPARATION OF TRAINED NURSES Evidence received from Missionary Societies has already shown that the need of nurse missionaries with full qualification is great on the mission field ; that out of the number of trained nurses who offer themselves an unduly large proportion are declined by some of the Mission Boards ; and that some of those nurses who are accepted for training find special difficulty on the in- tellectual side in the ordinary courses prescribed for those preparing for foreign work. There is not yet, the Com- mission have reason to believe, a well-thought-out course of all-round missionary training adapted alike to the require- ments of a nurse's work abroad and to her capabilities after the completion of her professional training. It has to be recognised that the actual missionary service of a nurse in her hospital ward or dispensary is of a simpler and more elementary nature than that of an evangelistic or educational missionary. Therefore she needs less advanced intellectual preparation. It also is apparent that the present conditions of hospital training, whilst in many ways valuable in forming character, tend to con- centrate memory and observation entirely in one direction, and largely exclude the possibility of study or thought outside professional lines. As a result, nurses frequently find it extremely difficult to profit by the training subse- quently provided for them by the Societies, and lack, through disuse, the power first to acquire a good working knowledge of the English Bible, and then a grasp of the language in the mission field. 144 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Three Lines of Possible Co-operation Co-operation from three different sources is, the Com- mission hold, essential if professional nurses are to fill the places now awaiting them in the mission field. First, the nurse herself must co-operate during her hospital training. Experience in many hospitals has shown that by steady self-discipline opportunity for at least the maintenance of Bible knowledge may be ob- tained; that the narrowing of the mental horizon, so- natural in the strenuous life, is not inevitable ; and that those moral characteristics described in Chapter VIII. as essential to all missionaries may, by the grace of God, be acquired or cultivated in the wards. Not only may the Christian life be manifested in deeds of tenderness and mercy, but brief opportunities for personal witness to patients or fellow-nurses may be found, and moments, even in the night watches, may be utilised for intercessory prayer. There are now within many of our large hospitals religious organisations worked by the nurses themselves, by means of which they keep in touch with wider spiritual interests, develop Bible study, and foster their missionary desires. Second, the Commission ventures to urge the need for co-operation upon the Missionary Societies. In the short intervals when a nurse has leisure, social contact with missionary-hearted friends might be arranged. Guidance as to the best use of slender opportunities of reading or studying might be given. The actual requirements on the intellectual side for nurse missionaries in various fields might be considered, and some form of simplified but efficient preparation arranged in relation to these requirements and to the best possibilities of professional nurses. Third, whilst recognising that the same professional standards and discipline must be maintained in the training of nurses for home and for foreign work, the Commission would express a hope that the hospital authorities may, ere long, see their way to some widening MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 145 of the social and intellectual influences which surround a nurse's training, and find some means to lessen that heavy pressure of work which, though it may tend to development in one direction, has in some instances pro- duced deterioration in others. LANGUAGE STUDY FOR MEDICAL WORKERS In the preparation of medical missionaries and nurses as much as possible should be done in the home land to give them a knowledge of the language of the people to whom they are going. This is more important to medical workers than to any others. They are from the first beset with applications for medical help, and it is of some consequence not to be kept too long from professional work, but the language they must have. No attempts have yet been made on the part of the Missionary Boards to meet this need. The existence of an Oriental Institute with provision for the teaching of Eastern and African languages would go far to meet the difficulty. COM. v. 10 CHAPTER XII THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRIN- CIPLES TO THE TRAINING OF WOMEN MISSIONARIES Contents: Recognition of the Past ; Women's Share in Christian Missions ; Delicacy and Difficulty of the Work ; A Special Strain upon Women; Spiritual Preparation of Women Missionaries; Three Points of Moral Training ; Experience in Practical Work ; " Woman's Work for Women " a Fallacy ; Individualism and the Corporate Sense RECOGNITION OF THE PAST IN the work of this Commission no distinctions save what is inevitable have been drawn between men and women missionaries. It is, however, rendered necessary by the peculiar sphere and nature of the missionary work of women that a section of this Report should be devoted to the application to women candidates of the principles of training which have been laid down. Before entering upon this section the Commission must repeat what has already been said of the missionary succession generally, that failure has been comparatively rare ; and that it is impossible to estimate the value to the -whole missionary movement of the loyal, self -forgetting service of the women who have given themselves to it. It is also gladly ac- knowledged that much has been already done, often by private individuals, towards the preparation of women missionaries ; here also the Commission would have it understood that while advance in view of new condi- tions is earnestly to be desired, the past is not ignored. 146 WOMEN MISSIONARIES 147 WOMEN'S SHARE IN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS No thoughtful student of the missions of the Christian Church will deny the supreme importance of women's share in them. Women must be missionaries if it were only that they may testify to the gracious uplifting love of their Lord, if it were only that the long chain of courageous, patient, loving women missionaries may be unbroken. But there is far more than the historic call. A mere glance over the " main functions of the missionary force," as stated above, should be sufficient to impress upon any student of the non-Christian world the vital demand for the presence of Christian women. A vast proportion of any population would have to be left without the message, if there were no women to present it. The Christian life would be very partially manifested if the womanly characteristics were absent from a missionary settlement. The Christian Church, the Christian nation, might indeed be organised but could not be built up apart from the education and training of the womanhood of each community into Christian ideals of wifehood, motherhood, leadership ; and this only Christian women can supply. And if it be remembered that the wives and mothers of one generation are the true moral founders of the whole community of the next, it must be acknow- ledged that the character and the preparation of the women who are commissioned to train them are matters of the gravest consideration. DELICACY AND DIFFICULTY OF THE WORK Further, the exceeding delicacy and difficulty of the work of women missionaries needs to be recognised. In all except the lowest pagan fields, the holy liberty of Christian womanhood is misunderstood. Even where outward respect is manifest, inner confidence is long withheld. The missionary has ever to beware lest her rightful liberty become a stumbling-block to them that 148 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES are weak. In her access to the inner life of the homes, where religion has its stronghold and where custom from generation to generation is interlaced with creed, she has opportunity of dealing in tender directness with those relationships of husband and wife, of parents and children, of brothers and sisters, upon which the divine ideal of the Christian family is based. The British Government may rightly suppress sati, but it is the woman missionary who can penetrate to the deep religious duty of wife to husband which underlies the whole question of Indian widowhood, and illumine its misguided devotion with Christian liberty and light. The large majority of women missionaries are unmarried ; and this in itself adds to the perplexity in the minds of those to whom they go. It is apparent that the woman, trained to noble views of womanhood, is as necessary as the worker, trained to teach, and that she should be a woman not merely of the West. There is no way in which the growth of indigenous Churches can be more grievously retarded than by leading the women of Africa and the East to develop upon Hues alien to their national genius, because they happen to be lines familiar in the loved and trusted woman mis- sionary. Again, in . native Christian communities, es- pecially those of the second or third generation, or where large numbers of ignorant converts have been baptized, there falls upon the woman missionary the heavy strain of dealing, within the Christian fold, with widespread moral weakness, based, for the most part, on inherited tendencies and sheer ignorance, but none the less fatal in its influence upon the Church itself and upon the sur- rounding heathen. Within two or three years of leaving a Training Home, scores of women missionaries have found themselves striving to lay the foundations of Christian character in this sandy soil, dealing almost single-handed with great moral problems for which they were totally unprepared, and of which, in some cases, they had never heard before. WOMEN MISSIONARIES 149 A SPECIAL STRAIN UPON WOMEN At the same time there is no doubt that the circum- stances and experiences of missionary life tell more severely upon women than upon men. Women are constitutionally though there are striking exceptions more emotional and less controlled, more anxious minded, more easily "worried," more given to overtax their strength. Their health is more affected by climate, and it is stated on good authority that they are more careless and less teachable regarding laws of health. Also a considerable proportion of women missionaries are, by the conditions of their work, more exposed to the sun's most fatal rays during the most trying hours of the day. Women are frequently thrown into closer association with each other in the house, and can command less privacy than can men missionaries. They are also, in many countries, less free on social grounds to take active exercise. Uncongenial companionship is probably more frequent in their case than in the case of men. Women are more sensitive to the spiritual and moral atmosphere surrounding them, they therefore miss more keenly the comfort and support of the Christian community at home, and are also, consciously or unconsciously, more depressed by the influences of heathenism. Conscious, therefore, of the importance and difficulty of the task of women in every mission field, and the peculi- arly testing conditions under which they enter upon it, the Commission again draws attention to the " general features of missionary training." These are essential, and the same for all missionaries. But there arise out of the conditions of women's work points of emphasis, to some of which reference must be made. SPIRITUAL PREPARATION OF WOMEN MISSIONARIES The spiritual preparation of the woman missionary, having regard to her susceptibility to spiritual atmo- 150 sphere whether friendly or adverse, must be consciously directed to help her to be independent of external aids, and to face bravely depressing conditions. The aim of training must therefore be the formation in each candidate of the habit of direct constant communion with God in the broadest and deepest sense of that soul-satisfying experience. This supreme demand will be met variously, according to the various ideals of the religious life, the circumstances under which training is being conducted, and the need of the individual candi- date ; the essential thing is that it be consciously kept in view as a first element of preparation. The formation of a habit of loving and of resting in objective truth, apart from any present subjective experience of it, should also be carefully cultivated as a safeguard against spiritual depression in times of illness or over-strain. THREE POINTS OF MORAL TRAINING Under the head of moral training there are three matters, in addition to those already noted, to which attention should be paid. 1. A special moral training needs to be addressed directly to the probable circumstances of a woman mis- sionary's daily life. The so-called " minor morals," the lack of which has so much to do with the existence of " strained relations," must be emphasised in precept and in practice. The law of mutual loyalty, which is the practical expression of the law of love, must be obeyed until it becomes a habit, first during training and then in the mission house. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit must be coveted. Those excrescences and idio- syncrasies which travesty true individuality must be laid aside. A healthy sense of proportion in lesser matters must be acquired. 2. There is a grave problem which as yet faces all Societies except those which send out missionaries vowed to celibacy the problem of the frequent resignation of young women missionaries through marriage. There WOMEN MISSIONARIES 151 is a sense in which this problem belongs to the department of moral training. The Commission recognises to the full the functions of married home life within the Mission, and also the self-sacrificing labour of many missionaries' wives. But reference is here made to those marriages of young women missionaries which are not infrequently, we fear, the direct result of mistaken vocation, disappoint- ment and sense of failure, or of unhappy relations in the mission house. If the preparation given at home were such as to make candidates less dependent upon external aids in their spiritual life, and if such a public opinion were formed as should help the young missionary to realise that her offer of service, while in no sense involving a vow (unless such vows are of the genius of the Society), yet is a pledge of special steadfastness of purpose, she would be less susceptible to this particular appeal when addressed to any emotion other than that which alone should lead to marriage. The whole question of missionary vocation, and the spirit of detachment and discipline which it involves, needs re-statement in the Church to-day, and wise emphasis in institutions where missionaries are trained. 3. In view of the work which lies before women mis- sionaries, it is essential that they should be trained to perceive and estimate moral values, and learn how to get into touch with the whole wide sphere of human life that they may bring it into contact with God. The large mass of practical work, such as district visiting or giving addresses in factories and laundries, has two valuable aspects as training, the purely evangelistic, which is thoroughly understood, and the moral and sociological, which for the.most part is not. Experience in stating the message of the Gospel is necessary for every mis- sionary ; so is the power of getting into contact with the realities of life. The moral principles underlying family life, and the difficulty of applying them under adverse circumstances ; the best line of child discipline in the home ; the problems which beset boy and girl life in their stages of development ; the special temptations of various 152 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES temperaments and how they can be met ; the moral value of sanitation and hygiene ; the elements of domestic economy ; these and many aspects of what is known as preventive work should be familiar to the woman missionary, whether she be evangelistic, educational, or medical, and her training should provide her with an opportunity for gaining experience on such lines. At present, in the routine of practical work these matters are often crowded out, and have to be painfully faced at their darkest in the mission field. The moral training of a missionary is faulty until she has learned to recognise and to meet the moral needs of other women and girls. EXPERIENCE IN PRACTICAL WORK The problem of the extent and nature of the practical work which a woman candidate should be given during her training time has not yet, in the opinion of some experienced workers, been wholly solved. Enough must be given to test the power of passing on a message ; to keep a student in touch with need, sorrow, suffering, and temptation ; and to help her to find whether her power lies with women or with children, with less or with more educated people. Too much time spent in the routine of visiting work makes undue demand upon the energies of the student. Care needs to be taken lest working amongst poor and degraded people in the slums of our cities should induce an attitude of mind and a bearing towards those ministered to which would be quite unsuitable in the East. The kind of practical work to be done, and the amount of time to be spent upon it, should be carefully thought out with regard to the needs both of the particular mission field and the particular student. There is no de- partment of training in which so much can be gained by ensuring for every student access to an experienced woman who has been in the mission field, and can discuss the bearing of home problems upon problems to be met abroad. WOMEN MISSIONARIES 153 " WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMEN " A FALLACY In the department of intellectual training there is one consideration which must guide the whole system, that to which reference has already been made, the peculiar mission of Christian womanhood. There is a common phrase which contains a truth, but which used in a limited and partial sense by Societies and by the Church, has served to narrow the conception of the mission of Christian womanhood, to the great loss of the whole missionary movement " Woman's work for women." It is the ideal of many good people, and of many would-be mis- sionaries, that the end of woman's work is to teach, heal, evangelise the ignorant and degraded women and children of heathen lands ; that and nothing further. We have, therefore, trained our missionaries for that alone. Truly, we have moved about in " worlds not realised." A vision of the place of women in the building up of the whole fabric of national life, and a statesmanlike conception of the way to realise the vision, is urgently demanded. In the work of national regeneration to which we have set our hand the woman missionary has a place of primary importance. She works indeed for to-day ; but she must be trained to know and to act upon the knowledge that down to the smallest detail her life and her work belong to the great future. Her pupils are not only the wives, mothers, leaders of the next generation, they will form the character of the coming Church and people. It is obvious that Societies must magnify the office of their women missionaries. They must not only be the best physicians, educationists, evangelists, procurable ; they must be. women of vision, who will not readily yield to the influences of mere routine, and will be both quick to see opportunity, and capable of using it to the best advantage. INDIVIDUALISM AND THE CORPORATE SENSE It needs to be remembered that the natural individual- ism of women has not been so much tempered by school 154 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES life as that of men, and that their experience in associated work as a rule is small. Every effort should be made to relate their personal service during training to the corporate life of the Training College and of the Church. A woman so disciplined in her training time, so prepared by practical experience to work as part of a whole, will not only see her own life-work more broadly, but will range herself as a glad contributor to the policy of her mission station and her Mission Board, and will avail herself of every opportunity for associated work in Committee or in Conference. Above all, she will see in her native colleagues, whether Bible-women, school teachers or nurses, not so much valued personal assistants over whom she has control, as fellow-members of one great disciplined body with differing functions, but working together towards a common end. PART IV SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION CHAPTER XIII A SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE REGARD- ING THE NEED, CHARACTER, AND METHOD OF SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION Contents : The Question before us, Dr. Stewart of Lovedale ; Dr. Campbell Gibson of Swatow ; Dr. Harlan P. Beach of Yale. The Subjects of Specific Preparation ; Five Necessary Subjects. (a) The Science and History of Missions : Missionary Methods. (b) The Study of the Religions of the World : Special Missionary Bible Study, (c) The Study of Sociology : An Illustration from South Africa ; The Place of the Missionary ; Summary Statement. (d) Pedagogy : All Missionaries Educators ; What the Science of Teaching means, (e) The Study of Language : The Defects of the Present System ; Various Methods of Conducting Language Study ; Arguments for Teaching Language on the Field ; or at Home ; an Open but Vital Question THE QUESTION BEFORE US WE have seen the necessity for sending out fully equipped missionaries if the present situation is to be adequately met. We have considered the principles which should govern the general education of missionary students, and have applied these principles to the needs of the different classes of students in turn. In the great majority of cases missionary students must in the future, as in the past, obtain their professional training side 155 156 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES by side with their fellows who are preparing for work at home, and follow a common course of study with them. Hitherto, as the evidence before us shows, the Boards have been content with this general training at home, supplementing it by a period, often sadly cur- tailed, of language study on the field. Even in colleges and Training Institutes set apart exclusively for missionary candidates (the Continental colleges and the Women's Missionary College in Edinburgh are an honourable exception to this rule) the time is too short to allow of any effective modification of this usual plan with special relation to the needs of the foreign field. We have to ask therefore, as the last stage of our enquiry, " Is this general training sufficient to supply us with fully equipped missionaries ? " And if not, we have to discover in what directions this general training needs to be supplemented by a course of special preparation, and by what methods the need can be supplied. There is no room for hesitation with regard to the answer which we must give to this question. The leading mission- aries of all Societies are convinced of the necessity of specific missionary preparation, and of the great loss that must ensue unless the Societies at once face the task of making provision for it with courage, and un- trammelled by traditional ideas and habits of action. If this judgment is well grounded, action, and as far as possible joint action by the different Boards, should be taken at once. In view of the urgency of the need, and the importance of the issues that depend on a right decision at the outset in fixing the lines of future development, we shall in this chapter give at some length specimens of the evidence on which our conclusions are based. We put forward, first, three quotations showing how this need of specific preparation presents itself to three very different and capable workers, whose joint experi- ence covers a long period of time and much variety of field. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 157 Dr. Stewart of Lovedale Dr. Stewart of Lovedale, South Africa, in his book, Dawn in the Dark Continent, writes : " Complete and thoroughly trained fitness for work, whatever that may be, is not merely the tendency, but the absolute demand of the present day, and the man who possesses that fitness and the capacity to use it is the man who is preferred for any position. Without special knowledge, he has little chance of success either as an applicant or worker. It is this very training that the missionary does not get ; the purely theological training he receives in common with the minister whose life is to be spent in a country parish is good as far as it goes, but for him as a missionary it is wholly defective, because incomplete. " Let me disarm criticism and dissipate wrong im- pressions by stating that here there is neither pre- sumptuous cavilling nor mere fault-finding with existing methods. This chapter will be better understood if it is read as the sad cry of a man whose missionary life is ending ; whose life has been full of splendid oppor- tunities which might have been better improved ; and which has also been full of mistakes which might have been avoided, had he been forewarned and forearmed when his course began. The African proverb, ' The dawn does not come twice to awake a man,' means that the same opportunity in exactly the same form comes only once, and that we have but one life, and that a short one. Probably from many other parts of the mission field besides that of Africa, the same cry would come if oppor- tunity offered. . . . This experience, so far as it is personal, is not of much consequence, but it becomes of measureless consequence when connected with its bearing on the great question of the success of missions. . . . For the missionary more is necessary than a general theological course before we can say, ' Now go and preach to the heathen.' If men are not sent to India for administrative work without special training, not 158 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES even sent to plant trees there without a course of in- struction at Cooper's Hill College, they should not be sent to plant Christianity in India, Africa, and elsewhere without some training to fit them for such work. . . . " Lest vagueness be fatal, let me explain a little. " It may be assumed as absolutely true beyond all possibility of dispute, that no missionary in an entirely new country and among a strange people, discovers by intuition the best way of presenting his great message to the heathen. He learns that by experience dearly bought, and, as already stated, learns it late. Something, then, is urgently needed to give the man who goes to heathen countries a fair chance of succeeding in his work. " Further, what is wanted is not additional theological classes ; nor yet any of that particular training which is supposed to bestow special qualifications on a man going abroad as a missionary, such as some limited knowledge of useful drugs, nor some acquaintance with carpenters' tools, nor any manual accomplishments, excellent and useful as all these are as part of missionary equipment for some countries. Something far more direct and special is wanted, but in another region and on a different level of instruction. The missionary needs to be guided and helped before he actually enters on his work, as to " How to deal with a false religion ; " How to deal with a dead conscience ; " How to deal with a strange people, to whom we white men are rather unaccountable beings, and whose real opinion about us, individually and nationally, it is so difficult to reach, because so carefully concealed. These are far more difficult matters than ability to make a door, or give a dose of medicine, or open an abscess. They belong to an entirely different level of missionary life and work. If I were to address an audience of missionaries, I would appeal to them, and ask if these are not some of the questions that have most perplexed and troubled them ; and whether these have not done so, often in midnight hours when the day's work is done, and is being looked over, and none but God and the man SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 159 are present. I would also ask whether they did not painfully feel that their knowledge of the people among whom they laboured, and their religion, and the best way of dealing with them, had been gathered far too slowly and too expensively as to time, as the years went on." Dr. Campbell Gibson of Swatow Dr. Campbell Gibson of Swatow, Chairman of the Centenary Conference of Chinese missionaries at Shanghai in 1907, in his evidence before the Commission, said : " Of course a great deal turns upon what you would consider adequate equipment, and I am afraid we have worked too much upon the assumption that a missionary's work consists in the first place in doing some evangelistic preaching, and then gathering little groups of people to whom you give elementary Christian instruction, and that it does not go beyond that. It may have been so in the earlier days of missions, and it may be so still in some of the fields where you are working among ruder races. But when you are working amongst a people like the Chinese and I have no doubt it is the same in India a missionary needs a far higher equipment than that if he is to meet the demands of the people, because in China they are now keenly alive to the necessity for higher education, and they have learnt to look to the Christian Church, and necessarily to the missionaries, as their leaders and advisers in regard to the matter of intellectual development." Dr. Harlan P. Beach of Yale Dr. Harlan P. Beach, Professor of the Theory and Practice of Missions at Yale University, wrote in answer to the questions of the Commission : " Personally I am convinced, from my own experience of seven years as a China missionary, from two tours of mission fields, and from fourteen years of study of missions, and a wide acquaintance with student volun- 160 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES teers, when Educational Secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement, that scarcely any other need of the missionary enterprise is more pressing than this of adequate pre- paration for so complex an enterprise. I believe that this preparation must be different from that ordinarily given by our Seminary to candidates for the home ministry, though it will include much of that material. " It should be specific so far as the candidate's individual need and prospective work can be known. It should be as broad as the later demands to be made upon the missionary would naturally call for. It should not neglect the spiritual preparation of the candidate so far as that can be made the object of instruction and favouring conditions." '^ These witnesses do not of course stand alone. They are typical, and in each case represent the matured judgment of a man whose opinion is entitled to the fullest consideration. We need not multiply quotations to prove the necessity of specific preparation. THE SUBJECTS OF SPECIFIC PREPARATION Granted, then, the necessity for a course of specific preparation, we must go on next to enquire, " What subjects should be included in it ? " Here the very abundance of the suggestions that we have received makes an adequate handling of the subject within reasonable limits of space difficult. A member of the Commission made a list of twenty-four different sub- jects, besides " extras " such as " photography " and " typewriting," suggested as likely to be profitable by our various correspondents. Dr. Campbell Gibson in his letter 1 suggests eight groups of subjects, and adds, " These are only a few specimens of matters demanding the attention of missionary students." The list 2 of " Courses of Study of the Missionary De- partment at Yale University " for 1910-11 contains no less than 103 separate items under 13 heads. 1 See Appendix, IX. pp. 257-262. 2 See Appendix, VI. p. 248. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 161 There is clearly, therefore, a great deal of ground to be covered. We must content ourselves with merely calling attention to many important subjects, and aspects of subjects, in order to treat at some length those we regard as indispensable. We need not do more than allude to the subjects already emphasised under the head of Intellectual Training in Chapter VIII. , such as Science and Philosophy, Elementary Medicine and Hygiene. Any deficiency in these depart- ments which remains after the course of professional training is over should as far as possible be supplied during the period of Specific Preparation. FIVE NECESSARY SUBJECTS After eliminating from our list these subjects of primary importance, and with them one or two others of a real, but none the less subordinate, importance, such as " Music, vocal and instrumental," " International Law," and " Business Methods," l there remain five departments of study which no missionary candidate, man or woman, can afford to neglect, and provision for which should in consequence be made in any complete scheme of specific missionary preparation. They are A. The Science and History of Missions. B. The Religions of the World. 1 " The missionary should be an all-round, common-sense man of affairs, qualified to lead in public and in mission matters, who can meet keen business men on committees, and win their respect, who has tact and skill in handling awkward men and unreasonable women, who is educated and capable of teaching the highest, but is humble and accessible to the lowest . . . who is a leader who plans for decades ahead as well as for to-day. . . . " The foreign" missionary must deal with a variety of problems and conditions that call for the practical man as distinguished from the missionary. The direction of native helpers, the expen- diture of considerable sums of money, the superintendence of building operations, the settlement of the questions that are constantly arising among the native Christians, the adjustment of himself and others to all sorts of persons and conditions, these and other matters that might be mentioned cannot be prudently committed to unbalanced men, however pious or healthy or intellectual." COM. V. II 162 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES C. Sociology. D. Pedagogy. E. The Science of Language, and the languages required on the field. We must proceed to give our reasons for regarding each of these subjects as indispensable at the present time. A. THE SCIENCE AND HISTORY OF MISSIONS The Science of Missions Dr. Stewart, as we have seen, pleads strongly for such a preliminary training as shall equip a young missionary from the start with the fruit of the dearly bought experi- ence of those who have preceded him. This is surely a common-sense demand. Yet it must be confessed with shame that we have been very slow to realise the possi- bility of meeting it. A missionary who has spent some forty years in the mission field, and who has had unusual opportunities of meeting fellow-workers of many Societies, writes that he has never met a missionary who has studied the Science of Missions. This is not so discreditable to the workers on the field, who, from the nature of the case, are not in a position to make a comprehensive survey, as it is to those at home. We have failed to realise the interest and the significance of the material that is ready to our hands. - We have grudged the labour that is required for the systematic study and patient analysis of the rich stores of available evidence. In consequence, we can only put forward the high-sounding title of " The Science of Missions " as an aspiration and a challenge. We are glad, however, to note that the foundations for the superstructure have been laid with true German thoroughness and insight. As soon as the Church as a whole is awake to the need for the knowledge which only a carefully grounded Science of Missions can give, the demand, we may well believe, will produce the supply. The appointment of a SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 163 Professor to a specifically Missionary Chair at Yale University, and the foundation of a " Missionary Depart- ment" with an adequate missionary library at the Hartford Theological Seminary, are amongst other hopeful signs. In Great Britain there is no lack of teachers able to deal effectively with different branches of the subject. The British genius, however, as usual, prefers to work up to rather than to start from a comprehensive theory. Mean- while, there are abundant materials waiting for workers of all kinds. And there is nothing like the stimulus supplied by an eager class of students to urge a teacher to get his material into shape The History of Missions The material out of which the Science of Missions must be built is supplied by the History of the Christian Church in all ages, by the records of Missionary Societies and of individual missions in all parts of the world, and by missionary biographies. Our attention has been rightly called by various correspondents l to the special importance of the history of the first three Christian centuries. The whole of it, and not only the part recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is directly missionary history. The relations with the State, the objections of opponents, the pagan revivals, the rudimentary doctrinal discussions which led ultimately to the formulation of the Christian Creeds, the problems of Church discipline and Church organisation in the face of a hostile society, have a very direct bearing on living issues on the mission field to-day. Original work on this side of the subject, if it is to be fruitful, calls for patient and disciplined historical research. We may take it, therefore, for granted that the pioneer work in this department must be done at home. But the 1 " I have often thought that more particular study of the early Christian apologists would be of great value. There is a good deal in them which bears most directly upon evangelising among such people as the Chinese, where the parallel between the whole situation and the situation in the Roman Empire is very close." 164 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES results of this study should be laid before every mis- sionary before going out. There is abiding inspiration to be derived from the study of the Christian Church in the missionary aspect of her experience ; the birth and continuity of her missions ; the main missionary epochs and movements, with their results temporary and permanent. There are lessons to be learnt from the periods of indifference, and from the varied phases through which missionary experience has passed. Above all, a thorough and sympathetic study of representative lives of noble missionary men and women is necessary to bring the modern missionary and his task into relation with the great -missionary succession, and to open to him the storehouse of past missionary experience. To this should be added a careful review of the modern mis- sionary situation and of modern missionary methods. Missionary Methods For the end of the study is not only the comprehension of the whole plan of the campaign in which each new soldier is called to bear his individual part, nor the stimulus which comes from the opening of the spiritual eyes to the vision of the great company of witnesses, the heroes of faith in all past generations, by which he is encompassed. The study will fail fundamentally if it does not lead the student forward into the study of missionary method in its essence, and of missionary methods in their bewilder- ing detail. Having laid a foundation in science and in history, he must proceed to find in the past a record of experiment and experience with corresponding results of mingled good and evil, both temporary and permanent, and in the present an opportunity for utilising all past experience. Parallel situations occur continually ; nothing will be which has not already been ; and he is a poorly furnished missionary who is ignorant where to fmdand how to use the wealth of practical aid for his daily work which the history of missions, and the history of missions alone, can supply. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 165 B. THE STUDY OF THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD This subject is the most obvious of those which we have termed specific the marvel is that it should not have become obvious to Missionary Societies and Colleges, theological and other, long ago. " Scholar missionaries " have indeed been to the front in research and in com- parative work, but they have owed little to their previous training. Here are two voices from the field one from China, the other from India : " I went without any knowledge practically of the people I was among. I was obliged to pick up anything I have learnt by degrees, through intercourse with the people in ordinary work. I have always felt that this was a great disadvantage. Where the thought of the people has been referred to in evangelistic preaching it has been generally based upon a few quotations out of the classical books . . . elementary passages which had got into the common talk of the people, and were known to our native preachers, from whom the missionaries had gathered them as fragmentary bits of Chinese thought. They had not related them to the whole field of Chinese literature." "Men thus prepared" (the ordinary theological preparation) " are not armed to meet the exceedingly complicated problems which face the Christian Church in every part of India. If they do succeed in solving them, they do so more by happy practical genius than through understanding them. The average missionary of to-day has no reasoned conception of the relation of Christianity to other religions, except the good old con- trast of the one truth and the many errors. He is not prepared in any sense for estimating an alien faith. He is not in a position to appreciate spiritual excellence or moral character if they run on other lines than his own ; too often he does not know even where to find the in- formation necessary for understanding the barest ele- 166 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES ments of the civilisation around him ; nor has he been introduced to those large social questions which inevitably arise when a people is passing over from one religion to another." As a result of this neglect, while there is a magnificent and constantly increasing literature of the world's re- ligions, such a study of that literature as would be of direct value to missionary students is still in its infancy. Early attempts consisted largely in contrasts drawn between debased forms of other religions and the writer's conception of ideal Christianity. These led to most inadequate ideas of the situation which had to be faced in the non-Christian world, and started the teaching of young missionaries in directions which by their manifest misunderstanding and one - sidedness were bound to delay mutual sympathy, if not to arouse a quite un- necessary opposition. If the truth which the missionary goes forth to preach be true, and he be inwardly assured of its truth, he need not fear either to be generous to other religions, or to acknowledge the failures of followers of the Christian faith which are indeed patent to all. The young missionary must learn to compare things comparable doctrine with doctrine, symbolism with symbolism, ideal with ideal, debased form with debased form. Such a comparative study will " save him from a false attitude of antagonism to non-Christian religions at the start." It will give him a vision of the world's need and long search after God, and of the perfect response which is in Christ. It will foster a living sympathy with his people in things mutually sacred ; it will enlarge and strengthen his own understanding of Christian faith, and bring to light unsuspected possi- bilities of Christian character. Little more than a beginning can be made by a candi- date in this vital preparatory study. It will be the study of his life ; but that beginning should set him upon right lines. It should be accurate and scholarly, and should " introduce to the philosophic and religious thought of the East in historic sequence," and " to the SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 167 most important religious works, intellectual and devo- tional." We need not say more to press home the need for this department of special preparation. The need in some fields is imperative. " The extraordinary changes that are passing over the East at present will produce in the very near future the final clash between Christianity and these great religions. In this final struggle there will be no question about it a man must know both Christianity and the religions of the East, else he will never be able to take his proper place in the struggle. . . . Even the small men will be in the same position in India, meeting keenly subtle Hindus, with all the arguments which Mrs. Besant and her reactionary party are bringing up just now in favour of the reinstatement of Hinduism with the people." It is good to know that " the strategic points of service in India and the Far East are occupied by an increasing number of men whose training historically, philosophic- ally, socially, qualifies them to see clearly and to handle tactfully the most splendid problem of modern times, THE CHRISTIANISATION OF THE ASIATIC CONSCIOUSNESS." Special Missionary Bible Study At this point it becomes apparent that the study of comparative religion will necessitate a specific missionary study of the whole Bible. We have in a previous chapter dealt with the Bible as the missionary's Book, containing truth sufficient for his personal need and for the sub- stance of his message. But it is more. In the long range of its history and the infinite variety of its contents it manifests the Spirit of God speaking now to nomad tribes, now to great strongholds of heathen civilisation. We find its message addressed to peoples in restless anarchy and to others crushed under iron rule. We find each stage of present moral developments dealt with in the pages of the Sacred Book. There is no mission field condition unpictured in the Bible ; no Bible incident 168 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES which does not touch some condition existent to-day, however remote that condition may be from our own. The prophets, in assailing the idolatry and immorality of the past, apply to the present mission field the living truth of God. The slow growth in the Hebrew mind of belief in the one universal LORD, as distinguished from merely local deities, is parallel to what is happening in many minds to-day. To help a man to rise from partial non-Christian ideals it is necessary to have studied them in the light of the great ideals which the Gospels, chapter by chapter, reveal. The teachings of our Lord, as re- corded by St. John, especially call for careful study in view of the deepest thought of the East. The doctrinal teachings of the Epistles need to be studied of course in connection with current Jewish and Grecian thought, but they also claim to be compared and contrasted with such great non-Christian conceptions as those of bhakti and karma. Thus the study of comparative religion should be related at every point to the Book which the missionary goes forth to teach. Even in his time of preparation he begins to learn how its eternal truth and world-wide message may equip him for contact with non-Christian life and thought, by a careful study of the message of the Bible as it gradually unfolds itself in the Old and New Testaments, and a careful analysis of the different methods by which the truth of God has been presented to the various races of men at different stages of their develop- ment. C. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY An Illustration from South Africa " It can scarcely be denied that the early missionaries hardly appreciated the peculiar difficulties of the problem that faced them. They were burning with zeal, and imagined that all they had to do was to impart to savages the gift of a Divine religion and a ready-made civilisation. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 169 They did not foresee all the strange consequences that inevitably arose from the cross-currents of commerce and politics. They did not realise the fact that our Western ideas and customs would of necessity profoundly affect an imitative and impulsive people who had for centuries been wedded to a socialism unknown in Europe. Huxley may be right in regarding commerce as a very potent civilising force, but it is doubtful if he was right in regarding it as the most beneficent one. It is difficult for anybody who has lived behind the scenes in heathen lands to share entirely Huxley's enthusiasm on this latter point. Western commerce and politics thoroughly arouse the natives, and yet they have a fatal way of Europeanising the Kaffir and of destroying in him some of his original and peculiar virtues. Of the factors which help to elevate a backward race the most beneficent might be the Christian religion ; it can, when suitably presented, do more to quicken, control, and purify the Kaffirs than can all the combined forces of commerce, politics, and education. But having confessed my missionary faith, let me discriminate. Christian mis- sionaries do not always show consummate wisdom in their methods. Christianity is under no inherent compulsion to impose any special form of civilisation on its adherents, else should we all be Judaised. It is certainly strange that we should take an Eastern religion, adapt it to Western needs, and then impose those Western adaptations on Eastern races. I can conceive no better way of swamping and stamping out all true individuality in our converts. Their strong imitative propensities are, in this matter, a snare. It need cause us no surprise to note that we have more Europeanised than Christianised the Kaffirs, to their loss, and to the Church's loss." l The above passage will serve to express the conviction which is universally present that the study by missionary candidates of social science, and of the social history and 'An article entitled "Kaffir Socialism and Missions," in The East and the West, April 1909, by Dudley Kidd. The italics are 170 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES U present conditions of the various mission fields, has been lamentably delayed ; students of the present world- situation are unanimous in their demand that the mis- sionary of the future shall have careful previous pre- paration, scientific and specific, for meeting the complex social conditions which are emerging in every land. The Place of the Missionary The missionary cannot, if he would, stand aside from the movements for which, in the first instance, he was so largely responsible. He is upon the social battlefield whether he wills it or not, and there are aspects of the social problem which belong to his everyday life. But the missionary who is a student of the ways of God with nations, and a true lover of his people, will be in the thick of the battle. His most commonplace duties will be done in statesmanlike fashion, for he will be setting himself to the fulfilment of the purpose of God, in his own people, and in the world. It has been well said : " The mission- ary should be recognised as having a relation to the whole development of the East, which is social in the widest sense." It is, therefore, clear that the missionary needs to know far more than the mere manners and customs of the race to which he is sent ; he ought to be versed in the genius of the people, that which has made them the people they are ; and to sympathise so truly with the good which they have evolved, that he may be able to aid the national leaders reverently to build up a Christian civilisation after their own kind, not after the European kind. The delicacy of the present social situation cannot be too frequently or too forcibly insisted upon by those who have to do with out-going missionaries. For the growth of the new peoples of the East will not be isolated, in- stinctive, impulsive, as in the past ; it will be deliberate, entered upon in full possession of the experience of every previous stage of social progress in every land. " Ignor- SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 171 ance," writes one, " is a constant disability, and leads to blunders in judgment, word, and deed." " The national movement is producing a situation which will need very delicate handling. We know the great national heritage which these men have, which they are so conscious of, and which is filling them anew with a dignity such as their forefathers never had. We have made them conscious of their national heritage. . . . And unless we know what they feel about their history, their literature, their religion, their philosophy, and all the rest, we cannot enter into their minds and influence them." Summary Statement In a summary of facts gleaned from the present enquiry it has been well said : " Each missionary should have been so trained in the sociological point of view that he shall have a proper comprehension of the entire problem, and shall labour at his section of it as a part of the whole. Life is a unit, and the industrial, educational, and religious changes are all interdependent. A missionary whose work is primarily evangelistic, for example, will be more effective if he works as an intelligent member of the great army. There is a demand for men of broad and statesmanlike vision, who will see what needs to be done and how the Church can assist, supplement, and direct the great social forces now at work. As a missionary to China puts it, there is less need of men who know how to do things than of men who know what to do. The lines of work and the methods of work followed by the different Missions have been developed from experience under conditions which are very different from those that now prevail. Men who are not familiar with the broad lines of human develop- ment may work at cross-purposes with these great social forces. Ignorance of the failures as well as of the suc- cesses of social work elsewhere almost inevitably leads to the repetition of experiments which have proved fruitless. In such matters as factory legislation, housing, 172 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES and sanitation, Western experience should be of value. Because of a lack of this knowledge or of a disregard of it, Japan and India seem bound to repeat the blunders of the West. This does not mean that what works well in London will work equally well in Tokyo or Calcutta, for the varying conditions must be met with modified measures, but it does mean that in the missionary body there should be men who will know the real import of the movements around them, and will be able to give intel- ligent advice, based upon the experience of Western peoples. It also means that the missionary should be a broad man, who recognises religion as a mighty social fact and a mighty social force, and who will use every method of missionary work to further the great task of transforming the Orient so that it shall be both thoroughly Oriental and fully Christian." And for this great end he should have a careful grounding in those modern social sciences which deal with the fundamental forces of all civilised societies. D. PEDAGOGY This Report contains several references to the demand that missionaries shall have some training in the science of teaching. All Missionaries Educators It is clear, of course, that those who are expected to undertake the work of missionary education in the formal sense of the word should be well trained in that difficult and delicate art. In this Report it is elsewhere argued and urged that ordained missionaries set apart for it should go through a course of training. But in this connection it needs to be pointed out with great clearness that all missionaries are educators. They are all expected to impart new ideas, to attempt to lay the foundations of a new kind of intelligence. The women working in zenanas agree as to the childlike minds of many of the adult women whom they seek to instruct. Evangelists have SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 173 to do much of their best work in patient teaching of individuals and small groups. Medical missionaries are expected to hold Bible classes. Industrial missionaries are nothing if not teachers, though they seek to train the mind through the hand and the eye rather than from the printed page. There is not one class of mis- sionaries who would not be made more efficient by at least an introduction to the science of teaching, and guid- ance in securing its most useful and practical literature for further study on the field. What the Science of Teaching Means For the science of teaching has in recent days become broad and deep. It is not concerned only with details of class and school organisation and management. Its greatest part consists in the study of psychology and of the principles underlying every effort to impart knowledge, to train memory, to stimulate intelligent judgment. Its aim and its best effect is found in creating the power to apprehend the needs of a pupil's mind, to discover its difficulties, to measure its strong, as well as its weak, points, and to adapt the instruction to those needs and powers. Some missionaries have the, natural gift of teaching. But there are many of them who have no such gift, and in their case a brief period of instruction in the secrets of this great art would be of real value. They would approach their work with a different attitude of mind, with an inner impulse to adapt their message to discovered needs. A little study of psychology and pedagogy in their mutual relations and that is the heart of the science of teaching would enable them to fix their attention on the thing to aim at, to bring their own minds into the right attitude of sympathy and of response to the varied moods and stages of intelligence among those to whom they would convey the sublime truths of the Christian faith. What we have said here is amply supported by the following sentences from a paper by Dr. Ernest Coffin 174 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES on The Education of Backward Races. They are taken from his " Summary and Conclusions." i. " Some of the results of anthropological research should find a place in our normal school curricula, especi- ally if these schools are to be looked to for a supply of teachers for our dependencies. 2. There is need for ethno- educational centres for the equipment of education of primitive peoples. . . . Training in such schools should be made compulsory for mission educators. 3. Finally, the educator of the backward people must be anthropologist as well as teacher, and must possess, as his highest qualification, that broad humanism which knows how to value even the crudest and most rudi- mentary symptoms of creative individuality." We may close this section with words from a valu- able paper by the well-known authority on missionary education, Licentiat Joh. Warneck of Barmen : " Peda- gogics are another important side of the missionary training. It would be a pity if our great achievements (in this subject) were not made accessible to the mis- sionaries. What we ask for them is less an acquaintance with the history of pedagogics, however valuable it might be, than an initiation into psychology connected with pedagogics^. The missionary becomes an educator in a very eminent sense of the word. All his work is educational. A profound acquaintance with the art of education will save a man on the field many detours and disappointments.' ' E. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE " Missionaries do not know the language." " The linguistic standard is still too low, a new standard must be held up, and if held up would be soon followed." The testimony is unanimous that the old days of the easy-going, irresponsible munshi must end. Linguistic efficiency must at any cost be obtained. That is the position which' must be assumed and need not be more fully argued here. What we are concerned with is the SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 175 evidence which we have received on the causes of past inefficiency and the conflicting evidence before us regard- ing the best means of creating a new standard in the immediate future. Here, if anywhere, the action of the Societies must be prompt and powerful if the new situa- tion is to be met successfully. The Defects of the Present System It is true that in some fields a few Societies have adopted some sort of system, and strive to carry it out with consistency. But even their missionaries insist that the result is not satisfactory. The causes of this situation are threefold. In the first place, where older missionaries are set apart for this work, they do not give, and are not able to give, much of their time to it. As a rule their pupils are too few in number to justify constant and prolonged instruction, and hence this must come inevitably to be viewed as a kind of interruption of their larger and more insistent responsibilities as missionaries in charge of important stations. Secondly, where, as is the rule in the East, natives are used as teachers, they have proved themselves almost invariably unfit for the task. They are, of course, untrained in the Western science of grammar, and have consequently nothing but empirical and poor methods of instruction in the structure of their own language. Moreover, the feeling is apt to be ingrained in them that it is impolite to correct a white man too much, and their whole position prevents them from insisting upon hard tasks and perfection of work. Thirdly, one of the most serious causes of failure to master the language, which is almost universally com- plained of, and is more than once referred to in this Report, is the fact that so large a number of young mis- sionaries are thrust into active work before their language examinations are completed, often before they have more than a smattering of the vernacular. Sometimes, when the young man is studious and self-sacrificing, this 176 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES results in a heavy overstrain of work at the very beginning of his career, from which many disastrous results to health can be traced. In many cases it leads to a lowering of the standards of the examinations which must be passed before the young missionary is regarded as in full duty. It would be manifestly unfair for a Society to insist on the one hand that he undertake work which makes effective study impossible, and then hold him to a very high standard of excellence in that very course of study. Various Methods of Conduct-ing Language Study The Commission has received many expressions of opinion regarding the best means of dealing with this matter of special missionary preparation in the study of language. The most elaborately argued of these is the memorandum from Professor Meinhof, printed in the Appendix (No. X.). Practically all our correspondents are agreed that in many quarters of the world the work can only be done thoroughly by the co-operation of a number of Societies. Alike on grounds of expense and the employment of an adequate staff, it is clear that, in Eastern lands at any rate, this co-operation is necessary. The great divergence of opinions arises when the question is asked whether this work can be best done in the home- land or on the field. On the one hand, the Commission has had before it the opinion of many that the work can be done with real success only on the field. On the other hand, Professor Meinhof 's memorandum, speaking as it does for the prolonged and varied experience of German missionary educators, has claimed full consideration, as has likewise the remarkable Blue Book issued by the British Government, entitled " Report of the Committee appointed by the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury to consider the Organisation of Oriental Studies in London." x 1 The London publishers are Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd., the price per copy is. 4d. The official number is (Cd. 4560). (See Epitome of Report, Appendix VIIT. pp. 253-256.) SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 177 In order to lay the matter fairly before the Conference we would summarise the arguments on both sides in the following manner. In any case the modern science of Phonetics is undoubtedly of great assistance in the ac- quirement of correct pronunciation, and ought to be studied at home. There is also no doubt that the power of conversing in a second language helps to train the faculties required for the acquisition of any fresh vernacular. On this ground an experienced missionary has even suggested that candidates who cannot talk any- thing but English should at least learn to talk Esperanto. Arguments for Teaching the Missionary Language on the Field 1. There the student is surrounded with the atmosphere of the language. He needs it for practical purposes at every turn, and acquires familiarity with its idioms as he walks the streets, or deals, as he must, with servants, converts, hospital patients, etc., and listens to the church services conducted by his brethren, and to their public addresses. 2. There is very great danger that, learning the spoken language from a Western teacher in the homeland, he should acquire habits of false pronunciation which a lifetime will hardly eradicate. 3. A missionary having learned the language at home will begin to teach and preach in the mission field before he knows enough of the people to speak wisely. 4. The time given at home to master the language will have been wasted if the missionary cannot stand the climate. 5. On the field he will have opportunities during his first impressionable years of studying the other subjects belonging to the category of special preparation. Even these, such as history, manners, and customs, social institutions, religious beliefs and practices, he can master from text-books much more rapidly when the concrete facts are before him. COM. v. 12 178 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES 6. These arguments must not be supposed to be offered in support of the present undeveloped system on the field as compared with an ideal system set to work in the homeland. It is only fair to compare a first-class system in the one case with a first-class system in the other. Then the further question as to which system is the more likely to be established at reasonable cost to the Societies will have to be considered. Arguments for Teaching the Missionary Language at Home The sources of information on this side have been (a) a small but growing amount of experience in Great Britain and America. This, however, consists chiefly, though not entirely, in the teaching of literary or classical languages like Arabic and Sanskrit, about which there is little dispute, (b) The experience of the Continental Societies so far as expressed in Professor Meinhof's paper. (c) The Blue Book of the British Government referred to above, with its great mass of experience cited from every one of the leading European countries. It appears that many secular governments and secular agencies have gone much further than Missionary Societies in the perfecting of means for the study of languages for those who are to spend their lives in service in foreign fields. The matter may be summarised as follows : 1. The language should be studied at home under thoroughly competent Western teachers, with whom, in order to get accurate pronunciation, natives in residence at the home centre should be trained to co-operate, and read and speak much with the students. The native teachers should be taught to exercise more authority and greater strictness than they are apt to do when so en- gaged in their own lands. 2. The study of language under such conditions could be pursued with a concentration of purpose, in an atmo- sphere of scholarship, and under standards of excellence which are all very hard to obtain on the field itself. SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION 179 3. In such a centre of preparation as is here contem- plated, provision should be made on an ample scale for the thorough study of the other topics included in our description of special missionary preparation. They too would be presumably taught and studied with a degree of excellence hard to attain abroad. 4. It is urged that the missionary student would do all this severe but most necessary work under conditions less exhaustive of his strength, in a climate less trying, and with less distracting surroundings. An Open but Vital Question In concluding this section, the Commission finds itself unable to determine the relative merits of these lines of argument. The a priori reasonableness lies probably with the first set of considerations, and in favour of giving language instruction on the field with immensely im- proved arrangements. The weight of experience seems to lie with the second set of considerations, in view alike of what German linguists have accomplished and of evidence presented by the very highest authorities, specially that included in the Treasury Report. CHAPTER XIV PROPOSALS FOR THE ESTABLISH- MENT OF CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS, AT HOME AND IN THE MISSION .FIELD, FOR SPECIAL MISSIONARY PREPARATION Contents: Summary of the Position; Proposal for Colleges on the Field ; Proposals for Colleges at Home ; Evidence of the Treasury Committee ; The Proposed College of Oriental Studies in London ; Possibilities in America; Choice between Home and Foreign Fields not exclusive. Recommendations of the Commission : A Board of Missionary Studies ; Special Importance in Great Britain SUMMARY OF THE POSITION THE evidence laid before the Commission has shown that there is a practically unanimous recognition of the need for more specialised preparation of missionaries for their work and for their particular mission field. The preparation is taken to include (i) a literary and scientific study of languages, (2) a knowledge of the religious history and sociology of special races, (3) acquaintance with the general principles and laws of missionary enter- prise and method. The unanimity and earnestness of the testimony submitted on this matter has been im- pressive, and indeed irresistible in its cogency. It is impossible to doubt the existence of a real and urgent necessity, and its special character has been emphasised and defined in the preceding chapter. It is equally clear that the necessity cannot be ade- quately met by existing institutions, or by Societies CENTRAL COLLEGES 181 separately. Although we have urged strongly that in all Theological Colleges and Seminaries more should be done than at present for the special training of those of the students who are preparing for the foreign field, such work will always be limited by the resources of these institutions, and also by the fact that the great majority of their students are preparing for the home ministry. Nor could any one Society undertake to equip and maintain a Missionary College such as is required except on a small scale. The co-operation of Missionary Societies is essen- tial, and it is a hopeful and guiding sign that while the necessity of which we speak is recognised on every hand, there have been very numerous and spontaneous indications of a desire for co-operation on the part of experienced representatives of many Societies and Churches. This specialised training can only properly be given to those who have already received a liberal education ; it must be of the nature of post-graduate study. It would therefore not interfere with the general training which the Societies prescribe for their candidates, nor with the special Church training which each Society holds to be essential. It would meet a common need, and would form an invaluable supplement to present arrangements and to existing institutions. Various proposals for the institution of Central Colleges have been submitted to us. While these proposals are at one in general aim and intention they diverge at one crucial point. Some advocate the establishment of such colleges on the mission field ; others urge that they should be established in the home lands. This divergence is so fundamental that we have examined it with special care, in the light of the data set forth in the previous chapter and in the Appendices. PROPOSAL FOR COLLEGES ON THE FIELD From the schemes suggested in this direction, the following may be specified as typical : 182 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Canon Westcott of Cawnpore has proposed that a College of Study should be established in India, in which missionaries of any race, and belonging to any Christian denomination, may pursue studies in language, religions, philosophy, history, ethnology, and other subjects con- nected with work in India. The College would be a place of retreat for those engaged in the literary departments of mission service ; it would be a centre where experts might collect, and it would gather an efficient library for missionary study. It should be organised on an unde- nominational basis. The first College should be founded in Northern India, where it would make a most favourable beginning, because of its association with religious learning ; but, in time, Colleges might be founded in other parts of India. Such Colleges might hold examina- tions in language and other branches of study, and award certificates. The possession of these certificates might be made a condition of appointment to certain positions in the various missions, serving as a valid guarantee for proved fitness to the authorities at home. Rev. W. H. T. Gairdner has urged the great advantage of making Cairo a centre of Arabic studies for missionaries of all Societies which operate within that zone. At the head of the College there might be placed an accom- plished and learned scholar, who would not only guide students in their language-study, but stimulate them to advanced attainment in Arabic literature and philosophy. He would also direct the study of older missionaries who were able to set apart months occasionally for literary pursuits. At the same centre native teachers might be trained and a race of native Christian scholars reared. Such a centre might be founded almost at once with little more apparatus than a single highly qualified professor and a well-stocked library. Dr. E. W. Capen, a member of the Commission, in summarising suggestions made from the field, has pre- sented a more elaborate scheme, including Japan, two regions of India, and five or six of China. In each of these a Union Language-school might be located in a CENTRAL COLLEGES 183 central city or a health resort, the students spending nine months of each year at the School, and three months in close touch with the natives. A permanent body of native language-teachers could be organised under the guidance of a European Principal. Native texts could be used, in order that the language used might be the real language as it is spoken and written. Students would at intervals be taken on tour by missionaries of experience, and gain acquaintance with native needs simultaneously with their studies. Language-study would be supple- mented by cognate studies under the guidance of skilled Boards, and specialism would be fostered with a dis- criminating view to the attainments and capacities of students. These will serve as samples of the interesting and suggestive schemes which have been laid before the Com- mission. The centres that have been named are Tokyo, Peking, Shanghai, Hankow, Canton, Madras, Calcutta, Beyrout, and Cairo. It should be added that information has been received of the hopeful initiation of a language-school on lines resembling the above at Ruling, and also of a language- school at Peking, which it is hoped to develop into a Union Language College. PROPOSALS FOR COLLEGES AT HOME The establishment of Colleges at home has been warmly advocated by Rev. Dr. Gibson of Swatow, Rev. H. Pakenham Walsh, Head of the S.P.G. College at Bangalore, Mr. J. N. Farquhar, general secretary of the Young Men's Christian Associations, and Dr. Meinhof , whose statements will be found in the Appendices. Although based upon widely different experiences, their views coincide so closely that they admit of being summarised. A central Missionary College at home, they urge, could supply the needed training for the different mission fields. Some wide and great subjects would be studied by all missionaries : some would be common to many 184 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES fields. In these respects the multiplication of cost and labour would be avoided, the stimulus of variety and of numbers would be helpful, and the advantages of central- isation would far more than compensate for the loss entailed. The College would be a centre for gathering missionary knowledge and experience ; it would assist in preparing an apologetic for the mission field ; it would be of great use to missionaries on furlough, who could go to it for further study, and whose presence and ex- perience would be stimulating and guiding to all the students. It would become a centre for workers belong- ing to different religious bodies and coming from all parts of the world. In response to the supposed objection that it would be difficult to obtain qualified teachers of languages at home, it is urged that systematic and skilled instruction would be more easily secured at such a centre than in the mission field ; that the method in which missionaries at present acquire languages, from unskilled native teachers and amidst the pressure of missionary duties, has proved thoroughly unsatisfactory, and deprives them in their work of influence with the educated classes ; and that the attainment of colloquial vernaculars should rather be an after-study than the foundation of scholarship. Further, it is argued that there is a very large amount of knowledge with regard to races and their history, religions and their significance, social and civil develop- ments and their possibilities, which ought to be acquired by every missionary before he enters upon his work, and that young missionaries habitually blunder and give offence to natives by ignorance of subjects which might without difficulty be mastered by well directed study at home. At present almost all Societies prescribe that for a considerable time after arrival on the field their mission- aries should be mainly occupied hi language study, and should be practically on probation till they pass certain examinations ; yet it is admitted on all hands that such rules can with the utmost difficulty be enforced, although the non-observance of them frequently hampers and con- CENTRAL COLLEGES 185 tracts the work of missionaries for their lifetime. These considerations are presented in detail in the Appendices. EVIDENCE OF THE TREASURY COMMITTEE Such arguments, which are supported by much direct and indirect evidence from missionaries, arrested our attention from their manifest force. In the course of our enquiry they received unexpected confirmation from the publication of the Report of the Treasury Committee on the Organisation of Oriental Studies in London, of which we have presented a summary. In that Report, evidence which seems to us overwhelming is submitted on two facts bearing upon the subject before us, namely, (i) That the work of Europeans among Orientals is very greatly hindered by their want of preparatory study of Oriental languages, sociology, and history. (2) That there is no insuperable difficulty in the pursuit of such study at home, or in procuring scholarly instruction in all the chief Oriental languages. The importance of such evidence is enhanced by its having been submitted to and endorsed by public men of wide experience, not in relation to Missions, but in a general enquiry as to the social and civil influence of Europeans upon Oriental civilisation. Knowledge and training which a civil servant, or a secular educationist, or a commercial agent, requires for his dealings with natives of other countries must assuredly be essential for the more intimate and personal relationships which effective missionary work involves. The emphatic language in which authorities so high as Lord Morley of Blackburn and Lord Curzon of Keddleston, when the Report was submitted to Parliament, condemned the unwisdom and the danger of assigning positions of trust in India to men devoid of acquaintance with historical and sociological facts, and of leaving the attainment of language to haphazard and chance opportunity, is a remarkable and, we venture to think, a providential enforcement of the statements of some of our most experienced missionaries. 186 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES THE PROPOSED COLLEGE OF ORIENTAL STUDIES IN LONDON The reception given to the Treasury Report makes it practically certain that the British Government will at an early date proceed to found such a College in London. In that event there would in time become available for missionary students a School of Oriental languages scien- tifically equipped and academically organised, free from sectarian bias, and bearing in all respects the character of a public institution. The equipment proposed would extend far beyond linguistic and philological studies. The Report expressly sets forth that " a School of lan- guages, useful as it would be, would be incomplete without direct teaching regarding the life, the history, the re- ligions, the manners and customs and laws of the people speaking these languages." It is manifest that if these proposals, as may reasonably be anticipated, should be carried out adequately, the Institute erected would be of high value for the instruction of missionary students, and would be of the greatest assistance in the develop- ment of a Missionary College. It is true that it would be far from fulfilling the purposes which Missionary Societies have in view. The teaching provided in history, sociology, ethnography, etc., would necessarily be pre- sented in their political, civic, and economic aspects ; while many other topics which are vital for the mission- ary students could have no place in the syllabus of such an institute. To supply this there would be need for further instruction and for a separate staff, with dis- tinctively missionary aims, and probably for hostels in which the Missionary Societies could supply the necessary religious atmosphere for their students. But with such provisions and arrangements, large and beneficial use might be made of a Government College, and difficulties of equipment and cost which might otherwise seem insuperable could be faced with confidence. It is note- worthy that one at least of the most powerful advocates CENTRAL COLLEGES 187 of the erection of a central Missionary College in England, who in his first statement to us proposed Oxford or Cambridge as the site of the College, has been led by the Report and Recommendations of the Treasury Committee to the opinion that London would be the most advan- tageous site. POSSIBILITIES IX AMERICA The need for a Central College or Institute at home has not been presented to us so emphatically by repre- sentatives of the American Societies, and this for two manifest reasons, (a) The difficulty of concentrating agencies and resources is infinitely greater in America than in Great Britain. The extent of American territory would in itself be a difficulty, and there are, besides, conditions in the educational world of America which make it unlikely that all would be satisfied with any one city or university which could be named. (&) There are already in America various centres at which more work of this kind has been attempted than in any centre in Great Britain, while the larger Seminaries and Colleges have developed post-graduate study on the " elective " system, with great effectiveness, and still greater promise. As a sample of hopeful projects already initiated, we call special attention to the reorganisation of the Yale Divinity School, of which Professor Harlan Beach has supplied an account (see Appendix VI.). That School will henceforward have a " Department of Missionary Train- ing," under the direction of a missionary professor, with an equipment of separate buildings, library, etc., and every endeavour will be made to supply instruction on such subjects as we have shown in the preceding chapter to be essential to an adequate training. Similar schemes are in process elsewhere in America, and in a land where money is so freely given for religious and educational purposes it may well be hoped that schemes will be put into operation when the needs are clearly acknowledged. 188 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES CHOICE BETWEEN HOME AND FIELD COLLEGES NOT EXCLUSIVE We have presented separately the suggestions for having Central Colleges at home and on the field, because these have been laid before us by different witnesses, and, to some extent, different purposes would be served. Yet manifestly they are not mutually exclusive. We are convinced that without definite enlargement and organi- sation of the missionary preparation given at home, the present urgent necessities cannot be met, and that such preparation can best be provided by a united and central- ised enterprise, although it must not be forgotten that in work of the kind we are advocating smaller colleges must still have an important place. Yet this by no means detracts from the importance and value of Central Missionary Colleges or Institutes in the field. On the contrary, they have a function which work done at home cannot discharge. The fact that missionaries belonging to different Societies are already, of their own accord, seeking, in many fields, to unite in educational work and meet informally for conference upon the racial, social, and religious problems by which they are faced, supplies proof which requires no reinforcement. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION We trust that we have made it clear that the prob- lems arising in the department entrusted to this Com- mission, while of the utmost gravity and urgency, do not admit of a brief, uniform, or immediate solution. Hopeful proposals are already on foot for instituting united Colleges and Schools in the field ; but the relation of these to one another, to the different Societies, and to any scheme for a central College at home will require to be carefully and helpfully considered. The question of language training is, as we have shown, specially per- plexing, and the perplexities are of a kind which call for CENTRAL COLLEGES 189 mature and united counsel, for they affect all Societies and Churches alike. The proposed School of Oriental Studies cannot be established in a day even by the activity of an Imperial Government and a great University. And when it is established, the Missionary Societies will be able to take advantage of its privileges only by degrees. The American and Continental Missions would not be greatly helped by an institution formed in England. Years must pass, probably, before it could be utilised for the purposes of that special missionary preparation for which, as we have shown, the necessity is immediate and pressing. What can be done, what must be done meantime ? In Japan and China, in India and Turkey, in Africa and the Islands, there are present crises which call for the utmost energy and the best intelligence of the Church of God. All Missionary Societies are called to improve and develop their existing methods and resources, and to assist one another with brotherly cordiality and frankness in so doing, so that they may be ready, as Providence presents opportunity, to move forward both separately and in unity. A Board of Missionary Studies Accordingly, in the devout and glad hope of results some of which are within sight, we propose to the Con- ference that it should institute a Board of Missionary Studies, the general purpose of which shall be to supply guidance and to render assistance to Missionary Societies in the preparation of missionaries for their work. The duty of the Board shall be to acquaint itself with all available means for the study of missionary subjects, with the facilities provided at the different universities, colleges, and seminaries, with the work of professors, lecturers, and teachers, and with all details which may enable Societies to direct the work of students in their preparation. The Board would be able to act, when desired, as an advisory Body for Missionary Societies and Colleges, for semin- aries and individual missionaries, both as to particulars, 190 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES such as where a special language could best be studied, and also as to general matters, such as the best curric- ulum of training for special types of Mission work. While at first the functions of such a Board would be mainly advisory, it might be expected to reach a position in which it could take important and helpful action by organising teaching in subjects not otherwise provided for, either permanently or temporarily, and by promoting the co-operation of Societies and Colleges in affording facilities to students. By ascertaining the special teaching provided at different institutions it might be enabled to secure co-ordination or, at any rate, to convey information, and to make it possible that the special advantages afforded by one institution should be made available as widely as possible. Further, if, as we earnestly desire, some of the pro- posed schemes for Centres of Study at home and in the field are carried into effect, the Board would be able to supply information about them to the Societies, and to give counsel both to the Societies and to individual mis- sionaries as to the most profitable employment of fur- lough for study and research and as to other kindred subjects. While the need for such a Board is well illus- trated in Great Britain by the proposal to found a School of Oriental Studies, the advantages which a Board would confer upon missionary training would be of a much wider reach, and a similar Board would be of equal value in any country where missionary enterprise is active. If Boards were formed in the United States, Canada, Germany, and elsewhere, they would be enabled, by consultation with one another, to advance the whole cause of missionary study and preparation. Together or separately they might prepare a Year Book of Missions which would give clear and full information on matters of common interest ; and they might further the preparation and publication of missionary text-books, the urgent need for which is universally recognised. CENTRAL COLLEGES 191 Special Importance in Great Britain In the case of Great Britain it is specially important that such a Board be formed at once. If constituted in such a way and by such persons as to carry weight, it may possibly exercise influence in the organisation of the School for Oriental Studies. It might find representation upon the delegacy appointed to govern that school, or otherwise bring its opinion to bear upon that delegacy. But apart from this, so good an opportunity to form such a Board is not likely to recur for years. We recommend, therefore, that the Conference should take steps to secure the institution of a Board, inter-denominational in character, and including representatives of the leading Missionary Societies. The Societies to be represented might be selected either by a nominating committee or in accordance with the number of their missionaries at work in the mission field. Besides these, there should be co-opted members, who might be representatives of universities and theological colleges, with leading mis- sionaries either retired or on furlough. For efficiency, it would be necessary that the membership of the Board should be small, not exceeding, say, twenty-four. Such a Board, whilst beginning quietly, might come to exercise an extremely important influence, and toco-operate in many helpful directions with similar Boards in other lands. Leaving each Society free to train its candidates in its own way, it would be the servant of all Societies, furnishing each with such information and guidance as might from time to time be requested. Its wide out- look would enable it to judge as to the subjects that require investigation, and the courses of study that could be profitably pursued. Being in close and friendly relation to centres of missionary study all over the world, it could point out to them considerations that ought to be taken into account, and receive from them the results of their experience and research, and so would stimulate and concentrate all efforts in missionary study. It would also be of immense use to those who at home 192 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES are guiding the educational policy of the different Missionary Societies, and it might put the professors, lecturers, and tutors of Colleges and Seminaries in the way of obtaining the knowledge they so much need for the wise and statesmanlike execution of their important duties. We believe that in these and many other ways the institution of such a Board of Study as we recommend would, with God's blessing, supply a channel which would disseminate and perpetuate the benefits of the World Missionary Conference. CHAPTER XV THE NEED FOR CONTINUATION STUDY IN THE MISSION FIELD Contents : The Studies of the Young Missionary ; the Danger of Mental Stagnation; Aids to Develop Study; the Spiritual Life of Missionaries ; Study at Health Resorts ; Utilisation of Furlough ; The Urgency of the Case THE STUDIES OF THE YOUNG MISSIONARY WHEN the young missionary sails for his field of labour, one test of the success of the special missionary prepara- tion given him by the Home Church will lie in the zeal and humility with which he uses every opportunity to continue his studies, realising that he has only learned enough to have begun to understand how to learn. This Report is full of proof that here we touch one of the most vital questions in the whole preparation of the missionary. Complaint is practically universal, not only that the preparatory work left to be done on the mission field is inadequately provided for, but that the period of study is constantly cut short in the name of the urgent needs of the field. The most urgent need of the field is not merely missionaries, but fully prepared missionaries. That is the trumpet call of this Report. Therefore the preparatory work of the young missionary on reaching his destination should not be curtailed either in quantity or in quality. It would be a most healthy rule that no young missionary should be finally and fully accepted without a probationary period on the mission field, at the close of which he should give evidence of satisfactory COM. v. 13 194 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES progress in language and in special study of his field, as well as in Christian character and spiritual purpose. This may sound severe, but it would at least break through the present habit of allowing work to absorb unduly the energies of the beginner, and it would indefinitely raise the standard of missionary equipment. It is better to let a mission station suffer, however heavily, for a year, than to limit the usefulness of any missionary for perhaps forty years of service. THE DANfefiR OF MENTAL STAGNATION The missionary, like the home minister or doctor or teacher, needs to continue study during his whole career in the mission field. His growth, both mental and spiritual, must never be treated as if it could come to an end. Evidence before the Commission leads us to think that the ignorance of missionaries regarding the folk-lore, and religious thought and customs, and super- stitions of the people is often most surprising, yet these would afford the missionary a valuable avenue of approach to the people. It is further stated that too often mental stagnation overtakes the missionary, and that an exami- nation of the libraries of missionaries reveals a surprising lack of means for mental stimulus and growth. Many of the disappointments caused by those who have promised much at the outset are due to the fact that some missionaries allow the routine of work entirely to absorb them, and that a few even think that among " inferior races " it is unnecessary for them to improve their in- tellectual gifts. There is no need to point out how disastrous such mental stagnation must be, not only to the people among whom they work, but to the missionaries themselves, to their spiritual as well as to their intellectual life. We do not inean to imply that it is universal or even common, and we recognise that it is painfully difficult for men and women, often intellectually isolated and overwhelmed with pressing work, to keep alive any habits of study, research, or even serious reading. But CONTUSTUATION STUDY 195 we do desire to indicate the serious results of degeneration upon the worker and the work. Such help as is possible in this direction should be given to the younger missionaries from the older missionaries on the field, and to both from the Societies at home. Yet it is imperative that any courses of study or in- vestigation that may be suggested should not be made a burden, above all that they should not, except in the case of language, be accompanied by anything of the nature of an examination. The study to be undertaken must be an interest and a stimulus, not a toil and a weari- ness. AIDS TO DEVELOP STUDY The greater part of this study will be directly related to actual missionary work. But the contributions of mis- sionaries to the knowledge of language, folk-lore, anthro- pology, and ethnology have been repeatedly recognised by other students. Some such study, under due limits and without encroaching on the time reserved for missionary labour, should be undertaken for mental development and relaxation. In the early days of the American Presbyterian Mission to Syria, each new missionary was assigned some department to investigate, and was required to present each year a paper of value. As a result of this we have Thomson's The Land and the Book, Post's The Botany of the Holy Land, and Vandyck's work on Astronomy. This plan made these men students with world- wide reputations. But though some men are able to sketch out lines of study for themselves, and to pursue them in spite of difficulty and hindrance, the majority of men and women need help and guidance. It would be a great advantage if those amongst the older missionaries who are students themselves would lay down lines of study for the younger ones, and if the home authorities would assist such study by the provision of the necessary books, and perhaps encourage them by the occasional offer of prizes for the best paper on some subject of research or criticism. Change of thought and breadth of interest 196 PREPARATION OP MISSIONARIES would often serve to avert a physical or mental breakdown. To encourage the critical study of the religious books of the East would help the missionaries to a continued effort to understand the thought of those amongst whom they are working. THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF MISSIONARIES More definite effort, too, should be made to sustain the spiritual life of missionaries. The Christian Church has hardly realised what those at her outposts endure in the depressing effect of isolation, the deprivation of accus- tomed religious privileges, and the sense of terrible oppression from the surrounding mass of heathenism. Previous training, and the Church's whole service of intercession for missionaries, have been designed to guard against this. But from time to time the missionaries should be helped and encouraged by the visits of teachers from without coming to minister to their souls. STUDY AT HEALTH RESORTS The times of physical rest and recreation spent in health resorts on the mission field are valuable oppor- tunities for quiet study and devotion, and the growing practice of holding Summer Schools for language and other study should be conducive of much good. It is suggested that Summer Schools, and Missionary Con- ventions or Conferences, should be better organised and developed into something more permanent. Here press- ing missionary problems can be discussed, lectures can be given on the science of missions and other subjects by real experts, and meetings and services for prayer and instruction can be held, as well as classes for further language study. UTILISATION OF FURLOUGH Again,further use should be made of the longerfurloughs at home to equip the missionary for his work. These CONTINUATION STUDY 197 periods should be treated as a time of real recreation for the missionary, and he should not be exhausted by being required to do too much deputation work. Some missionaries are said to be more worn out at the close of their furlough than at the beginning on account of this. Provision also should be made on the spiritual side. Missionaries on furlough are frequently expected to stimulate the Church at home and deepen its devotion, when they are themselves in need of spiritual refreshment after long and discouraging labour, and desiring spiritual food after long abstinence from outward aids. It should also be the business of some special Committee or repre- sentative of the Missionary Society to ad vise missionaries on furlough who are seeking to make the best way of using their time, and to find the means of pursuing those further studies which will be of great use to them . Medical missionaries are anxious to do some work at hospitals or special schools of medicine, and educational missionaries often desire to gain insight into new educational methods. By mixing thus in their studies with other students, they may even do as much to spread an interest in missions as they could by deputation work. We are not suggesting that their whole time should be given to study. The main object of a furlough is rest and refreshment, but opportunity to gain further knowledge will be a real refreshment. Experience in the field will have shown the missionaries the lines on which they most need help, and, by being enabled to choose the courses of study they desire for themselves, they will best find the recreation they need. One Society has started a furlough library for its women mission- aries, in order to provide them with those books on Biblical study required in view of the modern situation in the field. If such Boards of Missionary Study as we have sug- gested in the preceding chapter are formed in the differ- ent countries, missionaries on furlough will be able to obtain from them the information they need to guide them in further studies ; the Boards in their turn, if the missionaries are men of real learning and research, 198 will know how to make the best possible use of their attainments for the good of the whole missionary cause. THE URGENCY OF THE CASE The need for continued study on the part of the mis- sionary was never more clearly demonstrated than at present j and this, whilst applying to the new missionary, is even more important for the man or woman who has already some experience in the field. Mighty forces are at work which are transforming with amazing rapidity what we have long been accustomed to look upon as "the unchanging East." The missionary's envkonment is being radically altered by these forces. He must know how to apply the Christian message to the new condi- tions. He must be in a position to guide and control by the Christian spirit these new forces that are at work. All have not the capacity or the insight even to observe the meaning of these changes, only a few can be expected to have the wisdom and the inspiration to see the new methods needed by new circumstances to carry the old Message. It is therefore imperative that those who have knowledge and discernment should have opportunity to guide and inform others, and that all should be made to realise the immense importance of studying these new movements, entering sympathetically into the aspira- tions of the people amongst whom they are working, and continuously adding to previous qualifications all that will equip for the work as it develops. PART V CONCLUSION CHAPTER XVI THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CANDIDATES' COMMITTEE Contents: The Church and the Candidates' Committees; Tht Spirit behind Routine Work ; Candidates' Committees and Training Institutions; Contact between Candidates and Committee; Double Relationship of the Committee; The Committee and the Home Church; The Committee and the Foreign Field; Knowledge of Prospective Needs; The Influence of Denomination; Individual Work; Tht Constitution of Candidates' Committees THE CHURCH AND THE CANDIDATES* COMMITTEES THE preparation of missionaries is, in a general sense, the responsibility of the whole Church of Christ. When that great fact is recognised, actual training for the mission field will be able to begin where it now too often leaves off. The Church will send up candidates already prepared to the full extent of her knowledge and power. But in a particular sense, the selection and training of missionaries really rests with a comparatively small body of men and women, the Candidates' Committees, mis- sionary officials, and interviewers appointed by the various Boards. This small body is most closely in- terested in the Report of this Commission, and upon their response to its recommendations results will largely 199 200 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES depend. It is with a deep realisation of the difficulty and responsibility of offering counsel, and with a sense of respectful fellowship, that at the close of their work the Commission desire to concentrate their remarks upon the functions of those to whom is en- trusted this central office. Here they will be always referred to as the Candidates' Committee, though arrange- ments and relationships vary widely under the different Boards. THE SPIRIT BEHIND ROUTINE WORK Analysis of the answers from the Boards shows how heavy is the mass of detail work involved in the selection and preparation of missionaries. Procedure (such as papers of questions, medical forms, enquiries from ref- erees, arrangement for interviews and the interviews themselves, supervision of training, and a share in the assignment to stations or missions when the training is over) necessitates elaborate machinery if business is to be effectively done. The most sacred duties constantly repeated under pressure tend to drop into lifeless routine. The Commission note with thankfulness that the danger of mechanical work is recognised by many correspondents, but there appears to be need for a still wider development of human and individual sympathy in official contact with candidates, whether their offer be accepted or de- clined. The hundredth offer of service which a busy official deals with is probably the first and only offer of service which a candidate makes. The less those who offer are classified as " cases," the less training is governed by rigid theory, the less individuals are merged in " types," the more readily will candidates of the best kind come forward with confidence, and co-operate in a training which relates itself to their best possibilities. Generous and sympathetic intercourse between candidates and officials when the offer of service is made will grow into lasting friendship through frank and cordial intercourse during training. CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES 201 CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES, AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS Where candidates otherwise eligible need further training, general or specific, it is the duty of the Committee to see that opportunity is given for securing it. We have seen already that the need for some specific prepara- tion may now be regarded as universal. We have seen also that the time spent upon it may be turned to excellent account in enabling the Committee to test far more effectually than can be done by personal interviews and written testimonials, the intellectual, moral, and, above all, the spiritual qualifications of each candidate. The Committee is not directly responsible for the training given. That responsibility must rest on the authorities of the Institution, whether it be a University or a College, a Training Home or a Bible School, to which the candidate is sent. But it is responsible for seeing that none of the elements of general or special preparation which we have seen to be necessary are neglected. Where the College or Training Home is directly under the control of the Board or Society which the Committee represent, the responsibility is more personal. But even here the Committee will be well advised if they leave the head whom they have appointed as free a hand as possible. Weight should always be allowed to the opinions of those who are in daily and hourly contact with a candi- date. With this proviso the Committee, through one or more of its members, should keep in close personal touch with the candidate and with the authorities of the In- stitution during the whole period of training. This in many cases may best be done by the appointment of some representative whose special business it should be to get to know all such institutions, their different ways of working and results, their suitability for different kinds of men, and who would be able to confer with the heads of the institutions as to the progress of those under their charge. 202 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES CONTACT BETWEEN CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEE ^ The Commission note amongst their correspondents a special consciousness of need for more contact with candidates taking a long professional course, whether theological, medical, or pedagogic and this not of a strictly formal or official nature, but warmly personal and accompanied by kindly hospitality. It is obviously impossible for the mission secretaries to compass all this. The successful development of personal intercourse must depend upon the extent to which Committee members, with tactful loyalty both to their Society and to the confidences of the candidates, devote themselves to the fulfilment of this important side of their work. DOUBLE RELATIONSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE Candidates' Committees and officials stand in a unique position as intermediary bodies between the Home Church and the mission field. If they are to receive and weigh the offered product of the Home Church, and the specifica- tions of need from the Church abroad, and are to make the recommendations which regulate the transmission from the one to the other, it is requisite that they should know the actual conditions and present tendencies of each. In the light of these great objective realities alone should the work be done. Any judgment on a merely subjective basis would be misleading, any relation to a merely personal standard would be untrue. In the sense in which Justice is blind, so should he who deals with candidates be delivered from personal bias of every kind. THE COMMITTEE AND THE HOME CHURCH We turn to the Home side first. By the nature of the case members of a Candidates' Committee are always growing older, while the age at which candidates make their application remains stationary. There is therefore CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES 203 a growing disparity of age which may bring very serious consequences with it. The message of God to one genera- tion is never a mere repetition of the message "given to that which preceded it. And the most subtle of all spiritual dangers is that which entrenches itself most firmly behind the rampart "of loyalty to that form of truth which we learnt from our fathers and have found sufficient for our own needs, and makes us insensible to what is after all the voice of the Gqd of our fathers speaking in unaccustomed accents in the ears of our children. Unless those who receive and deal with offers of service (especially offers from college-trained men and women) are familiar with the best and worst tendencies of the age, reading the books and following the thought of men and women between twenty and thirty years of age, unless they can recognise truth clothed in a vocabulary differing from their own, and allow for the varying ernphasis wlu'ch every decade brings, tjiey axe sure to fail, and that in three directions. First, they will issue appeals for service based on motives which, though possibly sound in themselves, no longer move the young ; secondly, they will in personal contact make an unhappy impression upon candidates, and suggest a fundamental divergence wrjich does not really exist ; thirdly, they will be apt to err either in acceptance or rejection for lack of true understanding. The Commission, conscious of the widening gap in thought between the elder and younger generation in tlie present day, venture to urge upon senior members of Candidates' Committees and upon Candidates' officials, the need for a self-sacrificing effort in this direction, in order that their long experience may be cast in a form of which those who offer can avail themselves. The inclusion of a larger proportion of duly qualified younger men and women as members of Candidates' Committees would be a gain. The more the standard of missionary qualifica- tion is raised on the lines so strongly urged upon the Commission, the more urgent it becomes that every barrier based on phraseology or merely temporary or 204 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES local ways of stating truth should be removed, whilst all that safeguards essentials should be maintained. There is, however, evidence to show that for lack of such an attitude as has been indicated, difficulties (some of them deeply to be regretted) have arisen, causing question and dissatisfaction in the Church at home, and loss to the work abroad. THE COMMITTEE AND THE FOREIGN FIELD Turning to the relation of Candidates' Committees to the foreign field, it appears that in some cases strenuous effort is being .expended to meet a need which is but imperfectly known. The days are past as this Report conclusively shows when the appeal from the field was, in merely general terms, for " missionaries," and when any man or woman, spiritually and physically fit, was welcomed in almost every field. Now the world of the East and even Africa are changing, education and civilisa- tion are striding on, indigenous Churches are providing evangelists if we will but train and lead them. The old uniformity (or what we saw as such) is broken into great diversity. Special preparation is needed for every country, almost for every post. From the simple cell we have developed to highly differentiated tissue. At every point this development abroad bears upon the selection and training of candidates, and the choice of their special field. Foreign conditions are frequently before the bodies who deal with the administration of the Missions, but they are, the Commission have reason to believe, sometimes unknown to Candidates' Committees, the pressure of dealing with individual offers leaving little time for wider observation or thought. There are also instances known hi which those who have legislated for the training of missionaries have no subsequent opportunity for systematically testing the results of their work. Thus the lessons of experience are lost. The Commission are of opinion that it would be well to co-opt suitable missionaries on furlough as temporary CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES 205 members of Candidates' Committees; that experienced missionaries should frequently be interrogated by the Com- mittee, and consulted as to methods of training ; that, if a study of the whole mission field is impossible, Committee members should be encouraged to specialise ; and that careful notes as to the development of every young missionary (for the first five years) should be laid before the Committee, and discussed in the light of their past action concerning that individual. It goes without saying that every member of a Candi- dates' Committee should be conversant with modem missionary literature of the most thoughtful kind. KNOWLEDGE OF PROSPECTIVE NEEDS The work of the Candidates' Committee includes a responsible share in the search after, and appeal for, suitable candidates, and entire responsibility for sifting offers of service, deciding upon the best method of train- ing, and supervising it throughout whether it be a long preparatory course for a young candidate or a shorter term of special missionary preparation for a man or woman of more mature experience. It is evident to the Commission that if this work is to be done efficiently under modern conditions, the Committee should receive, at least in the case of all the large Societies, information as to the prospective needs of their mission fields for some years ahead. The difficulty of this has been fully realised by the Commission, but such action has become absolutely necessary. Already those Societies which have Training Colleges of their own work to some extent on this plan, and other Societies in a vague way anticipate their needs. But it is clear that they do not look far enough ahead, and that their calculations are not thorough enough. The law of averages, the principle of prob- ability can be applied here if the matter is undertaken and maintained with unflagging energy. Surprises will come of course, and forecasts fail. But better to have failure of actual forecasts than failure more frequent 206 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES and disastrous through lack of them. Moreover, no extensive programme for the better preparation of missionaries can be carried out unless their early designation to special fields is made possible. Such early knowledge of probable foreign needs will enable the Candidates' Committee also to share in the work of searching for and selecting candidates with confidence, energy, and intelligence. Whilst the mis- sionary call comes not infrequently to those who have already begun a life-work the minister in his parish, the doctor in his practice, the teacher in his class-room- it appeals, for the most part, to those who are completing then: education, and are just about to choose a career. Experience fully proves that earnest calls and appeals made to men and women at college often fail just because they are merely general. When the representative of a Candidates' Committee can describe specific forms of labour and name certain fields where these will be required within the next few years, realisation is made more possible, and responses come more readily, and from a higher type of student. THE INFLUENCE OF DENOMINATION The previous sections of this Report have indicated that the preparation of missionaries necessarily varies in character according to the Christian denomination to which the candidate, the Training Institution, or the Missionary Society belongs. In the development of the spiritual life of its private members, as well as of its students for the Ministry, there is a characteristic genius or spirit peculiar to each of the great divisions of Christendom. In one, students expect and gladly submit to a close control of their hours, their habits, their methods of devotion, while in another the individual develops most fitly under the pressure of a general atmo- sphere, and with the advice and influence of unofficial friends of his own selection. The Candidates' Committee Will in each ease act according to the methods of its own CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES 207 denomination or Society. But it must be remembered that missionaries are expected to live under unusual conditions, that failures cost far more in the foreign field than at home, that imperfections of character and tem- perament tell more powerfully and directly upon the peace of the little missionary community and the progress of the Kingdom. Hence no Society can afford to neglect the duty of watching over the spiritual, moral and in- tellectual growth of its missionary students, and must see that its Candidates' Committee does this work wisely, tenderly and faithfully. INDIVIDUAL WORK To ensure this end, the work of the Candidates' Com- mittee must be individual. Candidates vary widely not only in knowledge and in experience, but also in temperament and in possibilities. To treat all alike will be to succeed with none. This principle should be applied during the process of selection, and also during the whole period of training, whether elementary or advanced. Those whose life-work lies in a Training Institution, as well as those who hold office in the Candidates' Department of the Societies, are necessarily apt to develop stereotyped methods, and to expect young and varied life to conform itself to specified moulds. In the choice and continued use of Training Institutions, especially those for women students, the Candidates' Committee of every Society is responsible for securing such free play for individuality as is consistent with true discipline. Here a note by the Chairman of a Woman's Committee may well find place : " The endeavour to define a system on paper only drives home to me the conviction that it is not so much the system as the administration of it that really matters. The sympathetic treatment and understanding of the possibilities of each individual character, and the choice of the work abroad, have probably at least as much to do with the resulting success or failure in each case as 208 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES the particular course of training given. The individual will do her best under one set of circumstances, and not under another. " For this, among other reasons, I personally should advocate considerable variety and elasticity in methods of training, and should also incline to think it of even greater importance than the filling of necessary vacancies in the field that the candidate when trained should be sent to the sphere in which she seems most likely to reach her full development and to do her best work." THE CONSTITUTION OF CANDIDATES* COMMITTEES The Commission recognised, at the outset, the diversity of organisation for dealing with candidates in the different Societies. There are, however, two principles which have a general application. The essential qualification for membership is still the spiritual gift of " the discernment of spirits." But like all spiritual gifts it does not supersede it requires earnest care and watchfulness for its right cultivation. The earlier the age at which a candidate is accepted for training the more difficult the problem of selection becomes, because it is easier to judge developed faculty than promise. At the same time, of course, there is a longer period during which an initial mistake can be corrected. There is no field in which the necessary ex- perience is acquired at so great a cost. Therefore there is no experience the fruits of which should be more reverently gathered and preserved. The first element, therefore, for which we plead in the constitution of a Candidates' Committee is permanence. A careful record should be kept of every accepted candidate through each stage of training, and reports, as we have already seen, should be received from the field for at least five years to enable the Committee to judge the correctness of their estimate in each case. Experience, therefore, must take a long time to mature. No one, therefore, should be asked to join the Committee who is not prepared to give CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES 209 serious and regular attention to its work for a considerable period. Members whose interest in the work is half- hearted, and whose attendance is only desultory or spas- modic, are better away altogether. The other element to be provided for in the constitution is variety. As long as the sense of individual responsi- bility is kept alive, and the meetings are always fully attended, it is difficult to fix any limit to the size of the Committee. Care, however, should be taken to make the Committee representative of different types of thought, training, and experience. Appointments should be made for a specified term, of course with the possibility of renewal. COM. v. 14 CHAPTER XVII A LAST WORD TO THE CHURCH Contents: A Brief Summary of the Report; An Appeal to the Church as a Whole ; The Responsibility of the Whole Church in regard to Missionary Vocations : Our Duty to Disappointed Candi- dates. The Relation of the Church as a Whole to Missionary Preparation ; Deeper Consecration in Growing Light A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE REPORT THE Commission has completed its task. The situation on the field has been surveyed. The facts, as far as they could be ascertained with regard to the standard which Boards and Societies at present require in their missionaries, have been stated. The existing methods of missionary preparation have been set out. The general principles which should govern all missionary preparation have been discussed, and applied in detail to the several classes of missionaries. It was, however, found impossible to be content with suggestions for the strengthening of existing institutions. Specific preparation which the normal course of professional training cannot be expected to provide, and for some parts of which provision cannot be made until the field of work has been assigned, was found to be required. Various suggestions for meeting the need, at home or on the field, were laid before the Commission and are presented in this Report. The need for a body definitely commis- sioned to examine into and co-ordinate the possibilities for special missionary preparation has led the Commission to propose that steps should be taken by the World Missionary Conference to secure the creation of a 210 A LAST WORD 211 permanent Board of Missionary Study by the joint action of the different Societies and Boards. Finally, the Commission has addressed itself to the bodies responsible for accepting offers of service, as having vested in them the power to give practical effect to the recommendations for improving the standard both of general and specific preparation hi the case of all accepted candidates. AN APPEAL TO THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE The last words of the Commission must be addressed, not to any sectional or subordinate authority, but to the whole Church. The ultimately decisive power, controlling the supply of candidates, and dominating each stage of their training, is exercised by the Christian consciousness of the whole community to which they belong. It is of importance that every member of the Body of Christ should realise the nature and extent of his individual and corporate responsibility in this matter. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WHOLE CHURCH IN REGARD TO MISSIONARY VOCATIONS " The real call must come from within ; it can only be the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot forestall voca- tion, or pretend to dispense with it." Yet the readiness of each member to recognise and to respond to the voice of the Spirit is directly affected by the attitude towards the fundamental problems of life and duty taken up by every one with whom he associates. If a Church were fully alive, every member would be awake to the obligation of personal service. And, far off as may yet be the attainment of this ideal state, the object of Christian education is to fit every boy and girl to work for God to the utmost wherever and in whatever way it shall please Him to call them. Apart from this underlying sense of universal vocation, the idea of a specially missionary vocation easily becomes unhealthy and unreal. When 212 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES this sense is present, it becomes easy and natural for Christian teachers and preachers to keep the claims and opportunities of the mission field before all children, to- gether with the possibility that the call to be a missionary may come to any one of them. The effectiveness of the appeal will also largely depend on the presence or absence of an intelligent interest in foreign missions in the home ; and on the willingness of parents to give up their children to the work at the call of God. It will be seen then how closely the problem of quicken- ing the sense of missionary vocation is bound up with the problem of raising the spiritual tone of the whole Church. Where that tone is raised or lowered by the reality or the half-heartedness of individual self -surrender, sensitive- ness to missionary vocation will be quickened or deadened in every one with whom we are associated. Our Duty to Disappointed Candidates It is not possible to regard every desire to offer for service abroad as constituting in itself a call to work in the foreign field. In each Church there are those on whom rests the solemn responsibility of deciding on the fitness of the applicant. In the strictest sense no vocation is complete until the moving of the Spirit from within is confirmed and crowned from without, through the operation of the ^ same Spirit. No one would claim infallibility for the decisions of Candidates' Committees, but definite functions are entrusted to them, each within the limits of its own community. The Commission would bespeak on their behalf the prayerful and sym- pathetic interest of the whole Church in the execution of their most difficult and delicate task, especially at the present time, when any effort on their part to raise the standard of acceptance cannot fail to cause disappoint- ment both to individual candidates and to the congrega- tions whose interest has been aroused by their offers. In order therefore to lessen the danger of eventual A LAST WORD 213 disappointment, the Commission would urge the necessity for (a) More careful statement on the part of official deputations in their appeals for offers of service. (b) A clearer apprehension on the part of both clergy and people of the requirements of the modernfsituation on the mission field. (c) More frank and confidential contact between local workers and the Candidates' Committees and central officials. (d) Sympathetic effort at the time of rejection to soften the blow and prevent the dissipation of spiritual energy consequent on the disappointment of the hopes both of the individual and of the congregation. Individual candidates should be helped to realise that their call to personal consecration to the missionary cause was no delusion, though as far as man can judge it was not a call to personal service on the field. They should be encouraged to be on the watch for the oppor- tunities which God will put in their way both of open and of hidden*service to the cause. More definite utilisation in the work of the Home Base of those who have offered and have failed from ho fault of their own to reach the necessary standard, would make the recognition of the reality of their call to service patent in the Church. Much depends upon the knowledge and wisdom of those who are the first advisers of intending candidates local secretaries, ministers, and other friends. Those who find themselves in this position should learn how to supply initial tests by which both they and the applicant himself may judge of his fitness for work abroad : such tests as readiness to co-operate cordially with colleagues, humility and willingness to undertake lowly tasks, moral courage to undertake and to continue difficult work, intellectual or practical. A language test at this stage may serve a double purpose. The thoftghts of those who are clearly unsuitable for work on the field should from the first be turned to watch for opportunities of working 214 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES on behalf of the cause at home. Refusal to relinquish hope in spite of discouragement is not by itself a sure sign of a true vocation. At the same time it must never be forgotten that excellent missionaries have been de- veloped out of originally unpromising material. THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE TO MISSIONARY PREPARATION The Church as a whole has responsibility, not only in regard to missionary vocation, but also at the various stages of missionary preparation. In the earliest stages that responsibility is direct and undivided. As the vitality of a Church may be measured by the readiness of its members to hear and to respond to the missionary call, so the educational efficiency of a Church is tested by the fitness of those to whom that call has come, to commence at once the task of special preparation. In the beginnings of training in Bible know- ledge or in Christian service no difference can be made between those who do and those who do not evince a call to work abroad. It ought therefore to be a matter of general concern to learn that " candidates are frequently rejected for lack of this rudimentary training," and that " years of missionary purpose are frequently wasted without any intelligent attempt at self-pre- paration." As soon as'the candidate declares his intention of offer- ing himself for work abroad, and has been provisionally, at least, accepted, the period of strictly missionary pre- paration begins, and the direct responsibility of the Church in the matter devolves upon the special depart- ment of Church organisation which is concerned with missionary work. None the less, every member of the Church has a distinct interest and share in all that is going on. The constituted authorities require the stimulus and support of an enlightened public opinion, and should be able to count upon the intelligent interest and hearty co-operation of a wide circle. A LAST WORD 215 The institutions engaged in providing the training have a claim on generous financial support. The burden of raising the necessary funds should never be thrown on the authorities in charge of them. They have a claim still more on the support of constant and faithful inter- cession. Candidates in training can be efficiently helped in their task of self-preparation by their own immediate friends even more than by the members of Candidates' Com- mittees, if these friends will keep before themselves a high standard of missionary qualification, both in char- acter and attainment. Still more, on a closer analysis of the forces that vitally affect the development of each individual, it becomes clear that in the work of preparation, no less than in quickening the sense of vocation, the most effective, though often least regarded influence, is that which is exerted on every one of its members by the Christian society as a whole. There is a deep and intimate depend- ence of individual on corporate faith and enthusiasm. What would be the effect on the preparation of every missionary candidate, if the wisdom and earnestness and zeal which have marked the leading champions of the missionary cause in each age in the past should become characteristic, not of isolated individuals, but of the whole Church in our generation ? We have been pleading for a higher standard in the intellectual preparation of every class of missionary. We have tried to make it clear, as it has become to us, that, considering the whole situation, the modern world every- where must be supplied with teachers of the Truth as it is in Christ, whose training has been prolonged, thorough and deep. Those who speak for the Christian religion to the mass of human life must in general be masters both of that which they teach, and of the moral and intellectual condition of those whom they address. What; if this call, which we trust has come through us from the great Head of the Church, should cause a deeper enquiry to arise regarding the intelligence of the Home Church 216 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES itself and the training of the Home ministry ? That, indeed, is not our proper subject. But it has become clear that no portion of the Church does, perhaps none can, and certainly none ought to, give a preparation to its missionary force superior to that given to the various classes of workers at home. Perhaps there is a call in this Report which will reach even that matter, and result in wider questions than we have discussed. For if the growing intelligence of the home land is to be held loyal to the Truth of the Gospel, it is evident that this can only be secured by keeping the interpreters of that Truth, and even its teachers to little children, abreast of the best education and the severest discipline which is gix 7 en to any class of scholars and any profession which Christendom produces. If the missionaries are to be more fully prepared, it is not too much to say that this can only be done by raising the standard even of the Home ministry. But even more than this, going down to the very heart of the problem of missionary preparation, there is the influence of what we may venture to call our corporate apprehension ? of the character^of Christ. Canon Robinson has recently said, with deep and true insight into the needs of the present situation " To prepare ourselves to deliver this message (of the Divine revelation), to offer any adequate interpreta- tion of Christ's character, no intellectual study, however prolonged, no single or repeated acts of self-sacrifice, and no display of Western energy, enthusiasm, or philan- thropy will suffice. If we are to appeal to the Eastern races we must be able to show that we are not ourselves deficient in the Christlike virtues which they themselves possess. In other words, we must learn to practise the Christlike virtues of the East if we are to commend to the East the Christlike virtues of the West." If we are to attract and hold the attention of thoughtful men trained in an ancient civilisation and proud of their national ideals, we must force them to realise that our Creed supplies us with a source and spring of Life fuller and A LAST WORD 217 more effectual than that to which their ancestral religion gives access. This can only be done 4 by -the witness of lives actually conformed to the likeness of Jesus! Christ. If that likeness is distorted, in other words, if the char- acter of Christ is imperfectly apprehended or^only partially reflected in the lives of professing Christians, the witness is made ineffectual, if it does^not, become positively misleading. The missionary therefore who 'is to commend the Gospel to those who as yet are strangers to its power, must embody it first in a character fully conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. It is only in proportion as he can manifest the character of Christ in and through his own life that he can gain a hearing for the Gospel. But this is not all. The relation between the message of salvation and the character of Christ is closer even than this. The sacrifice of the Cross derives its power, both in the sight of God and over the hearts of man, from the personality of the Offerer. He is our peace, His death avails for our redemption because it is the expression of His inmost heart towards God and towards man, of His perfect obedience, of His great humility, of His mercy and loving-kindness. He cannot see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied until His sacrifice bears fruit after its kind in our hearts. In the deepest sense, there- fore, it is true that the character of Christ is the revelation with which every missionary is entrusted. The problem set before him is to interpret that character in its com- pleteness to men of an alien race and '"another tongue. It is only as the missionary learns to "understand that character in the all-inclusiveness of its perfect humanity that he can hope to understand the people among whom he is working. It is only so far as he can " live Christ " before their eyes that he can help them to understand his message. But the Christ that we Westerns are content to embody in our national ideals and our relations one to another, is a very imperfect image of the Redeemer of the World, deficient in just those features which must give it a constraining power over the imagination of the 218 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES East. So it has come to pass that our representatives on the field, just because they are what we have made them, have far too often hidden the Christ whom they are giving their lives to reveal. What wonder, then, that missionaries on the field have begun to suspect that we are sending abroad a Gospel " weighted with a fatal disparagement." In the light of the truth we have just been considering, it is not difficult to see what that " fatal disparagement " is. It is our toleration of an un-Christlike standard in our own lives that weakens the appeal of the precious blood. It is we at home who constitute the chief difficulty in the way of Missionary Preparation. . What if the deep and solemn challenge is falling now upon our ears to prove that our faith is life indeed to us, and that the kingdom of God is for us the supreme reality and the final fact ? If our missionaries are to be fitly and fully prepared to " convince the world," they must go forth from a Church in which the Spirit of Christ is evidently at work, in whose whole character and policy and life the Gospel is continuously and irrefutably proved to be in very truth " the power of God unto salvation." DEEPER CONSECRATION IN GROWING LIGHT Clearly, therefore, if the problem of the evangelisation of the world is to be taken in hand seriously, as the Church seeks to win every race, and especially at this time the Oriental races, for Christ, we must do more than bid our missionary candidates go back afresh to the Gospels, and frame and fashion their own lives on the pattern embodied there. Their predecessors have done that, however imperfectly, with real devotion, before them. We must see to it that we ourselves by our own acquies- cence in an imperfect ideal, do not shut out from them or obscure for them|the vision of the true. There^-is an unsuspected power of self-consecration in the effort to win the world for Christ. It will not be the least A LAST WORD 219 of the blessings attendant on obedience to His parting charge if, in seeking to bring others, we find ourselves drawn irresistibly to the foot of the Cross. He Himself said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself." APPENDIX I (A) QUESTIONS ADDRESSED TO CANDIDATES' COMMITTEES OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 1 PRELIMINARY I. We should be glad of some information as to the general standard wliich you set before you in dealing with all applicants for missionary service physical, social, intellectual, professional, spiritual. Have you any papers defining your standards ? NOTE. In so far as this question may be answered later, do not trouble to enlarge here. II. What is your procedure for ascertaining the qualifications of applicants ? 1. Examination ? 2. Questions ? Have you a schedule of questions ? 3. References ? 4. Interviews ? Are you satisfied with your methods ? If you are conscious of weakness, could you define it ? Are causes of missionary failure traceable in any degree to methods of selection ? III. From what social classes the more, or the less, educated do the larger number of candidates come to you ? Has the proportion changed within recent years ? In what direction ? Can you assign causes ? IV. Have you any system of probation before you enrol applicants upou your candidates' list, or later ? Explain the system, and mention whether you find it satisfactory. 1 Used with slight variations in America and Great Britain. 221 PREPARATION OF CANDIDATES (A) Professional and Technical. (B) Directly Missionary. (C) The Study of Language. (A) PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL PREPARATION Under this designation we desire to inquire regarding Candi- dates 1. Theological for Evangelistic and Pastoral service. 2. Educational for colleges, high schools, and ele- mentary schools. 3. Medical for medical missionary service. 4. Industrial for industrial work. 5. Lay Evangelistic. Please answer these questions, in so far as they apply, with regard to women as well as to men. 1. Theological Candidates Ordained, for Evangelistic and Pastoral Service. I. Do the majority of the theological candidates consist of 1. Men who have gone through the regular training demanded for the home ministry ? 2. Men who have not had this training ? II. What preparation do you require for the latter class before ordination ? To v/hat colleges do you send them ? What tests do you apply before ordination ? III. Have you any means of comparing results in effective service between these two classes of ordained missionaries ? IV. Do you give to your theological candidates of both classes any special " missionary " training (i.e. in such matters as the language, history, religion, and customs of the people to whom they are going) ? V. Do you find that candidates who have had a regular training for the home ministry have received in their course of study any such special " missionary " training ? If so, what ? Dp you think that anything more might be done to give this kind of training to intending missionaries in the regular theological colleges ? VI. Do you send your men out directly from their college pre- paration ? Or do they serve for a time in the Church at home ? VII. Is it your practice under any circumstances to ordain men of very limited education, without requiring of them any regular theological course ? 2. Educational Candidates for Colleges, High Schools, and the Supervision of Elementary Schools. I. Do you use the educational missionary method to any large extent in your mission fields ? In any or all of its branches ? II. Do you send out men and women of special educational APPENDIX I. 223 training for educational work ? What educational equipment do you require ? University ? Training college ? Do you provide special training for likely applicants ? III. Do sufficient educational candidates apply for service ; and do you find that the missionary vocation appeals to a good class of educational students men and women ? IV. Do you give to educational candidates any additional " missionary " training before you send them abroad ? If so, what training ? V. Do you in any large measure use your ordained missionaries for educational work ? If so, what special educational preparation do they receive ? e.g. : 1. Do they receive any instruction in the science (theory and practice) of education ? 2. Do they for any stated period attend educational colleges or lectures ? 3. Are they tested by any practice in teaching ? VI. Do you think it well to put educational work under the superintendence of ordained missionaries who are not themselves educationalists ? VII. What scope, if any, have you for lay educationalists ? 3. Medical Candidates Physicians, Surgeons, Nurses. I. Do men and women from the regular medical schools apply in any number for missionary work ? II. Does your Committee take special cognisance of the extent of the professional proficiency of candidates, and advise with regard to further special training e.g. tropical diseases, medical or surgical experience in hospitals, or other special work ? III. Does the advance of scientific knowledge in the East demand a higher standard of professional training for the intending medical missionary than in the past ? IV. There are several Societies which exist for the specific purpose of training candidates for medical missionary work do you make use of any of these ? If so, which ? There are also Societies e.g. the S.P.C.K. which aid medical missionary students. Do many of your applicants receive such aid ? V. What assistance is rendered to students by these Societies ? 1. Educational ? (medical or scientific). 2. Missionary ? (missionary training). 3. Financial ? VI. What is the relation of any such Society used by you to your own Society ? VII. What additional missionary training do you give your medical candidates, and at what stage of their professional training does this take place ? VIII. Seeing that medical education makes so much greater demand upon time and strength than formerly, and leaves so much less time for other preparation, have you made any attempts to help candidates to make up the loss ? If so, what attempts, and with what success ? IX. Do you arrange for any period of rest after their preparation before your young medical missionaries leave for their field ? 4. Candidates for Industrial and Technical Service. I. Does your Society conduct industrial missionary work, either directly under missionary control or related to the Society as a Company ? II. Are the skilled men and women employed in such work regarded as missionaries ? Are they set apart as missionaries ? III. Are such persons sought for and employed first as the best skilled workers to be found ? Or does your Society or Company train for such purposes persons of missionary impulse who come asking for service ? Are you satisfied that such training could be made really efficient ? IV. Have you found that men of strong missionary impulse are satisfied with their industrial work ? Are they able, as a rule, to make their industrial work missionary ? V. Do difficulties arise out of the fact that such members of the mission staff are as a rule of a different social class from the other missionaries ? Within the mission ? From lack of respect by the people ? From inability to learn a language ? Is anything being done to obviate such difficulties through previous training ? 5. Candidates for the work of the Lay Evangelist. I. Do you, to any considerable extent, employ laymen and women for evangelistic work ? Have any or many of these received a University education ? II. Do you send out for evangelistic work any men or women of very limited education ? To what fields ? III. What is your estimate of the success of such missionaries in the field ? 1 . In length of service. 2. In evangelistic work. 3. In general efficiency. 4. In the capacity to work with others. (B) PREPARATION SPECIALLY " MISSIONARY " I. Do you demand from any or all of your candidates specific preparation at home for the missionary field ? e.g. Training in such subjects as the following : 1. The missionary aim and its relation to the Gospel. 2. The history of missions. 3. Comparative religions. 4. The various forms of missionary activity. Their relative functions and importance. 5. The history, religious beliefs (social customs) and practices, and the specific problems of the candi- date's prospective field. APPENDIX I. 225 II. Kindly state how much importance you attach to this specific preparation at home for the missionary field, and especially as regards 1. The relative importance of the topics mentioned. 2. The method of providing suitable tuition. 3. The amount of time which should be spent on such preparation. Is it, in your judgment, possible or desirable that any groups of Societies should co-operate in giving training of this kind to missionary candidates ? Have you any experi- ence of the result from this point of view of missionary study bands ? III. What methods of training do you employ ? 1. Missionary training colleges or homes ? 2. Home preparation unions ? 3. Missionary hostels ? 4. Missionary training on the field ? Are there any other methods of training employed by you ? IV. Do you find it possible to arrange the destinations of your accepted candidates in advance, in order that they may prepare definitely for their own fields and spheres of work ? i . Missionary Training Colleges or Homes, I. Have you training colleges or homes connected with your own Society or Church ? For men ? For women ? For co-education ? II. Or do you employ other colleges ; if so, which ? III. Do you find the training efficient ? How do trained and untrained missionaries compare as regards special missionary efficiency ? If there is failure, can you give us some idea of the causes and the directions of such failure ? IV. What means do you use to test the training as regards the spiritual and devotional life, the discipline and strengthening of character? the intellectual and especially the Biblical, Theological, and Apologetic studies ? the practical training in evangelistic and pastoral work ? 2. Home Preparation Unions. I. How far do you find that home preparation unions aid in the supply of suitable candidates ? II. How far is the preparation effective as such ? 3. Missionary Hostels. I. How far have you found missionary hostels for the residence pf candidates who are getting their training mainly outside e.g. at Universities or Colleges effective ? Kindly send us the papers of any hostels used by your Society. II. Do you bring the men and women together ? COM. V. 15 226 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES 4. Missionary Training on the Field. I. Has your Society any system of training on the field, whether full training or additional to home training ? II. What is the nature of the training ? Is anything done to instruct missionaries in the manners, customs, history, social conditions, religions, beliefs, and practices of the people among whom they are to labour ? III. Where is it given ? In hostels ? With, or apart from, " native " candidates ? IV. Who act as instructors ? V. How long is the course ? VI. What is your experience of the value of this system ? In view of the present missionary situation its urgency, delicacy, and importance, and also in view of the greatness of the opportunity for free discussion of this subject through the results of this investigation it is important that we should have all the assistance possible ; and we trust that you will add any informa- tion or any suggestions which may have occurred to you as a committee on candidates, in addition to your answers to our questions. (C) THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES I. Is it your belief that the majority of your missionaries become proficient in the language or languages of their people ? II. Do your candidates begin their language study at home ? If so, how far has this previous study been found effective ? Do you draw any distinction between the home study of a literary language and the study of the vernacular ? III. Do you ensure that your missionaries have time given to them for their language work ? How long ? What steps dp you take to defend your missionaries during the first year or two in the field from distractions which may interfere with their study of the language ? Kindly discuss this question "with reference to all classes of missionaries. IV. Have you a system of language examinations ? Do you expect all your missionaries to pass these ? If not, what is your principle ? V. In the case of failure to pass their examinations, are your missionaries expected to retire ? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS I. What training, if any, do you provide for women engaged to be married to your missionaries ? Do you in any way test their fitness for missionary work ? II. Are you able to arrange that your missionaries, whether medical, educational, or industrial, should use part of their furlough APPENDIX I. 227 for further study or training on their special subject, so as to keep abreast with modern learning ? (B) QUESTIONS ADDRESSED TO MISSIONARIES * I. Is sufficient care taken, in your opinion, in the selection of candidates for the mission field in such matters as physical condition, intellectual preparation, and moral and spiritual character ? II. Ought there to be age limits within which missionaries should be sent out for the first time ? For men ? For women ? Will you mention reasons for your opinion ? III. Do you regard professional training (e.g. clerical, medical, educational, industrial) sufficient for missionaries, if they are to follow that profession in the mission field ? (E.g. Is the ordinary theological college course sufficient for a pastoral and evangelistic missionary, or industrial training for an industrial missionary ?) IV. If you believe that additional preparation is required, what course of study or training would you advise for 1. An ordained missionary whose work will be pastoral and evangelistic ? 2. A zenana missionary ? 3. An ordained missionary to be engaged in educational work ? 4. A lay educationalist ? 5. A medical missionary man or woman ? 6. An industrial missionary man or woman ? 7. A lay evangelist man or woman ? V. What are your views regarding training specifically " mis- sionarv," as you have seen it exemplified in the mission field ? Have you considered the training to be pointed, intelligent, sufficient ? Has it produced leaders, men and women of insight, wisdom, and adaptability ? Has it had an enlarging effect upon the outlook ? Has it produced a " type " ? Are the men and women sent out from such preparation humble and willing to learn ? Is it your experience that missionaries are as a rule happy in their mutual relations ? Do you think that any- thing could be done during the period of preparation to aid missionary candidates in this connection ? If so, what ? Are there characteristics good or bad, which seem to you noteworthy in missionary training ? What points have you specially noted ? VI. If you have had the opportunity of comparing the results of different systems of training, could you aid us with comparative remarks ? 1 Used with slight variations in America and Great Britain. 228 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES VII. In your opinion, is it well that special missionary training should be conducted on the field ? Have you experience of snch preparation in your own mission, and if so, do you think it is being conducted on wise lines ? What are those lines ? VIII. Shquld ordinary missionaries for your field have 1. Some industrial training ? 2. Some elementary medical training ? IX. What is your experience of missionaries who have dons some language work at home ? Has it proved an efficient aid ? Has there been much to unlearn ? How does it compare with learning in the field in relation to the time spent ? X. Lastly, and in hope of a full reply, if you have given con- sideration to the questiop of the special preparation of missionaries for your field.will you give us frankly the results of your thinking ? As regards its scope ? Its duration ? Should such prepara- tion be given at home or on the field ? Will it be necessary for different Societies to combine to form special institutions if such training is to be efficiently given at 'home ? And will you tell us what you feel to have been the special merits or deficiencies of your own preparation, stating what that preparation was ? (C) QUESTIONS ADDRESSED TO HEADS OF COLLEGES OR INSTITUTIONS FOR THE TRAINING OF MISSIONARIES It would be a coijyenience if you would send twenty copies of vour latest calendar and report, and of any other literature issued by you. Kindly let us know the cost, if necessary. I. Are your students men or women, or both ? II. For what Missionary Societies do ypu train candidates, and what is ypur^ relation to those Societies ? Are most of your students accepted candidates of those Societies ; or is it understood to be a part of your function to test candidates for them ? III. Have you a definite standard for admission, with regard to &ge, education, or social standing ? What conditions of admission do you impose upon appli- " cants ? Do' you attempt to measure spiritual or moral fitness ? By what means ? Do you find that you can maintain your standard of admissiori ? What references do you require ? IV. How many students can you accommodate ? Do you prefer a large or a small number ? Would you give your reasons for either? APPENDIX I. 229 V. What do you reckon to be the annual cost of training of each student to the college ? What are your fees ? How are other expenses met ? By whom is the expense of training generally borne ? Have you any scholarships ? VI. What is the length of your course of training 1. In the case of candidates for whom it is the only training ? 2. In the case of those for whom it is Supplementary (e.g. graduates) ? 3. In the case of those for whom it is a special training e.g. medical, educational, and industrial candi- dates, who will exercise their calling in the mission field ? VII. Have you a definite period of probation ? Are many candidates declined after probation ? Do you find your system satisfactory, or otherwise ? (B) SCHEME OF TRAINING I. The length and scope of your college course is probably stated in full in your calendar : are there any particulars in addition which would be helpful to us hi this connection ? Thus, if not fully stated, please give some idea of the scope of your teaching on the following subjects : Scripture. Church History. Theology. Apologetics. Comparative Religion. History, Science, and Methods of Missions. Education. Do you give any educational equipment ? Medicine. Do you approve of and supply any ele- mentary medical or nursing courses ? Industrial. Do you give any industrial training ? Languages. II. What methods of practical missionary training do you employ ? Do your students teach ? Visit ? Conduct services or meetings? Have you any branch of outside practical work for which your college undertakes responsibility ? What methods of training or of supervision do you employ ? Do you give any teaching which shall enable students to compare or contrast home and foreign missionary methods. III. Have you methods of unifying your training, relating subject with subject, theory with practice ? IV. What is your general system of instruction ? Lecturing ? Tutorial ? The supervised study of text- books ? How many hours of lectures per week do the students have to attend ? 230 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES V. What methods do you employ for testing the work and the fitness of each student ? Do you use the method of examination ? of the criticism class ? of independent intellectual work ? Do you consider your method effective ? If doubtful, will you give us your thoughts upon this matter ? VI. What is your ideal for the corporate life of the college ? What measures are taken to aid in the strengthening of character, and the formation of habits of self-restraint, self-reliance, a strong sense of duty, attention to the (so-called) minor as well as the major morals ? Do you encourage recreations ? Of what nature ? VII. Can you give some conception of your method of spiritual training ? What common services are held in the college ? Do the students themselves hold meetings for prayer and intercession ? Do you set apart hours for silence ? Have you any idea whether your students regard such an arrangement as helpful ? Do you give any definite teaching regarding the life with God ? If so, what form does such teaching take ? VIII. Do the arrangements of the Society, or Societies, for which you prepare candidates allow of your giving time to the special preparation of each student for his or her future sphere of service ? Is the College prepared to give special preparation regard- ing each mission field the peoples, their history, their religions, social conditions, manners and customs, languages ; and also regarding the peculiar needs and relations of the missionary in each case ? What form does such special preparation take ? Do you give your students any instruction regarding the preparation of missionary reports ? (C) RESULTS While acknowledging that it is impossible to tell truly of results, we shall welcome anything you can tell of your experience in such directions as the following : I. Do you find growth in your students in 1. Grasp of the essential meaning and values of the doctrines of the Christian faith ? Power to express these independently ? Ability to translate Christian thought into varied mental forms for the need of others ? Adaptability and sympathy ? 2. Force of character, self-command, capacity for leadership ? Power to deal with confusing business, readiness to fall in when necessary with the wishes and APPENDIX I. 231 plans of others, the very necessary combination of strength of purpose with absence of self-will ? 3. Devotion towards Christ and His Kingdom ? Conquest over habits and tendencies regarding which you may have had anxiety, and a corre- sponding strengthening of the whole character ? The graces and characteristics peculiarly Christian humility, gentleness, self-government, self- denial, love ? II. Have you been able to trace any results of your training in the mission field itself ? Have your students been steadfast as missionaries ? Have they, as far as you know, been appreciated by older workers or younger colleagues ? In short, does your system of discipline seem to you to fit your students for the peculiar duties, difficulties, and temptations of the missionary's life and service ? (D) DEVELOPMENT Under this head will you give information (a) As to any advance of which you are conscious in 1. The type of candidate offering for preparation ? 2. The kind of training demanded by Societies or by candidates ? (b) An to your ideals or hopes for the future of your work, and as to the directions in which missionary Societies, or missionaries already on the field, might further those ideals ? QUESTIONS ADDRESSED TO HEADS OF THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES OR BIBLE SCHOOLS IN AMERICA It would be a convenience if you would send ten copies of your latest calendar or year-book, and any other literature issued by you, which would assist us. I. For what various forms of Christian service do you prepare your students, and in what proportions ? II. Are your students men or women, or both ? III. What standard of general education do you require for entrance upon your course ? What variations, and in what pro- portion annually, do you allow from that standard ? IV. What proportion of your students, for a stated period of years say, ten to twenty have become missionaries ? V. How many of your former students are now in the mission fields ? With what Societies have they become connected ? To what fields have they gone ? (Give exact figures, if possible.) 232 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES VI. Do you provide any special courses of instruction for your missionary students ? If you do 1. By whom is the instruction given ? '2. In what Subjects ? History and Customs of non- Christian Peoples, Specific Religions, Comparative Religion, History of Missions, etc. ? 3. How many hours are offered in each subject ? 4. Are these courses allowed as substitutes for any of those in your regular theological curriculum ? 5. Do you attempt to prepare students for specific fields ? 6. Have you given to missionary students ariy work in the languages of their prospective fields ? Give numbers of these cases, languages taught, proficiency attained, practical results. 7. Do you provide medical instruction to prepare students for emergency demands on the field ? Please describe it in full. 8. Have you any apparatus, such as museum, maps, library, stereopticon views, etc., for aid in mission- ary instruction ? Please describe it.. . 9. What do you estimate as your expenditure upon the special work of missionary education ? Have you an endowment ? VII. Do you have a student volunteer band in your institution ? What are its methods of operation ? What is its effect upon the life of the institution ? VIII. Do you require any study of missionary topics by those students who do not intend to serve in foreign lands ? What are these topics ? IX. Has your Faculty formed any plan for furthering the pre- paration of men and women for the foreign field ? It would be of great importance to us to have your judgment in this matter. (A) PREPARATION OF MEN AS FOREIGN MISSIONARIES J. Can you give us ariy information as to what proper tion, of the students frbm your College have become foreign missionaries either at the end of their Course, or ultimately ? Does the number of these increase or decrease ? (Statistics showing actual numbers, if available, will be valued.) 2. What is your opinion as to the quality, intellectually and spiritually, of the men who go abroad ? Aire they superior tp ? on a level with, or inferior to the iflen who go into the homfe ministry ? APPENDIX I. 233 3. Do you consider that your College course, as also the Hie and discipline, is such as would probably aid an intending missionary ? 4. Is there a strong missionary interest in your College ? If the missionary interest is strong, what influences are at work to make and keep it so ? 5. Is the appeal for service abroad kept before the students ? What number of the students at present in College are definitely pledged to missionary work, and what proportion is this of the whole ? 6. Would you tell us the general nature of the curriculum ? Has it been designed to include missionary training ? 7. Have you any special course of instruction for missionary students, e.g. comparative religions, the history, science, and method of Missions, Oriental languages ? Do you think this course effective as missionary preparation ? 8. In view of the great demands made by missionary life, are any methods employed in the College to cultivate and discipline the spiritual life of the students ? (B) PREPARATION OF MEN FOR THE HOME MINISTRY IN RELATION TO FOREIGN MISSIONS 1. Is any instruction given with reference to the history and principles of the modern missionary enterprise for the benefit of men entering the home ministry ? 2. Are any definite means employed to bring home to the students an adequate sense of the world-wide Mission of the Church and of the urgency of the task in view of the momentous changes which have taken place in India and the Far East, and the opening up of the Continent of Africa in recent years ? If so, what means are employed, and with what effect ? 3. Is any instruction given as to the methods by which clergy and ministers working at home may foster missionary interest in their congregations ? Please describe the nature of such instruction. 4. In view of the fact that men rarely make a study of a subject the foundations for which have not been laid hi college, what is your opinion as to how far it is practicable and desirable to include such subjects as the above in the curriculum of a theological college ? 5. Are any means employed to help the students to form a personal habit of prayer for foreign missions, e.g. by services or meetings for intercession ? What opinion have you formed as to success in this direction ? 6. Are there any means by which students are helped to form a personal habit of giving to Missions, e.g. a College Missionary Society, support given to any particular missionary Object ? Do you think the majority of students form such a habit ? 7. Has the College a missionary library ? Are the most im- portant missionary books added to it on any regular system ? Are the students given any guidance in their missionary reading ? APPENDIX II LIST OF CORRESPONDING MISSION BOARDS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES (a) American. American Baptist Missionary Union. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. American Friends' Board of Foreign Missions. Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America. Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church. China Inland Mission. Christian and Missionary Alliance. Christian Women's Board of Foreign Missions. Foreign Christian Missionary Society. Foreign Missions Board of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Foreign Missions Board of the South Baptist Convention. Foreign Missionary Society of the United Brethren in Christ. General Conference of Free Baptists. German Baptist Brethren Church General Mission and Tract Committee. Missionary Department of the American Christian Con- vention. Missionary Society of the Evangelical Association. Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Women's "Missionary Association of the United Brethren in Christ. Women's Union Missionary Society of America for Heathen Lands. United Evangelical Church Board of Home and Foreign Missions. 234 APPENDIX II, 235 (6) British. Baptist Missionary Society. Baptist Zenana Mission. China Inland Mission. Church Missionary Society. Church of England Zenana Missionary Society." Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Committee. Church of Scotland Women's Association for Foreign Missions. Egypt General Mission. Friends' Foreign Missionary Association. London Missionary Society. Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Com mittee. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Committee of Women's Work. South Africa General Mission. South American Missionary Society. Sudan United Mission. United Free Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Com- mittee. Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. Women's Foreign Missions of the United Free Church of Scotland. Women's Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England. Women's Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. World's Young Women's Christian Association. Zenana Bible and Medical Mission. (c) Continental. Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsens, Stockholm. Missions-Werk der Evangelischer Brvder Unitat, Saxony. Societe des missions evangeliques de Paris. Svenska Kyrkens Missionsstyrelse, Upsala. Svenska Missionsforbundet, Stockholm. APPENDIX III LIST C)F CORRESPONDING COLLEGES OR INSTITUTIONS FOR MISSIONARY TRAINING 1. FOR MEN. (a) American. Bible Teachers' Training School, New York. Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. (6) British. Church Missionary College, Islington. Harley College, London. House of the Sacred Mission, Kelham. Missionary College of St. Boniface, Warminster. Missionary College of St. Peter and St. Paul, Dor- chester. Moravian Mission College, Bristol. St. Augustine's Missionary College, Canterbury. St. Paul's Missionary College, Burgti. (c) Continental. , Berliner Missiousgesellschaft, Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsens, Stockholm. Liebenzeller Mission, Liebenzell Wurtemburg. Missionsanstalt, Hermannsburg. Missionsanstalt, Kreis Moers, Germany. Rheinische Missions Gesellschaft, Barmen. 2. FOR WOMEN. (a) American. Bible Teachers' Training School, New York. 1 Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. 1 Scarritt Bible and Training School, Kansas City. 1 Also included under training institutions for men. 286 APPENDIX HI. 237 (b) British. Community of the Epiphany, Truro. Deaconess House, Edinburgh. Doric Lodge, London. Rochester and Southwark Diocesan Deaconess Institution. S.P.G. Hostel, Wandsworth, London. St. Andrew's Training Home, Portsmouth. St. Deny's Training College, Warminster. The Olives, Hampstead, London. The Willows, Stoke Newington, London. Women's Missionary College, Edinburgh. Y.W.C.A. Testing and Training Home for Foreign Missions, Chelsea, London'. 3. MEDICAL. Deutches Institut fur arztliche mission, Tubingen. 1 Edinburgh Medical Mission, Edinburgh. 1 Medical Missionary Association, London. 8 Livingstone College, London. 2 (c) Continental. Liebenzellen Mission, Liebenzell, Wurtemburg. 4 1 For men and women. 2 For men, with occasional courses for women. * A Iso included under training institutions for men. * For men only. APPENDIX IV LIST OF CORRESPONDING THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES (a) American. Adrian School 01 Theology, Adrian, Michigan. Andover Theological Seminary, Cambridge, Mass. Auburn Theological Seminary, Auburn, New York. Berkeley Divinity School, Middletown, Conn. Cambridge Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. Central Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, Dayton, Ohio. Colgate University Theological Seminary, Hamilton, N.Y. Congregational College of Canada, Montreal. Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, Eden Theological School, Missouri. Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, 111. General Theological Seminary, New York. Hartford Theological Seminary, Hartford, Conn. Hartwick Seminary, Otsego County, New York. Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. M'Cormick Theological Seminary, Chicago. Macmaster University, Toronto. Montreal Diocesan Theological College. New Church Theological School, Cambridge, Mass. Omaha Theological Seminary, Omaha, Neb. Pacific Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Cal. Presbyterian College, Montreal. Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N.J. Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, Lancaster, Penn. Theological Seminary of the Synod of South Carolina. Theological Seminary in Virginia. Union Theological Seminary, New York. Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. 138 APPENDIX W. 239 Vanderbilt University Biblical Department. Western Theological Seminary, Pittsburg, Pa. Yale University Divinity School, New Haven, Conn. (b) British. Bala Theological College. Baptist College, Bristol. Baptist College, Manchester. Bishop Wilson Theological School, Isle of Man. Bishop's Hostel, Farnham. Cheshunt College, Cambridge. Chichester Theological College. Clergy Training School, Cambridge. !f : College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. Congregational Institute, Nottingham. Cuddesdon College. Ely Theological College. Hackney College, London. Hands-worth College, Birmingham. Hartley College, Manchester. Kelham Theological College. Lancashire College, Manchester. Lichfield Theological College. Mansfield College, Oxford. Midland Baptist College, Nottingham. New College, Edinburgh. New College, London. Pastors' College, London. Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, Ranmoor College, Sheffield. Regent's Park College, London. Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Ripon College, Ripon. St. David's College, Lampeter. St. Mary's Home, Canterbury. St. Stephen's House, Oxford. United College, Bradford. United Free Church College, Aberdeen. United Methodist College, Manchester. Wesleyan College, Richmond. Western College, Bristol. Westminster College, Cambridge. Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. GENERAL THEOLOGICAL PREPARATION FOR MISSIONARIES MINORITY REPORT ON CHAPTER IX On the general subject of Chapter IX. I {eel myself forced to make two criticisms. 1. The chapter admits the existence of certain grave defects in the general theological preparation, but it makes no adequate attempt to show what these defects are, to what they are due, or how they imperil the structure of Special Training which we desire to see raised. 2. While I might assent to what is said of University training on the one hand and the Theological Colleges or Seminaries on the other, so far as it refers to their actual condition, it seems to me that there are defects in the former and possibilities in the latter which demand very much more careful consideration than they have yet received. THE MISSIONARY REQUIREMENTS The requirements of the present missionary situation, given elsewhere, may be summarised in five groups. For a man to understand the thoughts of those around Mm requires a knowledge (i) of language, its correct use, its literary spirit ; (2) of com- parative religions, philosophy, and ethics ; (3) of the leading ideas of natural science, which are being so eagerly taken up in the East. To understand men's actions and way of life requires a knowledge of (4) history, political and institutional ; (5) of sociology and economics. It is our earnest desire to see a College of special Missionary Preparation in which these subjects shall be taught, for India, for China, for Africa, and other fields. The missionary is bringing the message of Christianity to native life as a whole. He must understand that life, the factors of which it is made up, how the Gospel applies, and what the Gospel can give to the development of the possibilities or to supply the deficiencies in each. 240 APPENDIX V. 241 The missionaries lay stress, therefore, on the need of a very thorough, that is, of a University, education, because the two primary necessities trained mental capacity to understand and wide outlook upon the varieties of life which need understanding are given hi a University as nowhere else. This apparently obvious conclusion, however, hardly does justice to the immense difference between the University ideal and the theological ideal the attainment of which constitutes the mission- ary requirement and the consequent difference of method. THE IDEAL OF THE UNIVERSITY It is the business of the University to make provision for the highest possible development of human knowledge. While, there- fore, all the subjects referred to are taught, each constitutes a separate study. Few men take their degree in more than one. After the elementary stages (matriculation and intermediate) are passed, the differentiation becomes more marked with every advance, and that for two reasons, (a) Of mere necessity. It is only by specialisation that a student can gain anything like an adequate idea of the vast development which human knowledge has attained, (b) For future work. Language and literature, the processes of human thought (philosophy), the varied businesses and arts of life, the professions, do correspond on their human side to separate pursuits, parts, or aspects of life. They are not un- related, but to some one of these the student will as a worker have primarily to devote himself. THE IDEAL OF THE CHURCH The Church also has to deal with life, and the same life, but in a different way. She is not concerned with these subjects in themselves, but only hi their relation to one another both as parts of the life a Christian has to lead, and as parts of that whole world-progress which the will of God is working out. The missionary, the teacher of Christianity, does not need therefore to be an expert in one subject, but he does need to understand all. This does not involve so much an elementary acquaintance with all as a wide general view of their principles, their aims, the main lines of their methods, their ultimate results somewhat akin to what is called " popular knowledge," though deliberately and carefully acquired. The minister of the Gospel, for instance, is not a lawyer, but he ought to know the meaning of law, the principles of its working, the importance of its maintenance, the limitations of its application. * Although at a University the lecture rooms are different, a very practical synthesis or combination of views is often worked out m the intercourse of students. But it should be noted (i) that hi a non-residential University, this intercourse does not generally ex- tend much beyond the lecture rooms; (2) that it operates effectively COM. V. 16 only among the abjer men^ ; (3) that it is only of a practical kind. The doctor, the lawyer, the merchant, learn to understand one another well enough to work together as members of a community, but this is hardly sufficient for those whose special concern is with the unity and wholeness of life. Unity lies in God, as difference is in man. The philosophy of all ages proves that while human search may show us Gqd is one, it cannot lead us to Unity in God, which is first revealed and made only in the Incarnation and Sacrifice of His Son, next fulfilled in the consequent gift of His Spirit. Specialisation as an ideal belongs, properly speaking, only to the modern Universities, but it is a growing tendency and a practical result everywhere. I do not feel personally justified in calling it wrong. Though deplored by many of the ablest members especially of the older Universities, the movement at least appears inevitable with the increasing recognition of the distinct aim attaching to human knowledge as such, but this only makes it the more necessary that we should recognise that there is another conception equally distinct. We can no longer identify Arts and Theology, and we must not oppose them. They are related as complementary. UNIVERSITY THEOLOGY The Universities also deal with Theology, sometimes as an Arts subject, sometimes as a Faculty, i.e. a special post-graduate study. Either way in accordance with the whole University ideal it is one subject. Just as history, language, or philosophy have their own aspects of life, just as law, medicine, or engineering . treat of their own spheres, so theology studies the religious sphere in its special religious books, religious history, movements, doctrines. But all this study of theological subjects is a study of a sphere of life, and not of life as a whole,, not even with the whole of the individual life. Religious experience forms its direct subject- matter. The rest is but incidental. The history is a history of a religious movement. The institutions studied are ecclesiastical institutions. The doctrines are religious ideas. The missionaries want men who can show what Christianity can do for the new life, social, economic, political, which in the East are restlessly trying to re-form themselves. The conditions and ideas of that life to a young Western are very strange, therefore we wish to have them taught in the missionary colleges, but it will be extremely difficult to do so with a student who, however well up he may be in Hebrew, historical criticisju, and "special doctrines," has never thought out what Christianity had to do with the life with which he wa^ familiar. By "the knowledge of Christianity," we should understand Chapter IX. to mean, not a knowledge of formal doctrines, but a knowledge of their inner meaning, of the light they had to throw on this complex life. It seems to us that theology as it i& commonly taught misses this very point. The missionaries APPENDIX V. 243 hardly realise what a qew thing they are asking. Chapter IX. itself quotes (without condemning) the opinion (hat an Honour man who has taken a very wide school of Arts further " needs only a very moderate amount of theplogy." In its own recom-r mendations it demands only " the wide culture and open air " of the Universities. But a thorough insight into life and a wide experience of it are not the same as knowing Christianity, and what Christianity has to give to it. THE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES We fully admit that, according to all present experience, the University system gives much the best results, and that the training of the Theological Colleges is gravely defective in the way indicated, but we are bound to ask why this should be so. If the missionaries are right in thinking that the knowledge of Chris- tianity can give so much help, light, guidance to all sides of Eastern life, the study of how it can give them to Western life can hardly be really narrowing. If the study does in experience produce that result on students, must it not be because it is wrongly studied ? The plain fact is that the College courses are very closely modelled on the Theological course of the Universities. The criticism of the one is a criticism of the other. The University system is very wide, but the theology it gives is very cramped and narrow. What the Report calls " the wide culture and open air " of the Universities, I should prefer to call " capacity to understand and width of outlook," which are certainly matters of primary necessity. The University mau does very often gain the first from his studies and the second from intercourse. He may know very little how Christianity applies to life, but he will never make the mistakes made by a man who, having learnt nothing but the specialised theology, knows no more how to apply it, and a great deal less of the life to which it should be applied. If we had only to advise the Missionary Boards only in view of what is just now practicable, we might leave the question here. But we are speaking to a wider Christian public, and the principles involved are of vital importance. We are all so deeply com- mitted to a University education that it would be absurd to urge its abandonment, and I have no desire to do so. Most religious bodies (at least in England) are, however, also committed in some degree to the Theological College system. The Report except doubtfully for a certain class of men does suggest the abandonment of that system, and if the colleges are to go on as they are, I should agree to this recommendation, but I believe another course is possible and is very badly needed. THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE A tnje Theplogy, such as we require, can be built up by a clear perception of its true nature and a steady pursuit under its 244 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES necessary conditions. It must first be taken as a basis of educa- tion, not as something to be correctly learnt, even if intelligently learnt, but as something to be genuinely thought out. It must, therefore, be brought into touch.not only with all religious questions, but with modern questions of every kind. For, in relation to all sciences and interests, it has not to defend its own sphere against them. Theology should show the Gospel as the mainspring of everything they do or seek, not indeed by trying to solve their problems for them, but by guiding and inspiring them with its reverence of motive, with its own hopefulness and confidence in ultimate purpose. The Universities have their own work to do in the perfecting of human studies, but the consequent method of specialisation is so alien from the inclusiveness of the theological idea, that it would be exceedingly difficult to develop a true theology under its influence. If the Theological Colleges would abandon the special ised system, which does not belong to them, and take theology into their own hands, they might find in it a meaning which the present age like the missionaries sorely needs, but which unlike the missionaries it has wholly forgotten. The idea once struck out, the University schools of theology, while maintaining their own characteristic love of learning, would be saved from its character- istic dangers. We think it would be disastrous if the training of the Christian ministry, most unfortunate if even the theological part of the training, were altogether withdrawn from the Universities ; but the general attitude of the age towards theology, towards the in- tellectual side of Christianity, the attitude of this Report itself in places, the evidence of missionaries, the condition of the Theo- logical Colleges, all show that the virtual monopoly enjoyed by University theology has been also disastrous. The Universities have a great deal to give, but there are sides of the greatest importance which do not come natural to them. So far I have spoken solely of the intellectual aspect of the matter. The spiritual has also to be considered. The Theological Colleges, constituted as Christian Societies dominated by one aim, have at least the opportunity of bringing the spiritual, moral, and intellectual training into a unity nowhere else possible. Whether they suffer from narrowness depends on the intellectual character of the teaching. Width of outlook depends not on the extent, but on the capacity, to profit by the opportunities of experience. The loneliness of a crowd is proverbial. In a large College or University a man may know a few hundreds by name, and yet know nobody but his own peculiar set. In a small College the shyest student may be forced into intercourse with every man there. Before the abandonment of the college system is talked of, at least some attempt should be made to see whether the system could not be made into a really valid alternative on its own lines, working out theology as a world-concept, a complement, not a fragment, of the idea of advanced and specialised knowledge. Christianity has a philosophy of its own, distinct from and yet nterpenetrating the whole secular or human view of the world. APPENDIX V. 245 This is what has forced itself on the missionary mind. But, if such training is to be a success, it must not be regarded merely as a refuge for men " who have few social and educational advan- tages." It is the best and ablest thinkers and students who must give themselves up to think out afresh the message of Christianity to a whole age, to all its striving and all its attainment. HERBERT KEI.LY, S.S.M., Assistant-Tutor, Kelham, Newark. APPENDIX VI STATEMENT RELATIVE TO A SCHEME OF MISSIONARY INSTRUCTION AT YALE UNIVERSITY BY THE REV. PROFESSOR HARLAN P. BEACH In the reorganisation of Yale Divinity School, which, with the coming scholastic year, will be known as The Yale School of Religion, its scope is broadened and its work is distributed among four distinct yet co-operating Departments. These are the Depart- ments of Ministerial Training, of Missionary Preparation, of Re- ligious Education, and of Social Service. Each of them makes free use of the professors of the other three Departments, and also of these in the Graduate and other Schools of the University. The present facilities of the University for missionary training are as follows : ( i ) A missionary professorship, one of the pro- visions of which is that its incumbent is expected to spend one-third of his time on foreign mission fields, thus keeping in vital and practical touch with the actual work there ; (2) a fund of $100,000 which is shortly to be expended in the erection of a missions building for the housing of its missionary library and for mission lecture rooms, as well as for the care and increase of its already large collection of missionary literature the largest in America, if not in the world ; (3) the co-operation of members of the faculty of the entire School of Religion, as well as of men in the Graduate and other Schools, thus making possible a very wide range of instruction and hence meeting the needs of candidates looking forward to a great variety of missionary specialties. The entire number of courses having a definite value for candidates offered the coming year is over one hundred, taught by thirty professors, though no single student would take more than a fourth of these under ordinary circumstances. The conditions borne in mind in selecting the courses named in a later paragraph are these : ( i ) Nearly all the men commissioned by American missionary societies will be holders of some scholastic degree, ordinarily a B.A., and more than half the number 246 APPENDIX VI. 247 also graduates of a theological school ; (2) most theological institutions are solely devoted to the preparation of students for the ministry in this country, and hence their curriculum has been adapted wholly to conditions obtaining here ; (3) missionary societies prefer that their candidates should be educated theo- logically in some seminary belonging to their own denomination ; (4) a considerable proportion of American Bachelors of Arts have graduated from institutions where certain important secular studies have either been not taught at all, or else very imperfectly, thus making it desirable to remedy the defect through post- traduate study ; (5) in this day of specialisation on the mission eld, not a few candidates are called for special tasks, particularly for teaching subjects in higher educational institutions which demand special investigation and study in a Graduate School of some university ; (6) in a few mission fields, notably Japan and China, where there are many graduates of American institutions among the young native leaders, the prestige of degrees from a well-known university, especially that of M.A. and Ph.D., is a distinct asset ; and Yale happens to rank very high in the estima- tion of the Chinese and Japanese. In view of these considerations, most of the work of the Missions Department must be of post-graduate grade, though because of defects and lacks of some of the candidates, studies in the Arts College may be taken when necessary. The usual policy of specific preparation for the American ministry is reversed in the Missionary Department at Yale, where no study is included in the curriculum which is not of real value to the prospective missionary in some line of his multiform work. The studies are so planned that, while it is more advisable at present to take the specifically missionary courses in connection with theological and biblical studies during the regular three years' curriculum, graduates from denominational seminaries may come to Yale for a post-graduate year ; or if exigencies do not admit of that, for the senior year of their theo- logical course, thus enabling them to take essential theological or biblical subjects still lacking, with the emphasis upon directly missionary studies. In the case of students who are called to posts in missionary colleges and who desire to specialise for those positions, they can accomplish their purpose in the Graduate De- partment of the University, and ill conjunction with these major studies they may take the most essential missionary courses. As for degrees, candidates coming to Yale with a good record from an institution of high standing can secure his M.A. and, in excep- tional circumstances, his Ph.D. after completing the full three years' work as stipulated in the regulations. An advantage, which it is believed is a real one, is that in meeting the complex demands of missionary preparation, the candidate may avail himself of the advice of the head of the Department whose own missionary life on the field, as well as two missionary tours of the world and eleven years' connection with the Student Volunteer Movement, enable him with the co-operation of the sending society's secre- taries to prescribe courses for each individual in view of his past scholastic history and his probable future tasks. 248 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES The courses set forth in the prospectus for the coming year are grouped under the following heads : (i) The Bible and its inter- pretation, including biblical introduction, the original languages of Scripture, exegesis, and biblical literature ; (2) Christian theology, both biblical and systematic, as well as the history of Christian doctrine and a course in apologetics ; (3) non-Christian religions, studied from the psychological, philosophical, comparative, and missionary view-points, and in the case of Mohammedanism, Brahmanism, Taoism, and Confucianism through the actual texts ; (4) distinctively missionary courses, mentioned below ; (5) historical studies, covering Church history, that of mission countries, and the history of culture ; (6) anthropology, both general and physical ; (7) sociology and practical philanthropy ; (8) pedagogy and education, including the history and method of education, both general and religious ; (9) the geography of great mission lands, with a course on anthropogeography ; (10) the languages and literatures of mission countries, including phonetics, linguistics, the vernaculars of Japan, China, and India Hindi and Bengali taught by natives of those countries, and courses in the classical languages of Confucianism and Taoism, Buddliism, Brahmanism, and Mohammedanism, together with studies in English of the Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, and Arabic literatures and the folk-lores of the lower races ; ( 1 1 ) voice culture, the pre- paration and delivery of sermons and addresses, and practical polemics; (12) physical training, the preservation of health, public and tropical hygiene; and (13) certain miscellaneous courses, as international law, national efficiency, music, and a few practical arts useful to missionaries. Conversazioni are also planned for, when experienced missionaries will informally and intimately present important phases of the missionary's life and work. Of the ten specifically missionary courses already provided for, five are to be based upon the printed reports though with added lectures and discussions of Commissions I., II., III., IV., and VI. of the Edinburgh Conference. The other courses are on the history of missions, great missionaries of the nineteenth century, factors in missionary efficiency, the missionary's use of the Bible, and the modern missionary challenge. In addition, the missions professor has undertaken the courses on leading non-Christian literatures in English, in order that their missionary aspects and use may be made more central. It is hoped that the majority of missionary candidates will be at Yale for three years. Such men will devote half of their time to required studies biblical, theological, homiletical, and mission- ary. They will give the remainder to courses chosen according to individual need from the studies named in the two preceding paragraphs ; or, in exceptional cases, from those of the Graduate and Sheffield Scientific Schools and the Arts College. A special one-year curriculum is provided for seniors or graduates of other seminaries, which is almost solely made up of directly missionary studies, with the addition of whatever seems most essential in view of the candidate's future. As practically every one at that stage in his preparation has been designated to his field and tasks APPENDIX VI. 249 this year will be more helpful to him than when these items are uncertain. Though women candidates are not eligible for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, and at present are not especially encouraged to enter the Department, the wives and fiancees of prospective missionaries are welcomed as students. Women hold- ing a B.A. degree may become candidates for the Master's Degree, and they enjoy the same privileges as the men students. As previously intimated, this is merely the report of beginnings. It is the first step toward a more thorough and intelligent work of missionary preparation which will be undertaken when the Missionary Department receives sufficient patronage to justify additions to its Faculty. When that time arrives, fuller courses will be provided, and every effort will be made to furnish the best preparation possible for the mission field. The aims will be to make the sctentif to make it broad enough in its scope modern missions ; to impart to the student a truly brotherly interest in his future people, as well as a familiar acquaintance with their life, thought, and problems ; to adapt the study and training to each candidate, so far as possible ; to give him a fore- taste of his future through acquaintance with, and labour for, the many races found in the University and in the city ; and to emphasise the supreme place of a loving Christian life, of the Divine Christ, and of the universal Fatherhood of God. APPENDIX VII THE WOMEN'S MISSIONARY COLLEGE, EDINBURGH BY Miss A. H. SMALL, PRINCIPAL The Commission has asked me to prepare a short Paper dealing with the principles which have guided us in the work of this college. I suppose that its chief interest is that from the beginning it was designed to give to candidates neither general education nor definite professional instruction in medicine or in teaching, but purely such preparation as they might require for the special work of the missionary. We have groped our way towards the realisation of this aim, and have frequently altered our methods in detail ; but the one aim has always been before us. The ideal which we have followed has been to exercise our students in the consciousness of a vocation, to give them such an outlook over the world and such a vision of the Kingdom of God as would save them from becoming mere drudges, and at the same time to secure to them such an equipment of intelligence, of habits, and of character as would keep them from despising any part of the missionary's daily life as drudgery. Such an ideal requires that a college should be keenly alive to the changing conditions in every part of the world ; for, on the intellectual side, a student ought to know something of the present historical situation on which she is about to enter, and on the practical side she must be prepared for the new demands which are con- stantly arising. If it were possible in all cases to know in time where individual candidates are going, much more could be done in the direction of this detailed preparation. I. Intellectual Preparation. It is needless to enumerate our various departments of study, as they have already been given in the body of this Report. It is enough to say that each of them has found its place in the scheme because of its contribution to our main purpose. It is unfortunate that many students come to us only for a few months, although our full course of two years is itself insufficient for all we should like to do. This means that anything like an exhaustive study of any one subject is im- 250 APPENDIX VII. 251 possible ; but we do aim at exhibiting something of the perspective of a subject, in order that students may be able afterwards to work at it for themselves. The chief points of method to be remarked upon are the small S'ace which lectures hold, and the entire absence of examinations, early all class work is conversational ; and behind it there is always a system of conferences amongst the students themselves. Their private study is largely determined by these conferences and debates, in which all take part. Each problem as it arises is thus the subject of reading and discussion ; when it comes into the class the teacher's office is chiefly to criticise and to sum up, though, of course, at every stage of preparation advice and help are offered. The result of this method has been to help students past the domination of text-books, to enable them to form and to appraise ideas, and to accustom them to commend these to other minds. The advantage last mentioned is confirmed by the special study of the theory and practice of education. II. Practical Preparation. The students of the college are going to work ; they are also going to live within the circle of a community of missionaries ; and preparation must take account of both. We seek, as far as may be, to rehearse some of the condi- tions of the missionary's life both at work and at home. 1. The students, in our mission district, are brought in contact with life at all its stages childhood, youth, age and they are exercised in the arts of winning the friendship and confidence of each ; they have opportunity, under guidance, of speaking, both to individuals and in various meetings of various sorts, the message of Christ ; they are encouraged to spend their powers of organisa- tion, of discipline, and of initiative ; and in all things they are tested and helped as regards their vocation. 2. In view of the community life of a mission station, with the strain upon temper which that involves, nothing is more important than the discipline of working with, and under others, but this is better dealt with in Division III. There are, however, minor duties which receive attention. A remark in an old student's letter led to the formation of a House Guild, which, along with many other good things, gives practice in chairmanship, in secretarial work, and in the orderly conduct of business. All students learn to write reports and minutes, to keep mission accounts in English, Indian, and Chinese money, and, in a different level of things, to conduct our family evening prayers. III. Character Preparation. Much of this is secured in the give and take of college life, and especially where that life is so free as ours is. This free life has been deliberately adopted as a real part of education. Some have preferred to proceed by imposing a rule from without, under which, in process of time, habits and an instinct of obedience are established. But a mis- sionary student has in view a position of great and new responsi- bility, where she will be removed from her natural advisers, and be set down in a circle of men and women often too busy to give her much aid or counsel ; what she needs, second only to her 252 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES private life with God, is the power of judging for herself and of acting upon her own judgment, and these things can only come by the enjoyment of considerable independence. So far as is possible to a well-ordered family, each member is expected to arrange her own life, to consider the less and the more wise in connection with her various duties. She is, of course, ever welcome when she wishes to talk over such matters, and she is not suffered to go far in any mistaken course ; but it has always seemed to us of supreme importance that each student should feel her own weight, in view of all that lies before her. It should be added that any peril which might be feared in such a method is limited by the fact that the college is intentionally small, and that it is possible for the heads to have frankly intimate relations with every student. The one obligation which rests on every member of the house- hold is that of absolute loyalty to one another. This is a virtue for all times and conditions, but in mission stations it is almost a necessity of continned existence ; in the college continual stress is laid upon the avoidance of personal gossip, upon the duty of giving the kindliest interpretation to whatever is said or done by any member of the family, on courtesy and mutual considera- tion as a habit and an instinct. It has been said in the Report that " the circumstances and experiences of missionary life tell more severely upon women than upon men. They are constitutionally, with great exceptions, more emotional and less controlled, more anxious-minded, more given to overtax their strength." In view of this it is more than a counsel of health, it almost attains to the dignity of a precept of religion, that women students should submit to habits of rest and recreation. In our college life we are giving more and more place to this consideration, encouraging a rule of silence in the house at fit times, appointing seasons when work of every sort must cease. Anxiety and dulness are so largely a matter of habit that their tyranny must be forestalled by the formation of better habits. But the great matter in this preparation of character is the cultivation of the religious life. Here also the governing con- sideration comes in of the conditions of the life in prospect, a life without the supports of a great Christian community. A mis- sionary supremely needs to " have salt in himself," and his religious preparation must look that way. Assistance and teaching there must be whilst he is under training, but not too much. And in our college nothing is more insisted on than the need of direct personal relations with God. Without any binding precept, the custom has been established of entire silence in the house at morning and at evening, whilst the order of the services in chapel is designed to encourage habits of recollection and of worship. The practice of intercession engages a great part of the common devotional life, as each student has people who are her peculiar charge, and has her outlook towards those whom she will serve in the future. All who have passed through the college are remembered in prayer as they also remember their college, and thus every part of life and work and learning, all their fellowships and all their hopes, are brought into the one channel. APPENDIX VIII EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE TREASURY COMMITTEE ON THE OR- GANISATION OF ORIENTAL STUDIES IN LONDON For the appointment of the Treasury Committee the larger Missionary Societies were to a considerable extent responsible. In December 1906 the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Society tor the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts concurred with the British Academy, the London Chamber of Commerce, the Asiatic Society, and other learned bodies, in presenting a memorial to the First Lord of the Treasury, calling the attention of Government to the present neglect of Oriental studies, and urging the need for a Government inquiry. The memorialists, it should be noted, expressed the unanimous opinion that for those whose public and professional life is to be in the East " the preliminary study of Oriental languages, under competent teachers and according to scientific principles at home, is of the very highest advantage as a step towards future proficiency." In response to this appeal, a Committee was appointed in A'pril 1907, consisting of Lord Reay (chairman), Lord Redesdale, Sir Alfred C. Lyall, Sir Thomas Raleigh, Sir Montagu Turner, and Mr. A. R. Guest. The Com- mittee received evidence from seventy-three witnesses of wide experience and eminence, among whom may be named Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Sir Walter C. Hillier, Sir Ernest M. Satow, Professor Rhys Davids, Sir Charles N. Eliot, Sir Charles J. Lyall, Sir Frank Swettenham, Sir Harry H. Johnston, Mr.3 Walter Baring, the Earl of Cromer, Sir Albert Rolht, Sir Francis Wingate, with representatives of the larger Missionary Societies. The Report of the Committee, published at the beginning of 1909, is unequivocal in its confirmation of the opinion that skilled instruction in language given at home is of the highest value for those who are to deal effectively with natives, in the East, in Africa, and in Egypt, and in recommending the organisation of a School of Oriental Studies in connection with the University of London. 253 254 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES The following are extracts from the Report : " We have given especial attention to one point which we regard as of the first importance, namely, the question of provid- ing for the preliminary training of persons who are going out to the East or to Africa, either for the purpose of service or private business. It it were proved that such perspns ought to acquire the elements of the knowledge of Eastern languages, history, religions, and customs in the countries to which they may be sent, the arguments for the institution of the proposed Oriental School in London would lose much of their force. But the evidence of the need for preliminary training in this country is overwhelm- ingly great. " Lord Cromer said : ' I think the universal testimony of all those in Egypt who know Arabic well is that the young man who comes out after having been grounded in Arabic here (i.e. in Eng- land) eventually turns out a very much better public servant than the man who merely picks up the language in Egypt.' " Sir Charles Lyall, who is distinguished no less as an Oriental scholar than as an administrator, puts the case fully and in the clearest terms : ' Much time is lost by persons who defer until they land in the East the commencement of the study of Oriental subjects. . . . So far as my experience goes, the art of teaching is little understood in the East. The ordinary munshi of India, at any rate, does not understand how his pupils' intelligence should be directed or stimulated, on what points stress should be laid, how differences of idiom should be explained, and other like matters which make the difference between good teaching and bad.' '' The inadequacy of native teachers was insisted on from personal experience by nearly every witness who appeared before the Committee. . . . Six months of study with Sir Walter Hillier (in England) would save two years' work in Peking. . . . Assum- ing, therefore, that for those who are engaged for service, pr em- ployment of any kind in the East a knowledge of Oriental languages is essential, we are convinced that for these persons it will be to their advantage to begin their studies at home. ... Sir Harry Johnston expressed the view that a knowledge of an African language should be made an absolute condition prior to appoint- ment to a Government post in an African colony. " "he Committee desire, hpwever, to call special attention to the fact that languages like Chinese and Japanese require for their acqui- sition aptitudes not possessed by every one, that it is perfectly pos- sible to test those aptitudes in the course of a year's probationary training in England, and that it seems wasteful to send abroad, at the public expense, without probation either at home or abroad, men who may be unsuited to the service to which they are ap- Eointed. ... In the view of the Governor of the Soudan, it would e of great advantage if all the officials could have preliminary training inJEngland. " Another system prevails almost universally in continental countries. The principle adopted there is that all civil officials who desire employment under the State in the East should receive the necessary instruction in Eastern languages before they set out. APPENDIX VIII. 255 " The great majority of missionaries go to Eastern and African countries without any previous training in a vernacular. Sir Reginald Wingate contrasted the ignorance of English missionaries with the knowledge of the Austrian Roman Catholic missionaries in the Soudan. The evidence of Dr. Oliver Codrington, who re- presented the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Farts, of the Rev. John Sharpe of the British and Foreign Bible Society, of the Rev. E. M'Clure (Secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge), and of the Rev. William Bolton, London Missionary Society), was entirely favourable to the establishment of the proposed School, and there can be little doubt that if successfully established a number of missionary students would attend its classes. " A School of Living Oriental Languages, useful as it would be, would be incomplete without direct teaching regarding the life, the history, the religions, the manners and customs and law of the peoples speaking those languages. In the case of peoples possessing a literature, those portions of it presented to students should give some insight, if only a partial one, into the traditions and the contemporary life of a race. . . . The mere teaching of language may leave a student altogether blind to the problems of native life which he will have to face as an administrator, a mis- sionary, or a medical man. ... It should be eventually found practicable to make provision either in the school itself, or in some closely co-ordinated institution fully open to its students, for the teaching of sociology, anthropology, and kindred subjects in their bearings on Eastern and African peoples. " We think that it will be possible to direct the school in such a way that the interests of all its classes of students may be properly safeguarded. " While. . . . we regard the further encouragement of classical Oriental studies as a matter not only of purely scientific, but also of imperial importance, we do not feel justified in asking Govern- ment for funds to provide for these studies immediately on the foundation of the new school. But we are strongly of opinion that an effort should be made to secure, from private sources, the immediate endowment of a chair of Sanskrit. . . . The necessity of providing facilities for the teaching of the more important living Oriental languages for commercial and administrative purposes is, as we have shown, urgent." The following is a list of the living languages which the Com- mittee propose should be taught in the school : Group I. Near and Middle East Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Armenian. Group II. Northern and Eastern India . . . Hindi, Hindustani, Bengali, Assamese, Punj abi, Tibetan , and Pashto. Group III. Western India . . Marathi, Gujarati. Group IV. Southern India . . Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, and Sinhalese. 256 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Group V. Further India.Malay Archipelago, etc. Burmese, Malay, Melanesian languages, Polynesian languages. Group VI. Far East . . Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese. Group VII. Africa . . . Swahili, Hausa, Amharic, Luganda, Somali, Yoruba, and Zulu. With a view to covering this comprehensive syllabus, the Com- mittee recommend the appointment of an actual teaching staff of a director, five full professors, nine readers, and sixteen native assistants, the staff to be gradually increased. They hold that there will be no serious difficulty in securing native teachers of all the important languages. They are of opinion that the school should possess a library, of which an important feature would be a collection of modern Oriental literature kept up to date. The Committee conclude their Report by submitting suitable proposals for the organisation and administration of the school, commending the scheme to His Majesty's Government as an urgent need. When the Report was presented to the House of Lords, its conclusions were earnestly endorsed by statesmen who have had the widest experience as administrators in all parts of the Empire. APPENDIX IX LETTER FROM THE REV. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON, D.D., OF SWATOW, RE A MIS- SIONARY COLLEGE, TO THE HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION KIRNAN, BEARSDEN, SCOTLAND, 8th January 1910. The Rev. TISSINGTON TATLOW, 93 Chancery Lane, London, W.C. DEAR MR. TATLOW, I wrote you some time ago a provisional reply to your letter of 25th November, in which you enquired what bearing the Report recently issued by the Treasury Committee on the " Organisation of Oriental Studies in London " might have upon the suggestion which 1 made to the Chairman of Commis- sion V. in regard to the founding of a Missionary College in which missionaries might receive specialised training before proceeding to the Mission Field. Looking at this Report from the point of view of the pro- posal to found a Missionary College, I should like to call your attention to some of its conclusions in detail. The first fundamental question considered by tne Committee is the following : I. Should languages be taught at home or learned in the country to which they belong ? On this first question your Commission informed me that they had received conflicting testimony, but you will notice that the evidence given to the Treasury Committee was almost wholly in favour of teaching at home (see Report, pp. 3, 4). The only difference of opinion seems to be restricted to the two Eastern languages, of which I happen to have some personal knowledge, Chinese and Japanese, and in regard to these, to the spoken language as distinct from the literary or classical language, Sir Cecil Clementi Smith and Sir Ernest Satow agree with other witnesses that literary Chinese can with very great advantage be learned in this country, and they seem to differ from other witnesses only in thinking that the " colloquial," which I prefer COM. V. 17 258 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES to call the "vernacular," can only be learned in China. Further, this adverse opinion of these two authorites seems to refer chiefly to the one point of learning the " tones " (see Report, p. 4, question No. 4202), and the objection was completely met by the reply by Sir John M'Leavy Brown, who said, " If he has a Chinese teacher, no difficulty whatever." It so happens that in those Chinese vernaculars of which I have some knowledge the Swatow (or Tie-chiu). the Amoy, and the Hak-ka the " tones " are more numerous, more important, and more difficult than the "tones" of the Mandarin vernacular, of which presumably the officials referred to were thinking. Not- withstanding this greater difficulty, I can testify that Sir John M'Leavy Brown's reply, " If he has a Chinese teacher, no difficulty whatever," is absolutely correct. Might not the same be said of any language that it must be learned from the lips of a native ? The combination, which a School of Languages can offer, of European skill hi grammatical analysis and theory, along with the purity of accent of native teachers, would be of enormous advantage to students, and it is most encouraging to have this view so strongly supported, both by the evidence collected by the Committee, and by their own conclusions founded upon it. (See evidence referred to in Report, pp. 3, 4, and 5, also the important Memorandum by Sir Charles James Lyall, pp. 57, 58.)" I venture to think, therefore, that your Commission would be justified, in view of the mass of evidence now collected, hi setting aside all fears as to the practicability and advantage of teaching Oriental languages in London. A less fundamental, but for missionary purposes not un- important, question is the following, on which also the Treasury Committee has come to a definite conclusion : 2. Should classical and " colloquial " languages be taught together or separately ? On this point also I cordially agree with the conclusions of the Committee, that these two forms of the languages concerned should be taught in one school, though no doubt the courses of study should be discriminated. I am glad to see that the con- trary opinion, expressed by Professor Giles of Cambridge (answer No. 3551), who spoke of " mere colloquial " as being " rather beneath the dignity of a University," seems to have met with little support. As regards Chinese at least, where the separation between the classical and the vernacular languages is perhaps singularly wide, I am confident that from an early stage the two ought to be studied together. No student can obtain a thoroughly scientific and practical mastery of either classical or vernacular Chinese without such a study of both as shall give him a clear conception of their differences, along with a thorough comprehension of their close relationship to each other. I think it will be found that this view is strongly supported by the courses of study laid down by many of the Missionary Societies for the use of junior mis- sionaries. In these courses, and in the examinations founded upon them, there are at every stage sections allotted to classical, and others^o vernacular, study. APPENDIX IX. 259 In a School of Languages in this country the classical depart- ment and the vernacular should be kept in the closest possible relationship, the European professor and the Chinese teacher respectively taking a share in both departments. The scientific and the practical mastery of the language would thus go hand in hand to the great advantage of the student. It will be seen from the Report that the proposed provision for instruction by native teachers is so wisely and liberally planned by the Committee (see Report, p. 25, paragraphs 34, 35), that there is every reason to hope that ample provision will be made for this combination of European and native influence in the teaching staff. 3. A further important suggestion is made by the Committee (see Report, pp. 17, 18, paragraphs 27, 28). It is suggested "that a School of living Oriental languages, useful as it would be, would be incomplete without direct teaching regarding the life, the history, the religions, the manners, and customs and law of the peoples speaking these languages." This view suggests that the School of Languages might not only relieve a Missionary College of the necessity of making provision for language teaching, but that it might also make a substantial contribution to the teaching of Oriental sociology, thought, and religion, and such help might also be of great value ; but of still greater value would be the provision referred to on pp. 18, 19, paragraph 29, of a comprehen- sive library of Oriental literature. In short, the proposals of this Treasury Committee, if carried into effect, seem likely to constitute a most valuable contribution to the efficiency of a Missionary College, such as i described in my letter of 6th March. Indeed, the suggested arrangements for an Oriental School in London promise to be of such value, that I have no doubt that the thought will occur to man}' minds that they will supersede the necessity for a Missionary College altogether. This vk>w, however, does less than justice to the variety of instruction which such a College for missionary purposes ought to afford, and fails to recognise the significance of the purely spiritual objects for which it would be established. I believe, on the contrary, that, while the burden of maintaining such a College would be materially lightened by a School providing most of the language teaching, yet the main reasons for creating a Missionary College would remain untouched. Even if anthro- pology, sociology, and, to some extent, religions be studied in the School of Languages, these subjects will be treated there from the commercial and political point of view, and their moral and spiritual aspects will necessarily be overlooked. The School of Languages is well fitted to i>e an admirable ally of the College of Missions, but could not become a substitute for it. It is impossible at present to enter into details, but a little consideration will show that the College would still have to deal with such matters as follows : I. General principles of comparative religions, natural religions, 260 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Mohammedanism, Superstitions ; in theory and practice. Their psychological and moral foundations. The elements of good contained in them, and their Apologetic Value. Social customs ; family life ; laws of marriage ; caste. 2. Evangelistic work. Methods. Among Barbarians. Among civilised Races. The Gospel Message and its adaptation to the various Races. The History of Evangelisation and Apologetics in the early Church. The same viewed in the light of the experi- ence of modern Missions. Street Chapel Preaching. Village and Wayside Preaching. Conversation. Books and Tracts. 3. The Planting of the Church. The Christian life in the midst of Heathenism. How far it can accept, purify, and trans- form existing institutions. How far it must resist and stand aloof from them. Dealing with Enquirers and Catechumens. Prin- ciples of admission to Church fellowship. Instruction of Converts ; Subjects and Methods. 4. Comprehensive History and Geography of Missions. Dis- tribution of Fields. Student's own prospective Field ; detailed geography of ditto. Universal problems. Problems special to particular Fields. 5. Specialised Bible study, with application to demands and conditions of various Mission Fields. Versions of the Bible in Mission languages, and Christian Literature, vernacular and classical. Methods of literary work ; principles of Translation, etc. 6. Church Organisation. General Church principles ; various forms of Church polity. How far liable to modification in various environments. Development of powers of native Christians, especially of clergy, preachers, teachers, and leaders. Transfer- ence of responsibility. Conduct of Church discipline. Relation of Churches on the Mission Field to home Churches. 7. Business arrangements and administration. Finance and Statistics. Records and Reports. Mapping of Mission Field. Recording experience, and systematised collection of facts. Pur- chasing and rent of land and buildings. Designing and erecting buildings. Relation to Governments ; to native officials ; and to foreign Consuls. Relation of the Missionary to the rest of the foreign Community. 8. Education. Gradation of Educational Courses. Preparation and Equipment of Teachers ; Supervision of Schools. Boarding- Schools, Colleges for Higher Education, Theological Training, Schools for Girls and special instruction of Women. These are only a few specimens of matters demanding the attention of missionary students, and, as I said hi my former letter, the grouping and distribution of such topics and of others which I have not noted would be matter for careful consideration and adjustment. I may add that, while the library of the proposed School of Languages would presumably be amply furnished with works on languages, and with the literature of Oriental and other races, there would remain the necessity for the Missionary College to provide for its students a complete library of books bearing on distinctively missionary subjects, and all other works which APPENDIX IX. 261 would not be likely to find a place in the library of the School of Languages. The question was raised in your Commission whether the expense of two years' training at a Mission College would not debar many missionary candidates from seeking to avail them- selves of it. At present a Church or Missionary Society appoints a candidate to the Mission Field, pays his passage to his destina- tion, provides him with a dwelling, and gives him the salary of a missionary from the time of his arrival, although in most cases he will not become an efficient member of the staff until he has spent two years on the study of the language. My suggestion is that even from a financial point of view it will be much more economical for the Churches and Societies to send their candidates to the Missionary College to spend the two years there, giving them during that period a maintenance which need not exceed 100. At the end of that period the candidate could be sent out to his field of labour with some assur- ance, not otherwise procurable, of his proficiency in the language, and his fitness in all respects for the work to which he was being sent. From the candidate's point of view, on the other hand, it would surely be more satisfactory that this tentative and pro- bationary period of his career should be spent in this country before, rather than after, the very serious step of leaving home and proceeding to a distant Mission Field. You will observe that the method which I am recommending implies almost of necessity that the destination of each candidate to a particular Mission Field should be determined at the beginning of his course of study in the Missionary College. I am aware that, from the point of view of Secretaries and other heads of Mis- sionary Societies, this may seem to present a difficulty. They may feel that they cannot be sure at what points reinforcement will be required two years in advance. I think, however, this difficulty is more apparent than real. What occurs at present in mission practice is very often that, no provision being made in advance, when a vacancy occurs search is made for a candidate, and not infrequently a year or two years may pass before a suitable man is found and two years more before he can be efficient. But this belongs to the old haphazard method of mission policy which one may hope is already passing away. It is already the practice, and it will become so more and more, in the best managed Societies, that a consistent policy, both in regard to finance and to reinforcement, looking forward over a period of at least five years, is followed. Where that is done it is not difficult to forecast the probable growth of a Mission establishment, and even to take into account cases of probable disablement or removal, so far at least as to determine that within the next few years a certain minimum of reinforcement must be supplied. The more this is done the less we shall see of crippled Missions, and of Mission staffs depicted and overworked in a vain attempt to make good the deficiency of their numbers. Men will be taken under train- 262 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES ing with some measure of foresight, and if it should result that candidates thus prepared should complete their course and be ready for appointment before any dire emergency has occurred, this would only make for the efficiency and permanency of the work on the field. It must be remembered too, in regard to the larger Societies and the larger Fields, that a man's specialising for a particular country, and even his acquiring a particular language, would still leave open a considerable choice as to the precise post to which he would ultimately be appointed. One other remark may be made as to the area from which such a College might draw both students and support. It is the practice of several Continental Missionary Societies to send their men to this country for a certain period in order to learn English. I am assured by brethren familiar with the working of these Societies that, if they could secure for their students the acqui- sition of English in this country, along with a specialised training for Mission work, they would certainly send their men to such a College as is now proposed. The increasing demand for a know- ledge of English in India, China, and Japan makes this a not unimportant element in estimating the probable usefulness of a general Missionary College. (Sgd.) J. CAMPBELL GIBSON. APPENDIX X THE TRAINING OF MISSIONARIES IN REGARD TO LANGUAGE BY THE REV. PROFESSOR CARL MEINHOF, HAMBURG, GERMANY The most important practical question in the training of mission- aries with which I have hitherto been personalty concerned is Shall the instruction in the native dialect be imparted in the home country or in the mission field ? To this I must reply, instruction in both places is needful. In the home country the foundation must be laid, and in the mission field the d< ficiencies must be supplied by continuous practice and lifelong additional research. i. The reasons which call for instruction in the mother country are various. The most important is the want of capable language teachers for the missionaries in the mission field. The native himself, including even the educated Asiatic, is not satisfactory. He is doubtless master of his material in the fullest sense, but he does not understand the European line of thought as it appears in the brain of the pupil. He is thus totally unable to supply the connecting links between European and non-European ideas. He who has ever interested himself in non-European languages knows, moreover, how great is the gap between these and our own. The discrepancy is based not only on the vocabulary or in a few deviations in the method of expression, but is founded on the complete differentiation in the whole construction of the language on quite another method of thought. What is plain to the one is unintelligible to the other, and what appears difficult to one is natural to the other. In African dialects it is quite frequently the case that what the European calls the front, the African calls the back. To supply the necessary links to ensure comprehension, and to protect the student from mere cramming of things he does not understand, a discreet and experienced teacher is required. No native is capable of this. 263 264 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Grammatical instruction in non-European languages can only be given by a European. Could not, however, some capable missionary in the mission field itself be entrusted with this task ? In my opinion, no. Generally speaking, a missionary has a great deal too much to do to permit of the careful and tedious studies which he must neces- sarily pursue if he is to be a good teacher. A good teacher does not need to have a great fluency in speaking. It is satisfactory should he possess this, but it is a matter of second- ary importance. The most important is that he can as far as possible give the pupil an answer to any and every question, and that he is in a position to smooth over the first difficult attempts to acquire the language. For this both study and practice in teaching are necessary. If a missionary is to impart the instruc- tion he must be trained for that purpose. The fact that he himself is to a certain extent master of the language does not necessarily imply that he can teach it. Apart from this he must have comprehensive literature at hand and opportunity for personal interchange of ideas with other scholars, which, however, are much more difficult to provide in the mission field than at home. Further may be added : In Africa the territories in which a language is spoken are in most cases very small, and therefore scarcely any Missionary Society is able to work in one such terri- tory alone. The dialects, however, are related in most cases, and therefore to the initiated the transition from one dialect to another is not difficult ; but the uninitiated must simply begin again at the beginning and relearn everything. There is, therefore, a great difference whether the student has learnt one of these languages in a merely mechanical manner and has subsequently acquired a second and a third in the same way, or whether from the beginning onwards he grasps the general principles of a group of dialects and thus bases his linguistic acquirements on a broad foundation from the commencement. In the latter case he will save himself much time and energy should he be compelled to move into another lingual territory. The teacher, therefore, must not only understand one or two dialects of this group himself, but he must have a thorough scientific insight into the essential nature of the entire group. This, however, appears to me impossible to acquire in the mission field itself. According to my experience, it is much easier to acquire a theoretical insight such as this in Europe than in Africa. This scientific basis on which the instruction is placed has the advantage of introducing the student to everything that in its own sphere is known as a definite result of investigation. I. The statement of Sir Harry Johnston, quoted by Mrs. Creighton, that the Bantu dialects of Africa are so nearly related that any one who knows the grammar of one language readily accustoms himself to the other, is quite correct. It is due to my countryman, W. H. J. Bleek, Ph.D., that this has been for the first time clearly enunciated in his work, A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages, 'London, 1869. I may at the same time APPENDIX X. 265 call attention to my works (i) Grundniss einer Lautlehre der Bantu sprachen, 2 Aufi., Berlin, 1909; (2) Grundzuge einer ver- gleichenden Grammatik dev Bantusprachen, Berlin, 1906. He is therefore saved the trouble of racking his brain with questions, the solution of which has long been common property, and of rediscovering things already known and settled. He becomes acquainted with the problems still awaiting scientific research and can take his share in their solution. This occupation will revive his linguistic studies again and again. In Africa, Asia, and the South Seas we still have to deal with a great number of languages without any written literature. These must first be assimilated from the natives by word of mouth, orthographies must be invented, dictionaries, grammars, and reading matter must be drawn up in the languages of the natives, all of which are occupations which imply thorough scientific knowledge. All this the missionary must learn, and his teacher must be in a position to teach it to him. I regard it as an impossibility that any but a specially trained missionary will become such a teacher. We have made the experience that the attempt of Lepsius, to formulate a standard alphabet for unwritten languages, was not attended by the success which the missionary societies expected. Lepsius himself considered the task easier than we regard it to-day, but, above all, what he taught was interpreted by the various missionaries in very varied manner, and strange orthographies have therefore been promulgated and referred to Lepsius. There- fore, the Bible Societies are confronted even to-day by the same confusion that existed before the issue of the standard alphabet. If an alteration is to be effected in this matter, and a stop put to such arbitrary orthography, it is necessary to have teachers who overlook the various questions and problems in their entirety, and are enabled to give their pupils the best information. I think it is impossible for a missionary to acquire such know- ledge in the mission field. Learning the language in the home country implies that what has been learned will be thoroughly practised further and tested in the missionary field. In this way" the pupil will soon enough recognise the deficiencies in his knowledge, and then it is well if he remains in communication with the place where he has learnt and can continually obtain literature and information. When in Africa such books can most readily be procured from Europe. I admit that in India and China the matter rests on a somewhat different footing, but consider, nevertheless, that in these places too the teaching material for Europeans have often enough to be sent out from Europe. The missionary, moreover, must send manuscripts to press. It is possible to print primers nnd school books with small hand presses on the mission i'iclJ itself. All grammatical works, however, especially phonetic researches and such-like, would with difficulty permit of printing on the field, nay, possibly, would not admit of this at all. For this purpose the missionary requires a con- fidential representative in the home country to give him expert 266 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES advice. Often, too, the whole scheme of European libraries and the assistance of the best experts are requisite before really good advice can be given. That cannot be procured at all on the mission field, or, at all events, not in sufficient degree. 2. The main objection to instruction in the mother country is that the pupil has no opportunity of learning a good pronunciation. This objection rises from the supposition that the instruction is given by a European solely. With this supposition the objection is justified, but I regard such a supposition as inaccurate. With the transit conveniences of the present day, it is an easy matter to procure natives as assistant language teachers if one is so disposed. Our modern German method does not ask, Shall the instruc- tion be given by a European or a native ? but says, both are necessary. The European must teach the grammar and the native the pronunciation, and both ought to take place simultaneously or, at least, on the same day. As in many other things, so it is here. We must not ask, theory or practice ? but, the best theory and the best practice must work together hand hi hand, and must supplement and justify each other. Much is said about the student in a foreign country being immersed in all the foreign surroundings, and thus learning from them to an immeasurable degree. My own experience has not served to confirm this. I have known quite a number of people who had been in Africa for years, and yet practically knew not a word of an African dialect. And why ? Because they had never given themselves the trouble to work thoroughly towards the mastery of a language. Diligence and a good introduction are the main things. Whether a person is in Berlin or Zanzibar is to a certain extent a matter of indifference. In my experience the foreign surroundings do not simplify the assimilation of a language, but, on the contrary, render it more difficult. There is a great deal too much forcing itself on a person's notice. He does not acquire a proper sifting and con- sideration of his material. Finally, the extent of his attainments in the language depends purely on chance, and then, when he sees that he can therewith in some measure make himself understood, he is satisfied, and deludes himself and others with the idea that he has mastered the language. Further progress is then not to be thought of. Admitted, the sojourn in a foreign country is useful in learning a language, but any one who imagines that the stay there in itself will permit its acquirement is making a great mistake. _ The hypothesis still remains that he must previously have thoroughly worked. I have myself experienced in Africa the enormous difference, when studying languages, between one of which the construction was known to me already, and one whose construction was quite foreign to me. It is just such a difference as occurs when one is to find his way about in a strange town with a plan, or on the other hand without one. 3. Instruction, in phonetics is, I am rejoiced to notice, recom- APPENDIX X. 267 mended in several quarters. I regard this as being- very useful. Phonetics however are such a difficult science, that I consider it to be practically impossible to teach this branch on the mission field. Such a proposal has moreover not been made by any one. If the instruction is to be effective it must be given in conjunc- tion with demonstrations, and that too in a twofold way. (a) Demonstrations with the aid of physical apparatus on the laws of sound must form a part. For physiological knowledge such knowledge of physics is presumed. But physiological demon- strations with the living larynx and with various models are also required, as only thus does the theory become comprehensible and practical, (b) In addition must be added demonstrations in the tones of foreign tongues. The students themselves must make the attepmt to identify the words of unknown languages, which are recited to them. These trials can, it is true, be also made with Europeans, by utilising the various dialects of the hearers themselves, or with European languages which one or the other speaks in the mother tongue. That is all very useful, but still not sufficient. Further, it is not enough for the teacher only to recite the sounds himself. He will speak as a German to Germans, or as an English- man to Englishmen. It is a well-known fact that every language has a kind of normal pose of the organs. Starting from the normal pose all the individual tones of a language are formed, and it is very difficult to get away from this pose. The German will readily comprehend all tones which are spoken with the German normal pose, and the Englishman all sounds which are formed by his own pose of the organs. But for our purpose that is of remark- ably little utility, for here it is a question of acquiring sounds which do not correspond either with German or English, in fact, not even with any European sounds at all, but are spoken with the Asiatic or African normal pose of the organs. For this purpose then Asiatics and Africans are needed. An instruction in phonetics without demonstrations with the aid of genuine Africans and Asiatics appears to me to promise small success. All kinds of theoretical knowledge is acquired, but the tongue remains tied. I would specially call to remembrance that for Englishmen and Germans the accentuation of a word is of decisive importance. We do not understand, if the accentuation is incorrect. The pitch of the tone is for us of secondary importance. With many of the dialects of Asia and Africa that is quite a different matter. Here the strength of the tone is a matter of indifference, the pitch on the contrary is all-important. I know how much trouble it has caused me to distinguish the differences in sound, and how the matter can be simplified for beginners by correct introduction. Here again there is no abstract theory, but a theory going hand in hand with practice. 4. I am not in a position to make proposals as to how, for 268 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES England, such instruction can practically be arranged in the home country. In Germany we have had such an institution for more than twenty years in Berlin, which is conducted on the lines above named and in which I was a teacher for six and a half years. A second institution has now been established in Hamburg, and I am now engaged in bringing the principles I have described into use here. Both institutions have been founded with State funds. In Berlin missionaries of the most varied societies have been in- structed together and this brotherly union has proved very useful, as has also the joint work in union with merchants, officers, officials, and scholars. Obtaining the natives causes really little difficulty. The Africans need careful supervision, but then conduct themselves well. They have assisted with all kinds of literary work and have thus rendered themselves very useful. In so far as they were Christians they have further earned money for their society by means of lectures given to friends of the mission. It stands to reason that for this purpose not any and every sort of people must be taken, but the best that can be procured. Experience has taught us that from these persons we gather more of the way of thinking of their race than they would ever have told us in their native country. Over there we cannot be so closely in touch with them, as the influence of their racial companions is too great. The editor of the great Suanile poems, Dr. C. J. Buttner, has never been in East Africa, but has executed the whole of this great work in his native country. I could submit letters from quite a number of missionaries from Central and South Africa, testifying to the great usefulness of the instruction to them. I do not share the fear that they might perhaps preach too early. If every one is so far advanced that he can preach a sermon that can be understood, he must have made his way so deeply into the spirit of the language that the people and their ways are no longer quite strange to him, for the spirit of the people is manifested in the language. I should like to answer one further objection. The opinion is expressed that learning languages in the mother country should be discountenanced, because no one can tell whether the pupil will stand the climate. Should he have to return home on account of his health all the trouble is lost. To this I should wish to remark that nowadays an experienced tropical physician can tell us with tolerable certainty whether the missionary will stand the climate. It certainly does nevertheless happen that young people, who were considered sound, have had to return home. Admitted, we cannot always know that. But there are many other things we do not know, e.g. if the vessel in which the missionary is travelling will not sink, or if he will not po astray and thus be rendered unserviceable for the mission work, or if he will not be killed by hostile people ; and yet notwithstanding this missionaries are trained. It is moreover such a great pity, if he has diligently learned the APPENDIX X. 269 foreign language and then is obliged to return home ? It is just from the ranks of such men as these that our best linguists in Germany have issued. And would it not be even so elsewhere ? These men could then become the teachers of heathen dialects in the home schools who are at present so eagerly sought after. Or, should they not fly so high, they would be very useful in seeing all kinds of books in native languages through the press, and their reports will yield very different information than if these came from men knowing nothing of the language. On the other hand it is a very great pity if the young mission- aries are not enabled to learn the language properly. Many a one has actually had to leave China on this account, and many a one would do better by going home if he is not able to converse suitably with his people. If in such theoretical practical instruction, such as I have described, it should prove that the student has too little zeal or too little ability to learn the language, either theoretically or practically, then the trouble and cost of sending him abroad might be spared. He is not likely to give them cause for rejoicing. I would however emphasise in this connection that the determination must not occur in any pedantic spirit, simply because the student cannot grasp the peculiarities of one particular teacher. But if the correct method be employed it can readily be determined in the home country whether we have before us a man who wants to learn the language, and whether he will or will not do so. I find also that especially from the point of view of sending men out, the instruction in the language at home is of the greatest value. Of course all these remarks refer only to actual missionaries and not to assistants in technical offices. The great missionary age demands great resources. Let us lay aside methods which are obsolete and too tedious in their effects. Let us send out the best men and women we can get, armed with the best theoretical knowledge and the best practical fluency. Then we may look forward to a rich harvest. (Sgd.) CARL MEINHOF. HAMBURG, \ 7 th November 1909. APPENDIX XI STATEMENT REGARDING LANGUAGE STUDY ON THE FIELD BY MR. FLETCHER S. BROCKMAN, National General Secretary, Student Young Men's Christian Association of China Concerning the School in the Hills, I may say that in 1907 my associate, Mr. D. W. Lyon, conducted a language school for our own secretaries at Ruling. This covered a period of only about five months, and we were able to admit no others but our own secretaries. It is not putting it too strongly to say that its success far surpassed our highest hopes. Even this brief period gave those who were present methods of getting hold of the Chinese language which have enabled them to accomplish, I should think, just about twice as much in their language study time as the average man would do without such help. As you doubtless know, the London Missionary Society has determined to open a language school in Peking with Mr. Reese, a splendid master of the language in charge, They hope that this may eventually be made a Union Language School. Although your Commission has full evidence in on both sides of the question as to whether there should be a post graduate language school on the field, or in some central place like London, I am sure that you will pardon my writing you briefly some con- victions in the matter. i. In the preparation of missionaries, thoroughness is the first essential, and I should deprecate any work done on the field that would suggest to the minds of any a less thorough training at home. China is a land of scholars. While the old systems among the Chinese meant a great waste of time and effort, it called for the greatest thoroughness for the things which were in the curric- ulum. No person with a partial or superficial education will be able to command the full respect of the Chinese. Heretofore the Chinese have had poor facilities for passing judgment upon a man's attainments in Western learning. Such will not long be 270 APPENDIX XI. 271 the case. Whatever preparation for missionaries may mean, it must not mean in the case of China less, but rather more, than would be necessary for work at home. Whatever training is done on the field, a good academic education should have been completed before one comes to China. 2. In medicine, pedagogy, science, and such topics, no facilities exist, or are likely to exist for some years in China, which will compare with those available in the West, and no effort should be made consequently to supply the need for training along these lines on the field. 3. There is at present a fearful waste in the language training of missionaries ; something a little short of anarchy prevails ; every one is a law unto himself. Courses of study worked out by the different Missions help some, but each young missionary has to blaze the way for himself. More time is taken than is necessary for results which are most uneven and usually unsatisfactory. Taking the missionary force in China as a whole, it is difficult to overstate the folly of the present situation. Older missionaries are too busy to give attention to the matter. 4. The young missionary needs a training in attitude as well as in language. We of the West have been brought up to think of ourselves as superior to the Asiatic. The foreign communities like Shanghai, Hongkong, and Tientsin confirm this impression as the young missionary enters them. The first Chinese whom he comes to know are servants, or Christians from the lower classes. His vicious habit of assumed superiority is never shaken off. The Chinese will not tell us of this. The lower class accepts it ; the better class simply avoids us. Our false attitude applies to religion as well. The j r oung mis- sionary should be made to study the religions of China deeply enough to find the good in them, and should make at least a partial mastery of the classics. As it is now, we come to destroy, not to fulfil. Our attitude is wrong again toward their customs, laws, and literature. 5. The missionary needs to make a study of the great problems of the evangelisation and christianisation of China. This is where the theological training at home almost completely falls down. Such subjects as apologetics, comparative religion, and homiletics, even in the theological course, should be studied from a distinctly missionary standpoint. Now as to whether this work should be done at home or on the field, I feel that there should be a post-graduate training school for missionaries located at Peking, and all missionaries of all denominations and nationalities, expecting to work in the- Mandarin language at any rate (this is the language of three-fourths of the people of China) should go there. There should be courses in : (a) Chinese Language and Literature ; (b) Chinese customs, in- stitutions, laws, etc. ; (c) Chinese religions ; (d) Chinese history, including present-day events ; (e) Missionary methods. There should be courses for new missionaries and also shorter courses for older missionaries, including correspondence courses 272 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES and special lectures at the summer resorts where missionaries congregate in large numbers. This institution should be on the foreign field 1. Because we could not assemble anywhere else in the world such a faculty as in China. Men who have lived in China but who have remained at home for a number of years are not up to date. The East is changing too rapidly for them to be of the greatest usefulness to the students. If it is in China, Chinese officials and other distinguished men could be brought in for lectures. 2. Because the establishment of the institution in China means economy, since one institution here would serve all countries. We could hardly expect that practically every missionary from every land could be induced to go to London or New York. 3. Because such an institution would do much to bring about union among Christian workers in China through the acquaint- anceships formed during these early days. 4. Because the Chinese language, institutions, laws, etc., could be learned nowhere else as in China itself. 5. You would not be under the necessity of removing the ablest missionaries from China to teach at home. 6. We could scarcely hope that living under Western conditions the students might be brought into a different attitude toward the East so completely and so easily as would be possible under the risrht training in the East itself. APPENDIX XII ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF THE COMMISSION (see Page 182) BY THE REV. W. H. T. GAIRDNER, M.A., Church Missionary Society, Cairo I. Speaking for the Church Missionary Society I should say that quite sufficient care is taken in selection of workers. Indeed, the only complaint I have ever heard was that sometimes those who offer are too easily turned back by the authorities without sufficient reason being given, which is discouraging to them and to the parishes from which they come. III. (As to sufficiency of professional training) 1 and IV. (as to need of additional preparation). Setting aside language sttidy for the present (answered under IX.), and industrial and medical do. (answered under VIII.) : i. I do not see that any special training is needful in this case, with one important exception a short course of book-keeping. 3. Beyond all question there should be specialisation here (for an ordained missionary appointed to educational work). I suffered myself in this respect, being put down to superintend a primary school without the smallest knowledge of primary schools, or of educational methods in general. One's own personal ex- perience in being educated is often absolutely useless and inapplic- able, in fact, highly misleading. It cannot too strongly be said that to make an unspecialised man do educational work is a sinful waste of that man's time and strength, of the efficiency of the schools he runs, and of the prestige and efficiency of his society in the field. There are many facilities in Britain for learning pedagogy and obtaining teaching certificates. Any ordained man who con- templates teaching should cheerfully submit to earning one of the latter. Education is beginning to be taken more seriously by the missionary authorities, and high time too. Educational missions are highly specialised affairs and need almost as much technical skill as medical ones. Inasmuch as many clergy are sent out without the intent of COM. v. 1 8 274 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES teaching, and are forced into that work by circumstances, it might be wise to make every ordained man, who, fresh from the schools, i.e. the universities, is apt to be a somewhat visionary and im- practical person, take a year of educational method. During that year he might assiduously also study business methods and habits the point wherein he is so fatally lacking. But this carries us back beyond missionary training ; for such (educational and business) training is just as necessary for the town or country " curate " or " assistant minister." Still, if impossible for the home Church it should certainly not be neglected in the case of candidates for the mission field. In other words, steps should be taken to invest those undoubted children of light with something of the (f>p6rr]iTis " prudence " which we are told characterises the children of this world. 4. A lay educationalist, well trained at some Church (religious) training college, would seem to have particularly suitable training for the mission- field. We should like more of this sort. He should, however, not feel that any of his education is wasted if he is put to evangelistic work, and is not given a chance to use his special knowledge. Special knowledge is sometimes made rather a fetish of, and such a thing would be least excusable in the case of our educational missionary, because his studies after all are simply studies in how to impart truth ; and are thus obviously the most excellent pro- paedeutic to purely evangelistic work. An educational candidate should take care to get evangelistic experience. This can be got by attaching himself to the work of the parish he lives in ; summer services among children, deep- sea fishermen, navvies, etc. etc. 5. The latter remark applies to medical missionaries likewise. Evangelistic specialisation for these is more to the point than theological. The medical man is notoriously untheological. As he is proud of this fact he is probably incurable, and must be left to his bent. If he has a year to spare (which he never has, because it is so essential for him to start practising his profession immedi- ately), he would best employ it in evangelistic work (if possible medical evangelistic work), and in strengthening his linguistic faculty, rubbing up his Greek, for example, or otherwise strengthen- ing the non-scientific side of his education. 6. I have had no actual experience of industrial missionaries, but would say that it is very necessary for them to have a definite course of study in " head " subjects, and in evangelistic work. No man who has to learn a language can afford to let his theo- retical (as opposed to his practical and manual) faculties fall wholly into desuetude. Nothing but disappointment and friction could as a rule result from this, one would say, on coming out to the field. 7. See under i. and 3. ; probably even more so. V. VII. (The results and methods of special missionary training.) I fear my experience is too limited to make it worth while answer- ing this question. Special missionary training institutions for thoss who would otherwise have no training and possibly little APPENDIX XII. 275 education at all, are, of course, absolute necessities, and the mission field owes very much to their output. Discipline and method are learned there perhaps a little in excess : possibly more of the hostel and less of the boarding-school might be an advantage in the case of women's institutions. Possibly in these latter, too, insufficient care is taken to widen the interests and broaden the outlook of the students. They seem, sometimes, in the mission field to suffer from narrowness in both these respects, the curriculum seeming not to encourage, possibly even to stifle, a taste for literature, music, art, science, still less create the same. Is this wise ? Missionaries require just as good general educa- tion as any one else, and these special institutions should see they get it. It is narrowness of outlook and interest that accounts often for the petty irritations that so often spoil missionary life abroad. The sense of humour is naturally not developed by such a system, and this, combined with a total lack of "outside" subjects to talk of, make mutual irritations easier. Temperamental de- ficiencies in this direction, however, who can account for and who can cure ? VIII. (As to (i) industrial and (2) elementary medical training for ordained missionaries.) i. Certainly for those going to un- civilised parts, not otherwise. 2. Certainly for those going to parts where it will be impossible or difficult to consult doctors, not otherwise. Almost everywhere in the mission field, except cities where hospital, dispensaries, and good doctors are found, it is possible to make great use of amateur and empirical medical knowledge and practice in mission work. Caution and common sense are of course needed here, but the broad fact remains that such practice is possible and is useful. IX. (Comparison of Language Study at Home and on the Field.) My experience is not great, but I am inclined to say that what- ever has been learned at home is a help, and that mistakes of pronunciation can probably be unlearned on arrival at the field if sufficient pains are taken. But I only say this on the under- standing that such a man put in his home study in a period of enforced waiting, i.e. when he had the time to do it and could not come out to the field. In such cases he does better to fill up that time with language study than not so to fill it up. But there is a long way between saying this and saying that a man should stay at home specially to study language. I do not believe this. I am not sure if I should even recommend that he should go out of his way to insert language study in his course of training there are so many things more important to him at this stage, educa- tional method, medicine, industrial work, philosophy, theology, literature indeed anything. All these things are apt to be put aside in the field, whereas language is always with us. Thus much I would say for the general missionary. In excep- tional cases, however, the scholar missionary is needed, and for him an exceptional training like the Oriental Tripos at Cambridge 276 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES and the corresponding school at Oxford, etc., would be of intense value. Men of the type of Keith-Falconer, Pilkington, Douglas Monro, are needed in the,mission field for traaslational and literary work, and should be specially educated..- But of course they are only the few. They are scholars and should be approved scholars before they start an Oriental tripos. Let not the ordinary man whose bent lies in other than classical or linguistic directions, or the man who has no special bent at all, take up special " missionary language " work. And yet, of course, the men who are being sent to new dis- tricts of Africa and South America, etc., will have to become linguists whether they like it or not. I am not competent to say whether these should have special training, or what that training should be. Probably the officials of the Bible Society have formed views on the subject, and the present would be an admirable opportunity of ascertaining them, and acting on them. So much for linguistic work at home. Now for special linguistic study on the field. I am of the opinion that more could be done by specialising at certain centres. There are certain great languages, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Tamil, Mandarin, Japanese, which are spoken over great tracts, covered by many societies. Some of them, like Arabic, are useful or even necessary in countries where they are not spoken (add here, perhaps, Sanskrit, Pah'). It seems then that more efficient results would be obtained if there were concentra- tion and collaboration. Probably some one city has an advantage over any other in its claims to be that centre, as, for example, Cairo for Arabic. One would like to see those cities made centres of language study for missionaries from any society or country. This would require a linguistic missionary, a really first-rate scholar, at each centre, to give his whole time to organising and guiding such work. His own qualifications would be a first-rate acquaintance with the language and the literature of that language. Such men are very few, extraordinarily so in the mission field itself, where, alas ! very little deep reading in the literature of the country is done or can be done. The working missionary, even if an able linguist, how can he give time to reading the literature of the religion at which he is working ? There is a tremendous deficiency here, all round, and it comes from the total lack of stimulus and guidance we get in this department. And that again results from the absence of any expert to act as responsible adviser. A man is wanted who will not only guide young missionaries through the language, but will open up to them and enthuse them in the theological literature of that language, together with other literature. Also the history of the natives and the religion in question. Then he will do the same for senior missionaries who come, perhaps, from afar, to take special six months' course, or more, in the language. How can any save a specialist do such directing work ? There would, of course, be a library at this centre. There APPENDIX XII. 277 would also be abundant facilities for doing missionary work, and for practising the language. Further, not otherwise will the necessary munshis be raised up and trained. Professor Macdonald, the well-known authority on Islamic theology (Hartford Theological Seminary.U.S. A.), at arecent visit to Cairo, expressed his astonishment at the poor facilities for language and literature study there in the centre of the world of Islam. Quite apart from his opinion of the missionaries' attainments (a painful subject), he was amazed at the difficulty of getting first-rate instruction from the natives. And yet Cairo is the centre of Islamic learning. First of all, the real savants of the country need to be found. Secondly, they need to be secured as teachers. Thirdly, they have to be shown how to teach, and their teach- ing closely superintended. These three simple headings mean an immense expenditure of time and experience. Moreover, such a superintendent will have gradually to raise up a school of native Christian language and literature savants and teachers, who will be gradually able to do all that is needed in instruction. In other words, he must himself be the greatest savant of all, or at least the greatest in the sense that an expert librarian is the greatest literateur, i.e. he knows the subjects and all about them, even if his reading in the insides of the books is defective ; but of course preferably the former. When shall we get such men ? The whole mission field only produces them at present by units. In all Egypt there is not one man who is yet worthy to take that place. In India, etc., probably only very few (I speak of Arabic). We need some Keith- Falconer to come out from home. Why not enthuse some Oriental Professor and get him to transfer his chair to Cairo ? With a generation of men so trained the whole of the painfully low standard of missionary linguistic and library efficiency would be raised. At present it is the merest fluke if a missionary is anything but a total ignoramus on the literature and history of the people he works amongst, while his linguistic standard is still too low. We need stimulating, encouraging, goading. A new standard should be held up, and if held up would soon be followed. Only such efficiency will enable work to be done among high- class natives. It is not so much that such workers will be con- troversially equipped, but that only they will be in possession of the thought-language, the atmosphere, the background of know- ledge, which alone will make the educated native deem him worthy of talking to. In other words contact with educated minds cannot be set up unless the missionary is himself educated. He must be educated to the educated, that he may win the educated. If not even contact is set up, of course the sine qua non of evangelisa- tion has not been fulfilled. We can only work among those with whom we can establish and maintain contact on equal terms. This is, of course, the reason why so very few converts of a high 278 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES class are made. Simply because so very few Moslems of a high class are even so much as seen or spoken to, or in any way soever influenced. Even literature cannot reach these people unless it is high-class literature. And here too the stream cannot rise above its source. We cannot produce high-class literature without a high-class linguistic and literary training. Such work needs combination. The Societies concerned must get together and thrash out the financial part of it. Very possibly, when once the thing is set going, a system of capitation fees would go a long way to defraying the common expenses of the scheme. I only add that such work done in Cairo would be much more valuable than the same work done, or attempted, in London or Hartford. X. (On special missionary preparation.) It seems to me that I have practically given whatever answer I can to this question in what precedes. It would seem that my views tend to regard the present system as fundamentally sufficient, but as needing supplementing ; and that such supplementing would not involve any ambitious new effort in the home field, such as the institution of a big new Missionary College, but rather desiderates more care on the part of the Boards hi seeing that each candidate is adequately prepared, all round, for the sort of work he will have to do. Such candidates would be re- commended short supplementary courses, whether at Livingstone College, or at some Training College, or Theological Hall, or other existing institution. While in the case of language I have not been led to recommend the starting of any big missionary Oriental College in London, but rather the starting of centres of language study in the mission field, the apparatus of which would be little more than one professor and one library, with (possibly), in time, rooms for language lessons ; but this is not necessary at first. I can imagine that the centres which could usefully be started at once would be Cairo . . . Arabic. Madras . . . Tamil, Pali (?). Delhi (?) . . . Sanskrit, Urdu. Hangchow (?) . Mandarin. Tokio . . . Japanese. APPENDIX XIII ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF THE COMMISSION (see Page 183) PREPARED BY MR. J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A., General Secretary, Young Men's Christian Association of India and Ceylon My experience has been both narrow and wide. It has been almost altogether restricted to work among the educated classes, though I have known intimately many Missionaries engaged in country work. I have no knowledge of women's work. On the other hand, I have had eighteen years of experience in India, eleven years in the London Missionary Society College, Calcutta, and seven in the Student work of the Young Men's Christian Association. During the last two years I have travelled all over India, Burmah, and Ceylon, and have met representative Mission- aries everywhere. I had also a short visit to Japan, China, and the Straits Settlements, which proved most illuminating. My answers refer only to India and to Men's work. I. (a) Physical condition : Yes. (b) Intellectual preparation : No. (c) Moral and Spiritual character : Some Mission boards are scarcely strict enough, failing to realise that every Missionary necessarily takes the place of a leader. III. No, by no means. IV. Theology. Professional training stands by itself, and must be given wherever required ; but, apart from that, in my opinion all Missionaries of every class should receive practically the same preparation. There are two main departments of study which are altogether indispensable if a man is to become an effective Missionary ; and to these I would add practical training in some branch of Christian work, whenever feasible. (a) Every Missionary, no matter what his special subject may be, is regarded on the foreign field as an exponent of Christianity, and is frequently placed in such circumstances as demand a con- siderable amount of knowledge. Thus no one should be sent out as a Missionary who is not already a specialist in Christianity. 279 280 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES It is unfair to the man, and much more seriously unjust to the cause, to send out any one who has not received a theological training, to enable him to give clear and adequate expression to the spiritual powers which he has experienced in his own life, and to provide him with a wide, reasonable, and reflective knowledge of the faith he is to represent. (Details under X.) Study of the Field. Every Missionary ought to be compelled to study the country he is to labour in, especially its history, its people, and its religion, before he goes out. To attempt to in- fluence a country without understanding it is surely one of the maddest possible dreams. Every Missionary comes to India with the pious intention of reading about its history and religion ; but very few realise how absolutely indispensable for effective work full and reliable knowledge on these subjects is ; and most allow study of the vernacular and the attractions of the work to steal all the time that ought to be given to it. I ha.ve frequently met men who had been many years in India and yet had never read the history. I have met British Missionaries in India who did not understand the very rudiments of British administration in India ! Many men have succeeded in acquiring this knowledge after reaching the field, but there are very serious reasons (which are stated below under X.) why they should be given this piece of training before going out. (Details under X.) Christian Work, (c) Most people have recognised that the man who has done pastoral, evangelistic, or : mission work, or the man who has been a Student Secretary, even the man who has been in law, medicine, or business, has a very large advantage over others to begin with, and that, if he is in a lonely position, his work benefits very greatly as long as he lives. The results of practical experience of this kind are very various : 1. A feeling for that which is practical and practicable. 2. A knowledge of Christian methods. 3. Acquaintance with business methods and a liking for them. 4. Courage and initiative, which are often of inestim- able value. 5. A flexibility which makes it easy to work with others. A careful survey of a large group of the most capable and successful Missionaries in India shows that every one without exception has made a very careful study of the field, either before or after arriving ; that every one of them, with the exception of a special group, had received a good theological training ; and that the special group who had no training in theology are a few Young Men's Christian Association Secretaries from America who have done brilliant service in the Indian student field. Their success is largely administrative, and is due, without the shadow of a doubt, to the very valuable practical training they received as College Secretaries or Travelling Secretaries before they came out. Every APPENDIX Xm, 281 one of them has made a speciality of Field study ; nor have I any doubt myself that their work would have been much more valuable if they had had a suitable theological course. A know ledge of the vernacular is of very great service ; but, while I have known men who had acquired no vernacular and yet were most effective Missionaries, I have never known a man reach the class of effectives without serious Field study. V. So far as my experience goes, a very small percentage of Missionaries receive any specifically Missionary training. The ordinary Arts and Theological courses, or the Arts course alone, is usually considered sufficient. In some cases the Theological course is modified so as to give more emphasis to the Missionary aspects of certain disciplines ; but even this is not very common, so far as I know. Student Secretaries from America are never sent out without some practical experience ; but they receive little else. The Student Christian Movement and the Student Volun- teer Movement have both done a great deal to prepare men for the foreign field. They teach men to reflect on the wide issues involved, stimulate study, draw out capacities, train leaders. But since these things are unconnected with the Mission Boards, they do not influence all Missionaries, but only those who are members of the movements, and even these in very varying measure. There is thus much still to be desired in preparation. Men, as they come out, are usually fitted for work at home, but are not prepared for work in India, except in so far as it is like home work. The education in Arts and the Theological training which most of our Missionaries receive are both really very valuable. They ensure us a supply of men who are ready for ordinary teaching and preaching, and they form an excellent basis for further study. But men thus prepared are not armed to meet the exceedingly complicated problems which face the Christian Church in every part of India. If they do succeed in solving them, they do so rather by happy practical genius than through understanding them. The average Missionary to-day has no reasoned concep- tion of the relation of Christianity to other religions, except the good old contrast of the one truth and the many errors ; he is not prepared in any sense for estimating an alien faith ; he is not in a position to appreciate spiritual excellence or moral char- acter if they run on other lines than his own ; too often he does not know even where to find the information necessary for under- standing the barest elements of the civilisation around him ; nor has he been introduced to hose large social questions which inevitably arise when a people s passing over from one religion to another. Coming out to India with so lit 'e reliable knowledge of India, each man tends to adopt the ideas whether on the people, their culture, and their religion, or on methods of work which he hears expressed in the small Mission Circle in which he first finds himself ; and thereafter an independent judgment is very hard to attain. The result rather is that his mind is made up once for all on many of the largest questions, that he loses a great deal of his 282 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES former high and healthy enthusiasm for the people he is to work amongst, and that there is no vehement impulse left to begin study, and to persevere with it. The pressure of work is always so great that each recruit is drawn into full service at the earliest possible moment ; whence his mind is necessarily narrowed to his own daily task and little circle. A wide outlook becomes steadily less likely ; and large method and noble strategy find no place in his preoccupied thoughts. I believe Missionaries are, as a rule, happy in their mutual relations ; yet there are many groups in which there is much ill- feeling, dispeace, and suffering. Where this is the case, I believe it is frequently to be traced to defective organisation. Where an older Missionary has been allowed to gather a great deal of power in his own hands, there is frequently trouble between him and the juniors. Small autonomous local groups are very bad for quarrel- ling. The travelling superintendent, if wisely chosen, and wisely related to the others, is a great help towards healthy relations as well as towards a wider outlook, a bolder policy, and fresh methods. But in many cases dispeace arises from one troubler. He is usually a man of considerable will, who did not learn to work with others before coming out, and who in the narrow circumstances of the Missibn has developed into a crank or a sort of family tyrant. In many cases, I believe, he would have been altogether different had he been put through a considerable course of practical work along with others in the home land. VII. So far as I can see, Missionaries ought to study the vernacular on the field, but other subjects before going out. There are two very cogent reasons in favour of taking the vernacular on the field (a) The immeasurable advantage of being able to hear and to use the vernacular in one's study, in the street, in the school, and in the church, while one's study continues. (b) The impossibility of providing adequate teaching in the home lands for the hundreds of languages of the foreign fields. Were the languages to be dealt with only a dozen in number, and were they all as well known as Hindi, Tamil, Japanese, Mandarin, Swahili, it would be possible to gather capable teachers at some point in Britain and thus create a college for the verna- culars ; but as things are, it is altogether impossible. Even if such a scheme were feasible, it would still lack the infinite help of the living people speaking the vernacular. Thus it seems to me we are shut up to the foreign field. But a great deal of waste has occurred on the field through inadequate arrangements. Capable teachers are usually very hard to find ; and where each Mission arranges its own courses of study and holds its own examinations, methods are apt to be very antiquated and the student has to depend almost altogether on his own linguistic capacity. My own experience was very trying ; the teachers I had were of the usual incapable order ; and the examinations, which were arranged by the Mission, were far from right. But most of this difficulty can be readily got rid of. As a result of my own protests against the irregularity and inaptitude of the APPENDIX XIII. 283 Mission examinations, the Calcutta Missionary Conference took up the matter and now holds examinations in Bengali twice a year, with most satisfactory results. Similarly, combinations among the Missions will solve the problem of instruction. When I was in Shanghai, I found that Mr. D. Willard Lyon of the Young Men's Christian Association had arranged a Summer School for the study of the languages of North China ; and afterwards I heard that it was carried out with great success. Prof. Harlan P. Beach of Yale University was very much interested in the plan ; and an article from his pen appeared in The Baptist Missionary Review a year or more ago, in which he strongly advocated the adoption of the same or similar plans elsewhere. A central school of languages in each of the great language areas of India could be organised without serious diffi- culty if the Missions would combine ; but I am inclined to think that it would be wiser to begin with Mr. Lyon's plan. There are many young Missionaries who would find it very difficult, or even impossible, to reside in Calcutta or Bombay for a year to attend a language school, and yet would find it quite possible to spend two or three months at a summer school on the hills. I have not met any men who studied the vernacular at home. X. Scope of the training which Missionaries ought to receive : A. Theology. The ordinary course modified and added to, in order to meet the special requirements of the Mission Field. The fuller this education can be made the better. If the two Biblical tongues can be acquired, so much the better. The following disciplines I consider indispensable : (a) Wide Expository study of the Bible, resting on a solid basis of Introduction. (b) Biblical Theology, with the History of Israel and New Testament times. These two are of extreme importance. The Missionary wants them, not merely in order to be able to teach and preach ; he must know the mind and heart of Christ, and be intimate with Apostolic thought. He must live in the work and thought of Christ until he reach beyond our old traditional phraseology to the very heart of Christian truth, so that he may be able to make it live before the eyes of men of minds very different from our own. He must see the truth at the glorious human height of Christ. ki (c) Systematic theology, in its historical setting. (d) The growth of the Kingdom, its expansion, its widening thought, its growing institutions, as seen, not only in early Church History and in the Reformation, but in modern Missions, culminating in a clear statement of the position of the great campaign to-day. These two studies of the thought and the work of the Church ought to be of supreme value to the Church-builder of to-day. (c) The Philosophy of Religion. (/) Apologetic. * B. The Field. Under this head I include the Religions of the World, and the Religions, History, and Civilisation of the particular field, also the Classical language, if there be one. The following list has reference to India : (a) The Religions of the World : the Christian attitude to them, scientific, sympathetic, interpretative ; and the relation of Christianity to them, the crown and fulfilment of them all. (b) The History of India : not a detailed study, but an intelligible presentation, sufficient to form a basis for knowledge in other departments. (c) The people of India: their physical condition, culture, social organisation, economics, etc. The Government of India. (d) Hinduism : its place among the religions of the world ; its history ; its literature ; its inner spirit, dominant conceptions ; its greatness and its failures ; its action in history ; its per- manent contribution. (e) Sanskrit : most men ought to begin Sanskrit at least. (/) The other Religions of India. This course of " Field " training is meant to start the Missionary on right lines of thought and study, to keep him from injuring the cause by blundering attacks on Hinduism, and from wasting his time in seeking methods of study, the right literature, etc. It ought to set him at the right angle for understanding the thought, religion, civilisation, people of India, to give him sym- pathy with an alien culture and alien beliefs, and to emancipate him from that provincial complacency which measures everything by its own standards. Every one will realise what a precious preparation this Field study will make for the study of the vernacular ; hundreds of allusions, ideas, customs, beliefs, phrases, which in ordinary cir- cumstances are laboriously (and often erroneously) explained by the pundit become self-explanatory ; and, if the student has made some progress in Sanskrit, a considerable percentage of the vocab- ulary is already his own. Every one who before visiting a new country has done a piece of solid study with reference to it will realise that the Missionary with a good Field training will be able to begin observing as soon as he sets foot on the soil of his field in a way that would otherwise be quite impossible. C. Practical Experience in Christian Work in the home land. D. The Vernacular. Since the peoples of Asia and of the whole Mohammedan world are rapidly entering upon a new life which will necessarily lead them far away from their old religions, the question of their future faith may possibly be settled within a few decades. It is therefore the supreme duty of the Christian Church to-day not only to send a sufficient force of the best men to the foreign field, but to see that they are trained in the most perfect possible way. The need for Missionaries of the highest calibre and the finest training is ten APPENDIX XIII. 285 times more urgent to-day than it was ten years ago ; for the supreme moment, when the inner spirit ot Christianity must meet Hinduism, Buddhism, and Mohammedanism in close mortal conflict is now at hand. Careful training will now count as heavily on the Mission Field as it does in modern war. To neglect it would therefore be a monstrous crime. Duration of Missionary Preparation. Such a theological pre- paration as is here sketched could not be satisfactorily given in less than three years. For Field study one year would probably suffice for the average Missionary ; but those students who desire to get a good hold of Sanskrit and a considerable acquaintance with Hinduism would require longer time. The one year spent in Field training would pay for itself many times over in time saved on the field and in greatly multiplied efficiency ; and the same is true of time that may be spent in theology. Should Preparation be given at Home or on the Fields. I have already explained that I think the vernacular should be acquired on the field ; every one will agree that Theology should be given at home. The question thus narrows itself to Field Study. Three possible courses may be proposed : (a) That which obtains at present, men struggling hard (and scarcely succeeding) to acquire the knowledge in their spare time after they are on the field. (ft) An Institution on the field in which Missionaries of all denominations might study. (c) Institutions at home, one in Britain and one in America to begin with, specially organised for the purpose. Any one who has gone through the toil and worry which the first course involves will at once agree that, if we are to save time and secure efficiency, it must be given up, and our embryo Mission- aries must be put through a regular course under capable pro- fessors, and must have sufficient time to do the work well. The question thus comes to this, Shall this be done at home or on the field ? At first sight it would seem to be best to give this training on the field, in order that observation might accompany study ; but, while the living language is of great value in studying the vernacular, it is probably far more profitable, in dealing with history, religion, civilisation, to have study precede actual con- tact. Then the advantages of organising the College at home are very great : (a) Field training for all the Mission Fields might quite well be conducted in a single College in Britain (and similarly in America and on the Continent). The number of distinct subjects requiring to be dealt with is not quite so large as one would be inclined to expect ; for there are a number which are common to several fields, e.g. Buddhism, Mohammedanism, primitive religion, and there is at least one which is required everywhere the Religions of the World. There would thus be large duplica- tion of labour if there were a College in each field ; and even so, the work could not be combined with the teaching of the vernac- ulars, for in such a country as India it would be impossible 286 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES (and wasteful even if possible) to have all the vernaculars taught at one centre. (6) It would be a great advantage to have this College planted in an English University (similarly in America or on the Conti- nent). Many of the men would find it advantageous to take lectures at the same time in some connected subject, e.g. Anthro- pology, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Philology, and the Libraries and Museums of European and American Universities are immeasurably superior to anything available in the East. (c) The study of the classic languages of Asia (Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic, Chinese, Avestan) can be pursued far more satisfactorily at home than abroad. (d) To actually have this training when he arrives on his field will bring large advantages to the Missionary : (i) It will enable him to maintain independence of judgment ; (2) it wiD enable him to begin observing with intelligence at once; (3) it will be an invaluable introduction to vernacular study. Is Combination Necessary ? As the College we have proposed would require a number of professors, each a man of capacity and culture, it will clearly be necessary for the Missionary Societies to combine to establish it. At least six chairs would be necessary, and others might be added with advantage : 1. The Religions of the World, and the Relation of Christianity to them. 2. Hinduism Sanskrit India. 3. Mohammedanism Arabic Mohammedan lands. 4. Confucianism Chinese China, Korea, Japan. 5. Buddhism Pali Buddhist lands. 6. Primitive Religions Africa, South America, Poly- nesia. APPENDIX XIV PROPOSED COLLEGE OF STUDY FOR NORTH INDIA The religious atmosphere of India has already been largely influenced by Christian thought, and would be still more deeply influenced if only Indians felt that Christians had made a greater effort to understand their point of view. There is need of men who will make it their chief work to interpret the East to the West, and the West to the East, and devote themselves to the study of Eastern literature in the light of Christian truth. Hindus assert that only those who have a knowledge of Sanskrit can ever appreciate the thoughts that find expression in that language, and yet the number of missionaries who have a know- ledge of Sanskrit is very limited. At the present time Hindus turn with pride to the religious literature of their country and profess to find in their sacred writings all that they need for spiritual development. It is very desirable that those who work among the educated classes should gain a knowledge of the thoughts that influence those among whom they work, and yet in the multiplicity of their duties few find time to study this subject with any degree of thoroughness. We cannot help feeling that the time has come when a College of Study should be established in India. The Staff of this College would make it their business (i) to gain a knowledge of Sanskrit and Arabic ; (2) to acquire a knowledge of Hindu and Mohammedan thought and of the historical development of religious ideas in India, and (3) to make their learning available for other Christian workers through lectures and the publication of text-books and monographs. Members of the College would invite the assistance of other scholars, who would probably welcome the opportunity of helping those whom they would recognise as fellow-seekers after truth. Accommodation should be provided in the College for Missionaries who might wish to reside for certain periods of time. Certificates might be awarded to those who passed examinations either in (i) language, Sanskrit or Arabic, or (2) religious and philosophical 287 288 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES thought .'' The possession of such a certificate might be required of those engaged in certain branches of mission work. ^-i '^ The ideas embodied in this proposal are in the air at the present time, and Christians should be as ready to buy up the opportunity as are Hindus and Mohammedans. A grant from that portion of the Pan- Anglican Thankoffering which has been ear-marked for educational work in India would remove financial difhculties. The details of such a scheme would be suitably worked out by a Committee of experts. [This brief resume of an important proposal, affecting North India, is printed here for the value of its suggestions. Other pamphlets have been issued dealing with the scheme in greater details, but the particulars in these are undergoing constant modification.] APPENDIX XV MINUTE OF SECTIONAL MEETING OF MEDICAL DELEGATES, ETC., AT WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE, 1910 This Sectional Meeting of Medical Delegates, Medical Missionaries, and other Medical Practitioners interested in the Medical Aspects of Missionary Work desire to represent to the Commission on " The Preparation of Missionaries " their unanimous opinion (1) That the Medical Missionary should be in definite charge of the spiritiial work of the Medical Mission, and that this meeting heartily endorses the recommendations in the Report on Commis- sion V. in regard to the spiritual preparation lor such work. (2) That the professional preparation of Medical Missionaries should be as thorough as possible, that no one who has not passed through the complete medical curriculum and obtained a diploma or degree in Medicine from a recognised examining body, should assume the title of Medical Missionary. (3) That seeing it is impossible for each denomination to have a Medical Missionary Training Institution to itself such Inter- denominational Institutions as exist, namely, taking them in their chronological order of foundation i. The Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society in Edinburgh ; ii. The London Medical Missionary Association in London ; iii. The American Medical Missionary College at Battle Creek, Michigan ; iv. St. Luke's College (Guild of St. Luke), London ; and v. The Medical Missionary Institute for Germany and Swit.er- land at Tiibingen, Germany ; should be encouraged in their work, and warmly commended to the sympathy and prayer of all interested in Medical Missions. (4) That every Medical Missionary should, before proceeding to the foreign field, have held (where possible) a resident post at a recognised hospital, and post-graduate study in special depart- ments, and in particular eye and tropical diseases. COM. V. 19 290 PREPABATION OF MISSIONARIES And their opinion (1) That all Missionaries going abroad should have that know- ledge which shall enable them to safeguard their own health, and that of their families. (2) That those Missionaries who are compelled to live in districts where there are no " Medical Missionaries," and where no qualified medical or surgical assistance is available, should have that know- ledge which shall enable them to treat minor ailments and accidents. (3) That inasmuch as there are risks that Missionaries should use this knowledge indiscreetly, or assume a position which they are not qualified to take, this training should be given in recognised institutions where the course of training is planned out suitably for the particular need, and where they will not be trained to- gether with Medical students. (4) That Missionary Societies should not permit such Missionaries to fill responsible medical posts, nor should they allow them, under any circumstances, to take upon themselves the title of " Medical Missionary," or assume the position of a qualified practitioner. And their unanimous opinion (1) That there is still a great need for Qualified Nurses in the Foreign Missionary Field. (2) That an adequate training for such Nurses is essential. (3) That this training should be (a) General. Three years in a properly equipped Hospital or Infirmary, with a Resident Medical Officer. (b) Special. After obtaining their certificate such Nurses should, if possible, receive further training in such subjects as Midwifery, Dispensing, Elementary Hygiene, Cooking, District work in the slums of a city, and Ophthalmic and Fever Nursing. APPENDIX XVI BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LITERATURE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS AND PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES ; The following Bibliography has been prepared for the Commis- sion by Dr. K. W. Capen, Jamaica Plain, Mass. The limits of time within which the Report had to be published made it impossible to revise and complete this Bibliography with the help and advice of other students as had been intended. The Bibliography is printed here without any claim to completeness, as furnishing a guide to some of the material bearing on the subject with which the Commission is concerned. SECTION T. GENERAL Report, Conference on Missions, Liverpool, 1860, pp. 17-24. Report, Missionary Conference, London, 1888, pp. 4-26. Report, Conference of the Foreign Missionary Societies of Great , Britain and Ireland, London, 1901, pp. 54-70. Report, General Conference, Shanghai, 1890, pp. 145-152. Report, South Indian Missionary Conference, Madras, 1900, pp. 78-81. Report, Second International Convention, Student Volunteer Move- ment, for Foreign Missions, Detroit, U.S.A., 1894, pp. 39-45. Report, Fourth Conference Foreign Mission Boards, United States and Canada, 1896, pp. 24-36. Report, Eleventh Conference, do., 1904. Paper on " Preparation of Missionaries," pp. 16-28. Report, Twelfth Conference, do., 1905. Paper on " Dealing with Candidates," pp. 91-97. Report, Fifteenth Conference, do., 1908. Re " Preparation for Work among Moslems," p. 9 ft. Methods of Mission Work among Moslems. New York, F. H. Revell Co. (for Private Circulation only), 1906, pp. 3740, 211-230. 291 292 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES " The Call, Qualifications, and Preparation of Candidates for Foreign Missionary Service." Student Volunteer Movement, New York, 1901. Chester, S. H., D.D., " Our Method of Selecting Missionaries," The Missionary, Nov. 1904, p. 525 ; Dec. 1908, p. 569. Cust, R. N., LL.D., " Essay on the Prevailing Methods of the Evangelisation of the non-Christian World," London, Luzac & Co., 1894, p. 193 ff. Cust, R. N., LL.D., Notes on Missionary Subjects. London, Elliott Stock, 1889. Part I. chap. 2 ; part III. section VII. Gillespie, John, D.D., " The Missionary Candidate," Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. M'Gilvary, Daniel, D.D., and others, " Counsel to New Mission- aries," Board of Foreign Missions Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., 1905, chaps, i, 3, ii. Pierson, Arthur T., The Problem of Missions and its Solution, paper presented before the Presbytery of Philadelphia, June i, 1885. Speer, R. E., What Constitutes a Missionary Call ? Student Volunteer Movement, New York, 1903. Venn, Henry,. B.D. (Secretary Church Missionary Society), Mis- sionary Secretariat of, by William Knight, M.A. London, Longmans, Green, & Co., 1880, pp. 427-430, 445-447, 453-456. West, E. C., " Clergy for the Front : How to get Them." The East and the West. London, vol. vii. p. 40 (Jan. 1909). SECTION II. QUALIFICATIONS Report, First International Convention, Student Volunteer Move- ment for Foreign Missions, Cleveland, U.S.A., 1891, pp. 45-51, 111-113, n6ff. Report, Fourth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Toronto, 1902, pp. 73-85- Report, Fifth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Nashville, 1906, pp. 103-108. ("Health.") Report, Sixth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Rochester, 1910, pp. 125-144. Report, International Student Missionary Conference, London, 1900, pp. 168-173. (" Physical Preparation.") Report, Conference on Missions, Liverpool, 1860, pp. 18, 233 f. 242-256, 264. Report, Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New York, 1900. Vol. i. pp. 301312. Do., pp. 321-324. (" Health.") Records, General Conference, Shanghai, 1890, pp. 148152, 159, 163 f. Report, Conference Foreign Missions Boards and Committees, Presbyterian Bodies, U.S. and Canada. New York, 1893, pp. 25-30. ("Should Laymen be Sent as Missionaries?") Gleanings from the Portfolio of a Missionary Candidates' Committee. (Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, Presbyterian Church, New York.) APPENDIX XVI 293 " The Kind of Workers Needed," The Missionary, Jan. 1893. " Foreign Missionaries, Qualities Needed," Church at Home and Abroad, June, 1898, p. 499. " Qualifications for Missionary Service," Intercollegian, Nov. 1906. What are the Qualifications Needed for a Lady Missionary ? London Missionary Society, 1895. " Qualifications Needful," Missionary Review of the. World, July 1903, p- 54 1 - ' The Missionary Call and Missionary Candidates," Church Mis- sionary Intelligencer, Jan. 1893, p. 30. Brown, Arthur J., D.D., Quality, not Quantity for the Foreign Field," The Evangelist, Jan. n, 1900. Callendcr, S. N., D.D., " Methods of Securing Missionary Candi- dates," Report of Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1899, pp. 30-33. Cunningham, W. G. E., The Foreign Missionary and His Work, Nashville, Tenn., Methodist Episcopal Church, So., Chap. iii. pp. 38-50. Evarts, Jeremiah (Secretary American Board of Foreign Missions). Memoir, by E. C. Tracy. Boston, Crocker & Brewster, 1845, pp. 293-299. Gilmore, G. W., " The Equipment of the Modern Foreign Mis- sionary," American Journal of Theology, 2, 561-573 (1898). Hawkins, Rev. 1. S., " One Missionary's Experience," Baptist Missionary Magazine, Dec. 1898, p. 659. Hendrix, Bishop E. R., D.D., The Call and Qualifications of a Missionary. 1905. Jessup, Henry H., D.D., " The Foreign Missionary Call," Baptist Missionary Magazine, March 1895, p. 73. Kyle, M. G., D.D., " Special Training Needed for Foreign Mis- sionary Service, "^Report of Conference of Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1899, P- 33 f- Laflamme, H. F., " Talks with Student Volunteers," III., Baptist Missionary Magazine, March 1909, p. 96 f. Leavitt, H. H., " The Men Needed for Foreign Service," Hart- ford (Ct. U.S.A.), Seminary Record, Feb. 1902, pp. 99-112. Mackay, R. P., " Qualifications of Missionary Candidates," Report of Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1899, p. 30. Pratt, Rev. Josiah, B.D. (Secretary Church Missionary Society), Memoir by His Son. London, Seeley, 1849, pp. 140-144. Speer, R. E., "Qualifications Desired in Missionary Candidates," Student Volunteer, March, 1898, p. 84. Venn, Henry, B.D. (Secretary, Church Missionary Society), Missionary Secretariat of, by Rev. William Knight, M.A. London, Longmans, Green, & Co., 1880, pp. 442-444. White, Stanley, D.D., The Call and Qualifications for Missionary Sen'ice ; Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. U.S.A. Zwemer, S. M., D.D., " One Thing Lacking, Why Some Missionary Candidates Fail to Reach the Field." Missionary Review of the World, 1910 (Feb.) pp. 117-120. 294 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES SECTION III. PREPARATION AND TRAINING " Shall T be a Missionary ? V. The Missionary Student in a Theological College." Missionary Herald (Eng.), 92-209. Bliss, Mrs. Theodora Crosby, " Missionary Training Schools," Missionary Review of the World, Jan., 1909, pp. 41-47. Conklin, J. W., " Training Schools for Missionaries," Missionary Review of the World, Feb. 1904, pp. 128-132. Conklin, J. W., " Need of Special Training for Missionary Candi- dates," Intercollegian, March 1906, p. 140 f. Drury, T. W., " Methods of Training," Church Missionary Intelli- gencer, n.s., 24, 738 ff. (1899). Ellin-wood, F. F., D.D., " The Study of Oriental Religions as a Preparation for Missionary Service." The Student Volunteer, Dec. 1894, p. 41 ff. Ewing, J. C. R., " Preparation for Missionary Service," Missionary Review of the World, 1898, pp. 350-354. Farquhar, J. N., " Field Training for Missionaries," The East and The West, viii., 316-325 (July 1910). Faunce, Mrs. W. H. P., " Preparation for the Foreign Field, Boston," Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. Happer, A. P., M.D., D.D., " A Professorship of Missionary In- struction in our Theological Seminaries," Andover, 1876. From Bibliotheca Sacra, July, 1876. Happer, A. P., M.D., D.D., " The Need of Special Preparation for Foreign Service," Missionary Review of the World, 1891, pp. 694-697. Johnson, E. H. and others, " Missionary Training Schools, Do Baptists Need Them ? " Baptist Quarterly, 12, 69-108 (1890). Laflamme, H. F., " Talks to Student Volunteers, I." Baptist Missionary Magazine, Jan. 1909, pp. 24-26. Mabie, H. C., D.D., " Study of Missions in Theological Seminaries," Report of Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1896, pp. 11-24. Morrison, W. M., " Special Preparation for Missionaries," The Missionary, Feb. 1904, p. 68. Oltmans, A., " Home Preparation for the Foreign Missionary," Biblical World, 13, 185-191 (1899). Smith, G. B., " Better Training for Missionaries," Missionary Review of the World, Feb. 1901, pp. 133-136. Spottiswoode, G. A., Report of Mission Conference of the Anglican Communion, 1894. London S.P.C.K., 1894. " Methods of Training," pp. 38-63 ; do., " Women," pp. 585-600. Storrow, Edward, " The Training of Missionaries," Missionary Review of the World, 1892, pp. 361365. Summey, George, D.D., " The Missionary's Education," The Missionary, May 1903, pp. 208-210. Thoburn, Miss Isabella, Practical Preparation for Women Student Volunteers." Intercollegian, May 1900, pp. 178- 180. APPENDIX XVI 296 Torrey, R. A., " Preparation for Missionary Work, " Record of Christian Work, March 1898. Weitbrecht, H. U., " Missionary Professorships," The East and the West, 4, 158-168 (April 1906). Wilkinson, D. H. D., " Preparation Classes for Missionary Candi- dates," Church Missionary Intelligencer, 22, 13-19 (1897). SECTION IV. INTELLECTUAL PREPARATION OR TRAINING Report, First Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Cleveland, i8gi, p. 118 ff. Report, Second Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Detroit, 1894, pp. 19-26. Report, Third Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Cleveland, 1898, pp. 69-75. Report, Fourth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Toronto, 1902, pp. 68-73. Report, Fifth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Nashville, 1906, pp. 108-114. Report, Students' Missionary Conference, Liverpool, 1896, pp. 33-38. Report, International Missionary Conference, London, 1900, pp. 173-180, 209-229. Menzies, Rev. J., " Intellectual Life of the Missionary," Chinese Recorder, May, 1907. Richards, W. R., D.D., " The Intellectual Life of the Missionary," The Evangelist, July 4, 1901, p. 9. Smith, Judson, D.D., " The Intellectual Preparation of the Missionary," Missionary Herald (Boston), Nov. 1894, p. 463. SECTION V. SPIRITUAL (AND MORAL) PREPARATION OR TRAINING Report, First Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Cleveland, 1891, p. 126 f. Report, Second Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Detroit, 1894, pp. 32-39. Report, Third Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Cleveland, 1898, pp. 75-81. Report, Fourth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Toronto, 1902, pp. 65-68. Report, Fifth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Nashville, 1906, pp. 122-128. Report, Students' Missionary Conference, Liverpool, 1896, pp. 38-46. Report, International., Missionary Conference, London, 1900, pp. 180-185. Candidates in Waiting. " Church' Missionary Society." Forsyth, P. T., Missions in^State and ^Church, London, 1908, pp. 219-246. Laflamme, H. F., The " Volunteer and' his Purpose," Baptist ~-& Missionary Magazine, Mabie, H. C., D.D., " The Missionary and the Kingdom of God," Baptist Missionary Magazine, Nov. 1902, p. 697.! 296 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Speer, R. E., " Missionaries and Spirituality," Intercollegian, Oct. 1902. Zwemer, S. M., D.D., " The Man Without a Message : Is there a Place for Him on the Foreign Field ? " Missionary Review of the World, March 1909, pp. 181-185. SECTION VI. PRACTICAL PREPARATION OR TRAINING Report, First Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Cleveland, 1891, p. 122 ff. Report, Second Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Detroit, 1894, pp. 26-32. Report, Fifth Convention, Student Volunteer Movement, Nashville, 1906, pp. 114-122. Venn, Henry, B.D., op. cit. p. 517. SECTION VII. LINGUISTIC PREPARATION OR TRAINING Report, Conference on Missions, Liverpool, 1860, pp. 29-37, 5^- Report, Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New York, 1900, vol. ii., p. gp. Report, Fourth Decennial Indian Missionary Conference, Madras, 1902. London Christian Literature Society, p. 76 f. Report, Fifteenth Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1908, pp. n, 156-160. Report, Sixteenth Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1909, pp. 17 f., 22-34. Report, Seventeenth Conference of Foreign Mission Boards, U.S. and Canada, 1910, pp. 132-136. De Forest, J. II., D.D., " Missionaries and the Language," Japan Evangelist, i, 28, Oct. 1893. Millard, W. H., " Phases of Missionary Life. Learning the Language (in China)," Baptist Missionary Magazine, Oct. 1906, p. 407 f. Sheffield, D. Z., " Missionaries and Language Study," Inter- collegian, Feb. 1904, p. 108. St. Clair Tisdall, W., " New Missionaries and the Study of Verna- cular Languages," Church Missionary Intelligencer, Aug. 1903, pp. 569-575- Williams, Monier, M.A., The Study of Sanskrit in Relation to Mis- sionary Work in India. Inaugural Lecture, Oxford, 1861. Lond., Williams & Norgate, 1861. Wright, Rev. Charles H. H., M.A., The Importance of Linguistic Preparation for Missionaries in General, London, Williams & Norgate, 1863. SECTION VIII. MEDICAL TRAINING Report, Missionary Conference, London, 1888, pp. 113-117, 150. Thompson, W. Burns, F.R.S.C.E., F.R.S.E., Reminiscences of Medical Missionary Work, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1895, passim. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT At the Meeting of the Conference, on Wednesday, 22nd June 1910 2S7 CONSIDERATIONS of space have made it necessary to abbrevi- ate the speeches made in the Discussion. In doing this, the attempt has been made to preserve everything that sheds fresh light on the subjects considered in the Report. In some instances the speeches have not been well reported, and this has necessitated the omission of certain sentences. It has not been found possible to send the report of the speeches to those who delivered them for their revision. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT MORNING SESSION Chairman : Mr. JOHN R. MOTT. After the devotional service, conducted by the Rev. Professor O. E. Brown, Vanderbilt University, the Conference united in singing the hymn " Jesus calls us ; o'er the tumult." President W. DOUGIAS MACKENZIE, D.D., (Hartford Theo- logical Seminary, U.S.A., and Chairman of Commission V. ): Before going into the Report I am going to assume that to some extent it has not been read, and therefore I shall take the oppor- tunity of calling your attention to the Table of Contents on pages v-vii. There you will find that we have divided the whole Report into five main sections, the first of these, consisting of one chapter, embraces a survey of the modern situation on the mission field. The second section is a statement and review of facts as to the present preparation of missionaries. Under the six following chapters we have summarised the evidence which we received from a very large correspondence with Missionary Boards and Training Schools that have anything to do in any part of the world with the preparation of any class of missionaries. This summary of the evidence therefore contains the material for any criticism or signs of defect in the past which we may legiti- mately feel concerning tlu's great work. The third main section is entitled " The Principles of Preparation for Missionary Work." In Chapter VIII. we deal with the fundamental features of mission- ary preparation, and deal with that at considerable length, seeking in the following four chapters to apply these to each of the main classes of missionaries. Then in the fourth section we come to a topic which we have separated off from the previous one, because of the peculiar position which the subject occupies to-day in the thought of the missionary world. We have entitled it. 299 300 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES for reasons given under the opening paragraph of that section, " Special Missionary Preparation," and we shall hope to have it discussed at considerable length, if not this morning, then at the afternoon session. Then the conclusion deals with some practical suggestions regarding the work of Missionary Boards, and their responsibility, and the method of carrying out that responsibility ; and in the last chapter we address a word to the Church as a whole regarding its responsibility as to the produc- tion, preparation, and sending forth of missionaries over the whole world. It must be evident from this outline that we have done little more than deal solely with our specific section. We have prepared a volume which we intended to be complete in itself, containing that introductory section as well as the con- cluding sections which might be regarded as lying outside our sphere proper. We feel justified in doing this, because such a volume ought to appeal to a large number of people who will scarcely have the inclination in many cases to read the Reports of the other Commissions. We expect that Missionary Boards in the persons of their leaders and their officials will read this Report, and" that educators of various kinds, some of them not closely connected with missionary work, will feel that this lies in their world of interests, and will be drawn to what we have to say regarding this portion of education. There is a large class of people that we have thought of this volume being addressed to, viz. : the students in our Universities and Colleges as well as in our Theological Schools. There are a great many of these who are ready to be kindled into enthusiasm if only we can make the avenue of the mission field seem as large and as worthy as the avenue of any of the other great professions of the world. There are thoughtful and intelligent men in the non-Christian world who are waiting for all these Reports. There are also thoughtful and intelligent men amongst the laymen in our Churches who are becoming increasingly interested in the modern forward missionary movement. There is no subject to which these men need to have their attention called more urgently than this; because it is not to be taken for granted that to raise 150,000 dollars in a spasm and to call for fifty new missionaries in a loud voice is going to convert the world. They must learn that their 1 50,000 dollars will not be productive until a new set of men have been out in the field, and prepared for it through years of labour. We hope that all these classes will become so interested in this Report as to be goaded to further enthusiasm in various aspects of the missionary work. What kind of men and women are they whom the Church desires and whom the Church is endeavouring to send forth on this great task ? The whole matter on the human side of it hinges on the quality of the missionary. The quality of the missionary will triumph over all difficulties in organisation. The DISCUSSION 301 quality of the missionary will triumph over the absence of money. The quality of the missionary therefore becomes a supreme ques- tion for this Conference. On what kind of person have we set our hopes ? Putting it I in the most general terms, we may say that the missionary must be sent out as one who in the first place knows Christianity ; in the second place, he must be one who knows the system of life or the field of human nature into which he would carry the Christian faith. In a general way these are very obvious statements. When you come to analyse them they become very complicated and very difficult of adjustment. When we look closely at what we mean by knowing Christianity, it becomes a very much larger and richer thing than many of us may at first sight imagine. What is it to know Christianity ? What is it so to know Christianity that the educated Hindu when he meets the missionary man or woman in the class-room will feel that that man or woman is a real authority on this whole subject of Christianity ? As to what is meant by a knowledge of Christianity, this involves knowledge of Christianity as an his- torical fact, with its place in history, and with its historical effects on human nature and society. It is a knowledge of Christianity as a system of truth, having its own view of the universe and its own conception of the facts of experience characteristic for ever of itself, and it means such a knowledge of Christianity as implies a new personal relationship with God, so clearly and indubitably conditioned by the name of Jesus Christ, that the missionary has no other way of describing God except through that Name, and no hope of bringing man to God except as he brings them to the feet of the Son of God. That knowledge of Christianity every missionary ought to aim at having in the fullest measure possible to a man passing through the best education which America or Europe can afford. But this kind of person must also be conditioned in his knowledge of Christianity and of human nature not only by his intellectual and spiritual but by his physical and moral condition. This then has been our delicate task, to find out how far the Boards have consciously tried to discover and to send forth this kind of person to the mission field. Now there are two preliminary statements to be made here to guard ourselves against any appearance of extravagance or any undue spirit of criticism. In the first place a system which has sent out so many brilliant men and women cannot be said to have failed. It would be unjust to the past, unjust to the work done, unjust and foolish in this Conference, after what we have seen and heard and have come to know, to suggest that missionary training has been wholly inadequate, or that missionaries have not been fitly prepared for their task. On the other hand, it would be unfair to suggest that the Boards have ignored or deliberately neglected this part of their great responsi- bility, and yet it is from the missionaries that the severest criti- 302 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES cisms on missionary preparation have come, and it is from the Boards that the frankest confessions have been received by us of a failure to reach or to. approach^the^ideal. We^are not expressing anything more than what the j, fair-minded, missionary .would say, and what the framers of a Board's policy and work would say, in what we say in the body of our Report concerning that of which the Church through ^.all its educational institutions must set itself to repair the lack. Where has failure been found ? In the first place, in the training of ordained missionaries a seri- ous lack is to be found where the training for the ministry of any denomination is not itself high. I believe it is ^quite^. possible for a ministry to acquit itself decently in America, or hi England, or elsewhere, and fail utterly with its measure of preparation if it were to face the same task in China or India. I believe there- fore that there is a loud call to a number of denominations of the Churches to regard very critically their own j standards of training for the home^ministry, for be assured they will not lift the standard of training of their missionaries higher than the stand- ard of their ministers at home. Through this public challenge to all the Churches we hope we shall find thati n the endeavour to adequately prepare their missionaries for the foreign Afield they will feel a;- little ashamed ^ of having ministers unprepared for the home field. It is only when the level of training for the ministry has reached a certain height that men are able to go forth prepared for the hard work on the foreign field. For in- stance, how is a man whose training in theology, whether in its historical or constructive .aspects,, is inadequate, to go forth and grasp the v significance of Christian doctrine in such a fashion that he can argue with the Hindu scholar or with the Moham- medan ? I have heard one of the most brilliant ^ Arabic. scholars of our day say that missionaries in some portions of the world are neglecting Mohammedans. Why ? Because they cannot argue with them. It is a hard thing to say, but we have not heard it from him alone but from others. And these men are not guilty of a deliberate neglect fof ^their stask. iThey werejjnot prepared for their task, and they r have not said in so many words " I shall not preach the Gospel_to Mohammedans." They have simply taken the line of least resistance, and have gone in the direction where they thought their work most free, and neglected that field which was harder for them to till before they could sow the seed. This work of training men hi our theological colleges must be done so that at least those who are going abroad shall be able confidently to describe Christianity, and to discuss its doctrines fundamentally with the men fundamentally trained to represent other religions. We have found there is another defect in the field of educational missions, a defect which arises from two facts ; in the first place, that a great many of those who are professionally trained DISCUSSION 303 as educationists have not been trained in Christian doctrine, and, secondly, that there are those working in this field who are trained as ordained ministers, but are not trained in the art and science of teaching. We urge that it should be seen to by all Boards that every educational missionary whose work rests mainly on his professional training shall be adequately trained also in biblical knowledge and Christian doctrine, that he may be on fire with the zeal of the evangelist, and have the power to deal with the task before him as a missionary. On the other hand, no ordained man should be set to educational work, especially if he is to have offered to him the management of a large school, if he is not brought home for a year of adequate instruction in the science and art of teaching. In the second place, there is a defect in the adequate preparation of unordained missionaries in biblical instruction and doctrine. I have referred to the educationist. I must also refer to medical missionaries at this point, and also to certain classes of women missionaries. I find there are considerable numbers of these various classes whose preparation along this line has been very superficial indeed. They themselves complain of it. Some of them discovered at last how they have been handicapped for many years through the want of adequate preparation at the beginning. Let me refer to the question 'of language. The evidence is conclusive, with sorrow be it said, that here is one of the weakest spots. It is here that we have had the most direct, the most earnest, and the clearest evidence from leading missionaries themselves, and from some whose complaint was grounded on personal experience and of personal failure. What we mean is that there is a large number of missionaries who never have obtained a complete or adequate mastery of the language in which they are to preach the Gospel. We fear that Missionary Boards at home have not understood the situation. The missionaries have. In personal conversation, as well as in written documents, they have stated it. Some of the most magnificent linguists are amongst the missionaries, and all of them know a certain amount, enough to preach a sermon more or less adequately to give a number of addresses more or less easily. But they fail to accom- plish more. There are two causes of this failure from the point of view of the missionary. The first is poor teaching. They do not have a chance of mastering the language. They are put under native teachers, in a very large number of cases under the over-sight of a missionary who has sometimes no time, and sometimes no inclination, and sometimes no equipment for the task. These native teachers do not know how to teach anybody, because they do not know the language from the teaching point of view, and they ought to pass through a Normal School just as the missionary ought to have done. In the second place, the 304 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES failure is to be traced to the interrupted period of study, brief as it is. The Boards have a right to complain that that criticism should be levelled at this time, because you never take a man from his study without heart-breakings at home. We admit that. We believe it is better for a Mission Station to suffer for two years than to cripple an able man for forty. You will have the gratitude of the whole Church. You will have the admira- tion for self-restraint and far-sighted statesmanship of the West in addition, if you of the Missionary Boards will recognise that what is wanted from a man during his years of service is the most efficient labour possible, and that essential to that, at the very foundation and heart of it, is this work of mastery of the language which is the instrument by which be is to bring the Gospel to bear upon the hearts of these people. Our Chairman has spoken to the fact that the Church to-day stands in a new relation to the world. The most startling thing about this Conference is that we speak about the Church of Christ face to face with the world, and it is face to face with, the world here in this hall. We have heard in previous Reports, com- ing over the seas and continents the pathetic call of the human heart for God. We have been brought together here not by the will of man, not by the ingenuity of organisers, not by the skill and persuasion of any Government. If we ask whether any Society or man could have done this we would say it would have been impossible. We have been brought together here by the call of God for His human children, and under this roof the two calls have been surging through our hearts. What we must do is to go to the young men and women of Christendom and let them hear that double call. We must say to them that \\ewant, not numbers, but the best and the best only not numbers, but the strong, the soundly educated disciplined minds, the organising geniuses. We want the devout and saintly hearts, those who are great enough to have the passion of Christ in them and the Spirit of God, and we would send forth these noblest and fairest of our sons and daughters of Christendom. Are we ready for it, ready for the sacrifice, and to transmit to the youth of the world this call of Christ ? MRS. CREIGHTON (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) : The need for special missionary preparation has been dwelt upon not only by our Commission but by almost every Commission which has hitherto reported. By special missionary preparation we mean the study of the language, the religion, the history, the custom, the social conditions of the field in which the missionary is to work as well as the special equipment for his special task. Our investigations have led us to feel that this special prepara- tion cannot be said to be adequately given anywhere ; even in many of our special missionary training colleges it cannot be DISCUSSION 305 said to be given at all. Women need this special preparation just as much as men, and here perhaps I may be pardoned for saying that in our investigation of the training colleges it was a Women's College here in Edinburgh which seemed to do best in giving that preparation. The language study is hardly ever provided for at home, and as our Chairman has said, the teachers in the mission field are poor, and the time allowed is insufficient. When we have tried to discover what are all the subjects of this missionary preparation, an infinite number of subjects have been suggested to us. One missionary of experience, after giving his evidence, said that he himself had added up the time that he would like to have given to special preparation, and found that if he had done so he would reach the field at the age of seventy. Why is this preparation not given ? There are many reasons, I think ; I may say that the chief and foremost one is that the destina- tion of the missionary is not determined in time. Divergence in our investigations came in when we proceeded to consider where this special preparation was to be given, whether on the field or at home, and you will find in our Report many admirable suggestions as to both where and how it is to be given. I do not think we need exactly to determine which is the best of these suggestions. All are good in their several ways, and in our hopeful moments we hope that all will be carried out, but what is the most important is that the impulse given by this great Conference for the treatment of special missionary preparation : will not be wasted. We must do something, and something at once. It was suggested that we should make a great effort here in Britain to found a great world missionary College, but, to a certain extent', the position in Great Britain at least has been changed by the decision of the Government to found a school for Oriental studies, and a school where Government officials and commercial agents and others are to be trained, for it may be some comfort to us to know that the Government official and commercial agent are quite as badlv prepared for their work as the missionary. It is part of the general stupidity of the British nation. Now the report of this Government Committee ought to be carefully studied by every one interested in these questions. The strength of the evidence in favour of language study at home is overwhelming. It is interesting to note that that is absolutely opposed to the evidence given by most of the missionaries from whom we enquired. The Government School will provide not only a first-rate language teaching, but will teach the history, and religions, and customs of the Oriental peoples. A subsidy of ^4000 a year is to be pro- vided by Government for the school, and we hope this College will be started and will be efficient. But of course Government, even the best Government, moves rather slowly, and it may be some time before the College is there, though I hope not. It is obvious that such a College will be of infinite use to missionaries, COM. V. 20 306 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES not only because of the opportunities for study there provided, but because of the intercourse with other men and women who are to work in the East. They will there get to know officials and commercial agents and others, and that advantage of inter- course to both sides cannot be over-estimated. This College will not give us all we need. We must supplement it. How ? We should found a Board of Missionary Study. The work of this Board will be first to consider the subjects needed for mission- ary study, then to discover the means which at present exist, and which might be used, and are not often used, as they should be, and therefore to give information to Missionary Training Colleges and Boards. And then this Board of Missionary Study would decide on the steps to be taken to increase the existing means of study. At first the objects of the Board would be mainly advisory, but it would very soon proceed to provide special courses of lectures, for which it might utilise the services of missionaries on furlough, and other students on the subject. It could be done almost without the expenditure of any money at all. The Board would go on to found lectureships, but would of course co-operate with the Government School for Oriental study. It would ultimately have premises of its own with a library where documents and information concerning missionary work would be stored. It would have lecture rooms. It would no doubt develop gradually. There would be no difficulty about its inter-denominational character, but Societies would provide hostels for their special students to give them the necessary devotional and religious training. It would, of course, co-operate with any Missionary Colleges on the field that might exist. There would be an interchange of teachers, a common study of methods combining to prepare the necessary books to set on foot special enquiries and investigations. Such a Board can at once be started under the permission given to the Continuation Committee under Clause 7. I have spoken of a Board for Great Britain only. We mean such Boards in all countries where missionary enter- prise is alive. If we had such Boards, constant interchange of the results of their study of the successful methods between the Boards would be possible, and we should find the solution of a great many difficulties. THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND METHODS OF THE MISSION BOARDS IN SEEKING, SELECTING AND APPOINTING CANDIDATES TO THE MISSION FIELD. Rev. D. H. D. WILKINSON (Church Missionary Society, London) : There is one point which I want specially to emphasise from our point of view as on the Home Boards, and that is that we must look out specially for ability to become, rather than for actual full grown, leaders, because if we do not do so we shall miss a great DISCUSSION 307 deal of this valuable material. There are among the rank and file of Christianity men and women with the ability to become so if we give them the opportunity. I think also there is a danger that if we send out men and women with the conviction in their own minds that they have become and are leaders, we are going to generate a great deal of friction in the mission field. That brings me to another point. While the emphasis of this Report is laid very specially and rightly upon the need for thorough intellectual equipment and education, and the emphasis is laid there rightly, yet there is the other side. We have to remember the words devised by the senior brother to his young brother when he came to the mission field. " What you say is not so important as what you do, and what you do is not so important as what you are." It is in the Christlike character that the missionary's power really rests. I remember one or two instances about whom there was a question as to whether they had all the ability needed for the work, whether they really did grasp the thing or not. The question came up, should they be recalled. We have been told " Do not recall that man. His Christlike character is worth the whole of the rest of us put together." Rev. FRED P. HAGGARD, D.D. (Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, Boston, Mass.) referred to his experience in conducting correspondence with candidates for appointments as missionaries : I know of no correspondence in the relations of life more delicate. I know of no correspondence that calls for more wisdom, for more of the Grace of God, and in all my experience in life I have never been brought into such positions of hesitancy and uncertainty, of absolute inability to know what to do, as I have in the conduct of this correspondence. Only after prayer, seeking divine guid- ance, have we been able to know how to write these exceedingly delicate letters. In tliis connection I would speak to that point in the Report under the heading, " Our duty to disappointed candid- ates," for we shall not have completed our task with a large group of men and women until we shall have written them that final letter ; nor shall we be able to interview many of these. The Report speaks of the fact that in this declining of the missionary or the candidate there shall be an attempt made to soften the blow. That is exceedingly wise, but I believe that the blow should not be softened at the expense of a very frank statement. We found in our early experience that we were more tempted to hide behind a statement which could be easily made than to go and frankly state that which would perhaps be an unwelcome statement to the candidate. If we are to soften the blow and make a good man at home we must be careful of our statements in our correspondence with him, and in our very statement of the fact that he is not fitted for service abroad, make it possible to render him fit for the best service at home. 308 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Sir W. MACKWORTH YOUNG (Church of England Zenana Mis- sionary Society) : I want to emphasise the need of a special class for training for work in India, viz., the preparation of capable women with the love of God and man in their hearts to seize the opportunity now offered of leavening the higher female education in that country with the spirit of Christ. The development of female education in the East is one of the most important factors in the great awakening which is taking place there at the present time, and none of the movements accompany- ing that awakening offers a fairer field for missionary enterprise. The subject, as recognised in the Report of this Commission, is fraught with extreme difficulty. So was the higher education of India's male youth when the great pioneer in this cause, Alexander Duff, put his hand to it three-quarters of a century ago. Yet the missionary schools and colleges founded on the basis of his policy are the redeeming feature in the Indian educational system at the present day. The same opportunity is now offered on behalf of India's women. The enlightened portion of this community desire nothing so much as the education of their women to their own level, and they mean to have it. The move- ment will be widespread. It is impossible to hope that it can be wholly captured for Christ, but, as in the case of the male population, it can be leavened and permeated with the spirit of Christianity, and no department of mission enterprise more urgently demands the attention of the Missionary Societies. The subject is a very large one, and the experience gained in regard to it in the mission field is very small. The Government of India has begun to con- sider its schemes for the higher education of women ; the native community is beginning to have its own ideas on the subject. It is time that the Missionary Societies matured their ideas. And unless the missionary body shows how Christian teaching can be incorporated in the higher education of non-Christian girls, that object lesson, that leavening influence which, as I have said, is the redeeming feature in the higher education of the males, will be absent, when the tide of the higher female education sets in. I can but indicate in general terms the need which exists. The problem urgently demands solution, for the field is at present unoccupied, but this will not be for long. The time is opportune, for there is no class which has the confidence of the country like the noble band of Christian ladies who have gone forth to take their Indian sisters by the hand and lead them to the Saviour ; and there is no other agency largely available at the present time for the work of higher female education. I conclude with four suggestions (1) The work is pre eminently one that calls for consultation between the different Societies. All the experience available in the mission field is needed. (2) The lines of the higher education most suitable for India's DISCUSSION 309 women have to be laid down. They will not be those suitable for men. (3) The mode in which this education can be best imparted has to be determined. The need of literature suitable for women must not be forgotten ; and finally, (4) An army of women with a rare combination of high educational qualifications, sanctified common sense and ardent love for souls, will be required if this opportunity is to be seized. Right Rev. Bishop J. N. THOBURN (Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.A., India) : When I use the word Saviour as apply- ing to Jesus Christ, I understand that those who go forth in His Name as His messengers are persons who have been partakers of His Salvation, and who can become living witnesses of a living Saviour. I understand that when we become anointed by the Holy Spirit we are anointed to become priests and teachers of God. There is a special anointment of the Spirit which anoints one who represents Jesus Christ. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We are made partakers of His nature. We have a knowledge of Him whch is imparted to us directly by the Holy Spirit ; and when I say that we are partakers of His nature, I mean specially of His love. Hence the man who, in a pulpit, or in an Eastern bazaar, or in a distant village, represents Jesus Christ, must know Him in order to make that repre- sentation real. He must become a partaker of His nature, if he becomes a partaker of His love ; and a man who does not love, or a woman who does not love, any heathen whom he may meet abroad, should never go. We must remember all the time that we are representing one whose very nature is love, and that all His promises are applied to us on the understanding that we will live the life which He lived. In our feeble nature we shall live the true spiritual life which Jesus Christ lives. When we go forth with such a spirit as that God will be with us, and we are sure to win. There may be times when we may have to wait, but we are sent forth not to be defeated. If sometimes defeat may come to us, we must remember that the end of that is going to be victory in some way. There are times of emergency into which we bring ourselves. Above all things that I would say to my boy if he were going abroad to enter the missionary life, and if he asked me to give him that which would be most valuable to him, some kind of a specific direction for him to follow, I would say, " Be sure that you know your Master. Be sure that you know what the love of Christ is. Be sure that you are a partaker of it, and that this love is something that you can realise^ in your heart." Missionsdirektor GENSICHEN, D.D. (Berliner Missionsgesell- 310 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES schaft, Berlin) : I read in the Report of Commission V., page 100 : " The spiritual training of the missionary or the essentially Chris- tian part of it is that by which the soul, drawn out of itself, lives in God, in the first place, by love for Him, which is its central principle ; secondly, by faith in Him, which is the present basis of all Christian work ; thirdly, by hope in Him, as the End of all activity." I find these golden words exactly and splendidly proved by experience both in the home seminaries and in the mission fields. For, firstly, we see that our young pupils coming mostly from country schools increase by those three principles not only in the interior life, but also in knowledge, in experience, in devotion for the Lord. We see, secondly, that every one who stops in following those three principles goes back both in intellectual and in Christian erudition. We see, thirdly, that some young men, whom we might call " average men," grow on in the mission field to workful blessed ministers, because the Holy Ghost leads those truthful men into all truth. Now, in our seminaries our teachers, directors and secretaries do not find time enough- to guide our pupils in an accurate care of their souls. I consider it necessary that every one of the teachers and fathers in the seminaries should have every day one quite free open hour for his spiritual children, where every one could come to open his heart to ask our guidance for his soul. The Report mentions the intimate personal advice. That is the same as what I mean, and the same condition should hold between young missionaries and old experienced workers who are their leaders. Right Rev. Bishop RIDLEY (Church Missionary Society, for- merly of British Columbia) : I think that if the emphasis that has been laid upon this important matter of getting leaders and only the best men had been before me, I should never have been a missionary, and should have shrunk from it. But Committees are, I am glad to say, not infallible they make mistakes. Often- times those who were unknown and seemingly not remarkably fit when they put themselves into the ha,nds of the Master Work- man, in the use that He makes of them, become so useful that the work is very glorious. Do not emphasise it always, this question of supposed intellect. We do not want only leaders. I think, so far as my experience goes and I was forty-five or forty-six years at it among the coloured people, and have had opportunities of comparing men, that it is the men of sympathy rather than the men of great intellectual power that have been the most successful there. Some of the most successful women missionaries I have known were absolutely untrained. One I know became an excellent Persian scholar, and was the start of all that organised work in the Punjab. DISCUSSION 311 Rev. Dr. ALEXANDER P. CAMPHOR (Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.A.) : Mr. Chairman, in the first chapter of this Report, page 13, is found the following: " In the second place, we must face the great variety of mission fields to which those agents are being sent. The same kinds of training are not necessary for those who are going to Central Africa, to a tribe among whom no -white people have lived, as for those who are going to work in Bombay, or Peking or Tokyo. There are great differences in the temperament, the physical quality, the intellectual discipline, which are needed for these different fields." The statement itself is correct. My remark is not so much on the statement, as on the possible inference that may be drawn from it, viz. that the missionary's preparation for work in Africa, Central or otherwise, may not necessarily be as complete and thorough or the standards as high as in the other fields named here. Having had some personal observation and experience in Africa and with African missionaries of both races, and knowing that there is a popular notion in some quarters that standards for Africa are not high, or in other words that the missionary's pre- paration for this field may safely drop down a notch or two in quality or quantity as compared with other more advanced countries, I am moved to say just a brief word on this point. As a matter of fact, Africa has in the past greatly suffered from poorly prepared missionaries. They have generally lacked either the physical or intellectual quality, and the results have not been such as to gratify and encourage supporters of African missions or to quicken the dormant energies of the Church to push its work here with the same enthusiasm and determination as in other fields. The notion has been too prevalent that com- paratively low students will do for Africa. But this idea must pass away as the continent becomes better known. We may learn a lesson or two from the agencies at work in Africa. Gove.n- ments, for example, in their administration of affairs in Africa through their administrators send their best. Great commercial and industrial countries do the same tiling. Why should not the Church the greatest organisation on earth charged to make disciples of all nations, even the least and lowliest, give her best for God's great work in Africa ? Anything less must necessarily delay the conquest of the Cross in that vast world of darkness and degradation, and retard the redemption of the continent. The PRESIDENT : The following cablegram has been received from China: "Changsha Missionaries continually remember you in prayer. The political situation has not improved. Mission outlook is better than before. Continue in prayer with us. Matt. xiii. 36-38." 312 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Is THE PRESENT GENERAL PREPARATION OF VARIOUS CLASSES OF MISSIONARIES ADEQUATE ? Rev. H. H. KELLY of Kelham College : One word in the Report on which I want to fix your minds is the word " know- ledge " of Christianity. Christianity is the simplest thing in all the world, and therefore the knowledge of it and its application in a complex world is bound to be a most complex and most dim- cult problem. We assume that we all know Christianity. Is the thing that we are teaching in our Universities, the thing in which we are examining boys, the things on which we are lecturing are they the knowledge of Christianity ? By the knowledge of Christianity we mean one thing, and one thing only. I take it that it is the really clear sight of the revelation in Christ, in the real actual work in which men live and the life they lead in it. 1 want to put that in the simplest and most practical kind of way. Supposing a bank manager asks us who are teachers of theology, what has Christian doctrine ever done for or what has it got to do with my bank. Will your theology make me run my bank any better ? Will anything in your teaching make me understand my work better or do it with more energy and more purpose ? If not, the theology we are teaching in our Universities and Col- leges is not the theology that missionaries want, not the theology that the missionary life requires, and it is not the theology that either you or I want in England. What has all your teaching to do with the life men lead ? Is it bringing home these facts, the virgin birth, the Resurrection, the Cross, throwing light upon the actual life, not that we parsons and ministers are leading, but that the layman is leading with his lay interests and in his work to-day ? That is the view of Christianity that we want for the mission field, that the missionaries ask from us, and I cannot help thinking that they hardly seem to imagine how entirely new a thing they are asking, and how little we ourselves have understood of it. If we are to teach this Christianity and this knowledge of it, we want enormously more intellectual free- dom in our colleges than we have got perhaps less criticism more meaning, more thought, and above all, more independence. A man can only think what he thinks himself. He can only learn what God gives him to see. You can only give boys something you imagine you have seen for yourself. They must make what they can of it with their own hearts and their own thinking. Miss BELLE H. BENNETT (Women's Foreign Missionary Society, Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.A.) : With the highest appreciation of what our great Bishop has said on this platform, and with an unshakeable belief that a man or woman going out without spiritual equipment cannot do the work which he or she is sent to do, I say none of us can fail to remember that when Christ DISCUSSION 313 sent one far out to the Gentiles He chose the man who had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and when that man chose another he chose a trained physician. In the United States and Canada there are more than thirty training schools, many of them large buildings with splendid equipment, fair and good endowment, good faculties, good student bodies, and good curricula. Testing is one of the points that we emphasise in these training schools, the testing of character and the testing of temperament. As a rule these schools have two years of special training. We always have the best trained men and women, men and women who have had the preparation of two generations, the preparation of the father and mother before them, and then the very best preliminary academy, college and university education. Something has been said on this platform about the establishment of a University for linguistic training in this country. I believe that the training school should be in the foreign mission field. There they could take their training in the customs and the religion at iirst hand, and from the very best teachers that can be secured in those fields. Give us union oi training on the foreign field, give us union in the course of preparatory study at home, and then in the best young men and women from our Colleges we will give you the missionaries who will achieve the work of Christ, and perhaps in this generation. Miss ROUSE (World's Student Christian Federation) : We have passed through one stage and arrived at another as regards the requirements concerning the preparation and training of women for foreign missionary work. During the first stage the Mis- sionary Societies, through their Candidates' Department, and in other ways, called for, on the part of the women they sent out, earnestness, love of souls, zeal, and success in the winning of souls at home, and Christian experience. But they did not call lor specialised preparation. Later on, and now, we find the call coming from the mission field in every direction and from the Boards in every direction for women that have had specialised training. There is a call on all sides for trained teachers for kinder- garten workers, for those with M.A. degrees, and doctors and nurses, even for those who have special training in literature, in music, and I have even had demands for specialists in agriculture. This specialist training is right it the specialist demand is right. We are not getting one-tenth of the number of women specialists for the different classes of specialist work demanded of them. We do not get them with high enough training when we do get them. Training is absolutely essential, and the Missionary Boards will not go back on their demand for it. But the women who came into the mission field in the first era did good work without the specialist preparation, and in demanding, as we demand now, the specialist preparation, let us not swing into another mistake when 314 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES we have avoided one. I find sometimes in the mission field, and sometimes elsewhere, a horrible heresy. A missionary friend said, " They seem to expect us in the mission field to be pious or intellectual, and to be quite sure that we cannot be both." That is a terrible heresy. We do not want in the mission field "a" in one woman, and "b" in another, or "a and b" in one woman, but we want " a and b " in the same woman multiplied by something else. We want women, every part of whose being and every part of whose womanhood has been made available for the teaching of Christ. We want all-round a higher spiritual preparation. We want close contact in the individual life of the woman missionary, whatever her work, with Jesus Christ such contact complete at all points with her Lord. We need women who in personal intercourse shall be equally capable, in their technical work or social intercourse, with the highest in the land, or in their touch with the lowest. That is not impossible whether in the specialist or in the non-specialist. Women whose educational gifts have been the medium for the transmission of the great human and divine idea of Jesus Christ we have them now in the mission field ; women who make you feel that their great humanity and their great womanhood is showing forth the great- ness of Jesus Christ and of life in Him. This is an ideal which our Missionary Boards and Training Homes must consistently have before them in missionary work and missionary training. It is possible, and it is absolutely necessary. Miss HUMPHREY (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ; Chairwoman of Candidates' Committee) : I should like to express my thankfulness for the Report of this Commission which seems to embody the ideals we, in common with others, have been groping after. I agree in the hope expressed that one great difficulty may be overcome which prevents training from being specialised to the extent here recommended I mean the difficulty of earlier designa- tion of the field. At present Candidates' Committees are badly handicapped in this matter, by the pressure of emergencies in the field, as well as by the lack of funds at home. I hope that the proposal for a joint Advisory Board of Mis- sionary Study may become a living reality it should be of great use to us all. And I hope, too, that the various Candidates' Com- mittees may soon arrive at some real co-operation in the work of preparation and equipment in certain specific and uncon- troversial subjects which all our candidates alike need to study. Miss MARY A. GREENE (American Baptist Foreign Mission Society) : I come from a Society which for nearly twenty years has required of all its women candidates a special course at a theological institution. That which was at first an experiment has been shown to be a complete success, not because our young DISCUSSION 315 women stand uniformly high in their classes in the Seminary, but because of the testimony of the missionaries in the field and the testimony of the young women themselves in after years of the value of such a course. Nineteen years ago, in 1891, the Board which I have the honour to represent, desiring to give to its women candidates opportunities for special preparation, such as were not then offered even in mission training schools, entered into an agreement with the Baptist Theological Seminary nearest to our headquarters, whereby young women offering themselves for missionary service might pursue such of the course of study as would be most helpful in preparation for their work. A house was erected where these students might reside, and an experi- enced woman, a former missionary, placed in charge, who could by precept and example train these young women in the so-called minor morals of courtesy, forbearance, and regard for the rights and opinions of others so essential in all relations of life, and especially in the intimate relationships of missionary life. In addition to the courses of study pursued at the Seminary, lectures, addresses, and informal talks are given by returned missionaries, officers of the Board, and others, upon special topics, concerning the relation of the missionary to the workers at the mission station and to the Home Board, the keeping of accounts, the care of health, the legal and social condition of the women of the Orient. The physician and the trained nurse need this year of Bible study quite as much as the high school or college graduate, for too often the exigencies of their severe course of training have not allowed time for systematic study of the Scriptures. Not the least of the advantages of this year's residence has been the thorough acquaintance with the student, whereby the Candi- dates' Committee is enabled to judge intelligently of the qualifica- tion of the candidate, and her special adaptability for a special field or country, and also, whether she would not more wisely remain at home, aiding, as she can, at the home base rather than in service on the field. This sifting process has saved many failures and much disappointment, to say nothing of the expense of recalling an invalid or inefficient missionary. Recently our Board sent to its missionaries a series of questions, designed to aid us in determining wherein our use of this year of preparation might be improved. All agreed that the theological seminary courses in the English Bible were of the utmost value, also those in New Testament theology, Church history, and Cliristian evidences. All agreed that the acquaintance with, and informa- tion received from visiting missionaries was also invaluable. All regretted that they had had practically no instruction in the religious beliefs of the people among whom they were to labour, and no adequate opportunity to study comparatively these religions. A large majority regretted that they had not, by 316 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES practical contact with the Christless learned how to give the missionary message, teaching a Sunday School class being not sufficient experience in that line. Many regretted their ignorance of the domestic arts of housekeeping, an ignorance by the way largely due to the fact that the young woman of to-day spends within College walls in the study of books three years which her mother spent in practical lessons in the household arts in her own house. Now that the Church in the mission field includes a body of trained teachers, Bible women, nurses, and other workers, the work of the woman missionary is, as with the man, increasingly that of normal training and supervision. We must not only set our standard high, but keep it high. 3^ Miss F. D. WILSON (Zenana Bible and Medical "Mission) : I should like to emphasise some points brought forward by Mrs. Creighton and Sir W. Mackworth Young. First of all- in my own personal experience day by day problems come up to us in the mission field which we are unable to meet because of want of previous training and because of our want of knowledge possibly of the manners and customs, and of the history of the country. Secondly, I would like to bear testimony to what has been said by those who have had some training. Noble attempts have already been made in this direction by several institutions for women, and those who have been trained there have said over and over again, " Had we not been in this Institution we could never have faced our work." Thirdly, missionaries on furlough are very often in the habit of spending some of their furlough in making up for the lack they find in their proficiency for their work. We know that the work done by trained women is. if not always, nearly always very much more valuable than that which is done by untrained women. Some people have been bringing forward that people who are not trained have done good work in the mission field. That is true, but how much better would the work have been if they had been trained ? Then I would also like to add to this what has already been said, the value of the personal influence of those who are trained under expert training. A little time ago a Parsee gentleman was speaking to me of the change which had come over India, and he looked round and said, " How Christian India is becoming." He said it is not what you teach and what you say, but it is your lives and your characters which are making India this. I would like just to say one or two things about the study of language. I endorse a good deal of what has been said about beginning this preparation before going out. At the same time I would like to say that too much stress has been put upon the handicap of many missionaries in this respect. That is not my personal experience, and it is not the personal experience of many DISCUSSION 317 who have been long years in India. I think there is less incapacity for language than has been made out. I think it is a mistake for a young missionary going out to spend all his time studying the lan- guage. It is not possible to spend seven or eight hours straight off in studying the language. Some work is a relief and a help, and you go back to the study much quickened by having done some- thing else in between. I am only too thankful that when I went into India and went into work, such work as I could do, that I was only allowed a portion of my time for the study of language. Miss JANE I,. LATHAM (Special British Delegate, recently the Head of St. Mary's College in London for Training Teachers) : What I have to say to-day applies only to the training of educa- tional missionaries and women, and it applies chiefly to India. I would like to ask the consideration of those who are thinking of this important question at this time, and in the coming months, to two or three points. The first is this. So far as I can read the signs of the times all educational foreign missionaries will have to train and develop native workers I use that word for want of another and I would ask aU those who are considering the pre- paration of educational missionaries to bear this in mind. The Education Commission has stated some things that it considers are necessary in the training of native workers in their chapter on the training of teachers. I would ask that some training in the practice and theory of education might be given to zenana workers, those who vidt in the homes and those who sometimes have to teach the Bible to groups of women in the homes. I would ask that in view of the fact that teachers have to arrange the training of their people, and to prepare their girls for married life, their own educational workers might be prepared for this side of their work. On (he field we find that this is a very important part of the work of educational missionaries, and one for which they have not always had an adequate preparation. I would like to ask the help of married missionaries in this work. Very often unmarried women have to do things in which they need the help of the married missionaries' wives. I ask that they give their help in these questions. The sociological question in the East seems to me to be the most important for consideration in the education of missionary workers. As regards training on the field which has been so well spoken to by our American friends, will those who are educational workers bear in mind the great need of knowledge of the country for those foreign teachers who 'are teaching " in schools where English' is spoken. Educationists know that we must realise the conditions of the life from which our pupils come and try to realise the life to which they go out, and then try to do the best for them during the time we have'them. Many workers in the field have spoken in India of the great need for a greater knowledge of the country, the great part of which can^only be 318 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES learned in everyday life and in the large towns where the great Institutions are. As regards training, I felt it interesting to me to find that the Roman Catholics in South India trained their Jesuit teachers very largely on the field ; and although it may be well that the bulk of intellectual training for certain reasons may be done at home, as soon as we have the right atmosphere to train workers on the field there is a great deal of educational work that can only be done there. Rev. R. H. DYKE (Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, Easutoland) : As Director of a Normal Training School I have experienced great difficulty in recruiting helpers, and this difficulty is felt more by Continental missionaries who have their work in British Colonies or British Protectorates where the English lan- guage is required, where teachers have to be trained according to English systems. I would like to make this proposal; that a central bureau should be formed where teachers might be put into touch with Principals of Colleges abroad or with Home Boards, and thus lead to an adequate supply of teachers on the mission field. "It seems to me that we are behind our day when we look at what has been done by men in commerce or men occupied with labour questions. We find that these bureaus do valuable service ; why should not we have a central bureau where we can put in men who wish to engage in mission work who have not been called to the theological side of it, and where we can make it known that we require teachers ? Our difficulty in South Africa is this. We have to train our teachers to pass Government ex- aminations, and when I have been visiting normal Institutions, and other Societies in South Africa we have about twenty-five of these, where there are about 3000 or 4000 native students when I visited these Institutions I found at times men who are teaching who never were trained as teachers, and, on the other hand, I found men teaching whom the Principals referred to in these words : " Capital teacher, passed his student's examinations well, but is out of touch with missionary work." Therefore we want to get young men who are in full sympathy with missionary work. It is needless for us to teach our young men simply to become teachers. We must have them taught to be Christian teachers, and to teach such young men we must have them trained by earnest Christians, and those we might find through the Central Bureau which I have recommended to the Commission. DISCUSSION 319 AFTERNOON SESSION The afternoon session was opened with the singing of the hymn " Fight the good fight." Is THE PRESENT GENERAL PREPARATION OF VARIOUS CLASSES OF MISSIONARIES ADEQUATE ? Rev. W. J. WANLESS, M.D. (American Presbyterian Mission, Miraj , India) : There is no course of training too high for the work of the medical missionary. Every medical missionary going to the foreign field should have some post-graduate work before he goes. I wish to emphasise what has already been noted by the Commission, that due notice should be given to medical mission- aries in particular so that they may know the field to which they are going, in order that they may make due preparation for that particular field. No medical missionary should go to India or any tropical climate who has not had training in tropical diseases. That training may not always be valuable to him, but I am glad to say that to some extent it is valuable in the mission hospitals abroad. If he cannot get it at home he very often can get it in some of our large hospitals in the larger mission- ary countries such as China and India, and I wish to say that I think there should be a greater spirit of co-operation in order to provide that training for some of the missionaries who have not had that opportunity before they go out to the field. I believe that medical missionaries should all have some business training. As to their spiritual training, it is desirable that every medical missionary should know Christianity, but it is very much more important that he should know Jesus Christ, that he should have had vital dealings with Jesus in his own life as his own personal Saviour, that he should have had some personal experi- ence of leading others to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Every medical missionary should be prepared to take charge of the evangelistic work of his own hospital. It is not necessary that he should do it all, but he should be the one who is most interested in it. He is the one who should plan it, and he is the one who should take a very large part in it at all events. Moreover, in order to study the language a young man should not be placed in charge of a large medical work. It is certainly a very good thing for him to do a certain amount of dispensary work every day he will find in that a means of learning the language that he does not get in any other way, and after all the best knowledge of the colloquial language comes through our contact with the people and in conversation. Dr. CHARLES F. HARFORD (Principal of Livingstone College, London) : The asset of good health is one which is of equal im- 320 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES portance both to the missionary and to the Society which sends him out, yet both are apt to forget this fact, and the missionary physician who seeks to keep this great question prominently to the front is too often regarded as a hinderer rather than a helper of missions. Yet if missions are to retain the confidence of the Christian Church they need to look very closely into this subject both with reference to the selection of missionary workers and their preparation to meet the physical risks which are inevitable in a missionary career. So far as the Church Missionary Society is concerned I hold a peculiarly favoured position. I am not only the physician with consulting rooms at the Society's head- quarters, but I am the Secretary to the Medical Board, and have the charge of all the papers, and every conceivable question of a medical character relating to the health of the missionaries or candidates is dealt with by me at first hand. I regard the establishment of an Honorary Medical Board as of primary importance in the selection of candidates, and any Missionary Society which is without such a Board is, I think; lacking in the first principle of medical procedure. Then there should be a physician whb has thoroughly studied the conditions "of the Society he represents, and the field in which that Society is work- ing. It is a hopeless plan to rely solely on the opinion of the medical adviser of the candidate, however eminent he may be. Many think that missionary work may be a good opening for an invalid to get to a warm climate, and sometimes as many as five candidates have been rejected by our Medical Board in one afternoon, most of whom had been already passed as fit by their private doctors. The deplorable economic loss, to say nothing of avoidable suffering and distress to the missionary, and his friends, and his comrades in the field, where unsuitable candidates are chosen, should lead all missionary administrators to enquire very carefully into the methods of selection as to physical fitness which are pursued by their own Societies. Turning now to the question of the training of missionaries in elementary medicine and hygiene I have little to add to what is said so emphatically by the Commission on page 112-114 of then: Report, though I should wish that this subject had been included under the necessary subjects of : special ? preparation on page 161 of " the Report. When it is known that some statistics compiled recently by the Association of Medical Officers of Missionary Societies meeting in London showed "that 7 6o1 per cent, of deaths of missionaries are due to practically preventable causes, the urgent importance of thoroughly instructing all missionaries as to the preservation of their own health before going to the tropics is apparent. In view of the tremendous study that has been made in our know- ledge of the causes of tropical diseases, it is essential that mission- aries should go abroad fully prepared to meet the risks which they may be called upon to face. It is sometimes contended DISCUSSION 321 that Societies cannot give the time or money necessary for such training, but not only is this actually the truest economy but where human lives are at stake the monetary consideration is a paltry one compared with the moral obligation to send out missionaries properly equipped. General JAMES A. BEAVER (American Presbyterian Church) : I take it that there is a practical side to this whole question of missions that ought to be considered. Let me say that I thoroughly agree with what Bishop Thoburn said this morning in such a lively fashion, that the power, all power, is in the hands of Jesus Christ. Every Christian man must realise that funda- mentally and principally for all parties, whatever power there is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ must come from Him through the agency of the Holy Spirit and through those other means which we enjoy simply for carrying His work forward. I was very much struck with a Japanese proverb, the substance of which was this : a dumpling is better than an argument. That is God's way. He put man into the garden to till it. What for ? To give him bread. That was Christ's way. What was His first miracle ? It was sociological, it was home economics, it was that form of agriculture that we call horticulture, and it was a miracle of chemistry, because He turned water into the best wine they had at the wedding. The home economics came from His mother ; she brought her home economics to bear on the question that was immediately before Him, and He did what I believe modern science will enable Missions to do to do abso- lutely away with the lack of bread for the world, not the bread of life alone, but the bread that every man's body needs for its sustenance. We sent, from a College in which I am interested, a young fellow to China a few years ago, who graduated in the College of Agriculture, and it is a thoroughly modern practical College. He went to the Canton Christian College. What are they doing with him ? They want him to take half a dozen different chairs in which, by his training in modern science, he is able to serve the people of China. He sent home for a Pro- fessor of Agriculture because he believed that the thing for China was scientific agriculture, and if it was being carried forward as it is being taught now, famines would be unknown in China, as they would in India, and as it is hoped they will cease in Egypt, because modern engineering is putting a dam across the Nile that will send the water down as it is needed in the agriculture of that wondrously productive country. There is nothing more needed in my judgment in missionary fields to-day than that every woman who goes from our Christian countries should be taught in that great home study, home economics, so that we might teach the women of these heathen countries the beauty, the delight of making a home what a home ought to be, COM. V. 2 I 322 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Rev. W. H. FRERE (Community of the Resurrection, Mirneld) : We are all agreed that there is one main requirement in the mission field that can be expressed in one syllable. We need saints, and that lays a special emphasis upon the need of spiritual training or guidance. Let no one suppose that there is any inherent contradiction in putting together spiritual and training. Whatever God gives us as gifts He gives them in order that they may be trained, and therefore we cannot say that of His highest and best, His spiritual gifts, they are independent of training. Everything has its own technique. If the genius occasionally manages to do without technique he is not any the better of doing without it. Therefore technique even in spiritual matters is of supreme and divine importance. Having said that much as to the need of spiritual training or guidance, will you allow me to outline almost in tabular form a certain line which I think will not be far from commending itself to most of us. I will take two main headings and six items under these two headings. First the corporate and institutional side of devotion, common prayer and common, sacrament. Common prayer is not easy for any of us, no matter what particular form of common worship and prayer we are accustomed to. We all of us find it difficult, we all of us need help and guidance in it. Then common sacrament. We shall no doubt differ as to the amount of emphasis we put upon that, but I think we shall all agree in feeling that it requires some emphasis. For myself I must put upon it a considerable emphasis, not on any ecclesiastical or denominational grounds, but simply on the ground of religious experience, because, if I may speak with quite frank simplicity to Christian brethren, it has been by such things, by let me say the practice of sacramental confession and by constant communion and the holy sacrament that I have been led most near to our blessed Lord and Saviour. I pass on now to my second division, that of individual and, if I may use the word, mystical devotion, and I would emphasise that even more than the last from a missionary point of view, because, as our Report points out so wisely, a missionary would often be out of contact with fellows, depending therefore upon his own personal and isolated dealings with God. First among these there is private prayer. What an immense deal of training and guidance we all need in that respect, and from what a vast area we can draw it, from St. Theresa, on the one side, to Dr. Andrews on the other. Secondly; there is the study of the Bible, the devotional study of the Bible. That is at the present moment more difficult than it used to be, I believe. I am not one of those who undervalue what is come to us from the increased critical study of the Bible. For me it has made the Bible much more a spiritual force in my life, and I am naturally anxious that at this difficult time of transitions of views our students should be taught and guided and helped to find the way in which DISCUSSION 323 all this new study of the Bible on the critical side is to reinforce its power and value to them as a spiritual force. Thirdly, if we go a little higher, there are those flights of contemplation and ascent to God. Again with regard to all that, we have to draw from various quarters, from a Spanish mystic on the one side perhaps to an Indian Holy man on the other. It is of special importance that there should be good guidance on that matter. Fourth and lastly, there are all those supplementary things. What is the value of self-destitution ? What is the value of holiness ? and many more such things. I plead for these because they are means to an end. They are all leading a man up to a really higher gauge of God and making him a saint. Even after we have sent them out into the mission field we must do our very best to secure not merely that they should be saints, but tested veteran saints, if they are to stand at the fore-front on our behalf. Bishop HONDA (Methodist Church in Japan), who spoke to the Conference through an interpreter, said : We have an Oriental proverb which says that no one understands the children so well as the father, and reversing that proverb I may say to-day that no one understands the father so well as the children, and so we who lire the spiritual children of the Missionary Father believe that we can understand the Missionary Father. In the first stage of missionary effort in Japan, the nou-beh'evers, the non-Christians, were drawn to the missionary through respect for his intellectual attainments, but in the next stage the point which draws our respect and attention is his Christian and his spiritual attainments. Now this second stage is sound and hopeful, and it is the stage which is likely to continue indefinitely. We can get the intel- lectual culture from books, very imperfectly to be sure, but that which comes from character, the elements of character, building a spiritual nutriment, can only come in full power through spiritualised personality. It is important for missionaries to have some idea of diplomatic and international relationships and pro- prieties, and to promote by every means in their power all good relations between their own nationality and the people to whom they go. What man would willingly take instruction from one who was an enemy of his country ? So the missionary should take the initiative in social intercourse with the natives of the country to which he is sent. Furthermore it seems to me im- portant that the missionary should be an advocate of temperance in the biblical sense and an exemplar of temperance in the eyes of the people. In Japan at least there have been many many cases where non-Christians and Christians as well have been caused to stumble by the intemperance of Christian workers and mis- sionaries. It is also important that the missionary should live simply and unostentatiously. Not only should he live simply^ but he should be moved by the spirit of self-denial. No doubt 324 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES all missionaries do have some spirit of self-denial, but they must take pains to show it to those among whom they are living, because his scale of living is so entirely different that they are apt to mis- judge him. Finally, and very important is it that the missionary should not get behind the times intellectually. There are some cases where the missionary really misrepresents his own home land, because he is not aware of the real tendencies of thought and life there. First of all he should not fail to study the language of the country and to keep studying it even after he has attained a degree of proficiency, but more than that to keep up with the current of thought of the time he should make up a certain pro- gramme of study and continue it, and the Mission Boards should make sure that he should get time for prolonged study. This matter of getting behind the times intellectually has a vital bearing upon his spiritual life, and it leads to slowness and lack of power in his spiritual life and message. " WHAT SHOULD BE THE RANGE AND METHOD OF SPECIAL MISSION- ARY PREPARATION AS TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES ? How SHALL THIS SPECIAL PREPARATION IN LANGUAGE-STUDY BE PROVIDED ? " Dr. EDWARD W. CAPEN, a member of the Commission : In bringing before the Conference the subject of special missionary training, the Commission wish to emphasise the fact brought out by the Chairman this morning, that they do it without implying any undue criticism of the training received by the present body of missionaries ; for the Commission recognises not only their consecration, but also their great ability and their grasp upon their problems. Nor does the Commission bring forward this subject on their own responsibility. The demand for specialised training is not ours but that of our correspondents among the body of missionaries. The Commission have been impressed by the unanimity of the demand for this specialised training. The reason for this demand is that a new day has dawned in the nearer and farther East, as well as to a less degree in Africa. As was brought out vividly on the opening day, and as has been reiterated nearly every day of this Conference, the missionary work is now carried on in the midst of educational, industrial, social and political movements, which are changing institutions that have served these peoples for generations. The leaven of Christianity has been one of the potent forces in producing these changes. The influence of Christianity is necessary if these changes are to prove a blessing and not a curse. In order to fix the Christian impress upon what is virtually a New East, the missionary needs a specialised training. In the past such training would have been valuable ; for the future such training has become indispensable. Two questions have been before the DISCUSSION 325 Commission in this connection: (i) What should be included in this special missionary training ? (2) How shall it be secured ? Under the first head the Commission suggest five subjects, (i) The first of these is that of the religions of the world. This matter was so emphasised by Commission IV. that we need not dwell upon it further than to state the conviction of the Commission that no missionary should undertake to lead men to forsake old beliefs for the superior thoughts as well as for the superior life of Chris- tianity, who does not know enough of the religious beliefs of these people to be able to appreciate their point of view and to preach Christ with the persuasiveness which comes from knowledge as well as with that which comes from above. (2) Another topic is that of the science of teaching. It has been reiterated again and again that every missionary is a teacher whose purpose is to instruct his hearers, whether in class-room, hospital or chapel, so as to convince them and lead them to apply these truths to their lives. Hence the need of giving to each missionary, whether he is an educationist or not, a minimum of training in the science, art and practice of teaching. (3) A third topic is that of Sociology. As our Report says, " the missionary should be recognised as having a relation to the whole development of the East, which is social in the widest sense." He is engaged in training men and women, some of whom are to be leaders, and all of whom are to be participants in movements which are transforming the very fibre of ancient civilisations, discarding the old and intro- ducing the new. Under such conditions, it is of vital importance that the missionary should appreciate the significance of these movements, that he should recognise the relation subsisting between them and the teachings of Christ, whose representative he is, that he should gauge the power of these forces and know what can and what cannot be expected of them. That means that in his work he should have a vision of the whole field and carry on his specific task in the light of the whole ; that he should not be merely content with the methods of his predecessors, who worked under radically different conditions, but should see what needs to be done. As one of our correspondents put it, the call is not so much for men who know how to do things as for men who know what things to do. This means that the missionary should be cognisant of the great laws of human progress and be familiar with the history of developing civilisations, to the end that he may assist the new nations now springing into being not to follow the Christian nations of the West along the lines which have led to those evils, economic and ethical, which have brought into reproach in the East the very phrase Christian civilisation. More than this, the missionary is called upon to understand the genius of the people among whom he labours, to be familiar with their institutions and customs, and thus to be able to assist them in applying the principles of Christ to their own problems in a 326 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES way which shall be in harmony with the very fibre of their indi- vidual and social life. Much has been said in this Conference about the need of naturalising Christianity and of the danger and folly of Westernising the nations of the East. If this danger is to be avoided it is necessary that the body of missionaries should be prepared by a study of sociology, both general and particular, to work for a Christian community which shall be both Oriental and Christian. (4) A fourth subject is that of the history and science of missions. A few correspondents rejected the idea that there can possibly be a science of missions, and the Commission would frankly recognise the fact that conditions so vary in different fields and among different peoples that hard and fast rules cannot be laid down. Yet the Commission cannot help believing that from the experiences of the past there may be and there should be deduced principles of great value to the new missionary. One of the interesting, and perhaps to some members of the Commission surprising features of our corre- spondence has been the emphasis put by many missionaries upon the value to the missionary of a study of the history of the Church in the early centuries, not of course as a study of the controversies of long ago, but as the study of problems which arise when Chris- tianity is first brought into contact with non-Christian religions and civilisations. (5) The fifth topic, that of the study of the vernacular of the field, was so fully developed in the earlier discussion that I need only mention it in passing as one of great importance. Into the question of how this specialised training may be secured, there is not time to enter. It may be through existing colleges and institutions, through the creation of new institutions at home and in the field, or through all of these. The point the Commission would press upon the Confer- ence is that the conquest of the world demands efficient workers. The methods by which these may best be prepared for their great task calls for the most prayerful and careful consideration on the part of the Church. Mr. WALTER B. SLOAN (China Inland Mission) : In the opening statement made by the Chairman of the Commission this morning he emphasised the great importance of the mission- aries in every country speaking the language well. In the Report of the Commission in pages 57-58 a very generous refer- ence has been made to the training homes of the China Inland Mission. I want therefore to say a few words as to what our methods have been, first as to our system of language training, and then only in passing to mention the fact that we believe our missionaries in speaking the language owe more than can ever be told to their constant contact with the people of China. As far as the system of training is concerned, before our missionaries leave home they have some little instruction in Chinese radicals DISCUSSION 327 in the earlier lessons of our primer from those who have been in the field ; but this teaching is not carried to any great length, because we are so firmly convinced that to speak Chinese well you must necessarily almost from the beginning learn the sounds and the tones from the Chinese themselves. When our mission- aries arrive in China they proceed, the men to one place, the ladies to another within reachable distance of Shanghai, and there in two training homes they commence the thorough study of the language. For long times in a day our missionaries sit with their Chinese teachers repeating the sounds and learning the tones from them. Alongside of this, however, we have in charge of these homes experienced missionaries, and those who, knowing the language well, can give helpful advice and instruction to the young missionaries, while at the same time they are learning the pronunciation from these Chinese teachers. In addition to this, in these homes our missionaries are instructed in Chinese customs. They learn still something more about the religions of China and how to get into touch with the people. We have in all in connection with our language study six sections, upon each of which the missionaries are examined. It is our aim as far as possible that section No. I. should be completed before the missionaries leave the training home, and then when they go to their various stations they devote the most of two years to continuing the study of the language ; but at the same time they are more and more brought into contact with the people, so that while they may spend many hours a day in study, they are also always spending some time in hearing the people speak and in learning to speak with them. We do not grant to our missionaries what we call senior missionary certificates until all six sections have been passed. In closing may I say that while my remarks refer principally to the spoken language, we have in connection with our work several missionaries who have done splendid literary work in China. Dr. A. P. PARKER (Methodist Episcopal Church, South, U.S.A., Shanghai) : I would like to say a word on two points, first the supposed failure of missionaries in getting the language. I must submit to the Report of the Commission that the evidence seems to be to the effect that the average missionary does not get the language. The principal cause is that the missionaries have not had the time to study the language ; they have been put to work too soon. The doctor goes to work as soon as he gets there practically. He ought not to do so, and in these days in which the English language is in such demand all over the East, the new missionary must learn to teach English in the schools, and that has been a drawback. The one and single remedy is that the Boards in the home land and the Missions on the field should pass an Act of self-denying ordinance and resolve firmly and 328 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES determinedly that the missionary shall have all his time for two years without interruption for the study of the language and only for such work as will help him in the study of the language. Until we reach that conclusion we shall have more or less lameness in the speaking of the language. I see the Report leans towards the idea that the missionary ought to have more study of the language before going to the field. I dissent from that most emphatically. The arguments for the study of the language on the field are, to my mind, overwhelming. A word as to the native teachers. It was said this morning that they know nothing about teaching and are wholly incompetent for their work. A new missionary going out to the field is not a boy, he is not a child that does not know anything about methods of study and teaching ; he is supposed to know how to teach himself. The missionary him- self ought to know how to study, and does know how to study in the vast majority of cases, and therefore the hindrance or the failure that might come from this direction need not be emphasised to too great an extent. Just one plea in conclusion, a plea for the commonplace missionary. Don't let us in setting our standard high" for the best men and women that we can get from this land neglect the commonplace missionary, the men who are full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, whose lives and characters are witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. I have known men and women who, with a very poor knowledge of the language, have yet been a power for good. It should be the aim of the Committee of the Candidates' Department to find out men who have the best capabili ties of becoming not those who have already become, but who have the capability of becoming leaders, in other words, let the Boards and Committees of Candidates pray for the knowledge of discerning spirits that they may be led to find out men who have the latent possibilities in them, because some of the best men now on the field would perhaps have been rejected by such a high standard as is supposed to be laid down by some. Rev. JOH. BITTMANN (Danish Mission) : If we are to reach the heart of the people, it can only be done through their own mother tongue. Experience has shown that if we begin to speak, for example, with a young man in India about Christ, when we get down to the deeper things they always, if they know the missionary knows their vernacular, turn to then* mother tongue. I believe there is a necessity for saying that here. At any rate in India the educational missionaries have almost all of them known nothing of the vernaculars. I maintain, and I believe I am right in maintaining, that it hinders the educational missionary from getting into close contact with his pupils. May I be allowed to lay on the hearts of all the Mission Boards that for which so many of us missionaries have been and are suffering from to-day, DISCUSSION 329 that we have not been allowed to study the language when we went out. I believe firmly, and the longer I am in the mission field the more I am convinced of this belief, that the first two years are the most important for the young missionary, and if he does not get the language within the first two years, he does not get it as he ought to do. We have been speaking about special colleges for the young missionaries. I wish it could be carried out not one college for all India, because I do not think that would be enough. It would be impossible in that college to study the different languages. I think it would be possible to have a college in the different places where the different lan- guages are spoken, and I think it would be possible, if we connected some of the colleges with some of the theological institutions, that the young workers coming out should live together with the young Indians, and be on the same footing as the young Indians, even if he has got to squat down on the floor. I believe that all the young missionaries would gladly enter into such a college, and I believe if that could be carried out, so that the first two years could be spent there, the young missionaries would learn the language much better than they are doing now. Rev. A. B. LEONARD, D.D. (Secretary of Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.A.) : We have not considered a more important question during this Conference than is now before us. Everything depends upon the effectiveness of the missionary. No matter how much money we raise, how much money we expend, unless the missionary at the front is qualified and effective, our efforts will be in vain. I want to say that in the hundreds of missionaries that have been sent out in the years to which I have referred, I am often amazed that there are so few failures, and some of those who seemed to be most unpromising when they were appointed turned out at last to be the most effective on the field. Now as to the language qualifica- tion, it is simply impossible that anything worth while can be done at home. We have been talking during these days a good deal about co-operation. I tlu'nk something practical in this direction ought to come out of this Conference, and I have been wondering whether it would not be possible, say in a country like China, to have an international and inter-denominational language school somewhere in that great Empire, and then let the Boards that send their missionaries to China have them given two years of study in that language school in China. That lan- guage school could give instruction not only in reference to the great official language of China, but it could give instruction for the various dialects in China, and so prepare missionaries for the particular field that they are to go to. What can be done in China it seems to me could be done in a country like India, a great international or inter-denominational language school, and 330 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES let the missionaries go out to that school and go through a course of instruction there. There is nothing, it seems to me, so handi- caps a man on the field as to have an imperfect knowledge of the language. I have seen a good deal of this in different foreign fields, especially in India, and in China, and in Japan, and I have noticed again and again that where men have gone to the field and spent three or four or five years without being able to command the language so as to secure the respect of the more intelligent classes, that it is a tremendous handicap, and the people talk about it. Dr. ARTHUR H. SMITH (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Peking) : So far as my experience goes, the missionaries in China talk the language of the country well. But I want to address myself specially to the secretaries of my Board and all the other Boards. The time has fully come when the Boards should co-operate in an advance step. When Mr. Morri- son went to China, of course he had to sit down and try and learn the language as well as he could, and this method has been carried on down to the present time. We pursue the same plan that missionaries had to do something like over a hundred years ago. Now, the London Mission is scattered all over in China, some in Canton and some in Shanghai, with quite a different dialect, some in Peking. There are five or six missions, and their dialects are all different. They could not have a language school of their own, it is preposterous ; but there could be one in Shanghai, one in Canton, one in Peking. What I want to say is that the time has come not to talk about this, but to do it, and if the secretaries will only take this step the missionaries will be only too glad to fall in with it. This has been done already by Peking. They do more in one week at that school than they formerly did in three months, and they do it better. Rev. C. G. MYLREA (Church Missionary Society, Lucknow) : I wish to confine myself to specialisation in language study. The need for this is amply admitted by the Commission, and is borne out by the experience of almost every evangelical missionary, but the evidence taken has revealed a great divergence of opinion among experts. Two matters are suggested and compared, but to neither has unqualified acceptance been given ; these two are (i) Colleges in the Home Countries, (2) Institutions in the field. The reasons for both are set forth and the opinion has been haz- arded that they need not be regarded as mutually exclusive. It is this finding that I wish to emphasise even further, that both are necessary. All those who have this question at heart will rejoice that it is more than probable that the British Government will at an early date found a College for Oriental studies. The value of such a college to the missionary will depend on (i) the DISCUSSION 331 presence of trained native teachers, (2) the presence of European teachers able to speak and pronounce correctly the languages which they teach, (3) the presence of what I might call teachers, outside the college, who have a practical knowledge of the various lan- guages and mission work in them, and who will direct the students in a course of reading, such as will specially help them to deal with the various non-Christian religious ideas. We would use, and make grateful use of, such a college, but mainly as a pre- paratory training ground, especially for men still at college, or delayed in the home country. But even if (and it is not a small assumption) all the above conditions are fulfilled, I maintain that this will not meet all the need from the missionary point of view, and for the following reasons (i) A college of this kind must necessarily be devoid of the missionary spirit ; (2) a college in the home country would lack that contact with Oriental life, language, and feeling which it is supremely necessary should surround the student ; (3) the ground covered by any college syllabus, say in Arabic, is essentially different from that necessary for the missionary, and if it be objected that such reading could be acquired in a separate hostel outside the college, I reply that the area of reading is too vast for both to be within the range of any but very exceptional men ; (4) such a college naturally cannot provide for the simultaneous training of native agents, such as would form an integral part of an institution in the field. I therefore advocate strongly the immediate founda- tion of training schools in various great world languages at various centres in the mission field. If I may give an example, drawn from my recent experience, in studying Arabic at one such centre, T would in particular like to see a training school at Cairo for the study of Arabic and Islamic literature. It would include (i) the teaching of the Arabic language, (2) the special study of the Koran, and the traditions which more than anything else contain the spirit of Islam, (3) a comprehensive grasp of such rcligioua literature as reveals the inner thought and philosophy of Islam, (4) special study of the sects of Islam. Much of this would be outside the curriculum of the Oriental College in London, and yet it is study of this kind that the worker among Moslems speci- ally needs. I have suggested Cairo as such a centre as (a) it occupies a central position for those coming and going to the East ; (ft) it possesses unique religious and scholastic prestige in the presence there of Al Azhar ; (c) there are there missionary bodies now at work in Egypt who can co-operate in the work of teaching ; (d) a small beginning has already been made which should now be developed and systematised ; (e) there is the Oriental environment and a nucleus of converted Moslems who can be trained for special work. Here is a matter of practical politics, which can be set going almost at once, without great expense, and if in addition to the teaching power at hand, some 332 PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES Arabic scholar of Western reputation would see his opportunity and direct this school, a teaching centre would be formed which would do yeoman service for all workers among Moslems. I urge the immediate formation of this school, both from personal experience, having suffered delay in efficiency owing to the non- existence of such an institution, and also because I maintain it is futile to call insistently for recruits to go and work among Moslems, when there is no drill ground in which to school them for their work. Professor MEINHOF (Berlin Mission, Hamburg) : I should like to take this opportunity of thanking the Missionary Societies of Great Britain, of America, and of the Continent for all the valuable help the wonderful books of their missionaries about Africa have given me. In addition to this, these missionaries have given me the best information personally and by correspondence. I know that many missionaries are not fond of phonetics, and the English particularly dislike these dots and lines on my letters, and many think them to be of no use for a practical work. But I hope that this Conference may promote a closer understanding of the use of phonetics, and that in future an increasing number of missionaries will try my system and adopt it. I trust that the success of all this work will be an advantage for the Kingdom of God, and so my grammatical and phonetic studies will not be in vain. Now I must refer you to my remarks quoted in the Report of Commission V. and also to the statements on the same subject in the Blue Book of the English Government mentioned in that Report about language study at home. I would not like to be misunderstood. It is not my idea that a missionary should sit in his study with a grammar and learn the language alone, nor that he should be taught by an incompetent teacher who cannot give the correct pronunciation because he is not a native. The system adopted in Germany by the Oriental College at Berlin and by the Colonial Institute at Hamburg, of which I have the honour to be a Professor, is as follows : The grammar of the foreign language is taught by the best European master obtainable, and at the same time the pronunciation is taught in conversation with an able native. First of all, my pupils must listen to identify and imitate the sounds spoken by our natives. They must also write phonetically what they hear, and then they are taught the historical orthography. After acquiring these elements they learn grammar and reading, but always in daily converse with the native. By this method intelligent and industrious pupils can speak with natives on arrival in the foreign country and are able very shortly to start their work. This previous study of the language will be specially important in medical mission work. This training has the advantage besides of throw- ing the missionaries into contact with scientific linguists, to whom DISCUSSION 333 they can afterwards refer if in any difficulty about the language. Also when there is discussion about the language between the missionaries, linguistic science will be useful in giving information to the Mission Board at home and to the Bible Societies. Among my pupils I have had men and women from different German Missions, and I think the result is encouraging. In the Report of Commission V. I read that one experienced missionary has pro- posed that the learning of Esperanto would be of advantage to missionaries. To my mind this would be pure waste of time. I quite agree with this gentleman, that the power of conversing in a second language is a help to the acquirement of a third, but that is the case when one is forced to learn a correct pronunciation. In Esperanto each country will declare its own pronunciation to be the correct one, and no judge can decide this question because the Esperanto country does not exist. There are no difficulties to overcome, therefore it will be no help towards acquiring another language. African people will never learn Esperanto, because they cannot pronounce it ; the name alone will break the tongue of most Africans. I think it is a better plan to learn exactly the phonetics of the dialects of the mother tongue. For instance, when an Englishman can speak like a Scotchman he will succeed in learning any pronunciation. We are all gathered together in Edinburgh to find out the best possible way to carry the Gospel to the whole world. It is to a Scotchman, Alexander Mackay, that I personally owe the conviction that haphazard methods will never be of any avail. If you look in the wonderful book of Robert N. Cust about the languages of Africa you will find there that my books are nothing but the development of his ideas. This Conference has given me much joy, and has done me great honour, but the greatest honour the missionaries could do me would be to read my books and to try my method. Professor H. P. BEACH (Yale University, Foreign Missionary Society) : In my opinion the least important function of any training institution in the Occident is that of language instruction. 1 think, however, that something may be said for them. I believe that existing Institutions can do two or three things fairly well. In the first place, I believe that phonetics are an important part of the training of a missionary although if it were carried too far it would be most unfortunate. Another tlu'ng I think is im- portant is the principle or principles that are involved in language study. Professor Meinhof in his work has set forth principles which ought to be of advantage to every man and woman in the group of Bantu languages especially. I think there is a possibility of helping the missionary in the classical tongues. Every mis- sionary who goes to India, no matter what his language will be, would be immensely helped by a knowledge of the Sanskrit, because the Sanskrit enters into almost every tongue. I think in addition to the statements already made, some reasons may be adduced why training Institutions at home are extremely desirable. In the first place it makes scientific teaching of language possible. That is not common in any mission field, as I found on investi- gating the matter two or three years ago, when I visited ten of the missionary countries. In the second place it furnishes trained natives to do this teaching, and that is exceedingly important. In the third place it introduces (if you have an inter-denominational College, which is the ideal in my opinion), the element of rivalry. To sit down in one's station and study the Chinese language is about the dullest grind that I can imagine. In the fourth place it makes a proper programme of study possible. You can have a co-ordinated scheme of language which will make the language only one factor. Let it enter into a number of other studies. In the fifth place such an Institution would bring the Christian leaders and the Missionary into the closest intimacy. In this proposed school all the denominations are represented, they see each other, they know each other, and as Christian leaders they go out to perpetuate the idea which marks this Conference. In the sixth plac"e it furnishes standards of native living in a foreign country. A special aim may be made of bringing the spiritual life to bear very strongly upon natives, and that is not always true where the missionary is isolated in a place with only a few natives. In the seventh place it avoids disruption in the stations where perhaps there are only two or three living. In one of these Institutions if it was ideally constituted and manned, there would be an ideal, you would see a greater opportunity before you, and I think it would be most helpful. PRESIDENT W. DOUGLAS MACKENZIE, D.D., Chairman of the Commission, in closing the discussion said : The Commission had intended before it was known what action would otherwise be taken by the Conference to propose that the following resolu- tion should be considered and adopted by this Conference. Per- haps you will allow me, although it is not in order, to submit it now, and it is unnecessary as I shall show. You will allow me to read it, inasmuch as it represents the unanimous conclusion, and expresses a very earnest desire formed by all the members of that Commission. " That this Conference recommends that action should be taken, on the proposal of Commission V., to found a Board of Missionary Study, and that for this purpose the European members of the Commission be instructed to act as an organising Committee and to invite the co-operation on that Committee of members of the leading Missionary Societies, the heads of the chief Theological Colleges, Missionary Training Homes and Colleges, together with some Theological Professors. This organising Committee shall determine the regulations for the working and permanent constitution of the Board of Missionary DISCUSSION 335 Study so as to make it thoroughly representative of the leading organisations concerned with the studies and training of mission- aries." Now the discussion this morning and this afternoon seems to show not only that there is a great variety of opinion about particular problems, but that there are a great many living problems that must be confronted by the Missionary Societies of this Conference in regard to the training of missionaries. There are questions which have been raised here which can never be ignored by those who would fairly administer the great responsi- bilities resting upon them in sending out the missionaries of the next generation, and it seems as if it might be a stimulus and a help if by the mere reading of this recommendation the Continua- tion Committee that has now been appointed should take cognizance of tliis desire of the Commission, and should make it one of their earliest actions to see whether there was a possibility of creating such a Board of Missionary Study. If at any point co-operation is possible, it is possible here. Such a Board must be a clearing house of information. It must lead both in America and Europe to various opportunities of action together in securing a better training for various classes of missionaries, and I very earnestly hope that the Continuation Committee will take notice of this and make it a matter of early consideration. I would like in the remaining moment or two just to call the attention of our Boards and of all missionaries to the chapter of our Report which deals with the Candidates' Committee. We feel that in the labour that we have been engaged in, and after the Report that has been drawn up, the responsibility now must be handed over to some one definitely named, identified by us all. Now we have adopted that name " Candidates' Committee " not because there is an organisation so called connected with every Missionary Board, but because there ought to be or at any rate because there is some official committee otherwise named concerned with this matter of the selection, guidance, and the appointment of the missionaries of the respective Boards. Now the work of the Candidates' Committeee has gradually become to our view one of the most essential parts in the work of every Missionary Board. It seems to us wider than has been hitherto apprehended except in the case of a very small number of Boards. It is the Candidates' Committee that ought to go out and make the appeal for missionaries ; it is the Candidates' Committee that ought to be engaged in the work of selecting the right men and women ; it is the Candidates' Committee that ought to be guiding these men and women throughout the period of their preparation ; it is the Candidates' Committee that ought to come with their hand upon the candidate's shoulder and present him to the Board for final appointment. There ought to be a continuity of practice from beginning to end, and the same men and women ought to be concerned in the search for the men and at least in handing 336 them over to the Board that is to appoint them. It seems as if there was an opportunity here for something of a new departure, at least in the case of the large majority of Missionary Societies, and I believe that if that chapter be very carefully read and pondered and acted upon, such action will lead of itself to a very much improved method of the preparation of the missionaries of the Gospel. One is very thankful for every difference of opinion that has been expressed, because differences of opinion have been on the surface and concerned very often with minor matters. On the deep matters we are all at one. We are all at one about this fundamental position, that everything now depends upon the quality of the Missionary that is sent out, and that that quality is not merely intellectual but spiritual, not merely spiritual but physical, not merely physical but ethical, and not any one of these but all of them together. It is the quality of a finely disciplined traveller. By this we do not mean genius. Some are built for commonplace missionaries. Brethren, do not be afraid, you will not get too many of the other kind. It is the average man and woman who is going out, but we want every man and woman refined to that finish of power, of explicit power which hitherto has not been possible, and we believe that if missionary education becomes a matter of anxious concern and definite planning on a large scale, then the commonplace mission- ary will no longer be so called, he will be so informed with wisdom and with the power of the Spirit of God that his efficiency will be multiplied tenfold. The afternoon Session of the Conference was closed by the benediction, pronounced by the Very Rev. J. Mitford Mitchell, D.D. INDEX Bible, pre-eminent need for study of the, no, 167-8, 322-3. Bible Institutes. See Mis- sionary Training Colleges. Bibliography of Literature on the Qualifications and Pre- paration of Missionaries, 291-6. Board of Missionary Studies, proposal for creation of, 189- 92, 306, 334-5- &*' Boards, missionary. See Mis- sionary Societies. Candidates. See Missionaries, Rejected Candidates, Candi- dates' Committees. Candidates' Committees, im- portance of the work of, 199-200, 335 ; dangers of routine in work of, 200 ; missionary preparation, 25, 199, 214-9. Church in the mission field, growth of, in its bearing on mis- sionary preparation, i 1-12, 98. Civilisation, Western See Western. j Commerce, influence of Western, 8-9. I Commission, Report of. See Report. Comparative Religion as a sub- ject of study, 128, 165-7, 283- 4, 325- Continental Missionary Societies, provision for training of mis- sionaries, 28, 35, 72, 93-4 [cf. ix. 207-17]. ; Co-operation in Preparation of Missionaries, 52, 181, 189-92, 286. candidates, 122, 140, 202,; 206-7 ; need for intimate ' knowledge of movements in , the Home Church, 202-4 ; j of the foreign field, 204-5 ' of prospective needs, 205-6 ; j constitution of Candidates' Committees, 208-9. See also\ Missionary Societies. Central Missionary^ Colleges, , proposal for the establishment of. Sec under Special Mission- ary Preparation. Church, appeal to the whole, 2ii ; responsibility of, in regard to missionary voca- tions, 211-2; duty of, to disappointed candidates, 33, 212-4/307; relation of, to COM. V. 22 Education, spread of Western, 7-8. Educational work, preparation for importance of, in view of the modern situation, 7-8, 21, 128, 308-9 ; present defici- encies in respect of, 20-1, 41-2, 273 ; necessity that those in charge of educational work should be educationally trained, 20-1, 42, 127, 273, 303 ; missionary preparation of trained teachers, 41, 128-30, 274, 303 ; educational train- ing for other missionaries, 41-2, 172-4 [cf. iii. 7, 324-6, 329, 375-6, 410, 435, 439]. Evangelists, lay. See Lay. 338 INDEX Fiancees, preparation for, 48. I Furlough, training during, 59, 196-8. Gentleness as a missionary qualification, 102-3. History of Missions. See Missions. Home Unions for Missionary Preparation, 24-5. Industrial missionaries, training of, 22, 46-8, 130-3, 173, 274. Intellectual qualifications of missionaries. See Mission- aries. Languages. See Linguistic Training. . Lay Evangelists definition of, 22-3 ; preparation for those who have not had full theo- logical training, 23, 48, 125-7 ' of workers among students in the East, 127 ; of women other than educational or medical workers, 23-4. See also Women Missionaries. Leadership, the power of, as a missionary qualification, 104-7. Linguistic Training of Mission- aries present lack of pro- ficiency, 59-61, 174-5, 33 ; due to difficulty of preserving period of study unbroken, 60-1,145,175,304; to lack of competent teachers 61, 175, 303 ; arguments for teaching languages at home, 176, 178-9, 184, 254, 257-9, 263-9, 305, 332-3. 334 J for teaching in the mission field, 177-8, 179, 270-2, 275-8, 282-3, 305, 313. 317-8. 327. 328; extracts from Report of Treasury Committee on Oriental Studies, 253-6 ; value of phonetics, 177, 266-7; importance of proficiency, 61, 145, 161, 185, 324, 328 ; need for prompt and vigorous action, 174-5. Medical Missionaries profes- sional preparation of, 21, 45, 134-7, 289, 319; missionary functions of, 137-8, 289, 319 ; missionary preparation of, 43-5. 139-43. 173. 274, 289, 303- Medicine, knowledge of ele- mentary, and of hygiene, 112-4, 2 75. 2 9. 320-1. Mission field, training in the present position as regards, 56-8 ; proposals for colleges for, 181-3, 270-2, 276-8, 287-8 ; necessity for con- tinued study, 193-4, *98 ; danger of mental stagnation, I 94~S- See also Linguistic Training. Mission Study Circles, 52, 140. Missionaries, variety of types of, 13 ; general situation to be met by, 4-14, 96-7 ; main functions of, 97-9 ; essentials for the fulfilment of these functions, 99 ; physical quali- fications demanded, 16, 29, 320 ; social, 17 ; intellectual, 17-8, 107-9 I moral and spiritual, 19, 100-7, I2 9. 307. 310, 322 ; professional, 20-4, 32 ; inter-relation of different kinds of qualifications, 99- 100 ; need for higher standards 25-6, 300-1, 311, 316; methods of testing qualifications, 29-33 [cf. iv. Index "Missionaries"]. See also special Missionary training, Mission Field, Fur- lough, Ordained Missionaries, Medical Missionaries, Educa- tional Work, Industrial Missionaries, Women Mission- aries. Missionary Colleges, proposal for establishment of central. See under Special Missionary Preparation. INDEX 339 Missionary Societies, standards adapted by, in the selection of missionaries, 15-26 ; pro- cedure of, in ascertaining qualifications, 27-33 ' rela- tion of, to special mission- 279, 302 ; advisability of pre- liminary ministerial work at home, 36-7. See also Theo- logical Colleges, Special Mis- sionary Preparation. Oriental Studies in London, ary preparation (q.v.), 37, Report of Treasury Com- 49-51 ; importance of con- mittee on, 176, 185-6, 190-1, tact \\ith candidates, 45, 55,] 253-6, 257-9, 305. 122, 140, 202; of definitely | Opportunity, character of the fixing field of labour at early date, 8 1, 261, 314. See also Candidates' Committees, Mis- sionaries. Missionary Training Colleges for Training ordained mission- aries, 35-6, 72 ; for training lay evangelists, 53-5, 74-5, 118-9 I f r women, 53-5, 82- present, 4-12. Pedagogy as a subject of study, 172-4, 273-4, 325. Philosophy as a subject of study, I 1 1-2. Physical qualifications of mis sionaries. See Missionaries. Preparation of Missionaries. See Missionaries. Professional qualifications of Missionaries. See Mission- aries. 9, 9i-*4; estimate of training given, 54-5, 275. Missions, Science and History of as a subject of study, 162-4, 326. Moral qualifications of mission- i Rejected candidates, use of, for aries. See Missionaries. service at the home base, 33, 212-4. Natural Science as a subject of , Religions of the World, study of. study, 1 10-1. See Comparative Religion. Non-Christian Religions, revivals of, lo-ii ; study of, 165-7, 283-4 [cf. iv. 19-20, 53, 138, 157-8, 171-2, 174, 269, 271-2]. Nurses, preparation of, 21-2, 45-6, 143-5, 290. Report of the Commission, pro- cedure in the preparation of, 1-3 ; scope of problem to be considered in, 12-4, 299-300; questions issued in prepara- tion for, 221-33; missionary societies and institutions sup- plying information for, 234-9. Ordained Missionaries, prepara- tion of varieties of standards Revivals of non-Christian and methods of theological Religions, lo-n. training, 35-6, 63-81, 115-6; need for (a) general culture, i Science of Missions. See 116, 121 ; (b) training in theo- 1 Missions. lgy. 79. 80, 116-8, 279-80, ! Situation on the mission field, 302 [cf. iv. 235-6, 249]; (c)\ the modern, 4-14, 96-7; 324. special missionary training, I Societies. See Missionary 121, 281 ; (d) educational train- j Societies. ing, 42-3 ; comparison of nni- j Sociology, as a subject of study, versity training with that in a; 168-72, 325. theological college, 1 19-20, ; Special Missionary Preparation, 240-5,312; relation of train- definition of, 49; urgent ing to that for the home minis- necessity for, 59, 155-60, 180, try 20, 38-9, 79-80,121,216,, 280, 304, 324; lack of, at 340 INDEX present, 37, 50, 59, 281 ; atti- tude of missionary societies to- wards, 37, 40, 49-52, 181 ; in theological colleges, 37-9, 66- 7, 72, 76-81, 122, 181; in women's training colleges, 87-8 ; subjects of special im- portance in, 158, 160-79, 259-60, 277-8, 284, 325 ; need for institution of central colleges for, 181 ; (a) on the mission field, 181-3, 270-2, 276-8, 287-8, 329, 331 ; (b) at home, 183-7, 259-62, 285-6 ; choice between the two plans not exclusive, 188, 330-1 ; proposal for creation of a Board of Missionary Studies, 189-92, 306 ; pro- vision made at Yale Uni- versity, 187, 246-9 ; suggested college of "study in North India, 182, 287-8 ; in Cairo, 182, 276-8, 331-2 ; in other centres, 182-3, 270-2 ; necessity for co-operation, 52, 176, 189-92, 286, 330. See also Mission Field, Languages, Furlough. Spiritual qualifications of mis- sionaries. See Missionaries. Standards of Societies in selec- tion of Missionaries. See Missionary Societies. Students, workers among, 127. Subjects of study, 109-14. Sympathy as a missionary qualification, 103-4. Testimonials required by Mis- sionary Societies, 29-30. Theological Colleges, variety of types of, 63; need for more special missionary training in, ' 37-40, 78-81, 122 ; present I efforts to provide, 66, 72, 76-7 ; difficulties in provid- ing, 38, 66-7 ; Church of England Theological training, 67-70 ; Free Church Colleges in England, 712 ; Presby- terian Colleges in Great Britain, 64-7 ; Theological Seminaries in North America, 72-7. See also Ordained Missionaries. Training of Missionaries. See Missionaries. Training Colleges. See Mission- ary Training Colleges. Western civilisation, influences of, 5-10. Women Missionaries, training of, place of women in mission- ary work, 147, 153, 308; deli- cacy of their work, 147-8 ; its strain, 149 ; spiritual and moral training, 149-52 ; practical training, 152 ; training for evangelistic work of, 23-4, 303 ; need for higher standard in spiritual prepara- tion, 314; in educational preparation, 317; training institutions in Great Britain, 85-9, 250-2 ; in North America, 89-93, 3 T 4~5 .' on the Continent of Europe, 93-4 ; difficulties experienced by training institutions, 83-5 ; importance of conference between institutions and Missionary Societies, 85. See also Missionaries. Women's Missionary College, Edinburgh, training given in, 250-2. Yale University, provision for special missionary training in, 77, 246-9. INDEX OF AUTHORITIES AND CORRESPONDENTS QUOTED, AND OF SPEAKERS WHO TOOK PART IN THE DISCUSSION Beach, Dr. Harlan P., 159, Kelly, Rev. H. H., 240-5, 312. 246-9- 333-4- Beaver, General James A., 321. Bennett, Miss Befie H., 312-3. Bittman, Rev. Job., 328-9. Brockman, Mr. F. S., 270-2. Latham, Miss Jane L., 317-8. Leonard, Rev. Dr., 329-30. Lyall, Sir Charles, 254. Camphor, Rev. Dr., 311. Capen, Dr. E. W., 182-3, 291-6, 324-6. Coffin, Dr. Ernest, 173-4. Creighton, Mrs., 304-6. Cromer, Lord, 254. Dyke, Rev. R. H., 318. Farquhar, Mr. J. N., 279-86. Frere, Rev. W. H., 322. Gairdner, Rev. W. H. T., 182, 273-8. Gensichen, Missionsdirektor, 309-10. Gibson, Dr. Campbell, 159, 160, 257-62. Greene, Miss Mary A., 314-6. Haggard, Rev. Fred P., 307. Harford, Dr. Charles F., 319-21. Honda, Bishop, 323-4. Humphrey, Miss, 314. Mackenzie, Pres. W. Douglas, 299-304, 334-6. Meinhof, Professor, 176, 263-9, 332-3. Mylrea, Rev. C. G., 330-2. Parker, Dr. A. P., 327-8. Ridley, Bishop, 310. Rouse, Miss, 313-4. Sloan, Mr. Walter B., 326-7. Small, Miss A. H., 250-2. Smith, Dr. Arthur H., 330. Stewart, Dr., 157, 162. Thoburn, Bishop J. N., 309. Wanless, Rev. Dr., 319. Warneck, Licentiat Joh., 174. Wilkinson, Rev. D. H. D., 306-7. Wilson, Miss F. D., 316-7. Young, Sir W. Mackworth, 308-9. Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED Edinburgh University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. For 3 1158 00436 7859 BV 2391 E2e 1910 A 001 243050 o