together, and had an income last year of £34,992. The entire sum spent on Jewish Missions by our Protestant churches was £55,866. It cannot but strike us how small a sum this is in proportion to that given for other objects. There are five millions of Jews in the world, most of whom can be readily reached, dwelling, as they do, chiefly in civilized countries, and so far open to the preaching of the Word. "The sums raised for Foreign Missions in Great Britain are very large, at least in comparison with those spent upon the home field. This is the case, however, not with Scotland, but in England only. "The sum raised by the three large Churches of Scotland, for Colonial and Foreign Missions, last year, amounts to about £56,000. The English societies contribute for the same purposes in all about £590,000; so that together, the foreign missions income of this country reaches to about £650,000 a year ($3,250,000). 66 Taking a general view of all the figures which have been given, we shall be able to form some conception of what the Protestant Churches of this country are doing for the missionary cause. For for eign missions they contribute £650,000; for home missions, £500,000; for miscellaneous objects, (such as Bibles, Tracts, &c.), £309,000; and for Jewish missions, £55,866. The total of these sums amounts to ONE MILLION AND A HALF, spent yearly on mission objects, - £1,515,114, ($7,575,570). On the one hand this seems a large sum we might call it a noble sum — offered up annually by Christian love and faith to the name of Jesus Christ. But, on the other hand, there are aspects in which this sum seems very paltry and very unworthy of a Christian nation, in which we can hardly say that the cause of Jesus Christ in the world has really touched either the conscience or the heart of the people of this country. What does one million and a half of money represent? If we look at the population of the king dom, it represents but one shilling each, from the thirty millions of the land. If we look at the wealth, it represents an income tax of scarcely more than one penny in the pound. And yet this is the entire missionary charity of the nation! Surely we cannot but say, that it is paltry in the extreme as a testimony to the religious power and life of the Church of Christ. Wesleyan Methodists. "The society which has perhaps most outward success, at least in its operations, is the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. Its revenue last year was the largest which has ever been received, and amounted to £145,000. By means of this sum it occupied no fewer than 5,460 stations* throughout the world, and paid 2,300 missionaries and teachers. At these stations there are 145,000 members in full communion, and 152,000 children in its day and Sabbath schools. Church of England. "Then there is the Church (of England) Missionary Society, whose funds are even larger than those of the Wesleyans, amounting to £146,208, besides £20,000 more which have been raised at the different stations and expended there. The increase of the revenue is one very gratifying symptom, it being no less than £12,000 above the average of the past five years. The number of church members and of scholars is not so large as in the Society already mentioned, but no one can remember the great work which has been done in Tinnevelly, with its 70,000 Christians, without being thankful to God for the vigor and prosperity of this great society. ers. be very much identified with the Inde- and actually bring with them the gyves pendent churches throughout the king- and fetters with which Christians were dom. Its home revenue last year was £83,- bound till death, tell now of the glorious 141, besides £16,187 raised and expended change they have lived to see. Within at foreign stations. The work of the so- the capital city of that island there are ciety is, however, so extensive that it was now eight congregations with 12,400 hearfound necessary to draw on capital to the These congregations have more than extent of £25,000, and it is reported that 200 communicants each, and the whole 'an addition of £10,000 to the present population of the capital is only 30,000. income is necessary to sustain its present Within the villages of the country sixteen operations.' The two portions of this so- other churches have been founded; and a ciety's work which are, perhaps, most public treaty has been concluded between interesting, are those in Travancore and this country and Madagascar, establishing those in the island of Madagascar. Of religious liberty and full protection for Travancore it is not necessary to say more Christian worship. In view of such changes than that in this province of Southern In- within a few years, shall we not say, What dia there are now 24,000 professing Chris- hath God wrought!" tians, and nearly 8,000 children in the schools; and that the labors which are now necessary for the daily teaching and visiting of the native Christian congregations are rendering it difficult, if not impossible, for the missionaries to give themselves to the heathen around! Here is a new state of things in the history of missions, and one calling loudly for a native agency to build up their own countrymen in the faith, while European laborers go farther forth afield to overtake the 'regions beyond.' "But it is, perhaps, in Madagascar that the interest of the London Missionary Society centres, and where the hand of God, both in providence and grace, has been most manifest. A few years ago Madagascar was the scene of the cruelest and most bloody persecutions to which the Christians of our day have been subjected. Indeed the story of these years reminds us of the olden records, when the barbarity of heathen Cæsars, or not less of Romish priests, watered the lands with Christian blood; and there still stands in Madagascar, near the capital, the fatal rock over which the Christians were cast, at once a monument of the bitter past and a call to gratitude now. For now, indeed, the change is great. . . . In that island, where Christian men and women fled to the rocks and caves to hide themselves, there are now thousands who glory in the one Name given under heaven whereby men can be saved. Missionaries who saw the miserable condition of former years, ..... General Remarks. "As to the results of missionary work in the world at large, one or two closing remarks may be offered. "1. The field is fast opening. The opportunities of preaching the Word are greater than they have ever been. Even without learning a new language, the English tongue is now obtaining a power and a position in the world which is reaching millions more than heretofore. In India it is the great key to influence and authority, and the power which it may there exercise for Christ is inconceivable. Then almost every heathen language has now been mastered, made a written tongue, subjected to rule; and, better than all, the Bible now exists in almost all these languages, so that men may read and hear in their own tongues the wonderful works and words of God. Only now has all this been accomplished. We have been polishing and tempering the sword of the Spirit, now let men arise and wield it! "Persecution of Christians is almost everywhere a thing of the past. Perhaps the most hopeful sign of all is, that Christianity has its lodgment in civilization; heathenism dwells with barbarism. What are the great powers of the world? They are all nominally Christian. What are the heathen powers? They are all the wretched forms of aged, ignorant, unrefined, brute force. "The success of mission work is becoming very great. No one who is acquainted with the subject dare deny it. In some districts it is surprisingly great. Three years ago, for instance, one Christian man (a minister of our own) went alone to the district of Chumba, in Northern India. No church sent him, no society supported him. He went, not knowing how he would be provided for, except that God would do it. And now he has established two congregations, eight miles apart; a school for Christian children; classes for Christian men and women; 22 zenanas are open for visitation, and a girls' school has been begun- the fruit of one man's work and faith in little more than two years! Indeed, I hesitate not to say that, comparing the mission field with our field at home, there seems more evidence of God's Spirit and power there than here; more visible conversions, more marked changes in a district, more tokens of spiritual success. Who can deny that the field is fast opening? 2. But, secondly, the Church of Christ does not seem to be equal to the occasion —is not rising to the emergency. Formerly the complaint was that we labored in vain. The heavens seemed as brass to our prayers for the conversion of the heathen, and the earth seemed as iron under the sowing of the Word. Now it is not so. It is manifestly otherwise. The fields are white unto the harvest. But where are the laborers? There is not much more doing now, with these tokens of success, than was doing before, under discouragement. The missions of many of our churches have been standing still. The men sent out have more than they can do. Their hands are full with the congregations already gathered, and who shall go forth to gather in the waste places around them? And how is this? It is the lack of knowledge; Christian men and congregations here not knowing what is being done, not hearing the calls for help, not seeing the need of new exertion. It is the lack of faith; men and congregations not having reliance on God's simple Word as able to save, on the power of the Cross to deliver the perishing souls of heathen men- not feeling its power themselves, and not believing in its power on others. It is the lack of interest; men having little or no concern in what they hear of heathen lands and of the work of Christ therein, having no wish that idols should be abolished, and souls brought to know Jesus Christ, it being all a matter for which many care nothing at all! Let these men answer for it as they may; let them think how they will meet Jesus Christ face to face and answer for it then. But let all Christian men lay it to heart as their own solemn duty, that they must help this cause of Christ. "3. For, as a last thought, let it be considered, that the success of missionary work will probably soon be much greater than it has ever been. "An army takes a long time to prepare for setting out on a campaign; strangers wait on, wondering what can cause the delay; but when it does begin, how speedily it does its work! .. So has it been, and so probably it will be, with the cause of missions. We have been seeing the scaffolding. It has been a work of great labor, patience, and expense. But the work itself, the work within, is rising, and will rise faster every year -the work of the spiritual temple, the work that shall last forever. And the more success abroad, remember, the more support will be needed at home! The more converts, the more missionaries, the more native congregations, the more churches will be needed. And the help which will come from the new-born liberality of native converts will not, for a season, be in proportion to the demand. Let Christian men think of this, and let them be prepared to follow when Christ leads. If he give his Holy Spirit to bless the work, let the churches enter in to occupy the field." MISCELLANIES. PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS IN CHINA. our answer. MR. WOLFE, of the English Church Missionary Society, at Foochow, reported occurrences, a few months since, at Mingang-teng, which indicate that the Chinese government is ready to carry out treaty stipulations for the protection of Christian converts. At the place named, the missionaries desired to purchase a piece of land for a bungalow. There was opposition by the gentry and local officers, and at last the city authorities interfered and falsely claimed that the land was government property. A proclamation was issued against the missionaries, denouncing Christianity in the severest terms, and heaping most opprobrious names upon its followers. To this proclamation Mr. Wolfe replied, in a large placard, which he had posted up "all over the town and village, side by side with that of the mandarin." As to the effect of this he writes: "The excitement of the people was great. All came to read The mandarin immediately sent for us to talk with us. We then refused to go. He again sent, and denied that he had any part in the matter; said the gentry had compelled him to put his stamp to the objectionable proclamation. We told him we held him as the responsible party. He then ordered his own proclamation to be torn down, and requested to be told what he could do to repair all the injury he had done to us. We replied, 'Nothing short of a second proclamation, declaring that all he had said in the first against Christianity was utterly false, and that it was contrary to law for any one to molest Christians because of their religion; that the Emperor had already given full toleration to Christianity, and protection to its followers, and that it would be his (the mandarin's) duty to see that this law was respected; and that if any one was found molesting the Christians in any way, he would prevent it.' All this he did the next day, in a fresh proclamation, telling the people that when he put his stamp to the first proclamation, he was entirely ignorant of the law, or of the existence of the treaty which gave to Christianity a legal standing; and concluded with these words: If any one rashly disobeys this, and molests the Christians in any way on account of their religion, I will have him apprehended and severely punished in my presence.' But it was too late to protect himself. The English Consul became aware of the existence of the objectionable proclamation, and demanded his immediate dismissal from office. This has since been done, and a new man put in his place, who, it is to be hoped, will show more wisdom, and not be led away by the violence and fanaticism of the gentry and literary class. This matter has brought the cause of Christianity fully before the mass of the people in this place, and it has done much good for the cause of Christ at Ming-ang-teng. Since that time the number of inquirers has increased, and there are hopes of a still greater increase." LIGHT SPREADING IN CHINA IN the same letter from which the foregoing extracts are made Mr. Wolfe wrote: "Our work is spreading rapidly around us on every side; too rapidly, indeed, for our straightened circumstances, whether of men or money. We have been compelled to open two new stations in this direction, that is, below Ming-ang-teng, though our half-yearly allowance is already exhausted. There is now another call equally pressing, but I fear, as we have no money to rent and repair a small chapel, we cannot take advantage of this opening at present. The circumstances of the case are these: At Ming-ang-teng, several men became interested in the truth. Amongst these was a traveling mer chant, who had been staying at Nantae for a day or two. He seemed at once to drink in the whole truth, so eagerly did he learn. He said, 'It is just the religion which suits my condition as a helpless sinner.' He hurried home to tell his family of the treasure he had found, but his wife became frantic with rage at the disclosure.... He told the glad news to several of his friends and neighbors, and the result was, several of them came to Ming-ang-teng, a distance of ten British miles, to listen to the Word of God, and three of those who came believed, and come regularly to the chapel at Ming-ang-teng on Saturday night, to be present for the Sunday services. They now, in common with many of their neighbors, have sent a request that we should open a station in their village, and send them a teacher. In this way God is opening up new fields of labor to us, and new opportunities of preaching the truth; but we want more means to commence what we hope in time will be carried on by the people themselves. Remember this is still the sowing time, even in Foochow, where our society has been donation to the Board. Acknowledge it, "Please to accept the inclosed as a if you please, without any name. It is laboring so long. Since I am writing this simply an expression of gratitude to God, a thank-offering for my continued being. last sentence, six of the Ming-ang-teng candidates have walked into my study with a formal invitation to me, on long red cards, to come and baptize about twenty of their number. POOR, YET MAKING RICH.. THE Treasurer has received the following note, written obviously with a feeble, "It is all I can do. I cannot work for him, I have no strength; I cannot praise him with my voice, because have none; but I still live,' and that is ..ore than I hardly dared to hope a year ago. "God bless the American Board, its officers, its members, and its missionaries, and the dark-minded heathen, during the coming year.” MONTHLY SUMMARY. MISSIONS OF THE BOARD. Western Turkey. Mr. Bartlett, who sailed from Boston September 11, with his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth, and Miss Closson, for Cesarea, wrote from that place November 28. The company arrived there, after "a very prosperous journey," November 8. Mr. Bartlett says: "I am happy to find here a church of consistent and intelligent Christian men and women, worshiping in a neat chapel, built of hewn stone and located in a very advantageous part of the city, enjoying the labors of an excellent pastor whom they dearly love, and if I can judge from appearances, commanding, in a good degree, the respect, if not securing the favor, of Mohammedans and others who witness their progress. It certainly is much to their credit that during the long absence of their missionary they have held on their way, united and prosperous, under so many discouraging influences. . . Though the field looks very dark, so few believers amidst so many slaves of super stition and ignorance, yet I can see that great preparatory work has been done, and am much pleased with the evidence of progress in the great enterprise of evangelizing this dark land. I long to be prepared to aid directly in the glorious work, but at present am tongue-tied." |