Foreign Mission Journal, September 1880

Foreign Mission J oijrnal B’iiMinIiciI Monthly by tho Г<пч'![ГП Mlssins KwumI о* the Hso::thora iinjtUnt Convent!* “ALlj row В II IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE, THEREFORE, AND ТЕ AON. ALL NATIONS." Vol. 12.— Now Series. RICHMOND, VA., SEPTEMBER, 1880. No. 6.— Whole No. 12G. [Kntvri'il nt till» l’ost-Ollloii nt lllchnmml, Va„ nn Second- с1ия» inntlnr.] FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL, HATES ГИП ANNUM: Ont‘ гору . . . W> rt.o. Книг copies and over, to nun тЫгеня, each . уд ct*. •«-I’Iohimi remit- by llriift, IVwInl Order, or In Ueirlsteml Letter, anil uoliry in* riiOMi-ri.Y of any cliancn In address. Address, FOR К1П N MISSION JOURNAL, Huai MO\ it, VA. FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OK THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, I.ooatki) at RICHMOND. VIlldlNIA, Fpksiih'nt— J. h. M. OUKKV. VutK-l’iiKStiiKSTS. — Illrnm Wtssls Mil., .1. Л. llnrkell, I,n., W. II. Kirk, Va., II. li. Miilallnni, Fla.. T. II. Frllili- uri'. N. U.. .1. I,, llnrrowb, Ky„ S. Henderson, Alabama, W. I'OIIH Yi'iinuiu, Mo., .1. II. I, ink, Tnxas, AV. I,. lillp.-ilriek, (la.. .1. (!. Furman, S. (!.. Matt. llllUninn, Типи., T. I*. I;«py, Aik., M. I’. I.ovvry, Mina. (Ton II KN Го Nil I Nil Skciiktaiiv— If. Л. TIJI'I’ER. TuKAKiniKli — .1. U. WILLIAMS. Nkciiiiiiinii Skciiktaiiv— W, II. OWATHMEY. AiiniTini— JOSEFH F. COTTRELL. Полки ok M ANAiiKua. — ,1. It. Hawthorne, ,T. H.WatkliiK, H ” . « linilllll, II. 11. Hill I I*., .1. I UllillU, .1 Г, , .1. W . .MIIU’S, J>. (Darke, .1. II. Winston, T. J. Evans, <3.11. Winston, S. (3. (Du|iUm. _ IS?” A II communication* in reference to the buxine** of chi* Hoard should be addressed to II. А. Тиггкк, Oirresponditii j Secretary, Richmond, Va. FORM OE BEQUEST. “ I hereby give and bequeath unto the Southern Baptist Convention, formed in Aiii'itslu, Georgia, In the month of Muy, 1815, and chartered by the Legislature of the State of Georgia, by an act. passed and approved December 20th, 1845, (/tern insert the amount, if in money, or* 111 subject if other properly, cither real or personal,) lor Foreign Missions.” SION OF THE TIMES. Almost all of our religious weeklies give regu¬ larly missionary news. Look back into their old Шея. and you will 11 nil that this Is a comparatively new feature of their journalism. What does It signify? 1. It signifies that missionary intelligence Is pressing for utterance from all quarters of the world. 2. It. signifies that there is a demand for this In¬ formation among all Christian people. 11. It signifies that tho churches are realizing the truth that missions is only another name for comprehensive and active Christianity. "Protestant FOREIGN MISSIONS.” This is (lie name of a work on modern missions, by Dr. Theodore Clirist.lieb, Professor of Theology hi tiie University of Bonn, Prussia, and translated by David It. Crooni, M. Л. Л part of it was read at the Evangelical Alliance, at Basel, September the fitli, 1871). Tho hook is divided into several parts, as follows : I. Missions, Past and Present ; IL The. Missionary Agencies of the Mother Church; HI. Work among tho Jlcathon ; IV. Hints with regard to the Duties and Aims of the Future. We glance now, as a sample of tho book, merely at tho first part. HOW THEY USED TO THINK. Dr. Christllob refers to Win. Cary’s being ordered by the Conference “ to be silent,” when proposing to discuss tho duty of missions; to tho Scottish General Assembly declaring a similar motion “ fanatical, and absurd— dangerous and revolu¬ tionary” ; and to the General Assembly of the Congregatlonalists of Massachusetts being asked by Adonlram Jntlson and others, whether the mis¬ sionary idea wns “ visionary and impracticable.” lie refers also to the Portugueso regarding the Hottentots “a race of apes;” and the Inscription on (lie church doors in Capo Colony: “Dogs and Hottentots not. admitted;” and to tlio exclama¬ tion of the, French Governor of the rsland of Bourbon to the first missionaries to Madagascar : “ You will make the Madagasy Christians? Impos¬ sible ! They are mere brutes, and have no more sense than Irrational cattle.” 1IOW THE WORK HAS SPREAD. This is the ago of Universal Missions. Among the Pacific Islands whole groups of them have been almost entirely Christianized. In British Fast India— from Capo Colony to the Hima¬ layas— mission stations are more thickly studded, than “that net-work of missions which, towards the end of tho first century, encompassed the em¬ pire of Home. “The largest, and many of the smaller islands of the Indian AhCiiipeligo, possess evangelical missions, on tho sea coast and in the far interior. Бинмли is almost Christian, and Siam is open to the gospel. All (lie ports, and half the provinces of China, are in contact witli a chain of stations ; ami to her teeming population in Australia and other lands the gospel lias been sent. In Japan there arc several dozen mission¬ ary organizations. Even the Aborigines of Australia have heard tho Word of God. In the lands of Islam theological seminaries and medi¬ cal missions have been established ns new centres of evangelization. Palestine lias several Pro¬ testant churches and schools. Africa is being entered from the north, south, east, and west, and civilization and Christianity arc creeping Into the very heart of the Dark Continent. In North America, the immense plains of the Hudson Bay Territory have been opened up to the gospel, from Canada to the Pacific Ocean. In Central America and the West Indies, Protestant mis¬ sions have spread from island to island ; whilst on tho Mosquito Coast, in tho opposite mainland of Honduras, and in British, and Dutch Guiana, tlmy aro gaining an ever Armor bold. Lastly, South America— from Dcmernra to Patagonia, and the Falkland Islands, and Tlcrra del Fucgo, are tinged with the dawning of tho gospel, which has pene¬ trated to tho interior, to tho territories on the Amazon, and even to the Indians of Brazil. CONTRAST. Eighty years ago, in all heathen lands, there were some fifty thousand converts, now there aro 1,(150,000. Then, $310,000 was the yearly contri¬ bution to Foreign Missions, now they amount to $0,250,000. At that tlmo there were 70 Protestant missionary schools, to-day there arc 12,000, with •100,000 scholars. At the beginning of tho century there were 00 translations of the Bible, and some 5,000,000 copies in circulation, now It is found In 220 languages and dialects, and 118,000,000 of copies have been circulated. significant suggestion. “ But,” says tlio learned Professor, very signifi¬ cantly, “ wlmt it tlio darkest clouds In tlio mission¬ aries’ sky are to be found, not so much In the vari¬ ous phenomena presented by tho hostile country, as in the atmosphere of the church at home?" . YONG SEEN SANG. By some strange mistake the notion became cur¬ rent last year, that this venerable Chincso mission¬ ary had been called to Ids reward. Tlio evidence of Ids living, (“ 1SS0, 3d moon,”) lies before us in an original and beautifully pencilled letter of that date, to the “ Female Missionary Society” of tbo< First Baptist church of tlds city. Tills Society lias supported Yong ever since his visit to tlds country with Rev. J. L. Shuck, in IS IG. Tho letter is trans¬ lated below byonr missionary, Rev. II. II. Graves, who is the bearer of tlio epistle to tlio Society, from » the hand of the writer. Wo give the American spell¬ ing of the name, which tho Society, as well as our Board, lias always adopted. Long live Yong Seen Sang ! Yeung Chin Sam, a believer in tlio Lord, con¬ nected with the Canton church, and a preacher of tlio Word, to the Sisters of Richmond, fellow be¬ lievers — I remember you in nil my prayers, and thank God for giving me the opportunity of seeing you. Through your kind love I have been enabled to exercise tlds ministry, and to preaclt the Word for many years. But I confess with shame that not very many liavo believed in tho Lord, (through my preaching). But I always pray God, and Christ our Lord, to help me to preach and to give the Holy Spirit to enlighten men’s minds, that they may listen with gladness, and tlio seed may fall into good ground and bring forth some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold. I liavo already seen the gospel spreading abroad, until many have heard it, and every year tlio num¬ ber of believers have increased. Last year more joined the church than tho year before, and tills year more have joined than last year. This is due to tlio united prayers of God's people, among whom arc the believers in your honorable country. May our Heavenly Father liless China, and open wide, tlio doors of the church hero. Now as our pastor, teacher Graves, is returning to his home to see ills nged father, I send this by him, presenting my re¬ gards to all of tlio sisters, and wishing you peace. May God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ho¬ over with you. 18S0, 3d moon. MISSIONARY TO ITALY. At the last meeting of the Southern Baptist Con¬ vention our Board was authorized to call some bro¬ ther to go to Italy as a co-laborer with brother G. B. Taylor. Rev. J. II. Eager, already an appointee of the Board, lias been invited to change his pro¬ posed field of labor (China) for Italy. Being thought specially adapted to this latter mission, brother Eager is desired by Dr. Taylor to work with him, and is quite willing himself to make tlio transfer. He expects to sail in tlio early fall for ids new home. In the meantime, tlio Board hopes to secure for China a man equally qualified for the- work there.