Foreign Mission Journal, April 1890

Foreign Mission Journal, PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION. & * 4u'»i “ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE, 1 HEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS.” Vol. 2i— New Series. RICHMOND, VA., APRIL, 1890. No. 9 — Whole No. 261. iY*ntsred lit the Ро»Ю1ИСв at Illchmond, Vn., ae eecond-cloee matter.] Foreign Mission Journal. RATES PER ANNUM: 1. For r»I>ore separably iddrfsjfd, either to same »r to different poit omcee : SwwiSe'i>7OT.“^™^:“^Hcu.apl«». IT For rnckazee »ent to one perron, who ehnll be wpou.lbte for their distribution I Four copies for «1, or more nt. . И cU. apiece. T7rent?‘flva copies for *8. or more nt . 20 cts. apiece. One Hundred copies for »! Oi or more at. . 18 cte. apiece. м remit by Ilratt, Postal Order, or In Jlnglt- isred Letter, and nollfy ue гвоигтыг of any change 4a address. Address, FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL, Richmond. Va. ADVERTISING RATES. егАов. •One loch..... . Two laches . Three Inches . Quarter cotoma.. Half colama,......» Dec column . 1 ffonth. S Month» 8 Months 12 Months 1 24 8 45 6 60 12 00 1 40 6 45 12 60 22 Su 3 60 В 20 18 00 S2 00 4 78 13 00 15 00 48 00 0 25 25 28 49 00 90 00 18 00 50 00 92 50 178 00 FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OF THt SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, LOCATED AT RICHMOND. VIRGINIA. President— If. II. HAitnts. Уюе-Рпевюептя.— .Tosbua Loyerlng, Md., ft W. Tom Wes, La.. A. A Owen. Vn..N.A. Bailey. Fin.. I. L. While, N.O., О, V. llagbyt Ky.. W. 0. Bled- «oe, Alabama, J. P. Greene, Mo., IL II. Oarroll. Texas. W. I.. Kilpatrick, Os., A.I.S. Thomas. S.O. a. J. Willingham, Tenn.,J.H. Searcy, Ark., Oeorge Whitfield, Miss,. W. F. Attldsson. W. Va. OOBItESrOHDIKOSECnETAnT— II. A. T UPPER. ASSISTAKT SECnETAItf, T. P. BELL. TaEAsmiEB— J. O, WILLIAMS. RXCOBDIKO SECllETAllY— A. I!. CLARKE. ADDITOB-U, O. BURNETT. BOABDOF МАКАОВП8,— If. К. Ellyeon, О. If. Win «ton, W. E. Hatcher. J. Pollard, fr.. S. O. Clop- ton. J.B. Hatton, W. O. Thomas, W. W. Landrum, •Ceo. Cooper. О. H. Bvland, If. C. Barnett, T. P. Mathews, R. II. Put. R. S. lloslier, J.L.M.Ourrv, Theo. Whltneld. tSTAll communications in rcfcrenct to the business of this Board should be addressedto H. A. TupritR, Corresponding Secretary, Richmond, Va. CALL TO DUTY, PRAISE AND WATCH¬ FULNESS. All treasurers, secretaries, pa3tors and others, having funds for the Foreign Mis¬ sion Board of the Southern Baptist Con¬ vention, will please make immediate re¬ turns of the same, as money is greatly •needed at present to meet drafts from our missionaries and notes falling due in bank. Are there not others holding the Lord's money, who may praise him by a free-will offering, just now, for the support of his •work among the heathen ? “ Vis we have ■ opportunity ,’’ etc. H. A. Topper, Cor. Scc'y. Richmond , Va. N. В,— Our Treasurer’s books close April 30th, 1890, and not one-half of the $150,000 asked by the Southern Baptist Convention has been received. “ The time is short.” Beware of that "thief "—procrastina¬ tion. H. A. T. WHAT SHALL THE ANSWER BE? Every careful reader of the Journal is familiar with the fact tiiat there is a crying need of more missionaries in ail our mis¬ sion fields. And that need is being con¬ tinually pressed upon the Board by the missionaries. Hardly a letter comes from any field which does uot contain a more or ■less earnest appeal for more workers. Many of our missions are actually suffer¬ ing for want of these workers to reap the 'fruits of previous years’ sowing, while in others, the times are most favorable for the sowing, from which rich iiarvests will most surely come in a very few years. In North China, for example, brethren Pruitt and Bostick must travel hundreds of miles, at Ihecallof the ladies at Pingtu, to baptize the converts, and, so far as we can see, this Process must be gone through with when¬ ever new converts desire to follow their i-ord in baptism. So at least it must be until reinforcements are sent to that field, b Brazil, on the other hand, the circum¬ stances are most favorable for a sowing of the seed. The late decree of the rulers of Brazil has established religious freedom, and the people, set free from the political domination of the Romish Church, are open to the reception of the truth. Indeed, in the Bahai mission, both these conditions prevail, for Bro. Taylor, alone, is trying to sow the seed and reap a harvest in a field two hundred and fifty by four hundred miles in extent. In Mexico, the Coahuila mission has had to be robbed of one of its much needed missionaries to supply the still greater need of Gaudalajara, where Bro. Wilson's work lias grown too great for him to compass it alone. Africa’s wants in this direction have been so ear¬ nestly pressed by the brethren on the field as scarcely to need mention. We said in the outset that this need of workers is being pressed upon the Board by the missionaries. But the Board cannot settle the question of increased workers: it has done the best it could, and has already gone so far ahead of the churches in sup¬ plying the demands from the fields that it fears to go any further. It now awaits the coming up of the churches. The answer of the Board to the missionaries will and must depend on the action of the churches between this time anil the closing of the books on April 30th. That answer— what it shall be— is roferred by the Board to the pastors and churches of the South. Breth¬ ren, the calls are many and very urgent; the men and women to answer them have been given us of the Lord ; will you furnish the money with which to send these out? Your answer to this question will determine the Board’s answer to the missionaries. If from many could come such letters as those quoted below, that answer would be a joyful one. A lady writes: "Enclosed please find a P. O. order for twenty-five dollars, which my mother, sis¬ ter and I send to help meet the demands of the Foreign Mission Board. Seeing an earnest appeal in my Foreign Mission Jour¬ nal for the support of the missionaries, we felt like throwing in our mite.” A brother writes : "I herewith send two dollars more to the Foreign Mission Board. I have sent my regular contributions (the tenth of my wheat crop,) but I see the wants of the Board are very urgent. Oh ! that the chuiches would remember Christ’s pro¬ mise in connection with the command to preach the Gospel 1” Who will follow these good examples? THE LEADERS OF THE BRAZILIAN REVO¬ LUTION, Ever since the astonishing announce ment was made that in a day, by a blood¬ less revolution, Brazil had thrown of Г its monarchical form of government and be¬ come a Republic, we have been anxious to get some non-political estimate of the men who figured as leaders in the movement, and who are now at the head of the govern¬ ment. The March number of Brasilian Missions, a monthly journal edited by the Presbyterian missionaries in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and published in Brooklyn, N. Y., furnishes just sucli brief sketches of these men, with such estimates of their characters and motives, as we have been desiring to see. The Presbyterian brethren, who, for many years have carried on workin the em¬ pire, are as well qualified to express opin¬ ions concerning men and affairs there as any persons we know, and we put great confidence in these opinions, as givenin the following extracts : The men who have taken upon them¬ selves the responsibility of directing the first step of the Republic in Brazil belong to the very Hite of the land, intellectually considered. There is not one among them who has not made for himself an enviable reputation in his particular walk of life. Of General Fonseca, the provisional President, this opinion is expressed: A brave man of great intellectual force, and almost worshipped by the army, a fin¬ ished and gallant soldier, he may be aptly compared, as a military man, to our late Gen. Hancock, or to Canrobert. of the ^lehacfhel'd himself aloof from all polit¬ ical questions until, under the Cotegipe Ministry, the army being systematically op¬ pressed, he successfully maintained its rights. He then withdrew from politics and devoted himself to his duties. An honest man, with a keen sense of honor, he seems to have little personal ambition. He had no part in the original scheme for over- throwing the Government, being thorough¬ ly loyal to the Emperor. It was in defense of the rights of the.anny, again assailed that he was led to join the revolutionary forces. It was soon apparent to him that the movement could not stop with the overthrow of the Mlnistry.but mustinvolve a radical reconstruction of the Govern¬ ment. He came to this conclusion only a day or two before the 15th, and with char¬ acteristic energy threw himself into the work. The other officers of the government are spoken 0Г in high te’rms, and, in general, the stories which have been circulated in the political papers concerning the person¬ al ambitions and tyrannical proclivities of these leaders, find no corroboration at the hands of these Christian American observ¬ ers in Brazil, who are certainly deeply in¬ terested In the probable turn of affairs in their adopted country. After brief notices of the individual officers of the government, the writer says : These are the eight men in whose hands the destinies of Brazil are placed. They form a military dictatorship, hold¬ ing absolute power over the fives and property of the nation. Having complete control of army and navy, they are responsible to history only for their ac¬ tions. All declared Republicans, thorough¬ ly committed to the republican form of government and to very liberal measures, it is not likely they will be led to acts of despotism through personal ambition. They were all pronounced abolitionists, which sufficiently refutes the statement made by some that the revolution was or¬ ganized by the ex-slave holders. Quite the contrary, it is essentially the outcome of abolition, and its organizers were prime factors in the abolition movement. So far no mistakes have been made. The provisional Government has shown itself to be most temperate and just._ The only dis¬ play of savage severity was in the suppres¬ sion of the attempt to corrupt a fraction of the army and start a counter revolution. This was remorselessly crushed. Americans can with difficulty understand the exiling of public men and the quasi- censorship of the press. We must remem ber, however, that Brazilians are not An¬ glo-Saxons, and that Latin races inherit traditions and characteristics which ditTer greatly from those which are our heri¬ tage. We may only add here that our own missionaries seem to share fully in the hopeful outlook into Brazil’s future which characterizes this article. Now is the time for the pressing forward of missionary work in that land. We have some men ready to go, Will the churches bid us send them ? SCRAPS PICKED UP. Protestant missionaries in China number in all 834. The China Inland Mission has 262, and other British societies 231 j Arnerl can and Canadian, 301; European Conti nental, 40 . King Mwanga, of Uganda, who, through the influence of the Arab traders, murdered Bishop Hannington and sorely persecuted the Christian converts, and who was afterwards deposed by this same Arab influence, has, largely by the aid of the whites, regained his throne and, expelling the Arabs, has welcomed anew the missionaries . "The every-day things that happen to our missionaries are better reading than any tales of fiction.” . The Administration Report of Burma for 1880-81 says, “The Christian Karen communities are distinctly more indus trious, better educated, and more law-abi¬ ding than the Burman and Karen villages around them.” Cicsar's testimony to the power of Christ in men’s lives. For generations a certain Japanese family has had a box into which they put percent¬ ages. Said one of them, “ If I want to buy a garment that costs one dollar, I buy it for eighty cents; or give a feast that would cost live dollars, I give it for four dollars; or to build a house forone hundred dollars, 1 build it for eighty— and put the balance in the box. At the end of the year we meet, open the boxes, and give the con¬ tents to the poor. It costs us some self-de¬ nial, but we are nlways prosperous and happy." The Japanese call this worship¬ ping "The Great Bright God of Self-Re¬ straint.’’— Selected. If Christians would worship the great God of love and mercy and grace as these heathen worship their imaginary "God of Self-Restraint," the time would soon come when every one of these would know of him who said, “ The Sen of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give, his life a ransom for many,” and whose spirit they so beautifully illustrate in their conduct. Too many of us worship “ The Great Dark God oj Self- Indulgence'." I11 the course of n very Interesting mission¬ ary address, given by Kcv. T. I’. Bell, while in ‘Baltimore, he spoke of the opening doprs of opportunity onthcforeigiificld.nml God's response in the hearts of men and women at home. He stated that a pile of letters from applicants, ready ami eager to go, was held by the Secretary at Richmond, whose only rcply could 1ю: ‘‘There is no money to send you.” I)r. ltllis followed in n few glowing words, picturing in his vivid imaginings, the contents 5Г the letters. A PILE OF LETTERS. Л pile of letters! Do you sec them Endorsed ami filed nwny? Arc they to you but ink and paper, Awaiting Times’ decay ? Look nt these letters— just a moment— And heat- whnt they may say ; They have for us n solemn message 'T were well to heed to-day. Bach has its story of a conflict, Where self once urged delay; Yet each proclaims with final triumph That God now 1ms his way. Some bear the marks of painful struggle Against their loved ones' will; While others tell of weary waiting * For Jesus’ " Fence, be still.” But nil, with one consent, nro saying: “Lord, here ant I, send me As witness to thy blest evangel, In lands beyond the sen.” Yet, are they going, followers truly Of him, who left his home To die, that earth with all her millions Might hear his blissful “Come?" No I Called of God and answering promptly, Replies are filed nwny ! They’re waiting here; there, soulsnrcdymgl Wlmt means this dread delay ? Because the churches will not listen To God from out his throne— “ Bring all your tithes into the storehouse, Nor rob me of mine own.” Alice Armstrong. Baltimore, Md. SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, The Thirty-fourth Annual Session, (44th vear,) will be held with the First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, beginning Friday, May 9th, at 10 A. M. Rev.J. IK. Carter, D. D., of North Carolina, to preach the Convention sermon ; Rev. Jno. I.. Johnson, L.L. D., Alternate. Lansing Burrows, O. F. Gregory, Secretaries S- В. C. RAILROAD RATES. The Southern Passenger Association, and all other railroad lines east of the Missis¬ sippi, ( except the Mississippi Valley Route,; and all roads in Texas, and those leading into Texas through Missouri and Arkansas, have "authorized rates of one lowest first- class limited fare for the round trip, from all points on their lines to Fort Worth and return, and tickets will be sold upon appli cation, without requiring presentation of certificate or other credentials. The tickets will be sold May 5th and 6th, and will be entitled to five days in each direc¬ tion, w ilh extreme limit of thirty days from date of sale.” Any other information will be cheerfully given by O. F. Gregory, Scc'y in charge of Transported»! . schools, and better than all else, the preaching of the word, these are indeed exerting an influence, and a powerful one, on Mexican life and thought. El Tiemfio, one of the most important dailies published in Mexico city, and looked upon by all as the mouthpieceof Romanism, and more especially of Jesuitism, made in substance the following remarkable con¬ fession. “The Yankees are exercising a notable influence jn our language, our com¬ merce and our religion." A Mexican, cam: menting on this admission, wrote: Thank God that the North Americans who are Christ's servnts have brought us the holy and blessed religion of Jesus Christ, the only one which can make truly happy our beloved country, Mexico, which for so many centurits has been the victim of the rapacity and iniquitous intrigues of the Catholic Jesuits. So at last the papistical writers sing their recantation, since now they declare the contrary of what they have preached and written : " That Protestantism was a corpse.” Now they admit that the Protestant religion possesses life and makes its influence felt in the Mexican Re¬ public to such a degree that thousands are leaving the idolatrous Church of the popes. — Exch. A lively corpse indeed the Catholic pow¬ ers in Mexico are finding Protestants. There are at work in the Republic, Qua¬ kers, Northern and Southern Methodists, Northern and Southern Baptists, Northern, Southern, Associate Reformed and Cum¬ berland Presbyterians, and Congrega¬ tionalism. By religious papers, Christian Forty years ago a British ship wan be¬ calmed eft' the shores of Efate. The ground swell drove her ashore. She struck on a sunken rock and was wrecked. The entire crew oftwenty-three.wlth the exception of one boy, having been massacred, were dis¬ tributed among the villages, their bodies being cooked and eaten by the savages: Thirty years afier.wnrd, another British vessel was wrecked during a hurricane near the same place. There were 150 laborers on board, bound for the sugar plantations in Fiji. All were got safe on shore, but very few provisions were saved from the wreck. The captain might have maintained a few with what food he had, blit with such a number he knew not what to do. In this dilemma. Rev. J. W. M’Kenzie assembled the natives and explained to them the con¬ dition of the strangers who had. been cast upon their shores. The result was that ninety of the helpless shipwrecked crew were taken in three equal proportions to the villages of Eratap, Erakor and Pango, where without either pressure or promise of reward, they were for four weeks housed and fed by the natives ; some qf those who treated them in this Christian manner having picked the bones of the former shipwrecked company. It would have been hard to persuade these shipwrecked ones that foreign mis¬ sions were n failure. And no one believes it who has ever taken the pains to investi¬ gate the subject. The transforming power of the gospel is clearly visible wherever- it has been preached. WEIGHTY WORDS. Nearly fifty years ago the venerable He- man Humphrey, D. D., wrote these stirring words to one of the three sons whom he gave to the ranks of the Presbyterian min¬ istry. The names of these sons were John, Zephaniah M. and Edward P. We echo the wish that these words could be copied, framed and hung on the wail of every pas¬ tor’s study throughout the church. They describe the one great want, the one hope, also, of the cause of Foreign Missions in dur time, and show the quarter from .which deliverance must arise: “ “ Those great Christian enterprises which are the glory of the present ago will have imperative claims upon you as a minister and a Christian. You may not be called upon by your Divine Master to go and set up the standard of the cross on a heathen snore, and the utmost you can give will, be but a mite in comparison to what Is.ds» manded for the conversion of the .world. But remetfiber, my dear son, that God will hold you responsible for whatever Influence you can exert to bring up the church to the standard of her duty. The ministers of that glorious gospel which they are com¬ missioned. to preach at home, and which must be preached to all nations before they can be converted, have it in their power to do more toward raising the necessary fundi than any other class of men— might I not add, more than all other classes put together. Per¬ haps this would be extravagant; but let any one consider the position which pastors occupy, the access which they have to the hearts and consciences of the whole Chris¬ tian community, and the Influence which they actually wield in all the religious movements of the age, and he may perhaps be convinced that I should not be farout of the way. Point me to the churches which are doing mostinproporiion to tlieirability for the spread of the gospel, and, without knowing the names of their pastors) or ever having heard of theirmoving a.finger, I am prepared to say that it is greatly through their influence, or that of those who imme¬ diately preceded them in the same office. If -ministers were to do their whole duty, and exert all their influence, I have no doubt that the contributions of the church would ‘be doubted in a short time. — Afiss’y Review. ' MOHAMMEDAN ALARM. Canon Taylor and others assure us that Mohammedanism, has been untouched by Christian missions, and, is progressing. Butthat-is.not- the opinion of Mohamme¬ dans themselves., A manifesto has been Issued in India, signed by several leading moulvis, in which the greatest . alarm is displayed. It appeals to ,the faithful to waken up to realize the dangers to. which their religion, is exposed. “You have reached,” it says, "such depths of deg¬ radation, that Christians, morning and evening, are wiping .Islam out, and you sleep.” “ In two or three generations," it adds, "all women, being drawn to the Christian faith and careless of their own) will go into the churches and become Christians . O, Mohammedans I have you not so much shame left, as to make you save your wives and daughters, and to cause you to make proper an mge- ments for their education ?” Cheerful giving— thoroughly cheerful, hearty, joyous giving— giving with a really exuberant spirit — how dclichtfully.’refresl»- £pg it is ! “ God loveth a cheerful giver.” *