<i 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY" 
 
 OR  THE  CHURCH'S  EXCUSES 
 
 FOR  NEGLECTING  THE 
 
 HEATHEN. 
 
 WITH  A  STATEMENT  AND  AN  APPEAL. 
 
 J.  HEYWOOD  HORSBURGH,  M.A. 
 
 (C.  M.  S.      MISSIONARY  IN  MID-CHINA). 
 
 W.  J.  SHUEY. 
 
 United  Brethrkn  Publishing  Hodse. 
 
 dayton,  ohio. 
 
1/ 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 If  you  think  this  little  book  is  likely  to  do  good,  will  you 
 begin  to  "do  your  part"  by  helping  to  make  it  very  widely 
 known?  It  is  purposely  priced  «^ /owa^/o^j/^/e.  Should  any- 
 one like  to  give  a  little  extra  toward  expenses,  it  will  be  wel- 
 comed. 
 
 (i)  Please  order  three  copies  of  "Do  not  Say."  Send 
 them  to  three  friends,  and  ask  each  of  them  to  do  the  same. 
 Will  you  do  this  to-day  if  possible  ? 
 
 (2)  Please  bring  the  pamphlet  to  the  notice  of  Christian 
 Ministers,  Secretaries  of  Conventions,  Christian  Associations, 
 Missionary  Unions,  Christian  Medical  Students,  Hospital 
 Nurses,  Deaconesses,  and  Christian  people  generally. 
 
 (3)  Please  mention  "  Do  not  Say  "  from  the  Pulpit,  from 
 the  Platform,  and  in  the  local  Newspapers.  State  the  price 
 and  where  it  can  be  had. 
 
 (4)  Finally,  please  pray  that  wherever  the  little  messa^« 
 goes,  hearts  may  be  prepared  to  give  heed. 
 
 Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  year  1892, 'crv 
 FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY, 
 In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  Ct 
 All  Rights  Reserved, 
 
PREFATORY  NOTE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 
 
 God  has  answered  prayer  with  regard  to  this  Httle 
 book  beyond  our  thoughts.  It  has  been  scattered 
 far  and  wide,  and  almost  every  day  letters  are  re- 
 ceived testifying  that  He  is  graciously  using  the 
 simple  message.  Will  those  who  have  helped  so 
 much  by  prayer  and  sympathy,  now  thank  God  for 
 His  good  Hand  upon  us?  And  will  they  ask  Him 
 very  definitely  to  use  this  new  edition,  and  also  the 
 separate  editions  of  "  Do  Not  Say,"  published  in 
 America  and  in  Germany? 
 
 More  especially,  may  I  very  earnestly  entreat 
 those  who  take  up  this  pamphlet,  not  to  give  it 
 merely  a  passing  glance,  but  to  take  it  to  God  and 
 read  it  through  thoughtfully  in  His  presence?  Do 
 ask  Him  really  to  speak  to  you,  and  to  show  you 
 His  will — His  will  for  you. 
 
 ''  Speak  Lord,  for  Thy  servant  heareth."  How 
 often  the  Lord  cannot  speak,  because  His  servants 
 will  not  hear ! 
 
 J.  H.  H. 
 
PREFATORY  NOTE. 
 
 The  following  pages  have  been  written  not  with- 
 out much  prayer  and  earnest  thought.  Will  you  ask 
 God  to  use  them  for  His  glory?  It  may  not,  per- 
 haps, be  difficult,  if  we  wish  to  do  so,  to  pick  holes 
 in  what  has  been  said,  to  find  answers  of  some  kind 
 to  what  has  been  adduced.  And  Satan  will  do  his 
 best  to  help  us,  we  may  be  sure  of  that !  But  in 
 spite  of  flaws  and  blemishes,  or  whatever  there  may 
 be  amiss,  I  am  persuaded  that  the  underlying  cur- 
 rent of  what  is  here  written  is  God's  solemn  truth, 
 and  that  at  our  peril  we  try  to  trifle  it  away. 
 
 However,  with  our  partial  sight,  we  may  choose 
 to  look  upon  it,  the  thing  itself  is  simply  monstrous 
 — that  the  Heathen  should  be  left  as  they  are  to-day. 
 
 And,  although  it  certainly  is  not  for  another  to 
 decide  for  you,  and  say  yon  ought  to  become  a  Mis- 
 sionary, or  yon  ought  to  let  your  child  go,  or  yon 
 ought  to  give  more  money  to  send  others  (God  will 
 tell  you  that),  yet  it  is  a  shamefully  wicked  thing 
 that  so  many  of  God's  men  and  God's  women  are 
 staying  in  Christian  lands  to-day,  when  our  brethren 
 and  sisters  abroad,  to  whom  we  might  so  easily  go, 
 are  perishing  by  tens  of  thousands  a  day  in  absolute 
 ignorance  of  Him! 
 
 Should  this  Appeal  be  used  of  GOD — as  the 
 writer  believes  it  will  be  used — to  do  its  little  share 
 in  leading  men  to  think,  and  weep,  and  pray,  and  act, 
 it  will  not  have  been  written  in  vain.         J.  H.  H. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Prefatory  Notes  .....  5 — 6 
 
 Chapter      I. — A  Cruel  Shame!  ...  7 
 
 Chapter     II. — General  Excuses     ...  5:3 
 
 Chapter  III. — Personal  Excuses  .  .  .26 
 
 Chapter  IV. — Plenty  to  Do  at  Home  .  45 
 
 Chapter    V. — More  Missionaries         .  .  .61 
 
 Chapter  VI. — (I.)     A  Heathen  City        .  .  81 
 
 (II.)  Live  for  us  ...        85 
 
 (III.)   Extracts  from  a  Missionary's 
 
 Note  Book  .  .  87 
 
Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
 
 in  2009  with  funding  from 
 
 Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/donotsayorchurchOOhors 
 
"DO   NOT  SAY": 
 
 OR, 
 
 Ttie    Chiiarchi's    Excuses   for    Neglecting 
 ttie    Heattien. 
 
 CHAPTER  I. 
 A  CRUEL  SHAME! 
 
 *-  We  do  not  well :  this  day  is  a  day  of  good  tidings,  and  we  hold 
 our  peace." — 2  Kings  vii,  9. 
 
 "  China's  Teeming  Millions  !"  Yes,  over  three 
 hundred  millions!  Would  you  like  to  see  them  pass, 
 thirty  every  minute?  Then,  you  must  stand  there, 
 never  tiring,  never  sleeping,  closely  watching  night 
 and  day,  week  after  week,  month  after  month,  for 
 more  than  twenty  years !  And  then  you  will  have 
 seen  the  people  in  that  07ie  country  only.  The  teem- 
 ing millions  of  other  heathen  lands  will  have  yet  to 
 follow!  Or  to  put  it  this  way:  If  you  want  to 
 preach  once  in  your  Church,  which  holds  six  hun- 
 dred, to  the  Heathen  who  are  living  now,  you  must 
 have  a  service  every  day  for  four  thousand  seven 
 hundred  and  eighty  years, — that  is,  seven  hundred 
 and  eighty  years  longer  than  from  the  Creation 
 to  the  birth  of   Christ !     Supposing  then  you   had 
 
 (7) 
 
8  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 begun  preaching  in  the  year  our  Lord  was  born,  and 
 gone  on  every  day  since,  until  now,  there  would  still 
 remain  by  far  the  larger  half  who  had  not  yet 
 had  their  turn !  And  amongst  these  thousands 
 of  millions  we  send  out  a  little  handful  of  mis- 
 sionaries and  expect  to  hear  that  half  the  world  is 
 converted ! 
 
 **  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel 
 to  every  creature."  "  More  than  half  the  people  in 
 the  world  have  never  heard  the  Gospel  yet."  A  com- 
 mand has  been  given.  It  has  not  been  obeyed. 
 What  are  we  to  say  to  this  ?  Surely  it  concerns  us 
 Christians  very  seriously.  For  we  are  the  people 
 who  are  responsible.  No  one  else  is  responsible. 
 The  angels  are  not  responsible,  God  has  not  told  the 
 angels  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen.  Again, 
 the  unconverted  are  not  responsible.  They  have 
 much  to  answer  for,  but  not  the  neglect  of  the 
 Heathen.  God  does  not  expect  the  unconverted  to 
 preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen.  He  expects  His 
 disciples  to  do  it.  The  privilege  of  carrying  the  good 
 tidings  has  not  been  granted  to  others.  The  charge 
 has  been  entrusted  exclusively  to  us.  What,  then,  can 
 we  say  if  our  Master  returns  to-day,  and  finds  after 
 nineteen  centuries  more  than  half  the  world  is 
 utterly  unevangelized  ?  "  The  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
 ture " — a  plain  command.  Millions  who  have  never 
 heard  it — a  simple  fact.  What  are  we  going  to  say  ? 
 Can  we  say  We  do  not  Know  the  Command? 
 Not  know  it  !    Why  it  is  the  old  thread-bare  text 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 we  are  tired  of  hearing — we  have  heard  it  so  very^ 
 very  often !    Can  we  say  the  Heathen  live  in  coun- 
 tries so  far   away  we   cannot   get  to  them?     Nay, 
 steamers  are  sailing  to  all  parts  of  the  world  every 
 week  and  almost  every  day.     Can  we  say,  although 
 it  is  true  we  can  reach  their  shores  we   find  their 
 countries  barred  against  us?    Nothing  of  the  kind. 
 Look  at  India!    Look  at  Africa !    Or  look  at  China ! 
 China    alone    comprises    about    one    third   of   the 
 Heathen    world.     And    that    vast    Empire,    almost 
 throughout  its  entire  length  and  breadth,  is  open  for 
 anyone,  man  or  woman,  to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel 
 wherever  he  pleases.     Can  we  say  that  although  it  is 
 easy  to  reach  these  countries  and   we    are    free   to 
 travel  in  them,  yet  the  climate  is  invariably  deadly 
 and  we  cannot  live  there?    In  some  places  the  cli- 
 mate is  undoubtedly  bad.     Not  so   bad,  however, 
 but   that   when   any  civil   post  is  vacant  there   are 
 always  crowds  of  eager  applicants  ready  to  go  at  a 
 moment's  notice!    And  in  most  countries,  by  taking 
 simple  precautions,   Europeans  can    maintain  their 
 health  very  fairly,  while  in  some  districts  the  climate 
 is  preferable  to  our  own. 
 
 Can  we  say  "  But  the  languages  of  the  people  are 
 so  difficult,  we  cannot  make  them  understand"?  Is 
 it  so?  What  are  the  facts ?  The  most  difficult  lan- 
 guage in  the  world  is  said  to  be  Chinese.  Whether 
 it  is  or  not  I  do  not  know.  But  this  I  know — that 
 humble  missionaries  without  educational  advantages 
 have  gone  to  that  country,  and  by  sheer  hard  work 
 
lO  '*  DO   NOT    SAY." 
 
 and  trust  in  God  have  been  able  within  a  year  to 
 speak  intelligibly  the  simple  Gospel  truths ! 
 
 Well  then  what  can  we  say?  What  indeed!  I  for 
 one  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive  what  we  can 
 say.  After  puzzling  over  this  question,  and  casting 
 about  in  all  directions  to  lay  hold  of  something 
 which  we  might  reasonably  urge  as  our  excuse,  I  am 
 obliged  to  give  it  up  !  If  our  Master  returned  to-day 
 to  find  millions  of  people  unevangelized,  and  looked, 
 as  of  course  He  would  look,  to  us  for  an  explanation, 
 I  cannot  imagine  what  explanation  we  should  have 
 to  give. 
 
 Of  one  thing  I  am  certain — that  most  of  the  ex- 
 cuses we  are  accustomed  to  make  with  such  a  good 
 conscience  now^  we  should  be  wholly  ashamed  of 
 then. 
 
 "A  GREAT  MANY  PEOPLE  IN  THE  WORLD  HAVE 
 NEVER  HEARD  OF  Jesus."  We  read  that  sentence, 
 or  say  it  ourselves,  without  knowing  what  we  do.  It 
 is  very  sad,  of  course !  We  are  very  sorry.  But  to 
 hear  there  was  an  outbreak  of  measles  or  chicken-pox 
 in  our  neighborhood,  would  affect  us  much  more! 
 
 And  yet,  if  we  were  suddenly  to  take  in  the 
 reality  of  what  we  were  saying,  a  thrill  of  horror 
 would  seize  us,  and  stricken  down  on  our  faces 
 before  God,  we  should  be  filled  with  burning  shame, 
 and  consternation  and  woe. 
 
 Ah,  we  do  not  think  what  it  means,  that  our 
 brothers  and  sisters,  so  easily  accessible,  so  perfectly 
 able    to    understand    the    Gospel    message,   and    so 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  1 1 
 
 ^teatly  needing  it,  are  being  left  in  millions  to  per- 
 ish. If  we  did,  should  we  be  PLAYING  WITH  MIS- 
 SIONS as  most  of  us  are  ? 
 
 Supposing  the  news  were  flashed  upon  us  that 
 there  were  a  hundred  thousand  people  in  one  of  the 
 inland  States  who  had  never  heard  of  God,  who  had 
 no  one  to  care  for  them,  who,  if  the  Name  of  Jesus 
 were  mentioned,  would  not  have  an  idea  what  was 
 meant !  How  the  news  would  shock  us.  We  should 
 be  perfectly  startled,  horrified.  It  would  be  so 
 dreadful !  And  the  Gospel  would  be  brought  to 
 everyone  of  them  within  a  week.  Who  can  doubt 
 it  ?  But  why  would  it  be  so  dreadful  that  a  hundred 
 thousand  people  should  not  have  heard  of  God,  if 
 they  happened  to  live  on  this  side  the  water,  and 
 yet,  comparatively,  of  no  consequence  that  millions 
 should  be  in  ignorance  of  Him,  if  they  happen  to 
 live  on  that  side  the  water  ? 
 
 "  Oh,  but  here  they  are  respectable  people,  and 
 there— well,  at  best,  they  are  '  Only  Heathen  Chi- 
 nese."* "Only  Heathen  Chinese!"  But  "only 
 Heathen  Chinese  "  have  sins,  and  pains,  and  sorrows, 
 and  hearts  to  feel  them  too,  the  same  as  you. 
 "  Heathen  Chinese  "  are  brothers  and  sisters  whom 
 Jesus  bids  you  love.  Even  "  Heathen  Chinese " 
 have  souls  to  be  saved  or  lost.  And  I  suppose  it 
 was  for  "  Heathen  Chinese,"  as  much  as  fpr  you, 
 that  the  Saviour  shed  His  blood? 
 
 No,  you  cannot  believe  it  really  makes  any  dif- 
 ference whether  they  are  "  respectable  Americans  " 
 
12  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 or  *'only  Heathen  Chinese."  *  Whether  their  skins 
 are  yellow  or  black,  or  red  or  white.  Whether  they 
 live  here,  or  live  there.  People  are  people,  men  are 
 men,  SOULS  are  souls  wherever  they  are.  IV/ia^ 
 does  it  matter  to  GOD,  whether  we  eall  them  A  meri- 
 cans,  or  Chhiese,  or  by  some  other  name?  Whether 
 they  happen  to  live  on  this  side  the  water,  or  on  that  ? 
 *'  Whether  their  souls  are  in  black  bodies  or  in  white 
 ones   f 
 
 Oh,  it  is  a  cruel  shame,  a  disgrace  to  the  Church 
 of  Christ,  that  we  are  almost  at  the  close  of  the  nine- 
 teenth century,  and  millions  of  our  fellow-men  have 
 never  heard  of  Jesus  yet — ''  Redeemed,  but  they 
 don't  know  it."  No  one  has  gone  to  them  in  the 
 years  that  are  past ;  and,  to  multitudes  of  them,  no 
 one  is  going  to-day. 
 
 *  It  may  be  well  to  remember  that  the  Chinese  were  and 
 had  been  for  centuries,  a  great  and  civilized  people,  when 
 we,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  were  a  vulgar  horde  of  savages,  offer- 
 ing up  human  sacrifices,  and  committing  all  sorts  of  abomi- 
 nations ! 
 
"DO   NOT   SAY.  13 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 GENERAL    EXCUSES. 
 
 Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?" — Gen.  iv,  9. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  Missions  to  the  Heathen  /ire  absurd.     I 
 do  not  believe  in  them  ! " 
 
 Think  of  what  you  are  saying.  Of  course,  if  you 
 are  not  a  Christian,  nobody  expects  you  to  beheve 
 in  Missions  to  the  Heathen.  Why  should  you  ?  You 
 do  not  beheve  in  Missions  yourself,  still  less  to  the 
 Heathen.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  expect  you  to 
 believe  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen 
 when  (may  it  be  soon !)  you  know  the  gladness  of  it 
 yourself. 
 
 But  if  you  are  converted,  do  think  of  what  you 
 are  saying.  You  have  no  faith  in  Missions  to  the 
 Heathen.  Your  Master  does,  very  emphatically, 
 and  He  has  given  a  very  plain  command  on  the 
 subject.  But  you  do  not.  You  are  wiser  than  your 
 Master.  You  know  that  foreign  Missions  are  of  no 
 use, — waste  of  money,  waste  of  time,  waste  of  every- 
 thing. Your  Master  made  a  mistake  !  He  did  not 
 know  what  He  was  talking  about ! 
 
 My  brother,  how  dare  you  stand  up,  and  in  one 
 breath  call  yourself  a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
 the  next  ridicule — for  it  comes  to  nothing  less  than 
 that — your  Master's  last  parting  command  ? 
 
14  "  DO    NOl'  SAY. 
 
 When  that  Master,  whose  solemn  charge  to  us  as 
 He  went  away  was,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
 preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  comes  back  to 
 know  whether  we  have  obeyed  it,  I,  for  one,  should 
 not  like  to  be  amongst  those  of  His  servants  who 
 *' do  not  believe  in  Missions  to  the  Heathen," — 
 in  other  words,  who  do  not  believe  m  doing  what 
 He  tells  them  I 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "The  Native  Christians  are  all  hypocrites." 
 
 How  do  you  know?  Have  you  seen  them  all? 
 Perhaps  some  are.  But  are  all  the  Christians  in  this 
 country  everything  they  ought  to  be?  It  is  tho- 
 roughly sickening  to  hear  Home  Christians  (?)  who 
 are  living  comfortably  at  ease,  who  have  never  done 
 anything  for  Christ,  nor  endured  one  moment's  dis- 
 comfort on  His  account,  and  who  never  intend  to, 
 talking  thus  of  brothers  and  sisters  whose  lives  put 
 theirs  utterly  to  shame,  and  who  for  Jesus' sake  have 
 endured  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  gone  (some  of 
 them)  cheerfully  to  torture  and  the  flames,  singing 
 His  praises  with  their  dying  breath. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY    "The   Missionaries  are  all  make-believes. 
 They  live  in  luxury,  and  do  nothing." 
 
 Is  it  true  ? 
 
 And  if  it  is  true,  why,  there  is  all  the  more  urgent 
 need  for  you  really  good,  self-denying  people  to 
 come  yourselves  !  If  those  who  have  hitherto  gone 
 forth  (leaving  in  many  cases,  fortune,  and  prospects, 
 and  a  loving  home)  are  only  "  make-believes,"   it  is 
 
"DO   NOT   SAY."  15 
 
 indeed  time  that  the  true  ambassadors  hurried  for- 
 ward. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "I  cannot  support  the  present  system.  Mis- 
 sionaries ought  to  live  like  the  Natives,  and  on  $100  a 
 year,  or  less." 
 
 Why  ought  they?  And  how  do  you  know  they 
 all  can  ? 
 
 Many  people  live  in  this  country  on  not  much 
 more  than  $100  a  year.     So  of  course  you  do  ? 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  We  prefer  to  give  to  home  objects,  for  we 
 cannot  afford  to  send  men  and  money  out  of  the  country." 
 
 I  wonder  if  that  is  what  the  angels  said,  when 
 God  spoke  of  giving  up  His  only  Son  to  leave  the 
 Home-Land  and  go  to  a  strange  country  ?  It  is  what 
 we  should  have  said  had  we  been  there — is  it  not  ? 
 For  even  in  our  charity  we  cannot  afford  not  to  be 
 thinking  of  ourselves  !  But  is  this  indeed  all  we  are 
 capable  of?  Are  we  never  \.o  give  only  to  lend,  hop- 
 ing for  something  again,  and  CALL  IT  GIVING?  Are 
 we  never  to  help  our  fellow-men,  however  needy, 
 till  we  are  quite  sure  we  shall  not  ourselves  be  the 
 poorer?  Is  this  narrow  selfishness  the  breadth  of 
 our  generosity  ? 
 
 But  what,  if  by  refusing  to  send  the  civilizing, 
 enterprising  Gospel  to  the  Heathen  we  are  missing 
 a  great  opportunity,  declining  an  investment  which 
 would  bring  in  literal  stores  of  wealth? 
 
 Be  that  as  it  may,  no  nation  was  ever  the  poorer 
 yet  for  obeying  God's  command.     Depend  upon  it 
 
l6  "  DO   NOT   SAY.*' 
 
 this  keeping  back  is  short-sighted  policy.  Withhold 
 your  money;  withhold  your  Missionaries,  and  this 
 country  will  be  the  poorer.  Give  out  your  money  ; 
 give  out  your  Missionaries — the  very  best,  and  in 
 vastly  increased  numbers — and  this  nation  will  be 
 a  hundredfold  the  richer. 
 
 "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth : 
 there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  and — it 
 tendeth  to  poverty T 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "Why  should  we  do  everything  ?     We  are 
 doing  our    share.      Let   other   Countries    do   something.*' 
 
 Other  countries  are  doing — little  enough,  it  is 
 true — but  more,  perhaps,  than  we  think.  And  to  us 
 God  has  given  special  advantages,  which  others  do 
 not  possess. 
 
 But,  away  with  this  puny,  selfish  talk  !  With  half 
 a  world  full,  and  more,  of  needy  fellow-men  staring 
 us  in  the  face — to  whom  we  might  bring  the  joyful 
 news  of  God's  salvation,  but  to  whom  we  are  not 
 bringing  it — shall  we  rest  languidly  on  our  oars,  and 
 talk  happily  about  "  doing  our  share  "  } 
 
 Look  at  that  noble  vessel  yonder — a  complete 
 wreck  !  Half-a-dozen  life-boats  ought  to  be  putting 
 out  to  save  her.  But  only  one  goes  forth  !  Will  her 
 brave  sailors  content  themselves  with  leisurely  pick- 
 ing up  a  drowning  man  here  and  there,  and  answer 
 the  despairing  cries  of  others  with — ''Oh,  no!  We 
 are  doing  our  share'"?  Nay,  the  neglect  of  those 
 who  stayed  behind  is  to  them  but  a  stimulus  to  the 
 more  exertion. 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  17 
 
 Besides — "We  are  doing  our  share!**  Why,  it 
 is  ridiculous !  We  have  hardly  begun  to  do  anything 
 vet. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  The  Heathen  are  acting  up  to  their  light; 
 why  should  we  trouble  them  to  change  their  religion  ?  They 
 have  very  good  religions  of  their  own." 
 
 The  Heathen  are  7iot  acting  up  to  their  light. 
 
 They  have  very  bad  religions  of  their  own. 
 
 But  as  for  troubling  them  to  change — do  you 
 suppose  we  go  to  heathen  lands  ''to  get  people  to 
 change  their  religion  "  ?  I  for  one  would  not  go  a 
 yard  to  get  a  man  to  change  his  religion,  I  am  not 
 unselfish  enough.  But  I  would  go  to  China,  if  it 
 were  twice  the  distance  that  it  is,  to  get  a  man  to 
 receive  the  Lord  Jesus  as  his  personal  Saviour  and 
 Friend — which  is  a  very  different  thing.  Religion 
 cannot  save  ;  not  even  the  Christian  religion.  But 
 Jesus  Christ  can,  and  does.  And,  oh,  how  they  need 
 a  Saviour! 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "But  God  is  very  merciful.  He  will  not  be 
 hard  upon  the  Heathen.  *  The  Lord  He  is  God.'  He  will 
 see  that  it  comes  all  right  in  the  end." 
 
 God  is  just  as  well  as  merciful.  The  Heathen 
 are  sinning  wilfully  every  day.  And  "The  wages  of 
 sin"  is — not  'all  right  in  the  end,'  but — "death." 
 
 True,  if  we  neglect  our  part,  God  can  find  some 
 other  way  of  carrying  out  His  purposes.  But  that 
 will  not  lessen  our  guilt;  nor  can  it  do  away  with  our 
 loss. 
 
 Do  Not  Say— 2 
 
1 8  "DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  For  one  who  receives  the  Gospel  there 
 will  be  a  hundred  who  reject  it.  If  you  go  to  the  Heathen 
 you  will  only  increase  their  condemnation.  It  is  kinder  to 
 stay  away  and  leave  them  as  they  are." 
 
 Then  we  had  better  pull  down  our  Churches  and 
 Sunday  Schools,  burn  our  Bibles,  import  a  few  idols 
 from  India  (for  the  people  will  want  something),  and 
 bring  up  our  own  people  as  heathen — for  by  giving 
 them  the  Gospel  we  only  increase  the  responsibility 
 and  condemnation  of  those  who  reject  it  ! 
 
 How  can  we  be  so  unkind,  too,  as  to  tell  our 
 children  it  is  right  to  speak  the  truth,  seeing  that 
 their  guilt  will  be  the  greater  the  next  time  they  tell 
 a  lie  !  All  opportunity  of  knowledge  adds  to  the 
 responsibility  of  those  who  neglect  or  misuse  it — and 
 many  do — therefore,  let  us  try  to  keep  everybody 
 ignorant  of  everything ! 
 
 Oh,  foolish  wiseacres !  Surely  God  knows  as 
 much  about  it  as  we  do,  and  cares  as  much  for  the 
 welfare  of  the  Heathen  as  we  do.  Would  He  tell  us 
 to  go  to  them  and  preach  the  Gospel  if  it  were 
 ^^ kinder  to  stay  away  ''? 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "Amongst  such  multitudes  of  Heathen  the 
 most  we  can  do  is  as  nothing.  It  can  make  scarcely  any 
 appreciable  difference  whether  we  do  much  or  little.  The 
 task  is  hopeless." 
 
 Again  remember,  as  servants  and  not  masters,  it 
 
 is  ours  not  to  question,  but  to   obey.     What  right 
 
 have  we  to   sit  still,   and  call  the  work  which  our 
 
 Master  has  given  us  to  do  a  hopeless  task,  instead  of 
 
 getting  up  and  doing  it? 
 
"DO    NOT   SAY."  19 
 
 But  the  task  is  not  hopeless.  If  only  from  every 
 Congregation,  or  Christian  Association,  one  man  or 
 one  woman  would  go  forth,  and  that  congregation  or 
 association  would  support  him,  there  at  once  would 
 be  the  Missionaries — enough  to  evangelize  the  world  ! 
 It  is  not  our  responsibility  to  convert  the  nations,  but 
 it  is  our  responsibility  to  evangelize  them — to  give 
 them  the  opportunity.  And  it  might  be  done  so 
 easily  ! 
 
 Oh  !  It  is  just  this,  the  ease  with  which  it  might 
 be  done,  that  makes  things  so  much  worse.     To  see 
 our  poor  fellow-men  bowing  their  heads  in  heathen 
 temples,   degrading    themselves    beneath    the    level 
 of  the  beasts,  living  lives  so  wretched,  so  cruel,  so 
 hopeless,  so    bad — God's    creatures    without    God 
 — in  any  case,    and   under  any  circumstances,  must 
 be  sad  enough.     But   if  we  could  say   to   ourselves 
 '*  Poor  things  !    it    really    cannot   be    helped.      We 
 Christians  are   so  few  we   have  not  more  men  and 
 women  to  go  to  you.     And,  besides,  we  are  so  poor 
 we  could  not  send  them  if  we  had  ;  we  have  already 
 denied  ourselves  to  the  last  penny  we  possess  " — if 
 we  could  say  this,  there  would  be  some  sort  of  com- 
 fort.    But  to  know  that  we  can  say  nothing  of  the 
 kind  !  to  know  that,  if  we  chose,  we  could  bring  the 
 Gospel  to  them  all  !  and  to  know  that  we  are  not 
 doing  it,  and  are  not  likely  to  do  it ! — it  is  this  which 
 presses  upon  the  missionary's  heart  when  he  finds 
 himself  alone  amongst  them,  and  which  enters  like 
 iron  into  his  soul. 
 
20  *'  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  «'  The  Heathen  must  be  evangelized  by  the 
 Natives  themselves.  What  we  want  is  not  so  much  Mis- 
 sionaries as  Christian  Natives  to  do  the  work." 
 
 Certainly  we  do.  But  how  are  we  to  get  them  ? 
 How  is  it  that  in  some  places  there  are  Christian 
 natives  doing  so  much  for  the  extension  of  Christ's 
 kingdom  ?  Because,  for  years  past  you  have  been 
 sending  Missionaries  to  those  districts.  How  is  it 
 that  in  innumerable  other  districts  there  is  not  a 
 single  Christian  native  doing  anything?  Because,  to 
 those  districts  you  have  not  sent  any  Missionaries. 
 And  till  Missionaries  are  sent,  there  is  no  possibility 
 of  their  doing  anything,  or  of  the  Heathen  there 
 being  "  evangelized  by  the  natives  themselves." 
 How  can  Heathen  natives  evangelize  the  Heathen  ! 
 
 To  take  China  for  example.  It  is  useless  to  sup- 
 pose that  a  few  Christians  near  the  coast  can  in- 
 fluence people  in  other  Provinces,  and  speaking  dif- 
 ferent dialects,  hundreds  of  miles  away.  What  in- 
 fluence would  a  few  poor  simple  Christians  in  New 
 England  exert  upon  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  MEXICO  ? 
 Let  us  pray  that  God  will  baptize  the  native  Chris- 
 tians with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  fill  them  with  a  true 
 missionary  spirit.  But  even  then,  there  are  crowds 
 of  Heathen  around  them  utterly  unevangelized. 
 Little  would  be  gained  if  they  left  these,  whose 
 language  and  customs  they  know,  to  go  to  distant 
 places  where  the  people  and  their  language  are  alike 
 strange. 
 
 We  must  send  Missionaries  to  begin  the  work — nol 
 
"DO  NOT  SAY."  21 
 
 to  a  few  places  near  the  coast,  but  to  all  the  prov- 
 inces, and  to  all  the  countries  throughout  those  prov- 
 inces, to  gather  in,  under  God,  at  each  centre,  a  mi- 
 cleiis  of  native  Christians.  The  native  Christians  can 
 then  evangehze  the  surrounding  districts,  and  thus 
 the  whole  Empire  may  be  reached. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    "Ah,  but   after  all,  we  need  not  trouble 
 about  numbers.     Remember  Gideon's  three  hundred." 
 
 Yes,  remember  Gideon's  three  hundred,  but  for- 
 get the  forty-two  thousand  who  offered  ! 
 
 At  that  time,  and  for  a  special  purpose,  God  ^.?- 
 ^2V^<^  three  hundred,  and  three  hundred  only,  were 
 to  go.  And  the  work  was  done.  Provided  God's 
 command  is  really  carried  out,  by  all  means  let  only 
 three  hundred  go,  or  thirty,  or  three. 
 
 But  when  God  has  told  us  to  go  and  preach  the 
 Gospel  to  every  creature,  and  millions  are  dying  with- 
 out it,  because  we  do  not  choose  to  go  to  them,  it  is 
 vain,  nay,  it  is  wicked  trifling,  to  try  to  hide  our  dis- 
 obedience and  throw  the  responsibility  upon  God, 
 under  the  convenient  cloak  of  Gideon's  three  hun. 
 dred. 
 
 Strange,  too,  that  in  Heathen  lands,  where  there 
 is  often  not  one  Missionary  to  a  miUion  people,  we 
 piously  remind  ourselves  that  "  it  is  nothing  with 
 the  Lord  to  save  by  many  or  by  few,"  and  we  feel 
 comforted  !  But  if  one  or  two  extra  ones  think  of 
 leaving  our  own  land,  with  its  armies  of  Christian 
 workers,  and  going  to  the  Heathen,  we  get  quite 
 
22  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 alarmed ;  although  it  is  true,  I  suppose,  that  the 
 Lord  is  able  to  save  by  few  here  as  much  as  in 
 Heathendom,  and  although,  after  the  few  extra  ones 
 have  gone,  there  will  still  be  thousands  left  beJiind! 
 
 Why  not  try  Gideon's  three  hundred  in  the  Home 
 lands?  It  might  be  as  good  for  America  as  for 
 China,  and,  perhaps,  a  little  better! 
 
 Besides,  where  are  Gideon  s  three  hundred  in 
 Heathen  lands?  Where  I  have  travelled,  if  indeed 
 the  three-hundredth  man  was  there,  too  often  I 
 found  that  somehow  Gideon  and  the  two  hundred 
 and  ninety-nine  had  stayed  behind  !  If  you  must 
 talk  about  Gideon's  three  hundred,  why  not  send 
 tJiem? 
 
 DO    NOT   SAY   "  But  we  are  not  all  called  to  be  Mission- 
 aries," 
 
 No,  apparently  not !  And,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  we 
 are  not  in  the  very  least  danger  of  thinking  that  we 
 all  are.  We  are  much  more  in  danger  of  transpos- 
 ing the  words,  and  thinking  **  We  are  all  not  called 
 to  be  Missionaries." 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    "  But  we  cannot  send  everybody  away;  we 
 must  keep  some  good  people  at  Home." 
 
 Certainly  we  must.  And,  what  is  more,  we  do. 
 '  Seeing  that  out  of  i,ooo  good  people,  999  stay  in 
 our  own  land,  and  one,  at  most,  goes  to  the  great 
 needy  countries  beyond,  it  does  not  seem  that  we 
 need  begin  to  be  very  anxious  just  yet,  lest  the 
 Heathen  should  get  more  than  their  share  ! 
 
''  DO   NOT   SAY."  23 
 
 One  out  of  a  thousand — nay,  not  so  many — going 
 to  the  Heathen,  and  already  we  cry  out  in  alarm,  and 
 grudge  them  even  that  one! 
 
 Is  this  being  in  sympathy  with  Jesus?  Is  this 
 obeying  His  command  ? 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  But  we  are  doing  so  much  for  the 
 Heathen.  Why,  we  sent  out  a  hundred  Missionaries  to 
 China  alone  in  one  year !" 
 
 So  much  !  Supposing  your  house  was  on  fire,  and 
 the  fire  department  sent  half-a-dozen  children  with 
 seaside  buckets  to  put  it  out,  what  would  you  think 
 of  it  ?  And  when  you  indignantly  run  and  ask  them 
 whatever  they  mean  by  trifling  with  you  like  that, 
 they  solemnly  assure  you,  '*  Oh,  we  are  doing  so 
 much — for  you  especially.  We  only  sent  three  to 
 the  other  house,  but  we  sent  six  to  you."  Would  not 
 you  be  happy  ? 
 
 The  fact  is  we  forget  the  size  of  these  countries 
 and  the  numbers  of  people  they  contain. 
 
 "A  hundred  Missionaries  to  China  in  one  year !" 
 Why,  if  our  eyes  were  opened,  instead  of  congratu- 
 lating ourselves  upon  ''  doing  so  much,"  we  should 
 be  utterly  astounded  and  ashamed  to  think  that  out 
 of  the  thousands  of  Christian  young  men  and  women 
 in  this  country,  only  one  hundred  were  found  ready 
 to  go  to  great  "  dark  hungry  China "  in  a  whole 
 year ! 
 
 In  reality  the  Church  of  Christ  is  playing  with 
 the  Heathen,  and  then  we  mock  them  by  talking 
 about  ''doing  so  much." 
 
24  •'  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  Oh !  but  nowadays  we  really  do  take 
 such  a  great  interest  in  Foreign  Missions.  It  is  perfectly 
 delightful !" 
 
 Ah  yes,  we  take  such  a  deep  interest  in  Foreign 
 Missions.  We  are  so  fond  of  one  or  two  pet  Mis- 
 sionaries. We  like  to  attend  the  Missionary  meet- 
 ings. (If  it  is  a  fine  evening  we  nearly  half  fill  the 
 room !)  We  give  so  much  to  the  collection.  (A 
 hundredth  part,  perhaps,  of  what  we  spend  upon 
 ourselves !)  We  belong  to  the  Missionary  Union. 
 We  patronize  the  Missionary  Convention.  Some- 
 times we  read  the  Missionary  paper.  And  we  are 
 quite  enthusiastic  over  a  Bazaar.  In  fact,  we  are 
 doing  so  many  nice  things.  But  NOT  GOING  TO 
 THE  Heathen  when  we  might  ?  ''  Oh  no,  we  could 
 not  do ///^^."  Not  letting  our  children  go?  **  Oh 
 no,  we  could  not  think  of  it!"  Not  sending  our 
 representative  ?  ''  No,  that  would  not  be  quite  con- 
 venient." Not  praying  for  the  work  in  downright 
 earnest?  "No,  perhaps  not;  but  still  we  take  a 
 very  deep  interest  in  Missions  ! "  Yes,  and  while  we 
 are  stopping  at  home,  *'  taking  such  a  very  deep  interest 
 in  missions''  our  brothers  and  sisters  yonder  are 
 perishing  by  millions,  zvith  no  one  to  care  for  them  ! 
 
 ''  Such  a  great  interest  in  missions."  Thank 
 God,  there  is  more  than  there  was — some  of  it  a 
 very  genuine  interest.  But,  after  all,  does  it  amount 
 to  more  than  this — giving  a  little  of  what  we  think 
 we  can  spare  after  providing  for  ourselves  ? 
 
 If  we  have  a  taste  for  a  nicer  house,  or  a  new 
 
"DO   NOT  SAY."  25 
 
 dress,  or  a  popular  book,  or  the  usual  outing,  or  an 
 innocent  hobby,  of  course  we  must  gratify  it.  And 
 in  our  church,  if  a  larger  organ,  or  an  expensive  choir, 
 or  a  little  decoration,  or  a  church  tower,  or  a  peel  of 
 bells,  or  additional  workers,  or  any  extra  comfort 
 would  be  desirable,  why,  we  must  have  them.  After 
 that,  if  there  should  still  be  any  money  or  workers 
 to  sparCy  perhaps  we  may  do  a  little  for  the  Heathen  ! 
 But  do  we  ever  dream  of  going  without  anything  our- 
 selves? Imagine,  for  example,  our  sending  to  the 
 Heathen  just  ONE  MORE  MAN  THAN  WE  COULD 
 SPARE,  SO  that  for  one  church  we  could  not  find  a 
 Minister  !  What  an  outcry  there  would  be  !  Why, 
 even  those  who  take  the  most  active  interest 
 in  Foreign  Missions  would  be  afraid  we  were 
 "  really  going  a  little  too  far."  Yes,  though  that 
 clergyman  had  left  but  five  hundred,  nominal 
 Christians  already  (many  of  them  true  Christians), 
 and  gone  to  a  parish  of  a  thousand  thousand,  all 
 Heathen — and  he  the  only  worker  amongst  them  all 
 — it  would  still  be  thought  a  dreadful  thing  for  this 
 church  to  be  without  a  minister,  albeit  there  were  a 
 dozen  other  churches,  half  empty,  in  that  very  place» 
 When  shall  we  wake  up,  and  understand,  that  "  tak- 
 ing an  interest  in  Foreign  Missions  "  really  ought  to 
 mean  something  more  than  giviyig  the  Heat  Jie7i  a  few 
 fragments,  after  spreading  a  most  bountiful  table  for 
 ourselves  ? 
 
26  *'  DO  NOT  SAY." 
 
 CHAPTER  III. 
 PERSONAL  EXCUSES. 
 
 "Lord,  I  will  follow  Thee — 3«/." — Luke  ix,  6i. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "I  hope  the  Climate  is  healthy,  and  the 
 Food  good,  and  the  People  very  nice,  because  I  should 
 not  like  to  run  any  risk." 
 
 Fine  talk,  indeed,  for  a  soldier! 
 
 **If  the  climate  is  salubrious,  and  the  feather  beds 
 soft,  and  the  dinners  nicely  cooked,  and  if  you  are 
 quite  sure  there  is  no  danger  of  being  shot,  I  will  go 
 to  the  war.  But  I  should  not  like  to  expose  myself 
 to  the  chance  of  fever,  nor  run  the  slightest  risk  of 
 being  killed ! " 
 
 For  shame !  Have  you  nothing  better  to  give  to 
 God  than  that? 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  What  a  stirring  address  that  was !  It 
 was  just  what  our  people  needed.  I  hope  it  will  lead  some 
 of  them  to  support  a  Missionary,  or  to  go  themselves." 
 
 That  is  all  very  well.  But  what  is  it  going  to  lead 
 ^ou  to  do?  Why  do  not  j/ou  support  a  Missionary 
 (or  have  your  share  )?    Why  do  not  ^oti  go  ? 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "Oh!  evangelizing  the  Heathen  is  the 
 Missionaries'  business.     It  does  not  concern  me." 
 
 Nay,  but  it  does  concern  you,  if  you  are  God's 
 servant.     And  if  evangelizing  the  Heathen  is  ''the 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  27 
 
 Missionaries'  business,"  why  may  it  not  be  your 
 business  to  become  a  Missionary  ?  Very  likely  it  is. 
 Why  is  it  my  business  to  be  a  Missionary  any  more 
 than  yours  ?  Anyhow,  in  God's  plan  you  have  your 
 part.     Mind  you  find  out  what  it  is,  a7id  do  it. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY     "I    am    not    good  enough  to  be  a  Mis- 
 sionary." 
 
 Is  not  this  the  voice  of  Satan  ?  Would  that  man 
 be  fit  to  go  who  felt  himself  good  enough  ?  Do  you 
 really  know  the  Lord,  and  love  the  Lord?  Then 
 surely  you  can  give  His  message? 
 
 If  there  IS  anything  ivro7tg  with  yon,  you  can  go 
 to  Him  and  get  it  put  right  at  once. 
 
 But  as  for  weakness  and  insufficiency,  why,  that 
 is  your  strength.  "  It  is  GOD  that  worketh  in  us, 
 both  to  will  and  to  do."  And  His  *'  strength  is  made 
 perfect  in  weakness!'  The  best  Missionaries  are — 
 Not  Angels  but  *'  Nothing."  "  When  I  am  weak, 
 then  I  am  strong."  **  Follow  Me  "  (ye  rough  fisher- 
 men. I  know  you  are  none  of  you  good  enough, 
 but)  **  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men."    And  He  did. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    "I   cannot  be  a  Missionary.     1  have  not 
 been  to  College," 
 
 Never  mind  !  A  little  college  training  is  a  good 
 thing,  no  doubt,  if  you  can  have  it,  but  it  is  not  essen- 
 tial. Some  of  our  Lord's  disciples  had  not  been  to 
 college.  Still  He  was  able  to  use  them !  And  He 
 will  be  able  to  use  you,  if  you  know  your  Bible,  and 
 have  a  humble,  teachable  spirit. 
 
28  *'  DO   NOT   SAY.'* 
 
 DO    NOT   SAY   "  But  I  have  no  Special  Gifts." 
 
 ''  Special  gifts,"  though   exceedingly  useful,  are 
 
 altogether  secondary.    A  Missionary's  life  is  more 
 
 *' ordinary "    than    is    supposed.     Plod    rather   than 
 
 cleverness  is  often  the  best  missionary  equipment. 
 
 The  "  special  gift  "  is  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit — 
 
 Whom  our  Heavenly  Father  WILL  GIVE  to  them 
 
 that  ask  Him.     Do  not  come  without  THAT. 
 
 DO   NOT    SAY   **  I  am  too  old.     I  should  never  be  able  to 
 learn  the  language," 
 
 Then  you  can  go  to  other  countries  where  the 
 natives  understand  English,  such  as  some  parts  of 
 India,  South  Africa,  West  Indies,  or  even  Japan. 
 
 But  who  said  you  could  never  learn  the  language  ? 
 God  can  do  greater  things  for  you  in  a  Heathen  land 
 than  enable  you  to  learn  to  speak. 
 
 Besides,  you  can  always  be  speaking  by  your  life. 
 If  you  will  come  and  REALLY  LIVE  Christ  among 
 the  people,  it  will  be  worth  while  coming  a  dozen 
 times  over. 
 
 You  are  very  highly  gifted.  You  have  a  thor- 
 ough knowledge  of  the  language.  You  are  an  ex- 
 tremely fluent  speaker.  The  people  crowd  around 
 you  in  the  streets,  and  hang  upon  your  lips.  They 
 are  perfectly  amazed,  and  say  one  to  another,  *'  See, 
 this  foreign  man,  he  talks  our  language,  just  like 
 ourselves!  " 
 
 But  an  ill-mannered  somebody  suddenly  insults 
 you,  calls  you  a  bad  name,  throws  a  stone  at  you. 
 In  a  moment  you  lose  your  temper,  and  return  a 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  29 
 
 hard  answer.     Ah  !  what  has  become  of  your  preach- 
 ing now? 
 
 Or  perhaps  your  Hfe  at  home  is  faulty.  The 
 people  are  sure  to  find  it  out.  And  when  they  hear 
 from  your  servants  or  from  those  who  know  you, 
 that  you  are  domineering  or  selfish,  thinking  more 
 of  yourself  and  of  your  own  comfort  than  of  them, 
 the  next  time  you  go  to  preach  your  words  will  not 
 go  very  far! 
 
 But  you  are  not  gifted.  You  cannot  learn  the 
 language.  You  stammer  out  a  few — a  very  few — 
 halting  words,  accent  and  idiom  being  alike  bad. 
 The  people  can  hardly  understand  you  at  all.  But 
 somehow  there  is  something  in  your  face  and  in 
 your  manner  which  speaks  to  them.  They,  too,  get 
 behind  the  scenes.  They  go  to  those  who  know 
 you  and  say,  ''  That  foreign  man  (or,  *  that  foreign 
 woman  ')  who  comes  to  us,  he  (or  she)  doesn't  know 
 much  of  our  language — what  sort  of  person  is  it?" 
 
 "Ah!  never  mind  about  the  language.  I  can  tell 
 you  this.  I  used  to  have  no  one  to  care  for  me.  But 
 now  since  this  dear  foreign  lady  has  come  to  live 
 amongst  us  I  know  what  it  is  to  have  somebody  to 
 love  me!  She  cannot  talk  much.  But  she  is  so 
 patient  and  so  good.  She  never  seems  to  think  of 
 herself.  She  is  always  thinking  about  us  poor  people 
 — how  can  she  make  us  better." 
 
 Why,  dear  sister,  dear  brother,  those  few  feeble 
 stuttering  words,  backed  up  by  a  patient,  loving, 
 christian  life,  will  go  further  than  volumes  of  the 
 
30  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 most  beautiful  talk,  where  the  life  is  absent — indeed 
 they  will ! 
 
 So,  again  I  say,  if  you  will  come  to  the  Heathen 
 — and  do  nothing  but  live  a  holy  life,  it  will  be  well 
 worth  while  for  you  to  come.  Though  you  never  learn 
 to  speak  a  word  of  their  language,  you  will  be  preach- 
 ing to  the  people — and  the  best  kind  of  preaching 
 too — every  day  you  live ! 
 
 But  you  would  be  able  to  learn  the  language. 
 Never  fear.  "  Who  hath  made  man's  mouth?"  I  do 
 not  know  anyone  who  had  to  give  up  and  come 
 home,  because  he  could  not  learn  the  language  in 
 China.  At  the  same  time,  it  does  mean  hard  work, 
 and  a  steady,  persevering  spirit. 
 
 DO     NOT    SAY     *«I    should   like  to   go,  but  I  know  my 
 parents  would  never  give  their  consent." 
 
 Have  you  ever  seriously  asked  them  ?  Perhaps 
 they  are  more  willing  than  you  think.  "  Who  shall 
 roll  us  away  the  stone  .  .  .  ?  And,  when  they  looked 
 they  saw  that  the  stone  was  rolled  away."  Go  on — 
 trust  in  God.  Ask  your  parents.  You,  too,  may 
 find  the  stone  already  rolled  away. 
 
 If  not,  do  not  be  discouraged.  Continue  in 
 prayer.  Try  to  interest  your  parents  in  missionary 
 work.  Let  them  know  you  understand  what  you  are 
 talking  about.  Perhaps  they  are  only  waiting  to  see 
 whether  you  really  mean  it. 
 
 In  any  case,  be  patient.  Keep  believing.  Per- 
 haps when  you  least  expect  it  God  will  make  your 
 parents  willing.     In    the   meantime,   be   contented 
 
*'  DO   NOT   SAY.  31 
 
 where  you  are,  or  wherever  God  puts  you.     And  be 
 more  dutiful  and  loving  in  your  home  than  ever. 
 
 DO     NOT     SAY    ♦'  My  health  is   not  very    strong.     I  am 
 afraid  I  could  not  stand  the  climate." 
 
 You  cannot  tell.  No  one  can  tell.  There  are 
 some  in  the  Mission  Fields  to-day,  whom  the  Doctors 
 would  not  pass,  standing  the  climate  well,  and  doing 
 excellent  work,  while  others  who  went  out  strong 
 have  fallen  !  Even  in  this,  God  is  no  respecter  of 
 persons. 
 
 But  there  are  climates  and  climates.  Some  are 
 very  bad  and  some  are  very  good.  Because  you 
 could  not  live  in  one  country,  it  does  not  in  the  least 
 follow  you  could  not  live  in  another.  Nay,  in  the 
 satne  country,  you  might  be  always  ill  in  one  part, 
 and  yet  strong  and  well  in  another  part.  Why  do 
 the  doctors — and  others — not  remember  this? 
 
 Anyway,  if  health  is  a  difficulty,  take  it  to  God. 
 If  God  keeps  you  back,  it  is  all  right.  But,  remem- 
 ber. He  often  makes  delicate  people  strong  enough 
 to  do  impossibilities.  "Jehovah  Rophi"  is  in  the 
 Bible  still. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY   "  But  think  of  the  waste  of  money  if  his 
 health  fails  and  he  has  to  come  home." 
 
 Waste  of  money!  What!  have  we  really  began 
 to  deny  ourselves  seriously  enough  to  talk  in  that 
 strain  ? 
 
 Besides,  do  we  suppose  we  are  going  to  evangel- 
 ize the  world  without  running  any  risks?     Nay,  if 
 
32  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 we  are  ever  to  succeed  in  bringing  the  Gospel  to  our 
 fellow  creatures,  we  must  run  risks  and  make  real 
 sacrifices,  and  be  in  desperate  earnest.  There  must 
 be  breakdowns,  and  waste  of  money  (so  called),  and 
 worse  things  than  that.  We  may  think  of  ourselves 
 — our  lives,  our  health,  our  money,  our  friends,  our 
 reputation  for  prudence,  what  people  will  say,  and  so 
 on.  But  we  shall  never  evangelize  the  Heathen  ! 
 Success  after  failure.  Progress  after  loss.  Victory 
 over  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Life  out  of  death.  Is 
 not  this  God's  plan? 
 
 Whilst  we  are  thinking  of  ourselves  the 
 Heathen  are  perishing!!  Risk  or  no  risk, 
 WE  OUGHT  TO  GO  TO  THEM  !  Shall  we  not,  then, 
 cease  from  our  calculating  lukewarm  caution,  and, 
 with  our  trust  in  God,  dare  to  venture  something, 
 dare  to  venture  anything,  rather  than  leave  the 
 Heathen  without  God,  as  zve  ARE  leaviitg  them?  Is 
 the  Christian  warfare  the  only  one  in  which  it  is  wrong 
 to  run  any  risk,  in  which  it  is  a  sin  to  die  ? 
 
 "  Waste  of  money  if  he  breaks  down  and  has  to 
 come  home."  Ah  !  but  who  thinks  of  the  waste  of 
 Heathen  souls  if  he  might  have  spent  along  and  use- 
 ful life  amongst  them,  and  let  them  die  alone?  Of 
 course  we  must  not  be  reckless.  That  is  not  God's 
 way.  But  what  men  do  every  day  for  their  country, 
 and  others  for  gain,  and  some  for  pleasure,  surely 
 we  may  do  for  Him  who  gave  Himself  for  us  ? 
 
 Yet,  though  millions  of  sad  and  weary  Heathen 
 be  left  without  God,  God's  servants  if  a  little  delicate 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY.  33 
 
 may  not  go  to  them,  albeit  numbers  of  our  country- 
 men, quite  as  delicate  as  they  are,  are  living  in  those 
 very  countries,  for  (in  comparison)  the  most  trifling 
 objects !  May  we  not  be  sinning  against  God  and 
 against  the  Heathen  in  being  too  cautious  ?  A  step, 
 which  in  ordinary  circumstances  may  be  utter  folly, 
 in  a  time  oi  emergency  may  be  the  highest  wisdom — 
 especially  when  we  have  God  to  count  upon! 
 
 Oh!  do  let  us  decide  that  the  Gospel  MUST  be 
 preached  quickly  to  every  creature,  and  then,  subjeci 
 to  that,  let  us  be  as  prudent  as  we  can. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    "/  cannot   go,  for  I  have   my  Duties  at 
 Home." 
 
 You  may  have.  And  they  may  be  such  as  ought 
 to  keep  you  at  home.  But  do  not  take  it  for  granted. 
 Do  you  suppose  the  Lord  Jesus  came  from  Heaven 
 to  save  us  because  He  had  nothing  to  do  up  there? 
 And  are  only  those  to  go  to  the  Heathen  who  have 
 nothing  to  do  at  home  ?  Why,  those  are  the  very 
 people  we  do  not  want! 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    "In  my  case  it  is  out  of  the  question,  I 
 have  my  business  to  attend  to." 
 
 My  business?  It  is  God's  business,  surely,  you 
 have  to  attend  to  if  you  are  His  servant !  Of  course 
 yotir  business  may  be  God's  business  for  you.  But 
 are  you  quite  sure  ? 
 
 The  Apostles  were  engaged  in  business,  but  they 
 had  to  leave  it.  You  may  have  to  do  the  same. 
 Certainly  if  our  fellow  men  are  to  hear  the  Gospel 
 
 Do  Not  Say — 3 
 
34  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 before  they  die,  a  great  many  people  v^h.o  are  in  busi- 
 ness will  have  to  give  it  up,  and  go  to  them— your- 
 self perhaps  amongst  the  number.  Why  not?  Why 
 should  others  go  and  not  you  ? 
 
 It  just  comes  to  this.  Your  life  is  God's  prop- 
 erty. Are  you  where  you  are  now,  BECAUSE  yon 
 offered  your  life  to  God  for  the  Heathen  or  any- 
 where else  ^  and  God  sent  yoit  into  business?  If  so, 
 you  are  in  your  right  place — NOT  OTHERWISE. 
 Business  is  not  t\vQ  first  thing.  ''Seek  ye  FIRST  the 
 Kingdom  of  God'' 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  *' God  is  beginning  to  make  my  business 
 prosper.  He  cannot  mean  me  to  leave  it  when  I  am  getting 
 on  so  well." 
 
 Then  does  God  want  as  missionaries  only  those 
 who  try  their  hand  at  business  and  fail  ?  Is  to  be 
 unsuccessful  in  business  a  good  qualification  for 
 making  a  successful  missionary?  Are  we  to  offer 
 our  service  to  God  for  the  Heathen  only  when  we 
 find  it  is  of  no  use  elsewhere? 
 
 One  had  always  looked  at  it  the  other  way  !  We 
 had  thought  that  the  successful  men  in  business — 
 not  the  failures — were  the  ones  who  would  be  of  use 
 in  the  Mission  Field ! 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  •'  But  if  I  stay  at  home  I  can  stir  up  others 
 to  go ;  or  make  money,  and  send  out  several  Missionaries 
 in  my  stead." 
 
 By  far  the  best  way  to  stir  up  others  is  to  set  the 
 example,  and  go  yourself,  if  possible. 
 
"DO    NOT   SAY."  35 
 
 Satan  keeps  us  asleep  as  long  as  he  can  And  as 
 soon  as  we  begin  to  awake,  he  suddenly  discovers  to 
 us  that  the  best  way  of  helping  the  Heathen  is  to 
 stop  at  home  !  Anything  so  long  as  lie  can  keep  us 
 from  really  going  to  thcni. 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY     "  It   is  of  no  use  for  me  to  think  of  it. 
 There  are  so  many  difficulties  in  the  way." 
 
 Do  you  not  know  that  difficulties  are  a  good  sign? 
 All  the  Missionaries  that  ever  were  had  difficulties 
 in  the  way  (or  they  ought  to  have  had).  Difficulties 
 are  made  to  be  overcome.  They  point  forward^ 
 not  backward. 
 
 Tell  the  Society  about  them,  or  consult  your 
 friends  (only  take  care  they  are  the  right  sort  of 
 friends). 
 
 Above  all,  take  your  difficulties  to  God,  and  wait 
 to  see  what  He  will  do  with  them.  Be  importunate, 
 but  not  impetuous.  You  can  afford  to  wait,  if  God 
 is  at  the  helm.  In  the  meantime  be  doing  good,  and 
 —STUDY your  Bible. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "I  have  no  particular  love  for  the  Heathen ; 
 I  do  not  feel  any  special  drawing  towards  them." 
 
 Get  to  know  more  about  them ;  pray  more  for 
 them  ;  take  a  definite  interest  in  them.  It  is  diffi- 
 cult to  love  people  we  do  not  know  about,  or  think 
 about.  Do  you  read  the  Missionary  papers?  Do 
 you  attend  the  Missionary  Prayer  Meetings? 
 
 But,  after  all,  the  zvay  to  love  the  Heathen  is  to 
 go  to  them.     It  is  much  easier  to  love  people  when 
 
36  "DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 you  are  living  among  them,  than  when  you  are  ten 
 thousand  miles  away  ! 
 
 In  the  meantime,  the  question  really  is,  not  have 
 you  "  a  particular  love  for  the  Heathen,"  but — Do 
 YOU  LOVE  GOD? 
 
 L)0    NOT    SAY    "  But  it  would  not  do  to  go  from  impulse." 
 
 That  is  easily  settled.  Take  the  matter  soberly 
 to  God  in  prayer.     After  that  it  ivill  not  be  impulse. 
 
 Think  of  this.  The  impulse  you  feel  may  be 
 God's  Holy  Spirit  stirring  within  you.  But  you  do 
 not  in  your  heart  zuant  to  be  a  Missionary?  And 
 Satan  knows  it.  So  he  makes  you  pleased  with  your- 
 self  that  you  have  the  impulse  to  go,  but  persuades 
 you  that  it  would  be  wrong  to  indulge  it  at  present. 
 You  are  very  glad  of  the  temporary  excuse — get  set- 
 tled down  at  home,  and  never  go  to  the  Heathen 
 at  all ! 
 
 If  you  have  no  particular  impulse  to  go  to  the 
 Heathen,  Satan  tells  you  you  must  wait  awhile  till 
 you  have.  If  you  have  any  impulse  to  go,  he  tells  you 
 *'  it  would  never  do  to  go  from  impulse,"  you  must 
 wait  awhile,  till  the  impulse  moderates  or  dies  away  ! 
 
 Why  are  we  trifling  like  this — inventing  excuses, 
 and  keeping  our  fellow-men  without  God? 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    '■^My  path,  at  any  rate,  is  clear,  for  I  have 
 my  work  for  God  at  Home." 
 
 My  brother,  if  you  have  not  your  work  for  God 
 at  Home,  you  may  be  quite  sure  nobody  wants  you 
 in  China  or  anywhere  else  ! 
 
"  DO   NOT  SAY."  37 
 
 People  who  have  not  enough  love  for  God,  and 
 the  souls  of  their  fellow-men,  to  be  doing  anything 
 at  Home,  do  you  suppose  they  would  be  of  any  use 
 abroad  ?  Why,  they  are  JUST  THE  ONES  WHO  OUGHT 
 NOT  TO  COME  !  And  yet  if  a  brother  who  is  engaged 
 in  Christian  work  talks  of  going  out  as  a  Missionary 
 (he  may  have  but  a  Bible  class  once  a  week,  and 
 there  may  be  several  others  ready  to  take  his  place), 
 his  wise  friends  will  gather  round  him,  and  shake 
 their  heads,  and  expostulate,  and  tell  him  he  is  mak- 
 ing a  great  mistake.  Others  may  go,  but  God  has 
 given  hiin  a  work  to  do  at  Home,  and  how  can  it  be 
 right  for  him  to  leave  it  ?  (That  is,  to  go  to  the 
 needy  Heathen.  If  it  was  to  get  "  a  better  situa- 
 tion," of  course  it  would  be  quite  right  to  leave  it 
 the7t  /)  Nice,  pleasant  plausible  talk  !  But  what  does 
 it  meuTi  ?  It  means,  that  nobody  who  is  worth  hav- 
 ing ought  to  be  a  Missionary.  But  that,  if  we  can 
 find  here  and  there  a  few  idle,  good-for-nothing 
 Christians,  who  have  no  work  to  keep  them  at  Home, 
 perhaps  it  may  be  right  for  some  of  them  to  go 
 abroad  !  Thank  you  very  much.  But  we  earnestly 
 beg  you  will  keep  them  at  home — every  one  of  them  ! 
 
 Dear  brother,  the  fact  that  you  have  work  for 
 God,  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  argument  at  all,  is  an  argu- 
 ment for  going  to  the  Heathen  ;  because  if  you  had 
 not,  nobody  would  want  you,  and  you  would  be  of 
 little  good. 
 
 Many  of  us  in  the  Mission  field,  knozvhig  full 
 welly  and  giving  full  weight  to,  the  great  needs  at 
 
38    -  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 Hoffie,  soberly  and  strongly  feel  that  SOME  OF  THE 
 LEADING  MEN  who  have  work  for  God  in  the  Home 
 lands  would  be  abundantly  justified  and  repaid  in 
 giving  it  up,  and  going  to  the  Heathen.  When  some 
 of  these  do  come  we  may  begin  to  look  for  the  re- 
 awakening abroad,  mid  at  Home. 
 
 Do  try  and  think  what  it  really  means  that  mill- 
 ions of  our  fellow-men  are  left  without  a  chance. 
 Left — simply  because  we  choose  to  leave  them!  Was 
 there  ever  such  a  need  as  this? 
 
 Oh,  God,  open  our  eyes  and  our  hearts! 
 
 DO    NOT   SAY   "  But,    surely,  I  must  wait  for  a  Special 
 Call  to  go?" 
 
 No,  no,  there  is  a  Special  Call  to  go.  Have  you 
 a  Special  Call  to  stop  ?  The  Heathen's  need.  Our 
 Master's  command.  That  is  the  Special  Call.  And 
 if  it  is  possible  for  you  to  go  (seeing  so  many  can- 
 not), surely  it  is  the  Special  Call  to  you  ? 
 
 "Waiting  for  a  Special  Call!"  It  is  nothing  that 
 thousands  yonder  are  perishing,  and  that  you  might 
 go  to  them  :  no,  you  must  stop  at  home  and  let  them 
 perish,  in  spite  of  the  command  to  go,  while  you 
 "wait  for  a  Special  Call!"  In  the  blindness  of  our 
 hearts  some  of  us  did  this  years  ago.  Thank  God 
 He  opened  our  eyes,  and  brought  us  to  our  senses, 
 before  the  precious  opportunity  had  slipped — wasted 
 — away. 
 
 "A  SPECIAL  CALL  !  "  Why,  ^/China,  for  example, 
 were  a  Christian  country,  and  //"there  were  in  China 
 as  many  thousands  of  ministers  and  Christian  work- 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY.  39 
 
 ers  as  there  are  in  this  country,  China's  need  would 
 THEN  be  about  12  or  14  times  as  great  as  ours. 
 What  it  is  NOW,  as  a  Heathen  country,  and  with 
 often  not  one  worker  aniongst  vimty  millions  of  souls, 
 I  am  unable  to  calculate.  Is  not  this  a  "  Special 
 Calif  Had  I  waited  for  any  other  I  should  not  be 
 a  Missionary  to-day.  Are  you  A  YOUNG  MINISTER 
 wishing  to  turn  your  one  little  life  to  the  best  ac- 
 count? Then,  I  ask  you,  if  you  were  working  in  a 
 small  parish  of  eight  or  nine  hundred  people,  where, 
 besides  the  Church,  was  a  Mission  Room,  the  Salva- 
 tion Army,  and  other  Christian  workers,  and  you 
 were  asked  to  go  to  a  large  charge  of  twenty  thou- 
 sand people,  utterly  neglected,  without  a  single  other 
 Church,  Chapel,  Mission  Room,  or  worker  besides 
 yourself — and  to  which  7iobody  zvould  be  sent  if  you 
 declined — if  you  were  free  to  go,  what  would  you  do? 
 Would  you  feel  it  right  to  refuse,  and  to  let  those 
 twenty  thousand  people  sink  into  Christless  graves, 
 while  you  said  to  yourself  you  must  wait  for  a 
 *'  special  "  call  to  go  to  them  ?  No,  you  would  feel 
 it  needed  a  special  call — a  very  special  call — to  jus- 
 tify you  in  staying  where  you  were.  Very  well,  then, 
 England  is  the  little  parish,  and  the  Heathen  world 
 is  the  parish  of  twenty  thousand.  Surely  it  needs  a 
 very  special  call  to  justify  you  in  staying  in  this 
 land  ?   But  you  are  ''  waiting  for  a  special  call  to  go!  " 
 
 DO    NOT   SAY   *'  But  no  definite  post  has  been  offered  me. 
 I  have  had  no  special  invitation  to  go  to  the  Heathen." 
 
 You   may  not  have  had  a  special  invitation,  but 
 
40  *'  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 you  have  a  plain  command.     There  are  the  Heathen. 
 And  God  has  told  us  to  go  to  them. 
 
 If  you  still  feel  you  must  have  a  Special  Call  era 
 Special  Invitation,  let  me  ask  you — are  you  looking 
 for  it  ?  Some  people  are  never  likely  to  have  a  Spe- 
 cial Call.  They  turn  their  faces  the  other  way  !  A 
 Special  Call  needs  an  attentive  ear.  If  you  who  are 
 waiting  for  a  Special  Call  would  but  wait  to  listen, 
 perhaps  you  might  hear  it  even  now. 
 
 DO    NOT     SAY     "  Well,  in  any  case,   I  must  wait  for  a 
 closed  door  behind  and  an  open  door  in  front." 
 
 Nothing  of  the  kind.  Ask  the  Missionaries  in  the 
 field  how  it  was  with  them.  Why,  they  had  all  sorts 
 of  operi  doors  behind,  and  their  friends  trying  to  push 
 them  through,  while  (in  many  cases)  the  door  in 
 front  was  fast  closed  and  bolted. 
 
 When  God  gives  a  command  it  is  often  so.  Was 
 there  an  ''open  door  "  in  front  of  them,  or  the  deep 
 rolling  sea,  when  "  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
 speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go 
 forward  ?  " 
 
 It  is  as  we  go  forward,  step  by  step,  in  childlike 
 obedience,  and  faith,  and  patience,  that  God  opens 
 the  door — sometimes  marvellously. 
 
 "  Step  by  step."  Yes,  that  I  believe  is  the  secret. 
 God  does  not  want  you  to-day  to  take  a  great  hop, 
 skip  and  a  jump  into  some  Heathen  Country.  But, 
 perhaps,  He  does  want  you  to  take  some  little  step  ? 
 Then  take  it.  You  may  not  see  the  use.  Your  way 
 to  the  Heathen  may  be  altogether  blocked.     What 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  41 
 
 can  this  little  step  do  to  clear  it  ?  It  is  absurd. 
 Never  mind  !  God  lays  it  upon  your  heart.  Do  it. 
 Herein  lies  the  difference  between  the  Christian  who 
 hits  the  mark  and  the  one  who  misses. 
 
 You  are  seeking  guidance.  You  know  not  what 
 to  do.  You  want  a  sign  from  Heaven,  clear  and 
 definite.  Instead,  some  little  thing  is  suggested  to 
 your  mind.  You  do  not  care  for  it.  Or  it  is  so  insig- 
 nificant you  take  no  heed.  And  neglecting  to  take 
 the  first  step — for  that  is  what  it  is — you  miss  God's 
 guidance  ! 
 
 Or  you  take  the  other  course.  It  is  only  a  little 
 thing  truly.  You  do  not  quite  see  how  tJiis  is  going 
 to  help  you.  But  you  do  it!  You  attend  the  meet- 
 ing ;  you  read  the  Magazine ;  you  join  the  Mission- 
 ary Society  ;  you  speak  to  your  friend  ;  you  write 
 the  letter ;  you  give  yourself  to  prayer — you  take  the 
 step,  whatever  it  is.  And  from  this  point  of  vantage 
 God  shows  you  another  little  step,  and  another,  and 
 so,  without  any  great  leap  or  rush,  but  quite  natu- 
 rally, one  day  you  find  yourself  on  the  other  side  of 
 all  your  difficulties,  quietly  working  with  the  Master 
 in  some  Heathen  land ! 
 
 PO    NOT  SAY    "  The  Missionary  Society  will  not  accept 
 me,  so  that  settles  the  question." 
 
 Not  necessarily  at  all.  God  allows  the  rebuff 
 very  likely  to  test  you.  If  He  sees  you  are  not  to 
 be  daunted,  but  really  mean  to  go — somehow,  any- 
 how, just  as  soon  as  God  lets  you — I  believe,  soorjci 
 or  later.  He  will  let  you.      Or  He  will  show  you  be- 
 
42  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 yond  a  doubt,  that  He  has  better  work  for  you  to  do 
 where  you  are.  One  man  finds  THE  FRONT  DOOR 
 CLOSED,  and  is  too  proud  or  too  lukewarm  to  try 
 again,  or  to  try  another.  (Perhaps  it  is  a  good  thing 
 for  the  Heathen  the  front  door  was  closed  !) 
 Another  man  tries  the  door  again  and  again.  And 
 if  that  door  will  not  open  he  tries  another.  Never 
 does  he  think  of  giving  up  without  trying  every 
 door  repeatedly.  And  then  he  goes  back  to  try 
 once  more  !  Let  God,  and  the  Societies,  knozv  you  are 
 in  earliest.     Something  will  happen  then. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY"  But  I  have  set  my  heart  upon  going  to  a 
 particular  Place,  and  in  connection  with  a  particular 
 Society.  If  the  way  does  not  open  for  this,  I  shall  not  go 
 at  all." 
 
 What  do  our  instructions  say  about  "  particular 
 Places"  and  ''Societies?"  What  they  speak  of  is 
 ''  the  World,''  and  of  Men  ''  having  no  hope  and 
 without  God  i7t  the  Worlds  If  you  can  bring  to  such 
 men  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  ''  the  blessed  hope 
 of  everlasting  life,"  are  you  justified  in  NOT  doing  so, 
 because  they  are  not  the  particular  people  you  hap- 
 pen to  have  taken  a  fancy  to?  Or  because  they 
 do  not  live  in  the  country  you  have  set  your 
 heart  upon  ?  Or  because  the  way  in  which  God 
 is  willing  to  send  you,  is  not  the  one  most  to  your 
 taste  ? 
 
 Surely,  if  God  sets  before  you  an  open  door,  or 
 a  possible  open  door,  to  the  Heathen,  you  must  not 
 shut  your  eyes  to  it,  because  it  is  not  the  particular 
 
''  DO   NOT   SAY.  43 
 
 door  you  were  thinking  of,  or  because  it  does  not 
 I  lead  to  the  particular  spot  you  had  in  your  mind  ? 
 Let  God  lead  you.  It  is  much  safer  than  wanting 
 your  own  plans.  Indeed,  there  is  danger,  lest  while 
 ^  we  are  picking,  and  fancying,  and  choosing  for  our- 
 selves, our  opportunity  slip  away,  and  we  be  sud- 
 denly called  to  give  up  our  account  to  God,  with 
 nothing  better  than  a  futile  bundle  of  good  inten- 
 tions to  set  against  the  empty,  guilty  record  of  a  fit- 
 ful wasted  life. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  "  Yes,  I  will  go.  But  I  must  stay  at  Home 
 for  a  year  or  two  first,  to  learn  Greek,  or  study  Medicine,  or 
 gain  experience." 
 
 ''  I  will  go,  but  I  must  stay  !  "  Ah,  we  are  bound 
 to  get  round  to  the  staying — somehow ! 
 
 If  you  are  not  an  established  Christian,  instructed 
 in  the  Scriptures,  truly  humble,  and  willing  to  learn, 
 you  had  better  stay— far  better. 
 
 But  if  you  have  proved  your  armor,  if  you  really 
 do  KNOW  the  Lord,  if  you  are  "not  a  novice,"  but 
 rooted  and  grounded  in  Christ,  so  that  you  will  not 
 be  moved,  why  should  you  delay?  There  may  be 
 special  reasons  why  it  may  be  better  to  do  so  in  your 
 case.  But  pray  well  over  it  first.  Of  course  it 
 would  be  very  nice  to  stop  at  home  and  learn  a  little 
 of    everything.      BUT     WHILE    YOU    ARE    LEARNING 
 
 IT,  THE  Heathen  are  perishing  at  the  rate  of 
 
 SOMETHING  LIKE  FIFTY  THOUSAND  A  DAY  !  Why 
 do  we  forget  the  awful  emergency,  and  take  tJiings 
 so  leisurely  ? 
 
44  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 As  for  real  trainmg^  tJiat  is  to  be  Jiad,  not  by  stop- 
 ping long  at  Home,  but  i7i  the  Field  itself. 
 
 And  how  many  who  begin  by  staying  at  home, 
 end  by  never  going  to  the  Heathen  at  all!  Satan  is 
 a  Master  worker i 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY."  45 
 
 CHAPTER  IV. 
 PLENTY  TO  DO  AT  HOME. 
 
 \Vb  V  call  ye  Me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
 saj?  " — Luke  vi,  46, 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  '*  But,  after  all,  there  is  plenty  to  do  at 
 Home.  We  have  Heathen  at  our  very  doors,  without 
 going  off  to  Africa  to  find  them.  We  had  better  stop  and 
 convert  the  Home-Heathen  first." 
 
 As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ''  plenty  to  do  at  Home" 
 has  quite  as  much  to  do  with  Home-Christians  as 
 with  Home-Heathen.  Home-Christians  absorb  even 
 more  time  (1  speak  what  I  know)  than  Home- 
 Heathen.  So  the  remedy  is  simple.  Let  a  few 
 thousands  of  Home-Christians  go  to  the  Heathen ! 
 Then  many  of  our  Ministers  and  Missioners  (whose 
 audiences  are  cJiiefly  Christians),  will  find  they  are 
 no  longer  wanted  very  much  in  this  country,  and 
 will  be  free  to  follow  their  congregations  to  the  Mis- 
 sion Field,  while  those  who  remain  will  have  more 
 time  than  they  have  now  to  devote  to  the  Home- 
 Heathen. 
 
 But,  to  speak  very  seriously,  have  we  any  right 
 to  decide  for  ourselves  at  all  what  we  had  better  do? 
 As  servants  and  not  masters,  had  we  not  better  do 
 what  we  are  told  ?     And  what  are  our  instructions  ? 
 
46  "  DO    NOT   SAY.'* 
 
 Are  we  told  NOT  '*  to  go  into  all  the  world,"  NOT  "  to 
 preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  but  to  leave 
 the  majority  of  our  fellow-men  without  the  possi- 
 bility of  hearing  of  God's  love,  while  we  preach  to  the 
 (comparatively)  few  people  over  and  over  again? 
 Are  we  told  to  stop  and  ''  convert  all  the  people  at 
 Home  "  before  we  give  others  a  chance  ?  If  so,  by 
 all  means  let  us  obey.  And  if  there  should  be  a 
 little  town  with  half  a  thousand  Christian  workers  in 
 it,  and  one  of  them  should  be  misguided  enough  to 
 talk  of  going  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen, 
 let  us  be  down  upon  him  at  once,  and  show  him 
 how  very  wrong  it  would  be  for  him  to  go,  seeing 
 that  in  his  own  town,  perhaps,  might  still  be  found 
 some  *'  Home-Heathen  "  lurking  there  ! 
 
 But,  oh  !  if  these  are  notour  instructions  ;  if  our 
 Master  (who  knew,  I  suppose,  that  there  would 
 always  be  *'  plenty  to  do  at  Home  ")  has  told  us 
 plainly  7wt  to  stay,  but  to  ''go  ";  and  to  preach  the 
 Gospel  not  to  a  few,  but  ''  to  every  creature,"  why  are 
 we  stopping  where  we  are,  instead  of  going  and 
 doing  what  we  are  told  ? 
 
 Do  we  speak  lightly  of  the  work  at  Home  ?  God 
 forbid.  On  the  contrary,  the  solemn  importance  of 
 the  work  at  Home  is  one  of  the  most  serious  aspects 
 of  our  neglect  of  the  Heathen.     If  we  did  MORE 
 
 ABROAD  THERE  WOULD  BE  LESS  TO  DO  AT  HOME  ! 
 For  there  is  no  clash,  but  a  beautiful  symmetry  in 
 God's  plan.  If  He  tells  us  to  go  to  the  Heathen, 
 t.hen  we  cannot  disobey  without  impoverishing  our- 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  4; 
 
 selves.  Work  at  home,  CARRIED  ON  TO  THE  NEGLECT 
 OF  THE  WORK  ABROAD,  is  weakness,  and  not 
 strength.  How  many  of  the  evils  in  our  midst  to- 
 day are  due  to  this  selfish  and  short-sighted  policy  ! 
 Oh^  depend  upon  it^  the  best  thing  we  can  do  for  our 
 own  loved  land  is  to  obey  God.  And  not  till  we  do 
 obey  God  shall  we  see  the  showers  of  blessing  at 
 Home  which  we  are  so  earnestly  pleading  and  work- 
 ing for. 
 
 DO  NOT  SAY  **  But,  surely,  America  is  the  uttermost 
 part  of  the  earth  quite  as  much  as  China  or  any  other 
 country  ?  " 
 
 I  know  it  is.  But  is  there  a  man  in  this  country 
 who  has  never  heard  the  Gospel?  Who  does  not 
 know  there  is  any  Gospel  to  hear  of?  And  who  can- 
 not hear  the  Gospel  if  he  will?  Is  not  the  Bible 
 within  the  reach  of  all  who  choose  ? 
 
 We  talk  of  our  Home  Heathen.  But  really  they 
 are  not  Heathen.  I  know  something  about  them. 
 I  have  worked  among  them.  Indifferent,  godless 
 wicked— more  wicked,  perhaps,  than  many  Heathen 
 — I  know  they  are.     BUT  THEY  ARE  NOT  HEATHEN. 
 
 Do  you  doubt  what  I  say  ?  Then  bring  in  some 
 of  the  very  worst,  the  very-most-Heathenish  people 
 you  can  find  ajtywhere,  set  them  down  in  front  of 
 you,  and  mention  one  word — "  Jesus  "!  Do  you  mean 
 to  tell  me  they  will  not  know  in  the  least  what  you 
 are  talking  about?  Why,  the  very  blasphemy  they 
 utter  bears  witness  that  God  is  known  among  them  ! 
 
 Our  Home-Heathen — when  they  pass  a  church, 
 
48  "  DO    NOT   SAY." 
 
 and  hear  the  bells  ring,  do  they  look  up,  and  gaze, 
 and  wonder  "Whatever  is  this  big  building?  What 
 are  bells  ringing  for  ?  Why  are  people  going  inside  ?  '" 
 They  know  perfectly  well,  of  course,  what  the  buildv 
 ing  is,  and  why  the  people  are  going  in.  Or — to 
 use  a  still  simpler  illustration — when  the  Salvation 
 Army  marches  along  the  street,  do  these  "  Heathen 
 at  Home  "  stand,  and  gape,  and  stare,  and  say  among 
 themselves  "  Whatever  are  these  people  ?  Where 
 are  they  going?  What  does  it  all  mean?"  Nay, 
 there  is  not  a  man,  woman  or  child  amongst  them — 
 no  matter  how  Heathenish  and  degraded  they  are — 
 who  does  not  know  that  if  he  chooses  to  follow  that 
 crowd  he  will  hear  something  about  a  soul  of  his, 
 and  how  his  soul  may  be  saved.  Oh,  yes,  here  there 
 is  a  Saviour  for  the  wickedest  people,  and  they  know 
 it.  There  there  is  no  Saviour  for  anybody  that  they 
 know  of.  Here  they  can  hear  if  they  will.  There 
 they  CANNOT  hear.  And  here  they  do  not  worship 
 sticks,  and  mud,  and  stones  as  they  do  there.  Be- 
 sides, supposing  this  were  a  Heathen  country  (it 
 might  have  been  if  St.  Augustine  and  others  had 
 talked  about  their  "  Heathen  at  Home " !),  why 
 should  tJwusands  of  Christians  stay  in  this  one  tiny 
 corner,  and  only  wiits  go  to  the  vast  other  regions  of 
 God's  world  ?  Do  answer —  Why  should  they?  And 
 ask  yourself — Why  should  /  stay  here?  Why 
 should  I  NOT  go  there  ? 
 
 Who  ever  heard   of   a  minister  in  charge  of   a 
 large  church  locating  himself  and  all  his  workers  in 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY."  49 
 
 one  street,  and  neglecting  all  the  rest,  his  excuse 
 being  that  as  he  had  plenty  to  do  with  the  wicked 
 people  still  left  in  the  one  street  near  his  own  door, 
 he  could  not  be  expected  to  concern  himself  about 
 the  others?  Imagine  such  a  man!  What  would 
 you  say  of  him? 
 
 We  are  God's  servants.  And  He  has  given  us 
 the  World  for  our  charge.  What  right  have  we  to 
 settle  down  in  one  little  country,  and  because  many 
 of  the  people  here  persist  in  refusing  God's  oft- 
 repeated  offer  of  salvation,  plead,  as  an  excuse  for 
 doing  so  little  for  others,  that  ''  we  have  plenty  to 
 do  at  home  "  ? 
 
 We  have  no  right  to  neglect  the  people  next  our 
 own  door.  But  in  our  determination  to  avoid  that 
 error,  are  we  to  run  into  the  crime  of  neglecting 
 everybody  else,  and  care  only  "  for  the  one  street  "  ? 
 
 Supposing  an  epidemic  is  raging.  And  in  one 
 single  city  there  are  i,ooo  medical  men,  possessed  of 
 an  infallible  remedy,  whom  you  employ  to  go  through- 
 out the  land  offering  the  medicine  to  everyone  who 
 will  receive  it. 
 
 Time  passes  on  ;  and  you  find  thousands  of 
 people  dying  all  over  the  country  without  even  hav- 
 ing heard  of  the  medicine.  You  go  in  search  of  your 
 medical  men,  and  to  your  astonishment  you  find  999 
 out  of  the  thousand  stopping  in  that  one  city,  four 
 or  five  doctors  in  some  cases  attending  one  sick  per- 
 son, and  others  sitting  at  home  doing  nothing,  be- 
 cause they  l;ave  not  been  sent  for ! 
 
 Do  Not  Say— 4 
 
50  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 On  recovering  your  breath,  you  ask  what  they 
 can  mean  by  such  extraordinary  and  wicked  conduct. 
 And  they  gently  reply,  ''  It  is  all  right.  Pray  do  not 
 disturb  yourself.  Everything  in  good  time.  But 
 there  are  plenty  of  sick  people  where  we  are.  We 
 have  not  managed  to  force  the  medicine  down  the 
 throats  of  all  the  people  here  yet !  " 
 
 Others  answer,  ''  No,  no.  The  people  here  can 
 be  cured  if  they  will,  while  in  the  other  cities  and 
 towns  yonder,  they  are  dying  off  without  a  chance. 
 But  still,  you  know,  it  is  a  solemn  thing  to  leave 
 home,  and  so,  although  there  are  trains  starting  every 
 hour,  we  are  just  stopping  where  we  2S^^  waiting  for 
 a  Special  Call  to  go  I '' 
 
 What  patience  could  you  have  with  men  like 
 that  ?  And  the  wonder  is  how  God  can  have 
 patience  with  us. 
 
 Oh !  I  want  to  tell  you  plainly,  if  I  may — but 
 very  humbly — we  missionaries  cannot  think  why  you 
 do  not  come.  We  cannot  think  why,  with  all  our 
 Consecration  meetings,  and  much  talk  of  being 
 willing  to  go  *' anywhere  for  Jesus,"  there  are  yet  so 
 few  who  really  do  go,  where  we  cannot  but  believe 
 He  wants  multitudes  of  His  servants  to  come.  Dear 
 Christian  brothers,  and  sisters  too,  you  who  might 
 come,  but  are  holding  back  (or  perhaps  not  giving 
 it  a  thought !),  we  do  believe  you  are  wrong — 
 utterly  wrong.  Here  are  thousands  of  you  stopping 
 at  home,  where,  whether  you  go  or  stay,  the  Bible  and 
 the    Gospel  are  ivithin  the  reach  of  all  who  choose. 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  5  I 
 
 And  across  the  water  are  many  hundreds  of  thou- 
 sands of  our  brothers  and  sisters,  flesh  and  blood 
 like  ourselves,  men  and  women,  aye,  and  little  chil- 
 dren, real  people,  not  "  Creatures  "  nor  ''  Things,'' 
 with  real  souls,  remember,  just  as  precious  as  yours, 
 who  have  never  known  of  Jesus*  love — who  never  can 
 know  if  you  do  not  go  to  them.  I  tell  you  honestly, 
 many  of  us  think  you  are  making,  unconsciously, 
 perhaps,  a  cruel  mistake.  We  do  not  want  to  judge. 
 God  forbid.  But  that  is  our  conviction.  We  believe 
 that  many  are  staying  at  home  who  ought  to  be 
 preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen. 
 
 Think  of  poor  India,  poor  China,  poor  Africa, 
 poor  Malay  Peninsula,  poor  Persia,  Mongolia,  Thibet, 
 Corea,  Japan,  and  many  more.  Then  the  Jews,  too 
 — they  have  such  a  special  claim. 
 
 It  is  easy  to  attend  Conventions  for  the  deepen- 
 ing of  the  Spiritual  Life.  It  is  easy  to  sing  Conse- 
 cration hymns.  It  is  easy  to  hold  up  your  hand 
 and  say  you  are  willing  to  go  to  the  Heathen,  but 
 it  is  another  thing  to  go  !  And  it  is  another  thing 
 to  let  your  child  go ;  or  even  your  money.  Yet 
 Consecration,  if  it  is  worth  anything,  will  bear  being 
 tested.  And  the  Missionary  cause  does  test  us.  In 
 response  to  God's  claims  upon  us  we  may  take  an 
 interest  in  "  Christian  work  generally,  and  even 
 j  double  our  subscriptions — and  go  on  living  comfort- 
 ably at  home  as  we  did  before.  But  this  going  to 
 the     Heathen!     This   parting   with    our   child!     It 
 
 touches  us  in  a  vital  part ;     it  pulls  down  our  home 
 
 i 
 I 
 
52  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 over  our  heads.     Ah,  this  is  a  real  test.      It  will^ 
 COST   us    SOMETHING.      Now,  what   is  our    Conse- 
 cration  good  for?     Is  it  still  an  unflinching    ''Yes, 
 Lord  "  ?     Or  is  it  a  sad  retreat  under  some  plausible: 
 excuse  ? 
 
 We  talk  of  the  light,  and  consecration  and  enthu- 
 siasm and  interest  in  Missions  of  the  present  day. 
 But  with  it  all  Satan  is  able  to  lull  the  consciences  of 
 God's  men,  and  God's  women,  with  specious  and 
 beautiful  excuses,  ayid  keep  vast  districts,  perfectly 
 accessible  to  us,  and  full  of  our  perishing  fellow-men, 
 free,  still  free,  from  the  molestations  of  any  am- 
 bassador of  Christ  —  all  undisturbed  in  his  ozvn^ 
 power  I 
 
 The  only  way  to  evangelize  the  HEATHEN^ 
 IS  TO  GO  to  them.  And  God  has  told  us  to  go. 
 But  we  do  not  go.  We  do  many  things,  but  we  do 
 not  go !  And  so  the  Heathen  perish,  and  Satan 
 laughs,  and  the  heart  of  God  is  sad. 
 
 All  the  time  we  try  to  think  God  is  pleased  with 
 us!  But  how  can  He  be  pleased  with  us  while  we, 
 who  might  go,  stop  at  home,  or  keep  our  children  at 
 home,  and  withhold  our  money,  instead  of  doing 
 what  He  tells  us? 
 
 Look  at  those  fears  and  excuses  of  yours,  my 
 brother.  What  are  they  really  worth  ?  Why,  half 
 of  them  are  mere  dressed-up  ghosts.  And  the  rest, 
 — well,  many,  perhaps  most  of  them,  I  believe,  we 
 should  be  quite  ashamed  of  in  any  other  cause  than 
 the  cause  of  Christ.     But  in  the  service  of  Christ  any,; 
 
"DO   NOT   SAY."  53 
 
 excuse  almost  is  good  enough  or  bad  enough.  We 
 are  ready  to  jump  at  it,  put  it  on  a  pedestal,  reli- 
 giously trot  it  out  on  every  occasion,  and  faithfully 
 hide  ourselves  behind  it,  when  any  moving  appeal 
 looks  in  our  direction.  Yes,  it  is  astonishing  how, 
 with  a  little  nursing,  and  petting,  and  magnifying, 
 we  can  bring  to  God,  with  a  most  complacent  con- 
 science, excuses  which  in  time  of  war,  for  example, 
 it  would  be  a  perfect  disgrace  to  mention.  •  Yet  we 
 are  His  faithful  soldiers  all  the  same  !  And  we  ex- 
 pect Him  to  applaud  us,  and  say  "  Well  done  "  when 
 He  returns  ! 
 
 But  how  can  He  say ''Well  done?"  Imagine 
 our  Lord  turning  to  His  Church  to-day,  and  saying, 
 "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servants."  Why, 
 there  would  be  millions  of  sad,  neglected  Heathen 
 standing  by  who,  with  one  accord,  would  testify 
 against  us.  "  '  Well  done  *  to  know  of  a  Saviour 
 themselves,  and  never  to  give  us  a  chance  ?  *  Well 
 done '  to  stay  at  home,  and  feast  themselves  and 
 their  children  to  the  full,  and  not  bring  us  and  our 
 little  ones  even  a  crumb  ?  '  Well  done  '  to  keep  sing- 
 ing of  the  joy  of  being  saved  from  Hell  and  of  going 
 to  Heaven,  and  never  so  much  as  to  tell  us  there 
 was  a  Hell  to  be  saved  from  or  a  Heaven  to  go  to !  " 
 ''  Well  done  ?  "  Nay,  disgracefully  done  !  He  can- 
 not say  it. 
 
 Oh,  it  is  hard  to  leave  these  our  brothers  and 
 
 sisters  in  misery,  and  darkness,  and  sin,  with  no  one 
 
 I  to  tell  them  of   the  Saviour's  pardoning  love  ;    with- 
 
54  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 out  any  voice,  from  the  time  they  are  born  to  the 
 time  they  die,  to  speak  one  word  to  them  of  wel- 
 come to  God's  Home  of  Peace! 
 
 And,  think  you,  is  not  God  grieved  and  disap- 
 pointed with  us?  Does  He  not  mourn  over  us? 
 And  can  He  ever  bless  us  and  the  work  in  the  be- 
 loved Home  lands  properly,  as  long  as  we  are  diso- 
 bedient, pleasing  ourselves,  and  making  all  sorts  of 
 fair  excuses  for  not  going  to  the  Heathen,  when  per- 
 haps the  real  reason  is,  we  do  not  like  to  go ! 
 
 Ah,  there's  the  rub  !  If  we  really  WANTED  TO  GO, 
 how  many  of  the  excuses  we  are  making  so  much  of 
 would  be  sent  about  their  business,  and  never  be 
 heard  of  again !  Whilst  quite  a  number  of  cogent 
 reasons  why  we  could  go,  and  ought  to  go,  not 
 thought  of  now,  would  soon  be  forthcoming  to  take 
 their  place  ! 
 
 Young  ministers!  You  who  cannot  possibly  go 
 out  as  a  Missionary  on  account  of  home  ties  and  for 
 other  reasons,  supposing  you  got  a  letter  to-day 
 offering  you  a  Consul's  position  where  you  would  have 
 also  large  opportunities  as  a  Christian  minister,  what 
 would  you  do  ?  Would  you  go  ?  Then  why  not 
 now? 
 
 *'0h,  but  that  would  be  so  important,  such  an 
 urgent  call."  Not  at  all.  If  you  declined,  someone 
 else,  as  good  as  you,  would  soon  be  appointed.    But 
 
 IF  YOU  DO  NOT  GO  TO  THE  HEATHEN,  NO  ONE  WILL 
 TAKE  YOUR  PLACE,  AND  HUNDREDS  OF  YOUR  FEL- 
 LOW-MEN  WHO   MIGHT   HAVE   HEARD   THE  GOSPEL 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  5S 
 
 \, 
 FROM  YOUR  LIPS  WILL  DIE  WITHOUT  ONE  WHISPER 
 
 OF  God's  love  ever  reaching  them  !  "-^ 
 
 Man  of  business  !  Would  you  go  to  China  if  you 
 were  offered  an  excellent  appointment  of  $10,000 
 a  year  ?  Honestly,  now,  would  you  ?  Then  why  not 
 now  ? 
 
 Christian  Doctor !  Would  you  go  abroad  for  a 
 first-class  Practice  in  an  attractive  Foreign  Settle- 
 ment ?     Then  why  not  now  ? 
 
 Christian  Parents !  Would  you  let  your  son  go  if 
 it  was  to  be  Governor  General  of  some  foreign  State  ? 
 Then  why  not  nozv  ?  Would  you  let  your  daughter 
 go  for  an  excellent  marriage  ?  Then  why  not  now  ? 
 There  may,  of  course,  be  a  good  reason.  Or  there 
 may  be  a  very  bad  one  !  But,  however,  that  may  be 
 in  your  case,  the  sad  truth  remains — (alas  that  we 
 should  have  to  say  it !)  If  it  were  a  paltry  matter  of 
 money  or  pleasure,  or  position,  crowds  of  Christians 
 would  be  hurrying  to  Heathen  lands,  and  sending 
 out  their  children  and  urging  forward  their  friends, 
 until  the  steamers  would  not  suffice  to  bring  them. 
 But  since  it  is  only  a  matter  of  doing  our  Master's 
 bidding,  only  a  matter  of  saving  our  perishing  broth- 
 ers and  sisters — ah,  well,  if  it  is  only  that,  '*We 
 must  beg  to  be  excused."  **  We  cannot  possibly  go." 
 "  Our  children  really  must  remain  at  home."  Alas  ! 
 alas  !  what  a  strange  people  we  Christians  are  ! 
 
 DO    NOT    SAY    •*  It  is  all  very  well,  but  they  must  live  ; 
 even  Missionaries  cannot  feed  upon  air!" 
 
 Does  it  come  to  this,  then,  that  we  Christians  are 
 
56  *'  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 really  so  few  and  so  poor,  that  we  have  not  the  money 
 wherewith  to  send  and  support  the  Missionaries? 
 
 Why,  look  at  our  Churches  and  Chapels,  all  over 
 the  country,  costmg  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands^ 
 when  places  of  worship,  if  not  so  magnificent,  yet 
 quite  as  convenient^  and  quite  as  large,  might  be  built 
 for  a  fraction  of  these  sums  !  Let  us  have  our  hand- 
 some Churches  if  we  will,  but  not  at  the  expense  of 
 millions  of  neglected  souls. 
 
 Again,  look  at  our  houses,  our  lands,  our  posses- 
 sions ;  our  entertainments,  our  amusements,  our 
 recreations  ;  our  comforts,  our  luxuries,  our  extrava- 
 gances !  Surely,  as  long  as  we  have  all  these  things 
 for  ourselves,  which,  whether  desirable  or  otherwise, 
 are  certainly  not  ?iecessary,  we  can  scarcely  plead 
 with  any  honesty — *'  We  would  help  the  poor 
 Heathen  if  we  could,  but  really  we  have  no  money  !  " 
 No  money!  Nay,  God's  servants  have  plenty  of 
 their  Master's  money.  But  they  are  not  willing  to 
 part  with  it.  If  we  liked  to  give  the  money  we 
 should  find  we  had  it  to  give.  If  we  wanted  to  send 
 out  Missionaries  we  should  find  some  way  of  doing  it. 
 
 Oh,  yes,  if  it  would  secure  social  advantages,  or 
 if  it  were  SOMETHING  WE  CARED  FOR,  Christians 
 would  soon  be  busy  writing  their  checks,  and  pour- 
 ing their  silver  and  gold  into  the  treasury.  But  as 
 it  is — "we  really  cannot  afford  it!"  True,  we  sing 
 about 
 
 .     .     .     my  silver  and  my  gold, 
 Not  a  mite  would  I  withhold. 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  57 
 
 And,  perhaps,  a  7Htte  we  do  not  withhold.     But,  too 
 
 often  (with  heaped-up  riches),  we  withhold  a//  the 
 rest  !  We  think  we  may  lavish  as  much  as  we  please 
 upon  ourselves,  while  we  expect  our  Master,  Who 
 ^ave  Himself  for  tis,  to  be  satisfied  with  any  little 
 pittance  we  may  condescend  to  offer  Him  ! 
 
 We  sing,  and  lustily  (for  is  it  not  one  of  our 
 favorite  hymns  ?) — 
 
 Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine, 
 
 That  were  an  offering  far  too  small. 
 Love  so  amazing,  so  divine, 
 
 Demands  my  soul,  mj  life,  my  all. 
 
 And  then  we  give  Him  for  Foreign  Missions — one 
 per  cent  of  our  income?  Nay,  but  (taking  the  aver- 
 age) one  sixteenth  of  one  per  cent.  Oh,  why  do  we 
 call  ourselves  God's  servants,  and  serve  Him  so 
 badly? 
 
 My  brother,  beware  how  you  rob  God.  Take 
 care,  I  pray  you,  lest  in  seeking  to  save  your  life  you 
 lose  it,  lest  in  seeking  to  save  your  money  it  vanishes 
 away,  lest  in  seeking  to  save  your  children  they  are 
 taken  from  you. 
 
 Turn  with  me  for  one  moment  to  look  at  this  sad,  \^ 
 dark  picture.  See  these  men  and  women  ignorantly 
 bowing  down  before  fierce  monster  idols,  and  black 
 foul  fiends  of  painted  wood,  and  mud,  and  stone ; 
 torturing  themselves  with  loathsome  penances;  with 
 debaucheries  unspeakable,  well-nigh  unthinkable, 
 holding  religious  carnival ;  giving  the  rein  to  every  ' 
 most  revolting  instinct  of  their  degraded  and  savage 
 
58  ''  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 nature  ;*  vivisecting  little  children  ;  eating  one  anoth- 
 er's flesh,  and  offering  human  sacrifices.  Look  at  it ! 
 And  try  to  feel,  if  you  can,  /low  aivful  it  is  in  the 
 sight  of  the  Holy  Loving  God  and  Father.  Now 
 turn  to  this  other  picture,  sadder  and  darker  still. 
 Look  at  these  men  and  women  in  Christian  lands,  in 
 the  full  blaze  of  Gospel  light  and  knowledge ;  rejoic- 
 ing themselves  in  the  Saviour's  pardoning  love  and 
 power ;  purchased  with  the  price  of  the  Blood  of 
 God's  dear  Son  :  redeemed  unto  Himself  that  He 
 might  send  them  forth  as  His  ambassadors  into  the 
 dark  places  of  the  earth  ;  look  at  them,  knowing  of 
 their  brethren's  need,  and  perfectly  able  to  go  to 
 their  deliverance — sitting  at  home  unmoved! 
 
 Aye,  think  of  God  turning  from  the  poor  de- 
 graded Heathen  to  His  own  dear  children  for  sym- 
 pathy, and  finding  that,  while  we  are  indeed  making 
 great  show  of  loyalty  to  Him,  declaring  ourselves 
 ready  to  do  anything,  or  go  anywhere  in  His  Name 
 if  He  calls  us,  we  are  not  really  willing,  but  are 
 deciding  for  ourselves  that  he  does  not  call  us 
 (though  He  may  call  our  neighbors)  to  do  much 
 more  than  pretend  to  lament  over  the  state  of  the 
 Heathen,  while  we  spend  our  lives,  and  our  money, 
 and  our  energies,  in  making  ourselves  and  our  chil- 
 dren as  comfortable  as  we  can  at  Home ! 
 
 Ah,  I  believe  not  there,  *'  In  Darkest  Africa,"  but 
 
 *  See  "Garenganze,"  by  F.  S.  Arnot,  page  75.     (Published 
 by  Revell.) 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY.**  59 
 
 right  here,  where  you,  dear  child  of  God,  are  living 
 your  civilized,  beautiful,  religious  life — BUT  REFUS- 
 ING TO  LET  GOD  HAVE  HiS  WAY  WITH  YOU — it  is 
 here  that  the  heart  of  God  is  most  sorely  grieved — 
 robbed  and  wounded  in  the  house  of  His  friends. 
 Oh,  Saviour  !  Master !  how  wonderful  is  Thy  patience 
 with  us ! 
 
 "God  so  loved  .  .  .  that  He  gave"!  Is  it 
 not  just  this — the  love  of  God — that  we  want? 
 Some  people  so  love  that  they  do  not  give.  That  is 
 not  God's  love.  Some  people  so  love  that  they  give 
 a  little,  but  they  do  not  give  much.  That  is  not 
 God's  love.  Some  people  so  love  that  they  give 
 their  money  but  they  will  not  give  themselves. 
 Again,  that  is  not  God's  love.  And  some  people 
 there  are  (oh,  how  one  feels  for  them !)  who  are  will- 
 ing to  give  themselves  and  their  money,  yes,  all  that 
 they  possess — but  they  are  not  willing  to  take  their 
 child  and  send  her  off  in  God's  Name  to  China  I 
 Ah !  then  that  is  not  God's  love,  for  "■  God  so 
 loved  THE  WORLD  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
 
 Son  r 
 
 Oh,  for  the  LOVE  OF  GOD— the  love  of  God — 
 to  come  in  and  fill  our  hearts  !  We  shall  GIVE  then  I 
 — not  a  little  of  what  we  can  spare,  but  much  of 
 what  we  can  not  spare!  Yes,  much,  very  much — our- 
 selves, our  money,  our  children,  all  we  are  and  all 
 we  have — will  be  laid  on  God's  altar,  really  laid 
 there,  and  not  taken  back.  And  will  the  poor 
 Heathen  then  be  left  to  die  like  dogs  as  if  they  had 
 
 V 
 
60         •  "  DO    NOT   SAY." 
 
 no  souls?  Nay!  But  we  shall  go  to  them,  and  our 
 children  will  go,  and  our  money  will  go — and,  at  last, 
 right  through  the  world,  in  village  and  town,  o'er 
 mountain  and  plain,  in  nook  and  cranny  wherever 
 man  is  found,  shall  ring  out  the  old,  old  Story  of 
 Jesus  and  His  love.  And  (blessed  hope)  lifting  up 
 our  eyes  we  mav  see  His  appearing ! 
 
**  DO  NOT  SAY.'  6l 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 MORE  MISSIONARIES. 
 
 *' There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth  ....  There  is 
 that  maketh  himself  poor,  yet  hath  great  riches."— Prov. 
 xi,  24;  xiii,  7. 
 
 In  view  of  the  awful  pressing  need  of  hundreds 
 of  workers  in  the  vast  Mission  Fields  the  dilatory 
 process  of  sending  out  ones  and  twos  is  wholly  inade- 
 quate and  unreasonable.  We  must  stream  out  to 
 the  Heathen — crowds  of  us — if  we  really  mean  in 
 God's  Name  to  reach  them,  and  to  preach  the  Gos- 
 pel, as  He  has  told  us,  to  every  creature.  Men  and 
 women  must  come  from  all  classes  of  society  and 
 from  all  kinds  of  work.  No  help  can  be  considered 
 insignificant  where  the  dearth  of  laborers  is  so  ap- 
 palling. 
 
 Yet  there  are  some  dear  brethren  and  sisters  who  X 
 are  willing  to  go  to  the  Heathen  for  whom,  alas ! 
 there  is  no  welcome !  They  have  no  means,  and  we 
 have  our  prejudices.  We  fear  they  are  not  educated 
 enough.  We  fear  they  could  not  learn  the  language. 
 We  fear  they  are  too  old.  We  fear  their  health 
 would  fail.  We  fear  they  might  die.  We  fear  their 
 friends  will  blame  us.  We  fear  they  might  join  a 
 sect.     We  fear  they  have  fads.     We  fear  their  zeal 
 
62  *'  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 may  carry  them  too  far.  We  are  full  of  fears !  And 
 besides  that,  we  will  not  give  the  money  to  send 
 them.  And  so  we  reject  them  one  after  another 
 when  they  offer  to  go !  Some  are  of  course  quite 
 unsuitable.  But  others  would  be  really  useful,  and 
 are  sorely  needed. 
 
 Let  us  not  blame  the  Missionary  Societies  too 
 much.  With  their  limited  funds,  they  cannot  send 
 everybody,  and,  naturally  they  choose  the  best.  The 
 others  have  to  stay  at  home.  Meanwhile  the 
 Heathen  are  perishing  by  tens  of  thousands  a  day 
 for  the  lack  of  them  I    It  is  heart-rending. 
 
 That  Christians  should  be  so  little  moved  by  the 
 facts  they  hear,  and  that  so  few  should  be  willing  to 
 go  to  the  Heathen,  is  sad  enough.  And  then  that 
 of  the  few  who  are  willing,  any  who  are  spiritually 
 qualified  (no  others  are  wanted)  should  be  kept  back, 
 for  the  lack  of  their  passage  money,  and  a  small  allow- 
 ance each  year  to  support  them,  is  intolerable. 
 Surely  the  Church  of  Christ  ought  to  send  out  not 
 merely  a  few  of  the  best  educated,  but  ALL  who  are 
 in  any  way  suitable  ? 
 
 A  good  education  is  a  good  gift  of  God  to  those 
 who  possess  it.  But  with  the  Heathen  perishing 
 before  our  eyes,  if  we  keep  back  mature  and  well 
 tested  Christians  until  they  can  conjugate  Greek 
 verbs  and  master  '*  theology,"  is  it  not  much  like  Nero 
 fiddling  whilst  Rome  is  burning?  God  has  used 
 unlearned  men,  all  along,  in  the  Mission  Field.  He 
 is  using  them  to-day.     They  can  learn  the  language 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY.".  5- 
 
 and  become  successful  missionaries,  because  it  has 
 been  proved  that,  by  God's  grace,  many  of  them  do. 
 We  have  been  trying  to  evangeh'ze  the  Heathen 
 with  a  few  picked  officers  at  great  expense.  The  re- 
 sult is,  that  after  all  these  years,  vast  Heathen  dis- 
 tricts have  never  been  touched.  And  at  the  present 
 rate  of  progress  (with  some  of  us)  they  are  not  likely 
 to  be  touched  for  generations  more. 
 
 We    must    have  -  men "  as   well   as  '*  officers." 
 (Women  of  course  make  excellent  *'men,"  and  "  offi- 
 cers  "  too,  sometimes  !)     The  emergency  is  so  great 
 that  we  want  all  who  would  be  of  any  use.     Seeing 
 that  the  young,  and  the  strong,  and  the  gifted  are 
 not  willing  in  anything  like  sufficient  numbers,  {why 
 are  they  holding  back  so  terribly?)  shall  we  not  send 
 out  those  true  souls  who  are  willing,  even  if  in  some 
 minor  respects  they  are  deficient?  Give  them  a  little 
 training.    And  then  let  them  go  and  do  what  they 
 can.     If  they  cannot  be  as  useful  as  others  who  are 
 better  qualified,  yet    they  are    God's    obedient  chil- 
 dren,  and  will  be  far  more  useful  than  nobody  /    It  is 
 deplorable  that  people  who  would  be  useful,  are  not 
 able  to  go,  because  the  funds  are  limited,  and   the 
 preference   must  be  given  to  the  younger  or  better 
 qualified  candidates.     We  want  them  all.     (It  [^ 
 idle  to  say  the  Natives  must  do  the  work.    We  have 
 to  get   the    Natives    first.)    When    I    went  up   the 
 Yang-tze  rapids  we  had  to  be  pulled.     Of  course  the 
 strong  and  experienced  boatmen  were  the  most  use- 
 ful.    But  there  were   not  enough    of   them.     So  a 
 
64  "DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 number  of  others — some  of  them  not  very  strong  nor 
 very  experienced — were  called  for.  Anybody  who 
 could  pull  at  all  was  better  than  nobody  in  the  emer- 
 gency. And  so  we  got  up  the  rapids.  If  we  had 
 discarded  the  aid  of  these  humbler  men,  and  waited 
 till  everybody  was  experienced,  we  might  have 
 waited  to  this  hour  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids; 
 just  as  countless  Heathen  are  waiting,  for  the  lack  of 
 simple  men  and  women — ANY  ONE  WHO  CAN  PULL 
 — to  come  and  help  them  to-day. 
 
 Let  this,  however,  be  most  carefully  remembered : 
 A  man,  be  he  educated  or  ignorant,  who  is  not  a  real 
 backbone  Christian  is  of  no  use.  He  cannot  pull. 
 He  would  be  a  dead  weight,  and  have  to  be  pulled 
 himself.  But  if  he  isd.  humble  faithful  child  of  God, 
 whatever  else  he  is  not,  he  can  at  any  rate  pull  a 
 little.  And  face  to  face  with  the  awful  need,  surely 
 anyone  who  can  pull  a  little  is  better  than  none  at 
 all !.  Besides  how  can  we  know  ?  God  often  uses  the 
 weak  things  most. 
 
 Again,  why  reject  dear  children  of  God  on  ac- 
 count of  their  age?  One  of  the  felt  wants  in  the 
 Mission  Field  is  of  older  Christians  with  their  riper 
 experience.  It  is  objected — **  They  could  never  learn 
 the  language  properly."  Then  let  them  learn  the 
 language  improperly  I  To  know  the  language  well 
 is  better  than  to  know  it  badly.  We  all  admit  that. 
 But  to  know  the  language  badly  is  ever  so  much 
 better  than  to  stop  in  this  country,  and  not  know  it 
 at  all !     Why  do  we  not  see  this? 
 
"DO    NOT   SAY."  65 
 
 But  we  may  make  too  much  of  the  language. 
 Let  these  dear  people  come  and  encourage  the 
 younger  missionaries.  Let  them  be  daily  examples 
 to  the  native  Christians.  Let  them  come  and  win 
 the  Heathen  by  love.  Will  anyone  say  that  such 
 lives,  and  the  money  spent  on  them,  are  thrown 
 away  ?  Then  why  reject  them  because  they  are  '^  too 
 old  to  learn  the  language?  "  I  tell  you,  we  want  \.\i^^^ 
 people.  And  they  would  probably  stand  the  climate 
 all  the  better  because  they  were  not  very  young. 
 
 Once  more,  with  the  call  of  God,  and  the  cry  of 
 the  Heathen  in  our  ear,  is  it  right  to  be  too  partic- 
 I  ular  on  the  score  of  Health  ?  It  is  right  to  be  care- 
 ful. God  does  not  want  us  to  be  foolhardy.  But 
 to  reject  men  altogether  who  are  strong  enough  to 
 stand  the  wear  and  tear  of  noisy,  bustling  America, 
 and  who  perhaps  have  a  good  medical  certificate  in 
 their  pocket,  because  another  doctor,  for  very  ex- 
 plicable reasons,  does  not  care  to  be  responsible  for 
 them,  seems  to  me  like  caution  run  mad !  It  would 
 be  excusable  if,  with  our  caution,  we  were  doing  the 
 work  entrusted  to  us.  But  to  keep  such  people  from 
 going,  if  we  are  able  to  send  them,  and  leave  the 
 Heathen  to  die  uncared  for,  is  surely  not  caution 
 but  neglect  ? 
 
 Besides,  those  who  cannot  go  to  one  country, 
 why  can  they  not  be  sent  to  another?  If  it  would 
 be  imprudent  for  a  man  to  go  to  tropical  India,  why, 
 on  that  account,  must  he  be  rejected  altogether?  Is 
 there  no  part  of  all  the  Heathen  or  Mohammedan 
 
 Do  Not  Say— 5 
 
66  "  DO   NOT   SAY.' 
 
 world  where  he  can  live  ?  Why  cannot  the  MissioiV 
 ary  Societies  (who,  between  them,  work  in  all  cli 
 mates)  co-operate  and,  in  certain  cases,  pass  on  cam 
 didates  from  one  to  the  other,  according  to  thti 
 cHmate  desired  ? 
 
 Oh  !  are  we  really  burning  for  the  message  tc 
 reach  our  fellow-men  before  they  die,  when  we  dis 
 courage  (perhaps  lightly)  any  true  disciples  who  arr 
 willing  to  carry  it  to  them?  Most  solemnly  do 
 believe,  if  the  emergency  in  something  of  its  vivic 
 reality  could  be  brought  home  to  us,  so  that  we  coulc 
 see  it  and  feel  it,  we  could  no  more  discourage  these 
 willing  people  from  going  to  the  Heathen  than  wc 
 could  discourage  the  Life-boat  Sailors  from  going  tci 
 the  sinking  ship  !  There  maybe  risk.  But  the  emeri 
 gency  justifies  it — nay,  calls  for  it !  It  is  always  i 
 risk,  humanly  speaking,  when  David  goes  againsi 
 Goliath.  But  let  us  not  vote  him  back  to  the  sheep 
 fold,  and  leave  the  people  to  be  enslaved,  and  the 
 giant  to  glory  in  his  boasting.  It  is  the  Lord'i 
 cause.     We  have  His  arm  to  lean  upon. 
 
 Oh  !  I  am  persuaded  if  God's  people  were  only 
 awake  and  on  fire,  even  moderately,  we  should  (with- 
 out going  off  our  heads)  quietly  put  aside  a  great 
 many  of  our  prudent  considerations,  and  just  go  tc 
 the  Heathen  whether  zve  lived  or  died  I 
 
 Finally,  some  cannot  go,  though  very  suitable, 
 because  their  denomination  is  wrong  !  They  are  not 
 quite  Presbyterian  enough,  or  not  quite  Episcopalian 
 enough,  or  Methodist,  or  whatever  it  is  they  ought 
 
 ]| 
 
*•  DO    NOT   SAY."  6j 
 
 to  be.  But  what  does  it  matter  ?  We  go  to  the 
 Heathen  not  to  preach  '^  Church,"  but  "  Christ "  ; 
 not  to  bring  them  to  our  Denomination,  but  to 
 Jesus.  And  an  EpiscopaHan  man  can  do  that  as 
 well  as  a  Methodist,  or  a  Presbyterian  as  well  as  a 
 Baptist.  That  any  should  be  kept  back  on  De- 
 nominational grounds  is  worse  than  deplorable.  It 
 would  be  easy  to  arrange  that  those  who  worked  to- 
 gether in  a  District  were  of  the  same  mind.  And 
 there  are  plenty  of  Districts — for  everybody  ! 
 
 True,  many  Churches  now-a-days  have  their  own 
 Missionary  Society.  And  there  are  some  Missions 
 (notably  the  China  Inland  Mission  and  the  North 
 Africa  Mission)  who  never  refuse  to  send  spiritual 
 men  to  the  Heathen  on  account  of  their  Denomi- 
 nation. But  in  spite  of  this,  until  Missionary  So- 
 cieties are  better  supported  than  some  of  them  are, 
 and  until  they  open  their  doors  a  little  wider  in  all 
 directions  than  some   of  them  do,  numbers  of  men 
 
 )[  and  women  who  might  be  usefully  preaching  the  Gos- 
 pel to  the   Heathen  are  likely  to  be  kept  at  home. 
 Writing  as  a  Missionary,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
 
 ■  saying  how,  from  my  heart,  I  deplore  the  plan  of 
 each  Denomination  sending  out  exclusively  its  own 
 members  to  establish  each  its  own  Church  in 
 Heathen  lands.  Let  us  thank  God  the  Church  we 
 individually  belong  to  is  as  good  as  it  is,  and  try  to 
 make  it  better.  But  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
 ^ther  races,  seeing  it  is  unlikely  our  own  particular 
 form  of  Worship  and  Church  government   are   in 
 
68  *'  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 every  way  the  best  for  them,  and  seeing  that  the 
 need  of  true  workers,  irrespective  of  Denomination, 
 is  so  tremendous,  why  may  not  our  Missionary  So- 
 cieties forget  such  distinctions,  and  send  out  all  the 
 faithful  servants  of  God  they  can  ?  Surely  they 
 would  be  far  more  noble  and  Christlike  Missionary 
 Societies  for  our  Churches  to  rejoice  over,  and  they 
 would  accomplish  wider  good. 
 
 To  me  this  position  seems  so  perfectly  reason- 
 able. Yet  I  see  good  men,  deeply  taught  of  God, 
 who  feel  differently,  and  who,  in  stoutly  champion- 
 ing each  his  own  Church,  are  helping  I  fear  to  propa- 
 gate our  unhappy  divisions  in  other  lands.  I  grieve 
 for  the  Heathen  ;  I  grieve  for  the  Native  Churches. 
 But  I  dare  not  judge  my  brethren. 
 
 There  is  a  difficulty  I  well  know,  for  wherever 
 we  go  there  must  be  an  outward  Church.  And  if 
 the  outward  Church  is  not  elastic  enough  to  include 
 within  its  fold  all  the  true  members  of  Christ's  spiri- 
 tual Church,  then — unless  men  are  to  compromise 
 their  consciences — there  must  be  several  outward 
 Churches.  This  is  unhappily  the  case  with  us  in  this 
 country.  But  in  going  to  new  countries  why  may 
 we  not — profiting  by  our  past  experience — hope  for 
 an  outward  Church  which,  while  steadfastly  reject- 
 ing all  false  doctrine,  shall  allow  the  fullest  liberty 
 to  its  members  in  matters  of  Church  government, 
 and  in  all  other  things  which  are  not  really  vital  f 
 
 However,  this  is  only  by  way  of  parenthesis. 
 Now  what  does  it  all  amount  to?   Just  this.     After 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  69 
 
 traveling  in  the  interior  of  China,  and  for  the  first 
 time  reahzing  a  little  bit  what  the  state  of  things  is, 
 and  the  absolute  necessity,  IF  THE  WORLD  IS  EVER 
 TO  BE  EVANGELIZED,  for  hundreds  of  plain,  simple 
 people  (of  all  Denominations),  in  addition  to  the 
 gifted  and  well-educated,  to  come  and  live  in  a  plain, 
 simple  way,  and  preach  the  plain,  simple  Gospel,  it 
 cuts  me  to  the  heart  that  any  true  man  or  woman 
 who  is  willing  should  be  unable  to  come.  It  really  is 
 too  sad.  Will  not  the  Church  of  Christ  wake  up, 
 and  send  out  quickly  those  of  her  true  soldiers  (they 
 are  but  few !)  who  are  ready  to  go  ?  What  is  to  be 
 done  ?  Servants  of  God,  to  whom  He  has  entrusted 
 His  mo7uy,  ponder  it.  What  is  to  be  done?  It  is 
 heartless  to  plead  for  workers,  and  when  they  come, 
 to  say  we  will  not  have  them  ! 
 
 Are  we  Christians?  If  so,  do  let  us  think.  If 
 we  think,  we  shall  be  bound,  a  great  many  more  of 
 us,  to  go  to  the  Heathen,  and  to  let  our  children 
 go,  and  to  give  our  money — if  zvc  are  real. 
 
 Throughout  the  land  let  Christian  workers  be- 
 stir themselves  to  use  their  influence,  to  labor,  and 
 to  give,  as  God  enables  them.  It  is  an  awful  thing, 
 in  the  solemn  emergency,  for  any  servant  of  God  to 
 be  forgetting  the  Heathen,  or  for  any  man  who  calls 
 himself  a  Christian  to  content  himself  with  giving 
 his  paltry  trifles,  when,  God  knows,  if  he  chose,  he 
 could  give  liberally,  and  himself  be  supporting 
 several  Missionaries  in  the  Mission  Field. 
 
 Let  every    family  raise    at    least    $250    a  year, 
 
70  "  DO   NOT   SAY. 
 
 which  is  enough  in  inland  China,  and  have  its  repre- 
 sentative. Let  each  Congregation,  Association, 
 Union,  send  forth  at  least  one  of  its  members.  (The 
 cost  of  some  might  be  divided  into  shares,  and 
 small  Associations  could  take  one  or  more  shares,  if 
 unable  to  take  the  whole.  Let  Sunday  school  chil- 
 dren bring  their  pennies  every  week — from  father 
 one  week,  from  mother  one  week,  from  himself  one 
 week,  and  so  on — and  have  ''  The  Children's  Mis- 
 sionary." For  it  only  wants  a  little  system  and  de- 
 termination for  every  living  Congregation  and  Asso- 
 ciation to  have  its  representative,  or  its  definite  share 
 in  one,  working  among  the  Heathen. 
 
 With  a  little  organizing,  so  many  idle  trifling 
 sums  might  be  gotten  together,  and  utilized  for 
 sending  out  more  Missionaries.  And  ''  more  Mis- 
 sionaries "  is  what  we  want.  The  best  way  by  far 
 to  help  is  to  send  out  "  more  Missionaries."  Con- 
 centrate your  energies  and  your  money  upon  this — 
 **  more  Missionaries."  Other  objects  are  very  good, 
 and  it  is  very  tempting  to  us  to  ask  for  them.  But 
 nothing  can  take  the  place  of  "  more  Missionaries." 
 The  Heathen  world  is  '*  dying  without  God "  for 
 lack  of  "  more  Missionaries."  Supporting  native 
 Catechists,  however  good  or  necessary,  as  it  often  is, 
 is  not  the  same  thing.  TJicy  will  be  there,  and  wit- 
 nessing for  Christ,  if  they  are  fit  to  be  employed, 
 whether  you  support  them  as  Catechists  or  not. 
 But  the  '^ More  Missionaries''  will  not  be  there  if 
 you  do  not  send  them. 
 
"DO   NOT   SAY."  71 
 
 Thousands  of  natives  who  to-day  might  be  Hving 
 and  preaching  Christ  amongst  their  fellow-men,  are 
 doing  nothing  (worse  than  nothing,  for  they  are 
 Heathen  themselves),  because  we  have  not  sent  out 
 "  more  Missionaries  "  to  gather  them  in. 
 
 Beloved  Fellow-Ministers  !    Bear  with  me  if  I  say 
 a  word  expressly  to  you,  for,   indeed,  we  are  not 
 half  awake,  nor  on  fire,  as  we  should  be.     Are  you 
 not  responsible  for  teaching  your  people  ''  to  observe 
 all  things   whatsoever  I  have    commanded   you "  ? 
 Has  He  not  commanded   us  to  preach  the  Gospel 
 throughout  the  world?    Why   do   you    teach   your 
 people    (quite    rightly)  to  observe   the   Sacraments 
 I  and  other  things,  but   never  teach  them  to  observe 
 this  last  command,  which   surely  is  a  command  as 
 much  as  any  other?     Do  let  it  be  one  of  your  chief 
 duties  to  preach   Missionary   Sermons,  to  circulate 
 Missionary    literature,  to   have    Missionary    Prayer 
 Meetings,  to  form  your  praying  people  into  a  Mis- 
 sionary Union,  and  to  seek  out  from  amongst  them 
 faithful  young  men    and    women    for   the    Mission 
 Field.     Be  thoroughly  satisfied  that  they  are  true, 
 dependable  Christians,  real  soiiUv inner s.     Then  en- 
 courage them  ;  train  them ;  send  them   up  to   the 
 Missionary  Societies;  interest  your  people  in  them; 
 do  whatever  you  think  best— ^^z/j/  see  that  they  really 
 do  go  to  the  Heathen,     And,  if  possible,  lead  the  way, 
 and  go  yourself.     Remember,  seventy  of  your  people 
 giving  a  penny  a  day  will  provide  the  money  for  one 
 Missionary. 
 
72  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 Oh,  how  many  simple  Missionaries  might  you 
 not  have  the  joy  of  helping  into  the  Mission  Field, 
 if  you  were  to  become  heart  and  soul  in  earnest 
 about  it !  And  how  big  would  be  your  own  blessing, 
 and  the  blessing  of  your  people  !  But  as  it  is,  year 
 after  year  passes,  and  from  very  many  Christian 
 congregations,  never  so  much  as  one  Missionary — 
 man  or  woman — goes  forth  in  Jesus'  Name  to  the 
 poor  idol-stricken  peoples.  The  Master's  command 
 is  unheeded,  and  the  Heathen  are  left  to  perish. 
 Oh !  do  send  out  more  Missionaries,  hundreds  of 
 them,  quickly.  Only  take  care  they  are,  every  one  of 
 them,  true  and  tried  men  and  women  of  God,  who 
 know  how  to  be  patient — and  how  to  love. 
 
 Let  35  Christians  be  responsible  for  a  postage 
 stamp  a  day,  and  one  of  them  go.  Let  40  Christians 
 take  a  piece  of  bread  for  dinner  once  a  week,  and 
 have  their  representative  go — one  of  themselves. 
 Let  25  Christians  start  "  a  Do-Without  Box,"  and 
 have  their  Missionary.  Will  you  be  one?  Can 
 anything  be  done  for  God's  glory  by  living  a  little 
 less  comfortably  ?  By  giving  our  children  a  very 
 good,  but  less  fashionable  education  ?  Remember 
 an  unnecessary  horse  and  carriage  eat  up  two  Mis- 
 sionaries. Extravagant  dressing  smothers  not  a 
 few.  A  useless  hobby  runs  away  with  a  missionary's 
 rent.  A  fire  you  could  *'  do  without "  burns  up  his 
 clothes.  Conventional  dinner  parties  demolish  his 
 food.  Many  Missionaries  are  frittered  away  in  odds 
 and  ends.     Some  are  worn  on  ladies'   fingers,   and 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY."  73 
 
 locked  up  in  jewel  caskets.  And  many  are  smoked 
 away  through  Christians'  tobacco  pipes.  What  can 
 be  done  to  rescue  some  of  these  ?  Who  will  organ- 
 ize something?  You  will  find  the  Missionary 
 Bureau  an  excellent  medium  of  linking  yourself  with 
 others  and  for  obtaining  information. 
 
 Anyone  who  has  $250  a  year,  and  who  knows 
 how  to  be  careful,  may  come  at  his  own  charges. 
 Let  those  who  have  more  come  themselves,  and 
 bring  others  with  them.  Some  might  get  em- 
 ployment abroad,  or  work  at  their  own  crafts, 
 and  thus  be  self-supporting  Missionaries.  Think  of 
 this. 
 
 And  surely  in  some  way  God  will  devise  means 
 of  taking  care  of  all  His  children  who  go  forth  (not 
 lightly)  in  dependence  on  Him,  and  in  obedience  to 
 His  command. 
 
 Fellow-Christians !  This  is  our  responsibility ! 
 There  are  means  enough,  and  there  are  enough  of 
 us  to  evangelize  the  world.  But  we  are  7iot  awake  / 
 The  world  is  dying  without  God.  And  we  might  go 
 to  them.  We  might,  but  we  don't  I  Oh,  why  are 
 we  not  heart-broken  ?  Why  are  we  not  on  our  faces 
 in  the  dust  ?  Why  do  not  these  things  move  us  ? 
 Why  do  we  not  do  something  ?  My  brothers  and  sis- 
 ters, what  will  you  do  ?  Will  not  you  do  something  ? 
 Will  you  go  and  settle  this  with  God  ?  Settle  it 
 with  God, — yes,  with  God,  whose  matter  this  is : 
 *'To  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  from  whom  no 
 secrets  are  hid."     Settle  it  with  Him. 
 
74  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 He  is  coming — your  Saviour,  your  Master.  He 
 is  coming  to  His  servants,  one  after  another,  to  put 
 His  hand  upon  each,  to  look  into  each  face,  and  say, 
 "  My  child,  tell  me  now  all  that  thou  art  doing — all 
 that  thou  art  doing  to  let  thy  poor  brothers  and  sis- 
 ters in  the  Heathen  lands  know  that  I  love  them." 
 It  is  your  turn  now.  He  is  coming  to  you.  He  is 
 putting  His  pierced  hand  upon  j^^z^r  shoulder.  He  is 
 looking  straight  into  your  face.  His  tender,  search- 
 ing, wondrous  eyes  are  fixed  upon  you.  Oh,  brother! 
 is  it  all  right?  Sister!  is  it  all  right?  Can  you 
 look  up  brightly  into  His  dear  face,  and  say, 
 "  Saviour  !  Master  !  Thou  knowest  ?  These  others 
 know  not.  But  Thou  knowest.  Thou  knowest  that 
 my  heart  is  right  ;  that  I  am  keeping  nothing 
 back.  Thou  knowest  that  by  Thy  grace  I  am  doing 
 Thy  will  fully  for  the  perishing  Heathen  whom 
 Thou  lovest." 
 
 Or  would  you  feel  ashamed  ?  Would  you  rather 
 He  passed  you  by? 
 
 Face  to  face  with  God,  do  those  good  reasons 
 which  hitherto  have  satisfied  you  that  you  "  really 
 have  no  time,"  that  you  "  cannot  afford  to  do  more," 
 that  "your  place  is  at  home,"  seem  to  be  scarcely 
 more  than  idle  excuses  ?  That  conclusive  argument 
 against  your  going,  or  against  your  child  going  (or 
 your  sister),  which  you  have  been  putting  between 
 you  and  every  solemn  appeal,  does  it  seem  a  little 
 less  satisfactory  now?  That  "home  tie"  which  has 
 been   keeping  you  back,  would   you  hardly  like  to 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY."  75 
 
 mention  it  now  to  Him  who  left  all  and  gave  up  His 
 life  for  you,  and  who  says:  "Whosoever  loveth 
 father  or  mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of 
 Me"? 
 
 "  The  "  good  Providence  of  God  which  is  order- 
 ing your  path  at  home" — now  that  His  eye  is  upon 
 you,  have  you  an  uncomfortable  suspicion  that  it  is 
 not  His  Providence  at  all,  but  your  own  ordering, 
 because  you  do  not  wayit  to  go  ? 
 
 Do  you  feel  you  cannot  lift  up  your  head  and 
 look  quite  straight  into  His  face — because  He  knows  ? 
 He  knows  your  heart.  And  He  knows,  and  you 
 know,  that  you  are  not  fully  willing  to  do  His  will. 
 You  have  not  faced  the  question,  aud  you  do  not 
 want  to  face  it.  Oh,  dear  brother,  is  it  so  ?  Then 
 go  to  Him,  and  tell  Him  all  about  it.  Tell  Him 
 that  you  love  your  money,  and  cannot  give  it  up. 
 Tell  Him  how  hard  it  would  be  to  leave  your  home, 
 and  friends,  and  go  far  away  to  a  Heathen  land. 
 Tell  Him  how  your  heart  sickens  at  the  very  thought. 
 Tell  Him  about  your  children,  or  your  sister,  or 
 brother — that  you  could  not  bear  to  see  them  go. 
 Tell  Him  how  it  would  break  your  heart  to  take  that 
 child  of  yours,  dearer  to  you  than  life,  and  send  her 
 off  to  Africa  or  China.  Tell  Him  you  cannot  do  it. 
 Anything  else,  but  not  that.  Tell  Him  so.  He  will 
 not  be  hard  upon  you.  He  understands.  He  loves 
 you.  Oh,  how  He  feels  for  you  !  But,  "  He  that  will 
 save  his  life  shall  lose  it."  You  can  never  be  happy 
 while  you  are  seeking  to  save  yourself.     No  satisfy- 
 
76  "DO   NOT    SAY." 
 
 ing  joy  and  peace  can  be  yours,  whilst  you  ha\  c 
 SOMETHING  TOO  PRECIOUS  to  give  to  Jesus.  He 
 cannot  use  you  as  He  would  whilst  you  arc 
 taking  your  own  way.  And  you  can  never  be  a  joy 
 to  the  dear  Master,  as  long  as  you  are  afraid  to  tru.st 
 Him,  and  are  holding  something  back.  Ah,  then, 
 tell  Him  this  too.  Tell  Him  you  can  never  Ic 
 happy  till  the  victory  is  won.  Keep  talking  to  Him 
 about  it  all.  He  can  make  you  willing.  Yo?i  cannct , 
 but  He  can.  He  has  power  enough  and  love  enoui;h 
 to  conquer  your  heart.  He  can  so  fill  you  with  Him- 
 self that  to  do  His  sweet  and  holy  will,  and  nothir.g 
 short  of  that,  shall  be  your  meat  and  drink — the  joy 
 of  your  life. 
 
 My  brother,  my  sister,  the  Heathen  are  perishing! 
 What  are  you  doing?  You  have  but  one  little  life 
 to  live. 
 
 Take  care  not  to  miss  the  mark !  ''  You  had 
 better  go,  or  you  will  be  like  me,"  said  a  Christian 
 sister  regretfully  to  a  dear  young  friend  who  was 
 thinking  of  going  to  China.  ''  While  you  wait  some- 
 thing may  happen  to  keep  you  at  home."  Ah,  yes ! 
 "Something  may  happen  "  !  If  God  is  giving  you 
 the  opportunity  now,  and  you  let  it  slip,  He  may 
 never  offer  you  the  chance  again  !  Some  of  us  (for 
 whom  it  was  possible  to  go  to  the  Heathen)  almost 
 shudder  now  to  think  /low  nearly  we  stayed  at  home  ! 
 Do  not,  I  beseech  you,  let  this  great  matter  drift. 
 Do  not  walk  in  uncertainty.  Do  not  be  turned 
 aside.     You  will  be  eternally  the  poorer  if  you  do. 
 
"  DO    NOT   SAY."  77 
 
 But  go  to  your  Father  as  a  little  child,  and  settle  it 
 witli  Him. 
 
 Bring  your  poor  Heathen  brothers  and  sisters 
 and  lay  them  before  God.  Lay  yourself  before  God  ; 
 and  say  "  Lord,  look  at  these  poor  people.  LOOK 
 AT  THEM  IN  THEIR  SINS.  Helpless,  hopeless  Heathen, 
 with  none  to  tell  them  of  Thy  love  !  O  Lord,  here 
 am  I,  Thy  servant.  What  am  I  to  do  ?  Show  me 
 what  MY  PART  2>." 
 
 Alas !  This  is  just  where  so  many  of  us  fail. 
 Every  Christian,  no  matter  what  other  responsibilities 
 he  may  have,  has  his  oivn  responsibility  in  regard  to 
 the  Heathen.  *'  If  it  is  only  some  who  are  called  To 
 the  Heathen,  ALL  are  called  FOR  the  Heathen." 
 Whether  it  be  our  privilege  to  go  to  them  ourselves 
 or  not,  every  one  of  us  has  Jiis  own  definite  part. 
 And  it  is  our  duty  to  find  out  what  our  part  is. 
 How  few  of  us  have  done  this,  or  even  thought  of 
 doing  it !  Speaking  for  myself,  had  my  Master  come 
 a  few  years  ago  and  said  to  me,  ''  Have  you  ever  con- 
 sidered the  Heathen,  and  your  responsibility  in  re- 
 gard to  them?  Are  you  doing  your  part?  Have 
 you  ever  taken  the  trouble  to  find  out  what  it  is?" 
 I  should  have  been  obliged  to  say  **No  "  !  I  could 
 have  said,  ''  Lord,  I  have  thought  about  the  Heathen 
 ever  since  I  was  a  child.  I  have  had  a  missionary 
 box.  I  have  occasionally  read  the  missionary  peri- 
 odicals." I  could  have  said  (had  there  been  one  in 
 those  days)  "  Lord,  I  am  a  member  of  the  Mission- 
 ary Union !     I  have   attended    Missionary  meetings. 
 
78  ''  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 I  have  been  on  Missionary  Committees.  At  the 
 Anniversary  I  have  preached  a  Missionary  sermon, 
 and  done  my  best  to  get  people  to  the  meeting.  In 
 fact,  I  have  done  a  good  many  things — I  am  cer- 
 tainly one  who  *  takes  a  great  interest  in  Foreign 
 Missions.'  But,  Lord,  if  Thou  dost  ask  me,  have  I 
 ever  seriously  come  into  Thy  presence,  and  brought 
 the  Heathen  into  Thy  presence,  and  said,  *  Lord, 
 look  at  these  poor  people.  Here  am  I  Thy  servant, 
 what  am  I  to  do  ? ' — really  intending  to  do  it  at  all 
 costs — No,  Lord,  I  have  not !  "  And  I  fear  that 
 ninety-nine  Christians  out  of  a  hundred,  if  the  Mas- 
 ter were  to  come  to-day,  would  have  to  say  the 
 same. 
 
 And  yet,  surely,  this  is  just  the  one  thing  we 
 shall  be  held  responsible  for, — the  one  thing  which 
 every  servant  of  God  is  bound  to  do,  if  he  would 
 look  His  Master  in  the  face  and  be  clear  from  his 
 brothers'  blood  in  the  great  Day  ? 
 
 Will  you  not  then  go  to  your  Father,  and  in  the 
 warmth  of  His  abounding  love  to  you,  will  you  not 
 wait  on  Him  earnestly,  patiently,  until  you  KNOW 
 He  has  spoken,  until  you  have  found  out  FROM 
 Him  zv  hat  your  part  is? 
 
 And,  then,  whether  it  be  to  free  yourself  from 
 intrusive  home  claims,  and  to  go  forth  in  His  name 
 to  the  Mission  Field  ;  or  whether  it  be  to  give  up 
 your  long-cherished  wish  to  be  a  Missionary,  and  to 
 push  the  fight  by  prayer,  and  faith,  and  effort  at 
 Home — whatever  your  part  may  be,  and  whatever 
 
**  DO   NOT   SAY."  79 
 
 ft  may    cost  you  —  by  His  grace  go  forward  and 
 do  it. 
 
 So  doing,  the  Heathen  shall  bless  and  not  curse 
 thee,  thou  shalt  win  the  crown  instead  of  the  shame, 
 and  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS  WILL  BE  GLAD. 
 
8o  "  DO    NOT   SAY.' 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 For   me   to   answer,   in  writing,  alone  with  God. 
 
 "  I  gave  My  life  for  thee  : 
 What  hast  thou  given  for  Me?  " 
 
 I.  Am  I  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ? 
 
 ?„  Am  I  serving   Him ? 
 
 3.  Am  I  doing  His  will  xvith  7-egard  to  the  Heathen  f 
 
 4.  Am  I  denying  myself  in  any  way  for  their  sakes  ? 
 
 5.  Am  I  praying  fervently  for  them  ? 
 
 6.  Am  I  reading  about  them  regularly  in  the  Missionary  Ma- 
 
 gazines,  etc.  ? 
 
 7.  Am  I  stirring  up  others  to  care  for  the  Heathen? 
 
 8.  Am  I  WILLING     TO     GO     TO     THE     HeATHEN     MYSELF      FOR 
 
 Him? 
 
 9.  Am  I  WILLING  TO  LET  MY  CHILDREN  GO? 
 
 10.  Am  I  WILLING  TO  LET    MY    MONEY    GO — AS  MUCH  OF  IT  AS 
 
 He  wants? 
 
 II.  If  so,  AM  I  going?     AM  I  letting  my  children  go?    AM  I 
 
 letting  my  money  go  ? 
 
 12.  To  speak  the  honest  truth,  have  I  ever  gone  directly  to 
 
 God,  to  find  out  from  Him   what  HE  wants  ME 
 to  do  ? 
 
 13.  Did  I  persevere  until  I  got  God's  answer  f 
 
 14.  Ami  now  obeying  His  will  ? Or  am  I  trying 
 
 to  excuse  myself  ? 
 
 To  sum  up: 
 
 15.  Am  I,  OR  am  I  not,  doing  My  Part? 
 
 16.  Have  I  ever  troubled  to  find  out  from  Him  what 
 
 my  part  is? 
 
 17.  If  not,  will  I  do  so  NOW^  and  not  rest  until  God 
 
 speaks  to  me,   and    until    I    KNOW    I    AM  DOING 
 
 His  will  with  regard  to. the  Heathen?.  .  .    , 
 
 N.  B. — Will  you  answer  each  question  "  Yes  "  or  "  No." 
 
DO   NOT   SAY."  8 1 
 
 CHAPTER  VL 
 I.— A  HEATHEN  CITY. 
 
 {Extract  from  a  Misstonary''s  Letter,  A.  D.  1888.) 
 
 This  morning  I  climbed  a  hill,  and  looked  down 
 upon  the  city — a  heathen  city  !  Yes,  here,  at  the 
 close  of  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
 is  a  city — a  beautiful,  busy  city — thronging  with 
 civilized,  intelligent  people,  knowing  precisely  as 
 much  to  day  of  the  one  true  God  as  the  Britons  did 
 in  the  days  of  Boadicea ;  as  full  of  knowledge  re- 
 specting Jesus  their  Saviour  as  the  paper  upon  which 
 this  is  written — precisely.  And  so  we  must  leave 
 them.  And  so,  I  suppose,  they  will  continue  to  be 
 left — unless  you  at  home  have  something  to  say! 
 But  why  am  I  writing  thus,  as  if  there  was  some- 
 thing exceptional  about  Kwei-chow?  It  is  but  one 
 of  the  thousands  of  cities  in  the  world  of  which  the 
 same  may  be  said  in  all  truth.  Can  the  churches 
 do  more  ?  Do  you  not  know  they  already  support 
 a  great  many  Missionaries  in  China?  (I  think  there 
 must  be  three  or  four  hundred  by  this  time,  even  if 
 you  do  not  count  Women  Missionaries — and  they 
 Dught  to  be  counted.)  It  is  true,  they  have  their 
 ihousands  of  ministers — their  tens  and  tens  of  thou- 
 sands of  workers.     It  is  true  that  in  every  one  of  our 
 
 Do  Not  Say — 6 
 
82  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 large  cities  they  have  hundreds  of  ministers,  and 
 who  shall  say  how  many  hundred  workers,  with  a 
 church,  mission  room,  or  something,  in  almost  every 
 street ;  and  that  even  in  each  of  the  smaller  towns 
 they  have  quite  a  nice  little  band,  both  of  ministers 
 and  of  workers. 
 
 And  although  it  is  true  that  if  in  China's  large 
 cities,  and  in  her  thickly-populated  towns,  there 
 could  be  but  one  minister,  or  just  one  disciple  oj 
 Jesus  Christ,  our  poor  brothers  and  sisters  there, 
 whose  souls  are  as  precious  as  our  own,  might  then 
 perhaps,  at  last,  have  just  the  chance  of  hearing] 
 there  is  a  God  who  loves  them,  yet  we  must  look  at 
 things  soberly ;  wc  must  remember  there  are 
 '*  heathen  at  home,"  and  "  charity  begins  at  home." 
 Yet  somehow  it  seems  a  pity  ! 
 
 It  is  true  that  God  says,  '*  Go  into  all  the  world 
 and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  Creature."  But  of 
 course  His  servants  are  qnite  right  to  stay,  crowded 
 together  in  one  spot  on  the  earth's  surface,  and 
 preach  the  Gospel  only  to  a  fezv;  often  treading 
 upon  each  other's  toes  ;  working  (sometimes  delib- 
 erately), not  so  much  against  Satan  as  against  each 
 other;  the  filling  of  one  church  meaning  the  empty- 
 ing of  another ;  the  success  of  one  worker  the  disap- 
 pointment of  another  ;  while  all  the  time  hundreds, 
 thousands,  nay,  millions  of  our  fellow  creatures  are 
 ignorantly  worshiping  sticks  and  stones  for  the  lack 
 of  something  better! 
 
 '*  Of  course  His  servants  are  quite  right !  "     But, 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  83 
 
 are  His  servants  quite  right  ?  Or  are  they  quite 
 wrong?  May  not  God  be  saying  of  the  service  of 
 some  of  His  servants  at  home,  busy  and  prominent 
 workers  may  be — too  busy  perhaps  to  seek  and  fol- 
 low //^?.y  leading — ^'  To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude 
 of  your  sacrifices  unto  Me?"  "Bring  no  more  vain 
 oblations."  "The  calling  of  assemblies  I  cannot  away 
 with  ;  it  is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn  meeting."  "  I 
 will  hide  Mine  eyes  from  you  ;  yea,  when  ye  make 
 many  prayers  I  will  not  hear."  "Your  hands  are  full 
 of  blood  "  (cf.  Acts  xx,  26)  ? 
 
 God's  command,  "  Go  ....  TO  EVERY  CREAT- 
 URE," albeit  it  was  our  Lord's  parting  message  to 
 us — many  of  us  simply  ignore.  But  we  expect  Him 
 to  smile  on  us  all  the  same !  Who  will  ponder  these 
 things  ? 
 
 To  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen — is  it  the 
 amusement,  or  is  it  the  business  of  the  Church 
 of  Christ  ?  Is  it  true  that  the  devil  himself  mar- 
 vels at  our  unfaithfulness?  Does  Satan  wonder 
 at  his  own  success  ?  How  long  shall  he  be 
 allowed  to  triumph?  How  long  shall  he  be  suf- 
 fered to  keep  these  millions  in  his  own  pos- 
 session? How  long  shall  he  be  permitted  to 
 enjoy  his  proud  boasting?  Shall  we  indeed  see 
 him  laugh  at  our  conferences,  and  our  prayer- 
 meetings,  and  our  "conventions  for  the  deepening 
 of  the  spiritual  life''?  Shall  we  stand  still,  and  let 
 the  devil  smile  when  we  consecrate  ourselves,  and 
 talk  of  going  by-and-bye  to  the  Heathen  ? 
 
84  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 Oh  !  Brothers,  let  us  be  true  !  Sisters,  be  true  ! 
 By  the  devil's  scorn,  by  the  Saviour's  entreaty,  by 
 Heathens'  woe,  be  true  I  ''Pay  that  which  thou 
 hast  vowed."  Is  it  not  time  for  every  church  to 
 have  its  representatives  in  the  Mission  Field  ?  Is  a 
 church  worthy  of  the  name  if  it  has  not  ?  Is  one 
 Missionary  to  half  a  million  or  a  million  people, 
 and  that  Missionary  a  frail  young  girl,  perhaps,  all 
 that  the  Church  of  Christ  can  do  for  those  who  are 
 dying  yonder  without  God  ?  Is  it  right  for  thousands 
 to  stay  at  home,  and  leave  a  mere  handful  of  ex- 
 hausted fellow-workers  face  to  face  with  whole  con- 
 tinents of  teeming  Heathen  held  in  bondage  under 
 the  devil's  sway  ?  Is  it  not  time  to  rise  up  in  earnest 
 and  dispute  the  field  with  the  great  Usurper  ?  Where 
 are  the  Lord's  veterans  ?  Will  not  some  of  them — 
 men  of  spiritual  power  and  influence — come  out  and 
 lead  the  van  ?  Oh,  what  a  blessed  impetus  that 
 would  give  !  Let  others  follow.  And,  praise  God, 
 within  the  next  ten  years,  our  eyes  shall  see  the 
 "  new  thing  "  which  the  Lord  will  do,  in  comparison 
 with  which  ''the  former  things"  shall  be  as  nothing 
 — even  "  a  way  in  the  wilderness^  and  rivers  in  the 
 desert y 
 
 Again  I  ask  in  deep  solemnity,  "  Who  will  pon- 
 der these  things?  Saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  "  I  will 
 curse  your  blessings."  Saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
 "  Prove  Me  now  herewith  if  I  will  not  pour  you  out 
 a  blessing."  Which  shall  it  be  ?  Mal.  ii,  2  (cf.  i,  1 1)  ; 
 iii,  10.     God  will  have  no  withholding.     Study  the 
 
"  DO   NOT   SAY."  85 
 
 whole   book.     See   i,    14,    "  Which  hath  ....  and 
 voweth,  and  .  .  .  ! " 
 
 Some  of  us  remember  that  our  Lord  tells  us, 
 because  the  harvest  is  great  and  the  laborers  are  few, 
 to  pray  Him  that  He  would  thrust  forth  laborers 
 into  His  harvest.  Some  of  us  forget  that  in  the 
 same  breath  He  says, '' Go  .  .  .  behold  I  send  YOU." 
 (Luke  X,  2,  3.)  (j.  H.  H.) 
 
 2,— LIVE  FOR  US. 
 
 At  our  farewell  meeting,  before  starting  for  the 
 Foreign  Mission  Field,  several  Missionaries  asked 
 those  who  stayed  behind  to  Pray  for  us.  I  ventured 
 to  add  a  further  request — that  they  would  Believe 
 for  us.  To  Pray  and  not  to  Believe,  would  be  of 
 little  use. 
 
 Now,  after  my  stay  in  China,  I  have  learned  the 
 need  of  a  third  request — more  important  than  all — 
 LIVE  FOR  US. 
 
 You  know  what  I  mean.  Some  people  speak  of 
 Missionaries  as  if  they  were  the  off-scouring  of  the 
 earth.  That  is  of  little  consequence.  It  does  not 
 trouble  me  a  bit.  But  other  dear  people  look  upon 
 iMissionaries  as  if  they  were  angels — sweet  and  holy 
 beings,  scarcely  men  at  all !  That  is  far  more 
 serious,  and  does  more  harm.  For,  unfortunately, 
 it  is  quite  as  untrue.  The  fact  is.  Missionaries  are 
 just  the  same  as  other  people.  Account  for  it  as  we 
 may,  what  Christians  are  at  home,  the  Missionaries 
 ■are  abroad — neither  better  nor  worse. 
 
86  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 If  you  are  living  comfortable,  easy-going  lives; 
 if  you  have  but  little  love  for  God  and  the  souls  of 
 men ;  if  your  Christian  life  is  spotted  with  inconsist- 
 encies, lean  and  barren  ;  if  you  are  not  abiding  in 
 Jesus  and  enjoying  the  fatness  of  His  House — then 
 you  may  look  across  the  water,  and  be  afraid  that 
 some  of  your  Missionaries,  too,  are  living  comfort- 
 able, easy-going  lives ;  that  they,  too,  have  but  little 
 love  for  God  and  the  Heathen  around  them  ;  that  their 
 salt  has  lost  its  savor,  and  that  they  are  not  walking 
 closely  in  fellowship  with  Jesus. 
 
 But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  you  are  living  faithful, 
 self-denying  lives  at  home  ;  yielding  yourselves  unto 
 God,  to  do  His  will,  and  walking  before  Him  as 
 little  children,  in  all  simplicity  and  joyfulness,  then 
 you  may  be  hopeful  that  your  Missionaries  also  are 
 walking  in  the  light  of  God,  and  faithfully  serving 
 Him  amongst  the  Heathen. 
 
 Yes,  you  must  Live  for  us.  Praying  will  not  take 
 the  place  of  Living.  Believing  will  not  take  the 
 place  of  Living. 
 
 Pray  for  us  as  much  as  you  will.  Believe  for  us, 
 that  your  prayers  may  be  effectual.  But  if  you 
 would  really  help  us — and  that  means,  if  you  would 
 really  help  the  dear  native  Christians,  for  they  look 
 to  US  for  example  and  inspiration — see  to  it  that 
 you  are  yourselves  living  day  by  day  in  communion 
 with  Jesus. 
 
 Pray  for  us.  Believe  for  us.  But,  above  all,  I 
 beseech  you,  LIVE  FOR  US. 
 
*'  DO   NOT  SAY."  87 
 
 3.— EXTRACTS    FROM   A    MISSIONARY'S 
 NOTE  BOOK. 
 
 (I.)  I  must  bear  my  little  testimony  to  our 
 Father's  great  goodness  and  tender  care  of  His 
 child  when  travelling  alone  amongst  the  Heathen — 
 Shown  so  often  in  the  very  smallest  things. 
 
 To  be  able  to  hand  ourselves  and  all  our  affairs 
 over  to  Him  ;  to  let  Him  lead,  smoothly  or  roughly, 
 quickly  or  slowly,  comfortably  or  uncomfortably,  in 
 the  light  or  in  the  dark,  in  bodily  weakness  or  in 
 health,  amidst  sympathizing  friends  or  spite-spitting 
 foes,  and  to  know  that  all  is  going  RIGHT— what 
 rest  it  is  !  Jitst  to  live  a  day  at  a  time  !  How  easy 
 it  makes  things— things  which  would  otherwise  be  a 
 constant  fret.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  the  measure  in 
 which,  through  His  patience  with  me,  this  has  been 
 my  experience.  "  Know  ye  that  the  Lord,  He  is — 
 GOD!" 
 
 (II.)  During  the  year  I  was  Itinerating  26  weeks  5  days, 
 and  travelled  about  5,138  miles,  at  a  cost  of  $75.00,  including 
 everythijio-. 
 
 Personal  expenses  for  board,  lodging,  and 
 everything  else,  averaged  about  8c.  a  day. 
 
 Travelling  expenses  for  steamer,  or  boat,  or 
 coolie,  average  about  15c.  each  travelling  day. 
 
 On  any  one  journey  the  maximum  personal 
 expenditure  (on  a  journey  of  ten  days)  averaged 
 iij^c.  per  day.  The  minimum  personal  expendi- 
 ture (on  a  journey  of  thirteen  days)  averaged  6c.  per 
 day. 
 
88  *'  DO   NOT  SAY." 
 
 Specimen  journey,  from  Gyiu-chow  to  Kwe-chi, 
 via  Pu-chin.  Distance  273  miles.  Days  occupied 
 (preaching  and  travelling)  16.  Expenses — travel- 
 ling, $2.35  ;  personal  (for  board,  lodging,  etc.), 
 $1.25;  total,  $3.68. 
 
 Days  upon  which  I  accepted  hospitality  are  not 
 reckoned  in  any  of  the  above  statements,'^ 
 
 In  Inland  China  instead  of  getting  run  down  by 
 knocking  about  in  the  native  inns,  and  eating  the 
 native  food,  experience  shows  that  in  most  cases  we 
 get  run  up !  Instead  of  having  to  return  to  our 
 Stations  to  recruit  after  a  spell  of  itinerating,  more 
 often  is  there  need  to  go  off  itinerating  in  order  to 
 recruit  after  a  spell  of  staying  at  home.  But  Mis- 
 sionaries are  invariably  short-handed.  All  sorts  of 
 little  things  seem  to  weave  a  network  around  you, 
 and  tie  you  to  your  Station.  It  is  often  the  hardest 
 thing  in  the  world  to  get  away.  And  yet  if  we 
 could  itinerate  more,  it  would  be  better  for  our 
 health.  Is  as  much  attention  given  to  this  as  its 
 importance  deserves? 
 
 (III.)  Though  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  Chinese 
 are  hungering  for  the  Gospel,  (they  do  not  know 
 there  is  any  Gospel  to  hunger  for!)  they  are 
 ready  to  listen  to  the  Gospel.  And  the  country  is 
 open  for  the  Missionary  to  itinerate  wherever  he 
 pleases,  from  north  to  south,  and  from  east  to  west. 
 
 Fifty  or  a  hundred  Missionaries  go  to  China  in  a 
 
 *Under  unfavorable  circumstances,    and  in  other  localities,  the  cost 
 would  be  more. 
 
"DO    NOT   SAY."  89 
 
 year.  And  the  Church  of  Christ,  instead  of  falling 
 on  her  face  in  shame  and  desperation  that  so  few 
 should  have  gone,  congratulates  herself  that  she  is 
 "  doing  so  mucky  So  much  !  Oh,  if  we  could  only- 
 see  as  God  sees,  and  feel  as  God  feels,  and  care  as 
 God  cares ;  if  we  could  only  take  in  what  it  really 
 means,  that  our  fellow-men  are  being  left  without 
 God  ;  if  we  could  only  see  things  as  they  are^  a 
 shock  of  grief  would  rouse  the  Christian  Church  to 
 tears,  and  bring  us  horror-stricken  to  the  dust  before 
 God. 
 
 And  then,  filled  with  a  burning  shame  and 
 Godlike  enthusiasm,  we  should  rise  to  our  feet,  bent 
 at  last  upon  doing  our  Master's  will. 
 
 From  all  sides  Christian  men  and  women  would 
 be  pouring  into  the  Foreign  Mission  Fields. 
 Parents  would  no  longer  be  keeping  back  their 
 children,  but  urging  them  on.  Every  Church — no, 
 almost  every  House — would  have  its  representatives 
 abroad.  And  in  a  very  short  time  every  family  in 
 China — yes,  every  family  in  the  world — would  have 
 heard  of  the  Saviour's  love.  And  our  own  beloved 
 land  would  be  a  thousandfold  the  richer ! 
 
 Oh,  it  might  so  easily  be  done,  and  we  are  not  do- 
 ing it!  Surely  Satan  has  blinded  our  eyes.  We 
 are  asleep,  while  dreaming  we  are  awake  ! 
 
 Are  there  now  bright  gleams  of  encouragement, 
 new  doors  of  hope  ?  Thank  God.  But  still  the 
 supreme,  the  overwhelming  thought  which  pierces 
 the  heart  of  the  Missionary  as  he  travels  in  China 
 
90  "  DO   NOT   SAY." 
 
 to-day  is  this : — "  My  POOR  BROTHERS  !  MY  POOR 
 SISTERS  !  WHAT  A  CRUEL  SHAME  IT  IS  THAT  WE  AT 
 HOME  ARE  FEASTING  ourselves  TO  THE  FULL,  AND 
 LEAVING  you  THUS— IN  HUNDREDS  AND  THOUSANDS 
 OF  THOUSANDS  TO  PERISH  !  " 
 
Our  Work  in 
 the  Home  Field. 
 
 1.  The  Home,  Frontier,  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  is 
 helping  to  sustain  above  forty  home  missions. 
 
 2.  The  prosecution  of  these  missions  the  past  year  has  re- 
 sulted in  about  one  thousand  accessions  to  the  Church. 
 
 3.  Many  of  these  missions  are  set  within  the  large  centers 
 of  population  in  our  large  cities. 
 
 4.  Our  missions  are  in  need  of  more  liberal  appropriations. 
 
 We  must  make  the  One  Hundred 
 Thousand  Dollar  Line  in  the  pres= 
 ent  quadrennium. 
 
 1.  Let  every  pastor  make  special  effort  to  secure  life  mem- 
 bers and  life  directors  in  the  Missionary  Society.  Ten  dollars 
 paid  in  two  payments,  constitutes  one  a  life  member,  and 
 fifty  dollars  paid,  if  need  be,  in  five  installments,  constitutes 
 one  a  life  director.  A  beautiful  certificate  is  issued  to  life 
 members  and  life  directors. 
 
 2.  Certificates  are  issued  to  children  and  young  people 
 who  raise  or  donate  one  or  three  dollars  for  missions,  the 
 same  to  be  reported   through  the  pastor. 
 
 3.  This  office  is  prepared  to  send  out  at  any  time  to  pas- 
 tors or  others  desiring  to  raise  missionary  money,  pyramids, 
 punch  cards,  or  regular  offering  envelopes;  also,  missionary 
 tracts,  and  tracts  on  Christian  giving. 
 
 4.  The  Society  invites  and  solicits  special  donations,  be- 
 quests, etc. 
 
 For  supplies,  fuller  information,  etc.,  address  the  Secretary 
 at  Dayton,  Ohio. 
 
VBX9878.76  Hfil  hfc  < 
 
 I'"  no' say  :or,'f.echurch-s  excuses  300kS. 
 
 on         ''""''"''»'l'''IJ(lilllllll^|  I        iiiger,  D.D. 
 
 12^      1   1012  00047  0189       ^ "" 
 
 Ethiopia  coining  ^v.  --^-^ ^_ lie  in  West- 
 ern Africa.  By  Revs.  D.  K.  FTrcEiiiger  and  Wm. 
 Mclvee.  Includes  a  iiistory  of  the  missions  of  the 
 United  Brethren  in  Christ,  and  contains  also  a  de- 
 scription of  manners,  customs,  and  work  in  Africa. 
 Cloth,12mo .  1  00 
 
 Our  Missionary  Work  from  1853  to  1889.    By  D.  K. 
 
 Flickintrer,  D.D.  A  chronological  history  of  tiie  work 
 of  the  United.  Brethren  Church  for  missions  from  its 
 earliest  beginnings  to  the  present  time,  giving  full 
 statistics  of  all  the  work.  The  book  is  well  illustrated 
 with  portraits  of  missionaries,  members  of  mission 
 households  of  different  places,  cuts  of  buildings,  and 
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 The  Holy  Spirit  in  Missions.    By  A.  J.  Gordon,  D.D. 
 
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 The  Divine  Enterprise  of  Missions.  A  series  of  le^ip 
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 seeks  the  eternal  and  immutable  principles  of  mis-  '• 
 si  on  work  in  the  utterances  of  Jesus,  and  tests  the 
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 ure from,  those  principles  as  laid  dowiftlithe  Divine 
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 The  Crisis  of  Missions.    By  A.  T.  Pierson,  D.D.  Cloth, 
 
 SI. 25  ;  paper .* 35 
 
 The  Miracles  of  Missions.  The  mo(rern  marvels  in 
 the  history  of  missionary  enterprise.  By  Dr.  A.  T. 
 Pierson.     Cloth,  $1 ;  paper 35 
 
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