NOV 9 1995 2010 . f\437 ' f667 ■^vvn ^* • ^' ISEI=OieT lElO-IEaia?!! .^^1 Institute (Methodist). C. S. Nash, Hartford Seminary (Congregational). Geo. S. Bowers, Geitysburg Seminary (Lutheran German Sxnod). H. C. MiXTON, Ex-Officio, Western Seminary (Presbyterian). Correspondence and Publication CoiiMiTTEE, iS3i-2. L. L. Taylor, Chair/nan, New Brunswick Seminary (Reft)rme(l Church in America). W. H. BuTTRiCK, Rochester Seminary (Baptist). v.. E. Aiken, Yale Divinity School (Congregational.) B. E. S. Ely, Jr., North-Western Seminary (PresJjyterian). D. D. Spencer, Drew Seminary (Methodist). G. S. Webster, Ex-Officio, Union Seminary (Presbyterian). Executive Committee, 1882-3. C. S. Lane, Chairman, Hartford Seminary (Congregational). F. A. Potter, Llamilton Seminary (Baptist). C. A. R. Jauvier, Princeton Seminary (Presbyterian). W. S. Hood, Boston University (Methodist). F. \\. DuVernet, Wyctifie Seminary (Protestant Plpiscopal). C. B. Allen, Jr., Ex-Officio, Baptist Lfnion Seminary. Correspondence and Publication Com.mittee, 1882-3. C H. Dickinson, Chairman, Yale Divinity School (Congregational). Sidney Strong, Oberlin Seminary (Congregational). ^V. W. Smith, Drew Seminary (Methodist). 4 ' OM M ITTKLS — I SSo- 1 SSS. — CONTINUED'. \V. H. Faunce, Newton Seminary (Baptist). J. C. Smith, Knox Seminary (Canada Presbyterian). L. L. Taylor, Ex-Officio, New Brunswick Seminary (RefonneJ Church in America). Executive Committee, 1883-4. Richard Harlan, Chairman, Princeton Seminary (Presbyterian). [. McG. Foster, Andover Seminary (Congregational). F. N. JeWETT, Rochester Seminary (Baptist). R. A. George, Allegheney Seminary (United Presl:)yterian). Julian Wadsworth, Drew Seminary (Methodist). C. S. Lane, Ex-Officio, Hartford Seminary (Congregational). Correspondence and Publication Committee, 18S3-4. PI. DuB. MULFORD, Chairman, New Brunswick Seminary (Reformed Church in America). W. H. Cline, Toronto Seminary (Baptist). A. C. McGlFFERT, Union Seminary, New York (Presbyterian). C. R. Ferner, Lancaster Seminary (Reformed ChErch in the United States). D. G. DuBois, Ciarrett BibUcal Institute (Methodist). C. H. Dickinson, Ex-Officio, Eale Divinity School (Congregational). Executive Committee. 1884-5. B. L. Herr, Chairman, Rochester Seminary (Baptist). P'. I. BoswoRTH, Oberlin Seminary (Congregational). W. L. NOTESTEIN, Western Seminary (Presbyterian). R. \V. Miller, Lancaster Seminary (Reformed Church in the United States). C. T. McDaniel, Gettysburg Seminary (Lutheran German Synod). Richard Harlan, Ex-Officio, Princeton Seminary (Presbyterian). Correspondence and Publication Com>!ittee, 1S84-5. G. K. Eraser, Chairman, Auburn Seminary (Presbyterian). R. A. Castleman, Alexandria Seminary (Protestant Episcopal). Geo. H. Gamble, Baptist Union Seminary. G. R. Hewitt, Plartford Seminary (Congregational). W. N. Brewster, Boston University (Methodist). H. DuB. Mulford, Ex-Officio, New Brunswick Seminary (Reformed Church in America). Executive Committee, 18S5-6. C. A. Clark, Chairman, Oberlin Seminary (Congregational). E. C. Dayton, Lane Seminary (Presbyterian). Chas. Horswell, Garrett Biblical Institute (Methodist). W. L. Swan, Hamilton Seminary (Tiaptist).. COMMITTKKS — l83o-lS3S. — C )NTINUE1). 5 R. P. Miller, Union Biblical Seminary (United Brethren). B. L. Herr, Ex-Officio, Rochester Seminary (liaptist). CORRESPONDKN'CE AM) I'llUJCATION CoMMIT TKE, 1885-6. J. W. Harsha, Cliairman, Alley;heny Seminary (United I'reshytesian). J. A. Eakix, Western Seminar)- ( I'resbyterian). S. U. MiTMAX, Lancaster Seminary I Reformed Church in the United States). G. G. Smeade, Alexandria Seminary (Protestant Episcopalj. W. E. Hull, Hartwick Seminary (Evangelical Lutheran). G. K. Eraser, Ex-Officio, Auburn Seminary (^I'resbyterian). 'Executive Ciimmitiee, 1886-7. J. P. Tyler, C/min/ian, Alexandria Seminary ( Prote>ta\it Episcopal). G. W. Quick, Crozer Seminary (Baptist). L. H. TH.A.YER, Yale Divinity School (Congregational). Chas. Wyche, Vanderbilt University (Methodist Episcopal, South). A. H. Evans, Union Seminary (Presbyterian). C. A. CL.A.RK:, Ex-Officio, (;)berlin Seminary (Congregational). CoRRESPOXDEXCE AXI) PlBLICATIOX CoM.VIITTEE, 1886-7. V. F. Partch, Chaiitnan, McCormick Seminary (Presbyterian). G. B. Hopkins, Bates Seminary (Free Baptist). J. S. Cr.awford, Xenia Seminary (United Presbyterian). PL G. BUEHLER, Gettysburg Seminary (Lutheran German Synod). Edward Saunier, Hamilton Seminary (Baptist). J. W. Harsha, Ex-Officio, Allegheny Seminary (United Presbyterian). Executive Committee, 1887-8. W. A. Mansell, Chairman, Boston University (Methodist). C. C. TORREY', Andover Seminary (Congregational). H. H. Bell, Allegheny seminary (United Presbyterian). B. L. Whitman, Newton Seminary (Baptist). Amos A. Parr, Gettysburg Seminary (Lutheran German Synod). J. P. Tyler, Ex-Officio. Alexandria Seminary (Protestant Episcopal). Correspondence and Publication Committee, 1887-8. C. N. Ransom, Chairman, Chicago Seminary (Congregational). \V. S. B.VTES, Cumberland University (Cumberland Presbvterian). Geo. Walbert, Lancaster Seminary (Reformed Church in the United States). R. A. Smith, Baptist Union Seminary. W. H. Lindemuth, Drew Seminary (Methodist). V. F. Partch, Ex-Officio, McCormick Seminary (Presbyterian). Journal of Proceedings OF THE EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF TITF /irr)CPicar) lr)tcF=C'crr)ir)eiry L iissicrjary ALLIANCK. ALEXANDRIA, - VIRGINIA. FIRST DAY Thursday, October 27, 1887. Morning Session. Pursuant to the call of the Executive Commiltee, the delegates gatheieiJ in Christs Church (Episcopal), Alexandria, \'a., at ii o'clock for an infor- mal reception and appointments of Committees. The following committees were reported by the Executive Committee- through its chairman, Mr. J. P. Tyler of Theological Seminary of Virginia: Secretaries: — J. jSI. Leonard of McCormick Seminary, Cliicago; W. V, Higgins of Rochester Seminary, X. V; Geo. P. Pierson oi Princeton Semi- nary, N. J. Enrollment Coiiuitittee: — J. II. Lacy of Hampden Sidney; J. L. KiJbon of Plartford. Nominating Committee: — A. II. Ballard, Morgan Park, HI.; E. B. Stiles, Andover, ^lass.; J. L. Plillman, Boston University, Mass.; S. E. Yoimg, Princeton, N. J; B. F. Moody, Lebanon, Tenn. Afternoon Session. At 3 o'clock the Association met for a half hour devotional meeting. This was led ny Mr. Berry Otto, of Rochester. The scripture lesson was the Ps. cxv. b INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. After the devotional meeting Mr. W. S. Nelson of Lane Seminary Cin- cinnati was nominated by the Executive Committee as president for the afternoon. The nomination was sustained by the Alliance. Then followed addresses by Rev. Joseph Packard, D.D., Dean of the Theological Seminary of Va. and the Rev. J. E. Cirammer, D.D., of Balti- more an alumnus of the same Seminary welcoming the Alliance to Alex- andria. The following telegram was received and read. Plains, Va., October 27, iSSj. To the Secretary of the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance, Christs Church, Alexandria, Va. The Piedmont Convocation of the P. E. Church in session at The Plains, Fauquier Co., Va., after special prayer for God's Blessing on your deliber- ations, send brotherly greeting. Samuel D. Wallis, Scx. On motion the Executive Committee was instructed to return words of greeting to the above Convocation. After singing a verse, Mr. T. F. Villers, of Rochester, N. Y. (Bapt.) read a paper upon the subject; "The relation of the Congo Free State to African Missions." After its reading, the subject was opened for general discussion. Mr. Kossup of Hamilton presented the following resolutions: IVhereas, the introduction of intoxicating liquors into the Congo Free State by the Christian nations, is destructive both of soul and body and is a potent factor against the dissemination of Christian truth and the progress of Christian missions. Resolved, That we, the representatives of the several seminaries compos- ing the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance do enter our solemn and unani- mous protest against the custom, and do beseech those who are engaged in the business, in the name of Him against whom it is a sin, and for the sake of those whom it destroys, to desist from it: Further Resolved, That we protest against the present legal protection of this fata) traffic and against all future legislation in its favor. Mr. Compton, of Drew Seminary, moved the adoption of these resolutions and Mr. Stone of Rochester, seconded. The motion was carried unani- mously. Mr. Sharp, of McCormick Seminary, opened the general discussion of the topic. He was followed by Scott, of Va., and Stone of Rochester. On motion the Alliance adjourned after announcements, and singing, "All hail the power of Jesus' name", to meet in the evening at 7:30 o'clock. Evening Session. The Alliance re-assembled at 7:30 r. M. and opened with music by the choir of Alexandria and a hymn by the congregation. Scripture lesson having been read and prayer offered, the Alliance listened to an address by the Rev. Frank M. Ellis. D. D. of Baltimore. He spoke on, "The Cireat Commission." « .lOTRNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 9 This was followed by announcements by the chairman of the Executive Committee. It was recommended by the committee that owing to the fail- ure of Mr. Gorby of Union Biblical Seminary to be present, to present his paper tomorrow afternoon, that the Alliance accept an invitation to visit the Seminary of \'a. The recommendation was heartily and thankfully adopt- ed. The Alliance then adjourned ro meet to-morrow morning at (j o'clock. SECOND DAY. Friday, October 28, 1887. Morning Session. g A. M. Devotional meeting for an hour, led by Mr. Reid, Rochester. Special prayer was offered for one of the delegates who was taken sick after his arrival in Alexandria. Special prayer was also offered for two absent members of the Executive Committee. iMorning Session of the Alliance began at lo A. M. W. J. Reid, of Rochester, N. Y., was elected chairman of the Alliance for the day. Meeting opened with prayer. Mr. Gauss reported that the Executive Committee had made arrangements whereby the delegates could be taken out to the Seminary. Voted, that we adjourn at i o'clock sharp, so that the delegates may have an opportunity to visit the Seminary. The following Committee on resolutions was appointed: H. H. Russell, Oberlin, Ohio; Mr. Graham, Union, Va.; Mr. Snell, Newton, Mass; Mr. Golden, Union, N. Y,; Mr. Coover, Gettysburg, Penn. A paper was then given by E. R. Chadwick, Bates Seminary, Lewiston, Me. His subject "Mission work among the Indians." ■ As Mr. Chadwick exceeded his half-hour the chairman called him to order. It was then voted that Mr, Chadwick be permitted to finish his paper. At the close of this paper 15 minutes was given for discussion. Remarks were made by the following: Mr. Clark, Alexandria; Mr. Rodgers, Auburn; Mr. Adams, Princeton; Mr. Reid, Rochester, and others. Moved by Mr. Adams that we draft resolutions protesting against Com. Atkinson's orders relating to the Indians. Voted, thai this matter be referred to the Committee on resolutions. Voted, that there be no applause made in the church during the meetings of the Alliance. Then followed three-minute reports of the difterent seminaries, and colleges represented in the Alliance. In these reports the speakers confined them- selves chiefly to three points: ist the number of delegates in attendance; lO lNThR-SEMi:sA*lV MISSIONARY ALLIANCK. 2ncl mctliods adopted for increasing missionary knowledge and interest; 3rd the result of such methods. Mr. Tyler reported that 6 seminaries had asked to have the Alliance meet next year with them. After due consideration the Executive Committee had decided to recommend the name of the Boston University as the most suitable place to hold the Alliance next year. As there were four semin- aries in Chicago whiclr invited the Alliance to that city, considerable discussion followed the report of the Executive Committee. Voted, That the chairman of each delegation cast a vote, either sustaining or rejecting the recommendation of the committee. The result of this vote was as follows: In favor of Recommendation 25, against S. Voted, That the Alliance make the vote in favor of Boston as the place of meeting for next year unanimous. Adjourned ■with prayer. Afternoon Sf.ssion. Tlie regular exercises of the afternoon were omitted owing to the absence of the chief speaker. Instead of its regular exercises the members of the Alliance were taken by conveyance to the Theological Seminary. They were cordially received by the students of the Seminary. After viewing the buildings and as much of the surrounding country as the mist would permit, Alliance repaired to the beautiful chapel of the Seminary and were received by Prof. Kinlock Nelson on behalf of the faculty, and i\Ir. Kinrol- ing for the students. A brief service was then held and after a lunch was served in the tlining- room and a few more pleasant moments on the Seminary grounds, Alliance returned to the city with the highest appreciation of the kindness of the students of Alexandria Seminary. Evening Session. The choir gave some excellent music \\'hile the audience were being seated. The evening session was opened by singing, "AH hail the power of Jesus Name." Reading of Scripture from Is. 55, and prayer then followed. A short address was then given by Dr. Chamberlain of Brazil, on "the Protestant Missionary efforts among the Roman Catholics. The main address of the evening was then given by Rev. A. T. Pierson. Adjourned with prayer. JOURNAL OK I'KOCEEDINCS. II THIRD DAY, Saturday, October 29, 1887. Morning Session. 6:30 A. M. Consecration meeting. 9:00 A. M. Devotional exercises conducted by Mr. Snyder of Gettysburg. 9:30 A. M. Mr. Moyer, Lancaster was elected to the chair. Regular services suspended for 6 minutes to hear remaining reports from Seminaries. j\Ir. Watson, reported for \'anderbilt Seminary, and Mr. Lacy for Hamp- den Seminary. io:oo A. M. Paper on "What headway is Christianity making against Mohammedanism?" was given by Mr. Benson Sewall of Bangor Seminary. A discussion followed in which part was taken by Messrs. Stone of Rochester, Desjardins of Boston, Sewall of Bangor, Noll of Lancaster, and Evans of Crozer. Committee on resolutions was instructed to draw up resolutions in reference to the several seminaries of the Alliance sending out special missionaries to be supported by their own seminaries. ii:oo A. M. Missionary addresses from Messrs. Basmajain, of Armenia, Garabed, of New Brunswick, and Aiken, of Siam. By indulgence of Alliance Mr. Garabed was allowed a second speech. 11:30 A. M. A paper was read by Mr. Robt. L Flemming of Garrett Biblical Institute on "The Work of the Home Ministry for Foreign Missions." Discussed by Messrs. Doggett, of Oberlin, Grey, of Chicago, Rodgers, of Auburn, Garabed. of New Brunswick, Wallace, of Union, Tuffts, of Princeton, Desjardins, of Boston, Williamson, of Crozer, Wilder, of Unoin, Sharp, of McCormick, Scott, of Union, Va., Killey, of Princeton, Melrose, of McCor- mick, Vance, of Union, Va. Following the discussion, a devotional meeting conducted by Mr. Wilder, of Union, was held. Meeting adjourned at i P. M. Afternoon Session. 3:00 p. M. Devotional meeting for half an hour, led by Mr. L. I^eitch, of Vanderbilt University. Mr. Russell, of Oberlin elected to the chair. Mr. D. A. Murray of Princeton, read a paper on "The Urgency of the call to Foreign jNIissions." In the discussion that followed, the following gentle- men took part: Messrs. Nelson, of Lane, Wilson of McCormick, Basmajain, of Crozer, Wilder of Union, Garabed of New Brunswick, Aiken ol Western Seminary, Allegheny, Thayer, of Vale, and Hoskins, of Union. Moved that Mr. Wilder at this point in the exercises, be allowed 20 minutes to address the Alliance. Amended that business be disposed of first. Carried as amended. 12 inter-seminary missionarv alliance. Under Regular Business: Minutes read, corrected and approved. Executive Committee offered following report (see Report .1) Adopted. Correspondence and publication oftered following report (see Report ii). Adopted. Committee on resolutions offered following report. The several resolutions were adopted in order, except that resolution protesting to Congress against Atkinson's Indian Bill. Recommitted, (See Report iii). Treasurers Report corrected and accepted. (See Report iv). Committee on nominations reported as follows: Executive Committee: Boston, W. A. Mansell; Andover. C. C. Torrey; Allegheny, U. P., H. H. Bell; Newton, B. L. Whitman; Gettysberg, Amos A. Parr. Correspondence and Publication Committee: Chicago Theological, C. N. Ransom; Lebanon, \V. S. Bates; Lancaster, Geo. Walbert; Baptist Union, K. A. Smith; Drew, W. H. Lindemuth. Ordered that secretaries of this Alliance notify members of committees ap- pointed for ensuing year of their appointment. Also that it shall be the duty of future secretaries to notify such committees without special instructions. Moved and carried that Committee on Correspondence and Publication in report of present Convention, publish a history of the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance, as ordered at last years convention. At the conclusion of business meeting, Mr. Wilder gave a brief missionary address, after which he answered questions presented by various members ■of the Alliance. Enrollment Committee reported. Report accepted. (See last page). Meeting closed with prayer about 6 P. M. Evening Session, After opening exercises similar to those of preceding evenings, Dr. Griffis, •of Boston, delivered an address on "God'y Jealousy." Mr. Wilder followed with an address. After which, amidst impressive silence and the subdued singing of a hymn of consecration there were passed around papers containing the following pledge, "We are willing and desirous, God permitting, to be foreign missionaries." Sixty-four names were signed. This however, included some that had signed before. Meeting closed as usual. After adjournment of meeting, a telegram w as received from President Cleveland inviting the Alliance to a reception at the White House at 1:30 J". M., Monday, October 31. lOrRN'AI. OK I'KnCKKDINGS. 13-. FOURTH DAY. Sunday, October 30, 1887. At 9:30 A. M. the Alliance met for a consecration meeting. At 3:30 r. M. we were favored by an address from Rev. 1\. A. Goodwin on the subject, "The best mode of evangelizing the negro." At 7:30 the Alliance held its closing meeting. Addresses were made by Messrs. Wilder, of Union, Bulbulian, of Union, Basmajain, of Crozer, Wallace, of Union, Garabed, of New Brunswick, Hoskins, of Union and Dr. Nelson, of Philadelphia. After joining hands and singing, "Blest be the tie that binds," the Conven- tion adjourned to meet next year at Boston. Signed, J. M. Leonard, (McCormickSem.), W. V. HiGGiNS, (Rochester Sem.), Geo. p. Pierson, (Princeton Sem.), Secretqries^ 14 IXTER-SEMI\ARV MISSIONARY ALLIAXCE. ADDRESSES. Address 1!V Rev. Joseph Packard, D. D. Dean of THEOLor;icAL Seminary OF Virginia. Mr. Frcsidc'iit and Dear BrctJisni of the Alliance: The pleasant duty has been assigned me of welcoml'.ig you, in the name of the Faculty, and students of the Seminary, to our h2art3 and homes. I regret the absence on this occasion of Bishop Whittle, who has expressed his warm interest in the object of the Alliance. We welcome you as brethern, beloved m the Lord, bound to us by a like precious faith, and by that love, which is the bond of perfectness, and engaged in the same cause, the greatest which can occupy the mind and heart of man. I regard this Alliance, as a visible manifestation of the living and loving oneness of believers in Christ, often more strikingly displayed where there are dift'erences of organization and usage than where no such differences exist. Such a practical exhibition of the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace is worth more than all the resolutions and sermons and speeches on the subject of unity. It is a light full of hope for the cause of Christian unity, to see so many young men preparing for the ministry, in different churches assembled together, for no worldly object of gain or pleasure, as to the best methods of evangelizing the world, lying in the Wicked One. I say, Young Men, for I have the same estimate of youth, that the Spartans had, when Antipater demanded of them fifty young men as hostages, they answered they would rather give twice the number of old men. We cannot expect mucli in the way of concessions, necessary to be made to attain this object of unity, on the part of older men. While the elders have been speaking well on the subject of Christian unity, the young men here in this Alliance are showing by actual experiment how it can be Ijrought about. While you consult and pray together, your hearts are drawn to one another, and the middle wall of partition which separates you falls down of itself, like the wall of Jerico. Such a meeting as this cannot but exert a great influence in promoting brotherly love, in those of different churches, and riclily repays all the time and trouble spent upon it. I regard it again as ■a. fulfillment in some measure of the Lord's prayer, v.'hich he prayed on the same night on which he was betrayed. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." So the unity of his disciples will be the great argument for the ADDRKSS ol- WKl.rOMK. 15 Divinity of his jNIission, and will force conviction upon the world that God has sent his Son to be its Saviour. Such was the case in the early church. Nothing attracted the heattien so much as the brotherly lov^ and charity of Christians, and never will the word of God have free course and be glorified, until the world says, again, as of old, "See how these Cliristians love one another, they are ready to die for each other." Again, I regard this Alliance, as the dawn of a brighter day, which will bring on the final triumph of the Gospel, and the conversion of all man- kind. The shadow upon the dial will not go back. The setting sun of that day will shine upon a converted world. A converted world! Whose heart does not leap for joy at the distant prospect of that day, which will come according to the sure word of prophecy, that when the fullness of the heathen is come into the kingdom of God, all Israel shall be saved. Israel first in- vited to the supper, and who would not come, will at last when the table is furnished with Gentile guests, accept the invitation. "They shall look on Him, whom they pierced," and weep bitterly over the long rejection of their own Messiah; Oh! Glorious day! longed and wept and prayed for by millions v/ho died in faith, without seeing it. "Blessed arc the eyes that shall see it, for many have desired to see it and have not been able." Then shall he, who alone is worthy, receive the crown of all the earth, then shall every knee bow to him and every tongue confess him to be Lord. Then shall "one song employ all nations," and all cry, "Worthy the Lamb for he was slain for us." Then shall great voices be heard in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ." You may be interested in knowning what our Seminary has done in the cause of Foreign Missions. We have not done what we could, but we have done something. We have never had any doubts, as to the condition of the heathen, that they are ready to perish for lack of the knowledge of Christ, nor of our duty to send them the gospel. Our Seminary has not been want- ing in examples of those who have obeyed the Saviour's precept, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple," who have not counted their lives dear unto themselves, that they might turn the heathen from the power of Satan unto God. "Thuv followed P;iul, their zeul ;i kindrei' i!:i:;:^. Their apostolic charity the same. Like him, crossed cheerfully teniiiestuous seas, Forsaking country, kindred, friends and ease." We have sent in all, but forty-three missionaries, nineteen to Africa, eighteen to China, and six to Japan. In 1S37, just fifty years ago, four missionaries left the Seminary for heathen lands. Three of them Payne, Minor and Savage for Cape Palmas on the west coast of Africa, and Boone for China. Bishop Payne bore the burden and heat of the day, and fainted not, for thirty-three years, a longer time than any white missionary, either English or American has ever lived on that coast, which has been called the white man's grave. He returned in his old age, in feeble health to his l6 I.NTER-SKMINARV MlfSlONAKV ALLIANCE. native state. Tii his last moments he remembered the dear Seminary, and requested that he should be buried in the cemetery on its grounds. His sepulchre is with us this day, and upon it are written the words, which tell the story of his life; "K're since by faith I saw the stream, Thy flowins^ wounds supply. Redeeming' love has been my theme, And shall be till I die." Some of the eighteen missionaries who followed him returned home un- able to bear the fever, that there walks in darkness and wastes at noonday. Some have fallen asleep like soldiers on the battle field. In the little grave- yard at Cape Palmas, near enough to the ocean to hear the ceaseless dashing of its waves, have been laid to rest, till the heavens be no more, five of our Alumni, Minor, Ilolcomb, Robert Smith, Messenger and Golden Hoff- man. Two of them died within four months of their landing in Africa, and another survived but a year. They were the called, chosen and faithful. I rejoice at this opportunity of casting withered flowers upon their graves, far from their native land. I believe in my heart, that all they have done and suftered for that dark continent has not lieen lost; nor has their labor been spent in vain. Not a tear, which has been shed, or a groan which has been uttered, or a prayer oftered up for Africa, has been forgotten before God. No death has there occured, which has not been precious in His sight, and made the soil of Africa holy ground. Oh, no! They will all come up in remembrance before God, when the time to favor her, yea, the set time has come. They are all links in the last chain of His providence and grace, to- wards that unhappy land, and they will all be admired, when the mystery of God is finished. The life of Golden Hoffman was published by Rev. Mr. Fox, of Durham Cathedral, and the Londott Christian Observer, said of him, "We do not hesitate to say that the annals of missionary excellence do not furnish a brighter example than that of Golden Hoflnian." Dishop Boone went to China as we have said in 1837. As the great wall (if China had not then been broken down, and no Chinaman could become a Christian, under joain of death, he turned aside to Java, where he spent two years in learning the Chinese language so as to be ready as soon as the ports were opened. He labored in China twenty-seven years and there died. He was a man of great enthusiasm, and of rare faculty in acquiring the Chinese language. His translations from the Enghsh into Chinese were of great value to the missionaries, who followed him and entered into his labors How should I omit to mention the Rev. Robert Nelson, who labored faith- fully and successfully ? in China, for thirty years, and died within a year past in his native state? The Rev. Henry M. Parker was put to death by the rebels, in the Chinese rebellion, and the Rev. Cleveland Keith perished in the "Golden Gate," when it caught on fire in its passage from San Fran- cisco to New York. Our Seminary has had the honor and privilege of sending the first Protes- tant missionary to Japan. The Rev. John Liggins had been a missionary in AUURliSS OK WELCOMK, 17 China for four years when in 1S59, visiting Japan for his health he found to his surprise, that a treaty had been signed which admitted missionaries to Japan. Tlie honor of i)aptizing the first convert in 1865 was reserved for a missionary of the Dutch Reformed church. I will not occupy more of your time. Let us pray with one accord, that He who has promised to be with his church to the end of the world, may be with us on this occassion, that some beams of that love which glows and burns in heaven, may fill our hearts with love to Him, to each other, and la the souls for whom He died. So at the conclusion of this convention we may all say ''It was good for us to be here." — Aiulii. II. -A.DDR,E3SS Oin "WELiOOlVEE. I5y Rev. J. E. GRA>rMER, D.D., Baltimore, Md. Brellncn, Beloved in the Lord: We read that, when St. Paul met the brethren at Appii Forum, he tliankwJ tlod and took courage. When we see such a company of the servants of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and consider the purpose and motive whichaniraate your hearts, and govern your lives, we may well thank God and take cour- age. 'Tis a cheering sight to behold an assembly of Christian men, and especially of Christian men consecrating their youth and manhood to the great work of spreading the Kingdom of our common Lord. It gives us cour- age to see so many enlisted for the battle.and to know that they come from all Churches and from all points of the field, and stand to-day with one heart and one mouth to profess "the faith once delivered unto the saints." All hail tc the delegates of this convention. We greet you as brethren in Christ, as sons of one Father. We welcome you to this city where Washington wor- shipped in yonder pew, the God of our Fathers and of our salvation; and where Robert Lee, a man of like courage and honest convictions worshipped: in the same faith. Both were men, who illustrated the power of brave ancK conscientious lives. — "How'eer it be, seems to me, 'Tis only noble to be gfood; And kind hearts are more than coronets And simple faith than Norman blood." We welcome you to Alexandria, renowned for its neighboring Seminary set up not for the study of heathen philosophy hke that of old, but for the train- ing of ministers of the Lord Jesus. Founded as it was by Meade and nursed by men of faith and holy zeal, it has sent out nearly all the missionaries of the Episcopal Church in Africa, China and Japan. Its chief officers and professors; its students and these ministers and servants of God greet you in the name of their God and ours. Vour coming is a cause of pride, pleasure edifi- l8 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. cation. So difterent from the assemblies of men, met simply to advance the political, financial, or literary interests of a community, your counsels and supplications will be united for the extension of that Kingdom, which is 'ighteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. As watchmen, students, bearers of the Cross, we have cause to ask- • A^hat of the night.?" We have cause to expect the assurance, "The morn- ing cometh." We need to see each other face to face, and strengthen each other's hearts and hands, "to the end that we may be established, that is, that we may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me." It is the missionary spirit, which will save our theological seminaries from becoming stagnant and sluggish in their life; and rescue us from a selfish apathy or a cold orthodoxy. The best corrective of a mere speculative study of theology is to enter upon the work of the Lord. The best protection against thedangers of materialism, and of a superstitious ecclesi'asticism is to seek the spread of the gospel. We have come to cultivate that sjiirit, to kindle our hearts anew at the altar of our God. The divine author of our religion was a missionary, and came to seek and to srtve the lost. The angels gladly heralded his advent to the humble shepherds. The subjects of his mercy published abroad his healing and saving power. The woman of Samaria in her delight and wonder brought a whole city to learn and be assured that He was the great prophet. The Apostles, after they had received the Holy Ghost, went forth on their world-wide errand. They knew that the middle wall of partition was broken down, and that it was not only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, they were to carry the message of life. The chief Apostle of our Lord who was more abundant than they all through the grace given unto him, went far hence to the Gentiles. He longed to preach the gospel even in Rome, and it was there that Christianity won its proudest conquests; for he rejoiced that their faith was spoken of throughout the world. What a marvellous record was his! What a glorious example to the church! What a sublime triumph of his faith as the great fojeign missionary of the Cross! He heard the cry from the man in Macedonia aiul he answered it. Philippi was the scene of greater triumphs for Christ than for Caesar. There was laid the foundation of that mighty temple of Christian faith, beneath which millions have found shelter. Surely no •student of the career and work of the great Apostle can fail to say boldly, ''This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." He was a wise Master builder, and the beginning and end of his ministry was Jesus Christ, aiwi Him Crucified. From the blood of this noble missionary martyr, have sprung a host of armed soldiers of the cross. Brethren, if the gospel was 'i.he power of God in St. Paul's clay, it is none the less saving now. It is the '^ ever lasting gospel," and it can never lose its life and savor and efficacy, as long as it is the ordained means, by which it has pleased God to save them ihat believe. If in Rome and Corinth and Ephesus it was mighty to pull down the strongholds of sin and error, it is no less mighty to-day in the very centers of infidelity and unbelief. The very greatest evidence we have ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 19 of the divine origin of our religion is llie wonderful conversion it lias wrought in men and people. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that the gates of hell should not prevail against it, and wherever it has been preached, it has been to overthrow the kingdom of darkness. When Robert Morrison was asked by a sceptical man of business and ship-owner, as he was about to sail for Canton, "Now. Mr Morrison, do you really expect that you will make an impression on the idolatry of the Chines-e Empire?" he replied, "No sir, but I expect God will." This is the secret of the missionary's hope and power. "It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit." And when he reached Canton, and beheld the worldliness and idolatry, he asked, what can ever be done with these ignorant, shre\j-d and impious people?" But he adds, "What were our fathers in Britain?" China may seem walled around against the admission of the Word of God, but we have good ground to believe that all its bulwarks shall fall before it, as Joshua had re- specting the walls of Jericho. Nor need I remind you of his faith and work and spirit; for the life of every true missionary of the cross confirms the same assurance. The gift of God's Spirit is greater than the gift of miracles, and the success of missions is the miracle of the church. 'J'he fulfilled prophecies are not more marvellous than the fulfilled promises. The union and overthrow of empires is not so marked an indication of the presence and power of God, as the conversion of millions, and the establishment of a spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. We have a great deal to challenge our prayerful meditation. The condition of our own country to-day is calling us to consider the perils of intemperance, the perils of false faith, the perils of an overflowing worldliness. Surrounded .by a mixed multitude of every nation and creed, with men from the uttermost parts of the earth, what can save our Sabbath, our Bible and our Church, but the preaching of the gospel ? The cry is for missionaries, missionaries of the cross, men baptized with the Holy Ghost, \vho shall lift up their voice and cry, "Behold the Lamb of God." It would seem as if the nations of the earth were sent here to see the power of Christianity, as possibly no where else, so visibly demonstrated upon such a scale and in such a brief period. And as it is the religion of the Bible, which has made us what we are to-day, so the greater the peril, the greater need to "preach the Word" This was St. Paul's charge to Timothy, in spite of insidious philosophy, falsely so-called, and the most threatening forms of unbelief. Every form of Anarchy and social disorder, every giant heresy and enemy, the Rationalism, and the Mormonism, the Romanism and the Agnosticism of this century and of this land challenge us to be more instant in preaching Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ the wisdom of God, Jesus Christ the power of God. All these suggestions of philanthropic sympathy, all the organizations of charity, and all the rich endowments of academical learning cannot take the place of preaching Jesus Christ. It was that which converted Asia Minor and Europe; it was that which blessed the labors of Henry Martyn antl Wm. Carey and Bp. Heber and Wilson and Judson in India; which crowned the lives of Patterson, Williams and Selwyn, and Samuel Marsden. 20 INTKR-SEMINARY MISSI3NARY ALLIANCE. Said that heroic missionary, "Civinzatioii is not necessary before Christi- anity. Have both together if you will, but you will find civilization follow Christianity more easily than Christianity follow civilization." And if the call in this land is so great, what shall we say of the nations in gross dark- ness. The horrors of heathenism are appalling. The power of sin and of the great enemy of man hi blinding his eyes to the truth, should startle us from our apathy. We are under a great responsibility for our trust, and "wo be to us if we preach not the gospel." '•Shall we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high Shall we to men benighted The lamp of life deny?" Our Lord pitied the multitudes with nothing to eat, and commanded the Apostles to feed them as he created. And he has put this bread of life into our hands. Yea, it is an awful account we shall have to give, if we refuse to obey this commission. Said the devoted Hoffman, as he lay dying of African fever, as his last message to the church in America, "Tell them by the living crucified One, hold not back their hands." Said Paul to Timothy, "I charge thee therefore l^efore God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and tlie dead,' 'preach the Word, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.' " No where have God's people so much to en- courage them as in the work of foreign missions. The history of that work is as thrilling as a romance. It has furnished heroes of whom the world was not worthy. "Henry Martyn," said Sir Jas. Stephen, "is the one heroic name which adorns the annals of the English Church from the days of Elizabeth to our own." As Lord Macaulay said: "Relig'ion, sorrowing o'er her favorite son. Points to the glorious tophies which he won. Eternal trophies, not with slaughter red, Xot stained with tears by hopeless captives shed, But trophies of the cross." And along witli his are the names of Brainard and Schwartz and a host of others. Their spirits are with us to-day. Their works follow them. The fields where they scattered the gospel seed are white to the harvest. Their converts are in every land. Their missions in India, in Ceylon, in Mada- gascar, in Erromango, in Polynesia; in Africa and in all parts of the world testify that their labor was not in vain in the Lord. Surely we have every- thing to cheer us. A wide and effectual door is opened, even though there be many adversaries. The gates of ancient prejudices are rolling back on their hinges, crusted with the rust of centuries. Commerce is binding the nations in closer bonds, and in our midst we see the youth from China and Japan trained in our schools and colleges for indus- trial pursuits and higher ministries. The dark continent is being explored, and the Free State of the Congo brought into contact with the missions of the gospel. Never was there so deep an interest in Missions, and especially Foreig.n Missions as at this time. The Spirit of God is moving in the midst of our young men in the course of their academic life, to consecrate their AIJDRESS OI'' WELCOME. 21 learning and talents tti this cause. From one and another \vc hear the (ques- tion, "Is there not a cause?" Yes. They say in effect, "We do not well. This day is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace." Thank God for what our eyes see, and our ears hear. Look out at tlie field and it is already white to the harvest. Judson said, "our prospects are as briglit as the promises of God." The same Spirits that put it into the hearts of Mills and Richards and Judson, those three young men, who led the way to -that great work of the American Board is working in our churches. INIay we not use the language of Judson today in reference to that early movement, and apply it to this assembly? He said, "I have ever thought that the providence of God was conspicuously manifested in bringing us all together from different and distant parts; and when we all met at the same Sem- inary, and came to a mutual understanding on the ground of foreign mis- sions and missions for life, the subject assumed in our minds such an over- whelming importance and awful solemnity as bound us to one another and to our purpose more firmly than ever. How evident it is that the Spirit of God has been operating in different places, and upon different individuals, preparing a way for those movements which have since pervaded the Ameri- can churches." We recognize the presence and guidance of that Providence to-day in this assembly. What a glorious pledge is such a convention of that coming and increasing unity of God's people, in which it shall be seen that Christ is all and in all. ''Who is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, as the Lord gave to every man?" What a variety and yet what unity, what harmony and yet what diversity, what difference of oper- ation and of administration, but all these worketh that one and the same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. We are not here to dis- cuss questions beyond the circle of our revealed religion. The doctrine of a future probation is unknown to our Bible, and we rejoice that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever be- lieveth on him might not perish but have everlasting life." We have the one Charter for the church, the one line of duty, the one path of sacred obligation to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Surely brethren, the great leaders in the missionary cause rebuke any disposition to linger or debate. Recall those names to-day which are like stars in the clear upper sky. Press on. Csesar wept at the statue of Alexander in Spain, to think that he had done so little compared with the conqueror of the world. Themistocles could not sleep because of the shield of Miltiades. And seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses in this mighty work of evangelizing the nations, let us run the race with patience. Of honorable women there have been not a few. Lydia and Priscilla Phebe and the Marys have had their successors in all our churches. Miss Fay and Miss Catharine Jones in China, Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Hoffman in Africa, Miss Britain in India, Miss Crowly in Japan and many kindred spirit from the ranks of women are calling like Deborah of old to new and valiant exploits for God. It is not by men of great 22 INTER-SKMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. endowments so much as of large heart and strong faith that God has done his work. Their Ufe of purity, unselfishness, devotion to man, and faith in a higher world have been the most real Imitatores Christi. May the Spirit of God descend upon this assembly, and the felt presence of Jesus Christ be experienced as he shall breath upon us and say, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," Then we shall go forth from this sacred association animated by one hope, guided by one faith, sanctified by one baptism, and in the strength of one Lord. Then God shall bless us, yea even our own God shall give us his blessing, and all the ends of the world shall see his salvation. MISSIONS IN AFUICA. 23 The Relation of the Congo Free State to African Missions. r>Y Thos. J. Villers, Rochester Theological Seminary, Rochester, N. V. Moftat; Livingstone, Stanley! 'Jliese are three great names which will ever stand prominent in African history. For Moffat led to Livingstone, and Livingstone led to Stanley and Stanley led to the Congo, and so all three had a s^iare in the founding of the F"ree State. In iSl6 the London Missionary Society sent Dr. Moffat to South Africa. In all that vast region only a few United Brethren were holding forth the word of life. Moffat settled among the Bechuana tribes, where with true de- votion to his Master he labored both as a missionary and explorer for about half a century. And it was largely due to his influence that Livingstone's work was stamped with its distinctive character. When Living.-,ton2 reached Africa in 1S41, what did the world know of the vast country between Moffat's station and the Great Desert? Fired with a zeal peculiar he began those wonderful missionary explorations which have placed him first among African benefactors. While in the Manyuema coun- try in 1369-71, no news concerning him reached either Europe or America, and great anxiety prevailed. The New York Herald sent out Stanley with instructions to find him; and on Oct. 28th, 1S71 the two grasped hands at Ujiji on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganika. This was a providential meeting, for Livingstone exercised a profound influence over the skeptical journaUst and God intended that Stanley should complete the exploration which the great missionary had begun. Remaining together for more than four months the two separated, the one to continue his work in Africa, the other with sad lieart to make his way homeward. One year later we see an old man in Chitambo's village in Ilala, on the south of Lake Bangweolo, Worn by hardships, enfeebled by suffering, his earthly life almost finished, he is lying on a rude bed in a grass hut. It is Dr. Livingstone. At 4 o'clock on the morning of May ist, 1873 the servants look at their master, and, by the light of the burning candle, they see him, "not in bed, but kneeling at the bedside, with his head buried in his hands upon the pillow." He died pray- ing — for the redemption of Africa. And that prayer-breath, ascending tO' heaven, was preserved in the golden censer where John tells us that the petitions of the saints are kept. The heroic missionary was not permitted. as he wished, to sleep sweetly "in some far-oft" still deep forest" till the resur- rection morn. England claimed him as her own. And with Stanley as one of the pall-bearers, what was mortal of the Christian hero was deposited m Westminster Ablicy, April iSth, 1875. 24 INTER-SEMINARV MISSIONARY ALLIANX'E. Stanley laid down Livingstone's body antl took up his w oik. For by this time the angel had taken the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar;, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake, the prayer in Ilala was answered. All Europe and America were aroused. Stanley resolved to complete Living- stone's project. And the discovery of Stanley, it has been said, was little less remarkable than the discovery of the Congo itself. In Oct., 1876 he reached Nyanwe, the farthest point down the Congo reached by Living stone; and from there set out to follow the course of the river, and on Aug. 12, 1877 the Atlantic Ocean burst into view, and the problem was forever settled that the Chambezi Lualaba are only the head waters of that one great river whose mouth the Portuguese had discovered four centuries before. In the meantime at Brussels in September, 1876, Leopold II., king of the Belgians, had founded the African International Association for the explor- ation and civilization of Central Africa. After Stanley had opened the great water highway into the continent, it was thought best to establish a branch organization for special work on the Congo. Accordingly, there was formed in November 1878 the Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo, or, as it was afterwards called, the International Association of the Congo. It was under the auspices of this Association that Stanley on Aug. 14th, 1879 arrived before the mouth of the river to ascend it and open its great basin to civilization and commeixe. But the Association felt that their object could not be accomplished unless the newly-discovered territory could be properly protected. It was feared that France or Portugal, on learning the impor- tance of the basin, might seek to enrich herself by annexing the mouth of the river, and thus the interior would be shut up from further develop- ment. It was therefore resolved to set about acquiring sovereign rights from the natives, with a view to founding a Free State. With this in mind Stanley went up the river as far as the Falls which bears his name, establishing stations and making treaties with chiefs. Over four hundred and fifty inde- pendent chiefs ceded to the Association their rights of sovereignty and own- ership; a sufficient number of these smaller dominions to be combined into one grand whole and constituted a sovereign state. But while this was going on, eyes in Europe were turned towards Africa, "the annexation fever was in the air." Germany was adding to her domain different portions along the coast; while Portugal proposed to annex the lower course of the Congo, and made a treaty with the English government whereby (if ratified by other governmental powers) an end would have been put to any further enterprise in the Congo basin. Against this Anglo-Portuguese treaty signal protests were made. It was decided, therefore, that a conference should be called, in which the United States and the European powers should be represented, and that this conference shall determine upon all matters of in- ternational interest pertaining to the Congo and the rights of the Interna- tional Association. Accordingly, such a conference met at Berlin on Nov. 15th, 1884. I'ifteen different nations were there represented under the presi- dency of Prince Bismarck, the constitution of the Free State was formed; MISSIONS IN AKKICA. 25 treaties were made w ilh tlie various nations, w hich in turn reorganized tlie International Association as a governing power on the Congo; and when tlie conference adjourned on Feb. 26th, 1S86, the Free State took its place among the sovereign powers of the world. In considering the relation of the Congo Free State to African missions we must notice I. The time of its formation. It is true that the speed of God "time <;ounts not, tlio' with swiftest minute.-, wing'd." But God is never ahead of lime. It is equally true that "when God walks the earth, his steps are often centuries apart." But God is never behind time. When the fulness of the time came he sent forth his Son to i-edeem the world. And when the fulness ■of the time came for Africa he made provision for her redemption. The lime of the formation of the Free .State may suggest to us its providential relation to the evangelization of Africa. 1st. I consider the internal condition of the continent when the Free State was founded. It was a time marked oy the^ decay of the old kingdoms! Tradition speaks of far greater and more powerful kingdoms in the past. A recent writer says: "It is very evident that the kings of Congo, Kabinda, Loango, and Angola exerted at one time far more influence than they do today. Indeed, the king of Congo (whose influence is merely nominal out- side his own town) is the only chief that maintains his style and title; the -others have become extinct during this century. We find then the whole •country in a state of disintegration; every town a separate state, and its chief, to all practical purposes, independent" (Bentley; Life on the Congo, p. 45). This, then, was just the time to enter Africa. There was no unity of power, no mighty kingdom ruled by a powerful hand and able to resist the entrance of the Christian world. The old sovereignties were decayed or ■ctecaying, thus making possible the founding of the Free State. But God intended that such a state should be constituted only for the more easy •establishment of the Kingdom of Light in the Dark Continent. How mar- vellous his providence! But again, "the Free State was founded at a time ^\ hen in Equatorial Africa there was one great race zvith one language. The Congo basin, in- deed all that vast territory which stretches, roughly speaking, from six de- crees north latitude to Cape Colony, is inhabited by the Bantus, who are the typical negroes and the greatest of African races. To be sure there are among this people many tribes with their various linguistic differences. But the dialects spoken are cognate and belong to "one great language or family of languages." Mr. R. N. Cust of the Royal Asiatic Society, is quoted as saying that "the Bantu languages are soft, pliant and flexible, to an almost iinlimited extent. Their grammatical principles are founded on the most systematic and philosophical basis, and the number of words may be multi- plied to an almost indefinite extent. They are capable of expressing all the nicer shades of thought and feeling, and perhaps no other languages of the world are capable of more definiteness and precision of expression." (Life on the Congo, p. 43). What a wonderful provision is this for the translation 26 INTER-SEMINARV MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. of God's Word and for the easy acquisition of the vernacular by the Chris- tian missionary. We are reminded forcibly of the providential preparation of the world for the coming of Christ, by the spread of the Greek language in its Hellenistic form. And looking still further at the internal condition of this region, \\ c observe another very encouraging feature for mission work. It is the religious status of the people — they have no system as yet. When the mis- sionary entered China, he found the Chinese controlled by a subtle priest- hood and proud of their ethical and religious faith which had become hoary with age. On entering India, he found the people in the despotic grasj) of Brahminism and Mohammedanism, or going to Burmah, Siam, and Japan, he found Buddhism with its magnificent temples to attract the eye and awe the soul of the worshipper. And apostasy from one of these old systems might cost the apostate his life. Not so \\ ith the Africans. They are more like the Karens, a people who had no form of heathen religion or priesthood and among whom the gospel has wroiight such marvellous re- sults. The Africans are victims of all scnts of superstitions, but they do not worship idols. The images which they have are not objects of worshi]). The smaller ones iji their homes and the larges ones in front of the towns are not regarded as personalities but as charms to ensure good fortune and protection. And all representations of the natives as bowing down to a fetich and worshipping with prayer and praise are. simply false word-pictures. The name of God is known among the people, and that is about the extent of their knowledge of him. In many cases, however, there is a somewhat clear idea of his personality. He is regarded as Creator, and sender of rains. But they are ignorant of any means of communication with him, though he be not far from every one of them. None believe that death is a cessation of being; although as to the future state their superstitions fur* nish little explanation or comfort. Some think that the spirit world is in a dark forest land, others that it is under the sea. When their friends die- some suppose that they have been "witched a%\ ay" and sold to traders The coast laborers are thought by some to have been thus obtained, anJi under the influence of such a belief many come from the interior to the sea and with sad hearts gaze into the faces of the coast laborers in hope of finding their loved but departed friends. When the missionary goes to such people as these and tells them that he has brought news not from a strange God but from their own God; when he tells them of the Saviour who both died and rose again; it is reasonable to suppose that they \\\\\ receive the message which our Common Father sends from the spirit world, and that they M ill believe on him who hath brought life and immortality to light. In considering the time of the formation of the Free State it is important to notice not only the internal conditon of Africa, but also 2d. The condition of the extei-nal world. \t.'\satime of belief in Iwtk civil and religioits ffeedom. If this great continent had been opened at an earlier stage of human history, it certainly would not have enjoyed the advantages which are offered to it to-day. Being discovered at this peculiar MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 27 period, this region of untold rcsourees was saved from spoliation and conse- crated to civilization. Both the civil and the religious rights of the people are to be jealously guarded, and in their progress the natives arc to he guided by the civilized and Christian nations of the earth. Dr. Pierson, in speaking of the Berlin Conference and the compact there made, asks: "Who are the national parties to this most remarkable compact for civil and re- ligious freedom Not only Protestant powers, like the. United States, Great Britain, Prussia, Denmark, Norway and Sweeden, but the Greek Church, as represented by Russia; the Papal Church, as represented by Austria; Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy; and even the Moslem power as represented by Turkey! The grandeur of the event overwhelms us, When, in the history of the world before, have Protestant, Greek, Papal, and Moslem powers conferred and combined to assure civil and religious freedom to a new state just emerging out of obscurity and semi-barbarism into an enlightened civilization." Still further. The Free State was formed at a time of unparalleled mis- sionary activity in the Christian Church. One hundred years ago not only were heathen countries closed to the gospel, but the church itself was prac- tically dead to mission work. There -was even antipathy to foreign missions. The evangelization of the world was declai-ed by some to be absurd and fanatical. And even as late as 1792 when William Carey led in the formation of the first English Foreign Missionary Society, he was sneered at by many, and was combated even by some of his Christian brethren. But forces were at work during the last half of the eighteenth century which produced a revival of apostolic religion, and the church began to hold special meet- ings of prayer for the spread of the gospel. Christians came to feel that the church had more to do than merely to cultivate the little sphere that im- mediately surrounded their own doors. They began to recognize the fact that the field is the world. A mighty impetus was given to evangelistic labor, and the efforts then begun have in our own time grown into vast proportions. Indeed, to quote once more the words of Dr. Pierson, "That is the epoch of world-ivide missions. Since this century began, a golden net-work, glistening with heavenly dews, has been extending from the great centres of Christiandom, with lines radiating in every direction, and cross-lines connecting, until the great globe itself is girldled and enclosed;" (The Crisis of Missions, p. 2C). God opened the Dark Continent when the Christian M'orld was ready to push in with its gospel light. And our own great country is specially adapted to give assistance to this newly dis- covered field. Within our borders are seven millions of people of African descent. About a quarter of a century has passed away since their liber- ation. During this time they have been learning methods of government and have been attending the schools which were established for their educa- tion. And we may expect that God %vill in this case make the wrath of man to praise him. These people who were brought from Africa bound in chains God will send back to Africa free men in Christ jesus and bearing. ■28 INTKK-SEMIXAKY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. -with them that gospel which will bring liberty to their brethren held fast in the bondage of sin. Looking, then, at the providential preparation for the evangelization of Africa, as suggested by the very time when the Free State was formed, we find that in Central Africa the old kingdoms w ere decaying and offering opportunity for the new and better; that there lived the typical negro race, with a language specially fitted for the missionary and his work; there the people were as yet controlled by no subtle priesthood and bound to no re- ligious system: and then when we turn to the external world and see that it is a time when nations believe in free governments and liberty of con- science; and when the Christian Church is all ablaze with missionary zeal, we are led to exclaim: "This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." Again, the Congo Free State is related to African missions as to II. The Strategic position of its territory. This may be called its ;w/2«r(7/ relation. Its situation is of great significance. Why, but for its position, did God choose Palestine to be the scene of the most momentous events in the world's history? The Holy Land was a very small territory, but its position on the map of the world at the beginning of the Christian .era was a strategic position. It was the pivotal point between the three continents. It lay between the two great rivals of the ancient world, iind Assyria, and was on the great highway of travel between the East and the West. No other place on the globe was so well adapted to be the scene of the life and death of him, who is "the light of the world." God chooses positions. Taking up the map of Africa and looking at the region embrac- ed by the Free State, we find that ist. Its position furnishes a central basis of operation. Not so easily could ■the continent be evangelized if this new power occupied any other than its present location. In the valley of the Nile commerce thrived centuries ago, and then many of the arts and the sciences were cradled. But the remainder of Africa lay enveloped in its own darkness. On the southern shore of the :Mediterranean the Christian Church once found a home. But over the vast interior ray less night lay settled like a pall. The Free State, however, lies not on the outer edge of the continent. // is an immense territory in the very heart of Africa, thus giving opportunity for the gospel light in its radiation •to enlighten the whole continent. Starting from the mouth of the Congo, -the Free State runs eastward, widening as it goes, till it touches the water- parting between the Zambezi and the Congo on the south, Lake Tanganika on the east, and the water-shed of the Congo and the Nile on the north. Thus the State runs two-thirds of the way across the continent, and reaches a width of twelve hundred miles from north to south. It is an extensive •territory lying on both sides of the equator, embracing more than a million square miles, and containing about fifty millions of people. We notice still further that the Free State is intimately related to the Free Trade Area. While the Congo State has a coast line of only twenty-three and a half miles, this Area devoted to the free trade of all nations runs along MISSIONS IN AKKICA. 29- the Atlantic for about three hundred and eighty miles. It inchides the Free State, and also the French and Portuguese possessions on the west coast; and then starting east from the Atlantic it runs across the continent to the Indian Ocean, being thus a spacious commercial zone stretching from Sea to Sea and containing about two and one-half millions of square miles. Now, the Free State and the Free Trade Area may be expected to influence all Africa. At present the Congo State has little actual relation to any but Central Africa. There must be railways built and other means of communica- tion opened up before the gospel can spread over the entire continent. But a beginning has been made in the right place. Whatever of civilization and Christianity is introduced into the Free State will spread over the Free Trade Area and from this perhaps over the continent. It is in accordance with the method of Scripture to begin at the heart. In converting men God never begins on the outside to work in. But conversion takes place first at the very center of man's being and then manifests itself in the outward life. So if the heart of Africa can be Christianized, the whole continent will soon feel its influence. As when a mighty stone is dropped upon the quiet surface of deep waters the circular waves go out increasing "in number and enlarging in size; so from the cross set up in the center of Africa we may hope that the circles of Christ's kingdom shall go out increasing and enlarging till all they that dwell in darkness shall bow before him and his dominion shall extend from sea to sea. 2d. The territory thus situated is remarkable also for its natural resources and facilities. The Free State is more than central in its location. If it were characterized by poverty of natural resources and means of transportation, a central might not be a strategic position. This, however, is not the case. The Free State inchides the wealth of Equatorial Africa. Nearly ever)^- where the valuable oil-palm is found, and in some localities there are whole forests of it. The india-rubber plant, white and red gum copal, and cam- wood are also found in such abundance as to offer great inducements to commercial circles. And Stanley says that vast extents of forest are draped with orchilla weed lying on the woods like a green veil. And ivory, which exists in such large quantities, is reckoned to rank only fifth in natural pro- ducts. Iron, copper, plumbago and gold are found. There are numerous varie- ties and great quantities of fruits and vegetables, and those which are not in- digenous are being introduced with extraordinary success. Surely when we look into this part of Africa, so long unknown to the civilized world, we are led to say with the Psalmist: "O Lord, the earth is full of thy riches." Into all this wealthy region the Congo and its tributaries furnish natural highways for commerce and Christian Missions. The Congo itself is more than three thousand miles long. ♦ In its lower course it is navigable to Vivi Station— one hundred and ten miles from the Atlantic. Then travel to Stanley Pool (say a little over two hundred miles) must be by rail, on ac- count of the cataract region. But when Leopoldville at the lower end of the Pool has been reached, the great river is again navigable to Stanley Falls, a distance often hundred and sixty-eight miles. The river in this section is- 30 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. almost a semi-circle, lying across the equator, with the curve turned north- ward; while the lay of land is said to resemble an inverted saucer. "It is a high plateau of from 2000 to 4000 feet elevation, surrounded by an elevated ridge, from which the land slopes rapidly away to the north and south, and on the east and west to the sea." Through this peculiar geological forma- tion the Congo flows from the east, and, cutting through the hill country on the west, rushes clown to the sea. The water-shed on the south turns six great rivers into the Congo, and that on the north some ten or eleven more. Truly Central Africa is "a land of rivers of water." If, then, we consider the position of the Free State, remembering that its location is central, thus giving civilization and Christianity an opportunity to enlarge their boundaries on all sides; that it is a country of untold natural resources, inviting to it others than missionaries to develope its resources and elevate its people; if we then think of the great water courses running east, west, north and south; and then picture to ourselves vessels in the future steaming up and down these rivers, carrying missionaries, Bibles, and printing presses, as well as commercial wares, we may see that the natui'al relation of the Congo Free State to African missions is by no means to be overlooked: .In concluding this discussion as to how missions in the Dark Continent will be affected by the Free State, we must consider III. The provisions of its constitution. And as the time when the State was formed suggested its providential relation to the evangelization of Africa, and the strategic position of the State its natural relation, so the privileges permanently provided at its establishment may be called its constitutional relation. Among these provisions of the constitution we notice those referring to: 1st. The preservation and civilization of the nations. JVo attempt is to be made to driv^ out the natives and take possession of t/ieir land. On the con- trary they are to be regarded as men with inviolable rights. The civiliza- tion of Africa does not depend on driving out this people and settling it with foreigners, but on lifting the nations out of their "listless carelessness," turn- ing their attention from tribal warfare to the developement of the country, putting the children into schools for the expansion of their intellects and the cultivation of their moral natures, instead of allowing a boy to grow up, buy a gun and a wife and then sink down into indolence as if the aim of life were accomplished. The Free State has provided that all institutions whether religious, scientific, or charitable, which look toward the preservation of the natives, the amelioration of their moral and material condition, the work of educating them to understand and appreciate the advantages of civilization are to be encouraged and protected without respect of creed or nationality: The powers connected with the Congo,State have also pledged themselves for the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. A large proportion of the population are slaves, obtained either by purchase or by war. Sometimes these slaves are well treated, but the fact that they are the property of an- other often subjects them to the most cruel abuse. In some cases if a man MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 3I is condemned to die, he may purchase a slave to die in his stead. And often tii^ most horrible tragedies are enacted at the death of a chief or a man of wealth. He must not go to the spirit world unaccompanied. And so any- where from two to fifty slaves are butchered like so many beasts and their skulls used to decorate the grave of the departed grandee. The slave trade is also horrible beyond description. One bright morning when Livingstone was walking on the banks of the Upper Congo, he noticed about fifteen hundred people gathered together at a market, when suddenly a murderous fire was opened upon them by slave hunters. A great confusion followed; many were killed by the shots, and others rushing to the river to escape slavery were drowned in the waters. The shrieking of the frightened, the groans of the dying, and the wailing over the dead, produced upon Livingstone an impression which haunted him till the day of his death. And as .Stanley was ascending the river previous to the Berhn Conference, he came upon the track of Arab slave traders — burnt villages, leveled palm trees, ruthless ruin everywhere. When these villains were overtaken they were found to have as captives twenty-three hundred women and children. They had been on their raid about eleven months, and had plundered and burned one hundred and eighteen villages. Surely the suppression of slavery and of such a traffic will not only preserve the people and their country, bill will go far to teach the inviolable rights of the individual, the sanctity of human life, and the sublime Christian doctrine of the brotherhood of man. 2d. The constitution further guarantees special protection to explorers and scientests. Explorers will be of service to Christian evangelization, be- cause their luork luill make known the variotcs regions and their needs. D)-. Livingstone was right in holding that we must ascertain the strategic points and master the geographical problems, before we can begin Christian mis- sions "on practical and conprehensive lines" (Life on the Congo, P. 95^ And as explorers open the fields of labor, those who visit the continent in the interest of medical science will reveal the laws to be observed for preserv- ing the health of the laborers. It must be admitted that the climate is a verv serious obstacle in the way of Christianizing Africa. The burning sun, the cool night air, the pestilential vapors arising from mud deposits and decay- ing vegetation have been and are the fruitful causes of fever and of death. But much of the fatality has been due not so much to the climate as to tb.e intemperate habits of the traders, and to ignorance of sanitary laws and over- exertion on the part of Christian workers. The climate of Equatorial Africa is not so deadly as it has often been represented. The thermometer in the Free State during the hot season will range only from 80'' to 90° in the shade and in the sun about 25*^ higher. As the Congo is ascended, the climate is tound to be more healthy, 'and above Leopoldville, Stanley calls the tempera- ture "delightful." As the climate becomes better understood and medical science advances, the security of life becomes greater, and it now seems that the problem of laboring and at the same time living in Africa is about to be solved. Already rules have been laid down by explorers and scientists, which, it is claimed, will enable one to live as long on the Congo as in India or even 32 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. in England. The missionary should for Christ's sake be faithful in his ob- servance of these laws of health, remembering that he goes to Africa not to die Init to live for Christ. And yet he must go not counting his life dear unto himself if so be that he may finish his course with joy and the ministiy which he has received of the Lord Jesus. 3d. A third provision of the constitution is that it grants freedom of trade to all nations. This privilege, however, is limited to a period of twenty years, the powers represented at the Berlin Conference having reserved to- themselves the right to decide at the end of that period whether or not free commerce shall be continued. Since love of traffic is the peculiar characteristic of the natives, desire to- trade -will bring them together at the various market-places. Thus commerce will be of service to Christian missions by helping in the acquisition of languages by which ideas as well as commodities may be exchanged. More- over, at these places of trade the missionary will have a rare opportunity for preaching the gospel. Induced to come from afar to these markets by the hope of enriching themselves in the wealth of earth, the people will return to their widely-separated homes tolling of the one pearl of great price and of the unsearchable riches of Christ. And commerce will also open ways of travel and communication. The in- troduction of telegraphic and postal systems will make strangers neighbors; and the great routes opened through the country for the transportation of commercial wares will furnish roads for the missionary, just as at the be- ginning of the Christian era "the highways built for commerce and for the Roman legions, served also the messengers of peace and the silent conquests of the cross." Furthermore, apart from distinctively Christian work, the contact zoith civilization, which commerce secures, will assist in the elevation of the peo- ple. When Stanley went up the west coast to Duke Town and Creek Town, he there saw African Chiefs occupying well-furnished houses which had been made in England, transported section by section, and sold to the chiefs for palm-oil. Commerce may yet be the cause of similar sights on the Congo. And in addition to such beneficial results from trade, there will be others of no less importance. For some corporations, for example the African Lakes Company, propose to carry on all their trade strictly on Christian principles^ But it has been well said that where Gpd builds a church the devil builds a chapel close by. And so we can hardly expect that commerce will be an un- mitigated blessing. There is danger that very many will conduct their l)us- iness on any other than Christian principles, and while' so doing may claim and receive the protection of the law. To-day one of the greatest obstacles in the way of saving Africa is the drink traffic. The same ship which bears the missionary to save the people, also carries its barrels of rum to damn their souls — The Book of Truth and the bottles of hell ! Let us pray that this and all other evils connected with African commerce may be stayed, and let us, a Conference of Christian men, protest against the present legal pro- MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 33 tection of this fatal traffic on the Congo, and against all futuic JL-giblation in its favor, lest the blessing of free trade be turned into a curse. 4th. Finally, the Christian missionary is heir of all the privileges and ad- vantages of the new State. Not only is there freedom granted to commerce, protection guaranteed to the natives, explorers and scientific men; but it is also provided that the herald of the cross, together with his escorts and col- lections, shall be the' object of special protection. And that such a provision is necessary to any assured permanence of mission work may be seeii by re- calling the shameful treatment of the Presbyterian and Baptist missionaries by the P'rench and German Governments at the Gaboon and Cameroons. The protestant schools were closed, and attempts were made to drive out these denominations, whose missions had been established on the coast for nearly half a century. But no such treatment is possible in the Free State, for the constitution declares that liberty of conscience shall be guaranteed lo tlie natives as well as to the inhabitants and foreigners. The free and public exercise of every creed, the right to erect religious buildings and to organize missions belonging to every creed, shall be subject to no restriction or im- pediment whatever. And already the missionaries are taking advantage of the adi'autagcs. Look- ing at a map of Equatoiial Africa and casting our eye down the west coast, we notice a number of older stations each seperated from the other by a dis- tance of about four hundred miles. The Baptist Missionary Society at the Cameroons, the American Presbyterians at the Gaboon, the American Bap- tist Missionary Union at the north of the Congo, the American Methodist Episcopal Mission at the Coanza, and near Benguela are missionaries of the American Board. From different points along the west coast, missions are being pushed into the interior. But at present the center of attraction seems to be the Congo and its newly-discovered fields so full of rich promise. On the lower course of the river we find the Swedish Missionary Society with its station in the cataract region. Bishop Taylor is zealously prosecuting his work at Stanley Pool, and is reaching out into the regions beyond. The American and English Baptists have already eleven stations on the Congo, and are endeavoring to stretch their chain of missions from the Atlantic Ocean to Stanley Falls. Passing across the continent to the eastern coast, we find the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, the United Methodists, the Universities Missions, and the Scotch Missions (of both the Free and the Established Church). These Societies have been ex- tending their labor westward, till finally some of them by the heroism of such men as Bishop Harrington have reached the Great Lakes, and already the London Missionary Society has established itself on the upper waters of the Congo. This work reminds us of the railway that was being built be- tween Switzerland and Italy. It was necessary to put a tunnel through Mont Cenis, which separates the two countries. The workmen began some on one side of the mountain, and others on the opposite side. They began to dig their way in toward the center. Day after day they labored, till finally the voices of the one party and the sound of their picks could be heard by the 34 INTKR-SEMINARV MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. Other party w ho had started in from the opposite side. Nearer and nearer ihey came, and hearts beat faster and faster, until with loud shouts the work- men bui-st through the partition of earth and grasped hands at the center ol the mountain. So from both sides of Africa — from the east and from the west — the missionaries of the cross are working inland toward each other, ■strengthening their old positions while establishing new stations; and we may believe that in the very near future these laborers of Christ shall meet .and join hands in the center of the continent. Brethren, we are told that "facts are the fingers of God." If this is true, God is pointing us to Africa. He is encouraging us to go by the readiness of the people to receive the gospel. Many have already been converted to Christ — more than a thousand at a single station. He is warning us against •delay by the fact that Catholicism is busily engaged on the Congo while Mohammedanism threatens to sweep down from the north like a mighty tornado. He is commanding us to carry to these people the message of sal- vation by the fact that the vast maiority of them have never as yet so much as heard of the Saviour. At the close of Dr. Mofifat's account of his "Mis- sionary Labors," there is a picture of an African child in prayer. He is sur- rounded with rocks and grasses and trees, while the sky is overhung with darkness. Kneeling with his hands clasped and his youthful face turned heavenward, he is praying those words of Christ, "Thy kingdom come." What shall we do toward answering many such prayers which are really go- ing up from Africa to-day? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? If we, like Isaiah, hear the voice of the Lord saying unto us, "Whom shall I send, and •who will go for us?" may the answer of that ancient servant be the ready re- sponse of our hearts — "Here am I; send me." THOS. ]. ViLI.KRS. Discussion. W. H. COSSUM, of Hamilton: This matter should be brough before the colored people of this country. E. W. Stone, of Rochester: We should first impress it up ourselves. Ood chooses times, places, and agencies. THE GRKAT COMMISSION. 35 The Work of the Church as defined in the Commission. By Rev. Frank M. Ellis, D.D., 1!altlmoke, Mn. In the beginnino- of the upl)uilding of God's kingdom, on Eartli, the master-builder, (like the Architect of Strasburg Cathedral) was cut off— and liis plans were left to his church to work out, (as the plans of that Cathedral were left to the architect's daughter) ; and though the church has wrought through the centuries, under the direction of the ascended Christ and of the Holy Spirit, still the incompleteness that mars this work, shows how im- perfectly the church has apprehended the design and magnitude of the plans of her divine master. Our Lord's commission contemplates the world's Evangelization; toward this his providences sweep as steadily as the current of the Gulf Stream flo\\ s between its ocean walls. The extent of the commission emphasizes its importance— "go ye unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature". The necessity, adaptation and universality of the gospel is alike clearly assumed. If the church appreciates the scope of her mission as thus marked out, or if she rises to an assurance of success, in a work of such stupendous magnitude, it is certain that her confidence must rest unhesi- tatingly upon the divine sovereignty of her Lord to whom "all power is given, in heaven and on earth," as her guarantee of success. Christ's com- mission, bidding his church "go" is a necessity. Selfishness is stagnation and stagnation is death. It has been said tliat had Paul preached from the commission he \\ ould have emphasized this word "go." Upon that word Jesus kid the stress of his command ; and the great apostle's ministry is a living illustration of our Lord's meaning. The commission is the marching order of the church that is to preach the gospel among all nations for " the obedience of faith". In that commission revivals, reformations and revolutions are enfolded as the miracles of life are, in the laws of nature. The work of the church as defined in the commission is the thought I desire to illustrate. I. The commission recognizes the difficulties which oppose the church in the work of the world's evangelization. As the sun often climbs to the zenith along a pathway of clouds, so from the first, the progress of mission work has been along the pathway of difficulty and discouragement. For example, in the noontide of his usefullness Brainard is laid to rest in his grave at Northampton. The precious fragments of that journal of his inner life, so punctuated by tears and paragraphed by prayer, are gathered up by Edwards; that unpretending book finds its way across the sea into the hands of a student at Cambridge, and so rouses that young . 36 INTEK-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. heart with an enthusiasm for missions that it is laid upon God's altar, until on the hot sands, beside the Black Sea, the life of Henry Martyn is burnt out. And yet who can estimate the influence of those two, devoted lives upon the cause of modern missions? That was a dark day for the untried church when Stephen sealed with his blood, his loyality to Christ, but that was a darker day when her Lord was laid within that sealed sepulchre. And yet that burial was but the prelude to the hour when from Joseph's new tomb the Christ came forth — declared to be the Son of God, with power, by his resurrection from the dead. So through the tempests of trial and in spite of mistakes, this work of the church has moved along the ages, as Jesus came across storm-tossed Tiberias, stepping from crest to crest of its swinging billows. When the church at Jerusalem was menaced by the peril of centralization of forces and agencies, persecution sent the dis- ciples out two by two preaching the word. And God may yet compel us, to make a wiser use of our undeveloped and hence wasted resources than we are now making. Look at the unemployed men, who have been solemnly set apart for the work of the gospel ministry ; or who have turned aside to secular business; at the undeveloped gifts God has bestowed upon his church; at the millions of money, professedly consecrated to Christ, that is locked up in useless and often injurious extravagance. Are the utterances of God's word concerning our possessions and resources to be spiritualized into meaningless verbiage? Has it come to this, that the money of Christ's disciples, like that of the world, has only a commercialand no moral value]; only a purchasing power and no evangelizing influence? Is our capital, are our incomes exclusively ours, to be used as we choose with- out regard to the work of Christ? Or are we his stewards, who have what we have and are prospered as we are, that by giving, as he prospers us, we may increase our usefulness and advance his glory ? What a burning disgrace, if what Prof. Stewart of Liberia is credited with saying be true ! "that for every missionary that goes to Africa, there are sent to that country 70,000 gallons of liquors". Let not our national vanity de- ceive us — :what the divine purpose respecting this country may be has not yet been revealed. We have sinned — we are sinning — and "the wages of sin is death". At a Roman Catholic banquet in Boston some time ago, there was received with great enthusiasm the following toast : ""Massachusetts — peopled by pilgrims from England in the 17th century — repeopled by pilgrims from Ireland in the igth century". Foreign emigration is importing Romanism, Socialism, Anarchism I Be assured that the best policy for our republic and the best defense of our religion here at home, is the largest diffusion of the gospel abroad. "What," says Christlieb, "if the darkest spot in the firmament of missions, is not to be sought in the opposition on the mission fields, but in the condition of the home churches themselves?" He laments the de- cay of that enthusiasm which characterized the opening years of the enter- prise ; "when Christians of differing faiths, forgot, for the time, their. THE CRKAT COMMISSION. 37 differences, and fell sobbing into each others arms; and w hen immense throngs thrilled with the spirit of an agressive faith, piled contribution plates with gold-chains, watches and jewels, as well as with money." "Thedanger most to be apprehended" says another "is that the missionary enterprise will glide into routine, missionary zeal become so much rhetoric, and participation in missionary work degenerate into a matter of habit or ecclesiastical business." A low type of piety has neither desire nor power to extend itself, for tlie reason that its energies are exhausted in maintaining itself. 'N^'hile the available strength of our churches is represented by not over one-fifth of our membership, there need be little surprise that more is not done to evangeli/e the world. Until our hearts are mastered l)y tlie law of the cross, which makes sacrifice the measure of love, we shall fail to meet the demands of the cause of missions. On the other hand, the Moravians may illustrate w hat can be done when the spirit of Christ lifts his people out of self up into him- self. Numbering only about 13000 members they sustain 17 missions, 323 missionaries and 1500 native assistants at an annual cost of $250,000. Their foreign converts out-number their home membership six to one. The cause of missions is the question and duty of the hour; for if this generation does not save the present generation of heathen, they must perish. A perishing world and the commission of our Lord unite in emphasizing this duty as a personal one — We must meet it — " To falter is dislovality, To hesitiite is tin." Let not the cry — "'who is sufficient for these things?" — be made an excuse for inaction — Christ is more than sufficient and His sufficiency is made ours by the very terms of the commission, — "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." That commission is His appeal to the faith and heroism of a regenerated manhood and womanhood. But we must come into vital relations with Christ, aye! becrucified with Him, if that love which hastened Him to the cross becomes the mastering passion of our lives. If our efforts be earnest our convictions must become serious. Our — "thy kingdom come" — must lack sincerity and hence faith, so long as we refuse to do all we, can to advance His kingdom. Difficulties here, as eleswhere, grow as we nurse them, but give way as a resolute duty faces them with a confident trust in God. During the late war a regiment was ordered to plant a battery upon a hill-top. The order exposed them to a galling fire. Through mud and mire the guns were dragged to the foot of the hill, and it seemed they could get them no further — when the Colonel shouted to them : "Men! these guns must be put in position, I've got the General's orders in my pocket I" Brethren, be our difficulties what they may, Christ's gospel must be "preached to every creature," we have our Lord's orders in our keeping. We are not straightened! The work is His and the resources are His. In 1857 the Berlin Missionary Society received a grant of land on the Vaal River. At the time it was regarded as worthless. Fourteen years later, when the treasury was exhausted and relief seemed beyond hope, diamond fields were 3? I.NTER-SE>1INARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. discovered on that land, and tlie pcrcentat^e [paid by the mines more than filleJ the depleted treasury. II. The commission of Christ furni-.hes His church \\ ith the motives and nifthods necessary for this work. To do the will of Christ as expressed in his commission, we must be held in the grasp of a stronger sense of duty than can be caused by any supeficial emotion or transient excitement. Something of that love that brought the Christ to the cross must constrain those who can go, to go ; those who cannot go, but can give, to give ; and those who can neither go nor give to pray for those who can give or can go. The importance of this work of the church, will appear when we remember that our Lord opened the heavens and revisited this earth in order to inagurate the missionary enterprise. Personally he met Saul, near the gate of Damascus, conquered him and called him to bear His "name before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel." The notion that the heathen do not need the gospel is striking at the heart of an earnest consecration to the work of foreign missions. The commission and example of Christ has settled that matter. It is not, it cannot be, an open question. Neither an ungodly world nor an ease-loving church are competent witnesses, with which to rebut the emphatic utterances of the Holy Spirit and the facts of the life of the Son of God. " That the world is perishing without Christ" says Pres. Seelye, "we clearly see and, that it can be saved through Him and only through Him is all apparent". "J?ut", he says, "this is not the great motive that urges us to efforts for the world's conversion. Sympathy for the world in its wretchedness and woe, is a feeble, flickering fire which expires in its own burning". Brethren, Christ, who is the life, is also the motive of his church. His love in us, rather than ours for men or even for Him, is the only adequate motive for a work such as this. Faith in Him rather than faith in means or even in ourselves is the secret of our power. That love whose sacrifice made redemption possible for men must constrain us if we make it available to men. The Christ within us must answer to the Christ above us or we fail. The methods of the commission will be accepted as we feel that men are lost without the gospel. As this conviction is weakened, as faith breaks with the fact that there is no basis or hope of salvation aside from the sacrifice ot Christ, every appeal for a world's evangelization becomes relatively powerless. The will of Christ, imbedded in His commission, is the supreme law of His church, and as the Holy Spirit subjects us to the mastery of that will, it will become the supreme motive, giving unity to our aims and per- sistency to our purpose. Hence the will of Christ and not the needs of men, is the transcendent motive of our devotion and service. To refuse to do Hi< will is to renounce our discipleship and betray our loyalty to Christ as Lord and King. The fervent appeals to the missionary zeal and heroism of the churches ; the pathetic recitals, which frame the most graphic pictures of the self-denial and suffering of those on the foreign field ; the hammered logic welding facts and figures into reports ; the eloquence of sermons and other rilE C.KKAT COMMISSION. ;<9 pleas, equally slininjjaiul important, have become, it seems, trite and com- mon place. At any rate they fail to reuse the churches or stimulate Christ- ians. As at the first so now, the appeal, that will call God's people to- meet the emergencies of this colossal enterprise, must come from the cross and empty tomb of our crucified but risen Lord. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of missions. Stirring appeals may reus; us for the time, perhaps hurry- some on to the altar, and cause many more to, at least, promise the fullest consecration, but no sooner is the spell broken than our ardor cools and our promises are forgotten. Let it be burned into our very souls — that God s work must be done by God's people and in God's way. Be this commonplace; but realize its full meaning and our family al'.ars would become altars of sacri- fice, on which parents would gladly dedicate their children to the cause of missions and their means to support them in that work. Christ's church was missionary in its design and must be such in fact or it must perish. The growth of Christian character and hence of church po'wer lies along this line. Direct the energies of the church into other channels, if you will, but understand that in so far as you succeed in this, you swing the church aside from the divine purpose. Men and money, an unfaltering faith, a tireless energy are all part of Christ's plan. But after all what is needed, and what we must have to make all else effective, is the church of God on her knees, praying for the Holy Ghost, strong in the might of that masterly loyalty, given with the endowment of divine power, that hears her Lord saying unto her, "separate for me those whom I have calledunto this- work". The Church of God templing the Holy Spirit! this is the divine method for the world's evangelization. Given for one generation, the church annimated and inspired by her Lord's commission ; given one per cent, of her present membership for the field and .in annual offering from the rest of the church of $15 per member for ten years ; or, let each Christiaiii bring but a single soul to Christ each year for the next seven years, and the church would present her risen I^ord with a redeemed world. Is this work, impossible ? The whole sum required would not exceed the rum bill of" America for two years! Would to God the church might worthily respond to her master's appeal to her faith and courage ! How the spirit of the commission sustained Carey through seven years of toil before he laid his first sheaf at the feet of his Lord ! How it lifted Judson above difficulties on the field, and the fears of his brethern at home, through another seven years of heroic toil and sublime devotion before he brought a single trophy to his Master ! How it strengthened the brave hearts- of that little band in Western Africa through fourteen years of hope and fear sickness and death, before they had set a single star in the crown of the Christ ! How it cheered and inspired that handful of heroes of the cross who> laid on God's altar their sixteen years of toil as the price of the first convert in New Zealand ! It was that love, that throbs in the commission, th: t fired the heart and nerved the arm of Boniface, as he cleared away the sacred oaks- of Thor for the altars of God ; that sent him forth at the age of 75 years to. te>tify. by his martyrdom, his love for the degr.ided heathen of P'rieslajid ! 40 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. The spirit of the commission must be the spirit of the church if her en- larged sympathy embraces the world as her parish. Give her this — and as the chiefs of Scotland, in times of invasion, went forth with their uplifted "fiery cross" — so the church, with their uplifted cross of Christ, will go forth to win the world for Him, or to sow its plains and valleys with the graves of her sons and daughters, whose ashes shall be the seed of His coming kingdom. It was the spirit of modern missions that restored the Christ to His throne in His church, when that throne had been ursurped by formalism and worldliness ; that quickened, as nothing else has done, an enlarged and systematic benevolence, and made us understand that an evangelical church must be an evangelistic church, where are found such illustrations of primi- tive piety as in our mission churches ? Three-fold larger returns, for the same outlay, come from the foreign than from the home field. Dr. Alden is right — "A personal, definite consecration to the work oi missions is the test question of Christian character, for it will direct us to the best methods of a generous, systematic benevolence, it will everywhere broaden Chrisian thought ; enlarge Christian inquiry ; deepen Christian pui"pose; intensify Christian zeal; put a new signification and a new energy into every department of Christian work." What answer has the Christian church made to infidelity, that lias so smit- ten it dumb, as the miracles of modern missions? Admit all the developments of modern piogress and speculation ; admit all the advances of civilization and culture, no sul:)stitute has been found for the old gospel which the race will need as long as it needs the old sun and the old air. Blot this out, or sweep them away and you have wrapped earth with a death no science can alleviate. Deny this old gospel to heathen lands and you will wrap them in a spiritual death, no advanced theology can avert. President Seeley says: '"Commerce, civilization, education, political institu- tions, natural morality and natural religion, when closely scanned, reveal no power to check the downward tendencies of human nature, or lessen the cor- ruptions under which the world is perishing." "The Gospel," he adds, "has not died out, nor lost aught of its original power. Through eighteen centuries in which it has been preached, it has not grown old nor weak nor weary. It is working to-day in Christian and unchristian lands with as much vig- or, and with as mighty results, as in the great days of its first proclama- tion. The triumphs actually achieved in our time by the Christian church are equal to any the church has ever achieved." ''Lo, I am with you always" — this, brethren, is the churcli's warrant of ultimate success. As the pearl diver may rise empty-handed a score of times, and yet dives again and again, not because he is encouraged by his success, but because he knows there are pearls in the sea, — so our faith in the promise and power of the Christ, rather than in any measure of our success, will give us the per- sistancy of purpose this work demands. TIIK ORKAT COMMISSION. 4I III. The commis>ion of Christ furnishes the church w itli tiie cm'otirage- iiient needed for this work. The miracles of science, and the parables of historj' are not only illustrat- ing the divine purpose in the church, but they are confirmint^ the truth of that verse saying, that — "for every blow that the church strikes for missions, God strikes ten." Electricty, girdling the earth in 80 seconds, steam whirling a traveler around the globe in 80 days, commercial enterprise, the products of the press, antl the mail service, these agencies are eliminating the last of the her- mit nations from the map of the world, and by creating a community of in- terests, are blending the nations into one grand sisterhood. While the work of missions, throwing over all, the sanctifying power of the gospel, and fulfilling the prophetic "song of the angels," that floated over the manger-cradle of Bethlehem, makes that realized prophecy — "peace on earth, good will to men" — the formula of its benediction. (jod did not move, in cloud and pillar, more plainly before Israel than he does before His church to-day, in the clustering splendors of missionary success. Thirty-two years ago the American Baptist Missionary Union met at Albany. It was then thought that the seed that had been sown among the Teloogoos had perished, and it was therefore proposed to abandon the "Lone .Star" mission. As if touched by the inspiration of a seer, Dr. S. F. Smith wrote on that occation these words— "Shine on, 'Lone Star', thy radiance bright Shall spread o'er all the Eastern sky. • Shine on, 'Lone Star,' th}' day draws near, When none shall shine more fair than thou. Thou, born and nursed in doubt and fear, Wilt glitter on Immanuel's brow." That prophecy has become history. That church, organized at Ongole, with 8 members in 1867, numbered, ten years later, 3,269. After a suspension of missionary efforts, in consequence of the famine, the doors of that church were again opened in June 1878, and within fifty days nearly 9,000 rejoicing converts were baptized. I'entecosts are being repeat- ed on these mission fields. Look at the map of missions that lies before you to-day ; more than 20,000 stations manned by upwards of 50,000 missionaries, with one million com- municants and neaidy 3,000,000 adherents, besides three-fourths of a million of youth in the 12,000 mission-schools.' And yet statistics fail to report the mental, social, moral and spiritual up- lifting of the nations, the assimilating power of the gospel, in its indirect as well as in its direct effects, the energy of the Holy Spirit that goes with tlie circulation of more than 148,000,000 copies of the Word of God ; all this and much more lies beyond the reach of statistics. Brethren, the cross of Christ is undermining paganism. F'ew new temples 42 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. are building and the old ones are crumbling into ruins. The splendors of Isaiah's vision are flung far and wide over Continents and Islands. The commission of the 'Christ is transforming the coftin of the old life of Pagan- ism into a cradle for the new life of Christianity. The command — "go ye into all the world" is being heeded by growing numbers, and their advance is hastened by the cry of the nations, "Come over and help us" — while the prayer — "thy kingdom come" — is be^ng answered in the conquests of the cross, that break upon the ears of his waiting church, as the foot-falls of her coming Christ. In a meeting of the Wesleyan Missionary Society of- England in 1874 a returned missionary said: "I was recently the guest of a missionary la-other in the Fiji Islands. While at tea, hearing a bell, I asked what it meant and was told it was the call for family worship on the Island. And now listen for the drum beat, and soon drum answered drum all around those Islands." "There are," said the missionary, "ten thousand people on these Islands, and I know not a single house in which family worship will not be observed during the next half-hour." Beneath all the surface agitation and apparent worklliness of the church, there beats steadily and warmly a deep, strong, spiritual life that is devoted to the Christ and loyal to His cause — this He is honoring before men and angels. Within the church, God's true church still lives. France has grouped upon her palace walls, at Versailles, the pictured story of her military glory. But oh ! the sublimer, eternal triumphs, from Paul to Luther, from Luther to Judson, from Judson toClough, that shall decor- ate the palace walls of God ! When Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the Roman Em- pire, not more than one in a thousand of the population of the Earth were nominal Christians. Now one-fifth are such. When Protestantism was l:)orn, Romanism claimed 69,000,000 adherents. When thirteen centuries old, and Protestantism was but three and one-half centuries old, Romanism had 5,000,000 less adherents than Protestantism. And to-day the dominant powers of the world are lx)th Protestant and Christian. With a gospel that spheres the power of God, with a divine commission that throbs with the spirit of missions, as a smitten harp-string trembles with music, with this commission emphasized by the peril of perishing millions, with Our Lord's promises, as full of hope as they are of love, as sure as the pillars of the eternal throne, and which are being fulfilled in an- swers of prayer, that echo along the years as the hammer-blows of the Chrisr upon His upbuilding kingdom, with such encouragement, how can our zeal grow cold, our energies relax, our efforts become feeble, or our want of con- secration to such a cause make the humiliation of retrenchment necessary? In God's cause retrenchment is disaster. Relief lies in an enlargement that trusts Him; not in a retrenchment that distrusts Him. "It sounds more cheap and shameful every year," said Phillips Brooks, "to make the imperfection of our Christianity at home the excuse for not doing our work abroad." TUK CKKAT COMMISSION. 43 Let the idea obtain, that we need all our religion at home and hence can- not aftbrd to export any, and we will adopt a creed of shameless falsehood, that will smite the spirituality of our home churches with decay and death. No, brethren; the work of Foreign Missions lies too near God's heart, for us to expect His blessing on any policy, that seeks relief by ^\ ith-holdmg what belongs to Him and His cause! I know of no question before the church to-day more practical than this. How can the growing wealth of our people be made to mmister to then- personal growth in grace, and to the advancement of Christ's kingdom . Merely an emotional devotion, a lax creed, a limp orthodoxy; a negative theology can never furnish the church with the resources or encouragement required by such a work as His commission lays upon her. This work re- quires a purpose that gathers up into its strength the awfulness of Sinai as well as the tenderness of Calvary; that has its loins girt with the fact and guilt of sin, and the need of grace, that is nerved by an omnipotence of faith in the sufficiency of that atonement which rests upon the vicarious death of Jesus Christ; that carries, in its uplifted face, the light of that hope that beams from the throne of a living Saviour; that is energized and solemnized by the realities of an eternal Heaven and Hell, and is made confident and invincible by the indwelling witness of the Holy Ghost. The glory of God, in the evangelization of the world— this is the thought that crowns the missionary enterprise with its moral dignity and grandeur. Christ is the core and goal of this work of the church. As she rises to Him, the world grows smaller. As His spirit possesses her, the motto of our missionary banners— "the %vorld for Christ"— will become more than mere rhetoric, it will be the battle-cry of an aggressive church. Encouraging as may be the signs of our Lord's coming, still, not by these are we to guide our movements for the world's conquest but by His com- mission. In obedience to this, the sacramental hosts of God's elect are on their march round the earth. Our fathers— whose fidelity to the commission has kept the fire flaming on the missionary altars of our hearts and churches, — are growing old or have passed to their reward. Our honored standard-bearers on the foreign field— whose self-denial has thrilled Christendom and made their names the synonyms of a Pauline heroism — are falling, decorated with the church's love and the badges of God's approval. Let the ranks be filled ! close up ! and as you, who are younger, step forth to take the places of those who are too old for service — say to them, as the youth of Greece said to their sires, whom age had unfitted for battle — '■Though your youthful streng-th departs. With your children it endures: In our arms and in our hearts I.ives the valor that was yours." Would to God the faith, that crowns the few courageous Calebs of our Israel, as the light crowns the hill-tops, might quicken all our churches. -44 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. ' Christ has said it — every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess His Lordship, to the glory of the Father. All hail, thou exalted and com- ing Chi-ist! Holy Spirit gird thy church for the conflict! Uphold her hands until the song of the redeemed on earth shall be answered back by the chorus of the glorified ! "Lift up your heads, oh ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Hark! the shout of the watchmen on the mountains — "The morning cometh! " Yes, brethren, it is coming! Coming in the victories of truth; coming in the lift- ing shadows, shattered by the light flung from the cross of the crucified, and from the throne of the ascended Christ; coming in the victorious march of a conquering church; coming in the rising tides of the glory of the Lord, which is to fill the earth as the waters fill the sea; coming in the purposes of God! It was early morning as a tourist stood on the top of Rifflebury, that lifts its head into the cloulds above the valley of Zermat. "The stars were shin- ing with a lustre that grew dimmer and dimmer in the light from the rising sun. In the valley, there was darkness and silence, broken only by the sounds of waterfalls. Suddenly a lofty peak was illuminated, then one by one, the whole amphitheatre of the mountains was kindled by the king of day. And, as he rose, his light fell far and wide, until the shadows were ■ chased from the valley and the night was gone." Lo, as our eyes sweep the world-wide field of the church, behold! "The morning light is breaking! " The "sun of righteousness" is vising! See, his light is tipping with splendor the heights of Faith ! See, the shadowed skies are being transformed into russet and purple and splendor, and the clouds, we have so much dreaded, are being transformed into piles of crimson and gold, glorious as the descend- ing thrones of the four and twenty elders ! The darkness that has brooded over pagan lands is being scattered, and thus is heralded a new earth, flood- ed by the falling light from the new Heavens. Jesus Christ has clasped the energy of His cross in this commission, and He has given it to His church, as her standard to be displayed because of the truth. Then— "Fling out that banner, let it float, Sea-ward and ^ky-ward, far and wide: Our only glory is the cross. Our only hope the Crucified." MISSION WORK A>rON(; THE INDIANS. 45 Mission Work Among the Indians. Tapkr by E. R. Chadwick, Bates Theological Seminary, Lewiston, Maine. It may be a surprise to some to be told that there are as many Indians in America to-day as when Columbus discovered the continent. Such howev- er is the testimony of army officers, missionaries and reports of the Indian Bureau. Major Clark says, "we must now abandon the usual theory that our In- dian population is destined to diminish and finally disappear." Rev. Dr. Riggs says that "the facts do not justify the belief that the In- dians are a vanishing race." Rev. ]\Ir. Williamson, with forty years ex- perience among them as a missionary, says that "the vision of the last In- dian jumping into eternity toward the setting sun is a poet's dream of the distant future." So eminent an authority as Senator Dawes says that "the number of Indians in this country is about what it was when our fathers landed at Plymouth Rock." While Major Powell is of the opinion that on the whole the Indians are slowly increasing, or at least not diminishing in numbers. Statistics show that some of the tribes are rapidly increasing. The Cherokees have doubled within the present century. The Sioux tribes, of Dakota, have increased 60 per cent, during the last forty years. While the Navajoes have doubled in fifteen years. The whole number of Indian births reported for the last five years exceeds the number of deaths by nearly 20 per cent. It is evident therefore that the Indians are with us to stay. If this be true, the question of our missionary duty toward them becomes a pertinent one. It is with the purpose of urging this duty upon the attention of this missionary conference that this paper has been prepared. I. The Indians have a claim upon us for Christian missions, as a part ol- the great heathen world. Many of these tribes are as benighted as the natives of Africa. Says Senator Vest, "here are a people who have as little knowledge of our Saviour as any heathern on the earth." In carrying the gospel to the Indians we are carrying it to the pagans, as much as though they lived in the jungles of Africa. The great mission field is the world. Christ's command to go into all this field and preach the gospel to every man, admits of no exception. It includes the Indian as well as the Hindu, the Japanese, or the South Sea Islander. Our missionary spirit then must be broad enough to embrace the whole heathen race. The doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man places the Indian on an equality with other heathen as the object of our missionary labor. Indian 46 ' INTER-SEMINAKY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. missions therefore deserve at least equal attention with foreign missions as a part of this our great work of canvassing the heathen world. IT. But the Indians are more to us than a part of the great heathen world. They are our heathen, in our own land, and claim by right our first missionary effort. Says Bishop Hare, "the claim ot any people sitting in heathen darkness upon those who enjoy the light is very sacred. But these Indians are heathen people right at our doors. They lie in helpless igno- rance within a few hours by rail of Chiistians rich in all that makes life hap- py now and full of promise hereafter." If we, as a Christian people are debtors to the heathen beyond the sea, how much greater is our obligation to these pagans in our own land. Think of it a moment, here are a quarter of a million Indians in a nation of sixty million Christians. During the two and a half centuries since Eliot and Mayhew commenced to labor among them we have converted less than one-fifth of this people. After living 250 years in this gospel land more .than four-fifthslof them are still benighted heathen, 250 years of contact with our boasted Christian civihzation and two-thirds of them unreclaimed savages. Here indeed is a field for foreign missions. Is it not our sacred duty to crush out this idolatry among our own people before undertaking the same work in other lands? Allowing all that may be said of our duty to the heathen abroad, it is still true that our o-reater duty is to the pagans at home. The Indian field there is our mis- sion field. No other nation has a duty or even a right here. No other field has an equal claim upon us. III. But the Indians appeal to us not only as a benighted and neglected but also as an injured race. Our Indian record is one of the most disgrace- ful chapters in our country's history. Falsehood, robbery, and murder are written on every page. Injustice, cruelty and fraud have for more than three centuries marked our treatment of the Indians. Our goverment has reckless- ly broken more than three hundred solemn treaties. To our sliame it is said that while the Indians were never the first to break a treaty, the whites have rarely kept one. Our Indian policy has been one of extermination. Senator Dawes says "we have hunted the Indian with our arms, we have spent millions of dollars in the vain endeavor to slay him." The Indian Commissioner estimates that it has cost us on an average a million dollars and the lives of twenty-five white men to kill an Indian. General Crook asserts that injustice has been the source of nearly every Indian war, ^^•hile Bishop Whipple goes so far as to charge that we have been guilty of atroci- ties, which would have disgraced the tribes of Central Africa. This at least is true, that we have taken from the Indian, country, home, means of substance, everything which was his by right ofposession. Our goyernment has shut him upon reservations, then driven him from them, stolen his lands, robbed him of his ammities, if it has not even taken his life. At the same time we have introduced among the Indians the worst elements of our civilization, instead of being to them a teacher of righteous- ness we have been a teacher of iniquity. We have taught them all the white MISSION WORK AMONC 1111 INDIANS. 47 man's vices and few of his \irtues. \\'e liavc rohhcd the Intliau of liis man- hood through llic white man's whiskey antl licentiousness, now the Indians deadliest foes. Even allowing that the "noble red man" was at best only a savage, the fact remains that he has become still more savage and degrad- ed through contact with the white race. In view of this record then, writ- ten against us in the great book of God's remembrances, does it not become our solemn duty to christianize these Indian tribes. Our sense of justice, if not our spirit of Christianity leaves us no other alternative. IV. It is our duty to christianize the Indians, to prepare them for tlie duties of citizenship to which we have invited them. Senator Dawes Sever- alty Bill passed by the last Congress opens the door of citizenship to all Indians who accept land in severalty and adopt civilized habits. Through this measure our goverment has now for the first time recognized the In- dian as a man. The tribal relation will be broken up; and soon every In- dian in the country will become an American citizen, assuming all the rights, privileges, and duties appertaining thereto. But this measure has iwl settled the Indian problem. It has only made such a settlement possible. We have passed the law by which the Indian becomes a citizen. It is now for us to say what sort of a citizen he shall be. Says Senator Dawes, "one Or the other is now the alternative. Either the Indian is to become a vaga- bond about our streets, begging from door to door and plundering the peo- ple, or he is to be taken up and made a man among us, a useful and influen- tial citizen." We must now either support a pauper population of a quarter of a million Indians, idle, vicious, criminal, or make of them intelligent, self- supporting, and above all Christian citizens. This then is the Indian problem of the present, — how to make good citizens out of these ignorant savages. This is the question which all friends of Indian progress are now earnestly discussing. While manual training and education are to be potent factors in the elevation of the Indian, religion is of vital importance.The Indian's civilization must be a work of the heart as well as of the hand and of the head. He can become a good citizen only when he has felt the renewin"' influence of the Christian religion. Such is the conclusion of those who have thoroughly studied the Indian problem. Listen to this testimonv, Presi- d:;nt Cleveland: "Without christian missions the work of elevating the In- dians will be a failure." Secretary Lamar: *'The Christian religion is the chief instrumentality for the elevation of the red race." Indian Commission- ers Price and Atkins have taken the same ground. Dr. Rhodes says, "Christ- ianity alone can prepare this race for the duties and responsibilities of citi- zenship." President Magill, at the recent Lake Mahonk Indian Conference, said, "The Indian can be prepared for citizenship only by changino- his moral and spiritual nature." General Armstrong, of Hampton Indian School, who speaks from the experience of many years in the work of elevating the Indians, says that "the Christian churches of our land are the hope of the red race." A specialist on the Indian problem like Herbert Welch says, that "the first great line of effort for the Indian is through the church of Christ." Indian Agents are supposed to look at the subject of Indian missions from 4S INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. as practical a point of view as any class of men. This is what one says^ "Christian truth brought to bear practically on the character is the only way by which this people can be reclaimed." Another says, "the Bible and Christian teaching is the only power that can make the Indian a free man and a good citizen." This then is to be the noble mission of the church to carry to this people the light of the gospel, and so introduce this all-important element into their civilization." In the words of Senator Dawes, "If earnest energetic Christ- ian work shall be equal to the opportunity the Indian of history and poetry, of the tomahawk and the scalping knife, will disappear in the self-supporting American citizen." A grand work for the Christian church to be engaged in. The question is often raised, "do Indian missions pay? " It is based on a belief more or less general that Indian missions ai-e less remunerative than other mission fields, that they make a less satisfactory return for the out- lay of time and money. I. There is ample testimony from competent witnesses bearing on this point. Dr. Bartlett, "seldom have earlier fruits been* reaped than in Indian missions." Dr. Rhodes, "There is not a field of missionary enterprise which yields larger numerical returns than that of our native tribes." Bishop Whipple, "Indian missions are the most remunerative of any missions among heathen people." A missionary writes, "No work in the world is more encouraging." A report of the American Board, "No missions to the heathen since the apostolic age have been more successful than those to the American aborigines." Another report, *'There are no heathen more access- able or more quickly influenced by the gospel than the Indians." Again, "Nowhere have Christian missions been more successful than among the North American Indians." Testimony could not be more positive. II. In support of their assertions let us notice some of the definite results of Indian mission work. In the sixteenth century the Catholic missions of New Mexico, baptized 35000 Indians in fifty years. Eliot, the first mis- sionary to the Indians of New England gathered 1400 praying Indians into twenty-four congregations. Mayhew during the same century reclaimed more than twice that number. Bishop Hare, of Dakota, has confirmed 1300 Indians during his episcopacy. One whole tribe is reported as converted by a single missionary. Seventy years ago missionaries commenced to labor among the wild blanket Indians of Alabama and Georgia. To-day they are known as the five civilized tribes of Indian Territory. They have seven newspapers, two hundred churches, an equal number of ministers, 14000 church members, Sunday schools, mission schools, seminaries, and even a University. They have a written constitution, a well organized government, a Supreme Court, and a public school system, all modeled after those of the United States. There are no blanket Indians and no paupers among them. They read the same newspapers and listen to the same preaching as the citizens of the States. In 1S57 William Dunkan commenced to labor among 2500 of the most Ijlood thirsty savages of British Columbia, a tribe sunk lower than any MISSION WORK AMONG THE INDIANS. 49 Other in wretchedness and crime. Now over a thousand are gathered about him, hving in well built cottages, with the largest church ediface north of San Francisco. The Sabbath is kept, all the children are in school, every citizen in health attends divine worship, intoxicating drink is not allowed in the community. It is a prosperous well-ordered Christian settlement, a wonderful triumph of the Christian religion. The first missionaries to the Dakotas found them in the lowest stages of heathenism. Now Bishop Hare says, "a vast and once desolate country is dotted over with neat churches and chapels. No recess in the wilderness is so retired that you may not find a little chapel in it." Six hundred of these f)eople became Christians in a few months. Twenty years ago the Chippewas, now at White Earth Reservation, were described as idle filthy drunken savages, lost to all sence of shame and honor. A writer who visited them at that time was fully convinced that any effort to elevate them would prove a total failure. Now Bishop Whip- ple says, "they are a civilized, self-supporting, peaceful -Christian people." Of the Episcopal mission among them a report says, "where once was seen only the fantastic gear of the savage, and the only assemblies were those for the hideous orgies of heathen dances, twenty-five congregations of decently dressed worshippers gather every Sunday and offer in prayers and spiritual songs their homage to almighty God." Fifty years ago the Sioux, now gathered at Santee and Sissiton, in Christian communities, with homes and schools and churches, were savage hordes roaming through the northwest as wild as the wildest. The delegates to a recent convention of thirty-six Episcopal churches of Sioux Indians were all twelve years before wild savages. Through mis- sionary labor the "blood-thirsty" Modocs have put away idolatry, adopted civilized habits, and embraced the Christian religion. More than 40,000 Indians are members of Christian churches. We can not shut our eyes to these facts, wild savage tribes, even the most fierce and lawless, have been tamed and gathered into orderly Christian communities through the preach- ing of the Gospel of Christ. It is no longer a question if Indian missions pay. Let us n»tice in the next place some of the important features of the In- dian work. I. Its progress for the past year. All but two of the twelve Protestant missionary societies laboring in this field report the year's progress as most hopeful and inspiring. The general tone of the reports may be gathered from such extracts as these: "The year has been specially fruitful;" "The results have been exceedingly gratifying;" "The work has been highly prospered;" "The details of progress have been cheering." One missionary writes, "The work for the past year has been very encouraging." Another, "I have been impressed with the progress of these Indians for the past year." The Society of Friends report more than one hundred conversions to the Christian faith in the school^ under their care. The Presbyterians have 50 INTER-SEMINARY MISSIONARY ALLIANCE. had more additions to the Indian churches than ever before. The Episco- palians have built eight new churches and opened ten new stations among the Dakotas. A wonderful work of God's spirit is reported at the Seneca mis- sion, Devils Lake agency, Cherokee station and other points. Some of the missions report an unprecedented growth during the year. II. An encouraging feature of the Indian work is the interest taken in it by the native Christians. Their missionary spirit might well put to shame many churches of white Christians. The Dakota Indian churches of the Congregational and Presbyterian missions support three native missionaries. They contribute for this work as large an average per member as the whole Presbyterian church gives to foreign missions. The Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw native churches have united to support a missionary among the wild tribes. Both the Baptist and the Episcopal Boards report a new mis- sionary spirit in the native churches. Bishop Hare says, that the offerings of the Indian churches under his care are four times what they were six years ago. An Indian church of fifty members gave for home and foreign missions last year $112.00, two dollars and a quarter per member, accord- ing to the last official report. The Brooklyn Tabernacle church of 4,020 members gave for missions $137.00, or three cents per member. The Sioux Indians, of Dakota, have organized Young Men's Christian Associations and Woman's Missionary Societies. Seventeen ordained native ministers are laboring in this Dakota field. The Methodists have forty native preach- ers in Indian Territory. One-half of the missionaries of the Presbyterian Foreign Board are native Indians. More than two hundred native workers are laboring among the different missions. The American Association says of these native helpers, "They are noble, selfsacrificing workers, doing better all the time." Seventeen students are studying for the ministry at Muscogee, Indian Territory; twen- ty more are at Santee Normal School. Among the Dakotas so many young men are anxious to enter the ministry that the Presbyterians call for a train- ing school to educate native workers. Bishop Hare says of these young men, "They are sterling manly fellows, in love with their prospection vocation." III. The outlook, its dark side. Indifference on the part of the home churches is the most discouraging feature of the outlook. Although this in- difference is being gradually overcome, it is still far too general. A mis- sionary expresses it mildly when he writes that "the churches of this coun- try are meeting their religious obligations to our Indian tribes very inade- quately." He might have added that many of them are not meeting it at all. Four-fifths of our churches have no real interest in the cause of Indian missions. We are turning our missionary efforts more and more in the di- rection of the foreign field. While we have been enlarging our borders abroad, and sending needed recruits to the foreign missions, we have sadly neglected our own heathen field. The missionary force among the Indians is but little larger than it was ten years ago. Some of the societies have MISSION WORK AMONG THE INDIANS. 51 sent out no new laborers, while others have with-drawn those already in the field. Again the recent order of the Indian Commissioner forbidding mission- aries to teach in the Indian language may seriously retard the work. This order shuts out the Indian Bible from all mission schools, and closes all out- stations taught by native teachers in their own tongue. It will suspend eighteen schools and stations under the American Association, and an equal number under the Episcopal and Presbyterian Boards. If strictly enforced it will close every school for training native preachers and teachers in the vernacular of their people. This be it remembered would shut out the gospel from more than half the Indians now living, who can never hear it except through their own language and from their own preachers. It is to be hoped however that this order may be so interpreted as not to cripple this noble work. As we turn towg,rd the field itself the outlook assumes a brighter aspect. One missionary writes, "The out-look in the field is everywhere encourag- ing." Again, "The outlying missionary fields are full of promise." Anoth- er missionary, "The people are eagar for Christian knowledge." The mis- sionary reports are all to the effect that the out-look for aggressive work ■was never more hopeful. Wherever the missionaries go and preach the gos- pel, they find the people ready to hear and accept the truth in Christ. Dr. Jackson says of the Indians of Alaska, "Among no people have I seen such a hungering and thirsting for the gospel." A missionary to the Peigans formerly noted for thier cruelty and treachery says, "I was met by the pleading of pitiful faces, eagar eyes, and out-stretched hands." IV. The field, let us examine it for a moment. Here are 140 mission- aries occupying a field more than three times as large as all New England, 140 out of the 80,000 Protestant clergymen in the United States, hundreds of whom are without a field of labor. Two-thirds of this field is practically unoccupied. Much of it is simply ignored, while no part of it is properly cultivated. Three-fourths of the Indians still untouched by the spirit of Christianity. Sixty tribes without a missionary. Tens of thousands of In-