WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE

September 8, 1875

(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT)

Missionary work in heathen lands has its peculiar difficulties and discouragements, of which the Church at home is often entirely ignorant. But in order that the latter be able intelligently to do its part in sustaining the work abroad, it is necessary that it be enlightened as far as possible with regard to the nature, trials, and deeds of the work. We are aware that the Church longs to hear from missionaries glowing accounts of "revivals" among the heathen, or large accessions to the number of converts, and of general prosperity throughout the different stations. This it is apt to expect without making full allowances for the difficulty in acquiring a strange tongue so as to be able to preach in it with clearness and efficiency, or for the deep hold which ancient superstitions have upon the minds of the people, and the suspicious light in which they are prone to regard the foreigner and his message. If the Church knew to the full extent the difficulties which missionaries meet in propagating the Gospel in heathen countries, less surprise, perhaps, would be felt at the limited success they have attained than that they should have attained any success at all.

If, in order to be encouraged in the support of any mission station, it is necessary to hear of results commensurate with the amount of labor and contributions expended upon that station, we have simply to say that we have no such word of encouragement from Kiukiang. The central China Mission has now been established nearly eight years; as many as eleven different missionaries have been sent to the field at various times; chapels have been opened, day-schools, boarding-schools, and Sabbath schools organized, the Gospel daily preached, thousands of books sold and distributed, and still there is perceptible very little genuine fruit of all the labor expended. A few heathen have been nominally reclaimed from idolatry, it is true, and perhaps one out of five of these is a sincere Christian; men come into the chapels and listen attentively to the preaching of the Gospel, perhaps buy a book or two, and then go away; but as to any results proportionate to the time, labor, and money expended, we have simply to say that they are not visible. Mark, we do not say that there are no results visible, nor even that the efforts put forth have been, in the main, thrown away. On the contrary, we firmly believe that the seed which has been sown is silently germinating in the hearts of this people, and that sooner or later it will spring forth in vigor and beauty, to the praise of Him who never fails in due time to give the increase.

Yet we wish the Church at home to understand the outward facts in the case, together with some of the peculiar trials which of late have befallen this mission, and have seemingly robbed us of the greater part of that prosperity which we formerly enjoyed. While the missionary in this part of China has all the opportunities he can make use of for spreading a knowledge of the Gospel, yet the country is by no means fully open to him and his message. The Chinese have lost little or none of their inveterate prejudice against foreigners, and in many places this prejudice amounts to decided hostility.

Instances of mob violence, in which missionaries have been usually involved, have been quite frequent of late, and while no loss of life has been sustained, except in the case of Mr. Margary, the English Consular Agent, yet the destruction of property which has been occasioned, and the violent spirit temporarily manifested, have been plain indications of the small amount of favor in which we are held by the masses of the people. "Foreign devil" is the familiar term which they bestow upon us, and the missionary may expect to hear the opprobrious epithet every day of his life. Our treaty rights, it is true, guarantee to us the fullest protection of life and property under the Chinese Government, together with freedom from molestation in our endeavors to promulgate the principles of the Christian religion; but those rights, as interpreted by our two last Ministers, are restricted principally to the open ports and their vicinity, and do not cover the building of chapels or the occupying of dwelling-houses in the interior. The missionary who passes beyond the limits assigned by treaty, is guaranteed protection only on his travels through the country or temporary sojourn at any place, and not in residing permanently away from any treaty port. This necessarily circumscribes to a considerable extent his sphere of usefulness as he can not hope to effect much good at any point, except through the uninterrupted daily preaching of the Gospel. If he succeeds in obtaining a foothold in the interior through the sufferance of the people who, so long as they are not stirred up by the officials or literati, are often kindly disposed; but who are capable of being roused into demonised fury in a few hours by a false report or an accidental alarm.

It would be impossible in the space of one article to set forth fully all the events which have come like so many disasters upon our mission during the last twelve months, and we purpose at this time to revert only to the most serious; namely, the destruction of our chapel, which was effected by a Chinese mob on the evening of May lst. This chapel, which stands on the main street within the city walls, was fitted up handsomely one year ago at a cost of six hundred dollars and upwards. The rear of the premises was occupied by two school-rooms, one for boys and the other for girls, together with rooms for the native helper and chapel-keeper and their families. On the afternoon of the day mentioned, there had been preaching at the customary hour, the people being as orderly and respectful as usual. An hour after the missionaries had left the chapel, an ignorant stone-cutter who lived close by came to the place in search of his boy, who he supposed had strayed into the premises. The chapel-keeper, who was sweeping the floor, told him his boy was not there; but instead of directing him to go into the school-room and see for himself, ordered him away rather rudely, which the man highly resented. From words they proceeded to blows and pulling of queues, when the native preacher came out and endeavored to separate the combatants. This was finally effected, but the man ran off into the street, crying out that his boy was locked up in the foreign chapel building, and that his captors were about to take out his eyes and heart to use for medicine. No rumor could have been more likely to inflame the minds of the multitude, who at once collected in a large crowd before the chapel, and, led on by a few roughs, began to demolish the doors and windows. This outburst of violence only served to augment their fury, and entering the building they began to smash the furniture and to attack the native assistants, who were compelled to fly for their lives, leaving all their personal effects to be destroyed or carried off by the mob. The work of destruction went on till late in the

night, until all the furniture, books, etc., were destroyed or stolen, the walls partly demolished, and the girls' school building razed to the foundations. A mass of shapeless ruins filled the entire premises the next morning.

So serious an outrage called at once for active measures on the part of the magistrates, and these were not wanting. The native officials, without even waiting for the interposition of Consular authority, entered into immediate negotiations with the superintendent of the mission for the restoration of the chapel. All that was asked for was granted; a carpenter was employed to repair the buildings and put them in the same condition as before, a liberal indemnification was secured for all the furniture and personal property destroyed, the ringleaders of the riot were subjected to exemplary punishment, and the proclamations issued disabusing the minds of the people of all erroneous impressions in regard to the nature of mission work. The conduct of the native authorities was highly creditable, especially as a thousand dollars and upwards were required to make good all the losses of the mission; and, in two months' time, the chapel has been put into its former shape, ready for rededication. Yet, to say nothing of the time that has been lost, in which the daily preaching in the city had to be suspended, there has been an amount of ill will and bitter feeling generated, which will react upon the mission for a long time. Those who hated us and our doctrines before this outbreak, now hate us more than ever; and we have been brought into odium even with many who formerly were well disposed. Others who had been favorably inclined to us, have become frightened away; they have withdrawn their children from our schools, and have disclaimed all sympathy with the teachings of Christianity. Our native helper, in addition to the entire loss of his household property, has been threatened with his life; and there has been a visible diminution in the number of our hearers in the chapel outside of the city walls.

This unfortunate event, in combination with some others almost equally unfortunate, has served to put a temporary check on the growth and prosperity of our mission. Our object in making the Church at home acquainted with the facts is not to discourage the friends of missions, but to enable them to understand, in some measure, the obstacles which we meet with in preaching the Gospel to the Chinese. Troubles of a like nature, though hardly so serious, have recently befallen other missions, showing that there is a feeling of hostility among this people which Christianity as yet is far from having overcome. The question arises, Shall we abandon the work altogether, and let Satan once more hold in undisputed sway the vast empire over which he has ruled for so many ages? Every heart loyal to the cause of King Immanuel must at once respond, "God forbid!" The kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Our Master's command is, "Preach the Gospel to every creature." His promise is, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world." What more could we ask, even in the darkest days of missionary toil? Is it for us to decide whether it is expedient or not to preach the Gospel to this or that nation? Are we not arrogating to ourselves an authority which we by no means possess when we say, "Such a country can not be converted to Christianity -- all further labor expended on it is vain?" Is it the duty of the Church to cavil without working, or to work without caviling? If the former, then let China be abandoned; if the latter, let us grasp our work with threefold energy in the

name of him who has sent us forth to work, and who has said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." It is the privilege of the missionary to labor on amid darkness and discouragement, enmity and persecution, confident that success is coming. Whatever the opposition Christianity meets with in its introduction to a heathen land, its ultimate triumph is secured on the immovable basis of God's eternal Word.

Civilization, with rapid strides, is revolutionizing the world; its mighty tread is beginning to shake these heathen shores; foreign ideas and influence have been penetrating the nation, and rousing its energies from their death-like slumber of ages. This proud and disdainful Government, which has so long kept itself aloof from all intercourse with the outside world, is beginning to see the necessity of a change of policy. China can not long resist the steady pressure which is brought to bear upon her from her sister nations; she must follow in the wake of civilization, or be dragged into it. The time is coming when heathen superstitions must fall; they can not endure the rigorous scrutiny of enlightened and liberated thought, much less the searching light of the Word of God. What shall be substituted for them? There is only one alternative for this people -- atheism or Christianity. How great, then, the responsibility of the Church at the present day; and how mistaken the conduct of those who would discontinue all efforts to prepare the minds of these vast multitudes for the only religion that can save them! No more unwise policy could be adopted than to abandon the field at so important a crisis. We believe that through the help of God we shall live down all opposition, and that the Church shall emerge by and by from her wilderness of trials " fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." Prejudices will gradually melt away, and superstition lose its hold, when the people become enlightened as to the true nature of Christianity. They have not yet been so enlightened; the masses of those who have head the Gospel have as yet but the faintest conception of its meaning, and often misapprehend entirely our object in preaching it to them. Let the Church permit us to labor on earnestly, hopefully, perseveringly, upholding us by her unwearied intercessions to God in behalf of his cause in heathen lands. Forward, not retreat, is our motto.

Kiukiang, China, July 1, 1875