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BY REV. EDMUND F. MERRIAM
Editorial Secretary
BOSTON
AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION
1897
vjxnrsiiy OF
LIBRARIES
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
* it appeared in 1814, w//jw the General Missionary Convention was organized \
~~ \
(The house was then situated in Lagrange Place, just ofE Second Street. It was built i
in 1731 of brick and cost 2,200, and was enlarged in iSoS.)
977770
PREFACE
Soon after beginning his labors with the American Baptist
Missionary Union in 1880 the writer became deeply interested
in the fascinating and thrilling story of its missions. In
editorial work on the Baptist Missionary Magazine consid-
erable material for a history of the wonderful workings of
the Lord by his people was gradually accumulated, but the
increasing pressure of other responsibilities prevented the
preparation of that full story of the missions for which there
was an evident demand. When the late Honorary Secretary
and the long-time Corresponding Secretary of the Union,
Dr. J. N. Murdock, was most appropriately asked to write a
history of the Society and its work, the material which had
been gathered was cheerfully placed at his disposal.
Previous to this, however, a series of outline historical
sketches of the missions was begun for the purpose of supply-
ing the frequent calls for information regarding the past of our
Baptist missions. These sketches have been widely circulated
in separate form, and since the lamented death of Dr. Murdock
leaves the Union still without a history of its work, they have
been bound together with the approval of the Executive Com-
mittee pending the completion of a full and detailed history
of the missions.
While, in accordance with the purpose for which they were
prepared, these sketches do not mention every one of the
worthy men and women who have been used of God to make
the glorious record of Baptist missions, and are also lacking in
those incidents and detailed references which add so much to
the interest of a history, they yet will be found to give a fairly
complete and accurate account of the Union and its missions
in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and will enable the reader to
follow the marvellous story of - the present progress of the
missions with an intelligent and sympathetic interest. A few
instances will be found in which the same information is given
(3)
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
As U appeared in 1814, "when tlie General Missionary Convention was organized
(The house was then situated in Lagrange Place, just off Second Street. It was built
in 1731 of brick and cost .2,200, and was enlarged in iSoS.)
977770
PREFACE
Soon after beginning his labors with the American Baptist
Missionary Union in 1880 the writer became deeply interested
in the fascinating and thrilling story of its missions. In
editorial work on the Baptist Missionary Magazine consid-
erable material for a history of the wonderful workings of
the Lord by his people was gradually accumulated, but the
increasing pressure of other responsibilities prevented the
preparation of that full story of the missions for which there
was an evident demand. When the late Honorary Secretary
and the long-time Corresponding Secretary of the Union,
Dr. J. N. Murdock, was most appropriately asked to write a
history of the Society and its work, the material which had
been gathered was cheerfully placed at his disposal.
Previous to this, however, a series of outline historical
sketches of the missions was begun for the purpose of supply-
ing the frequent calls for information regarding the past of our
Baptist missions. These sketches have been widely circulated
in separate form, and since the lamented death of Dr. Murdock
leaves the Union still without a history of its work, they have
been bound together with the approval of the Executive Com-
mittee pending the completion of a full and detailed history
of the missions. *
While, in accordance with the purpose for which they were
prepared, these sketches do not mention every one of the
worthy men and women who have been used of God to make
the glorious record of Baptist missions, and are also lacking in
those incidents and detailed references which add so much to
the interest of a history, they yet will be found to give a fairly
complete and accurate account of the Union and its missions
in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and will enable the reader to
follow the marvellous story of the present progress of the
missions with an intelligent and sympathetic interest. A few
instances will be found in which the same information is given
(3)
in different places, but it will be understood that this was
done in order that each pamphlet should be complete in
itself. May this account of the chief features of the wonderful
history of American Baptist missions inspire the reader with
an ardent desire to learn more fully the inspiring story. To
assist such as may wish to follow the history in detail a list of
books is added at the end of the volume.
E, F. M.
CONTENTS
PA.GB
THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION .... 9
Organization; Founders and Officers; Influence on the
Denomination; Growth of Income; Present Management;
Woman's Societies; Financial Condition; Spiritual Results.
THE BURMAN MISSION 33
Burma and the Burmans; The Mission.
THE KAREN MISSION 56
Burma and the Karens; The Mission.
MINOR MISSIONS IN BURMA 81
The Shan Mission; the Chin Mission; the Kachin Mis-
sion; Other Races.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN ASSAM 99
Country and People; Religions; the Mission.
THE TELUGU MISSION, INDIA . . . . . . . 115
Country and People; Origin and Growth; the Lone Star;
the Great Revival.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA . . . . . . . 139
Country and People ; Religions; the Mission in Siam; the
South China Mission; the Hakka Mission; the East China
Mission; the West China Mission; the Central China Mis-
sion; Southern and English Baptist Missions.
THE MISSION IN JAPAN 165
Country and People; Religions; the Mission.
THE CONGO MISSION 183
Country and People; Livingstone Inland Mission ; Ameri-
can Baptist Mission.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 201
The French Mission; the Mission in Spain; the Mission
in Greece; the German Mission; the Mission in Denmark;
the Mission in Sweden; the Mission in Norway; the Mission
in Finland; the Mission in Russia.
CONCLUSION 229
(5)
in different places, but it will be understood that this was
done in order that each pamphlet should be complete in
itself. May this account of the chief features of the wonderful
history of American Baptist missions inspire the reader with
an ardent desire to learn more fully the inspiring story. To
assist such as may wish to follow the history in detail a list of
books is added at the end of the volume.
E. F. M.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION .... 9
Organization; Founders and Officers; Influence on the
Denomination; Growth of Income; Present Management;
Woman's Societies; Financial Condition; Spiritual Results.
THE BURMAN MISSION 33
Burma and the Burmans; The Mission.
THE KAREN MISSION 56
Burma and the Karens; The Mission.
MINOR MISSIONS IN BURMA 81
The Shan Mission; the Chin Mission; the Kachin Mis-
sion; Other Races.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN ASSAM 99
Country and People; Religions; the Mission.
THE TELUGU MISSION, INDIA . . . . . . . 115
Country and People; Origin and Growth; the Lone Star;
the Great Revival.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 139
Country and People ; Religions; the Mission in Siam; the
South China Mission; the Hakka Mission; the East China
Mission; the West China Mission; the Central China Mis-
sion; Southern and English Baptist Missions.
THE MISSION IN JAPAN 165
Country and People; Religions; the Mission.
THE CONGO MISSION 183
Country and People; Livingstone Inland Mission; Ameri-
can Baptist Mission.
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 201
The French Mission; the Mission in Spain; the Mission
in Greece; the German Mission; the Mission in Denmark;
the Mission in Sweden; the Mission in Norway: the Mission
in Finland; the Mission in Russia.
CONCLUSION 229
(5)
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in 1814 .'.... 2
Rev. William Staughton, D. D 1 1
Rev. JohnN. Murdock, D.D., LL.D 16
Baptist Theological Seminary, Ramapatam, India .... 19
Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass 24
Baptist Theological Seminary, Insein, Burma .... 28
A Jungle Cnapel in Burma . 31
Early Map of Burma 32
Platform of Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma ... 34
A Burman Zayat 37
Pagoda at Moulmein 41
Preaching to a Jungle Congregation 43
A Burman Cart 47
A Mission School-house 51
Christian Karen School Girls 56
Rice Cultivation in Burma ........ 57
A Red Karen Village 59
Christian Karens 65
Ko Thah Byu Memorial Hall, Bassein 75
Karen Armed Police, Burma 79
Later Map of Burma 80
Shan Mission House, Toungoo ........ 82
Rev. Josiah N. Gushing, D. D 85
Shan Girl 86
Kachins 90
A Street in Bhamo 92
Paloung Woman 95
Burman Buddhist Priest 96
View from the Fort, Toungoo 97
Map of Assam 98
ANaga 99
A Naga Sorcerer 100
Mission House, Nowgong 102
Rev. Miles Bronson, D. D 103
Mission House, Sibsagor 104
Assamese Preachers 106
Rev. Edward W. Clark 107
Rev. Marcus C. Mason 108
Mission Compound, Tura 109
Mission House, Molung no
Missionaries of Upper Assam . in
(6)
PAGE
Thangkan, a Gar o Evangelist 113
Map of the Telugu Country 114
Baptist Mission Compound, Nursaravapetta. India . . . 116
Rev. Lyman Jewett, D. D 119
Prayer-Meeting Hill, Ongole . . . . . 121
Scene of the Baptism of 2,222 / 125
Missionaries at Ongole, 1895 I2 ^
American Baptist Mission College, Ongole 130
Baptist Mission Hospital for Women and Children, Nellore, India, 132
Mission Bungalow, Vinukonda, India 135
Map of China 136
Suspension Bridge in West China, on the Route from Bhamo,
Burma, to Yunnanfu, China 138
Chinese Mandarins > 140
Street Scene in China . 143
Dr. Ashmore's House . ........ 146
Bible Women at Swatow 147
A Confucian Temple 149
In the Swatow Compound 150
Hospital at Swatow 151
Bridge at Kongkeo, near Ningpo 153
Men of Western China 157
Yangtze River at Hanyang 159
Shimonoseki, Japan ........ 161
Map of Japan . 162
Rev. Nathan Brown, D D. . . ' 164
Little Japanese Girl 166
Girls' School, Chofu, Japan 169
First Baptist House of Worship, Yokohama 175
An Aged Ainu . 177
Sarah Curtis Home, Girls' School, Tokyo 1 79
Baptist Theological Seminary, Yokohama 181
Map of the Congo Free State 182
Mission Steamer, " Henry Reed " 187
Mission Chapel at Leopoldville 191
Lord's Supper in the Open Air, Banza Manteke . . . . 194
Mission Chapel at Lukunga . 195
Rev. Charles G. Hartsock . 197
Rev. Adoniram Judson Gordon, D. D: 198
Rev. Ruben Saillens 204
Rev. Alexandre Dez 206
Baptist Laborers in Spain 209
Rev. Manuel C. Marin and wife 210
Rev. Johann G. Oncken 214
Baptist Theological Seminary, Hamburg 217
Rev. Julius Koebner 219
Bethel Seminary, Stockholm 222
Baptist Leaders in Sweden 223
Baptist Chapel at Norkoping, Sweden 224
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONVENTION
{Extract from Spencer's "Early Baptists of Philadelphia."}
Delegates from local missionary societies and other religious bodies
convened on the i8th of May, 1814, in the meeting-house on Second
Street, "to organize a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the
energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort for sending the
glad tidings of salvation to the heathen, and to nations destitute of pure
gospel light." The site of this meeting was already a consecrated spot.
Here the First Baptist Association of America had been organized. Here
Hopewell Academy and Brown University, our first educational institutions
in this country, had been projected. Here the oldest Baptist Association
in the country had "met at sunrise," when the news of the surrender of
the British arms at Yorktown, in 1 782, was received, fitting place for
the assembling of the men who were to organize for our foreign mission
work. There were twenty-six clergymen and seven laymen from eleven
different States and the District of Columbia. Their names are on the
records in the following order :
Revs. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., Lucius Bolles, A. M., Massachusetts;
Rev. John Gano, A. M., Rhode Island; Rev. John Williams, Mr. Thomas
Hewitt, Mr. Edward Probyn, Mr. Nathaniel Smith, New York; Revs.
Burgiss Allison, D. D., Richard Proudfoot, Josiah Stratton, William Bos-
well, Henry Smalley, A. M., Mr. Matthew Randall, Mr. John Sisty, Mr.
Stephen Ustick, New Jersey; Revs. William Rogers, D. D., Henry Hoi-
combe, D. D., William Staughton, D. D., William White, A. M., John P.
Peckworth, Horatio G. Jones, Silas Hough, Joseph Matthias, Pennsylvania;
Rev. Daniel Dodge, Delaware; Revs. Lewis Richards, Thomas Brooke,
Maryland; Rev. Luther Rice, A. M., Dist. of Columbia; Revs. Robert B.
Semple, Jacob Grigg, Virginia; Rev. James A. Ronaldson, North Carolina;
Rev. Richard Furman, D. D., Hon. Matthias B. Talmadge, South Carolina;
Rev. W. B. Johnson, Georgia.
' (8)
The American Baptist Missionary Union.
The foreign missionary activity of any church marks the
standard of its spiritual vitality. Other and more limited
forms of Christian activity properly engage the love and zeal
of Christian hearts, but are more strongly set forth and more
fully developed under the inspiration of the broad and magni-
ficent enterprise of winning the world for Christ. Foreign
missions, from their very nature, come closer than any special
forms of work to the mission of Christ, who gave himself for
the salvation of the whole world. It is not in any sense
depreciating church or missionary work of other sorts to say
that the work of foreign missions includes them all, since it is
only as the labors of Christians are put forth in perfect obedi-
ence to the Great Commission that they realize the full
measure of the Christian obligation and receive the fulness of
the Christian inspiration and blessedness.
This peculiar relation of foreign missions to every other
form of Christian activity is illustrated in the organizations
which have naturally arisen for carrying them on. For special
lines of Christian work we have methods appropriate for their
most useful and effective propagation. It has been found in
experience that publication work requires a special plant for
its greatest success. City missions, although really a part of
home mission work, are best carried on by special and local
organizations separate from the great work of home missions
considered in the broadest sense. There are also educational
societies, missionary conventions, charitable societies of various
sorts, and a great variety of methods for carrying on the
multiplied lines of Christian activity in this country, and all
in addition to the great and general enterprise of home
missions, and y.\\ of this again is outside of the work of the
local churches in general management.
(9)
IO
In the work of foreign missions, however, there is but one
organization for all these varied and separate, yet closely
related, lines of Christian activity. The American Baptists of
the Northern States have but one society for their work abroad.
Their missionary societies, educational societies, Bible societies,
charitable societies for the aid of aged ministers and their
families, and, in short, every organization of the many which
we have at home for all the various lines of Christian work,
are represented in the work of foreign missions solely by the
American Baptist Missionary Union, and that not for one
country alone, but for all the countries of the world outside of
North America. In fourteen of the great nations of the world
the Missionary Union is preaching the gospel, printing the
Bible, supporting theological seminaries for the training of
preachers and institutions for the education of the children
of Christians, publishing Christian literature in more than
twenty different languages and dialects, establishing and main-
taining Sunday schools, sending forth cqlporters and Bible-
women, and, in a word, carrying on the work of spreading the
gospel among all these people by all the varied lines of activity
which are found useful in our own land. As the broad scope
of the work of the Union affords an outlet for the devotion of
Christian hearts in such a multiplied variety of directions, it
has during all its history engrossed in a peculiar way the
affection of the Baptists of this country. There is no Christian
who has a love for any special line of work for Christ but he
may find under the wide range of the work of the Missionary
Union some field which offers him an outlet for his special
desires. Its history shows how largely it has expressed, in the
broadest and most complete manner, the growth and the life
of the Baptist denomination in this country.
ORGANIZATION
In 1812, the Baptists of America were a feeble folk. They
numbered only about 70,000 in those States which are now
considered the constituency of the Missionary Union, and
were scattered throughout all the Atlantic Coast States, with
no common bond of union, very little intercourse, and no
mutual interests. The principal centres of Baptist influence
REV. WILLIAM STAUGHTON, D.D.
FIRST CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE BAPTIST GENERAL
MISSIONARY CONVENTION
10
In the work of foreign missions, however, there is but one
organization for all these varied and separate, yet closely
related, lines of Christian activity. The American Baptists of
the Northern States have but one society for their work abroad.
Their missionary societies, educational societies, Bible societies,
charitable societies for the aid of aged ministers and their
families, and, in short, every organization of the many which
we have at home for all the various lines of Christian work,
are represented in the work of foreign missions solely by the
American Baptist Missionary Union, and that not for one
country alone, but for all the countries of the world outside of
North America. In fourteen of the great nations of the world
the Missionary Union is preaching the gospel, printing the
Bible, supporting theological seminaries for the training of
preachers and institutions for the education of the children
of Christians, publishing Christian literature in more than
twenty different languages and dialects, establishing and main-
taining Sunday schools, sending forth colporters and Bible-
women, and, in a word, carrying on the work of spreading the
gospel among all these people by all the varied lines of activity
which are found useful in our own land. As the broad scope
of the work of the Union affords an outlet for the devotion of
Christian hearts in such a multiplied variety of directions, it
has during all its history engrossed in a peculiar way the
affection of the Baptists of this country. There is no Christian
who has a love for any special line of work for Christ but he
may find under the wide range of the work of the Missionary
Union some field which offers him an outlet for his special
desires. Its history shows how largely it has expressed, in the
broadest and most complete manner, the growth and the life
of the Baptist denomination in this country.
ORGANIZATION
In 1812, the Baptists of America were a feeble folk. They
numbered only about 70,000 in those States which are now
considered the constituency of the Missionary Union, and
were scattered throughout all the Atlantic Coast States, with
no common bond of union, very little intercourse, and no
mutual interests. The principal centres of Baptist influence
REV. WILLIAM STAUGHTON, D.D.
FIRST CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE BAPTIST GENERAL
MISSIONARY CONVENTION
12
were in Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts, in the
vicinity of Philadelphia and in Virginia. Occasional com-
munications were had between the associations formed about
these centres by means of ministers whose fondness for travel
led them to visit the different sections of the country, but
these visits were entirely unofficial and personal. The de-
nomination was weak. The Baptist churches were commonly
regarded with some contempt, both on the part of the Con-
gregationalists in New England, the. Episcopalians of Virginia,
and perhaps to a less degree by the Friends in Pennsylvania.
Separated as they. were in their interests, their efforts for
denominational progress were hampered by a sense of inferi-
ority, and they had no sufficient knowledge of each other to
give them the strength which comes by union of thought and
effort.
To this weak body of Christians came, during this year of
1812, the call which was to rouse them to united activity, and
which was to issue in the era of rapid growth and that increase
of denominational strength which has now placed them the
second denomination in numbers in our country. The call
came from India. Early in 1812, Adoniram Judson and his
wife, Ann Hasseltine, and Rev. Luther Rice had sailed from
America for India under the auspices of the newly formed
Congregationalist foreign missionary society, the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Aware that
they would come in contact, on their arrival, with the English
Baptist missionaries at Serampore, they gave themselves to
the study of the New Testament with reference to the subject
of baptism, for the purpose of strengthening themselves in
their denominational position, but became converted to
Baptist views and were baptized after their arrival in Calcutta.
This change of views cut them off from the support of the
society which had sent them abroad, and they decided to
apply to the Baptists of America for maintenance in the
prosecution of their missionary work in India. For this pur-
pose Mr. Rice returned to America, preceded, however, by
letters to brethren in Boston, announcing their change of
views. Before the arrival of Mr. Rice, a missionary society
was formed in Boston, which at once assumed the support of
Mr. and Mrs. Judson. Previous to this time, the Baptists of
America had made contributions to foreign missions, but they
had been sent to the English Baptist Missionary Society in
London. In one year these contributions amounted to as
much as $6,000. Now, however, an American society was
formed, and this society in Boston is the pioneer Baptist
Foreign Missionary Society of America. Similar societies were
also rapidly formed in New York and Philadelphia and other
places, to assist in the support of the missionaries who had
been so providentially thrown upon the hearts of the Baptists
of this country. After a short trial, the leaders became con-
vinced that these separate societies were inadequate to the
great task before them. A joint convention was called, which
met in the city of Philadelphia, May 18, 1814, when there
was formed "The General Convention of the Baptist De-
nomination in the United States of America for Foreign
Missions." In 1821, this body was re-incorporated, and the
words, "and other important objects relating to the Re-
deemer's kingdom," were added to the title. In 1845, owing
to the decision of the Board that slaveholders would not be
appointed as missionaries, the Southern Baptists withdrew,
and in 1846 the name of the General Convention was
changed to the present title, " The American Baptist Mission-
ary Union."
Thus providentially and unwittingly were the Baptists of this
country led to the organization of their first National Baptist
Missionary Society, from which can be traced a large part of
their future development.
FOUNDERS AND OFFICERS
From the very beginning, the Missionary Union has engaged
the warmest love and effort of the principal men in the denom-
ination. Its organization in May, 1814, called together thirty-
three delegates from all the different States of this country in
which Baptists were then found in any considerable numbers,
some of whom drove more than three hundred miles in their
own carriages to attend this meeting. Among these were
found many of the leading men in the different States. The
first president of the society was Rev. Richard Furman, D. D.,
for twenty-eight years pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Charleston, S. C., a man of high intellectual ability, deep
piety, and great personal courage and devotion. Rev. Thomas
Baldwin, D. D., who was the sole editor of the " Baptist Mis-
sionary Magazine " from its establishment in 1803 to 1817, was
the first president of the Board of Managers. The first cor-
responding secretary was Rev. William Staughton, D. D., of
Philadelphia. He was present on the memorable occasion
when Carey preached his noted sermon, " Expect great things
from God, attempt great things for God," and subscribed half
a guinea to the contribution for foreign missions decided upon
as the result of that sermon. Dr. Staughton was justly re-
garded as one of the most eminent and remarkable preachers
of his day. In Philadelphia his church was crowded with the
most distinguished and intelligent of the citizens, and after he
became the first president of Columbian College, in Washing-
ton, he was appointed Chaplain to Congress, and his services
met with the highest appreciation from the eminent men who
then were found among the legislators of our country. It
is said that a distinguished Senator asserted that he would
walk six miles on foot any time to hear Dr. Staughton preach.
Among other eminent men present at the meeting of the con-
vention when this society was founded were Rev. Robert B.
Semple, D. D., of Virginia ; Rev. Horatio Gates Jones, D. D.,
of Pennsylvania; Rev. Henry Holcombe, D. D., pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, in whose house of wor-
ship the meetings of the convention were held ; Rev. Stephen
Gano, M. D., of Rhode Island, and Rev. Lucius Bolles, D. D., of
Massachusetts, who succeeded Dr. Staughton as corresponding
secretary on his retirement in 1826. Other men who were
connected officially with the society in its early days were Rev.
Spencer H. Cone, D. D., of New York, the brilliant and elegant
pulpit orator ; Rev. Francis Wayland, D. D., of Rhode Island,
whose high standing among the educators of America is ad-
vancing year by year; Rev. Barnas Sears, D. D., president of
Newton Theological Institution and of Brown University, as
well as of the Managing Board of the society ; and others who
were eminent and useful in their day in the cause of Christ,
and in the interests of the Baptist denomination.
The chief direction of the work of the Union has always
naturally and inevitably fallen upon the corresponding secre-
taries, and the able and highly honored men who have filled
that office from the beginning have more than any others di-
rected its policy, and been responsible for the success of its
work. As we stand to-day, and look at the wide and magnifi-
cent sweep of the missions of the Union, we should accord all
honor to those men who have stood at the helm, and in con-
sultation with their brethren, having guided the course of the
society and achieved the success for which now our hearts are
full of gratitude to the Lord who has led in such wonderful
ways. Dr. Staughton, who has been mentioned, served from
1814 until the headquarters were removed to Boston, in 1826.
Rev. Lucius Bolles, D. D., then pastor of the church in Salem,
was chosen an assistant to Dr. Staughton in 1824, and from
1826, gave his whole time to the service of the missions, until
1843. I n ^38, Rev. Solomon Peck, D.D., was chosen secre-
tary, and after the retirement of Dr. Bolles, served alone, or in
association with others, for eighteen years, retiring in 1856.
Rev. Robert E. Pattison, D. D., widely known in New Eng-
land and in New York, in other connections, was correspond-
ing secretary from 1841 to 1845. In 1846, Rev. Edward
Bright, D..D., most widely known as the long-time editor
of The Examiner, was chosen corresponding secretary for
the home department. His administration was marked with
many reforms and an aggressive activity. During his term
of service the home work of the Union received an impetus
from his strong hand which is felt even to the present day.
Elected at the first meeting after the withdrawal of the
Southern Baptists, he had many and difficult questions to
meet in the management of the foreign missionary work in
its relation to the home churches ; but all were adjusted with
eminent ability. In 1855, the beloved Jonah G. Warren
entered upon his service, which was only terminated by his
enforced retirement by the failure of his health in 1873.
Rev. John N. Murdock, D. D., was elected to the secretary's
office in 1863, and had the longest term of service of any
of the secretaries of the Union, retiring in 1892, after nearly
thirty years of continuous and conspicuously able service.
He was then chosen honorary corresponding secretary. Rev.
George W. Gardner, D. D., was chosen corresponding sec-
retary for the home department in 1873, and served until 1876.
RKV. JOHN N. MURDOCK, D. D., LL. D.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 1863-1892
Rev. Albert G. Lawson, D. D., elected home secretary in
1884, resigned after less than two years of service. The
eminent missionary to the Chinese, Rev. William Ashmore,
D. D., was chosen secretary for the home department in
1887, but resigned in 1889, in order to give himself again to
his life-long work for the Chinese. In 1890, Rev. Henry C.
Mabie, D. D., was elected home secretary, and still continues
in office. Rev. Samuel W. Duncan, D. D., is the present
corresponding secretary for the foreign department, having
been chosen to the office in 1892 ; Rev. Edmund F. Mer-
riam, beginning his services with the Union in 1880, as sec-
retary's assistant and editor of the " Baptist Missionary Mag-
azine," was chosen corresponding secretary in 1892, and be-
came editorial secretary in 1893. The treasurers of the
society have been John Cauldwell, who served from 1814 to
1823; Thomas Stokes, from 1823 to 1824; Hon. Heman
Lincoln, from 1824 to 1846; Richard E. Eddy, from 1847 to
1855; Hon. Nehemiah Boynton, from 1855 to 1864, under
whose administration many important and beneficial changes
were adopted; Freeman A. Smith, from 1864 to 1882; and.
Elisha P. Coleman, from that time to the present.
INFLUENCE ON THE DENOMINATION
Through all its history the society, whether under the name
of the General Convention or of the Missionary Union, has
been most closely connected with the growth and prosperity
of the Baptist denomination in these United States. By the
constitution adopted at the organization in 1814, and because
of the great difficulties of communication and travel, the
society was to meet only once in three years ; hence arose the
familiar title, in the earlier years of the society, of the " Tri-
ennial Convention." At the very first meeting after the
organization, which was commonly called the second Triennial
Convention, held in the city of Philadelphia in 1817, this
society, formed in the first instance for foreign missionary
operations, authorized the Board to use a portion of its funds
in maintaining missions in the most needy portions of this
country, and also voted to authorize the founding of a semi-
nary for the training, of young men for the gospel ministry.
RKV. JOHN N. MURDOCK, D. D., LL. D.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 1863-1892
Rev. Albert G. Lawson, D. D., elected home secretary in
1884, resigned after less than two years of service. The
eminent missionary to the Chinese, Rev. William Ashmore,
D. D., was chosen secretary for the home department in
1887, but resigned in 1889, in order to give himself again to
his life-long work for the Chinese. In 1890, Rev. Henry C.
Mabie, D. D., was elected home secretary, and still continues
in office. Rev. Samuel W. Duncan, D. D., is the present
corresponding secretary for the foreign department, having
been chosen to the office in 1892 ; Rev. Edmund F. Mer-
riam, beginning his services with the Union in 1 880, as sec-
retary's assistant and editor of the " Baptist Missionary Mag-
azine," was chosen corresponding secretary in 1892, and be-
came editorial secretary in 1893. The treasurers of the
society have been John Cauldwell, who served from 1814 to
1823; Thomas Stokes, from 1823 to 1824; Hon. Heman
Lincoln, from 1824 to 1846 ; Richard E. Eddy, from 1847 to
18555 Hon. Nehemiah Boynton, from 1855 to 1864, under
whose administration many important and beneficial changes
were adopted; Freeman A. Smith, from 1864 to 1882; and.
Elisha P. Coleman, from that time to the present.
INFLUENCE ON THE DENOMINATION
Through all its history the society, whether under the name
of the General Convention or of the Missionary Union, has
been most closely connected with the growth and prosperity
of the Baptist denomination in these United States. By the
constitution adopted at the organization in 1814, and because
of the great difficulties of communication and travel, the
society was to meet only once in three years ; hence arose the
familiar title, in the earlier years of the society, of the "Tri-
ennial Convention." At the very first meeting after the
organization, which was commonly called the second Triennial
Convention, held in the city of Philadelphia in 1817, this
society, formed in the first instance for foreign missionary
operations, authorized the Board to use a portion of its funds
in maintaining missions in the most needy portions of this
country, and also voted to authorize the founding of a semi-
nary for the training, of young men for the gospel ministry.
i8
Dr. Staughton, the corresponding secretary, was the first head
of the seminary, which was located in Philadelphia, and with
him was associated Prof. Irah Chase, afterward for many years
professor in Newton Theological Institution. The third Tri-
ennial Convention, in 1820, arranged for the founding of Co-
lumbian University in the city of Washington, and so began a
movement for the establishment of a large national Baptist
University in the capital of the nation, which still awaits its
perfect realization. The fifth meeting of the Triennial Con-
vention was a most important occasion. It was held in the
city of New York and lasted for twelve days. At this meeting
all connection with the Columbian University, except a merely
nominal one, was dissolved, as it was deemed important that
the energies of the convention should be addressed solely to
missionary work. Just previous to this meeting, what is now
the Publication Society had been formed, located at Philadel-
phia ; so that from this meeting there can be seen the begin-
ning of that separation of organization to take up special
lines of work which has gone on from that time in our home
operations, until we now have societies covering every possible
line of Christian activity in our own country, while the Mis-
sionary Union still remains the sole representative of all these
different interests for all the rest of the world. At this cele-
brated meeting in 1826, the finances of the society being in a
low state, and some being discouraged, the New England
brethren offered to become responsible for the maintenance
of the missions, and it was voted to remove the headquarters
of the society to Boston, where they have since remained.
As may be inferred from what has gone before, the meetings
of the Triennial Convention and the Missionary Union have
been important events in the growth of the Baptist denomi-
nation in this country, and many of them have marked epochs
in its history. The meetings of the Convention continued to
be the national Baptist anniversaries until 1846, when the
separation of the missionary interests of the Northern and
Southern Baptists occurred. At that time, the Publication
Society and the Home Mission Society arranged their meetings
to occur in connection with those of the Missionary Union,
but for many years the meetings of the Union were placed
first, as those of the oldest, largest and most honored of the
Dr. Staughton, the corresponding secretary, was the first head
of the seminary, which was located in Philadelphia, and with
him was associated Prof. Irah Chase, afterward for many years
professor in Newton Theological Institution. The third Tri-
ennial Convention, in 1820, arranged for the founding of Co-
lumbian University in the city of Washington, and so began a
movement for the establishment of a large national Baptist
University in the capital of the nation, which still awaits its
perfect realization. The fifth meeting of the Triennial Con-
vention was a most important occasion. It was held in the
city of New York and lasted for twelve days. At this meeting
all connection with the Columbian University, except a merely
nominal one, was dissolved, as it was deemed important that
the energies of the convention should be addressed solely to
missionary work. Just previous to this meeting, what is now
the Publication Society had been formed, located at Philadel-
phia ; so that from this meeting there can be seen the begin-
ning of that separation of organization to take up special
lines of work which has gone on from that time in our home
operations, until we now have societies covering every possible
line of Christian activity in our own country, while the Mis-
sionary Union still remains the sole representative of all these
different interests for all the rest of the world. At this cele-
brated meeting in 1826, the finances of the society being in a
low state, and some being discouraged, the New England
brethren offered to become responsible for the maintenance
of the missions, and it was voted to remove the headquarters
of the society to Boston, where they have since remained.
As may be inferred from what has gone before, the meetings
of the Triennial Convention and the Missionary Union have
been important events in the growth of the Baptist denomi-
nation in this country, and many of them have marked epochs
in its history. The meetings of the Convention continued to
be the national Baptist anniversaries until 1846, when the
separation of the missionary interests of the Northern and
Southern Baptists occurred. At that time, the Publication
Society and the Home Mission Society arranged their meetings
to occur in connection with those of the Missionary Union,
but for many years the meetings of the Union were placed
first, as those of the oldest, largest and most honored of the
'
r ^-^ :
2O
societies. Afterwards the present arrangement was decided
upon by the three principal organizations of the Baptists of
the North, holding their meetings together, each successively
taking the precedence in time.
The profound and lasting effect upon our denominational
growth in this country of the separation of the Southern and
Northern Baptists in their missionary interests has never been
adequately treated. It roused the people of both sections to
new effort and aggressiveness. Instead of separation working
disaster, in the hands of the Lord it proved to be the means
of awakening new interest and activity in the denomination
throughout the entire country. The General Convention,
taking the name of the " Missionary Union," instead of suffering
in any material degree from the withdrawal of the Southern
Baptists, received a new impulse. With fresh life and enthu-
siasm, its interests were taken up by the Baptists of the North,
and it has gone on steadily and without serious interruption
to its present proud position among the first of the missionary
societies of the world. The other interests of the Northern
Baptists have also kept pace, and even overtaken in some
respects the mother of them all, while the Southern Baptists
have, with characteristic warmth and enthusiasm, developed
their own missionary work on lines which have not conflicted
with those of the older society. The only field in which the
missionaries of the Union and of the Southern Board are working
in close relations is in Japan, where both are laboring side by
side in the utmost sympathy and harmony. The division of
1846, which at first brought dismay to many hearts, who feared
injury to the kingdom of God, has proved to be one of those
separations of interests which have provoked one another, not
to strife and anger, but to love and good works. For its
fiftieth -anniversary in 1864, the Missionary Union went back
to the old First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, where the
society was organized, and it was an occasion of deep interest
and of great inspiration, calling forth many able addresses
from the foremost men in the denomination. Another
important occasion was the seventy-fifth anniversary of
the Union, which it was properly decided to hold in
Tremont Temple in the city of Boston, the headquarters of the
management of the society. These waymarks in the progress
21
of the society, with their proper celebration, served to mark
the immense increase of the denomination.
GROWTH OF INCOME
A study of the growth of the income of the Missionary
Union is very interesting, and is a very accurate index of the
interest in the foreign mission work among our people in this
country, as well as of the growth of the denomination at home
and of the missionary work abroad. At the first meeting of
the Triennial Convention in 1814, $2,099.25 had been paid into
the treasury of the society. As the meetings of the society
were held only once in three years, the treasurer's report was
made up for that period. Therefore, we have reported, in
1817, receipts of $26,052.01, or an average of $8,684 per year.
The receipts for the next three years averaged $15,643, and
continued to be in excess of this until the headquarters were
removed to Boston in 1826. At that time the annual receipts
dropped to $11,463.38 and continued small for two years ; but
in 1830 they rose to $29,204.84. Apparently, the first enthu-
siasm of the foreign missionary movement experienced con-
siderable reaction, but it subsequently recovered, which shows
that it was a movement which had taken its roots deep in
the hearts of the Baptists of this country. From 1831, the
receipts continued to make a steady advance. In 1839, they
amounted to $109,135.21, but the average continued to be in
the neighborhood of $75,000 a year, and the figures in 1839
were not reached again until 1851, when they amounted to
$118,726,35. It is curious to notice that the severe financial
depression in 1847 seems to have had no very marked effect
in decreasing the contributions to the society, as during the
years immediately following they made a fair and healthy
growth. The hard times of 1857, however, had a more
serious effect, for in 1858 only $97,808.77 were reported, and
the receipts of the society continued to be less on the whole
than in previous years, until near the close of the War of the
Rebellion, when they recovered the ground on which they
stood previous to 1857. Since that time the advance has been
steady and rapid. In 1864, the receipts were $135,012.61, a
very high mark of advance, and in 1874, the amount received
22
was $261,580.91. The effort in raising the great debt at
Providence, R. I., in 1877, conjointly with the interest aroused
by the great Telugu revival, marked another advance, and the
growth since that time has been steady, increasing step by step,
year by year, until the normal income of the Missionary Union
has reached an average of more than half a million dollars
annually. The special effort in the Centenary year, 1893,
brought in an income for current expenses of $766,782.95,
which was applicable to the general purposes of the society ;
the whole income for that year amounting to more than one
million dollars.
PRESENT MANAGEMENT
According to the constitution of the Missionary Union, it is
organized into three distinct bodies, the society itself, the
Board of Managers, and the Executive Committee. The
Missionary Union meets annually, at a time in the latter part
of May, according as the date may be fixed by arrangement
with the other denominational societies. The membership
of the Missionary Union is made up as follows : First, any
church which has made a contribution of any amount during
the year may appoint one annual member. Second, churches
which contribute more than $100 may appoint an additional
annual member for every $ i oo contributed above the first $100.
Third, any Baptist church, local association, or individual
which supports a missionary may send one annual member
for every $100 contributed through the Union. Fourth, all
missionaries of the Union are members during their term of
service. Fifth, any person may become an honorary life
member by the payment of $100 during one financial year,
but no life member has a vote in the Union unless he is an
annual contributor to the society and a member in good
standing of a regular Baptist church. The Board of Man-
agers consists of seventy-five persons, one third of whom are
elected at each annual meeting to serve for three years, the
general officers of the society, and the presidents of the four
Women's Societies ex officio, and three members of the Exec-
utive Committee. The Board holds its annual meeting dur-
ing the meeting of the Missionary Union, and usually this is
23
the only meeting of the year, but it may be called together
if necessary during the year for the transaction of important
business The Executive Committee was increased from nine
to fifteen members in 1895, and to it is committed, according
to the constitution, the management of all the details of the
work of the Missionary Union, except such as are provided for
by the Union itself or by the Board of Managers. The great
burden of the interests of the society, therefore, falls upon the
Executive Committee. Rev. Henry F. Colby, D. D., of Ohio,
was chosen president in 1895, an ^ Henry S. Burrage, D. D.,
of Portland, Me., is and has been for many years the careful
and efficient recording secretary, discharging the duties of
his important office in a manner which, apparently, insures
his annual re-election for life. The chairman of the Board of
Managers for the present year is Hon. James L. Howard, of
Hartford, Conn.; and Rev. Moses H. Bixby, D. D., of Provi-
dence, pastor of the largest church in Rhode Island, and
formerly a missionary in Burma, has for a number of years
been recording secretary of the Board.
The headquarters of the Missionary Union have been, for
many years, located in Tremont Temple, in Boston, Mass.,
but on the destruction of that building by fire in March, 1893,
they were removed to 2 A Beacon Street. The society reoccu-
pied its quarters in the new and elegant and fire-proof Temple
in the spring of 1896. The great interest of the home work of
the Union, of course, centres about the headquarters. The
late A. J. Gordon, D. D., was for seven years chairman of the
Executive Committee and has been succeeded by Rev. Henry
M. King, D. D., pastor of the historic First Baptist Church, of
Providence, R. I. Rev. Samuel W. Duncan, D. D., receives
and has charge of all the correspondence with the missiona-
ries in foreign fields. Rev. Henry C Mabie, D. D , is cor-
responding secretary for the home department, having the
oversight and management of all the work of the Union
on the home field. Elisha P. Coleman, Esq., is the faithful
and long-time treasurer, and Rev. Edmund F. Merriam is
the editorial secretary. The important work of auditing the
accounts of the Union is committed to Daniel C. Linscott,
Esq., and Sidney A. U'ilbur, Esq.
In addition to the executive officers at the rooms, the home
TREMONT TEMPLE, BOSTON. MASS.
( The American Baptist Missionary Union occupies the third floor from the top.)
25
work of the Union calls for the services of ten district
secretaries, serving tinder the general direction of the home
secretary, and who in their several districts come into close
contact with the churches, and to whom is committed the
important task of arousing and increasing the missionary
interest of the churches and the general work of the collec-.
tion of the funds needed to carry on the great missionary
work of the society. These important and responsible posts
are held at the present time by Rev. W. E. Witter, M. D.,
secretary for the New England district; (a vacancy in),
New York Southern district ; Rev. O. O. Fletcher, D. D ,
New York Central district ; Rev. Frank S. Dobbins, Southern
district ; Rev. T. G. Field, Middle district ; Rev. J. S. Boyden,
Lake district; Rev. C. F. Tolman, D. D., Western district;
Rev. F. Peterson, Northwestern district; Rev I. N. Clark,
D. D., Southwestern district; Rev. J Sunderland, Pacific
Coast district. The home organization of the Missionary
Union extends beyond these, and the district secretaries are
aided by a large number of associational secretaries who
serve voluntarily, whose labors are highly appreciated, and who
are of great assistance as connecting links between the local
churches and the great central missionary organization, which
is simply the agent of the churches in carrying on their
foreign missionary work among the heathen. An important
agent in the home work of the Union is the " Baptist Missionary
Magazine," the oldest Baptist periodical in America, established
in September, 1803, which is the official periodical of the
Union, and also " The Kingdom," a little illustrated four-page
paper, which has the largest circulation of any of our mis-
sionary periodicals, and is furnished at the low cost of five
cents a year in clubs of twenty or more.
The General Convention, organized in Philadelphia, Pa.,
May 1 8, 1814, was a few years after incorporated by the Legis-
lature of Pennsylvania, and, in 1821, an amended act of in-
corporation was granted. When the name of the society was
changed to the " American Baptist Missionary Union," this was
authorized by an act of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
which was approved by the governor on March 13, 1846, and at
the same time an act of incorporation in the State of Massa-
TREMONT TEMPLK, BOSTON. MASS.
American Baptist Missionary Union occupies the third floor from the top.)
25
work of the Union calls for the services of ten district
secretaries, serving under the general direction of the home
secretary, and who in their several districts come into close
contact with the churches, and to whom is committed the
important task of arousing and increasing the missionary
interest of the churches and the general work of the collec-.
tion of the funds needed to carry on the great missionary
work of the society. These important and responsible posts
are held at the present time by Rev. W. E. Witter, M. D.,
secretary for the New England district; (a vacancy in),
New York Southern district ; Rev. O. O. Fletcher, D. D ,
New York Central district ; Rev. Frank S. Dobbins, Southern
district ; Rev. T. G. Field, Middle district ; Rev. J. S. Boyden,
Lake district; Rev. C. F. Tolman, D. D., Western district;
Rev. F. Peterson, Northwestern district; Rev I. N. Clark,
D. D., Southwestern district; Rev. J Sunderland, Pacific
Coast district. The home organization of the Missionary
Union extends beyond these, and the district secretaries are
aided by a large number of associational secretaries who
serve voluntarily, whose labors are highly appreciated, and who
are of great assistance as connecting links between the local
churches and the great central missionary organization, which
is simply the agent of the churches in carrying on their
foreign missionary work among the heathen. An important
agent in the home work of the Union is the " Baptist Missionary
Magazine," the oldest Baptist periodical in America, established
in September, 1803, which is the official periodical of the
Union, and also " The Kingdom," a little illustrated four-page
paper, which has the largest circulation of any of our mis-
sionary periodicals, and is furnished at the low cost of five
cents a year in clubs of twenty or more.
The General Convention, organized in Philadelphia, Pa.,
May 1 8, 1814, was a few years after incorporated by the Legis-
lature of Pennsylvania, and, in 1821, an amended act of in-
corporation was granted. When the name of the society was
changed to the " American Baptist Missionary Union," this was
authorized by an act of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
which was approved by the governor on March 13, 1846, and at
the same time an act of incorporation in the State of Massa-
26
chusetts was passed, which was approved March 25, 1846.
Under these two acts, the Missionary Union maintained its
legal standing for many years ; but in 1894 a full act of in-
corporation was obtained from the Legislature of the State of
New York, which became a law May 10, 1894, superseding
an ennabling act obtained in 1870. By an act of the Massa-
chusetts Legislature passed in 1894, the Missionary Union is
permitted to receive by gift, purchase or devise, and to hold
in fee simple, real estate not exceeding in value $1,000,000,
and personal property to an amount not exceeding $2,000,000.
WOMEN'S SOCIETIES
During all the history of the Missionary Union, the love and
labors of the women of our churches have been an impor-
tant element contributing to its success. Previous to 1871, it
began to be felt by many of the leaders among the women
that, while the general missionary work should be carried on
with full power, there was a field for special work for women
among their ignorant and oppressed sisters in heathen lands,
and that year witnessed the formation of the first two Woman's
Baptist Missionary Societies, one with its headquarters at
Boston, and the Society of the West, with its headquarters at
Chicago. Since that time two other societies, operating di-
rectly as auxiliaries to the Missionary Union, have been formed,
one the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Cali-
fornia, and the other of Oregon. There are also other
women's organizations for special efficiency in the conduct of
the work in the various States, but all the other societies are
connected with one or another of the above-mentioned or-
ganizations. The officers of the Woman's Baptist Foreign
Missionary Society, which has its headquarters at Boston, are :
Miss Sarah C. Durfee, of Providence, R. I., president ; Mrs
H. G. Safford, corresponding secretary for the foreign depart-
ment, and Mrs. N. M. Waterbury, for the home department.
The treasurer is Miss Alice E. Stedman. Of the Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society of the West, the president is Mrs.
L. Everingham, Chicago; Mrs. A. M. Bacon is the foreign
secretary ; Mrs. E. H. Griffith, the home Secretary ; Miss A.
27
L. Stevens, secretary for .publications ; and Miss Mary W.
Ranney, treasurer. Mrs. Bunyan Spencer is president of the
California society ; Mrs. M. E. Bridges, corresponding secre-
tary ; and Mrs. J. J. Warner, treasurer. Of the Oregon society,
Mrs. M. L. Driggs is president ; Mrs. E. S. Latourette, corre-
sponding secretary ; and Miss Marion Cole, treasurer.
FINANCIAL CONDITION
Among the great societies of the world, the Missionary-
Union stands the eighth in the amount of its annual income
and expenditure, and fourth among American foreign mission-
ary societies. Its annual expenditures now amount to about
half a million dollars, and its receipts from all the various
sources should, of course, be made to equal this amount. Of
the annual receipts, three fifths only is made up by donations
from the churcnes and individuals directly to the treasury of
the Missionary Union ; the balance is from legacies and from
the women's societies, from the income of funds, and from
various other sources which are always mentioned in the
treasurer's accounts published in the annual reports of the
society. The permanent funds of the society now amount to
more than half a million dollars, the income from which, with
legacies, is sufficient to pay all the running expenses of the
society, so that, in this sense, the donations from the churches
and from individuals may be said to be applied directly to
missionary work, with something added. In addition to these
funds, there are about $200,000 which have been paid into the
Union by persons who receive an annuity during their lives ;.
^at their death the funds will be used in the missionary work of
me society. Occasionally there have arisen persons who have
argued that missionary societies were an expensive necessity ;
but this simple statement in regard to the funds of the Union
shows that the society, by its very existence, which makes
possible the accumulation of funds, more than pays for itself,
and enables the gifts of the churches to be sent without
charge directly to the work for which they were given.
Another important reason for the existence of a society is
the great advantage which is gained in the transmission of
funds. On account of the financial standing of the Missiouarjr
s
(A
03
W
I
U
3
s
o
w
33
H
W
2 9
Union in all the commercial centres of the world, its credit
stands as high as that of any banking or commercial house in
existence. The bills and drafts of the Union pass unques-
tioned in the exchanges of Europe, Asia, or Africa. Not one
of the obligations of the Union has ever been defaulted or
suspended for a moment, and the paper of the Union is
bought readily in any of the fields in which we are carrying:
on missionary operations, for making commercial exchange
in any part of the world, and brings the very highest price
which can be obtained for any exchange bills. In this way-
thousands of dollars are saved every year over the cost of.
transmission of funds by private individuals, and this works
directly to the advantage and economy of the conduct of the
missionary work. Many Christians every year are providing
in their wills for additions to the permanent funds of the
Union as well as gifts directly for carrying on missionary work.
This is an object which no Christian of wealth should omit to.
remember. Within the last few years, however, owing to the:
great number of difficulties which have arisen in the courts
over the settlement of states, and to the efforts which have
been made to defeat the wishes of testators in their bequests,
large numbers of persons are giving their funds directly into
the hands of the society, and receiving its bond for the pay-
ment of interest during their lives. These bonds are an
unquestioned security. They will never be defaulted as long,
as the Baptist denomination exists. There is no safer form of
investment in the world. If the United States Government
is destroyed, and the bonds of the United States become
worthless, still the Baptist denomination will go on, and the-
obligations of the great missionary society will stand secure,
and every bond be paid to the last cent of obligation. This
method of investment offers to those who wish their money
to go ultimately to the missionary work the best possible form
of securing an income from their property during their lives,
and saves them all care and trouble of re-investment, and all
fears regarding the settlement of their estates.
29
Union in all the commercial centres of the world, its credit
stands as high as that of any banking or commercial house in
existence. The bills and drafts of the Union pass unques-
tioned in the exchanges of Europe, Asia, or Africa. Not one
of the obligations of the Union has ever been defaulted or
suspended for a moment, and the paper of the Union is
bought readily in any of the fields in which we are carrying,
on missionary operations, for making commercial exchange
in any part of the world, and brings the very highest price
which can be obtained for any exchange bills. In this way-
thousands of dollars are saved every year over the cost o
transmission of funds by private individuals, and this works
directly to the advantage and economy of the conduct of the
missionary work. Many Christians every year are providing,
in their wills for additions to the permanent funds of the
Union as well as gifts directly for carrying on missionary work.
This is an object which no Christian of wealth should omit to.
remember. Within the last few years, however, owing to the
great number of difficulties which have arisen in the courts-
over the settlement of states, and to the efforts which have
been made to defeat the wishes of testators in their bequests,
large numbers of persons are giving their funds directly into
the hands of the society, and receiving its bond for the pay-
ment of interest during their lives. These bonds are an-
unquestioned security. They will never be defaulted as long,
as the Baptist denomination exists. There is no safer form of
investment in the world. If the United States Government
is destroyed, and the bonds of the United States become
worthless, still the Baptist denomination will go on, and the
obligations of the great missionary society will stand secure,
and every bond be paid to the last cent of obligation. This
method of investment offers to those who wish their money
to go ultimately to the missionary work the best possible form
of securing an income from their property during their lives,
and saves them all care and trouble of re-investment, and all
fears regarding the settlement of their estates.
SPIRITUAL RESULTS.
Although the Missionary Union stands the eighth among
the larger missionary societies in annual expenditure, yet, by
the blessing of God, it. stands first of all in the number of
converts in its mission churches. Leaving out the members
of Baptist churches in the Protestant countries of Europe,
which are not counted by all missionary societies, and there-
fore must be omitted for the sake of a fair comparison, we
find that the converts in the mission churches connected with
the Missionary Union in heathen, Mohammedan, Roman
Catholic, and Greek Catholic countries, in 1894, numbered
101,469. The great and prosperous London Missionary
Society, which has done such a magnificent work in the Pacific
Islands and in Madagascar, reports 92,400 converts ; and next
stand the American Methodists, with their prosperous work in
all the world, and especially the great successes of the past
few years in Northern India, who report 68,891 converts.
After these three leading societies come three or four of the
other large societies, each reporting about 50,000 converts.
This great success of our American Baptist missionary work is
not a matter of pride, but should be a cause of great thanks-
giving and gratitude to God, who has done such wonderful
things for us. It is also a proof of the wise, the economical,
and the effective management of our missionary work, which
the results show are not exceeded by that of any other mis-
sionary body in the world. The magnificent results which
have been gained, and the care and economy which have been
exercised in the management, may well arouse the Baptists of
these Northern States of America to new enthusiasm toward
this great and widely extended and splendidly successful
American Baptist Missionary Union, and to larger and more
generous giving for the support of this divinely prospered
enterprise.
SPIRITUAL RESULTS.
Although the Missionary Union stands the eighth among
the larger missionary societies in annual expenditure, yet, by
the blessing of God, it stands first of all in the number of
converts in its mission churches. Leaving out the members
of Baptist churches in the Protestant countries of Europe,
which are not counted by all missionary societies, and there-
fore must be omitted for the sake of a fair comparison, we
find that the converts in the mission churches connected with
the Missionary Union in heathen, Mohammedan, Roman
Catholic, and Greek Catholic countries, in 1894, numbered
101,469. The great and prosperous London Missionary
Society, which has done such a magnificent work in the Pacific
Islands and in Madagascar, reports 92,400 converts ; and next
stand the American Methodists, with their prosperous work in
all the world, and especially the great successes of the past
few years in Northern India, who report 68,891 converts.
After these three leading societies come three or four of the
other large societies, each reporting about 50,000 converts.
This great success of our American Baptist missionary work is
not a matter of pride, but should be a cause of great thanks-
giving and gratitude to God, who has done such wonderful
things for us. It is also a proof of the wise, the economical,
and the effective management of our missionary work, which
the results show are not exceeded by that of any other mis-
sionary body in the world. The magnificent results which
have been gained, and the care and economy which have been
exercised in the management, may well arouse the Baptists of
these Northern States of America to new enthusiasm toward
this great and widely extended and splendidly successful
American Baptist Missionary Union, and to larger and more
generous giving for the support of this divinely prospered
enterprise.
>
3
-
o
I
a
c
BURMA AND THE BURMANS
BURMA is the most prosperous province of India, and has a
population of about 8,000,000. Its territory is diversified,
generally fertile, and well watered. The internal commerce is
extensive and the foreign trade is large and profitable. The
principal exports are rice and teak timber. The prevailing
religion is Buddhism, and the people are free from the iron
fetters of caste which bind their neighbors across the Bay of
Bengal. Social life in Burma is therefore freer and more
comfortable than in India, education is more general, and
wages are more than three times as high.
At the beginning of authentic Burman history the lower
part of Burma was held by the Takings or Peguans. These
were conquered nearly two hundred years ago by the Burmans,
who ruled the whole country until 1824, since which time it
has been gradually brought under British power. Within the
limits of Burma there are said to be as many as forty-seven
different races, which are scattered over the country, often
mingling closely together in both town and country.
The BURMAN is the ruling race of Burma, and by far the
most numerous, numbering more than 6,000,000 out of the
whole population. They dwell in the valleys and plains
of the country, and form the chief element in the permanent
population of the cities and towns. The Burman language
is used by all of this race, with some dialectic variations in
different parts of the country. It is the language of the courts,
literature, and commerce, and efforts are being made to have
it adopted by the people generally. The Burmans are of a
Mongolian type, but without the sleepy eyes of the Chinese.
(33)
34
Their faces have an open, wide-awake expression, and they
are generally enterprising, and polite in their manners. The
women are independent to an unusual degree, both in social
life and in trade, and usually hold the family purse. The
Burmans are very strict Buddhists, and hold strongly to their
,rd\v/v\, - 1 , -*-i b
PLATFORM OF SHWF.YDA.GON PAGODA, RANGOON
inherited religion. Although pursued for more than seventy
years, mission work has not gained many converts among
them compared to its success among the Karens and other
peoples. Within the last few years, however, greater interest
has been shown in Christianity by the Burmans, and the pros-
pects for the future seem more encouraging than ever before.
THE BURMAN MISSION
IN 1812, the Baptists in America had already shown some-
thing of a missionary spirit, and had afforded substantial as-
sistance to the English Baptist Mission at Serampore, India.
Many of the missionaries had been obliged to go out by way of
America, because passage from England direct to India was
denied them in the vessels of the East India Company , and
their presence and addresses while in this country awaiting
passage had aroused much enthusiasm. But as yet, no organ-
ized effort to promote foreign missions had been formed among
American Baptists. Feb. 18, 1812, Mr. and Mrs. Nott, with
Messrs. Hall and Luther Rice, sailed from Philadelphia for
India, and were followed on the igth by Adoniram Judson and
Samuel Newell, with their wives, sailing from Salem, Mass., all
representing the newly formed American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, sustained principally by the Con-
gregationalist denomination. In consequence of their careful
study of the Bible on the passage to India, Mr. and Mrs.
Judson, and also Luther Rice, became Baptists and were bap-
tized at Calcutta. It was therefore resolved that Mr. and
Mrs. Judson should remain and establish a mission wherever
Providence might indicate, while Mr. Rice should return to
America, in the hope of inducing the Baptists in this country
to undertake their support. Their expectations were not dis-
appointed. The conversion of these missionaries to Baptist
views in such a remarkable manner was regarded as a provi-
dential indication of the will of God, and the work of collect-
ing funds to support the work thrown upon their hands was
(35)
34
Their faces have an open, wide-awake expression, and they
are generally enterprising, and polite in their manners. The
women are independent to an unusual degree, both in social
life and in trade, and usually hold the family purse. The
Burmans are very strict Buddhists, and hold strongly to their
PLATFORM OF SHWEYDAGON PAGODA, RANGOON
inherited religion. Although pursued for more than seventy
years, mission work has not gained many converts among
them compared to its success among the Karens and other
peoples. Within the last few years, however, greater interest
has been shown in Christianity by the Burmans, and the pros-
pects for the future seem more encouraging than ever before.
THE BURMAN MISSION
IN 1812, the Baptists in America had already shown some-
thing of a missionary spirit, and had afforded substantial as-
sistance to the English Baptist Mission at Serampore, India.
Many of the missionaries had been obliged to go out by way of
America, because passage from England direct to India was
denied them in the vessels of the East India Company , and
their presence and addresses while in this country awaiting
passage had aroused much enthusiasm. But as yet, no organ-
ized effort to promote foreign missions had been formed among
American Baptists. Feb. 18, 1812, Mr. and Mrs. Nott, with
Messrs. Hall and Luther Rice, sailed from Philadelphia for
India, and were followed on the igth by Adoniram Judson and
Samuel Newell, with their wives, sailingfrom Salem, Mass., all
representing the newly formed American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, sustained principally by the Con-
gregationalist denomination. In consequence of their careful
study of the Bible on the passage to India, Mr. and Mrs.
Judson, and also Luther Rice, became Baptists and were bap-
tized at Calcutta. It was therefore resolved that Mr. and
Mrs. Judson should remain and establish a mission wherever
Providence might indicate, while Mr. Rice should return to
America, in the hope of inducing the Baptists in this country
to undertake their support. Their expectations were not dis-
appointed. The conversion of these missionaries to Baptist
views in such a remarkable manner was regarded as a provi-
dential indication of the will of God, and the work of collect-
ing funds to support the work thrown upon their hands was
(35)
36
entered upon with enthusiasm. A meeting of delegates, rep-
resenting all sections of the country, was called to meet at
Philadelphia; and there, on May 18, 1814, was formed the
" General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the
United States of America for Foreign Missions." This body
was incorporated June 15, 1821, when the words " and other
important objects relating to the Redeemer's Kingdom "
were added to the title. In May, 1846, the name was changed
to " The American Baptist Missionary Union," in which form
it still stands.
In the mean time, Mr. and Mrs. Judson, having been driven
from India by the East India Company, had sailed to the
Isle of France, or Mauritius. There they resolved to attempt
the establishment of a mission in the Penang Straits, and-
sailed for the Prince of Wales Island by way of Madras.
Here they were unable to find a ship bound for Penang, but
fearing that the East India Company would send them back
to England, they hastily took passage in a vessel bound for
Burma, and after a stormy and perilous passage they arrived
in Rangoon, July 13, 1813. By this series of remarkable
providences was founded the Baptist mission in Burma,
whose subsequent history has proved that it was truly a vine
planted of the Lord.
In Rangoon, the Judsons found vacant a house formerly occu-
pied by Felix Carey, a son of Dr. William Carey and another
representative of the Serampore Mission, who had opened mis-
sionary work in Rangoon in 1807 ; this they occupied, and at
once began the study of the Burman language and missionary
work. In 1816, Rev. George H. Hough and wife came to
their assistance, bringing a printing press given by the Seram-
pore Mission. In 1817, Dr. Judson was absent from Rangoon
six months, in an attempt to procure a native assistant from
Arakan, during which time no word was received from him,
and he was given up for lost. Mr. Hough left during his ab-
37
sence, and Mrs. Judson, heroically refusing to leave Rangoon,
was alone amid a savage and cruel people ; but Mr. Judson soon
arrived, and the work of the mission was resumed. June 27,
1819, nearly six years after his arrival in Rangoon, Mr. Judson
had the joy of baptizing the first Burman convert, a man named
A BURMAN ZAYAT
Moung Nau. Others soon followed, and were gathered into
a church. James Colman and Edward Wheelock, with their
wives, had arrived in Rangoon in September, 1818, and soon
after the baptism of the first converts, persecution from the
local authorities began to afflict the little flock, and drove
away all the hearers who had been accustomed to frequent the
Zayatto listen to the Gospel. In this crisis, Mr. Judson
36
entered upon with enthusiasm. A meeting of delegates, rep-
resenting all sections of the country, was called to meet at
Philadelphia; and there, on May 18, 1814, was formed the
"General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the
United States of America for Foreign Missions." This body
was incorporated June 15, 1821, when the words " and other
important objects relating to the Redeemer's Kingdom "
were added to the title. In May, 1846, the name was changed
to " The American Baptist Missionary Union," in which form
it still stands.
In the mean time, Mr. and Mrs. Judson, having been driven
from India by the East India Company, had sailed to the
Isle of France, or Mauritius. There they resolved to attempt
the establishment of a mission in the Penang Straits, and
sailed for the Prince of Wales Island by way of Madras.
Here they were unable to find a ship bound for Penang, but
fearing that the East India Company would send them back
to England, they hastily took passage in a vessel bound for
Burma, and after a stormy and perilous passage they arrived
in Rangoon, July 13, 1813. By this series of remarkable
providences was founded the Baptist mission in Burma,
whose subsequent history has proved that it was truly a vine
planted of the Lord.
In Rangoon, the Judsons found vacant a house formerly occu-
pied by Felix Carey, a son of Dr. William Carey and another
representative of the Serampore Mission, who had opened mis-
sionary work in Rangoon in 1807 ; this they occupied, and at
once began the study of the Burman language and missionary
work. In 1816, Rev. George H. Hough and wife came to
their assistance, bringing a printing press given by the Seram-
pore Mission. In 1817, Dr. Judson was absent from Rangoon
six months, in an attempt to procure a native assistant from
Arakan, during which time no word was received from him,
and he was given up for lost. Mr. Hough left during his ab-
37
sence, and Mrs. Judson, heroically refusing to leave Rangoon,
was alone amid a savage and cruel people ; but Mr. Judson soon
arrived, and the work of the mission was resumed. June 27,
1819, nearly six years after his arrival in Rangoon, Mr. Judson
had the joy of baptizing the first Burman convert, a man named
A BURMAN ZAYAT
Moung Nau. Others soon followed, and were gathered into
a church. James Colman and Edward Wheelock, with their
wives, had arrived in Rangoon in September, 1818, and soon
after the baptism of the first converts, persecution from the
local authorities began to afflict the little flock, and drove
away all the hearers who had been accustomed to frequent the
Zayatto listen to the Gospel. In this crisis, Mr. Judson
38
determined to appeal to the royal court at Amarapura. The
suit was unsuccessful, and the gilded Bible which was taken
as a present to the king was rejected. The native Burman
government usually opposed missionary work. Discouraged
by their failure and the certain prospect of severe persecu-
tion which awaited any Burman subjects who dared embrace
the foreign religion, the missionaries decided to remove the
mission to Arakan which was already under British control.
But the three Christians in Rangoon conducted themselves
with so much firmness under the trying circumstances, and
plead so earnestly that they should not be forsaken, that Mr.
and Mrs. Judson decided to remain in Rangoon, while Mr.
and Mrs. Colman went to found a new mission in Chittagong.
After their departure, the mission in Rangoon was continued
by Mr. and Mrs. Judson with increasing success until in
August, 1822, Mrs. Judson was compelled to return to
America for the recovery of her health, leaving her husband
to carry on the work with the help of Dr. and Mrs. J. D.
Price, who had reached Rangoon only three months before,
and Mr. and Mrs. Hough, who had returned from Serampore,
bringing back the printing press, the loss of which had been
an occasion of much inconvenience.
Mrs. Judson's visit to the United States was the means of
arousing renewed interest in the Burman Mission, and on her
return to Burma, in 1823, she was accompanied by Mr. and
Mrs. Jonathan Wade. During her absence, Mr. Judson had
made a second visit to the capital, which had been removed
to Ava, to which the missionaries had been summoned on ac-
count of the medical skill of Dr. Price. Land was loaned
for the mission purposes, and several months were spent in
mission work, Dr. Price enjoying much favor from the king
as a physician. When Mr. Judson returned to Rangoon in
February, 1823, however, he found the little church there
scattered by official persecution, and nearly all the visible
39
results of the mission in that city swept away. On the arrival
of Mrs. Judson with the Wades in December of that year, it
was decided that Mr. and Mrs. Wade, with Mr. and Mrs.
Hough, should continue the mission at Rangoon, while Mr.
and Mrs. Judson proceeded to Ava, where Dr. Price had re-
mained, to found a station there.
On the zoth of May, 1824, the arrival of English vessels
of war at Rangoon began the first Burmese war, which prac-
tically suspended missionary operations for nearly two years.
The missionaries at Rangoon were exposed to the greatest
danger, and after the capture of the city by the English they
retired to Calcutta, where they remained until the conclusion
of the war. Concerning the fate of the missionaries at Ava,
great anxiety was felt, but nothing definite was learned until
after peace between Burma and England was concluded,
Feb. 24, 1826. Intelligence of the capture of Rangoon
by the English was received at Ava, May 23, 1824, and Mr.
Judson and Dr. Price were arrested and thrown into prison
on the 8th of June. From this .time, for more than a year
and a half, the prisoners suffered as words cannot describe,
from the cruelty of their jailers, from dreadful disease, and
from want which often approached the verge of starvation.
They were at first confined at Ava, then removed for a short
time to Amarapura, and their captivity culminated in the
often-described horrors of Oung-pen-la, from which they were
released in January 1826, as the king needed Mr. Judson's
services as interpreter in the negotiations for peace with the
British commander. That the missionaries survived the un-
told suffering and privation of this long imprisonment is
entirely due to the heroism of Mrs. Judson, who, often in
sickness and personal danger, ministered to their necessi-
ties and with unflagging persistency sought their release.
During her visit to America she had been advised by physi-
cians not to return to Burma, and devoted friends sought
40
earnestly to prolong her stay in this country ; but it is undoubt-
edly clue to her devotion in returning to Burma as she did,
even at the risk of health and life, that the life and matured
labors of Dr. Judson were preserved to Burma and the world.
The manuscript of the Burman Bible as far as translated
was preserved by being sewn up in a pillow which was saved
by one of Mrs. Judson's native servants. Feb. 21, 1826, Mr.
Judson was released, and, with his wife and little daughter,
sailed joyfully down the Irrawaddy to the British camp. But
the strain was too much for the strength of Mrs. Judson, and
she died at Amherst, Oct. 24, 1826, during the absence of
her husband as interpreter for the British embassy at Ava.
A few weeks after her little Maria was laid by her side be-
neath the Hopia tree, and the suffering and sorrowing pioneer
of the Burman Mission was left alone.
On the return of the missionaries to Rangoon, at the close
of the war, it was found that the Rangoon Christians had be-
come so scattered that few could be traced. It was therefore
resolved to continue the mission at Amherst, selected as the
capital of the Tenasserim provinces which had been ceded to
England, rather than at Rangoon, which was still to remain
under the control of the Burman king. Dr. Price accepted
a position under the king at Ava, where he died in February,
1828, cutting short a life of promising usefulness. Early in
1827, George Dana Boardman and wife joined the band at
Amherst ; but the British headquarters were soon removed to
Moulmein, and to this place the Boardmans removed, while
Mr. and Mrs. Wade remained at Amherst for a time. Mr.
Judson gave himself chiefly to the work of translation, residing
principally at Moulmein. In April, 1828, Mr. and Mrs. Board-
man removed to Tavoy, and thus, in the providence of God,
became the founders of the Karen Mission, with which their
names Avill be forever associated, rather than the Burman work
to which they were appointed.
The mission in Moulmein enjoyed much prosperity in the
following years, and in 1829 received an important accession
in Mr. Cephas Bennett, a printer, who arrived, bringing a press
and font of types, which were greatly needed. The little
PAGODA AT MOULMEIN
church in Rangoon had been kept alive through the efforts
of a Burman convert named Ko Thah-a, and in this year he
was ordained as pastor of the church, thus being the first
40
earnestly to prolong her stay in this country ; but it is undoubt-
edly due to her devotion in returning to Burma as she did,
even at the risk of health and life, that the life and matured
labors of Dr. Judson were preserved to Burma and the world.
The manuscript of the Burman Bible as far as translated
was preserved by being sewn up in a pillow which was saved
by one of Mrs. Judson's native servants. Feb. 21, 1826, Mr.
Judson was released, and, with his wife and little daughter,
sailed joyfully down the Irrawaddy to the British camp. But
the strain was too much for the strength of Mrs. Judson, and
she died at Amherst, Oct. 24, 1826, during the absence of
her husband as interpreter for the British embassy at Ava.
A few weeks after her little Maria was laid by her side be-
neath the Hopia tree, and the suffering and sorrowing pioneer
of the Burman Mission was left alone.
On the return of the missionaries to Rangoon, at the close
of the war, it was found that the Rangoon Christians had be-
come so scattered that few could be traced. It was therefore
resolved to continue the mission at Amherst, selected as the
capital of the Tenasserim provinces which had been ceded to
England, rather than at Rangoon, which was still to remain
under the control of the Burman king. Dr. Price accepted
a position under the king at Ava, where he died in February,
1828, cutting short a life of promising usefulness. Early in
1827, George Dana Boardman and wife joined the band at
Amherst ; but the British headquarters were soon removed to
Moulmein, and to this place the Boardmans removed, while
Mr. and Mrs. Wade remained at Amherst for a time. Mr.
Judson gave himself chiefly to the work of translation, residing
principally at Moulmein. In April, 1828, Mr. and Mrs. Board-
man removed to Tavoy, and thus, in the providence of God,
became the founders of the Karen Mission, with which their
names will be forever associated, rather than the Burman work
to which they were appointed,
The mission in Moulmein enjoyed much prosperity in the
following years, and in 1829 received an important accession
in Mr. Cephas Bennett, a printer, who arrived, bringing a press
and font of types, which were greatly needed. The little
PAGODA AT MOULMEIN
church in Rangoon had been kept alive through the efforts
of a Burman convert named Ko Thah-a, and in this year he
was ordained as pastor of the church, thus being the first
42
native of Burma ordained to the gospel ministry. Moung
Ing was also ordained a short time after, and sent to assist
Ko Thah-a at Rangoon. Affairs becoming more settled in
that city, Mr. and Mrs. Wade removed to Rangoon early in
1830, and Mr. Judson the year following. Tracts and portions
of Scripture were printed by Mr. Bennett, and scattered in
large numbers among the people, who seemed anxious to re-
ceive them. The gospel was also widely spread by a visit of
some months made by Mr. Judson to Prome. The mission in
Moulmein had been considerably re-enforced, and had received
large accessions, so that in 1832 it became necessary to form
new churches in the outlying districts, that the converts might
have the worship and ordinances of God easily accessible.
This important movement, and also a visit of Mr. Kincaid to
Upper Burma, resulted in a wider spreading of the gospel
among the heathen. For a short time a printing press was
established at Ava by Mr. O. T. Cutter, by means of which
many Christian tracts were put in circulation ; but through the
ignorant opposition of the Burman government, the mission-
aries were driven away. At the end of 1833, one hundred
and forty-seven Burmans had been baptized, of which seventy-
eight were in connection with the Moulmein Mission. Mr.
Judson had devoted his attention chiefly to the work of transla-
tion, and Jan. 3 r, 1834, he had the pleasure of presenting to his
God, who had preserved and sustained him, the completed
translation of the Bible into the Burman language.
In December, 1834, the missions in Burma received a re-en-
forcement of fifteen missionaries, and in 1835 wer e visited by
Dr. Howard Malcom, as a deputation from the American Bap-
tists. Early in this year another severe persecution broke
out against the church in Rangoon, in which one of the promi-
nent native preachers, a man of excellent ability, was arrested,
scourged, and deprived of his property. He died shortly after
his release ; nearly all the Christians were fined or imprisoned*
43
and the work of the Rangoon Mission was again suspended by
the fires of persecution. But as soon as the officials relaxed
I
s
i
3
G
2
n
515
<n
93
I
t-H
their vigilance the mission work was resumed, and the Chris-
tians gathered to hear the Gospel as bafore. In 1836, how-
ever, through the breaking out of a civil war, the missionaries
42
native of Burma ordained to the gospel ministry. Moung
Ing was also ordained a short time after, and sent to assist
Ko Thah-a at Rangoon. Affairs becoming more settled in
that city, Mr. and Mrs. Wade removed to Rangoon early in
1830, and Mr. Judson the year following. Tracts and portions
of Scripture were printed by Mr. Bennett, and scattered in
large numbers among the people, who seemed anxious to re-
ceive them. The gospel was also widely spread by a visit of
some months made by Mr. Judson to Prome. The mission in
Moulmein had been considerably re-enforced, and had received
large accessions, so that in 1832 it became necessary to form
new churches in the outlying districts, that the converts might
have the worship and ordinances of God easily accessible.
This important movement, and also a visit of Mr. Kincaid to
Upper Burma, resulted in a wider spreading of the gospel
among the heathen. For a short time a printing press was
established at Ava by Mr. O. T. Cutter, by means of which
many Christian tracts were put in circulation ; but through the
ignorant opposition of the Burman government, the mission-
aries were driven away. At the end of 1833, one hundred
and forty-seven Burmans had been baptized, of which seventy-
eight were in connection with the Moulmein Mission. Mr.
Judson had devoted his attention chiefly to the work of transla-
tion, and Jan. 31, 1834, he had the pleasure of presenting to his
God, who had preserved and sustained him, the completed
translation of the Bible into the Burman language.
In December, 1834, the missions in Burma received a re-en-
forcement of fifteen missionaries, and in 1835 were visited by
Dr. Howard Malcom, as a deputation from the American Bap-
tists. Early in this year another severe persecution broke
out against the church in Rangoon, in which one of the promi-
nent native preachers, a man of excellent ability, was arrested,
scourged, and deprived of his property. He died shortly after
his release ; nearly all the Christians were fined or imprisoned,
43
and the work of the Rangoon Mission was again suspended by
the fires of persecution. But as soon as the officials relaxed
M
3
a
z
a
8
5?
n
50
PI
O
their vigilance the mission work was resumed, and the Chris-
tians gathered to hear the Gospel as bafore. In 1836, how-
ever, through the breaking out of a civil war, the missionaries
44
were compelled to retire from Ava and Rangoon to Moul-
mein, and direct mission work in the Burman dominions
ceased for several years.
From the time the Burman Bible was completed, Dr. Jud-
son had devoted his attention principally to a careful revision,
which cost him more time and labor than the first translation ;
but in 1840, the revision was given to the press. It has been
remarked that Dr. Judson's Bible is to the Burmans what
Luther's is to the Germans, and the translation of 1 6 1 1 to
readers of the English language ; and so well was the task
accomplished of giving the Bible to the Burmans in a popular
and idiomatic form, that the work will never need to be re-
peated. This is the more remarkable when it is considered
that Dr. Judson began with no helps whatever, and created
his own grammars and dictionaries as he went along. It-is
however, true, that his varied and trying experiences in the
early history of the mission gave him exceptional opportuni-
ties for acquiring a knowledge of the Burman language in all
its uses, and doubtless his suffering at Ava and Oung-pen-la
contributed in no small degree to his success in rendering the
Word of God into the every-day tongue of the Burman people.
In 1838, a Burman Theological School was started in
Moulmein, by Rev. Edward A. Stevens on his arrival in
Burma. It was suspended from 1841 to 1844, during which
time Mr. Stevens devoted himself to editing a monthly
Christian journal for the Burmans, The Religious Hetald.
The Theological School was transferred to Rangoon in
1862, and to Insein in 1893, where all the work of training
preachers for Burma is united in one Seminary. Dr. Judson
started for America in 1845, in company with wfrs. (Sarah
Boardman) Judson; but she found her last resting-place
on the island of St. Helena. Dr. Judson's return to his native
land, after an absence of thirty-three years, awakened the
liveliest emotions among American Baptists, who had so long
45
regarded htm as their representative in Burma, but had never
seen his face. He was everywhere received with enthusiasm,
although unable to address large assemblies on account of the
loss of his voice, and on his return to Burma in 1846 was ac-
companied by a goodly re-enforcement for the missions.
No missionary had been able to reside in the Burman
dominions since 1836 ; but on his arrival Dr. Judson visited
Rangoon, and afterward resided there for some months with
Mrs. (Emily C.) Judson. But he was obliged to give up the at-
tempt to renew the mission there, and returned to Moulmein in
September, 1847, where he devoted himself to the preparation
of his Burman and English Dictionary, in connection with his
usual missionary labors. Large editions of the Burman Bible
were printed, and the church in Moulmein grew in numbers
and in Christian graces ; regular contributions were taken by
the church for benevolent purposes. The Burman Theologi-
cal School, under Rev. "E. A. Stevens, had eight students in
1846, several of whom had escaped from Burma Proper at the
risk of their lives, in order to prepare themselves to preach
the Gospel to their countrymen; 26,182 copies of various
books and tracts were printed at the Moulmein press in 1847,
containing 6,566,450 pages. The year 1847 ' IS the first for
which complete statistics of the Burman Mission are given
separately from the Karen. At the end of that year there are
given under the head of Moulmein, which included Rangoon,
7 missionaries to the Bunnans ; 7 female assistant missiona-
ries; 1 6 native preachers and assistants; 4 churches; n bap-
tized during the year, and (about) 200 church members; 3
schools, and 160 pupils. There were also in Arakan one mis-
sionary to the .Burmans in that country; 10 native assistants^
2 churches, and 55 members, 15 having been baptized during
the year ; 2 schools and 42 pupils.
The active centre of the Burman Mission continued at
Moulmein, Dr. Judson devoting his principal attention to
translation and the Burman-English Dictionary. Rev. E. A.
Stevens was in charge of the Theological School, Rev. L.
Stilson of the boarding school, while the great work of preach-
ing the Gospel in widely extended districts was carried on by
Rev. Jonathan Wade, Rev. T. Simons, Rev. H. Howard, and
Rev. J. M. Haswell. Mr. Haswell also gave attention to the
Takings, formerly the ruling race of Burma, who were settled
in the vicinity of Moulmein in considerable numbers. The
printing press, in care of Mr. T. S. Ranney, sent forth every
year large quantities of Christian literature, of school books
and of Scriptures in Burman and Karen, as fast as they could
be translated.
Rev. Adoniram Judson, D. D., the senior missionary of the
American Baptist Missionary Union, and the pioneer of
the Burman Mission, died at sea, April 12, 1850, when
scarcely three days from Burma on a voyage to the Isle of
Bourbon, for the benefit of his health. He was buried in the
sea in latitude thirteen degrees north, and longitude ninety
degrees east of Greenwich. At the death of Dr. Judson, the
completion of the Burman-English Dictionary was intrusted to
Mr. Stevens, and published in 1852, the English-Burman part
having been completed by Dr. Judson, and published in
January, 1850. For sixteen years, from 1836 to 1852, no
missionary was able to reside permanently at Rangoon,
where the Burman Mission was founded. Every attempt at
the public preaching of the Gospel had been suppressed by
the Burman authorities, and the natives who openly favored
the missionaries were punished with fines, imprisonment, and
death.
Attempts to re-establish mission work in Rangoon, by
Dr. Judson, in 1847, and Rev. Eugenic Kincaid and J. Daw-
son, M. D., in 1851, were received with great favor by the
people, but sternly repressed by the Burman authorities.
Feb. 15, 1851, began the Second Burman War with England.
46
translation and the Burman-English Dictionary. Rev. E. A.
Stevens was in charge of the Theological School, Rev. L.
Stilson of the boarding school, while the great work of preach-
ing the Gospel in widely extended districts was carried on by
Rev. Jonathan Wade, Rev. T. Simons, Rev. H. Howard, and
Rev. J. M. Haswell. Mr. Haswell also gave attention to the
Takings, formerly the ruling race of Burma, who were settled
in the vicinity of Moulmein in considerable numbers. The
printing press, in care of Mr. T. S. Ranney, sent forth every
year large quantities of Christian literature, of school books
and of Scriptures in Burman and Karen, as fast as they could
be translated.
Rev. Adoniram Judson, D. D., the senior missionary of the
American Baptist Missionary Union, and the pioneer of
the Burman Mission, died at sea, April 12, 1850, when
scarcely three days from Burma on a voyage to the Isle of
Bourbon, for the benefit of his health. He was buried in the
sea in latitude thirteen degrees north, and longitude ninety
degrees east of Greenwich. At the death of Dr. Judson, the
completion of the Burman-English Dictionary was intrusted to
Mr. Stevens, and published in 1852, the English-Burman .part
having been completed by Dr. Judson, and published in
January, 1850. For sixteen years, from 1836 to 1852, no
missionary was able to reside permanently at Rangoon,
where the Burman Mission was founded. Every attempt at
the public preaching of the Gospel had been suppressed by
the Burman authorities, and the natives who openly favored
the missionaries were punished with fines, imprisonment, and
death.
Attempts to re-establish mission work in Rangoon, by
Dr. Judson, in 1847, and Rev. Eugenio Kincaid and J. Daw-
son, M. D., in 1851, were received with great favor by the
people, but sternly repressed by the Burman authorities.
Feb. 15, 1851, began the Second Burman War with England.
48
Dec. 20, 1852, the Governor-General of India, by proclama-
tion issued at Rangoon, declared " the Province of Pegu is
now and shall be henceforth a portion of the British territories
in the East." The boundaries of British Burma were thus
settled as they continued until 1885, and a large additional terri-
tory was thrown open to the free access of the Burman
Mission. This important event made necessary the imme-
diate enlargement of the missions in Burma, and $15,000 in
addition to the usual sum were appropriated for enlarged
operations and reorganization the first year. A deputation
consisting of Rev. Solomon Peck, D. D., secretary of the
Union, and Rev. James N. Granger, D. D., of Providence, R. I.,
left America in October, 1852, in anticipation of the impor-
tant changes which must soon take place in the missions in
Burma. Messrs. Kincaid and Dawson returned to Rangoon
in the spring of 1852, soon after the capture of the city by the
English, and resumed missionary labors. They found a small
church of fifteen members which had survived the sixteen
years of continuous persecution. Public services were held
Sunday, June 20, and a hospital was fitted up by Dr. Dawson.
The missionaries were well received by the people ; books
and tracts were in great demand, and opportunities for labor
multiplied beyond their ability to fulfil.
A general Convention of all the missipnaries in Burma met
in Moulmein, April 4, 1853, and continued its sessions for
six weeks, imtil May 17, at which the Executive Committee of
the Missionary Union was represented by the deputation
above mentioned. The present and prospective conditions
of missionary labor in" Burma were fully considered, and
measures adopted which have had a decisive influence upon
the missions in that country. The convention decided
that Burman missions should be at once permanently es-
tablished in Rangoon, Bassein, Henzada, Prome, Toungoo,
and Shwegyin, constituted a publication committee for the
49
control of the Mission Press, consolidated the Tavoy Press
with that at Moulmein, recommended increased attention to
the oral preaching of the Gospel to the heathen in their own
tongues, the ordination of a larger number of native pastors,
and that schools should be strictly under missionary supervis-
ion, and used rather as a " means for Christian instruction,
than of imparting a secular education." The establishment
of Normal schools in the principal stations for training
teachers and preachers was approved ; the founding of other
boarding schools, and the teaching of English in the mission
schools, was discouraged. Some of the decisions of the Con-
vention have been modified on subsequent experience, but it
must always be regarded as one of the most important events
in the history of missions in Burma, and its influence on the
whole was beneficial. By its discussions and conclusions a
great advance in the missions was made possible within a few
years, which must otherwise have come about very slowly.
As missionaries were still excluded from the dominions of
the king of Burma, Rev. Eugenio Kincaid began work-in
the city of Prome. The first three converts were baptized
Feb. 22, 1854, and seventy within the year. The work has
since expanded into one of the most successful of the Burman
missions. The mission to Ava was not abandoned, but sus-
pended. Early in 1856, Rev. Eugenio Kincaid and J. Daw-
son, M. D., visited Ava, where they were well received by
the king, who sent a message to the government of the
United States by Mr. Kincaid, which the latter came to this
country to deliver. On his return, Messrs. Kincaid and
Dawson visited Mandalay, and the king gave them land for
a mission compound and offered to erect a house for them ;
but the obstacles to missionary labors in the Burman domin-
ions reappeared, and no missionary ever established a per-
manent mission in the dominions of the native king of
Burma.
50
The fine brick chapel at Rangoon which had been seven
years in building, and cost J?s. 10,000, was dedicated Oct. 30,
1859, and was almost entirely paid for by the residents of
the city. This encouraging indication of progress was fol-
lowed in 1860 by the baptism of forty converts, and the for-
mation of the Rangoon Burman Missionary Society. The
first Burman Association met the same year at Thongze, to
which place Mrs. M. B. Ingalls had begun to devote special
attention, and where she removed in 1861. An unusual in-
terest in Christianity among the Burmans was reported from
Rangoon, Bassein, .Henzada, and Prome.
Early in 1862, the mission press, which had seen a long and
useful service in Moulmein, was removed to Rangoon, as
that city had become the most central and accessible point
of the mission work in Burma. Rev. Cephas Bennett, the
superintendent, continued his oversight of the printing for all
the missions in Burma, assisted by Mrs. Bennett, to whose
assiduity and accurate linguistic acquirements in several lan-
guages the literary work of the missions is not a little in-
debted. Owing to the depreciation of United States currency
during the Civil War, a financial stringency was experienced
in the Burman as in other missions. Enlargement on an ex-
tended scale was not possible ; but the work was carried on at
all the old stations, and was specially prospered at Prome and
Thongze. In accordance with recommendations from the
Executive Committee, Oct. 15, 1865, the Burma Baptist Mis-
sionary Convention, composed of Baptist Christians of all
races, was formed at Rangoon, and has since been an active
and efficient agent in promoting the evangelization of Burma,
and also of the Karens of Northern Siam. At its second an-
niversary, held in Moulmein, beginning Nov. 3, 1867, ninety-
one members were present, of whom fifteen were American
missionaries, twenty native ordained preachers, thirty-eight
unordained preachers, and eighteen laymen; $496.26 were
collected and expended, and a visit to Siamese Karens was
made by several. native preachers. The same year witnessed
8
1
3
B
the appointment of Miss Susie E. Haswell to teach in a school
proposed and established by her father, the Rev. J. M. Has-
The fine brick chapel at Rangoon which had been seven
years in building, and cost J?s. 10,000, was dedicated Oct. 30,
1859, and was almost entirely paid for by the residents of
the city. This encouraging indication of progress was fol-
lowed in 1860 by the baptism of forty converts, and the for-
mation of the Rangoon Burman Missionary Society. The
first Burman Association met the same year at Thongze, to
which place Mrs. M. B. Ingalls had begun to devote special
attention, and where she removed in 1861. An unusual in-
terest in Christianity among the Burmans was reported from
Rangoon, Bassein, .Henzada, and Prome.
Early in 1862, the mission press, which had seen a long and
useful service in Moulmein, was removed to Rangoon, as
that city had become the most central and accessible point
of the mission work in Burma. Rev. Cephas Bennett, the
superintendent, continued his oversight of the printing for all
the missions in Burma, assisted by Mrs. Bennett, to whose
assiduity and accurate linguistic acquirements in several lan-
guages the literary work of the missions is not a little in-
debted. Owing to the depreciation of United States currency
during the Civil War, a financial stringency was experienced
in the Burman as in other missions. Enlargement on an ex-
tended scale was not possible ; but the work was carried on at
all the old stations, and was specially prospered at Prome and
Thongze. In accordance with recommendations from the
Executive Committee, Oct. 15, 1865, the Burma Baptist Mis-
sionary Convention, composed of Baptist Christians of all
races, was formed at Rangoon, and has since been an active
and efficient agent in promoting the evangelization of Burma,
and also of the Karens of Northern Siam. At its second an-
niversary, held in Moulmein, beginning Nov. 3, 1867, ninety-
one members were present, of whom fifteen were American
missionaries, twenty native ordained preachers, thirty-eight
unordained preachers, and eighteen laymen; $496.26 were
collected and expended, and a visit to Siamese Karens was
made by several. native preachers. The same year witnessed
the appointment of Miss Susie E. Haswell to teach in a school
proposed and established by her father, the Rev. J. M. Has-
well, v.-ho thus became a pioneer in the enlarged mission school
work now under the special patronage of the Woman's Mis-
sionary Societies. An extended tour into Burma Proper was
made by Rev. A. T. Rose, of the Burman Mission, and Rev.
J. N. Gushing of the Shan Mission. They penetrated far into
the country northeast of Mandalay, and were everywhere
received with favor.
In the annual report of the Missionary Union for 1868 is
found the first systematic attempt to collect the statistics of
the missions in Burma which had been made for many years.
The following statistics of the Burman Mission in 1867 will
Avell illustrate the progress which has been made from the
first feeble beginning :
Stations.
Missionaries.
Ordained native
Preachers.
Unordained na-
tive Preachers.
Churches.
Baptized in 1867.
Members.
i
w
.5
ul
'3,
Contributions in
Rupees (=450.)
c
I
IO
I
14
206
61
478
c
I
7
2
1-3
138
246
Bassein
2
5
3
6
74.
*
Henthada .......
2
J
3
4.
/i /i
*
Prome
fi
6
A
O
3.
T e
CJ./1
I
* j
60
Thongzai
I
2
2
86
*
Total
24
Q
26
780
658
.754
* Not reported.
53
In 1869, fifty years from the baptism of the first Burman
convert, the number of members in Burman Baptist churches
was nine hundred and eighty- five.
For many years Rev. E. A. Stevens had maintained, in con-
nection with other duties, a class for the instruction of Burman
preachers, first at Moulmein, and then at Rangoon. The
need of more systematic arrangements for the theological
training of Burmans had long been felt, and on representations
from the missionaries, the Executive Committee authorized
the establishment of a Burman Literary and Biblical School at
Moulmein; but the plan was never carried into effect, and
Dr. Stevens continued his personal labors in this direction.
In this work he was followed by Rev. A. T. Rose, D. D., at
Rangoon, and later by Rev. W. F. Thomas. With the growth
of the Burman Mission this work has become increasingly
important, and has now been united with the same work for
all races in Burma at the Seminary at Insein.
After a service of more than fifty years as superintendent of
the Mission Press in Tavoy, Moulmein, and Rangoon, Rev.
Cephas Bennett retired from this position in i88r. In the last
year of his labors in this connection, there were printed 18,000
copies of Scriptures, books, and tracts, containing 3,236,000
pages. The good done through the Press while under his
care will only be known in the great day when all things shall
be known. He was succeeded by Mr. Frank D. Phinney.
In December, 1885, occurred the third and final war
between the English and the native power of Burma. It was
short and decisive. Mandalay, the capital of the Burman \
Empire, was captured. Thibaw, the last representative of the
Burman dynasty, was made a prisoner and exiled to Madras,
and the whole of Upper Burma was added to the British
Empire of India, making the English conquest of the country
complete. This opened the way for a large and rapid increase
of the missionary work, and threw the .responsibility upon the
54
Baptists of America to enter the doors which were thus thrown
open before them. Missionary work, begun in Bhamo in
1877, had been carried on with frequent interruptions and
little success, and about a year before the war the missionaries
had been wholly driven from Bhamo by an invasion of
Chinese, Shans, and Kachins, who captured the city. Immedi-
ately after the capture of Mandalay, missionary work was
( opened in that city and has been firmly established and con-
tinued with success. A fine church has been erected as a
memorial to Adoniram Judson, who suffered so greatly at
various spots within sight of its tall and graceful spire. The
work at Bhamo was also resumed and has been carried on
with efficiency and success under the leadership of Rev. W. H.
Roberts, the efforts there being chiefly directed towards the
Kachins and the Shans. Stations in Upper Burma have also
been opened at Myingyan, at Sagaing opposite the ancient
site of the old Burman capital of Ava, and at Meiktila, the
sanitary headquarters of the military forces of Upper Burma.
The conquest of Upper Burma by the British not only
prepared the way for enlarged work of missions among the
Burmans, but has thrown open the country of various subordi-
nate tribes and peoples. The whole of the Shan country is
under British power and influence. Opportunity is afforded
for mission work among the Kachins and Chins, and the way
opened to realize the early dream of the missionaries that the
time would come when the missions in Burma and those in
Assam would be united. This is now being accomplished by
the establishment of a mission station in Ukrul in Manipur,
and the missionaries in Burma and Assam, in their farthest
missionary travels, are rapidly approaching each other.
Since the dethronement of Thibaw, who was regarded as
the head of Buddhism, the priesthood of that religion has
become demoralized in Burma, and Christianity has made
more rapid progress among the Burman people than ever
55
before. The Burman converts in the Baptist churches in
Burma now number nearly three thousand and work is carried
on among this people in sixteen different stations. The
history of the mission to the Burmans has been lighted by
heroic endurance and steadfast perseverance, and, until
recently, shadowed by violent opposition, persecution, and
superstitious bigotry. The temporal power of the Burman
Empire is forever eclipsed, the confidence of the Buddhist
priesthood in the supremacy of their faith is overthrown, and
their influence over the people is shattered. The mountains
of difficulty which have so long hindered the progress of the
Burman Mission are being levelled and the valleys of sorrow
filled up, and a way is prepared for the progress of the King
of Glory among the proud, superstitious, and bigoted Burmans,
along which his chariot is even now coursing with increasing
rapidity. The light of Asia is becoming dim before the
dazzling splendor of the Light of the World, and with the
increasing commercial prosperity in Burma and its enlarged
political importance as a fully accredited province of the
British Indian Empire the gates are open for the full entrance
into Burma the earliest mission ground of American Bap-
tists and the scene of its most heroic services and sufferings
. of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
BURMA AND THE KARENS
THE population of Burma is about 8,000,000, made up of
of various races. It is the most prosperous province
of India. Its territory is diversified, generally fertile, and well
watered. The internal
commerce is extensive
and the foreign trade is
large and profitable.
The principal exports are
rice and teak timber.
The prevailing religion
is Buddhism, and the
people are free from the
iron fetters of caste
which bind their neigh-
bors across the Bay of
Bengal. Social life in
Burma is therefore freer
and more comfortable
than in India, education
is more general, and
wages are more than
three times as high.
At the beginning of
authentic Burman his-
tory the lower part of
Burma was held by the Talaings or Peguans. These were
conquered by the Burmans, about two hundred years ago,
who held all Burma until it was taken from them by England.
Within the limits of Burma there are said to be as many
as forty-seven different races, which are scattered over the
country, often mingling closely together in both town and
country.
The KARENS are divided into several tribes, using as many
different dialects. Some of these resemble each other so
much that communication between them is not difficult,
(56)
CHRISTIAN KAREN SCHOOL GIRLS
57
and in mission work the same books may be used ; while oth-
ers are so dissimilar that it requires close scientific observa-
tion to detect the resemblances. In general, the Karens are
small of stature, but well proportioned, and of a quiet and
peaceful disposition. It is supposed that they originally occu-
pied the hills of Burma, but as many are now found upon
the plains as the mountains. They usually depend upon
agriculture for their subsistence. The Karens say that they
RICE CULTIVATION IN BURMA
came originally from the north, " across the river of running
sand," which is held by some to be a name given to the desert
between China and Tartary; but others think the meaning
uncertain. They have traditions which correspond in a re-
markable manner with the Old Testament account of the
Creation, Temptation, and Fall of Man, and also of the
Flood. They claim to have had religious books formerly,
which were lost by their ancestors. From these traditions,
many have argued that the Karens are descended from the
BURMA AND THE KARENS
THE population of Burma is about 8,000,000, made up of
of various races. It is the most prosperous province
of India. Its territory is diversified, generally fertile, and well
watered. The internal
commerce is extensive
and the foreign trade is
large and profitable.
The principal exports are
rice and teak timber.
The prevailing religion
is Buddhism, and the
people are free from the
iron fetters of caste
which bind their neigh-
bors across the Bay of
Bengal. Social life in
Burma is therefore freer
and more comfortable
than in India, education
is more general, and
wages are more than
three times as high.
At the beginning of
authentic Burman his-
tory the lower part of
Burma was held by the Talaings or Peguans. These were
conquered by the Burmans, about two hundred years ago,
who held all Burma until it was taken from them by England.
Within the limits of Burma there are said to be as many
as forty- seven different races, which are scattered over the
country, often mingling closely together in both town and
country.
The KARENS are divided into several tribes, using as many
different dialects. Some of these resemble each other so
much that communication between them is not difficult,
(56)
CHRISTIAN KAREN SCHOOL GIRLS
57
and in mission work the same books may be used ; while oth-
ers are so dissimilar that it requires close scientific observa-
tion to detect the resemblances. In general, the Karens are
small of stature, but well proportioned, and of a quiet and
peaceful disposition. It is supposed that they originally occu-
pied the hills of Burma, but as many are now found upon
the plains as the mountains. They usually depend upon
agriculture for their subsistence. The Karens say that they
RICE CULTIVATION IN BURMA
came originally from the north, " across the river of running
sand," which is held by some to be a name given to the desert
between China and Tartary; but others think the meaning
uncertain. They have traditions which correspond in a re-
markable manner with the Old Testament account of the
Creation, Temptation, and Fall of Man, and also of the
Flood. They claim to have had religious books formerly,
which were lost by their ancestors. From these traditions,
many have argued that the Karens are descended from the
58
lost tribes of Israel ; but this has never been fully established,
and probably never can be. The terms White, Red, and
Black Karens, which are frequently met with, come from
variations in the color of the dress of different tribes. The
Karens number 663,657 in Burma, and are numerous in the
Shan States. They also extend over into Northern Siam.
Many are of the opinion that all the hill tribes of Burma,
Assam, Western China, and Southern Tibet are more or less
1 closely related, and are branches of one original stock. In
religion, they are generally spirit or demon worshippers, and
are very superstitious ; but they do not seem to be so firmly
attached to their religion as the Burmans. Buddhism, as
well as Christianity, is gaining many converts from their,
ranks.
The Sgaw Karens are perhaps the most numerous of the
Karen tribes. They live chiefly in the southern part of
Lower Burma, but are found as far north as Prome and
Toungoo, and even over in Northern Siam to the east of
Zimmai. The Pakus are found in the southern portion
of the Toungoo district. The Maunephghas are east of
Shwegyin.
The Pwos are found in the extreme southern part of Lower
Burma, occupying substantially the same territory as the
Sgaws, with whom they constantly intermingle. They are a
little more muscular, and of more settled habits than the
Sgaw Karens, and more Burmanized. The Bghais inhabit the
country northeast of Toungoo. They are wilder and more
fierce in their habits than other Karen tribes, and the country
in which they live is very mountainous. The construction
of their dwellings is peculiar, each village consisting of a
single house, built like a bazaar, with rooms on each side of a
walk which runs the whole length of the building. The Red
Karens are supposed to number more than two hundred thou-
sand, and occupy a distinct country northeast of Toungoo
and running into the Shan States. The Burman king made
many efforts to conquer them ; but they still maintain their
independence under native chiefs, who rule the two or three
districts into which their country is divided. They are the
most fierce and warlike of the Karen tribes, and seem to
have held to the Karen religion in its purity. All the Karens
59
believe in one God, who is good, but who has little to do with
the world at present. They also believe in spirits, good and
bad, and in a personal devil, who is the author of all the evil
and suffering of life. This devil and evil spirits are the prin-
cipal objects of their worship, as they think thus to appease
them, and so avoid the harm they might inflict. God and
A RED KAREN VILLAGE
good spirits they neither fear nor worship. The Red Karens
are said to believe in seven worlds, three above and three
below, and all worse than this ; so that, in dying, they expect
to go inevitably to a worse place than they leave. They also
have a system of meritorious works ; but it does not involve
much sacrifice, as it is so arranged that those things they wish
to do are meritorious, and only those they do not care for are
sinful.
58
lost tribes of Israel ; but this has never been fully established,
and probably never can be. The terms White, Red, and
Black Karens, which are frequently met with, come from
variations in the color of the dress of different tribes. The
Karens number 663,657 in Burma, and are numerous in the
Shan States. They also extend over into Northern Siam.
Many are of the opinion that all the hill tribes of Burma,
Assam, Western China, and Southern Tibet are more or less
closely related, and are branches of one original stock. In
religion, they are generally spirit or demon worshippers, and
are very superstitious ; but they do not seem to be so firmly
attached to their religion as the Burmans. Buddhism, as
well as Christianity, is gaining many converts from their,
ranks.
The Sgaw Karens are perhaps the most numerous of the
Karen tribes. They live chiefly in the southern part, of
Lower Burma, but are found as far north as Prome and
Toungoo, and even over in Northern Siam to the east of
Zimmai. The Pakus are found in the southern portion
of the Toungoo district. The Maunephghas are east of
Shwegyin.
The Pwos are found in the extreme southern part of Lower
Burma, occupying substantially the same territory as the
Sgaws, with whom they constantly intermingle. They are a
little more muscular, and of more settled habits than the
Sgaw Karens, and more Burmanized. The Bghais inhabit the
country northeast of Toungoo. They are wilder and more
fierce in their habits than other Karen tribes, and the country
in which they live is very mountainous. The construction
of their dwellings is peculiar, each village consisting of a
single house, built like a bazaar, with rooms on each side of a
walk which runs the whole length of the building. The Red
Karens are supposed to number more than two hundred thou-
sand, and occupy a distinct country northeast of Toungoo
and running into the Shan States. The Burman king made
many efforts to conquer them ; but they still maintain their
independence under native chiefs, who rule the two or three
districts into which their country is divided. They are the
most fierce and warlike of the Karen tribes, and seem to
have held to the Karen religion in its purity. All the Karens
59
believe in one God, who is good, but who has little to do with
the world at present. They also believe in spirits, good and
bad, and in a personal devil, who is the author of all the evil
and suffering of life. This devil and evil spirits are the prin-
cipal objects of their worship, as they think thus to appease
them, and so avoid the harm they might inflict. God and
A RED KAREN VILLAGE
good spirits they neither fear nor worship. The Red Karens
are said to believe in seven worlds, three above and three
below, and all worse than this ; so that, in dying, they expect
to go inevitably to a worse place than they leave. They also
have a system of meritorious works ; but it does not involve
much sacrifice, as it is so arranged that those things they wish
to do are meritorious, and only those they do not care for are
sinful.
THE KAREN MISSION.
GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN was sent out as a missionary to
the Burmans, and reached Amherst early in 1827 ; but after
a short residence there and at Moulmein, he removed to Tavoy
with Mrs. Boardman, in April, 1828. At that time there was
living in his family a convert, who had formerly been a slave,
but whose freedom had been purchased by the missionaries.
He was a Karen, and his name was Ko Thah-byu, afterward
known as the " Karen apostle." He was baptized at Tavoy,
May 16, 1828. Many of his people were brought to Mr.
Boardman by Ko Thah-byu, and showed unusual suscepti-
bility to religious impressions. In a journey into the in-
terior, large numbers were found who received the Gospel
with gladness, and applied for baptism, but Mr. Boardman
thought it wise to defer the ordinance until another visit. He
passed two years in Tavoy and vicinity, preaching the Gospel
to the Karens, interrupted only by one short absence in
Moulmein, occasioned by a quickly suppressed rebellion
among the Burmans of Tavoy, and another on account of
the state of his own health, in the spring of 1830. On
Dec. 20 of that year, eighteen Karens were baptized, which
increased the membership of the church to thirty-seven. Mr.
Boardman's health was now rapidly failing, but he decided to
make a trip into the interior with Rev. Francis Mason, who
had come to assist in the Karen work. Feb. 9, 1831, he wit-
nessed the baptism of thirty-four Karens by Mr. Mason.
The party then started on their return to Tavoy, but Mr.
(60)
6i
Boardman died in the arms of his wife, Feb. n, 1831, before
they reached their home.
Through the labors of Mr. Mason and others, the Gospel
was widely spread among the Karens in the Tenasserim
provinces, and many converts were baptized ; but many obsta-
cles to the perfecting of the converts in Christian life pre-
sented themselves through their intimate association with the
heathen. In 1832, it was, therefore, resolved to attempt the
gathering of the converts into Christian villages ; this was made
possible by the somewhat nomadic habits of the Karens, and
the plan then adopted has been pursued to a considerable
extent in the Karen Missions since that time. In this same
year, Mr. Wade reduced the Karen language to written form,
and the first Karen books were printed, being a spelling-book
and a Karen poem which had been preserved in the oral
traditions of the people, which was found to contain a story of
the Creation, agreeing in many particulars with the Mosaic
record. Being free from the superstitions of Buddhism, and
having traditions which taught them to believe that a new
religion would be brought to them by a white foreigner from
over the sea, which they should receive, the Karens proved
much more accessible to the truths of the Gospel than the
Burmans. At the end of 1833, two hundred and ninety-two
Karens had been baptized, of whom one hundred and eighty-
seven were in the Tavoy district, and the number of Karen
converts rapidly multiplied, many being pupils in the schools
which were established in connection with each mission.
At the establishment of the Theological School in Tavoy, of
the seventeen students, twelve were Karens.
An important event in the Karen Mission was the arrival
of Mr. and Mrs. Vinton in Rangoon, in October, 1836, they
having reached Moulmein from America the year before.
As yet, little work had been done among the Karens in Pegu.
Ko Thah-byu had travelled through the country preaching the
62
Gospel to his people, and on the first visit of the missionaries,
one hundred and seventy-three converts won through his
preaching were baptized. All through the district the Gospel
was received by the Karens with eagerness. The cessation of
mission work among the Burmans in the Rangoon and the
Pegu district, caused by the civil war in 1837, did not affect the
Karen work. Rev. E. L. Abbott, who had reached Burma in
1836, visited the districts of Maubee and Pantanau, and also
Bassein, where he was received with gladness, and gained a -
number of converts, one of whom was a young chief of unusual
intelligence and earnestness. Although the missionaries
were compelled to abandon the dominions of the king on ac-
count of the prospect of war between Burma and England,
multitudes of Karens heard the Gospel from the lips of 'this
young chief, and in 1839 it was reported that one thousand
persons were waiting to be baptized. Being unable to reside
in the territory of the king of Burma, Mr. Abbott proceeded
to Sandoway, Arakan, where he arrived March 17, 1840.
As soon as word of his location at that place reached the
Karens, they flocked across the mountains in multitudes to
hear the Gospel and be baptized. The passes were jeal-
ously guarded by the Burmans, but so many of the four thou-
sand professing Christians in the Burman dominions escaped
into Arakan, that the Burman governor ordered that they
should be allowed to worship " their God," in order to prevent
the persecuted Karens from emigrating in a body to Arakan.
In five years, more than three thousand were baptized by Mr.
Abbott or the native preachers under his direction, many of
whom were in Burma Proper. The Karens endured the
persecutions to which they were subjected with fortitude, and
refused to give up their faith. Those who went to Arakan
were ravaged by cholera, and the condition of this people,
oppressed and decimated by cruelty and disease, was pitiable
in the extreme.
63
In the Moulmein and Tavoy Missions the work among the
Karens had also been carried on with great success. Around
Moulmein there were seven Karen sub-stations, and of the
four hundred and fifty-four church members in this mission in
1840, the great majority were Karens, while in the Tavoy district
there were four hundred and seventy-three church members,
only a few of whom were Burmans. At Mergui were also
eight out-stations, six churches, and one hundred and thirty-
one members, nearly, if not all, Karens. In 1843 the New
Testament was printed in Karen, and the Karen journal,
the Morning Star, was begun in Tavoy. It was afterward
removed to Rangoon with the mission press, where it is still
continued. The management of the East India Company,
which had driven Mr. and Mrs. Judson from their territories
on their first arrival in India, had now become favorable to
missionary operations, and since their entrance into Burma on
the British conquest, had promoted in many ways the work
of the missions, especially in assisting the mission schools
among the Karens, which were justly regarded as an efficient
means of civilizing as well as Christianizing this wild and
timid people.
The churches among the Karens had now become so
numerous, that a well-established seminary had become a
necessity, in which pastors could be trained for these rapidly
increasing churches, and also evangelists to carry the Gospel
to the Karens, who seemed everywhere waiting but to hear
the Gospel in order to receive it. Rev. J. G. Binney, pastor
of the Baptist Church at Savannah, Ga., was accordingly
invited to go out to take charge of this important work. He
began the school In Moulmein, in 1846. It was afterward
removed to Rangoon, and later to Insein, where it is now under
the care of Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D. D. Mr. Abbott visited
the United States in 1845, wn ere his accounts of the mar-
vellous work at Sandoway, in Arakan, and in the southwestern
64
districts of Burma, aroused the greatest interest. He re-
turned in 1847, to find that the two ordained Karens had
baptized eleven hundred and fifty converts during his
absence, and the thirty-six native preachers reported twelve
hundred converts as awaiting baptism.
The Karen Theological Seminary, begun by Rev. J. G.
Binney, at Moulmein, in the spring of 1846, at the end of that
year had grown to a school of thirty-six pupils, most of whom
were from the Burman dominions, and came to Moulmein
through many difficulties ; a school for native preachers was
also opened by Mr. Cross, at Tavoy. More than one thou-
sand Karens were baptized in the district about Rangoon in
the last half of 1846, all by native preachers. At the close
of 1847, we have the first statistics of the Karen Mission,
separate from the Burman, as follows. The field of the
Sandoway Karen Mission was almost entirely in the Bassein
district of Burma Proper.
w
.
a
"2
4) tn
en
w
(d
ations.
(S
tn
ionarie
1
en
(v'S
M tn
ui
IU
1
1
B,
S2
1
in
"o
o
JS
=|
w
.J,
o
in
tn
S
'
o ^j
73 x
(J
O
S
u
w
(5
(U
ft.
'
Moulmein ....
I
21
5
6
30
io(?)
1 06
1,800 (?)
2
65
2
I" ( ? )
A
i
18 ( ? )
II
J7
SA
O w
T-
T-
VI
61
//
4
Sandoway ....
I
c
2
I
31
^0 (?)
( ? )
- .,
J
J
O
*J \ /
Total
II
II
6 00*3
79
43
u ' u yo
149
Although much less missionary labor had been devoted to
the Karens than to the Burmans, there were 6,093 church
65
members among the former, and only about two hundred
among the latter. Dr. Francis Mason said, " I presume I have
preached the Gospel to more Burmans than Karens ; and look-
ing at the results, I find I have baptized about one Burman
to fifty Karens. The reason of the great difference in these
CHRISTIAN KARENS
results is the difference in the preparation of the two nations
for the reception of the Gospel. The Burmans are our
Pharisees and Sadducees ; the Karens, our publicans and sin-
ners." The same disparity has been noted elsewhere between
missions among adherents of organized religious systems, and
those in what may be called a natural religious condition.
The high-caste Hindus have yielded but seldom to the
6 4
districts of Burma, aroused the greatest interest. He re-
turned in 1847, to find that the two ordained Karens had
baptized eleven hundred and fifty converts during his
absence, and the thirty-six native preachers reported twelve
hundred converts as awaiting baptism.
The Karen Theological Seminary, begun by Rev. J. G.
Binney, at Moulmein, in the spring of 1846, at the end of that
year had grown to a school of thirty-six pupils, most of whom
were from the Burman dominions, and came to Moulmein
through many difficulties ; a school for native preachers was
also opened by Mr. Cross, at Tavoy. More than one thou-
sand Karens were baptized in the district about Rangoon in
the last half of 1846, all by native preachers. At the close
of 1847, we have the first statistics of the Karen Mission,
separate from the Burman, as follows. The field of the
Sandoway Karen Mission was almost entirely in the Bassein
district of Burma Proper.
en
S2
.
.
O (ft
m
c
tft
rt
S c
.
.
CO
*c
"tn
a
tfi
QJ
T3
12
(A
k
c
**3
rt
'5i
2i
o
"o
*-2
~*
d
c
^
cu *^
^
"3
o
a
3
OT
"01
3
o
"55
tn
i
"a
^T3
rt
3
G
1
O
"o
w
OJ
fc.
5*
Moulmein ....
I
21
5
6
30
io(?)
1 06
1,800 (?)
2
65
Tavoy
2
I"? ( ? )
1 8 (?)
ii
37
770
Sj.
A O V' /
4
o7
77
4
Sandoway ....
I
c
2
i
-I
70(')
/M
_ _,,
J
J
Total
4
II
ii
7Q
6OQ"5
T-
iy
149
Although much less missionary labor had been devoted to
the Karens than to the Burmans, there were 6,093 church
65
members among the former, and only about two hundred
among the latter. Dr. Francis Mason said, " I presume I have
preached the Gospel to more Burmans than Karens ; and look-
ing at the results, I find I have baptized about one Burnian
to fifty Karens. The reason of the great difference in these
CHRISTIAN KARENS
results is the difference in the preparation of the two nations
for the reception of the Gospel. The Burmans are our
Pharisees and Sadducees ; the Karens, our publicans and sin-
ners." The same disparity has been noted elsewhere between
missions among adherents of organized religious systems, and
those in what may be called a natural religious condition.
The high-caste Hindus have yielded but seldom to the
66
Gospel, while the out-castes, upon whom Hinduism has but
little hold, have been converted in large numbers. With all
the labors among Mohammedans, there are less than ten
thousand converts to Christianity, but the people of many of
the South Sea Islands have become Christians in a body.
The Karen converts, from the first, showed a rare spirit of
liberality. Rev. Cephas Bennett, writing from Tavoy, in 1848,
estimates that the Karen Christians of that district were
giving more than twice as much in proportion to their ability
as the Baptists in America. The Karen churches connected
with the Sandoway Karen Mission, which were chiefly located
in the Bassein district of what was then Burma Proper, were
reported as having nearly all built themselves houses of
worship. Some churches already entirely supported their
own pastors, and in 1848, forty native assistants were sup-
ported at a cost of only six hundred rupees to the mission
funds. The report of 1850 says, " This system of self-sup-
port is working well ; and did the Burman government and
their own mode of life permit the Karens to congregate to-
gether in villages of moderate size, they would soon, it is
believed, not only support their own pastors, but aid in send-
ing the Gospel to the heathen around them." This they
began to do a few years later, under the encouragement of
more prosperous circumstances, and have ever since con-
tinued. At their meeting in 1848, the Karen pastors of the
Bassein district resolved that they would relinquish all assist-
ance from mission funds, and depend wholly upon their
churches ; a rule which has been adhered to in that mission
to the present time.
The second edition of the Sgaw Karen New Testament,
carefully revised by Rev. J. H. Vinton, and corrected by Dr.
Francis Mason, with the help of suggestions from Rev. Jona-
than Wade and Rev. E. L. Abbott, was printed in July, 1850,
at Moulmein, and was a great improvement on the first
6 7
edition. The printing of the Sgaw Karen Old Testament and
Pwo Karen New Testament was undertaken at the Tavoy
printing press, in charge of Rev. Cephas Bennett. The
Sgaw Karen Scriptures were completed in 1853. Much
other Christian literature was also printed for the Karens.
The first meeting of the Tavoy Association was held at
Pyeekhya, early in 1850, and an adjourned meeting met at
Mata, Dec. 30, and continued until Jan 8, at which all the
churches of the Tavoy and Mergui provinces were repre-
sented by delegate or letter, except one. The business was
largely conducted by the native brethren, and great advan-
tage was gained from the discussions. Two evangelists were
appointed to labor among the heathen permanently, and six
during the dry season. At the annual meeting of the Sando-
way Karen preachers, from Dec. u to 16, 1850, beside other
business of importance, a " Karen Home Mission Society "
was formed, to be entirely under the direction of the Karens.
Three missionaries were appointed to be supported by the
society ; and the determination was expressed to pursue the
work until "every Karen family shall have seen the light of
God."
From 1836, no missionary had been permitted to reside in
the Burman dominions, and the work among the Karens of
the Rangoon district had been carried on chiefly by means of
native preachers, with occasional visits from missionaries, as
opportunity offered. Great numbers were converted and
baptized, even under these unfavorable circumstances, and the
persecutions which were suffered were endured with great
fortitude and constancy. In 1851, encouraged by temporary
favor shown Messrs. Kincaid and Dawson by the government
at Ava, Rev. J. H. Vinton removed from Moulmein to Ran-
goon, and was received by the Karens with joyful demonstra-
tions. The period of the second Burmese war in 1852
brought great suffering upon the Christian Karens, but its
68
conclusion at the close of that year ended their sorrows, and
the Rangoon Karen Mission came forth from its early trials
to a career of abundant 'prosperity, which has continued to the
present time.
The severity of the Burmans against the Christian Ka-
rens of the Bassein district drove them to Arakan in such
large numbers, that a great loss in revenue resulted; and
the government, while allowing no missionaries among them,
found it necessary to order that persecutions should cease,
and sought to win back to their homes those who had
emigrated. This comparatively favorable condition of af-
fairs lasted till the second war between the English and
Burmans was declared, Feb. 15, 1852. The Karens were cor-
rectly suspected of sympathizing with the English, and during
the continuance of the war suffered beyond expression from
the horrible cruelties of the Burmans. On the conquest of
the district, the English recognized the claims of the Karens
to protection, appointed the " young chief," already referred
to, as their chief magistrate, and took measures to promote
their comfort and security. . Rev. E. L. Abbott and Rev. H.
L. Van Meter arrived in Bassein, July 12, 1852, and that city
soon became the centre of the Karen Mission, which had be-
fore had its headquarters at Sandoway in Arakan.
At the meeting of the General Convention of all the mis-
sionaries in Burma, held at Moulmein,from April 4 to May 17,
1853, a deputation from America was present, consisting of
Rev. Solomon Peck, D. D., foreign secretary of the Mission-
ary Union, and Rev. James N. Granger, D. D., of Providence,
R. I. The decisions of this Convention were of the greatest
importance, and have exercised a positive influence upon
the missions in Burma to the present time. The immedi-
ate establishment of new and permanent Karen stations at
Rangoon, Bassein, Henzada, Toungoo, and Shwegyin was
authorized, at all of which large results have since' been real-
6 9
ized. Mergui was abandoned as a principal station, the work
of that district to be under the missionaries at Tavoy. The
Karen press at Tavoy was removed to Moulmein,and consoli-
dated with the press there, under a publication committee, so
making one mission press for all Burma, an arrangement
which has since been continued with advantage. The ordina-
tion of a larger number of native preachers among the Karens,
and greater attention to oral preaching of the Gospel to the
heathen, as the divinely appointed method of evangelization,
were recommended. Primary schools were to be as far as
possible self-supporting, and under missionary supervision;
normal schools were to be established at the principal stations,
for training teachers and preachers. Other boarding schools,
and the teaching of English in mission schools, were discour-
aged, and the continuance of a general Karen Theological
School at Moulmein, for all Burma, was approved. Radical
changes were thus introduced into the conduct of missions in
Burma, some of which it has been necessary to modify on
experience, but the Convention, as a whole, was the means of
a great advance in the missions, and gave an impetus to the
work which is still operating beneficially,
The opening of each of the five new Karen stations in
1853 was attended with signal blessings. In the Rangoon
district, the work of God spread in all directions among the
Karens. Twenty churches were formed, and more than one
thousand baptized the first year. At the annual meeting of
the Bassein Karen Mission, six hundred and forty-four bap-
tisms were reported, and it was decided that " For preach-
ers, pastors, and ordained ministers, we shall expend no more
of ,the money of our American brethren." Five hundred
and seventy-seven were baptized the first year in the Shwe-
gyin Mission, nearly all by one Karen preacher, Sau Doomoo,
and six churches were formed. Around Henzada, Rev. B.
C. Thomas found a large Karen population, from whom he
TO
received a cordial reception; one hundred and fifty were
baptized the first year of work, and from Toungoo an im-
mense number of Karens were found to be accessible. Dr.
Francis Mason was able only to open the work under favorable
circumstances, when he was compelled to return to America
on account of his health. He left the infant mission to the
efficient care of Sau Quala, who baptized the first two con-
verts in January, 1854, and more than two thousand the first
two years. The Karen Theological Seminary continued at
Moulmein until 1859, under the care of Rev. Jonathan Wade,
D. D., increasing in importance and usefulness with the rapid
growth of the Karen missions ; and in 1858, the principles of
self-help had made considerable progress among the Tavoy,
Toungoo, Shwegyin, and Henzada Karens, while in the
Moulmein Karen Mission the Christians seemed to desire
help from the missionaries in temporal as well as religious
affairs.
In 1850, Rev. J. G. Binney, D. D., resumed the care of the
Karen Theological Seminary, which was then removed to
Rangoon, and Dr. Wade began to devote his whole attention
to preparing commentaries and theological works in the Karen
language, of which there was felt to be a pressing need, owing
to the rapid growth of the Karen churches, and the conse-
quent increase of native preachers. In the Toungoo Mission
alone, one thousand ninety-six Karens were baptized in that
year, and the limits of the work were extended to the borders
and even into the country of the Red Karens. The first
printed book in the Red Karen dialect was a tract issued
from the press in Moutmein in 1860. Owing to the diminished
receipts of the Missionary Union during the years of the
Civil War, the mission work in Burma could not be extended
as fast as the growing interest demanded. Native preachers
could not be supplied to fill the numerous requests, and
partly owing to unusual sickness among the missionaries, the
stations of Tavoy and Shwegyin were left without resident
missionaries for several years; the injurious effects of this
deprivation are felt in these fields to the present day.
Although the results of the Convention held at Moulmein in
1853 were generally beneficial, the principles regarding the
conduct of mission schools, adopted by the Executive Commit-
tee, on recommendation of the deputation from America, were
not acceptable to a number of the missionaries, nearly all of
whom were laboring in the Karen work. The rules adopted,,
with other complications, resulted in the resignation of several
missionaries, and the separation of the Rangoon and Bassein
Sgaw Karen Missions from the Missionary Union, for seven-
teen years in the former case, and thirteen in the latter.
After a trial of thirteen years, experience showed that the
principles adopted on the conduct of mission schools were
too stringent in some directions, and, while still placing the
chief stress on oral preaching of the Gospel as the principal
work of a missionary, greater latitude was permitted in estab-
lishing and maintaining schools, as the best judgment might
show to be most beneficial in the various stations. In 1867,.
two ladies were appointed specially for the work of teaching :
one of whom was Miss Isabella Watson to the Sgaw Karen
school at Bassein, one of the two pioneers in the enlarged
school work in the missions, now under the special patronage
of the Woman's Missionary Societies. In 1867, the statistics
of the Karen Missions stood as follows :
70
received a cordial reception; one hundred and fifty were
baptized the first year of work, and from Toungoo an im-
mense number of Karens were found to be accessible. Dr.
Francis Mason was able only to open the work under favorable
circumstances, when he was compelled to return to America
on account of his health. He left the infant mission to the
efficient care of Sau Quala, who baptized the first two con-
verts in January, 1854, and more than two thousand the first
two years. The Karen Theological Seminary continued at
Moulmein until 1859, under the care of Rev. Jonathan Wade,
D. D., increasing in importance and usefulness with the rapid
growth of the Karen missions ; and in 1858, the principles of
self-help had made considerable progress among the Tavoy,
Toungoo, Shwegyin, and Henzada Karens, while in the
Moulmein Karen Mission the Christians seemed to desire
help from the missionaries in temporal as well as religious
affairs.
In 1850, Rev. J. G. Binney, D. D., resumed the care of the
Karen Theological Seminary, which was then removed to
Rangoon, and Dr. Wade began to devote his whole attention
to preparing commentaries and theological works in the Karen
language, of which there was felt to be a pressing need, owing
to the rapid growth of the Karen churches, and the conse-
quent increase of native preachers. In the Toungoo Mission
alone, one thousand ninety-six Karens were baptized in that
year, and the limits of the work were extended to the borders
and even into the country of the Red Karens. The first
printed book in the Red Karen dialect was a tract issued
from the press in Moulmein in 1860. Owing to the diminished
receipts of the Missionary Union during the years of the
Civil War, the mission work in Burma could not be extended
as fast as the growing interest demanded. Native preachers
could not be supplied to fill the numerous requests, and
partly owing to unusual sickness among the missionaries, the
stations of Tavoy and Shwegyin were left without resident
missionaries for several years; the injurious effects of this
depnvntion are felt in these fields to the present day.
Although the results of the Convention held at Moulnaein in
1853 were generally beneficial, the principles regarding the
conduct of mission schools, adopted by the Executive Commit-
tee, on recommendation of the deputation from America, were
not acceptable to a number of the missionaries, nearly all of
whom were laboring in the Karen work. The rules adopted,,
with other complications, resulted in the resignation of several
missionaries, and the separation of the Rangoon and Bassein
Sgaw Karen Missions from the Missionary Union, for seven-
teen years in the former case, and thirteen in the latter.
After a trial of thirteen years, experience showed that the
principles adopted on the conduct of mission schools were
too stringent in some directions, and, while still placing the
chief stress on oral preaching of the Gospel as the principal
work of a missionary, greater latitude was permitted in estab-
lishing and maintaining schools, as the best judgment might
show to be most beneficial in the various stations. In 1867,
two ladies were appointed specially for the work of teaching :
one of whom was Miss Isabella Watson to the Sgaw Karen
school at Bassein, one of the two pioneers in the enlarged
school work in the missions, now under the special patronage
of the Woman's Missionary Societies. In 1867, the statistics
of the Karen Missions stood as follows :
72
Stations.
rt
"in
Ordained native
Preachers.
JH i-i
- <y
J 1
Churches.
Baptized in 1867.
Members.
en
"o
O
5
en
"S.
Contributions in
Rupees (= 450.)
Rangoon
2
7
46
"9
2,8 1 2
1,267
Bassein
C
rS
71
202
6,174
1OCK
I4.QII
Henthada
2
q
61
6?
165
I . ^o*?
2,677
8
18
28
287
'Toungoo
A
7
1 08
4,0 c8
^"j
1.760
2
ii
1C.
86-?
14.2
'j u y
*
Tavoy
J
c
17
*
18
60
'-"-'j
I7Q
602
Total
17
- 8
1,006
18,21:4.
3,8 CO
o^jy
'
* Not reported.
The Bassein Sgaw Karen Normal and Industrial Institute
was established in 1858, by Rev. J. S. Beecher, then laboring
Tinder the auspices of the Free Mission Society. The
Karens paid for the school buildings, costing about two thou-
sand dollars, and the government granted ten acres of land
at the top of "-White Book Hill" (Sahbyugon), to be free
from taxes " so long as it shall be used for bona fide mission
purposes." In the spring of 1866, Mr. Beecher, on account
of failing health, was compelled to leave Burma, never to
return. And at the urgent request of the Sgaw Karen pastors
of Bassein, Rev. B. C. Thomas was transferred to the care
of that mission. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas had accomplished a
great work among the Karens of Henzada, and conducted
73
the affairs of the important work in Bassein with wisdom and
devotion, until their departure for America, in 1867, on
account of the health of Mr. Thomas. Worn out by his long
and arduous labors, he died the day after reaching New York.
The question of a proper provision for the Bassein Sgaw
Karen Mission was a difficult and pressing one, but after full
correspondence, the Executive Committee arrived at a decis-
ion at a special meeting, Oct. 26, 1867, and made the first
use of the Atlantic cable to announce the result to the mis-
sionaries in Burma, " Carpenter transferred to Bassein, and
Smith to Rangoon." The dispatch was delivered to the con-
vention assembled at Bassein in three days after leaving
Boston, and brought relief to anxious deliberations. Rev.
D. A. W. Smith, who had been at Henzada, and was thus
transferred to the Karen Theological Seminary, soon returned
to his mission field at Henzada. Rev. C. H. Carpenter was
taken from the Seminary to the Sgaw Karen Mission at
Bassein ; fitted by both temperament and ability, he success-
fully continued the work in the lines of Abbott and Beecher.
The year 1871 was signalized by three events of high im-
port to the interest of the Karen Mission : The reunion of
the Rangoon Sgaw Karen work with the Missionary Union,
and the appointment of Rev. J. B. Vinton as a missionary;
the reconciliation of nearly all the alienated Karen churches
of the Toungoo district, and the reappointment of Rev.
Francis Mason, D. D. ; and the formation of the Woman's
Baptist Foreign Missionary Societies, having headquarters at
Boston and Chicago, as auxiliary to the Missionary Union.
While the latter event is related to all the fields of the Union,
it has special significance for the Karen Missions, since it is
among this people that the school work, the support of which
has been chiefly assumed by the Woman's Societies, has
been most extended. The Rangoon Baptist College, the
establishment of which had been authorized in 1871, was
74
finally opened May 28, 1872, under the care of Rev. J. G=
Binney, D. D., and Rev. John Packer. Dr. Binney also con-
tinued as president of the Karen Theological Seminary, the
two institutions being near each other. The following year.
Rev. C. H. Carpenter,. just returned from a visit to America,
was appointed president of the college, where he continued
until March, 1875, when he returned to his old field at Bas-
sein, and Rev. John Packer was appointed president of the
college. On the return of Dr. Binney to America, in 1876,
Rev. D. A. W. Smith assumed charge of the Theological
Seminary at Rangoon. This appointment continues un-
changed.
In 1878, fifty years from the baptism of the first Karen
convert, Ko Thah-byu, the number of members in the Karen
Baptist churches in Burma was 20,007. This jubilee of the
Karen Mission was celebrated at Bassein, May 16 (the fiftieth
anniversary of Ko Thah-byu's baptism), by the dedication of
the Ko Thah-byu Memorial Hall, for the use of the Bassein
Sgaw Karen Normal and Industrial Institute, and accommo-
dating three hundred boarding pupils. This, with other aux-
iliary buildings, was built entirely at the cost of the Bassein
Karens, and on the day of dedication, the building fund had
reached the sum of fis. 42,342-3 or about $22,000, and all debts
were paid. During that year the contributions of the Bassein
Sgaw Karens, for all religious and educational purposes,
amounted to more than J?s. 50,000. In addition to their usual
annual contributions, they have since raised an endowment
fund for the Institute, which is invested in the United States,
and in 1893 amounted to $13,669.50. The total contributions
to their building fund made by this people was $30,479.78.
From the time of the formation of the Burma Baptist Con-
vention in 1865, repeated attempts had been made toward
the evangelization of the Karens in Siam, by American and
native missionaries, but nothing of a permanent character
74
finally opened May 28, 1872, under the care of Rev. J. G=
Binney, D. D., and Rev. John Packer. Dr. Binney also con-
tinued as president of the Karen Theological Seminary, the
two institutions being near each other. The following year,
Rev. C. H. Carpenter, .just returned from a visit to America,
was appointed president of the college, where he continued
until March, 1875, when he returned to his old field at Bas-
sein, and Rev. John Packer was appointed president of the
college. On the return of Dr. Binney to America, in 1876,
Rev. D. A. W. Smith assumed charge of the Theological
Seminary at Rangoon. This appointment continues un-
changed.
In 1878, fifty years from the baptism of the first Karen
convert, Ko Thah-byu, the number of members in the Karen
Baptist churches in Burma was 20,007. This jubilee of the
Karen Mission was celebrated at Bassein, May 16 (the fiftieth
anniversary of Ko Thah-byu's baptism), by the dedication of
the Ko Thah-byu Memorial Hall, for the use of the Bassein
Sgaw Karen Normal and Industrial Institute, and accommo-
dating three hundred boarding pupils. This, with other aux-
iliary buildings, was built entirely at the cost of the Bassein
Karens, and on the day of dedication, the building fund had
reached the sum of Rs. 42,342-3 or about $22,000, and all debts
were paid. During that year the contributions of the Bassein
Sgaw Karens, for all religious and educational purposes,
amounted to more than J?s. 50,000. In addition to their usual
annual contributions, they have since raised an endowment
fund for the Institute, which is invested in the United States,
and in 1893 amounted to $13,669.50. The total contributions
to their building fund made by this people was $30,479.78.
From the time of the formation of the Burma Baptist Con-
vention in 1865, repeated attempts had been made toward
the evangelization of the Karens in Siam, by American and
native missionaries, but nothing of a permanent character
7 6
was effected until 1881, when an expedition under Rev.
David Webster and Rev. Walter Bushell, with several native
preachers, penetrated into the Laos country of Northern
Siam, beyond Chiengmai (Zimmai), and found considerable
communities of Karens in the Lakon district, ready to re-
ceive the Gospel. They baptized seventy and formed three
churches. The missionaries soon returned to Burma, leaving
several native preachers to carry on the work, several of whom
had their families with them ; but within a year or more, all
the preachers except one returned to Burma, and the work
among the Karens of Northern Siam has been discontinued.
Their numbers are so small and so widely scattered that
mission work among them is very difficult. In 1883 the com-
pleted translation of the Bible into Pvvo Karen, the work of
Rev. D. L. Brayton, assisted by his daughter, Mrs. A. T. Rose,
was issued from the mission press at Rangoon, and put into
general circulation, thus giving the entire Word of God to all
the Karens in Burma. The scope of the Karen Theological
Seminary was enlarged in 1894, so as to admit representatives
of all races in Burma, and Rev. W. F. Thomas was added to
the faculty. In 1895 Rev. F. H. Eveleth was called from
Sandoway to have charge of the Burman department in the
seminary, Mr. Thomas proposing to open an English depart-
ment after visiting America.
The American Baptist mission to the Karens of Burma is
justly regarded as one of the most illustrious of the miracles
of modern missions. In the readiness with which the gospel
has been received, in the large number of converts gathered,
.and in the development of self-supporting, self-directing, and
self-propagating churches, the mission stands conspicuous
.among all missionary efforts in the world. At the present
time there are more than five hundred Baptist churches
among the Karens, of which about four hundred are entirely
maintained by the Karens themselves, and the converts num-
77
ber nearly thirty-three thousand, with a large and orderly
Christian community numbering nearly a quarter of a million.
From a timid, scattered, wild, and oppressed people, the
Karens have advanced, by the influence of Christian mis-
sionary work, to a condition of prosperity, self-reliance, and
independence. These splendid results have been realized not
only in the Christian community itself, but in a degree among
the whole Karen people of Burma. After the conquest of
Upper Burma by the British, and the scattering of the native
Burman army, large numbers of these disbanded soldiers
formed themselves into organized companies of robbers or
dacoits, which carried murder and destruction throughout the
country. Against these wild and rapidly moving bands the
trained British soldiers were almost useless. In this emer-
gency the government called upon the Karens, and these
people, formerly timid and retiring, led and encouraged largely
by Christians, pursued the wild bands of dacoits to their
retreats in the mountains and forests, dispersed- them, and
restored the country to comparative order. The order of the
British authorities that no natives should be allowed to carry
arms was rescinded in favor of the Karens, and their loyalty
and efficiency as police so highly commended itself to the
government that a large part of the police duty of Burma is
now in the hands of the Karens.
The Christian Karens are raised above their heathen neigh-
bors in industry and order, and their villages have gained the
distinct and repeated approval of the government officials,
who recognize that it is Christianity which has been the means
of placing the Karen people where they now stand. The
Administrator's report for Burma says, " The Karen race and
British government owe a great deal to the American mission-
aries, who have, under Providence, wrought this change among
the Karens of Burma."
The prospect of the Karen mission for the future is no less
78
pleasing and inspiring than its history for the past. The mis-
sion, prosperous from the first, goes on with increasing power
and influence, enjoying the favor of God, and gaining the
approval of man. It is a distinct proof of the power of the
religion of Jesus Christ to raise a degraded, ignorant, and
superstitious people to a position of respectability, honor,
and influence, and illustrates more than almost any other
movement in the history of the Christian church the wisdom
of the Saviour when he said, "The poor have the gospel
preached to them," and the profound and far-reaching divine
philosophy which plants the gospel among the lowest of the
people that its influence may fulfil their heaven-born aspira-
tions, and rise from the poor and ignorant up through every
class of society until the leaven permeates the whole mass of
the social and political organism. Blessed with the favor
of God, and having been made a blessing to all the peoples
of Burma, the Karen mission has the brightest prospects for
a grand and triumphant spiritual development in the future.
78
pleasing and inspiring than its history for the past. The mis-
sion, prosperous from the first, goes on with increasing power
and influence, enjoying the favor of God, and gaining the
approval of man. It is a distinct proof of the power of the
religion of Jesus Christ to raise a degraded, ignorant, and
superstitious people to a position of respectability, honor,
and influence, and illustrates more than almost any other
movement in the history of the Christian church the wisdom
of the Saviour when he said, "The poor have the gospel
preached to them," and the profound and far-reaching divine
philosophy which plants the gospel among the lowest of the
people that its influence may fulfil their heaven-born aspira-
tions, and rise from the poor and ignorant up through every
class of society until the leaven permeates the whole mass of
the social and political organism. Blessed with the favor
of God, and having been made a blessing to all the peoples
of Burma, the Karen mission has the brightest prospects for
a grand and triumphant spiritual development in the future.
98 Greenwich 98
MINOR MISSIONS IN BURMA
ALTHOUGH the principal efforts of Baptist missions in Burma
have been exerted among the Burmans and the Karens, mission-
ary operations have been gradually enlarged so as to reach nearly
all the numerous races in that country, which are said to num-
ber as many as forty-seven. Separate missions are maintained
among all of the principal races which are important enough
to be mentioned by name in the census report of 1891, with
the exception of the Chinese. The numerous minor divisions
of the people of Burma are allied to one or another of these
principal races among whom missions are maintained, and so
are in some degree reached by the gospel of Christ.
THE SHAN MISSION
The Shans are in number the third race in Burma. In the
census of 1891, the whole population of the province is given
as 8,057,558, of whom 6,129,182 were Burmans and Takings,
and 663,657 were Karens. The Shans numbered 582,655, of
whom 94,302 were in Lower Burma, 112,492 in Upper Burma,
and 375,961 in the tributary Shan states. They are the Bur-
man branch of that great race, perhaps the most numerous in
southeastern Asia, called by the general name of Tai, and
speaking dialects of the same language wherever found, so that
persons who have learned the Shan language in Burma can
easily travel and converse with the people in Siam, in the
Yunnan province of China, or among the Khamtis of Assam.
In Burma the Shans are the travelling traders of the country,
and every year large numbers come down from the Shan states
bringing herds of ponies and large quantities of the products
of Shanland for sale. They have no independent government
of their own, but are divided into principalities governed by
chiefs called sawbwas, and they are again subject to the
authority of the lands where they live, whether in Burma,
(81;
82
Siam, or China. They are an active, intelligent, and enterpris-
ing people, occupying many positions of trust and responsi-
bility in Burma, and the British government continues to govern
the Shan states through their sawbwas, to whom much inde-
pendent action is allowed. In religion the Shans are Buddh-
ists, and those in Burma are excessively bigoted and hard to
evangelize, but it is stated that Buddhism has a less firm hold
upon the Shans in the territory where they are most numerous.
SHAN MISSION HOUSE, TOUNGOO
The Shans had attracted some attention from earlier mis-
sionaries, but the first to be appointed to labor specially
among them was Rev. Moses H. Bixby, who, with his wife,
left America in December, 1860, and settled in Toungoo,
where there were a large number of Shans who had recently
been driven out of their own territory by the civil war raging
in Upper Burma. Toungoo remained the principal centre of
the Shan mission for thirty years. From there Dr. Bixby
83
made many journeys among the Shans, and did much to
attract attention to that people, but on account of the un-
settled state of the country he was not able to open mission
work in Shanland itself. A small church of Shans and Bur-
mans was formed in Toungoo and schools established for the
people. The most important single addition which the Shan
mission ever received reached Burma in March, 1867, con-
sisting of Rev. J. N. Gushing and Mrs. Gushing and Miss
A. R. Gage. Miss Gage gave herself to the study of the
Burman language, as this was more important for work in
the schools, but Mr. and Mrs. Gushing applied themselves to
the study of the language of the Shan people. They had no
books to help them, but they made such progress that after a
time they were able to converse with the people, and imme-
diately began the preparation of tracts and other literature in
the Shan language. Mr. Gushing, with Rev. A. T. Rose,
visited the western part of Shanland in 1868, and he has made
many extended and hazardous journeys throughout the length
and breadth of the Shan states, including those under the
control of Siam, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the
country and with the people. The knowledge gained in these
journeys has been of immense assistance to the British Gov-
ernment and in the development of the Shan mission, which
has now found its true and principal home in the Shan coun-
try itself. In 1869 Mrs. Gushing accompanied her husband
on an extended and perilous tour through the Shan country,
as far as the Mekong River, which has now become the
boundary between the French and British territory. They
travelled over ten mountain ranges, some of which rise to a
height of more than six thousand feet above the sea. On
this journey they were seized, not by the Shans but by Burman
soldiers ; their books were burned and they were sent out of
the country with threats. Having spent a short time in Ran-
goon in 1869, in November, 1870, they made their home at
Toungoo and strengthened the little church which had been
gathered there. In 1871 the Gospel of Matthew and a gram-
mar of the Shan language, the first Christian books to appear
in that tongue, were published.
The progress of the Shan mission in Burma has been marked
by a singular fatality among the promising and able workers
82
Siam, or China. They are an active, intelligent, and enterpris-
ing people, occupying many positions of trust and responsi-
bility in Burma, and the British government continues to govern
the Shan states through their sawbwas, to whom much inde-
pendent action is allowed. In religion the Shans are Buddh-
ists, and those in Burma are excessively bigoted and hard to
evangelize, but it is stated that Buddhism has a less firm hold
upon the Shans in the territory where they are most numerous.
SHAN MISSION HOUSE, TOUNGOO
The Shans had attracted some attention from earlier mis-
sionaries, but the first to be appointed to labor specially
among them was Rev. Moses H. Bixby, who, with his wife,
left America in December, 1860, and settled in Toungoo,
where there were a large number of Shans who had recently
been driven out of their own territory by the civil war raging
in Upper Burma. Toungoo remained the principal centre of
the Shan mission for thirty years. From there Dr. Bixby
83
made many journeys among the Shans, and did much to
attract attention to that people, but on account of the un-
settled state of the country he was not able to open mission
work in Shanland itself. A small church of Shans and Bur-
mans was formed in Toungoo and schools established for the
people. The most important single addition which the Shan
mission ever received reached Burma in March, 1867, con-
sisting of Rev. J. N. Gushing and Mrs. Gushing and Miss
A. R. Gage. Miss Gage gave herself to the study of the
Burman language, as this was more important for work in
the schools, but Mr. and Mrs. Gushing applied themselves to
the study of the language of the Shan people. They had no
books to help them, but they made such progress that after a
time they were able to converse with the people, and imme-
diately began the preparation of tracts and other literature in
the Shan language. Mr. Gushing, with Rev. A. T. Rose,
visited the western part of Shanland in 1868, and he has made
many extended and hazardous journeys throughout the length
and breadth of the Shan states, including those under the
control of Siam, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the
country and with the people. The knowledge gained in these
journeys has been of immense assistance to the British Gov-
ernment and in the development of the Shan mission, which
has now found its true and principal home in the Shan coun-
try itself. In 1869 Mrs. Gushing accompanied her husband
on an extended and perilous tour through the Shan country,
as far as the Mekong River, which has now become the
boundary between the French and British territory. They
travelled over ten mountain ranges, some of which rise to a
height of more than six thousand feet above the sea. On
this journey they were seized, not by the Shans but by Burman
soldiers ; their books were burned and they were sent out of
the country with threats. Having spent a short time in Ran-
goon in 1869, in November, 1870, they made their home at
Toungoo and strengthened the little church which had been
gathered there. In 1871 the Gospel of Matthew and a gram-
mar of the Shan language, the first Christian books to appear
in that tongue, were published.
The progress of the Shan mission in Burma has been marked
by a singular fatality among the promising and able workers
8 4
who have been sent out. Rev. J. B. Kelley arrived in Burma
in 1872, and was drowned Jan. i, 1873, while on a journey in
Shanland with Mr. Gushing. In 1879 Rev. B. J. Mix and wife
joined the mission, but both were soon obliged to leave the
country by the failure of their health. Miss Mary A. Rockwood,
of Massachusetts, reached Toungoo in 1880 and showed the
most promising qualifications and abilities for an able and suc-
cessful missionary, but after less than two years of labor passed
away from an attack of typhoid fever, a disease at that time
almost unknown in Burma. Rev. A. J. Lyon arrived in
Rangoon with his wife in December, 1877, but died within
three months. The loss of able leaders greatly retarded the
progress of the mission, but those who remained in the work
continued to labor with great faithfulness. Mr. and Mrs.
Gushing being compelled to return to America in 1874, again
reached the field in October, 1876, and proceeding up the
Irrawaddy River eight hundred miles opened a station for a
Shan mission at Bhamo. They were delayed three weeks at
Mandalay before an order could be obtained from the king of
Burma, permitting their residence in Bhamo. As the little
mission in Toungoo demanded attention and care, Mrs. Gush-
ing went to take charge of the work there in 1877, while Mr.
Gushing continued to labor at Bhamo. By these divided labors
husband and wife preserved alive the bereaved mission to the
Shans, and Mr. Gushing was able to introduce to the work at
Bhamo Rev. W. H. Roberts, and also Rev. J. A. Freiday, the
latter, however, returning to America after a few years of labor.
The work of preparing religious literature in the Shan lan-
guage pressed more and more upon Dr. and Mrs. Gushing,
and in January, 1880, they removed to Rangoon in order to be
near the printing press. The failure of Mrs. Cushing's health,
however, soon compelled her to return to America. In 1881
Dr. Gushing saw the first Shan and English Dictionary through
the press, and the first edition of the Shan New Testament was
published in the following year. In January, 1885, the transla-
tion of the Old Testament into the Shan language was com-
pleted, and the whole Bible was printed in 1891.
Previous to this time a movement had begun toward which
all labor for the Shan people had been directed. After the
deposition of King Thibawby the English in December, 1885,
85
and the capture of Upper Burma, Shanland itself became open
to the residence of missionaries. A station was open at Thibaw,
REV. JOSIAH N. GUSHING, D. D.
in the northern Shan states, in 1890, and at Mone' in 1892,
Rev. M. B. Kirkpatrick, M. D., being the principal agent in
34
who have been sent out. Rev. J. B. Kelley arrived in Burma
in 1872, and was drowned Jan. i, 1873, while on a journey in
Shanland with Mr. Gushing. In 1879 Rev. B. J. Mix and wife
joined the mission, but both were soon obliged to leave the
country by the failure of their health. Miss Mary A. Rockwood,
of Massachusetts, reached Toungoo in 1880 and showed the
most promising qualifications and abilities for an able and suc-
cessful missionary, but after less than two years of labor passed
away from an attack of typhoid fever, a disease at that time
almost unknown in Burma. Rev. A. J. Lyon arrived in
Rangoon with his wife in December, 1877, but died within
three months. The loss of able leaders greatly retarded the
progress of the mission, but those who remained in the work
continued to labor with great faithfulness. Mr. and Mrs.
Gushing being compelled to return to America in 1874, again
reached the field in October, 1876, and proceeding up the
Irrawaddy River eight hundred miles opened a station for a
Shan mission at Bhamo. They were delayed three weeks at
Mandalay before an order could be obtained from the king of
Burma, permitting their residence in Bhamo. As the little
mission in Toungoo demanded attention and care, Mrs. Gush-
ing went to take charge of the work there in 1877, while Mr.
Gushing continued to labor at Bhamo. By these divided labors
husband and wife preserved alive the bereaved mission to the
Shans, and Mr. Gushing was able to introduce to the work at
Bhamo Rev. W. H. Roberts, and also Rev. J. A. Freiday, the
latter, however, returning to America after a few years of labor.
The work of preparing religious literature in the Shan lan-
guage pressed more and more upon Dr. and Mrs. Gushing,
and in January, 1880, they removed to Rangoon in order to be
near the printing press. The failure of Mrs. Cushing's health,
however, soon compelled her to return to America. In 1881
Dr. Gushing saw the first Shan and English Dictionary through
the press, and the first edition of the Shan New Testament was
published in the following year. In January, 1885, the transla-
tion of the Old Testament into the Shan language was com-
pleted, and the whole Bible was printed in 1891.
Previous to this time a movement had begun toward which
all labor for the Shan people had been directed. After the
deposition of King Thibawby the English in December, 1885,
85
and the capture of Upper Burma, Shanland itself became open
to the residence of missionaries. A station was open at Thibaw,
REV. JOSIAH N. GUSHING, D. D.
in the northern Shan states, in 1890, and at Mone in 1892,
Rev. M. B. Kirkpatrick, M. D., being the principal agent in
86
the first advance, introduced to his field by Dr. Gushing,
whose intimate knowledge of the country has been of great as-
sistance to the later missionaries. The work at Mone, opened
in 1892, is now under the charge of A. H. Henderson, M. D.
In both stations medical work has occupied an important
SHAN GIRL
place. Dr. Gushing having seen his great literary works
completed in the publication of the Shan Dictionary and in
the translation and printing of the whole Bible in the Shan
language, was called upon in 1893 to assume the care of
the Baptist College in Rangoon which is for the benefit of all
races in Burma.
The Shan Mission in Bhamo has always been conducted in
87
connection with work for the Burmans, but both have been
outstripped" by the Kachin Mission which has shown such
vitality and promise in that part of Upper Burma as to attract
the chief attention of the missionaries. In 1893, however, a
new station was opened by Rev. W. W. Cochrane, at Namkham,
in the centre of a large Shan population. This place is just
across the river from the Chinese border, situated in a fertile
and beautiful valley, and, apparently, is a most promising
opening for direct and aggressive work among the Shans. W.
C. Griggs, M. D., first at Mone, and later at Bhamo, has made
his medical work an efficient ally of the direct evangelistic
mission. Since the removal of the chief centres of the work
to the Shan country, the Shan Mission in Toungoo has been
consolidated with the Burman, and the 1895 statistics of the
Mission, so far as it is separate from others, were : 12 mission-
aries, 9 native preachers, 2 churches with 33 members. There
are, however, many Shans in Burman churches in Toungoo,
Thaton, and other places.
THE CHIN MISSION
By the 1891 census of India, 95,571 Chins were reported,
of whom 67,667 were in Lower Burma, and 27,904 in Upper
Burma. It is probable, however, that the enumeration in
Upper Burma is very imperfect and that the number is largely
in excess of that given in the census. The Chins are found
on both sides of the western Yoma range of mountains, which
stretches from Arakan to the Naga hills of Assam. Those to
the south are more easily reached and more civilized, and are
divided into four tribes using different dialects. The Chins of
the north are wilder, fiercer, and less known. The language
lias been reduced to writing. It is a peculiarity of this people
that in the Chin settlements near the Burman towns the women
are tattooed on their faces, but farther in the interior, where
they are in no danger of capture by the ruling race, this prac-
tice is omitted and they are of fine appearance. The Chins
are allied to the Karens and are nominally Buddhists, but
have not abandoned their ancient superstitions which are
similar to those of the Karens. They believe in a Spirit, the
86
the first advance, introduced to his field by Dr. Gushing,
whose intimate knowledge of the country has been of great as-
sistance to the later missionaries. The work at Mone, opened
in 1892, is now under the charge of A. H. Henderson, M. D.
In both stations medical work has occupied an important
SHAN GIRL
place. Dr. Gushing having seen his great literary works
completed in the publication of the Shan Dictionary and in
the translation and printing of the whole Bible in the Shan
language, was called upon in 1893 to assume the care of
the Baptist College in Rangoon which is for the benefit of all
races in Burma. -
The Shan Mission in Bhamo has always been conducted in
87
connection with work for the Burmans, but both have been
outstripped' by the Kachin Mission which has shown such
vitality and promise in that part of Upper Burma as to attract
the chief attention of the missionaries. In 1893, however, a
new station was opened by Rev. W. W. Cochrane, at Namkham,
in the centre of a large Shan population. This place is just
across the river from the Chinese border, situated in a fertile
and beautiful valley, and, apparently, is a most promising
opening for direct and aggressive work among the Shans. W.
C. Griggs, M. D., first at Mone', and later at Bhamo, has made
his medical work an efficient ally of the direct evangelistic
mission. Since the removal of the chief centres of the work
to the Shan country, the Shan Mission in Toungoo has been
consolidated with the Burman, and the 1895 statistics of the
Mission, so far as it is separate from others, were : 12 mission-
aries, 9 native preachers, 2 churches with 33 members. There
are, however, many Shans in Burman churches in Toungoo,
Thaton, and other places.
THE CHIN MISSION
By the 1891 census of India, 95,571 Chins were reported,
of whom 67,667 were in Lower Burma and 27,904 in Upper
Burma. It is probable, however, that the enumeration in
Upper Burma is very imperfect and that the number is largely
in excess of that given in the census. The Chins are found
on both sides of the western Yoma range of mountains, which
stretches from Arakan to the Naga hills of Assam. Those to
the south are more easily reached and more civilized, and are
divided into four tribes using different dialects. The Chins of
the north are wilder, fiercer, and less known. The language
lias been reduced to writing. It is a peculiarity of this people
that in the Chin settlements near the Burman towns the women
are tattooed on their faces, but farther in the interior, where
they are in no danger of capture by the ruling race, this prac-
tice is omitted and they are of fine appearance. The Chins
are allied to the Karens and are nominally Buddhists, but
have not abandoned their ancient superstitions which are
similar to those of the Karens. They believe in a Spirit, the
88
Creator and the Supreme Ruler of the universe, but they say
that he is so good no one need fear anything from him, and
they worship evil spirits to which they sacrifice fowls and
swine.
The first convert from the Chins was baptized by Dr. Francis
Mason, at Tavoy, Feb. i, 1837. On removing from Tavoy
to Henzada, Mrs. C. B. Thomas found Chins in the jungle
near Henzada in 1854, and in that same year a number of
Chins were baptized at Prome by Eugenio Kincaid. The
first Chin assistant to be employed in the mission was at
Prome, in 1863, and Rev. E. O. Stevens, for many years
missionary to the Burmans at Prome, took much interest in
the Chins, and baptized eight at the Henzada Karen Associa-
tion in 1882. The Chin language was reduced to writing in
1865, by a Karen from Bassein, and much interest was awak-
ened. In 1880 Mrs. Thomas had two Chins in her school a t
Henzada, and" becoming deeply interested in the people, she
travelled in the Chin country, reaching as far as Sandoway, in
Arakan, in 1882. Rev. W. F. Thomas went to Burma in 1880,
joining his mother at Henzada, and became deeply interested
in the Chin people. Feeling called to work among them
rather than the Karens, in 1884 he travelled extensively
through the Chin country on both sides of the Yoma moun-
tains, and baptized twenty-nine Chins at Gyatedau in Arakan,
at which place the first Chin Association was formed.
The most promising work among the Chins thus far was in
southern Arakan. Mr. Thomas having visited Sandoway sev-
eral times in journeys from Henzada, removed to that place
and opened a station in 1888. Thus Sandoway, famous in
Baptist missions in Burma in the early days of the Karen Mis-
sion the headquarters of which were afterwards removed to
Bassein, came again into the line of mission stations in Burma.
The work among the Chins from the first was very prosperous,
and there were 163 Chin Christians in 1889, and in were
baptized in 1890.
Rev. A. E. Carson, appointed to labor among the Chins,
made a tour in the Chin country east of the Yoma Mountains,
accompanied by Rev. W. F. Thomas, and opened a station at
Thayetmyo in 1887. From this point he made many exten--
sive journeys into the Chin country to the northwest, up the
8 9
valley of the Chindwin River. The Chins are very numerous
all through this territory, which offers a most favorable field
for the further extension. of the missionary work.
In March, 1892, Mr. Thomas was transferred from Sando-
way to the charge of the Burman Biblical Institute in Rangoon,
which has now become the Burman Department of the Theo-
logical Seminary at Insein. ' He was succeeded in the Chin
work at Sandoway by Rev. Ernest Grigg, who made extensive
journeys in the Chin country, especially to the north, and
opened up much territory for missionary work which had been
closed since the early days of the mission in Arakan. In 1895,
the Mission reported at Sandoway and Thayetmyo, 8 mission-
aries, 25 native preachers, 17 churches, 547 members, and 16
schools with 235 pupils. The future development of the Chin
Mission must evidently be to the northward, along both the
eastern and western sides of the Yoma Mountains, and will be
greatly aided by the railway which the British government
proposes to build up the Chindwin Valley, through the Chin
country and Manipur to Assam. The prospects for aggressive
work in this direction among the Chins are among the most
favorable which are offered for advance mission work in
Burma.
THE KACHIN MISSION
The Kachins being a wild hill people are not separately
enumerated in the census of Burma for 1891, but are estimated
to number several millions. They are found on the hills of
northeastern Burma, extending over into China and Assam and
north to Tibet, in the southeastern part of which they are said
to be numerous. One tribe of this people call themselves the
Chingpaus, and are the same as the Singphos of the south-
eastern hills of Assam. Another of the principal tribes is
known as the Kowrie tribe, and is numerous in the vicinity of
Bhamo. They are gradually crowding southward into Burma,
and, as they go, displace the Shans and other people. They
are related in race to the Karens, having some of the same
songs, customs, and traditions, but the language, though similar,
has so many dialectic differences that there can be no com-
munication between the Karens and the Kachins without learn-
9
ing the language anew. The Kachins are a wild and savage
people. Robbery and murder are among their principal occu-
pations, yet they practise in a rude way some of the arts of
civilization. Their religion is very similar to that of the
Karens, and, like the Karens, also, they have a tradition of a
former revelation, which was lost. Now they worship evil
spirits, to which they sacrifice fowls, cattle, dogs, and swine.
KACHINS
The first opening of missionary work among the Kachins was
by Rev. J. N. Gushing, who in 1877 visited the mountains east
of Bhamo, and placed several Karen teachers from Bassein in
the Kachin mountain villages. Mr. Gushing had arrived at
Bhamo, Dec. 22, 1876, with a view to the extension of the
Shan mission, but he also did much for the beginning of the
Kachin work, an interesting feature of which has been the fact
that during all the years since 1877 there have been from two
to five Karen foreign missionaries laboring among this people,
wholly supported by the Karens in Bassein. Dr. Gushing
introduced to the Kachin work Rev. W. H. Roberts, who
arrived at Bhamo in January, 1879, and then returned to lower
Burma to resume his own work for the Shans. The Kachin
Dictionary or Vocabulary, begun by Dr. Gushing, was com-
pleted by Mr. Roberts, who 'continued to be the leader in the
mission among the Kachins.
From the first the missionaries were well received and great
interest was shown in the gospel by the Kachius. We are
frequently reminded of the readiness of the Karens to receive
the gospel, by the disposition shown by the wild and savage
Kachins. Several were baptized each year, and the first
Kachin church was formed in 1882 in the mountain "village of
Poombwa, where Rev. Speh had labored for five years. Eight
were baptized in another village the same year and a Kachin
spelling-book was prepared in 1883.
The year 1884 was a dark time for the mission. Wild
Kachins and Chinese freebooters captured Mogaung and
threatened Bhamo during all the summer of that year, and
finally captured the city in December. All Europeans, in-
cluding the missionaries, were obliged to flee to Lower Burma.
But in less than a year Mandalay, the capital of Upper Burma,
had been captured by the British, King Thibaw sent into
exile, and all Upper Burma was open to the safe prosecution
of the missionary work. Bhamo was reoccupied, and at the
close of 1885 the mission numbered four Kachin preachers
and twenty-three church members. Rev. Ola Hanson, sent
out for the special purpose of reducing the Kachin language
to writing, reached Bhamo in 1890. Twenty-three Kachins
were baptized in 1891, and in 1892 such progress had been
made in the language that twelve Kachins could read and
write in their own language, the first among this numer-
ous people to acquire that accomplishment. The Gospel of
St. John had been translated, and also a catechism and
hymn-book, which were printed by Mr. Hanson at his own
cost.
In 1894 Rev. George J Geis joined the mission, and after
residing at Bhamo for a time, opened a new station at Myit-
kyina. In the same year the work of reducing the Kachin
90
ing the language anew. The Kachins are a wild and savage
people. Robbery and murder are among their principal occu-
pations, yet they practise in a rude way some of the arts oi
civilization. Their religion is very similar to that of the
Karens, and, like the Karens, also, they have a tradition of a
former revelation, which was lost. Now they worship evil
spirits, to which they sacrifice fowls, cattle, dogs, and swine.
KACHINS
The first opening of missionary work among the Kachins was
by Rev. J. N. Gushing, who in 1877 visited the mountains east
of Bhamo, and placed several Karen teachers from Bassein in
the Kachin mountain villages. Mr. Gushing had arrived at
Bhamo, Dec. 22, 1876, with a view to the extension of the
Shan mission, but he also did much for the beginning of the
Kachin work, an interesting feature of which has been the fact
that during all the years since 1877 there have been from two
to five Karen foreign missionaries laboring among this people,
wholly supported by the Karens in Bassein. Dr. Gushing
introduced to the Kachin work Rev. W. H. Roberts, who
arrived at Bhamo in January, 1879, an( l tnen returned to lower
Burma to resume his own work for the Shans. The Kachin
Dictionary or Vocabulary, begun by Dr. Gushing, was com-
pleted by Mr. Roberts, who 'continued to be the leader in the
mission among the Kachins.
From the first the missionaries were well received and great
interest was shown in the gospel by the Kachins. We are
frequently reminded of the readiness of the Karens to receive
the gospel, by the disposition shown by the wild and savage
Kachins. Several were baptized each year, and the first
Kachin church was formed in 1882 in the mountain village of
Poombwa, where Rev. Speh had labored for five years. Eight
were baptized in another village the same year and a Kachin
spelling-book was prepared in 1883.
The year 1884 was a dark time for the mission. Wild
Kachins and Chinese freebooters captured Mogaung and
threatened Bhamo during all the summer of that year, and
finally captured the city in December. All Europeans, in-
cluding the missionaries, were obliged to flee to Lower Burma.
But in less than a year Mandalay, the capital of Upper Burma,
had been captured by the British, King Thibaw sent into
exile, and all Upper Burma was open to the safe prosecution
of the missionary work. Bhamo was reoccupied, and at the
close of 1885 the mission numbered four Kachin preachers
and twenty-three church members. Rev. Ola Hanson, sent
out for the special purpose of reducing the Kachin language
to writing, reached Bhamo in 1890. Twenty-three Kachins
were baptized in 1891, and in 1892 such progress had been
made in the language that twelve Kachins could read and
write in their own language, the first among this numer-
ous people to acquire that accomplishment. The Gospel of
St. John had been translated, and also a catechism and
hymn-book, which were printed by Mr. Hanson at his own
cost.
In 1894 Rev. George J Geis joined the mission, and after
residing at Bhamo for a time, opened a new station at Myit-
kyina. In the same year the work of reducing the Kachin
9 2
language to writing was practically completed, and a system
of printing the Kachin in Roman letters which had been pre-
pared by the missionaries, was accepted by the government of
India another illustration of the aid which missions afford to
civilization. The translations which had already been made
were revised in the Roman characters and were placed in the
A STREET IN BHAMO
hands of the printers. In 1895 there were five missionaries
laboring among the Kachins, with several Karen missionaries
from Bassein, four native preachers, one church at Bhamo,
with one hundred and twelve members, and a thriving school
with seventy-three pupils. For the use of the mission a good
chapel was built at Bhamo, and called the " Lyon Memorial,"
in memory of Rev. Albert J. Lyon, whose early and lamented
death was such a blow to the mission work at Bhamo.
93
OTHER RACES
Among the smaller of the numerous races into which the
people of Burma are divided, one of the most interesting is
the Taungthus. They are supposed to be earlier inhabitants
of Lower Burma than either the Burmans or Takings, and are
most nearly related to the Pwo Karens in language and char-
acter. They are widely scattered over Burma and the Shan
states, and in Lower Burma number 35,220, settled princi-
pally around their old city of Thaton. The census gives
5,895 in Upper Burma. The Taungthus are a simple, timid
people and Buddhists in religion. They have a written lan-
guage and are gradually becoming assimilated to the Burmans,
the latest census showing a slight decrease in ten years in
Lower Burma.
The first Taungthu convert was baptized by Dr. Judson
about 1835, but no missionary has ever devoted his attention
wholly to this people. A number of converts ^ave been
gathered' especially in connection with the mission work in
Thaton, where Mrs. J. B. Kelley labored among them, but
no Christian literature had ever been issued in their language
until 1895, when Rev. Edward O. Stevens of Moulmein caused
Mrs. Judson's Catechism to be translated into Taungthu to be
used as a tract. I n the autumn of 1 895 a preacher, U Aung-Bwe,
won to the gospel several Taungthus in the Moulmein district
near the Siamese frontier and hoped to be able to form a
church. No separate church organization had previously
been formed among them, although the Taungthu Christians
are more numerous at Thaton than any other place.
The Talaings were formerly the ruling race of Lower Burma.
They are sometimes known as Peguans, and from them the
former province of Pegu was named. Their kingdom at one
time embraced a large part of Lower Burma. Their language
is entirely distinct, but the Talaings are gradually becoming
assimilated to the Burmans in language and dress, so much
so that they are identified with the Burmans in the census
of 1891. The Talaings who now are known by that name
are found chiefly in the vicinity of Moulmein and number
about 223,000. Considerable missionary work has been done
9 2
language to writing was practically completed, and a system
of printing the Kachin in Roman letters which had been pre-
pared by the missionaries, was accepted by the government of
India, another illustration of the aid which missions afford to
civilization. The translations which had already been made
were revised in the Roman characters and were placed in the
A STREET IN BHAMO
hands of the printers. In 1895 there were five missionaries
laboring among the Kachins, with several Karen missionaries
from Bassem, four native preachers, one church at Bhamo
with one hundred and twelve members, and a thriving school
with seventy-three pupils. For the use of the mission a good
chapel was built at Bhamo, and called the Lyon Memorial "
in memory of Rev Albert J. Lyon, whose early and lamented
death was such a blow to the mission work at Bhamo
93
OTHER RACES
Among the smaller of the numerous races into which the
people of Burma are divided, one of the most interesting is
the Taungthus. They are supposed to be earlier inhabitants
of Lower Burma than either the Burmans or Talaings, and are
most nearly related to the Pwo Karens in language and char-
acter. They are widely scattered over Burma and the Shan
states, and in Lower Burma number 35,220, settled princi-
pally around their old city of Thaton. The census gives
5,895 in Upper Burma. The Taungthus are a simple, timid
people and Buddhists in religion. They have a written lan-
guage and are gradually becoming assimilated to the Burmans,
the latest census showing a slight decrease in ten years in
Lower Burma.
The first Taungthu convert was baptized by Dr. Judson
about 1835, but no missionary has ever devoted his attention
wholly to this people. A number of converts have been
gathered" especially in connection with the mission work in
Thaton, where Mrs. J. B. Kelley labored among them, but
no Christian literature had ever been issued in their language
until 1895, when Rev. Edward O. Stevens of Moulmein caused
Mrs. Judson's Catechism to be translated into Taungthu to be
used as a tract. In the autumn of 1 895 a preacher, U Aung-Bwe,
won to the gospel several Taungthus in the Moulmein district
near the Siamese frontier and hoped to be able to form a
church. No separate church organization had previously
been formed among them, although the Taungthu Christians
are more numerous at Thaton than any other place.
The Talaings were formerly the ruling race of Lower Burma.
They are sometimes known as Peguans, and from them the
former province of Pegu was named. Their kingdom at one
time embraced a large part of Lower Burma. Their language
is entirely distinct, but the Talaings are gradually becoming
assimilated to the Burmans in language and dress, so much
so that they are identified with the Burmans in the census
of 1891. The Talaings who now are known by that name
are found chiefly in the vicinity of Moulmein and number
about 223,000. Considerable missionary work has been done
94
among this people in various districts by the missionaries to
the Burmans, and Rev. James M. Haswell,- D. D., prepared a
vocabulary of the Talaing language, which has long been out
of print. In 1895 the Talaing spelling-book was carried
through the press by Rev. Edward O. Stevens of Moulmein,
and a vocabulary in 1896. Perhaps more missionary work
has been done among the Takings by Moung Reuben of
the Moulmein district than by any other one. He has a
good knowledge of the language and has preached much
among them and baptized many who are now in the churches
of Amherst district.
There are more than half a million natives of India proper
in Burma, chiefly Telugus and Tamils, and among these much
missionary work is being done, especially at Rangoon where
there is a prosperous and self-supporting Telugu and Tamil
church. Also in Mandalay, Moulmein, Toungoo, and other
places attention has been devoted to these people by mission-
aries who were sent to labor among the Burmans or Karens.
The Telugus and Tamils are the laboring and among the most
enterprising people of the country. They are getting into their
hands some of the activities of the principal cities of Burma,
and they will well repay a larger amount of attention from
Christian people. In 1894, Rev. W. F. Armstrong and his wife
were appointed as special missionaries to this people, to labor
as best they might among the large number scattered through-
out the various cities of Burma. Mr. Armstrong was formerly
a missionary to the Telugus in India under the Canadian Bap-
tist Board, but entered English work at Moulmein in 1884, and
having already command of the Telugu language, has become
much interested in the people and is able to accomplish much
good. But the field and opportunity among this enterprising
people are vastly too large for the labors of any one missionary.
All the numerous smaller races of Burma, like the Paloungs,
the Padoungs, the Brecs and others, are reached in some
degree, by the labors of missionaries to the Shans and Karens.
Among the Brecs, who very much resemble the Karens in
their general characteristics, an exceedingly interesting work
has sprung up under the care of Rev. Alonzo Bunker, D. D.,
of Toungoo. The Paloungs are a most interesting people,
occupying the high land west of Namkham in Upper Burma,
95
and will be reached by the Shan missionaries from that station.
They are said to have some resemblance to both the Shans
and the Karens.
Aside from all the work which the Baptist missionaries in
Burma carry on among the natives, English services are main-
tained in a number of the larger cities. There is an English
Baptist church in Rangoon - which is independent and self-
PALOUNG WOMAN.
supporting, and also a church in Moulmein of which Rev.
F. D. Crawley, son of Rev. Arthur Crawley, formerly mission-
ary to the Burmans, became pastor in 1895. Services are also
maintained at Mandalay among a large and increasing English-
speaking population in that city, and English preaching is
held in other cities.
From the days of Judson, Burma has always been recognized
as peculiarly mission ground of American Baptists. No other
94
among this people in various districts by the missionaries to
the Burmans, and Rev. James M. Has well,- D. D., prepared a
vocabulary of the Talaing language, which has long been out
of print. In 1895 the Talaing spelling-book was carried
through the press by Rev. Edward O. Stevens of Moulmein,
and a vocabulary in 1896. Perhaps more missionary work
has been done among the Takings by Moung Reuben of
the Moulmein district than by any other one. He has a
good knowledge of the language and has preached much
among them and baptized many who are now in the churches
of Amherst district.
There are more than half a million natives of India proper
in Burma, chiefly Telugus and Tamils, and among these much
missionary work is being done, especially at Rangoon where
there is a prosperous and self-supporting Telugu and Tamil
church. Also in Mandalay, Moulmein, Toungoo, and other
places attention has been devoted to these people by mission-
aries who were sent to labor among the Burmans or Karens.
The Telugus and Tamils are the laboring and among the most
enterprising people of the country. They are getting into their
hands some of the activities of the principal cities of Burma,
and they will well repay a larger amount of attention from
Christian people. In 1894, Rev. W. F. Armstrong and his wife
were appointed as special missionaries to this people, to labor
as best they might among the large number scattered through-
out the various cities of Burma. Mr. Armstrong was formerly
a missionary to the Telugus in India under the Canadian Bap-
tist Board, but entered English work at Moulmein in 1884. and
having already command of the Telugu language, has become
much interested in the people and is able to accomplish much
good. But the field and opportunity among this enterprising
people are vastly too large for the labors of any one missionary.
All the numerous smaller races of Burma, like the Paloungs,
the Padoungs, the Brecs and others, are reached in some
degree, by the labors of missionaries to the Shans and Karens.
Among the Brecs, who very much resemble the Karens in
their general characteristics, an exceedingly interesting work
has sprung up under the care of Rev. Alonzo Bunker, D. D.,
of Toungoo. The Paloungs are a most interesting people,
occupying the high land west of Namkham in Upper Burma,
95
and will be reached by the Shan missionaries from that station.
They are said to have some resemblance to both the Shans
and the Karens.
Aside from all the work which the Baptist missionaries in
Burma carry on among the natives, English services are main-
tained in a number of the larger cities. There is an English
Baptist church in Rangoon - which is independent and self-
PALOUNG WOMAN.
supporting, and also a church in Moulmein of which Rev.
F. D. Crawley, son of Rev. Arthur Crawley, formerly mission-
ary to the Burmans, became pastor in 1895. Services are also
maintained at Mandalay among a large and increasing English-
speaking population in that city, and English preaching is
held in other cities.
From the days of Judson, Burma has always been recognized
as peculiarly mission ground of American Baptists. No other
9 6
bodies have undertaken Christian work in the country ex-
cept the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, repre-
senting the High Church element in the Church of England,
and the Methodists, who have a few missionaries in Rangoon
and Mandalay. So efficiently have the Baptists cultivated this,
their earliest mission field, that Burma is more abundantly
supplied with missionaries in proportion to population than
any other heathen land. The effort that American Baptists
have thrown into their work in this peculiarly interesting coun-
try has been largely blessed, and the missions in Burma are
recognized as among the "Miracles of Missions." There yet
remains in Burma vast regions unevangelized, and the needs
of the field as well as the prosperity already achieved bring
heavy responsibilities upon the Baptists of America to whom
this field in the providence of God has been so specially
given.
BUKMAN BUDDHIST PRIEST
H
O
o
C3
2
I
s"
g
E-
I
9 6
bodies have undertaken Christian work in the country ex-
cept the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, repre-
senting the High Church element in the Church of England,
and the Methodists, who have a few missionaries in Rangoon
and Mandalay. So efficiently have the Baptists cultivated this,
their earliest mission field, that Burma is more abundantly
supplied with missionaries in proportion to population than
any other heathen land. The effort that American Baptists
have thrown into their work in this peculiarly interesting coun-
try has been largely blessed, and the missions in Burma are
recognized as among the " Miracles of Missions." There yet
remains in Burma vast regions unevangelized, and the needs
of the field as well as the prosperity already achieved bring
heavy responsibilities upon the Baptists of America to whom
this field in the providence of God has been so specially
given.
BUKMAN BUDDHIST PRIEST
O
o
a
z
i
W
h*
H
1
S
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN ASSAM
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
ASSAM is the most northeastern province of British India,
extending along both sides of the Brahmaputra River, having
an area of 49,004 square miles and containing a population of
5,476,833, as far as British census has
extended. The contour of the country
is like a vast and lengthened amphi-
theatre. On each side of the river the
country is low and flat, stretching away
to the hills in swamps which are often
flooded at the times of high water. At
the north, the lofty ranges of the Him-
malayas form the boundary between
Assam and the hermit country, Tibet.
To the south, ranges of high hills or
mountains separate Assam from Burma,
the oldest Baptist mission field, while
to the east the same hills continue,
dividing Assam from Western China.
Through these southern and eastern
hills are many passes which, in time to
come, will doubtless furnish highways
for intercourse, and along which the
gospel messengers may find access to
the numerous tribes which inhabit the
hills. The valley of Assam is fertile
and clothed with luxuriant vegetation,
but the climate is hot and unhealthful,
the air being full of malaria in many
places. On the hills the climate is
more temperate and healthful, and in many places furnishes
places of residence to the missionaries, not altogether dis-
similar to the hills of New England.
The people of Assam are divided into tribes and races almost
(99)
A NAGA
100
as numerous as those which characterize the neighboring coun-
try and mission field of Burma. The valley of the Brahmaputra
is occupied chiefly by the Assamese, a race of people the same
as the Hindus of Bengal, but in Upper Assam somewhat
corrupted by an inter-mixture of the blood of the aboriginal
people, the Ahoms, from whom the name of the country is
derived. In the parts of the valley back from the river and
all over the hills to the north and to the south, are found
numerous and separate tribes of people. The Assamese are
the remnants of the Aryan invasion from the west, while all the
inhabitants of the hills are the survivors of successive inva-
sions of the Mongolian people from the east and north.
Beginning at the southwest, the first and most ancient invasion
of the Mongolian race is represented by the Garos. Next, to
the northeast we find the Khasias and Kacharis, then the Nagas
of various tribes, covering a long
range of hills between Assam and
Burma.
Farther on, we come upon the
Singphos, the same as the Kachins
of Upper Burma, and the Khamtis
who are allied to the Shan races of
Burma and Siam. These two peo-
ples extend around on the hills at
the eastern end of Assam. At the
north, among the foothills of the
Himalayas, we find the Mishmis,
the MiriSj the Daphlas, the Akhas,
and the Abors ; while on the plains
at the foot of the southern hills,
beginning at the west, are the
Rabhas, the Mikirs, and remnants
of other tribes. In Assam is also
practically included the country and
people of Manipur and the Lushai hill tribes on the western
border of Burma.
RELIGIONS.
The religion of the Assamese, or people of the Brahma-
putra valley, is Hinduism, of the same form and with all the
NAGA SORCERER
IOI
corruptions which we find in India proper. Caste, with its
divisive and deadening power, exists among them, but Hindu-
ism does not appear to have gained a hold on the hill tribes to
any considerable extent. These have a religion allied to that of
the Karens in Burma, and are almost entirely spirit worshippers,
or, according to a new term which has arisen in comparative
religion, they are " animistic " tribes. They believe in spirits,
good and bad, and that these are actively interested and in-
fluential in their lives ; but, since the good spirits can be de-
pended on to do them no harm, they pay very little attention
to them, but worship and offer sacrifices only to the evil spirits,
in order to gain their good-will and prevent them from exer-
cising a harmful influence upon them. The sacrifices consist
principally of fowls, and various forms of fetichism which
usually characterize demon worship in all parts of the world.
The Garos appear to believe only in evil spirits or demons.
All the hill tribes are without caste, and, as has been proved by
the labors of missionaries, they are, in a very especial manner,
like the Karens of Burma, open to the influence of the gospel ;
while, although many years of labor have been expended in
carrying the gospel to the Assamese, they almost universally
refuse to leave the corruptions and vices of Hinduism for the
pure gospel of Christ. Mohammedans form twenty-seven per
cent of the population of Assam, but are confined mostly to
Sylhet and the southern valley.
A considerable part of the valley of the Brahmaputra is de-
voted to the cultivation of tea. This industry is carried on
with great success, and the teas of Assam stand among the
most valuable of the world v The tea plantations are usually
owned by Englishmen or other natives of Europe, but the
laborers in these tea gardens are largely made up of natives
of Central India who are brought in for the purpose. This
people coming from India have usually been more or less
familiar with the labors of missionaries, and furnish one of the
most fertile fields for missionary effort in Assam. They pass
in general under the name of the Kols, coming from Chota
Nagpur in one of the states of Central India ; but in reality
several different tribes are represented among them. They
are also " animistic " or spirit worshippers, and similar in relig-
ion to the hill tribes. Among all these numerous tribes and
IO2
peoples of Assam is found the field of our Baptist mission,
which occupies the country almost alone, the only other mis-
sionary laborers being representatives of the Welsh Calvinistic
Methodists, who are carrying on a mission in a limited terri-
tory in Southern Assam.
THE BAPTIST MISSION
The beginning erf
Baptist work in Assam
is distinguished from
that of any other of
our missions in that
the initial movement
came from the civil
government. In 1836,
Major Jenkins, the
commissioner of As-
sam, with a few other
friends, asked the Cal-
cutta Baptists to start
a mission in North-
eastern Assam for the
Shan or Khamti tribes.
Not feeling able to
enter upon the project
they sent the message
on to the American
Baptist missionaries
in Burma, since it was
known that the Kham-
tis were found on both
sides of the boundary
between Burma and
Assam, and it was
thought the missions
would soon be con-
nected as one field.
Rev. Nathan Brown
was the first missionary, and went with Mr. O. T. Cutter, a
printer, taking a printing-press with them, and opened a mis-
io 3
sion at Sadiya in the extreme northeast of Assam. Another
reason for beginning missions in this country was that it was
thought at that time that Assam would open a way into West-
ern China. Although neither of the expectations with which
our missions were started in Assam have yet been realized,
the missions have been continued for the benefit of the people
of the country itself. After a time, the British force withdrew
from Sadiya, which was, in 1839, abandoned as a mission
station, and the principal mission was transferred first to Jaipur
and afterward established at Sibsagor in 1841.
The most venerated name in connection with Baptist mis-
sions in Assam is that of Rev. Miles Bronson, D. D., who
arrived in India in
1837. While journey-
ing up the Brahma-
putra in canoes, his
companion, Rev. Ja-
cob Thomas, was killed
by the falling of a tree
from the bank of the
river. Mr. Bronson
first opened work for
the Singphos, at Jai-
pur, where he baptized
Nidhi Levi, the first
convert of the mis-
sion, in 1841. Dr.
Bronson' s principal
field of labor was at
Nowgong, to which
place he removed in
October, 1841. Here
the most of his long
missionary service of
nearly forty years was passed; here he opened, in 1842, the
Nowgong Orphan Institution, from which, although afterwards
closed by the Deputation, in 1854, nearly all the most valuable
helpers in the Assamese mission have come, and here he
prepared, aside from other missionary and literary work, the
Assamese-English Dictionary, an imperishable monument to
REV. MILES BRONSON, D. D.
IO2
peoples of Assam is found the field of our Baptist mission,
which occupies the country almost alone, the only other mis-
sionary laborers being representatives of the Welsh Calvinistic
Methodists, who are carrying on a mission in a limited terri-
tory in Southern Assam.
THE BAPTIST MISSION
The beginning cl
Baptist work in Assam
is distinguished from
that of any other of
our missions in that
the initial movement
came from the civil
government. In 1836,
Major Jenkins, the
commissioner of As-
sam, with a few other
friends, asked the Cal-
cutta Baptists to start
a mission in North-
eastern Assam for the
Shan or Khamti tribes.
Not feeling able to
enter upon the project
they sent the message
on to the American
Baptist missionaries
in Burma, since it was
known that the Kham-
tis were found on both
sides of the boundary
between Burma and
Assam, and it was
thought the missions
would soon be con-
nected as one field.
Rev. Nathan Brown
was the first missionary, and went with Mr. O. T. Cutter, a
printer, taking a printing-press with them, and opened a mis-
io 3
sion at Sadiya in the extreme northeast of Assam. Another
reason for beginning missions in this country was that it was
thought at that time that Assam would open a way into West-
ern China. Although neither of the expectations with which
our missions were started in Assam have yet been realized,
the missions have been continued for the benefit of the people
of the country itself. After a time, the British force withdrew
from Sadiya, which was, in 1839, abandoned as a mission
station, and the principal mission was transferred first to Jaipur
and afterward established at Sibsagor in 1841.
The most venerated name in connection with Baptist mis-
sions in Assam is that of Rev. Miles Bronson, D. D., who
arrived in India in
1837. While journey-
ing up the Brahma-
putra in canoes, his
companion, Rev. Ja-
cob Thomas, was killed
by the falling of a tree
from the bank of the
river. Mr. Bronson
first opened work for
the Singphos, at Jai-
pur, where he baptized
Nidhi Levi, the first
convert of the mis-
sion, in 1841. Dr.
Bronson' s principal
field of labor was at
Nowgong, to which
place he removed in
October, 1841. Here
the most of his long
missionary service of
nearly forty years was passed; here he opened, in 1842, the
Nowgong Orphan Institution, from which, although afterwards
closed by the Deputation, in 1854, nearly all the most valuable
helpers in the Assamese mission have come, and here he
prepared, aside from other missionary and literary work, the
Assamese-English Dictionary, an imperishable monument to
REV. MILES BRONSON, D. D.
104
his memory. The closing years of Dr. Bronson's missionary
service were at Gauhati, where he baptized the first two Garos
in 1863, and inaugurated the work which has now become the
brightest ornament of the missions in Assam.
It is a striking fact that the purpose for which the mission-
aries first went to Assam was to preach the gospel to the hill
MISSION HOUSE, S1BSAGOK
tribes, an object to which, after long years of unfruitful labor
for the Assamese, the chief strength of the mission is again
being devoted with most encouraging results. What would
have been the condition of the missions in Assam to-day if the
first purpose of the mission had been adhered to, it is impos-
sible to say ; but it appears most probable that if the gospel
had been perseveringly preached from the beginning to the
animistic tribes, the glorious triumphs of Christianity among
the Karens in Burma might have been duplicated in Assam.
It was owing to warlike outbreaks among the Khamtis and
Singphos that the missionaries were driven from Sadiya and
Jaipur, and entered upon their work for the Assamese, whose
indifference, fickleness and vice caused them to reject the
loving, faithful efforts on their behalf, and condemned the mis- .
sion in Assam to those long years of sterility and discourage-
ment from which it only emerged in later years, with the
revival of labor for the wild and savage but teachable tribes
of the southern hills.
The whole course of Baptist work in Assam has been marked
by much and excellent literary work on the part of the mis-
sionaries. Aside from the dictionary of Dr. Bronson, the New
Testament was early translated into Assamese by Rev. Nathan
Brown, the founder of the mission, who afterward did the same
service for the Japanese, making his name illustrious by being
the first to give the whole New Testament to two widely sepa-
rated and linguistically diverse peoples. Dr. Brown was also
the author of many hymns in Assamese, and was a tower of
strength to the mission in its early days. Several books of the
Old Testament were put into Assamese by various missionaries,
and this work has been crowned by the recent completion of
the whole Bible in Assamese, by Rev. A. K. Gurney. As early
as 1846, a religious paper called " Orunodoi " was begun,
which was continued for a number of years. Portions of the
Bible, tracts, school-books, religious books, and other literary
matter, have also been prepared and published in Garo by Rev.
M. C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips, in Naga by Rev. E.
W. Clark and Rev. S. W. Rivenburg, and in Assamese by Rev.
P. H. Moore and others.
The years from 1841 to 1855 witnessed nearly all the prog-
ress which has been had in the mission to the Assamese. In
1843, Gauhati was opened as a station by Rev. Cyrus Barker.
In 1848, Rev. I. J. Stoddard and wife arrived for labor in the
Nowgong Orphan Institution. In 1851, there was a church of
seventeen members at Sibsagor, and Rev. S. M. Whiting
reached that station and baptized the first convert from the
Naga tribes. Converts had also been baptized at Nowgong
and at Gauhati. But the year 1854 witnessed the practical
IO4
his memory. The closing years of Dr. Bronson's missionary
service were at Gauhati, where he baptized the first two Garos
in 1863, and inaugurated the work which has now become the
brightest ornament of the missions in Assam.
It is a striking fact that the purpose for which the mission-
aries first went to Assam was to preach the gospel to the hill
MISSION HOUSE, SIBSAGOK
tribes, an object to which, after long years of unfruitful labor
for the Assamese, the chief strength of the mission is again
being devoted with most encouraging results. What would
have been the condition of the missions in Assam to-day if the
first purpose of the mission had been adhered to, it is impos-
sible to say ; but it appears most probable that if the gospel
had been perseveringly preached from the beginning to the
animistic tribes, the glorious triumphs of Christianity among
the Karens in Burma might have been duplicated in Assam.
It was owing to warlike outbreaks among the Khamtis and
Singphos that the missionaries were driven from Sadiya and
Jaipur, and entered upon their work for the Assamese, whose
indifference, fickleness and vice caused them to reject the
loving, faithful efforts on their behalf, and condemned the mis-
sion in Assam to those long years of sterility and discourage-
ment from which it only emerged in later years, with the
revival of labor for the wild and savage but teachable tribes
of the southern hills.
The whole course of Baptist work in Assam has been marked
by much and excellent literary work on the part of the mis-
sionaries. Aside from the dictionary of Dr. Bronson, the New
Testament was early translated into Assamese by Rev. Nathan
Brown, the founder of the mission, who afterward did the same
service for the Japanese, making his name illustrious by being
the first to give the whole New Testament to two widely sepa-
rated and linguistically diverse peoples. Dr. Brown was also
the author of many hymns in Assamese, and was a tower of
strength to the mission in its early days. Several books of the
Old Testament were put into Assamese by various missionaries,
and this work has been crowned by the recent completion of
the whole Bible in Assamese, by Rev. A. K. Gurney. As early
as 1846, a religious paper called "Orunodoi" was begun,
which was continued for a number of years. Portions of the
Bible, tracts, school-books, religious books, and other literary
matter, have also been prepared and published in Garo by Rev.
M. C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips, in Naga by Rev. E.
W. Clark and Rev. S. W. Rivenburg, and in Assamese by Rev.
P. H. Moore and others.
The years from 1841 to 1855 witnessed nearly all the prog-
ress which has been had in the mission to the Assamese. In
1843, Gauhati was opened as a station by Rev. Cyrus Barker.
In 1848, Rev. I. J. Stoddard and wife arrived for labor in the
Nowgong Orphan Institution. In 1851, there was a church of
seventeen members at Sibsagor, and Rev. S. M. Whiting
reached that station and baptized the first convert from the
Naga tribes. Converts had also been baptized at Nowgong
and at Gauhati. But the year 1854 witnessed the practical
io6
^suspension of the Nowgong Orphan Institution, against the
unanimous judgment of the missionaries in Assam, thus cutting
off the source of supply of native helpers and bringing much
discouragement to the missionaries. In 1855, the mission
suffered a great loss : Rev. Nathan Brown and Rev. I. J.
Stoddard and their wives, and also Mrs. Bauble, returned to
America; and in 1857 the Sepoy Rebellion in India made life
ASSAMESE PREACHERS
and property insecure and missionary work very difficult in
Assam. The fortunes of the mission were at a low ebb.
From this crisis, the policy of the mission began to change.
By the logic of events, the attention of the missionaries was
turned more and more from the unresponsive Assamese Hin-
dus to the more impressible animistic tribes. Although com-
pelled to assume charge of the Nowgong station on his arrival
in 1859, Rev. C. F. Tolman spent a large part of his short
stay in Assam among the Mikirs. The first t\vo Garo converts
.having been baptized by Dr. Bronson at Gauhati in 1863, they
soon began to teach the new religion to their people, and with
such success that on the very first visit of Dr. Bronson to the
Garo country, in 1867, thirty-seven were baptized and a church
of forty members formed at Rajasimla. In 1863, the first
Mikir convert was baptized at Nowgong, and Rev. E. P. Scott
and wife arrived to devote their labors to this people. Mr.
Scott died in 1868, of fever contracted in the Mikir country.
Mrs. Scott remained in Assam until 1871, when she returned
to America; but in 1889 went out to Swatow, China, as a
missionary physician. October, 1867, Goalpara was occupied
by Rev. I. J. Stoddard as a favorable point from which to reach
theGaros. In 1868, he
visited Tura, the newly
opened government sta-
tion on the Garo hills ;
but this was not occu-
pied as the mission
station until 1876, when
the headquarters of the
Garo mission were re-
moved from Goalpara
to Tura, by Rev. E. G.
Phillips and Rev. M. C.
Mason, who had reached
Assam in 1874. Rev.
R. E. Neighbor reached
Nowgong in 1871, for
work among the Mikirs.
In the same year, the
attention of Rev. E. W.
Clark was specially
drawn to the Nagas, and
he persuaded Godhula,
an Assamese preacher, to study the Naga tongue. The next
year, Godhula went to live in the Naga country, and many
were baptized within a few years. In 1871 also, four Kols,
called by Mr. Clark "Chota Nagpur people," were baptized,
coming to Sibsagor, seventy miles from the tea garden where
they were laboring. Many others soon followed in their foot-
steps.
REV. EDWARD W. CLARK
io6
^suspension of the Nowgong Orphan Institution, against the
unanimous judgment of the missionaries in Assam, thus cutting
off the source of supply of native helpers and bringing much
discouragement to the missionaries. In 1855, the mission
suffered a great loss : Rev. Nathan Brown and Rev. I. J.
Stoddard and their wives, and also Mrs. Bauble, returned to
America; and in 1857 the Sepoy Rebellion in India made life
ASSAMESE PREACHERS
and property insecure and missionary work very difficult in
Assam. The fortunes of the mission were at a low ebb.
From this crisis, the policy of the mission began to change.
By the logic of events, the attention of the missionaries was
turned more and more from the unresponsive Assamese Hin-
dus to the more impressible animistic tribes. Although com-
pelled to assume charge of the Nowgong station on his arrival
in 1859, Rev. C. F. Tolman spent a large part of his short
stay in Assam among the Mikirs. The first two Garo converts
.having been baptized by Dr. Bronson at Gauhati in 1863, they
soon began to teach the new religion to their people, and with
such success that on the very first visit of Dr. Bronson to the
Garo country, in 1867, thirty-seven were baptized and a church
of forty members formed at Rajasimla. In 1863, the first
Mikir convert was baptized at Nowgong, and Rev. E. P. Scott
and wife arrived to devote their labors to this people. Mr.
Scott died in 1868, of fever contracted in the Mikir country.
Mrs. Scott remained in Assam until 1871, when she returned
to America; but in 1889 went out to Swatow, China, as a
missionary physician. October, 1867, Goalpara was occupied
by Rev. I. J. Stoddard as a favorable point from which to reach
the Garos. In 1868, he
visited Tura, the newly
opened government sta-
tion on the Garo hills ;
but this was not occu-
pied as the mission
station until 1876, when
the headquarters of the
Garo mission were re-
moved from Goalpara
to Tura, by Rev. E. G.
Phillips and Rev. M. C.
Mason, who had reached
Assam in 1874. Rev.
R. E. Neighbor reached
Nowgong in 1871, for
work among the Mikirs.
In the same year, the
attention of Rev. E. W.
Clark was specially
drawn to the Nagas, and
he persuaded Godhula,
an Assamese preacher, to study the Naga tongue. The next
year, Godhula went to live in the Naga country, and many
were baptized within a few years. In 1871 also, four Kols,
called by Mr. Clark "Chota Nagpur people," were baptized,
coming to Sibsagor, seventy miles from the tea garden where
they were laboring. Many others soon followed in their foot-
steps.
REV. EDWARD W. CLARK
io8
While these stirring and promising events were following in
rapid succession in the work among the tribes, labor for the
Assamese was continued in the older stations of Sibsagor,
Nowgong, and Gauhati. Rev. William Ward and wife reached
Assam in 1851, and labored with much faithfulness and ability
until the death of Dr. Ward in 1873. Rev. E. W. Clark
left the Assamese work in 1876, and thenceforward devoted
himself wholly to the Nagas. In the same year Rev. A.
K. Gurney arrived at Sibsagor, being assigned to the
work of completing the
translation of the Bible
into Assamese. This
was done by 1892. In
1877 occurred the first
ordination of natives,
when Kandura of Gau-
hati and Sonarum of
Nowgong were solemnly
inducted into the Chris-
tian ministry. The
largest success among
the Assamese ha been
at Nowgong, where in
1885 the church became
strong enough to as-
sume the support of its
own pastor. But the
mission work among the
Assamese Hindus of the
Brahmaputra valley has
shown so little prosper-
ity after years of labor and large expense that if the mission
in Assam were to base its claims upon its success among this
people it would have been abandoned long ago.
The work among the Garos has proved the most successful
and encouraging of the missions in Assam. In 1892, more
than seven hundred of this tribe were baptized into the
churches, arid the number of converts at the end of 1893 was
2,283. The chief headquarters of this mission are at Tura,
but by far the larger part of the work on the Gauhati field is
REV. MARCUS C. MASON
log
among the Garos, Rev.
C. E. Burdette, first
at Tura, removing to
Gauhati in 1 885 . In-
dependence and self-
support are strong
characteristics of the
Garo churches. They
are divided into asso-
ciations, as are Amer-
ican Baptist churches,
elect their own pre-
siding officers, and
conduct their meet-
ings with much wis-
dom and Christian
spirit. Aside from the
support of their pas-
tors, every Christian
village has its school
for the education of
the children, and
about half of the
churches also main-
tain from one to four
evangelists, whose
whole time is devoted
to preaching the gos-
pel to the heathen.
The mission head-
quarters at Tura is a
model of what an effi-
cient central mission
station should be, with
its schools of various
grades, from primary
to high, including an
industrial department,
and the admirably or-
ganized system for the
io8
While these stirring and promising events were following in
rapid succession in the work among the tribes, labor for the
Assamese was continued in the older stations of Sibsagor,
Nowgong, and Gauhati. Rev. William Ward and wife reached
Assam in 1851, and labored with much faithfulness and ability
until the death of Dr. Ward in 1873. Rev. E. W. Clark
left the Assamese work in 1876, and thenceforward devoted
himself wholly to the Nagas. In the same year Rev. A.
K. Gurney arrived at Sibsagor, being assigned to the
work of completing the
translation of the Bible
into Assamese. This
was done by 1892. In
1877 occurred the first
ordination of natives,
when Kandura of Gau-
hati and Sonarum of
Nowgong were solemnly
inducted into the Chris-
tian ministry. The
largest success among
the Assamese ha been
at Nowgong, where in
1885 the church became
strong enough to as-
sume the support of its
own pastor. But the
mission work among the
Assamese Hindus of the
Brahmaputra valley has
shown so little prosper-
ity after years of labor and large expense that if the mission
in Assam were to base its claims upon its success among this
people it would have been abandoned long ago.
The work among the Garos has proved the most successful
and encouraging of the missions in Assam. In 1892, more
than seven hundred of this tribe were baptized into the
churches, arid the number of converts at the end of 1893 was
2,283. The chief headquarters of this mission are at Tura,
but by far the larger part of the work on the Gauhati field is
REV. MARCUS C. MASON
iog
among the Garos, Rev.
C. E. Burdette, first
at Tura, removing to
Gauhatiin 1885. In-
dependence and self-
support are strong
characteristics of the
Garo churches. They
are divided into asso-
ciations, as are Amer-
ican Baptist churches,
elect their own pre-
siding officers, and
conduct their meet-
ings with much wis-
dom and Christian
spirit. Aside from the
support of their pas-
tors, every Christian
village has its school
for the education of
the children, and
about half of the
churches also main-
tain from one to four
evangelists, whose
whole time is devoted
to preaching the gos-
pel to the heathen.
The mission head-
quarters at Tura is a
model of what an effi-
cient central mission
station should be, with
its schools of various
grades, from primary
to high, including an
industrial department,
and the admirably or-
ganized system for the
no
superintendence and advancement of the whole mission.
Although in a savage condition, the Garos have shown remark-
able susceptibility to the gospel in both its saving and
elevating power, and under its influence have developed
unlooked-for elements of manly strength and intelligence.
The prospects of the mission are exceedingly bright and
encouraging.
Next in success after the mission to the Garos is that to the
Ill
Kols, laborers in the tea gardens centering about Sibsagor.,
These people have retained much of their primitive character,
and have received the gospel with great readiness. Rev. C.
E. Petrick was the first missionary to devote his whole atten-
tion to them, and has baptized large numbers. In 1881, Rev.
C. D. King opened a station at Kohima, among the Angami
Nagas, now occupied by Rev. S. W. Rivenburg, M. D., while
Mr. and Mrs. King are at Gauhati. Rev. W. E. Witter began
no
superintendence and advancement of the whole mission.
Although in a savage condition, the Garos have shown remark-
able susceptibility to the gospel in both its saving and
elevating power, and under its influence have developed
unlooked-for elements of manly strength and intelligence.
The prospects of the mission are exceedingly bright and
encouraging.
Next in success after the mission to the Garos is that to the
n i
Kols, laborers in the tea gardens centering about Sibsagor.,
These people have retained much of their primitive character,
and have received the gospel with great readiness. Rev. C.
E. Petrick was the first missionary to devote his whole atten-
tion to them, and has baptized large numbers. In 1881, Rev.
C. D. King opened a station at Kohima, among the Angami
Nagas, now occupied by Rev. S. W. Rivenburg, M. D., while
Rev. W. E. Witter began
Mr. and Mrs. King are at Gauhati.
112
work among the Lhota Nagas at Wokha, but was compelled
soon to return to America. The Ao Naga mission, begun by
Rev. E. W. Clark, with headquarters at Molung, is most inter-
esting and has been well reinforced. A new station has lately
been opened at Impur. The most recent field to be opened
is at North Lakimpur, in Northern Assam, at the very foot
of the Himalaya Mountains. The mission there has been
started under the most encouraging auspices. More than
half the missionaries in Assam are now laboring for the ani-
mistic people. Their religion is similar to that of the Karens
of Burma, and the encouraging prospect is that the great
progress which marked the early days of the Karen mission
will be repeated among these similar tribes in Assam. Since
the mission to the Assamese, though carried on for many
years, has been largely without results, it is probable that
future missionary efforts, in Assam will be directed chiefly to
these simple, receptive tribes who reside on the hills to the
north and south of the valley.
The Christian work among the Nagas will probably be ex-
tended to. the Khamtis, or the Shans, as they are known in
Burma, and the establishment of new mission stations in the
north of Burma points to an early realization of one of the ideas
which led to the opening of missions in Assam the union of
our missions in Burma and Assam. The rapid progress in
opening up the country will also soon bring Assam, into direct
communication with Western China.
In 1893, the summary of the mission work in Assam shows
40 missionaries, 31 native preachers, 32 churches, 3,469 church
members, of whom 553 were baptized in 1893, and 90 schools
with 1,744 pupils. While it is true that missionary labors in
Assam have not been fruitful until the last few years, the more
recent developments offer the greatest encouragement for
energetic and increased labors for the numerous tribes which
border the Brahmaputra valley.
THANGKAN, A GARO EVANGELIST
112
work among the Lhota Nagas at Wokha, but was compelled
soon to return to America. The Ao Naga mission, begun by
Rev. E. W. Clark, with headquarters at Molung, is most inter-
esting and has been well reinforced. A new station has lately
been opened at Impur. The most recent field to be opened
is at North Lakimpur, in Northern Assam, at the very foot
of the Himalaya Mountains. The mission there has been
started under the most encouraging auspices. More than
half the missionaries in Assam are now laboring for the ani-
mistic people. Their religion is similar to that of the Karens
of Burma, and the encouraging prospect is that the great
progress which marked the early days of the Karen mission
will be repeated among these similar tribes in Assam. Since
the mission to the Assamese, though carried on for many
years, has been largely without results, it is probable that
future missionary efforts in Assam will be directed chiefly to
these simple, receptive tribes who reside on the hills to the
north and south of the valley.
The Christian work among the Nagas will probably be ex-
tended to. the Khamtis, or the Shans, as they are known in
Burma, and the establishment of new mission stations in the
north of Burma points to an early realization of one of the ideas
which led to the opening of missions in Assam the union of
our missions in Burma and Assam. The rapid progress in
opening up the country will also soon bring Assam, into direct
communication with Western China.
In 1893, the summary of the mission work in Assam shows
40 missionaries, 3 1 native preachers, 32 churches, 3,469 church
members, of whom 553 were baptized in 1893, and 90 schools
with 1,744 pupils. While it is true that missionary labors in
Assam have not been fruitful until the last few years, the more
recent developments offer the greatest encouragement for
energetic and increased labors for the numerous tribes which
border the Brahmaputra valley.
THANGKAN, A GARO EVANGELIST
18
17
Mallingar
Hanam
THE
TELUGTJ CO
Stations of the A. B. M. V. in
Toe Canadian Baptist Mission!
C. Church Missionary Society.
L. London Missionary Society.
B. English Baptist.
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79 Longitude
fron;
THE TELUGU MISSION, INDIA
THE Telugu territory is in the southeastern portion of India,
lying along the shores of the Bay of Bengal, from Madras to
Chicacole, and is about as large as New England and the
Middle States. It is partly in the Madras Presidency, which
is under the English government, and partly in the dominions
of the native Nizam who has his capital at Hyderabad but is
really under the control of an English Resident or minister
who decides all important matters of the kingdom. The
Telugus are estimated to number about eighteen millions, and
belong to the Dravidian branch of the human race, which
peopled South India from pre-historic times. The religion of
the Telugus is Hinduism, with its superstitions and rigid caste
lines, but among them are found a large number of outcastes,
upon whom the religion has a slighter hold than upon the
higher classes. The most of the converts have come from
these lower classes.
Though a distinct people, yet, like the Jews, the Telugus:
are a nation without a government, having no country which
they can call their own. Besides the densely peopled regions-
where they chiefly dwell, they are found in considerable num-
bers in all the towns and cities of Southern India, and many
make their way to other lands where work is more abundant
and wages are higher. From one sixth to one third of the
people of Madras are said to be Telugus. Several hundred
thousand are found in Burma, and some of them have
embraced the gospel in Rangoon. Their language, though
difficult of acquisition, is wonderfully smooth and sweet, so
that it is often called the Italian of India.
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Rev. Amos Sutton, a missionary of the English Genera)
Baptists in Orissa, married an American lady, a native of
Boston, the widow of Rev. James Colman, formerly a mission-
ary in Burma. Mr. Sutton had been the means of interesting
the Free Baptists of this country in Orissa and of the organiza-
tion of their missionary society. While on a visit to the
United States, in the year 1835, he visited the Annual Meet-
ing of the General Missionary Convention, at Richmond, Va.,
and urged the Baptists of this country to establish a mission
among the Telugus. The Treasurer's report of that year
showed a surplus of funds, and the Convention passed the
following resolution :
"Resolved, That this Convention, feeling deeply the duty of
the American Baptists to engage in far more enlarged and
vigorous efforts for the conversion of the whole world, instruct
the Board to establish new missions in every unoccupied
place where there may be a reasonable prospect of success ;
and to employ, in some part of the great field, every properly
qualified missionary, whose services the Board may be able to
obtain."
The proposal of Mr. Sutton received a favorable response.
In September of that year Rev. Samuel S. Day, with his wife,
and Rev. E. L. Abbott, sailed from Boston to Calcutta, with
instructions to open a mission among the Telugus. A large
number of other missionaries designated to the East, under
the auspices of the Board of Foreign Missions, sailed with
Messrs. Day and Abbott, accompanied by Rev. Howard
Malcolm. On the arrival of the company at Calcutta, in
February, 1836, it was decided that Mr. Abbott should join
the Karen Mission in British Burma, leaving Mr. Day to open
the Telugu Mission. Mr. Day immediately proceeded to
Vizagapatam, one of the principal cities of the Telugu
country, then to Chicacole, and soon established his residence
in one of the quarters of Madras.
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Rev. Amos Sutton, a missionary of the English General
Baptists in Orissa, married an American lady, a native of
Boston, the widow of Rev. James Colman, formerly a mission-
ary in Burma. Mr. Sutton had been the means of interesting
the Free Baptists of this country in Orissa and of the organiza-
tion of their missionary society. While on a visit to the
United States, in the year 1835, he visited the Annual Meet-
ing of the General Missionary Convention, at Richmond, Va.,
and urged the Baptists of this country to establish a mission
among the Telugus. The Treasurer's report of that year
showed a surplus of funds, and the Convention passed the
following resolution :
"Resolved, That this Convention, feeling deeply the duty of
the American Baptists to engage in far more enlarged and
vigorous efforts for the conversion of the whole world, instruct
the Board to establish new missions in every unoccupied
place where there may be a reasonable prospect of success ;
and to employ, in some part of the great, field, every properly
qualified missionary, whose services the Board may be able to
obtain."
The proposal of Mr. Sutton received a favorable response.
In September of that year Rev. Samuel S. Day, with his wife,
and Rev. E. L. Abbott, sailed from Boston to Calcutta, with
instructions to open a mission among the Telugus. A large
number of other missionaries designated to the East, under
the auspices of the Board of Foreign Missions, sailed with
Messrs. Day and Abbott, accompanied by Rev. Howard
Malcolm. On the arrival of the company at Calcutta, in
February, 1836, it was decided that Mr. Abbott should join
the Karen Mission in British Burma, leaving Mr. Day to open
the Telugu Mission. Mr. Day immediately proceeded to
Vizagapatam, one of the principal cities of the Telugu
country, then to Chicacole, and soon established his residence
in one of the quarters of Madras.
n8
In February, 1840, Mr Day removed to Nellore, whick
continued for twenty-six years the only station of the Telugu
Mission. Venkappah, the first Telugu convert, was baptized
at that place Sept. 27 of the next year, and a church was
formed Oct. 12, 1844 But the early growth of the mission
was so slow that the idea of abandoning the field was raised at
the meeting of the Union in 1848. Again at the annual
meeting held in Albany, N. Y., in 1853, the question was
earnestly discussed, "Shall the Telugu Mission be relinquished
or reinforced ? " At an evening session, eloquent pleas were
made by some for removing the mission to Burma, and by
others for reinforcement. One of the speakers, perhaps Dr.
Edward Bright, then Home Secretary of the Missionary
Union, pointing to Nellore on the map suspended over the
platform, said, " There are many to care for the brilliant con-
stellation in Burma, but who will care for the Lone Star?"
The words fell on the ears of one present with peculiar force.
That night, before sleeping, Dr. S. F. Smith, the author of
" My Country, 't is of Thee," and of " Yes, my Native Land, I
Love Thee," and "The Morning Light is Breaking," wrote
"The Lone Star," and read it in the meeting of the next
morning.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " Thy radiance bright
Shall spread o'er all the eastern sky;
Morn breaks apace from gloom and night :
Shine on, and bless the pilgrim's eye.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " I would not dim
The light that gleams with dubious ray;
The lonely star of Bethlehem
Led on a bright and glorious day.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " in grief and tears
And sad reverses oft baptized;
Shine on amid thy sister spheres :
Lone stars in heaven are not despised.
REV. LYMAN JEWETT, D. D.
n8
In February, 1840, Mr Day removed to Nellore, whick
continued for twenty-six years the only station of the Telugu
Mission. Venkappah, the first Telugu convert, was baptized
at that place Sept. 27 of the next year, and a church was
formed Oct. 12, 1844 But the early growth of the mission
was so slow that the idea of abandoning the field was raised at
the meeting of the Union in 1848. Again at the annual
meeting held in Albany, N. Y., in 1853, the question was
earnestly discussed, " Shall the Telugu Mission be relinquished
or reinforced ? " At an evening session, eloquent pleas were
made by some for removing the mission to Burma, and by
others for reinforcement. One of the speakers, perhaps Dr.
Edward Bright, then Home Secretary of the Missionary
Union, pointing to Nellore on the map suspended over the
platform, said, " There are many to care for the brilliant con-
stellation in Burma, but who will care for the Lone Star?"
The words fell on the ears of one present with peculiar force.
That night, before sleeping, Dr. S. F. Smith, the author of
" My Country, 'tis of Thee," and of " Yes, my Native Land, I
Love Thee," and " The Morning Light is Breaking," wrote
" The Lone Star," and read it in the meeting of the next
morning.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " Thy radiance bright
Shall spread o'er all the eastern sky;
Morn breaks apace from gloom and night :
Shine on, and bless the pilgrim's eye.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " I would not dim
The light that gleams with dubious ray;
The lonely star of Bethlehem
Led on a bright and glorious day.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " in grief and tears
And sad reverses oft baptized;
Shine on amid thy sister spheres :
Lone stars in heaven are not despised.
REV. LYMAN JEWETT, D. D.
I2O
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " Who lifts his hand
To dash to earth so bright a gem,
A new " lost pleiad " from the band
That sparkles in night's diadem?
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " The 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.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " till earth redeemed
In dust shall bid its idols fall;
And thousands, where thy radiance beamed,
Shall " crown the Saviour Lord of all."
It was voted to reinforce the mission.
In 1862, at the anniversary in Providence, R. I., relinquish-
ment of the Telugu Mission was again discussed ; but before
deciding the question it was resolved to await the arrival of
Dr. Jewett, who was on his way to this country. Dr. Jewett
said that he would never abandon the Telugus, but begged to
be allowed to go back to India and die there. Dr. Warren,
the Secretary of the Union, said to him, "Well, brother, if
you are resolved to return, we must send somebody with you
to bury you. You certainly ought to have a Christian burial
in that heathen land." So the Telugu Mission, destined to
become one of the brightest gems in the coronet of Christian
missions, was saved, first by the genius of Samuel Francis
Smith, and again by the heroism of Lyman Jewett.
In 1854 was held that remarkable prayer meeting on a hill,
now known as "Prayer-Meeting Hill," overlooking Ongole.
New Year's morning five believing souls ascended that hill.
Looking down upon the idolatrous temples of the place, they
felt a peculiar inclination to ask God for a missionary to be
sent to Ongole. In that prayer meeting, composed of Dr.
Jewett, Mrs Jewett, Christian Nursu, a native preacher, and
I2O
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " Who lifts his hand
To dash to earth so bright a gem,
A new " lost pleiad " from the band
That sparkles in night's diadem?
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " The day draws near
When none shall shine more fair than thou;
Thou, born and nursed in doubt and fear,
Wilt glitter on Immanuers brow.
Shine on, " Lone Star ! " till earth redeemed
In dust shall bid its idols fall;
And thousands, where thy radiance beamed,
Shall " crown the Saviour Lord of all."
It was voted to reinforce the mission.
In 1862, at the anniversary in Providence, R. I,, relinquish-
ment of the Telugu Mission was again discussed ; but before
deciding the question it was resolved to await the arrival of
Dr. Jewett, who was on his way to this country. Dr. Jewett
said that he would never abandon the Telugus, but begged to
be allowed to go back to India and die there. Dr. Warren,
the Secretary of the Union, said to him, "Well, brother, if
you are resolved to return, we must send somebody with you
to bury you. You certainly ought to have a Christian burial
in that heathen land." So the Telugu Mission, destined to
become one of the brightest gems in the coronet of Christian
missions, was saved, first by the genius of Samuel Francis
Smith, and again by the heroism of Lyman Jewett.
In 1854 was held that remarkable prayer meeting on a hill,
now known as "Prayer-Meeting Hill," overlooking Ongole.
New Year's morning five believing souls ascended that hill.
Looking down upon the idolatrous temples of the place, they
felt a peculiar inclination to ask God for a missionary to be
sent to Ongole. In that prayer meeting, composed of Dr.
Jewett, Mrs Jewett, Christian Nursu, a native preacher, and
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two Bible women, Julia and Ruth, there was given to them a
strong assurance of being heard in the special prayer there
offered. The answer came after the lapse of twelve years.
Rev. John E. Clough, the " missionary for Ongole," arrived
at Nellore in company with Dr. Jewett, and opened the station
at Ongole in 1866, having his house on the very spot fixed on
by Dr. Jewett twelve years before, and bought by him for the
mission in 1861. The day after his arrival at Nellore Mr.
Clough learned to say in Telugu John iii. 1 6 : " God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
l>elieveth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life."
This "little gospel" he proclaimed through the streets of
Nellore, learning more of the Bible daily, until he had quite a
sermon to give to the people before he had learned to read
Telugu.
At first much interest was shown by the caste people at
Ongole, who visited the mission house to hear the gospel.
Some of the outcaste people also heard the gospel and at
once received it. When this became known to the high-caste
people they said to Mr. Clough, "If this people are to be
received, then we must go away." Not wishing to offend the
caste people, and at the same time feeling they must not
reject even the poorest who were coming to Christ, in this
quandary the missionaries went to God for wisdom. As Mr.
Clough was passing by a pile of New Testaments he picked
up one, which opened of its own accord to i Corinthians i.
2629: "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are
despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are ; that no flesh should glory in
I2 3
his presence." Meeting Mrs. Clough, he found that her mind
had been turned to the same passage of Scripture, and they
highly resolved to receive all true converts at whatever cost,
whether they came from the higher or the lower classes. The
poor outcastes were admitted and the haughty Brahmans
withdrew, and few of them have ever received the gospel unto
salvation ; but the number of converts, chiefly from the out-
castes, has grown in thirty years from thirty-eight to fifty-five
thousand.
Every department of missionary labor was now carried for-
ward with vigor. New out stations were opened, and the
people from villages near and far came and begged for
teachers. A chapel was erected at Ongole, built of stone
laid in lime, at a cost of eleven hundred and seventy dollars,
the whole, except one hundred and twenty-five dollars, being
collected in the country. Oral preaching of the gospel was
the policy of the mission. Mr. Clough wrote that in less than
a year the people in more than eight hundred villages, within
a circuit of forty miles around Ongole, had heard the gospel,
had the Scriptures offered them, and had been entreated to
repent, believe, and be saved. The word of God had free
course, and converts were multiplied. Jan. i, 1867, a church
was formed at Ongole with eight members. In a thousand
villages Christ was preached, and converts, more and more,
were added to the Lord. The whole number baptized in the
Telugu Mission to Dec. 31, 1876, was 4,394, of whom 3,407
were in the church at Ongole.
The famine of 1877-78 was one of the most severe ever felt
in India. Like others it resulted not so much from want of
food, which was plentiful in some parts of India, but from
lack of means of communication, and also from the rigid
prejudices of the people which led them to cling to their
homes and starve rather than remove to strange places and
eat grain instead of rice. Many thousands perished in spite
124
of all efforts to save them. Missionary work, in some of its
departments, was suspended, and the efforts of the brethren
were turned as far as possible to the saving of life. They
were made the almoners of the government, and in superin-
tending public works undertaken to give employment to the
starving people, they gained new access to many hundreds of
minds, and influence over them. It was thought best for a
time to use the greatest caution in giving encouragement
under such circumstances to those who professed conversion
and requested baptism, lest they should seek to be recognized
among the disciples for mercenary motives. Hence for
eighteen months none were received to the church, although
hundreds applied for baptism. At last, when the dreadful
days of famine were past, the doors of the church of Christ
were opened. No longer could baptism be refused to the
multitudes pressing into the kingdom. Then were almost
literally fulfilled the words of Scripture, " The kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force."
(Matt. xi. 12.) Although thousands were rejected or advised
to wait for further instruction, in two months between June 15
and Sept. 17, 1878, 9,147 received Christian baptism, 2,222
of them in one day, July 3, 1878. This baptism of the
2,222 in one day is one of the most important events in the
history of the Christian church, and brings emotions of fervent
joy and gratitude to every true Christian heart. It has its
only parallel in the great Day of Pentecost, when three
thousand souls were added to the church in J erusalem. The
following description of this remarkable event is from the
account of Dr. Clough himself, given in a personal conversa-
tion with the writer.
After the famine was nearly over, since small pox was raging
in the villages, Dr. Clough wrote to the preachers to meet him
at Velumpelly on the Gundlacumma River, ten miles north of
Ongole, in order that the disease should not be brought to the
124
of all efforts to save them. Missionary work, in some of its
departments, was suspended, and the efforts of the brethren
were turned as far as possible to the saving of life. They
were made the almoners of the government, and in superin-
tending public works undertaken to give employment to the
starving people, they gained new access to many hundreds of
minds, and influence over them. It was thought best for a
time to use the greatest caution in giving encouragement
under such circumstances to those who professed conversion
and requested baptism, lest they should seek to be recognized
among the disciples for mercenary motives. Hence for
eighteen months none were received to the church, although
hundreds applied for baptism. At last, when the dreadful
days of famine were past, the doors of the church of Christ
were opened. No longer could baptism be refused to the
multitudes pressing into the kingdom. Then were almost
literally fulfilled the words of Scripture, " The kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force."
(Matt. xi. 12.) Although thousands were rejected or advised
to wait for further instruction, in two months between June 15
and Sept. 17, 1878, 9,147 received Christian baptism, 2,222
of them in one day, July 3, 1878. This baptism of the
2,222 in one day is one of the most important events in the
history of the Christian church, and brings emotions of fervent
joy and gratitude to every true Christian heart. It has its
only parallel in the great Day of Pentecost, when three
thousand souls were added to the church in Jerusalem. The
following description of this remarkable event is from the
account of Dr. Clough himself, given in a personal conversa-
tion with the writer.
After the famine was nearly over, since small pox was raging
in the villages, Dr. Clough wrote to the preachers to meet him
at Velumpelly on the Guiidlacumma River, ten miles north of
Ongole, in order that the disease should not be brought to the
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town. He wrote also not to allow the converts to come with
them at this time. But it was useless to forbid them. They
gathered to the number of about six thousand. Dr. Clough
endeavored to persuade them to go back to their homes, but
they replied, " We do not want money ; we will not ask you
for any." Only a few had received aid, except as they were
given work on the canal. They said, " As we have lived thus
far by our work, so will we continue to live, or if we die, we
shall die ; but we want you to baptize us." It was impossible
to refuse. Forty preachers were stationed under forty trees
and the examination of converts began. Only those were
received who had proved their Christian faith by several
months of consistent living. Dr. Clough himself went from
place to place, superintending the whole examination. After
all were examined, it was found that 2,222 had been received
and their names placed upon the list.
At that point the government road crosses the river by a
ford. The banks of the river are high, and an inclined way
for the road had been made, beginning quite a distance back
from the bank, and descending gradually to the bed of the
river. At this particular time the water in the river was high,
and while the current rushed by outside, there was a calm
eddy of water which flowed up over the road to a considerable
distance, making a natural baptistery. Two clerks were
stationed, one on each side of the bank above the road, with
the list of the accepted candidates.
Then two native preachers descended into the water to a
sufficient depth, a name was called out by each clerk, and the
person whose name was called went down into the water to
the preachers. The formula of baptism was repeated in each
case and the two were baptized. Then they returned from
the water and two others were called and baptized in the same
manner. So the administration of the ordinance went on,
from an early hour in the morning of July 3, 1878, until about
127
nine or ten o'clock. When the two preachers became tired,
two others were sent in their places. The administration or
baptism was suspended during the heated hours in the middle
of the day. About three or four o'clock it was resumed in the:
same manner, and continued until the 2,222 were baptized,
concluding about seven in the evening. The whole time
occupied in the baptism was about nine hours, and only two
native preachers officiated at a time. There were six in all,
relieving each other, as those who were acting became weary.
Dr. Clough baptized none himself. So this great event was
concluded, the largest number baptized on profession of their
faith in Christ on one day since the Day of Pentecost. All
was done decently and in order, and the manner in which this
large number was baptized proves that not only could three
thousand, but even twice three thousand, be baptized in a day
with perfect order and propriety, if the Lord should ever give
such a blessing to his people. An affecting and impressive
sequel to this great event occurred April 16, 1880, when
twenty-four native preachers were ordained at Ongole at one
service. This wonderful and gracious work of the Holy Spirit:
gave an impulse to the missionary work for the Telugus which
is felt to the present time. Thousands were baptized every
year. On Sunday, Dec. 28, 1890, 1,671 persons were baptized
in the baptistery at Ongole. This event, second in importance
only to that of July 3, 1878, occupied for its orderly adminis-
tration, about four hours and twenty-five minutes, with two
ministers baptizing at the same time, and again nearly ten
thousand were baptized on the various fields of the Telugu
Mission within five months.
An account of the Telugu Mission would hardly be complete
without a brief sketch of the man who has been so greatly
used of the Lord in this modern miracle of missions.
John Everett Clough was born near Frewsburg, Chautauqua
County, N. Y., July 16, 1836. When he was eight years old.
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the family removed to Illinois, and from there they went, in
1850, to Clayton County, Iowa, settling near the present town
of Strawberry Point. Dr. dough's early educational advan-
tages were small, but were improved to the utmost. For four
years he was a surveyor in Minnesota, and studied four years
at Burlington College, Iowa. He began the study of law, but
all his plans in life were changed by his conversion. He was
baptized by E.ev. G. J. Johnson, D. D., then pastor of the
First Baptist Church of Burlington, and became at once an
active worker for Christ. In 1862 he was graduated from the
Upper Iowa University of Fayette. After teaching a year and
serving one year as colportor of the American Baptist Publi-
cation Society, he was appointed to the Telugu Mission by
the American .Baptist Missionary Union, Aug. 2, 1864. He
went to Ongole in 1866. During the famine of 1877 his
knowledge of surveying was of great assistance, as he took the
contract for three miles of the Buckingham Canal, giving
employment to thousands of the natives, and saving many lives.
The visits of Dr^ Clough to America have been largely used
by him in the service of the mission. In 1872 he raised a
fund of more than thirty thousand dollars for the endow-
ment of the Theological Seminary at Ramapatam. Again in
1891-92 he secured twenty-five thousand dollars for an endow-
ment for the American Baptist College at Ongole, and twenty-
five thousand dollars for the reinforcement and enlargement
of the mission. By the aid of this fund thirty-two missionaries
were added to the staff of laborers among the Telugus within
two years. The ingathering of the Telugu Mission has never
been equalled, during the same time, by any mission on the
face of the earth. Its long years of little fruit have been suc-
ceeded by days of the most remarkable prosperity. The
number of converts is now about fifty-five thousand, and the
additions continue by hundreds and thousands every year.
The "Lone Star" has now multiplied to more than twenty
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the family removed to Illinois, and from there they went, in
1850, to Clayton County, Iowa, settling near the present town
of Strawberry Point. Dr. dough's early educational advan-
tages were small, but were improved to the utmost. For four
years he was a surveyor in Minnesota, and studied four years
at Burlington College, Iowa. He began the study of law, but
all his plans in life were changed by his conversion. He was
baptized by Rev. G. J. Johnson, D. D., then pastor of the
First Baptist Church of Burlington, and became at once an
active worker for Christ. In 1862 he was graduated from the
Upper Iowa University of Fayette. After teaching a year and
serving one year as colportor of the American Baptist Publi-
cation Society, he was appointed to the Telugu Mission by
the American .Baptist Missionary Union, Aug. 2, 1864. He
went to Ongole in 1866. During the famine of 1877 his
knowledge of surveying was of great assistance, as he took the
contract for three miles of the Buckingham Canal, giving
employment to thousands of the natives, and saving many lives.
The visits of Dr. Clough to America have been largely used
by him in the service of the mission. In 1872 he raised a
fund of more than thirty thousand dollars for the endow-
ment of the Theological Seminary at Kamapatam. Again in
1891-92 he secured twenty-five thousand dollars for an endow-
ment for the American Baptist College at Ongole, and twenty-
five thousand dollars for the reinforcement and enlargement
of the mission. By the aid of this fund thirty-two missionaries
were added to the staff of laborers among the Telugus within
two years. The ingathering of the Telugu Mission has never
been equalled, during the same time, by any mission on the
face of the earth. Its long years of little fruit have been suc-
ceeded by days of the most remarkable prosperity. The
number of converts is now about fifty-five thousand, and the
additions continue by hundreds and thousands every year.
The "Lone Star" has now multiplied to more than twenty
130
stations, and the few missionaries of the early days to nearly
one hundred. The history of the American Baptist Telugu
Mission has become one of the brightest spots in the history
of Christian missions throughout the world. The converts
have remained remarkably steadfast, and are growing in edu-
cation, intelligence, and self-dependence. The Ongole field,
which witnessed such wonderful displays of divine grace, has
been divided into eleven, each with its central station and
missionary family. The success of the mission has made it a
model for Christian evangelistic missions throughout India,
from which other bodies are more and more forming their
policy for missionary work, and the prospect for the future is
one of the brightest promise.
The rapid growth of the mission in the ingathering of con-
verts has been so great that there has been little opportunity
for Christian development. The pace of the missionary growth
has always been in advance of the increase of missionaries.
The ingathering of converts will doubtless go on in the future,
but the great need of the Telugu Mission is that it should be
strengthened and developed in all Christian graces. The
disciples have been won; now they need to be taught the
" all things " which the Lord has commanded. Education for
the people, and training for the ministry and the leaders of
the churches are urgently demanded, and with the continued
large ingathering of converts must be combined the develop-
ment of the mission in all ways into a strong and vigorous
self-supporting, self-directing, and self-propagating Christian
community.
All the conspicuous successes of missionary work have been
among people not bound to any .highly organized system of
false religion. The great ingathering in the Telugu Mission
is no exception to this rule. Nearly all this large number of
converts are from the outcastes. This people, although nomi-
nally Hindus, yet have themselves or their ancestors been cast
out from the special rites and privileges of the Hindu religion^
They are not included in any of the four great Hindu castes r
but are regarded as utterly unworthy of notice, and are-
despised by the orthodox Hindus. While this people have
adopted some of the ideas of Hinduism and take part im
Hindu festivals, their real religion is a form of nature worship,,
like that which exists among the Karens of Burma or the
people of the Pacific islands. Aside from the religious benefit
which Christianity has brought to this despised and oppressed
people it has been of conspicuous helpfulness to them in
social lines. Before conversion they were practically slaves
to their high caste Hindu masters. Christianity has made
them independent, has released them from many of the
degrading and oppressive requirements imposed upon them
by the Brahmans, and has brought to them light and knowl-
edge. As the children of Christian converts have been edu-
cated in Christian schools they have become elevated in the
130
stations, and the few missionaries of the early days to nearly
one hundred. The history of the American Baptist Telugu
Mission has become one of the brightest spots in the history
of Christian missions throughout the world. The converts
have remained remarkably steadfast, and are growing in edu-
cation, intelligence, and self-dependence. The Ongole field,
which witnessed such wonderful displays of divine grace, has
been divided into eleven, each with its central station and
missionary family. The success of the mission has made it a
model for Christian evangelistic missions throughout India,
from which other bodies are more and more forming their
policy for missionary work, and the prospect for the future is
one of the brightest promise.
The rapid growth of the mission in the ingathering of con-
verts has been so great that there has been little opportunity
for Christian development. The pace of the missionary growth
has always been in advance of the increase of missionaries.
13*
The ingathering of converts will doubtless go on in the future,
but the great need of the Telugu Mission is that it should be
strengthened and developed in all Christian graces. The
disciples have been won; now they need to be taught the
" all things " which the Lord has commanded. Education for
the people, and training for the ministry and the leaders of
the churches are urgently demanded, and with the continued
large ingathering of converts must be combined the develop-
ment of the mission in all ways into a strong and vigorous
self-supporting, self-directing, and self-propagating Christian
community.
All the conspicuous successes of missionary work have been
among people not bound to any highly organized system of
false religion. The great ingathering in the Telugu Mission
is no exception to this rule. Nearly all this large number of
converts are from the outcastes. This people, although nomi-
nally Hindus, yet have themselves or their ancestors been cast
out from the special rites and privileges of the Hindu religion-
They are not included in any of the four great Hindu castes r
but are regarded as utterly unworthy of notice, and are-
despised by the orthodox Hindus. While this people have
adopted some of the ideas of Hinduism and take part in
Hindu festivals, their real religion is a form of nature worship,
like that which exists among the Karens of Burma or the
people of the Pacific islands. Aside from the religious benefit
which Christianity has brought to this despised and oppressed
people it has been of conspicuous helpfulness to them in
social lines. Before conversion they were practically slaves
to their high caste Hindu masters. Christianity has made
them independent, has released them from many of the
degrading and oppressive requirements imposed upon them
by the Brahmans, and has brought to them light and knowl-
edge. As the children of Christian converts have been edu-
cated in Christian schools they have become elevated in the
2
3
w
cs
2
s
o
Ed
1
Oi
133
social scale. Under the Hindu regime only the upper castes
receive education. A pariah or outcaste is thought unworthy
to be taught. All offices, both native and in the civil service
of the British Government of India, were in the hands of the
high .castes. Education has brought the outcastes within the
possibility of official position in the civil service examinations.
The Brahman now frequently finds himself seated side by side
with the despised outcaste, and very often is compelled to
yield the coveted place to the competitor whom he regarded
as only worthy of contempt. The education which the mis-
sion schools has diffused among Christian converts is doing
much to elevate Christianity in the eyes of the Hindu popu-
lation of India.
Aside from mission schools of all grades there is an increas-
ingly favorable movement toward industrial education for the
Christian converts. In their heathen condition they were
simply serfs, and unacquainted with any except the most
menial forms of labor. In an enlightened and civilized com-
munity diversity of occupation and employment is needed, and
there is almost no opportunity for the outcaste Christian con-
vert to become acquainted with these except by means of
industrial schools conducted under mission auspices. A good
beginning has been made at Nellore, where the Bucknell
Institute, .organized by the generosity of the late William.
Bucknell of Philadelphia, is training girls in weaving, sewing,
and other industries prepared for them to learn. A move-
ment has also just been started for the establishment of a
fully organized technical school at Ongole, towards which Dr.
Clough has contributed the first five thousand rupees. The
spiritual effect of missionary work is, of course, the most
important, but to the eye of the general observer elevation in
social life and capacities, and in standing in the community is
something more plainly evident. The Telugu Mission will'
be largely helped by every movement in this direction, and
z
4
a
3
w
d
3
* i
B
o
O
I
-1
K
Z
O
133
social scale. Under the Hindu regime only the upper castes
receive education. A pariah or outcaste is thought unworthy
to be taught. All offices, both native and in the civil service
of the British Government of India, were in the hands of the
high castes. Education has brought the outcastes within the
possibility of official position in the civil service examinations.
The Brahman now frequently finds himself seated side by side
with the despised outcaste, and very often is compelled to
yield the coveted place to the competitor whom he regarded
as only worthy of contempt. The education which the mis-
sion schools has diffused among Christian converts is doing
much to elevate Christianity in the eyes of the Hindu popu-
lation of India.
Aside from mission schools of all grades there is an increas-
ingly favorable movement toward industrial education for the
Christian converts. In their heathen condition they were
simply serfs, and unacquainted with any except the most
menial forms of labor. In an enlightened and civilized com-
munity diversity of occupation and employment is needed, and
there is almost no opportunity for the outcaste Christian con-
vert to become acquainted with these except by means of
industrial schools conducted under mission auspices. A good
beginning has been made at Nellore, where the Bucknell
Institute, .organized by the generosity of the late William
Bucknell of Philadelphia, is training girls in weaving, sewing,
and other industries prepared for them to learn. A move-
ment has also just been started for the establishment of a
fully organized technical school at Ongole, towards which Dr.
Clough has contributed the first five thousand rupees. The
spiritual effect of missionary work is, of course, the most
important, but to the eye of the general observer elevation in
social life and capacities, and in standing in the community is
something more plainly evident. The Telugu Mission wilL
be largely helped by every movement in this direction, and
134
much work will be necessary in these lines until the large num-
ber of converts have grown into a fully developed Christian
community.
If all the missionary efforts of American Baptists had
resulted in nothing else than the wondrous, inspiring, and
enkindling story of the Telugu Mission there would yet be
abundant reason for praise and thanksgiving to the God of all
the earth for the marvellous blessings bestowed upon their
labors. Within itself the Telugu Mission furnishes most
remarkable instances of heroic faith rewarded with triumphant
victory, and of simple devotion to the truth crowned with
abundant blessings. Since the Telugu Pentecost of July 3,
1878, the question of the possibility of the immersion of three
thousand on the primitive Pentecost has been forever settled,
and an immense impulse given to the progress^ of Scriptural
Baptism. Oral preaching of the gospel as the true and best
method of winning the heathen to the gospel of Christ has
been so successfully and strikingly vindicated that missions
which have relied largely upon other methods are now reorgan-
izing on the model of the work at Ongole. To have set forth
and impressed upon the Christian world these fundamental
principles of the gospel of Christ, and at the same time to
have won such great multitudes from the darkness of heathen-
ism to the glorious light of the gospel mark the American
Baptist Telugu .Mission as one of the great movements of
Christian History.
5
55
tt
55
O
z
G
I
a
a
134
much work will be necessary in these lines until the large num-
ber of converts have grown into a fully developed Christian
community.
If all the missionary efforts of American Baptists had
resulted in nothing else than the wondrous, inspiring, and
enkindling story of the Telugu Mission there would yet be
abundant reason for praise and thanksgiving to the God of all
the earth for the marvellous blessings bestowed upon their
labors. Within itself the Telugu Mission furnishes most
remarkable instances of heroic faith rewarded with triumphant
victory, and of simple devotion to the truth crowned with
abundant blessings. Since the Telugu Pentecost of July 3,
1878, the question of the possibility of the immersion of three
thousand on the primitive Pentecost has been forever settled,
and an immense impulse given to the progress of Scriptural
Baptism. Oral preaching of the gospel as the true and best
method of winning the heathen to the gospel of Christ has
been so successfully and strikingly vindicated that missions
which have relied largely upon other methods are now reorgan-
izing on the model of the work at Ongole. To have set forth
and impressed upon the Christian world these fundamental
principles of the gospel of Christ, and at the same time to
have won such great multitudes from the darkness of heathen-
ism to the glorious light of the gospel mark the American
Baptist Telugu .Mission as one of the great movements of
Christian History.
en
en
O
tt
2
X
a
a
2
O
Hf*
.asog^g"
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
THE immense country included within the Chinese empire
comprises one third of the most habitable part of the globe.
In population it is the largest empire which the world ever
knew. The name China is not used by the people for their
own country. One of the names they give it denotes " the
world," another means "The Middle Kingdom," as the
Chinese believe that their country is the centre of the earth,
and all other nations are less important territories on the out-
side. Another name sometimes given to China by the
Chinese is " Heaven," from which the people are sometimes
called " Celestials." The empire is divided into three princi-
pal parts, of which that commonly known to other nations as
China is called the Eighteen Provinces. It is the only part
entirely settled by the Chinese. Its scenery is beautiful, its
soil fertile, its climate salubrious, its rivers magnificent and
navigable, and its productions various and abundant. The
Chinese are largely engaged in agriculture, and although they
are ignorant of many of the operations of fertilizing and have
few and simple implements, they make up for these disad-
vantages by their indefatigable industry. This and the favor-
able conditions of soil, climate, and irrigation have rendered'
the country so productive that it has always supplied all the
wants of its people and been quite independent of foreign
nations.
The Chinese are conservative and proud of their country
and customs. They claim the oldest authentic and continuous
history of any people on earth, running back to 2,852 years be-
fore Christ, or only 363 years after the Deluge. The popula-
tion of the empire is generally estimated at 400,000,000, all of
whom read the same language ; but the spoken dialects are
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
THE immense country included within the Chinese empire
comprises one third of the most habitable part of the globe.
In population it is the largest empire which the world ever
Itnew. The name China is not used by the people for their
own country. One of the names they give it denotes " the
world," another means "The Middle Kingdom," as the
Chinese believe that their country is the centre of the earth,
and all other nations are less important territories on the out-
side. Another name sometimes given to China by the
Chinese is " Heaven," from which the people are sometimes
called " Celestials." The empire is divided into three princi-
pal parts, of which that commonly known to other nations as
China is called the Eighteen Provinces. It is the only part
entirely settled by the Chinese. Its scenery is beautiful, its
soil fertile, its climate salubrious, its rivers magnificent and
navigable, and its productions various and abundant. The
Chinese are largely engaged in agriculture, and although they
are ignorant of many of the operations of fertilizing and have
few and simple implements, they make up for these disad-
vantages by their indefatigable industry. This and the favor-
able conditions of soil, climate, and irrigation have rendered
the country so productive that it has always supplied all the
wants of its people and been quite independent of foreign
nations.
The Chinese are conservative and proud of their country
and customs. They claim the oldest authentic and continuous
history of any people on earth, running back to 2,852 years be-
fore Christ, or only 363 years after the Deluge. The popula-
tion of the empire is generally estimated at 400,000,000, all of
whom read the same language ; but the spoken dialects are
(i39)
140
very numerous, especially in the south. The Chinese have
more virtues than most pagan nations. They have never
offered human sacrifices, nor deified vice. The govern-
ment of China is the most purely patriarchal of those now
existing on the earth. All the land belongs nominally to the
emperor, and he is the father of the people. Every officer is
strictly responsible for the good order and welfare of the terri-
CHINESE MANDARINS
tory committed to his care, as every father is held responsible
for the good conduct of every other member of the family.
This principle secures a system of accountability so perfect
that it is difficult for a criminal to escape detection and pun-
ishment, and disorder in any part of the empire is impossible
except by the connivance of both officials and people.
There is no caste in China. There is a system of slavery,
but it is not so degrading as in other countries. It is not
allowable to separate married slaves, nor to sell their children
I4T
when very young. Girls are more readily sold than boys. The
Chinese have a great admiration for learning ; and education
of a certain kind is very general. The offices of government
are open only to those who have passed literary examinations,
and the literary class is the most influential in the country,
It is from this class that the chief opposition to Christianity
comes, in accordance with the words of Christ, " Not many
wise, not many noble, are called." As far as all human stand-
ards can measure, the Chinese are so far above any other
heathen nation in importance that their conversion is beyond
all comparison the greatest work before the Church of Christ.
When China is converted one half of the heathen world -will
have been conquered for Christianity.
In China, as in all heathen eountries, woman occupies an
inferior position, yet literary attainments are considered cred-
itable to a woman. Neither Confucius nor Buddha assigns to
the wife a position of honor. According to the latter she is
in all respects inferior to her husband, and can only wish that
on her re-entry into life, in the next state of- existence, she
may be born as a man. According to Confucius, she has
duties, but no rights. The three great duties which, in accord-
ance with the principles of the Chinese philosopher, were im-
pressed on every woman, from her youth up, were, obedience
to her parents, her husband, and to her oldest son. The hus-
band has full rights over the person and property of his wife.
The sorrows of married life in China are so great that girls
often commit suicide just before the wedding. These sorrows
result not from the character of the people, but from the
superstitions and practices of heathenism, and can be removed
alone by the light of the gospel. There is little intermingling
of men and women in social life, therefore the labors of
female missionaries are likely to be the principal means of
reaching their sex for a long time to come.
RELIGIONS
There is no generic term for religion in the Chinese lan-
guage, but there are three nominal religions in the country,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. These three forms do
not interfere with each other, as a Confucianist may worship
140
very numerous, especially in the south. The Chinese have
more virtues than most pagan nations. They have never
offered human sacrifices, nor deified vice. The govern-
ment of China is the most purely patriarchal of those now
existing on the earth. All the land belongs nominally to the
emperor, and he is the father of the people. Every officer is
strictly responsible for the good order and welfare of the terri-
CHINESE MANDARINS
tory committed to his care, as every father is held responsible
for the good conduct of every other member of the family.
This principle secures a system of accountability so perfect
that it is difficult for a criminal to escape detection and pun-
ishment, and disorder in any part of the empire is impossible
except by the connivance of both officials and people.
There is no caste in China. There is a system of slavery,
but it is not so degrading as in other countries. It is not
allowable to separate married slaves, nor to sell their children
I4T
when very young. Girls are more readily sold than boys. The
Chinese have a great admiration for learning ; and education
of a certain kind is very general. The offices of government
are open only to those who have passed literary examinations,
and the literary class is the most influential in the country.
It is from this class that the chief opposition to Christianity
comes, in accordance with the words of Christ, " Not many
wise, not many noble, are called." As far as all human stand-
ards can measure, the Chinese are so far above any other
heathen nation in importance that their conversion is beyond
all comparison the greatest work before the Church of Christ.
When China is converted one half of the heathen world -will
have been conquered for Christianity.
In China, as in all heathen eountries, woman occupies an
inferior position, yet literary attainments are considered cred-
itable to a woman. Neither Confucius nor Buddha assigns to
the wife a position of honor. According to the latter she is
in all respects inferior to her husband, and can only wish that
on her re-entry into life, in the next state of- existence, she
may be born as a man. According to Confucius, she has
duties, but -no rights. The three great duties which, in accord-
ance with the principles of the Chinese philosopher, were im-
pressed on every woman, from her youth up, were, obedience
to her parents, her husband, and to her oldest son. The hus-
band has full rights over the person and property of his wife.
The sorrows of married life in China are so great that girls
often commit suicide just before the wedding. These sorrows
result not from the character of the people, but from the
superstitions and practices of heathenism, and can be removed
alone by the light of the gospel. There is little intermingling
of men and women in social life, therefore the labors of
female missionaries are likely to be the principal means of
reaching their sex for a long time to come.
RELIGIONS
There is no generic term for religion in the Chinese lan-
guage, but there are three nominal religions in the country,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. These three forms do
not interfere with each other, as a Confucianist may worship
142
in a Buddhist temple and hold Taoist beliefs, without any im-
peachment of his sincerity, and no one cares enough for his
peculiar views to fight for them. In a certain sense it may be
said that China has no religion, as Confucianism is a moral
philosophy, Buddhism is atheism, and Taoism is agnosticism.
That which has the strongest hold on the hearts of the people
is the worship of ancestors and of the spirits of earth, air,, and
water. This is universal.
Nestorians visited China in 505, and formed churches in
several cities. The Roman Catholics began work there in
1288, and had considerable success. The arrogance of the
priesthood and their interference with the politics of the
country led to an edict of expulsion against Christians in
1767, and it continued until' 1858, when toleration was pro-
claimed. The first Protestant missionary to China was Robert
Morrison, who arrived in Canton in September, 1807, and be-
came official translator to the East India Company, under
whose auspices he prepared his dictionary,, and translated the
Bible into Chinese.
BAPTIST MISSIONS
The work of the American Baptist Missionary Union among
the Chinese is divided into six departments : the Mission in
Siarn, the South China Mission, the Hakka Mission, the East
China Mission, the West China Mission, and the Central
China Mission.
THE MISSION IN SIAM
The beginning of American Baptist missions to the Chinese
was in Bangkok, Siam. In 1831 Rev. John Taylor Jones ar-
rived in Burma for missionary work, but after consultation with
the brethren it was decided that he should open a mission in
Siam. He arrived in Bangkok March 25, 1833, and at once
began labors for the Siamese. Dr. Jones was a man of great
earnestness and linguistic ability. He translated the New
Testament into the Siamese language and created a large
Christian literature. He also acquired great influence with
the higher officials, and even with the Emperor of Siam, and
142
in a Buddhist temple and hold Taoist beliefs, without any im-
peachment of his sincerity, and no one cares enough for his
peculiar views to fight for them. In a certain sense it may be
said that China has no religion, as Confucianism is a moral
philosophy, Buddhism is atheism, and Taoism is agnosticism.
That which has the strongest hold on the hearts of the people
is the worship of ancestors and of the spirits of earth, air,, and
water. This is universal.
Nestorians visited China in 505, and formed churches in
several cities. The Roman Catholics began work there in
1288, and had considerable success. The arrogance of the
priesthood and their interference with the politics of the
country led to an edict of expulsion against Christians in
1767, and it continued until" 1858, when toleration was pro-
claimed. The first Protestant missionary to China was Robert
Morrison, who arrived in Canton in September, 1807, and be-
came official translator to the East India Company, under
whose auspices he prepared his dictionary, and translated the
Bible into Chinese.
BAPTIST MISSIONS
The work of the American Baptist Missionary Union among
the Chinese is divided into six departments : the Mission in
Siam, the South China Mission, the Hakka Mission, the East
China Mission, the West China Mission, and the Central
China Mission.
THE MISSION IN SIAM
The beginning of American Baptist missions to the Chinese
was in Bangkok, Siam. In 1831 Rev. John Taylor Jones ar-
rived in Burma for missionary work, but after consultation with
the brethren it was decided that he should open a mission in
Siam. He arrived in Bangkok March 25, 1833, and at once
began labors for the Siamese. Dr. Jones was a man of great
earnestness and linguistic ability. He translated the New
Testament into the Siamese language and created a large
Christian literature. He also acquired great influence with
the higher officials, and even with the Emperor of Siam, and
73
W
en
O
w
z
o
144
was greatly respected by all. Although his labors were in the
Siamese language, the first converts to be baptized were three
Chinese, who received the ordinance Dec. 8, 1833. From the
first the work among the Chinese in Siam was more prom-
ising than that for the Siamese, and special work for the latter
was suspended in 1869. The work among the Chinese con-
tinued to prosper. In 1851 a great disaster befell the mission
in the destruction of all the missionary buildings by fire, in-
volving a loss of nearly fifteen thousand dollars ; but they
were soon rebuilt, and the property of the Missionary Union
in Bangkok has greatly increased in value. In 1869 forty-five
were baptized, a larger number than was received in all the
years previous. In 1874 the baptisms amounted to one hun-
dred and forty, and the work went on until at one time as
many as five hundred converts were reported in the mission.
Missionary work among the Chinese in Siam has, however,
always been of an uncertain character. The Chinese are in
that country for the purposes of trade and gain, and although
many converts were received into the churches, a large number
of them returned to their homes in China. At the present
time the visible results of the work are small. Siam has always
been open to missionary work; the missionaries have been
entirely unrestricted in their labors since 1851 ; the Chinese
are numerous, but owing to the shifting character of the people
the success has not been in proportion to the labor expended,
and the question of removing the mission bodily to China
proper has often been agitated.
Three names are closely linked with the earliest history of
American Baptist missions to the Chinese, William Dean,
Josiah Goddard, and William Ashmore. All began their labors
in Bangkok, and. each became in a very special manner the
founder of departments of Chinese mission work as they exist
to-day. Rev. William Dean reached Bangkok in 1835, and
removed to Hongkong in 1842. He resided for a time in
Macao in 1846, returned to Bangkok in 1855, and until within
a few years has been the chief factor in carrying on mission
work in Siam. Rev. Josiah Goddard reached Bangkok in
1840, but removed to Ningpo, China, in March, 1848, and
became the founder of the evangelistic work in the East China
Mission. Rev. William Ashmore, going to Siam in 1849, re-
145
moved to Hongkong in 1857. In January, 1864, he purchased
and occupied the present headquarters of the mission at Kak-
chieh, opposite the city of Swatow, and thus established the
South China Mission in its present location. The relations
between the Chinese mission in Siam and the South China
Mission have always been intimate, and there have been inter-
changes of missionaries and ' frequent removals of native con-
verts and laborers from one field to the other. Miss Adele
M. Fielde, reaching Bangkok in 1866, after five years of labor
there and a stay in America, became the organizer of the
woman's work for woman of the South China Mission. Rev.
Sylvester B. Partridge and wife, arriving in Bangkok in 1869,
removed to Swatow in 1872. Thus the Chinese mission in
Siam, while not largely successful in itself, has been a field of
preparation for the work in China proper, and has contributed
much to the early foundations of Baptist missions in the great
Chinese empire.
THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION
The war of 1841 between the British and the Chinese is
commonly known as the Opium War. It resulted in forcing
British opium on the reluctant Chinese, but this evil was in
part counterbalanced by the opening of the Chinese empire
to Christian missionary work. By the treaty of August, 1842,
Hongkong was ceded to the British, and five ports, Canton,
Amoy, Fuchau, Ningpo, and Shanghai, were opened to British
trade. Rev. William Dean hastened to take advantage of this
opportunity, and before the close of that year had begun mis-
sionary work in Hongkong. In 1846 he resided for a time in
Macao. In 1847 Rev. J. W. Johnson reached Hongkong.
The missionary work was carried on with considerable success
in that city for some years. Swatow was opened as a port for
foreign commerce in 1857, the same year that Rev. William
Ashmore and wife reached Hongkong. After laboring in that
city Mr. Ashmore visited America, but returned to China in
1863 in a vessel by way of the Cape of Good Hope. The
voyage was one full of alarms, there being constant fear of
capture by Confederate cruisers ; but Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore
safely reached Double Island at the mouth of Swatow Harbor,
146
in July, 1863, to which place he had been preceded by Mr.
and Mrs. Johnson, who arrived in June, 1860. The city of
Swatow is situated on the mainland. The site is low and flat
and not healthful; for this reason the headquarters of the
mission were established at Kakchieh on the southern shore
of the bay, a mile across the water from Swatow. In January,
1864, Mr. Ashmore bought property at Kakchieh for $800.
The site was at that time rocky, rough, and sterile, but with
DR. ASHMORE'S HOUSE
care and cultivation it has become undoubtedly the most
beautiful and convenient headquarters to be found in our
missions, and the value has advanced from the small price
paid for it in 1864 to many thousands of dollars.
After the establishment of the mission at Swatow work
went on with encouraging success. The first Baptist con-
vert in China had been baptized at the Portuguese city of
Macao on Jan. 31, 1837, by Rev. J. L Shuck, who had reached
that place the previous year, thus founding the first Baptist
mission in the Chinese empire. Quite a church had been
147
gathered in Hongkong, but after the opening of the head-
quarters at Swatow that place was abandoned as a residence
for missionaries and was considered to be an out-station of the
Swatow mission. In November, 1865, sixty- two communi-
cants were reported in the church at Swatow, and in 1867 two
of the converts were ordained to the gospel ministry. Thirty-
five were baptized in 1870. In 1872 Rev. S. B. Partridge and
BIBLE WOMEN AT SWATOW
wife removed from Bangkok to Swatow and continued to
labor in association with Dr. Ashmore, the field being divided
between them, Dr. Ashmore taking the country districts more
to the southwest, and Dr. Partridge, those to the north, where
he has at times resided large portions of the year. Miss Adele
M. Fielde, after a sojourn in America, reached Swatow in 1873
and organized the work for the women in a manner which has
become the admiration of those interested in woman's mission-
ary work for woman in heathen lands. Dr. Ashmore's son,
146
in July, 1863, to which place he had been preceded by Mr.
and Mrs. Johnson, who arrived in June, 1860. The city of
Swatow is situated on the mainland. The site is low and flat
and not healthful; for this reason the headquarters of the
mission were established at Kakchieh on the southern shore
of the bay, a mile across the water from Swatow. In January.
1864, Mr. Ashmore bought property at Kakchieh for $800.
The site was at that time rocky, rough, and sterile, but with
DR. ASHMORE'S HOUSE
care and cultivation it has become undoubtedly the most
beautiful and convenient headquarters to be found in our
missions, and the value has advanced from the small price
paid for it in 1864 to many thousands of dollars.
After the establishment of the mission at Swatow work
went on with encouraging success. The first Baptist con-
vert in China had been baptized at the Portuguese city of
Macao on Jan. 31, 1837, by Rev. J. L Shuck, who had reached
that place the previous year, thus founding the first Baptist
mission in the Chinese empire. Quite a church had been
147
gathered in Hongkong, but after the opening of the head-
quarters at Swatow that place was abandoned as a residence
for missionaries and was considered to be an out-station of the
Swatow mission. In November, 1865, sixty- two communi-
cants were reported in the church at Swatow, and in 1867 two
of the converts were ordained to the gospel ministry. Thirty-
five were baptized in 1870. In 1872 Rev. S. B. Partridge and
BIBLE WOMEN AT SWATOW
wife removed from Bangkok to Swatow and continued to
labor in association with Dr. Ashmore, the field being divided
between them, Dr. Ashmore taking the country districts more
to the southwest, and Dr. Partridge, those to the north, where
he has at times resided large portions of the year. Miss Adele
M. Fielde, after a sojourn in America, reached Swatow in 1873
and organized the work for the women in a manner which has
become the admiration of those interested in woman's mission-
ary work for woman in heathen lands. Dr. Ashmore's son,
148
Hev. William Ashmore, Jr., joined the mission in 1880 and has
done excellent work in preparing scripture versions in the
colloquial dialect and in evangelistic labor. In 1882 Rev.
J. W. Carlin, D. D., opened a new station at Ungkung in the
northern part of the Swatow field. Medical work carried on
by ladies has formed an important feature in the mission.
The' mission at Swatovv has been acknowledged by many to
be the best organized mission in China. It has been con-
ducted from the first on the fundamental principles of the New
Testament. Self-support and self-dependence in the native
Christians have been carefully studied. The accounts of the
work among the native churches frequently remind one of the
narrative in the Acts of the Apostles. In all the little branch
churches elders are appointed who keep up the services in the
absence of a missionary or of the native preacher. Every little
group of Christians is taught self-help and self-reliance.
Their services, their worship and their work go on without the
constant presence and stimulus of the missionary. From the
first they have been subjected to frequent persecution, but
have been taught to rely not upon the political power and
influence of the missionaries, but to depend upon the Lord
and seek to obtain justice from their own officials. A class
for Bible study has been regularly maintained at Swatow, the
headquarters of the mission, not only for students preparing
for the ministry or for Christian work, but leading members of
the native churches have been encouraged to come to Swatow
as they might be able for short periods of Bible study. In
this way the Christians have been trained in efficiency in work
and stability in faith. In recent years a system of Bible study
at central points throughout the country districts has been in-
augurated by Rev. John M. Foster, in order to reach and teach
members of the churches who are not able to leave their homes
for a period of study at Swatow. A larger number of converts
has been gained in the Swatow mission than in other fields
in China and the work from the first has been of a singularly
stable and gratifying character. The ground which has been
gained has been held, and as would appear from the thor-
oughly scriptural methods which have obtained in the mission,
there is every reason to believe that the foundations have been
laid for a large, aggressive, and substantial progress for the
1
^
c
3
>T3
B
148
Hev. William Ashmore, Jr., joined the mission in 1880 and has
done excellent work in preparing scripture versions in the
colloquial dialect and in evangelistic labor. In 1882 Rev.
J. W. Carlin, D. D., opened a new station at Ungkung in the
northern part of the Swatow field. Medical work carried on
by ladies has formed an important feature in the mission.
The' mission at Swatow has been acknowledged by many to
be the best organized mission in China. It has been con-
ducted from the first on the fundamental principles of the New
Testament. Self-support and self-dependence in the native
Christians have been carefully studied. The accounts of the
work among the native churches frequently remind one of the
narrative in the Acts of the Apostles. In all the little branch
churches elders are appointed who keep up the services in the
absence of a missionary or of the native preacher. Every little
group of Christians is taught self-help and self-reliance.
Their services, their worship and their work go on without the
constant presence and stimulus of the missionary. From the
first they have been subjected to frequent persecution, but
have been taught to rely not upon the political power and
influence of the missionaries, but to depend upon the Lord
and seek to obtain justice from their own officials. A class
for Bible study has been regularly maintained at Swatow, the
headquarters of the mission, not only for students preparing
for the ministry or for Christian work, but leading members of
the native churches have been encouraged to come to Swatow
as they might be able for short periods of Bible study. In
this way the Christians have been trained in efficiency in work
and stability in faith. In recent years a system of Bible study
at central points throughout the country districts has been in-
augurated by Rev. John M. Foster, in order to reach and teach
members of the churches who are not able to leave their homes
for a period of study at Swatow. A larger number of converts
has been gained in the Swatow mission than in other fields
in China and the work from the first has been of a singularly
stable and gratifying character. The ground which has been
gained has been held, and as would appear from the thor-
oughly scriptural methods which have obtained in the mission,
there is every reason to believe that the foundations have been
laid for a large, aggressive, and substantial progress for the
1
*J
a
n
IN THE SWATOW COMPOUND
future. In December, 1891, the total number baptized since
the beginning of the mission was 1,578. The total number of
converts now reported is upwards of
1,000. Considering the number
of deaths which have occurred
.i'* ., this shows that the number of
those who have fallen away
after professing faith in
Christ has been remark-
ably small. Considera-
ble work has been done
by various members
of the mission
in translating
portions of the
Scripture into
the colloquial
Swatow dialect,
of which Miss
Fielde has published a dictionary. The mission is thoroughly
furnished with facilities for future work, and its progress may
be expected to be stable, steady, and satisfactory in the future
as in the past.
THE HAKKA MISSION
This is an offshoot from the Swatow Mission, and is more
properly considered in immediate connection with it. In
1875, Rev. W. K. McKibben arrived at Swatow for work in the
mission, but soon became interested in attempts to reach out
toward the people farther in the interior. In 1879 he at-
tempted to purchase property in Hu city, of which the proper
name is Chau-Chau-fu, but the people rose to expel the for-
eign invasion, and drove him out of the city at the peril of his
life. In the extension of work from Swatow among the low-
land people, or Tiechiu, by which name the population of that
district is known, some converts had been gained from among
the Hakkas, or highland people, who spoke a different dialect,
but many of whom living on the borders between the two dia-
lects, understand both. In 1881, Mr. McKibben decided to
devote himself wholly to work among the Hakka people, and
t/3
,
I
future. In December, 1891, the total number baptized since
the beginning of the mission was 1,578. The total number of
converts now reported is upwards of
i ,000. Considering the number
of deaths which have occurred
/> i: this shows that the number of
those who have fallen away
after professing faith in
Christ has been remark-
ably small. Considera-
ble work has been done
by various members
of the mission
in translating
portions of the
Scripture into
the colloquial
Swatow dialect,
IN THE SWATOW COMPOUND Qf ^.^ j^
Fielde has published a dictionary. The mission is thoroughly
furnished with facilities for future work, and its progress may
be expected to be stable, steady, and satisfactory in the future
as in the past.
THE HAKKA MISSION
This is an offshoot from the Swatow Mission, and is more
properly considered in immediate connection with it. In
1875, Rev. W. K. McKibben arrived at Swatow for work in the
mission, but soon became interested in attempts to reach out
toward the people farther in the interior. In 1879 he at-
tempted to purchase property in Hu city, of which the proper
name is Chau-Chau-fu, but the people rose to expel the for-
eign invasion, and drove him out of the city at the peril of his
life. In the extension of work from Swatow among the low-
land people, or Tiechiu, by which name the population of that
district is known, some converts had been gained from among
the Hakkas, or highland people, who spoke a different dialect,
but many of whom living on the borders between the two dia-
lects, understand both. In 1881, Mr. McKibben decided to
devote himself wholly to work among the Hakka people, and
o
en
>-3
P
F
1-5
in
152
in 1883 an out-station of the Swatow Mission, which had been
opened at Munkeuliang among the Hakkas, was turned over to
him as a headquarters for the extension of work for the Hakkas.
After a few years of labor Mr. McKibben was compelled to
return to America, but in 1887 Rev. George Campbell was
sent out specially for work among this people. He travelled
extensively in the interior among the people on the borders of
three provinces. Great difficulty was found in obtaining a
location. Attempts were made to rent or purchase houses in
various cities, but were repeatedly frustrated by the hostility
of the people, and the timidity of the landlords. At last
property was secured in the important city of Kayin, which is
now the chief- headquarters for work among the Hakka people.
Mr. Campbell was joined, in 1890, by his sister, Miss Elia
Campbell, and later by Rev. George E. Whitman and wife,
Miss M. L. Ostrom, an I Edward Bailey, M. D., and wife. Dr.
Bailey resigned a position as surgeon in the United States .
Army to become a medical missionary. Mr. McKibben has
now resumed his labors in the Swatow Mission, and the Hakka
Mission is carried on chiefly by Messrs. Campbell and Whit-
man. The Hakkas are among the most intelligent people of
China, having a large proportion of scholars, and their con-
version to Christianity is an inviting sphere of labor.
THE EAST CHINA MISSION
Baptist Mission work at Ningpo, China, was begun by D. J
Macgowan, M. D. A hospital was open for three months in
1843, but was closed and not re-opened until April, 1845.
Dr. Macgowan visited Calcutta in 1844, and with funds con-
tributed there he established a hospital in Ningpo. The first
year he prescribed for more than two thousand patients. The
evangelistic work in Eastern China was opened by the removal
of Rev. Josiah Goddard from Bangkok to Ningpo, where he
arrived in March, 1848. Mr. Goddard was a man of intense
earnestness and industry, and of great intellectual ability. He
completed the translation of the New Testament into Chinese,
in 1853, in a version which is still in use. In his missionary
work he enjoyed the association and assistance of other able
laborers. Rev. E, C. Lord, having sailed for Ningpo, in 1847,
a
2
S
o
o
z
2
i
z
&
a
i
152
in 1883 an out-station of the Swatow Mission, which had been
opened at Munkeuliang among the Hakkas, was turned over to
him as a headquarters for the extension of work for the Hakkas.
After a few years of labor Mr. McKibben was compelled to
return to America, but in 1887 Rev. George Campbell was
sent out specially for work among this people. He travelled
extensively in the interior among the people on the borders of
three provinces. Great difficulty was found in obtaining a
location. Attempts were made to rent or purchase houses in
various cities, but were repeatedly frustrated by the hostility
of the people, and the timidity of the landlords. At last
property was secured in the important city of Kayin, which is
now the chief headquarters for work among the Hakka people.
Mr. Campbell was joined, in 1890, by his sister, Miss Elia
Campbell, and later by Rev. George E. Whitman and wife,
Miss M. L. Ostrom, an I Edward Bailey, M. D., and wife. Dr.
Bailey resigned a position as surgeon in the United States :
Army to become a medical missionary. Mr. McKibben has
now resumed his labors in the Swatow Mission, and the Hakka
Mission is carried on chiefly by Messrs. Campbell and Whit-
man. The Hakkas are among the most intelligent people of
China, having a large proportion of scholars, and their con-
version to Christianity is an inviting sphere of labor.
THE EAST CHINA MISSION
Baptist Mission work at Ningpo, China, was begun by D. J.
Macgowan, M. D. A hospital was open for three months in
1843, DUt was closed and not re-opened until April, 1845.
Dr. Macgowan visited Calcutta in 1844, and with funds con-
tributed there he established a hospital in Ningpo. The first
year he prescribed for more than two thousand patients. The
evangelistic work in Eastern China was opened by the removal
of Rev. Josiah Goddard from Bangkok to Ningpo, where he
arrived in March, 1848. Mr. Goddard was a man of intense
earnestness and industry, and of great intellectual ability. He
completed the translation of the New Testament into Chinese,
in 1853, in a version which is still in use. In his missionary
work he enjoyed the association and assistance of other able
laborers. Rev. E, C. Lord, having sailed for Ningpo, in 1847,
a
2
5
o
55
B
'54
was engaged for many years in the missionary work. During
a long period he served as United States Consul, but still
continued his labors as a missionary while not receiving a
salary from the Society. The first convert in Ningpo was bap-
tized in May, 1849, and the work continued with encouraging
results.
The East China mission has been specially distinguished by
the variety of the efforts which have been made to reach the
people. Medical work, which has already been referred to,
while interrupted for a few years, has been continued at
Ningpo, Dr. S. P. Barchet succeeding Dr. Macgowan, and
carrying on the hospital from 1875. He was joined in this
work by Dr. J.'S. Grant in 1889. Schools were also established
in Ningpo which have been carried on continuously and effi-
ciently. The villages and towns in the populous districts
around Ningpo have been reached by persistent gospel work.
A Biblical class for the training of native preachers was con-
ducted, for years by Dr. Lord, and was finally established at
Shaohing. It is now under the care of Rev. Horace Jenkins,
who joined the mission in March, 1859. An eminent laborer
in the East China Mission was Rev. M. J. Knowlton, D. D.,
who arrived at Ningpo in June, 1 854. Dr. Knowlton presented
an unusual combination of evangelistic earnestness and schol-
arly ability. He was humble and gentle in his intercourse
with the people and gained their love by his treatment of
them and by his eminent abilities. He was called the " West-
ern Confucius," a high compliment both to his moral and
intellectual qualities. In 1868 the mission was reinforced by
Rev. J. R. Goddard, the son of Josiah Goddard the founder
of evangelistic work in the mission. Mr. Goddard has been a
pillar of strength in the mission at Ningpo, which many times
has rested with almost its entire weight upon his single efforts.
The mission has extended over a wide territory. An out-
station was opened at Kinhwa in 1861, which was afterward
removed to Shaohing. This was opened as a station in 1869,
but the work at Kinhwa was resumed and a station was estab-
lished there in 1883. For many years attempts had been
made by missionaries of various societies to effect an entrance
in the great and populous city of Huchau, but all had been
defeated by the hostility of the people. The literary class in
Huchau is very strong and rules the city. Their opposition
succeeded in defeating every effort to establish missionary
work in the city until in 1886, Rev. George L. Mason, leaving
his family at Shaohing, and assuming the Chinese dress, with
one native helper quietly effected an entrance into the hostile
city and established a station there. The work was carried on
so quietly that for a time it escaped the enmity of the people,
but in 1893 a mob was raised and an effort made to dislodge
the missionaries. The purpose of the mob was defeated in
answer to prayer, and the work in this great and prosperous
city continues.
The people in eastern China have been apparently less im-
pressible than those of the South. Not so large a number of
converts are reported, but the outlook is constantly brighten-
ing. Foundations have been laid for future work with a good
promise of success.
THE WEST CHINA MISSION
Rev. William M. Upcraft had labored in China for several
years as an agent of the Bible Society, and had travelled ex-
tensively through central China with the Word of God. Here
he encountered many dangers, and on one occasion had been
stoned and left without the city for dead, as was the apostle
Paul at Lystra ; but like the apostle he was raised up and went
on his way. His health, however, suffered so severely that he
was compelled to take a furlough and visited the United
States. The young people of the State of Minnesota became
especially interested in him, and organized themselves to sup-
port Mr. George Warner and himself in establishing a new
mission in western China, under the auspices of the American
Baptist Missionary Union. Messrs. Upcraft and Warner sailed
in 1889, and after a long and tedious journey up the Yangtze
River a station was opened at Suichaufu, commonly known
among its own people by the abbreviated name of Suifu. This
city is situated in the immense and flourishing province of
Szchuan, on the western tier of the provinces of China Proper.
The people are independent, intelligent, and enterprising, and
are less affected by the corruptions which come from contact
156
with foreign commerce than in the cities of the coast. They
have shown much readiness to listen to the gospel. The West
China Mission has been largely reinforced. Medical work was
opened by Rev. C. H. Finch, M. D., who went out in 1891.
New stations have been opened at Kiating, and at Yachau.
Broad foundations have been laid for the establishment of an
extensive work in China, reaching over toward the borders of
Tibet. A small church has been gathered at Suichaufu. The
remote character of the field and its great need of Christian
missionary labors lend a romantic and unusual interest to the
work of the West China Mission, especially since this is the
nearest approach of American Baptists to reaching the people
of that hitherto unevangelized country, Tibet. By the riots
of 1895 all missionaries were expelled from the Province of
Szchuan, but they have now returned, and the result of the
riots has made larger openings for the gospel.
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION
In 1893 a station was opened at Hankow, at the head of
ocean navigation on the Yangtze River. The object of the
establishment of this mission is twofold. First, to furnish a
link in the chain of communication between the missions on
the coast and the missionaries in West China ; and, second,
to have some share in responding to the. immense needs of
the great and populous provinces of Hupeh and Hunan in
Central China. The missionaries who began this work were
Rev. Joseph S. Adams and wife, who have for several years
labored usefully at Kinhwa, and Rev. W. F. Gray and wife, of
Iowa, and in 1897 they still continue as the only represen-
tatives of American Baptists in Central China. The three
adjoining cities of Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang form
the greatest centre of population in China, having together
between one and two million people. The permanent station
of the mission has been established at Hanyang, a city on
the north bank of the river, where less missionary work has
been done than at the other places, and which offers an
equally favorable access to the people of the interior. This
infant enterprise of American Baptists in the very centre of
China will deeply engage our interest and our prayers.
w
o
K
I
55
n
156
with foreign commerce than in the cities of the coast. They
have shown much readiness to listen to the gospel. The West
China Mission has been largely reinforced. Medical work was
opened by Rev. C. H. Finch, M. D., who went out in 1891.
New stations have been opened at Kiating, and at Yachau.
Broad foundations have been laid for the establishment of an
extensive work in China, reaching over toward the borders of
Tibet. A small church has been gathered at Suichaufu. The
remote character of the field and its great need of Christian
missionary labors lend a romantic and unusual interest to the
work of the West China Mission, especially since this is the
nearest approach of American Baptists to reaching the people
of that hitherto unevangelized country, Tibet. By the riots
of 1895 all missionaries were expelled from the Province of
Szchuan, but they have now returned, and the result of the
riots has made larger openings for the gospel.
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION
In 1893 a station was opened at Hankow, at the head of
ocean navigation on the Yangtze River. The object of the
establishment of this mission is twofold. First, to furnish a
link in the chain of communication between the missions on
the coast and the missionaries in West China ; and, second,
to have some share in responding to the. immense needs of
the great and populous provinces of Hupeh and Hunan in
Central China. The missionaries who began this work were
Rev. Joseph S. Adams and wife, who have for several years
labored usefully at Kinhwa, and Rev. W. F. Gray and wife, of
Iowa, and in 1897 they still continue as the only represen-
tatives of American Baptists in Central China. The three
adjoining cities of Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang form
the greatest centre of population in China, having together
between one and two million people. The permanent station
of the mission has been established at Hanyang, a city on
the north bank of the river, where less missionary work has
been done than at the other places, and which offers an
equally favorable access to the people of the interior. This
infant enterprise of American Baptists in the very centre of
China will deeply engage our interest and our prayers.
25
O
en
H
O
SOUTHERN BAPTIST MISSIONS.
Rev. J. L. Shuck and wife, who reached Bangkok, July i,
1836, and removed to Macao, which was held by the Portu-
guese, in September of the same year, were settled at Hong-
kong in 1842. April 3, 1844, he removed to Canton, and
began work in that great city, and afterwards associated with
him Rev. I. J. Roberts, who had joined the Mission in 1841.
After the withdrawal of the Southern Baptists from the General
Convention in 1845, the Canton Mission was carried on un-
der the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the
work has been one of prosperity and blessing. The Missions
of the Southern Baptists have been extended, and are now
carried on not only in Canton and vicinity, but in Shanghai
and other cities in that part of China, and also in North
China at several stations in the vicinity of Chifu.
ENGLISH BAPTIST MISSIONS.
The English Baptists were early interested in the mission
at Ningpo, but their later and principal efforts have been in
the provinces of Shantung and Shansi, where the work has
been carried on with great success. In Shantung there are
fourteen stations and a large number of churches and converts.
The mission in Shansi has been established amid great diffi-
culties, yet five stations have been opened. The people are
independent and vigorous and have been noted for their hos-
tility to foreigners, but the mission is advancing with much
blessing.
CONCLUSION.
The progress of missions among the Chinese can hardly be
marked by statistics, since the peculiar clannish character of
the Chinese prevents them from detaching themselves per-
sonally from their family and social life. The real progress
of Christian work among them rather consists of the impres-
sion which Christianity is making upon 'the Chinese people as
a whole. They are one immense family, with all the advan-
tages as well as the obstacles implied in that closely-knit but
SOUTHERN BAPTIST MISSIONS.
Rev. J. L. Shuck and wife, who reached Bangkok, July i,
1836, and removed to Macao, which was held by the Portu-
guese, in September of the same year, were settled at Hong-
kong in 1842. April 3, 1844, he removed to Canton, and
began work in that great city, and afterwards associated with
him Rev. I. J. Roberts, who had joined the Mission in 1841.
After the withdrawal of the Southern Baptists from the General
Convention in 1845, the Canton Mission was carried on un-
der the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the
work has been one of prosperity and blessing. The Missions
of the Southern Baptists have been extended, and are now
carried on not only in Canton and vicinity, but in Shanghai
and other cities in that part of China, and also in North
China at several stations in the vicinity of Chifu.
ENGLISH BAPTIST MISSIONS.
The English Baptists were early interested in the mission
at Ningpo, but their later and principal efforts have been in
the provinces of Shantung and Shansi, where the work has
been carried on with great success. In Shantung there are
fourteen stations and a large number of churches and converts.
The mission in Shansi has been established amid great diffi-
culties, yet five stations have been opened. The people are
independent and vigorous and have been noted for their hos-
tility to foreigners, but the mission is advancing with much
blessing.
CONCLUSION.
The progress of missions among the Chinese can hardly be
marked by statistics, since the peculiar clannish character of
the Chinese prevents them from detaching themselves per-
sonally from their family and social life. The real progress
of Christian work among them rather consists of the impres-
sion which Christianity is making upon 'the Chinese people as
a whole. They are one immense family, with all the advan-
tages as well as the obstacles implied in that closely-knit but
i6o
divinely-ordained relation. The gathering of converts from
among the Chinese is made difficult by their family and
national pride, by their local bonds, and by the clan relations
into which every Chinese is drawn. Secret societies flourish
among them to an extent hardly paralleled even in America.
The missionary of the Cross contends against a complicated
network of ties when he attempts to win a Chinese to the fel-
lowship of the Gospel, and the progress of the missions has not
been as rapid as in many other lands. On the other hand, the
stability of the Chinese convert is assured by the persecution
which he must brave on becoming a Christian, and his courage
is peculiarly strengthened by the progress of the work.
Every convert adds to the number of chains which are drawing
the Chinese nation toward Christ. Every external impulse,
political, military, social, or religious, which operates upon
China, opens the country to the Gospel in a way impossible in
other lands, and all the influences are helping to bring the
day when China with its multitudinous and closely cemented
mass of people shall move in a body toward the Savior of the
world, and the words of prophecy shall be fulfilled, "A
nation shall be born in a day."
CA
t-H
o
z
g
Stations of the A. B. M. IT. in this type, Yokohama
(Congregational,).
A. American Board
M. Methodist Episcopal.
P. Presbyterian.
R. Reformed Dutch of America.
E. Protestant Episcopal.
C. Church Missionary Society (London).
L. London Missionary Society.
B. S. Southern Baptist.
JAPAN
COMPARATIV
AREA
QMATSU SHIMA
J A
*
TCAKUSHIMAV 3 "
tof***b&tya
THE MISSION IN JAPAN
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
JAPAN consists of four large islands and thirty-eight hun-
dred small ones. It is nineteen times the size of Massachu-
setts, or about as large as Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa together,
having an area of 147,000 square miles, and a population of
40,000,000. The surface is very mountainous, only about
one-eighth being level, and it abounds in lakes and rivers.
There are eighteen active volcanoes ; hot springs are more
numerous than in any other country in the world, and earth-
quakes are common, but the most violent ones occur only
about once in twenty years. The name Japan is said to be
derived from the Chinese word, "Zi-pan-gu," meaning the
Kingdom of the Rising Sun, and the Japanese love to call
their country the " Sunrise Kingdom." The scenery in Japan
is greatly varied, and in many parts very beautiful. Ranges of
mountains run the entire length of the principal islands, while
the lands on each side and extending to the sea are usually
flat. It is stated that only about one third of the area of
Japan is capable of cultivation. The climate is usually mild,
but rains are frequent and abundant. From its situation it
would be supposed that Japan would be an extremely healthy
country, but it is found that the climate lacks the invigorating
qualities necessary for the long continued residence of Euro-
peans or Americans.
The Japanese are smaller in stature than Americans, but are
well built, quick, easy and graceful in movement, polite in
their manners, and, for Asiatics, energetic and industrious.
They have been called the Yankees of the East, but their
character and temperament seems more nearly allied to the
French. They are intelligent, but are in many respects a
race of children, careless, confiding, gay, easily interested in
(165)
THE MISSION IN JAPAN
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
JAPAN consists of four large islands and thirty-eight hun-
dred small ones. It is nineteen times the size of Massachu-
setts, or about as large as Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa together,
having an area of 147,000 square miles, and a population of
40,000,000. The surface is very mountainous, only about
one-eighth being level, and it abounds in lakes and rivers.
There are eighteen active volcanoes ; hot springs are more
numerous than in any other country in the world, and earth-
quakes are common, but the most violent ones occur only
about once in twenty years. The name Japan is said to be
derived from the Chinese word, "Zi-pan-gu," meaning the
Kingdom of the Rising Sun, and the Japanese love to call
their country the " Sunrise Kingdom." The scenery in Japan
is greatly varied, and in many parts very beautiful. Ranges of
mountains run the entire length of the principal islands, while
the lands on each side and extending to the sea are usually
flat. It is stated that only about one third of the area of
Japan is capable of cultivation. The climate is usually mild,
but rains are frequent and abundant. From its situation it
would be supposed that Japan would be an extremely healthy
country, but it is found that the climate lacks the invigorating
qualities necessary for the long continued residence of Euro-
peans or Americans.
The Japanese are smaller in stature than Americans, but are
well built, quick, easy and graceful in movement, polite in
their manners, and, for Asiatics, energetic and industrious.
They have been called the Yankees of the East, but their
character and temperament seems more nearly allied to the
French. They are intelligent, but are in many respects a
race of children, careless, confiding, gay, easily interested in
(165)
i66
anything new, but when only half acquainted with it, speedily
becoming weary of it. It is only by keeping the character of
the people in mind that the wonderful transformation which
has come over Japan during the last twenty-five years can
be understood.
The marvellous story of Japan may be traced in their own
history back to the year 660 before Christ, to the founding ot
LITTLE JAPANESE GIRL.
the present dynasty, which is the oldest in the world, the
Mikado, who is now on the throne, being the one hundred and
twenty-first of his line. Before the first foreign treaty was
made with the United States, in 1854, Japan was the most
exclusive nation in the world. It was death for a foreigner
to land upon its shores. It was death for a native to visit a
foreign country and return. Even Japanese sailors who were
shipwrecked on other shores, and managed to get back to
their native land, were put to death. It was death to become.
a Christian. The Mikado was shut in from the gaze of the
people. Now all is changed. There has been a peaceful but
perfect revolution in Japan. From being the most conserva-
tive, it has become the most enlightened and progressive
nation of Asia. The Mikado has come out from his seclusion
and resumed his kingly power. The first constitutional gov-
ernment in Asia has been established. Foreigners are wel-
comed to the country. The Japanese freely visit other na-
tions, and their young men are found in the schools of Europe
and America. Even in 1868 a government edict was issued
saying that " the wicked sect called Christian is strictly pro-
hibited." Now Christian missionaries are in all the chief
cities of the empire, there are nearly forty thousand converts,
the old heathen religions are disestablished, and all religions
are on the same level in the State.
In Japan, as in all heathen lands, woman is inferior to man.
Marriage is only a civil contract, and divorce is accomplished
at the pleasure of the husband by a single declaration. But
although divorce is so easy in Japan, it is seldom used when
there are children. Training and public opinion then require
that the wife should be treated with kindness and respect.
Hence woman in Japan is, among all the women of the Asiatic
peoples, the freest and most respected, and even plays an
important part in the national history. Japan is a paradise
for children. They are regarded with affection, cared for with
solicitude, never scolded, never punished, trained with loving
care, amused with ingenious toys and sports, and made the
constant companions of their parents as far as circumstances
will allow. In the poorer families they are compelled to work
when quite young. Girls are regarded as of less importance
than boys, but their lot is not an unhappy one.
RELIGIONS
Shintoism was the ancient national religion of Japan. It is
simply a form of nature worship, upon which was grafted the
doctrine of the divinity of the Mikado or Emperor, and the
worship paid to national heroes. Even now it is regarded as
disloyalty to refuse to bow before the picture of the Emperor.
Some Christians have lost their places in government employ
i66
anything new, but when only half acquainted with it, speedily
becoming weary of it. It is only by keeping the character of
the people in mind that the wonderful transformation which
has come over Japan during the last twenty-five years can
be understood.
The marvellous story of Japan may be traced in their own
history back to the year 660 before Christ, to the founding ot
LITTLE JAPANESE GIRL.
the present dynasty, which is the oldest in the world, the
Mikado, who is now on the throne, being the one hundred and
twenty-first of his line. Before the first foreign treaty was
made with the United States, in 1854, Japan was the most
exclusive nation in the world. It was death for a foreigner
to land upon its shores. It was death for a native to visit a
foreign country and return. Even Japanese sailors who were
shipwrecked on other shores, and managed to get back to
their native land, were put to death. It was death to become
167
a Christian. The Mikado was shut in from the gaze of the
people. Now all is changed. There has been a peaceful but
perfect revolution in Japan. From being the most conserva-
tive, it has become the most enlightened and progressive
nation of Asia. The Mikado has come out from his seclusion
and resumed his kingly power. The first constitutional gov-
ernment in Asia has been established. Foreigners are wel-
comed to the country. The Japanese freely visit other na-
tions, and their young men are found in the schools of Europe
and America. Even in 1868 a government edict was issued
saying that " the wicked sect called Christian is strictly pro-
hibited." Now Christian missionaries are in all the chief
cities of the empire, there are nearly forty thousand converts,
the old heathen religions are disestablished, and all religions
are on the same level in the State.
In Japan, as in all heathen lands, woman is inferior to man.
Marriage is only a civil contract, and divorce is accomplished
at the pleasure of the husband by a single declaration. But
although divorce is so easy in Japan, it is seldom used when
there are children. Training and public opinion then require
that the wife should be treated with kindness and respect.
Hence woman in Japan is, among all the women of the Asiatic
peoples, the freest and most respected, and even plays an
important part in the national history. Japan is a paradise
for children. They are regarded with affection, cared for with
solicitude, never scolded, never punished, trained with loving
care, amused with ingenious toys and sports, and made the
constant companions of their parents as far as circumstances
will allow. In the poorer families they are compelled to work
when quite young. Girls are regarded as of less importance
than boys, but their lot is not an unhappy one.
RELIGIONS
Shintoism was the ancient national religion of Japan. It is
simply a form of nature worship, upon which was grafted the
doctrine of the divinity of the Mikado or Emperor, and the
worship paid to national heroes. Even now it is regarded as
disloyalty to refuse to bow before the picture of the Emperor.
Some Christians have lost their places in government employ
r68
because their consciences would not allow them to conform to
this custom, which they considered an element of heathen
worship; but it is not usually so regarded.
Buddhism was introduced into Japan in the sixth century,
and as it accommodated itself to the life of the people, and
even took up the old Shinto gods into its system, it spread
very rapidly, and became the popular religion to which the
Japanese still adhere. Socially, Buddhism teaches the depre-
ciation of caste and of property. Dogmatically, it is a system
of atheism, which deifies man and moral ideas. Morally, it
is the doctrine of the vanity and instability of all earthly
good, of the transmigration of souls, and of final absorp-
tion in the supreme nothingness. According to Buddhism,
man must work out his own salvation. After death he appears
to the ruler of Hades, who sends him back to earth to a higher
estate or as an animal, according to his good or ill desert. <
The Roman Catholic faith was introduced into Japan by
Francis Xavier in the sixteenth century, and spread with
amazing rapidity, so that in 1581 there were said to be as
many as one hundred and fifty thousand Roman Christians
in . Japan. On account of the assumptions of the Jesuits, a
severe persecution arose, and the Christians were well nigh
exterminated, thirty thousand being massacred at one time.
Prof. Rein accounts for the rapid spread of Romanism in
Japan by " the relationship of the Catholic rites and ceremo-
nials to the Buddhist ; for we find in Buddhism, though it may
be with a different meaning, nearly everything that is charac-
teristic of the Catholic cultus ; the adoration of images, in-
cense and the mass, parti-colored vestments and rosaries, the
veneration of relics, monasteries and convents, celibacy,
priestly hierarchy, pompous processions, pilgrimages and much
besides. Accordingly the new convert could make use of his
old rosary, his bells and lights, his incense and other acces-
sories of his former faith, to join in the new worship. As
previously he had been wont to bend the knee before the
Buddhist idols in the temples and along the roads, he now did
the same, at the instruction of the new teachers, before
images of Christ, of Mary and the saints."
i68
because their consciences would not allow them to conform to
this custom, which they considered an element of heathen
worship; but it is not usually so regarded.
Buddhism was introduced into Japan in the sixth century,
and as it accommodated itself to the life of the people, and
even took up the old Shinto gods into its system, it spread
very rapidly, and became the popular religion to which the
Japanese still adhere. Socially, Buddhism teaches the depre-
ciation of caste and of property. Dogmatically, it is a system
of atheism, which deifies man and moral ideas. Morally, it
is the doctrine of the vanity and instability of all earthly
good, of the transmigration of souls, and of final absorp-
tion in the supreme nothingness. According to Buddhism,
man must work out his own salvation. After death he appears
to the ruler of Hades, who sends him back to earth to a higher
estate or as an animal, according to his good or ill desert.
The Roman Catholic faith was introduced into Japan by
Francis Xavier in the sixteenth century, and spread with
amazing rapidity, so that in 1581 there were said to be as
many as one hundred and fifty thousand Roman Christians
in . Japan. On account of the assumptions of the Jesuits, a
severe persecution arose, and the Christians were well nigh
exterminated, thirty thousand being massacred at one time.
Prof. Rein accounts for the rapid spread of Romanism in
Japan by " the relationship of the Catholic rites and ceremo-
nials to the Buddhist ; for we find in Buddhism, though it may
be with a different meaning, nearly everything that is charac-
teristic of the Catholic cultus ; the adoration of images, in-
cense and the mass, parti-colored vestments and rosaries, the
veneration of relics, monasteries and convents, celibacy,
priestly hierarchy, pompous processions, pilgrimages and much
besides. Accordingly the new convert could make use of his
old rosary, his bells and lights, his incense and other acces-
sories of his former faith, to join in the new worship. As
previously he had been wont to bend the knee before the
Buddhist idols in the temples and along the roads, he now did
the same, at the instruction of the new teachers, before
images of Christ, of Mary and the saints."
THE BAPTIST MISSION
As in Burma, so also in Japan, there was a Baptist mission-
ary before the thoughts of the managers of the Missionary
Union were turned in that direction. Jonathan Goble first
went to Japan as a seaman in Commodore Perry's expedition,
in 1854, and was sent out by the American Baptist Free Mis-
sion Society in 1860. The Missionary Union lost the support
of the Southern Baptists because the management declined to
appoint slave holders as missionaries, but the Free Mission
Society went a step further and declined to receive contribu-
tions from those who held slaves. After the abolition of
slavery it did not seem necessary to continue this distinction,
and in 1872 the Missionary Union accepted Mr. Goble, who
had been largely supported by his own labors, as its mission-
ary, welcomed the Free Mission Society to its membership,
and appointed Rev. Nathan Brown, formerly engaged in work
in Burma and Assam, as the first missionary of the Union to
Japan. Mr. Goble had translated and published the four
Gospels, the Acts and Ephesians, and taught a large number
6f pupils, besides preaching. His connection with the Union
ceased in 1873, but Dr. Brown was reinforced by others and
continued his labors for many years To him the Japan
mission largely owes its early development. Dr. Nathan
Brown enjoys the unique distinction of having translated the
New Testament into two entirely distinct languages, the
Assamese and the Japanese. He was also the author of many
hymns still in use in our missions in Burma, Assam and Japan,
and the religious literature of those countries will bear the
impress of his eminent abilities as long as Christian work
exists. Soon after the arrival of Dr. Brown, in February,
1873, the edict which had excluded Christianity from the
Japanese people for hundreds of years was abolished, the
calendar changed to modern style, 'old holidays set aside,
Sunday made a legal holiday, and the country was thrown
open to the labors of missionaries.
The first Baptist church in Japan was organized at Yoko-
hama, in 1873, with eight members, three of whom were
natives. Rev. J. T. Doyen, who had been laboring in con-
nection with the Episcopal Mission, having united with the
Baptist Church, was associated with Dr. Brown in missionary
labors, and in this same year the mission was reinforced by
Rev. J. H^Arthur and wife, who opened a station at Tokyo,
the capital, in 1874, under exceedingly encouraging circum-
stances. Rev. Henry H. Rhees and wife were added to the
mission in 1878. Dr. Rhees located in Tokyo and built the
first Baptist mission house, which is still in use, but afterwards,
in 1881, established a new station at Kobe. In 1879 tne
mission was greatly strengthened by the addition of Rev.
Thomas P. Poate, who had been a teacher in the Imperial
University at Tokyo, and whose knowledge of the language
and people was a great assistance to the mission. In the same
year Rev. Albert A. Bennett and wife were sent out from this
country and located at Yokohama. In more recent years the
mission has received large reinforcements, and many new
stations have been opened.
Sendai is the chief city of Northern Japan on the eastern
coast and the military headquarters. The station, opened here
in 1882, has been under the care of Rev. E. H. Jones since
1884, who was joined by Rev. S. W. Hamblen in 1889. The
field cultivated by these brethren is very extended, and includes
practically the whole north of Japan. A station was opened
at Morioka by Rev. T. P. Poate and wife, who purchased prop-
erty and established themselves there ; but on their return to>
America, Morioka became an out-station of the Sendai field,
and no missionary has resided there since that time. Northern
Japan, apparently, has not felt the transforming effects of the
new regime to the same extent as the central and southern por-
tions of the Empire, yet the people are by no means conserva-
tive or unwilling to listen to the gospel. The great tidal wave
of 1896 carried devastation and destruction along the eastern
shore of Japan, from the neighborhood of Sendai, nearly to
the northern point of the island. This territory is included
in our Baptist mission field ; but by the good providence of
God the lives of the Christians were spared, and the mission-
aries were enabled to render great service in bringing relief
to the people. Mr. Bennett, of Yokohama, was a most active
member of a committee through which considerable sums were
expended in providing boats and nets, houses and other things
172
needed by the people to re-establish themselves in their social
lives. Mr. Jones visited the territory several times, carrying
comfort and relief ; and Miss Lavinia Mead, of Sendai, gave
herself wholly to work in the hospitals and among .the injured
ior many months. It is hoped that this affliction, as well as
other disasters which have visited various portions of Japan,
may serve to make the minds of the people more accessible
to the gospel and ready to receive the knowledge of the true
and living God, who alone can bring comfort in the midst of
the direst afflictions.
The work at Kobe, begun by Dr. Rhees, has been very pros-
perous, and here is found one of the strongest Baptist churches
in Japan, which wholly supports its own pastor and services.
Kobe has advanced rapidly in population and commercial
prosperity, and the missionary work which centres there is
one of the most interesting and prosperous in Japan.
In 1886 a further step was made in the extension of Baptist
mission work in Southern Japan, by the opening of a mission
station at Shimonoseki, on the Straits by which entrance is
had to the Inland Sea from Chinese waters. This place has
become of international importance as the scene of the nego-
tiation of the treaty of peace between the Japanese authori-.
ties and Li Hung Chang, representing the Chinese Empire.
The mission work in this city has, however, now been wholly
removed to the adjoining city of Chofu, where are situated
beautiful and commodious quarters for the mission. Here
was opened by Miss Harriet M. Browne the first home for
orphans connected with our Baptist missions in Japan.
The latest station to be opened in Baptist missions in Japan is
at Osaka, where Rev. J. H. Scott and wife began work in 1892,
and were joined by Rev. William Wynd. The city of Osaka
has now become the chief manufacturing city of Japan. Large
cotton factories have been erected in the city and in adjoining
territories. The growth of the city has been rapid, and the
character of the population and its social life are undergoing
radical changes. Efforts have been made by the missionaries
to reach the working people in the factories, of which there are
many thousands, and as a mission field Osaka, formerly noted
only for its temples and religious atmosphere, now is similar in
.many respects to the larger manufacturing cities of America.
The opening of a Baptist Mission at Mito, sixty miles north
of Tokyo, on the railroad, is decided upon. Missionary work
was begun here by Rev. C. H. D. Fisher, who has long been
one of the chief agents in the work at Tokyo, the capital city.
Mito, as a large educational centre, is a strategic point for the
future of Japan. Here are more than six hundred students.
Mr. Fisher continued the work until the arrival of Prof. E. W.
Clement as teacher in the public schools. He conducted the
work in Mito as a labor of love until his return to America.
It was then placed in the hands of Rev. J. L. Bearing, of
Yokohama, who visits the field occasionally. There has been,
the most urgent- need for a missionary at Mito, and it is hoped
that this most important field will soon be occupied by a
Baptist missionary. No other denominations are at work in
the city.
Owing to the peculiar relations of Christianity to the people
in Japan, Christian education has occupied a peculiarly large
place in mission work in that country. In nearly all mission
lands the gospel has been received first by the people of the
lowest class. When Japan was opened to the residence of
foreigners, the military power was in the ascendancy; the
Samurai, or military class, were the ones who welcomed the
foreigners, and these almost exclusively have received the
doctrines of Christianity. The gospel has made but slight
progress, either among the nobility or the farming and laboring
classes. Education has, therefore, been at once demanded
by this intelligent Samurai class, and the missionaries have
been forced to provide from the first for a high grade of
Christian education for their converts and for the training
of their native preachers. Mr. Bennett began the training
of Baptist preachers in Yokohama in 1884, and the work has
developed into a fully organized Theological Seminary. It
was carried on for ten years with Mr. Bennett as principal,,
assisted by other missionaries in various departments ; but the
importance of the work having demanded a thorough reorgan-
ization and enlargement, in 1894 Rev. John L. Bearing was
chosen president of the seminary, at the request of. the body
of missionaries in Japan, and with him are associated Mr-
Bennett and other teachers. A new and commodious building
for the seminary has been completed, and plans laid for a
174
thorough training of Baptist preachers for the future work of
our missions in Japan. By the opinion, of all the missionaries,
a preparatory schqol for the training of boys who are to enter
the Theological Seminary is urgently demanded. A small
boys' school has been opened by the missionaries in Osaka, it
having been necessary for them to teach for certain hours of
the da}-, in order to maintain their right to residence in that
city outside the foreign concession. In 1894, Prof. Ernest W.
Clement, who was formerly a teacher in the Government High
School in Mito, Japan, was appointed as principal of a boys'
school which has been opened at Tokyo as a Baptist Academy,
with the special purpose of fitting young men for the Theo-
logical Seminary at Yokohama.
The first ladies were sent to Japan by the Woman's Society
in 1875. Miss Clara A. Sands devoted herself to evangelistic
work, and is now laboring in Tokyo with her husband, Rev.
J. C. Brand. Miss Anna H. Kidder established a school for
girls in Tokyo, in 1875, which has received great favor from
the higher classes, and has been a power for good in the mis-
sion and to the women of Japan. The school now occupies
a fine building called the '' Sarah Curtis Home." Similar
schools have been opened at other stations. That at Yoko-
hama, begun in 1886, has a commodious home named the
" Mary L. Colby Home," in honor of the first president of the
Woman's Baptist Missionary Society (East). The girls' school
at Chofu, a suburb of Shimonoseki, opened in 1891, is known
as the " Henrich Memorial Home," and that at Chofu bears
the name of " Ella O. Patrick."
Rev. Chapin H, Carpenter, who had for many years usefully
conducted the important Sgaw Karen Mission in Bassein,
Burma, returned to America for the recovery of his health.
It having been decided that he would not be able to reside in
a tropical climate, but still desiring to engage in missionary
work, he and his devoted wife resolved to open a mission, to
be sustained by their own resources, at Nemuro, on the island
of Yezo, the most northern of the large islands of Japan. It
was Mr. Carpenter's first intention to work among the Ainus,
who were considered to be the aboriginal people of Japan,
but who are now found only on this northern island. It was,
however, found impossible to reach these people until some
u
c
U)
ts
K
C
174
thorough training of Baptist preachers for the future work of
our missions in Japan. By the opinion, of all the missionaries,
a preparatory schopl for the training of boys who are to enter
the Theological Seminary is urgently demanded. A small
boys' school has been opened by the missionaries in Osaka, it
having been necessary for them to teach for certain hours of
the da}% in order to maintain their right to residence in that
city outside the foreign concession. In 1894, Prof. Ernest W.
Clement, who was formerly a teacher in the Government High
School in Mito, Japan, was appointed as principal of a boys'
school which has been opened at Tokyo as a Baptist Academy,
with the special purpose of fitting young men for the Theo-
logical Seminary at Yokohama.
The first ladies were sent to Japan by the Woman's Society
in 1875. Miss Clara A. Sands devoted herself to evangelistic
work, and is now laboring in Tokyo with her husband, Rev.
J. C. Brand. Miss Anna H. Kidder established a school for
girls in Tokyo, in 1875, which has received great favor from
the higher classes, and has been a power for good in the mis-
sion and to the women of Japan. The school now occupies
a fine building called the '' Sarah Curtis Home." Similar
schools have been opened at other stations. That at Yoko-
hama, begun in 1886, has a commodious home named the
" Mary L. Colby Home," in honor of the first president of the
Woman's Baptist Missionary Society (East). The girls' school
at Chofu, a suburb of Shimonoseki, opened in 1891, is known
as the " Henrich Memorial Home," and that at Chofu bears
the name of " Ella O. Patrick."
Rev. Chapin H. Carpenter, who had for many years usefully
conducted the important Sgaw Karen Mission in Bassein,
Burma, returned to America for the recovery of his health.
It having been decided that he would not be able to reside in
a tropical climate, but still desiring to engage in missionary
work, he and his devoted wife resolved to open a mission, to
be sustained by their own resources, at Nemuro, on the island
of Yezo, the most northern of the large islands of Japan. It
was Mr. Carpenter's first intention to work among the Ainus,
who were considered to be the aboriginal people of Japan,
but who are now found only on this northern island. It was,
however, found impossible to reach these people until some
c
G
K
C
C
en
g
x>
>
2
176
work had been established among the Japanese. Mr. Carpen-
ter died Feb. 2, 1887, but the mission was continued by Mrs.
Carpenter and others whom she associated with her, laboring
in hearty co-operation with the mission of the Union. A
church of about thirty members has been gathered.
While on a visit to Japan, Mrs. Allan, of the family which
operates the Allan Steamship Line, became interested in the
work of Rev. R. A. Thomson in Kobe, and particularly in 'his
desire to open work among the people of the Liu Chiu islands,
the most southerly portion of the Japanese Empire. She
contributed a sum of money sufficient to sustain work on the
islands for several years. Mr. Thomson sent helpers to the
islands in 1891. About 1865 a German missionary, Dr.
Bettleheim, located there and was supported by a few English
naval officers. He remained, however, only a few years, and
of the work which he did no trace is now left. The work of
our Baptist mission helpers on these islands is therefore prac-
tically opening a new territory. There are on the islands
about three hundred and seventy-five thousand people, of
whom thirty thousand are found in the city of Napha, the
headquarters of our mission. Although Mrs. Allan, the de-
voted friend of the mission, has been called to her eternal
home, her son, Mr. Robert S. Allan, continues the interest of
the family and has offered to the Union a steamer fully
equipped for work among the islands of the beautiful inland
Sea of Japan. The offer of Mr. Allan has been accepted by
the Executive Committee, and as soon as men specially quali-
fied can be found, work among the neglected people of these
islands will be begun.
The progress of the Baptist Mission in Japan has from the
first been steady and substantial. Not so large a number of
converts have been gathered into the churches as are reported
by some other missions, but in the times of trial through which
Christian missions in Japan have been passing during the
years 1892-1894, the caution of our missionaries in receiving
converts has been vindicated. There have been rimes when
it has not been so difficult to induce Japanese to unite with a
Christian church as to decide who of those applying for mem-
bership were worthy to be received. The baptizing of large
numbers has been easy, but in times of crises those who were
177
received without due care have been a source of anxiety and
danger.
The Japanese are, above all, ambitious and supremely loyal.
AN AGED AINU
They have adopted, not only without hesitation but, with the
greatest facility, much that is good in the civilization of
Europe and America. The government has been remodelled ;
176
work had been established among the Japanese. Mr. Carpen-
ter died Feb. 2, 1887, but the mission was continued by Mrs.
Carpenter and others whom she associated with her, laboring
in hearty co-operation with the mission of the Union. A
church of about thirty members has been gathered.
While on a visit to Japan, Mrs. Allan, of the family which
operates the Allan Steamship Line, became Interested in the
work of Rev. R. A. Thomson in Kobe, and particularly in his
desire to open work among the people of the Liu Chiu islands,
the most southerly portion of the Japanese Empire. She
contributed a sum of money sufficient to sustain work on the
islands for several years. Mr. Thomson sent helpers to the
islands in 1891. About 1865 a German missionary, Dr.
Bettleheim, located there and was supported by a few English
naval officers. He remained, however, only a few years, and
of the work which he did no trace is now left. The work of
our Baptist mission helpers on these islands is therefore prac-
tically opening a new territory. There are on the islands
about three hundred and seventy-five thousand people, of
whom thirty thousand are found in the city of Napha, the
headquarters of our mission. Although Mrs. Allan, the de-
voted friend of the mission, has been called to her eternal
home, her son, Mr. Robert S. Allan, continues the interest of
the family and has offered to the Union a steamer fully
equipped for work among the islands of the beautiful inland
Sea of Japan. The offer of Mr. Allan has been accepted by
the Executive Committee, and as soon as men specially quali-
fied can be found, work among the neglected people of these
islands will be begun.
The progress of the Baptist Mission in Japan has from the
first been steady and substantial. Not so large a number of
converts have been gathered into the churches as are reported
by some other missions, but in the times of trial through which
Christian missions in Japan have been passing during the
years 1892-1894, the caution of our missionaries in receiving
converts has been vindicated. There have been times when
it has not been so difficult to induce Japanese to unite with a
Christian church as to decide who of those applying for rhem-
bership were worthy to be received. The baptizing of large
numbers has been easy, but in times of crises those who were
177
received without due care have been a source of anxiety and
danger.
The Japanese are, above all, ambitious and supremely loyal.
AN AGED AINU
They have adopted, not only without hesitation but, with the
greatest facility, much that is good in the civilization of
Europe and America. The government has been remodelled ;
a public school system, among the best in the world, mod-
elled after the American, has been established ; an army and
navy have been created, on the plans of Germany and Eng-
land; every civilized and scientific device found useful in
Western countries has been adopted. Yet with all this the
Japanese are jealous for the honor of their own country, and
while adopting Western ideas they desire to make them their
own. This fundamental thought in their development has
affected the growth of Christianity. The Japanese have no
hesitation in listening to the missionaries or in receiving the
Bible, the morals of which they soon saw to be superior to
those taught in their own religions. The leading minds
among the people are ready to receive Christianity, but as in
other matters, they wish to have a Japanese Christianity.
The progress of Christian missions in Japan has been one
of marvellous rapidity ; yet, just as the popular cry in Japan
is, "Japan for the Japanese," so that versatile people want a
Christianity for themselves. In this movement lies a great
danger, and yet if rightly directed this spirit may result in a
type of Christianity purer in many respects than that found
in the Western Christian nations. The Japanese are disposed
to go directly to the Bible for their authority, and to reject
everything like ecclesiasticism, and doctrines and practices
which come to them merely from church authority. In this
tendency of Japanese thought, Baptists find their great oppor-
tunity and the most encouraging feature of their work. If
the efforts of missionaries are successful in leading the Jap-
anese to adopt the Bible as their simple standard of faith and
practice, and also lead them to a true interpretation of the
Bible, this will be all that is needed for the development of a
pure, primitive Christianity in Japan. The missionary prob-
lem there is not to induce the people to accept Christianity,
but to lead them to a pure Christianity.
An interesting feature of the missions of the Union in
Japan is that our missionaries there are laboring in close
touch and in perfect harmony with the missionaries of the
Southern Board. They are united in sympathy and love, and
the development of the Baptist Church in Japan, whether
under the care of the missionaries of the Northern or the
Southern societies, will undoubtedly be of mutual harmony
179
and helpfulness. The Japanese themselves decline to recog-
nize distinctions imported from abroad. The churches in
Japan, organized under all the various Presbyterian missions,
Northern and Southern, the Established and the Free Church
of Scotland, the Reformed Church, and every sort of Presby-
terian body, have been united in one church organization ;
so also the various Congregational churches, and the Episco-
pal churches, whether American Episcopalian or Church of
SARAH CURTIS HOME, GIRLS' SCHOOL, TOKYO
England. The future progress of missions in Japan will be
watched with eager interest, and in many aspects it presents
the greatest encouragement, not only for a most phenomenal
growth, but for the development of a model Christian church.
The last few years have been years of transformation in
Japan. The rapid and favorable adoption of features of West-
ern civilization has been somewhat checked by a conservative
reaction among the people. The Japanese are divided, some
178
a public school system, among the best in the world, mod-
elled after the American, has been established ; an army and
navy have been created, on the plans of Germany and Eng-
land; every civilized and scientific device found useful in
Western countries has been adopted. Yet with all this the
Japanese are jealous for the honor of their own country, and
while adopting Western ideas they desire to make them their
own. This fundamental thought in their development has
affected the growth of Christianity. The Japanese have no
hesitation in listening to the missionaries or in receiving the
Bible, the morals of which they soon saw to be superior to
those taught in their own religions. The leading minds
among the people are ready to receive Christianity, but as in
other matters, they wish to have a Japanese Christianity.
The progress of Christian missions in Japan has been one
of marvellous rapidity ; yet, just as the popular cry in Japan
is, "Japan for the Japanese," so that versatile people want a
Christianity for themselves. In this movement lies a great
danger, and yet if rightly directed this spirit may result in a
type of Christianity purer in many respects than that found
in the Western Christian nations. The Japanese are disposed
to go directly to the Bible for their authority, and to reject
everything like ecclesiasticism, and doctrines and practices
which come to them merely from church authority. In this
tendency of Japanese thought, Baptists find their great oppor-
tunity and the most encouraging feature of their work. If
the efforts of missionaries are successful in leading the Jap-
anese to adopt the Bible as their simple standard of faith and
practice, and also lead them to a true interpretation of the
Bible, this will be all that is needed for the development of a
pure, primitive Christianity in Japan. The missionary prob-
lem there is not to induce the people to accept Christianity,
but to lead them to a pure Christianity.
An interesting feature of the missions of the Union in
Japan is that our missionaries there are laboring in close
touch and in perfect harmony with the missionaries of the
Southern Board. They are united in sympathy and love, and
the development of the Baptist Church in Japan, whether
under the care of the missionaries of the Northern or the
Southern societies, will undoubtedly be of mutual harmony
and helpfulness. The Japanese themselves decline to recog-
nize distinctions imported from abroad. The churches in
Japan, organized under all the various Presbyterian missions,
Northern and Southern, the Established and the Free Church
of Scotland, the Reformed Church, and every sort of Presby-
terian body, have been united in one church organization ;
so also the various Congregational churches, and the Episco-
pal churches, whether American Episcopalian or Church of
SARAH CURTIS HOME, GIRLS' SCHOOL, TOKYO
England. The future progress of missions in Japan will be
watched with eager interest, and in many aspects it presents
the greatest encouragement, not only for a most phenomenal
growth, but for the development of a model Christian church.
The last few years have been years of transformation in
Japan. The rapid and favorable adoption of features of West-
ern civilization has been somewhat checked by a conservative
reaction among the people. The Japanese are divided, some
i8o
desiring to go on with still greater rapidity in conforming the
nation to Western ideas, others striving for a reactionary policy
or repressive measures towards the foreigners, somewhat in the
spirit of the old exclusive Japan. Treaties, however, have
now been negotiated with nearly all the most important West-
ern nations, which, when they go into effect in 1899, will
largely affect the relations of foreigners and Japanese and the
conditions of Christian missionary work. Changes are so
rapid in Japan, that it is difficult to predict in regard to the
future; but the prospect is tht, at no distant day, Japan,
which has taken a place among Western nations in the adop-
tion of the chief features of civilization and in the develop-
ment of military and naval power, will also become, at least
nominally, a Christian nation, with free and unlimited oppor-
tunities for the progress of the gospel of Christ in the hearts
and lives of the people.
i
.
5?
B
i8o
desiring to go on with still greater rapidity in conforming the
nation to Western ideas, others striving for a reactionary policy
or repressive measures towards the foreigners, somewhat in the
spirit of the old exclusive Japan. Treaties, however, have
now been negotiated with nearly all the most important West-
ern nations, which, when they go into effect in 1899, will
largely affect the relations of foreigners and Japanese and the
conditions of Christian missionary work. Changes are so
rapid in Japan, that it is difficult to predict in regard to the
future; but the prospect is th^t, at no distant day, Japan,
which has taken a place among Western nations in the adop-
tion of the chief features of civilization and in the develop-
ment of military and naval power, will also become, at least
nominally, a Christian nation, with free and unlimited oppor-
tunities for the progress of the gospel of Christ in the hearts
and lives of the people.
~
g
I
a
THE CONGO MISSION
THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
CENTRAL AFRICA has been compared to an inverted saucer.
It is a high plateau of from two to four thousand 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. The edge of this plateau at the north is between
four and eight degrees north latitude ; on the south it reaches
nearly to Cape Colony ; while on the east and west it is seldom
more than one or two hundred miles from the sea. In conse-
quence of this peculiar formation of the country, the navigation
of all the rivers draining Central Africa is interrupted by
cataracts in their lower courses. Says Mr. Keith Johnston, " It
is owing mainly to this physicial cause that the African conti-
nent has remained for so many centuries a sealed book to the
civilized world. On the other hand, it must be observed, that,
when these outer barriers have been passed, the great interior
of the land in its most productive regions possesses a network
of vast rivers and lakes, unsurpassed in extent by those of any
country in the world, by means of which the resources of
Central Africa may in future be thoroughly developed."
The Congo Valley far exceeds any other portion of Central
Africa in the extent of country which may be reached by its
navigable streams and in the variety and abundance of its
products. It includes practically the whole country from five
degrees north latitude to twelve degrees south of the equator,
and from the west coast to about thirty- two degrees east
longitude, or two thirds the way across the continent. The
Congo basin is estimated at 1,300,000 square miles, or one
tenth of Africa. The river is navigable for vessels of five
thousand tons to Matadi, one hundred and ten miles from its
mouth. Then come the Livingstone Falls, thirty-two in num-
(183)
1 84
ber, and one hundred and eighty-five miles in length. A
railroad past these falls will be completed in 1898. From
Stanley Pool, at the head of these falls, the Congo is navigable
for vessels of light draught to Stanley Falls, one thousand miles ;
and it is estimated that branches of the river furnish a nav-
igable way of six thousand miles more. The products of the
Congo Valley, owing to the fertility of the land, the location
in the tropics, and the elevation above the sea, are exceedingly
rich and varied. Much of the country is now covered with a
dense forest, which will furnish the world with an indefinite
supply of ornamental and useful woods. The extent of the
mineral wealth of the country is wholly unknown at present,
but the herds of elephants roaming its forests must be the
chief supply of the ivory trade in the future. The trade of
the Congo Valley will have a vast and rapid increase as soon
as better facilities of communciation are provided. As the
Congo Valley is nowhere less than twelve hundred feet above
the sea, after passing the Livingstone Falls, the climate is more
moderate even under the equator than in many parts of the
coast of Africa to the north or south. Mr. H. H. Johnston
calls the Lower Congo not unhealthful for a tropical coast,
and says, " Beyond Stanley Pool I can only call the temper-
ature delightful." The loss of so many missionaries on the
Congo has been due chiefly to exposure and over- exertion.
As the conditions of living in the Congo country are becom-
ing better understood, there is no doubt the security to life
and health will be greater.
Stanford gives a list of six hundred and eighty-three tribes
in Africa, speaking different dialects ; but many of these tribes
are of the same race. In the north the chief race is the Berber ;
in the Soudan, the Foulahs ; in the south are found the Kafirs
and the Hottentots ; while the vast regions of Central Africa,
from six degrees north of the equator to Cape Colony, and
from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean, are peopled by varia-
tions of the great Bantu race. All the people of equatorial
Africa, therefore, speak cognate dialects of what is really one
great language, or family of languages, of which Mr. R. N. Cust
reckons one hundred and sixty-eight dialects. The language of
the Lower Congo is becoming known far into the interior as a
medium of commercial intercourse. The character of the
people in the Congo Valley varies much with different tribes
and locations ; some are warlike, some are peaceful ; a few are
cannibals ; and some tribes are agricultural and have attained
a degree of civilization of their own kind. In religion they are
pagans, pure and simple, and offer the most favorable field for
the introduction of Christianity. The population of the Congo
Valley is estimated at thirty-nine millions, or nearly that of the
United States east of the Mississippi. Who can predict what
these swarming millions, in their fertile and beautiful country,
may become when brought into the blessed light of the gospel
of Christ?
The Free State extends along the south bank of the Congo
to the navigable waters of the lower river, and also includes a
territory on the north bank of the river from Manyanga to the
sea, which affords ample communication to the Atlantic Ocean.
The railway past the Livingstone Falls will be on the south
side of the river. The River Congo has a course of twenty-
nine hundred miles from the Chibals range, south-east of Lake
Tanganyika, to the Atlantic ; and the Free State occupies more
than three fourths of its basin from the water-shed of the
Zambesi on the south, to that of the Share and Bhar-el-Ghazal
on the north. The greatest length of this Free State, from
southeast to northwest, is fourteen hundred miles, and its
width twelve hundred miles.
THE LIVINGSTONE INLAND MISSION
Henry M. Stanley reached Boma, near the mouth of the
Congo, Aug. 7, 1877, nine hundred and ninety-nine days after
leaving Zanzibar, on the east coast. In a few months after the
tidings of his long and perilous journey "through the Dark
Continent" reached England, the Lord stirred the hearts of a
few of his servants to attempt the evangelization of the im-
mense regions now for the first time opened to the knowledge
of the civilized world. Rev. A. Tilly of Cardiff was the first
secretary of the mission. These friends banded together, and
acted as the council of the mission until Oct. 8, 1880, when
the responsible management was given into the hands of Mr.
and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness of London, the others contin-
uing to act as council of conference.
1 86
The first two missionaries of the Livingstone Inland Mission
sailed from Liverpool for the Congo in January, 1878. In
June two more followed ; and " Cardiff Station," named for the
place where the enterprise had its origin, was established a
few miles below the Yellala Falls. Palabala, on the south
side of the river, was soon afterward selected as the second
station ; and here Mr. James Telford died, and was buried in
the first Christian grave on the Congo. In 1879 three male
missionaries were sent out, one accompanied by his wife,
and also the wife of one already on the field. A third station
was established at Banza Manteke. In 1880 five missionaries,
with the wives of two, went to the Congo ; and a fourth station
was founded at Matadi, opposite Vivi, and the fifth, forty or
fifty miles from Baiiza Manteke, at Bemba near Manyanga. In
1 88 1 seven missionaries were sent to the Congo ; and two died,
Mr. Adam McCall, the leader of the mission, and Mrs. Mary
Richards, wife of Rev. Henry Richards, of Banza Manteke.
She reached Africa in April, 1880, and died at Banza Manteke,
Nov. 13, 1 88 1.
In this year an iron house, a special gift to the mission, was
sent out to be erected at Banana, at the mouth of the river ;
and also the steam-launch " Livingstone," intended for the
navigation of the Lower Congo. The expenses of the mission
this year were nearly twenty thousand dollars. In December,
1881, and January, 1882, three missionaries made a journey
to Stanley Pool from Bwemba Station on the north of the river.
A station was established in March, 1882, at Mukimbungu, on
the south side of the river, nearly opposite the old station at
Bemba, which was abandoned, as it was decided to be more
advantageous to establish the route from the coast to Stanley
Pool by the south side of the river. In August another
station was planted, at Lukunga; and July 31 the first two
converts of the mission were baptized by Mr. Guinness in
London, where the young men had been taken to assist in
reducing the language to a written form. The third station
founded in this busy year was at Mukimvika, on the south
side of the mouth of the Congo, which was done for the pur-
pose of reaching the coast tribes of that region. Banana was
abandoned for health reasons. In February, 1883, a site for
a station was secured at Leopoldville, Stanley Pool, and thus
i8 7
the chain of stations, six in number, completed from the coast
to the head of Livingstone Falls. May 29 the stern paddle-
wheel steamer " Henry Reed," intended for the navigation of
the Upper Congo, was launched in London, and shipped via
Rotterdam in November. The vessel was so constructed as
to be taken in pieces, and packed in five hundred small man-
loads, for transportation from the coast to the Pool. She is
MISSION STEAMER "HENRY REED," ON THE UPPER CONGO.
seventy-one feet long, ten feet beam, and three feet deep,
with light draught. The whole of the hull of the "Henry
Reed " had reached Stanley Pool early in April, 1884 ; and it
was launched Nov. 24 on the Pool, from which there is open
to it a stretch of navigable water six thousand miles in length,
in one of the most fertile countries on the globe, and inhabited
by nearly forty millions of human beings.
To this time fifty missionary agents, male and female, had
been sent to the Congo, of whom twelve had died, and others
r88
left the service. The staff then consisted of twenty-six mis-
sionaries, of whom three were in England. The Congo
language had been reduced to writing, a grammar and diction-
ary published, several hopeful converts gained, and seven
stations established, extending more than seven hundred
miles into the interior. The whole expense of the mission to
this time had been about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
This work was offered to the American Baptist Missionary
Union in May, 1883 ; was accepted by the Society and Board
of Managers at the Annual Meetings in Detroit, Mich., May
23 and 24, 1884, and by the Executive Committee, after a
lull conference with Mr. and Mrs. Guinness, Sept. 9, 1884.
THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION.
The remarkable providence by which the mission on the
Congo came to American Baptists should never be forgotten.
Previous to 1880, yearly resolutions were passed by the Mis-
sionary Union to reopen missions in Africa. Noticing this,
the writer made a study of the coast line of Africa with
reference to opening of new mission work. At that time it
came to his knowledge that Rev. George Pearse, who had
opened a mission among the Kabyles in Algeria, had
expressed an intention of offering his mission to the Mis-
sionary Union. Accordingly, a letter was addressed to Mr.
Pearse, care of the Orphans' Mission Press, Leominster,
inquiring whether he still entertained the idea of placing his
work in the hands of American Baptists. Since Mr. Pearse
was in Algeria, the letter was forwarded to Mr. and Mrs.
Guinness, who were acting as Mr. Pearse's advisers.
We must now go back for twenty years previous to this
time in order to take up another link in the chain of providen-
tial circumstances which placed the Congo Mission in the
hands of American Baptists. In 1860 Rev. J. N. Murdock,
D.D., now the Honorary Secretary of the Missionary Union,
was pastor of the Bowdoin Square Baptist church in Boston.
Dr. Kirk, of the Mt. Vernon Congregational church, had
invited Mr. Guinness, then a young and rising evangelist in
England, to America, to hold revival meetings in his house
of worship. Just before leaving for America, Mr. Guin-
189
ness was immersed, and, upon arriving in this country,,
it was found that a knowledge of this fact had preceded him,
and on that account he was excluded from the Mt. Vernon
church. Greatly distressed at this turn of circumstances, Dr.
Kirk asked Dr. Murdock if he would admit the young English
evangelist to his church in Bowdoin Square. The consent was
cordially given, and so Mr. and Mrs. Guinness began their
evangelistic labors in America in the Bowdoin Square church
under the auspices of Dr. Murdock, afterward the Secretary of
the Missionary Union. When the letter to Mr. Pearse was
placed in their hands, they saw on the printed heading the
name of Dr. Murdock, whose kindness they had always
remembered. By this time the Congo Mission had so much
developed that it was becoming too large to be conducted as
a personal mission, and the Guinnesses had been feeling that:
for its proper development it should come under the manage-
ment of some large society. Their hearts turned warmly and
cordially towards their old friend and the society of which he
was the head, and they wrote at once to Dr. Murdock, offer-
ing to the Missionary Union the Livingstone Inland Mission,
on the Congo. After several months of negotiation and
careful deliberation, the mission was accepted. The chain of
events by which the baptism of Dr. and Mrs. Guinness and
the kindness of Dr. Murdock was linked to the investigation
which brought the Congo Mission to the Missionary Union
was manifestly wrought by the hand of God.
At the time of the adoption of the Livingstone Inland r
Mission by the American Baptist Missionary Union, the seven
stations occupied and the staff of the Mission was as fol-
lows :
1. Mukimvika. At the mouth of the Congo on the south -
side, established in 1882. Rev. C. B. Banks.
2. Palabala. One hundred and twelve miles from the
sea and twelve miles south of the river ; opened in
1878. Rev. Joseph Clark and wife, Miss J. A. Skakle.
3. Banza, Manteke. Forty miles beyond Palabala, opened
in 1879, and occupied by Rev. Henry Richards,
Miss Mary E. Cole, and Miss EmilyHarris.
4. Mukimbungu. Occupied by Rev. Charles H. Harvey..
190
5. Lukunga, sixty-nine miles beyond Banza Manteke,
1882. Rev. P. Frederickson, Mr. N. Westlind.
6. Leopoldville, at the head of Livingston Falls, on Stan-
ley Pool, opened in 1883. Mr. John McKittrick.
7. Equator Station, where the Congo crosses the Equator,
1884. Mr. K. J. Petterson, Mr. J. B. Eddie.
On the steamer " Henry Reed" Rev. A. Billington, Rev;
C. B. Glenesk.
To open a station at Stanley Falls. A. Sims, M. D., and
Rev. Theodore H. Hoste.
In England. Mr. Stephen J. White and wife, Mrs. Henry
Craven, Miss Martha A. Spearing.
Of these stations, Mukimbungu was turned over to a new
Swedish Mission formed under the leadership of Mr. West-
lind \ Messrs. Petterson and Eddie soon left the mission,
Mr. White died in 1886, and Mr. McKittrick resigned in
1888 to become the leader of the Congo Balolo Mission, then
opened under the auspices of the Guinness family. Miss
Martha A. Spearing joined the English Baptist Mission, and
Mrs. Craven returned to England", her husband having died
about the time of the transfer of the mission. It is a remark-
able fact that the remaining nine men, who then came over
to the American Baptist Missionary Union, have been pre-
served in their labors for the people on the Congo, and con-
tinue in 1896 to be the backbone and strength of the Congo
Mission. American Baptists owe to these men a great debt
of gratitude and appreciation. Without them the Congo
mission could not have been maintained in efficiency, and to
them has been given all the real success which has been
achieved in winning the people to the Kingdom of Christ.
It should always be remembered also, that the pathway to
the Upper Congo Valley was opened by the pioneers of our
mission. Mr. Stanley's route and road past Livingstone Falls
was on the north bank of the river. Henry Richards, Joseph
Clark, and Charles E. Ingham of the Livingstone Inland Mis-
sion, travelling by the same route, were among the first mission-
aries to reach Stanley Pool, which they did in December, 1881.
But the next year A. Sims, M. D., Joseph Clark, f and K. J.
Petterson established a mission station at Leopoldville on the
igo
5. Lukunga, sixty-nine miles beyond Banza Manteke,
1882. Rev. P. Frederickson, Mr. N. Westlind.
6. Leopoldville, at the head of Livingston Falls, on Stan-
ley Pool, opened in 1883. Mr. John McKittrick.
7. Equator Station, where the Congo crosses the Equator,
1884. Mr. K. J. Petterson, Mr. J. B. Eddie.
On the steamer " Henry Reed" Rev. A. Billington, Rev.
C. B. Glenesk.
To open a station at Stanley Falls. A. Sims, M. D., and
Rev. Theodore H. Hoste.
/;/ England. Mr. Stephen J. White and wife, Mrs. Henry
Craven, Miss Martha A. Spearing.
Of these stations, Mukimbungu was turned over to a new
Swedish Mission formed under the leadership of Mr. West-
lind; Messrs. Petterson and Eddie soon left the mission,
Mr. White died in 1886, and Mr. McKittrick resigned in
1888 to become the leader of the Congo Balolo Mission, then
opened under the auspices of the Guinness family. Miss
Martha A. Spearing joined the English Baptist Mission, and
Mrs. Craven returned to England, her husband having died
about the time of the transfer of the mission. It is a remark-
able fact that the remaining nine men, who then came over
to the American Baptist Missionary Union, have been pre-
served in their labors for the people on the Congo, and con-
tinue in 1896 to be the backbone and strength of the Congo
Mission. American Baptists owe to these men a great debt
of gratitude and appreciation. Without them the Congo
mission could not have been maintained in efficiency, and to
them has been given all the real success which has been
achieved in winning the people to the Kingdom of Christ.
It should always be remembered also, that the pathway to
the Upper Congo Valley was opened by the pioneers of our
mission. Mr. Stanley's route and road past Livingstone Falls
was on the north bank of the river. Henry Richards, Joseph
Clark, and Charles E. Ingham of the Livingstone Inland Mis-
sion, travelling by the same route, were among the first mission-
aries to reach Stanley Pool, which they did in December, 1881.
But the next year A. Sims, M. D., Joseph Clark, ^and K. J.
Petterson established a mission station at Leopoldville on the
192
Pool, reaching it by the south side. All trade and travel soon
adopted their route, and now the railway between the navi-
gable waters of the lower and the upper Congo is following
substantially the line of their explorations.
Mr. Herbert Probert was the first missionary from America
sent to the Congo, and in 1886 and 1887, a considerable rein-
forcement was added to the mission, including Mr. Charles E.
Ingham, who first went to the Congo in 1881 as a member
of the Livingstone Inland Mission, but retired upon its trans-
fer to the American Society. In 1887, he was reappointed,
and for six years rendered valuable service in the mission,
especially in the difficult work of transport, until his death,
Nov. 28, 1893, near Lukunga, from an attack of a wild ele-
phant.
The adoption of the Congo Mission by the Missionary
Union was the result of careful investigation, and the action
was taken with general approval, but not without some mis-
giving and opposition in influential quarters. As the peculiar
difficulties of carrying on missions on the Congo became
known through experience, and the Union came face to face
with the vast problem of evangelizing the interior of the Dark
Continent, these misgivings received added strength, and the
number of those increased who, discouraged by the difficulties
and dangers of the work, advocated giving up the mission or
returning it to the hands of those from whom it had been re-
ceived. At this crisis, Rev. A. Sims, M. D., reached America.
He was the first of the Congo Missionaries to visit the United
States, and his conferences with the Executive Committee
cleared away many of the difficulties in the practical conduct
of the mission. In company with Dr. A. J. Gordon, he
visited New York, Philadelphia, and other leading cities, ad-
dressing conferences of influential Baptists. Confidence in
the mission was fully restored.
It is an interesting fact that the same man who had been
largely instrumental in saving the Telugu Mission should now
speak the decisive word for the mission on the Congo. In
1853, when at the annual meeting of the Union in Albany,
the destiny of the mission to the Telugus hung wavering in the
scale, it was Dr. Edward Bright, then Home Secretary of the
Union who pleaded most strongly for the reinforcement of
the mission. He declared he would not write the letter giving
up the work, and by a happy inspiration as he pointed to the
single station, coined the phrase " The Lone Star " which
fired the poetic genius of Dr. Samuel F. Smith to write the
poem of that name, the reading of which led to the resolution
to reinforce and continue the Telugu Mission.
In 1886, Dr. Bright, as the editor of the Examiner, at-
tended a conference in New York held by Dr. Gordon and
Dr. Sims. The difficulties and prospects of the Congo Mis-
sion were thoroughly discussed and the state of the work ex-
plained by Dr. Sims. In the next issue of the Examiner, Dr.
Bright published an editorial, strongly favoring the mission on
the Congo, and clearly setting forth its advantages and the
grandeur of its possibilities. Opposition disappeared, public
confidence was confirmed, and at the annual meeting of the
Union held soon after at Asbury Park, after full discussion, it
was resolved to vigorously prosecute and reinforce the mis-
sion on the Congo. Far sooner than in the case of the
Telugu Mission came the joyful news of salvation 'as a seal to
this act of courage and of faith.
In August, 1886, began that remarkable revival at Banza
Manteke, known as "the Pentecost on the Congo," which
was the beginning of great spiritual blessings in the mission,
and which has been the inspiration to broad and aggressive
work for the salvation of the Congo people. For seven years
Rev. Henry Richards had been laboring at Banza Manteke,
with little apparent result. He preached the power and good-
ness of God and the terrible effects of sin, which the people
could see illustrated vividly in their daily lives, but there were
110 converts. At last, after a severe season of self-exami-
nation and humiliation before God, he determined to preach
the simple gospel alone. He began translating the gospel of
Luke and expounding it daily to the people as fast as trans-
lated. He lived the gospel before the people, even to the
extent of literally conforming to the command, "Give to every
man that asketh of thee, and of him that taketh away thy
goods ask them not again." (Luke vi. 30.) This combined
preaching and consistent living had an immediate and power-
ful influence on the people. They listened ; they were inter-
ested ; they believed. Soon they began to come to the Lord,
194
and in the course of a few weeks 1,062 came to Mr. Richards,
threw away their idols, and declared themselves the followers
of Jesus.
The first Christian church on the Congo was formed at
Banza Manteke, Nov. 21, 1886, with forty- two members, and
the movement spread into the country about and to other
stations, so that Mr. Richards could write : " The glorious fact
is this, that Banza Manteke is no longer a heathen country.,
THE LORD'S SUPPER IN THE OPEN AIR, BANZA MANTEKE
but more Christian than any I am acquainted with. . . . Yes,
all praise and glory to God our Father. The ' Nkimba,' the
* Nkises,' the poison-giving, the throat-cutting, the demoniacal
yells, the diabolical dance and witchcraft, are things of the
past here. ' Old things have passed away, and, behold, all
things have become new.' Now this part of Ethiopia stretches
out its hands to God, and sends out its heart to -him in thanks-
giving and praise." The church at Banza Manteke grew so
large that all its services were held in the open air, but at a
missionary meeting in Clarendon Street Church, Boston,
'95
twenty-five hundred dollars were raised for a chapel, the ma-
terials for which were sent out from England, nearly all of
which was transported from the vessel to Banza Manteke by
the native Christians ; men, women, and even children freely
giving themselves to this service for their newly found Savior.
There is a training school for native evangelists at Banza
Manteke.
MISSION CHAPEL AT I.UKUNGA
The readiness of the converts to engage In Christian
service has been a marked feature of the Congo Mission.
The political life of the people trains them in the discussion
of public affairs, as all important questions are decided in
" Palavas " or public gatherings, where each man usually
pleads his own cause. In receiving Christianity this social
custom is at once applied to the new faith. In public
and in private the Congo Christians are ready to speak of
their new joy and to try to lead others to receive the gospel.
194
and in the course of a few weeks 1,062 came to Mr. Richards,
threw away their idols, and declared themselves the followers
of Jesus.
The first Christian church on the Congo was formed at
Banza Manteke, Nov. 21, 1886, with forty- two members, and
the movement spread into the country about and to other
stations, so that Mr. Richards could write : " The glorious fact
is this, that Banza Manteke is no longer a heathen country.,
THE LORD'S SUPPER IN THE OPEN AIR, 13ANZA MANTEKE
but more Christian than any I am acquainted with. . . . Yes,
all praise and glory to God our Father. The ' Nkimba,' the
' Nkises,' the poison-giving, the throat-cutting, the demoniacal
yells, the diabolical dance and witchcraft, are things of the
past here. ' Old things have passed away, and, behold, all
things have become new.' Now this part of Ethiopia stretches
out its hands to God, and sends out its heart to -him in thanks-
giving and praise." The church at Banza Manteke grew so
large that all its services were held in the open air, but at a
missionary meeting in Clarendon Street Church, Boston,
'95
twenty-five hundred dollars were raised for a chapel, the ma-
terials for which were sent out from England, nearly all of
which was transported from the vessel to Banza Manteke by
the native Christians ; men, women, and even children freely
giving themselves to this service for their newly found Savior.
There is a training school for native evangelists at Banza
Manteke.
MISSION CHAPEL AT I.UKUNGA
The readiness of the converts to engage in Christian
service has been a marked feature of the Congo Mission.
The political life of the people trains them in the discussion
of public affairs, as all important questions are decided in
" Palavas " or public gatherings, where each man usually
pleads his own cause. In receiving Christianity this social
custom is at once applied to the new faith. In public
and in private the Congo Christians are ready to speak of
their new joy and to try to lead others to receive the gospel.
Treachers for the new churches and teachers for schools are
easily found, though they may not have been long in the Chris-
tian fold themselves. Beside speaking to those in their own
villages, the converts, without solicitation from the missiona-
ries, form parties to go on preaching tours to spread the gospel.
Travellers from the interior have told of finding evidences of
the work of these volunteer bands of preachers far in the in-
terior, where no missionary had ever been nor may for years
be able to penetrate.
At every station of the Congo Mission there have been
converts and baptisms, and the great success of the work at
Banza Manteke has been duplicated at Lukunga, the next
station beyond, although in a different way. Here the growth
was slower at first, but has proved quite as substantial. The
special feature of the Lukunga mission is the degree of self-
support and self-direction attained by the churches, which
is not excelled on any field in any of the missions of the
Union.
Rev. T. H. Hoste, who has remained continuously in Africa
for nearly twelve years, has thrown the chief responsibility
of the churches on the Christians and they responded in a
remarkable manner. A "Missionary Society of Lukunga"
was formed in 1895 which raised three hundred dollars, sup-
ported two missionaries, and assisted two small churches in
supporting their pastors. The five hundred and forty-one
Christians supported the mission school, paid for their own
medicines, and had a Total Abstinence Society of one hun-
dred and sixty members. In 1896, Mr. Hoste was compelled
to leave Africa for England, and leave the work at Lukunga
to other hands. It is to be hoped that the success and self-
dependence of the native church will survive the loss of the
leader, and develop more and more.
Although nearly all the men who came with the Mission in
its transfer to American hands have been preserved in a very
remarkable way to be the strength and leaders of the work,
the workers on the Congo have not wholly escaped the well-
known fatality of the African climate. The names of Rev.
Charles E. Ingham, the friend of Henry M. Stanley, and the
accomplished and energetic leader of the transport service, of
Mrs. Ingham, of Rev. J. E. Broholm, Mr. Richard D. Jones,
197
Rev. Charles G. Hartsock, Rev. F. C. Gleichman, Mr. James
A. Finch, as well as of Miss Lenore Hamilton, Mrs. Richards,
Mrs. Harvey, Mrs. Billington, and Mrs. Bain, represent an in-
vestment of sorrow and tears in Africa, which bind our hearts
to the ".Dark Continent," and will surely bear fruit in later
years. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
The spirit of these who have thus given their lives for Africa's
redemption breathes in
the last report sent to
America by Mr. Hart-
sock, an able and be-
loved graduate of Brown
University, in whom cen-
tred much hope for the
future of the mission.
"9.15 P. M. IREBU,
Aug. 15, 1891.
" Again the anniver-
sary of my birth is here.
Days, months, and years
fly by as on the wings of
the \\ ind. I presume that
my race in life is more
than half done, and per-
haps I am swiftly nearing
my grave. Be it so ; the
question with me now is
not 'how long, 1 but 'how
well ' can I live. If the latter I can do right, the former I
will leave with God. If I could but know that I have done
my duty, that I had in all things striven to glorify my God,,
that my days and strength had been spent to advance my
Redeemer's kingdom, it seems to me that I could go to my
grave as calmly and as peacefully as to a night's rest after a
day of toil."
His words are a classic of consecration to Christian service.
Nor can this list be complete without mention of Rev. A. J,
Gordon, D. D., and George S. Harwood, Esq., who as mem-
bers of the Executive Committee of the Missionary Union
196
Preachers for the new churches and teachers for schools are
easily found, though they may not have been long in the Chris-
tian fold themselves. Beside speaking to those in their own
villages, the converts, without solicitation from the missiona-
ries, form parties to go on preaching tours to spread the gospel.
Travellers from the interior have told of finding evidences of
the work of these volunteer bands of preachers far in the in-
terior, where no missionary had ever been nor may for years
be able to penetrate.
At every station of the Congo Mission there have been
converts and baptisms, and the great success of the work at
Banza Manteke has been duplicated at Lukunga, the next
station beyond, although in a different way. Here the growth
was slower at first, but has proved quite as substantial. The
special feature of the Lukunga mission is the degree of self-
support and self-direction attained by the churches, which
is not excelled on any field in any of the missions of the
Union.
Rev. T. H. Hoste, who has remained continuously in Africa
for nearly twelve years, has thrown the chief responsibility
of the churches on the Christians and they responded in a
remarkable manner. A "Missionary Society of Lukunga"
was formed in 1895 which raised three hundred dollars, sup-
ported two missionaries, and assisted two small churches in
supporting their pastors. The five hundred and forty-one
Christians supported the mission school, paid for their own
medicines, and had a Total Abstinence Society of one hun-
dred and sixty members. In 1896, Mr. Hoste was compelled
to leave Africa for England, and leave the work at Lukunga
to other hands. It is to be hoped that the success and self-
dependence of the native church will survive the loss of the
leader, and develop more and more.
Although nearly all the men who came with the Mission in
its transfer to American hands have been preserved in a very
remarkable way to be the strength and leaders of the work,
the workers on the Congo have not wholly escaped the well-
known fatality of the African climate. The names of Rev.
Charles E. Ingham, the friend of Henry M. Stanley, and the
accomplished and energetic leader of the transport service, of
Mrs. Ingham, of Rev. J. E. Broholm, Mr. Richard D. Jones,
i 9 7
Rev. Charles G. Hartsock, Rev. F. C. Gleichman, Mr. James
A. Finch, as well as of Miss Lenore Hamilton, Mrs. Richards,
Mrs. Harvey, Mrs. Billington, and Mrs. Bain, represent an in-
vestment of sorrow and tears in Africa, which bind our hearts
to the ".Dark Continent," and will surely bear fruit in later
years. " The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
The spirit of these who have thus given their lives for Africa's
redemption breathes in
the last report sent to
America by Mr. Hart-
sock, an able and be-
loved graduate of Brown
University, in whom cen-
tred much hope for the
future of the mission.
"9.15 P. M. IREBU,
Aug. 15, 1891.
" Again the anniver-
sary of my birth is here.
Days, months, and years
fly by as on the wings of
the \\ ind. I presume that
my race in life is more
than half done, and per-
haps I am swiftly nearing
my grave. Be it so ; the
question with me now is
not 'how long, 1 but 'how
well ' can I live. If the latter I can do right, the former I
will leave with God. If I could but know that I have done
my duty, that I had in all things striven to glorify my God,
that my days and strength had been spent to advance my
Redeemer's kingdom, it seems to me that I could go to my
grave as calmly and as peacefully as to a night's rest after a
day of toil."
His words are a classic of consecration to Christian service.
Nor can this list be complete without mention of Rev. A. J.
Gordon, D. D., and George S. Harwood, Esq., who as mem-
bers of the Executive Committee of the Missionary Union
REV. AUONIRAM JUDSON GORDON. D.D.
199
freely poured into the work of the Congo Mission unstinted
prayers and efforts. The former by his public appeals, and
the latter by his able and untiring attention to its business
affairs were largely instrumental in carrying the mission through
many difficulties, doubts, and misunderstandings in the earlier
years, after its adoption by the Union. It is beautifully sig-
nificant that Dr. Gordon died with the cry of "Victory" on
his lips, and the closing days of Mr. Harwood's life were passed
in Cairo, in the Continent for which he had devoted so much
earnest care and toil.
Aside from the stations existing in 1884, new work has been
opened at Bwemba and Irebu on the Upper Congo, at Ikoko
on Lake Mautumba, and at Kifwa near the line of the railway
from the lower Congo to Stanley Pool. The statistics of the
mission for 1895 were 47 missionaries, 29 native preachers,
1,289 church members, 36 schools, and 1,211 scholars. A
summary of the opportunities and prospects of the mission are
given in the following extracts from the Report of the
Missionary Union for 1893 :
" The continent of Africa still commands the attention of
the Christian world as the great field for the missionary ad-
vance of the future. Although much has been done for the
coast peoples in several localities, the heart of the continent
is practically untouched with the gospel ; and the unrelieved
blackness of heathen superstition, which still shrouds nearly
all of the Dark Continent, cries aloud to the children of God
for the light which they alone can give. This cry of need
appeals to every heart which has the spirit of Christ. Africa,
sunken in ignorance, scourged with internal strifes, ravaged by
the slave trade, cursed by the floods of rum from civilized
countries, without the knowledge of the true God Africa,
' the open sore of the world,' holds out its helpless hands to
God for deliverance from the multitude of evils which afflict it.
" Thank God, the appeal is not unheeded. From Christian
lands have gone forth the messengers of salvation. They are
now urging their way, against many obstacles and by many
paths, into the interior. The difficulties of the wild country,
the danger of disease, even death itself, are not able to daunt
them. They strain their eyes toward the dark forests of Cen-
tral Africa as though it were the loveliest spot of earth, and
I
REV. A1JONTRAM JUDSON GORDON. D. D.
freely poured into the work of the Congo Mission unstinted
prayers and efforts. The former by his public appeals, and
the latter by his able and untiring attention to its business
affairs were largely instrumental in carrying the mission through
many difficulties, doubts, and misunderstandings in the earlier
years, after its adoption by the Union. It is beautifully sig-
nificant that Dr. Gordon died with the cry of "Victory" on
his lips, and the closing days of Mr. Harwood's life were passed
in Cairo, in the Continent for which he had devoted so much
earnest care and toil.
Aside from the stations existing in 1884, new work has been
opened at Bwemba and Irebu on the Upper Congo, at Ikoko
on Lake Mautumba, and at Kifwa near the line of the railway
from the lower Congo to Stanley Pool. The statistics of the
mission for 1895 were 47 missionaries, 29 native preachers,
1,289 church members, 36 schools, and 1,211 scholars. A
summary of the opportunities and prospects of the mission are
given in the following extracts from the Report of the
Missionary Union for 1 893 :
" The continent of Africa still commands the attention of
the Christian world as the great field for the missionary ad-
vance of the future. Although much has been done for the
coast peoples in several localities, the heart of the continent
is practically untouched with the gospel ; and the unrelieved
blackness of heathen superstition, which still shrouds nearly
all of the Dark Continent, cries aloud to the children of God
for the light which they alone can give. This cry of need
appeals to every heart which has the spirit of Christ. Africa,
sunken in ignorance, scourged with internal strifes, ravaged by
the slave trade, cursed by the floods of rum from civilized
countries, without the knowledge of the true God Africa,
' the open sore of the world,' holds out its helpless hands to
God for deliverance from the multitude of evils which afflict it.
" Thank God, the appeal is not unheeded. From Christian
lands have gone forth the messengers of salvation. They are
now urging their way, against many obstacles and by many
paths, into the interior. The difficulties of the wild country,
the danger of disease, even death itself, are not able to daunt
them. They strain their eyes toward the dark forests of Cen-
tral Africa as though it were the loveliest spot of earth, and
20O
made desirable by every device of skilful man. As fast as
one falls, others are ready to take the vacant place in the line
of heroes who are working for Africa's redemption. The soil
of Central Africa is already sacred with the blood of martyrs for
Christ and the graves of men and women of God who have
not counted their lives dear that they might preach to its
dying millions the unsearchable riches of Christ. How their
names gleam in the galaxy of the Christian heavens : Living-
stone, Hannington, MacKay of Uganda, Wilmot Brooke, Rob-
inson, Scarnell, Hartsock, and many others, of whom the
world was not worthy, but who laid down their lives with joy
and holy devotion for that land which above all others is the
afflicted of the earth.
"The part which has fallen to American Baptists in this
magnificent enterprise of salvation lies in the valley of the
great Congo River. Although the work is yet carried on
against many difficulties, the Congo undoubtedly furnishes the
easiest access to the largest and most fertile portion of Central
Africa. At present the absence of a currency, of banks, and
stores of supply makes it necessary to provide almost every-
thing required for the mission from England or America, and
all the goods for the interior must be sent by carriers from the
lower river. This adds immensely to the cost and difficulty of
the mission. But a few years will change this. The railroad
to Stanley Pool is making good progress, considering the diffi-
culties of construction. Commerce is increasing every year,
and with it the facilities for trade. The completion of the
railroad to Stanley Pool will witness the advent of many of the
appliances of civilized life, and make the conduct of mission-
ary work in the Congo Valley an enterprise of no special
difficulty. To that we must be looking forward, and for that
grand opening for missionary work we must be preparing."
BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE
THE position of Baptists in Europe is unique. Their pe-
culiar faith and practice presents the strongest protest against
the formalism of the Protestant State churches, as well as the
most effective opposition to the superstitions of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy. This distinctive position has a two-fold
influence, as it brings upon the Baptists the greatest hatred
and most active persecution of the priesthood on the one
hand, and, on the other, commends them to the sympathy and
aid of the most pious and devoted members who are found in
the established churches. While often compelled to endure
great persecution and distress from the authorities, who are
usually under the control of the priests of the State churches,
they receive much encouragement and assistance from those
pure and noble spirits who love the truth, and who are found
in every communion and under every name. Amid the fires
of persecution the Baptists have thrived. From the feeble,
obscure body of a few years ago, Baptists have now come in
all the countries of Continental Europe to occupy a position
which is respectable, if not every way influential. Baptists
from America who are visiting Europe may now find churches
of their own denomination in nearly all the large cities of the
Continent ; and these Baptists, who are often holding up the
standard of Gospel truth under circumstances of great diffi-
culty, are always much cheered and encouraged by visits from
those who come to them, representing the great Baptist body
of America. Nearly all these Continental Baptist churches
are aided by the American Baptist Missionary Union, except
those in Italy which are under the Southern Baptist Conven-
tion; and the work which they are carrying on is varied in
conditions, methods, and success, but of deep interest to the
lovers of a pure gospel, and of vast importance to the prog-
ress of the truth in all European countries.
(201)
202
THE FRENCH MISSION
THE Baptist Mission in France is a European counterpart
of the American Baptist Telugu Mission in India. Its early
history is one of trials and persecution and slovv growth, while
its later years have witnessed more abundant harvests and
more rapid progress. Both in direct and indirect lines there
is a prophecy of greater and brighter things in the future.
As early as 1832, the minds of American Baptists were
turned towards France as a field for missionary labor, and
Prof. Irah Chase, of Newton Theological Institution, visited
France for preliminary investigations. With him was a native
of France, Mr. J. C. Rostan. A small place of worship was
opened in Paris and services were continued by Mr. Rostan
after the return of Prof. Chase to America. Inspired by the
favorable report of Prof. Chase, Rev. Isaac Willmarth was -des-
ignated by the Baptist Board to begin a mission in France,
and he reached Paris in June, 1834. May 10, 1835, the first
Baptist church in Paris was organized with six members.
Several Christian churches were found in the northeastern por-
tion of France which by the study of the New Testament had
come into sympathy with Baptist views. They received with
great rejoicing the tidings Mr. Willmarth brought them, of a
larger and stronger body of Christians of like faith with them-
selves, and gladly entered into relations with them. In 1835,
Rev. Erastus Willard and Rev. David N. Sheldon joined the
mission and work was continued in Paris and in the northeast,
Mr. Sheldon opening a school for theological students at Douai.
Mr. Rostan had died early in the history of the mission ; Mr.
Willmarth was compelled to return to the United States by
the failure of his health, and Mr. Sheldon also soon left the
mission. In 1839 there were seven Baptist churches in
France, with one hundred and forty-two members, and Mr.
Willard was the only American missionary left upon the field ;
but the work made satisfactory progress by the aid of several
French brethren who had now entered the ministry.
But the work was not to continue without the opposition of
evil forces. Persecutions arose against the Baptists. The
prosperity of the work and baptisms in various places aroused
203
the hostility of the Roman Catholic priests, and a law was
made prohibiting the meeting together of an association of
more than twenty persons at one time. Any person opening
his house for public worship was made liable to a fine. At
Genlis, a chap el built by the Baptists, because of the opposition
of the Roman Catholics, was closed, and for eleven years the
Baptists were unable to occupy it. The columns of the " Bap-
tist Missionary Magazine " were searched for accounts of the
work in France, and those who were named were followed by
persecution and fines, so that it became necessary to print the
news from the French mission with blanks for places and'
names that they might not supply information for the use of
the Roman Catholic priests and the French police.
In 1848 the French Revolution brought nominal religious
freedom for all. Worship was made free in law, but owing to
the ascendancy of the Roman Catholic faith, means were still
found to visit the Baptists with much persecution. Two of the
Baptist preachers, Mr. Lepoids, pastor of the First Church in
Paris for twenty years, and Mr. Foulon were arrested and
thrown into prison and afterwards fined. By the Revolution
the chapel at Genlis was thrown open after eleven years of
seclusion. Dr. T. T. Devan, formerly a missionary to China,
joined the French mission in 1848, and several other French
brethren had now entered the ministry, including Rev. J. B.
Cretin, one of the most useful of those who have been con-
nected with the mission. Dr. Devan withdrew from the
mission in 1853 and Mr. Willard in 1856, and since that
time the work has been carried forward almost wholly by the
French brethren, with only financial assistance from America.
Yet the number of churches multiplied and extended into
different portions of France, and the membership increased
from 281 in 1856 to 599 in 1877.
During the Franco-Prussian war nearly all the men in the
churches entered the army, but the Lord preserved them and
their families, so that the Baptist cause cannot be said to
have suffered greatly as the result of the war. The Baptist
chapel in Rue de Lille, Paris, was completed in 1873, and has
since been continuously occupied by the First Baptist Church.
On the whole, the progress of the mission in France for the
first half century of its existence cannot be said to have
204
been rapid, but much excellent and permanent work had
been done by faithful and devoted men, and a foundation
laid for the more rapid progress of later years.
In 1887 a new era began to dawn for the Baptist mission
REV. RUBEN SAILLENS
in France. The labors of the McAll mission had resulted
in a general revival of the evangelical and evangelistic spirit
among the churches. Rev. Ruben Saillens, the chief helper
of Rev. R. W. McAll in his mission, was a Baptist, and aside
205
from his regular service in connection with that mission,
was able to devote some attention to our denominational
work In 1888 he became pastor of the Baptist church in
Rue de Lille, still retaining his connection with the McAll
mission, and a more encouraging spirit began to pervade the
churches throughout the country. In 1889 the McAll mis-
sion, although undenominational in all its movements, seeing
the necessity of churches to care for the converts in the
mission halls, favored the organization of churches of different
denominations among the converts of the mission. The
Baptists were the first to take advantage of this movement
and Mr. Saiilens organized the second Baptist church in
Paris and began preaching in a hall in Rue St. Denis. On
the retirement of Mr. Saiilens, Rev. Philemon Vincent was
called from St. Etienne to be pastor of the First Church,
worshipping in the chapel in Rue de Lille. Mission
halls, similar to those occupied by the McAll mission, were
also opened at two places, so that there were four places of
Baptist worship in the French capital. A new spirit of
evangelism and progress began to be manifested in the Bap-
tist work throughout France, and there were revivals in several
of the ten churches connected with the Missionary Union.
The work was reorganized in many places and placed on a
new and more aggressive basis. The increasing prosperity
and permanence of Baptist work in France brought to light
the fact that a large number of the most pious and evangelical
of the pastors of the glise Libre, or Free Church, really held
Baptist views, although they had never identified themselves
with the Baptist movement, and some of these pastors
united fully with the Baptist churches in France and greatly
strengthened the working force of the mission, several of them
being employed by the Missionary Union in various places in
France.
The year 1891 may be said to mark an epoch in the Baptist
work in France. Mr. Saiilens had now withdrawn wholly
from the McAll mission in order to devote himself entirely
to Baptist work, and had become general Secretary of the
French Baptist missionary committee. The Baptist mission
in France, which had made slow progress for so many years,
now entered upon an era of blessing for which there is great
2O4
been rapid, but much excellent and permanent work had
been done by faithful and devoted men, and a foundation
laid for the more rapid progress of later years.
In 1887 a new era began to dawn for the Baptist mission
REV. RUBEN SAILLENS
in France. The labors of the McAll mission had resulted
in a general revival of the evangelical and evangelistic spirit
among the churches. Rev. Ruben Saillens, the chief helper
of Rev. R. W. McAll in his mission, was a Baptist, and aside
205
from his regular service in connection with that mission,
was able to devote some attention to our denominational
work In 1888 he became pastor of the Baptist church in
Rue de Lille, still retaining his connection with the McAll
mission, and a more encouraging spirit began to pervade the
churches throughout the country. In 1889 the McAll mis-
sion, although undenominational in all its movements, seeing
the necessity of churches to care for the converts in the
mission halls, favored the organization of churches of different
denominations among the converts of the mission. The
Baptists were the first to take advantage of this movement
and Mr. Saiilens organized the second Baptist church in
Paris and began preaching in a hall in Rue St. Denis. On
the retirement of Mr. Saiilens, Rev. Philemon Vincent was
called from St. Etienne to be pastor of the First Church,
worshipping in the chapel in Rue de Lille. Mission
halls, similar to those occupied by the McAll mission, were
also opened at two places, so that there were four places of
Baptist worship in the French capital. A new spirit of
evangelism and progress began to be manifested in the Bap-
tist work throughout France, and there were revivals in several
of the ten churches connected with the Missionary Union.
The work was reorganized in many places and placed on a
new and more aggressive basis. The increasing prosperity
and permanence of Baptist work in France brought to light
the fact that a large number of the most pious and evangelical
of the pastors of the glise Libre, or Free Church, really held
Baptist views, although they had never identified themselves
with the Baptist movement, and some of these pastors
united fully with the Baptist churches in France and greatly
strengthened the working force of the mission, several of them
being employed by the Missionary Union in various places in
France.
The year 1891 may be said to mark an epoch in the Baptist
work in France. Mr. Saiilens had now withdrawn wholly
from the McAll mission in order to devote himself entirely
to Baptist work, and had become general Secretary of the
French Baptist missionary committee. The Baptist mission
in France, which had made slow progress for so many years,
now entered upon an era of blessing for which there is great
2O6
reason to praise God. The revival, begun in 1888, was in-
creasing continually. This revival may be said to have
resulted largely from the numerous Baptist publications put
forth by Rev. J. B. Cretin, who with immense industry and
perseverance continued to prepare and distribute Baptist
tracts and publications, many of them being published and
circulated at his own expense. He was also the means of
bringing into the Baptist ranks nearly all of the other French
REV. ALEXANDRE DtZ
TREASURER OF THE FRENCH MISSION
Baptfst pastors who had been so useful in the work in its
earlier years. Rev. J. Vincent, Rev. Henri Andru, Rev. Aimc
Cadot, and others, born Roman Catholics and won to God
and Baptist views through the efforts of this devoted man.
Another cause of the revival was the fact that some from other
churches had been led by their study of the Scriptures to
come out boldly upon pure scriptural ground in regard to the
administration of the ordinances and other ecclesiastical
2O7
questions. The pure evangelical spirit of the Baptists also
led many Christians in other churches to favor the movement,
even when they did not identify themselves fully with the
Baptist churches. In fifteen months the two churches in Paris
nearly doubled. The First Church had four mission halls and
the Second Church two, where meetings were carried on,
aside from the constant daily meetings in the principal place
of worship in Rue St. Denis. Work had extended to other
places, and all the churches in the country were strengthened
and encouraged. The church at Montbelliard, near Switzer-
land, had extended over the border; anew church was formed
at Valentigney, and the Baptist movement in French Switzer-
land received its impulse from these churches and is making
encouraging progress. A church was opened at Tramelan,
and a whole church in Neuchatel, which had been conducted
several years on . evangelical lines, came over bodily and
united with the Baptist Association.
The movement in the northeast of France also extended
into Belgium and a Baptist church has been organized at
Ougree. In four years the number of churches in French-
speaking Europe increased from nine to nineteen. A large
number of laborers joined the mission from other bodies,
calling for a large increase of appropriations from the Mission-
ary Union. While the work in Paris has shown special
fruitfulness, yet the work in other places has realized scarcely
less of blessing. The church in Tramelan, Switzerland,
reached two hundred members, and the Baptist sentiment is
steadily gaining ground. The Baptist churches in the north-
east of France, where the mission received its first encourage-
ment, have continually increased in membership; but the
Baptists in this part of France are almost entirely working
people and miners, and they are subject to many embarrass-
ments on account of their relations to their Roman Catholic
employers, yet they have made wonderful progress. The
great difficulty is to obtain money to erect halls for the ac-
commodation of those who wish to hear the Gospel. At the
last reports the statistics of the French Mission gave 30
preachers, 19 churches, and 1,900 members.
France is in a state of intellectual and spiritual ferment, and
it is the general conviction that it is on the eve of great
206
reason to praise God. The revival, begun in 1888, was in-
creasing continually. This revival may be said to have
resulted largely from the numerous Baptist publications put
forth by Rev. J. B. Cretin, who with immense industry and
perseverance continued to prepare and distribute Baptist
tracts and publications, many of them being published and
circulated at his own expense. He was also the means of
bringing into the Baptist ranks nearly all of the other French
REV. ALEXANDRE DtZ
TREASURER OF THE FRENCH MISSION
Baptfst pastors who had been so useful in the work in its
earlier years. Rev. J. Vincent, Rev. Henri Andru, Rev. Aime
Cadot, and others, born Roman Catholics and won to God
and Baptist views through the efforts of this devoted man.
Another cause of the revival was the fact that some from other
churches had been led by their study of the Scriptures to
come out boldly upon pure scriptural ground in regard to the
administration of the ordinances and other ecclesiastical
2O7
questions. The pure evangelical spirit of the Baptists also
led many Christians in other churches to favor the movement,
even when they did not identify themselves fully with the
Baptist churches. In fifteen months the two churches in Paris
nearly doubled. The First Church had four mission halls and
the Second Church two, where meetings were carried on,
aside from the constant daily meetings in the principal place
of worship in Rue St. Denis. Work had extended to other
places, and all the churches in the country were strengthened
and encouraged. The church at Montbelliard, near Switzer-
land, had extended over the border ; a new church was formed
at Valentigney, and the Baptist movement in French Switzer-
land received its impulse from these churches and is making
encouraging progress. A church was opened at Tramelan,
and a whole church in Neuchatel, which had been conducted
several years on . evangelical lines, came over bodily and
united with the Baptist Association.
The movement in the northeast of France also extended
into Belgium and a Baptist church has been organized at
Ougree. In four years the number of churches in French-
speaking Europe increased from nine to nineteen. A large
number of laborers joined the mission from other bodies,
calling for a large increase of appropriations from the Mission-
ary Union. While the work in Paris has shown special
fruitfulness, yet the work in other places has realized scarcely
less of blessing. The church in Tramelan, Switzerland,
reached two hundred members, and the Baptist sentiment is
steadily gaining ground. The Baptist churches in the north-
east of France, where the mission received its first encourage-
ment, have continually increased in membership; but the
Baptists in this part of France are almost entirely working
people and miners, and they are subject to many embarrass-
ments on account of their relations to their Roman Catholic
employers, yet they have made wonderful progress. The
great difficulty is to obtain money to erect halls for the ac-
commodation of those who wish to hear the Gospel. At the
last reports the statistics of the French Mission gave 30
preachers, 19 churches, and 1,900 members.
France is in a state of intellectual and spiritual ferment, and
it is the general conviction that it is on the eve of great
208
religious changes. The present seems to be the time for
fruitful and aggressive Baptist labor in France. Faithful,
earnest, effective preaching of the pure Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ will not be without its fruit. The French people
are hesitating between the reaction of Roman Catholicism and
the barrenness of infidelity, and the conditions for their re-
ceiving the pure and holy truths of the Gospel are most
favorable. There is the loudest call for the continuance of
the most earnest and aggressive work for Christ in France.
THE MISSION IN SPAIN
PROF. WILLIAM I. KNAPP was the founder of Baptist mission
work in Spain. He studied at Hamilton Theological Institu-
tion, and established himself in independent missionary work
in Madrid in 1869. He afterwards applied to the Missionary
Union for assistance, which was granted. In 1870 Rev. John
W. Terry was appointed a missionary, but remained in the
country only a few months; yet the mission received great
encouragement in its earlier years. Eighteen were baptized
in 1870, and Aug. 10 of that year the first Baptist church in
Madrid was organized with thirty-three members. Several
Spanish evangelists were raised up, among them Rev. G. S.
Benoliel, who for several years was pastor of the Baptist church
in Madrid and whose preaching attracted great attention.
A church was formed in Valencia in 1871. Some work was
also done in Portugal and a number of converts were baptized
in that country. Forty-one were baptized in Linares, but the
promising work in that field was broken up by persecution.
There were also a number received in Alicante. In 1874 there
were four churches with four native pastors and evangelists
and a total number in membership of two hundred and forty-
four. Mr. Knapp returned to the United States in 1876 and
the work was then continued by native laborers. Rev. R. P.
Cifre, who had studied in Newton, labored for a few years in
connection with the mission, but owing to the defection of
the native laborers and other discouragements, the work which
at one time had seemed so promising gradually dwindled away,
and the young and growing churches in the places mentioned
above practically disappeared.
209
In 1885 the Union had but one missionary laboring in
Spain, Rev. Eric Lund, of Sweden, who had begun work in Bar-
celona, in the northeast. Since that time this has been the
SR. FRANCISCO BARDOLET SR. RTCARDO AKGLADA MR. OLOF DUREN
Rav. ERIC LUND SR. GABRIEL ANGLADA
BAPTIST LABOREKS IN SPAIN
208
religious changes. The present seems to be the time for
fruitful and aggressive Baptist labor in France. Faithful,
earnest, effective preaching of the pure Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ will not be without its fruit. The French people
are hesitating between the reaction of Roman Catholicism and
the barrenness of infidelity, and the conditions for their re-
ceiving the pure and holy truths of the Gospel are most
favorable. There is the loudest call for the continuance of
the most earnest and aggressive work for Christ in France.
THE MISSION IN SPAIN
PROF. WILLIAM I. KNAPP was the founder of Baptist mission
work in Spain. He studied at Hamilton Theological Institu-
tion, and established himself in independent missionary work
in Madrid in 1869. He afterwards applied to the Missionary
Union for assistance, which was granted. In 1870 Rev. John
W. Terry was appointed a missionary, but remained in the
country only a few months; yet the mission received great
encouragement in its earlier years. Eighteen were baptized
in 1870, and Aug. 10 of that year the first Baptist church in
Madrid was organized with thirty-three members. Several
Spanish evangelists were raised up, among them Rev. G. S.
Benoliel, who for several years was pastor of the Baptist church
in Madrid and whose preaching attracted great attention.
A church was formed in Valencia in 1871. Some work was
also done in Portugal and a number of converts were baptized
in that country. Forty-one were baptized in Linares, but the
promising work in that field was broken up by persecution.
There were also a number received in Alicante. In 1874 there
were four churches with four native pastors and evangelists
and a total number in membership of two hundred and forty-
four. Mr. Knapp returned to the United States in 1876 and
the work was then continued by native laborers. Rev. R. P.
Cifre, who had studied in Newton, labored for a few years in
connection with the mission, but owing to the defection of
the native laborers and other discouragements, the work which
at one time had seemed so promising gradually dwindled away,
and the young and growing churches in the places mentioned
above practically disappeared.
209
In 1885 the Union had but one missionary laboring in
Spain, Rev. Eric Lund, of Sweden, who had begun work in Bar-
celona, in the northeast. Since that time this has been the
SB. FRANCISCO BARDOLBT
SR. RICARDO AKGLADA
MR. OLOF DUREN
REV. ERIC LUND
BAPTIST LABORERS IN SPAIN
SR. GABRILL ANGLADA
2IO
headquarters of our Baptist Mission in Spain, and it has
(extended from this point in various directions. Much work
was done in publishing tracts and distributing portions of
Scripture, and a few converts were gathered. In 1886 Mr.
MRS. MARIN
(An American lady.)
REV. MANUEL C. MAKIN
A SPANISH LADY
Lund was joined by Rev. Manuel C. Marin, a native of Spain,
and a graduate of Colby University and Newton Theological
Institution. Within recent years these brethren have adopted
new features of evangelistic work, by which series of meetings
are held in different villages, and the few converts gathered
are organized into small, independent churches, and one of
211
the members in each placed over them as a leader. The aim
of Mr. Lund is to follow the Pauline methods, in preaching the
Gospel where Christ is not already named. These simple
methods have been largely successful. Great crowds are
gathered to the meetings, and in almost every place where
they are held a few converts are received. These small,
detached bodies of Christians have shown remarkable vitality
and stability in a small way. A little paper is published by
the mission, called the Eco, and at the last reports there were
in Spain, besides Rev. Eric Lund and Rev. M. C. Marin, six
native preachers supported by the Missionary Union, and ten
other brethren who preach occasionally. Eighteen were
baptized in 1893, and there are now six small churches with
from five to twenty members, the total number being nearly
ninety.
Protestant missionary work in Spain has to encounter many
and great obstacles in the bigotry of the priests and the
ignorance and indifference of the people j but with the new
development of work on evangelistic lines there appears to be
encouragement to continue to labor for this people, the work
of the last few years having given continually growing encour-
agement. The mission is now wholly confined to the north-
eastern part of Spain, in the general vicinity of Barcelona. ,
THE MISSION IN GREECE
THE American Baptist Mission in Greece sprang from the
same impulse as that which led to the establishment of the
Telugu mission in India. In 1835, the Triennial Convention,
finding itself with a surplus in the treasury, at the meeting in
Richmond authorized the Board to establish missions in all
fields presenting a favorable opening. A mission was accord-
ingly begun in Greece. Rev. Horace T. Love and Cephas
Pasco were ordained in Providence Sept. 8, 1836, and arrived
at Patras Dec. 9, 1836. The government granted them per-
mission to circulate the Bible and to preach the Gospel, and
they were soon able to open a day school and a Sunday school.
In 1839 Mr. Pasco was obliged to leave the mission and Miss
Harriet E. Dickson was appointed. This year also witnessed
the beginning of Sunday services in Greek, conducted by Mr.
2IO
headquarters of our Baptist Mission in Spain, and it has
'extended from this point in various directions. Much work
was done in publishing tracts and distributing portions of
Scripture, and a few converts were gathered. In 1886 Mr.
MRS. MARIN
(Aft A merican lady.)
REV. MANUEL C. MAKIN
A SPANISH LAUY
Lund was joined by Rev. Manuel C. Marin, a native of Spain,
and a graduate of Colby University and Newton Theological
Institution. Within recent years these brethren have adopted
new features of evangelistic work, by which series of meetings
are held in different villages, and the few converts gathered
are organized into small, independent churches, and one of
211
the members in each placed over them as a leader. The aim
of Mr. Lund is to follow the Pauline methods, in preaching the
Gospel where Christ is not already named. These simple
methods have been largely successful. Great crowds are
gathered to the meetings, and in almost every place where
they are held a few converts are received. These small,
detached bodies of Christians have shown remarkable vitality
and stability in a small way. A little paper is published by
the mission, called the Eco, and at the last reports there were
in Spain, besides Rev. Eric Lund and Rev. M. C. Marin, six
native preachers supported by the Missionary Union, and ten
other brethren who preach occasionally. Eighteen were
baptized in 1893, and there are now six small churches with
from five to twenty members, the total number being nearly
ninety.
Protestant missionary work in Spain has to encounter many
and great obstacles in the bigotry of the priests and the
ignorance and indifference of the people ; but with the new
development of work on evangelistic lines there appears to be
encouragement to continue to labor for this people, the work
of the last few years having given continually growing encour-
agement. The mission is now wholly confined to the north-
eastern part of Spain, in the general vicinity of Barcelona. -
THE MISSION IN GREECE
THE American Baptist Mission in Greece sprang from the
same impulse as that which led to the establishment of the
Telugu mission in India. In 1835, the Triennial Convention,
finding itself with a surplus in the treasury, at the meeting in
Richmond authorized the Board to establish missions in all
fields presenting a favorable opening. A mission was accord-
ingly begun in Greece. Rev. Horace T. Love and Cephas
Pasco were ordained in Providence Sept. 8, 1836, and arrived
at Patras Dec. 9, 1836. The government granted them per-
mission to circulate the Bible and to preach the Gospel, and
they were soon able to open a day school and a Sunday school.
In 1839 Mr - Pasco was obliged to leave the mission and Miss
Harriet E. Dickson was appointed. This year also witnessed
the beginning of Sunday services in Greek, conducted by Mr.
212
Love. In 1840 the mission was removed to Corfu, and August
12, of that year, the first convert, who very appropriately bore
the name of " Apostolos," was baptized by Mr. Love and em-
ployed to assist him in the missionary work. Rev. R. F. Buel
and wife joined the mission in 1841, and in 1842 Mr. Love
was compelled to return to the United States. Before his de-
parture two more were baptized. In February, 1844, the mis-
sion received a strong reinforcement by the arrival of Rev.
Albert N. Arnold and his wife and Miss S. E. Waldo at Corfu.
Mr. Buel removed to Piraeus, but the mission at that place
was brought to an end in 1847 by the arrest of Mr. Buel and his
imprisonment. There were only five church members con-
nected with the mission at that time, and after fourteen years
of labor so little fruit had been the result that it was a question
whether it would be wise to continue it. Yet the work was
still maintained in the face of much opposition by the Greeks,
one native assistant being compelled to leave his native land
to escape the fury of his enemies. In 1852 the church had
increased to fifteen members, but both Mr. Arnold and Mr.
Buel returned to the United States in 1855. Mr. Demetrius
Z. Sakellarios, the only assistant in the mission, continued his
labors until April i, 1856, when the work in Greece was sus-
pended for fifteen years.
In 1871 Rev. George W. Gardner, D. D., and Rev. D. W.
Faunce, D. D., visited Athens and recommended resuming mis-
sionary work in Greece Mr. Sakellarios, who during the in-
terval had visited America and engaged in study at the Newton
Theological Institution, was appointed a missionary by the
Executive Committee of the Missionary Union. He had
married a Miss Edmands, of Charlestown, Mass., and they es-
tablished themselves in Athens. In the succeeding years con-
siderable interest was shown in the preaching of the Gospel and
encouragement was received from intelligent residents of the
city. The professors and students in the University in Athens
frequently attended the services, but few left the state church
in order to identify themselves with the Baptist Mission.
There were some conversions, and a small church was gathered
in Athens by Mr. Sakellarios whose support was continued by
the Missionary Union. But the definite results of his labors
seemed to be so small that, while having high esteem for his
213
faithful and laborious services, it seemed wise to the Executive
Committee, in 1886, to recommend a discontinuance of the
mission in Greece. Mr. Sakellarios continued his residence in
Athens, and maintains services in his own house, but there
appears to be nothing in the condition of the people or the
mission to encourage an expectation that the Greeks are pre-
pared to leave their national faith for a more evangelical body
and belief. The Greeks are, many of them, of high intelligence
and devoted to learning, but pure spiritual religion apparently
has but little attraction for them.
THE GERMAN MISSION
GERMANY has always been a fountain-head of religious
reform. Even through the dark ages there were men in small
communities, in various parts of the German states of Central
Europe, who stood far above the surrounding ignorance, and
who maintained a general adherence to the truth. The
ideality and independence of the German character have always
supplied sources of light from which have streamed out the
rays which brightened the darkness of the surrounding igno-
rance and superstition. The Reformation served to bring to
light scattered religious communities, which naturally were in
great sympathy with the new movement begun by Luther.
But they surpassed him in the freedom of their thought and
in their advancement toward the pure and simple doctrines of
the Scriptures. From that time the modern history of the
Baptists in Germany might be said to begin ; and yet these
Baptists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, while doing
much to prepare the minds of the people, are not really the
lineal ancestors of the German Baptist churches of to-day.
The Baptist churches of all Central, Eastern, and Northern
Europe, at the present time, may be traced back more or less
directly to a little band of seven, who were baptized at Ham-
burg in the night, by Kev. Barnas Sears, D. D., of Boston,
April 12, 1834. The leader of this little band was Johann G.
Oncken, who became the apostle of the modern Baptist move-
ment in Germany ; and by his labors and those of others who
joined him, this movement has extended throughout the whole
2I 4
of the German Empire, as well as to all parts of Central Europe
where German people are found.
In 1836 fourteen were baptized, one of whom was Rev.
Julius Kobner, a native of Denmark, a man of education and
REV. JOHANN G. ONCKEN
high ability who became the founder of Baptist work in Den-
mark, and was for many years pastor of the church in Copen-
hagen. In the spring of 1837, Mr. Oncken visited Berlin,
and several were baptized, among whom was Rev. Georg W.
2I 5
Lehmann, who afterwards was pastor of the First Baptist
Church in Berlin for more than forty years. The success of
the Baptist movement early attracted the attention of the
authorities of the Lutheran church and the public officials, and
persecutions began. Mr. Oncken was imprisoned, and suffered
the loss of his worldly goods. Remonstrances were made by
the President of the United States and others, and legal per-
secution ceased. But the same spirit continued among many
of the clergy of the state church, and numerous petty persecu-
tions have been visited on the Baptists of Germany even to
the present time.
The first meeting of the German Baptist Conference was
held in Hamburg in January, 1849, representing about thirty-
churches and 2,800 members. Within a few years the Baptist
movement had extended to Russia, Denmark, Switzerland,
Lithuania, Silesia, and Poland, and the work had become so
strong that the question was raised whether American Baptists
might not now withdraw their contributions, and leave the
Baptists of Central Europe to self-support. But it was resolved
rather to continue the work with greater force. Mr. Lehmann
collected five thousand dollars in England, which, with the
local collections, built twenty-one chapels where they were
greatly needed. Twelve young men who had been instructed
at Hamburg for seven months were ordained on one day,
Sept. 12, 1859. I Q I ^^5 a colony of German Baptists was
sent out to South Africa, which now has about 800 members
in eleven churches ; and the same year Baptists exiled from.
Russia settled in Turkey. Baptist work extended to Bulgaria.
in 1866, and to Holland in 1869. In 1875, the government
of Prussia recognized the existence of Baptist churches, and
passed an act for their incorporation, and the Baptist move-
ment has extended throughout all the countries of Central
Europe, and is becoming year by year more important, influen-
tial, and successful.
The headquarters of the movement have continued to be at
Hamburg, where is the publishing house, now under the charge
of Dr. Phillip Bickel, where there is also a theological seminary
in which pastors are trained for all parts of this vast field,
.under the care of Rev. Joseph Lehmann and Rev. J. G. Fetzer.
There are large churches in Berlin, and in many other of the
214
of the German Empire, as well as to all parts of Central Europe
where German people are found.
In 1836 fourteen were baptized, one of whom was Rev.
Julius Kobner, a native of Denmark, a man of education and
-
REV. JOHANN G. ONCKEN
high ability who became the founder of Baptist work in Den-
mark, and was for many years pastor of the church in Copen-
hagen. In the spring of 1837, Mr. Oncken visited Berlin,
and several were baptized, among whom was Rev. Georg W.
215
Lehmann, who afterwards was pastor of the First Baptist
Church in Berlin for more than forty years. The success of
the Baptist movement early attracted the attention of the
authorities of the Lutheran church and the public officials, and
persecutions began. Mr. Oncken was imprisoned, and suffered
the loss of his worldly goods. Remonstrances were made by
the President of the United States and others, and legal per-
secution ceased. But the same spirit continued among many
of the clergy of the state church, and numerous petty persecu-
tions have been visited on the Baptists of Germany even to
the present time.
The first meeting of the German Baptist Conference was
held in Hamburg in January, 1849, representing about thirty
churches and 2,800 members. Within a few years the Baptist
movement had extended to Russia, Denmark, Switzerland,
Lithuania, Silesia, and Poland, and the work had become so
strong that the question was raised whether American Baptists
might not now withdraw their contributions, and leave the
Baptists of Central Europe to self-support. But it was resolved
rather to continue the work with greater force. Mr. Lehmann
collected five thousand dollars in England, which, with the
local collections, built twenty-one chapels where they were
greatly needed. Twelve young men who had been instructed
at Hamburg for seven months were ordained on one day,
Sept. 12, 1859. In 1865 a colony of German Baptists was
sent out to South Africa, which now has about 800 members
in eleven churches ; and the same year Baptists exiled from
Russia settled in Turkey. Baptist work extended to Bulgaria,
in 1866, and to Holland in 1869. In 1875, the government
of Prussia recognized the existence of Baptist churches, and
passed an act for their incorporation, and the Baptist move-
ment has extended throughout all the countries of Central
Europe, and is becoming year by year more important, influen-
tial, and successful.
The headquarters of the movement have continued to be at
Hamburg, where is the publishing house, now under the charge
of Dr. Phillip Bickel, where there is also a theological seminary
in which pastors are trained for all parts of this vast field,
.under the care of Rev. Joseph Lehmann and Rev. J. G. Fetzer.
There are large churches in Berlin, and in many other of the
2l6
leading cities of the German states. In the German Empire,
the work is now carried on with great freedom, and also in
Hungary, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Holland ; but in Austria
there are still great obstacles in the way. As the law permits
no large religious assemblies (aside from the congregations of
the established churches), the only religious worship which is
possible to the Baptists in Austria is as they may assemble in
family worship, inviting a few friends; yet in spite of this
obstacle, the work has largely extended and is growing. Like
all the Baptist churches of the Continent of Europe, the
German Baptist churches suffer severely by the emigration of
the brightest and strongest of their young men to the United
States, yet they show a large increase from year to year. The
members cf these churches are almost entirely from the poorer
classes of the people, but there is prevalent among them a
great spirit of missionary activity. Their members are organ-
ized for mission work to a much larger extent than prevails in
the churches of this country. They have Young Men's and
Young Women's Associations, which are formed, not simply for
the purpose of social and religious life, but to carry on active
work in the communities in which they live. These young
men and women are trained to be active in tract distribution,
and in Bible colportage. Seamen's Bethels and rest-houses
are opened in many places, and the lay members of the
churches do a great amount of personal work and house-to-
house visitation. Sunday schools are also maintained in all
churches, and more than twenty thousand scholars are found
in the Sunday schools of the larger Union.
As the membership of the German Baptist churches is
largely from the poor, they are not able to do all that should
be done in maintaining their feebler churches, and in extend-
ing the movement to other needy portions of the German
states. Some help is afforded to them from England through
a committee, of which William Sears Oncken, a son of the
founder of the mission, is a leading member. The chief out-
side assistance which the German Baptists receive, however,
comes from the American Baptist Missionary Union, which
appropriates nearly ten thousand dollars a year to assist them
in their work. This is placed in the hands of a committee
which has its headquarters at Hamburg, and by this committee
2lS
is distributed in the wisest and most economical way to pro-
mote the efficiency of the work. In all parts of Central
Europe, the churches generally support their pastors, and the
funds are used for the support of the evangelists and in Bible
distribution, and also in assisting in the support of pastors and
helpers in some of the more needy territories. A visit to any
German Baptist church in the United States would readily
illustrate the efficiency of the missionary work carried on
among the Baptists in Germany. Not only the German
Empire and all of Central Europe is benefited by this work,
but in this country we are receiving much blessing by the
presence of so many strong and helpful members in our
German Baptist chuiohes who have been converted in the
mother country, and have come here and identified themselves
with our denominational interests. This is a work in which a
small amount of money produces large results, and it com-
mends itself on every side to the support of the Baptists of
America,
The statistics of the German Baptists in 1894 were, 149
churches, with 29,422 members, 300 preachers, and 21,524
scholars in Sunday schools.
THE MISSION IN DENMARK
BAPTIST mission work in Denmark is an outgrowth of that
which began at Hamburg, in Germany, and was for many years
identified with the German mission. One of the earliest
converts of the German mission was Rev. Julius Kobner, a
native of Copenhagen. After his baptism he visited Denmark
and Holstein, and labored and preached the Gospel among
the people with such success that a Baptist church was
organized in Copenhagen in 1839. From this place the work
spread into other towns and cities of Denmark. Much per-
secution was encountered, but in 1842 there were 179 Baptists
in Denmark, of whom 119 were in Copenhagen, the capital.
The work continued with increasing prosperity, but was still
identified, in all the reports of the Union, with the work in"
Germany, until 1888, when at the request of the brethren in
that country, the appropriations of the Union were separated
from those of the German mission, and since that time the
2 19
mission in Denmark has been continued under the direction
of a committee of Baptist brethren in that country. There
were at that time about 2,300 Baptists in Denmark. The
work has gone on with increasing success. In 1888 the
number of baptisms amounted to more than ten per cent of
the membership. 1889 was the best year of the mission, 249
being baptized. The years since have been fruitful, and the
REV. JULIUS KOEBNER
church in Copenhagen has between six and seven hundred
members. In 1894 there were reported in Denmark 70
preachers, 25 churches, 3,165 members, of whom 239 were
baptized in 1893. There were also 3,880 scholars in the
Sunday schools, and the contributions of the Baptists in Den-
mark amounted to $11,847.50. The Denmark mission is
enjoying continually increasing prosperity, and the Danish
Baptists are among the most aggressive, intelligent, and earnest
of those of the same faith on the continent of Europe.
2lS
is distributed in the wisest and most economical way to pro-
mote the efficiency of the work. In all parts of Central
Europe, the churches generally support their pastors, and the
funds are used for the support of the evangelists and in Bible
distribution, and also in assisting in the support of pastors and
helpers in some of the more needy territories. A visit to any
German Baptist church in the United States would readily
illustrate the efficiency of the missionary work carried on
among the Baptists in Germany. Not only the German
Empire and all of Central Europe is benefited by this work,
but in this country we are receiving much blessing by the
presence of so many strong and helpful members in our
German Baptist chinches who have been converted in the
mother country, and have come here and identified themselves
with our denominational interests. This is a work in which a
small amount of money produces large results, and it com-
mends itself on every side to the support of the Baptists of
America.
The statistics of the German Baptists in 1894 were, 149
churches, with 29,422 members, 300 preachers, and 21,524
scholars in Sunday schools.
THE MISSION IN DENMARK
BAPTIST mission work in Denmark is an outgrowth of that
which began at Hamburg, in Germany, and was for many years
identified with the German mission. One of the earliest
converts of the German mission was Rev. Julius Kobner, a
native of Copenhagen. After his baptism he visited Denmark
and Holstein, and labored and preached the Gospel among
the people with such success that a Baptist church was
organized in Copenhagen in 1839. From this place the work
spread into other towns and cities of Denmark. Much per-
secution was encountered, but in 1842 there were 179 Baptists
in Denmark, of whom 119 were in Copenhagen, the capital.
The work continued with increasing prosperity, but was still^
identified, in all the reports of the Union, with the work in
Germany, until 1888, when at the request of the brethren in
that country, the appropriations of the Uiion were separated
from those of the German mission, and since that time the
2IQ
mission in Denmark has been continued under the direction
of a committee of Baptist brethren in that country. There
were at that time about 2,300 Baptists in Denmark. The
work has gone on with increasing success. In 1888 the
number of baptisms amounted to more than ten per cent of
the membership. 1889 was the best year of the mission, 249
being baptized. The years since have been fruitful, and the
REV. JULIUS KOEBNER
church in Copenhagen has between six and seven hundred
members. In 1894 there were reported in Denmark 70
preachers, 25 churches, 3,165 members, of whom 239 Avere
baptized in 1893. There were also 3,880 scholars in the
Sunday schools, and the contributions of the Baptists in Den-
mark amounted to $11,847.50. The Denmark mission is
enjoying continually increasing prosperity, and the Danish
Baptists are among the most aggressive, intelligent, and earnest
of those of the same faith on the continent of Europe.
22O
THE MISSION IN SWEDEN
THE history of Protestantism in Sweden is a glorious record.
The Swedes have always devoted themselves to their religion
with the same ardor and impetuosity which has characterized
them in war and in civil affairs, and the type of religion which
has been developed in that country has partaken of the noble,
free, and manly traits which are such prominent features of the
Scandinavian character. When Christianity was introduced
into Sweden, the people gave themselves to the new religion
with the large and generous freedom that they had shown in '
the worship of Thor and Odin and the other deities of their
ancient Valhalla. The same magnanimity of spirit has char-
acterized the Swedes in all their relations to religion. In
1593, the Lutheran church became the established church of
Sweden, and thus early did the Swedes as a nation em oil
themselves on the side of a free people and a pure gospel.
The fact that the latter years -of the Lutheran church have
been marked by formalism and sometimes by persecution
does not detract from the grandeur of the devotion which was
shown by the Swedish nation in giving itself so unreservedly
to the new and rising cause of Protestantism.
The same freedom and largeness of nature which was shown
in the espousal of the Protestant cause can be traced in the
rise of the dissenting movement in Sweden. It came in as a
protest against the coldness and formalism of the established
church ; and to the credit of the Swedish people, be it said,
that the dissenters have never been subjected to those severe
persecutions which have followed the seekers after truth in the
more southern nations of Europe. Owing to the peculiar
character of the laws regarding religion in Sweden, the dis-
senters of all classes are still nominally members of the estab-
lished church ; and while they have suffered many vexatious
minor persecutions in different localities, yet, as a whole, at the
present time they are allowed to carry on their worship and
work without serious obstruction on the part of the state
officials or the authorities of the state church. The dissenters,
in Sweden, are chiefly divided among three bodies, the
Baptist, the Free Church, and the Methodist. Of these, the
221
Baptists are by far the most numerous, and probably outnum-
ber all the rest of the dissenting people in Sweden together.
Baptist work in Sweden is the offspring of the Baptist
movement in Germany, which was started by the honored
J. G. Oncken in Hamburg. The chief agent in the founding of
the Baptist mission in Sweden was Rev. Andreas Wiberg who
was brought to Baptist views by the influence of Mr. Oncken
and his companion, Mr. Kobner ; but the real origin of the
Baptist mission in Sweden was at the Mariners' Church in New
York City, where a young Swedish sailor, Mr. G. W. Shroeder,
was converted. With a Mr. F. O. Nilsson, another Swedish
sailor, also converted in New York and baptized by Mr. Oncken
in Hamburg, in 1847, he began Baptist work in Sweden. The
appearance of Mr. Shroeder on the platform, at the annual
meeting of the Baptist Missionary Union at Philadelphia, in
1892, was a most interesting feature. The First Baptist Church
in Sweden was organized Sept. 21, 1848. The early Bap-
tist laborers suffered considerable persecution ; Mr. Nilsson,
having been ordained in Hamburg in 1849, was banished from
Sweden in 1851 and came to the United States; but in 1851
there was a church of fifty-eight members in Sweden, and in
1852 that one church had become four.
The prosperous beginning of the Baptist Mission was a
promise and pledge of the great success with which it has been
carried forward until the present time. Large annual acces-
sions have marked its history, and a steady and rapid growth
in all branches. In common with the other Baptist churches
in various countries on the continent of Europe, the churches
in Sweden have suffered much from the loss of many of their
best and most valued members by emigration ; but the places
made vacant have been continually replaced by others, and
the mission has gone forward in a career of uninterrupted
prosperity. In 1855, Mr. Wiberg was appointed to labor in
Sweden by the American Baptist Publication Society, and the
work was continued in the name of that society until 1865,
when it was transferred to the American Baptist Missionary
Union.
One of the most influential factors in the strong and vigor-
ous work of Baptists in Sweden has been the Bethel Theolog-
ical Seminary at Stockholm, opened Oct. i, 1866, from which
222
have gone forth young preachers who have carried the pure
gospel of the New Testament to all parts of the kingdom.
Rev. Knut O. Broady has been president from the first. The
seminary has always been characterized by a spirit of most
ardent and active evangelism and has been the pride and joy
of the Swedish Baptist churches. A building has been pro-
vided, and through the efforts of a generous Swedish Baptist
BETHEL SEMINARY, STOCKHOLM
in Chicago, supplemented by the noble and self-sacrificing
Baptists in Sweden, it will soon have a substantial and neces-
sary endowment which will enable it to carry forward its grand
work yet more effectively for the gospel of Christ.
Baptist work in Sweden has received much aid from religious
literature. At a time when public preaching was prohibited,
Baptist tracts and papers could be circulated freely throughout
the kingdom. The early connection of the mission with the
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222
have gone forth young preachers who have carried the pure
gospel of the New Testament to all parts of the kingdom.
Rev. Knut O. Broady has been president from the first. The
seminary has always been characterized by a spirit of most
ardent and active evangelism and has been the pride and joy
of the Swedish Baptist churches. A building has been pro-
vided, and through the efforts of a generous Swedish Baptist
BETHEL SEMINARY, STOCKHOLM
in Chicago, supplemented by the noble and self-sacrificing
Baptists in Sweden, it will soon have a substantial and neces-
sary endowment which will enable it to carry forward its grand
work yet more effectively for the gospel of Christ.
Baptist work in Sweden has received much aid from religious
literature. At a time when public preaching was prohibited,
Baptist tracts and papers could be circulated freely throughout
the kingdom. The early connection of the mission with the
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224
Publication Society fostered this form of work. Mr. Wiberg
started a paper called the Evangelist, in 1856. . In this
same year also the Missionary Union of the Baptists in Swe-
den was formed. It carries on both home and foreign mis-
sions. The rapid progress of the work in Sweden has largely
been under the direction of this Union, and missionaries are
supported by it in China and on the Congo in Africa.
BAPTIST CHAPEL. AT NORKOPINO, SWEDEN
The Baptists in America have greatly profited from the
mission in Sweden by. the 'reception of large numbers of
active and. useful laborers who have come to our shores.
These are found not only in the strong and vigorous Baptist
churches scattered all over our country, but in the large num-
ber of faithful and devoted members who have united with
Baptist churches in multitudes of places where separate
225
churches for Swedish people do not exist. The connection
between the Swedish Baptists in America and in Sweden is
very close and tender. Those in this country contribute
largely and generously for the support of Baptist missions in
Sweden as well as all missionary work in our Baptist body.
The same noble spirit which led Gustavus Adolphus and his
army to give themselves for the salvation of Protestantism in
Europe is still strong in the Swedes, for the progress of truth
and for the advancement of the 'Kingdom of Christ throughout
the world. Although they have grown to a large body, yet
the Baptists in Sweden still need the aid of their brethren in
this country in order to carry on their work in the most
effective manner. The losses through emigration keep them
from acquiring the strength which would be the natural reward
of their earnest labors. The American Baptist Missionary
Union contributes about $8,500 annually to assist the Baptist
Mission in Sweden, and the claim of this mission upon the
Scandinavian Baptists of this country, as well as upon Baptists
as a whole, is strong, and the small amount of money which is
invested produces large results for the glory of God and the
triumph of His Kingdom.
THE MISSION IN NORWAY
BAPTIST work in Norway is also an offshoot of the German
Baptists, who had a colporter laboring in that country in 1842.
It was afterward for some time carried on with the assistance
of the English Baptist Missionary Society, but owing to the
pressure of their work among the heathen, the English
Baptists withdrew from Norway several years ago. In 1868
there were two hundred members in the few Baptist churches,
one of which was at Tromsoe north of the Arctic Circle.
Little outside assistance was received by the Baptists in Nor-
way after the withdrawal of English Baptist funds, until in
1890, when an application was made for assistance to the
American Baptist Missionary Union. The request of the
Baptist brethren in Norway was received with favor and a
committee was organized, consisting of Baptists in Norway and
in this country, to assist the Norwegians in carrying on work
224
Publication Society fostered this form of work. Mr. Wiberg
started a paper called the Evangelist, in 1856. In this
same year also the Missionary Union of the Baptists in Swe-
den was formed. It carries on both home and foreign mis-
sions. The rapid progress of the work in Sweden has largely
been under the direction of this Union, and missionaries are
supported by it in China and on the Congo in Africa.
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BAPTIST CHAPEL. AT NORKOPINO, SWEDEN
The Baptists in America have greatly profited from the
mission in Sweden by the reception of large numbers of
active and iiseful laborers who have come to our shores.
These are found not only in the strong and vigorous Baptist
churches scattered all over our country, but in the large num-
ber of faithful and devoted members who have united with
Baptist churches in multitudes of places where separate
225
churches for Swedish people do not exist. The connection
between the Swedish Baptists in America and in Sweden is
very close and tender. Those in this country contribute
largely and generously for the support of Baptist missions in
Sweden as well as all missionary work in our Baptist body.
The same noble spirit which led Gustavus Adolphus and his
army to give themselves for the salvation of Protestantism in
Europe is still strong in the Swedes, for the progress of truth
and for the advancement of the 'Kingdom of Christ throughout
the world. Although they have grown to a large body, yet
the Baptists in Sweden still need the aid of their brethren in
this country in order to carry on their work in the most
effective manner. The losses through emigration keep them
from acquiring the strength which would be the natural reward
of their earnest labors. The American Baptist Missionary
Union contributes about $8,500 annually to assist the Baptist
Mission in Sweden, and the claim of this mission upon the
Scandinavian Baptists of this country, as well as upon Baptists
as a whole, is strong, and the small amount of money which is
invested produces large results for the glory of God and the
triumph of His Kingdom.
THE MISSION IN NORWAY
BAPTIST work in Norway is also an offshoot of the German
Baptists, who had a colporter laboring in that country in 1842.
It was afterward for some time carried on with the assistance
of the English Baptist Missionary Society, but owing to the
pressure of their work among the heathen, the English
Baptists withdrew from Norway several years ago. In 1868
there were two hundred members in the few Baptist churches,
one of which was at Tromsoe north of the Arctic Circle.
Little outside assistance was received by the Baptists in Nor-
way after the withdrawal of English Baptist funds, until in
1890, when an application was made for assistance to the
American Baptist Missionary Union. The request of the
Baptist brethren in Norway was received with favor and a
committee was organized, consisting of Baptists in Norway and
in this country, to assist the Norwegians in carrying on work
22(5
in their country. The appropriations are not large, but the
small assistance which is afforded enables the committee to
maintain a considerable number of Baptist laborers among the
weak churches in Norway. The work in Christiania under
Rev. E. S. Sundt has been especially promising, and active
labors are maintained all through Norway from the north to
the south. In 1894 the statistics of the Baptist work were 16
preachers and pastors, 27 churches, with 1,961 members, of
whom 280 were baptized in 1893.
THE MISSION IN FINLAND
BAPTIST work in Finland was a direct offshoot of that in
Sweden, Rev. Eric Jansson, the founder of Baptist work in
Finland, having first labored in connection with the Swedish
Baptist mission. The first to be baptized in Finland were a
brother and sister named Heikel, whose father was professor
in the University of Abo. They received the ordinance July 1 4,
1868, on the shores of the Baltic Sea. The mission was for
several years reported in connection with the Swedish mission,
but with its growing importance it has been given a separate
place in the reports and appropriations of the Union. The
work in this extreme northern border appears to be one of
much promise. In 1892 the Baptists of Finland obtained
lawful rights to exist as a Protestant community. This has
greatly encouraged them and enabled them to extend their
work. A school for the training of preachers has been started,
a paper is published, and the Finnish Baptists are greatly
in earnest in their work. The population of Finland num-
bers 2,412,135, and the people have many admirable traits.
The reports of the mission for 1893 give 10 preachers, 21
churches, and 1,329 members, of whom 152 were baptized
during that year.
THE MISSION IN RUSSIA
BAPTIST work in Russia, like that in Sweden and Denmark,
and all the countries of Central Europe, is an outgrowth of
the Baptist movement, which began with the baptism of J. G.
Oncken and six others at Hamburg, April 22, 1834. In 1851,
227
some efforts by German Baptists were made on behalf of their
fellow countrymen who had settled in the south of Russia,
but such were the difficulties of the work, that the first Baptist
house of worship in Russia was not built until 1872. The
work, however, was entirely identified with the German mission
in the reports to the Union, until 1888, when, owing to the
regulations of the Russian government, forbidding religious
work to be carried on in that country in the name of foreign
organizations, the Baptists in Russia withdrew from the Ger-
man Baptist Union, and formed a " Bund " of their own, and
the appropriations of the Union for mission work in Russia,
have since been separated from those of the German mission.
At that time, there were in Russia 34 churches, with 44 pas-
tors and evangelists, 12,371 church members, and 82 Sunday
schools; 850 were baptized in 1887.
One of the most painful features, in connection with Bap-
tist work in Russia, has been the severe persecutions which
the people of that name have been compelled to endure
in common with all dissenters from the Greek Catholic
church. These persecutions proceed chiefly from the priests
of the Greek church, who, since that is the established or
national church, make use of the officers of the government
to carry out their bigoted and cruel plans for the suppression
of all religious worship and opinions not in accordance with
the views of their church. Exile and imprisonment are fre-
quently resorted to. One of the first Baptists to suffer from
this persecution was Rev. Mr. Pawloff, who was banished from
his home in Wladikawkas to Orenburg in Siberia. During the
last few years, many others have been banished. Whole
churches have been arrested, clad in prison garments, and
amid great suffering compelled to travel as prisoners with
loathsome and evil companions into the Transcaucasian country
or into Siberia. Many Baptists are now found in this sterile
and desolate land. Some have even been driven to its far
borders ; and a few of the brethren of our own faith are at
this very time dragging out a miserable existence amid the
degraded and ignorant savages of northern Siberia. In one
instance, an entire Baptist church in the Baltic provinces
decided to emigrate to South America. All sold their property
and closed up their business affairs, and the richer helping the
228
poorer, they left their dearly loved homes to find a place in a
more hospitable land where they could worship God according
to the dictates of their own consciences. The scenes of their
departure from their home were exceedingly affecting, and as
they sailed away they sang hymns to God, while the tears
were streaming down their faces. They are now in South
America and have formed two churches, which have received
much countenance and help from the missionaries of the
Southern Baptist Board in Brazil.
One of the severest trials which the Baptists of Russia are
compelled to suffer is the separation from their children. By
a law made a few years ago the officials and priests are per-
mitted to take from their parents children of dissenting families
who refuse to have them baptized into the state church. The
children thus torn away from their parents are placed with
Greek Catholic families or in nunneries, to be brought up in
that faith. No words can express the grief and suffering which
have thus been entailed upon the Baptists of Russia. Multi-
tudes of families have been rent asunder and entirely broken
up, the children placed in the care of those committed to the
national church, and oftentimes the parents exiled to Siberia
or banished to the central states of Europe. The condition of
the Baptists in Russia calls for the deepest sympathy of all who
are interested in the pure truths of the Gospel of Christ.
Notwithstanding these severe persecutions the work has con-
tinued to advance with a large prosperity. While the church
in St. Petersburg, founded in 1875, has not grown to any very
great degree, yet in the Baltic provinces and in the south of
Russia the work has gone on, even amid famine and persecu-
tion, and in 1894 there were reported in connection with the
Baptist churches in Russia 90 preachers, 67 churches, 17,041
members, of whom 1,067 were baptized in 1893, and out of their
poverty they contributed $[7,690.20, or about one dollar each
for the support of the Gospel. All the outside aid which the
Russian Baptists receive comes from the American Baptist
Missionary Union, which appropriates less than $3,000. This
money, however, goes very far to assist them in carrying on
their work amid their great trials and persecutions.
22Q
CONCLUSION
THERE are two features which especially distinguish the work
of the American Baptist Missionary Union. First, its high
and holy work, in imitation of the mission of Christ, preach-
ing the gospel to those who cannot hear the way of salvation
except as missionaries are sent to them ; second, the uniting
under one society all the various forms of Christian work
abroad, which are carried on in America by many different
organizations. In the vast and manifold work of the Union,
every form of Christian activity is represented, and it calls for
the sympathies and support of all classes, from the oldest
Christian to the youngest child. The missionaries of the
Union are laboring in twenty countries among people speak-
ing more than thirty different languages, and representing
about 1,000,000,000 of people, or two thirds the population of
the earth. In this immense work there are engaged about
500 missionaries from America, and 2,000 native missionaries,
evangelists, pastors, teachers, colporters, and Bible women.
There are more than 1,600 churches in the missions, with
nearly 200,000 members, or one quarter as many as in all the
Baptist churches of the Northern States. There are 100,000
scholars in the mission Sunday schools, and the baptisms
average from 10,000 to 12,000 every year. To support this
vast and manifold work, at least $700,000 are needed yearly,
and the amount should be increased to provide for the rapidly
growing work. The future of the missions is of magnificent
promise.
Among the five great missionary movements, which have
been termed miracles of missions and which have blessed the
missionary operations of the Christian world, two are found
among the missions of this one society ; that is, the Karen
Mission, in Burma, and the Telugu Mission, in India. There
is occasion for great thanksgiving and rejoicing, but none for
pride or exaltation, since it is not because of the amount of
money expended nor the laborers sent forth that this success
has been achieved, but it is purely a blessing sent to us from
the Lord. American Baptists, above all people on earth, have
great reason, both because of the establishment and the sue-
cess of their missions, to rejoice in the Lord, and to press
forward with greater zeal" and devotion in the work which has
brought them so much blessing and honor.
The reasons for the remarkable prosperity which has at-
tended American Baptist missions have often been sought
after, and this review of the work of the American Baptist
Missionary Union may be fitly closed with a few suggestions
as to the reasons for its great success.
An easily apparent reason why Baptist preaching should be
received by Oriental people is because of the relation in which
Baptists stand to the Bible. It must always be remembered
that the Bible is an Asiatic book. Christianity started in Asia,
and the language of the Scriptures in its phraseology and in
its figures is Oriental ; consequently, that which is based most
simply and purely upon the Bible will come into closest touch
with Oriental peoples. This is the Baptist position. The
Bible is the sole standard of faith and practice. In present-
ing the religion of Jesus Christ to the people of the East, the
Baptist missionaries simply bring to them the Bible and say,
"This is our book; what this teaches, do." They have noth-
ing to explain away, and a multitude of illustrations which
could be drawn from all our missions in Burma and India, in
China and Japan, show that this gives the Baptist missionary
a vast advantage, and constitutes a considerable element in
the rapid acceptance which Christianity, as presented by our
missionaries, has received by so many thousands of the people
of the East.
Another clear reason for the great prosperity of our Baptist
missions to the heathen is the methods which have marked
the policy of the society from the first. The sagacity and
piety of our fathers, guided by divine wisdom, from the begin-
ning decreed that the missions of the Union should be first
and chiefly evangelistic. The " preaching of the Gospel " is
declared to be the great business of the missionary. The
Union has not despised nor neglected educational, medical,
and other missionary methods in their proper sphere, but has
always held them to be strictly subordinate to the preaching
of the Word.
Joined with this was another policy, enforced not only by
the judgment of the founders of the society, but by the lack
231
of funds to send out a large number of missionaries, namely,
the development of the native element in the mission work.
Where other societies have placed two missionaries, with but
few native helpers, the Missionary Union has had but one, but
has surrounded him with as many efficient native assistants as
could be obtained and usefully employed. The missionaries
have largely been directors of the mission work of others.
A missionary from home can seldom become a fluent and
eminently successful preacher of the Gospel in an Eastern
tongue, but as a teacher and a director of native preachers he
can multiply himself many times over, and by directing and
inspiring these in their labors, he can not only reach a much
larger number of people, but reach them in a very much more
effective manner than if he confined his own labors to preach-
ing to such people as he is able to reach in such a manner as
he could present the truth. A. comparison of the statistics of
the Missionary Union with those of other societies in former
years will illustrate the importance of this statement. The
Missionary Union uniformly reported a number of native help-
ers, including all classes, ordained and unordained, from four
to eight times larger than the number of missionaries sent
out from this country ; while in the records of other societies,
the number of native helpers was often found to be below that
of the number of missionaries sent from home. This is still
the case with a few societies but the influence of the great
success of the missions of the Union is seen in the fact that all
the larger missionary societies of the world have now greatly
increased their force of native helpers in proportion to the
number of missionaries sent abroad. In a few instances the
proportion has more than quadrupled within the last five
years.
But the special thought suggested by this review of Baptist
missions of the Union is the most remarkable and inspir-
ing providential leading which has characterized the mis-
sionary work of the society. It is plain that this also may
be taken into the account as one of the elements which has
led to the great success of our missionary work. It is a re-
markable fact that in no single instance in the selection of
the missionary fields has the original impulse proceeded from
the management of the society at home. Every field has been
2.32.
presented to the Union by influences from abroad of one sort
or another, which in the hand of the Lord have commended
the different fields to the choice of the home management.
Is not this a reason for believing that God has specially hon-
ored and blessed the work which has been carried on in such
trustful obedience to the indications of his divine leading?
It is not wrong in itself for a people to plan and send forth
missionaries to any field which they may choose to select, but
it has been the peculiar happiness of American Baptists, work-
ing through the Missionary Union, always to follow the guiding
hand of the Lord in the selection of their missionary fields.
They were led to Burma by the conversion of Adoniram
Judson and his wife to Baptist views. They entered Assam
by the invitation of the Chief Commissioner of the Province.
The Telugu Mission was established through the visit of an
English missionary to the home of his American wife. Mis-
sions to the "Chinese were begun by the noble act of the mis-
sionaries in Burma, in voluntarily sending one of their own
number to open Christian work among this great people.
The founding of Baptist missions in Japan was the work of a
sailor, who first landed on the shores of that secluded country
with Commodore Perry, on his first expedition. The Congo
Mission came to American Baptists by kindness shown to two
young English evangelists by one who was afterward the sec-
retary of . our foreign missions ; while all the great and pros-
perous missions of Europe can be traced to the midnight
baptism of Mr. Oncken and his companions in the river Elbe,
near Hamburg. In every instance God has gone before, like
a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to indi-
cate the place where the missionary feet of American Baptists
should rest ; and he has wondrously blessed them in the fields
which he has selected for their labors. To him be all the
glory ! " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake."
233
PRESIDENTS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION AND
MISSIONARY UNION
1814-20. Rev. RICHARD FURMAN, D. D., South Carolina.
1820-31. Rev. ROBERT B. SEMPLF, D.D., Virginia.
1832-41. Rev. SPENCER H. CONE, D.D., New York.
1841-44. Rev. WILLIAM B. JOHNSON, D.D., South Carolina.
1844-46. Rev. FRANCIS WAYLAND, D.D., Rhode Island.
1846-47. Rev. DANIEL SHARP, D. D., Massachusetts.
1847-61. Hon. GEORGE N. BRIGGS, LL.D., Massachusetts.
1862-67. Hon - IR A HARRIS, LL. D., New York.
1867-69. Rev. ALEXIS CASWELL, D.D., LL.D., Rhode Island.
1869-72. MARTIN B. ANDERSON, LL.D., New York.
1872-74. Rev. HENRY G. WESTON, D.D., Pennsylvania.
1874-77. Rev. BARNAS SEARS, D.D., Virginia.
1877-80. Rev. E. G. ROBINSON, D. D., Rhode Island.
1880-84. Rev. GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN, D. D., Pennsylvania.
1884-85. Hon. J. WARREN MERRILL, Massachusetts.
1885-87. Rev. EDWARD- JUDSON, D. D., New York.
1887-89. Hon. GEORGE A. PILLSBURY, Minnesota.
1889-92. Rev. GEORGE W. NORTHRUP, D. D., LL. D., Illinois.
1892-95. Rev. AUGUSTUS H. STRONG, D. D., LL. D., New York.
1895- . Rev. HENRY F. COLBY, D. D., Ohio.
HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE MISSIONARY UNION
1891-97. Rev. JOHN N. MURDOCH, D. D., LL. D.
RECORDING SECRETARIES OF THE CONVENTION
AND UNION
1814-17. Rev. THOMAS BALDWIN, D. D., Massachusetts.
1817-23. Rev. DANIEL SHARP, D. D., Massachusetts.
1823-26. ENOCH REYNOLDS, Esq., District of Columbia.
1826-41. Rev. HOWARD MALCOM, D.D., Massachusetts.
1841-44. Rev. RUFUS BABCOCK, D.D., New York.
1844-47. Rev. JAMES B. TAYLOR, Virginia.
1847-60. Rev. WILLIAM H. SHAILER, D.D., Massachusetts.
1860-65. Rev. O. S. STEARNS, D. D., Massachusetts.
1865-76. Rev. GEORGE W. BOSWORTH, D.D., Massachusetts.
1876- . Rev. HENRY S. BURRAGE, D. D., Maine.
234
CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES OF THE CONVENTION
AND THE UNION
1814-26. Rev. WILLIAM STAUGHTON, D. D.
1826-43. Rev. Lucius BOLLES, D. D.
.1838-56. Rev. SOLOMON PECK, D. D.
1841-45. Rev. ROBERT E. PATTISON, D.D.
1846-55. Rev. EDWARD BRIGHT, D. D.
1855-73. Rev. JONAH G. WARREN, D. D.
1866-91. Rev. JOHN N. MURDOCH, D. D., LL. D.
1873-76. Rev. GEORGE W. GARDNER, D.D.
1884-86. Rev. ALBERT G. LAWSON, D.D.
1887-90. Rev. WILLIAM ASHMORE, D. D.
1890- . Rev. HENRY C. MABIE, D. D.
1892- . Rev. SAMUEL W. DUNCAN, D. D.
1892-93. Rev. EDMUND F. MERRIAM.
ASSISTANT CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES -
1824-26. Rev. Lucius BOLLES, D. D.
1836-38. Rev. SOLOMON PECK, D. D.
1838-40. Rev. HOWARD MALCOM, D. D.
1863-66. Rev. JOHN N. MURDOCK, D. D.
TREASURERS OF THE CONVENTION AND THE
UNION
1814-23. JOHN CAULDWELL, Esq,
1823-24. THOMAS STOKES, Esq.
1824-46. Hon. HEMAN LINCOLN.
1847-55. RICHARD E EDDY, Esq.
1855-64. Hon. NEHEMIAH BOYNTON.
1864-83. FREEMAN A. SMITH, Esq.
1883- . E. P. COLEMAN, Esq.
ASSISTANT TREASURERS
1835-41. LEVI FARWELL, Esq.
1846-47. RICHARD E. EDDY, Esq.
1855-64. FREEMAN A. SMITH, Esq.
235
LIST OF BOOKS ON AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS
History of American Baptist Missions (to 1849). Gammell. (Out of
print.)
Missionary Sketches. Smith. American Baptist Missionary Union, Boston.
$1.25.
The Story of Baptist Missions. Hervey. Barrs, St. Louis. $3.00.
Our Gold Mine. Chaplin. American Baptist Missionary Union. Boston.
$1.25.
The Telugu Mission. Downie. American Baptist Publication Society,
Philadelphia. $1.00.
Self-Su -port. The Bassein-Karen Mission. Carpenter. American Baptist
Publication Society, Philadelphia. $1.50.
The Karen Mission in Bassein. Brockett. $1.00.
Foreign Missions of the Southern Baptist Convention. Tupper. Baptist
Mission Board, Richmond. $3.50.
A Century of Baptist Foreign Missions. Titterington. American Baptist
Publication Society. 31.25.
Travels in Southeastern Asia. Malcom. American Baptist Publication
Society. $1.50.
Ocean Sketches of Life in Burma. Ingalls. American Baptist Publication
Society. 85 cents.
In Brightest Asia. Mabie. American Baptist Missionary Union. $1.25.
Adoniram Judson. Judson. Randolph, New York. $2.00.
Ann Hasseltine Judson. Knowles. American Baptist Publication Society.
$1.00.
The Three Mrs. Judsons. Stuart. Lee and Shepard. $1.25.
A Good Fight. Life of George Dana Boardman. King. Lothrop. $1.25.
Twenty-six Years in Burma. Life of Joseph G. Binney. Binney. Ameri-
can Baptist Publication Society. $1.25.
The Vintons and the Karens. Luther. American Baptist Publication
Society. $1.00.
Sarah D. Comstock. American Baptist Publication Society. 65 cents.
Theodosia Dean. American Baptist Publication Society. $1.00.
Cephas Bennett. Ranney. Silver. Burdett & Co., Boston. $1.00.
Nathan Brown. Hubbard Brothers. Philadelphia. (Out of print.)
A Half Century in Burma. Sketcn of Rev. Edward A. Stevens, D. D.
Stevens. American Baptist Publication Society.
A Consecrated Life. (Edwin D. Kelley.) Kelley. Lothrop.
The Story of a Working Man's Life. (Autobiography of Francis Mason.)
(Out of print.)
Missionary Memorials. W. N. Wyeth, Philadelphia. 75 cents each.
INDEX.
Abbott, E. L., 62, 06, 117.
Adams, Joseph S., 150.
Allan, Mrs., 176.
American Baptist Missionary Union,
Constitution, 22, 25.
Amherst, 40.
Anniversaries, Baptist National, IS.
Armstrong, W. F., !)4.
Arthur, J. H., 171.
Ashmore, William, 17, 144, 14r>.
Ashmore, William, Jr., 148.
Ava, 39.
Baldwin, Thomas, 14.
Baptist Missionaiy Magazine, -2").
Barchet, S. P., 154.
Barker, Cyrus, 105.
Bennett, A. A., 171, 173.
Bennett, Cephas, 41, 50, 53, 60.
Binney, Joseph G., 63, 70, 74.
Bixby, Moses H., 82.
Boardman, George Dana, 40, (id.
Bolles, Lucius, 14, 15.
Boynton, Nehemiah, 17.
Brand, J. C., 174.
Brayton, D. L., 76.
Bright, Edward, 15, US, 192.
Broholm, J. E., 19G.
Bronson, Miles, 103, 106.
Brown, Nathan, 102, 105, 10(i, 170.
Browne, Miss H. M., 172.
Bunker, Alonzo, 94.
Burdette, C. E., 109.
Bushell, Walter, 76.
Campbell, George, 152.
Carlin, J. W., 148.
Carpenter, C. H., 73, 74, 174,
Carson, A. E., 88.
Cauldwell, John, 17.
Chase, Iran, 202.
Clark, E. W., 105, 107, 108.
Clark, Joseph, 190.
Clement. E. W., 174.
Clough, John E., 122, 127.
Cochrane, W. W., 87.
Coleman, ElishaP.,17.
Column, James, 37.
Congo Pentecost, The, 193.
Cravrley, P. D., 95.
Cretin, "J. B., 203.
Cross, E. B.,64.
dishing, Josiah N.. 52, 83, !)0.
Gushing, Mrs., 83, 84.
Cutter, O. T., 42, 102.
Dauhle, Mrs., 106.
Dawson, J., 40, 49.
Day, Samuel S., 117.
Dean, William, 144.
Hearing, J. L., 173.
Deputation, The, 48, 68.
Devan, T. T., 203.
Doyen, J. T., 170.
Duncan, Samuel W., 17.
Eddy, Richard E., 17.
English Baptist Missionary Society, 13.
Eveleth, F. H., 76.
Fielde, Miss A. M., 145, 147.
Financial Condition, 27.
Finch, C. H., 156.
Finch, J. A., 197.
Fisher, C- H. D., 173.
Foster, John M., 148.
Freiday, J. A., 84.
Gage, Miss A. R., 83.
Gardner, George W., "Ji.
Geis, G. J., 91.
General Missionary Convention, S, 10,
25.
Gleichman, F. C., 197.
Goble, Jonathan, 170.
Goddard, Josiah, 144, 152.
Goddard, J. R., 154.
Gordon, A. J., 192, 197.
Granger, James N., 48, (i8.
Grant, J. S., 154.
Gray, W. F., 156.
Grigg, Ernest, 89.
Griggs, W. C., 87.
Guinness, H. Grattnn, 185, 188.
Gurney, A. K., 105, 108.
ITamblen, S. W., 171.
Hanson, Ola, 91.
Hartsock, C. G., 197.
Harwood, G. S., 197.
Haswell, James M., 40, 94.
Haswell, Miss S. E., 51. .
Henderson, A. II., 86.
" llenry Reed," Steamer, 187.
Hoste, T. H., 196.
Hough, George II., 36.
Howard, H., 46.
Income, Growth of, 2i.
Ingalls, Mrs. M. B., 50.
Ingham, C. E., 190, 196.
(237)
Jenkins, H., 154.
Jewett, Lyman, 120.
Johnson, J. W., 145.
Jones, E. H., 171.
Jones, John Taylor, 14-2.
Jones, R. D., 196.
Judson, A do niram, 12, 35, 40, 9:5.
Judson, Ann Hasseltine, 1-2, 35.
Judson, Emily C., 45.
Judson, Sarah B., 44.
Karen Jubilee at Bassein, 74.
Kelley, J. B., 84.
Kelley, Mrs. J. B., 93.
Kidder, Miss A. H., 174.
Kiucaid, Eugenio. 4-2, 40, 49, ft?.
King, C. D., 111.
" Kingdom, The," 25.
Kirkpatrick, M. B., 85.
Knapp, W. I., 208.
Kiiowlton, M. J., 154.
Lawson, Albert G., 17.
Lepoids, Mr., 203.
Lincoln. Heman, 17.
" Lone Star, The," 118.
Lord, E. C., 152.
Lund, K., 209.
Lyon, A. J., 84, 92.
Mabie, Henry C., 17.
MacGowan, D. J., 152.
Malcolm, Howard, 42, 117.
Marin, M. C., 210.
Mason, Francis, 60, 05, 00, 70, 73, 88.
Mason, M. C., 105, 107.
McCall, Adam, 18(i.
McKibben, W. K., 150.
Mead, Miss L., 172.
Merriam, Edmund F., 17.
Mix, B. J., 84.
Moore, P. H., 105.
Murdock, John N., 15, 188.
Neighbor, R. E., 107.
Oncken, J. G., 213.
Oungpenla, 39.
Packer, John, 74.
Partridge, S. B., 145, 147.
Pattison, Robert E., 15.
Peck, Solomon, 15, 48, 08.
Petrick, C. E., 111.
Phillips, E. G., 105, 107.
Phinney, Frank D., 53.
Poate, T. P., 171.
Prayer-Meeting Hill, 120.
Price, Dr. J. D., 38.
Probert, Herbert, 192.
Rannev, T. S., 40.
Rhees.'H. H., 171, 172.
Rice, Luther, 12, 35.
Richards, Henry, ISO, 190, 193.
Riveiiburg, S. W., 105.
Roberts, I. J., 158.
Roberts, W. H., 54, 84, 91. ~
Rockwood, Miss M. A ., 84.
Rose, A. T., 52, 82.
Rostan, J. C., 202.
Saillens, Ruben, 204.
Sakellarios, D. K., -212.
Sands, Miss Clara A., 174.
Scott, E. P., 107.
Scott, Mrs. A. K., 107.
Scott, J. H., 172.
Sears, Barnas, 213.
Sheldon, D. N., 202.
Shuck, J..L., 140, 158.
Simons, Thomas, 40.
Sims, A., 190, 192.
Smith, D. A. W., 03, 73, 74.
Smith; Freeman A., 17.
Smith, Samuel F., 118.
Southern Baptist Convention, 20.
Spiritual Results, 30.
Staughton, William, 14, 15.
Stevens, Edward A., 44, 40.
Stevens, E. O., 88, &3, 94.
Stilson, L., 40.
Stoddard, I. J., 105, 100, 107.
Stokes, Thomas, 17.
Sutton, Amos, 117.
Telford, James, 180. .
Telugu Pentecost, The, 124.
Thomas, B. C., 09, 73.
Thomas, Mrs. C. B., 88.
Thomas, W. F., 53, 70, 88.
Thomson, R. A., 170.
Tolman, C. F., 106.
Tremont Temple, Boston, 23.
Triennial Meetings, 17.
Upcraft, W. M., 155.
Van Meter, H. L., 68.
Vincent, Philemon, 205.
Vinton, J. B., 73.
Vinton, J. H., 01, 06, 07.
Wade, Jonathan, 39, 46, 61, 06, 70.
Ward, William, 108.
Warner, George, 155.
Warren, Jonah G., 15, 120.
Watson, Miss Isabella, 71.
Webster, David, 76.
Wheelock, Edward, 37.
Whiting, S. M., 105.
Whitman, G. E., 15-2.
Willard, Erastus, 202.
Willmarth, Isaac, 202.
Witter, W. E., 111.
Woman's Societies, 20.
Wynd, William, 172. -
251 D
^J 1 !
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< THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
; LIBRARY
I I 369 025
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO