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BR  477  .W57  1902 
Withrow,  W.  H.  1839-1908. 
Religious  progress  in  the 
century 


''■■}' 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 
SERIES 


EDITORS   OF  THE   SERIES: 

Rev.  W.  H.  WITHROW,  M.A.,  D.D.,  F.R.S.C. 
CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS,  M.A. 
J.  CASTELL  HOPKINS,  F.S.S. 
Rev.  T.  S.  LINSCOTT. 


RELIGIOUS     PROGRESS 

IN  THE  CENTURY 


BY 
W.  H.  WITHROW,  M.A.,  D.D.,  F.R.S.C. 

Author  'of  "  The  Catacombs  of  Rome,"  "  The  Romance   of  Missions"    "  The 

History  of  Canada,"  "  Our  own  Country,"  "  The  Native  Races 

of  North  America,"  Etc. 


THE  LINSCOTT   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

TORONTO  AND  PHILADELPHIA 

W.    &    R.    CHAMBERS,    Limited 

LONDON   AND   EDINBURGH 

igo2 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  One  Thousand  Nine 
Hundred,  by  The  Bradley-Garretson  Co.,  Limited,  in  the  Ofince  of  the 
Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Parliament  of  Canada,  in  the  year  One 
Thousand  Nine  Hundred,  by  the  Bradley-Garretson  Co.,  Limited,  in  the 
ofiBce  of  the  Minister  of  Agriculture. 

All  Bights  Reserved. 


EDITORS'  INTRODUCTION   TO   THE   NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY  SERIES. 

It  seems  desirable  that  the  Editors  of  this  impor- 
tant publication  should  express  in  a  few  words  their 
appreciation  of  the  help  which  has  been  rendered 
them  in  its  preparation  by  many  able  and  eminent 
men.  Before  undertaking  what  appeared  to  be  a  task 
of  the  greatest  difficulty  they  formed  a  definite  plan 
of  operation  in  association  with  the  Publishers,  and 
after  consultation  with  various  writers  of  wide  expe- 
rience. The  result  of  this  consideration  of  the  posi- 
tion and  of  a  very  large  correspondence  with  hundreds 
of  leaders  of  thought  and  literature,  in  different 
countries,  is  the  work  now  being  presented  to  the 
public. 

The  twenty-five  volumes  which  follow  are  devoted 
to  a  popular  description  of  the  progress  of  each  of 
the  English-speaking  nations  of  the  world  and  of  the 
development  during  the  century  of  the  chief  matters, 
in  which  these  nations  are  interested — such  as  religion- 
temperance,  sociology,  science,  art,  literature,  educa- 
tion, commerce,  inventions,  wars,  discoveries,  explo- 
rations, economics,  politics,  medicine,  surgery, 
hygiene,  biography  and,  in  short,  the  most  varied  and 
important  of  the  interests  pertaining  to  human 
thought  and  progress.      There  is  also  a  volume  de- 


Vi  EDITORS'  INTRODUCTION. 

voted  to  India,  Japan  and  China,  one  to  the  people 
of  South  Africa  and  one  to  the  Continental  Rulers, 
so  that  the  principal  elements  of  the  world's  progress 
appear  to  be  covered. 

The  facts  recorded  in  these  twenty-five  volumes 
are  stranger  than  fiction  and,  in  point  of  interest,  read 
like  fairy  tales.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  diffi- 
culty in  gracing  the  description  of  the  wonderful 
events  of  the  century  with  all  the  interest  of  a  ro- 
mance combined  with  the  value  of  an  historical 
treatment  which  is  at  once  authoritative  and  authen- 
tic. Hence  it  is  that  each  volume  of  the  Series  can 
be  read  with  delight  and  then  preserved  as  a  book  of 
ready  reference,  the  copious  index  placing  all  the 
facts  at  the  reader's  disposal  at  a  moment's  notice. 
The  practical  usefulness  of  a  book  depends  in  no 
small  measure  upon  its  size ;  for  many  excellent 
books  are  but  little  used  because  they  are  too 
large  to  handle  with  pleasure.  This  defect  will 
not  be  met  with  in  this  Series,  whether  used  as 
a  course  of  continuous  reading  or  for  ready  refer- 
ence. It  will  also  be  felt  that  having  a  volume 
for  each  distinct  subject  facilitates  reference  in  no 
inconsiderable  degree. 

After  summing  up  the  subjects  to  be  treated,  the 
Editors  believed  that  twenty-five  volumes  would  be 
sufficient,  that  each  volume  should  be  complete 
in  itself,  and  that  the  entire  Series  should  be  written 
by  authors,  who  would  be  at  once  recognised  author- 
ities and  eloquent  writers.  To  select  and  secure  the 
required  number  of  suitable  writers  from  Great 
Britain,  the  United  States  of  America,  Canada,  Aus- 


EDITORS'  INTRODUCTION.  yii 

tralia,  New  Zealand  and  South  Africa  took  a  good 
deal  of  time,  but  men  were  wanted  who  would  com- 
mand the  confidence  of  the  thinking  and  reading 
public,  and  for  this  purpose  neither  time  nor  expense 
has  been  spared.  With  what  degree  of  success  these 
efforts  have  been  crowned,  the  Editors  leave  the 
names  and  records  of  the  authors  to  answer. 

In  commending  the  Work,  therefore,  to  the  public, 
as  the  great  final  arbiter  in  such  matters,  the  Editors 
feel  that  they  have  done  their  best  to  provide  an 
epitomised  and  interesting  record  of  the  world's  prog- 
ress during  the  nineteenth  century,  and  that  they 
may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  also  to  express  the  hope 
that  the  enterprise  of  the  Publishers,  as  well  as  their 
own  labors,  will  receive  a  reasonable  measure  of 
popular  appreciation. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  ONE. 

CONTEASTS  AND  PHASES  OF  EIGHTEENTH 
AND  NINETEENTH  CENTURIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT  IN  NATIONAL  PROGRESS. 

PAGE 

Failure  of  Ancient  Civilizations. — Dying  Nations. — Chris- 
tianity the  Moral  Antiseptic  of  the  Age 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  EUROPE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

French  Revolution. — Prevalence  of  Scepticism. — Outburst 
of  Immorality. — Reign  of  Terror. — The  Irish  Rebellion 
of  1798 10 

CHAPTER  III. 

SOCIAL  AND  MORAL  CONDITION  OF  ENGLAND. 

Prevalence  of  Intemperance. — Profanity. — Profligacy. — 
Low  State  of  Religion. — Cruel  Penal  Code. — Condition 
of  Prisons 17 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  Wesleys.  —  Field  Preaching.  —  Mob  Violence.  —  Im- 
proved Manners. — The  Claphara  Sect. —Religion  in  High 
Places. — Use  of  the  Press 23 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OP  AMERICA  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH 

CENTURY. 

PAGB 

The  Revolutionary  "War.— Prevalent  Deism  and  Infi- 
delity.—  Social  Immorality. —  Bitter  Partisanship. — 
Duelling. — Drunkenness. — Decay  of  Religion ...  .7 31 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  SABBATH  AND  ITS  OBSERVANCE 

The  Bulwark  of  Morality.— The  Sunday  Paper.— Sabbath 
Observance  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Century. — Sab- 
bath Union  Formed,  1843.— The  Wide  Open  Sunday.— 
Moral  and  Material  Benefits  of  the  Sabbath ; 43 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE. 

Growth  of  Slavery. — The  Slave  Trade. — Its  Abolition. — 
Crusade  Against  Slavery. — Abolished  by  England 50 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT    IN  AMERICA. 

Abolition  Societies. — John  Brown  and  the  Fi-ee-Soilers. — 
The  "  Underground  Railway." — Emancipation. — After 
the  War. — Abolition  Leaders 61 


PART  TWO. 

MISSIONS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EARLY  MISSIONS. 

Christian  Missions  a  Special  Note  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury.— Earlier  Missions. — Conversion  of  Central  and 
Northern  Europe. — Missions  to  American  Indians  and 
to  Eskimo. — Eliot. — Brainerd.— Egede. — The  Moravians. 
— Cook's  Discoveries  Reveal  the  Horrors  of  Paganism. .     75 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  X. 

WILLIAM  CAREY,  THE  FOUNDER  OF   MODERN  MISSIONS. 


PAGB 


Carey's  Appeal  Marks  the  Epoch  of  Modern  Missions.— 
Apathy  of  the  Churches.— Opposition  of  the  East  India 
Company.— The  Awakening  of  Christendom.— Carey, 
Marsh,  and  Ward  in  India.— Sydney  Smith's  Witty 
Scoffs  at  Missions.— Carey  Lives  Down  Calumny  and 
Wins  Universal  Honor 84 

CHAPTER  XI. 

EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS. —HENRY  MARTYN. 

The  Churches  Roused.— Voyages  of  Missionary  Ship 
"  Duff."— Missionary  Trials  and  Triumphs  in  Tahiti.— 
Organization  of  Missionary  Societies.— The  Romance  of 
India.— Henry  Martyn,  a  Soldier  of  the  New  Crusade.— 
Under  Fire.— His  Consecrated  Zeal.— Failing  Health.— 
Enters  into  Rest 97 

CHAPTER  XII. 

METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.— DR.  THOMAS  COKE. 

Missionary  Spirit  of  Methodism.— Coke,  the  Father  of 
Methodist  Foreign  Missions.— His  Romantic  Story.— A 
Gospel  Ranger  throughout  America.— In  the  West 
Indies.— South  African  Missions.— Sails  for  India.— 
Buried  in  Indian  Ocean.— Missionary  Progress  in  India. 
—Dr.  Alexander  Duff.— The  Indian  Mutiny.— Recent 
Development ^^^ 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

MISSIONS  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS. 

"Summer  Isles  of  Eden."— ** Only  man  is  vile."— Mis- 
sionary Trials  and  Triumphs  in  the  Friendly  Islands.— 
Conversion  of  Kings  George  and  Tubou.— A  Nation 
Transformed.— Cannibals  become  Saints  and  Apostles..  121 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

JOHN  HUNT  AND  THE  CONVERSION  OF   FIJI. 

PAGE 

Hunt  and  Calvert  Pioneer  Missionaries  in  Fiji. — Canni- 
bal Orgies. — Bitter  Persecutions. — A  Moral  Miracle. — 
Marvellous  Results 127 

CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  THE  MARTYR  OF  ERROMANGA. 

John  Williams  becomes  the  Apostle  of  Polynesia. — Suc- 
cess in  Society  Islands. — Among  the  Samoans. — Three 
Hundred  Thousand  Savages  Become  Christians. — 
Arouses  England. — Visits  New  Hebrides. — Martyred  at 
Erromanga. 

Recent  Progress  in  South  Sea  Missions. — The  Hawaiian 
Islands. — New  Zealand. — Savage  Maoris. — New  Heb- 
rides.— Bishops  Selwyn  and  Patteson. — John  Geddie. . .  133 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

EARLY  AMERICAN    MISSIONS.— JUDSON. 

First  Missionary  Society  in  America  Formed  at  Williams 
College,  "under  the  lee  of  a  haystack,"  1806.— Ro- 
mantic Story  of  Adoniram  Judson. — Becomes  Apostle 
of  Burma. — In  Bonds  and  Imprisonment. — Three  Saintly 
Helpers.— Gospel  Triumphs.. 143 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

ROBERT  MORRISON  AND  THE  OPENINa  OP  CHINA. 

A  Stupendous  Problem. — One-Third  of  the  Human  Race 
in  China. — Morrison's  Preparation. — Masters  the  Lan- 
guage.— The  Bible  Translated  into  Characters  Read  by 
Four  Hundred  Million  Souls. — Eighteen  Years' Work. — 
Revisits  England. — Arouses  the  Nation. — Returns  to 
China. — Dies  in  Harness,  1834 , 150 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

LATER  MISSIONS  IN  THE  FAB  EAST. 

PAOB 

The  Opium  War  in  China.— Dr.  W.  C.  Burns.— Second 
Chinese  War.— Hudson  Taylor  and  the  China  Inland 
Mission.— Missionaries  to  the  Million  Blind  in  China. — 
Gilmour  of  Mongolia. — Japan  Opened  to  Missions. — Mar- 
vellous Progress  of  Christian  Religion  and  Western 
Thought.— A  National  Reaction.— McKay  of  Formosa. .  158 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

AFRICAN  MISSIONS. 

The  Dark  Continent.— The  White  Man's  Grave.— Van- 
derkemp,  Moffat,  and  Livingstone.— Bishops  Mackenzie 
and  Hannington.— Mackay  of  Uganda. 

Madagascar.— The  Gospel  Welcome.— Bitter  Persecu- 
tion.—Buried  Bibles.— "The  Blood  of  the  Martyrs  the 
Seed  of  the  Church."— A  Christian  Queen  and  People.— 
French  Intrigue  and  Conquest 163 

CHAPTER  XX. 

MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLF,M« 

Most  Stubborn  Fields.— Missions  in  Arabia.— In  Turkey.— 
The  Long  Conflict  of  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross.— Mis- 
sionary College  at  Beyrout.— Robert  College,  Constanti- 
nople.—Ancient  Churches  of  Christendom.— Armenian 
Persecutions.— Missionaries  in  Persia.— In  Egypt 168 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

MISSIONS  TO  THE  JEWS. 

Special  Claims  of  the  Israelites.— Age-Long  Persecution 
of  the  Jews.— Rabbi  Ben  Ezra.— Missions  in  Jerusalem. 
—In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Hungary.— Anti-Semitism. 
—The  Dreyfus  Scandal.— Zionism.— Jews  in  Palestine. .  178 


Xiv  CONTENTS. 

PART  THREE. 

PROGEESS  OF  THE  CHUEOHES  DUEING 
THE  NIl^ETEENTH  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 

PAGE 

Religious  Apathy  and  Erastianism  at  the  Beginning  of 
the  Centiiry. —  The  Church  Reactionary. — Opposed 
Catholic  Emancipation,  Parliamentary  Reform,  and  Ab- 
olition of  Religious  Tests.— The  Reform  Bill  Agitation. — 
Riots  in  London  and  Bristol.— The  Oxford  Movement. — 
Newman,  Pusey,  Keble,  Arnold,  Froude 187 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND  (continued), 

"Tracts  for  the  Times."— Tract  Na  90.— Drift  Rome- 
ward. — Ritualism. — Contributing  Causes. — Scott's  Ro- 
mances.—  Gothic  Revival.— Ornate  Worship.—  High 
Ritual. 

Low  Church  Protest.— The  Gorham  Case.— The  High 
Church.— Its  Religious  Zeal  and  Success.— Father  Doll- 
ing.—The  Low  Church.— Evangelical  and  Philanthropic. 
—The  Broad  Church.— Stanley.— Jo wett.—"  Essays  and 
Reviews."— Strong  Protests.— Bishop  Colenso. 

Colonial  Branches  of  the  Anglican  Church. — Mission- 
ary Dioceses. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 197 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Covenanters.— Their  Sufferings  and  Heroism.— Re- 
volt against  Ecclesiastical  **  Patronage."—"  Moderat- 
ism."—*' The  Secession  Church."— The  Haldane  Broth- 
ers.—Chalmers.— "  The  Veto  Act."— Contested  Ap- 
pointments.—The  Strathbogie  Case.—"  The  Claim  of 
Right." 
"The  Great    Disruption."— Heroic   Secession.— The 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAQB 

Free  Church  Born.  —  Scotland  Shaken.  — "The  Kirk 
Without  a  Steeple. "—Church  Building.— Missionary  Re- 
vival. —  Educational  Progress.  —  The  Robertson  -  Smith 
Case 211 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN    CHUB.CK  (COnUnued) . 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church. — Burghers  and  Anti- 
Burghers. — Auld  and  New  Lichts. — United  Secession 
and  Relief  Churches. — Presbyterianism  in  England. — 
In  Ireland. — In  the  United  States. — In  Canada. — Pan- 
Presbyterian  Synods 225 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

The  Wesley  an  Church.— Growth  of  First  Fifty  Years.— A 
Bulwark  against  Revolution  and  Infidelity. — Founds  a 
Cheap  Press.—"  The  Deed  of  Declaration."— Ground  of 
First  Secession. 

The  New  Connection  Church. — Alexander  Kilham. — 
Kindly  Relations  with  Parent  Body. — No  Doctrinal  Dif- 
ferences in  Methodism. 

The  Primitive  Methodist  Church. — Lorenzo  Dow  and 
Camp  Meeting  Controversy. — William  Clowes  and  Hugh 
Bourne.  — Aggressive  Zeal.  — Missions. 

Bible  Christian  Church. — Its  Moral  Earnestness.— 
William  Bryan.  —  Primitive  Wesleyans.  —  Independent 
Wesley  ans. — Wesley  an  Protestant  Methodists. — Wesleyan 
Protestant  Association. 

The  Parent  Church.— Jabez  Bunting.— Revolt  from 
"Centralization  of  Power."— The  "Fly  Sheet  Contro- 
versy."— Large  Losses. — Peace  and  Prosperity. — Mission- 
ary Zeal.— Lay  Activity.— Flexibility  of  Methodism... .  232 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA. 

The  Irish  Palatines.— Barbara  Heck,  "  Mother  of  Metho- 
dism" in  the  United  States  and  Canada. — Methodist 
Episcopal    Church    Formed.— Christmas    Conference, 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

1784.— Dr.  Coke.— Francis  Asbury.— His  Life  of  Toil.— 
Makers  of  Methodism. — Centenary  of  Methodism,  1839. 

The  Slavery  Controversy. — Causes  First  Great  Divi- 
sion of  Methodism. — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South  Organized,  1844. 

Methodist  Protestant  Church. — Wesleyan  Methodist 
Connection. — The  Congregational  Methodists. — Colored 
Methodists. — African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church. — Colored 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — Americo-German  Meth- 
odism.— Evangelical  Association. — United  Methodist 
Free  Churches. — Essential  Unity  of  Methodism. 

Growth  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — Publishing 
Interests. — Missionary  Enterprises. — Educational  Insti- 
tutions. 

Growth  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. — Pub- 
lishing, Missionary,  Educational  Work 247 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CANADIAN  AND  COLONIAL  METHODISM. 

United  Empire  Loyalists  in  Canada. — The  Palatines. — The 
Hecks. — Losee  and  Dunham. — Methodist  Divisions  and 
Unions. — Recent  Growth. 
Australasian  Methodism.— Methodism  in  South  Africa  258 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

The  English  Independents. — Brownists. — English  Puri- 
tanism.— The  Act  of  Uniformity. —  Congregational 
Union. 

Congregational  Church  in  the  United  States. — Men  of 
the  "Mayflower." — Educational  and  Missionary  Work 262 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

Champions  of  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty. — Bitter  Perse- 
cutions.— Roger  Williams. — Missionary  Zeal. — Educa- 
tional Institutions. — Publishing  Interests. — Divisions  of 
the  Baptist  Church 267 


CONTENTS.  Xyii 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

PAOB 

The  Dominant  Protestant  Church  of  Teutonic  and  Scan- 
dinavian People.— Doctrinal  Basis.— The  Inner  and 
Outer  Missions. 

Lutherans  in  the    United     States.— The    Reformed 
Church.— The  Reformed  Dutch  Church 272 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

UNITARIAN  AND  UNIVERSALIST   CHURCHES. 

Dr.  Priestley,  an  Advanced  Liberal  in  Politics  and  Re- 
ligion.—Persecuted  in  England,  Seeks  Liberty  in  Amer- 
ica.—James  Freeman  Clarke.— Dr.  Channing.— Dr. 
James  Martineau.— The  Universalist  Church.— Hosea 
Ballou 275 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS. 

George  Fox.— Penn  and  Barclay.— Bitter  Persecution.— 
Mary  Fisher.— Anti-Slavery  Testimony.— Philanthropic 
Zeal 278 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

MORMONS,   OR  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

Joseph  Smith,  the  Mormon  Prophet.  — His  Checkered 
Career.— The  Mormon  Bible.- Mormon  Migrations.— 
Nauvoo  and  Utah.— Conflict  with  Civil  Power 281 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

SPIRITUALISTS  AND  MINOR  SECTS. 

The  Fox  Sisters.— Daniel  Douglas  Home.— Scientific  Tests. 
—Christian  Science.— Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  Followers.— Dr. 

Dowie  and  Faith  Healing.— Minor  Sects 285 

B 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

PAGE 

Civil  and  Religious  Disabilities  in  the  United  Kingdom.— 
Catholic  Emancipation.— Daniel  O'Connell.— Cardinal 
Wiseman.— Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

The  Sovereign  Pontiffs  of  the  Century.— Pius  VI.— 
The  Prisoner  of  Napoleon.— Rome  a  Republic. 

Pius  VII.— Napoleon  Seizes  Estates  of  the  Church, 
1809.— The  Pontiff  Restored,  1818. 

Leo  XII.— Promotes  Education.— Suppresses  Brigand- 
age and  Pauperism. 

Pius  VIII.— A  Pontiff  for  only  Twenty  Months. 

Gregory  XVI.— Catholic  Disabilities  in  Prussia  and 
Russia. 

Pius  IX.— The  Longest  Pontificate.— The  Revolution 
of  1848.— Mazzini.— Garibaldi.— The  Pontiff  at  Gaeta.— 
The  French  at  Rome.— CEcumenical  Council,  1869.— In- 
tegration of  Italy.— Rome  the  Capital,  1870. 

Leo  XIII.— Policy  of  Conciliation.— Sympathy  with 
the  Working  Classes. 

Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States.— 
Growth  by  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  Mexican  Cessions.— 
Growth  by  Immigration.— Present  Status 289 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS. 

Jesuit  Missions.— In  New  France.— Trials  and  Triumphs. 
—Martyr  Deaths.— Xavier,  "The  Apostle  of  the  Indies." 
—Heroic  Toil,  Sacrifice,  and  Suffering.— Visits  Japan.— 
Makes  Many  Converts.— At  the  Moluccas.— Dies  on  the 
Threshold  of  China. 

"Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith."— Roman 
Catholic  Missions  of  the  Century.— Cardinal  Lavigerie  in 
Algeria.— Crusade  against  the  Slave  Trade.— Missions  at 
Timbuctoo  and  Uganda 298 


CONTENTS.  xix 

PART  FOUR. 

PEOGEESS  OF  EELIGIOUS  THOUGHT. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIIL 

PROGRESS  OF  RELiaiOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY. 

PAOB 

The  Pietists.— Jacob  Boehme.— John  Gerhard.— Desola- 
tions of  Thirty  Years'  War.— Spener.— Francke. 

Rationalistic  Reaction. — Influence  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish Deism.— Frederick  the  Great.— Semler,  Lessing, 
and  Kant.— The  Weimar  School.— Herder,  Goethe,  and 
Schiller. — Napoleon's  Conquests. 

Evangelical  Revival. — Schleiermacher. — Union  in  Re- 
formed Church. — Neander. — Strauss's  *'  Life  of  Jesus." 
— Calls  Forth  Cogent  Replies.— The  Tubingen  School. — 
Evangelical  Scholars  ;  Dorner,  Tholuck,  Lange.— Noble 
Philanthropies.— John  Falk.— Immanuel  Wichern.— 
John  Gosner.  —  Louis  Harms.  —  Socialism.  —  Recent 
Higher  Criticism 305 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

PROGRESS  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE. 

The  Huguenots. — National  Protestant  Church. — Voltaire 
and  the  Encyclopaedists. — Monod. — Renan's  "Life  of 
Jesus."— Orthodox  Replies.— Pressense.—Guizot.— Re- 
cent Evangelism.  —  Methodist  Missions.  —  The  McAll 
Mission.— Salvation  Army .-....-. 324 

CHAPTER   XL. 

PROGRESS  OP  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  HOLLAND  AND 
SWITZERLAND. 

Heroic  History  of  Holland. — Arminius  and  Barne veldt. 
— Leyden  School. — French  Scepticism. — Dutch  Poets 
and  Jewish  Scholars. — Evangelical  Activities. 

Switzerland  the  Home  of  Religious  Liberty. — Vol- 
taire and  Rousseau. — Neff  and  Oberlin. — The  Haldanes. 
—Evangelical  Revival 333 


jj  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

PROaRESS    OF    BIBLICAL    ARCHEOLOGY. 


PAOB 


Almost  Entirely  a  Creation  of  the  Century.— The  Rosetta 
Stone.— Champollion  and  Young.— Deciphering  Hiero- 
glyphs and  Cuneiform  Characters.— Discoveries  at  Bab- 
ylon, Nineveh  and  Nippur  by  Rawlinson  and  Layard, 
Smith,  HUprecht,  and  others.— Creation  and  Flood 
Tablets.— Moabite  Stone.— Tel-el- Amarna  Tablets.— 
Finding  the  Pharaohs.— Identification  of  Rameses  H. 
as  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression.— Treasure  Cities  of 
Goshen.— Discoveries  of  Maspero,  Mariette  Bey,  Flin- 
ders Petrie,  and  others.— The  Empire  of  the  Hittites. 
—Lost  Cities  of  Petra,  Bozra,  and  Tadmor.— Recent 
Discoveries  in  Palestine  by  Warren,  Conder,  Tristram, 
Bliss,  and  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund.— Gordon's 
Calvary.— Robinson's  and  Wilson's  Arches.— Aqueduct 
of  Hezekiah.— Royal  Quarries.— Exhumation  of  Lach- 
ish,  etc.— Important  Biblical  Manuscripts.— The  Codex 
Sinaiticus,  the  Romance  of  its  Discovery.— The  Didache, 
or  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve.— The  Logia,  or  Words  of 
Jesus,  Syriac  Gospel,  etc.— Graffiti  of  the  Crucifixion, 
etc ^S 


PART  FIVE. 


SPECIAL   RELIGIOUS  ACTIVITIES    AND    PHL 
LANTHROPIES  OF  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Robert  Raikes  their  Virtual  Founder.— Early  Adopted  by 
Wesley.— Paid  Teachers.— Modern  Development.— Uni- 
form Lessons.— Sunday-School  Literature.— Prominent 
Sunday-School  Workers.— Conventions.— The  Home 
Department.— Its  Scope  and  Possibilities 367 


CONTENTS.  xxi 

CHAPTER  XLHI. 

BIBTJE  SOCIETIES. 

PAGE 

Their  Early  Origin.—The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety.—Continental  Societies.— Controversies  Concern- 
ing the  Apocrypha,  etc. — Bible  Societies  in  the  United 
States.— Bible  Revision.— Great  Work  Accomplished...  381 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

RELIGIOUS  TRACT   SOCIETIES. 

Date  from  Wycliffe.— Luther  and  the  Reformers.- Wes- 
ley and  the  Methodists.— Cheap  Literature.— London 
Rehgious  Tract  Society.— Religious  Periodicals.— 
Special  Organizations.— On  the  Continent.— In  the 
UnitedStates 389 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

KAISERSWERTH  AND  THE  DEACONESS  MOVEMENT. 

A  Child  of  Providence.— Pastor  Fliedner.— The  World 
Needs  Mothering.— Growth  of  the  Organization.— Hospi- 
tals and  Nursing.— The  Deaconess  in  Other  Churches. . .  398 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 

SALVATION  ARMY. 

General  Booth.— Providential  Leadings.— "  The  Mother 
of  the  Salvation  Army."— Meets  Social  and  Religious 
Need.— Foreign  Extension.— Social  Schemes 407 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 

CITY  MISSIONS. 

Lapsed  Masses.— Chalmers.— Shafteshmy.—AVanamaker.— 
Jerry  McAuley.— Social  Settlements 416 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Humble  Beginning. — Sir  George  Williams. — Meet  Social 
Needs. — Success  in  America. — Christian  Commission. — 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

Engirdle  the  World.— Relation  to  the  Church.— Chris- 
tian Police. — Railroad  Branches. 

Modern  Evangelization. — Dwight  L.  Moody. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Associations.— King's 
Sons  and  King's  Daughters 433 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 

YOUNG    PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS 

Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.— Dr.  F.  E. 
Clark.— Rapid  Growth  of  Societies.— Great  Conven- 
tions.—Religious  Enthusiasm.— Girdle  the  World. 

Epworth  League.— Under  Direction  of  the  Church. — 
Catholic  in  Spirit. — Prosperity. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union. — Its  Growth. 

Westminster  League. — Statistics. 

St.  Andrew's  Brotherhood. 

The  Luther  League. 

Students'  Volunteer  Society. 

Concluding  Reflections ...  448 


EELIGIOUS  PRO&RESS  O  THE 
CENTUEY. 


PART   ONE. 

CONTRASTS    AND   PHASES   OF    THE    EIGHT- 
EBNTH  AND  NINETEENTH  CENTURIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   KELIGIOUS    ELEMENT   IN   NATIONAL   PROGRESS. 

In  a  review  of  the  progress  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, no  aspect  is  more  important  than  the  religious 
aspect.  Yet  the  religious  element  in  national  prog- 
ress and  development  may  not  at  first  sight  seem 
the  most  striking.  The  great  discoveries  in  science, 
the  subjugation  of  the  forces  of  nature  to  the  will 
of  man,  the  achievements  in  the  arts  and  industries 
seem  the  more  obvious  elements  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion. The  swift  trains  that  rush  across  the  land, 
the  mighty  ships  that  plough  the  deep,  the  flashing 
of  thought  by  electricity  around  the  world,— these 
triumphs  of  mechanical  skill  touch  every  life  and 
strike  every  imagination.    The  enormous  develop- 


2         RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ment  of  the  factory  system,  the  tireless  sinews  and 
nimble  fingers  of  machinery,  increase  the  comforts 
and  multiply  the  luxuries  of  all  men. 

"  The  Tuscan  artist's  optic  tube  "  has  been  so  in- 
creased in  range  of  vision  as  to  explore  like  a  search- 
light the  mysteries  of  the  skies.  The  infinitely 
little  is  made  to  deploy  its  forces  in  the  field  of  the 
microscope.  The  physical  constitution  of  the  re- 
motest stars  can  be  analyzed.  Synthetic  chemistry, 
from  the  refuse  product  of  the  coal  mine,  can  recall 
the  flavors  and  fragrance  and  colors  stored  up  by 
the  sun  in  the  plant  life  of  bygone  ages.  The  pes- 
tilence that  walked  in  darkness,  the  plague  that 
destroyed  its  millions,  have  been  robbed  of  their 
terrors.  The  deadly  germs  that  lurked  unseen  have 
been  tracked  to  their  lair,  and,  in  large  degree, 
rendered  innocuous.  Countless  lives  have  been 
saved  by  the  progress  of  medicine  and  surgery. 
Man's  physical  condition,  his  housing,  his  clothing, 
his  food,  have  been  incalculably  bettered  during 
the  last  hundred  years. 

But  has  man  himself  improved  ?  These  external 
conditions  and  environments  are  not  the  truest 
measures  of  progress.  A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in 
meat  and  drink  and  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
that  he  possesses.  He  may  revel  in  Sybaritic  luxury 
and  yet  have  all  the  vices  of  a  Nero  or  a  Heliogaba- 
lus.  He  may  be  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  as  poor 
as  Socrates  or  St.  Paul,  and  yet  share  with  them  the 
glories  of  high  philosophy,  of  Christian  hope. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT.  3 

What  constitutes  a  state  ? 

Not  high  raised  battlement  and  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  and  moated  gate  : 

Not  these,  but  men,  high-minded  men. 

Who  know  their  rights,  and  knowing  dare  maintain. 

These  constitute  a  state. 

Not  the  making  of  money,  not  the  achievements 
of  art,  not  the  discoveries  of  science,  but  the  making 
of  men,  is  the  truest  test  of  the  highest  civilization. 
There  have  been  lands  of  old  renown  which  reached 
a  great  material  splendor.  In  the  Athens  of  Per- 
icles art  attained  its  consummate  flower.  The 
very  gods  seemed  to  have  come  down  from  high 
Olympus  to  live  in  marble  in  the  temples  and  the 
grove. 

The  exquisite  beauty  of  the  Parthenon  has  never 
been  surpassed.  The  tragedy  of  ^schylus,  the 
songs  of  Pindar,  had  the  verj^  perfection  of  literary 
form.  The  philosophy  of  Plato,  the  eloquence  of 
Demosthenes,  are  among  the  noblest  expressions  of 
human  thought. 

Yet  that  old  Greek  civilization  was  founded  in 
wrong.  The  rights  of  man  were  denied.  For  every 
free  man  in  Athens  there  were  ten  slaves.  In  im- 
perial Rome  was  the  greatest  concentration  of  ma- 
terial splendor,  pomp  and  pride  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  The  Golden  House  of  Nero,  the  Basilicas  of 
the  forum,  the  temples  of  the  Gods,  the  gigantic 
architecture  of  the  Colosseum  and  the  Flavian  Am- 
phitheatre, even  in  ruins,  are  the  amazement  of  the 
nineteenth  century.     Yet  the  groans  of  the  victims 


4  EELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  man's  oppression,  the  colossal  crimes  of  the  age, 
called  down  the  avenging  judgments  of  Heaven. 

The  Goth,  the  Christian,  time,  war,  flood  and  fire, 
Have  dealt  upon  the  Seven-Hilled  City's  pride. 

The  disinterred  palaces  and  temples  of  Babylon 
and  Nineveh,  with  their  sculptured  tablets  and  li- 
braries of  cuneiform  literature  give  evidence  of  a 
material  civilization  that  after  four  thousand  years 
excites  our  wonder.  Yet  "  How  is  Babylon  become 
a  desolation !  How  is  she  cast  up  in  heaps,  and 
utterly  destroyed  !  How  art  thou  become  an  aston- 
ishment and  an  hissing !  How  art  thou  made  a  pos- 
session for  bittern  and  pools  of  water!  The  wild 
beasts  of  the  desert  shall  be  there." 

The  still  older  civilization  of  Mizraim  is  but  a 
tradition.  The  tombs  of  the  Pharaohs  in  the  hearts 
of  the  pyramids  have  been  rifled.  The  Bedouin 
camps  in  the  great  hall  of  Karnak.  The  fellah 
builds  his  mud  hut  beneath  the  columns  of  Luxor. 
The  colossal  statue  of  Rameses  lies  prostrate  in  the 
desert  sand,  and  his  mummied  remains  awake  the 
curiosity  of  the  chance  tourist. 

Assyria,  Greece,  Rome,  Carthage,  where  are  they  ? 

These  old  civilizations  have  passed  utterly  away. 
Their  gods  are  dead  and  kept  in  memory  only  by 
shattered  temples  or  battered  torsos.  What  assur- 
ance have  we  that  the  boasted  civilization  of  the 
nineteenth   century,   with   its   marvellous    achieve- 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT.  5 

ments,  its  triumphs  of  art  and  of  science,  its  mighty 
cities,  its  "  resonant  steam  eagles,"  its  steel  bridges 
swung  high  in  air,  its  mines  sunk  deep  in  earth, 
shall  not,  like  the  civilizations  of  Babylon  and 
Nineveh,  of  Greece  and  of  Rome,  also  pass  away? 
What  guarantee  have  we  but  that,  as  in  the  vivid 
picture  of  Macaulay,  "some  traveller  from  New 
Zealand  shall,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude,  take 
his  stand  on  a  broken  arch  of  London  Bridge  to 
sketch  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's?"  How  can  we  be 
confident  that  his  companion  picture  shall  not  be- 
come a  reality,  "  when  the  sceptre  shall  have  passed 
away  from  England ;  when,  perhaps,  travellers  from 
distant  regions  shall  in  vain  labor  to  decipher  on 
some  mouldering  pedestal  the  name  of  our  proudest 
chief;  shall  hear  savage  hymns  chanted  to  some 
misshapen  idol  over  the  ruined  dome  of  our  proudest 
temple ;  and  shall  see  a  single  naked  fisherman  wash 
his  nets  in  the  river  of  the  ten  thousand  masts  ?  " 

It  is  not  in  the  material  triumphs  of  the  age  that 
this  guarantee  can  be  found.  It  is  only  by  its  moral 
and  religious  progress  that  the  permanence  of  our 
civilization  is  insured.  The  vanished  empires  of 
the  earth,  with  their  worn-out  civilizations,  have 
passed  away  because  they  have  lacked  the  great 
conserving  element  of  Christianity.  They  lacked 
the  saving  salt,  the  great  antiseptic  agency,  of  a 
faith  and  hope  which  shall  abide  when  heaven  and 
earth  shall  have  vanished.  Being  built  upon  the 
shifting  sand,  when  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 


6  RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

blew,  and  stress  and  strain,  the  Sturm  und  Drang 
assailed  them  they  fell,  and  great  was  the  fall 
thereof.  The  civilization  of  the  nineteenth,  or  of 
the  ninetieth,  century  can  only  be  permanent  as  it 
is  based  upon  the  Everlasting  Rock,  on  the  im- 
pregnable foundation  of  faith  in  God  and  obedience 
to  His  will.  Hence  the  great  importance  of  the 
study  of  the  moral  and  religious  aspect  of  this  most 
wonderful  of  all  the  centuries. 

A  pessimistic  school  of  philosophers  and  religion- 
ists, "  apostles  of  complaint  and  despondency  "  as  they 
have  been  called,  hold  the  view  that  the  world  is  des- 
tined to  grow  woxse  and  worse  instead  of  better. 
They  affirm  that  there  will  be  no  more  religious  tri- 
umphs under  the  present  dispensation,  that  only  after 
the  gr^at  battle  of  Armageddon  shall  the  powers  of 
evil  be  overthrown,  and,  under  the  personal  reign  of 
our  Lord  shall  the  gospel  achieve  success.  Cassan- 
dra-like prophets  of  evil  have  not  hesitated  to  affirm 
that  amid  the  materialistic  civilization  of  the  times 
the  principles  of  religion  have  in  large  degree  lost 
their  regenerative  power,  that  the  Word  of  God  is 
in  large  degree  already  discredited  and  discarded 
and  laid  on  the  shelf  as  "  a  queer  relic  of  ancient 
faith." 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith,  in  a  famous  essay  on 
"  The  Prospect  of  a  Moral  Interregnum,"  wrote  in 
1879  as  follows  :  ''  A  collapse  of  religious  belief,  of 
the  most  complete  and  tremendous  kind,  is  apparent- 
ly now  at  hand.     All  English  literature,  even  that 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT.  7 

which  is  socially  and  politically  most  conservative, 
teems  with  evidences  of  a  change  of  sentiment,  the 
rapid  strides  of  which  astonish  those  who  revisit  Eng- 
land at  short  intervals.  .  .  .  There  is  perhaps  an 
increase  of  church-building  and  church-going,  but  the 
crust  of  outward  piety  is  hollow,  and  growing  hol- 
lower  every  day." 

Yet  within  a  few  years  from  the  utterance  of  this 
prediction  we  heard  Professor  Gold  win  Smith  declare 
in  a  large  assembly  that  "  the  forces  of  materialism 
were  giving  way  all  along  the  line."  Everything 
depends  in  an  estimate  of  this  kind  upon  the  point  of 
view.  We  read  in  one  day  two  letters  describing  the 
state  of  religion  in  England.  One  was  from  a  dis- 
tinguished scholar  and  clubman,  who  declared  that 
there  was  a  sad  lack  of  moral  earnestness  and  relig- 
ious life,  in  high  places  and  in  low,  throughout  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  other  was  from  a  zealous 
evangelist,  who  declared  that  the  churches  were  in  a 
flame  of  revival,  and  gave  striking  evidences  of  the 
ib^cts  he  alleged. 

One  of  the  most  striking  of  these  prophecies  of  evil 
was  that  by  James  Anthony  Froude  in  the  JVorth 
American  Review,  of  December,  1879:  "In  every 
corner  of  the  world,"  he  said,  "  there  is  the  same  phe- 
nomenon of  the  decay  of  established  religions.  In 
Catholic  countries  as  well  as  Protestant ;  nay,  among 
Mohammedans,  Jews,  Buddhists,  Brahmans,  tradi- 
tionary creeds  are  losing  their  hold.  An  intellectual 
revolution  is  sweeping  over  the  world,  breaking  down 


8  RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

established  opinions,  dissolving  foundations  on  which 
historical  faiths  have  been  built  up.  Science,  his- 
tory, philosophy  have  contrived  to  create  universal 
uncertainty."  Nevertheless,  he  adds,  "  Christianity 
retains  a  powerful  hold,  especially  over  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race." 

The  evidences  of  progress  to  be  adduced  in  this 
volume  will  utterly  disprove  these  astounding  as- 
sumptions. It  will  be  shown  that  a  greatly  improved 
moral  sense  has  been  developed  throughout  the  cen- 
tury ;  that,  to  use  the  words  of  Macaulay,  while  ''  we 
may  have  heard  of  nothing  but  failure,  we  have  seen 
nothing  but  progress."  Great  evils  like  slavery  and 
intemperance,  which  were  once  viewed  with  tolera- 
tion or  indifference,  have  come  to  be  regarded  with 
abhorrence,  to  be  fought  against  with  intense  and 
prolonged  earnestness,  and  at  last  have  been  swept 
as  before  a  wave  of  moral  indignation,  in  large  de- 
gree, or  entirely,  away. 

The  great  fleets  of  icebergs  from  the  frozen 
North,  with  their  glittering  peaks  and  spires, 
sweep  southward  extending  their  chilling  and  be- 
numbing influence  far  and  wide  through  the  air  and 
through  the  sea.  As  they  sail  ever  onward,  amid 
the  tepid  lavings  of  the  Gulf  Stream  and  beneath 
brighter  shining  of  the  summer  sun,  they  melt  first 
gradually,  and  then  rapidly,  awaj^  and  at  last  are 
swallowed  up  and  disappear.  So  the  giant  sinbergs 
of  society  that  lift  their  proud  heads  in  defiance  of 
truth  and  right,  beneath  the  clear  shining  of  the 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT  9 

Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  amid  the  ceaseless  lavings 
of  a  sea  of  vitalized  Christian  opinion,  melt  first 
slowly  then  rapidly  away  and  are  swallowed  up  in 
the  abyss  of  time. 


10       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY, 


CHAPTER  II. 

RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    EUROPE    IN   THE   EIGHT- 
EENTH  CENTURY. 

The  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  were 
marked  by  great  social  and  political  cataclysms 
which  could  not  fail  to  have  a  very  adverse  influence 
on  the  condition  of  religion  and  morality.  War  is 
always  demoralizing.  It  breaks  down  many  barriers 
of  restraint.  It  excites  many  -evil  passions.  It 
tolerates  much  looseness  of  conduct.  A  great  Amer- 
ican general  has  said  "  War  is  hell." 

In  the  closing  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century 
war,  wide-wasting,  raged  around  the  world.  In 
America  a  fratricidal  strife  for  seven  long  years  del- 
uged its  virgin  fields,  dyed  its  waters  with  blood  and 
caused  untold  sufferings,  privations,  disasters  and 
deaths.  Though  from  the  soil  thus  furrowed  with 
the  stern  ploughshare  of  war  there  sprung  the  lilies 
of  peace  and  the  harvest  of  prosperity,  yet  there 
sprung  also  a  heritage  of  international  hatred,  alien- 
ation, bitterness  and  strife  which  only  after  a  hun- 
dred years  is  passing  away. 

In  Europe  the  French  Revolution  had  overturned 
both  throne  and  altar  in  the  dust.     It  was  a  besom  of 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  EUROPE.  IX 

destruction  which  swept  away  colossal  wrongs^ 
grown  hoary  with  age ;  but  it  was  accompanied  by 
orgies  of  vice  and  wickedness,  by  cruelties  and 
slaughters  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 
It  was  the  most  striking  example  in  the  history  of 
the  world  of  organized  atheism  seeking  to  extirpate 
the  very  name  of  Christianity  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  This  cataclysm  swept  away  much  that  was 
intolerably  evil.  This  lurid  storm  cleared  the  at- 
mosphere of  much  moral  malaria,  but  its  very  ex- 
cesses produced  a  reaction.  The  allied  nations  rose 
to  suppress  this  outbreak  of  anarchism  and  bloodshed, 
and  the  closing  years  of  the  old  and  the  opening 
years  of  the  new  century  were  years  of  wide-wasting 
and  desolating  war  with  all  its  concomitant  social 
and  moral  evils. 

Small  wonder  that  under  these  circumstances  the 
moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  people  was  one 
of  great  degradation.  The  tyranny  of  the  French 
monarchs  and  nobles,  the  oppression  and  corruption 
of  the  court,  and  the  hypocrisy  of  many  of  the 
clergy  filled  up  the  cup  of  iniquity  of  that  unhappy 
nation. 

"  All  the  honest  intellect  of  France,"  says  Lecky, 
"  seemed  alienated  from  the  Christian  faith.''  "  The 
Church,"  he  adds,  "  which  was  so  discredited,  so  cor- 
rupt, and  at  the  same  time  so  intellectually  despic- 
able, was  a  persecuting  Church  connected  with  a 
persecuting  government.     In  the   full   blaze  of  the 

civilization  of  the  eighteenth  century,  hundreds  of 

c 


12        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

French  Protestants  were  condemned  to  the  galleys 
or  to  long  periods  of  imprisonment  for  the  crime  of 
attending  their  religious  worship;  women  were 
flogged ;  children  were  torn  from  their  parents,  and 
more  than  one  Protestant  pastor  was  executed." 

The  Huguenots,  who  represented  the  very  flower 
of  the  industrial  population,  had  fled  into  exile  or 
hidden  in  the  desert  of  the  Cevennes.  The  Jansen- 
ists,  who  included  the  finest  intellects  and  purest 
characters  of  the  nation,  had  been  suppressed.  The 
very  foundations  of  Christian  and  even  theistic  belief 
were  giving  way.  When  a  starving  peasantry  de- 
manded of  the  profligate  nobles,  "  What  shall  we 
eat  ? "  they  were  told  to  "  eat  grass."  The  writ- 
ings of  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Helvetius,  Diderot  and 
the  Encyclopaedists  sapped  the  very  foundations  of 
morality. 

"  Atheism,"  says  Lecky,  "  had  penetrated  into  the 
monasteries,  perhaps  even  into  episcopal  palaces. 
What  little  devotion  remained  was  of  a  very  sickly 
character.  A  skull  illuminated  with  tapers,  and 
adorned  with  ribbons  and  pearls,  might  at  this  time 
be  commonly  found  in  a  devout  lady's  boudoir. 
It  was  called  '  La  Belle  ]\Iignonne,'  and  the  devotee 
was  accustomed  to  spend  a  portion  of  every  da}^  in 
prayer  and  meditation  before  it.  The  Queen  was 
much  addicted  to  this  devotion,  and  the  skull  before 
which  she  prayed  was  said  to  be  that  of  Ninon  de 
I'Enclos." 

Voltaire   boasted  that   infidel  ideas   were   in  the 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  EUROPE.  13' 

ascendant  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Cadiz.  Feu-l;il 
burdens,  tithes  and  taxations  which  bled  the  very 
life  out  of  the  peasantry,  became  intolerable.  *'  Be- 
tween ignorance,  poverty  and  oppression,  agricul- 
ture, over  a  great  part  of  France,  was  little  more 
advanced  than  in  the  middle  ages."  "  In  some  dis- 
tricts field  labor  could  hardly  be  accomplished,  for 
the  few  remaining  peasants  were  so  attenuated  by 
hunger  that  they  could  scarcely  hold  the  spade  or 
direct  the  plough,  and  gaunt,  famine-stricken  crowds, 
shouting  for  bread,  besieged  the  town  halls  and 
followed  the  Dauphin  as  he  drove  to  Notre-Dame." 
Famine  and  pestilence  stalked  through  the  land. 
Yet  the  privileged  classes,  the  courtiers  and  court 
ladies, — bewigged,  patched  and  painted  and  per- 
fumed,— danced  on  over  this  seething  volcano. 

The  success  of  the  young  Republic  of  the  West 
in  securing  liberty  rose  like  a  star  of  hope  upon  a 
people  almost  plunged  into  despair.  But  the  French 
had  no  Washington  to  become  the  Father  of  his 
country.  Over  and  over  again,  to  use  tlie  phrase  of 
Burke,  the  French  have  shown  themselves  the 
ablest  "architects  of  ruin"  that  have  ever  existed 
in  the  world.  Never  was  this  more  fully  shown 
than  in  the  excesses,  the  violence,  the  orgy  of  blood 
which  live  in  history  as  the  Reign  of  Terror.  The 
very  name  of  God  was  abolished.  His  worship  was 
suppressed.  The  Sabbath  was  removed  from  the 
calendar.  All  Christian  institutions  were  desti-oyed. 
A  "  Goddess  of  Reason  "  was  installed  in  the  cathe- 


14       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

dral  of  Notre  Dame.  The  churches  were  converted 
into  barracks.  The  bells  were  melted  into  cannon. 
The  bones  of  the  dead  monarchs  of  France  were  cast 
out  of  their  tombs.  The  guillotine  shore  off  the 
heads  alike  of  lofty  and  lowly.  The  Revolution  de- 
voured its  own  sons. 

The  nation,  weary  of  aimless  slaughter,  welcomed 
the  military  dictator  who  alone  seemed  able  to  bring 
order  out  of  chaos,  and  a  wide-wasting  war  under 
the  star  of  Napoleon  for  twenty  years  deluged 
Europe  in  blood.  Small  wonder  that  the  very  foun- 
dations of  morality  in  France  seemed  destroyed  and 
its  practice  almost  abandoned. 

In  Ireland,  the  worst  of  all  conflicts,  in  which  the 
bitterness  of  civil  and  religious  war  were  combined, 
made  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  time 
of  bitterness,  wretchedness  and  wrong. 

The  Irish  Rebellion  of  1798  was  accompanied  by 
acts  of  cruelty  and  violence,  which  within  a  limited 
range  were  akin  to  the  *'fool  fury  of  the  Seine." 
Ricks  and  houses  were  burnt,  cattle  were  houghed, 
loyalists  were  murdered  by  rebels,  and  rebels  slain 
by  loyalists.  Bloody  conflicts  occurred.  Fanaticism 
grew  by  that  on  which  it  fed.  The  massacre  of 
Vinegar  Hill  was  followed  by  the  butchery  of  Scul- 
labogue  Barn. 

Bonaparte,  after  menacing  the  invasion  of  Ireland, 
sailed  to  Egypt,  and  the  French  fleet  encountered 
Nelson  in  the  battle  of  the  Nile.  Years  after,  in  the 
lonely  isle  of  St.  Helena,  Napoleon  spoke  of  this  de- 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  EUROPE.  15 

cision  as  one  of  his  great  errors.  "  On  \Yhat,"  he 
said,  "  do  the  destinies  of  empires  hang  I  ...  If, 
instead  of  the  expedition  of  Egypt,  I  had  made  that 
of  Ireland ;  if  slight  deranging  circumstances  had 
not  thrown  obstacles  in  the  way  of  my  Boulogne  en- 
terprise— what  would  England  have  been  to-day? 
and  the  Continent?  and  the  political  world?" 

The  French  invaders  under  Humbert  were  de- 
feated, the  Irish  Rebellion  was  suppressed  with 
cruelty,  and  peace  for  a  time  was  restored  to  the  un- 
happy island.  But  the  embittered  memories  con- 
tinued to  poison  the  relations  of  Protestant  and  Cath- 
olic. The  savageries  of  this  civil  conflict,  how- 
ever, were  relieved  by  gleams  of  kindness  on  the 
part  of  both  Catholic  priest  and  Protestant  preacher. 
The  Methodists  especially  were,  for  their  loyalty, 
particularly  obnoxious  to  the  rebels,  and  several 
were  cruelly  piked  with  aggravated  barbarity. 

"Irish  Methodism,"  writes  Dr.  Abel  Stevens, 
"  was  to  struggle  with  the  terrible  evils  of  the  memo- 
rable Irish  Rebellion,  the  result  of  those  anarchical 
tendencies,  political  and  moral,  which  the  French 
Revolution  had  spread  over  Europe.  The  horrors 
perpetrated,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  can  never  be  fully 
recorded.  The  shrubberies  were  gleaned  for  pike- 
handles  ;  signal-fires  gleamed  on  the  hills  at  night ; 
armed  ruffians  marched  to  and  fro  in  the  country, 
desolating  it  with  fire  and  sword;  thirty-seven 
thousand  of  them  encamped  near  Ross,  and  on  the 
next  day  seven  thousand  were  slain  on  the  field." 


During  this  reign  of  terror  the   Irish  Methodist 


16        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Conference  met,  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Coke 
with  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  in  the  city  of  Dublin. 
With  the  magnanimity  of  a  gospel  revenge,  that  very 
conference  set  apart  Charles  Graham  and  James 
McQuigg  as  Irish  evangelists,  who,  subsequently 
joined  by  Gideon  Ouseley,  preached  and  prayed  and 
sang  the  gospel  in  the  Irish  tongue  into  the  hearts 
of  thousands  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 

The  civil  war  in  Ireland  reacted  disastrously  upon 
the  moral  tone  of  English  society.  Not  merely  were 
the  soldiery  trained  in  intolerance,  but  religious 
partisans  in  both  countries  fostered  a  mutual  bitter- 
ness of  spirit  which,  after  a  century,  has  not  altogether 
disappeared.  Under  such  adverse  conditions  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  society  was  very  much  demoralized. 


CONDITION  OF  ENGLAND.  17 


CHAPTER  III. 

SOCIAL    AND    MORAL  CONDITION   OF   ENGLAND. 

Great  Britain  though  the  more  wealthy  and  pros- 
perous part  of  the  kingdom,  hay,  in  large  degree,  under 
the  blight  of  religious  apathy  and  moral  supineness. 
Few  things  are  more  painful  to  contemplate  than 
the  moral  obtuseness  of  the  court.  George  III., 
according  to  his  lights,  was  a  well  meaning  and 
even  religious  man,  but  with  this  exception,  during 
the  whole  period  of  the  Georges  there  seems  to 
have  been  from  the  king  to  the  lackey  an  almost 
entire  absence  of  moral  sense.  The  card  table  was 
the  main  resource  from  ennui.  Faded  dowagers  sat 
late  into  the  night  playing  the  magic  cards.  The 
Newmarket  races  were  the  haunt  of  profligacy  and 
vice.  So  also  were  the  favorite  resorts  of  Bath  and 
Tunbridge  Wells.  Immense  sums  were  lost  and 
won  in  bets.  The  fashionable  literature  to  be  found 
in  fine  ladies'  boudoirs  was  such  as  few  now  care 
to  acknowledge  having  read.  Intemperance  was  a 
prevailing  vice.  J^o  class  was  free  from  its  contam- 
ination. The  ermine  of  the  judge  and  the  cassock 
of  the  priest  were  alike  polluted  by  the  degrading 
practice.     The  dissipation  of  the  lower  classes  was 


18       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

almost  incredible.  Smollett  tells  us  that  over  many 
of  the  spirit- vaults  in  the  streets  of  London  might  be 
seen  the  inscription :  "  Drunk  for  a  penny ;  dead 
drunk  for  twopence;  straw  (to  sober  off  on)  for 
nothing/' 

Profane  swearing  was  awfully  prevalent.  The 
judge  swore  upon  the  bench,  the  lawyer  swore  in 
addressing  the  jury,  the  fine  lady  swore  over 
her  cards,  and  it  is  even  said  that  those  who  wore 
the  surplice  swore  over  their  wine.  "  The  nation 
was  clothed  with  cursing  as  with  a  garment."  The 
profligacy  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  was  proverbial. 
The  barrack-room  and  ship's  forecastle  were  scenes 
of  grossest  vice,  for  which  the  cruel  floggings  inflicted 
were  an  inefficient  restraint.  Robbers  waylaid  the 
traveller  on  Hounslow  Heath,  and  footpads  assailed 
him  in  the  streets  of  London.  In  the  northern  part 
of  the  island,  rieving,  raiding  and  harrying  cattle 
still  often  occurred.  On  the  southwestern  coast, 
before  the  Methodist  revival,  wrecking — that  is, 
enticing  ships  upon  the  rocks  by  the  exhibition  of 
false  signals — was  a  constant  occurrence,  and  was 
frequently  followed  by  the  murder  of  the  shipwrecked 
mariners. 

Although  the  mining  population  of  the  khigdom 
was  greatly  benefited  by  the  labors  of  the  Wesleys 
and  their  coadjutors,  still  their  condition  was 
deplorable.  Many  were  in  a  condition  of  grossest 
ignorance,  their  homes  wretched  hovels,  their  toil 
excessive  and  far  more  dangerous  than  now,  their 


CONDITION  OF  ENGLAND.  19 

amusements  brutalizing  in  their  tendency.  Even 
women  and  cliildren  underwent  the  drudgery  of  the 
mine. 

The  introduction  of  gas  has  greatly  restricted  mid- 
night crime  in  the  cities.  A  hundred  years  ago  they 
were  miserably  dark,  lit  only  by  oil  lamps  hung  from 
the  houses.  Link-boys  offered  to  escort  the  traveller 
with  torches.  Riotous  city  "  Mohawks "  haunted 
the  streets  at  midnight,  roaring  drunken  songs, 
assaulting  belated  passengers,  and  beating  drowsy 
watchmen,  who  went  their  rounds  with  a  "  lanthorn  " 
and  duly  announced  the  hour  of  the  night — unless 
they  were  themselves  asleep.  Bear  and  badger  baiting 
was  a  favorite  amusement,  as  was  also  prize-fighting. 
Even  women,  forgetting  their  natural  piti fulness  and 
modesty,  fought  in  the  ring. 

We  have  elsewhere  described  as  follows  the  moral 
condition  of  the  times : — 

"  The  state  of  religion  previous  to  the  Wesleyan 
revival  was  deplorable.  Even  of  professed  theologians 
but  few  were  faithful  to  their  sacred  trust,  and  these 
bemoaned,  with  a  feeling  akin  to  that  of  Nehemiah 
and  the  exiled  Jews,  that  the  house  of  the  Lord  was 
laid  waste.  One  of  these,  the  venerable  Archbishop 
Leighton,  of  pious  memory,  in  pathetic  terms  laments 
over  the  national  Church  as  '  a  fair  carcass  without 
spirit.'  A  sneering  scepticism  pervaded  the  writings 
of  Bolingbroke  and  Hobbes,  of  Hume  and  Gibbon. 
The  principles  of  French  philosophy  were  affecting 
English  thought.  In  the  universities  a  mediaeval 
scholasticism  prevailed.  Even  the  candidates  for 
holy  orders  were  ignorant  of  the  gospels.     A  hireling 


20 


RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


priesthood  often  dispensed  the  ordinances  of  the 
Chiircli,  attaching  more  importance  to  mere  forms 
than  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel— to  the  wearing  of  a 
surplice  than  to  the  adorning  of  the  inner  man. 
Some  of  them  were  more  at  home  at  the  races,  at  a 
cockpit,  at  a  hunting  or  a  drinking  party,  than  in 
their  study  or  their  closet." 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  there  were 
no  redeeming  features  to  this  dark  picture.  Such 
names  as  those  of  Bishops  Butler  and  Lowth  would 
cast  a  lustre  over  any  age.  But  they,  alas,  only  made 
the  surrounding  darkness  seem  more  dark.  But  even 
bishops,  like  Warburton  and  Lavington,  assailed  the 
evangelical  teachings  of  the  Wesleys  with  the  coarsest 
and  most  scurrilous  invective  in  a  manner  which,  as  a 
historian  of  the  period  remarks,  indicated  "  the  low 
standard  of  religious  opinion  at  that  time  among  the 
hiffh  functionaries  of  the  Church." 

The  penal  code  of  England  in  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  was  of  savage  ferocity.  Its  laws,  like  those  of 
Draco,  were  written  in  blood.  The  death  penalty 
was  inflicted,  not  only  for  murder,  but  also  for  treason, 
forgery,  theft,  and  smuggling  ;  and  it  was  often  in- 
flicted with  aggravating  terrors.  Among  the  causes 
of  the  increase  of  robbers.  Fielding  lays  much  stress 
on  the  frequency  of  executions,  their  publicity  and 
their  habitual  association  in  the  popular  mind  with 
notions  of  pride  and  vanity,  instead  of  guilt,  degrada- 
tion or  shame. 

Boys  under  twelve  were  hanged  for  participation 
in  the  Gordon  riots  of  1780.     Mentioning  the  cir- 


CONDITION  OF  ENGLAND.  21 

cumstances  to  Rogers,  Mr.  Grenville  rather  naively 
added :  "  I  never  in  my  life  saw  boys  cry  so." 
*'  When  Blackstone  wrote,"  says  Mr.  Lecky,  "  there 
were  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  offences  in 
England  punishable  with  death,  and  it  was  a  very 
ordinary  occurrence  for  ten  or  twelve  culprits  to 
be  hung  on  a  single  occasion,  for  forty  or  fifty  to  be 
condemned  at  a  single  assize." 

Persons  recently  living  remembered  the  gibbeting 
of  murderers  till  the  ravens  devoured  their  flesh,  and 
their  bones  rattled  in  the  wind.  Political  offenders 
were  still  more  harshly  dealt  with.  The  gory  heads 
of  knights  and  peers  were  impaled  on  Temple  Bar, 
and  their  dismembered  limbs  on  London  Bridge. 

Suicides  were  thrown  into  dishonored  wayside 
graves,  transfixed  with  stakes  and  crushed  with 
stones.  The  pillory  and  stocks  still  stood  on  the 
village  green.  Flogging  was  publicly  inflicted  by 
the  beadle  of  the  parish.  The  number  of  executions 
was  enormous.  In  1785,  in  London  alone,  it  was 
ninety-seven.  After  a  jail-delivery  at  Newgate, 
scores  of  miserable  wretches  were  dragged  on  hurdles 
to  Tyburn  Hill,  amid  the  shouts  and  jeers  of  a 
ribald  mob,  who  either  mocked  the  mortal  agonies 
of  the  culprits,  or  exhorted  their  favorites  to  "  die 
game,"  as  the  phrase  was.  So  far  were  those  exhibi- 
tions from  deterring  vice,  they  actually  promoted  it. 
Mountebanks,  gamblers  and  jugglers  plied  their  ne- 
farious callings  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  gal- 
lows and  in  the  awful  presence  of  death. 


22       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

"  The  condition  of  the  prisons  was  infamous. 
Prisoners  for  debt  were  even  worse  lodged  than  con- 
demned felons,  and  both  were  exposed  to  the  cu- 
pidity and  cruelty  of  a  brutal  jailer.  In  1773  John 
Howard  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  Bedford.  The 
horrible  state  of  the  prison  pierced  his  soul.  He 
forthwith  burrowed  in  all  the  dungeons  in  Europe, 
and  dragged  their  abominations  to  light.  They 
were  the  lairs  of  pestilence  and  plague.  Men  were 
sentenced,  not  to  prison  only,  but  also  to  dysentery 
and  typhus.  Howard  bearded  the  fever  demon  in 
his  den,  and  fell  a  victim  to  his  philanthropy.  But 
through  his  efforts  and  those  of  Mrs.  Fry,  Fowell 
Buxton  and  others,  a  great  reform  in  the  state  of 
prisons  has  taken  place.  Methodism  did  much  for  the 
prisoners.  The  Wesleys  sedulously  visited  them, 
and  Silas  Told,  the  sailor  convert  of  John  Wesley, 
gave  himself  exclusively  to  this  work," 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Britain  and  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  can  ne^er 
be  thankful  enough  for  the  great  revival  of  the 
eighteenth  century  which  saved  England  from  the 
horrors  of  a  revolution  like  that  of  France.  With 
all  their  faults,  the  English  people  have  a  sanity  and 
self-restraint  of  which  the  French  seem  incapable. 

"England,"  says  Lecky,  "was  a  richer  country 
than  France,  but  the  English  court  exhibited  little 
or  nothing  of  the  ostentatious  extravagance  of  the 
court  of  Versailles;  and  foreigners,  who  compared 
the  noble  proportions  of  Greenwich  and  Chelsea 
hospitals  with  the  palace  of  St.  James,  declared  that 
the  English  lodged  beggars  in  palaces  and  kings  in 
almshouses." 

Yet  tlie  morality  of  the  court  under  the  First, 
Second,  and  Fourth  Georges  was  little  better  than 
that  of  France,  and  had  a  coarseness  and  vulgarity 
that  contrasted  with  the  polished  vice  of  Versailles 
and  Fontainebleau.  But  the  leaven  of  the  Wesley  an 
revival  was  leavening  the  mass  of  society.  In 
hundreds  of  villages  groups  of  earnest-souled  men 
and  women  were  worshipping  God  in  sincerity  and 
in  truth,  and  training  their  households  in  His  love 


24        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  fear.  In  higher  place,  too,  in  the  councils  of 
the  nation  were  some  "  who  wore  a  coronet  and 
prayed."  In  the  Established  Church  also,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  influence  of  this  revival  was  felt,  and 
not  a  few  faithful  clergymen  illustrated  in  their  lives 
the  ideal  described  in  Chaucer's  Qood  Parson  : — 

Rich  he  was  in  holy  thought  and  work  ; 
The  love  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  twelve 
He  taught :  but  first  he  followed  it  himselve. 

The  moral  and  political  sanity  of  the  English 
people,  too,  their  sturdy  patriotism  and  loyalty,  the 
wise  guidance  of  their  rulers,  and  the  classic  elo- 
quence of  Pitt  and  Burke  helped  to  save  the  nation 
from  the  chaos  into  w^hich  France  had  fallen. 

The  violence  with  which  the  religious  reformers, 
especially  the  Wesleys  and  their  fellow-helpers,  were 
treated  illustrated  the  coarseness  and  cruelty  of  the 
age.  This  new  apostolate  was  not  without  confessors 
unto  blood  and  martyrs  unto  death.  They  were 
stoned,  they  were  beaten  with  cudgels,  they  were 
dragged  through  the  kennels,  and  some  died  of  their 
wounds.  The  clergyman  and  the  magistrate  of  the 
parish  were  often  the  instigators  and  leaders  in  this 
mob  violence.  But  those  faithful  men,  with  un- 
faltering fidelity,  with  a  noble  heroism  that  recked 
not  for  danger  or  death,  persisted  in  their  work  of 
faith  and  labor  of  love. 

Their  fervent  preaching,  their  holy  lives,  their 
persistent  efforts  were  not  unavailing.     Inveterate 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL.  25 

opposition  was  overcome.  Hard  hearts  were  touched 
to  tenderness.  Savage  natures  were  renewed  by  di- 
vine grace.  The  village  bully,  or  the  deep-drinking 
squire,  became  not  unseldom  the  champion  of  the 
persecuted  preachers,  and  sometimes  their  lay  helper 
in  spreading  the  new  evangel.  The  tear-washed  fur- 
rows on  the  grimy  faces  of  the  colliers  of  Durham 
and  of  the  tin  miners  of  Cornwall  attested  the  power 
of  the  divine  message. 

Where  the  Wesleys  at  the  beginning  of  their 
career  were  mobbed  and  maltreated,  at  its  close  they 
were  received  as  angels  of  God.  From  being  the 
worst  hated  they  became  the  best  beloved  men  in  the 
kingdom.  At  Cork,  where  John  Wesley  had  been 
burned  in  effigy,  he  was  met  by  a  cortege  of  mounted 
horsemen.  At  Falmouth,  where  he  had  been  taken 
prisoner  by  an  immense  mob,  "roaring  like  lions," 
high  and  low  now  lined  the  street  from  one  end  of 
the  town  to  the  other,  "  out  of  love  and  kindness, 
gaping  and  staring  as  if  the  king  were  going  by." 

Moorfields,  which  had  first  raged  like  pandemonium, 
became  the  scene  of  vast  and  frequent  and  orderly 
assemblies.  Coarse  villages  like  Madeley,  once  the 
home  of  drunkenness  and  vice,  became  god-fearing, 
law-abiding  communities.  The  rude  fishermen  on  the 
Cornish  coast,  who  were  wont  to  lure  shipwrecked 
mariners  upon  the  rocks  by  false  lights  in  order  to 
plunder  or  kill  them,  now  risked  their  lives  to  succor 
and  save.  The  rough  and  reckless  smugglers,  who 
lived  by  defying  the  laws   of   the    realm,  and  not 


26        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

unseldom  added  murder  to  their  fraud,  abandoned 
their  crimes.  The  consumption  of  smuggled  liquor 
greatly  decreased,  much  to  the  improvement  of  the 
manners  and  morals  of  the  community. 

A  distinguished  literary  man,  Howitt,  in  his 
Rural  Life  in  England  thus  depicts  the  condition 
of  the  people  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century :  *'  It  is  in  the  rural  districts,  into  which 
manufactories  have  spread — that  are  partly  manufac- 
turing and  partly  agricultural — that  the  population 
assumes  its  worst  shape.  .  .  .  The  Methodists  have 
done  much  to  check  the  progress  of  demoralization 
in  these  districts.  They  have  given  vast  numbers 
education  ;  they  have  taken  them  away  from  the  pot- 
house and  the  gambling-house,  from  low  haunts  and 
low  pursuits.  They  have  placed  them  in  a  higher 
circle,  and  invested  them  with  a  degree  of  moral  and 
social  importance.  They  have  placed  them  where 
they  have  a  character  to  sustain,  and  higher  objects 
to  strive  after ;  where  they  have  ceased  to  be  operated 
upon  by  a  perpetual  series  of  evil  influences,  and  have 
been  brought  under  the  regular  operation  of  good 
ones.  They  have  rescued  them  from  brutality  of 
mind  and  manners,  and  given  them  a  more  refined 
association  on  earth,  and  a  warm  hope  of  a  still  better 
existence  hereafter.  If  they  have  not  done  all  that 
could  be  desired  with  such  materials,  they  have  done 
much,  and  the  country  owes  them  much." 

All  the  churches  shared  the  benefits  of  this  religious 
awakening.     In  tlie  Established  Church  of  the  realm 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL.  27 

many  godly  men,  both  clergy  and  laics,  aided  this 
moral  reform.  Among  these  we  may  mention  the 
venerable  Simeon  of  Cambridge  ;  Milner,  the  dean  of 
Carlisle  ;  the  elder  Venn,  rector  of  Clapham ;  his 
son,  John  Venn,  the  projector  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society;  the  sainted  Berridge,  vicar  of 
Everton;  Grimshaw,  the  curate  of  Haworth;  Per- 
ronet,  vicar  of  Shoreham  ;  the  Rev.  and  Hon.  Walter 
Shirley,  grandson  of  Earl  Ferrers;  Romaine,  the 
distinguished  London  clergyman ;  Martin  Madan,  the 
brilliant  advocate  turned  clergyman ;  Thompson, 
rector  of  St.  Gennis ;  the  famous  and  eccentric 
Rowland  Hill ;  Toplady,  author  of  the  noble  hymn, 
"  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me  "  ;  Unwin  and  Newton, 
the  friends  and  protectors  of  the  gentle  poet,  Cowper ; 
and  many  another  devout  clergyman  helped  to  awaken 
the  national  Church  from  the  spiritual  torpor  into 
which  she  had  fallen. 

Nor  were  godly  laymen  wanting  to  help  on  this 
good  work.  Henry  Thornton,  the  Christian  banker, 
Member  of  Parliament,  and  philanthropist,  at  his 
beautiful  village  of  Clapham,  once  the  abode  of  the 
great  Pitt,  furnished  a  home  for  the  Clapham  sect. 
This  coterie  of  distinguished  men  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  Christian  philanthropy.  Thornton  himself  gave 
in  charity  sometimes  ten  thousand  pounds  a  year. 
During  his  thirty  years  in  Parliament  he  advocated 
the  cause  of  peace,  reform,  economy,  toleration  and 
African  emancipation.  In  the  latter  moral  crusade 
William  Wilberforce   became  his   active  co-adjutor. 


28        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

or  rather  the  leader  of  this  great  reform.  Granville 
Sharp,  the  first  chairman  of  the  Bible  Society ; 
Zachary  Macaulay ;  Lord  Teignmouth,  first  president 
of  the  Bible  Society  ;  and  other  men  of  noble  char- 
acter, became  bulwarks  of  morality  and  examples 
of  piety. 

Religion,  long  despised  and  contemned  by  the  titled 
and  the  great,  began  to  receive  recognition  and  support 
by  men  high  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  The 
Earl  of  Dartmouth,  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council 
and  Secretary  of  State,  is  commemorated  in  America 
by  Dartmouth  College,  of  which  institution  he  was  a 
patron.  It  was  to  him  that  Cowper  refers  in  the 
lines  : — 

We  boast  some  rich  ones  whom  tlie  gospel  sways, 
And  one  who  wears  a  coronet  and  prays. 

Lord  St.  John  became  a  convert  from  the  scepticism 
of  the  times  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  The  wife  of  Lord 
Chesterfield  and  her  sister,  the  Countess  of  Delitz, 
received  the  Gospel,  and  died  in  the  triumphs  of 
faith.  The  Countess  of  Huntingdon  became  the 
powerful  patroness  of  the  Whitefield  Methodists,  and 
converted  her  castle  into  a  college.  Many  other  elect 
ladies  of  high  rank  became  devout  Christians.  A  new 
element  of  restraint,  compelling  at  least  some  out- 
ward respect  for  the  decencies  of  life  and  observances 
of  religion,  was  felt  at  court,  where  too  loug  corrup- 
tion and  back-stairs  inflluence  had  sway. 

One  of  the  most  potent  agencies  for  the  extension 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL.  29 

of  intelligence  and  religion  and  the  betterment  of 
tlie  people  was  the  diffusion  of  wholesome  reading. 
The  most  striking  feature  of  the  close  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  the  immense  development  of 
periodical  and  cheap  literature.  A  hundred  years 
ago  only  the  beginnings  of  such  a  literature  had 
been  made.  The  very  appetite  for  reading  had  to  be 
created.  A  people  immersed  in  sordid  cares,  housed 
in  comfortless  homes,  amused  by  coarse  sports,  found 
more  pleasure  drinking  in  the  village  ale-house,  or 
in  badger-baiting  or  cock-fighting  on  the  village 
green  than  in  reading  books  or  periodicals. 

Not  the  least  of  the  benefits  conferred  upon  so- 
ciety by  the  great  revival  of  the  eighteenth  century 
was  the  creation  of  a  new  taste  for  good  reading, 
and  the  supply  of  books  and  periodicals  for  its  grati- 
fication. Early  Methodism  soon  had  its  own  book 
room  and  printing  house,  and  made  much  use  of 
printer's  ink.  In  the  old  Foundry  in  Moorfields  a 
press  and  book  dep6t  were  established,  and  a  tract 
society  instituted. 

"  Having  a  desire,"  writes  John  Wesley,  "  to 
furnish  poor  people  with  cheaper,  shorter  and 
plainer  books  than  any  I  had  seen,  I  wrote  many 
small  tracts,  generally  a  penny  apiece ;  and  after- 
ward several  larger.  Some  of  these  had  such  a  sale 
as  I  never  thought  of :  and  by  this  means  I  unawares 
became  rich."  These  riches,  however,  were  all  in- 
vested in  his  printing  house  and  in  maintaining  his 
manifold  charities. 


30        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Not  content  with  books  and  tracts,  Wesley  pro- 
jected in  August,  1777,  the  Arminian  Magazine^  and 
issued  the  first  number  at  the  beginning  of  1778. 
"  It  was  one,"  says  Southey,  "  of  the  first  four  re- 
ligious magazines  which  sprang  from  the  resuscitated 
religion  of  the  age,  and  which  began  this  species 
of  periodical  publications  in  the  Protestant  world." 
This  magazine  is  still  published  after  an  interval  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  and  is  the  oldest  re- 
ligious periodical  in  the  world. 

The  list  of  Wesley's  own  contributions  to  litera- 
ture fills  forty-four  columns  in  Stevens'  Life,  English 
Edition.  They  embraced  books  and  booklets  of  a 
great  variety  of  subjects,  including  a  "  Christian 
Library  "  of  fifty  volumes,  beginning  with  the  trans- 
lations of  the  Apostolic  Fathers ;  text-books  on 
English,  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew  and  French  gram- 
mar ;  compendiums  of  logic  and  rhetoric ;  an  Eng- 
lish dictionary;  short  histories  of  England  and 
Rome;  expurgated  editions  of  classic  authors;  selec- 
tions from  Corderius  and  Erasmus,  and  other  works. 

The  tracts  and  leaflets,  which  were  scattered  by 
his  preachers  and  people  over  the  kingdom  "like 
leaves  in  autumn,"  were  like  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
of  life  for  the  healing  of  the  nation,  and  were  the 
precursors  of  that  vast  development  of  cheap  litera- 
ture through  the  publications  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge  and  the  relig- 
ious tract  and  book  societies  of  every  civilized  land, 
and,  indeed,  of  many  till  recently  pagan  communities. 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  3I 


CHAPTER  V. 

RELIGIOUS   CONDITION   OF  AMERICA   IN  THE  EIGHT- 
EENTH CENTURY. 

In  the  New  World  as  well  as  the  Old  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  one  of  much  religious 
torpor,  and  in  many  cases  of  sterility  and  death. 
For  seven  long  years  the  Revolutionary  War  had 
dragged  its  weary  course.  Many  productive  indus- 
tries were  diverted  from  their  legitimate  channels  to 
the  preparation  of  material  and  equipments  of  war. 
Trade  and  navigation  were  greatly  impeded  by  ex- 
posure to  capture  of  American  commerce  on  the  high 
seas.  The  currency  was  greatly  deranged,  and  the 
colonial  bills  were  at  a  marked  discount  as  compared 
with  coin. 

Society  was  greatly  disorganized.  Internal  strifes 
and  jealousies,  which  it  is  difficult  now  to  conceive, 
widely  prevailed.  A  considerable  portion  of  the 
population,  and  these  some  of  the  most  intelligent, 
cultured  and  wealthy  members  of  the  community, 
remained  faithful  to  the  mother-country.  During 
the  war  much  ill-feeling  and  often  bickering,  strife 
and   hostile   outbreak   occurred.     The    conclusion   of 


32       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

peace  was  followed  by  the  exodus  of  many  thousands 
of  the  United  Empire  Loyalists,  as  they  were  called. 
Their  real  estate  was  abandoned,  or  sold  at  a  great 
depreciation,  and  the  removal  of  their  personal 
effects  and  money,  and  especially  the  loss  of  their 
enterprise  and  energy,  depleted  the  country  of  one 
of  its  most  valuable  elements. 

The  long  war  caused  much  hardship,  suffering, 
and  loss,  and,  what  was  worse,  much  moral  and  re- 
ligious deterioration.  On  the  rupture  with  the 
mother-country  many  of  the  clergy  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia, 
and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  in  Pennsylvania,  Delaware 
and  New  York,  returned  to  Great  Britain.  The 
bonds  of  morality  were  greatly  relaxed,  and  through- 
out wide  regions  there  were  scant  opportunities  of 
religious  worship  or  religious  instruction. 

Even  before  the  war  the  state  of  religion  was  very 
low.  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia  colony,  wrote: 
"  As  to  the  unworthy  hireling  clergy  of  the  colony, 
there  was  no  ecclesiastical  discipline  to  correct  or 
punish  their  irregularities  and  vices."  The  sym- 
pathy of  the  French  with  the  revolting  colonists  and 
with  the  young  republic  had  its  harmful,  as  well 
as  its  helpful,  side.  The  Voltairian  scepticism  of 
France  and  Prussia,  and  the  cold  deism  of  Hobbes 
and  Bolingbroke  in  large  degree  benumbed  the  pub- 
lic mind.  The  coarse  infidelity  of  Paine  created 
a  more  active  antagonism  to  religion.  The  West 
India  trade  in  sugar  and  molasses  led  in  New  Eng- 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  33 

land  to  the  large  manufacture  of  rum,  accompanied 
by  all  the  debasing,  demoralizing  and  corrupting  in- 
fluences which  always  result  from  the  wide  use  of 
intoxicants. 

'*  A  detailed  statement  of  American  manners  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,"  says  Dr. 
Dorchester,  in  his  valuable  work  on  the  "  Problem 
of  Religious  Progress,"  "  will  exhibit  a  condition  of 
immorality  having  no  later  parallel  on  our  shores." 
"  The  Revolutionary  War,"  he  continues,  "  had  not 
progressed  far  before  the  faithful  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  their  synod,  deplored  the 
spread  of  '  gross  immoralities,'  '  increasing  to  a  fear- 
ful degree.'  In  1779  they  lamented  *  the  degeneracy 
of  manners,'  and  '  the  prevalence  of  vice  and  immor- 
ality that  obtain  throughout  the  land.'  A  sentiment 
of  insubordination  grew  up  out  of  the  infusion  of 
French  ideas,  which  declared  'moral  obligation  to  be 
a  shackle  imposed  by  bigotry  and  priestcraft,'  revo- 
lution a  right  and  duty,  and  authority  usurpation. 

"  The  revolutionizing  spirit,  serviceable  in  the  war, 
was  so  thoroughly  diffused  among  the  people  that  it 
threatened  new  trouble.  Men  had  vaunted  about 
rights  until  many  felt  that  any  government  was  an 
imposition.  Demagogues  multiplied,  poisoning  the 
minds  of  the  masses,  engendering  the  spirit  of  domes- 
tic scuffle,  and  instiofatinor  local  rebellions,  discontent 
■'00  ' 

and  heart-burnings.  A  relaxation  of  moral  principle, 
and  licentiousness  of  sentiment  and  conduct,  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  liberty — the  ofispring  of 


34        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

her  profane  alliance  with  French  infidelity.  In  not 
a  few  even  of  the  New  England  towns  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath,  lewdness,  neglect  of  the  sanctuary, 
profanity  and  low  cavils  at  the  Bible  were  common, 
and  'the  last  vestiges  of  Puritan  morals  seemed 
wellnigh  irrecoverably  effaced.'  " 

In  few  respects  has  the  tone  of  society  more  greatly 
changed  than  in  the  increased  amenity  of  public  life 
and  courtesy  of  public  discussion.  Embittered  and 
sometimes  unscrupulous  as  we  maj^  think  the  parti- 
sanship of  to-day,  it  is  mild  compared  with  that  of  a 
century  ago.  The  venerable  figure  of  George  Wash- 
ington is  enshrined  in  the  heart  of  his  countrymen. 
He  is  enhallovved  with  the  virtues  almost  of  a  saint. 
He  is  one  of  the  most  ideal  characters  of  history.  He 
is  revered  as  the  father  of  his  country,  a  knight "  sans 
peur  et  sans  reproche.''^  But  during  his  life  he  was 
bitterly  assailed,  maligned  and  abused  by  the  press 
of  the  day,  and  his  acts  were  misrepresented  in  such 
gross  and  flagrant  manner,  "  in  such  indecent  terms," 
as  he  said  himself,  "  as  could  scarcely  be  applied  to 
Nero,  or  a  notorious  defaulter,  or  even  to  a  common 
pickpocket." 

Dr.  Dorchester  quotes  a  gentleman  of  the  highest 
character  as  writing  to  Washington  at  the  close  of 
the  century,  1796  :  ''  Our  affairs  seem  to  lead  to  some 
crisis,  some  revolution ;  something  that  I  cannot  fore- 
see or  conjecture.  I  am  more  uneasy  than  during 
the  war.  .  .  .  We  are  going  and  doing  wrong,  and 
therefore  I  look  forward  to  evils  and  calamities.  We 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  35 

are  woefully  and  wickedly  misled.  Private  rage  for 
property  suppresses  public  considerations,  and  per- 
sonal rather  than  national  interests  have  become  the 
great  objects  of  attention."  Washington  replied, 
"  Your  sentiments  that  we  are  drawing  rapidly  to  a 
crisis  accord  with  mine.  What  the  event  will  be  is 
beyond  my  foresight." 

The  Rev.  Theodore  Parker,  in  a  review  of  this 
period,  states :  "  The  Federal  party,  composed  of 
men  who  certainly  were  an  honor  to  their  age,  sup- 
ported Aaron  Burr  for  the  office  of  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  a  man  whose  character,  both 
public  and  private,  was  notoriously  marked  with  the 
deepest  infamy.  Political  parties  are  not  very  puri- 
tanical in  their  virtues  at  this  da}^,  but  I  think  no 
party  would  now,  for  a  moment,  accept  such  a  man 
as  Mr.  Burr  for  such  a  post." 

Dr.  Dorchester  presents  the  following  severe  in- 
dictment of  the  manners  and  morals  of  the  times — 
an  indictment  which  is  amply  sustained  by  contem- 
porary evidence : — 

"  Duelling  was  then  not  a  sectional,  but  a  national, 
vice.  The  whole  land  was  red  with  the  blood  of 
duellists,  and  filled  with  the  lamentations  of  widows 
and  orphans.  It  was  a  common  crime  of  men  high 
in  office,  and  a  duellist  was  elected,  by  a  large 
majorit}^  Vice-President  of  the  Union,  even  com- 
ing within  a  narrow  chance  of  the  Presidential 
chair. 

''  Profanity  terribly  abounded,  and  was  not  tlien 
regarded  as  ungentlemanly.     The  stocks,  the  pillory 


36        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  the  whipping-post  were  common.  Slavery  ex- 
isted in  all  the  states. 

"  Intemperance  was  an  alarming  evil.  The  manu- 
facture of  New  England  rum  commenced  in  1730, 
increasing  the  home  consumption  of  this  fiery  stimu- 
lant ;  but  the  milder  liquors,  beer  and  wine,  continued 
in  general  use,  until  the  war  of  the  Revolution  cut 
off  foreign  commerce,  and  gave  an  impulse  to  the 
distillation  of  rum,  when  this  most  vitiating  of  all 
beverages  became  universal.  Furnished  freely  to 
the  soldiers  in  the  army,  at  the  close  of  the  war  they 
went  forth  with  vitiated  appetites,  increasing  the  de- 
mand for  distilled  spirits  throughout  the  land.  In 
the  forty  years  following  the  Revolution,  drunken- 
ness fearfully  increased,  until,  in  the  language  of  a 
European  traveller  in  the  United  States  at  that  time, 
it  became  *  the  most  striking  characteristic  of  the 
American  people.' 

"  Intemperance  had  not  then  the  weight  of  public 
sentiment  to  struggle  against,  which  has  since  been 
raised  up.  To  get  drunk  did  not  then  injure  a  man's 
reputation  or  influence.  Members  of  churches,  the 
highest  church  officials,  deacons  and  ministers,  drank 
immoderately,  without  seriously  compromising  their 
positions.  Said  the  Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.D. :  "  I 
remember  when  I  could  reckon  up  among  my  ac- 
quaintances forty  ministers  who  were  intemperate.' 
Another  gentleman,  living  in  those  times,  subse- 
quently said  in  a  Boston  newspaper,  'a  great  many 
deacons  in  New  England  died  drunkards.  I  have  a 
list  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  intemperate 
deacons  in  Massachusetts,  forty-three  of  whom  be- 
came sots. '  " 


The  Rev.  Alva  Cunningha7:n,  in  a  work  on  the 
infidelity  of  the  times,  quoted  by  Dr.  Dorchester, 
described  the  existence  in  New  York  State  of  a  so- 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  37 

ciety  organized  for  the  express  purpose  of  destroying 
Christianity  and  civil  government.  The  description 
of  the  coarseness,  vileness  and  impiousness  of  this 
association  almost  exceeds  belief.  "  They  claimed 
the  right  to  indulge  in  lasciviousness,  and  to  recreate 
themselves  as  their  propensities  and  appetite  should 
dictate.  Those  who  composed  this  association,"  says 
the  writer  who  describes  it,  "  were  my  neighbors ; 
some  of  them  were  my  schoolmates.  I  knew  them 
well,  both  before  and  after  they  became  members. 
I  marked  their  conduct,  and  saw  and  knew  their 
ends.  Their  number  was  about  twenty  men  and 
seven  females.  ...  Of  these,  some  were  shot ;  some 
hung ;  some  drowned ;  two  destroyed  themselves  by 
intemperance,  one  of  whom  was  eaten  by  dogs,  and 
the  other  by  hogs  ;  one  committed  suicide  ;  one  fell 
from  his  horse  and  was  killed ;  and  one  was  struck 
with  an  axe  and  bled  to  death.  .  .  ."  Almost  every  one 
of  them  died  a  violent,  and  most  of  them  a  shame- 
ful, death. 

Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  presented 
similar  moral  phases.  *'  The  infidelity  of  the  age  far 
exceeded  any  time  before  or  since  known  in  America, 
and  was  of  the  grossest  kind."  Dr.  Dorchester  pro- 
ceeds as  follows : — 

'*  The  Rev.  Devereux  Jarratt  gave  a  dark  picture 
of  society  in  Virginia  near  the  close  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  Bishop  Meade's  sketches  of  the  'old 
churches  and  families  of  Virginia '  deepen  the  shades. 
Of  a  portion  of  Kentucky,  Pester  Cartwright,  speaking 


38        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  the  year  1793,  said,  '  It  was  called  Rogues'  Har- 
bor,' because  'law  could  not  be  executed.'  Tbe 
most  abandoned  and  ferocious  lawlessness  prevailed. 
It  was  a  desperate  state  of  society.  Refugees  from 
justice,  murderers,  horse-thieves,  highway  robbbers 
and  counterfeiters  settled  there,  and  '  actually  formed 
a  majority.'  The  better  elements  of  society,  called 
'  regulators,'  organized,  and  attempted  by  arms,  to  put 
down  the  '  rogues,'  but  were  defeated. 

"  As  late  as  1803,  according  to  Rev.  Joseph  Badger, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  had  no  church,  and  'infidelity  and 
Sabbath  profanation  were  general.'  A  gentleman 
visiting  Western  New  York  in  1798  said :  '  Religion 
has  not  got  west  of  the  Genesee  River.  Some  towns 
are  hot-beds  of  infidelity.'  Of  many  other  sections 
of  the  country  it  was  said,  'there  was  scarcely  a 
vestige  of  the  Christian  religion.' 

"  Rev.  Dr.  I.  N.  Tarbox  says  :  '  A  sentence  from 
the  Andover^  Mass.  Manual  opens  another  subject 
of  great  significance,  as  showing  the  real  condition 
of  the  churches  in  the  last  century.  "VVe  are  told,  as 
a  part  of  the  history  of  that  church,  that  '  the  chief 
causes  of  discipline  for  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  were  fornication  and  drunkenness.'  And  the 
writer  adds  :  '  He  who  investigates  the  records  of  this 
or  any  other  church  for  the  same  period  will  be 
astonished  at  the  prevalence  of  these  vices,  as  com- 
pared with  the  present  time.'  * 

"  The  pastoral  letter  issued  in  1798  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  full  of 
alarm  and  expostulation  :  'When  formidable  innova- 
tions and  convulsions  in  Europe  threaten  destruction 
to  morals  and  religion  ;  when  scenes  of  devastation 
and  bloodshed,  unexampled  in  the  history  of  modern 
nations,  have  convulsed  the   world ;  and  when  our 

*  "Historical  Sketch  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  Mas- 
sachusetts from  1776  to  1876."  Minutes  of  the  General  Associa 
tion  for  1877,  p.  33. 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  39 

own  country  is  threatened  with  similar  calamities, 
insensibility  in  us  would  be  stupidity ;  silence  would 
be  criminal.  .  .  .  We  desire  to  direct  your  awakened 
attention  toward  that  bursting  storm,  which  threatens 
to  sweep  before  it  the  religious  principles,  institutions 
and  morals  of  our  people.  We  are  filled  with  deep 
concern  and  awful  dread,  wl^ile  we  announce  it  as 
our  conviction  that  the  Eternal  God  has  a  controversy 
with  our  nation,  and  is  about  to  visit  us  in  His  sore 
displeasure.  .  .  .  We  perceive  with  pain  and  fear- 
ful apprehension  a  general  dereliction  of  religious 
principle  and  practice  among  our  fellow-citizens  ;  a 
great  departure  from  the  faith  and  simple  purity  of 
manners  for  which  our  fathers  were  remarkable ;  a 
visible  and  prevailing  impiety  and  contempt  for  the 
laws  and  institutions  of  religion ;  and  an  abounding 
infidelity,  which,  in  many  instances,  tends  to  atheism 
itself.' 

''  In  this  alarming  condition  of  things,  they  say  : 
'A  dissolution  of  religious  society  seems  to  be 
threatened  by  the  supineness  and  inattention  of  man}'- 
ministers  and  professors  of  Christianity.'  '  For- 
mality and  deadness,  not  to  say  hypocrisy,  a  contempt 
for  vital  godliness  and  the  spirit  of  fervent  piety,  a 
desertion  of  the  ordinances,  or  a  cold  and  unprofitable 
attendance  upon  them,  visibly  pervaded  every  part 
of  the  Church.'  '  The  profligacy  and  corruption  of 
public  morals  have  advanced  with  a  progress  propor- 
tioned to  our  declension  in  religion.  Profaneness, 
pride,  luxury,  injustice,  intemperance,  lewdness  and 
every  species  of  debaucliery  and  loose  indulgence 
greatly  abound.' 

*'  The  means  for  combating  these  evils  were  then 
small.  In  large  sections  of  the  land  the  people 
either  were  not  supplied  with  gospel  preaching  or 
the  supply  was  very  scant3^  There  were  no  tracts, 
and  very  few  religious  books  and  Bibles.  The  age 
of  tract  and  Bible  societies  had  not  dawned.     During 


40        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  colonial  history  no  Bibles  except  Eliot's  Indian 
Bible  were  allowed  by  the  mother  country  to  be 
printed.  They  were,  therefore,  scarce  and  expensive, 
and  during  the  Revolutionary  War  a  few  were 
imported,  with  great  difficulty,  from  Scotland  and 
Holland.  The  first  American  edition  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  was  published  in  1781,  by  Robert  Aiken, 
of  Philadelphia.  So  meagre  were  the  means  of  re- 
sistance against  the  evils  of  that  period." 

The  moral  condition  of  the  people  at  the  close  of 
the  century  will  be  best  illustrated  by  some  concrete 
examples.  Freeborn  Garretson,  about  the  year  1780, 
began  his  "  Gospel  Ranging  "  as  a  pioneer  Methodist 
preacher  from  the  Carolinas  to  Nova  Scotia,  but 
chiefly  in  the  Middle  States.  His  biography  records 
that  "he  was  menaced  by  persecutors,  interrupted 
sometimes  in  his  sermons,  threatened  by  armed  men, 
and  one  of  his  friends  was  shot  (but  not  mortally) 
for  entertaining  him."  "  He  was  attacked  by  ruffians, 
smitten  on  the  face,  mobbed  and  summoned  to  drill 
as  a  soldier.  Once  he  was  felled  from  his  horse  by  a 
blow  on  the  head  from  a  bludgeon  and  knocked  sense- 
less to  the  ground.  In  Delaware  he  was  arrested 
while  preaching  and  thrown  into  gaol."  *'  During  a 
fortnight,"  he  says,  "  I  had  a  dirty  floor  for  my  bed, 
my  saddle-bags  for  my  pillow,  and  two  large  windows 
open,  with  a  cold  east  wind  blowing  upon  me." 

About  the  same  time  Jesse  Lee  became  the 
Methodist  "Apostle  of  New  England."  While 
making  his  way  through  the  land  where  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  had  sought  freedom  to  worship  God  after 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  OF  AMERICA.  41 

the  dictates  of  their  conscience — a  privilege  which 
they  refused  to  the  Quakers  and  the  Methodists — 
he  asked  permission  to  preach  under  an  apple  tree  in 
an  orchard.  His  request  was  denied  lest  he  should 
"trample  the  grass."  After  seven  months  of  in- 
defatigable toil,  the  result  of  Lee's  labors  was  the 
formation  of  but  two  classes,  with  an  aggregate  of 
five  members.  As  the  winter  came  on  it  was  too 
cold  and  stormy  to  preach  under  the  historic  Boston 
Elm,  and  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  the  use  of 
a  house,  although  continuous  efforts  were  made  for 
four  weeks.  Such  persistent  zeal,  however,  was  not 
without  its  unfailing  reward.  Where  at  first  he  was 
received  with  coldness  and  disdain,  he  was  at  length 
welcomed  with  heartiest  good-will. 


42       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IK  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  VL 

THE   SABBATH   AND   ITS   OBSERVANCE. 

One  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  religion  and 
morality  is  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Where  its  sacred 
hours  are  spent  in  holy  duties  and  in  holy  joys 
the  conditions  are  eminently  favorable  for  the  de- 
velopment of  personal  and  civic  righteousness. 
Where  its  religious  character  is  invaded  and  it  be- 
comes a  mere  holiday  instead  of  a  holy  day,  or  where, 
through  a  merciless  greed  for  gain,  the  poor  man's 
best  heritage  is  snatched  from  him  and  employed  in 
sordid  toil,  there  the  very  foundations  of  moralitj^ 
are  undermined  and  its  structure  menaced  with 
destruction. 

A  great  peril  of  the  times  is  the  secularizing  of 
the  Lord's  Day.  Modern  society  has  become  so 
complex,  its  manifold  needs  have  become  so  im- 
perious and  so  involved  that  the  inroads  of  the  work- 
day week  upon  the  seventh  day  of  rest  have  become 
insidious,  persistent  and  powerful.  In  the  growth 
of  great  cities  have  grown  up  vast  systems  of  trans- 
portation of  the  people  by  means  of  electric,  steam 
or  other  motors.  These  have  too  often  invaded  the 
sanctity  of  the  Lord's  Day  and,  aided  by  the  greed 


THE  SABBATH  AND  ITS  OBSERVANCE.  43 

of  selfish  men,  have  converted  the  breathing-places 
of  the  cities  into  so-called  pleasure  resorts.  Instead 
of  the  quiet  restfulness  of  the  old-time  Sabbath  has 
come  the  restless  and  strenuous  "  pleasure  exertion," 
that  leaves  both  body  and  mind  flaccid  and  unnerved. 
The  influx  of  foreign  population  accustomed  to  the 
Sunday  diversions  of  Prater  of  Vienna,  or  of  the 
beer  gardens  of  Hamburg  and  Berlin,  have  broken 
down  the  barriers  of  the  Sabbath  observance  in  many 
American  and  some  Canadian  cities. 

During  the  American  Civil  War  the  eagerness  of 
the  people  for  the  latest  news  from  the  scenes  of 
conflict  led  to  the  enormous  development  of  that 
greatest  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  the  Sunday 
newspaper.  These  papers  have  grown  to  enormous 
proportions.  They  are  utterly  secular  in  character. 
They  have  nothing  sacred  about  them  except  their 
name  and,  perhaps,  a  meagre  sermon  by  some  fashion- 
able preacher,  or  scrap  of  religious  intelligence. 
Greater  prominence  is  given  to  sport,  theatrical 
gossip,  scandal,  sensation-mongering  and  coarse  and 
vulgar  caricature  than  in  any  other  issue  of  the 
week.  Where  these  papers  are  read  they  effect  two 
evils.  They  engross  so  much  of  the  Sabbath  hours 
that  there  is  little  or  no  time  for  religious  worship. 
They  so  secularize  the  soul  as  to  leave  for  it  little  or 
no  religious  desire. 

These  invasions  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  were 
admitted  evils  of  the  close  of  the  century.  They 
are  a  menace  to  the  growth  of  religion  in  the  in- 


44       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

dividual  and  in  the  community  and  to  the  physical 
welfare  of  the  working  man.  The  law  of  God  writ- 
ten in  our  members  as  well  as  in  His  Word  requires 
the  seventh  day's  rest  as  well  as  the  six  days'  work. 

Yet  we  must  not  hastily  conclude  that  the  former 
times  were  better  than  these.  There  was  a  great 
deal  of  coarse  and  vulgar  Sabbath-breaking  at  the 
close  of  the  previous  and  in  the  early  years  of  the  last 
century.  In  Great  Britain  Sunday  was  a  favorite 
day  for  sports  upon  the  village  green,  and  even  for 
cruel  amusements  of  cock-fighting,  bull,  bear,  and 
badger  baiting,  and  prize-fighting.  Till  late  on  in 
the  century  it  was  often  spent  in  orgies  of  drunken- 
ness. In  the  mining  and  manufacturing  districts, 
the  high  wages  earned  in  the  best  of  times  were 
largely  squandered  by  the  drunken  idleness  of  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  and  often  of  Wednesday  as  well. 

Even  in  the  rural  life  of  the  New  World  a  great 
amount  of  Sabbath  desecration  prevailed.  Through- 
out the  older  settlements  Sunday  was  often  a  day  of 
pleasure,  gaming  and  visiting.  In  the  newer  settle- 
ments it  was  spent  in  *'  amusement,  horse-racing  and 
dissipation."  "  The  only  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  day,"  quotes  Dr.  Dorchester,  "  was  an  excess  of 
wickedness." 

We  are  apt  to  regard  the  carriage  of  the  mails  and 
the  postal  deliveries  on  the  Sunday  as  a  compara- 
tively recent  innovation.  This  is  a  mistake.  "  After 
1810,"  says  Dr.  Dorchester,  "  mails  were  carried  on 
the  Sabbath  on  all  the  routes  in  the  United  States, 


THE  SABBATH  AND  ITS  OBSERVANCE.     45 

and  the  post-offices  were  kept  open.  This  practice 
continued  more  than  twenty  years,  notwithstanding 
numerous  remonstrances.  All  the  religious  bodies 
repeatedly  protested,  and  memorialized  Congress  on 
the  subject,  from  1812  until  after  1830,  but  with 
little  effect.  Matters  grew  worse  instead  of  better. 
In  1842,  the  American  and  Foreign  Sabbath  Union 
was  formed,  and  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in 
securing  the  enactment  of  Sunday  Legislation. 
After  eight  years'  labor,  Dr.  Justin  Edwajrds,  agent 
of  the  society,  reported  the  following  result : 

"  Railroad  directors,  in  an  increasing  number  of 
cases,  have  confined  the  running  of  their  cars  to  six 
days  in  the  week  ;  locks  on  canals  are  not  opened  ; 
and  official  business  is  not  transacted  on  the  Sabbath. 
Stages  and  steamboats  in  many  cases  have  ceased  to 
run ;  and  more  than  eighty  thousand  miles  of  Sab- 
bath-breaking mails  have  been  stopped.  .  .  .  About 
forty  railroad  comjianies  have  stopped  the  running  of 
their  cars  on  that  day,  on  about  four  thousand  miles 
of  roads." 

The  liquor  traffic,  that  enemy  of  all  righteous- 
ness,  is  the  special  enemy  of  the  Lord's  Day.  In 
England  the  public  houses  are  still  open  at  certain 
hours  to  supply  Her  Majesty's  lieges  with  that  sup- 
posed indispensable  necessity,  the  daily  pot  of  porter 
or  mug  of  beer.  One  of  the  most  flagrant  evils  of 
the  Sunday  night  in  London,  Liverpool,  Manchester 
and  other  great  centres  is  the  glare  of  the  gin  palaces 
at  nearly  every  corner,  the  more  striking  by  contrast 
with  the  almost  universal  closure  of  shops  and  stores. 


46       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  Sunday  night  is  too  often  a  high  carnival  of 
drunkenness  and  immorality. 

Yet,  a  great  improvement  has  taken  place.  In 
Scotland  the  Forbes-Mackenzie  Act  closed  inns  and 
taverns  from  Saturday  night  till  Monday  morning. 
A  wonderful  improvement  in  manners  and  morals 
followed.  From  being  the  noisiest  and  most  quarrel- 
some day  of  the  week,  Sunday  became,  as  it  should 
be,  the  most  quiet  and  orderly. 

Throughout  almost  the  whole  of  the  United  States 
the  bars  are  ostensibly  closed  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
Although  there  may  be  many  "  speak-easies "  and 
back-door  entrances  and  many  violations  of  the 
law,  still  the  bar  is  under  ban  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
and  seldom  flaunts  its  vice  in  the  face  of  the  com- 
munity as  was  its  wont. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  influx  of  foreign  im- 
migrants, it  cannot  be  affirmed  that  such  wholesale 
defiance  of  the  law  and  violation  of  the  Sabbath  ob- 
tains to-day.  Notwithstanding,  too,  the  enormous 
increase  of  population,  of  travel,  of  manufacturing 
industry,  of  public  and  private  business,  still  the 
most  significant  sign  of  the  times  is  the  marked  ces- 
sation of  labor  during  its  lioly  hours.  A  sacred 
silence  falls  upon  the  land,  the  whirling  wheels  of 
machinery  stand  still,  the  countless  chimneys  of 
myriad  factories  cease  to  pour  forth  their  volumes  of 
smoke,  the  air  becomes  pure,  and  the  blue  sky  is 
seen,  unstained  by  a  cloud,  a  symbol  of  the  holy  in- 
fluence   of  the    Lord's    Day.     From   ten    thousand 


THE  SABBATH  AND  ITS  OBSERVANCE.  47 

steeples  throughout  the  land,  in  crowded  city,  in 
town  and  village  and  remotest  hamlet  rings  forth 
the  call  to  praise  and  prayer,  and  multitudes  wend 
their  way  to  the  house  of  God  and  keep  holy  the 
Sabbath  day. 

It  is  a  fact  of  immense  significance  that  in  the 
metropolis  of  London,  the  great  heart  of  tlie  world's 
traffic  and  travel,  Her  Majesty's  post-office  is  closed 
on  the  Sabbath  day  and  no  general  letter  delivery  at 
the  wickets  or  by  the  post  carriers  is  made.  If  this 
can  be  done  in  London  without  damage  to  business, 
it  can  be  done  anywhere  in  the  world.  In  that  great 
centre  of  printing  and  publishing  it  is  significant, 
too,  that  very  few  papers  attempt  any  Sunday  issue, 
and  these  have  a  very  limited  patronage. 

One  of  the  most  striking  triumphs  of  public  sen- 
timent over  the  Sunday  paper  occurred  in  Great 
Britain  during  the  year  1899.  Two  of  the  leading 
papers  of  the  great  metropolis,  the  Daily  Mail  and 
Daily  Telegraphy  launched  elaborate  Sunday  issues. 
Not  only  vras  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  country 
aroused,  but  many  secular  organizations  protested 
strongly  against  this  invasion  of  the  day  of  rest.  A 
very  effective  boycott  of  the  obnoxious  papers  was 
adopted.  Some  of  the  news  agents  refused  to  handle 
even  their  week-day  editions.  Many  previous  pa- 
trons refused  to  purchase  them,  and  many  advertisers 
withdrew  their  advertisements.  Where  moral  con- 
siderations failed  to  secure  the  suppression  of  the 
Sunday  paper  this  appeal  to  the  purse  of  the   pub- 


4:8        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

lisher  proved  remarkably  effective,  and  after  a  few 
weeks'  experiment  the  Sunday  issues  of  both  papers 
were  suspended.  It  is  said  that  a  firm  of  eminent 
philanthropists  withdrew  five  thousand  pounds* 
worth  of  advertisements  from  one  of  the  seven-day 
papers. 

Even  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  where  the  Sab- 
bath is  almost  unmarked  except  by  the  swifter  rush 
of  trams  and  trains,  and  greater  whirl  of  pomp  and 
pleasure,  of  military  reviews,  horse-races  and  bull- 
fights, a  demand  for  Sabbath  rest  has  risen.  In  many 
of  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  France,  no 
Sunday  labor  is  done.  The  workingmen,  through 
their  unions,  have  made  the  demand  for  the  cessa- 
tion of  public  works.  Throughout  Belgium  a  little 
tag  is  attached  to  the  postage  stamps  by  the  reten- 
tion or  removal  of  which  the  sender  may  indicate  his 
desire  for  the  non-delivery  of  his  letter  on  the  Lord's 
Day. 

The  very  prevalence  and  power  of  this  oldest  in- 
stitution of  the  world  is  a  perpetual  testimony  of  the 
Gfoodness  of  God  and  of  the  needs  of  man.  Its  wide 
and  reverent  observance  is  a  rebuke  to  the  still  too 
frequent  violation  of  its  sanctity  by  the  love  of 
pleasure  and  the  greed  of  gain.  The  fact  that  such 
untold  millions'  worth  of  valuable  machinery  and 
manufacturing  plant  are  consigned  to  idleness  for 
one-seventh  of  the  time  is  one  of  the  sublimest  recog- 
nitions of  the  claims  of  God  and  tlie  duty  of  man — 
is  a  proof  that  with  all  its  material  interests  the  age 


THE  SABBATH  AND  ITS  OBSERVANCE.  49 

in  which  we  live  is  one  of  profound  spiritual  recog- 
nition. 

The  very  surcease  of  labor  gives  also  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  ministration  to  the  higher  needs  of  the 
soul,  to  the  waiting  upon  God  in  His  own  appointed 
manner,  in  His  house  and  on  His  holy  day.  "  The 
Lord  gave  the  word:  great  was  the  company  of 
those  that  published  it."  A  great  host  of  the  most 
scholarly  men,  the  sanest  thinkers,  the  purest  phil- 
anthropists, the  most  eloquent  preachers  week  after 
week  expound  the  oracles  of  God  and  seek  to  lift  the 
people  to  a  higher  plane  of  life  and  thought.  A  still 
greater  army  of  unpaid  teachers  gather  the  children 
by  the  thousand  and  the  million  for  instruction  in 
the  Word  of  life. 

The  Christian  Sabbath  is  the  great  bulwark  of  the 
Christian  faith,  the  great  barrier  to  the  tide  of  world- 
liness,  which,  like  another  deluge,  would  otherwise 
drown  out  the  highest  interests  of  mankind. 

In  certain  English  coal  mines  the  trickling  stream 
throughout  the  week  is  dyed  an  inky  black  with  coal 
and  leaves  its  grimy  deposit  where  it  flows.  But  on 
the  Sunday  it  flows  pellucid  and  pure,  leaving  a  thin 
white  stratum  in  the  growing  deposit.  So  the  Sab- 
bath rest  and  quiet  and  holy  duties  and  holy  joys 
leave  their  mark  with  pearl-white  beauty  on  this 
pearl  of  days. 


50       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE. 

The  page  of  history  on  which  the  record  of 
slavery  is  written  is  one  of  the  darkest  in  the  annals 
of  mankind.  It  has  been  in  all  ages  the  crime  of 
the  strong  against  the  weak,  of  conquerors  against 
the  conquered.  It  appears  in  the  Chinese  records  of 
three  thousand  years  ago.  The  Phoenicians  swept 
the  coast  of  Europe  to  kidnap  slaves,  white  or  black. 
Slavery  was  an  established  institution  of  the  Hellenic 
"heroic  age."  In  the  Greek  Republics  there  were 
ten  slaves  for  one  free  man.  During  the  highest 
civilization  of  Rome  the  sound  of  the  lash  was  heard 
throughout  the  vast  empira  The  wayside  was  often 
studded  thick  with  crucified  slaves,  and  the  wail  of 
the  victims  pierced  the  patient  skies.  Often  the 
slaves,  in  culture,  learning  and  physical  beauty,  were 
far  superior  to  their  owners.  Sometimes  a  wealthy 
master  had  twenty  thousand  slaves,  and  so  abso- 
lutely were  their  lives  at  his  disposal  that  Vedius 
Pollio  fed  his  slaves  to  the  lampreys  in  his  fish-pond, 
and  on  his  death  four  hundred  of  his  bondmen  were 
slaughtered. 

Besides  filling  all  the  more  menial  offices,  slaves 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.      51 

occupied  the  positions  of  librarians,  readers,  reciters, 
story-tellers,  journal  keepers,  amanuenses,  physicians 
and  surgeons,  architects,  diviners,  grammarians,  pen- 
men, musicians  and  singers,  players,  builders,  engrav- 
ers, antiquaries,  illuminators,  painters,  silversmiths, 
gladiators,  charioteers  of  the  circus  and  many  other 
crafts. 

The  population  of  Corinth,  one  of  the  most  lux- 
urious cities  of  Greece,  as  a  result  of  Roman  con- 
quest were  all  sold  into  slavery.  So  also  were  those 
of  the  great  cities  of  Carthage  and  Capua.  The  vic- 
tories of  Sulla,  Lucullus  and  Pompey  glutted  the 
slave  markets,  so  that  men  were  sold  for  four 
drachmae  each,  or  about  sixty-two  cents.  The  Gallic 
wars  of  Julius  Csesar  furnished  half  a  million  slaves, 
and  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  ninety  thou- 
sand more.  Thieves  and  debtors  were  sold  as  slaves. 
Parents  even  sold  their  children  into  bondage  for 
gain  or  to  save  them  from  starvation.  Slavery  ex- 
isted among  most  oriental  races,  even  among  the 
Jews ;  but  the  Mosaic  legislation  concerning  servi- 
tude was  very  mild,  containing  important  limitations 
of  the  rights  of  masters  and  providing  for  the  eman- 
cipation of  slaves. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Roman  Republic  there  was 
one  door  open  to  liberty,  that  of  the  army.  Before 
a  slave  could  be  a  soldier  he  must  become  free.  Man- 
umission was  often  practised  by  wealthy  masters, 
especially  at  the  approach  of  death.  In  the  reign  of 
Claudius,    Gibbon  estimates  that  there    were  sixty 


52        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

million  slaves  in  the  empire.  Servile  wars  often 
broke  out,  as  under  Spartacus,  which  were  ruthlessly 
suppressed  and  slaves  by  the  thousand  crucified. 

Slavery  brought  its  unfailing  accompaniment  of 
the  moral  degradation  of  the  slave-owner.  It  was 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  decline  of  Rome.  The 
Christian  Church  did  much  to  mitigate  its  horrors 
and  on  its  ruins  the  feudal  serfdom  was  established. 

The  rapid  development  of  the  power  of  the  Turks 
in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  greatly  in- 
creased the  prevalence  of  slavery  and  the  wretched- 
ness of  the  slaves.  The  low,  light  vessels  of  the 
mussulman  corsairs  scoured  the  coast  of  Europe  and 
swept  off  into  captivity  multitudes  of  victims  who 
were  held  for  toil  or  for  ransom,  or  to  replenish  the 
harems  or  man  the  galleys  of  the  Turks.  Cervantes 
was  for  five  years  an  Algerine  captive,  and  formed 
a  project  to  release  twenty-five  thousand  Christian 
slaves  of  Algiers.  When  Charles  V.  captured  Tunis 
he  found  twenty  thousand  Christian  slaves,  and  at 
the  battle  of  Lepanto  twelve  thousand  manned  the 
Turkish  galleys. 

The  discovery  of  America  and  the  immense  mari- 
time and  commercial  enterprise  that  followed  led  to 
the  enormous  growth  of  the  slave  trade.  Under 
ruthless  Spanish  rule  the  conquered  Indians  perished 
by  thousands  in  the  mines  and  in  the  fields,  and 
negro  slaves  were  imported  to  supply  the  reckless 
waste  of  lives.  The  most  enlightened  nations  in 
Europe  took  part  in  this  traffic  in  the  bodies  and  the 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.      53 

souls  of  men.  Queen  Elizabeth  is  charged  with 
sharing  the  profits  of  Sir  John  Hawkins,  the  first 
Englishman  who  conducted  a  regular  slave  trade. 
Charles  II.  and  James  II.  were  members  of  slave- 
trading  companies.  The  French,  the  Dutch,  tlie 
Spanish  and  the  Portuguese  were  engaged  whole- 
sale in  this  nefarious  trade.  Many  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  hapless  victims  were  brought  from  the 
Guinea  coast  to  supply  the  plantations  of  the  Antilles 
and  the  mainland  of  North  and  South  America. 

One  of  the  first  countries  to  abolish  slavery 
was  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada.  At  the  very 
first  meeting  of  its  legislature  after  the  organization 
of  the  province  in  1792  the  holding  of  the  bodies  of 
men  as  slaves  was  prohibited.  In  1776  it  was  re- 
solved by  the  Continental  Congress  that  no  more 
slaves  should  be  imported  into  the  United  Colonies, 
but  when  the  constitution  was  formed  in  1788  Con- 
gress was  prohibited  from  interdicting  the  traffic  be- 
fore 1808,  at  which  time  it  was  abolished.  The 
State  of  Georgia  prohibited  the  slave  trade  in  1798. 
America  was  thus  in  advance  of  other  countries  in 
fixing  a  time  for  the  cessation  of  a  traffic  which  has 
been  as  generally  condemned  as  it  has  been  persist- 
ently pursued  for  four  long  centuries. 

In  England  the  slave  trade  was  early  denounced 
by  a  few  individuals,  but  it  was  regarded  by  most 
men  as  a  perfectly  legitimate  branch  of  commerce. 
The  last  act  of  the  British  legislature  regulating  the 
slave  trade  was  passed  in  1788,   the  same  year  that 


54:        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  first  parliamentary  movement  for  its  abolition 
was  made.  The  Quakers  were  unanimously  opposed 
to  the  slave  trade,  and  many  philanthropists,  states- 
men and  especially  the  British  poets,  denounced  its 
crime.  Among  the  most  noted  of  the  opponents  of 
slavery  was  Granville  Sharp,  who  for  half  a  century 
fought  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slave.*  Clarkson 
began  his  anti-slavery  labors  in  1T86,  soon  to  be 
joined  by  Wilberforce  in  a  moral  crusade  not  to  be 
ended  till  the  slave  trade  and  slavery  throughout  the 
British  Empire  was  abolished.  The  Duke  of  Clarence 
in  the  House  of  Lords  denounced  them  as  fanatics 
and  hypocrites,  but  Fox  and  Pitt,  the  chief  of  the 
Ministry  and  chief  of  the  Opposition,  joined  their 
ranks  in  1790,  and  soon  the  leading  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons  of  both  parties  became  aboli- 
tionists. 

Year  after  year  the  act  for  the  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade  was  passed  by  the  Commons  but  thrown  out  by 
the  House  of  Lords,  till  at  length,  in  1806,  under  the 
Fox  and  Granville  ministry,  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade  was  brought  forward  as  a  government 
measure  and  carried  in  1807. 

The  abolitionists  then  began  to  labor  for  the  re- 
moval of  slavery  itself.     A  society  was  formed  "  for 

*  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  Chief  Justice  Holt  had 
ruled  that  "  as  soon  as  a  negro  comes  into  England  he  is  free  ; 
one  may  be  a  villein  in  England,  but  not  a  slave  ;  "  and  later  : 
"  In  England  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  slave,  and  a  human 
being  never  was  considered  a  chattel  to  be  sold  for  a  price." 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.      55 

the  mitigation  and  gradual  abolition  of  slavery 
throughout  the  British  dominions."  Clarkson,  Wil- 
berforce,  Buxton — immortal  honor  to  their  names  ! — 
were  leaders  of  this  moral  crusade.  The  philan- 
thropic sect  of  the  Quakers  strongly  supported  the 
movement,  and  one  of  them,  Elizabeth  Heyrick, 
published  an  epoch-marking  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Im- 
mediate, not  Gradual,  Abolition."  Her  appeal  fell 
on  sympathetic  ears.  But  the  colonial  authorities 
resisted  every  scheme  of  amelioration  proposed  by 
Parliament.  The  abolitionists  "  abandoned  the  doc- 
trines and  measures  of  gradualism  and  adopted  those 
of  immediate  and  unqualified  emancipation  on  the 
soil." 

As  was  eminently  fitting,  this  humanitarian  appeal 
exerted  a  controlling  influence  on  the  widened 
franchise  in  the  election  of  the  Reform  Parliament  in 
1832.  The  government  avowed  its  purpose  to  bring 
in  a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  This  measure, 
brought  forward  in  April,  1833,  proposed  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  twelve  years  for  the  slaves  and  tlie 
payment  out  of  their  earnings  to  their  masters  of 
fifteen  million  pounds.  The  friends  of  emancipation 
vehemently  remonstrated  against  the  intolerable  in- 
justice of  making  these  victims  of  oppression  for 
twelve  long  years  continue  to  coin  their  sweat  into 
gold,  during  which  interval  many  thousands  of 
them  must  die  in  bondage.  The  bill  was  finally 
modified  by  a  reduction  of  the  apprenticeship  to  six 
years   and  a  provision   to  pay  the   masters  twent}^ 


56        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

million  pounds  out  of  the  national  treasury.     This 
bill  received  the  royal  assent  August  28,  1833. 

The  day  of  emancipation  was  fixed  for  August 
6,  1884.  Throughout  the  British  West  Indies,  on 
the  eve  of  emancipation  day  the  slaves — there  were 
600,000  of  them  held  in  bondage — assembled  in  their 
churches  and  chapels  to  spend  the  night  in  praise 
and  thanksgiving.  We  have  heard  a  witness  of 
some  of  these  scenes  describe  their  pathos  and  their 
power.  With  jubilant  psalms  and  hymns,  with 
sobs  of  emotion  and  shouts  of  joy,  the  slaves  wel 
comed  the  "  Day  of  Jubilee  " — the  hour  when  their 
shackles  fell  off  and  they  stood  up  no  longer  chattels 
but  men.  Throughout  the  islands  the  anniversary 
is  still  observed  as  a  day  of  solemn  joy  and  glad- 
ness. 

The  apprenticeship  system  did  not  work  well. 
Antigua  and  Bermuda  rejected  it.  In  some  instances 
the  local  legislatures  abolished  it,  and  in  1838,  two 
years  before  its  appointed  expiration,  it  was  brought 
to  an  end  by  act  of  Parliament.  Britain  had  still 
more  than  twelve  millions  of  slaves  in  her  East 
Indian  possessions, — not  men  dragged  from  their 
homes  across  the  sea,  but  the  serfs  of  the  soil,  the 
subjects  of  conquest.  These,  too,  she  emancipated 
by  parliamentary  enactment  in  1843. 

France  was  as  much  committed  to  negro  slavery 
as  England,  but  on  account  of  her  less  extended  co- 
lonial possessions  had  not  so  many  slaves.  The 
French  Revolution  affirmed  the  principles  of  libert}', 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.  57 

equality  and  fraternity.  In  1791  these  rights  were 
extended  to  the  mulattoes  of  Hayti,  but  were  with- 
drawn the  same  year.  Under  the  famous  Toussaint 
rOuverture,  the  negro  patriot,  the  black  population 
revolted  and  afiQrmed  their  liberty.  In  1801  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte  resolved  to  restore  slavery.  Tous- 
saint was  treacherously  kidnapped  at  midnight  and 
carried  to  France,  where  he  died  in  prison  in  1803. 
In  attempting  to  suppress  the  insurrection  the 
French  force  was  almost  destroyed  by  yellow  fever. 
Hayti  had  a  troubled  career  as  a  republic,  an  empire, 
and  again  a  republic,  with  results  which  fail  to  de- 
monstrate the  fitness  of  the  negroes  for  self-govern- 
ment. 

In  1815,  during  "  the  hundred  days,"  Napoleon 
ordered  the  abolition  of  the  French  slave  trade, 
which  finally  ceased  in  1819.  Slavery  itself  was 
abolished  in  the  French  colonies,  without  indemnity 
to  the  masters,  in  1848.  The  same  year  Denmark 
abolished  slavery  in  her  colonies.  Sweden  had  al- 
ready done  the  same  the  previous  year,  and  the  Neth- 
erlands in  1860.  Spain  agreed  in  1814  to  abolish 
the  slave  trade  in  1820,  but  long  continued  to  main- 
tain an  oppressive  form  of  slavery  in  her  West 
Indian  and  Philippine  colonies. 

In  the  United  States  the  slave  trade  was  prohibited 
by  law  in  1819,  but  it  was  long  illegally  maintained, 
although  it  was  declared  to  be  piracy  in  1820.  Ne- 
groes were  kidnapped  in  the  African  villages,  driven 
to  the  coast  in  coffles,  endured  all  the  horrors  of 


58       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

*'  the  middle  passage,"  and  were  surreptitiously 
landed  in  the  ports  of  the  slave  states.  The  first 
conviction  for  this  crime  took  place  in  1861,  when 
Nathaniel  Gordon  was  executed  at  New  York  for 
piracy. 

Both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  made 
vigorous  efforts  by  means  of  watchful  fleets  to  sup- 
press this  nefarious  trade.  Many  slavers  were  cap- 
tured and  their  cargoes  freed.  One  of  Turner's 
grandest  pictures  shows  a  slave-ship,  in  a  lurid 
sunset,  throwing  its  human  cargo  to  the  sharks  in 
an  effort  to  escape  capture.  Yet  so  great  were  the 
profits  of  the  accursed  trade  that  numerous  cargoes 
were  landed  on  various  parts  of  the  American  coast. 
Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  Secession  the 
slave  trade  ceased  to  be  profitable,  and  soon  almost 
entirely  disappeared. 

In  Brazil  slavery  flourished  with  considerable 
vigor  till  1871.  For  years  a  strong  agitation  for  its 
abolition  had  been  maintained,  with  which  the  ami- 
able and  liberty-loving  Emperor  Don  Pedro  sym- 
pathized. In  September,  1871,  a  law  of  gradual 
emancipation  was  enacted.  It  is  estimated  that, 
before  the  abolition  of  slavery,  no  less  than  40,000,- 
000  Africans  were  deported  from  their  own  country, 
chiefly  to  the  mainland  and  islands  of  the  Continent 
of  America. 

At  the  first  census  of  the  United  States  taken  in 
1790  the  slave  population  numbered  697,897,  every 
state  except  Massachusetts  having  its  share.     The 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.  59 

force  of  public  opinion,  however,  soon  led  to  their 
emancipation  throughout  the  Northern  States. 

The  great  plantation  system  of  the  Southern 
States,  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  and  the  reign 
of  King  Cotton,  the  need  of  black  labor  in  the  insa- 
lubrious rice  swamps  and  cane  brakes,  and  the  brand 
of  social  inferiority  placed  upon  labor  fostered  the 
growth  of  slavery,  till,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  there  were  nearly  4,000,000  persons  in  bond- 
age. Many  of  the  fathers  of  the  American  Republic, 
Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Madison  and  many 
others  were  opposed  to  slavery  as  a  system,  though 
some  of  them  themselves  holding  slaves.  They  ex- 
pected it  to  pass  away  before  the  advancing  power 
of  civilization. 

Societies  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  were  early 
formed  in  many  of  the  states.  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  the  first  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Abolition 
Society,  founded  in  1775.  In  1790  he  sent  a  memo- 
rial to  Congress  bearing  his  official  signature,  pray- 
ing that  body  to  "  devise  means  for  removing  the 
inconsistency  of  slavery  from  the  American  people," 
and  to  "  step  to  the  very  verge  of  its  power  for 
discouraging  every  species  of  traffic  in  the  persons 
of  our  fellow-men.'*  Similar  associations  were 
formed  in  other  states,  chiefly  in  the  North,  but  in- 
cluding also  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

To  their  honor  be  it  said,  the  poets,  great  writers, 
and  many  eminent  statesmen  of  both  Great  Britain 
and  America  were  the  uncompromising  opponents 

F 


60        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  slavery.  Cowper,  James  Montgomery,  Words- 
worth, the  Brownings,  Pierpont,  Longfellow,  Lowell, 
Whittier  and  others  of  less  name  and  fame,  in  many 
a  stirring  poem  denounced  its  wrongs,  portrayed  its 
evils  and  demanded  its  abolition,  and  those  who 
survived  its  fall  rejoiced  in  its  overthrow. 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.         61 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT    IN  AISIERICA. 

The  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  North  and 
the  South  on  the  question  of  slavery  became  more  and 
more  acute.  The  addition  of  slaveholding  states  in 
the  South — Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  the  territory  of 
Arkansas — widened  the  field  and  increased  the  polit- 
ical influence  of  the  peculiar  institution.  The  op- 
ponents of  slavery  denied  that  men  could  be  held  as 
property  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States, 
however  the  case  might  be  under  the  laws  of  partic- 
ular states.  They  cited  the  proviso  in  the  Federal 
constitution  for  the  government  of  the  territories 
northwest  of  the  Ohio,  framed  in  1787,  that  *'  there 
shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in 
said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  punishment  for 
crime."  The  debate  on  the  admission  of  Missouri  as 
a  territory  to  the  Union  was  long  and  acrimonious. 
By  the  famous  Missouri  compromise  it  was  decided 
that  tlie  clause  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  territory 
should  be  struck  out,  but  that  it  should  be  pro- 
hibited north  of  latitude  36°  30'. 

The  anti-slavery  agitation  was  rekindled  by  the  ef- 
forts chieflj^of  Benjamin  Lundy,  William  Lloyd  Gar- 


62       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

rison  and  a  host  of  abolition  workers.  Lundy  pub- 
lished a  small  paper  in  Baltimore  entitled  The  Genius 
of  Universal  Emancipation,  and  in  1831  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  began  the  issue  of  the  Liberator,  an 
uncompromising  abolition  paper. 

In  a  small  chamber,  friendless  and  unseen, 

Toiled  o'er  his  types  one  poor,  unlearned  young  man  ; 

The  place  was  dark,  unfurnitured,  and  mean, 
Yet  there  the  freedom  of  a  race  began. 

Garrison  declared  that  slaveholding  was  a  sin 
against  God  and  a  crime  against  man,  and  that  im- 
mediate emancipation  was  the  right  of  every  slave, 
the  duty  of  every  master.  The  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  was  formed  in  Philadelphia  in  1833, 
the  famous  philanthropist,  Arthur  Tappan,  being  its 
first  president.  It  pronounced  all  laws  admitting 
the  right  of  slavery  to  be  "  before  God  utterly  null 
and  void."  It  declared  that  the  principles  of  its 
members  led  them  "  to  reject,  and  to  entreat  the  op- 
pressed to  reject,  the  use  of  all  carnal  weapons  for 
deliverance  from  bondage."  Their  measures,  it  said, 
would  be  *'  such  only  as  the  opposition  of  moral 
purity  to  moral  corruption,  the  destruction  of  error 
by  the  potency  of  truth,  and  the  abolition  of  slavery 
by  the  spirit  of  repentance."  An  active  propaganda 
was  formed  for  diffusion  of  anti-slavery  sentiment  by 
means  of  public  meetings,  lectures,  newspapers,  pe- 
titions to  Congress,  appeals  to  Christian  and  patriotic 
sentiment. 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.         63 

111  1854  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
were  organized.  The  act  of  Congress  declared  that 
the  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  by  which  slavery  was 
forever  prohibited  north  of  latitude  36°  30',  was  in- 
operative and  void.  A  large  emigration  of  deter- 
mined "  free-soilers  "  to  the  new  territories  took  place 
from  the  New  England  and  the  Northwestern  States. 
At  the  same  time  many  settlers  from  Missouri  passed 
into  Kansas,  taking  tlieir  slaves  with  them.  A  con- 
certed movement  for  the  extension  of  slavery  was 
made.  In  1856  armed  bands  from  Missouri  took 
possession  of  the  polls,  and  pro-slavery  delegates,  with 
gross  illegality,  by  fraud  and  force,  were  elected  to 
the  territorial  legislature.  This  legislature  passed 
an  act  making  it  felony  to  conceal  or  aid  escaping 
slaves,  to  circulate  anti-slavery  publications  or  to 
deny  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in  the  territory.  The 
free-soilers  formed  a  constitutional  convention  by 
which  slavery  was  prohibited  in  Kansas. 

The  contest  between  the  pro-slavery  and  abolition 
parties  became  so  violent  that  several  men  were 
killed  on  each  side.  Soon  a  state  of  civil  war  ex- 
isted,  many  pro-slavery  armed  men  coming  from 
Georgia,  Alabama  and  other  Southern  States,  and 
many  free-soilers  from  non-slaveholding  states.  In 
Ma}^,  1856,  a  fight  took  place  at  Pottawattomie, 
where  the  famous  John  Brown,  who  later  instigated 
the  raid  at  Harper's  Ferry,  was  encamped.  Five 
men  were  killed  and  subsequently  many  hostile  en- 
counters took  place.     In  a  still  more  bloody  conflict 


64       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

at  Ossawatomie  one  of  Brown's  sons  was  killed. 
After  a  most  determined  effort  to  secure  the  tolera- 
tion of  slavery,  a  constitutional  convention  was  held 
at  Wyandotte  in  1859,  which  adopted  a  constitution 
prohibiting  slavery.  This  was  ratified  by  the  people, 
and  under  the  provision  Kansas  was  admitted  into 
the  Union. 

On  October  16, 1859,  John  Brown,  with  three  sons 
and  eighteen  other  persons,  made  a  brave  but  ill- 
judged  raid  upon  Harper's  Ferry.  His  purpose  was 
to  capture  the  United  States  arsenal  and  rally  the 
slave  population  of  the  neighborhood  and  retreat 
with  them  to  Canada,  or,  should  that  prove  impos- 
sible, to  inaugurate  a  general  servile  war.  The 
arsenal  was  seized.  John  Brown  boldly  declared 
that  his  object  was  to  free  the  slaves,  and  that  he 
"acted  by  the  authority  of  God  Almighty."  Tlie 
insurrection  was  speedily  suppressed.  Two  of 
Brown's  sons  were  slain.  The  brave  old  man  was 
summarily  tried,  and  on  December  2d  was  ignomini- 
ously  hanged.  His  attempt  was  futile  for  the  time, 
but  on  many  a  hard-fought  field  and  on  many  a 
weary  march  the  chant, 

John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  gi-ave, 
But  his  soul  is  marching  on, 

was  the  presage  of  the  final  abolition  of  slavery. 

The  chief  interest  of  President  Buchanan's  admin- 
istration centred  around  the  slavery  controversy. 
The  famous  Dred  Scott  decision  largely  succeeded 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  xVMERICA.  65 

ill  ranging  the  advocates  and  enemies  of  slavery  in 
hostile  camps.  Dred  Scott,  a  negro  slave,  brought 
suit  to  recover  his  freedom,  having  been  taken  into 
a  free  state.  Judge  Taney,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  declared  that 
Scott  was  not  entitled  to  bring  suit  in  a  federal  court 
because  he  was  not  a  citizen,  and  declared  further 
that  negroes,  whether  slaves  or  free,  had  for  more 
than  a  century  previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  been  regarded  "  as  beings  of 
an  inferior  order,  and  altogether  unfit  to  associate 
with  the  white  race,  either  in  social  or  political  rela- 
tions; and  so  far  inferior  that  they  had  no  rights 
which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect." 

At  the  Republican  Convention  in  Chicago,  1860, 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated  as  President,  and 
Hannibal  Hamlin  as  Vice-President.  The  platform 
adopted  at  that  convention  reaffirmed  the  principle 
of  personal  liberty,  of  the  federal  constitution,  and 
asserted  "  that  the  new  dogma  that  the  constitution, 
of  its  own  force,  carries  slavery  into  any  or  all  of  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  is  a  dangerous 
political  heresy."  It  asserted  the  normal  condition 
of  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  to  be  that  of 
freedom,  and  denied  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a 
territorial  legislature,  or  of  any  individuals  to  give 
legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the 
United  States. 

Within  six  months,  eleven  of  the  slave-owning 
states  passed  ordinances  of  secession  and  appealed  to 


QQ        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  stem  arbitrament  of  war.  President  Lincoln 
gave  strong  assurance  of  the  purpose  of  the  govern- 
ment to  maintain  the  status  quo  of  slavery.  "  My 
paramount  object,"  he  said,  "  is  to  save  the  Union, 
and  not  either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery."  Soon, 
however,  as  a  military  necessity,  the  slaves  employed 
in  the  Confederate  armies  were  declared  "  contraband 
of  war."  In  March,  1862,  the  President  recom- 
mended that  the  United  States,  in  order  to  co-operate 
with  any  state  which  may  adopt  abolition  of  slaverer, 
give  to  such  state  pecuniary  aid.  This  resolution, 
however,  proved  inoperative.  On  September  22d, 
the  President  announced  that  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1863,  "all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any 
state  or  designated  part  of  a  state,  the  people  where- 
of should  then  be  in  rebellion,  should  be  then,  thence- 
forward, and  forever  free." 

Already  slavery  had  been  abolished  in  all  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  United  States.  On  June  23,  1864, 
all  laws  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves  to  their 
masters  were  repealed.  On  January  31,  1865,  by  a 
constitutional  amendment,  slavery  was  formally 
abolished  throughout  the  entire  Union,  and  the  four- 
teenth amendment  of  the  constitution  absolutely 
forbade  compensation  being  made  either  by  the  United 
States  or  by  any  state.  "  Thus  terminated  forever 
in  the  United  States  the  system  of  bondage  which 
had  been  its  chief  reproach  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
and  of  its  own  people ;  which  from  the  outset  had 
been  tlie  principal  source  of  solicitude  to  its  states- 


ANTI  SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.  67 

men  ;  and  the  soiuhern  defenders  of  which  finally 
assailed  the  life  of  the  nation  with  a  power  and  per- 
sistency from  which  it  barel}^  escaped,  after  losses 
and  sacrifices  such  as  few  peoples  in  modern  times 
have  been  called  upon  to  suffer." 

It  is  estimated  that  more  than  30,000  American 
slaves,  after  escaping  from  bondage,  found  refuge  in 
Canada.  These  were  helped  on  their  way  to  the  land 
of  liberty  by  a  philanthropic  organization  known  as 
"  The  Underground  Railway."  A  large  number  of 
the  persons  so  organized  were  members  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  who,  at  much  cost  and  no  little  peril  and 
persecution,  conducted  the  fugitives  by  night  from 
one  Quaker  settlement  to  another,  concealing  them 
from  the  United  States  marshals  till  at  last  tliey  suc- 
ceeded in  crossing  the  Canadian  frontier.  One  of 
the  leaders  in  this  movement  was  Levi  Coffin,  who 
assisted  many  hundreds  to  escape.  One  of  these  fu- 
gitives afterwards  became  a  member  of  the  senate  of 
South  Carolina. 

Harriet  Tubman,  herself  a  full-blooded  negress  and 
a  slave  for  twenty-five  years,  aided  the  escape  of 
nearly  three  hundred  other  slaves.  Many  were  the 
incidents  of  thrilling  interest  in  these  escapes. 
Sometimes  the  fuo-itives  on  reaching  Canadian  soil 
would  burst  into  hysterical  sobbing  and  singing. 
Sometimes  they  fairly  wallowed  in  the  free  soil  of 
Canada.  One  terrified  fugitive  cowered  in  the  rail- 
way car  for  fear  of  recapture  till  Harriet  Tubman 
fiercely  exclaimed,  ''  Joe,  you've  shook  de  lion's  paw ; 


68        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Joe,  you're  free."  Sometimes,  but  seldom,  the  fu- 
gitives were  kidnapped  and  returned  to  the  bonds  of 
slavery.  Among  the  fugitives  who  successfully 
eluded  pursuit  was  the  famous  Thomas  Henson,  the 
original  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  Uncle  Tom.  Considerable 
settlements  were  formed  at  Chatham,  St.  Catharine's, 
and  other  places  in  Canada ;  but  after  the  war  large 
numbers  returned  to  the  more  congenial  climate  of 
the  Middle  States. 

Strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  for  the  moral 
and  intellectual  improvement  of  the  freed  men  of  the 
South  since  the  war.  Freedmen's  Aid  Societies  of 
the  different  churches  have  spent  large  sums  in 
establishing  schools,  normal  and  industrial  colleges 
and  other  institutions  of  learning.  The  churches, 
both  North  and  South,  have  also  expended  large 
sums  in  the  evangelization  of  the  colored  people. 
The  colored  population  has  increased  since  the  war 
from  4,000,000  to  8,000,000.  How  to  secure  their 
best  moral  and  political  well-being  is  one  of  the 
gravest  problems  which  confronts  the  American  peo- 
ple. While  many  of  the  negroes  exhibit  great  thrift 
and  industry,  and  have  accumulated  large  savings, 
many  others  are  thriftless  and  indolent  and  a  con- 
siderable number  are  idle  and  vicious. 

A  passing  tribute  should  here  be  paid  to  the  noble 
men  and  women  who  labored  so  strenuously  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery. 

Garrison  was  ably  seconded  by  a  band  of  heroes, 
who  endured  ostracism,  obloquy  and  persecution  on 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.  60 

behalf  of  the  slave.  We  have  mentioned  Benjamin 
Lundy,  who  in  his  little  paper  with  a  great  name, 
The  Crenius  of  Universal  Umancipation,  boldly  de- 
nounced the  evil  of  slavery  in  the  city  of  Balti- 
more, one  of  its  chief  marts.  George  Thompson,  an 
earnest-souled  abolitionist  thrilled  with  his  elo- 
quence great  audiences  in  the  Old  World  and  in  the 
New.  He  was  bitterly  denounced  in  New  England 
as  a  British  emissary  sent  to  destroy  American  insti- 
tutions. In  the  city  of  Boston  the  streets  were 
placarded  with  the  announcement  that  "that  infa- 
mous foreign  scoundrel  Thompson "  was  to  speak, 
and  a  purse  of  a  hundred  dollars  was  offered  the 
person  who  would  first  lay  violent  hands  on  him 
"  so  that  he  might  be  brought  to  the  tar  kettle.'* 
After  profoundly  stirring  the  country  he  returned 
to  England,  entered  the  British  Parliament,  and 
lived  to  take  part  in  the  raising  of  the  flag  of  liberty 
upon  the  ruined  walls  of  Fort  Sumter. 

Arthur  Tappan,  a  New  York  merchant,  espoused 
the  unpopular  cause  of  abolition  and  aroused  the 
bitter  hostility  of  the  South.  In  New  Orleans 
$20,000  was  offered  for  his  seizure,  and  $10,000  for 
that  of  the  Rev.  Amos  A.  Phelps,  another  Northern 
abolitionist.  In  1835,  the  Noyes  Academy,  in  Ca- 
naan, New  Hampshire,  was  opened  to  pupils  without 
distinction  of  color.  The  whole  state  was  thrown 
into  a  fierce  commotion.  A  team  of  a  hundred  yoke 
of  oxen  dragged  the  school  from  its  foundations  and 
left   it   a   hopeless  ruin.     The  fires  of  persecution 


70        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

burned  fiercely.  Orange  Scott  and  George  Storrs, 
Methodist  ministers,  were  publicly  assaulted.  The 
latter  was  sentenced  to  three  months'  imprisonment 
as  "  a  common  rioter  and  brawler." 

Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  editor  of  a  religious  paper  at 
Alton,  Illinois,  espoused  the  cause  of  the  oppressed, 
and  with  a  courage  not  less  than  that  of  Luther  de- 
clared :  "  I  am  impelled  to  the  course  I  have  taken 
because  I  fear  God.  As  I  shall  answer  to  my  God 
in  the  great  day,  I  dare  not  abandon  my  sentiments, 
or  cease  in  all  proper  ways  to  propagate  them.  I 
am  fully  aware  of  all  the  sacrifice  I  make  in  here 
pledging  myself  to  continue  the  contest  to  the  last. 
I  am  commanded  to  forsake  father  and  mother,  wife 
and  children,  for  Jesus'  sake ;  and  as  his  professed 
disciple,  I  stand  pledged  to  do  it.  The  time  for 
fulfilling  this  pledge  in  my  case,  it  seems  to  me,  has 
come.  I  dare  not  flee  away  from  Alton.  Should  I 
attempt  it,  I  should  feel  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
with  drawn  sword,  was  pursuing  me  wherever  I 
went.  Before  God  and  you  all,  I  here  pledge  my- 
self to  continue  it,  if  need  be,  till  death ;  and  if  I 
fall,  my  grave  shall  be  made  in  Alton."  His  print- 
ing house  was  fired,  and  he  was  shot  to  death,  as 
brave  a  martyr  to  liberty  as  Zwingle  or  Winkel- 
ried. 

James  G.  Birney,  himself  a  slave-owner  of  Ala- 
bama, emancipated  his  slaves,  was  persecuted  out 
of  the  South,  and  established  The  Philanthropist 
at  Cincinnati,  but  his  office  was  mobbed  and  types 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.  71 

and  press  destroyed.  Amos  Dresser,  a  theological 
student,  received  twenty  lashes  on  his  bare  back 
from  a  cowhide  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  for  his 
anti-slavery  sentiments.  Marius  Robinson,  "  a  gentle 
spirited  and  self-consecrated  man,"  for  the  crime  of 
being  a  missionary  to  colored  people  in  Cincinnati, 
was  dragged  from  his  bed  miles  away  by  a  mob  of 
ruffians,  stripped  of  much  of  his  clothing,  tarred  and 
feathered,  and  left  in  an  open  field  all  night.  His 
injuries  impaired  his  health  and  aggravated  the  pain 
of  his  dying  hours.  But  he  gave  himself  with  fresh 
zeal  to  the  work  of  reform. 

Wendell  Phillips  deliberately  turned  his  back  on 
name  and  fame,  and  espoused  oppression  and  shame 
for  his  love  of  liberty.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and 
William  Ellery  Channing  opened  their  pulpits  to 
the  hated  abolitionists.  Albert  Barnes,  Joshua 
Leavitt,  David  Lee  Child,  Charles  Sumner,  Theodore 
Parker,  Gerrit  Smith  and  many  others  bore  with 
pride  the  odious  name  of  abolitionist. 

Nor  were  brave-souled  women  wanting  in  this 
moral  crusade.  Lydia  Maria  Child,  the  most  popular 
writer  of  the  country,  in  1833  sacrificed  her  popular- 
ity, and  exposed  herself  to  an  overwhelming  tide  of 
obloquy  and  abuse  by  lending  her  pen  to  the  cause 
of  the  slave.  Abby  Kelley,  a  young  Quaker  lady  of 
Lynn,  Massachusetts,  was  one  of  the  first  women  to 
speak  on  an  anti-slavery  platform.  She  encountered 
vulgar  abuse  but  bore  it  bravely  for  the  sake  of  her 
sisters  in  bonds,  "  and  thus  with  bleeding  feet  broko 


72        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

a  path  through  a  thorny  jungle  for  those  who  should 
come  after  her." 

Lucretia  Mott  espoused  this  cause  of  reproach  and 
was  one  of  those  who  did  the  most  to  break  the  fetters 
of  the  slave.  Miss  Mary  S.  Parker,  presiding  in  a 
woman's  anti-slavery  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
Boston,  "  the  cradle  of  American  liberty,"  amid  the 
hisses,  yells  and  curses  of  a  mob  of  rufQans  gave 
thanks  that  "  though  there  were  many  to  molest 
there  were  none  that  could  make  afraid."  Miss 
Prudence  Crandall  admitted  a  colored  girl  to  her 
school  in  Canterbury,  Connecticut.  For  this  crime 
she  was  thrust  into  a  cell  just  vacated  by  a  murderer. 
Her  house  was  fired  and  her  school  broken  up.  Her 
father,  Dr.  Reuben  Crandall,  was  thrown  into  jail  in 
Washington,  confined  in  a  damp  dungeon,  which 
brought  upon  him  a  lingering  consumption  that 
caused  his  death.  It  was  a  woman's  hand  that 
penned  the  most  tremendous  indictment  of  slavery, 
and  in  painting  the  sorrows  of  the  slave  aroused  the 
conscience  of  Christendom  and  prepared  the  way  for 
emancipation. 

Horace  Greeley  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  two 
stalwart  abolitionists,  exercised  the  nobility  of  a 
Gospel  revenge  by  becoming  bail  for  Jefferson 
Davis,  tlie  leader  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  upon 
his  capture.  Together  with  William  Lloyd  Gar- 
rison, George  Thompson  and  a  host  of  once  despised 
and  hated  abolitionists  they  assisted  in  raising  the 
flaGf  of  freedom  on  the  shattered  ruins  of  Fort  Sumter 


ANTI-SLAVERY  CONFLICT  IN  AMERICA.  '73 

in  celebration  of  the  overthrow  of  the  most  colossal 
wrong  of  all  the  ages. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  century,"  says  Dr.  Dor- 
chester, "  slavery  existed  throughout  all  the  world. 
Hungary  numbered  nine  millions  of  slaves,  and  the 
Russian,  Austrian  and  Prussian  peasantry  were 
mostly  slaves,  or  serfs  in  a  low  condition."  For 
Alexander  II.  of  Russia  it  was  reserved  to  enact  the 
greatest  decree  of  emancipation  the  world  has  seen. 
On  the  third  of  March,  1861,  twenty  million  peasants 
were  freed  from  the  feudal  serfdom  to  which  they 
were  born. 

The  civilized  powers  of  Europe,  instead  of  being 
the  allies  of  the  slave-dealer  as  they  were  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century,  are  now  leagued  for  the  ex- 
tirpation of  this  nefarious  trade.  Their  gunboats 
scour  the  seas  to  suppress  slave-stealing.  Their  con- 
suls in  the  ports  and  towns  of  Africa,  long  the  slave 
marts,  to  which,  from  time  immemorial,  the  weary 
coffle  marched,  marking  its  track  with  the  bleaching 
skeletons,  seek  sedulously  to  suppress  this  traffic  in 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  What  Livingstone  de- 
scribed as  "  the  open  sore  of  the  world  "  bids  fair  to 
be  ere  long  healed.  In  few  ways  has  the  beneficent 
character  of  our  holy  religion  and  of  the  emanci- 
pating power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  been  more 
strikingly  shown  than  in  the  extinction  of  slavery. 
Again  are  the  words  of  our  Lord  fulfilled  in  our  ears. 
"Proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening 
of  the  prison  to  tliem  that  are  bound." 


PAKT  TWO. 
MISSIONS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EARLY      MISSIONS  . 

The  very  essence  of  Christianity  is  its  missionary 
character.  It  differs  widely  from  the  tribal  and  na- 
tional religions  of  mankind.  The  last  mandate  of 
its  Divine  Author  is  its  watchword  and  marching  or- 
ders :  "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  : 
and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world." 

Missionary  activity  is  in  these  days  a  cardinal 
principle  of  the  Christian  Church,  a  test  of  its  vital- 
ity and  sincerity.  Missionary  effort  grandly  reacts 
upon  the  Church  itself ;  it  increases  its  spirituality, 
stimulates  its  growth  and  quickens  all  its  energies. 
This  the  record  of  the  last  hundred  years  abundantly 
proves. 


76        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Although  the  nineteenth  century  is  pre-eminently 
the  century  of  missions,  yet  it  has  not  the  monopoly 
of  that  gift  and  grace.  Every  period  of  religious 
revival  has  been  one  of  missionary  activity.  The 
Apostolic  age  was  one  marked  by  intense  and  burn- 
ing missionary  zeal.  "  In  this  period  of  its  first  love," 
says  Dr.  Gustave  Warneck,  "  the  whole  Church  was 
a  missionary  organization  ;  and,  although  the  number 
of  the  missionaries  was  not  large,  their  enthusiasm 
was  all-controlling,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  con- 
gregations was  vigorous.  The  missionaries  followed 
the  public  roads  which  God  Himself  had  laid  out,  and 
occupied  the  stations  which  His  hand  had  indicated. 
In  this  divine  preparation  lies  one  of  the  main  rea- 
sons for  the  relative  importance  of  the  results  of 
missionary  activity.  At  the  close  of  the  first  century 
there  were,  perhaps,  200,000  Christians  ;  at  the  close 
of  the  third,  6,000,000,  or  one-twentieth  part  of  the 
entire  population  of  the  Roman  Empire." 

In  a  few  brief  years  after  the  ascension  of  our 
Lord,  in  all  the  great  centres  of  ancient  civilization 
and  heathen  culture — in  Egypt,  Syria,  Asia  Minor, 
Greece,  Italy  and  Gaul — the  new  evangel  was  pro- 
claimed. The  seed  of  the  kingdom  was  becoming  a 
mighty  tree,  whose  leaves  were  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations.  Even  in  remotest  regions,  the  Man  of 
Nazareth,  who,  in  an  obscure  Syrian  tetrarchate,  had 
lived  a  life  of  poverty  and  died  a  death  of  shame, 
was  honored  and  adored  as  very  God.  "  We  are  but 
of  yesterday,"  writes  Tertullian,  at  the  close  of  the 


EARLY  MISSIONS.  77 

second  century,  "  yet  we  fill  every  town,  city  and 
island  of  the  Empire.  Even  those  places  in  Britain, 
hitherto  inaccessible  to  the  Romans,  have  been  con- 
quered by  Christ." 

The  names  of  those  early  missionaries  who  first 
carried  the  Gospel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  are  lost 
in  glorious  obscurity.  Unrecorded  on  earth,  they 
are  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.  The  tomb 
of  Saint  Thomas,  indeed,  is  shown  on  the  Malabar 
Coast,  and  Saint  Paul  is  said  to  have  visited  Great 
Britain ;  but  these  legends  rest  on  unverifiable  tradi- 
tions. Probably  some  of  the  "  strangers  of  Rome  " 
who  witnessed  the  miracle  of  Pentecost,  or,  perhaps, 
the  Gentile  converts  of  the  "  Italian  Band  "  of  Cor- 
nelius, brought  the  new  evangel  to  their  native  city. 
Certain  it  is  that,  as  early  as  A.  D.  58,  the  faith  of 
the  Roman  Church  was  *'  spoken  of  throughout  the 
whole  world."  It  is  probable  that  Christian  soldiers 
or  civilians  accompanied  the  Roman  armies  that  in- 
vaded Biitain.  The  Claudia  mentioned  by  Saint 
Paul  in  the  year  A.  d.  66,  it  is  generally  admitted, 
was  the  daughter  of  a  British  king. 

The  Christian  Church  was  almost  the  only  institu- 
tion that  survived  the  wreck  of  the  old  Roman  world. 
Throughout  the  long,  dark,  stormy  night  of  the 
middle  ages  it  trimmed  the  lamp  of  learning,  which 
else  had  flickered  to  extinction.  "With  no  small  ad- 
mixture of  error,  it  nourished  the  germs  of  undying 
good.  It  asserted  the  dignity  of  humanity,  rebuked 
the  tyranny  of  nobles  and  of  kings,  smote  the  yoke 


78       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

from  the  neck  of  the  slave,  maintained  the  sanctity 
of  human  life,  and,  in  an  age  of  violence  and  blood, 
exhibited  the  immeasurable  superiority  of  moral  in- 
fluence to  brute  force.  The  monks  were  the  apos- 
tles and  the  saints  of  mediaeval  Europe.  St.  Guthlac 
in  Lincoln's  fens  and  on  Yorkshire  wolds ;  St.  Co- 
lumba  in  lone  lona  and  on  storm-swept  Lindisfarne ; 
the  English  monk  St.  Boniface  amid  Thuringian  for- 
ests; St.  Columbanus  in  Helvetian  vales;  Methodius 
and  Cyril  amid  the  recesses  of  Bohemia  and  Bul- 
garia ;  and  Anskar  amid  Norwegian  glaciers  and 
fiords  raised  the  voice  of  prayer  and  hymn  of  praise, 
and  planted  the  germsof  the  new  life  of  Christendom. 

The  period  of  the  Reformation  was  one  of  great 
religious  quickening  but  not  of  missionary  extension. 
The  Reformers  were  powerful  preachers  within  the 
limits  of  the  Church,  but  of  missions  to  the  heathen 
world  they  did  not  think.  The  Protestant  Churches, 
it  must  be  remembered,  were  not  yet  brought  into 
direct  contact  with  the  heathen  world. 

The  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  were  not 
without  their  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic  missions. 
Gustavus  Vasa  sent  missionaries  to  the  Lapps  in 
1559,  and  the  Huguenot  Villegaignon  sent  others  to 
Brazil  in  1555. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  hegemony  of  tlie 
seas  passed  from  the  hands  of  Catholic  Spain  and 
Portugal  into  the  hands  of  Protestant  England, 
Holland  and  Denmark.  The  Dutch  made  the  accept- 
ance of  the  Helvetic  confession  a  condition  of  em- 


EARLY  MISSIONS.  79 

ployment  in  Java  and  Ceylon,  with  the  result  that 
half  a  million  received  baptism  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  spirit  of  Christianity. 

The  Puritans  in  New  England  and  the  Royalists 
in  Virginia  were  too  busy  fighting  the  Indians  and 
subduing  the  wilderness  to  give  much  attention  to 
missions  among  the  heatlien.  Nevertheless,  the  men 
who  sought  beyond  the  sea  freedom  to  worship  God 
strove  to  extend  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  to  the  na- 
tives of  the  soil.  The  charter  of  the  Massachusetts 
Company  expressed  the  hope  that  "  the  colony  would 
win  the  natives  of  the  country  to  the  knowledge  and 
obedience  of  the  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind  ;  " 
and  the  colonial  seal  bore  the  impression  of  an  Indian, 
with  a  label  in  his  mouth  bearing  tlie  words,  "Come 
over  and  help  us." 

John  Eliot,  the  apostle  to  the  Indians,  began  a 
mission  to  the  red  men  in  1646,  and  translated  the 
whole  Bible  into  the  Indian  tongue.  Of  this  Bible 
Cotton  Mather  wrote  :  "  Behold,  ye  Americans,  the 
greatest  honor  that  ever  ye  were  partakers  of, — the 
Bible  printed  here  at  our  Cambridge ;  and  it  is  the 
only  Bible  that  ever  was  printed  in  all  America,  from 
the  very  foundation  of  the  world.  " 

By  the  year  1680  well-organized  congregations  had 
beeti  established  among  the  Indians,  with  1,100  mem- 
bers. In  the  following  century  David  Brainerd,  in  a 
short  life  of  thirty  years,  accomplished  a  great  work 
among  the  Indians  on  the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna, 

England's  uncrowned   king,   the  great  Protector, 


80       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Oliver  Cromwell,  made  a  bold  proposition  in  regard 
to  missions.  He  proposed  that  a  society  should  be 
formed  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  which  was  to 
be  divided  into  four  districts  for  that  purpose.  The 
cares  of  State,  the  conflicts  at  home  and  abroad, 
frustrated  this  great  design ;  but  it  shows  the 
awaking  conscience  of  England  with  reference  to  her 
missionary  obligation. 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  Fran  eke,  the  Ger- 
man philanthropist,  urged  Frederick  of  Prussia  to 
take  up  the  work  of  converting  the  heathen,  espe- 
cially the  Chinese.  But  Frederick  was  a  man  of  war 
more  than  of  missions,  and  Francke  turned  to  the 
Danish  sovereign,  who  provided  for  the  first  mission- 
aries to  India,  Ziegenbalg  and  Pliitschau.  But  the 
faculty  of  Wittenberg  University  declared  the  mis- 
sionaries to  be  false  prophets,  and  missions  to  be 
unnecessary.  Schwartz,  one  of  the  missionaries  of 
this  society,  labored  for  nearly  fifty  years  in  India, 
and  the  visible  results  before  the  end  of  the  century 
were  the  conversion  of  40,000  souls. 

One  of  the  most  devoted  missionaries  to  the 
heathen  in  an  inhospitable  clime  was  Hans  Egede,  the 
apostle  of  the  Greenlanders.  In  1721  he  established 
his  mission  at  Godt-Haab  (Good  Hope)  and  labored 
among  them  in  the  gospel  for  fifteen  years.  Small- 
pox broke  out  among  the  Eskimo.  Three  thousand 
people  died,  among  them  Egede's  wife.  His  son, 
Paul  Egede,  continued  the  good  work  with  much 
success. 


EARLY  MISSIONS.  81 

The  most  thoroughly  missionary  church  in  Chris- 
tendom is  that  of  the  Moravian  Brotherhood.  In  a 
picture  gallery  at  Diisseldorf  the  famous  Count  Zin- 
zendorf,  the  modern  resuscitator  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  saw  an  Ecce  Homo  with  this  inscription, 
"  Hoc  feci  pro  te  ;  quid  facis  pro  me  ?  "  "I  suffered 
this  for  thee ;  what  hast  thou  done  for  me  ? "  It 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  his  soul  and  led 
him  to  consecrate  himself  fully  to  Christ. 

Inspired  by  the  example  of  Egede,  Moravian  mis- 
sionaries from  Herrnhut  went  to  Greenland  to  con- 
tinue the  good  work  there  begun.  They  labored  five 
years  before  they  had  a  single  convert.  They  ex- 
tended their  work  to  Labrador  in  1770,  and  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty  years  their  missionary  vessel 
"  never  failed  to  cross  the  Atlantic  in  safety  and  to 
reach  Labrador  with  provisions  and  reinforcements." 

For  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  the  Moravians 
have  maintained  their  missionary  zeal,  sending  mis- 
sionaries to  Surinam,  Guinea  and  Cape  Colony,  the 
West  Indies,  the  Mosquito  Coast,  Australia,  and 
India.  "  Up  to  1750,"  says  Dr.  Gustave  Warneck, 
the  great  German  authority  on  missions,  "  or  in 
twenty  years,  the  United  Brethren  of  Herrnhut  had 
established  more  missions  than  the  combined  Prot- 
estant Church  in  two  hundred  years. 

''  The  salvation  of  the  heathen  lay,  day  and  night, 
upon  the  heart  of  Zinzendorf .  Herrnhut  became  the 
salt  of  the  earth,  and  remains  to  this  day  the  mission- 
ary church  par  excellence.     The  Moravian  mission- 


82       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

aries  started  out  with  the  motto,  '  Venture  in  faith/ 
They  were  uneducated,  but  their  humility  and 
fidelity  gradually  overcame  all  the  prejudices  against 
*the  illiterate  laymen.'  They  were  enjoined  to 
practise  rigid  economy,  and  to  labor  with  their  hands. 
They  were  to  use  only  spiritual  means,  and  to  aim  at 
the  conversion  of  individuals.  In  1882  the  150th 
anniversary  of  Moravian  missions  was  appropriately 
celebrated  in  Herrnhut."  At  that  date  they  had  sent 
out  2,212  missionaries,  of  whom  604  were  then  alive. 
That  number  has  since  been  greatly  increased. 

The  noble  example  of  the  Moravians  was  not  fol- 
lowed for  many  a  long  year  by  the  other  churches  of 
Christendom.  *'  The  responsibility  for  this  neglect," 
adds  Dr.  Warneck,  "  lies  with  the  rationalism  and  the 
deism  which  undermined  the  faith  of  England  and 
Germany.  In  rationalistic  soil,  missions  have  not 
flourished,  and  never  will.  With  the  grand  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  its  colonies,  and  domination  of 
the  seas,  England  did  next  to  nothing,  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  for  missions.  The  reason  is  to 
be  found  in  the  low  state  of  religion  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Deistic  movement.  Never  were  such 
elegant  moral  sermons  preached,  and  never  had  im- 
morality reached  so  high  a  point.  It  was  with  the 
dawn  of  a  new  era  of  faith  in  England,  at  the  close 
of  the  century,  that  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  begotten.  The  great  religious 
revival,  starting  with  the  labors  of  the  Wesleys  and 
Whitefield,  gave  the  impulse  to  recent  modern  mis- 


EARLY  MISSIONS.  83 

sions.  God  was  opening  the  doors  to  the  nations,  and 
the  period  had  dawned  which  he  had  chosen  for  the 
missionary  era." 

The  voyages  around  the  world  and  discoveries  in 
eastern  and  southern  seas  of  Captain  Cook  revealed 
at  once  the  opportunity  and  the  need  of  Christian 
missions.     In  these 

Summer  isles  of  Eden  lying  in  dark  purple  spheres  of  sea 

were  all  the  elements  of  an  earthly  paradise,  but  man 
alone  was  vile.  Of  the  fertile  island  of  Tahiti  Cap- 
tain Cook  said :  "  There  is  a  scale  of  dissolute  sensu- 
ality to  which  these  people  have  descended  wholly 
unknown  to  every  other  people,  and  which  no  imagin- 
ation could  possibly  conceive."  Referring  to  tlie 
project  of  evangelizing  these  islands,  he  wrote  :  "  It 
is  very  unlikely  that  any  measure  of  this  kind  should 
ever  be  seriously  thought  of,  as  it  can  neither  serve 
the  purpose  of  public  ambition  nor  private  avarice, 
and  without  such  inducements  I  may  pronounce  that 
it  will  never  be  undertaken." 

Yet  this  very  degradation  and  misery  was  the 
strongest  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  Christendom  for 
missionary  effort.  Upon  the  heart  of  William  Carey, 
a  humble  Baptist  minister  of  England,  it  lay  like  a 
burden. 


84:       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY, 


CHAPTER  X. 

WILLIAM    CAREY,   THE    FOUNDER   OF  MODERN 
MISSIONS. 

Divine  Providence  often  selects  the  most  seem- 
ingly inadequate  means  to  accomplish  the  grandest 
results.  Of  this  the  history  of  missions  furnishes  a 
striking  example.  William  Carey  was  born  amid 
extreme  poverty,  and  in  early  life  enjoyed  only  the 
most  meagre  educational  advantages.  In  his  seven- 
teenth year  we  find  him  earning  his  living  as  a 
shoemaker's  apprentice.  He  was  possessed  with  a 
thirst  for  knowledge,  and  devoted  his  scanty  leisure 
to  the  study  of  birds,  plants  and  insect  life.  In  his 
twentieth  year  he  married  a  woman  who  is  described 
as  "  querulous,  capricious,  obstinate,"  anything  but  a 
helpmeet  in  his  exalted  life-work.  He  was  subject 
also  to  a  long  period  of  ill-health  and  burdened  with 
almost  penury.  Nevertheless,  such  was  his  passion 
for  learning  that  he  acquired  an  acquaintance  by  no 
means  meagre  with  Latin,  Hebrew,  Greek  and 
French. 

Although  brought  up  in  the  Established  Church, 
he  cast  in  his  lot  in  his  twenty-fourth  year  with  a 
little  company  of  Baptists  that  he  might  carry  out 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  85 

the  letter  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  the  Scripture,  *'  Let 
us  go  forth  unto  him  without  the  camp  bearing  his 
reproach."  His  preaching  gift  soon  became  apparent, 
and  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  a  small  church  at 
Moulton,  with  a  salary  of  but  ^15  a  j^ear.  To  eke 
out  a  livelihood  shoemaking  and  school-teaching  were 
added  to  his  occupations. 

Great  Britain  was  then  ringing  with  the  fame  of 
Captain  Cook's  famous  voyages,  with  the  discoveries 
of  such  vast  islands  at  the  antipodes  as  Australia,  New 
Zealand  and  New  Guinea,  and  of  the  many  scattered 
groups  of  the  southern  seas.  "We  can  scarcely 
understand,"  says  Dr.  Leonard,  "the  prodigious  stir 
that  was  made,  the  boundless  enthusiasm  that  was 
kindled  by  Cook's  achievements.  The  explorations 
of  Livingstone  and  Stanley  were  received  coldly  by 
comparison." 

It  was  the  reading  of  these  voyages  that  aroused 
the  interest  of  the  obscure  preaching  cobbler  at 
Moulton,  "  though  if  ever  an  idea  was  originated 
in  any  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  was  the  idea  of 
the  evangelization  of  the  world."  He  brooded  and 
prayed  over  this  great  thought  by  day  and  night. 
On  the  wall  of  the  little  shop  in  which  he  worked 
was  a  roughly  sketched  map  of  the  world,  *'  upon 
which  had  been  set  in  order  all  manner  of  facts  and 
figures,  to  picture  to  the  eye  what  needed  to  be  done 
for  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel,  the  redemption  of  the 
race." 

At  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  Baptist  ministers 


86        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  Northamptonshire  for  prayer  and  religious  conver- 
sation Carey  could  not  but  unburden  his  soul  op- 
pressed with  the  weight  of  the  world's  need.  "  But 
he  found  few  to  listen  with  interest,  while  as  for  most 
he  seemed  to  be  a  dreamer,  a  teller  of  idle  tales, 
one  gone  daft,  his  conclusions  irrational,  his  plans 
impracticable,  his  longings  such  as  never  could  be 
met." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Baptist  Association  in  Leicester 
he  propounded  this  question :  "  Whether  the  com- 
mand given  to  the  apostles  to  teach  all  nations  was 
not  obligatory  on  all  ministers,  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ?  "  The  venerable  Pastor  Ryland  but  expressed 
the  common  indifference  and  unbelief  of  the  times 
when  he  said,  "  Sit  down,  young  man,  sit  down.  You 
are  an  enthusiast  to  ask  such  a  question.  When  God 
wants  to  convert  the  world,  he  can  do  it  without  your 
help  or  mine.  At  least  nothing  can  be  done  until  a 
second  Pentecost  shall  bring  a  return  of  the  mirac- 
ulous gifts." 

The  young  man,  however,  was  not  to  be  suppressed. 
In  spite  of  this  rebuff  and  rebuke  he  prepared  a  tabular 
statement  of  the  size,  population  and  religious  con- 
dition of  the  various  countries  in  the  world.  He 
argued  with  great  force  and  clearness  the  perpetual 
obligation  of  our  Lord's  command  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature,  and  demonstrated  the 
practical  duty  of  obedience  to  the  divine  call.  He 
closed  with  an  appeal  for  united  prayer  and  for  the 
regular  contribution  of  one  penny  per  week  for  the 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  87 

conversion  of  the  world.  This  document  has  heen 
described  by  one  of  Carey's  biographers  as  the  first 
and  still  greatest  missionary  treatise  in  the  English 
language.  From  sheer  lack  of  means  to  print  we  are 
told  this  pamphlet  remained  for  six  years  in  manu- 
script and  unread.  But  the  divine  leaven  of  missionary 
aspiration  and  desire,  though  hidden,  was  at  work. 
The  thought  of  the  world's  need  and  of  Christ's  cure 
was  as  fire  in  his  bones.  He  must  speak  whether 
men  would  hear  or  whether  they  would  forbear. 

"On  the  31st  of  May,  1792,"  says  Dr.  Leonard,  "a 
date  to  be  memorized  by  every  lover  of  the  king- 
dom, came  the  life-opportunity  for  this  irrepressible 
agitator  for  the  opening  of  a  world-wide  evangelistic 
campaign.  Carey  was  chosen  to  preach  before  the 
association  of  Baptist  ministers  at  Nottingham. 
With  an  utter  consecration  and  a  stalwart  faith  he 
proceeded  to  enforce  the  immediate  duty  of  the 
Church.  *  Expect  great  things  from  God,  attempt  great 
things  for  God.'  The  convictions  of  years  were 
focussed  into  the  utterance  of  an  hour.  Hearts  were 
stirred  and  swayed,  and  some  souls  were  moved  to 
tears.  But  no  definite  resolve  was  made  to  attempt 
things  great  or  smalL  In  an  agony  of  earnestness 
Carey  seized  his  brother  Fuller  by  the  arm  and  said, 
'Are  you  going  to  again  do  nothing?'  So  to  pacify 
the  importunate  man  it  was  resolved  to  organize  a 
meeting  five  months  later." 

In  vivid  words  Dr.  Delavan  L.  Leonard  records  the 
initiation  of  what  proved  to  be  the  mightiest  move 


88       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ment  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles  : — 

"  In  due  season,  at  Kettering  in  the  back  parlor  of 
the  Widow  Beebe  Wallis,  was  formed  the  '  Particular 
Baptist  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among 
the  Heathen.'  How  utterly  insignificant  were  the 
actors  for  number,  or  station,  or  gifts  !  Only  twelve, 
belonging  to  a  feeble  and  despised  sect,  and  unheard 
of  outside  of  the  interior  counties  in  which  they 
lived.  Only  one  London  clergyman  gave  counte- 
nance to  the  movement.  Kings,  statesmen,  church- 
magnates  cared  nothing,  knew  nothing.  And  they 
made  a  subscription  on  the  spot  for  the  world's  con- 
version, which  amounted  to  <£13  2s.  6d.,  over  which 
the  brilliant  Sydney  Smith  made  merry  years  after, 
for  its  preposterous  inadequacy  when  the  souls  of 
420,000,000  were  concerned.  Indeed,  how  sublime 
was  that  act  of  faith,  that  ventured  far  beyond  the 
realm  of  sight.  How  exceedingly  remote  were  the 
heathen,  and  what  an  uncounted  host.  The  under- 
taking was  vast  beyond  conception,  and  the  issue  ex- 
ceedingly doubtf>ul.  It  was  like  crossing  the  Rubi- 
con, like  nailing  the  theses  to  the  church  doors, 
putting  forth  from  Palos  upon  the  untraversed  sea, 
or  burning  the  ships  to  make  retreat  impossible." 

The  question  now  rose — Where  shall  this  mighty 
work  begin  ?  The  world  was  all  before  them,  where 
to  choose.  Carey's  thought  had  long  been  centred 
from  the  study  of  Cook's  voyages  on  the  Society 
Islands  in  the  southern  seas.  But  Divine  Provi- 
dence had  other  purposes.  By  a  remarkable  coinci- 
dence a  surgeon  in  the  employ  of  the  East  India 
Company  in  Bengal,  John  Thomas  by  name,  was 
brought  to  God  in  that  country,  and  had  begun  to 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  §9 

preach  the  gospel  among  the  Hindus.  He  was  then 
in  London,  and,  with  Carey  as  his  fellow-laborer, 
was  appointed  to  go  forth  to  establish  missions  in  the 
vast  presidency  of  Bengal.  "Thus  did  the  Divine 
hand  guide  this  master-missionary  to  make  assault, 
not  upon  one  of  the  comparatively  unimportant  out- 
works of  heathenism,  but  directly  upon  one  of  the 
mightiest  of  its  central  strongholds." 

Many  difficulties  arose  on  the  very  threshold. 
Carey's  wife  at  first  refused  to  make  the  fifteen  thou- 
sand miles'  journey  to  India  and  to  encounter  the 
unknown  perils  of  the  future.  The  East  India  Com- 
pany held  absolute  control  of  the  country,  and  no 
Englishman  could  land  upon  its  shores  without  a 
license,  and  missionaries  were  regarded  as  especially 
objectionable.  The  Company  exploited  the  vast  de- 
pendency purely  for  monetary  gain.  The  project  of 
sending  out  missionaries,  it  declared  to  be  *'  the  most 
extravagant,  mad,  useless  and  dangerous  project  that 
had  ever  been  conceived."  This  sentiment  was 
echoed  even  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  That  august  body  denounced  the 
scheme  of  foreign  missions  as  "illusive,"  "vision- 
ary," "  dangerous  to  the  good  order  of  society,"  and 
declared  it  to  be  improper  and  absurd  to  propagate 
the  gospel  abroad,  so  long  as  there  remained  a  single 
individual  at  home  without  the  means  of  religious 
knowledge." 

At  length,  despite  the  prohibition  of  the  Company, 
the  missionaries  determined  to  set  forth  on  their  sub- 


90       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

lime  quest,  and  to  leave  the  consequences  with  God. 
On  the  13th  of  June,  1793,  in  a  Danish  East  India- 
man  they  set  forth,  and  after  a  voyage  of  five  months 
reached  Calcutta  November  9th. 

The  world  was  shaking  with  great  events.  The 
great  schism  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  had  taken 
place  and  her  fairest  possessions  had  been  wrested 
from  Great  Britain.  That  tremendous  cataclysm, 
the  French  Revolution,  had  prostrated  both  throne 
and  altar  in  the  dust.  At  the  very  time  of  the  or- 
ganization of  this  humble  society  the  allied  armies 
of  Europe  were  marching  on  the  French  Republic 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  A  few  weeks 
before  Carey  sailed  the  deadly  guillotine  shore  off 
the  head  of  Louis  XVI.  That  carnival  of  crime,  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  had  begun.  The  earth  was  drunk 
with  gore.  While  '*the  destined  vessel  richly 
freighted  "  was  on  her  way  to  the  Indies  the  crimes 
of  the  French  Republic  were  multiplied.  The  best 
blood  of  France  flowed  like  water.  The  beautiful, 
high-born,  hapless  INIarie  Antoinette,  after  shameful 
indignities,  was  borne  in  a  tumbrel  to  the  guillotine, 
and  throughout  France  chaos  seemed  to  come  again. 
Amid  these  lurid  phenomena  a  better  day  was  dawn- 
ing on  the  world.  "  As  God,  and  angels,  and  glori- 
fied saints  estimate  human  affairs,  who  will  dare 
affirm  that  the  Hackleton  cobbler's  part  in  history  is 
not  in  every  way  worthy  to  be  compared  with  that 
of  Chatham  and  Napoleon,  George  III.  and  Burke, 
Mirabeau  and  Lafayette?  " 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  01 

The  mere  sailing  of  two  lowly  men  across  the  sea 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  was  in  itself  a 
comparatively  insignificant  event,  but  it  was  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era.  It  was  the  initiation  of  a 
great  movement  which  shall  never  cease  till  "  the 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  sporadic  and  feeble  at- 
tempts before  this  to  reach  the  great  dark  heathen 
world,  but  these  were  but  as  the  faint  glimmering 
which  precedes  the  dawn.  Within  five  years  the 
churches  of  Christendom  were  awakened  and  an  era 
of  missionary  enthusiasm  and  consecrated  zeal  was 
begun.  Yet  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with 
observation.  *'  The  first  two  English  missionaries  to 
India  seemed,  to  those  who  sent  them  forth,  to  have 
disappeared  forever.  For  fourteen  months  no  tidings 
of  their  welfare  reached  the  poor  praying  people  of 
the  Midlands  who  had  been  emboldened  to  begin 
the  enterprise." 

At  last  letters  from  India  arrived.     We  are  told : 

"  The  first  diflSculties  of  the  mission-party 
would  have  beaten  back  a  spirit  less  brave  than 
Carey's.  He  was  glad  of  the  offer  of  a  native 
house.  His  wife,  who  was  out  of  sympathy  with  his 
views,  and  was  with  difficulty  persuaded  to  leave 
England,  turned  on  him  with  bitter  reproaches.  He 
was  driven  to  settle  in  the  marshy  Soonderbuns,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ganges,  the  home  of  fever,  tigers  and 
alligators,  in  order  to  support  himself  by  farming. 
He  afterwards    lived   in   an   indigo   factory,   while 


92        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

studying  the  language.  A  press  was  procured  for 
the  printing  of  the  Bengalee  New  Testament,  the  said 
press  being  regarded  by  the  natives  as  an  English 
idol.     It  is  still  preserved  as  an  interesting  relic. 

*'  Soon  Carey  was  joined  by  Marshman  and  Ward, 
who  were  to  be  his  fellow-laborers  for  life.  Ward 
had  been  editor  and  printer,  and  took  especial  charge 
of  the  press ;  while  Marshman,  whose  reading  had 
been  of  a  higher  cast,  took  most  interest  in  schools 
and  schemes  of  education.  A  refuge  from  attempted 
suppression  by  the  East  India  Company  was  found 
at  the  tiny  Danish  settlement  of  Serampore,  near 
Calcutta,  and  thus  England  lost,  and  Denmark  gained, 
the  honor  of  being  the  home  of  the  first  Protestant 
mission  in  Bengal. 

"  The  missionaries  felt  the  importance  of  raising 
up  a  native  ministry.  'It  is  only,'  they  wrote,  *  by 
means  of  native  preachers  we  can  hope  for  the  univer- 
sal spread  of  the  gospel  through  this  immense  con- 
tinent. Europeans  are  too  few,  and  their  subsistence 
costs  too  much,  for  us  ever  to  hope  that  they  can 
possibly  be  the  instruments  of  tlie  universal  diffusion 
of  the  Word  among  so  many  millions.' " 

The  Marquis  of  Wellesley  (afterwards  Duke  of 
Wellington)  induced  Carey  to  assume  tlie  professor- 
ship of  Bengalee  in  the  college  of  Fort  William — a 
post  which  he  accepted  only  when  he  found  that  he 
could  make  it  help  on  his  missionary  plans.  "The 
profits  of  Carey's  government  offices,  as  teacher, 
professor,  and  translator  in  Sanscrit  and  Bengalee, 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marshman's  flourishinor  boardinof- 
schools,  and  of  Ward's  press,  amounted  in  all  to  not 
less  than  .£80,000.  This  was  their  contribution  to 
the  mission.     In  fact,  they  only  engaged  in  these 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  93 

labors  to  obtain  funds  for  mission-work.  They  were 
never  indebted  to  home  for  anything  towards  their 
personal  support." 

Carey  made  a  powerful  appeal  for  the  suppression 
of  the  cruel  sacrifice  of  children  to  the  Ganges,  and 
of  widows  on  their  husbands'  funeral  pyres.  The 
former  was  suppressed,  but  the  tyranny  of  custom 
was  too  strong  for  the  prevention  of  the  latter. 

The  idolatrous  worship  of  Juggernaut  was  also  in 
full  play,  and  vexed  the  souls  of  the  missionaries  as 
the  abominations  of  Sodom  did  that  of  righteous  Lot. 
Its  seat  was  the  town  of  Poree — the  most  holy  of  the 
shrines  of  India,  which  is  still  visited  by  a  million 
pilgrims  annually.  In  1803  the  East  India  Company 
took  possession  of  the  town,  and  continued  to  levy 
a  tax  on  the  pilgrims,  which  maintained  the  idol 
worship. 

A  storm  of  persecution  burst  upon  the  missionaries 
in  consequence  of  the  Vellore  mutiny  in  1806.  With 
this  the  mission  had  nothing  in  the  world  to  do.  It 
was  the  result  of  official  blundering  and  incapacity. 
But  it  was  convenient  to  throw  the  blame  on  the 
spread  of  Christianity  among  the  natives,  just  as  was 
done  in  the  case  of  the  greater  mutiny  of  fifty  years 
later. 

A  second  storm  of  persecution  in  1812  was  still 
more  fierce.  Spies  dogged  the  footsteps  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  sham  inquirers  sought  to  entrap  them 
in  private  conversation.  One  missionary  was  expelled 
from  the  country  and  obliged  to  return  to  England. 


94       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

After  a  time  the  storm  lulled,  and  Mr.  Ward  writes — 
'*  Now  we  shall  be  tolerated  like  toads,  and  not 
hunted  down  like  wild  beasts." 

"  The  next  year,"  says  the  biographer  of  Carey,  "the 
Company's  charter  had  to  be  renewed.  The  friends 
of  missions  resolved  not  to  let  the  opportunity  pass 
without  an  effort  to  break  down  the  monopoly. 
William  Wilberforce  led  the  forces  in  Parliament. 
Old  Indian  after  old  Indian  rose  in  the  House  to  pro- 
test against  England's  tolerating  Christian  missions 
in  India.  Speaker  after  speaker  defended  what  had 
never  been  attacked,  denounced  measures  that  were 
never  contemplated,  and  pleaded  in  pathetic  tones 
for  the  virtues  of  heathenism.  One  member  declared 
that  he  had  seen  Mr.  Carey  preaching  from  a  tub,  and 
hardly  saved  from  death  at  the  hands  of  an  infuriate 
people.  The  'missionary  clause'  passed  only  by  a 
majority  of  twenty-two ;  but  the  door  was  open, 
Christianity  in  India  was  free." 

With  redoubled  diligence  the  little  band  of  mis- 
sionaries labored  on,  preaching,  writing,  translating, 
till  the  Word  of  God  was  given  to  the  people  in 
forty  languages  and  dialects.  Ward  was  the  first  of 
the  number  to  be  taken.  He  died  suddenly  of 
cholera  in  1823.  The  survivors  were  often  reduced 
to  serious  straits  through  the  heavy  expense  of  their 
printing  operations  and  college,  and  through  the 
calumnies  on  their  character  and  misrepresentations 
of  their  work. 

For  more  than  forty  years  Carey  labored  without 


WILLIAM  CAREY.  95 

surcease  for  the  salvation  of  India.  It  lay  like  a 
burden  upon  his  soul,  and  was  the  subject  of  his 
prayers  by  day  and  night.  He  magnified  his  work, 
despite  the  scoffs  of  the  worldling — the  sneers  of 
learned  reviewers — the  persecution  of  men  in  high 
places — as  the  noblest  calling  on  earth.  When  his 
son,  who  had  been  a  missionary,  entered  the  service 
of  the  Burmese  King,  and  came  to  Calcutta  in  great 
state,  the  father  was  bitterly  mortified  at  his  "  sink- 
ing from  a  missionary  to  an  ambassador !  "* 

"  If  any  one,"  writes  his  biographer,  "  ever  wore 
'  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless  life,'  it  was  Carey. 
Whatever  charges  were  levelled,  baselessly  enough, 
against  the  mission,  Carey  was  held  blameless.  For 
forty  years  he  had  toiled  unceasingly  in  the  sultry 
Bengal  heats.  From  the  day  when  he  stepped  from 
the  deck  of  the  Danish  vessel  in  1793,  he  had  never 
left  Indian  soil.  In  1823  he  had  a  dangerous  illness, 
when  his  life  was  despaired  of.  After  that  time  his 
health  never  recovered  its  tone.  Feebleness  gradu- 
ally crept  over  him.  The  last  few  months  he  was 
confined  to  a  couch.     Dr.  Marshman  came  daily  to 


*  The  story  is  well  known  of  Carey's  correcting  an  officer 
whom  he  overheard  at  a  government  reception  in  Calcutta  re- 
marking on  his  having  been  a  shoemaker,  by  saying,  "  No, 
sir,  only  a  cobbler."  The  eloquent  and  witty  Samuel  Brad- 
burn,  one  of  the  early  Methodist  preachers,  had  also  been  a 
disciple  of  St.  Crispin.  Hearing  a  shallo%v  egotist  boast  that 
he  "  had  given  up  all  for  the  Gospel,"  Bradburn  remarked, 
♦*  Oh,  that  is  nothing  ;  I  gave  up  for  the  Gospel  two  of  the 
best  awls  in  the  kingdom." 


96        RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

cheer  him  with  talk  of  the  past  and  future.  Lady 
Bentinck  often  crossed  the  river  to  see  him,  and 
Bishop  Wilson  sought  his  blessing."  He  quietly 
passed  away,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age, 
June  9,  1834.  His  epitaph  was  prepared  by  him- 
self :— 

William   Carey. 
Born  August,  1761 ;  Died 

**  A  wretched,  poor  and  helpless  worm, 
On  thy  kind  arm  I  fail." 

Dr.  Marshman  lingered  three  years  longer,  the 
last  survivor  of  the  little  band  of  pioneer  mission- 
aries in  India ;  when  he,  too,  entered  into  rest,  and 
was  buried  beside  his  brethren  in  the  cemetery  at 
Serampore.  "India  has  many  doubtful  places  of 
pilgrimage ;  but  if  holy  lives  and  heroic  work  gives 
sacredness  to  sites,  no  one  doubts  that  Serampore  is 
holy  ground." 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  97 


CHAPTER  XL 

EARLY    PROGRESS   OF    MISSIONS. — HENRY    MARTYN. 

One  of  the  first  results  of  the  Carey  mission  in 
India  was  the  awakening  of  a  widespread  interest 
in  all  the  churches.  *'  A  great  door  and  effectual  " 
was  opened  to  tlie  heathen  world.  The  Macedonian 
cry  was  heard  speaking  with  a  new  power  and 
pathos.  Many  hearts  heard  it  and  responded.  A 
great  impulse  was  given  to  the  missionary  spirit  and 
happy  co-operation  of  tlie  different  churches  in  the 
presence  of  the  appalling  need  of  the  world  was 
shown.  The  veiy  year  that  the  first  letters  came 
from  Carey  and  Thomas,  Dr.  Bogue  made  an 
appeal  for  funds  to  support  at  least  twenty  or  thirty 
missionaries.  Within  a  month  two  men  stood  pledged 
for  £600  to  equip  the  first  six  volunteers  for  the 
mission  to  the  South  Seas. 

Tn  1795  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  or- 
ganized on  the  broad  basis  of  Catholic  Christianity. 
The  following  fundamental  principle  was  announced: 
"  The  design  is  not  to  send  Presbyterianism,  Inde- 
pendency, Episcopacy,  or  any  other  form  of  church 
order  or  government,  but  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
blessed    God    to    the    heathen."     "  We    are    called 


98       RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

together,"  said  Dr.  Bogue,  "for  the  funeral  of  big- 
otry ;  and  I  hope  it  will  be  buried  so  deep  as  never 
to  rise  again." 

Scotland,  too,  caught  the  evangelistic  fervor,  and 
before  many  months  £12,000  had  been  forwarded  to 
London.  The  good  ship  "  DufF"  was  purchased  and 
fitted  out  at  a  cost  of  £12,000  for  a  voyage  to  the 
Southern  Seas.  Captain  James  Wilson,  a  man  con- 
verted after  an  almost  unparalleled  career  of  ad- 
venture as  a  seaman,  a  soldier  at  Bunker's  Hill,  and 
a  chained  captive  of  Hyder  Ali  in  India,  offered  his 
gratuitous  services  as  captain.  Twenty-nine  persons 
were  solemnly  set  apart  as  missionaries.  Only  four 
of  the  number  were  ordained,  one  was  a  physician, 
the  others  were  chiefly  artisans. 

"  Hoisting  the  mission  flag — three  white  doves 
with  olive  branches  on  a  purple  field — the  'Duff"'  set 
sail  for  Tahiti,  the  crew  singing  the  hymn,  'Jesus, 
at  thy  command  we  launch  into  the  deep  ! ' " 

Thus,  only  three  years  and  a  half  after  the  de- 
parture of  Carey  and  Thomas,  this  much  greater 
expedition  was  launched.  For  nearly  two  years  not 
a  word  was  heard  of  the  "  Duff"."  After  battling  with 
fearful  storms  ofi"  Cape  Horn,  and  then,  baffled, 
facing  about  to  beat  her  way  past  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  through  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  degrees  of 
longitude,  she  at  length  reached  the  Island  of  Tahiti. 
After  a  voyage  of  51,000  miles,  the  tempest-driven 
"  Duflf "  at  last  lay  at  anchor  again  in  the  Downs. 

Five  months  after  her  arrival  in  the  Downs,  the 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  99 

"  DufF"  sailed  aorain  with  a  new  continorent  of  mission- 
aries,  forty-six  in  number,  including  seven  children. 
But  disaster  followed  her,  and  the  home  committee 
were  stunned  by  the  intelligence  that  she  had  been 
captured  by  a  French  privateer  off  Rio  Janeiro,  and 
sold  as  a  prize.  The  missionaries  were  sent  home, 
and  the  money  lost  was  £10,000.  With  the  "Duff" 
sailed  Dr.  Vanderkemp  with  three  companions  in  a 
convict  ship  to  begin  the  glorious  work  among  the 
Hottentots  in  South  Africa.  In  two  years  recruits 
of  sixteen  men  had  followed. 

The  missionary  wave,  meanwhile,  spread  through- 
out Britain.  Nevertheless,  much  opposition  was 
encountered.  One  of  the  directors  of  the  East  India 
Company  declared  that  he  would  rather  have  a  band 
of  devils  in  India  than  a  band  of  missionaries.  In 
the  synod  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Mr.  Hamilton, 
of  Gladsmuir,  affirmed  the  idea  of  missions  to  be 
highly  preposterous.  A  collection  on  their  behalf 
would,  he  said,  "  no  doubt  be  a  legal  subject  of  penal 
prosecution."  Dr.  Erskine  made  a  memorable  reply, 
prefaced  by  the  exclamation,  '*  Moderator,  rax  me 
that  Bible,"  and  from  the  Word  of  God  he  mightily 
enforced  the  obligation  to  evangelize  the  world. 

In  1799,  one  of  the  greatest  of  missionary  organi- 
zations, that  afterwards  known  as  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  was  organized,  and  in  India,  in 
Ceylon,  in  Africa,  in  New  Zealand  and  in  the 
Southern  Seas,  in  the  West  Indies  and  in  many  dark 
places  of  the  earth,  were  planted  successful  missions 


100      RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  were  won  notable  victories  of  light  against  dark- 
ness, of  truth  against  error. 

For  twelve  years  the  faith  of  the  missionaries  of 
Tahiti  was  sorely  tried.  That  long  time  of  trial 
seemed  one  of  absolute  failure.  At  length,  we  read, 
"  King  Pomare  was  the  first  to  ask  for  baptism.  The 
idols  were  thrown  away,  the  priests  even  joined  in 
burning  them.  The  heathen  party  made  a  desperate 
stand.  They  attacked  the  Christians,  and  were  de- 
feated. The  clemency  of  the  king  so  impressed  them 
that  they  too  joined  the  winning  side.  Within  a 
few  years,  Tahiti  became  a  Christian  islaiid,  though 
much  remained  to  be  done  for  the  instruction  of 
the  people  and  for  the  deepening  of  their  spiritual 
life." 

It  will  be  impossible  to  give  in  detail  the  record  of 
progress  throughout  the  century  and  characterization 
of  individual  missionaries.  "We  can  only  select  a 
few  types  of  the  chief  soldiers  of  this  new  crusade. 

The  country  to  which  many  of  the  early  mission- 
aries turned  their  thought  was  the  great  British  de- 
pendency of  India.  It  was  a  field  presenting  the 
greatest  difficulties,  but  promising  the  greatest  tri- 
umphs. Under  the  domination  of  a  great  commer- 
cial Company,  nominally  Christian,  but  worshipping 
mammon  more  than  God,  it  was  a  forbidden  land, 
much  as  Thibet  is  to-day.  Yet  then,  as  now,  India 
was  the  most  interesting  mission  field  in  the  world. 
Its  290,000,000  people  are  the  most  acute,  intelligent 
and  cultured  of  pagan  races.     In  this  field  some  of 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  IQl 

tlie  noblest  missionary  heroes  have  labored,  and  some 
of  the  grandest  missionary  triumphs  have  been  won. 
Macaula}^  has  given  us,  in  his  essay  on  Clive,  a  bril- 
liant picture  of  that  gorgeous  Inde,  which^ 

with  richest  hand 
Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearl  and  gold, 

of  its  ivory  palaces,  its  stately  temples ;  "  the  burning 
sun ;  the  strange  vegetation  of  the  palm  and  the 
cocoa  trees  ;  the  rice-field  and  the  tank ;  the  huge 
trees,  older  than  the  Mogul  Empire,  under  which  the 
village  crowds  assemble ;  the  thatched  roof  of  the 
peasant's  hut,  and  the  rich  tracery  of  the  mosque, 
where  the  Iraaum  prayed  with  his  face  to  Mecca ; 
the  drums,  and  banners,  and  gaudy  idols ;  the  devotees 
swinging  in  the  air ;  the  graceful  maiden,  with  the 
pitcher  on  her  head,  descending  the  steps  to  the 
river-side;  the  black  faces,  the  long  beards,  the 
yellow  streaks  of  sect ;  the  turbans  and  the  flowing 
robes ;  the  spears  and  silver  maces  ;  the  elephants 
with  their  canopies  of  state  ;  the  gorgeous  palanquin 
of  the  prince,  and  the  close  litter  of  the  noble  lady  ; 
the  halls  where  servitors  laid  gold  and  perfumes  at 
the  feet  of  sovereigns ;  the  wild  moor  where  the 
gypsy-camp  is  pitched ;  tlie  bazars  humming  like 
beehives  with  the  crowds  of  buyers  and  sellers  ;  the 
jungle  where  the  lonely  courier  shakes  his  bunch  of 
iron  rings  to  scare  away  the  hyenas." 

Yet  the  story  of  the  conquest  of  an  empire  by  a 
merchant's  clerk  with  a  handful  of  troops,  where  the 


102     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

foot  of  an  Alexander  had  faltered,  is  to  many  an 
unfamiliar  one.  Upon  this  wonderful  story  we  will 
not  now  enter,  but  merely  give  a  single  chapter — the 
record  of  a  short  but  brilliant  life — in  the  grander 
story  of  the  conquest  of  India  for  Christ  and  Chris- 
tianity. 

Henry  Martyn  was  the  first  Englishman  to  respond 
to  the  call  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  for 
laborers  in  this  fertile  vineyard.  He  spent  only  six 
years  in  India,  and  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two. 
Yet  he  has  been  called,  not  without  reason,  the  first 
great  missionary  of  the  English  Church  since  Boni- 
face, the  Apostle  of  Germany.  His  brief  life  and  he- 
roic death  have  been  an  inspiration  to  missionary 
effort  throughout  the  world. 

Henry  Martyn  was  born  at  Truro,  Cornwall,  1781. 
His  father  had  been  a  working  miner  at  Gwenap, 
but  by  energy  and  industry — learning  to  read,  write 
and  cipher  in  the  pauses  of  his  labor — he  became  in 
turn  mine  captain  and  office  clerk.  His  uncle  was  a 
trustee  of  the  Wesleyan  chapel,  but  the  boy  was 
brought  up  as  a  strict  adherent  of  the  Established 
Church.  After  an  early  training  at  grammar  school, 
he  went  up  to  Oxford  at  fourteen,  but  failed  to  pass. 
A  little  later  he  went  to  Cambridge,  and  in  three 
years  won  fame  as  "  senior  wrangler."  ''  I  had  ob- 
tained my  highest  wishes,"  he  wrote,  *'  but  was  sur- 
prised to  find  that  I  had  grasped  a  shadow."  He 
found  that  "  fame,"  he  said,  "  concealed  a  death's 
head  under  a  mask  of  beauty." 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  103 

The  sudden  death  of  his  father,  and  the  prayers  of 
a  pious  sister,  touched  his  heart.  He  began  to  search 
the  Scriptures  and  to  find  a  new  joy  in  holy  things. 
The  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  of  old  a  Kempis,  was  a 
stepping-stone  to  the  divine  life.  He  had  chosen  the 
study  of  law,  but  he  now  gave  it  up  to  become  a 
preacher  of  the  cross.  His  purpose  was  to  become  a 
diligent  worker  in  the  home-field,  but  a  chance  men- 
tion— or  was  it  chance  ? — of  the  labors  of  Carey  in 
India  turned  his  attention  to  foreign  missionary 
work. 

At  length  an  opportunity  occurred  to  accept  a 
chaplaincy  in  the  East  India  Company.  This  was 
not  what  he  wanted,  but  active  mission  work  among 
the  heathen  ;  yet  it  was  a  step,  and  a  long  one,  in 
that  direction.  After  waiting  three  months  for  the 
fleet — it  was  a  large  one  of  fifty  transports  and  five 
men-of-war — to  make  ready,  it  had  no  sooner  sailed 
than  it  was  driven  into  Falmouth  and  delayed  a 
month  longer,  and  the  pang  of  parting  had  again  to 
be  undergone. 

The  horror  of  the  long  voyage  to  India  cannot  be 
exaggerated.  Martyn  was  mercilessly  ridiculed  by  all 
the  officers  on  board  but  one.  One  service  on  a 
Sunday  was  grudgingly  allowed  him  ;  and  at  this 
service  the  poor  sickly  young  priest  of  twenty-four 
felt  himself  compelled  by  the  insolent  profligacy  of 
those  on  board  to  denounce,  for  several  successive 
weeks,  the  judgment  of  God  upon  sin.  The  whole 
ship  was  in  mutiny  against  him.     The  mockery  con- 


104     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

tinued  to  the  end  of  the  ten  months'  voyage.  His 
farewell  sermon  off  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly  awoke 
nothing  but  ribald  revilings  ;  and  so,  through  as  ap- 
palling a  fire  as  ever  hero  passed,  Martyn  entered 
"into  the  vineyard  of  St.  Bartholomew  and  Pan- 
tsenus,  of  Ziegenbalg  and  Schwartz." 

In  October,  1766,  he  sailed  up  the  Ganges  to  his 
station  at  Dinapore.  He  maintained  at  his  own  ex- 
pense five  schools  for  native  children.  He  especially 
studied,  late  and  early,  the  native  languages.  After 
two  years  he  was  transferred  to  the  teeming  city  of 
Cawnpore— destined  to  become  in  after  times  the 
theatre  of  such  lurid  tragedies.  Here  he  began  to 
preach  to  the  natives,  and  by  the  distribution  of  alms 
secured  congregations  of  from  five  to  eight  hundred 
beggars.  He  was  often  interrupted  with  groans, 
hissings,  cursings,  blasphemies  and  threatenings  ;  but 
to  the  last  he  never  saw  any  fruit  of  his  preaching. 

Yet  this  preaching  was  not  entirely  barren.  One 
day  a  clever  and  learned  young  Mussulman  amused 
himself  and  friends  with  the  "foolishness  of  the 
Feringhee  padre."  Yet  the  Word  sank  into  his  soul 
and  led  to  his  conversion,  and  he  was  the  means  of 
bringing  thirty-nine  of  his  countrymen  to  embrace 
Christianity.  But  of  this  Martyn  knew  nothing 
when  he  died.  He  had  only  baptized  one  aged 
Hindu  woman.  "  Even  if  I  never  should  see  a  na- 
tive converted,"  he  wrote  at  Madras  in  1806,  *'  God 
may  design,  by  my  patience  and  continuance  in  the 
work,  to  encourage  future  missionaries." 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  105 

Martyn's  great  work,  however,  was  his  translation 
of  the  Scriptures,  for  which  his  linguistic  skill  gave 
him  marked  advantages.  He  spoke  Italian  and 
French,  as  well  as  Bengalee  and  several  Indian  dia- 
lects ;  he  preached  in  Hindustani ;  he  wrote  his 
diary  in  Greek  or  Latin  ;  he  said  his  prayers  in  Latin 
or  Plebrew ;  he  read  Arabic  and  Sanscrit.  He  trans- 
lated the  whole  New  Testament  into  Hindustani  and 
Urdu  and  into  Persian  twice  over.  He  translated 
the  Psalms  also  into  Persian,  and  the  gospels  into 
Judaeo-Persic.  He  translated  the  Prayer-Book  into 
Hindustani.  And  this  does  not  exhaust  the  list  of 
his  compositions  in  Oriental  tongues. 

On  September  30,  1810,  his  work  at  Cawnpore 
was  crowned  by  the  opening  of  the  church,  for 
which  he  had  long  prayed  and  labored.  The  bell 
sounded  for  the  first  time  over  this  land  of  darkness. 
Martyn  was  ordered  by  the  doctors  to  take  a  sea 
voyage  for  his  health.  He  determined  to  go  to 
Persia,  and  correct  his  Persian  New  Testament,  in- 
tending afterwards  to  go  on  to  Arabia  and  make  an 
Arabic  version  there.  In  much  weakness  he  made 
the  terrible  overland  journey  through  Persia.  The 
thermometer  rose  at  times  to  126°.  He  had  to  wrap 
his  head  and  body  in  wet  towels  to  prevent  sunstroke. 
But  he  stayed  his  soul  with  the  thought  of  the  land 
where  "  the  sun  shall  not  shine  on  them  nor  any 
heat." 

At  length  he  reached  Shiraz,  the  "  Athens  of 
Persia,"  but  a  very  Sodom  of  wickedness.     He   pro- 


106     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ceeded  at  once,  amid  much  opposition,  with  the  re- 
vision of  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
preaching  the  while  its  blessed  evangel.  In  a  year 
it  was  completed,  but  not  a  single  convert  was  the 
result  of  his  labors.  For  two  months  Martyn  lin- 
gered on  the  brink  of  death,  but  rallied  sufficiently 
to  attempt  a  ride  of  one  thousand  three  hundred 
miles  across  the  highlands  of  Asia  Minor  to  Con- 
stantinople. As  he  crossed  the  Araxes  and  passed 
beneath  Mount  Ararat,  he  reflected :  "  On  the  peak 
of  that  hill  the  whole  Church  was  once  contained. 
It  has  now  spread  far  and  wide  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  but  its  ancient  cradle  knows  it  no  more." 

From  Erivan  to  Kars  and  Chiflik  he  rapidly  trav- 
eled. His  cruel  Tartar  guide  took  no  notice  of  his 
illness,  but  forced  him  on.  At  last,  in  utter  loneli- 
ness, without  a  friend  to  wipe  the  death  dews  from 
his  brow,  or  speak  a  word  of  Christian  cheer  or 
solace,  the  peerless  missionary  entered  into  rest. 
Near  that  very  spot,  fifteen  centuries  before,  the 
Golden-mouthed  Chrysostom,  the  greatest  preacher 
of  the  early  Church,  in  exile  and  suffering,  had 
ended  his  life  of  strange  vicissitude.  Thus  are  the 
severed  ages  linked  together  by  the  bonds  of  spiritual 
kinship  of  Christ's  faithful  confessors  and  martyrs  : 

Still  the  race  of  hero  spirits 
Pass  the  torch  from  hand  to  hand. 

Over  the  lonely  grave  of  Martyn  is  a  simple 
obelisk,  inscribed  in  English,  Armenian,  Persian  and 


EARLY  PROGRESS  OF  MISSIONS.  107 

Turkish,  with  a  brief  record  of  him  who  "  was  known 
in  the  East  as  a  Man  of  God."  In  the  following 
lines  Lord  Macaulay  commemorates  his  death : 

Here  Marty n  lies  !  in  manhood's  early  bloom 

The  Christian  hero  found  a  Pagan  tomb  ; 

Religion,  sorrowing  o'er  her  favorite  son, 

Points  to  the  glorious  trophies  which  he  won— 

Eternal  trophies,  not  with  slaughter  red, 

Not  stained  with  tears  of  hopeless  captives  shed ; 

But  trophies  of  the  cross.     For  that  dear  name 

Through  every  form  of  danger,  death,  and  shame, 

Onward  he  journeyed  to  a  happier  shore, 

Where  danger,  death,  and  shame  are  known  no  more. 

Of  this  brave  soul,  consumed  with  the  zeal  of 
God's  House,  Sir  James  Stephen  writes :  "  Martyn's 
is  the  one  heroic  name  which  adorns  the  annals  of 
the  English  Church  from  the  days  of  Elizabeth   to 


108     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

METHODISM    AND    MISSIONS. — DE.  THOMAS    COKE. — 
EECENT  PROGRESS   IN   INDIA. 

In  1816  the  Wesley  an  Missionary  Society  was 
organized  to  carry  on  the  work  begun  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Coke,  who  has  won  the  honorable  distinction  of  being 
the  father  of  Methodist  Missions.  It  was  he  who 
inspired  Methodism  with  its  special  characteristic  of 
missionary  zeal.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  had,  as 
early  as  1735,  gone  as  missionaries  to  Georgia.  On 
shipboard  they  came  in  contact  with  a  number  of  the 
Moravian  Brethren,  so  notable  for  their  missionary 
enthusiasm.  After  a  short  sojourn  in  Georgia,  John 
Wesley  paid  a  visit  to  the  Moravian  settlement  at 
Ilerrnhut,  in  Bohemia,  and  became  more  deeply 
imbued  with  their  religious  devotion  and  consecra- 
tion. 

During  the  rest  of  the  Wesleys'  lives  their  labors 
were  confined  chiefly  to  Great  Britain  and  its  sister 
island,  but  no  foreign  missionaries  ever  exceeded  in 
zeal  and  devotion  and  success  their  sacred  ministra- 
tions. They  carried  the  tidings  of  salvation  to  regions 
where  it  was  before  unknown.  Amid  markets,  fair- 
grounds and  coal-pits  they  boldly  proclaimed  their 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  109 

message.  On  the  mountains  of  AVales,  among  the 
tin  mines  of  Cornwall,  on  the  chalk  downs  of  Surrey, 
in  the  hop-fields  of  Kent,  in  the  fenlands  of  Lincoln- 
shire, in  the  cornfields  of  Huntingdon,  on  the  wolds 
of  Wiltshire,  and  among  the  lakes  of  Cumberland 
they  proclaimed  the  joyful  tidings  to  eager  thousands. 

They  adapted  themselves  to  the  capacity  of  miners 
and  pitmen,  of  uncouth  rustics  and  rude  fishermen. 
They  recognized  in  the  ignorant  and  embruted  the 
sublime  dignity  of  manhood.  From  the  ranks  of 
those  who  were  rescued  from  degradation  and 
sin  arose  a  noble  band  of  fellow-workers — earnest- 
souled  and  fiery-hearted  men :  men  who  feared  not 
death  nor  danger,  the  love  of  Christ  constraining 
them. 

True  to  its  providential  mission  Methodism  has 
ever  remembered  the  exhortation  of  its  founder,  not 
only  to  go  to  those  who  need  it,  but  to  those  who  need 
it  most.  It  has  delighted  to  remember  the  forgotten, 
to  visit  the  forsaken,  to  succor  the  neglected,  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost.  As  if  prescient 
of  the  destined  universality  of  the  Church  which  he 
planted,  John  Wesley  with  prophetic  soul  exclaimed, 
"  The  world  is  my  parish." 

On  many  a  field  of  sacred  toil  have  the  ministers 
of  the  church  which  he  founded  vindicated  its  title 
to  the  distinction  of  beingpre-eminently  a  missionary 
church — amid  the  cinnamon  groves  of  Ceylon,  in  tlie 
crowded  bazars  or  tangled  jungles  of  India,  among 
the  teeming  populations  of  China,  beneath  the  feathery 


110     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

foliage  of  the  tropic  palm  in  sunny  islands  of  the 
Southern  Seas,  in  the  Zulu's  hut  and  the  Kaffir's 
kraal,  and  beside  the  mighty  rivers  which  roll  in 
solitary  grandeur  through  the  vast  wilderness  of  the 
Canadian  North- West.  With  a  prouder  boast  than 
the  Roman  poet,  they  may  exclaim,  "What  place 
now,  what  region  in  the  world  is  not  full  of  our 
labor?"* 

To  no  man  does  Methodism  owe  more  its  missionary 
character  than  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  D.  C.  L. 
This  marvellous  man,  of  puny  form  but  of  giant 
energy,  with  a  burning  zeal  kindled  at  the  altar  of 
eternal  trutli,  like  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse  flying 
abroad  under  the  whole  heaven  with  the  everlasting 
gospel, — preached  the  glad  evangel  of  God's  grace  in 
both  hemispheres.  He  became  the  founder  of  Wes- 
leyan  missions  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  and  the 
first  bishop  of  American  Methodism — a  church  now 
boundless  as  the  continent.  After  crossing  eighteen 
times  the  stormy  sea,  he  was  at  last  buried  in  its 
depths,  whose  waters,  like  his  influence,  encompass 
the  world. 

He  was  born  three  years  before  the  middle  of  the 
century,  1747,  and  spent  his  early  years  amid  the  ro- 
mantic surroundings  of  '*  Usk  and  Camelot,"  the  scene 
of  the  legendary  exploits  of  King  Arthur  and  the 
knights  of  the  Round  Table.     In  his  sixteenth  year 

*  Quis  jam  locus 

QuaB  regio  in  terris  uostri  non  plena  laboris  ?  " 

Virg.  ^n,  vv.  463,  464. 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  m 

he  was  registered  as  gentleman-commoner  at  Jesus 
College,  Oxford.  The  handsome  young  patrician 
student  was  not  proof  against  the  seductions  of 
Oxford  society.  He  unhappily  fell  into  evil  habits, 
and  even  became  infected  with  the  infidel  principles 
which  were  then  too  much  in  vogue  at  the  university. 
He  graduated  with  distinction,  and  shortly  after  his 
coming  of  age  was  elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of 
his  native  town.  But,  resolved  to  live  a  life  of  active 
beneficence,  he  entered  holy  orders  in  the  humble 
rank  of  a  village  curate.  His  church  became  crowded, 
and  to  accommodate  the  increased  congregation,  he 
erected  a  gallery  at  his  own  expense.  He  preached 
with  increasing  fervor,  and  without  the  "  regulation 
manuscript.  "  He  held  special  religious  services  out 
of  church  hours,  and  on  week-evenings,  in  remote 
parts  of  his  parish.  He  was  no  longer  the  easy- 
going card-playing  parson  of  his  early  incumbency, 
but  a  *'  dangerous  fanatic."  The  over-earnest  curate 
was  soon  dismissed  by  his  rector,  admonished  for  his 
*'  irregularities  "  by  the  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
and  at  length  expelled  from  his  church. 

The  sentence  of  his  expulsion  was  abruptly  an- 
nounced at  the  close  of  the  morning  service  in  the 
presence  of  the  congregation.  By  a  preconcerted 
scheme,  as  he  passed  out  of  the  door,  the  bells  rang 
out  a  dissonant  peal — a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  "  Rogue's 
March" — by  way  of  valediction  to  the  expelled 
pastor. 

He  resolved  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  despised 


112     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  persecuted  Methodists,  and  to  espouse  the  toils 
and  hardships  of  the  life  of  an  itinerant  preacher. 
Providence  was  opening  for  him  a  wider  career  than 
addressing  a  few  rustics  in  an  obscure  hamlet.  He 
was  to  become  a  mighty  missionary  organizer,  whose 
beneficent  influence  was  to  be  felt  on  earth's  remotest 
shores  and  to  the  end  of  time. 

John  Wesley  was  now  in  his  eighty-first  year,  and 
the  care  of  all  the  churches  and  his  vast  correspon- 
dence was  a  burden  which  he  gladly  shared  with  this 
energetic  son  in  the  gospel,  now  in  the  vigor  of  his 
thirtieth  year.  He  used  to  say  that  Dr.  Coke  was 
his  right  hand. 

In  the  course  of  his  itinerations,  Coke  revisited  his 
former  parish,  from  which  he  had  been  so  heartlessly 
expelled.  But  the  simple  rustics  found  that  they  had 
lost  their  best  friend,  and  welcomed  him  back  with 
joy.  The  bells  that  rang  him  out  chimed  merrily  at 
his  return. 

Dr.  Coke  was  soon  to  enter  upon  what  might  be 
called  his  foreign  missionary  work.  John  Wesley 
appointed  him  to  be  superintendent  of  the  Methodist 
societies  in  America.  Into  the  controversy  to  which 
that  act  gave  rise,  we  shall  not  now  enter. 

Coke  forthwitii  began  ranging  through  the  Amer- 
ican continent  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia,  a  true 
bishop  of  souls,  feeding  the  flock  scattered  through 
a  primeval  wilderness.  Already  he  was  meditating 
the  vast  missionary  enterprises  which  are  the  glory 
of  Methodism.     He  opened    a  correspondence  with 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  II3 

India  and  Africa,  and  visited  the  Channel  Islands  as 
a  key  to  missionary  operations  in  France.  The  first 
field  for  the  extension  of  the  gospel,  however,  that 
seemed  indicated  by  Providence  was  Newfoundland, 
Nova  Scotia  and  Canada.  Thither,  in  1768,  Dr.  Coke 
and  three  fellow-preachers  were  sent  by  the  English 
Wesleyan  Conference. 

The  project  of  reaching  Halifax  had  to  be  aban- 
doned, and  running  before  a  storm,  they  reached, 
on  Christmas  Day,  the  port  of  Antigua,  in  the  West 
Indies.  As  Dr.  Coke  walked  up  the  street  of  the 
town,  he  met  a  ship-carpenter  and  local  preacher, 
John  Baxter  by  name,  who  had  under  his  care  a 
Methodist  society  of  near  two  thousand  souls,  all 
blacks  but  ten.  Twenty-eight  years  before,  an 
Antigua  planter,  Nathaniel  Gilbert,  heard  John 
Wesley  preach  at  Wandsworth,  in  England.  The 
good  seed  took  root  in  his  heart  and  he  brouglit  the 
precious  germs  to  his  island  home,  where  they  became 
the  source  of  West  India  Methodism,  which,  in  turn, 
was  one  of  the  chief  means  of  Negro  emancipation, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  great  movement  of  African 
evangelization.  Dr.  Coke  ranged  from  island  to 
island,  sowing  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  in  the  good 
and  honest  ground  of  those  faithful  African  hearts. 

Again  and  again  the  indefatigable  evangelist 
revisited  those  sunny  islands,  which  seem  to  have 
possessed  a  strange  fascination  for  his  soul.  Amid 
privations,  pestilence,  shipwrecks,  and  sometimes 
bitter  persecution,  the  missionaries  toiled   on  till  a 


114     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

free  Christian  civilization  took  the  place  of  slavery, 
superstition,  cruelty  and  barbarism. 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  fall  of  the  Bastille 
inspired  a  hope  that  the  barriers  to  the  gospel  had 
been  broken  down  *'  in  the  white  fields  of  France." 
Dr.  Coke  and  M.  de  Queteville,  a  Guernsey  Metho- 
dist, proceeded  to  Paris  to  open,  if  possible,  a  mission. 
In  that  city  of  amusements  and  pleasure,  where,  as 
one  of  its  own  wits  has  said,  four-fifths  of  the  people 
die  of  grief,*  they  could  get  a  congregation  of  only 
six  persons,  and  were  warned  to  depart  or  tliey  would 
be  hanged  on  a  lamp-post.  They  felt  that  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  evangelization  of  France  had  not  yet 
come. 

At  length  Dr.  Coke  was  permitted  to  see  the 
successful  inauguration  of  an  African  Mission,  the 
precursor  of  subsequent  glorious  moral  victories 
among  the  Kaffirs,  Hottentots,  Fingoes,  Bechuanas, 
Zulus  and  other  tribes  of  that  benighted  land.  On 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  the  British  crown 
established  in  Sierra  Leone  the  colony  of  Free- 
town, as  an  asylum  for  stolen  negroes  rescued 
from  recaptured  slave  ships.  Here,  in  1811,  four 
volunteer  missionaries  were  sent.  Notwithstanding 
the  decimation  of  the  missionary  ranks  by  the 
deadly  climate,  the  work  has  been  maintained,  till  in 
thirty  chapels  assemble  more  than  twenty  thousand 

♦Paris,  ville  d'amusements,  des  plaisirs,  ou  les  quatre- 
cinquiemes  des  habitants  meurent  de  chagrin.— Chamfort, 
**  Caractdres  et  Anecdotes." 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  II5 

native  Methodists  who  have  abandoned  their  vile 
fetichism  for  a  pure  spiritual  worship,  and  five 
thousand  children  crowd  the  mission  schools. 

Coke  was  now  about  to  inaugurate  his  last  and  great- 
est missionary  enterprise.  For  many  years  the  spirit- 
ual destitution  of  India  had  lain  heavy  on  his  heart. 
On  the  banks  of  the  Indus  a  merchant's  clerk  had 
conquered  an  empire.  With  three  thousand  troops,  on 
the  plains  of  Plassey,  he  routed  an  army  of  sixty 
thousand,  with  the  loss  of  only  two  and  twenty  men, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  Britain's  Indian  depend- 
ency of  290,000,000  souls.  But,  though  open  to  Eng- 
lish commerce,  India,  by  the  decree  of  the  Company 
of  Leadenhall  Street,  was  closed  to  Christ's  gospel. 
But  "  India,"  wrote  Dr.  Coke,  *'  still  cleaved  to  his 
heart ;  he  could  give  up  all  for  India." 

Friends  remonstrated  against  a  man  in  his  sixty- 
sixth  year,  worn  with  toil  and  heavy  cares,  braving 
the  perils  of  a  long  sea  voyage  and  residence  in  the 
torrid  zone  ;  but  it  was  in  vain.  *'  I  am  now  dead 
to  Europe,"  he  wrote,  "  and  alive  to  India.  God 
Himself  has  said  to  me,  '  Go  to  Ceylon,' "  and  go  he 
would. 

In  the  Indian  Ocean  Coke's  health  rapidly  de- 
clined. On  the  morning  of  the  third  of  May  his 
servant  knocked  at  his  cabin  door  to  awake  him  at 
the  usual  time  of  half-past  five  o'clock.  He  heard 
no  response.  Opening  the  door  he  beheld  the  life- 
less body  of  the  missionary  extended  on  the  floor. 
The  same  day,  as  the   sun  sank  below  the   Indiaa 


116     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Ocean,  the  body  of  the  tireless  missionary  was  buried 
in  its  depths. 

His  comrades  in  toil  with  heavy  hearts  proceeded 
on  their  voyage,  and  after  a  passage  of  twenty  weeks 
reached  Bombay.  But  God  raised  them  up  friends 
and  opened  the  way  before  them.  On  reaching 
Ceylon  they  were  hospitably  lodged  in  the  Govern- 
ment House.  Lord  Molesworth,  the  commandant, 
who,  with  his  troops,  attended  the  first  service,  was 
so  deeply  impressed  by  the  sermon  that  he  left  a 
dinner  party  to  kneel  in  prayer  with  the  missionaries 
till  he  found  peace  in  believing.  Soon  after,  return- 
ing to  England,  his  ship  was  lost  with  all  on  board 
save  two  or  three.  While  it  was  sinking,  he  walked 
the  deck,  pointing  the  terrified  passengers  to  the 
Saviour  of  men.  As  he  embraced  Lady  Moles- 
worth  they  sank  into  the  waves,  locked  in  each 
other's  arms,  and  thus  folded  together  in  death  they 
were  washed  ashore.  Such  were  the  first  fruits  of 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  Ceylon.  Another  trophy 
of  that  first  sermon  became  the  first  native  mission- 
ary to  Asia. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Coke  was  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  Wesleyan  missions.  In 
Ceylon,  in  India,  in  China,  in  South  and  West 
Africa,  in  the  West  Indies,  in  Australia  and  Poly- 
nesia, multitudes  of  degraded  and  superstitious 
pagans  have  been  raised  from  most  abject  depths  of 
degradation  to  the  dignity  of  men  and  prepared  for 
the  fellowship  of  saints. 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  117 

The  greatest  work  accomplished  by  those  pioneer 
Indian  missionaries,  Carey,  Marshman  and  Ward, 
the  cobbler,  weaver  and  printer,  was  the  translation 
of  the  Scriptures  into  the  languages  of  India.  Al- 
though the  oriental  learning  of  these  men  secured 
them  in  time  large  income  from  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, they  yet  continued  to  live  poor  that  their  great 
translation  might  be  published.  Beside  giving  their 
lives  to  missionary  toil,  they  and  their  families  per- 
sonally contributed  nearly  £90,000  to  this  great 
work.  Eventually  there  issued  from  the  Serampore 
press  translations  of  the  Bible  in  forty  languages 
and  dialects  of  India  and  Central  Asia.  On  the 
recent  centenary  of  their  mission  Sir  Charles  Aitchison 
thus  emphasized  the  supreme  importance  of  their 
work : — 

"  The  Bible  is  the  best  of  all  missionaries.  Mis- 
sionaries die  ;  the  printed  Bible  remains  forever.  It 
finds  access  through  doors  that  are  closed  to  the 
human  foot,  and  into  countries  where  missionaries 
have  not  yet  ventured  to  go.  ,  .  .  No  book  is  more 
studied  in  India  now  by  the  native  population  of  all 
parties  than  the  Christian  Bible."  , 

Another  missionary  agency  of  first  importance  was 
the  higher  education  of  the  natives.  To  this  Carey 
and  his  colleagues  made  a  magnificent  contribution 
in  the  erection  of  the  Serampore  College.  The  great 
leader  of  this  movement  was  Dr.  Alexander  Duff. 
Trained  under  Dr.  Chalmers  at  St.  Andrews,  he  be- 
came the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 


118     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

On  his  way  to  India  he  was  twice  shipwrecked.  At 
Cape  Town  he  lost  all  his  effects  except  his  Bible, 
which  was  picked  up  on  the  seashore.  In  1829  he 
reached  Calcutta  and  opened  a  school  with  five 
pupils.  In  a  week  he  had  three  hundred.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  school  caused  a  panic  among  the  orthodox 
Hindus.  Many  converts  were  won  from  the  upper 
classes,  and  many  of  these  became  Christian  minis- 
ters, catechists  or  college  professors.  Drs.  Duff, 
Williams  and  Anderson,  in  the  three  great  cities  of 
Calcutta,  Bombay  and  Madras,  founded  Christian 
colleges,  which  have  largely  moulded  the  higher 
classes  of  India. 

The  terrible  Mutiny  of  1857  was  a  crisis  in  the 
history  of  India  and  its  missions.  It  superseded  the 
government  of  John  Company,  which  was  opposed 
to  missions,  by  that  of  Queen  Victoria,  who  was  their 
friend.  One  of  the  first  results  was  a  proclamation 
of  political  liberty  and  religious  toleration.  The 
Queen  returned  to  Lord  Derby  the  first  unsatisfac- 
tory draft  of  this  proclamation  with  a  message  that 
*'  Such  a  document  should  breathe  feelings  of  gener- 
osity, benevolence  and  religious  toleration."  With 
her  own  hand  she  inserted  these  words :  "  Firmly 
relying  ourselves  on  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and 
acknowledging  with  gratitude  the  solace  of  relig- 
ion ; "  and  at  the  close  she  added :  *'  And  may  the 
God  of  all  power  grant  to  us,  and  to  those  in  author- 
ity under  us,  strength  to  carry  out  these  our  wishes 
for  the  good  of  our  people." 


METHODISM  AND  MISSIONS.  II9 

Since  the  Mutiny  the  number  of  missions  has  in- 
creased fourfold.  That  great  crisis  made  the  nation 
realize  the  cowardly  character  of  its  religious  policy 
in  India.  Lord  Lawrence,  one  of  the  best  Governor- 
Generals  that  Lidia  ever  had,  declares :  '*  I  believe 
that  what  more  stirred  up  the  Lidian  Mutiny  than 
any  other  thing  was  the  habitual  cowardice  of  Great 
Britain  as  to  her  own  religion." 

In  the  early  years  of  the  century  the  Company 
showed  intense  opposition  to  missions  and  spent  im- 
mense sums  in  supporting  idolatry.  To  bolster  up 
paganism,  it  prohibited  missionary  work  in  its  terri- 
tories and  acted  as  church- war  dens  to  Juggernaut. 
But  soon  the  influence  of  missions  was  felt.  In  1829 
Lord  William  Bentinck  put  an  end  to  suttee,  or  the 
burning  of  widows  on  their  husbands'  funeral  pyre. 
But  even  as  late  as  1837  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Madras  army,  resigned 
his  position  rather  than  pay  official  honor  to  an  idol. 

It  is  only  by  looking  back  through  a  hundred 
years  that  we  realize  the  marvellous  progress  that 
has  been  made.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century 
there  were  not  more  than  ten  missionaries  in  India. 
Now  over  two  thousand  missionaries,  both  men  and 
women,  are  at  work  throughout  almost  every  district 
of  this  great  dependency.  Great  Britain,  America, 
Canada,  Australasia,  Germany,  Sweden  and  Denmark, 
are  all  represented  in  this  work.  "The  army,  too," 
says  a  writer  on  the  subject,  "is  interdenominational 
— Presbyterians,   Episcopalians,  Lutherans,  Baptists, 


120      RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Methodists,  Congregationalists,  Friends,  etc.,  all,  with 
few  exceptions,  working  in  harmony,  dividing  the 
land  between  them,  and  meeting  in  provincial  and 
general  conferences  for  mutual  help.  The  ecclesias- 
tical differences  which  bulk  largely  at  home  are  at 
least  minimized  in  face  of  the  great  common  task." 

Though  later  entering  the  field  than  some  others, 
the  American  Methodist  Mission,  founded  by  Dr. 
Butler,  and  lately  expanded  by  Bishop  Thoburn,  has 
achieved  marvellous  results. 


EARLY  MISSIONS  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS.      121 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EARLY  MISSIONS   IN  THE   SOUTHERN   SEAS. 

Nowhere  have  the  triumphs  of  missions  been 
more  striking  than  in  the  sunny  islands  of  the 
Southern  Seas.  The  discovery  by  the  gallant  Tas- 
man  of  those  beautiful  coral-fringed  islands,  with 
their  splendid  vegetation  and  their  feathery  foliage 
of  tropic  palms,  seemed  to  the  eyes  of  astonished 
Europe  like  the  unveiling  of  a  lovely  paradise. 

When  visited  by  Captain  Cook,  a  hundred  years 
later,  the  fancied  mildness  of  disposition  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  group  to  which  we  refer  procured 
for  them  the  name  of  the  Friendly  Islands.  But  a 
more  intimate  acquaintance  showed  that  these  lovely 
islands  were  truly  "  dark  places  of  the  earth,  full  of 
the  habitations  of  cruelty."  It  turned  out  that 
these  Friendly  Islanders  were  almost  constantly  at 
war  among  themselves ;  that  they  were  cannibals, 
polygamists  and  idolaters ;  and  that  they  stood  in 
need  of  the  Gospel  as  much  as  any  people  who  ever 
lived  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

When  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  organ- 
ized in  the  year  1795,  their  first  enterprise,  as  we 
l^ave  seen,  was  a  mission  to  the  Friendly  Islands. 


122     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  strangers  were  kindly  received  by  the  chiefs 
and  people  of  Tonga,  not  so  much,  perhaps,  from  re- 
gard to  the  object  of  their  mission,  as  from  the  hope 
that  they  might  become  possessed  of  some  of  the 
goods  they  had  brought  with  them  ;  for  they  were 
well  supplied  with  various  articles  of  merchandise — 
iron,  edged  tools,  fish-hooks,  and  other  commodities 
which  were  highly  prized  by  the  natives. 

This  transient  friendliness,  however,  soon  became 
changed  to  virulent  hatred  and  treachery.  The 
mission  premises  were  plundered  and  destroyed  by 
the  savages,  and  three  of  the  missionaries  were 
cruelly  murdered.  Not  till  twenty  years  later  was 
another  attempt  made  to  plant  a  mission  in  this  un- 
friendly soil  by  the  Rev.  Walter  Lawry,  a  Wesleyan 
missionary.  For  a  while  the  kindness  of  the  natives, 
and  their  readiness  to  receive  instruction,  raised  his 
hope  of  success,  and  he  wrote  home  for  more  mis- 
sionaries, a  surgeon,  a  printer,  teachers,  books  and 
articles  for  barter.  Soon  the  characteristic  fickleness 
and  superstition  of  the  people  were  again  mani- 
fested. After  fourteen  months  of  arduous  labor, 
the  mission  had,  for  a  time,  to  be  relinquished. 
But  two  years  later  it  was  resumed  under  brighter 
auspices.  Schools  were  established,  which  were 
soon  attended  by  hundreds  of  children,  who  made 
rapid  progress  in  learning  to  read,  as  well  as  in 
committing  to  memory  hymns,  prayers,  and  lessons 
from  Scripture. 

The  King  of  Hawaii,  who  afterwards  became  the 


EARLY  MISSIONS  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS.      12$ 

celebrated  King  George  of  the  whole  of  the  Friendly 
Islands,  visited  Tonga  in  person,  and  begged  ear- 
nestly for  a  missionary.  He  had  begun  to  observe 
the  Christian  Sabbath  by  ceasing  from  work  and 
from  amusement,  and  when  he  could  not  procure  a 
missionary,  he  employed  an  English  sailor  to  read 
prayers  in  a  house  which  was  used  as  a  chapel  on 
Sundays. 

From  this  period  the  missionaries  were  encouraged 
by  evidences  of  a  deeper  spiritual  work  of  grace 
among  the  people.  The  King  of  Tonga  himself  be- 
gan to  meet  in  class,  and  his  voice  was  heard  in  the 
prayer-meetings.  Christian  marriage  was  intro- 
duced, the  Sabbath  day  was  kept  holy,  family  wor- 
ship was  generally  observed,  and  the  whole  deport- 
ment of  the  people  showed  that  a  genuine  work  of 
grace  had  taken  place  in  the  hearts  of  many.  At 
the  first  love-feast  held  in  Tonga,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members  were  present,  and  forty-six  spoke,  in  a 
very  simple  and  affecting  manner,  of  their  conversion 
from  heathenism  to  Christianity. 

But  the  most  noteworthy  event  of  this  early  period 
was  the  baptism  of  King  Tubou,  1830.  Out  of 
eighteen  inhabited  islands,  all  but  three  embraced 
Christianity.  The  king  took  five  of  his  principal 
idols  and  hung  them  up  by  the  neck  in  order 
that  the  people  might  see  that  they  were  "all 
dead." 

In  1831  a  remarkable  religious  movement  took 
place   in   the    Friendly  Islands,  a   movement  which 


124     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

has  few  parallels  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church.  At  this  time  King  George  of  Haabai 
visited  Vavau  with  twenty-four  sail  of  canoes.  He 
and  his  people  went  on  business ;  but  their  hearts 
were  warm  witli  their  first  love  in  the  service  of  God; 
and  they  were  bent  on  doing  good.  Many  of  the 
objections  to  Christianity  of  the  chief  of  Vavau  were 
removed,  and  his  royal  guest  pleaded  so  effectually 
with  him  that  at  last  he  exclaimed,  "  Well,  I  will 
spend  the  next  Sabbath  with  you  in  worshipping 
your  God." 

The  next  day  the  chief  gave  orders  that  seven  of 
the  principal  idols  should  be  brought  out  and  placed 
in  a  row.  He  then  said :  "  If  you  are  gods,  run 
away,  or  you  shall  be  burned  in  the  fire  which  I 
have  prepared  !  "  As  none  of  them  ran,  the  king 
gave  orders  that  all  the  sacred  houses  should  be  set 
on  fire.  His  commands  were  promptly  obeyed,  and 
eighteen  temples  with  their  gods  were  burned  to 
ashes.  It  took  three  days  to  complete  the  work  of 
destruction. 

Idol  worship  was  totally  abandoned,  commodious 
chapels  were  erected,  churches  organized,  schools 
established,  and  thousands  of  heathen  were  brought 
to  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  the  faithful 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  In  the  course  of  three 
months,  twelve  hundred  natives  began  to  meet  in  a 
class,  most  of  whom,  it  is  believed,  were  sincere 
seekers  of  salvation.  At  the  opening  of  a  new 
chapel,  which  would   seat  eight  hundred  persons, 


EARLY  MISSIONS  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS.      125 

three  thousand  natives  came  together  to  take  part 
in  the  services,  which  were  necessarily  held  in  the 
open  air. 

The  work  of  conversion  spread  from  village  to 
village,  and  from  island  to  island,  till  the  whole  of 
the  people  seemed  to  be  moved  by  one  common 
impulse.  In  a  single  day  more  than  one  thousand 
persons  were  converted  to  God.  The  change  was  not 
now  from  dumb  idols  merely,  but  from  sin  to  holiness, 
and  from  "the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  The 
society  in  Vavau  soon  increased  to  3,066  members,  of 
which  number  as  many  as  2,262  were  the  fruit  of  this 
extraordinary  visitation. 

Nor  were  there  wanting  satisfactory  evidences  of 
the  genuineness  of  this  remarkable  w^ork  of  grace. 
The  temper  and  spirit,  the  walk  and  conversation  of  the 
new  converts,  was  most  exemplary.  This  hallowed 
work  speedily  extended  to  the  whole  group.  Mr. 
Tucker  visited  a  small  island  at  a  short  distance, 
where  he  found  all  the  adult  inhabitants,  not  one 
excepted,  meeting  in  a  Methodist  class.  After 
administering  the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  forty-nine 
persons,  he  regarded  the  whole  population  as  members 
of  the  Christian  Church. 

Soon  after  his  conversion,  the  king  liberated  all  his 
slaves,  and  made  known  his  views  with  regard  to 
Christian  liberty  throughout  his  dominions.  He  now 
gave  himself  up  to  close  study,  and  was,  before  long, 
prepared  to  pass  his  examination  as  a  local  preacher. 
He  entered  upon  his  new  duties  with  fervent  zeal  and 


126     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

intelligent  viev/s  of  his  responsibility  to  God  and  His 
church ;  and  labored  with  unwearied  diligence  to 
win  souls  to  Christ.  It  was  a  pleasing  sight  to  the 
missionaries  to  see  the  royal  preacher  starting  off  in 
his  canoe,  on  a  Sabbath  morning,  to  fulfil  his  appoint- 
ment at  a  distant  island ;  and  still  more  pleasing  to 
hear  the  song  of  praise  ascending  to  heaven  from  the 
pious  sailors  and  their  zealous  chief,  as  they  glided 
along  on  their  errand  of  mercy. 

Soon  after  his  conversion,  King  George  built  a 
beautiful  new  chapel.  It  was  the  largest  and  most 
elegant  building  that  had  ever  been  erected  in  the 
Friendly  Islands,  measuring  one  hundred  and  ten 
feet  in  length  by  forty-five  feet  in  width.  The  com- 
munion rails  were  made  out  of  the  carved  shafts  of 
spears,  with  two  large  disused  war-clubs  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pulpit  stairs,  to  remind  the  people  of 
the  happy  change  which  had  been  brought  about 
by  the  gospel  of  peace  and  salvation. 


JOHN  HUNT  AND  THE  CONVERSION  OF  FIJI.     127 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

JOHN   HUNT   AND  THE   CONVEKSION  OF  FIJI. 

That  a  Lincolnshire  ploughboy,  who  grew  up  to 
manhood  in  utter  ignorance,  should,  before  his  thirty- 
sixth  year,  be  the  chief  instrument  in.  the  conversion 
to  Christianity  and  civilization  of  one  of  the  most 
barbarous  races  of  cannibals  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  annals 
of  Christian  missions. 

Young  Hunt  was  put,  at  ten  years  of  age,  to  the 
hard  work  of  a  ploughboy.  In  his  seventeenth 
year  he  became  converted,  and,  being  full  of  zeal, 
was  soon  asked  to  address  a  village  congregation. 
In  spite  of  his  uncouth  appearance  and  rustic  brogue, 
he  became  a  favorite  with  the  rural  congregations 
which  he  addressed. 

He  was  still  a  hard-working  farm  servant.  After 
walking  many  miles  on  Sunday,  often  not  reaching 
home  till  midnight,  he  was  in  the  stables  grooming 
his  horses  at  four  o'clock  next  morning.  Being  asked 
if  he  would  like  to  become  a  preacher,  he  confessed 
that  he  would  like  to  go  as  a  servant  with  a  missionary 
to  South  Africa,  and  teach  in  a  Sunday-School — so 
modest  was  his  ambition.     The  Mission  Secretaries 


128     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

rather  laughed  at  the  idea ;  but  he  was  recommended 
for  the  ministry,  and  was  sent  to  the  Hoxton  training 
school. 

About  two  years  before  this,  two  Wesleyan  mis- 
sionaries, Messrs.  Cross  and  Cargill,  had  gone  as 
pioneers  from  Australia  to  Fiji.  Their  account  of  the 
cannibal  orgies  of  the  islands  was  a  revelation  of 
horror  to  England.  The  Wesleyan  Mission  House 
issued  an  appeal,  "  Pity  poor  Fiji,"  which  stirred 
the  societies  throughout  the  kingdom.  Young  Hunt 
and  James  Calvert,  the  latter  a  Yorkshire  lad  who 
had  recently  completed  his  apprenticeship  as  printer 
and  bookbinder,  were  chosen  to  reinforce  that  little 
band  among  cannibals.  In  a  few  weeks  Hunt  and 
his  young  wife  were  on  their  way  to  the  scene  of 
their  future  trials  and  triumphs  at  the  far  antipodes. 

"  They  soon  found,"  says  Bishop  Walsh,  "  that  so 
far  as  the  cruelties  of  the  people  were  concerned,  the 
half  had  not  been  told  them.  The  Fijians  were, 
perhaps,  the  most  deeply  degraded  race  of  human 
beings  that  had  ever  been  met  with  in  any  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands."  Two-thirds  of  all  the  children 
were  killed  in  infancy,  and  every  village  had  an 
executioner  appointed  to  carry  out  this  deed  of  blood. 
Those  who  survived  were  early  trained  to  the  darkest 
deeds.  Dead  bodies  were  handed  over  to  young 
children  to  hack  and  hew  ;  living  captives  were  given 
up  to  them  to  mutilate  and  torture. 

Ra  Undreundu  kept  a  register,  by  means  of  stones, 
of  the  bodies  which  he  had  eaten,  and  they  numbered 


JOHN  HUNT  AND  THE  CONVERSION  OF  FIJI.     129 

nine  hundred.  War  canoes  were  launched  on  living 
human  bodies,  as  rollers.  It  was  considered  the 
honorable  thing  for  a  wife  to  be  strangled  when  her 
husband  died.  Sometimes  a  dozen  or  more  wives  of 
a  chief  were  thus  put  to  death  and  buried  with  their 
husband. 

In  1840,  Commodore  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  visited  the  island,  and  so  deplorable  was  the 
condition  of  the  missionaries  that  he  offered  to  convey 
them  away,  but  they  refused  to  go,  although  the 
chiefs  commanded  them  to  depart. 

During  this  time  the  cannibal  feasts  were  more 
frequent,  and  barbarous  ceremonies  were  constantly 
taking  place  in  the  town.  The  ovens  were  so  near 
the  mission-house  that  the  smell  from  them  was 
sickening ;  and  the  king  furiously  threatened  to  kill 
the  missionaries  and  their  wives  if  they  shut  up  their 
house  to  exclude  the  horrible  stench.  Among  all 
these  perils  and  annoyances,  Mr.  Hunt  steadily  and 
earnestly  went  about  his  work,  always — to  use  his 
favorite  expression — "  turning  his  care  into  prayer.** 

Such  devotion,  however,  could  not  fail  of  its 
glorious  reward.  A  great  religious  awakening  took 
place.  Among  the  converts  was  the  queen  of  Viwa. 
It  was  very  affecting  to  see  hundreds  of  Fijians, 
many  of  whom  were,  a  few  years  ago,  some  of  the 
worst  cannibals  in  the  group,  and  even  in  the  world, 
chanting,  "  We  praise  thee,  O  God  ;  we  acknowledge 
thee  to  be  the  Lord ;  "  while  their  voices  were  almost 
drowned  by  the  cries  of  broken-hearted  penitents. 


130     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Hunt's  arduous  toil  wore  out  his  life,  and  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-six  he  passed  from  labor  to  his 
endless  reward.  The  next  day  his  coffin  was  borne 
by  native  students  to  the  grave.  It  had  on  it  no 
emblazonry,  and  no  record  but  this : 

KEY.   JOHN  HUNT, 
SLEPT  IN  JESUS,   OCTOBER  4tH,   1848. 
AGED    36    YEARS. 

In  1874  the  islands  became,  by  petition  of  their 
inhabitants,  a  crown  colony  of  Great  Britain,  and  the 
following  year  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  was  appointed  first 
governor.  In  1885  the  jubilee  of  Christianity  was 
celebrated  in  Fiji.  Mr.  Calvert,  then  seventy-two 
years  of  age,  left  England  to  attend  it.  Referring 
to  this  visit  he  said :  "  In  1835,  when  the  mission 
commenced,  there  was  not  a  single  Christian  in  Fiji. 
In  1885  there  was  not  an  avowed  heathen  in  all 
the  inhabited  islands.  Out  of  a  population  of 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand,  one  hundred  and 
four  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-five  were 
attendants  on  public  worship.  Now  marriage  is 
sacred,  family  worship  regularly  conducted,  schools 
are  every  wliere  established,  law  and  good  government 
firmly  laid,  and  spiritual  churches  formed  and  pros- 
perous. The  Fijian  church  is  also  continually 
sending  native  missionaries  to  other  distant  lands  to 
preach  Christ  in  other  tongues." 

The  genuine  and  sturdy  character  of  the  religion 
of  these  Fijian  converts  has  proved  itself  on  many 


JOHN  HUNT  AND  THE  CONVERSION  OF  FIJI.     131 

signal  occasions.  Manfully  have  many  of  tliem 
endured  persecution,  exile  and  death  rather  than 
compromise  their  principles.  Forty  native  Fijians 
have  gone  as  missionaries  to  New  Guinea,  a  land 
more  degraded  than  even  their  own  had  been,  and 
through  their  labors  two  thousand  three  hundred  of 
the  inhabitants  became  Christians.  The  Fijians  make 
good  missionaries ;  difficulties  do  not  dishearten  nor 
perils  affright  them.  Where  one  falls  under  the 
club  of  a  savage — and  many  have  so  fallen — others 
are  ready  to  take  up  his  work  and  proclaim  to  his 
murderers  both  tlie  law  and  the  gospel. 

The  good  work  so  auspiciously  begun  by  Hunt 
and  his  associates  has  been  carried  on  with  glorious 
results.  The  mission  band  has  been  reinforced,  till, 
at  the  close  of  the  century,  there  were  employed, 
besides  about  a  score  of  European  missionaries, 
seventy  native  preachers,  1,126  catechists,  2,081 
local  preachers,  3,405  class-leaders,  with  106,000 
attendants  on  public  worship,  out  of  a  po^Dulation  of 
120,000.  The  people  have  erected  for  themselves 
079  chapels,  which  are  out  of  debt,  and  381  other 
preaching  places.  Every  Sunday  there  are  1,200 
pulpits  filled  by  native  Fiji  preachers,  and  during  the 
week  1,951  day-schools  are  conducted  for  the 
instruction  of  over  58,307  scholars,  each  village 
supporting  its  own  schools. 

Bishop  Walsh,  a  prelate  of  the  Anglican  Church, 
pays  this  generous  tribute  to  the  lowly  Lincolnshire 
ploughman  whose  life  and  work  we  have  sketched : 


132     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

"  Fiji  is  not  only  a  gem  in  the  British  crown,  but  a 
precious  jewel  in  the  missionary  diadem ;  and  to 
John  Hunt,  above  all  other  men,  belongs  the  honor 
of  having  placed  it  there  I  '* 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  133 


CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,   THE    MARTYR   OF  EREOMANGA. — 
RECENT  PROGRESS   IN  THE   SOUTH  SEAS. 

Tottenham  Court  Road  is  one  of  the  most 
crowded  and  busy  thoroughfares  of  London.  In  this 
populous  neighborhood  the  future  illustrious  mission- 
ary, John  Williams,  was  born,  1796.  From  his  boyhood 
he  exhibited  that  mechanical  aptitude  and  manual  dex- 
terity which  he  afterwards  turned  to  such  good  ac- 
count among  the  barbarous  South  Sea  Islanders. 

Already  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  en- 
deavoring to  win  from  heathenism  to  Christianity 
those  sunny  islands  of  the  southern  seas  which  Cook 
and  his  fellow-discoverers  had  unveiled  to  the  world. 
These  "isles  of  Eden"  appeared  to  the  casual  ob- 
server among  the  loveliest  and  most  favored  spots 
on  earth.  The  bread-fruit  tree  and  the  cocoa  palm 
waved  their  foliage  in  the  balmy  air. 

In  a  halcyon  sea  'mid  the  coral  grove 
The  purple  mullet  and  gold-fish  rove. 

Flowers  of  brightest  hues  and  fragrance,  and  fruits 
of  richest  flavor  abounded.  Surely  here,  if  anywhere 
on  earth,  were  the  Islands  of  the  Blessed,  and  here 


134     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

must  be  found  the  primeval  innocence  and  happiness 
of  that  Golden  Age  of  which  poets  had  sung  ! 

But  how  different  was  the  reality  !  These  scenes 
of  fairy  loveliness  were  full  of  the  habitations  of 
cruelty,  and  were  in  danger  of  becoming  (Jepopulated 
through  the  abominable  wickedness  of  the  inhabitants. 
Chronic  wars  wasted  the  islands,  and  the  victors 
feasted  upon  the  flesh  of  their  conquered  enemies. 
Even  woman's  heart  forgot  its  pitifulness,  and 
"  mothers  slept  calmly  on  the  beds  beneath  which 
they  had  buried  many  of  their  own  murdered  infants." 

Here  the  gospel  of  Jesus  had  already  been  preached, 
and  had  won,  as  amid  the  corruptions  of  Corinth  and 
the  cruelties  of  Rome,  its  wonted  triumphs.  In  some 
of  the  islands  the  natives  renounced  their  idolatry, 
and  gave  up  their  bloody  rites.  Across  the  sea  came 
the  cry  for  more  laborers  for  this  field  of  toil  and 
danger.  Among  the  first  to  respond  was  the  zealous 
young  convert,  John  Williams,  being  then  only  in 
his  twentieth  year.  He  offered  his  services  to  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  and  was  accepted  for 
the  work  to  which  he  gave  his  life. 

With  his  young  and  devoted  wife,  who  proved 
herself  a  noble  helpmeet  in  many  a  time  of  trial, 
Williams  set  forth  for  the  scene  of  his  future  triumphs 
and  martyrdom.  A  whole  year  elapsed  before  the 
cocoa  groves  of  Eimeo,  one  of  tlie  Society  Islands, 
greeted  the  eyes  of  the  young  missionary,  weary  with 
contemplating  the  wide  waste  of  the  melancholy 
main.     Here  he  remained  for  some  time,  acquiring 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  135 

the  native  language.  His  extraordinary  mechanical 
skill  commanded  the  admiration  of  the  islanders, 
and,  gaining  their  confidence,  he  soon  acquired  great 
facility  in  adopting  their  modes  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression. 

Soon  a  place  of  worship  was  erected  in  their  midst, 
capable  of  containing  some  three  thousand  people. 
The  idol  houses,  which  were  often  the  scenes  of  cruel 
and  cannibal  orgies,  were  pulled  down.  The  gods 
were  committed  to  the  flames,  infanticide  was  abol- 
ished, cannibalism  was  at  an  end,  divine  service  was 
held  three  times  every  Sunda}^  family  prayer  was 
universal,  and  the  people,  who  lately  seemed  as  if 
possessed  by  devils,  were  "  sitting  clothed  and  in 
their  right  mind." 

The  zealous  missionary  organized  a  society  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  the  surrounding  islands,  and  these  re- 
cent pagans,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  had  given 
some  15,000  bamboos  of  cocoanut  oil,  the  value  of 
which  was  at  least  |2,500,  as  a  recognition  of  their 
own  obligations  to  the  gospel,  and  of  their  earnest 
desire  to  make  it  known  to  others. 

The  missionary  had  heard  among  the  natives 
strange  songs  and  traditions  of  an  island,  named  by 
them  Raratonga,  which  he  was  anxious  to  discover  and 
evangelize.  Within  twelve  months  of  his  visit  the 
whole  population,  numbering  some  seven  thousand, 
had  renounced  idolatry,  and  were  engaged  in  erecting 
a  place  of  worship,  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  to 
accommodate  the  vast  congregations. 


136     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Williams  resolved  also  to  build  a  ship  of  his  own, 
in  which  he  might  roam  through  the  great  archi- 
pelago of  the  Pacific.  His  account  of  the  building 
of  that  ship  reads  like  romance,  and  has  been  com- 
pared to  a  chapter  in  Defoe.  The  builder  was  soon 
on  board  his  "  Messenger  of  Peace,"  which  the  na- 
tives called  "  The  Ship  of  God,"  and  was  carrying 
the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  surrounding 
shores.  From  island  to  island  he  sailed,  preaching 
everywhere  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  till,  of 
sixty  thousand  natives  of  the  Samoan  group,  fifty 
thousand  were  under  religious  instruction. 

After  eighteen  years  of  hallowed  labor,  this  heroic 
man  was  able  to  say :  "  There  is  not  an  island  of  im- 
portance within  two  thousand  miles  of  Tahiti  to 
which  the  tidings  of  salvation  have  not  been  con- 
veyed." But  the  results  accomplished  he  regarded 
as  only  stepping-stones  to  still  greater  results  in  the 
future.  He,  therefore,  resolved  to  visit  England,  to 
tell  of  the  three  hundred  thousand  savages  already 
brought  under  religious  instruction,  to  get  his  Rara- 
tongan  version  of  the  Scriptures  through  the  press, 
and  to  arouse  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  to  the 
blessed  work  of  giving  the  gospel  to  the  heathen. 
"It  is  not  too  much,"  writes  Bishop  Walsh,  "  to  say 
that  his  visit  did  more  to  fan  the  flame  of  missionary 
interest  in  England  than  any  event  which  had  oc- 
curred for  a  century." 

Williams  had  set  his  heart  on  the  conquest  for 
Christ  of  the  New  Hebrides,  a  group  whose  inhab- 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  137 

itants  were  known  to  be  violent  and  suspicious. 
After  revisiting  all  his  old  stations,  he  resolved  on 
planting  a  mission  at  Erromanga,  the  key  of  the 
New  Hebrides  group.  Having  reached  the  island, 
Williams  with  a  small  party  went  ashore.  The 
natives  were  shy  and  sullen,  but  the  missionary 
frankly  offered  his  hand  and  presented  some  cloth. 
They  accepted  his  gifts,  but  while  he  was  speaking 
to  some  children  the  cry  of  "  Danger  "  from  the  boats 
caused  the  party  to  run.  Two  of  them  escaped, 
but  the  heroic  Williams  and  Mr.  Harris,  another 
missionary,  were  pierced  with  arrows  and  captured 
by  the  natives. 

"  There  can  be  little  doubt,"  continues  the  narrator 
of  this  tragic  event,  "that  the  horrid  oro^ies  of 
cannibalism  followed  closely  upon  the  murder;  for 
when  the  British  ship  'Favorite'  visited  the  island 
to  recover  the  bodies,  a  few  bones  were  surrendered 
as  the  only  remains  of  the  man  who  had  done  so 
much  good  in  his  day  and  generation." 

A  few  years  later  the  saintly  Selwyn,  Bishop  of 
New  Zealand,  on  his  first  visit  to  the  New  Hebrides, 
touched  at  Erromanga  with  a  native  teacher.  They 
knelt  together  on  its  blood-stained  shore,  and  asked 
God  to  open  a  way  for  his  gospel  to  the  degraded  in- 
habitants. At  length,  in  1852,  two  native  Christians 
from  the  Hervey  Islands  were  landed,  and  one  of 
those  chiefs  who  were  most  forward  in  giving  them  a 
welcome  was  the  very  man  who  had  murdered  Wil- 
liams.    "Erromanga,   however,  was  to  have  other 


138     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

associations  with  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  before 
that  blessed  consummation  could  be  attained.  In 
1861,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  a  devoted  missionary 
pair,  were  savagely  massacred  by  some  of  the  heathen." 

It  is  the  deliberate  opinion  of  Bishop  Walsh,  the 
biographer  of  this  devoted  missionary,  that  "  since 
the  days  of  the  apostles  no  one  man  was  the  means 
of  winning  so  many  thousands  to  the  true  faith  of 
Christ  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,**  as  was  John 
Williams.  Yet  he  sealed  his  testimony  with  his 
blood  at  the  early  age  of  forty- three.  His  life  was 
short  if  measured  by  years,  but  if  measured  by  re- 
sults— by  noble  achievements  for  God  and  for  man — 
it  was  long  and  grand  and  glorious  !  His  undying 
fame  is  recorded  in  his  brief  but  pregnant  epitaph  : — 
"  When  he  came  there  were  no  Christians,  when  he 
left  there  were  no  heathen." 

In  the  Sandwich  or  Hawaiian  Islands  the  missions 
of  the  American  Board  were  not  less  successful  than 
those  above  described.  The  very  scene  of  Captain 
Cook's  murder  has  become  the  scene  of  most  re- 
markable missionary  triumphs.  The  story  has  often 
been  told  of  Obookiah,  a  native  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  "  who  was  found  one  day  in  1809  sitting 
upon  the  steps  of  one  of  the  buildings  of  Yale  Col- 
lege and  weeping  because  he  longed  to  gain  an  edu- 
cation and  knew  not  how  it  could  be  secured."  Ten 
years  later  the  brig  Thaddeus  sailed  with  nineteen 
missionaries  for  these  islands. 

Providence   had   been    preparing   the    way.     An 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  139 

open  revolt  against  idolatry  was  in  progress.  The 
missionaries  were  received  with  gladness.  In  eight 
years  there  were  twelve  thousand  hearers  of  the 
Word  and  twenty-seven  thousand  pupils  in  the 
schools.  During  1837,  under  Titus  Coan,  seventeen 
hundred  and  five  persons  were  baptized  in  one  day, 
and  within  six  years  there  were  twenty-seven  thou- 
sand converts.  In  1863  the  American  Board 
deemed  its  work  accomplished,  and  handed  over  its 
missions  to  the  native  churches. 

The  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association  has  since 
managed  the  native  churches.  These  churches  be- 
came themselves  centres  of  Christian  propagandism, 
and  sent  earnest  native  missionaries  to  the  Caroline, 
Gilbert,  Marshall  and  Marquesas  Islands.  The  mis- 
sionary labors  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  made  them  the 
most  prosperous  in  the  Pacific  and  prepared  the  way 
for  their  annexation  in  1898  to  the  United  States. 

The  chief  opposition  to  missions  in  the  Southern 
Seas  has  been  through  wicked  men,  whose  sinful 
practices  were  restrained  by  the  spread  of  the 
gospel.  The  malign  influence  of  these  men  intro- 
duced among  the  people  the  white  man's  vices  in- 
stead of  the  white  man's  virtues,  and  the  white 
man's  diseases  which  have  decimated  the  native 
tribes. 

New  Zealand,  under  the  influence  of  Christian 
missions  and  Christian  civilization,  has  been  trans- 
formed from  a  habitation  of  cruelty  to  one  of  the 
most  advanced,  progressive  and  prosperous  parts  of 

K 


140     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  British  Empire.  "  Samuel  Marsden,  the  apostle 
of  New  Zealand,  while  a  convict  chaplain  in  New 
South  Wales,  had  met  some  of  those  fiends  incar- 
nate, the  savage  Maories.  His  soul  was  greatly 
drawn  out  in  sympathy  for  them,  and,  in  1807,  while 
on  a  visit  to  England,  he  urged  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  to  undertake  the  task  of  preaching 
Christ  in  these  dark  abodes  of  cruelty."  With  a 
little  company  of  artisans  and  a  converted  Maori  the 
work  was  begun.  In  1814  Marsden  joined  them, 
but  not  till  after  eleven  dreadful  years  had  passed 
was  a  single  native  baptized.  Then  five  years  more 
elapsed  without  any  further  semblance  of  fruit. 

The  Wesleyans,  meanwhile,  under  Samuel  Leigh, 
in  1818  established  a  mission  in  the  Northern 
Islands.  But  for  twelve  years  no  converts  were 
made.  Then  a  great  revival  occurred.  Soon,  on  a 
single  Sunday  eighty-four  converts  were  baptized, 
and  by  1838  sixteen  chapels  were  built,  at  one  of 
which  a  thousand  worshippers  were  wont  to  gather. 
In  1840  the  unhappy  Maori  war  broke  out,  and  of 
two  hundred  thousand  natives  only  forty  thousand 
remained. 

In  1842  Bishop  Selwyn  brought  a  large  reinforce- 
ment of  missionaries,  and  soon  after  began  a 
mission  in  the  New  Hebrides,  a  group  of  thirty 
islands  about  a  thousand  miles  north  of  New  Zealand. 
The  people  of  these  islands  were  among  the  most 
degraded,  ferocious  and  treacherous  of  the  Southern 
Seas.     They  had  suffered  cruel  wrongs  from  wicked 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  141 

white  men,  and  here  it  was  that  the  heroic  John 
Williams  was  murdered  and  became  the  victim  of  a 
cannibal  feast.  Not  till  1848  was  a  permanent  mis- 
sion established  in  the  New  Hebrides  by  John  Geddie 
and  his  brave  wife,  sent  out  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Nova  Scotia. 

That  noble  colonial  church  was  destined  to  add 
two  martyr  missionaries  to  this  heroic  band.  In 
1857  it  sent  the  Rev.  G.  N.  Gordon  to  Erromanga, 
where  Williams  gained  the  martyr's  crown,  and 
after  four  years'  labor  of  love  he  and  his  wife  were 
killed.  Three  years  after  his  brother,  the  Rev.  J.  S. 
Gordon,  offered  himself  for  the  vacant  place,  and 
eight  years  later  became  himself  the  victim  of  a 
treacherous  native. 

The  story  of  Raton's  career  at  Aniwa  has  become 
a  classic  of  missionary  literature.  On  another  of 
these  islands  the  saintly  Bishop  Patteson  received 
the  martyr's  crown.  About  twenty  of  these  islands 
have  now  been  Christianized,  and  some  fourteen 
thousand  of  their  once  savage  inhabitants  gathered 
into  churches. 

Not  till  1870  was  the  gospel  carried  to  New 
Guinea,  the  world's  largest  island,  by  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  The  early  missionaries  were 
chiefly  Christian  converts  from  the  Loyalty  group, 
which  had  been  evangelized  by  Raratongan  converts. 
"  In  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  New  Guinea  mis- 
sion one  hundred  and  twenty  native  teachers  died  of 
fever  or  were  poisoned  or  massacred,  yet  the  ranks 


142     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

were  never  unfilled."  The  Rev.  James  Chalmers, 
the  devoted  agent  in  New  Guinea  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  calls  them  the  true  heroes  and 
martyrs  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Wesleyan  missionaries  from  Australia,  with  six- 
teen native  missionaries  from  Fiji,  Tonga  and  Samoa, 
have  evangelized  New  Britain,  New  Ireland  and  the 
Duke  of  York  Island.  In  Java,  Sumatra  and  the 
Malayan  Archipelago,  the  Netherlands  and  Rhenish 
Societies  have  had  considerable  success.  But 
throughout  the  Dutch  East  Indies  these  is  still  much 
to  be  accomplished.  In  1890  there  were  but  two 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  four  hundred 
and  ten  Christians  out  of  a  population  of  over  thirty 
millions. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  MISSIONS.  143 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

EARLY      AMERICAN     MISSIONS. — JUDSON     AND     HIS 
HELPERS. 

The  sacred  impulse  to  missionary  work  early- 
spread  to  the  New  World.  We  have  already  referred 
to  the  consecrated  toil  among  the  Indians  of  Eliot 
and  Brainerd.  In  1774  Ezra  Stiles  and  Samuel  Hop- 
kins had  proposed  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  New- 
York  to  send  two  natives  of  Africa  who  had  been 
converted  in  the  college  of  New  Jersey  to  propagate 
Christianity  in  their  own  country.  The  Synod  in- 
dorsed the  scheme,  but  the  Revolutionary  War  pre- 
vented its  being  carried  out. 

The  American  Baptists  were  deeply  interested  in 
the  mission  of  William  Carey  and  contributed  con- 
siderable sums  to  its  support,  and  early  in  the  cen- 
tury no  less  than  five  missionary  periodicals  were 
established  to  difiuse  missionary  intelligence  amono^ 
the  people. 

It  was,  however,  through  the  influence  of  a  band 
of  college  students  that  the  first  missionary  society 
in  America  was  organized.  In  1806  Samuel  J. 
Mills  proposed  to  three  fellow-students  of  Williams 
College,  *'  under  the  lee  of  a  hay  stack,  where  they 


144     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

had  taken  refuge  from  a  thunder  storm,"  that  the^ 
should  endeavor  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen. 
Soon  after,  at  Andover  Seminary,  Adoniram  Judson, 
a  name  of  potent  memory,  with  kindred  spirits,  took 
up  the  sacred  cause,  and  led,  in  1810,  to  the  organ- 
ization of  that  noble  society,  destined  to  be  so  widely 
known  as  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions.  Under  its  auspices,  in  1812,  Jud- 
son, Rice,  Newell,  Hall  and  Nott  sailed  for  Calcutta. 
The  British  authorities  refused  them  permission  to 
land.  The  last  three  ultimately  settled  at  Bombay, 
and  Judson  became  the  Apostle  of  Burmah. 

Judson's  story  is  one  of  strange  power  and  pathos. 
At  college  he  acquired  free-thinking  notions,  and 
avowed  himself  as  a  deist.  He  could  confront  in 
argument  his  pious  father,  who  was  a  Congregational 
pastor,  but  to  the  prayers  and  tears  of  his  mother  he 
had  nothing  to  oppose.  He  was  converted  to  God 
in  his  twenty-fifth  year.  Zeal  to  preach  the  gospel 
in  foreign  lands  took  the  place  of  dreams  of  literary 
and  political  ambition.  Ann  Hasseltine  Judson,  his 
wife,  was  the  first  American  woman  to  become  a 
missionary  to  foreign  lands,  the  pioneer  of  a  noble 
company  of  women  workers  for  heathen  women. 
During  their  long  voyage  their  views  on  baptism 
underwent  a  change,  and  they  passed  under  the  care 
of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

Forbidden  by  the  East  India  Company  to  labor  in 
India,  Judson  obtained  admission  to  the  empire  of 
Burmah,     Not  till  after  six  years  of  toil  was  his  first 


EARLY  AMERICAN  MISSIONS.  145 

convert  baptized.  During  the  war  between  Britain 
and  Burmah  the  Judsons  suffered  almost  incredible 
hardships.  Mr.  Judson  was  imprisoned  for  seventeen 
months  in  the  unutterable  misery  of  an  oriental  jail, 
during  much  of  the  time  being  bound  with  three  and 
sometimes  no  less  than  five  pairs  of  iron  fetters.  His 
sufferings  from  fever,  from  excruciating  heat,  hunger 
and  the  cruelty  of  his  keepers  form  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  narratives  in  the  annals  of  missions. 

Mr.  Judson  and  Dr.  Price,  a  medical  missionary, 
were  confined  in  a  noisome  prison,  fettered  and  fast- 
ened to  a  long  pole  to  prevent  their  moving.  The 
jailers  confiscated  their  household  goods,  but  Mrs. 
Judson  had  taken  the  precaution  to  secrete,  in  a 
shabby  pillow,  which  she  thought  no  native  would 
covet,  the  manuscript  of  her  husband's  translation  of 
the  New  Testament.  On  this  she  slept  till  robbed 
of  it  by  one  of  the  officials,  who  soon  threw  it  away 
because  it  was  so  hard.  One  of  the  converts  picked 
it  up  and  afterwards  restored  the  precious  manu- 
script to  Mrs.  Judson  intact. 

To  add  to  the  difficulties  of  the  lonely  woman,  a 
little  daughter  was  born,  which,  as  often  as  she  could, 
she  took  with  her  to  the  prison  to  bring  some  ray  of 
pleasure  to  her  husband's  heart.  While  still  ill  with 
fever,  Mr.  Judson  and  the  other  white  prisoners  were 
driven  on  foot  to  Amarapura,  a  distance  of  eight  or 
ten  miles.  This  march  under  the  burning  sun  was 
so  dreadful  that  one  of  the  number  dropped  dead. 
In  a  filthy  hovel  Mrs.  Judson  spent  thirteen  months 


146     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  wretchedness.  At  length  Mr.  Judson  was  re- 
leased and  ordered  to  the  Burmese  camp  to  act  as 
interpreter  in  the  negotiations  carried  on  with  Sir 
Archibald  Campbell  for  peace.  Upon  the  arrival  at 
the  English  camp,  Mrs.  Judson  writes  :  "  Sir  Archi- 
bald took  us  to  his  own  table  and  treated  us  with 
the  kindness  of  a  father.  No  persons  on  earth  were 
ever  happier  than  we  were  during  the  fortnight  we 
passed  at  the  English  camp.  We  were  crut  of  the 
power  of  the  Burmese  and  once  more  under  English 
protection." 

Judson  was  now  summoned  to  assist  in  negotiating 
a  second  treaty  between  the  English  and  Burmese, 
which  should  secure  toleration  for  Christianity. 
This  was  the  final  parting  between  husband  and 
wife.  Before  his  return,  that  tender,  brave  soul  ex- 
changed suffering  for  endless  rest.  For  over  sixty 
years  her  lonely  grave  has  been  eloquent  with  the 
echo  of  our  Saviour's  last  command,  ''  Go  ye,"  and 
multitudes  of  consecrated  workers  have  been  raised 
up  to  carry  on  the  work,  dropped  from  her  hands 
and  left  as  a  legacy  to  the  Christian  Church. 

A  number  of  new  missionaries  were  by  this  time 
in  the  field.  The  work  of  translation  went  rapidly 
on;  books,  tracts  and  portions  of  the  Bible  were 
printed ;  converts  were  added  to  the  church ;  and 
seven  years  after  Mrs.  Judson's  death,  the  num- 
ber of  native  Cliristians  had  increased  to  five  hun- 
dred and  sixteen,  and  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  Burmese  was  completed. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  MISSIONS.  147 

The  zealous  missionary  sought  sympathy  and  aid 
in  his  life-work  by  a  second  marriage  with  a  saintly 
woman,  the  widow  of  Dr.  Boardman,  founder  of  the 
Karen  Mission.  After  an  absence  of  more  than 
thirty  years  the  veteran  Judson,  worn  with  suf- 
fering, illness  and  toil,  returned  to  his  native 
land.  On  the  voyage  his  devoted  wife  died,  and 
was  buried  on  the  lonely  rocky  island  of  St. 
Helena,  where  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  so  long  a 
prisoner. 

Before  returning  to  his  beloved  labor  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Emily  Chubbuck,  a  young  lady  of  gifts 
and  graces,  who  wrote  much  in  prose  and  verse  un- 
der the  pseudonym  of  *'  Fanny  Forester."  The  re- 
mainder of  his  life  was  spent  in  unremitting  toil. 
Sickness,  suffering  and  persecution  by  the  Burmese 
rendered  it  almost  insupportable.  His  last  great 
work  was  the  completion  of  his  Burmese  dictionary, 
a  colossal  monument  of  his  consecrated  scholarship. 
While  on  a  voyage  to  the  Isle  of  Bourbon  in  quest 
of  health  he  died  on  a  French  bark  and  was  buried 
at  sea. 

Four  months  of  agonizing  suspense  elapsed  before 
Mrs.  Judson  received  tidings  of  her  crushing  bereave- 
ment. What  those  four  months  of  anguish  cost  her, 
we  may  feebly  gather  from  her  writings  penned 
during  that  period.  A  few  extracts  from  her  poem 
entitled  "  Sweet  Mother,"  the  long,  pitiful  wail  of  a 
breaking  heart,  will  convey  to  us  all  we  need  to  know 
of  the  agony  of  that  terrible  suspense. 


148     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  wild  southwest  monsoon  has  risen 
On  broad,  gray  wings  of  gloom, 

While  here  from  out  my  dreary  prison 

I  look  as  from  a  tomb, — alas  ! 
My  heart  another  tomb. 

Upon  the  low,  thatched  roof  the  rain 

With  ceaseless  patter  falls  ; 
My  choicest  treasures  bear  its  stain, 
Mould  gathers  on  the  walls, — would  Heaven 

'Twere  only  on  the  walls  ! 

They  bore  him  from  me  to  the  ship, 

As  bearers  bear  the  dead  ; 
I  kissed  his  speechless,  quivering  lip, 
And  left  him  on  his  bed, — alas. 

It  seemed  a  coffin  bed : 


**  With  weary  foot  and  broken  wing, 

With  bleeding  heart  and  sore, 
Thy  dove  looks  backward  sorrowing. 
But  seeks  the  ark  no  more, — thy  breast 

Seeks  never,  never  more. 

All  fearfully,  all  tearfully, 

Alone  and  sorrowing, 
My  dim  eye  lifted  to  the  sky, 
Fast  to  the  Cross  I  cling,— O  Christ, 

To  thy  dear  Cross  I  cling  ! 

Mrs.  Judson  afterwards  returned  to  the  United 
States,  where  she  lived  to  write  some  of  her  sweetest 
poems,  to  complete  her  husband's  memoirs,  and  to 
labor  unweariedly  for  the  education  of  his  chil- 
dren. 

Amid  the  persecutions  and  trials  of  the  Burmese 
mission  nearly  two  score  of  the  Baptist  missionaries 


EARLY  AMERICAN  MISSIONS.  149 

had  already  died  on  the  field.  Judson  was  a  man  of 
unfaltering  faith.  When  asked  near  his  death 
whether  the  prospects  were  bright  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world,  he  immediately  replied,  "As  bright, 
sir,  as  are  the  promises  of  God." 


150     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

EGBERT    MORRISON    AND    THE   OPENING   OF   CHINA. 

China  is  the  great  missionary  problem  of  the 
world.  Its  enormous  extent,  its  vast  population,  the 
immense  antiquity  of  its  religious  systems,  its  arrested 
development,  its  difficult  language,  all  form  formid- 
able barriers  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

It  is  only  by  comparison  with  other  countries  that 
we  can  get  an  adequate  idea  of  its  vast  size.  It  is 
more  than  one-third  larger  than  the  whole  of  Europe, 
and  exceeds  the  area  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
forty-four  times.  It  is  one  hundred  and  four  times 
as  large  as  England,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  times  as  large  as  Scotland.  Its  coastline,  washed 
by  the  restless  surges  of  the  Chinese  Sea,  is  over  3,000 
miles  long.  It  stretches  through  2,400  miles  from 
north  to  south,  and  nearly  4,500  miles  from  east  to 
west. 

Stupendous  as  is  the  size  of  China,  the  vastness  of 
its  population  is  still  more  wonderful.  The  Chinese 
ambassador  in  Paris  has  stated  the  population  at 
four  hundred  millions.  Here  again  mere  figures  can 
give  but  vague  ideas.  There  are  in  China  about 
eighty  times  as  many  persons  as  in  the  whole  Domin- 


THE  OPENING  OF  CHINA.  151 

ion  of  Canada,  about  six  times  as  many  as  there  are 
in  the  United  States,  and  one-third  more  than  in 
the  whole  of  Europe,  or  one-third  the  population  of 
the  globe.  Dr.  Gracey  strikingly  sets  forth  this 
stupendous  fact  as  follows  : 

"  Every  third  person  who  lives  and  breathes  upon 
this  earth,  who  toils  under  the  sun,  sleeps  under 
God's  stars,  or  sighs  and  suffers  beneath  the  heaven, 
is  a  Chinese.  Every  third  child  born  into  the  world 
looks  into  the  face  of  a  Chinese  mother ;  every  third 
pair  given  in  marriage  plight  their  troth  in  a  Chinese 
cup  of  wine  ;  every  third  orphan  weeping  through 
the  day,  every  third  widow  wailing  through  the 
watches  of  the  night,  is  in  China.  Every  third  person 
who  comes  to  die,  is  a  Chinese.  One  can  but  ask. 
What  catechism  will  this  third  child  learn  ?  What 
prosperity  will  follow  this  bridal  ?  What  solace  will 
be  afforded  these  widows  ?  What  watch-care  will  be 
given  these  orphans  ?  With  what  hopes  will  these 
multitudes  depart  ?  " 

As  early  as  the  seventh  century  Christianity  was 
introduced  into  China  by  the  Nestorian  Church.  It 
is  said  that  some  of  the  emperors  even  became 
converts  to  the  faith.  But  Nestorian  Christianity 
seems  to  have  been  destroyed  by  the  Ming  Dynasty 
(1360-1628).  As  early  as  the  thirteenth  century 
Roman  Catholic  missions  were  begun  in  China.  Not- 
withstanding severe  persecutions,  Roman  Catholicism 
has  maintained  its  existence  for  over  five  hundred 
years,  and  now  numbers,  it  is  claimed,  over  a  million 
adherents.  For  two  centuries  the  Greek  Church, 
under  the  patronage  of  Russia,  has  been  established 


152     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

in  China,  chiefly  in  Pekin.  The  Kussianizing  of 
Manchuria  and  the  northern  provinces  will  greatly 
extend  the  influences  of  that  church.  Protestant 
missions  date  only  from  the  great  missionary  revival 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  To  Robert  Morrison,  a 
sturdy  Northumbrian  of  Scottish  descent,  is  due  the 
honor  of  opening  this  great  empire  to  Protestantism. 

It  is  perhaps  scarce  too  much  to  say  that  Morrison 
was  the  greatest  benefactor  of  the  four  hundred 
millions  of  China  that  the  teeming  population  of  that 
vast  empire  has  ever  known.  He  first,  almost  unaided, 
translated  the  Word  of  God  into  a  vernacular  more 
widely  understood  than  any  other  in  the  world,* 
and  opened  the  gospel  to  more  than  one-third  of  the 
human  race.  His  labors  were  the  foundation  of  all 
future  evangelization,  and  upon  this  foundation  all 
succeeding  missionaries  have  had  to  build. 

Like  the  apostolic  Carey,  Morrison  has  conferred 
dignity  on  a  humble  origin  and  on  a  youth  of 
lowly  toil.  If  not  like  the  former,  a  shoemaker, 
he  was  the  next  thing  to  it — a  maker  of  lasts.  He 
was  born  in  1782,  and  after  scant  schooling  at  New- 
castle, he  was  apprenticed  to  his  father  at  a  very 
early  age  to  learn  the  trade  of  last-making.  Even 
when  at  work  at  his  lowly  trade,  his  Bible  or  Latin 
grammar    was   fastened  before  him,  that  he  might 

*  Although  there  are  some  two  hundred  different  dialects 
spoken  in  China,  yet  the  same  written  characters  are  under- 
stood in  all ;  as  the  Arabic  numerals,  though  called  by 
different  names,  are  understood  by  all  the  nations  in  Europe. 


THE  OPENING  OF  CHINA.  I53 

feed  the  hunger  of  his  mind  for  sacred  and  secular 
knowledge. 

Though  delighting  in  books,  there  came  to  his 
soul  with  irresistible  power  the  imploring  wail  of  the 
perishing  millions  of  mankind.  He  felt  that  he 
must  become  a  missionary  to  heathen  lands.  Friends 
tried  to  dissuade  him  from  what  they  thought  the 
chimerical  idea.  But  he  persisted  in  his  resolve, 
and  offered  his  services  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 

In  the  confidence  of  a  divine  call,  young  Morrison 
pursued  for  two  years  special  studies  preparatory  for 
his  life-work.  Day  after  day  he  walked  the  wards  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  to  gain  a  knowledge  of 
the  healing  art.  Every  spare  hour  was  spent  in  the 
alcoves  of  the  British  Museum.  The  special  attrac- 
tion in  that  wilderness  of  books  was  a  quaint  old 
manuscript,  a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  translated 
into  Chinese  by  an  unknown  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionary. At  his  lodgings,  by  the  help  of  the  almond- 
eyed  Chinese  scholar,  Young-Sam-Tak,  he  wrestled 
with  the  difficulties  of  the  most  difficult  language 
spoken  by  man. 

Owing  to  British  prejudice  against  missionaries, 
Morrison  was  unable  to  take  passage  direct  to  China, 
but  had  to  sail  to  America  and  round  Cape  Horn. 
After  nine  long  months  he  reached  Canton,  Septem- 
ber, 1807.  He  found  that  his  difficulties  had  but 
begun.  To  the  perplexities  of  the  language  were 
added  the  jealousies  and  oppositions  of  the  natives, 


154     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  the  British  residents  and  of  the  Portuguese 
Catholic  priests.  But  his  faith  rose  above  every 
obstacle.  In  his  willingness  to  become  all  things 
to  all  men  that  he  might  by  all  means  save  some,  he 
adopted  for  a  time  the  garb  and  customs  of  the 
Chinese.  He  shaved  his  beard  and  wore  the  national 
queue ;  allowed  his  nails  to  grow  long,  and  acquired 
the  difficult  art  of  eating  with  chop-sticks.  But, 
finding  that  this  extreme  conformity  did  not  con- 
ciliate the  natives,  he  soon  abandoned  it  and  resumed 
his  European  garb.  He  devoted  himself  with  en- 
thusiasm to  a  mastery  of  the  language,  conversed 
constantly  in  it  with  the  Chinese  servants,  and  even 
employed  it  in  his  private  prayers.  Such  energy 
would  conquer  any  obstacles,  and  he  soon  became, 
like  Carey  at  Calcutta,  translator  to  the  East  India 
Company. 

In  consequence  of  the  jealousies  of  the  native 
authorities,  Morrison  was  compelled  to  pursue  his 
labors  as  student  and  translator  of  the  Scriptures 
with  the  utmost  caution  and  privacy.  ''  We  get  a 
glimpse,"  says  his  biographer,  "  of  the  prudent  and 
indefatigable  missionary  living  in  a  cellar  below  the 
roadway,  with  a  dim  earthenware  lamp  lighted  be- 
fore him,  and  a  folio  volume  of  Matthew  Henry's 
Commentary  screening  the  flame  both  from  the  wind 
and  from  observation." 

So,  year  after  year,  he  toiled  on,  uncheered  by 
human  aid  or  sympathy  in  the  more  than  Herculean 
labor  of  translating  the  Scriptures  into  the  Chinese 


THE  OPENING  OF  CHINA.  155 

tongue.  In  seven  years  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  translated.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  too, 
Dr.  Morrison  baptized  his  first  convert,  Tsae-Ako, 
who  had  been  his  assistant  in  his  work — the  first- 
fruit  of  a  glorious  harvest  of  souls. 

In  five  years  more  the  whole  Bible  was  translated, 
and,  by  the  aid  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  was  published  in  twenty-one  portly  volumes 
— the  result  of  about  eighteen  years  of  missionary 
toil.  "During  this  time,"  writes  Bishop  Walsh, 
"  Morrison  had  to  superintend  not  only  the  printing, 
but  also  the  cutting  of  the  blocks  from  which  the 
copies  were  to  be  struck,  and  often  had  his  patience 
and  perseverance  been  tried  by  finding  them  de- 
stroyed, sometimes  by  the  ravages  of  the  white  ants, 
sometimes  through  the  error  of  the  workmen,  and 
sometimes  through  the  hostility  of  the  native  magis- 
trates." 

The  "Honorable  Company"  feared  that  they 
should  be  compromised  by  their  interpreter  being  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  Bible  translation,  and  dismissed 
him  from  their  service.  But  not  for  a  moment  did 
Morrison  hesitate  as  to  his  duty.  "  The  character  of 
a  missionary  I  cannot  sink,"  he  said,  "no,  not  if  my 
daily  bread  depend  on  it."  His  services,  however, 
were  so  valuable  that  he  was  again  and  again  em- 
ployed in  offices  of  the  highest  trust  and  importance. 
The  Company's  estimate  of  the  value  of  his  linguistic 
labors  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  it  expended 
the  sum  of  175,000  in  printing  his  Chinese  Diction- 


156     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ary,  a  work  which  explains  some  40,000  characters, 
and  which,  next  to  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures, 
is  the  great  work  of  the  missionary's  life. 

He  never,  however,  lost  sight  of  what  he  con- 
sidered his  great  missionary  obligations,  but  con- 
stantly preached  and  proclaimed  the  glad  evangel  of 
the  gospel  and  in  every  possible  way  sought  to  in- 
fluence for  good  the  native  population.  Believing 
that  the  Chinese  could  be  most  effectually  reached 
through  educational  means,  he  procured  the  found- 
ing of  an  Anglo-Chinese  college. 

In  1824  Morrison  revisited  his  native  land  to  find 
himself  everywhere  received  with  the  highest  hon- 
ors. He  was  presented  to  the  sovereign,  to  whom  he 
gave  a  copy  of  the  Chinese  Scriptures.  His  name 
was  received  with  cheers  by  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
and  learned  societies  and  universities  became  rivals 
in  conferring  upon  him  their  highest  distinctions. 

He  remained  two  years  in  England,  "  most  of  the 
time,"  he  says,  ''  in  stage-coaches  and  inns,"  dili- 
gently endeavoring  to  enlist  public  sympathy  in  the 
work  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  life — the  evangel- 
ization of  China.  He  then  returned  to  his  field  of 
toil,  "  amid  failing  health  and  family  afflictions,  and 
manifold  discouragements,  and  by  preaching,  trans- 
lating, printing,  sought  to  set  up  Christ's  kingdom 
in  that  land  of  dense,  dark  heathenism."  A  little 
band  of  Chinese  converts  were  gathered  about  him, 
and  one  of  these,  Leang-Afa,  became  the  first  native 
preacher  of  Christianity  in  the  Chinese  Empire. 


THE  OPENING  OF  CHINA.  157 

At  the  comparatively  early  age  of  fifty-two  he 
ceased  from  his  labors,  having  laid  the  foundation  of 
a  greater  work  for  the  heathen  world  than  probably 
any  other  man  since  apostolic  times.  When  Morri- 
son entered  China  in  1807  he  was  alone — the  only 
Protestant  missionary  among  400,000,000  people.  He 
lived  to  welcome  Dutch,  American  and  English  mis- 
sionaries to  that  vast  field.  How  it  would  have  re- 
joiced his  soul  had  he  lived  till  now — how  it  doubt- 
less rejoices  his  soul  in  heaven — to  know  that  over 
two  thousand  Protestant  missionaries  and  twenty 
thousand  native  helpers  are  preaching  the  gospel  in 
the  vast  empire  to  which  he  was  the  solitary  pioneer. 


168     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

LATER  MISSIONS  IN  THE  FAR   EAST. 

Morrison  was  followed  by  a  heroic  band  of  suc- 
cessors. The  Opium  War  of  1840-1842  led  to  the 
treaty  of  Nanking^  by  which  Hong  Kong  was  ceded 
to  Britain  and  five  treaty  ports  thrown  open  to  trade. 
In  1847,  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Burns,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  "  one  of  the  first  saints  in  the  missionary 
calendar,"  a  man  who  had  already  won  wide  success 
in  Britain  and  in  Canada,  went  to  China  and  devoted 
the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  evangelizing  of  its  people. 
He  adopted  the  native  customs  and  diet,  and  incurred 
much  peril  by  travelling  far  beyond  the  treaty  ports 
on  evangelistic  tours. 

The  second  Chinese  war,  occasioned  by  the  illegal 
seizure  of  the  British  ship  Arrow,  led  to  the  conven- 
tion of  Pekin  in  1860,  which  granted  religious  tol- 
eration and  liberty  to  travel  about  the  land.  To  the 
American  missionaries.  Wells,  Williams  and  Dr. 
Martyn,  much  credit  is  due  for  the  terms  of  this 
treaty.  The  following  year  Dr.  Griffith  John,  a 
zealous  agent  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
established  the  first  Protestant  mission  in  central 
China  at  Hankow. 


LATER  MISSIONS  IN  THE  FAR  EAST.  159 

The  work  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  begun  in 
1866,  is  unique  in  its  character  and  history.  Its 
founder  is  the  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  who  has  been 
designated  the  "  Loyola  of  Protestant  missions." 
The  principle  of  this  mission  is  that  the  workers 
have  no  guaranteed  salary,  but  go  forth  in  faith  en- 
tering every  open  door.  The  previous  missions  had 
been  confined  chiefly  to  the  sea-coast.  The  object 
of  the  Inland  Mission  was  to  press  forward  towards 
the  central  and  western  portions  of  the  empire,  where 
the  spiritual  destitution  was  most  appalling.  It  has 
now  agents  in  nearly  all  of  the  eighteen  provinces, 
and  in  1897  its  foreign  missionaries  numbered  720, 
with  507  paid  native  helpers.  It  is  interdenomina- 
tional in  its  character,  and  recruits  its  agents  from 
all  parts  of  Christendom.  Its  income  is  about 
$200,000  a  year,  received  in  answer  to  faith  and 
prayer. 

Time  would  fail  to  mention  the  tithe  of  the  noble 
workers  in  recent  Chinese  evangelization.  Almost 
all  the  Christian  churches  have  their  agencies  in 
this  great  empire.  Nor  have  these  ministrations 
been  without  their  noble  company  of  confessors  and 
martyrs.  Not  infrequently  have  the  missions  been 
raided  and  looted  and  the  missionaries  scattered. 
But  they  have  invariably  returned  to  their  labors  and 
been  crowned  with  glorious  success.  More  than 
twenty  distinct  riots  of  considerable  importance  have 
occurred.  In  one  of  these  in  1895,  at  Kucheng,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Stewart,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 


160     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

six  lady  missionaries,  a  nurse  and  two  children  were 
slain.  But  in  that  very  district  within  eighteen 
months  five  thousand  converts  were  added  to  the 
Church. 

There  are  in  China  over  a  million  blind  persons. 
For  these  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Murray  has  accomplished 
a  marvellous  work  in  adopting  the  Braille  system  of 
teaching  the  blind  the  complex  Chinese  language. 
It  has  been  found,  too,  that  *'  the  most  ignorant 
peasants,  both  blind  and  sighted,  can  by  this  purpose 
learn  to  read  and  write  fluently  within  three  months." 

In  Mongolia  and  Manchuria,  the  Rev.  James  Gil- 
mour  for  twenty  years  (1871-1891)  pursued  a  heroic 
life  of  lonely  wanderings  among  the  nomad  tribes 
of  these  northern  plains.  He  saw  but  one  or  two 
converts  as  the  result  of  his  labors.  But  he  knew  no 
surcease  of  his  toil  to  his  life's  end. 

The  "  Forbidden  Land  "  of  Tibet  has  hitherto  been 
closed  to  the  gospel,  but  the  missionaries  of  the 
several  churches  are  pushing  forward  their  lines  and 
trenches  for  the  assault  on  this  last  stronghold  of 
Buddhism.  Korea,  long  known  as  the  Hermit 
Kingdom,  has  opened  its  doors  to  the  gospel.  Mrs. 
Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  the  famous  traveller,  describes 
the  mission  work  she  saw  in  Korea  as  the  most  im- 
pressive she  had  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

In  the  remarkable  development  of  Japan  from  a 
military  feudalism  and  Asiatic  despotism  to  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  modern 
history.     In  this  the  words  of  the  Scripture  are  ful- 


LATER  MISSIONS  IN  THE  FAR  EAST.  161 

filled,  "  A  nation  is  born  in  a  day."  In  1549  Francis 
Xavier,  the  heroic  Jesuit  missionary,  took  passage  in 
a  pirate  ship  for  this  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun.  He 
visited  the  great  cities  of  the  empire.  In  thirty  years 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  claimed  one  hundred  thousand 
converts,  and  before  the  final  persecution  of  1637 
the  number  is  said  to  have  reached  not  less  than  two 
millions.  Many  of  these  were,  doubtless,  but  super- 
ficially converted,  but  multitudes  were  faithful  unto 
death,  and  no  fewer  than  thirty-seven  thousand 
were  massacred. 

For  over  two  hundred  years  Japan  was  sealed 
against  Western  influence.  At  length,  in  1853, 
Commodore  Perry  succeeded  in  breaking  the  spell, 
and  soon  this  long  sequestered  land  was  opened  to 
Western  powers.  A  civil  war  in  1868  overthrew  the 
old  feudal  dynasty.  Soon  the  decrees  against  Chris- 
tianity were  abolished,  and  the  Christian  Sabbath  be- 
came officially  adopted  as  a  day  of  rest  in  1874.  A 
representative  government,  with  two  houses  of  par- 
liament, was  established  in  1890. 

No  sooner  was  the  door  to  missions  opened  than 
missionaries  from  many  lands  poured  in.  In  1874  a 
Japanese  convert,  Joseph  Hardy  Neesima,  educated 
in  the  United  States,  returned  to  his  native  land  to 
found  the  celebrated  Doshisha,  a  Christian  university. 
It  became  a  centre  of  Christian  influence,  many  of  its 
students  becoming  missionaries.  The  Protestant 
missions  united  in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  was  successfully  accomplished  in  1888.     The 


162     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Roman  Catholic  and  Russo-Greek  churches  have  also 
established  vigorous  missions. 

Since  1890  a  national  reaction  has  occurred.  The 
victory  of  the  Japanese  in  the  recent  war  with  China 
developed  an  intense  national  pride.  A  rationalistic 
spirit  also  has  sprung  up,  and  the  old  Buddhism  has 
been  galvanized  into  a  sort  of  renewed  life.  Never- 
theless, many  Christian  missions  and  schools  have  been 
established ;  and,  above  all,  the  Scriptures  are  being 
widely  diffused  throughout  the  land.  Many  thou- 
sands of  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  accepted  by 
the  Japanese  soldiers  during  the  late  war,  are  leaven- 
ing the  nation.  The  close  of  the  century  witnesses 
a  deepening  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  Church. 

In  the  great  Island  of  Formosa,  the  British  and 
Canadian  Presbyterian  churches  have  had  in  Drs. 
Maxwell  and  Mackay  two  of  the  most  devoted  mis- 
sionary agents  in  the  high  places.  Their  achieve- 
ments in  evangelizing  a  vast  field,  in  building  Chris- 
tian churches  and  extending  Christian  missions  are 
among  the  most  striking  achievements  in  the  annals 
of  missions. 


AFRICAN  MISSIONS.  163 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

AFRICAN    MISSIONS. 

It  lies  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book  to  give  in  de- 
tail the  history  of  missions  throughout  the  century. 
We  have  been  able  only  to  glance  at  the  beginning 
of  this  great  work  in  a  few  of  its  more  important 
fields.  Nowhere  have  greater  triumphs  of  the  gospel 
been  won  than  in  Darkest  Africa,  and  many  barbarous 
and  cannibal  races  have  been  turned  from  darkness 
to  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  But 
many  tribes  are  still  in  the  blindness  of  heathenism 
and  sunken  in  the  most  degrading  idolatries. 

The  slave  trade  has  long  been  the  curse  of  Africa. 
Beside  the  vast  multitudes  whom  it  has  sent  to 
the  two  Americas,  the  West  Indies,  and  to  many 
Moslem  lands,  it  has  strewn  the  highways  and 
byways  through  the  jungles  and  deserts  of  Africa 
with  the  bones  of  innumerable  victims  who  have 
fallen  on  the  way. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  unexplored 
heart  of  Africa  was  a  vast  and  unknown  region.  It 
has  now  been  traversed  through  and  through  by 
dauntless  explorers,  and  partitioned  out  among  the 
great  powers  of  Europe.      Western  Africa  had  long 


164     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

been  "  the  white  man's  grave,"  yet  it  was  the  scene 
also  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  the  cross.  Of  eight 
German  workers  of  the  Basle  Mission  at  Gold  Coast, 
four  died  within  a  few  weeks,  and  recently  the  mis- 
sion has  reported  thirteen  deaths  within  ten  months. 
Old  Calabar,  the  Cameroon  and  Niger  missions  have 
also  had  their  glorious  roll  of  heroes  and  martyrs. 
Among  the  trophies  of  African  missions  are  Samuel 
Crowther,  the  slave  boy  who  became  the  Bishop  of 
the  Niger. 

South  Africa  may  be  called  the  white  man's 
sanatorium.  On  its  high  and  healthy  plains  noble 
missionary  achievements  have  been  won.  In  the 
closing  year  of  the  eighteenth  century  Dr.  Yander- 
kemp  came  to  Cape  Town  as  the  pioneer  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society.  The  degraded  Hotten- 
tots, whom  the  Boers  declare  to  have  no  souls,  came 
under  the  power  of  the  gospel.  Robert  Moffat,  the 
Scottish  gardener,  began  his  glorious  career  in  1817, 
and  for  over  half  a  century  continued  his  ministry 
of  grace  in  benighted  Africa. 

From  Moffat,  David  Livingstone,  the  Blantyre 
spinner  lad,  caught  inspiration,  and  from  1840  till 
1874,  when  he  was  found  dead  upon  his  knees  in  a 
hut  at  Ilala,  he  continued  to  teach  and  preach  and 
explore  the  forests  and  jungles  of  Central  Africa. 
His  faithful  black  servants  conveyed  his  body  a 
year's  march  to  the  coast,  and  brought  it  over  sea  to 
rest  in  Westminster  Abbey  with  England's  greatest 
warriors,  statesmen  and  philanthropists. 


AFRICAN  MISSIONS.  155 

Many  other  heroic  missionaries  have  consecrated 
with  their  lives  and  hallowed  with  their  deaths  this 
dark  land.  Bishop  Mackenzie,  Bishop  Steere,  Dr. 
Laws,  Dr.  Clement  Scott,  whose  noble  monument  is 
the  stately  Blantyre  Church,  Dr.  J.  Lewis  Krapf, 
Mackay  of  Uganda,  the  Martyr  Bishop  Hannington, 
Grenfell  and  Comber,  of  the  Baptist  Congo  mission, 
and  many  another  have  laid  the  foundations  of 
Christ's  kingdom  in  those  dark  places  of  the  earth. 

No  mission  field  has  a  record  of  greater  fidelity 
under  persecution  and  martyrdom  than  that  of  the 
great  island  of  Madagascar,  an  island  four  times  as 
large  as  England  and  "Wales.  In  1818  two  mis- 
sionaries, with  their  families,  landed  in  Madagascar, 
but  within  two  months  out  of  six  only  one  was  left 
alive,  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave.  Two  years 
later  he  returned  with  a  number  of  preachers,  teachers 
and  artisans,  and  was  favorably  received  by  the 
enlightened  king,  Radama  I.,  a  friend  of  the  British 
and  foe  of  the  slave  trade.  On  his  death  in  1828, 
Ranavalona,  his  widow,  an  unscrupulous  and  blood- 
thirsty woman,  ascended  the  throne.  "  She  feared 
and  hated  the  Europeans  and  all  their  ways,  while 
she  was  full  of  superstition  and  clung  to  her  idols 
with  their  wizards  and  sorcerers.  She  became 
alarmed  at  the  spread  of  the  Christian  religion  among 
her  people.  The  missionaries  were  banished,  but  the 
Bible  in  their  native  tongue  remained.  Men  walked 
a  hundred  miles  to  get  a  copy  of  the  proscribed 
book,  and  hid  it  in  the  earth  as  men  hide  precious 


166     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

treasure.  Persecution  raged  fiercely.  The  Chris- 
tians were  imprisoned,  fettered  and  slain,  burned  at 
the  stake,  buried  alive,  stoned  to  death,  or  flung  from 
lofty  precipices." 

During  the  persecutions  the  Rev.  William  Ellis, 
previously  of  the  South  Seas,  contrived  to  smuggle  a 
quantity  of  Bibles  into  the  country,  and  on  the  death 
of  Eanavalona  in  1861  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the 
capital.  Never  was  more  strikingly  illustrated  the 
truth,  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the 
Church."  When  the  missionaries  were  banished 
there  were  but  two  thousand  Christians  in  the  country. 
When  they  returned  there  were  seven  thousand  in 
the  capital,  and  it  was  estimated  forty  thousand  in 
the  island. 

"  Back  flocked  the  thousands  from  slavery,  bonds 
and  long  imprisonment,  and  from  various  places  of 
concealment.  The  maimed  and  half-starved  came 
forth  as  from  the  grave.  Within  a  single  month 
eleven  places  of  worship  were  opened  in  the  capital 
alone,  and  many  more  in  the  region  surrounding. 
Several  memorial  churches  were  built  upon  spots 
where  martyr  blood  had  most  fiercely  flowed." 

In  1868,  a  second  Ranavalona  became  queen.  At 
her  coronation,  at  one  hand  was  her  crown,  and  on 
the  other  the  Bible.  The  queen  and  prime  minister 
were  baptized  and  the  idols  destroyed.  Within  two 
years  a  quarter  of  a  million  people  had  accepted  the 
gospel.  To  aid  in  the  religious  instruction  of  this 
great  multitude  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  that 


AFRICAN  MISSIONS.  167 

of  the  Friends,  Norwegians  and  others  took  part.  Yet 
it  is  estimated  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
population  are  still  pagan.  The  French,  after  several 
bloody  conflicts  with  the  natives  in  which  many 
thousands  of  lives  were  lost,  assumed  the  pro- 
tectorate of  Madagascar.  They  exhibit  marked 
hostility  to  the  Protestant  missions,  and  for  the 
present  the  sky  of  Madagascar  is  overshadowed  by 
sombre  clouds. 


168     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

MISSIONS   TO   THE  MOSLEMS. 

Missions  among  the  Moslems  are  among  the  most 
difficult  and  discouraging  of  any  undertaken  by  the 
Christian  Church.  While  the  religion  of  Islam  in 
its  rejection  of  idolatry  was  a  great  advance  upon  the 
paganism  which  it  superseded,  it  yet  presents  special 
obstacles  to  the  success  of  the  gospel.  "  These,"  says 
Sir  William  Muir,  are  :  "  First,  polygamy,  divorce, 
and  slavery  are  maintained  and  perpetuated.  .  .  . 
Second,  freedom  of  thought  and  private  judgment  in 
religion  are  crushed  and  annihilated.  .  .  .  Third,  a 
barrier  has  been  interposed  against  the  reception  of 
Christianity.  The  sword  of  Mohammed  and  the 
Koran  are  the  most  stubborn  enemies  of  civilization, 
liberty  and  truth  that  the  world  has  yet  known." 

Arabia,  the  sacred  land  of  the  Moslems,  is  almost 
as  impenetrable  to  the  Gospel  as  the  Hermit  Kingdom 
of  Tibet.  Yet  a  beginning  has  been  made.  The 
Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer,  a  brilliant  professor  of 
Arabic  at  Cambridge  University,  founded  a  mission 
in  connection  with  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  at 
Aden  in  1886.  After  two  years  he  passed  away,  but 
the  work  is  still  vigorously  prosecuted.     The  Dutch 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLEMS.  169 

Reformed  Church  of  the  United  States  planted  a 
medical  mission  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa  and  are 
overcoming  the  prejudice  and  opposition  of  the 
natives  and  widely  circulating  the  Word  of  God.  In 
the  Turkish  Empire  so  great  is  the  intolerance  and 
fanaticism  of  the  Moslems  that  *'  it  is  almost  as  much 
as  a  Mohammedan's  life  is  worth  to  become  a  Christian 

in  Turkey." 

The  ancient  forms  of  the  Christian  religion,  the 
Armenian,  Syrian,  Maronite  and  Greek  churches, 
have  only  a  precarious  and  intermittent  toleration, 
numbering  in  all  over  eight  millions  of  souls.  The 
Bulgarian  atrocities  and  Armenian  massacres  that 
have  harrowed  the  heart  of  Christendom  proclaim 
how  bitter  is  Moslem  hatred  to  those  churches. 

The  ancient  churches  of  Christendom,  when 
quickened  with  the  new  life  of  the  gospel  and  bap- 
tized with  power  from  on  high,  shall  largely  mould 
the  life  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Their  patience  un- 
der persecution,  their  faithfulness  even  to  heroic 
martyrdom,  show  that  much  of  the  old  power  of  the 
gospel  still  animates  their  ossified  forms  of  religion. 
It  is  chiefly  among  these  and  not  among  the  Moslems 
that  missionary  success  has  been  met. 

A  great  work  has  been  accomplished  in  the  empire 
by  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  by 
the  American  Presbyterians.  In  1823  the  Syrian 
mission  was  established  in  Beyrout  by  the  American 
Board,  and  in  1870  transferred  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church.     The  college  and  medical  school  and  girls' 


170     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

school  at  Beyrout  have  accomplished  a  wonderful 
work  in  educating  some  of  the  best  minds  of  Palestine 
and  Syria  in  modern  learning  and  science,  and  in 
training  up  a  heroic  band  of  native  missionaries. 
From  the  Christian  press  at  Beyrout  also  has  poured 
forth  a  great  flood  of  religious  teaching  which  by  the 
missionaries  in  Mount  Lebanon  and  Syria  is  scat- 
tered throughout  many  Moslem,  Druse  and  Maronite 
homes. 

One  of  the  most  potent  agencies  for  moulding  the 
intellectual  and  religious  life  of  the  southwestern 
principalities  of  Europe,  and  in  part  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  on  both  sides  of  the  Bosphorus,  is  the  Robert 
College  at  Constantinople. 

The  life-story  of  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  its  founder, 
is  one  of  romantic  interest.  Early  orphaned,  he  was 
from  boyhood  inured  to  toil.  At  sixteen  he  set  out 
to  earn  his  living  in  Portland,  Maine.  Here  he  came 
under  the  influence  of  the  saintly  Dr.  Edward  Paysou 
and  experienced  the  great  spiritual  crisis  of  his  life. 
A  pious  deacon  urged  him  to  enter  the  ministry.  He 
thought  much  upon  the  subject  but  concluded,  "  No, 
I  can  never  make  a  minister.  I  can  make  a  good 
mechanic,  and  I  had  better  stick  to  that."  The 
Church,  however,  sustained  the  call  and  he  deter- 
mined to  become  a  missionary. 

He  was  appointed  by  the  American  Board  to 
Constantinople.  The  Russian  ambassador  strongly 
opposed  Protestant  missions.  '*The  Emperor  of 
Russia,  who  is  my  master,"    said  the   ambassador, 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLEMS.  1^1 

"  will  never  allow  Protestantism  to  set  its  foot  in  Tur- 
key." Dr.  Scliauffler,  the  head  of  the  American 
mission,  stoutly  replied,  ''  Your  Excellency,  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  who  is  my  master,  will  never  ask  the 
Emperor  of  all  the  Russias  where  he  may  set  his  foot." 

Mr.  Hamlin  took  charge  of  a  seminary  for  Prot- 
estant youth  at  Bebek,  near  Constantinople,  and 
fitted  up  a  lathe  and  workshop  in  a  stable.  Many  of 
the  students  of  the  seminary  were  exceedingly  poor, 
and  the  Armenian  converts  were  severely  boycotted 
as  to  emploj^ment  by  the  Orthodox,  who  were  more 
bitter  towards  the  missionaries  than  even  the  Mos- 
lems. So  the  ingenious  American  organized  manu- 
facturing industries  for  their  support,  from  making 
stove-pipes  and  rat-traps  to  grinding  corn  and  making 
bread. 

Book-binding,  printing  and  other  trades  were 
started ;  but  most  successful  of  all  was  the  bakery. 
There  was  in  the  city  one  of  the  best  wheat  markets 
in  the  world,  but  all  the  grinding  was  done  by  horse- 
power. It  was  said  that  there  were  10,000  horse 
mills  and  bakeries.  Mr.  Hamlin  discovered  that, 
after  the  taking  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  in  order 
to  induce  foreigners  to  settle  in  the  capital,  it  was 
decreed  that  every  foreign  colony  should  have  the 
right  to  its  own  mill  and  bakery,  free  from  the  inter- 
ference of  the  guilds.  He  therefore  resolved  to  start 
one.  His  fellow-missionaries  regarded  the  scheme 
as  atrociously  absurd.  He  began,  however,  to  con- 
struct his  works.     Two  Turkish  police  officers  came 

M 


172     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

to  arrest  the  workmen.  Mr.  Hamlin  stood  on  his 
treaty  rights  and  was  sustained  by  the  American 
minister,  and  the  desired  firman  granting  permission 
was  issued. 

About  this  time  the  Russian  war  broke  out.  Large 
barracks  at  Scutari,  built  under  the  direction  of  the 
great  Moltke  while  an  officer  under  Sultan  Mahmoud, 
were  occupied  by  the  British.  The  need  of  bread 
was  urgent,  and  Mr.  Hamlin  agreed  to  furnish  it  at 
a  price  just  half  what  was  paid  for  bread  the  invalids 
would  not  eat. 

There  had  been  no  mercenary  thought  in  all  this 
work.  Not  one  cent  of  all  the  expense,  sometimes 
amounting  to  150,000  a  month,  accrued  to  himself. 
A  profit  of  $25,000  was  expended  in  building  thirteen 
churches,  with  schoolrooms  annexed. 

Dr.  Hamlin's  greatest  work  was  yet  to  be  done, 
— namely,  the  founding  of  Robert  College.  Mr. 
Christopher  R.  Robert,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  had 
promised  a  large  sum  for  the  erection  of  a  college  at 
Constantinople.  The  story  of  the  shrewd  Yankee 
missionary's  success  after  seven  long  years'  struggle 
with  the  Turkish  government,  and  of  his  evading 
the  fraud  and  cunning  of  the  Turkish  officials,  the 
most  corrupt  in  Europe,  and  circumventing  the 
Jesuits,  the  Russians  and  the  Moslems,  all  alike  op- 
posed to  a  Protestant  college,  is  a  record  of  extraor- 
dinary interest.  The  Turkish  Grand  Vizier,  Ali 
Pasha,  became  so  irritated  that  he  said  in  vexation, 
"  Will  this  Mr.  Hamlin  never  die,  and  let  us  alone 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLEMS.  173 

on  this  college  question  ?  "  But  at  length  after  many 
obstacles  the  college  was  opened  and  has  been  ever 
since  a  source  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  illumi- 
nation. 

Admiral  Farragut  unconsciously  proved  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  obtaining  the  firman  or  warrant  to 
build.  On  the  admiral's  visit  to  Constantinople,  Dr. 
Seropian,  a  Greek  gentleman,  suggested  that  when 
dining  with  the  great  pashas  he  should  ask  why  this 
American  college  could  not  be  built,  but  should 
make  no  reply  to  the  response  whatever  it  was. 

The  firman,  or  rather  an  imperial  irade,  the  most 
sacred  title  to  real  estate  in  Turkey,  was  at  length 
issued.  Iron  was  ordered  from  Antwerp  and  Glas- 
gow, timber  from  the  Danube,  brick  from  Marseilles, 
and  excellent  stone  was  quarried  on  the  spot.  After 
the  completion  of  the  college,  a  distinguished  Turkish 
visitor  said :  "  We  would  never  have  given  you 
leave  to  erect  this  college  had  it  not  been  for  the 
insurrection  in  Crete." 

*'  What  had  that  to  do  with  it  ?  "  said  Mr.  Hamlin. 

"  Ah,  when  your  great  Admiral  Farragut  was  here, 
that  insurrection  was  our  great  embarrassment. 
Your  admiral  asked  the  Grand  Vizier,  the  pashas,  the 
Ministers  of  War  and  of  the  Navy,  why  the  American 
college  could  not  be  built.  We  then  saw  that  the 
United  States  government  was  holding  that  college 
question  over  against  us.  If  only  an  American 
'  monitor '  should  come  into  the  Mediterranean,  it 
would  be  followed  by  war  with  Greece,  and  " — lifting 


174     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

up  both  hands — "  war  begun  with  Greece,  Allah  him- 
self only  knows  where  it  would  end.  So,  we  said, 
better  build  a  hundred  colleges  for  the  Americans 
without  money  than  to  have  one  of  Farragut's  mon- 
itors come  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  we  gave  you 
the  imperial  iradeT 

Dr.  Hamlin  returned  to  America  in  the  interest  of 
the  new  institution,  and  has  since  remained  in  his 
native  land.  He  is  now  in  his  eighty-eighth  year,  full 
of  life  and  energy,  lecturing  and  preaching,  and 
serving  as  missionary  editor  on  the  staff  of  Our 
Day,* 

"  The  American  societies  have  now  155  organized 
churches,  with  13,528  communicants  and  60,000  ad- 
herents, and  the  staff  of  workers  includes  223  Amer- 
ican missionaries  and  1,094  native  pastors,  preachers 
and  teachers.  Their  magnificent  educational  work 
at  Constantinople,  Beyrout  and  elsewhere  embraces 

*  In  May,  1892,  the  writer  of  these  pages  took  steamer  at 
Constantinople  and  sailed  up  the  Bosphorus  to  visit  Robert 
College.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  scenery 
on  either  bank  of  this  noble  strait  separating  Europe 
and  Asia.  For  many  miles  it  is  bordered  by  stately 
palaces  and  villas,  while  foliage  of  richest  hue  clothes  the 
towering  hills  to  their  summit.  The  college  was  then  at- 
tended by  students  speaking  fourteen  languages.  English, 
however,  was  the  common  speech  of  the  playgrounds  and 
lecture-rooms.  It  is  a  large  iron,  fire-proof  building,  sur- 
rounding a  central  square,  with  admirable  libraries,  museums 
and  lecture-rooms.  It  commands  a  magnificent  outlook  of 
the  Avinding  Bosphorus  and  far  Bithynian  hills.  Some  two 
hundred  Armenian,  Greek,  Bulgarian  and  other  youth  were 
receiving  an  admirable  classical  and  scientific  training. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLEMS.  1Y5 

five  well-equipped  colleges,  six  theological  seminaries 
and  610  schools,  with  a  total  of   27,400  students." 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  also  been  car- 
rying on,  amid  great  difficulties,  missionary  work  in 
Bulgaria. 

After  the  death  of  Martyn  in  1812  little  was  ac- 
complished in  Persia  for  nearly  twenty  years.  In 
1829  a  mission  was  established  at  Baghdad,  and  by 
the  Basle  missionaries  at  Tabreez  in  1833.  The 
work  was  chiefly  among  the  Moslems  with  very  dis- 
couraging results.  Other  points  were  occupied  later, 
as  at  Ispahan  in  1869  by  Bruce,  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  at  Baghdad  and  Teheran  in 
1872.  A  college  and  several  high  schools  have  been 
established  and  are  doing  important  work  in  the  dif- 
fusion of  light  and  Christian  civilization.  In  1834 
the  American  Board  established  a  mission  to  the 
Nestorian  Christians  at  Ooromiah  in  Persia.  It  is 
now  under  the  administration  of  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  has  organized  a  strong  Protes- 
tant community  with  over  fifty  missionaries  at  work. 

In  Egypt  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  has 
successful  missions  among  the  Coptic  Christians, 
and  with  considerable  success  also  among  the  Moham- 
medans. The  late  Miss  Whately  also  established 
admirable  mission  schools  in  Cairo. 

Till  1881  no  Protestant  mission  existed  among 
the  Moslem  states  of  Northern  Africa  extending 
from  Egypt  to  Morocco.  At  that  date  a  mission 
was  begun  among  the  Kabyles  of  Algeria.     Mission 


176     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

work  has  since  been  extended  throughout  Morocco, 
Tunis,  Tripoli  and  Egypt,  with  about  100  mission- 
aries. 

We  ought  to  refer  here  to  the  atrocious  persecu- 
tions of  the  Armenian  Christians  by  the  Turks  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  from  that  historic  pulpit  in  1897 
uttered  the  following  stern  arraignment  of  the  Turk- 
ish Empire : 

"  The  persecution  of  Christians  in  Armenia  is  the 
worst,  the  most  cruel,  the  most  barbarous  religious 
persecution  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Those  who 
have  perished  in  Turkish  Armenia  in  the  last  four 
years  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  the  sum  total  of  all 
those  slain  in  previous  persecutions.  Eight  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  fifty  is  the  number  officially 
reported  as  massacred  in  three  or  four  daj^s  in  Con- 
stantinople itself,  while  some  estimates  put  the  total 
number  of  massacred  men,  women  and  children  at 
the  present  time  since  1894  at  100,000.  And  this 
is  probably  an  underestimate. 

'*  This  massacre  of  the  Armenians  is  not  a  new 
thing  in  Turkish  history.  *In  1822  not  less  than 
50,000  Greeks  were  massacred  in  the  islands  of  the 
iEgean  Sea ;  in  1850, 10,000  Nestorians  were  butch- 
ered around  the  headwaters  of  the  Tigris ;  in  1860, 
11,000  Maronites  and  Syrians  perished  in  Mount  Leb- 
anon and  Damascus;  in  1876  upwards  of  15,000 
were  slaughtered  in  Bulgaria.'  That  is  the  Turk. 
That  is  what  he  has  been  doing  all  the  time. 

"  And  this  race  prejudice,  this  trade  jealousy,  have 
been  intensified  and  embittered  by  what  we  are 
pleased  to  call  his  religion.  What  is  religion?  If 
it  is  consecration,  devotion,  enthusiasm,  regardless 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  MOSLEMS.  177 

of  the  One  to  whom  the  consecration  is  made,  regard- 
less of  the  object  of  devotion,  regardless  of  that 
which  excites  the  enthusiasm,  then  the  Turk  is 
religious. 

"  We  have  three  elements  together  in  the  Turkish 
heart ;  first,  race  prejudice ;  second,  trade  jealousy  ; 
and,  third,  religious  rancor  and  hate.  The  Mo- 
hammedan knows  only  one  way  by  which  to  extend 
his  religion— this  :  kill  the  men,  kill  the  women, 
kill  the  older  children,  and  educate  the  babes  into 
Mohammedans.  Mohammedanism  has  never  varied 
from  its  first  starting-point  in  Asia.  It  has  always 
run  this  one  consistent  course  ;  a  persecuting  power 
because  it  is  an  aggressive  power,  believing  in  a  God 
of  indifference,  making  a  worship  of  lust  and  cruelty.'^ 


178     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

MISSIONS  TO  THE   JEWS. 

The  People  of  Israel  have  very  special  claims 
upon  the  followers  of  Jesus — the  consummate  flower 
of  the  Jewish  race.  The  indebtedness  of  Chris- 
tendom to  this  race  can  never  be  computed  nor  re- 
paid. Through  it  came  chiefly  the  oracles  of  God 
to  man.  Through  it  came  the  institutions,  the 
jurisprudence,  the  philosophy  which  largely  mould 
the  thought  of  all  Christian  nations  to-day. 

Yet  no  race  was  ever  repaid  with  blacker  ingrati- 
tude for  the  benefits  which  it  conferred.  The  tale 
of  its  persecution  by  fire  and  fagot,  by  rack  and 
dungeon,  is  one  of  the  darkest  pages  in  European 
history.  Pillaged  and  plundered,  scattered  and 
peeled,  branded  and  mutilated,  smitten  by  every 
hand  and  execrated  by  every  lip,  the  Jews  seemed  to 
bear  in  all  its  bitterness  of  woe  the  terrible  curse 
invoked  by  their  fathers,  "  His  blood — the  blood  of 
the  Innocent  One — be  upon  us  and  our  children." 

Trampled  and  beaten  to  the  earth,  decimated  and 
slaughtered,  they  have  yet,  like  the  trodden  grass 
that  ranker  grows,  increased  and  multiplied  in  spite 
of  their  persecution.     Those  "  Ishmaels  and  Hagars 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  JEWS.  179 

of  mankind,"  exiled  from  the  home  of  their  fathers, 
and  harried  from  land  to  land,  have  verily  eaten  the 
unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs  of  bondage,  and 
drunken  the  waters  of  Marah.  In  many  foreign 
lands  they  have  sat  beside  strange  streams  and  "  wept 
as  they  remembered  Zion." 

They  lived  in  narrow  streets  and  lanes  obscure, 

Ghetto  and  Judenstrass,  in  mirk  and  mire  ; 
Taught  in  the  school  of  patience  to  endure 

The  life  of  anguish  and  the  death  of  fire. 

All  their  lives  long,  with  tlie  unleavened  bread 

And  bitter  herbs  of  exile  and  its  fears, 
The  wasting  famine  of  the  heart  they  fed, 

And  slaked  its  thirst  with  Marah  of  their  tears. 

Anathema  Maranatha  !  was  the  cry 

That  rang  from  town  to  town,  from  street  to  street  : 
At  every  gate  the  accursed  Mordecai 

Was  mocked  and  jeered,  and  spurned  by  Christian  feet. 

Pride  and  humiliation  hand  in  hand 

Walked  with  them  through  the  world  where'er  they  went : 
Trampled  and  beaten  were  they  as  the  sand, 

And  yet  unshaken  as  the  continent. 

For  in  the  background  figures  vague  and  vast; 

Of  patriarchs  and  prophets  rose  sublime. 
And  all  the  great  traditions  of  the  past 

They  saw  reflected  in  the  coming  time. 

And  thus  forever  with  reverted  look 

The  mystic  volume  of  the  v/orld  they  read, 
Spelling  it  backward,  like  a  Hebrew  book, 

Till  life  became  a  legend  of  the  dead. 

With   the   modern   revival   of   missionary   spirit, 
however,  the  claims  of  the  Jews   upon  the  sympa- 


180     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

thies  and  good  will  of  Christendom  were  recognized. 
The  Moravians,  the  pioneers  in  mission  effort  to  the 
heathen,  were  also  the  first  to  send  a  mission  to 
Israel.  From  1728  to  1792  a  score  of  missionaries 
were  sent  forth,  by  whose  labors  many  Jews  were 
converted. 

But  not  till  the  present  century  was  much  organ- 
ized effort  made.  In  1801,  C.  F.  Frey,  a  converted 
Hebrew,  responded  to  the  call  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  was  destined  for  Africa.  His 
soul  went  forth  towards  his  fellow- Jews  in  the  city 
of  London,  and  he  asked  permission  to  work  among 
them.  The  result  was  a  very  successful  mission 
conducted  chiefly  under  Church  of  England  auspices. 

By  the  co-operation  of  Prussia  with  Great  Britain 
a  Protestant  Episcopal  see  was  established  in  Jerusa- 
lem under  the  patronage  of  these  two  Protestant 
states.  The  first  appointment  in  1842  was  that  of 
Michael  Solomon  Alexander,  a  converted  Jew,  a 
native  of  Prussia,  who  for  twenty  years  had  been 
professor  of  Hebrew  and  Arabic  in  King's  College, 
London.  Within  three  years  he  died,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Samuel  Gobat,  a  learned  divine.  He 
established  twelve  congregations  in  Palestine,  and 
thirty-seven  schools,  attended  by  fifteen  hundred 
children. 

This  mission  disappointed  the  sanguine  hopes  of 
its  founders  as  to  union  of  the  old  historic  churches 
at  Jerusalem,  but  it  is  doing  good  missionary  work, 
especially  in  the  education  of  youth  and  in  Christian 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  JEWS.  181 

charity  to  the  sick  and  poor.  The  London  Mission- 
ary Society  has  now  working  in  Europe,  Asia  and 
Africa,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  missionaries, 
of  whom  seventy-seven  are  Christian  Jews. 

One  of  the  most  devoted  missionaries  to  the  Jews 
was  Dr.  Joseph  Wolff,  the  son  of  a  Bavarian  rabbi. 
He  has  been  called  the  Protestant  Xavier,  and 
preached  the  gospel  to  the  scattered  tribes  of  Israel 
in  many  lands,  including  Syria,  India  and  the 
States  of  Central  Asia.  He  suffered  many  hardships, 
was  imprisoned,  and  even  sold  as  a  slave,  and  at 
Bokhara  only  escaped  while  lying  under  sentence  of 
death.  His  son  became  Sir  Henry  Drummond 
Wolff,  the  distinguished  diplomat. 

The  Church  of  Scotland,  in  1840,  established  mis- 
sions among  the  Jewish  populations  in  Jassy,  the 
capital  of  Moldavia,  in  Budapesth,  and  elsewhere. 
The  famous  "  Rabbi  Duncan,"  a  professor  of  Hebrew 
in  the  New  College,  Edinburgh,  exerted  a  profound 
influence  in  the  Hungarian  capital. 

The  chief  and  most  successful  Jewish  missions 
have  been,  not  in  Palestine,  but  in  the  great  Jewish 
communities  of  Switzerland,  France,  Holland,  Russia, 
Austria  and  Hungary.  The  most  successful  means 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  has  been  the  transla- 
tion into  Hebrew  of  the  New  Testament  by  Pro- 
fessor Delitzsch  of  Leipzig. 

As  early  as  1820  a  society  for  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  Jews  was  organized  in  the  United 
States,  and  has  carried  on  successful  missions  in  the 


182     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

chief  centres  of  population.  There  are  now,  says 
the  Rev.  J.  A.  Graham,  over  fifty  Protestant  societies, 
employing  about  four  hundred  missionaries  in  their 
evangelistic,  medical,  educational  and  philanthropic 
mission  work.  The  same  writer  estimates  that  two 
hundred  and  fifty  Jews,  or  sons  of  Jews,  are  ordained 
clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England,  with  more 
than  double  that  number  in  the  non-Episcopal 
churches  of  Britain  and  in  the  continental  and 
American  churches.  "  Many  men  of  mark  in  philoso- 
phy, theology,  poetry,  music  and  politics  have  been 
proselytes  from  this  gifted  race — men  such  as 
Neander,  Philippi  and  Caspari,  Heine,  Beaconsfield, 
Stahl  and  Simson,  the  first  president  of  the  German 
Parliament  and  of  the  highest  court  of  justice.  In 
the  first  three-quarters  of  the  century  100,000  Jews, 
according  to  Delitzsch,  embraced  Christianity  and 
we  have  exact  statistics  to  show  that  in  Prussia 
alone  nineteen  hundred  Jews  joined  the  State  Church 
from  1875  to  1888." 

The  intense  and  bitter  anti-Semitic  feeling  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  finds  its  strength  in  the  fact 
that  gifted  Jews,  freed  from  their  old  political  dis- 
abilities, are  finding  their  way  into  many  of  the 
higher  and  influential  positions  in  society.  "Con- 
sidering their  numbers,  their  influence  vastly  pre- 
ponderates; and  the  power  of  Jewish  capitalists, 
from  the  petty  money-lender  to  the  financier  of  king- 
doms, is  so  enormous  as  to  lend  reasonableness  to 
the  complaint  of  the  German  anti-Semites  that  the 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  JEWS.  183 

fruits  of  Christian  labor  are  harvested  by  the  Jews  ; 
capital  is  concentrated  in  Jewish  hands." 

The  most  shameful  outbreak  of  anti-Semitism  in 
recent  times  is  that  caused  by  the  Dreyfus  scandal 
in  France,  which  well-nigh  wrecked  the  Republic. 
In  Algiers,  the  Jews  were  severely  persecuted  after 
the  fashion  of  the  Dark  Ages.  The  most  truculent 
and  bloodthirsty  menaces  were  uttered  by  the  scurril- 
ous Parisian  press.  A  new  St.  Bartholomew  was 
threatened,  in  which  the  Jews  should  be  destroyed 
with  fire  and  sword.  This,  however,  was  more  po- 
litical and  racial  than  religious  persecution,  and  a 
reaction  in  favor  of  Dreyfus  and  his  persecuted  co- 
religionists seems  taking  place. 

A  considerable  emigration  of  Jews  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers  has  taken  place.  This  is  regarded  by 
manj^  as  a  striking  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  Some  of 
these  immigrants  are  agricultural  colonists  aided  by 
Sir  Moses  Montefiore  and  Sir  Mendelssohn  Roths- 
child. Others  are  pensioners  of  Jewish  bounty  at 
Jerusalem.  The  Turkish  Empire  presents  great  ob- 
stacles to  the  Jews'  return  to  Palestine.  Notwith- 
standing this,  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  about 
28,000  Jews  in  a  total  population  of  a  little  over 
45,000  in  Jerusalem. 

Sir  Moses  Montefiore  expressed  intense  devotion 
,to  the  theory  of  a  restored  kingdom  of  Israel.  "  I 
am  quite  certain  of  it,"  he  said,  "  it  has  been  my  con- 
stant dream ;  Palestine  must  belong  to  the  Jews,  and 
Jerusalem  is  destined  to  become  the  seat  of  a  Jewish 


184     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Empire."  The  epigram  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  "  There 
is  a  country  without  a  nation,  and  God  now,  in  His 
mercy,  directs  us  to  a  nation  without  a  country," 
makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  imagination  and  sym- 
pathies of  many  devout  persons.  Many  Jews  them- 
selves adopt  with  enthusiasm  this  idea. 

One  outcome  of  this  was  the  Zionist  conference 
held  at  Basle,  Switzerland,  in  1897.  This  was  at- 
tended by  some  two  hundred  Jews  from  various  He- 
brew communities.  The  following  programme  was 
adopted  by  the  conference  : — 

"  The  aim  of  Zionism  is  to  create  for  the  Jewish 
people  a  publicly,  legally  assured  home  in  Palestine. 
In  order  to  attain  this  object  the  congress  adopts  the 
followins:  means : 

'*1.  To  promote  the  settlement  in  Palestine  of 
Jewish  agriculturists,  handicraftsmen,  industrialists 
and  men  following  professions. 

"  2.  The  centralization  of  the  entire  Jewish  people 
by  means  of  general  institutions  agreeably  to  the 
laws  of  the  land. 

"  3.  To  strengthen  Jewish  sentiments  and  national 
self-consciousness. 

"4.  To  obtain  the  sanction  of  governments  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  objects  of  Zionism." 

The  visit  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.  to  Palestine  in 
1898  was  the  most  august  demonstration  of  European 
interest  in  the  Lord's  Land  since  the  days  of  the 
crusades.  Increased  privileges  were  secured  for 
both  Protestant  and  Catholic  churches.  The  Greek 
Church,  through  the  influence  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire,  is  securing  also   enlarged  land  holdings  and 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  JEWS.  185 

erecting  great  convents  and  churches,  especially  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Holy  City.  Many  thousands  of 
Russian  pilgrims  visit  yearly  the  sacred  places  of  this 
Holy  Land,  and  numerous  contingents  especially  of 
British  and  American  tourists,  with  devout  or  curi- 
ous interest,  visit  that  old  historic  land, 

Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet 
Which  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nailed 
For  our  advantage  to  the  bitter  cross. 

At  Jaffa,  Jerusalem,  Nazareth,  Zahleh,  Damascus, 
Beyrout  and  elsewhere,  are  Christian  missions  and 
schools.  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  especially  are  almost 
entirely  Christian,  scarce  a  single  Jew  being  found 
in  either  place. 

No  land  in  the  world  is  the  centre  of  so  much  de- 
vout thought  as  the  Lord's  Land.  It  is  the  theme  of 
study  in  all  the  homes  throughout  Christendom,  and 
in  the  many  missions  of  heathendom  as  well.  Li 
countless  pulpits  and  Sunday  schools  its  sacred 
scenes  are  the  subject  of  weekly  comment.  By 
maps,  models  and  illustrations  its  topography,  its  in- 
stitutions, its  manners  and  customs  are  as  familiar  as 
those  of  the  land  in  which  we  live.  Indeed  there 
are  multitudes  who  have  never  heard  of  Rome,  or 
London,  or  Paris  to  whom  the  names  Jerusalem, 
Bethlehem,  Nazareth  are  associated  with  the  most 
sacred  events  in  the  world's  history,  or  are  the  sym~ 
bols  of  the  New  Jerusalem  on  high. 


PART  THREE. 


PROGEESS  OF  THE  CHURCHES  DURmG  THE 
NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

THE  CHURCH  OF   ENGLAND. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  a  religious  torpor 
seemed  to  have  fallen  upon  all  the  churches.  The 
divine  origin  and  miraculous  evidences  of  Christian- 
ity were  strongly  opposed  by  such  writers  as  Hume 
and  Gibbon,  Hobbes  and  Bolingbroke.  Lethargy,  if 
not  unbelief,  had  invaded  the  Church  itself.  Even 
candidates  for  holy  orders  were  deplorably  ignorant 
of  the  Scriptures.  Of  professed  theologians  but  few 
were  faithful  to  their  sacred  trust,  and  these  be^ 
moaned,  with  a  feeling  akin  to  that  of  Nehemiah  and 
the  exiled  Jews,  that  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  laid 
waste.  Still  earlier,  the  venerable  Archbishop  Leigh- 
ton,  of  pious  memory,  in  pathetic  terms  laments 
over  the  Episcopal  Church  as  "a  fair  carcass  without 

spirit." 

Within  the  Church  of  England  began  that  great 
religious  revival  which  saved  Britain  from  the  fate 


188     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  France  in  the  Revolution  which  overthrew  both 
throne  and  altar  in  the  dust.  The  Wesleys,  White- 
field,  Venn  and  Berridge,  Fletcher  and  Coke,  Simeon 
of  Cambridge,  Milner  of  Carlisle,  Grimshaw  and 
Perronet,  Shirley  and  Madan — leaders  in  a  great  re- 
ligious reform — were  all  clergymen  of  the  Established 
Church.  Through  the  apathy  or  opposition,  however, 
of  a  large  section  of  its  clergy  and  laity  that  Church 
as  a  whole  failed,  in  large  degree,  to  share  this  pro- 
found religious  awakening.  In  many  cases,  indeed, 
an  active  opposition  and  persecution  contributed 
largely  to  the  organization  of  Methodism  as  a  dis- 
tinct ecclesiastical  body.  A  distinguished  Church 
of  England  writer.  Dr.  Arthur  Rogers,  writes  thus 
of  the  condition  of  the  Established  Church  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century : 

"Erastianism  reigned  almost  supreme.  The 
Church  was  looked  upon  as  the  creature  of  the 
State.  Her  spiritual  functions  were  subordinated  to 
her  social  ones.  It  is  a  dismal  enough  record  that 
most  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  time  have  to  set  before 
us.  There  were  plenty  of  lords  over  God's  heritage. 
There  were  very  few  ensamples  to  the  flock.  We 
hear  of  bishoprics  of  business  and  bishoprics  of  ease. 
Dr.  Hoadly  held  the  see  of  Bangor  for  six  years,  ap- 
parently without  ever  setting  foot  in  his  diocese.'*/ 

Dr.  Watson,  who  became  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  drew 
from  sixteen  parishes  a  salary  for  duties  which  he 
neglected.  Dr.  Rogers  tells  us  of  a  Bishop  examin- 
ing his   candidates   for   ordination    in  a  tent  on  a 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.        189 

cricket-field,  while  lie  himself  participated  in  the 
game. 

There  were  some  of  the  clergy  to  whom  fox- 
hunting was  not  only  a  recreation  for  their  leisure 
hours,  but  the  chief  business  of  their  lives.  Dean 
Hole  remarks  of  these  that  it  is  charitable  to  suppose 
that  they  mistook  the  fox  for  a  wolf,  and  so  were 
anxious  to  destroy  him,  like  good  shepherds  of  the 
flock. 

The  preaching  was  very  monotonous.  "  Why  call 
in  the  aid  of  paralysis  to  piety?"  asks  the  witty 
Sydney  Smith.  "  Is  sin  to  be  taken  from  men,  as 
Eve  was  from  Adam,  by  casting  them  into  a  deep 
slumber?"  "On  Easter  Day  in  the  year  1800," 
says  Dr.  Rogers,  *'  there  were  only  six  communicants 
at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  There  were  churches  in 
London  which  sometimes  found  themselves  on  Sun- 
day without  a  single  individual  to  form  a  congre- 
gation." 

Canon  Overton  remarks  that  in  the  eighteenth 
century  Oxford  had  reached  her  nadir,  and  that  pro- 
fessors who  never  lectured,  tutors  who  never  taught, 
and  students  who  never  studied,  were  the  rule  rather 
than  the  exception.  At  Cambridge  a  better  state  of 
things  prevailed.  Under  the  influence  of  Charles 
Simeon  it  was  the  seat  of  the  Evangelical  revival. 
.Macaulay  declared  that  his  real  sway  over  the  Church 
of  England  was  greater  than  that  of  any  primate. 
Yet  even  in  Cambridge  we  are  told  there  were  men 
whose  chief  endeavor  was  to  make  each  other  drunk. 


190     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

This  condition  of  affairs  may  have  been  the  exception 
rather  than  the  rule,  but  its  very  existence  argues 
a  low  state  of  religion  and  dull  sensibilities  of  de- 
corum. 

The  clergy  did  not  seem  to  recognize  the  broaden- 
ing and  more  liberal  spirit  of  the  times.  They  op- 
posed almost  to  a  man  the  Catholic  Emancipation 
bill  of  1829,  which  removed  from  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics, particularly  those  of  Ireland,  the  political  dis- 
abilities which  had  lain  upon  them.  But  the  majority 
of  Dissenters  also  adopted  the  same  course. 

In  1828  the  Test  Act,  a  law  which  required  all 
officers,  civil  and  military,  to  receive  the  sacrament 
according  to  the  usage  of  the  Established  Church, 
was  repealed.  This  at  once  placed  Dissenters  and 
Catholics  upon  the  same  footing  with  members  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  was  in  itself  enough,  re- 
marked Bishop  Hurst,  to  provoke  opposition  on  the 
part  of  all  who  had  not  united  in  the  Evangelical 
movement. 

The  Bishops  also  became  extremely  unpopular 
through  their  opposition  of  parliamentary  reform. 
But  the  Right  Reverend  Prelates,  and  the  majority 
of  the  House  of  Lords,  strenuously  opposed  the  Re- 
form Bill  of  1831.  Lord  Lyndhurst  in  his  place  in 
Parliament  declared  that,  should  it  pass,  a  republic 
would  be  established,  that  the  Protestant  Church  in 
Ireland  would  be  destroyed  and  Church  property  in 
both  kingdoms  confiscated.  Dr.  Howley,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  than  whom,  says  Moles  worth, 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  191 

"  no  prelate  had  ever  more  worthily  filled  the  throne 
of  Lanfranc,  Anselm,  Becket  and  Laud,"  strongly 
opposed  the  Bill,  "  believing  it  to  be  mischievous  in 
its  tendency  and  dangerous  to  the  fabric  of  the  con- 
stitution." In  this  he  was  strenuously  supported 
by  the  whole  bench  of  Bishops. 

The  House  of  Lords  by  a  majority  of  forty-one 
threw  out  the  Bill.  The  excitement  throughout  the 
kingdom  was  intense.  In  London  and  in  many  other 
towns  the  shops  were  closed,  and  the  bells  of  the 
churches  mufded.  "  The  Bishops,"  says  Molesworth, 
"  especially  were  objects  of  popular  detestation,  and 
could  not  appear  in  the  streets  without  danger  of 
personal  violence."  Lord  Grey,  in  his  place  in  Par- 
liament, had  admonished  the  Bishops  if  the  Bill  should 
be  thrown  out  by  a  narrow  majority  "  to  set  their 
houses  in  order."  The  Bishop  of  Exeter  replied, 
"  It  is  true  that  the  noble  lord  did  not  conclude  the 
sentence,  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  know  that  he 
referred  to  the  words  in  which  the  prophet  had 
threatened  destruction."* 

Great  tumults  and  riots  took  place  throughout  the 
kingdom.  In  London  a  processsion  of  sixty  thousand 
persons  marched  to  St.  James's  to  present  an  address 
to  the  king  in  favor  of  the  Bill.  At  Nottingham, 
Colwick  Castle  was  fired,  and  that  of  the  Duke  of 
.  Newcastle  was  burned  to  the  ground.  At  Bristol  a 
terrible  riot  broke  out.      The   palace  of  the  Bishop 

*"Set  thine  house  in  order:  for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not 
live"  (Isa.  38:  1). 


192     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  the  Mansion  House  were  attacked  and  the  latter 
fired.  Fifty  other  buildings  were  assailed.  An  at- 
tempt was  even  made  to  burn  down  the  cathedral. 
Not  till  the  cavalry  charged  on  the  mob  was  the  riot 
suppressed.  In  many  of  the  cathedral  towns  the 
Bishops  were  substituted  for  Guy  Fawkes  on  the  5th 
of  November.  The  Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Exe- 
ter were  hanged  and  burned  in  e^gj  close  to  their 
own  palaces. 

"Such,"  says  Molesworth,  himself  an  Anglican 
clergyman,  *'were  the  disastrous  consequences  of 
identifying  the  Church  with  a  party  in  the  State,  and 
that  too  the  party  which  was  engaged  in  resisting 
progress  passionately  demanded  by  the  mass  of  the 
people,  and  essential  to  the  safety  and  well-being  of 
the  state."  Even  the  popular  sailor  King  lost  his 
popularity,  and  was  received  with  hoots  and 
groans.  The  King  at  length  gave  authority  for  the 
creation  of  a  sufficient  number  of  peers  to  insure  the 
passing  of  the  Bill.  But  the  Lords  who  had  opposed 
it  withdrew,  and  it  passed  its  third  reading,  June  7, 
1832,  one  hundred  and  six  peers  voting  for  it,  and 
only  twenty-two  against  it. 

The  spirit  of  the  reformed  Parliament  soon  became 
apparent.  The  condition  of  Ireland  was  extremely 
lawless  and  riotous.  A  grievance  which  the  Koman 
Catholic  population  most  loudly  complained  of  was 
the  hardship  of  being  obliged  to  pay  tithes  for  the 
support  of  a  Church  in  which  they  did  not  believe, 
and  which  they  regarded  as  a  badge  of  subjection. 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.        193 

The  ministers,  so  far  from  desiring  to  disestablish 
that  Church,  were  anxious  to  mitigate  the  hostility 
with  which  it  was  regarded,  by  diminishing  the  bur- 
dens of  which  the  Catholic  population  complained. 
They  therefore  reduced  the  number  of  Bishops  in 
Ireland  from  twenty-two  to  twelve,  and  the  number 
of  Archbishops  from  four  to  two. 

"The  Irish  Tithe,"  says  Molesworth,  "had  been 
collected  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  was  rapidly 
becoming  uncoUectable  even  in  that  way.  The 
clercry  who  attempted  to  enforce  their  rights,  and  the 
men  who  paid  what  was  due,  were  assassinated  or 
lived  in  continual  dread  of  assassination.  Many  of 
the  clergy  were  reduced  to  the  greatest  distress,  and 
in  some  instances  brought  almost  to  the  verge  of 
starvation." 

In  England,  too,  the  Dissenters  and  many  Church- 
men objected  to  the  impost  of  Church  rates.  The 
stories  of  the  seizures  of  the  poor  man's  bed  and  of 
his  Bible  awakened  much  hostility.  The  agitation 
did  greater  damage  to  the  Church  than  the  whole 
rate  could  compensate.  A  Bill  for  the  abolition  of 
ecclesiastical  tests  upon  conferring  degrees  other 
than  those  in  divinity  at  the  universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  was  strongly  opposed  by  the  univer- 
sities, but  passed  the  Commons  by  a  vote  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  to  seventy-five,  but  was  rejected 
in  the  House  of  Lords  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  to  eighty-five. 

It  will  be  apparent  from  the  above  recital  that  the     /^ 


194:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Church  of  England  had  distinctly  lost  ground  as  a 
directing  and  controlling  force  in  the  nation.  The 
most  thoughtful  and  earnest  minds  in  that  Church 
felt  the  need  of  a  great  religious  awakening  and  an 
aggressive  movement  to  regain  its  lost  influence. 
Dean  Church  thus  describes  the  two  characteristic 
forms  of  Christianity  in  the  Church  of  England,  the 
High  Church,  and  the  Evangelicals,  or  Low  Church. 
Of  the  former  he  says  : — "  Its  better  members  were 
highly  cultivated,  benevolent  men,  intolerant  of  irreg- 
ularities both  of  doctrine  and  life,  whose  lives  were 
governed  by  an  unostentatious  but  solid  and 
unfaltering  piety,  ready  to  burst  forth  on  occasion 
into  fervid  devotion.  Its  worse  members  were  jobbers 
and  hunters  after  preferment,  pluralists  w^ho  built 
fortunes  and  endowed  families  out  of  the  Church,  or 
country  gentlemen  in  orders,  who  rode  to  hounds 
and  shot  and  danced  and  farmed,  and  often  did  worse 
things."  Of  the  latter  he  adds:  "It  had  not  been 
unfruitful,  especially  in  public  results.  It  had  led 
Howard  and  Elizabeth  Fry  to  assail  the  brutalities  of 
the  prisons.  It  had  led  Clarkson  and  Wilberforce 
to  overthrow  the  slave  trade,  and  ultimately  slavery 
itself.  It  had  created  great  Missionary  Societies. 
It  had  given  motive  and  impetus  to  countless  philan- 
thropic schemes." 

A  remarkable  group  of  men,  chiefly  at  Oxford 
University,  became  the  leaders  of  the  Oxford,  or 
Tractarian,  movement.  In  the  first  year  of  the  cen- 
tury were  born  Newman  and  Pusey ;  shortly  before, 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  195 

Keble  and  Arnold  ;  and  shortly  after,  Hurrell  Fronde, 
Rose,  Faber,  Williams,  Stanley  and  Tait.  These 
men,  with  Robertson,  Maurice,  Kingsley  and  Light- 
foot,  were  destined  greatly  to  change  the  character 
of  the  National  Church.  The  most  distinguished  of 
these,  perhaps,  was  John  Henry  Newman.  He  is 
described  by  Principal  Shairp  as  "  A  man  in  many 
ways  the  most  remarkable  that  England  has  seen 
during  the  century,  perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
whom  the  English  Church  has  produced  in  any  cen- 
tury.'' 

These  were  men  of  intense  moral  earnestness,  of 
devout  lives  and  of  lofty  spiritual  character.  One  of 
the  first  notes  of  this  religious  reform  was  sounded 
in  John  Keble's  collection  of  sweet  and  tender  re- 
ligious poems,  The  Christian  Year,  There  is  not 
a  village  in  any  English-speaking  land  where  his 
hymns  are  not  sung.  They  voice  many  of  the  deepest 
feelings  and  holiest  aspirations  of  the  soul.  Keble 
has  been  called  the  George  Herbert  of  the  century. 
Even  before  this  the  poetry  of  Wordsworth  and  n/" 
philosophy  of  Coleridge  prepared  the  way  for  the 
Oxford  movement. 

The  year  1833  is  the  epoch  from  which  it  dates. 
In  January  of  that  year  Dr.  Arnold  published  his 
Principles  of  Church  Reform,  "  His  scheme  was  an 
'  attempt  at  the  comprehension  of  all  Christians  within 
the  pale  of  a  great  Church."  Dr.  Arnold  hoped  to 
include  all  Dissenters  except  a  few  Quakers  and 
the    Roman    Catholics.      His    plan,    however,    was 


196      RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

rejected  with   contumely  by   both  Churchmen   and 
Dissenters. 

The  High  Church  party  agreed  in  the  principle 
announced  by  Hurrell  Froude  that  the  Roman  Church 
had  departed  from  the  primitive  faith,  and  so,  in  a 
less  degree,  had  the  Anglican  Church,  but  that  the 
teachings  of  the  latter  admitted  of  construction  in 
the  sense  of  the  primitive  Church.  He  therefore 
urged  the  claims  of  celibacy,  fasting,  relics  and 
monasticism.  The  Churchman's  Manual,  issued  in 
1833,  made  prominent  points  of  the  exalted  idea  of 
the  Church,  the  importance  of  the  sacraments  and 
the  doctrine  of  Apostolic  Succession.  The  Church 
of  England  they  affirmed  was  no  Act  of  Parliament 
Church,  no  mere  creature  of  the  Reformation,  but  a 
free  and  apostolic  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  I97 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  CHUECH   OF   ENGLAND    (^continued'). 

An  active  propaganda  of  the  new  or  revised  doc- 
trines of  the  Oxford  Movement  was  begun  in  the 
Tracts  for  the  Times^  as  they  were  called,  from 
which  it  received  its  name  as  the  Tractarian  Move- 
ment. The  series  consisted  of  ninety  pamphlets  pub- 
lished at  intervals  during  the  years  1833  to  1841.  Of 
these  Newman  wrote  twenty-four,  Keble  also  a  goodly 
number  and  others  of  the  Oxford  coterie  the  re- 
mainder. The  Tracts  took  very  high  ground  on  the 
subject  of  baptismal  regeneration  and  the  real  pres- 
ence in  the  eucharist,  although  in  a  heavenly  and 
spiritual  manner.  *'  The  Church,"  they  taught,  "  is  / 
the  only  channel  of  grace  in  Christ  because  she  is  the 
only  dispenser  of  the  means  of  grace,  the  only  pro- 
tector and  witness  to  the  truth,  and  the  highest  au- 
thority in  matters  of  faith  and  life." 

The  success  of  the  Tracts,  says  Molesworth,  was 
much  greater,  and  the  outcry  against  them  far  louder 
and  fiercer,  than  their  authors  had  expected.  The 
Tracts  were  at  first  small  and  simple,  but  became 
large  and  learned  theological  treatises.  Changes, 
too,  came  over  the  views  of  some  of  their  writers. 


198     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Doctrines  which  probably  would  have  shocked  them 
at  first  were  put  forward  with  a  recklessness  which 
success  had  increased.  Alarm  was  excited ;  remon- 
strances stronger  and  stronger  were  addressed  to 
them.  They  were  attacked  as  Romanizing  in  their 
tendency,  especially  Tract  No.  80,  on  Reserve  in  Com- 
municating Religious  Knowledge.  It  advocated  a 
revival  of  the  secret  discipline  of  the  early  Church ; 
that  is,  the  ideas  that  there  were  doctrines  which 
should  not  be  publicly  taught  and  that  the  Bible 
should  not  be  promiscuously  circulated. 

"  The  effect  of  such  writing  was  twofold — the 
public  were  dismayed  and  certain  members  of  the 
Tractarian  party  avowed  their  intention  to  become 
Romanists."  So  decided  was  the  setting  of  the  tide 
towards  Rome  that  Newman  made  a  vigorous  effort 
to  turn  it  by  his  famous  Tract  No.  90.  In  this  he 
endeavored  to  show  that  it  was  possible  to  interpret 
the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  in  the  interest  of  Roman 
Catholicism.  This  Tract  aroused  a  storm  of  indig- 
nation. The  violent  controversy  which  it  occasioned 
led  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  series. 

Soon  men  were  compelled  to  take  sides  between 
the  Church  of  England  and  the  Church  of  Rome. 
In  1845  Newman  went  over  to  the  Roman  Church, 
of  which  for  forty-five  years  longer  he  continued 
to  be  a  devoted  son.  (He  became,  in  1854,  Rector  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  University  at  Dublin,  Cardinal 
Deacon  in  1879,  and  died  in  1890.)  The  same  year 
Frederick  William  Faber  also  seceded  to  the  Church 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.        199 

of  Rome,  in  which  he  became  an  earnest  and  elo- 
quent preacher.  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that 
the  hymns  of  these  distinguished  writers,  Lead^ 
Kindly  Light,  and  There's  a  Wideness  in  God's 
Mercy  like  the  Wideness  of  the  Sea,  which  breathe 
the  purest  Christian  charity  and  love,  are  favorites  in 
all  the  Churches. 

The  Rome  ward  exodus  continued.  In  1851  Henry 
Edward  Manning  followed,  became  Archbishop 
of  Westminster  in  1865,  and  ten  years  later 
Cardinal.  Before  1853  no  less  than  four  hundred 
clergymen  and  laity  had  become  Roman  Catholics. 
*'  They  were,"  says  Blunt,  "  chiefly  impressible  un- 
dergraduates, young  ladies  and  young  ladies'  cu- 
rates." But  many  of  them  were  men  of  rank  and 
eminence.  The  action  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  dis- 
tributing England  into  twelve  bishoprics  in  1850 
aroused  strong  Protestant  feeling,  and  doubtless 
checked  many  from  joining  the  exodus. 

This  Romeward  movement  aroused  intense  antip- 
athy both  within  and  without  the  Established 
Church.  The  arguments  by  which  it  was  justified 
were  considered,  in  many  cases,  disingenuous,  if  not 
Jesuitical.  The  defence  of  the  doctrines  of  purga- 
tory, confession,  absolution,  images,  relics,  invocation 
of  the  saints,  penance  and  extreme  unction  by  clergy 
of  the  Established  Church,  no  matter  how  ingenious 
the  argument  might  be,  called  forth  strong  protests. 

Among  the  most  distinguished  leaders  of  the  Ox- 
ford Movement  was  Dr.  Edward  Bouverie  Pusey. 


200     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

He  sympathized  strongly  with  this  Angio-Catholic 
trend.  He  was  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew,  and  his 
commentaries  on  Daniel  and  the  Minor  Prophets  are 
a  monument  of  learning  and  piety.  At  the  age  of 
sixty  he  made  himself  master  of  Ethiopia  for  the 
better  prosecution  of  his  biblical  studies.  After  the 
departure  of  Newman  from  the  Established  Church, 
Pusey  for  the  rest  of  his  life  was  recognized  as  the 
head  of  the  High  Church  party.  These  were  often 
designated  Puseyites,  an  epithet  which  he  earnestly 
deprecated,  maintaining  that  their  doctrines  were 
those  of  the  Primitive  Church.  Pusey  was  a  man 
of  pure,  devout  and  ascetic  type  of  piety.  He  was 
more  austere  to  himself  than  to  others,  wearing  the 
hair-shirt,  and  using  other  physical  means  of  pen- 
ance. 

The  revival  of  sisterhoods  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land of  a  conventual  character  was  largely  due  to 
his  influence.  He  attached  much  importance  also  to 
the  practice  of  confession.  For  many  years  he  made 
his  own  confessions  to  John  Keble,  and  heard  also 
the  confessions  of  many  of  the  clergy.  He  had  an 
exaggerated  regard  for  the  ancient  forms  and  lit- 
urgies. In  the  discussion  concerning  the  Athana- 
sian  Creed,  with  its  intellectual  subtilties  and  defini- 
tions, he  declared  if  this  ancient  hymn  were  altered 
or  disturbed  he  must  resign  the  ministry.  When 
Pusey  lay  under  the  suspicion  of  Romish  teaching, 
Keble  wrote:  "My  own  conviction  is  that  he  has 
been     the    greatest     drag     upon    those    who    were 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.       201 

rushing  towards  Rome,  by  showing  them  that  all 
their  reasonable  yearnings  were  provided  for  in  the 
English  system,  rightly  understood." 

The  revival  of  Catholic  doctrine  in  the  Church  of 
England  naturally  led  to  a  revival  of  Catholic  practice 
—to  a  more  ornate  ritual;  to  a  more  stately  and 
dignified  service ;  and,  in  many  cases,  to  the  use  of 
religious  ornaments,  lights,  crosses  and  crucifixes,  and 
the  wearing  of  albs  and  chasubles,  and  other  ecclesi- 
astical garbs  akin  to  those  used  in  the  Church  of 
Rome.  It  was  this  probably  more  than  its  theo- 
logical dogmas  that  was  the  most  eff'ective  influence 
in  propagating  the  Tractarian  doctrines. 

"  The  movement,"  says  the  Rev.  Henry  Scott 
Holland,  "  in  making  this  fresh  effort,  passed  from  the 
study  to  the  street :  it  became  practical,  missionary, 
evangelistic.  It  insisted  that  its  work  upon  the 
masses,  in  their  dreary  poverty,  demanded  the  bright 
attraction  and  relief  of  outward  ornament,  and  the 
effective  teaching  of  the  eye.  The  priestly  office  of 
the  clergy  was  magnified.  The  liturgical  service 
was  enriched.  The  theory  of  a  real  presence  led  to 
the  more  elaborate  decoration  of  chancel  and  altar." 

A  sort  of  ecclesiastical  renaissance  took  place.  The 
genius  of  Sir  "Walter  Scott,  who  had  just  passed  away 
in  1832,  had  awakened  a  love  for  the  historic  past, 
with  its  pomp  and  pride  and  pageantry,  its  poetry 
and  romance.  "  This  literary  warmth,"  continues 
Holland,  "  mixed  itself  in  with  the  doctrinal  move- 
ment towards  the  enrichment  of  the  churches.  The 
emotions   were   making   new    demands    upon    out- 


y 


202     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ward  things  :  they  required  more  satisfaction.  The 
churches  were  responding  to  a  real  and  wide  need 
when  they  offered  a  refuge  and  a  relief  to  the  dis- 
tressed imagination. 

"  Everywhere  began  the  Gothic  revival.  The 
restoration  of  the  disgraced  and  destitute  parisli 
churches,  which  had  become  practically  necessary, 
was  taken  up  by  men  full  of  admiration  for  the 
architecture  which  had  first  built  them.  The  archi- 
tectural revival  deepened  into  the  symbolism  of  a 
more  rapt  sacramentalism." 

The  public  service  thus  underwent  a  very  marked 
change.  "The  psalms  and  canticles,"  says  Moles- 
worth,  "  which  had  hitherto  been  read  in  almost  all 
churches,  even  in  London,  began  to  be  chanted. 
Hymns  of  a  more  poetical  character  gradually  sup- 
planted the  religious  doggerel  of  Sternhold  and  Hop- 
kins, or  Brady  and  Tate.  These  changes  were  not 
effected  without  loud  and  angry  protests  from  those 
in  whose  minds  the  old  fashions  were  associated  with 
ideas  of  sacredness,  and  those  which  replaced  them 
with  mediceval  doctrine." 

A  strong  antagonism  to  ritualistic  practices  was 
developed  both  in  Parliament  and  without.  The 
Church  Association  was  organized,  chiefly  of  persons 
belonging  to  the  Low  Church  party,  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  down  ritualism.  A  large  sum  of  money, 
amounting,  it  is  said,  to  fifty  thousand  pounds, 
was  contributed  for  taking  proceedings  against  the 
ritualists  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts.     Many  of  the 


l^HE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  203 

ritualistic  clergy  made  their  adherence  to  these  forms 
a  matter  of  conscience,  and  suffered  serious  inhibitions 
and  penalties.  Much  sympathy  was  therefore  created 
on  their  behalf,  and  ritualism,  by  this  very  means 
adopted  for  its  suppression,  became  more  prevalent. 

Ritualistic  practices  became  m.ore  and  more  pro- 
nounced. The  Court  of  Arches  condemned  these 
practices  at  St.  Barnabas,  Pimlico.  But  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Privy  Council  sanctioned  the  use  of 
altar  cross,  altar  lights,  and  other  ecclesiastical 
paraphernalia.  "  From  that  moment,"  says  Holland, 
"  the  ritualists  have  acted  steadily  in  the  belief  that 
this  legal  decision  was  but  af&rming  that  which  is 
the  plain,  historical  sense  of  the  words  in  the  rubric, 
and  have  pressed,  often  with  rashness,  sometimes 
with  insolence,  for  the  revival  of  all  the  ritual  which 
this  interpretation  justified.  In  accomplishing  this, 
they  have  been  aided,  advised  and  sustained  by  the 
elaborate  organization  of  the  English  Church  Union, 
formed  for  the  defence  and  protection  of  those  who, 
in  carrying  out  the  rubric  so  understood,  were  menaced 
by  perils  and  penalties."  Popular  indignation  was 
aroused  by  dread  of  Romish  usages  and  broke  out 
into  hideous  rioting  at  St.  George's  in  East  London. 

Meanwhile  marked  divergencies  of  doctrine  were 

developed  within  the  Church  established  by  Law. 

They  are  thus  described  by  Mr  Molesworth,  vicar  of 

Rochdale :   "  There  were   no  fewer  than  six  distinct 

schools  or  parties  in  the  Church :  the  old  orthodox 

High  Church  party,  still  embracinof  the  majority  of 

o 


204:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  clergy,  and  keeping  aloof  from  the  strifes  and 
prosecutions  to  which  we  have  referred,  except  when 
it  found  itself  or  its  practices  interfered  with  by 
them:  the  Evangelical  party,  the  best  members 
of  which  repudiated  the  Church  Association;  the 
Broad  Church  party,  of  which  Dr.  Arnold  and  Dr. 
Hampden  had  been  the  first  leaders  ;  the  Rationalistic 
and  Ritualistic  schools,  comprising  a  large  number 
of  young  and  energetic  clergymen  and  laymen ;  and, 
lastly,  the  Tractarians,  who  still  adhered  to  the  prin- 
ciples originally  laid  down  in  the  Tracts  for  the 
Times,  without  adopting  the  developments  to  which 
they  had  given  rise.  These  parties  shaded  away  into 
each  other,  and  each  might  be  subdivided  into  sev- 
eral different  schools,  the  ultimate  ramifications  of 
which  it  would  be  useless  and  impossible  to  trace." 
In  popular  apprehension  these  classes  may  be  re- 
duced to  three  types,  the  "  High  and  Dry,"  the  "  Low 
and  Slow"  and  the  "Broad"  Church.  The  High 
Church  party  we  have  briefly  sketched.  Many  of  its 
members  are  staunchly  Anglican  and  anti-Romanist. 
To  the  cavil  that  there  was  but  '*  a  paper  wall "  be- 
tween the  High  Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome,  a 
sturdy  Churchman  replied,  "  Yes,  but  the  whole 
Bible  is  written  upon  it."  "  The  revival  of  the  High 
Church  party,"  says  Conybeare,  "  has  effected  an 
important  improvement  among  the  clergy.  Under 
the  name  of  orthodoxy  and  the  banner  of  High 
Church,  they  have  willingly  received  trutli  against 
which,  had  it  come  to  them  in  another  shape,  they 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.       205 

would  have  closed  their  ears  and  hearts.  A  better 
spirit  has  thus  been  breathed  into  hundreds  who  but 
for  this  new  movement  would  have  remained,  as  their 
fathers  were  before  them,  mere  Nimrods,  ramrods  or 
fishing-rods." 

"  The  Oxford  Movement,"  says  Rogers,  "  raised  -^ 
the  tone  of  average  morality  in  Oxford  to  a  level 
which  perhaps  it  never  before  reached.**  *'  It  has 
promoted,"  says  Dr.  Cadman,  "  genuine  saintliness 
and  has  popularized  religion.  It  has  crowded  empty 
churches  and  founded  innumerable  aids  for  the  bet- 
terment of  life  and  the  relief  of  the  poor." 

In  the  slums  of  the  east  end  of  London,  of  the 
great  seaports  of  Bristol,  Portsmouth  and  Plymouth, 
and  in  the  great  manufacturing  centres,  it  has  won 
the  hearts  and  often  changed  the  lives  of  the  poor, 
living  amid  the  most  sordid  and  squalid  surround- 
ings. By  its  college  settlements,  its  parochial  Visi- 
tations, its  earnest  zeal,  it  has  in  a  vast  number  of 
instances  converted  apathy  or  aversion  into  religious 
devotion  and  passionate  loyalty  to  the  Church  and 
its  institutions.  It  has  created  a  new  type  in  litera- 
ture, the  Father  Jinks  of  "  Ian  Maclaren." 

The  Low  Church,  or  evangelical  party,  had  its  seat  \  /^ 
at  Cambridge,  where  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon  was 
one  of  its  most  distinguished  lights.  It  chiefly  em- 
phasized the  doctrines  of  justification  by  faith  and 
the  sole  authority  of  Scripture  as  the  rule  of  life.  It 
was  always  on  the  side  of  philanthropic  reform. 
Wilberforce,   Stephen   and    Buxton,    Clarkson   and 


206     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Shaftesbury,  are  types  of  its  public  benefactors.  It 
was  the  founder  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
which  sends  forth  so  many  hundreds  of  zealous 
evangelistic  clergy  into  all  parts  of  the  heathen 
world.  It  was  cliiefly  instrumental  in  establishing 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  which  has 
published  the  Scriptures  in  over  three  hundred  lan- 
guages. It  has  also  been  exceedingly  zealous  in 
establishing  Sunday  schools,  ragged  schools,  lending 
libraries,  benefit  societies,  clothing  clubs  and  the 
like. 

'*  The  Broad  Church,"  sa3^s  Bishop  Hurst,  "  corre- 
sponds in  the  main  with  philosophical  rationalism." 
It  began  with  Coleridge,  was  interpreted  principally 
by  Hare,  was  defended  by  the  chaste  and  vigorous 
pen  of  Arnold,  and  represented  by  Maurice,  Kings- 
ley  and  Stanley.  Arnold  held  that  the  work  of  a 
Christian  Church  and  State  is  absolutely  one  and 
the  same.  There  can  be  no  perfect  Church  or  State 
without  their  blending  into  one. 

The  genial  personality,  the  wide  learning,  the  stir- 
ring eloquence  of  Dean  Stanley  popularized  more 
than  almost  any  other  writer  Broad  Church  views. 
For  the  marked  latitude  of  his  views  on  future 
punishment  and  the  final  issues  of  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment, Maurice  was  relieved  of  his  duties  as  Profes- 
sor of  Divinity  at  King's  College,  London.  By  his 
intense  sympathy  with  the  poor,  his  zeal  for  social 
reform  and  his  robust  and  manly  novels,  Kingsley 
won  wide  popularity.     Professor  Jovvett,  late  Master 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  207 

of  Balliol,  represented  a  more  extreme  type  of  Broad 
Church  rationalism. 

But  its  most  striking  expression  is  that  in  the 
volume  of  Essays  and  Reviews  (1861) — a  volume, 
says  Bishop  Hurst,  which  consists  of  broad  gen- 
eralizations against  the  authority  of  the  Bible  as  a 
standard  of  faith.  Among  the  writers  were  Dr. 
Frederick  Temple,  now  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  on 
the  Education  of  the  World ;  Dr.  Jowett,  on  the  In- 
spiration of  Scripture;  Professor  Baden-Powell,  on 
the  Order  of  Nature ;  C.  W.  Goodwin,  on  the  Mosaic 
Cosmogony;  Rowland  Williams  and  Mark  Pattison. 

This  book  created  an  intense  sensation.  The 
press  teemed  with  replies  of  all  sizes  from  pamphlets 
to  bulky  octavos,  numbering  in  England  alone 
nearly  four  hundred  publications.  Almost  every 
newspaper  in  the  realm,  religious  or  secular,  took 
part  in  the  contest.  Every  centre  of  thought 
throughout  the  nation  was  agitated.  High  and  Low 
Church  alike  united  in  condemnation  of  the  work. 
One  protest  against  the  doctrines  of  the  Essays  and 
Reviews  contaiiied  the  signatures  of  nine  thousand 
clergymen  of  the  Established  Church.  The  Bishops 
without  a  single  exception  took  ground  against  it. 
The  Convocations  of  Canterbury  and  York  pledged 
their  influence  to  protect  the  Church  from  the  "per- 
nicious doctrines  and  heretical  tendencies  of  the 
book." 

Dr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  suspended  by 
the  Court  of  Arches  from  the  ministry  for  departing 


208     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

from  the  teachings  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  on 
the  inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture,  on  the  Atone- 
ment and  on  Justification.  The  case  was  appealed 
to  the  Privy  Council.  The  decision  of  the  Court  of 
Arches  was  reversed,  and  the  deposed  clergymen 
were  restored  to  their  functions. 

The  most  extreme  and  outspoken  attack  on  the 
historical  character  of  the  Pentateuch  was  that  by  Dr. 
John  William  Colenso,  who,  in  1853,  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Natal.  He  denied  the  Mosaic  origin  of 
Pentateuch,  revived  the  theory  of  its  Elohist  and 
Jehovist  writers  and  of  its  recension  in  the  time  of 
Ezra.  Tiie  Convocations  of  York  and  Canterbury 
united  in  condemnation  of  his  work.  He  was  re- 
quested to  resign  his  office,  which  he  declined  to  do. 
He  was  arraigned  by  an  Episcopal  Synod  at  Cape 
Town  and  deposed  from  his  office.  He  appealed  to 
the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  which, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Essayists,  reversed  the  sentence 
of  the  deposition. 

The  views  which  were  merely  hinted  at  by  the 
Broad  Churclimen  of  1860  have  since  been  openly 
avowed  by  many  of  the  Anglican  clergy.  Consider- 
able excitement  was  produced  by  the  publication  of 
Lux  Mundi,  edited  by  Canon  Gore,  principal  of  the 
Pusey  House,  and  containing  contributions  from 
many  High  Church  writers.  The  chief  point  of 
offence  is  Canon  Gore's  article  on  Inspiration,  which 
admits  "  that  there  may  be  unhistorical  and  idealiz- 
ing elements  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  such  ele- 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  209 

ments  are  entirely  consistent  with  its  Divine  revela- 
tion." The  conclusions  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  as 
also  of  evolution,  have  been  accepted  by  many 
devout  scholars.  Professor  Sayce,  the  distinguished 
archaeologist  of  Oxford,  at  one  time  held  views  on  a 
higher  criticism  which  he  has  since  found  occasion 
to  largely  modify,  the  archaeology  of  the  Orient 
havinor  shown  the  art  of  writinor  and  the  existence 
of  a  copious  literature  at  a  much  earlier  date  than 
had  previously  been  supposed. 

The  Anglican  Church  throughout  the  British  Em- 
pire and  in  the  United  States  has,  in  large  degree, 
shared  the  phases  of  thought  of  the  mother-country. 
In  several  of  the  British  Colonies  the  connection  be- 
tween Church  and  State  was  long  maintained.  This 
gave  a  sort  of  quasi  superiority  to  the  Church  es- 
tablished by  law,  which  was  often,  in  large  degree, 
the  Church  of  the  crown  officers  and  "  landed  aris- 
tocracy." In  most  of  the  colonies,  however,  after 
strenuous  struggle,  the  absolute  equality  of  all  the 
sects  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  was  recognized. 

The  Anglican  Church  has  devoted  itself  with  zeal 
to  missionary  and  educational  work.  In  the  great 
missionary  dioceses  a  degree  of  heroism  unsurpassed 
in  any  age  of  the  Church  has  been  exhibited.  Much 
attention  has  been  given  also  to  educational  work. 
Universities  and  colleges  have  been  created  in  the 
chief  centres  of  population  and  whole  continents  and 
islands  have  been  dotted  with  churches,  from  stately 
metropolitan  cathedral  to  humble  rural  fane. 


210     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  American  Revolution  was  a  great  blow  to  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  revolted  colonies.  "  It  was 
left,"  says  Bisliop  Hurst,  "  stranded  like  a  wrecked 
ship  on  the  beach.  Thousands  of  her  clergy  and 
laity  were  loyal  to  King  George.  And  for  this  they 
were  exiled  from  their  parishes  and  their  churches 
broken  up.  The  loyal  clergy  of  the  Revolution  were 
whipped,  banished  and  persecuted  in  every  possible 
way  and  their  churches  torn  down  and  burned." 

A  saving  remnant,  however,  soon  organized  a  dis- 
tinctively American  Episcopal  Church.  It  furnished 
the  first  chaplain  to  Congress,  and  in  an  Episcopal 
Church,  St.  Paul's,  in  New  York,  the  first  religious 
services  were  held  after  the  inauguration  of  Wash- 
ington. The  President  and  the  houses  of  Congress 
attended  in  their  official  capacity.  A  general  con- 
vention was  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1785,  when  a 
Prayer-Book  was  drawn  up,  largely  modifying  in  a 
more  liberal  and  Arminian  sense  tliat  of  the  mother- 
country. 

"  The  later  development  of  the  Episcopal  Church," 
says  Bishop  Hurst,  "  has  given  it  an  honorable  part 
in  the  sanctification  of  American  life.  Its  mission- 
ary spirit  has  carried  it  to  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and,  in  always  standing  for  dignity  and  beauty  iu 
public  worship,  for  an  educated  clergy,  and  for  con- 
servative methods  of  evangelism,  it  has  exercised 
great  influence  on  the  religious  tone  of  the  com- 
munity." 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  211 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  Presbyterian  Kirk  of  Scotland  was  lieir  to 
some  of  the  most  heroic  traditions  of  Christendom. 
Their  resistance  of  the  attempt  to  force  Episcopacy 
on  their  country  is  a  part  of  the  civil  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical  history  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians. 
The  Covenanting  Church,  driven  from  its  altars,  be- 
took itself  to  the  wilderness — to  lonely  straths  and 
distant  vales,  where  the  scream  of  the  eagle  and  the 
thunder  of  the  cataract  blended  with  the  singing  of 
the  psalm  and  the  utterance  of  the  prayer,  v/hile 
armed  sentinels  kept  watch  on  the  neighboring 
hills.  At  the  rippling  burn  infants  were  baptized, 
and  at  those  mountain  altars  youthful  hearts 
plighted  their  marriage  vows.  "  It  is  something," 
says  Gilfillan,  "to  think  of  the  best  of  a  nation 
worshipping  God  for  years  together  in  the  open  air, 
the  Druids  of  the  Christian  faith." 

The  Covenanters,  banned  like  wild  beasts,  with- 
drew with  their  Bibles  and  their  swords  to  dark 
glens,  wild  heaths,  rugged  mountains  and  rocky 
caves.  The  preachers,  stern  eremites,  gaunt  and 
haggard,  proclaimed,  like  a  New  Elijah,  the  threat- 


212     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

enings  of  God's  wrath  against  His  foes.  As  such 
live  in  history  and  tradition  the  names  of  Cargill, 
Cameron,  and  Renwick,  and  such  has  Sir  Walter 
Scott  portrayed  in  his  marvellous  creations — Ephraim 
Macbriar  and  Habakkuk  Muckle wrath. 

The  moral  heroism  of  these  brave  men  has  never 
been  surpassed.  In  hunger,  and  peril,  and  penury, 
and  nakedness,  these  "  true-hearted  Covenanters 
wrestled,  or  prayed,  or  suffered,  or  wandered,  or  died." 
Many  of  Scotland's  grandest  or  loveliest  scenes  are 
ennobled  by  the  martyr  memories  of  "  the  killing 
time "  ;  by  the  brave  deaths  of  those  heroes  of  the 
Covenant,  and  by  their  blood  that  stained  the  sod — 

On  the  muirland  of  mist  ^vlle^e  the  martyrs  lay ; 
Where  Cameron's  sword  and  Bible  are  seen 
Engraved  on  the  stone  where  the  heather  grows  green. 

The  motto  of  the  great  seal  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church — "  Nee  Tamen  Consumebatur  " — indicates 
that,  like  the  burning  bush  in  the  desert,  though 
continually  exposed  to  the  flames,  it  nevertheless 
was  not  consumed.  But  the  religious  torpor  which 
seems  to  have  fallen  upon  Christendom  during  the 
eighteenth  century  invaded  the  northern  as  well  as 
the  southern  part  of  the  nation.  The  religious  zeal 
of  the  Scottish  Church  languished  well-nigh  to  ex- 
tinction. Throughout  its  history  the  system  of 
patronage  has  been  the  bane  of  that  Church.  This 
system  consisted  in  tlie  appointment  of  ministers  to 
parishes   by   patrons   who   were   supposed   to   have 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  213 

rights  of  ownership.  Interminable  conflicts  arose 
between  the  Church  and  these  patrons.  The  pat- 
ronage was  twice  abolished  and  was  twice  restored. 
The  right  of  the  lay  lords  to  nominate  ministers  was 
supreme.  "  l^o  matter  how  unworthy  the  appointee 
was,  nor  how  unwilling  the  people  were  to  receive 
him,  there  was  no  redress." 

It  was  a  revolt  against  this  by  Ebenezer  Erskine 
that  caused  the  formation,  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  of  the  Secession  Church,  which 
became  the  germ  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  one  of  the  largest  and  most  aggressive  bodies  in 
Scotland.  At  the  close  of  that  century  religion  had 
reached  a  low  ebb  in  the  Scottish  Kirk :  Moderatism, 
or  the  policy  of  the  shrewd  and  conservative  men 
who  controlled  the  destinies  of  the  Church,  and  held 
to  Erastianism  (or  the  doctrine  that  the  State  has 
supreme  authority  in  ecclesiastical  affairs),  and  a 
Gallio-like  indifference  to  religious  matters  largely 
prevailed.  This  low  state  of  religion  is  reflected  in 
the  biting  satires  and  sarcasm  of  Robert  Burns,  with 
which  he  denounces  the  hypocrisy  of  the  times. 

At  the  beginning  of  last  century  two  brothers 
engaged  in  secular  business,  and  that  the  most  un- 
likely that  we  can  conceive  to  foster  religious  re- 
formers, infused  a  new  evangelical  spirit,  not  only 
into  Scotland,  but  into  England,  Switzerland  and 
France  as  well.  These  men  were  Robert  and  James 
Haldane.  They  were  both  brought  up  in  the  navy, 
not  then,  nor  even  now,  a  favorite  school  for  relig- 


214     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ion.  But  God's  Word  and  His  Spirit  led  them  to 
true  conversion,  and  they  became  thenceforth 
apostles  of  evangelistic  zeal.  They  sought  first  to 
engage  in  foreign  missions,  but  were  shut  out  of 
India  by  tlie  exclusive  policy  of  John  Company. 
They  therefore  formed  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel  at  Home,  and  with  Simeon  of 
Cambridge  in  1796  made  a  tour  throughout  the 
country  preaching,  establishing  religious  societies 
and  Sunday-schools,  and  building  churches. 

In  1800  the  General  Assembly  forbade  field 
preaching  and  all  revival  efforts.  The  Haldanes, 
who  had  inherited  much  property,  built  large  num- 
bers of  tabernacles,  as  they  v^ere  called.  In  fifteen 
years  they  had  expended  nearly  half  a  million  dollars 
in  erecting  these  places  of  worship  and  training 
three  hundred  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

The  elder  Haldane  was  himself  ordained,  and  in 
1816-1817  opened  an  evangelical  mission  in  Geneva 
and  Montauban,  preaching  with  apostolic  zeal  to  the 
students  of  tlie  university.  Among  the  fruit  of  his 
labors  were  the  distinguished  Evangelical  Divines, 
Merle  D'Aubign^,  Malan,  Gaussen,  Monod  and 
others.  These  labors  gave  an  impulse  to  religion 
and  missions  which  has  been  a  benediction  to  Scot- 
land and  Switzerland  to  tliis  day. 

Their  labors  were  reinforced  and  surpassed  by 
those  of  the  greatest  man  wliom  Scotland  has  pro- 
duced since  the  days  of  John  Knox.  At  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century  Thomas  Chalmers — born  1780, 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  215 

the  son  of  a  prosperous  ship-owner — was  attending 
lectures  at  St.  Andrews  University.  He  was  a  big, 
brawny,  buoyant,  and  even  boisterous  youth,  not 
fond  of  books  nor  study,  but  destined  to  be  the 
greatest  pulpit  orator  and  religious  leader  of  his 
time.  His  intellect  was  awakened  by  the  study  of 
mathematics,  in  which  he  became  an  expert,  and 
afterwards  professor. 

In  1803  Chalmers  became  minister  of  the  little 
parish  of  Kilmany,  near  St.  Andrews,  but  his 
heart  was  not  in  his  work.  Being  invited  to  con- 
tribute to  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia  he  at  first 
chose  trigonometry,  but  at  length  took  Christian- 
ity. "  By  studying  about  Christianity  he  became 
a  Christian.  His  congregation  quickly  became 
aware  that  he  had  not  so  much  resumed  his  work 
among  them  as  begun  it.  His  whole  soul  was  on 
fire,  and  his  culture  was  now  used  to  make  the 
saving  truth  of  saving  power.  He  cut  loose  from 
the  moorings  of  moderatism,  and  became  intensely 
Evangelical." 

In  1815  he  became  minister  of  the  Tron  Church, 
Glasgow.  He  was  more  than  an  eloquent  preacher. 
He  was  a  faithful  pastor,  a  skilful  organizer  and  in- 
defatigable worker.  His  great  parish  of  two  thou- 
sand families  was  diligently  visited  and  instructed. 
Two  score  Sunday  schools  were  established.  The 
care  of  the  poor  was  so  reformed  that  the  cost  of 
maintaining  them  was  reduced  from  £1,400  to  £280 
per  annum. 


216      RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

He  liatl  as  yet  taken  little  part  in  church  govern- 
ment. The  friction  between  Church  and  State  was 
rapidly  developing  heat  and  irritation.  The  Evan- 
gelicals claimed  that  the  Church  was  autonomous  in 
her  spiritual  affairs.  Chalmers  eloquen  tly  proclaimed 
this  doctrine.  "  There  is  nothing  which  the  State 
can  do  to  our  independent  and  indestructible  Church 
but  strip  her  of  her  temporalities,  nee  tamen  consume- 
hatur.  She  would  remain  a  Church  notwithstand- 
ing, as  strong  as  ever  in  the  props  of  her  own  moral 
and  inherent  greatness.  .  .  .  What  Lord  Chatham 
said  of  the  poor  man's  house  is  true  in  all  its  parts  of 
the  Cluirch  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to  belong. 
*  In  England  every  man's  house  is  his  castle.  Not 
that  it  is  surrounded  with  wails  and  battlements  ;  it 
may  be  a  straw-built  shed.  Every  wind  of  heaven 
may  wdiistle  round  it,  every  element  of  heaven  may 
enter  it,  but  the  king  cannot — the  king  dare 
not.'" 

To  restrain  the  evils  of  patronage,  which  not  sel- 
dom foisted  unworthy  men  upon  a  long-suffering 
parish,  the  Veto  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1834  was  enacted.  It  provided  that  a  presbytery 
should  not  ordain  any  man  presented  by  the  patron 
to  a  living,  if  a  majority  of  the  male  heads  of  fami- 
lies, communicants  in  the  parish  concerned,  disap- 
proved of  tbe  nomination.  But  such  restraints  on 
their  privileges  of  patronage  were  very  distasteful 
to  the  Erastian  landed  aristocracy,  and  a  ten  years' 
conflict  ensued  between,  on  the  one  side,  the  Evan- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  217 

gelical  party  of  the  Clmrcli  of  Scotland,  "  fired  with 
the  hereditary  sentiments  and  principles  of  long 
heroic  centuries,  and  on  the  other  side  the  formi- 
dable and  determined  forces  of  the  moderates,  the 
landed  proprietors  and  the  politicians." 

The  conflict  became  acute  on  the  presentation  of 
Mr.  Robert  Young  to  the  living  of  Auchterarder. 
The  appointment  was  very  obnoxious.  Only  two 
men  in  a  parish  of  three  thousand  could  be  induced 
to  sign  the  call.  The  presbytery  declined,  therefore, 
to  ordain  Mr.  Young  as  pastor.  He,  with  his  patron, 
applied  to  the  civil  courts.  After  four  years'  litiga- 
tion the  decision  was  given  adversely  to  the  object- 
ing congregation. 

In  the  Strathbogie  case  only  one  man,  the  tavern- 
keeper  of  the  parish,  signed  the  call  to  a  Mr. 
Edwards,  a  man  universally,  and  for  good  reasons, 
objected  to.  Edwards  appealed  to  the  court  and  pro- 
cured a  decision  in  his  favor. 

The  General  Assembly  in  1842  adopted  a  "  Claim 
of  Right,"  and  appealed  to  the  Queen  and  Govern- 
ment for  protection  of  the  Church  in  her  spiritual 
affairs  from  the  encroachments  of  the  State.  *'  The 
answer  was  the  final  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords 
in  the  Auchterarder  case,  awarding  Mr.  Young 
£10,000  from  the  presbytery  for  refusing  to  ordain 
him.     The  situation  had  surely  become  intolerable." 

A  convocation  of  Evangelical  ministers,  number- 
ing 474,  resolved  to  stand  by  the  ''  Claim  of  Right." 
*'  Soon  all  the  land  was  rife  with  the  old  spirit  of 


218     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  Covenanters."  The  next  act  in  this  history  drama 
was  the  great  Disruption  of  1843. 

We  think  this  name  an  unfortunate  and  mislead- 
ing one.  The  movement  was  not  a  schismatic  act, 
but  one  of  loyalty  to  the  principles  of  the  old  Cov- 
enanting Church  of  Scotland.  It  was  a  constructive 
organization  that  gave  new  life  and  power  to  Evan- 
gelical principles  throughout  the  world.  The  Mod- 
erates could  not  conceive  such  intense  moral  earnest- 
ness as  should  make  men  leave  their  parishes,  their 
manses  and  their  glebes  for  "  a  mere  crotchet,"  as 
they  called  it,  of  an  over-scrupulous  conscience. 

When  the  General  Assembly  met  in  Edinburgh 
in  May,  1843,  the  religious  feelings  of  the  nation 
were  keyed  to  the  highest  pitch.  The  Marquis 
of  Bute,  representing  the  Queen,  proceeded  from 
Holyrood  to  St.  Andrew's  Church,  w4iere  the  As- 
sembly was  held,  amid  the  tramp  of  soldiers  and  the 
strains  of  martial  music.  Dr.  Welsh,  the  Moderator, 
amid  tlie  awful  hush  of  a  solemn  expectancy,  read 
an  earnest  protest  against  the  invasion  of  the  liber- 
ties of  the  Church  by  the  powers  of  the  State,  and 
claimed  the  right  for  himself  and  those  who  thought 
with  him  to  separate  from  the  Establishment.  His 
protest  closed  with  these  solemn  words : — 

"And  we  now  withdraw  accordingly,  humbly  and 
solemnly  acknowledging  the  liand  of  the  Lord  in  the 
things  which  have  come  upon  us  because  of  our 
manifold  sins,  and  the  sins  of  this  Church  and  na- 
tion, but,  at  the  same  time,  with  an  assured  convic- 
tion that  we  are  not  responsible  for  any  consequences 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  219 

that  may  follow  from  tliis,  our  enforced  separation 
from  an  Establishment  which  we  loved  and  prized, 
through  interference  with  conscience,  the  dishonor 
done  to  Christ's  crown,  and  the  rejection  of  his  sole 
and  supreme  authority  as  King  in  his  Church." 

Then  followed  a  dramatic  scene.  Dr.  Welsh,  Dr. 
Chalmers  and  four  hundred  and  seventy  ministers  of 
that  assembly  of  twelve  hundred  men,  with  a  great 
crowd  of  lay  elders,  marched  in  procession  from  the 
church.  The  act  partook  of  the  morally  sublime. 
These  men  thus  gave  up  their  official  position  as 
parish  ministers — nowhere  so  honored  as  in  Scot- 
land— their  beloved  churches,  their  pleasant  homes, 
their  means  of  living — aggregating  half  a  million 
dollars  a  year — for  conscience'  sake.  They  were 
greeted  by  great  multitudes  in  the  streets,  many  of 
them  earnest  sympathizers — among  them  the  wives 
and  children  of  the  brave  men  who  thus  gave  up  all 
for  Christ  and  his  cause.  A  great  shout  went  up. 
Even  the  cynical  Moderates  could  not  refrain  from 
cheering.  All  Edinburgh  was  stirred.  Lord  Jeffrey, 
when  he  heard  it,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried,  "  I  am 
proud  of  my  country.  There  is  not  another  upon 
earth  where  such  a  deed  could  have  been  done." 

Amid  such  scenes  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
was  born.  No  more  heroic  act  has  occurred  in  Eng- 
lish-speaking lands  since  the  two  thousand  clergy 
of  the  Established  Church,  in  protest  against  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  well-nigh  two  hundred  years  before, 
fared  forth  homeless  and  shelterless  from  their  roof- 


220     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

trees  and  hearth-stones  for  no  offence  save  worship- 
ping God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
science. 

In  a  hall  at  Tanfield,  Edinburgh,  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  the  new  Church  was  held,  with  Dr. 
Chalmers  as  its  Moderator.  It  was  a  great  problem 
that  confronted  the  Assembly.  "  Here,"  says  Professor 
Wallace,  "  was  a  great  Church,  four  hundred  and 
seventy-four  ministers,  among  them  the  greatest  and 
most  esteemed  of  modern  Scotland,  about  two  thou- 
sand elders  and  a  vast  body  of  sympathizers.  But 
not  a  church  building,  nor  a  manse,  nor  a  penny  of 
revenue  did  this  great  Church  possess :  how  should 
order  be  organized  out  of  this  chaos,  and  a  fairer 
edifice  be  reared  from  amid  the  ruins  of  the  Estab- 
lishment?" 

This  movement  shook  Scotland  to  its  centre,  and 
its  vibrations  were  felt  over  the  civilized  globe. 
The  Free  Church  determined  to  organize  itself  over 
the  whole  of  Scotland,  to  build  plain  churches  for  the 
people,  manses  for  the  ministers  and  schools  for  the 
children.  Great  hardships  were  endured.  In  man}^ 
places  the  landed  proprietors  refused  to  sell  sites  for 
church  or  school.  But,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Cove- 
nanters, great  congregations  met  for  the  preaching 
of  the  Word  on  strath  and  moor.  The  Lord's  Supper 
was  celebrated  on  bleak  hillsides  or  in  highland 
glens.  Exposure  amid  the  winter  storms  proved 
fatal  to  some  of  tlie  ministers  and  some  of  the  people. 

In  four  years  more  than   seven  hundred  churches 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  221 

were  erected.  Within  the  same  period  half  a  mil- 
lion dollars  were  raised  for  building  manses  for  the 
ministers,  and  in  the  very  first  year  of  the  Disruption 
half  as  much  for  parish  schools.  The  new  churches 
were  often  of  meagre  size  and  severely  plain  in 
structure.     They  were  sometimes  satirized  as 

The  Free  Kirk,  the  wee  Kirk,  the  Kirk  without  a  steeple  ; 

but  the  Free  Churchman  was  ready  with  his  rejoinder  : 

The  Aiild  Kirk,  the  cauld  Kirk,  the  Kirk  without  a  people. 

"  Another  heavy  burden  was  laid  upon  the  new 
Church,"  continues  Professor  Wallace,  "  by  the  grat- 
ifying, and  yet  at  first  sight  embarrassing,  fact  that 
all  the  foreign  missionaries  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Free  Church.  Nobly,  how- 
ever, was  this  responsibility  sustained.  All  the  mis- 
sion money,  all  the  mission  buildings  were  lost. 
Twenty  missionaries,  some  among  the  Jews,  the  most 
in  India,  with  Duff  and  Wilson  at  their  head,  had  to 
be  supported.  New  buildings  for  residences,  for 
churches,  for  schools  had  to  be  erected ;  the  work 
had  to  be  extended." 

More  funds  were  raised  for  foreign  missions  by  the 
Free  Church  in  the  first  year  of  the  Disruption  than 
by  the  united  Church  of  Scotland  the  year  before. 
At  the  end  of  fifty  years  the  Established  Church  of 
Scotland  raised  for  foreign  missions  some  .£35,000, 
and  the  Free  Church  over  £60,000.  A  great  home 
missionary  movement  was  also  begun. 

"  Who  cares  about  the  Free  Church,"  were  Chal- 
mers* startling  words  ;    "  who  cares  about  the  Free 


222     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Church,  compared  with  the  Christian  good  of  the 
people  of  Scotland?  Who  cares  about  any  Church 
but  as  an  instrument  of  Christian  good ;  for,  be 
assured,  the  moral  and  religious  well-being  of  the  pop- 
ulation is  of  infinitely  higher  importance  than  the 
advancement  of  any  sect."  And  in  the  wynds  and 
closes  of  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  the  mission  halls 
and  ragged  schools  of  Chalmers  and  Guthrie  were 
beacon  lights  amid  scenes  of  dense  moral  darkness. 

Ample  provision  was  also  made  for  the  education 
of  the  ministry.  The  New  (Free  Church)  College  in 
Edinburgh  was  built  and  endowed  at  the  cost  of  half 
a  million  dollars,  and  similar  institutions  were  estab- 
lished in  Glasgow  and  Aberdeen.  In  theological 
scholarship  the  Free  Church  is  in  the  very  forefront 
of  the  English-speaking  world.  "  For  all  these  great 
and  vast  religious,  educational  and  philanthropic 
enterprises,"  adds  Professor  Wallace,  "  the  Free  Church 
has  raised  in  fifty  years  about  £25,000,000,  marvel- 
lously demonstrating  to  the  Old  World,  with  its  per- 
vading State  churchism,  the  possibility  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  type  of  church  life  and  work  without 
the  alliance  and  the  assistance  of  the  State." 

The  Free  Church  has  not  been  unaffected  by  the 
great  discussions  in  biblical  criticism  which  marked 
the  times.  One  of  these  which  attracted  great  at- 
tention was  the  Robertson  Smith  case.  It  was  con- 
tended on  one  side  that  the  Church  ought  to  allow 
the  free  discussion  of  the  critical  questions  raised  by 
Mr.  Smith  concerning  the  origin  and  date  of  the  Old 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  223 

Testament  books.  It  was  contended  on  the  other 
that  the  quasi-indoisa,tion  of  Mr.  Smith's  views  in- 
volved in  sustaining  him  in  his  chair  would  be  tan- 
tamount to  the  giving  up  the  authority  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures.  By  the  General  Assembly  of 
1881  Mr.  Smith  was  therefore  removed  from  his  chair 
in  the  New  College. 

The  Free  Church  movement  rapidly  spread  to  the 
remotest  colonies  of  the  empire.  In  Canada,  in  Aus- 
tralia, in  New  Zealand,  at  the  Cape,  in  every  land 
where  the  far-wandering  Scot  has  gone, — and  where 
has  he  not? — the  principles  and  institutions  of  the 
Free  Church  exist  in  friendly  rivalry  with  those  of 
the  chiefest  of  the  Churches  of  Christendom.  In 
Italy,  in  France,  in  Hungary,  in  Bohemia,  in  Swit- 
zerland, at  Malta,  and  Gibraltar  it  has  also  its  churches 
and  schools.  The  jubilee  of  this  Church  in  1893  was 
celebrated  throughout  the  world  with  glad  thanks- 
giving. The  following  poem  by  Dr.  Bannerman,  of 
Perth,  Scotland,  commemorates  the  providential 
guidance  of  half  a  hundred  years: — 

It  was  weel-kent  grund  in  Scotland  that  we  took  in  the  forty- 
three  ; 

It  was  nae  new  word  amang  us  that  Christ's  kirk  maun  be 
free. 

It  cam'  frae  the  mosses  and  muirlands  that  are  flowered  wi' 
martyrs'  graves, 

It  cam'  frae  the  water  of  Blednoch  wi'the  sough  o'  the  Sol  way- 
waves. 

We  read  it  in  deep-cut  letters,  where  the  bluid  o'  God's  saints 
was  shed — 

Where  An  worth,  an'  Ken,  an'  Caimsmuir  have  the  keeping  of 
our  dead. 


224:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

"the  witnesses  and  the  worthies  in  the  days  of  the  peril  and 

strife, — 
They  set  their  seal  to  the  record  that  we  read  in  the  Word  of 

Life  ; 
That  men  maun  honor  the  ruler,  but  first  they  maun  honor 

the  Lord ; 
That  the  laws  for  the  house  of  God  on  earth  are  given  us  in 

His  Word  ; 
And  not  for  fear  nor  favor,  nor  gowd  nor  earthly  thing, 
Maun  ither  voice  be  hearkened  where  Christ  alone  is  King  ; 
That  His  folk  behove  to  serve  Him,  though  they  meet  on  the 

mountain  sod. 
And  the  law  of  an  earthly  king  is  nought  when  it  crosses  the 

law  of  God ; 
That  the  kirk  maun  be  free  to  guard  the  richts  that  were 

bought  wi'  a  bluid  unpriced. 
And  that  Christian  folk  in  Scotland  maun  be  free  to  follow 

Christ. 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  225 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH   (continued). 

The  Scottish  people  have  a  marked  aptitude  for 
speculative  thought  and  for  subtile  distinctions,  a 
fondness  for  metaphysics  and  a  stubborn  adherence 
to  principles.  This  Las  led  to  a  multiplication  of 
Scottish  sects  upon  grounds  of  difference  often  of 
seeming  microscopic  character,  or  at  least  on  grounds 
so  slight  that  only  a  mind  of  Scottish  acuteness  can 
perceive  them. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  revolt  of  Ebenezer  Erskine 
against  the  principle  of  patronage  and  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Secession  Church  about  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  This  Church  was  still 
further  divided,  on  the  question  of  the  lawfulness 
of  certain  civil  oaths,  into  the  Burghers  and  the 
Anti-burghers.  These  were  further  subdivided  into 
the  Old  and  New  Lights,  who  are  so  quaintly 
sketched  in  Barrie's  Auld  Licht  Idyls,  There 
was  also  a  Relief  Church  which,  more  flexible  in  its 
methods  than  others,  sanctioned  the  use  of  hymns  in 
its  service. 

The  growing  activity  in  foreign  missions  brought 
these  seceders  into  more  spiritual  contact  and  led  to 


226     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

a  desire  for  reunion.  This  was  accomplished  in 
1820  in  the  formation  of  the  United  Secession 
Church.  Its  peace,  however,  was  somewhat  dis- 
turbed by  a  theological  controversy  resulting  in  the 
expulsion  from  its  fellowship  of  James  Morrison,  an 
able  exegetical  scholar. 

In  1847  the  more  comprehensive  union  with  the 
Relief  Church  led  to  the  organization  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  one  of  the  most  aggressive  re- 
ligious agencies  in  Scotland.  Overtures  for  union 
with  the  Free  Church  were  begun  in  1862,  which 
resulted,  however,  only  in  a  mutual  eligibility 
scheme,  which  permitted  a  congregation  of  either 
church  to  call  a  minister  from  the  other. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  England  had  its 
origin  independently  of  that  in  Scotland.  Its  geneal- 
ogy has  been  traced  back  to  the  Culdees  and  the 
Lollards,  but  more  directly  it  was  the  offspring  of 
the  sturdy  Puritanism  which  was  developed  in  op- 
position to  the  Prelatic  Church  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
with  its  theory  of  the  absolute  supremacy  of  the 
sovereign  over  both  Church  and  State.  "  The  first 
English  presbytery,"  says  Dr.  William  Graham,  '*  was 
organized  in  1572  near  London.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  fourteen  days  afterwards  John  Knox  died 
in  Edinburgh.  The  cradle  of  English  Presbyterian- 
ism  was  rocked  beside  tlie  death-bed  of  the  great 
Reformer,  who,  twenty  years  earlier,  had  sown  in 
England  the  seeds  from  wliich  came  the  harvest.'* 

Within  the  Church  of  England,  too,  the  Puritan 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  227 

doctrinal  element  developed  in  opposition  to  the 
prelatic  teachings  of  Laud.  In  1647  the  Long  Par- 
liament abolished  Prelacy  and  established  Presbyte- 
rianism.  The  Westminster  Assembly  had  already 
drawn  up  its  memorable  Confession  and  Shorter  and 
Longer  Catechisms.  For  twenty  years  Presbyterian- 
ism  was  the  national  Church.  But  by  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  1662,  Presby- 
terianism  was  disestablished,  and  two  thousand 
ministers,  most  of  them  Presbyterian,  were  ejected 
from  their  churches  and  manses.  Among  them 
were  those  godly  and  apostolic  men  Baxter,  Howe 
and  Bates. 

Presbyterianism  in  England,  however,  did  not 
develop  as  in  the  North.  Under  the  torpid  religious 
atmosphere  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  succumbed 
to  practical  religious  indifference.  With  the  mis- 
sionary and  religious  revivals  of  this  century  a  new 
spirit  was  quickened  in  this  old  church,  strength- 
ened by  the  adhesion  of  many  Scottish  Presbyterians. 
Branches  of  the  United  Presbyterian  and  Free 
Churches  in  England,  in  1876,  joined  together  under 
the  name  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England. 
This  church  has  developed  great  missionary  zeal 
and  liberality. 

Among  the  sturdy  Protestant  population  of  the 
North  of  Ireland  was  a  strong  Presbyterian  element. 
The  system  of  lay  patronage  did  not  exist,  but  a 
general  religious  torpor  pervaded  most  of  the 
churches.     The  strength  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 


228     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

is  chiefly  in  Ulster,  with  its  large  population  of 
Scottish  descent.  Its  colleges  at  Belfast  and  Lon- 
donderry are  vigorous  theological  institutions. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  minor  remonstrant  and 
secession  bodies  in  Ireland,  the  mutual  antipathies 
of  which  have  happily  given  way  to  more  genial 
sympathies  and  Christian  co-operation. 

In  the  United  States  Presbyterianism  came  with 
the  emigrants  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  The 
persecutions  of  Presbyterians  under  the  Stuarts 
compelled  many  to  find  refuge  beyond  the  seas. 
Here,  too,  the  Old  and  New  Light  divisions  took 
place,  but  were  less  permanent  and  intense  than  in 
the  old  land.  After  the  Revolutionary  War  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  organized,  and  the  Church  en- 
tered upon  a  period  of  remarkable  development. 
Great  revivals  swept  over  the  country,  but  the 
doctrinal  acuteness  and  conscientious  individualism 
which  seemed  inherent  in  the  Presbyterian  churches 
led  to  the  subdivisions  into  the  old  and  new  schools. 

Anti-slavery  discussions  still  further  divided  the 
Church.  It  is  impossible  in  our  limited  space  to 
even  outline  these  divisions.  Their  relative  strencrth 
will  be  indicated  in  our  statistical  tables.  Since  the 
close  of  the  war  and  of  the  anti-slavery  discussion, 
many  of  the  causes  of  difference  have  passed  away, 
and  reciprocity  of  Christian  intercourse  and  court- 
esies have  followed. 

The  Church  in  the  South  may  be  broadly  con- 
sidered as  theologically  more  conservative  than  that 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  229 

in  the  North.  It  stands  more  firmly  in  the  old  ways, 
while  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  North  have 
a  more  receptive  attitude  towards  the  newer  scholar- 
ship and  higher  criticism.  The  discussions,  however, 
led  by  Dr.  Charles  Briggs  and  Dr.  Preserved  Smith, 
have,  to  a  considerable  degree,  divided  the  Church 
into  the  conservative  and  liberal  schools. 

The  services  rendered  to  religious  education,  to 
Christian  scholarship,  to  religious  literature,  to  civic 
righteousness,  to  the  development  of  a  higher  civili- 
zation by  this  great  Church  throughout  the  Amer- 
ican commonwealth  is  one  of  the  brightest  pages 
of  its  history. 

In  what  is  now  named  the  Dominion  of  Canada, 
Presbyterianism  was  introduced  with  the  first 
settlers.  After  the  Revolutionary  War  many  Pres- 
byterian United  Empire  Loyalists  contributed  to 
its  strength.  The  early  missionaries  were  chiefly 
from  the  secession  churches.  Among  its  scattered 
population  were  found,  too,  representatives  of  the 
Burghers  and  the  An ti -burghers,  the  Auld  Kirk,  the 
United  Presbyterian  and  the  Free  Church. 

In  1787  the  first  congregation  of  a  few  pious 
soldiers  and  civilians  was  organized  in  Quebec,  and 
three  years  later  one  in  Montreal.  In  1792  Gabriel 
Street  Church  was  built,  probably  the  oldest  Protes- 
tant churcli  in  Canada.  The  following  year  the 
presbytery  of  Montreal  was  formed. 

Canada  has,  however,  the  unique  distinction  of 
bringing  into  one  church  organization  the  different 


230     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

branches  of  Presbyterianism  throughout  the  wide 
Dominion.  In  this  new  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Canada  were  embraced  seven  liundred  and  seventy- 
one  ministers,  about  one  thousand  congregations  and 
four  thousand  elders.  The  union  was  most  hearty, 
only  about  twenty  ministers  in  all  remaining  aloof 
from  it. 

Since  that  date  the  Church  has  made  marked  prog- 
ress in  every  element  of  religious  prosperity.  Its 
home  missions  are  prosecuted  with  intense  zeal  and 
earnestness.  It  has  more  widely  distributed  foreign 
missions  than  any  other  Church  in  the  country. 
These  include  missions  in  New  Hebrides,  Central 
India,  China,  Formosa,  Trinidad  and  among  the  In- 
dians of  the  Northwest.  Some  of  these  we  have 
seen  have  heroic  history.  It  has  for  the  training  of 
its  ministry  six  strong  and  well-equipped  theological 
institutions.  It  is  doing  most  important  work  in 
developing  the  Christian  civilization  of  the  great 
Dominion. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1899,  the  pan-Presby- 
terian council,  representing  over  eighty  distinct 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  all  lands,  met 
in  the  city  of  Washington.  This  body  has  no  leg- 
islative authority,  but  meets  simply  for  mutual 
counsel,  for  the  discussion  of  important  themes  con- 
cerning the  welfare  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  and  for  moral  inspiration  and 
uplift.  The  high  honor  was  done  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  of  electing  as  president  of  the  council  the 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  231 

Rev.  Dr.  Caven,  principal  of  Knox  College,  Toronto. 
For  Christian  scholarship,  for  saintliness  of  spirit,  for 
the  high  respect  in  which  he  is  held,  the  dignity  was 
most  fittingly  bestowed. 

On  the  31st  October,  1900,  was  happily  accomplished 
in  Edinburgh  the  union  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 


232     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  METHODIST   CHURCH. 

It  is  seldom  that  the  life  of  a  single  man  sees 
such  an  extraordinary  development  of  the  religious 
movement  of  which  he  was  the  chief  organizer  as 
did  that  of  John  Wesley.  At  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1791  tlie  members  of  the  Methodist  societies  of 
Great  Britain  (including  the  West  Indies  and 
British  America),  numbered  76,968,  and  in  the  United 
States  57,631.  The  aggregate  numbers  in  both 
hemispheres  were  134,599  members,  with  five  hun- 
dred and  forty  travelling  preachers,  and  two  hundred 
and  thirty-six  "  circuits."  These  are  the  statistics 
given  by  that  accurate  historian.  Dr.  Abel  Stevens. 
But  these  figures  represent  only  the  names  actually 
enrolled  in  the  church's  membership.  They  do  not 
include  the  much  larger  number,  probably  five  times 
as  great,  of  sympathizing  adherents. 

This  was  the  growth  of  a  little  more  than  half  a 
century  since  John  Wesley  organized  his  first  society 
and  built  his  first  place  of  worship.  His  life  was 
one  of  intense  activity.  He  preached  over  42,000 
sermons  after  his  return  from  Georgia,  or  more  than 
fifteen  a  week  for  nearly  fifty-four  years.     White- 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  233 

field,  in  the  thirty-four  years  of  his  ministerial  life, 
preached  18,000  sermons,  or  over  ten  a  week.  Wesley 
travelled,  for  over  fifty  years,  over  ^ye  thousand 
miles  a  year,  chiefly  on  horseback;  equivalent  to 
girdling  the  earth  ten  times  at  the  equator.  He  ex- 
pended in  Christian  philanthropy  over  <£  30,000,  most 
of  which  he  had  earned  with  his  pen,  for  his  stipend 
as  a  minister  seldom  amounted  to  over  £100  a  year, 
and  for  a  long  period  was  only  X30. 

At  the  very  time  that  John  Wesley  passed  from 
his  life  of  toil  to  his  everlasting  reward,  the  throes 
of  the  French  Revolution  were  convulsing  the  world. 
"  The  throne,  the  altar,  and  social  order  were  pros- 
trated ;  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  political 
foundations  of  Europe,  from  Scandinavia  to  the  Ca- 
labrias,  from  Madrid  to  Moscow,  were  shaken  as  by 
incessant  earthquakes."  The  sceptical  teachings  of 
Voltaire  and  the  Encyclopaedists,  and  especially 
the  coarse  and  vulgar  infidelity  of  Thomas  Paine's 
Age  of  Reason  were  scattered  broadcast  among 
the  people.  But  for  the  moral  antiseptic  furnished 
by  Methodism,  and  the  revival  of  religion  in  all  the 
churches  which  it  produced,  the  history  of  England 
would  have  been  far  other  than  it  was.  It  would 
probably  have  been  swept  into  the  maelstrom  of 
revolution  and  shared  the  political  and  religious 
convulsions  of  the  neighboring  nation. 

But  Methodism  had  greatly  changed  the  condition 
of  the  people.  It  had  rescued  vast  multitudes  from 
iofuorance  and  barbarism,  and  raised  them  from  al- 


284     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

most  the  degradation  of  beasts  to  the  condition  of 
men  and  the  fellowship  of  saints.  The  habits  of 
thrift  and  industry  which  it  fostered  led  to  the 
accumulation,  if  not  of  wealth,  at  least  to  that  of  a 
substantial  competence  ;  and  built  up  that  safeguard 
of  the  commonwealth,  a  great,  intelligent,  industrious, 
religious  middle-class  in  the  community. 

By  the  intelligent  piety  and  patriotism  thus  cre- 
ated, England  was  saved  from  the  convulsions  which 
shook  all  Europe.  "John  Wesley  substituted," 
says  Stevens,  "  reformation  for  revolution." 

A  few  years  before  his  death,  in  1784,  Wesley 
made  provision  for  the  corporate  continuance  of  the 
organization  of  which  he  was  under  God  the  author, 
by  the  Deed  of  Declaration,  which  organized  a  hun- 
dred of  the  Methodist  preachers  in  Great  Britain  as 
the  legal  conference,  and  by  the  ordination  of  Dr. 
Coke  as  superintendent  or  bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  the  United  States.  During  his  life  his 
administrative  ability,  "  not  less,"  says  Macaulay, 
"  than  that  of  Richelieu,"  together  with  the  love  and 
reverence  in  which  he  was  held,  made  his  will  su- 
preme, and  the  annual  conferences  seasons  of  har- 
mony and  peace. 

He  had  up  to  the  last  regarded  with  affection  the 
Church  wherein  he  was  born  and  ordained,  although 
it  had  thrust  him  out  of  its  pulpits  ;  and  for  many 
years  had  relentlessly  persecuted  both  himself  and 
his  helpers.  But  toward  the  close  of  his  life  his 
apostolic  character  and  piety  won  him  the  sympathy 


l-HE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  235 

and  respect  of  all  good  men.  Many  of  the  churches 
opened  their  pulpits  to  his  ministrations.  From  be- 
ing one  of  the  worst  hated  he  became  one  of  the  best 
loved  men  in  the  kingdom.  Where  he  had  been 
mobbed  and  maltreated,  the  people  came  out  in 
throngs  to  meet  him  "  out  of  love  and  kindness, 
gaping  and  staring  as  if  the  king  were  going  by." 

Wesley  had  for  some  time  deprecated  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments  to  his  followers  except  in 
the  churches  established  by  law.  But  he  conceded 
this  right  in  many  cases,  as  where  his  converts  had 
been  nonconformists,  or  where  the  established  clergy 
were  profligate  in  their  lives  ;  and  had  ordained  sev- 
eral of  his  preachers  for  their  administration.  In- 
deed, for  a  long  period,  and  in  many  places,  the 
Methodist  services  were  held  at  such  hours  as  would 
not  conflict  with  those  in  the  parish  churches.  Hence 
the  extraordinary  phenomena  of  multitudes  of  people 
going  to  the  Methodist  preaching  by  lantern  light 
before  dawn  in  the  morning,  and  late  in  the  evening. 

When  the  strong  and  firm  hand  of  Wesley  was 
withdrawn  divergences  of  opinion  and  the  growth 
of  parties  developed.  "  There  were  those,"  says 
Stevens,  *'  who,  from  their  attachment  to  the  Estab- 
lishment, wished  no  change  unless  it  might  be  a 
greater  subordination  to  the  National  Church  by  the 
abandonment  of  the  sacraments  in  those  cases  where 
Wesley  had  admitted  them ;  of  such  as  wished  to 
maintain  Wesley's  plan  intact,  with  official  provisions 

which  might  be  requisite  to  administer  it ;  and  such 

Q 


236     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

as  desired  revolutionary  changes  with  a  more    equal 
distribution  of  powers  among  laymen  and  preachers." 

Out  of  these  differences  arose  the  first  division  in 
the  ranks  of  Methodism.  Alexander  Kilham  was, 
like  Wesley,  born  in  Epworth,  1762.  'He  became  a 
zealous  preacher,  enduring  hardship  and  persecution, 
laboring  with  great  success,  especially  in  the  Channel 
Islands.  He  was  a  man  of  intense  zeal  and  fervent 
piety.  He  favored,  too,  new  departures  to  which 
Wesley  had  been  opposed  :  the  presence  of  laymen 
as  representatives  of  the  people  in  the  annual  con- 
ference, and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  by 
the  Methodist  preachers.  These  he  urged  by  pam- 
phlets and  in  the  conference.  Concessions  were 
made  in  a  plan  of  pacification  in  both  these  regards, 
but  they  failed  to  meet  the  demands  of  Kilham  and 
those  associated  with  him. 

Kilham,  persisting  in  his  agitation,  was  suspended 
from  the  Methodist  Connection  in  1796.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  with  three  other  preachers,  he  founded 
in  Leeds  the  Methodist  New  Connection,  with  which 
five  thousand  seceders  at  once  united.  This  body 
adopted  the  Wesleyan  teaching  and  polity  in  every 
regard  except  in  claiming  for  all  ordained  ministers 
the  right  to  administer  the  sacraments,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  laity  an  equal  representation  with  the 
ministers  in  the  annual  conference.  It  has  main- 
tained a  vigorous  existence  to  the  present  time.  It 
has  had  many  men  of  mark  among  both  ministers 
and  laymen.     It  has  established  successful  missions 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  237 

in  Ireland,  in  Canada,  and  in  China.  In  Canada  it 
was  the  first  of  the  Methodist  bodies  to  unite  with 
the  Canadian  Branch  of  the  Wesleyan  Church  in 
1875.  It  has  for  many  years  maintained  most  kindly 
relations  with  the  mother  church  of  Methodism,  and 
has  responded  heartily  to  the  movement  in  favor  of 
the  integration  of  Methodism  in  the  Old  World  as 
well  as  in  the  New.  It  has  an  excellent  theological 
school  at  Ranmoor  (Sheffield). 

The  years  of  ecclesiastical  controversy  which  led 
to  the  secession  of  the  New  Connection  did  not  seem- 
ingly impair  the  spiritual  life  or  retard  the  progress 
of  the  parent  body.  All  the  divisions  which  have 
arisen  in  Methodism  have  arisen  from  other  than 
doctrinal  causes.  They  all  arose  from  differences 
of  opinion  as  to  ecclesiastical  policy  and  discipline. 
Thus  the  parent  tree  and  the  vigorous  offshoots 
which  sprung  from  it  were  nourished  by  the  same 
great  principles  and  brought  forth  the  same  manner 
of  fruit.  Notwithstanding  their  outward  divisions, 
they  maintained  the  spiritual  unity  of  the  brother- 
hood in  the  bond  of  peace.  Great  revivals  contin- 
ued to  follow  the  preaching  of  the  Word.  In  seven 
years  from  the  death  of  Wesley  the  connection  in- 
creased nearly  one-third  in  the  number  of  members 
and  ministry,  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
chapels  were  erected. 

Methodism  was  not  without  its  eminent  scholars 
and  commentators.  Their  studies  were  not  pursued 
in  the  cloistered  seclusion  of  college  quadrangles  or 


238     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

academic  halls.  They  were  men  of  affairs  even  more 
than  men  of  books.  They  were  busy  itinerant 
preachers  ranging  through  the  realm  and  employing 
only  the  spare  hours  of  life — the  horoe  subsecivoe 
which  many  men  think  not  worth  saving — in  their 
biblical  studies. 

Among  these  were  Adam  Clarke,  the  Irish  lad 
who  one  day  digging  in  a  garden  found  a  guinea,  with 
which  he  bought  a  Hebrew  Bible,  and  thus  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  great  oriental  scholarship.  A 
faithful  itinerant,  and  thrice  President  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  Conference,  he  labored  alone  for  forty  years 
in  the  preparation  of  his  great  Commentary  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

Dr.  Thomas  Coke,  amid  his  many  journeyings  by 
sea  and  land,  in  the  crowded  cabin  of  a  ship  or  amid 
the  uncongenial  surroundings  of  a  country  inn,  found 
time  to  prepare,  besides  many  other  volumes,  his 
Commentary  on  the  Scriptures  in  six  quarto  volumes, 
splendidly  printed  on  the  University  press  at  a  cost 
of  £10,000. 

Joseph  Benson,  filling  the  most  important  stations 
in  Methodism,  twice  President  of  the  Conference, 
and  editor  of  the  Methodist  Magazine,  also  wrote  a 
commentary  on  the  Scriptures,  which  is  regarded  by 
the  "VVesleyans  as  one  of  their  standard  works. 

Richard  Watson,  the  carpenter's  apprentice,  became 
an  accomplished  scholar,  a  profound  theologian,  an 
eloquent  orator,  an  indefatigable  Missionary  Secre- 
tary and  President  of  the  Conference.     He  wrote  a 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  239 

Life  of  Wesley,  and  a  Theological  Dictionary,  one  of 
the  best  of  its  day.  His  Theological  Institutes  is  still 
a  standard  Text-book.  With  feeble  physique  and 
impaired  health  his  herculean  labors  were  performed 
under  a  burden  of  suffering  and  pain  from  which  he 
was  seldom  exempt. 

The  second  secession  from  Methodism,  that  of  the 
Primitive  Methodists,  occurred  in  1810.  Its  cause 
seemed  singularly  inadequate,  but  doubtless  the  event 
was  overruled  by  God  for  the  furtherance  of  His 
Kingdom.  Early  in  the  century  Lorenzo  Dow,  an 
eccentric  but  earnest-souled  Methodist  preacher  from 
America,  felt  that  he  had  a  call  from  God  to  range 
through  the  English-speaking  lands  to  preach  the 
gospel.  His  ministrations  were  accompanied  by 
great  power,  and  under  them  many  persons  were 
turned  from  their  sins.  He  proposed  to  introduce 
into  England  the  American  type  of  camp  meetings 
common  in  parts  of  the  country  where  but  few 
chapels  of  any  denomination  existed. 

A  flag  was  raised  at  Mow  Hill,  Staffordshire,  and 
from  far  and  near  the  people  thronged,  and  the  first 
English  camp-meeting  was  held.  William  Clowes, 
and  Hugh  and  James  Bourne,  prominent  laymen, 
took  zealous  part  in  these  meetings.  Much  good  was 
accomplished,  but  many  excesses,  it  was  alleged, 
attended  these  services.  The  Wesleyan  Conference 
declared  that  "  even  supposing  such  meetings  to  be 
allowable  in  America,  they  are  highly  improper 
in  England,  and   likely  to  be  productive  of  consid- 


24:0     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

erable  mischief,  and  we  disclaim  connection  with 
them." 

Pamphlets  and  counter  pamphlets  were  issued. 
At  length  Bourne  and  Clowes  were  expelled  for  insub- 
ordination from  the  Wesleyan  Connection.  They 
forthwith  organized  a  new  society,  namely,  the 
Primitive  Methodists.  They  adopted  many  of  the 
aggressive  modes  of  the  early  Methodists,  preaching 
in  the  highways,  in  the  market-place,  on  the  village 
common.  They  are  very  democratic  in  their  spirit, 
and  their  conferences  have  two  lay  representatives 
for  each  minister.  Devout  women  were  permitted 
to  preach  and  exhort  in  public.  Their  zeal  and  piety 
attracted  a  multitude  of  sympathizers. 

The  new  society  was  specially  successful  with  the 
toiling  and  unlettered  classes,  among  whom  Method- 
ism won  its  first  successes.  It  spread  rapidly 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom,  and  through  emi- 
gration and  by  missionary  effort  into  Canada,  the 
United  States,  New  Zealand,  Australia  and  Tasmania. 
*'  Methodists,  of  whatever  party,"  says  Dr.  Stevens, 
"  may  well  excuse  what  they  deem  objectionable  in 
its  early  history,  and  gratefully  recognize  it  as  one 
of  the  most  important  results  of  the  revivals  in  this 
period  of  their  annals."  In  Great  Britain  the  Church 
has  a  vigorous  publishing  house,  issues  a  high-class 
Review  and  a  graded  series  of  magazines  and 
periodicals  of  much  literary  merit  and  instinct  with 
religious  spirit.  It  lias  also  a  successful  college  and 
training  institution  at  Sunderland. 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  241 

In  1815  still  another  secession  took  place,  namely, 
that  of  the  Bible  Christians  or  "Bryanites,"  so 
named  from  William  O.  Bryan,  a  local  preacher  of 
Cornwall,  England,  who  was  their  leader.  They 
were  characterized  by  intense  religious  earnestness. 
They  manifest  great  plainness  and  simplicity  in 
dress,  and  are  very  zealous  in  their  mode  of  worship. 
They,  too,  have  established  missions  in  the  United 
States,  Canada  and  Australia.  In  the  latter  country 
the  son  of  one  of  the  Bible  Christian  ministers,  the 
Hon.  S.  J.  Way,  rose  to  the  distinction  of  Chief 
Justice,  and  since  1891,  of  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  colony  of  South  Australia.  He  maintained  in 
his  high  place  of  office  the  Christian  zeal  and  devotion 
which  characterize  this  communion.  In  Canada  the 
Bible  Christians,  like  the  Methodists,  generally 
entered  the  union  of  all  the  Methodist  bodies  in  the 
Dominion  in  1883. 

In  the  year  1816  nine  thousand  of  the  Methodists  of 
Ireland  formed  a  new  organization,  under  the  name 
of  the  Primitive  Wesleyan  Methodists.  The  leader 
of  the  movement  was  Adam  Averill,  who  revolted 
against  the  departure  from  Wesley's  original  plan  in  al- 
lowing the  societies  to  hold  their  services  at  the  same 
time  with  those  of  the  Anglican  Church.  In  1877  the 
body  was  again  united  with  the  Wesleyan  Methodists. 

The  secessions  were  not  at  an  end.  "  Every  new 
question,"  says  Dr.  Scholl,  "  admitting  of  a  difference 
of  opinion  seemed  to  carry  in  it  the  seeds  of  dissen- 
sion and  separation." 


242     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  independent  Wesleyans  and  the  Wesleyan 
Protestant  Methodists  in  1828  went  out  from 
the  main  body ;  the  original  occasion  being  a 
dispute  over  the  introduction  of  an  organ  into  a 
chapel  at  Leeds  against  the  wish  of  the  class-leaders. 
Neither  of  these  bodies  attained  much  importance. 

*'  Of  more  significance,"  says  Dr.  SchoU,  "  was  the 
Warren  Movement  in  1834,  occasioned  by  the  project 
of  the  conference  to  establish  a  theological  seminary, 
against  which  Dr.  Samuel  Warren  protested.  Warren 
was  ultimately  excluded  from  the  conference,  and, 
with  twenty  thousand  others,  constituted  the  Wes- 
leyan Methodist  Association." 

The  Wesleyan  Church  continued  to  enjoy  peace 
and  prosperity  for  ten  years.  One  of  its  most  notable 
and  influential  men  was  the  Rev.  Jabez  Bunting,  D.D. 
"  His  history,"  says  Stevens,  "  is  that  of  Wesleyan 
Methodism  for  nearly  sixty  years,"  thirty-three  of 
which  he  spent  in  London.  He  became  the  rec- 
ognized legislative  leader  of  the  Connection.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  Dr.  Bunting  was  somewhat 
of  an  autocrat  in  his  way.  His  great  abilities  gave 
him  commanding  influence ;  this  he  never  used  self- 
ishly, but  for  the  good  of  the  Connection,  as  he 
understood  that  phrase.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
those  who  resented  this  autocracy. 

This  feeling  found  expression  in  the  so-called  Fly 
Sheets,  which,  unsigned,  were  sent  to  every  Wes- 
leyan minister.  In  1817  the  conference  passed  a  res- 
olution    '*  requiring   every   minister   who  had   not 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  243 

taken  part  in  their  dissemination  to  sign  a  document 
to  that  effect.  About  one-fourth  of  the  members 
refused  their  signatures,  rebelling  against  a  demand 
which  they  regarded  as  inquisitorial.  The  agitation 
spread,  and  Messrs.  Dunn,  Griffith,  and  Everett,  the 
latter  the  reputed  author  of  the  Fly  Sheets,  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  Conference,  while  others  were  re- 
primanded. The  excluded  preachers  were  regarded 
as  martyrs. 

"  The  excitement  in  Methodist  circles,"  says  Dr. 
Scholl,  ''  was  intense,  and  in  a  single  year,  1850-51, 
the  body  lost  fifty-six  thousand  communicants.  In 
1850  the  British  Conference  in  England  alone  had 
358,277  communicants,  and  in  1855  only  260,858. 
It  continued,  however,  year  after  year,  to  refuse  any 
concessions ;  and  the  agitators,  finding  their  efforts 
hopeless,  ceased  agitating. 

"  Of  the  one  hundred  thousand  who  had  left  the 
main  body,  nineteen  thousand  in  1857  united  with 
the  Protestant  Methodists  and  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Association,  numbering  twenty-one  thousand 
members,  to  form  the  Association  of  the  United 
Methodist  Free  Churches." 

It  required  a  number  of  years  to  allay  the  irritation 
caused  by  this  controversy.  The  constitution  of  the 
Wesleyan  Church  became  liberalized  by  giving  its 
lay  membership  a  larger  representation  on  the  com- 
mittees, and  in  constituting  a  Representative  Confer- 
ence in  which  laymen  and  ministers  are  represented 
in  equal  proportion.  In  latter  years  the  bitterness 
and  strife  of  controversy  has  entirely  disappeared. 
The  Church  has  steadily  advanced  in  number,  in  in- 


244     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

fluence,  in  culture  and  in  aggressive  zeal.  While  it 
maintains  the  spiritual  earnestness  and  sincerity  of 
its  earliest  years,  it  meets  the  intellectual  and  the 
sesthetic  needs  of  the  closing  decades  of  the  century. 
It  has  vigorous  theological  colleges  at  Richmond, 
Didsbury,  Manchester,  Headingly,  Leeds  and  Bel- 
fast. Its  publishing  house  sends  forth  a  ceaseless 
stream  of  religious  literature,  issues  a  high-class  Re- 
view, and  maintains  the  oldest  religious  periodicalin 
the  world,  established  by  John  Wesley  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years  ago.  There  are  also  several  inde- 
pendent Methodist  journals. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  mother  church  of  Methodism 
early  entered  upon  aggressive  missionary  work,  its 
successes  in  the  foreign  field,  in  the  West  Indies, 
Sierra  Leone  and  South  Africa,  in  Ceylon,  in  India, 
in  China,  and  in  other  foreign  lands,  as  well  as  in 
Germany,  Italy,  France  and  other  countries  of  Eu- 
rope, are  among  its  chief  glories.  One  of  the  great 
merits  of  Methodism  is  that  it  has  emphasized  indi- 
vidual responsibility  and  aggressive  Christian  work. 

In  1881  the  first  (Ecumenical  Methodist  Confer- 
ence was  held  in  City  Road  Chapel,  London,  the 
principal  centre  of  Wesley's  labors.  Four  hundred 
delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  English-speaking  world 
and  from  many  foreign  lands  were  present,  repre- 
senting twenty-eight  different  branches  of  the  Meth- 
odist family,  with  an  aggregate  of  over  five  million 
church  members.  It  remained  in  session  for  a  fort- 
night and  greatly  strengthened  the  feeling  of  unity 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  245 

and  solidarity  among  these  various  subdivisions  of 
this  revival  Church.  So  in  this  great  gathering  was 
fulfilled  the  Scripture :  "  I  will  bring  my  sons  from 
far,  and  my  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth.'* 

In  1891  a  similar  oecumenical  conference  was  held 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  with  a  still  larger  and  more 
widely  representative  assembly  of  distinguished  min- 
isters and  laymen.  The  result  of  this  rapprochement 
is  seen  in  the  overtures  for  corporate  union  which 
have  been  exchanged  between  the  different  branches 
of  English  Methodism,  which  it  is  hoped  the  early 
years  of  the  twentieth  century  will  see  accomplished. 

The  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Wesley  was  ob- 
served with  devout  religious  services  throughout  the 
wide  Methodist  community  in  all  lands.  City  Road 
Chapel,  the  mother  church  of  Methodism,  has  been 
beautifully  restored  with  portrait  busts,  marble 
columns,  stained  glass  windows,  and  other  memorials 
contributed  by  many  of  the  seceding  Methodist 
churches. 

While  the  mission  of  Methodism  has  been,  in  large 
part,  to  the  poor  and  lowly,  yet  the  very  thrift  and 
industry  which  it  produces  has  made  it  largely  the 
church  of  the  great  middle-class — the  backbone  of  the 
British  commonwealth.  *'  It  has  won  for  itself,"  says 
Dr.  Scholl,  "  in  spite  of  scorn  and  persecutions,  a 
place  of  power  in  the  State  and  Church  of  Great 
Britain.  It  has  its  representatives  in  Parliament, 
and  no  statesman  can  afford  to  trifle  witli  it  any 
longer.     It  roused  the  Anglican  Church  itself  to  ac- 


24:6     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

tivity  and  renewed  faith  a  hundred  years  ago,  and 
has  not  only  a  history  behind  it,  but  a  work  before 
it.  The  fulfilment  of  its  great  aim  depends  upon  its 
continued  emphasis  on  the  practical  temper  of  its 
founder.  It  was  this  which  has  given  it  the  sway 
over  a  constituency  of  twenty-five  million  (now  thirty 
million)  of  souls  in  all  parts  of  the  world." 

The  flexibility  of  the  Methodist  system  is  such 
that  it  adapts  itself  to  the  varied  needs  of  humanity  in 
every  land  and  in  every  condition,  gentle  or  simple, 
rural  or  urban.  It  has  inausfurated  a  Forward  Move- 
ment,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price 
Hughes,  for  the  evangelization  of  the  masses  in  such 
large  centres  as  London,  Liverpool,  Leeds,  Manchester, 
Glasgow  and  elsewhere.  Its  London,  East,  Central 
and  London  West  missions,  with  their  complete 
system  of  district  visitation  by  deaconesses  known  as 
"  Sisters  of  the  People,"  and  their  manifold  forms  of 
Christian  philanthropy  are  very  successful  centres 
of  Christian  work. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  century  the  Wesleyan 
Church  was  engaged  in  raising  a  twentieth  century 
fund  of  a  million  guineas  as  a  thank-offering  for  the 
mercies  of  the  past  and  a  consecration  to  the  work 
of  the  future. 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.         247 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 

METHODISM  IN  THE   UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA. 

The  greatest  development  of  Methodism  in  num- 
bers, in  resources,  in  aggressive  Christian  activities 
has  been  in  the  New  World.  The  broad  areas  of 
this  virgin  continent,  the  rapid  creation  of  great 
commonwealths  and  provinces  throughout  its  vast 
extent,  the  extraordinary  growth  by  emigration  and 
natural  increase,  the  freedom  from  the  dominance 
of  an  Established  Church  and  other  conventional 
limitations  have  all  conspired  to  give  Methodism  its 
prominent  position  as  the  leading  Protestant  body 
of  the  North  American  Continent. 

Yet,  in  the  New  World  as  in  the  Old,  its  beginnings 
were  of  a  very  humble  character.  The  persecuting 
zeal  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  drove  a  number  of  German  refugees  from 
the  Rhenish  Palatinate  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Some  of  these  came  under  the  influence  of  John 
Wesley  in  Ireland.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1760, 
a  little  company  of  these  Irish  Palatines  reached 
New  York.  Among  them  were  Philip  Embury,  a 
local  preacher,  and  Paul  and  Barbara  Heck.  At  the 
instigation    of    Barbara    Heck,   Embury   began    to 


24:8     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

preach,  first  in  his  own  house,  then  in  a  hired  "  rig- 
ging loft." 

In  1770  the  first  Methodist  church  in  America 
was  built  on  John  Street,  New  York,  the  first  in  the 
world  to  bear  the  honored  name  of  John  Wesley. 
Captain  Webb,  a  Methodist  military  officer,  became 
an  active  member  of  the  new  community.  He 
founded  societies  in  Philadelphia  and  other  parts  of 
the  country.  In  1769  Richard  Boardmanand  Joseph 
Pilmor  were  sent  out  by  the  English  Conference  to 
take  charge  of  the  new  societies.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  Francis  Asbury  and  other  Methodist 
preachers.  The  first  Methodist  Conference  in  Amer- 
ica was  held  in  Philadelphia,  1773,  with  ten 
preachers  and  a  membership  of  1,160.  The  Revolu- 
tionary War  greatly  interfered  with  the  growth  of 
Methodism.  But  at  the  close  of  the  war  its  depend- 
ent relations  to  the  mother-country  ceased  and  it 
became  an  independent  church. 

In  1784  John  Wesley  ordained  at  Bristol  Thomas 
Coke  as  superintendent  of  the  new  church.  At  the 
"  Christmas  Conference "  held  in  Baltimore  that 
year  the  Metliodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized 
with  Dr.  Coke  and  Francis  Asbury  as  superin- 
tendents. The  growth  of  the  church  was  so  rapid 
that  for  several  years  the  membership  was  nearly 
doubled  annually.  This  soon  made  it  necessary  to 
limit  its  chief  court  to  a  delegated  body  meeting 
every  four  years. 

Of  Dr.  Coke  as  a  missionary  organizer  we  have 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.         249 

already  spoken.  He  continued  till  the  end  of  the 
century  to  visit  the  rapidly  growing  missions  and  to 
attend  the  constantly  enlarging  conferences.  Two 
continents  were  now  contending  in  friendly  rivalry 
for  the  services  of  this  modern  apostle.  Alternately 
president  of  the  English  and  of  the  American  Con- 
ference, his  presence  seemed  so  manifestly  needed  in 
both  countries  that  he  was  continually  crossing  the 
ocean  on  his  missionary  voyages,  as  if  either  hemi- 
sphere were  too  narrow  for  his  energies.  At  last 
the  American  General  Conference  of  1800  yielded  to 
the  request  of  the  British  Conference  to  allow  Dr. 
Coke  to  remain  in  England. 

Asbury's  new  ofhce  of  superintendent,  or  bishop, 
increased  neither  his  power  nor  his  influence  among 
his  brethren.  He  already  ruled  by  love  in  all  their 
hearts.  His  elevation  in  office  gave  him  only  pre- 
eminence in  toil.  In  labors  he  was  more  abundant 
than  even  the  apostolic  Wesley  himself,  since  the 
conditions  under  which  he  toiled  were  so  much  more 
arduous.  He  ordained  upwards  of  three  thousand 
preachers.  He  preached  seventeen  thousand  sermons. 
He  travelled  300,000  miles — from  the  pine-shadowed 
6t.  Lawrence  to  the  savannas  of  Georgia,  from  the 
surges  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  mighty  Father  of 
Waters — through  pathless  forests,  over  rugged 
mountains  and  across  rapid  rivers.  He  had  the  care 
of  a  hundred  thousand  souls  and  the  appointment  of 
four  hundred  preachers. 

Bishops  Asbury  and  Coke  had  worthy  comrades 


250     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  successors  in  the  great  work  of  building  up  the 
Methodist  Church  on  the  American  continent. 
From  the  plastic  state  of  society,  and  from  the 
mighty  forces  which  were  moulding  the  age,  men  of 
force  of  character  were  enabled  to  leave  their  impress 
more  strongly  on  the  times  than  is  now  possible. 
They  stood  near  the  springs  of  the  nation's  history 
and  were  able  to  turn  their  currents  into  the  deep 
wide  channels  in  which  they  now  flow.  Such  men 
as  Freeborn  Garrettson,  Jesse  Lee,  William  Black, 
and  other  plumeless  heroes  of  the  Christian  chivalry, 
ranged  through  the  continent  from  the  everglades 
of  Florida  to  the  pine  forests  of  Nova  Scotia  preach- 
ing the  gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

William  McKendree,  Enoch  George,  Robert  Rob- 
erts, Joshua  Soule,  Elijah  Hedding  and  Nathan 
Bangs  were  among  the  Makers  of  Methodism  in  the 
formative  period  of  the  early  decades  of  the  century. 
In  1819  its  Missionary  Society  was  organized,  and 
its  rapid  growth  beyond  the  Alleghanies  and  the 
Mississippi  greatly  developed.  Our  limits  of  space 
will  prevent  anything  like  adequate  treatment  of 
this  phenomenal  growth.  We  can  only  glance  at  a 
number  of  its  ramifications  and  give  a  brief  resume 
of  its  principal  enterprises. 

In  1839  the  Centenary  of  Methodism  was  cele- 
brated in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  with 
much  enthusiasm.  The  sum  of  £216,000,  or  con- 
siderably over  a  million  dollars,  was  contributed  in 
Great  Britain  for  religious  purposes  ;  the  Methodist 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  251 

Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  contributed 
$600,000  more. 

The  first  great  division,  or  bisection,  as  Dr.  Buckle}'- 
calls  it,  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  took 
place  in  the  year  1844.  '^  The  question  of  slavery," 
says  Dr.  Strong,  "  had  been  agitated  in  the  Metho- 
dist '  societies '  in  America,  and  in  the  conferences, 
previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  and  still  continued  as  a  disturbing 
element  after  the  organization."  At  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1844,  however,  the  agitation  reached  a 
crisis,  which  resulted  in  the  disruption  of  the  Church. 
The  Rev.  Francis  A.  Harding,  of  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, had  been  suspended  from  the  ministry  for 
refusing  to  emancipate  slaves  belonging  to  his  wife ; 
and  he  appealed  from  this  decision  to  the  General 
Conference.  Bishop  James  O.  Andrew  was  also 
found  to  be  in  possession  of  slaves  through  marriage 
and  bequest,  the  laws  of  Georgia  not  allowing  them 
emancipation.  This  state  of  affairs,  and  a  growing 
conviction  on  the  part  of  a  majority  of  the  Church 
that  slavery  and  Christianity  are  inconsistent, 
brought  the  Conference  to  definite  action. 

*'The  Conference  resolved  that  Bishop  Andrew 
should  desist  from  the  exercise  of  his  office  so  long  as 
this  impediment  remained.  This  decision  gave  severe 
umbrage  to  the  Southern  delegates.  A  committee 
of  nine,  composed  of  Northern  and  Southern  dele- 
gates, was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of  separation, 
which  they  submitted  to  the  Conference,  and  which 
was  adopted  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote.    The  *  plan ' 


252     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

provided  for  the  voluntary  withdrawal  of  the  annual 
conferences  of  the  slaveholding  States,  it  gave  per- 
mission to  ministers  and  members  to  adhere  to  the 
body  of  their  choice, — the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  or  the  Church  South, — it  arranged  for  an 
equitable  distribution  of  the  church  property,  and  a 
formal  agreement  not  to  interfere  with  the  work  of 
each  other. 

*'The  Southern  delegates  issued  an  address  to  their 
constituents,  detailing  the  facts,  and  calling  for  a 
convention,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  annual 
conferences  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  eleven,  to  meet  in 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  May  1,  1845.  This  conven- 
tion organized  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South, 
invited  Bishops  Soule  and  Andrew  to  become  itiner- 
ant general  superintendents,  and  appointed  its  first 
General  Conference  to  be  held  in  Petersburg,  Vir- 
ginia, in  May,  184G." 

Other  minor  divisions  had  previously  taken  place. 
As  early  as  1820,  William  S.  Stockton,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  began 
the  publication  of  the  Wesleyan  Repository  at  Tren- 
ton, N.  J.  in  the  interest  of  lay  representation  in 
the  conferences,  advocating  also  the  representation 
of  the  local  preachers.  At  length  a  general  conven- 
tion of  the  dissidents  was  held  at  Baltimore  in  1830, 
and  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  was  organized. 
The  doctrines  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  parent 
body.  In  1858  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
was  divided  on  the  slavery  question  into  two  bodies, 
— the  conferences  of  the  North-Western  States  seced- 
ing, and  forming  the  Methodist  Church ;  and  those 
of  the  Southern  States  continuing  as  the  Methodist 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.         253 

Protestant  Church.  These  were  reunited  in  1877 
under  the  original  name.  There  are  two  Book- 
Concerns  belonging  to  this  Church, — one  at  Balti- 
more, the  other  at  Pittsburg, — several  colleges  and 
academies,  and  a  number  of  church  papers. 

The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  originated 
in  1839  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  slavery  agitation. 
This  body  abolished  episcopacy ;  adopted  lay- 
representation  in  the  annual  and  general  conferences ; 
admitted  local  preachers  to  membership  in  annual 
conferences.  After  the  abolition  of  slavery  a  large 
section  of  this  society  returned  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  It  has  a  publishing  house  at 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  several  institutions  of  learning. 
Its  government  is  a  slight  modification  of  that  of  the 
parent  Church.  It  has  two  educational  institutions, 
a  monthly  magazine  and  a  weekly  church  paper.  Its 
conferences  are  held  all  over  the  Northern  States. 


*'  Methodism  was  early  employed  as  an  agency  in 
the  conversion  of  the  Negroes  in  America,  both  slaves 
and  free.  Vast  numbers  united  with  the  Methodist 
societies,  and  many  of  them  continue  as  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  A  number,  how- 
ever, believing  that  their  spiritual  interests  would  be 
advanced  by  a  separate  organization,  assembled  in 
convention  in  Philadelphia,  April,  1816,  and  organ- 
ized the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
doctrines  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  the  government  is  very 
similar.  They  have  several  educational  institutions, 
especially   Wilberforce  University,  Xenia,  O.;  and, 


254     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

seminaries  at  Baltimore,  Columbus  (O.),  Alle- 
gheny, and  Pittsburg.  They  have  two  religious 
periodicals." 


Before  the  Civil  War  in  America,  the  colored 
people  in  many  of  the  Southern  States  were  forbidden 
by  law  to  hold  meetings  among  themselves ;  and 
accordingly,  the  vast  majority  of  them  united  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. 

"  The  large  influx  of  Germans  to  America  was  the 
occasion  of  great  solicitude  to  the  leaders  of  early 
Methodism ;  and  measures  were  adopted,  wherever 
practicable,  to  give  them  the  gospel.  There  are  now 
eight  annual  conferences  of  German  Methodists  in 
the  United  States,  with  a  membership  of  about  50,000. 
Two  periodicals,  a  weekly  paper  and  a  monthly 
magazine,  are  published  by  order  of  the  General 
Conference.  Sunday-school  supplies  and  various 
standard  books  are  also  published  in  German." 

The  Evangelical  Association  originated  in  eastern 
Pennsylvania,  when,  about  1790,  Mr.  Albright  felt 
himself  called  to  promote  a  religious  reform  among 
the  German  population  of  that  region.  He  had  no 
thought  at  first  of  organizing  a  denomination,  but  he 
was  so  successful,  and  his  little  societies  were  so 
multiplied,  that  at  a  general  meeting  called  to  con- 
sider what  should  be  done,  Mr.  Albright  was  unan- 
imously elected  and  ordained  by  the  preachers  as 
their  general  superintendent  or  bishop.  The  epochal 
year  of  this  church  is  1800.     They  have  the  same 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.         255 

conferences  or  conventions  as  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  with  similar  powers. 

The  United  Methodist  Free  Churches  and  the 
Wesleyan  Reform  Union  are  minor  bodies  of  Metho- 
dists. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifold  divisions  of  Metho- 
dism— about  sixteen  in  the  United  States,  and  about 
half  as  many  in  Great  Britain — still  the  Methodists  are 
essentially  one  throughout  the  world.  With  the 
single  exception  of  Whitefield's  Calvinistic  movement, 
all  these  divisions  have  been  on  matters  of  polity 
only.  There  have  been  no  doctrinal  dissensions 
sufficient  to  cause  a  formal  division.  "  Methodism," 
said  Wesley,  "  is  one  throughout  the  world."  This 
is  still  true  after  an  unparalleled  expansion  in  num- 
bers in  all  lands. 

In  the  broad  areas  of  the  New  World  and  in  the 
crowded  population  of  the  Old  these  divisions  have 
not  been  so  harmful  as  might  be  anticipated.  There 
has  been  ample  room  and  verge  enough  for  the  activi- 
ties of  them  all,  and  their  operations  have  seldom 
overlapped  or  interfered  with  one  another.  Most 
cordial  feelings  of  fraternity  and  good-will  have 
almost  universally  obtained  between  these  manifold 
divisions  of  the  same  great  army. 

From  the  very  beginning,  as  we  have  seen,  Meth- 
odism made  liberal  use  of  the  press  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  people.  In  1789  the  "  Methodist  Book 
Concern  "  was  established  at  Philadelphia  with  |600 
of  borrowed  capital,  and  John  Dickins  became  Book 


256     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Steward.  In  1804  this  publishing  house  was  re- 
moved to  New  York.  In  1836  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  with  a  loss  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 
Three  years  later  the  business  which  had  been  grow- 
ing up  in  Cincinnati  was  chartered  as  the  Western 
Methodist  Book  Concern.  The  growth  of  this  com- 
bined establishment  has  been  phenomenal,  till  it  is 
now  one  of  the  largest  institutions  in  the  world. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  publishes  fourteen 
weekly  periodicals,  besides  a  Quarterly  Review  and 
an  extensive  series  of  Sunday-school  and  missionary 
periodicals  aggregating  about  as  many  more.  Be- 
sides these  a  large  number  of  independent  and  un- 
official Methodist  periodicals  are  published. 

The  genius  of  Methodism  is  essentially  mission- 
ary. Its  venerable  founder  declared,  **  The  world  is 
my  parish."  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America  felt,  too,  that  its  commission  was  to  all  na- 
tions. Its  missionary  society  was  formed  in  1819. 
The  entire  receipts  for  the  first  year  were  ^823.04. 
It  has  since  girdled  the  world  with  its  missions.  In 
1833  it  entered  Africa.  In  1836  it  began  its  pros- 
perous work  in  South  America.  In  18-17  its  missions 
in  China  were  begun,  that  in  Germany  two  years 
later.  Its  marvellous  work  in  India,  begun  in  1856, 
was  followed  by  that  baptism  of  blood,  the  Indian 
Mutiny.  Others  have  followed  in  Sweden,  Norway, 
Denmark,  Finland,  Bulgaria,  Italy,  Japan,  Mexico, 
Korea. 

The   educational   institutions   of    the   Methodist 


METHODISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.         257 

Episcopal  Church  have  been  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant agencies  for  the  education  of  its  ministers  and 
the  diffusing  of  Christian  culture  among  its  people. 
Methodism  in  the  old  world  was  cradled  in  a  univer- 
sity. The  Holy  Club  of  Oxford,  where  the  Wesleys 
and  some  godly  students  met  for  the  study  of  the 
oracles  of  God,  was  its  real  birthplace.  In  1787  was 
opened  Cokesbury  College  at  Abingdon,  near  Balti- 
more. It  commemorated  by  its  name  both  Coke  and 
Asbury,  by  whose  joint  labors  it  was  founded.  After 
eight  years  of  struggling  existence  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  The  college  was  reorganized  in  Baltimore, 
but  in  a  year  it,  too,  was  consumed. 

Undeterred  by  disaster,  schools,  academies,  col- 
leges and  seminaries  were  established  as  the  needs 
of  the  people  and  ability  of  the  Church  would 
permit,  till  now  it  has  230  colleges,  universities, 
seminaries  and  mission  schools,  valued  with  grounds 
at  $17,132,501,  having  an  endowment  of  $12,299,- 
601,  with  3,143  professors  and  teachers  and  46,708 
students. 


258     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CANADIAN  AND  COLONIAL  METHODISM. 

In  no  part  of  the  British  Empire  has  Methodism 
made  greater  relative  progress  than  in  the  Dominion 
of  Canada.  Although  about  a  million  and  a  quarter 
of  the  people  are  of  French  origin,  and  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  yet  Methodism  numbers  one-fifth  of 
the  entire  population,  and  in  Ontario,  the  largest 
and  most  populous  province,  it  claims  one-third  of 
the  people. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  the  first  Metho- 
dist preachers  in  both  Lower  and  Upper  Canada  were 
British  soldiers.  In  Quebec,  Mr.  Tuffey,  a  commis- 
sary of  the  44th  Regiment,  began  in  1770  to  preach 
to  the  soldiers  and  Protestant  immigrants  of  that 
city.  Six  years  later  George  Neal,  major  of  a  British 
cavalry  regiment,  began  to  preach  to  the  settlers  on 
the  Niagara  frontier. 

At  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution  a  num- 
ber of  British  subjects  who  remained  true  to  the 
old  flag  left  their  homes  in  the  revolting  colonies 
and  came  to  Canada.  These  were  known  as  the 
United  Empire  Loyalists.  Among  them  were  Paul 
and  Barbara  Heck,  Philip  Embury  and  other  Pala- 


CANADIAN  AND  COLONIAL  METHODISM.        259 

tine  Methodists  from  Ireland,  who,  in  1765,  had  or- 
ganized in  New  York  the  first  Methodist  society  in 
the  United  States.  They  came  to  Montreal  in  1774, 
and  afterwards  formed  a  Methodist  class  at  Augusta 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1788. 

The  first  Methodist  itinerants  who  visited  Canada 
in  1790  and  1792  were  William  Losee  and  Darius 
Dunham,  missionaries  from  the  newly  organized 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States. 
These  "  Gospel  rangers  "  preached  their  way  among 
the  scattered  settlements  on  the  banks  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  They  were 
true  pathfinders  of  empire,  preparing  a  highway  for 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  War  of  1812-1815  embarrassed  the  arrange- 
ment whereby  Canada  was  missioned  from  a  foreign 
country  and  many  of  the  American  preachers  were 
withdrawn.  Methodism  had  already  been  planted 
in  Newfoundland,  in  the  Maritime  Provinces  and 
in  Lower  Canada,  partly  by  British  and  partly  by 
American  missionaries.  After  the  war  the  English 
Conference  appointed  ministers  to  Lower  Canada. 
Their  operations  gradually  extended  also  to  the 
Upper  Province.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Upper  Canada  was  permitted  by  the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  United  States  to  be  organized  as  an 
independent  body.  In  course  of  time  branches  of 
the  Primitive  Methodist,  New  Connection  and  Bible 
Christians  came  to  the  country.  Thus  it  was  evident 
that  much  sacrifice  of  economy  in  this  overlapping 


260      RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  work,  and  sometimes  a  degree  of  frictiou,  made  a 
union  of  forces  very  much  to  be  desired.  In  1874 
a  union  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  in 
Canada,  numbering  675  ministers,  73,557  members, 
and  of  the  Methodist  New  Connection,  numbering 
113  ministers,  7,449  members,  with  the  Wesleyans 
in  Eastern  British  America  numbering  223  ministers, 
20,950  members,  took  place  in  1874,  forming  a  united 
body  of  1,000  ministers  and  100,000  members.  The 
resulting  body  took  the  title  of  the  Methodist  Church 
of  Canada. 

The  benefits  of  this  union  were  so  marked  that 
nine  years  later  a  more  comprehensive  union  of  all 
the  Methodist  bodies  in  the  country  took  place, 
namely,  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  with  1,216 
ministers  and  128,644  members ;  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal, with  259  ministers  and  25,671  members ;  the 
Primitive  Methodist,  with  89  ministers  and  8,090 
members ;  the  Bible  Christian,  with  79  ministers  and 
7,398  members — total,  1,633  ministers,  169,803  mem- 
bers. 

The  seal  of  the  Divine  approval  on  this  union  of 
heart  and  union  of  effort  was  shown  by  the  rapid 
development  of  the  Church  in  every  respect — by  the 
consolidation  of  its  forces,  the  combination  of  its 
publishing  houses  and  periodicals,  the  a£&liation  of 
its  colleges  and  universities  and  the  strengthening 
of  its  missionary  and  benevolent  enterprises.  This 
Church  has  a  vigorous  mission  in  Japan,  with  37 
ministers  and  preachers,  and  more  recently  one  in 


CANADIAN  AND  COLONIAL  METHODISM.        261 

Chentu,  in  Western  China.     It  has   also  extensive 
missions  among  the  Indian  tribes  of  Canada. 

In  Australasia,  including  the  Island  Continent  of 
the  South  Pacific,  New  Zealand  and  Tasmania,  a 
vigorous  Methodism  has  grown  up.  This  has  been 
strengthened  by  the  emigration  from  the  varying 
types  of  British  Methodism  and  by  an  active  internal 
development.  These  bodies  have  sent  forth  mis- 
sionaries to  many  islands  of  the  Southern  Seas,  and 
form  a  highly  successful  and  prosperous  Church. 
Here,  too,  negotiations  for  union  have  been  begun, 
which  will  probably  be  forthwith  carried  into  effect. 


262     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH- 

"  English  Congregationalism,"  says  John  Browne, 
in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  '*  is  not  merely  a 
development  of  English  Puritanism.  It  is  an  inde- 
pendent system  of  church  government,  as  fundamen- 
tally distinct  from  Episcopacy  and  Presbyterianism 
as  they  are  from  each  other.  Amongst  the  refugees 
to  the  continent  from  the  Marian  persecution,  there 
were  representatives  of  both  the  hierarchical  and 
Presbyterian  systems.  Heylin,  in  his  History  of  the 
Reformation,  says  :  '  A  new  discipline  was  devised 
by  Ashley,  a  gentleman  of  good  note  among  the  laity 
there,  and  his  party,  whereby  the  superintendency  of 
pastors  and  elders  was  laid  aside,  and  the  supreme 
power  in  all  ecclesiastical  causes  put  into  the  hands 
of  congregations.'  Thus  it  is  seen  that  Congrega- 
tionalism is  co-eval  with  the  other  forms  of  church 
government  which  exist  in  England." 

Robert  Browne,  however,  it  is  claimed,  is  the  man 
who  first  clearly  developed  the  principles  of  English 
Congregationalism  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  At  first  his  adherents  were  called  Brown- 
ists,  or  Separatists,  but  their  discipline  having  been 


THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.     263 

modified  by  John  Robinson  and  Henry  Jacob  they 
took  the  name  of  Independents,  and  rapidly  spread 
over  England.  Robinson,  with  sundry  members  of 
Scrooby  church,  came  to  Amsterdam,  and  afterwards 
to  Leyden.  "  On  July  1,  1620,  one  hundred  and 
one  members  of  this  congregation  left  Leyden, — a 
pilgrim  band ;  and  on  the  11th  December  in  the  same 
year,  the  first  company  of  them  from  '  the  Mayflower ' 
landed  in  America,  on  Plymouth  Rock.  Robinson 
remained  at  Leyden,  intending  to  follow  the  pioneers 
with  the  residue  of  the  church ;  but  he  died  at  Ley- 
den in  1625,  before  they  left." 

The  English  Puritans  were  not  all  Separatists, 
though  many  of  them  became  Independents,  while 
others  continued  to  be  simply  Nonconformists  to  the 
Church  of  England.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  in 
1662  excluded  nineteen  hundred  of  the  Nonconform, 
ing  ministers  from  office,  but,  by  the  Act  of  Tolera- 
tion, 1689,  they  were  freed  from  the  pains  and  penal- 
ties imposed  on  the  exercise  of  their  worship.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  the  repeal  of  the  Test  and 
Corporation  Acts  in  1828  that  the  English  Inde- 
pendents, with  other  Dissenters,  were  freed  from  all 
civil  disabilities. 

"  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century," 
continues  iMr.  John  Browne,  "  the  churches  felt  the 
necessity  of  more  intercourse  and  communion  with 
sister-churches  than  they  had  up  to  that  time  been 
enabled  to  maintain  ;  and  gradually  associations  were 
formed  in  almost  every  county,  their  objects,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  manifestation   of  fraternal  sympathy, 


264     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

being,  generally,  to  encourage  and  sustain  home 
missionary  work,  and  to  assist  the  weaker  churches 
within  their  bounds. 

" '  The  Congregational  Union  of  England  and 
Wales '  was,  after  much  consideration  and  amidst 
many  fears,  formed  in  1833.  It  meets  to  deliberate, 
not  to  legislate ;  to  advise,  not  to  compel ;  and  its 
declaration  of  faith  is  not  a  creed  to  be  subscribed. 
Its  professed  object  is  '  to  strengthen  the  fraternal 
relations  of  the  Congregational  churches,  and  facili- 
tate co-operation  in  everything  affecting  their  com- 
mon interests  ;  and  also  to  maintain  correspondence 
with  the  Congregational  communities  throughout  the 
world. '  " 

This  body  has  become  exceedingly  influential  in 
Great  Britain,  not  merely  as  a  religious,  but  also  as  a 
political,  power. 

These  noblest  sons  of  England,  the  Puritans,  driven 
into  exile  by  a  persecuting  power,  "  turned  to  the 
New  World,"  to  use  the  words  of  Canning,  **  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  Old."  Dr.  Bacon  has 
traced  minutely  in  his  interesting  volume,  "The 
Genesis  of  the  New  England  Churches,"  the  devel- 
opment of  those  religious  principles  wliich  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Separatist  Church  of  Great  Britain, 
its  persecution  there,  its  exile  in  Holland,  its  pros- 
perity in  Amsterdam  and  Leyden,  its  resolve  to  plant 
in  the  New  World  the  seeds  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  to  seek  in  the  western  wilderness  what 
it  found  not  in  the  home-land,  freedom  to  worship 
God. 

"The  'Mayflower,'"  says  Rev.  E.  C.  Smyth,  "bore 


THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.  265 

to  Plymouth,  in  New  England,  an  organized  Christian 
church,  1620.  The  colonists  organized  themselvea 
as  a  civil  body  politic,  '  a  church  without  a  bishop,  a 
state  without  a  king.'  The  Puritan  contingent  in 
Massachusetts  Bay  had  apparently  no  intention  at  the 
outset  of  separating  from  the  Church  of  England, 
and  their  ministers  were  persons  who  had  been  epis- 
copally  ordained ;  but,  once  in  America,  there  was, 
as  Robinson  had  predicted,  but  slight  difference  be- 
tween the  Nonconformists  and  the  Plymouth  pil- 
grims. The  Congregational  ministry  has  been  filled 
by  well-educated  men.  The  earliest  of  them  were 
graduates  of  the  English  universities.  Some  of  them 
were  men  of  rare  attainments  and  scholarship.  Har- 
vard College  was  established  at  an  early  day,  with 
special  reference  to  the  wants  of  the  churches,  before 
1640,  seventy-seven  clergymen  had  left  the  pastoral 
office  in  England  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  in 
New  England,  and  fourteen  more,  pursuing  a  course 
of  theological  study,  had  come  here  to  complete  it, 
and  to  enter  the  ministry." 

In  New  England  by  1648  the  number  of  churches 
had  increased  to  fifty-one.  Under  the  preaching  of 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Whitefield  and  others  a  great 
awakening  took  place  in  which  it  is  claimed  that 
thirty  thousand  communicants  were  added  to  the 
churches,  chiefly  to  those  of  the  Congregational  com- 
munion. 

The  Congregational  Church  has  been  greatly  suc- 
cessful in  its  missionary  operations.  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  was 
instituted  in  1810,  and  its  Home  Missionary  Society 
in  1820.  Under  the  leadership  of  such  men  as  the 
Cottons,  the  Mathers,  the  Edwards,  the  Beechers,  Dr. 


266     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Storrs,  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  and  many  others,  it  has 
greatly  moulded  the  life  of  the  nation. 

We  have  seen  the  influence  of  these  Congregational 
leaders  in  the  great  anti-slavery  crusade,  and  in  every 
social  and  moral  reform  they  have  left  their  stamp,  not 
merely  in  New  England,  but  in  almost  every  State  of 
the  Union,  especially  in  the  northern  tier  to  the 
Pacific  coast.  More  than  twenty  important  colleges 
are  now  wholly  or  partially  under  the  care  of  Congre- 
gationalists,  with  numerous  academies. 

In  Canada,  in  Australasia,  in  the  Cape  Colony — 
everywhere  where  English-speaking  men  have  lived — 
the  sturdy  seed  of  the  Puritans  has  made  its  influence 
felt  as  a  power  for  righteousness,  for  "  soul-liberty," 
for  love  of  truth.  In  many  of  the  dark  places  of  the 
earth  it  has  held  aloft  the  gospel  torch,  which  alone 
can  illumine  them  who  sit  in  '*  the  gloom  of  nature's 
night." 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH.  ^^7 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

"  The  first  Confession  of  the  Baptists  in  England, 
A.D.  1644,"  says  Dr.  Osgood,  "  antedated  the  West- 
minster Confession.  When  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession was  published,  it  was  found  to  agree,  for  sub- 
stance of  doctrine,  in  most  points,  with  the  earlier 
Baptist  Confession;  and  in  1689  the  General 
Assembly  of  Baptists,  following  the  example  of  the 
Independents  (Savoy,  1658),  adopted  that  Con- 
fession, with  some  omissions  and  changes.  Their 
churches,"  continues  Dr.  Osgood,  " — '  bodies  of  bap- 
tized believers,  with  pastors  and  deacons,  covenanted 
together  for  religious  worship  and  religious  work  '— 
are  independent  of  all  other  human  control,  and 
supreme  in  the  government  of  their  own  affairs. 
For  the  increase  of  love,  for  consultation  and  the 
furtherance  of  missions  at  home  and  abroad,  these 
churches,  by  their  delegates,  unite  in  councils  and 
associations  ;  but  these  councils  have  no  power  be- 
yond advice,  or  withdrawing  the  hand  of  fellowship 
from  an  offender." 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  Baptists  were  numei^ 
oiis  in  Europe,  and  were  persecuted  alike  by  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants.     In  England  they  enjoyed  a 


268     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

greater  degree  of  liberty,  and  under  Cromwell  were 
found  in  the  army,  in  Parliament  and  in  the  Council 
of  State.  During  the  Restoration  the  Baptists,  with 
all  other  Dissenters,  suffered  from  the  strong  hand 
of  oppression  and  violence.  Their  piety,  their  learn- 
ing, their  missionary  zeal  has  made  them  one  of  the 
most  aggressive  forces  of  the  Nonconformist  com- 
munity. The  prisons  were  filled  by  their  confessors 
and  martyrs,  yet  their  principles  gradually  gained 
ground.  "  The  share  which  the  Baptists  took," 
says  Dr.  Williams,  "in  shoring  up  the  fallen  liberties 
of  England,  and  in  infusing  new  vigor  and  liberality 
into  the  constitution  of  that  country,  is  not  generally 
known.  Yet  to  this  body  English  liberty  owes  a 
debt  it  can  never  acknowledge.  Among  the  Bap- 
tists Christian  freedom  found  its  earliest,  its  staunch- 
est,  it  most  consistent  and  its  most  disinterested 
champions." 

One  of  the  most  notable  of  these  was  Roger 
Williams — "a  man  well  worth  knowing,"  says 
Bancroft,  "  as  the  first  person  in  modern  Christen- 
dom to  assert  in  its  plenitude  the  doctrine  of  liberty 
of  conscience — the  equality  of  opinions  before  the 
law;  and  in  its  defence  the  harbinger  of  Milton — 
the  precursor  and  superior  of  Jeremy  Taylor." 

In  his  fortieth  year  Roger  Williams  manifested  in 
a  singular  way  his  fidelity  to  the  convictions  of  con- 
science. He  had  convinced  himself  that  immersion 
was  the  true  mode  of  baptism.  But  there  was  no 
minister  in  the    colonies  who  would    thus  baptize 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH.  269 

him.  He  solved  the  question  with  his  usual  de- 
cision, A  godly  layman,  a  Mr.  Holliman,  immersed 
him,  and  then  Williams  immersed  Holliman  and  ten 
others.  Thus  was  founded  the  first  Baptist  church 
in  America.  Williams  and  his  friends  were  promptly 
cut  off  from  fellowship  with  the  churches  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Yet  he  manifested  no  spirit  of  bitterness 
thereat,  and  he  continued  to  his  life's  end  to  pray 
and  preach  and  labor  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

In  1643  he  was  sent  to  England  to  secure  a 
charter  for  the  Rhode  Island  Colony.  This  he  suc- 
cessfully accomplished,  and  was  elected  by  popular 
vote  for  two  years  president  of  the  commonwealth. 
During  his  visit  to  England  he  was  the  guest  of  the 
patriot  statesman,  Vane,  and  became  the  intimate 
friend  of  Milton.  To  maintain  himself  he  taught 
Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French  and  Dutch. 

His  life-work  was  now  well  nigh  done.  He  dwelt 
with  his  children  and  his  aged  wife  in  peace  and 
happiness.  In  his  eighty-third  year  Williams  ar- 
ranged by  his  fireside  his  written  discourses  for  pub- 
lication. "  I  am  old,  and  weak,  and  bruised,"  he 
writes.  He  was  also  poor.  His  substance  and  his 
golden  opportunities  of  becoming  rich  beyond  the 
dream  of  avarice  had  been  willingly  sacrificed  to  the 
public  good.  The  following  year  he  died.  Of  his 
last  hours  we  have  no  record,  nor  need  we.  The 
life-long  spirit  of  the  man  was  one  of  apostolic 
purity. 

In  his  old  days  he  had  many  sorrows.     His  friend, 


270     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  stainless  patriot  Vane,  was  beheaded  on  Tower 
Hill.  Peters,  the  precursor  of  Whitefield,  as  a 
famous  preacher,*  who  voted  for  Williams'  banish- 
ment, but  afterwards  became  his  firm  friend,  also 
perished  on  the  scaffold. 

He  wielded  a  busy  and  vigorous  pen,  and  was  some- 
times involved  in  warm  controversies.  But  he  calls 
even  his  antagonists  to  witness  that  in  his  books  he 
ever  "  presses  holiness  of  heart,  holiness  of  life,  holi- 
ness of  worship  and  pity  to  poor  sinners,  and  patience 
toward  them  while  they  break  not  the  civil  peace." 

The  commonwealth  which  he  founded  has  honored 
his  memory.  Providence  is  now  a  busy  city  of  over 
a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  ;  and  the  spot  where 
he  landed,  the  spring  at  which  he  drank,  the  site  of 
his  house,  and  the  grave  in  which,  for  two  hundred 
years,  his  ashes  have  slept,  are  shown  with  reverent 
regard.  His  house  and  church  at  Salem  are  among 
the  most  venerable  relics  of  American  antiquity,  and 
beneath  the  dome  of  the  great  rotunda  at  Washing- 
ton, a  noble  marble  monument  exhibits  the  form  of 
the  grand  old  pioneer  of  liberty,  holding  in  his  hand 
that  great  charter  of  human  freedom,  the  Word  of 
God. 

In  New  England  as  well  as  in  the  mother-country 
the  Baptists  have  been  the  apostles  of  religious 
liberty.     "  Their  history  for  more  than  a  century,  in 

*  Under  his  preaching  in  New  England,  he  writes  :  "  Over 
a  hundred  a  week  were  persuaded  from  sin  to  Christ ;  there 
were  six  or  seven  thousand  hearers." 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH.  271 

most  of  the  colonies,  is  that  of  proscribed  and  ban- 
ished men.  Yet,  persecuted  themselves,  they  never 
persecuted  others."  "  In  the  code  of  laws  established 
by  them  in  Rhode  Island,"  says  Judge  Storey,  '*  we 
read,  for  the  first  time  since  Christianity  ascended 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  the  declaration  that  con- 
science should  be  free,  and  men  should  not  be  pun- 
ished for  worshipping  God  in  the  way  they  were 
persuaded  He  requires." 

The  Baptist  Church  is  intensely  missionary  in  its 
character.  In  the  Southern  States  of  the  Union  and 
among  the  colored  population  the  Baptists  rival  the 
Methodists  in  the  number  and  energy  of  their  home 
missionary  operations.  Besides  the  regular  Baptists 
are  the  Free- Will  Baptists,  the  Seventh-Day  Baptists, 
the  Bunkers,  the  Disciples  or  Campbellites,  the 
Anti-Mission  Baptists  and  the  Winebrennarians. 


272     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

This  is  the  oldest  and  largest  of  the  churches  which 
have  sprung  from  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  earliest  preference  of  this  church 
was  for  the  name  Evangelical,  1525.  Luther 
strongly  disapproved  of  the  name,  Lutheran,  which 
was  first  used  by  Eck  when  he  published  the  bull 
against  the  great  Reformer.  In  Poland  and  Austria 
the  official  title  is  the  *'  Church  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession."  But  its  more  general  designation  is  that 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  It  is  the 
dominant  Protestant  Church  of  the  Teutonic  and 
Scandinavian  people.  In  Germany,  Denmark,  Swe- 
den and  Norway,  and  the  Baltic  provinces  of  Russia 
its  entire  membership  is  vaiiously  estimated  as  be- 
tween thirty  and  forty  millions.  It  accepts  the 
three  oecumenical  creeds,  the  Apostles',  the  Nicene, 
and  the  Athanasian,  together  with  subordinate  Prot- 
estant confessions. 

In  the  period  immediately  following  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  theological  controversies  in  which  this 
church  was  engaged  seemingly  engrossed  its  energies 
to  the  exclusion  of  special  missionary  effort.     But 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH.  273 

during  the  present  century,  as  we  have  seen  in  our 
record  of  missionary  activities,  it  has  been  character- 
ized by  great  zeal  in  both  the  Inner  and  Outer,  or 
Home  and  Foreign,  missionary  work. 

The  Lutherans  were  among  the  earliest  European 
settlers  in  the  American  continent.  Their  numbers 
have  been  greatly  increased  by  large  emigration  from 
Germany  and  Scandinavia.  The  persecuting  wars 
and  religious  oppressions  of  Louis  XIV.  led  many 
Palatine  exiles  to  seek  refuge  in  Great  Britain  and 
America.  In  both  countries  they  received  hospitable 
welcome,  and  in  the  British  colonies  large  territorial 
grants  in  Pennsylvania,  Georgia,  the  Carolinas  and 
New  York  State.  In  the  year  1750  no  less  than 
twenty  vessels  arrived  in  Philadelphia  with  12,000 
German  Lutherans.  At  that  time  the  Lutheran  pop- 
ulation of  Pennsylvania  also  was  estimated  at 
sixty  thousand.  It  has  numerous  colleges  and  an 
influential  press.  The  American  Lutherans,  from 
the  manner  of  their  separate  colonizations  and  other 
causes,  exist  in  numerous  subdivisions  all  marked  by 
the  same  broad  general  characteristics. 

The  Reformed  Church  traces  its  origin  in  part  to 
the  rise  of  Protestant  Reformation  in  Switzerland 
under  Ulrich  Zwingle,  and  in  part  also  to  the  Ref- 
ormation in  Germany.  It  is  chiefly  moulded  by  the 
Augustinian  theology  of  John  Calvin.  The  Protes- 
tant churches  in  Holland,  Hungary  and  Bohemia 
are  chiefly  of  this  type.  It  was  decimated  by  relig- 
ious wars  and  by  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 


274:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  still  further  weakened  by  the  exile  of  the  Hu- 
guenots upon  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

The  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  the  United  States 
has  an  honorable  descent  from  that  heroic  Protestant 
Church  of  the  Netherlands,  which  underwent  such 
cruel  persecution  under  Philip  II.  and  the  Duke  of 
Alva.  It  was  introduced  into  the  New  Netherlands 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  largely  moulded  the 
religious  life  of  the  Dutch  colonists.  It  has  grown 
much  less  rapidly  than  the  Lutheran  Church,  but  in 
education  and  intelligence  takes  a  very  high  rank. 

"  The  Evangelical  Synod  of  North  America  was 
organized  in  1840.  It  represents  the  State  Church  of 
Prussia,  which  is  the  union  of  the  Lutheran  and  Re- 
formed bodies,  and  accepts  the  symbolical  books  of 
those  bodies. 

"  The  German  Evangelical  Protestant  Church  is 
liberal  in  doctrinal  belief,  having  no  confession  of 
faith.  It  is  opposed  to  synodical  organization,  but 
its  ministers  are  associated  in  vereine,  or  district 
unions." 


UNITARIAN  AND  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCHES.    275 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

UNITARIAN  AND   UNIVERSALIST  CHURCHES. 

The  Unitarian  body  has  exerted  a  sti'ong  influ- 
ence in  the  religious  life  and  social  philanthropies  of 
Great  Britain  and  America.  This  is  the  more  re- 
markable when  its  limited  numerical  strength  is  con- 
sidered. Sporadic  examples  of  the  Unitarian  faith 
were  known  in  England  throughout  the  eighteenth 
century.  One  of  the  first  Unitarian  churches  in 
Great  Britain  formally  so  called  was  established  in 
London  in  1774  by  the  Rev.  Theophilus  Lindsey. 
But  the  most  conspicuous  leader  and  writer  of  that 
body  was  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  F.  R.  S.  He  was 
pastor  of  an  Independent  church  in  Suffolk,  and 
afterwards  of  a  Unitarian  church  at  Birmingham. 
He  was  a  vigorous  champion  of  Unitarian  doctrine 
in  a  series  of  volumes  published  in  Birmingham. 

Priestley's  chief  reputation  arises  from  his  discov- 
eries in  chemistry,  particularly  that  of  oxygen  gas, 
indeed,  of  almost  all  the  gases.  He  was  an  uncom- 
promising advocate  of  liberalism  in  politics  as  well 
as  in  religion.  In  July,  1791,  while  celebrating  with 
some  friends  the  destruction  of  the  Bastille,  his 
house  was  sacked  by  a  mob.     For  this  he  received 


276     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

damages  to  the  amount  of  <£ 2,502.  The  following 
year  he  came  to  the  United  States  seeking  a  larger 
liberty  than  that  afforded  by  the  Old  World.  His 
valuable  laboratory  was  given  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institute,  and  in  1860  his  statue,  in  recognition  of 
his  scientific  achievements,  was  placed  in  the  museum 
of  Oxford  University. 

In  1813  the  Unitarians  secured  by  law  the  privi- 
leges accorded  to  other  Dissenting  bodies,  and  in 
1844  were  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  Dissenting 
chapels  to  which  they  had  acquired  a  title.  The 
most  eminent  leader  of  Unitarian  tliouoht  was  the 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Martineau,  one  of  the  foremost  ex- 
ponents of  religious  philosophy  against  materialism 
and  agnosticism. 

In  the  New  England  colonies  Unitarianism  arose 
probably  as  a  revolt  from  the  austere  Calvinism  of 
the  Puritans.  '*  In  1783  Dr.  James  Freeman,  of 
King's  Chapel,  Boston,  the  grandfather  of  Dr.  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  removed  from  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  all  references  to  the  Trinity,  or  to  the 
Deity,  and  worship  of  Christ ;  and  his  church  from 
that  time  became  distinctively  Unitarian.  In  1801 
the  Plymouth  Church,  the  oldest  of  the  Puritan 
faith  in  America,  declared  itself,  by  a  large  vote, 
Unitarian.  Organized  usually  on  the  basis  of  cov- 
enants instead  of  creeds,  the  New  England  churches, 
without  any  violent  change  in  their  articles  of 
union,  gradually  adopted  the  new  faith.  Dr.  Henry 
Ware,  a  Unitarian,  was  chosen  professor  of  divinity 


UNITARIAN  AND  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCHES.     277 

at  Cambridge.  Dr.  Channing,  in  1819,  in  his  Balti- 
more sermon  at  the  ordination  of  Jared  Sparks,  gave 
the  Unitarian  declaration  of  independence.  From 
that  date  he  became  the  foremost  leader  of  this 
faith." 

"  The  Universalist  denomination,"  says  President 
Capen,  "  traces  its  origin  directly  to  James  Relly,  a 
London  preacher  in  the  middle  and  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century."  In  1770  Mr.  INIurray,  one 
of  his  disciples,  preached  throughout  New  England 
and  the  Middle  States.  *'  But  the  doctrine  spread 
somewhat  slowly.  In  the  year  1800  there  were 
scarcely  more  than  twenty  Universalist  ministers  in 
the  country.  At  that  time  the  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon, 
who  is  justly  called  the  Father  of  Universalism  in 
its  present  form,  was  approaching  the  maturity  of 
his  powers.  He  wrought  out  a  system  of  theology 
which  he  proclaimed  with  intense  vigor  and  earnest- 
ness. Universalism,  with  the  rise  of  Hosea  Ballon 
(although  it  has  undergone  many  modifications,  and 
made  important  developments,  since  his  time),  en- 
tered upon  a  new  epoch ;  and  its  growth  was  rapid, 
not  only  in  numerical  strength,  but  in  organic  life 
and  power." 


278     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE   SOCIETY  OF    FRIENDS. 

"The  rise  of  this  body  of  Christians,"  says  Presi- 
dent Chase,  *'  is  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  events  in 
the  religious  history  of  England  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  George  Fox  and  his  followers  announced 
as  their  aim  the  revival  of  primitive  Christianity; 
the  privilege  of  direct  access  to  God,  without  the  in- 
tervention of  human  priest  or  rite, — and  this  phrase 
remains  as  the  best  definition  of  their  work." 

Fox  began  his  public  ministry  in  1647,  preaching 
through  England  on  foot.  He  proclaimed,  continues 
Dr.  Chase,  "repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  showed  that  one  became 
a  true  disciple,  not  by  a  bare  assent  of  the  under- 
standing to  the  truths  contained  in  the  Bible,  nor  by 
any  outward  rite,  but  by  a  real  change  of  the  heart 
and  affections,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
All  classes  flocked  to  his  preaching ;  and  among  his 
converts  were  persons  of  the  best  families  in  the 
kingdom,  priests  of  the  Established  Church,  and  min- 
isters of  other  societies,  and  many  men  of  learning. 

"  Within  eight  years,  ministers  of  the  Friends 
preached  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  in  Asia,  and  in 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS.  279 

Africa,  and  heroically  endured  persecution  in  Rome, 
Malta,  Austria,  Hungary  and  other  places."  Among 
the  distinguished  British  converts  was  the  courtly  and 
cultured  Penn,  and  Barclay,  a  member  of  an  ancient 
family  in  Scotland.  The  principles  of  religious 
toleration  were  unknown  in  that  age.  Between  the 
years  1650  and  1689  fourteen  thousand  of  the  Quak- 
ers "  were  fined  and  imprisoned;  and  three  hundred 
and  sixty-nine,  including  the  majority  of  the  first 
preachers,  died  in  jail,  '  not  to  mention  cruel  mock- 
ings,  buffetings,  scourgings  and  afflictions,  innumer- 
able.' "  The  Revolution  of  1688  brought  a  larger 
toleration,  and  the  persecution  of  the  Quakers  ceased. 
President  Chase  of  Haverford  College  thus  epito- 
mizes the  record  of  the  Friends  in  the  United  States  : — 

"  America  was  first  visited  by  Friends  in  1656,  when 
Mary  Fisher  and  Anne  Austin  arrived  in  Boston 
from  Barbadoes,  to  which  islands  they  had  gone  to 
preach  the  gospel  the  preceding  year.  They  were 
charged  with  holding  '  very  dangerous,  heretical  and 
blasphemous  opinions,'  and  were  kept  in  close  con- 
finement, at  first  on  the  vessel,  and  afterwards  in 
jail.  Their  books  were  burned  by  the  common  exe- 
cutioner, and  even  their  persons  searched  to  discover 
signs  of  witchcraft.  They  were  then  sent  back  to 
Barbadoes.  In  1660  this  same  Mary  Fisher  held  an 
interview  with  Sultan  Mahomet  IV.,  at  Adrianople, 
where  he  was  then  encamped  with  his  army. 

"  Two  days  after  the  banishment  of  the  first  Friends 
from  Boston,  a  vessel  having  on  board  eight  other 
Friends  arrived  from  London.  They  were  at  once 
imprisoned,  and,  eleven  weeks  afterwards,  sent 
back  to  England.  But,  nothing  daunted,  others  of 
the  same  faith  continued  to  arrive  in  New  England, 


280     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

to  suffer  scourging,  imprisonment,  banishment  and 
four  of  their  number  death  by  the  gallows.  When 
the  martyr  age  had  passed,  the  society  became  less 
aggressive,  and  made  fewer  converts  to  its  views ; 
but  it  devoted  itself  to  the  quiet  practice  of  all  the 
Christian  virtues,  and  to  an  active  philanthropy, 
which  have  made  its  praise  to  be  in  all  the  churches. 
"  In  the  recognition  of  the  equal  rights  of  women, 
in  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade,  in  the 
protection  and  instruction  of  the  Indians  and  the 
Aveaker  races  of  mankind,  in  the  amelioration  of  penal 
laws  and  prison  discipline,  in  tlie  adoption  of  enlight- 
ened methods  for  the  care  and  relief  of  the  insane,  in 
testimony  against  war,  intemperance,  oaths,  corrupt- 
ing books  and  amusements,  extravagance,  insincerity, 
and  vain  display,  it  has  been  in  the  forefront  of 
Christian  reformers ;  while  it  has  maintained  the 
highest  standard  of  integrity  and  practical  virtue, 
and  in  the  every-day  charities  of  life  its  bounty  has 
been  unstinted." 


MORMONS,  OR  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS.  281 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

MORMONS,   OR  LATTER-DAY   SAINTS. 

The  history  of  the  Mormons  is  the  record  of  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  delusions  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  so-called  "  Church  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saints "  is  founded  upon  the  pretended  revelations 
of  Joseph  Smith,  who  was  born  at  Sharon,  Vermont, 
in  1805.  In  1830,  the  so-called  Book  of  Mormon 
was  published,  based,  it  was  alleged,  upon  certain 
golden  plates  discovered  by  Smith,  in  a  hill  near,  in 
Western  New  York. 

The  sceptics  as  to  this  alleged  origin  of  these  mys- 
terious books  aflirm  that  its  real  author  was  Solomon 
Spalding,  who  wrote  a  romance  on  the  American 
Indians,  whom  he  described  as  descended  from  the 
lost  tribes  of  Israel. 

Several  members  of  Smith's  family,  and  some  others, 
about  thirty  in  all,  organized  themselves  as  the  Church 
of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,  April  6,  1830.  About 
1833  they  were  joined  by  Brigham  Young,  a  painter 
and  glazier  from  Vermont,  whose  shrewdness  and 
talent  caused  him  to  be  ordained  one  of  the  *'  Twelve 
Apostles  "  who  were  sent  out  to  preach  the  new  doc- 
trine.    He  was  very  successful  in  making  converts, 


282     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  the  delusion  grew  apace.  At  Nauvoo,  on  the 
Mississippi,  they  founded  a  city,  which  soon  had  a 
large  population,  and  summoned  the  "  saints  "  from 
all  quarters  of  the  world  to  build  there  a  temple  for 
the  Lord.  The  Nauvoo  Legion  was  organized,  com- 
prising nearly  all  the  Mormons  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  with  Joseph  Smith  as  commander.  So  great 
was  the  arrogance  of  the  "  saints "  that,  in  1843, 
Joseph  Smith  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

The  same  year  Smith  claimed  to  have  received  a 
revelation  authorizing  polygamy.  Much  scandal  fol- 
lowed, the  Smiths  surrendered  and  were  committed 
to  jail  at  Carthage.  A  mob  attacked  the  building 
and  shot  the  two  prisoners.  "  The  martyr-like  death 
of  Joseph  Smith,"  says  Bishop  Tuttle,  "  threw  a 
mantle  of  dignity  over  his  person  and  a  halo  of  con- 
secration around  his  character,  that  could  in  no  other 
way  have  been  secured."  Brigham  Young  now  be- 
came President  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 

In  1845  the  charter  of  Nauvoo  was  repealed  by  the 
legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  the  following 
year  the  city  was  cannonaded  for  three  days  and  its 
inhabitants  driven  out  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet, 
and  the  Mormons  fled  to  a  new  rendezvous  at  Coun- 
cil Bluffs,  Iowa.  In  1847  Brigham  Young,  with  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  pioneers,  pushed  westward 
over  the  mountains  to  Salt  Lake  Valley,  Utah.  Salt 
Lake  City  was  founded,  and  large  tracts  of  alkali 
desert  under  skilful  irrigation  and  labor  were  brought 


MORMONS,  OR  LATTER  DAY-SAINTS.  283 

under  cultivation.  Large  numbers  of  converts  came 
from  Great  Britain,  especially  from  Wales,  from 
Sweden,  Norway  and  other  countries  of  Europe. 

Their  intolerant  and  truculent  principles  followed 
the  Mormons  to  Utah,  and  blood-curdling  stories  are 
told  of  the  murderous  attacks  upon  the  Gentiles, — 
all  who  did  not  accept  the  doctrines  of  Mormonism 
were  Gentiles, — by  these  organized  thugs,  and  of  the 
system  of  terrorism  that  prevailed  among  the  Mor- 
mon community.  One  of  these  describes  the  atro- 
cious massacre,  in  the  fall  of  1857,  at  Mountain 
Meadows,  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  men  and  women, 
emigrants  of  Arkansas  en  route  to  California. 

Bishop  Tuttle  thus  sums  up  the  elements  of 
strength  in  this  strange  blending  of  religious  fanati- 
cism and  worldly  thrift : — 

*'  It  is  a  mistake  to  count  the  Mormons  a  mere 
horde  of  sensualized  barbarians.  Sidney  Rigdon 
was  a  type  of  the  fervent  religious  enthusiasm  which 
pervaded  the  belief  and  obedience  of  the  early  con- 
verts. And  the  British  mission  especially  has  always 
had,  and  now  has,  in  it  large  numbers  of  devout,  God- 
fearing people.  The  exodus  from  Nauvoo  presented 
itself  as  a  winnowing  van,  and  the  fair-weather  fol- 
lowers disappeared.  It  is  remarkable  how  much  of 
contentment,  temperance,  heroism  and  strivings  after 
the  golden  age  of  a  real  brotherhood,  remained,  and 
pushed  hopefully  westward. 

"  In  one  sense,  polygamy  is  a  weakness  to  Mormon- 
ism. It  arrays  woman's  nature  in  rebellion  to  the 
system,  and  arouses  the  detestation  of  Christian  civil- 
ization. And  since  1862  it  has  put  the  Mormons  in 
the  attitude  of  disobedience  and  defiance  to  the  laws 


284     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  their  country.  In  that  year  Congress  enacted  a 
statute  prohibiting  polygamy  in  the  territories  of  the 
United  States.  Since  then,  at  least,  all  who  have 
contracted  plural  marriages  in  Utah  are  plain  violat- 
ors of  law.  With  decency,  civilization,  Christianity 
and  statute  law  arrayed  against  polygamy,  it  may 
seem  strange  that  it  can  be  rated  else  than  an  ele- 
ment of  weakness  in  the  Mormon  institution,  and 
destined  one  day  to  draw  destruction  upon  the 
system.  In  1882  the  Edmunds  Bill  to  legislate 
polygamy  out  of  existence  passed  Congress." 

In  1894  Utah  was  recognized  as  a  state,  and  is 
now  represented  in  Congress.  In  1900  a  success- 
ful effort  was  made  to  exclude  Mr.  Brigham  H. 
Roberts,  of  Utah,  from  the  Senate  on  account  of  po- 
lygamy. Sporadic  Mormon  colonies  have  been 
planted  in  the  North-West  Territory  of  Canada  and 
are  regarded  as  a  menace  of  the  future  welfare  of 
that  part  of  the  Dominion. 


SPIRITUALISTS  AND  MINOR  SECTS.  285 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

SPIRITUALISTS   AND  MINOR   SECTS. 

The  organization  of  spiritualists  can  hardly  be 
called  a  church.  Nevertheless,  as  a  large  number 
of  persons  embrace  its  doctrines,  it  demands  recog- 
nition in  this  volume.  What  is  known  as  mod- 
ern spiritualism,  or  spiritism,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  began  with  the  so-called  "  spirit-rapping " 
phenomena  at  Hydeville,  near  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in 
1848.  Margaret  and  Kate  Fox,  of  the  respective 
ages  of  twelve  and  nine,  were  living  with  their  par- 
ents in  a  dilapidated  wooden  house,  when  mysterious 
rappings  were  heard  nightly  on  the  floor  of  one  of  the 
rooms.  Kate  Fox  imitated  them  by  snapping  her 
fingers,  and  the  raps  responded  by  the  same  number 
of  sounds.  Her  mother,  an  illiterate  and  credulous 
woman,  asked  if  it  was  a  spirit  that  was  making  that 
noise,  and  if  it  was,  to  manifest  it  by  making  the 
same  noise.     The  raps  were  accordingly  heard. 

A  few  months  later  the  family  removed  to  Roches- 
ter. The  raps  accompanied  them,  and  new  phenom- 
ena, including  clairvoyance  and  the  movement  of 
ponderable  bodies  without  appreciable  agency,  were 
developed.     The  Fox  girls  soon  exhibited  the  spirit- 


286     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

rapping  phenomena  in  a  public  hall  in  Rochester, 
and  afterwards  in  New  York.  The  phenomena  be- 
came the  subject  of  newspaper  discussion,  and  simi- 
lar mediums  sprang  up  in  many  different  parts  of 
the  country,  and  were  multiplied  by  hundreds  and 
almost  by  thousands. 

The  most  distinguished,  probably,  of  the  apostles 
of  the  new  doctrine  was  Daniel  Douglas  Home.  In 
1850  he  became  known  as  a  medium  of  remarkable 
powers;  and  gave  seances,  with  spiritualistic  man- 
ifestations, in  the  presence  of  Napoleon  III.  in  Paris, 
and  of  Alexander  II.  in  St.  Petersburg.  In  1856, 
while  in  Rome,  he  joined  the  Catholic  Church.  He 
was  expelled  from  the  city  by  the  papal  authority 
for  spiritualistic  practices.  He  exercised  a  very  po- 
tent influence  over  many  persons,  especially  over 
women,  one  of  whom,  Mrs.  Jane  Lyon,  conveyed  to 
him  by  deed  and  bequest  the  bulk  of  her  property. 
She  subsequently  sued  for  its  recovery,  and  it  was 
restored  to  her  by  law. 

The  spiritualistic  delusion  soon  spread  throughout 
America,  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent  of  Eu- 
rope. Mediums,  male  and  female,  rapidly  multi- 
plied. Almost  every  town  and  city  in  the  United 
States  had  its  spiritualist  circle,  in  which  stances 
were  held.  Several  newspapers  were  published  by 
the  spiritualist  propaganda.  Professional  mediums 
advertised  their  stances  at  a  dollar  per  head.  Many 
persons  spent  large  sums  of  money  in  the  so-called 
"  search  for  light,"  and  in  seeking  communication 


SPIRITUALISTS  AND  MINOR  SECTS.  287 

with  relatives  in  the  spirit  world.  Wealthy  wid- 
ows were  the  special  victims  of  this  delusion.  Not 
infrequently  gross  lapses  from  morality  and  marital 
infidelity  were  the  direct  result  of  this  delusion  or 
fraud. 

Not  a  few  distinguished  men  of  literary  or  scien- 
tific reputation  became  avowed  converts  of  spiritual- 
ism, "  or  have  admitted  the  phenomena  so  far  as  to 
believe  in  a  new  force  not  recognized  by  science,  or 
have  testified  that  the  manifestations  they  have  wit- 
nessed are  not  capable  of  explanation  on  the  ground 
of  imposture,  coincidence  or  mistake,  or,  at  least, 
have  considered  the  subject  worthy  of  serious  atten- 
tion and  careful  consideration." 

On  the  other  hand,  such  scientific  experts  as  Mr. 
Huxley  and  others  of  the  first  rank  considered  the 
phenomena  to  be  impostures,  and  Mr.  Bishop  and 
others  have  successfully  imitated  and  explained 
almost  every  form  of  spiritualistic  manifestations. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  of  recent 
times  is  the  rapid  development  of  the  so-called 
"  Christian  Science."  Its  founder  and  chief  pro- 
mulgator is  Mrs.  Mary  Moss  Baker  Glover  Patterson 
Eddy,  to  give  her  her  full  name,  although  there  are 
others  who  claim  priority.  The  principal  feature  of 
her  theory  seems  to  be  that  "  mind  is  all  and  matter 
is  naught ;  "  that  "  flesh  is  an  illusion  "  and  "  pain 
is  an  imagination ;  "  that  disease  can  be  cured  by  be- 
lieving its  non-existence.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
many  cases  of  nervous  affections  are  so  cured,  by 


288     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

what  physicians  call  expectant  attention,  just  as 
Schlaghter,  the  Faith-Curer  of  Denver,  and  many 
others  of  his  class,  have  been  able  to  effect,  for  a  time 
at  least,  remarkable  cures.  Christian  Science  incul- 
cates many  devout  and  religious  principles,  which 
give  it  a  favor  with  many  conscientious  people. 

Christian  Scientists,  especially  in  New  England, 
have  some  costly  church  buildings.  They  claim  in 
the  last  year  of  the  century  to  have  12,000  "  minis- 
ters," 500  churches,  with  80,000  communicants. 

A  somewhat  similar  organization  is  that  of  Dr. 
Dowie,  of  Chicago,  who  has  what  he  calls  a  Chris- 
tian Catholic  Church  in  that  city,  with  offshoots 
elsewhere.  A  powerful  incentive  to  the  spirit  of 
these  delusions,  as  we  deem  them,  is  the  natural  de- 
sire of  the  sick  and  suffering  to  find  relief  by  some 
short  and  easy  method  which  depends  upon  their 
own  faith. 

There  are  many  minor  sects,  especially  in  the 
United  States,  some  of  them  so  small  that,  as  has 
been  said,  they  might  almost  be  called  "  in-sects." 
One  of  these  is  the  Altruists,  a  communistic  soci- 
ety, with  a  membership  in  1900  of  only  25 ;  the  Sep- 
aratists, with  200.  The  Shakers  and  Amana,  with 
1600  each,  are  also  communistic  bodies. 

The  statistics  of  the  churches  furnished  by  the 
"  Independent,"  of  New  York,  in  January,  1900, 
embraces  no  less  than  150  denominations  or  sects. 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  289 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  EOMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

This  is  the  largest  of  the  three  great  divisions 
of  Christendom — the  Greek,  Latin  and  Protestant 
churches.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  labored  under  very  serious 
civil  and  political  disabilities  in  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  especially  in  Ireland. 
The  later  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  found 
that  country  in  the  throes  of  civil  war.  The  rebel- 
lion was  suppressed  in  1798,  but  the  feeling  of 
wrong  and  injury  by  which  it  was  caused  continued 
to  rankle.  In  1800  the  Irish  Parliament  was  abol- 
ished, and  the  kingdoms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
were  united,  with  an  Irish  representation  of  one 
hundred  members  in  the  House  of  Commons  and 
thirty-two  members  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

A  strenuous  organized  effort  for  Catholic  emanci- 
pation was  begun  in  Ireland.  Its  leader,  Daniel 
O'Connell,  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  accom- 
plished orators  that  Ireland  ever  produced — and  that 
is  saying  a  great  deal.  In  1828  O'Connell  was  tri- 
umphantly elected  a  member  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons,  although,  on  account  of  being  a  Roman 


290     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Catholic,  he  was  ineligible  for  a  seat.  At  length,  in 
1829,  Sir  Robert  Peel  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Commons  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Bill.  It  was 
violently  opposed  both  by  the  Commons  and  the 
Lords,  but  the  Duke  of  Wellington  declared  that  the 
only  alternatives  were  emancipation  or  civil  war. 

Fresh  concessions  were  made  to  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic people  of  Ireland  by  the  endowment  of  the 
Catholic  College  of  Majaiooth.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
abolition  of  ecclesiastical  tithes  in  Ireland  was  a  fur- 
ther concession  to  what  was  felt  to  be  the  rightful  ob- 
jections of  the  Roman  Catholic  majority  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  church  to  which  they  were  conscien- 
tiously opposed. 

The  nineteenth  century  has  been  very  eventful  in 
the  history  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  of  its 
sovereign  pontiffs.  More  than  once  the  head  of  that 
church  has  been  an  exile  and  a  prisoner,  and  has 
been  deprived  of  his  temporal  authority;  but  these 
disasters  have  lessened  neither  his  moral  influence 
nor  his  spiritual  power. 

The  stormy  events  of  the  French  Revolution  pro- 
foundly affected  the  civil  rights  and  status  of  the 
reigning  pontiff.  The  venerable  Pius  VI.,  then  in  his 
seventy-second  year,  occupied  St.  Peter's  chair,  hav- 
ing been  elected  Pope  in  1775.  In  1795  he  joined 
the  coalition  against  France,  and  raised  an  army  of 
twelve  thousand  men.  General  Bonaparte  the  fol- 
lowing year  invaded  the  papal  territories  and  com- 
pelled the  Pope  to  cede  the  legations  of  Bologna  and 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.     291 

Ferrara,  to  pay  an  indemnity,  and  surrender  to  the 
French  some  of  the  finest  works  of  art  in  the  Vati- 
can. Meanwhile  Republican  sympathies  began  to 
show  themselves  in  Rome,  and  in  1798  General  Ber- 
thier  occupied  the  city  and  declared  a  republic. 
The  Pope  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  France,  where  he 
died  at  Dijon,  August  29,  1799.  His  successor, 
Pius  VII.,  was  elected  Pope  on  March  14,  1800, 
being  then  in  his  fifty-eighth  year.  Rome  was 
evacuated  by  the  French,  and  Pius  VII.  concluded 
a  concordat  with  Napoleon  whereby  the  Catholic  wor- 
ship was  re-established  in  France  as  the  State  religion. 
He  also  consented  to  go  to  Paris  in  1804  to  crown 
the  Emperor  Napoleon,  remaining  several  months  in 
that  city. 

In  1809  Napoleon  incorporated  the  Papal  States 
with  France,  declaring  that  he  '*  deemed  it  proper 
for  the  security  of  his  empire  and  of  his  people  to 
take  back  the  grant  of  Charlemagne." 

After  Napoleon's  disastrous  German  campaign  of 
1813  the  Pope  was  restored  to  Rome,  and  was  re- 
ceived with  the  strongest  demonstrations  of  popular 
satisfaction.  During  the  "  hundred  days  "  he  was 
again  a  fugitive,  but  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna  he 
was  reinstated  in  authority  over  the  papal  patrimony. 
He  passed  away  in  1823  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-one. 

Leo  XII.,  his  successor,  governed  the  Church  with 
a  firmness  that  involved  him  in  disputes  with  France 
and  Austria.     He  did  much  to  promote  education 


292     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  literature  and  to  suppress  brigandage  and  pau- 
perism. The  general  character  of  his  short  reign 
was  one  of  moderation,  but  his  death,  in  1829,  after 
only  six  years'  occupancy  of  St.  Peter's  chair,  pre- 
vented the  carrying  out  of  certain  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  reforms  which  he  had  projected. 

Pius  VIII.  was  Pope  for  only  twenty  months. 
His  reign  was  too  short  for  the  exercise  of  any 
special  influence  in  either  Church  or  State. 

Gregory  XVI.  was  in  his  sixty-sixth  year  when 
he  ascended  the  throne,  1831.  His  missionary  pol- 
icy was  specially  energetic.  Fifteen  new  missionary 
bishoprics  and  forty-three  new  missionary  colleges 
were  founded.  His  government  of  the  States  of  the 
Church  was  greatly  disturbed  by  civic  revolt,  which 
was  suppressed  only  by  the  permanent  occupation  of 
Bologna  by  Austria  and  of  Ancona  by  France. 

Pius  IX.  became  Pope  at  an  earlier  age  than  any 
other  pontiff  of  the  century,  namely,  in  his  thirty- 
seventh  year.  His  was  also  the  longest  pontificate, 
from  1846  to  1878,  a  period  of  thirty-two  years.  In 
the  early  years  of  his  pontificate  his  administration 
was  liberal  and  enlightened.  More  than  six  thou- 
sand political  prisoners  and  exiles  were  pardoned. 
Reforms  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  administration 
were  introduced.  Steps  were  taken  toward  a  con- 
stitutional form  of  government  and  the  harmonizing 
of  the  claims  of  Italian  patriotism  with  papal  sover- 
eignty.    The  liberals  joined  him  with  enthusiasm. 

For  some  years  the  patriotic  revolutionist,  Maz- 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  293 

zini,  had  sought  to  form  a  league  of  the  "  Young 
Europe  of  the  people,  which  was  to  supplant  the  Old 
Europe  of  kings."  In  1846  he  published  in  Paris  a 
manifesto,  "  aiming  at  a  national  constituent  assem- 
bly and  a  united  Italian  republic,  without  Pope  or 
state  religion."  The  Pope  himself  favored  a  con- 
federation of  the  Italian  states.  Then  came  the  rev- 
olutions of  1848,  which  shook  almost  every  country 
in  continental  Europe.  The  Pope  promised  a  liberal 
constitution,  with  elective  chambers  vested  with  par- 
liamentary powers.  But  the  still  predominant  influ- 
ence of  the  College  of  Cardinals  and  the  clergy 
made  these  concessions  obnoxious  to  the  people. 

A  wave  of  revolution  swept  over  Italy.  A  re- 
public was  proclaimed  in  Venice.  Lombardy  and 
Piedmont  were  in  full  revolt.  The  Pope  shrank 
from  a  war  with  Austria,  one  of  the  pillars  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  A  firmer  hand  than  that 
of  Pius  IX.  was  needed  to  rule  the  stormy  passions 
of  the  times.  The  Republican  party  rose  in  revolt. 
The  Pope  was  soon  a  fugitive  to  Gaeta,  November 
24,  1848. 

The  following  February  the  Roman  Constituent 
Assembly  declared  the  deposition  of  the  Pope  from 
his  temporal  authority  and  the  inauguration  of  a 
new  republic.  Rome,  after  an  obstinate  defence 
under  Garibaldi  and  his  fellow-republicans,  was 
restored  to  Pius  IX.  by  a  French  army  of  occupa- 
tion, 1850. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  long 


294:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

held  by  the  Jesuits  and  opposed  by  the  Jansenists, 
was  proclaimed  a  doctrine  of  the  Church  by  an  (Ecu- 
menical Council  at  Rome  in  1854.  This  was  con- 
firmed by  the  promulgation  of  the  dogma  of  the 
Papal  Infallibility  of  1869-1870. 

The  Pope's  project  of  confederation  of  the  Italian 
states  was  revived  in  1859  by  Napoleon  III.  Tran- 
quillity was  maintained  till  1859,  when  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Austrians  from  Bologna  and  their 
defeat  at  Magenta  and  Solferino  were  the  signal  for 
revolt  of  the  whole  of  the  Romao-na. 

The  integration  of  Italy  rapidly  advanced.  Victor 
Emanuel  was  proclaimed  king  of  the  united  penin- 
sula by  the  Parliament  of  Turin,  February  26,  1861. 
The  Pontifical  government  vainly  protested  against 
the  assumption  of  this  title.  It  became  the  fixed 
purpose  of  Cavour  and  the  Italian  patriots  to  annex 
Rome  and  its  territory  to  the  new  kingdom,  and 
Victor  Emanuel  occupied  Rome  with  an  Italian 
army  September  20,  1870.  A  month  later  Rome  was 
declared  the  capital  of  Italy. 

By  the  bill  of  the  papal  guarantees,  enacted  1871, 
the  Pope  is  permitted  to  enjoy  the  rank  of  a  sover- 
eign and  occupy  the  palace  and  basilica  of  the  Vati- 
can, with  a  yearly  revenue  from  the  Italian  treasury 
of  $625,000.  All  church  property  in  Rome  and  its 
immediate  territory  became  the  property  of  the  na- 
tion in  1873,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  numerous 
establishments  have  since  been  sold  to  help  pay  the 
heavy  public  debt.     This  complete  change  was  vig- 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  295 

orously  resisted  by  Pius  IX.  Refusing  to  accept 
any  portion  of  the  revenue  assigned  to  him,  he 
depended  for  his  support  and  that  of  his  court  on 
gifts  collected  for  him  among  Roman  Catholics 
tlirouo'hout  the  world. 

Meanwhile  the  CEcumenical  Council  of  the  Vati- 
can had  been  solemnly  opened  in  St.  Peter's,  Decem- 
ber 8,  1869,  and  indefinitely  postponed  on  October 
20,  1870,  in  consequence  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
Franco-German  War.  The  attendance  was  the  larg- 
est known  in  the  history  of  these  councils,  and 
reached  seven  hundred  and  sixty-nine  out  of  one 
thousand  and  thirty-seven  dignitaries  who  were  enti- 
tled to  a  seat  and  vote  in  such  synods.  The  doc- 
trinal results  of  the  Council  were  embodied  in 
decrees  directed  against  modern  rationalism,  panthe- 
ism, materialism  and  atheism,  and  a  decree  on  Papal 
Infallibility.  This  is  regarded  as  the  crowning  act 
of  the  Council,  on  which  its  historical  significance 
rests. 

Pius  IX.,  on  February  7,  1878,  ended  his  long 
life  of  eighty-seven  years,  and  a  pontificate  of  thirty- 
two  years,  longer  than  that  of  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors. 

Leo  XIII.,  Vincenzo  Gioacchino  Pecci,  was  born 
among  the  Volscian  Mountains  in  1810.  He  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Rienzi,  the  last  of  the  tribunes. 
In  1878  he  succeeded  Pius  IX.,  being  then  in  his 
sixty-eighth  year. 

Although  the  new  pontiff  did  not  succeed  to  the 


296     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

temporal  power  which  had  been  wielded  for  many 
centuries  by  his  predecessors,  he  yet  exerted  a  moral 
influence  inferior  to  none  of  them.  His  very  first 
encyclical  was  characteristic  of  the  new  spirit  of  the 
times.  It  was  an  appeal  for  united  effort  in  reform- 
ing the  moral  evils  of  the  age — socialism,  commun- 
ism, nihilism.  "  Leo's  teaching,"  says  Mr.  Greene, 
a  recent  biographer,  "  was  that  not  in  civil  power, 
not  in  military  force,  are  we  to  look  for  the  remedy : 
we  must '  lighten  the  load  of  the  heavy-laden,'  count- 
ing all  men  as  our  brothers,  after  the  precept  and 
example  of  our  Lord  Christ." 

The  present  pontiff  has  ever  shown  warm  sympathy 
with  the  working  classes,  the  toiling  millions  of 
mankind.  His  famous  encyclical  on  their  condition 
in  1891  lays  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  "  the  gospel 
is  the  only  code  in  which  are  found  the  principles 
of  true  justice,  the  maxims  of  mutual  charity." 

In  1898  Leo  XIII.  observed  his  eighty-eighth 
birthday,  and  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  his  ordina- 
tion in  a  series  of  celebrations  whose  splendor  has 
probably  never  been  surpassed.  The  contributions 
of  the  faithful  exceeded  over  twenty  million  dollars. 
The  serious  illness  of  the  brave  old  man  in  1899,  and 
the  courage  with  which  he  underwent  a  severe  sur- 
gical operation  in  his  eighty-ninth  year,  won  the 
sympathy  of  great  multitudes  outside  the  pale  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  communion. 

The  growth  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the 
United  States  during  the  century  has  been  greater 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  297 

than  in  any  other  country,  and  it  is  claimed  by  Roman 
Catholic  writers  compensates  for  its  losses  elsewhere. 
This  growth  is  of  a  twofold  nature  first,  by  natural 
increase  and  by  immigration,  and  secondly,  by  the 
inclusion  of  territory  largely  Roman  Catholic  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Union.  By  the  cession  of  Louisiana 
to  the  United  States  in  1803  for  the  sum  of  fifteen 
million  dollars,  was  included  a  vast  region  embrac- 
ing all  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  not 
occupied  by  Spain,  as  far  north  as  British  territory 
and  west  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  great  state  of 
Florida  was  ceded  by  Spain  in  1819  and  the  several 
Mexican  concessions  from  1848,  with  the  Gadsden 
purchase  of  1853,  rounded  out  the  magnificent  area 
of  the  Union  to  its  present  colossal  dimensions. 


298     KELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  ever  been  one  of 
the  most  zealous  in  missionary  endeavor.  The  first 
reaction  after  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  one  of  intense  missionary  zeal.  The  Jesuit 
fathers  belted  the  world  with  their  missions,  and  by 
their  sufferings  and  moral  and  physical  heroism  won 
renown  in  many  lands.  Their  converts  were  num- 
bered by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  in  India  and  the 
Moluccas,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in  Brazil  and  Para- 
guay. They  won  well-merited  fame  for  attainments 
in  ancient  learning,  for  modern  science,  for  pulpit 
eloquence,  and  for  subtle  statecraft.  Under  the 
disguise  of  a  Brahmin,  a  mandarin,  an  astrologer,  a 
peasant,  a  scholar,  they  had  compassed  the  world  to 
make  proselytes  to  Rome.  Deciphering  ancient 
manuscripts  or  inscriptions,  sweeping  the  heavens 
with  the  telescope,  or  digging  the  earth  with  a 
mattock,  editing  the  classics  or  ancient  fathers,  or 
teaching  naked  savages  the  Ave  or  Credo,  they  were 
alike  the  obedient  and  zealous  servants  of  their  order, 
to  whose  advancement  their  whole  being  was  devoted. 

He  who  reads  the  story  of  the  self-denying  lives 


ROMAiS  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS.  299 

and  heroic  deaths  of  these  Jesuit  fathers,  although 
of  alien  race  and  diverse  belief,  however  mistaken  he 
may  deem  their  zeal,  will  not  withhold  the  throb  of 
sympathy  for  their  suiferings  and  of  admiration  for 
their  lofty  courage  and  unfaltering  faith. 

The  most  distinguished  missionary  in  the  bead- 
roll  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  or  indeed  of  any 
of  the  churches  of  Christendom,  was  the  famous 
Francis  Xavier.  The  memory  of  his  heroic  life  and 
death  still  stirs  the  soul  to  high  emprise  and  com- 
mands the  admiration  of  mankind  three  hundred 
years  after  his  body  has  returned  to  dust. 

With  a  faith  that  never  faltered,  a  zeal  that  grew 
not  weary,  a  passionate  love  for  souls  that  brooked  no 
restraint,  and  a  courage  that  no  dangers  could  daunt, 
he  eagerly  trod  the  thorny  path  of  the  confessor  and 
the  martyr. 

Xavier,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  in  the  forty- 
sixth  3^ear  of  his  age.  In  his  brief  but  glorious  mis- 
sionary career  of  ten  short  years  he  had  traversed, 
through  strange  and  stormy  seas  and  unknown  con- 
tinents, a  distance  more  than  twice  the  circumference 
of  the  earth.  His  land  journeys  were  mostly  made 
on  foot,  alone  and  unprotected,  save  by  the  providence 
of  God,  and  supported  by  His  bounty.  Everywhere 
his  infectious  zeal  kindled  kindred  enthusiasm.  He 
is  recorded  to  have  baptized  700,000  converts,  and 
sometimes  as  many  as  10,000  in  a  single  month. 
Many,  doubtless,  followed  the  example  of  their  rulers 
through  a  sort  of  political  constraint  without  mental 


300     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

assent.  In  many  cases,  however,  a  purer  form  of  mo- 
rality supplanted  the  social  corruptions  of  paganism. 

Roman  Catholic  missions  are  administered  by  the 
Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide — the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  This  society,  as  well  as 
the  training  institute  in  its  palace,  and  the  whole 
missionary  system  of  the  Catholic  Church,  is  called 
the  Propaganda.  The  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda includes  all  the  cardinals,  and  has  the  entire 
missionary  work  of  the  Church  under  its  supervision. 
When  it  undertakes  a  missionary  enterprise,  it  confides 
the  new  field  to  the  care  of  some  religious  order,  and 
sends  out  missionaries  under  the  charge  of  an  Apos- 
tolical Prefect — Prsefectus  Apostolicus. 

In  India  the  Roman  Catholic  population,  including 
European  Catholics,  numbers  about  a  million  and 
a  half;  in  Cochin-China  and  Tonking  about  half  a 
million  more.  In  China  there  are  also  reported 
about  six  hundred  priests  and  half  a  million  Roman 
Catholics.  In  Japan,  where  Xavier  and  his  suc- 
cessors reported  600,000  converts,  persecution  and 
exile  reduced  the  number  almost  to  extinction. 

The  greatest  native  Catholic  population  is  that 
in  the  Spanish  possessions  of  the  Philippines,  of 
which  about  five  and  a  half  millions  of  the  people 
are  nominally  Roman  Catholic.  There  are  about  six 
million  Christian  Indians  in  Mexico,  but  their  Chris- 
tianity is  for  the  most  part  a  nominal  profession. 
The  ease  is  similar  in  Central  America,  where  there 
are  twelve  hundred  thousand  Catholic  Indians. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS.  301 

In  Africa  for  three  centuries  there  has  been  an 
active  Roman  Catholic  propaganda,  especially  in  the 
Portuguese  colonies.  In  Central  Africa  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  in  1848  occupied  Khartoum  and  Gondo- 
koro,  but  the  deadly  climate  and  hostility  of  the 
natives  caused  the  abandonment  of  the  mission  after 
the  sacrifice  of  over  forty  of  the  missionaries. 

Probably  the  most  typical  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionary of  this  century  was  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  a  suc- 
cessor in  Northern  Africa  of  Tertullian,  Cyprian  and 
Augustine,  and  the  rival  in  apostolic  zeal  of  the 
devoted  Xavier  himself.  Lavigerie  was  born  in  the 
Biscayan  town  of  Bayonne,  France,  1825.  After 
thirteen  years  spent  in  academic  and  theological 
studies  he  became  a  professor  at  the  university  of  the 
Sorbonne. 

The  Moslem  massacres  of  the  Christians  in  the 
Syrian  Lebanon,  in  1860,  in  which  fifty  thousand 
lives  were  sacrificed,  was  Lavigerie's  summons  to 
missionary  work.  He  obtained  and  distributed  over 
$400,000  for  the  relief  of  the  persecuted  Christians, 
and  founded  hospices,  orphanages  and  refuges  at 
Cairo,  Constantinople,  Damascus  and  Smyrna.  In 
1867  he  was  designated  Archbishop  of  Algiers. 
"  France,"  he  wrote,  "  is  calling  to  thee,  O  Africa ! 
For  thirty  years  she  has  been  summoning  thee  to 
come  from  the  tomb." 

He  devoted  himself  with  enthusiasm  to  the  work  of 
his  mission.  He  gathered  two  thousand  orphans,  and 
educated  and  trained  them  in  industrial  pursuits.     A 


302     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

number  became  missioners  to  their  fellow-cliildren  of 
the  desert.  He  established  Christian  colonies  and 
villages.  He  opened  a  mission  in  the  Algerian 
Sahara.  In  giving  a  commission  to  one  of  his  mis- 
sioners he  wrote  on  the  document :  "  Indorsed  for 
martyrdom."  "Read  that,"  he  said  to  the  priest, 
"  are  you  prepared  for  it  ?  "  "  It  is  for  this  I  have 
come,"  was  the  reply. 

In  1875,  in  establishing  a  mission  at  Timbuktu, 
three  of  the  missioners  were  murdered  in  the  desert. 

"  The  triple  martyrdom,"  says  a  Protestant  narrator, 
"  but  filled  the  society  with  holy  envy  and  generous 
ardor."  "  The  achievement  in  Franco-Moslem  terri- 
tory," says  the  same  authority,  Frederic  Perry  Noble, 
"  is  even  more  due  to  the  white  Sisters  than  the 
Algerian  Fathers.  Almost  from  the  first  Lavigerie 
foresaw  the  need  of  women.  Under  the  shadow 
of  his  seminary  for  missions  he  laid  the  foundations 
of  a  humbler  institution,  a  house  to  train  feminine 
missioners. 

"  From  the  Kongo  to  Zanguebar  even  the  hostile 
had  to  admit  that  a  labor  of  extraordinary  import 
was  being  fulfilled  thi'oughout  Algeria.  Now  the 
Sisters  are  a  recognized  power.  If  in  any  region  it 
were  impossible  for  Fathers  and  Sisters  both  to  re- 
main, the  men  would  quit.  They  are  the  pioneers  or 
scouts,  the  women  the  first  settlers  who  bring  a  vir- 
gin soil  into  productivity.  Africa  was  mapped  out 
in  an  ecclesiastical  partition  that  led  the  Mission- 
Magazine  of  the  Scotch  Free  Presbyterians  to  state 
that  whatever  one  might  think  about  the  Papacy  he 
could  not  but  admire  the  daring  of  its  schemes  for 
the  conquest  of  Africa." 

The  slave  trade,  the  curse  of  Africa,  was  the  bane 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS.  303 

of  missions.  Lavigerie  waged  a  new  crusade  against 
this  ancient  evil.  A  joint  expedition  of  six  pon- 
tifical zouaves  and  twelve  missioners  was  sent  to 
Uganda.  "  After  an  oration  on  his  crusade  against 
slavery,  Lavigerie,  in  pontifical  vestments,  knelt  be- 
fore each  missioner,  and  kissed  the  feet  of  the  youthful 
apostles  starting  on  their  rugged  road.  The  custom 
is  a  recognition  of  the  words :  '  How  beautiful  the 
feet  of  them  that  preach  the  gospel  of  peace,  that 
bring  glad  tidings  of  good  ! '  Lavigerie  spoke  of  his 
men  offering  themselves  in  ransom  for  their  black 
brethren.  The  words  were  predictive.  Less  than  a 
year  later  eight  had  in  heroic  devotion  laid  life  aside. 
Had  it  not  been  for  Protestant  missionaries  near 
Tabora-Unyanyembe,  all  would  have  starved." 

On  the  site  of  Carthage,  the  scene  of  the  combats 
and  triumphs  of  the  early  martyrs,  new  missioners 
were  consecrated  and  sent  forth  in  this  holy  war. 

"  Persecution  unutterable  broke  out  in  1886,  and 
for  five  years  continued  with  bursts  of  brutality 
and  long  silences  of  death.  The  faith  and  stead- 
fastness exhibited  by  the  victims  of  the  Negro  Nero 
bear  comparison  with  those  of  pristine  martyrs.  The 
savage  persecutors  could  account  for  them  only  as 
the  result  of  charms  and  magic.  In  1888  the  mis- 
sioners were  expelled.  In  this  strait  the  French 
priests  made  common  cause  with  the  Protestants. 
When  Mackay  died,  a  papal  missionary  was  hasten- 
ing as  a  Good  Samaritan  to  nurse  him.  The  year 
1889  saw  the  return  of  Christianity,  with  Mwanga 
under  its  control. 

"  If  we  wish  to  behold  how  goodly  and  pleasant  it 


304:  RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

is  for  bretliren  to  dwell  in  unity,  we  may  look  to  the 
Tanganika  shores.  The  Catholic  missioners  were  in 
the  kindest  manner  welcomed  by  Captain  Hore,  the 
retired  naval  officer  in  charge  of  the  mission  of  the 
British  Conp^T-egationalists.  The  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants around  Lake  Tanganika  live  in  friendship. 
One  of  the  French  missioners  wrote :  *  They  (the 
Congregationalists  at  Ujiji)  continue  as  kind  as  ever ; 
the  only  thing  I  could  wish  is  that  these  two  excel- 
lent men  were  Catholics.  ' " 

"  The  death  of  Lavigerie,"  continues  Mr.  Noble, 
"  did  not  cause  his  crusade  to  lapse  into  casual, 
disorganized,  futile  missionism.  The  spirit  of  might- 
iest Caesar  walks  abroad.  The  white  Fathers  are 
better  organized,  better  directed  and  more  influential 
than  when  ardor  and  hardship  w^ere  the  outcome  of 
his  eloquence,  enthusiasm  and  zeal.  New  work  is 
projected.  The  order  pits  its  strength  against 
slavery,  the  trade  being  still  frightful  in  extent  and 
unutterably  ruinous  as  the  generator  of  the  plague 
and  as  the  unpeopler  of  large  districts.  Throughout 
Algeria  and  Tunis,  thanks  chiefly  to  Rome  but  largely, 
too,  to  Protestantism,  the  church  and  college  are  sup- 
planting the  mosque  and  mdrasa.  Sharp  avows  that 
in  French  North  Africa  one  of  the  greatest  works  of 
contemporary  Christianity  is  being  wrought  out  by 
missionaries  of  every  nation  and  denomination." 

Cardinal  Moran  claims  that  the  whole  African 
group  of  missions  numbers  about  six  hundred  thou- 
sand Catholics.  But  in  these  are  included  many 
Abyssinian  proselytes,  whose  hereditary  Christianity 
is  of  a  very  corrupt  character. 


PART  FOUR 

PROGEESS  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

PROGRESS    OF    RELIGIOUS    THOUGHT    IN   GERMANY. 

The  controversies  which  early  arose  in  the  Re- 
formed Churches,  we  have  seen,  greatly  retarded  the 
development  of  missionary  sympathy  and  missionary 
operations.  The  same  causes  in  time  neutralized 
much  of  the  benefit  resulting  from  the  emancipation 
of  men's  minds  from  the  doctrines  of  Romanism  and 
the  freer  circulation  of  the  Word  of  God,  long  im- 
mured within  the  walls  of  cloisters  and  monasteries. 
The  finer  graces  of  the  Christian  character  are  of  such 
delicate  growth  that  they  wither  in  the  stormy  at- 
mosphere of  disputation  and  strife.  But  God  is  not 
revealed  in  the  earthquake  and  the  thunder  as  He  is 
in  the  still  small  voice.  That  voice  was  never  un- 
heard even  in  the  stormiest  days  of  conflict  and  con- 
troversy. The  Jansenists  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  the  so-called  mystics  and  pietists  of  Prot- 
estantism listened  to  the  inner  voice  and  followed 
the  inner  light  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 


306     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

These  prophets  of  a  revived  faith  were  often  men 
of  lowly  station.  One  of  these,  the  "  prince  of  mys- 
tics," Jacob  Boehme,  was  a  shoemaker  of  Gorlitz. 
He  was  born  in  1575  of  humblest  parentage,  but  he 
was  anointed  of  God  as  a  seer  and  sage  of  Christian 
faith  and  hope.  "  If  we  consider  him  merely  as  a 
poet,"  says  Schlegel,  "  and  in  comparison  with  other 
Christian  poets  who  have  attempted  the  same  super- 
natural themes — such  as  Klopstock,  Milton  or  even 
Dante — we  shall  find  that  in  fulness  of  emotion  and 
depth  of  imagination  he  almost  surpasses  them." 

A  contemporary,  John  Arndt,  shared  this  inspira- 
tion and  gave  it  expression  in  his  celebrated  work  on 
True  Christianity.  "  Next,"  says  Bishop  Hurst, 
*'  to  the  Bible  and  a  Kempis'  Imitation  of  Christy  it 
has  been  circulated  more  widely  on  the  continent 
than  any  other  book.  It  was  translated  into  all  the 
European  languages,  and  missionaries  rendered  it 
into  heathen  tongues.  What  Thomas  a  Kempis  was 
to  the  pre-Reformation  age,  Fenelon  to  France,  and 
Jeremy  Taylor  to  England,  John  Arndt  has  been  to 
the  Protestant  countries  of  the  continent  for  the  last 
three  centuries." 

His  son  in  the  gospel,  John  Gerhard,  was  more 
serviceable.  Bishop  Hurst  maintains,  to  the  interests 
of  the  orthodox  Church  than  any  other  theologian  of 
his  time.  His  love  was  boundless,  his  spirit  un- 
ruffled, his  piety  deep  and  lasting.  Nor  were  there 
wanting  other  devout  souls  who  kept  the  lamp  of 
piety  burning    amid   the   gathering  gloom   of  the 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  397 

Thirty  Years'  War.  The  Protestant  churches,  both 
Reformed  and  Calvinist,  suffered  incredible  persecu- 
tion during  that  long  and  sanguinary  conflict. 

Among  the  theologians  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Philip  Jacob  Spener  was  the  purest  and  most  spot- 
less in  character.  "  He  was,"  says  Dorner,  "  the 
veritable  successor  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon." 
Pietism,  of  which  he  is  the  most  striking  type,  went 
back  from  the  cold  faith  of  the  seventeenth  century 
to  the  living  faith  of  the  Reformation.  While  it  has 
points  in  common  with  the  mysticism  of  Boehme  and 
Gerhard,  it  was  aggressive  rather  than  contemplative, 
practical  rather  than  theoretical.  Spener  was,  in 
many  respects,  the  most  remarkable  man  in  his 
century.  For  twenty  years  he  was  pastor  at  Frank- 
fort. Departing  from  the  dry  and  barren  style  of 
the  times  he  preached  with  great  plainness,  simplic- 
ity and  zeal.  He  appointed  meetings  for  the  famil- 
iar explanation  of  the  gospel.  These  were  called 
"  Collegia  Pietatis,"  or  *'  schools  of  devotion,"  from 
which  came  the  name  of  "  Pietists."  Spener  was  a 
man  of  intense  activity,  and  found  time  in  his  busy 
life  to  write  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  volumes, 
seventy  of  them  ponderous  octavos  or  folios. 

The  plain  speech  of  the  pietists  aroused  opposition 
and  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  university  of  Halle, 
"  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  promoting  personal  piety, 
scriptural  knowledge,  and  practical  teaching  through- 
out the  land."  In  its  theological  faculty  was  the 
famous   August   Hermann   Francke,   who   combined 


308     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

in  beautiful  union  a  deep  and  earnest  piety  with  an 
intense  and  active  Christian  benevolence.  He  is 
chiefly  known  by  his  foundation  of  the  Orphan  House 
at  Halle.  The  condition  of  the  poor,  especially  of 
the  orphan  children,  appealed  to  his  fatherly  sym- 
pathy. With  an  endowment  of  four  thalers  and  six- 
teen groschen  he  said  :  "With  this  money  I  will  found 
a  school."  Two  thalers  were  spent  for  the  purchase 
of  twenty-seven  books,  and  a  group  of  children  were 
gathered  in  his  own  house. 

From  this  feeble  germ  has  grown  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  noteworthy  institutions  of  its  kind 
in  Europe.  For  nearly  two  centuries  it  has  furnished 
inspiration  for  many  similar  institutions,  and  especi- 
ally for  the  famous  Miiller  orphan  home,  founded  by 
George  Miiller,  at  Bristol,  England. 

This  pietistic  revival  in  time  gave  way  to  a  ra- 
tionalistic reaction.  The  influence  of  the  French 
and  English  Deists  of  the  eighteenth  century  also 
made  its  influence  felt  in  Germany.  Voltaire,  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  litterateurs  of  France,  became  the 
pensioner  and  literary  valet  of  Frederick  the  Great  of 
Prussia.  That  truculent  sovereign  aspired  to  be  the 
same  monarch  in  religion  and  literature  that  he  was 
in  politics.  "  That  thin-visaged  man,"  says  Hurst, 
"  in  top  boots  and  cocked  hat,  surrounded  by  his  in- 
fidels and  his  dogs  at  Sans  Souci,  dictated  faith  to 
Berlin  and  to  Europe." 

The  literary  despotism  of  Berlin  did  much  to  re- 
inforce and  spread  this  German  rationalism.     Every 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  309 

university  in  the  Fatherland  was  largely  under  its 
power.  Gotthold  Ephraim  Lessing,  playwright  and 
professor,  exerted  a  powerful  literary  influence  on  the 
spread  of  German  rationalism.  Immanuel  Kant,  the 
famous  professor  of  Konigsberg,  exerted  a  profound 
philosophical  sway.  To  a  bleak  northern  city  the 
spell  of  his  genius  drew  students  from  all  parts  of 
Europe.  His  Critique  of  Pure  Reason  still  exerts  its 
spell  over  many  minds.  "The  moral  effect  of  his 
philosophy,"  says  Farrar,  "  was  to  expel  the  French 
materialism  and  illuminism,  and  to  give  depth  to 
the  moral  perceptions;  its  religious  effect  was  to 
strengthen  the  appeal  to  reason  and  the  moral 
judgment  as  the  test  of  religious  truth;  to  render 
miraculous  communication  of  moral  instruction  use- 
less, if  not  absurd;  and  to  reawaken  the  attempt 
which  had  been  laid  aside  since  the  Wolfian  philos- 
ophy of  endeavoring  to  find  a  philosophy  of  re- 
ligion." "After  every  deduction  has  been  made," 
says  Dr  Calderwood,  "which  rigid  criticism  seems 
to  require,  Kant's  name  stands  out  as  the  most 
noted  in  the  roll  of  modern  philosophy." 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  little  town  of 
Weimar  came  to  exercise  an  extraordinary  influence 
on  philosophy  and  literature.  Through  the  genius 
of  Goethe,  Schiller,  Herder  and  Wieland,  it  became 
the  Athens  of  Germany,  the  centre  of  its  intellectual 
life.  Herder,  the  eloquent  preacher,  was  a  man  of 
great  learning,  trained  under  the  hallowed  influence 
of  the   early  Moravian  pietism.     He  had  an  impas- 


310     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

sioned  love  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  especially  of  the 
Hebrew  poetry.  He  interpreted  the  Bible  with  keen 
insight,  and  brought  to  his  biblical  studies  a  devout 
and  sympathetic  soul. 

The  benumbing  effect  of  the  worldly  life  and 
sceptical  spirit  of  Weimar  were,  however,  only  too 
strongly  marked  in  the  later  years  of  Herder's  life. 
The  practical  paganism  of  Schiller  and  Goethe,  the 
greatest  poets  of  the  age,  exerted  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  state  of  religion  in  Germany  and  through- 
out Europe.  "  Like  Kant,  they  stamped  their  own 
impress  upon  theology,  which  at  that  day  was  plastic 
and  weak  beyond  all  conception.  Under  the  Konigs- 
berg  thinker  it  became  a  great  philosophical  system 
as  cold  as  Mont  Blanc.  Then  came  poetry  and 
romance,  which,  though  they  could  give  a  fresh  glow 
to  the  face,  had  no  power  to  breathe  life  into  the  pros- 
trate form." 

The  ancient  hymns  of  the  Fatherland,  that  out- 
burst of  sacred  song  which  accompanied  the  Refor- 
mation, are  among  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  the  faith. 
No  country  is  so  rich  in  these  hymns,  of  which  there 
are  eighty  thousand  in  existence,  many  of  which  are 
found  in  all  the  hymnaries  of  Christendom.  The 
rationalistic  spirit  invaded  this  sacred  realm  and 
revised  and  changed  both  music  and  words  till  they 
lost  their  ancient  power.  "Secular  music,"  says 
Hurst,  **  was  introduced  into  the  sanctuary ;  an 
operatic  overture  generally  welcomed  the  people  into 
church,  and  a  march  or  a    waltz  dismissed  them. 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  311 

Sacred  music  was  no  longer  cultivated  as  an  element 
of  devotion.  The  oratorios  and  cantatas  of  the 
theatre  and  beer-garden  were  the  Sabbath  accompani- 
ments of  the  sermon.  The  masses  consequently 
began  to  sing  less  ;  and  the  period  of  coldest  scepti- 
cism in  Germany,  like  similar  conditions  in  other 
lands,  was  the  season  when  the  congregations,  the 
common  people,  and  the  children  sang  least  and  most 
drowsily." 

*'  The  Church,"  continues  this  able  writer,  '*  now 
presented  a  most  deplorable  aspect.  Philosophy  had 
come,  with  its  high-sounding  terminology,  and  in- 
vaded the  hallowed  precincts  of  scriptural  truth. 
Literature,  with  its  captivating  notes,  had  well-nigh 
destroyed  what  was  left  of  the  old  pietistic  fervor. 
The  songs  of  the  Church  were  no  longer  images  of 
beauty,  but  ghastly,  repulsive  skeletons.  The  pro- 
fessor's chair  was  but  little  better  than  a  heathen 
tripod.  The  pulpit  became  the  rostrum  where  the 
shepherdless  masses  were  entertained  with  vague 
essays  on  such  general  terms  as  righteousness,  human 
dignity,  light,  progress,  truth  and  right.  The  peas- 
antry received  frequent  and  labored  instructions  on 
the  raising  of  cattle,  bees  and  fruit.  The  poets  of 
the  day  were  publicly  recited  in  the  temples  where 
the  Reformers  had  preached.  Wieland,  Herder, 
Schiller  and  Goethe  became  more  familiar  to  the 
popular  congregations  than  Moses,  David,  Paul  or 
even  Christ. 

"  We  shall  see  that  the  scene  of  spiritual  desolation 


312     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

was   repulsive  enough    to   make   every   servant   of 
Christ  wish,  with  Wordsworth, — 

'"I'd  rather  be 
A  pagan,  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn  ; 
So  might  I  standing  on  this  pleasant  lea, 
Have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn — 
Have  sight  of  Proteus  rising  from  the  sea, 
Or  hear  old  Triton  blow  his  w^reathed  horn  ! '  " 

The  period  of  Germany's  deepest  darkness  and 
depression  was  cheered  with  foregleams  of  the  dawn. 
The  conquering  armies  of  Napoleon  had  trampled 
under  foot  her  ancient  liberties,  but  the  fall  of  the 
despot  of  Europe  awakened  new  life.  The  cold 
negations  of  rationalism  failed  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  human  soul.  Only  the  vital  truths  of  evangelical 
religion  could  appease  its  immortal  hunger  and 
thirst.  The  Moses  of  this  new  exodus  from  the 
bondage  of  a  spiritual  Egypt  was  Friedrich  Schleier- 
macher.  Trained  under  Moravian  influence,  he 
strove  against  a  natural  scepticism,  which  he  de- 
scribes as  the  thorn  in  his  flesh,  and  reached  the  rest 
of  faith.  A  devout  life  led  the  way  to  evangelical 
preaching.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  first 
professors  of  the  new  University  of  Berlin,  1810,  and 
gathered  around  him  the  most  intellectual  classes  in 
the  community.  *'  As  a  theologian,"  says  Dr.  SchafP, 
"  he  ranks  among  the  greatest  of  all  ages." 

The  three-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Refor- 
mation, October  31,  1817,  was  commemorated  by 
the  formal  union  in  Prussia  of  the  Calvinistic  and 
Lutheran  branches  of  the  Reformed  Church.     The 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  31 3 

distinctive  names  were  stricken  from  official  docu- 
ments, and  the  united  bod}^  was  thenceforth  known 
as  the  Evangelical  Church. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  disciples  of  Schlei- 
ermacher  was  John  Augustus  Neander.  He  is  one 
of  the  purest  characters,  one  of  the  most  learned 
scholars,  and  greatest  historian  of  the  Christian 
Church.  His  father  was  a  Jewish  peddler.  Under 
the  teaching  of  Schleiermacher  he  became  a  Christian 
in  his  seventeenth  year.  As  professor  at  Heidelberg 
and  Berlin  he  soon  attracted  a  more  numerous  audi- 
ence than  his  father  in  the  gospel.  His  great  work 
was  his  history  of  the  Christian  religion  and  Church. 
He  maintains  its  supernatural  origin,  its  divine 
strength,  its  spiritual  power. 

In  the  year  1835  appeared  a  book  which  produced 
an  intense  rationalistic  reaction,  the  famous  Life  of 
Jesus,  by  David  Friedrich  Strauss.  It  was  a  cold,  pas- 
sionless and  pungent  piece  of  sceptical  mechanism, 
published  when  its  author  was  but  twenty-eight  years 
old.  "  It  was,"  says  Hurst,  "  to  the  moral  sentiment 
of  Christendom,  the  earthquake  shock  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Having  been  multiplied  in  cheap 
editions,  it  was  read  by  students  in  every  university 
and  gymnasium,  by  passengers  on  the  Rhine  boats 
and  in  the  mountain  stages.  Even  school  children, 
imitating  the  example  of  their  seniors,  spent  their 
leisure  hours  in  its  perusal.  The  most  obscure  pro- 
vincial papers  contained  copious  extracts  from  it,  and 
vied  with  each  other  in  defending  or  opposing  its 


314     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

positions.  Crossing  the  German  frontier,  it  was 
published  in  complete  and  abridged  forms  in  all 
the  principal  languages  of  Europe.  Even  staid 
Scotland,  unable  to  escape  the  contagion,  issued  a 
popular  edition  of  the  exciting  work. 

"  According  to  Strauss,"  continues  Bishop  Hurst, 
"the  explanation  of  the  mysterious  accounts  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  can  be  found  in  the  theory  of  the 
myth.  He  held  that  the  Holy  Land  was  full  of 
notions  concerning  Christ's  speedy  appearance.  The 
people  were  waiting  for  Him,  and  were  ready  to  hail 
His  incarnation  with  rapture.  Their  opinions  con- 
cerning Him  were  already  formed,  owing  to  the  ex- 
pectations they  had  inherited  from  their  fathers. 
There  was  much  in  both  the  character  and  life  of 
Christ  which  approached  their  crude  notions  of  the 
promised  one.  The  world  was  already  prepared,  and 
since  Christ  best  fitted  it,  He  was  entitled  to  all  the 
honor  of  being  waited  for  and  accepted.  Thus 
Christ  did  not  organize  the  Church  as  much  as  the 
Church  created  Him." 

Strauss'  attack  on  the  very  heart  of  Christianity 
led  to  profounder  studies  of  the  foundations  of  the 
faith,  and  called  forth  a  whole  library  of  replies. 
Hengstenberg,  Tholuck,  Neander,  Ullmann,  Dorner 
and  many  other  writers,  defended  with  great  learn- 
ing, cogency  and  power  the  fortress  of  the  Christian 
faith.  Twenty-nine  years  after  his  first  attack  upon 
the  bulwarks  of  Christianity,  Strauss  wrote  a  second 
Life  of  Jesus  to  reassert  and  defend  his  mythical 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  315 

theory.  This  book,  however,  met  with  a  cold  recep- 
tion. The  tide  had  turned,  and  was  flowing  strongly 
in  the  direction  of  the  evangelical  doctrines  of 
Christianity. 

Another  attack  on  the  authenticity  of  the  New 
Testament  Scripture  was  that  of  Ferdinand  Christian 
Baur  and  the  Tiibingen  School.  This  school  assailed 
particularly  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  sought  to 
maintain  that  "  Judaism  was  the  cradle  of  Christ- 
ianity, and  the  latter  was  only  an  earnest,  restless 
and  reformatory  branch  of  the  former."  The  struggle 
for  supremacy  between  the  Pauline  and  Petrine  party 
is  imagined  to  be  followed  by  a  truce  and  final  union 
under  one  banner.  This  theory  was  as  effectually 
answered  as  that  of  Strauss  by  such  great  writers  as 
Dorner,  Lange,  Schaff  and  Bunsen.  "  Their  united 
labors,"  says  Hurst,  "constitute  a  compendium  of 
arguments  which  will  not  cease  for  centuries  to  be 
of  inestimable  value  in  the  controversies  of  the 
Church  concerning  Christ  and  the  divine  origin  of 
Christianity."  "No  sceptic,"  continues  Bishop 
Hurst,  "  should  forget  that  the  real  philosophy  of 
history  is  the  march  of  Providence  through  the 
ages.  But  the  infidel  is  the  worst  reader  of  history. 
The  light  shines,  but  he  turns  away  from  it.  Or,  as 
Coleridge  expresses  it: 

*  The  owlet  Atheism, 
Sailing  on  obscure  wings  across  the  noon, 
Drops  his  blue-fringed  lips  and  shuts  them  close  ; 
And,  hooting  at  the  glorious  sun  in  heaven, 
Cries  out,  "  Where  is  it  ?  "■' 
V 


316     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

On  the  ruins  of  this  sceptical  school  has  risen  in 
Germany  the  goodly  structure  of  evangelical  ortho- 
doxy. Among  the  master-builders  of  this  temple  of 
truth  are  the  great  names  of  UUmann,  Dorner,  Tho- 
luck,  Lange,  Rothe,  Nitzsch,  Hengstenberg  and  many 
other  valiant  defenders  of  the  faith.  The  saintly 
lives,  the  moral  earnestness,  the  wide  learning  of 
these  great  writers  have  created  a  noble  exegetic  and 
apologetic  literature  of  both  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  Christian  Church. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  significant  results 
of  the  evangelical  revival  in  Germany  is  the  many 
noble  philanthropies  of  the  Outer  and  Inner  Mission 
which  adorn  and  glorify  the  history  of  that  country. 
Conspicuous  as  organizers  of  these  forms  of  practical 
Christianity  are  the  ever  memorable  names  of  John 
Falk,  Immanuel  Wichern,  John  Gosner,  Louis  Harms, 
Theodore  Fliedner,  and  many  others.  The  wars  of 
Napoleon  were  sweeping  the  continent  as  with  a 
besom  of  destruction.  Upon  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Weimar,  with  its  population  of  only  one  hundred 
thousand,  were  quartered  for  five  months  nine  hun- 
dred thousand  of  the  enemy's  soldiers  and  five  hun- 
dred thousand  horses.  "  The  air  was  rent  with  the 
cries  of  orphans  and  poverty-stricken  widows." 

Goethe  and  the  literati  at  the  summit  of  Parnassus 
were  indifferent  to  these  cries  of  distress.  But  the 
sympathetic  soul  of  Falk  was  deeply  touched.  He 
remembered  the  words  of  the  burgomasters  of  Dant- 
zic,  which  had  sent  him  to  the  university  at  the  ex- 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  317 

pense  of  the  town :  "  One  thing  only,  if  a  poor  child 
should  ever  knock  at  your  door,  think  it  is  we,  the 
dead,  the  old,  gray-headed  burgomasters  and  coun- 
cillors of  Dantzic,  and  do  not  turn  us  away." 

At  last  the  poor  child  was  at  his  door.  Falk's 
father  heart,  which  had  been  sore  bereft,  said  to  the 
orphans,  "  Come  in,  God  has  taken  my  four  angels, 
and  spared  me  that  I  might  be  your  father."  His  rule 
was  one  of  love.  These  outcast  and  often  wicked 
lads  he  treated  as  his  own  children.  He  would  have 
no  locks  on  the  doors  nor  harsh  rules  in  his  home. 
"  We  forge  all  our  chains  on  the  heart,"  he  said, 
"  and  scorn  those  that  are  laid  on  the  body ;  for  it  is 
written  '  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed.' "  He  taught  more  by  example  and  par- 
able than  by  precept.  "  When  one  of  the  boys,  on 
a  certain  evening,  had  invoked  this  divine  blessing 
on  their  supper,  '  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  be  our  guest, 
and  bless  what  thou  hast  provided,'  another  boy  looked 
up  and  asked, 

" '  Do  tell  me  why  the  Lord  Jesus  never  comes  ? 
We  ask  Him  ever  day  to  sit  with  us,  and  He  never 
comes.' 

"  '  Dear  child,'  replied  Father  Falk,  '  only  believe 
and  you  may  be  sure  He  will  come,  for  He  does  not 
despise  our  invitation.' 

"  '  I  shall  set  him  a  seat,'  said  the  boy ;  and,  just 
then,  a  knock  being  heard  at  the  door,  a  poor  appren- 
tice came  for  admission.  He  was  received,  and  in- 
vited to  take  the  vacant  chair  at  the  table. 


318     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

" '  Then,'  said  the  inquiring  boy  again,  '  Jesus 
could  not  come,  and  so  He  sent  this  poor  man  in  His 
place  ;  is  that  it  ?  ' 

'* '  Yes,  dear  child,  that  is  just  it.  Every  piece  of 
bread  and  every  drink  of  water  that  we  give  to  the 
poor,  or  the  sick,  or  the  prisoners,  for  Jesus'  sake, 
we  give  to  Him.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  Me.' " 

Falk  sent  forth  many  hundreds  of  boys  from  his 
reformatory,  saved  from  a  life  of  poverty  and  vice  to 
become  useful  members  of  society.  He  almost  abol- 
ished beggary  throughout  the  Grand  Duchy.  He 
wrote  hundreds  of  hymns,  which  are  still  sung 
throughout  the  Fatherland.  After  a  life  of  singular 
devotion  and  a  death  of  Christian  triumph  he  was 
borne  to  the  grave  by  the  children  to  whom  he  had 
been  such  a  loving,  faithful  father.  The  following 
epitaph,  written  by  his  own  hand,  describes  better 
than  a  volume  the  Christly  spirit  of  the  man : 


Underneath  this  linden  tree 
Lies  John  Falk  ;  a  sinner  he, 
Saved  by  Christ's  blood  and  mercy. 

Born  upon  the  East  Sea  strand, 
Yet  he  left  home,  friends,  and  land, 
Led  to  Weimar  by  God's  hand. 

When  the  little  children  round 
Stand  beside  this  grassy  mound, 
Asking,  Who  lies  underground  ? 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  319 

Heavenly  Father,  let  them  say, 
Thou  hast  taken  him  away  ; 
In  the  grave  is  only  clay. 

A  man  of  similar  spirit  was  Immanuel  Wichern, 
founder  of  the  Rough  House,  near  Hamburg.  The 
revolutions  in  almost  all  the  countries  of  Europe  of 
1848  caused  great  social  disaster  and  distress.  The 
people  were  already  exhausted  by  famine  and  fever. 
"  Whole  villages  were  depopulated,  not  enough  in- 
habitants being  left  alive  to  bury  the  dead."  Wich- 
ern had  years  before  this  opened  his  Rough  House, 
an  old  thatched  cottage  for  abandoned  boys. 

From  this  small  beginning,  as  from  that  of  Falk 
and  Fliedner,  grew  grand  results.  The  Rough  House 
became  a  great  institution,  with  many  buildings  and 
hundreds  of  inmates.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  famous  Inner  Mission  of  Germany,  whose  pur- 
pose is  thus  described  in  the  words  of  Wichern : 
"  The  propagation  of  pure  evangelical  faith  and  the 
relief  of  physical  suffering.  It  aims  at  a  relief  of  all 
kinds  of  spiritual  and  temporal  misery  by  works  of 
faith  and  charity  ;  at  a  revival  of  nominal  Christen- 
dom and  a  general  reform  of  society  on  the  basis  of 
the  gospel  and  the  creed  of  the  Reformation.  It  is 
Christian  philanthropy  and  charity  applied  to  the 
various  deep-rooted  evils  of  society,  as  they  were 
brought  to  light  so  fearfully  in  Germany  by  the  rev- 
olutionary outbreaks  of  1848.  It  comprises  the  care 
of  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  captive  and  prisoner,  the 
laboring  classes,  the  travelling  journeyman,  the  emi- 


S20     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

grants,  the  temperance  movement,  the  efforts  for  the 
promotion  of  a  better  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day, 
and  similar  reforms  so  greatly  needed  in  the  churches 
of  Europe." 

As  early  as  1856  there  were  two  hundred  and  sixty 
of  the  Rough  House  reformatories  established,  and 
new  ones  were  coming  into  existence  rapidly  through- 
out Europe.  They  have  had  a  most  successful  rec- 
ord in  transforming  the  human  waifs,  the  flotsam  and 
jetsam  of  society,  into  useful  members  of  the  com- 
monweal. Some  have  become  clergymen,  students 
of  law  or  theology,  teachers,  officers  in  the  army, 
merchants,  gardeners,  artisans  and  artists,  colonists 
in  America  and  Australia. 

The  political  revolution  of  1848  seriously  menaced 
the  religious  as  well  as  social  condition  of  the  German 
people.  The  forces  of  socialism  and  revolt  menaced 
the  very  pillars  of  the  commonweal.  The  evangelical 
pastors  of  Germany  felt  the  need  of  organizing  to 
promote  "denominational  unity,  to  be  a  mutual 
defence  against  rationalism  and  indifference,  to 
advance  social  reforms,  protect  the  rights  of  the 
Church  against  the  encroachments  of  civil  authority, 
and  secure  a  more  intimate  fellowship  with  evan- 
gelical bodies  outside  of  Germany." 

The  first  assembly  of  the  Evangelical  Church  diet 
was  held  at  Wittenberg  in  the  very  edifice  on  whose 
door  Luther,  three  hundred  years  before,  had  nailed 
his  immortal  ninety-five  theses,  the  charter  of  the 
German  Reformation.     Five  hundred  of  the  leading 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  321 

evangelical  pastors  and  laymen  sang  together 
Luther's  battle  hymn:  Eine  feste  Burg  ist  unser 
G-ott. 

Already  revolutionary  riots  and  bloodshed  had 
taken  place  in  Frankfort  and  other  German  cities. 
"  Barricades  had  been  reared  in  the  streets  of  the 
larger  towns.  The  universities  were  pouring  forth 
their  hundreds  of  students  and  professors  to  take 
part  in  the  conflict.  The  revolutionary  crowds  were 
choosing  their  leaders ;  the  royalist  forces  were  every- 
where fortifying ;  princes  were  concealing  their 
plate  and  strengthening  their  hiding-places.  This 
was  the  social  and  political  scene  while  the  five 
hundred  pastors  were  praying,  singing,  counselling, 
and  comforting  each  other  over  the  sleeping  dust  of 
Luther  and  Melanchthon.  That  assembly  contributed 
more  than  all  other  human  agencies  to  save  the 
German  states  from  utter  political  and  social  ruin, 
and  the  German  Church  from  a  longer  night  and  a 
fiercer  storm  than  any  through  which  it  had  passed." 

"  The  church  diet,"  continues  Bishop  Hurst,  "  has 
steadily  enlarged  its  sphere  of  operation  and  gathered 
strength  and  influence.  Besides  attracting  great 
throngs  of  spectators  from  the  surrounding  states, 
its  members  have  attained  to  the  number  of  two 
thousand  on  more  than  one  occasion."  It  has  been 
eminently  practical  in  its  methods  and  has  devoted 
much  time  and  thought  and  effort  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Inner  Mission,  which  is  one  of  the  glories 
of  German  Protestantism. 


322     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  Outer  or  Foreign 
Mission  work  of  the  German  churches  received  a 
great  impulse  under  this  evangelical  revival. 

A  typical  example  of  the  great  result  from  small 
beginnings  is  the  work  of  John  Gosner.  In  his 
fifty-sixth  year  he  was  a  devout  Roman  Catholic 
priest,  but  his  evangelical  earnestness  outgrew  the 
swaddling  bands  of  the  Church  in  which  he  was 
trained.  He  was  in  intense  sympathy  with  missions. 
Some  young  men,  inspired  by  missionary  zeal,  who 
had  been  rejected  by  the  seminary  as  unfit  for  ser- 
vice, came  to  him  for  counsel.  Gosner  began  to 
instruct  them,  and  soon  their  numbers  grew  till  he 
was  the  centre  of  an  aggressive  missionary  institute. 

"  Though  he  was  then,"  says  Bishop  Hurst,  **  at 
that  time  of  life  when  most  men  think  of  bringing 
their  labors  to  a  close,  he  laid  his  plans  as  if  he  were 
exempt  from  death  for  centuries.  He  founded  his 
first  mission  when  sixty-five  years  of  age.  In  1838 
he  sent  out  eleven  missionaries  to  Australia.  The 
following  year  some  were  despatched  to  India ;  since 
which  time  this  zealous  servant  of  God  has  established 
missions  among  the  Germans  in  the  American  West- 
ern States  ;  on  the  islands  of  the  southern  seas ;  in 
central  India  ;  on  Chatham  Island  near  New  Zealand ; 
among  the  wild  Khols  in  Chota  Nagpore;  on  the 
Gold  Coast ;  and  in  Java,  Macassar  and  New  Guinea. 
He  employed  no  agencies ;  was  his  own  corresponding 
secretary;  superintended  the  instruction  of  all  his 
missionaries ;  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  as 
full  of  youthful  feeling  and  perseverance  as  when  a 
student  at  Augsburg. 

"  The  instructions  he  gave   to  his   missionaries 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  GERMANY.  323 

declare  the  sources  of  his  own  success.  *  Believe,* 
said  he,  'hope,  love,  pray,  burn,  waken  the  dead; 
hold  fast  by  prayer.  Wrestle  like  Jacob ;  up,  up, 
my  brethren ;  the  Lord  is  coming,  and  to  every  one 
He  will  say,  "  Where  hast  thou  left  the  souls  of  these 
heathen?  With  the  Devil?"  Oh,  swiftly  seek 
these  souls,  and  enter  not  without  them  into  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.'  Gosner's  beautiful  motto, 
found  in  his  diary,  was,  '  Pereat  Adam ;  vivat 
Jesus!'" 

The  evangelical  revival  in  Germany  was  marked 
also  by  the  organization  in  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Frank- 
fort and  many  other  cities,  of  societies  for  the  distri- 
bution of  Bibles,  tracts  and  other  religious  literature. 

The  Gustavus  Adolphus  Union,  named  from  the 
Swedish  champion  of  Protestant  faith,  is  another  of 
those  evangelical  societies  which  are  the  glory  of 
Germany.  Its  special  function  is  aiding  the  dispersed 
Protestants  who  are  living  in  poverty  and  often  per- 
secution throughout  Roman  Catholic  countries.  It 
has  helped  in  a  single  year  nearly  six  hundred  churches 
in  Austria,  Hungary,  Poland  and  other  European 
countries.  The  present  outlook  of  evangelical  relig- 
ion in  Germany  and  other  continental  countries  is 
full  of  encouragement  and  hope. 


32i     BELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

PROGRESS  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE. 

In  no  country  has  the  Christian  Church,  both  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant,  exhibited  greater  heroism,  or  been 
marked  by  more  of  the  fervent  faith  of  the  primitive 
ages  than  in  France.  The  unhappy  persecutions  of 
the  Protestant  Church  were  more  political  than  re- 
ligious, and  the  old  Gallican  Catholic  Church,  for  the 
most  part  loyal  to  the  liberties  of  France,  was  itself 
strongly  antagonized  by  the  Jesuits  and  Ultramon- 
tanes,  and  bitterly  oppressed  by  the  infidelity  and 
atheism  of  France's  many  revolutions. 

The  story  of  "the  Church  in  the  Desert,"  God's 
persecuted  flock  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Cevennes, 
is  one  which  still  stirs  our  pulses  like  a  trump  of 
battle.  The  heroism  of  the  great  Admiral  Coligny 
and  the  faithful  Huguenots  gild  with  immortal  light 
the  dark  page  of  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 
The  expulsion  of  the  best  blood  and  brain  and  brawn 
of  France  on  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
enriched  the  Protestant  countries  of  Europe, — 
England,  Prussia,  Holland,  Switzerland  and  even  the 
British  colonies  beyond  the  sea.     Many  of  the  in- 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE.  325 

dustrial,  political,  literary  and  social  leaders  of  these 
nations  were  of  Huguenot  ancestry,  and  were  inspired 
with  the  brave  and  godly  Huguenot  spirit. 

That  exile  from  their  native  land  of  the  Huguenot 
pastors  and  people,  while  it  enriched  the  lands  to 
which  they  went,  impoverished  the  lands  from  which 
they  fled.  At  the  time  of  the  revocation  in  1685 
the  Reformed  Church  had  eight  hundred  edifices 
and  six  hundred  and  forty  pastors.  When,  in  the 
year  1808,  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  Protes- 
tantism were  recognized,  that  number  had  decreased 
to  one  hundred  and  ninet}^  churches  and  as  many 
pastors.  Many  of  these  had  shared  the  philosophical 
deism  made  popular  by  the  French  encyclopaedists. 
The  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  the 
Reign  of  Terror  overthrew  altar  as  well  as  throne  in 
the  dust.  The  bells  of  the  churches  were  melted 
into  cannon,  the  lead  of  their  roofs  moulded  into 
bullets,  the  vessels  on  their  altars  minted  into  coin. 
Their  holy  teachings  were  corrupted  and  debased, 
with,  thank  God !  not  a  few  notable  examples  of 
fidelity  unto  death  of  both  Catholic  priest  and  Prot- 
estant pastor. 

It  is  a  notewortliy  fact  that  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  potent  influences  in  reviving  evangelical  faith 
in  France  was  a  Methodist  mission  begun  by  the 
Wesleyans  in  the  Channel  Islands  in  1785,  after- 
wards extended  to  the  mainland.  After  the  fall  of 
Napoleon  this  mission  rapidly  grew,  the  Rev.  Charles 
Cook,  **  stirring  up  the  sluggish  conscience  of  French 


326     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Protestantism  **  as  he  travelled  for  forty  years  from 
town  to  town.  Of  him  Merle  d'Aubign^  has  said, 
"  The  work  which  John  Wesley  did  in  Great  Britain 
Charles  Cook  has  done,  though  on  a  smaller  scale, 
on  the  continent." 

In  the  national  Protestant  Church  arose  men 
filled  with  evangelical  zeal.  Prominent  among 
these  is  Adolphe  Monod,  who  by  his  Sunday  schools 
and  other  evangelical  agencies  sowed  wide  the  seed 
of  eternal  life  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  "  Never 
will  the  traces  of  his  labors  be  effaced,"  says  M.  de 
Pressens^,  "  for  he  it  is  to  whom  we  owe  the  first 
furrows  in  the  vast  field  which  now  we  rejoice  to  see 
white  unto  the  harvest." 

Among  the  greatest  foes  to  orthodoxy  in  France 
Bishop  Hurst  considers  the  critical  school  of  theol- 
ogy represented  by  such  men  as  Scherer,  Pecaut, 
Coquerel  and  Renan.  The  wide  learning,  the 
opulent  style,  the  vivid  imagination  of  Renan  made 
him  the  most  popular  and  dangerous  exponent  of 
sceptical  thought.  His  Life  of  Jesus  rivalled  in 
popularity  that  of  Friedrich  Strauss.  It  was  trans- 
lated into  all  the  European  tongues,  and  had  wide  cir- 
culation in  all  lands.  In  Renan's  view  the  Prophet 
of  Nazareth  was  a  poetic  visionary  saturated  with 
the  ancient  Scriptures,  who  "  lived  in  a  dream  life, 
and  his  idealism  elevated  him  above  all  other  agita- 
tors." "  The  love  of  His  disciples  created  him  into 
a  divinity,  clothed  Him  with  wonderful  powers,  hence 
Christianity  arose.     It  was  love  like  that  of  Mary 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE.  327 

Magdalene,  'a  hallucinated  woman,  whose  passion 
gave  to  the  world  a  resurrected  God.'  " 

As  in  the  case  of  Strauss,  Kenan's  attack  upon 
Christianity  called  forth  a  multitude  of  able  replies. 
Thus  the  very  assaults  on  the  bulwarks  of  the  faith 
have  caused  their  triumphant  defence.  The  late  M. 
de  Pressens^,  the  ablest  of  Kenan's  critics,  has  said 
of  his  attack  :  "  I  am  persuaded  that  the  results  ac- 
complished by  it  will  be,  in  the  main,  good  ;  that  it 
will  not  shake  the  faith  of  any  true  believer  ;  that  it 
will  produce,  with  many  of  those  who  were  wavering, 
a  good  reaction,  which  will  bring  them  back  to  a 
positive  faith;  and  that  the  common  sense  of  the 
people  will  not  fail  to  see  that  it  is  not  thus  that 
history  is  written,  and  that  the  problem  of  the  origin 
of  Christianity  still  remains  unexplained  in  its  gran- 
deur." 

Pressens^  stood  in  the  very  forefront  of  the  leaders 
of  revived  Protestant  orthodoxy  in  France,  a  man  of 
wide  learning,  of  intensely  evangelical  spirit  and 
using  the  French  language,  which  has  much  of  the 
salt  of  Attic  speech,  with  rare  perspicuity  and  pic- 
turesque eloquence.  His  many  books,  whether  in 
the  original  or  in  translations,  form  a  noble  body  of 
Christian  apologetics.  We  know  no  work  which  treats 
its  august  subject  with  such  vividness  and  impas- 
sioned eloquence  as  his  volumes  on  the  history  of 
Christianity. 

Another  distinguished  defender  of  the  faith  was, 
not   a   philosophical    divine,   but    the    distinguished 


328     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

scholar  and  statesman,  M.  Guizot.  His  History  of 
Civilization^  and  especially  his  Meditations  upon  the 
Christian  Religion,  were  a  potent  anti-toxin  to  the 
virus  of  French  infidelity. 

Among  the  Protestant  divines  the  names  of  Monod, 
Vinet,  Pressens^  and  many  others  maintain  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  noblest  days  of  the  French  Protestant 
Church.  In  the  metropolis  of  fashion  and  pleasure, 
and  in  many  provincial  cities  and  towns,  are  many 
hundreds  of  well  equipped  Protestant  churches  with 
faithful  pastors,  effective  week-day  and  Sunday 
schools,  and  over  a  million  members.  There  are 
also  active  and  aggressive  philanthropies  and  char- 
ities, propaganda  of  the  truth,  as  the  French  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  Protestant  Bible  and 
Tract  Society,  the  Paris  Missionary  Society  and 
others  of  similar  character. 

As  is  ever  the  case,  a  revived  orthodoxy  kindles 
the  sacred  flames  of  charity.  Many  noble  philan- 
thropies are  sustained  by  Protestant  zeal,  as  orphan 
homes,  schools,  asylums  for  the  sick,  the  infirm,  the 
destitute  and  the  fallen.  A  vigorous  press  sends 
forth  on  the  wings  of  all  the  winds  the  vital  truths 
of  the  Christian  faith. 

Two  of  the  most  successful  agents  in  disseminat- 
ing the  seed  of  divine  truth  in  the  white  fields  of 
France  are  the  McAU  Mission  and  the  Salvation 
Army.  "  The  romantic  history  of  the  work  of 
Robert  Whitaker  McAll  in  behalf  of  the  people  of 
France  and  especially  of  the  workingmen  of  Paris," 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE.  329 

says  the  Rev.  Theo.  J.  Parr,  B.A.,  "  is  replete  with 
interest  and  instruction  for  those  who  care  to  trace 
human  effort  and  divine  providence  in  the  better- 
ment of  the  condition  of  men." 

Mr.  McAll  was  a  man  of  Scottish  descent,  though 
of  English  birth.  He  was  educated  to  the  profes- 
sion of  an  architect,  and  developed  great  talent  and 
rare  artistic  skill  in  church  building.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  was  called  of  God  to  the  building,  not 
of  the  material  fabric  of  the  Church,  but  to  the  edi- 
fying of  God's  spiritual  temple  and  the  building  into 
its  goodly  structure  of  the  "  living  stones  "  of  which 
that  indestructible  edifice  consists.  He  became  the 
successful  pastor  of  a  Congregational  church  in  Lan- 
cashire. 

At  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  Mr.  Mc- 
All made  a  vacation  visit  to  Paris.  Before  leaving 
for  home  he  went  into  a  caf^  in  the  Belleville  dis- 
trict, and,  as  his  manner  was,  began  to  distribute 
religious  tracts  to  all  who  would  accept  them.  A 
working-man  in  his  blue  blouse  grasped  his  hand, 
and  said : — 

"Sir,  are  you  not  a  Christian  minister?  You  are, 
at  this  moment,  in  the  midst  of  a  district  inhabited 
by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  us  working- 
men.  To  a  man,  we  have  done  with  an  imposed 
religion,  a  religion  of  superstition  and  oppression. 
But  if  any  one  would  come  to  teach  us  religion  of 
another  kind — a  religion  of  freedom  and  earnestness 
— many  of  us  are  ready  to  listen." 

These  words  followed  the  pastor  on  his  homeward 


330     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

journey.  They  were  a  call  of  God  to  his  soul.  In 
three  months  he  had  given  up  his  church,  and  be- 
came an  evangelist  to  the  people  of  Paris.  "  This 
was  a  romance  of  middle  life,"  says  Mr.  Parr,  "  for 
he  was  just  completing  his  fiftieth  year,  and  stepped 
into  the  new  field  with  the  quiet  wisdom  of  age, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  full  of  the  sweet  and  buoy- 
ant enthusiasm  of  youth.  The  supposed  '  dead  line 
of  fifty '  to  this  man  of  hope  and  courage  and  love 
and  spiritual  ideals,  was  the  threshold  of  his  real 
life,  and  the  portal  to  unfading  renown.  With  his 
zealous  and  devoted  partner,  Mrs.  McAll,  who  was 
gladly  willing  to  co-operate  with  him,  he  took  up 
his  abode  in  Belleville,  a  suburb  or  faubourg  of  the 
city  of  Paris,  containing  a  population  of  about  a 
hundred  thousand  people.  This  quarter  of  the 
metropolis  is  inhabited  by  the  poorest  classes, 
and  is  famous  for  its  poverty,  wretchedness  and 
crime." 

Belleville  was  the  very  hot-bed  of  sedition,  turbu- 
lence and  riot.  It  was  the  last  stronghold  of  the 
Commune,  where  its  fiercest  fighting  and  its  most 
glaring  crimes  were  committed.  Yet  in  1871  to 
this  region  came  this  man  of  God  in  the  declining 
years  of  life,  with  a  very  meagre  knowledge  of  the 
French  language,  to  preach  to  these  turbulent  spirits 
the  gospel  of  God's  grace.  He  hired  a  hall,  invited 
a  number  of  these  social  outcasts,  and  began  to  sing 
in  his  deep  rich  voice,  to  which  his  English  accent 
lent  a  piquant  charm,  the  gospel  hymns  which  soon 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  FRANCE.  331 

found  their  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  working-men 
and  women  of  the  faubourg. 

The  gay  and  pleasure-loving  city  of  Paris  would 
seem  to  be  the  last  place  in  the  world  which  offered 
inducements  to  establish  an  evangelical  mission. 
The  least  promising  part  of  Paris  was  the  heights  of 
Belleville.  But  the  needs  of  the  human  soul  are  the 
same  in  every  land,  and  are,  perhaps,  more  keenly 
felt  amid  the  squalor  and  wretchedness  and  sin  of 
the  Parisian  faubourg  than  anywhere  else.  The 
stirring  gospel  hymns  became  the  Marseillaise  of  a 
new  revolution — of  a  revolt  from  the  tyranny  of  sin. 

The  services,  like  the  people,  were  exceedingly 
unconventional.  Didactic  discourse  or  worship 
like  that  of  a  church  would  be  unsuitable  to  the  sur- 
roundings. They  were  properly  called  *'  confer- 
ences," and  consisted  of  Bible  readings,  brief  ex- 
hortations, plenty  of  singing,  with  freedom  of 
response,  and,  as  occasion  offered,  exchange  of 
thought.  The  impulsive  French  nature  warmly 
responded  to  the  Christian  love  and  sympathy  thus 
manifested.  Year  after  year  the  work  grandly 
grew.  For  twenty-one  years  Dr.  McAll  continued  to 
administer  the  grand  evangelism  which  he  had  begun. 
In  the  last  year  of  his  life — he  died  in  1893 — there 
were  held  over  thirteen  thousand  meetings,  with  an 
aggregate  attendance  of  over  eight  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  persons. 

This   evanorelistic   work   soon    spread   to   Lyons, 

Marseilles,  Havre,  Caen,  even  to  Corsica,  Algiers 

w 


332     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  Tunis.  A  map  of  its  missions  is  necessarily  a 
map  of  all  France.  Before  his  death  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  halls  had  been  opened,  where  night 
after  night  the  gospel  was  proclaimed  to  many 
thousands  of  persons.  An  interesting  means  of 
working  has  been  the  mission  boat,  "  Le  bon  Mes- 
sager,"  which,  fitted  up  as  a  comfortable  church, 
has  traversed  most  of  the  navigable  rivers  and  canals 
of  France. 

God  has  in  His  providence  raised  up  noble  helpers 
to  carry  on  this  good  work.  Miss  Elizabeth  R.  Beach, 
an  American  lady  studying  in  France,  the  daughter 
of  a  New  England  clergjaiian,  declined  a  professorship 
in  Smith  College  to  share  the  work  of  the  McAll 
mission.  On  her  return  voyage  to  Paris  she  was 
lost  through  the  wreck  of  the  vessel  in  which  she 
sailed.  But  her  inspiration  led  to  the  inauguration 
of  McAll  mission  auxiliaries  in  many  parts  of  her 
native  land  and  of  Canada,  and  many  devoted  agents 
are  carrying  on  this  great  and  noble  work. 

In  a  somewhat  similar  manner  the  Salvation  Army 
began  in  the  great  metropolis  of  fashion  and  pleasure 
its  work,  which  has  been  prosecuted  with  great  success 
by  the  Mar^chele  Booth-Clibbern. 


THOUGHT  IN  HOLLAND  AND  SWITZERLAND.    333 


CHAPTER  XL. 

PROGEESS    OF    RELIGIOUS    THOUGHT    IN   HOLLAND 
AND   SWITZERLAND. 

No  more  heroic  tale  is  recorded  in  history  than  that 
of  the  Dutch  Republic.  The  sturdy  little  nation 
owes  its  existence  and  independence  to  the  Prot- 
estant Reformation.  It  had  to  fight  for  its  very  life 
against  the  colossal  power  of  Philip  II.,  with  his 
merciless  minions,  the  cold-blooded  Alva  and  Vargas. 
It  experienced  the  full  brunt  of  the  Spanish  fury. 
It  gave  up  its  fairest  fields  to  the  dominion  of  the  sea, 
rather  than  see  them  in  the  possession  of  the  Spaniard. 
Its  women  and  children  starved  with  a  heroism  more 
brave  than  that  which  animated  the  soldier  in  the 
imminent  deadly  breach.  In  the  old  prison-museum 
in  Antwerp  may  still  be  seen  the  dungeons  and  in- 
struments of  torture  of  the  Inquisition.  The  martyr 
memories  of  Egmont  and  Horn,  of  the  venerable  John 
Barneveldt,  of  the  immortal  William  the  Silent  are 
an  inspiration  to  the  end  of  time. 

In  Holland  as  elsewhere  the  conflicts  and  con- 
troversies of  the  Reformation  prepared  the  way  for 
the  barren  polemics  which  are  fatal  to  evangelical 
religion.     The  controversy  between   the  Arminians 


334     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

and  Calvinists  reached  its  crisis  in  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
1619,  when  the  disciples  of  Arminius,  the  great 
theologian,  were  excluded  from  the  national  church. 
The  French  Huguenots,  driven  from  their  native 
land  for  their  fidelity  to  the  Protestant  faith,  received 
a  warm  welcome  in  Holland.  They  repaid  this  hospi- 
tality by  the  new  revived  religious  life  which  they 
awoke  among  the  Dutch  people.  The  university  of 
Leyden,  established  to  commemorate  the  deliverance 
of  its  people  from  a  terrible  siege,  created  a  new 
zeal  in  the  study  of  the  languages  and  literature  of 
the  Bible.  But  this  led  also  to  a  worship  of  the 
letter  that  killeth  rather  than  acceptance  of  the  Spirit 
that  giveth  life. 

On  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  to  the 
British  throne,  the  relations  between  Holland  and 
England  became  very  intimate.  Travel  and  literary 
intercourse  gave  the  opportunity  for  the  spread  of 
English  Deism.  It  furnished  also  opportunities  for 
the  influence  of  orthodox  polemics.  The  fashions  and 
philosophy  of  France,  too,  became  popular  with  these 
liberty-loving  and  intellectually  receptive  people. 
The  domination  of  the  Napoleon  dynasty  completed 
for  a  time  the  subjugation  of  this  people. 

"  Wherever  the  French  bayonet  had  won  territory 
to  the  sceptre  of  Napoleon,  it  opened  a  new  and 
unobstructed  sway  for  the  propagation  of  the  scepti- 
cism taught  by  the  followers  of  Voltaire.  But  the 
same  blow  that  repulsed  the  armies  of  France  pro- 
duced an  equally  disastrous  effect  upon  her  infidelity." 


THOUGHT  IN  HOLLAND  AND  SWITZERLAND.     335 

With  the  fall  of  the  arch  despot  of  Europe,  therefore, 
a  better  day  dawned  for  the  religion  as  well  as  liberty 
of  Holland. 

God  uses  diverse  means  for  the  revival  of  His 
Church.  Among  the  chief  instruments  in  Holland 
were  two  distinguished  Dutch  poets,  an  eminent 
statesman  and  a  couple  of  Jewish  scholars.  Dr. 
Bilderdyke  was  one  of  the  greatest  poets  whom 
Holland  has  produced.  He  sang  stirring  songs  of 
patriotism  which  rekindled  a  love  of  liberty  in  the 
Dutch  heart,  and  led  it  back  to  the  purer  faith  of 
Reformation  days.  Two  of  the  most  strenuous 
opponents  of  rationalism  were  the  learned  Jews,  Da 
Costa  and  Capadose. 

Groen  van  Prinsterer  was  a  distinguished  states- 
man, the  Guizot  of  Holland.  Like  Guizot,  he  was  a 
sturdy  Protestant  and  an  evangelical  believer.  He 
led  the  reunion  of  Christian  forces  in  his  native 
country.  He  was  ably  supported  by  Professor  van 
Oosterzee  of  Utrecht  University,  which  was  long  the 
centre  of  evangelical  theology  in  Holland.  He 
published  an  able  reply  to  Kenan's  popular  Life  of 
Jesus,  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  in  charm  of  manner  to 
the  work  of  the  French  writer,  and  instinct  with 
evangelical  spirit. 

In  Holland,  as  in  Germany,  the  revival  of  evan- 
gelical faith  has  been  accompanied  by  a  revived  zeal 
in  Christian  work.  Though  there  have  been  some 
distinguished  Dutch  missionaries,  yet  while  the  rest 
of  Europe  was  stirring  with   missionary  enterprise, 


336     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Holland  seemed  apathetic.  At  length,  in  1851,  a 
great  missionary  revival  began.  In  twelve  years  as 
many  missionary  societies  were  established,  and  great 
zeal  and  liberality  were  shown  in  their  support.  One 
of  the  most  notable  religious  gatherings  of  modern 
times  was  that  of  the  Evangelical  National  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  1864,  at  which  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  persons  assembled  in  a  great  pine  grove 
for  a  great  missionary  assembly.  Home  missions  are 
also  educating  many  thousands  of  children,  and 
Sunday-school  instruction  has  been  vigorously  pros- 
ecuted throughout  the  little  kingdom. 

The  position  of  Switzerland  is  unique  in  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe.  Almost  the  smallest  of  its  nations, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  influential.  Amid  its  snow- 
capped mountains  rise  great  rivers  like  the  Rhine  and 
Rhone,  which  water  wide  plains  and  nourish  great 
cities  and  busy  towns.  So  streams  of  hallowed  in- 
fluence have  had  their  source  in  this  land  of  Alpine 
grandeur  and  lovely  lakes,  which  have  watered  and 
enriched  almost  every  realm  of  human  experience. 

Switzerland  has  ever  been  the  home  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  When  the  Protestant  faith  was 
persecuted  in  other  lands — in  England,  Scotland, 
France,  and  Holland,  in  Bohemia,  in  Bavaria,  in 
Italy — its  towns  and  cities,  its  mountains  and  valleys 
offered  hospitable  refuge  to  many  thousands  of  exiles 
for  conscience'  sake.  The  Protestant  Reformation 
was  indigenous  in  its  soil.  Zwingle  was  its  author 
independent  of  the  work  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon. 


THOUGHT  IN  HOLLAND  AND  SWITZERLAND.     337 

Geneva,  the  capital  of  the  Republic,  and  the  mother 
city  of  French  Protestantism,  offered  a  refuge  to 
Knox  and  Calvin,  Farel  and  Beza,  as  well  as  to  the 
apostles  of  scepticism,  Voltaire  and  Rousseau. 

As  Switzerland  shared  the  moral  uplift  of  the  great 
evangelical  teachers  and  divines  to  whom  it  offered 
sanctuary,  so  it  shared  also  the  moral  depression  of 
the  French  Encyclopaedists  and  sceptics,  who  so- 
journed within  its  borders.  Rationalism,  Arianism, 
Socinianism  became  intrenched  in  even  the  Swiss 
churches  and  pulpits.  "All  the  religion,"  says 
d'Alembert,  "  that  many  of  the  ministers  of  Geneva 
have  is  a  complete  Socinianism,  rejecting  everything 
called  mystery,  and  supposing  that  the  first  principle 
of  a  true  religion  is  to  propose  nothing  to  be  received 
as  a  matter  of  faith  which  strikes  against  reason." 

But  again,  God  by  most  mysterious  providences 
raised  up  as  in  times  past  prophets  and  apostles  of 
His  holy  faith.  We  liave  already  recited  the  strange 
manner  in  which  Robert  Haldane,  a  Scottish  sea  cap- 
tain, became  evangelical  leader  in  the  universities  of 
Switzerland.  The  revival  thus  begun  was  grandly 
carried  on  by  such  men  as  Merle  d'Aubign^^  Adolphe 
Monod,  Malan,  Vinet,  and  many  another,  the  ferti- 
lizing stream  of  whose  influence,  like  that  of  the 
Rhine  and  Rhone,  have  watered  wide  lands  and 
blessed  vast  multitudes  of  souls. 


338     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

PKOGRESS     OF      BIBLICAL      ARCHEOLOGY     DURING 
THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY. 

In  few  respects  has  the  progress  of  the  century 
been  more  marked  than  in  the  light  which  has  been 
thrown  upon  the  Scriptures  by  the  explorations  and 
discoveries  of  modern  archEeology.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  the  mattock  and  the  spade  have  become 
the  best  commentators  on  the  Word  of  God.  Many 
problems,  very  difficult  of  interpretation  by  any  other 
method,  have  been  solved  by  their  means. 

The  science  of  Biblical  archaeology  is  almost  en- 
tirely the  growth  of  the  present  century.  In  the  year 
1802  the  famous  Rosetta  Stone  was  found  at  Fort 
St.  Julian,  near  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Nile.  It 
was  brought  to  England  and  presented  by  George 
III.  to  the  British  Museum.  It  is  a  rude  block  of 
black  basalt,  on  which  was  a  trilingual  inscription 
in  honor  of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  B.  c.  204-181.  It 
was  written  in  Greek  in  the  ancient  hieroglyphics  of 
Egypt,  hitherto  a  sealed  language,  and  in  the  de- 
motic or  popular  language  of  the  country.  By  dili- 
gent study  Dr.  T.  Young,  an  Englishman,  and  M.  F. 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       339 

Champollion,  a  Frenchman,  succeeded,  independently 
of  each  other, — the  former  in  1819,  the  latter  in 
1822, — in  deciphering  the  meaning  of  the  hieroglyphs. 
Thus  a  key  was  found  for  opening  the  sealed  book 
of  Egypt's  mighty  past  by  reading  the  records  of  her 
countless  monuments. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  later  another  important 
discoTcry  was  made  which  unlocked  the  secrets  of 
the  cuneiform  or  wedge-shaped  characters  in  which 
were  countless  inscriptions  of  the  ancient  As- 
syrian, Babylonian,  and  Persian  Empires.  "Within  a 
few  months  three  distinguished  scholars,  indepen- 
dently, discovered  the  clue  to  this  interpretation. 
H.  E.  Rawlinson,  of  England,  in  October,  1846 ;  the 
Rev.  E.  Hincks,  of  Killyleagh,  in  Ireland,  in  October 
of  the  same  year ;  and  Julius  Oppert,  in  a  work 
published  in  Berlin  in  1847. 

Another  event  of  much  importance  was  the  explo- 
rations on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  begun  by  M.  Botta, 
a  French  consul,  in  1843-1844,  and  continued  for 
three  years  by  Austen  H.  Layard  at  the  great  mound 
of  Nimrod  on  the  site  of  Nineveh.  Amid  great  ob- 
stacles, through  the  petty  persecutions  of  the  Pasha 
of  Mosul,  the  intractability  of  the  Arab  workmen, 
and  the  mechanical  difficulty  of  raising  the  colossal 
human-headed  lions  and  bulls  that  adorned  the  an- 
cient capital  from  the  earth  in  which  they  were  im- 
bedded, Layard  at  length  transferred  to  the  British 
Museum  in  London  many  striking  relics  of  ancient 
civilization,  and  the  new  science  of  Assyriology  was 


340     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

born.  In  1850  he  carried  on  similar  explorations  at 
Babylon,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  explorations 
throughout  the  whole  orient  have  been  diligently 
carried  on.  Professor  Lepsius,  a  distinguished  Ger- 
man archaeologist,  discovered  at  Zoan  a  tablet  older 
than  the  Rosetta  Stone,  bearing  bilingual  inscriptions 
in  Greek  hieroglyphics,  which  afforded  fresh  infor- 
mation as  to  another  extinct  language. 

In  1868  the  Moabite  Stone,  the  most  ancient  mon- 
ument bearing  a  Semitic  inscription  that  had  yet 
been  discovered,  one  in  praise  of  King  Mesha  of  Moab, 
about  920  B.  c,  was  found  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Klein, 
of  the  Jerusalem  Mission  Society.  The  jealousy  of 
the  Arabs  was  excited  by  the  efforts  to  purchase  it. 
They  therefore  lighted  a  fire  upon  it,  and  when  it 
was  hot  threw  on  water,  breaking  it  into  many 
fragments.  These  were  collected  by  the  French 
Government  at  the  cost  of  32,000  francs,  and  are  now 
in  the  Louvre  at  Paris.  They  throw  considerable 
light  upon  the  wars  between  Mesha,  king  of  Moab, 
and  Omri,  king  of  Israel. 

The  study  of  oriental  archaeology  has  been  pursued 
with  enthusiasm  by  some  of  the  ablest  scholars  of 
Europe.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Professor 
Ebers,  Dr.  Schweinfurth,  Baron  Buusen,  Emil 
Brugsch,  Dr.  Birch,  Professor  Sayce,  Dr.  Bliss, 
Colonel  Conder,  R.  E.,  Sir  Charles  Warren,  R.  E., 
Major  Wilson,  R.  E.,  Captain  Anderson,  R.  E., 
Professor  Palmer,  Professor  Hilprecht,  Mariette 
Bey,  Professor  Maspero,  Flinders  Petrie,  and  many 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHAEOLOGY.        341 

others.     To  the  more  important  of  their  discoveries 
we  shall  briefly  refer. 

"  Late  in  the  fall  of  1887,"  writes  the  Rev.  G.  F. 
Saltou,  Ph.  B.,  ''  a  peasant  woman  of  the  Fellaheen 
or  agricultural  class  of  Egypt,  whilst  searching  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  modern  village  of  Tel-el-Amarna 
for  nitre  with  which  to  enrich  the  soil  of  her  garden, 
came  upon  a  number  of  small  clay  tablets.  Further 
digging  brought  to  light  more,  until,  including  frag- 
ments, three   hundred  and   twenty  were  discovered. 

*'  In  this  way  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  tablets 
found  their  way  to  the  Berlin  Museum,  eighty-two 
to  the  British  Museum  in  London,  and  fifty-six  to 
the  Gizeh  Museum  in  Cairo,  and  perhaps  twenty 
more  are  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals. 

'*  These  tablets  have  at  last  been  translated,  the 
translations  forming  a  volume  half  as  large  as  the 
Pentateuch.  They  prove  to  be  letters  and  despatches 
from  the  kings  and  governors  of  Babylonia,  Assyria, 
Syria,  Mesopotamia,  eastern  Cappadocia,  Phoenicia 
and  Palestine.  From  Palestine  there  are  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  letters,  chiefly  from  the  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean.  These  are,  of  course,  to  us  the 
most  interesting.  These  tablets  treat  of  various  sub- 
jects, e.  g.  of  marriages,  dowries,  presents,  social 
relations,  diplomacy  and  war.  The  events  recorded 
include  the  conquest  of  Damascus  by  the  Hittites; 
of  Phoenicia  by  the  Amorites,  and  of  Judea  by  the 
Abiri,  whom  Colonel  Conder,  Captain  Haynes,  Pro- 
fessor Zimmern  and  others  identify  as  the  Hebrews. 
The  names  of  Japhia,  King  of  Lachish,  mentioned  in 
Joshua  X.,  and  Jabin,  King  of  Hazor,  mentioned  in 
Joshua  XL,  and  possibly  Adonizedek,  King  of  Jeru- 
salem, occur  among  those  of  the  writers. 

"  The  gods  mentioned  are  those  found  in  the  Bible, 
including  Baal,  Baalah,  Rimmon,  Shamash,  Nebo 
and  Dagon,  and  an  expression  which  corresponds  to 


342     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  Hebrew  word  Elohim  occurs  frequently.  A  great 
number  of  towns  and  cities,  several  of  which  are  im- 
portant biblical  places,  e.  g.  Gath,  Makkedah,  Baal 
Gad,  Enam,  Lachish,  are  mentioned  in  such  a  way 
that  their  sites  are  practically  settled,  and  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  Holy  Land  is  made  much  more  definite 
than  before. 

"  The  earliest  despatch  is  one  addressed  to 
Thothmes  IV.,  whose  date  is  1423  B.  C.  The  whole 
of  the  correspondence,  covering  some  fifty  years, 
may  be  placed  between  the  3^ears  1415  and  1365,  and 
evidently  clusters  around  the  year  1400  B.  c. 

"  These  letters  give  us  practically  all  we  know  of 
the  closing  centuries  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  The 
Egyptian  inscriptions  had  already  informed  us  of  the 
conquests  of  the  Pharaohs  from  the  reign  of  Aahmes 
to  that  of  Thothmes  IH.;  but  for  the  reigns  of  Ame- 
nophis  III.  and  his  son  we  had  very  little  informa- 
tion. Of  the  events  that  took  place  during  this 
period  among  the  Syrian  and  Canaanite  tributaries 
we  know  nothing. 

"  The  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets,  therefore,  create  a 
new  chapter,  interesting  alike  to  the  students  of 
Egyptian  history  and  of  Hebrew  literature.  They 
also  give  us  important  light  on  the  material 
of  the  original  documents  of  the  Pentateuch. 
It  has  been  claimed  by  some,  even  within  the  present 
decade,  that  Moses  lived  before  the  age  of  writing — 
that  it  would,  therefore,  have  been  impossible  for 
him  to  have  written  any  part  of  the  first  five  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.  But  here  are  three  hundred  and 
twenty  letters,  some  of  which  were  written  on  the 
plain  at  the  same  time  as  the  Ten  Commandments 
were  being  written  on  the  Mount,  possibly  on  the 
same  kind  of  '  stone,'  in  the  same  language,  and  with 
the  same  cuneiform  characters." 

"Two  or  three  years  ago,"  says  Sayce  in  his 
lEgher    Criticism   and   the   Monument^    "  it   would 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       343 

have  seemed  a  dream  of  the  wildest  enthusiasm  to 
suggest  that  light  would  be  thrown  by  modern  dis- 
covery on  the  history  of  Melchizedek.  Whatever 
lingering  scruples  the  critic  might  have  felt  about 
rejecting  the  historical  character  of  the  first  half  of 
the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  he  felt  none  at  all 
as  to  the  second  half  of  it.  Melchizedek,  '  King  of 
Salem '  and  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  appeared  to 
be  altogether  a  creature  of  mythology.  And  yet 
among  the  surprises  which  the  tablets  of  Tel-el- 
Amarna  had  in  store  for  us  was  the  discovery  that 
after  all  Melchizedek  might  well  have  been  an  his- 
torical personage." 

Mr.  Salton  considers  that  to  the  Bible  student 
these  tablets  are  the  most  important  historical 
records  ever  found,  they  touch  the  Bible  at  more 
points  than  any  other  of  the  remarkable  finds  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  their  influence  on  all  ques- 
tions referring  to  early  Hebrew  literature  is  almost 
exhaustless.* 

One  of  the  most  striking  confirmations  of  Holy 
Scripture  has  been  found  in  the  discovery  by  accident 
and  identification  of  a  number  of  the  Pharaohs  of 
Egypt,  among  others  the  great  conqueror,  Rameses  II., 
the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression  of  the  Israelites.  The 
story  is  one  of  those  true  tales  more  wonderful  than 
fiction.  In  March,  1892,  the  present  writer  visited 
the  so-called  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  in  the  heart  of  the 

*  The  explorations  of  Schliemann  at  Hissarlik  on  the 
Bite  of  Troy,  and  those  at  Olympia,  in  Greece,  afford 
striking  confirmation  of  the  historicity  of  what  has  some- 
times been  considered  the  mythical  age  of  Greece. 


344    RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Libyan  hills,  near  Thebes.  The  story  of  the  finding 
of  the  Pharaohs,  as  told  in  broken  English,  with 
much  dramatic  action,  by  our  dragoman,  Yousef 
Mohammed,  as  he  stood  in  the  dim  light  of  our  wax 
tapers,  beside  the  broken  sarcophagus  of  Rameses 
III.,  lacked  no  element  of  weird  romance. 

In  1881  from  the  number  of  valuable  finds  brought 
to  light  by  Ahmed-Abder-Rasoul,  an  Arab  guide, 
Professor  Maspero,  director  of  the  Boulak  Museum, 
suspected  that  he  was  rifling  some  royal  tomb,  and 
had  him  arrested.  For  two  months  he  lay  in  prison 
silent  and  sullen.  Then  his  brother  divulged  the 
secret,  a  search  for  the  lost  treasure  was  made,  and 
in  a  deep  pit  in  a  remote  valley,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  feet  from  the  light  of  day,  was  found  a 
large  sepulchral  chamber  containing  the  mummies 
of  a  score  of  the  kings  and  queens  of  ancient  Egypt, 
ranging  from  1,750  to  1,100  years  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  clearly  identified  by  their  cartouch  names 
upon  their  mummy  cases.  It  required  three  hun- 
dred Arabs  five  days  to  bring  to  the  surface  these 
long-buried  dead,  and  to  carry  them  to  Luxor  for 
shipment  to  Cairo.  As  the  steamer  conveying  these 
ancient  sovereigns  of  Egypt  sailed  down  the  Nile, 
the  native  women  ran  with  dishevelled  hair  and 
loud  lamentation  along  the  banks,  and  the  men  fired 
off  guns  as  at  a  royal  funeral. 

In  1886,  in  the  presence  of  the  Khedive,  Professor 
Maspero  unrolled  several  of  these  mummies  and  dis- 
closed to  the  light  of  day,  after  the  lapse  of  over 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       345 

three  thousand  years,  the  faces  of  the  great  Rameses, 
of  his  father,  Seti,  of  his  son,  Rameses  III.,  and  of 
other  dead  Pharaohs  whose  name  and  fame  once 
filled  the  world.  In  the  National  Museum  at 
Gizeh  we  gazed  long,  face  to  face,  on  the  stern 
features  of  Rameses  IL,  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks, 
the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression  and  the  Exodus, 
whose  monuments  abound  throughout  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  whose  memory  still  haunts  its  mighty 
tombs  and  temples  like  an  abiding  presence. 

We  have  received  from  a  lady,  the  daughter  of  a 
Presbyterian  missionary  who  was  present  by  invita- 
tion at  the  unwrapping  of  the  mummied  Pharaohs, 
an  account  of  this  historic  event. 

On  this  subject  Mr.  Weyman,  a  distinguished 
archseologist,  says :  "  Here  is  Pharaoh  himself, 
Rameses  II.,  and  Thothmes  the  Conquerer,  long  con- 
quered by  death,  and  other  Pharaohs  whose  names 
are  less  familiar  to  us.  The  mighty  are  indeed  fallen. 
The  face,  which  was  once  the  face  of  a  god,  conquer- 
ing good  and  evil,  is  shrunken  and  dead.  The 
hands  that  governed  Egypt  are  wasted  and  nerveless. 
The  curious  bend  over  him  and  gaze  into  the  sight- 
less sockets,  and  murmur  over  the  silent  lips.  How 
strange  it  seems !  how  incredible,  almost,  that  here, 
separated  from  us  only  by  a  piece  of  glass,  we  have 
the  mortal  visage  and  frame  of  the  man  who  tasked 
Israel  beyond  bearing ;  who  saw  Moses,  and  lived 
and  ruled  and  died  before  David  was  born  or  Judah 
was  a  people,  and  from  whose  thin  lips   came  the 


346     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

cruel  order  that  every  male  child  of  the  Hebrews 
should  be  destroyed." 

In  1898  M.  Loret,  Director-General  of  the  Anti- 
quities Department,  while  excavating  recently  near 
the  ruins  of  ancient  Thebes,  found  a  double  tomb 
which  had  not  been  disturbed,  that  of  Amenophis  I. 
For  the  first  time  on  record  the  body  of  an  Egyptian 
king  has  been  found  in  the  tomb  prepared  for  him, 
as  previously  discovered  royal  mummies  had  been 
removed  from  their  tombs  and  secreted  for  safety 
at  Deir  el  Bahari. 

In  the  great  Temple  of  Karnak,  the  most  impos- 
ing temple  ever  erected  for  the  Supreme  Being,  we 
have  ourselves  seen  striking  confirmation  of  the  nar- 
rative of  Holy  Writ.  On  the  temple  wall  is  an  in- 
scription recording  the  names  of  the  countries  con- 
quered by  Thothmes  III.  "  This  list,"  says  the 
distinguished  Egyptologist,  Mariette  Bey,  "  is  noth- 
ing less  than  a  synoptical  table  of  the  Promised 
Land,  made  two  hundred  and  seventy  years  before 
the  Exodus."  Indeed,  several  scholars  think  that 
they  have  found  here  the  names  of  the  patriarchs 
Jacob  and  Joseph. 

The  whole  outer  wall  is  covered  with  reliefs  and 
hieroglyphs  recording  the  conquests  of  these  old 
Pharaohs.  One  of  these  recounts  the  victories  of 
the  "  Shishak"  of  the  Bible  over  Rehoboam,  King  of 
Israel.  With  upraised  arm  he  is  about  to  smite  a 
group  of  captives  at  his  feet.  One  of  the  captives 
bears  the  name  of  Judah  Melek,  which  Champollion 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       347 

interpreted  as  "  King  of  Judah,"  but  it  is  probably 
the  name  of  a  place  instead  of  a  person.  It  makes 
the  story  of  these  old  kings  strangely  vivid  to  see 
for  one's  self  their  contemporary  portraits,  and  fur- 
nishes a  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  truths  of 
Holy  Writ. 

In  crossing  the  land  of  Goshen,  not  far  from  the 
railway  is  the  ruined  site,  still  known  as  Tel-el-Yehudi- 
yeh,  '*  The  Hill  of  the  Jews."  In  this  spot  Onia,the 
high  priest  of  the  Jews,  aided  by  Ptolemy  Philome- 
ter,  erected  a  temple  for  his  countrymen,  in  fulfil- 
ment, as  he  alleged,  of  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah,  "  In 
that  day  there  shall  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in  the 
midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  a  pillar  at  the  bor- 
der thereof  to  the  Lord."  Every  vestige  of  this 
temple,  which  was  built  after  the  model  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Solomon,  was  lost  till  1871,  when  Brugsch 
found,  under  the  rubbish,  massive  structures  of  Ori- 
ental alabaster,  attributed  to  the  Jewish  archi- 
tects. 

The  sites  of  several  of  the  cities  of  Goshen,  men- 
tioned in  the  Book  of  Numbers  :  Rameses,  Succoth, 
Etham  and  Pihahiroth,  etc.,  have  been  identified 
through  the  excavations  of  Dr.  Flinders  Petrie  and 
others.  Stupendous  as  are  the  colossal  statues  of 
Rameses  in  Upper  Egypt,  Mr.  Petrie  found  at  Tanis- 
Zoan,  in  the  delta,  the  fragments  of  one  very  much 
larger.  It  was  ninety-two  feet  high  from  top  to  toe, 
or  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  high  including 
pedestal,  and  weighed  twelve  hundred  tons.     This 


348     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

was  the  largest  colossus  known  to  history.  How 
this  enormous  mass  was  brought  from  Assouan, 
eight  hundred  miles  away,  carved  into  shape  and 
erected  on  its  site  is  difficult  to  conceive. 

In  April,  1890,  Dr.  Flinders  Petrie  exhumed  a 
ruined  city  in  Southern  Palestine,  which  was  subse- 
quently identified  as  Lachish,  mentioned  six  times 
in  the  Scriptures.  In  1892  the  work  was  continued 
by  Dr.  Bliss,  who  found  no  less  than  eleven  distinct 
cities,  one  below  the  other,  the  last  sixty-five  feet 
from  the  surface.  Here  was  a  striking  confirmation 
of  the  biblical  records  and  prophecies  concerning 
this  long-lost  city. 

The  question  :  Who  were  the  Hittites  ?  has  hitherto 
been  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  biblical 
archseology.  There  are  in  the  Scriptures  frequent 
references  to  the  Hittites  as  a  strong  foreign  people, 
as  where  we  are  told  that  the  Syrians  fled  away  from 
their  siege  of  Samaria  because  they  heard  that  the 
King  of  Israel  had  hired  against  them  the  kings  of 
the  Hittites  and  the  kings  of  Egypt.  In  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  however,  much  progress  has 
been  made  in  the  knowledge  of  these  people,  largely 
through  the  labors  of  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  Dr.  William 
Hayes  Ward,  Prof.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  and  Prof.  Jensen, 
of  Marburg. 

The  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments  which 
have  been  so  thoroughly  studied  of  late  years  add 
greatly  to  our  knowledge  of  these  people.  They 
were  known  by  the  Egyptians  as  Khita.     They  were 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       349 

already,  sixteen  years  before  Christ,  described  as  a 
powerful  people.  They  were  known  to  the  Assyrians 
as  Khatti.  These  ancient  references  prove,  says  Dr. 
W.  H.  Ward,  that  the  Hittites  penetrated  and  con- 
quered the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  and  at  a  period 
before  any  history  known  to  us  of  that  region. 
Theirs  was  the  primitive  civilization  so  far  as  we 
know  of  Syria,  and  of  Asia  Minor  from  Smyrna  to 
Lake  Van.  They  are  thus,  he  adds,  one  of  the  most 
important  factors  in  the  production  of  that  civiliza- 
tion of  which  we  have  a  part.  From  the  Tel-el- 
Amarna  tablets  we  learn  that  they  had  also  taken 
possession  of  the  whole  of  the  middle  banks  of  the 
Euphrates  about  Carchemish. 

In  1873  Dr.  W.  H.  Ward  published  copies  of  four 
hieroglyphic  inscriptions  from  Hamath.  From  that 
time  many  Hittite  remains  and  inscriptions  have 
been  found.  They  long  defied  interpretation,  till  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  use 
the  words  of  Prof.  Hilprecht,  "  the  stupendous  as- 
siduity and  great  mental  gifts  of  Prof.  Jensen,  of 
Marburg,  have  forced  the  Hittite  sphinx  to  surrender 
her  long  guarded  secret."  Dr.  Ward  concludes  that 
the  Hittites  belonged  to  that  great  primitive,  or  next 
to  primitive,  Mongolian  stock,  represented  by  the 
Iberians  and  Basques  in  Europe,  by  the  old  Elamites 
and  Sumerians  of  Media  and  Babylonia,  and  by  suc- 
cessive waves  of  barbaric  invasions,  the  last  of  which 
was  seen  in  Europe  when  the  Turks  were  repulsed 
from  the  walls  of  Vienna,  and  whose  invasion  in  the 


350     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

time  of  the  Huns  left  a  terrible  memory,  when  the 
populous  North  poured  them  forth 

From  her  frozen  loins  to  pass 
Rhene  or  the  Danaw,  when  her  barharous  sons 
Came  like  a  deluge  on  the  South,  and  spread 
Beneath  Gibraltar  to  the  Libyan  sands. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  confirmations  of  Holy 
Scripture  has  been  found  in  the  Assyrian  and  Baby- 
lonian accounts  of  the  deluge,  translated  by  Mr. 
George  Smith,  of  the  British  Museum,  who  about 
1866  deciphered  a  cuneiform  tablet  containing  a 
Chaldean  account  of  the  deluge  much  older  and  more 
full  than  that  of  Berosus,  a  Babylonian  historian, 
which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  by  early  Greek 
and  Christian  writers.  Smith's  subsequent  studies 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  legends  of  the  flood,  the 
traditions  of  the  creation,  the  fall,  the  garden  of  Eden, 
of  the  Sabbath,  of  sacred  trees,  and  many  others 
were  similar  among  the  Assyrians  and  the  Hebrews. 

This  discovery  was  of  immense  interest;  but  it 
did  not  assure  us  of  the  age  of  the  deluge  story  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Euphrates  valley ;  for  it  was 
on  tablets  written  in  Assurbanipal's  reign,  that  is, 
scarce  six  hundred  years  before  Christ.  The  orig- 
inal Babylonian  tablet,  from  which  the  Assyrian 
copies  were  made,  was  much  desired. 

At  length  Pere  Scheil  made  the  discovery.  It  is 
dated  in  the  reign  of  Ammizaduga,  King  of  Babylon  ; 
and  we  know  that  he  reigned  about  2140  B.  c. 
That  is  we  have  here  a  precious  bit  of  clay  on  which 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       351 

was  written  a  poetical  story  of  the  deluge,  seven  cen- 
turies before  Moses  and  about  the  time  of  Isaac  or 
Jacob.  That  is  enough  to  make  the  discovery  mem- 
orable. We  learn  positively  that  the  story  of  the 
deluge  was  familiar  to  the  common  people  of  Baby- 
lonia, and,  therefore,  of  all  the  East  from  Syria  to 
Persia.  Pere  Scheil  says,  this  account  is  only  a 
copy;  and  no  one  can  say  how  many  centuries  one 
must  go  back  before  reaching  the  historic  fact 
which  lies  at  the  base  of  this  cycle  of  legends  and 
the  first  narration  made  of  it. 

In  1812  was  discovered  by  Burckhardt,  the  cele- 
brated oriental  traveller,  and  since  frequently  visited, 
one  of  the  lost  cities  of  Edom,  to  which  reference  is 
made  under  the  name  Selali  in  several  places  in 
Scripture,  which  Josephus  describes  by  the  Greek 
translation  of  the  same  word  Petra.  It  was  evident- 
ly a  place  of  great  wealth,  with  a  rock-hewn  amphi- 
theatre capable  of  holding  four  thousand  spectators, 
and  palaces,  temples  and  tombs,  all  hewn  from  the 
solid  rock.  The  curse  of  the  Almighty  rested  upon 
it,  and  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled,  "  Also  Edom  shall 
be  a  desolation :  every  one  that  goeth  by  it  shall 
be  astonished,  and  shall  hiss  at  all  the  plagues 
thereof." 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  identify  Bosrah  with 
the  Bozrah  beyond  Jordan,  mentioned  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, where  remarkable  ruins  still  exist.  The  stu- 
pendous ruins  of  Palmyra  modern  scholarship  identi- 
fies with  the  ancient  city  of  Tadmor  in  the  wilder- 


352     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ness  fortified  by  Solomon,  and  the  capital  of  the  un- 
happy Queen  Zenobia. 

The  whole  of  Hauran,  in  part  the  ancient  land  of 
Bashan,  is  still  studded  with  the  remains  of  giant 
cities  whose  identification  with  those  mentioned  in  the 
Scripture  has  not  yet  been  complete.  There  are  still, 
says  Porter,  at  least  one  hundred  deserted  cities  and 
villages,  many  of  them  built  of  basalt  with  basaltic 
doors. 

For  long  centuries  many  thousands  of  pilgrims 
from  all  parts  of  Christendom  visited  Palestine  to 
worship  amid  the  scenes  made  sacred  evermore  by 
the  life  and  labors  of  our  Lord,  and  especially  to 
weep  and  pray  upon  the  site  of  His  passion.  The 
wrongs  wreaked  upon  these  pilgrims  by  the  Moslem 
misbelievers  led  to  that  great  movement  whereby,  in 
the  words  of  the  Byzantine  Princess,  Anna  Comnen- 
na,  all  Europe  was  heaped  upon  Asia,  and  for  two 
long  centuries  crusade  after  crusade  was  launched 
against  the  Saracen  for  the  rescue  of  the  sepulchre 
of  our  Lord.  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that 
very  strong  doubts — indeed,  in  the  minds  of  many, 
positive  disbelief — have  been  felt  as  to  the  identity 
of  the  traditional  Holy  Sepulchre  with  the  tomb  of 
our  Lord. 

About  four  hundred  feet  northeast  of  the  Da- 
mascus Gate  is  the  now  famous  "  Skull  Hill,"  which 
is  by  many  believed  to  be  the  true  site  of  Calvary. 
Under  it  on   the  southeastern  side  is  "  Jeremiah's 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.        353 

Grotto."  To  the  west  of  the  hill  is  a  tomb  which 
General  Gordon  believed  to  be  the  tomb  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea. 

While  Colonel  Conder  accepts  the  new  site  of 
Calvary,  he  locates  Joseph's  tomb  on  the  side  of  a 
mound  five  hundred  feet  southwest  of  the  Gordon 
tomb,  and  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  north- 
west of  the  Damascus  Gate. 

Canon  Tristram  remarks  :  "  Why  do  we  reject  the 
traditional  site  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ? 
Because  that  site  must  have  been  within  the  second 
wall,  which  existed  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  unless 
that  wall  made  a  re-entering  angle,  for  the  purpose 
of  leaving  that  site  outside.  But,  if  it  were  outside, 
the  contour  of  the  original  surface  shows  that  the 
wall  must  have  been  built  so  as  to  be  exposed  to 
assault  from  higher  ground  immediately  outside, 
which  would  be  contrary  to  military  strategy  and 
common  sense.  How,  then,  came  the  tradition  to  be 
established  ?  It  goes  no  farther  back  than  the  time 
of  the  Empress  Helena,  three  hundred  years  after 
the  event, — a  most  credulous  and  uncritical  age. 
The  empress  wished  the  site  to  be  found,  and  her 
servants  at  once  gratified  her.  A  continuous  tradi- 
tion before  that  time  was  impossible.  From  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  the  Christians  were 
driven  away,  and  when,  after  the  revolt  of  Bar  Co- 
cheba,  Hadrian,  in  135  A.  d.,  razed  Jerusalem  again 
to  the  ground,  he  ploughed  over  the  ruins,  and 
established  a  Roman  colony.  The  new  city,  ^lia 
Capitolina,  was  filled  with  heathen  temples,  and  no 
Jew  was  allowed  to  enter  it  on  pain  of  death.  The 
very  name  of  Jerusalem  was  forgotten.  How  was  it 
possible  that,  through  all  the  vicissitudes,  the  memory 
of  an  inconspicuous  spot  should  have  been  pre- 
served ?  " 


354     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  was  founded  in 
1865,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  elucidating  and  illustrat- 
ing the  Bible.  Among  the  more  important  results 
of  the  work  up  to  the  present,  the  following  may  be 
enumerated :  All  that  was  known  of  the  site  of  the 
temple  was  that  it  stood  somewhere  within  the  vast 
enclosure  now  called  the  Haram  esh  Shereef,  or 
Noble  Sanctuary.  Sir  Charles  Warren,  who  con- 
ducted the  explorations  at  Jerusalem,  ascertained 
that  the  great  surrounding  walls,  undoubtedly 
those  of  the  temple,  are  buried  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  deep  in  the  accumulated 
rubbish  of  nearly  eighteen  centuries. 

The  Turkish  authorities  were  very  jealous  of  these 
explorations,  and  prohibited  him  from  digging  near 
the  walls.  With  much  difficulty  he  got  permission 
to  sink  a  shaft,  that  is,  a  sort  of  well,  at  some  distance 
from  the  wall.  After  he  had  dug  down,  with  the 
help  of  a  lot  of  Arab  workmen,  about  eighty  feet,  he 
began  a  horizontal  excavation  toward  the  wall, 
when,  what  was  his  delight  to  find  that  he  had 
reached  part  of  the  old  wall  of  Jerusalem,  dating 
back  to  the  time  of  Solomon. 

Eighty  feet  of  rubbish  has  accumulated  during 
the  many  years  that  Jerusalem  has  been  "  trodden 
under  foot  of  the  Gentiles,"  as  was  foretold  in  Holy 
Scripture.  It  is  found  full  of  relics  of  the  ancient 
past, — broken  tiles,  pottery,  lamps,  vases  and  many 
other  evidences  of  the  bygone  races  who  have  suc- 
cessively occupied  this  spot — Jews,  Greeks,  Romans, 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       355 

Moslems  and  Franks.  The  great  and  goodly  stones 
of  the  temple  were  each  as  thick  as  the  height  of  a 
tall  man,  and  two  or  three  times  as  long. 

The  results  of  the  exploration  at  the  southeast 
angle  of  the  Haram  wall  were  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. On  the  stones  of  the  wall  were  found 
characters  in  red  paint,  and  others  incised.  They 
have  been  pronounced  to  be  probably  Phoenician,  and 
representing  numerals.  Then,  concludes  the  world 
at  once,  we  have  here  the  stones  of  Solomon's  temple, 
with  the  marks  of  his  Phoenician  workmen. 

Mejr-ed-Deen,  an  Arabic  writer  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  mentions  a  subterranean  gallery,  "  which 
David  caused  to  be  made  from  the  gate  of  the  chain 
to  the  citadel."  This  subterranean  passage  was  act- 
ually found  in  the  course  of  the  explorations  at 
Wilson's  Arch.  It  was  evidently  intended  as  a 
secret  way  of  communication  between  the  citadel 
and  the  temple,  by  which  troops  could  be  brought, 
in  case  of  an  emeute,  without  exciting  suspicion. 

The  excavations  of  Sir  Charles  Warren  added  a 
mass  of  information  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  city, 
which  is  absolutely  inestimable.  The  shafts  opened 
another  and  a  lost  book,  so  to  speak,  in  the  history 
of  the  Bible ;  they  showed  the  actual  works  of  the 
Jewish  kings ;  they  proved  incontestably  the  very 
words  of  the  sacred  narrative ;  they  enabled  us  to 
understand  with  a  greater  fulness  the  pride  with 
which  a  Jew  would  regard  his  holy  city — the  joy  of 
the  whole  earth. 


356     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  survey,  when  complete,  will  give,  not  only  a 
perfect  and  accurate  map  of  the  Holy  Land,  whereby 
the  whole  history  of  the  Bible  can  be  clearly  followed 
and  understood  for  the  first  time,  but  also  plans  of 
all  the  existing  ruins,  identifications  such  as  those 
quoted  above,  and  a  list  of  all  existing  names.  It  is 
a  work  for  all  ages,  and  for  the  whole  world. 

An  accurate  survey  of  western  Palestine  was  begun 
by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  in  1872.  One  hun- 
dred and  seventy-two  biblical  sites  were  discovered. 
Out  of  six  hundred  and  twenty-two  biblical  names 
west  of  the  Jordan  four  hundred  and  thirty-four 
have  been  identified  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  cer- 
tainty. A  great  map  on  the  scale  of  an  inch  to  the 
mile  has  been  prepared  as  accurate  as  the  ordnance 
map  of  England.  The  survey  of  eastern  Palestine, 
begun  by  the  American  Exploration  Society,  has  been 
completed  under  the  auspices  of  the  Palestine  Explo- 
ration Fund  for  part  of  the  country.  The  German 
Palestine  Society,  and  several  noted  French  scholars 
and  explorers  have  also  done  admirable  work  in  this 
direction. 

The  Royal  Quarries  or  Cotton  Grotto  under  Jerix- 
salem  were  discovered  by  Sir  Charles  Warren  in  1872. 
They  extend  a  distance  of  seven  hundred  feet,  reach- 
ing a  width  of  three  hundred.  The  roof  averages 
about  thirty  feet  in  height,  supported  by  large  pillars 
of  native  rock.  This  was  also  a  mammoth  workshop 
as  well  as  quarry,  as  is  evident  from  ihe  great  blocks 
detached  and  partially  dressed,  and  in  the  heaps  of 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       357 

stone  chippings  that  litter  the  floor.  The  marks  of 
the  chisel  are  as  fresh  as  if  the  quarry  men  had  only- 
left  their  work.  It  was  in  all  probability  the  source 
whence  many  of  the  stones  used  in  the  substructions 
of  Solomon  and  in  the  reconstructions  of  Herod  were 
obtained. 

Thus  we  have  an  incidental  corroboration  of  the 
Scripture :  '*  And  the  house,  when  it  was  in  build- 
ing, was  built  of  stone  made  ready  before  it  was 
brought  thither,  so  that  there  was  neither  hammer 
nor  axe  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house 
while  it  was  in  building  "  (1  Kings  vi.  7). 

Dr.  Robinson,  an  eminent  explorer,  discovered  not 
far  from  the  southwest  angle  of  the  temple  wall  the 
broken  arch  of  a  bridge,  which  still  bears  his  name. 
It  is  fifty  feet  wide  and  contains  stones  from  nine- 
teen to  twenty-six  feet  in  length.  This  was  evidently 
the  beginning  of  a  viaduct  which  led  from  the  tem- 
ple over  the  Tyropoeon  valley  possibly  dating  from 
the  time  of  Herod,  or  in  its  substructures  even  from 
that  of  Solomon.  A  similar  arch  was  also  discovered 
by  Dr.  Wilson,  and  received  his  name.  It  is  a  well 
preserved  structure  twenty-one  feet  in  height  with  a 
span  of  forty-two  feet.  Dr.  Thomson  considers  it  a 
portion  of  the  same  great  structure  as  Robinson's 
Arch,  and  Sir  Charles  Warren  has  shown  that  there 
was  a  series  of  similar  arches  forming  a  viaduct 
toward  the  palace  of  Herod  on  the  western  hill. 

The  present  writer  has  himself  seen  in  the  museum 
at    Constantinople    an    inscribed    stone    of    peculiar 


368     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

interest  on  which  the  eyes  of  the  Saviour  may  have 
rested.  It  was  one  marking  the  boundary  between 
the  court  of  the  Gentiles  and  the  holy  place  of  the 
temple,  and  contained  a  warning  to  the  Gentiles 
against  profaning  the  sacred  enclosure. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  recent  discoveries  at 
Jerusalem,  that  of  the  "  tunnel  of  Hezekiah  '*  was 
made  by  accident  by  an  Arab  boy  in  August,  1880. 
It  is  regarded,  says  Dr.  Laird  Stewart,  as  one  of  the 
most  important  monumental  records  of  Old  Testament 
times.  It  is  conceded  by  all  the  leading  authorities 
that  its  inscription  represents  the  oldest  specimen  of 
the  Hebrew  language  that  has  come  down  to  us,  ex- 
cept the  writing  on  the  Moabite  Stone.  Says  Dr. 
Ward — *'  This  tunnel  was  not  made  later  than  the 
time  of  King  Hezekiah,  and  the  inscription  must  be 
of  that  date  or  earlier ;  and  it  is  the  only  purely 
Jewish  Palestine  inscription  of  any  length  known, 
there  being  nothing  else  but  small  seals."  This  dis- 
covery confirms,  if  it  does  not  make  certain,  the  sup- 
position that  the  pool  and  the  conduit  were  made  by 
Hezekiah,  as  described  in  2  Chron.  xxxii.  30.  This 
conduit  is  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eight 
feet  in  length.  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  and  Dr.  Smith 
of  Beyrout,  had  the  hardihood  to  creep  through 
its  whole  length,  as  did  also  Sir  Charles  Warren, 
although  the  roof  was  in  places  only  sixteen  inches 
high,  and  was  nearly  tilled  with  water. 

The  honorable  secretary  of  the  Palestine  Explora- 
tion Fund  (the  late  Sir  Walter  Besant)  summed  up 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.        359 

the  results  of  the  excavations  in  and  about  Jerusalem 
as  follows : 

"  Our  researches — one  says  it  with  pardonable 
pride — have  restored  the  splendors  of  the  holy  city. 
We  have  proved  how  the  vast  walls  of  the  temple — 
the  grandest  enclosure  of  the  finest  building  in  the 
whole  world — rose  from  deep  valleys  on  three  sides 
presenting  a  long  fugade  of  wall  crowned  with  pillars 
and  porticoes,  and  how  within  them  rose  the  gleam- 
ing white  marbles  of  the  inner  house  with  its  courts 
and  altars  and  its  crowds  of  priests  who  lived  by  the 
altar.  Our  researches  have  shown  the  inner  valley 
bridged  by  noble  arches  and  pierced  by  subterranean 
passages.  They  have  shown  the  city  provided  with 
a  magnificent  water  supply,  glorious  with  its  palaces, 
its  gardens,  its  citadel,  its  ca.^tle,  its  courts  and  its 
villas.  It  is  a  great  town  that  we  have  restored;  not 
a  commercial  town,  but  a  great  religious  centre  to 
which,  at  the  Passover  season,  more  than  two  million 
people  brought  their  offerings." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  discov- 
eries of  the  early  manuscripts  of  the  Bible  was  that 
of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus  in  1844.  This  was  found 
by  the  distinguished  German  scholar,  Dr.  Tischen- 
dorf,  in  a  very  romantic  manner.  He  was  visiting 
the  convents  of  the  Orient,  says  Dr.  Antliff,  "  in  the 
hope  of  discovering  ancient  manuscripts  that  might 
be  of  service  in  the  work  of  biblical  criticism,  to 
which  he  was  devoting  his  life.  In  his  travels  he 
came  to  the  Greek  convent  of  St.  Catherine  at  Mount 
Sinai.  Here  he  found  a  large  and  valuable  library, 
which,  however,  the  resident  monks  did  not  seem  to 
appreciate.     After  surveying  the  library  he  noticed 


360     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

a  basket  containing  some  stray  leaves,  which  his 
practised  eye  told  him  were  written  in  older  Greek 
characters  than  he  had  ever  before  seen.  He  was 
informed  that  the  leaves  were  for  lighting  a  fire,  and 
that  two  baskets  full  of  similar  leaves  had  already 
been  consumed.  He  found  that  the  leaves  were 
from  a  manuscript  of  the  Bible  and  obtained  permis- 
sion to  retain  them.  They  numbered  forty-three,  and 
he  learned  that  there  were  eighty  more  similar  ones, 
but  he  had  manifested  such  extreme  delight  in  ob- 
taining them,  that  the  monks  began  to  surmise  that 
they  were  of  no  ordinary  value,  and  consequently 
refused  to  part  with  the  others. 

"  Tischendorf  returned  to  Europe  and  deposited 
his  treasure  in  the  library  of  Leipsic  University.  In 
1853  he  again  visited  the  convent  and  endeavored  to 
obtain  the  remainder  of  the  codex,  but  the  monks 
were  obdurate.  In  1856  the  subject  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  Greek  Court,  and  eventually,  in 
1859,  Tischendorf  again  set  out  for  the  convent, 
bearing  letters  from  the  Czar,  Alexander  II.,  and 
dignitaries  of  the  Greek  Church."  For  some  time 
after  his  arrival  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  doomed  to 
failure.  But  just  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  the 
steward  of  the  convent  showed  him  a  bulky  manu- 
script which  he  carefully  guarded.  "  To  the  glad 
surprise  of  the  German  scholar,  he  perceived  that 
this  was  the  very  codex  he  had  been  so  earnestly 
longing  to  obtain  for  fifteen  years.  He  subsequently 
obtained  permission  to  copy  it,  then  to  carry  it  to 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.       361 

Russia,  and  finally  the  monks  presented  it  to  the 
Czar,  who  placed  it  in  the  library  of  St.  Petersburg, 
where  it  has  since  remained  as  one  of  the  greatest 
treasures  of  the  empire." 

In  the  year  1883  the  very  important  early  Christ- 
ian document,  known  as  the  Didache  or  "  Teaching  of 
the  Twelve,"  was  discovered  by  Philotheos  Bryen- 
nios,  Metropolitan  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  in  the  library 
of  the  Most  Holy  Sepulchre,  in  the  Fanar  of  Con- 
stantinople. It  is  described  as  "by  all  odds,  the  most 
important  writing  exterior  to  the  New  Testament, 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  Christian  world."  It 
is  attributed  to  the  first  half  of  the  second  century, 
not  later  than  140  to  150  a.d.  Its  full  title  is  "  The 
Lord's  Teaching  through  the  Twelve  Apostles  to  the 
Nations."  It  begins  with  the  statement  that  there 
are  two  ways,  one  of  life  and  one  of  death,  and  the 
first  six  chapters  set  forth  the  nature  of  these  ways 
and  the  end  to  which  they  lead.  The  ethical  teach- 
ing here  is  plain  and  pure,  often  adopting  the  very 
words  of  Scripture.  The  remaining  chapters  teach 
of  baptism,  the  Eucharist,  the  Lord's  Day,  the 
appointment  and  character  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
duty  of  watchfulness  amid  evil  times.  "  The  dis- 
covery of  so  capital  a  document,"  says  the  Indepenr 
dent,  '*  makes  the  year  1883  an  annus  miraUlis  in 
Church  history." 

In  1891  another  important  biblical  discovery  was 
made  in  the  convent  of  St.  Catherine,  Mount  Sinai, 
that  of  a  manuscript  which  throws  helpful  light  on 


362     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

the  sacred  text.  This  manuscript  is  a  version  of  the 
old  Syriac  Gos^Dels  and  is  counted  exceedingly  valu- 
able by  all  the  scholars  who  have  examined  it.  In 
the  winter  of  1891,  Mrs.  Agnes  Smith  Lewis  and  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Margaret  Dunlop  Gibson,  two  Scottish 
ladies  of  wealth  and  culture,  left  their  home  in  Cam- 
bridge to  visit  the  famous  convent  of  St.  Catherine. 
It  was  here  that  Tischendorf  had  discovered  the 
manuscript  which  now  ranks  as  one  of  the  four  ear- 
liest and  greatest  manuscripts  for  the  text  of  the 
l^ew  Testament ;  and  here  Professor  Rendell  Harris 
found  the  long-lost  Apology  of  Aristides,  a  document 
which  is  prized  for  apologetical  purposes,  because  it 
dates  back  to  the  first  half  of  the  second  century. 

On  the  arrival  of  these  ladies  at  the  convent  they 
set  to  work  with  determined  diligence,  copying  and 
photographing  everything  of  value  they  could  lay 
their  hands  on.  One  manuscript  in  particular  caught 
their  attention.  It  was  a  palimpsest,  which  means 
that  it  was  a  manuscript  which  had  been  written 
over  twice.  First  it  had  been  covered  with  Syriac 
characters,  and  when  these  characters  had  faded 
somewhat  some  scribe  had  written  over  them  in 
Greek  the  doings  of  certain  saints.  Its  pages  were 
glued  together,  and  had  to  be  separated  by  steam 
from  a  tea-kettle. 

Mrs.  Lewis  suspected  that  the  under  writing  was 
of  exceptional  importance,  so  she  patiently  photo- 
graphed the  whole  manuscript  page  by  page.  Then 
she  took  the  photographs  home  to  Cambridge,  where 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.        363 

oriental  experts  proclaimed  it  to  be  a  copy  of  the  old 
Syriac  Gospels. 

'*  Egypt,  the  paradise  of  the  archaeologist,"  writes 
Prof.  W.  W.  Davies,  Ph.  D.,  in  1897,  "  has  once 
more  surprised  the  Christian  world.  Some  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  south  of  Cairo,  on  the  very 
edge  of  the  Libyan  desert,  is  the  site  of  ancient 
Oxyrhyncus,  during  the  early  ages  of  our  era  an  im- 
portant centre  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  was  in 
this  deserted  spot  that  Mr.  Grenfell  and  Mr.  Hunt, 
of  England,  discovered  many  baskets  full  of  ancient 
papyri,  for  the  most  part  written  in  Greek,  and  be- 
longing to  the  early  centuries  of  Christianity.  The 
most  important  thing  so  far  examined  is  one  single 
leaf,  evidently  detached  from  a  book,  containing  what 
are  supposed  to  be  some  hitherto  unrecorded  sayings 
of  our  Lord.  These  new  sayings  of  Jesus  at  once 
attracted  the  attention  of  Christian  scholars  all  over 
the  world.  The  Greek  text  is  mutilated  in  several 
places :  several  words  have,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
been  rubbed  out,  or  so  defaced  as  to  defy  anything 
like  absolute  restoration.  Some  of  these  '  Sayings  ' 
are  very  interesting,  as  this : 

"  '  Jesus  saith.  Wherever  there  are  .  .  .  and  there 
is  one  .  .  .  alone,  I  am  with  him.  Raise  the  stone, 
and  there  thou  shalt  find  me ;  cleave  the  wood,  and 
there  am  I.'  " 

The  passage  may  be  a  parallel  to  the  well-known 
words  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world," — not  only  with 
the  favored  few,  whose  business  it  is  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  but  also  with  the  humble  day-laborer,  whose 
business  is  to  handle  heavy  stones  and  split  and  chop 
wood. 


364     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  finding  of  these  sayings  shows  very  conclu- 
sively that  the  early  Christian  Church  had  some 
literature  which  we  do  not  now  possess. 

The  date  of  the  fragment  is  not  absolutely  certain ; 
but  those  best  able  to  express  an  opinion  agree  in 
placing  it  prior  to  200  A.  D. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  side-lights  upon  Bible 
history  have  been  found  in  the  "  graffiti,"  or  wall 
inscriptions,  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and  of 
the  catacombs  and  ruins  of  ancient  Rome.  Some  of 
these  were  mere  satirical  scribblings  or  caricature 
pictures.  One  of  these,  which  was  discovered  by 
Father  Garrucci  in  1857,  we  have  personally  exam- 
ined in  the  museum  of  the  Collegio  Romano.  It  is 
thus  described  by  Rev.  Samuel  Manning,  LL.  D. : — 

"  In  the  chambers  which  were  occupied  as  guard- 
rooms by  the  Praetorian  troops  on  duty  in  the  palace 
of  the  Caesars,  a  number  of  rude  caricatures  are 
found  roughly  scattered  upon  the  walls,  just  such  as 
may  be  seen  upon  barrack-walls  in  every  part  of  the 
world.  Amongst  these  is  one  of  a  human  figure 
nailed  upon  a  cross.  To  add  to  the  '  offence  of  the 
cross  '  the  crucified  one  is  represented  with  the  head 
of  an  animal,  probably  that  of  an  ass.  Before  it 
stands  the  figure  of  a  Roman  legionary  with  one 
hand  upraised  in  the  customary  attitude  of  worship. 
Underneath  is  the  rude,  misspelt,  ungrammatical  in- 
scription, 'Alexamenos  worships  his  God.'  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  we  have  here  a  contempo- 
rary caricature  executed  by  one  of  the  Praetorian 
guards  ridiculing  the  faith  of  a  Christian  comrade." 

In  1898  another  graffito  of  much  interest  was  found 
in  Rome.     '^  Not  since  the  discovery  pf  the  *  Logia ' 


PROGRESS  OF  BIBLICAL  ARCHEOLOGY.        365 

containing  some  unpublished  sayings  of  Christ," 
says  L* Illustrazione  Italiana^  "  has  anything  been 
found  which  compares  in  interest  to  the  student  of 
Christian  archaeology  with  the  alleged  discovery  in 
the  palace  of  Tiberius,  on  the  Palatine  hill  in  Rome, 
of  a  graffito  representing  the  crucifixion. 

"  It  is  believed  that  the  picture  was  drawn  by  a 
soldier  who  took  a  more  or  less  active  part  in  the 
crucifixion  on  Mount  Calvary.  The  figures  are  about 
fifteen  centimeters — six  inches — high.  At  the  right 
and  left  are  crosses,  and  soldiers  mount  ladders 
placed  against  them.  Each  person  in  the  great  trag- 
edy is  duly  inscribed  with  his  name,  and  '  Piletus  '  was 
probably  intended  for  Pontius  Pilate.  The  inscrip- 
tion of  twelve  or  fifteen  lines  begins  with  the  word 
'  Crestus,'  which  is  already  known  as  a  rough  form 
of  the  name  of  Christ.  There  is  considerable  doubt 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  rest  of  the  inscription.  M. 
Marucchi  deciphers  part  of  it :  '  Crestus,  virgis 
csesus  decretus  mori,  super  palum  vivus  fixus  est,' 
which  is  to  say,  '  Christ,  after  being  beaten  with 
rods  having  been  condemned  to  die,  has  been  attached 
living  to  the  cross.'  " 

We  have  thus  seen  that  the  biblical  Archaeology 
of  the  nineteenth  century  has  opened  a  new  chapter 
in  apologetic  literature.  The  spade  of  the  explorer 
has  been  shown  to  be  one  of  the  best  of  biblical  com- 
mentators. '*  The  very  stones  cry  out  of  the  wall." 
Ancient  palimpsests  and  long  forgotten  graffiti  bear 
witness  to  the  authenticity  and  indubitable  veracity 
of  Holy  Writ. 


PART  FIVE. 

SPECIAL  EELIGIOUS  ACTIVITIES  AND  PHIL- 
ANTHROPIES OF  THE  CENTUKY. 


CHAPTER  XLIL 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  and  comprehensive 
agencies  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  young 
in  this  century  is  the  modern  system  of  Sunday- 
schools.  The  consecrated  energies  of  over  two  mil- 
lions of  teachers  have  been  enlisted  in  this  vast  and 
voluntary  unpaid  service,  and  about  twenty  millions 
of  scholars  have  been  enrolled  in  their  ranks.  Sunday- 
schools,  although  they  have  only  approached  their 
grandest  development  in  recent  decades,  are  of  no 
recent  origin.  There  were  catechumen  classes  for 
religious  instruction  in  both  the  Jewish  and  the  early 
Christian  Church.  Several  ecclesiastical  councils 
gave  instructions  as  to  the  management  of  such 
classes.  During  the  Reformation  period,  Luther 
founded  regular  catechetical  instruction  on  Sunday 
as  early  as  1529,  and  the  exaltation  and  authority 


368     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

assigned  to  the  Holy  Scripture  by  the  Reformation  led 
to  their  general  adoption  in  the  reformed  churches. 

Nor  were  similar  schools  unknown  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Charles  Borromeo,  Archbishop  of 
Milan,  instituted  Sunday-schools  throughout  his 
extensive  diocese,  1560-1584,  almost  identical  in 
form  and  spirit  with  their  modern  analogue.  The 
present  writer  has  seen  in  the  cathedral  church  of 
Milan,  and  in  other  churches  of  that  great  city,  as 
well  as  in  Venice  and  elsewhere  in  Italy,  well  con- 
ducted Sunday-schools  under  the  administration  of 
the  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religious  orders. 

John  Knox  established  Sunday-schools  in  Scot- 
land as  early  as  1560.  Joseph  Alleine,  the  author  of 
Alleine's  Alarm^  adopted  the  system  in  Bath,  Eng- 
land, 1650-1668.  The  early  Puritans  established 
such  schools  in  Plymouth  Colony  1674-1680.  In 
Pennsylvania  Ludwig  Hacker  organized  a  school  in 
1739,  which  was  continued  for  thirty  years,  result- 
ing in  many  revivals.  Mr.  Edwin  W.  Rice  cites 
numerous  other  schools  existing  before  the  date  of 
Robert  Raikes.  In  1769  a  young  Methodist  named 
Hannah  Ball  established  a  Sunday-school,  says  Dr. 
Abel  Stevens,  in  Wycombe,  England. 

These  sporadic  schools,  however,  do  not  detract 
from  the  merit  of  Raikes  as  being  the  father  and 
founder  of  the  modern  Sunday-school  system. 
Raikes  was  a  citizen  of  Gloucester,  England, 
and  proprietor  of  the  Gloucester  Journal,  In 
that  city    many    youth    of    both   sexes    were  em- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  369 

ployed  in  the  pin  and  other  factories.  The  heart 
of  Raikes  was  stirred  by  the  Sabbath  desecra- 
tion, profanity  and  ragged  wretchedness  of  these 
untaught  youth.  In  1781  "  he  engaged,"  says  Mr. 
E.  W.  Rice,  "  four  female  teachers  to  receive  and 
instruct  in  reading  and  in  the  catechism  such  children 
as  should  be  sent  to  them  on  Sunday.  The  children 
were  required  to  come  with  clean  hands  and  faces, 
and  hair  combed,  and  with  such  clothing  as  they  had. 
They  were  to  stay  from  ten  to  twelve,  then  to  go 
home ;  to  return  at  one,  and  after  a  lesson  to  be 
conducted  to  church  ;  after  church  to  repeat  portions 
of  the  catechism  ;  to  go  home  at  five  quietly,  without 
playing  in  the  streets.  Diligent  scholars  received 
rewards  of  Bibles,  Testaments,  books,  combs,  shoes 
and  clothing:  the  teachers  were  paid  a  shilKng  a 
day." 

Not  until  November  3,  1783,  did  Raikes  refer  in 
his  journal  to  these  schools.  The  following  year  he 
published  in  his  paper  an  account  of  his  plan.  John 
Wesley  reprinted  this  account  in  the  Arminian 
Magazine  and  exhorted  the  Methodist  people  to 
adopt  the  new  system  of  religious  instruction.  He 
speaks  of  them  prophetically  :  "  I  find  these  schools 
springing  up  wherever  I  go  ;  perhaps  God  may  have 
a  deeper  end  therein  than  men  are  aware  of ;  who 
knows  but  some  of  these  schools  may  become  nur- 
series for  Christians  ?  "  The  early  Methodists  took 
Wesley's  advice,  says  a  contemporary  writer,  and 
"  laboring,  hard-working  men  and  women  begaa  to 


370     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

instruct  their  neighbors'  children,  and  to  go  with 
them  to  the  house  of  God  on  the  Lord's  Day." 

John  Fletcher,  of  Madeley,  adopted  the  method, 
and  soon  had  three  hundred  children  under  instruc- 
tion, and  diligently  trained  them  till  his  last  illness. 
Sunday-schools  were  introduced  into  the  metropolis 
by  Rowland  Hill  in  1786.  The  same  year  John 
Wesley  states  that  five  hundred  and  fifty  children 
were  taught  in  the  Sunday-school  of  his  society  at 
Bolton,  and  the  next  year  he  found  there  eight 
hundred,  taught  by  eighty  "  masters." 

Richard  Rodda,  one  of  Wesley's  preachers,  records 
that,  in  1786,  he  formed  a  Sunday-school  in  Chester, 
and  soon  had  nearly  seven  hundred  children  "  under 
regular  masters."  Wesley  wrote  to  him  in  the 
beginning  of  1787  :  "  I  am  glad  you  have  taken  in 
hand  that  blessed  work  of  setting  up  Sunda3^-schools. 
It  seems  these  will  be  one  great  means  of  reviving 
religion  throughout  the  nation.  I  wonder  Satan  has 
not  yet  sent  out  some  able  champion  against  them." 
In  1788  Wesley  preached  at  Wigan  *'  A  sermon  for 
the  Sunday-schools,"  and  "  the  people  flocked  from 
all  quarters  in  a  manner  that  never  was  seen  before." 
The  year  before  his  death  he  wrote  to  Charles 
Atmore,  an  itinerant  preacher :  "  I  am  glad  you  have 
set  up  Sunday-schools  at  Newcastle.  This  is  one  of 
the  best  institutions  which  has  been  seen  in  Europe 
for  some  centuries." 

"  Thus,"  says  Dr.  Abel  Stevens,  "  is  Methodism 
historically  connected  with  both  the  initiation  and 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  371 

outspread  of  this  important  institution.  Under  the 
impulse  of  its  zeal,  the  Sunday-school  was  soon 
almost  universally  established  in  its  societies.  A 
similar  interest  for  it  prevailed  among  other  religious 
bodies ;  and,  in  three  years  after  Raikes'  published 
account  of  it,  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
children  were  receiving  instruction  from  its  thousands 
of  teachers." 

As  early  as  1785  a  society  was  organized  for  pro- 
moting Sunday-schools  throughout  the  British  do- 
minions. This  society  in  fifteen  years  expended 
about  four  thousand  pounds  for  teachers'  wages.  It 
met  with  strong  support  from  several  of  the  bishops 
and  clergymen  of  the  Established  Church.  But, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  vio- 
lently attacked  the  movement,  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  called  the  bishops  together  to  see 
what  could  be  done  to  stop  it.  In  Scotland,  Sabbath- 
school  teaching  by  laymen  was  declared  to  be  an  in- 
novation, and  a  breach  of  the  fourth  commandment. 

Sunday-schools  rapidly  multiplied  notwithstanding 
such  opposition  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  on 
the  continent.  They  were  introduced  into  America 
by  Francis  Asbury,  first  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  1786.  In  1791  a  society  was 
established  in  Philadelphia  "  for  promoting  tlio  relig- 
ious instruction  of  poor  children  on  Sunday."  It 
employed  paid  teachers,  in  ten  years  expending 
about  four  thousand  dollars.  This  society  still  coi> 
tinues  its  operations. 


372     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

These  schools  all  employed  paid  teachers.  Their 
purpose  was  to  reach  chiefly  the  children  of  the  poor 
and  neglected  classes.  They  were,  in  fact,  simply 
mission  schools  or  '*  Ragged  Schools."  The  system 
of  payment  made  their  maintenance  expensive,  and 
greatly  limited  their  usefulness  as  well  as  deprived 
them  of  their  grandest  characteristic  of  voluntary 
service.  Gradually  this  principle  was  introduced. 
John  Wesley,  in  1787,  speaks  of  Sunday-schools  at 
Bolton,  England,  "having  eighty  masters  who  re- 
ceived no  pay  but  what  they  received  from  the  great 
Master."  This  method  touched  fountains  of  conse- 
crated zeal  before  unknown.  The  system  of  volun- 
tary instruction  gave  a  new  impulse  to  this  great 
movement  by  adapting  it  to  the  needs  of  the  poorest 
community  in  town  or  country.  The  early  statistics 
of  Sunday-school  progress  are  imperfect,  but  in  1827 
the  number  enrolled  throughout  the  world  was 
1,350,000.  In  1851  the  number  had  increased  to  six 
millions.  On  the  Raikes  centenary  in  1880,  that 
number  had  reached  over  fifteen  millions.  At  the 
ninth  international  Sunday-school  convention  held  in 
1899  over  twenty-five  were  reported. 

Immense  development  has  taken  place  also  in 
Sunday-school  organization  and  equipment.  The 
schools  founded  by  Robert  Raikes  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  chiefly  for  the  poor  and  neglected  classes. 
Hence  reading  and  writing  were  taught,  and  oral 
instruction  in  the  catechism  and  Scriptures  was 
given.     There  was  no  concerted  scheme  of  lessons. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  373 

Each  school  selected  such  portions  of  Scripture  as  it 
chose.  About  1826  the  American  Sunday-school 
Union  introduced  a  series  of  uniform  lessons  for  its 
three  or  four  hundred  auxiliaries.  "  In  1829,"  says 
Mr.  Edwin  W.  Rice,  "  Mr.  Gall  urged  his  lesson 
system  upon  teachers  in  England ;  and  in  1830  regu- 
lar lessons  were  furnished,  with  notes  for  the  use  of 
teachers. 

In  1840  the  London  Sunday-school  Union  issued  a 
list  of  lessons  for  general  adoption,  adding  lesson 
notes  in  1842,  which  it  claims  to  have  continued  un- 
interruptedly till  the  present  time,  now  using  the 
International  Series.  ''  For  the  most  part,  however," 
continues  Mr.  Rice,  "  in  America,  for  a  number  of 
years  previous  to  1872,  each  school  prepared  its  own 
scheme  of  lessons  (if  it  used  any),  often  unsatis- 
factory, insomuch  that  this  method  has  been  not 
inaptly  termed  the  '  Babel  series '  of  lessons. 

"  Schemes  of  lessons  for  Sunday-schools,  with  notes, 
were  issued  in  the  Sundae/- School  Teacher  of  Chicago, 
in  1865 ;  and  in  1867  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs  suggested 
uniform  lessons  anew.  The  desire  for  such  a  series 
increased,  until  in  1871  a  meeting  of  Sunday-school 
publishers  was  held  in  New  York,  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the  National  Sunday- 
school  Convention,  which  agreed  upon  a  tentative 
scheme  of  uniform  lessons  for  1872.  At  the  Indian- 
apolis convention  in  that  year,  a  lesson  committee 
was  appointed  to  arrange  a  course  of  lessons  for  seven 
years,  covering  the  whole  Bible,  which  course  was 


374     RELIGIOUS  PE0GRE6S  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

recommended  for  the  use  of  Sunday-schools  through- 
out the  country.  This  committee  was  re-appointed 
and  enlarged  in  1878,  and  empowered  by  the  conven- 
tion to  select  another  seven  years'  course  of  Bible- 
lessons  for  use  throughout  the  world. 

"In  1875  the  lessons  were  reported  to  be  in  use  in 
America,  Great  Britain,  most  of  the  countries  of 
Europe,  in  Syria,  Hindostan,  China  and  Japan,  in 
Mexico,  Australia  and  the  Sandwich  Islands;  and 
in  1878  it  was  added,  '  United  Bible  study  has 
gained  many  new  friends.'  Comments  on  these  les- 
sons have  multiplied  like  the  leaves  of  the  forest, 
publishers  issuing  notes,  questioQS  and  lesson-leaves, 
and  even  many  secular  papers  give  regular  weekly 
comments  upon  the  Sunday-school  lesson.  The  most 
learned  professors  in  colleges  and  seminaries,  and 
pastors  have  contributed  the  results  of  their  ripest 
study  and  scholarship  in  exposition  of  these  lessons. 
Many  publishers  vie  with  each  other  in  securing  the 
ablest  comments,  and  producing  the  best  and  cheap- 
est lesson  helps.  A  different  series  of  Sunday-school 
lessons  are  in  use  in  most  of  the  schools  connected 
with  the  Church  of  England,  and  with  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States. 

'*  When  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement  be- 
gan, a  century  ago,  juvenile  religious  literature  did 
not  exist.  The  Pilgrim's  Progress^  Watts'  Divine 
and  Moral  Songs,  a  few  catechisms  and  similar  books, 
comprised  the  religious  works  specially  prepared  for 
children  at  that  day.    Gradually  a  juvenile  religious 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  375 

literature  was  developed  by  the  desire  of  Sunday 
scholars  for  reading,  and  the  circulating  library  in 
connection  with  each  school  was  introduced,  owing 
largely  to  the  earlier  work  and  issues  of  the  American 
Sunday-school  Union.  The  number  of  books,  period- 
icals and  lesson-helps  for  Sunday-schools  has  vastly 
increased  by  the  introduction  of  the  International 
lesson  system  and  other  improvements,  and  is  so  ex- 
tensive that  it  would  be  hopeless  to  attempt  to  gather 
statistics  respecting  them." 

Many  of  the  most  eminent  and  successful  business 
men  in  the  United  States  are  engaged  in  Sunday- 
school  work.  There  is,  for  instance,  B.  F.  Jacobs,  a 
successful  real  estate  agent,  of  Chicago,  one  of  the 
originators  with  Bishop  Vincent  of  the  International 
lesson  system  more  than  a  score  of  years  ago,  who 
has  ever  since  given  to  it  his  best  energies.  John 
Wanamaker,  late  Postmaster-General  of  the  United 
States,  the  head  of  two  of  the  greatest  business  enter- 
prises in  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  has  one  of  the 
largest  Sunday-schools  in  the  world.  The  late  John 
T.  Wattles,  the  publisher  of  the  Sunday-seliool  Times 
superintended  for  many  years  a  very  large  Sunday- 
school.  The  late  Mr.  William  Reynolds  left  a  very 
successful  business  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to 
Sunday-school  work.  Dwight  L.  Moody  won  his 
first  laurels  in  this  work.  Some  of  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States,  including  Mr.  McKinley,  Chief 
Justice  Brewer  and  associate  justices.  Generals  and 
Admirals,  Senators  and  Congressmen,  presidents  of 


376     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

colleges,  and  great  business  men,  have  been  Sunday- 
school  teachers. 

It  must  be  remembered  also  that  this  devotion  of 
two  millions  of  teachers  to  this  work  is  an  entirely 
unpaid  service.  Not  only  is  it  unpaid,  but  the 
teachers  and  superintendents  give  large  sums  of 
money  for  Sunday-school  equipment,  and  for  Sunday- 
school  literature.  In  this  way  many  scores  of  Sun- 
day-school magazines  and  papers  are  sustained,  and 
vast  editions  of  Sunday-school  commentaries  are 
called  for. 

On  the  value  of  this  voluntary  service  Mr.  B.  F. 
Jacobs  says  :  "  A  low  estimate  in  money  of  the  services 
of  these  teachers  would  be  one  dollar  per  week  for  each 
or  about  $100,000,000  per  annum,  but  much  more 
than  money  is  the  power  of  love  and  sympathy  ;  the 
true  teacher  gives  himself :  this  is  known  and  ap- 
preciated by  the  scholars.  Without  undervaluing 
other  work,  where  can  we  find  a  parallel  ?  " 

One  of  the  most  striking  developments  of  the  Sun- 
day-school system  has  been  the  annual  county,  state 
and  provincial  conventions  in  which  these  philan- 
thropic workers  have  assembled  to  compare  methods 
of  instruction  and  devise  the  wisest  plans  for  carry- 
ing out  their  great  work.  For  the  last  twenty-four 
years  triennial  international  Sunday-school  conven- 
tions have  been  held  for  the  promotion  of  Sunday- 
school  work  in  Canada  and  the  United  States. 
These  conventions  have  elected  the  international 
executive  and  lesson  committee.     The  lesson  com- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  377 

mittee  serves  without  payment  in  selecting  the  lessons 
for  international  study.  The  denominational  pub- 
lishing houses  then  procure  the  preparation  of  notes, 
comments  and  illustrations  of  these  lessons,  the  les- 
son committee  wisely  refraining  from  deriving  any 
monetary  advantage  or  exercising  any  denominational 
control  over  these  notes  and  comments.  The  execu- 
tive committee  serves  without  payment  in  managing 
the  inter-convention  business  of  the  association. 

The  first  world's  Sunday-school  convention  was 
held  in  London  in  1889.  A  ship  was  chartered  to 
convey  the  delegates  going  from  America.  A  second 
world's  convention  was  held  at  St.  Louis,  in  1893,  and 
the  third  was  held  in  London  in  1898.  In  the  judg- 
ment of  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  the  number  of  persons  en- 
gaged in  the  systematic  study  of  the  Word  of  God 
in  Sunday-schools  is  not  less  than  twenty-five  millions. 

A  recent  development  of  the  Sunday-school  idea  is 
the  Home  Department.  Like  the  Sunday  school 
itself  it  was  a  child  of  Providence.  Nothing  could 
be  more  obscure  than  its  beginning.  In  1881  a 
Christian  woman  in  New  York  State  collected  a 
group  of  boys  and  girls  in  a  porch  to  study  the 
Sunday-school  lesson.  She  asked  at  a  Sunday- 
school  convention  for  "  the  same  recognition  and  help 
as  a  teacher  as  was  accorded  to  other  teachers.  But 
these  were  withheld  because  she  was  not  in  the  same 
building  at  the  same  time  with  the  other  teachers, 
instructing  her  class  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  the  superintendent." 


378     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Dr.  William  A.  Duncan,  a  Congregational  layman, 
saw  the  large  possibilities  of  extending  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  Sunday-school  from  the  narrow  walls  of 
the  schoolroom  to  the  furthest  reach  of  the  parish. 
Before  the  New  York  State  Sunday-school  Associa- 
tion he  announced  the  vital  truth :  "  Where  there  is 
a  parlor,  a  kitchen,  an  empty  room  in  the  barn ; 
where  there  is  a  tree  which  God  has  made  to  throw 
shade  upon  the  earth ;  where  there  is  a  Christian 
mother  who  loves  her  sons  and  daughters;  where 
there  is  a  Christian  sister  who  feels  like  doing  some- 
thing for  the  Master, — there  these  boys  and  girls  can 
be  gathered  in  and  taught  about  Jesus." 

Gradually  the  new  idea  spread  like  leaven.  It  was 
discussed  in  Sunday-school  conventions  and  Sunday- 
school  papers.  The  conception  was  enlarged  so  as 
to  embrace  not  merely  the  young,  but  those  of  all 
ages,  the  infirm,  the  sick,  the  gray-haired  grandsire 
and  prattling  child. 

The  movement  commended  itself  to  the  different 
churches,  and  has  received  the  endorsation  of  the 
International  and  World's  Sunday-school  Conven- 
tions. "  The  number,"  says  Dr.  Hazard,  "  is  rapidly, 
even  phenomenally,  growing,  and  the  suggestion  is 
that  soon  there  will  not  be  a  Sunday-school  which 
pretends  to  be  well  equipped  which  will  not  have  its 
Home  Department." 

The  Home  Department  is  a  provision  whereby  per- 
sons unable  to  attend  the  Sunday-school  may  have  its 
benefits  brought  to  their  homes.     In  this  way  the 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  379 

"  shut-ins,"  the  prisoners  of  God*s  providence,  the 
sick  and  the  afflicted,  the  aged  and  infirm,  mothers 
having  the  care  of  young  children  or  engrossed  in 
household  duties,  domestic  servants,  persons  in  hos- 
pitals, asylums  and  similar  institutions,  may  be  reg- 
ularly visited,  supplied  with  Sunday-school  litera- 
ture, and  enrolled  with  the  school.  So,  too,  the 
"  shut-outs,"  the  great  army  of  commercial  travellers, 
the  railroad  conductors,  brakemen,  engineers,  news- 
boys, railway  postal  clerks,  telegraph  operators,  hotel 
clerks,  drug  clerks,  steamer  officers  and  employees, 
army  officers  and  soldiers,  civil  engineers  and  their 
assistants,  boatmen,  and  the  like* 

"  Some  families  are  situated  so. far  from  church  and 
Sunday-school  that  they  cannot  attend  either  service, 
or  more  than  one.  Others  are  in  small  communities 
where  there  are  no  church  or  Sunday-school  privileges, 
or  live  in  localities  where  they  are  isolated  from  all 
tlie  benefits  of  society.  To  such  families  the  Home 
Department  is  an  inestimable  boon.  It  brings  them 
into  connection  with  thousands  of  others.  They  feel 
the  impulse  of  the  spiritual  life  which  throbs  in  the 
church  and  Sunday-school.  This  mental  and  moral 
stimulus  is  just  what  they  need.  It  is  like  bringing 
into  the  home  a  telegraph  wire  which  connects  it 
with  the  great  world  without,  though  it  may  be  upon 
some  lonely  mountain  top  or  in  some  unfrequented 
vale." 

Nor  is  this  movement  confined  to  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  It  has  been  adopted  in  Austria,  Ger- 
many, Russia  and  even  in  India.  To  Austria  it  is 
peculiarly  adapted,  for  the  laws  prohibit  independent 

Li 


380     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

or  officially  unrecognized  meetings,  so  that  the  Home 
Department  can  accomplish  what  cannot  be  done 
through  the  Sunday-school. 

Nor  are  the  prisoners  in  the  jails,  penitentiaries 
and  reformatories  forgotten  in  this  Sunday-school 
instruction.  In  almost  all  these  institutions  devoted 
teachers  are  seeking  to  impart  instruction  week  by 
week  in  the  Word  of  God.  The  stranger  within  the 
gates,  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  Syrians,  foreigners  of 
every  name  and  tongue  also  receive  the  ministrations 
of  the  Sunday-school. 


BIBLE  SOCIETIES.  381 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

BIBLE   SOCIETIES. 

The  nineteenth  century  has  been  specially  char- 
acterized by  the  great  diffusion  of  religious  literature. 
The  most  remarkable  form  which  this  has  taken  has 
been  an  enormous  multiplication  of  copies  of  the 
Word  of  God.  This  is  not  merely  the  result  of  the 
commercial  enterprise  of  great  publishing  houses,  but 
also  of  societies  specially  organized  to  print  in  many 
hundreds  of  languages  and  dialects  God's  message  to 
men. 

While  such  societies  are  a  special  note  of  this 
century,  long  before  its  dawn  similar  work  was  carried 
on.  As  early  as  1663  the  Society  for  Propagating 
the  Gospel  in  New  England  bore  the  expense  of 
printing  Eliot's  Indian  Bible.  In '1698  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  was  established 
in  Great  Britain.  An  important  part  of  its  work  was 
the  spread  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Church  of  England 
Prayer  Book  at  home  and  abroad.  It  published  the 
Bible  in  English,  Welsh,  Manx  and  Arabic. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  organized  in  1701,  had  special  refer- 
ence to  the  American  colonies.     Its  main  instrument 


382     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

for  this  purpose  was  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  The  Scottish  Society  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,  organized  in  1709,  promoted 
similar  work  by  similar  methods  especially  in  the 
Scottish  islands  and  highlands,  and  in  those  parts  of 
North  America  chiefly  settled  by  Scottish  emigrants. 
It  circulated  largely  Bibles  in  the  Gaelic  tongue. 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  Canstein  Bible 
Institute,  founded  in  1712  by  the  Baron  of  Canstein, 
formed  a  part  of  Francke's  Institute  at  Halle,  Ger- 
many. It  still  continues  in  vigorous  operation,  and 
has  circulated  many  millions  of  copies  of  the  Word 
of  God.  The  Naval  and  Military  Bible  Society  was 
formed  in  London,  in  1780,  chiefly  to  distribute  the 
Scriptures  among  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the 
British  army  and  navy.  The  Society  for  the  Support 
and  Encouragement  of  Sunday-schools,  begun  in 
1785,  distributed  gratuitously  great  numbers  of  the 
Bible  and  New  Testament  among  the  schools  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  A  similar  society,  established  in 
Dublin  in  1792,  did  a  similar  work  among  the  poorer 
classes  of  Ireland.  The  same  year  a  French  Bible 
society  was  founded  in  London  for  the  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures  in  France.  The  French  Revolution, 
however,  prevented  its  successful  operation. 

The  Welsh  people  were  notable  Bible  readers,  and 
an  edition  of  ten  thousand  Welsh  Bibles,  published 
by  the  Christian  Knowledge  Society,  was  soon 
exhausted.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Charles,  of  Bala,  a 
leader  among  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists,  after 


BIBLE  SOCIETIES.  383 

vain  efforts  to  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  of 
the  Scriptures  to  feed  the  famine  of  the  Word  of 
God,  proposed  to  organize  a  society  for  that  purpose. 

The  suggestion  evoked  a  warm  response.  The 
question  was  raised,  "  If  for  Wales,  why  not  for  the 
kingdom  and  for  the  world?"  A  public  meeting 
was  held  March  7,  1804,  at  the  London  Tavern. 
Three  hundred  persons  were  present  of  various 
denominations,  Churchmen  and  Dissenters.  The  re- 
sult was  the  organization  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  which  began  operations  with  a  sub- 
scribed fund  of  <£700. 

Here  was  a  platform  on  which  all  denominations 
could  meet  and  work  for  a  common  object,  namely, 
the  circulation  of  the  Word  of  God,  without  note  or 
comment,  at  home  and  abroad.  Soon  an  edition  of 
twentj^  thousand  Bibles  was  published  to  supply  the 
needs  of  the  principality  of  Wales.  The  art  of 
stereotyping  had  just  been  invented,  which  greatly 
facilitated  the  printing  of  large  editions.  "  When,  in 
1806,  the  first  wagonful  of  Bibles  came  into  Wales," 
says  Dr.  Schoel,  "  it  was  received  like  the  ark  of  the 
covenant ;  and  the  people,  with  shouts  of  great  joy, 
dragged  it  into  the  city."  In  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland  the  society  distributed  the  Bible  in  an 
improved  Gaelic  translation. 

"  But  it  has  not  forgotten  that  it  is  a  foreign  as 
well  as  British  Bible  Society.  It  has  sent  its  agents 
everywhere  ;  it  has  excited  a  world-wide  interest  iil 
the  Word  of  God,  and  especially  in  mission  fields  is 


384     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

supplying  the  pure  water  of  life  unto  millions  of 
thirsty  souls." 

Roman  Catholics  for  a  time  co-operated  with  this 
work,  but  a  society  of  their  own  was  formed  at 
Ratisbon  in  1805  for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures 
in  the  German  tongue.  This  was  abolished  by  a 
Papal  bull  in  1817.  Another  at  Presburg,  for  cir- 
culating the  Scriptures  in  Hungarian,  was  in  like 
manner  suppressed.  The'  Berlin  Bible  Society  was 
founded  in  1806,  and  was  converted  into  the  Prussian 
Bible  Society  in  1814.  An  important  Bible  Society 
was  also  established  in  Switzerland,  at  Basle,  in  1812. 
The  Russian  Bible  Society,  authorized  by  an  imperial 
ukase  in  1813,  was  suspended  by  the  same  authority 
in  1826.  A  Protestant  Bible  Society  was  established 
in  its  place.  The  kings  of  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Sweden 
and  Wiirtemberg  have  been  patrons  of  Bible  societies. 
Such  societies  have  also  been  established  in  the 
Netherlands,  Denmark,  Iceland  and  in  almost  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  globe. 

Even  the  excellent  objects  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  were  not  pursued  without  opposi- 
tion. It  was  thought  dangerous  to  put  the  Bible, 
without  note  or  comment,  into  the  hands  of  the 
laity,  and  especially  of  the  heathen.  The  most  seri- 
ous trouble,  however,  came  in  connection  with  the 
Apocrypha.  At  first  the  Bible  printed  for  the  Can- 
stein  Society  contained  the  Apocrypha ;  but  in  1811 
attention  was  called  to  this  fact,  and  the  committee 
determined  to   exclude    it.     The   consequence  was 


BIBLE  SOCIETIES.  385 

that  the  societies  upon  the  continent  where  the 
Apocrypha  was  universally  used,  and  of  which  the 
British  society  had  founded  over  fifty,  separated 
themselves  from  the  parent  society. 

The  refusal  of  the  British  society  in  1831  to  alter 
its  constitution  so  as  to  exclude  non-Trinitarians, 
and  to  withdraw  from  circulation  in  France,  Spain 
and  Portugal  Bibles  translated  from  the  Vulgate, 
led  to  the  formation  of  the  Trinitarian  Bible  Society, 
which,  however,  has  been  of  exceedingly  limited 
operation. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  gener- 
ously aided  the  publication  of  the  Scriptures  in  many 
lands  and  many  tongues.  The  lonely  missionary  or 
translator,  working  in  isolation  and  solitude,  often 
reducing  the  language  to  writing  for  the  first  time, 
finds  the  result  of  his  labors  adopted,  printed  and 
published  by  this  great  society,  which,  without  a 
single  missionary  of  its  own,  yet  proclaims  the 
oracles  of  God  more  widely  than  any  other  organiza- 
tion in  the  world. 

One  of  these  Bibles  is  printed  in  the  S3dlabic  char- 
acter invented  by  the  Rev.  James  Evans,  a  Metho- 
dist missionary  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Territory  of 
Canada.  By  the  use  of  a  series  of  characters  repre- 
senting syllables  of  the  Ojibwa  tongue,  their  lan- 
guage has  been  for  the  first  time  reduced  to  writing. 
So  simple  are  these  characters  that  the  missionary, 
by  inscribing  them  upon  a  rock  or  tracing  them 
in  the  sand,  may  in  a  few  days  teach  savage  tribes 


386     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

to   read   the   oracles   of   God   in  their   own  mother 
tongue. 

Mr.  Evans  cut  his  first  type  from  the  lead  that 
was  wrapped  around  the  tea  chests  that  came  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  posts.  His  ink  was  gunpowder  mixed 
with  water,  and  his  paper  the  inner  bark  of  the  birch 
tree.  The  Bible  society  has  printed  the  Scriptures 
in  this  syllabic  character,  which  is  understood  over 
an  area  nearly  as  large  as  the  whole  of  Europe. 
Hymn  books,  the  Pilgrini's  Progress^  and  other  re- 
ligious literature  are  also  published  in  this  tongue. 
When  Lord  Dufferin  was  told  of  the  achievements 
of  this  humble  and  little-known  missionary,  he  de- 
clared that  many  a  man  lies  in  Westminster  Abbey 
who  has  not  done  as  much  for  mankind. 

"  In  1T77,  during  the  Revolutionary  War,"  says 
Dr.  S.  M.  Jackson,  '*  Congress  were  memorialized  to 
print  thirty  thousand  copies  of  the  Bible  in  order  to 
supply  the  demand.  Owing  to  the  want  of  type  and 
paper,  they  could  not  be  printed.  Hence  the  Com- 
mittee on  Commerce  was  empowered  to  import 
twenty  thousand  copies  from  Holland,  Scotland  or 
elsewhere,  at  the  expense  of  Congress.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  embargo  prevailing  at  the  time,  this 
scheme  could  not  be  carried  out ;  and  in  1782,  on 
another  memorial,  a  committee  reported,  recommend- 
ing a  Bible  printed  by  Robert  Aitken  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

'*  But  Bibles  were  not  in  those  times  printed  in 
sufficient  quantity,  nor  at  low  enough  prices,  for  the 
poor.  In  1808  the  first  organization  for  the  supply 
of  the  Bible  was  formed  in  Philadelphia.  The  idea 
was  quickly  taken  up  everywhere ;  so  that  in  June, 


BIBLE  SOCIETIES.  337 

1816,  a  hundred  and  twenty-eight  Bible  societies 
were  reported.  The  credit  of  the  idea  of  uniting 
these  societies  into  one  seems  due  to  the  Rev.  Samuel 
J.  Mills,  who  reported  the  spiritual  destitution  of  the 
West  and  Southwest  in  1815 ;  but  the  first  one  to 
take  active  measures  in  such  a  direction  was  the 
Hon.  Elias  Boudinot,  President  of  the  New  Jersey 
Bible  Society,  who,  on  January  1,  1816,  made  the 
first  public  communication  in  favor  of  a  national 
Bible  movement." 

In  1816  a  convention  was  held  for  that  purpose. 
Sixty  delegates,  representing  twenty-eight  Bible  so- 
cieties of  various  sections  of  the  country,  and  of 
various  denominations  (Congregational,  Presbyte- 
rian, Protestant-Episcopal,  Methodist-Episcopal,  Re- 
formed Dutch,  Baptist  and  the  Society  of  Friends), 
met,  and  adopted  a  constitution  and  elected  the  offi- 
cers and  board  of  managers.  It  received  the  title  of 
the  American  Bible  Society. 

In  1847  the  managers  of  this  society  found  that 
their  Bibles  and  those  of  England  had  many  small 
discrepancies,  which  embarrassed  the  proof-readers. 
A  thorough  collation  was  therefore  made.  Though 
the  number  of  variations  or  discrepancies  noted  in 
the  text  and  punctuation  of  the  six  copies  compared 
fell  but  a  little  short  of  24,000,  yet  not  one  of  the 
entire  number  marred  the  integrity  of  the  text  or 
affected  any  doctrine  or  precept  of  the  Bible.  "  Not 
one  reader  in  a  thousand,"  says  Dr.  Hodge,  "  would 
notice  the  alterations,  unless  they  were  pointed 
out."     In  the  fall  of  1856  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Coxe,  then 


388     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  Baltimore,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Western  New 
York,  questioned  the  right  of  the  society  to  make 
these  alterations,  and  it  was  decided  that  King 
James's  version  must  be  the  standard  which  they 
would  maintain. 

The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  or- 
ganized in  Philadelphia  in  1836  by  representatives 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  It  translates  the  Greek 
words  baptismos  and  haptiso  "  immersion  "  and  "  im- 
merse," instead  of  translating  them  in  the  words 
"  baptism  "  and  "  baptize,"  like  the  other  Bible  soci- 
eties. It  supports  Bible  readers  and  distributers  in 
India  and  among  the  freedmen  in  the  South. 

The  American  Bible  Union  was  organized  in  1850. 
Its  object  is  "to  procure  and  circulate  the  most 
faithful  versions  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  in  all  lan- 
guages, throughout  the  world."  It,  therefore,  sought 
to  revise  the  sacred  text  in  accordance  with  the  latest 
scholarship  in  Bible  criticism. 

Note.— According  to  trustworthy  estimates,  280,000,000 
copies  of  the  Bible  have  been  printed  by  seventy-three 
Bible  societies  during  the  nineteenth  century.  Of  these  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  issued  160,000,000  copies. 
The  American  Bible  Society,  since  its  foundation  in  1836,  has 
issued  66,000,000  copies. 


RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETIES  389 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

RELIGIOUS  TRACT   SOCIETIES. 

In  addition  to  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures 
without  note  or  comment,  very  great  religious  enter- 
prise has  been  shown  in  the  circulation  of  short,  terse, 
plain  statements  of  religious  truth  in  the  form  of 
tracts.  This  method  is  by  no  means  confined  to  this 
century,  but  has  been  practised  in  every  time  of  re- 
ligious awakening,  even  long  before  the  discovery  of 
the  art  of  printing.  It  has  been  asserted,  indeed, 
that  John  Wycliffe  was  the  greatest  tract-writer  that 
ever  lived.  A  continual  stream  of  pamphlets  and 
short  religious  treatises  flowed  from  his  pen.  Two 
hundred  of  them  were  in  circulation  in  Bohemia 
alone.  Diligently  transcribed  and  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  by  Lollard  packmen  and  preachers,  they  did 
much  to  mould  the  religious  life  of  Great  Britain, 
Bohemia  and  other  lands  long  before  the  period  of 
the  Protestant  Reformation. 

Luther,  too,  was  a  diligent  writer  of  tracts.  From 
his  castle  eyrie  at  the  Wartburg  he  sent  forth  in  a 
single  year  one  hundred  and  eighty- three  strong, 
sturdy  pamphlets  whose  very  words  were  half  battles. 
So  also  from  the  pens  of  Melanchthon,  Zwingle,  Cal- 
vin, Knox,  Farel,  Bucer,  (Ecolampadius  and   many 


390     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

others  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Reformation,  flowed  a 
continual  stream  of  religious  tracts. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  was 
founded  to  disperse  both  at  home  and  abroad  Bibles 
and  tracts  on  religion.  It  is  wholly  connected 
with  the  Church  of  England,  and  continues  to  pub- 
lish a  vast  amount  of  popular  literature,  reaching  an 
issue  of  over  ten  millions  in  a  year. 

The  famous  Puritan  Divine,  Joseph  Alleine,  dis- 
tributed gratuitously  thousands  of  books,  catechisms 
and  prayers ;  and  his  Alarm  to  the  Unconverted,  of 
which,  in  Calamy's  time,  above  seventy  thousand 
copies  had  been  sold,  was  manifestly  written  for 
gratuitous  distribution.  Richard  Baxter's  Call  to  the 
Unconverted  was  another  tract  which  was  largely  cir- 
culated, some  twenty  thousand  copies  being  distrib- 
uted in  less  than  a  year. 

In  1742  John  Wesley  began  the  publication  of 
tracts  and  books  on  a  very  extensive  scale.  "  He 
not  only  wrote  more  tracts  than  any  other  man  of  the 
age,"  says  Dr.  Stevens,  "  but  began  their  circulation 
by  his  preachers  throughout  the  United  Kingdom." 
In  1782  Wesley  and  Coke  instituted  the  "Society 
for  the  Distribution  of  Religious  Tracts  among  the 
Poor." 


"  In  1750,"  says  the  Rev.  Franklin  Noble,  '*  the 
'  Society  for  Promoting  Religious  Knowledge  Among 
the   Poor '  was  organized  in  London,  and  was  the 


RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETIES,  391 

first  publishing  society  in  which  members  of  differ- 
ent religious  denominations  were  united.  In  1756 
societies  were  established  at  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow 
for  similar  objects,  and  for  several  years  circulated 
many  religious  publications ;  but  eventually  they,  as 
well  as  the  London  Society,  declined. 

'*  In  1795  Miss  Hannah  More  commenced  at  Bath 
a  monthly  series  of  short  religious  tales  which  she 
named  the  Cheap  Repository^  of  which  two  million 
copies  were  sold  the  first  year.  In  it  was  published 
the  widely  popular  story  of  The  Shepherd  of  Salis- 
bury Plain.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Wilkinson,  of  Clapham, 
Surrey,  also  wrote  and  publibhed  many  small  books 
and  tracts.  The  Philanthropic  Society  printed  for 
her  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  commencing  with 
1792,  four  hundred  and  forty  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  copies  of  books  and  tracts." 

In  1793  the  "  Religious  Tract  Society,"  or  as  it  is 
now  called  the  "  Religious  Tract  and  Book  Society 
of  Scotland,"  was  founded  in  Edinburgh  by  the  Rev. 
John  Campbell,  a  missionary  to  Africa. 

The  most  comprehensive  and  successful  of  all  these 
societies  dates  from  the  last  year  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  It  originated  in  the  labors  of  the  Rev. 
George  Burder,  of  Coventry,  who  had  begun  print- 
ing tracts  on  his  own  account  in  1781,  of  a  more  di- 
rectly religious  character  than  those  of  Miss  Hannah 
More.  He  continued  their  occasional  issue  in  con- 
nection with  some  friends  for  several  years,  and  then 
convened  a  meeting  of  ministers  by  whom  the  society 
was  established  under  its  present  name — '*  The  Lon- 
don Religious  Tract  Society."  Its  first  meeting  was 
held  in  Surrey  Chapel,  the  Rev.  Rowland  Hill  exert- 


392     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

ing  much  influence  in  the  establishment  of  the  so- 
ciety. 

"  At  the  outset,"  writes  Dr.  S.  G.  Green,  for  many- 
years  secretary  of  the  society,  "  the  production  of 
tracts  was  the  only  aim ;  and  the  value  of  the  method, 
as  well  as  the  appropriateness  and  interest  of  the  first 
publications  issued,  led  to  a  speedy  enlargement  of 
the  work  beyond  the  anticipations  of  its  early  pro- 
moters. Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  society 
it  was  adopted  as  a  fundamental  rule  that  its 
managers  should  be  taken  in  equal  numbers  from 
the  Church  of  England  and  from  the  ranks  of 
non-conformity.  The  experience  of  a  hundred  years 
has  shown  that  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  easy,  for 
all  to  labor  together  in  this  work,  without  any  com- 
promise of  individual  opinions,  or  any  entanglement 
in  doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical  dispute." 

Nor  has  this  comprehensiveness  been  evinced  only 
in  one  special  work.  It  was  in  the  committee  room 
of  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1802,  that  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
was  originated,  and  on  Tuesday,  February  1, 1803, 
that  its  rules  were  finally  adopted ;  the  diffusion  of 
the  streams  thus  naturally  leading  to  the  fountain- 
head.  From  the  first,  the  two  societies  have  labored 
together  in  brotherly  union  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  world. 


'*  Every  tract,"  continues  Dr.  Green,  "  before  adop- 
tion by  the  society,  is  submitted  to  the  whole  com* 
mittee  and  decided  on  by  vote.     It  is  required  that 


RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETIES.  393 

the  narratives  in  these  tracts  should  be  literally  true. 
Fiction,  it  is  held,  has  its  becoming  place  in  litera- 
ture; but  a  tract,  to  win  the  highest  usefulness, 
should  deal  with  real  personages  and  actual  experi- 
ences. Of  the  tracts  produced  under  these  condi- 
tions, there  are  now  many  thousands  on  the  society's 
catalogue,  from  the  single  page  hand-bill  to  the 
important  series  of  present-day  tracts,  in  which 
some  of  the  foremost  scholars  and  thinkers  have  em- 
ploved  their  pens  for  the  defence  of  the  Christian 
faith." 


The  work  of  the  society  has  extended  far  beyond 
that  of  circulating  tracts.  The  publication  of  books 
was  gradually  introduced.  These  were  at  first  abridg- 
ments of  standard  works,  as  those  of  the  Puritan 
divines.  Subsequently  concise  commentaries  on  the 
Scriptures,  Bible  dictionaries  and  Concordance,  Bible 
hand-books  and  the  like,  have  had  a  very  large  cir- 
culation. Books  of  piety  and  devotion  have  had  an 
enormous  sale.  The  Rev.  John  Angell  James's 
Anxious  Enquirer,  for  instance,  circulated  over  a 
million  copies.  Bunyan's  Pilgrirn's  Progress  has 
been  issued  in  sixty-five  languages,  mainly  by  the 
society's  aid.  The  juvenile  tales,  as  those  of  Hesba 
Stretton,  have  circulated  by  the  million,  many 
of  them  in  penny  editions.  The  aid  of  pictorial 
illustration  has  been  invoked,  immensely  populariz- 
ing the  books  and  tracts.  The  periodicals  of  the 
society  have  also  become  a  very  important  part  of 
its  work  and  have  reached  an  enormous  circula- 
tion. 


394     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

"  The  Religious  Tract  Society  is  also  a  great  mis- 
sionary institution.  For  the  furtherance  of  its  high- 
est purposes,  the  committee  make  every  week 
large  grants  of  tracts  to  distributers  at  home  and 
abroad,  either  altogether  gratuitously  or  at  a  con- 
siderable reduction  in  price.  One  circumstance  that 
contributes  no  little  to  its  usefulness  is,  that  it  has 
at  its  back,  so  to  speak,  a  vast  army  of  Christian  men 
and  women  who  are  voluntarily  engaged  in  circu- 
lating publications,  often  accompanying  the  silent 
message  with  the  living  voice,  and  so  in  a  twofold 
manner  acting  the  part  of  evangelists.  Tracts  are 
supplied  in  unstinted  numbers  for  missionary  efforts 
of  every  kind,  for  hospital  and  work-house  visitation, 
for  emigrant  and  other  ships,  for  soldiers  on  service 
abroad,  and  for  settlers  in  the  British  colonies  all 
over  the  world. 

"  The  society  publishes,  or  aids  the  publication  of, 
tracts,  books  and  periodicals  in  nearly  two  hundred 
languages  and  dialects,  and  is,  in  fact,  an  auxiliary 
to  every  Protestant  missionary  society.  The  methods 
by  which  it  acts  are  very  various.  The  societies  and 
missions  thus  aided  are  naturally,  for  the  most  part, 
English  ;  but  those  of  the  United  States  and  of  Ger- 
many to  a  large  extent  share  also  in  the  benefit.  Im- 
portant societies  at  Paris,  Toulouse,  Basle,  Berlin, 
Hamburg,  Gernsbach  (Black  Forest),  Stockholm, 
Christiania  and  other  places,  carry  on  their  several 
plans  of  publication  and  distribution:  the  London 
Tract  Society  being  in  various  ways  the  helper  of 
all."  "  The  Religious  Tract  Society,"  continues 
Dr.  Green,  "  has  spent  for  foreign  work  X  733,933 
and  its  total  circulation  in  all  languages  thirty-three 
thousand  millions." 

The  Wesleyans  and  the  Baptists  have  also  special 
organizations  for  tract-work.  Christian  workers  con- 
nected with  Mildmay  Park  in  London,  and  various 


RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETIES.  395 

sections  of  Plymouth  Brethren,  publish  many  tracts. 
The  Stirling  Tracts,  at  first  prepared  and  printed  by 
the  private  enterprise  of  the  late  Mr.  Peter  Drum- 
mond,  an  enterprising  seed  merchant  in  that  town, 
are  circulated  by  millions.  A  Dublin  Tract  and 
Book  Repository  was,  until  lately,  carried  on  with 
a  special  view  to  Ireland.  Many  publishers  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  find  it  remunerative  to  publish 
"  leaflets  "  —  miniature  tracts  —  or  single  hymns, 
chiefly  for  enclosure  in  letters.  A  vast  circulation 
is  thus  secured  in  the  correspondence  of  relatives 
and  friends,  and  much  good  is  accomplished  in  a 
quiet  way,  of  which  no  statistics  can  be  given.  The 
power  of  the  press,  indeed,  only  begins  to  be  under- 
stood as  a  means  of  counteracting  error,  of  diffusing 
truth,  and,  in  the  largest  sense  of  the  phrase,  of 
preaching  Christ's  Gospel. 

The  most  important  of  the  tract  societies  of  Con- 
tinental Europe  is  the  Hamburg  Tract  Society,  organ- 
ized in  1836,  which  has  issued  many  copies  of  its 
publications.  There  are  also  tract  societies  sup- 
ported by  all  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church  in 
Paris,  Lausanne,  Toulouse,  Brussels,  Geneva  and 
other  continental  cities. 

The  first  religious  publication  society  in  the 
United  States  was  the  "  Methodist  Book  Concern," 
originally  established  in  Philadelphia,  which  issued 
its  first  publication  in  1789.  The  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Stanford  published  tracts  in  New  York  in  1786.  In 
1803  the   Massachusetts    "Society  for    Promoting 

2  a 


396     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Christian  Knowledge  *'  was  formed.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  earliest  undenominational  tract  society 
organized  in  America.  Subsequently  numerous  local 
societies  sprang  into  existence,  of  which  the  "  Re- 
ligious Tract  Society  "  of  New  York,  founded  in 
1812,  and  the  ''New  England  Tract  Society"  at 
Andover,  in  1814,  seem  to  have  been  the  most  effi- 
cient. The  latter  grew  rapidly,  and  in  1823  changed 
its  name  to  the  "  American  Tract  Society,"  and 
shortly  thereafter  its  location  to  Boston,  greatly  en- 
larging its  operations. 

In  1825  the  "  American  Tract  Society "  was  or- 
ganized in  New  York,  and  was  intended  to  unite  the 
local  societies  then  in  existence  as  far  as  possible  as 
auxiliaries.  The  Boston  Society  became  a  branch  of 
it.  This  union  continued  till  May,  1859,  when,  in 
consequence  of  the  dissatisfaction  of  a  considerable 
number  of  the  members  in  New  England  and  else- 
where at  the  hesitation  of  the  American  Tract  Society 
in  New  York  to  publish  tracts  or  treatises  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  the  two  societies  resumed  their  inde- 
pendent organizations. 

The  American  Tract  Society  in  New  York,  own- 
ing a  large  building  in  Nassau  and  Spruce  Streets, 
called  the  "  Tract  House,"  manufactures  its  publica- 
tions, and  has  become  one  of  the  largest  of  the  na- 
tional benevolent  societies  of  the  country.  In  1842 
the  society  commenced  its  colportage  system,  which 
it  has  maintained  up  to  the  present  time. 

*'  The  foreign  work  of  the  society  is  mainly  carried 


RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETIES.  397 

on  by  the  aid  of  missionaries  at  seventy  different 
stations  in  the  nominally  Christian,  Mohammedan 
and  heathen  world.  At  the  principal  mission  cen- 
tres committees  are  formed,  each  member  represent- 
ing one  of  the  several  denominations  there  laboring, 
and  these  prepare  and  recommend  the  tracts  proper 
for  publication  by  this  society ;  and  to  these  unde- 
nominational and  soul-saving  books  the  annual  grants 
of  the  society  are  devoted."  The  society  has  printed 
more  or  less,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  over  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  languages  and  dialects,  a  work  which 
has  borne  a  very  considerable  part  in  conquering 
heathendom  for  Christ. 

The  American  Tract  Society,  Boston,  in  1858,  re- 
sumed for  some  years  its  separate  organization  and 
work,  chiefly  for  greater  freedom  of  action  respect- 
ing slavery,  but  since  1878  again  co-operates  with 
the  national  society.  The  Western  Tract  and  Book 
Society  of  Cincinnati  also  co-operates  with  the  society 
at  New  York. 


398     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

KAISERSWERTH    AND  THE    DEACONESS  MOVEMENT. 

As  one  sails  up  the  lower  Rhine,  with  its  flat 
banks  bordered  by  green  meadows,  and  fringed  with 
scattered  poplars,  he  may  see,  a  few  miles  below 
Diisseldorf,  a  strange  flag  floating  from  the  tower  of 
an  old  windmill.  This  bright  blue  flag  bears,  not  the 
fierce  and  truculent-looking  eagle  of  Germany,  but  a 
white  dove  with  an  olive  branch.  This  beautiful 
emblem  of  peace  tells  us  that  we  are  approaching  the 
village  of  Kaiserswerth,  in  Rhenish  Westphalia,  the 
birthplace  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  religious 
movements  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  over  seventy  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  Germany 
there  are  stations  of  the  Kaiserswerth  deaconesses. 
In  the  poorest  parts  of  these  cities  and  towns  the 
blue  gowns,  white  caps  and  calm,  pure  faces  of  these 
sisters  of  the  people,  going  on  messages  of  mercy  to 
the  sick  and  suffering,  are  a  familiar  sight.  In 
Alexandria,  Cairo,  Jerusalem,  Beyrout,  Smyrna, 
Bucharest,  Buda-Pesth,  Florence  and  elsewhere, 
there  are  also  Kaiserswerth  hospitals  or  schools. 

Kaiserswerth  is  a  small,  quaint  village,  whose 
stone  houses  line  a  clean,  well-paved  street.     The 


THE  DEACONESS  MOVEMENT.       399 

Mother-House  is  a  long  stone  building,  three  stories 
high,  with  many  windows  in  its  rather  unpicturesque 
fa9ade.  On  the  pediment  are  the  appropriate  words 
in  German :  "  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me." 

One  is  received  by  a  bright-eyed,  pleasant-faced 
sister,  in  a  dark-blue  dress  and  cape,  with  a  white 
diaphanous  cap  which  is  not  at  all  unbecoming. 
On  the  wall  of  the  reception-room  hangs  an  engraved 
portrait  of  Pastor  Fliedner,  the  founder  of  the 
Kaiserswerth  institutions,  or,  as  he  preferred  to  be 
called,  the  reviver  of  the  apostolic  order  of  deaconesses. 

Visitors  go  first  to  the  chapel,  where  the  deaconesses 
daily  spend  a  "  silent  half-hour  "  in  meditation  and 
prayer.  One  is  struck  with  the  pious  German 
inscriptions,  not  only  in  the  chapel,  but  within  and 
without  most  of  the  buildings.  Among  these  may 
be  noted  as  suggesting  the  inspiration  of  these  pious 
charities  the  following :  "  He  bare  our  sicknesses," 
"  I  was  naked  and  ye  clothed  me,  I  was  sick  and  ye 
visited  me,"  "  I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee," 
and  others  of  similar  character.  On  one  side  of  the 
room  is  a  plain  communion  table,  over  which  is 
painted  an  Agnus  Dei,  with  the  words,  "  Blessed  are 
they  which  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb." 

The  dormitory  contains  a  number  of  white-curtained 
beds,  the  very  picture  of  neatness  and  cleanliness. 
Flowering  plants  in  the  windows,  which  look  into  a 
quiet  court,  and  biblical  pictures  on  the  walls  give 
it  a  very  homelike  feeling.     Again  the  simple  German 


400     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

piety  is  shown  by  the  painted  text,  "  The  darkness 
and  the  light  are  both  alike  unto  thee." 

Another  homelike  house,  which  bears  the  name  of 
"  Evening  Rest,"  is  a  place  of  refuge  and  succor 
for  the  worn-out  deaconesses  who  return  from  their 
distant  fields  of  labor  to  spend  their  closing  days  in 
quiet  in  this  Mother-House.  In  one  of  these  rooms 
is  a  beautiful  fresco  of  Our  Lord,  to  whom  a  tired 
dove  is  flying  for  refuge.  Below  is  the  inscription, 
"  There  remaineth  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God." 

One  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  domestic 
character  of  the  homes.  The  motto  of  the  order  is 
"Pray  and  Work."  A  most  salutary  mental  and 
moral  tonic  is  constant  employment,  especially  garden 
work  in  the  open  air. 

The  touch  of  poetry  in  the  Kaiserswerth  organiza- 
tion gives  it  a  special  charm.  For  instance,  the 
"  Paul  Gerhard  "  home  for  lonely  and  invalid  women 
was  opened  on  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
death  of  the  pious  poet.  The  rooms  are  decorated 
with  comforting  and  inspiring  verses  of  his  hymns  in 
gold-colored  letters. 

When  the  bell  calls  to  prayer  the  sisters  come 
trooping  from  all  quarters  for  the  "  silent  half-hour." 
Many  are  young  and  pretty,  with  bright  eyes  and 
apple  cheeks,  and  all  have  a  look  of  sweet  content  on 
their  faces.  The  conference  room,  where  they  meet 
every  week  for  consultation,  has  a  smoothly  sanded 
floor  and  like  all  the  apartments  is  scrupulously 
clean. 


THE  DEACONESS  MOVEMENT.       401 

In  the  school  for  probationers  every  effort  has  been 
made  to  reproduce  the  conditions  of  family  life.  A 
cottage  among  the  hills  near  Kaiserswerth,  where  the 
overwrought  sisters  may  retreat  from  time  to  time, 
bears  the  appropriate  name  of  Salem.  The  schools 
for  training  family  servants,  of  which  there  are 
several  in  Diisseldorf,  Berlin,  and  elsewhere,  are 
named  **  Martha's  Home." 

A  place  of  special  interest  is  the  small  summer- 
house  in  the  old-fashioned  garden.  This  was  really 
the  cradle  of  the  many  institutions  established  by 
Pastor  Fliedner.  It  is  a  homely  little  structure  only 
twelve  feet  square,  with  a  steep,  red-tiled  roof  and 
backed  by  a  group  of  ever-whispering  poplars.  Here 
from  the  prison  of  Werden  came  one  day,  September 
17, 1833,  a  discharged  prisoner  named  Minna,  seeking 
help  from  the  good  pastor  to  live  once  more  an  honest 
life.  He  had  no  means  of  his  own  but  he  could  not 
refuse  her  request,  and  placed  her  in  this  small  house. 
She  was  soon  joined  by  another  penitent.  There  was 
no  sleeping  room  except  a  very  small  garret  to  which 
there  was  not  even  a  flight  of  steps.  At  night  a 
ladder  was  placed  against  the  attic  window  and  the 
two  women  climbed  to  the  room  in  the  roof.  This 
small  house  is  now  a  sort  of  memorial  chamber,  and 
contains  a  beautiful  bust  in  bronze  of  Pastor  Fliedner, 
and  an  oil  portrait  of  his  wife,  who  died  Good  Friday, 
1892,  and  who  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  whole 
sisterhood.  These  manifold  charities  are  now  ably 
administered  by  Pastor  Disselhoff. 


402     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Of  pathetic  interest  is  the  peaceful  "  God's  Acre," 
where  sleep  nearly  one  hundred  of  the  sisters,  many  of 
whom  had  returned  from  distant  lands  to  die  in  the 
"  House  of  Evening  Rest,"  and  to  be  buried  in  this 
quiet  spot.  The  funeral  slabs  of  the  sisters  are  all 
of  uniform  size  sloping  to  the  east — the  silent  sleepers 
thus  awaiting  the  resurrection  morning.  Each  slab 
bears  simply  a  dove  and  cross,  the  name  of  the 
deceased,  and  the  text  from  which  her  funeral  dis- 
course was  preached.  The  grave  of  Pastor  Fliedner 
bears  the  inscription,  "  Theodore  Fliedner,  through 
the  grace  of  God,  the  reviver  of  the  Apostolic  Order 
of  Deaconesses ;  Born  at  Epstein,  1800,  Died  at 
Kaiserswerth,  1864.  '  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you.'  " 

There  are  four  large  hospital  buildings,  one  a 
handsome  red  brick  hospital  for  children,  in  front  of 
which  is  a  statue  of  the  late  Kaiser  Frederick  III.,  a 
patron  of  the  hospital,  carrying  a  child  in  his  arms. 
Near  by  is  a  beautiful  children's  garden  in  a  glen 
with  an  artificial  rockery,  made,  explained  a  good 
sister,  to  give  variety  to  the  rather  monotonous  land- 
scape of  the  lower  Rhine.  There  is  also  a  large 
lunatic  asylum  for  women,  with  two  hundred 
beds ;  and  a  very  interesting  orphanage  for  the  chil- 
dren of  deceased  missionaries  and  other  clergy- 
men. 

The  Kaiserswerth  institute  is  emphatically  a  child 
of  Providence.  Curiously  enough  the  old  church 
seal  of  the  town  represents  a  sturdy  tree  with  the 


THE  DEACONESS  MOVEMENT.  403 

inscription,  Gran.  Sinap.  Cres.  Arbor,  "The 
mustard  seed  becomes  a  tree."  The  story  of  its 
growth  is  one  of  fascinating  interest.  From  the 
small  beginning  of  that  rustic  summer-house  have 
sprung,  not  only  the  many  noble  charities  of  the  quiet 
Westphalian  village,  but  nearly  two  hundred  deaco- 
ness hospitals  and  institutions  in  four  continents  of 
the  globe. 

As  is  well  known  no  vows  are  taken  by  the  sisters. 
The  deaconess  can  return  to  domestic  life  or  to  aged 
or  sick  parents  at  any  time.  She  receives  no  salary 
— merely  her  dress  and  board,  and  a  small  sum  for 
pocket  money.  She  is  not  allowed  to  accept  presents 
from  her  patients.  But  in  case  of  sickness  the  institu- 
tion provides  for  her  wants.  She  has  entire  control 
of  her  fortune,  if  she  have  one,  which  after  her  death 
goes  to  her  legal  heirs. 

The  sisters  enter  the  diaconate,  after  due  probation, 
of  their  own  choice.  The  written  consent  of  parents 
or  guardian  is  required  from  every  candidate.  She 
promises  to  be  true  to  her  calling  and  to  live  in  the 
fear  of  God  according  to  His  Word.  The  sisters  accept 
of  their  own  free  will  the  post  of  labor  chosen  by  the 
authorities.  In  case  of  infectious  diseases  or  other 
laborious  task  they  are  asked  if  they  have  any  objec- 
tion to  accept  the  work ;  but  in  no  instance  has  a 
refusal  been  known. 

The  simple  theology  of  the  Kaiserswerth  deacon- 
esses has  been  embodied  in  a  few  rough  metrical  lines, 
which  have  been  thus  rendered  : 


404:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  only  ground  whereon  we  stand 
Is  Christ,  and  His  most  precious  blood  ; 

The  only  aim  of  all  our  band 
Is  Christ,  our  highest,  only  good  ; 

The  only  word  we  understand 
Is  His  own  living,  mighty  Word. 


The  expenses  of  the  Kaiserswerth  Mother-House 
are  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
About  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  this  is  derived  from  the 
patients'  fees,  the  sale  of  books,  and  the  circulation 
of  the  Volks  Kalendar,  which  reaches  over  one 
hundred  thousand  copies  a  year. 

In  1864  Bishop  Gobat,  of  Jerusalem,  asked  to  have 
some  deaconesses  sent  to  him  to  nurse  the  sick 
suffering  from  an  epidemic  in  that  city.  The  sisters 
found  their  first  home  in  the  house  of  a  Turk  on 
Mount  Zion,  and  soon  hundreds  of  patients  of  many 
nations  received  treatment  within  its  walls.  In  the 
beautiful  Talitha  Kumi,  or  Children's  Home,  on 
Godfrey's  Hill  outside  the  wall,  nearly  one  hundred 
girls  are  trained  in  intelligence  and  piety. 

In  that  crowded  oriental  city,  Smyrna,  the  rendez- 
vous of  all  nations,  where  seventeen  different  lan- 
guages are  spoken,  a  school  and  hospital  have  also 
been  established.  Another  hospital  has  been  opened 
in  Alexandria.  During  the  bombardment  of  the 
city  in  1882  the  sisters  were  obliged  to  escape  by 
night  with  their  sick  and  feeble  patients,  making 
their  way  in  peril  four  miles  through  the  burning 
town. 


THE  DEACONESS  MOVEMENT.        405 

In  1860  all  Europe  was  roused  by  the  tidings  of  the 
massacre  of  14,000  Christians  at  Mount  Lebanon,  by 
the  Druses,  a  half-Mohammedan  and  half-heathen 
tribe.  Thousands  of  orphans  and  widows  fled  from 
the  mountains  to  Beyrout.  In  a  few  weeks  ten 
Kaiserswerth  deaconesses  were  on  the  spot.  Their 
difficulties  were  great.  They  knew  not  a  word  of 
Arabic,  but  their  philanthropic  purpose  at  once  pro- 
cured them  friends,  a  home  was  soon  provided  and 
money  raised  for  the  maintenance  of  the  widows  and 
orphans. 

The  present  writer  visited  with  special  interest 
this  charming  institution,  named  Zoar,  in  memory 
of  the  escape  of  some  of  the  Syrian  children  from 
a  calamity  scarce  less  dreadful  than  the  destruc- 
tion of  Sodom.  Here  over  fifteen  hundred  Syrian, 
Arab,  Maronite,  Greek  and  Druse  girls  have  been 
diligently  trained  by  the  kind-hearted,  sweet-faced 
deaconess  sisters.  Through  this  training  a  great 
change  has  taken  place  in  the  women  of  Mount 
Lebanon.  Nobler  ideas  of  domestic  life  and  duty  have 
been  inspired,  and  from  near  and  far  eager  requests 
have  come  from  the  best  families  in  Lebanon  and 
Syria  for  the  education  of  their  daughters  in  Christian 
learning  and  culture.  Pleasant  it  was  under  the 
escort  of  one  of  the  sisters  to  explore  the  extensive 
premises,  bakehouse,  kitchen,  laundry,  dormitory 
and  schoolroom,  all  scrupulously  clean,  and  the 
reception  and  schoolrooms  adorned  with  mottoes  and 
decorative  pictures.     There  is  also  at  Beyrout  a  well- 


406     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

equipped  Kaiserswerth  hospital,  where  deaconesses 
nurse  annually  about  six  hundred  patients  of  different 
confessions  and  creeds. 

The  number  of  sick  patients  relieved  by  the  Christ- 
like charities  of  the  Kaiserswerth  deaconesses  at 
their  various  hospitals  are  many  thousands.  In  Alex- 
andria alone,  in  a  single  year,  over  twenty-two 
thousand  indoor  and  outdoor  patients  have  been 
relieved.  In  great  national  calamities,  such  as  war 
and  epidemics,  the  sisters  have  been  ever  ready  with 
their  aid.  During  the  Franco-Prussian  War  Kaisers- 
werth sent  one  hundred  and  forty-five  deaconesses  to 
the  battle-fields,  besides  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
to  the  military  hospital  at  home.  During  the  outbreak 
of  cholera  at  Hamburg  the  deaconesses,  like  angels 
of  mercy,  hastened  to  the  scene  and  ministered  with 
fearless  devotion  to  the  sick  and  dying.  They  have 
been  an  inspiration  to  Christian  charity  throughout 
the  world,  and  many  similar  sisterhoods  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  United 
States,  have  been  organized  on  similar  lines  of  Chris- 
tian activity. 


SALVATION  ARMY.  407 


CHAPTER  XLVL 

SALVATION     ARMY. 

This  active  and  energetic  body  has  many  anal- 
ogies with  the  Methodism  from  which  it  sprang. 
Like  Methodism,  it  did  not  contemplate  an  existence 
as  a  separate  church.  It  was  not  the  result  of  doc- 
trinal difference,  but  of  intense  evangelistic  zeal. 
The  Rev.  William  Booth,  its  founder,  was  a  minister 
of  the  Wesleyan  Church.  With  his  noble  wife,  Mrs. 
Catharine  Booth,  he  labored  with  great  acceptance, 
especially  in  evangelistic  tours.  As  a  local  preacher 
he  had  been  wonderfully  successful  in  out-of-door 
preaching,  in  the  highways  and  hedges,  reaching  the 
hearts  of  the  people  after  the  manner  of  the  early 
Methodists. 

The  restraint  of  the  Wesleyan  organization  proved 
irksome  to  the  zealous  evangelist,  and  he  sought  a 
larger  liberty  in  the  New  Connection  Church.  His 
special  gifts  as  an  evangelist  were  recognized.  He 
was  permitted  a  sort  of  ranging  commission  through 
the  midland  counties.  The  results  were  extraordi- 
nary. In  seven  weeks  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
people   professed    conversion.     In   Yorkshire   three 


408     EELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

thousand  in  nine  months  were  added  to  the  Church. 
The  conference  unwisely  wished  him  to  abandon  his 
roving  commission  and  to  devote  himself  to  the  reg- 
ular ministry.  "  I  am  called  of  God  to  this  work," 
he  boldly  proclaimed,  and  although  he  had  no  pros- 
pects before  him,  nor  even  any  security  that  he  would 
be  able  to  earn  bread  for  his  wife  and  his  four  little 
ones,  he  resigned  the  ministry  and  faced  the  world 
anew. 

Mr.  Booth  opened  his  independent  work  in  Corn- 
wall, where  in  a  short  time  four  thousand  persons 
professed  conversion.  He  found  that  he  had  a  special 
call  to  labor  for  the  lapsed  and  fallen  classes.  His 
method  is  thus  described  in  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead's 
graphic  sketch  of  his  life : 

'*  He  set  to  work  to  get  together  a  company  of 
converted  reprobates  from  all  the  midlands.  At 
last  he  got  together  as  motley  a  crew  of  reclaimed 
blackguards  as  ever  mustered  on  a  convict  ship, 
or  at  a  jail  delivery  of  provincial  assizes.  Poachers, 
drunkards,  wife-beaters,  prize-fighters,  and  jail-birds 
of  every  degree  of  infamy,  he  eagerly  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  the  revival.  Then  he  advertised  them  on 
every  hoarding  as  the  Hallelujah  Band,  and  boldly 
advanced  once  more  to  the  attack. 

"  This  novel  strategy  had  an  immediate  success. 
The  chapel  was  crowded  every  night,  and  convicted 
sinners  cried  aloud  for  mercy  at  the  penitent  form. 
The  Hallelujah  Band  became  one  of  the  greatest 
sensations  of  the  midlands.  The  converted  prize- 
{fighters  attracted  men  who  would  not  have  stirred 
from  their  ale-houses  to  hear  the  whole  bench  of 
bishops,   for  an   ex-jail-bird  is   more    attractive   to 


SALVATION  ARMY.  409 

these  sinners  whom  Jesus  came  to  call  to  repentance 
than  Mr.  Spurgeon." 

The  centripetal  attraction  of  the  metropolis  brought 
the  evangelist  to  London  in  1864.  He  began  his 
work  in  Whitechapel,  and  after  preaching  out  of 
doors,  amid  the  rival  attractions  of  the  shows  and 
shooting-ranges,  led  a  procession  to  the  tent.  The 
work  fascinated  him.  The  wind  blew  the  tent  down, 
but,  said  the  sturdy  missioner,  "  we  fell  back  on  our 
cathedral,  the  open  air."  He  began  meetings  in  a 
stable,  a  warehouse  and  a  theatre. 

That  which  fixed  the  special  character  of  the  army- 
was  its  title.  "At  first,"  continues  Mr.  Stead, 
"  there  was  nothing,  or  next  to  nothing,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  numberless  evangelistic  movements 
which  from  time  to  time  make  more  or  less  impress 
on  the  indifferentism  of  the  classes  which  are  white- 
washed with  Christianity,  and  the  heathenism  of  the 
masses  who  are  more  or  less  frankly  pagan.  The  de- 
cisive change  which  stamped  the  character  of  the 
movement  occurred  in  1878.  That  which  fixed  the 
direction  of  the  army's  development  was  the  choice 
of  its  title.  This  was  hit  upon  almost  by  chance. 
Mr.  Railton  writes : 

"  '  We  were  drawing  up  a  brief  description  of  the 
mission,  and,  in  wishing  to  express  what  it  was  in 
one  phrase,  I  wrote :  "  The  Christian  Mission  is  a 
volunteer  army  of  converted  working  people."  "  No," 
said  Mr.  Booth,  "  we  are  not  volunteers,  for  we  feel 
we  must  do  what  we  do,  and  we  are  always  ©n  duty." 


410     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

He  crossed  out  the  word  and  wrote  "  Salvation."  The 
phrase  immediately  struck  us  all,  and  we  very  soon 
found  it  would  be  far  more  effective  than  the  old 
name.' 

"  From  the  moment  that  the  army  received  its  title 
its  destiny  was  fixed.  The  whole  organization  was 
dominated  and  transformed  by  the  name.  To  that 
it  owes  both  its  strength  and  its  weakness.  As  an 
army  it  will  raise  recruits,  train  soldiers,  and  over- 
run many  countries,  and  achieve  great  victories.  But 
it  will  always  be  an  army  in  the  midst  of  a  civilian 
population.  What  the  General  does  is  not  to  collect 
permanent  congregations,  so  much  as  to  stir  up  the 
whole  community  and  to  attract  by  the  magnet  of 
his  spiritual  enthusiasm  the  few  souls  which  have  it 
in  them  to  respond  to  his  appeal  for  soldiers  to  go 
forth  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  unto 
all  nations." 


In  his  devoted  wife  General  Booth  found  his  other 
self,  the  very  complement  that  he  needed.  She  was 
a  woman  of  sincerest  piety,  of  intense  human  sym- 
pathy, of  magnetic  eloquence.  She  swayed  the 
hearts  of  the  people  alike  in  the  army  barracks  at 
Whitechapel  and  in  drawing  assemblies  in  Belgravia. 
She  inspired,  consoled  and  enbraved  her  heroic  hus- 
band, and  during  her  too  short  life  was  the  "  Mother 
of  the  Salvation  Army,"  and  lives  in  its  enthusiastic 
affection  as  the  Saint  Catharine  of  England. 

One  conspicuous  merit  of  the  army  and  one  marked 
cause  of  its  success  is  its  employment  of  gifted  and 
consecrated  women.  The  songs  and  prayers  and  ex- 
hortations of  the  Hallelujah  Lass  have  carried  the 
gospel  to  many  a  heart  that  would  have  been  imper- 


SALVATION  ARMY.  411 

vious  to  the  most  logical  argument,  and  obdurate  to 
the  most  fervent  appeal.  The  army,  with  its  martial 
methods,  its  military  uniforms  and  titles,  its  drums 
and  brass  bands,  its  stirring  music,  its  direct  appeals 
to  the  conscience,  its  assault  upon  the  very  bulwarks 
of  Satan's  kingdom,  made  a  prodigious  sensation  in 
the  metropolis  and  the  great  cities  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  Its  very  persecutions — and  it  received  no 
small  share  of  them — developed  the  heroic  character 
of  its  agents  and  won  the  sympathies  of  all  who  love 
English  fair  play. 

"  Short  of  the  stake,"  continues  their  ardent  ad- 
mirer, Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  *'  the  Salvationists  have 
endured  almost  every  species  of  persecution.  They 
have  been  fined  and  imprisoned  in  almost  every 
country  they  have  ever  visited.  They  have  been 
kicked,  knocked  down,  stoned,  covered  with  filth  and 
generally  treated  as  the  off-scouring  of  all  things. 
And  the  net  result  of  it  all  is  that  now,  as  of  old,  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church. 

"  Much  as  the  Salvation  Army  has  been  helped  by 
its  friends,  it  would  have  been  at  a  comparative 
standstill  but  for  its  enemies.  They  have  enabled  it 
to  pose  as  the  champion  of  liberty  of  speech  and 
liberty  of  procession  ;  they  have  furnished  it  with 
a  noble  company  of  officers  whose  university  has  been 
the  jail,  and  who  have  been  tempered  in  the  furnace 
of  tribulation  before  they  have  been  called  to  the 
ministry  of  love  for  the  salvation  of  the  lost.  And 
let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  all  these  attacks  from 
the  outside  have  been  of  incalculable  service  to  the 
organization.  They  nipped  in  the  bud  the  tendency 
to  disintegration;  they  stimulated  loyalty,  and  they 
bound  soldiers  and  officers  together  with  a  bond  of 

2  B 


412     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

affection  which  made  the  most  iron  discipline  seem 
.light.  The  greatest  danger  which  menaces  them  to- 
day is  the  possibility  of  their  becoming  so  respectable 
that  they  will  no  longer  be  exposed  to  the  biting 
blasts  of  ridicule  and  denunciation,  which,  like 
Kingsley's  '  Nor'-Easter,'  has  made  them  the  men 
they  are." 

The  Army  has  gone  into  all  English-speaking  lands, 
and  into  many  foreign  countries.  This  was  not 
at  first  of  set  design,  but  through  an  overruling  prov- 
idence of  God.  "  Why  did  the  Salvation  Army  go 
to  Australia?  Because  a  quondam  drunken  milk- 
man, who  had  been  saved  at  Stepney,  emigrated  to 
Adelaide,  and  sent  over  an  urgent  summons  for  help 
to  start  the  holy  war  in  Australia.  In  like  manner 
it  was  a  convert  from  Coventry  who,  having  settled 
in  Philadelphia,  brought  over  the  Salvation  Army  to 
the  United  States.  But,  when  a  door  is  opened, 
General  Booth  dare  not  refuse  to  go  through  it  to 
proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  a  gospel  of  happiness 
and  love." 

Mr.  Stead's  sympathetic  character-study  of  General 
Booth  is  very  well,  so  far  as  it  goes.  But  it  does  not 
go  far  enough.  It  points  out  some  of  the  elements 
of  his  success,  but  it  does  not  sufficiently  emphasize 
the  supreme  element — the  mighty  power  of  God. 
Again  has  been  gloriously  fulfilled  the  Scripture, 
"  and  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 
The  uplifted  Christ  has  been  the  great  attraction 
that  has  drawn  the  vilest  and  the  worst  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  has  renewed  fallen  natures,   changed 


SALVATION  AR]^IY.  413 

degraded  lives,  and  given  to  outcasts  the  adoption 
of  sons,  the  zeal  of  the  martyrs,  the  marvellous 
ministry  of  a  new  apostleship. 

General  Booth  is  one  of  the  ablest  organizers  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  He  inspires  enthusiastic  devo- 
tion and  is  admirably  sustained  by  able  lieutenants. 
The  most  conspicuous  of  these  are  the  members  of 
his  own  family.  His  sons  and  daughters,  consecrated 
to  God  from  their  birth,  have  also  become  energetic 
leaders  in  the  Salvation  Army,  as  have  the  wives  of 
his  sons  and  husbands  of  his  daughters. 

The  largest  and  most  successful  branch  of  the 
army  is  that  in  the  United  States.  It  has  erected 
great  halls  and  numerous  out-stations.  It  has  a 
vigorous  administrative  centre  and  many  hundreds 
of  active  agents.  Scarce  a  town  or  hamlet  in  the 
United  States  or  Canada  is  unfamiliar  with  the 
striking  uniform,  the  stirring  music,  and  the  fervent 
appeals  of  the  Salvation  Army.  This  organization 
exhibits  consummate  wisdom  in  the  copious  use  which 
it  makes  of  printer's  ink.  The  War  Cry^  published 
in  London,  New  York,  Toronto,  Melbourne  and 
in  many  foreign  lands,  reaches  millions  of  readers, 
is  saturated  with  the  vital  principles  of  the  army  and 
is  an  active  propaganda  of  its  religious  teachings. 

Another  feature  of  special  importance  of  adapta- 
tion to  the  times  is  its  social  schemes.  The  bitter 
cry  of  London  awoke  a  responsive  chord  in  the  heart 
of  General  Booth.  The  outcome  of  it  was  that 
remarkable  book.   Darkest    England   and   the   Way 


414     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Out.  His  plan  for  the  redemption  of  "  the  sub- 
merged tenth,"  and  for  its  moral  and  industrial 
training  for  new  citizenship  in  the  Army  workshops 
and  on  the  Army  farms  won  wide  sympathy  and  co- 
operation. While  it  has  not  achieved  all  that  was 
hoped,  it  has,  nevertheless,  accomplished  much  in 
the  reformation  of  thousands  and  their  restoration  to 
lives  of  industry  and  morality. 

Its  social  work  in  the  United  States,  Canada, 
Australia,  in  the  Teutonic,  Scandinavian  and  in 
some  of  the  Latin  countries  of  Europe  is  an  inspiring 
chapter  in  the  history  of  Christian  evangelization  and 
social  reform.  There  have  not  been  wanting  those 
who  have  predicted  a  rapid  disintegration  of  the 
Army  and  revolt  from  the  autocratic  and  military 
rule  of  the  General.  But  his  rule  has  been  one  of 
love  as  well  as  of  authority,  and,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, has  been  one  of  hearty  concord  and  good-will. 
That  exception  has  been  in  the  case  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  Army.  Mr.  B  ram  well  Booth,  the 
General's  oldest  son,  seems  to  have  thought  that  the 
conditions  of  the  United  States  of  America  warranted 
more  flexibility  in  administration,  more  recognition 
of  national  institutions  and  spirit  than  the  administra- 
tion in  the  old  world.  Hence,  a  separation  has  taken 
place,  with  the  utmost  professions  of  love  and  good- 
will, from  the  Salvation  Army.  A  vigorous  campaign 
is  conducted  under  the  name,  the  American  Volun- 
teers. The  methods  are  almost  identical  with  those 
of  the  Army.     They  embrace  evangelization,  social 


SALVATION  ARMY.  415 

reform,  especially  the  visitation  of  prisoners  and  of 
the  waifs  and  estrays  of  society.  The  Volunteers 
command  largely  the  sympathy  and  financial  aid  of 
many  who  have  no  other  connection  with  the  Army. 

The  Army  may  be  said  to  have  lived  down  adverse 
criticism.  Most  of  those,  including  some  in  the 
churches,  who  were  at  first  opposed  to  its  extravagant 
and  noisy  methods,  have  been  won  by  its  persistent 
zeal  in  well-doing.  The  chief  criticism  to  which  it 
has  been  subject  is  that  in  this  time  of  Christian 
integration  it  seems  to  establish  a  new  church,  that, 
in  some  places,  especially  in  the  rural  districts  and 
sparsely  settled  parts  of  the  country,  it  introduces  a 
divisive  force. 

But  in  reply  to  this  it  may  be  said  that  most  of 
the  work  of  the  Army  is  in  the  great  congested 
centres.  Here  its  work  does  not  overlap  that  of  the 
churches.  It  finds  its  special  sphere  among  the 
lowly  and  the  lost,  whom  it  seeks  to  raise  to  the 
dignity  of  men  and  the  fellowship  of  saints.  The 
policy  of  the  Army,  it  is  understood,  is  to  call  in  its 
outposts  and  concentrate  in  the  larger  centres  of 
population. 

The  success  of  tlie  Salvation  Army  organization 
has  led  to  the  adoption  of  similar  methods  in  the 
Church  Army  and  kindred  organizations.  These, 
under  denominational  control  and  restraint,  may  be 
free  from  some  of  the  irregularities  of  the  Salvation- 
ists, but  for  the  most  part  they  also  have  been  with- 
out their  marvellous  power  and  success. 


416     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 

CITY    MISSIONS. 

It  was  not  left  to  the  Salvation  Army  to  create 
these  missions.  While  they  have  greatly  stimulated 
them,  their  origin  is  much  more  remote.  The 
churches  of  Christendom  working  among  the  con- 
gested populations  of  the  great  cities  have  felt  the 
need  of  special  efforts  to  reach  the  needs  of  the  un- 
churched masses.  If  the  people  would  not  go  to 
the  churches,  the  churches  must  go  to  them.  Hence, 
mission  halls,  chapels  and  schools  have  been  formed 
by  almost  all  the  religious  denominations  in  all  the 
large  cities. 

These  share  the  purpose  of  social  amelioration 
as  well  as  religious  conversion.  They  employ  the 
agencies  of  night  schools,  mothers'  meetings,  the 
kindergarten,  kitchen  gardens,  gospel  temperance 
meetings,  free  breakfasts,  savings  banks,  coal  and 
blanket  clubs,  model  lodging  houses,  Sunday-schools, 
Bible  classes  and  above  all  active  religious  evangel- 
ism. 

So  many  have  been  the  laborers  in  this  field  that  we 
can  select  only  a  few  for  special  characterization. 
One  of  the  pioneers  and  most  energetic  workers  in 


CITY  MISSIONS.  417 

this  great  moral  movement  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chal- 
mers.    Of  him  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson  writes : 

"  At  his  sixty-fifth  year  we  find  this  greatest  of 
Scotchmen  on  fire  with  all  his  youthful  ardor,  in  his 
mission  to  the  masses  in  Edinburgh,  where,  as  in 
Ephesus,  the  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  of  the 
sacred  fanes  and  palaces  were  in  strong  contrast  to 
the  wood,  hay,  stubble  of  the  huts  and  hovels  of  the 
poor.  With  sublime  devotion  Chalmers  at  this  ad- 
vanced age,  when  most  men  retire  from  active 
and  arduous  toil,  entered  upon  the  most  difficult 
experiment  of  his  life,  that  he  might  demon- 
strate by  a  practical  example  what  can  be  done 
for  the  poor  and  neglected  districts  in  a  great  me- 
tropolis. 

"  The  West  Port,  in  the  old  town  of  Edinburgh, 
was  the  home  of  a  population  whose  condition  may 
be  described  by  two  words,  poverty  and  misery.  He 
undertook  to  redeem  this  heathen  district  by  the 
Gospel,  planting  in  it  schools  and  a  church  for  the 
people,  and  organizing  Christian  disciples  into  a 
band  of  voluntary  visitors.  " 

He  had  already  proved  the  power  of  friendly  visit- 
ation and  fellow-organization  in  his  parish  work  at 
Glasgow :  "  Applications  for  relief,"  continues  Dr. 
Pierson,  "  were  dealt  with  systematically,  and  so  care- 
fully, yet  thoroughly,  that  not  a  case  either  of  scan- 
dalous allowance  or  scandalous  neglect  was  ever 
made  known  against  him  and  his  visitors.  There  was 
a  severe  scrutiny  to  find  out  the  fact  and  the  causes 


418    RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

of  poverty,  to  remove  necessary  want,  and  remedy 
unnecessary  want  by  removing  its  cause.  The 
bureau  of  intelligence  made  imposture  and  trickery 
hopeless,  especially  on  a  second  attempt.  And  not 
only  was  poverty  relieved,  but  at  a  cost  which  is  amaz- 
ingly small.  While  in  other  parishes  of  Glasgow  it 
averaged  two  hundred  pounds  to  every  one  thousand 
of  the  population,  and  in  many  parishes  of  England  it 
averaged  a  pound  for  every  inhabitant,  in  St.  John's 
it  was  but  thirty  pounds  for  one  thousand  people.  It 
was  an  illustration  of  heroism  in  these  modern  times, 
when  a  man,  past  threescore  years,  whose  public 
career,  both  with  his  pen  and  tongue,  had  made  him 
everywhere  famous,  gave  up  his  latter  days  to  ele- 
vate the  physical,  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  a  squalid  population  in  an  obscure  part  of  the 
modern  Athens. 

"  Another  fact  unveiled  by  this  effort  at  city 
evangelization  was  that  about  one-fourth  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  territory  were  paupers,  receiving 
out-door  relief,  and  one-fourth  were  habitual,  pro- 
fessional beggars,  tramps,  thieves  and  riff-raff.  Here 
was  a  field,  indeed,  for  an  experiment  as  to  what  the 
church  could  do  in  her  mission  among  the  masses. 
Chalmers  was  hungry  for  such  an  opportunity ;  it 
stirred  all  his  Scotch  blood.  So  he  set  his  visitors 
at  work.  But  he  did  not  himself  stand  aloof.  Down 
into  wynds,  and  alleys,  and  closes  of  West  Port  he 
went ;  he  presided  at  their  meetings,  counselled  the 
people   sympathetically,  identified  himself  with  the 


CITY  MISSIONS.  419 

whole  plan  in  its  formation  and  execution,  while  his 
own  contagious  enthusiasm  and  infectious  energy- 
gave  stimulus  to  the  most  faint-hearted.  He  loved 
to  preach  to  these  people,  not  less  than  to  the  most 
elegant  audiences  of  the  capital,  or  the  elect  students 
of  the  university.  He  would  mount  into  a  loft  to 
meet  a  hundred  of  the  poorest  as  gladly  as  ascend 
the  pulpit  of  the  most  fashionable  cathedral  church, 
crowded  with  the  elite  of  the  world's  metropolis. 
And  those  ragged  boys  and  girls  hung  on  his  words 
with  characteristic  admiration. 

"As  to  his  mode  of  dealing  with  pauperism,  the 
sagacious  Chalmers  saw  that  while  a  ministry  of 
love  to  the  poor,  sick,  helpless  was  a  first  necessity,  it 
would  be  unwise  and  hurtful  to  their  best  interests 
to  encourage  them  to  depend  on  charity.  The  church 
must  not  be  an  asylum  in  which  indolence  and  in- 
competence and  improvidence  should  take  refuge. 
The  poorest  must  be  educated  to  maintain,  rather 
than  to  sacrifice,  self-respect  and  compelled  to  form 
habits  of  self-help,  industry,  economy,  thrift. 
Chalmers  had  no  less  ambition  than  to  ameliorate 
and  finally  abolish  pauperism,  and  his  success  in  St. 
John's  parish,  Glasgow,  had  proved  that  he  was 
master  of  the  situation ;  and  no  one  can  tell  what 
results  might  have  followed  but  for  the  Poor  Law, 
enacted  in  1845,  which,  by  the  admission  of  a  statu- 
tory right  to  public  relief,  encourages  improvidence, 
weakens  family  ties  among  the  poor,  conduces  to  a 
morbid  satisfaction  with  a  state  of  dependence,  and 


4:20     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

thus  sows  the  seed  of  the  very  pauperism  it  professes 
to  relieve  and  reduce." 

The  example  of  Dr.  Chalmers  was  contagious,  and 
from  that  day  has  been  an  inspiration  to  all  who 
would  solve  the  difficult  problem  of  the  times — the 
amelioration  of  the  social,  economic  and  spiritual 
destitution  of  the  poor. 

One  of  the  most  successful  agents  in  promoting, 
not  merely  religious  work  among  the  poor  in  the 
way  of  Ragged  Schools,  Slum  Missions,  etc.,  but  also 
their  general  social  and  physical  amelioration  was 
that  distinguished  layman  Lord  Anthony  Ashley 
Cooper,  better  known  as  Lord  Shaftesbury.  Born  to 
hereditary  wealth  and  high  station,  he  yet  devoted 
his  whole  life  to  works  of  manifold  philanthropy. 
He  early  took  an  active  part  in  the  legislation  for 
the  relief  of  factory  operatives,  laborers  in  the 
mines,  the  chimney  sweeps  and  costermongers,  and 
lowly  toilers  in  many  walks  of  life. 

On  Shaftesbury's  leaving  the  House  of  Commons  for 
the  House  of  Lords,  Sir  Robert  Inglis  paid  him  this 
generous  tribute : 

"  During  the  last  fifteen  years  of  Lord  Ashley's 
parliamentary  life  he  has  been  emphatically  the 
friend  of  the  friendless.  Every  form  of  human 
suffering  he  has,  in  his  place  in  this  house,  sought 
to  lighten ;  and  out  of  this  house  his  exertions  have 
been  such  as,  at  first  sight,  might  have  seemed  in- 
compatible Avith  his  duties  here.  But  he  found  time 
for   all,  and  when  absent  from  his  place  on  these 


CITY  MISSIONS.  421 

benches  he  was  enjoying  no  luxurious  ease,  but  was 
seated  in  the  chair  of  a  Ragged  School  meeting,  a 
Scripture-reader's  Association  or  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Institution." 

The  following  is  a  partial  enumeration  of  the  many- 
beneficent  social  and  religious  reforms  which  he  insti- 
tuted, namely : 

A  free  day-school  for  infants  ;  an  evening  school 
for  youths  and  adults  ;  a  woman's  evening  school  to 
teach  housekeeping  and  other  domestic  arts  ;  indus- 
trial classes  to  teach  youths  tailoring  and  shoemak- 
ing  ;  a  home  for  boys  ;  a  night  refuge  for  the  utterly 
destitute ;  a  clothing  society  for  the  naked ;  a  dis- 
tribution of  bread  to  the  starving ;  baths  for  the 
filthy ;  Bible-classes  through  which  about  ten  thou- 
sand persons  were  brought  to  know  the  gospel  story  ; 
a  school  missionary,  who  scoured  the  streets  and 
brought  in  the  wanderers ;  and  a  Ragged  Church  for 
the  worship  of  God." 

The  Refuge  and  Reformatory  Union,  which  was 
an  outgrowth  of  the  Ragged  School  movement, 
ultimately  came  to  have  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  homes,  accommodating  fifty  thousand  children. 
Three  hundred  thousand  children  were  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  society.  In  that  army  of  law- 
less, ignorant  street  arabs  was  the  embryo  of  an 
English  Revolution,  which  in  development  would 
have  turned  the  peaceful  kingdom  into  a  battle-field 
of  terror  and  bloodshed. 

Of  his  work  among  the  costermongers  Miss  H.  E. 


422     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Woodsworth  writes :  "  A  class  of  people  in  whom 
he  took  a  lively  interest  were  the  costermongers. 
The  highest  ambition  of  a  coster  was  to  own  a  donkej^ 
and  truck,  but  the  little  capital  necessary  must  be 
obtained  from  money-lenders  who  charged  an  ex- 
orbitant rate  of  interest.  Lord  Shaftesbury  became 
for  them  a  sort  of  banker,  loaned  them  money  at  a 
low  rate  of  interest,  encouraged  them  to  deal  as  they 
would  be  dealt  by,  organized  a  Barrow  and  Donkey 
Club,  and,  that  he  might  himself  become  a  member, 
bought  a  barrow  and  donkey  which  he  loaned  to  those 
who  were  unfortunate.  Happy  and  proud  was  the 
man  to  whom  these  were  entrusted. 

"  He  styled  himself  '  coster,'  delighting  to  make 
them  feel  that  he  was  one  of  them.  He  told  them 
to  write  him  if  at  any  time  they  had  grievances  that 
he  might  be  able  to  redress.  '  But  where  shall  we 
send  our  letters  ? '  asked  one.  '  Address  your  letter 
to  me  at  Grosvenor  Square,  and  it  will  reach  me,'  he 
replied,  '  but  if  after  my  name  you  put  "  K.  G.  and 
Coster,"  there  will  be  no  doubt  that  I  shall  get  it.' 
Truly  it  was  a  strange  combination — Knight  of  the 
Garter  and  Coster." 

In  the  New  World  we  select  as  a  typical  example 
a  man  of  affairs,  the  manager  of  an  immense  business, 
and  one  of  the  most  efficient  Postmasters  General  the 
United  States  ever  possessed.  Though  not  like 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  born  in  the  purple,  but  one  of  the 
world's  busy  toilers,  John  Wanamaker  was  one  of 
nature's  noblemen.     His  whole  life  has  been  devoted 


CITY  MISSIONS.  423 

to  the  work  of  doing  good.  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson  thus 
describes  the  beginning  of  one  of  his  great  enter- 
prises : 

"  On  a  February  afternoon  in  1858,  he,  with  Mr. 
Toland,  a  missionary  of  the  Sunday-School  Union, 
began  a  mission  school  in  a  second  story  back  room 
on  Pine  Street,  Philadelphia.  Driven  out  of  this 
first  room  by  the  rowdies  of  the  neighborhood,  they 
tried  again  on  South  Street,  and  at  the  first  session 
gathered  twenty-seven  children  and  two  women,  be- 
sides Mr.  Wanamaker  and  Mr.  Toland.  To-day  in 
that  huge  Sunday-school  building  between  two  thou- 
sand and  three  thousand  children  and  adults  gather 
every  Sunday  afternoon,  while  Mr.  Wanamaker's 
own  Bible  class  fills  the  spacious  adjoining  church. 
Bethany  has  a  membership  of  over  three  thousand, 
and  the  people  never  tire  of  going  there.  The  gos- 
pel is  preached ;  but  there  is  another  secret :  the 
people  are  loved  and  sought  and  made  at  home. 
They  are  taught  that  the  whole  of  this  great  institu- 
tional church  is  for  them,  their  home,  and  that  every- 
body is  there  made  welcome  for  his  own  sake,  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  his  money,  his  learning,  his  social 
status,  his  business  influence,  his  ability  to  help,  or 
his  external  surroundings." 

Mr.  Wanamaker's  Bible  class  numbers  well  on 
to  two  thousand.  This  is  so  subdivided  that  in 
case  of  sickness  or  need  each  member  is  carefully 
looked  after.  Bethany  church  is  made  the  centre  of 
the  social  as  well  as  the  religious  life  of  the  people. 


424    RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

There  is  scarcely  a  night  on  which  some  meeting  is  not 
held.  Part  of  its  machinery  consists  of  savings  bank, 
deaconess'  homes,  book  rooms,  whatever  encourages 
frugality,  charity  and  service.  The  neighborhood  is 
transformed.  Mr.  Wanamaker  obtained  control  of 
whole  blocks  of  buildings  that  he  might  make  homes 
for  the  people  and  displace  whiskey  shops  by  cheap 
and  neat  homes. 

As  another  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  con- 
secrated effort  may  lead  to  great  results  the  Fred 
Victor  Mission  in  Toronto  may  be  adduced.  A  few 
years  ago  Mrs.  Sheffield,  a  devoted  Sunday-school 
teacher,  felt  that  the  children  on  the  street  needed 
her  loving  care  and  instruction  more  than  the  children 
in  the  school.  She  therefore  set  out  to  collect  a 
class  of  these  neglected  little  nomads.  Their  con- 
dition of  person  and  clothing  was  such  that  she 
gathered  them  into  an  upper  room  in  the  Orange 
Hall,  although  nearly  all  the  children  were  of  Roman 
Catholic  parentage.  The  class  soon  outgrew  the  up- 
per room.  The  work  developed.  Helpers  came  to 
her  aid.  The  White  Rose  Tavern  was  bought  out 
and  the  bar  and  bottles  were  superseded  by  Bibles 
and  hymn-books.  Teaching  classes,  gospel  and  tem- 
perance meetings  were  held  every  night  in  the  week. 
A  lodging-house  for  men  "  down  on  their  luck  "  was 
soon  added  and  well  equipped. 

Again  the  work  outgrew  its  accommodation.  A 
philanthropic  gentleman,  Mr.  Hart  A.  Massey,  gener- 
ously erected,  at  a  cost  of  over  $60,000,  as  a  memorial 


CITY  MISSIONS.  425 

of  his  son  Fred  Victor,  one  of  the  best  equipped  city 
mission  institutions  on  this  continent  or  in  the  world. 
It  has  had  for  years  a  minister  specially  set  apart  for 
its  oversight,  an  effective  organization  of  over  a  hun- 
dred mission  workers,  with  Sunday-school,  gospel 
and  temperance  meetings,  kindergarten,  cooking 
classes,  bank,  gymnasium,  dormitory,  deaconess 
workers,  labor  bureau  and  rescue  home,  and  is  a  hum- 
ming hive  of  Christian  activities. 

Probably  one  of  the  best  known  of  all  the  city 
missions  in  the  world  is  that  established  by  the  late 
Jerry  McAuley  in  Water  Street,  New  York.  Jerry 
McAuley  was  himself  a  jail  bird  who  had  served  a 
lengthened  term  at  Sing  Sing  prison.  The  following 
is  the  story  of  his  checkered  life  as  told  in  his  own 
graphic  words : 

"  Me  father  was  a  counterfeiter,  an'  ran  away  from 
justice  before  ever  I  can  remember  him.  I'd  no 
schoolin',  an'  got  blows  for  meat  and  drink  till  I 
wished  meself  dead  many  a  time.  I  thought  could  I 
only  get  to  me  sister  in  America  I'd  be  near  the  same 
as  in  paradise.  I  was  tall  o'  my  years  an'  strong, 
an'  had  no  fear  for  any  man  livin',  an'  a  born  thief 
as  well,  that  stealin'  came  nateral  an'  easy  ;  and  soon 
I  was  in  a  den  on  Water  Street  learnin'  to  be  a  prize- 
fighter, an'  with  a  boat  on  the  river  for  thievin'  at 
night. 

"  Now,  I'd  done  enough  to  send  me  to  prison  forty 
times  over,  an'  I  knew  it,  but  that  didn't  make  it 
any  easier  to  go  there  for  something  I  hadn't  done. 


426     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

A  crime  was  sworn  on  me  by  some  that  hated  me  bad 
an'  wanted  me  out  o'  the  way.  Fifteen  years  in 
prison  I  That  was  the  sentence  I  got,  an'  I  not 
twenty  years  old.  I  was  that  desperate  I  would  have 
killed  the  keeper,  but  I  saw  no  chance  out  even  if 
I  did. 

"  It  was  one  Sunday  morning.  I'd  been  in  prison 
five  years.  I  dragged  meself  into  the  chapel  an'  sat 
down.  Then  I  heard  a  voice  I  knew,  an'  I  looked 
up.  There  by  the  chaplain  was  a  man  I'd  been  on  a 
spree  with  many  an'  many  a  time, — Orville  Gardner. 
He  stepped  down  off  the  platform.  '  My  men,' 
says  he,  '  I've  no  right  anywhere  but  among  you,  for 
I've  been  one  of  you  in  sin,'  an'  then  he  prayed,  till 
there  wasn't  a  dry  eye  there  but  mine, — I  was  that 
'shamed  to  be  seen  cryin',  but  I  looked  at  him  an' 
wondered  what  had  come  to  him  to  make  him  so 
different.  He  said  a  verse  that  struck  me,  an'  when 
I  got  into  me  cell  again  I  took  down  the  Bible  an' 
began  to  hunt  for  it.  I  read  awhile  till  I  found 
somethin'  that  hit  the  Catholics,  I  thought ;  an'  I 
pitched  me  Bible  down  an'  kicked  it  all  around  the 
cell.  *The  vile  heretics!'  I  says.  'That's  the 
way  they  show  up  the  Catholics,  is  it  ? ' 

'* '  I'll  have  a  Catholic  Bible,'  says  I,  '  an'  not  this 
thing  that  no  decent  Catholic  would  touch  with  a 
ten-foot  pole.'  So  I  got  me  a  Catholic  Bible  from 
the  library,  but  it  was  pretty  much  the  same,  only 
more  lumbered  up  with  notes.  I  read  'em  both,  an' 
the  more  I  read  the  more  miserable  I  was. 


CITY  MISSIONS.  42Y 

"  I  was  in  an  agony,  an'  the  sweat  rollin'  from  me 
face  in  big  drops,  an'  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sin- 
ner '  came  from  me  lips.  Then,  in  a  minute,  some- 
thing seemed  to  be  by  me.  I  heard  a  voice,  or  felt  I 
heard  one  plain  enough.  It  said,  '  My  son,  thy  sins, 
which  are  many,  are  forgiven.' 

"Then  at  last  come  a  pardon  when  I'd  been  in 
seven  years  an'  six  months  just,  an'  I  came  back 
down  the  river  to  New  York. 

"There  was  never  a  lonesomer  man  alive.  I 
wouldn't  go  back  to  the  Fourth  Ward,  for  fear  I'd 
be  tempted,  an'  so  I  wandered  round  tryin'  for  work, 
till  one  day  I  met  a  friend,  an'  he  took  me  to  a  lager- 
beer  saloon.  Lager-beer  had  come  up  since  I  went 
up  the  river.  I  didn't  know  it  was  any  more  hurt 
than  root-beer ;  they  said  it  wasn't.  But  that  first 
night  did  for  me.  Me  head  got  in  a  buzz,  an'  in  a 
week  or  two  I  wanted  some  thin'  stronger.  Then  I 
had  a  boat  on  the  river  agin.  I'd  buy  stolen  goods 
of  the  sailors,  an'  then  make  'em  enlist  for  fear  o' 
bein'  arrested,  an'  I  took  the  bounty.  I  kept  under 
liquor  all  the  time  to  head  off  thinkin',  for  I  said 
God  was  done  with  me,  an'  I  was  bound  for  hell  sure 
an'  certain. 

"  One  night,  as  me  partner  boarded  the  ship  we 
were  after  I  slipped  an'  fell  overboard  an'  went  un- 
der like  a  shot.  An  eddy  carried  me  off,  and  the 
boat  went  another  way.  I  knew  I  was  drownin',  for 
I  went  down  twice,  an'  in  me  extrimity  I  called  on 

God  though  I  felt  too  mean  to  do  it.     It  seemed  as 
2  G 


428     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

if  I  was  lifted  up  an'  the  boat  brought  to  me.  I  got 
hold  of  it  somehow,  I  don't  just  know  how.  The 
water  had  sobered  me.  When  I  was  in  it,  I  heard, 
plain  as  if  a  voice  spoke  to  me,  '  Jerry,  you've  been 
saved  for  the  last  time.  Go  out  on  that  river  agin 
an'  you'll  never  have  another  chance.' 

"  I  was  mad.  I  went  home  an'  drank  an'  drank 
an'  drank.  I  was  sodden  with  drink,  an'  as  awful- 
lookin'  a  case, — more  so,  than  you've  ever  laid  eyes 
on.     An'  Oh,  the  misery  o'  me  thoughts  ! 

"A  city  missionary  came  one  day  to  the  house 
where  I  boarded.  He  followed  me  up  day  after  day. 
He  kept  on  helpin'.  At  last  I  prayed  once  more. 
There  wasn't  any  shoutin'  this  time,  but  there  was 
quiet  an'  peace. 

'*I  was  married  by  this  time.  We  were  doin' 
day's  work,  both  of  us,  an'  poor  as  poor  could  be. 
But  we  said,  '  Why  have  we  both  been  used  to  filth 
an'  nastiness,  an'  all  else,  if  not  so's  to  know  how  to 
help  some  others  out  of  it  ? '  An'  that's  the  way  we 
begun  in  an  old  rookery  of  a  house,  in  one  room,  an' 
a  little  sign  hung  out, 


THE  HELPING  HAND  EOR  MEN. 


"  From  that  day  to  this, — first  in  the  old  buildin', 
an'  then  in  this,  the  new  one, — there's  been  a  meetin' 
every  night  in  the  year,  an'  now  it's  hundreds, — yes, 
thousands — that  can  say  the  Water  Street  Mission 
was  their  help  to  a  new  life. 


CITY  MISSIONS.  429 

"  Day  an'  night  we  work, — you  know  how.  My 
life  is  slowly  but  surely  goin'  from  me.  I  feel  it, 
but  livin'  or  dyin'  it's  the  Lord's.  All  these  years 
He  has  held  me,  but  I  don't  know  now  but  that  I'd 
have  fallen  again  if  I  hadn't  been  so  busy  holdin'  on 
to  others.  That's  why  I  tell  me  story  an'  everythin' 
right  out  an'  plain.  There's  times  I'm  dead  sick  o' 
rememberin'  it,  but  I  have  to  do  it,  an'  them  very 
times  seem  the  ones  that  help  most.  An'  as  long  as 
tongue  can  move,  may  I  never  be  ashamed  to  tell 
what  I've  been  saved  from." 

So  Jerry  toiled  on  for  a  few  years,  then  "  ceased 
at  once  to  work  and  live."  He  had  won  the  con- 
fidence and  esteem  of  the  best  men  in  New  York, 
and  at  his  funeral  Broadway  Tabernacle  was  thronged 
by  a  vast  audience  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  re- 
spect. Many  hundreds  of  drunkards,  and  worse, 
were  saved  from  their  sins  in  Jerry  McAuley's 
Water  Street  Mission,  and  at  the  Cremorne  Mission 
established  for  more  fashionable  sinners. 

"  The  Water  Street  Mission,"  says  Dr.  A.  T.  Pier- 
son,  "  early  learned  that  methods  commonly  in  use 
will  not  suffice  there.  The  work  of  saving  drunk- 
ards and  thieves  and  harlots  was  undertaken,  not  as 
a  bit  of  polite  philanthropy,  nor  even  of  Christian 
duty,  but  under  the  divine  impulse  of  passion  for 
souls.  No  kid  gloves  there  to  act  as  non-conductors 
— but  a  bare  hand  with  holy  love  to  give  a  sympa- 
thetic grasp.  Front  seats  and  best  seats  reserved,  not 
for  the  gold  ring  and  goodly  apparel,  but  for  the  vile 


4:30     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

raiment  and  sin-scarred  face.  The  fundamental  law 
of  soul-saving  there  is  that  you  must  be  in  close 
touch  with  those  whom  you  would  reach.  And  the 
history  of  these  twenty-five  years  proves  that  some 
men  and  women,  who  were  apparently  not  worth  the 
effort  to  save,  who  were  like  the  dog  and  the  sow 
that  return  to  their  own  vices  and  wallowings,  have 
by  grace,  become  the  most  heroic  and  successful 
evangelists  and  missionaries  and  soul-savers,  because 
they  knew  and  felt  what  it  was  to  be  hopelessly  and 
helplessly  lost  and  know  and  feel  what  it  is  to  be  both 
saved  and  kept. 

**  The  superintendent  of  the  Water  Street  Mission, 
Mr.  S.  H.  Hadley,  is  himself  a  man  gloriously  saved 
from  the  lowest  hell  of  drunkenness.  No  wonder  he 
can  sympathize.  He  glories  in  a  Sinners'  Club 
House,  where  the  doors  are  always  open  and  the 
work  never  stops.  The  devil's  castaways  are  always 
welcome  there.  When  a  man  is  kicked  out  of  all 
the  dens  of  infamy  and  iniquity,  because  he  is  of  no 
more  use,  and  nothing  more  can  be  got  out  of  him, 
he  is  received  with  open  arms.  The  mission  belongs 
to  no  church  or  denomination ;  its  field  is  the  world, 
especially  the  worst  part  of  it,  and  its  working  force 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  especially  the  best  part 
of  it.  Go  whenever  you  can,  and  see  how  the  cross 
is  still  the  hope  for  the  dying  thief  and  the  seven- 
demoned  Magdalene ;  and  how  the  Pentecostal  fire 
is  the  secret  still  of  all  holy  witness  and  work  with 
God.     Would  you  like  to  speak  to  such  men  and 


CITY  MISSIONS.  431 

women  ?  No  rhetoric  or  eloquence  is  demanded — it 
would  be  out  of  place.  Go  and  tell  what  Jesus  has 
done  for  you,  and  let  there  be  a  grip  in  your  testi- 
mony. You  will  find  men  and  women  who  will  come 
and  kneel  down  by  those  '  tear-stained  benches,'  and 
give  themselves  up  to  the  sinner's  Saviour  to  be  cre- 
ated anew  in  Christ  Jesus.  Every  night  in  the 
year  you  may  find  someone  over  whom  heaven  is  set 
ringing  with  new  praises  and  songs  of  joy." 

Another  beautiful  form  of  Christian  philanthropy 
is  that  of  the  college  and  other  settlements  among 
the  poor.  This  was  begun  in  England  by  a  number 
of  graduates  of  Oxford  University  who  made  a  home  in 
the  most  noisome  purlieu  of  Bethnal  Green,  and  made 
it  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  a  centre  of  social  and  relig- 
ious influence.  They  had  many  imitators  on  both 
sides  of  the  sea.  People  of  gentle  blood,  of  refine- 
ment and  culture,  in  the  spirit  of  their  divine  Master, 
beheld  the  multitudes  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd, 
went  to  dwell  among  them,  and  by  the  touch  of 
human  brotherhood  and  sisterhood,  the  daily  exhi- 
bition of  love  and  sympathy,  to  win  them  to  Chris- 
tian living  and  high  and  holy  hopes. 

This  spirit  of  philanthropy,  this  purpose  to  seek 
and  to  save  those  who  are  most  utterly  lost,  is  one  of 
the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  times.  Every 
great  city  has  its  midnight  mission,  its  prison  gate 
mission,  its  home  for  the  outcast  and  the  poor.  Real- 
izing that  *'  the  soul  of  all  improvement  is  the  im- 
provement of  the  soul,"   they  seek  along  with  the 


432     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

betterment  of  outward  circumstances  the  transform- 
ing of  the  character.  They  feel  that  washing  the 
outside  of  the  vessel  will  avail  little  while  it  is  im- 
pure within. 

There  are  also  manifold  manifestations  of  sympathy 
for  .the  suffering  in  homes  for  the  aged  and  infirm, 
orphanages  and  infants'  homes,  Magdalene  asylums 
and  reformatories,  homes  for  newsboys  and  boot- 
blacks, places  of  succor  and  help  for  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  even  for  the  unthankful  and  the 
unworthy. 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    433 


CHAPTER  XL VIII. 

YOUNG  men's  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Among  the  most  marked  manifestations  of  the 
spread  of  Christian  principles  in  the  manifold  activities 
of  life  is  the  growth  during  half  a  century  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  They  began,  like  many 
another  important  enterprise,  in  a  very  quiet,  un- 
ostentatious manner.  The  rivers  that  water  the 
valleys  have  their  springs  far  off  among  the  moun- 
tains, or  in  some  secluded  glen ;  so  this  stream  of 
hallowed  influence  had  its  humble  origin  in  one  of 
the  obscure  by-ways  of  life. 

Mr.  George  Williams,  now  Sir  George  Williams, 
the  originator  of  these  associations,  was  born  at  Ash- 
way  Farmhouse,  in  the  south  of  England,  in  1821. 
He  was  apprenticed  in  his  fifteenth  year  to  a  draper 
at  Bridgwater,  and  in  his  youth,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  some  pious  fellow-apprentices,  gave  his 
heart  to  God.  In  a  short  time  twenty-one  of  the 
young  men  in  the  establishment  became  Christians. 
In  1841  young  Williams  went  to  London  to  push  his 
fortunes  in  the  great  metropolis.  The  temptations 
to  which  young  men  were  exposed,  to  drink,  gamble 
and  i-uin  both    body   and    soul    were    very    great. 


434     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Williams  and  some  pious  salesmen  met  for  prayer 
and  Bible  study.  Before  long  sixteen  young  men 
were  converted.  In  the  meantime  they  heard  of  a 
similar  movement  in  another  commercial  house,  and 
invited  its  members  to  unite  with  them.  A  meeting 
of  the  young  men  from  both  houses  was,  therefore, 
held  at  No.  72  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  on  the  6th  of 
June,  1844,  where  it  was  resolved  to  form  a  "  society 
for  improving  the  spiritual  condition  of  young  men 
engaged  in  the  drapery  and  other  trades."  Sir 
George  Williams  is  still  living  to  witness  with  devout 
gratitude  to  God  the  remarkable  growth  of  that 
feeble  germ  which  now  brings  forth  its  fruits  of 
holiness  in  almost  every  land. 

To  the  religious  character  of  the  association  its 
members  soon  added  the  idea  of  intellectual  im- 
provement, and  for  that  purpose  established  a  library 
and  instituted  debates.  They  also  inaugurated  the 
Exeter  Hall  lectures  to  young  men,  which  have  since 
become  famous  throughout  the  world.  These 
lectures  became  a  popular  institution,  enlisting  much 
of  the  first  literary  talent  in  Great  Britain,  and 
attracting  thousands  to  their  delivery.  In  their 
published  form  they  have  reached  multitudes 
throughout  the  English-speaking  portion  of  the 
world.  The  society  also  instituted  Sunday  Bible- 
classes,  and  employed  its  members  in  general  Sur^ 
day-school  and  ragged-school  work. 

In  December,  1851,  the  first  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  in  America  was  established  at  Mon- 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    435 

treal,  Canada,  and  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month  the 
first  in  the  United  States  in  the  City  of  Boston, 
Mass.  Similar  societies  rapidly  sprang  up  in  New 
York,  Buffalo,  Washington,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis, 
San  Francisco  and  elsewhere,  to  the  number  of 
twenty-five  in  two  years.  The  felt  necessity  of  some 
means  for  the  interchange  of  thought  and  opinion 
led  to  the  calling  of  the  first  convention  at  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  on  June  7,  1854.  Thirty-five  delegates  were 
present,  and  a  voluntary  confederacy  was  formed, 
having  a  central  committee  and  annual  conventions, 
whose  functions,  however,  were  to  be  merely  ad- 
visory in  their  character. 

The  Civil  War,  though  it  threatened  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  confederacy  of  associations,  was  really 
the  occasion  of  marvellously  developing  its  energy 
and  usefulness.  The  convention  had  been  appointed 
for  St.  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1861,  but  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  prevented  its  meeting.  The  committee, 
therefore,  called  a  convention  at  New  York,  in  the 
month  of  November,  to  see  if  the  agencies  of  the  as- 
sociation could  not  in  some  way  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  country  in  that  fearful  struggle.  The  result 
was  the  formation  of  that  noble  organization,  the 
Christian  Commission.  All  the  world  knows  the 
history  of  its  labors,  which  gleam  like  golden  em- 
broidery on  the  ensanguined  robe  of  war — or  like  the 
silver  lining  of  the  sombre  clouds  of  fate,  irradiating 
the  gloom  of  battle  by  glimpses  of  the  heavenly 
light  of  love  and  charity. 


436     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

The  agents  of  this  Commission  carried  at  once 
the  bread  that  perishes  and  the  bread  of  life,  and 
healed  the  wounds  both  of  the  body  and  the  soul. 
They  nursed  the  sick  back  to  life,  and  by  their  hal- 
lowed ministrations  quickened  in  the  soul  aspirations 
for  that  higher  life  that  is  undying.  The  ''  Christian 
Artillery"  of  the  battlefield — the  coffee  wagons 
and  supply  trains  of  the  Commission — succored 
many  a  wounded  warrior,  whose  bruised  body  the 
deadly  enginery  of  war  had  well-nigh  crushed  to 
death.  These  plumeless  heroes  of  the  Christian 
chivalry  exhibited  a  valor  as  dauntless  often  as  his 
who  led  the  victorious  charge  or  covered  the  disas- 
trous retreat.  By  their  gentle  ministrations  to  the 
stricken  and  the  dying,  amid  the  carnage  of  the 
battle-field  and  in  the  hospitals,  they  laid  the  nation 
under  obligations  of  gratitude  which  should  never 
be  forgotten. 

From  November,  1861,  to  May,  1866,  this  Commis- 
sion disbursed  both  for  the  benefit  of  the  patriot  sol- 
diers of  the  Union  and  for  the  Confederate  wounded 
the  sum  of  $6,291,107.  It  employed  4,859  agents, 
working  without  recompense  an  aggregate  of  185,- 
662  days.  These  agents  held  136,650  religious  serv- 
ices, and  wrote  92,821  letters  for  the  soldiers. 
They  gave  away  1,466,748  bibles,  whole  or  in  part, 
1,370,953  hymn-books,  8,603,484  books  or  pamphlets, 
18,189,863  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  80,368,- 
998  pages  of  religious  tracts.  They  also  greatly  as- 
sisted the  operations  of  the  Sanitary  Commission, 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    437 

which  expended  in  the  same  time  $4,924,048,  mak- 
ing an  aggregate  by  the  two  of  ill, 215,155  poured 
out  as  a  free-will  offering  by  a  grateful  country  for 
the  moral  and  physical  welfare  of  its  brave  defenders.. 
The  world  had  never  before  seen  such  an  example  of 
colossal  liberality. 

During  the  long  years  of  the  war,  wlien  the  nation 
seemed  convulsed  with  the  throes  of  a  mortal  agony, 
the  confederacy  of  associations  was  weakened  by  the 
loss  of  its  Southern  members,  and  by  the  destruction 
of  several  local  branches  in  the  North,  but  has  since 
far  more  than  regained  its  former  strength.  The 
annual  conventions  are  occasions  of  especial  interest. 
These  conventions  concentrate  the  Christian  sympathy 
of  the  communities  where  they  are  held,  and  stimu- 
late their  zeal  for  philanthropic  effort.  Extensive 
and  powerful  revivals  of  religion  are  frequently  the 
legacies  they  leave  behind,  and  the  lasting  souvenirs 
of  their  visit. 

Besides  the  numerous  Associations  in  Great  Brit- 
ain and  her  North  American  colonies,  kindred  in- 
stitutions have  also  been  organized  in  Holland,  Bel- 
gium, Germany,  France,  Italy,  at  Algiers,  Alex- 
andria, Beyrout,  Smyrna  and  Constantinople ;  at 
Madras  and  Calcutta;  in  Australia,  New  Zealand 
and  Ceylon  ;  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  at  Natal  and 
Sierra  Leone  ;  in  China  and  Japan,  and  elsewhere. 

One  effect  of  these  Associations  is  to  give  a  nobler 
moral  tone  to  business — to  prove  that  it  is  not  a  mere 
selfish   game   of  grab.     The   reproach  of    the   age, 


438     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

whether  deserved  or  not,  is  its  intense  dollar  wor- 
ship ;  its  passionate  greed  of  gain  ;  the  eager  race  for 
riches,  in  which  all  classes  of  society  engage.  The 
tendency  of  all  this  is  debasing  to  the  intellect  and 
hardening  to  the  heart.  The  spirit  of  rash  specula- 
tion and  of  reckless  extravagance  fostered  by  the 
gold  boom  and  stock  exchange  are  morally  antipodal 
to  religious  feeling.  But  business,  when  ennobled 
and  dignified  by  a  lofty  Christian  principle,  will  be- 
come a  high  and  holy  calling.  This  desirable  con- 
summation will  vastly  increase  the  resources  of  the 
Church,  and  will  unseal  fountains  of  liberality  which 
will  water  the  earth  with  the  streams  of  an  almost 
boundless  beneficence. 

It  is  young  men  who  now  carry  on  most  of  the 
active  business  of  the  world,  and  who  will  soon  con- 
trol most  of  the  wealth  of  the  world,  and  it  is  Chris- 
tian young  men  who  are  the  hope  of  the  world. 
Men  who  early  acquire  the  habit  of  Christian  activity 
and  of  systematic  giving,  when  with  the  lapse  of 
years  their  riches  increase,  will  be  moved  by  that 
second  nature,  which  is  stronger  than  the  first,  to 
liberally  endow  the  Christian  institutions  of  the 
country.  The  commercial  success  of  Christian  men 
will  prove,  what  seems  to  be  doubted,  that  religion 
does  not  spoil  a  man  for  business,  nor  make  him  a 
mere  milksop  in  the  active  relationships  of  life  ;  and 
these  men  will  carry  their  business  faculties  into  the 
religious  enterprises  of  the  Church,  and  give  them  a 
new  efficiency  and  success. 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.     439 

In  Germany,  the  Christlicher  Jiinglings-Verein  is 
a  sort  of  Christian  club  for  young  merchants  and 
others.  It  is  frequently  of  an  avowedly  secular 
character,  furnishing  board  and  lodging,  and  em- 
ploying instructors  in  French,  English,  drawing  and 
music.  The  Jongelings  Verbond  of  Holland  is  a 
somewhat  similar  institution. 

The  relation  of  this  institution  to  the  Church  is 
an  important  question.  It  is  not  the  rival  of  the 
Church,  as  some  have  supposed,  but  its  handmaid. 
Many  ministers  and  churches  at  first  looked  askance 
at  these  associations,  and  turned  toward  them  the 
cold  shoulder ;  but  they  now  regard  them  as  their 
most  valued  allies.  The  greater  flexibility  of  their 
organization  makes  them  most  facile  and  effective 
instruments  by  which  the  Church  may  carry  on  much 
important  evangelistic  labor.  They  also  utilize  a 
large  amount  of  energy,  now  lying  dormant,  by  em- 
ploying lay  agency,  and  causing  that  energy  to  flow 
through  a  greater  variety  of  channels.  The  young 
men  who  are  most  active  in  the  Association  will  gen- 
erally be  the  most  active  in  the  Church.  Of  course 
a  young  man's  first  duty  is  to  the  Church  with  which 
he  is  connected.  But  a  successful  church  should  be 
an  aggressive  missionary  agency ;  and  frequently  a 
portion  of  its  missionary  zeal  can  flow  through  the 
channels  of  the  Association  more  readily  than  through 
denominational  channels. 

The  truly  catholic  character  of  this  institution  is 
one  of  its  most  admirable  attributes.     It  brings  the 


440     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

most  ardent  spirits  of  the  different  churches  into 
intimate  relationship  and  co-operation  with  each 
other.  It  rubs  off  the  acute  angles  of  intense  de- 
nominationalism,  and  cultivates  a  spirit  of  broader 
catholicity.  Christianity  is  something  nobler  and 
more  comprehensive  than  any  of  man's  petty  isms, 
and  in  some  cases  has  especial  facilities  for  working 
when  freed  from  sectarian  trammels.  In  certain 
kinds  of  evangelistic  labor,  purely  non-sectarian  effort 
disarms  prejudice,  and  is  free  from  every  possible 
suspicion  of  proselytism — a  liability  to  which  sus- 
picion frequently  deters  ministers  and  others  from 
engaging  in  needed  work.  Moreover,  the  non-pro- 
fessional character  of  these  lay-services  renders  them 
acceptable  to  a  class  who  reject  what  they  consider 
the  perfunctory  visitation  of  the  regular  clergy. 

Again,  these  Associations  form  a  sort  of  corps  de 
reserve  for  recruiting  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry. They  furnish  the  opportunity  for  the  exercise 
of  Christian  activity,  and  for  the  development  of  what- 
ever "  gifts  and  graces,"  or  special  aptness  for  the 
work,  its  members  may  possess.  They  are  of  infinite 
service  by  enabling  men  to  grasp  the  details  of  social 
evils,  without  which  no  efforts  to  relieve  them  can 
be  of  much  avail.  "  Things  seen  are  mightier  than 
things  heard."  The  concrete  affects  us  vastly  more 
than  the  abstract.  The  sight  of  a  wounded  or  dying 
man  moves  our  sympathies  more  than  the  report  of 
a  thousand  slain  in  battle. 

So  the  personal  contact  of  the  members  of  these 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    441 

Associations  with  the  various  forms  of  misery  abound- 
ing in  great  cities  will  be  their  best  education  in  the 
work  of  practical  philanthropy  and  social  reform. 

Many  Associations  vigorously  prosecute  evangel- 
istic labor  in  street  preaching,  Bethel  services,  tract 
distribution,  cottage  and  noon  prayer-meetings,  Bible- 
classes,  visitation  of  the  poor,  of  the  prisoner  in  the 
jails  and  of  the  soldier  in  the  barrack-room,  and  min- 
istration to  the  sick  and  dying  in  the  hospitals. 
Their  members  literally  fulfil  the  command  of  the 
Divine  Master,  "  Go  out  into  the  highways  and  com- 
pel them  to  come  in."  They  visit  the  hotels,  the 
boarding-houses,  the  workshops,  to  find  out  strangers 
coming  to  the  city.  They  invite  them  to  their  rooms, 
introduce  them  to  Christian  families,  and  throw 
around  them  the  arms  of  love  and  sympathy,  to  shield 
them  from  the  snares  that  surround  the  path  of  un- 
sophisticated youth  in  a  great  city. 

Many  who  could  not  be  induced  to  attend  church 
will  join  the  Association,  and  thus  be  led  into  the 
paths  of  temperance  and  godliness,  and  eventually 
into  church  relations.  In  providing  a  cheerful,  social 
rendezvous,  and  wholesome  companionship  for  young 
men  in  lodgings,  or  for  strangers,  they  save  many 
from  the  innumerable  temptations  of  city  life.  It 
was  in  such  work  as  this  that  Dwight  L.  Moody  won 
his  first  laurels  and  received  his  first  training  in 
successful  evangelism. 

These  Associations  are  a  sort  of  Christian  police, 
watching  over  the  spiritual  interests  of  society,  and 


442     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

rendering  innocuous  or  useful  what  were  otherwise 
elements  of  danger  to  the  common  weal.  Their 
members  are  the  Good  Samaritans  of  the  friendless 
strangers  who  have  fallen  among  the  thieves  and 
plunderers  who  prey  upon  their  fellow-men.  Like 
the  mediaeval  order  of  the  Confraternita  Delia  Mise- 
ricordia,  though  bound  by  no  conventual  vow,  the}'- 
visit  continually  the  sons  of  want  and  woe,  the  sick 
and  those  in  prison,  and  minister  unto  them.  Their 
self-denying  labors  during  the  visitation  of  the 
cholera  at  New  Orleans,  and  of  the  yellow  fever  at 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  witnessed  them.  Their  work  among  the  fire- 
men of  Philadelphia  was  productive  of  great  and 
permanent  good. 

A  new  department  of  Christian  work  which  the  As- 
sociations have  recently  taken  up  is  that  of  organ- 
izing branches  in  connection  with  the  different  rail- 
ways of  the  country.  There  are  on  the  American 
continent  over  800,000  railroad  men.  Compara- 
tively few  of  these  have  any  church  relations.  From 
their  mode  of  life  they  are  exposed  to  great  tempta- 
tions, and  many  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  churches. 
In  connection  with  several  roads  Christian  Associa- 
tions have  been  established,  and  so  highly  do  the  rail- 
way corporations  appreciate  the  improved  morale  of 
their  employees  under  these  influences  that  several  of 
them  have  promoted,  by  liberal  money  grants,  by 
furnishing  rooms  for  meetings  and  reading-rooms,  and 
by  other  means,  the  formation  of  such  Associations. 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    443 

Many  of  their  financial  undertakings  are  "  enter- 
prises of  great  pith  and  moment."  The  Association 
Rooms  in  the  large  cities  are  frequently  noble  and 
costly  buildings.  In  Chicago  the  Association  erect- 
ed a  magnificent  marble  hall  which  would  seat  three 
thousand  five  hundred  persons,  at  the  cost  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars.  It  was  no  sooner 
completed  than  it  was  burned  to  the  ground,  but, 
before  the  ruins  had  ceased  to  smoke,  $125,000  were 
subscribed  for  the  erection  of  another,  which 
has  since  arisen,  phoenix-like,  from  the  ashes  of  its 
predecessor.  In  one  year  that  Association  circulated 
one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  tracts.  It  received 
a  donation  at  one  time  of  ten  tons  of  tracts  for  dis- 
tribution from  Great  Britain. 

There  are,  it  is  estimated,  not  less  than  a  million 
young  men,  who  are  thus  bound  together,  in  a  blessed 
brotherhood,  to  toil  in  the  service  of  the  Divine 
Master  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their  fellow-men : 
young  men  who  occupy  positions  of  honor,  of  trust, 
of  influence,  and  who  will  control  much  of  the  fi- 
nancial, and  political,  as  well  a^  religious,  destiny  of 
the  age :  a  noble  band  of  Christian  workers,  true 
soldiers  of  the  holy  cross,  knights  of  a  loftier  chivalry 
than  the  steel-cased  warriors  of  old  I  Upon  their 
banners  is  inscribed  the  sublime  watchword,  "  Christ 
for  all  the  world,  and  all  the  world  for  Christ ! " 
Their  grand  purpose  is  to  hasten  the  time  when  upon 
every  industry  and  activity  of  the  age  shall  be  written 

*'  Holiness  to  the  Lord ;  '*  and  when  the  sin-stricken 
2d 


4:4:4:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

world,  like  the  demoniac,  out  of  whom  were  cast  a 
legion  of  devils,  shall  sit  clothed  and  in  its  right 
mind  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

After  fifty  years  the  following  figures  represent 
the  growth  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  throughout  the  world  : 
In  the  year  1896,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  1,298 ; 
Canada,  86  ;  India,  78 ;  other  British  possessions, 
54;  United  States,  1,362  ;  Germany,  1,320  ;  Nether- 
lands, 812  ;  Switzerland,  427 ;  Norway,  189  ;  Den- 
mark, 150  ;  France,  135 ;  Japan,  60 ;  Sweden,  58 ; 
Italy,  47 ;  Belgium,  33 ;  China,  11  ;  Palestine  and 
Syria  and  other  countries,  9. — Grand  total,  6,129. 

Many  of  the  home  and  foreign  Y.  M.  C.  A.  build- 
ings are  of  elegant  architecture  and  are  centres  of 
great  Christian  activity.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
early  in  the  century  a  similar  society,  "Jiinglings- 
Verein,"  was  organized  in  Switzerland.  But  the 
distinctive  Y.  M.  C.  A.  cannot  be  traced  further  back 
than  the  London  society  of  1844. 

There  are  over  forty  magazines,  chiefly  monthly, 
issued  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s  in  Great  Britain  and  its 
colonies.  The  principal  American  and  continental 
Associations  also  issue  local  periodicals. 

A  special  development  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in 
recent  years  has  been  in  connection  with  the  colleges, 
especially  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  In 
many  of  these  institutions  admirable  buildings  have 
been  erected,  and  incalculable  good  has  been  done 
by  the  visitations  throughout  the  world  by  Mr.  Mott, 
and   others  who,  in  connection  with  the  Students, 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.    445 

Missionary  Movement,  have  led  many  of  the  brightest 
young  men  in  the  universities  and  colleges  of  Chris- 
tendom to  devote  themselves  to  the  higher  interests 
of  mankind.  The  late  Professor  Drummond  was 
especially  enthusiastic  in  this  work,  and  used  to 
write  with  warmth  of  his  having  "landed"  or 
"  bagged  "  certain  bright  young  men  for  this  noble 
work. 

Kindred  in  aim  and  methods  have  been  the  Bible 
study  and  prayer  unions  in  Great  Britain  of  the  civil 
service,  lawyers,  doctors,  commercial  travellers, 
London  banks,  soldiers'  Christian  Association  and 
others,  numbering  463  centres  of  operations,  with  a 
membership  of  8,308. 

The  fourteenth  conference  of  the  Association  of  all 
lands  was  held  July  6-10, 1898,  in  Basle,  Switzerland. 
It  was  a  large  and,  in  every  respect,  a  successful 
gathering,  and  the  reports  from  the  field  at  large 
were  of  a  most  encouraging  character. 

TJie  manifest  benefit  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  soon  dem- 
onstrated a  need  for  similar  organizations  for  young 
women.  Mr.  J.  P.  Cattell  writes:  "In  America 
this  movement  dates  from  the  year  1857,  when  the 
first  association  for  distinctive  work  among  young 
women  was  organized  in  New  York  City.  Ten  years 
later  a  general  interest  in  the  subject  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  associations  in  many  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  United  States.  Many  of  the  associations  use 
their  buildings  as  lodgings  or  boarding-houses  for 
women,  and  a  few  have  restaurants ;  but  there  is  a 


446     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

growing  tendency  to  emphasize  such  methods  of 
educational,  social  and  religious  work  for  women,  as 
the  reading-room,  library,  educational  classes,  social 
receptions,  Bible  classes  and  prayer-meetings.  Em- 
ployment offices  are  also  a  very  general  feature  in 
this  work.  An  effort  to  organize  associations  among 
young  women  in  schools  and  colleges  is  meeting  with 
considerable  success." 

In  June,  1898,  the  first  ecumenical  conference  of  the 
world's  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was 
held  in  London.  There  were  present  three  hundred 
and  twenty-six  delegates  from  twenty  countries,  two 
hundred  and  four  being  from  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, nineteen  from  India,  thirteen  from  Sweden, 
fourteen  from  the  United  States  and  a  less  number 
from  Australia,  Canada,  China,  Hungary,  Italy, 
Russia,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Turkey  and  other  lands. 
No  general  statistics  of  membership  are  given,  but  en- 
couraging reports  were  made  of  the  advantages  con- 
ferred upon  young  women  by  these  associations. 
Council  and  protection  are  offered  to  strangers  coming 
into  the  great  cities,  and  especially  to  women  and 
girls  exposed  to  the  perils  of  the  cities  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe. 

Thirty-five  thousand  girls  in  the  United  States,  it 
is  affirmed,  are  working  for  degrees  in  universities  or 
colleges,  contrasted  with  one-tenth  of  that  number  in 
Great  Britain.  In  the  United  States  there  are  three 
hundred  and  seventeen  associations  in  the  college 
department,  with  about  five  thousand  College  Associa- 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.     447 

tion  members.  Over  two  hundred  have  resolved  to 
be  foreign  missionaries,  and  over  one  hundred  are  al- 
ready in  the  field,  and  hundreds  more  are  studying 
the  history  and  needs  of  missions  in  connection  with 
the  mission  classes  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A, 


44:8     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  XLTX. 

YOUNG  people's  ORGANIZATIONS. 

A  STRIKING  characteristic  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
uineteenth  century  has  been  the  organizing  of  the 
young  life  of  all  the  churches  for  Christian  culture 
and  Christian  service.  We  have  already  noted  the 
great  work  in  this  direction  which  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  Sunday-schools  and  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  but  within 
a  few  years  a  new  scope  and  development  has  been 
given  to  this  movement  by  the  Young  People's 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  and  similar  organiza- 
tions. This  movement  is  a  distinct  evolution,  a 
growth  from  small  beginnings  to  great  results. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  movement  owes  its  origin 
to  the  Rev.  Francis  E.  Clark,  D.  D.,  the  devoted 
pastor  of  the  Williston  Church,  Portland,  Maine. 
On  February  2,  1881,  Dr.  Clark  formed,  in  his  own 
study,  the  first  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  with  essentially  the  same  constitution, 
pledge  and  methods  of  work  as  the  present  world-wide 
movement.  So  successful  was  this  organization  that 
Dr.  Clark  announced  his  methods  in  an  article  entitled 
**How  one  Church  Cares  for  its  Young  People."  Before 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  449 

the  end  of  the  year  four  more  societies  were  formed, 
and  many  other  churches  adopted  similar  methods. 

The  first  of  the  annual  conventions,  which  have 
become  such  important  inter-denominational  rallies, 
was  held  in  June,  1882,  at  Williston  Church,  Port- 
land, when  only  six  societies  were  recorded.  The 
following  year  the  number  had  grown  to  fifty-three  ; 
in  1885  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor 
was  incorporated  with  two  hundred  and  fifty-three 
local  Societies  and  fourteen  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  ninety-two  members. 

The  following  year  the  Christian  Endeavor  organ, 
The  Golden  Bule,  was  established.  Dr.  P.  E. 
Clark  resigned  his  important  pastorate  in  South 
Boston  to  become  President  of  the  United  Society 
and  Editor-in-chief  of  The  G-olden  Rule,  A  special 
feature  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  is  its  inter- 
denominational character,  and  it  rapidly  spread  to 
all  the  Evangelical  Churches,  local  societies  retaining 
their  denominational  allegiance,  while  sharing  the 
inter-denominational  fellowship. 

Soon  the  movement  spread  beyond  this  continent. 
Dr.  Clark  made  successive  visits  to  Europe  in  the 
interest  of  the  Society,  and  established  branches  in 
almost  all  the  European  countries.  He  subsequently 
made  Christian  Endeavor  journeys  around  the  world, 
receiving  a  cordial  welcome  in  the  chief  centres  of 
population  of  Australia,  China,  India,  Turkey  and 
other  countries. 

The  annual  conventions  are  the  most  largely  at- 


450     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

tended  religious  gatherings  ever  held.  The  largest 
of  these  was  that  at  Boston  in  1895,  when  fifty-six 
thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  delegates 
were  registered,  and  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five 
different  meetings,  many  of  them  of  an  evangelical 
character,  were  held,  with  an  aggregate  attendance 
of  six  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred persons. 

During  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  Christian  En- 
deavor movement  "  more  than  five  million  Endeav- 
orers  in  all  have  been  enrolled,  with  two  million 
others  in  denominational  societies  that  are  Endea- 
vorers  in  all  but  name.  Ten  million  Endeavor 
meetings  have  been  held.  Five  million  copies  of  the 
constitution  have  been  printed,  in  forty  different 
languages,  and  at  least  fifteen  million  copies  of  the 
pledge.  More  than  one  million  associate  members 
have  joined  the  Church,  and  more  than  two  million 
dollars   have  been  given  to  denominational  causes." 

In  almost  every  country  in  the  world  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Societies  have  been  organized.  They 
have  been  of  vast  assistance  in  promoting  Christian 
work  in  the  mission  field.  They  have  been  formed 
also  in  work-shops  and  prisons,  in  insane  asylums, 
work-houses,  schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  on 
board  the  ships  of  the  United  States  Navy.  They 
publish  local  organs  in  many  different  languages. 
They  devote  much  faithful  energy  to  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  to  religious  testimony  and  prayer,  to  ag- 
gressive Christian  work  in  recruiting  members  for  its 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  45I 

organization  and  for  the  Church,  and  other  forms  of 
aggressive  Christian  work. 

In  1899  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor  reported  fifty-five  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirteen  local  societies,  including  junior  and  in- 
termediate, and  a  total  membership  of  three  million 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

The  Epwortli  League  was  formally  organized  in 
1889,  but  its  real  genesis  was  much  further  back. 
As  early  as  1872  effort  was  made  to  organize  the 
young  people  of  Methodism  for  Christian  culture 
and  service.  Under  the  inspiration  of  Dr.  John  H. 
Vincent,  now  Bishop  Vincent,  an  organization  known 
as  the  Church  Lyceum  had  been  created  especially 
for  the  intellectual  training  of  the  young  people  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  A  copious  litera- 
ture was  prepared,  giving,  in  small  tracts,  a  popular 
statement  of  the  principal  facts  of  science,  history 
and  religious  progress.  The  General  Conference  of 
1872  was  memorialized  to  give  recognition  to  this 
organization.  It  was  cordially  adopted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1876. 

The  Church  Lyceum  in  turn  gave  place  to  the 
Oxford  League,  a  society  which  retained  the  idea  of 
intellectual  culture,  and  provided  also  for  greater 
activity  in  the  social  and  spiritual  life.  By  the  be- 
ginning of  1889  other  Methodist  young  people's  so- 
cieties had  come  into  being, — the  Young  People's 
Methodist  Alliance,  the  Young  People's  Christian 
League  and  two  others.     Each  of  these  societies  was 


452     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

pushing  its  work  with  zeal.  Some  of  them  sought  to 
cooperate  upon  the  same  territory.  It  was  seen  that 
some  step  must  be  taken  to  centralize  and  harmonize 
the  work.  Finally  a  conference  of  the  young  people's 
societies  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
proposed,  and  their  leaders  met  at  Cleveland  in  Cen- 
tral Church,  on  May  14,  1889.  The  formation  of 
the  Epworth  League  from  the  union  of  the  five  so- 
cieties on  the  evening  of  May  15  was  the  result. 

The  Epworth  Herald,  the  organ  of  the  League, 
was  established,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  F.  Berry  as 
Editor,  May,  1890.  In  three  years  the  subscription 
list  had  crossed  the  100,000  line,  and  in  1900  reached 
120,000.  In  1891,  Dr.  E.  A.  Schell  was  appointed 
General  Secretary.  He  was  succeeded  in  ofl&ce  by 
Dr.  Thirkield  in  1899. 

In  1889  the  Epworth  League  was  introduced  into 
Canada.  It  was  very  widely  adopted  throughout 
Canadian  Methodism,  and  the  following  year  received 
endorsation  by  the  General  Conference,  being  its 
first  official  recognition  by  any  Methodist  legislation. 
A  provision  of  the  Canadian  Leagues,  whereby  En- 
deavor Societies  might  be  incorporated  with  the 
Church  institution  as  Epworth  Leagues  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  greatly  facilitated  the  extension  of  both 
organizations. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Withrow,  the  Sunday-School  Sec- 
retary of  the  Methodist  Church,  served  five  years 
also  as  Secretary  to  the  Epworth  League.  At  the 
General  Conference  of  1894  the  League  was  so  de- 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  453 

veloped  that  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Crews  was  specially  ap- 
pointed as  Sunday-School  and  League  Secretary,  and 
in  1898  as  Editor  of  the  League  organ,  The  Canadian 
Epworth  Era, 

In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  the 
Epworth  League  was  also  soon  organized,  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Steele  as  General  Secretary  and  Editor  of 
The  Epworth  Era.  He  was  succeeded  in  1898  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Du  Bose. 

The  Epworth  League  has  also  had  its  great  con- 
ventions like  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  but 
these  are  held,  not  annually,  but  biennially,  and,  be- 
ing denominational  in  character,  they  are  not  such 
great  numerical  rallies. 

The  growth  of  the  Epworth  League  has  been 
phenomenal.  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
alone  in  ten  years  it  has  reached  19,800  chapters. 
In  addition  to  these  were  6,900  Junior  Leagues,  and 
a  total  membership  of  1,860,000.  The  membership 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  and  in 
Canada,  increased  this  number  to  considerably  over 
2,000,000. 

The  great  purpose  of  the  Epworth  League,  like 
that  of  the  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  is  the 
cultivation  of  personal  piety,  the  development  of 
Christian  activity,  the  exercise,  through  its  depart- 
ment of  mercy  and  help,  of  social  philanthropy,  and 
the  promotion  of  intellectual  development.  For  the 
latter  purpose  reading  courses  have  been  organized, 
in  all  of  which  many  thousands  of  young  people  have 


454:     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

taken  up  year  after  year  consecutive  series  of  studies 
in  science,  history  and  biblical  studies.  A  forward 
movement  in  missions  has  also  characterized  all  the 
different  young  people's  societies. 

In  the  Wesleyan  Church  of  Great  Britain,  a  Wes- 
ley Guild  has  been  formed,  with  its  own  literary 
organ  and  reading  courses,  with  marked  success. 

The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  grew  out  of 
a  young  men's  Bible  class  in  St.  James'  Church, 
Chicago,  in  1883.  On  St.  Andrew's  Day,  November 
30,  that  year,  a  dozen  young  men  of  St.  James'  Church 
agreed  to  pray  daily  for  the  spread  of  Christ's  King- 
dom among  young  men  and  to  make  an  earnest  effort 
each  week  to  bring  at  least  one  young  man  within 
the  hearing  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  These 
are  the  two  rules  of  Prayer  and  Service  which  have, 
throughout  its  history,  characterized  the  Brotherhood. 
As  the  object,  methods  and  results  of  the  work  be- 
came known,  chapters  were  multiplied  throughout 
the  country,  until  now  they  number  twelve  hundred 
and  twenty-three,  with  a  membership  of  about  thirteen 
thousand  men  pledged  to  pray  and  work  together. 
The  given  method  of  service  is  simple,  and  single, 
but  the  spirit  of  the  Brotherhood  consecrates  to  the 
work  all  the  zeal,  tact,  common  sense  and  experience 
of  its  members.  A  convention  is  held  each  year  at 
which  every  chapter  in  good  standing  is  entitled  to 
be  represented.  The  convention  appoints  a  Council 
which  is  charged  with  the  executive  direction  of  the 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  455 

general  organization.  While  the  Brotherhood  is 
simply  a  federation  of  parochial  societies,  yet  its 
very  name  and  the  whole  idea  of  its  mission  tend  to 
give  its  members  large  conceptions  of  church  life 
and  activity,  and  the  practical  value  of  union  and 
co-operation  is  forcibly  presented  to  them  in  all  their 
work.  Everywhere,  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon 
individual  responsibility  for  individual  character, 
work  and  influence.  This  principle  has  been  fixed 
in  naming  the  Brotherhood  after  that  saint,  who, 
when  he  had  found  the  Messiah,  first  sought  his 
own  brother  and  brought  him  to  Jesus. 

The  organ  of  the  Brotherhood  is  the  St.  Andrews 
Cross,  The  organization  spread  to  Canada  in  1889. 
It  has  now  230  chapters,  with  about  2,000  members. 
The  following  year  the  Brotherhood  was  organized 
in  Scotland,  in  1892  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand, 
in  1896  in  England,  and  the  same  year  in  the  West 
Indies  and  South  Africa.  A  boys'  department  of 
the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew  has  also  been  or- 
ganized for  the  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom  among 
boys. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  America 
was  organized  at  a  large  and  representative  Conven- 
tion held  in  Chicago,  111.,  July  7-8,  1891.  The  fol- 
lowing  outline  of  its  general  scope  and  character  is 
abridged  from  the  account  prepared  by  the  Rev.  E. 
E.  Chivers,  D.D.,  General  Secretary  and  Editor  of 
the  official  organ  of  the  Baptist  Union  : 

'*  In  common  with  other  bodies  of  Christians  the 


456     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Baptist  churches  had  felt  the  quickening  influences 
of  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  Young  People's 
Movement.  Young  people's  societies  which,  under 
different  names,  had  been  at  work  in  our  churches 
adopted  the  watchwords  and  methods  of  the  new 
movement.  New  societies  were  organized.  All  felt 
the  thrill  of  the  new  enthusiasm.  As  the  great  pos- 
sibilities of  this  movement  became  more  apparent 
there  sprang  up  in  the  minds  of  many  a  conviction 
of  the  need  of  a  denominational  organization.  It 
was  felt  that  the  forces  of  the  Baptist  young  people 
should  be  unified  and  directed  toward  the  attainment 
of  the  common  interests  and  ends  of  the  denomina- 
tional life  of  the  Church.  Out  of  the  discussions 
which  ensued  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of 
America  was  born." 

In  April,  1891,  a  conference  was  held  in  Philadel- 
phia, which  framed  a  general  outline  of  basis  of 
organization.  This  recommended  that  the  national 
organization  should  include  all  Baptist  young  peo- 
ple's societies  of  whatever  name  or  constitution. 
"  Federation  "  became  the  watchword.  A  form  was 
adopted  for  national,  state,  associational  and  local 
constitutions. 

While  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  is  thus 
distinctively  denominational,  as  its  name  implies, 
yet  within  these  lines  it  is  broadly  inclusive.  Its 
basis  is  federative.  It  does  not  insist  upon  uniform- 
ity of  name  or  constitution.  It  undertakes  no  legis- 
lative function  over  local  societies.     It  simply  seeks  to 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  457 

bring  all  these  societies  into  helpful  fellowship  and 
active  co-operation. 

The  educational  plans  of  the  Union  have  taken 
form  in  what  are  popularly  known  as  the  Christian 
Culture  Courses.  These  Courses  are  three  in  num- 
ber, each  extending  through  four  years.  The  Bible 
Reader's  Course  provides  for  the  reading  of  the  entire 
Scriptures.  The  Sacred  Literature  Course  aims  to 
give  a  broader  biblical  and  doctrinal  survey.  The 
Missionary  Course  is  designed  to  present  a  progres- 
sive view  of  Christian  Missions. 

The  Union  holds  its  international  Conventions  in 
July  of  each  year. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  the  South, 
while  maintaining  a  separate  set  of  officers,  is  in 
closest  affiliation  with  the  international  body  and 
indeed  forms  an  integral  part  of  it.  The  history  of 
the  organization  has  abundantly  justified  its  being 
and  vindicated  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  its 
founders.  Its  existence  and  work  are  perfectly 
compatible  with  catholicity  of  spirit.  It  does  not 
interfere  with  that  larger  fellowship  which  the  United 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  seeks  to  foster  while 
it  emphasizes  the  primary  obligation  of  loyalty  to 
one's  own. 

The  Westminster  League  is  the  young  people's 
organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  first  named  the  Young 
People's  Society  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
afterwards  the  Young  People's  Union.     Its  form  of 


458     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

Government  as  outlined  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Barldey,  of 
Detroit,  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  West- 
minster League,  embodies  three  departments  of 
Christian  work. 

I.  Church  and  Neighborhood  Committee.  This 
has  under  it  such  Special  Committees  as  the  needs 
of  the  parish  work  of  the  Young  People  may  require, 
such  as  Membership,  Devotional,  Visiting,  etc. 

II.  Home  Mission  Committee.  This  Committee, 
too,  may  have  Sub-Committees,  and  through  these 
the  League  is  brought  into  co-operative  touch  with 
all  branches  of  work  undertaken  by  the  Church  on 
the  Home  Field. 

III.  Foreign  Missions  Committee. 

The  name  of  the  organization  is  historic.  It  blends 
the  memories  of  the  birth  of  the  "Confession  of 
Faith,"  in  Westminster  Abbey, with  those  of  the  heroic 
struggles  of  the  Scottish  forefathers  against  those 
who  would  have  fastened  a  grievous  yoke  of  eccle- 
siastical bondage  on  their  necks.  Grey  friars  and 
Westminster  are  bound  together  in  it. 

No  general  organization  of  local  Leagues  has  yet 
been  effected  permanently. 

"It  is  probable,"  Dr.  Barkley  intimates,  "that 
steps  will  soon  be  taken  to  effect  a  broader  and  more 
comprehensive  organization  for  the  prosecution  of 
League  work." 

The  Luther  League  is  the  young  people's  society 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Twelve  years  ago  that 
Church  was  divided  by  doctrinal  points  into  four 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  459 

general  bodies  representing  sixty  synods.  As  one 
means  of  uniting  the  Church  the  organization  of  the 
Luther  League  was  proposed.  This  at  first  met  with 
considerable  adverse  criticism,  but  now  numbers 
among  its  supporters  those  who  at  first  were  op- 
ponents. It  has  an  estimated  membership  at  present 
of  about  80,000.  Its  object  is  to  develop  a  spirit  of 
assertion  in  Lutheran  Church  work,  and  in  this  it  is 
doing  important  service.  The  Lutheran  Church  has 
long  contended  with  the  tendency  of  young  people  to 
leave  the  Church  after  confirmation.  Among  Luther- 
ans this  has  been  apparently  a  more  serious  drain 
than  in  other  denominations,  as  not  only  have  they 
lost  their  proportion  of  those  who  forsake  the  Church 
entirely,  but  also  a  far  larger  number  of  those  who 
do  not  understand  the  foreign  languages,  which,  as 
well  as  English,  are  used  in  most  of  the  Churches. 
These  languages  are  German,  Swedish,  Norwegian, 
Danish,  Finnish,  Slavonian  and  Livonian.  The 
object  of  the  Luther  League  is  to  retain  in  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Lutheran  Church  as  many  as  possible 
of  those  whom  it  has  in  large  degree  hitherto  lost. 

The  Boys'  Brigade,  the  Knights  of  Temperance, 
the  White  Cross  Society,  the  Young  Crusaders,  are 
all  organizations  for  the  promotion  of  religion,  tem- 
perance and  social  purity  among  boys  and  young 
men,  the  influence  of  which  cannot  but  be  most 
salutary  upon  the  young  life  of  the  nation.  Bands  of 
Hope,  Bands  of  Mercy,  common  to  both  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  are  further  develop- 


460     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

merits  of  the  same  important  means  of  leading  the 
youth  in  the  paths  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

The  World's  Student  Volunteer  Society  represents 
a  great  body  of  fifty-six  thousand  students  in  eleven 
different  nations,  of  whom  one  thousand  six  hundred 
and  eighty-six  have  volunteered  for  missionary 
service,  and  five  hundred  and  sixty-five  have  already 
sailed  for  mission  fields.  Among  these  are  three 
hundred  and  sixty-six  women,  one  hundred  and  eight- 
een of  whom  are  already  in  the  mission  field.  In 
seeking  especially  to  enlist  student  life  in  Chris- 
tian service,  the  Association  is  securing  the  very  best 
possible  recruits  for  the  moral  conquest  of  the  world. 
These  men  and  women  are  among  the  intellectual 
^lite  of  the  age,  not  in  natural  endowment,  but  in  the 
opportunity  they  enjoy.  These  are  they  who  will 
largely  mould  the  life  and  thought  and  character  of 
the  coming  century,  who  will  be  the  teachers  and 
preachers,  editors  and  statesmen,  lawyers  and  physi- 
cians, engineers  and  scientists  of  the  future,  those 
under  whose  hand  is  placed  the  lever  of  more  than 
Archimedean  power  to  raise  the  world. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  even  much 
more  recently,  the  colleges  were  honeycombed  with  in- 
fidelity. To  attend  college  was  the  sole  privilege  of 
the  sons  of  wealth,  who  were  assailed  with  special  temp- 
tations to  extravagance  and  vice.  To-day  there  is  no 
class  in  the  community  which  holds  such  lofty  ideals, 
of  which  so  many  members  are  pronounced  Chris- 
tians,  as  college  students.     The  colleges   are  no 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS.  461 

longer  the  privilege  of  the  rich,  but  the  poor  man's 
son,  if  he  have  grace,  grit  and  gumption,  can 
work  his  way  to  the  very  foremost  rank. 

We  have  no  space  left  for  a  general  review  of  the 
wonderful  progress  of  the  most  wonderful  century 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  Nor  is  such  needed. 
The  survey  we  have  made  in  this  volume  has  ill- 
served  its  purpose  if  it  has  not  filled  our  souls  with 
thankfulness  to  Almighty  God  for  the  wonders  He 
has  wrought.  It  is  indeed  a  great  privilege  to  live 
in  these  latter  days  "  the  heirs  of  the  ages,  foremost 
in  the  files  of  time."  We  stand  on  the  threshold  of 
what  will  doubtless  be  a  still  more  wonderful  century 
in  its  moral,  social,  religious  and  economic  progress 
than  the  nineteenth.  What  its  issue  shall  be  no  man 
may  tell.  We  may  drop  a  thought  into  the  future  as 
men  drop  pebbles  into  a  deep  well  to  hear  what  echo 
it  returns,  but  we  cannot  fully  interpret  its  signifi- 
cance.    We  know  that  all  things  tend  to  that 

•  One,  far-off  divine  event 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves. 

Nothing  in  the  nineteenth  century  has  been  more 
marked  than  the  growth  of  God's  kingdom  in  the 
earth,  the  progress  of  Christian  missions,  the  up- 
building of  moral  character,  the  betterment  of  the 
condition  of  mankind.  The  twentieth  century  shall 
doubtless  see  the  still  ampler  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  of  the  nineteenth.  Fields  white  unto 
harvest  wave  white  on  every  side,  eager  volunteers 


462     RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

from  all  the  lands  of  Christendom  are  saying  to  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me." 

Christian  missions  throughout  the  world  are  sow- 
ing the  seeds  of  a  nobler  and  loftier  type  of  civiliza- 
tion. A  new  Crusade,  not  of  war  but  of  peace,  is 
being  waged.  The  pacific  victories  of  the  gospel 
will  unite  mankind  in  the  bonds  of  brotherhood. 
The  drowsy  races  in  the  Orient  are  turning  in  their 
troubled  sleep.  They  are  arousing  themselves  from 
the  lethargy  of  centuries,  and  are  laying  aside  their 
scorn  and  hatred  of  the  Western  nations.  They  are 
waking  up  to  the  activities  of  the  age.  They  feel 
the  pulses  of  a  new  life  throbbing  and  thrilling 
through  all  the  veins  and  arteries  of  society.  The 
night  of  ages  is  giving  way,  and  its  darkness  is  being 
dispersed.  A  brighter  day  is  bursting  on  the  world. 
The  heralds  of  the  dawn  may  everywhere  be  seen. 
Old  and  hoary  systems  of  idolatry  and  priestcraft  are 
crumbling  away.  Cruel  and  bloody  heathen  rites  are 
being  abolished. 

These  glorious  trophies  of  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity are  pledges  of  still  grander  triumphs  in  the 
future.  What  sublime  results  may  not  some  who 
read  these  pages  behold !  Those  blind  and  impotent 
old  lands  which  so  long  have  struggled  with  the 
demons  of  superstition  and  idolatry  shall  eventu- 
ally accept  the  mild  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 
The  day  is  hastening  when,  in  a  world  redeemed, 
regenerated,  disenthralled  from  the  power  and 
dominion    of    sin,   the    Saviour    shall    see   of  the 


YOUNG  PEOPLE^S  ORGANIZATIONS.  463 

travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied ;  when  He  shall 
receive  the  heathen  for  His  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  His  possession ;  when 
upon  all  the  industries  and  activities  of  the  world  ; 
upon  all  its  trade  and  commerce,  its  art,  its  science, 
and  its  literature,  shall  be  written :  "  Holiness  to  the 
Lord." 

To  this  blessed  consummation  all  the  events  of 
history,  the  growth  and  decay  of  empires,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  dynasties,  are  tending.  Omniscient  power 
and  wisdom  are  guiding  the  world,  as  a  skilful  rider 
guides  his  steed,  upward  and  onward  to  its  glorious 
goal.  With  devout  as  well  as  philosophic  eye  let  us 
read  the  history  of  the  race,  and  discern  amid  its 
strifes  and  tumults  that  God  by  His  Providence  is 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself. 

God's  greatness  flows  around  our  incompleteness, 
Round  our  restlessness  His  rest. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abolitionists,      English,    54    et    seq. ; 

American,  61  et  seq.,  60  et  seq. 
Africa,  Missions  in,  114,  163,  175,  301. 
American  Bible  Societies,  386. 
American  Board  of  Missions,  138,  139, 

169,  170 ;  originated,  1810,  144. 
American  Methodist  Missions,  120. 
America,  Presbyterianism  in,  228. 
America,  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 

in,  210. 
American    Revolution,    Influence    of, 

31-33. 
Ancient  Civilizations,  3-4. 
Anglican     Church     (see     Established 

Church  of  England,  and  209). 
Anglican  Church  in  America,  210. 
Anti-Semitism,  182,  183. 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  American,  1833, 

62. 
Archaeology,  Biblical,  338  et  seq. 
Armenians,  fidelity  under  persecution, 

176. 
Asbury,  Bishop,  249. 
Atheism  in  France,  Lecky  on,  12 ;  in 

America,  32 ;  Coleridge  on,  315. 

B. 

Baptist  Church  in  England,  267 ;  in 
America,  268. 

Baptist  Young  People's  Union  organ- 
ized, 455. 

Bible  Christians  organized,  1815,  241. 

Bible  the  best  of  missionaries,  117; 
Translation  of,  91-94,  105,  146,  154, 
155  ;  Manuscripts  of,  359. 

Bible  Societies,  380  et  seq. ;  British  and 
Foreign  originated,  1804,  382 ;  other 
Bible  Societies,  383. 

Booth,  General  (see  Salvation  Army). 

Brown,  John,  his  Anti-Slavery  Cru- 
sade, 63,  64. 

Bunting,  Dr.  Jabez,  242. 

Burmah,  Missions  in,  144  et  seq. 


Calvary,  Site  of,  352, 

Canada    abolishes    slavery,    1792,    53 ; 

Anglican  Church    in,   209 ;    Meth- 
odism in,  258;  Slave  refugees  in, 

67,  68. 
Carey,     William,    and    missions,    83 ; 

Sketch    of,    84    et   seq. ;    preaches 

epoch-marking  sermon,  1792,  87. 
Catholic  Emancipation  Bill,  1829,  190, 

289. 
Chalmers,    Thomas,    214    et   seq.;    417 

et  seq. 
Cheap  Literature,  28-30. 
China,  Inland  Mission,  159. 
China,  Missions  in,  150  et  seq. ;  157, 158, 

160. 
Christian  Commission,  The,  435. 
Christian    Endeavor,    Young    People's 

Society  of,  organized  1881,  448. 
Christianity,  Conserving  element,  5. 
•'  Christian  Science,"  287. 
Church  Missionary  Society  organized, 

1799,  100. 
Church  of  England,  Ritualism  in,  201, 

202. 
City  Missions,  416 ;  Dr.  Chalmers  and, 

417 ;     College     Settlements     and, 

431. 
Codex  Sinaiticus  found,  1844,  359. 
Coke,    Dr.     Thomas,    and    Methodist 

Missions,  110  et  seq. ;  dies  at  sea, 

121  ;  238-248. 
College  Settlements,  431. 
Colen.so,  Bishop,  208. 
Congregational  Church,  262  et  seq. ;  in 

America,  264  ;  Missions  of,  265. 
Cook,  Captain,  his  relation  to  missions, 

85,  121. 
Covenanters,  The,  211. 
Crucifixion,    graffiti    of,    found,    1898, 

365. 
Cuneifform     inscriptions     interpreted, 

1846,  889. 


466 


INDEX. 


D. 


Danish  Missions,  80. 

Deaconess  Movement,  The  (see  Kaisers- 
werth). 

Deism,  187  et  seq. ;  308,  334. 

Deism  and  Missions,  82. 

Disruption  in  Scottish  Kirlj,  Causes  of, 
215  et  seq. ;  Dramatic  consumma- 
tion of,  1843,  218. 

Dorchester,  Dr.,  quoted,  33  and  passim. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  64-65. 

Duelling,  35. 

"  Duflf,"  the  Mission  Ship,  98-100. 

Duff,  Dr.  A.,  117,  221. 


E. 


East  India  Company  and  Missions,  89, 

92,  94,  118,  119,  144,  155,  214. 
England,  Social  and  moral  condition 

of,  17-30. 
England,     Presbyterianism     in,      226 

et  seq. 
Epworth  League,  The,  organized  1889, 

451. 
"Essays  and  Reviews,"  207. 
Established  Church   of   England,   26- 

28,   187    et  seq. ;    Parties    in,   194, 

203,  204. 

F. 

Falk,  Sketch  of,  279. 

Fiji,  Missions  in,  127  et  seq.;  Degrada- 
tion of,  129  ;  Triumphs  of  Missions 
in,  131. 

Fliedner,  399. 

France,  Progress  of  Religious 
Thought  in,  324  et  seq. ;  Hugue- 
nots in,  324 ;  Protestant  Church 
in,  328;  McAll  Mission  in,  328 
et  seq. 

Francke  and  Missions,  80  ;  307. 

Free  Church  of  Scotland,  organized, 
1843,  219 ;  Remarkable  develop- 
ment of,  220  et  seq. 

Freedman's  Aid  Societies,  68. 

French  Revolution,  The,  10-13,  90,  114, 
233,  325. 

Friendly  Islands,  Missions  in,  121  et 
seq. 

Friends,  Society  of,  278  et  seq. ;  Perse- 
cutions of,  279. 

Froude,  J.  A.,  on  decay  of  established 
religions,  7. 

G. 

Garretson,  40. 

Garrison,  W.  Lloyd,  62. 

Qerniaiiy,      Progress      of      Religious 

Thought  in,   305  et  seq. ;  Pietism 

in,  307. 


Goshen,  Cities  of,  347. 

Gosner,  John,  322. 

Gospel  Ranging  in  America,  112. 


Haldane,     Robert    and    James,    213, 

337. 
Hamlin,    Cyrus,    Sketch    of,    170    et 

seq. 
Hittites,  The,  348. 
Holland,  Progress  of  Religious  Thought 

in,  333. 
Holland  and  Missions,  336. 
Hunt,  John,  his  work  in  Fiji,  127  et 


I. 


India,  Missions  in,  89-91 ;  100  et  seq. ; 
115-117;  Mutiny  in,  118-119. 

Indians,  Missions  to,  79. 

Infidelity,  233  ;  in  America,  36-40. 

Inscriptions,  Cuneiform,  interpreted, 
1848,  339. 

Intemperance,  Prevalence  of,  in  Eng- 
land, 17  ;  in  America,  36-46. 

Ireland,  Rebellion  in,  1798,  14-16 ; 
Catholic  Emancipation  in,  192- 
193,  Presbyterianism  in,  227. 


J. 

Japan,  Missions  in,  160-162. 
Jews,  Missions  to,  178  et  seq. 
Judson,  Sketch  of,  144  et  seq. 


K. 


Kaiserswerth,    A   visit    to,    397 ;    its 

daughter  houses,  404. 
Kant.  309. 


Latter    Day   Saints    organized,    1880, 

281. 
Lavigerie,  Cardinal,  301-304. 
Layard's  discoveries,  1843,  339. 
Lee,  Jesse,  Apostle  of  New  England, 

40-41. 
Leo  XII.,  291 ;  XIIL,  295. 
Lincoln  on  slavery,  65-66. 
London  Missionary  Society  organized, 

1795,  97 ;  133. 
Lord's  Day,  Observance  of,  42  et  seq. ; 

in    England,    44-47;    in    America, 

44-46  ;  in  Belgium,  48. 
Lovejoy,  Abolitionist,  70. 
Luther  League.  458. 
Lutheran  Church,  The,  272  et  seq. 
Lux  Mundi,  209. 


INDEX. 


467 


McAuley,  Jerry,  Mission  in  New  York, 
425. 

Madagascar,  Missions  in,  165-167. 

Martyn,  Henry,  Sketch  of,  102 ;  his 
apostolic  zeal,  103,  104. 

Massey  City  Mission,  Toronto,  424. 

Mediaeval  Missions,  78. 

"  Messenger  of  Peace,"  136. 

Methodism,  Influence  of,  in  England, 
23-30 ;  Divisions  of,  236  et  seq. ; 
Essential  unity  of,  237-255  ;  in 
United  States,  248  et  seq. ;  in 
Canada,  258  et  seq. ;  organizes 
Sunday  Schools  in  England,  1769, 
368  ;  in  America,  1786,371  ;  relations 
to  missions,  108  et  seq.  ;  244. 

Methodists,  Early,  in  England,  24-30 ; 
108-109  ;  in  America,  40-41. 

Methodist  Church,  Tlie,  232-233;  Fly 
Sheet  Controversy  in,  242. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  organ- 
ized, 1784,  248  ;  Slavery  question 
causes  division  in,  1844,  251  ; 
Minor  divisions  of,  252  et  seq. ; 
Publishing  interests  of,  255  ;  Mis- 
sions of,  356  ;  Colleges,  257. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South 
organized,  1845,  252. 

Methodist  Union  in  Canada,  260. 

Missions,  75  et  seq. ;  History  of,  76  et 
seq. ;  461 ;  to  the  American  In- 
dians, 79 ;  City  (see  City  Mis- 
sions) ;  Danish,  80  ;  German,  316- 
322  ;  Moravian,  81 ;  Moslem,  168  ; 
Roman  Catholic,  298  et  seq. 

Missionary  Ship  (see  "Duff"). 

Missionary  Society,  London,  141. 

Moabite  Stone  found  1868,  340. 

"  Moral  Interregnum,"  6. 

Morality,  State  of,  in  France  in  18th 
Century,  10-12 ;  in  England, 
Howitt  on,  23-30,  187  et  seq.;  in 
America,  40-41. 

Moravian  Missions,  81. 

Mormons  (see  Latter  Day  Saints). 

Morrison,  the  Apostle  of  China,  Sketch 
of,  150  et  seq. 

Moslems,  Missions  to,  168  et  seq. 

Mutiny,  Indian,  118,  119. 

N. 

New  Connection  Methodists  organized, 

1797,  236. 
New  Guinea,  Missions  in,  141. 
New  Hebrides,  Missions  in,  136,  140. 
Newman,  John  Henry,  195-198. 
New  Zealand,  Missions  in,  139. 

O. 

(Ecumenical  Council,  1869,  295. 
Optimism,  Christian,  8. 


Oxford  Movement,  The,  194;  Causes 
of,  187  et  seq.;  Leaders  of,  194  et 
seq. ;  Effects  of,  205. 


Palestine,  Missions  in,  175 ;  Explora- 
tions in,  352  et  seq. ;  Exploration 
Fund  in.  The,  354  et  seq. 

Penal  Code  in  18th  Century,  20-22. 

Persia,  Missions  in,  175. 

Pessimistic  Philosophies,  6. 

Petra  discovered,  1812,  351. 

Pharaohs,  Finding  the,  1881,  343. 

Physical  Improvements  in  the  Cen- 
tury, 2. 

Pietism,  307. 

Pius  VL,  290;  VIL,  291;  VIIL,  292; 
IX.,  292-295. 

Pontiffs,  Sovereign  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  290  et  seq. 

Popes  (see  Pontiffs). 

Presbyterian  Cliurch,  The,  211  et  seq. ; 
Divisions  of,  213-218  et  seq.,  225. 

Primitive  Methodists  "organized,  1810, 
239. 

Prisons,  State  of,  22. 

Pusey,  Dr.  E.  B.,  199. 

Puseyism  (see  Oxford  Movement). 


Quakers  (see  Friends). 

R 

Raikes,  Robert,  organizes  Sunday 
Schools,  1781,  368. 

Railway  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  442. 

Rationalism,  Growth  of,  in  Germany, 
309  et  seq. ;  Evangelical  Revival 
in  Germany,  816  et  seq.  (see 
Methodism). 

Reform  Bill,  1831,  190  et  seq. 

Religion,  State  of,  in  England  in  18th 
Century  (see  Morality). 

Religious  Aspect  of  the  Century,  Im- 
portance of,  1. 

Religious  Thought,  Progress  of,  in 
France,  324  et  seq. ;  in  Germany, 
305;  in  Holland,  333  et  seq.;  in 
Switzerland,  336. 

Religious  Tract  Society  organized,  1799, 
390 ;  other  Tract  Societies  in 
Europe,  398  ;  in  America,  895. 

Renan,  Life  of  Jesus,  326. 

Ritualistic  Movement,  201. 

Robert  College,  Constantinople,  170- 
172-174. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  289  et  seq.; 
CEcumenical  Council,  1869,  295 ; 
Growth  of  Church,  297  ;  Missions, 
298  et  seq. 

S. 
Roaetta  Stone  found,  1802,  838. 


468  + XXII  =  490 


INDEX. 


Sabbath,  Observance  of,  42-49 ;  in 
England,  44-47 ;  in  America,  44- 
46  ;  in  Belgium,  48. 

Sabbath,  The,  Boon  to  Mankind,  48, 
49. 

Saint  Andrew,  Brotherhood  of,  organ- 
ized 1883,  454. 

Salvation  Army  organized,  1878,  407 
et  seq. ;  Social  Work  of,  414. 

Sandwicli  Islands,  138. 

"Sayings  of  Jesus"  found,  1897,  363. 

Scotland,  Kirk  of,  211  et  seq. 

Selwyn,  Bishop,  137-140. 

Shaftesbury,  Lord,  420. 

Slavery,  50  et  seq. ;  in  Greece  and 
Rome,  50-51 ;  Abolition  of,  in 
Canada,  53  ;  in  England,  1833,  54  ; 
in  United  States,  1864,  64;  in 
,  Brazil,  1871,  58  ;  in  Russia,  1861, 
73  ;  Causes  Division  of  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  1844,  251  ; 
Causes  Conflict  in  United  States, 

Slave  Trade,  The,  52 ;  Abolition  of, 
in  America,  1819,  57  ;  in  England, 
1808,  55  ;  in  East  Indies,  1843,  56  ; 
in  France,  1819,  57. 

Smith,  Joseph,  281,  282. 

Society  Islands,  Missions  in,  134  et 
seq. 

Southern  Seas,  Missions  in,  121  et 
seq.,  133. 

Spener,  307. 

Spiritualists,  285  et  seq. 

Strauss,  his  Life  of  Jesus,  313. 

Switzerland,  Progress  of  Religious 
Thought  in,  336. 

Sunday  Legislation,  45  ;  Newspapers, 
43-47. 

Sunday  Schools,  366  et  seq. ;  Develop- 
ment of,  371 ;  Uniform  Lessons 
in,  372 ;  Home  Department  in 
the,  376. 

Sunday  School  Union,  American,  or- 
ganized, 1829,  372. 

Syriac  Gospels  found,  1891,  361. 

Syria,  Missions  in,  169. 

T. 

Tahiti,  Missions  in,  136. 
Tappan,  Arthur,  Abolitionist,  69. 
"Teaching    of    the    Twelve"   found, 
1883,  362. 


Tel-el-Amarna  Tablets  found,  1887, 
341, 

Thompson,  George,  Abolitionist,  69. 

Tractarianism  (see  Oxford  Move- 
ment). 

"Tracts  for  the  Times,"  197  et  seq. 

Tract  Societies,  390-395. 

U. 

Underground  Railway,  The,  67. 
Unitarian  Church,  The,  275. 
United    States  (see  America) ;   Meth- 
odism in,  248  et  seq. 
Universalist  Church,  The,  276. 


W. 

Wanamaker,  John,  and  City  Mission- 
ary Work,  422. 

Washington,  George,  maligned,  34. 

Water  Street  Mission  (see  McAuley). 

Wesleys,  The,  24-30,  234. 

Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  organ- 
ized 1818,  108. 

Wesleyan  Missions  (see  Coke ;  Hunt), 
140-142  ;  in  Fiji,  127  et  seq. ;  in 
New  Zealand,  140 ;  Australia, 
142. 

Westminster  League,  456. 

Wichern,  319. 

Williams,  John,  Martyr  of  Erromanga, 
133. 

Williams,  Roger,  268-270. 

World's    Student    Volunteer    Society, 


Xavier,  Francis,  299. 


T. 


Young   Men's   CJhristian   Associations 

organized,  1844,  433. 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 

1857,  445. 


Zinzendorf,  Count,  81. 
Zionism,  184. 


THE  END. 


Edinburgh : 
Printed  by  W.  &  R.  Chambers,  Limited 


The  Nineteenth  Century 
Series. 


«>o^- 


THE  aim  of  the  series  is  to  present  in  a  popular  way, 
but  with  fulhiess  and  accuracy,  the  progress  of  the 
nineteenth  century  from  every  practical  standpoint, 
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Titles  of  the  Volumesm 

NOW  READY. 

RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CENTURY. 

By  W.  H.  WITHROW,  M.A.,  D.D.,  F.R.S.C. 

The  following  Volumes  will  be  issued  at  short  intervals  :— 

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By  George  McCall  Theal,  D.Lit.,  LL.D.,  Historiographer  to  the  Cape  Govt. 
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