“MISSIONARY UPRISING AMONG STUDENTS." Under this caption, in the Advance, Rev. S. J. Humphrey, D.D., thus writes of what President McCosh, in our columns, has called "The Student Movement towards Foreign Missions." What a signal fact is this! It is an uprising among the students such as this era of modern missions has nowhere seen before. True, they are distributed through some twenty different denominations. They are in different stages of preparation. Not more than three or four hundred can be ready in any one year. The saving clause, "God permitting," will sift out some. But they are coming. And still larger ranks of boys and girls are pressing on behind. All tokens indicate that this is the advance wave of a flood tide. And why should it not be so? For twenty years Christian mothers have planned and prayed, have studied and filled their souls with the inspirations of this grand work. This is some of the ripening fruit. And infinite powers are behind it all. Let the flood tide come ! And now is it not time that for each one of these young men there should be some business man who will say, "I hear the same voice. I accept the same obligation. I cannot go, but I will send. If this young man turns from home and country and gives his life, it is but a small part for me to give the money to sustain him"? The average cost of furnishing a missionary and his family "a comfortable support" is from $1000 to $1200-say $100 a month. We believe there are not a few men scattered through all our churches who, out of their abundance or out of their self-denial, if their minds should really turn to it, could, each one, select a missionary, and say, "He shall be my man, my substitute. Let him go to the front, and I will stand by him with my The Missionary Herald informs us that after the recent riot in Smyrna, in which the mob broke in the windows of the church and of the girls' school, "some ninety arrests means. I will do more: I will study his work. I will follow him with a loving sympathy and with daily prayer. We two, together, will preach the gospel to the unevangelized." Try it, brother; you will be glad all your days. Will you not be one of the first ten who will distinctly commit themselves to "the substitute plan"? Why not begin with this month and send the first hundred dollars, as soon as with prayerful consideration you have determined to do this good thing? Most earnestly do we second this sugges tion, and commend it to our readers. In our January number (p. 71) attention was called to the fact that at the Inter-Seminary Alliance at Oberlin more than half of the eighty-one young men who expressed their willingness to enter the foreign mission field were from Presbyterian theological seminaries. These are near the end of their educational preparation, in its last stage, now within two years of its close. Under the cheerful inspiration of our Board's recent report to the General Assembly, of debt paid and fields open, shall not these young men and women willing to go" be met by as many willing to send them-man for man, woman for woman---man and woman for man and woman? The ordinary contributions will be needed, and need to be gradually increased to meet the ordinary gradual increase of the work. This extraordinary increase of the number willing to be missionaries strikingly corresponds with the extraordinary calls and openings in Japan and elsewhere. May we not reasonably expect a corresponding special call of God. to his trusted stewards? were made by the police, and a guard was placed by the authorities before the threatened buildings. . . . The governor, by orders from Constantinople, has directed the reading in all the Greek and Roman Catholic churches of instructions to live at peace with their neighbors, for this is the spirit of Christianity and the wish of the sultan.' Nominal Christians are thus restrained by Moslem authorities from mob violence against fellow Christians whom they count heretics. This is by no means a new thing in that empire. But should not we specially note this recognition of the spirit of Chris tianity as a spirit of fairness, justice and peace? It is not in vain that our evangelical missionaries and their converts and churches have been exemplifying this among the Moslems and under the observation of their rulers for threescore years. Leaven works silently in meal, but it cannot be permanently "hidden" just because it works. That whole lump, hard and heavy as it seems, shall yet be effectually leavened. "INDIA: COUNTRY, A little book with this title gives in less than 200 pages a large amount of information. It treats of the extent, climate, resources, physical features, population and government of the country; of India's languages, races, religions, place in history; of what has been done for its evangelization; and of the present great opportunity, peril, A good deal is said lately of the circulation among Jews of a Hebrew version of the New Testament, prepared by Delitzsch. A letter recently received by the editor from a missionary in Tabriz reports an interesting visit of Mirza Mosa, a converted Jew of Tabriz, to Jews on the plain of Salmas. When he commended their careful observance of the laws of Moses, and also alluded to their depressed and unprosperous condition, they promptly declared that this is on account of their sins. When he charged upon them their rejection of the Messiah as their greatest sin, they objected that Jesus could not be the Messiah because he blasphemously claimed to be God. He then PEOPLE, MISSIONS." privilege, duty. In vividness of picturing and force of appeal it may be compared with Dr. Strong's "Our Country" and Dr. Pierson's "Crisis of Missions." Its author is Rev. J. T. Gracy, for seven years a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India, now of Rochester, N. Y. asked who was their greatest prophet. They of course answered "Moses." "Can Moses save us?" "No." Can any of the other prophets?" "No; they were all sinners." "Who can save?" "God alone," said one of the listeners. Thus he led them almost to confess the need of Immanuel, a divinehuman redeemer. He also called their attention to the intimations of trinity in the divine unity in the Old Testament. After this he sold eight copies of the Hebrew New Testament. May we not hope that they will be read, that the veil will be taken from the eyes of the readers, and that they will see their promised Messiah in Jesus of Nazareth? FRINK Something was lately printed in THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD about Homer Academy. There was another teacher KINNEY. there when Mr. Woolworth was, whom I remember with great gratitude. His name was Abel Frink Kinney. He was a dwarf in size, not larger than a boy of twelve or thirteen years, and much deformed in the back. But he had a rare face and head and soul. I was a pretty robust boy and grew fast. I remember how, when I noticed, in walking beside him, that I was taller than he, I felt awkward about it. It did not seem the right thing to look down on a man for whom I had such a reverence. In spirit I never did look up to any man more than to him. In mathematics and in Greek he was a thorough scholar and an excellent teacher. No man ever had better religious influence over me than he had. I think it was so with all his scholars. He did not bore us, nor make religion tiresome. But we could not forget it, when we saw him daily, any more than the Israelites could forget Sinai and God, while they looked on the shining face of Moses. I remember going with him far up the hill east of Homer, to a Sunday-school that he taught up there, and how pleasant as well as solemn he made it, to stop in the woods and kneel down and pray. I remember looking out of my window upon the common, on a training day, and seeing him going round among the peddlers' wagons and the people standing about, giving them tracts. No one would think it impertinent, in the way he would do it. Those words written in the Bible about our Saviour, "who went about doing good," seemed to me to be just as true of Mr. Kinney as they could be. He was only thirtyfive years old when he died. He had been a teacher in Homer Academy fifteen years, and before that he had taught some in the public schools, and shortly before he died he said that he never was treated disrespectfully by a pupil. I do not much wonder at that. Small and deformed as he was, he had uncommon dignity. We boys all loved him, to be sure, but we had a wholesome fear of him too. When I could have carried him in my arms, for the weight of his little crooked body, if I had had it to do, I should have carried the light load with awe. I am glad to know that they have some such teachers in the new academies and colleges that the Board of Aid is helping. I would like to know of many such-no matter how many-and I would like to give what I can to help support them, and to educate more like them. I do not believe that money can be better invested. I think that such teachers as Frink Kinney are as useful and as reverend as any ministers. FARMERSON. The Congregationalist, reporting a Boston ministers' meeting, at which the topic was "The French Protestant Evangelistic Work in Massachusetts," gives a speech of Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, principal of the French Protestant College at Lowell, from which we take this paragraph: It is unpatriotic to look with indifference on this matter. That there are 500,000 French Canadians in New England is due to the fact that the Romish Church drains $5,000,000 a year from Canada, and as much more for compulsory pew rents; then there are the great buildings and the immense sums for the priests to keep the people from purgatory-a total, Dr. McVickar declares, of fifty millions a year. We must give the liberty of the gospel of Christ to these peo ple. Present agencies will not suffice. The Church of Rome loses multitudes of her people, but we do not get them into Protestant churches, save a few. They are on the border line between infidelity and Romanism. We must save these masses. Whether this is to be called foreign mission work or home mission work, it is, without question, work of vital importance. Our New England brethren, in their brave endeavor to save from the rising floods the inheritance of their fathers and ours, are entitled to our brotherly sympathy and prayers. If there is any part of that work in which we can help them—any portion of their immigrant population more accessible to us than to them that is the work which we wish to do. FIVE PAGES FOR CHILDREN. The children who read THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD are not all agreed on the question whether the pieces which are written for them shall be put by themselves or mixed with the other pieces. A good number of children have written to the editor, just as he asked them to, but some prefer one way and some the other. But they are all in good humor and mean to read the pieces wherever they find them. This time we put them all on this and the next four pages. But just as likely as not there are some of the pieces on other pages, written for older people, which the children will like as well. Get your mothers to look out for you and not let you miss anything good. Children grow so fast that, almost before we know it, they are not children any more. There must be a good many large girls and boys who love to read these children's pieces, and who can also understand very well the other parts of the magazine-not only the other editorials, but what is printed in the other departments: Missions, Education, Freedmen and the others. Look sharp and keep yourselves posted in all these. There is one story in the Foreign Mission pages of this number which none of our young readers should overlook. You can find it by its title, "The Persecuted Bannerman." It is a first-rate story to read and talk about in the family. The man's name is Ng-Hin-ki. Pretty hard name to pronounce, is it not? But no matter for that. See how brave and true he was, and how much good he did. THE GLEANERS. You know, children, that in ancient times when the farmers were harvesting their crops the poor were allowed to go into the fields and follow the reapers, gathering for their own use the stalks of grain that lay scattered on the ground, overlooked by those who were binding the sheaves. The Israelites were forbidden to cut the grain that grew in the corner of their fields; it was to be left for the poor. You remember the sweet story of Ruth, how she went to the field of Boaz to glean for Naomi, and the master of the field was so pleased with her that he bade his reapers "let fall some of the handfuls of purpose for her." A good many sweet poems have been written in which this custom of gleaning in the harvest fields is spoken of. The writers. of these poems describe Christian people as gleaners, trying by their faithful, diligent work in this world, which is like a great harvest field, to gather up some good things which they can present to their Lord. I have noticed that a good many of our mission bands of boys and girls have chosen for their name The Gleaners, or sometimes Little Gleaners. The first one that I heard of was away off on the island of Honolulu, one of those wonderful Hawaiian islands where not so very many years ago the people were all heathen. Just think of it! now it has become a Christian island where a great many American people have pleasant homes, and they have a mission band of Gleaners there who, if I have not forgotten, support a missionary on another island, where the people have not had a good chance to learn about Jesus. A little band that I knew about in New York state took its name from the Honolulu band; and I have often seen in Children's Work, or some of the other magazines, the notice of a band in Pennsylvania, or Ohio, or Missouri, of the same name, so I think the children must like to be called Gleaners. Suppose we could get all the boys and girls together who have ever belonged to these bands, what a little army it would be! I suspect that some of them have grown up to be young ladies and gentlemen since the bands were formed, and that their younger brothers and sisters who were babies, or had not even come into the world at all then, are the Gleaners now; but I hope that these older ones are still going on with the work, and love it just as well as they used to in those days. But what is it that these Gleaners, these missionary Gleaners, are gathering? First of all, perhaps you will say, they are gathering money-pennies and dimes and dollars to help in the missionary work, for which so much money is needed; money earned and money saved, little gifts and little sacrifices, the money finds its way into the treasuries of the bands, and then on to the treasurers of the boards, who thank God that the children of the Presbyterian Church love to help in this work. Is it not pleasant work, little Gleaners? Have you not found out already that "it is more blessed to give than to receive"? I knew one boy who be longed to a band of Gleaners who gave the first money he had ever earned-two dollars I think it was. He was too bashful to bring it himself, but his mother brought it for him, and I doubt whether he ever enjoyed spending any money for himself so much. But besides gathering money these little Gleaners are gathering knowledge, a great deal of useful and interesting knowledge. They are learning about China and India and Siam; about the strange languages and customs and religions. They have maps and pictures and stories to help them understand and remember. So I hope they can. never make the funny mistakes that some older people make who think that Beirût is in Persia, or that the Mohammedans worship idols. But I have been wondering lately whether with all their gathering of money to send the story of Jesus' love to heathen children, all these little Gleaners were getting that love of Jesus in their own hearts; whether with all their gathering of knowledge about Persia and Syria and Africa they were learning for themselves the way to that wonderful heavenly country to which we all want to journey some day. In the Bible there are a great many sweet and precious things that seem, like the little handfuls of grain in Boaz's field, to have been "let fall of purpose" for the little Gleaners. One of them is that verse in Proverbs, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me;" and another is those words of Jesus, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." The parents of the little Mohammedan and Hindoo children do not want them to come to Jesus; but your fathers and mothers and pastors and Sabbath-school teachers all want you to be his children, and most of all he wants you himself. Paul said once, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." How dreadful it would be if there should be children from Siam and Africa and India in heaven whom your money had helped to find their way there, and you little Gleaners should never get there yourselves! "Lest that by any means, I knew a dear boy who had belonged to one of these bands who went out from his home one morning bright and strong and happy, and at noon the word was brought back that he had been drowned. Don't you believe that his father and mother were glad when they remembered that only a few months before their boy had stood up in church, with a number of his companions, to say that he had given himself to Jesus, and wanted to be his faithful, obedient servant as long as he should live? I am sure that they were more thankful than any amount of money could have made them, and I am sure that he was thankful, if he could think, in that dreadful moment when he went down under the water. He had only lived a few months to serve the Master whom he had chosen; but I believe that in that time he had gathered a little sheaf of boyish, cheerful obedience to present to the Lord of the harvest. But if he had lived to be seventy years old I am sure that he would have been more and more thankful every year that he began to serve the Lord when he did. F. |
