Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1856-08-16
A .sENsATIoNn ARTICLE.

(now in the press Of Messrs. Leonard Scott 4
Co.,) contains an article on "Chrislian Mis-
sions," which will asionish some people. The
writer has had the aUdaciiy TO utter what ey
cry intelligent, ecclesiastical man in Chris
tendon has long been aware Of. Symp1ihi
zing profoundly with that noble impulse which
canses men To devote themselves TO probable
destruction and inevitable hardships for the
sake Of carrying the truth to other human souls
the writer does not suffer himself to lie led
away. by his admiration for the motive, 10
blindly applaud te practice; and in his survey
OF the history Of missionary enterprise, he sums
up with terrible force the damnaiory evidence
against missionary practice, palpabe in the Ut
ter failure Of all missions. The Catholic mis-
sions are described, and the results interropa-
ted then the various Protestant missions are
submitted to the same test. Everywhere the
result is failure, unless we are to count as sue
cess the mere fact Of thousands being baptized
BY violence and by persuasion the heathens
have been made Christians to the extent Of bap-
tlsm but in no other sense. The greater i'm
morality which has followed these conversions
helps in some degree TO explain the unform
aud startling depopuaiion which the missiona-
ries have seen to follow their settlement among
the heaihens
"ln I777, Captain Cook found 200 900 people
inhabiiing Tahiti. He declared his estimate to
be rather under than over the mark These
we're the days Of wars, human sacrifices inlan-
tieide, and that ordinary reeklessncss Of life
which tho missionaries profess TO have, gener-
ally speaking, cured. Aged natives At that
time remember the high priest Teearnoar, who
uttered the prophecy which the people caught
up for It's stTangeness at first, and repeat now
for its dread paihos. II is at this day sung in
the depths Of retreat, where the missionaries
can no, overhear-
''The palm-tree shall grow,
The coral shall spread,
But man shall cease"
census taken Just before tho American
Exploring Expedition was there, showed The
indigenous population to be 1000. The mis-
sionaries called il 5000. In the Sandwich ISL
ands, the decline Of the population is such as
history can scarcely parallel, and as every hear
er at an Exeter Hall May meeting should be
informed Of We are told, not only by native
tradition, but BY the early navigaiors Of the Pa
cihc, that there were once human abodcs where
ever there was good soil and wafer, and that
the population Of this group was not less than
100000. Now i, is under 5000. Twenty
five years ago-wilhin the period Of strenuous
missionary ehou-it was double this"
We must refer TO the article ;selff for details
at once picturesque and conclusive wherewith
ihp rffa axon.nltfaa - aud
only the following observations
'The expenditure Of an annual million and
half in objects as various as the sec,s Of the re-
ligious world, and reaching to the ends of the
earth, must require large and diverse agency !:
and the agency, with the money ia its hands,
constitutes power-a power abundanily abc
10 sustain missions uuder lany adverse infuen-
ees whatever. The mere collecting OF the
funds employs small number of poor clergy
men, and laymen who make themselves as like
clergymen as they can. Vain men, and men
who think il duty TO let their name and sta
tion be used in good cause, are on commit
tees; and The real business Of committees is
done by secretaries; and the secre,aryships.
which confer enormous unrecognized power aud
prodlgious patronage, are objects of ambition
10 the active and aspiring men Of all sec,s that
can get footing in Exeter Hall. Whatever
Iheit seciaIiaa differences may be, these men
have strong interest in such concert as iasy
keep up the organization in vigor and authori-
~. They are the paid staff Of rich social de-
partmen,; and the zeal Of paid staff on be-
hall of The department by which ii lives and
enjoys life may always be depended on. That
zeal coaks all deiormiiies, conceals all delin-
quencies, gets rid Of sinners, and obirubes its
saints; denies failure, magnifes success, and
deyoles some Of its professional benevolenco TO
making things pleasant for contributors who
enjoy giving their money, but would be pain
fully disturbed by bearing that any thing was
going wrong. The subscribing mnlutude as
sefDble to hear Of widows rescued from the pile,
children snatched from the Ganges, savages
singing hymns, missionaries dying in the odor
Of sanctiiy, Jews extolling the cross. and infant
converts from Romansm splitting out texts in
the priests faces and il would be chilling
disappointment TO them to hear that widows
still choose 10 burn; that the heather are per-
ishing out of their lands that dying mission.
aTy now and then hopes that no more brethren
will come out into the wilderness, and waste
theiI lives as he has done; that some hypocriie
has embezzled funds that devoted member
here and there has turned secular, and become
devoted to mammon in one form or another.
The rule Of conduct in such cases is, ''least
SAL, soonest mended !" and the glow Of hope
and complaceney is not 10 be cloudeI over by
bad lidings which nobody will be the better for
hearing, while some will be The worse for tell
ing. Thus the servants Of Exeter Hall become
its masters. While protesting to render their
account, they lead the religious public whittier
soever they will"
THE DOG NOBLE AND THE EMPTY
HOLE.