The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-05-13

>IONlTT NWCTrTI'-- anu IIVTNHUN I>N~ WIFI aT|
! by whom this law was enacted" He might as we'll
s deny the existence of such 4 thing as international
: law. because no international code has yet been
& enacted. Like the Law of Nations. and like the
! English Common Law, the great principles which
: regulate the intercourse of the various Christian
Z benevolent societies. have been and still are devel-
4 Oping themselves, ana are none the less real from
. not having been reduced L. = written code. Ana
s as any nation that sets II nought the principles ~
international law IS thenCetorth regarded aS an
! outlaw, so any Protestant Missionary Society that
tramples on the law Of comfy will deServedIy
I forfeit the confidence and respect Of al good men.
] There Is no want Of precedents TO show that this
principle has long been recognized and acted upon
by Protestant Missionary Societies. The charge
agents in either foreign or domestic Missions, where
the Episcopal Church or the MethOdIstS have been
before them, is one that should not be made with
out ample evidence 10 support 1t. No cause VIII
ever be benefited in the end by such rash aud
grOundless assertions. The fact is that the Amer
lean Board has always scrupuloUsly observed the
d" law OF comfy especially in its Missions in the
Pacific Ocean. 1t IS in accordance with this prin-
ciple that the missionaries OF the American Board
have confined their labors to the islands in the
North Pacific, leaving the Islands IN the South IA
] ciic to be evangelical by their English brethren.
When in 1892 a Mission to the Marquesas Islands
j was contemplated, u correspondence was opened
with the London Missionary Society. and a deputa-
ton was sent from these islands to the Society Isl
auds 10 confer with the English missionaries there.
! They had on that occasion Il very pleasant and prof
! liable meeting. at which the most frank and cordial
interchange of views took place in regard 10 the
) whole subject OF Missions.
1t was in accordance with this same principle
that the Wesleyan Missionary Society withdrew
from the Samoan Islands. leaving that field to the
j London Missionary Society. and Tor the same rea-
! son Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand has hitherto
carefully avoided all interference with the work of
the Presbyterian missionaries in the New Hebrides
and in the Loyalty Group.
Again, why was the scheme of sending a High
Church Bishop and clergy to Madagascar aban-
doned. if not in Difference TO this same law of
comity?n The speech of the Earl of Shaftesbury
Is exactly in point. and cannot be fairly answered.
In the course of his remarks, the noble Earl said
4" there has been hitherto recognized among all mis-
sionaries in the Protestant denomination IA kind of
courtesy that they should not interfere one with an
other. unless ii could be clearly proved that n field
was shamefully in-NoTked. or that there We're heret- s
zeal doctrines taught, or that mischief was being
done instead Of good. As to interfering one with !
another, thrlJsting yourself into another mans vine {
yard, not attending to your own, but ever spying Z
ont what your nelghbor II doIng.-thatl Is contrary :
10 the received principle of missionary operations"
The tone in which Bishop Staley asks where the
Society for Propagating the Gospel entered into 4
any such compact with the UOHcOnfOFlHiSt mission ;
airy associations, savorS too much of the spirit OF {
the old saying, - No faith with heretics!"
Now. the principle III question does not apply to {
the MISSIONS OF tie Church OF Rome. for that church z
regards Professionalism as a soul-dcstroying heresy, E
To be rooted ont everywhere like heathenism or i
hahOmetanism. If Bishop Staley and his patrons {
In England take that ground, then their course Is 5
justiiable. +
TO disprove the existence of such a law. Bishop
Staley refers to the Indian Empire. where the bishops Z
of the Established Church have not protested against !
other denominations entering the field. | viii not Z
insist on the fact that English and American dis +
senters were laboring in the field OF India long be-
fore the Church of England. For the idea of COM
pairing the vast continent OF India with It's 100 mill i
lions Of idolatOrs with the little field in these ISL (
ands, bears lis a%bsurdity on It's face. There is am 8
pie room in that great empire for each society to s
labor in Its OWL field, without interfering in the n
degree with the operations of any other {
society. Is
AS was before remarked, the question is not s
whether 10000 natives can be found on these ISL 3
ands. unconnected with any church, but rather 81
whether among 600 millions of Pagans, there could G
not be found work enough for a Bishop and six {;
without destroying or Interfering with rs
the fruits of other men, labors. But what Mr.. Yenn, =
the honored Secretary of the Church Mission Soci- IS
says of ltomaniSm in the following passage, is b
equally applicable TO Ritualism by whatever name IS
it may be called. He says: " When true religion 81
has been once established. Romanism can extend (;
itself. because il is essentially a declensiOn from the fs
truth. and it offers TO partially awakened conscielices
an easier religion and one more accommodated to 3
the cravings OF fallen nature. When it is adopted s.
as an engine Of state, and can unSheath the sword e
of persecution, it can triumph over all opposition. e.
But Popery cannot plant or propagate itself in
lands where true religion has not first been intro
iuced.1 5
The above passage may help to explain why the IS
i.0uIaOlZlng section OF the Church or England pre- 3
to follow where others have prepared the way e
rather than to enter itself upon the rough pioneer s.
work OF Missions to the heather. As for the Royal E
NV llttIbu, WHICH Is % Olttn referred TO, IL loses & ~
great deal of force from the admitted fact that it Fl
was procured from the late King by representations S
from England. b
The Christian public will understand the spirit of g
he Bishops allusion 10 the efforts made TO revive r.
Christianity among the degraded churches of the 81
East. In his view they are not proper objects for Il
effort at all. Possessing. as they claim, r
I regular priesthood. who are authorized by virtue Il
IF the Apostolical Succession. to convey to men the Il
grace of God through the Sacraments, what more 81
an they need? And like Bishop Southgate, he e.
would sooner extend the right hand of fellowship 81
% the Protligate. dishonest and prosecuting clergy e
II those corrupt churches, than TO the heroic DR.. g
Irant, the apostle 0i the HISTORIANS, or to the truly e.
venerable DIR. King of Greece. or 10 that noble band e
ConStantinopie, who are loved and revered by Il
III Evangelical Christians in England as well as in (
america. e
Those who have traced the history Of Missions in s
he East viii remember the efforts of Mr.. Badger. Il &
High Church agent. to hinder the reformation among s.
he HISTORIANS, and Bishop Southgate's unsuccessful q
TO Justify the cruel persecution OF the Is
'rOtestInt ArmenianS by the infamous Patriarch 81
fatteos. We are glad 10 know that his policy 81
vas repudiated by his own church, and that the q
'hurch Missionary Society after a trial of thirty S.
ears, and the American Episcopal Church after =
lXteen years experience. have given Up the effort q
reform those churches by acting through their q
ecclesiastical authorities or by their appreciation, q
nd adopted the opposite policy. 8
1t is not true that the American Board is hostile !.
Episcopacv as such. Il has always maintained +
most fraternal relations with the Church Mis- &
ionarJ Society, and with the Missions Of the Amer
AN Episcopal Church. It's Mission 10 the NestO- p
has been able to reform that church without 9
,rious'y disturbing its ancient ecclesiastical con
,~itution.
Forms of church government are comparatively s
minor Importance. The controversy is not with -
but with that system which makes JUS 8
ication with God dependent on priestly offices s
nd prerogativeS, with Formalis IN, by whatever
anne it be called. &
ITO be continued