The New York herald., 1872-11-18

| whether he will boldly take the initatory in
carrying into practice the policy which his
present Secretary of State has been for the
last three years SO bold to avow and SO incom-
| petent to enforce.
Methodist Missionary Appropriations.
Any one who will take the trouble to ex-
anime the schedule of missionary appropria-
tions of the several societies operating from
this country among the heather must be
surprised at the steady and rapid growth Of
the Churches contributions to the cause of
missions Of the forty and more societies
hero who carry on missionary work sixteen of
them labor among the heathen directly, while
others operate among foreigners here in this
land and among the "heathen Chinee" in
California. The aggregate amount of money
spent in this mission work at home and
abroad by American national societies was
last year nearly six and three-quarter millions
of dollars This is q large sum, but it
dwindles into insignifcance before the
mighty populations for whose evangelization
and ennoblement it was appropriated And
yet even large as it appears it is not much
more than one dollar head for every church
member in the land-certainly not very
extravagant donation Individually for max
ing known the Gospel of Christ to
the world and Fastening on His kingdom.
But more than three and half millions of
this aggregate sum went almost wholly to
foreiPn lands. The Methodist Episcopal
Church of America, as it is the largest and
wealthiest in the country, raised the largest
amount of money for missionary purposes
last year of any organization-namely,
$629,921. One Board administers for the
home and foreign fields, SO that in the aggre-
gates there is no division of the appropriations
made. But the home and foreign work are,
nevertheless, as distinct as if the Methodists
had, like other Christian denominations, sep
arate Boards to administer to each class of
missions. The appropriations last year to the
foreign work and to foreign populations in the
United States amounted to 1901 ,93S-a little
less than one-half of the entire sum. The bal
ance was distributed among the annual con-
ferences to be by them used as they should
Judge best. This plan does away with agencies
and officers and much clerical help and other
items Of expenditure which draws upon the
missionary income Of other churches and So
cieties
The great changes which have taken place
throughout the world during the past year,
chiefly in Japan, China and India, and the
practical though indirect opening up of inte-
rior Africa by the HERALD expedition, has
awakened new zeal and increased the mission
ary interest Of the churches of America in the
foreign work. Hence the General Missionary
Committee Of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
now in annual session in this city, has based
its appropriations for 1873 upon an income Of
$S00,000, o sum which the founders of the
society would hardly have dared to dream of
fifty years ago, when they had but $2,5OO to
be distributed over the home and foreign
work. But in 1928 the Church took o
commendable stride from $152, ,482 to $33S, ,068.
It then fell off in its contributions until 1862,
when the sad havoc Of war awakened the kind
liest and tenderest sympathies of Christian
hearts, and general sentiment prevailed
among Methodists throughout the country
that the missionary cause would probably
suffer because Of the war. Every one there
fore determined to do more for it than ever.
The result was that the receipts leaped from
$272, 523 to $429, 9,768. The year following they
went above half o million, and since then they
have fluctuated between $642, 740 and $6O6, ,661 !;
and such faith have the Missionary Committee
that the receipts for 1873 will overreach their
estimates that they have already appropriated
$3.50, 525, and their work is not yet completed
Among the first, if not the very first, to
utilize the important discoveries and in
| formation given by Mr.. Stanley to the
world through the HERALD, the committee has
appropriated $4,000 to establish new mis-
sion in the interior of Africa. And, as it was
expressed in the committee meeting on Thurs
day, if DR.. Livingstone ever comes to the sur
face of civilization, this will become the most
important station and Africa the most impor-
tant foreign mission field in the world. Its
people are comparatively thrifty, and, to o
large extent, agricultural. Slavery and the slave
trade are the primal and continuing causes
of their savagery; but when these blots disap-
pear from our Christian civilization there will
be no good reason why the same enthusiasm
should not burn in the hearts Of the colored
people of this country for the evangelization
of the land of their ancestors that now burns
in the hearts Of Germans, Swedes, Norwe-
gians, Chinese and others, and that they, like
these, shall cheerfully offer themselves to the
missionary work among their own people and
color. But no such enthusiasm could ever be
kindled in the breasts of slaves and of de-
graded and ignorant chattels. Hence God
began here in 1862 to make freemen of the
blacks, and in 1872 He has begun to show