Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-10-22
TIE Meeting Of the American Beard.

guests, last week, in attendance on the list
annual meeting OF the \. Il. e. F. NJ, and
hundreds more were taken care of iii the
surrounding towns.
The auLicncc was marked by its large pro-
portion of educated men, several colleges and
theological scminarics beng represented hy
their professors and students. Among the
speakers were the prcsidcn. OF the board, DIR.
Mark Hopkins, Presidents Chadbourne Of
Williams, Seelye of Amherst, Buckliam Of
Vermont University and Magoun of Iowa
college: Profs. Tucker of AndOver, Bar
bour of Yale, Hartranft of Hartford, Ladd
of Bowdoin; Rev. Joseph Twichell of Hart
ford, Drs. Manning of Boston and Mckenzie
of Cambridge. DIR. Damon of Honolulu.
Eugene RevcIllaud of Paris, Naryan Shes
hadri of Bombay. Alexander Haynay of
London, DIR. Greene of Japan, with the due
| proportion of missionaries from various
| countries. When the woman's board held
their special and exclusive meeting, Thurs
day forenoon, two churches were filled. and
yet the central meeting at Huntington hall
seemed undiIninshed and only moro COM
pact with men. President Hopkins play
fully alluded 10 tie women in his address
| Thursday evening saying that among the
variety Of forces employed we need not only
reapcrs, hut cleaners. Il think of one Ruth,
! who followed the men, and they were di-
| Tected To let fall some handfuls for her to
| gather This cleaning operation has result
/ ed in the woman's board. May We not sup
| pose that some handfuls have been dropped
on purpose = President Chadbourne in a
succeeding speech professed a deeper insight
&. thn ApIv
simply to CLEAN? Why, she didn't stop CLEAN
| ing till she had got Boaz herself, the owner
OF all that property, under Eer hand"
The marked events of the year have been
great revival at Marash in Turkey, result
ing in the conversion of several thousands;
heathful and encouraging religious inter
est and enlargement continued in North
| China, and in the Madura and Mcronesian
missions; the new organization in Africa;
the demand for higher education III Japan,
India and the Turkish empire; and the re-
markable openings for woman's work in
nearly all the mission fields. A hundred
more stations for preaching have been estab-
lished, new churches organized, $500 more
youth in higher institutions of learning, and
a proportionate advance in common educa-
tion and the creation AMI diffusion of a
Christian literature rs expressive Of the
gospel and its Legitimate results The whole
number of missionary laborers sent from this
country is 4l6, and the whole number of
native pastors and helpers connected with
the missions of the board ,269. The whole
number Of church members Il, 1865 and the
whole number of pupils in the various
schools, higher and common, %, ,09S.
But these figures very inadequately repre-
sent the work. Its definite problem, as Sec
rotary Alden said in the opening sentence of
his paper, is to establish in heather lands
self supporting and self -propagating Chris
tian churches, including permanent Chris
tian ministry, SO that after this preliminary
and organizing work the native churches
shall train up and send forth missionaries
to regions beyond their own. In pursuance
of this plan, several years ago the American
board closed up their special work in the
Sandwich Islands, and they are now looking
toward the closing of it at no distant day in
the Turkish empire. They will encourage
no pauperizlng tendencies. but push the
fledgliEgs off the nest as soon as possible and
pass on 10 other fields.
Secretary Clark read an able paper on the
.'ClnnSod Rolations Of Foreign Missions
changed first through the general and rapid
progress of civilization and Intercommunica-
,ion which is making the world one then
change in the popular estimate of missions
as valuable in an economic sense in develop
ing the material us well rs the social life OF
nations, and obtaining the highest considera-
tiOn in the eye of the wisest craftsmanship
change too III the vantage grounds of the
work, the reduction of SO many unknown
tongues 10 grammatical construction, 10 an
indigenous literature the demonstration OF
the real power of the gospel in renovating
a
ac;er both in individuals and in masses; the
permanent establishment Of churches,
schools and institutions which have leavcncd
hcathen society to such a large degree, that
now the problem, is how best AMI speediest
to utilize such acquired advantages. to
broaden md fortify them, 10 clean out the
choking weeds which spring up with au ad
vancng civilization, and to Keep that civili-
zation under Christian lead The second
AIRY w0rk of missions is harder than the pri-
mary; lis consolidating processes are harder
til an lis converting processes. Even should
Il nation b. born in aday, its growth 10
perfect manhood is quite another thing
Hence th. absolute necessity for the best
ability, the soundest judgment, the greatest
possible completeness in those who under
take this missionary work.
Onc Of the most remarkable addresses was
that of Eugene Revcillaud, the French ad-
vocate and journalist, and formerly noted
leader If the Partisan rationalisis, whose
wonderful convc rsion was recently an
nounccd. lie is II nan of distinguished ap-
pearancc and spoke in elegant French with
the iiuency ard grace of n finished orator.
An interpreter stood by to translate. MIR.
tcveillau! began Il feel Il thrcef fold SEN
tlmcnt of regret; first, that have so little
profiicd by The English lessons which | re-
ceivtd in my youth that now scarcely more
than two words of your language recur TO
me all right and go ahead My second
regret is that only quarter of an hour is
given me to speak, and that a translator will
reduce my time 10 about seven minutes and
my third is, that upon that map which hangs
ud the rear wall YOU have not got the star of
France. Dear brethren, ! come as the rep
tentative of the Reformed church of France,
which has given So many conitSsorS AMI
martyrs 10 our SaviOur's cause King Louis
NV, after having consummatcd such fear
ful prosecutions, struck off a medal which
cammemor:,ted the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes and inscribed upon ii Death or
extinction 10 the hcrctic' But the Reform
tion has Il tough life. And Ia prove this,
at this very day at Versailles, in the chamber
below that in which the king signed the re-
vocation, You may hear the singing of thcoli
llugucnOt psalms, and you may hear the
same testimony over the whole extent oi my
country, the land Of martyrs
France is waiting for the gospel Of our Lord.
and one can go now preaching it everywhere
into every village, no man forll,lding him.
Every door is opcn To us. In 40 years, II
We can preach the gospel ms we do now,
France will become Protestant. The French
church of the Reformation has IA powerful
/ it, 4 ~ ~
Protestant We have already
three large evangelical missionary societies.
We have IL foreign mission in South Africa
of which Pastor Mabilla, missionary 10 the
Bisuto land, is representative here today,
| Mr.. Mabilla made an address aficrward IN
excellent English The French Preshy.
| terians have also two great Bible societies.
Therefore brethren, if We speak
| 10 You day, il is not as If We had nothing.
and To take away from yuu only we ind
ourselves like Peter, when he handled that
miraculous draft of fishes. After having
worked AMI rravaile:linp pain through 2OOdarh
| years the Lord come and says, Cast We III
| the net And having done il, we find that
the fishes have come into ii in such great
/ numbers that the net is ready 10 break. Al
| that point We read that the apostles cried
out 10 the others To come and help them.
| The story goes on 10 say they came. Al
| this very day, AS we plead and say TO you.
| This net is breaking, shall ii he said that our
| brethren IN America came not to help us =
| Closing with an illusion Ia the old Roman
custom nt the runners passing the torch one
! To the other he skctched the glowing pro
crcss oi the gospel torch ns Jerusalem hand
| cd it tn Asia and ASIA To Greece, and So on
! To Rome, 10 Gaul, 10 England, To America,
and as the powers of darkness have obscured