, 1880-01-18
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.

Essay Read by DR.. Noyes Before the
Philosophical Society.
!he Rev. George C. Noyes, Of Evanston,
read before the Philosophical Society last
evening very interesting paper on "Chri-
uan Missions and Their Result.''
ne commenced by stating that 1t would
hardly exceed the limits Of truth to say that
::Cnr1st1antty was now about the only existing
religion which possessed missionary char
acter, and which everywhere In the
neafts OF Its disciples awakened and
sustained missionary impulses. The i'll
tense missionary zeal which once belonged
10 Aohammedanism it had now for the
most pa1t, If not wholly, lost. Neither was
buddhism endowed with any missionary or
expansive force What was true of these
TWO, whose adherents comprised nearly half
'me population Of the world, was equally true
ot eEery other form of religious faith except
me Christian. They exhibited no power to
nndie In the heart Of their adherents the
oeslre and the purpose to propagate them.
:eai1sllanty then was alone the missionary
I!eAg1on, and Of this we should distinguish
Ntee forms. As existing in that
'toim which the Greek Church held,
: n!q Aaq never been aggressive. As held by the
raPa III Or Roman Catholic Church, it had been
tha A.o was aggressive, but aggressive through
nnt s poNef OF despotic ecclesinsticisn1, and
~, ~ through the power Of an open Bible, in
a the only /" iniailible rule Of faith and prac2
ase. nee" ~; But Protestant Christianity took this
spE3a sspea btoie and Went forth into the various
fe ifaus OF the earth to preach its living and say
ms traths to every creature.
1AE HISTORY OF MODERN MISSIONARY
e9lerprlse.-of Protestant Christian missions
;cnst1onged centM41g T., almost wholly to the present
sented By the speaker in this contrast:
ii fAess IS than seven years before the beginning
Il Il this century France formally "vote1
<xatstlanity out of existence" and that act
1ss y, followed By the frightful and bloody
e1tepf small poat h ne IN the e SnGs sxsee es
ssa4 Southern part, Syria, Turkey, Persia Bur
fMaan, Siam, China and Japan, and even
u aaua, so far as the British authorities could
~ It were all closed against mis-
ssjISliaSSnes; ali aSnss now they are laborlng in
Spain, Spa Portugal, italy, Il T Austria, Belgium,
a4al.S SM Southern Germany, South America, and
Meslco aao excluded the Bible. N0w III all those
~ tfHanI1es l its power is increasingly felt Then
iaNs Sae Hlole was found In languages spoken by
5aon 5on Now more than two-sixtlls Of the whole
a,tl aul1an race may read this book sin their
thh avn tongue wherein they were born" Then
sne great continent Of Africa was horrible
ereaaaea1emonium, eeae1 where slavery sorcery, witch,
ena,, ea.t, and fetichism were universal. u Is pad
enough pow, but yet whole tribes and races
i1sm isdS moving swiftly from barbarism to civil
inIallon, and from lieathenism to Christianity;
;sany ~ lowns and villages have been converted
1a9 R;S' Christian communities. Miss!onarles,
1lDles, and schools are now found from the
Eastern to the western coasts, and to Q dis
GCence OF more than 1.2W miles north from
~ APE Town, and already a quarter OF mil
~ Gaaol OF converts in Africa have received Ihe
1ospe1 of Christ Then the great Isl
'tad, 'and Of Madagascar, a continent in
1lsen, was enveloped In the deep