New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-06

During the last sixteen years the membership
of this Church has increased more than fifty
DER centum; but its missionary collections have
remained so nearly stationary as to provoke
surprise. Leading men and newspapers have
begun to call the attention Of Methodists to
the unwelcome facts. We shall not now en-
phasize them, but suggest some explanations.
The missionary force employed is very sue
cessful one. There are some sixty assistants
of the ninety men, most OF whom are
the wives of the missionaries, and they render
great service in conducting schools and nursing
the sick natives. But the striking fact
is that there are some 1,2OO native
"hepers," some 400 of whom are preachers
In short. there is an evangelistic force OF
about 400 persons, of whom less than 100
are American missionaries. 1t would seem
that. to large extent, Methodist missionaries
work on the sound principle of enlisting and
employing the natives in foreign countries.
They have gathered into their new churches
about 81, 900 members.
Another explanation is that there are two
other missionary enterprises collecting money
in the Methodist Episcopal Church. One is the
Wolnan's Foreign Missionary Society, which
collects about One-fourth as much money
as the old concern, and devotes its energies
largely to the purely philanthropc branch OF
mission work. These women send out women
who penetrate TO the homes of the people In
India. China and Japan, and labor to present
Christianity ms a sweet and wise bencvolence.
This new enterprise astaken strong hold upon
the practical mind of Methodism, and its sue
cess has apparently reduced the volume OF
Methodist missionary zeal, though 1t has IN
fact riVen il n more decisive bent toward
philanthropy. The other enterprise Is that OF
single man who conceived, Il score of years
since. the idea of initiating Saint Paul and
planting churches in heather or Catholic coun-
tries. without any other organization than SAINT
Paul had This man, William Taylor, is one
of the most remarkable ministers of the age. lie
has established mission churches all round the
world and has received n large amount OF
financial aid from Mcthodists, who find pc
culiar fascination in Pauline and Wesleyan
rescmblances. The committee now meeting in
this city represents an organization modelled
after the older societies Of Calylnstc and
Episcopal churches. The new enterprises OF
the Methodist women and of William Taylor
touch the heart OF Mcthodsm by appealing to
its practical spirit and its Wesleyan memories.
If both streams of the new missionary benev-
olence bc added to the older current, the
volume will be much larger than it was in
1870.
The result, after these and other cyplana-
tons, is not by any means satisfactory. All
men know that orr missionaries are the agents
of American philanthropy, and that education
and other fruits of civilization are diilused 10y
these agents-that missionary work is very
largely practical philanthropy to which
even "Bobn IngersOll might contribute
without Inconsistency. Why then do
Methodists of the largest branch of the
Wesleyan tree contribute only some thirty
three cents per member to carry on their
chief society for founding new churches both
at home and abroad : IL is partly because
wholly outside of these figures an immense
missionary work is going on at home. Nine
tenth. of the growth in members means new
churches which demand for their first years all
that their members can spare, ana more too.
4 vast body OF the new members were
lately slaves and are mostly still very
DOOR and the frontier whites are not yet
much better able to assist in converting the
world. There remains something to be de-
sired. The Rev. j. W. Young, OF Jersey City.
has been giving much attention to the tahula-
ton OF the admirably kept statistics of Meth
Odist Episcopal Conferences, and seems 10 have
found that there is a defect in the benevolent
machinery. At all events, that wonder
fully active thing the Methodist contrbu-
ton box fails to reach many OF the
members. II is an odd surprise but
Mr. Young makes it clear that many
churches fail to take mp the "bcnevolent coll
lections.n 1t is safe to "gucss' that after Mr..
Young will come some iinanccr who will be
able to fud and collect the resources which
have not hitherto been reached. The philoso-
pher who has thought Mchodism a perfect
machine may profit by study of
such facts as we have herein mentioned
The movements of William Taylor and
the women were independent and still
more by independent machineryi while on the
other hand the first of the organized bcncvo-
lences scarcely makes prcccptiblc hcadway cx-
ccpt in the Old-lashioncd Wesleyan way,
through the zeal OF its foreign missionaries.
\ vast work is going forward in this
country; but the ncar-hand enterprise,
the local church, the indyiduaizcd and
qnasi-independent plans are the favo-
rites of the church members. The money
that does not flow freely into the missionary
treasury seems to be flowing very freely into
Methodist work much Of which is essentially
missionary in character.
OUR NEIGHBOR IN THE COUNTRY.
Now that the DANCER of Nvotcr l.