The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-10-03
Welconnel,

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Welcomel
The lettegs A. b. G. F. NJ, with which our
readers for the last few weeks have become
somewhat: familiar, designate the great Mis-
sienary Society whose corporate name is
fle American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions" The oldest and largest
Protestant missionary asseciati ion in the
here its seventy-third annual meeting-thir-
ty-ons years aving elapsed since its former
meeting in this ty. Organized in 1910, its
receipts the first were not quite thou
sano do1Iars, now Jney q re more than half
million year, indicating what may be
considered permanent investment ia the
churches Of eight or ten millions. In 1912
10 sent out its first mi ssionaries, Newell
Judson, Hall, Mott and Rice-it now re-
ports present number Of stations Stout
stations 733-srdainsd missionaries 159-Aas
sistants 269-physicians 11-total from this
country 430. Native churches 272-native
pastors 41-nstive helpers 1876, native
church members Is, 448-scholars in all
schools $780, Its missionaries have re-
duced twenty-six different languages to
writing and prepa red granmars addiction
aries not only Of value to them, bat to stu
dents of comparative philology. Their con-
tributions to geography, archaeology and
sthnology would fill many volumes In
nearly all the fields occupied, they have
been obliged to prepare text books, for use
in the schools, and in all of them have eth
or originated or contributed largely to the
production of Christian literature. The
translation of the Scriptures into the YER
nacular language of the people, has been
sheir nrst work, folle by the introduce
zion of Christian wsrk original or translate
ed. The educational work of the Board has
embraced primary schools, boarding schools
for both sexes, che normal school, the col
lege, and the theologlca seminary. 1t has
organized three hundred and twenty-five
churches with more than 10000 members,
and has printed from mission presses in for
tJ-slx languages, more than 200 100000
pages of 2, 400 different publications.
While the ains and ends of the Board are
exclusively religious, its indirect achieve
ments are seen and felt in the commercial,
political, literary and scientific world.
The civilized nations have discovered that
the shortest and mos direct way to open
commercial intercoursa with foreign barba-
rians is, to send them missionary. Hugh
Mason M. P. of England, in an address to
the people Of Manchester, says, II look up
on the Christian missionary as the pioneer
of discovery, as the pioneer of commercial
enterprise, aud many market in distant
parts Of the globe would have been closed
for years and years to our manufactures,
il. it had not been that devoted missionaries
tho heather I'M the scale not only of Chris
tian position, but of social position. think
that commercial men are Bound to support
the missionary societies very much more
nobly than they b ave done, and that the
obligation rests upon them as commercial
men, even as much as it rests upon them as
Christian men, to be more munifcent and
more liberal in their contributions in the fu-
turc than they have been in the past" Sixty
years ago the Sandwich Islands had
no commercial existence; they now
pay annually at only one of oar
ports more money by 100000, than the
entire expenditure Of the Board in their be-
half for three score years. Their annual
commerce with the world now isfour and one
half million dollars the profits of which al
most equal the annual receipts and expendi
tsres Of the Board. 1t has been admitted
By political economists, that for every dollar
expended by England and America in mis-
sions, they receive back ten in trade. Ithas
also been demonstrated that if Africa should
be civilized and Oh ristianized by our mis-
sionaries, and come up to the average per
capita Of the the world, the in
crease will be wo thousand million dollars
annually and the rising tide of prosperity
would reach the owner of every house, and
of every acre of land in our country.
The silent and almost unseen work of our
missionaries is doing more to check and de-
feat the political and fanatical designs of
the Mohamm edans In Asia and Africa-so
recently source of worldwide alarm-than
a diplomatic corps, or an army with ban
ners. And if even the wave of Chinese en-
igration is rendered harmless and ineffectu-
al, or perhaps So controlled as to become an
element of civilization and progress, it will
be not by medieval legislation, but rather by
missionary Intervention. Lord Stratford
De Redclife, who founded the Protestant
civil community in Turkey, and was the
virtual ruler Of that empire for ten years, and
also swayed the policy Of Europe in the East,
bore willing testimony to the work and in
fuenee Of the missionaries Of the merican
Board. Cyrus Hamlin. son of Maine and
the missionary President of Robert College,
won the respect and praise of the French
and English armies during the can war
BY his many sided services, d recent
writer says that he is now the bes, known
American in the Levant. 1.-THE Earl of
Shaftesbury, at a meeting of the Turkish
missionary aid society in London, urged
that their funds should be placed in the
hands of the American missionaries for their
nboViulo uioPos@l' asi sdlu, lQeSe mis-
sionaries exhibit most marvellous combin-
alton Of common sense and piety. They
are invaluable men, and as long as they have
been In the East nothing has been said
against them. They are most worthy of
your confidence and assistance" Sir Bar
tie Frere, whs was thirty years in India,
gives testimony. to the same effect.
Our America missionaries of all denomi-
nations are not merely Ieligionists, but scien-
lists a. well. 4 tDlet1. Royal Geo
graphical So London, and other
learned ago acknowledged
thegvalus Of their contributions to the sever
al departments of science. Without neglect
ing their special work, they have explored
new regions, they have identified ancient To-
calities, they have uncovered buried cities,
and many Of our own institutions are the
richer for their discoveries. The missiona-
ry physicians and surgeons, although not
preachers of the gospel, have been most eff
fective practitioners of it. They are authors
Of works on anatomy and surgery in the Chi
mx,I 1tha 10 l.