The Portland daily press., 1885-02-09

FIRST BAPTIST.

on women. She commenced her remarks
with reference to the peculiar interest with
which she stood before Baptist church to
speak upon this subject. In double sense it
was her fathers house; for it was the church
of her parents, and she recalled with deep in
terest the time when she went down into the
baptismal waters. But though she spoke to
them from another branch OF the Christian
family, she was yet in her Fathers house and
not stranger to any who loved Him. Amid
the smoke and flames of ancient Sinai God
announced his first law, that BE alone was to
be worshipped as God; and centuries after
another voice in accents Of love and mercy en-
joined upon His disciples the great duty, GO
ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature" 1t was the same God that
gave these two laws of religious obligation and
duty. Said the speaker, II am here to urge
upon you to take heed to this last command,
and that you should do it for your own sakes.
Ii you neglect it the unsaved heather will go
to the Judgment to be judged without
our neglect of this great duty Do we
often think what We owe to missions2
Had not the sainted Patrick carried the gospel
to our savage forefatbers in Britain, we, like
them, might be sunk in the dark abyss of
heathenism. Do we, as business men, realize
our indebtedness to missions? The missionary
opens the way for commerce. Onr profitable
trade with the distant East, China, Japan and
the Pacific Isles, owes its success to the pioneer
labor of the foreign missionary As the mill
lions of those nations come under the influence
of the Christian faith, then the white wings of
commerce are spread to supply their wants.
But what part has woman in this great work?
Before any missionary board called upon her to
engage in it, God Himself had given to her the
duty and the privilege of aiding to save the
race that had fallen through her sin. A
mothers hand guided the steps Of the infant
Savior, and her heart, with unsDeakable love,
watched the development Of His divine char
acter. 1t was woman who saw in Him the
Savior of her race, that was
Last at His cross
And earliest at His grave"
Only the mothers can reach the mothers in
this age; and womanhood alone can save the
women Of all nations. Woman alone can
make or unmake the nations of the world and
she must be the potent factor in all great and
permanent reforms. Let me tell you some
thing of the work done in one field OF mission
ary labOr-am0ng the ArmenianS of Turkey in
Eastern Europe. In the year of our Lord 600
Ottoman L. founded the Moslem Empire, and
laid the foundation of despotism that to this
day with its iron hand crushes all spiritual life
out OF millions of our race. The Armenians
and Greeks Of this empire have indeed form
OF Christianity, but it is only a dead form.
They live In vice and die in hopeless darkness.
Thirty years ago DR.. Farnsworth commenced
mission work in the old city of Csesarea. He
took a firm stand against the corrupt customs
OF the native races, and resolutelY held his
position, especially against the national GUS
tom OF child betrothals and marriages-the
primal root and source Of the misery and
degradation OF woman in that empire. The
speaker gave a graphic description of an Ar
menian home and tovching narrative OF the
conversion, faithful work and triumphant
death OF one Of the little Greek girls who had
been saved by the missionaries. 1t was
pleasure and privilege to listen to the earnest
and eloquent words of the speaker as she
urged her hearers to renewed conservation and
faithtulness in this great work of giving the
gospel to the world.
STATE STREET CHURCH.
Secretary Woodworth of the Missionary As
sociation, addressed the people of this church
yesterday morning, taking for his text, I. Cor.
1O:15, II speak as unto wise men; Judge ye
what say"
He who has good case may safely entrust
tito the intelligence and candor of Christian
hearers. Speaking for the American Mission
ary Association, need only present the essen
tial facts, asking you to judge of their
Importance and significance.
From the standpoint suggested by the great
missionary command Of Christ let us look out
upon the world. OF the five great races of our
humanity, all but two may fairly be said to be
well advanced in the way of Christianization.
These two, the Mongolian and the African,
embracing one half of the whole human fami-
ly, have thus far presented peculiar obstacles
to all missionary effort. The Chinese Empire
has until recently been closed to the approach
OF Christian nations; while the terrible fever
has guarded theAfrican coast against the white
man as effectually as a Gordon Of bayonets, and
today, in spite of continued, persistent and
Jealous missionary efforts, these two great
races have been but slightly influenced
by Christianity.
But the providence of God suggests th at
this is the day Of opportunity for the church of
Christ in these vast fields. AS at the day of
Penteccst, tbs multitudes were gathered in
Jerusalem, where representatives of wide ly
scattered races heard the Gospel, each in his
own toDgue,-so God has brought numerous
representatives OF these great races to our
shores,-the Chinese in California and the me-
gro in the South. These representatives ore
peculiarly accessible to the Gospel. The Chi
naman, coming for our god, must learn our
tongue; and the Bible is the best text book of
English undefled. Learning our language,
he thus becomes acquainted with the Gospel,
and large results have already followed the
smah measure of Christian work among them.
More than 800 Of them have united with Cog
gregational churches on the Pacific coast, while
an equal number more profess conversion. Re-
turning to China, they carry the Gospel to
native tongue and native preacher.
So the African is brought in the providence
OF God to this land; the sin Of our fathers can
not hide the overriding hand divine.
He must be the future missionary OF the
church to Africa; able as the white man never
can be, to endure the climate, as we'll as TO ap-
proach the people from the standpoint Of ma
tional and racial sympathies.
Laboring among both these races in Ameri-
ca, the American Missionary Association la
bors, not only for the immediate results to be
wrought by the Gospel in these indiyiduaIs.
put also for the wider and grandsr issues which
must flow from their conversion and Christian
ization, through their influence as laborers
among their countrymen in China and Africa
A fact significant OF these high possibilities
lies in the association OF some 500 pupils of the
association schools in the South, under q SOL
emil pledge to labor to this end after gaining
their education,
So wide is the door before us, into this great
feldl Who will help us to enter in. according
to the Masters command.
sEcoND PARISH.
at the Second Parish Rev. DR.. Powell. OF
New York, secretary of the American Mission
airy Association, addressed the congregation on
the educational and missionary work in the
South. His text was from Daniel xii:4,
"Mauy shall run to and fro, and knowledge
snail pe increased" The speaker said that this
prophecy seems to be fulfilling in our own day.
All our great lines of travel are crowded with
large multitudes exploring all lands in the in
terests of science or for pleasure With what
wonderful rapidity also is knowledge adysuc-
ing. The nations OF the earth are striving
with one another in the effort to secure the
foremost place in art, science and literature.
At such a time what is the duty of Republican
America? Edmund Burke says that education
is the bulwork of a nation. With this truth in
view let us look at our country in reference to
its educational condition.
We have fourteen millions of school popula-
ton, that is between 6 and IS years of age OF
these nine millions are enrolled, and but four
millions in average attendance. If we divide
our country into four sections-East. Middle,
West and South,-while the New England
and Middle States are in q comparatively fav-
orable condition, at the West II per cent of the
school population are not enrolled. This ia a
sad state OF things, and in our great cities we
see ominous threatenings of coming evil. vet
we may confidently hope that the North will
conquer this mass of ignorance and evil and
come out all right ~
But when look at the South, nv heart mis-
gives me. Some say, "Let the South take
care OF their own illiterate." Bat we must re-
member that their idea of the school svstan,
and popular education is not ours. Again. tbe
southern States are poor. New York has a
valuation OF $850,000 more than thar of The