The Portland daily press., 1893-02-20
MISSIONARY DAY.
Portland Congregations Hear of the
Work of Missionaries in Many Foreign
Lands.

| Work of Missionaries in Many Foreign
Lands.
Yesterdays services in the Congrega-
tional churches in the city were made
very interesting by the presence of sew
eral missionaries and officials of the
American board. Rev. E. G.. Porter, OF
Lexington, who has recently journeyed
around the world visiting the missions,
spoke at High street in the forenoon and
at Williston in the evening. Rev. Edward
Hume, of Boothbay, spoke at High
street in the evening and at Williston in
the forenoon; Rev. DR., G. c. Cregan,
Secretary of the American board, was at
State street in the forenoon and the
Second Parish in the evening. Rev. DR..
Americas Fuller, president of Aintabe
college, Turkey, spoke in the forenoon
at st. Lawrence ST. church. Rev. H. P.
Perkins, of the North China Mission was
at Woodfords in the morning, and at
State street in the evening. Mrs. Per-
kins spoke at the st. Lawrence street
church in the evening.
Contributions for missionaries follow
ed the addresses.
Rev. II. p. Perkins
Rev. n. P. Perkins, of the North
China mission, spoke at the Woodfords
Congregational church yesterday fore
noon and at State street last evening. In
his discourse Mr.. Perkins began by say
ing that North China seemed a very dis
tant and unknown land, yet it need not,
for one of the members of the
Woodfords church was now laboring in
that missionary field. Also in China
he often met Maine men, who are en-
gagged there in the interest of the canning
business, and travel along the coast in
the vicinity of Shanghai. It was true
that Americans were not as numerous
there as the English and Germans, yet
their numbers were considerable.
There was no need to take text to
preach a missionary sermon, for the
Bible was one whole text, from Abra-
ham to the Disciples, who were sent by
our Lord not only into Samaria but TO
the utmost parts of the earth. y
The eighteen or nineteen provinces of
China are in size equal to the United
States east of the Mississippi and con-
tains $40 or 400 millions of people. It
has, therefore, taken long time for
missionary effortto make any percep-
tible change in China and it will take a
still longer time to make more change.
The empire might be ikened to great
iceberg, upon which the sun at first has
an influence only on the outside. There
are millions of people in China today
who have never seen foreigner who
do not know what the missionary is
there for.
There are few dialects in China. The
language once mastered one can go any
where in the empire and be understood
and understand. All the books are writ
ten in one language. The nation is, in
short, homogeneous, so much SO in fact,
that this uniformity is most persistent
and striking in the style of wearing the
hair. The queue is worn everywhere and
everywhere the feet of the women are
deformed by being compressed.
China is a great nation as well as
homogeneous nation.
three or four thousand years ago.
Attempting to change her religion
must therefore be slow and difficult
task.
China practically is isolated from the
rest of the world. A Chinaman never
speaks of his land as China but as the
ssMiddle Kingdom A phrase common
among the Chinese is that China is ssall
under heaven" They think that they
are the world, and If they should die,
wisdom would die with them.
They look askance at all foreigners,
wondering especially at their blue eyes.
But In spite of the immobility and the
ancient conservatism of this great nation,
no country, except Japan and India, has
changed so much in the last ten years.
China has changed because she must
change. The fear of Russia has led her
to put railroads in on the north. The
demands of her position have forced her
to establish modern arsenals, schools of
telegraphy, navigation and technology.
The bow and arrow have been discarded
in the army for repeatings rifles.
Steam is also coming into China, and
it is estimated that the coal Of the coun-
try will supply the world for thousand
years.
China's attitude towards foreigners is
changing. Formerly the Emperor, who
is supposed to be son of heaven, could
not be seen by foreigners. But this has
changed, and the present Emperor has
given audience to foreigners. 1t is still
necessary, however, before seeing him,
for one to bump his head nine times upon
the floor. This month will be given the
third audience ever given to foreigner.
There has been great advance in edu-
cation in the Empire also, although the
Chinese classics are almost the sole
topics of study. If a student succeeds in
G stting by competitive examination three
degrees, he becomes an official; but on
an average only one in 100000 succeeds
in doing this.
The Chinese have the moral system of
Confucius, but it does not take hold of
its believers. The Chinese officials are
often dishonest, as is illustrated by the
misrepresentation Of the large sums which
should go to make the great waterways
of the Empire safe from the devastating
floods.
From this lack of the moral system of