The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-10-12
AMERICAN BOARD MEETING
4 TWEgTY-HINE FEARS RETRO sPECr GIVEN BY REV. DR. CLARK.

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 Madison, Wis, Oct. LA retrospect of twenty-nine years was the subject this evening by Rev. N. c. Clark, D. D.. the retiring foreign secretary, at the an- nuai meeting of the American board Dr. Clark was elected secretary at the meeting of the American board in Chi- cago, 1865. He reviewed at length the state of things in the work at the close of the war, and during the intervening generation. Owing to his age and III health. the paper was read by Rev. Dr. Webb of Boston. chairman Of the prudential committee. pr. Clark paid warm tributes of praise to the officials and missionaries with whom he had been associated so long. He advocated the principle of self-support by the native churches organized by the mis- sionaries. and added as follows: Close- Iy connected with the matter of self support is that of higher Christian edu- cation and also of industrial training, not only for the sake of raising up an efficient native ministry, but for awak- ening a new life and energy on the part of believers, which shall lead to habits of industry and to better livelihood generally among the people. The prin- ciple adopted in the Hawaiian islands and largely In Micronesia, and gener- ally in the earlier missions of the board was that all Christian people owe to the unevangelized Is simply in- struction In the gospel of Christ, and that all efforts for education should be limited strictly to the training or native evangelists. The English lan- guage was not to be taught, but only the vernacular; and, in the native lan- guages even, no instruction In the arts or sciences was to be given, nothing beyond the reading of the scriptures. This seems to have been the general plan pursued by most missionary so- cieties; but the history of missions has shown that for the development of a Christian community, whose mem- bership should be vigorous and self reliant, competent to support and ad- vance the religious institutions neces- sary for a permanent Christian civili- zation, some broader view of the edu- cation required must be adopted. The experience of the board in the Sand Wich islands, and also in India after thirty or more years of missionary labor there is sufficient to illustrate the o@ ic y1xy x,io cf YYoiQ sionary education. Of late years viz orous efforts have been made to supple ment the work begun in these differ ent fields, by the institution of high schools and colleges that should be ade- quate to the needs of the people. It is now recognized that Christianity means more than simply instruction in the vital elements of the gospel; 1t enters into the entire life of man; and the wisest culture is that which con- siders him in his intellectual and social as we'll as in his spiritual life. It is only as the man and the whole man Is developed that Christianity vindicates its claim to the sovereignty of human hearts.
 By reason of the present rapid means of intercommunication nations are brought together, and no Christian community, even on mission ground, can escape the invasion of false the- ories of science, of morals, or of religion. The conceptions of materialism and humanitarianism must be met by the larger conceptions of Christian thought. In view of these considerations 1t is with special satisfaction that we note the progress of high Christian educa- tion in all our mission fields in the last twenty-five years. Within that time our high schools have increased in num- Der from 15 to 133. These are emphati- cally Christian schools, the larger grad uates going out as professed followers of Christ, to diffuse the best influences Of the gospel in their homes and in the churches to which they belong The same period has also witnessed the establishment of our eleven Christian colleges, including three for women,and our seven theological seminaries, to whose students the best thought of the world Is now accessible through the medium of the English language. To these have lately been added a school for, nurses and three training schools for Bible-women. As hardly less im- portant to the future Christian con- munity should be mentioned the begin nings'of training for kindergarten work in several of our mission stations. As centres of intellectual and spiritual life and power, who can estimate the value oP iy,o he f,,%,, our work? Already do we see results in the growth of our mission churches in Christian character as well as in numbers.
 Wide as is the range of our education al efforts, from the kindergarten to the Christian university, one department, in which we have made some small be- ginnings,-that of industrial education yet remains to be developed. At present in some of the older missions every advance in our missionary work adds new burdens to the mission treas- ury. Yet there must be limit some where to what the churches at home can do; and that limit will fall far within the limit of work needed in the foreign field. Hence the importance of industrial education and manual train- ing, helping our Christian communities to help themselves and to carry on the work we have begun. Through this broad work as man for man in the full ness of his being, Christianity now commends itself to the acceptance of men of every race and cline. Thus shall 1t be known by it's works; even as our Lord said: "If ye believe not Me, be- lieve the works"