The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-11-17

were sitting upon the floor in the back part
of the house. The services were conducted
by native catechist AID were essentially
the same as those which we had attended
the week before. But there was here reed
organ, upon which native played. supply
ing the interludes and the harmonies that
regularly accompany German choral. The
music was a new revelation of the adap-
t!veness and power of the German choral.
Some years before I had been impressed
Will this form of church music in the grand
cathedral of Cologne. but had supposed
that its power was largely due to the excep-
tionally favorable conditions under which
it was there rendered-the powerful organ.
the immense congregation, the hearty en-
thusiasm born of centuries CT practice. all
were unique at Cologne. But here. amid
Greenla nd's icy mountains, was recent
~ converted heather people singing their
praises to God in the same noble harmonles
that satisfy the congregation of the most
highly cultivated musical people in the
world, and singing them. too, with equal
perfection and.enthusiasm. Probably each
individuals voice alone would have sounded
exeorably, but all together blended into
dignified volume of sound of the noblest
and most satisfactory character. had come
to Greenland to learn..e ffectually most
important lesson in church lnusic. The re-
port of other parties at other places was
also of the same nature.
In America we scarcely know what the
majesty and power of German choral is.
We sing too fast, and with unsteady
movement. And the music in most of our
books is of too light and trivial character
for the most satisfactory effect. The choral
music which the faithful and cultured DAN
ish missionaries have translated SO success
fully from the fruitful soil of Germany to
the barren shores of Greenland, and which
f1ourishes here as if an Indigenous plant.
must have intrinsic merits which we have
not learned to appreciate. Nor is this be-
cause the Eskimos are a phlegmatic people.
They are yerv fond of dancing and of dance
music. The little knots of natives that at
lka1niut were accustomed to gather about
our tent door in all kinds of weather. dlyid-
ed their time about equally between dane
ing to their own bright and merry, songs and
humming in measured time their familiar
psalm tunes. Their religious nature
c1aved the expression of the one as much rs
their animal spirits did that of thu other.
Close contact with the natives of Green
land gives one a new sense both of the
Transforming power and the formal lmita-
lions of Christianity. Christianity cannot
largely transform the mode of life in Green
land. The people must live on the products
of the country. They must continue to
dress in skins. they must live in igloos, they
must subsist chiefly on fish, flesh and fowl;
for they can raise no vegetable food. and
they cannot exchange probably anything
they have for the food of temperate eli
| mates. Yet beneath this strange garb of
outward appearance, all the elements of
true Christian character are fully devel-
oped. Judging from appearances. their
women maintain high degree of purity.
Indeed. their life is SUCH that there is
scarcely any opportunity for secret vice.
The very publicity of domestic life in their ig-
loos is strong safeguard 10 virtue. Theft
is almost unknown. With all the strong de-
sire for the da1nties of our larder, our pro-
visions were unmolested. though theyswere
accessible to them at all times of day and
night. The Christian character of the old
| man Casper, our guide, was evident, both
in the loyalty of his devotion to our inter-
ests. so far as they were intrusted to him
and in the true herosism'with which. during
a recentsepid when all others fed, he
| risked his life in caring for the sick and in
| burying the dead who.had been guaranteed
| by the officials.
| Too high praise cannot be. bestowed upon
both the Danish government and the Dam
| ish church for the care which thsy have
| taken of these wards of theirs in the froz-
| en- regions of the north. A somewhat ex-
| aggerated estimate is abroad of the relative
value of the work of the Moravians in
| Greenland. Their work is of the highest
| value SO far as it goes: but their missions
are few in number, while the bulk OF the
work in Outstanding the natives has been
done by the regular agencies of the Luz
| theran church, beginning in the mission of
Hans Egede in 1871. In view of some recent
| criticisms upon results in the Sandwich is
| lands, itsis pI oper also to remark upon the
| wisdom of the Danish governmnt in practic-
ally isolating the Greennlanders from the
rest of the world; for the Christianization
| of people does not necessarily prepare
| them atsonce for direct participation in the
management of national affairs, or e, en- in
| determining the domestic regulations
| which shall best protect them from outside
| evil influences. Properly enough. the ma
| tive Greenlanders are still treated as wards
| by the Danish government. By treaty with
| the United States the crews of American
vessels are not allowed to land in Greenland
harbors except by special permission.
Through strict enforcement of this rule the
natives are effectually shielded from the
| communicating Influences which have come
from intercourse with the baser elements
| of our civilization. land which have been so
| fatal il the Sandwich Islands and among
the American Indians. Thus nature has,
| by its impossible barriers. co-operated
| with the missionary and the government to
! preserve the native Greenlander in the
| simplicity of his native condition while
obtaining the inestimable spiritual benefits
| of the Christian religion.
| The Curious Eucalyptus tree.