The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-01-31
nounced the theory of our God. and
| that of rewards and punishments."

nounced the theory of our God, and
that of rewards and punishments.
And now as 10 the industrious ma
lignment of missionaries: 1t has been
said by some travellers after their re-
turn to America or England that the
missionaries are living life full of in
dolence and luxury. That is a false
hood that I would say is as high as
Heaven if it did not go down
in the opposite direction. When
strangers come into these tropical
climates, the missionaries do their
| best to entertain them, making sacri-
| fees for that purpose. In the city OF
Benares missionary told me that
gentleman coming from England into
| one of the mission stations of India, the
missionaries banded together to enter
tain him. Among other things, they
had ham boiled, prepared and beauti-
| fully decorated, and the same ham was
passed around from house to house
as this stranger appeared, and in
| other respects conspiracy or kindness
was effected. The visitor went home
to England and wrote and spoke of the
| luxury in which the missionaries OF
India were living. Americans and En-
glishmen come to these tropical regions
and find missionary living under
palms and with different styles of fruit
on his table, and forget that palms are
here as cheap as hickory or pine In
| America, and fresh fruit are cheap
as plain apples. They find here
missionaries sleeping under pun
kas, these fans swung day and
night by coolies, and forget that four
cents day is good wages here, and
the man finds himself. Four cents
day for coachman; missionary can
afford to ride. There have been mis-
sionaries who have come TO the hot
climates resolving to live as natives
live, and one or two years
have finished their work, their
chief use of missionary ground
being that of furnishing for a
large funeral the chief object Of inter-
est. So far from living in idleness, no
men on earth work SO hard as the mis-
sionaries now in the foreign field.
| Against fearful odds. and with three
millions of Christians opposed to two
hundred and fifty millions of Hindoos,
Mohammedans and other false reli-
gions, these missionaries are trying to
take India for God. Let the good
people of America, and England.
and Scotland, and of all Christendom,
add ninety-nine and three-quarters per
cent. to their appreciation Of the
fidelity and conservation of foreign
missionaries. Far away from home, in
an exhausting climate, and compelled
to send their children to England
Scotland, America, so as to escape the
corrupt conversation and behavior
of the natives, these men and wom-
en- of God toll on until they drop
into their graves. But they will get
their chief appreciation when their
work is over and the day is won,
!, as it will be won. No place in
!, Heaven will be too good for them.
!, Some of the ministers at home who live
on salaries of four thousand or five
; thousand dollars year, preaching the
Gospel of Him who had not where to
lay his head, ill enter Heaven and be
welcomed, and while looking for a
place to sit down, they will be told:
"Yonder in that lower line of thrones
you will take you places. Not on the
thrones nearest the King; they are re-
served for the missionaries!'
Meanwhile let all Christendom be
thrilled with gladness. About twenty
five thousand converts in India every
, year under the Methodist missions,
and about twenty-fv thousand under
, the Baptist missions, and about sew.
enty-fve thousand converts under all
missions every year. But more than
that, Christianity is undermining
| heathenism, and not a city, OF
; town, or neighborhood in India
j but directly or Indirectly feels
the influence, and the day speeds
on when Hindooism will go down with
| a crash. There are whole village:
which have given up their gods and
+ where not an idol is left The serf
/; dom of womanhood in many place.
t is being unloosened, and the iron griI
of caste is being relaxed. Human
D sacrifices have ceased, and the las
spark of the funeral pyre on which
t the widow must leap has been extin
E guished, and the juggernaut, stopped
Y now stand as curiosity for trav
elers to look at. All India will be TAX
n en- for Christ. If anyone has any dis
t heartenments let him keep them as hi
5 own private property; he is welcome t.
all of them What we want in tn,
a church and the world is less croakin,
e owls of the night, and more morning
S larks with spread wing ready to NEE
a the advancing day. Fold up Naom
e and Windham, and give us Ariel o
Mount Pisgah, or Coronation. I ha'
4 the joy of preaching in many 0
/? the cities of India, and seein
i the dusky faces of the natives illum
d mated with the heavenly anticipations
In Calcutta while the congregatio
l. were yet seated l took my departur
for railroad train. preached by tn
watch up to the last minute. A swift
l. carriage brought me to the station nc
more than half a minute before star
,s ing. / came nearer to missing th
train than 7 hone anvone of y1s wi