New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-08
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL
CHRrsTs COMMAND MUST GOVERN
OPPOSITION NO CAUSE FOR ABANDONING MIS-
SION WORK IN CInNA-TIIE RIGHT TO
TEACH CHRISTIANITY.

Sir: In an editorial In your paper OF september %
! on .Nssionaries in the East you quote largely
from travellers and the British press to prove '"at
| missionaries In China have been productive Vi
| more harm than good" As the daiy press n'
| only reflects but creates public sentiment anu
| therefore such an editorial may do great INJURY
| to the cause OF missions, | sincerely Ups' ''a'
| your challenge may be accepted anu '"' ~
| friends OF missions will state their case "s'''''
| all critics and antagonists Allow me spaoe III
your valuable paper TO make II" sla''"'' -
garding that editorial
| Tho foundation prnclpIe for missions Is not the
opinion OF the press and travellers. whether irehu-
ly or hostile but loyalty to the LORD jesus I'M
He has given His Church the command pam
and decided "Go We into all the world and preach
, the Gospel to every creature" whether ADVERSELY
criticisd or not. the Christian looks to only one
Commander and believing that his Lord Is wise
and has made no mistake, his duty Is cIear' 10
obey that command according to his AFFINITY IL 'he
Church gave up everything which the pubic ad-
versely criticised. what would 1t nave as us o""
either OF doctrine duty or poity?
Opposition is cause FOR abandoning the HIS
sionarv effort The book OF the Acts of the Apos-
ties the first missionary book OF the Church, Is
record OF opposition persecution ana Diooushsu' IL
Paul had abandoned his missionary WORK because
~ onposltlon and of the judgment OF the general
nublc would Christianity have been carried into
Europe and would there have been British press
70 have criticised the missionary movement or To-
dav? Our Lord told His followers that they would
meet with bitter persecution, even az lie u'u' r'''
the severe experiences OF the past history Oh Inc
c,,,rch has come the proverb. THE blood Of the
martvrs IS the seed OF the Church The MISSION
orv il not to stop his benevolent work because
~ 10 onnosed any more than are the policemen
~ the soldiers to shirk their duty because OF oppo-
sltlon and attack ,
T, 70 ooser TO nut the blame upon the wrong party
hr q ,s to prove it, The missionary is prosecuted
Il fepli
| but did he arouse that feeling? with the forcing
=, o,,uno upon that land at the point OF the British
bavonets the Chinese Exclusion acts OF the United
| states and the recent disastrous war with Japan
uhe Justice OF which many have not been able 10
| see, have been enough in themselves to arouse
snrit OF hatred the Chinese to all foreigners
| The missionaries have simply been the VICTIMS Vi
tia, hatred rather than the fomenters Of It.
Won saw they (the .mssonaries) have been at
york I'm these fields for nearly four hundred years,
and the visible result does not seem commensurate
| with such protracted and costly effort do not
know how you compute this time, but history tells
| us that Michael Ruggiero the Jesuit missionary
arrived at Macao In $780, and twenty-one years later
mission was established at Picking That would
! he about three hundred years ago, instead of 400
| years But in 1876 the Emperor, Nung Ching
| issued an edict Of expulsion In 1901 Robert Nor
rlson. the first Protestant missionary, reached
| China; but was obliged TO live at Macao. In lSi2
|
| dents and in 1860 the country fully opened to
! intercourse with Western nations. Instead OF 400
| years since China has been opened to the influence
Of missionaries IL is considerably less than one hum
| dred years.
AS 20 "the visible result" II may be a debatable
| question But here are few facts They are not
the latest returns but the latest have at my COM
| mand There are in China $50 ordained and 1900
| unordained native aborers and J22 organized
| churches. There sxty-one hospitals and forty
four dlspensares In which 100000 patients are treat
| ed annually There are over $4,000 communicates
| and more than 100 900 nominal Christians men and
| women, who have abandoned dolatry. DR. James ;.
| Dennis in his book Foreign Missions After a
Century" says: "Our converts have increased Of
late years in something like a geometrical ratio. so
| much so that in the past thrty-hve years they
have multiplied at least two thousandfold; and at
| the rate OF increase for another thirty-hve
| years there will be in China 260Oo,OO communicates
and 100 100000 adherents" These figures refer only
| TO Protestant missions Those from Roman Catholic
| missions would increase the results still more
| So far as the costly effort is concerned. the
facts show that it costs more to convert an Ameri-
can to Christianity than 1t does Chinaman; but
would that be any reason for adversely critcising
the work OF the church in this land and urging II to
| Withdraw its Efforts?
| But t. that the way 10 compute the cost OF mis-
| sons? on that basis did late pay in return
for the money expended and the lives lost? Did the
Worlds Fair pay back nard cash all that It cost?
| We compute many things missions included. on
| another basis than mere dollars and cents.
The Chinese people do not want the Christian re-
ligion." IL an argument urged against the mission
airy preaching IT, There are many people in this
country who do not want 1t, but IL that any reason
| why it should not be preachedy Must ministers
missionaries and Bible readers only preach To those
call back from the sums OF New-York city those
who trying to better the lives OF the residents
| there simply because they misunderstood II and
do want It? But in china 1t has been proved
| that many Chinese do want Christianity. and they
should not their wishes be respected as well as those
| who do not want the Gospel? We have been taught
| by history that minorities have rights as well az
| majorities and that those rights should be re-
| spected
| consider the character OF those who making ali
this disturbance. and then decide which party should
| much weight to the opinions OF those who compose
the mob. should we respect the opinions Of tho chi
Which nothing can be said but which permits
benevolent people? The wishes Of the few law-abd-
lng people far outweigh the mad cries of bowling
e l11 in China II the chimes, DO not want chris
tlany. Let them 90 through their representative
who make their treaties. but let us not take the
opinions Of murlerers and cuthroats.
Looked at on humanitarian grounds, has not the
missionary much right 10 establish hospitals. dis
| pensares and schools TO give food In time OF fam
Inc ami 70 relieve the distressed In China as for
ing Russians? The Armenian atrocities have aroused
| Great Britain ana America but must We refuse TO
! heb those in suffering lest the Turks think that we
are interfering with their rights. or because shall
arouse anti-fOreiCu feeling among them be
cause they want US TO keep away? The right to do
| good is universal right.
Are missionaries and their religion the only for
egn lnportations to which the Chinese have any
aversion? Have they accepted opium with degree
OF satisfaction? Let the British press urge the Brit
| ish Government to withdraw their opium and when
| that ia out Of the way then they will have cleaner
| hands with which 10 eradicate the missionary and
| his hated religion Let all foreigners who have
| ma t. monev from the Chinese and who have helped
| to arouse this ant-foregn feeling set the example
and retire from China; then they viii have less rea
son to make suspect that their motives for
desiring 10 remove Christianity purely unselish
| East Orange Sept. g. 1885 DAVID o. IRVING.
| AN EXPERIENCE IN HEAVEN.
| To the Editor OF The Tribune.
ILL.,. ..,f,I OH 4