The Irish standard., 1900-06-23

early days OF Christianity, that "the
blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
church" They are not willing to lose
their lives in the cause of Christ, but
when through their own folly they an
tagonize the pagans or Mussulmans
among whom they dwell and are afraid
OF massacre they appeal to the Caesar
of the White House to save them from
destruction. ITO the world" says
Bishop Cranston, ct is worth any cost
in bloodshed if we can make the mil
lions OF China true and civilized" PIN
the AngloSaxon style. The blood to
be shed would not be that of the mis-
sionaries but of "the heather Chinee''
whom they would convert not by the
Bible but by the sword and bullet Out
upon such spurious Christianity!
The American board of commission
ers for foreign missions has its head
quarters in Boston, and the American
Bible society has its headquarters in
New York. The former was organized
in 1870 and the other six years after
wards. The New York concern during
eighty-four years of its existence has
distributed some 65,ooo,ooo copies of the
Bible in many foreign tongues. 1t is
the same society which recently issued
an appeal for the famine sufferers in
Queen Victoria's Indian realms. The
Boston society during elghty-fve years
has sent to foreign lands more than
1000 missionaries, of which some Coo
are now in the service, and all they have
converted" during that period is about
10000 persons. Their receipts have
been $27,ooo,ooo! They have missions
in North China, Shansi, Foo Chow and
Hong Kong, as we'll as in Asiatic Tur-
key. 1t was their property that was de-
stroyed by the "unspeakable Turks" for
which compensation was threateningly
demanded of the sultan by the Washing
ton authorities.
Instead of wasting their energies and
squandering the money OF American
contributors to their fund in the futile
effort of converting foreign pagans the
Bible societies and their agents should
turn their attention to the heathens at
home. The souls OF Americans are as
precious in the sight OF God as the
souls of Turks and Cinnamon. Accord
ing to religious statistics some fifty
millions of civilized people in this coun-
try are not affiliated with any Christian
churches and never attend divine wor-
ship on the Sabbath day. Why not
give them the Bible in the English Ian
guage instead of translating it into Chi
nese in such bungling, unintelligible
manner as to merit the supreme con-
tempt of the mandarins and educated
classes of the empire? BIBLES have
been SEEM" says DR.. Wells Williams,
ION the counters of shops in Macoa,
cut in two for wrapping of medicines
and fruits, which the shopman would
not do with the worst of his own
books"
But the publishing of Bibles for for
eign fields is profitable business. AS
Colonel Sellers says, "There are mil
lions in i'll" So long as good, simple
American Protestants contribute their
money for the conversion of the heather
abroad, Bibles will be issued by the
million in the various languages of the
earth whether they can be read or not
by the people to be rescued from bar
barism and idolatry.
When the day has come that Ameri-
can missionaries abroad want wars to
help them along in the work of evangeli-
cation it is proper for the Irish Stand
ard to speak out plainly about those
wolves in sleeps clothing. c. K. Dav-
is, the triple alliance advocate, says that
the United States must protect its citi-
zcns in China and that the powers
should drive the dowager empress from
the throne. "It may mean," he says,
''that we will have to keep fleet around
the ports and an army in the outskirts
of the Chinese empire for years." For
what? To protect few hundred mis-
sionaries. Does not this lingo of the
new school of imperialism think it cheap
err for the United States to order these
gentlemen to keep quiet or come home?
After IFS years does this republic want
to go into -church-and-s business
in imitation of the mother country"
whose missionaries have always raised
hell in China and India? Religion is
being used as pretext by Great Brit
ain and the McKinley-Hay-H Hanna
Davis outfit for spoliation and conquest
in China. The first thing we shall hear Of
will be an international conflict that will
rock the eastern hemisphere to its very
foundations. Better for the United
States to keep out of the broil and
call a halt on the missionaries.
The Canadian parliament recently lis
tened to a speech from Mr.. Henry