The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-09-17

Rev. r. NJ. Mateer, n Presbyterian
missionary, who has spent the past
seventeen years of his life in China,
in the course Of an interesting talk on
existing conditions in the Celestial
kingdom, at the First Presbyterian
church last night, said the Boxer move
ment has had one good effect inasmuch
'as the slaughter of few has stirred
up the many in this and other lands
to the necessity of aiding the cause Of
foreign missions, and of furthering the
extension of the kingdom of Christ"
This uprising" said he, "is but the
logic of events. 1t Is simply Gods
army marching on. The slaughter OF
the missionaries who bravely suffered
the most awful tortures has inspired
many others to take up the glorious
work Of Christianizing this great Chi
nese race and has infused a spirit OF
missionary enthusiasm into the people
of this broad land such as has never
been felt before. Another good effect
it will have will he the overthrow of
the present abominably inefficient and
abominably corrupt government of
China"
The speaker explained at length the
history of the rise and reign of the
Manchu dynasty which now rules
China and expressed as his opinion
that it alone is responsible for the
present trouble. He said that the
Manchus have forced their rule upon
the people and that the great bulk of
the inhabitants are opposed to them.
TOOK ADVANTAGE OF BOXERS.
\
vantage of the Boxer uprising to unite
all the people in a general warfare
upon foreigners, thus planning to still
retain their supremacy and to nip In
the bud any incipient revolutionary
plot which might be Matching.
Rev. Mr.. Natter described how ex-
ceedingy difficult it Is to bring the
Chinese to a knowledge of Christ and
of the teachings of Christianity. I'VE
have to preach hell to them with a
vengeance" said he, land Tn afraid
that some of you if you came into a
room where one were preaching, you
would have to open the door to let the
birthstone smell out.
There are many Americans who be-
fore giving anything to the cause Of
foreign missions want to know how
we're succeeding over there. It's a
hard thing to measure success. Some
ask how many Christians we've got
over there. That's not a fair way of
ascertaining our success. Let them ask
first how many Christians have we
here
They would find, for example, that
there are at present in Philadelphia
less Christians in proportion to the
size of the city than there We're 125
years ago. Christian work in China
just now is a sort of leavening process.
We're seeking to live down super
stition and suspicion by our own eX-
ample"
MISTAKEN IDEA.
He said that there are many people
who believe that you can't make real
Christian out of a Chinaman, that
| they are "a sort of people who will al
| ways be full of superstitions." In refu-
| tation of this belief he told of numer-
Gus personal incidents in which Chinese
| Christians had given up all, even their
| lives, rather than deny the Master.
He told of one Chinaman he knew
| who had crosses burned on his hands
and feet with red-hot irons, but who
steadfastly refused to abjure Christ,
| despite the terrible pain he suffered.
THE Chinese Christians said he, ARE
continually making self-sacrifices FOR
their faith they keep the Sabbath;
they support their own pastors from
the first, and, what is better still, they
do, vast amount of personal work.
Would that many of our American
| Christians We're like them"
When Rev. Mr.. Mateer finished, DR..
| Mcleod took occasion to remark in his
| characteristic style that his testimony
| was another proof that the claim Of
so many people that the missionaries
were the cause of the present outbreak
sis bosh and bad bosh, without even
the merit of being rational bosh."
Rev. Mr.. Natter expects to return to
| China as soon as the present trouble
Is over. He has a brother who is at
present there, and who has spent
| thirty-seven years as a missionary in