The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-14
MISSIONARIES AS c1v1L1zERs.

When Minister WI at Washington and
Minister Lu at the court of st. James as
serted that the Christian missionaries in
China were the prime cause of the Boxer
uprising, the statement was regarded as
additional evidence of heather prejudice
against the religion and the Gus
tens of civilization. Is not the
Christian missionary the pioneer
Of civilization? Has he not gone forth
with the Bible in one hand and the arts
OF civilization in the other to show the
heather the only way to heaven and to
earthly happiness? Christendom will
plead guilty to many things, but will
allow no word Of disparagement to be
applied to the conduct of the noble band
of men and women who are teaching
Christ to the unregenerate. The hon
orable ministers at Washington and st.
James must be mistaken; missionaries,
like the king, can do no wrong. This
was the opinion held by the Christian
world. But day by day, as the acts
OF that great drama, wherein the earth
was the stage and nations were the ac-
tors, were unfolded, that world began
to realize that there were two sides to
this controversy and now it has about
concluded that the Chinese ministers
were not far from the truth. This Chi
nese embroglio will act as a great eye
opener to religious propaganda and will
demonstrate the truth of the contention
that Christianity is the result of civiliza-
ton and not civilization the result of
Christianity.
Wherever the cross has been carried in
advance of the clvilizing influence of the
arts of Christian life, it has been the
cause of contention and bloodshed.
Religion is but one phase of the rhil-
csophy of a people; it has high or low
ideals of life in proportion to the degree
of intelligence possessed by that people.
To expect a half civilized nation to ac-
cept the precepts and practice the ethics
OF life taught by the Christ is as absurd
as to expect savage to appear with
grace and composure in a dress suit at
a fashionable ball.
The failure which has followed the at
tempts to Christianize the North Ameri-
cart before the horse, i. e., teaching re-
ligious tenets, before the arts of civiliza-
ton. The mind must be ready to COM
prehend before it can accept a theory.
What has come to light regarding the
actions of the missionaries in China be-
fore the Boxer outbreak and since the
occupation of Pekin by the allies. and
the barbarous behavior of the allied
troops has set back the cause of the
Christian religion in China a century.
In the arts of civilization, the mission
aries have had but little to give to China
even had they been disposed in that Ill
rection. AS between the teachings of
Confucius and the practice of Christians,
the Chinese, with great good sense, pre-
fer the former
So strong is Chinas case against the
missionaries regarded by the liberal ele-
ment in America, that Bishop Potter was
constrained to remark that 1--WE must
first convert the men we send to China
before we can expect to convert the Chi
nese.' This is strong language, but it is
the truth. Stripped of its clerical verbiage,
it means that we must be able to offer
to the Chinese, not only better ethical
precept, but also better example of
human conduct, before we can expect
them to accept tour views of life and our
theory of the hereafter
If the energy of the foreign societies
were expended in the propagation of the
arts that civilizc, it would be found that
the ethics of the Christian faith would