The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-23
BISHOP TALKS OF CHINA
REV. +. r.. GRAVES, OF SHANGHAI,
DESCRIBES HIS wOhn.
Chinese Students Intense Thirst for
knowledge Opens the Way for
Christian Teachers.

The services in Grace Cathedral yesterday
morning were of more than ordinary in
terest on account of the presence of Bishop
f. r. Graves, of the Episcopal missionary
diocese of Shanghai and the lower valley
of the Yang-tse river in China. After the
usual musical and ritualistic service Bishop
Graves delivered an entertaining, instruc-
tive talk upon missionary work in his do
cese, to which he will return in December.
The bishop is yet far from middle age, in
physical appearance at least, is possessed
of a powerful frame and speaks in the man
ner that so readily gains a close hearing.
He said at the outset of his talk that
stories about China as a rule resemble the
tales related in alice in Wonderland
they are hard TO believe. He granted that
1t is not surprising that even converted
Christian people should feel a lack of in
terest in missionary work if it seems to
them far off and unreal. But in these
latter days." said the bishop, people can
get a great deal better information than
they once could. If they would only go
to the secretaries OF church mission boards
and ask for literature on the subject they
would be better informed"
The bishop said that the diocese over
which he presides includes the most popu-
Ious part of China, which is along the
banks of the great Yang-tse river, a stream
that compares with the Mississippi in this
country. The diocese extends through two
and parts of three other provinces, and one
Of the principal stations is in Shanghai.
The speaker said the diocese contains a
population of 5000. OOO-more than that OF
the United StateS-and this mass of people
occupy an area of territory. equal in size
to the States of Pennsylvania, North Da-
kota and North Carolina.
The bishop said that it might strike his
hearers as strange that there are only 300
Christian natives in this great population,
and that only LOO of these are
cants, but he impressed upon them the fact
that only those converts who take COM
munion at least once a year are counted.
CHINESE UNTIRING STUDENTS.
The speaker said that missionaries do not
follow usual methods in trying to convert
the Chinese. They simply pursue the plan
that is pursued in gaining any class of
people to ones way of thinking. that is,
they endeavor to win the confidence of the
people. This is accomplished by three
great agencies-the educational, medical
and religious.
The Chinese, said the bishop. are indie
fatigable seekers after knowledge, therefore
they welcome the efforts of the missionaries
to crafty their longing; The great difficulty
tNC oN1
ence IS in perSuading the native students
TO extinguish their lights at night and re-
tire TO rest. They are up almost at sun
rise, ready for the days work.
The bishop had much to say about the
value of the medical feature of mission
work in China. He said that over there
persons afflicted with unpleasant diseases
and hideous deformities are to be seen in
the public t~horoughfares instead of being
comfortably housed in Well-directed hos
pitfalls and sanatoriums as in this country.
Medical skill is sadly lacking in the Chi
nese empire, said the speaker, and people
often go blind from trivial causes Tor the
reason that the physicians do not under
stand the first principles of optical surgery.
The students In missionary colleges are
by no means all charity students, declared
the bishop. Many of them pay $40 a month
for tuition. which will be seen TO be a con-
siderable amount when 1t is stated that q
Chinese laborer frequently supports him
self and family on s. a month.
The bishop said that the missionaries do
customs. They never baptize a young
Chinaman until he has obtained his fathers
consent, since flial piety is one of the most
speaker said that only about one-third
of the students Of st. Johns College are
become Christians before they complete the
course of instruction.
These boys are all filing good places
and doing good work" said the bishop.
They are the only patriotic Chinese, the
only Chinese that seem to care whether
their country is going to be preserved or
destroyed"
FAITHFUL TO THE CHURCH.
The speaker said that church services
are better attended in China thai in this
country, and this remark caused a slight
feeling Of discomfort to pass over the
rather slender congregation before him as
they glanced about at the scores of empty
seats. I'VE have several churches in our
diocese" he said, that hold a great many
-,or. fbon The arr hare 4
suppose our Bangkok church would seat
eight hundred people, and often we have
ii filed. The church at ST. Johns will
hold something over three hundred, and on
Sundays there is not a vacant seat, and you
would find, if you went there to-day. that
they carry on worship in the true manner.
are in Chinese. but the worship is in the
same spirit as ii is carried on here"
Bishop Graves concluded his address as
transforming the lives Of the Chinese. The
marvel of it, the mystery of it. is that the
faith of Jesus Christ takes these people out
of their poverty, out of their ignorance
and out OF their degradation and makes
OF them. men who try to live a higher life.
men who succeed I'm a large measure in
leading a higher life. That is the wonder
here of Christianity. IL you say you do
not believe in foreign missions you simply
all, for the evidence of Christianity is not
written down In books. The only evidence
that Is worth anything 10 you, to me, to-
day is the evidence that Christianity can
live and propagate itself and spread be-
yOnd "A country like this into countries that
are utterly different In their ways of living.
manners and customs. and take hold of
people of that sort and remake and trans
form and elevate them
Bishop Graves continued his interesting
talk about missionary work in the pulpit
of St. Pauls Church last night.
Big Four witchmaster Hurt.
W. r. Ray. switchmaster I'm the Big Four