The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-05
A REPLY TO MIR. HAMBLY.

A'ohiDiy was reported TO nave read a
paper on "A Trip to California at
meeting of Methodist ministers. in which
ne fndulged In the stereotyped fling at
the Catholic churcn. Strange that IN
some gatherings no address is deemed
complete without condemnation of
something Catholici In reference to
certain Mexfcans he Said '"They are fair
and apt scholars of the church that edu-
Gated them Their ignorance and
low condition is, believe the direct re-
suit OF the missionary system under
which they have been raised" In this
mornings q G the reverend gentle
man declares that it was far from his
mind to make ga general slash at the
Roman Catholic church, but that it
was his Intention to eriticise the Span
fsh Catholic church" His disavowaI is
the merest subterfuge, because the Catho-
Tic church is one the world over He cam
not but know that blow struck at the
missionary system carried out by the
Spanish Is an attack on the missionary
system of the Catholic church. All honor
to the Spanish missionaries! Not the
least of Spain's gIories is her success in
Christianizing and cfviIizing barbarous
peoples. Her record as a Christian civil
lzer puts to the blush the much lauded
Angio-Saxon record. The principle on
which the Spanish missionary system
rests is the truly Christian princfpie
Whlcn tends not to the determination
OF the savage races, but to their con.
version and elevation to better things
veritable tyro in the history of our
country must be he who has not read
OF the heroic conquests over idolatry and
barbarism made by the Spanish mission
aries in California New Mexico and
throughout the whole Southwest They
were pioneers of Christian faith and
CHRISTIAN civilization and grand1y did
they succeed in their high and holy mis-
sion There have been Spanish schools
for Indians in America since 1884 BY 1875
nearly century before there was a
printing press in English America-many
books In twelve different Indian
languag es had been printed in the City
OF Mexico And three Spanish universe
ties In America were nearly rounding out
their century when Harvard was found
ed. A characteristic of the Spanish
missionary system as a civilizing force
Is It's aim to preserve the aboriginal races
whom it seeks to benefit. Every scholar
Knows that the Spanish preserved the
races among whom they Acknowledgements
ing them step by step to better conditions
IN the social scale and making them
Christian cultivators and possessors of
their ows soil. In Mexico and in the
other countries where the Catholic Span
ish policy prevails the aborfgines have
verified to Christianity and have been
taught the arts of peace and progress
according to their ability to learn them
There it is no uncommon thing to find
full-blood Indians and people of mixed
race holding positions of trust There
the Indian population is greater today
than when Christianity appeared among
them
That the Catholic church has had phe-
nOTQGndl success in cjUf1iziT1or no rfNo
nations, while the Protestant missionary
system has been a dismal failure is an
assertion which is borne out by mass
Of evidence. A small part of the testf-
mony of DR.. Isaac Taylor, the Protestant
canon Of York, is here submitted on this
point After showing the general failure
of Protestant missionaries in India,
China, Egypt, Persia, Palestine, Arabia
and Africa, he proceeds to give the rea-
sons why they fail. Among other things
he says: IF ST. Paul. before starting on
one of his missionary journeys, had re-
quired st. James and committee at
Jerusalem to guarantee him E300 a year,
paid quarterly, and had provided him
with a shady bungalow, punkah, a
pony carriage and a wife, he would not
have changed the history of the world.
. Gen. Gordon, jealous Puritan Pro-
testant If ever there was one, found none
but the Roman Catholics who came up
to his ideal of the absolute self-devotion
of the apostolic missionary" I'm China
he found Protestant missionaries with
comfortable salaries of E300 a year, pre-
ferring to stay on the coast, while the
Roman priests left Europe never to re-
turn, living in the interior with the na
tives as the natives lived, without wife.
or child, or salary, or comforts, or So
ciety. Hence these priests succeed, as
they deserve to succeed, while the pro-
fessiena1 Protestant missionary fails"
I'm spite of the prodigal expenditure of
the Protestant societies, three-fourths of
the native Christians in India are de-
Scendants of the converts Of the early
Jesuits In those districts where Xavier
labored so per cent of the native Chris
tians are Roman Catholics. In Travan-
core alone there are half a million Of
them, twice as many as the Church OF
England societies can claim in the whole
of Asia and Africa. The Great Mis-
sionary Failure, Fortnightly Review. 1888.
What savage race has Protestant
ism civilized? I unhesftatingly charge
the Protestant system with the exter-
mination of the barbarous peoples among
whom it is introduced. It failed IN the
first element Of civilization, that of ma
tfonal self preservation and numerical
increase of the population. As an Illus
tration of the results of the two systems
the readers attention is called to the
splendid success of the Spanish mission
aries in converting the FilipinoS and In
making them q highly moral and intelli-
gent people, and, on the other hand, to
the utter failure of Protestant mission
aries among the Sandwich islanders.
Professionalism could not have wished
fafrer field to show it's power as a civil
izins agency than it had in Hawaii, and
yet the story of it's success In bringing
about the gradual extinction of the na-
tive race and Of it's methods IN despo1l-
ing the natives who remained, furnishes
very racy reading. Here Is & contrast
on which our reverend tourist might
we'll reflect seriously: In 1928 the Sand
witch islands had population Of l42,oO0
natives; in 1878, they were reduced TO
440SS, and in 1880 to only g, 436; In 1888,
the Philippine islands had a population
of 3,153 $50; in 1871 they increased TO
5.561 232, and in 1888 to 7,eeO,O0e.-Encyeio-
redia Britannica, Statesman s Year beoA'
1893
b If the Mexican "greasers, whom the
reverend gentleman condemns, are not
SD polished as the rest of their country
men-if they have not experienced the
refining influences of the silk hat and
gold-headed cane, they have at least
taken the al-important step out OF
paganism into the blessed Inheritance OF
Christianity, and are instructed in the
great truths of eternal salvation-thanks
10 the labors of Catholic Spanish mis-
sionaries. We need not be surprised that
portions of such populations have not yet
reached the highest rung in the social
ladder when we remember that sub
merged tenth may be found in any part
of our own country, even among the
whites The church has done for these
races what no other power on earth Is
able to accomplish. She has every rea-
son to be proud of her work among them.