Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-23

scholarly men and devoted women. who
have their own printing press. make
translations into Persian and publish
a little newspaper regularly, and main
tain schools OF good qualtty, both there
and in other parts of Persia, but who
have never been able to make Christi
anity an object of desire to the better
class of Persians. the work of the
medical neutrality-suspicious. OF
the women-is highly appreciated by
influential Persians; but otherwise sub
stantially all that the missionaries
there have lone is among the Arme-
mans and in the wretchsdly poor Jew
ish quarter of Teheran. The cultivated
Mohammedan in Persia is perfectly we'll
acquainted with Christ, and holds his
work as valuable and sacred, but places
him in a small class of holy men who
are secondary, In his opinion, to Mo-
damned.
The duty of making Christ known as
the only link between heaven and earth
may remain just the same, whether men
listen or do not listen; but 1T is GER
tain that the better class Of Mohamme-
dams have already given to Christ an
honorable secondary place. and that
they are nc more accessible to a new
and wider presentation of his claims
than General Chaffee SAYS that the edu-
Gated Cinnamon are. The real feeling
among the better educated Persians is
that it is a misplaced sense of duty that
makes foreign men and women come
into their country, and learn It's Ian
|guage and ways, merely to tell
them what they already know. They
are tolerably patient with missionaries.
in recognition of their motives; but
treither they nor their children EVER
have come within the rat &c OF missions
airy work; probably they never WILL
But this is not all. For some eason
unexplained (to the outside world) this
missionary work in China is persisted
in, entirely ignoring the fact that the
same efforts of the conscientious men
and women at work in China, the same
number of dollars almost thrown away
in that country, If such Christian work,
backed by Christian donations. was eX-
pended elsewhere the results would be
Il hundred-fold greater. OF course the
Bible literalists fall back on the com
mand, Go into all the world but as
yet there are neither Ten o women
nor one enough to take in all of the
world. There is need of Judgment In
selecting the places where the best pos
sible results may be obtained. Does
China come under that head? Not long
ago a Brahmin cache vas %zealously
at work in New York and Boston en-
deavoring to make converts to his re-
l:gion among the educated people of
those cities. And it is a matter of rec
ord that he founded a society in New
York and has some genuine converts,
who embrace his particular teachings
as the only true religion. In this case
the unbiased opinion of our Christian
people is that such work does not pay.
We know that a thousand years of such
work in the United States would not
pay, comparatively. We know that this
Jealous Brahmin has other and better
fields to work In. We know hat If he
wishes to devote his life and the one
of his followers who support him there
is a much better place for him much
nearer home and amorg people more
suited to the religion he offers Ameri-
cans. All this we easily assume and
perceive. Strange it is our missionary
societies can not see that sending a
Christian missionary to China is a much
mora impracticable act t'an the work
of the Erahmin in New York City.