The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-28

 China. but the next quarter of a con tury is likely to see the Christian re- lision spread more rapidly among the inhabitants of the Flowery Kingdom than 1t has done the last century. ,.-
 That our missionaries often. make mistakes need not be denied. They are human. and to err is the lot of all. A missionary among strangers must exercise more sagacity and discretion than one who works among. people or his own race. The wonder is not that missionarie. make m stakes, but that they do not make more than, are now charged to them! It is even possible that missionary occasionally proves untrue to his call,nS-.s 1t strange that this should happen to missioi- ary almost alone and with but It, tie sympathetic support when fl some time happens to minister who are surrounded by friends and hedged Tn so that a fall would seem almost inl- possible:
 One part .of the n1issionary's work has received scant notice. namely, the planting of western ideas in the ori- ent. The daily life of sslonary is not only constant sermon. but. to q certain extent. an exposition Of Western ways. His manner Of dress and his manner of living arc noted and even !f he did not say a word. he would make an irnpres 'ons upon those about him It would be worth while to send Christians to, ,'the. ori- ent merely to SHOW the fullness and richness of Christian life. for. after all. the example O. an npri~ht person. living life os service according to the Christian ideal. is more e.oqfnt than any sermor-:t is the unanswerabls argument in favor of ou. religion.
 It is sometimes suggested b- those nnfriendly to missionary work that mission aries iiv--i~ ~:o1 greet comfor,. This criticism will not have weight with those who have attempted to live in the Orient upon the salary of ,a> mis- sionary. but even if teo~ missionaries lived more luxuriantlv than they do. that would still exert beneficial in- fiuence. As the -Chinaman becomrs ,d ucated he learns of the manners and customs of the people of other nations, and the home of the missionary gives an opportunity for comparisons. In China there Is polygamy. while the missionary has but one wife In the Chinese home the birth of son is the occasion of rejoicing: the b.rti~ of a daughter an occasion for less rejoicing if not actual mourning. In the mis- sionarys home the girl child is as well come as the boz. The missionary S wife Is not only standing rebuke to the practice of foot binding. but Is Il stimulus to the movement now setting in for education O. women. The Catholic missionaries reach n class which might not be reached by Protestant missionaries, and Protestant missionaries ao' cal to some who could not be reached by the Catholic mis- sionaries Each church doess its own work in its own way, and the result is better than If either chdrch attempted to follow the example of tue other. The celibacy of the priest and his vol untary sacrifice of home and it's joys that he may more fully devote him. self to religion-these appeal to some. especially to those wl:o have been inn pressed with the ascetisnr of the relig- ious teachers Of the Orient. There are others however. who ere more inn pressed with a form of Christianity which does not deny to its ministers the advantages of the family. In oih- CT words. the different, branches of the Christian Church, each rursuirg its own way meet the widely different needs of the heathen better than any one church coi.d do 't
 Missionary work in the Malay states has been very slow. because the Ma lays arc nearly all N"hammedans. and 1t has oefn foui.J difficult a make headway against this religion. The Mo hammedan believes l.: mos of the Old Testament. and regards Christ as a great rrophet. but claims tnat Ma homet was d later prophet. and greater one.
 Burmah, the home of Buddhism. is one ot. ttc best missionary fields, and great success has attended the Baptist mission. which has. it's headquarters at Hangoon.
 For many years American missi"na- ries have been establishing sch'o's and churches in India. While this field has also been developed bv the English issionarics ! was informed that A majority os the Sunday School children are now attending American Sunday Schools. Ii $ one Of the ln- disputable proofs nf our country's SUI premacy in altrr!stic work that though drawing nothing whatever from lndlP in the way of revenues, t sends lnto India eNer::' year for religious and ed ncatlnnal purposes almost as much as England does notwithstanding the fact that England dr""s something like A hundred millions a gear from India ...~- :.
 We found tho various T 'nartmen's of Christian work growing vigorous'y in India Medical missionaries are winning the confidence and the anec- lions of the unfortunate: teachers are bringing increasing thousands to higher level of intellectual develop ment. and the ministers are explair- ing to tho pc ople why it is that the Christian is sympathetic and benevo- lent. Simply stated. the medical mis- sionarv rompels attention. the school teacher takes the one whose attention has been aroused and furnishes an education which ennhles the pupil |" see things in their propf' reiatloT while the minstef points out th" philosophy of the eT"ts of the other two and presents tte conception of life which leads both medical mis- sionsrv and teach-r to separate them selves from home and friends and de vote themselves to people who are connected whh them only by the nrimal ties which bind each huma" being 10 every other.
 shall long remember two meet ings which I addressed In India. ono was held under the auspices of the centers of the Hindu region At tn" conclusion of my address an India arose and addressed m" as follows
 Mir Bryan. YOU cannot judge of th
 influcn.e of Christianity upon our countrl hy the number of church mem
 ners. The spirit of Chris: and tn } Christian deal have made m impre'-
 sion far wider than the church mem
 bership would indicate. Tell you
 people that the Indians arc grateful Co them for the missionaries ant teachers whom they have sent among us and tell them how few these are in number compared with our needs