The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-12

peared out of my wffe's sight. down the steep side of the mountain. should have been hurled over preci- pice, but providentiaJIy my own down ward progress was irnpeded by tree stump which was on the verge Of the cliff. instinctively threw my arms around 1t. and this action undoubtedly saved my life. This was my nearest approach to death during the whole tour.
 ''The East Is undoubtedly he most Interesting part of tlie whole world from a missionary point of view. and after that South Africa. Look ct China. Japan and India. with their many millions of inhabitants. every year coming into contact with West ern civilizations. and with ever-iui- creasing communications. rising up in to the world civilizations like con- tnent rising from the sea. And each Oriental nation is waiting for the light"
 The veteran missionary organizer fell into a mood of reflection and talked almost to himself. Nothing has im- pressed me more than the overruifng of the purposes of men by A benefieert Providence. Our people wens to Ihd'a to make money and with no thought of the propagation of Christianity. But now India has become a vast field for missionary enterprise. In South Afri- ca what was undoubtedly calamity has. been overruled for good. Boer and Briton fought for their own hands. and with no thought of improving the condition of .he natives. But now the natives are In a much better condition than they would have been had no war taken place.
 The great continent of Africa has been practically divided among six European nations. and. though poiiti- cal motives have been the inspiring human force. God is using them for the accomplishment of HIS own de- signs.
 "In fact" he continued. you will make a mistake in interpreting the great world movements apart from the Providence of Goo He is the Divinity that shapes our ends.
 Tn contact with the Oriental reiig- ions, 1t did not strike me that they were the most dominant force among the peoples The Oriental religions are being undermined by education and the better clements in our world civilizations. Education Is always the foe of superstition. and the great edu- cational .upl.ft among the peoples of the East is making their ancient re- ligfons of no effect.
 whether Christianity will or can take the:r place Is large question. But can say. as result of my own personal experience that my faith in the ultimate triumph of the Gospel Is not only increased but justified. I have only to point to the wonderful triumph of missions during the last hundred years. and compare it with the expansion of Christianity during the first three centuries of the Chris tian era. in proof of my contention.
 "The finest field for us now is China. Not even Japan is so important from the Christian point of view as China. Think of ner 400 100000 of population, with a unity of language as distinct from dialects, with no antagonism be- tween province and province. as Is the case in India; a people all permeated by the same ideas, with an unbroken history stretching into the unbroken pasta nation just awakening into life," and here the -musing fit came on the seasoned traveller. China is moving like the slow moving of the ocean, or, better still, like the slow moving of a glacier among the Alps That movement gathers strength slow