The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-22
BEHAVIOR OF SOME MEN
 RETARD MISSION WORK
British Ambassador Speaks to Ten Thousand People at Chattanooga and Gives Sound Advice to
 the Conference.

l CHaibhhbo6hf Achh.s APifi 11t--<AlI~
 bassador James Bryce of Great Britain was the chief speaker at the first ses-
 sion Of the laymens conference of the
 Meth odist Episcopal church, south, at l the auditorium in this city tonight.
 A large gathering, estimated at 10.0sO | greeted the ambassador enthusiastic 1 cally as he entered the hall and con
 tinued cheering until he reached his
 seat Another ovation greeted him
 when he arose to speak.
 After an opening prayer, Mayor W.
 R. Crabtree welcomed the delegates to
 the city. to which Gen Julian s. Carr l of North Carolina responded. Ambas-
 sador Bryce was then introduced by Bishop E. k. Hendrix of Kansas City.
 Ambassador Bryce reached the city
 shortly before s o'clock tonight. His | train was delayed in the yards by
 d freight wreck and the ambassador
 insisted on walking half mile to tho
 station after he had climbed up | thfrty-foot embankment.
 MT. Bryce will be taken in hand
 by an entertainment committee and
 shown over Lookout mountain. Mis-
 sionary and Chickamauga park and
 will be the guest of honor at a ban
 quet tomorrow night.
 The real work of the conference be-
 gins tomorrow, for which an elaborate
 programme has been prepared. Tomorrow's programme follows:
 a. m.-"opportunity, the Eduea-
 tional Movement in Missions" the Rev.
 F. F. Cook, Nashville, Tenn.
 China, the Gibraltar of Missions ''
 Dr. D. L. Anderson, Soo Chow, China.
 "Corea, Great Religious Awak en- =
 ing the Rev. J. L. Gerdine. Seoul.
 Corea.
 Announcement of committees
 The One Great Mission of the
 church" Bishop A. W. Wilson. Balti-
 more. Md.
 The Quiet Hour" pr. ". W. Pin
 son, Nashville, Tenn.
 2:30 D. m.-Report of committees on 1 permanent organization.
 Christian Conquest of Japan." Dr.
 $. II. Wainwright, St. Louis. Mo
 Brazil, Bugle Call to Victory"
 the Rev. E. A. lilly. Ashland, Va. Cuba, on the Firing Line" the Rev | w. G. Fletcher, Santa Clara, Cuba l The Problem of the Downtown
 Church. pr. W. F. McMurry, Louis- vile, Ky.
 Medical Work in the Orient" Dr.
 T. F. Staley, Bristol, Tenn.
 Protestant Literature in Snanisb :.
 Prof. P. A. Rodriguez Nashville. Tenn.
 Moving Pictures, "A Great Mission
 Field"
 1 7:S0 D. m.-"The Supreme oppor- l tunity of the Hour" William T. Ellis. l Philadelphia, Penn.
 The Call to Go Forward" Bishop
 w. A. Candler, Atlanta. Ga Ambassador Bryce said: ] "The impulse. the purpose, the senti-
 mentof duty that brings you all here is one that requires no explanation Little
 need to urge upon you, who have come l so far. though there is need that you 1 should impress upon others, the obliga- ton that lies on Christian men to give l freely to others that knowledge of the l truth which they have freely received | IT We have not the divine command to i go Into the world and preach the gospel | to every creature, should we not feel | bound to try to do for them what has been done for us, to stretch out to them l helping hand and try to lift them up? 1 Missions are in fact one way in which 1 the advanced people may try to do their | duty to the backward peoples The com | mon Father of us all requires it from us. l How much splendid work missions l have accomplished 1 need not tell you. | portunties of seeing the results in Africa, 1 India and Turkestan No missionaries 1 have done more good than those who l come from you own country especially l in Asia Minor. Syria and Egypt Those 1 regions owe them debt of gratitude But 1 the traveller. while he admires the work | that is being done is often forced to ask l himself why, in spite of these noble ef- l forts, and of the excellence of the men 1 who are doing it, why has the spread 1 of the gospel not been swifter? And it is about this that I wish to say a few words to you tonight.
 Crimes of Conquerons. Missions is not the only form which the contact of advanced Christian races with backward races has taken. When the Spaniards began to conquer the new world they made 1t one of their objects to convert the Indians. Crowds of friars accompan nied them. There was much preaching and the desire to save the souls of the heather and make the cross reign over all Amerisan lands a genuine desire. But, uhhappily. the con querors did many other things beside preach. They were greedy of wealth. They forced the natives to till the soil and labor in the mines. They did this so harshly that in some 30 or 40 years all the native Indians in Hispaniola mow HaytD are said to have perished and this l happened before long in Cuba and Ja- maica also
 "Everywhere the same thing has gone on. Everywhere the native suffers To some extent 1t Is inevitable that the na- | tive should suffer by contact, but there also has been much wrong doing upon the part of the present civilized races. The governments of those nations which have of late years annexed native territories now usually though l fear not always. try to protect the inhabitants. The United States government and the British gov ernment certainly do this In India, for instance. vast native populations are ruled with perfect justice. But the action of private citizens who have dealings with natives often disgraces the Chris tian name. Such mems conduct constant