The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-30
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f-let us throw over the rail our fine
houses ana many servants and cluttcred
iheaps of costly clothes and our visiting
lcards and our multitudinous offerings
at the shrine of Mrs. Grundy, and let
US sail free to harbor of rest. What
is the use of saving cargo and gear and
ship If the souls are lost? Nothing
counts but the spirit life; and life con-
sists not in an abundance Of things.
Calm in a Crisis.
The experienced seamen on Paups ship
were in something resembling what is
colloquially called "a blue funk" Even
the impassive Roman captain was in
despair. The limit had been reached;
nope was gone. Then emerged the royal
hearted Paul. Crises reveal the great
In times of panic. it Is the strong soul
who has been in the quiet with God
And such one is bound to be an en-
conrager and a heartener. At Lady
smith the British court-mlrtialed a man
for being discourager. In time of
danger and anxiety, 1t is first duty to
disseminate hopefulness.
| Paul could do this. for he had reason
to exhort his companions to Fear not"
and to BE of good cheer" The ground
of his faith was this: For 1 believe
God" That is the secret of assurance.
There is more soul nourishment in that
bread than in a barrel of sentimental
Don't Worry gumdrops. When in calm
whose I am and whom I serve" he is in
a position to impart his peace to fellow
men. The way to share our faith is to
share our God. Trust in him is the only
adequate refuge in the storms of life.
Terse comments for October 81. He
roes of Missions in the Islands" lisa.
32:1-4. 1920.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
The isles Of the sea" have been a
favorite missionary phrase, bequeathed
by the King James Version. and tinged
with the romance and mystery of re-
mote and strange peoples, and of adj
venture among them. While the Gospel
has been carried to many Islands, the
South Sea Islands are commonly meant
when the island mission field Is men
toned. OF course, the always interest
Britain and Ireland is appropriate under
this topic; and its telling will link the
Christianity of North America today
with the form of evangenzation which
this meeting is considering.
If the Gospel cannot make the worst
like the best, then its powers are less
than it claims.
The story has often been told Of the
sea captain visiting the Fiji Islands who
was railing against missionaries in the
presence Of native CHER. The latter
quietly led the noisy critic to spot
where was great fireplace, fallen into
disrepair. Pointing to it, he said, III
you had come here a few years ago,
before the missionary arrived, you would
have been killed by my people, cooked
in that fireplace and then eaten. You
lave only the missionary to thank that
you are able to leave this island"
The great naturalist Charles Darwin,
thus testified out of his own experience
in the South Sea Islands: 1.-The lesson
of the missionary Is the enchanter's
wand. The march Of improvement con-
sequent on the introduction of Chris
tianity throughout the South Sea prob
ably stands by itself in the records OF
history
The co-discoverer of the law Of evolu-
ton, along with Darwin. Alfred Russell
Wallace, shared the opinion of Darwin
with respect to missions. He said: The
missionaries have much to be proud of
in this country the South Sea Islands).
They havo assisted the government In
changing a savage into civilized COM
munity in a wonderfully short space Of
time. Forty years ago the country was
g wilderness, the people naked savages,
garnishing their rude houses with hu-
man heads. Now it is a garden worthy
of Its sweet name of 'Minahata.'
| Robert Louis Stevenson lived In the
South Sea Islands: with all the careful
ness of a trained literary worker, and
out of the fullness Of actual personal ex-
perience, he wrote this deliberate opin-
ion: 81 had conceived a great prejudice
against missions in the South Seas, and
had no sooner come there than that
prejudice was at first reduced, and then
at last anHihilated. Those who deblat-
| terate against missions have only one
things to do, to come and see them on
| the spot. They will see great deal of
| good DONE and I believe. if they be hon
est persons, they will cease to complain
OF mission work and it's effects
| The United States sent commissioner
| to the Samoan Islands in 1899 to invest1-
gate conditions there. Mr.. Trip report
ed (as quoted by DR.. James L. Barton,
in The Missionary and His Criticso:
These people Che Samoans) are far
| from being savages. They are splendid
specimens of physical manhood. and are
well informed about matters of general
information. They are nearly all Chris
tians, and are very devout In their at
| tachment to their church and their re-
| ligion. Thanks to the missionaries, the
great bulk of the natives and nearly all
the chiefs can read and write. and are
adopting the habits of civilization with
great alacrity."
The story of missions in the South
| Sea Islands is a continuous tale of ad-
venture. A Notwithstanding number of
| the missionaries. early and late, have
been killed and eaten. Only few
weeks ago. the captain of the new
Hiram Bingham" the gospel ship sent
out by the American Board, died of
starvation and exposure when his YES
| sci was wrecked. There is no moro
dramatic book for young or old than
the Life of John G. Patton, THE apostle
| to the New Hebrides."
| When looked into the face of Joha
| G. Patton, of the New Hebrides, I
| thought of the face of Moses when h
/ |,