Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/660

MISSION. 588 MISSIONS. feature; it deals largely with sin, repentance, death, judgment, heaven and hell, and its pur- pose i.s to bring the hearers to a devout reception of the sacraments and an earnest Christian Hie. It Usually closes with a solemn service of renewal of baptisnuil vows, thanksgiving, and consecra- tion, and with the proclamation of a special in- dulgence. In the last third of the nineteenth cen- lurv similar missions, presenting no distinctive feature of their own, were held with increas- ing frequency in the Anglican coniniunion, espe- cially in High Church parishes. MISSIONARY RIDGE, Battle of. Sec CllAT'l ANUOI.A, liATTI.K Or. MISSION INDIANS. A collective term for the siii'viving remnants of the tribes civilized and Christianized by the ell'orts of the Spanish Fran- ciscan missionaries in southern California in the latter i)art of the eighteenth century. They were originally of many various dialects and slocks, chielly ."-^hoslioneaii and Yuman, roving over the desert and mountain region stretcliing from the lower Colorado River to the I'acitic, and in al- most the lowest stage of culture. By the heroic and persistent labor of Father .Juntpero Serra and his successors, beginning in 1770. they were gathered into civilized communities, where they supported themselves by farming and simple mechanical arts, and under the kindly suiter- vision of the fathers, reared those magnilicent mission structures which are the glory of oil California. For half a century the missions grew and flourished, until in 1831 they contained 19,000 civilized Indians, but with the overtlirow of the Spanish power by the Mexican revolution- ary government came oppression. s])oliation. and filially confiscation and dcstru<-tion in the ])eriod from" 183.5 to 1840. The missionaries were ban- ished, the missions plundered and h ft to fall into rnin. and the Indians driven into the desert and the mountains. I'nder the lat<'r American rule the renuiants of the mission Indians contiiuied to be regarded an<l treated as outcasts until, chiefly by the endeavor of Helen Hunt .lackson (q.v.), public attention was so forcibly directed to their neglected and unfortunate condition thai the Government took steps for their relief by setting aside some small reservations for their occupancy lid appointing an agent to look after their af- fairs, together with a good school equipment. .Since then some |)rogress has been made toward bringing them up to the standard to which the'y had attained under the mission system more than a century ago. The two great barriers in the way are the uncertain tenure of their lands and the monopoly of the water supply by white claim- ants. At present they occupy 32 small reserva- tions, aggregating altogether only 180.000 acres. The total population is 3000, the largest settle- ments being Torres, 520; Morongo, 200; Potrero, 225; Mesa CJrande. 200; Temecula. I!t0. They are described as industrious and good workers among the whites during the labor season, but strongly given to drink and improvident of the future, much of which disposition their agent attributes to discouragement and bad surround- ings. MISSIONS, Christian. The term Missions as iiM-d in ilii< article signifies Christian missions among the peoples of non-Christian countries. Christian missions proceed from the e.ample and precepts of .lesus Christ, from appreciation of His teachings a.s essential to the world, and from the natural impulse of His followers to pass on to others that which has benefited themselves. The object of such missions is to pro]iagate the Christian religion: that is to say. to make .lesus known to those who do not know Him. and to persuade them to admit Him to the control of their life. The history of missions may be divided into three periods: (1) The Early Period, embracing the first seven centuries of our era, until the rise of Islam. In this period missionary activity was generally unorganized and individual. (2) The Middle Period, includ- ing nine centuries, from the beginning of the eighth to the end of the si.xteenlh century. Here the Cliurch as an organization originated and directed foreign missionary activity. (3) The Modern Period, from the beginning of the .seven- teenth century until the present time. In this period occurred the rise of Protestant Foreign -Missions, chiefly conducted by voluntary so- cieties. I. THE EAHLY I'ERIOI). The energy of the Apostles in winning men to believe in Jesus Christ is a characleristic feature of the New Testament narrative of the begin- nings of Christian history. Early traditions give ground for belief that their missionary ojieiations were extended. Yet excepting in the case of Paul and his companions details are iiu-.igre. The ex- planation of the rapid spread of Cliri-;tianity seems to be that individual bcliever.s taught it wherever they went, whether for business, for safety from enemies, or as slaves to heathen masters. Great importance was attached also to translating the Bible into the language of evcrj- people at this iieriml. Exani]des of this automatic spread of Christianity may be seen in its ap])e;uaiico in Anlioch before any .po>tlc went there, its entrance into Italy before Paul's visits, into Britain by way of Gaul from Smyrna dur- ing the second century, along the ordinary routes of trade, and into the bivouacs of the Goths in the third century through captive.'^ taken in war. By the time that Constant ine the Great, early in the fourth century, came in con- tact with " Christianity in Western Europe, shrewdly cham]iioning it in his struggle for -ii- preniacy. groups of Christians were found in all parts of the Ronniu Empire, from Britain to Persia. Christians formed but a small ])ercent- age of the population. But they had a high ideal an<l the energy of as]uration. This produced un- flagging activity in missions in the West and in the East. The nionasterics now performed great services for religious culture in out-of the way places. In the fifth century the centre of mi' sionary initiative for the West seems to have been in Central Gaul. Thence bishops went over into Britain to help the Christians settle doc- trinal ilillienlties. and thence Patrick took his new-found knowledge into Ireland. For the East at the same time the centre of missions seems to have been in Mesopotamia, at places like Edessa and Xisibis. with a long chain of advance posts reaching into Central .sia and India, and with a training school at Samarkand. Toward the north at the same period rifilas (q.v.) went on a mission to his heathen kin in the re- gion of the Danube, givin-; them an alpha- bet and a Bible in their own tongue. In the sixth century the initiative in the West was fiom the British Islands eastward and from France northward. Desire to teach Christ brought Co-