Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/664

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646 FOREIGN MISSIONS in their own tongue, having meantime been joined in his labors by Mr. Milne, another English missionary. But the operations of Protestant missionaries were greatly circum- scribed for many years by the exclusiveness of the Chinese. It was not till 1861 that the empire was really open to their labors. From 1842 to that time the residence of foreigners, for trade or other purposes, was restricted to five cities upon the coast ; but now mission- aries of 22 different societies, about 150 in all, are residing in various parts of the empire, with missions virtually established in 40 walled cities and 360 villages, with 100,000 adherents and 10,000 church members. A remarkable religious movement has been developed in Chimi, a district of northern China. Thou- sands of people were found there called the "nameless sect," repudiating idolatry, recog- nizing the existence of a Supreme Being, be- lieving in a final judgment, and looking for a " deliverer." Missionaries have visited them and given them more perfect instruction, bap- tized many, and organized a church among them, and many of them now recognize Jesus Christ as the " deliverer " for whom they were looking. In the province of Chikiang are 1,500 native Christians, with at least 100 na- tive ministers, catechists, and teachers. There are 12 Protestant chapels and 20 missiona- ries in Peking. The Bible and other religious books have been given to the Chinese in sev- eral of the different dialects of their language, together with a dictionary of the Canton dialect by Dr. Morrison, as already mentioned, of the Fokien dialect by Dr. Medhurst, and of the Mandarin by S. Wells Williams. Eight presses are in constant operation at Shanghai alone, where 18,000,000 pages a year are printed. As many as 150 works on science, medicine, history, geography, law, and miscellaneous subjects, have been published in China by Protestant missionaries. These works are in a style acceptable to the learned classes, and many of them have been reprinted by the Chi- nese themselves, and thus added to the per- manent literature of the country. Conspicu- ous among such works is Wheaton's " Interna- tional Law." translated by an American mis- sionary and published at the expense of the government. A healthful influence has thus been exerted upon the educational interests of the country, and a demand for the west- ern sciences has been created. An American missionary is president of the imperial uni- versity of Peking, and Chinese youth are being sent in considerable numbers to America and Europe for education. Another striking illus- tration of the influence of missions in China is the fact that the Chinese in some places are resorting to preaching to meet and oppose the progress of Christian truth, defending idolatry by public sermons in halls and temples. Men are selected for this service by competitive ex- amination. The people are also resorting to works of benevolence, founding hospitals and dispensaries, distributing medicines and coffins gratuitously to the poor, and establishing free schools and lyceums. Coming westward, we find Moravian missionaries laboring on the bor- ders of Thibet. American Presbyterians have 3 churches and 60 members in Siam. Amer- ican Baptists are at work successfully in As- sam, especially among the Garrows, a hill tribe, where many are accepting Christianity. Euro- pean missionaries are in the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas, with en- couraging prospects, but no great results yet reached. Work was begun in Burmah by the Baptists of America in 1813, under the lead of the celebrated Adoniram Judson. Their greatest success has been among the Karens, a native tribe more accessible than the ruling classes. There are 75 Protestant missionaries laboring in that land, with 421 native preach- ers, 372 churches, 20,000 members, more than 60,000 adherents, and 6,000 children in schools. The king is friendly to the mission- aries, and disposed to encourage his people to receive at least the western civilization. He has ordered the translation of an English cyclo- paedia into the Burmese tongue, that his people may have access to the treasures of knowledge, and has built a school house for 1,000 scholars, to educate the best of the young men for teach- ers of the people. India is as large as all the United States of America east of the Missis- sippi, and inhabited by nearly 240,000,000 peo- ple, speaking a large number of languages and dialects. The first Protestant missionaries to India were from Denmark, sent to Tranquebar by the king in 1706. They were few, however, and accomplished but little. The real work for that land was begun by Carey in 1793. Since that time 33 societies have established missions in India. The American board has labored among the Mahrattas in Bombay, Ah- mednuggur, Seroor, Sattara, and that region, and among the Tamil people of the Madras and Madura districts and Ceylon. The church missionary and London societies have labored with great success among the Shanars, or devil worshippers, and other tribes in southern India, where they now number among the Shanars alone 90,000 adherents and 12,000 communi- cants. Of this region the official u Blue Book " says : " The districts are dotted over with flourishing villages and Christian churches. There are hundreds of native teachers em- ployed among them, of whom 56 are ordained and supported to a great extent by their con- gregations. Order and peace rule these simple communities, which give the government little trouble; while large tracts of country have been brought under cultivation, and the peas- antry enjoy a larger share of material comfort than in days gone by." A great revival has recently occurred among the Syrian Christians of Malabar and Travancore, an ancient Christian sect which had lost almost all of Christian- ity except the name. The church missionary and London societies have long been laboring