barbarism, and with what creations of benevolence has ' to working with great efficiency in many important lo- it clothed them! How many thousands whom igno- calities which were then wholly inaccessible. Tlie rec- rance and selfishness had branded as the leavings and ords of even that period fill numerous volumes, and yet refuse of the si)ecies, if not actually akin to the beasts ; the half has not been written.
that perish, are at tliis moment rising under its foster- | YH. Missionary Aspect of the WorlJ,with the Liter- ing care, ascribing their enfranchisement, under God, to ! aiure appropriate to each liegion. — So vast is the field its\cnign interposition; taking encouragement from its of modern missions, so numerous are the workers, and smiles to assume the port and'bearing of men ; and by so various are the departments of effort, that it is diffi- their acts and aspirations retrieving the character and cult, though very important, to form an adequate idea the dignity of the slandered human form ! When did of the enterprise as a whole. In order to do so even ap- literature accomplish so much for nations destitute of a proximately, an inquirer has to glean from many sources, written language V or education pierce and light up so and to combine into one view all the various lines and large and (iense a mass of human ignorance? When I successive phases of action which focalize towards the did humanity save so many lives, or cause so many ! contemplated result. Tlie proper mode of studying this sanguinary 'wars to cease?' How many a sorrow has 1 subject may be indicated by a compreliensive group- it soothed; how many an injury arrested; how many ing of the different sections and countries of the world an asylum has it reared amid scenes of wretchedness [ in reference to missionar}' occupation and progress, and oppression for the orphan, the outcast, and the suf- i coupled with such references to the literature of mis- ferer! When did liberty ever rejoice in a greater tri- | sions as will enable a student to prosecute lliorough in- umph than that which missionary inslrumentality has quiry into the history, con(hlion, and prospects of each
been the means of achieving? or civilization find so many sons of the wilderness learning her arts, and ag- riculture, and commerce? or law receive so much vol- untary homage from those who but yesterday were strangers to the name ? By erecting a standard of mo- rality, how vast the amount of crime which it has been the means of preventing! By asserting the claims of degraded woman, how powerful an instrument of social regeneration is it preparing for the future ! And by do- ing all this by the principle and power of all moral or- der and exccilence— the Gospel of Christ— how large a portion of the world's chaos has it restored to light, and harmony, and peace !
" But great as are the benefits enumerated, most of whicli can in a sense be seen and measured and han- dled, we venture to affirm that those which are at present comparatively impalpable and undeveloped are greater still. The unseen is far greater than that which appears. The missionary has been planting the earth with principles, and these are of as much greater value than the visible benelils which they have already pro- duced as tl\e tree is more valuable than its first year's fruit. Tlie tradesman may take stock and calculate his pecuniary affairs to a fraction; the astronomer may count the stars, and the chemist weigh tlie invisible element of air; but he who in the strength of God con- veys a great truth to a distant region, or puts into mo- tion a divine principle, has performed a work of which futurity alone can disclose the residts. At no one for-
particular field.
It may here be remarked that the literature of mod- ern missions is already verj' extensive. It embraces two distinct classes of publications, of which the first may be denominated auxiliary-, the second descriptive. To the first belong versions of the Scriptures, and all tracts and books designed for circulation in mission fields, whether educational, apologetic, or devotional. To the second belong accounts of countries, peoples, and systems of false religion, also missionary explorations, experiences, biography, and history. Publications of the latter class are specially interesting and valuable to Christian workers in all lands. As there is a common brotherhood in luiinanity, which is greatly slrengthencd by the ties of Ciiristian relationship, so the experiences of foreign mission life become not only interesting but instructive to the agents and supporters of Christian work in Christian lands. Tlie converse of this proposi- tion is e(iually true, and thus it is that liome missions and regular Churcli work in Ciiristian countries jiracti- cally blend together with missionary work in foreign and pagan countries, forming one great system of effort for the evangelization of the world.
In proceeding to a brief i)anoramic survey of ibo prin- cipal divisions of the eartii in reference to iMi,<>ioiis. it seems projicr to begin with the earlier scenes ol Chris- tian occupation and lal)or. and pass around to tlii' Aiiur- ican continent and islands, thus completing the circuit of the habitable globe.
MISSIONS
369
MISSIONS
TABULAR VIEW OF MISSIONARY ORGANIZATIONS IN 1873,
Missions Com.