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The Commoner
TOLTJMH t, NUMBER 4j
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"Hew to the Line, Let the Chips Fall Where They May"
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No man who Is financially connected with a corporation that Is seeking privileges ousrht t
act as a member of a political organization, because he can not represent his corporation and thl
people at the same time. He can not serve the party while he is seeking to promote the financial
interests of the corporation with which he is connected. "uai
Association, weld the church membership into a
(religious but unsectarian working body. The
rapid growth in public instruction has somewhat
jdwarfed the relative importance of the mission
jachools in Japan, and tho spread of the science
jwl pieuicmo nas maae ine wont or me mcaicaa.
xnlssionary less conspicuous, but the religious
lieacner in japan naa a lieia wnicn is not sur-
apassed anywhere. The Japanese people are rap
idly drifting away from Buddhism, which until
(recently was the national faith. Shintoism, which
Jhas become tho state religion, is not a religion
jt all, but a reverence for ancestors. Japan must
jhave a religion, for no nation Is likely to avoid
decay unless its morals are reinforced by relig
ion. If I had the authority to decide the question,
3 would send some of the leading men of each
denomination to Japan to. present Christianity
to the educated Japanese. English Is taught in
the schools of Japan, and one can speak to the
Japanese without the aid of an interpreter.
This proposition I tested several times. While
it would be an advantage to have preachers who.
'could speak the Japanese language, still, it is
jmore important that we should send our ablest
divines there men who can meet the most in-,
telligent of the Japanese upon an equal footing
'and defend before them the Christian philosophy
of life.
Japan is tho gateway of the Orient, and ia
"today exerting an influence upon China greater
than the combined Influence of all the European
'nations. Western civilization is likely to enter
,China through Japan. In fact, I believe that tho
Christian religion, presented to the Chinese by
jthe Japanese, would spread more rapidly than
If presented in any other way, for China has
come to regard Japan as a leader of thought,
aloro than Ave thousand Chinese students are
Jiow at school in Japan, and Japanese teachers
are being more nd more employed in China.
Porno of the- most earnest Christians whom we
met are natives of Japan. At Tokio, at Kioto, "and
at Kagoshima I was especially impressed with
tho sincerity and' enthusiasm of the Japanese
..Christians. I could not but recall the lines
V"Blest be the tie that binds our hearts In Chris
tian love" as I saw how much stronger this heart
ftle Is than the ties of blood or race or language.
, ,Seoul Korea, we found a very successful
"i mission and a flourishing Young Men's
iTKfu. jsaociauon. we also learned of sev
ifcral Christian congregations.
In China mission work has made great prog
,ress, although it has had to bear the brunt of
tho fight now being made against foreign Influ
ence. During the Boxer trouble there were ex
- toples of heroism among the Chinese Christians
which recalled the early days of martyrdom,
jnero were those who suffered death because of
their devotion to tho Christian faith, and thou
Snf,n?S. WS ?id not hesitate to take the part
o Mowery Kinsao thanTt & JSE'gflJ?
r Is tho lot of all. A missionary amZg stame
Zn Z XC'S0 ,mro sasaolt7ana dfso etlon
oeea m so that fall would seem almost tm-
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uS
One part of tho missionary work has
re
ceived scant notice, namely the planting of west
ern ideas in the Orient The daily life of a mis
sionary is not only a constant sermon but, to a
certain extent, an exposition of western ways.
His manner of dress and his manner of living
are noted, and even if he did not say a word, he
would make an impression upon those about him.
It- would be worth while to send Christians to
the Orient merely to show the fullness and rich
ness of a Christian life tor, after all, tho ex
ample of an upright person, living a life of ser
vice according to the Christian ideal, is more
eloquent than any sermon it is the unanswerable
argument in favor of our religion.
It is sometimes suggested by those unfriend
ly to missionary work that missionaries live
in too great comfort This criticism will not have
weight with those who have attempted to live
in the 'Orient upon the salary of 'a missionary,
but even if the missionaries lived more luxuriant
ly than they do, that would still exert a bene
ficial influence. As the Chinaman becomes edu
cated he learns of the manners and customs of
the people of other nations, and the home of the
missionary gives an opportunity for comparisons.
In China there Is polygamy, while the missionary'
has but ono wife. In the Chinese home the birth
of a son is the occasion for rejoicing; the birth'
of a daughter an occasion for less rejoicing if
not actual mourning. In the missionary's homo
the girl child ig as welcome as thejas The'
missionary's wife Is not only a stan'oln&buke
to the practice of foot-binding, but is1 aTstulus
to the movement now setting In for the education
of women.
The Catholic missionaries reach a class
which might not be reached by Protestant mis
sionaries, and Protestant missionaries appeal to
some who could not be reached by the Catholic
missionaries. Each church does Its own work
in its own way, and the result is better than if
either church attempted to follow the example
of the other. The celibacy of the priest and
his voluntary sacrifice of home and its joys that
ho may more fully devote himself to religion-
these appeal to some, especially to those who
have been impressed with tho asceticism of tho
religious teachers of the Orient There are others,
however, who are more impressed with a form
of Christianity which does not deny to Its min
isters the advantages of the family. In other
words, the different branches of the Christian
church, each pursuing its own way, meet the
widely different needs of the heathen better than
any one church could do it
Missionary work in the Malay states has
been very slow because tho Malays are nearly,
all Mohammedans, and it has been found difficult
to make headway against this religion. Tho
Mohammedan believes in most of the Old Testa
ment and regards Christ as a great prophet but
claims that Mahomet was a later prophet and a
greater one.
Burma, the homo of Buddhism, is one. of tho
best missionary fields, and great success has at
tended the Baptist mission, which has its head
quarters at Rangoon.
For many years" American missionaries have
been establishing schools and churches in India.
While this field has also been developed by the
English missionaries, J was informed that a ma
jority of the Sunday school children are now at
tending American Sunday schools. It Is one of
the indisputable proofs of our country's supre
macy in altruistic work that though drawing
nothing whatever from India In the way of reve
nues, It sends Into India every year for religious
and educational purposes almost as much as Eng
land does, notwithstanding the fact that England
draws something like a hundred millions a year
from India.
We found the various departments of Chris
tian work growing vigorously in India. Medical
missionaries are winning the confidence and the
affections of the unfortunate; teachers are bring
ing increasing thousand to a higher level of
intellectual dfWfTrmTYiof. j . , . .
.w, mU wuo ministers are
explaining to the people why it is that the
Christian is sympathetic and benevolent Simply
??; Mcal missionary compels attend
attention fT tQT &P 55? who30
attention has been aroused and furnishes an nr?
ration which enables the pupil to To SiS
out SSSZ rf&u??i whil " Stag
out the philosophy of tho efforts of the other two
both medical missionary and teacher to separate
fyes ? home and friends and devote
thSf n? Z epIe. who aro ejected wit?
them only by the primal ties which bind each
human being to every other.
t A BhQl l?ns remember two meetings which
I addressed in India. One was held under the
auspices of the Y. M. C. A. at Allahabad, one of
the centers of the Hindu religion. At the con
clusion of my address an Indian arose and ad
dressed me as follows: "Mr. Bryan, you can not
judge of the influence of Christianity upon our
country by the number of church members. The
spirit of Christ and the Christian Ideal have made
an impression far wider than the church mem
bership would Indicate. Tell your people that
the Indians are grateful to them for the mission
aries and teachers whom they have sent among
us, and tell them how few these are in number
compared with our needs. Send us more, and
assure your people that we appreciate the benefits
received from America,"
This unsolicited testimonial to the good work
of our missionaries and teachers Is entirely de
served. The Influence of Christianity upon tho
Orient is vastly greater than one would think
It if church membership were the test The
stimulus which Is given to Eastern thought is
enormous, and already the Hindus, Parsees and
Mohammedans are imitating the methods of tho
Christian world and establishing schools inde
pendent of the government. The education of
the boys is proceeding more rapidly than the edu
cation of the girls, but the latter is not entirely
neglected. One Mohammedan woman, of Bom
bay, of unusual mental strength and character
outlined a plan which she had formed for estab
lishing a school, for the women of her religious
faith.
The Bombay meeting was In some respects
the most remarkable meeting that I ever ad
dressed. Rev. Mr. Mell, an American, is pastor
of the Methodist church in Bombay. While in
Calcutta I received a letter from him asking me
to deliver in Bombay in his church, the lecture
entitled "The Prince of Peace," which I de
livered at Toldo and at Manila, As the time ap
proached for the meeting, he concluded that his
church would not be large enough for the audience
and arranged to secure tho Town Hall, which
accommodates about three thousand people. He
was somewhat fearful that this hall would be
larger than necessary, but it was the only audi
ence room that he could secure. When the time
came for the meeting, the hall was not only filled
to overflowing, but the crowd outside was such
that it was difficult for us to effect an entrance.
On tho platform were prominent Hindus, Moham
medans and Parsees, and three-fourths of tho
audience, at least, was made up of non-ChHstian
Indians. Yet these people listened for more than
an hour to a defense of the Christian religion
listened as attentively as any audience over lis
tened to a political speech, and when I went from
the hall, the younger men were massed along the
way and cheered as our people cheer during tho
campaign. The next day I received a letter
from one of the young men thanking mo for shak
ing hands with him as I passed out
In tho letters on India I have referred to
the Presbyterian college at Allahabad. At Bom
bay wo found a Congregational school for boya
and girls and a fsbhool for the blind. It touches
one's heart to see these sightless little Indiana
cared for by American philanthropy and, under
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