WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 878, 26 July 1910, Page 4

WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE.

r MEMORABLE GATHERING AT I .:''_ EDINBURGH.,/ • ? MESSAGE FROM THE KING. | CEMENTING OP INTERNATIONAL I FRIENDSHIP. . j There has, perhaps never been an I 'event in tho history of Christian misI sions of -greater significance than the I World's Missionary Conference which i opened iri Edinburgh on Juno 14 (saysj .the'"-Weekly Scotsman"). The conferi- enco was one which had been long prci paring. In 1903 a cominitteo met at ('Oxford to make arrangements for its j work, and to prepare reports for tho i" consideration of its members. During j. the intervening years eight commissions < liave been at work investigating the i. problem of missions in all-its aspects, i Each of these commissions consists of [ twenty members, drawn from Great | • Britain, > America, Germany, Scandinnt via, Denmark, Holland, ' Switzerland, 5 South Africa, and Australasia, aided by | hundreds-of correspondents in ail the > mission, fields. These commissions were I by no moans exclusively composed of : workers officially connected with the j mission field, but also secured tho co- | 'operation of men and women of world- { wide reputation in ' other spheres. j Among tlie names, appended to the vai 'ribus reports are those of Sir Robert ' Hart, "Admiral Mahan, the. Hon. Seth. ! Low of tho United ■ States, the Hon. I R. L.-Borden of Canada, Lord William ' Cecil, 'Sir E. Satow, Professor- Sadler, j the Education Department's expert, j 'President Mackenzie of Hartford Uni- } vcrsity, Mrs. Creighton, wife; of tho | late Bishop of London, Bishop Hasso | of the Moravian Church,' the Bishop ] of Birmingham, the Bishop of Southj wark, and Dr. Parkin, secretary of the I Rhodes Scholarship Trust; Probably j'' never has any gathering, so essentially ; undenominational, secured more univer- | sal support. The Church of England | sends an imposing array'Of •delegates,■ j headed by tho Archbishops of Cajitor- | bury and York and nine Bishops of tho ; Church. From America come the Hon. i- iW. J. Bryan, twice Democratic candi-: | date for the U.S.A. Presidency, arid-; re- ; j puted" the most eloquent representative j of his nation; Senator Charles Fair- | banks, formerly viee-President;. and a' j 'host'of eminent men'. In brief," it may I be said.that no civilised nation, and j no nation which lias any pretensions j,-to join, the international'comity'of cul- ! - tured peoples has omitted to send re- ! presentatives to this great gathering. j The streets of the Scottish capital bore" i ample evidenco this, week to the cosmoi politan. nature of, the guests housed i within its hospitable precincts. The |-.' 'President of the Conference was LordJ Balfour, of Burleigh, and tho Vice-Pre- ! sidents were Lord Reay, Sir John H. 1 Kennaway, Bart., C.8., M.P., and Sir ; A- H.j Fraser, K.G.S.I. | The King's Deep Interest. I;' The following message from the King' i was delivered through Lord Balfour of j Burleigh:— ' . •'■-.•■■ :. ( "The. King, commands me to. convey i'to you the expression of.' his deep ini. terest'.in the World Missionary ConferI -ence to be hold in Edinburgh at this j time.f.His Majesty views with gratifi- ; cationjcthe fraternal co-operation of so ■ manyii.Chnrches, and .societies intho' }- United; States, on tho Continent of Eu- | : Tope. and in the British, Empire in tho i . work v of. disseminating the knowledge | and principles of Christianity by Chrisj tian methods throughout the world. .' -_. The King appreciates the supremo i importance of this work in its beariri" j ?I?° n ,:*o cementing of : international - ! friendship, the cause of peace, and the , . well-being of mankind. His Majesty j- welcomes tho prospect of this groat rcr [. presentative - gathering being held : in :. one of;the capitals of the United Kinn-- ! clom -and expresses-his earnest, 'hope' j . that the deliberations of tho conference ;■ may be guided - by Divino wisdom and -may be a means of promoting'unity f. among Christians and of furtherina the | ;-:Jwgn- and beneficial ends which the'coii- : rerence has m view." ! As:soon as the .last words of the !.,-fluig.; were-'read, tho audience spon- .; |aneously burst -out in heartily singing .the King's Anthem.. - The scene was i unrehearsed and unexpected, and the ;- effect .upon tho. audience was electric,' | del?lt at 6n(f6 *" til snr i> r iso and I : ■. . ; Lord Balfour's Speecn. '. j .... Lord Balfour was in good voice and i. m excellent spirit. His speech was i suited.to the occasion, but 1 he refrain i -°{ 'V 0b that-we had the unity' I of, the. Church -at home." He bean j' by referring with sorrow to the dif- ;. ferences between the Churches, but i. said,, amid the ringing'cheers of tho ; conference, that we arc drawing nearer | evemday in our international and I ecclesiastical relations, and wo are I even now united in obedience to the :" command-of Christ, '-'Go ve into all [ . the MyorM and preach .the* Gospel to ■-, every; creature." Ho would not be- | little {the things that keep us apart, i but lip maintained that we are one in j- seeking to call the world into one j Christian fellowship. His experience ;-. was that.missionary workers who were L once brought together were not easily j -sundered. The nations,. he said, are I seeking for enlightenment aud liberty, ; and these are best found iii Christi- (■ anity.- . . j The Primato of All England. The;-Archbishop of Canterbury rei ceived; a royal welcome from tho great [ .assembly. Ho did not begin by form- : ally, addressing the chair, but in tho i words'; "Fellow-workers in'the Church | Militant." The Archbishop said the j. conference met for the most serious !'■ attempt the. Church had yet made to ; .- look steadily at' tho whole fact of the ! non-Christian world, and to understand !. .its meaning and challenge. None of ' them .'bated a. jot of his deliberate con- ,; rictioiis, and therein lay in part the j value;of their several contributions to -: the debates, but they were absolutely f one in their allegiance to their living- ; Lord.' Without any doubt tho present ; opportunity for missionary work was \ ' almost limitless. It was urgent and i clamorous; perhaps also temporary and : passing. ■ And with the. opportunities [' they had special' difficulties—European i. knowledge assimilated in the East with- ' out tho sanctions and history and long I discipline which had given it birth and ! nurture and virility for- ourselves, mat terial;:wealth and- comfort made the i apparent deity or goal of "Christian" j nations, tho un-Christian lives of repreI sentatives of Christian lands, and, perI haps,: ahovo all, the hikewarniness of j . the Home Church in face of all these ; possibilities and perils. If the work •'■ was to be done men must be made to : -know iand.feel, not in abstract theory, : but in 1 living;- burning fact, that there ' was none other through whom man could .receive health and salvation than our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Mr. Robert E. Speer followed in a :' speech of great power and conviction. ' The Report. ; A significant wr.rning regarding tho ! i present trend of events in India is given i' ■ in the report submitted to the coufer- \ Sice. The commissioners state: — '?' "The movement in India attracting \ . ®ost attention at tho present moment \ h Nationalism. The new spirit has its ; natural basis in racial solidarity and ; in lovo of_ country. It ' has been quickened into consciousness largely ■ ' through Western education and deyelon-

incut, and has received'a fresh impetus from tho reports of Japanese progress and . success. Though excellent, if rightly guided, it may become a great danger to the pence' of the country if directed into wrong'ehannels, as when it is exploited by -Anarchist leaders; for their own ends. ' ••

"At present we hear from all:parts that, hand in hand with tho 'antiBritish current of feeling, goes a strong anti-foreign prejudice, which has grown perceptibly during tho last 'fivo years. Much of.this.feeling is very vaguo arid unreasoning,", and yet, till circumstances so clumge as to render racial.prejudice less intense, tho missionary will inevitably find himself and- his messago at a serious disadvantage. Tho political spirit has engendered a deep suspicion of the West, aad this suspicion has developed, into, a- race antagonism, and this racial antagonism is closely connected with everything that comes from the West."

Another passage from the same report refers to the threatening advance of ■Mahommodanisni. The report states:— "The absorption of native races into Islam is proceeding rapidly and continuously in practically all parts. The commission has had convincing evidence of this fact, brought to its attention by missionaries along the Nile, in East Central Africa, in -South-East Africa, on different parts of the West Coast, in North Nigeria, in tlio Sudan, in different parts of the Congo basin, in parts lying south of the Congo, and even in South Africa." \

Letter from Mr. Roosevelt. An interesting letter from Mr. Roosefelt was read. Mr. Roosevelt regretted that he was unable to attend the conference, and mentioned 'that had ho been able to be.present it would have been as a delegate from the Dutch Reformed Church of America, to which he belonged. Describing the scopo of tho conference, he. said: "For the first time in four centuries Christians of every name come together without renouncing 'their several convictions or sacrificing their • several principles to confer as to what common action may be.'taken in order to make their common Christianity • not only known to, but a vital force among, the two-thirds of tiny human race to whom as yet it is hardly even a name. "An infinite amount of work remains to be done before -wo can regard. ourselves as being even' within measurable distance of the desired goal, an infinite amount at homo in the dark places, which too often closely surround tho brightest centres: of life, aud an infinite amount abroad in those dark places of the earth where blackness is:as yet unrelieved by any light. ( "It is imperative to remember that a divided Christendom" can only -imperfectly bear, witness, to the essential unity of, Christianity. I believe- that without compromise of belief, fithout loss of the positive good contained in the recognition of the. diversity of gifts and "differences of administration,, the Christian Churches may yet find a .way to cordial co-operation and friendship as regards the great underlying essential upon which, as< a foundation, all Christian Churches are built."

Tho following figures, showing the inagnifcudo of the missionary work of the world .were given:—■ , One year's contributions .... £5,070,225 Ordained missionaries .....'...'. ' 5,522 Ordained and unordained workers . 93,388 Native Christians .; 5,281,871 .Women physicians, working - as missionaries 341