Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed]

triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, is the one only and original god, basis and source of all other deities or manifestations of divinity. They nevertheless worship incarnations of Vishnu as well, and, in general, the largest attendance is at the temples where there is the greatest attraction in the way of car-drawing, fireworks, etc. A belief in transmigration and fate deadens their sense of sin, and elaborate and mystical systems of philosophy sustain their pride in their religion.

THE MISSION OF THE AMERICAN BOARD.-Jaffna was occupied by the Portuguese in 1617, and they used every means to propagate Roman Christianity. The peninsula was divided into thirty-seven parishes, and large churches erected. Many of the people are still Romanists. After forty years, the Dutch took the place, and, by government influence and almost compulsion, filled the large churches with nominal Protestant Christian congregations. But the Christianity of the people was only outward, as shown by the fact that when the English took possession in 1796, and the government was declared neutral in religion, the attendance on the churches immediately ceased, and when the American missionaries came, in 1816, all traces of Protestant Christians had disappeared and, except the Romanists, the whole community had relapsed to heathenism and naturally believed that Protestant Christianity is merely a matter of form. Mr. Newell, of the first company of missionaries sent out by the American Board and afterward located in Bombay, visited Jaffna and strongly recommended it as a place for a mission, both because of the favorable attitude of the government and because of the relation of the island to India.

In 1816 the mission was begun by Messrs. Richards, Meigs, and Poor, with their wives, and Mr. Warren. In 1820 they were joined by Messrs. Spaulding, Winslow, Woodward, and Scudder, with their wives. But no more missionaries were permitted by the government to come until 1832. Permission was given to repair and occupy the ruined churches and parsonages left by the Dutch, and seven of these became mission stations. From the first the most feasible method of work seemed to be by schools, and in 1826 the Batticotta Seminary and the Oodooville Female Boarding School were started. The former continued until 1856, doing a grand work educationally as well as religiously. Its legitimate successor is the Jaffna College, begun in 1872, suggested by native Christians, and supported by endowments of $30,000 raised in the United States of America, and not far from $8,000 given in Jaffna. It has about seventy students, who are all boarders, and who pay their own expenses, the institution receiving no aid from the Board or the government, yet being thoroughly missionary and having none but earnest Christian instructors, two of them from the United States, besides the Missionary President. When the Seminary closed in 1856, a self-supporting English High School was started by a native Christian and has been maintained with an attendance of about 300, part of the time under an American principal. The Oodooville Girls' Seminary has had a history with no parallel in a heathen land. A thousand girls, mostly from heathen homes, have been trained for the Church. Miss Agnew was the principal for forty years. It has now a beautiful building, a gift from the Woman's Board of Missions, accommodating its one hundred pupils, and has become self-supporting, depending on its endowment and the tuition of pupils to supplement the government grant-in-aid. The Oodoopitty Female Boarding School with thirty pupils has been doing a similar work since 1867.

Dr. Scudder began medical work, but the medical department was fairly started by Dr. Ward in 1833, and carried on by Dr. Green with aid from the government. Over one hundred students have been trained in Western medical science, using the same textbooks as students in America, latterly in the vernacular, Dr. Green having translated them into Tamil. A Training School for Teachers is nearly supported by government grant. Nearly 9,000 children in 140 village schools form an encouraging feature not equaled elsewhere. These schools, although almost entirely supported

locally, are under the control of the missionaries, and are a powerful auxiliary in the work. The first native pastor was ordained in 1855. There are now ten, two having died. The first native church to become self-supporting was Batticotta, in 1867. Now there are thirteen independent churches, only three of them receiving a little aid from the mission. At nine out-stations a part of the preacher's salary is paid by the people, and in each of these places it is hoped that churches may be started before long. The total membership is about 1,200. The contributions of the people average over $3 each per year, which is the equivalent of the ordinary wages for thirty days' labor. The general rule among the Christians is to give one tenth of their income. They have their Foreign Missionary Society, which supports three preachers in the islands to the southwest of Jaffna, among a population of 28,000. The Theological School is not continuous, but classes are taught when a sufficient number of suitable candidates are found. The mission enjoyed the services of a missionary printer for twenty years; first Mr. Minor and then Mr. Burnell, some of the time with four presses in constant operation. The press has been a very important auxiliary and has done a great work. During those twenty years 172,000,000 pages were printed, nearly one third being the Word of God. From that time, under native management, it has continued to render important service though not quite as extensive as before. The Morning Star, a semi-monthly paper, has been kept up since 1841. The Ceylon Mission has always given much attention to different forms of educational work, but village preaching has by no means been neglected, and a good force of catechists and Bible-women has been employed for direct work among the heathen. Tent work and moonlight meetings are carried on in the villages, and house-to-house visitation to such an extent that every house has been visited repeatedly.

Although heathen temples are thronged more than ever at the great festivals, it is largely as holiday affairs, and there is a very general expectation that Christianity will prevail. The soil is prepared, the seed is sown. Jaffna was the basis for beginning the Madura Mission in 1834, and at all times Jaffna men have held positions of influence in India. The first convert of the American Board from heathenism was in Jaffna. Nowhere else in a heathen land has Christianity so strong a hold on the whole community. There are now five missionaries and their wives and four single ladies connected with the mission, two of the families having joined the mission forty years ago. Although the native church is independent, the work of evangelizing the heathen cannot be left to it until the time of great ingathering, which we hope is near.

OTHER MISSIONS IN JAFFNA. When the American missionaries arrived they found the English Wesleyans already in the field, and the agreement was made that the Wesleyans take the towns of Jaffna and Point Pedro, and the Americans take the country population. Two years later the English Church Mission also entered the field and took up some unoccupied districts. These three missions work harmoniously side by side, each in its own portion. The C. M. S. have a population of 50,000 in their field, the Wesleyans 52,000, the Americans 155,000. The two former have missions in the main part of Ceylon, but the Americans have not extended their work in that direction.

Letters from the Missions.

Mission to Austria.

OPPOSITION YIELDING.

MR. CLARK writes from Prague, December 30:

On the 20th inst. I received to the

Tabor church two more souls, one of whom is a young man of much promise and ought to enter our training school. A Roman Catholic teacher was present at all the services in Tabor on the 20th, and was much interested. Just now he has a few

days' vacation, and so last Sunday he attended our chapel services in Prague. The Lord has evidently commenced a work in his heart. Next Sunday we welcome seven more souls to our Prague church; one of them is a poor organ-grinder with one arm. "The work at the new out-station, Lieken, is very interesting. God is helping us wonderfully in that place of no good reputation. Over one hundred Romanists attend the services there. It is not far from Prague, so that Friday and Sunday evenings some one of us goes to Lieken to help our brother who lives there. Last Sunday a young man attempted to disturb the meetings, but he was promptly arrested by a policeman who had partly concealed himself in the court. God be praised that the local authorities see that our work helps them and that they are ready to protect us! "A brother who started some meetings in his house in a new suburb was called before the authorities. Is your work in connection with Mr. Clark?' 'Yes.' All right, you can go home; we know that his work is good.'

[ocr errors]

"Next month two of our members start for Chicago to help Mr. Adams in his Bohemian work in that city. Yesterday came an unexpected application from a Baptist source for a colporter and evangelist for America for what place was not said. With twenty-five meetings each week in Prague and suburbs, I cannot well spare another helper until we have, with God's help, trained others to take their places.

"A few weeks ago I received the following unexpected testimony from a choice. Bohemian pastor: I greatly rejoice over the success of your work, and pray for more of it. It is a fact that your work is a blessing to us. Its very existence is to us a certain stimulus; and it often seems to me that my superiors would have hindered my work far more if they were not afraid of a free church."

European Turkey Mission.

WORK IN WAR TIMES.

OUR brethren in this mission are apparently too busy to write at length con

cerning the present state of affairs in Bulgaria. The letters we have received were written prior to the consent of the Porte to the union between Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia. Mr. Marsh writes from Philippopolis that while the people are hopeful and full of patriotic devotion, the usual business is so interrupted by the war that the people are very poor and trade is at a standstill. He fears much concerning the ability of the young Protestant community to carry out their purposes in the support of evangelical work. Opportunity is found for labor among the soldiers; Mr. Marsh and other missionaries having joined in the distribution of tracts and Scripture cards in the hospitals and among the soldiers. They have scattered some 30,000 in all, and have found evidence that they are doing excellent service. In this and in other ways they hope to prevent the decay of morals which attended the Russo-Turkish war. Miss Stone writes from Sofia:

"The Bishop of Sofia has refused to allow the distribution of the gospels among the soldiers, and yesterday I was told that the government would probably send no wounded soldiers to the hospital which Dr. Kingsbury has prepared for them in Samokov. The bishop in that city has anathematized the enterprise, and the entire priesthood seems to be extremely suspicious that the readiness which all Protestant Christians have shown to aid in this emergency of the nation must have some sinister motive, as the Bishop of Sofia - Clement - plainly said:

This is not the time for the circulation of the Scriptures, and for attempts at proselyting. Meanwhile, I find no hindrance, save in the matter of distributing Testaments. About this we use care not to arouse an opposition which should make futile all our attempts at work. A few Testaments which were presented to the Red Cross Society, of which Bishop Clement is president, have been circulated, having received its stamp. This week Miss Stewart a special nurse sent hither by the Queen to express Her Majesty's sympathy with Prince Alexander

and this Bulgarian nation- arrived, together with Mr. Barrington, a commissioner of the National Aid Society, and an English surgeon. At the request of the wife of the English Consul-General here, I have been with Miss Stewart for two days to inspect most of the hospitals in the city, and be of any assistance to her which was possible for me to render. Now she has with her one of the teachers of the Samokov school as an interpreter.

"It is fully time, I think, that Russia should see, what the rest of the world has been more ready to acknowledge, that the • Bulgarians are the stuff that nations are made of,' and to be willing to allow them to enjoy the liberty which God has put within the grasp of their heroic hands. I would love to write you of the brave deeds of which we hear, done both by prince and peasant; of the heroic endurance of the wounded in the hospitals under the most excruciating tortures; of the recognition of God's hand leading prince and nation during this campaign, which we hear very frequently, and sometimes from lips unused to acknowledge God.”

[blocks in formation]

the

"Our theological class of twelve members had their examination on 11th inst. and the next day scattered for their long winter vacation, to be spent in evangelistic work. This opportunity was at once seized to go to Samsoon for the dedication of the new chapel. It had been proposed to organize a branch church at the same time, and so the pastor and a delegate from the Marsovan church accompanied me to Samsoon. We gave several hours to the examination of candidates for admission to the church.

"There were four Greek and four Armenian candidates, including two Greeks from Ala Cham. These two hold regular meetings on Sunday, in their village, with four companions. The examination of

the candidates on their Christian belief was conducted all together, while each one met the committee privately for conversation on points of personal Christian experience. The knowledge of Christian doctrine, in each case, was creditable, and the conviction in regard to the truth learned was clear, and the tenacity with which sound doctrine was held was marked. But it was when we came to converse on personal experience that we met incidents to warm the blood.

One first came to the knowledge and acceptance of the truth four years ago in Constantinople, held to his conviction afterward almost alone, while residing in Bafra, and had evidently grown in both knowledge and character since I knew him at Bafra. Another meets with constant opposition in his own home, and this opposition is evidently keeping his knowledge of the truth ever on the increase and giving depth and clearness to his Christian experience.

"Another, a son of a Greek priest, obtained a Bible more than three years ago, which he read with much interest, and afterward received a box of books from Samsoon to place on sale in his shop. This roused opposition and he was bidden, by authority of the government, on a certain feast-day to close his shop. 'I will do so,' he replied, provided you close the wine-shops, coffee-shops, and tobacco-shops on Sunday. To keep Sunday holy is the command of God; to keep the feast-day is the command of men: if it is an offence to you for me to keep my shop open on feast-days, it is an offence to me for you to keep these shops open on Sunday, and you see I have the weightier reason.' About a year ago the young man gained greater boldness and declared himself a Protestant; and when all were satisfied that he could not be dissuaded from the new confession, the people of the village said to his father: 'You must turn your son out of your house or we will turn you out of the priesthood.' The poor man had no other means of support and reluctantly turned his son, with his young wife and child, from his home.

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »