the tenets and ceremonial observances and ecclesiasticism of the Greek and Roman churches, and on the other with the skepticism and infidelity and materialistic drift of the so-called advanced thought of our time, and with an intelligent Buddhism, that artfully seeks to place itself in harmony with Western science. The Greek church, at last advices, had six foreign representatives, and by the free use of funds is able to send its agents far and wide through the country. The Holy Synod of Russia has granted 50,000 rubles ($37,500) to meet the expenses of the present year, and, acting under instructions from the Czar, is preparing to send out a large party of missionaries, on a man-of-war specially detailed for the purpose.1 Rome, far from being discouraged by her signal failure in former years, has already in the field three bishops, more than thirty priests, and a large number of nuns. The contest with Buddhism, if possible, is sharper still. The sect known as Shinshin, reënforced by the aid of foreign scholars opposed to Christianity, is making a vigorous stand for a faith that has enlisted so many millions of the human race. It has sent its priests to Christian lands to gather up whatever may be of service in resisting the doctrines of the Cross, and it has just erected a college building in Kioto, in which Western science is to be taught. It boldly publishes, in the English tongue, its doctrines and its creed, and challenges the confidence of the world. It is even rumored that it proposes sending missionaries to this country and to Great Britain, where it may find adherents in circles that profess to have outgrown the Christian faith of their fathers. Perhaps it may find enough to do for the present, to secure as its allies the foreigners who from Christian lands dishonor the Christian name, and are now, as elsewhere, a great, not to say the greatest, hindrance to the progress of the gospel. The American Board was none too early in entering upon work in Japan. Its force of missionaries is none too large to meet the pressing necessities of the time. Rather is it far below the demand and the opportunity, if Japan is soon to be won to the Christian faith. RESULTS. Less than ten converts ten years ago; no church organized; no native agency; no schools for the training of such an agency; no missionary devoted to preaching; only the scantiest Christian literature, and that derived from China; placards everywhere denouncing the very name of Christian, till the utterance of the word blanched the face and sent a thrill of horror through the listener, - to-day more than two thousand five hundred professed believers in Christ; a recognized evangelical community three times larger; a fine body of earnest and faithful native preachers; Christian schools for the preparation of a native ministry; a Christian literature, including more than 100,000 copies of portions of the New Testament; editions of the Life of Christ and other works, reckoned by thousands and finding a ready sale; a Christian newspaper that circulates in all parts of the empire; and, illustrating in their lives the faith that breathes through all, more than a hundred and sixty devoted men and women from Christian lands- these are facts to quicken the faith and to encourage the most vigorous exertion till the field be won. And yet our oldest missionary, with abundant opportunity of careful observation, remarks that “the change in the moral aspect of the country is in no wise measured by the number of Christians who have been gathered into the churches, but the influence of Christian thought and sentiment is manifest in every direction." Still we must not forget, that considered simply as a system of opinions and practices, Christianity is at a great disadvantage with other systems of religion which appeal to the lower elements of our nature, and are less exacting in their requirements. But happily Christianity is not a mere system of doctrines or a 1 Mission Life, p. 424, 1879. formulary of conduct; but a life, a life inspired in and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the facts and revelations of the gospel, a life from above. It is through this divine energy, -conditioned, indeed, on our faithfulness and consecration to Christ, whether as missionaries abroad, or as fellow laborers at home, that this life is given, and that Christianity is to prevail in Japan or elsewhere: and it is only as this fact is recognized, and united effort is made, that we look for the triumph of the gospel in the Land of the Rising Sun. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The Special Committee of the Board on this paper, Rev. President J. H. Seelye, chairman, reported: The Committee feel that the facts herein presented must thrill with joy and thankfulness every lover of Christ who learns them. They are certainly among the most remarkable evidences of the progress of the kingdom of our Lord, which this age, so fruitful in results of this sort, has furnished. We would not urge them, however, as any new encouragement to missions, nor as presenting any further claims than we had before for entire consecration to the great work which Christ has given his disciples to do. Our encouragement in the work of missions draws its all-sufficient inspiration from God's promise, and our consecration to the work has its unfailing strength and life in his command. He has promised that all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindred of the nations shall worship before him; and he has commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach his gospel unto every creature. We would not urge, therefore, these great occurrences as matters for hope or trust, as though anything which occurs could add to the hope we have from God's predictions, or to the faith which rests on his Word. But they do offer motives for devout and humble thanksgiving, and furnish answers which can silence all the cavils against missions of the unbelieving world. To us they come at the present time with special force, as indications of a special work which God is calling us to do. Japan is not only open to the gospel as never before, but never before has the gospel wrought such great and speedy changes as during these last seven years in Japan. The history which the Foreign Secretary has briefly sketched is not only the most remarkable chapter in the history of modern missions, but there is nothing in the history of the world to compare with it. We talk about the early triumphs of Christianity, but the early records of the church, bright as they may be, pall in the light of what is taking place before our own eyes at the present time. The number of converts in Madagascar alone, during a period of thirty-five years of missionary labor, probably exceeds, it has been said, the number of converts in the Roman Empire for the first three centuries of the Christian era. But Madagascar offers nothing to compare with Japan. Japan is a great Empire, — in actual fact, we might perhaps say, notwithstanding the presence of China, the oldest Empire on the globe. China has changed her reigning dynasty repeatedly during these last twenty-five hundred years, through all which the family of the Mikado, now upon the throne, presents an unbroken line. We are very apt to talk about the Japanese as a fickle people, ready for changes, but where else can you find a people who have maintained any order of things unbroken so long? They are not people to be called suddenly or easily changeable, after one knows their history. To what can we ascribe these great changes then, which are taking place in that great Empire, but to His hand, who is great in power, and who is thus making the nations prove "The glories of his righteousness This Board must not be lukewarm in continuing, as it has not been backward in entering upon, a field which God has so conspicuously opened. Japan is ready for the gospel; the gospel is readily changing it; let us be ready to press forward where God is thus leading us. We should not be content with our present work there, richly as this has been blessed. THE PROPOSED MISSION IN CENTRAL AFRICA. BY REV. JOHN O. MEANS, D. D. "In the nineteenth century the white has made a man out of the black; in the twentieth century Europe will make a world out of Africa." The French periodical which quotes this saying of "one of the great poets of the world" has accounts of enterprises innumerable, scientific, commercial, and religious, which are working towards the fulfillment of the poet's prediction. "The African question," it declares, "preoccupies all minds, and the Central Plateau might be compared to a vast citadel assailed on every side by armies of merchants eager to know the riches it contains." We are best acquainted with what England is doing; but Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, all have their parties of scientific explorers penetrating the vast unknown; while commercial companies are organizing for manufacturing, for traffic, and for communication by canals, railroads, telegraph lines, steamboats, and elephant trains. The flooding of the Sahara may seem chimerical; to make an inland sea over which transit shall be swifter than by camels, while by the evaporation of its waters the shores shall be made fertile and fruitful in harvests. But the French government looks favorably upon the railway from Algeria towards the Soudan, and four other railroads to the interior are projected. With towns hidden in the mysterious depths like Sansandig of only 40,000 inhabitants, but which has "merchants who could at a moment's notice produce $250,000 or $300,000 more readily than many European bankers; " with cities like Kuka, of 60,000 inhabitants; Bida, Abeokuta, and Illora, of 80,000, and Ibadan, of 150,000; 3 with exports from the single port of Lagos of two and a half million dollars, paid for in the products of English looms and anvils; it is not strange that keen-eyed Commerce should be looking into this "Dark Continent." Seven hundred thousand kilograms, a million and a half pounds, of ivory, are annually received in England, it is stated," to yield which 50,000 elephants must be slain - some inroad this must make upon the monsters of which Livingston saw troops two miles long- cotton to be obtained, coffee, camwood, indigo, gold, iron, copper, coal, palm oil, India rubber, beeswax, ground nuts, a fresh market for what is yielded by her whirling spindles and her skillful fingers; it would be strange if Europe did not try to make a world out of Africa. In the making, Christianity must have a hand or there will be a failure. Christianity has made the beginning. This inroad upon the Central Plateau is through the gates which Christian Missions have opened. The movement towards scien1 L'Afrique Explorée et Civilisée, Journal Mensual, Prem. Ann., 1879-1880. Genève et Paris, 1879. No. 1, July, 1879, pp. 3, 18. For exploring expeditions now in progress and commercial companies, see L'Afrique, No. 1, pp. 7–15, 18, 19, 21, 22, and No. 2, August, pp. 25-28, 34-38, September, pp. 43, 49. Proceedings of the Royal Geo graphical Society, London, 1879; for February, pp. 123 seq.; for May, pp. 328 seg. ; for June, pp. 358, 382 seq.; for August, pp. 312 keq.; for September, pp. 589, 591. 3 Rohlf, in Stanford's Compendium of Geog. and Travel, “ Africa," edited and extended by Keith John. ston, London, 1878, pp. 153, 154, 163, 181. A minute description of Kuka, the life and business, trades and ocupations, and amusements of the people is given in Sahara und Soudan Ergebnisse sechsjährige Reisen in Afrika, von Dr. Gustav Nachtigal, Erster Theil, mit neun und vierzig Holtzschnitten und zwei Karten. Berlin, 1879 (June). Imp. 8vo, pp. 768. Book II., chs. 5 to 10, pp. 381-784. Journal Society of Arts, June 13, 1879, p. 645. In 1875, English produce, imported at Lagos, was valued at £459,737, African produce exported, £517,536, a total of £977,273 = $4,590,000. In 1876 the trade in India-rubber on the East Coast reached $500,000. Stevenson, Civilization of Southeastern Africa, Glasgow, 1877. 5 L'Afrique Explorée, p. 17. Livingstone's Last Journals, vol. ii., pp. 89 et seq. The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa, from 1865 to his death, continued by a narrative of his last moments and sufferings, obtained from his faithful servants, Chuma and Susi, by Horace Waller, F. R. G. S., Rector of Twywell, Northampton, 1874, 2 vols., 8vo. G Expedition to the Zambesi, ch. 6. tific exploration of the recesses of Africa and all that is coming out of it, originated in what was done by self-denying ministers of the Church Missionary Society, who do not yet rest from their labors, though their works do follow them.1 I. THE COUNTRY IN GENERAL. The continent of Africa is equal in area to Europe and North America combined, and has a population more than double that of both Americas; it holds nearly one sixth of the human race. The northern portion was the seat of ancient civilization, and has had its part to play in the modern world. South Africa for more than two hundred years has been the seat of European colonies, which are now becoming opulent free states. Central Africa has been almost an unknown region till our day. Snow-capped mountains may be seen from far; but Kilimanjaro and Kenia, though only two hundred miles from the eastern coast, had not been seen by European eyes till 1848; and the story of missionaries about the great inland seas was laughed at in geographical circles twenty-five years ago. To many the marvelous volumes of Mr. Stanley first disclosed the mysteries of "The Dark Continent"; dark in our knowledge of it and in its moral coloring, though in its physical characteristics comparable with the fairest quarters of the globe. Mr. Stanley, in his great feat of crossing from east to west, was preceded a year by Commander Cameron, who went through lower down. Dr. Livingstone ranged up from the Cape Colony to Angola and crossed again from west to east and zigzagged through the southern portions. Dr. Lacerda, in 1798, penetrated to the Cazembe's capitol, as did Monteiro in 1831; the Portuguese knew of Lake Nyassa; Graça and Silva Porto have penetrated from the West, Savorgnan de Brazza has explored the Ogowè. Just now, Major Alexander Alberto de Serpa Pinto has crossed from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean; while Grant and Speke, Gordon, Elton, Van der Decken, Schweinfurth, and others have made great discoveries in the eastern and northern portions. Yet much remains wholly unexplored, and of what we know best our knowledge is imperfect.3 CENTRAL AFRICA, geographers call that part of this mysterious continent which, with the Atlantic for its western boundary and the Indian Ocean for its eastern, lies between the parallels of about 5° north of the equator, and 18° or 20° south.* Bordering Central Africa on the north are the great states of Soudan, where a sort 1 Captain Speke, in his work entitled What Led to the Discovery of the Sources of the Nile, states that on his return from a journey to the Somali Land, on visiting the Royal Geographical Society, there was revealed to him for the first time the great objects of an expedition planned by Captain Burton. "On the walls of the Society's rooms there hung a large diagram, comprising a section of Eastern Africa, extending from the equator to 14° south latitude, and from Zanzibar sixteen degrees inland, which had been constructed by two reverend gentlemen, missionaries of the Church Missionary Society of London, a short time previously, when carrying on their duties at Zanzibar. In this section map, up about half of the whole area of the ground included in it, there figured a lake of such portentous size and such unseemly shape, representing a gigantie slug, or, perhaps, even closer still, the ugly salamander, that everybody who looked at it incredulously laughed and shook his head. It was indeed phenomenon enough in these days to excite anybody's curiosity!" Edward Hutchinson, Esq., in Journal Society of Arts, June, 1876, p. 691. D'Anvers, Heroes of South African Discovery, 142. Speke, Nile Sources, 364. Proceedings of the Conference on Foreign Missions, held at the Conference Hall, in Mildmay Park, London, in October, 1878; the admirable paper on "Discovery and Missions in Central Africa," by Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart, pp. 35-49. 2 12,000,000 sq. m. 186,000,000 pop. Banning gives 18,000,000 sq. miles as the area, and 200,000,000 popu lation. Africa and the Brussels Geog. Conf., pp. x. 33. In this paper we give round numbers and usually the lowest figures of the best authorities. They are rough estimates of course, but approximate correctness. Stanford's admirable Compendium, "Africa," by Keith Johnston, unfortunately does not furnish as many statistics as we look for. 3 For an admirably compact and comprehensive sketch of discoveries in Africa in the nineteenth century, see Banning, Africa and the Brussels Geog. Conf., ch. 1. Revue de Géographie, Paris, Institut Géographique de Paris, July, 1879: "Les Anciennes Explorations et les Futures Découvertes de l'Afrique Central," by E. T. Berlioux. On the discovery of the Snow-capped Mountains: Krapf's Travels, Appendix, p. 343 seq. This is the definition of Central Africa, given at the International Geographical Conference at Brussels, September, 1876. History, by E. Banning. London, 1877, pp. xii., and Appendix, 133. of Mohammedanism prevails, and Abyssinia, where a sort of Christianity prevails. Above these the Sahara and the desert of Nubia stretch from the Atlantic to the Red Sea; beyond the great desert are Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco; while west of the Soudan are the vast territories watered by the Senegal, the Gambia, the Jolliba, the Quorra, Binnuè, and Niger, coming down to the Gulf of Guinea. Towards the south, the central plateau is bounded by the Zambesi. The shape of Central Africa has been compared to that of an inverted saucer. It is rimmed on the sea-coast by a narrow strip of low land; a few miles inland the country rounds up to a rocky ridge; a little further in, it spreads into a table-land, which, sinking into a slight hollow towards the middle, fills the breadth of the continent. The general elevation of the table-land is more than 2,500 feet,1 while here and there it is swollen into mountains, out of which shoot peaks which are the loftiest, with a few exceptions, of any on the globe. In the most elevated tableland there are immense swamps and lakes, which are the spring heads of the Nile, flowing northward to the Mediterranean, one eleventh of the circumference of the globe,2 and draining a basin more than twice the size of the basin of the Mississippi; of the Jub and the Dana and the Zambesi, flowing eastward to the Indian Ocean; and of the Cunene, the oanza, the Congo, with its 4,000 Cmiles of navigable waters, and the Ogowè, emptying into the Atlantic. While there The area of Central Africa is greater than that of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and its population is about equal to our whole country. A characteristic feature is a chain of lakes, vaster in extent and in volume of water than those which stretch from Lake Superior to the St. Lawrence. are interminable forests and morasses, there are still greater breadths of fertile plains and salubrious high lands. Central Africa is not, as it was once thought, a torrid desert or an unmitigated swamp, but "one of the most luxuriant and productive regions of the earth." "It is imagined by some," continues Mr. Rowley, who has traversed the eastern portion, “that the great central plateau, because it is the seat of a wide-spread lake system, and is also intersected in almost every direction by rivers which have numerous branches, and in whose valleys marshes are formed, is nothing better than a huge swamp. This is an error to which travelers have unwittingly contributed. Most African explorations have had for their object the discovery of river sources. Travelers therefore have kept as close as they could to the rivers, and in the narratives of their travels, they frequently describe a very humid country. Livingstone was said by the natives to have been afflicted with water in the head, so persistently did he hunt after and cling to the watery regions. But no one knew better than Livingstone that the swamp lands are not the chief characteristic of Central Africa. He continually expatiated on magnificent ranges of highland country. My recollections of the highlands of East Central Africa are not less pleasant than were those of Dr. Livingstone. After leaving the river Shirè, at about 350 miles from the coast, and passing over a hill country in which steppes alternated with broad valleys, cultivated lands with long stretches of park like woods, we reached, at an altitude of about 2,500 feet, a seemingly illimitable plain, which opened out to view one of the most magnificent prospects I ever beheld. Far as the eye could see and here, for the greater part of the year, the atmosphere is so clear that it does not seem to impede the vision - there extended a wide, grassy plain, 1 The surface of Victoria Nyanza is 3,700 feet above the ocean; of Tanganyika, 2,700 feet. Bruss. Geog. Conf., 40. - Banning, H. M. Stanley makes the Nile 4,200 miles long. Through the Dark Continent, vol. i., p. 158. The usual estimate is about 2,300 miles. 3 The Victoria Nyanza measures, Banning says, 50,000 square miles. Tanganyika is 400 miles long, and covers 22,900 square miles. Nyassa is 200 miles long, and covers 9,000 square miles. - Banning, ch. 2. Stanley gives 21,500 square miles as the area of Victoria Nyanza. |